#i was like oh the new ice gym leader has such a great design i hope i have a chance to draw her one day

[aquanutart]

[proonv]

alright fuck you im gonna talk abt my pkmn region and There Is Nothing You Can Do About It

well. tbh this is more like notes and concepts but shut. shut up

okay so... evil team is probably gonna be less cartoonish than the actual games. i kinda want it to reflect some real world problems, so. capitalism it is. but a lot of the team doesn't even support the boss or the plans, they just really really need the money..

also the region is based on new zealand cuz wow that place gets no attention. plus it's geographic features are really good for a pkmn region so

these notes are so messy. the legendary is probably gonna be like... super powerful, and so the evil team leader wants that cuz. well idk they just want the legendary. i think i had it so that the only way to stop them would be to get there first, but im still not 100 on their plan

oh yea protags. they look basically the same except one is masc and the other is fem, here are their designs (the leggings will just be plain black but this will probably be an option in the shops)

fem's name is junie, masc's name is elliot

honestly i have literally nothing with their story but i think they'll probably be more of their own characters? like ill give them a personality in cutscenes and stuff. but i have no idea anything about backstories or anything yet

i already have another character and, as all of my first characters go, she's basically a self insert and it is stressing me out. here she is

not a final design, but i do like it. the emo bangs are staying

her name is nova, she is Not Great with people but a lot better with pokemon. actually wait i have a chr sheet for her hold on

wow this is horrible to read. i am so sorry

she also has an arcanine that helped save her from said near death incident.

anyways i get way too focused on characters and not story. im gonna continue doing that cuz there's one more

haven't actually got a lot for this guy but im thinking he is sort of mean sometimes. but other times he's nice. at the end he's probably gonna have to go with the evil teams plan for some reason but he's super conflicted because you've all been so nice and maybe he doesn't want to see people suffer.

but anyways. more on the region.

im trying to figure out a way to counter the problem with fire types in this region, in worried that if you pick the fire started youll just have The Easiest Time Ever; there's an ice, bug, and steel gym. for the ice gym you have sto climb a really cold mountain and *need* a fire type in order to Not Die. so id really need to balance it out with something. but idk what to do about that rn so.

new zealand sort of has a tiny little island under it and so i think maybe there could be a ghost town there. ghost gym too, maybe a castle of something, lots of ghost types and maybe some lore. maybe that's where you meet nova...

and the north island of nz is probably a lot smaller in the region. it's probably a little bit farther away, and would have to take a cinematic boat ride lol. probably explain some lore there too, talk about the team and maybe some of the characters life. idk lol im not great at storytelling

anyways ill probably add to this later. if you actually stayed by and read this i am. shocked and very happy. if you did do you have any feedback? i am uh..not great at this

[cynthiaandsamus]

Samus’s Amnesia

After an accident Samus can’t remember her time at the villa and Cynthia has to help jog her memory!

“Cynthia help!” Tifa burst through the Villa’s front door with an unconscious Samus draped over her back.

“Oh dear, what happened now?” Cynthia sighed as Tifa laid Samus down on the couch.

Tifa sounded panicked as she pushed pillows under Samus’s head. “We were playing Flaming Basketball, which is like regular basketball but on fire.”

“I know how Flaming Basketball is played…” Cynthia retorted as she wet a washcloth and put it on Samus’s forehead. “What happened?”

“Well we were playing when Samus got a slam dunk and the hoop came down and hit her in the head…” Tifa whimpered, looking pretty worried.

“You go get the First Aid kit and call the pokecenter, there’s one nearby so they might be able to get here faster than taking her to a hospital.” Cynthia nodded softly. “I’ll stay with her and make sure she’s alright.”

“Alright! Oh geez, please don’t be hurt too bad Samus…” The brawler groaned as she dashed out of the room to get help.

A few minutes of tending to her later and Samus began to stir, holding her head and sitting up with a groan. “Are you alright Samus? You took a pretty bad hit.”

“Huh…? Ahh my head just really hurts… how… how do you know my name?” Samus groaned, looking at Cynthia in confusion.

“Uh-oh… that’s not a good sign.” The Champion chuckled nervously. “You don’t… remember me?”

“Can’t say that I do.” Her eyes narrowed, a stern glance around the surrounding area, inspecting it for traps or weapons.

“Well let’s start with what you do remember… Can you tell me about yourself?” Cynthia sat beside her as Samus sat up on the couch.

The bounty hunter relaxed slightly but was still obviously tense, glancing towards her pistol on the coffee table. “I’m Samus Aran, bounty hunter. I’m… a weapon.”

“A weapon? You think you’re a weapon?”

“The Chozo created three weapons that they hoped would save the universe. The Supercomputer Mother Brain, the unkillable species Metroid, and me, the bounty hunter infused with Chozo DNA and raised and trained by them after my parents were killed by the Space Pirate Ridley… none of these weapons turned out how they hoped though. Mother Brain became a hostile AI that seeks to reset the universe entirely instead of saving it. The Metroids, designed to devour the more dangerous threat of the X Parasites, not only turned on their creators but became a plague upon the galaxy that can barely be kept in check. And me… well I can’t say I’ve exactly lived up to snuff either. “ She clenched her fists with a sigh.

Cynthia gave a worried look as Samus continued. “I joined the Galactic Federation hoping to use my skills to stop the Space Pirates and help make the universe a more peaceful place, but the Federation wasn’t exactly pure of heart either, and I couldn’t abide by their decisions that got my friends killed…” She brought her knees up onto the couch, hugging them into her chest. “Good Soldiers follow orders… Good Soldiers follow orders…” She repeated to herself like a mantra. “But I’m not a good soldier…”

“You’re a person doing your best…” Cynthia put her hand on Samus’s thigh reassuringly. The bounty hunter recoiled from the touch, looking at her with scorn as if it was the first human contact she’d had in years.

“I’ve committed all kinds of atrocities since leaving the Federation too, several bounty hunting missions against the Metroids have resulted in planetary destruction. I managed to save one harmless Metroid but it still fell to Mother Brain in the end, yet another person I got close to whose life slipped through my hands.” She tensed up again. “I tried to wipe out all traces of the Metroids and X Parasites throughout the galaxy and after that… I don’t remember anything.”

“So you don’t remember coming here at all?”

“Here?” Samus’s gaze narrowed. “Why would I live in a place like this? My ship is just fine for my domestic needs.”

“Aww come on, it’s pretty nice here.” Cynthia smirked and chuckled. “I throw some wild parties, invite lots of cute girls, a fun time had by all.”

Samus’s face soured and turned to an expression of disgust as she grabbed her pistol off the table and pointed it in Cynthia’s direction, not at her but enough as a warning. “I don’t know who you think I am but I’m not some lecherous party animal. I am a hunter, I prefer to keep out of the company of others for their safety and mine. So back off, Earth Whore.”

