#horizon speculation

[foibles-fables]

Ooh I also have horizon 3 thoughts/predictions!

I think Vast Silver is gonna be involved somehow maybe to combat Nemesis, or possibly in a dlc like we had Cyan from Frozen Wilds? Since it’s the final game it seems likely they’ll finally have Aloy meet this mysterious elusive AI.

Also thinking Elysium will be the ruins location (like how we had the Alpha’s place in HZD and Thebes in HFW) since we’ve heard about it but not found it yet

I was also hoping to finally explore Oseram territory when looking for these old world weapons, seems Oseram delving could come in handy there. Depends if they’re gonna introduce more new tribes across the sea like the Quen or further explore the ones they have currently, maybe both? Like half the map is across the sea/Quen territory and half is the mainland 🤔

It’s exciting to think about anyway! Can’t wait for your thoughts!

I totally agree about VAST SILVER and Elysium. They're one of the very few oft-mentioned threads left hanging since the beginning of the series. I do think their plot relevance will be connected--VS involved in whatever befell Elysium--but even if they're not intertwined, they'll be integral.

I'm thinking we'll have to befriend VS to be a boon in our efforts against HEPH and/or Nemesis. Given 1) VS's disposition in the Burning Shores datapoint and 2) Elisabet's (therefore Aloy's and Beta's) connection with Anita Sandoval--therefore VS's potential development re: AI and the illegal Turing number--there's a lot there to be explored.

As for Elysium, I'm betting it'll be part of The Claim. Since The Claim was originally intended to be part of HZD, there's an overwhelming chance that it'll be involved in HFW. Petra for ealdorwoman PLEASE. Also, there's hints that point to Elysium being there. It's "within miles of" GAIA Prime, per HZD datapoints, which could put its ruin in The Claim.

As for new tribes--I genuinely hope we don't get any. At all. We already couldn't give all of the existing tribes their due in HFW (where were the Banuk?) and to add more in H3 would be unnecessary bloat, given the scope of what the game has to accomplish.

Related to that last point--and potentially a very, very controversial opinion--I don't think we'll be actually seeing Quen lands. Londra's data at the end of Burning Shores gives us five places to investigate, some we've seen, some we haven't, all in the same geographical vicinity as the regular map. (One of the looks to be near Malmstrom Air Base...HELLO BAN-UR!) Given that we have to deal with HEPH and Nemesis and bringing together all of the existing tribes--to handle the Quen revolution just doesn't fit. Plus the decentralization from the last two games is dissonant, to place half the map there...not to mention some of the continued problematic optics that would come up if the revolution turns into Aloy's Doing. Save that for a future spin-off.

...or, more likely, I do believe a contingency of the Quen will be coming to us as H3's primary human enemy (as the Eclipse or the Rebels). GIVE ME LOYALIST FEDERA.

I personally think the map will be centered on Meridian, extending to the Sacred Land in the east, with a somewhat condensed map of the West to Legacy's Landfall--with new areas of The Claim and Banuk to the north.

[puddleorganism]

Let’s jump on mama

A gaggle of Sunseeker fledglings use one of their guardians to practice flying

[jadeazora]

Friede's message!

And potential spoiler, but some anime leaker I've followed for a few years now (who has been pretty reputable) said we shouldn't quite trust it (deepfake), but they also said Amethio will appear in HZ101, so if he doesn't, they might have lost steam with Mega Voltage. But it would be one hell of a twist, if the Explorers got a hold of his phone and used a voice-clone AI of Friede to manipulate the RVT into a trap or potentially frame them for another crime..

[pushing500]

Okay, so this isn’t really an ask or a request, but…

Your thoughts?

I saw this as I was going to bed last night and I’ve been alternating between “I’M SO EXCITED!!” and “MY MODLIST IS DOOMED!!” ever since.

I love the design of the guy, and I’m intrigued by the spaceships and the bird. I’ve seen lots of people speculating about a space travel or other kind of exploration DLC, pointing out his compass and the spaceships as evidence.

Also I did have a brief moment of despair before I remembered that some people write the date incorrectly and it probably means the 11th of June, not the 6th of November lmao.

