#Gui plays Pokemon HGSS

[helladventurers]

God even now as an adult i get intimidated by the idea of exploring the whirlpool islands 💀 i can't even say why, but as a kid i hated the place, to the point i learned the quickest way to get to Lugia and leave without having to spend any extra second there

[aqqleshiqqing-archive]

I'M NOT READY I TAKE BACK WHAT I SAID IM NOT READYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY

[roseddraws]

Heart Gold protag but tomboy?!

[oofuri2003]

watching a video on pokemon gold n silver vs heart gold and soul silver and. gen 4 you will always be perfect and famous <3

[raepritewrites]

it is probably very obvious I'm a filthy pokemon casual when I say I died like 5 times to Pryce in HG/SS because I didn't know Piloswines typing and didn't want to look it up at first.. it also probably does not help my case that my team consists of croconaw, togetic, ampharos, onix, growlithe, and weepinbell all of which were lvl 30 or under (not to mention 3 of those pokemon require an evolution stone that I can't get until I'm given the national dex, so good job me)

Tldr: light screen was my friend in that battle, and I heal stalled until I finally won, but hey results are results right? Now on to foiling team rocket

[volo-omnia]

PLA and DPPt: The Great Plate Anomaly and Bridging the Gap Between Generations

The Pokemon series has quite the level of world building. With the series currently in its 9th generation and the Indigo Disc DLC releasing very soon, there's no shortage of lore in this colorful Nintendo staple. While each game individually may build a world within the confines of its own region, how well does Pokemon world building hold up between games?

While some of the remakes of previous generations tend to revise mechanics like the inclusion of the Fairy type, Pokemon Legends Arceus takes a different approach to the remake formula where it sends the player to past events from the well-beloved Sinnoh region. While fans analyze which NPCs were ancestors to their beloved blorbos and the questionable lack of animation in this game, it left me wondering: does the lore of PLA even hold up to the original Pokemon Diamond/Pearl/Platinum games?

(Disclaimer: This analysis will only take a small glance at continuity related to the canon and requirements to catching Arceus, as well as what role the plates and azure flute played between both generations. This also won't take into account theories regarding multiple universes or timelines. This analysis also doesn't take into account the Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl games because, well, who gives a shit about those ones.)

Let's take a brief look at PLA. Upon its release it became the first game that put Arceus in the forefront of its title, as in previous generations the only way to obtain the mythical pokemon was through long-gone events and cheats. (Even with the release of BDSP, which did allow the player to capture Arceus any time, it would only be allowed if....the player already caught Arceus in PLA?)

The requirements were fairly straightforward. Capture every pokemon in the region, obtain all 18 plates to create the azure flute, get into some minor conflicts with the local politics, stop the world from ending, and fight blonde guys with god complexes.

Pretty straightforward.

Now a quick look back to DPPt. The requirements to capture Arceus in the original gen 4 games are....esoteric at best. While one would assume the plates have the same power in obtaining the azure flute, Arceus had for the longest time been restricted to an event-only pokemon, as the original azure flute event was never actually officially released. While HGSS had a special Arceus event, it was reported to only activate if the player had the azure flute from DPPt. Which would be hard, on account that the azure flute technically didn't exist.

This appears to be the first revision by the developers, as the plates appear to have little to no importance in relation to Arceus- well, aside from using it as a held item to changing its type. This is possibly the only similarity the plates hold in regards to function. (I will not be counting the Legend plate introduced in PLA, as that plate is only given after obtaining the azure flute and as such, doesn't count.) As far as the player is concerned the azure flute may as well as fallen from the heavens, as the flute was simply a distributive mystery gift event.

What importance does all of this information hold? Well, what if I told you that this inconsistency actually fixes the canon retroactively?

Taking into consideration the history in regards to Arceus and its official game releases and appearances, we can come to the fair conclusion that the Arceus event in DPPt was never canon. Since the player character never had an official means to capture Arceus, the azure flute was never obtained; and as such Arceus never came down from the heavens.

.....but the player in DPPt technically didn't have all the plates, did they?

Remember that in PLA, there are specifically 18 plates. Do you remember how many there are back in DPPt?

There's only 16.

