#the sp boost ALONE is wild

[glow-youyoumu]

I may or may not have pulled a few more times to max out this story card despite already mlb-ing Youmu ^_^; this card is so good

[ohthehypocrisy]

Luxray for Pokemon Unite!

Season 1

Season 2

Prev: Cradily - Hatterene - Tropius - Cacturne - Ditto - Weavile - Ogerpon - Coalossal - Gogoat - Galarian Slowbro

Do you remember playing Pokemon Diamond and Pearl? Do you remember your first wild pokemon you caught? For some, it was a trusty Bidoof, for others, it was a brave Starly. But some of us were smitten when a little blue cat with bright yellow eyes appeared right before us. With powerful electric blasts and an intimidating disposition, Luxray has served many trainers extremely well throughout their journey through Sinnoh.

And now, let’s put all of that faith and loyalty into putting Luxray into Pokemon Unite. Let’s see what this bolting bobcat brings to the battlefield.

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Luxray’s most powerful stat is Attack, which is to be expected of a big electric cat. It’s Sp. Attack also isn’t too shabby, which allows Luxray to deal damage from both ends of the spectrum if it needs to. While it is on the weaker side defensively and in agility, Luxray is very good at weakening opponents through paralysis and debilitating effects like Roar or Snarl. So, with the high capacity to deal electric attacks like an Attacker, the ability to deal high damage like a Speedster, and the power to ward off enemies like a Defender, I think it’s safe to say that Luxray is surprisingly flexible. As such, I believe Luxray settles into the role of an...

All-Rounder

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Basic Attack - Ranged/Attack

The user fires a star shaped bolt of electricity from its tail. An additional bolt is fired as the basic attack builds up power, dealing damage to an additional enemy for each boost. When the basic attack builds up to maximum power, up to 5 boosts, the pokemon starts slashing at enemies nearby while continuing to shoot star bolts at all nearby enemies. This basic attack deals additional damage to enemies marked with an X.

The basic attack boosts up to 5 levels. For each level, an additional basic attack projectile will be launched at a different enemy. Multiple enemies are targeted at random.

When the basic attack boosts up to 5 levels, the basic attack becomes charged for 5 seconds. During this time, the pokemon will deliver a melee basic attack all around itself along with a ranged basic attack projectile. This melee basic attack activates effects like Razor Claw and Garchomp’s Rough Skin.

Enemies marked with an X receive 125% more damage from your basic attack.

At the moment, there is only one All-Rounder that uses ranged projectiles for its basic attack, and that would be Dragonite. It can even forgo range altogether if it uses Outrage, so the novelty wears off depending on how the match goes. Luxray is decidedly an electric slinging cat, so it uses star bolts to deal damage to enemies from far away.

Unlike other basic attacks, Luxray can fire off more than one projectile due to the way its basic attack works. As it builds up power, it can target additional enemies, one for each boost. It’s slow, but if you build up all the way to five boosts, you’ll be able to attack the entire opposing team with just your basic attack alone. And also just like Dragonite, and Greninja too, it can adopt a melee attack when it’s at full power, without sacrificing the ability to deal ranged attacks.

It also combos with the X mark it can inflict on enemies with its moves, but we’ll get to that later. For now, let’s go over the ability.

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Ability: Intimidate

Opposing pokemon deal reduced damage to the user when they are nearby. Opposing pokemon marked with an X have their attack power reduced even further.

Nearby enemies deal 30% less damage to the user when they are close by.

Opposing Pokemon marked with an X deal 50% less damage.

While Intimidate as an ability has the power to reduce the damage received from nearby enemies, it isn’t going to be enough to save you from burst damage most of the time. Not to say that the weakening effect isn’t useful, but Luxray’s base stats aren’t really high enough to make use of the reduction effect. It’s main draw is that the ability is always in effect, reducing the total amount of damage you receive across the entire game.

That said, the ability works by reducing offensive power by a percentage. Opposing pokemon with average attacking stats won’t notice much of a difference when Intimidate reduces their attack power, but those with higher stats will feel something when their attacks stop hurting as much. Ironically enough, this means that opposing Speedsters and heavy hitting All-Rounders lose out the most on the damage they can deal to you.

Ranged attackers, however, can fight outside of Intimidate’s power reducing range. Even though Luxray is a ranged attacker, it can have a little bit of trouble dealing with opposing ranged attackers due to how long it takes to build up its basic attack boosts. As such, Luxray needs to be more proactive in dealing with fighters from afar before they become a problem for itself. Bobcats are ambush hunters, don’t you know, so prepare to strike from the cover of Tall Grass.

Of course, you’ll need to know how to use its moves in order to pull off a successful surprise attack.

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At the start of the game, Luxray will start out as Shinx. You can choose between Leer and Spark as your first move. By Level 3, you will have learned both.

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Move 1: Leer (Debuff)

Flashes a scornful look at enemies directly in front of you, Stunning opposing pokemon momentarily and reducing their Defense for a short while. Opposing Pokemon are also marked with an X for a short while. 9s cooldown.

Leer Stuns enemies for 0.5 seconds and reduces their Defense by 35% for 5 seconds. They are also marked with an X for 9 seconds.

Genuine question, who looks at Shinx and gets scared by it? How is its Leer and Intimidate ability so effective when it resembles an adorable stuffed cub?

Well, I’m not a pokemon professor, so I’ll leave that question to the professionals. What I do know is that Leer is a surprisingly strong debuffing move that you can use at the beginning of the game. Not only does it temporarily stun enemies, it’ll reduce their Defense for as long as the cooldown runs for. This is an incredibly useful move for starting fights or for finishing off enemies.

It also marks enemies with an X, which is Shinx, and Luxray’s, unique mechanic. This X mechanic is integral to how Luxray plays, but for now, you just need to know how it can be utilized. By marking enemies with an X, your basic attack deals increased damage. It also increases the effect of Intimidate, reducing their attack power even further. When you combine all of this together, what Leer does for you is that it reduces the Defense and damage of the opposing pokemon, Stuns them, and increases the power of your basic attack while the X is in effect.

And that’s not even without going into detail in how it interacts with your other Move, Spark.

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Move 2: Spark (Dash)

The user tackles enemies while charged with electricity. On impact, the residual electricity splits off and damages a nearby enemy. If this move or the split bolts damage enemies marked with an X, the mark is cleared and the attack deals more damage and restores the user’s HP. 8s cooldown.

When an enemy is hit by Spark, a nearby enemy will receive a bolt of lightning and take damage. If any of these enemies are marked with an X, the mark is cleared and the attack deals 175% more damage and restores the user’s HP by 50% of the damage dealt.

If multiple enemies are present, the split bolt chooses one randomly.

If the initial target is marked with an X, the rest of the attack deals increased damage and contributes HP to be restored. If the bolt hits an enemy marked with an X, however, the overall increased damage and healing is reduced. If both enemies are marked with an X, the extra damage and healing effects increase consequently.

By itself, Spark is a plain Dash Move that sends Shinx flying forward a tiny bit. If you hit an enemy, however, the residual electricity splinters off from the impact point, jumping to a nearby enemy and also dealing damage to them. This is useful for when the target has backup nearby, which they’ll usually have in Top or Bottom Lane, but this move gets stronger if you mark an enemy with an X.

Hitting an enemy marked with X clears the mark, but the Move deals increased damage and restores your HP relative to the damage dealt. Either your target or their ally hit can be the one marked with X, but when it goes away, you’ll come out of the exchange with a bit more HP than when you started. Of course, to maximize the damage and healing, the main target of Spark is the one that needs to be marked with an X, but don’t beat yourself up if you miss your mark in the heat of battle.

Clearing the X mark however means that you’ll shut down the boons your basic attack and Intimidate ability had, so think hard about when the right time to use Spark should be. Preferably, it’d be near the end of Leer’s debuff, after you’ve gotten the most out of the Defense drop and right before the X wears off.

Leer is a bit of a short ranged move, though, so it may not be easy to apply the X mark in the first place. When you’ve got a good feel for how to utilize the move, you’ll be ready to evolve and level up your X marking tactics.

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At Level 5, Shinx evolves into Luxio. At the same time, Leer becomes either Scary Face or Thunder Wave.

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Move 1a: Scary Face (Debuff)

The pokemon gives an intimidating look at all enemies in range, inflicting a drastic Defense and Movement Speed debuff that gradually wears off. All affected enemies will be marked with an X that will not be cleared by the user’s moves until the debuff wears off. 11s cooldown.

At Level 12, Scary Face becomes Scary Face+.

Extends the duration of the debuff.

Reduces the Defense and Movement Speed of affected enemies by 300%. However, this debuff weakens gradually, weakening to 30% before wearing off after 3 seconds. Scary Face+ extends the duration of this debuff to 4.5 seconds, and the debuff weakening effect is lessened to 50% before wearing off.

Scary Face marks enemies with an X for 3 seconds, 4.5 seconds with Scary Face+. This mark will not be cleared by your moves until it wears off, though your moves will trigger bonus effects as if the mark was cleared.

Fear is a normal response to terrifying things, which is why Luxio and Luxray use it to stop prey from escaping. By frightening enemies in range, not only do you hit them with an incredibly powerful Defense and Movement Speed debuff, you also mark them with an X with a unique mechanic to it.

Firstly, the Defense and Movement Speed debuff is extremely powerful, dropping both stats all the way down to 300%. This debuff weakens gradually, though, weakening to 200% after 1 second, 100% after 2 seconds, and then sitting at 50% before it wears off completely. It’s not reliable enough to be used throughout a fight thanks to its high 11 second cooldown, but it opens up victims to a whole ton of damage if you follow up immediately with a powerful attack.

Speaking of which, the X mark is unique in that it won’t be cleared by your moves, but they’ll still get an extra effect as if it were cleared. For example, Spark will deal increased damage and restore your HP if you hit an enemy with this X mark, even though the X wasn’t cleared. This means that you can follow up Spark with your basic attack, which allows you to keep piling on heavy damage, especially if it was boosted.

It is a very short lived mark, though, and the only one you can tag with your chosen moveset, aside from your Unite Move. It may not last long, but combined with Scary Face’s powerful initial debuff, it can help you end the fight as soon as it started. The upgrade remedies this a bit by extending the duration to 4.5 seconds, slightly prolonging the duration of the Defense and Movement Speed debuff as well.

If you like dealing quick damage, Scary Face is the right way to go, but if you want some extra distance, you may prefer Thunder Wave instead.

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Move 1b: Thunder Wave (Ranged/Hindrance)

The user launches a bolt of electricity in the designated direction, which erupts into a paralyzing field of thunderbolts after reaching the maximum distance or on hit with an opposing pokemon. The attack Stuns enemies briefly and marks them with an X. If the user clears this mark with one of their moves, the move will Stun enemies, deal increased piercing damage, restore the user’s HP, and reduces the cooldown of Thunder Wave. 9.5s cooldown.

At Level 12, Thunder Wave becomes Thunder Wave+.

Increases the size of the electric blast.

Thunder Wave behaves like a physical projectile in that it will explode after hitting an enemy, though not when it hits a wall. This projectile explosion Stuns enemies for 0.75 seconds and marks them with an X for 9 seconds.

If the X is cleared by one of your moves, the marked enemy will be Stunned for 1 second, increase the damage dealt by 225%, turns the damage dealt into piercing damage, and restore’s the user’s HP equal to 50% of the damage dealt. These effects stack with the Move that cleared the mark.

Clearing the mark also reduces the cooldown of Thunder Wave by 1 second.

Thunder Wave+ increases the size of the explosion.

Both Leer and Scary Face are a bit challenged when it comes to the distance they can cover. This is why you have the option to fire a long range bolt as an alternative. Thunder Wave not only marks enemies with an X from afar, it also charges them with electricity, granting Luxio and Luxray some extra powerful effects if they get cleared.

