#they gave it to Lysandre who didn't even really need that

[crystalelemental]

How much you wanna bet SS Cynthia gets Downside Up on her grid expansion?

[the-fluffiest-trainer]

If I'm going to be talking with other Fallers (or anyone else) via Fluttershy's blog, I suppose I should properly introduce myself and my pokemon friends. My name is Twilight Sparkle... formerly Princess, but you really don't have to call me that. I arrived here in Kalos a little under a year ago now, after... well, let's just say I... I left Equestria behind, and not on purpose.

Since coming here, I've made a number of new friends! While also looking for my old friends, who have gradually been dropping into this world after me. I'm very lucky to have found my new research partners, Augustine and Lysandre, and they've both been of great help in learning about the whole phenomenon of Fallers.

I also have a few pokemon who have decided to stick with me, forming a battle team of sorts. Only three out of the standard six, but I'm sure I'll meet more on my travels!

First, there's Luna! My "starter", if you like. The very first night after I'd Fallen into this world, an eevee found me and refused to leave my side. I don't share Fluttershy's gift for speaking with animals and pokemon, so as a nickname, I decided to call her Luna after a pony I miss from Equestria. The princess of the night, who I had the honor of helping out on a few occasions, who made– She gave me–

...She was important to me, even if we didn't have many chances to speak to each other. I named this eevee in her honor, not even knowing that one day she would evolve into an umbreon and be even more a pokemon of the night.

For a while, I wandered through the wilderness, as I hadn't Fallen in the vicinity of any human towns. Luna battled wild pokemon for me as we traveled and I got a sense of the various kinds there were in the area, but then a new pokemon I'd never seen before showed up. She came directly to me, purposefully, and challenged Luna to a battle. After the longest fight I'd seen so far, it was a draw, and this new pokemon projected senses into my head so that I instinctively knew she was a riolu and her name was Raya. She came with me from then on, and guided me to meet humanity.

I don't remember which town it was, in the beginning, but as a Faller I was quickly sent to Lumiose where I met Augustine. We talked, and he introduced me to Lysandre who got me up to speed on the technology of this world. Lys gave me three things: a holocaster, some much-needed conversation with a fellow scientist, and a zubat.

At the time, I didn't know yet that my friend Pinkie Pie had already Fallen into the Galar region. I thought I was alone, the only one from Equestria, forever to miss everyone I knew. So... mostly because I was lonely, and he was purple... I named my bat friend Spike Junior.

All of my pokemon friends have evolved since the time I met them, and Spike Jr. here has even done it twice. According to my research, none of them should be able to evolve again, though I do sometimes get the odd feeling that Raya has more power waiting to be unlocked.

And that's my story! Well, my story since arriving in this world, at least. We... don't need to get into everything that happened before.

[fleurladari]

[CONT.] [next]

Asleep. As odd as it seemed with eyes wide open. Lysandre himself remained awake, on hand holding a pencil while the other settled over his 'daughter's' sleeping but upright body. It was odd, he wouldn't deny that, having someone around. Though he certainly didn't mind it, especially when it so benefitted him and his goal, in the end. Plus it was an excellent opportunity to study a rather interesting specimen, whether they be experimenting on her or not.

Though, those plans had yet to begin. Still prepping and going over the proper procedures before they could really dig in. They still needed a baseline of study, not to mention proper conditioning to assure there wouldn't be too many issues down the line. He was frankly surprised she was so comfortable in that moment, enough to sleep in his lap. As if he were a real parent.

It reminded him of before he lost hope, in a way. What he worked towards, who he was working for. In a perfect world there would be no need to take such drastic measures as to fire a weapon to devour all life. To make a hard reset. There would be no need for such a painful extraction of life from one's body.

Oh but he couldn't deny his own curiosities, nor those of his scientists. Unlike others, however, he had no plans of disrespect or cruelty. A lamb not cattle. His hand just slightly tightened around one of her little arms, she'd grown comfortable enough to fall into a trap.

A shame to deceive, but ultimately so necessary to achieve his goals--to assure there was no failure. Every plan needed a failsafe--an extra battery, if need be.

