#pokespe has such a better take on the protagonists’ personalities

[twildflower]

[cryptidanathema]

if not already asked, leon for the character ask :) basic but opinions vary!

(Also asked by @shinekittenace)

Why I like them: I fully expected this guy with his John Cena-esque go getter attitude and aggressively marketable ace to annoy the shit out of me, but the truth is is that hating Leon is like hating a puppy. You just can't. He's just a nice fuckin dude that wants to keep everyone safe even though he's just one man. There's also the fact that he's essentially a grown up ex-protagonist which the game delves into a little with his complicated emotions surrounding losing the title he's had since he was eleven by the end of the game and the fandom's done some FASCINATING psychological deep dives with. 

Why I don’t: I feel like GameFreak failed a bit with show don't tell with him. Some of the ways GameFreak try to make him seem really intelligent and capable are...a little on the nose to say the least. Like for instance him estimating how much Hop has grown during his introduction scene COULD be taken as a hint they don't get to see each other often but nah I really do suspect they wanted the kiddies to be like WOW THIS GUY IS SO SMART HE CAN DO MATH lol. I do kiiiind of suspect the fandom put more effort into analyzing the guy and the kind of havoc being a massive celebrity since the age of 11 can wreak on your personal life than GameFreak ever did but that's very much not a bad thing IMHO. I'm not one of those IF IT'S NOT STRICT CONFIRMED CANON IT'S OF THE DEVIL people (and honestly rather detest them) 

Favorite episode (scene if movie): I...don't think the Anime showcased the better sides of his personality well (he loses the protective streak and just kind of comes off like a self-absorbed manchild that everyone loves because he can defy basic Pokemon battle logic in the same way Ash can. He's a protagonist But Annoying This Time) so I'm not terribly interested in seeing more. 

Favorite season/movie: See above. 

Favorite line: Tbh I don't have one particular standout one immediately coming to mind and I'm feeling too lazy to go through his quotes page rn. His catchphrase IS fun to meme about I will say. 

Favorite outfit: He absolutely kills everything that's not the Sponsorship Cape tbh. The guy has GOOD fashion sense despite the memes, corporate was just holding him back. 

OTP: Raihan/Piers/Leon for reasons I already went into in the Raihan response lol (the vibes between him and Rai are interesting and pretty damn hard to deny but Piers is holding up 90% of my mental health on his bony little shoulders rn and also I wanna see him and Leon interact more) I'd also love he and Sonia to work thier shit out, they are cute as FUCK together in Pokespe 

Brotp: The platonic Raileon enjoyer strikes again. Id also certainly take he and Piers being bros too. Also he and Nemona would be absolutely insufferable together and I'd love to see it someday lol 

Head Canon: One thing that was inspired the anime and a certain infamous wall punching scene is that through no real fault of his own he and Raihan's relationship was actually dangerously close to fraying for a bit. He WANTS to be a good and supportive friend to his favorite person but he's gotten fame and empty adoration pretty much handed to him for long enough that he can't REALLY understand what's going on in Raihan's head, the immense pressure he's putting himself under and the frankly unhealthy behaviors he's starting to develop. It's gonna take the pressure of the championship being gone for Leon to stop being the impossible standard Raihan's harming himself with and start being an uncomplicated source of companionship again. On a brighter note he's a good enough guy that once he becomes Chairman he's gonna prove he deserves that position by taking steps to reverse Rose's power consolidation to make sure no one person can cause that much trouble for the nation of Galar again. He'll prove his worthiness to rule by NOT being a total corporate dictator. 

Unpopular opinion: I've bitched about finding him annoying in the anime enough so instead I'll say I actually don't mind how involved he was in the game plot, it's honestly kind of weird other adults HAVEN'T been like "why are we letting random ten year olds go into very dangerous situations unaccompanied" before if you think about it

A wish: The same as the others, I'd love to see him again IF he's not miserable or acting like an ass. 

An oh-god-please-dont-ever-happen: Don't get lost in spacetime my neurodivergent king you've been through enough 🤞🤞🤞

5 words to best describe them: The tragedy of Superman, Pokemonned. 

My nickname for them: Lee suffices.

[epicspheal]

So I had this thought that I'd like to share. What if Red's trauma response is just diving into stuff. Mainly " hero" stuff like rushing into a team rocket base and defeating everyone in sight. I dunno how to describe it, but it comes from the idea that maybe an 11 year old facing off against a dangerous mafia group would leave some lasting effects. I wouldn't be surprised if Red's journey scarred him in a way to think that if there's a threat he has to take care of it immediately. Am I taking that one scene from pokemon masters and making it super angsty for no apparent reason? Yeah.

But really it's a genuine thought I had. Red is seen as the calmer one of the Kanto trio but he's very much ready to fight ( by himself I might add) at all times due to his experience with Team Rocket.

Hi there ihopethisendswell!  I've been sitting on this for a bit because I was trying to figure out how to best articulate my thoughts on game!Red and trauma. Because you're right given what he has gone through a lot and is certainly valid to believe that on some level at least a little traumatized.

You mention the Kanto Villain arc scenes in Pokemas (which I confirmed via DM) were Blue yelling at Red for going alone and Red deciding to G-max Snorlax in the base. These were two very telling scenes regarding with how Red deals with threats.

Personally, I disagree with the idea of Red diving into stuff being a trauma response. Across iterations of the male Kanto protagonist (Game!Red, Ash, and Manga!Red) being a little reckless and diving into battle is a universal trait.

Now this is not to say diving into things recklessly can't be a traumatic response, because it most certainly can be. I think though a better example of "diving into things recklessly as a traumatic response" in the Pokeverse would be Hugh, Gladion or Paulo given their backstories. And to be fair I can definitely see the argument that after the run-ins with Team Rocket on his original journey that it's made Red more ready to fight and I don't doubt that it has had some effect. I just don't think it's a purely traumatic response and rather it’s mostly that Red is just naturally reckless.

I think the reason why game!Red being reckless and diving head first is often seen by people as purely a trauma response is the fact that he’s quiet. In fact, he's the only version of the Kanto Male protagonist who is canonically quiet as a major part of his characterization, transcending him just being a silent avatar for the purposes of self-insertion. We tend to, especially in the west, equate reckless and take-charge behavior as something outgoing people tend to do. Someone like Ash or Manga!Red. Quiet characters are often automatically perceived as stoic, calm and collected, and risk averse, even if their actions truly say otherwise. Like you alluded to, game!Red is often seen as the calm one but if the Kanto villain arc is anything to go by, he really isn't. Sure, he may keep a good poker face in battle or in regular conversation, but deep down he's fiery which is shown not only in his choice of starter, but also how one of his theme skills is "Passionate Spirit". Even Blue remarks about this quiet passion when he compares the player to Red "You kinda remind me of him!"You're like a crimson flame quietly burning."

That passionate spirit would drive someone to take charge in a moment of crisis even if they are on the silent side.

Now let's dive deeper into those two scenes. Let's start with the G-max Snorlax scene. For me this is a case where I see Red's actions being less of a pure traumatic response and more of another just inborn trait of Red's. It's universal among the Kanto male protagonists is being reckless with their strategies in the hopes of a large payoff be it in regular battles or serious events. Ash is known for having reckless off the wall strategies as is Pokespe!Red. So game!Red being incredibly reckless with his strategies also checks out.

Now to be fair, Red knows what Giovanni is capable of, so the idea that from past run-ins with Giovanni he knew to shut it down quickly is extremely valid and I do think that played a part into him choosing to G-max in an enclosed area But then remember Blue's quotes during the event "Wait, I know that look in your eyes! Don’t tell me—" Clearly this is not the first time Blue has seen Red be reckless. But what about the part where he left on his own? And didn't tell anyone he was alright and just hiding...much like how he just went up to Mt Silver to train for years without telling anyone, not even his mom? This is where I personally see trauma informing his actions. Red shares the passionate spirit, recklessness and diving headfirst traits with his anime and manga counterparts showing that this is very much a Kanto male protagonist thing. But one thing that game!Red lacks compared to both Ash and Manga!Red is a solid support system when dealing with major threats at least initially. Now Red has friends...two best friends in Blue and Leaf. And he certainly has the respect of all the major trainers of Kanto. But when it came down to the Team Rocket crisis back during his journey, game!Red was very notably alone in dealing with the threat. While Ash didn't really have a proper face-off against Team Rocket in Kanto, he still had his friends Brock and Misty to ward off threats from TRio, and other companions when the other evil teams made their presence known. Manga!Red had Blue and Green as well as the gym leaders of justice in helping to defeat Team Rocket in the manga as well as the help of future dexholders and gym leaders when he got involved in other villainous arcs. But the game version of Red? None of the gym leaders helped. The elite four weren't evil but just holed up in the Indigo Plateau. Leaf was nowhere to be found even though we know she went on her own journey around the same time Red and Blue did. And Blue…chose to battle Red instead of help out. In fact a lot of his living legend status stems from the fact that he took down Team Rocket initially solo. Sure both Ash and manga!Red also would dive in solo at times but they almost always had backup.

Not having backup in those stressful dangerous times is certainly a traumatizing experience. When I think back to when Blue yelled at him for not taking him along all I could think was "Blue, you know your my favorite character, but...you do remember not helping him right? Not sure you should expect him to ask for your help" Granted we know at this point of time Blue and Red have made up and are back to being best friends. But while Red may have forgiven Blue but I can totally understand why he may not of reached out to him initially. Same thing with Leaf, the Kanto gym leaders and Elite four. It's reasonable to assume that in the moments when he realized Team Rocket was up to no good, Red thought "I've got do this alone, because no one else will help me". Which is rather sad when you think about it. We don't even see Red even begin to accept help until the Kanto Villain arc...after Blue yells at him. And for what it's worth I think it's not due to Blue yelling at him but Blue (and the others) showing that they can actually be reliable backup. This is lightly expanded upon in the Johto villain arc where Professor Bellis mentions she sent Blue and Red to help investigate the randomly Dynamaxing Pokemon. We could argue that the two split up during that request but given how for the remainder of the Kanto Villain arc Blue and Red worked together it's likely that finally Red knows fully he can trust someone to have his back in these situations. This also correlates well to his disappearance up to Mt. Silver. Sure, he did go up there to train, but the fact that he went up there for so long without telling anyone, not even his mom does ring alarm bells. I think given everything that happened not just the Team Rocket business but his loss of friendship with Blue there is a lot of reason for Red to be upset and want to isolate himself if only just to process everything and train in peace without threats from villains or being reminded of a broken friendship.

