#Riolu did a goof

[foccaccia]

Hello!! I want to say hi because I see you interact with Rads a lot, and he also told me you love Pokemon \ PMD :)

From your interactions that I noticed on Rads' page, you sound like a nice person to talk to in general, but also... as of late I've been slowly getting into Pokemon ^^"

I played Black last year (loved it, especially N lol), and now I'm finally getting into Mystery Dungeon too (I'm playing the DS version of EoS via homebrew). I wanted to try PMD for years, but it did not click for me until just a few days ago, so... When Rads told me you're talking to him a lot about it, I was like 'omg I could use some advice and just have fun hearing about the game!!'

so yeah, that's why I'm writing this. Have a nice day!!

hi, omg this is so sweet! i LOVE pmd2 eos and im always way too excited to talk about it. my sister and i played it together growing up - we'd do individual missions and grinding and stuff on our own but as soon as plot came we'd close the ds and wait till the other was around so we could both watch what happened. i've played it a billion times since then, i just think it's fun! it has a genuinely good story and smooth and fun, if routine, gameplay.

(i'm a fake pokemon fan though, i havent played a main pokemon game since x/y and i havent FINISHED a game since platinum. i obsess over the side games tho lol. the pmd games, the ranger games, and colosseum my beloveds)

advice-wise, i can give you a few tips without spoilers i think? if anyone wants to add more feel free though!

reviver seeds are your best friends. they are more important than any other item. hoard them. spend all your money on them. my sister always told me i was missing the 'spirit' of the game by going into dungeons with 12 reviver seeds, but when one of your missions is escorting a low-level pokemon through a dungeon and another is fighting a high-level bad guy, you will appreciate the reviver seeds then.

you will eventually encounter monster houses. always carry a petrify orb, foe-stun orb, or some other item that will affect an area of pokemon. you shouldn't get monster houses too early in the game but it doesn't hurt to be prepared.

pmd2 is a kids game, and as such you won't need to heavily grind. still, depending on your comfort level, it can be really nice to have a few extra levels. pmd2 also is a game where plot events are scheduled - meaning if you go on a certain number of missions/otherwise use up a certain amount of in-game days, plot points will automatically occur. if you want more time to complete missions and otherwise level up/goof off, you often don't actually have to go on the plot mission, even if an npc says you do. just do your own thing anyway, it's fine. they'll keep reminding you but whatever, lol

to that last point, sometimes you'll be on longer missions and will be offered two paths to take from area to area. it will be obvious which is the correct one, as the incorrect one will always be labelled as 'foggy path' 'dark path' 'rocky path', etc, ending in 'path'. that one will just send you in a loop. you can take it as many times as you want to level grind. or you can skip them entirely if you want to get on with the game!

save, idk, 3-5 blue gummis in storage if you plan on finishing the game and doing post-game stuff. it isn't game-changing, it really isn't important, but it'll save you some minor time and annoyance.

there's no shame in looking up a guide for the personality test at the very beginning that determines which pokemon you play as. if you enjoy the surprise and/or actually want to align your personality/pokemon type, hell yeah! but there's a fun list of possible pokemon and it can be fun to pick which pokemon/type you like playing best as. personally, i love being riolu, learning focus punch, beefing it up with ginsengs, and destroying all in my path. i'm also weak to eevee, skitty, and shinx, because these four were the two my sister and i played most.

don't be afraid to use your normal (non-pp) attack, but also don't be afraid to use pp attacks. max elixirs aren't hard to come by, but not endless. however, you Will Not make it if you never use pp attacks. you'll find a balance!

you can control the moves your partner uses by switching them on/off in their move menu. if they have no moves selected, theyll default to the normal attack. im pretty sure they dont use normal attack if any pp moves are selected, though? you can also edit their "battle tactics" - eg, whether they follow u, seek out battles, run away, etc. this can be really useful as the only character you yourself fully control is the main character. make sure ur partner saves their low-pp high-attack moves for important situations, etc.

this isn't a NECESSITY but it helps if you and your partner are well-balanced or at least not exactly the same type-wise. it'll be just you two a lot, and you'll save yourself a lot of trouble if you picked a partner pokemon whose type balances out yours so you're not struggling through certain dungeons.

if you're using an emulator, save states are lovely, especially since dunegons are all randomly generated, but i know some people consider it cheating and don't like it. up to you!

there will be randomly encountered shopkeeper kecleons in dungeons. unless you can get to the stairs IMMEDIATELY, do not steal from them. jesus christ do not. or at least prepare to reload the game or give up on the dungeon.

if you can, take a bunch of missions at once in the same dungeon and just blast through them all in one trip.

play with the music up if you can! it has a deceptively incredible soundtrack.

i think that's enough to be dangerous with! there's more i could add, but honestly this game is pretty straightforward. if you have any specific questions, feel free to ask! this game means a lot to me, nostalgia-wise, and i genuinely love the story and the characters. just let yourself feel out what your favorite play style is. some people like bigger exploration teams and some don't, some people use every amenity in treasure town and some don't, everyone prefers different items and moves. but in the end, it's a kids game, and i know you'll do just fine!

[forestwhisper3]

                       =========================

It was all I could do to keep myself from gaping.

Gen, or Riley (and the sheer disbelief I felt at this couldn't be emphasized enough), didn't look that much older than I was, which was probably the most surreal part. When Ash had met him in the anime there had been a pretty big age difference, but...Ash was still a kid. For Riley to be close to our ages right now should have meant that Ash would have to have been well past ten when they'd first met in the show.

Yeah, I knew it was a decision made by the producers in order to keep it geared towards children, but now that I was here- or more that now that I was here and I knew none of us would be ten forever -It suddenly hit me just how much things were going to change with an older Ash going to those regions.

Hoo, boy...

All of this sort of passed through my mind in the time it took Riley to turn to me, curiosity plain as day on his face.

