#well. there's pokeballs. does that count

[necklesslapras]

damon bear...

[wowwforever]

POKEMON EVIL TEAMS RANKED BY HOW LIKELY I WOULD BE TO JOIN THEM

Team Flare

I'm not wearing that suit and I'm not changing my hair. Lysandre is easily the fucking dumbest antagonist and if their plan is successful either they're immortal and I have to live with these losers forever or the whole world dies and I have to live with these losers until I die.

Team Yell

This entire team is centered around having a parasocial relationship with a teenage girl. Also British.

Team Galactic

Similar horrible haircut, bad outfit, and death cult scenario to Team Flare. At least they're like a semi-actual company. I could maybe just go bald and get a regular job after the Poke-government liquidates Team Galactic LLC. But I legitimately think this would be the least fun evil company to work at. Imagine stealing some kids Pokemon but you get chewed out by fucking Galactic Admin Uranus because you forgot to fill out the Paperwork.

The Lame Part of Team Plasma

Okay so to clarify these are the people that actually believe in the Team Plasma shit, which means I'd probably be spit on in the streets while wearing chainmail in New York. Why the fuck would I wear Chain Mail on the East Coast? Do you know how much rust there is? Also I have to become a ginger and worship some green manchild as a monarch. At least they're not a death cult.

Team Rocket

This one is just being a criminal. Like, yeah, you get to steal Pokemon but there's no real advantages except the free gray boots. Probably does not pay well and Giovanni leaving kind of sent them spiraling. Plus they have a lot of Koffings in an underground base so you know there's like lung damage galore. The R stands for Respiratory Distress.

Team Aqua

I don't like the idea of being surrounded by the ocean and I do not like boats and submarines. I would actively join this to sabotage their plan. Also every other evil team has an actual place to put their Pokeballs but this one it seems like the plan is to just shove it in my underwear? ???

Team Star

I haven't actually played Scarlet and Violet because I recently learned I can legally drink. I think this one is the equivalent of a school club? So I'm not actually getting paid to do evil shit. I'd probably just join, like, DnD club or something.

Team Rainbow Rocket

I'd join this one just because I know it's going to fail. I mean, it's got like four people who explicitly just want to end the world in different ways. I'm just gonna join and steal pens and shit until it eventually crashes in on itself for infighting. I'd wear my gay-ass R shirt every june in line with a P, I, D, and E.

The Cool Part of Team Plasma

Fuck yeah. This is the Team Plasma that knows the shit Ghetsis is up to. I'd love to be in on the scheme, plus I don't have to wear chainmail. Downside is I'd probably get murdered or have to murder to stay in, and they have the biggest shot of accomplishing their goal. But Ghetsis is hot so that's a plus.

Team Magma

This one is because there's 0.0% chance this plan will work but I get to just hang out in these cute-ass hoodies and pet camerupts all day. Look at that outfit, I'd wear that all the time. That being said, would probably have to be a field guy. Their location is in a volcano. I'm gonna get a call that says 'Hey all of Team Magma's leadership died' and I'd have to get a job at like Poke7-11 with a major gap in my resume.

Macro Cosmos

This hardly counts as a villain team because they're just, like, security guards for a company whose CEO goes a lil nuts. This is like if you worked for Virgin Atlantic and Richard Branson decided to summon Satan. No one can really put that on you. You'd probably get paid ridiculous amounts of money for essentially doing nothing. Con is you'd have to live in Galar.

Aether Foundation

Working for the Aether Foundation is like doing an internship at Bell Labs or whatever. The evil shit is probably fixed by the end of the game and I could just go back to researching Rotom electromagnetic applications and have that 'week where we tried to fuck up reality' be a weird company thing we brush under the rug. The con is they have all white outfits so I can't eat spaghetti at work. But even if I left I could probably just use Aether Foundation as a decent enough jumping off point for any career.

Team Skull

Genuinely this is just goofing off with a bunch of scummy weirdos. I can respect that and their outfits are thankfully not skin-tight jumpsuits, but main I'd join because they all kind of suck. With the most moderate competency I could run Team Skull. Also Guzma. He's pretty hot.

[mochlix]

Felix as a pokemon trainer 🧶

Does the yarn emoji counts as a pokeball?

Well, this is Felix and his little Glaceon cuz I was really addicted to pokemon go when i did this… and i love Eevee and its evolutions, really debated in which one to put. I actually want to do more of it….

[fishys-still-writing-smut]

How's Tenkp doing as the newest Fighting-type Gym Leader? And how often does she get mistaken for a rogue slave who needs taming?

Warning: lewd content below

“It’s the degenerate male trainers fault! They always think I'm some rogue slut who needs a master! I'll have you know I'm a very strong leader in my own right!”

Despite Tenko’s assertive claim, she was one of the weakest gym leaders, and easily beaten by even the most novice of owners. That weakness spread out to her daily life, as even when she wasn't getting bent over and fucked stupid by whoever decided to challenge her that day, she still had to navigate her life without accidentally being tamed by some random trainer who thinks she's on the market.

Take her last day off for example. She started her day as she always has, with a 5 mile jog. She was a fighting type after all, physical dominance was in her blood! Well, if you don't count all the times she was dominated. Like when she passed by a park ranger who thought she was running to attack the village. In response, he did the natural thing to do, which was shove his massive pokeballs in her mouth while her face became a resting place for his cock. After 25 minutes of fellatio she finally managed to tell him she was not a wild bitch, but she still wore the man's cum on her face for the rest of her run.

A few hours later, Tenko decided to go out for lunch. After 15 minutes of arguing with the bouncer, plus an awkward flash of her tits, she managed to enter the bar. Unfortunately, even though she was inside, many patrons simply believed she was a girl owned by the barkeeper. Which of course gave a few drunk assholes the courage to go up to her and grope her like a toy. They're lucky she was hungry at the time, or else she definitely would've fought back and totally wouldn't have cum.

At the end of the day, Tenko decided against going out again, and simply ran to the store in order to purchase some food to cook at home. The store was even run by a girl, so no chance of her being groped by some stranger!...the owner's son however…

*PLAP PLAP PLAP*

“OH FUCK YESH!!!”

Tenko screamed as she came on the boy's cock yet again. The goals of fucking in the back of the store was to keep a low profile, however Tenko's lustful moans and the clap of her ass cheeks between thrusts quickly ruined that. Not that she cared. The more that knew that she was a whore, the better. Especially if they also had a fat cock she could bounce on.

Eventually, Tenko will be claimed by a trainer despite her status as a gym leader. But for now, she's enjoying her days as a free woman the only way she knows how: with a pussy full of strangers cum!

[kariachi]

More fic! For the same 'pokemon journey starts' series!

Alan misses his family already, luckily he's not alone quite yet.

~~

“It's not that I want to be a trainer, it's just..."

"If you wake up to a baby crying one more time you're going to snap?"

"She's my sister, I love her, I'm going to snap."

Jasmine laughed in the way only youngest siblings could, like he was joking. Between his younger siblings Alan couldn’t remember the last time he'd slept through the night, if he ever had. As much as anything else, this summer was meant for figuring out if he even could. And it would just be the summer, he wasn’t lying about not intending to try to make a life out of training pokemon.

“I guess that means I have to forgive you then, huh?” Pulling his eyes from the road, Alan finally looked at her. Sat beside him on the edge of the family’s property, legs pulled up to her chest. It was soothing, in a way, having his cousin there.

