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ohthehypocrisy · 2 years

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How to write a pokemon for Pokemon Unite part 2 - Attackers

Prev: Intro - All-Rounders

In the last post, we talked about what makes an All-Rounder unique in their versatility. This time, we’ll be taking a look at the lethal firepower of Attackers.

Before we begin, there was one little tidbit that I forgot to mention concerning All-Rounders. While it is true that All-Rounders are varied and can excel in 2 or 3 roles, a pokemon can also have no particular talent and be designated as an All-Rounder. For lack of a better term, the pokemon’s lack of talents and skill can be used to justify the All-Rounder trait. Pokemon like Azumarill, Dragonite, and Tyranitar are good examples, as they don’t particular excel at being a Supporter, Defender, Attacker, or Speedster. However, their reliable ability to deal high damage means they can spearhead an attack or defend a score, or make a mad dash for the goal zone, or benefit greatly from the early lead granted by taking the central area. It pays to be moderately average.

And now, let’s take a shot at what Attackers are really all about.

The gold standard among all Attackers is that they all use ranged basic attacks. It might seem obvious, but certain pokemon are more well suited to the Attacker archetype then it would seem. Take Cinderace for example.

High Attack and high Speed make the pokemon a shoe-in for the Speedster archetype. If it were any other pokemon, it definitely would be. However, Speedsters are physical based assassins that are extremely dangerous up close, and Cinderace doesn’t like getting Red Carded...often. Because the pokemon is a sports based fighter, shooting projectiles is its main gimmick. Even its signature move, Pyro Ball, is a long reaching hot shot that goes for goal. Cinderace is designated as an Attacker because of its ability to deal high damage from afar, staying out of the enemies range and utilizing moves to keep it that way. While its enemies are playing football, Cinderace is playing soccer, juking and running out of harms way and delivering the game winning score.

Cramorant is another Attacker that seems to be underestimated due to its stats. It’s all rather average, with not a single stat breaking 100. But while it lacks a signature move, it does have a signature ability, Gulp Missile, which makes up for all of its shortcomings.

Firstly, Gulp Missile gives Cramorant a unique identity in Pokemon Unite as well as in the games. With a funny fish (or yellow mouse) in its mouth, it means that Cramorant cannot lose its boosted basic attack from dawdling for too long and will even eject it at an enemy upon hit. The boosted attack even has the effect of damaging an additional enemy on hit, making its range deceptively large. Gulp Missile is so iconic for Cramorant that it has to use either Surf or Dive, two moves it has to use in order to activate the ability. Even its Unite Move is a super powered version of this ability, having Cramorant dive into its personal pool of proliferous portions and projecting them at its problematic pokemon opponents.

The point is, Cramorant is an Attacker because of its signature ability, a facet of its character. Since it has low stats, it has to rely on conditional boosts to get the most damage out of its skills.

Duraludon in Pokemon Unite just barely manages to make the role of an Attacker. Its stats lend it to be more on the defensive side, even with a bit of speed to use all of that power. However, it is decidedly an Attacker since, well, its body is shaped like a mighty light cannon. But not for the lack of trying does it make a decent Defender as well. When Duraludon attacks, it makes the visible area its own territory, forcing enemies out and away. This is exemplified by its Dragon Pulse and Flash Cannon skills, two very powerful moves that are too dangerous to be around. Stealth Rock and Dragon Tail are more or less utility attacks than true offense as they are meant to make Duraludon’s offensive presence even greater. Dragon Tail can be used to grant Duraludon some more coverage while Stealth Rock covers the area Duraludon cannot defend.

Something to keep in mind, Duraludon is an Attacker, which means it is on the weak side when receiving damage. It is capable of dealing huge amounts of damage in the area, but it has trouble defending itself. It prefers to defend the area by making it too dangerous to approach, but this is where an enemy Defender would come in and jeopardize that plan. Please do not leave your Attackers to fend for themselves without understanding their plan of attack.

Our last example is Greninja, a pokemon with high Speed, high Sp.Atk, and high Attack, a perfect pokemon for the Attacker archetype. Where Duraludon utilizes its Attacking stats to play as part-Defender, Greninja uses its speed to play as a part-time Speedster. Double Team and Smokescreen are both moves that grant Greninja some mobility and can even disorient its enemies. Its other moves, Surf and Water Shuriken, add to this as Surf is a dashing attack and Water Shuriken is a projectile attack that Greninja can fire in any direction and maintain its momentum.

But perhaps the most curious part of Greninja’s toolkit would be its physical basic attack. Greninja is an Attacker, so why does it have a physical basic attack? Well, because it’s part Speedster. If an enemy is out of range, Greninja will use a projectile, but if they are close enough, Greninja will use a melee attack.

This is unique in that Greninja is the only melee Attacker in the game out the moment, which emphasizes an important distinction in all archetypes. There is always room for creativity here, and one should not be afraid to challenge conventions.

Now that we have all that said and done, let’s look at some pokemon coming up who are eager to take their own shot at glory in Pokemon Unite.

