#because that's when drayden and ghetsis (especially ghetsis) find him

[egginfroggin]

(Tags from this reblog) (so, so late in responding to these, ouf)

Yeah, it is a horrible time for everyone!

(This got super long, so full rant is under the cut)

Ingo was raised to believe that his powers, like Emmet's, were a gift from one of the Dragons.

He's has been under the impression that his powers -- while unusually strong -- should be able to be controlled, and believes that he is at fault for his own lack of control.

In actuality, bonds are needed to temper the uncontrolled ice that Kyurem cursed him with at birth. The powers grew with age, and unfortunately, Ingo was cut off from the very thing he needed to have any hope of controlling them.

On Kyurem's side of things, however, it sought to spread the same agony of isolation that it felt to the humans that scorn it. Its curses, throughout the ages, always end in tragedy -- the cursed child is either killed, or goes mad and winds up dead by force or by choice.

Ingo is the first cursed child it has ever met, and it was intrigued by him. Here's this isolated, lost soul, deprived of the warmth all children should have, and yet he isn't mad. He's more sad, than anything, and desperate to keep his twin and kingdom safe.

So, curiously, it shares the secret of controlling its powers -- the warmth of bonds -- and forms a connection with Ingo. Ingo gets some control over his "gift," and Kyurem gets a bond for the first time in centuries, if not the first time ever.

So they both get solace and find a level of understanding in each other, and then things go wrong, and Emmet finds Ingo. Cue interaction and separation (may have dropped him down a chasm, oops), and Ingo's emotions becoming once again volatile and full of guilt.

Kyurem chooses arguably the worst time to confess that it cursed Ingo, because Ingo is already full of guilt and self-hatred for hurting Emmet again, and the Kyurem basically tells him that he was never meant to control himself.

Ingo was, as per Kyurem's interference, essentially born to sow misery in his family. Kyurem, when it cursed him, wanted him to be miserable, and to spread that cold hatred to those around him, because Kyurem couldn't do that itself.

Control wasn't ever anything Ingo was meant to have.

Needless to say, the abrupt realization that, frankly, none of this is Ingo's fault simultaneously lifted an enormous weight from his shoulders and incited the worst, most vicious wrath Kyurem has ever been on the receiving end of.

I remember mentioning that bonds need to be reciprocated and upheld. The bond between Ingo and Emmet is all but broken, and while Emmet keeps offering his end, Ingo never picks it up and ties it to his own, completing the connection.

Ingo breaks their bond just about immediately, which leaves them both worse off than they were before, because Kyurem can now properly mourn its isolation, and Ingo properly embraces his own (symbolized by his eyes adopting a sulfur tone and his skin turning pallid, almost gray, visually matching with Kyurem).

So... yeah, betrayal is a good word for it. Ingo has been trusting Kyurem and eagerly accepting its tutorship in the hopes of bettering himself, and then he finds out that... basically, it was this or death, and was always meant to be death.

Everything about Ingo's existence at that point in the fic is a happy (read as: miserable) accident set in place by Kyurem.

And Kyurem didn't even tell him, didn't even think to tell him, until when? When he tells it that he almost killed his twin again? When he's a mess of emotions? When he's already poured everything he has into their connection, worn his heart on his sleeve and confessed every bit of self-blame he's ever felt to it?

It tells him that it was all unnecessary?

It couldn't have said as such earlier, so that he'd have had even a tiny, modicum of a chance at making things right?

No amount of regret can fix this.

[deareststars]