All in all, I’m very excited to see what we get and looking forward to all the shenanigans we can get up to with more official content!

[ena-the-eepy]

LAQUIUM SPOTTED IN LEGENDS ZA!!!

I’m buying Pokémon Legends ZA just to get high on some of dat Laquium,,,

But seriously I think Quasartico inc is secretly experimenting with Laquium and making Pokémon go feral. The Anistar City Sundial is made of the same pink crystal too, and it’s all related to Mega Evolution. Zygarde, as seen in Pokemon Horizons, doesn’t approve of Laquium. And so, Zygarde is here to stop the usage of Laquium with the player’s help.

Valid prediction or nah?

[smilingperformer]

Friede fans:

I am devastated by the end of the ep.

BUT.

BUT!

I am 100% certain he's alive.

Just unable to return to RVT for reasons unknown.

We will have a way to confirm him being alive: by knowing whether Cap is now wild or not.

Because Lucius dying freed the six heroes from their ancient pokeballs.

Meaning that Cap would be wild if he died.

He's merely lost.

If this cope?

No.

I am certain.

And gods am I fucking hyped to find out what happened to him and how we'll get him back to us.

Also FUCK YOU SPINEL YOU'RE SO GORGEOUS IN TIME SKIP DESIGN BUT HOW DARE YOU SPREAD LIES OF RISING VOLT TACKLERS

[xamiipholia]

okay y'all seemed to like the last one so here's a few more Horizon 3 thoughts:

Aloy won’t die. It would completely upend the series’ themes and just be really nihilistic.

Since Nemesis is a gestalt entity I think it’s a safe bet that we’ll see Sam Witwer, Carrie-Anne Moss, etc again. I’m curious how they’re going to do it because at least structurally, it’s basically a reaper. Maybe it’ll use different Avatars when communicating like the Leviathan in ME3. 

It's gonna take some work to make a flashback/dream/vision not contrived but I would love to see Varl and Rost again. I think we deserve that.

Minerva is gonna have its work cut out for it blocking access to both the dormant Faro Swarm and the ZD terraforming system. 

I wouldn’t be surprised if Nemesis has some sort of corruption function that becomes the equivalent of the corruption in HZD. It would be a really fun tech showcase if GG uses Zenith nanotech for machine corruption and leans into mechanical body horror.

If we’re going to Ban-Ur I really really hope they do the work to make the Banuk less problematic and more fleshed out as a culture. A quasi-Spartan society absolutely would not survive in an extreme environment, *especially* without megafauna to hunt. The Banuk characters are lovely and well-written; they deserve a society as well thought out as the Utaru or Carja. I’m honestly fine if there’s retcons or revamps to the cultural lore because the whole “outsider barges in and becomes chief” is rooted in racist, colonial tropes and we just don’t really need that imo.

The most recent footage of Death Stranding 2 (also running on Decima) has me SO excited for the visuals. GG’s gonna knock it out. The facial rendering and animation that Kojima Productions are doing looks industry-peak and I’m sure GG’s gonna match that. Aloy’s Gay Panic™️ scene on the beach in HBS is already top-tier nonverbal storytelling through animation. Digital Foundry actually just posted a really cool tech breakdown of the current Decima engine. I’m especially excited about the environmental stuff. The ocean simulations in HFW are already incredible and I hope they increase verticality in the world. I can’t wait to see the Sacred Lands in current gen graphics. 

I really love Kotallo’s DIY arm and it’s so so important to his development but Beta and Gaia now have access to Zenith nanotech, maybe give your buddy a sick upgrade hmm?

Speaking of, I can’t wait to see Beta come into her own. She’s one of the best parts of HFW and Aloy’s character absolutely shines in a sibling dynamic. 

