#I’m actually working on making gyms leaders for every typing so maybe I’ll post about them eventually who knows

[thoughts-on-bangtan]

Hi, I know you’re a fan of namjoon so I wanted to ask your thoughts on this ring thing? I’m kinda new and assumed all these namjoon is married with kids stuff were a joke. But some people seem to totally believe that. I mean where he’d get the time to see a partner and kids is beyond me but who knows? Anyways I was looking at some of their recent pics and he doesn’t wear it all the time - which if it was a couples ring - wouldn’t he? I thought maybe he would only wear it if they were appearing on Run or Korean shows, but he didn’t have it on for either of the new shows they’ve been on recently, as they may not have been as widely watched. I mean I guess it’s none of our business - but I’m trying to rip of my delulu hat for making me think Seokjin gave it to him 🙈

Hi anon, I hope you don’t mind that I’ll combine my answer for you with my answer to another ask since I feel like they fall into the same kind of category, as in people taking things too far and/or blowing things out of proportion. And, coincidentally, both have something to do with rings.

I’ll start with your question though and give you another example that followed a very similar trajectory as the omg namjoon is married with kids because ring narrative/theory. Some months ago, Namjoon posted a few pictures on twitter and among them was a picture of him with another guy wearing a green sweater. His face though was covered. At first ARMY didn’t think much of it, but then, eventually, someone started a joke that “remember that sweater Joon wore for BV4? The guy is wearing the same one, what if that's his boyfriend?” and it went viral.

It started out completely harmless with hundreds of positive and funny tweets made in good humor, no one taking it that seriously knowing that we’d never find out even if it were true. But, as the jokes started to simmer down, everyone had their laugh, the next wave came in and this one decided that this isn’t a joke at all but serious matter. Quickly this harmless fun turned into a witch hunt of “ARMY” trying to figure out who the guy might be, if he is Namjoon’s mysterious friend that once sent him a coffee truck with custom drawn designs on it, perhaps the same one with whom Namjoon already once posted a picture sitting on this garden porch swing type thing, some even trying to prove that the guy is either Seokjin (in which case, what would be the need to cover his face?) or Florist Isaac whom they met during that one RUN episode.

So, very quickly a few idiots turned harmless fun into something almost malicious and got into fights with ARMY who were trying to tell them to stop.

The ring thing followed a similar story. It was once a harmless joke based on the fact that Namjoon wants to have kids one day, so some made jokes about what if he’s already married but we just didn’t know etc. But very quickly that got out of hand as well, going as far as people claiming the little girl in his pictures which he posted around his birthday or something is his daughter (even though it was said it’s probably the child actress from BTS WORLD) and that him making jokes (during a BangtanB while trying on glasses before their MOTS7 press con) about his child being able to read/write hangul at a very young age wasn’t jokes at all but solid proof of the fact that he is married with a child (despite the fact that he would’ve had to have gotten married and his wife pregnant not long after their debut for the timeline to even work out somehow which makes it seem even more ridiculous). This even went as far as people spamming the comments during this vlives with questions about it, flooded his selcas on twitter with questions and “jokes” and, again, attacked anyone who told them to stop.

In all of this, watching it happen from the sidelines as someone whose bias is Namjoon, I was confused why these particular rings (which I don’t even think were the same ones each time) caused such a reaction. The members have all worn so many different rings over the years, on all fingers, sometimes even like eight at the same time, and yet it wasn’t until 2020 and their KBS interview after their first BBH100 #1 that things went bonkers. All because Namjoon decided to take the ring off before they started filming or something.

In all of this I see two things that make me wonder:

When would he have the time to find a girl (since same sex marriage is not a thing in Korea) with whom he would have enough time to befriend her, trust her (considering who Namjoon is, that one is a major thing), fall in love, date and be together for a few years, and then get married? From Seokjin we know they have maybe two or three days off a month and work at least ten hours a day on their BH regulated schedules. Add to that the time they spend in the studio working on music outside of schedules, gym time, a few hours of sleep, and perhaps a few scarce hours of free time to (in Namjoon’s case) go to a museum or ride his bike, does that really leave enough time for romance (with an outsider) that leads to marriage (and a child)?

Is age 26 at the height of their career really the time for marriage? Even more so when you are someone like Namjoon, the leader of the world’s biggest group with more responsibilities than we can likely imagine as outsiders. Sure, he said he wants kids, but he can still have those in his thirties, he can also get married in his thirties, after all, life does not end once you hit thirty despite what some teens believe.

Lastly, I actually think that if it were true, Namjoon, or really anyone from the hyung line, would be the ones who wouldn’t have to hide it, at least not when compared to the maknaes. You could argue that “it would threaten their career” but would it really? Perhaps if the ring were from a man (some namjinists did make jokes that it’s like his promise ring from Seokjin or whatever, but it was all in good fun, nothing more than that), then yes, but connected to a woman? That one member from EXO also came out and said he’s getting married because his fiancé was pregnant and all it did was cause a few fansites to close and a handful of people to “protest” in front of the SM building. 

Little correction about my comments about that EXO member, though even with this my point still stands:

From anon: Re: your last post about namjoon’s rings! I agree with everything you said but just a small correction. I’m not an EXO stan but it wasn’t just a a few “protests” or fansites closing. From what I read online, he his fiancée and later wife, and his child were harassed, threatened and stalked to the point where he enlisted early just to give his family some relief. We all know there are people like this in every fandom and I know BTS would be aware of these things, so they’ll be extra careful.

Would there be delulus like this who’d go crazy if Namjoon were to say “ARMY, I’m (getting) married”? Of course. Would it ruin BTS’ career? I seriously doubt it. Do I think Namjoon would actually come out and say it if it were the case? No, but not because it’s bad idol etiquette or because BH wouldn’t allow him, but because people are insane and who knows what they would do.

It’s the same with times when people argue “I wish X ML members would just say he has a girlfriend so the ship wars would end” without taking into consideration the girl’s safety and the fact that a partner different than the one X member is shipped with has never been that big of an obstacle for some before. Just create a conspiracy theory about the company forcing this upon them and voila problem solved. We’ve seen that before when the tattoo scandal happened, and people thought JK might be dating that tattoo artist and therefore it would mean he isn’t in a relationship with Jimin or Tae.

Whatever happens in the members private lives, it is safer for all parties involved if it stays private, even more so if their romantic partners were non-idols, or non-celebrities, or another member.

Now onto the second ring question:

From anon: I am a young army and I am slowly losing my bearings. I've seen Vlive S, H and V. Many say it was a Tk*ok day (?) And all three emphasized it, and the V even wore the friendship ring for Jungkook. Is it true? I don't understand anything about it, I don't see it. After the last BTS interview on TV, I thought Vmin are best friends, not Tk*ok. I thought V said he didn't want Tk*ok and yet he was so happy during Vlive because it was Tk*ok day? Help!

Now this one, I was curious if we’d get an ask about this, even more since, if you’re a reader of our blog, you likely already know what I’m going to say.

Let’s start where you usually do—at the beginning. The day of the vlive coincided with what T*ek*okers have decided on is T*ek*ok Day, based on how supposedly some years ago this was the day Tae and JK named their subunit like this. I tried to find where exactly this happened, as in in which piece of official content, but I couldn’t find anything except for a screenshot. Anyone have a clue or a link?

Side note: T*ek*okers love using the “ship” naming as proof that not only are they real but also proudly showing it off by giving themselves a name but continently forget that they are not the only ones who gave themselves subunit names. After all Jimin and Namjoon named themselves MiniMoni, or Yoongi and Jimin who are MiniMini, Namjoon and Seokjin calling themselves RJRJ last year, or that one vlive with JK, Jimin and Seokjin where they also put together their names the way you build ship names. At the end of that vlive Tae, thanks to come prompting from the chat, named their trio vsope, so does that mean they are a romantic ship now too?

If you were watching that vlive as it was happening, and decided to look at the chat, then you know what was happening. For those who did not, basically the chat was flooded with comments about T*ek*ok Day, asking where JK is whom Tae loves, where his boyfriend JK is, congratulating Tae for T*ek*ok Day etc. Basically shippers took their shipping into a space where it doesn’t belong, into a space where the members can see it, and therefore purposefully broke one of the shipping rules (I even saw some tweet about how they were proud of themselves for literally spamming the chat with T*ek*ok comments which is so wrong, and I mean that regardless of which ship we talk about). In between those were the usual other comments like speak English or say hello to XYZ or say XYZ in whatever language, and very few comments that actually reacted to what the members were doing on screen. Like when Tae said he didn’t shave, instead of telling him that it’s fine, which it is, it’s his face after all, some decided to tell him he should shave more often, basically telling him what to do, which he saw and read out. Great job.

But all the madness came to a “climax” when Hobi was reading comments and among some other ones read out T*ek*ok, just the word not the T*ek*ok Day ones, and unfortunately we all knew he wasn’t reading out the Korean word for Thailand, which sounds the same though it is spelled a little differently. In that moment all hell broke loose. Focus cams of Tae’s facial expression in that moment went viral among shippers, most of course claiming he looked so happy, while other non-shippers claimed he didn’t look happy at all. It’s a micro moment so I won’t get into it, who knows what Tae thought in that moment and what his facial expression meant and if it even had any connection to the word and Hobi reading it out loud at all.

Because he read that comment, Hobi was basically crowned the new leader of the T*ek*ok shippers (I thought that role already went to Jimin?) and twitter basically had a meltdown.

As for the ring, I know this is something a lot of ships have, with romantic connotations according to their shippers, so I was curious how these rings supposedly look like in T*ek*ok’s case and if they even match the ring that Tae wore in the vlive. If it would, fine, if not, well…

If it’s not clear from the picture, the “supposed couple” or friendship rings are very delicate and thin, and sure enough I did find a lot of pictures in which both Tae and JK wore them, usually at different times, I will admit that. But the ring Tae wore during their vlive recently was much thicker and had some kind of design on it, therefore it’s a completely different one. Sorry. Why he wore it, if he bought it for himself or received it from someone, what emotional connotation to may or may not have, those are things we won’t know anything about unless he would tell us, so there's no point in speculating.

“Many say it was a Tk*ok day (?) And all three emphasized it” now this is curious to me since I watched the vlive as it was happening, and I didn’t see that at any point in the vlive. Sure, Hobi read that one comment, but if 95% of comments were about that, I wasn’t even surprised by it. Perhaps he thought that it would get people to stop? Perhaps he just read whatever comments his eyes landed on? Perhaps something else entirely? We have no way of knowing it so there is no point in trying to fixate on it. But besides that, they were talking about many other things and having fun making their smoothies, decorating them and just having a good time together with each other and with ARMY. 

So, this way of presenting the vlive basically comes down to shipper perception, confirmation bias, and simply, almost, rewriting history.

Rings do not determine who your best friend is (according to a quick google search, wearing a ring on your index finger simply means friendship or self-esteem/authority), after all many of the members have rings either from each other or ones that match, like Namjoon buying Jimin a Cartier ring for his birthday a few years ago which Jimin proudly wore since it’s really pretty, or pink and blue rings (there are several different ones, actually) that Namjoon has worn with Seokjin in the past (which fits into the Namjinist pink and blue agenda), or the rings Jimin and JK have together according to their shippers, and many more. Jimin and Tae have a whole plethora of matching jewelry in form of necklaces, rings, bracelets, even contact lenses (as in wearing one of each pair to match each other), some which were chosen by their stylists and others they bought themselves for themselves (which are all conveniently “forgotten” by those who ship either big ML ship). Though we’ve seen that even with clothes given by their stylists they were still the ones to choose their own accessories, like Namjoon choosing a pair of glasses from a whole box of different ones, or the members choosing rings from two big boxes before going on stage.

Tae himself said, on multiple occasions across multiple years, that Jimin is his best friend, even his one and only best friend, and that he’s the one he likes most which he even proclaimed on national TV. As long as Tae doesn’t say that this has changed in the last, what, two weeks and suddenly JK is officially his new best friend, those who claim otherwise are basically nothing but shippers pushing a narrative that willfully ignores Tae’s own words. Just like they ignore and twist his Weverse comment about how T*ek*okers should get out of their imagination. What doesn’t fit is ignored or adjusted until it does fit.

Lastly, sure enough, Tae really was happy during that vlive but I’m fairly certain (though neither you, them or I will ever know for sure, we’re not in Tae’s head) it had absolutely no connection to T*ek*ok Day, something shippers created and not Tae and JK themselves, seeing as Tae has been in a very good and happy mood for a few months now. Whatever makes him so happy, I truly hope it’ll continue making him happy and I wish shippers (and solo stans) would stop trying to force a reason (which fits them) upon his emotions.

I know it’s easy to get confused by how loud shippers are online, especially as young ARMY (in this case both ARMY who are young age wise but also young in the sense of being new to the fandom), but shipper opinions, in many cases, are just noise, and also noise twisted and skewed a certain way to suit them. If you kept to OT7 spaces on the day of that vlive, no one really paid attention to the ring, most were annoyed by and furious at the shamelessness of the shippers in the comments, and tried to just focus on how fun the vlive was instead.

[stillchaoticlogic]

Applin Pie: Chapter 2

Summary: Things are hard when you start your own bakery in the heart of Hammerlocke. Good thing your knight in shining armor is none other than Raihan the Gym Leader. You are smitten... Too bad you don't really think you're his type, especially when you see the beautiful and powerful women that surround him.

Good thing he likes you just the way you are.

Pairing: Raihan x Reader

Chapter 1

Chapter 2: Tranquil-Tea Interrupted

The tunnel is dark, the sound of thousands of people piling into the stadium fills your ears. All you can smell is the distinct scent of popcorn and funnel cakes. Suddenly, lights assault your senses as the tunnel opens up to the biggest arena you’ve ever seen. Your eyes widen at the sight and you can’t help the rush of excitement. An attendant directs you to your seat and after some shuffling, you sit down. You release Tart, Strudel, and Spook, knowing these three would enjoy the match as they watched the ghosts and dragons battle it out. 

“First time going to one of Raihan’s matches?” questions a voice to your left.

“Oh? Is it that obvious?” you ask slightly embarrassed ducking your head a little. 

“Well, you’re going to want this,” she pulls out a poncho and hands it to you, “You can have that one, I always carry an extra just in case!”

“But… we’re inside…?” You ask as you tilt your head to the side. 

She laughs lightly at you, “Raihan’s weather strategy doesn’t care about that! Trust me! Once it starts raining or he kicks up a sandstorm you’ll be glad you have that thing. Don’t get me wrong! I love his style! He’s super cool! It's just best to be prepared.”

“Oh… I see… Thank you!” you say grateful for her kindness as you put on the poncho, noticing for the first time many others wearing one as well. Several are dragon-themed or modeled after one of his pokemon. You notice several of Flygon and Goodra and another white one you can’t put your finger on. 

“The names’ Whitney, by the way,” she says, holding out her hand for a shake. 

You take it happily and introduce yourself. 

“Your Pokémon are cute! It’s so cool you have both an Appletun and Flapple!”

“Oh! Thank you! They are super sweet and they are excited about the match! They don’t battle a whole lot, but they always have fun when they do.”

“So cute! Did you see the Flapple and Appletun on his Pokegram!?”

“Umm… Yeah, I did! Super cute!”

Your conversation is cut off as the stadium lights dim and the announcer comes over the intercom. You hear the crowd go wild before everyone calms down to listen to the announcer. 

There are a few battles from well-known trainers from

the area and you have a great time watching the battles. 

“And now it’s time for the battle you’ve all been waiting for!”

“The Silent Boy of Mystery, Allister!” 

You watch as a young boy walks out onto the pitch wearing a white mask and swaying back and forth. 

“And The Dragon Tamer, Raihan!”

Raihan walks onto the field with confidence waving at the crowd. He pauses briefly to take a selfie before he keeps going. You feel the heat creep up your neck as you almost feel his eyes on you. He can’t possibly have picked you out from the crowd right? Right?

The battle starts and you can’t help yelling for your new friend as he sends out a Sanaconda in order to whip up a sand storm. You squeal as you clutch the poncho closer to your form squeaking as your Pokémon dive under the plastic to take cover from the onslaught of sand. 

“Told you!” Laughs Whitney from beside you. 

“Yeah! Thanks!” You tell over the storm your voice almost lost among the chaos. 

The battle continues with Raihan’s Flygon making his debut. You let out a squeal of excitement as Flygon flies low over the crowd causing everyone in the vicinity to let out a cheer. You giggle as you watch the puffin monster of a dragon show off a little before he’s back to the battle. Allister’s Treverant ends up being a worthy opponent but stands no match against the dragon. 

You watch the battle in amazement giggling, laughing, and squealing at the weather shifts as well as Raihan’s antics. You aren’t surprised he has such a following, the man really knows how to work a crowd. You aren’t surprised when he wins the battle. Even Allister’s Gengar couldn’t defeat his Duraludon. You had gasped in surprise when the pokemon Dynamaxed and practically turned into a skyscraper. As the crowd goes wild for Raihan, he stands on the pitch for a few moments allowing fans to get pictures before he turns to head back to the locker room. You notice him talking to his Rotom phone and a moment later you feel a buzz in your pocket as you pull your phone out. 

“Come to the locker room, the staff knows about you so don’t worry about being stopped!”

“Hey!” exclaims Whitney over the sound of the crowd getting up to head out of the stadium, “We should meet up again sometime! Maybe watch some battles? My friends aren’t really into battling so I go by myself a lot.” She looks away avoiding your eyes. “I hope that’s not weird?”

“No! Not at all! I actually just moved here a few months ago and I haven’t really gotten a chance to make any friends, so I would love the company…”

“Oh?! Cool! Why did you move here? Do you like it?”

“I opened up my own bakery down the street and yes I do very much!”

“Wait… bakery?” She gazes at your dragon pair before realization dawns on her. “Those are the pokemon Raihan took pictures with! He went into your bakery!”

“Uhh… Yeah… He did…” you say nervously as you wring your hands. 

“So cool! I’ve never gotten to meet him, but he seems cool!”

“He is! The only reason my shop has any business right now is because of that post. He’s been very helpful since I opened…”

“Well, I’ll have to stop by! I was going to anyway, but now I have even more of a reason.”  

Your pocket buzzed again, “You comin’?” 

“Ahh sorry! I’m meeting someone after the match and they are wondering where I am!”

“No problem! Here’s my number, you can text me when you get a chance!” She says as she sends her contact to you automatically through the phone connection. 

“Thank you! I’ll see you around!” you yell over the crowd as you head off through the stadium. You aren’t sure where the locker rooms are so you ask the staff. After you tell the man you are talking to that Raihan said to come meet him and he confirms with said gym leader, he leads you through the stadium to the locker room. 

“There you are!” Raihan exclaims as he gets up and comes towards you, his arms out. He pulls you into a brief hug which you shyly return. 

“What did you think of the match?” he asks as he pulls away.

“It was amazing! You’ve definitely made a fan out of me,” you say with excitement as you smile up at him. 

“I knew you couldn’t resist!”

You laugh before you pull your backpack off your back and pull out a bag, “By the way, I made you and your Pokemon some after match treats!”

Raihan’s eyes light up as he gazes down at the bag of treats. He calls out his team and they all thrill when Raihan starts handing out the baked goods to them. Flygon is beside you in a minute happily nuzzling you in thanks, you giggle as you pet the large dragon happily. 

Raihan lets out a happy sigh as he takes a big bite of the cake in his hand, “How did you know this is exactly what I needed?”

“Just a lucky guess,” you say with a smile as you gaze up at him. 

He nods happily as he finishes it off and goes in for another one obviously content with the treats and his win. 

“How do you feel about having a movie night tonight? I figured we could do dinner and snacks? Watch a good movie, just the two of us?” he asks as he glances at you out of the corner of his eye as he takes another big bite. 

“Sounds like a fun night. I could use a break after this week.”

“Rough week?” he asks with a concerned frown.

“No, it was just busy. I like how busy it was, but I’m tired.”

“I gotcha…” he says as he lazily stretches. 

The two of you head out of the locker room and towards the entrance. You hear a chorus of yells and squeals directed at Raihan. A group of girls comes running up to him.

“Raihan! What a great match!” Exclaims a blonde trainer.

“He always does great!” A brunette flips her hair over her shoulder and sends a condescending frown to everyone around her.

“You should go get dinner with us!” Exclaims a third. She has vibrant pink hair that she twirls around her finger as she giggles up at the Dragon Tamer.

You are intimidated. They are all so pretty and after seeing the trainer belts they wear low on their hips and their fashionable clothes you wonder if they know him personally.

“Thanks for the invitation ladies, but I’ve already got plans tonight,” he says as he drapes an arm lazily around your shoulders and begins to lead you away.

“Oh come on Rai! We could go clubbing tonight! I know how much fun you had last time!” Says the brunette with a smirk as she grabs onto his arm. 

He glances over his shoulder before his hand comes up to carefully remove hers from his arm.

“Thanks. But I’ve got plans, maybe next time,” His smile is a little harder as he answers her.

You're not the clubbing sort, mostly you bake, drink homemade teas, and read books. You offhandedly wonder what Raihan sees in you, but you put the thought from your head. Raihan invited you to a night of watching movies and dinner after all, and you have every intention of enjoying it. 

The two of you decide on take out since Raihan is tired from the battle and you’re tired from baking all week. He chooses a nice Italian restaurant and the two of you put in your order to go. While you wait for the food to be ready you head to a small convenience store down the street and stock up on snacks. 

“Any movies you want to watch?” Raihan asks as he regards new releases on his phone. 

You screw your mouth up while making Raihan laugh a little at how cute he thinks you look as you think. 

“I don’t know…” you say after a moment, “anything you want to see?”

“There is a new horror movie out, are you okay with that?” He says glancing at you with a sly smile. 

“Umm...sure!”

“Cool! I’ll go ahead and rent it.”

You both make your way back to the restaurant where you pick up your food. Despite your protest, Raihan pays for your meal.

“Come on! Stop pouting! I owe you from the pastries you gave me,” he pleas as he bumps you hip with his own.

“You don’t owe me for those! That was a gift!”

“Well, maybe I just wanted to buy your dinner. Did that ever occur to you?” He asks casually as he lazily drapes his arm around your shoulder pulling you close to him. You stumble into him at the unexpected contact still pouting up at him.

“Aww don’t be like that, Princess! I just want to spoil you! You’ve had a hard week!”

You relent and smile softly up at the Dragon Tamer. 

“That’s why? Really?”

“Of course! I just want to take care of you since you’ve spoiled me all week. Is that so bad?”

“No… I suppose not… I just feel bad! That restaurant was so expensive!”

“Trust me, princess… the royalty check from today’s match didn’t leave me hurting for cash. Let me spoil you tonight alright? Plus we need to celebrate your bakery opening! It’s been a week right?”

You laugh at his logic, “Yeah it has been a week but you don’t have to do all that…” you say shyly as you glance up at him through your lashes. 

“Well I want to,” He says with finality to his voice.