“Okay wow.” Cynthia chuckled nervously, holding her hands up to show she meant no harm. “This isn’t any kind of trap or anything so just relax.”

At that moment their pet Metroid Zebes floated into the room, hearing from Tifa that Samus was injured and coming to comfort his mother.

“A METROID!?” Samus pointed her blaster at Zebes instead now. “I knew it! This IS a trap! You’re trying to soften and confuse me so you can breed Metroids! Posession of a Metroid or Metroid DNA is against Galactic Federation Code CZM-861986, you’re under arrest.” She went to motion and was surprised when nothing happened. “What? Why isn’t my armor coming up?”

The Champion breathed a sigh of relief. “Oh thank goodness, imagine if we had to fight Samus wearing her power armor…”

“Wait no, I figured it out.” A Varia Suit quickly covered the bounty hunter’s body.

“GOD DAMNIT!”

“Die Metroid!” Samus roared, aiming her arm cannon at Zebes. Cynthia’s eyes widened and she grabbed a pokeball off her belt.

“GARCHOMP, PROTECT ZEBES!” Cynthia cried out as a red light emerged from the ball, a large blue dragon appeared between Zebes and Samus just as a beam of ice was fired from her arm cannon. The beam caught Garchomp and hit her hard, but the dragon remained standing.

“I knew it! Ridley your new form is even smaller than before!” Samus snarled from in her suit and fired off another Ice Beam, countered this time by Garchomp’s Flamethrower.

While the two clashed Cynthia leapt behind Garchomp and grabbed Zebes, cradling him to her chest and heading toward s the door.

“Heh, this feels much better, I feel a lot safer inside my armor, I don’t know why I even bother taking it off sometimes.” Samus grinned, pelting Garchomp with ice and dodging the blasts and strikes.

“You hardly ever wear your armor around here! You don’t need to hide from people anymore!” Cynthia shouted, taking off towards the garage, the only place that had a door with even a chance of holding Samus off.

Downing Garchomp for a moment, Samus gave chase after Cynthia. “You don’t know who you’re talking to!” She screamed as they got outside and Cynthia dodged stray ice beams while shielding Zebes. “I don’t know who you’re waiting for but it’s definitely not me!”

“You got that right.” Cynthia’s gray eyes narrowed at Samus as she ducked into the garage and managed to seal the door. Luckily Samus had designed the door herself to be resistant to her missile attacks. The Champion leaned against the wall and sighed, looking down at the petrified Zebes. “She doesn’t mean it hun, she just doesn’t know who you are at the moment. Don’t worry buddy, we’ll get Mommy Samus back.” She smiled down at the gurgling blob before heading into Samus’s ship parked in the nearest section of the warehouse-like garage.

“Let’s see, I know Samus’s doomsday prepper ass has a list of precautions around here somewhere…” She rummaged through the compartments, the dull sound of missiles hitting the garage outside reminding her she was on a bit of a time crunch. “What do we have here…” In the spaceship equivalent of a glovebox Cynthia found a small handwritten list with numbers listed next to emergency descriptions.

“Activate Ship Protocols in case of… Instrumentality, Third Impact, Fourth Impact, Hokkaido Impact, Zombie Outbreak, Mother 4, X Parasite Invasion, Aurum Invasion, Titan Invasion, Cynthia’s PMS, oh gee thanks, ahh here we go: In case of Memory or Equipment reset, activate Ship Protocol 4420120.” The ship’s lights dimmed as the protocol activated just in time as Cynthia heard the garage door explode open and the Varia Suit clad hunter Shinesparking right towards them.

“You’ve got some guts Metroid-breeder, hiding in my own ship like this, now show yourself!” Samus held her arm cannon up, looking around the small ship to try and find her culprit through her visor. To her surprise her ship’s computer brought up a recording and soon holograms of previous events in her lost memories began to play around her.

-----

“Hey, I heard you’re gonna be in the area for a while, wanna stay at my place? Come on I have a great villa. All the gym leaders talk about it as a party place, definitely the place to be!”

“No thanks, I’m not really a party person…” Samus wore her armor but had her helmet off for a moment as Cynthia approached her. She’d apparently contacted her through one of the Smash grapevines and wanted to recruit her to come stay at her villa.

“Awww come on, two badass blondes like us? I bet there’s nothing we couldn’t do! Besides it’s not like you can live out of your ship the whole time you’re stationed here.  It’ll be fine, I promise no weirdness.” This was an absolute lie.

The thinnest of smirks crossed the serious bounty hunter’s face as she looked at Cynthia. “Alright I suppose I could crash at your place for a little while. I’ll pay rent and stay out of your way, no funny business though.”

Cynthia squealed. “Cross my heart and hope to die, struck down by a Decidueye~”

“…okay we’re going to stop doing… whatever that was too.”

---

Samus sighed as she took off her armor after a long mission. It’d taken her forever to start taking off her armor around her Smash colleagues, but now she found herself wearing it less and less around the villa. The missions she was going on were still exhausting but she always let out a sigh of relief when she got back.

“Welcome home Samus!” Cynthia grinned and waved to her from the couch.

“Huh?” Samus blinked, wiping fatigue from her eyes.

“I just said welcome home.”

“Oh… home, huh?”She blinked in confusion for a moment before a warm smile crossed her face. “Thanks, good to be… home.”

----

Zebes’ creation flashed by Samus’s eyes next.

“Cynthia! I got us a pet!” Samus grinned held up Zebes.

“What is that!? Aren’t those things dangerous!?”Cynthia blinked at the Metroid.

“Not this one! It’s a Metroid cross-bred with one of your Tangela, taking away its desire to suck life forces, allowingf it limited shape-shifting capability and giving it the ability for near-infinite pseudopodia extension.”

“…what?”

“ ‘sgot tentacles.”

“Sweet!”

“I’ve named him Zebes, figured it might be the last remnant of my home planet that isn’t trying to kill me, isn’t it great? I’m a mommy!”

---

She watched her memories of when the Galactic Federation came after her for harboring Metroid DNA in her to eliminate the possibility of anyone cloning Metroids from the source of The Baby Metroid’s DNA inside her. She’d initially thought it was best to go with them and eliminate that risk as well but Cynthia and Zebes came after her, fighting their way through Federation headquarters, Cynthia using her pokemon and even pulling off a very strenuous Double Mega Evolution to battle her two commanders before uncovering the plot to use her execution to instead craft a clone army of Samus Arans with the DNA of Metroids, Chozo, Humans and X Parasites to make a galactic army that could topple the Federation itself spearheaded by the man named Cyrus, rescued from the Distortion World by the sentient code of Mother Brain.