After getting blasted by electricity, Thunder Wave marks all enemies hit by the blast with an X. This X Mark lasts for as long as Thunder Wave’s cooldown runs for, so it’s no big deal if you fail to clear it right away with a move. If you do manage to clear it, the X mark rewards you by adding extra power to the move, as well as stunning the enemy, turning the damage dealt into piercing damage, restoring your HP, and will even reduce the cooldown of the move by a second, making it possible to use Thunder Wave again.

These effects stack with any other effects your other move has. For example, Spark already deals increased damage and heals you for each X mark you clear. If the X mark cleared was made by Thunder Wave, you’ll deal even more damage and heal for even more HP, on top of all the extra effects Thunder Wave grants. It’s a great way to deal with ranged attackers because of all the stun effects this move can deal, from the attack itself and from the mark being cleared.

But even so, Spark can be a bit on the weak side, even with Thunder Wave or Scary Face augmenting the X marks effects for you. The only thing left to do is to level up even more and reach your true power.

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At Level 8, Luxio evolves into Luxray. At the same time, Spark becomes either Wild Charge or Discharge.

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Move 2a: Wild Charge (Dash)

The user dashes forward while cloaked in volatile electricity. If an enemy marked with an X is hit by this move, the mark is cleared and the cooldown of this move is reset. The cooldown of Wild Charge is reduced when the user deals damage with its fully powered basic attack. 12.5s cooldown.

At Level 13, Wild Charge becomes Wild Charge+.

Damage dealt is increased.

Wild Charge has its cooldown reset if you damage an enemy marked with an X.

The cooldown of Wild Charge is reduced by 0.5 seconds each time you deal damage with your fully boosted basic attack.

Wild Charge+ increases the damage by 75%.

After achieving its full potential, Luxray unleashes its maximum power onto its enemies with fully powered electrified tackles. Wild Charge is an extremely powerful attack, so much so that it has to be balanced with a very high cooldown of 12.5 seconds. That’s the only thing holding this move back from completely overpowering the enemy team, but Luxray has the ability to power through these limitations.

If Luxray hits an enemy marked with an X with Wild Charge, the residual electricity coming off from the attack refuels the move, resetting the cooldown of the attack and allowing Luxray to use it once more. It functions similarly to Lucario’s Extreme Speed attack, but Luxray has multiple options to mark enemies with an X and multiple ways to clear it. But just like Lucario’s Extreme Speed, Luxray doesn’t get much extra when you hit multiple marked enemies at once with Wild Charge. The optimal way to space the move is to hit at most 1 marked enemy with each dash, while hitting as many unmarked enemies as you can in between.

When you combine this with Scary Face, you’ll have 3 seconds to run wild with Wild Charge, since the X mark made by Scary Face doesn’t clear but will still grant your moves their extra effects. This means you’ll be dashing back and forth for as long as Scary Face is active, which is 3 seconds, or 4.5 seconds when it’s upgraded. Alternatively, Thunder Wave gives some extra oomph to Wild Charge, which may not sound like the better deal, but since Thunder Wave is a ranged electric blast that stuns, it’s very helpful in dealing with frail ranged attackers.

Even with Wild Charge resetting itself when clearing X marks, 12.5 seconds is still a long time to wait for the move to come off of cooldown when all is said and done. Thankfully, Wild Charge has one more extra effect, and that’s with the cooldown being reduced each time you deal damage with a fully boosted basic attack. It doesn’t reduce for each enemy you damage, only when you actually use it to damage an enemy, so it’s forgiving in that regard. That said, building up basic attacks to fully power it up can be a bit of a grind, so make sure you don’t put yourself in danger until you’re fully powered up.

If you prefer to keep your distance, Discharge is a powerful alternative option.

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Move 2b: Discharge (Ranged)

The user fires a lightning bolt forward, dealing damage to enemies. If an enemy is nearby, the lightning bolt jumps to them and deals damage. If an enemy is marked with an X, the lightning bolt deals increased damage throughout the attack and will clear the mark. The lightning bolt will continue to jump between enemies, dealing damage to each enemy once. However, enemies marked with an X can be damaged again after the mark is cleared. When no more viable enemies are nearby, the lightning bolt returns to the user, restoring HP. 11s cooldown.

At Level 13, Discharge becomes Discharge+.

The range of viable targets is increased.

Similar to Azumarill’s Water Pulse, Discharge deals damage between multiple enemies, jumping to and fro between viable targets.

Discharge will damage each enemy once until no more viable targets are within range, at which point the lightning bolt will jump back towards the pokemon and restore their HP equal to 50% of the damage dealt.

Enemies marked with an X will have the mark cleared, increasing the damage by 25% for each mark cleared. After the mark is cleared, the enemy is viable to be targeted again by Discharge.

In the case of Scary Face and the X mark it inflicts, Discharge will jump repeatedly to the marked enemy or enemies until the Scary Face debuff wears off. Discharge will not go on cooldown until the lightning bolt returns to Luxray.

The lightning bolt can damage enemies in between jumps and on its way back to Luxray. However, the lightning bolt can disappear if Luxray is too far away, such as when it returns to base before the move can finish.

Discharge+ increases the range in which the lightning bolt can jump by a small 25% wider radius.

As an All-Rounder, Luxray is expected to cover multiple roles and do as many things as it can within its power. It can become a pseudo Speedster with Wild Charge or a Defender with Scary Face and its Intimidate ability. However, it has the profile of an Attacker, being able to damage multiple enemies at once with its basic attack when it’s fully charged. So when it chooses to learn Discharge, that comes full circle in making Luxray a long ranged damage dealer that specializes in fighting hordes of enemies.

Discharge behaves a lot like Azumarill’s Water Pulse, in that Discharge is a projectile that can jump between multiple enemies at least once. Whereas the upgraded version of Azumarill’s Water Pulse can damage enemies repeatedly, Luxray doesn’t need to upgrade to be able to damage multiple enemies multiple times, instead utilizing the X mark it can inflict with its moves.

First off, by itself, Discharge will launch as a projectile that will then jump around between enemies, damaging each one at least once. When the attack runs out of enemies to damage, the bolt returns to you, restoring your HP equal to half of the damage you managed to deal. Without any boosts, it’s a decent option at handling hordes of Wild Pokemon.

When used to clear X marks, though, that is when the move truly powers up. It follows the same attack pattern as before, except the lightning bolt gets stronger for each X mark it clears. Also, the attack treats marked and unmarked enemies as different targets, so Discharge can hit an enemy twice before and after the X mark gets cleared. If you mark an entire crowd of opponents, you’ll effectively double the power of Discharge and hit each enemy pretty much twice over. 

With Scary Face, Discharge will not clear the X mark but will continue to power up as if it did, and it will also hit the X marked enemy again and again until the Scary Face debuff wears off. This will only be in effect for 3 seconds, or 4.5 seconds with Scary Face+, so you can punch a really big whole in a group filled with Defenders and Supporters. Thunder Wave is the safer way to mark enemies, and the Stun you deal can linger long enough for you to immediately follow up with Discharge. It’ll also add an extra effect to Discharge, Stunning enemies again, turning Discharge into piercing damage, reducing the cooldown of Thunder Wave, increasing the healing you get afterwards, so on and so forth.

For how powerful Discharge is, you shouldn’t overestimate the move’s reach. It won’t jump if the opposing team is spaced far enough apart, and it lacks power when it attacks two or three enemies in a group. Discharge+ fixes this a bit by increasing the range the bolts can jump, but the application falls on you. As in, how effective dealing damage with Discharge depends on how many opposing pokemon you can mark with Scary Face or Thunder Wave.

Any combination of your moves work really well with each other, but when it comes to your Unite Move, your damage potential increases dramatically.

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Unite Move: Luxray Vision (Sure Hit)

The user’s eyes become supercharged with electricity, allowing you to see enemies that are hiding or invisible. When an enemy is targeted, the user takes a brief moment to power up for a pounce before jumping and landing on the enemy in a bolt of lightning, dealing damage. The lightning jump marks the target and all nearby enemies with an X. Clearing this X Mark with your Moves fills up the Unite Move Charge Rate. If the enemy was hiding or invisible, the damage dealt by this Unite Move is increased. If the enemy is KO’d by this attack, the user’s basic attack becomes fully boosted and deals increased damage for a short while. The lightning strike deals damage in a greater area if the user’s basic attack was already fully boosted.

All enemies that are in hiding or are invisible will be revealed to the player when Luxray Vision activates.

When an enemy is chosen, Luxray powers up for 1.5 seconds before jumping, dealing an electric blast at the enemy’s location. This blast marks the target and all nearby enemies with an X Mark for 15 seconds.

The X Mark fills the Unite Move Charge Rate by 15% when it is cleared by either Wild Charge or Discharge.

The X mark can be applied along with another X mark made by either Scary Face or Thunder Wave. When both are applied and then cleared, the X mark made by Luxray Vision clears first.

Luxray Vision deals 250% more damage to enemies hiding in Tall Grass or under an invisibility effect, like Sableye’s Prankster or Gengar’s Phantom Ambush.

If this move KO’s an enemy, the basic attack boosts all the way to 5 and deals 150% more damage for 15 seconds. If the basic attack was already fully boosted, the electric jump deals damage in a wider area.

You have 5 seconds to target an enemy before the Unite Move ends. During this time, Luxray cannot use basic attacks or Moves.

Pokemon has been asking us to suspend our disbelief for years, and so far we've obliged, but I can't help but feel that maybe x-ray vision is a bit too far out there. I mean, you know that is concentrated radiation being emitted through light, right? Well, if superheroes are allowed to have this specific superpower, I guess it's not too farfetched for a pokemon to do it.

I mean, it's not like Luxray actually uses this see-through effect in the games, so we might as well put it here, in Pokemon Unite. Luxray Vision grants Luxray the ability to see hiding pokemon, in Tall Grass or otherwise invisible through their moves and abilities. It's just like Inteleon's Azure Spy Vision, except since Luxray only uses one attack before the effect wears off, it's drastically shorter in duration and not as useful for rooting out hiding enemies for your team.

When Luxray has a lock on an enemy, though, it will take a moment to prepare for a pounce before jumping onto the target in a blast of electricity. The attack ends at this point, but the Unite Move grants a slew of extra effects when it hits. First off, it marks enemies with an X that, when cleared, refills the Unite Move Charge Rate by 15%. Since it's possible to hit multiple enemies with Luxray Vision, it's likely you'll be able to refill your Unite Move by 30% or maybe even 45%. If you see yourself jumping into an entire enemy horde, be ready to fire off Wild Charge or Discharge. You can even lead with Scary Face or Thunder Wave, since the X marks can double up and affect a pokemon at the same time.

If you land on an enemy that was invisible, you'll even deal extra damage to them. It doesn't matter if they were invisible or all huddled up in the Tall Grass together, they'll never see you coming and suffer a damage penalty as a result. You're gonna want to get that KO, as scoring a KO with this move will fully charge your basic attack and make it stronger for quite a while. It's great for following up the ambush with heavy damage from your basic attack, but if it was already powered up, the electric blast from the jump will increase in size instead. You'll still get the power boost if you land a KO, so make sure you use this move to finish off weakened enemies.

Just one small tidbit, the attack will never miss, which is useful for chasing down fleet-footed enemies. Things can get unpredictable, though, if you hit an enemy that is in the middle of using a shortcut, such as Hoopa's Hyperspace Hole or even just a manual Recall. In the short time it takes for Luxray to make the jump, the enemy can already have relocated to a different area than the one they were in a second ago. You won't appear in the middle of the opposing team's base, but you'll be stuck right outside their front door if it happens that you targeted an enemy on their way back home. Weirder things have happened to other pokemon that chase down enemies with their own Sure Hit attacks.

