#((Some of the gen 1 sprites were weird. really weird.))

[legendtraineremily]

Day 1 of my Pokémon Yellow Nuzlocke Challenge!

Well, I’m fueled up with one of my favorite sodas (Mountain Dew Spark), have a hot cocoa (it’s raining tonight) cooling a bit before drinking, and I’m ready to go!

Standard start so far. My Pikachu is…decent actually. I am hopeful with what I have to use for now.

Starter—Pikachu/Zippy

Lv. 5

Hp: 19

Attack: 11

Defense: 8

Speed: 14

Special: 11

Next up, the customary rival battle. Let’s hope for a paralyze with Thundershock and all will go smoothly.

Woo! No paralyze, but a Crit at the end saved my butt. That victory brings Zippy to Lv. 6 though, so we’re setting up for success.

Why’d I grab the crummy hot cocoa? Whatever. On to Viridian City, then back to get the Pokédex, and finally some Pokéballs so we can fill out the team.

So, I forgot I don’t get free Pokéballs until I beat the rival up a second time (Winning that will make him evolve his Eevee into Jolteon and get wrecked by my future Dugtrio). As I have no pokéballs yet, I’m burning route 1 to the ground to train up before going back to Viridian. Is it stretching the rules I set up? Maybe. Does my desire to do a half-way decent run overrule that? Heck yes.

Roast Pidgey with a side of Rattata Flambé anyone? The crits keep coming in spite of my low level (another factor in the game’s formulas).

Trained up a bit and it’s on to that rival battle. He’s got a Spearow leading so I’m liking my chances so far. First turn, he Growls and I crit a Thundershock on him. This is going pleasantly. :) Level 8 achieved along with Thunderwave!

Eevee took my Thunderwave and threw a Sand-Attack at me. Thanks… -_-

Stop with the frickin’ Sand-Attacks!! I won but, Gah! Now it’s off to get free stuff and finally fill the team out. Oh and stop at my mom’s place to heal because I forgot to do that in Viridian apparently. And then to chuckle at more of the “fun” Gen 1 brings—“tr to catch them”—that’s not me misspelling try, that’s GameFreak missing it when editing and fitting the text for Yellow version. It’s the little things that make you smile, am I right?

First encounter, what will you be? It’s…a Lv. 4 Pidgey! Okay, I’ll have to use Thunderwave and chuck a ball at it as such because a single attack would end it. Yep. Got it first try while para’d.

Route 1 Encounter—Pidgey/BIRBY

Lv. 4

Hp: 17

Attack: 9

Defense: 8

Speed: 9

Special: 8

Route 22 Encounter—Rattata/Remy

Lv. 3

Hp: 15

Attack: 8

Defense: 7

Speed: 9

Special: 7

Oh. Right. I forgot the menu sprites were really weird in Gens 1 and (a little less so) 2. Remy looks like a Tauros and BIRBY gets the generic bird Pokémon look. Pikachu looks fine though. 🤷‍♀️ That’s two more to the team at least!

Why yes, old man, I would LOVE to learn how to catch a Ratta—oop! You failed. Looks like my sarcasm threw him off. Good. Now comes the great question—will I luck out and get the Nidoran for my route 2 encounter? Let’s get past the forest first and hit the upper grass just in case.

Wait, why is one of my Pokéballs blacked out—oh my gosh! I forgot to heal after catching Remy! Gotta fix that before hitting any more trainers in the forest.

Excuse me Caterpie. This is supposed to go “encounter, paralyze, catch,” not “encounter, paralyze, lose three Pokéballs, switch to BIRBY, hit a couple times, catch”! Bleh! You’re now “Stinky.”

Viridian Forest encounter—Caterpie/Stinky

Lv. 4

Hp: 17

Attack: 7

Defense: 8

Speed: 9

Special: 7

After that lovely encounter, I’m going to train in the grass a bit by the forest entrance and then call it a da—oh frick! A Lv. 8 Pidgey!

[sergeantofjupiter]

has any of you played Pokébom before ?

"Nope, I've seen Shirobon play it though."

"I have the Green version, but I have not gotten around to finishing it, not to mention that some of the sprites are... rather off-putting."

[adobe-outdesign]

What's your opinion on the Zubat-Golbat-Crobat line? They're the ones that first got me into pokemon so I have a lot of love for them but I'd love to hear your thoughts

Zubat doesn't really have much of a theme going for it; it's just a bat. For being just a bat it's a pretty good design however, mostly because it kind of takes the idea of a bat and brings it to an extreme.

Zubat is almost like what would happen if you grabbed an IRL bat and locked it inside of a cave for a few million years. All extraneous features have been removed, so in addition to having no nose, it also has no eyes and relies entirely on its echolocation to find prey. Neat! And makes a good deal of logical sense as well. I also like the lack of legs as well, instead having two tails (or just two really long legs) that almost look more like insect cerci than anything. Little things like that help it to stand out.

While I don't have any real complaints about the regular version, I do wish we had gotten a white version somehow, maybe as a shiny. One of the first things that happen to animals in complete darkness is that they lose their pigment, so it would've been neat to see that incorporated somehow. Obviously not a big deal however.

With that said, I don't like Golbat quite as much. For one, it's more a regular bat at this point, regaining legs and eyes. Considering the cerci and lack of eyes were the most interesting parts of Zubat, it's kind of a shame to lose those aspects here. It does gain more cat-like ears (gen 1 loves its cat ears), but those aren't enough to make up for what was lost.

The other thing that bugs me about it is that while the idea of it being all mouth is kind of interesting, it kind of ignores the fact that it needs, you know, internal organs. I know Pokemon is stylized, but usually they design them in ways that still seem somewhat plausible biologically speaking (if they're biological in nature to begin with), gen 1 especially. I mean, just try to imagine this thing with its mouth closed and you'll see where I'm going with this. Plus, they feed solely on blood, so why do they even need a giant mouth anyway?

I'm never sure how I feel about Crobat. On the one hand, it doesn't really seem to continue with the previous evos at all. it's like they had an extra bat design lying around and decided to tack it onto the Zubat line (which isn't impossible really, given what we know about gen 1 and 2 designs). Even the colors aren't the same, which seem like they'd be an easy enough thing to continue. Plus it still has eyes, which is a bummer.

But on the other hand, it's kind of a cool looking bat? I really dig the four wings; if Golbat looked too normal than this brings it back a little, even if it doesn't really connect conceptually to the other two. The long ears also help to emphasize the X shape.

It also has a weird amount of logic behind it, given that the dex says the second wings are just modified legs (though this is questionable as it seems to still have feet or tails or something there. Weirdly enough, the earlier sprites didn't show those tufts, and they looked better that way, so I'm not sure why this was included to begin with).

(Also, one weird thing is that the wings have backs to them, despite the fact that the membrane should be the same on both sides. Even weirder, the bottom wings are effectively backwards in this regard.)

Even the face, with its weird triangle mouth and gloomy eyes, just kind of has a nice shape to it. The lack of fangs doesn’t make a whole lot of sense because it still drinks blood, but you could argue those are just three fangs together, considering the teeth are separate and on the bottom in the colosseum games for some godforsaken reason.

So overall, I think I like Crobat quite a bit in and of itself, possibly even a little more than Zubat. It just feels like it belongs to a different bat line entirely.

Side note, I love that Crobat evolves with high friendship. In addition to just being an incredibly random choice it’s also funny because it looks mad 24/7.

[shikiimisaki]

I love love love love the gen 1 pokemon sprites. cause its like..... they have a certain energy to them and they look so. wild? foul? and not because the spritework is "ugly" its NOT ugly it's really cool! the pokemon just were in a natural strange beast state. like pokemon in their modern designs and renders tend to be very "cute" and at the least what I would call Smooth. they're even. they're made to be palatable to the eyes, and to pokemon company merch designers. but the gen 1 sprites its like...... they aren't cute, really? like some of them slightly are, but mostly they're kind of just little freaks! they're weird ass creatures! and that feels like what it would be like if pokemon were in our world realistically. like theyre strange. they're COOL. and even, they are a little unnerving

[vespiiqueen]

List 5 things that make you happy, then put this in the ask box of the last 10 people who reblogged something from you (if you want !! 💛💖)

Wow I rambled a lot with this but i can't add cuts bc I'm on mobile rn DHSISHSJ sorry :"))))

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1. Ik Ik "haha how cringe are you" of me to say, but honestly? Homestuck. Homestuck helped me in a time of need and when i so desperately wanted something to latch onto. Finally, I caved into my friends telling me to read it-- and it's been a blast!! The epilogues / hs^2 make me feel kinda sad though, because so much of what I loved about the original was yeeted through the nine circles of hell and into the trash. I love Y/ffany's (I call her Yippi tho) design, the art is really pretty at times, Harry is a major dork, I LIVE for seeing Vrissy bc honestly?? Her design is 10/10, very early 2000s emo style and I also live for that. Tavros is cute and a nerd and I think that's swell!

But in terms of story and how any of this happens, it makes me sad to see it happen. If Vriska could return as Vrissy, why not OTHER beta trolls? Where's my Eridan fish man, writers?? Give me the boy or perish by my fury.