I'M FREE TO COMMENT!!!! I'm pleasantly surprised that my request is done! You have no idea how excited I was when I saw my request! My General relationship hcs for Cyrus, Drayden, Grimsley, Colress with gn s/o request is so good! I love this especially Cyrus is softer due to their presence, he would do his best to make it happen if they even make a playful request to build something, he may not really understand emotions but he does his best to comfort them when they need it, he tried to comfort them when they lost to the "hero" once, he comforted them like a growlithe though XD, they teased him as he looks away while blushing, he tries to express his love through psychical actions, he wanted them to stay but they refused, he cried as he did try to dissuade them, both the hero & Cynthia let them go knowing that they're going to follow him, they know it's worth it as he held onto them tightly, it's not obvious when Drayden has a crush on someone, he would show up at their door with things they like, he would truly act like a gentleman, they're in disbelief when he took them to the most wonderful restaurant there for real, he was confused at why wouldn't he treat his partner like royalty they are, he would make sure they would eat healthy & push them & Pokémon to their limits, he would have advise for them if they need it, he would do a lot of acts of service, how stubborn both of them are when they want to help while he wants them to be safe, he put Haxarous in front of them, Grimsley thought of how gorgeous they are when he met them while they're worried that he would be resentful, he would rely on them when he has relapses, he wanted to gamble but they managed to encourage him that he's doing great at stopping, he always tell them how much they mean to him & praise them whether they win or lose, he's quite competitive but they have to remind to concentrate because he's too distracted by their presence XD, he would tell them about his day when they're not feeling good, he knows where to find them & brought hot chocolate, he talked about their date in a week, he felt bad as he knows how it feels & praises them for getting out of bed, they leaned on him as he reminded them that he loves them, they joined Team Plasma before Colress did & they're pretty much their "Nurse Joy", a lot of his work is credited to them, he writes about them a lot in his notes, he almost threw his pen away when he realised he wrote about them, he's a bit flustered when they came in, they would need to make the first move because he won't XD, he won't let Ghetsis know about their relationship, he still makes time for them, he asks if they still want to be with him even though he's nervous, and they accepted happily! Thank you so much for doing my request because I love it so much :) Can I request now? Only if you don't mind of course!

hahaha yes of course! im rlly happy that you enjoyed it so much bc this was actually such a good one to start off with. you can rq whenever you’d like!!

[themattress]

Fixer Upper: Team Plasma (B2/W2)

Thanks to @ultraericthered for the “Fixer Upper” format.

The Team Plasma plot in Black 2 / White 2 was not terrible by any means, but it was very notably flawed, especially when compared to the nigh-perfection that was the Team Plasma plot of Black / White that is was a sequel to. Here is the outline of how it actually plays out:

Phase 1: Pokemon Theft & Experimentation

Flocessy Ranch - A single Plasma Grunt attempts to steal a Herdier. Once caught in the act by the hero, he reveals that Team Plasma is back and then flees.

Virbank City - A group of Plasma Grunts attempt to steal Pokemon. After being defeated by the hero, they escape to the Plasma Frigate and head toward Castelia City.

Castelia City - Stolen Pokemon are delivered to Colress in the Castelia Sewers in order to be experimented on. When this hiding place is exposed by the hero and Hugh, Colress pretends to be an innocent party and abandons it. Intrigued by the hero’s way of drawing out their Pokemons’ power, he meets up with them in the park and challenges them to a battle on Route 4, where he’s shown using his Colress Machine to control several Crustle to move.

Nimbasa City - Hugh encounters several Plasma Grunts and fights them alongside the hero. Afterward, he reveals the backstory as to why he hates Team Plasma so much to the hero. 

Driftveil City - A lone Plasma Grunt is trying to convince an Ex-Plasma Grunt to join the team again, but fails. This serves as a segue into Ex-Plasma’s introduction.

World Tournament - Colress competes in the World Tournament for experimental purposes, ultimately ending up fighting the hero. Afterward, the Plasma Grunt from earlier is spotted rushing toward the docks. Against Colress’ advice, the hero, Hugh and Cheren follow the Grunt to the Plasma Frigate. Once on board, they fight several Grunts until Zinzolin appears and has the Shadow Triad throw them off the ship, which then sets sail toward East Unova.

Phase 2: The DNA Splicers

Mistralton City - Professor Juniper meets the hero and asks them to accompany her to East Unova after they have earned their 6th Gym Badge from Skyla.

Lentimas Town - Professor Juniper reveals to the hero that Team Plasma is planning to take over Unova with a Legendary Pokemon again, and says that they must meet up with Drayden in Opelucid City to determine how they plan on doing so.

Lacunosa Town - The hero learns of the legend of Kyurem and then runs into Zinzolin and a Plasma Grunt, who are searching for something called the DNA Splicers on Colress’ orders. Colress suggested to search Opelucid City, but Zinzolin insisted on Lacunosa Town. After being defeated by the hero, Zinzolin concedes that Colress was probably right and leaves.