Make sure that the hunter doesn't become the hunted.

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Achievements

Deal 5000 damage to enemies marked with an X with your fully powered basic attack in a single battle.

With all the effects of your Moves coming together to deal optimal damage, you shouldn't forget about how your basic attack can damage multiple enemies, especially dealing extra damage to those marked with an X.

The problem is, because of how beneficial it is to clear the X, players may neglect to utilize the basic attack. It's a powerful effect, hitting up to 5 opposing pokemon when fully powered up, dealing more damage to marked enemies, but that power goes away when the X mark is cleared by Discharge or Wild Charge. As such, in order to properly train players on using all of Luxray's tools effectively, this Achievement rewards players for maxing out the damage they deal with their basic attack.

5000 damage using only your basic attack may sound like much (maybe it isn't, I haven't been paying attention to what exactly is 'good' damage) but you gotta remember that you can hit 5 enemies at once when the basic attack is fully powered up. Also, it starts dealing melee damage at the same time, so crowded fights are a great opportunity to start spreading damage. However, this achievement requires that the damage be dealt while the enemy is marked with an X, so it's better to use Scary Face or Thunder Wave when you're fully powered up, clearing the mark afterwards only when it's about to wear off.

If you're consistent enough and good at timing the duration of the debuffs, you'll find yourself hitting or even exceeding the damage requirement for the achievement. And when that happens, you'll know for sure that you've become a Luxray Master.

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Holowear

When it comes to tailoring holographic clothes, Luxray's big glorious mane might get in the way of some headgear. As such, when any hats or tops are listed, assume they've been sewn in half and are sticking to its fur with hair clips.

To start with, Fancy Style Holowear gives Luxray a top hat, a fancy suit, and some glittering braces on its legs and tail. Secret Style Holowear, gives it some high tech visors, a sneak suit, and a spywatch strapped to its foreleg. Pirate Style Holowear gives Luxray a big tricorn, an eyepatch, scarves and coats over its body, and a toy sword strapped to its side, because X marks the spot for Luxray. Gamer Style Holowear puts Luxray in a gray beret, a posh business vest, and a pocket filled with playing cards, you know, that kind of gamer. Lastly, Starry Style Holowear decorates the pokemon with stars and veils, making Luxray look just as glittery and full of stars as the night sky.

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Strategy

With Luxray's reliable ranged basic attack and X marking effects, the pokemon is very adaptable to almost any situation, adapting to the flow of battle as it pans out. In fact, much of Luxray's most optimal game plan has been explained thoroughly throughout its Move's descriptions. As such, I'm only going to summarize Luxray's attacks and how they combine with each other, then go over its weaknesses and blind spots, because even an All-Rounder can struggle to cover their bases.

To start off with, since Leer becomes either Scary Face or Thunder Wave, Luxray will always have some ability to apply the X mark on enemies to increase its damage. Even without either move, it can apply a separate X mark with its Unite Move, though the Charge Rate is above average and may see limited application in the heat of battle. Either way, Luxray is at its strongest when it starts any fight with Scary Face or Thunder Wave, as it can then threaten huge damage with a follow up move.

The ability to inhibit enemies in order to maximize damage is one of the fairer ways of allowing a pokemon to deal huge damage. It wouldn't be fun to play as a pokemon that would need to do all of this work for very little payoff. Indeed, while Luxray can deal drastic damage to opposing pokemon under the right conditions, one of its main flaws is the punishing cooldowns of Scary Face and Thunder Wave if those moves miss.

We've been going on and on about how integral these moves are to your plan of attack and why it's best to use these moves at the start of scuffles, and that's because of the extremely high cooldown these moves have. Hit or miss, it'll be a bit before they come back online, during which you'll need to make the most of the opening you've made on any enemy you managed to hit with these moves. While Thunder Wave has a shorter cooldown and can be reduced by clearing the mark it makes, both moves have very different applications, with Thunder Wave handling ranged attackers better whereas Scary Face handles Defenders and bulky All-Rounders solidly. Choosing one over the other in certain circumstances won't ruin your game plan, but against balanced teams, Luxray can run into a bit of trouble.

Ironic, isn't it? In achieving perfectly balanced offense and defense, Luxray finds itself struggling against perfectly balanced opposition. It can enfeeble melee attackers with Scary Face, or close the distance against ranged attackers with Thunder Wave, but it cannot do both, and that is where its weaknesses lie. Should the enemy team understand what Luxray's plan of attack will be, it will be helpless against the counterattack, forcing it to rely on its teammates to cover for its own opportunity cost.

Regardless of which combination of moves you choose, there are three constants always at play that work to your benefit; your far reaching basic attack, your damage reducing Ability, and your Unite Move, Luxray Vision. Your basic attack becomes more capable of dealing with crowds the more it's boosted, allowing you to handle crowds better, especially if you get a lucky hit with either Scary Face or Thunder Wave. It's even better if you chose Wild Charge over Discharge, as each hit reduces the cooldown of that move by a bit each time you hit something with it, allowing you to deal big damage a second or third time. Discharge doesn't get any benefits, but it handles hordes all the same thanks to its jumping damage effect.

Intimidate as an Ability is not to be underestimated, as it reduces damage received by enemies nearby. Marked enemies deal even less damage, and Scary Face and Thunder Wave are both perfectly capable of marking enemies within Melee Basic Attack range. Speaking of which, when your basic is fully boosted, you start dealing Melee Damage due to the overwhelming surge of electricity in your body. This melee attack can freely damage an enemy that is also being targeted by the ranged projectiles of your basic attack, piling on the damage even further. Adding on to that, it deals even more damage to marked enemies, allowing you to fight opposing pokemon at close range much better than other pokemon. The combined effects go away when the X mark fades or is cleared by your moves, but as we've gone over in the Achievements section, the best way to abuse the X mark is to wait until it's about to fade away before clearing it with your Moves.

Lastly, the Unite Move, Luxray Vision, allows you to single out 1 enemy on the opposing team with a deadly pounce. The power of this move increases when you hit an enemy hiding in the bushes or if they are invisible, and considering that all of the current pokemon that can use invisibility are on the squishy side of the spectrum, you'll more often than not secure that KO easily. But if you don't, not to worry, as the survivor or survivors will be marked with a unique X mark. This X mark, when cleared by your moves, refills the Unite Move Charge Rate by a small amount, incentivizing you to start the attack with either Wild Charge or Discharge at the ready so that you can immediately clear it. If you instead prefer to lead with Scary Face or Thunder Wave, the X marks do stack, allowing you to really pile on the damage if you hit a Defender in the bushes.

Luxray has the ability to deal heavy damage with its moves, but not for free. Each set-up requires careful planning to pull off a hunt successfully, requiring patience and a steady hand to hit all the right notes. If it fails to secure a KO, it is at risk of losing its own stock and is at the mercy of the enemy until it can successfully retreat. If it gets it right and corners the enemy, well, it'll be a gruesome scene playing out, that's to be sure.

You ever get the feeling you're being watched? Like some fierce predator is nearby? If Luxray is in the area, it most likely is.

-

And that's Luxray for Pokemon Unite! Fun fact, the original moveset was something completely different and was centered around its basic attack building up some kind of X star effect or something. I already forgot what it was because of how it didn't fit Luxray's character all that well. I like this moveset better, and I'm hoping that fans of Luxray appreciate the creativity and uniqueness expressed in these moves.

That'll be it for me until next week. Until then, see ya!

[pip-n-flinx]

So @pigeontheoneandonly​ tagged me with a WIP meme and explicitly mentioned my guitar rig. Thanks for thinking of me!

If @citadelsushi​, @berryshiara​ @swaps55​ @ferusaurelius​ @faith-less-one​ @ooachilliaoo​ or any of my mutuals want to share what they’ve been working on (doesn’t have to be a stupid expensive guitar set up :P) please tag me back so I can see!

Above are the pedals in a rough layout of my signal path.

The tuner first, which can also function as a standby since when the pedal is engaged no sound gets through.

The EUNA from 29 Pedals second. This is a weird part of the signal chain that I don’t understand super well, but TL;DR it helps ensure my signal is strong enough to deal with the resistance of all the other stuff that comes between the guitar and the amp.

In a loop that bypasses all of EUNA’s functions, I keep my Hellephant. Fuzz is the first outboard effect ever made for guitar, and it wasn’t designed to see anything but direct guitar signal, so it needs a signal path seperate from the EUNA.

Next is my Xotic SP (small pedal) Compressor. Compression can be helpful for technical passages where your technique isn’t quite up to snuff. It levels out the signal, loosing some of the dynamic range (quiet-to-loud range) but also evens out any picking or plucking, which can be useful for some extended technique stuff. It can also tame the crazy volumes that can come out of my fuzzbox, which is helpful when I don’t want to blow my eardrums out.

Now we have two double gain stages, the Jackson Audio Asabi and Golden Boy. The Asabi is Mateus Asato’s signature pedal, and the Golden Boy is Joey Landreth’s. The Asabi features a overdrive circuit followed by a ‘modern high-gain distortion’ circuit and a suite of other wild and fun features. The Golden Boy has the same concept, but it features a ‘distortion free’ boost and a so called ‘transparent’ or low-distortion overdrive modeled after the old Marshall Bluesbreaker pedal. Each of these 4 gain-stages have 4 different clipping diodes, which allow you to tailor at what volume the guitar starts to sound clipped/distorted, along with a number of other features. I’d try and better explain, but there are several great demos up on youtube if you’re curious.

Next is the Source Audio EQ2 10 band graphic equalizer. I don’t use this much, but it has 4 customizable presets and a noise gate, which can help cut down on hum. Also useful if you find yourself plugged into an unfamilar amp or guitar and the sound isn’t quite right. Very powerful, but I spend too long fiddling with it so I mostly just leave it alone.

Next is the Strymon Deco. I can’t really explain this one, but its a saturation/compression/vibe/flanger/chorus/delay pedal and you’ll just have to trust that that makes sense or watch Strymons proprietary video on its release because I don’t have time to explain all that. TL;DR it pretends to be two different tape decks and does many things.

GFI systems Specular Tempus is slightly easier to explain, but not much. This is a reverb/delay pedal with 4 banks of 16 double customizable presets. It can do a wide array of reverb and delay sounds, including modulating or transposing features and doesn’t really sound like natural room reverb at all. It also has a limited number of settings where it is both delay and reverb simultaneously.

Last in the pedal chain is the Strymon Iridium. I had originally thought I wouldn’t need an amp to play because of this beauty, but unfortunately it requires powered speakers and all mine are designed to get their power from the amp, which the Iridium can’t do. It has 3 functions. It can replicate 3 different amp heads (arguably the 3 most recorded guitar amps in history.) It can make those amps sound as though they are coming from any of 3 speaker cabinets (3 per amp, for a total of 9 different ones loaded in.) And it has a truly remarkable “natural” room reverb function as well. It also has a headphones jack, which has inabled me to practice in silence while I waited for my new amp to arrive.

So above are the guitar I play the most currently and below that my new amp!

The guitar is styled after the famous Fender Stratocaster, but is in fact an Ernie Ball Cutlass.

The amp is a new hand wired VOX AC30 head, pictured here next to my VOX 1x12″ extension cabinet (celestion greenback speaker) and my EVH 5150 1x12″ speaker (celestion vintage 30 speakers.) I haven’t even plugged this in yet (well, I tested to make sure power works) but every time I have the time to play its late enough I don’t want to disturb the neighbors. HOWEVER a little history and the reason I chose the AC30:

The AC30 is one of the amps of legend. It was the amp the Beatles played on the Ed Sullivan Show at the start of the British Invasion. It’s the amp behind Brian May of Queen and all of the iconic solos and guitar sounds (okay, maybe not all but there are tons of pictures of him on stage with it so cut me some slack.) Just off wikipedia we can add the Rolling Stones, the Yardbirds, the Kinks, Dire Straights, Radiohead, and Edge of U2. After sitting around with the Iridium (which features an AC30 amp modeler) I decided if I was going to buy another guitar amp, it would have to be either the original VOX or a recreation of the circuit. There are several companies that do AC30 sound-a-likes: Morgan, Badcat, Matchless... I was on a Morgan preorder list until the hand wired AC30 came up for sale for $500 cheaper, so now I am the (presumably) proud owner of an AC30!