"Can you really understand him?"

"Y-Yeah."

"Hmm..."

I jerked back in surprise when he suddenly stepped forward and put a hand on my head. "Hey! What're you-"

"I knew it. You have Aura."

I had what now?!

He must have seen my utter shock and mistaken it for confusion, because he stepped back and smiled. "Aura. It's a latent power that all humans have, but the amount varies and not many people train it to where they can...uh..."

He paused and seemed to really notice what he was saying- and probably the fact that he was saying it to who he probably thought was a normal six-year-old girl.

"It's...kind of like a pokemon move," he amended, somewhat awkwardly. "Only we can use it too, and if you have enough, you can use it to talk to certain pokemon, like Riolu and Lucario."

I...was starting to get the feeling that kid Riley didn't have a lot of children his own age to hang out with.

I suppose it was lucky for him that I wasn't a typical little girl then.

"Actually...that's not why I can understand him."

He blinked in confusion. "What?

I fidgeted, wondering if I should really be admitting this when I'd literally only just told my family earlier today. Then again, this was Riley, who- despite being the slightly awkward duck he was at the moment -would grow up to be pretty much a modern-day knight in all but name. I could trust him, right? I was pretty sure I could.

Besides, I really wanted to hear more about aura- and the fact that I had it.

"Well...I can understand all pokemon. Not just aura using ones," I clarified.

His eyes widened. "How?"

"The pokemon in the forest near my home taught me," I explained, pointedly not mentioning the fact that I'd had to repeatedly sneak away for them to do so. "I asked them to."

"You...asked them to?"

"They were surprisingly agreeable about it."

Riley gave a sort of pause, then turned to look at Riolu, who only gave a sort of half shrug and nodded.

"You'd be surprised at how many humans don't think to do that," he said. "To be fair, it depends a lot on the kind of person who asks, but if we think they're alright then we don't have a problem with it."

"And you didn't tell me this before why?"

"Because you didn't ask."

Riley gave Riolu the stink eye, and the action was so unexpected that drew a laugh out of me.

Of course, that was more or less when Stoutland came barreling into the courtyard we were in, hackles raised and snarl fully in place as he came to a stop between me and Riolu.

"Were it not for your kind's noble history as well as the fact that you are still a pup yourself, I would have already attacked without hesitation or regret. Now, young aura wielder, tell me why you thought it was a good idea to take off with a member of my pack without warning?"

[skyphile]

grahams big holiday gift post aka “ITS BEEN YEARS SINCE IVE DONE THIS pwease go easy on me”

so while graham and the beautiful wife spent most of the holiday season living in luxury and getting pampered at grahams dad’s, graham had plenty of time to amass a collection of gifts and baked goods to give his friends upon their return home!

heres the list of them

@morbidkind kes - a lot of fluffy scarves and knitted things to keep them warm at work, pretty glass and clockwork trinkets and jewelry shaped like bugs and eyes, horribly misshapen bug decorated sugar cookies

@velcrounit colin - a whole family of crochet mushrooms AND a needlefelt figure of stan from spiritfarer bc im sure the household played it and sobbed over it. graham would also love to try his hand at a bunch of greek desserts and use colin as his guinea pig dfkhdsf. horrible plant decorated sugar cookies

dad - a hat, oven mitt and scarf set, a few short music compositions that are heartfelt and sweet. aardvark decorated sugar cookies that do NOT look like them at all

mom - also a music composition, along with a ton of cosy planters, knitted stuff to hold her art supplies, and a warm scarf to share between her and her gf. sugar cookies that completely bastardize a landscape

neighbours - cookies for everyone!

baradisers - aside from a sexy holiday bonus, they are probably going to hold a feast next saturday that anyone can attend around a HUGE table

cat - a whole collection of small indie games. horrible looking sugar cookies in a sad attempt of drawing ornstein and smough

@nemorialex alex - tiny needle felt figurines of snow and ash, a whole bunch of knitted things with needlefelt details on them, and also a TON of knitted stuff for the baby… sugar cookies with abominable decorations that vaguely resemble dragons

@stakehammer johnlal - needlefelt figurines of moths, a stupidly large tentacle, and sugar cookies with poorly done cute black kitties on them

@agreste-image adrien - a short musical composition that evokes feelings of motivation, support and hope, a bunch of silly knitted things with black cat motifs, a needle felt plagg for plagg, a platter of nice stinky cheese for plagg, a whole tray of assorted passion fruit pastries, sugar cookies with disastrous black kitties

@gho2ty ghosty - a whole music composition done in 8bit that evokes tenderness, softness and determination, a bunch of needlefelt alternian bees, a set of entrelac knitted sweaters, scarf and gloves, sugar cookies with a shameful attempt of a minecraft bee drawn on them

@vulcaniq jim - a cover collection of striking star trek tracks, graham would also legit get a tamagochu pair to split with her (as an excuse to hang out more and bc theyre so silly and cute), and make a few floral/fruit crocheted hats. jims sugar cookies were supposed to look like spock but the ears did NOT turn out well and so did nothing else

@thatsillyjohnkid jay - he gathered as much appropriate wool as he could and needlefelt the biggest alolan exeggutor he could manage... his sugar cookies were similar and TERRIBLE

@liliumsunshine hinata - graham goofed around and tried to emulate a heavy metal style in his silly piano set up and covered somebody that i used to know for her in an attempt to mock the band u know. he used up a bunch of his purple and light lilac yarn to make her pretty winter set of warm accessories, and needlefelt soft creatures. he tried to make sugar cookies with horns but they all cracked and fell off

@trainstoppin furry john - he got the fluffiest yarn he could find and turned it into a hat with earflaps, a thick scarf and chunky mittens. he made him a needlefelted creeper. his sugar cookies were supposed to look like the moon but. the icing sort of meshed and oozed everywhere….