As his writing hand scribbled sketches and concepts, he noticed a shift in how amber eyes stared blankly, a light in them. Yet she remained still--she was awake, though hard to tell. Amber irises staring up, to try and see what he was doing. He didn't change his posture, nor even acknowledge that she may be awake. Simple continued to doodle.

'Doodle' of course, was an understatement to what he was doing. The development of technology, that which he might deliver to the public, and to be delivered to the lower floors of his labs. Labs that his 'daughter' would become quite well acquainted to. Though he, and Xerosic, were still deciding whether or not it was best she was conscious for those visits.

She had already seen at least one lab--the Eastern HQ--when receiving the initial checks. It was surely stressful, he remembered her trembling afterwards. Perhaps that was why she had already gotten so close, he gave her comfort, after such a stress and new experience.

As it would be, anyway. That was the purpose of the little escapade, temporary terrible treatment in exchange for permanent rebound. Another unfortunate but necessary method for something so unpredictable.

" would you like to see? "

A low whisper, a hum, Lysandre's gaze remaining on his page while the hand closest sort of squeezed her arm, ever lightly. It only took a few moments, a little shuffle, and standing on his folded legs so that she could better see what he was developing.

If it got her more obedient, he didn't mind it, not at all. A little kindness did everything to encourage loyalty. As a trainer might give their poochyena a treat after ever job well done.

[sage-nebula]

Okay now that I have seen the episode in full, my thoughts:

Pros:

1.) It was a full battle and it was really close. Iris legitimately might've won if Cynthia hadn't mega evolved Garchomp. I'm glad that she at least got to have a full battle with skill showcased, which is way more than what Alan got, my poor boy.

2.) Cynthia whispered, "You're marvelous, Iris" at one point which was so heartwarming, and also so true.

3.) I love that they included a part where Iris connected to Haxorus using her special power. She is The Girl Who Understands the Hearts of Dragons, after all, and I'm glad that was showcased on the world stage.

4.) The music was great, but a particular shoutout needs to go to the ominous fucking organ and chanting that started up when Garchomp came out LMAO. Cynthia was channeling her ancestor Volo for that and I about died laughing. (Also I'm pretty sure that was TSME music that started up when Cynthia mega evolved her Garchomp but I'm not positive.)

5.) Alan got lines! And in particular, even though he a.) has a personal connection to a garchomp back home, and b.) is a mega evolution specialist and researcher, he still didn't automatically throw his lot in with Cynthia when she mega evolved Garchomp and even countered Steven by saying Haxorus had so much potential. Alan was lowkey rooting for Iris. What a king.

Cons:

1.) Dragonite went down in two hits . . . seriously? Really? Sure one was super effective, but that bit was over way too fast and felt really rushed for time. Dragonite was jobbed hard and didn't deserve such shame.

2.) Where tf was Cilan?? Iris was in her most important battle to date and he was, what, fishing?? Did he drown in Kalos? Was he hit by a train? Did Xerosic find and murder him? I need answers.

3.) Cynthia's mega evolution invocation, if we can even call it that, was lame as hell. "I will defeat you with all my might" . . . really? That's the best you can do? This is the woman who, in the same battle, gave us lines like "fall, stars of the heavens" for regular attacks like Draco Meteor, and then she has such a lame-ass mega evolution invocation . . . for reference, in the anime trainers who use mega evolution all have an invocation that represents their feelings toward mega evolution. Alan's is famously "respond to my heart" because to him, mega evolution is about the bond between him and Lizardon. Steven's is a line about the stones because that's what he's most interested in. Lysandre's was all about power because to him, mega evolution is about more power to kill people with. So you would expect Cynthia to have a cool one . . . and then she didn't, smh. As a mega evolution nerd, I was disappointed.

4.) Iris lost. I had a feeling she was going to because Cynthia is so popular, and honestly I wouldn't want to see Ash beat Iris again (and we know he has to win to reach Leon, so there are no stakes in any of his battles tbh), but it was still not the result I wanted. Don't get me wrong, I love Cynthia. I'm a lesbian, of course I love Cynthia. But I love Iris too and I feel that it would have meant so much more, emotionally, had she defeated her senior. Plus, I hate seeing my favorite characters cry their eyes out, so there's that, too.