You see with the release of PLA, Gamefreak decided to include the Pixie plate and the Blank plate. This, retroactively, fixes the event discrepancy. It would actually make sense that the player character in DPPt wouldn't be able to obtain the azure flute, because you technically didn't have all the plates! You were missing two of the ones required to create it, and as such you didn't meet all the requirements to call Arceus down.

This unfortunately however, is where the uniformity ends. While the overall theme with the plates was loosely tied between generations, Gamefreak had quite a mess to work with DPPt. Something they oddly didn't account for when writing PLA was deciding whether the plates were one-of-a-kind artifacts, or were they simply collectibles?

While in the story of PLA the plates were only obtainable via noble pokemon, back in DPPT they were hidden items scattered across the Sinnoh region. Both of these comparisons hold the idea that the plates are ancient artifacts of a time long-past, and were a rare collectible that were associated with each pokemon type at the time.

I'm just kidding, DPPt completely fucks this up. The plates were also random spawns in the Sinnoh Underground. This means that even though each plate has its associated location in the overworld, you can simply mine a duplicate one in the underground. (This oddly enough actually happened to me by accident in a recent Platinum playthrough of mine, where I ended up getting 2 Draco plates simply because they kept spawning while mining.) So technically you could say they were ancient Hisiuan artifacts you would dig up, with the exception there was simply an Amazon warehouse stock of them simply sitting there.

So, in regards to canon, this is where the worldbuilding falls short. If the plates were ultra rare Arceus items only allocated to ancient noble pokemon.....why are there multiples of them in the modern day?

This is where I'm gonna have to put a disclaimer that the rest of the post will be diving into headcanon territory, as I'm gonna be trying my best to tie these inconsistencies together.

How does one explain a rare item in the Hisui era, but seems to have plenty of duplicates in the modern Sinnoh? Well it's simple really, we can assume the many plates were forgeries! Archaeological forgery is a practice that occurs quite often in the business of archaeology and history, and I'm sure the Sinnoh region is no stranger to bad actors trying to get a quick buck.

The forged plate headcanon works fairly well whichever angle you wish to take it! One can assume there are plagiarizing historians trying to ruin the name of the Celestica's ancient ruins (no pun intended), but this idea can be freely added for other characters as well! After all one can clearly see which character with the biggest fascination with the Arceus plates- that being Volo.

After all at the time of writing this, Volo's fate post-PLA is currently a mystery. Who's to say he wouldn't find alternate ways in trying to summon Arceus? Since the plates were now permanently on the player's person, it would be interesting trying to imagine him finding ways around this in order to achieve his goal. And funny enough, even though the plates are implied to be given originally from Arceus, there might be evidence that crafting plates were possible.

Consider: the shards. Perhaps considered as a miscellaneous trade item introduced in generation 3, they appear to consistently be described as "shards from ancient items or tools". This is quite telling, especially since the shards appear to have the same proportions and color palettes as the Splash, Flame, Meadow and Zap plates. It could be very likely that these "ancient items or tools" were actually plates, and that crafting man-made Arceus plates were possible- or at least attempted.

With mania, obsession, and many years of immortality on his path, it's possible imagining Volo trying to attempt this, grasping at every possible shadow that could tie him back to the Celestica- and most importantly, overthrowing Arceus. If he simply couldn't obtain the plates from the player, he would simply have to make his own. Whether he succeeds or not in this...well that's up for interpretation. It would be quite poetic overthrowing the creator with tools you created with your own hands.

Oddly enough headcanoning the plates being man-made or forgeries also fixes the DPPt event cancellation paradox, as if we assume the plates the player had on hand were forgeries, then it would also make sense that such false tools wouldn't create the azure flute. Can't exactly DIY your way into heaven, hm?

Concluding this post, I think it's time to go back to my original question: does the lore of Pokemon Legends Arceus hold up to the original Pokemon Diamond/Pearl/Platinum games?

Uh, no.

All in all, Pokemon's world building is both fantastic- and messy. Naturally there are gaps to leave in a little of mystery and theorizing, but there's quite a fair bit of difference between a literary gap and a literary pothole. And the path this series has followed is quite overdue in it's road maintenance.

Nevertheless this was simply a tiny blurb between my favorite games, and just having some fun trying to craft the threads tying the 16 years of difference between these games together. I've had these ideas swirling in my head for quite a while and wanted to write them down eventually, so if you actually read to this point, thank you!

