#pokemon rambling

[goldazu]

in other news i'm cackling at the team i'm mopping the floor w/ rn

[aatroxskitten]

how much of it is pokemon being easy and how much of it is just knowing how pokemon works?

because i promise you if you do a casual run of your first pokemon game with the same knowledge you have now, it will be way too easy. trust me. i do it a lot with RSE, where I have to hardcore nuzlocke the games now, and even then the games are predictable and simple. platinum is even easier; there's not a single pokemon in the game that resists Staraptor's brave bird + close combat combination, and if you add infernape or empoleon on top, you've got an easy time through the game. not to mention this is the generation where Gyarados gets physical water STAB.

when i first played pokemon, i didn't know the ground type existed. i didn't know what moves were what. i only leveled my starter. i didn't know anything about how to pick moves, or anything like that. and i struggled. i lost a lot of battles i would have easily won with more knowledge.

i'm watching my mom get into pokemon now, and she has a harder time with scarlet and violet than i do. because she doesn't know the game mechanics, she doesn't know all the types (she did make a little chart for them), and she doesn't know the general formula of the game like the back of her hand. the game is still a challenge-- if you don't have 20+ years of Pokemon knowledge drilled into your skull, that is!

it's never going to be too hard to know "hm this gym leader uses this type, so i should have these types/moves to prepare."

[antennatoheaven]

[felinedae]

I love using sexually dimorphic traits in pokemon to make them visibly transgender every chance I get. Everyone post trans girl Pikachu

[goldensimisage]

A bit off topic with my writing stuff here and elsewhere, but I feel it's worth bringing up since people are asking for it yet again in the wake of Legends ZA's announcement: I think the opinion that the national dex was a bad idea that game freak hung an anvil over their own heads by implementing in the first place is probably my hottest pokemon take.

On one hand, the longer it stayed around, the more pokemon would become transfer only while still being required for dex completion, because there are only so many species you can naturally fit into a region. That'd definitely make people mad, because they already do when it's >20 pokemon for vgc before dlc makes them catchable too. Imagine the shit storm if it was 600 transfer-only mons next to the 400 Paldean natives in the base game. So you'd need a constantly updating living dex for the shiny charm, and even if you have one, you gotta wait 1-3 months for Home compatibility and the charm is just unobtainable beforehand.

And on the other hand, it getting cut was always a matter of when, not if. And when you consider the fact that Pokemon fans (like the rest of the internet really) get more rabid by the day, the backlash was only going to get worse the longer the national dex stuck around. Pre-covid when dexit happened, people were already willing to try and ruin a man's career and public image with fake rape accusations, so if they kept the natdex throughout the switch era and only resorted to it by, say, gen 15 when we hit 2,000 pokemon, Masuda would get Shinzo Abe'd the next time he made a public appearance.

[bagelwizard]

A picture is worth a thousand words

[coypurat]

oh to be carefree like this. theyre both so fucking epic

[gen4grl]

pokemon is such a large fanbase we all like the same core thing but the difference between the different niches is insane. like put a gamecanon, pokespe, vgc and anipoke fan at a table together and it would be like putting 4 long lost relatives together like i know we’re technically family but who tf are you and what language are you attempting to speak to me in lol

[factual-fantasy]

Grimace has a lot of internal struggles that he deals with.. primarily his sense of worth and belonging..

This comes from the fact that he loves his friends very dearly, and he wants only the very best for them.. Which in turn makes him analyze himself and whether or not he's good enough for them.. if he's worthy to be a part of this great team.

He tries his best to make them laugh. To be strong and protect them. To give them all a shoulder to cry on when they are sad.. he just wants to fill their lives with joy. Just as they have done for him.

Though sometimes he falls short. Someone needed advice and he didn't know what to say.. or he wasn't strong enough and someone got hurt. When this happens Grimace takes it very hard..

Of course Grimace never tells the others about any of this. The last thing he wants to do is burden his wonderful friends with all his problems.. Instead when he gets overwhelmed by these feelings, Grimace will hide away in the shadows. That way not even Gloria can sense his distress as he tries to cool off on his own.