Sorry there’s no great place to put a cut in this one! Long post alert :P

[1358456]

Gold Version Joy Run

Something that I wanted to do. Just like Yellow version, I will not restrict myself whatsoever. Which means... bring on the shenanigans.

Also, very important for me! This is the VERY FIRST TIME I actually do a full Gold version run with all the glitches at my disposal! So this is a new experience!

Let’s dance.

Right off the bat, a little f*ckery. Hey there, Silver boy. My croc is bigger than yours. ... What? Temporarily named as “Leviathan” since... well, let’s just say that the early Korean version of a certain scripture translated “Leviathan” as an alligator/crocodile. ... Gators don’t breathe flames from the mouth.

Critical Pokemon captured! Huhuhahahaha! Oh, Hoppip gets THREE moves at level 5, and one of them is Splash?! Ohohoho!

Once again, Silver boy, my croc is bigger than yours.

Splash in the third slot, eh?

Sorcery! Huhuhahahaha! Nickname: Apocalypse.

Here’s a little... side-product. ... Now that is a hell of a Rattata. No Rattata in existence can possibly have almost 400 HP at level 100, let alone level 69.

Or have that much Def, Sp. Atk, and Sp. Def. ... Or that low of an Atk. ... Dude. This guy can take hits and nothing else.

Turns out, you don’t even need a Graveler to whip Whitney’s ass. Geodude is fine. “Whits Bane”. As in, “Whitney’s Bane”. ... This was its literally only purpose.

So... this guy here... was a Quilava. Its data got corrupted during the demon magic bullsh*t, and it became an unstable Rattata. Which, when “stabilized”, became a level 1 Jigglypuff with Pokerus. ... Yep. I just force-spawned Pokerus. Because why not.

They are... parasites. Tiny little life forms stuck on the Pokemon. ... That’s nasty, dude.

The sorcery continues! Rock Smash in 3rd slot. Nickname: Leviathan. The true one. Behold the leviathan, monster of the sea! Its strong scales are its pride!

... Apparently this run’s ID gives me Smog and Fire Spin. Because those two moves were on all five Pokemon that I used this glitch to hatch. ... Which means this Lugia here is 2/5.

Nidorino! ... A Normal type Nidorino. ... ?????

“You could never catch a legendary Pokemon anyway.” ... You were literally just whipped by two of them. You blind f*ck.

Turns out, Morty is insanely easy if you... you know. Mewtwo doesn’t get Psychic until level 66, but... it gets Confusion at level 1.

Chuck’s Poliwrath was blasted so hard, its sprite died. RIP. Also proof that this was the result of shenanigans. Not only do I have a Lugia that’s level 24 (when the lowest you can get is 40 in Silver), but... Aeroblast. Aeroblast is only available in Silver version, since Lugia gets it at level 1, and then learns a new move every 11x level (11, 22, 33, 44, etc). So at level 40, it has Aeroblast, Safeguard, Gust, and Recover. In the wild, a level 44 one would’ve erased Aeroblast for Hydro Pump. So in Gold version, the level 70 Lugia does not have Aeroblast. In Crystal, the level... 60? Lugia does not have Aeroblast. And there is no such thing as a move re-learner in GSC. ... Similarly, Gold is the only version where you can get Sacred Fire. ... Which means, poor Crystal version. Doesn’t get sh*t.

Speaking of Sacred Fire... Shenanigans! Whirlpool in the 3rd slot. Nickname: Phoenix. 3/5.

Somehow, this doesn’t feel fair. Lance in the Pokemon League. Getting one-shotted. Hmm...

Well, that’s the Pokemon League down. EASY! But this time, I’m going all the way. Kanto!

Hey, this is the guy that kills your game. Talk to that thing and then open the Coin Case and then your game gets f*cked. Something like that.

Hmm... Kanto, huh? Then I get access to Grimer, and therefore Acid Armor... Hmm...

Huhuhuhahaha! Acid Armor in 3rd slot. Nickname: Doomguard. Apparently you can’t use numbers, so... I couldn’t name it as “135″. Boo. Ehn. It’s not shiny, so... 4/5.

“This Gym is great! Only girls are allowed here!” ... Yeah, maybe that line is better deleted in HGSS. ... The HGSS line makes no damn sense. Just deleting this guy would’ve been better.

... Were you... having a date right in front of someone else’s house? ... What is wrong with you?

Oh you poor, sad little man. Living in a cave, since Cinnabar Island burned down. Volcano eruption. Well, at least in HGSS, you modified the sh*t out of the cave floor in Seafoam Islands. In here, you’re literally just a dude sitting in a cave all by yourself.

Janine. You sad f*ck. What is this? Level 36?! The weakest Kanto leader by far. Even weaker than a Johto leader. That’s just... pitiful.

Oh, I remember this. The trainer house? Oh, I spent a lot of time here back in actual Gold version, trying to get Metronome to get Transform so I could Transform into the Smeargle with Sketch, so that the Mewtwo would get Sacred Fire. And I succeeded... twice, since I accidentally deleted Thunderbolt, so I had to do this glitch again, but for Thunderbolt.

Johto Leaders must be pretty pathetic because I beat them? You f*ck. Here you are, sitting all by yourself in a Gym clearly made of Lego, and you’re calling the Johto Leaders pathetic?

Well, now that I annihilated this f*ck with Mewtwo (for a specific reason), I now have access to Mt. Silver, and thus, my 5th and last addition to my team. Oh, SNEASEL!!!

Final shenanigans. Beat Up in 3rd slot. Nickname: Temporus. 5/5. It ain’t a Dragon, but hey. Time thingy. And so my team is ready. Level 59 Mew, 56 Mewtwo, 55 Lugia, 55 Ho-oh, 55 Celebi. Time to take on Red with his level 70+ team.

Oh yeah. GSC Mt. Silver requires Flash. ... Flash is for sissies?!

... Wow. Can’t see sh*t except for an item that’s... ... How would you even see that?!

So... Flash is necessary. Cool. Adding in a level 5 Togepi with Flash. The team is ready.

Mt. Silver. So... here is a “hidden” path that leads to a cave with literally nothing in it. ... Like, what the f*ck was the point of this?

And another hidden path to another hidden cave with literally nothing in it. ... WHY?! Were there supposed to be some cool hidden sh*t here that got canned at the last moment?!

... So, that’s how pitiful Pikachu is. Level 81, got outrun by a level 59 Mew (base 90 vs. base 100), and one-shotted by Earthquake. ... See, this is why I can the Pikachu as soon as possible in Yellow version for a Mew. Pikachu ain’t my starter. MEW is my starter!

And ANNIHILATED! You poor sap. I have a bunch of Pokemon 20 levels lower, and yet... EASY. Why? Because Legendaries have much higher stats than other Pokemon. And in RGBY GSC, every stat gets “EVed”. ... PKRS also helps out greatly. In short, all my Pokemon are better by far. ... Which is why I restrict myself to non-Legendaries only in other normal runs. It just ain’t fair otherwise.

Now that I finished the game, I guess I’ll go to the one thing I always found super cool and very f*cking meaningless. Edit the time to be Monday, and make a beeline for Mt. Moon!

... F*ck. I forgot about this encounter. Way to ruin it, dude. It’s a huge step down from facing Red to facing you. Boo. ... Also, now you f*cking notice? You weak pathetic f*ck. Dude, you don’t need love to raise Pokemon. You’ve been using violence, and you’ve been mislead that you need love and affection. ... Dude, you need knowledge. Violence can only come properly afterwards. ... This is a reference to the elder’s questions in Crystal and HGSS Dragon’s Den. “What do you need to raise Pokemon? Love, violence, or knowledge?”

The Clefairy dance in Mt. Moon Square! Only on Mondays at night. This is still in HGSS, I think. The Clefairy dance and... leaves you a Moon Stone before running off, which means the Moon Stone is the only evolution stone you can get infinite amount of times. The others, you get like... two. Fire/Water/Leaf/Thunder Stones require you to be in Kanto for some f*cked up reason!

Now then, Gold version joy run is over. Lots of shenanigans happened. And here is my final team:

Caught Snorlax with a duplicated Master Ball, removed the Leftovers, duplicated that 5 times so all 5 of my Pokemon can have one. Constant HP regeneration for Pokemon with PKRS boosted stat experience, and with base HP stats of 100, 100, 106, 106, 106? That’s pretty freaking cheap, man.

Psychic: Level 40, but... who has the time for that? Duplicated TM 29: Psychic 4 times, so... yay. Shadow Ball: TM 30, again duplicated. Earthquake: TM 26, duplicated. Ice Punch, TM 33. Purchased in Goldenrod! Yay for not having to use the duplication glitch!

... And PP maxed for the PP 10 or lower moves using the duplicated PP Ups.

I ain’t waiting for level 66 for Mewtwo to get Psychic. Duplicated TM!

Psychic, Earthquake, and Shadow Ball. ... Just like Mew. And Ho-oh. DUPLICATION! But look. When there’s one...

There’s the other. With a symmetrical moveset.

... Celebi doesn’t learn Psychic by itself. ... TM. Also doesn’t get Giga Drain by itself. ... TM (duplicated). Shadow Ball? Also TM. And since Celebi’s movepool is as shallow as Keldeo’s, I let it keep Leech Seed. And with Leech Seed and Leftovers, Celebi here was able to easily annihilate Red’s Snorlax despite its Amnesia. EASY!

And there you have it! An easy-ass annihilation of Gold version. ... All you have to do f*ck up the game. At one point, the Dex said that I owned 39 Pokemon. But the Dex only showed me the “owned” icons for 19. Which means, I apparently owned 20 Pokemon that I never saw. ... Yeah, that makes a lot of sense.

Poor game. But at least “POOKYPOOKY” didn’t appear this time.

[ruffsficstuffplace]

And The AWRD Goes To... (Part 31)

“My life wasn’t exactly perfect back before I fell into a depression, but you know, it was… better...” Weiss started.

“I had friends, aside from Akko. I was doing well at school. Life at home was just us dealing with our respective issues and problems, nothing we hadn’t dealt with before and knew how to handle by heart, or just the usual stuff that others our age experienced.

“You know, crushes, worrying over tests, anxiously waiting for the next episode of this season’s Starlight Crusaders to release so we could all find out what happens next. I had a girlfriend, even! Aquamarine, as Akko might have told you.

“But then… things got really bad when I got caught up in the lower city gangs.

“You know what they say, about even the smartest teenagers still being teenagers? That they’ll still get into dumb shit, make dumb decisions, even though, intellectually, they know just how dumb they’re being and how dumb it is? Well, that was me, and when I got roped into Aqua’s… business with the Steel Piranhas.

“I’m sure she’s legit now, working at the Arm And A Leg, but back before we got roped up with the Timber Wolves, she was about as shady, morally questionable, to outright criminal as you can get here in Mistral.

“If she wasn’t the one boosting the cars, motorcycles, and whatever machines she could get her hands on, she was using that charm and voice of hers to bargain with people, or distract them long enough for the rest of her friends to get to work.

“Once, I remember personally seeing her flirt with this guy who had parked his motorcycle in the middle of the street, and they just completely stole the bike from him, bit by bit, just disassembling it from right behind him with the help of a sound-canceling semblance.