I wouldn’t get your hopes up for a romance mechanic. Everyone’s feelings on that aside, it would be really odd from a game development perspective to just overhaul part of how the narrative develops Aloy’s character in the last act of the story. Yeah, there are flashpoints but I would argue that the presence of choice in Horizon is smoke and mirrors- cosmetic at best. Kentucky Route Zero (which you should play) does something similar where the player is given a certain amount of control over the substance of individual conversations and scenarios and it does absolutely nothing to alter the plot, by design. I think it’s the same here - this isn’t really a choice-based RPG, the flashpoints don’t really affect anything plot-wise or for Aloy’s character development. Olin is still out of the story, Nil lives, Regalla still dies one way or another. Aloy’s character development is pretty firmly on rails (think Jin Sakai, not Shepard - you get to guide some momentary character reactions but that’s it). I don’t think HBS is a testing ground either - If they were gonna introduce a romance mechanic I think they’d just do it, and not spend two years making a direct continuation of HFW’s main quest and establishing a specific romance hard-baked into the plot, complete with multiple leitmotifs for the character relationship (which is something they haven’t done before afaik) just to introduce a side quest mechanic coming in 5 years. I genuinely can’t think of any game or dev that has beta tested a major alteration to upcoming game mechanics that way - it doesn’t really make any sense in terms of developer resources, and these games are extremely time-consuming to make. I know this is a thing a bunch of people want and I can totally empathize with that! I just think it’s probably not on the table. 

I would bet money the series will bookend itself and the epilogue will involve a) the naming of Zo and Varl’s kid and b) Lis’ pendant. 

Mostly I'm just looking forward to being surprised. One of my favorite things that Horizon does is use carefully established elements in the world to pull the plot in unexpected directions and keeping the world grounded while they lean into speculative science fiction. I can't wait to see what Guerrilla is cooking up

[foibles-fables]

   Something about the Horizon games that feels like it should be a major theme, and almost it but isn't quite "reached" is the concept of indigeneity as an antithesis to the ideology that ended the world (over and over) & created the villain of all 3 games: Faro/Far Zenith/all the silicon valley Musk-esque colonizer tech billionaire corpos who only see the Earth/the land as as a rock to vampirically leech for resources for their own gain.

   The antithesis for this, and the reason why the "primitive tribals" will win over that "advanced" ideology & Nemesis is because they are indigenous and view the Earth as a home, their home worth fighting for, not something to extract for resources before ditching it and living it to die.

   And it feels like the end of the 2nd game moves a bit towards that theme, with the protagonist and other major characters developing slowly towards that ideal as a (tribal) group, so the third game, with all of the world's tribes banding together, should really hammer this theme in as the final thesis. At least it should, it really should.

   Also, on a related note, I'd love to see at least 2 things/missions happen in the 3rd game:

   Since the an early version of the  APOLLO database was obtained, I hope that GAIA has read through much of it and learning about the Old World, specifically how many tribal indigenous people existed and how they fought to keep the Earth safe as colonization ravaged the climate and caused the crises. How, even though datapoints in the metropole praised tech billionaires & trillionaire Ted Faro for the "Claw Back", they only "saved" the climate (for only a few decades) to profit off of it, and in the end this same thing led to  Zero Day/the Apocalypse since their voracious hunger & disrespect of the earth & worship of money continued.

   GAIA reading through these bits if history, and especially pondering on the fact that so much indigenous knowledge was destroyed before it could ever be stored in the APOLLO archive, and gaining a newfound appreciation for tribal cultures would be great to see. Sylens' reaction would be funny too, since his character development has only just barely started and seeing the super intelligent AI praising the "superstitious primitives" he looks down would irk him and his Zenith/Faro-like superiority complex at first.

    Anyways, imagine if one of the early missions is based off of this, and GAIA acts a bit like a mom and subtly pushes Aloy to return to the Sacred Lands and reconnect with the Nora tribe. GAIA can use the pretext of wanting to Aloy repair the Cradle facility enough to communicate directly with the Nora, and Aloy can go with Zo can go talk to Varl's mother Sona.

   As a protag, Aloy is disconnected from her tribe and without Varl there's like no Nora rep, and even though the second game hints towards some development, Aloy ironically has some of Sylens' tribal superiority attitude, so it'd be a great opportunity for some character development and the theme of indigeneity being touched on as she retreads old ground.

   Even though GAIA Prime and its data blew up and all, but it'd be cool if in GAIA's last transmission to the Nora Cradle facility she instinctively stored some memories that Aloy can restore of GAIA watching over the Nora over the centuries leaving the Cradle and building their civilization, and also some recordings of GAIA's later conversations with Elisabet that did not make it into the root kernel copy Aloy rebooted her from.