2. Also super "haha how cringe are you" but,,, murder cats (Warriors), esp the early 2005-2015 amvs and stuff. I remember watching Flightfootwarrior's "I Will Not Bow" Scourge amv for HOurs and having no clue what was happening, but all these edgy kitties were KITTIES! It's introduced me to a lot of music I still listen to to this very day (Imagine Dragons, Young/the entirety of Hollywood Undead, Breaking Benjamin). And yknow what?? This new arc is absolute chaos, but in the good way.

I'm an "OG Fan". I prefer the first arc, The Prophecies Begin, to almost any of the other arcs. I just could never get into the other arcs-- not to say I haven't read them, I HAVE and the Fire Scene was probably one of my favorite moments beside grumpy Jaypaw, god complex Lionblaze, and fear the gods Hollypaw. I thought the build-up for it was SUPER satisfying. Gray Wing is my baby and I fully embellish in the Gray Wing is Silverpelt theory.

This new arc is definitely something new for the universe. While I didn't read aVoS (but I may do that if i can find the files for it), and so I don't know the major events of it other than what I've seen M.A.P.'s (Multi-Animator Projects, for clarification,,, bc unfortunately that term is also something disgusting). There's fucking cat possession and all the Clans questioning their belief system, yo. Shit be on fire.

Also the Imposter is 100% Ashfur, that's canon now, yeah??? Also im sorry but fuck Root x Bristle that's the dumbest shit I have ever seen. Give me Root x Shadow or face the wrath of my dragon plushies.

RiverClan is my Clan and my gov assigned warrior name is Fireshell 🌟🌟

3. As much as I hate the author,,,,, Harry Potter. It's been a major part of my life for as long as I can remember. I can never really remember why, but I've always just loved it- the movies, the books, the extra little merch that would pop up in my local Walmart. Of course my favorite character is Draco Malfoy. I could go on and on and ON about how I think his character arc was SHIT and JKR didn't have the balls to make him a confident gay man that was always implied through the text (at least, my lesbian ass thought it was implied but i may just be projecting, idk). I could ramble about Draco for HOURS and what I think his character SHOULD have been and how his parents are horrible (more specifically, Lucius bc Narcissa [?] Actually showed a few good moments), and a child should never have to pay for their parents sins.

Oh noo, Draco's a villain because he's a victim of major abuse and peer pressure? He's a villain because a literal child can be horrible and they'll always always always stay as a horrible little fiend?? Fuck that. He's a child.

Unlike manchild grease pan Snape, who was a racist piece of shit and shouldn't have became a fucking school teacher but it's okay because he was ~~~in love~~~. No, fuck you, he was a creep. James Potter n Co may have been a little posh bitch to you, Snape, but that's no fucking excuse to continue to bluntly be a little cunt all the way into adulthood. You're an adult who flatly changed your PATRONUS to imitate Lily's. You have no excuse. And Harry went and named his child after you LIKE JESUS CHRIST, DID RON'S SISTER NOT HAVE A SAY IN THE NAMES TOO?????

I also fully adore the idea that Muggles can run into Hogwarts and their patronus can 100% be a made up, fantasy creature. Imagine you learn the patronus spell and suddenly fucking ARCEUS comes from your wand. Imagine learning the spell and CHTULU (i did not spell that right but im so tired) comes from your wand-- an entire ass fucking Lovecraftian, Eldrith horror is just the embodiment of you. What if it was a fucking Homestuck character like Vriska? How fucking METAL would that be?? Hskajssowjjsjs get on it fandom.

4. Hee hee very evident by my url but Pokemon is another major thing of mine. While vespiquen isn't my favorite (that title goes to Hydreigon), it is definitely up there!

I've ALWAYS enjoyed the idea of Pokemon. You run around, training up these fight monsters and collecting them. I remember playing my sister's Ruby version on her flip-up Gameboy. I couldn't even read but I ran around catching god only knows how many of the same pokemon wherever she was. Apparently, I had fought for hours in the same area and leveled her Blaziken up to lvl 50 something and left her lvl 30s in the dust LMAO.

I got my first game when it was Pearl/Diamond. It was Pearl, and it still holds a very fond place in my heart. I could barely read, I could barely write-- I had named my Turtwig something along the lines of "MmorpHy" and my player boy "ZbsibJ". Yes I remember the names slightly. I really didn't get far-- I barely got to the first gym but I was just so happy to play it.

I eventually lost the game, as a 5 year old would do, but I can still vividly remember what was happening when the game arrived. I had just came back from the dentist and was quite tired from fighting the dentist bc I was super scared. Mom suddenly handed me a box and said it was mine-- my overseas (at that time) dad had bought me Pearl and my sister Diamond, because I lost my shit about it when he visited one time.

Well, tdlr, I played it for about five minutes while struggling to stay awake against the loopy gas they made me take. I fell asleep listening to Twinleaf Town's soundtrack. Every time I play a rom of Pearl and I get to where the player's house fades in and I hear that first tune of the song, I get a huge smile on my face and cry-- as.. Weird as it sounds.

A few years later, I had gotten Pokemon Black bc I liked Reshiram on the cover. Now, this one I could actually READ when playing, but I don't remember a lot of things about it. I probably lost this one too, as a 8/9 year old would do. I DO remember, I chose Snivy and my sister chose Tepig (hrmm there's a theme here of grass/fire goin on......) and vibing to the music. I was so amazed by the sprites moving, I just kept getting into encounters to see the sprites move (oh boy, no one tell younger 7-9 y/o me about Zelda......oh wait....)

Playing Pokemon NOW, as a 17 year old """gifted""" chick, I stil have very fond memories. I recently beat Pokemon Black again and GOD the OTS SLAPS. I fucking adore the soundtrack-- the track that plays when you battle a trainer, the low health dings being turned into a legit song that also slaps, the battle! gym leader themes-- and oh my gOd, the legendary theme is amazing? It really tells you just how glorious these pokemon are supposed to be. It's not intimidating like Groudon/Kyroge/Rayquaza's themes. It's not action packed like Palkia/Dialga's is, it's not filled with tension like Giratina/Arceus's is-- but it radiates the GLORY that the beasts portray. And I live for that. (Also, Kyurem's version is my favorite because it glitches in the beginning and that's rly cool)

P/D/P and BW/BW2's stories, imo, are some of the greatest ones. Yeahhh, US/USUM's is cool and I haven't played XY nor SwSh-- but the ones I can find memorable are PDP and BW/BW2. I love N. I love Barry. They're my sons. Ghetsis is fucking terrifying, Cyrus needs a hug. Giratina scared the piss out of me when I was younger, which was NOT helped by Giratina and The Sky Warrior.

I think my favorite movies are the gen 4 ones. The Rise of Darkrai having a tear-jerking theme for such a mysterious pokemon (i still tear up when i hear Ocarion), Giratina being spiteful is a mood and Shaymin was cute, Arceus being angry is also a mood. Yeah, Pokemon 4Ever made me cry my eyes out over Celebi, Mewtwo Returns made me again cry because Mewtwo accepting who he is, I remember how vastly different the BW movies are-

I just. I have a lot of memories with the series, even if Gamefreak and Nintendo kinda do the series dirty a lot (your top-grossing thing and you made That monstrosity for the Switch? How dare you.). It's comforting to be stressed and pull up my roms for the games and to play them. Mystery Dungeon is incredibly fun to play, Pokemon Ranger is really fun with the concept (Shadows of Almia continues to kick my ass to this very day and FUCK the Jungle Relic, I hate the Water Challenge fucking gyarados bullshit). I remember the pokemon I got for MD (I got Time, my sis got Darkness) was Mudkip, if that is any help.

I love my little fictional pixel monsters.

5. Yup, someone told tiny 7-9 y/o me about console games. The legend of Zelda. My first Zelda game was Twilight Princess on the Wii and BOY did I play the fucking SHIT out of that game.

Honestly, looking back and looking at playthroughs now-- I still love TP. Twilight Princess is still one of my top favorite Zelda games-- yes, even after playing OoT, Majora's Mask, Wind Waker, Skyward Sword, the anniversary four swords edition for the DS where you could play by yourself (Nintendo pls bring that back, I don't have friends to play it with ;-;), Phantom Hourglass- ect.

Something about Twilight Princess grabbed me by the head and yeeted me into the world. I can remember playing it for hours with little to no breaks. I, a tiny 9 y/o, had gotten the hang of the controllers and managed to get past the tutorial quite easily. And then, I was launched into the game and I wasn't stopping for NOTHING. Mom and Dad would have to force me to save and get off to go and eat dinner. THAT sucked.

I had done everything on my own up until the first temple, the forest temple. Not where/when you saved the dumb kid, but when you were saving the spirit's light. Theeeeeeennn I got stuck on the fucking Forest Temple for deadass six months straight. I'd play for hours, running around in circles, unable to figure out where to go, and because I didn't grasp the temple's purpose of being that way- I'd get angry and get off. It wasn't until dad looked up a walkthrough and talked me through what I was supposed to do that I learned how to get through temples.

