#scarlet and violet has been GREAT

[min-play]

the new event raid is wild

[funkyjeans]

your papá dresses you up like he's colorblind, doesn't he?

[churchydragon]

I already knew I had no interest in Palworld when they showed the guns and slavery of the Pals in the first trailer but hearing that not only has the company dabbled in NFTs and AI but there's also HUMAN slavery AND the farms are called plantations has just totally turned me off. why did the devs think that was even slightly appropriate in this fucking day and age?

like I DO think we need an open world survival Pokemon-esq game, we really do. but not Palworld. hopefully Kindred Fates will fill that void properly, in a responsible, not overly and poorly thought out edgy way.

[runicsorceress]

(@works-of-magic) I would absolutely LOVE cute pictures of Perjury, yes please and thank you!

oh shit forgot about this uh.. here have some old photos i took. hopefully theyre enough?

[joshbruh10x]

So, crazy year huh? I might as well gather the "best" art for a summary to this year for each month

Also, my art are all too big and mixed up on portrait and landscape so I'm not using the template for this one, anyhow, here's:

Josh's 2022 Art Summary from Jan-Dec

As I said, crazy year huh? I always liked making these timeline sorta stuff for art, it makes me feel less E H about my art, ya know.

Call me cheesy and stuff but that's what you're gonna get from this ol' mutual of yours. I encourage some small artists like myself to try making the same thing, see how you've improved throughout the year. As a best friend keeps telling me, progress is progress, no matter how big or small

Have a wonderful holidays everyone, and here's to a not shit year (hopefully, :>)

[goldensunset]

I forgot how much of a banger the vs Sada/Turo theme is. prefect music to star at the window and vividly daydream to.

song of Punch Me Repeatedly In The Chest

[kingxfmischief]

.

[stiltonbasket]

what happened when wwx went to gusu summer school in the wrh raises wwx au?

"Thank the heavens," Lan Xichen laughs, when Lan Wangji presents himself at the Hanshi after returning from his latest monthlong night-hunting tour in Huai'an. "Shufu has been at his wits' end in your absence, didi."

Lan Wangji lifts an eyebrow and begins to unpack the basket of tribute gifts he received from the Huai'an magistrate. "Why? My duties were to be delegated to Changyi-tangxiong while I was away; and whatever Shufu might find wanting in his temperament, I have never known him to be anything but diligent."

"No one has dared replace you as head of discipline," his brother says wryly. "And according to Shufu, this batch of guest disciples has worse manners than most."

"Shufu rarely has trouble with the guest disciples," Lan Wangji points out, frowning. The lone exception to this rule was Nie Huaisang; but no one in the Cloud Recesses has ever bothered disciplining Nie Huaisang, even before his older brother was betrothed to Xiongzhang. "Who does he wish me to discipline this time?"

Inexplicably, Lan Xichen only grins at him and scoops a handful of icy-red lychees out of the tribute basket.

"Go to tomorrow's lecture in the Lanshi," he teases, "and perhaps you shall see."

Lan Wangji could not see the sense in this. If one of the guest scholars was being impudent in the Lanshi, Shufu ought to have sent them to the Pavilion of Discipline to receive punishment instead of waiting for him to settle matters; for as Head of Discipline, Lan Wangji's main duties consisted of revising the codex of appropriate punishments and patrolling the Cloud Recesses after hai shi on alternate fortnights.

But the next day, he made his way to the Lanshi as bidden—and the moment he crossed the threshold, he understood exactly who had been making trouble for his uncle, and why he had been left for Wangji to handle.

As ever, all four of the other Great Clans were represented among the guest disciples: Yunmeng Jiang disciples in violet and jade-green, the Jin in cream and gold, Nie Huaisang and his shixiongdi in their familiar black and silver-gray—and by the window, the fiery scarlet and gold of Wen Ruohan's delegation, dressed in silks so fine that they would not have looked out of place upon an imperial concubine.

Lan Wangji narrows his eyes at them. Each one is haughtier than the next, though not quite brazen enough for Shufu to blink at; but then his gaze moves to the disciple sitting at the front, and freezes as the boy rolls his shoulders and turns around to greet Wangji with an insolent, lazy smile.

This is the one, he realizes, as the disciple flutters painted—painted?—lashes at him before turning back to look at Shufu. He is the one Uncle wants me to discipline.

"Wangji," Shufu says, with such open relief that Lan Wangji looks away from the Wen disciple in surprise. "At last. Have you come to attend lessons with the guest disciples?"

Wangji puts his hands together and bows. "Yes, Uncle."

"Excellent. But before you sit down, go take Wei Wuxian to the dormitories, and see that he washes his face and removes those ornaments from his hair."

Lan Wangji nods and takes three great strides towards the Wen disciple. "You heard your laoshi," he says. "Come."

The disciple—Wei Wuxian—gives no reply; but luckily, he rises from his chair and follows Lan Wangji out of the Lanshi without protest. As soon as the doors to the lecture hall fall closed behind them, Lan Wangji opens his mouth to deliver a short lecture on the virtues of modesty and simplicity in dress—only to snap it closed again in shock, for he has never seen a man who painted his face like this outside the theater troupes Xichen used to visit with him when they were children.