Opelucid City - Zinzolin and several Plasma Grunts attack the city after Colress freezes it from aboard the Frigate using the Kyurem Canon. This ultimately proves to be a distraction while the Shadow Triad steal the DNA Splicers from Opelucid Gym.

Phase 3: Black or White Kyurem

Humilau City - Marlon learns about the situation with Team Plasma after the hero defeats him, but doesn’t feel like doing anything about it because “the ocean accepts all rivers”.

Route 22 -  The hero encounters Colress again, who gives them a Colress Machine.

Route 21 - Marlon decides that even though he doesn’t want to help against Team Plasma, he will help the hero and Hugh reach them. Thanks to his help, they board the Plasma Frigate and fight their way through until they reach where Kyurem is being held. They defeat Zinzolin, but he has the Shadow Triad throw them overboard once again. The Frigate then continues heading toward the Giant Chasm.

Giant Chasm - Rood and Ex-Plasma arrive to help, allowing the hero to board the Plasma Frigate again. The hero defeats Zinzolin one last time, then makes it to the bridge where Colress is revealed as Team Plasma’s new boss. After being defeated, Colress lets the hero enter the control room and confront Team Plasma’s true leader, Ghetsis. After revealing his plan, Ghetsis has the Shadow Triad face the hero and Hugh. After they are defeated, Hugh retrieves his sister’s stolen Pokemon while the hero pursues Ghetsis into an icy cavern. N arrives on Zekrom or Reshiram to save the hero from being frozen by Kyurem, but Ghetsis counted on this and uses the DNA Splicers to merge Kyurem with Zekrom or Reshiram, creating Black Kyurem or White Kyurem. The hero fights and defeats the Legendary Dragon, then fights and defeats Ghetsis. This, along with N’s ensuing speech, causes Ghetsis to suffer a complete mental breakdown. He is taken away by the Shadow Triad, and the threat of Team Plasma is vanquished once and for all.

So...where would I make alterations to fix this plot up to be better? Only 7 places, really:

Flocessy Ranch - This should have been the culmination of an event that began at the start of the game in Aspertia City. There should have been a string of Pokemon disappearances in the area and Hugh should have suspected the return of Team Plasma. This event would be the confirmation of his suspicions, and you should also have been allowed to battle the Plasma Grunt...it actually baffles me that a battle didn’t happen here in the actual games.

World Tournament - Zinzolin’s introduction should have been held off until Lacunosa Town, and instead Colress steps onto the Frigate and reveals himself as the boss of the reborn Team Plasma before ordering the Shadow Triad to throw you overboard. Keeping this obvious revelation about Colress a secret until the last minute was absolutely ridiculous.

Opelucid City - When the Shadow Triad steals the DNA Splicers, there ought to be an event where they board the Plasma Frigate and Ghetsis appears to greet them, briefly engaging in conversation with the hero before the Frigate flies away. Like with Colress, it was a disservice to the story to keep Ghetsis under wraps until the end despite his presence being obvious.

Humilau City - Knock off the whole “the ocean accepts all rivers” nonsense with Marlon. There are some things in life that are objectively evil, such as terrorist attacks on cities.

Route 22 - Since you know he’s the boss of Team Plasma, there’s more of an animosity present in your meeting with Colress, with him explicitly saying when giving you the Colress Machine that he sees you as a test subject and wants to see what you will do in order to stop Team Plasma, and if this resolve brings out your Pokemons’ fullest potential in battle.

Route 21 - The battle with Zinzolin here should be the last one: four is just overkill. And it should be Ghetsis who appears to order you thrown off, furthering your adversarial dynamic.

Giant Chasm - Ghetsis’ whole character here needs to be fine-tuned, he should not be so cartoonishly crazed and repetitive of what he’s said before in the climax of Black / White, he should be more intimidating and have the focus kept on how his original plan’s failure is affecting his psyche, how he absolutely must triumph this time or else he is nothing. So basically find a way to portray him more along the lines of how Pokemon Generations did.

And those are all of the steps I would take to fix the plot. It still wouldn’t have been B/W Team Plasma plot quality, of course, but it would have been significantly better than it is now.