5.) They really just had Ash stand there like a tree while Iris bawled her eyes out, huh . . . you know, I was really mad about that earlier today and I still think it's ass, but as I watched the episode in full tonight I realized that he was smiling while she cried, and that made it hit me. It's because he's the Alola Champion. And in SM, the player character (who also becomes Alola's first Champion) just stands there with a vapid smile on their face while seriously traumatic and upsetting events occur right in front of them. Like Lusamine ranted about how she had no children and how ugly and worthless Lillie and Gladion were to their faces and the MC just stood there like ":)" So apparently, now that Ash is the Alola Champion, he does the same thing. Iris is sobbing? It's all good! He smiles while elevator music plays in his head. This is totally fine. (It's not fine but this is how I'm coping with that asinine decision.)

Anyway, I've got an idea for a little tag I want to write to make myself feel better after this, so stay tuned for that. I haven't written anything in ages and I'm sure that my skills are so rusty they could infect the entire internet with tetanus at once, but I am going to do my best.

[dysfuctional-family]

The IRR pt.4 (Ghetsis)

[Last time we were with out favorite group of barely functional villains they had learned the true extent of Limon's evil and initiated a full lock down of the U-Rocket HQ. Now, with tensions high it was unfortunately time to simply wait and prepare.]

"Sector P of the Ultra Rocket HQ is now under curfew. All personel found outside of their designated areas will be escorted to the closest cell block until curfew ends." The automated voice of the facility rang out in the empty halls. Moments later footsteps could be heard going down the hallway. The tall figure carefully made their way out of the living quarters area of the P Sector. After quietly exiting the area they were met with an open room. One red eye gazed upon their surroundings.

They stood upon a balcony that looked down to the central "plaza" area, the area with the most foot traffic. Straight ahead was sector F and across the room on another balcony was Sectors A and M. A deep sigh escaped the figure as they leaned onto the railing, a sharp metallic clanging sound and their cane made contact with the rails. He couldn't care less.

"Gods damn you. Pull it together! This Limon is nothing compared to me!" Ghetsis grumbled to himself... before sighing and letting his shoulders slump down. His words weren't sounding like hid own at the moment. Things didn't feel real. He'd been trying to tell himself it was nothing all day but it was clear it wasn't.

He sighed once more and looked down to the mostly empty plaza his eyes vacant of emotion. Not a hint of anger in his gaze. He hated feeling like this but it was unavoidable at the moment. And this wasn't even the worst part. It was the reminiscing that hurt the most. That made him question himself.

"... The feeling will pass, Ghetsis. Just try and hold out for now, okay?" A familiar voice rang out. Ghetsis looked over to Colress and gave a small nod. The young lad gave a small smile to his friend. The fuzzy white walls of this home always seemed to fill with color when he was around.

"I know... but it hurts. What if I grow up to be bad? What if I hurt the people I care about...?" Ghetsis responded, his voice shaking slightly. He looked down to the tile floor, worry in his eyes. Colress shook his head and took his hand.

"Don't worry. I'll always be here for you!" He said reassuringly. "Even when I'm not here... even if I'm at school I'll always come back and visit you. No matter what happens." Fhetsis looked to Colress and nodded.

"Okay..."

"You too, huh?" Lysandre said, making Ghetsis jolt into awareness. Ghetsis looked to Lysandre before groaning and looking away. He did not want to talk right now but just... couldn't get himself to say anything. Lysandre watched Ghetsis, his body language was off. He looked defeated, an attribute he would never really asign to the one person who will argue with Giovanni for hours on end just to seem right. He looked around for a moment before leaning onto the railing and hesitantly asking.

"What's wrong...?"

Ghetsis initially only hummed at Lysandre as his answer but soon enough gave in and spoke.