“I’ll make sure to bring back a magikarp or something for your birthday.”

“Well, Aunt Jessie does have back-up sons,” she said, reaching out to whap her hand against his arm. They laughed in near unison, him waiting for her to flash a toothy smile before turning back towards the horizon.

He didn’t know how long he’d been sat there. Everything had been so exciting the day before, when his parents had driven him into town to get his license. Coming home to finally get the growlithe and paras that had followed him around for ages into pokeballs. The big celebration with the whole family, eating his favorite dishes. Double and triple checking into the night that he had everything he needed. Even that morning, he’d practically rushed through breakfast, gotten to skip out on chores. All in the name of getting to go on his journey, carry on a tradition older than his family, see the world a little, get away from three rowdy younger siblings.

Then his mom had hugged him goodbye. It had sunk in that Jason was too young to understand he wouldn’t be coming home for weeks. His dad had insisted on driving him as far as the crop fields, hovering despite all assurances that Alan would be fine. He’d reached the boundary of his family’s land and-

And he was still staring down the road.

Technically, the fact he’d been sitting by the time Jas showed up was progress. His legs would be well rested by the time he-

The quartet fell into silence. Growlithe leaned his weight heavy, supportive against Alan’s side. Even Jas’s stunky, stewn under his not-yet-owner’s hand, was uncharacteristically quiet as they all sat. Something settled over them, akin to the weighty feeling that kept his feet from stepping over that property line.

“I’m gonna miss you.”

And that was half of it, wasn’t it? He’d never been away from his family for more than a night. The whole of Alan’s life up to that point had been the farm, had been the town, had been his siblings, cousins, parents. He could count the days he hadn’t seen Jasmine on two hands, the days he hadn’t seen his mom on one. Now here he was, taking the plunge and standing on his own, all alone, for the first time.

Growlithe gave a languid stretch.

So, not all alone. Just mostly alone.

Without his family.

“Miss you too.” Already. Even now it felt like his entire world was behind him. How could you be homesick before you’d ever left? He took a deep breath. “I mean it, I’ll bring you back a new pokemon.”

“I know you will.” Jasmine managed another laugh, legs stretching out like she needed them to. “And next summer, you can guide me around, show me all the good camping spots.” With a chuckle, Alan’s lips quirked into a smirk without his input.

“You’re just using me to blaze the trail,” he said, stowed the answering groan away for lonely days.

“Sweet Mew, just go,” she laughed, shoving at his shoulder.

“Make sure to have all the hot gossip ready when I get back though, okay?” This groan was louder, pulled an easy laughter from him as Jasmine forced herself back to her feet.

“Come on, Caramel, or we’ll never get rid of them.” Like he’d never been lain out the stunky was on his feet and bounding down the road, raspberry fur shining in the sunlight. The trio watched it go for several yards before stopping, Alan looking away as his cousin turned an offered a hand up.

“You’re not supposed to leave the property,” he pointed out as she yanked him to his feet, growlithe following after with a wag of his tail. More so he could say he did when pressed than anything else. They both knew better, and it was no surprise when she merely shrugged her shoulders.

“I don’t intend to tell anyone, do you?”

“Nope.” In unison they smiled at each other, something lifting from Alan’s shoulders as they did. For some reason it was easier to get his feet to move with her ahead of him and his pokemon at his side.

“Good! The last thing I need is a tattletale for a rival!” With a fake gasp, he picked up the pace to walk shoulder to shoulder with her, their pokemon trotting a few steps ahead. Just because he wasn’t allowed to swat her back didn’t mean he couldn’t blow a raspberry at her.

“When have I ever?!” She just laughed, starting down a half-lie list as he relaxed under the familiarity of family and friendship. At least for another few hours, his cousin could keep the homesickness at bay. And after that?

Well, he would be home again soon.

[rohalussworld]

SwordTember x Pokemon day 19 Maushold

This drawing contains short fic bellow.

______

Question: I know your answer would be a no. But we need your statement as currently sole-archivist of our martial arts. Should we ban maushold tactics in the trial of adulthood, or should we keep it as is?

Answer: no. I wonder why people still ask obvious questions when we’re currently debating between junior circuit gym standardization by the international league for children pokemon knowledge vs Trial of Tarran.

For a longer answer, perhaps you should ask the current trial holder herself, or just read her thoughts on this obviously answered question.

…

Wow, whoever wrote this question never fought any trial before. Of course, obvious things aside; numbers matter in a fight. You probably can subdue stronger pokemon with sheer numbers. Maushold is a four-bodied pokemon but still ruled as one due to pokeball rule. Fine. Fair point.

But let me ask you one thing; what is a maushold tactic?

There are a lot of trainers wanting to challenge me and start their journey in tradition instead of gym challenges. Most of them are children without a sponsor or clan; and what pokemon are closest to catch for them? Wattrels, maybe some lost budews or nincadas if they are lucky. But if they are not lucky, they’ll be with a tandemaus pair. Why should we ban one of their choices of travel partner?

Okay, that's just about choices, but even if its not about that, in fundamentals, we don't even need to talk about children's limited choices by their background.

This is a discussion that will go nowhere if you never watch a trial before, so let me remind you again. You need to keep a flag safe on you for ten minutes. That’s it. Trial fails only if I take the flag from them; the rules of winning by hitting the trial overseer with the chosen weapon does not even start until the third trial.

Has hundreds of children challenged me to use the same tactic? No.

I remember a child commanded one of the little body to run with the flag while they and the rest of the maushold keep me and my furret busy. Their staff technique and command style are rough but well passed their age group.

I remember a child kept her tandemaus close on her shoulder and they protected the flag together with a shield. She won by timer count rule, and she asked me if she fit to be a pokemon shaman with a super-defensive tactic like so.

I even remember one who tried to do maushold tactic as you call it, only to fought among their own pokemon for who should hold the human weapon.

I can go on for hours -- days, even -- if you give me time. There is no such thing as maushold tactic. In fact, please, I would like to see more children bond with their first pokemon. I would love to see them learn to adapt to their pokemon quirks and needs. I want to let them learn early that they are special, and so are their pokemon, and so learning from people, rivals, and friends with the same pokemon will result in different growth and strategies.

But your worry is just numbers.

Pity.

Fight me with your so-called maushold tactics, dear questioning letter. Let me see if it really needs to be a banned strategy.

[implausiblyjosh]

Snack Pack Adventures #1: A Crystal Clear Nuzlocke

I’ve been in a Crystal Clear mood, so let’s play a Nuzlocke.

To pick my starter, I had a random number generate a number 1-6 then picked any of the 6 Gen 1 & 2 starters based on that number. Crystal Clear has options for like 10 or so starters, including both sets of actual starter Pokemon, and they’re listed in National Dex order for the starters, so it’s an easy thing to roll for. I rolled a 1, so I got a Bulbasaur.

After naming our Bulbasaur Celery, the real fun can begin! Before we start on our journey properly, let’s outline the rules.

1. Any Pokemon that faints cannot be used anymore. Release them ASAP. 2a. Catch only the first Pokemon encountered in a route/area/town/whatever. Static, Gift, & Duplicate Pokemon do not count toward this rule and can be caught/received. 2b. A Duplicate Pokemon is any Pokemon in the evolutionary line that has already been caught. Ex. A caught Caterpie would mean a Caterpie, Metapod, or Butterfree would be considered a Duplicate. 3. No items during battle, only Pokeballs and Held Items. 4. I win if I defeat every Gym Leader & the Elite Four, I lose if I white out.