You both end up at Raihan’s with the movie he chose playing as you cuddle up on his couch. The food is delicious and you savor every bite of it. His arm is lazily draped on the couch behind you as you both settle in to watch the movie. You're both sharing a blanket against the chill of the night and he takes this opportunity to scoot a little closer to you. As the movie wears on and it gets scarier his arm falls from the couch to your shoulders as he tucks you in next to him. 

“You okay?” He asks softly his lips brushing against the shell of your ear. A shiver goes down your spine from the contact and he chuckles as he draws you closer to him. 

“I’m fine…” you murmur back as you glance at him catching his eyes as you do so. 

He presses a soft kiss to your hair as he pulls you happily against him. The thought that he did this all on purpose floats across your mind but the thought is gone instantly as you hide your face in his chest. The creature on the screen roaring and causing a jolt of fear through your body. You miss the smile on Raihan’s face as he practically pulls you into his lap to comfort you. You do end up in his lap while he wraps both arms around you and rests his chin on the top of your head. Your hands are resting on his forearms as you lean back into him. 

When the movie is over Raihan pulls out his phone and places it before you both as he scrolls through the choices. You can tell he has no intention of letting you go as he points out a comedy in order to lift the mood. 

You end up fighting your way out of his arms anyway, ignoring his whine of how cold it is now.

“I’m going to the bathroom before this starts, I’ll be right back!” You say with a laugh as you head towards the bathroom. 

When you enter the living room once more you hear Raihan in the kitchen.

“Want anything?!” Floats through the house as you settle back down. 

“Snaaaanks!!!” You yell childishly back and your ears are greeted with his laugh. 

He comes back into the room a few moments later laden down with a variety of snacks and drinks you both picked out from the store earlier. You’re surprised when he sits down and pulls you back into his lap. You don’t protest only giggle as you both get comfortable once again. Raihan starts the movie and the two of you spend the rest of the night laughing with one another and sharing snacks.

The night ends with Raihan walking you to your door even though it’s right next door to his claiming ‘There might be a Beware hiding in the bushes!’ and pulling you in for a tight hug that lasts just longer than it needed to. 

The next morning you open a little later than you do on the days during the week. You spend the morning thinking about the night before with Raihan and how sweet he was. You realize you are falling for the handsome gym leader and you aren’t sure that you care. 

Your daydreaming is interrupted by one of your customers walking back up to the counter.

“There is something wrong with my tea,” he declares sourly. 

“Oh! I’m so sorry! What seems to be the problem?”

“It tastes awful is the problem,” he grumbles at you.

“Oh, well let me make you a fresh one! Would you like a cookie on the house?” 

This seems to appease the grumpy man and he picks out a cookie while you remake his tea. As the day wears on several more of your customers bring their tea back complaining about the taste. You’re stumped though. It’s not a specific kind of tea, in fact, it seems to happen at random. 

You frown as another customer walks away with another cup of tea and watch in relief as they take a sip of tea and seem to enjoy it. It’s not ten minutes later that they are back up at the counter with furrowed brows explaining the sudden bitter taste of the tea. You remake the tea with an apology and send her a pastry for her trouble. She smiles happily at the treat tells you how much she enjoys the tea before she prances out the door. 

You close up shop that evening feeling confused and exhausted by the day’s events. You just can’t figure out what is going on. How can your tea sour in the cups? They seemed to start out just fine. They aren’t steeping them too long are they? Even if they are why is this suddenly a problem?

You glance up at the knock on your door and see Raihan waving to be let in. 

“How did your day go?” he asks pulling you into a hug.

“Odd…”

“Odd? How was it odd?” he asks with a furrowed brow. 

“People kept complaining about their tea souring… I’m just so confused! I make the tea blends myself! I test each batch personally. I just don’t get what’s going on!”

Raihan frowns as he listens to you recount what happened today. 

“Hmm… well, that’s odd… maybe it was just a fluke?”

“Maybe… It seemed to happen randomly so I feel like something else is going on, I just don’t know what…”

“I tell you what, let’s eat dinner and then if you want we can see if we can figure out what happened?”

“Okay…” you relent.

“I was thinking stir fry tonight, you game?”

You give him a small smile, “Yeah that sounds good!”

After dinner two of you spend the evening trying out your teas and checking the batches. You’re stumped when you find absolutely nothing wrong. 

“You know I thought I was a coffee drinker, but really like your tea!” Raihan says after his taking a sip of the fourth tea you gave him to try.

“Welcome to the dark side Rai, we have black tea.”

He laughs at you, “You’re such a dork!”

“A delightful dork!”

“Oh don’t worry Princess, I love dorks.” 

You glance up at him and he winks at you with a lazy smirk on his face. You roll your eyes at his antics but smile nonetheless suddenly shy. 

“Honestly, I don’t think anything is wrong… it all tastes great,” he says after a few minutes absentmindedly swirling the remaining tea in his cup. 

You huff as you regard the shop for a few minutes, “I don’t know what’s going on…” 

“You should head to bed, you have to be up early tomorrow and it’s getting late. If it’s still happening tomorrow we will investigate further okay?” he asks gently as he rests his hands on your arms. 

“Okay… you’re right it is getting late…” you mutter in disappointment. 

He pulls you into another hug and you melt against him as you hug him back.

“See you tomorrow, Princess,” Raihan says as he pulls away.

You wave as he heads out the door and sigh as you gaze around your little shop wondering what could possibly be going on.

Notes: I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! I honestly didn't realize it had taken so long to update! Then again it's been sitting half-finished for a while. Things are weird and hard right now and I hope everyone is safe and healthy and happy. Leave me love and tell me your thoughts! How did you like the date /not-date with Raihan? Everything you thought it would be?

[limit-list]

ATLA AO3 Fic Recs!

idk about how y’all are handling the state of the world rn, but i have retreated into the “consume every available fanfic ever” phase!! for anyone else who wants to read lots of Avatar: The Last Airbender fanfiction, i’ve gathered a list of some of my favs so far!! i’ve split it into gen series, zukka series, gen fics, and zukka fics because those are the types of fics i thrive in. they’re not in any particular order other than that.

i will say that a funny trend i recognized was that Haicrescendo on AO3 (@sword-and-stars on here) made it on to every single list because everything they write is amazing hahaha, feel free to do as i did and just read all of their atla fics. anyway!! here goes, hopes this helps people, ill prolly add onto it at some point haha.

GEN SERIES:

What We’re Given by Haicrescendo

The premise of the story is that Zuko, Iroh, and the crew set out when Zuko was banished, found out that the Sky Bisons never died out, turn their ship into the Jasmine Dragon (a tea shop on a boat!!!), and never hunted the Avatar. This series is so good, it’s currently updating every Friday I think and I love it so much.

Dragon of the Yuyan by 00AwkwardPenguin00

Summary is: “In which Zuko is fostered/adopted/raised/recruited by the Yuyan Archers of Pouhai Stronghold, and destiny hiccups.” Y’all I adore this series so much, I receive so much serotonin every time this updates. The plot develops really really nicely, the OC’s are my fav people ever, and the way the author uses the signing is just perfection. It’s currently updating every Saturday I think.

kintsugi by discordiansamba

Summary is: “au in which a banished for good zuko ends up being hired by the beifongs to watch over their daughter- or, zuko and toph never took that field trip in canon so now she gets to hog him for three whole years”. If y’all know me, y’all know I love some Zuko and Toph friendship. This story is PEAK bonding, it makes me so happy.

ZUKKA SERIES:

Quarantine and Chill 2020 by Haicrescendo

Literally what it says on the tin haha. Series about roommates Sokka and Zuko as they’re stuck in quarantine, first two are explicit, there’s four total so far, and I love them all. The characterization is immaculate, the banter had me cackling, and all in all just a great series!

Carry On For You by Haicrescendo

Summary is: “Not the Pokémon AU you asked for but the one you’re getting anyway. Featuring: full time gym leader and local cryptid Zuko, badge challenger Sokka, and Katara who can only look at so many memes before she flips.” Yall I know nothing about Pokémon but this series!!! It brings me SO much serotonin. I adore this series so much, we get Zuko interacting with animals at the same time as Zukka develops and Iroh is there and I just love it.

the best laid intentions by alittleduck

Post-show fics for the most part. Summary is: “Centers around members of the Gaang coming out to their well meaning but woefully unprepared friends. Part one is centered around Zuko coming out as gay, the second one is centered around Toph coming out as a lesbian and the third one is centered around Sokka coming to terms with his bisexuality.” I love this series a lot, it’s super cute and I thrive on LGBTQ+ gaang fics. We got gay Zuko, lesbian Toph, and bi Sokka and they make me so happy.

GEN FICS:

Embers by Vathara

Ooo boy, this is a long fic, but it is my absolute favorite fanfic in possibly any fandom I’ve been in. The summary for this fic is: “Dragon's fire is not so easily extinguished; when Zuko rediscovers a lost firebending technique, shifting flames can shift the world...” I dunno how to put it any better than that without spoilers!! It rewrites canon from I think Zuko and Iroh getting into Ba Sing Se on. Expect politics, interpersonal tension, several plot lines overlapping and weaving their ways through the story, amazingly developed OC’s, and just incredible writing overall. Definitely a must read.

For Hearth and Home by Haicrescendo

Post-show fic in which Zuko hangs out with a baby all day while everyone falls in love with him. Summary is: “In which Fire Lord Zuko is a total mess and somehow people manage to love him for it anyway.” Honestly I think that sums up the plot, this is just such a pure story, it cheers me up like instantly haha! This is one of the cutest and most relaxing fics I’ve read.

The Family You Choose by TunaFishChris

Show rewrite soulmate fic with the Gaang as family! Summary is: “Some people are born with soulmarks. Zuko has them, but his grandfather burned them off because they ‘make you weak.’ Team Avatar has a few things to say about that.” No spoilers, but I love a good soulmate fic and I’ve never seen a concept quite like this one!! I think I’ve read this two or three times at this point. Amazing.

Unwanted Friends by FoiblePNoteworthy

This was inspired by The Family You Choose by TunaFishChris (see previous), and I love it so much. It’s the same concept, but minus Suki and told from the other’s perspective at an earlier place in the timeline! If y’all end up liking The Family You Choose, you’ll like this one too!!

Perfection is Overrated by Jagged Cliffs

Post-show fic. If you’re like me and have a soft spot for fics where Fire Lord Zuko is an absolute sweetheart to the palace staff, then you have to read this. One of my all time favorite fanfics. Everything about this story makes me happy.

Another Brother by AvocadoLove

Show rewrite. This is a WIP, I’m actually still reading it rn but it’s really good!! It’s about if Hakoda found Zuko as an 8 year old injured on a Fire Nation ship and brought him home to the Water Tribe. No spoilers here, but it’s a really good pure story and I love it so much so far.

Salvage by MuffinLance

Show AU WIP. Ooo goodness I love this story! Summary is: “Mid-Season-One Zuko is held ransom by Chief Hakoda. Ozai's replies to the Water Tribe's demands are A+ Parenting. Hakoda is… deeply concerned, for this son that isn't his, and who might be safer among enemies than with his own father.” Zuko is an angsts bby whomst I adore, Hakoda is my favorite ever, and the OC’s are legit the best. MuffinLance is another author where every fic is amazing! This fic in particular tore me to shreds and then makes up for it in absolute amazingness.

OUTLINE: Amnesia!Zuko Joins the Earth Army by MuffinLance

Show rewrite, I can’t remember from what point exactly, but it’s before Ba Sing Se. Summary is: “Zuko loses his memory and becomes an Earth Kingdom war hero. His father is going to LOVE this.” Written in outline/concept form, I adore this so so much. This fic is why I post concepts of stories I’ll never write, cause this story made me realize people enjoy reading them!! And this is sooo enjoyable, I fuckin love this fic.

ZUKKA FICS:

The Good Vanilla by Haicrescendo

Show AU-ish from the Western Air Temple I think. I think this is the fic that made me fall in love with Zukka actually omg. A beautiful fanfic that shows how Zuko and Sokka slowly fall in love, no spoilers here, there is lots of cooking.

Quit your life and come train Pokemon. (orphaned)

Modern Day AU. Another one of my starter Zukka fics!! Sokka kinda maybe falls in love with Aang’s roommate Zuko. There is nerdiness and awkward situations and ~emotions~. It makes me happy, definitely one of my favs.

by the stars above, i knew we were in love by theycallmesuperboy

Post-show fic. This one tore me to shreds!! It’s a fic about Zuko working his way up to proposing to Sokka. No spoilers, just saying that this story hurt me in all the best ways. Amazing story.

Unchained Melody by AvocadoLove

Show rewrite from Hei Bai’s Forest episode, WIP. Basic premise is that Sokka turns into a ghost, and Zuko is the only one who can see him. The dynamic between Zuko and Sokka is just explored so well here, and the banter is perfection. There are so many things I could say about different parts of the story, but I don’t wanna spoil a thing, so go read it!! Love this fic.

Sea Cranes by Druddigonite

Show AU. Summary is: “Between chasing the Avatar and dealing with his disgrace, Zuko begins to cough up flowers.” It’s a really interesting concept which I’d never heard of before, but I loved this fic! Just enough angst to tear my heart up and then mend it back together.

Hotman by callmecaramleh

Set during the Western Air Temple Arc. Summary is: “Toph decides she needs to know who in the gaang is hot. This leads to quite a bit of trouble for Sokka.” I love this fic so much. It’s so clear that they’re awkward teenagers here, and as an awkward teenager I love the dynamic!!! I just adore these boys so much.

Something Good Can Work by beersforqueers

Bookstore AU!!! I live for a good bookstore AU, as well as library and café AUs. Anyway, summary is: “Bookstore AU! In which Sokka tries to not-so-subtly pick up the cute boy working in the bookstore, and the cute boy is totally oblivious. Because the cute boy is Zuko.” They’re adorable and flustered. It’s precious, another fic that brings me outta a bad mood in like a minute flat. I love this!

[imjeralee]

Wallflower: Chapter 5 - The Long Day

Raihan x F!Reader

Disclaimer: Do not own Pokemon

Note: This is my first Pokemon fanfic. I hope you enjoy it :) Originally posted on Archive of Our Own.

Summary: You’re an unassuming Pokemon breeder who works at the nursery in the Wild Area and he’s Raihan, the fearsome gym leader of Hammerlocke who has more than a million followers.

You don’t want anything to do with him but he’s…persistent.

Rating: Mature/Explicit

Warnings: Lemon, smut, violence, language

THE LONG DAY

...

...

It's been a long day.

A match has just finished. He lost, again. The gym challenger jumps up and down happily whilst he recalls his fainted Duraludon and the sandstorm subsides. There's sand in his eyes but he forces himself to blink through it. The crowd's cheers gradually die down as both challengers make their way to the middle of the pitch and shake hands.

"Congrats." Raihan says, before he goes over his rehearsed line. He's said it so many times, he's lost count. He hands out the Dragon badge, gives them a TM as a gift and sends the gym challenger along their merry little way. He'll also keep his eyes peeled whether the gym challenger makes it to the finals or not.

The audience leaves, the stadium grows quiet and Raihan retires to the changing rooms where he pulls off his hoodie, leaving himself in his dragon uniform, plops himself down on a cold, hard bench, removes his headband and checks his phone. He goes through his selfies and opens his trusted app, uses the filters and chooses which one suits his liking. When he's finished with the minor edits, he posts it up on his account and a slew of likes and comments appear within several seconds of being uploaded.

'Great match, Raihan!'

'Loser'

'Ur so hot my king <333'

'Lost again, huh? not surprised'

''I get how u like to use weather in ur battles - sandstorm, rain, hail - but that was a pure shitstorm'

'Sending u so much luv, ur ma precious bby (ง︡'-'︠)ง'

’DADDY’

'Marry me!!!'

'Maybe if u spent more time training ur pokemon rather than taking selfies, u wouldn't b a shitty trainer. Just sayin ¯\_(ツ)_/¯'

'can I suck ur cock??'

The comments are mixed, needless to say. He scrolls down the growing list until he spots one from a fan with a username that seems familiar to him. The message says 'Plz go 2 Spikemuth??? I know u lost but I’ll always b ur biggest fan'.

Huh. Interesting. He hadn't been to Spikemuth for a long time and he hadn't seen Piers for a while either. Checking his Rotom calendar, he sees that he doesn't have any matches scheduled until next week. Maybe he should go and unwind, take a quick break. Replying to the message, he says 'Great idea!'. He doesn't even need to pack anything because he'll just be there for one night; instead, he merely books a return ticket from Hammerlocke to Circhester online and grabs his hotel keycard. Being a gym leader meant he had several privileges, including a twenty four seven hotel room courtesy of Macro Cosmos in Hotel Ionia.

Once he arrives in Spikemuth, it's already nighttime and he hits the nightclub after visiting Piers. He doesn't remember the name of the club but he frequents it and before he enters, he snaps another photo of himself and uploads it.

Inside, the nightclub is bustling. He's used to this type of scene and he goes to the bar, orders a drink. The first drink is on the house because he comes here so often. Although he's alone, he's approached various times by attractive women of all shapes and sizes who take selfies with him. In almost every photo, they stick their tongue out and do the peace sign. The amount of people who recognise him and go up to him as the night goes on makes him a little exhausted, so he doesn't stay in one area of the club for long, opting to change seats often. As soon as he's changed seats for the umpteenth time, he's immediately approached by a girl in a black dress; she's very attractive and slim.

"Hi." She says coolly, looking at him through half-hooded eyes.

"Hey." He replies, taking a sip of his drink.

"What are you doing here?"

He shrugs.

She smiles widely. "I'm Louisa. Are you gonna buy me a drink or you gonna leave me hanging?"

He takes another sip of his drink and settles the glass on the counter. "Sure."

Calling the bartender over by waving his hand lazily, Louisa excitedly takes the seat beside him and he allows her to order what she wants. It's something expensive but he puts it on his tab. For a few minutes or so, they chat and flirt, and she orders more and more drinks and her words become garbled and she asks him invasive questions which he’s used to, then she tells him she wants to be as rich and famous as he is and asks him for his secret. When he tells her there is no secret, her demeanour changes - she rubs her foot against the length of his leg before she slips out of her barstool and tugs at his hand playfully, inviting him to dance. He lets her take the lead and once on the dance floor, she begins grinding against his hips and taking his hands with hers and putting them on her waist.

Louisa's pulling some pretty bold moves but he finds himself looking away and it's then Raihan spots a girl sitting amongst a group of women in one corner who are chatting loudly; he remembers that interview he did recently and this girl - he has never seen her before and she is definetely not a gym challenger either - but she fits everything he described. He can't help but stare. She's wearing a tight, black dress which she doesn't seem to be comfortable in as she sits at the very edge, looking rather lost as she holds her drink in hand. She doesn't even look like she's enjoying herself. He watches her for a few moments or so, noticing how she lifts a hand to tuck her hair behind her ear and glance at her companions before she shifts her gaze to her lap. She's clearly not at home here. Raihan stares at her for a little longer than intended, drinking in the sight of her until Louisa steps on his foot with her pencil heel.

"Oh! I'm so sorry - " She says, before she immediately slams a hand over her mouth and rushes away - and promptly projectile vomits all over the floor. Looks like someone’s had too much to drink. She collapses and some concerned members of the public go help her out.

After making sure she's okay, he watches as she's carried out and returns to his seat and orders another drink. He downs it in one sip and wipes his mouth, finding his eyes glued on this other girl who’s captured his eye and piqued his interest; he sees her leaving her seat and walking towards his direction. It appears she's been asked to order drinks because she's the only one sober. Raihan watches her; she walks right past him, not even batting an eyelid.

What the Bidoof? She totally ignored him!

Doesn't she know who he is???

He observes her as she returns to her seat, balancing three drinks on a tray which her friends end up making her drink. A while later, she seems to be drunk as well because she heads to the dancefloor on her own, looking around and swaying slightly. Raihan finishes another drink and his head's throbbing too but what the hell - he wants to talk to her so he heads over and once he reaches her, he slides an arm around her waist and she looks up.

"Hi, do you wanna dance?"

She squints her eyes at him; she didn't hear him over the loud music. "...What?"

He repeats his question.

"I don't...I don't talk to strangers." She manages to slur out.

He's fairly amused; she's so cute, like a little Skitty with her pink cheeks and somewhat dazed expression. "I'm not a stranger, I'm Raihan."

"Who?"

He pauses, momentarily stunned.

Then he grins.

A girl who doesn't know him.

What are the odds, really?

...

Present.

There's a team of investigators at your house; the box has been removed and they opened it.

A pokemon's heart was inside.

You didn't see it but these men dressed in white came and took something red and fleshy out and deposited it into an icebox. The date has ended miserably; you sit on your sofa with the front door open as Looker’s team scour the rest of your house but the culprit is long gone. After taking down your testimony, you wonder what's going to happen next - Looker speaks to a man in scruffy shorts, flip flops, t-shirt, cap and sunglasses. People would've thought this man was a hobo but it was actually Chairman Rose in his civilian disguise. You can't hear what they're talking about but it can't be good. His secretary stands stiffly in silence with her hands clasped together, looking rather solemn.

Raihan sits beside you and you're stuck in his embrace. He's been hugging you the entire time but you feel he needs a hug more than you do because no-one should be facing this alone and also, you are grateful he's here so you wrap your arms around his waist and when you look up at him, he smiles at you reassuringly and pecks you on the forehead before snuggling you, and you do the same. It feels good to be in his arms, even though the date is over and there’s random men in your house, going through your things and trampling over your nice pristine carpet with their mucky boots.

Luckily, your Pokemon were fine - you flung open your door and when you saw Drifloon and Phantump in the living room, you pulled them into a hug and returned them to their pokeballs. Then you looked around for Espie and found her sleeping in your closet so you quickly returned her safely into her ball as well. Poliwag never left the bathroom and was swimming in your bathtub which he had filled with water so you quickly recalled him too. You tucked all your pokeballs into your safe box and counted them  three more times just incase. Everyone's accounted for. Thank Arceus, your Pokemon are unharmed. You will call Glenn later and ask if he can pop by your house and look after your Pokemon if he’s free.

What a shit way to end the first date you have with Raihan. You'll remember this for the rest of your life. Oh boy, what a story to tell the grandkids. Jokes aside, the Chairman's presence here doesn't bode well because you know once he finishes talking to Looker, he will probably speak to the both of you. This is bigger than you, Raihan and Looker...no matter how much you wanted to keep the Dusclops in the closet. More and more people are getting involved and will find out about the one night stand. This is humiliating.

Groaning, you close your eyes and Raihan hugs you even tighter than before that your lungs might pop. "Are you okay?" He's asked you that question a few times now.

You're not okay and you don't know whether to humour him or not, so you utter, "This isn't the first time I've seen a dead pokemon. Did I tell you that too?" Sarcastic, cynical response it is. He doesn't deserve it but you can't help yourself in this situation.

"Yeah," He replies (thank goodness he's not offended), "I'm sorry I got you involved."

"It's not your fault."

You resume your cuddling but it's cut short when Chairman Rose finishes talking to Looker and begins heading towards your house and enters through the front door. His secretary follows silently. Immediately, you climb out of his lap, allowing Raihan to stand up and you follow his example, except you begin to tremble slightly until Raihan squeezes your hand. Once Rose is directly in front of you, he exchanges glances between the two of you before he smiles warmly.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, my name is Rose and I'm the Chairman of the Pokemon League. You must be Raihan's new belle." He says.