I had gotten to the last little fight with Ganondorf before the Wii broke and i could no longer play. Despite the Wii being broke and we got rid of it, I was ADAMANT on keeping the game, and I kept that game for YEARS. It was an original copy out of a sealed box, and I eventually lost it when I left it accidentally at my now ex-friend's house.

She had a Wii and I went "hey I have a Wii game!" And I brought my Zelda over. Worst fucking choice of my goddamn life. Mom called me to come home and said I couldn't sleep over like the original plan was, and that was it. My ex-friend stashed my Zelda and I never saw it again. And, even if I wanted to-- I couldn't get it back, which makes me upset. We had a BAD falling out. She likely doesn't even remember it's there, or sold it to the local game junkie kid who buys ALL games.

But I still love the game. Midna was amazing, and I loved how snarky she was and she has a very cute design! The game's OST is fucking phenomenal. Midna's Desperate Hour makes me cry bc goddamn it really sells how serious that situation is. I love Hyrule Field's theme in this game. I love the Twilight Realm's song. Zant was fucking hilariously scary. Ganondorf's design in this game scared the piss out of me when I was younger.

Midna and this game's Link and Zelda are def my favorites. Yeah yeah, Sheik is cool and all I Guess but dhsushwishs Midna holds the special place in my heart. She was totally my gay awakening BUT

For other game antagonists, I adore Ghirahim-- let's go you funky little queer-coded villain. Skull Kid was great, I love the entire dynamic of him. Prankster lost soul stumbles upon Majora's Mask and the mask makes him act out due to powers-- which, I actually took very heavy inspiration from for one of my OCs. The moon falling to Hyrule was a fucking terrifying looming threat.

But the game series holds a place, and I've yet to be able to play BoTW-- although, I'm fairly certain I'll like it. The playthroughs I've watched of it are all fairly decent! I just. Gotta save up enough money to buy it haha.

Dang guess I gotta go watch a Twilight Princess playthrough again.

Honorable Mentions:

Avatar: the Last Airbender, specifically Book 3

my OCs definitely make me happy, they're my children and I'd ramble A LOT longer if given the chance WHEEZE

My friends, but I didn't add them here bc it's more fictional stuff, I presume

Baking. I love to bake cupcakes.

Painting is fun. I'm an artist and goddammit im going to use painting as an excuse to make a mess.

Fire. I rly like fire, down to a pyromaniac level. However, i hate the fires that happened to my home town, the Great Smokey Fires of 2016-- THAT pissed me off. How dare you burn mountain landscapes to the ground. Perish.

History. I'm a history nerd.

I'm also a science nerd.

But fuck math, I cannot comprehend math to save my life.

For some reason, I rly like learning how the human body works??? like did you know, organs are actually sticky when touched by a bare hand?? Did you?? How fucking cool is that.

Bakugan. I love Bakugan, esp the DS game. I love my Darkus Leonidas. Give me back the online world, you peasants-- I want my Darkus Dragonoid. (Also fuck all my friends from when I was in kindergarten- my theory that Alice was Masquerade was somewhat correct.)

[inikavulpixelreviews]

Let’s Talk About Pokemon - Galarian Meowth and Perrserker

Okay, change of plans. Since it is now mid-January; two whole months after the dang games have come out and we STILL don't have good and high-quality official artwork, I'm gonna have to make due with the middling quality scans we have at the moment. Especially since SwSh are now getting DLC updates that are introducing even more new Pokemon. Though I'm gonna wait on the DLC to come out before I go over those.

I had also said something about the reviews having a little more “oomph” this time around. That's sadly not gonna be happening like I thought it was. I WAS gonna go full-on animation critic since animations have become such a big deal to Pokemon lately and judge all the noteworthy animations the Pokemon have, but sadly all the sprite resources I usually use don't have such things uploaded as of yet. And I can't find them out in the wild cause good luck googling “Sword and Shield/Gen 8 Animations” without just finding a giant wall of that goddang gif of Scorbunny using Double Kick. But it might be something I might come back to in the future, anyways. I'll still point out some nice animations if I happen to have decent gifs of them.

I will also be putting a bit more effort into analyzing these designs either way. Especially when we get to the completely new Pokemon. Doing a personal project that involves designing a LOT of my own monsters has seen me pay a lot more attention to smaller details and such. With me for the most part getting more in-depth about the designs of these things, I'm gonna move to a thrice-a-week schedule. Once on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.

FINAL BIT: The order of operations here. We'll be touching on Galarian forms first (obviously), including their new regional evolutions. After we're done with them, we'll hit on the Gigantamax forms of pre-existing Pokemon, and then once we've reviewed Gigantamax Melmetal, we can finally move onto Gen 8 itself with Grookey.

ANYWAY

Galarian Meowth:

Ahhh, feels good to just review a single Pokemon again. Today we're starting our Galarian adventures with none other than the new batch of regional variants! Would you get a load of that cat!! It's quite a step up from Meowth's Alolan counterpart, which was little more than a recolor. This crazy new spin on our old friend sports what is reasonable to assume a big fluffy coat over its body. But if you were to turn this Pokemon to its backside...

Nah, that's no fluff. It's a stinkin BEARD. Talk about a facelift! Indeed, a lot of the regional variants this time around feel a lot more differing from their original selves. Alolan Regionals definitely suffered from a little too many of them just boiling down to being a different color with some extra bits added on here and there. Galar opts to be a bit more adventurous with the concept. Meowth's whole attitude shifted here! Easily my favorite part about it are those big yellow eyes and that wide, toothy grin that makes it look like a mini-Totoro.

So, what type is the bearded, gray-tinged Meowth then? None other than Steel, OBVIOUSLY. Nah, that one caught me off guard when I first found out about it. It's definitely a type that makes more sense after it evolves, but it could still at least make sense for a Meowth given the emphasis on the coin on its forehead. Though the Pokedex states that the way Galarian Meowth came to be was Meowth sailing the seas on boats hardened its fur, turning it into the Steel type. I know Pokedex states some pretty sketch pseudoscience but even THAT seems like a hilarious stretch.

So like, is a regional variant of Meowth going to become a new tradition in the same vein as every generation having a Pika-clone? I can't say I'd mind it, honestly. While Meowth is from Gen 1 and Gamefreak is notorious with shouting out Gen 1 all the time, I feel like Meowth has just enough of a downplayed popularity that it doesn't feel overly egregious to do this as say, booting out Venusaur and Blastoise but Charizard not only returns but gets a whole new dang form to go with it. I just hope it won't mean no more new feline Pokemon, or that other feline Pokemon are being bullied out of getting their own regional variants. Just saying, Glameow and Purrloin could REALLY use a fresh coat of paint.

But either way, it'd help bolster the number of cat species represented in Pokemon as a whole too. There's countless domestic cat breeds that could all see some fun interpretations if you just took those animals and turned them into a different shape of Meowth. Meowth on its own is just a solid cat design, y'know?

863: Perrserker

Galarian Meowth, shock of all shocks, doesn't actually evolve into a Galarian Persian at all, but instead becomes an entirely new Pokemon, Perrserker! And do I adore this concept. The idea of giving past generations Pokemon new evolutions (neverminding Sylveon) hasn't been seen since Gen 4 over a decade ago. Regional evolutions is a really neat way to bring the idea back! And in a way that grants so much more room to still be able to create future iterations. It feels like every Pokemon that has an original form that's much nicer than its evolution now has a second chance at getting a better evolution to its name.

But even so, wow this Pokemon in particular feels. Weird. Weirder than all the other Regional Evos this gen. After years on top of years on top of years of knowing Meowth evolves into Persian, not only do we get a new split evolution. But said split evolution rather than looking ANYTHING like Persian at all elects to be Bigger Meowth. The other Galarian form that turns into a split-evo, Yamask into Runerigus, you COULD reasonably mistake Runerigas for just being Galarian Cofagrigus. Which only makes Perrserker look even funnier to me from a metacontextual level. Is that just me? Might be, I dunno.

Admittedly Perrserker had to grow on me. My main turn-off was the fact that it very clearly has lost its ears, and replaced them with a metal helmet with stereotypical viking horns. It's so unsubtle they even just up and call it a “Viking Pokemon” in its classification. (Though note, vikings never actually wore helmets with horns on them due to how hilariously impracticable they are in battle. But pop culture is a powerful beast, so horned helmets be the signifier for vikings.)

And to solidify its design together, it has retractable claws, but when the claws are extended they become sword-like and merge into one. AND of course, Perrserker gets its name from Berserker, a class of viking with a particular bloodlust caused by a lack of empathy and a drunken rage. Clearly shown in how its attack animations feature its eyes rolling into the back of its head. One last little detail bringing it all together is how it has tufts of fur on its arms and legs, not unlike viking warriors who wore fur this way for obvious keep-warm reasons.

In the end, it's A LOT to get used to, and the lack of ears still puts me off somewhat. If it were me making a viking version of Meowth like this, I'd probably put ear holes ON said horns or something, but whatever. I'll probably just get used to it. But I do like the design in the end. Its face is great and is yet another Pokemon  that is unfairly called “ugly” even though that's the point of some of these things. Not all animals are pretty, cute, or cool! Some are just downright unappealing looking and that's fine.