I think that’s it. We don’t have wondertrade or any other fun stuff to worry about, so we can just use these rules and carry on. And so, we head out towards Cherrygrove and then Violet City.

Our first encounter is a Hoothoot, which is an easy catch. They are now named Pringle. The Snack Pack is growing. We should head north, towards Route 46, because we’ll need some more pals before Falkner. Hopefully a Geodude, but I’m not sure they’ll actually spawn at night and I’m not going to look it up.

That is not a Geodude. But, we cannot be picky this early on, so we’re just going to have to make due. I have named our new friend Sandwich. We grow stronger. At Cherrygrove we heal up and pick up some potions. Even though we won’t be using them in battle, we don’t want to have to run back to PokeCenters at the slightest hint of trouble, so they’re good to have. I’ll also pick up a couple extra Pokeballs as well. Oh, and some Antidotes. Anything to keep my Pokemon not-fainted for longer.

After emptying my wallet, it’s time to go on Route 30. Let’s see our first encounter!

Oh damn, a Poliwag! It’s an easy battle, Poliwag’s Bubble only does 1 damage to Celery even on a critical, and Celery’s Tackle does little enough damage to not faint. After eating one Pokeball, Poliwag is captured and we have a new friend on the team. They are now named MTN DEW.

Route 30 seems like a pretty solid place to switch train for right now. Celery takes 1-2 damage per Poliwag encountered, and we can easily wipe them out with one Petal Dance, and they each give a whopping 42 EXP. Let’s get everyone to, say, 7 or 8?

I got bored of grinding after about 10 mins. Let’s just keep moving.

Our first Trainer battles are up ahead. Sandwich will take the lead for switch training, and Celery is level 6 and will be level 7 by the end of the next fight, so I think we’re in a good place. Let’s do this.

Youngster Joey is up first, with a level 3 Rattata. Not even worth mentioning, Celery takes him out with a Petal Dance. Youngster Mikey is afterwards, with a level 3 Pidgey up top. I don’t think it has a flying type move, so I switch into Celery. Two Petal Dances and it’s gone, with a level 5 Rattata taking it’s place. We have our battle mode set to Switch, so we switch back to Sandwich then back to Celery. Celery is at 15/24 HP, so I throw a Leech Seed out. One more Tackle, and now we’re down to 10/24 HP. This is not good. We Petal Dance then we get hit again, down to 5/24 HP. Leech Seed only gets us up to 7/24 HP. We can take one more non-critical hit, and we’re locked into Petal Dance for our next move. The Rattata uses Tail Whip, our Petal Dance hits. Victory!

We definitely need to heal up before the next couple of trainers. I use a Potion on Celery and we move on, avoiding Spinarak as they pop up. Next up is Bug Catcher Don and they send out a level 3 Caterpie. I don’t think this will kill Sandwich, so I try one Tackle. It lands, does about 1/3 of their health. Their Tackle lands, and it takes off 2 HP. Oh, we got this. Two more Tackles and Sandwich gets his first taste of solo victory. Well, over one Pokemon. Don still has another level 3 Caterpie, which Sandwich destroys in 3 hits. Actually, this worked out really for Sandwich because a held Berry gets eaten during battle, so now we’re up to full health and we’re level 5!

We hit Route 31 next and get our first instance of our Duplicate rule, a Poliwag. Then another Poliwag. Then finally!

This isn’t great. Our next gym is Falkner, who has flying Pokemon. Having one type disadvantaged Pokemon is bad, but two? Ugh. But, we also need more bodies, so I get Celery to chip away health and get a catch on the first ball. Carrot has joined the team.

Now, one of the gimmicks of Crystal Clear is that while the whole game is opened up and can be approached from all different angles, with trainers scaling based on your badge number, some places are static. Take Sprout Tower, usually a great place for early-game EXP. In Crystal Clear, the Pokemon are at level 30-ish, so my team of levels 8-4 will not work there. Because of this knowledge, I am scared that an encounter in Dark Cave could go very badly, but I also want to try my luck at getting a Geodude or some other not-grass Pokemon.

I’m going to put MTN DEW in the front and they will be my sacrifice. I switch the party, I walk into Dark Cave…

Oh. We’re fine! Switch into Celery, Tackle a few times, and now we have Salt. We are about to get to Violet City when we get into a battle with Bug Catcher Wade. A level 3 Caterpie opens the fight and I think about who to switch Salt out for. I decide on Pringle and it’s a 2-turn Tackle victory. Another level 3 Caterpie comes out as I switch back to Salt. I think Salt can take this, so I leave him in to Tackle. It takes way too long and is barely worth the 33 EXP, but it is one more level. I almost let Salt stay in until I notice the new Caterpie is level 7. I switch to Celery, who defeats Caterpie and stays at full health thanks to Leech Seed. Switch back to Salt and a level 5 Weedle comes out. Unfortunately, rocks can be poisoned, so I switch back to Celery for safety reasons and destroy the Weedle.

Now it’s time to grind, for real this time. Salt needs to be up in levels and fast, because I believe he’s our only hope with Falkner. Luckily, outside of Poliwag & Bellsprout, Salt can take on just about any wild Pokemon in this area, and we need to get to level 11 for Rock Throw, so this shouldn’t take too long.

After 20-ish minutes of grinding (I watched a Yakuza Kiwami speedrun) here’s the party.

Salt, Lv. 11

Celery, Lv. 9

Pringle, Lv. 5

Sandwich, Lv. 5

Carrot, Lv. 5

MTN DEW, Lv. 4

It’s gym time.

Bird Keeper Abe is first with a Lv. 9 Spearow, and one Rock Throw takes them out. Bird Keeper Rod is next with two Lv. 7 Pidgeys. Two Rock Throws take them out. We use a Potion on Salt before Falkner. This is it.

Falkner sends out a Lv. 7 Pidgey first, which hits us with Mud-Slap, lowering our accuracy. Rock Throw misses, so we’re moving to Tackle. The Mud-Slaps are getting ridiculous, so I switch into Celery. I pop a Leech Seed then bait the Tackle and switch back to Salt. I’m getting hit hard by these Mud-Slaps, but Leech Seed keeps me healing. Pidgey eventually goes down and Pidgeotto comes out, so I switch to Celery to remove the accuracy issues and also setup another Leech Seed. I don’t know if Pidgeotto has a Flying-type move, but I hope not! Gust does 20 points of damage, but Celery gets off the Leech Seed. I swap back to Salt, hoping that Pidgeotto uses Gust and that it doesn’t do much damage. The Gust does 2 damage, and I recover 5! Salt connects with a Rock Throw, and we win!

And with that, our first badge is done. I’ve been writing this as I’ve been playing, and it’s about 11:57pm right now, so I have gotta go to bed. Next time: Azalea Gym!

[eggs-are-my-passion]

<video of Midori and Bugsy, both with their pokeballs in hand. Oliver sits in the balcony with Hilda sitting by his side, holding a bag of popcorn. A Rotom Drone flies nearby to announce the battle>

Back for more?

Bugsy laughs as he sees his opponent's face, who is as scared as they are prepared.

I won't lose this time!

That's the spirit! Go! Beedrill!

The pokemon comes out and already starts to scout it's surroundings, focusing on Midori's movements.

Midori takes a step back, breathes in and sends his own pokemon out.