Wei Wuxian's lips are a wet, shining crimson, as if he had dipped them in blood before arriving at the Lanshi; and his eyes are lined with fine black paint and red rouge mixed with some kind of bright, sparkling dust. Worse yet, he had even painted his eyelashes, to make them seem twice as long and dark as any man's lashes ought to be—and as if all of that were not enough, the heavy locks of his hair are fastened with chains made of solid gold.

"Why are you looking at me, Lan-er-gongzi?" Wei Wuxian asks. He puts his head to one side, and despite himself, Lan Wangji hears music; for someone had woven small golden bells into Wei Wuxian's braided hair.

"Enough talk," Lan Wangji says flatly. "Follow me back to the dormitories so you can wash and brush out your hair."

To his astonishment, Wei Wuxian does not object. He keeps pace with Lan Wangji all the way to the compound reserved for the Wen disciples; and then, without another word, he vanishes into his lodgings and leaves Lan Wangji behind to wait for him on the porch.

Puzzled, Lan Wangji seats himself on a convenient stool and wonders why Wei Wuxian had obeyed him so easily. It was only too clear that Shufu first tried to teach him the virtues of simple adornments at least a month ago, if not longer; so why had he flouted Uncle's wishes and honored Lan Wangji's?

Perhaps he is being too obedient, says a small voice in the back of Lan Wangji's mind. Perhaps he has run out through the back of the house, and gone off to frolic in Caiyi.

Lan Wangji frowns more deeply than ever and raps on the door with his knuckles. "Wei-gongzi? Are you finished?"

"Nearly," Wei Wuxian calls. "You can come in, if you'd like."

Wangji highly doubts that Wei Wuxian is really making himself presentable (or at least, not as he ought to be doing) so he enters the house and finds his charge wiping his face with a damp towel.

He lowers the towel at the sound of Lan Wangji's footsteps, and then:

"You were not meant to paint yourself in a different fashion," he says, incensed. "Wash your face properly at once."

Wei Wuxian blinks at him in confusion.

"I have washed it off," he says. "Look."

And then he leans forward and grabs Lan Wangji's hand, drawing it up to the damp skin of his face before Lan Wangji can turn tail and flee. He drags Lan Wangji's fingertips over the smooth bones of his cheeks and forehead, and across the bronzen skin circling his eyes—tanned and not painted, Lan Wangji realizes—and presses his full lips to the heart of Lan Wangji's palm, so forcefully that any traces of rouge left upon them would have been imprinted on Wangji's skin.

"There!" Wei Wuxian says, beaming—and completely unaware that Lan Wangji is very near to bursting out of sheer fury. "I'm as clean as a new jian."

"Your hair," Lan Wangji croaks; for if he dared raise his voice any further, he would scream, and then he would be the one submitting himself for punishment at the discipline pavilion. "Comb it."

Wei Wuxian nods and unravels his braids. Rather than undoing them one by one, he merely snaps his fingers and lets out a burst of spiritual energy; and immediately, the gold fastenings fall loose and clatter onto his dressing-table, leaving the glittering mass of his hair to slide down his broad back like a waterfall coursing down the face of a mountain.

Suddenly, Lan Wangji finds himself unable to breathe.

He flings himself out of the guest house and up the hill towards the Jingshi, where he spends an hour meditating in complete silence before he can bring himself to set foot out of doors again.

"Brother," he says, when he finally works up the courage to return to the Hanshi two days later. "I fear that I may be unable to take over the duty of disciplining Wei Wuxian. He made me angrier than I have ever been in my life."

Lan Xichen—who had heretofore shown no signs of being anything other than a kind, understanding brother—only stares at him, and bursts into laughter.

[pigdemonart]

So Scarlet and Violet's Indigo disk dlc has introduced Lacey (Beautiful perfect angel) and it's implied she is Clay's daughter

What do you there relationship is like? Do you think Clay whould be a good dad?

hahaha i have been tweeting about this actually. First link is a joke, but you should still click it lol

I always thought of Clay as an unofficial father of the region, so YEAH!! The news made perfect sense to me! I do believe its been confirmed also and it’s not just implied.

I ramble about clay for paragraphs:

I like to imagine Lacey and Clay have a good relationship. We can see from her design, she is wearing hair clips that match the gems Lian and Clay wear, which is super cute! Confirmed family tradition, like I theorized hehe!

Clay seems like the kind of dad that is blunt and straight to the point, but would spoil and support wholeheartedly! He’s a “down to earth” (haha) pragmatic kind of guy, telling everyone the hard truths when they need to hear it and not mincing words. Like you’re a kid when you meet him and he’s like whats up dummy, you fucked up. I imagine Lacey is fully used to this attitude and doesn’t get phased by it much. She probably tells people with a wave of a hand that her dad is actually quite nice, you just gotta cut through the hard exterior first.