Compare this to his anime and manga counterparts who don't have extended periods of pure isolation. And at least with manga!Red when he goes missing for a month it's immediately shown as suspicious and when he goes off to train on Mt. Silver it's with Gold. Ash is hardly ever alone for extended periods time with the exception being some of the newer movies. The bonds of friendship in the midst of a crisis are a common theme among Pokemon and it's a major thread in the manga and anime with respect to both manga!Red and Ash. And this is something game!Red doesn't get a chance to experience (at least as far as we know of) until the Pokemas Villain arc. So, do I think that Red feels like he needs to take care of threats immediately is a response from trauma? No, not really. It's, in my opinion, mainly standard hero stuff that encapsulates the Kanto male protagonist in all forms. Perhaps some of it is a trauma response but not as much as many would assume. Do I think that Red feeling like he needs to take care of things alone is a trauma response? Absolutely.

I'm hoping we get to see more of this addressed in Pokemas to get more definitive answers. Which I think we might given that some of Blue's dialogue in the Paulo Interludes are...rather ominous...and we may be getting some backstory. Mainly about Blue but Red is going to be inexplicably tied to this given the line of "And it's possible to get back some of the things you've lost". I'm almost positive that's regarding his friendship with Red and I feel like it would be hard to tell this part of the story without addressing either the Silph Co incident or how Red finally decided to come back down from Mt. Silver.

[fucky-oureyes]

*folds hands together* 😎 welcome. we have some redwood art by @/soulsilvers who is to blame for this. and general old art in the tags. wonderful doodles btw, I can't believe you went and drew an extra doodle!! they're so great <3 I found your dad Lance post and you are the perfect person to influence with rare pairs and agendas I see. Two cool gen 3 gals?? Why not why not yk? If you look at Leaf's concept art, she has a Combusken with her in the snow. If you believe, maybe May is somewhere off screen. When I mentioned Evolutions, they just have that action-based personality that seems to click you know? That reckless adventure thing? If you go further deep into Pokemon lore with the Kanto war theory, Silph rivalry with Devon, and the economy. Then Hoenn is arguably better off than Kanto, which is more impoverished without a Champion in Gen 1 and Team Rocket running around. You have Birth Island, where you can find Deoxys in both FRLG and in Emerald. There are places they can meet. Siri play "a whole new world" from Aladdin because you gotta take your new bff not yet gf to a clean functioning region and watch her be baffled at all the new things and concepts. You will never find a food court in Kanto, they will charge you a million for a bike. I am also huge on extending the Dad Lance agenda to Leaf (she's the most neglected pokegirl in fandom, and excluded even here where Red and Blue aren't.) Some of this is Pokemon Special, some of this is the fact Trace calls her "big sis" in the Japanese version of Evolutions, some of this is beta!Blue (the first version of her character of the unnamed female protagonist) that we make angsty art of in a metaphysical sense as if these characters know they were deleted from the game. It's fun. In my little world, she was late to Giovanni's gym and found the HGSS cutscene of Gio leaving happening while she hid behind a lampost and kicked Lance's door down like "yo old man, you'll never guess what I just saw" except my brain is more complicated than that and I go back and forth on how the story plays out for one ask. It can get more angsty and tragic too because imagine texting your bff not yet gf while chilling in Lance's office (if Red is on a mountain, Blue is running the gym, then by all means, split the champion title between them so he doesn't collapse at his desk) and in Kanto: one day Cinnabar island erupts, and in Hoenn one day: there's a meteor set to destroy the world in 4 days. imagine their world being the world where ORAS Devon succeeded in transporting it into another dimension. what do you say at the end of the world? think about the potential Celebi holds when you want to save someone. think of the consequences of attempting to use a mythical Pokemon like that when Arceus/Mew find out. will you become the villain here just for that...?

YES I SAW THE SOULSILVERS REDWOOD ART i have to go rb that actually.... also yes when i first got the redwood request my first instict was to go "huh???" but i stopped and thought about them for 2 seconds and i'm now obsessed with them. my new favorite rare pair. and also yes i am the perfect person to influence with agendas and rarepairs. gestures at my own agendas like rocket siblings. i used to spend Hours with my friend coming up with aus and obscure dynamics i am So Susceptible to agendas.

also yeah leaf is absolutely one of the most just. underrated and overlooked female protagonists. from what i've seen it'd be her and the alola protag i think. and the reasons you've outlined are a huge chunk of the reasons why!

ALSO YESS THAT'S SO GOOD ACTUALLY!!! leaf after seeing the state in kanto seeing how Stunning hoenn is and just going ??????

also yes absolutely i believe in lance adopting leaf as well propaganda. i think lance is just That Kind Of Guy considering his canon spiels about being proud of seeing the rise of a new champion etc. also i'm a sucker for leaf and silver dynamics after pokespe.

[cheemken]

sure king share evry deets abt ur trainer hcs

Dope ouo

Buckle up tho this is probs gon be long af hahaha

Anyways

Kanto Trainers

Red, Green (m), and Blue (f) are all there, Red and Green are neighbours and are childhood friends and Blue is someone they met in Cerulean. All three of em are in their mid to 20s w Green being the older one between em

Personality wise, Red isn't the silent protagonist that peeps are used to, no in my hcs he's talkative af and is probs the one who challenges both Blue and Green to battles, when he discovered about Triple Battles during their visit to Unova, he and the other two tried it and he had the most fun

Green is,, well kinda the same really, chill but also arrogant, never let Lance live it down that if he wasn't Gym Leader then he could still take on that Champion title, but he does care abt Red and Blue tho, he's like the sunshine protectors

Blue is like the one in LGPE, she wants to complete the Dex and discover more about other pkmn in different regions, she's the one to drag the boys w her searching for legendary Pokemon and she's try to post it on her socials that she found Lugia while surfing around the caves in Johto. Also kinda arrogant really, but in a more teasing way not in a looks down on others way like Green

For teams

Red - Venusaur, Poliwrath, Arcanine, Lapras, Snorlax, Raichu

Green - Charizard, Gyarados, Alakazam, Tyranitar, Machamp, Scizor

Blue - Blastoise, Gengar, Clefable, Ninetales, Kangaskhan, Dragonite

Johto Trainers

Gold, Silver, and Kris are in my hcs, I so wanna add Lyra but I also do not vibe w her so I'm gon do a pokespe and make Kris like Crystal. Anyways, Gold and Kris are childhood friends too, Gold took on the gym challenge and the league and Kris focused more on completing the dex and being the prof's assistant. Gold met Silver first and Kris met him while she was in the Ruins of Alph. All of em are in their early 20s

Gold is kinda the same as his pokespe counterpart, but a bit more calm. He loves helping around the daycare and taking care of eggs that trainers don't want. He does train and evolve them tho, and some did get to his final team to beat the league

Silver is still the same, arrogant lil shit but finally realized how shit he was in the end. Still has that snarky and sarcastic personality tho, but at least now he knows when to bite his tongue hahah. I also wanna add that Silver and Blue are still kinda siblings in my hcs, and they do love each other and Blue does look out for him as best she can

Kris is like Blue but tenfold, once there's news abt outbreaks or new locations pokemon are seen in, she'd be the first one rushing there to catch em and register them in her Pokedex. Altho, she's actually not one for keeping them, rather she'd catch them just to register their data in the dex and release them after, it's the mons who decide to stay w her or not

For their teams

Gold - Typhlosion, Electivire, Togekiss, Quagsire, Sudowoodoo, Ambipom

Silver - Feraligatr, Crobat, Weavile, Gengar, Magnezone, Alakazam

Kris - Meganium, Arcanine, Jinx, Xatu, Metagross (she doesn't really have a full team, just enough to ward off any trainer that wants to battle her)

Hoenn Trainers

Honestly just the same as in the events of RSE/ORAS so like yeah,, tho Brendan is more outgoing and May's more introverted and quiet. Brendan and May are both 19 while Wally is 18

Personality wise,,,, ah idk, I honestly just see them as like,, the same?? Like Brendan's there happy to help his dad, the prof, in his field work and such.

Wally's still a lil shy but grew a bit more confident as they went on their journey.

And then there's May, I honestly see her having daddy issues and she kinda hates Norman w a burning passion, and honestly just beat the Gyms and the league to spite her father, even went to the Frontier to beat the Frontier Brains there just to rub it in his face more how she's better than him, she is a mama's girl tho through and through the boys tease her abt it

For their teams

May - Blaziken, Aggron, Gallade, Walrein, Salamence, Metagross

Brendan - Swampert, Mightyena, Swellow, Magcargo, Breloom, Tropius

Wally - his canon ORAS team

Sinnoh Trainers

Look okay these mfers, as much as I hate Sinnoh, these three along w prof Rowan, have like angst in my hcs hahaha and it's not really on them, rather it's just Rowan seeing Cynthia, Cyrus, and Augustine in em and yeah hahah, well anyways just like in the main game, Barry and Dawn are neighbours and Lucas is the prof's assistant, all of em are around 18

Barry is just the same, also Lucas, but Dawn is more like,, she's more like a mix of people's version of Red and my version of Green, I wanna say that she does want to reach the top and be a strong trainer but she doesn't really show it and make it obvious like Barry

For their team

Dawn - Empoleon, Togekiss, Magmortar, Mamoswine, Lucario, Garchomp

Lucas - Torterra, Snorlax, Shieldon, Cranidoss (like Kris, doesn't have a full team, just enough to ward off other trainers and fight Galactic)

Barry - his canon Platinum team w Infernape as the ace

Unova Trainers

Starting off w BW, it's the same except that Hilda and Hilbert are twins in my hcs, Hilda is more on trying to stop Plasma while Hilbert was more on beating the league ofc he did help w Plasma as both of em befriended N. They're in their early 20s while N is at least in his mid to late 20s

N, Cheren, and Bianca are the same so hey. Hilbert is like his manga self, while Hilda is kinda just overall pissed at Plasma, mainly Ghetsis, that she was the one who fought him in the end. After the whole Plasma ordeal tho, she did finish the gym challenge as she didn't have the last two badges, and Hilbert waited for her, so the two could try and beat the league together