Cake! Come on out!

Oh, so you're sending them first this time. How interesting.

Beedrill! Bug Bite!

The pokemon lunges foward, arms open, ready to grab the small wooper, who looks scared.

Mud Shot!

As soon as the beedril reaches it's opponent, she shoots, pushing the wasp back.

It shakes the mud off it's body as Bugsy shouts again.

Let's keep distance then! Venoshock!

The pokemon starts to shoot blobs of poison at the wooper, who fails to dodge, but stands up, not giving up.

Again, Bug Bite!

The beedril lauches itself towards it's opponent again, ready to take a bite.

Cake! Use Slam!

The wooper jumps, dogding her opponent, and slams her tail on it's forehead.

Beedril has fainted.

Nice job, but let's see if you can handle this.

Butterfree! It's your turn!

As soon as the pokemon emerges, Midori flinches. They are remembering their last battle, losing focus.

Use Gust!

The bug flaps it's wings at the small pokemon, who is sent flying towards her trainer.

Cake has fainted.

Midori recomposes themself and puts Cake back into her pokeball.

Crumb! I'm counting on you!

The herdier gets out with a powerful bark. Midori doesn't even think twice before screaming their command,

Retaliate!

Crumb tackles the butterfree with full force, lauching it away.

Good job, but let's see how you counter this.

Butterfree! Supersonic!

The bug sends out loud sound waves, making the poor dog confused.

Crumb! Snap out of it!

The herdier moves around, not knowing what to do, tripping, barely being able to stand up by himself.

Psybeam!

Come on Crumb! Dodge it!

The butterfree shoots directly at the herdier, who immediately broke out of his confusion and jumped out of the way!

Good boy! Now use Take Down!

The dog rushes foward and tackles the butterfly again, making them both fall.

Butterfree and Crumb have fainted.

Midori stares at his own hand. They only has one pokemon left, but so does Bugsy.

Well well well. It's time for you to meet my most powerful pokemon.

Midori is scared. They have heard of this pokemon before, and since they had such a hard time with the butterfree, they can't even think of how difficult this battle might get now.

Scyther!

The mantis comes out of it's ball ready to slash whoever crosses it's path. Midori takes a step back, takes a deep breath and gives a little kiss to Dot's ball.

Dot! It's your turn!

The mime jr comes out of the pokeball, not even flinching at the sight of his big opponent. Something is different about him...

Fury Cutter!

The scyther flies foward, not even letting Dot get ready as it slashes the poor baby pokemon, sending them flying towards the wall.

Dot!

He gets up, does a thumbs up back to his trainer and get's ready to counter attack.

Again!

Protect!

The scyther repeats the same move, but this time Dot creates a barrier to stop it.

Psybeam!

The mime jr shoots, sending the scyther flying away from him.

Now use Wing Attack!

Scyther's wings start to glow as it lauches itself foward again. It hits, creating a massive cloud of dust surrounding them.

Dot!

He doesn't answer. A light shines from inside the dust cloud. A powerful wind sends alll the dirt away, showcasing a glowing mime jr slowly growing, wings made out of light coming out of it's back.

That's mimic! He mimicked Scyther's Wing Attack!

Dot has evolved into a Galarian Mr, Mime!

The newly evolved pokemon uses it's fake wings to lauch his opponent back, giving a thumbs up back to his trainer again.

Now we're talking!

Scyther! Quick Attack!

The bug vanishes out of thin air and appears behind the Mr Mime, who seems ready to counter attack.

Use Ice Shard!

Dot quickly creates a chunk of ice on his hand and smashes it into Scyther's face, defeating the bug.

Scyther has fainted.

Midori won the battle

<video ends>

[slime-stew]

secret posts for tumblr cuz i dont like posting long rambley blog things to twitter :3 decided to do the shiny pokemon alongside the masterball which might against all odds after 22 years be one of if not The first regular ass items retexture...

the textures are all for the most part just ripped from pokemon stadium 2 which is fair considering melee's development time and also the considerably lower necessary poly count for a little spawnable dude. it also means that i can just use whatever ps2 does for shinies and LUCKILY it has that weird ass HSL system that means i can just grab the textures off of spriters resource (large shoutout to my man Mr. C for extracting them so i don't have to) and wiggle the colors around correctly and just chuck them in. i did have to grab the master ball texture from some furret minigame for authenticity. both this texture and the pokemon colors are different to modern colors but melee players are either too zoomer to care or too old to know they changed, so it's fine. the master ball wouldn't work on the regular uv so i had to fiddle around in blender and i figured i might as well add a Little detail but i'm p sure this is my first actual model swap so i probably still fucked up...i know some stuff didn't import correctly but it looks mostly fine now.

melee pokemon fun facts:

ditto has a unique texture for his Goo

porygon is made of solid color in melee. seemingly all the other pokemon in melee use tiny 8x8 solid color textures for bodyparts of a single color (something that stadium did) but porygon is Properly done with like vertex lighting and shit, probably because his original texture was just a fake shiny thing so it would have looked ugly with a proper lighting engine

unown models don't show up in hsdraw idk why!!! probably bc there are 26 of them. it works in DAT wizard tho

snorlax has a yellow mout in the viewer but i think that might also be hsdraw dying

a lot of textures with partial transparency like goldeen fins or porygon eyes are very subtly different in melee, i'm not sure if its the melee dev team cleaning them up or if its a case of the originals being compressed and losing some of that in stadium, but regaining it in a more sophisticated engine. cant say but the textures still line up so idc

hey remember what i said about unown? its not even differently colored so i dont have to change it anyway

clefairy is the only pokeball pokemon in melee with unique textures for its shiny form, and i have to be specific because some are not in melee (like gyrados) and some are not from pokeballs (like jigglypuff)

[dunnedsparce]

I'm Dune, and I live in the middle of nowhere a short flight north of Snowpoint, though I'm originally from Johto. I'm a program tech at a land and sea pokemon research center here. My job's more about facilitating the pokebiologist's work than partocipating in the studies, but I get out there sometimes.

While I do have a decent number of pokemon I live, train, and work with, the ones you'll probably most often see are my house 'mons, the Sparce Squad.

(Pictures and descriptions under the cut)

Luther - my youngest dunsparce. Lax nature. Gets into less trouble than his siblings. If one of my dunsparces is flattened into a puddle in a sunbeam and there aren't traces of mischief nearby, it's probably Luther.

Lottie - Luther's sister (biologically; they were an accidental clutch of two I adopted from a young trainer who didn't know about the dittos and the daycares). Bold nature, doesn't have the same curiosity drive as Lysander, but by Arceus does she ever go along for the ride. If they've gotten an idea into their heads, Lottie's probably leading the charge.

Lysander - Has an impish nature, and it takes about two seconds of knowing him for that to be incredibly obvious. I had to babyproof my house when I took him in. I didn't even catch him, I just found him in my house once when I forgot to close the door. It took a long time for him to acclimate enough to let me pokeball him, and he never really left the wild part of his personality behind, but he's a well-adjusted pokemon in spite of that.

Reginald - my trusted starter pokemon, met when I was maybe 8 exploring that cave outside Violet in Johto. Now that I've graduated and moved out on my own to a little town near Snowpoint in Sinnoh, I'm even happier to have him around. His Relaxed nature puts my anxiety at ease. He's the oldest of my dunsparce of course, and he's mellowed out as we've grown, but he does still get into the aspear berries if I turn my back on them...