She saw Cynthia crying out for her, begging her to let her desire to live burn bright, to not give up on the life she’d built at the villa. It was that which inspired her to fight back against Cyrus while Cynthia defeated Ridley and together they put an end to this heinous plot and finally confessed their love to one another on top of the destroyed Federation Headquarters.

----

“Happy Anniversary Samus! You’ve been here five years now! I’m glad you’re not going anywhere.” Cynthia snickered to herself as all the visitors they’d had since she came walked around the massive month-long party they’d set up to celebrate the anniversary. Lots of colorful characters flooded the villa and the surrounding buildings with raucous noise and joyous laughter.

“Can’t say I expected to stay here this long, but I also can’t say I regret that I did.” Samus grinned, looking at Cynthia.

“Hey I’m always happy to have you.” Cynthia smiled warmly.

“Thank you Cynthia… it really feels like home here, and I couldn’t imagine myself being anywhere else. Before I knew you I felt like I’d been hurt by people far too many times and I thought isolating myself and burying myself in my work was the best way to keep myself safe from people and them safe from me… but ever since I came here I can feel more comfortable around people, I feel like my wounded heart is healing, and it’s all thanks to you. I’m eternally grateful to you Cynthia.” She gave a warm smile

“Oh you dummy…” Cynthia wiped tears from her eyes with a smile of her own. “This is your home, no need to thank me…”

---

Back in the ship Samus was taken aback by all these recordings until she saw one of herself, spliced through various points in time with the same theme, introducing her blonde friend.

“Hello, I’m Samus Aran and this is my landlord Cynthia.”

“…and this is my roommate Cynthia.”

“And my friend, Cynthia.”

“This is my personal dumbass, Cynthia.”

“This is my girlfriend, Cynthia.”

“This is my dumbass girlfriend, Cynthia.”

“This is my… well she’s pretty much my wife, Cynthia.”

Samus couldn’t help but stifle a chuckle at the montage, covering her mouth in awe while watching. Next the holograms showed people, so many people. All kinds of wonderful people that came to stay and play with them, some for short visits, some staying in the villa itself, and some in relationships with them for years.

“W-Who are all these people? There’s so many…” Samus gasped.

“Those are all your friends.” Cynthia smiled from the corner of the ship.

Her face froze in awe. “F-Friends… do I really know all of these people? There has to be hundreds…”

Flashes of shots of Cynthia and Samus goofing off around the villa, playing with Zebes, watching the Alien movies over and over on movie night, cooking for each other, celebrating holidays with friends, raising pokemon, playing games, making friends, making love, living life and sharing it with so many.

The stoic bounty hunter’s face cracked and tears started streaming down her face as she covered her mouth and laughed and cried at the same time, such overwhelming joy overtook her.

“Is this… really my life? Do I… really get to have this?” She asked timidly.

“Mhm…” Cynthia smiled warmly, holding back tears of her own.

“I never imagined… that I’d get to live and laugh and love like this…” Samus’s eyes widened, shimmering full of tears as her power armor shattered away from her, leaving her standing in awe. As she lowered her guard something clicked in her head and it all came rushing back to her for real. “Oh Cynthia… I’m so sorry… Zebes, I didn’t mean…”

She was cut off by Cynthia and Zebes hugging her tightly.

“Welcome home Samus.”

[artikgato]

More Sword! 

I love Opal. So much. She is old age #goals. I love that her gym is a theater and her gym challenge was an “audition”. The question that asked about the name of the previous gym trainer made me sweat because who pays attention to that stuff??

Also I love that they had Opal walk more slowly during the gym challenge, only to throw down her staff and CHARGE at Bede later on after you get the badge. Did I mention I love her??

Still not over Opal. Her entire aesthetic is amazing. I love the bright pink and blue color combination. 

Meanwhile, I don’t think I could possibly care less about Gordie. He’s fine. Wish I’d gone with Shield instead for this one instance, tbh. His gym challenge was okay.

I do love the ice area! I think it’s my favorite section of the game so far, but I’m biased...

Spikemuth was just disappointing. What, Gamefreak didn’t have time to make a city with all the time they supposedly saved by cutting out 600 Pokemon from the game? #salty

Piers is well-designed, and that’s about it. Why no dynamax in his gym?

Also if this is really all there is to Team Yell then...wow. How anti-climactic. No admins? Literally all they did was be annoying for part of the game?

Also WTF is going on with the plot? So far it’s just “oh hey for some reason wild Pokemon are dynamaxing but IT’S TOTALLY FINE THE CHAMPION IS HERE DON’T WORRY ABOUT IT KIDS JUST FINISH YOUR GYM CHALLENGES

But anyway, new Pokemon impressions!

I haven’t seen the final evolution of Grookey yet, but WOW THWACKEY. Wasn’t expecting the grass starter to have the strongest middle evolution in terms of design, but then again thinking back to every other gen I guess I should’ve expecting it.

Cinderace is REALLY COOL though. I’m just going to feverishly ignore what atrocities the internet has committed to this cool rabbit. Kinda reminds me of Summer Wars...?

COALOSSAL IS SO COOL. I love its stupid looking face so much. 10/10 great design, first time I’ve really really liked a 3-stage rock type

Perrserker is so good. I do have to question why they made a Galar Meowth instead of just straight up making a new Pokemon, if they weren’t going to have it be a Galar Persion, but whatever. Perrserker more than makes up for it. 10/10

Hatterene is. Um. I like the design a lot, aside from the weird hat hand thing. I guess it’s supposed to be creepy on purpose? 

Sandaconda is great. I like that it looks like a shotgun?

I LOVE FALINKS. It’s so cute and weird and yes, it looks like it should be in a different game than Pokemon, but honestly that’s WHY I love it so much! I wish it wasn’t a one-stage though

“Snom used Struggle Bug” “IT’S A BUG?! DO I FINALLY GET MY ICE/BUG???” 

I really like Clobbopus and Grapploct. When paralysis didn’t work on them I got my hopes up thinking they were electric/fighting, but them being pure fighting works too. 

ICE-TYPE DARUMAKA? ICE?????

Stonjourner, what are you? Where do you come from?? I need to know

So far I’ve only managed to get one of the fossils, but I was curious about how to get the others and spoiled myself for the typings only, not what they look like, and I’m pretty sure I got the best one - Arctozolt, the electric/ice type I never knew I needed in my life. A shame it doesn’t evolve, but I think it’s interesting that we got four different fossils this time instead of two that evolve once!

Dreepy, what are you? Where do you come from??