Now I figure it's time I move on to the 2nd biggest mystery between DPPt and PLA:

Why the hell did the price to buy them jump from $40 to $80???

[s1nn0hh]

the hgss arceus event is usually just mentioned every so often without a lot of talk surrounding it but i just wanna talk about how absolutely insane it is from a first-time perspective. be with me here for a moment.

so. you go to the pokemart and get your Arc-In-A-Box. you decide to head over to the ruins of alph. there, the guy that studied unown for years shows up and is astounded to see your big ass deer and says that it might be the key to solve the mystery surrounding the unown. you three head down to the ruins, when the guy claims that something feels different. he feels like the letters on the wall are really staring at him, when the screen goes dark. the dude says that he feels a shivering sensation. then, the screen goes dark again. but when it lightens back up, something is different.

you're not in johto anymore.

you find yourself in these ruins, containing six statues and this big old stage in the middle. what is it for? thats a surprise tool that will help us later.

going outside, you come across this fellow hiker, who's surprised to see you and how someone so young shows interest in the sinjoh ruins, where the cultures of both johto and sinnoh blended. he then tells you to come over to the cabin so that you can talk about more (since it's like freezing like hell outside.) on the way, he tells you that he has another person over.

that person being none other than, you guessed it, cynthia (assuming you played dppt beforehand)! upon talking with her, she intorduces herself and talks about how the ruins remind her of her own home in sinnoh. she says that it was initially because it just snows a lot here, but that wasn't it. the people from sinnoh came there, longing for a home, and built the temple as they did, gaining the name "sinjoh ruins".

she then asks you if you are pokemon trainer in a bit of shock, sensing an immense power from your pokeball. that sense of familiar power from dialga, palkia or maybe giratina. it felt familiar, but not the same. how? who knows!

she then asks you if you have time and asks you to come to the ruins her with arceus in your party, and saying this line of dialogue. your curiosity is piqued.

following her to the ruins, she stands in front of the staircase to the stage we saw earlier. this stage in particular is called the 'mystri stage', built by the people of the temple to show respect to arceus and celebrate its might with music and dances, and the tradition still being performed in johto. according to an ancient document cynthia read, time, space, and antimatter, the elements that combine the world we stand on, will be born the moment arceus will set foot on the stage, and that all her studies may have been for her to bring you here. as you three step forward, cynthia shows you the patterns of the three guardians (left pattern for dialga, right pattern for palkia, upper pattern for giratina), and that arceus has accepted you as a trainer, and is willing to show a 'glimpse of it's true power'. the power to make life itself out of nothing.

you are now given the option to choose one of the three circles. it doesn't matter what will happen regarding which one you pick, the outcome is the same. as for the outcome itself? well. ill let you see it for yourself.

while this may just seem like arceus was showing you a cool collection of pngs it has, i like to believe that it was showing you *everything* in a cryptic yet not too mindblowing way. all that has happened. everything that will happen. all of humanity's achievements and all in between. and at the end of it, arceus gives you an egg that takes form into the pokemon that you chose from the pattern you picked earlier. life created out of nothing, all within your hands.

after that is done, cynthia approaches you, and mentions how you two just witnessed the creation of an Egg coming to this world, a moment in which none have seen before. she talks about how the egg is the cradle of every being, how the planet itself is an egg in a sense, and that all life that comes from an egg will inevitably end, and begin anew. that is what arceus wanted to show you.

suddenly, that mysterious power comes back, and with the screen darkening once more.. you are brought back to the ruins of alph in johto. the dude that accompanied you there sees you and is surprised because you disappeared right in front of him, and wonders if the energy from arceus and the unown was enough to create a powerful energy that affected each other and sending you all the way to the sinjoh ruins. after wondering the connection between the ruins of alph, the unown, and arceus, he sees the mystery only deepens and sets to find out more, leaving you to your own devices.

and after such an experience, you can only wonder one thing: what.

[pkmnomegaverse]

Pokemon Ship Week Day 2 - Parallels/Swap

"Man, this guy called Red brought me down in a heartbeat. I haven't seen him in a long time...I wonder where he is and what he's up to… Come to think of it, you look a little bit like Red. Yeah, you do. Just...Just a little bit. Whatever..."