I like to imagine Lacey got her drilbur (excadrill) from her dad (maybe a starter) but not just as a gift — she had to prove that she was ready to be a trainer! And she did, because she’s Clay’s daughter and Lian’s descendant so nice as she looks she must be headstrong as shit.

Like I can’t see Clay being a pushover dad, even if we imagine he calls Lacey petnames like “princess.” Personally, I always saw Clay as a little chivalrous with girls and femmes, in that Southern cowboy kind of way. I’m sure that comes through whenever he is decidedly softer with his own daughter.

Also Lacey lives in Nimbasa and uses fairy type, so she is clearly a kid that has her own ambitions and dreams. Which is why I imagine (if she has good relationship with her dad) that Clay must fully support it. Rocks and mining have been in the family since Lian’s time, so it’s possible she isn’t really interested in inheriting Clay’s business and has different goal for herself. Maybe there was some tension with this and maybe they butted heads, but I’m sure it could be worked out.

Would be cool to imagine her as the future Fairy type gym leader of Unova. That being said, I don’t think she’s against or ashamed of it. Her hair clips prove she’s proud of her origins after all!!

Also Clay sent his little girl to this new fancy shmancy school UNDER THE OCEAN, and sure its a little flashy, but he cares about her being educated and kicking other kids’ ass. Before she left he was probably like “give ‘em hell!” and she furrowed her bushy eyebrows like >:)))

Now ahem…obviously I still ship Clay x Drayden, this hasn’t really changed anything for me LOL in fact it makes it very interesting, because Drayden also has a confirmed grandson. Old man yaoi is still old man yaoi even if they’re bisexual, but also surrogates are a thing, not to mention divorce arc maybe??? All great, big fan. 👍

Tldr: YEa HE’S A COOL DAD.

[he-was-number-wan]

Mainline Pokémon Games Based on How Buggy They Are: A Thread

Red, Blue, & Yellow

Pretty buggy. The Butterfree line set the stage for regional bugs and emotional trauma. Everybody loves Scyther. Inspired use of Cordyceps when designing the Parasect line. Kabuto and Kabutops should have been Bug to honor trilobites for founding Arthropoda. 8/10.

Gold, Silver, & Crystal

Yes, we had Scyther, but what about second Scyther? Scizor, Heracross, and Shuckle are legends. Game Freak decided to invite arachnids (Spinarak and Ariados) to the party, truly redefining what it means to be buggy. 9/10.

Ruby, Sapphire, & Emerald

This generation is loaded with bugs! Game Freak realized their mistake in not giving the Kabutops line Bug typing, making up for it with Anorith and Armaldo (who are based on Anomalocaris). They fumble the recovery, however, in not only depriving the Flygon line of Bug typing, but forever making them second fiddle to the Salamence line. The Beautifly, Dustox, and Ninjask lines introduce some interesting approaches to Bug-type evolution. Volbeat and Illumise are there. 7.8/10.

Diamond, Pearl, & Platinum

DELELELELELEWHOOOOOOP! A smaller collection of bugs this gen, but a well-rounded one. Vespiquen slays. Scorpions get some love via Skorupi, Drapion, and Gliscor. Writing this post is making me realize that slugs, snails, and nudibranchs like the Magcargo and Gastrodon lines aren’t bugs. We grew up thinking snails were bugs, right? Anyway, Yanmega rules. 8/10.

Black, White, Black 2, White 2

Game Freak’s magna opera. Truly the buggiest games there are. While you have to wait until Pinwheel Forest to encounter your first bugs, you’re rewarded upon arrival with Sewaddle and Venipede, the larvae of the Leavanny and Scolipede lines. From there, you encounter the Crustle, Galvantula, and Volcarona lines. Game Freak has some more fun with Bug evolutions, having Karrablast steal Shelmet’s armor as they evolve into Escavalier and Accelgor (inspired by the real-world interactions between the ground beetle family Carabidae and the gastropods they feed on). Durant is our first proper ant, and we get our first (and only . . . ) legendary / mythical Bug in Genesect. These games made Bug my favorite type. 10/10.

X & Y

A big step down from the previous generation. This game hardly has any bugs. Do you like butterflies? You get a butterfly. Vivillon is a lovely butterfly that comes in all sorts of colors, but SURELY there are more bugs than that in France. 6/10.

Sun, Moon, Ultra Sun, Ultra Moon

Giant isopods! Diving bell spiders! Giraffe stag beetles! A true return to form. While the native bugs of Alola are great, we are also introduced to the ultra beasts, two of which (Buzzwole and Pheromosa) are really cool bugs. It seems they were going for wasps and bee flies when designing the Naganadel and Ribombee lines, but they don’t really work for me. Faint blemishes on an otherwise buggy generation. 8.5/10.

Sword & Shield

Centiskorch is the greatest Pokémon ever made. I have them tattooed on my arm. Blipbug is the worst Pokémon ever made. I see them in my nightmares. Interesting that they’re both Bug Pokémon, and that Game Freak really min-maxed with them. Fortunately, Blipbug evolves into Dottler and Orbeetle, who are great. Snom has a place in everyone’s heart, and Frosmoth is elegant as can be. 9.5/10.