With extremely high Sp.Atk, the pokemon is bound to make a splash as an Attacker. However, even though the pokemon has high Sp.Def, its low HP makes it a nonfactor, putting it in the same boat as Duraludon, but a little worse off. As an Attacker, the pokemon needs the support of a reliable teammate to help it stay in the fight, drawing attention away from it. It will be worth it as the pokemon’s High Sp.Atk ensures that even its basic attack deals a massive amount of damage. With the ability to dish out so much damage, the pokemon has to be limited in some aspects, but also capable of building up power for its attacks when it’s time to spill the tea. This is to ensure that the pokemon’s ability to deal damage is dependent on the player’s skill rather than overwhelming power.

Very low speed means this pokemon will have reduced mobility compared to other attackers, but high stats in all other regards means that the pokemon will be a sure hit among the Attackers. Decent defenses will also mean that the pokemon can safely take a hit or two, making it unsafe to be close to the pokemon. The lack of mobility is off putting, though, so the pokemon makes up for it with a powerful ability that makes it easy to shoot first. It also never misses thanks to a unique Unite Move that ensures that no enemy will escape its poisonous rounds.

With a stat spread that resembles a stock price chart, this pokemon is a terrifying opponent. Super high Sp.Atk means that this pokemon will hit hard and has the defenses to take a hit and fire back. But it doesn’t use those numbers to trade damage, it uses them to hold the fort down and fire off powerful shots. While it’s similar to Duraludon in that it can hold the area down, this pokemon actually excels at clearing away hordes of enemies thanks to a unique attribute. It’s signature ability allows it to power up its moves even further at the cost of increasing the cooldown of its moves. However, those moves have a side effect of reducing their own cooldowns on hit, meaning that this pokemon excels at dealing powerful pistol potshots at the enemy. Of course, if you miss, you’ll be left wide open, so brush up on your aim if you don’t want to end up crabby.

On the speedy side of things, this pokemon is a nimble little thing, which is impressive considering its lack of limbs. Or, err, perhaps it has too many? Either way, high Speed and high Sp.Atk shows the great potential it has of being an Attacker, but all of that speed seems like a waste if it weren’t utilized. To that effect, the pokemon will play like a laser beaming drone, dealing damage from afar but not too close where it gets put in danger. By locking on to a target, the pokemon fires a laser beam that damages that enemy. It then has to use its speed to maneuver about, staying out of range while also splitting the damage dealt among all enemies on screen. The pokemon has a versatile range of options it can use to achieve this, ensuring that this pokemon will be the star player of the game.

And finally, we have a pokemon that loves being able to deal damage, even though it cannot take a hit well at all. Having equally high Attack and Sp.Atk makes this pokemon out to be an all-or-nothing Attacker, which is all well and good, but not as effective without a good enough Speed stat to utilize. Surely, those low defense lend the pokemon to be a decent ranged fighter, right? Well, not quite. This pokemon is a rare physical Attacker, which is counterproductive to its role. How can it possibly be an effective Attacker if it’s vulnerable to getting KO’d so easily? Well, with these low defenses, the pokemon has evolved sneaky ways of getting away with its awful deeds. You’ll find out soon enough, but just know that this creepy pokemon has a trick up its sleeve, some sand in its pockets, and will eventually prove to be a thorn in your side.

Being an Attacker is more than just shooting at things until they stop moving. It’s about shooting at things until they stop moving while maintaining a strategic foothold on the map, keeping the offensive momentum up. Attackers are very important in breaking through the enemy’s defenses, because without them, games would be a slow and boring stalemate. As long as you aren’t getting yourself KO’d, you’ll be an asset to your team.

Next time, we’ll look at the powerful Defender archetype, and what it means to sacrifice yourself for the greater good.

#pokemon unite #cinderace #cramorant #duraludon #greninja

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library-of-ohara · 2 years

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Pokemon AU Part 2 -Marco-

Part two of the Pokemon AU for anon! Request filled by @cyborg-franky and art by @donivanessdoodles AN: I tried to smush in OP lore for some characters and mix it in a workable way for Pokemon but I'm not 100% in the know so I did my best.

AN: I wanted to go down Marco being a navigator route more than a doctor, but with some herbology, knowledge to help his and other people’s pokemon.

Meet The Team

Starmie always seemed like a strange choice when people would ask about the man’s team. He would chuckle and shrug his shoulders without giving much away. The truth was, Marco hadn’t planned on being a pokemon trainer, it wasn’t that he didn’t like the idea, not at all.

He just wanted to go to the sea and learn navigation. He spent every day down by the beach as a child and watched the ships come in. Wishing that he could take to see and learn everything there was to learn one day.

It was that day that Marco while trying to work out patterns the ships would come in from, slipped and tumbled into the sea. His Starmie saw him struggling and came to his aid, making sure he was fine.

From that day on the same Starmie would be waiting by the rocks, as if to make sure the boy would be safe. He later came back with a Pokeball, asking the pokemon if he wanted to join him.

Starmie and Marco have been together ever since.

Pidgeot [a pigdey when he met them] was his second pokemon when he was older, late teens, he’d been reading a lot on herbs and their effect on pokemon after he’d started to watch all the wild bird pokemon snap and eat at certain ones. He would sit and watch for hours when he needed a break from navigation studies.

He liked watching bird pokemon, they were the masters of navigation. Always knowing where to go, how far, could go by smell miles away just to get to a landmark they recognised. It always had him fascinated.

That was when he picked up all the other little quirks from the birds and started to take notes on what plants they would chomp at.