This quote from Green in HGSS has always taken me out.  It has such good angst potential and is why I made these two endgame in Championverse.  While it really is the angst that speaks to me playing with the idea of Red as the "one who got away", I feel Ethan does have a personality that would mesh well with Green’s. So despite any of Green's initial interest in Ethan being due to his similarities to Red, I do feel they can grow past that

[thatoneguy031]

Hey! How would y'all like to hear another rambling from me?

So, for those that are aware of the Pokemon anime, you all know about this thing called Battle Bond.

For those that don't know: Battle Bond is a transformation that first debuted in XYZ, and was displayed when Ash and his newly-evolved Greninja's friendship reached it's maximum possible potency(No, I didn't stutter, I said potency), and resulted in a new transformation, creatively named Ash-Greninja(Or Satoshi-Gekkouga for those watching the sub).

Here's what Greninja looks like:

I'm sure that the Kalos Fans really like this big guy. Not that I blame 'em. He's really cool, it's no wonder why he's in Smash. Also, I'm pretty sure this is a screenshot from Journeys, but that's besides the point.

...And then there's Ash Greninja:

The man, the legend, the absolute gigachad. Like, he's just the embodiment of cool. Literally all that was added was sideburns(And a few sunburns), and my mans went from S1 Deku to Titan Luz on the Badass-o-Meter. The embodiment of cool, this rare Greninja wields a large shuriken on his back at all times, instead of having to constantly create new ones on his legs. This is the same pressurized water that is known to slice through metal, btw.

"That's cool and all, but what's your point in mentioning this?" you may be asking, and I'm getting to that. Greninja is the only known Pokemon with Battle Bond as an Ability. Well...

Why can't there be more?

Why is this frog the only Pokemon that can become a cooler version of itself?

There are a lot of Pokemon that could really benefit from Battle Bond, but I'll stick with just one for now, with tidbits of lore sprinkled here and there(Based on some headcannons that I've had, and I'll be taking some creative liberties). If this post makes its rounds(Also, when I come up with more Pokemon that could use Battle Bond), I'll add more Pokemon to the list, and I'm going to display how humans can play a bigger part in this whole shebang.

Feraligatr... We love it, at least a third of us had used one before, it's awesome, right? This Pokemon, like many others, needs a bit more love, and I think that this is a solid place to start. I don't have an image of my concept design on me right now(I drew the image already, but I'm having yet more technical issues), but I can provide a reason for this existing.

In my headcannon, Feraligatr is a Pokemon that has existed for a long, long time, dating at least to the first Ice Age. As a result, this Pokemon has spent a fair amount of time around humans, traveling with them when hunting was involved. Many humans would acknowledge this fact, and begin working with Feraligatrs as a result. A very small few would be able to connect to them on a closer level, and this would cause a change within the Pokemon, and some names that are completely accepting some revisions.

In this form, Feraligatr completely embraces its roots, and dawns a much thicker extra layer of scales in the color and shape of a pelt from another animal/Pokemon, similarly to Croconaw, along with extra padding across the limbs and tail, all of it functioning both for warmth and as a disguise. The spines running across it's back are a deep, blood-red and are much more jagged, as a way to continue attacking its opponents if/when its in a tough spot. To bait its opponents/prey into a false security, they will fake their own death while exposing the bright-red streaks on their torso. When they approach, the Feraligatr will suddenly leap up and clamp its prey with its jaws, waiting for their bodies to give in to blood loss/fatigue, where they will finish them off.

Amber Apex Feraligatr(Based on it's intended trainers to reawaken this form: Gold, or Ethan if you're a HGSS kinda person) will have sharper, longer claws, with the ability to reinforce them with ice or pressurized water at will, alongside being able to materialize ice anywhere in their field of vision, appropriately being given the Water/Ice typing.

The signature move it has is Glacier Barrier, an Ice-type move. It functions similarly to Protect, with a fun twist. If the opponent makes contact with the user while its in effect, it will give them frostbite, cutting their Speed stat while causing small, continuous damage over time. This effect remains in place until the user or the opponent switches out. If the move fails, the user becomes Frozen for two turns, unable to perform any action, not even being able to return to its Poke Ball in that time.

A busted move, but there's a clear-cut a reason not to spam it. That checks out, right?