Scarlet & Violet

I love Rellor and Rabsca! I . . . don’t really love the rest! Iron Moth and Slither Wing are great, but they’re nepo babies. Tarountula and Nymble are nice, but Spidops and Lokix leave something to be desired. Orthworm is a a big worm. At the end of the day, these games would be alright if they weren’t so wonkily coded and glitchy. Wish there was a better word for that. 7/10.

[1863-project]

I’m not so sure the younger players starting out with Scarlet and Violet will appreciate the nuance of a character like Larry, because they haven’t had to fight for their survival in a capitalist society yet - at that age, their guardians are still fighting the fight for them.

But as an adult in my 30s, that shit hits HARD. I remember my time in grad school, where at one point I was simultaneously a full-time student, had an internship, and was working a job on the weekends. I went literal months without seeing my friends that semester. I was lonely and miserable and kept getting sick. I was doing something I loved in grad school and at my internship - archiving - but the job (a gig as a tour guide at a historic site) was sucking the life out of me. When I finally got out of that job and started applying to archival positions, my parents actually commented on how the tour guide work had been slowly killing me.

Spoilers for Scarlet and Violet below the cut.

Larry has a job he absolutely despises, probably because he felt like he had to get one to survive, because being a Pokemon trainer often doesn’t pay the bills - in fact, we do frequently see Gym Leaders in this franchise (and even Champions, in the case of Cynthia - an archaeologist - and Steven - the scion to a business) working actual jobs. It’s not lucrative and it’s not necessarily something you can survive on doing alone. Even my favorite characters in the franchise, Ingo and Emmet, run a public transit system alongside a battle facility. It’s the former that’s likely keeping their rent paid.

Larry has distinct skill as a battler - indeed, he’s both a Gym Leader and a member of the Elite Four, specializing in a different type for each (though with a Staraptor on both teams) - and he also has a distinct Poke Ball throw reminiscent of a sidearm pitcher’s windup (see here and here for more on that). But he also talks about his actual job, which he distinctly hates, and how he hopes the player character doesn’t have to use Facade in real life. Larry’s passions lie elsewhere - perhaps in Pokemon battling, or perhaps even in a potential baseball career cut short, if his throw is anything to go by - but capitalism forced him to take an office job, and he is miserable. It’s a distinct misery you understand once you’ve had a job eat you alive and leave you next to no time for your passions - or if it does leave you that time, it exhausts you so much that you can’t do them anyway.

He hasn’t lost his kindness, though - he treats the player character to dinner, and when you battle Nemona on even footing once you’re both at Champion Rank and all the Gym Leaders come to watch, he’s in the back, but he still takes time out of his schedule to make it. He’s doing his best despite being broken down by his job. And so many of us have been there, especially now that those of us who have played since Red and Blue are now in our 30s and 40s.

The kids whose first game is Scarlet or Violet might not quite get it yet. But for those of us who wrangle with capitalism on a daily basis, Larry hits too close to home, and it makes him a great character.

(I also suspect he might be an allusion to Game Freak’s employees being overworked by TPCi, but that’s a post for another day.)

[would-this-pokemon-be-a-friend]

hm... ribombee?

Gardeners rejoice! Ribombees would make great pets for anyone who has the means to provide them with the resources they need for their lifestyle.

It goes without saying, but ribombees are relatively itty bitty at only eight inches tall. Mobility won’t be an issue in even the smallest of homes, since these little pokémon spend most of the time flying around anyway. That doesn’t mean, however, that they don’t require a specialized sort of space to be happy and healthy.

Ribombees are pollinators who seek out flowers for their pollen, which they can use for numerous purposes (Sun). It is fairly likely that a ribombee, if prevented from taking part in this instinctual behavior, may develop behavioral or even health issues and lash out. Luckily, there’s two main ways to get around this as a pet owner. For one, if you have a green thumb, you could keep a flower garden at home for your ribombee to gather pollen from. Exactly how much pollen a single ribombee will need is unknown, so it’s possible that you may need a large and diverse garden, but that may not be an issue for people who already have an affinity for gardening. Alternatively, you could let your ribombee freely gather pollen from the wider area around your home. Like real-world bees, ribombees make home bases in which they can rest when the weather is bad and which they can return to after gathering pollen (Ultra Sun). Real-world bees sometimes travel far distances for pollen without getting lost from their home hive. The only concern with this would be your ribombee’s safety. While their free pollination may be great for the environment in the area where you live, they may be at risk of being snatched up by hungry flying pokémon. Ribombees can certainly protect themselves in some situations, as we’ll get into later, but you wouldn’t be able to guarantee their safety. All that being said, you do have options when it comes to providing ribombees with the pollen they need.

If you live somewhere where it rains a lot, I might reconsider adopting a ribombee. These pokémon hate the rain and are great at detecting when its on its way: when a ribombee detects that rain is coming based on the air’s moisture and direction, they will hide in a tree hollow or other home base until the skies have been cleared for days (Ultra Sun, Ultra Moon). In regions that get a lot more rain, like the Galar Region, wild ribombees are rarely seen (Shield).