One Pidgey would always come close to Marco who would sit there quietly. A smile on his face as the bird pecked at his book, hoping for food. He’d share his lunch with the bird, watching him fly off every day before meeting him each morning.

Marco caught him one day and the pokemon has grown with Marco over the years, gives him good insight on what plants seem to have healing/helping properties and helps with learning certain sea patterns around the year.

Cramorant was obtained by Marco when he was older. He was starting to sail with Whitebeard, as a navigator. The bird had pretty feathers, but he would always watch them being stupid and his Cramorant had to have been the dumbest one he’d ever seen.

Each time he would come home he’d see the bird swallowing anything and everything it could get. He’d seen the damn thing almost choke to death on a small geodude, that was when Marco stepped in.

Capturing it for its own good. He at least got a new friend, the pokemon was hardly weak either. He didn’t use this one to help him learn anything, but he still cares for him all the same.

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Tropius was a fun find, he’d been sailing with Whitebeard for some years now, they’d stopped by a tropical island, needing to anchor the ship somewhere safe while a storm he’d predicted rolled over the ocean. They explored the island for a bit where Marco found pineapples.

Sitting and eating them he watched as his Tropius lurched over and sniffed at all the fallen pineapples. Marco chuckled and held one out, which the creature took happily. Marco wondered if he fed the pokemon nothing but pineapples.. would that be a new variant?

He was charmed by the tropical pokemon and caught him. Wouldn’t hurt to have something other than birds and Starmie as part of the team.

Pidove was simple, the little thing had got lost at sea and ended up on the ship. Marco would feed it every day and it would simply sit on his window as he worked. Cooing and making happy sounds.

He became a comfort to Marco, every morning the bird would be there, singing and making sounds and he would roost on the empty supply barrel on the wall outside. Marco was fond of the Pidove and simply tapped him with a Pokeball and the rest was history.

The pokemon are happy to be accepted.

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Exeggutor was from his and Ace’s trip for their first anniversary. They stayed at this cabin and the palm tree-like pokemon would always smell food and stick its neck in through the window. At first, it was funny, and Ace laughed and teased him about looking just like one.

Every mealtime Exeggutor would try and shove its head in and get something to eat, he blamed Ace, he always fed wild pokemon which attracted them.

Marco had to catch it in the end just to stop it. He then grew fond of it during their vacation and felt it fit in with his team.

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Marco’s Story

He’s the person you find walking around near the start handing out potions and good advice. He’s learned from his studies as well as watching his pokemon interaction with certain vegetation how to make healing potions.

Knows his berries at a glance.

His true passion is navigating and has honed his abilities since he was young. Whitebeard would be lost both metaphorically and physically without him. He’s first in command when Whitebeard is being challenged with the rest of the elite four.

#pokemon au #one piece #one piece pokemon au #one piece pokemon crossover #marco the phoenix #fushichou marco #cyborg-franky #marco one piece

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cyberflows-art · 2 years

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I know if I attempt to draw this, it will stay as a wip forever, so I’m just going to go ahead and write it here.

Figuring out which pokémon to give to the Scrybes because I’ve always wanted to try something like this! Lists and explanations might get a bit lengthy, since I’m not exactly giving them teams of six, more like which pokemon fit them in general. Because of that, there will be a part for each Scrybe, as a single post would be way too long.

Some rules I set for myself while doing these:

1.The pokémon given should fit the aesthetic and interests of their respective Scrybes.

2. Due to the Scrybes being bosses, they will be given 1 legendary pokemon each.

3. Each Scrybe must be assigned at least one pokemon that represents their connection to the other Scrybes, because want it or not, they all do actually complement each other in what they do for the game.

4. There must be a Pokémon that represents their subordinates.

5. No more than one starter (if they get one at all).

(Also disclaimer: I haven’t played Legends so no pokémon from Hisui unfortunately)

Surprisingly, these rules didn’t narrow it down that much, haha! So without further ado, enjoy part one: The Scrybe of Beasts!

Leshy

-Rillaboom

-Skwovet

-Mienfoo

-Nincada

-Lycanroc (Midnight form)

-Bunnelby

-Ursaring

-Ekans

-Poliwrath

-Crobat

-Spearrow

-Frosmoth

-Cramorant

-Vespiqueen

-Buizel

-Lurantis

-Meowth

-Weezing

-Rattata

-Excadrill

-Sawsbuck

-Slakoth

-Lunatone

-Granbull

-Sharpedo

-Kecleon

-Vikabolt

-Trevenant

-Xerneas

Explanation: Leshy is by far the toughest to decide for, for the simple reason that since he’s the Scrybe of Beasts, nearly every pokémon fits his category. However, because of this, most of my choices are self explanatory, as they correspond to his most known beast cards. So here I’ll explain the special picks: Rillaboom is, simply put, the one I feel represents Leshy’s own aesthetic the best. Covered in foliage, and with its affinity for drums (which lends itself for atmosphere), I feel Rillaboom would be his signature pokèmon.

Mienfoo, Nincada, and Lycanroc are meant to represent the stoat (on which Mienfoo is based), the Stink Bug (closer in appearance I could find) and the Stunted Wolf (Midnight form specifically because of the red eyes), but funnily enough, these are not the ones that represent the other scrybes, just Leshy’s pick for them.