[annsparksthegmr]

Pokemon Black Nuzlocke - Part 5

So originally this next part was written up on Christmas Eve but I had no time to post for a little bit. But here is the continuation and while this part seems tame, all I’ll say is that if anyone was wondering about my current lucky streak - wait until the next part because things have gotten extra spicy.) But read more below to get the set up for what is coming in the next part.)

The journey continues where I left it off. And that would be me heading to Twist Mountain and Cherry challenging me to another battle. No true problems with the battle. At the very least, Captain finally evolved into a Seismitoad and Alder came and gave us the HM for Surf. And I didn’t know Odette/Swanna could learn Surf despite it making sense. Just as how seeing Clay inside Twist Mountain completely escaped my memory. 

I was kind of nervous about Twist Mountain until I realized it was currently winter in game. Meaning that snow was built up for ease of accessing certain areas! I could have cheated that way but I wanted to explore everything. So I’ll keep things brief. Queen finally evolved into her final Serperior form. Most of my encounters ended up being Cubchoo and Boldore. But I eventually got my encounter: a female Woobat who I called Rouge. My own team reveals how I got no real Dark/Ghost Type Moves. Which would only mean with the team I have now would have to be Gracey. But at the same time, it would mean having another slow Pokemon. I am not sure.

I managed to escape from Twist Mountain without too much trouble. Icirrus City came and I was already hopeful with Ramona’s performance I can hopefully survive the upcoming Gym Challenge. Then I was dumb and stumped across the quiz house. And instead of exploring more, I decided to challenge the Gym. Seeing as how there was nothing in my way.

But what are the odds of getting frozen? A lot according to the RNG rolls which kept freezing Ramona. Though through her Sheer Force most are defeated without issue. Zigzagzop is also assisting with his own Flame Charges so I don’t have to use many Ethers or return to the Pokemon Center that often. Plus I bought a few dozen Moomoo Milks; I should be good on healing items for a while.

With no issues at all, I come upon Brycen and officially start our battle off! I had Zigzagzog out first to help weaken his Vanillish so I could have a clean switch into Ramona to tackle his other Pokemon. Though having him waste a Hyper Potion on the Vanillish is helpful. For me at least. Brycen sent out his Beatrix next, so I brought out Ramona to unleash her Sheer Force Fire Punch and knocked his ace out in one hit. Surprisingly his Cryogonal was faster, but Ramona took it like a champ and secured another battle without fail.

Meaning I managed to gain the seventh Gym Badge without any deaths! This made me extremely happy. Especially of how far Zipzapzop has carried my journey thus far. 

With my ego rising high, I exited the Gym to find Cheren, Bianca, Brycen and the Shadow Triad. N decided he needed ninjas to deliver me a message instead of, oh I don’t know, come and ask for me to go there like a regular person!? Seriously, sometimes I wonder what would change if N acted differently at some points.

Though I eventually oblige his request and go to Dragonspiral Tower. Even though everything is shaking because they are waking a dragon up. Or at least I think N is trying to awaken Zekrom. My encounter in the Tower was a Golett. A troublesome Pokemon to catch until I tossed a Heal Ball at it. Decided to call him BFG for fun.

Passing by Cheren and Brycen, I made my way up dealing with some more Team Plasma members. None even bothered to put up a challenge worth noting. And it’s not like I’m too overleveled - maybe aside from Zipzapzop. He’s only just level 40 at this point because of Amulet Coin switching tactics.

Then one of the Sages decided to have his four Grunts ambush me. Because isn’t that nice? And the game please stop using Super and Hyper Fangs back to back on Pebbles. I don’t want to lose her. Here, this ambush is an actual challenge since I can’t ambush healing in between battles! Another point I hate in Sword and Shield is how many times I get healed in between important battles. This is why I stock up on items; I like to use them for long dungeons or situations where I have no healing station nearby. And in actual challenging dungeons. Because even if I’m not having too much trouble with the grunts of Team Plasma, they are already giving me a challenge. By making me use all my Pokémon. And not just soloing them with a single one which knocks out all in a single hit.

Pardon my mini rant. I plan to keep those to a minimum. Yet the time has come for an ACTUAL CUTSCENE. N declares I go find Reshiram and to head to the Pokemon League. Giving me a better reason than just going to beat Leon’s butt and making Hop depressed. And I almost zoned out on the group meeting with Alder. 