I’m about to take on the dragon gym leader, which is very interesting because so much of the map is still unexplored and I’m almost done with the gym challenge? Is all of that the galar equivalent of victory road? I guess I’ll find out. After two pretty lackluster gyms in a row, I’m hoping that it’s not downhill from  here. I also have no idea what types the elite 4 are, so I’m looking forward to that! (If there even are elite 4...)

My current team: Inteleon, Corviknight (MVP so far), Toxtricity, Centiscorch, Grapploct, and a Snom I’m desperately trying to evolve before the gym. 

[the-depressed-shiny-buneary]

Interview Time: Rivals

1. Hi! What's your name?

Chris: Sup, I’m Chris Daiki Oak.

Dusk: Hmph, I’m Dusk Yesfer Shinji. 

Sirius: U-Um, I’m S-Sirius Pavel Sh-Shinji.

Sheryl: I’m Sheryl Alice Kirkia.

Rosetta: I’m Rosetta Akira Koyasu.

2. Do you know why you were named that?

Chris: Not really, I know my middle name means impressive or grand tree, and our family name is based on a tree, so I guess it fits.

Dusk: Dad said he named me Dusk because I’m the opposite of mom who’s named Dawn, so I guess that’s why I was named Dusk. My middle name means star-like, I guess that also fits since Dusk is when you see the stars.

Sirius: I-I’m named after a constellation, m-my middle name means small and humble. Wh-Which f-fits.

Sheryl: My name means darling or beloved and my middle name means noble and graceful, both names fit me of course.

Rosetta: My name means rose blossom while my middle name means clear and intelligent, which I am. 

3. Your age?

Chris: I’m thirteen~

Dusk: I’m fourteen.

Sirius: I’m...I’m twelve...

Sheryl: I’m sixteen.

Rosetta: I’m thirteen as well.

4. Have any abilities or powers?

Chris: No, I wish I did though.

Dusk: I don’t need abilities or powers to make me happy.

Sirius: N-N-No...

Sheryl: I don’t need it.

Rosetta: Nah, I don’t. 5. What's your eye color?

Chris: Dark brown.

Dusk: Blue.

Sirius: B-Black...

Sheryl: Purple.

Rosetta: Light brown. 6. How about hair color?

Chris: Dark brown.

Dusk: Purple.

Sirius: B-Blue..

Sheryl: Dark brown.

Rosetta: Gold. 7. Have any family members?

Chris: My mom, my dad, my older brother, my grandparents and some others.

Dusk: My parents, my shy brother, my grandma, my aunt and uncle and that might be it.

Sirius: S-Same as D-Dusk...

Sheryl: Valerie and the furisode girls. They raised me.

Rosetta: My mom and my dad.

8. Fav color?

Chris: Orange and black.

Dusk: Purple.

Sirius: Indigo and t-turquoise.

Sheryl: Pink and purple, the colors of fairy tales.

Rosetta: Yellow and orange.

9. Fav food and drink?

Chris: Natto beans and rice, my mom makes them the best. I also like green tea.

Dusk: Sweet and sour beef soup, I like any kind of tea.

Sirius: Potato pierogi and I like to drink juice.

Sheryl: It’s a tie between profiteroles, which is a cream puff filled with ice cream and drizzled with warm chocolate sauce and Mousse au Chocolat. As for drinks, Kalos hot chocolate is a favorite of mine.

Rosetta: I really like udon and soba, for drinks I like milk tea.

10. Who's your crush?

Chris: Pfft, I don’t have a crush on anyone! Especially not Ashley, or as I all her ‘Sunny’.

Dusk: Don’t need a crush.

Sirius: *blushing heavily while thinking about Ashley*

Sheryl: I don’t have a crush on anyone.

Rosetta: Ha! I don’t need anyone to be happy!

11. If you have one, did you kiss yet?

Chris: I don’t have a crush so I don’t want to kiss anyone. *thinks about kissing Ashley and blushes lightly*

Dusk: *glares* No...

Sirius: *whole face is red and is covering his face due to picturing him and Ashley kissing*

Sheryl: Uh, no.

Rosetta: No..

12. Your hobbies?

Chris: I like to groom my Pokemon and I like to read.

Dusk: I train with my Pokemon.

Sirius: I-I like to bake poffins with m-my mom...a-and I like to draw and write stories...They aren’t much b-but I enjoy it, I-I also took an interest in f-food decorating and fashion d-design, m-mom said I c-could be a Pokemon St-Stylist if I w-wanted.

Sheryl: I like to create flawless designs with my Pokemon, I also sew new clothes for myself. I also take an interest in room design and floral arrangements, I just like designing anything.

Rosetta: I like to croquet, I also have a small interest in singing.

13. Who are your friends?

Chris: I like hanging out with Sun and Hau. 

Dusk: I don’t have many friends.

Sirius: I-I like b-being wi-with Ashley a-and her f-friends...

Sheryl: My dear friends Daffodil, Clementine, Flora and Harmony. When I’m the new gym leader they’ll be my gym trainers.

Rosetta: I have one friend, her name is Ivy.

14. Fav weather?

Chris: I like the rain.

Dusk: Cloudy.

Sirius: S-Sunny...

Sheryl: Sunny, of course.

Rosetta: I do enjoy the sun.

15. What season do you prefer?

Chris: Winter, it’s the greatest.

Dusk: I also enjoy winter.

Sirius: I-I like fall...th-that’s where I g-get most of my inspiration.

Sheryl: Spring, the best time of year.

Rosetta: I really love summer.

16. Your biggest fears?

Chris: I....don’t know....disappointing my family probably...my older bro is the leader of a pack of Rockruff and I got nothing for me yet...

Dusk: Not beating Ketchum...

Sirius: Ashley rejecting me or my family berating me f-for liking her.

Sheryl: *frowns* I don’t want to talk about it...

Rosetta: *looks down* No comment...

17. Any persons you don't like?

Chris: Those guys who think they’re better than me!

Dusk: Ashley Ketchum...she’s just so damn happy all the time and she always wins when I challenge her to a battle!!

Sirius: Anyone who’s mean...

Sheryl: My so called rival Grey Ketchum, he thinks he has a chance to be a gym leader when he doesn’t when I hold the type advantage.

Rosetta: That blue haired girl Salvia, she thinks she can be a performer with her ugly Poison types. I also hate people who don’t get my name right!!

18. Do you like cute things/persons?

Chris: My Pokemon are very cute, so yes.

Dusk: Cute doesn’t do much for me.

Sirius: Y-Y-Y-Y-Yes...c-c-cause A-Ashley’s v-v-v-very c-c-c-c-cute.... *blushing heavily*

Sheryl: Of course I do.

Rosetta: Obviously.

19. A compliment you get to hear often?

Chris: That I’m a genius when it comes to grooming Pokemon~

Dusk: That I’m very hardworking.