For their teams

Cheren - his canon team w Samurott as the ace

Bianca - her canon team w Serperior as the ace

N - his canon team

Hilbert - Emboar, Braviary, Bisharp, Galvantula, Caracosta, Krookodile

Hilda - Hydreigon, Mienshao, Excadrill, Archeops, Seismitoad, Zekrom

I wanna say the Deino they had was a gift from their father before he left, but since there's only one, Hilda was the one who got it as she's the older one between em, and Hilbert had to wait for his own starter. That Hydreigon does listen to Hilbert still

~

Now for BW2, just the same it, Hugh still being the embodiment of rage™, and Nate's there trying to help him stop Plasma while also beating the Gyms. In my hcs, Nate actually has no plan on taking on the league, rather he just loves to travel around and help however he can, sometimes he'd join in Rosa in the Battle Subway to try and get to the Subway Masters. As of Rosa, well, she's a determined trainer, but I wanna say like Nate she has no plans on trying to be Champion, rather she just took on the Gym challenge and liked being in the Battle Subway battling other trainers. But yeah they're like just a bit younger than the BW kids around a year or two younger w Hugh still being older than Nate and Rosa

For their teams

Nate - Emboar, Lucario, Ampharos, Watchog, Haxorus, Unfezant

Rosa - Serperior, Mienshao, Beartic, Bouffalant, Lilligant, Mandibuzz

Hugh - his canon team w Samurott as the ace

Kalos Trainers

God there's like a ton of rivals here omfs but like,,,, I'm just gon say that the rivals all have the same personalities as in the games, and then Calem is this calm and cool boii that went on to challenge the gym and the league but lost to Diantha, and then Serena's there also challenging the gyms but stopped after getting the final badge as she and Shauna ended up participating in contests together. So hey I wanna say they're around the same age as the BW trainers

Calem is the same as Dawn, quiet but competitive, he also did try to complete the Pokedex, but he gave up halfway through bc he said it's not worth it as theres already a ton of pkmn to register and find

Serena is also a bit competitive in both battling and in contests, look she just wants to win, and she will win, plus she's like,, trying to impress Shauna during contests ouo

Anyways their teams and such hahah

Calem - Chesnaught, Charizard, Tyrantrum, Hawlucha, Manectric, Aegislash

Serena - Delphox, Blastoise, Aurorus, Goodra, Sylveon, Gengar

Shauna - Greninja, Venusaur, Espeon, Sylveon, Glaceon, Delcatty

Alola Trainers

Ough, almost done omf, anyways Hau's the same, and as for Elio and Selene,, I wanna say that Elio already lives in Alola and Selene is the one from Kanto. The three became friends along w Gladion and Lillie, and yeah just the stuff that happened in the games. I wanna say they're around,,, 13-15

Ik they kinda made it canon in PokeMas that Elio and Selene still has those blank stares and such and I think it'd be comical if they still have that in my hcs hahah. But y'know more on Elio actually spacing out most of the time bc he has an active imagination, and Selene just not caring much but also trying to show people she kinda does care so they won't get offended. Selene is a bit more competitive than Elio, as he's just happy being w friends

For their teams

Elio - Incineroar, A. Persian, Wishiwashi, Mimikyu, Crabrawler, Shelgon

Selene - Primarina, Dusk Lycanroc, Salazzle, Kommo-o, A. Ninetales, Toucannon

Hau - Decidueye, A. Raichu, Vaporeon, Kommo-o, Noivern, Midday Lycanroc

Galar Trainers

Hop is the same, Gloria and Victor are siblings tho, w Victor being the older one and got his starter first before Hop and Gloria. Victor is around 18 while Hop and Gloria are around 15

Victor did take on the Gym challenge, but didn't take on the tournament himself, and instead just travelled around Galar, training in the Isle of Armour and got himself a Kubfu which he then evolved to an Urshifu

Gloria is just as determined and competitive as Hop, and actually felt a bit guilty when she beat Hop during the tournament, as she knows that his brother is the Champion, so people probably expected more from him too, but that's just the way it is. She is capable of beating Leon, but ended up losing bc she still wants to hang out w Hop and not be stuck like Leon being alone in his own tower and such

For their teams

Victor - Cinderace, Urshifu RS, Corviknight, Grimmsnarl, Dragapult, Dracozolt

Gloria - Rillaboom, Corviknight, Hatterene, Dracovish, Sirfetch'd, Zamazenta

Hop - his canon team w Inteleon as the ace and Zacian

Paldea Trainers

Ah finally hcmdnd

Idk much abt these trainers actually but I do love their dynamic so I'm keeping that hahah, just gon give Florian an actual personality, but I also want him to be like that Jack of all trades kinda guy where he does know a lot of things and it surprises everyone else that he kinda knows a lot. I wanna say that Penny and Florian are around 14 at most while Arven and Nemona are around 15-16

But yeah Florian, the kinda guy that knows a lot but also pretends he doesn't bc he doesn't want people to bother him that much. Not to say he's a mean spirited kid, more like he just doesn't want people to rely on him so much so he stays quiet whenever he can. Basically just embodies Burr's line in Hamilton being "talk less, smile more"

For their teams

Florian - Skeledirge, Garganacl, Roaring Moon, Tinkaton, Koraidon

Nemona - her canon team w Meowscarada as the ace

Penny - her canon team

Arven - his canon team

[mala-sadas]

On the Legendary Wolves’ Plot in Pokéspe SWSH

I really like the way the legendary wolves’ plot is being handled in Pokespe so far. They’ve made a handful of changes and additions to the plot as it’s presented in the games that make it feel integral to the main characters and the overarching story, as well as just being more interesting to follow.

Part of the reason why this plotline is weak in the games is because it’s presented as just a minor subplot. You occasionally get more information about what really happened as you progress through the game, but it doesn’t seem important for you to pay attention to it until you get to the climax and Rose reveals that he’s caused the Darkest Day. Even though you encounter Zacian or Zamazenta in the Slumbering Weald at the beginning of the game, it’s not until Circhester that Hop connects that encounter to the legend you’re unraveling. And in the grand scheme of things, all that encounter does is confirm that the sword and shield Pokémon live in the Slumbering Weald - which Sonia apparently also learns about in a book that mentions Zacian and Zamazenta by name. So, why was it necessary, again?

But right out of the gate, Spe immediately ties the legendary wolves into the main characters’ backstory and motivations. A year prior to the beginning of the chapter, Sou goes to the Slumbering Weald to try to find the Rusted Sword and Rusted Shield. He knows about them – and has an interest in them – because he’s from a family of swordsmiths, and he wants to see genuine, historical pieces of armor in person. Meanwhile, Schilly goes to the Weald to look for a Wishing Star that she had seen falling, since she wants to get it made into a Dynamax Band. The pair encounter the illusory Zacian and Zamazenta, and Sou immediately comes to the conclusion that these two are here to protect the Rusted Sword and Rusted Shield – a conclusion supported by the fact that when they walk through the illusions to try to take a look at the artifacts, they’re knocked out by a flash of light. When they awaken, the Rusted Sword and Rusted Shield are gone - as are all of Schilly’s Pokémon. Sou decides to start traveling with Schilly because he feels partly responsible for her Pokémon going missing, and Schilly decides to compete in the Gym Challenge to spread the word about her missing Pokémon and make it easier for her to find them. Additionally, it’s later revealed that Sou decided to participate in the Gym Challenge so he can get stronger and challenge Zacian and Zamazenta to a battle, believing that they’ll only allow someone with skill as a Trainer and an earnest desire to see the Rusted Sword and Rusted Shield to see the artifacts in person.

So, in short, the reason why Sou and Schilly met and their respective reasons for taking on the Gym Challenge are both intrinsically linked to their encounter with the legendary wolves. This makes the wolves’ presence relevant throughout the whole story, ensuring that the reader doesn’t forget about the encounter by the time it becomes relevant again. (I also appreciate that they gave the wolves a concrete reason to appear before the protags in the Weald, something which the games and anime never really bothered to provide.)

Additionally, the decision to introduce the Rusted Sword and Rusted Shield right away instead of saving their introduction for the climax like what happens in the games was a really smart choice. First, it ties directly into Sou’s interests, giving him a good reason to be interested in the Rusted Sword and Rusted Shield as well as the other legends involving swords and shields. Second, it allows the characters to link together the encounter with Zacian and Zamazenta to the information they’re learning about the legends - Sou observes that the sword and shield held by the statue of the hero in Motostoke as well as the sword and shield depicted on the Hammerlocke tapestries resemble the Rusted Sword and Rusted Shield, suggesting that the legends have a connection to the artifacts. And when I say “suggesting”, I don’t just mean in the sense that it’s something you can interpolate from the text. I mean that Sou literally says, “It’s not entirely unlikely that the three are all the same,” and Raihan brings up later that if they’re the same sword and shield, the legendary wolves may be connected to these events in some way as well.

This is another thing that I really appreciate about the way that Pokéspe is handling this plotline: the characters actually speculate, hypothesize, and draw conclusions about the evidence that they’re being presented with. In the games, most of the encounters with Sonia just involve you pointing out incredibly obvious things about the historical artifact/legend, and Sonia agreeing that they’re significant. She asks a lot of questions, but doesn’t postulate answers to them unless they’re directly being shown to you. And even some of the conclusions she draws seem like leaps of logic, like when she assumes that the statue behind the Stow-on-Side mural must be correct because it was made in “truly ancient times” - like, we just discovered this statue, Sonia. We have no idea how old it is.

But in Spe, the characters draw logical conclusions from the information they have, which means they can figure things out a lot faster than they do in the games and makes the conversation interesting to read whenever they learn new information. For example, Sou speculates that the sword and shield wielded by the hero might’ve had special powers, which is true. How did he figure this out? He explains that he thought about it because the hero used them to fight giant, rampaging Pokémon, which is a bit difficult to accomplish with a normal sword and shield.

Another great example of this is in Hammerlocke vault, when Sou guesses that Chairman Rose wants to cause the Darkest Day. One might think that he’s figuring things out way too quickly, but the thing is, this conclusion makes perfect sense given the information he has. While looking at the tapestries, Sou notices that the first one depicts a Wishing Star falling and the second one depicts the Darkest Day occurring. Thus, he guesses that Wishing Stars might have caused the Darkest Day, a hypothesis that Sonia agrees with because they’ve already figured out that the Darkest Day has a connection to Dynamaxing, and Wishing Stars cause Dynamaxing. But Sou had previously learned from Bede that Chairman Rose is collecting a massive amount of Wishing Stars, so it’s only natural that his next thought would be to wonder if Chairman Rose is - advertently or inadvertently - going to cause the Darkest Day again. This immediately ties the Rose plot in with the legendary wolves’ plot, a connection that doesn’t start to be made until your third visit to Hammerlocke in the games.