Now, onto the humans, another big topic in this post.

It seemed kinda weird that the games mention that humans fight alongside Pokemon, with the anime literally confirming that... but don't ever show it happening. Like, I get that games like Pokken exist, and they're technically cannon, but that game in particular sorta relies on something similar to Battle Bond anyways.

Back to my main point, why can't humans have transformations, as well? I'm not saying like, physical changes to them or anything like Pokemon ReBurst(God, that manga feels like a fever dream, check it out sometime), but something like... aura manipulation. Pokemon like Lucario pretty much confirmed that aura can manifest in a physical state. Like, one you can touch, feel, and get whacked upside the head with. Better yet, it can take a form depending on the user's wants and/or needs.

So, it makes sense that, if their Pokemon is the only thing they can think about during combat, surely their aura would take the form of the Pokemon in question, especially if that Pokemon is their ace!

I'm guessing that it'd look something like Naruto's Kurama Link form(Or whatever it's called, I never really kept track with the series), but like, if someone hue-shifted the heck out of it.

I'm sorry if this looks awful, but this is the furthest my latent ability of Photoshop carries me, please don't flame me T-T

Obviously, it wouldn't always be blue. I always hated how the anime basically told you that all human auras were blue, yet Mystery Dungeon literally contradicts this. The color of the aura would based on the human's personality or, in rare cases where the Pokemon's aura overpowers their own, it would take on the color of the Pokemon's aura, or overall color scheme in some situations. If there are multiple colors, it'd be the two most prominent colors, the less dominant between the two simply being a highlight.

In many cases, it could function as a sort of failsafe if a Pokemon or human is in danger of dying, of course only triggering in that context if they've had the best of best of best friendships. And, with enough training, it could even be triggered on command! ...Well, kind of. It's more like the transformation would take less effort to both sense it arriving and activate, but it is overall near-impossible to really use whenever you want. Just... not impossible.

Something else that, while it might be a stretch, could also be really cool, is the idea of the human gaining the abilities of a Pokemon. Again, not physical alterations(At least, on the body itself), but you'd gain the skills and more "passive" abilities of your partner. For example, if you triggered the Bond Phenomenon with something like, I dunno... Samurott, or dare I say, Zacian, you'd gain their expert swordsmanship, meaning that you'd wanna carry a sword on you at all times just in case you need it. Another example of this would be something like Absol. If you were to activate the transformation with that Pokemon, you'd gain its future sight abilities(Something more like Sir Nighteye, if that helps).

And something else would be that you could help a Pokemon with the handling of a move. While we're speaking of Naruto anyway, let's use Noivern as an example(Naruto would totally be a Noivern, fight me). If a Noivern was using something like Shadow Ball, their Trainer would be able to help them keep it stable while using the Bond Phenomenon, since Noiverns aren't well-adept at using Ghost-type moves. They wouldn't be able to add anything to it, as humans obviously can't use moves like Pokemon, but their aura would be more than enough to keep the Shadow Ball in a spherical shape.

It would be pretty awesome, right? These were all the examples I could think of at the moment, but I'd love to hear some suggestions and other practicalities this transformation could have. Heck, I'd like to see some of your trainer OCs with a transformation like this, if your're willing to show me anything.

[fucky-oureyes]