On a brighter note, ribombees are exceptionally friendly. They are great judges of when someone is feeling down, with an uncanny ability to sense mood, and delight in cheering people up with their pollen puffs (Scarlet). Like I said earlier, ribombees’ pollen puffs serve multiple purposes. One purpose (and perhaps the primary one) is as food for themselves (Sun). The kind of pollen puffs they offer to humans as gifts are highly valuable as they not only help relieve fatigue: they’re highly nutritious (Moon, Violet). This indicates that ribombees may even make great service or emotional support pokémon for people who struggle with energy and mood.

Also like I said earlier, ribombees can protect themselves, to a certain extent. A third use of their pollen puffs is in combat (Sun). Ribombees can use specialized pollen puffs to paralyze with the move Stun Spore or damage them with concussive force using their signature move Pollen Puff. Ribombees can also make use of bug and fairy-type staples such as Bug Buzz and Draining Kiss to deal out damage to enemies. Luckily, this species does not appear to be particularly violent to humans. If their behavior is similar to real-world bees, you shouldn’t have an issue most of the time so long as you don’t mess with them or their home. Even in a bad situation, this species isn’t likely to be deadly anyways, with the exception of health conditions that could be exasperated by paralysis.

Overall, so long as you are able to allow your ribombee to engage in their pollinating instincts, they would make great and even beneficial pets.

[pkmndaisuki]

Terapagos is Not Friendly:

A Theory Before Indigo Disk is Released

So far, both the anime and Pokemon's social media have shown off Terapagos as this cute little turtle.

Definitely a friend-shaped, marketable plushie-looking thing, and it's shown to look out for Liko. Not much has been shown of its Terastal form, though. But in-game thus far, I don't think it's trying to help anyone.

If anything, it may be using humans to help itself.

Take this entry in the Scarlet/Violet book by Heath, a historian who led an expidition to The Great Crater of Paldea, a.k.a. Area Zero. He got separated from his exploration party, found unconscious, and with cryptic notes he apparently wrote but has no memory of.

Note what's drawn on the page most prominently: hexagons. The key shape associated with Terapagos.

Hexagons are brought up not only by Heath in the pages dedicated to Terapagos (seen here in the original manuscript his descendant Briar carries)...

...but also by the missing professor (Sada/Turo) in their notes in the research stations of Area Zero.

And in both Heath's expedition and the professor's studies, someone died. Heath mentioned in the chapter "Monsters of Area Zero" (the chapter Arven shows off in the climax of the story) that one of the crew was attacked by a Paradox Pokemon and was "mortally wounded". A similar phrasing is used by the AI professor about their deceased creator, saying, quote, "[their] physical body received grievous injuries" to describe the incident with the hostile Koraidon/Miraidon at Research Station 4.

The professor's story is incredibly tragic, in that they started out research out of curiosity with a team, a spouse, and while there had a son. And in one of the journals, the professor wants to live in, quote, "a paradise we three," likely themselves, their spouse, and Arven, "can live happily together forever." But by the end, they'd pushed everyone away and thought they could only rely on themselves, leading to the creation of an artificial double.

Both Heath and the late professor have had some kind of subconcious pull towards Area Zero, and witnessed Terapagos firsthand. Heath however was lucky that he and his team left before things could get any worse. And now, Heath's descendant, Briar, is drawn to Area Zero, wanting to study and find Terapagos too.

She's obsessed to the point of dressing like the cover of the book, same emblems on her jacket, and wearing bright scarlet/violet, as well as crystalline earrings shaped like the Tera symbol. She mentions several times that she hopes to recieve permission to enter Area Zero. And I don't think it'll end well for her. Not thinking that she or anyone else is gonna die, but she'll likely be in some life-threatening situation the player will have to drag her out of.

And going back to the anime, it wouldn't be the first time a legendary is shown as sympathetic there but not in their games. Take Darkrai - in the games it's known to plunge people into eternal nightmares and the only way to stave them off is with Cresselia's help to counter it. The Explorers Mystery Dungeon games go even further to show it as a sinister character, being the prime antagonist of the postgame.

Meanwhile, in the movie Rise of Darkrai, it's turned into a tragic figure, a defender and a hero. With it even getting revived from a heroic sacrifice and gets to live peacefully near people. A far cry from its games counterpart.

So I think that we players will first meet Terapagos as an enemy, a threat we have to take on in its full Terastal form, in order to save the day. Similar to the threat Rose releasing Eternatus posed in Sword and Shield, maybe, or how Cyrus unleashed Dialga/Palkia. Maybe Briar, in her obsession, will be the one to unleash Terapagos, and Terapagos will in turn try use her for its own ends, leading the player to save her from an unfortunate fate?

I don't know for certain. But with all that's led up to Indigo Disk, I don't trust Terapagos any further than I could throw it.