“Poor bastard only realized when he leaned back, found it wasn’t even there anymore, just empty air. Even believed Aqua when she said that she was too busy being taken by his handsomeness to notice.

“She was good. Really good. She had this way of convincing you, almost like it was a semblance all on its own. And I’ll be honest, I was always way too eager to be convinced by her. But the problem was, she was cocky, too, always so sure that her charisma would never fail her, that her friends would always be by her side, that everything would turn out well for her in the end.

“Then, Aqua and the SP targeted Woody’s pick-up truck.

“He loves that car, couldn’t stop showing it off and driving it everywhere he could since his mother got it for his 16th birthday, on the condition he’d start acquainting himself with the family business—drive some supervisors around and listen to them talk, make a few minor deliveries, even take trips out to the logging camps on weekends.

“I figure they wanted him to finally put the Timber Wolves behind him, but, Woody always was pretty efficient with his time, and he spent a lot of his free hours showing off how great his car was to everyone he knew—it had some of the very best parts for any consumer vehicle on the market then, the truly heavy-duty, top-of-the-line stuff that someone would kill to have, if for less than what the manufacturers were asking for it.

“That alone was enough to get the SP’s interest, but they wisely stayed away, until Aqua ran into some money troubles.

“She always sang at the Tsukimi Festival—it’s where we met, actually. Anyway, regardless of whether or not she actually won anything, the free advertising for her family’s restaurant, and her own personal charm would have people buying all night just to get an excuse to talk with her, or buy a picture and/or an autograph—it was REALLY effective.

“That year, however, she got really sick, missed the festival, and her family lost a lot of business, too—the competitors caught on, and without the Little Sirena of Bakunawa, it was a free-for-all. Their insurance wasn’t that great, either, so now they had hospital bills looming, rent, debts—basically all the kinds of money problems and personal guilt that’d make someone desperate.

“Desperate enough to do something really stupid, like try and rip out the engine of Woody’s car.

“I don’t even remember the details of the plan anymore, don’t want to cause it’s already starting to make my head hurt just thinking about it, it was so crazy, but the Steel Piranhas made off with Woody’s entire truck engine, completely intact, sold it off for a fortune before the police even finished the report.

“To the authorities, the engine was good as gone. But not to those in the know in the black market—you can’t just put one of those up for sale without generating a lot of buzz. And it only took a little hanging out at the restaurant to learn that the Urbinas had suddenly stopped sweating about their financial situation.

“I don’t know how Woody found out, exactly, but when he did, he showed off that legendary subtlety of his and had his goons stalking her everywhere, let her know, over and over again, that he knew.

“Aqua had nowhere to go, no one else to turn to but me.

“The police had officially considered the case closed, but the Bunyan lawyers could just as easily reopen it, and the people that made their engines weren’t too happy that their new exclusive design got reverse-engineered and cannibalized so soon.

“Even the SP made her promise that their cut of the profits from selling Woody’s engine was as far as they were going to be involved with the business, in exchange for letting Aqua have the lion’s share, among other conditions.

“Her family had no idea Aqua was even involved in the gangs, she was that good at playing innocent! They only ever noticed that she always seemed to ask about the weather more often, always looking out for the next big rain storm that was going to hit Mistral.

“And when it did, Woody made good on his threat.

“I’d hoped to scare them off, take Myrtenaster with me, load it up with dust, and at the worst, freeze the street and make a getaway.

“But of course… it didn’t happen like that.”

Weiss looked down and started shaking, her voice cracking as she started tearing up. “They always warned us, you know, about how serious the charges were if you were to assault someone as a huntsman or huntress-in-training—even graver than if I were just a regular civilian, because I’d been trained to fight, to kill, have my aura and my semblance unlocked and trained, gotten all the powers and drawbacks that entails.”

She sucked in a breath, Whitley got up to get a box of tissues. “It’s even worse when you’re armed, when it’s multiple cases of aggravated assault, and you’ve seriously injured a police officer, too. Just like that, my perfect record disappeared; I was facing the very real, very serious threat of expulsion from Sanctum; and I’m pretty sure the only reason I didn’t see jail time was because of my grandparents’ connections, and the jury and judges were on my side, since Woody and the Timber Wolves were all repeat offenders.”

Whitley handed her some tissues, Weiss wiped her eyes and blew her nose, cradled Blubbermouth tighter. “But that paled in comparison, to what I saw, when I finally got to visit Aqua in the hospital,  found out what I’d done to her…”

Weiss shook and sobbed for several minutes; Whitley kept on handing tissues, the others offered sympathetic looks and tried to cry quietly.

“… We couldn’t give her new legs, even just the necessary procedures to make her compatible with the technology in the first place too drastic, too risky, too expensive...” Weiss muttered as the tears slowed down. “Everything my family has with regards to health—all Huntsman’s insurance, compensation, and family benefits, whether it’s visits to a medical doctor or a therapist, getting our prescriptions filled, or our teeth cleaned twice a year.

“It’s why my grandparents’ came out of retirement and into teaching, why my mom works as a huntress, one of the big reasons why we all went into the hunting business, all three of us siblings.

“The perks just doesn’t get any better, but the savings accounts and investments are full of conditions, and as some of you might know, once a non-disabled dependent hits 17 like I did, the benefits start getting slashed, and it’s a race for time before you’re totally ineligible at 25.

“And don’t you dare mention the SDC—that abomination is not what my grandfather built, not anything we want to be even remotely related to.”

Weiss sucked in a deep, shuddered breath, and let it go. “My life was in the fucking toilet:

“I’d become a dangerous criminal overnight, and had a notoriously violent and large gang out for my blood. I’d crippled my ex-girlfriend for life, and the fact that she didn’t blame me only made me feel even more like shit. I was 14, just started combat school two years ago, and already I was at risk of getting kicked out.

“And then I got depressed, and then it was an exercise in seeing just how further down from ‘rock bottom’ my life could go.

“I didn’t want to tell you guys because my depression just… completely obliterated the already shattered ruins that was my old life. This imbalance of chemicals in my head got my emotions and my semblance going wild, and all the attempts to get it to some level of normal only made it worse, if it even got better afterward.

“If I didn’t drive my old friends and other people away by my mood swings, they started avoiding me for fear of getting killed by my Grimm—beowolves tearing them to shreds, boarbatusks turning them to pancakes, swarms of nevermores pecking their eyes out, or whatever other hellish creatures from my past were now coming back to haunt me and take their revenge, ruin my life like I’d taken theirs.

“I avoided class, and failed a lot of exams and tests, maybe because I was at the hospital, I was having an episode then or the days leading up to it, or maybe because I’d locked myself in a bathroom somewhere, clutch my latest prescription in my hand, maybe take it and hope it’d actually DO something this time, or just stare at it, this physical reminder that I was sick—really, really fucking sick.

“The day we definitely found the drugs that actually worked for me, I cried—mostly because the one before that had made it physically impossible for me to. Do you know how fucked up it is, to feel your eyes water, to know in your heart of hearts that you’re sad, yet never feel those tears rolling down your eyes, the relief that comes afterward, just constantly holding it in inside with no way to let it go?

“It was pretty fucked up.

“And the day that people finally stopped talking about me, when they moved on to whatever the hell else is happening at Sanctum, and both my panic-summoning and my face had faded from everyone’s memories… it was, in its own twisted, horrible way, one of the happiest days of my life, because now I could just take classes with my one remaining friend, Akko, graduate, and leave it all behind when I enrolled in Haven, just like I’d planned...

“… I’m sorry, alright…!?” Weiss cried, shuddering and choking for breath. “I’m so sorry I didn’t tell you guys sooner, because I REALLY like you both, and I didn’t want to drive you away because of my depression, what it entails when it comes back around!

“I had planned to tell you both on Friday last night, go on all night into Saturday morning if need be, but before that just have ONE fucking week with my new team where everything’s all normal. Feel what it was like to have friends again, even if I was hiding a secret that could ruin everything for the next four years.

“But of course, it seems Fate just couldn’t but help but shit all over my plans yet again. In hindsight, I probably shouldn’t have been so surprised things turned out the way they did...” Weiss said as she slowly put Blubbermouth back into the center of the circle.

Whitley spent a while handing out tissues like mad, and getting a new box when it ran out. When it seemed everyone had finally composed themselves, Diana, Akko, and Ruby all reached out for Blubbermouth.

Whitley held his cartolina sword over their hands, looked them in the eyes in turn, before he pulled it back as they held their fists up.

“Boulder, Icicle, Blizzard, go!”

Three-way draw.

“Boulder, Icicle, Blizzard, go!”

Diana lost. Akko and Ruby silently looked at each other with expressions of quiet acceptance.

“Boulder, Icicle, Blizzard, go!”

Ruby won, she hesitated for a moment, before she took Blubbermouth into her hands. “Weiss… you can count on me to help you out however I can. I’m not going to abandon you, just like I didn’t abandon dad when he got depressed, because we’re teammates, I’m not about to let someone I can help suffer, and because I really like you too.

“I did it back at the Bunker, I’ll do it here in Haven, I’ll do it for however long I can… I’ll start researching on depression again as soon as I can, and once you’re back in Haven, we can working out how we’re going to deal with it, how we’re going to go on to be the best team we can be!

“We had a saying in the Bunker, you know: ‘Compensate. Adapt. Then Go Beyond.’”

Ruby put Blubbermouth back in the center; Diana looked at Akko, but she made no move, silently letting Diana take Blubbermouth for herself.

“Weiss, as the latest of the Cavendish line, I swore to uphold our family’s creed: to ease the suffering and pain of everyone we could, be they ally or enemy. And as such, I, too, am prepared to assist you alongside Ruby.

“However little the favours, resources, and connections Cavendish still has and that I myself can utilize, I will use them to help, and if those falter, run out, or prove otherwise unavailable, you have myself and my own skills, be it for organization, studies, or simply a comforting hand and a willing ear, as Beatrix and my ancestors were to those they aided.

“Fate has bound our families together once more, and though this time it is not dust mines and hospitals, I will still work hard to ensure that the fruits of our partnership is just as great, if not greater.”

She put Blubbermouth back into the center, Weiss gingerly picked him up and chuckled weakly. “It’s funny… I was actually scared of you saying that, back when we first mouth!”

Diana blinked. “Scared…?” she muttered.

“Blubbermouth!” Whitley called out, pointing his cartolina sword at her.

Diana awkwardly shut her mouth, Weiss handed Blubbermouth back to her. “Thank you… now, why would you be scared of my saying such? Ah, I wasn’t too cold and intimidating back then, was I...?” she asked nervously as she handed Blubbermouth to Weiss.

“I can’t even remember now, Diana, but honestly, it didn’t really matter if you were,” Weiss replied as she cradled the plushie once more. “I remember this feeling, though, it felt like… it felt like… ‘Yes! Here’s someone who gets me, who’s in the same boat as I am, who knows this feeling of having a legacy to live up to, except with my case a monster charmed and married his way into it, before proceeding to gut and shit all over it for personal gain!’

“… I’m sorry, that was graphic, wasn’t it?” she muttered as she sheepishly put Blubbermouth back in the center.

“Not any worse that a lot of the things I’ve heard coming from Yang!” Ruby said as she picked him up. “Or Uncle Qrow, for that matter.”

“I actually think it’s quite an appropriate metaphor, if leaning too far into the scatological than I normally would,” Diana said as she was handed Blubbermouth. At Akko’s look of confusion, she passed him over to her.

“Scato-what now?” Akko asked, before she gave it to Weiss.

“Stuff about poop, Akko,” Weiss said.

Akko nodded in understanding.