Next up are some of my other 'mons. I had to leave some behind with my folks for the time being, since I don't have a house here yet. But I did bring these guys along!

Fen - short for Fenrikaash, my arcanine. I let him learn bad habits as a growlithe and now he thinks he's a lapdog. On the plus side, having an arcanine is great here for transportation and warmth, and he has MILES of open area to run in!

Delibird?? - I don't have a delibird but I'm pretty sure there's one living in my chimney. I'm gonna have to sligoogle this one, I have no idea what to do about chimney delibirds

Saltlick - a Nacli I saw on the beach when I first got here. It's content to sit on the shelf with my rock collection. He stays inside or out under my direct supervision because the wild stantler like him too much, thus his name.

Starchild - a galarian zigzagoon I was traded from a buddy in Galar. He's a pain in the ass and I love him so much. He attacks my phone if he doesn't like the song I'm listening to. Big fan of The Funeral Portrait though.

Lastly, some of the pokemon I interact with regularly that aren't my own!

Joel - a lapras the pokebiologists use to haul in krabby traps. I think she belongs to one of my coworkers.

Covy - a corviknight belonging to my wildlife pokebiologist coworker. She takes her up to do overhead counts of stantler and tauros populations

??? - a corvisquire belonging to Covy's trainer. I did not know it existed until it scared the hell out of me at work

[flower-seller]

So per Salem’s request, I was asked to share a snippet of my own from our Lord Arcanine battle rp because that shit was insane GEHDBDND God I loved every bit of it though, it was so hype I will not lie.

For the context a bit, Volo was with another ginkgo at the time of the battle breaking out (Salem’s oc Kanata we love Kanata so much in this house) but the poor kid kinda got dragged into the battlefield just a bit. With Euph having just kicked the Lord directly in the face, this is Volo’s reaction and subsequent actions that really threw this particular fight for a loop

While this isn’t exactly the most “just some guy” post, I feel it does showcase a little bit of his quirks here and there. There is another snippet I’d love to post from this particular rp as well but perhaps in another post sometime (I’m too shy for this BSBDBJDJD)

Volo and Kanata ran as fast as they could, Volo’s hand a vice grip of fear around the boy’s wrists as the clear sounds of battle raged just ahead.

Please please please—

Volo needed her to be ok. He wasn’t gone long. He wasn’t gone long, but he had left her. He wouldn’t forgive himself for that. The wall came into view, and right as they approached it, Volo heard the gut wrenching wail chill the air around him.

“Fuck!”

He was only gone a second!

Volo shoved past the wall, and his eye widened. Euphorbia had thrown herself into the lord’s jaws. His heart stopped completely, terror filling him, freezing him solid even as Kanata crashed into him from behind. The seconds felt like hours, watching her twist her form around so cleanly, so practiced…

She… Kicked the lord.

He could hear the impact from his position, and watched in awe at the incredible power Euphorbia displayed in that one swift blow. He watched the way her hair flowed behind her like a crashing wave against the raging inferno. The fierce expression she wore, that of pure fury to rival even the frenzy of the lord himself. He watched as she landed it skillfully. He watched her body heave from the exertion, her chest rising and falling with counted breaths.

“Volo!” Kanata shook the elder ginkgo by the arm, snapping him out of whatever momentary daze had overcome him, “You’ve got a plan, right?!”

… Plan.

“I-I…,” He hadn’t thought of one. But he opened his mouth as if to speak regardless. What came out wasn’t what he’d planned to say either.

“EUPHORBIA!” Volo screamed suddenly, watching in horror as she was tossed into the air, fire raking up her arm. He had no plan, but he didn’t need one. He was already moving, darting forward with one hand locked around Kanata, and the other reaching into his pocket. Volo pulled out a pokeball and threw it forward. He jumped up, dragging the younger merchant into the air with him.

“RrraaAAAH!” Exploding from the blinding light, Volo’s own Arcanine burst from her pokeball. His clawed hand grasped her mane tightly, landing upon her back as she surged ahead at an incredible speed.

“Holy SHIT!” Kanata gasped as he was pulled onto the sudden mount. He clung to Volo’s back as if he were the other man’s pack itself. They rushed up the side of the volcano itself, his Arcanine pushing off of the crater’s lip to leap into the air after Euphorbia. Volo released his hold of the canine’s mane to reach for Euphorbia herself.

He caught her in his arms, and clung to her tightly as they landed with an earth shaking impact of their own. For only a second was Volo able to hold Euphorbia close to himself before he, with a shuddering gasp of his own, passed her into the arms of Kanata. Arcanine lowered herself as Volo let the boy off upon the plateau.

“Get her to safety. I’ll keep the lord occupied,” Volo announced with determination himself. Without another word to the boy, he tugged at his pokemon’s mane and the pair bolted back to the fight below.

“Arcanine! Rockslide!” He commanded as they ran down the mountain’s side. His loyal companion barked in acknowledgement, her own paws slamming down against the volcano with even more force than before as she thrashed about herself. She stirred the loose rocks from the land, willing them into rolling down alongside her. The pair rapidly approached the arena once more, and Volo released his hold of his pokemon, allowing himself to fall back off of her as she rushed ahead like a boulder herself.

Volo hit the rocky ground unceremoniously, the wind rushing from his lungs as his back made contact. He didn’t let that stop him though as he quickly flipped over and pushed up off of the ground in time to watch as his arcanine crashed into the lord for a solid and rumbling impact, followed by a pelting of large rocks. The two dogs fell into the lava, sending up a big splash up in their corner.

“Twolo! Get Chamerion out of here!” He pleaded in a half wheeze. A hand already clutching his chest. The little jolteon stared at Volo for only a second before he was racing off towards the knocked out little fire type. The eeveelution grabbed Chamerion by the scruff and was quick to run the way Volo had come from now that the path had been cleared.

Volo pushed off of the ground, panting himself for a moment before he removed his hat and tossed it aside. He wasn’t fucking around this time.

[the-handling-and-care-of-pokemon]

Bulbasaur Line

The camera turns on, revealing a close up shot of a man in his early to mid thirties. He has short curly black hair and a short black beard and mustache. Dressed in a lab coat that is clearly just thrown on over casual clothing, the light brown skinned man brings his bespectacled face closer to the camera. “Alright, looks like it’s showtime.”

The man backs up and adjusts his glasses. “Hello, and welcome to The Handling and Care of Pokemon. This is a little project I have been wanting to do for a while now. Ah, but before I get ahead of myself.” The man clears his throat. “My name is William Evergreen. Well, Professor William Evergreen that is, and I am somewhat of an expert in the field of raising Pokemon. As an experienced breeder, I have raised just about every Pokemon there is. I breed Pokemon for two reasons; to ensure the survival and prosperity of all Pokemon species whether to be released into the wild or given to trainers. Also, cause I love raising Pokemon.” Professor Evergreen smiles.

“Now that you know a little bit about myself, let’s move on to this project. New trainers are beginning their journeys everyday. Which means beginners are getting their first Pokemon everyday as well. And it’s not just trainers: all sorts of people love Pokemon and want to raise them as well. Of course, there are plenty of resources for raising Pokemon, like books and websites and even other professors. However, some of these sources can be, well less then credible.” The professor realizes what he just said and quickly raises his hands in defense.