    And after going through the archives and memory, GAIA looking at the Nora ideology and how they kept close to respecting of the land that they worshipped could be used to nor how the Nora's tribal culture is analogous to real world tribal cultures. GAIA should recognize that ideology as valuable in the fight to protect Mother Earth, after all, themes and all that. She could, speaking through the Cradle door, ask the High Matriarchs and the rest of the tribe to help her rebuild her facilities in the area in the absence of machines that initially built it, like a Nora maintenance crew.

   The 2nd main mission I'd love to see would probably play off the 1st, but while Aloy is reconnecting with her tribe, GAIA has a task for her to head further up north, out of range of the signal towers of Regional Command Center, into the Cut so she could make contact with CYAN.

   It'd be the first time since rebooting GAIA that Aloy and Zo wouldn't be able to talk to her, and Sona could offer to petition for a Seeker's mark to join their crew, and add some non-Aloy Nora rep on the team, while they head north, which GAIA thinks is a good idea.

   Besides just wanting to contact CYAN, even though the command center that MINERVA bunkered in has pretty decent range, it's not infinite, so GAIA wants to ask CYAN to connect her telecoms network to hers to increase her reach, which would probably be a long-term goal of Horizon 3 if we're going global to all the tribes to fight Nemesis.

   Obviously, Aloy would have to appear in person & give CYAN an encryption key & assure them that it's really GAIA trying to communicate & not HEPHAESTUS trying to hack them again. But after that it'd be cool to have CYAN on the team.

   Just those 2 missions would already take the player into so many different places, and there's so many more people would love to see, like actually seeing Ban-Ur, the Banjo homeland instead of just the Cut leading to it (we gotta check back in the Banuk, their culture is so cool), and also the Claim (Oseyan homeland) west of Ban-Ur, and the Savage East because apparently there's a bunch of tribes out East of the Sacred Lands that we hear little about. And that's not even mention going to the Quen territory, and also possibly going to South America & Africa and see what the tribes there are like, since if Aloy's mission is to gather all the tribes in the world to fight Nemesis, it should really feel global.

   They should probably do it like how Burning Shores was added, with most of the in-between area left blank and a flying/riding cutscene to connect the chunks of playable territory, or else the game size would get so fucking gigantic lmao. As long as we get to explore whole new areas and travel with our companions, I'm good.

You've pretty much said it all here re: the core conflict of the series! You've nailed both the thesis and antithesis--and also how it hasn't quite DUG INTO that theme yet.

This is one of the reasons why I lament the Zeniths being brought in as a game two baddie instead of the series culmination baddie. I just...still don't jive with the concept of Nemesis and I think being faced with the Zeniths themselves would've been a more thematic way to approach the colonizer vs. indegeneity concept. I also thought we'd be getting a LOT more about the Clawback in HFW, so...maybe we can hope for more in H3?

I absolutely believe that we'll be going to the Sacred Land in H3! However, I'm not so confident it'll have anything to do with GAIA or ELEUTHIA-9--I think we'll be going that way to (re)visit Metallurgic, as it's one of the companies named in Londra's data in BS. Plus to see Sona, as you said! We already know Zo is heading there herself. But your quest ideas sound AWESOME, and I'm truly hoping we do see Ban-Ur and The Claim this time around. It'll be interesting to see if/how they handle CYAN, since, well, DLC content. Plus she already rejected GAIA's friend request in HFW, so. Lol. I miss her too.

I don't think the rest of the world will be part of H3's narrative scope--but I do think it's prime for some rich spin-off material, which I truly hope we get!!! Thanks for sharing your thoughts, nonny!!! Keep 'em coming!!!

[puddleorganism]

Fishing splashing with mama*

*Jellybugs have weird alien genders so in this context “mama” is just being used as an affectionate term for guardian/parent

[jadeazora]

So... we're all in agreement that this guy's cooked by the end of this arc, right? He keeps on giving off so many death flags, it's making me nervous. (I don't think Friede will actually die, just SOMETHING bad happens to him, idk what, just between lines like these, that shot of his back as he walks into the light from the OP, and the Eldewoman drawing some comparisons between Friede and Gibeon, it feels like they're building up to something bad happening.)