In general, the Hammerlocke vault scene is way better in Spe than it is in the games, where all you get is Sonia saying that the disaster depicted is probably the Darkest Day and wondering if there was one hero or two. Besides the conclusions that I already mentioned, Sonia also connects the disaster shown in the tapestries to the disaster shown in the Turffield geoglyph, concluding that they’re both depictions of the Darkest Day. However, Sou points out the lack of giant Pokémon in the tapestries, which are always associated with the Darkest Day. I really like how they point out both the similarities and the differing details between the stories, which makes it a little more understandable why no one has ever put together that this myth of the creation of Galar and the legend of the Darkest Day might be referring to the same event.

Finally, the last major improvement that I want to talk about is the one that was introduced in the latest chapter: an explanation for why the legendary wolves’ existence was lost from the legends. The destruction of the Stow-on-Side mural happens offscreen in this story, which is kind of understandable - the main significance of this statue in the games was to introduce the concept of Pokémon being involved in the legend, which Sou, Sonia, and Raihan had already figured out. This statue holds a completely different significance here: when Sonia is telling the protagonists about the newly discovered ruins, she says that she thinks the mural was put up by someone who wanted to deliberately hide the two Pokémon from the legend, giving all the credit to the humans. She points out the tapestry at Bob’s Your Uncle as further proof of this, which - given its condition - looks like someone threw it away so it would disappear from history. 

I don’t believe that the games ever explain how the tapestry ended up in the restaurant, so the fact that it’s given any sort of context here is really neat. But more importantly than that, it’s really interesting that they’re stating outright that the legendary wolves were deliberately removed from the legend. In the games, Sonia wonders why the ruins at Stow-on-Side would be hidden, but doesn’t offer an explanation - she doesn’t even say anything to suggest that it was done intentionally. The question is never brought up again. So I’m really hoping that Spe won’t go that route, and this revelation will have broader implications in the story next chapter or even later - that we’re going to find out who covered it up, or possibly that someone in the present day knows about the cover-up and is willingly propagating it. The immediate assumption is that it’ll be connected to Sordward and Shielbert in some way, since they benefit from the legend being that their ancestors were the heroes who saved Galar. But I think it could also be interesting if we find out that Rose knew about the statue and is deliberately trying to keep the existence of the sword and shield Pokémon covered up - it’d make a lot of sense why he was so unforgiving to Bede for trying to destroy the mural if that were true. Either way, I’m excited to see where they take this concept.

tl;dr The way Pokéspe has been handling the plot points related to the legendary wolves has been really good so far, much better than it was in the games, and I’m very excited to see how it develops going forward!

[alizardjae]

Pokespe Japanese to English comparison readthrough

Volume 1- Chapter 1

-Introduction

Hey, all! Decided to take a look at the differences between the original script for Pokespe’s volumes and their official English translations! I know basic Japanese (2 semesters of college) and English is my first language, so we’ll see how far that takes me! I’ll probably add my own little commentary on the chapter throughout.

Note that this comparison will not have pictures, as I am physically unable to take clear pictures with one hand holding my phone or camera and the other holding open the manga, and I lack a scanner.

If you have feedback on how I can make these posts better, please let me know!

This first post will have both a quick look at the covers, as well as a comparison summary for the first chapter.

Volume 1- Covers

For whatever reason, the art used for the front and back covers is flipped between the Japanese and English volumes, and Pika is further away from Red on the English version’s back illustration than on the Japanese version’s front cover illustration. The color and pattern on the background are also different; Jp version is red, with slightly lighter red silhouettes of various Pokemon, while the En version is light blue with small lighter blue squares dotted around.

The blurb on the back is radically different; the Jp version gives a little blurb about the manga being an original story loosely based on the game and then a bit of copy describing Red as a Pokemon-loving kid who’s gonna do his best to become a great trainer. En version more specifically notes Red’s first three Pokemon, and then mentions Team Rocket (in italics!).

    Round 1: Vs Mew/ A Glimpse of the Glow

Right away we get to see that Viz has changed the title style for the chapters away from the Vs [pokemon] pattern to a style more commonly used for chapter titles... a quick summary or pun.

Interesingly, Viz not giving nicknames to Red’s Pokemon, at least in volume 1 is... not a mistake! Red doesn’t start calling his Pokemon by nicknames in the Japanese version until volume 2, with no explanation given!

For some reason, Viz always reverses any ?! to !?

Red, in his narration on page 8 goes super arrogant and calls himself kono Red-sama, which is something like “I, the amazing Red”, and later uses ore-sama when talking to his Pallet Town friends (though he used ore by itself earlier on, which is more typical for shounen protagonists) he seems to switch between ore and ore-sama depending on whether he’s just talking or specifically boasting. Kono Red-sama comes back when he declares his intent to search for Mew after hearing about it from Team Rocket. So yeah, he’s an arrogant little brat, isn’t he?

Kinda neat that Green studying away from Kanto for several years prior to the series -a reason for him and Red not to know each other- came back later on.

MATO always gives Green really pretty eyelashes...

And Green’s little speech about knowing your own limitations also comes back later! Waaaaaayyyyy later. Almost 20 years later, in fact!

The sign outside of Oak’s lab looks handwritten in the Japanese version, but is clearly typed in the English version.

The characters, sans Green, all use a very casual way of speaking in the English version, lots of shortened and contracted words (’cause, d’you, ‘o, etc) and such. Not a bad way to translate a bunch of pre-teens talking with each other, honestly.

Character personal pronouns:

Red- Ore (usual), ore-sama (bragging), kono ore-sama (boasting)

Green- Ore

Not a huge amount of differences this chapter, just Red being more obviously arrogant -which is harder to pull off naturally in English, due to our fewer ways of self-address- and a few typesetting differences. You win this round, Viz...

Check in next time, which will be whenever I have the energy, for more comparisons~

[liya4kar]

Liyada’s Pokespe AU Masterpost

I decided to do a Pokespe AU Masterpost because I have a lot of them and unfortunately never get to speak of them with anyone because nobody knows them. And doing a master post with also help me to actually keep track of all of them.

I’ll also probably do one post for the more developed AU where I can develop them fully, as I’ll try to keep this post short.

If you want to send me an ask about any of them, please do! I’d love to speak of them more~ If you want to know more about a character in an AU, or how some events happen, I will love to answer you!

Also, every work relate to those AU will be tag on my blog, you can find the tag name at the beginning of each AU, as well as the related fics if there are any!

Summary:

The Magical Dexholders AU

The Magical Pokémons AU

Humans Gods AU Number 1

Humans Gods AU Number 2

Kagepro AU Number 1

Kagepro AU Number 2

Kagepro AU Number 3 (Though the only link between this AU and Kagepro is the idea behind Ene)

Yorozuya no Lack-Chan AU

Legendary Dexholders AU

Blond Family AU

One Piece AU

Natural Spirits AU

Ducktales AU

1. The Magical Dexholders (Will have a special post)

(Fic for it: The Magical Dexholders)

Tag: #The Magical Dexholder AU

A canon-compliant AU, where all the canons adventure has already taken place, and when a new adventure arises. Except that this time it’s not an Evil Team but the Darkness Force of the Evil that is so Bad that They stole the Snack of a Four Years Old Child, and that the Dexholders are not fighting with their Pokémons but with their Magical Powers they obtained from some random strange sassy colorful creatures, and they fight with the power of Friendship, Anime, and Protagonist on their side.

Aka a total self-compliant Magical Girl AU where I put whatever strange idea I have. 

In this AU, you can find:

Sassy little creatures

Characters being dumb

Diamond and Silver bonding over their passion for Proteam Omega while fighting The Darkness of the Evil that is blabla Snack of a Child blabla.

Blue and Yellow kicking ass.

Hippie Celebi (oops this one is a spoiler)

Not all the characters are Magical Holders right now but they will all appear up to Sun and Moon at least. Maybe SWSH if I or someone finds a way to incorporate them. (Though if you ask for the destiny of any specific character of this AU in an ask, I’ll surely answer!)

Some people bonding over their friends being dumb (Or how Pearl, Green, Crystal, and Y ended up in a group chat with a Satanic God) (Ooops Spoiler again)

2. The Magical Pokémons (Will have a special post)

Tag: #Spe Magical Pokémons AU

This AU, though created before the Magical Dexholders, is actually linked to the Magical Dexholders. Technically, they happen in the same setting and meet at one point. But of course, when I wanted to write a fic for it alongside the Dexholders, I realized I actually have no time to write it! Ahah-

Basically, still a Magical Girl AU, still a parodical AU where the only goal is to have fun and laugh, but this time it’s not the Dexholders that are the Magical Boys or Girls but their Pokémons! Well, not all of them. Two per Dexholders. Do you realize how complicated it’s to manage all the DH? So all their Pokémons? No way- So only two Pokémons per DH.

Warning, this AU happen before Black was released from the Light Stone. But Sun and Moon are already out of the Ultra-Dimension. Respecting the timeline? It’s my AU I do what I want. (Mainly cause this AU was created back in 2018 actually)

In this AU, you can find:

Pokémons doing dumb sh*t when their trainers are not in sight.

Black being the only humans having powers because he was in the Light Stone when Reshiram received powers, and now he can sometimes go out of the Light Stone when the situation is desperate enough.

Also when Black activates his power he wears a white wedding dress.

Yellow also joining sometimes?

3. Human Gods AU Number 1

Tag: #Spe Human Gods AU Number 1

I always found weird there were only Pokémon Gods in the Pokémon Universe. So what did I do? I created not only one, but two Humans God AU! And here we go for the first.

So. Once Upon a Time, there were Human Gods. But they were not really nice. Actually, they wanted to destroy all the Pokémon Gods and to at best, reduce Pokémons as slaves, at worst killing them all. Of course, the Pokémons Gods did not agree, and after a (little) war, the Humans Gods were sealed by the Pokémons Gods and erased of mainstream history. But of course, things are not that easy, Humans Gods still have secret followers and are planing for their return.

Centuries later, when those followers are finally close to getting back their Gods and need to steal some old parchments for that, they are noticed by Cynthia who asked the help of the Sinnoh Trio. Of course, nothing works like expected, and when the Human Gods finally break their seal, they need bodies to reincarnate in and it’s really convenient that Diamond and Platinum are just right there. Now, the Humans Gods free and ready to put their reign of terror in place, it’s up to Pearl (who saw his best friends lovers possessed in front of him yeah!), the other DH, and the (for once) united army of the Pokémon Gods to stop them before it’s too late. Oh, and also maybe get Diamond and Platinum back.