Sirius: Th-That I’m s-so c-cute wh-when I-I’m sh-shy...

Sheryl: That I’m beautiful and strong.

Rosetta: That I’m great at coming up with performances.

20. Name your worst habits.

Chris: Worst habits? What worst habits? (A/N: He’s too arrogant)

Dusk: I’ve been told I can be ruthless in battle...

Sirius: I-I don’t have a lot of c-confidence...

Sheryl: I do not know what you mean. (A/N: She’s also arrogant and she looks down on males)

Rosetta: I don’t have bad habits! (A/N: She’s cruel to those around her.) 21. Do you look up to anyone at all?

Chris: My dad and my mom! Oh, and my older brother!

Dusk: My father, obviously.

Sirius: O-Oh, my mom..! A-And Ashley...~

Sheryl: Valerie, she’s what gave me the idea to become a gym leader.

Rosetta: I’m not sure actually. 22. Do you go to school?

Chris: I sure do!

Dusk: Yeah, what of it?

Sirius: I-I-I d-do...

Sheryl: Not really, I’ve been homeschooled.

Rosetta: I’m also homeschooled. 23. Ever wanna marry and have kids one day?

Chris: Pffft, no way.

Dusk: Useless.

Sirius: *blushes heavily at the thought of him and Ashley getting married*

Sheryl: I don’t know yet.

Rosetta: No way. 24. Do you have fangirls/fanboys?

Chris: Darn right I do~

Dusk: No, it’s useless.

Sirius: N-Not really...

Sheryl: I have fanboys, but I ignore them.

Rosetta: Nah, I don’t. 25. What do you usually wear?

Chris: I wear this cool shirt that’s designed to look like a Growlithe’s fur and I have cream colored shorts. I normally wear black sneakers with it.

Dusk: A violet hoodie, orange pants and purple boots. I also have magenta fingerless gloves and an orange scarf. 

Sirius: A turquoise shirt, indigo shorts and aquamarine sneakers.

Sheryl: I wear a variety of furisodes, but my main one is a orchid furisode with a deep purple skirt and a floral pattern on the skirt, lavender ribbons that hold up my pigtails and fuschia sandals.

Rosetta: A yellow shirt with puffy sleeves, a orange skirt, lemon yellow tights, an burnt orange vest and headband and amber shoes. 26. What class are you? (low class, middle class, high class)

Chris: Middle class.

Dusk: Middle class.

Sirius: Middle class.

Sheryl: High class.

Rosetta: Lower middle class.

27. Would you rather swim in a lake or the ocean?

Chris: A lake is safer.

Dusk: I guess the ocean.

Sirius: I like a lake.

Sheryl: Ocean, me and my dear Pokemon can play together more easily.

Rosetta: The ocean is the best.

28. What's your type?

Chris: I don’t care for Pokemon types. All of them are great.

Dusk: Ghost types because they beat Psychic types and they have interesting battle styles.

Sirius: N-Normal types, they can learn a lot of d-different attacks th-that’s good f-for contests.

Sheryl: Fairy types, the type that Valerie mains.

Rosetta: I don’t care, types mean nothing.

29. Camping or indoors?

Chris: Oh, I love camping!

Dusk: Camping is good, good for training.

Sirius: Camping sounds like fun..

Sheryl: I guess both have pros and cons.

Rosetta: I’ll go with both too.

[crystalelemental]

Gen 2 was such a fun generation.  Gen 1 started things, and perhaps because of a first attempt, there were some rough patches.  Gen 2 really smoothed a lot of things out, including expanding movepools, offering some new evolutions, and two whole typings to try and introduce more balance to the system.  It's also my personal nostalgia generation, so I have the fondest memories of this gen.

TOP 15: 15) Noctowl - Noctowl would be my favorite regional bird, if it weren't for the fact that it's competitively terrible and beyond help, and Staraptor wound up looking cooler.  Still, Noctowl is a great Pokemon.   Owls are cool, and Noctowl is just a big owl with Psychic-type coverage.  It was always weird to me that it got Normal/Flying.  Why not Psychic?  Is it because you didn't want it to compete with Xatu and Lugia?  It probably wouldn't regardless; just let the poor thing be Psychic/Flying already.

14) Lanturn - Water/Electric is such a cool typing.  Water, Ice, and Electric type coverage is fantastic, and Lanturn gets all of it, on top of some serious bulk.  It's also just a big round friend, and I love it.   Actually cute final stage evolutions are a rarity, for some reason, so it's nice to have one that's both adorable and unique.

13) Murkrow - Dark types were introduced this gen, and while, as a Psychic lover, you may assume I hated that change, I actually loved it.  I'm not opposed to Psychic having answers; in fact it was much needed.  Murkrow is one of the best new Dark types, I felt.  Not in terms of actual utility.  Houndoom was way stronger, and Tyranitar was a pseudo-legend so...there's that.  Even Umbreon probably did better than this thing because it could stall more effectively in a generation all about stall.  But Murkrow stood out to me because of it's cute design and mischievous nature.  Shame that it's only in Kanto, after you beat the League.  You know.  Along with every other Dark type bar Umbreon.

12) Politoed - King's Rock must have been a very hit-and-miss evolution item, creating two split evolution paths, one of which was outright not as good, and one that was outright better.  Slowking was the not as good evolution, and Politoed is the better evolution that seems to get everything.  Pure water typing is working out a lot better as a rounded Pokemon than Water/Fighting, and Poliwrath just never got any useful tools, while Politoed got Drizzle of all things. I really love Politoed.  It's a sleek and cute design for a final stage, and it makes more sense as a frog design.  It is an odd choice of design for the Poliwhirl evolution, but it's such a good final form.

11) Magcargo line - You know what typing sucks defensively?  Fire/Rock.  4x weaknesses to Water and Ground, a common defensive typing, and the most common offensive typing.  But you know what's a really good offensive typing? Fire/Rock.  Fire blasts through a lot of threats, including the new Steel type, while Rock hits a lot of things Fire can't.  It also gets some fantastic coverage moves, and decent support.  Unfortunately, it's defensive and slow.  Slow enough that even Shell Smash can't save it.  It's a very sad state of affairs.  That said, Magcargo is cute.  An adorable lava snail that I wish I could pet in Refresh, without buring my hands off.

10) Furret - Again, cuteness wins the day.  Furret is 100% adorable, and if there were any early-game "rodent-type" that deserved to get more to work with, it's Furret.  I, personally, think it's the cutest of them all, and should at least get a bit of a buff in stats.

9) Jumpluff line - I love Jumpluff.  I love its entire evolutionary line.  Hoppip is super cute, and its evolutions are just as adorable.  Too bad they are awful. Like, competitively they have nothing.  Even in-game they get very little in terms of attacks or roles.  It's such an unfortunate situation for them, and they're very high on my list of things I wish would get more tools.  But it will always have a special place in my heart as the adorable cotton puff.