I do also like that it's a Pokemon with a more lowkey color scheme. Not that I think the majority of Pokemon being bright and colorful is a bad thing but color schemes like these definitely feel like a minority these days.

A solid pair, overall! Certainly takes a lot of unsuspected turns, but I like that direction when approaching regional variants. It’s like a whole new flavor of Meowth!

Personal Score: 8/10

[pokefreakguide]

STEEL TYPE • FULL DRAWING • FULL GRID

Explanation: 

[LEFT] Steel reaches out in combinations where it is the primary type. The tendrils inside of Steel’s circle are combinations where Steel is the secondary type. 

[RIGHT] These are mutual combinations. IE: There’s a steel/fighting and a fighting/steel pokémon. This graphic shows all mutual relationships with steel.

The question I ask here is why does GameFreak label pokémon with primary and secondary types, and is there any significance to that? Obviously as far as gameplay is concerned there is no significance to it at all, but I think there’s some significance in the nomenclature. First:

What makes a steel type pokémon?

Steel type pokémon are usually made of metal or boast overwhelming features as hard as steel. In many, many cases, steel type pokémon are related to man made motifs; be that buildings, mechanics, or thematics. Steel in and of itself is actually an alloy not normally found in nature. I would say, in most cases, steel type is the “anti-nature type”.

Cobalion / Lucario

These pokémon share their type combinations, Cobalion being primary steel and Lucario being primary fighting. Lucario boasts a bipedal stance, a trait very common for fighting type pokémon, while Cobalion is on all fours. We will examine more about Lucario’s typing when we reach the fighting bubble. Cobalion is part of the legendary trio (quartet when Keldeo is accounted for) The Swords of Justice, who’s sole purpose is to protect pokémon. The Swords’ typing each fit in with different terrains pokémon inhabit. Virizion, grass type, (forest/grasslands), Terrakion, rock type,(mountains/deserts/caves), and Cobalion, steel type, (cities/urban settlements). The idea that Cobalion is a steel type pokémon makes most sense when put in this wording: Cobalion is a steel type pokémon that fights for pokémon.

Magearna / Zacian, Crowned Sword

It is worth noting that Magearna is one of 4 total steel/fairy type pokémon. I chose Magearna because the argument is most interesting. Magearna is a very interesting pokémon in general- an artificial body harnessing a “soul-heart”. The “soul-heart” is the purest of magical energy, reinforcing the fairy typing, however, Magearna is completely man-made. It is steel type at its roots- entirely unnatural. Its flipped counterpart, the only one, is Zacian, Crowned Sword. Zacian, Hero of Many Battles, is simply fairy type, but when donning the rusted sword, it gains the steel typing. Both Zacian and Zamazenta gain the steel typing, protecting them from the Darkest Day’s poison. They are, however, neither artificial, nor man-made, only the rusted sword and shield are. One interesting point I want to hit before I move on is Mawile. Mawile is a unique case, where, were it created now, it would be a fairy/steel as opposed to a steel fairy. It is a sprite, boasting steel features in its teeth. The fact that it is a steel/fairy pokémon is very interesting to me.

Bronzong / Solgaleo

The psychic type is an interesting type, and this example, unfortunately, does not have a good matchup. All of the steel/psychic type pokémon are made of metal or based on things made of metal. Solgaleo, however, is not “made” of psychic energy. Inversely, actually, Solgaleo’s steel typing could come from the sun being made up of iron (after hydrogen and helium)- even so, most of the sun’s heavy metals are thought to have come from asteroids, so that’s a bust. I’ve seen arguments linking the alchemical lion to steel, so its tie is most likely from that. Regardless, Bronzor and Bronzong both are not only metal in makeup, but are actually based on man-made objects- a mirror and a bell respectively. Additionally they come from a Japanese folk tale, another human creation. This means their primary steel typing is well earned.

Skarmory / Corviknight

Well... this is easily the blurriest line of them all. I have only one main argument as to why, in lore™, it makes sense for Corviknight to be primary flying. My reasoning is: Corviknight is THE flying pokémon of Gen VIII. It flies you everywhere you need to go. It’s used in Galar as a taxi, for god’s sake. It is also made of a sleek black metal, so steel is more of an afterthought. Skarmory is basically the same pokémon, but its use of flight is a bit more limited and its steel theme is more overt. Now, of course, the reason that Corviknight is primary flying type is because GameFreak finally realized that making pokémon primary flying is totally fine and nothing bad will happen if you do. The same thing happened with Cramorant. 

Aggron / Bastiodon

Oftentimes in these comparisons you’ll notice that it will boil down to theme. Aggron’s overall theme more closely resembles the steel typing than Bastiodon’s. However, in this specific case, there’s a bit of a better argument. The Aggron line consumes iron ore found in mountainsides. It is an inorganic pokémon, in most aspects, losing even its rock typing upon mega evolving. Bastiodon, however, is a living fossil. All but 7 of the 25? fossil pokémon are primary rock type- so its steel typing comes second. 

Steelix / Excadrill

Onix is a rock type pokémon with a ground secondary typing. It is made of rocks, and it lives underground. Sure. As Onix consumes metals and progresses in its life it dons a metal coating, evolving into Steelix. This coating removes the rock typing and adds the steel in its place. Excadrill, however, is a ground type pokémon with a steel helm and claws, so this relationship is very easily explained. Actually, all secondary steel typing when matched with ground is very easily explained. It usually comes down to the pokémon merely sporting some flashy steel features, yet dwelling underground.

[mochasnake]

Seemingly unpopular opinion

And I sorta hate to say it but, I really like Sword and Shield.

I came into this game expecting to hate it and honestly sort of scared to because I've literally played every gen since the beginning. With all the hate toward this one I didn't expect it.

Sure, the direction you're given is a lot more linear than past games and the dialogue is a little weird (aka Leon and Sonia telling you to continue your Gym Challenge despite literal all hell breaks loose around you) but theres a lot of things I actually like about the game.

1. The Wild Area

I love that the game suggests you back track in order to grind since the Wild Area is more full and useful for grinding levels than the routes in the game.

I also love all of the spuratic weather patterns in the wild area so theres constantly different Pokemon in certain areas.

Despite Dexit, there's a good range of Pokemon to find in the game (not just in the Wild Area). I also like that they actually made some Pokemon new and old harder to find and under certain conditions so despite their only being 400 Pokemon, there will be a little more challenge catching them all.

Pokemon chasing you is also really funny.

2. Character

Hop. Hop is actually such a good rival. He's a breath of fresh air to me from the last few gens where the rivals had little to no character development (sorry Hau). Hop goes through a literal crisis through the game, albeit watered down since it's a kids game obviously. After being beaten by Bede and being dragged down by him, he questions if even really wants to go on anymore.

The gym leaders are such fun characters! As a Shield player I enjoyed shy Allistor and Opal is honestly hilarious. Again to contrast Sun and Moon where it felt like the island kahunas didn't have much character to them other than just being there. You even get cards with their backstories!

Leon and Sonia are awesome guides as well.

3. The Pokemon

I had some strong opinions about the Pokemon designs in this gen and as did a lot of people I feel. I complained and complained that a lot of these Pokemon didn't even look like Pokemon anymore. In all reality though, that isn't even the truth. I think people started complaining more and more progressively since Black and White, but since then everyone has gotten used to the look of them. These Pokemon aren't worse than any designs we have had before, the style is just changing. It always will be.

4. Complaints

I think one of the only complaints I have aren't even about the graphics or the scale of Pokemon or whatever (I'm a simple goat. I'm used to just using my imagination for sprites and I just appreciate they were able to bring them to life in 3D). It's the pacing of the story. I feel like it could've been slowed down a bit. There's so much I'm interested in, so much I wanna know. I wanna see the build up more clearly of Sonia collecting all the evidence for a solid theory on the Darkest Day and the heroes, I wanna see Hop questioning why he's doing the Gym Challenge, I wanna see Bede's slow descent into madness as he does everything to please Rose, and I wanna see Marnie questioning whether she should take her brother's place as the gym leader or not. I also just want to see more of the gym leaders! They're such interesting characters that seem like they have a lot to say, including to each other.

I haven't finished the game yet but these are just my thoughts as I near the end of the main game. I think this game is a lot better than people want to make it out to be and it kind of breaks my heart. I know tensions have been high and building between fans and Game Freak for a while, but we don't have to rip apart one of our favourite series' because it's not up to our huge and rising expectations. Do I think that Game Freak could have done better? Yes. But do I think the fans are at fault? Yes. No ones right in all of this drama. On one hand, Game Freak needs to build themselves up for a main console system and reevaluate their system of making games but on the other, fans need to be more understanding. I know we want the best for a game series we grew up on, but hostility isn't a way to go about this at all.

Sorry for the long post but I just thought I needed to say something about the game.

Tldr, Pokemon Sword and Shield aren't that bad of games.

PS, Unpopular opinion that Inteleon is a good Pokemon.