*folds hands together* 😎 welcome. we have some redwood art by @/soulsilvers who is to blame for this. and general old art in the tags. wonderful doodles btw, I can't believe you went and drew an extra doodle!! they're so great <3 I found your dad Lance post and you are the perfect person to influence with rare pairs and agendas I see. Two cool gen 3 gals?? Why not why not yk? If you look at Leaf's concept art, she has a Combusken with her in the snow. If you believe, maybe May is somewhere off screen. When I mentioned Evolutions, they just have that action-based personality that seems to click you know? That reckless adventure thing? If you go further deep into Pokemon lore with the Kanto war theory, Silph rivalry with Devon, and the economy. Then Hoenn is arguably better off than Kanto, which is more impoverished without a Champion in Gen 1 and Team Rocket running around. You have Birth Island, where you can find Deoxys in both FRLG and in Emerald. There are places they can meet. Siri play "a whole new world" from Aladdin because you gotta take your new bff not yet gf to a clean functioning region and watch her be baffled at all the new things and concepts. You will never find a food court in Kanto, they will charge you a million for a bike. I am also huge on extending the Dad Lance agenda to Leaf (she's the most neglected pokegirl in fandom, and excluded even here where Red and Blue aren't.) Some of this is Pokemon Special, some of this is the fact Trace calls her "big sis" in the Japanese version of Evolutions, some of this is beta!Blue (the first version of her character of the unnamed female protagonist) that we make angsty art of in a metaphysical sense as if these characters know they were deleted from the game. It's fun. In my little world, she was late to Giovanni's gym and found the HGSS cutscene of Gio leaving happening while she hid behind a lampost and kicked Lance's door down like "yo old man, you'll never guess what I just saw" except my brain is more complicated than that and I go back and forth on how the story plays out for one ask. It can get more angsty and tragic too because imagine texting your bff not yet gf while chilling in Lance's office (if Red is on a mountain, Blue is running the gym, then by all means, split the champion title between them so he doesn't collapse at his desk) and in Kanto: one day Cinnabar island erupts, and in Hoenn one day: there's a meteor set to destroy the world in 4 days. imagine their world being the world where ORAS Devon succeeded in transporting it into another dimension. what do you say at the end of the world? think about the potential Celebi holds when you want to save someone. think of the consequences of attempting to use a mythical Pokemon like that when Arceus/Mew find out. will you become the villain here just for that...?

YES I SAW THE SOULSILVERS REDWOOD ART i have to go rb that actually.... also yes when i first got the redwood request my first instict was to go "huh???" but i stopped and thought about them for 2 seconds and i'm now obsessed with them. my new favorite rare pair. and also yes i am the perfect person to influence with agendas and rarepairs. gestures at my own agendas like rocket siblings. i used to spend Hours with my friend coming up with aus and obscure dynamics i am So Susceptible to agendas.

also yeah leaf is absolutely one of the most just. underrated and overlooked female protagonists. from what i've seen it'd be her and the alola protag i think. and the reasons you've outlined are a huge chunk of the reasons why!

ALSO YESS THAT'S SO GOOD ACTUALLY!!! leaf after seeing the state in kanto seeing how Stunning hoenn is and just going ??????

also yes absolutely i believe in lance adopting leaf as well propaganda. i think lance is just That Kind Of Guy considering his canon spiels about being proud of seeing the rise of a new champion etc. also i'm a sucker for leaf and silver dynamics after pokespe.

[skitter-kitter]

11.: List your top 6 favorite Pokemon

Ask Game

Confined Hoopa. little guy

Unbound Hoopa. big guy. they’re separate to me

Sylveon. Got one of them in every pokémon game I play

Zorua

Arceus. idk that guy fascinates me

Typhlosion. Starter for all my hgss playthroughs and pla

[helladventurers]

"you want me to fight WHAT"

[aqqleshiqqing-archive]

THE WAY I SCREAMED GRGHAAAAGRAGRAS IM GOING TO BACK TO KANTO BABYYYYYYYYYYY GHJRAAAAFGHRAEAFAHHAA

[crystalelemental]

Pokemon Team Characterization - Koga

The other request for, and I can’t believe I’m reading this right, “All of the Poison specialists.”  That’s like five guys.  Oh god it’s six I forgot Plumeria.  So okay, I guess that’s my afternoon.  So let’s kick it off with the original ninjaman, Koga.

FRLG Koga is super easy to analyze.  This is a man with only one game plan.  I am going to Poison you, then dodge, or explode.  The dodge or explode part is what kills me.  Either I’m confident and am going to try legitimately stalling you our, or I’m going to get flighty and pull the trigger immediately.  Koga is a man with anxiety.  He is a father of a ninja child, I think it’s fair.  But more importantly, in contrast to Whitney’s Jack of All Trades approach, Koga is “Do one thing well.”  They are, essentially, opposites.  And his mentality got him to the Elite Four, so make of that what you will.

By HGSS, Koga’s team is much more refined.  I’m going with his rematch team because they’re largely identical, but I think there’s more to draw from this.  The only loss is Forretress, which...is sad.  I think the stealthy shielded Pokemon throwing out Toxic Spikes is like the perfect Ninja Pokemon, but I respect Koga’s actual commitment to his type.  Unlike some people around this league, LANCE.