8) Xatu line - This is one that became more solid after the first mystery dungeon games.  It's role as some strange, mythical fortune-teller is fantastic.  Xatu is just an interesting design for a Pokemon, and Psychic/Flying was a cool typing.  It was a pain to catch because Natu knows Teleport, but man, what a unique bird this line is.  I also really appreciated the time it spent as the bulky Magic Bounce user.  You know.  Before Mega Sableye.

7) Steelix - If someone were to ask about my favorite gym leaders, Jasmine would easily be on that list.  A large part of that is because she's cute, but has this giant metallic snake creature as her signature Pokemon.  You never expect it.  Even on its own merits, Steelix is just cool.  It's a refined version of Onix, offering obscene physical defense, respectable attack, and...probably nothing else.  It does have a lot of flaws from a competitive standpoint, but it's got a strong design and a great presence.

6) Slowking - Slowbro was a great Pokemon in Gen 1.  It was never really my favorite, but I had to acknowledge it was good.  Slowking, though?   Now we're talking.  It's basically a specially defensive variant of Slowbro's defensive variant, and as such, was...never really as good.   Boosting for Psychic types always allowed for special defense to grow, so you needed good base defense, which Slowking did not have.  Its movepool also didn't differ from Slowbro in any meaningful way, so it's basically a carbon copy that had less going for it.  Still, I adored it, because of the design, and its role in Pokemon the Movie 2000.  I think it looks a lot nicer than Slowbro, and it feels like a more impressive final form.  Even if it's probably not.

5) Mareep - IT'S SO CUTE!  I love the entire Mareep line, but Mareep stands out as one of the cutest first-stage evolutions in the game.   Honestly, Gen 2 really stood out because of how cute a lot of first stage Pokemon were.  But Mareep? Mareep is unbelievable.  Prior to Mareep, I wasn't the biggest electric-type fan.  I loved Raichu, but Electrode, Magneton, and Electabuzz weren't exactly that interesting, with Zapdos also being my least favorite of the birds.  But it was with Mareep that I had a really cute Pokemon that evolved into a still cute but powerful creature.  I always try to get a Mareep when I play Gen 2. It's easily one of my favorites to train in-game.

4) Espeon/Umbreon - Flareon may be my favorite, but Espeon and Umbreon were my favorites for a long time once they showed up.  Psychic is a great typing, and Umbreon is just such a sleek design.  The two are a great new addition to Eevee's evolutions, and the choices they made with these two are nothing short of divine.

3) Kingdra - Talk about an improvement.  Water/Dragon meant you basically had a weakness to all of three attacks.  One was a TM, one was a move I think only it learned, and one was a move only Dragonite learned.  Best of all, its even stats meant it was pretty solid at any role back in the day.  I also really like the design.  It just feels like an ancient sea-based dragon, and it's fantastic.

2) Celebi - Mythic legends suck.  Not because of what they are, but how they're distributed.  If it weren't for the show, or rather the first movie, I wouldn't have known Mew existed.  But by the time generation 2 came around, I knew about Celebi.  And I wanted one so bad.  But I couldn't get one!  Because they're based on nonsense events you have to go to.  In gen 3, I got a Gameshark, and the first thing I did was hack in a Celebi.  I wanted one so badly.  It is absolutely adorable, and I love anything with time-focused powers.  Being a psychic-type is also a huge plus for me, and it's just...such a good Pokemon, and such a good legend.

1) Misdreavus - I don't think there can be any comparison.  Misdreavus is a godsend.  It's such a cute ghost type, and as the only other ghost besides Gengar, it stands out incredibly by virtue of not having a Poison typing, and thus being able to handle Psychic types.  Between aesthetics and its role as the first pure ghost, I love Misdreavus a lot.

BOTTOM 10: 10) Granbull line - Not a bad one by any means, but it's another aesthetic thing. Before the advent of Fairy type, this being just a standard normal type thing also didn't really help it stand out.  I don't dislike them, but someone had to take the spot...

9) Shuckle - I really don't know what Shuckle is supposed to be, and I think that's why it weirds me out a bit.

8) Yanma - Not a bad Pokemon, just...not as interesting?  It's a Dragonfly that's just another Bug/Flying type.  It doesn't really stand out much to me.

7) Quilfish - A bit more unique and dynamic, but misses the mark a bit.  I just feel it's a bit too plain?

6) Octillery - Oh man.  Okay.  Remoraid is a cute little thing, but Octillery just...it doesn't really make sense to me.  At all.  Why are you an octopus?  How does this relate to what Remoraid is?

5) Delibird - And now for the complete opposite of #7 and #8.  Yanma and Quilfish are a bit plain, but Delibird, by comparison, is an interesting concept and design.  It's meant to look like santa, with its tail being the sack of toys.  It only uses Present, which can hurt or heal the enemy.  It's a really cool concept...that does little for it.  I can think of few Pokemon less useful than Delibird, and some of those at least evolve into something more useful.  It's gotten more options as time goes on, but it has virtually nothing going for it.

4) Tyrogue - Baby Pokemon are not my favorite.  I just don't like them.   Tyrogue is, design-wise, one of the better ones, I feel.  But its evolution method is obnoxious.  I hate it.  I absolutely hate it.  Three possible evolutions, based on the stats it has when it levels.  I liked Hitmonchan and Hitmonlee well enough. Hitmontop is okay, but I don't think it's all that interesting, since it mainly kicks like Hitmonlee but different, and Tyrogue as a pre-evolution to all of them is not a terrible idea, but is definitely not my favorite.

3) Magby - I didn't care for Magmar all that much, and Magby just isn't that cute as a pre-evolution for it either.  There's little aside from just me not liking the look of it.

2) Elekid - There are many who disagree with me, but I do not like its design.  At all.  It just doesn't look right.  The electric plugs on its head are just goofy to me, and I didn't care for its evolution either.

1) Aipom - I mentioned this with Primeape, but I don't really care for monkeys.  They are definitely not my favorite animal.  Aipom is at least cuter, but it's also weirder.  Why is the end of its tail a hand?  Why does it have to be like this?  That's so weird to me.

[madmadaasia]

Ameerika unistused praetud kana ja Trumpiga /American dreams with fried chicken and Trump

Kui pakutakse võimalust tasuta maailma teise otsa minna ja makstakse veel peale ka, siis kes ütleks ei?! Madli igatahes ei öelnud ja suundus eelmisel suvel unistuste USAsse, mille eesotsas oli siis palavalt armastatud Obama.