"I'm just... having a moment." Lysandre took note of the lack of aggression coming from Ghetsis... he'd never seen him like this. He was about to ask further questions but Ghetsis interrupted him.

"Can we leave it at that?"

"..."

"Yes. Sorry."

There was a short while where no one said a word. The silence eventually became to much for the leader of team Flare.

"Is it Limon?" Ghetsis sighed before giving his answer.

"I... I don't know."

"If you need to talk I'm here for you..." Lysandre gently offered. He by no means wanted to get yelled at by Ghetsis but he couldn't leave him out here alone. It was a moment before Ghetsis answered.

"You're not gonna get much outta me... I guess it might be the stress the whole situation is causin' it's not like every day you have some madman come up and threaten a whole word with his experiments. I know I'm one to talk, but... the shit that man does is deplorable." Ghetsis started. He stood up straight as he talked, staring out into nothing. Lysander nodded.

"You're right... I mean, you've done a lot to the world you came from... The whole 'familial assassination' thing isn't... great." Those words stung more than Ghetsis expected. He hated being reminded of what he did. It made him angry. He gripped the hilt of his sword and sneered in disgust. He looked away from Lydandre.

"We're done here." Ghetsis growled which confused Lysandre.

"But... we just started-?"

"I said we're DONE HERE!" Ghetsis snapped, slamming his cane on the ground. Lysandre backed away, putting his hands up defensively.

"I don't know WHY I thought talking to you would be a good idea! I don't need to be wasting air on you! Get outta my sight!" Ghetsis whipped around to face Lusandre, gesturing angrily at him with his cane. Lysandre quietly apologized before quickly retreating back to his room, leaving Ghetsis fuming.

Ghetsis only huffed in response to Lysandre's actions. He turned around to begin walking back to his room. He muttered to himself, expressing how this entire situation was pointless and how he'd wring the neck of Limon if he were to see him. With that the plaza was left empty, the only evidence that this interaction ever happen only existed in the memory files of a security camera.

[evajellion]

You didn't like sun and moon?

There were things I did like about the game, such as some of the new Pokémon and the removal of HMs, but there are so many problems I have with the game, and when you look more into it… it’s almost comparable to Sonic 06 in some aspects.

Everyone’s gonna grab their torch and pitchforks, but it’s kinda true. They focused so much on the story, and rushed the game for not only for an anniversary release, but a Christmas one too. Even the kid who gave it to me (yes, it was given to me) said he thought it was boring compared to the previous titles.

Eh, might as well go on, and point out the things that are wrong in terms of programming, and writing…

Unfinished content. There are several unused assets in Sun/Moon, more than there were in Gen 2 and 3. There’s this golf course for one. Supposedly, /vp/ went into the code and found a ton of unused stuff. The player’s house was originally way bigger than it is in the game with a garage and other rooms. Fully modeled Pokémon that follow you are still in the game data. There’s also a bunch of unused caves, allegedly.

There’s a few buildings that you just… can’t enter, for whatever reason. The lighthouse, and the one building in Malie Garden. It’s kind of frustrating since there is a door there, but you can’t do anything with them. It doesn’t even give you the satisfaction of a “it’s locked” like past games did.

There’s quite a bit of lag in this game, even with the new 3DS. Supposedly, once again at /vp/, an anon went into the code and found out that the programming behind battles in SM constantly re-rendered the models over and over, which slows the game down tremendously. Why they did this? I have no clue.

The AI for some of the trainers happen to be extremely pathetic, especially the Elite Four. This isn’t even a case of the EXP Share being overpowered, the AI is just as stupid as it was in gen 1.

I might as well nitpick the Elite Four while I’m at it. Two of them you already fought, one you have met, and one is from the aforementioned unused golf area most likely. They couldn’t bother to come up with new people to insert, or use exclusively the ones you didn’t battle.

You may notice that the National Dex is not in the game at all. So when you get a Pokémon not in the dex, like say, Inkay, it will not show up. No entry, nothing. Your save file will never read more than "302" Pokemon even if you have all 802 of them.