[nenastrology]

like i dont know if ive just finally hit the like well back in my day this is what pokemon looked like even tho i only got into it much more recently and like genuinely i really love a lot of gen 7 pokemon i think because of the level of detail and like fun design elements they started to add for gen 6 and 7 because the sprites were so much more high res u kno but all the new ones are very undetailed and very smooth they look like similar to some of the uncanny elements of transferring some gen 1-2 pokemon up to the big 3d sprites but like this is the medium they were designed in why do they look this odd idk if the still visible pixels on the 3ds sprites just added nice visual texture but whatever idk like none of the pokemon look super weird or like a lil ugly theyre just idk genericly cute or massively weird looking humanoid situation im like wheres my funky bug types u kno

[tumblunni]

I had a weird dream where i was reading an alternate version of the Pokemon Adventures manga where Red had a Golbat, Pigeot and Magneton. I cant remember much of it now ive woken up but i know there were chapters highlighting those mons and giving really heartwarming bonding experiences with their trainer. There was one where i think he tried to release golbat back into a flock of golbat but it was like 'no!! I like my new golbat friends but i love you too!!' And then it continued to follow him on his journey but they still went back to visit the golbat fam sometimes.

And then for some reason i was a gym leader whose gym was battling on a rollercoaster or something? And i turned out to be the head of team plasma? Buti was dressed like giovanni's gen 1 sprite. There was some.cool scene of the hero riding a rapidash running so fast that it defied gravity and scaled the whole rollercoaster. Then i threw a 1 dimensional sprite of a rose and it crumpled up like paper and blew away.

Then i woke up.

[robinplayspokemon]

pokemon blue, day 9, part 2: saffron city

alright, well, you appear to have boots & i definitely have a tongue, so i'm pretty sure we can work something out.

what up gay nerds! so, if you're familiar with the gen 1 games you're probably thinking, "huh, you're doing that in a kind of weird order," whereas if you're more familiar with the anime you're probably thinking, "yes, that's normal." so, yeah. i'm doing things in this order basically to help line up my anime watching with what i'm doing in the game, because i'm a fucking nerd.

anyway, yeah! this resulted in me having my second confrontation with team rocket, this time at the silph co headquarters, quite early in my play. i needed to beat them to get their grunts to stop guarding the doors to many buildings around the city, most notably the saffron city gym.

before i really got going with this, though, i picked the ball up from daycare and evolved him to electrode before releasing him. pokedex is gettin' pretty full!

but yeah, the rockets were a lot better at being threatening & making me feel some kinda way this time.

delicious.

oh and just before the final fight, you run into a dude who randomly gives you one of the coolest pokemon, lapras!

after defeating giovanni a second time to rescue the ceo of a large corporation (yeah, i know, i'm not a fan of it either but i can't continue the game without doing it) i left with a master ball that's got mewtwo's name on it, and i was able to take on the saffron city gym!

... but which one???

yeah, so, there's a fighting dojo in saffron city that used to be an official gym but was effectively put out business by sabrina's psychic gym. beating them gives you a choice between hitmonchan & hitmonlee, i picked hitmonchan both because i like him better and because i had a better name for him (kit fisto).

theoretically spooky should've been a beast in sabrina's gym, but due to the coding issue he was actually basically useless? i was also a bit underleveled since the game expects you to have already faced two other gyms (!!!) by this point. but yeah, i nevertheless managed to make my way through and earn the marsh badge!

(also, what is with this game giving every sprite a whip??? is it trying to distract me???)

with my fourth badge secured, i set my sights on celadon city!

[paintsplattere]

One of the things I love about pokemon is shinies. The concept is FASCINATING to me, and I can’t help but want to collect them. I’m well on my way to a living shiny dex on my Ultra Sun cartridge, having moved pokemon up from pokemon X, Y, ORAS, Sun, and Moon to it, and I’m real proud of my collection. 

But sometimes...

Gamefreak and Nintendo have some WEIRD decisions for what constitutes a Good Shiny. I direct you to the official shiny forms of Garchomp, Igglybuff, Flabebe, and many others that suffer from ‘looks exactly like the normal form, but a SLIIIIIIGHTLY different hue’ shinies.

I thought to myself, ‘well, if I were in charge, what colors would I pick for a shiny?’ And... well... There are more where this is coming from.

Read more under the cut to see explanations behind the color choices of this line of pokemon.

Bulbasaur is a fascinating pokemon in a lot of ways, and so is the rest of the line. The first pokemon for a lot of categories -- first pokemon in the dex, first grass type, first poison type, first dual-typed pokemon in the dex, intriguing design and an evolution line that is just amazing and makes sense to watch unfold as you train one.

Bulbasaur wasn’t my first pick in a starter -- that’s Squirtle -- but that’s because at the time, I was working off of anime impressions and the rather... intriguing sprites from Gen 1. But as time went on, I found myself loving the doofy froggy-dino-plant.

But one thing I see overlooked about the line is that it’s not JUST a grass type. It’s ALSO a poison type. So with that in mind, I was aiming for a more ‘exotic’ or ‘alien’ angle on the already strange pokemon.

From a lime-green and darker green, Bulbasaur gets a lavender and dark mint color, with deep magenta eyes. 

Ivysaur goes from that same lime-darkgreen and a light goldeny-butter yellow to a bright blue-violet color, and desaturated teal, the flower being a lavender shade. 

Venusaur was the most fun of the bunch in both forms. I wanted to go from ‘softer, pastel’ in the prior forms through the line, culminating in the vibrant colors in Mega Venusaur. So to make the change stand out, I went with a dark plum color, teal leaves, and a violet bloom on normal Venusaur, and then for Mega Venusaur, I wanted the leaves to really stand out, so I made them a bright teal and soft blue, with the flower getting a bit more saturated in tone, while the plum color gets a bit redder, to make the violet of the flower look more violent and toxic. 

The whole line tries to follow a theme of ‘growing poisonous’ and getting more colorful to reflect their toxicity. Going from gentler and pastel tones to saturated and bright tones makes things feel like it’s ‘improving’ in form, rather than staying that one-note lime-and-green.

In terms of drawing this was fun! I’ve never actually drawn Venusaur or Mega Venusaur so that was a new experience. Ivysaur has a smiley face because I cannot recall ever seeing a HAPPY Ivysaur in sprites or official artwork, he’s always got that grumpy lil frown.

[canadianangstaplaysgames]

The recently uncovered group of unused Pokemon from the Gold and Silver demo have really peaked my interest. They open a lot of questions, their whole existence is stuck in the void between being official and unofficial, “The Lost Pokemon”, if you will. So, what I’ve decided to do is group up a bunch that I really liked, or found interesting to say the least, and decided to write a little thing on why I liked them. (names and sprites are from The Cutting Room Floor, I can’t recommend that website enough if you’re into this kind of thing, also sorry if I got any wrong)

Haneei - It’s type and design all point towards being an early version of Mantine, and don’t get me wrong, I like Mantine, but this old design looks so cool, or unique to say the least. I love the black and white thing it has going, as well as the downright sinister face printed on its back.

Manboo 1, Ikari and Gurotesu - A line of water types that were all completely unused, all three have very interesting designs, though I will admit all three remind me of Gen. III Pokemon; Manboo 1 has a body shape similar to Carvanha, and it evolving into a shark Pokemon strengthens the connection even more. Gurotesu, meanwhile, makes me think of Huntail, mostly its eyes and mouth. Gurotesu also reminds me somewhat of an anglerfish, connecting it to Chinchou and Lanturn.

Hinaazu - An apparent baby form of Doduo. What puzzles me is it having three heads, like Dodrio, while Doduo only has two, meaning a head would disappear, then grow back... perhaps why it was scrapped? Also, I can’t be the only one who’s had the idea of a baby Doduo being a smaller, shorter, one headed Doduo, called Dodo or Doduno or something.

Tsuinzu - Some sort of weird, gemini ghost thing that evolved into Giragarig. It’s design is simple, but I like the concept.

Girafarig - This one is actually one people knew about for a long time, crude artwork of it exists. I’ve always liked this design more, not that I dislike its final one.

Koonya - A baby Meowth, and man is it so adorable. Its facial features kind of remind me of Skitty, so maybe it was scrapped, but redesigned and reused, as Skitty has a number of similarities to Meowth.

Rinrin and Berurun - More kitties! These two are probably my favorite two of the unused Pokemon, Rinrin is so cute, and Berurun manages to look threatening and adorable at the same time. People say they’re supposed to be early versions of Purrloin and Liepard, but aside from being two-stage Dark-type cats with similar colors, I don’t really see the similarities, I think they’re completely different Pokemon with no connection, all similarities being coincidental and unintentional, but who knows. On another note, their type and appearance lead me to believe they were supposed to be counterparts to Houndour and Houndoom, but again, who knows.

Haneko, Poponeko, Wataneko - Early version of Hoppip’s evolution, I think they’re really cute. They also remind me of that little cat mascot from Lucky Star.

Rippu - I’m not a particularly big fan of Jynx and Smoochum, but I don’t hate them. I personally like this early Smoochum design, I think it looks like a small, cute version of Jynx, more than its final design. Who knows, maybe if A. They had used this design and B. It got a cool looking evolution in the vein of Electivire and Magmortar, I’d like the evolution more. But regardless, this thing is adorable.