Alustuseks väike maratonsööming lennul USAsse (sest well kui USA lennufirmaga lendad siis suu käib nii kaua kuni lennuk õhus püsib ja kui sa kogemata mälumise lõpetad, siis on stujardess uue juustukäntsakaga platsis) ning siis olimegi juba pesuehtsas lõunaosariigis Tennessees. 

When you’re offered a chance to go to the other side of the world for free then who would say no?! Madli didn’t and headed to USA last summer where beloved Obama was still on the lead.

For starters I had a food marathon on the flight to USA (cause if you’re flying with US airlines then you’ll eat as long as the plane is in the air and if you accidentally stop chewing then the air hostess is back with another chunk of cheese).

Kantriosariik Tennessee y’all. / Country music state Tennessee.

Sihtkohtaks oli “väikelinn” Chattanooga, kust leidis iga nurga pealt praetud kana, kiriku ja mõne ülekaalulise orava. Tennessee on kohalike seas tuntud kui “The buckle on the bible belt”, mis tähendab et tegu on ühe usklikuima osariigiga, st palju vabariiklasi ja Trumpi pooldajaid. Hmm, kõlab usuleigele eestlasele nagu hea väljakutse eks? 

My destination was a “small town” called Chattanooga where you could find some fried chicken, a church and an (overweight) squirrel on every corner. Tennessee is also known as “the buckle on the bible belt” which means it’s one of the most religious states in USA (and alongside with that has lot of Republicans and Trump supporters). Hmm, sounds like an interesting challenge for a non-religious Estonian right?

Superman Trump tuleb alati appi./ Superman Trump always helps.

Chattanooga, TN.

Ja väljaspool linna ei lennanudki ringi vaid põhupallid, päris mets oli. / And outside of the city there weren’t just balls of hay rolling around, they had some real forest there!

Tegu polnud aga üldse lõbureisiga, vaid läksin suvel USAsse õppima, sest jälle why not? Toimus sotsiaalse ettevõtluse suveülikool Tennessee ülikoolis Chattanoogas, kus töötasime grupi Euroopa noorteliidritega välja maailmapäästvaid plaane ja aitasime kohalikku kogukonda (värvisime maju, töötasime toidupangas jne).

But it wasn’t just a trip for fun. I actually went to study there, cause why not? I took part of the social entrepreneurship summer program in the Tennessee University at Chattanooga where young leaders from all over Europe designed world saving plans and helped the local community (we helped at the food bank, painted some houses etc.).

Noored maailmaparandjad Euroopast. / Young world improvers from Europe.

Seni kuni teised leitsakus maja ülemisi osi värvisid, suutsin mina end tugevale eesti naisele kohaselt sokutada värvimistööd tegema veranda alla, kus ma endale mustmiljon putukasõpra sain... Jee! / At the same time when others were painting the upper part of the house I got a fun job to paint the area under the porch. Needless to say on that day I made friends with millions of bugs:).

Tegelikult oli lõbu ka päris palju, sest kui sul on grupp eurooplasi 16st riigist ja ameeriklasi, siis see igavust küll ei tähenda. Omal nahal sai kogeda tõelist USA ühika- ja tudengielu: SUURED ühikakortereid (kus konditsioneer suutis välja võluda tõelise talveilma), punaste topsidega peod, Starbucks’id iga nurga peal. Ja “kodu/spordi/tuduriided” sobisid igal pool käimiseks, sest tundub, et ameeriklased on “all about comfort”. Koduriietega olid kodus, poes, koolis, peol, kusiganes...

Actually there was also lots of fun. When you’ve a group of Europeans from 16 different countries and a bunch of Americans then you’ll never feel bored for sure. I got to experience the real American dorm and student life. BIG student apartments (where the AC could fill the rooms with winter breezes), famous red cup parties, Starbucks on every corner. And the clothes you wore at home or in the gym suited for every occasion: for shopping, parties, school etc. 

Starbucks on tudengielu keskpunkt./ Starbucks is the center of student life.

Ja toit, uuh. Tennessee asub otse KFC-osariigi Kentucky all, seega ei tule üllatusena, et ka praetud kana vintsutatakse siin kõige rohkem. Tegelikult ükskõik mida, mis on praetud, frititud või muud moodi õlis leotatud. Aga need portsjoinid ja kogused… Kohalikus söö-palju-jaksad ülikoolisööklas alla 10 erineva toiduleti pole küll vastuvõetav. On salatilett, võileivalett, pizzalett, burksi/nugget’i lett, praelett, pastalett, koogi/magustoidulett, joogilett, supilett, jäätiselett… Võta kõike, mida hing vaid ihaldab! Üllatuslikult polnud praetud kana letti, seega arenguruumi veel on. Tegime omakeskis nalja, et kui ameeriklased Euroopasse tuleksid, siis nad jääksid nälga, sest tavaliselt panevad söögitädid sulle portsjoni taldriku peale valmis, mis USAga võrreldes on täiesti miniatuurne kogus.

Oh and the food. Tennessee is situated just under the KFC-state Kentucky which means fried chicken is widely loved in there too. Actually people love everything that is fried, deep-fried or in any other way soaked in oil. And the portions.. In the local all-you-can-eat university diner you could find so-so many service areas: for salad, for sandwiches, for pizza, for burgers/nuggets, for hot main, for pasta, for cakes/cookies, for drinks, for soups, for ice-cream.. And you could take everything what you wanted! Surprisingly there wasn’t a special place for fried chicken so there’s still some room for progress. We joked that if Americans would come to Europe they would starve because there are mostly plates with standardized meal sizes and compared to USA they’re miniature.

Üks tavaports. / One regular meal.

Lemmiksöögitädi./ Favourite diner lady.

4.juulil (iseseisvuspäev) otsustati Euroopa külalised sokutada pesapallimängu VIP-tsooni, kus jällegi, no surprise olid ilmatusuured toidukuhjad ja parim vaade pesapallipoistele. 

On 4th of July (Independence Day) we were invited to watch a baseball match! In the VIP zone! With tons of food again and the best view of the game! 

Pesapallipoisid. / The baseball boys.

Legendaarne 4.juuli ilutulestik. / Legendary 4th of July fireworks.

Mängu lõpus kutsuti välismaised staarid (aka meie) keset väljakut superhitte laulma:

In the end of the game the foreign superstars (aka us) were invited to the middle of the field to sing some superhits:

Veel viidi välismaised külalised Coca-Cola pealinna Atlantasse, 

They also took us to Atlanta - the city of Coca-Cola,

kantripealinna Nashville’i, 

to the country music capital Nashville,

kosmosekeskuselinna Houston’i 

to the space center in Houston

ning põhjapool asuvatesse linnadesse nagu, tippülikoole Harvardit ja MIT’d majutav Boston, kus käisime külas JFK-l, 

And to the northern cities like Boston, where we visited JFK,

ja Paul oli ka seal!

and Paul was there too!

ning siis Washington D.C.-sse.

and then to Washington D.C.