In this AU you can find:

AnGsT

Entourageshipping

Epic fights

I mean there are powerful Gods so EPIC FIGHTS

Even more angst

Maybe Major Character Death. To see.

Development of Pokémons and Humans relationship

Did I mention Angst?

4. Human Gods AU Number 2 (Will have a special post)

Tag: #Spe Humans Gods AU Number 2

And yeah, there is a Number 2- They are not the only AU that ends to have several versions of it at the end.

So. Basically, like in the previous AUs, thousands of years ago there was a war between the Pokémons and Humans Gods, each other judging the other being invasive and dangerous to the other being. Normal Humans and Gods also participate in this war. But on both sides, some start to lose faith in this conflict and believe that cohabitation is possible. Things become more complicated when Gods from both factions start to bond. Together, they decide to end the was so everyone can live peacefully together. If the Pokémons Gods accept it pretty well, the Humans ones don’t, especially after one of the most vehement deity simulated a Pokémon attack, and they decide to end the war by using a magical machine to destroy the Pokémons Gods (the one used in the Kalos war is a less-powerful derivate of it).

 As the Humans Gods working for the peace don’t have much time left before the arms use, they take an extreme measure and seal their fellow Gods to the price of their own life. The Pokémons Gods then decided to end the war and to let the Pokémons and Humans live together without interfering with them anymore. They also used a bit of their power to grant the last wish of the Humans Gods who sacrificed themselves, who wanted to see a world where everyone can cohabitate. The said Humans Gods, no longer Gods, reincarnate as normal Humans once in while, still having a little fragment of their powers, 

Thousands of years later, the seal finally breaks, and the Humans Gods come out, some planing their revenge, some wanting to see how the world has evolved in their absence before taking a decision. Obviously, the DH gets involved. Either by meeting the gods and decide to help or fight them depending on the situation or by being one of the reincarnated Gods themselves.

What do you find in this AU:

Angst, surely

Some DH in God versions with cool designs

Human and Pokémon relationship development

Lore created from crap by me, with some inspiration from the real world but with also a lot of invented stuff, because hey it’s my AU and I do what I want

Magic. Everywhere.

5. Kagepro AU Number 1 (Aka the Fidel to the Kagepro Plot)

Tag: #Liya’s Spe Kagepro AU 1

I used to be in Kagepro a lot last, so OF COURSE, I ended doing an AU of it. Wait, not only one actually- I’ll list them by “How close to the Kagepro plot they are”.

So, in this first one, it’s basically “We replace the Kagepro characters with Pokespe characters”, though some things change, depending on the personality of the chosen characters. But they still have the same powers as the originals Kagepro cast.

Here the main cast!

Red as Ayano

Green as Shintaro

Blue as Takane/Ene

Yellow as Haruka/Konoha

Prof Oak as Kenjiirou (Ayano’s father)

Platinum as Kido Tsubomi

Diamond as Seto Kyousuke

Pearl as Kano Shuuya

White as Momo

Whi-Two as Mary

X as Hibiya

Y as Hiyori

What you can find in this AU:

Angst, I missed you!

Family relationship between several characters because ships are great, family is better.

Major Character Deaths. Like, they all die at some point but come back to life because of time loops reason!

Damn, there is so much angst possible with this one.

6. Kagepro AU Number 2 (Aka I take a lot of liberty from the original plot but you can still see the Kagepro influence) (Will have a post)

Tag: #Liya’s Kagepro AU 2

So... How to explain this one... 

It’s my most developed Kagepro AU, and so my more complex one. Too complex to even summarize it in this post (I try and stop when it became longuer than all the previous AUs combined ahah-), it’s why it’ll be the first one to have its post. Please be patient, I’ll link it as soon that I'll post it!

It also follows the canon, though some events/characters interactions change.

What can you find in this AU:

Angst, to change

Four DHs that are not all related being a found family because I can.

Major Characters Deaths. Once again.

Friendships too. Friendships are great.

7. Kagepro AU Number 3 (aka there is nearly no link to Kagepro by this point)

Tag: #Liya’s Spe Kagepro AU 3

So. In Kagepro, I always loved Ene. And all the angst include by everyone believing you are dead while you are transformed into a virus/computer program.

So basically, there is a crazy scientist organization that is doing all sorts of experiments on humans, to get immortality. Those experiments are killing nearly all the people who go through them, the rare survivors being broken beyond repair and not immortal at all. If they took random people at first, they end up taking more different people, from all backgrounds with all kinds of lives, to see if there is any difference. They tend to socially isolate their prospect guinea pigs before simulating their death in an accident.

One of this experience include separating the soul from the body: they transform the brains data into informatical data and transfer it in a computer. Like any of their experiments, there is a lot of death. But for once, it succeeds, and they end up with one person with their body in a coma while their “soul” is on a computer. Thrilled by this success, they do other attempts and end up with two other survivors. All of them are determined and stubborn people who have some people they hold dear to see again. At some point, the organization decides to try to kill the bodies to see if the informatical data stay, and the three of them decide to run away on the Internet, so the scientists can’t try this new experiment. They change of appearance, name, and end up in the computer of the BW Agency, and after some misunderstood, end up working for them.

White is glad to have three artificial intelligence helping with her work, she did not remember her software supplier having programs that powerful.

On the meanwhile, Pearl, Shauna, and Green are glad to not be experiments anymore, nor do they mind helping White with her work, though they would like to get their bodies back one day.

And far from the Agency, Platinum, Blue, and X, after a rather strange meeting, end up investigating their friends' mysterious deaths of their friends with the help of Lack-Two.

What do you find in this AU:

When was the last time I saw you; Angst?

Pearl, Shauna, and Green are doing shenanigans. And also end being close friends/found family?

White is also joining them in shenanigans

Funny and light with White and the three “Yes yes we are AI, absolutely not humans!” while the others are more on a dark, crime movie atmosphere

Also, some characters don’t cope well with their friends' deaths

Do we tag Major Character Deaths when someone believes someone else is dead even if it’s not the case and that the reader knows it?

8. Yorozuya no Lack-chan AU

Fics for it: Dogwalker Lack and The Begining of Yorozuya no Lack-Chan

Tag #Yorozuya no Lack-chan AU

Got a drabble request once and ended up doing a whole AU of it because meh why not? Like you can say with the title, it is somehow Gintama inspired.

So basically, at the end of BW2 Lack-two got fired from the International Police and start doing odd jobs for a living. He even created an agency for it, who do any work from you as long that you pay. He even has two employees, who he doesn’t really pay, aka Whi-Two and X. Yeah.

What do you find in this AU:

Furry Neko Sun

Characters being dumb

Do you wanna laugh?

Characters doing odd jobs

9. Legendary Dexholders AU (Will do a post about this one)

Fic for it: Giratina

Tag: #Legendary Dexholders AU

Being an immortal god can be boring after a few thousand years, especially when nothing had happened for a while. And one of the advantages of being a God is to left a copy of yourself while you are wandering around in a human body.

Aka several Legendaries Pokémons decide to just reincarnate in humans and, of course, they had to end up becoming Dexholders and have a complicated life. Well, at least they did not have that much fun since the last drinking contest between Kyogre and Lugia five hundred years ago.

What do you find in this AU:

An AU firstly created to be funny but the only fic I wrote about it ended up being a character study fic

But at the end, the Legendaries Pokémons are just doing shenanigans

Arceus is so done with them

Also feature mainly the main Sinnoh Legendaries Pokémons because I love them but there are also a few others

10. Blonde Family AU

Fics about it: Don't listen to others confessions or you'll end as responsible as them and To be a Cousin

Tag: #Spe Blonde Family AU

What if several blonde characters were related? Aka the AUs where Yellow, Pearl, Bianca, and Y are all cousins, and Emerald is the son of Palmer but neither Em nor Palmet know it until Ruby and Sapphire decide to investigate what happened to Emerald’s parents.

In this AU, you find:

Yellow, Pearl, Bianca, and Y are cousins, pretty close to each other, but when they see each other it usually ends up in a catastrophe

Emerald could not care less about his father because he has a found family but Ruby and Sapphire still decide to investigate (notably to kick their b*** if one of them is still alive and abandoned Emerald).

To Palmer’s defense, it was an adventure before he met Pearl’s mother, and Emerald’s mom ran away without telling him she was pregnant

Either cousins doing dumb cousins stuff together or Ruby and Sapphire going on a hunt to kick Palmer’s a** while Em and Pearl look and eat popcorns.

11. One Piece AU

Fic about it: Bonding on the Grand Line

Tag: #Liya’s Spe One Piece AU

With this AU, we arrive in the AUs that don’t take place in the canon world! The other AUs where all somehow link to the canon world and the canon adventures of the DH, except for the Kagepro number 1. But starting from this one, they all take place in other worlds!

This AU was created for the Pirate Summer Event of the Pokespe Art Community Discord and but I like it so I’ll probably write more about it if I find time to.

So basically, your One Piece AU, that happened 20 years before the death of Gold Roger (so 40 years before Luffy & Co.). To protect his best friends, Pearl ends up becoming a pirate, captain of his own crew (with the Sinnoh Gym Leaders!). And being a pirate on the Grand Line is not always easy.

What do you find in this AU:

Pearl's and Cheren's friendship. I’d die for it.

Pearl, Cheren, and the Sinnohan and Unovan Gym Leaders doing shenanigans

But also a bit of angst because hey, you know me now

Also other characters but I need to plan more their role in this AU

12. Natural Spirits AU (there will be definitely a post about this one)

Tag: Spe Natural Spirits AU

There are two beings on Earth: Humans and Natural Spirits, magical beings close to nature, each one of them being connected to a natural concept. The Natural Spirits stay hide in their cities, with only a few humans knowing their existence, and tend to despise the humans, destroying the planets at a ridiculous rate. But the Natural Spirits society is complicated, and as the human society, is far from perfect.

X, a prodigy Spirits, can’t take the pressure anymore and isolate himself far from his city, near the human town. Whi-Two, another Spirit, have a strange fascination for the humans but never go through the forest and the human town frontier. Until the day when they each meet one human, and befriend them, despite the warnings they had heard since they were children. Hiding that they are not humans, they end up joining their two new friends to a rather strange place call High-school. 