Time to head to Relic Castle after I stock up on Super Repels. That quick pit stop and having Odette learn Fly allowed me to easily reach my target destination. But I did not expect an old sage man named Ryoku to be inside. Which means, time to beat up more Team Plasma Grunts!! 

Reaching the bottom was not a challenge and more of Ghetsis telling me to go and get Reshiram to fight N and all that jazz. You get the idea. Also Ghetsis seemingly shoved me out of the way. I’m awaiting the moment to kick his ass - pardon my language, but he deserves at least one bad word thrown at him.

Professor Juniper calls me to head back to Nacrene City and I finally obtain the Light Stone. Alder warns me about the responsibility, but as the main character I will be fine. Besides, with this I get the cool cutscene relating to the stone. Unlike some OTHER weapon relics. 

But that left me wondering about one thing.. Not enough to completely forget the battle with Bianca before the bridge. Forgot to heal up my Pokemon before this, but it added an extra bit of challenge. I feel happy with Bianca discovering what she wants to do. Even it won’t be fully realized until the sequel.

Apparently the Shadow Triad decided to force me into meeting with Ghetsis on the bridge. Even though he is impending my process. Not sure if it was just to ensure I wouldn’t run away or what. Still want to punch him in the face. He was basically taunting me even though it would be worth nothing.

But Route 9 came with the giant mall/shopping center. Aka Shopping Mall Nine. I’d get my encounter later after I went into the city. Also I guess I’m friends with Alder now. I love Iris and Drayden. Same with Opelucid City. It changes depending on which version. As with the Gym Leader. Though I went back and found a male Gothorita and named him Tim Burton.

Now to quickly go with Iris to learn more about the Dragon Pokemon before I try and change up my team. Because in the long run, I think sadly some of my team may have to be benched. Only because if I don’t have a Ghost/Dark move on my team, I’m going in trouble for the Elite 4. And I might need to invest into an Ice-Type for this upcoming Dragon Gym. Onto another quick training session.

I decided to leave Queen in the PC for this Gym. As out of everyone, she was the weakest link when it came to Dragons. Grass and Dragon did not mix well. And I didn’t want to lose Queen due to a mistake on my part. So Snowball will be replacing her for the Gym. I tested out how my team would fare by challenging the first Trainer of the Gym. Turns out that my fears only grew when Fraxures started using Dragon Dance and resisted most of my moves. Even almost taking out Captain with double or triple Dragon Dance Dragon Claw. Left Captain at just 8 HP. 

I may also have to replace him as well regarding this Gym if that was any indication. I might as well train up BananSplit afterwards. And after realizing that Dragons resist Electric, Grass, Water and Fire - most of which were the Types I had, I think it is best to end it off here for one last grinding session for a secondary team to challenge the Gym. Because Drayden is already showing me why I should be worried if most of my team could easily get wiped out. With only Pebbles having a slightly higher chance of surviving. 

And I can secretly level up some potential party replacements. So until next time!

I’ll smell you all later…!

Team Recap:

Queen - Female Serperior (Lvl 39)

Pebbles - Female Boldore (Lvl 40)

Zigzagzop - Male Zebstrika (Lvl 45)

Captain - Male Seismitoad (Lvl 45)

Ramona - Female Darmanitan (Lvl 42)

Odette - Female Swanna (Lvl 45)

In Box/Reserve:

Ghost Girl - Female Liepard (Lvl 20)

Cassandra - Female Sandile (Lvl 21)

Trashie - Female Trubbish (Lvl 22)

Lowen - Male Cottonee (Lvl 20)

Lady - Female Minccino (Lvl 23)

BananSplit - Female Vanillite (Lvl 21)

Voltorb - Male Foongus  (Lvl 23)

Geartown - Klink (Lvl 36)

Snowball - Female Cubchoo (Lv 30)

Gracey - Male Litwick (Lvl 26)

Rouge - Female Woobat (Lvl 29)

BFG - Golett (Lvl 30)

Tim Burton - Male Gothorita (Lvl 31)

Deaths: 2

Fountain - Male Sampour (Lvl 15)

Puppy - Female Herdier (Lvl 25)