@daviscatessen davis - he needlefelted a bunch of flowery figurines for him, and turned the mamma mia soundtrack into an 8bit cover collection. his knitted hat has a flower crown needlefelted into it. his sugar cookies were made with flower cookie cutters but they got too Thick

@gardencracks aria - a whole series of plant, leaf, flower and fruits crocheted into a long garland. a big tray of parisian pastries. her sugar cookies are covered in ivy that looks like Big Blobs

@turntechgarchomp pokemon dave - a needlefelt pokemon team with blaziken, pikachu, togepi, riolu, gibble, dragapult. pikachu shaped sugar cookies, but the red icing from the cheeks bled EVERYWHERE...

@immarcescible feferi (I KNEW ID FORGOTTEN SOMEONE OFF MY OG LIST) - needlefelt octopi! a crochet sushi set! sugar cookies shaped like fish (the colours are A MESS)

@endoosteologist coco - a small collection of sanrio needlefelt figurines. a BIG cake but the decorations could be…. better. hello kitty sugar cookies from hell….

@emberoops ember - a small set of cute needlefelt firebirds. sugar cookies with melted off fire coloured icing

@thedoomtrout max - I WISH IT WAS REAL but imagine this loser giving u a bunch of needle felt furries, including ur fursona, and bowser shaped sugar cookies that got all messed up…

graham is a HORRIBLE dessert decorator but all food items would be fricking delicious and decadent… he wouldve also written cute little notes with everyone, appreciation for friendship, general good wishes and a dad joke

[honeywisped]

It would be really interesting if 19!Ash went to past and 11!Ash just didn’t exist anymore. Ash just has all of his legendary-beating Pokemon with him and proceeds to beat everyone’s butt while still being a adorable goof trying to find his way home. Misty meets him when Pikachu just straight-up blasts the Spearow out of the sky because, hello, that is not normal lightning and Brock meets this kid who beats him with Scraggy and is like, oh, may I travel with you?

Hello! You are welcomed to use that idea for your own au and while I do appreciate input that’s majorly different than the original purpose I made this au, which is exploring how current ash would interact with his younger self due to having similar yet different personalities, so eliminating 11 year old ash would defeat the whole point

And while pikachu is a champion level pokemon and of course time traveled with current ash, the only other pokemon he has on him is dragonite, gengar and mr mime which while powerful aren’t champion level or legendary defeating level quite yet (and I might include riolu too if it’s what hatches out of the egg in the next episode) because that’s all he has catches in the new series so far, pikachu can definitely defeat most opponents it comes across at this point but not in one shot, which is okay I’m trying to avoid making current ash op since again the main focus is his interactions with his younger self

And again the original trio are at the point where the episode school of hardknocks is going to happen in a day or two when current ash shows up which is how he meets them all, and while I did say current ash still looks the same the original trio can tell he’s older than he actually is due to several reasons I’ll get to in a different post

[zach-the-fox]

PokeTeam Go Episode 1: Awaken

“Get back here!” shouts a female spoink. Glasses shield her eyes as a cap sits on her head. She bounces toward the fleeing sableye and gastly. Give me my things back!”

“Try and take them from us, Spoink!” the gastly yells, male in tone. “You’ll never catch us!”

“This way, Gas!” cries the sableye. “We’ll lose her in here!” The two purple pokemon jolt into the thickets in hopes of losing the spoink hot on their tail. The spoink continues on their trail, pursuing them through the foliage.

“You sure this is the right way, Gem?” asks them gastly. “I can’t see where we’re going!”

“Shut it!” the sableye orders. “Just follow me!”

“I’ll get you two! I want me things back!” The spoink appears in a clearing which houses a lake with a waterfall. “Where did those thieves go?!” She scans her surroundings, searching for the two purple pokemon, yet doesn’t see them anywhere. “They better not have gotten away!” Then, a figure by the lake catchers her eyes. A blue riolu lying by the edge of the water with a cobalt bandana around its neck. The spoink lets out a gasp. “Oh my Arceus!” She bounces toward the unconscious pokemon, then lays her paws on it, nudging the creature. “Hey, are you okay?!” The riolu murmurs a groan before its sound ceases, prompting the pig pokemon to nudge the jackal again, but harder. “I said are you okay?! Wake up!”

“Oh my head…” the riolu says a boyish voice, coming from a riolu as he holds his head with his paw. His eyes inch open. “H-huh?” Slowly, he begins to sit up, keeping his paw attached to his head. “A spoink?” The little blue creature looks around his surroundings with his brown eyes, taking notice of the big lake with the small waterfall and several trees dotted around. “Hey, where am I?”

“Oh, good!” exclaims the spoink. “You’re awake! I was starting to worry…”

The riolu’s eyelids peel back as far as they can. “Oh my Arceus! Y-you’re talking?! S-spoinks are not supposed to talk! A-am I dreaming?” He slaps himself hard in the face, letting out an “ouch” before rubbing the pain-affected area on his cheek. “Nope, definitely felt that one… Not dreaming…”

“Why did you do that?” asks the spoink. “You shouldn’t slap yourself. You don’t want to hurt yourself.”

The riolu’s eyes widen again as he looks at the spoink. “Y-you’re really talking! That is super freaky, yet interesting!”

“Well, you’re the most interesting riolu I’ve ever met.”

“What?” snaps the pokemon, standing to his feet. “What did you call me?” The spoink holds his paws up to him. “Did you call me a riolu?!”

“Well, yeah. That’s what you are, right?”

“I’m not a riolu! I’m a boy!”

The spoink lowers her paws, puzzled. “Um, okay. Yeah, you’re a boy. You’re also the strangest riolu I’ve ever met.”