Belle? Like the character from the popular, classical movie, Beauty and the Buzzwole? This guy is kind of weird. There's something off about him but you can't just put your finger on it.

Before you can even speak, Rose turns to the gym leader and adds, "Raihan, it's been a while since we last saw each other; usually I have no business in your affairs but this time....well, where do I even begin?" He's smiling but you don't think this conversation is heading to a good direction.

"Chairman Rose." Raihan greets him; he's different when dealing with this man. He's more stoic and serious. "We're taking care of it. I've got Looker helping us."

"I'm taking your word for it, but I'm disappointed in you. Get this sorted out right now. This could ruin everything I've worked for and I'm not taking any chances. Why else do you think the paparazzi aren't going crazy over this? I'm paying them to keep their mouths closed."

Raihan's expression doesn't change. "I'm aware."

"I'm glad you understand the severity of the circumstances here." With that, Rose turns and leaves. The tight-lipped woman doesn't say anything and follows after him.

There's a brief silence between the two of you until Raihan sits down on the sofa again.

"Raihan?" You mutter; he keeps his eyes trained on the floor but he looks up when you sit down beside him. "What did he mean? Is...is that why...when the photo of us got posted online, it just vanished the next day? I mean, okay, I guess it's a godsend something else came up but...did Chairman Rose really pay the press off? I'm sure that man won't do things for free......Is it coming from your pay cut?" Although you're not sure exactly how Raihan's making money - either from being sponsored by various companies or individuals, or from his social media - you're not sure but now that you think about it... well, you didn't think about it until now.

He nods.

Oh, shit. Your lip trembles slightly and you rub your elbow awkwardly. "Oh, Raihan."

"It's fine. I didn't want you to worry or get hurt." Raihan says, smiling gently before he reaches for your hand, entwining your fingers with his. You gaze at him worriedly and when he drops the smile, you carefully pull your hand free from his and taking a deep breath, you attempt to calm your thundering heart as you awkwardly slide your arms around him. This is your first time taking the initiative and your cheeks feel warmer than usual. He realises this too and he looks at you in surprise before you give him a squeeze. So... here you are, showing affection and care.

"I think it's best if we lay low after this." You mutter, "Chairman Rose is right. This is getting worse...and your career might be ruined. It's not worth it."

In response, he gives you a tight squeeze.

You hear someone clearing your throat and that's when you both throw your glances over. It's Looker; he looks slightly disgruntled. "Sorry to interrupt, I just wanted to check if you’re both okay.”

“Thanks, Looker,” Raihan replies, "We're fine."

”Good.”

As he begins to leave, his Rotom hovers into the air and exclaims, "Bzzzt! Confirmed visual! Suspect is at Rose Tower!"

"Thanks, Rotom. Let's go."

You turn to Raihan and your gazes meet. "...Should we go with him?"

....

Looker leaves Ballonlea and makes his way to Rose Tower; arriving at reception, he shows the receptionist his badge and proceeds to tell her he's looking for someone. He gives a name - a female's - and the receptionist checks internal employee records and informs him this particular employee is located on the fifteenth floor, belonging to the IT department. Looker thanks her and enters the awaiting lift. He's only been to Rose Tower a few occasions and discovers it's quite a sterile environment. He watches various Macro Cosmos employees walking around, all donned in the casual, cool uniform, with the hat and shades and the funky-looking triangle shaped pokeball holders stuck to their hips. They're all role model trainers - friendly, intelligent and hip.

Rotom did an excellent job - Raihan's biggest fan is a Marco Cosmos employee who lives in Spikemuth. It was typical - drunk father, dilapidated environment, hundreds of photos of Raihan in her room... This will be over soon.

Once the lift doors open, Looker finds the next reception desk and asks the lady for the girl and where she sits; the lady asks if she should call her - Looker says no, but asks for access inside - the lady kindly grants permission to enter the IT floor using her pass. Once inside, there are rows and rows of desks in open plan all filled with large computer screens - many employees are looking at two or four screens at one time, tip-tapping away rapidly into their computers. There's numerous Porygon floating around but they don't pay attention to him.

Looker goes up to a random employee and asks if he knows where the girl is. The employee tells him that she's at a booth and points down the hallway. Looker curses and makes his way as quickly as he can to the hot desk area where he sees a lone girl with her back to him, sitting at one of the terminals. Looks like she's in the middle of uploading something. Shit, it's not the video, right? A Banette stands beside her and once it senses Looker's arrival, it tugs on her elbow and hisses, a rattling noise emitting from its body.

"Stop!" Looker yells; he's just a few feet from her and the girl abruptly turns round in her swivel chair. "Don't do it."

It's a young girl; maybe even younger than Raihan's current girlfriend. Looker wasn't sure what to exactly expect but she seems perfectly normal. "Who...who are you??" She demands, clearly stunned by his arrival.

"Don't do it." Looker says sternly; he doesn't bother with any introductions. "I know who you are and what you did. Are you sure you want to do this to Raihan?" Looker points to the computer where the screen is frozen with the commands 'Confirm' or 'Cancel' and she throws her glance to the monitor. "Do you have it in your heart to do something like this to him? Is this something you really want to do? Think about it. If you press that button, you'll ruin everything he's worked for and you know he's worked hard to get to where he is now."

The girl looks annoyed at his words, "I-I don't know what you're talking about. Please leave."

"I went to your home and spoke to your father, and I found the hotel room with the slot behind the light switch where you put the camera. We know what you did to the Deerling. Do you really want to go through with this?"

He's expecting some kind of angry response, some form of retaliation to his claims. However, she merely closes her eyes, re-opens them and says, "You don't understand, nobody does. If I don't do this then he won't even bat an eyelid at me. I did everything for him. He is my everything. I've done everything for him and it's still not enough. He didn't see me at all. He doesn't see me...why doesn't he see me? I do so much for him. I comment on every video and photo, I go to as many matches as I can, I changed myself, I changed my hair, my eyes - but it didn't work, nothing did."

"And are you happy with yourself? With who and what you have become?"

She grows silent.

"You aren't, are you? You probably don't recognise yourself anymore. You probably don't even know who you are anymore. Deep inside, you know this is wrong."

"She was one step ahead. It should've been me, it was supposed to be me."

"But it wasn't. And now you're angry, you're upset and betrayed."

"Yes."

"It doesn't have to be this way."

A brief silence spawns before she casts her morose gaze to the floor. She utters, "He helped me get up every morning....helped me get through the day. If it wasn't for him, I probably would've killed myself a long time ago."

"I understand." Looker replies, "If you really love him, then you would forgive him."

Before the girl can say anything, however, there's the sound of footsteps approaching and Looker turns to see Raihan and his girlfriend standing at the hallway along with a random Macro Cosmos employee - looks like they've just arrived and everyone seems stunned to see each other.

Chaos ensues:

"What's going on here?!" The Marco Cosmos employee demands.

"Goddamnit, what the hell are you two doing here?!" Looker barks angrily; he rarely loses his cool, but this...? Motherfurret!

"What the...what is she doing here?!" The obsessed fan begins to screams; her calm demeanour vanishes at once and her expression turns murderous as she glances at Banette. "Go Banette, attack! Use Shadow Ball!" She promptly turns to the computer and Looker fumbles for a pokeball.

"Growlithe, stop her!" He throws the capsule and releases the puppy pokemon who immediately dashes over and bites on the sleeve of her uniform, pulling her arm away from the mouse but she's able to start the upload.

Banette's Shadow Ball hurtles towards the gym leader's direction; Raihan releases his Duraludon to shield his girlfriend whilst he also throws himself over her. She cannot react in time to Banette's attack but a pokeball stuck to her waist opens up and a burst of light appears, revealing another pokemon that blocks the attack along with Duraludon - it's a Garchomp - and it immediately retaliates with a Dragon Claw, knocking the Banette out in one smooth hit. Looker rushes up to the desk and grabs the mouse, cancelling the upload before it reaches one hundred per cent. Banette's attack bounces off Duraludon and the room grows silent.

”No, Banette!” The obsessed fan screams as Growlithe tugs her away from the computer and Looker quickly pulls out the USB device. With her other hand, she grabs a pokeball off her belt and tosses it forwards, “Druddigon, go!"

As a massive pokemon appears and attacks Growlithe, she is released and she quickly returns her fainted Banette into an Ultra ball before making a run for it. Looker chases after her as she disappears into the emergency exit.

...

"Beldum, use Take Down!"

From that day on, you took Beldum outside to train everyday. The mountains near your home was an ideal place and after a few days of scouring, you found a small patch of grass containing weak pokemon which you could use to train Beldum, namely Trapinch who are at a level much lower than Beldum. You direct Beldum when to attack and avoid and when the Trapinch faints, you jump and down on the spot with joy.

"Yay! You did it!"

Beldum turns to you, eye curling with happiness. You can't always tell what it's thinking but you know it enjoys training. You can also feel it's growing stronger as the days pass. Beldum is not strong enough to face other pokemon so you only have him face Trapinch and so far, you're also noticing that his attack stats are getting stronger compared to his others.

"Phew! Let's go home!" You exclaim, "It's been a long day."

Beldum nods in agreement. You've used up all your potions to keep his health up; no worries though, because Glenn will be going to the pokemart tomorrow and you can ask him to buy some for you. As you return Beldum to his pokeball, suddenly it disappears from your hand and you're shoved from behind. Landing on the ground, your knees scraping in process, you look up to see a group of boys on their bikes who are clutching Beldum's pokeball. Urgh, if it isn't Graham and his little gang.

"Hey! Give me him back!" You yell angrily as you get up wobbly. Your knees are bleeding and so are your palms, but Beldum was more of your concern.

"You want him? Then come get 'im!" Graham exclaims, before he starts pedalling away on his bike. His cronies follow and you growl under your breath, grabbing the handlebars of your bike and lifting it off the ground. You follow the boys as fast as you could go, going deeper and deeper into the forest and up a steep mountain path until you see them up ahead and looks like they've ditched their bikes to crouch in front of some bushes; once you arrive, you climb off your bike and run up to them, furious.

Before you can even yell, Graham grabs you and slaps his grubby hand over your mouth, silencing you. "Shhhh! It'll hear you!" He hisses and you blink, wide-eyed.

He drags you towards the rest of his group where they're spying on a large dragon pokemon in a cave that is hunched over a Deerling... it's a small, feeble thing - and your eyes widen as you see the large pokemon smash the Deerling's head into the ground and it lets out a weak but horrifying, pained bleat until it stops moving. Growling low, the massive dragon pokemon begins to sink its jaws into its body and tear at the flesh. Using it's massive claws, it proceeds to tear the body apart and you see nothing but blood and entrails. The boys are staring, transfixed, whilst you watch in horror. You try to escape but Graham's grip on you is too strong as he forces you to watch, much to your disgust.

"W-what is it?" One of the boys asks.

"I think it's a Druddigon."

"And it's eating that Deerling!"

In unison, they all coo in awe even though you're horrified and repulsed and you try to escape once more, your foot stepping over a twig and causing it to snap loudly.  Everyone gasps as the Druddigon immediately turns its head to your direction and the boys make a run for it; Graham lets go of you and pushes you to the ground once more and your head smacks against the dirt. As you sit up, your vision is slightly blurred as you watch the boys grabbing their bikes and pedal away, leaving you behind. You don't know where Beldum is until it appears in a burst of light and hovers in front of you protectively.

"Beldum!" You exclaim with relief. Glancing around, you find Beldum's discarded pokeball and grab it, just as a massive shadow covers your form and you look up to see the huge Druddigon before you. It lets out an insanely loud roar and you scream, throwing your arms over your head to brace for impact -

- but nothing happens.

Lowering your arms, you glance over to see a small blue pokemon with a red tummy that has stopped the Druddigon in its rage; it stands alongside your Beldum, facing off against the dragon. It waves it's little arms and snaps its jaws as it attempts to kick sand at the Druddigon and you know it's using Sand Attack.

A Gible?

Standing up, you know neither of the pokemon are a match against the Druddigon so you recklessly grab your Beldum and the Gible and take off running.

....

Oh crumbs, Looker had almost calmed down the culprit but your group ruined it by waltzing into the scene. Neither of you were aware, of course; you and Raihan had merely arrived at Rose Tower and asked if anyone had seen Looker. A kind Macro Cosmos employee said yes and agreed to take you over to see him. However, the moment you saw that Druddigon and fear gripped you like ice. It's been a long time since you've been afraid and you’re brought to your senses when you hear Garchomp growling and you blink, turning to him.

"Chompy?"

Garchomp emits another growl; you know he's asking if you're okay.

"Yes, I'm fine. Sorry about that. Thanks for saving me."

He nods and then turns to the Druddigon.

Ah, that's right. A Gible came to save you that day. It just came out from nowhere and once you successfully ran away from the Druddigon, it decided to stay with you and Beldum. Ever since you added Gible to your team, you trained him until he evolved into a Garchomp and now he's one of your most reliable fighters along with Metagross. You smile fondly at Garchomp as he waddles in front of you and you quickly come to realise that Raihan's Duraludon is fighting the Druddigon; he's whittled down the Druddigon's health until it's weak and you hastily issue a command to finish it off: “Garchomp, use Dragon Claw.” You instruct, and your pokemon strikes down your opponent with speed and strength like no other.

Druddigon is quickly knocked out and Raihan turns to you and your pokemon, grinning. "We make a good team."

You're not sure what to think - Looker was handling it fine without you two. "We shouldn't have come. What were we thinking? We're not ten years old anymore. I'm too old for this." You reply, and Raihan chuckles. Turning to the Macro Cosmos employee who has escorted you to Looker, you see he's busy on the phone informing his superiors about an emergency - also, the entire IT hot desk area is in complete disarray. Your skirmish with Banette and Drudiggon has resulted in many upturned computers and chairs and a few broken desks.

"C'mon, we need to help Looker." Raihan says, reaching for your hand.

You nod and you both recall your pokemon, then head towards the direction where Looker and the girl sprinted off to.

Adrenaline pumps through your veins and your pulse is racing. This is definitely a date to remember. You're going to remember this day for a long time. You reach the emergency exit, opening the doors where you see the stairs as well as three lifts. It's eerily silent - if Looker was chasing the girl, you would hear them, right? Two of the lifts are heading up, so naturally you assume they've taken the lift - looks like it's going to the very top floor - and you and Raihan immediately jump into the third lift once it arrives and take it all the way up. This very exciting moment is temporarily put on hold as you stand side by side and listen to dingy elevator music on your way to the top; Raihan even attempts to take a selfie. He tries to include you in the photo too but you're not in the mood for photos so you politely decline.

Once the doors slide to an open, action rears it's ugly head again - you and Raihan find yourself in a huge outdoor arena; the air here is terribly chilly and you can feel strong gusts of wind blowing from the stands. Your breath comes out in short puffs and you begin to shiver but you see Looker and the obsessed fan ahead; they have finished a pokemon battle with Looker recalling his fainted pokemon. You and Raihan rush up to him but he holds his arm out.

"Don't do anything rash." He warns, and you take note of the obsessed fan who is standing a distance away. The moment she sees Raihan, and her eyes widen with fright.

"Thanks, Looker. What's her name?"

Looker tells him.

"Thanks, I'll talk to her." Raihan mutters.

"Wait, don't - " You and Looker speak in unison, but Raihan is already walking towards her. You help Looker stand on his feet and you both watch Raihan approach the girl. The atmosphere feels terse, thick with tension.

"Hi," He says, smiling, "You're my biggest fan, right?"

"Y-yes, I am." Strange, she's very timid all of a sudden.

He says her name and she nods.

"You....you know my name?"

"Of course I do."

She clamps a hand over her mouth in shock before tears begin bubbling in her eyes.

"Thanks for supporting me. If it weren't for you, for all of you, things could've turned out a lot differently for me. Thanks for being there for me. I get a lot of harsh comments, but you've always cheered me on. Thank you."

She nods vigorously. "Yes, yes, of course I will!!! You're so important to me, I-I - " She clutches her chest, "I can't believe this, you're...you-you're actually talking to me. I-I've always imagined this! And it's really happening!" She can't seem to control herself now as she splutters and stutters before she reaches for him. She wants to touch him and she begins making her way towards him. Raihan doesn't move, allowing her to approach. What the hell?! You try to interrupt but it's too late - as soon as she's in arm's length of him, you see her pulling a knife from behind her and Raihan doesn't realise -

You release Garchomp from his pokeball and he executes a Slash, causing the knife to go clattering out from her hand. She whips her head to you, furious; Raihan exchanges glances between the two of you whilst Looker hurriedly collects the knife.

"I challenge you to a pokemon battle!" You find yourself yelling out; you need to avert her attention from Raihan or else she'll try to pull a stunt like that again should she get the chance. Enraged, the obsessed fan accepts the challenge, grabs a pokeball from her belt and releases her pokemon. It's a Garchomp, too.

"Garchomp, use Dragon Tail!" She directs her pokemon to attack first.

"Outrage!" You yell, and you watch as both Garchomp lunge at each other. You will show no mercy. The moment they clash and you wince as the Dragon Tail connects with your pokemon; your Garchomp assaults the opponent at the same time and both pokemon land on the ground. Her Garchomp wobbles slightly before collapsing. Success! The enemy Garchomp is knocked out cold and your Garchomp is still standing!

Annoyed, she recalls her fainted Garchomp whilst yours stands proudly in the arena, victorious. She chooses her next pokeball and throws it high into the air. "Go, Dragonite!"

You return Garchomp, thank him for his hard work and choose your next battler. "Go, Tyranitar!"

Raihan watches you and your pokemon with his arms crossed and a smile; you know he's impressed but there's no time to waste.

"Hyper Beam!" The obsessed fan commands, and the Dragonite begins gathering energy in its mouth.

"Ice Punch!" You yell, and Tyranitar acknowledges your instruction with a roar and slams one arm towards the direction of the Dragonite's belly. A cluster of thick ice surrounds your Tyranitar's claw which proceeds to ram into the Dragonite and it stops in mid-attack, promptly knocking out the dragon pokemon with one hit. It's super effective!!!!

The Dragonite is recalled and there's only one pokeball attached to her belt; the obsessed fan is down to her last pokemon. You wonder what her final pokemon is - and she tosses the ball onto the field. A Hydreigon appears in a burst of light and you stare as she quickly returns it; a bright red light appears on her wrist and begins to gather around her - she has a Dynamax band - and she grabs the ball which has become enlarged and throws it high into the air, revealing the Dynamaxed Hydreigon. It promptly flaps its massive wings and a fierce gust of wind almost knocks you off your feet if Tyranitar didn't help by shielding you.

"Thanks, boy." You say, as Tyranitar growls affectionately at you before turning to face the gigantic Hydreigon. "It's Dynamaxed but don't be afraid."

Tyranitar throws it's glance to the ground, twiddling it's claws together timidly.

"You can do it! I believe in you!!" You pat him on the back, and Tyranitar returns to the field. "Use Stone Edge!"

Your Tyranitar nods and emits a roar; the ground shakes and just as the Hydreigon is beginning it attack, Tyranitar summons enormous pillars of rock that burst out from the ground and slams into the Hydreigon without delay. Although it's not a super effective move, the attack hits the Hydreigon square in the chest and it begins to explode in a glorious display of fire and light before it begins to return to normal size. He did it!!

Raihan and Looker watch as the dust clears away. The obsessed fan is out of pokemon. Your pokemon had completely and utterly decimated her team in minutes and her jaw drops in disbelief.

"No!" She yells, furious. Distraught, she looks around the arena shakily before she runs for the railings - you know what she's trying to do - before she can throw herself off, Raihan has grabbed her, hauling her away from the edge just in time. She lands in his chest as he drops over the floor and she attempts to wriggle free, flailing violently. Although you wonder if she's got another knife hidden somewhere, you get the feeling she's out of options and now she is truly helpless. Raihan sits up with the girl who's crying heavily and she's immediately intercepted by Looker who takes out a pair of handcuffs, slapping them on her wrists.

You recall Tyranitar, rush over to Raihan as he gets up to stand, grinning at you. Without thinking twice, you throw your arms around him; he's taken aback by your action, eyes wide, before he chuckles and quickly wraps his arms around you in return and scoops you off the ground; you find your feet leaving the floor and you quickly adjust yourself to this new position, slipping your arms around his neck whilst he keeps you hoisted up with his arms tucked under your knees, your chest pressed against his.

"You idiot, you could've gotten killed!" You can't help but scold him.

Your faces are close as he clutches you. "I'm sorry I made you worry."

"Not good enough." You retort, "Don't do that ever again!"

"Okay." He leans in and quickly pecks you on the mouth and you find your anger subsiding; you can't stay mad at him.

The two of you then turn to Looker who is escorting the obsessed fan out of the arena and towards the lifts. She's still crying uncontrollably, and Looker glances at you and Raihan. "Good job," Looker grunts out, "Thanks for your help, I appreciate it."

"What's going to happen now?"

"You both need to come with me to the police station." Looker replies, and Raihan - still carrying you - begins to trail after him.

"You can let me down." You tell him but he merely smiles at you cheerfully.

"Nope, I like carrying my princess like this ~ "

...

At the police station, there's a lot to do but Looker releases both yourself and Raihan after a few hours; you have provided another set of testimony and it does appear the case is closed. He thanks you for your efforts in stopping the obsessed fan and also your assistance with police investigation. Unused to receiving compliments, you stuttered out that you didn't do anything substantial. Meanwhile, there is some damage to Rose Tower but Macro Cosmos will deal with this themselves and Looker will ensure there are no repercussions on you and Raihan. When you ask Looker what will happen next, Looker informs you that the fan is charged with a number of crimes - recording illegally, blackmail, abuse of employee rights, invasion of privacy, attempted murder and pokemon slaughter. It will depend if charges are to be pressed - in a few days, she could stand trial and her pokemon, confiscated.

Attempted murder? It sounds serious and you scratch your head in befuddlement. It's taking a while to sink in that you were in a dangerous situation earlier...it's like something out of a crime drama or an action movie. Again, these sorts of stuff might happen to your friends, yes. Just not...you.

You can't help but wonder how Raihan feels. Is he doing well? Should he see a counsellor after this? Is he traumatised? You stand at the vending machine, slotting in coins for two fresh waters. You collect the drinks and turn round to see Raihan sitting quietly with his gaze trained on the floor. He's not on his phone, either. You sit down beside him and hand him the bottle of water; he thanks you, unscrews the lid and takes a few gulps.

You both sit in silence for a while until you say, "Do you want to talk about it?"

He breathes in and exhales gently then leans back on the seat, resting his elbows on the chair and looks up at the ceiling. You guess he isn’t in a mood to talk - which you will respect so you don't press him any further. However, he reaches for you, lifts you off your seat and eases you into his lap. He lifts you up as though you weighed nothing. You blink owlishly as he encircles his arms around your waist and buries his nose into your hair, inhaling your scent. You're unmoving for a few moments before you slowly wrap your arms around him. Your action prompts him to clutch onto you tighter, his grip on you increasing.