Tsubomitto - What is this thing... it’s so bizarre, I can’t stop looking at it. A branched evolution for Weepinbell, similar to how Gloom received one. In the end, I guess only one got to keep their second evolution, but can you imagine, modern 3D models and artworks of this thing... so weird...

Kyonpan - I’m not too ecstatic about pandas (they’re fine, I’m just not obsessed with them like some people are), but I love Jiangshi, and this Jiangshi Panda is pretty cool looking. It has a pre-evolution which I don’t care too much for, but Kyonpan is really cool in my eyes.

Murkrow - A slight difference from its final design, but still, I like it.

Sui - An early version of Suicune, just look at this thing. It looks so sad, can you imagine it on the boxart of Pokemon Crystal. It looks kind of disheveled, but it has a sort of grace to it. 

These Pokemon are all really interesting, I wonder if Game Freak will ever revisit them. Though I didn’t feature any, there were a few that would end up, in some form or another, appearing in Generation IV, like a baby version of Mr. Mime and a Grass-type Eeveelution. Overall, I’m immensely interested in these Pokemon, and wonder if we’ll get anything like it in the future. That is all, for now, see you later.

[nuzblog]

November 21st, 2017

This is the second of two new entries, which were at one point slated to be one entry. I’m glad they weren’t, since both of them got long as hell. I blame the fact that I’m also chipping my way through a 7 hour video essay on Pokemon for my long windedness. If you don’t remember the one where I caught a Drowzee, I recommend scrolling down. Now’s also a good time to remind you that it’s possible to read the entire thing chronologically, by clicking... well, any word in this sentence, how about. Also the Pokedex in the sidebar.

Now seems as good a time as any to mention what I forgot to in my admitted rush to finish the prior entry - while grinding up Baku, I was also hanging out with friends, and finally actually did the damn thing: Moschops was traded for a Kakuna, and then traded back, evolving it to its final form. This is the second time in my lifetime of playing Pokemon that I've actually used the evolved form of a trade evolution, and the first is my Alolan Golem in Sun which I am still not actually finished with yet, largely due to this playthrough superceding it as a priority in my mind, and also because, maybe it's just me but that game's pacing really falls off by the time you're on Poni Island. Not that it was really well paced to begin with, but-- oh, bugger, I'll save this all for when I nuzlocke that game. Uh. If I get there. Maybe I'll be so put off by how much I hate 2nd Gen that I'll simply not get to 3rd. (That's probably not true, I love 3rd Gen so much, I'll slog through garbage to get to it.)

Anyway yeah, I have rad friends and I love them very much and so I have a Machamp now. Weird! I've used Machoke before, but never actually Machamp.

Blaine's gym is the next one, and I actualy have notes on it beyond "the gym trainers were easy." As the series progresses, gyms will become more elaborate - here, they're just. Walk in a straight line, walk in a straight line and then turn left, rifle through some garbage, cut some trees, follow an "invisible" path, just choose a teleport tile and pray, and the two I'm about to knock out back to back.

Blaine's gym is really weird. I definitely understand what they were going for, but it turned out super strange. So Blaine is like, this researcher professor guy, like not quite Pokemon Professor but he knows his shit and wears a lab coat sometimes and the works. So his gym is a quiz. There's these quiz machines that ask you a question that varies from bafflingly simple, such as "does Caterpie evolve into Butterfree", to just plain baffling, either due to strange wording or ambiguous wording. Like... on the one hand they are clearly meant to test your knowledge that you've gained as you adventured, since you're essentially at endgame territory here. But Blaine isn't the kind of professor that seems to legitimately want to test your knowledge, oh no, his questions seem purposely worded to confuse. For example, the first one, "Caterpie evolves into Butterfree?" On the one hand, yes, one of Caterpie's evolutions is Butterfree... but at the same time, Caterpie DOESN'T evolve into Butterfree. Caterpie evolves into Metapod, and Metapod evolves into Butterfree. The correct answer is yes, but it's not technically accurate. Another question asks if Poliwag evolves thrice, which is false, it evolves twice, but it's easy to count each form - Poliwag, Poliwhirl and Poliwrath - and assume that that matches up with the "3" in the question. Also, in what I can only assume to be translation error, one question manages to not only refer to the Electric type as "Thunder", but also refers to types as "element-types". Super weird.

Anyway, I did all the trivia and also fought all the trainers. Used to Firered, I find the lack of unique overworld sprites for the gym leaders interesting. I didn't even realize it was Blaine I was next to until I saw that there was no quiz machine behind him. Of course, with my Nessie and Cingu, the gym is no issue at all. I brink Moschops in too for his rock move, and Wakinyan just in case things got hairy, which they did not - I beat him handily.

Speaking of being beaten handily, the final gym has this mystery behind it, but I appreciate that before you are face to face with his widow's peaked mug, you have every opportunity to guess that the final gym leader is Giovanni of Team Rocket. The "Champ in the making!" dude tells you he uses ground types - and Giovanni, excepting his Kangaskhan, uses Nidoqueens and Rhyhorns and such consistently. That, and the puzzle here is the same pushing tiles that were used in the Rocket Hideout - I guess he likes those things? I know we encounter them in the hideout before the gym, but I like to think that it's the other way around. We don't get as much backstory on Giovanni as I'd like, but I like to imagine that he was a perfectly legitimate gym leader before starting Team Rocket, and he used the puzzle tiles the Pokemon League provided for him in his top secret casino hideout just cause they were the same kind of puzzle he liked enough to put in his gym.

As for fighting him... it's a joke. I was a little nervous going in about his powerful last 'mon and its Fissure, but... it's got 30% accuracy and I outspeed it anyway. Giovanni is defeated, this time for the last time. In this game - and this was removed in the remakes since it is counter to his characterization in his later appearances - if you speak to him after beating him, he says he is giving up on crime for good in order to research Pokemon. I think that's compelling and, again, hints at something a little more earnest in his past and in his motivations. Allow me to extrapolate for a moment here: Team Rocket's goals, in the anime and in the games, are consistent: find and capture rare Pokemon by any means necessary. In this game, they are first found in Mt. Moon, where rare Pokemon fossils can be found that can be resurrected at Cinnabar Island; then, the Silph Scope is recovered from them in Celadon, which is used primarily to be able to observe Ghost Pokemon in the Pokemon Tower, where they can also be found holding one of the region's well known Pokemon caretakers hostage. After that, they are in Silph Co., a powerful organization that has manufactured the Master Ball, which can be used to catch any Pokemon with perfect success. While the grunts may be using common Pokemon like Zubat and Rattata, the big boss has typically got Rhyhorn, Kangaskhan, and Nidoqueen, all Pokemon that are either only or most commonly accessible by way of the Safari Zone, where rarer Pokemon are sequestered for preservation.

What if Giovanni's real purpose is to study these rare Pokemon? Not money, nor pride, but simply the pursuit of knowledge? Taken to extremes, sure, but perhaps from his perspective, the real crime is holding these creatures away from researchers (which, as seen in Silph Co., Team Rocket also employs) that can learn more about them. Bam. There's my wild theory of the week.

Anyway yeah I went in without Wakinyan and just wrecked up his face. Hard not to, with Lapras and Penthes and Moschops and Baku. Cingu didn't do much, nor did he need to.

Speaking of Cingu, I then taught him Fissure. Now, normally, I would pretty much ignore OHKO moves. I mean, it'd be fun to give it to Moschops, but since all transferred Pokemon have their hidden abilities, it still would not be a Fissure/No Guard Machamp, so there's no point to that - instead, I gave it to the faster Cingu, after a bit of research. You see, I did not realize until around 24 hours prior to the time of this writing when I has beaten Giovanni's gym that the X Accuracy was changed in Gen 3. In Gen 3 onwards, which are the only generations I've played extensively, the X Accuracy is a very situationally useful item in a set of items that are essentially like Hardens, Howls, and Focus Energys that you can pay for. Those same moves aren't really that useful either, since far better moves like Swords Dance and Agility are just plain better versions of them. X Accuracy is probably the best of the set since it actually increases your own accuracy by a stage, allowing the effects of moves like the obnoxious Sand Attack or Minimize to be negated or at least mitigated... but since the overwhelming majority of attacks hit 100% of the time, and if you've been sand attacked then using the X Accuracy only gives them another chance to fling sand in your face, the usefulness is not exactly on the level of say, Potions and Pokeballs.

Except, things are a little different in Gen 1. You see, when an X Accuracy is used on a Pokemon in battle in Gen 1, it makes all of its moves hit perfectly every time until it is switched out or fainted. All of them, bypassing accuracy checks a la Swift, which I believe means it isn't even able to fall prey to the dreaded 1/256 glitch, which makes 100% accuracy moves miss one out of every 256 times. Including one hit KO moves like Fissure. (As a side note, this may also be handy with Thunder, which has only 70% accuracy - if it becomes a perfect hit then I'm far more confident of Wakinyan's ability to sweep Lorelei, at the least.)