“Not professors though! You can always count on us to be well researched in our fields and to provide the most accurate information we can, heh heh heh…” He shakes his head and regains his composure. “Moving on, as I am well versed in the care of Pokemon, I decided to make this video series dedicated to sharing my knowledge on the needs and precautions of each species. This does come with a couple disclaimers, though. One, the Pokemon I will be presenting were all raised in captivity. I say this as a warning that wild Pokemon are different from captive-bred Pokemon. They are more likely to be unpredictable and may very well attack anyone in their territory. So remember to never approach a wild Pokemon unless you have your own Pokemon or an adult to protect you. Lastly, I will only be covering Pokemon that a feasible to tame and raise. That is to say, I will not be covering Pokemon classified as the following; Legendary, Mythical, Ultra Beast or Paradox. Basically Pokemon that are not known to breed, though there will be one exception. But, well, you’ll know it when we get to it.” He clasps his hands together and grins widely.

“Now that that’s out of the way, let’s get to the fun stuff.” He pulls out a Pokeball from his belt. “We’ll start off the first episode with a relatively easy Pokemon. All you trainers from Kanto should be familiar with this little guy.” The professor tosses the Pokeball and it opens, shooting out a beam of light. The light quickly forms into a small green reptilian-like Pokemon. “Buuulb.” It looks around and, seeing the professor, walks up to him and nuzzles his leg. Professor Evergreen kneels down and pets the Pokemon’s head.

“This is the seed Pokemon, Bulbasaur. One of the three Pokemon most Kanto trainers will start their journey with, along with Charmander and Squirtle. Of the three, Bulbasaur is known to be the easiest to raise. They grow fast and are fiercely loyal to their loved ones, even after a falling out or abandonment.” The professor squishes Bulbasaur’s cheeks between his hands. “Though, how anyone could abandon this little cutie is beyond me. Isn’t that right, lil’ one?” The Pokemon looks up happily with closed eyes. “Buuuulbaaaa!”

Professor Evergreen looks back to the camera. “Now, like most Grass Pokemon, Bulbasaur can gain all of their nutrients through photosynthesis: the process of synthesizing food from carbon dioxide and water by utilizing sunlight. This is, of course, the most effective way for them to gain energy and nutrition, but it’s not exactly exciting is it. Bulbasaur are actually herbivorous as well and can feed on leaves and berries to gain additional nutrients. Berries especially make for a nice treat, though spicy berries are usually avoided. There is always an exception to the rule, so my advice is to try offering a variety of flavored berries to your Bulbasaur, even spicy ones. You never know.”

Standing up, the professor walks off camera as the Bulbasaur watches, curiously. The Pokemon perks up as Professor Evergreen walks back on screen, holding a few pink peach-like berries in his hands. Bulbasaur growls happily and walks back to him as the professor holds out a berry to the grass Pokemon. Two vines come out from the bulb on the Pokemon’s back and take hold of the berry. As Bulbasaur gladly munches away, Professor Evergreen places the remaining berries in front of the Pokemon and turns back to face the camera.

“This Bulbasaur really loves sweet flavored berries, like Pecha berries. Now, onto the next topic which is care tips. Bulbasaur need lots of sunlight and plenty of water. As we have already discussed, they get pretty much all their food and nutrients through photosynthesis. Watering is especially important. Bulbasaur tend to show signs of dehydration through wilting flowers on their backs and lethargy. It should also be noted that if you live in an area where the weather is overcast a lot, you needn’t worry. Bulbasaur can store the energy from berries and leaves as fat reserves for those cloudy days. While they prefer fresh forest air, Bulbasaur can do very well in urban settings. They are also highly resistant to air pollution, thanks to being part Poison type.

While Bulbasaur may not look like the most energetic of Pokemon, they love walks, especially on those nice sunny days. So make sure to not simply allow access to sunlight, but get them outside as well. Maybe a nice walk through a park. Even better if you have access to a nature park. I know your Bulbasaur will love it.”

The professor’s expression turns serious. “Now, while the Bulbasaur family is certainly the easiest and most docile of the Kanto starters, it should be noted that each member is capable of releasing various spores and powders when threatened. Among the worst are the purple poisonous powders that they tend to rely on for self defense. They won’t readily use this on their trainer, but people and other Pokemon they don’t trust or know well, that’s a different story. These spore clouds spread, too so don’t think you’re safe just because it’s your Bulbasaur. Another thing of note is something you really only need to worry about if you have a full grown Venasaur. They are known to release pollen during mating season. This pollen is basically a signal that says ‘Hey, I’m looking for a mate. Any takers?’ This pollen is similar to regular pollen, so if you’re allergic to plant pollen, you’ll most likely be allergic to this as well.

Another note on Venasaur; if you don’t like Bug Pokemon you might want to take some precautions when going out with your Pokemon. Venasaur release a fragrance that Bug Pokemon find near irresistible. If you want to catch some new Bug Pokemon, then Venasaur will be a wonder lure. If you don’t, well make sure you have lots of repels on hand.”

The professor looks down at the now sleeping Bulbasaur and smiles warmly. He looks back at the camera as he remembers something. “I almost forgot. Bulbasaur are very nurturing and tend to be much more caring when around younger or weak Pokemon. This behavior can also be seen towards human infants and toddlers as well. So, if you’re a breeder or a family person, a Bulbasaur might just be a perfect Pokemon for you.

And with that, I guess I should wrap this up. Please contact me with any questions or inquiries. I’m happy to help. If you are looking for a Pokemon, please stop by my lab. As mentioned before, I am a licensed breeder and have many Pokemon that are looking for new homes. Please tune in next time, where I will be discussing a very popular family: the Charmander line. Until then, take care and remember to respect all living things. Goodbye.”

Professor Evergreen walks towards the camera and clicks it off.

[justmanic03]

Amethyst - Chapter Nine

A/N: This chapter is a little longer than the others. Trigger warning: it takes a rather dark turn at the end as Y/N discovers a horrific fact about a certain group of people.

Gym Leader Austen sent out Ninetales!

"Go! Zelda! I know you can do it!" I tossed out my Ultra Ball, and Zelda stood face-to-face with the yellow canine-type creature. "Use Hydro Pump!" The canine winced in protest as it was splashed ferociously.

Ninetales used Flare Blitz!

It's not very effective...

The opposing Ninetales was damaged by the recoil!

"Zelda, use Waterfall!"

Ninetales was once again engulfed in water, which caused the Pokemon to faint. However, despite this, Austen began to chant, "Thirteen! Fourteen! Fifteen! Sixteen! Are you as strong as Flossi's Hatterene!" Seemingly unbothered, he quickly tossed his second Pokeball in Zelda's direction.

Gym Leader Austen sent out Carkol!

Zelda still had a lot of HP left, so I decided to subject Austen's Carkol to an onslaught!

Zelda used Hydro cannon!

The opposing Carkol fainted! A 1-hit KO!

Austen's jaw dropped to the floor whilst Carkol disappeared into his Pokeball. "Whoa, kid! Slow down! You'll burn up! Anyway, ah-HEM! Seventeen, eighteen, nineteen, twenty! You want fire power? I've got plenty! YAH!"

Gym Leader Austen sent out Arcanine!

Zelda used Hydro Cannon!

The opposing Arcanine avoided the attack!

"Haha! Don't think I'm letting you dull my flame THAT easily! Austen smirked.

Arcanine used Fire Fang!

This move knocked Zelda's HP down into the red zone, however, she had already taken down two of Austen's Pokemon, so I felt well-placed to win this match.