It becomes a full body hug with your chest pressed tightly against his and your hips knocking together, your arms wrapped tightly around his neck whilst he holds you by the waist. You’re so close to him you can feel his breath on your cheeks. You rest your chin on his shoulder and give him a little rub on his back. His muscles are tense. You hope he will loosen up but all Raihan does is hold you close to him and you can feel the warmth that radiates from his body as well as his steady heartbeat. This actually feels...nice.

There's never a dull moment with Raihan, because he begins trailing little kisses over the side of your face as you cling onto him. You can feel him grinning against your skin before he presses another kiss over your cheek and finally, your lips.

...

Once you return home, you open the door to see Glenn in your living room, playing with your Pokemon. He's wearing a Hydreigon hood with Hydreigon sock puppets on each hand. You bristle at the sight but say nothing. Meanwhile, Espeon sits at his feet, watching. Even Poliwag has left the bathroom and is now sitting in the armchair to his left. Upon your arrival, everyone looks up and Glenn removes the hood and grins widely at you, "Yo!!! How was the date?"

You exhale loudly as you trudge over, removing your bag and collapsing over the couch beside him; you drop your head on his shoulder and groan. "It was fine. I have something for you." You take out Ponyta's pokeball and hand it to him. Glenn has been looking for one for a long time and you know he really wants one, so you figured you'd gift it to him.

"Ohh, a pokemon! This is so exciting! I wonder what's inside?" Glenn takes the pokeball off you and opens it, releasing the horse pokemon and for a few seconds, he's stunned as it lets out a high-pitched whinny and clops its hooves. Glenn's jaw hits the floor. "Oh my Drowzee, whaaaaaat! No way!! Whaaaaaaat? Nooooo, it can't be - whaaaat!"

"Yep, it's a Galarian Ponyta."

He lets out a hoot of joy. "Thanks, sis!!!!" Glenn exclaims cheerfully as he reaches over and pinches at your nose with his fingers hidden behind the Hydreigon puppet before he rushes over to the Ponyta and throws his arms around it. "Ohhh, you're so beautiful, yes you are!! I'm gonna call you 'Sugarplum'."

You giggle as Glenn continues fawning and doting over the Ponyta who neighs in response as he hugs it. It appears to have taken a liking to him immediately and he returns it to the ball, grinning widely. "Thanks, sis!"

"Raihan caught it but he gave it to me.”

He blinks. "Really?! That's amazing! Can you thank him for me?"

"Of course."

You and Glenn settle on the couch again where he continues where he left off with the Hydreigon puppet, "Hydreigon used Dazzling Gleam!"

You wrinkle your nose in response; you don't remember Hydreigon being capable of using this fairy type move, but you're well aware Glenn likes to improvise a lot. "Do you have another puppet?"

"I sure do." Glenn fishes around his bag and gives you a puppet - it's an Espurr with pink beady, glassy eyes - and you promptly drape it over your right hand. Phantump and Drifloon watch, engrossed. "Hydreigon used Dark Pulse!"

"Nooooo, it's super effective!" You cry, shaking your puppet and Espeon hisses angrily at Glenn, "But Espurr clung on using it's Focus Sash! Espurr used Play Rough!"

"It's super effective!!!" Glenn roars, throwing his fists into the air, "Hydreigon regained a little of it's HP using its Leftovers! Hydreigon used Dragon Pulse!"

"Espurr fainted!" You yell, and you make the Espurr puppet squeak with pain before doubling over. Phantump trills loudly in response whilst Poliwag and Drifloon looks between the two of you. And Espeon is still hissing in dismay. When it grows silent, the two of you burst into laughter before you drop to the couch, exhausted.

"Long day, huh?" He asks, when you stop laughing.

"Yeah," You say, "...It was a long day."

...

[leavaloo]

h/cs for how the gym leaders react to getting sick?

Hello look at these fuckin dweebs that I love so much. I want more of their antics and goofiness when the dlc comes, please and thank you Nintendo.

Gonna do a read more after the first three gym leaders cause this is a looong post~

Milo:

Poor bean just keeps working.

Workaholic to the core, and very convinced that his Wooloo need him.

Takes like, ten people to finally convince him to just go home and fuckin’ rest.

And also hold him down but that’s another story.

Recovers quickly regardless.

“Weren’t you just sick?” “Yep!” “...It’s been a day????” “YEP! :D!”

Nessa:

Beautiful when healthy, shivering, sniveling mess when sick.

Is always cold. No amount of blankets can stop her from shivering.

Has a very specific Chewtle doll that she cuddles when she’s sick.

Refuses to let people take care of her.

Is denied that refusal and is taken care of anyways.

Stubborn and pouty, but still pretty cute.

Falls asleep for what feels like years.

Recovery time is about as long.

Kabu:

The immune system of a steroid induced ox.

Rarely ever gets sick, but when he does, he has absolutely no clue how to deal with it.

Medicine??? What’s that???

Will continue to train, just indoors.

His biggest support from other people would be just them bringing him food so he can cook.

By the time he’s done being sick, he has absentmindedly cooked so many things that he just gives them out to the league.

Unfortunately for the league, this man has a fast recovery time.

They want more food.

Bea:

Absolutely REFUSES to admit that she’s sick.

Stubborn as well, and she will go until her body refuses to anymore.

Someone at some point will get a phone call, and it’s her sniffling and saying that she can’t get home from the gym.

Kabu usually rescues her.

Is literally just a ball of pent up energy cause she can’t do shit.

She’s basically vibrating.

Needs to take so much Nyquil in order to actually go to bed.

Ends up becoming a Bea burrito with how she rolls herself up in blankets.

Allister:

Refuses to come out of his room.

Will absolutely make a nest bc this is perfect for him.

He doesn’t wanna deal with people, he just wants to play video games and sleep all day.

He has to be physically dragged to a doctors office.

Sometimes, people have a hard time figuring out if he’s sick or not bc he’s basically the same person when healthy.

Grump master 5000

Pouty Mcpoutson

His ghost pokemon will ABSOLUTELY steal stuff to make sure he gets better.

Opal:

guess i’ll die.png

Literally gives no fucks.

She does the exact same shit she does all day since Bede took over.

This includes reading, making tea, and not moving for hours on end.

Rocking chairs are an absolute must.

There’s not much else to say, this woman is the definition of “I’ve no more fucks to give, my fucks have all flown off.”

Bede:

Absolutely livid.

How dare he get sick?! He’s got too much to do, and too much to train.

He’s not got the time to deal with this tomfoolery!

Will absolutely blame Hop for getting sick.

Then again, he blames Hop for most of his life’s problems.

Gets strangely nice?? Ends up calling Gloria being like “...help.”

Will absolutely cuddle the shit out of her.

Gets strangely clingy and lovable.

Once healthy, he denies that he was ever like that, all with a blush on his face.

Except with Hop. He will absolutely rub it in his face that he cuddled with Gloria.

Gordie:

Has a rock hard immune system, so he like, never gets sick.

Gets whiny if he does tho.

“MOOOOOOOM THIS IS DUMB!!!”

“I’m aware, honey.”

Gets bored, so he makes blanket forts.

Best thing for Gordie when he’s sick? Legos. He likes building shit, cause he gets bored really quickly w nothing to do.

After a quick nap, he’s polished and ready to go. Like, takes maybe a day for him to recover.

Melony:

Knows the best medicine, the most effective shit, and the best methods for getting unsick.

She has to! She deals with ice types!

Will not stop doing things until she’s bed ridden.

Her children will collectively freak out for a sec and then get a system running to take care of her.

Mama bear goes into hibernation. Do not wake her up. You will die.

This is more common than she likes to admit.

Piers:

Please help this man and his immune system out.

The worst thing abt this is he can’t sing.

But he also likes his voice when it’s gravely and rough so he does it anyways.

Proceeds to lose his voice. Proceeds to then look like a lost puppy.

Cuddlebug to the max.

He’s a stick, so he shivers a lot.

Will absolutely have a heated blanket. Don’t test him.

“Piers did you inhale the cough drops again.” “...Yes?” “Gdi.”

Will fall asleep on you for hours.

Raihan:

Anything that comes into his room is now part of his hoard.

Nest? Pfft, that’s for weaklings.

Hoard is a very accurate term for him and his dragons.

This includes people. It’s an entire endeavor if you try to leave his room.

Gets clingy and protective, and knows exactly every little thing that he has in his hoard, and will know when they’re missing.

“Babe where’s my bowl.” “I washed it.” “Nooooooooooooooooooo ;c.”

Grabby hands and literally curling around your body bc he’s so fuckin’ tall.

Curls in a ball w/o you anyways, he’s basically a tired, grouchy cat.

Is back on his feet within a couple of days.

[pokemon-swsh-bartender-au-crew]

Heavy Heart, Heavy Soul: Chapter Fourteen

———————

Still, while Piers did believe that his friend Leon would be at least a semi-trustable babysitter for Marnie, he couldn’t help but get a bad feeling about this. So, despite having known Leon ever since they were kids, he had his doubts about how much Leon could really be trusted. But surely he had nothing to worry about, right? He sighed quietly as he looked to the side, trembling slightly as he spoke softly. “T...Thanks fer findin’ someone ta babysit my lil’ sis’ ‘til I’m able ta leave the hospital, Rai... I... I just don’t want my lil’ sis’ ta be wit’out supervision fer too long of a period of time... But maybe I’m just overthinkin’ things, right?” Raihan, whom was still heartbroken over what had happened, was trying his best to stay calm and not start crying again. That incident that got Piers in the hospital had really traumatized him to say the least. But of course, he would still answer Piers. “Everything’ll be alright, ok, Piers? You know very well that I would never let anyone take you from me permanently and that I’d make sure that Marnie stayed safe if there was ever a time you couldn’t be there to protect her.” With having heard that, Piers simply nodded a bit in understanding.

As for Leon, he was currently rather bored as he was keeping an eye on Marnie. You probably think he was at his family’s house in Postwick, right? Actually, he had a decent sized house in Wyndon, which is where he was with Marnie right now. Knowing that he had failed to actually kill Piers had certainly left him on quite a sour mood. After all, everything he’s done to try to get Raihan to leave Piers had only strengthened Raihan’s love for Piers; the exact opposite of what Leon wanted. Why couldn’t things just go the way Leon for just once? Why couldn’t he just get Raihan to break up with him. And while Leon was one person that Piers had no idea he should even have to fear, there was yet another person Piers was unaware that he should fear as well. After all, it was Raihan’s fault for not reading the fine print on the resignation contract he had to sign when he quit his job as Galar’s Eighth Gym Leader. Oh, if he had just read the fine print, he could have saved Piers from having to go through a lot of trouble with Rose. But since Raihan had failed to read the fine print, Piers was going to have to one day pay the consequences for that mistake Raihan made. But that may not be for a while at least. One thing however, is certain. And that is that Raihan has majorly fucked up Piers’s life by not reading that fine print. This is exactly why no one should trust the Chairman because you never know when he’s going to try to trick people.

Leon sighed as he glanced over at Marnie to just see what she was up to, which Marnie was simply playing peek-a-boo with her Morpeko quietly. He knew he had to wait for Piers to leave the hospital before he could screw with Piers’s life further than he already had. That is of course, unless he were to perhaps let something bad happen to Marnie. He knew that girl meant the absolute world to Piers because she was basically all the family Piers had left. And on top of that, if Piers lost Marnie, he’d have no one to take over his Gym for him since well, no one other than Marnie has ever had interest in taking over the Dark Type Gym. Meaning, Piers cannot retire until he finds someone suitable to take over his Gym for him. Which that would only add more stress onto Piers as well as make Piers have to go through the grief of losing the only family he had left, which would overall possibly push Piers’s depression far enough that Piers can no longer stand living. Leon could only hope that this is what would get Piers to give up. But the thing is, how could he make murder look like an accident? Or was this really taking things too far this time? At this point, Leon wasn’t sure. But for now, this was nothing more than a mere thought that may never actually be put into action. This is really basically possibly a last resort plan if it ever were to come down to this. If nothing else works to separate Piers and Raihan, then it’s goodbye Marnie. Even if he didn’t take Marnie away from Piers, he still had other ways to screw with Piers further.

Though, one thing is for certain. Even if he didn’t harm another person that Piers cared about, he sure as hell knew how to make Piers’s life a living hell if it were necessary which to Leon, it was completely necessary. And since Leon and the Chairman chat frequently, oh, you can bet he knew about Raihan not reading the fine print as well as Leon knowing every little detail that Raihan missed in that fine print. And since Raihan has no idea what that fine print said, if the Chairman and Leon add on to the fine print, Raihan wouldn’t even know that anything had been added on since he never bothered to read it. And because of this little fact, this could make it all so much easier for Leon to really fuck up Piers’s life in a much larger variety of ways. Leon looked over at Marnie and spoke calmly yet in a also serious tone to her despite what was on in his mind at the moment. “Hey Marnie? I know I’m supposed to be watching you right now, but I just remembered I’m late for a really important meeting. Could you promise to stay here until I get back from the meeting?” That was a lie. There was no set up meeting that Leon had. He just needed an excuse to be able to go talk to the Chairman. Marnie looked over at Leon then looked down at Morpeko, speaking softly and shyly. “I guess that would be alright as long as you’re not gone too long…” Leon smiled a seemingly normal smile, trying his best not to get a chilling grin on his face. “Thanks for listening, Marnie. I’ll be back soon.” After having said that, he got up, walking out of his house and closing the door behind him. He had no idea that Marnie saw a small piece of paper fall out of his pocket.

———————

First Chapter: https://pokemon-swsh-bartender-au-crew.tumblr.com/post/616794959808479232/warning-this-story-overall-contains-topics-of

Previous Chapter: https://pokemon-swsh-bartender-au-crew.tumblr.com/post/618115920068509696/heavy-heart-heavy-soul-chapter

Next Chapter: https://pokemon-swsh-bartender-au-crew.tumblr.com/post/618194577257545728/heavy-heart-heavy-soul-chapter

[aro-aizawa]

alright so i finished up playing all of pokemon shield including the post-game mini plot, so here’s a quick fire list of all the things i liked about it and disliked about it before i go on to explain it in more depth (also spoiler warning). here we go.

what i liked:

the graphics, a little weaker in handheld form but largely unnoticeable unless you were looking for it. GREAT graphics when playing on tv mode.

the new pokemon. they were all really cute, and i especially loved the alternate forms and new evolutions of older gen pokemon.

opal, she’s hands down one of my favourite gym leaders so far only shortly followed by bede.

bede is a nonbinary icon as proven by the fact that they didn’t use any pronouns to refer to them until after the fourth gym, and the fact that when they’re in their gym uniform its trans flag colour. it may not be canon, but its canon in my heart.

gym battles are treated as they should be -- huge spectacles that gets people amped the hell up.

dynamaxing. its so goddamn satisfying to finish off a gym battle with your best pokemon as a fucking giant behind you, no matter their actual size. tiny pyukumuku behind you? badass. huge ass wailord? bad. ass. an actual baby pokemon? bad. ASS.

the wild area. introducing camping was a good system, it definitely helped a lot when you couldn’t exactly jump back to a pokemon center so you cook your pokemon some curry to revive and heal them. i imagine they took some inspiration from breath of the wild, tho i haven’t played it to really confirm.

what i didn’t like:

they cut so many corners in the game, you can definitely tell it was made in a hurry.

a minor note here, but for me i have this annoying bug that makes it so some pokemon have the exact same cry. its a sort of whooshing noise that you’d expect for a flying type pokemon, but it frequently appeared instead of well known and familiar cries. i can’t pin down exactly what the cause of this is, or if i’m hearing things wrong, but it was infuriating.

the towns are empty and barely even give you flavor text anymore. you might as well not speak to any npcs except shop keepers and named characters.

there is exactly three cute outfits and three cute hairstyles and that’s about it. i know a lot of this point is mostly about personal taste but please nintendo, we had such a good range in the previous game. 

don’t explore. there is literally no point in looking in all the nooks and crannies of this game, because i guarantee that if the game doesn’t tell you to go there, then there’s nothing there.

it’s too easy. it’s....actually crazy that i’m even putting this as a point, because i’m a strict believer in making games playable for everyone. but it’s just....too much.

the cut down pokedex will forever inject salt right into my veins. especially when they had the audacity to include one of the first starter pokemon, but not the other two. charizard is an okay pokemon but its overrated, nintendo please accept that.

the plot didn’t exist until suddenly it did and then it made no sense. 

i hate the fact that the team in this game were just delegated to fans. i understand the whole “fake out” thing they might have been going for by getting the player to think that they’d turn out to be bad, but no. it just sucks. 

fucking. swordward and shieldbert. i???? literally. have no. words. (i do but they’re super long so hmmm down below)

a game worth about £20 ($25) less than i paid for it. its a decent quality game, but not nearly nintendo quality. 

wow this post is longer than i expected it to be already. but anyways, the rest is super long and under the cut further going into depth about the points i raised. 

to start with, i’ll talk about the good points because honestly?? i really wanted to love this game. i really really did. maybe it was just the fact that at first i didn’t like sun and moon because they changed the formula so much, but it turned out to become my favourite game in the series. or maybe it was just that i don’t like being hypercritical of things i spent fifty fucking pounds on. either way, i wanted to like the game, and overall i sort of did but i sort of didn’t. lots of mixed feelings. anyways. onto explaining the good stuff. (or you can skip to “now on w the bad junk” for the bad stuff)

1. the graphics, a little weaker in handheld form but largely unnoticeable unless you were looking for it. GREAT graphics when playing on tv mode.

one of my favourite things about the pokemon series in recent times is seeing the process from 2d undetailed sprites to 3d incredibly detailed models. the most ambitious thing about gen 5 was the way the camera moved with your movements as you crossed the bridge, and now i just sometimes sit back and thing “wow 13 year old me would FLIP if she could see how good they got”. bc i kept just....admiring all the graphics and the quality of them. 

2. the new pokemon. they were all really cute, and i especially loved the alternate forms and new evolutions of older gen pokemon.

definitely one of my favourite things about the game was seeing the new forms of pokemon we already knew and the alternate forms they’d take when dynamaxed. i love seeing pokemon with new types that completely flip the script, like darumaka becoming an ice type instead of a fire type. or the fact that they gave mr mime a galaran form and it actually doesn’t look bad. 

i really loved that some of the galaran forms had unique evolutions, such as linoone evolving into obstagoon. or meowth into perrserker. it makes sense and i’m always super happy to see new evolutions for old pokemon, it keeps things interesting when pokemon other than eevee get new evolutions.

(tho that being said, still disappointed there’s still not another eeveelution. still holding out hope for that ghost type.)

3. opal, she’s hands down one of my favourite gym leaders so far only shortly followed by bede.

i’m not super well versed in the pokemon universe besides from gen 1 and gen 5 onwards (if you couldn’t tell), but its really refreshing to have an old gym leader that’s visibly elderly rather that just grey haired maybe retiree man. her personality was also really fun, it sort of felt like she literally had the most personality of all the gym leaders, which kind of sucked but it made me really love her character. 

and bede i didn’t wholly expect to really like as much as i did? i mayhaps might have spoiled myself a little on their gym leader status by dipping into the swsh tag here on tumblr before i fully completed the game. but still, they seemed just generally really annoyingly stuck up? but something endeared me to the darl and i just think it mostly had to do w the fact that opal took one look at them and declared they was her grandchild now. 

4. bede is a nonbinary icon as proven by the fact that they didn’t use any pronouns to refer to them until after the fourth gym, and the fact that when they’re in their gym uniform its trans flag colour. it may not be canon, but its canon in my heart.

argue with me on this point all you like, but you can’t deny the fact that in CANON they literally did not use any pronouns to refer to bede until after the fourth gym. the only mention of pronouns before that was their trainer card, which i did not check because good character development should be shown not told through an impersonal medium such as character cards. 

5. gym battles are treated as they should be -- huge spectacles that gets people amped the hell up.

i’ve always loved the way the league is set up, because it makes sense. the pokemon formula works and its interesting, but in previous games most people only vaguely acknowledge it as something every kid tries but doesn’t really complete. it’s already set up people love pokemon battles, there just wasn’t a spectator sport about it unless in the anime or movies. they’re just a thing that happens that none of the npcs care about. 

finally its treated like the spectator sport that it should be. like,,, hell yeah,,, 

(also do you think that in the pokemon universe there’s various stories/tv shows about made up kids completing the league and becoming champions? because i definitely do.)

6. dynamaxing. its so goddamn satisfying to finish off a gym battle with your best pokemon as a fucking giant behind you, no matter their actual size. tiny pyukumuku behind you? badass. huge ass wailord? bad. ass. an actual baby pokemon? bad. ASS.

i p much summed up most of my thoughts in this point well. but i love when pokemon are so visibly powerful. like these creatures have powers that we’d equate to actual gods like summoning whole storms, creating giant waves, create earthquakes and so much more. pokemon are so powerful and to see them become giant and have so much weight and power? its so satisfying controlling that and bringing down other giant pokemon. 

7. the wild area. introducing camping was a good system, it definitely helped a lot when you couldn’t exactly jump back to a pokemon center so you cook your pokemon some curry to revive and heal them. i imagine they took some inspiration from breath of the wild, tho i haven’t played it to really confirm.

i really appreciated the change that started in pokemon let’s go with some pokemon being visible and easy to encounter wandering through the grass. it makes it so much easier to search for the one pokemon that you don’t have in your pokedex yet, or if you’re looking for a specific pokemon to join your team.

i love how large and expansive the wild area is, and with the camping system you can just explore and fill out your pokedex without ever leaving if you’re fully stocked up on supplies. it makes you really believe the whole “yep this kid isn’t just blasting through the whole thing in one day”. kids sleep in tents on their journey with their pokemon and cook curry for them all. adds a nice level of immersion and convenience. 

.

jesus fuck this is so long and i haven’t even gotten to my criticisms yet, is anybody actually reading this chunk of text??? well rip to you my friend and thank you. but now on w the bad junk.

1. they cut so many corners in the game, you can definitely tell it was made in a hurry.

they did a decent job considering it was in development for only two years w one only for the concept and the second actually making it. but they cut so many corners it doesn’t quite feel like a true installment into the pokemon universe. it feels like it was made by another dev studio rather than gamefreak. like how fallout new vegas and fallout 3 barely feel like the two installments in the same franchise. 

this point sort of leads into many different points that i raised, so i’ll explain those a little bit more in depth there. but to sum it up, the easiest way to see it is just how...flat things are. if you only pay attention to the things the game directs you to, then you will not miss a single thing. flavor text is less about adding depth to the world and more just...pointless. it adds. nothing.

and in the post game when sonia gets a new assistant, even though she plays a fairly important part in the post-game plot, she doesn’t get a name nor a unique character model. she get’s a generic doctor model yet it’s treated like we should feel betrayed that nameless npc 234 went behind sonia’s back and stole from her. 

OH! and i almost forgot!!!! but that one part where rose is trying to talk leon into something “mysterious”??? they straight up just used images!!!! like,,,, what???? you didn’t have time to program the minimal animations for that?? who’s fault is that for pushing the release!!! give your employees time to work at a decent pace and not crunch them to reach an impossible goal. game freak, you don’t have to release a game every november.