Which, obviously, is ridiculous. Of course, Fissure only has 5 PP... but I've also not used a single one of the limited Ethers, Elixirs, etc. that the game provides. And with the exception of Dingus, every member of the Elite 4 has 5 Pokemon. (Of course, almost all of them also have a Flying type, and I'm sure SOME of them will outspeed Cingu, which should make Fissure fail regardless.) So like... basically, it's completely busted but fuck me if I'm not gonna take advantage of it. I'm already taking advantage of how busted Slash is. Honestly I'm gonna be sad to push Cingu through the Bank, since it's gonna go from utterly disgustingly broken to like... a normal Pokemon, basically.

Anyway then I slept, woke up, and played more Pokemon.

Now, at this point, I could go to Victory Road. But. Some unfinished business first! The Seafoam Islands are a fairly simple dungeon, with a Strength boulder dropping puzzle that's fairly memorable. Also there's a bird at the end. I murdered this bird, since I couldn't catch it. It actually brought Moschops to fairly low health. Serves me right for trying to use my 4x effective move that just happens to be on my "weak to flying" Pokemon.

NOW I'm ready for Victory Road, except for the fact that I absolutely forgot that there was a rival fight on Route 22 as you're headed for the Pokemon League. I was all healed up anyway, and I don't need to box anyone since he's got 6 Pokemon by now (but apparently no Fire Stones, lol - really, still Growlithe?), but I was still caught off guard, which I'm sure is the point.

Moschops handles Pidgeot and Rhyhorn, which hurts bad enough to switch him for Wakinyan, who, not gonna lie, is basically literally only here to OHKO this Gyarados. Nessie beats Growlithe but Alakazam puts it to 40 health, the lowest any of my Pokemon has been in a long while. Baku has the psychic resistance, so he finishes off Alakazam and then hits Venusaur for super effective damage, but I switch back to Wakinyan to finish him off.

I heal at home and NOW I'm actually going towards Victory Road.

First though, I run around in the grass on Route 23 for a wee bit before realizing that the only Pokemon I can find there are Sandslash/shrew, Sp/Fearow, or Ditto, all of which I still have living. I then think to fish, but I don't have my rod with me. Ah well, can't be arsed.

Victory Road! It's a road made of victory!! Let's see what EXCITING NEW POKEMON await us in this, our final dungeon of the-- oh. Zubat. It's a Zubat. I just caught another Zubat. ts name is Desmod, but it might as well be... Box 1. Cause that's where it'll be living. (Actually Box 2 though, I think.)

The dungeon here isn't actually that tough. The encounter rate is high enough that I got annoyed and put up some repels, but all that'll do is make grinding go a bit faster because you KNOW I'm not gonna fight the Elite 4 until everyone's AT LEAST Level 50. The trainers in here, to their credit, are reasonably tough. One Tamer in particular hurt me pretty bad with his sequence of Psychic types. I tried not to leave too often, since, at the very least, doing so would reset puzzle progress and drain max repels, but I did after this dude. Dig still takes me near Rock Tunnel. I literally haven't healed anywhere other than home since Rock Tunnel, lol. That'll change soon, I bet.

While here, I battled Moltres, the last of three legendary birds. As promised, I'll now discuss my thoughts on legendaries, because I quite frankly think that they're ruddy genius... in this game, and less so increasingly as the series progresses.

In this game, there are 4 legendary Pokemon - the three legendary birds and Mewtwo. Mew is a mythical and I'll talk about those another time, but legendaries are a distinct thing. In this game, despite all being birds except for the edgy one for whatever dumb reason, they are absolutely fantastically executed. Pokemon is a game that revels in boss fights - most routes have the strongest trainer strategically positioned last in a route, sometimes actively obstructing progress. Your rival shows up to fight you a total of eight times counting his final fight, which comes as a surprise at the end of the long foreshadowed gauntlet of four big bosses fought one after another with no Pokemon Centers inbetween, Team Rocket's leader fights you twice before being the last of eight town-based bosses themed around the elements, and that's not even counting optional bosses like the Karate King. However, all of these fights have something in common - they're all trainer fights.

While the distinction between trainer battles and wild Pokemon battles is not one that DRASTICALLY effects gameplay, it is one that exists. While the core principles are the same, two integral things about wild battles that are core to how they are approached are simply not options in trainer battles: running, and throwing Poke Balls. You can't steal people's Pokemon, but you can catch wild ones, and on occasion that capture is harder than most battles.

As such, legendary Pokemon are essentially the "wild Pokemon" answer to gym leaders. While gym leaders are a tough fight against a smart(ish) trainer with strong Pokemon, a legendary Pokemon is strong and, more importantly, very very hard to capture. I want to be clear, defeating these legendaries is not the hard part. I didn't actually do these bosses as they are intended to be fought, since I killed Moltres and Articuno and I used my Master Ball on Zapdos. But, had I gone the traditional route, I could have been spending 30+ Ultra Balls on EACH of them, and having to be so careful not to kill it or let it kill itself, or to let it kill any of my Pokemon. And this is a serious challenge! And THIS is what legendary Pokemon are for. They are out of the way, optional, very challenging, but rewarding intrinsically, because if you DO do the hard thing and catch them, then you have a powerful Pokemon you can use now. This is in opposition to the extrinsic reward of defeating a gym leader for a badge that allows you to train traded Pokemon to a higher level, to use HMs out of battle, to slightly increase stat growth, or whatever else. Getting handed something for winning a fight is great and makes sense... but with the legendaries, the fight is getting the damn things to stay in a ball, and the reward is the same as the reward for throwing a Poke Ball at a Rattata on Route 1: now you HAVE IT.

Of course... nothing stays good forever. In Gen 2, they introduce roaming legendaries. This is a different type of boss fight that takes place over the course of several fights, and is generally agreed to be way more of an obnoxious pain in the ass without actually being that innovative or fun. Instead of doing a cool dungeon that's hidden away and then fighting through your increasing worry to press onwards rather than resetting... an event flag happens in the story, and then you get to run aroung and do chip damage to a big cat or dog or something.

In Gen 3, for the first time, legendary Pokemon, rather than being hidden and out of the way, are thrust firmly in your face. This is the beginning of a change but, at least it's still a big lump of pain to actually capture Kyogre, Groudon or Rayquaza. While this gen also starts the trend of having more legendaries than it knows what to do with, it also makes up for it by having the most esoteric, "Mew is under the truck" type garbage puzzles in the whole series to get the golem-based Regis.

After this, things go bad quick. Starting in Gen 5 and continuing onwards, even being awkwardly shoehorned into the remakes of Gen 3, legendaries go from something you can seek out if you fancy a challenge or are a collector or want the power that comes with them... to being something that's literally handed to you on a silver platter, and that the game will not progress unless you acquire. This is bad and sucks. We'll get to it later.

Speaking of getting to things later. Next time, I guess... will be the Elite Four. After that, assuming I succeed, I'm gonna do some wrap up stuff. I do want to make some posts on here that aren't simply entries, talking about my overall opinion of Gen 1, my experience with nuzlocking it, and also discussing my opinions on some of the Pokemon found therein, which I will generally try to keep positive, since every Pokemon is someone's favorite and it's better to praise something that someone else might not have thought twice about than it is to criticize something that someone else might love. I may give a passing mention to which Pokemon appeal to me the least, but I would say that there are no Pokemon that I think are completely awful or unworthy of Being A Pokemon. (Also that gap will give me the time to finish Sun and buy an Ultra game which, given that MOST people I know who bought Moon were boring and then also bought Ultra Moon rather than buying Ultra Sun which I would think to make sense, will probably be Ultra Sun cause like, then I can trade my Blacephalon for their Stakataka or whatevs.) And then after that... Gen 2.

So, yeah. This has been an experiment so far and I'm really happy with how it has turned out. I look forward, not just to playing but also to writing each installment, and ideally, you look forward to reading them, even if they are uploaded at really weird times.

I'm gonna update the sidebar when I wake up in the... afternoon. Working overnights weirds time.

[inikavulpixelreviews]

Let’s Talk About Pokemon - Gen 3 Recap

Throughout the Gen 1 years and most of Gen 2's, Pokemon had a dominant grasp on the world of children's entertainment. By the time the excitement of Pokemon's first expansion pack in the form of Gold and Silver had died down, Pokemon's popularity had considerably deflated. Maybe a harsh exaggeration; we are of course between the 21st and 22nd years of Pokemon's ongoing history with it still running pretty strong after all. But after Gen 1 and 2, Gen 3 had a lot to prove. Was Pokemon more than just a fluke?

Gen 3 ended up taking a lot of mixed reception from returning fans. Gen 2 had introduced plenty of features, namely a day and night cycle and ingame events that happen based on the time of day. Gen 3 had done away with these, which led to raised eyebrows. And not only this, but Gen 3's Pokemon left a bad taste in the fandom's mouth. And it's likely because the manner of designing Pokemon had changed for Gen 3. Gen 1 and 2 had a considerably smaller team of Pokemon designers compared to these days. Gen 3 notably expanded the team, so it'd make sense that Gen 3 feels like something of an experimental period, with large numbers of the designs taking Pokemon into a different direction in terms of art style. Just take a good look at some of the more visually distinct Pokemon in this lineup. A lot of them like Slakoth, Pelipper, and Shedinja are really toying with the Pokemon art style to see what they can and can’t get away with.