[ofdarkestdesires]

Paradox PokeDex Redux: The Scarlet Book

So, since the Scarlet and Violet PokeDex entries for the Paradox Pokemon are a bit…underwhelming from what I’ve seen, I’ve decided to go ahead and make a bunch of fake PokeDex entries for each of the Paradox Pokemon that give them a bit more value than just “hey this is a Pokemon from the past, and also it’s been mentioned in an occult magazine, crazy!”

We’re starting off with the Scarlet-exclusive Paradox Pokemon, since those are the ones that interest me, and are from the game I actually got. You’re welcome.

Violet Book entries found here

Great Tusk

“An ancient ancestor of Donphan, this Pokémon rushes headlong at opponents with its full weight. It is believed this method of combat eventually evolved into Donphan’s signature ability to curl up and roll into its foes.”

“This ancient ancestor of Donphan lacks the capability to curl its body into a ball—rather, it relies on its superior hide and unwieldy tusks to combat would-be predators.”

Brute Bonnet

“An expert ambush hunter, this ancient ancestor of Amoongus can effortlessly blend in with the forest foliage of its home. Once hidden, it lures in unwitting prey with the its swaying arms.”

“Lacking the toxic spores of its descendant Amoongus, this Pokémon appears to have been far more aggressive and actively hunted prey by ambushing them from the shadows.”

Sandy Shocks

“Ferromagnetic dust clings to its body, grounding it and giving it an aggressive demeanor. It does not appear to have the control of its magnetic properties that its descendant Magneton possesses.”

“Scientists theorize that the incorporation of the metal dust that clings to this Pokémon’s form is what gave its descendant Magneton its hardy nature and ability to freely float.”

Scream Tail

“Rather than lulling would-be opponents to sleep with a song, this ancient ancestor of Jigglypuff instead wards off predators with a deafening scream that can cause permanent hearing loss to anything within fifty feet.”

“Scientists believe that when intimidation wasn’t enough, this Pokémon began attempting to lull its opponents to sleep—the descendants that did so became Jigglypuff.”

Flutter Mane

“The flapping of its flowing locks mimics the sounds of a giant flying Pokémon, striking fear into the hearts of its victims. Like its distant descendant Misdreavus, it seems to do so for its own amusement.”

“A vindictive Pokémon, it appears that it lost its flowing mane and instead began to wail in the night to better terrorize humans as its descendant Misdreavus.”

Slither Wing

“An ancient ancestor of Volcorona, this Pokémon appears to have used its wings as a sail to absorb energy from the sun, regulating its body temperature and giving it the strength to challenge even the fiercest of foes.”

“Its wings are designed to soak in sunlight to store as energy. Scientists believe this stored energy was eventually repurposed by its descendant Volcorona to be its own sun.”

Roaring Moon

“The ancient ancestor of Salamence, this Pokémon was a truly ferocious creature in ancient times. Modern Salamence can only ever brush against its ferocity through a strange phenomenon from another region.”

“Due to its feathered features, agile body, and ferocious reputation, some speculate this ancestor of Salamence was the inspiration behind Flutter Mane’s mannerisms.”

Koraidon

“An ancient ancestor of Cyclizar, this Pokémon has been referred to as the Winged King. This is in reference to its feathered plumage, a mark of pride and power—the larger the plumage, the stronger the Koraidon.”

“It has been hypothesized that as humans succeeded in taming Pokemon, the more aggressive features of Koraidon were bred out, until the domesticated Cyclizar was born.”

[zeravmeta]

We are two days before the Pokemon DLC and although i will not buy it i also do enjoy the Pokemon worldbuilding/lore so my big hot theory on Terapagos is that it and the Tera Phenomenon specifically manifests dreams and turns them into reality.

We already have all the implications from the Paradox Pokemon being born from the professors dreams of an ancient/future world, but also I want to look at a bunch of the promo materials/events surrounding it: Gen 5 has been weirdly hinted at a bunch of times throughout Scarlet/Violets lifespan so far, with things like Ingo in Legends Arceus (as well as a bunch of the ancestors + the portrait of ancient Alder), the focus on the Tao Trio in the DLC trailer showing off past Legendaries & the DLC itself having us actually go to Unova, the introduction of the Treasures Of Ruin as the rivals to the Forces Of Nature genies, and the hinting of a new Pokemon mainline game coming in early 2024 (dear god Nintendo just let Gamefreak rest) supposedly being a Legends Unova game, there's been a whole bunch of Gen 5 hints scattered throughout.

The main story behind the Tao Trio is that there was once an Original Dragon who shared its power with two brothers, but when the two brothers clashed between their truth and ideals, the dragon could not decide and split itself in two, becoming Zekrom and Reshiram and leaving behind Kyurem as the empty husk that was once their body.