2. a minor note here, but for me i have this annoying bug that makes it so some pokemon have the exact same cry. its a sort of whooshing noise that you’d expect for a flying type pokemon, but it frequently appeared instead of well known and familiar cries. i can’t pin down exactly what the cause of this is, or if i’m hearing things wrong, but it was infuriating.

also p much just explain this in the point. BUT it happened all. the. time. the only pokemon i know for sure was effected by the bug was gyarados, because instead of the roaring cry i heard the whooshing sound that was probably meant to be another pokemon’s cry. it sounds wack when im saying it rn bc im not 100% convinced i wasn’t making this up, but it was the sole reason i turned the pokemon cries to get drowned out by the music and sound effects.

3. the towns are empty and barely even give you flavor text anymore. you might as well not speak to any npcs except shop keepers and named characters.

i touched on this previously in 1 but basically walking around a town and talking to npcs will not get you any interesting dialog. going into the houses/rooms, and you’ll only get one npc who’s all like “i’m brushing my hair!” and that’s about it. there aren’t any items tucked away in houses or corners of buildings for you to explore or battle people. when you acknowledge that there’s no flavor text from npcs all the towns feel practically empty whereas in the previous games it actually alive.

not to mention how little the diaglog changes? like it may just be my faulty memory at play but im pretty sure that the npcs in the previous games had more dynamic dialog in which they’d change what they said depending on your action in the town or for the plot. after a major event just happened, if you walked around and talked to everyone in that area they’d talk about it. but that happened like....once.

4. there is exactly three cute outfits and three cute hairstyles and that’s about it. i know a lot of this point is mostly about personal taste but please nintendo, we had such a good range in the previous game. 

one thing i loved about the series was the increasing freedom in customisation of trainers. fashion kept getting wider and with more variety, clothes that were still cute and i’d frequently have about 2k because i just kept buying them. by the end of my playthrough of swsh i had almost a million saved up because i didn’t like most of the clothing options. i found one outfit and hairstyle i liked a quarter of the way through the game and stuck with it until the end. they drastically cut down on the options, and that sucked. 

5. don’t explore. there is literally no point in looking in all the nooks and crannies of this game, because i guarantee that if the game doesn’t tell you to go there, then there’s nothing there.

again, already touched on this point but one example i know is this. when you go to the energy plant to battle rose, or go to the roof to battle eternus, i expected to go back to it when the event was over to see if something was left behind or because i’d been locked in a cutscene and unable to explore before, that meant there would be something now. but nope. don’t bother. even when you think you might be able to do something fun, don’t try until the game points you in that direction itself. if something interesting is going to happen in the game, i assure you they will point it out for you. 

6.  it’s too easy. it’s....actually crazy that i’m even putting this as a point, because i’m a strict believer in making games playable for everyone. but it’s just....too much.

hard games disinterest me. if a game is renowned for it’s difficulty, then i will avoid it. i don’t care if defeating dark souls is a badge of honor for your stubbornness or skill. i simply don’t enjoy playing a game that makes me want to quit in frustration because i am not good at video games. i appreciated how easy the games have been in recent years because it makes it a lot easier for me to actually complete them and enjoy them, it’s why i have trouble getting into the earlier gens of pokemon. 

but when it got to the point where after only about an hour or two of dynamax farming, by the time that i got round to the championships i was literally one shotting every single pokemon. even when i didn’t have super effective moves. i was almost 20 levels ahead of the competition, and blasted through the whole thing in a total of 10 minutes battle time and 30 minutes dialog and cutscene time, with a 20 minute pause for a phone call. 

i defeated leon with only very minimal struggle. i couldn’t one shot all his pokemon, i will admit. i two shotted them. i went into the championship fully stocked up on potions and revival items and left with all of them. none of my pokemon fainted or even sustained major damage. 

while satisfying feeling that you’re op enough to utterly annihilate your opponents, there comes a point where it’s just “why bother i know i’ll win” which kind of sucks. 

7. the cut down pokedex will forever inject salt right into my veins. especially when they had the audacity to include one of the first starter pokemon, but not the other two. charizard is an okay pokemon but its overrated, nintendo please accept that.

sorry to charizard fans, but please acknowledge that it’s overrated. its design is basic, and already has multiple different forms. the fact that they passed over the opportunity for the creativity that dynamax venusaur or blastoise could give, for another basic dragon design is so annoying. 

not to even mention the fact that they didn’t even bother to keep the rest of the starter pokemon either. i vaguely remember one time some nintendo employee or big shot saying that the best thing about it is that every pokemon is at least one person’s favourite. the underused or underloved pokemon will always be ONE person’s favourite, and that’s why you can get the whole pokedex. but y’know fuck that philosophy in the name of getting the game out on time. when they could have very easily pushed the release date back. i’m lucky that most of my faves got included but i know that a fair amount did not. and i’m pissed. 

8. the plot didn’t exist until suddenly it did and then it made no sense. 

9. i hate the fact that the team in this game were just delegated to fans. i understand the whole “fake out” thing they might have been going for by getting the player to think that they’d turn out to be bad, but no. it just sucks. 

these two go so hand in hand, that i’m taking the time to address them together considering in every single previous game so far the team has had some HEAVY influence on the plot in one way or another. they’re always linked to the legendary pokemon of the game and they’re always included in the overarching plot, either by driving the player to act or subtly there. 

i kept seeing team yell show up and trying to work out how they were going to join the plot. were they a cult doing Science Shit in the background trying to revive the legendaries? was marnie the leader of this cult and going through the league to distract people from her totally devious going-ons? or would it turn out that marnie though the team harmless but really it was a front for her relative’s secret cult? 

nope!!! they were annoying roadblocks who added literally nothing to the plot. 

and when i realised that, it was the seventh gym battle and so far the only plot i’d glimpsed at was the mysterious explosions in hammerlocke city and the overarching tale of the sword and shield that had been obvious since literally the first time sonia started to talk about it. there had been no plot. there was literally no plot other than the gym battles which sonia and leon specifically called out to “leave this to the grownups, you two just focus on the gym challenge”. 

and when i got my eighth badge and was completing the equivalent of the elite four, i was still confused as FUCK because where the hell was the plot???? and then the whole weird ass “we have to save leon” from a meeting with.....a chairman? how about you wait just an hour jfc it’s not that bad? he’s not being held against his will? the chairman wasn’t doing anything obviously evil or even hinted at? 

the whole thing was vague and rose’s motivation was just ??????? i don’t know???? i still don’t exactly know what the whole deal was. it came out of nowhere and made. no. sense. it had completely lost me. along with the fact that they were suddenly introducing dynamax raids like we hadn’t already been doing that so many times in the wild area????

which leads me to my next point.....sigh. 

10. fucking. swordward and shieldbert. i???? literally. have no. words. (i do but they’re super long so hmmm down below)

first things first, is that i hate everything about these characters. from their names, to their designs, to their motivations, to how they’re handled in canon. it was shitty and while i had fun playing with the whole “this is what a champion does after they beat the previous one” thing, it was just in general really bad. 

like, i cannot get over how shitty their designs were. their hair was literally a sword and a shield. i kept thinking “wow swordward has a penis head that wiggles when he moves” and couldn’t take a single thing he said seriously. i literally wanted to weep at the horrible character design. 

not to mention the suddenness of their whole schtick. “yeah we’re royalty and we’re “”””CELEBRITIES”””” even if none of you have heard of us”. like what????? the fuck????

it just sort of pisses me off to an astronomical degree that this low quality shit was jammed into a pokemon game when they were getting so good at storytelling. it felt like game freak were hammering me with a club while singing “YOU PAID 50 WHOLE POUNDS FOR THIS IN PARTICULAR!!!” like,,,, thanks. thank you. thank you for waiting until after i’d finished the game to really hammer home that point. 

which somewhat leads me to my last point that really just sums up the majority of my thoughts on the whole game:

11. a game worth about £20 ($25) less than i paid for it. its a decent quality game, but not nearly nintendo quality. 

if i knew what i knew about the game know, i wouldn’t pay fifty fucking pounds for it. it physically pains me to spend more than £30 in one sitting, that i actually winced while i was buying it even though i was being 100% optimistic that i was going to love it. at most i’d pay £30 for it, but only then. it’s a good game to really distract you and power through but other than that, i don’t see it as a game i’m going to come back to so i can complete the pokedex and i certainly am not going to buy the other game so i can play it again unlike how i’ve done in the past with my favourite installments. 

maybe i’m just picky, or i don’t buy games often enough, but i really would not classify this as a quality installment in the pokemon franchise. if you get a free copy, or just the opportunity to play it for a few hours then fine it’s a great game. but not quite something you should want to spend your money on. but don’t pirate it. that’s a fast way to get bugs.

to sum this whole mess of a post up: immediately after finishing the game i said to myself “now time to go play a REAL pokemon game” before booting up pokemon moon.

[lvminae]

SwSh Opinions

Actually fuck it I'll make an in depth post on swsh since I'm sick and it is 2:30 am and I can't sleep.

Keep in mind that these are my opinions and I’m not out here to argue with anyone, I just want to share what I think. And there is a lot. Since I wrote this in the middle of the night and edited the next day, I probably forgot some things, but it is long enough as is.

I don’t think I actually went into anything spoiler like.

Things I like

- Characters: I adore the variety in the characters and a lot of them are loveable. Some stick out as ones I don't particularly like, and some are silly, but that variety is good and it isn't so common that it becomes irritating.

And I have reasons to care about characters I initially disliked (like Bede; his development is JUST enough for me to not hate him). Some I still don't care about, and some characters deserve more development, but it isn't bad to the point where I am not happy with it (and I will address this more later).

- Pokemon (Variety): I'll talk about pokemon later on the neutral list, but I do really appreciate just how varied and even wild the pokemon are. Design wise, anyways - I don't know jack about competitive stats and don't care.

- Wild Area: The wild area has the silly mechanic of sudden weather changes depending on the areas, and the pokemon who pop up can be repetitive when you are dex filling. But other than that, I LOVE it. It is huge, and immersive, and I much prefer running around there than on routes.

And the pokemon popping up and approaching? Amazing. Can be annoying sometimes when pokemon you don't care about chase you (looking at Tyrouge and Electrike seriously Leave Me Alone), and hunting water types that hop around is frustrating (but makes sense), but it's still a wonderful addition.

- Exp. Share: I know a lot of people are pissed off it can't be turned off, but as someone who cannot get into old games because of not having it/how long it takes to get it, I appreciate it.

Some people think it makes it too easy, but now that you can box pokemon at p much anytime, you can (mostly) avoid the effect by boxing pokemon. I say mostly cause not all situations work with it, but I don't think it is common enough to say it is bad.

- Improvements of life: To add to my point above, I enjoy things that makes the games easier. I'm not a hardcore gamer. I want to have fun and actually be able to reasonably beat a game. Difficult games aren't bad, but these are for all ages. And it is easier to make things difficult than it is to make them easier if they were made difficult, yknow?

Things like showing the effectiveness of moves is one of those things- which I am glad they kept from SuMo- because I have memory problems. Lots of fans do, or are young, or just can't remember Every Single Type Matchup. I prefer having that than having to google type advantages constantly so I don't get a 1 hit ko on either my pokemon or a pokemon I want to catch.

It isn't quite as hand holdy as SuMo was (love ya rotomdex, but pls give me a break), but it is accessible to a range of players. That is how it feels to me, anyways.

- Side quests: Having little quests that give incentive to explore the region and just give a little spice of life to the region. And they aren't super confusing to do.

- General aesthetic: I love how the region looks. It hits so many aesthetic points for me. It is a pretty game with pretty locations, and the graphics are far better than anything I would have expected for pokemon.

Seriously, I've seen people comparing it to BotW and.... That is not the style Pokemon i or ever has been going for. It's an unfair comparison. Also BotW graphics are :/ in my opinion. Beautiful locations, but I don't like how people look. Pokemon? It looks nice, all fit together well. Feels like POKEMON. Not like other games that people compare it to.

There are some graphics that need fixing, like the berry trees and the whole mess they are when you shake them. But it isn't nearly as bad as people pre release were saying. And the battle locations are fine too. Seriously pre release thoughts were a mess.

- Performance: It runs well. I haven't had issues. Frame rate is fine, very rare drops, graphics work fine. I've only had a crash once, and that's because I was chaining max raids and the vibration was too intense for my machine. I took a break, turned vibration off, and everything was fine.

Note: I know that there have been some issues with glitches and stuff, and those are an issue. I haven't experienced any myself so I can't complain. And I'm not any sort of expert.

- Regional variants: I love regional variants in general. It is just So Good. And there are more than just gen 1 variants in these games! Thank god! Obviously many are still gen 1 but they aren't Exclusively gen 1.

I'll talk about that pandering later.

- Gyms: I love how the gyms works. I love the entry trials. I love the feel of the gyms and the competition, and the cheering and the music!!! It is just a great time!

- Character customization: Not quite as extensive as I was anticipating, but still super expansive and I love it.

Things I am neutral on

- Post game: It isn't that bad, but it isn't super interesting either. And I hate the sword based dude. His hair looks like a dick. Yes this is a genuine complaint. Both his and his brother's designs are... silly, and kinda uncreative, and I don't like it.

But they do pose a challenge, and it gives an interesting look at lore and the concept of people believing their assumed ancestry gives them certain rights and just how far these people will go.

- Pokemon: I think we have a good amount of new pokemon, but overall I am... eh on the designs of some. In my experience, regions have either a good amount of good looking pokemon, or a good amount of bad looking/boring pokemon. Obviously this is purely subjective, but this region has me drawn down the middle. I have pokemon I adore and are new favorites, but also quite a few where I just.... Don't like them at all. I've never been this split on them, so while I appreciate their variety like I noted above, I don't necessarily like all of them (especially the fossils. Their story makes sense, yes, but I can't fucking stand them.)

- Dynamax/Gigantamax: I get it's ties into the story, and I love that tie. And it is the gimmick of this region, which I absolutely am ok with. But in use... yeah, having a large pokemon is fun! But I don't really... Care about it? And I only use it in gym battles where I know the leader is gonna Gigantamax (even though generally I didn't need to), or max raids.

I like it more than Z moves, but it does make me miss Mega Evolution. At least it gives people something fun to design. And some of the gifantamax designs are great (and some are.... Basically dynamax. Pikachu and Eevee especially.) The raid make for good leveling though so I do like that.

- Story: I like pokemon for the stories. I actually don't like the style of the games gameplay wise. Pokemon I can handle and enjoy because it is simple compared to other games in the genre, at least enough so where I can be pretty clueless but still have fun and drive to play/grind somewhat. Bur ultimately for me, I enjoy pokemon for the story and characters.

Story... is lacking in this game. I love what we get! It is super interesting! But it is so much on the back burner compared to other games in order to focus on the gyms that it feels... I dunno. I miss a larger, more involved story. The focus on specific characters like Hop do still give me something to focus on, at least.

But the story could have been improved overall had it not been shoved to the side so much. A different, less involved story could have worked better, or something that involved the league and gym leaders more since the gyms were the focus.

Or find a way to involve the player more! It really comes down to the goal of the game, which was the improvements for competitive play. As a non competitive player, this isn't anything I care about or want. But some do, and with that being the focus, I understand the story being a bit lackluster compared to previous games.

Doesn't mean I have to like it, though :P

- Dexit: I don't... care about dexit. Having to play only with the pokemon from the gen isn't bad, and you can still use some. Yeah, a lot of pokemon I like are missing, but that gave me incentive to use pokemon from this gen. I think people making a huge fit over it also made me just Not Care. I'll miss my old pokemon, but maybe I cam actually complete the dex for this gen.

Things I dislike

- The trading system/y link: The fact you have to have nintendo online for this is awful. It is alienating to all those players who can't afford the subscription. All you should need is an internet connection just like the other games. It's a cash grab and I hate it.

The trading system is also irritating to use in general. I know the gts was not the best, but being able to search was nice. And one on one trading was so much easier. Using these codes is problematic because people you don't know can use the same code and you might not know! It fucks up trades! It sucks. It just sucks.

- Gen 1 pandering: Leon's key pokemon is a Charizard. Charizard got a gigantamax pokemon. Most gigantamax not from Galar are gen 1. Most regional variants are gen 1. I Do Not Fucking Care About Gen 1. Meowth has both an alolan AND galarian form AND gigantamax! It's annoying! Give the other regions some light. Please. I am so, so fucking tired of pandering to gen 1. The pandering makes me hate the gen, not want to go back to it.

- Version exclusive gym leaders: This one doesn't irritate me like the other things, I just think it is dumb. Especially since they didn't change the towns to make sense for the exclusive leaders.

- Cost: I am not made of money and I really do believe it should have been the normal $40. But it is a main series game with a lot and switch games seem to generally run at that $60 mark - main ones anyways - so I'm not surprised. Just disappointed.

[crystalelemental]

I have at long last finished playing SoulSilver again.  I think this is the first time I’ve actually finished a replay of these games in like...a while.  Team and thoughts below the cut:

Crobat, who was kind of an MVP for most of the run.  I caught her on accident with an Adamant nature and she just kept doing great from there.  She wound up taking out like...every gym leader in Johto.  Falkoner?  Dead.  Bugsy?  We had Wing Attack by then, so super dead.  Whitney?  I tried letting Swinub (bred and traded in) take her, but it couldn’t, so Golbat had to handle it.  Just...wrecked everyone, except for Jasmine.  Started to fall of damage-wise by Clair, though.  Crobat does not have much in the way of high BP moves.

Houndoom, who was the other MVP.  This was another bred and traded in one, since Houndoom shows up post-League and that’s no fun.  Actually handled most of the league, along with Espeon.  Between the two, they took down most of the Elite Four.  Houndoom wound up being my highest leveled Pokemon, thanks to high speed and power, good damaging moves, and Nasty Plot.

Bellossom.  Probably the worst of the team.  Look, I love Grass types, but they’re not always that good.  Bellossom is unfortunately one such being.  I think a large part of it is that her only other attacking moves were Sludge Bomb, which no longer gets STAB, and Hidden Power, which it turned out was Bug.  With no way to learn Leech Seed, her high defenses don’t really let her play a solid defensive game either.  She was really underwhelming the whole way through, sadly...

Heracross.  Was okay.  Learning Megahorn so late was kind of a problem.  Otherwise, it did its job well enough.  I think the biggest deficit is HMs.  It was the most sensible one to have Strength, but that meant it couldn’t really do Earthquake, Rock Slide, Megahorn, and Brick Break.  One of them had to go, and Rock Slide was cut.  I don’t know that it would’ve made a huge difference, but it’s still annoying.  HMs were terrible.

Espeon.  I love Espeon.  I also forgot how late it learned Psychic naturally, which caused a few problems.  Nothing that was too bad, but you know.  Also her Hidden Power type was Dark, which sucks.  She unfortunately also sat out on the Red fight, because someone had to.  No one knew Rock Climb, and it’s required.

Politoed.  Did okay?  I think the only time it annoyed me was getting outsped by Lance’s Dragonites.  It caused trouble.  Thankfully, mother is very bad at handling money, and bought me a Choice Scarf, so that solved that problem pretty quick.

Steelix.  Who did nothing except give us Rock Climb, and kinda tanked Pikachu.

All in all, a pretty fun team to run, though it’s a shame that Bellossom was so lackluster.  Why does GameFreak hate Grass types?

Anyway, the game itself still holds up pretty great.  It’s pretty faithful to Gen 2 overall, and incorporates elements of Crystal as well, which is nice.  They added some features like the Safari Zone to help get earlier access to most late-game Pokemon, too.  That said, I have some issues with the game overall.  Mostly minor, but they’re basically the reason I’m keeping HGSS at A-tier while Crystal stays S-tier.

Okay, my biggest complaint is this: while the introduce of Gym Leader rematches is fantastic, and the added dialogue with them is spectacular and something I love, the fact is...the days of the week mechanic sucks and holds this back tremendously.  Each leader is only available to find out in the world in one specific spot at a specific time of day on a specific day of the week.  And then, rematch times can only be established at a specific but different time of day/day of the week.  It basically requires you to either (1) play long-term, and daily, to ensure you get all of this, or (2) manipulate in the in-game calendar.  I do the second, but that does mess with certain events, most notably the Safari Zone is you’re doing anything with that one.  Really though, I love the gym leaders, I love the amount of improvement to them as characters, but it’s really frustrating how limited the access is.

Safari Zone is a great was to get access to the Kanto Pokemon like Houndour and Larvitar.  Except it takes a ton of those blocks to place in the right locations, and a lot of time for the Pokemon to join in.  So it’s really not easy access, it’s another one of those long-term play expectations that don’t work out.  It’s a neat idea, but it ultimately doesn’t...actually fix the problem.  Not to mention, Sneasel is still locked to only be available at Mt. Silver.  You know.  The very end of the game.

Speaking of the end of the game, Gen 2 was always bad about this, but levels are awkward.  Random encounter levels are really low compared to what you’re expected to be, and grinding is a huge issue at certain points in the game, if you’re not just bashing your head against the League.  Which is all well and good, but the transition from Clair’s level 41 Kingdra to the League capping at level 50.  Kanto is back to being a bit more reasonable, especially with what I believe is a huge up-tick in random trainer encounters throughout the region, but then you have Red, who is not only still massively over-leveled, but is more over-leveled than in Gen 2, having all his Pokemon in the 80s.  Which is so weird to me.  Gen 2 had stat experience, which was more valuable for having your underleveled team keep up with things way above you.  Gen 2 didn’t require you to have any HMs to access the Red fight.  And Gen 2 set Red at lower levels.  So everything about Crystal’s final stretch is easier to handle.  So why make these changes?  My guess is, again, the expectation of long-term play.  You’ll want to hunt down all the Gym Leaders and fight them again, and take on the improved League.  There’s so much more to do long-term that gets you caught up.  It makes sense, but when you’re trying to blitz the game like I was, it’s a lot harder to keep up with that.  Also why is it hailing?  No one asked for this.

Those are really the big three complaints I still have.  They’re relatively minor, but at the same time, I feel like they stem from something that’s going to be hard to impossible to resolve: I’m never going to be playing this game consistently for weeks ever again.  I’m never going to have that sensation of this being the new game, and where I’m training up all my Pokemon ever, and having a ton to do every single day to keep up.  The game is set to be a more long-term project than what I typically do with games now, and it’s hard to get around that as a problem.  Maybe some day, I’ll have that level of attention span for the game again.  But I don’t know that I will.  So overall, it’s still a great and fun game.  But it’s really, really hard to get past the final hurdle of the game with Red, and apparently there is a sensible reason it’s been so long since I’ve cleared everything.

[soulerflaire]

So I beat the story of Pokemon Shield yesterday, and now I’ve had time to think about everything. Spoilers below the cut. Also super long post.

First I wanna focus on gameplay.

Overall, fantastic Pokemon game. I liked a lot of the new Pokemon, I felt there was a really good variety of Pokemon available throughout, graphics were good, the gym missions were (mostly) clever and (mostly) fun.