The riolu extends his arm and points to her. “Listen here, I told you I’m not a-” He pauses, then turns his paw around to examine it. “Huh…?” He brings up the other to examine it. “What the?!” The riolu then looks down to see his legs, and notices his fluffy tail. “Ahhh!” Noticing the lake beside him, the riolu leans over to look at his reflection, showing his canine-like face with brown eyes to contrast with the blackened mask around them. He gasps and screams with shock, squishing his head with his paws as he looks away. “T-this can’t be happening… I’ve turned into… into a pokemon!” His voice spurs the foliage nearby, hearing a rattling coming from the bushes. “Huh…? What was that?” Two pokemon burst from out of the shrubs and appear in front of the riolu and spoink. The pokemon are the sableye and gastly the spoink had been chasing.

“It’s the thieves!” shouts the spoink. “The ones who stole my berries and my father’s pearl!”

“Well, well, well,” the gastly speaks. “Seems like the spoink has a friend.”

“Give me back my things! I swear, if you don’t, I’ll-.”

“Oh, you want them?” utters the sableye. “Then, how about you battle us for them? Unless, the poor little piggy is scared.”

The spoink growls. “Not me!” She turns to the riolu. “Will you help me get my things back?”

The riolu stares blankly at her. “Gee, I-”

“Don’t worry,” the spoink interrupts. “It’ll be quick and over with.” The spoink bounces forward toward the sableye and starts her attacks.

“Wait, I don’t even know how to-” The riolu takes notice of a black ball heading straight toward him. “Whoa!” He sprints out of the way, dodging the exploding sphere of dark energy. “Hey!”

“Ha!” The gastly laughs. “Cowardly Riolu!” He readies himself for another shot and fires. As the orb propels toward the blue pokemon, the riolu dodges again, but quicker than he normally does. “Whoa, did I just dodge that quickly?” He dodges a second one. “Wait, I’m using quick attack!” As the gastly keeps throwing shadow balls, the riolu evades them and gets closer fast. When he gets within range, the blue pokemon socks the ghost-type with his fist, knocking him back. The gastly shakes his head and goes to attack the riolu with a ray of light. The jackal pokemon darts toward the gastly again, only to be licked with its tongue.

“Ugh!” The riolu pauses, but manages to continue toward the purple pokemon, who then uses his tongue to attack him. While the two boys battle, the spoink has knocked back the sableye with a psywave move. The sableye is pushed back a couple of feet, but manages to stay standing. The gremlin pokemon takes out her shadow claws and strikes at the pig pokemon, but the spoink bounces high in the air, then punches the dark creature on descent. After some licks from the ghost-type’s tongue attacks, the riolu charges and punches the gastly, knocking him into the sableye. The two purple pokemon collapse and drop their belongings.

The gastly struggles to remain afloat. “Gem, they’re too strong! What do we do?!”

“Let’s get out of here!” The sableye gets up quickly and the two head into the trees to get away.

“My gosh!” the riolu spurts. “I-I can’t believe it… I won a battle… I haven’t done that since… ever…”

The spoink goes to retrieve her berries and pearl, then looks to the riolu. “Thank you so much for helping me get my berries and pearl back. I’ve been trying to get them all morning.”

“It’s no problem, Miss…”

“Emmy,” she says, hopping up to him. “My name’s Emmy. And you are?”

“Zach,” the riolu responds. “And you’re very welcome.” The blue pokemon grudges his stomach and kneels on his knee. “Ugh!” His cheeks transition to purple. “Oh, my stomach!”

“You okay?”

“I feel awful…”

“You’ve been poisoned by the gastly’s lick attack,” Emmy tells him. “We need to get you some help.” She gets on his side, puts her arm around him, and helps him up. “Come.”

“No,” Zach utters. “You don’t have to do that…”

“I do,” she says. “It’s the least I can do to return the favor. Besides, didn’t you say you weren’t a pokemon before?”

Zach reflects back on that thought. “Y-yeah… I’m going to need help finding my way around… I’m also going to need to know how to handle my moves, now that I’m a riolu…”

“I can help you if you’d like. You did save my precious items from those two petty criminals.”

“Thanks, Emmy… Who were those two anyway?”

“Gas the Gastly and Gem the Sableye. They’re two small-time thieves that have been stealing from pokemon in these woods. They are quick to raid pokemon traveling on their own and make off with their possessions…”

“Well, I’m glad to have stopped those criminals… Ugh!”

“They will be back… But, I’m more worried about you.”

“I feel so sick… So weak…”

“We’re almost to town. Once we’re there, we’ll get to the medical post and have the doctor fix you up. Then, if you want, we can hang out and I’ll tell you everything you want to know.”

“I appreciate it, Emmy. Thank you… Ugh!” The riolu grudges at his stomach more. “Go easy on the hopping… I think I’m going to throw up.”

“Sorry, Zach.” Emmy does her best to escort the riolu toward the settlement through the trees. They pass a sign by the path contains an arrow with the name “Leafy Creek” written below it.

@emmy-the-absolute-goof​

[zach-the-fox]

Poketeam Go Episode 2: A New Place

“Ouch!” spurts the riolu, clenching his teeth and eyes as the audino in a nurse cap treats his wounds. “That stings!” Zach grunts again as the audino orders him to keep still and be patient. The pink pokemon wraps cloth bandages around the riolu’s head and torso, covering the major injuries he’s sustained. The audino lightly pushes him back against the bed, telling him to rest and relax, then pulls the blanket over to shield his body up to his abdomen.

Emmy’s granted entry by the audino with Nic. She approaches the bandaged riolu by his bedside. “How you feeling? You okay?”

“Dark pokemon really hurt,” Zach comments. “Was not expecting that…”

“You’re lucky I was close by when I heard the explosions,” Nic assures him. “Otherwise, those thieves would’ve really did a number on you. Emmy, too. Which is why it’s not wise to be out in the woods alone, traveling. Where are you guys from, actually?”