The Lead (Skuntank) Poison/Dark is a nasty type combination, that gives it only one weakness: Ground.  It counters the “obvious” response to Poison in Psychic beautifully, and even packs Sucker Punch to hit those typically faster threats.  That said, at his core...Koga never changes.  Toxic, Dig for a sure miss, and Explosion.

Koga remains cautious and flighty.  He appreciates a sure thing in Toxic, and likes getting the jump on his opponents, but when in doubt, explode.  Just blow it up, bro, it’s fine.  Know when to fold ‘em.

The Ace (Crobat) This is his highest level, so it’s his ace.  If you were expecting a different approach, think again.  Who do you think you’re dealing with?  Do one thing well, we’ve been over this.  Toxic, Fly, do the thing.  But interestingly, Crobat cannot explode, and he didn’t opt for U-Turn here.  He opted for Mean Look.  Crobat is the coup de grace.  It’s the confidence.  When you’re uncertain, going through something that isn’t familiar, be ready to drop the game plan.  But when the chips are down, commit.  Moreover, when you’re dealing with someone else, hold them accountable.  They’re not allowed to back out of something they came in to.  God, he is a dad.

Same As It Ever Was (Muk, Venomoth) Muk and Venomoth repeat the same things as usual.  Toxic play, evasion play, do what you’ve gotta do.  What’s fascinating to me is that Muk has no attacking moves.  Taunt Bait Central.  It’s about Toxic, attempting to deny your opponent’s action through confuse, and evasion.  Muk is confidence.  It’s the certainty that you can keep up the pressure, and evade what you need to evade.  It’s so confident I’m willing to boost your attack, that’s how confident I am.  In contrast, Venomoth is Baton Pass.  Venomoth is not confident, but it is here to support its allies.

Koga is someone who is confident in his abilities, despite his backup plan being exploding.  He’s willing to play his luck and skills against an opponent, and when he gets himself rolling, is deadly confident in his ability to finish the job.  Enough so that Venomoth’s Baton Pass is him actively assisting others.  Koga’s a helper, he’ll work with others and functions as a solid team player.  Evasion in particular suggests a sort of defensive approach, being more protective of those he works with and cares for.

These Guys (Swallot, Toxicroak) Toxicroak is the muscle.  You can’t always rely on tricks, sometimes you just have to face it down directly.  And with Swagger, he’s got the confidence he can pull that off too.  Offensive coverage is wise.  X-Scissor hits Psychic types he’s weak to, while Cross Chop hits Steel types immune to his Poison shenanigans.  He knows where to apply pressure.  Swallot is a bit more unusual.  Pain Split to recover, Yawn to slow the foe down, Amnesia for bulk, and Sludge Bomb as a bit of offense.  It’s a weird pick, and doesn’t mesh well with the rest of the team.

Toxicroak is Koga knowing when to be direct.  While he’s usually more hands-off, preferring to support but stand at a distance, sometimes you have to get your own hands dirty, and he’s willing and able to do that, applying smart pressure where needed.  Swallot is the opposite.  Swallot is...restful.  It’s the more relaxed approach, the taking some time for yourself.  Amnesia suggests a sort of letting go of what’s on the mind, with Pain Split being that sharing of struggle.  Pain Split in particular works both ways; it can be taking on someone else’s struggle, or sharing his own with someone trusted.  Yawn relaxes, it soothes into peaceful sleep.  It’s an indicating that Koga’s probably a solid friend who’s a good listener.  He’s good at soothing the soul, for a man who likes explosions so much.

Summation Koga’s teams are sequential.  The first team is very “do one thing well,” and emphasizes a lot of mono-Poison types, which doubles down on that approach.  Koga as someone who is fairly one-note, and doesn’t have much beyond his one neat trick.

But by HGSS, Koga’s team is much more diverse, and while the core strategy is the same as always, he’s very different in how he approaches it, having a lot more confidence in it, and being a bit more willing to take risks.  At the same time, he’s demonstrating a bit more as a partner, someone who is able to find time for himself and relax, and is a fairly compassionate guy who’s trusting and supportive of his comrades.  He’s a team structure that shows a lot of growth, from someone who’s maybe more anxious and quick to drop something, to someone who’s more self-assured.  There’s probably something in here to do with raising a kid, where the early years are largely fixed on them and not having much time for yourself, so you stick to the bare essentials of managing your life.  But as they grow and become more independent, suddenly you can find time for yourself again and be a little calmer and available.