The Pokemon that represents his connection to Grimora would be Trevenant. Not much to explain there, it’s a grass and ghost type, which in itself fits well the forest of his game. Vikabolt would represent his link with P03, since its previous stages are based on electronics and of course, the electric attacks are reminiscent of P03’s mechanics; but in the end it’s still a beetle, so it’s not out of place in his deck. Xerneas doubles as his Legendary, and his connection to Magnificus. Since Magnificus’ theme is that of wizards and magic, I figure fairy types also fit him, which is perfect as a way to link him to Leshy. Not only is Xerneas a majestic stag, but it also represents life itself, which is a central theme in Leshy’s section and what all his cards are based on.

Finally, the cards I picked to represent his underlings: Granbull, due to the Prospector’s dog. Sharpedo, obviously because of the Angler’s great white sharks. The Trapper was trickier. Alolan Stunfisk might have been a good pick, but I wanted something that represented the Trader too. And suddenly it hit me. Which is an inoffensive npc while you are doing business, but a scary opponent when fighting it in the pokémon world? Three words: Pokémon Mystery Dungeon. Kecleon, hands down, is the best pick for the Trapper/Trader.

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I hope this was entertaining to read! If you feel there was a pokemon that would definitely fit him and I didn’t include it, let me know! I would love to know what people think of my list and if they have their own!

#inscryption #leshy #inscryption leshy #pokemon

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postwick-palace · 4 years

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What could Hop’s arc in the Pokémon anime look like?

This is a question that I’ve been mulling over in the past couple of months, as I love the Journeys anime so far and I love Hop as a character and I’d love for his character to be given justice in the anime. The anime’s been pretty hit or miss as far as adapting game rivals goes, and the fact that Ash isn’t actually journeying through Galar makes it more difficult to establish Hop as a rival to Ash. But I still think it can be done, and with the Darkest Day arc kicking off in a few days, I think now’s a perfect time to share my thoughts on what a Hop arc done right might look like!

So, I basically plotted out a full seven-episode arc for Hop that would theoretically take place over the course of a season or so. Given how little time Journeys is spending even on its longer arcs, it’s highly unlikely that they’d actually give him this long of an arc, but hey. I’m proposing my ideal Hop arc, not necessarily the most plausible Hop arc.

The focus of my proposed arc is his struggle with being “strong” that he goes through during the middle-third of the game, after losing to Bede. Hop will be another competitor in the World Coronation Series, but when Ash meets him, he’s in the middle of a slump. Ash eventually helps him get out of this slump, and then Hop gets the opportunity to rematch Bede - the challenger who started him on the slump - and prove to Bede that he’s become stronger. Because Hop feels like he’s weak when he first meets Ash and Goh, he initially hides the fact that he’s Leon’s little brother from them. But eventually, they learn about their relationship and even get to spend time with Hop and Leon together, showing a little bit of a different side to both Trainers.

The basic purpose of each episode is as follows:

Episode 1 - Introduction: Introduces Hop; on the surface he's just another friendly WCS competitor but there are some hints that there's something deeper going on with him, like the fact that he gets really pissed off when Team Rocket calls him weak.

Episode 2 - Context: It's revealed that he's on a losing streak and he's trying to catch stronger Pokémon to break it, but he's not very close with any of his Pokémon because he doesn't think that's necessary to get stronger.

Episode 3 - Breaking Point: Hop’s lost so much that he's fallen back down to Normal Rank, and he's pretty bummed about it. Spending time with Ash & Goh helps him realize that having a strong bond with your Pokémon is important to getting stronger and he decides to add some of his older Pokémon back to his team.

Episode 4 - Lesson Learned: Continuation of the previous episode; Hop battles Ash with a team of Pokémon that he has a strong bond with and he wins. It's also strongly hinted at that he's Leon's little brother.

Episode 5 - Bede: Bede's introduced as the challenger who started Hop on his losing streak, and Ash learns that Hop is Leon's little brother.

Episode 6 - Hop vs Bede: Continuation of the previous episode; Hop rematches Bede and is able to defeat him this time, demonstrating how he's grown. Also, Goh finally learns that Hop is Leon’s little brother.

Episode 7 - Leon’s Day Off: Hop & Leon spend time together in an informal setting and Ash & Goh get to learn more about their personal life, as well as just seeing how different Leon is when he's not showing off to the public.

And because I got really into it, I wrote up essentially full synopses for each episode, going into detail about how those points I outlined up above would be demonstrated. Since this post is already pretty long as it is, the episode synopses are under the cut!

Note: Because I wrote most of this over a month ago, before we even had any clue what the Eternatus plot would look like in the anime, this proposal deliberately avoids any mention of Chairman Rose, Eternatus, the Darkest Day, or the legendary wolves. It also assumes that Ash’s Riolu and Goh’s Raboot have not evolved by the time the arc begins, but they will have evolved later on.

Episode 1: Introduction

The episode begins with Ash and Goh arriving in Turffield. They’ve heard about the hidden treasure of Turffield and that some new clues to its location have recently been discovered, so they’re gonna go on a treasure hunt to try to find it. They talk to a local who gives them the clues they need to get started, and they set out to get hunting.

Just then, Ash gets an alert on his Rotom Phone that someone’s challenging him to a World Coronation Series match. He accepts and looks around to see who the challenger is, and he discovers it’s an energetic kid with purple hair and yellow-gold eyes who introduces himself as Hop from Postwick. Ash introduces himself, and a WCS battle begins.