“Um,” Zach turns to Emmy, who looks at him the same way; eyes wide open with a flat mouth. He then looks back at the pikachu. “We’re not from around here…”

“I know you aren’t,” Nic tells him. “This is the first time I’ve seen you guys. So really, where are you from?”

“We… Uh…”

“What Zach’s trying to say is, we’re humans,” Emmy explains. “We have no idea what happened to us. We just woke up as pokemon with no clue where we are or how we got here.”

“Yeah,” adds Zach, grunting a little. “Exactly what she said. We also don’t know what to do or how we get home…”

The pikachu holds his paw to his chin. “Interesting. Well, I can tell you we’re in the town of Leafy Creeks, a small hamlet situated by a quiet river. It’s very peaceful out here in the middle of-”

“Hey!” shouts a baritone voice, causing the pikachu to jump. The three pokemon trace the source to a buizel with a red band around his left arm. Beside the water pokemon stands an eevee in a flower crown and a red bandana. “How dare you, Pikachu!”

“How dare I what?” Nic asks. “What I do?”

“We heard you saved two pokemon from those thieves in the forest! That’s our job!”

“Well, where were you and your team when they needed help? I didn’t see you around when they were attacked. Someone had to help them.”

“That doesn’t give you the right to just save someone in danger! I oughta-”

“Calm down, Jay,” the eevee next to him says in a feminine voice. “We weren’t around when it happened, and we can’t be everywhere.”

The buizel faces her. “Miffy, we’re the heroes. We’re the ones who save other pokemon! It shouldn’t be up to-”

“Jay, relax,” she snaps. The eevee turns to the three pokemon. “Forgive my companion. He’s a little rowdy about things. Are you all okay?” Zach, Emmy, and Nic all nod. “Well, I’m glad for that. Just be careful the next time you’re out in the forest. Come on, Jay. Let’s report back to Ezma.”

Jay sighs before looking back at the pokemon. “You’re lucky, Pikachu. But, if you ever steal our jobs again, it won’t be easy for you.” He turns away and leaves.

“Hey, what’s up with him?” asks Emmy. “What kind of pokemon crawled up his butt?”

“That’s Jay for you,” Nic tells her. “He can be ill-tempered at times, he’s arrogant, and quite a hot-head. He and the eevee, Miffy, are part of Team Rescuers, a protector’s guild that saves pokemon and solves mysteries. They operate in this region and Leafy Creeks is within their territory.”

“Protector’s guild?” Zach repeats. “You mean they go on missions and adventures?” Nic confirms it. “That seems interesting, actually. How would you go about talking them into aiding us?”

“What do you mean?” Nic queries.

“Well, we just got here, and we could use some more help in our “quest”. I’m thinking they could be of good use.” Zach lets out a grunt as he places a paw on his head.

“Whoa, hang on there.” Nic assures him. “Team Rescuers has a lot on their plate already. Besides, you saw Jay’s wrath as he burst in here.”

“True,” Zach states. “But, they might be useful to us for our needs.”

“I wouldn’t bother them, if I were you, especially since you just got here. Look, I understand you’re uncomfortable with your situation, but you should take things one step at a time. Also, you took a bad beating and need to recover.”

“Yes,” Emmy adds. “But, Zach is right; we have no knowledge of this land and what’s beyond, and we’re going to need some shelter and food.”

“I can help you two get sorted,” Nic says. “I’ve got enough room in my home to spare and enough food for the both of you. As soon as Zach’s better, you can move in.”

“Nic, can you give Emmy and I a minute?” Zach asks. “We need to talk about something.” Nic nods and heads out the door.

Emmy looks to the riolu. “What is it, Zach?”

“I know I may seem quick to think, but we should also learn about how to use some moves and maybe join that guild.”

“Are you crazy? You want to go on little adventures and possibly get yourself hurt?”

“Of course, Emmy,” Zach responds. “I know it’s been dangerous the last couple of hours, but I feel like we could maybe we could live a little. Better know our new forms and learn how to use our abilities. I mean, we are pokemon, after all.”

“We need to focus on the real objective, Zach. You should recover first, then we need to figure out how the arceus we’re going to get home.”

“Well, that guild seems like they know some secrets. Perhaps we can find out if they know something about what’s going on and how to get home.”

“You seem pretty interested in this guild, Zach.”

“I am. Emmy, before this happened, I had a boring life. Now that we’re pokemon, I feel like I want to just be a pokemon and live.”

Emmy lets out a sigh. “Well, I mean, it’s going to be a while before we figure out how to get home. I suppose it wouldn’t be a bad idea to learn a few moves, and maybe even go learn more about this place. I’m thinking maybe if we got to know the townsfolk, they’d be willing to help us out. You should really rest and heal up, first. It was pretty bad when you took that shadow ball.”

“So, I got unlucky,” Zach tells her. “I just need to learn how to dodge better and maybe even hit them with some moves on my own.” He grudges at his stomach. “Gah! I will be better… I just have to try…”

“We have a lot of learning to do, then,” remarks Emmy. @emmy-the-absolute-goof​

[zach-the-fox]

Poketeam Go Episode 1: Awaken

“Oh my head…” says a boyish voice, coming from a riolu as he holds his head with his paw while lying against the ground. A blue bandana rests snug around his neck. His eyes flutter open as he turns his head from side-to-side. “H-huh?” Slowly, he begins to sit up, keeping his paw attached to his head. “W-what happened…?” The little blue creature looks around his surroundings with his brown eyes, taking notice of a big lake with a small waterfall and several trees dotted around. “W-where am I?” The riolu stands to his feet and begins walking a couple of paces toward the lake. “What is this place? How did I even get here?” The riolu then walks up to the edge where the water meets the grass. “Maybe some cool water will refresh my mind…” He takes his paws and scoops the water into them, which he freezes. His eyelids pull back wide as he stares down at his graspers. “W-what the?! What is-” He parts his paws away to look into the lake, seeing his reflection before jumping back with a scream. “W-what?! I’m a riolu?! How did that happen?!” His voice spurs another nearby, hearing a sigh coming from the tree beside him. “Huh…? What was that?” The riolu walks over to the source of the sigh and discovers a spoink lying under the tree, curled halfway into a ball. The spoink’s head is covered with a blackened hat while glasses sit on its nose, shielding its eyes. “H-hello?” He approaches the spoink with ease, kneeling down and lightly rocking the creature’s body. “H-hey, are you okay there?” The spoink lets out a groan with a slight nudge, but its eyes remain closed, prompting the riolu to rock the pokemon again. “Are you okay?! Wake up! Please!”