On that note, a lot of the returning Pokémon are from gen 1. There’s only a couple of Pokémon from gens 2-6. Pandering much? Especially with that Nugget Bridge callback, even though the Nugget Bridge in my opinion, was one of the worst parts of gen 1.

Unlike most people, I love when new Pokémon are introduced, and I get really upset when they become practically hidden in comparison to the flood of Kanto Pokémon plus Alola forms. Seriously, it took far too long to find a Salandit, Rockruff I never ran into at all, Dhelmise I only saw in the Elite Four, and Dewpider? Didn’t even know it was in the game. Gen 2 had this problem as well, but that was years ago, and they should have learned.

Nitpicking again, but Alola forms… yeah, not a fan of them. I was okay with the Mega Evos, particularly when they were given to underpowered Pokémon. Geodude and Grimer didn’t need these things at all. Bellossom though, one of the few Pokémon that would work well in Alola? Maybe as a Fire/Grass type..? Uhhh, nope, it’s gen 2, not our precious gen 1!

The Zygarde stuff feels like it was leftover from the next part of gen 6, but rather than making “Z” like everyone initially expected, in hopes of fixing past problems X/Y did. Instead though, GameFreak came with Sun/Moon, and rushed it for the 20th anniversary.

And the Battle Tree. God, I remember everyone gushing over Red and Blue returning, but… they were literally just there, for another recycled Battle Maison thing. You think GameFreak would have learned from the backlash against ORAS for removing the Battle Frontier, but nope. It’s literally barebones fan-service.

Soooo… what of the story? Well, in the game is kind of a mess, then maybe the story is better? What about the characters?

And by characters, I mean just Lillie. Lillie is the only character that gets any development, that becomes likable-- heck, I’ve seen some people say they wish she was the protagonist instead of the blank-faced player avatar, because they absolutely hate the player avatar for standing there.

I would have liked Lillie even more, if she went from disliking fighting, to deciding to break through and actually try it herself, becoming a rival. She doesn’t though, so…

Hau doesn’t do anything for his character. He’s nice, but he’s no Bianca, who became a professor at least. Gladion is an edgelord who helped Team Skull (even though they were helping his awful mom anyway so.. did he even know about this?) who just suddenly turns around at the climax.

Guzma… well, there’s nothing negative to say about him, but I just… don’t understand him. Why is he helping the Aether Foundation? Was there something I missed? He’s funny, and I liked having a less serious antagonist after how tryhard Lysandre was, but then that ends up being ruined with Lusamine.

Lusamine, god, where do I begin? She is easily worse than Lysandre in terms of Pokémon antagonists. She lost her husband (who is on that island with the Pokébeans by the way, so he isn’t dead or anything to begin with) and just ends up being cold to her children, focusing only on the Ultra Beasts.

This would be okay, if she was maybe… actually depressed, and not absolutely psychotic for no reason, wanting to fuse herself with Nihilego and freezing Pokémon. And you’re supposed to feel sorry for her and Lillie, I’m sorry, what? No, I’m not forgiving her. These are explanations, but not excuses.

Cyrus wasn’t forgiven, even though out of all the antagonists, I find him to be the most sympathetic. Ghetsis certainly isn’t being forgiven, and for good reasons, he closed his son off from the rest of the world and used him for his own goals.

The game can’t figure out if they want Lusamine to be absolutely awful, or “no she’s not so bad, she just had it rough!” It ends up feeling like a bad fan-fic, and I honestly wished Lusamine kicked the bucket after you fought her, because that would have actually been a nice change for a Pokémon game.

When she fuses herself with Nihilego, nearly everyone would expect you to fight her, as the Nihilego… but no, she just sends out her usual Pokémon from before, and she’s pathetically easy. Why was it so hard to fight her, but with Nihilego’s moveset?

Lusamine is easily the worst character and the worst antagonist in a Pokémon game, ever. The entire Aether Foundation has little build-up too, you can figure out they’re the bad guys right from the opening cutscene. At least Cipher from the GameCube games had thought into their bigbads, y’know.