The match is Ash’s Riolu versus Hop’s Cramorant. At some point during the battle, there’s a gag where Cramorant uses Surf and it floods the whole area, and then Goh realizes that Ash’s Pikachu is missing – only to discover that it got gulped up by Cramorant. Ash and Goh ask Cramorant to spit Pikachu out, but Hop commands Cramorant to attack instead. Unfortunately for Hop, Cramorant has difficulty maneuvering with a Pikachu in its mouth, so none of the attacks it uses while holding Pikachu hit their target. He wonders if maybe he should just have Cramorant spit out Pikachu, but before he can make a decision Ash finally just has Riolu use Vacuum Wave on Cramorant. This causes it to spit out Pikachu right into Riolu, which deals damage and paralyzes it. Hop is relieved because that was what he was hoping for all along.

However, ever the flexible thinker, Ash is able to turn the battle around and claim victory. His rank rises while Hop’s rank falls, revealing that Hop is actually higher ranked than Ash. Hop thanks Ash for the battle – it taught him that relying on Cramorant’s Gulp Missile ability was clearly a bad strategy. He then says that Cramorant is a bust, but when Ash asks him what he means by that Hop doesn’t elaborate.

Rather, he asks Goh if Goh is a World Coronation Series competitor too. Goh introduces himself and says he isn’t, and Ash explains that they’re here looking for the treasure of Turffield. Hop gets excited because he’s looking for the treasure of Turffield, too. He challenges Ash and Goh to a competition to see who can find the treasure first.

The treasure hunt is a little more elaborate than it is in the games, with a series of clues that each tell the location of the next one. The last clue points them to the middle of a field which happens to be occupied by Wooloo. Ash reaches it first, but he can’t get the Wooloo to move. Goh joins him next and tries using the Pokédex to figure out how to move them, but it doesn’t help either.

Finally Hop reaches them, and he’s disappointed that he fell behind but perks up when he realizes that they’re stuck because of the Wooloo. He claims to know everything there is to know about Wooloo and spouts off some Wooloo facts. According to Hop, Wooloo are useless in battle, but their wool makes really strong fabric. If you want to get them to trust you, you have to scratch them right behind the ears. They’re very stubborn and aren’t prone to moving, especially in large groups, but they can be startled by loud noises. Once they start rolling, that’s your chance to herd them in the direction you want.

Ash says that he tried startling them with a loud noise already, but after they rolled away they rolled back before he could reach the spot where the treasure was buried. Hop says you need to herd them away from it and says he’ll show them how it’s done. He sends out a Raboot, much to Goh’s surprise, and Raboot runs quietly to the other side of the flock. Hop yells to startle the Wooloo and Raboot fires an Ember up into the air, drawing the Wooloo’s attention so they all move away from Hop and towards Raboot. Then Raboot runs back to Hop’s side, blocking off the Wooloo from moving back to their old spot. Hop thanks the Wooloo for their cooperation and pets one of the Wooloo on the head, getting a wistful look in his eye.

Suddenly, a net flies out and grabs Raboot and all the Wooloo. Hop is bewildered, Ash and Goh rush to his side, and Team Rocket reveal themselves and do the motto. They grab Pikachu as well for good measure and attempt to make their escape. Hop sends out a Toxel and a Silicobra, but neither of them really know ranged attacks so they can’t do much. Team Rocket laugh at their ineffectiveness and say something along the lines of him being a “weak little twerp” which makes Hop really angry, but no matter how many attacks his Pokémon use they can’t reach Team Rocket.

Goh, who still has all his Pokémon, sends out his own Raboot. Hop’s surprised that Goh also has a Raboot, and Goh’s Raboot uses Ember to break the net that Team Rocket is using to hold the Pokémon. Hop’s Raboot rescues Ash’s Pikachu, and Pikachu and the two Raboot send Team Rocket blasting off. Hop’s and Goh’s Raboot do something cute like fistbump or something to show that they’re buddies now.

Finally, they’re able to dig up the hidden treasure; it might be an Expert Belt like in the games or it could be something more useful. Hop expects Ash to take it since he was the first one to reach the Wooloo, but Ash says Hop should have it since they couldn’t have moved the Wooloo without him. Hop tries to downplay his contribution but Goh agrees with Ash, so Hop gets to take the treasure. He thanks Ash and Goh for their help rescuing Raboot and the Wooloo, and the episode ends with Hop saying goodbye to them and heading off on his own way.

Episode 2: Context

The episode begins with Goh deciding that he wants to catch more Pokémon from other regions. Ash makes some suggestions, but Goh just can’t pick a single region to go to. Professor Cerise suggests that they go to the Wild Area in Galar since it’s full of Pokémon from every region. Goh thinks that’s a great idea, and Ash is eager to join him because that means they might be able to find more wild Dynamax Pokémon. So, they set off for the Galar region once more.

They arrive at a different part of the Wild Area than the one they explored last time so they can hopefully find different Pokémon. Goh finds some Pokémon he hasn’t caught before and catches it. Ash looks around for a pillar of red light indicating the appearance of a Dynamax Pokémon, and he spots one that doesn’t look too far away. They head off to investigate it.