With enough force, the spoink opens their eyes and notices the riolu in view. “H-huh?” Sitting up, the spoink’s eyes remained fixed on the riolu. “A riolu?” The spoink’s voice is high and womanlike, revealing the gender. “What’s going on around here…? Wait, where am I?”

“Hey, I’m just as clueless as you,” says the riolu.

The spoink’s eyelids peel back as far as they can. “Oh my Arceus! Y-you’re talking?! R-riolus are not supposed to talk! A-am I dreaming?” She slaps herself hard in the face, letting out an “ouch” before rubbing the pain-affected area on her cheek. “Nope, definitely not dreaming…”

“You okay?” asks the riolu. “That looked like it stung… Do you want me to help with that?”

The spoink’s eyes widen again. “Y-you’re really talking! That is super freaky, yet interesting!”

“Well, you’re the most interesting spoink I’ve ever met.”

“What?” snaps the pokemon, standing to her feet. “What did you call me?” The riolu holds his paws up to her. “I’m not a spoink! I’m a girl!”

The riolu lowers his paws, puzzled. “Um, I can tell you’re a girl… But you’re also a grumpig.”

The spoink extends her arm and points to him. “Listen here, I told you I’m not a-” She pauses, then turns her paw around to examine it. “Huh…?” She brings up the other to examine it. “What the?!” She then looks down to see her legs, which have been replaced by a spring. “Oh no! Please don’t tell me…!” Noticing the lake beside her, the spoink leans over to look at her reflection, showing her pig-like face with the glasses to shield her brown eyes to contrast with the grey fur. She gasps and screams with shock, squishing her head with her hooves as she looks away. “T-this can’t be happening… I’ve turned into… into a pokemon!”

“Isn’t this the weirdest thing to ever happen to us?” the riolu spurts.

The spoink turns and faces the blue pokemon. “What do you mean? Were you a human, too?” The riolu nods. “Can you recall what happened as to how you turned into a pokemon?”

“I…” The riolu ponders for a bit, trying to think back to the events previous to his transformation. “I honestly can’t remember… I don’t recall ever seeing anything extraordinary. I only remember going to bed, and that was it.”

She turns her head down to the ground. “Well, this is quite a predicament…” The grey pokemon looks back to the riolu. “So, what do we do, now?”

The riolu shrugs. “Beats me… I’m just as delirious as you are, Spoink.”

“Stop calling me Spoink, please… I don’t like it when I’m called that.”

“What should I call you, then?”

“Emmy,” the spoink tells him. “My name is Emmy.”

“All right,” says the riolu. “Nice to meet you, Emmy. I’m Zach. What do you think we should do?”

“Hm… I have an idea… We should find other pokemon and see if they would know a way to change back. I’m pretty sure there’s a town nearby, right?”

“Not a bad idea,” Zach answers. “Shall we?” The two pokemon venture away from the area and into the dense trees ahead of the lake. As they venture off into the forest, they start to talk about their lives previous of their transformation, discussing what they have done based off tiny bits of their memories they can recall. While they walk along, they pass bright red mushrooms with white polka dots all around the top. That’s when the spoink begins to notice the riolu stopping and grudging at his head. She walks up alongside him. “You okay? You have some sort of headache or something?”

Zach remains silent for a few seconds. Images flash in his head, piecing together as some sort of creature in his mind. “I… I…”

“What? What is it?”

“I’m remembering something…” Emmy asks what it is. “My head… I can’t make it out… It must be some sort of pokemon…”

“A pokemon?” asks Emmy. “What did it look like? Can you make it out?”

“I… I can’t remember… It just flashed in my head for a few seconds…”

“Huh, that’s weird… Maybe we should talk about it as soon as we head into town.”

“Well, look what we have here.” Both the pokemon freeze and turn to the source of the additional female voice; a sableye with a maroon bow, accompanied by a gastly wearing the same apparel beside her. “If it isn’t a riolu and a spoink?”

“Yeah!” shouts the gastly, male in tone. “Two little pokemon all by themselves! Perfect for us!”

“I don’t suppose you two would help us find the nearest town, right?” Zach queries.

“Ooh!” The sableye turns to the gastly. “Hear that, Gas? These two are looking for some guidance because they’re lost. How hilarious.” The two dark pokemon laugh at them.

“Hey, listen,” Emmy begins. “We don’t want any trouble. We just want to-”

“Oh sure,” interrupts the sableye. “I get ya. Gas, show them how we greet other pokemon.”

“With pleasure, Gem!” The gastly emits a dark glow in front of him. Zach and Emmy duck out of the way as the dark pulse fires at them, yet misses. The riolu and spoink dart away from the dark pokemon as instinct, distancing themselves from them. However, the sableye and gastly tail them, keeping up in speed as Zach and Emmy dodge trees and continue down the forest. Balls of darkness also strike the two pokemon as they flee from their attackers. The dark pokemon’s attacks only hit beside them, or at trees where they once were until one shadow ball explodes in front of Zach, causing him to fly a few feet in the air, then crash behind a large rock formation, obscuring the sableye and gastly from view.