I think Terapagos is another fraction of this equation, specifically the dream of the Original Dragon itself to have truth and ideals (the two brothers) reconcile and coexist once more, because while truth and ideals are fundamentally incompatible, dreams can make the impossible happen. It can make a paradox exist. This would also work thematically: Zekrom and Reshiram, of course, represent the Yin and Yang, the literal black and white of their namesakes. Kyurem, however, isn't representative of the balance between the two, but actually gray, the concept of Wuji, which represents both infinity and nothingness, the absence of yin and yang and equally the limitless infinite potential born from it, the way that Kyurem is constantly freezing itself because its genetics are incredibly volatile and constantly evolving, especially when it absorbs one of its fragments. I think Terapagos is representative of Taiji, the idea of balance between Yin and Yang.

Yin and Yang originate from Wuji (infinite nothingness) and become Taiji (supreme ultimateness). So, Kyurem is the "nothing" left behind by the Original Dragon, which, when combined with Zekrom and Kyurem (Yin and Yang), would then achieve their supreme/original form, representative of Terapagos (ultimateness).

These Chinese inspirations would line up actually, since the Forces Of Nature and the Treasures Of Ruin are also references to Chinese mythology, specifically The Four Symbols and The Four Perils.

Terapagos and Kyurem also share a very weird similarity: they're both vessels for a greater power with the implication that they themselves are not truly alive (Terapagos' baby form enhanced by Terastalization + the Area 0 note and Kyurem being a literal frozen corpse, an empty shell of great potential for Zekrom/Reshiram's power).

There's also another dimension to this (literally): the fucked up crystal monsters from space and how they relate to the Pokemon world

The Original Dragon which split into Zekrom, Reshiram and Kyurem was also originally from a meteorite which came from space, so I believe that Terapagos, being part of it, was also from space (esp given its depiction in the Scarlet/Violet book as being among space and the stars).

Now you may be wondering "hey dude why is Zygarde up there, it isn't from space, what gives?" well I have an answer for that and why it's related.

Zygarde is the Pokemon planet's own natural born giant crystal guardian monster.

The same way that Necromza was once the god of Ultra Megalopolis and shared its light before being drained, Zygarde is a similar entity born on the Pokemon planet made to protect it. They're all, after all, composed of interlocking crystal parts and are essentially incomplete beings reshaping themselves when in their baser forms, with Terapagos also being composed of interlocking hexagonal parts in a similar manner as Zygarde.

Alright, so we've established a whole bunch of world building lore, but what's the big deal about it? Well, let's talk about Eternatus, The Darkest Day, and Infinity Energy next.

The Darkest Day is an event where Eternatus came to Galar from a meteorite in order to steal all of its energy. However, Zacian and Zamazenta appeared to protect Galar and were able to defeat it, sealing it away before Rose awakened it to try and bring about another Darkest Day to resolve Galar's future energy crisis. However, a key point to this is that the reason WHY Eternatus was stealing energy is because it was trying to keep itself alive after having LOST all of its energy, with its Eternamax form being closer to what Eternatus' actual form should be compared to the skeleton dragon we see.

And the Wishing Stones and Power Spots, which are what allow Pokemon to Dynamax, are incredibly similar to both the Mega Evolution stones and the Z-Crystals, which in themselves are fragments of The Ultimate Weapon and Ultra Necrozma respectively: Fragments of incredible power which are the building blocks to a space-originating Pokemon's original form. When Ultra Necrozma had its original light stolen by the ancestors of the Ultra Recon Squad, it shattered, opening Ultra Wormholes which spread the Z-Crystals (fragments of its original body) across Alola and allowing people to tap into Z-Power. Similarly, the Mega Stones were made after The Ultimate Weapon was fired and spread the life energy (Xernas/Yveltal/Zygardes powers) across Kalos, which mutated the landscape and developed Mega Stones. And in ORAS, The Devon Corporation specifically calls out this phenomenon from Kalos as the origin of Infinity Energy, the literal life energy of Pokemon.

Another key aspect to this is that this extreme level of energy, as well as Eternatus' own Pokedex entry, make note that this can even warp space-time as a consequence, which is likely why Ultra Wormholes are so common in Alola despite being a miracle occurrence: The fragments of Necrozma's body are constantly exuding this energy, which makes space-time unstable. It's also likely the reason as to why the Hoopa portals and Mirage Islands appear in ORAS, with Devon's use of Infinity Energy being the cause for these distortions to appear.

Alright, so what does any and all of this have to do with Terapagos?

Well, I think Terapagos is one of these crystal energy repository Pokemon, specifically the infinite energy source for the Original Dragon that all of these space crystal Pokemon also utilize. As well, the splitting of the Original Dragon caused the Terastal Phenomenon to occur, spreading across Paldea in the distant past as Terapagos laid dormant in the deepest recesses of Area 0. We know that Paldea is directly connected to Kalos, and us going to Unova likely means that it's close by as well, especially when Zekrom/Reshiram on their own are described to have enough power to cover the entire globe.

The Terastal Phenomenon wasn't really able to make the professor's time machine work, because while the high amounts of energy can warp spacetime, the professor misunderstood how to use it: Rather, because the professor dreamed of a world of ancient/future Pokemon, the Terastal Phenomenon made the Paradox Pokemon by channeling the energy into the professor's machine. As well, the Terastal Phenomenon works by manifesting dreams with the use of Tera Crystals, which envelop the Pokemon/Person who uses it, so a Pokemon, which is composed of Infinity Energy and controls the typing/energy of its moves, can alter their type in this way with an appropriate amount of Tera Shards of a different type.