They’re able to see from a long way off that it’s a Dynamax Snorlax, and maybe one of them comments that it looks different from the one they encountered on their first visit. As they get closer they hear the sounds of Pokémon attacks and realize that someone is battling the Snorlax. Eventually, they’re close enough to realize that that someone is Hop. He’s battling Snorlax with Raboot, Boltund, Trevenant, and Heatmor all at the same time, and as they watch, Hop manages to weaken Snorlax enough to try to catch it. He takes out a Poke Ball and uses his Dynamax Band to supersize it before throwing it at Snorlax. It shakes three times before returning to normal size for the click.

As Hop jogs over to pick up his new catch, Ash and Goh call his name and congratulate him. Hop greets them, and Ash says he didn’t know that you could catch Dynamax Pokémon. Hop says that you can as long as you have a Dynamax Band, and wild Dynamax Pokémon are a little stronger than other Pokémon, so he’s been looking around the Wild Area for strong Dynamax Pokémon to add to his team. Goh says that they’re here to catch Pokémon too, so maybe they could catch Pokémon together. Hop points out that they can’t both catch a single Pokémon, but he thinks it’ll be fun to compete to see who can catch the Pokémon first.

A brief little montage follows in which Hop and Goh compete to catch a few Pokémon, each of them catching a couple. Eventually, Hop spots a Dreepy and is really eager to try to catch it. It runs away almost immediately, and Hop has some difficulty chasing after it, but eventually he’s able to catch up to the Dreepy and catch it. By that point, they’re all pretty tired from chasing after Dreepy, and Ash being Ash is absolutely starving. So, Hop suggests they set up camp and offers to treat them to proper Galarian curry.

They all send out their full teams and share the curry Pokémon Camp style. Ash is eager to see Hop’s Cramorant again, but to his surprise Hop doesn’t have it with him. Hop says that he sent it home to Postwick – he keeps all the Pokémon he catches that are no good in battle there. Goh observes that Hop’s Pokémon are all keeping to themselves and don’t seem very close to him, and Hop explains that they’re all recent catches so he hasn’t spent much time with them. Ash says that camping out with them like this will be a great way to bond with them, but Hop says that there’s not much point in bonding with his Pokémon if he can’t come up with good strategies to use with them. He needs to get stronger and becoming friends with his Pokémon isn’t necessary to do that. Hop then changes the subject before Ash or Goh can argue with him.

Naturally, the World Coronation Series eventually comes up in conversation. Ash shows off his ranking and asks Hop what his is. Hop doesn’t want to look at his rank though, and when pressed he explains that he was almost to Hyper Rank when he lost to another challenger and has been on a losing streak ever since. Ash encourages him not to give up and to keep training to become stronger, and Hop agrees, declaring that he’s going to become the next World Monarch.

Hop’s new Dreepy floats up to him, and Hop pets it and says Dreepy’s an integral part of his plan to get to World Monarch status. Goh is surprised because it’s such a timid-looking Pokémon, and Hop claims that it may be weak now but its final evolution, Dragapult, is one of the strongest Dragon-type Pokémon. He adds that the World Monarch himself has a Dragapult on his team that he only uses against his toughest opponents, so that’s why wanted to catch a Dreepy for himself.

However, because they can’t have nice things, Team Rocket shows up to steal all their Pokémon – a task made much easier by the fact that they’re all just sitting out in the open for them to steal. They nab all the Pokémon except Hop’s brand-new Snorlax because it’s too heavy to be sucked up by Team Rocket’s machine. Hop and Snorlax destroy Team Rocket’s machine and free all the Pokémon; Team Rocket summons the vending machine to get some Pokémon to battle with. Snorlax is able to defeat both Pokémon singlehandedly, much to Hop’s delight. He declares that Snorlax is also going to be an integral part of his championship team.

With everything packed up and put away, Hop and Ash and Goh prepare to once again go their separate ways. Hop says that with the new team members he’s acquired today, he feels like he’s finally gonna be able to break his losing streak and start climbing back up the ranks, and he promises to have a rematch with Ash the next time they meet. Ash wishes him luck, and Hop runs off.

Back at Cerise Park, Goh sets out food for his Pokémon and observes how all the new Pokémon he caught today are fitting in well. He thinks about how distant Hop’s Pokémon seemed by comparison and Hop’s words about it not being necessary to bond with his Pokémon. Ash walks up and asks Goh what he’s thinking about, and Goh says that Hop is a really strange Trainer. Ash cheerfully replies that they’re all a little strange, and Hop clearly loves Pokémon, so he doesn’t see anything wrong about him. The episode ends with Goh thinking that if Hop really loves Pokémon, he sure has a strange way of showing it.

Episode 3: Breaking Point

The episode opens with Hop walking alone through Circhester, shuffling his feet and staring at his WCS ranking on his phone – he’s back down to Normal Rank. He switches to another window on his phone that starts playing an interview with Leon. In the interview, Leon talks about his dream for the Trainers of Galar to become stronger. When the interviewer asks him about the World Coronation Series, Leon namedrops Ash as a competitor who he’s got his eye on. Hop shoves his phone back into his pocket and walks away dejectedly.