“Anyway… I was thinking to myself, ‘Yeah, we’re in this together, it’s fucking horrible and shitty and awful, but we’re going to be like a support group, as for cancer, or dust lung, or depression!’ But then, as soon as that thought ended, I started thinking a new one:

“’Oh, shit, look at her, she’s obviously got her shit together, she’s got this, she will do whatever it is she set to do here! Meanwhile, I’m just a disaster, she’s probably going to think I’m going to be just as put together as her, she’s going to have super high expectations, and I’m just going to go fail at meeting any of those, and she’s going to realize that the Schnee legacy is pretty much doomed if I’m going to be the one bringing it back.’

“I was fucking terrified!

“So much that I just sat down at Grandpa’s favourite spot at the Jennifer Memorial Tree, and stared upwards into the leaves, until my scroll told me it was finally time to head to the Great Hall. I think I was supposed to be thinking of all the ways I wouldn’t show you, Diana, that I was a complete and total fuck up, but I’m pretty sure it just became me thinking about all the ways I could show you I was a complete and total fuck up.

“I know it’s pretty illogical and paranoid, but like my old therapists said: ‘When you have depression, nothing ever needs to make sense, or be true for you to believe it or act on it.’”

Diana held back a sudden bout of laughter, let it out as soon as she got Blubbermouth back. “Funny, that… I was thinking similar thoughts, if not nearly as intense, about how you were the one who had the better shot at your goals—you’re the one with two famous, still living grandparents who are still making waves her in Remnant, and are ready to personally guide you, after all.”

Weiss couldn’t stop her own laugh, earning her a glare from Whitley until she stifled it. He looked at Akko, she nodded as she took Blubbermouth into her hands.

“Weiss, I just want to say: everything I said all those years back, in this very room?” she smiled. “I still mean them today, and Ruby, Diana? Just tell me whatever it is you need my help with, and I’ll do my best as your leader to help you.”

Akko put Blubbermouth into the center, Whitley looked at all of them. “Well, have we all said what we needed to say?”

Akko, Weiss, Ruby, and Diana all looked at each other, before they placed their hands together on Blubbermouth, and said, “I’ve said all I have to say.”

Whitley clapped his hands, got up, and stretched his legs. “Good talk, everyone! Very productive, very honest, and as Weiss’ little brother, I’m very happy you’re all as committed to helping Weiss with her depression as our whole family is.”

“Thank you, everyone,” Weiss said, tearing up again. “You have no idea how much this all means to me.”

“Group hug?” Akko suggested.

“Please no, Grandma already crushed by ribs once...”

Akko frowned. “Aww, but we gotta commemorate this moment with something, as a team!” she began to get up, gasped, and picked up the Shiny Rod. “I know—let’s put our hands on top of the Shiny Rod, say our names, then ‘Team AWRD’ all at the same time!”

“Wait, Akko, doesn’t the Shiny Rod, oh, I don’t know, electrocute people...?” Whitley asked.

“It only forced me to drop it, somehow,” Diana said.

“I’ve never touched it myself, though...” Weiss added.

“I’ll ask it if it will shock Weiss,” Ruby said, Akko handing it over. She was silent for a moment as she held the Shiny Rod upright and stared intently at it, before handing it back to Akko. “It says ‘No.’”

“How did you…?” Whitley began, before he shook his hand. “Oh, never mind... I’ll just be here, waiting with healing in case one or all of you injure yourselves.”

“Well, team AWRD?” Akko asked, holding the Shiny Rod upright with one hand, her other on top of the golden ornament at the top. “Here, I’ll start: Akko!”

Weiss smiled and put her hand on top of Akko’s. “Weiss!”

Ruby happily put her hand on next. “Ruby!”

Diana put hers shortly after. “Diana.”

“Team AWRD!”

All five of them stared as four of the seven gems in the Shiny Rod suddenly started glowing—ruby red, silver, and two similar shades of blue.

Akko screamed. “OH MY GOSH! This is the first time I’ve ever seen it do that, EVER!”

“WHITLEY!” Ruby cried, her eyes wide with excitement. “YOU GOTTA PUT YOUR HAND ON TOP OF OURS, WE NEED TO SEE IF IT’LL REACT TO YOU, TOO! QUICK, BEFORE IT FADES!”

“Like hell I will!”

“Putting my hand off now, thank you!” Diana said as she jerked her hand back, Weiss doing the same.

“Aww, it faded!” Ruby whined.

“Quick, maybe you can ask it what it was all about!” Akko said, thrusting the Shiny Rod out to Ruby, who took it in both hands and stared at it intently.

“Could you guys do it outside?” Weiss asked. “I’m really tired after all that, and would like to go to sleep now...”

“And perhaps you can save that until after we finish studying, and recreating Akko’s study materials?” Diana asked. “I doubt the Shiny Rod will be suddenly start revealing all it’s secrets just like that.”

“WAIT!” Ruby screamed. “I’M GETTING SOMETHING! ACTUAL WORDS, AND LETTERS IN INTERNATIONAL STANDARD THIS TIME!”

That got Diana and Weiss’ attention.

“IT’S SAYING…” Ruby paused. “‘Diana…?’”

“What…?” Diana asked. “What about me?”

“Uh, it’s just that, like spelling your name out: D-i-a-n-a.” Ruby replied. “Proper capitalization, too!”

“Do you think it’s telling us to listen to what Diana said…?” Akko asked.

“Lemme ask it...” Ruby muttered. “’Yes.’ It says ‘Yes.’ Like, spelled out ‘Y-e-s.’”

“… OKAY!” Whitley said as he held his hands up. “I’m just going to leave now and pretend none of this incredibly creepy, unnerving shit just happened, bye!” he said as he spun around, tossing his cartolina sword up into his bunk while he marched out the door. “If anyone needs me, I’ll be watching Starlight Crusaders in the living room!”

“… Consider my opinion of the Shiny Rod permanently changed!” Diana said. “For better or worse, I really can’t tell at the moment...”

“You guys should probably go…” Weiss muttered. “Just ask Grandma where Akko’s old study notes are, she knows where everything is in this house. Akko, I’ll be taking your bunk for now,” she said as she crawled onto the bare mattress, taking her pillow from earlier with her.

“Go ahead, Weiss!” Akko said as she stood up, tied the Shiny Rod to her sash once more. “Anyway: team AWRD, to the storage room!”

“To the storage room!” Diana and Ruby said.

Weiss, Akko, and Ruby stared at Diana, now doing the pose like they all did.

“What...?” Diana asked. “If this is going to be our team’s ‘thing,’ might as well roll with it, I suppose!”

[rainbowravioli]

Can you do an in depth character arc and story analysis for Phichit the way you did for Chris??

Awww anon of course I can! Although I have to say, what I wrote about Chris was not really as in depth as it could have been, it was more me ranting about the aspects of his character that I wish we saw more of. I can go deeper. So I’m going to go deep with Phichit. Because hey if Chris is more than his ass, then Phichit is more than just a Victuuri shipper (and borderline stalker for some reason why fandom why) and more than just a social media maniac. Much more. In fact, narrative wise, Phichit would be the best choice for bronze at the GPF because he, like the Yu(u)ris, made history.

Now, Phichit is intrinsically connected to Yuuri as a character, considering his role as his best friend. Possibly because of that, he is one of the secondary characters that gets the most screen time and attention, if not the one we learn the most about. That said one of the best things about Phichit is that, while he is very closely connected to Yuuri in the narrative, he has his own goals and story. Truly, I think the basis of Phichit’s entire character is how passionate he is about both his friends and his country.

The very first time we see Phichit is in the montage of characters reacting to the video of Yuuri skating Stammi Viccino. Other than Victor, whose reaction gets special focus for obvious reasons (and is left ambiguous), most of the other characters are distressed over the video or negatively judging Yuuri for it. Phichit laughs fondly. It’s two seconds of screen time but already establishes Phichit as a) a cheerful person and b) someone who knows Yuuri personally. Note that he doesn’t seem surprised so much as he looks amused (something that will happen again later). That was probably not the first time Phichit saw him perform Stammi Vicino.

We’re properly introduced to his character in episode 4. It says a lot about Phichit and his relationship with Yuuri that Yuuri is comfortable with video chatting with Phichit at odd hours and while he is in the middle of practice. In fact, this is the most comfortable we have ever seen Yuuri interacting with anyone in the series so far.

Phichit mentions Detroit got boring without Yuuri and while I can believe that was part of his motivation to make Thailand his new home rink, we see enough of Phichit’s love for his country later to know it was only part of it. Most likely he always planned to go back when he could, it was just Yuuri leaving that gave him the final push.

So, Yuuri called Phichit to ask for a favor but thing is, Yuuri never actually asks for anything. Yuuri talks about his situation and, without being asked, Phichit takes the initiative to tell Yuuri he will look into things for him. He also reassures Yuuri about how he’s sure the girl isn’t mad at him (and he’s right). So already Phichit is established as a close and good friend of Yuuri, and someone who seems to have a deep understanding of how he works.

The ending of episode 5 briefly sets up Phichit as a rival to watch out for. Celestino very confidently thinks to himself that it will be Phichit who wins the Cup of China. As for Phichit, he is very concerned about posting videos of his practice online. 

Phichit took fourth place in Skate America, an event where Leo, Guang Hong and Otabek participated. All three are people that Phichit considers friends, so we can guess they bonded during the event.

At the Cup of China, we first see Phichit in a completely casual setting as he coincidentally goes to the restaurant that Yuuri and Victor are having dinner at. Phichit is really glad to see Yuuri, so much so that Victor’s presence seems to be an afterthought for him. He politely greets him once Victor greets him first, but quickly turns his attention back to Yuuri. Still, Phichit is a social guy. He’s quick to invite Celestino to join them and later Leo and Guang Hong as well. Interesting things to note: one is that Phichit very confidently says that of course Yuuri wants to see Celestino, even though Yuuri visibly disagrees; two is that we can see that Phichit had been keeping contact with Leo before, considering they’re swapping cute dog pictures. So we know they didn’t just became friends here.

As we know things got a bit wild in the time it took for Leo and Guang Hong to make it to the hot pot place. Notably, Celestino seems to be passed out on the table and foaming at the mouth and Phichit…Phichit seems very concerned as he cries for him to hang on, while at the same time taking a picture of the spectacle. As Victor starts to fully undress, we hear Phichit ask if he can post his pictures online and Yuuri tells him no. Phichit posts that Victuuri picture anyway and his apology to Yuuri doesn’t carry any sincerity. Like I said before, he’s a social media menace.

And this is where Phichit first became his own character. Even before he performed and we learned of his passions and drive, this was it. It’s easy to fall into a trap with the writing of the best friend character in these types of series. He may end up just being the ever cheerful, unconditional supporter of our main who will never slight them and never does anything for their own benefit. Not Phichit though. Phichit is enough of a good friend that he’s aware of Yuuri’s anxiety and will do things for him without being asked, but he will still go against Yuuri’s wishes for his own amusement and he’s the type of friend that will help you when you’re in distress, but not before gathering the photographic evidence. 

Subtle indication of background relationship development: Phichit stands to the side (with the other two excited fanboys, Leo and Guang Hong) and excitedly takes pictures of Victor and Chris together. This indicates that at this moment in time both Victor and Chris still hold nothing more than a celebrity status for Phichit and he’s not friends with either of them. As we will see in Chris’ case, this will change. 

Yuri on Ice is really good at showing characterization through the aspect of figure skating itself. Both of Phichit’s programs use soundtrack from the in-universe movie “The King and the Skater” and its sequel. If you don’t know the plot of this movie by now, please give it a read. It sounds amazing and ridiculous and I would probably love it. We’re told this is the first movie that Phichit ever saw. Considering it’s a movie that heavily features figure skating, we can assume it helped to boost his interest in the sport. Interestingly, “Shall We Skate” happens to be a very popular song to use in figure skating in-universe, but Phichit is the first Thai skater to skate to it. In his SP performance we see Phichit incorporate both his pride in his nationality and his value as a performer. He is dedicated to entertaining his audience and achieves this, but he also wants to make his mark with this highly popular song. He wants to make “Shall We Skate” his signature, perform it in such a unique way that’s only his that people will come to associate it with him alone.