Finally, we have the Ultra Beasts. I was thinking this would be a game where you have to catch the legendaries, and use them against all the Ultra Beasts to chase them out, like how we saw Tapu Koko going against Buzzwole, but no. It’s only Lusamine fusing with Nihilego. You only have a proper fight against the Ultra Beasts in a ridiculous post-game sidequest that’s more annoying than fun.

Whew… okay, I think that’s it. Yeah. Sorry for the long-winded rant, but I’ve been wanting to get that off my chest for a while. Yeah, I just didn’t have much fun with the game, and could tell it was rushed out. I disliked it even more when I learned of all the unused content, and thought more about the story.

If you liked Sun/Moon, that’s fine, I’m honestly hoping Ultra fixes all the mistakes this game made, but… I kinda doubt that, GameFreak’s jump to 3D was kinda rocky. Doesn’t help when people hype these games for a couple of months, then completely drop and forget about them.

If I want a Pokémon game with more story, I think I’ll stick to Black/White, the GameCube games, and Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Time/Darkness/Sky, thank you.

I’ve said it before to friends but… y’know, it’s kinda sad when Pokémon Clover, an unfinished and very crude hack by 4chan, is far more polished than Sun/Moon is. (Heck, rather than removing the TMs, they buffed them, especially Cut!)

[crystalelemental]

This is not a team-building question, but I hope it's okay to ask anyway!

Since Masters is very focused on the human characters and sometimes gave them more depth and development, are there characters that you didn't care/didn't like at first when playing the original game, but came around to like them after seeing their Masters portrayal? Are there also characters that you already like in the original game, and like even more after seeing their Masters portrayal?

Are there also your favorite story events and legendary events (so far)? And, what do you think about the Masters-exclusive characters like Paulo, Tina, Lear, Rachel, and Sawyer, as well as the main story about them (PML arc and the villain arc so far)?

You are completely fine to ask questions like this. I'm all for teambuilding stuff, but I generally just like talking about my opinions, so this is very welcome.

For the first question, I'd say Sophocles is probably the biggest upgrade for me? Like I really didn't like the kid at all in SuMo, I felt like he was super forgettable, but there's just something about his interactions with Cyrus that really make him interesting to me. Like it's so much more development than we got for him anywhere else, I kinda like it. I'd also probably include just about anyone from Gen 6. I didn't dislike them, but found them pretty unremarkable, they didn't leave much of an impression. But a lot of the Center conversations really elevated them. I'd say Diantha just exudes a lot of character she never got to show off in her base game, and while still confusing, Lysandre here seems at least a bit easier for me to follow, in that a lot of his MO seems to be based in making choices for oneself and how those choices resound into the future, which is a really cool angle given the first event that kicks off a lot of XY's climax (your protagonist choosing a button). There's just something in the presentation that reads very different here, where it kind of aligns to this sense that the problems of the world need a great person to make hard choices and push through, while indecision squanders the potential of great people. It's a neat way to portray the guy. Also big surprise, but Hilbert. I dunno, his role in Father or Foe was cute, I kinda like the kid now, and I never thought I'd say that about a protagonist character.

As for like but elevated higher, I'd say Winona is probably grand champion in that regard. I always kinda liked her, but man is her portrayal in Masters a delight, she is such a lunatic I love her. Similar vein, but Liza was a surprise, out of nowhere favorite. I barely even registered Liza but her Center conversations are super precious. I also really liked Roxanne and Jasmine and Clair, some of the general characters I was already drawn to. An interesting exception is Sabrina. I really like Sabrina, but Masters doesn't feel like it's done anything to really...improve on her or make her stand out. Which is strange, but okay.

As for specific events, I think Father or Foe is my outright favorite by composition. That one hits so good. N's lingering feelings of wanting things to work out with Ghetsis, the parallels to Silver who sees exactly why this is tough and Hilbert being completely lost because he didn't come from that kind of background but wanting to support his friend, the group banding together to try and help Ghetsis despite him being a piece of shit and having that all fall apart anyway. I dunno, something about it just hits right. Though I really like the Cyrus one too just for giving us Sophocles and the fact that Cyrus made a friend. Though man, big shoutouts to the Kanto villain arc, that one did such a good job. Like, I never quite thought I'd hit "legitimately compelling" from a gacha game's story mode but fuck dude, they nailed it.