Pearl and Sapphire have rather normal lives. School, homework, friends... But since they met two new people in the forest, things start to become more interesting. Especially with the wave of people trying to take over the world... Wait, what?

What do you find in this AU:

A friendship between four characters who never met in the canon

But all the other DHs and several secondary characters have their roles

And some of them are also Natural Spirits

High-school life

Magic too

Both Humans and Spirits teams trying to take over the world and the four friends had to stop them every time

Also, the Natural Spirits society is like humans one, very far from perfect

Secret identity problems like hiding to your human friends that you can actually speak to mushrooms.

13. Ducktales AU (Will have a post because there is so much to say about this one)

Tag: Spe Ducktales AU

Ducktales, Woo-Ooo!

I love Ducktales. I have been hyperobsessing on it recently, so of course, I had to make an AU out of it! Special thanks to Vex who supported my random brainstorming in her DMs.

So... Basically, once upon a time, the richest Duck of the world, Prof McWak, had four grandchildren, two pairs of siblings: Green and Blue, and Red and Yellow. Like any normal family, on their weekends they used to go on ancient temples with deadly traps and fight monsters to get new treasures. When Prof McWak died, the four cousins, now young adults, continue to go on adventures, while Red, Yellow, and Green found their own families. But everything ends one day when, following some disastrous event, Yellow disappears, more likely to be dead. The three left cousins argue and end up splitting up, Blue founding her own company, Green becoming the CEO of their grandfather empire, and Red leaving with his new-hatched son and Yellow’s egg, never contacting his cousins again.

Ten years later, Diamond and Pearl, two cousins who grew up as brothers, accidentally break into the infamous McWak Enterprise CEO manor and met his oldest daughter, Platinum. After she brought them in a self-proclaimed adventure, when the trio became good friends, they have the surprise to find that first, Diamond’s Dad/Pearl’s “Uncle” Red and Platinum’s Father Green are actually cousins and that since they blew up Red’s houseboat during their adventures, they now get to live in the McWak Manor.

What happens next is history.

What do you find in this AU:

The Kanto quartet, the Sinnoh Trio, and Moon being all relatives because FAMILY TROPE YEAH

Pearl and chibi sassy Moon investigating Yellow’s disappearance

Family, Humor, Adventures, Angst AU

Red and Green need to learn how to communicate

Also, Sinnoh Trio adventures because those three are too precious

It’s all for the moment! I’ll probably add more AUs as I’ll inevitably create more. Thank you for reading this AU Masterpost!

[bubblytarts]

What about the rivals and friends in the Emissary Au? What are their stories?

Anon you’ve made me very happy for asking about my au *simp eyes emoji*

And oops, it has a lot of characters in it. Hope you don’t mind this going under the cut!

The stories and goals of protagonists, rivals, and other friends:

Red - As stated in a previous post, Red wants to go on a journey through the Kanto region. He would like to be friends with both Blue and Green, but they both seem to be fighting off his advances. While he originally elects to ignore Team Rocket, he can’t stand by once they start hurting Pokemon. (His starter is Charmander)

Blue - Blue wants to prove to his Gramps that he can be the strongest trainer ever. He and Red used to be friends, but Blue’s bluntness pushed the two of them apart. He sees Red as the only obstacle between him and greatness. Not so fun fact is that his greatest fear is ghosts - including ghost types. (His starter is Squirtle)

Green - Taking inspiration from pokespe, Green is a thief. She knows it’s wrong to steal, but doesn’t mind doing it in order to keep her head above water. She makes off with the last starter from Oak’s lab, and later runs into Red and Blue when she steals from them. While she seems open to being friends with Red, Blue gets on her nerves. (Her starter is Bulbasaur)

Ethan - Ethan wants to become the strongest trainer who ever lived. His goal is to beat Lance and become Champion, and then challenge Kanto after that. He gets caught up in Team Rocket not because of justice, but because Proton criticizes his battle skills. (His starter is Cyndaquil)

Lyra - Lyra originally just follows Ethan to help get an egg for Professor Elm, but then sticks with Ethan in order to raise Togepi herself and also to make sure Ethan doesn’t get himself killed. She ends up getting separated from Ethan and Silver when she decides to help Eusine hunt for Suicune, which rapidly goes wrong. (Her starter is Chikorita)

Silver - Silver, like Green, steals his starter. His goal is to stop Team Rocket at any cost. He reluctantly teams up with Ethan and Lyra at the Goldenrod Radio Tower, and gets dragged along. He’s reluctant to become Ethan’s friend, but even more reluctant to tell him why he hates Team Rocket so much. Silver also hates how Ethan has absolutely zero strategy in battle, and it gets them into many arguments. (His starter is Totodile)

Brendan - Brendan originally starts challenging the gyms to prove to his dad that’s he’s strong. But as time passes, Brendan realizes that Hoenn isn’t perfect, and through talking with Steven, decides that he’s going to become champion so he can make the world a better place for both people and pokemon. He also primarily fights Team Magma, and in the Battle of Sootopolis, fights with Maxie. (His starter is Treeko)

May - May is Birch’s daughter, and immediately inserts herself as Brendan’s new best friend. She travels with Brendan because Birch can’t handle her raw, chaotic energy. May has no idea what she wants to do when she grows up, but she’s okay with that. She’s more about enjoying the experience. In the Battle of Sootopolis, she fights with Archie, which is a much more dangerous fight than Brendan’s fight with Maxie. (Her starter is Mudkip)

Lucas - Lucas is Rowan’s assistant. He’s a bit uptight, and doesn’t appreciate Dawn and Barry’s antics. Originally, he was sent on a fetch quest by Rowan and Dawn’s mother to find her after she ran away from home, but then decides to play tour guide to help Dawn live her life the way she wants to. (His starter is Chimchar)

Dawn - Dawn’s mother is very rich, and very overprotective. Overprotective to the point that she’s having the family move to Kanto so Dawn can’t go on her journey around Sinnoh. So, she runs away from home with her friend Barry after stealing from Rowan on accident. Cynthia convinces her to actually try to make something of her journey, and Dawn gains a lot of confidence as she fights the gyms and Team Galactic. (Her starter is Piplup)

Barry - Barry convinces Dawn to run away from home. He wants to rush through all the gyms to get strong enough to fight his dad, but Dawn convinces him to slow down and enjoy the journey. According to his list of fines, Team Galactic should file for bankruptcy. (His starter is Turtwig)

Hilbert - He’s a genius. Hilbert is an excelling student, but has more of an interest in staying a kid than learning to be a businessman or politician. He goes on his journey with his twin sister, Hilda, and friends Cheren and Bianca. He’s also the first one of the group to trust N despite being the King of Team Plasma. Hilbert ends up becoming the champion of Unova, but ultimately meets a terrible fate. (His starter is Oshawott)

Hilda - If Hilbert’s the brains, Hilda’s the brawn. She’s very driven, and is striving to become an entrepreneur. But of what, she’s not sure yet. She also is very accepting of N, and realizes that he doesn’t quite realize how little power he has in his situation. After the defeat of Team Plasma when Hilbert goes missing, Hilda is the one to recruit Rosa and Nate to help find him. (Her starter is Tepig)

N - The King of Team Plasma. N asks the twins to join the team, and is slightly disappointed when they refuse, because they seem like nice people. That being said, N doesn’t get along very well with Cheren. Over time, he starts to realize that maybe Hilbert and Hilda are better people than his father. Once Hilbert goes missing, N goes into hiding to avoid being the next victim, all while searching for his best friend. 

Nate - Nate wants to be the new champion. Or at least, he thought he did. As Nate and his friend Rosa are forced to help Hilda fight off Neo Team Plasma, Nate realizes that battling isn’t really for him. Instead, he finds that he enjoys pretending to be someone else for stealth missions, and that translates afterwards to a love of acting. (His starter is Tepig)

Rosa - Rosa wanted a cute pokemon and to travel with her best friend. She didn’t mean to meet N, or later Hilda, or get caught up in Neo Team Plasma’s plot. But she finds that she’s a rather good leader. Plus, there’s Colress, who seems to be pulling the strings on the opposing side, yet doesn’t seem to believe in their goals himself. Rosa is the only one on her side to consider that Colress could be a hero if he tried - however, he disagrees. (Her starter is Snivy)

Calem - Calem has amnesia. That’s the problem with him trying to tell his story. Calem woke up passed out on the steps of Sycamore’s lab with Serena and Shauna staring at him. He accompanies them on their journey hoping that traveling Kalos will trigger his memories to return. All he remembers is that he needs to tell the professor something important. Maybe it has something to do with his irrational hatred for Team Flare. (His starter is Froakie)

Serena - Serena wants to be champion. She planned on traveling the region with her best friend, only to get two extra passengers. Calem, who is contributing nothing to her journey, and Victor, who wants to take photos of everyone but her. Over time though, Serena comes to appreciate both of them as her close group of friends - and Victor maybe more than friends. But Team Flare is awfully suspicious, and a passionate person like Serena isn’t going to let them get away with whatever they’re planning. (Her starter is Fennekin)

Shauna - Shauna, on the other hand, loves her new friends. She’s ready to make memories with Serena and the others, but is also one of the first to realize that maybe there’s a reason Calem showed up right when Team Flare really started to bother the region. (Her starter is Chespin)

Elio - Elio has always lived in Alola, and is thrilled to be hosting Selene for the summer. While they both start the Island Challenge, Elio quickly gets sidetracked by worrying about Team Skull and forming a rivalry at first sight with Gladion. Elio is much more interested in working under Nanu and getting him to arrest the gang members. He quickly realizes that won’t happen. (His starter is Litten)

Selene - Selene is Dawn’s younger sister. Dawn managed to stay in Sinnoh, but Selene was forced to move to Kanto. She convinced her mother to let her spend a summer in Alola with Elio and his mother, and then of course found a loophole with Kukui to go on her Island Challenge. Selene spends lots of time with Hau and Lillie, and also helps to convince Guzma that Lusamine is not going to provide him with the help she’s promising. (Her starter is Rowlett)

Victor - Victor actually makes his debut in Kalos. He’s a photographer trying to photograph famous people in the region, and follows the Kalos party in order to best find the gym leaders. Along the way, he falls in love with Serena, and when he heads back to Galar, she gives him a present that sets in motion the future. During his sister’s Gym Challenge, Rose recruits Victor to be his and Leon’s personal photographer, which puts Victor in incredible danger - even if Rose doesn’t realize quite how much power Victor brought from Kalos. 