In this particular drawing, I imagined that Grimace left while everyone was sleeping to work through his feelings. But this time he was so distressed that Gloria could sense him through the shadows.

She woke up Sylvester and sent him after Grimace. He wouldn't usually show himself during times like these.. but Sylvester was worried about him so.. he came out.

Sylvester tried to comfort him with his ribbons auras, and it helped calm his nerves some.. V kept asking what was wrong but Grimace refused to tell him. "I'm just stressed.." "About what?" "..nothing.."

He would eventually simmer down and they'd return to the group. But Grim would never tell anyone what was wrong. Even days later. He just keeps all these feelings to himself, not wanting to burden his friends.. 💔

[lavender-radio]

umbreon owners do NOT buy a black rug you will spend 30 minutes panicking and thinking your buddy disappeared into the ether meanwhile he takes his mandatory mid evening nap

i am livid

[goldazu]

Okay, I know people are tired of my Pokemon shenanigans, but hear me out. Some people were also interested in what I thought about the overall plot and I will try to go ahead and give my two cents on it.

Personally, I'm somewhat sick of the same recycled Pokemon plot in which the rivals are overly friendly, hold your hand throughout your whole journey, and act a little too light-hearted for my tastes. Give me a mean rival again, those were fun. However, that isn't to say I didn't enjoy Nemona and Arven in particular. Especially Arven. His arc was very mind-blowing for me by the end of the game considering what happened with his family.

Truth told, before I started the game, I definitely heard rumors of people like "the story made everyone cry." So, I wanted to see what exactly was so heart-wrenching about it. Initially I thought it was the whole plot arc with Arven and his sick dog who showed little to no signs of recovery even as you collect the Herba Mystica (basically nutrient-loaded food for the Pokemon) for him to feel better, which I'll admit was indeed sad and tugging on my heartstrings at some point, but it wasn't anything too eye-opening for me all the same.

Little did I know, this was just the beginning of it.

As the player explores Paldea and collects the Herba Mystic for the professor (Sada or Turo depending on your version—I played Scarlet so I got Sada), your ride legendary also gains some new powers. Dashing, jumping, swimming, gliding, climbing, etc. It's clear throughout the adventure that Arven and the professor have strained relationships due to Koraidon/Miraidon yet the player doesn't really know why until the end, which I consider the most exciting part of the overall story.

Once the Herba Mystica subplot was finished, the player then has to make their way to the forbidden Great Crater since Arven just kinda goes "okay, we need to find my mom/dad." Yes, the professor is revealed to be his parent, though I didn't see it coming even when in hindsight they do resemble each other. That's on me, I guess. Oops? Anyway, the professor up until that point has and continues to communicate with you, the player, via Rotom phone so you never actually get to meet them. It turns out they're "trapped" in the lab in Area Zero, which leads you and the gang to travel there despite the prehistoric/futuristic Pokemon crawling about. All of which are quite powerful in their own right.

Eventually as you approach the lab, it's revealed those Pokemon from the past/future are too dangerous for the ecosystem and must be stopped/contained in their "respective times." It makes sense, to be fair. Should they escape Area Zero, then they'd undoubtedly infest all of Paldea and probably turn the whole region into a living Hell for all the other, much more weak Pokemon who are from the current time period. So, the professor asks you to disable the time machine that they themselves made to prevent that from happening, since a lot of the paradox Pokemon are already starting to go out of control.

Sounds easy enough, right? Well, there's just one small complication.

Turns out the professor is actually an AI based on Arven's real parent, who died in the respective time zone of their field of study. They died in an accident trying to protect Koraidon/Miraidon yet somehow the AI still lives on. Ironically enough, even the AI recognizes the whole time machine thing was going to be a bad idea and faults the original professor for it. They warn you that if you try to disable it, they will be programmed to fight you since anything that tries to stop the time machine is immediately deemed a threat.