Phichit is consistently shown watching and cheering for his friends as they compete. He’s happy that Guang Hong landed his quad toe loop, he later is both nervous and impressed as he watches Yuuri skate and he also watches Leo (and laments that he beat him, but it’s not really said with bitterness). He finishes in fourth place, and as we end the episode going through every single competitor, Phichit is shown with Yuuri, offering a friendly challenge to pass him in the free skate. So again, friendship is an integral part of Phichit’s character.

As Phichit performs his FS (looking once more like the beautiful prince he is), he says he wants to become Thailand’s future. Truly, we are constantly reminded that Phichit is making history for figure skating in Thailand and South Asia in general. Phichit is also the secondary character see practicing the most, and we learn here that he specifically strategized to get ahead of Yuuri and Chris, using Victor as a reference, and that his main feature as a skater is expressive footwork which interestingly, is also one of Yuuri’s main skills (wonder if Celestino specifically goes for skaters like that). He has many things going against him but he’s always believes in himself and now he’s making history at just 20 years old. These are all reasons why, narratively, it would have been so significant for him to get bronze in the end.

On a quick note, back to what I mentioned above. When Yuuri lands his quad flip, Phichit is shown to be more happy than he is surprised. He always believes in his friends.

More of Phichit making history, he’s the first Southeast Asian figure skater to qualify for the Grand Prix Final. Congratulations Phichit! But first, down time in Barcelona before the Final. 

Phichit’s introduction, courtesy of Victor, is accompanied with a little scroll down his instagram account. We see Phichit took selfies with all the other competitors in the Cup of China, we see a selfie with Guang Hong and selfies with Yuuri back in Detroit. Victor’s narration mentions three things about Phichit: his history making status as the first Southeast Asian figure skater to qualify for the Grand Prix Final, his selfie skills and his friendship with Yuuri. So friendship and social media once again are seen as important parts of Phichit’s character. I haven’t talked about the social media aspect a lot yet but there’s actually a character purpose to the social media. We’ll get there though. 

Adorably, Phichit is too excited to go sight-seeing in the evening to wait for Yuuri, though he does try to contact him. Good on him, since Yuuri was jet-lagged and anxious and probably wouldn’t have made it to their agreed meeting anyway. Phichit once again is quick to take a selfie and upload it to social media.

When they all meet for dinner, Phichit is actually the only skater we see greeting Minako and Mari which feels consistent to me, since he’s always portrayed as the sociable, sincerely friendly one. It’s at this dinner that we finally see Phichit showing actual surprise over something Yuuri related, that being the banquet photos. Then comes indeed the most open, loving support for Yuuri and Victor’s relationship we see in this show. Phichit is downright ecstatic over the idea that Yuuri and Victor got married. He gets up, claps and announces it to the whole restaurant, barely containing his happiness. He also makes note of his friendship with Yuuri in his announcement. He is so, so happy for Yuuri, it’s really heartwarming.

And here’s where fandom interpretation starts to usually get it wrong. Phichit feels just as challenged by Victor’s announcement that Yuuri is going to win gold as anyone else sitting at that table. He is not feeling torn over wanting to wing and wanting a Victuuri wedding and I wish fandom wouldn’t have reduced his entire standing in the GPF to that joke. Phichit very clearly loves Yuuri and is happy for him, but he fought his way into the GPF same as everyone else and he wants to win for himself and his country. He is ready to fight for that gold!

Episode 11 gives us even more information about Phichit. He started skating when he was a child and was discovered early, he is very popular back in Thailand, he moves by to Detroit by himself specifically to train with Celestino. During his performance Phichit mentions that he has no past accomplishments to defend, that this performance at the GPF is actually his new beginning. He talks about seizing this opportunity and being as excited as a child. He also equates his skating to art and is consistently shown as being worried about entertaining the audience.

We see a flashback to the days he was roommates with Yuuri in Detroit as he tells Yuuri about his dream of skating “Shall we Skate” at a major competition someday and being the first Thai skate to do so. Then, without missing a beat, he includes Yuuri in his dream.

Phichit trusts himself and he also trusts in his friends just as much. This is something Phichit does. His skating, his dreams, are all intrinsically connected to a sense of community and union. They are things to be shared. And that’s why Phichit is the character with the strongest connection to social media! All the skaters (except Yuuri) are active on social media but Phichit in particular uses it a lot and is very concerned about sharing things online. It’s a hobby that actually adds to who he is as a character, showing he is concerned with a greater community, be it his friends, his fans, his country or the internet.

He skates a flawless SP and Yuuri calls him the perfect entertainer, again drawing a strong connection between Phichit and the audience. All of these are excellent leads to have Phichit stand on that podium, honestly.

And so we reach the finale. During his final performance, Phichit once again talks about wanting to entertain the audience and about being confident that he stands out amongst the other competitors. We see his friends (Leo, Guang-Hong, Seung Gil) watch him, again making a connection that friendship is an important part of Phichit’s character (there’s a distinct lack of Yuuri though as there is a lack of Phichit watching Yuuri’s performance after and that’s an upsetting flaw I won’t discuss here further). And finally the culmination of Phichit’s two main passions, his country and his friends: Phichit on Ice.

Phichit’s dream is to have an ice show in Thailand with his friends. Note here that, sociable as Phichit is, his friendship is not something he freely gives away to everyone. They could have shown all the skaters, they could even have shown all the GPF competitors but no, the friends Phichit wants to share his dream with are just Yuuri, Chris, Leo, Guang-Hong, Seung Gil and Otabek. He wants to have a colorful ice show with all his friends wearing hamsters hats and to show everyone in Thailand how fun skating can be. Phichit is out to inspire the next generation of Thai skaters by sharing with his community all the things he likes.

The last significance appearance of Phichit in the finale is him smiling proudly at the end of Chris’ performance. For a character as concerned with friendship as Phichit, it’s not a bad place to leave him. But a better place would have been standing next to Yuuri on the podium, bronze around his neck, taking podium selfies with his best friend to celebrate his history making moment. Maybe we’ll have that well-deserved moment in season 2. 

[furederiko]

It's the first post of MAY 2017! Yipeee... And it's about an '11 in 1' set, which is the highlight of Kyuranger episode 12!

- If you think Lucky was just having a bad day last week, well, it gets worse. The Rebellion needs to analyze Ikagen's weakness, so a replay of his battle with the Squid Assassin is necessary. Basically, everyone is shoving that defeat to his face! Poor guy. This is a great scene though, because it's a bit rare to see Super Sentai heroes trying to come up with a solution by figuring things out together from battle footage. In many cases in the past, things were mostly solved conveniently on the fly. - As if acknowledging his bad luck isn't enough, Lucky's luck continues to run out. Even Kyulette rejects him! I don't know about you, but seeing a guy who is usually cheerful and couldn't care less about the world gets all so gloomy, is... infectiously depressing and sad. This marks the first time in the season that a Red member is not officially part of the away team. Yes, Hammy, you've totally read our mind. In fact, none of the center positions (Commander Xiao being the other one) are, which is interesting. I wonder what would happen if they ever require a mecha fight? Anyway, Stinger is leading Garu, Hammy, Balance and Naga this time, with the sole mission: to test their theory about Ikagen. That's all. - I've suspected that Ikagen's invicibility is caused by a hidden powerful macguffin that he placed his crowd. Perhaps a Kyu Globe? Apparently, that's not the case, because there was never anything like it that granted him the skill of foresighting enemy's movements. Nope, turns out, MANY parts of his body act as some kind of sensor that would react to others. Think of it like... Spider-Man and his Spider-Sense. That's how he's able to predict attacks and does that cool "The Matrix" move. Definitely not psychic. What's fascinating about this reveal however, is the use of #16 Serpens Kyu Globe to check Ikagen's reactions. This is one of the easy reason why this season is nothing but fantastic. It's these little decisions that flip audience's mind, because they come unexpected in a smart way, but also not feel forced at the same time. I mean, who would've thought that out of 88 constellations, an unorthodox one like Serpens would come handy as solution to the current situation, right? I certainly didn't see it coming. Beside, Ophiucus Silver being assigned to use this particular Skill Kyu Globe, is also a nice touch. In case you're forgeting, in the mythology, Ophiucus IS a Serpent-Bearer/Tamer. XD. - Clearly, Ikagen is not an enemy that can be dealt with singlehandedly. Which by the way, was Xiao's mistake in the past, that caused the life of his boss Big Bear. He needs to be attacked from all 11 directions, so the Kyulette conveniently debuts the #SP Kyuranger Kyu Globe. This means, similar to when they dealt with Eridrone, everyone must participate the fight. That is, everyone except Lucky, who surprisingly refuses to join them. He argues that he's not fit to be a Kyuranger anymore, thinking he only became one because of luck. Aaaaw... someone is getting the wrong idea here! People might have complained about him being loud and rambunctious, but for me, this gloomy sulking (and dumb) version is much more annoying. This forces Xiao to have a nice SERIOUS pep-talk about Lucky's true strength of positivite thinking. Heck, even Garu is compelled to knock some senses out of the guy, calling him out to take responsibility for getting him onboard in the first place. NICE one guys, he deserves a wake-up slap IMO. But does everyone else need to watch this drama from the monitor? *sigh* - Thankfully though, we are able to get an extended glimpse of Lucky's not-so-lucky and instead painful past because of this. Which sounds a bit like the backstory of Superman, by the way! Not to mention, Lucky might NOT be his real name, because that's just the way he wants to see himself while growing up in Planet Luth. This is... intriguing, and I'm certain this is going to play out into something bigger in the future. Who knows, perhaps the show is going to have a 'Darth Vader'-esque reveal, considering all these time Lucky serves as some sort of mirror to Luke Skywalker? I initially thought they are going to pull this twist with Stinger's brother, but the ending of this episode already debunks that theory. You'll see why... - Anyways, all Kyurangers minus Leo Red joins forces to take on Ikagen. As Ikagen later remarks, 10 against 1 DOES feel a bit unfair. But on the other hand, it signifies that Ikagen is definitely a powerful enemy. See? He's not even budging, because he has more than just 10 'eyes'. Cue Lucky, who slowly gains back his confidence thanks to his friends' trust, to show up and save the day. In an unexpected CLEVER way too! By using the Gemini Kyu Globe to create numerous clones of himself! An act that easily overwhelms Ikagen and catches him off guard. Sure, this scene must be annoying to some audience. I mean, one is loud enough for them, and now there's an army of him (I count there's at least 128 of them. Yikes!!!). But the most important thing is, it WORKS. Brilliant move! Now that Ikagen is blind, he can be taken down far easily. - And so we have our first 11 Kyurangers transformation scene! Aaaaw, what a sight. What a glorious scene. Those colors simply look amazing, albeit the extended length of the roll call. LOL. And the action sequence that follows is well thought-out too. We have one team (Draco Commander, Libra Gold, Aquila Pink, and Ophiucus Silver... who feels a little out of place because he's using a Sickle LOL) using long-ranged attack, the second (Lupus Blue, Taurus Black, Chamaleon Green, Dorado Yellow) strikes with melee hits, the third unit (Ursa Minor Skyblue, and big bro Scorpius Orange) proceeds with their signature whip-like weapons, and finally, Leo Red tops it off by bringing Ikagen to the epicentrum. "Kyuranger All Star Crash!", wicked group finisher! Of course, the fact that it requires all members to deal with each Menaster, leads us to two possible concerning truth: Either this year's villains are galactic-level super powered beings, or... the Kyurangers have the weakest solo members in Super Sentai history! LOL. - It might be the first option though, because as soon as Ikagen grows giant, the Kyurangers are once again outdone. To think that our heroes are already using both Kyuren-Oh and Ryutei-Oh, with the three remaining Voyagers (Libra, Ophiucus, and Aquila) serving as support! Ikagen's dark acid rain even renders them down. Then again, thanks to last week's preview, we already know the solution. Yes, by combining the two mechas in "Super Say the Docking", to debut the 8-Voyagers combination RYUTEI KYUREN-OH. Don't be fooled by its mighty appearance though, because I don't think it's that impressive. Especially if you compare it to past intricate combinations like Engine-Oh G9 or even Wild Tousai King). Ryutei-Oh practically only docks on Kyuren-Oh's back to form some kind of blaster unit, and don't forget there are other Voyagers being left out. This one is NOT exactly a full-team combination. The much bigger and complete one is undoubtedly being saved for the show's later half, anyway... LOL. - "All Star Scramble Break! Super Galaxy!". Ikagen is no more. And Puppis Kyu Globe has been retrieved. Now the team only needs to locate two more. Lucky is back to his usual cheerful self as well, and I gotta admit, it does make me smile. But no time to rest, because Madako is still at large. And she's heralding the arrival of the next major antagonist to Earth: Scorpio. Yes, despite the new scary look, it's the one and only. He even mentions Stinger's name specifically... Ouch! I absolutely didn't expect to see him showing up this early in the game. Looks like a bro-brawl between the Scorpius System Menaster and his lil bro is coming much sooner that I thought... - Speaking of lil bro, Kotarou is FINALLY taking the spotlight in the ending dance (with Hammy this time)!!!!! YAAAY! All scenes, as well as that circular shot, now consists of 11 Kyurangers now! Looks hectic, but awesome because nobody's left out. LOL. Hold on... that's NOT the only change happening in this new version. They've also altered the choreography a bit! Now that's interesting, because it was still the same until last week. Seriously, go ahead and check. Does this update take place due to the complain that the first version was considered inappropriate? Or because it's just meant to be that way? Hmmm... Oh well, at least it's a good change, even if a bit awkward.