Gloria - A feisty trainer ready to take on the Gym Challenge and Leon. She feels like something isn’t quite right in Galar, and willing to work with Sonia to figure it out, but not if it gets in the way of her training. Along the way, she becomes good friends with Marnie, and has a friendly rivalry with Bede. She may also have a slight crush on Hop, but that’s not her biggest worry. (Her starter is Sobble)

Hop - Hop has always wanted to challenge his brother, and doing it with Gloria by his side is perfect. However, as he continues to lose to his rival and fall behind, he loses confidence. It takes saving Leon and the world to make Hop believe in himself again. (His starter is Scorbunny)

In addition, there’s a little girl. She has a large straw hat and a Pikachu. She appears all across the regions, talking about things that have happened, and things that are yet to come. She seems kind, but perhaps she knows more than she lets on. If so, some terrible predictions may come to pass, but the return of old foes? That’s not possible, right?

[moonkxssed]

🔮 🔥 HMmmm 🤔?

Mun talks about the Muse|| Accepting! 

🔮 What do you see in your muse’s future?

//Welcome back it’s lovely to see you again!!

For Selene’s future…honestly, I want to see her have more growth in her character. She’s got a lot of habits, while good in intention, that could get her in trouble–like her selflessness and struggle to rely on others. I want to see her deepen bonds with friends/make more deep bonds and learn to accept her limits. 

I do see her making a somewhat difficult choice for herself–leaving the Championship behind for a bit to go find herself–ironically just like her idol (Red) did. But as for whether she’ll come back to the throne or leave it? I want to leave that up to the bonds she forges because on one hand, while Selene doesn’t like feeling tied down, she’s a great fit for the role of Champion (despite how she feels like she’s not as fit as other Champions at the moment). On the other hand, while it was her childhood dream to get the title of Champion, the most fun part of being a trainer to her is the part she misses most in her main verse–adventuring and feeling free. She’ll ALWAYS be a trainer and participating in tournaments and the like, but she also has other passions she realizes she’s good at which could be something she wants to pursue more than being a trainer. 

I’m rambling but I also want to get more into her being a faller–while I’ve delved into the effects of it all, I want to resolve over time and rp/plotting if she’s gonna live with this forever (and if there are any latent benefits) or if there’s gonna be a way to counter it. I’ve been leaning towards the former because a hero suffering negative effects from their heroics is something I like to see developed–it’s tough being a hero and that’s something that inspired me with her character, being that the gen 7 protag is relied on to do SO MUCH. (But that’s the life of all protags). 

WOAH THAT’S A LOT

🔥 Unpopular opinion about your muse?

//Dhfkdhfh this is a tough one, I feel like much of the fandom favors an entirely different characterization of my gal than I write; though for protagonists, there’s limited information to go off of so it’s almost entirely subjective what one breathes into them. (That’s the fun part to me!!) One of the biggest things I’m not popular in is that, I don’t really take to the name Moon. (To me it’s better suited as a nickname)  I really loved the localized names this generation– Selene as the goddess of the Moon and Elio as god of the Sun are amazingly fit to me. (It’s a small thing but trust me it gets a bit…irking when you have gently correct others often that your muse’s name is Selene because everyone automatically assumes her Moon.) Another reason I went with Selene is to separate manga from gameverse so as not to cause confusion because I…am surprisingly not the biggest fan of Pokespe Moon but I appreciate the story.

I guess also since I brought up personality, soon as I saw her design years ago, she came off as spunky, sweetheart to me but I read many fics and  just surf through the fandom a lot and I’ve seen a lot of fandom embrace super cool, takes no stuff spitfire interpretation of her and hey, it’s valid! I just never felt that way about her personally, which is why I write her as I do. 

[solitaire-dreams]

Pokespe Gold, Silver and Bronze? An Arc Progression Analysis

Hey readers! I'm back and ready to attack a long post that had a long time coming. It is time for the part 2 of my prediction for the Gen 8 Pokespe dexholders/dexholder analysis. I would recommend reading my previous “What Type are you?” but there is a recap below for need-to-know info. Skip to the asterisks if you've already read (thanks).

Grass type dexholder = character who has self-intrinsic motivation despite life pushing them down and the path to their goal doesn't hurt many people.

Fire type dexholder = character who tramples over anything or anyone in the way of their goal.

Water type dexholder = character who hides important information from other characters and is secretive.

Gen 8 Male Character Counterpart = water type

Gen 8 Female Character Counterpart = fire type

Relationship (platonic) between the two = more emotionally charged and dramatic than other pairs.

***Today in our analysis, part 2 looks at exploring the progression of Pokespe against the evolution of...comic books of all things...and how the sets of holders mirror the ages of comic books.

DISCLAIMER: I am personally not a fan of comic books, despite my love for the superhero shonen of BNHA, and all this information is extrapolated from online research. Also this post was inspired by a post on the dexholders opinions of the pokedex which I can't refind for the life of me because I DON'T KNOW HOW TO USE THIS FREAKING SEARCH BAR CORRECTLY. Credits to them for inspiration. Somewhere out there.

SPOILERS BEWARE.

So, let's start at the beginning with the main arcs for our first three dexholder trios (RGB, GSC, and RS; with Yellow and Emerald to a lesser extent). These arcs represent the Golden Age equivalent in Pokespe.

The Golden Age (from the late 1930's to the middle of the 1950's) is described as the introduction of archetypes for the genre, and heroes and villains were depicted as very white and black in order to provide moral for a society in wartime.

While the original arcs of the manga were marketed towards 10 year olds in the 1990s-2000s instead of 10 year olds in the time of WW2, there is many of the same patterns in how they present the stories.

The RGB arc is the most shonen-esque out of all of them, where Red simply plays the role of the standard protagonist you've seen countless times and an episodic formula for chapters. The rival of Blue also feels standard by this definition and the conflict with Team Rocket is pretty black and white. Giovanni is a mafia boss who kidnapped an entire town, genetically engineered multiple Pokemon through harsh experiments, was willing to murder kids; and all for “The Glory of Team Rocket.”

GSC gives you the exact kind of story you expect with a shonen target market and a hot-headed + headstrong main protagonist (a f*ckboy). The main villain of the Masked Man who kidnapped children also keeps him firmly on the evil side and our protagonists who oppose him firmly on the good one.

Then while RS may have been unexpected for most readers, considering a secretive male protagonist clashing with a headstrong female protagonist, a stronger character focus and development was to be expected. Plus, despite Ruby initially ignoring the fight against the region and Norman (who I still maintain is a sh*tty parent and should not have been forgiven for his treatment of Ruby that easily) both are still painted on the side of good. Ruby does the closest in giving a complex protagonist, but by the time he locks Sapphire in the aircar and teams up with Courtney, the reader can understand he's still on the side of good.

Mainly, the reason they never seem too morally grey in the first arc is that the in universe characters do not address their flaws as in depth as they should. Plus, the villains of Maxie and Archie are both shown be extremely corrupt and willing to endanger their own for the end means; providing a level of villainy to overshadow the grey tones of Norman and Ruby.

The arcs are all often grouped together when talking about Pokespe as well because the first three regions of dexholders are the only ones that have actually interacted with one another. And the post which I CAN'T find classified their stance on the Pokedex as they take their roles as protectors of the region seriously and accept the responsibility.

This translates well into the Golden Age characterization as this view of all the dexholders makes them appear more noble than most; magnifying the heroic traits of dexholders and heightening the contrast with the villainous teams.

Next up in the timeline was the Silver Age. The notable features of the Silver Age (mid 1950's to 1970) are hard to peg down, but they conclude important aspects are: targeting a wider audience including girls and adults, science fiction overcoming gods and magic in use in stories, and the pop art style started in this time period.

The Silver Age honestly doesn't have much to apply to Pokespe, but the Silver Age is a transitional era for comic books, as its boxed in by the much more influential ages of the Golden and Bronze ages. For Pokespe, its version of the Silver Age does seem to adjust its target audience to a wider audience of kid Pokemon fans (as there isn't too much “mature” content in Sinnoh or Unova arcs). However, its new hook lies in “the power of friendship”; also noted in that elusive post.

The DPP arcs centres around a trio that all become very close friends, with the Pokedexs canonically serving a role to demonstrate the bond all three of the characters have developed. Plus, Dia is a protagonist who completes believes in friendship for all as he listens to Cyrus is the Platinium arc, possibly giving him the chance to amend his wrongs.

BW may not have a trio of great dexholder friends, but the connection that develops between Black and White have a strong focus, and Black's friends of Cheren and Bianca also have a strong present in the story and exhibit the friendship that exist all between them. Meanwhile, the power of friendship cannot really apply to Team Plasma, but they definitely manifest the transition from “evil for the sake evil” to “complex motives that may not make them evil”. Despite N being the near definition of “morally grey” in Pokemon, the manga keeps him in a dark enough light that the reader can't fully think of him outside of evil—unlike the game.

Following up the Unova adventures in B2W2, this arc does a better job of emphasizing friendship. While Lack-two/Blake claims to lack any emotions, I'm not sure if it would hold up to a power of friendship punch in his emotionless face. Whi-two/Whitley also learns a lot about becoming friends as she gets closer and opens up to Blake—despite it being a ploy for information—still pushes the friendship theme. The evil is team is dealt with better as well, because Whitley has sympathy for N and the old values of Team Plasma, being a former member herself; and we see one of the older members aid Hugh in his search for Purloin. By having the new terrorist branch of Team Plasma cover the evil, it allows the members who follow the previous values to be painted in a redeemable light.

Finally, we arrive at the two most recent arcs of XY and SM/USUM. Or the Bronze Age equivalent of Pokespe.

The Bronze Age (1970-1985) of comics is the one people who are fans may know fairly well. Darker plots returned in full forces, tackling more serious topics such as poverty, pollution, and dangerous substances. Heroes were also more flawed and complex than they had ever been; and villains were dipped deeper into grey.

And if you've read the XY arc, these traits are probably ringing some alarm bells. The arc was extremely dark, expanding on the games in a way they never managed to achieve. The main theme of the arc is the apathy of society and how its flawed, self-serving natures screws over anyone unfortunate enough to be caught in its wake. This stance that Team Flare took against society had radical actions (tons of it), but the sucky behaviors demonstrated by Kalos citizens in the manga prove society is far from perfect. The story of Emma/Essentia is also compelling as you understand she is on the wrong side, but with some right reasons.

