#litleo got shafted in these sketches whoops

[mizartz]

more dp x pkmn doodles (it’s free serotonin) this time with valerie!!

rambling about her team under the cut:

Valerie’s pokemon were difficult to choose… I wanted her to have a relatively uncommon fire or fighting type for her bc because 1. I just think those types fit her, and 2. she used to be a spoiled rich kid, so i doubt she’d accept just any old pokemon for her partner.

Litleo:

chosen as her starter for its fierce personality and also bc its normal typing coincidentally gives it immunity to ghost types.

Probably lazy 90% of the time but gets super aggressive when challenged. It isn’t very interested in ghost hunting unless its perceived territory (the apartment, school, and/or nasty burger) is under attack.

Maybe has a personal grudge against Cujo? (havent decided on a pkmn for him yet tho...)

The other option for her starter was Vulpix bc its evolution is characterized as “spiteful”, which i think matches her pretty well lol. Some of the fire starters would be… okay for her, but I wasn’t a fan of any of their final evos.

Riolu:

baby pokemon gifted by Vlad. Perfect IVs/EVs, trained with dark-type TMs, has Foresight to negate ghost immunity, yada yada. It’s been raised from birth to be Valerie’s ghost hunting partner and doesn’t know much else about the world.

As Riolu grows older and its ability to sense aura/emotions increases, it begins to doubt its training, leading to it refusing to hunt Phantom because it knows that he can’t possibly be evil. (This attitude gradually spreads towards other ghosts as well, but Phantom is the trigger. Alternatively, maybe Ellie is involved somehow?)

Riolu and Val get into a big fight over it and Riolu runs away, forcing Valerie to confront her grudge against ghosts or risk losing her partner forever.

Riolu’s admittedly a bit of an odd choice for ghost hunting since it doesnt have type advantage, but I’ve grown quite attached to the idea of Riolu/Lucario’s innate sense of justice coming to a head with Valerie’s quest for vengeance. And also Vlad not thinking his plan through by gifting her a pkmn known to detect ill intent is very funny to me… like why didnt u give her a pawniard or scizor or smthn?? congrats u played urself

Riolu has no idea half-ghosts exist btw! Vlad kept it in the dark so it wouldn’t turn on him or reveal his identity. it suspects SOMETHING is up with danny though, which leads to some awkward staredowns at school. (also going by pkmn game logic: riolu can’t see through illusions without attacking first, so danny’s hisuian zorua is safe so long as it assumes another form)

im trying to avoid giving out too many shinies but shiny riolu just fits val’s color scheme sooooo much better. lets just say vlad wanted to show off REALLY hard that day, ok? being one of the few ppl in school with a shiny poke would make her less unpopular than she is in canon, but she still doesn’t rejoin the A-lister crowd.

riolu being so recognizable does mean it has to wear a disguise when ghost hunting tho (which makes my red huntress sketch non-canon lmao). it either wears a mini huntress suit or just a black cloak!