Meanwhile, Ash and Goh are visiting Circhester today because they’re investigating a wild Snom outbreak around there. They’ve barely just arrived when Ash is jumped by a bunch of WCS competitors who saw Leon’s interview and want to battle Ash because the Champion singled him out. At first, Ash is eager to fight, but he gets a bit overwhelmed by the number of people who want to battle him.

Suddenly, Hop appears and in a pretty authoritative voice tells everybody to leave Ash alone because they’re being rude and Ash isn’t here to battle. They disperse, and Ash and Goh thank Hop for the assist – they’re not used to dealing with big groups of people like that. Ash wonders why they got mobbed in the first place, and Hop’s surprised that they haven’t seen the interview yet. He describes it as an interview where “Mr. World Monarch himself said that you’re a promising Trainer that he’s got high hopes for in the World Coronation Series, Ash,” but his annoyance goes unnoticed by Ash and Goh. Hop recommends that they stay out of the city for a while until people calm down, and that works for Ash and Goh because the wild Snom they’re looking for don’t live in the city, anyways. Hop asks to go with them because Snom are really cute and who wouldn’t want to go see Snom, y’know?

While they’re looking for the Snom, however, Hop is notably more subdued than usual. When Ash asks him how the WCS is going for him, Hop avoids the question. They start to get really cold, so Hop sends out his Raboot and Goh his Cinderace to keep themselves warm. Raboot and Cinderace are buds as usual, and Hop says – kinda bitterly – that he thinks Raboot likes Cinderace more than him. Goh says that his Cinderace was the same way when it was a Raboot and that Raboot just shows how it cares in a different way.

A little later, they finally find the Snom and play around with them for a bit with their Pokémon, but the playing gets a little too rough and they accidentally cause an avalanche. Hop ends up trapped inside a cave with Raboot while Ash and Goh and their Pokémon are still outside. Hop calls out to Ash and Goh, but they can’t hear him. Next, he sends out all the rest of his Pokémon: Snorlax, Pincurchin, Drakloak, and Xatu. He tries to get them to destroy the rocks and ice from the inside, but they can’t. With the cave seemingly coming to a dead end a short way in and no way out, Hop decides that his only option is to return everyone except Raboot, for warmth, and hunker down to await rescue.

Meanwhile, Ash and Goh are trying to get to Hop from the outside. They’ve already realized that he can’t hear them, and Goh finally determines that they can’t move or destroy the avalanche without making things worse. They decide to go back to the city to get professional help – one of those Macro Cosmos subsidiaries probably specializes in stuff like this.

Back in the cave, Hop’s starting to shiver from the cold even with Raboot there; Raboot is visibly distressed despite Hop reassuring him that he’s fine. Raboot starts looking for another way out of the cave and eventually finds one by melting some ice. Hop and Raboot explore this other path, but it just leads to another exit blocked by the avalanche. Raboot doesn’t give up though and tries to destroy the ice and snow from the inside again. Through the power of determination and friendship, Raboot evolves into Cinderace and is able to melt everything with Pyro Ball.

Hop is amazed and overjoyed that Cinderace evolved, but he doesn’t understand why until Cinderace gives him a big hug to warm him up. He realizes that, like Goh said, it cares about him a lot and this is how it’s showing that. Flashing back to a battle of Ash’s and a battle of Leon’s, Hop realizes that the thing he was missing – the reason why all his strategies and picking the right Pokémon never worked – is that having a close bond with your Pokémon does help make them stronger, and maybe that’s even more important than using the “strongest” Pokémon.

Hop finds Ash and Goh to show them that he’s okay and make sure all the Snom are okay, but he doesn’t stick around for long – he sprints back to Circhester and calls home. His mom starts to ask him if he’s seen Leon’s interview, but Hop interrupts her to ask her to send over a couple of his Pokémon. After she’s sent them over, she says they missed him and Hop says, a little tearfully, that he missed them too.

Ash and Goh are back in Circhester near the Hero’s Bath, talking about their encounter with the Snom. Hop runs up to them with Cinderace, Corvisquire, and Wooloo all out of their Poké Balls and running alongside him. He introduces Ash and Goh to Wooloo, the first Pokémon he ever owned, and Corvisquire, the first Pokémon he ever caught. The episode ends with Hop challenging Ash to an official World Coronation Series match.

Episode 4: Lesson Learned

Hop and Ash battle, with Hop using Wooloo, Corvisquire, and Cinderace. Hop is noticeably more confident in making decisions and issuing commands to his Pokémon than he was in his first battle with Ash. It’s a close match, but Hop wins because he’s in sync with his Pokémon and believes in himself. [Wooloo or Corvisquire could evolve during the battle, but Cinderace just evolved last episode and I don’t want to overdo it on the evolutions.]

When Hop’s rankings update, the announcer states that the victory brings him back up to Super Rank. Ash and Goh are surprised because they didn’t even know that Hop had fallen down back to Normal Rank. Hop explains that he was feeling so bummed last episode because of that, and he was actually looking for Ash because he hoped spending time with Ash would help him figure out what he needed to do to get out of his slump – “you were endorsed by the World Monarch, after all”.

Hop is filled with new determination to become the next World Monarch and Ash is pumped to have a renewed rivalry with Hop. He promises to defeat Hop the next time they battle, but Hop says Ash won’t stand a chance because Hop’s about to start a new winning streak and reach Hyper Rank in no time. Hop says goodbye and races off to go challenge another WCS competitor.