If anyone has an alternate read on the team, I’d love to hear it.  I admit to not thinking about Koga too much, but that’s mostly because I am a Psychic fan and consider Johto’s Elite Four more like food.

[kafus]

what's your favorite area in a pokemon game?

I really like anville town and all the bridges in unova (i'll include the marine tube in that) i really like how out of the way anville town is, it took me a while to figure out how to get there the first time even after i noticed it on the map, it's neat finding an entire town you didn't know existed! also there's a guy who will tell you about the different battle subway trains and i think that's really fun, the bridges i just like because they're neat!

anville town is really cool, i was going through some shit when the unova games came out so i didn't play them as in depth as pretty much every other pokemon game as a kid but now that i've replayed bw and played bw2 for the first time as an adult i can definitely appreciate anville town a lot more. "superfluous" areas like that in pokemon that don't serve story relevance but are just there to be interesting feel like a lost art almost. i love that i could just go there to learn about the unova trains. cause why not HSJDFKFS and GOD THE MARINE TUBE IS SO PRETTY I SAW IT FOR THE FIRST TIME LAST YEAR AND IT'S SO COOL... i am a huge aquarium fan IRL so i was like :D

as for my personal favorite areas Hmmm... honestly while there's probably more objective opinions i could have based on visuals or whatever, i have to give it to floaroma town from dppt purely for the nostalgia value and personal connection i have with it. as a kid before i had any sort of mp3 player and while i was going through a lot of trauma/abuse, i used to sometimes leave my DS on standing in different locations to listen to the music to sleep through my ptsd nightmares and stuff. floaroma town at night was one of my favorite locations for this and i associate its theme and general vibe with comfort through hard times in my childhood. i hope that wasn't too heavy i say this with completely positive feelings lol

however some honorable mentions go to bellchime trail in HGSS (the path leading to bell tower) and like you mentioned, the marine tube :] both very pretty transitional locations to the next place or town... oh and pattern bush in FRLG solely because of the easter egg of all the seemingly nonsensical grass patterns being in the shape of the circuit board of original red/green carts... and the actual encounters are. ahem. full of bugs LOOOL

[puppyluver256]

[Image Description: Red, the masculine protagonist of the gen 1 Pokemon games and their gen 3 remakes, as well as the "ultimate" challenge of the gen 2 games and their gen 4 remakes, with his Charizard. Red is depicted in his appearance in the gen 3 and gen 4 remakes. He has one hand in his pocket, the other casually tossing up a red and white Pokeball. His Charizard is standing behind him, one hand on his shoulder, with a confident smirk on its face. The background is the snow-covered peak of Mt. Silver, with a dull blue cloudy sky overhead. End ID.]

-----

“...”

Funny thing, I drew all the important characters in two separate sets of games now, but I never drew the guy who is arguably the most important character in the irl history of the franchise. That's partly because of my choice to draw the protagonist that I chose to play as for each game for this whole series, and partly because I knew that I would be drawing Red eventually regardless of whether or not I included him in the FRLG set :3c And yeah, I know that his Pikachu is his strongest Pokemon in pretty much every encounter that's not level-capped (hence why for the Cantessy stuff I made Pikachu be his son's ace), but I couldn't resist the thematic parallel with him using Charizard alongside the starter choices featured in my FRLG drawings (Leaf getting Squirtle and Blue getting Bulbasaur). Besides, this series is partly to get me to draw Pokemon I otherwise wouldn't, plus I'll be drawing Pikachu eventually anyway ^u^

And with that, the HGSS series is complete! You can probably guess what's coming next, but first I'm gonna give myself a lil break from Pokemon hehe :3

💖🐶 Check out my pinned post for ways to support my artwork, among other things! 🐶💖

~Likes are appreciated, but reblogs are preferred as they let more people see my artwork! If you have something to say, feel free to give feedback in tags/comments/replies as well!~

Red, Charizard, and other Pokemon concepts © Nintendo/GameFreak Artwork © PuppyLuver Studios