Emmy stops and looks back, noticing the riolu on the ground. “Zach!” She bounces over to him and aides him as he struggles to sit up. The top of his forehead houses a cut while everywhere else is covered in smudges. “Are you okay?!”

Zach grudges at his stomach. “Ow… That hurt…”

Emmy moves his arm, revealing a slash across his abdomen, leaking with blood. “Oh dear… You don’t look so good…”

“Need help now, do we?!” shouts the sableye, standing on top of the rocks over them with the gastly by her side. “Let us do that for you!” The two dark pokemon charge for their next shot when a bolt of lightning strikes them both and causes them to fall onto the ground, dazed. The riolu and spoink stare with widened eyes and blank mouth expressions.

“Uh, what just happened?” Zach utters. “And where did that lightning bolt come from?”

“Over here!” The two pokemon turn to the right and see a pikachu come up to them. The yellow electric rat pokemon has black, messy hair with the same color for the shirt worn and blue shorts. The flat end of the tail shows the pikachu’s gender to be male. “Are you two all right?”

“W-who are you?” Emmy asks. “You’re not going to hurt us, are you?”

“Course not,” the pikachu tells her in a thick accent. “I came to save you both from those troublemakers. My name’s Nicolas, but my friends call me Nic.” Zach and Emmy introduce themselves. “What are you two doing out here, might I ask?”

“That’s what we want to know,” Emmy tells him. “We were trying to find a town when these bullies attacked us.”

“Trying to get to a town, huh? Sure, let me take you guys to my home town, Leafy Creeks.” Nic walks over to the banged-up riolu. “You look badly injured. Do you need some assistance?”

“Y-yeah,” Zach says. The pikachu gets to his side, puts the riolu’s arm around the back of his neck, and lifts him to his feet. Zach grunts with every step they take while Emmy follows. “Oh jeez… It hurts!”

“Those two did quite some damage to you,” remarks Emmy.

“Don’t worry,” Nic assures. “Once we get to town, there will be some nice, cute audino nurses who will patch you up real good.” The three pokemon venture through the woods at a slow pace. @emmy-the-absolute-goof​

[zach-the-fox]

PokeTeam Go Episode 1: Awaken

“Oh my head…” says a boyish voice, coming from a riolu as he holds his head with his paw while lying against the ground. A blue bandana rests snug around his neck. His eyes flutter open as he turns his head from side-to-side. “H-huh?” Slowly, he begins to sit up, keeping his paw attached to his head. “W-what happened…?” The little blue creature looks around his surroundings with his brown eyes, taking notice of a big lake with a small waterfall and several trees dotted around. “W-where am I?” The riolu stands to his feet and begins walking a couple of paces toward the lake. “What is this place? How did I even get here?” The riolu then walks up to the edge where the water meets the grass. “Maybe some cool water will refresh my mind…” He takes his paws and scoops the water into them, which he freezes. His eyelids pull back wide as he stares down at his graspers. “W-what the?! What is-” He parts his paws away to look into the lake, seeing his reflection before jumping back with a scream. “W-what?! I’m a riolu?! How did that happen?!” His voice spurs another nearby, hearing a sigh coming from the tree beside him. “Huh…? What was that?” The riolu walks over to the source of the sigh and discovers a grumpig lying under the tree, curled halfway into a ball. The grumpig’s body is covered with a grey sweat jacket and grey pants while glasses sit on its nose, shielding its eyes. “H-hello?” He approaches the grumpig with ease, kneeling down and lightly rocking the creature’s body. “H-hey, are you okay there?” The grumpig lets out a groan with a slight nudge, but its eyes remain closed, prompting the riolu to rock the pokemon again. “Are you okay?! Wake up! Please!”

With enough force, the grumpig opens their eyes and notices the riolu in view. “H-huh?” Sitting up, the grumpig’s eyes remained fixed on the riolu. “A riolu?” The grumpig’s voice is high and womanlike, revealing the gender. “What’s going on around here…? Wait, where am I?”

“Hey, I’m just as clueless as you,” says the riolu.

The grumpig’s eyelids peel back as far as they can. “Oh my Arceus! Y-you’re talking?! R-riolus are not supposed to talk! A-am I dreaming?” She slaps herself hard in the face, letting out an “ouch” before rubbing the pain-affected area on her cheek. “Nope, definitely not dreaming…”

“You okay?” asks the riolu. “That looked like it stung… Do you want me to help with that?”

The grumpig’s eyes widen again. “Y-you’re really talking! That is super freaky, yet interesting!”

“Well, you’re the most interesting grumpig I’ve ever met.”

“What?” snaps the pokemon, standing to her feet. “What did you call me?” The riolu holds his paws up to her. “I’m not a grumpig! I’m a girl!”

The riolu lowers his paws, puzzled. “Um, I can tell you’re a girl… But you’re also a grumpig.”

The grumpig extends her arm and points to him. “Listen here, I told you I’m not a-” She pauses, then turns her paw around to examine it. “Huh…?” She brings up the other to examine it. “What the?!” Noticing the lake beside her, the grumpig leans over to look at her reflection, showing her pig-like face with the glasses to shield her brown eyes to contrast with the pink and grey fur. She gasps and screams with shock, squishing her head with her hooves as she looks away. “T-this can’t be happening… I’ve turned into… into a pokemon!”

“Isn’t this the weirdest thing to ever happen to us?” the riolu spurts.

The grumpig turns and faces the blue pokemon. “What do you mean? Were you a human, too?” The riolu nods. “Can you recall what happened as to how you turned into a pokemon?”

“I…” The riolu ponders for a bit, trying to think back to the events previous to his transformation. “I honestly can’t remember… I don’t recall ever seeing anything extraordinary. I only remember going to bed, and that was it.”