(I'm assuming Spinel's fault, since he looks legitimately angry in the preview. I'm thinking he'll lose to Friede, but probably gives him a big old hearty dose of Laquium or something later in the fight for Laqua as revenge.)

[makorragal-312]

So, just so I'm clear...we're all in agreement that Gerrard and that bitchass councilwoman are in cahoots together, right?

[rising-volteccers]

With the upcoming Pokemon Presents during Pokemon Day, I thought it would be fun to speculate and share my personal thoughts and theories on what the future holds for Pokemon Horizons. Spoilers under the cut for everything like the trailers up to the latest episodes.

So, like a few others I've seen sharing similar thoughts, I feel like at the end of this arc, something may happen to Friede. Personally, I find that the series has done well with the kids' progression that Friede no longer has to step in to save them. He's been taking more of a supporting role, giving space for the kids to plan and backing them up instead of leading the fight.

In the latest episode, to me this feels like a foreshadow of things going wrong.

He's already advising the kids that, in the event of things going wrong, they would have to act under their own judgement. Friede is showing his trust of their strength here; in case he's indisposed by any means, they can't rely on him. He's the only adult with them in Rakua with the rest of the RVT on the ship. When the chips are down, they have to step up.

Now, what could possibly happen? Personally, I feel like Friede would pull a self sacrificial move. HZ088's episode title is Shockwaves from the White Zygarde, giving me the impression that what happened all those years back is going to repeat itself. We know that Friede would do everything in his power to ensure the kids' safety. That's a core part of his character since the very beginning of the series.

So, in the event of things going horribly wrong at Rakua that repeats the disaster that 'blotted out the sun for three days and three nights', I can see Friede putting the kids' safety above his own. He'd probably stay behind to give the kids a chance to run for safety, having them take Cap with him like he did back in the Galar Mine. Perhaps he'd be encased in that barrier like Lucius had, or some other means that would leave him temporarily indisposed from the series.

In any case, if Horizons decided to go this route, it would be a good reason for the kids to continue to grow stronger. Realistically after Rakua, what's left for their journey? They've achieved a goal that has taken them all over the world. They had an entire arc dedicated to the kids learning Terastalization so they can grow and become stronger. What else could be a catalyst for them to continue pursuing that strength aside from the potential of saving a mentor figure?

(Of course personally, I will CRY if that happens. I CAN'T LOSE MY GUY THE REASON I GET OUT OF BED EVERY MORNING TO GO TO WORK SO I CAN EARN MONEY TO BUY MORE STUFF OF MY GUY).

Within the topic of getting stronger, I think that at the end of this arc, it would be fitting for Floragato to evolve. We know that there's going to be high stake battles spanning multiple episodes. It's almost been a year since Sprigatito evolved, and I would say the circumstances in which an evolution could happen is similar to last time. Sprigatito evolved during a high stakes battle against the black Rayquaza, so I can see it happening again, where Floragato evolves to Meowscarada during a battle against Gibeon to protect Liko.

As for personal thoughts about the future of Horizons, I personally don't see it ending anytime soon. The usual life cycle for a Pokemon anime series is usually three years. There are still plenty of stuff left unanswered (like how did the Ancient Pokeball found its way to Roy's grandpa, how the other Explorers were recruited, etc) as well. I think that the kids deserve to have all their Pokemon evolve to their final evolution, and perhaps give Roy and Dot additional new captures to match Liko currently having three Pokemon on her team.

Also, knowing that we're getting Pokemon Legends: Z-A this year, I wouldn't be surprised if Pokemon Horizons was another form of advertising for that game. Terapagos was advertised way before it was released in Scarlet and Violet's DLC. Gibeon was shown to have a shiny Zygarde roughly a month after they first revealed PLZA. Imagine if it's all to build up hype for the potential of there being a shiny Zygarde in PLZA.