And I actually did!

You defeated Gym Leader Austen!

"Twenty-three, twenty-four, Arceus damn it! I've lost count!" He covered his face with his hands in defeat, before walking towards me. He pulled out a shiny red trinket from his pocket, with a dazzling flame symbol, and placed it in my sweaty palm.

"Now THAT was epic! You've got some fire in your chest, alright!"

I chuckled, thanking Austen for the Fire Badge as I shook his hand. My new outfit was completely drenched in sweat. "Now listen to me kid, don't ever let anyone dim the flame in your heart!"

I nodded. "Thank you Austen. I had a lot of fun here, but I really do need to go outside and cool down."

"Haha, it's always a pleasure! Now go have a nice icy bath on Juniper Mountain!"

****

As I walked out of the Fire Gym, proudly sporting my three gym badges, I spotted a familiar face walking towards the gym. It was none other than my rival himself, Danny. "Hey Danny, how does it feel to be behind me for once?" I wiggled my eyebrows before proudly folding my arms over my chest. The mousy-haired young man just laughed. "Hah! Don't get used to it! You got a head start on me, Y/N. I'm heading into the fire gym right now."

"I'll wait for you in the library." I said. "But don't keep me waiting too long, Danny!" He sent me a scowl before striding confidently into the gym. And so I made my way to the Ridgeburn Library, which was a small building across the street from the Fire Gym. The carpet was, of course, red, and the bookshelves that lined the walls were rustic and smelled like old, dusty furniture. I loved that scent, as it reminded me of the mountains of books I used to read during my childhood. To my surprise, they had books relating to the history of every region in the world. There were books about Kalos, Kanto, my home country of Unova, Galar, Paldea, Alola, Sinnoh, Hoenn and more. I quickly found my way to the Taldourse History book section, scouring the books until I found a title that piqued my interest. "The Rise of the Castor Champions". I peeked at the front cover, which was a photograph of Champion Kossi, with a sparkling white-and-gold cape draped over his black armour. His straight, blonde hair was so sleek-looking, and was perfectly complimented by the Champion's Crown on his head. His equally-stunning wife, Flossi, was clutching his arm. The two had turned heads in every single region they had visited, not only for their incredible Pokemon battling skills, but also for their flawless visuals. Flossi's black-and-gold mesh dress perfectly complimented Kossi's armour.

I sat down at a desk and immersed myself in this fascinating piece of literature.

"Flossi escaped an extremely dangerous family situation, and fled to a lonely place in some woods, where she knew no people would be. She remained homeless and destitute for years, living off of natural resources. However, she was smart enough to survive alone, and managed to built a strong team of Pokemon to protect her from danger. During her teenage years, she met an incredibly talented Pokemon trainer who specialised in Psychic types. His name was Kossi Castor. The Castor family were known for being extremely wealthy and powerful, so much so that not even Team Moon dared to provoke them in any way. Kossi and Flossi quickly became rivals, with Flossi adopting many of Kossi's psychic skills, before the two successfully defeated the newly-in-place Elite Four. After securing their place amongst Taldoursian heroes, they married on the battlefield outside of the Pokemon League."

Out of nowhere, my reading was interrupted. "Hey Y/N, what book is that?" I looked up from the book, surprised to see Mackenzie! And even more surprisingly, Lisa did not seem to be present with him. He looked rather odd and out-of-place on his own. I was not used to seeing him without Lisa. I showed him the front cover.

"So you're looking into the history of the Champions?" He sat down beside me.

I nodded. "Yeah, I wanna get to the bottom of what really happened with them."

"Well, I've got something that might prove useful to you." He began unzipping his signature Woobat rucksack, and after rummaging around for a couple of minutes, he pulled out some old newspapers, and set them out in front of me. I placed the book down on the table so I could pour over them. As Mack flicked through them, I took a glance at some of the headlines.

"Shattered Championship: How the death of Champion Kossi Castor shook the region of Taldourse."

"Shocking Revelation: Remaining Champion stripped of her title following dramatic bust-up with Elite Four."

"The mysterious disappearance of Flossi Castor and the Champion's Crowns"

"Opinion: The future of Taldourse's Championship"

"Wow, thanks Mack. These will definitely be helpful." I smiled before stuffing them away in my own rucksack.

"No problem. I went back home and dug out these from my old newspaper collection, since you seem so interested in how things came to be. Oh! And on another note, I see you've already got three gym badges." He pointed at my shirt, where the badges were pinned. Looking down at them, I nodded.

"How's your gym mission coming along then, Mack?"

He grinned, before turning around his Woobat rucksack to reveal FOUR gym badges!

"Wow, how did you do that so fast?!" I gasped.

Mack seemed mildly amused by my reaction to his success, yet he shrugged it off and played it cool. "I went to Quantanum before I came here and got the electric badge first. Just came out of the Fire Gym."

"But how did you do it so quickly?!" I demanded to know his secret.

"Ah, it was nothing really." He scratched the back of his head. "Lisa told me to always maximise my potential. That way we've got a better chance at joining Team Moon."

I found it rather odd that Mackenzie, despite evidently being the much smarter and stronger of the Team Moon duo, had much lower confidence than Lisa. "Mack, why do you keep downplaying your achievements? Four gym badges in a week is no mean feat."

"I don't want to get too big for my boots because Lisa won't like that. I like to enjoy the learning journey as much as the outcome. Lisa is pretty tunnel-visioned; she just wants to get all the badges as quickly as she can so that she can get into Team Moon. I can't fault her determination." Mack responded. "But... I enjoy the process of Pokemon battling, increasing my strength et cetera, whereas Lisa just sees the gym challenge as a means to an end."

"That's interesting. But why does it seem like you can never go anywhere or do anything without Lisa's permission?" I had been wanting to ask him this question for a long time.

"A lot of people think Lisa is too dominant, and that I let her bully me and walk all over me, but that's not the case at all. I actually owe a hell of a lot to Lisa. She's like a big sister to me, despite being a couple of months younger. As a thank you, I agreed to support her in pursuit of joining Team Moon."

"What do you mean when you say you owe her?"

Mackenzie turned his head and looked around, ensuring that nobody nearby was listening to the conversation. He took a deep breath before beginning to explain himself. "Lisa would kill me if she knew I was telling you this, but... she actually saved my life a really long time ago. I was orphaned at a young age, and Lisa was the one who found me all alone. She and her parents took me in, and raised me, so we're pretty much brother and sister."

"Wow..." was all I could say. "What a kind-hearted woman she is,"

"Don't let her hear you say that!" Mackenzie hissed.

"Oh sorry, okay, well, if you don't mind, could you maybe tell me the fastest way to get to Quantanum? I want that electric badge."

"I took a flying taxi," Mack remarked, shrugging.

"Oh, okay. Gotcha. Hey, why don't we battle once I've got the badge?" I stood up.

Mackenzie looked away for a minute, pondering my offer.

"Uh, yeah, okay," he finally nodded.

I smiled back. "Well, I'm off to find Danny. I'll catch you later!"

"Bye."

****

As I sat down on the bench outside the Ridgeburn Gym waiting for Danny, I was approached by a random woman. She was of medium stature with a slim build and long, forest-green hair. She was wearing a long, green gown to match. "Hi, forgive my intrusion, but are you Y/N?"

"Y-yes...? Can I help you?" I felt rather awkward. Yet, the awkward atmosphere quickly dissipated when she broke out into one of the brightest smiles I'd ever seen.