She turns her head down to the ground. “Well, this is quite a predicament…” The pink pokemon looks back to the riolu. “So, what do we do, now?”

The riolu shrugs. “Beats me… I’m just as delirious as you are, Grumpig.”

“Stop calling me Grumpig, please… I don’t like it when I’m called that.”

“What should I call you, then?”

“Emmy,” the grumpig tells him. “My name is Emmy.”

“All right,” says the riolu. “Nice to meet you, Emmy. I’m Zach. Hm… I have an idea… Maybe we should go out and find other pokemon. Perhaps they would know what’s going with us.”

“Not a bad idea,” Emmy answers. “I’ll be right beside you.” The two pokemon venture away from the area and into the dense trees ahead of the lake. As the venture off into the forest, they start to talk about their lives previous of their transformation, discussing what they have done based off tiny bits of their memories they can recall. While they walk along, they pass bright red mushrooms with white polka dots all around the top. That’s when the grumpig begins to notice the riolu stopping and grudging at his head. She walks up alongside him. “You okay? You have some sort of headache or something?”

Zach remains silent for a few seconds. Images flash in his head, piecing together as some sort of creature in his mind. “I… I…”

“What? What is it?”

“I’m remembering something…” Emmy asks what it is. “My head… I can’t make it out… Something with red and white… having a long neck and wings… It’s some sort of pokemon, but that’s all I can remember…”

“So, you did see some sort of vision,” implies Emmy. “What’s red and white with a long neck and wings? Is that what caused us to turn into pokemon?”

“I-I’m not sure… But, maybe the pokemon I’m thinking of is-” The leaves of the bushes around them swish and rattle, interrupting the conversation. “W-What was that?” Zach stands closer to the grumpig.

Emmy looks around her, noticing the shrubs shake. “Something is here… Some sort of pokemon, maybe?” The vibrations of the foliage inch closer to the two pokemon, causing them to get closer to each other. “Whoa, hello…”

“W-who’s there…?” Zach calls out. “W-what do you want?” The shrubs cease their shaking. Both the riolu and grumpig stare for a minute. “Hello?”

“Hi!” shouts a figure, jumping out from the greenery, causing Zach and Emmy to hug each other with fright. The unknown creature is revealed to be a teddiursa with a black, long-sleeved shirt and a spinda on it. Looking at the pokemon, the left eye is green in contrast with the other, which is brown. Long eyelashes and the tone in voice reveal the pokemon’s gender to be a female. She stands still in front of the two conjoined pokemon. “Hey, what’s wrong? Did I scare you?” There is no response from either of them. “I’m sorry. There’s nothing to be afraid of. I’m quite friendly, actually.” She thrusts her paw out, opening it. “I’m Ella. It’s a pleasure to meet you.” Zach and Emmy let go of each other and shake her paw individually, introducing themselves. “So, what are a pair of pokemon like you two doing out here? Are you both from around here?” The two pokemon shake their heads. “Oh… Well, where are you from?”

“Um…” Emmy tries to explain the situation. “We’re actually not from around here as in, we’re not pokemon.”

“Yeah,” Zach adds. “We were humans before… But now we’re pokemon…”

“Oh, I get you,” says Ella. “Does this mean you have nowhere to go?” The two confirm what she said. “Hey, why don’t you come with me? I can fix you a good meal and warm beds. Come!” She quickly sets off with the two pokemon behind her.

 ***

 The three pokemon walk along a gravel road through low-rise buildings. The grumpig and riolu look around with amazement as they walk in. “Welcome to Leafy Creek!” Ella tells them. “We’re a nice little town with fantastic pokemon. You two will fit right in here!” Several other pokemon are seen passing by, looking at the three pokemon walking through. “Isn’t it wonderful?”

“I’m not really too comfortable,” Emmy says. “Especially the way those other pokemon are looking at us…”

“Oh, it’s nothing to worry about. They’re just not too fond of newcomers.” Ella stops in front of a round hut with a cone, thatched roof, wooden semi-circle door, and a couple of circular windows dotted around. “Well, here it is! Home sweet home!” She pushes open the door and enters the dwelling, then steps aside. “Please, come in.” Zach and Emmy follow her command and walk inside before she closes the door behind them. Ella makes her way in front of them. “Here’s where I live. Make yourselves at home. I’ll take really good care of you.”

“Um,” Zach begins. “That’s really kind of you, Ella. We appreciate it…”

“It’s no problem!” The teddiursa smiles. “Are you both hungry? Let me make you something good.” Ella disappears into the room ahead.

Emmy leans closer to Zach. “I have an uneasy feeling about her. I’m not sure we can trust her.”

“She doesn’t seem bad,” Zach says. “She seems kind, letting us in and offering us some food and a place to sleep. You aren’t wrong, though. But, what choice do we have? We’ve turned into pokemon and we’ve got nobody else but each other and the teddiursa here. Unless there’s a cure, there’s no turning back… We’ll have to adapt to being pokemon…”

The grumpig sighs. “Yeah, I know… I guess it shouldn’t be too bad if we stuck together.”

“All right, come in!” orders Ella. The two pokemon enter the next room and approach the table, which is a stump and pillows around it. “Please, sit down.” Zach and Emmy do as she says, sitting at the round stump. Plates of colorful berries are in front of them. “You’ll love these! Just picked them this morning. Nice and fresh!” She digs into her food, chewing on the outside of the fruit. “I love these berries! They’re just so good!”

Zach tastes his with ease before eating slowly. “Um, yeah… Good. Thank you, Ella.”

“Hey listen.” Ella swallows her food to speak clearly. “Maybe after we’re done, I can show you around town. Give you all a lay of the land, you know.”

“Oh, sure,” Emmy says, agreeing with her. “We’d love to. Thank you, Ella.” @emmy-the-absolute-goof​