I heard people had complaints about the starters, but I like them. I picked Scorbunny and was terrified he’d end up Fire/Fighting, but Cinderace (and all the starters) remained single-type. I think their designs are cool! I love Rillaboom’s drum and Cinderace’s soccer fireball attack. I like Inteleon the least of the three, but I still think his design is neat. It is basically finger guns: the Pokemon, which is funny, but not particularly interesting to me. I’m glad I picked Scorbunny.

I liked the set up of the Gym Challenge, though the pacing was a bit weird. Not sure if that was me or the game, but I felt like there was very little story between each gym. That led to me doing several gyms in rapid succession, then spending 3 hours in the Wild Area doing nothing, then tackling another set of gyms. But the gym challenges were fun! Except the fire one. I hated that. And the battles themselves felt awesome! The crowd cheering (especially in the final part of the music, oh my god that was so good), the huge Pokemon, the dialogue, it all made for a match that felt like it mattered. Even if I one-shot all their Pokemon, the match still felt meaningful. It wasn’t just stomp and move on.

I think the Wild Area was a cool experiment, but either make the whole game like that, or don’t have it. It feels like the Safari Zone; an area disconnected from the rest of the game, with the express purpose of catching Pokemon and nothing else. Except it’s so huge and seems to have every single Pokemon in the game, so long as the weather is right, that I feel like there was no point in catching Pokemon anywhere else. Why bother even touching the tall grass when I’m travelling through the regular world, when I can just catch whatever would be in there in the Wild Area later? And frankly, I never really got punished for that mentality. I can just catch them all in the Wild Area later. The only hurdle is they all turn level 60 after you become champion, which I have very mixed feelings about. I would like to hear their explanation for doing that, tbh.

Max Raid battles feel really cool, but god damn, Nintendo, you have got to get a better connection system. Half the time, I can’t find any raids to join because there are no shout cards popping up and the button to get new cards isn’t there for some reason. Even when I can see the cards, most of the time I fail to join, either because the raid already started or the person cancelled the raid. There’s only a 3-minute window to join, and with the infrequent appearance of cards (with no timestamps) I have no idea if any of the cards I see are even from the past 10 minutes, let alone past 3. And the NPCs are randomly selected and use their moves randomly, so once you get to the 5+ star raids, you cannot use them at all. One of them is a friggin’ Magikarp that uses Hydro Pump for no damage and misses half the time anyway. Why!? That was funny exactly zero times!

The music, however, I have zero complaints about. Fantastic soundtrack! I love the gym battle music, and the Team Yell fight music, and the Wild Area bagpipes, and the legendaries fight music, and just pretty much all of it. If they release the soundtrack, I’m buying it immediately.

Graphics were good. I wasn’t blown away by them, but it’s a pretty game.

One thing I noticed is how rushed things started to feel towards the end. Initially, the world feels enormous. Routes are long and winding, and it really feels like exploring things. But the further into the game you go, the shorter the routes get. And there’s no Victory Road at all. Just an extremely short route called White Hill, with, like, 6 trainers and a couple grass patches. You take a train to the White Hill Station, and if you look at the map, you see you ended up skipping an entire mountain and a stretch of land twice the length of the actual route. Kinda feels like they planned to do something with all that space, but cut it later on. The forest that they did the 24-hour stream of, Glimwood Tangle? It’s tiny. Like a third the size of Viridan Forest. It’s gorgeous, sure, but I spent more time exploring the first town than I did in that place. The final town certainly looks enormous, but then it turns out you can’t access half of it, and a huge chunk in the middle of the part you can access is taken up by the rail station. Which has nothing important inside it. Just a generic mart and some NPCs to talk to. There was honestly a lot of stuff the seemed like it was gonna be something later, and ended up being nothing. If it’s all content that got cut to release the game sooner, that’s extremely disappointing. Frankly, I wonder if they bit off more than they could chew, turning Pokemon into a console game. They clearly were trying to make it worth being on console, but ended up running out of time.

Now for the story. This is probably the first Pokemon game I feel this way about, but honestly: I loved the characters, but found the story to be pretty lackluster.

Hop has a wonderful character arc, where he’s boastful and energetic, but slowly loses confidence as he keeps losing Pokemon battles, and falls into a depression after a particularly hard defeat. He seems to pull out of it after encouragement from friends, but then he spirals into it again when you beat him in the finals. He spends most of the endgame putting himself down and saying he can’t do anything to help, but as you travel together stopping the Dynamaxed Pokemon, he perks up again (thanks in part of Piers being a really good Dad despite having no kids), and all this culminates in him saying he’s realized being champion isn’t really for him; instead, he’s gonna become a Pokemon professor and travel around helping people and Pokemon wherever he can. It’s really sweet, and I like that we see a rival who actually does get upset that they keep losing to you all the time, without turning them into a villain. Hop is never not your friend during all this; he’s just sad and needs so many hugs.

Marnie was a lot more fun of a character than I was expecting. From the official art, I thought she was gonna be the super reserved, stoic character who gets angrier and angrier as she loses to you over and over. But she’s actually outgoing and fun, and loves battling the player even if she loses. And her brother Piers is just as good at subverting expectations. He’s all dressed up as a super punk rocker who’ll be a terrible influence on everyone, but he’s definitely the Tired Adult of the group when you’re travelling around trying to fix things, and he’s a good Dad friend. Team Yell is much less creepy now that I have context. Piers is a gym leader, and Team Yell is the gym staff that he asked to go help cheer Marnie on during her gym challenge. They’re overzealous, but they’re just trying to help her. Some of them even start cheering for you instead, once Piers acknowledges your skill.

Bede can go fuck himself. I know they tried to give him some kind of backstory or whatever, and some vague punishment/redemption with Opal making him the new Fairy Gym leader, but dude’s a dick, through and through.

I could go on and on about the characters, but this post is already getting too long, so I’ll talk about the story itself now. Through most of the game, you get hints that something bad is happening or going to happen, or something is going wrong, but every time one of those hints pops up, the adult say “Let us handle this, you focus on your gym challenge.” And that kind of bothered me at the time, because it’s like if you get the guard station outside Saffron City and start to argue with the guard, then Lance shows up and says “Hey, why not skip down to Vermillion City? I’ll take care of this.” And that’s the end of it. Next time you try to pass through, it’s open and there’s nothing wrong. You know something is going on, but no one will let you near it, so you just keep going on your gym challenge.

Later you find Leon (the champion) in an argument with Chairman Rose (owner of every corporation in the region) about an energy crisis. Rose says we need to start dealing with it now, Leon says it won’t happen for a thousand years, why do we need to bother right now. Then of course the Chairman triggers the Darkest Day right before your championship match with Leon, ranting about the energy crisis and whatnot, then you have to go stop the super powerful legendary Pokemon he released for Real Reasons That Definitely Make Logical Sense And Don’t Need Explained No Sir. At first, I thought this with a super shitty take on the energy crisis, that we’ll run out of fossil fuels and not have renewable energy ready. But if that’s the case, it’s extremely clumsy, because 1) no owner of a corporation gives two shits about anything a thousand years from now and 2) they had the guy warning everyone about the future crisis also be the guy who almost destroys the whole country. I chalked it up to being rushed and tried not to think about it too hard.

But now I’m thinking differently. There’s something Leon says, after the whole Darkest Day thing is averted: he’s gonna start thinking about the future now, and start working on ways to make the future better (or something to that effect). I think maybe the “moral” of the story is that we shouldn’t just let problems be until they come to a head, and we shouldn’t rely on others to take care of the problems. We relied on the adults to handle things in a reasonable manner, and it nearly led to the apocalypse. So maybe that’s the point? Don’t rely on others to take care of things; if you see a problem, try and fix it. And likely specifically talking about climate change and the destruction of the environment. Galarian Corsola is a bleached, dead coral for a reason.

If that’s the case, then A+ for message, D- for execution. But it’s Pokemon, I know they can’t get too serious about things. But it mostly led to a story I didn’t really enjoy, full of characters that I loved. While I would prefer to finally have the remake of Gen 4, I wouldn’t be sad to see a Sword and Shield 2.

[mrbellamy-sir]

Aiming to be a leader in his own way - Musumen.’s Shirofuku on determination and the future

This is an interview from 22nd June 2016. Here’s the original link for the Japanese and the photo gallery.

I’ve done my best to translate it but I’m just a beginner so it might not be entirely accurate.

Born from an online video sharing website, the 10 member men’s idol group Musumen. is spearheaded by leader Shirofuku, who is making his first appearance on Livedoor News. Having achieved their goal of performing at Nakano Sunplaza in August 2015, Musumen. haven’t dropped their attack strategy, but are currently on a 47 prefecture nationwide tour and progressing to the next step. We asked Shirofuku to talk about his struggles as a leader, his relationship with the members, and even about his views on love and his private life.

Photography: Suzuki Daisuke

Interviewer: Hanamura Fumi

Hair and Makeup: Otsubo Manato

The moment he posted the video, his life began to change.

·         When was the first time you uploaded a dance cover to NicoNicoDouga?

Maybe 7 or 8 years ago? The first video I uploaded was a dance cover of Perfume. We’d started to learn the choreography from watching the music video and danced it by imitating them. (Laughs) When we first filmed it we didn’t really intend to upload it.

·         Really?

Yes, but we felt we’d danced it surprisingly well considering we barely practised. It was kind of a funny video so we discussed uploading it just in a joking way, but then we really did upload it. (Laughs) Watching it back, though, we really didn’t dance well at all…

·         Is it true that you didn’t have any dance experience until university?

It’s true. Actually, I only started taking proper lessons in the past year or so.

·         Please tell us how Musumen.’s formation came about.

In 2012 I appeared as a weekly MC on NicoNico’s live radio broadcast along with the Bakusho Comedians. From the beginning of the show I’d been talking about how much I liked Suzuki Kanon from Morning Musume.

·         By the way, how did you come to be a fan of hers?

I liked her from the time I saw her in the Morning Musume. auditions broadcast on TV. The other girls performed dances or music recitals, but Kanon alone performed a comedy sketch. Don’t you think that’s exceptionally brave? The things I like most about her are: her smile, her courage, and her singing voice. These 3 things really make me support her.

·         And then in the last radio broadcast you received a message from your beloved Kanon.

I was so excited! (Laughs) She asked me to dance their new single ‘Ren'ai Hunter’ as well. Up until then I hadn’t danced any Morning Musume. songs, but I knew I had to dance that one.

·         Was it difficult to find enough people to join you?

Rather than that, I felt a sense of responsibility to make it actually happen.

·         On 10th May 2012, the ‘11 boys dance to Morning Musume.’s 'Ren'ai Hunter’’ video was uploaded to NicoNicoDouga. Did you receive any response from Kanon herself?

I went to one of Morning Musume.’s handshake events, introduced myself as Shirofuku and told her I’d uploaded the video. (Laughs) After that, whenever we uploaded a new Morning Musume. cover, I would go to an event and tell her what song we’d danced to. It made me so happy when she said that she’d seen the videos.

·         Do other fans recognise you when you go to Morning Musume.’s concerts or handshake events?

People do sometimes say hello to me. Some have asked me to shake their hands before but I’m just a normal fan like everyone else. (Laughs)

·         Kanon graduated from Morning Musume. this May, but how did you feel when you heard the announcement?

My mind just went blank….before she graduated - Sorry, this will become a deep Hello! Project conversation, do you mind? (Laughs)

·         Please go ahead! (Laughs)

Before she graduated, the ace Sayashi Riho, who had been in the same generation, graduated. At that time, I had wondered whether Kanon might also graduate in the near future.

·         Ahh…

Every fan knows that one day they will have to accept that their favourite member is going to graduate, so I’d tried to prepare myself but… When it was announced, I really couldn’t believe it and became so miserable, I didn’t even post on Twitter for about 2 days… Now I just want her to be happy on the path that she has chosen, and even without her my love for Morning Musume. hasn’t changed, so I’ll continue to support them.

In the past he was always cross, but now…

·         Musumen. has now begun its 5th year of activities. Reflecting on that time, what are your thoughts?

From an outsider’s perspective, perhaps last year’s Nakano Sunplaza performance may seem to have been achieved surprisingly quickly, but for us those 3 years and a couple of months felt like a long journey.

·         Were there strong feelings?

At the end of the performance everyone was sobbing and we had no idea what was going on. (Laughs) I wish I could’ve savoured the Nakano Sunplaza atmosphere more. But we’ve only been there once so far, so I’d like to perform there for a second or third time.

·         How have things changed after Nakano Sunplaza?

The biggest change is that we decided to make Musumen. into our full-time jobs. Up until now we had to balance working for a company with our Musumen. activities. Preparing to focus entirely on Musumen., become professionals and work even harder than before has been the biggest change.

·         Has your viewpoint as a leader also changed?

Fufufu. Ah, sorry, I just remembered something funny. Recently the other members have been saying something similar, that I’ve mellowed out. (Laughs)

·         What were you like before?

I got angry often. (Laughs) I was so concerned with 'the group that I had brought together’ that obsessed over it too much and maybe didn’t appreciate everyone else’s feelings enough. Now I’m just teased by the members all the time. We have a very comfortable relationship.

·         Do you have any theories about how to be a leader?

I’m not very self-confident and, to be honest, even now I worry about these things, so I read various accounts and learn from those. I like to know what the leaders of other groups think.

·         How dedicated…

Ahahaha. But I know for sure that I’m not the type of leader to say, “Just follow me!” I have an ideal of what a leader should be, but since I’ve also started to think that it’s good to have lots of different types of leaders, I’ve become more at ease with myself.

·         Do you ask the members for advice when you’re struggling?

I’m the type of person who doesn’t like to ask for help when I’m struggling, be it with work or in my private life. It can be difficult sometimes, but I don’t want to show anyone my weaknesses. I’ve always been like that.

·         Musumen. are currently in the middle of their first 47 prefecture tour, but this year has been busy with things outside of the tour as well. With the launch of the official fanclub and the weekly broadcast on TV Saitama, you’re gradually increasing your activities.

Up until now we’ve focussed on our online activities, but we all felt strongly that we wanted to appear on TV so that more people could find out about us. Also, one day I want to say, “Good evening to everyone watching Countdown TV, we’re Musumen.!” (Laughs)

·         It seems the bond between members is growing stronger this tour.

When the group began we were just friends, but now that we’re doing this as a job, I hope we can be honest with each other, maybe argue sometimes, and grow. I want to make each of our dreams come true together with the other members.

·         And your dreams are gradually expanding.

There are so many things I want to do. This is just something I’ve been hoping for myself, but I’d like to do something like a musical as Musumen..

·         It must feel like you’re stepping into unchartered territory.

It really does, because there’s nobody to tell us how to do it. (Laughs) Right now we’re concentrating on our nationwide tour so that we can say thank you to all of our fans even in the rural areas. We’ll be visiting somewhere close to everyone so please wait for us there!

He wants to stand out, but he’s also too shy.

·         We’d like to know more about you, so if you could explain yourself in a few words what would you say?

Fufufu.

·         What are you laughing at? (Laughs) In a previous interview you said, “I’m usually quiet, but I’m passionate about the things I love.”

That’s true. I’m not very assertive so I’m not the type to kick up a fuss, and I enjoy having time to myself so I immerse myself in things I’m interested in.

·         You also said that the other members think your room is dirty.

That’s also true, I have nothing else to say about that. (Laughs)

·         What are your strong points?

I’m really bad at suggesting strong points, but I can think of loads of weak points…When this comes up in questionnaires, I usually put 'None’. If I really have to put something, I say that I’m quiet or determined, but that’s basically a nicer way of saying that I’m gloomy and selfish. My way of thinking has always been negative.

·         Really?

Fundamentally I have little self-confidence. As a child I wanted to stand out but I was also too shy, and I’m still the same now.

·         Were you a leader during your school days?

I was the kind of child who couldn’t put his hand up, even though I really wanted to. If someone picked me I’d pretend I couldn’t be bothered and just say, “Whatever,” but in my heart I was jumping for joy. I guess I was kind of sulky. (Laughs)

·         I thought you’d have had a more central role in the class…

I was more the type to sit quietly in the corner. I think that’s why people who used to know me are surprised when they see me now. (Laughs)

·         How do you like to spend your days off?

I don’t like early mornings, but I don’t want to waste the whole day, so I try to wake up at 9 or 10am when I can. I usually like to go to the cinema. Films are best seen on the big screen so the cinema is really great. Even if work finishes late, I still go there alone sometimes. …also I often go to the gym.

·         We heard that your body weight reached 59kg thanks to that gym habit!

That was true, but since we’re in the middle of the tour, I can tell that I’m losing weight again. We perform twice a day so our calorie expenditure is crazy, and sometimes we can’t find the time to eat…At the moment I’m desperately working to maintain my body weight.

·         If you compare yourself to the start, have you put on muscles?

I can’t really tell by myself, but people have started telling me that my build has improved. Especially around my shoulders and chest. I’m aiming to unashamedly strip for a gravure magazine one day. (Laughs)

Which Musumen. member would he marry?

·         Do you still live with the other members in the share house?

Actually we moved out of the share house recently.

·         So everyone’s in separate places now?

No, we all moved to the same block of apartments. All that’s really changed is we now have our own separate front doors. We still go out and come home together so it’s basically the same as it always has been. We sometimes bump into each other at the local supermarket too. (Laughs)

·         It must be reassuring to have the other members nearby.

I’m really scared of insects and have to get someone else to help me when one appears, so I’m really glad that the other members are close by. (Laughs)

·         Which member do you get along with the best?

I guess that’d be Tomitake. He’s the one I go out with most often. Our personalities are completely different but he’s easy to talk to.

·         There are lots of different types of people in Musumen., but who do you think is the most popular?

Hmm, I wonder…let me think for a moment please. (Brief thinking period)…… Tomitake, Nokkuso, Nibansenji or Forgeru. I think these 4 are well-liked.

·         I see. Please tell us why you chose them.

Tomitake is very talkative and takes care of you so he’s fun to be around. Nokkuso is similar, he’s the one who starts conversations so you don’t have to worry about that when you’re with him.

·         What about Nibansenji?

He’s slender, tall and handsome, like a character you’d find in a shoujo manga. He’s not the type to actively do something for you like Tomitake, but he won’t leave you on your own either. When it comes to him, even I sometimes think, “Well, what can you do? That’s Nibansenji,” so no wonder the girls find him cute. (Laughs)

·         And Forgeru?

He’s a stylish guy so he’d probably bring you along to a café or the latest popular shops.

·         If you were a girl, which member would you want to date?

I’d like someone who could take care of various things for me so…

·         So, Tomitake or Forgeru?

Mm, if you’d asked which member I’d marry the answer would be a bit different. If I were to marry one of them it’d be Nozakibento. He’s very reliable and I think he’s the most mature of all of Musumen..

·         …so you think about dating and marriage in different ways? (Laughs)

Ahahaha. I’m sure it’d be fun to date Tomitake or Forgeru, but I think it’d be different if they asked me to get married. It makes me kind of uneasy. (Laughs)

·         (Laughs) You didn’t mention him here, but what about Aoi?

To me Aoi is like a really cute younger brother, so I can’t imagine dating or marrying him at all. If I were a girl and there was a boy like Aoi in my class, I’m sure I’d like him, and if I were Aoi I think I’d get a bit cocky about that. (Laughs)

Imagining the ideal date plan.

·         Now we’d like to find out more about your views on love. What type of girls do you like?

Someone who can laugh without trying to play it cool. I like people who laugh with a lot of energy and don’t hide their mouths with their hands.

·         Suppose that you were dating someone. Please tell us your ideal date plan.

My ideas are kind of childish. I can’t really take someone along to see the beautiful night sky or to a fancy restaurant. Just imagining saying, “Shall we go and admire the night-time scenery?” is so embarrassing. (Blush)

·         Please feel free to give us a date plan that’s in your own style. (Laughs)

It might be cliché but I really like going to the aquarium, so I’d like to go on an aquarium date.

·         Where will your meeting place be?

……

·         You’re just going to meet on location?! (Laughs)

Fufufu. People often tell me that I’m the type who’ll never be able to get married, but I didn’t really consider going to pick her up at her house… I guess I just think about what’s the most convenient or efficient way to meet up. (Laughs)

·         I see. (Laughs) At the aquarium or the museum people go around at different speeds, but how about you?

I like to take my time to see everything and read all the information panels.  I’ve been to aquariums with the other Musumen. members when we visit places for our tours, but everyone rushes ahead of me. I’ve always thought they go too fast. (Laughs)

·         Which aquarium impressed you the most?

The Churaumi Aquarium in Okinawa. They have a huge whale shark in this massive tank. I was really moved because I’d never seen an animal that giant so close before. It really made me think about how small and insignificant humans are.

·         That’s deep… So where’s next after the aquarium?

……

·         Don’t tell me you’re going to end it there!? (Laughs) Let’s go for dinner!

This is one of my flaws but I’m not really bothered about food. I just go to places that are fast, cheap and tasty…

·         Like Gyudon?

Ahahaha. I guess something like that. (Laughs) That’s why girls who want me to do lots of things with them would be dissatisfied dating me.

·         Would you rather she be the one to lead you along somewhere?

Definitely, I’d be happier if she herself told me the places that she wants to go. Also I can help her out if she’s worried about home electronics! Since I’m pretty enthusiastic about electronics.

·         Home electronics?!

I really like them. I enjoy researching about different types, so when I was in middle school I got pamphlets from all the mobile network carriers and checked them down to the fine details. In my class I was the one to go to if anyone wanted information on mobile phones. I think I wouldn’t have lost out in knowledge even to an employee in a big store. (Laughs)

·         Wandering around the electronics shops sounds fun!

Yay!! It’d definitely be fun!! I like furniture too, so visiting furniture stores could also be fun…Maybe I can recover your impressions of me with this. (Laughs)

[tinypigeonlord]

Don’t mind me, just have had a lot of thoughts on the new Pokemon game so imma write them down. There’s been a lot of posts and videos on what people wanna see or don’t wanna see in the new game too and I wanna give my own two cents to no one in particular.

So first of all graphics. I hear a lot of shit on that. Personally I don’t really have all that many expectations? Like yeah it’s gonna be a Switch game, the quality could possibly be better than we’ve seen. But also did people look over that ‘game footage not final’? Things may still improve and be further optimized. More than that, I love the artstyle atleast? Everything looks so colorful and vibrant and alive and goooood ;w; It sure got my attention. I can’t wait to see all the new areas on my big tv <3

Pokemon popping up and roaming vs random encounters: On one hand I love how lively everything looks with pokemon showing up in the overworld, on the other hand I love the random encounters? I personally liked hunting down specific pokemon, not knowing what I would encounter. I feel like this is also more fun when you’re doing a Nuzlocke; You can’t ‘cheat’ and select a pokemon from those that are currently roaming with random encounters. Aside from that, people mentioned that the roaming aspect made areas look more vacant instead because a lot of open space is needed for bigger pokemon roaming. And finally, it makes the surprise way more fun if a shiny shows up in a random encounter, instead of roaming between the rest of the ‘mon?