I did really like Winter Wishes, I think it was overall very solid despite kinda missing the correct takeaway from Leon's lifestyle. I liked the PokeWars event, I think that was a pretty neat concept to introduce. And I think I like most of the legendary events; Silver's is good, Sycamore's is fantastic, Hop's is alright. I think it's just Giovanni, Zinnia, and MU that I don't like, and that's mostly because they don't do anything all that different. I...think that's it for what I've been around for. Everything else was before my time and didn't get a rerun, or didn't stand out to me at all.

As for OCs? I like Lear now but couldn't stand him until he was already better. We all knew he wasn't going to be proper villain, and frankly I just think he's a lot better and more fun as a character when he's this dramatic, over the top guy who's basically the Pokemon equivalent of Seto Kaiba. Sawyer's the man, I love that guy. I do not care for Rachel, which is at least 40% design and 60% her character gimmick being super boring to me. Tina has done nothing except show up with Flareon and make me very upset, so...jury's still out on that one. Paulo I actively disliked all through the main story, but I am waiting eagerly for him to turn evil. I want a proper rival turned villain for the sake of power to beat you. I know that's maybe too much to ask but I think this kid can deliver and by god would that turn my opinion on him around in a second. PML I think was a pretty boring story overall, kinda just the backdrop to a gacha game they figured would be marketable because Pokemon prints money on branding alone, but I think the villain arc is seriously stepping up its game and am unbelievably excited for tomorrow's installment.

[sage-nebula]

you reminded me about how salty I was that zinnia didn't get to show up in the anime or even a post canon special and her meeting alan is all sorts of PLEASE WHY DIDNT YOU DO THIS levels of Want. anyways it cracks me up that alan gets all these mon that wanna be The Strongest or wanna Beat Him because that lines up with alan's personal goals so well and i love it. i love it so much

What kills me a little bit is that TSME 2 and 3 were, best I can tell, the anime’s attempts at incorporating the Delta Episode. They took place in Hoenn; Steven was there in his new outfit; Primal Kyogre and Primal Groudon showed up; Mega Rayquaza showed up; and, most importantly, it’s pretty clear that the megalith is supposed to be the very same meteoroid that, according to Draconid legend, fell ages ago and first allowed Rayquaza to mega evolve and save everyone. From the story Zinnia tells the player in the Sky Pillar:

“Now, our tale reaches the best part. Sootopolis was born from a great meteoroid strike. The great meteoroid was the first of many disasters to befall humanity. When it punched into the planet, the land cracked beneath it, and a great welling of natural energy poured from beneath Hoenn. Thirsting for that energy, Primal Kyogre and Primal Groudon once again woke. The people had a wish—a memory from a thousand years before … they wished that the legendary pokémon clad in emerald light would appear again. The huge meteorite that lay at the heart of Sootopolis gave off a boundless brilliance. In its brilliance, it resembled a vast and powerful Key Stone. And once again, Rayquaza descended from whence it came in the heavens. The people fell to their knees before Rayquaza and made a wish for salvation. As they did, a great change came over the legendary pokémon. It was enveloped in blinding light. As the light receded, they beheld a Rayquaza beyond all knowledge— a sublime figure, incandescent with overwhelming life force. It was humanity’s wish that brought about Rayquaza’s transformation in the face of the rainbow stone … Yes … a wish … an intangible thing, invisible to the eye. Yet this wish bound people and pokémon together, enabling the legendary pokémon to change its appearance … doesn’t it remind you of something? That’s right … it sounds like mega evolution, doesn’t it?“And how did the story end? Rayquaza once again confronted Primal Groudon and Primal Kyogre. The golden filaments that sprang from its body covered the sky. An emerald brilliance illuminated the area. A terrible wind rose. The wind and emerald light visibly sapped the power from Primal Groudon and Primal Kyogre. Drained of their primal powers, the two vanished into the depths of land and sea. Rayquaza watched them go, regaining its usual appearance. Then it soared back up into the heavens where it dwelled. A witness to this series of events, a tall visitor from a distant land, said, ‘It is the Δ (Delta), born of the great disturbances in this world. By the bonds born of mankind’s wish and the power of the stones, it will calm the troubles that plague the world.’ That was when the Draconids constructed their great tower, to hold the rainbow stone that had granted Rayquaza its power, and to try to get a little bit closer to Rayquaza in the heavens above.” 