Now, this is what I find very interesting. The AI is on your side, yet you have no choice but to defeat them in battle. Even though they don't want to fight, it's just how they're wired and programmed, unfortunately. This battle is also very exciting from a blind player's perspective because the AI's whole team is comprised of Pokemon solely from the "past" and "future" that the player has yet to encounter, forcing you to guess their weaknesses if you haven't already spoiled yourself by this point. For those going into the game 100% blind, I can see why the fight poses the greatest challenge yet.

Anyways, after you defeat them, the AI explains they can't leave the time machine which is why they were "stuck" in the lab all this time. Despite your efforts, it doesn't exactly "shut down." There are too many protocols and it turns into a Koraidon vs Koraidon (or Miraidon vs Miraidon, again, Scarlet vs Violet differences) showdown. Yes, there are two of them, by the way. Apparently the one you own is the more submissive one who lost a territory fight or something, but I think it's kind of awe-inspiring that it beats the one it originally lost against. It just goes to show that since you traveled with it all throughout the game, your bond overcame everything else.

Instead of disabling/destroying the time machine, the AI decides they, too, want to go on their own journey. All this time, monitoring you as you collected the Herba Mystica, beat all the gym leaders, challenged Team Star, etc., it's revealed they envied you. Makes sense, since they spent all that time tethered to the lab/time machine. I guess even AI can develop a thirst for adventure.

Enough recap, here's where I add in my opinions on everything.

Honestly, the idea of an AI character in Pokemon developed this way is very interesting to me. I know they tried to do similar in the past, but the exposition here was much more intense than other games. And the fact that it's revealed Arven's sole parent who already spent little to no time with him throughout his childhood as is died, I realized "wow, this is darker than I thought for a Pokemon game." I love it. I actually came to adore the professor more knowing they were an AI in the end. Their parting words to Arven before the time machine transported them was something along the lines of "s/he really cared about you." And I don't think they're lying, either. If you take a look at the lab, you'll see the original professor has a picture of Arven and his dog when he was just a child.

The whole game, all the side characters encourage you to "find your treasure." Yet, here we see with the professor that sometimes people go overboard with their treasure hunt, and they devote all of their time and energy to their goals that they forsake their loved ones, their kids, their family, etc. Hell, the professor even developed all those protective measures so that the time machine would never fail, which just goes to show they wanted to research those paradox pokemon no matter what—even at the cost of neglecting their kid.

If I was in Arven's shoes, honestly, I'd be devastated. The one parent I came to resent and never spent all that much time with turns out to be dead, and I was only speaking to an AI version of them all this time. Crazy, right? He surprisingly took it well despite all the rivals being kids, but still, crazy stuff. Makes one wonder what his life would be like if only he had an active parent around.

Now, I may be biased because I played through Scarlet, which means Arven had mommy issues with Sada. However, I just cannot imagine Arven and Turo for some reason. 💀 Maybe it's because I also played as a girl, and considering his beef with Nemona who is also a young woman, it makes sense that Arven has a distrust towards the opposite gender due to his mother's absence. Sound familiar yet?? Omg, Arven is even good at cooking.

Back to the paradox Pokemon, there are theories that they aren't actually from the past/future and that they're just the professor's imagination coming to life due to a third unrevealed legendary. To be honest, I think this theory is sound. After all, how can Sandy Shocks, a Pokemon resembling manmade magnets, come from the ancient past???

Overall, I loved how surprisingly dark the story in Scarlet and Violet were this time around. Please give me more plotlines like this. TL;DR, Arven is best boy and deserves everything good in this world. 😩

[piquuroblox]

my best friend uttered the words “we may have a second astro situation here” and i cant believe she’d curse me like this.

[frostdemigod]

omg I love ogerpon so much bruh

[fluthmugoon]

The idea of ghost obsessions is so funny id be so pissed if I died and it just made me somehow more autistic

[ivo-moved]

you don’t have to drag it like that

[soni-dragon]

just something silly