"I'm Seraphina. I've heard a lot about you. You're quite the talk of the town."

My heart skipped a beat once I realised who this was. "You're SERAPHINA?! As in the Elite Four's Seraphina?!" My brain quickly re-entered its default social awkward mode, as I realised I was face-to-face with the Rock-Type legend herself.

She laughed softly. "Oh no, please don't worry! I'm not trying to intimidate you! I just thought I'd come and congratulate you on your progress thus far."

I had an overwhelming urge to ask her about Flossi, however due to her warmth and affability, I decided that would be extremely inappropriate. Instead, I scratched my head and decided to take the "humble" approach. "Uh... thanks but... really, there's this other guy who's ahead of me who has four gym badges already. His name is Mackenzie."

Seraphina didn't seem put off by this at all. "I came to see YOU, not him. Anyway, back to the task in hand, you haven't seen any Team Moon grunts around here, by any chance?"

I shook my head. "Nope. Not a single one."

Seraphina raised her eyebrows in surprise. "And to think the place was once crawling with them. You hardly see any these days. Ah well, I suppose that's definitely a good thing."

"Why is that a good thing?" I asked curiously.

"Team Moon are absolutely horrible people. They've been terrorising Taldoursians since time immemorial." She knitted her eyebrows as she spoke, and I noticed her body posture became more subdued.

"Terrorising how?" I queried.

"Well, back when we came to power, we had to deal with all sorts. From bribing kids to join them with Pokemon, to stealing, threatening people, and worst of all, doing all kinds of weird stuff to Pokemon to give them special powers."

I gasped in horror upon learning this. My heart dropped to my stomach when I remembered that these were the people that Lisa had been looking up to all her life. "So the rumours were true?"

Seraphina nodded sadly. "They're all true. Which it's why it's really important that you let an authority figure know if you see one."

I had no choice but to nod my head in agreement, although I felt sick to my stomach.

How was Lisa so blind to the monsters that Team Moon really were? Who had brainwashed her this much? The more I thought about it, the more scared I became for her.

I HAD to tell her the truth...

[mirroredranger]

Valerie, tell us about the time that you've been most upset at Styler? What happened? What did it do? How did things get resolved?

"Most upset? It was..." Valerie tried to think. "It was when we met for the first time. Where the ghost trial is hosted, that Megamart. Normally, the ghosts are on good behavior if there's a trial going on. I don't know how Acerola does it, but she set it up well. But this one trial, things just went wrong. Things started turning on, moving dangerously. And taking photos didn't help like it would with the trial ghosts. So I was asked to go in and check it out. That was when I was 'attacked'."

"Well, if you count getting noogied as being attacked. If so, then I was attacked viciously. I was beside myself, trying to figure out why this pokemon was here, what it was doing, and how to contain it. But what really got me upset was when it possessed my capture styler. Because I was a 'special case', according to Professor Hastings, I was supposed to never let a rotom possess it. And making matters worse, this was when I didn't have the base built yet. So I thought I was completely cut off from the Ranger Union. Turns out, Styler treats their namesake as a pokeball. They didn't break it, just rested. The only downside from Styler's possession is the lecture I got for not protecting the device."

Valerie chuckled. "Doesn't matter. Styler does what Styler wants and absolutely nothing is Styler proof. They come in handy when I need to find files."

[mythleague]

On the Hunt for Lugia

(Image Description: Player watches in a watery cave as the Kimono Girls perform a ritual to summon Lugia)

Okay, remember how I mentioned I had fond memories of Ice Cave? Well, this bullshit set of Island Chains is the exact opposite. Is the basin pretty? Yeah, but getting there is a NIGHTMARE. It's not just that there's four entrances with you not being told which one you need, nor that you have to fumble around in the dark unless you bring a Pokémon with Flash (I actually wound up recruiting the Togepi I said we'd never use for this exact purpose) but on top of that, the rate of wild encounters while surfing in this area is obnoxious! I'll admit it! I wound up having to look up a guide for this one. I just do not have the patience for this bs, lol.

(Image Description: Player stands between land form and shiny sky form Shaymin in a cave in front of a large waterfall)

Not even this beautiful view can make up for this hassle. The worst part is, I don't even really want to catch Lugia. I don't have a Pokémon with good catch moves on hand, and sure, I could just kick it's ass, but the Kimono Cult is watching me, and my pride just won't let me one and done this little dude! And I mean, I've got 3 Love Balls on hand so... if I'm gonna do it, I might as well do it right. It takes a really long time. Most of the time we just wind up knocking it out before we can throw all three love balls. I stopped counting after the 20th reset and it took a LOT longer than that. I got so tired of the same thing over and over in fact that I have to confess, I wound up bringing in the artillery. And by artillery I mean this beautiful lady. A Smeargle I snagged in a playthrough of Gen 3 over a year ago. She knows Spore, Extreme Speed, False Swipe, and Recover.

(Image Description: Summary image for a level 100 female Smeargle. It is in a regular pokeball)

Does it technically go against the rules I set for myself? I mean, yeah, but I know I'd have been able to get past this point anyway given how many times I accidentally knocked the thing out! I just wanted the pretty water birb in a pretty pink ball, okay?! Even with Spore and False Swipe on our side it still takes three more tries before I catch it. I name her Saphira after the dragon in Eragon, store her and Opal in the PC, and finally finally head off to the Elite Four!

(Image Description: Player floats on the water in front of Lugia) First - Previous - Next

[cyrunsnuzlockes]

Current stats:

Littleroot: Jimmy the Spheal

Route 101: Cob the Bellsprout (deceased)

Route 102: Stella the Stantler

Route 103: Exeggutor (missed - ran out of pokeballs)

Petalburg Woods: Politoed (missed - ran out of pokeballs)

Route 104: Jenny the Mightyena

Tree also pointed out some possibilities to clarify for the Species/Dupes clause:

If I only have a later evolution, then earlier evolutions can be caught and do not count as a duplicate

If the later evolution is only available via trading, then that evolution can be caught and does not count as a duplicate.

If I've lost an unevolved pokemon, its evolutions still count as duplicates.

Essentially, if I am able (or at one point was able) to acquire the pokemon via leveling/items, then it counts as a duplicate, but also losing a pokemon cuts me off from replacing it with a later evolution (so losses hurt more, basically).

Anyway, onto the Nuzlocke!

Route 115 doesn't have any grass I can reach, so I bounced over to Route 116 and ran into...

Cascoon!

I Sand Attacked with Jenny it until its defense was maxed out (since all it knows is Harden), then switched to Stella to chip it down with Astonish...

AND THEN STELLA GOT A CRIT AND KNOCKED THE DAMN THING OUT.

goddammit.

Route 116: Cascoon (missed - KO'd by a rogue crit)

Moved on to Rusturf Tunnel and ran into...

A Lombre!

Actually managed to chip this one down properly, and...

Boom!

Welcome to the team, Larry!

Rusturf Tunnel: Larry the Lombre

Trained up my team to the 15~17 range and now let's take on the "Rock" gym!

Err, it's a Steel-type gym now.

A'ight Roxanne! Let's do this!

oh no

oh no

oh no

OH NO

....well, that's that, then ._.

Final Team:

Jimmy the Spheal, level 18

Stella the Stantler, level 13

Jenny the Mightyena, level 15

Larry the Lombre, level 17

Taken out by: Roxanne's level 15 Magnemite