Lincoln Memorial.

Kõige suurem üllatus oli raudselt see, et kohati tundus Lõuna-USA-s valitsevat täiesti teine reaalsus kui see ühes eeskujulikus Lääne riigis peaks olema. Pimedas ei tohiks üksinda väljas käia (nt oli ühikate juures iga teatud vahemaa taga üks helkiv “politseipost”, mille nuppu sai hädaohus olles vajutada, et abi kutsuda), tänavatel võitlevad gängid (kes sind õhupüssiga võivad tulistada), siiani on laialt levinud rassism, relvad on kättesaadavamad kui alkohol (relva saab omada al 18a ja alkoholi 21a) ja laiuvad toidukõrbed (ehk vaesematest ühiskonnagruppidest asuvad toidupoed üsna kaugel). Mingis mõttes muutis see, et USA pole musterlaps ja ka nemad võitlevad väga suurte probleemidega selle riigi minu jaoks palju inimlikumaks.

The biggest surprise of all was definitely the feeling that at times the Southern-USA felt like a totally different reality compared to what the perfect Western country should be. You shouldn’t go out in the dark alone (e.g. there are shining “police poles” around and when you’re in danger you can push a button on these poles and it’ll automatically call the police), the are gangs fighting on the streets, racism is still very much alive, guns are very accessible and there are food deserts around the city (which means that the grocery stores are sometimes very far away for some of the poorer segments of the society). In a way the feeling that USA wasn’t flawless and they also struggled with major problems made this country much more humane and relatable for me.

Samas on halva kõrval on alati ka palju head. Üks omadus, mida kohalike juures tõsiselt imetlen on nende äärmine leidlikkus võluda mittemillestki välja nii palju. Võtame nt Chattanooga - kord üks saastatumaid linnu USAs on nüüd rohelinnade musternäidis. Ameeriklased haaravad härjal sarvist ka siis kui sarved vahepeal puuduvad, aga tulevad ikkagi toime ja saavutavad enamgi veel. Ma arvan, et seda tasub meil eurooplastel küll neilt õppida. Ja nii elabki ameerika unistus edasi.

At the same time everything’s not always bad and there’re also many good things. One aspect that I really admire is the ability of Americans to make something great out of almost nothing. Even when there’s not a lot of chance to succeed. Let’s take Chattanooga for example. Once it was one of the most polluted cities in USA and now it becoming an example of successful green cities. Americans take the pull by the horns even if the bull doesn’t have any horns and they somehow manage the situation and even achieve success. I think that’s something Europeans can definitely learn from them. And that’s how the American dream keeps living on.

Uute seiklusteni!

Until new adventures!

Madlike

[crystalelemental]

To everyone saying "good post-game content" for the upcoming Pokemon games: I fully support this, but it is never going to happen.  I mean let's be real. There are three big reasons:

1) Adherence to tradition and formula.  Here's the thing.  Nintendo is big into their formulas.  Most series are.  Pokemon is far from an exception.  The formula of having some gyms spread out with different battles ending in a big battle as the finale is strict, to the point it's really all the island trials ever were.  Rather than being a distinctive thing, they're basically just "Look, all places do the same kind of thing!"  As if to punctuate this, the third island has Kukui tell you upfront that they're building a league.  Not that it mattered, the Grand Trial is basically just the league again anyway under a different name.  This formula is unmoving, and it's almost to the detriment of the series.

2) Post-game content was never good.  Seriously.  It's never been great.  The two things we're traditionally given is a bunch of battling with the facilities, or going around to capture the legends in the effort to get everything.  Those are your options.  SOMETIMES you get extra things like contests or Pokestar Studios.  But generally, we don't get a lot.  And the worst part is, the last two gens have been so awful with post-game content because half of the tradition is gone.  There aren't many legends to work with in Gen 6 at all, and any mythic legend is now just handed to the player rather than including a post-game hunt for where to use the item and a battle against the Pokemon to get it.  They've removed 50% of their main focus for post-game, and I highly doubt it's coming back.   It's probably because idiot children would KO the Pokemon and miss their one chance, which does suck, but like...we already have Pokemon return if you didn't capture them.  Problem's solved, champ.  There's no reason to not return to players having to do things to catch stuff.  The UB quest was fun, and I'm hoping that continues as a thing this gen with the Ultra Space, but I'd honestly be surprised if there was more to do in each area of space than catch the UB associated.

3) We tried to have a new thing take over, and it didn't work.  Gen 5.   Gen 5 had like half the damn region as post-game content, and beating the league was considered post-game.  The main story focused so strongly on the philosophy aspect and the enemy team that the usual main goal of clearing the league was secondary and post-game.  It was awesome!  Not to mention the second part of the generation included even more interesting post-game stuff, like the tournaments with the gym leaders/champions, and PokeStar Studios.  This was also the generation that tried to be completely independent, having players only have access to the new stuff until post-game.  And what do the large segment of genwunners remember this gen as?  "Wow, an ice cream cone and a trash bag? These designs are terrible, Pokemon is running out of ideas."   While they complain about every generation, Gen 5 gets, by far, the most hate, largely based on Pokemon designs.  Despite having some of the best post-game content in the series and one of the most interesting stories and a solid cast, the major takeaway was that a lot of vocal fans disliked the designs.  And if there's one group that Pokemon listens to so much more than it should, it's the genwunners.  There's a reason mega evolutions happened, and instead of the new starters getting the mechanic that should've been theirs, it went to Gen 1 starters.   There's a reason that Gen 7 introduces an entirely new concept in Alolan Variants, and they only go to Gen 1 Pokemon.  It's because Gen 5 tried to be different, and they listened to the wrong side of the fandom and started fellating Gen 1 harder and harder in an attempt to get those fans back.  But they're not coming back, Pokemon Company.  You saw what happened with Go. Seriously, Go was just a sped-up version of the last 20 years.  They bring in Gen 1, everyone's like "Oh man this is such a cool new thing!" except with nostalgia that draws in everyone who remembers the early days, then as soon as gen 2 gets rolling almost everyone's left the game and they keep doing things but no one cares.   You can't draw in those old players.  They left, and they don't like the new stuff.  Focus on the new players who are enjoying the new stuff, and you'll be so much better off for it.

"Steve, did that last point have anything to do with why there's no post-game content?"  Gen 1 didn't have any post-game content, and Gen 5 had the best post-game content.  Some call that correlation, I call it "Genwunners ruin everything by being the group Pokemon Company panders to the most."