Pokemon following you/walking with you: PLS PLS PLS bring this back and expand on it, for all pokemon. Also the option to select which partymember you want to walk with. That was one thing that bummed me out in HeartGold/SoulSilver. If I wanted to walk with my fave, I also needed to have it in the front of the party and throw it out in battle, even in areas where it was at a disadvantage due to type or level. And sometimes I had a pokemon in front for the sake of progression but I didnt necessarily want to walk with it, but there was no option to turn walking off in HG/SS. I believe they did add these options in Let’s Go Pikachu/Eevee, but I havent played these games so I don’t know for sure what the options are. I kinda also want to have the option to pick whether I will walk with a ride pokemon or actually ride it? Like, it was hella cool that you could ride arcanine, persian, haunter or snorlax, etc. But what if I wanted it to just follow me? :/ What I also want back is the national dex once you completed the main story. Let most of the pokemon which first appear be gen 8, and after you beat the main game, pokemon from other generations show up more and you can catch new pokemon that were previously unavailable. I hated how in SuMo, I couldnt see a pokemon’s national dex number, and couldnt get any data on it if it wasnt native to Alola. 

Also this is gonna sound surprising coming from a shiny hunter, but I want the shiny charm to be a reward for filling the entire national dex again (minus mythicals/events), and make the shiny rate 1/8192 again instead of 1/4091. As much as I love my shinies, I kinda feel like they’re becoming a really common thing and way too easy to obtain? I do like there being methods to find shinies easier, such as Masuda breeding, chain-fishing, SOS-chaining, etc, but make it atleast a little bit harder than it currently is, to make all that effort worth it.

Compatibility with pokebank/the 3DS titles!! I want to transfer all my precious bbies I caught over the years to come join me in the next adventure. That would make it even more awesome if walking pokemon also returns; I can walk with my faves then, not just the pokemon available in Sword/Shield. Also Cloud compatibility. I know Nintendo is afraid of people abusing Cloud to edit save files and I can see them not adding cloud for Pokemon to prevent peeps from somehow cloning or editing pokemons, but on the other hand... Right now, I have ALL my rare, valuable pokemon stored on a Ultra Sun cartridge. Every super rare shiny legendary I spent MONTHS on to encounter, every event pokemon from events that will never happen again, and every pokemon that has nostalgic value to me. If that game cartridge breaks, they’re all gone. If Cloud storage would be a thing for pokemon, I’d have a lot less anxiety about gathering all my babies on a single game with the risk of losing ALL OF THEM. Besides, I pay for online service and cloud, and thusfar havent been able to use the feature for my games :/

And definitely compatibility with pro controller. I really do not like the feel of the joycons, nor the pokeball plus, especially not after playing for a few hours, so I’m really hoping we’ll be able to use the pro controller. Considering we seem to be getting the old battle system back instead of Let’s Go’s, I don’t see why they shouldn’t add pro controller compatibility. Besides, I spent a lot of money on this thing, lemme use it >:v

Customization. The new trainers look absolutely adorable, but being able to make your trainer fit your style more is still great and makes things more personal. On one hand I’d love even more options for customization than in SuMo, on the other hand I fear I will never even get anywhere cause I’ll be spending hours mixing and matching outfits :’D I am not at all fashionable irl, but my characters in games have to look tip top. Most importantly, I want gender-neutral stuff!! As in, the option to wear clothes or hairstyles regardless of the gender you picked at the beginning. Give me a girl and the female pronouns, but the option to get the haircut that the boys get and that flannel he wears. For example.

Minigames! Not everyone is a fan of them, but personally I love things like Contests, PokeAthlon, the Underground, Missions in the Festival Plaza, etc. Especially multiplayer stuff. Give me other stuff to do besides battling. And on that note give me fun multiplayer features; besides trading and battling! The feature where you can call for another trainer in Let’s Go seemed fun to me. Being able to connect with other players and joining them in your game to do stuff together. Like how you can invite people to your town in Animal Crossing, go to the island and take on island challenges from Tortimer.

Story-wise, it would be great to have a big long story, also post-game, which doesn’t end too soon, but with the option to skip cutscenes if you so please, and more importantly, have the freedom to also explore. In Sun/Moon, you were constantly forced to go to a very specific location, everything else was blocked, and you had a cutscene every new area. Like, it was all very linear. I love the older games in that regard, where there is a story, but you figure out yourself how to progress without NPCs constantly telling you where to go and what to do. I always have this issue where after I’m done with the story, I’m kind of... lost on what to do next, so personally I love a long story to keep me busy. Give me a serious threat for the antagonists. Team Skull was lovely and I enjoyed their antics, but I want to feel like I’m saving the Galar region or even bigger, rather than just stomping on some bullies, PETA (Plasma) or fashion disasters (Flare). Also gimme an asshole rival. Lately we’ve had a bunch of precious bbies who must be protected, now bring back a rival who deserves an asswhooping and had it coming. :v As for the new gyms with gym masters instead of leaders, I have no opinion yet. I like the good ol’ themed gyms, I liked the trials. The arena thing looks pretty neat thusfar, but there’s not enough info yet for me to have much of an opinion now. I heard a rumor that this game will also have missions you can do to earn rewards & brownie points, and that would be really cool. I always really love missions in RPGs. I’m just hoping that there will be like, a combination of one-time missions AND daily missions so you don’t run out of things to do eventually after completing a whole list.

I’m also hoping that any potential mythical pokemon will come in the form of missions. The whole serial codes giveaways suck. Just entering a code for some random delivery man to appear in the pokemon center, just casually handing you a super rare mythical pokemon like it’s nothing is just bs. Give me new story, sidequests or missions DLC for a mythical pokemon instead. Like Celebi in Crystal + HG/SS, Mew in Emerald, Shaymin and Darkrai in Platinum, and then expand the missions even more. Pokemon Ranger actually did this really well; you had to go on a mission involving the pokemon before you got it.

Finally, maybe a difficulty setting. People always complain that the games are too easy and that you have to use self-imposed rules such as Nuzlockes to make it remotely challenging. Maybe add a normal or easy mode for young kids just getting into the games, including tutorials such as the trainer school so they can get used to how everything works. Make a harder setting for veterans who like the games to have some challenge but are still in it for the story, and a Very Hard/Ultimate mode for competitive players who know every in and out of the game and are looking for a challenge where you really have to balance your team out and know what you’re doing to progress, and for people who can’t care less about the story elements of the games.

[ghostmartyr]

Pokémon Black 2 Randomized Nuzlocke Run [Part 3]

With some interesting carnage leading us through it, the second badge has been earned. Better yet, we got a TM for a Special Poison move, so Caspet can now be a little more secure in her help.

Team as of the moment:

Stella (Poliwhirl)

Caspet (Gastly)

Okay then.

New routes please.

Hey me.

I have been invited to Pokestar Studios. It’s like Hollywood. Roxie’s dad ran off there to be a movie star. Roxie’s now running off there to talk him out of it. We’re going to run off there and have a terrible time with movies.

I don’t know why I remember the movie place. I think there was either some achievement or plot barrier there, and I hated the process but perfectionism insisted on trying again and... idk. Hopefully that distaste won’t be part of this run.

Can I please just be allowed to catch a third party member.

Is there any grass here. Please.

Stop dragging me to movies.

Stop dragging me to terrible movies.

Like there’s clearly some Emotions going on with Roxie’s father, but oh my gosh I do not play these games for becoming a movie star. ;-; Free me. ;-;

I have control of myself again, so I don’t know if I actually have to shoot a movie, but I feel like Roxie and her dad might require me to, and in any case, one won’t hurt too badly. I guess.

Wait, was it a medal thing? Is that why I made myself nuts over this?

Movie shot, script followed, yay, leaving.

Ahoy, plot!

Sequel Team Plasma is so very open about wanting to take over the world. How refreshing. They’ve gone from knights to pirates. Most excellent.

Pop Roxie is back to captaining, so it’s time to run off to Castelia and find another darn teammate.

And our first act of being in Castelia is a clown giving us a bicycle. Rocking.

A boat takes us to Liberty Garden. I think this is where Victini is if Victini is activated, but I’m not sure if that will be the case with this version. The important question is... does it also have other grass.

Fuckdamn it doesn’t.

Yay, entering random buildings in Castelia gave me an Exp. Share.

In keeping with me doing stupid things, I go to the Game Freak building and chat up some of the trainers who are not nearly as strong as they are post-game, thank goodness.

I really.

Really.

Would like.

More than two pokemon in my party.

I also finally gave in and talked to the medal guy in the Pokemon Center.

My achievement hunting tendencies are going to be the largest obstacle between me and any progress ever.

-whispers-

I want all of them.

Other conversations gave me an Eviolite, so that goes to Stella. ...Wait, no, Caspet. Uggggggh.

Burgh is missing from his Gym, which is fine, since I don’t think I’m ready for another round. I’m just walking around trying to check off whatever plot stuff I can that will let me catch something else.

Oh hey, I think talking to Iris opens up the sewers! I think that means I can catch something down there! !!!!

Pleeeeeease give me something.

Please, ominous guise of darkness.

Oh no.

Russell’s partnering with us, so. Uh. What’s the rule for this? I have to catch the first thing I see, but as long as I’m in a duo, I won’t be able to throw a ball very easily...

Fuuuuuuck.

Okay. We took out Panpour.

I have the ability to throw a ball, which means.

This is my catch option for the route.

Haaaa. And Russell’s Dewott is using Fury Cutter. Its damage will keep going up. I think I have two tries to catch it.

Yeehaw.

Try one is a bust.

Oh hey that’s neat! The Dewott used Razor Shell on Stella, because Stella has Water Absorb and had taken damage! That’s smarter than I expected from the partner AI.

And that means I can spare a turn or two trying to put Serperior to sleep. Since Stella still has Hypnosis.

Yo, it hit! And Dewott heals me again!

But. I need Serperior to be more damaged. I shouldn’t risk attacking. ...I’ll just keep throwing balls and wait for Dewott to hurt it a little more.

HECK YEAH WHO’S DA MAN.

Hot damn that was stressful.

Now I gotta give this girl a name.

Sylarana, wanna rock?

Also, now having Russell with me is a good thing, because this squad could use some levels.

What are you like, Syl?

She’s Careful and proud of her power.

Yeah, pride looks good on that sprite.

I don’t know what Serperior’s stats are with a neutral nature. That takes some stress off, since I’ll just go with the flow, but I prefer to know what I’m getting into, usually. Either way, Defense is stronger than Attack, and that’s just fine.

Female Nidoran are down here, too.

This is working out well enough. Yay for buddy healing. I almost don’t want it to ever end. It’s so convenient.

I shouldn’t do this forever, though. That would get boring fast.

My starter breathing. Also cool pirate outfits in Pokemon Go.

Mooks dispatched.

Gym Leader located!

Look at Burgh being all artsy with his tour of the sewers.

Huh, and Russell just hands us Strength. Because all our pals are true bros in this gen.

Then a dude with anime hair walks out of the hole in the wall.

YO NEW ROUTE.

‘ello there.

...I am possibly not going to be able to catch you due to lack of poke balls and you being remarkably stubborn.

Hey, there we go!

What to name you... what to name you... A magnificent sea serpent with a rainbow tail...

Nessy!

Without Russell healing us every fight, we can’t stick around. Back out of the sewers we go, to receive happy words from Iris. Well. Sort of happy words. She worries about Russell and tells us to challenge the Gym.

I, being a compliant sort, walk back into the sewers after healing.

Okay I guess it’s a cave. Sylarana out front, Nessy with Exp. Share while I contemplate what the heck this team does against a Bug Gym.

Ooooh, Forretress.

...

Is. is there anywhere I can go that can pave the way to me getting a Fire pokemon?

You know what, I don’t like things that blow themselves up at me. Guh, this is taking forever. I might need to buy a few Repels just so I can explore the cave properly... I believe there’s grass somewhere past the sewers, and if I could have a slightly more diverse team going into the next whatever, I’d like it.

Oh, and before I forget, Nessy!

She is Quirky and mischievous. She and Stella have half their personalities in common. Delightful. Marvel Scale is also a neat ability to have. Not one I can utilize properly because I’m a competitive failure, but still cool.

Neat, there’s Pidgeot down here.

Looks like there’s not much of the cave to explore at this point in the game. Ah well. Back to the sewers.

Hm. Would the desert north of Castelia be open to me yet? That could prove useful. Heck, is anywhere outside of this city open? I just need a little patch of grass somewhere new.

Bridge still being inspected.

A wild Bianca appears!

Dowsing Machine get!

Hello, this is new.

But there’s still spots of desert.

OH MY GOSH LOOK AT IT.

Oh my gosh oh my gosh oh my gosh.

Caught!

Your new name is Itsy, and you are much beloved!

Itsy is Modest and somewhat vain, and ouch that is not a nature I think I like for this little one, but adorableness beats everything, so we’re good.

Butterfree is also in the desert. Oooo Pawniard. Back to the sewers, though. Easier training fodder.

Grass located!

...And if I were a better trainer, I would go back and buy poke balls before exploring, but I have the impulse control of a toddler. Oh, and it’s dark grass vs. light grass...

Decision will be made by rapidly running between the two and seeing what triggers an encounter first.

Dark grass it is!

Aaaaaaaa fuck off.

I love Lapras so much. So so so so so so so so much. But I have two Water pokemon already, as well as an Ice one. I. can’t focus on catching the Lapras. It would be a bad idea.

You have never seen anyone so sad to encounter a Dratini during a Nuzlocke.

The wild Lapras fainted.

Oh fucking hell the Dratini knows Dragon Rage and both my pokemon are under 40 HP. Caspet’s turn on healing Caspet, Sylarana’s turn on getting her out of there.

Okay. Confused and slept.

Now I just. catch it. With four poke balls and two great balls left.

...Three poke balls, and guess who woke up.

Great ball. C’mon great ball.

..One great ball left.

Also if Dratini hurts itself in confusion one more time it is dead.

FORTUNE SMILES ON THE CRIMINALLY STUPID.

Now let’s run everyone back through the sewers and--

Did. did I really hit the no nickname option.

Ffs.

Okay, run back through the sewers, hit the Pokemon Center, and then name the critter. The Name Rater’s somewhere in the city, I think.

Heh. The guy in the alleyway still gives us Flash.

Congratulations, Puff! You are now eligible for activity!

Puff is Quiet and alert to sounds. An adorable addition to our squad. He’s going to be temporarily up front thanks to Dragon Rage. The Game Freak fights are once a day, and it’s been a day, so!

I believe in you, Puff!

Dragon Rage is so op this early. Dreamor agrees. But Puff’s ours, so that makes it okay.

Hm. I have six now. They could keep each other out of trouble.

There are so many areas in these sewers I can’t get to. Or maybe I can, it just involves more maze work than I’m expecting. ...Yeah, it’s looking like that side. Hey, a nurse guy! Yay for less walking up to the Pokemon Center.

Oh, and Poison... might be super effective against Bug? I think the whatsit thing he has is Bug/Grass, so that isn’t actually much of a confirmation. Eh, I’ll find out soon enough.

I’ve found a room full of Zweilous. That’s a safe grinding area, right? Itsy’s got Ice and everything. Vullaby and Dwebble are also here.

Heeeeeey, Caspet’s evolving!

And wants to learn another physical Ghost move.

Bye Lick.

Okay, Gym it is.

...Wow Burgh. Really went full Art on the place, huh? Did trainers complain that you were forcing them to walk through honey before letting them fight you?

Puff’s up first. I don’t have much type advantage here, so it’s just going to be hitting things until they break.

Burgh.

Hey Burgh.

This Gym is creepy.

The cocoons just suck you in and zoom you up. Only think Willy Wonka style.

Mooks have level 20s, so this should be a little uncomfortable for a few of the younger members, but Caspet, Stella, and Sylarana should be fine. For now, Puff’s still in front and Dragon Raging all the things.

And we’re going to the Pokemon Center after every fight, but hey. Baby steps in all things. Puff is on one of the slower exp tracks, so every little bit helps.

...Burgh. Buddy.

You want to talk?

This Gym feels like a cry for help.

In true shounen protagonist style, I will settle your troubled emotions through battle! Even if none of the dialogue will admit to how concerning the aesthetics of your chosen arena are!

Everything is hitting critical hits.

...Oh wait, I’m supposed to narrate these fights, aren’t I?

Uh. Swadloon down, Dwebble down, Leavanny left, Leavanny’s level 24. Caspet’s out to deal with it after Puff handled Swadloon and Nessy handled Dwebble.

Caspet one-shots it like a champ, and on we go.

Burgh, this trinket in no way makes me less concerned for you.

Still, though! Everyone’s alive, and we have a team full of six! Nice work, ladies and Puff. Five more badges to go! Let’s hope they go well!

[theaccountsonpoint-blog]

7 Common Mistakes Made by Fitness Businesses

Once people decide they want professional fitness help, they’re spoiled for choice. Take my local shops for example - there are four gyms/fitness studios within 100m of each other! The flipside of this is that people also tend to lose motivation or forget about their fitness goals quite quickly.

What does this mean for you? Well, unless you're one of the mega fitness brands, you've got to work your butt off to attract and convert new clients. Then you've got to pay close attention to other aspects of your business or you may not be able to retain those clients, or profit.

I’m not a personal trainer and have never run a gym,  I just want to share the results of surveys/interviews I’ve done with close to 100 fitness professionals (both clients and non-clients).

Here’s the shortlist.

Things to avoid when you’re running a gym or personal training studio

These common mistakes are here to help you. As you read, just remember:

- Everyone makes some or all of these mistakes at some point.

- It's valuable to pinpoint problems so you can set a path for continuous improvement.

- These mistakes are VERY inter-related. If you fix one thing it will improve other areas too.

1. Working too hard/long hours

Many of us start a business for a better lifestyle but, sadly, it is much more common for business owners to be working an unhealthy number of hours each week.

If you've started a fitness business and you're feeling overworked and underpaid you need to know that you're not alone - you're in the majority. This ultra-competitive industry requires that you put yourself out there on social media and everywhere else possible so that you have a good shot at success. This means failure is very public. Maybe that's a good thing? Some of us work better under pressure.

If you don't have anyone helping you with your clients, your day is probably something like this....

- Get up at 4:20am for the early sessions 

- Work your butt off during the day to get things done  

- Take breaks whenever you have a few moments 

- Try to look energetic for the evening sessions 

- Get home late

- Post and comment on social media 

- Then, just when you try to sit down and relax you get client messages or new enquiries via Messenger. You can't ignore those!

Sound familiar? This 'mistake' is actually a symptom of other root causes mentioned below. I think everyone starts out working like this out of necessity. It's manageable in the beginning due to the excitement of it all - but it's not sustainable.

2. Not having a well defined target market

How do you compete with 24-hour gyms or massive franchises that have a seemingly endless marketing budget? The answer may be to narrow your focus on a target market, or to specialise/niche.

If you haven't yet niched it might be because you're worried that specialising in something may deter other 'would be' clients. Well it might deter a few. On the other hand, if someone is looking for a new fitness solution, what is it that would currently attract them to your business rather than a super well known and trusted brand?

Being unique and promoting your point of difference has three advantages:

   1) It tends to attract the sort of people you want

   2) You’re more likely to provide an amazing service that will keep them with you 

   3) They’re more likely to spread the word

Is there something about your business that people would actively search for and when they find you they would think: This is it!

3. Poor financial management

Fitness businesses aren't alone on this one. Poor financial management is the leading cause of small business failure.

The thing about the fitness industry, is that most trainers or instructors are working to build up their client base and can't really spare time or money to manage the finances properly. A lot of people spend more time and money on marketing to increase revenue - but don't stick your head in the sand. It's important to know your numbers even if they’re pretty small at the moment. Knowing your numbers may provide extra motivation for improvement.

If you already have the finances sorted when big changes happen, such as registering for GST or suddenly making a bigger profit, then you won’t be caught off guard. The tax office doesn't accept ignorance as an excuse and having a tax debt makes running a business much harder.

4. Not creating systems

                                     "Let systems run the business..."                                                  Michael Gerber

But who has time to develop systems when they're starting a business? Well, when you consider that 94% of problems with a business are systems driven and only 6% due to people (Deming), it makes sense to work on the 94%.

Here’s the good news: you already have systems for your business, even if you haven't documented them. You just need to get them out of your head.

Years ago, I used to type up static manuals for business processes but that's all changed. Now we create an online directory of every process and fill each module with video and screenshots or easy-to-update text.

This seemingly boring task seems way more interesting when you consider the big benefits:

- Improved quality

- Improved client satisfaction

- Improved client retention

- Increased referrals

- A more professional perception

- Increased perceived value and higher fees

- Optimised marketing

- Optimised sales

- Optimised training

- Optimised management

- Improved team satisfaction

- A higher business valuation

- The prospect of franchising 

I'll stop there but, honestly, the implementation and continuous improvement of systems is what separates the leaders from the pack.

5. Going it alone

                                 "... and let people run the systems"                                             Michael Gerber, again

Most fitness businesses are started by one or two people who are running all the sessions themselves and trying to balance all other business tasks in their down time. This is OK in the very beginning but then it's common to get stuck in 'no man's land'.

You'll become too busy to do anything properly and your business will suffer, not to mention your mental health.

There are some tasks that could actually be done better by someone else for a cost that makes sense. Consider things like cleaning, bookkeeping, social media management…

Then, imagine finding an amazing trainer/instructor who could handle 12 sessions a week. Your time could then be spent on business improvements that are much more valuable than running sessions. If you're worried about what your clients would think, don't worry, you can focus on retention activities that may make them even happier than they were before.

The business is so much more valuable to a buyer once the separation of owner and operations is complete. In fact, it's nearly impossible to sell if you haven't done this to some extent.

And one more thing about going it alone... wouldn't you like to have a holiday?

6. Thinking you can't afford or not ready for the software you need

Software can seem expensive but there are so many benefits.

I have noticed how those who make the leap and fork out for good software suddenly find themselves signing up more clients. They become busier with more clients and couldn't imagine coping without the software.

On the other hand, those who hold off seem to be constantly struggling.

Why is that? Maybe it's because the software gives a more professional appearance, which attracts customers.

Here are a few reasons it can make life easier for you and your clients.

Good software efficiently manages payments. This gives you a consistent and predictable cash flow. The majority of fitness clients actually find this better than having to have the right cash or purchase 10 packs through a weird system. Direct debit is set and forget - for them and you.

It also efficiently manages bookings or scheduling. Clear communication around schedules is vital for your business. Why wouldn’t you optimise that?

This sort of software can help you grow. Maybe it's the retention work you can do with the software that gives the competitive edge. Or perhaps it’s the marketing capabilities they include if you integrate them with marketing apps.

However it happens for you, after some growth (if not from the start) you'll need good accounting software - not only to help you stay out of financial trouble but also to know your numbers, set targets and monitor your performance.

                                “That which is measured, improves”

                                               Peter Drucker

7. Thinking you're too busy to spend time on service and satisfaction

To be honest, there were tonnes of "being too busy to..." type mistakes in the survey responses, but there was a lot of overlap so I've narrowed it down to the three key areas.

