#but mudkip and marshtomp will be back there. out of order

[front-facing-pokemon]

[sapphic-giraffic]

Mudkipz (& Deadnames)

Moving right along, it’s Part 4, babey! Trigger warnings on this one for dysphoria, depression, divorce, and deadnames so use caution.

So, y’all heard that I like Mudkips, lol?

I don’t remember what starter I picked the first time I played Emerald. It was sort of a hazy time in my life. I was away from the franchise for many years (I never actually owned a GBA). I think Gen 5 was out at this point. The woman I was married to at the time decided that she wanted to get into Pokémon, so we went to GameStop and got a used first gen DS, a copy of Emerald version for me, and Diamond/Pearl for her (I don’t recall which. We only got the one used DS, not because we couldn’t afford another, but because my ex-wife is a cheap bitch).

Sadly, I never finished that play-through of Emerald. A lot of things from that time just weren’t meant to be (for instance, I wasn’t meant to be a Man, or a Republican, or a Catholic). I don’t remember how far I got, either. That period was a fog of depression driven by gender dysphoria, a dysfunctional marriage, and struggling through grad school with undiagnosed Autism and ADHD. It’s sort of a wonder that I remember any of it at all.

Fast-forward a few years later and I’m in a new state with a new partner (my current wife, London) and working a real job. Our finances were pretty bad (they still are) and we were living in the spare room of a friend who owned the exotic bird store that we frequented to get supplies for our parrots. London and I were in a pretty bad funk at this point. Being poor sucks, the living arrangements were bad, I was struggling at work due to my disabilities, it was all a fucking mess. We had planned to have a bigger wedding, but London and I went ahead and got married early because her health was declining and we needed to get her on my insurance policy (fuck American health care tbh).

So what does this all have to do with Mudkip? Well, Pokémon became my escape. As a grown adult with an income and an internet connection, I could finally achieve my life-long dream of completing the National Pokédex, and that’s exactly what I set out to do. I played through HeartGold, Black version (more on this later), Y version, and finally Omega Ruby. It actually became an unhealthy obsession for a while, but at least it got me through.

So, upon starting my Gen 6 Hoenn run, I chose Mudkip as my starter because I was really into Water types right then (check out the budget Misty cosplay pictured above). But what would his nickname be? I never bothered with naming my Pokémon as a kid, but since picking it back up, I had always at least named my starters.

Well, one of the things I was struggling with at work was hearing my deadname. I had already gotten it legally changed, so no one actually called me that anymore, but there was a guy there I encountered sometimes who was also called [redacted], and I flinched every time he was mentioned. Knowing this, London came up with an amazing suggestion. She told me to nickname my starter with my deadname in order to desensitize myself to it and recontextualize my association with it.

So that’s what I did. [Redacted] the Mudkip (and later Marshtomp, then Swampert) followed me all around Hoenn. After that play-through, I’m no longer afraid of hearing my deadname. The only reason I’m omitting it here is because I know that many of my followers are transgender and that for many, knowing another trans person’s deadname is very uncomfortable, so I won’t burden y’all with that.

To this day, the Mudkip plushie of the same name (shown above) lives on my nightstand. He is my friend and I see him every day.

Thanks for reading, everyone! Part 5 of Jessica’s Pokémon 7/11 Challenge Explained will be coming soon.

[tubaninja2236-blog]

Destiny! Chapter 11!

"Brock was a nice guy you know? He had some kind words to share about his life and how he became an official Gym Leader.", said Emerald. "It opened my eyes when he talked about his training method in order to even get Pewter City to become an official location for a League Gym. That's how determined he was to give back to the community.", I said in awe. Emerald and I successfully defeated Brock. It was tough for her but easy for my Marshtomp due to type advantage. It has been 2 days since then and we are now halfway through Mt. Moon. We stumbled upon a hidden path when Emerald fell onto a hidden button by tripping over a pebble, like the clumsy butt she is. Torches lit throughout the path with a weird language on the walls with depictions of a huge green colored dragon fighting off a huge red Scorpion and blue fish. "I wonder what this means?", said Emerald. Puzzled, I looked closely and noticed that this place hasn't been touched in a long time. The language is ancient but readable. "Grandpa showed me these symbols before when I was small. The symbols depicted look exactly like the standard Unova alphabet.", I said to myself. "Do you understand?", asked Emerald. I shook my head and said, "yeah I understand a little bit but it'll take awhile to decipher the message this cave is trying to tell us". I pull out my Pokedex Model X and snap a few pictures of the writing for safe keeping. We continued walking until we hit a dead end. "There has to be a secret passage way. That's how we got into this path in the first place.", said Emerald. The dead end wall had a small message. It read, "Reveal your bond to enter. Only those who show the bond with their Pokemon shall enter. The power within is too great for those with greed". "Emerald bring out your Gardevoir.", I sternly asked. "Sure thing. I hope you know what you are doing.", answered Emerald. Both Marshtomp and Gardevoir stood besides us and immediately the wall subsided to reveal a small table. We walked up to it and two gauntlets with indentations, indicating we can insert something, rolled up from the center of the table. "Another message but this time in Kanto.", I said to Emerald in a puzzled tone. The writing on the table read, "The eternal power of these gauntlets shall grant the user the divine gift to unlock hidden powers, but it requires the use of keys in order to access this long forgotten technique. The wearer has to be trustworthy with a sense of light. Darkness shall punish those that abuse this power. In honor of the heavens, it shall serve you till the end of your grand adventure. Put these on to reveal the true power of your Pokemon. Shrines hidden throughout the world will reveal themselves when the time comes". I slowly grabbed the one to the right and quickly told Emerald, "put the one on the left over your right arm". She slowly grabbed it, nervously, and slid the gauntlet on in sequence with me. Both of them glew and the mysterious stone that grandpa left me with Mudkip started to glow in pocket. "What's going on?!", shouted Emerald. "I don't know but whatever it is, it has something to do with the stone grandpa gave me.", I answered. I slowly put the stone inside the round indentation and it glew with a bright blue color. The back wall crumbles to show a new pathway which served as an alternative exit to Mt. Moon. The glowing stopped and the gauntlets dug into our skin to become a part of us. "Well great, didn't plan having a massive piercing on my body!", said Emerald in a jokingly manner. "The power given to us was no mistake. It was destiny to find this cave together. Grandpa... was there more in the world that you haven't taught me?... I'm almost there to your hometown... where your lost lab is located...". END I sincerely apologize for the wait. Work, family, and life caught up to me which delayed the story. I even lost the second half of chapter 10 every time I would save it onto another app for safe keeping. Well the useless app is now gone and decided to go ahead of the story and explained a bit on what happened in the beginning of this chapter the best I can. I hope you, the reader, enjoyed this one and do expect another one tomorrow! The main plot is around the corner!