Like, Pokemon love their cross marketing. I just can't see them ending Horizons and starting a new anime series because they already have a fanbase for Horizons. They released the Obsidian Flames TCG set for Dark Tera Charizard like a week after they revealed Friede's Charizard was Dark Tera but had marketing for that set way before HZ014 aired. They gave out starters with the kids name as the OT in Scarlet/Violet, and had that entire shiny Rayquaza Tera Raid to celebrate them finally capturing Rayquaza in its Ancient Pokeball.

Considering Mega Evolutions are returning in PLZA, I can also see them introducing it in Horizons. It's not the first time different generational gimmicks are present in a single series. If I remember correctly, Ash had used Mega Evolution, Z-Moves and Dynamax in Pokemon Journeys. They already have a perfectly good cash cow mascot to showcase a Mega Evolution with in the form of Friede's Charizard. Like, imagine the Mega Charizard merchandise and toys they can release under Pokemon Horizons's banner.

(On that note, it would be hilarious if PLZA decided to show like, Mega Charizard Z and Friede has that. I personally like to think he'd have Mega Charizard Y but X is objectively cooler looking).

So yeah, those are my thoughts. I'd be happy if even one of the things I mentioned happened but I'd still be excited regardless for this series. Pokemon Horizons has given me joy for the past couple of years, so whether it'll end soon or still continue, I'm just happy I was able to be a part of the ride.

[katarithekat]

I have just realized something....

Were 85 episodes into the show and so far we have never seen Amethio and Spinel battle each other.

Well, technically we saw Spinel's Umbreon stopping Ceruledge in ep. 64 but it wasn't really like a "full fledged battle". This is kinda weird since since horizons tries to emphasize their rivalry in every scene they're in together.

My guess? There will be a battle between them at the end of HZ in final FINAL fight to save the whole world from Laquium. Amethio (being part of RVT) despite being scared, would fight with Ceruledge by his side with full force, because thanks to Liko and others, now he has something to fight for. He has SOMEONE to fight for. A family that even if not blood related was there for him, while his real one wasn't. And now he's ready to protect that family, even at the cost of his own life. Meanwhile Spinel who went mentally fucking insane (possibly because of effect of Laquium) turned into a corrupted wildcard slowly turning into crystal-like walking corpse. I honestly think that the battle would be basically the Last Agni Kai mixed with the final fight with Death from Puss in Boots: The last wish. (It would probably be a Ceruledge vs Umbreon battle). At some point Spinel would almost fall into the abyss (oh, yeah did I mention the fight probably take place on a CRUMBLING mountain?) but Ame decides to save him and while they're heavily breathing Spinel is like "b-but why?..." and Amethio would say that even though he hates Spinel, he couldn't just watch him die/anyone deserves a second chance. And when it seems like everything is ok, Spinel goes "sike" and pushes Amethio to fall but Amethio manages to survive and then something something something Spinel is dead :D

I hope that I didn't just accidentally predicted like 1/4 of horizons finale.

[thatguywhodoesstuff]

A Random Pokémon Horizons: Mega Voltage/Uruto/Ult Thought

———————————————————————

Alright, so, recently I’ve been thinking about how we honestly don’t know much about Ult outside of his shared history of training in Kalos and his (one sided) rivalry with Roy from that aforementioned time in Kalos and it got me thinking about just where exactly Ult is from. Like, we know that Liko and Dot hail from Paldea while Roy is from Kanto, but so far there hasn’t been any statement or allusion to where exactly Ult is from. Well, with what little we have to work with and what we know about Ult, I’ve come up with a theory regarding what Region he is from:

Ult originally hails from the Hoenn Region and moreover it was here that he at one point learned about Mega Evolution and Rayquaza, which had a hand in setting him on the path he’s currently walking.

I understand that this theory might be tenuous at best, but please bare with me as I go down the list on reasons why I’ve come to this conclusion:

As we all know, Generation VI is when the mechanic of Mega Evolution was introduced, with it being prominent within the Kalos (XY) and Hoenn (ORAS) regions. With its prominence in the two locales, it would stand to reason that Ult probably learned about the phenomenon back in his home country before traveling to Kalos, which is something of a hub for studying it, in order to train.