I've also changed the title of the mistake from "being too busy to" to "thinking you're too busy too". My reason for this is that these things are so important in the fitness industry that if you don't attend to them regularly they will come back to bite you.

They're not just “nice to haves” - they're critical.

If you spend hours on social media each day, that's great, but it may be more effective to to spare a bit of time on:

Improving your services (REFERRALS, CLIENT ATTRACTION AND RETENTION) You're probably already continuously educating yourself on health, fitness and nutrition. That learning is an amazing building block for new services and the continuous improvement of existing services. Service improvement is a leading determinant for referrals, client attraction and retention.         

Checking customer satisfaction (REFERRALS, RETENTION)                                    Trying to sense the vibe of customer satisfaction probably isn't good enough. You're probably too busy to have one-on-one chats with everybody, so consider using your software to periodically send out a three question survey. This could highlight problem areas fast, shows changes over time, and let you know the winning elements that shouldn't be changed.  

Checking team satisfaction (TEAM RETENTION, CLIENT SATISFACTION, REFERRALS) How’s the team doing? This should also be systematically checked. Even if you've got bulletproof hiring and training systems, when a team member leaves it's a major disruption, and a black hole for money and your time.

Keeping your team highly engaged and proud of the business should reduce team turnover and mitigates the risk of them leaving on bad terms. You need to look after your crew so well that they don't start looking for work elsewhere or, worse still, decide to build up their own client base in direct competition with you.

Some of the fitness people who helped with this article had ways of lessening the impact of these 7 mistakes through additional revenue streams like online coaching, online training courses and product sales. I'd love to hear about your fitness business if it's immune to any of these 7 mistakes. I’d also love to know I've missed anything so get in touch in the comments section to add your experiences.

by:

Simon Birdsall

[cinnaminsvga]

BTS POKEMON!AU

i made a similar post for the hyung line a few days ago, and it got some really good responses from everyone! so without further ado, here is the maknae line version!!

THE MAKNAE LINE GYM LEADERS:

JIMIN - psychic type specialist

“....”

“Oh, I know that look. You’re expecting me to be a water type gym leader, huh?”

tbh, no one could blame you for thinking he was a water type specialist because his gym was pretty much submerged underwater--literally

his core value, determination, was pretty much evident from the get-go. without the use of any diving apparatus, you had to come up for air every so often in order to pass through his gym in order to get to his room

“Don’t worry!! No one has drowned yet... I think.”

what is up with all the gyms in this region?? why is it like all the gym leaders were trying to kill you?

also, another pressing question: what if you can’t--

“You can’t swim? Oh, me too! The most I can do is a doggy paddle, and I’m not even that good...” Jimin laughed, his eyes squinting adorably

wait you didn’t even say that question out loud. was he--?

“Am I psychic? Nope! I just have really good intuition. Look, try to think something really weird and random. I promise I won’t be able to tell.”

ok. you start mentally saying to yourself: ‘holy shit you’re really fucking hot and cute, your hands are really small and i want to hold them and i would really love it if you could maybe stick them up my--’

“See? I have no idea what you’re thinking!”

(when you aren’t looking though, you don’t notice the keen smirk on his face HE HE HE)

“Anyway, about the drowning thing: don’t worry! My slowking and I will save you if you ever start looking like you’re having some trouble.”

getting saved by a hot gym leader who had killer abs to boot? maybe you should pretend to drown just so you could maybe see him in action well now you have nothing to worry about

as you go through his gym with some difficulty due to your lack of swimming skills, you noticed from the corner of your eye how jimin was indeed swimming alongside you, except he wasn’t exactly swimming

“Did I forget to tell you? You could use your psychic type pokemon to create a bubble of air around you to make it easier. Haha, how silly of me to forget” he told you this telepathically, a mischievous grin on his face

(you promptly rise up to catch your breath, slap him on his firm chest in annoyance, and summon your psychic type pokemon to help you complete his hellish gym)

now that you have the help of your psychic pokemon to aid you, you reach his gym leader room quickly

the room had less water and appeared more normal in comparison to the rest of his gym, with a simple dust battleground for the battle and a chair for where jimin was supposed to sit

except the chair wasn’t empty like it should have been

“HI JIMINIE I CAME TO VISIT!”

lo and behold, the neighboring gym leader, kim taehyung, had come to visit (if you haven’t pieced it together, he was the one sitting on jimin’s chair)

“How many times have I told you not to visit during a challenge?”

the pout on taehyung’s face was as fake as the baby voice he used: “but jiminieeeee i missed you :<”

“Omg--i’m so sorry, my darling. Are you fine with him watching us battle?”

not really sure what the fuck was going on, you let him do as he pleased

when you acquiesce to his ridiculousness, taehyung points you a saucy wink, which pretty much short circuits your brain and breaks your concentration

so all in all, you could definitely blame your defeat to taehyung’s way too intense staring and overzealous hooting

after the battle, jimin comes over to you and pats you on the shoulder, half-apologetic for his weird friend

“I’m so sorry about him, but I suppose this is a way for you to get used to him because you will have to defeat him eventually. Come back next time and i’ll make sure he doesn’t interrupt again.”

(taehyung, does in fact, visit each time you rechallenge jimin)

(not that you were disappointed to lose more times than you can count. if it meant seeing jimin and his beautiful thighs each time, then honestly you should be thanking taehyung)

TAEHYUNG - grass type specialist

the moment you finally defeat jimin, taehyung jumps out from his seat and literally tackles you to the ground

“FINALLY! NOW IT’S MY TURN MY TURN~”

jimin barely manages to pull you from under taehyung’s bearhug and save you from permanent rib damage

taehyung, however, slaps jimin’s small hands away and carries you easily over his shoulder (for someone so skinny, you were surprised by his strength)

“Hey! You’re done playing with her, so now it’s my turn. Shoo, shoo!”

luckily, taehyung’s city was pretty much adjacent to jimin’s, so the travel time wasn’t a problem

unluckily, taehyung had decided that the best mode of transport was over his shoulder, while he rode on his FUCKING LUDICOLO

“HAHA, ISN’T THIS FUN?” he hollered, while you hung onto his shoulders for dear life

(Note: Ludicolos don’t walk from place to place; they dance from place to place. just try to imagine your arrangement as you travelled from jimin’s town to taehyung’s)

one very chaotic commute later, you finally arrive at taehyung’s... gym?

“WELCOME TO MY GYM! You must be wondering why it looks like an petting zoo... because it is a petting zoo!!”

before he can even explain what the actual fuck is going on, a shiny herdier comes charging at you

before you can get hurt, taehyungs moves to intercept the overexcited dog, letting the herdier push him to the ground and lick his handsome face

“HAHA oh by the way, this is soonshim! say hi to my new challenger, soonshim~”

after taehyung finished playing with soonshim (read: 30 minutes), he finally managed to explain the rules of his gym

“Oh, right. Rules. Ew. Well, I don’t really have a “challenge” per se. You can actually challenge me right now.”

wait. really?

a small girl (who you eventually learn is taehyung’s younger sister) kicks him in the leg, a stern glare on her young face

“Oh shi--oh hello my baby sister. Thanks for reminding me.”

so it turns out, there is a rule to defeating taehyung’s gym. except it’s kind of...

“Yep! All you have to do is pet EVERY SINGLE POKEMON ON MY PETTING FARM! Yup! in short, I just want you to have fun and go nuts!”

???? ok????? how hard can it be?

(it was, in fact, harder than you thought. it seemed like every cat pokemon on the farm had an aversion to your presence, and would proceed to scratch you if you even looked in their direction)

(good thing taehyung was good at first-aid, and he even kissed all your injuries after he patched them up. “Kisses make the boo-boos go away!!” he said without a hint of embarrassment, whereas you were as red as a voltorb)

turns out, it takes almost the whole day just to pet all the pokemon, so you decide to come back tomorrow to challenge him

“What? You’re going to camp out? NO NO NO! I cannot allow that! C’mon, you’re sleeping with me!”

(you try to decline his invitation, but taehyung just puts on you his shoulder and brings you to his home regardless)

(get your head out of the gutter! nothing like what you’re imagining happened! ! ! although, you do get snuggled half to death by taehyung, so you couldn’t really even enjoy the experience to the fullest)

the next day, you finally get to challenge him and just like how his happy-go-lucky personality suggested, the battle was surprisingly relaxed and fun

you find you and your partner pokemon laughing the entire way through the battle, watching how taehyung would pull funny faces and make his pokemon fall over like from those slapstick comedies

unlike your other previous challenges, this one was surprisingly easy

“Yeaaaah, i’m not really much of a battler. i don’t really get serious unless there’s something worth fighting for, you know? All that matters is that you and your partner had fun. Did you?”

of course you did. so much so, you were kind of disappointed that you wouldn’t see him again after this. 

in order to prolong your stay, you asked him what he was like when he actually battled seriously, just to see how well you would match up to his full strength

“really? you want me to go all out? well, alrighty! might as well; i haven’t stretched my muscles in a while!”

since your team was barely hurt from his “play” battle, you decide to just continue where you left off

he, on the other hand, sends out an entirely new team. and they. were. fucking. MONSTERS (serperior, abomasnow, sceptile, ferrothorn)

you get knocked out with one move. each time.

(suffice to say, you’re glad he went easy on you. you just hope you don’t have to challenge him in the future--or worse--get on his bad side)

((hint: he ends up moving up the ranks and joins the elite four! so that hope of yours is sadly demolished the moment you meet his boxy grin in the pokemon league))

JUNGKOOK - fighting type specialist

holy fuck jimin who? muscles who???!

you first meet jungkook outside of his gym in a real-life gym (you know, where people work out and stuff)

you had entered his pokemon gym looking for him but the man at the front told you he was working out

at first, you thought he was training alongside his pokemon, as you had heard it helped increase coordination between trainer and partner in battle

but when you see him working out by himself, you can’t help but let your jaw drop

him: sleeveless tank, sweat dripping down his face, tight basketball shorts framing his shapely a**

you: blushing like the hot mess that you are

at first, he doesn’t even notice your presence and continues at a monster’s pace; doing two pull-ups in under a three seconds

after staring at him work out for ten minutes or so, he finally realizes you are there just creepily watching him and he just. drops.

like, he falls to the ground

“Oh fuuuu--” he groans, cradling his face in what you assume was pain

(he was, in fact, hiding his face in embarrassment because h o l y fuck a cute girl just watched him sweat like a pig and he looks so gross and he’s so embarrassed ahhhh)

you quickly approach him, grasping his hand to help him up

(he still wasn’t looking you in the eye, unable to even stutter a proper “t-thanks” after you ask him if he was ok)

confused by his weird demeanor, you instead ask him if he was the gym leader of this city (even though you were pretty sure he was) and he meekly replies yes before clearing his throat and LEAVING WITHOUT EVEN SAYING GOODBYE??

(for someone who looked like he was capable of breaking you like a toothpick, he was really fucking shy)

you assume he went back to his own gym to await for your challenge, so you head back there to chase after him

(he hadn’t even left a minute before you did, but you found no trace of him. how fucking fast did he run to escape from you???)

anyway, you arrive at the gym

unlike the previous gyms where the leaders themselves explained the rules, the man at the reception was the one who explained to you

“I’m so terribly sorry, Jungkookie is kind of... new at this. He isn’t used to challengers yet so I’ll explain the rules to you in his stead.”

you learn that Jungkook had inherited the gym from his older brother, who had decided to travel the world to pursue his real passion: art

you also learn that Jungkook never really wanted to become the leader of this gym, but as he was naturally adept at battles, he was the first choice as the new replacement anyway

as compared to the other gyms you’ve faced, his layout was pretty simple but it was down to the point. you were faced with three doorways with their own challenges. each challenge was a bit unusual in its own way; some challenges required you to hold in water for longer than a minute while being tickled, while another required you to carry three people under a limbo stick in under 3 minutes.

should you fail to do the challenge, you were faced with a trainer whom you would have to battle

(you later learn that jungkook had made up these challenges because he excelled at these activities. you decide not to question what he does for his past time)

after several unusual and surprisingly difficult challenges after, you finally arrive in jungkook’s room

to your disappointment, he was no longer sweaty from his work out. instead, he was freshly showered, his hair styled neatly like a coconut

“Uh. Hey. Sorry about a while ago, you caught me by surprise. As you may know, I’m Jungkook, the leader of this gym. I use fighting types. Uh. Yeah. Let’s start?”

after the initial awkward introduction, the battle quickly commences

despite his awkwardness in social situations, he was definitely not awkward at battle.

he moved in sync with his pokemon, moving almost like his pokemon as he commanded them to attack

he was as fast as his pokemon; you could barely land a hit at how quick his pokemon were moving

and when you actually did land a hit, the attack would bounce off of them, as if they were made of steel

he grinned at your dumbfounded face, an almost cocky smirk gracing his face “i learned those skills from yoongi hyung. i heard you were good, but i guess not good enough”

well that. got you mad. FUCK HIM! ! !

(in the end, you barely manage to win out of pure spite. he stares almost confusedly as his last pokemon falls to the ground, unsure of what “defeat” really means)

(in the back of his mind, he thinks its because he was too entranced by your cuteness. he thinks its just luck on your side, but he grudgingly agrees that you were actually pretty good.)

“Ok fine. you win. i guess my cockiness got the best of me. here,” he said, once again not looking you in the eye as he hands you your seventh gym badge (shykook comes back after the battle, which you honestly weren’t too mad about. cockykook was hot, but shykook was HELLA cute)

after sending him your thanks, you are about to turn to leave before he catches you by the shoulder. you look up at him to see a blush coating his face

“uh, i’m not supposed to do this as an official gym leader and stuff, but I just wanted to ask... ummm”

you waited patiently for him to finish, as he was too busy stuttering and blushing to completely finish his sentence

“ummmmwouldyoumindmeetingupwithmebeforeyouheadout?totrain?”

you barely manage to catch his words but you hear the last part clearly

“of course. i could always use the tips from you. after all, who better than to teach me than the strongest gym leader i have faced?”

at your compliment, his signature bunny grin appears, and it’s the first time since the battle finished that he finally made eye contact with you

“it’s my pleasure”

[thisselflovecamebacktome]

Pokemon Ultra Sun and Moon thoughts

So just like I did with Sun and Moon, I’m going to put out all my thoughts of the game here. It’s going to cover post game and will not be spoiler free so that’s your warning if you still haven’t finished it. However, I’m not going to be touching on things that were the same in Sun and Moon. If you’re that interested in my thoughts, you can check out my post on the main game here and post game here.

My Team:

- I made it my mission to make sure I used as many alolan pokemon as possible this time around considering one of my regrets of my first Sun playthrough was that I didn’t use them enough. My final team ended up being the Rowlet line, the alolan Grimer line, the Noibat line, the Pichu line, the totem Salazzle and a spare spot where I exchanged pokemon that needed evolving through level up.

- Honestly, I don’t really look out for stats and whatever when choosing pokemon but damn most of them were frail af defensively. Like Pichu/Pikachu and Noibat were damn near unusable before they evolved. Because of this, I decided to keep the experience share on but only used refresh for status conditions up until the elite four as opposed to all the time like in Sun at which point I got sick of not using what was one of my favourite features in the game and used it for ages.

Trial + Elite Four Changes:

- So I thought getting all the “harder” sos call ins (the ones that heal and give weather helping conditions) in Sun and Moon was bad but Lana and Kiawe’s trials kicked my damn ass this time around. Like I didn’t even have issues with Kiawe’s trial in Sun and Moon but this time around, just like Lana’s trial, it took me two times to do it. Chances are though a lot of this had to do with having those defensively weak pokemon and not using refresh for the benefits.

- I have mixed feelings about Mallows trial. On the one hand, I liked it a lot more than the original games, but on the other, I still feel like it’s one of the most forgettable.

- As much as I get why they chose Vikavolt for Sophocles’ trial in Sun and Moon, to be honest, I liked Togedemaru a lot better. I also found it cute that you had to go get the Grubbin beforehand.

- I’m glad they actually made it clear that you could fight the other captains in the game considering I didn’t realise you could in Sun and Moon until waaay later than appropriate. However, I don’t think Mina’s trial was the way to do it. They hyped up the fact that Mina was going to have a trial and so much could have been done with it to the point of this feeling like a letdown if I’m honest.

- Honestly? I said this once and I’ll say it again, what was the point of Kahilli? Adding a little scene where she shows you how to use the flying z move does not make her any more relevant. I can understand replacing Hala considering he had said Hau already beat him, but not over her. Like I have nothing against her personally, I just wish they had bothered to do something with her.

- Kukui’s joke about being champion made me smile a little but to be honest, kinda eh about the rival being the champion battle again.

Story Changes:

Lusamine:

- I find it interesting that they really pushed Lusamine being someone with a mental illness that pushed her to become this way as opposed to intentionally negligent like in the original games. I mean it was very heavily implied that Mohn’s disappearance pushed her obsession which pushed her ignoring Gladion and Lillie in the original games, but the dialogue definitely pushed more of a selfish angle as opposed to mentally ill mindset, especially the difference in Gladion’s words. 

- I also find it interesting that there’s an implication that Lillie did not know what happened to Mohn in these games. Makes me wonder just how long ago he was taken. 

- I have also been spoiled about the fact Mohn visits Aether Foundation when you beat Gladion in the elite four rematch but doesn’t remember any of the family. I haven’t actually seen it but I have mixed feelings about the scene. I understand that this was meant to be a major moment of growth and closure for Lusamine and I’m glad they finally fixed the “You know where he is but never tell Lillie or Gladion” issue I had with the first game, but regardless of what goes down between them, I feel weird knowing that she never gave him the choice to know his kids. Not to mention, does Lillie even know he came? Is Gladion okay with it? It seemed that they deliberately put in how much what happened affected him into these games and yet all we get is a “Are you sure?” from him.

Guzma:

- Him becoming legitimate is everything I wanted. Him disbanding Team Skull in the process, not so much. Like with all the implications that he takes in teens that don’t fit in elsewhere and give them a place to belong, the dissemination as opposed to reforming of the team makes me sad.

- Along with Lillie, I love that you can fight alongside him during the post game.

Ultra Recon Squad + Wormholes:

- It was interesting to have them show up so early. Definitely not what I was expecting.

- I like that Hapu played a role as kahuna in the Necrozma story, even if only small.

- I would have liked more to be done with their world. Like I get not fleshing out every ultra world because that would have been insane, but the one that they made such a big deal about in nearly every trailer? Could have been done. I did like that it had the alternate squad there though.

- Quite frankly, the Necrozma story needed to be fleshed out more. Like it very clearly felt like dlc as opposed to a main difference in the game.

- All up the wormholes are one of the better features in the game. I do have to ask though, are shiny odds increased with them? Because I go 15ish years without even seeing a shiny in my game to suddenly getting one in the first wormhole which is odd to me haha.

Other changes:

- I hate and am terrible at mantine surfing tbh. Like it was cool the first time around and I have the records for Akala and Melemele but it’s going to take forever to get the other two. It actually makes me really sad because I was looking forward to it and just do not enjoy it at all.

- Making it so you can get Vikavolt and Crabominable earlier was a good change.

- Looker showing up made sense right up until he did nothing during the post game in regards to the villains which was just lame. Like I don’t care about his character but honestly? He’s useless in the game.

- As much as I would have also liked a Kommo-o clothing option too, I actuall like the Lurantis one more. Either way though, clothing is still too damn expensive in the game $2M should be enough to buy all the options tbh.

- I feel like the Rotom Loto is too OP considering you can use it any time he looks sad. In saying this, I hate how it pushes you to take pictures every time a pokemon evolves or constantly save or that type of thing. Like don’t get me wrong, I’m one of the seemingly few that thought that the photo club was cute but I’ll do it in my own time. So yeah, at least give us a “Never ask me this again” option.

- Continuing from this, forcing you to do festival plaza stuff on route 8 is not clever, it’s annoying. I didn’t want to use the feature in the first games and I’m only doing it now to get the damn stamp on the passport. Don’t force it haha.

- Pikachu valley was cute but literally what’s the point of the van? Like is it actually possible to get in there? Also I liked that they implied that the famous Pikachu was from there which made it seem like a jab at gossip journalists when that one asked him why he was in alola. Like making fun of the idea that they don’t even know the basics and are just trying to get a scoop makes me smirk.

- The way you choose your starter in these games is cuter, but honestly, the tutorial part of the game is still far too long. I get that there’s new players, but pokemon seriously need to consider putting “I’ve played Pokemon before” options for long time fans so we can skip seeing how to catch pokemon and so on.

- I preferred and was much more emotional about Lillie leaving for Kanto than Gladion.

Post Game

- Once again, I feel as if Looker should have played a larger role.

- I still do not understand them using old Archie and Maxie sprites. Like I get they’re from alternate universes but that doesn’t actually explain why they didn’t just use the ORAS ones.

- On that note, it’s heavily implied that Archie/Maxxie come from the same universe but I don’t see how that would work considering anything one does would just be undone by the other both weather wise and actions wise. So like apart from natural disasters happening, I don’t see their world being much different. But I suppose that’s the point. It could be any world.

- While I get it was post game and hence probably couldn’t take up too much room, I kinda wish they had done something different than what ultimately felt like a battle tree type quest. Like maybe rather than Giovanni bringing them all in, they happen to fall in and you have to do quests to stop them achieving their goals in Alola. So like finding Rayquaza to stop Archie and Maxie or racing to find ultra beasts before Giovanni. I don’t know, I know it’d take too much space up for the creator’s liking but I would have much preferred it.

Random other notes:

- My money is 100% on the first switch game being a gen one or two remake. There’s far too many references to Kanto in this game for the next game not to at least travel to Kanto. Whether or not this means starting back at the 151 is yet to be seen.

- On this note, everyone’s talking about who Hau’s dad is but I want to know who ours is. Is it the gym leader that signed the paper in the room? Probably not considering it’s implied the character knows who their father is and would have referred to them as such. Even less likely is my headcannon that it’s Giovanni as opposed to Surge which is what I see a lot of people guessing.

- I get that they’re going back to the regular method next game so want to leave alola behind, but I still find it strange that they added z crystals but not new alola forms.

- Despite people speculating otherwise, the Kantonian gym was exactly what I was expecting. However, I had hoped that they would have it earlier and it would be kinda like a trick house thing where each time you went, they had a different layout mimicking the Kanto gyms and actually had the trainers have that typing pokemon. So like after the first trial you could enter and it’d be a rock based one, second; a water based one and so on. I do however think that the fact that Ryuki said he wants to be a dragon gym leader will mean that the remakes will either have him take over the dragon trial and set it up as a gym or just 8 gyms in general.

Final thoughts:

This was a good game and improved a lot on parts that people didn’t like about the originals. However, while the story changes in the second half were much appreciated, the first half felt repetitive and drawn out. The game as a whole honestly just made me wish that these were Sun and Moon because the way it was done just makes them feel like dlc. Although in saying this, while it could have been done better, I do think these games were a necessary step to the generation four remakes that I’m still sure are coming out next year (lets face it, I doubt a new generation will be ready by then) and even generation five remakes, and the possibilities it has left for future games excites me.