All of this pretty much confirms that the “megalith” that we see in TSME 2 and 3 (and then later on in the Flare arc) is no doubt that very same meteor that crashed to earth all those years ago that allowed Rayquaza to mega evolve along with the wishes of the Draconid people. To that end, even though I don’t think it’s quite the Sky Pillar, the fact that Alan, Steven, Lysandre, and Manon have to climb all those stairs to get to the megalith in the first place is pretty telling:

It’s not exactly the Sky Pillar, but it looks like a broken tower that’s literally in the sky, so it’s not hard to put two and two together. Then there’s the megalith itself, which is a rainbow-colored stone that looks like a giant Key Stone:

And the fact that Steven says that “ancient people” possessed the megalith, i.e., the Draconids:

All this isn’t even getting into how the megalith summoned Rayquaza to attack them, how it awakened Primal Groudon and Primal Kyogre, how Rayquaza descended again to stop their fight and mega evolved to do so, and so on and so forth. All of this, plus the fact that it’s during the Delta Episode that Steven references Alan in the games:

“Hm … you know, seeing that [shiny beldum] there that you travel with … I’m reminded of the legendary pokémon Rayquaza, said to descend at the Sky Pillar. I once had a chance to see it face to face. Although, it was a long time ago now … The young man who battled against Rayquaza beside me … I wonder whatever happened to him and that black charizard of his …”

It all makes it pretty clear that TSME 2 and TSME 3 were supposed to be the main anime’s attempts at incorporating the Delta Episode, even though they weren’t perfect attempts at doing so. (Although it also makes the timeline kind of screwy, considering game!Steven says that he met with Alan “a long time ago,” but still, there’s no one else he could possibly be talking about, considering.) So unless we got a post-canon special where they said, “Never mind, this is the REAL Delta Episode!” I can see why Zinnia didn’t make an appearance, even though she could and should have made an appearance in TSME. 

That said, I am bitter as hell about the fact that she didn’t get an episode in Generations. I cannot believe they actually wasted Mega Rayquaza’s episode on Gabby and Ty instead of Zinnia. We could have had an entire episode focusing on her and the Draconids—maybe even showing who the original Aster was!—but no, instead we got two stupid reporters talking about the protagonist going to face Rayquaza. Unbelievable. I’m never going to forgive this slight, honestly.

But that said, yes, I have planned out a Delta Episode adaptation with Alan playing a central role! I have a lot of details written out for it here, as well as two snippets here and here. Alan’s relationship with Steven takes a heavy hit once he learns about Infinity Energy, but I think their friendship would recover eventually. Meanwhile, Alan and Zinnia really do grow quite close, and their relationship (platonic though it is) isn’t one that can be easily put into words. Things like that often happen when you ride a legendary dragon into space to stop a meteor with someone, and then jump off said legendary dragon before you asphyxiate, are caught by your own dragons, and then gently lowered back to the top of the tower where you lay there for a moment, taking a moment to fully realize the fact that you survived, and then end up with the two of you laughing until you’re breathless again from the exhilaration of it all. It’s just … kind of like that sometimes.

But yeah, haha, Alan attracts pokémon that want to be very strong, somehow. They can maybe sense it in him, that he also has that drive to be strong. They’re kindred warrior spirits. Although he also gets pokémon that are gentler and need healing, too, which I also feel is important. (And of course pokémon that are protective of him. That fact that we have instances where Alan and Lizardon protect each other in dire, world-ending situations in canon warms my entire soul. I love them so much, and Alan deserves to have others want to protect him just as badly as he strives to protect everyone else. It’s what he deserves.)