In our hypothetical Legends Unova game, I bet that we'll see the Original Dragon, which wields so much energy that when it splits, it'll create the Tera Phenomenon. Given that the Treasures Of Ruin are not originally from Paldea (they may have been brought there by Volo, but all we know is that it was a travelling merchant), and that Paldea itself was under the control of the Paldean Empire (which is why it has that name in the modern day), it's even possible that the kingdom that Team Plasma tried to establish may have been inspired by/are the remnants of this original Paldean Kingdom, with N being the new modern day king chosen by Ghetsis, who was actually part of this ancient lineage. It's very likely that Terapagos is not originally from Paldea.

Paldea, connected to Kalos and Unova, could have even been the battleground of the two brothers when the Original Dragon split, creating the Great Crater and leaving Terapagos there, the remnants of the dream of the Original Dragon for the two brothers to reconcile.

I think a very interesting little promotion for the lead up to Part 2 of the DLC is that players, via Mystery Gift, were randomly given a Darkrai, a Pokemon meant to embody nightmares. I think that this is a little teaser hint to Terapagos, and the Terastal Phenomenon as a whole, being able to control and manifest dreams.

And that dreams coming true aren't always a good thing. They may even spell disaster if the infinite energy they possess goes out of control and envelopes the world. If Zekrom can envelop the world in an ultimate truth and Reshiram can envelop it with an ultimate ideal, both of them scorching it to ashes, then perhaps Terapagos can envelop it in an eternal dream, an eternally frozen crystal, similar to how Kyurem can cover an entire region and potentially the planet in an eternal blizzard.

So basically. This is what's going down in the grand scheme of things

[gamebunny-advance]

Doodle Dump: Misc. Edition

Time for misc. doodles~

Notes under the cut.

1: "Ikigusare Idols". Like many people, "Injection Girl" randomly appeared in my Youtube feed, and I was admittedly charmed by them. It's like they're from a bygone era, but they just put out another music video last month. Currently, my favorite song is "スーパーZ指定ガール". (Content warning for mass violence in the lyrics.)

2-4: "Clown Doll Redesign". So, since I've started doll customizing as a hobby, I tend to lurk on the Dolls and CustomDolls subreddits on the lookout for inspo and info. Not too long ago, someone posted asking for advice/critique on their doll ideas. So I sketched these (and some notes on the original design, which are not included here) as a response. In the end, I never did reply because I don't actually have a reddit account, and I thought it would be weird to make one solely to criticize someone, so I'm just posting them here.

My main critiques were that there wasn't a lot of contrast in their color choices and that the blue and red hair seemed random when the rest of the design was pink/green. So, my main goal was to increase the contrast between the pink and green, so the different patterns would stick out more and to unify the pallet a bit more. The skintones differ from the reference because the doll they said they were going to use was a G3 Frankie Stein, who has bluish skin and a prosthetic left leg, so I'm not really sure why their sketch uses the original green skin or why the silver leg is on the wrong side, but it is what it is.

The first 2 are straight pallet swaps, but the 3rd is based on a second design that the OP made. They originally asked for users to pick between the two. Most people said they preferred the blue and yellow design because it was more cohesive, but the OP replied that they really wanted to make the pink and green one work somehow, so that's why I focused on using that one as the base, but I still included a version with the alternate pallet and patterns.

Here's a link to the original thread since I'm kinda reposting their art by including it with sketch. Just maybe avoid linking back to me >_<;

5-8: "Music Junkie Soundwave". In a similar vein, there was another user on the subreddit that wanted opinions on a potential Transformers fashion doll line, citing a video that one of their friends made on the idea.

Now despite having a limited knowledge of Transformers, and I'm still pretty green to the fashion doll world, I wrote a whole-ass dissertation on the idea because magical girl/boy robot dolls are totally something I'd be into.

But, for a similar reason to the clown doll, I didn't want to make a reddit account just to critique someone (though I still have the original response in my drafts).

When I finished writing that response, I decided to sketch how I would go about the idea as it'd been proposed, and created this Soundwave doll idea. Admittedly, he's very inspired by Giacomo from Pokemon Scarlet/Violet (never played it, but I do like some of the character designs in it). I dunno if the overalls are a little dorky, but I couldn't think of another way to represent his chest-deck in a meaningful way.

9-10: "Kingsley and Mamuta". I tried to make some human? designs for them, but it's not going great. I really wanted Mamuta to still be monstrous, but designs like that aren't my strong-suit... Kingsley I'm just not satisfied with yet.

11: "OC Line-Up". Just a few OCs of mine. From left to right: Carol, The Prince Formerly Known As Frog, Shapeshifter, and Fizz.

12: "Rival". An idea for a rival to Kun3h0, ala Shadow the Hedgehog and Wario. I made another sketch recently that goes in a very different direction, but I kinda want to finish that so I haven't included it in this dump.