X is additionally one of the most flawed male player character protags by far; the best way to describe him being all the negative mental problems shoved into one 12-year old boy (which I mean in the most loving way possible). Y also has her repressed problems, and a standoff-ish/headstrong nature that puts her at odds with others; most notably with the huge fight with her mom.

Then, in the SM arc, despite the more lighthearted vibes that come from Alola; that does not undermine the Bronze age themes present throughout the arc. The manga does not shy away from manifesting the trauma Gladion and Lille have sustained from Lusamine going insane, Guzma smashes his head into a wall after losing a fight, and Lusamine's fusion with Nihelego horrifies our protagonists; as it probably should if you saw that for the first time. The manga seems to be going in the direction that Lusamine has lost all her marbles and can't be fully held responsible for her crazy actions. Plus, Sun's flaw of hyper-focusing on gaining all the yen he needs to buy back the island/hatred for the Aether Foundation; and Moon's flaw of a hero complex that causes her to help one problem, but abandon it for a new one when it comes up (on top of her cold attitude to people initially).

Their Pokedex stance was summed up in the post by: “WTF is this thing? I don't want it.” which fits pretty well with their overall stance on the region crisis. None of these four protagonists ever truly consented to saving the region. In Kalos, the reasons the protagonists fight back is that their town is destroyed and they are being assaulted by the evil team. And as for Alola, both Sun and Moon get sucked in slowly with smaller events until it's like: “Hey, you've bonded with the incarnations of the Sun and Moon. Guess you’re the last line of defence for Alola now!”

Thus, if the Ages have each of the three rotations sets in it, Gen 8 in the Galar region will also stick with the Bronze Age vibes. Though, that's to be elaborated on in a later post (so sorry).

Tl;dr The progression of arcs in Pokespe follow the same progression of comic books throughout the different ages. RGB-RS (also Emerald) are in the Golden Age, with standard archetypes and black and white divides between heroes and villains. The Silver Age doesn't tie in much to DDP-B2W2, but they are both transitional periods for villain characterization (evil, but with a chance for redemption) and have a new hook; this time in the form of friendship boosts. Last lies the Bronze Age for XY and SM arcs, known for darker plots, and complex and morally grey villains paired with complex and flawed protagonists.

[tumblunni]

Hi, I'm the anon who sent the messages about Rotom-Cyrus to TWJ. I wanted to explain myself. There are two books in Rotom's Room: one written by Charon where he says he found out about Rotom "by pure chance." So Charon is involved with Rotom (prob why he has that card) but he isn't the one who met Rotom as a kid. I don't want to spoil exactly what happens in USUM incase you haven't reached that part but it does basically confirm Cyrus is the one who wrote that account.

aaaa that suuuuuckscos literally its fuckin a book signed by charon how was i meant to know that oh the other book right next to it isnt by charon alsoand the trading card has no meaning whatsoeverand we’re just giving more sad backstory to a guy who already had a sad backstory and nope charon has no backstory whatsoever and was just super evil and everyone was right for all these years telling me i’m a jerk for liking this characterand right when basically the same thing just happened with faba seriouslyharmless comedic villain in sun and moon, is shown apparantly redeemed in the postgame, but NOPE now its retconned and he was The Most Evil One and something something lusamine isn’t bad anymore and everything she ever did is now being done by faba in the animecos hey yknow thats what i get for giving the benefit of the doubt to ~ugly people~seriously fuckin everyone hated faba right from when he was first revealed, you had people predicting his ENTIRE PLOT based on just one picture of him and his name and no information whatsoever on his personality. we all just fucking knew what was going to happen because he’s a science man with an ‘ugly’ face and he’s ~flambouyant~and then charon fuckin literally existed to be the ~worse man~ who was added to make cyrus more redeemablethats how he was treated in both mangas. he was made more evil just so cyrus could be redeemed, which was POINTLESS because we all already believed he could be redeemed! and fuck we even all already thought he had cute moments with his pokemon as a kid, geez! there’s a hundred fanarts of that same scenario but with murkrow or zubat or magikarp or houndour or sneasel...just fuckin the pokespe manga wrote a personalityless charon who murdered a child and was outright shown not being friends with rotom and actually hating rotom and getting his ass kicked by rotomand then in DPA we get not only More Evil Charon Who Kills People but also he’s drawn really stupidly over the top scary while everyone else is big eyed shoujo dorks. and our protagonist believes that everyone is redeemable except charon. lets show cyrus committing far more evil acts than charon ever did in the game, lets show him being ooc as fuck and talking about murdering pokemon while surrounded by graves. but THAT IS OKAY and our hero will insist on saying he’s redeemable but NOOOPE charon just fuckin steals some money and has an ugly grandpa face and he gets no such sympathy. he just exists to make you forget that moment of cyrus being ooc double evil. cos we literally retconned that charon was responsible for all cyrus’s evil acts last arc, even though he wasnt even in the fuckin story yetand like now my only damn consolation here is that the character i connected with when i first played the game is AT LEAST NOT THAT EVIL. but all the potential signs of headcanoning him as not evil were all false and i just should have known it. and apparantly its a better and more worthwhile plot to just give sad childhood man another pokemon he knew in his sad childhood, and the thing i thought was Really Cool And Interesting Writing didn’t actually exist. like seriously i was fuckin literally suffering from the same abusive childhood cyrus has in his backstory back when i played dppt and i DO NOT KNOW WHY but i ended up connecting with this stupid grandpa more than him and it saved me in a dark time more than him. back then i was a stupid fuck and i hated cyrus cos i saw myself in him, like i didnt want to admit that i was in an abusive family and i wanted to hate him for daring to want to take revenge against the world that fucked him over. i felt he didnt have the right, like I didnt have the right..so yeah i didnt even fully realise cyrus’s backstory until i replayed the game as an adult, but the one thing that did hit me back then was how unexpected and cool it was to turn our opinion of this jerk grandpa on its head. like i mean whoa! i didnt hate him like everyone else did, i found him pretty funny, but still i wasnt a big fan or anything until i saw that diary entry. like charon does LITERALLY NOTHING in the plot there is no reason they should have added him in a third version, he has no reason to exist unless he was meant to be the guy who introduces rotom’s new forms also added in the game. and it was such a mind blown moment! it doesnt even make him less evil! like “whoa this evil guy used to be a good kid once” could still work even if it WASNT a sign of him having potential redeemability, like it makes him so much more personally evil and horrible if he abandoned his best friend or something. I was so dissappointed you don’t get a boss battle with him, cos i went and caught that rotom and was hyped to defeat him with the pokemon he once betrayed and like there’s NONE OF THAT ANGLE if it was cyrus. it doesnt make rotom any different than any of his other pokemon that he owns right now and we know he already cares about, cos he has a crobat.and it JUST DOESNT MAKE SENSEbecause the journal SOUNDS like charon!they both talk all smart guy style but it felt more formal like how charon talksand like how charon boasts a lot, but the journal has him boasting about his friend instead. it sounds too enthusiastic to be cyrus...and like we already know where cyrus grew up as a kid and it wasnt eterna city. and he doesnt have a secret lab in galactic hq also in eterna city, like charon does. and also he’s not like friggin fifty years old so why would his childhood poke-friend be in a wrecked abandoned house if it was just ten years ago or something. and also why would they give charon this trading card where they draw the 100% evil guy having a vaguely genuine smile on his face and not looking like rotom hates him and he’s got it caged up or anything and also why would the card’s effect be all about friendship and why would they define him as The Rotom Guy and why would they even bother to give a trading card to charon if charon is a pointless character who never did anything important and had no actual relevance to this rotom wifi event except apparantly stealing a bunch of diaries from some other guy who was really responsible for it all. and why would they bother to point out that someone signed the diary if it wasnt the guy who wrote the diary, and also we are not going to sign the diary by the guy who actually wrote it. like if it was meant to be cyrus whey didnt they make it clearer?? nobody could be expected to have figured that out!also why does charon have a second rotom room in silph co in HGSS which timeline wise means he would have had it before DPPT and he’s talking about finding a rotom by chance before he ever found this diary that doesnt really belong to him. like why would he build an entire lab of form machines if he didnt own a rotom yet? how would he know enough to make them actually work for rotom if he never owned a rotom yet?why did nintendo decide to do all this if i wasnt supposed to reach the conclusion that charon had ANYTHING to do with rotom???why didnt they make it fucking clearer. why couldnt i have been saved years of clinging to this stupid ass headcanon and basing a lot of my taste in stories on the whole concept of ‘wow that was so fucking cool how they took a one dimensional looking villain and then turned it on our head with a cool reveal and made me super eager to see future stories with him’ and hey we’re not ever gonna get those and also everyone else was right and i should just give up and agree that ugly looking granddads will always be eviland why the fuck did i somehow link my self worth to such a random ass headcanon for a random ass character like seriously could someone have properly explained cyrus’s plot to me as a kid so i could have had him stop me from committing suicide instead. like seriously if they’d just made cyrus’s grandpa less hard to find and explained the plot more clearly and explained that he was the rotom kid AAAAAAAAARGHand i really didnt fucking need this, usum, right after also people started telling me that lusamine is ~really good~ and her whole child abuse plot is gone now like ha ha ha ha fucking ha lets crush bunni on two damn levelsand what is my fucking luck that this happened to happen right on the same day when i got some stupid ass anon hate and also had a horrible nightmare about my abusive fatherlike seriously dude who sent me this ask im really sorry ive had such an incoherant babbling reply to it, its just been a really bad day for me and like.. im not freaking out because of this minor headcanon being proven wrong, its just like i was already freaking out and having some random irrelevant headcanon bullshit happen right now is REALLY bad timing to push me off the edgehopefully i can calm down and come back and give a more coherant response of like.. why i headcanoned the different thing and why I’m sad its not true, even though i’m happy for you that your personal headcanon did become true instead.but like it sucks to be told ‘nope you’re not allowed to have your favourite character, his one and only personality trait was just a misconception you had’ during such a really bad timing of such an already bad daynintendo could u give us like a sassy science villain gramps who DOES have a redemption plot? or at least a plot that isnt ‘exists to be worse than the main villain’? like seriously why did it happen twice. i was happy at original sun and moon cos it felt like faba as charon but better written but then NOOOOPEjust...god...what.what sort of fuckface up in heaven decided to throw all the bad shit at me today and not at least spread it out across the rest of the week?