Sableye was introduced in Generation III and received a Mega Evolution in ORAS, and while they are also found in Kalos, I find it doubtful that Ult would travel to a foreign region just to find his starter Pokémon (Goh who?). It would stand to reason that Ult had his Sableye well before his time in Kalos and the two have been on a quest to grow stronger for a while now.

Similar to the above, Rayquaza was also introduced in Gen III and received a Mega Evolution in ORAS, and while Ult’s fixation on Lucien’s Rayquaza at face value seems to just be a fixation on a powerful Pokémon that had been getting a lot of media attention as of late, I get the feeling that his interest in it runs much deeper than that.

While Kalos is currently getting a lot of focus, what with how it factors into Horizons’ time-skip and the upcoming release of Z-A, Hoenn and its hand in building upon the lore of Mega Evolution cannot be understated and I can’t help but feel that Horizons’ writers are unlikely to not at least reference this fact.

So, yeah, this has been a long exercise in baseless speculation and it’s unlikely to be true in any way, but I haven’t really been seeing many people discussing Ult and his background beyond Kalos and Roy, so I felt like I’d share these scattered thoughts. As ever, feel free to comment or build upon this as I’m legitimately interested in what others think about and make of my inane ramblings.

[smilingperformer]

Soooo, one more theory:

It is very much confirmed Rakurium effects are spreading accross the entire world now.

What I'm suggesting is that, Spinel has developed artificial Rakurium. One that can be mass produced. And he's testing it on wild Pokémon. That's why he's telling the public there's nothing to worry about at the credits scene when asked about weirdly behaving wild Pokémon.

The hints have been there for quite a while, with Spinel doing own research on Rakurium and all.

I also do not believe Spinel actually cared about Gibeon at all. He merely speaks highly of him to make sure he's seen as one. But he always, always, intended on backstabing the ideals of Gibeon. Now that Gibeon is gone, he doesn't need to hold back. But he has to keep up the facade.

He really is an intriquing villain character for me and I'm glad he's holding up as a very good villain. Such a good time skip design too, man oh man.

Apparently he took the position that Crave has, which means he's the director of Exceed. Wonder what that means for Crave? He's also said to be the leader of the Explorers. Obviously Amethio is not gonna follow Spinel's orders, same with Hamber, so both of them are probably forming their own plans. Maybe join up with RVT?

[off-the-edge-of-the-horizon]

The Jellybug Umwelt

The umwelt (plural umwelten) is the perceptual world of an organism - the slice of reality that they can sense.

Jellybugs are both predator and prey, hailing from sodden swamps and mires where the sun rarely shines in full. Their umwelt is tuned to evade hidden danger and locate hidden treasures.

Jellybugs’ most prominent, umwelt-defining sense is taste. Their mouths are lined with chemical sensors that analyze the water they so often wade in or live near. By taking in mouthfuls of water they can taste everything that water has swept by, and everything that has swept into it. They can sense the presence of other organisms (such as food or predators), nutrients in the soil, other jellybugs, and dangerous contaminants in the water - making this sense excellent for determining if a site is suitable for settlement.

An offshoot of this incredible sense, is smell. The very same sensors in the mouth can sense particles in the air - particularly if they’re bound to the ample water vapor that makes their world so humid. As such, smell and taste are not distinctly different senses for a Jellybug.

The companion of taste is electroreception - the ability to sense electromagnetic fields (which are often produced by animals submerged in salty water). When hunting for prey hidden in muck or murky water, a Jellybug can work out the general location with taste, then when close enough they can pinpoint the exact location with electroreception. For Jellybugs electroreception is almost like an extended touch, similar to whiskers. The sensation is often described as a faint pressure, or a sudden awareness, like proprioception or the feeling of being watched. An invisible certainty.

Other notable Jellybug senses are hearing and sight. Jellybugs hear with facial disks composed of small densely-packed quills, similar to an owl’s. They are always tipping their head to and fro, angling the disks to pick up noises from various directions. Jellybugs’ sight is specialized for low light levels, dense clouds and canopies always whittling away light from their star. They have vertical peanut-shaped pupils, specialized to focus above and below them. This is to better see small prey items under their feet, and aerial predators above their heads.