Overall: Thanks to episode 11 doing the heavylifting, things got off easier this week. If anything, what made this episode better, is that it felt focused. The team nailed their mission to eliminate Ikagen, and Lucky gained some boost of confidence about himself through Xiao and Garu. It's good-ol teamwork! I admit, these part DID feel predictable, but the writers still managed to somehow surprise us through the minor details. So eventhough not the best, it was certainly one of the better episodes so far. I'm still holding out on the concern that the plot might be moving too fast, but let's just wait and observe how it develops. Perhaps there are indeed much bigger plans in store. Oh, and one more thing. Some might say that having 11 Kyurangers felt a little overwhelming, and they did make a good point. But I disagree. As long as it served a purpose, I certainly don't mind such large cast. In fact, we're getting diversity of race (these guys originated from various kinds of planets after all), gender (remember, the mechanical beings should be considered genderless), and also age (from the youngest in Kotarou to the eldest in Xiao). That's always a wonderful thing for me. Beside, the color combination alone is too glorious to dismiss. Am I right? LOL... Next week: Zombie Attack? Hammy takes center stage, while Stinger and Champ deals with their past.

Episode 12 Score: 8,1 out of 10

Visit THIS LINK to view a continuously updated listing of the Kyutama / Kyu Globes. Last Updated: May 1st, 2017 - Version 18. (WARNING: It might contain spoilers for future episodes)

All images are screencaptured from the series, provided by the FanSubber Over-Time. "Uchu Sentai Kyuranger" is produced by TOEI, and airs every Sunday on TV-Asahi. Credits and copyrights belong to their respective owners.

[dhoniprediction]

New pokemon game like pokemon let's go pikachu and eevee for android

New pokemon game like pokemon let's go pikachu and eevee for android.Welcome to modgame.online.Today i am discuss about a new pokemon game like pokemon let's go pikachu and eevee.It is a amazing and good graphics game.pokemon let's go pikachu and eevee easy to control. Described by director Junichi Masuda as a remake of Pokémon Yellow, the primary Pokémon titles for Switch can take America back to the Kanto region, wherever the first Pokémon games were set. Players can start in Pallet city, meet faculty member Oak and encounter the 151 original Pokémon. additionally, components of the Pokémon anime can seem, notably Team Rocket and specific characters.

pokemon let's go pikachu:-

In the game, you begin out as a new Pokémon Trainer. You’ll meet, catch, and lift several Pokémon on your journey to enhance your skills and become the most effective Pokémon Trainer that you just is. on the means, you’ll facilitate all varieties of individuals and thwart the fearful plans of these UN agency would like to require advantage of Pokémon for his or her wicked ends. Of course, you can’t accomplish this alone—you’ll got to work together with your partner Pikachu or partner Eevee together with the remainder of your Pokémon allies!

Catching Pokemon:-

As you wander through the game’s world, you’ll encounter wild Pokémon in fields of tall grass. If you wish to try to catch the Pokémon, merely approach it. Once you bit the Pokémon, you get an opportunity to throw Poké Balls at it. The wild Pokémon can move around and will attempt to intimidate you, however don’t get distracted! simply wave your Joy-Con controller with correct temporal arrangement to throw a Poké Ball. If you’re enjoying the Nintendo Switch in hand-held mode, you’ll move the system around to aim and so throw the Poké Ball by pressing the A Button.

pokemon let's go eevee:-

It has a soft mane of fur around its neck. Some individuals say it will begin to seem just like 

the Trainer that becomes its partner. Your partner Eevee can ride on your head throughout

your adventure!

It has red electrical sacs on its cheeks, and it raises its tail to examine its surroundings.

 Your partner Pikachu can travel with you by riding on your shoulder. 

The tip of the tail of a feminine 

Pikachu is formed sort of a heart.

How to play:-

Your possibilities of catching a Pokémon increase counting 

on your temporal arrangement and wherever your Poké Ball hits the target.

 Throwing a Poké Ball within the shrinking ring can increase

 the probabilities of a successful  catch, 

particularly if the ring is tiny. Use this ring as a guide for once to throw. 

the colour of the ring shows however simple it'll be to catch the Pokémon

—with inexperienced which means simple and red which means laborious.

If a Pokémon Trainer sees you within the field, 

it’s time for battle! Pokémon battles area unit control with up to 6 Pokémon in every Trainer’s party.

 every Pokémon can perform moves, and whoever manages to knock out 

all the opponent’s Pokémon wins!

Pokémon and moves all have varieties, and sort matchups influence 

what quantity injury a move will do. for instance,

 a Fire-type move are going to be super effective against Grass-type Pokémon 

however won't be terribly effective against Water-type Pokémon, and so on. 

There area unit several different kind matchups like this. The key to winning battles is knowing 

the sort matchups and selecting each the correct Pokémon to transfer

 and therefore the right moves to possess it use

Let a fan get in on the fun with the Support Play feature in Pokémon: Let’s Go, Pikachu!

 and Pokémon: Let’s Go, Eevee! With this feature, 2 players will explore the globe together—

and each players will even have a Pokémon travel aboard them as well!

You can boost your possibilities of catching a wild Pokémon by throwing 

Poké Balls at constant time as your Support Trainer throughout Support Play

. it'll earn your party additional Exp. Points, too.

Connect with different players and battle them!

 There area unit 2 communication options to use for battles: native communication, 

that connects 2 near  Nintendo Switch consoles,

 and web communication, that allows you to hook up

 with players UN agency could also be distant.

You can additionally trade Pokémon victimization these communication options.

 Trade Pokémon with friends to collect 

Pokémon you’ve ne'er seen before and complete your Pokédex.

 pokemon let's go pikachu and eevee for android:-

Wild Pokémon battles are fully eliminated in favor of maneuvering the Joy-Con 

controller to “throw” Poké Balls. Players are able to use the controller to do out 

totally different throwing techniques. Earlier on within the game,

 the Pokémon won’t move

 around the maximum amount, 

however because the game advances they'll be more durable to catch.

 Like in Pokémon Go, berries are often accustomed soothe a wild Pokémon.

Like within the ancient games, Pokémon can gain expertise

 from each wild Pokémon encounters

 and trainer battles. it's like all Pokémon within the party can gain expertise 

while not the employment of AN Exp. Share.

Additionally, mercantilism surplus Pokémon to academician Oak can get

 you willdies that you just can use as stat boosts for your Pokémon, 

very similar to in Pokémon Go.

The inspiration from Pokémon Go is evident and, indeed, Let’s Go!

 can permit players to attach their Pokémon Go games. there'll be the way to transfer

 Pokémon caught in Pokémon visit Pokémon: Let’s Go! via Bluetooth. 

It ought to be noted that this transfer is simply from visit Let’s Go!, not contrariwise.

Additionally, solely Kanto Pokémon and their Alolan forms are able to be transferred.

A new device known as the Poké Ball and can work with each games,

 leaving a neat real-life catching mechanic, the flexibility to require your Pokémon 

with you wherever you go, and transfer between the mobile and Switch games.

ope! you'll transfer from any Pokémon go to 

any Pokémon: Let’s Go! game. as an example, a parent ANd an older relation will 

each transfer Pokémon from their smartphones to

 a younger kid’s Pokémon: Let’s Go! game

In place of the expedition Zone are Go Park, wherever 

all the transferred Pokémon can frolic. If you would like to

 feature one to your party,

 approach it within the Go Park and begin a battle with it. 

You’ll catch it the method 

you catch wild Pokémon.

Pokémon with high CP in Pokémon Go will have high CP in Pokémon Let’s Go!

As of now, it’s confirmed that academician Oak, Misty and Brock are appearing! 

Keep your eyes out for alternative gymnasium leaders and NPCs returning. 

Your rival, however, may be a totally different character with

 a special temperament than Blue.

The biggest distinction between the first games and

 Pokémon: Let’s Go! is that the catching system.

 not like the same old turn-based battle mechanics from the older games,

 Let’s Go! features a catch system similar to Pokémon Go, wherever

 the player can use the Joy-Con controller to “throw” the Poké Ball.

Many Pokémon will evolve into new Pokémon, 

however were you aware that there's additionally

 "the Evolution that transcends Evolution"? It's known as Mega Evolution,

 and it is a thanks to gain power on the far side even 

what traditional Evolution would grant.

 The would possibly of Mega Evolution momentarily unleashes the energy among a Pokémon, 

and it will solely be accomplished through 

a powerful bond between a Pokémon and its Trainer.

In Pokémon: Let's Go, Pikachu! and Pokémon: Let's Go, Eevee!, you'll

 Mega Evolve sure Pokémon once per battle if you've got a Key Stone and 

a Mega Stone that corresponds to it specific Pokémon.

 Deciding that Pokémon to Mega Evolve—

and when—will be a crucial think about deciding 

United Nations agency wins a battle.

When Venusaur Mega Evolves into Mega Venusaur, 

the flower on its back grows larger and its legs become thicker and stronger to support 

its further weight. Its Defense and Sp. Def greatly increase,

 permitting it to resist as regards

 to any attack thrown at it.

Charizard will Mega Evolve into 2 forms: 

Mega Charizard X and Mega Charizard Y. In every battle, 

select the shape that may provide you with the foremost advantage.

Mega Charizard X's body color changes to black, and its flames flip blue as a result of they

 burn most hotter. It additionally changes sorts 

from a Fire- and Flying-type Pokémon to a Fire- and Dragon-type Pokémon.

Blastoise unremarkably has 2 water cannons on its shell, however once it Mega Evolves,

 the 2 cannons merge into one giant cannon that uses

 the facility of Mega Evolution to launch superpowerful blasts. Its Sp.

 Atk greatly will increase still, leaving a lot of aggressive techniques in battle.

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