And I'm sure another part of it is the GBA lifting a lot of limitations from the Gameboy games. Lots more colors, more intricate designs thanks to the bigger sprites. And with such a sharp turn in art style like that, it's sure to lose a few people along the way. And as much as I like Gen 3, I can admit there's plenty of Pokemon in there that look like they lacked the polish of some other Generations. What I can give it credit for is that, I feel there was a lot more effort put into these Pokemon here than ever was in Gen 2. If Gen 3's short on anything, it's definitely not character. I only need one hand to count the Pokemon that are mostly lacking in character. Even some of the designs I dislike have personality to them.

And I'd say that's definitely the strength of having a bigger team of designers for something like Pokemon. There's a lot of variety to pick from, so people of all tastes have something to latch onto. I can look at a good 95% of these Pokemon and see what someone may see in them, why someone may tell me Spinda, Nosepass, or even Barboach of all things is their favorite Pokemon. It definitely put forth a good show for newcomers and old fans alike. It may have suffered here and there, but I'll easily take “usually great, occasionally stumbles” for the nice, super-varied bunch of monsters we got out of it.

Top 10 Favorites of Gen 3:

Since I didn't really have a neat place in the first few paragraphs to put this, I'll just say it here. Gen 3, of all the childhood Pokemon games, is the Generation I have the most nostalgic value for. I drew most of the Pokemon here over and over again because I was so madly in love with them. Heck, I think this was the Generation where the very first shimmerings of my Topaz and Amethyst Fakemon started to pop up, because Gen 3′s had a lot of influence on my monster design style as I started to develop to like making my own monsters.

It was tough trying to narrow things down to just 10. But here it is. It had to be Latias on top. It's about all my dragon-aesthetics in one Pokemon. Somehow. Sceptile's my man. And I couldn't not have Shedinja in here. Shedinja's a creativity highlight for the entire series, man. As somebody who’s made a hobby out of creating Fakemon myself, I’m eternally left jealous I’ll never come up with something as genius as Shedinja.

Favorites so far:

Oh my, uhhhh. Rip Gen 2, I guess. Yeah, Gen 3 made a much bigger dent in this than Gen 2 did, huh? I know that isn't saying much since I've said Gen 2's a bit “meh” for me, but still.

Given two of those Pokemon have a lot of nostalgic value to me; Latias and Sceptile, it's maybe no surprise they wound up finally dethroning 2nd place Ninetales.

Bottom 10 Least Favorites of Gen 3:

Yeah, I'm not too surprised with which Pokemon I harshed on this generation. I about expected to not find a lot that I personally like about any of these. I'll grant, Grumpig-onwards, my biggest problem is their designs are just a little meh.

Least Favorites so far:

Hey, we finally bumped off all the Pokemon that were just “meh” to me! That's still plenty of Gen 1's Pokemon in there though. We'll see how much that changes the later we go on.

The Cutest:

Again, no surprises here. Whenever something was exceptionally cute, I did my best to point it the hell out.

The Coolest/Most Badass:

Not too tough a contest, but Gen 3's still left me spoiled for choice here. Honorable mentions out to Salamence, Kyogre, and all three Regis.

The Prettiest:

Yeah, a bit of overlap, but oh well. Absol's DeviantArt: The Pokemon, so it can get away with being both badass and “pretty.”

The Spookiest:

Yeeees. YEEEES. YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEESSSS.

I’m 13 days late but I do NOT even care

God. FINALLY. There's enough Pokemon of this flavor to justify having this category! I love me some Halloween aesthetic, and Pokemon of this category are gonna be ones that scratch that itch the most. And boy do Shedinja, Duskull, and Cacturne alone got me covered just by themselves. Then there's the other three! Hell... yes. Honorable mentions out to Sableye, Mawile, and Claydol.

Most Creative:

More like the Shedinja awards, am I right? But for real, this was actually a pretty tough pick. There's a bunch of Pokemon that are just plain out there, it's hard to just narrow them down to just 6.

Weirdest/Most Unique:

So I put some of them here as honorable mentions.

I still can't get over Tropius though. What the hell.

Most Forgettable:

Not that any of these are that bad really. Just, a lot of them lack a thing or two that lets them stand out.

Most Under-Appreciated:

Okay, I swear, last time Shedinja's gonna be on here. But yeah, there's plenty of Pokemon in this Generation that attract all sorts of ire. And others that are overlooked but just plain deserve a little more praise than they usually get. Then there's Luvdisc. I really don't care for Luvdisc all that much but. Man, so much hate for such an inoffensive Pokemon.

Summing Up Gen 3 in 6 Pokemon:

There's plenty of Pokemon from Gen 3 that have a lot more exotic color schemes than the previous generations. There's plenty of “animal but badassified” types like Blaziken and Armaldo. Then there's the occasional oddball like Tropius or Gulpin thrown in that are just plain weird, but fun that they're weird. All combining for an overall tropical feel. Perhaps Armaldo's interchangeable for Kecleon.

My Gen 3 Team:

Okay, this is when I start to remember my teams a lot more vividly. And I guess it helps that Gen 3 is also very nostalgic for me, let alone this was the very first time I bothered to level up all my Pokemon to Level 100. (How many double-A batteries have I murdered in cold blood to do that? The world may never know.) Honorable Mention to Metagross and Latias. They were “Team members”, but only in the postgame, since that's the only part where you can get them.

And then there's my Alpha Sapphire team. Yeah, it's kinda filled with Pokemon that only get good in the long haul, like Milotic and Flygon. But boy getting them was worth it. I enjoyed finally getting to use a Milotic after having admired its design for so long.

The “Better than Their Evolutions” Club:

Yeah, it just feels like there's more of these this Generation than most. At least enough to where the prevo is notably better than the evo.

...And that's it for Gen 3! The between-generation break might be on the extended side. Personal things, and some may have noticed tumblr went and broke my archive page. So I gotta sit down and fix that at some point, preferably before I start Gen 4. Until then!

[Archive]

[doubleddenden]

Another Sprite dump including new ones and a couple of improved ones

A character from my Quasar side project I never uploaded. Professor Redwood isn't your regional professor but was the mentor to Prof Poinciana, the younger girl that gives you your starter. He just kinds of leaves her high and dry to go pursue something scientifically important to him, that being related to an ancient war and ruins associated with it. He's eccentric, weird, and always eager to try new experiments.

The Fairy: Frecesta. I thought about remaking her, but I liked her initial design too much to really change too much, so all I did was update colors for her. She looks a lot better than she used to, imo. Anyway, Frecesta is the champion of the Electrifying Electivire Guild (related to my last Sprite dump) and employs tactics designed to halt pokemon in their place by means of confusion, infatuation, sleep, etc, and generally waits them out with something like a Toxic stall or similar. She is a bit haughty and uptight, and definitely thinks she's a princess of some kind and practically demands to be spoiled. She didn't get to where she was with an annoying personality alone, she's definitely got skills to back it up and gives even Dade a hard time. Her ace is Rhibombee.

Kayla: she's Kasey's younger sister and is very spazzy and hyper, maybe a bit bubbly and airheaded. She's definitely got a good heart and tries her best to get along with everyone. In the past, I had her written as a love interest for the mc, but over the years I started appreciating him and Kasey more. In any case she looks up to Van and is a huge fan of his and practically every up and coming top tier trainer on the island. Her ace is Furret.

Edward: aka Ed, he was initially based on an irl friend of mine growing up, so I had a lot of design influences from said friend. His rivalry and best friendship with Van mirrored my and my friend's friendship and our goal to consistently crush the other and claim the title as the superior rival. As the years passed, Ed kind of became his own character next to Van as a somewhat underdog type that's sure of his strength and a bit cocky, and is strong enough to give some elite trainers a run for their money. Even though Van has recently left him in the dust, Ed still considers himself Van's number 1 rival since they did receive their first pokemon on the same day and set out from Aspertia City in Unova on the same day as well. Ed's got two Aces: his Starter, Serperior, carefully bred by a breeder to have the rare ability Contrary; and Charizard, which he usually mega evolves to X in battle.

I'm feeling rather nostalgic now. These were fun times while I was still in high school around the beginning of Gen 5. It was suddenly cool to play pokemon in class again and my friend and I quite regularly battled, always ending each battle with "This isn't over," a phrase we still use to this day. I still remember beating him with my team so much that he got mad, trounced me with a better team, and then I made a competetive team with perfect IV'S to trounce his... sure they weren't obtained the most legal way possible, but they were legal as if I had spent the hundreds of hours I would've wasted just to have the same result.

Our rivalry continues to this day and I'm currently still sore from losing the last time in gen 6. Once he gets back from deployment, I plan on battling him again to settle the score once more, as a proper rival should.

Anyway, I'll be working on maybe 3 or 4 more. I'm definitely wanting to reboot that story and try again from an experienced amateur writer's mindset now and not just cringey teenage self insert fan fics.