Goh, meanwhile, is curious about the interview and calls Ash over so they can watch it together on Goh’s Rotom Phone. They watch the part that Hop saw, where Leon talks about Ash, but they don’t stop watching immediately like Hop did. And as it turns out, the next thing the interviewer asks is which Trainer from Galar Leon thinks has the most potential in the World Coronation Series. Leon’s answer is his little brother: “My little bro may only be Normal Rank now, but I’m certain that he’ll soon become a force to be reckoned with!”

Ash and Goh are surprised to learn that Leon has a little brother, and Ash wonders who the little brother is. Goh says that if he’s anything like his brother, then Ash will definitely meet Leon’s little brother in battle someday. The episode ends with them returning to Kanto to tell Professor Cerise about everything that happened in their visit to Galar.

Episode 5: Bede

Ash and Goh are in Galar again. This time, Ash is there for a battle competition in Hammerlocke, while Goh plans to explore the nearby Wild Area to catch more Pokémon. The Hammerlocke battle competition, which is simply named the Hammerlocke Challenger’s Cup, isn’t affiliated with the World Coronation Series, but Ash thinks it’ll be good practice for the competition. Plus, it’ll be a lot of fun because it’s held in Hammerlocke Stadium so the competitors can use Dynamax in the matches.

After Ash has signed up for the competition he runs into Hop, who’s chipper and enthusiastic as usual. Hop also signs up for the competition and asks where Goh is; Ash explains that he’s out catching Pokémon, but he’ll be back to watch the battles.

Just then, someone offscreen is like, “Well, well, well. If it isn’t the Champion’s pathetic little brother.” Cut to Bede, who’s looking smug and arrogant as always. Hop tells him to shut up and Bede asks Hop if he really can’t handle hearing the truth. Hop says that Bede’s too full of himself to notice the truth and Bede retorts that he’s perfectly capable of telling a strong Trainer from a weak one and Hop definitely falls in the latter category.

Ash finally interrupts to ask if Bede meant Champion as in Leon, and Bede condescendingly asks what other Champion he would be referring to. Hop points out that every region has a Champion, but there’s only one World Monarch – and that’s his big bro. Ash is shocked to learn that Hop is Leon’s little brother, but Hop’s surprised that Ash didn’t know or figure that out already. Bede takes the opportunity to get in another jab at Hop, saying that Ash didn’t realize he was the Champion’s brother because he’s so weak. Hop snaps at Bede that he’s been training and gotten stronger since last time, and he’ll prove it by beating Bede in the Challenger’s Cup. Bede says that he doesn’t stand a chance, and Ash gets fired up and says that he’s gonna win the whole thing.

Bede finally asks who Ash is and he introduces himself; Bede recognizes the name and tells him that he’s not a hotshot just because the Champion has an eye on him. Hop mutters “World Monarch” under his breath as Bede strolls away to go register for the tournament, leaving Ash to wonder what the heck Bede’s problem is.

Ash then asks Hop how he knows Bede and why he never told them that he’s Leon’s little brother. Hop explains that Bede’s the WCS competitor who he lost to that set him on his losing streak, and Bede totally flattened him in their battle. After Hop lost, Bede started saying stuff like what they just heard, about Hop being weak and dragging Leon’s good name through the mud and such. Hop didn’t want to tell people that he’s Leon’s little brother because he was afraid they’d see how weak he was and think worse of Leon for it.

Ash assures him that none of that’s true and Hop says he’s figured that out, so now he just has to prove it to Bede. Ash agrees, but also says that he’s not gonna go easy on Hop or Bede if he battles against them in the cup.

A montage of scenes follows: Goh catches some Pokémon; Ash, Hop, and Bede battle in the tournament. They all dominate in their matches and make it to the semifinals. Hop beats his rando opponent and makes it to the finals, while Ash and Bede battle each other in the semifinal round. Goh comes back in time to watch their battle; he and Hop spectate together, so Hop is able to fill Goh in on who Bede is.

To their dismay, Ash loses to Bede – probably because he was using a Pokémon he had only caught recently or one with a type disadvantage or something. Bede gloats, Hop gets even more determined to defeat him, and the episode ends with Hop preparing to battle Bede.

Episode 6: Hop vs Bede

It’s time for the final match of the Hammerlocke Challenger’s Cup. Bede starts with an all-out offensive strategy using Reuniclus but Hop’s Snorlax is able to take hits really well, so Hop seems to have the advantage at first. Then Reuniclus confuses Snorlax and it starts hurting itself, allowing Bede to defeat it.

Hop sends out Dubwool next and Reuniclus confuses Dubwool as well, but Dubwool is able to break through the confusion thanks to his bond with Hop. Together they’re able to defeat Reuniclus, and then Bede sends out his Hatterene. He Gigantamaxes Hatterene right away, forcing Hop to Dynamax Dubwool as well. Dubwool is then able to defeat Hatterene and win the tournament for Hop.

The prize for winning the Challenger’s Cup is a candy basket filled with Exp. Candies and Dynamax Candies, leading to a gag where Ash tries to eat one of the candies before Hop tells him that they’re meant for Pokémon. The prize also comes with a special bonus – the Leon ball used in Pokémon Camp. Hop finds this absolutely hilarious and decides to call his brother to show it to him.

He makes the call with Ash and Goh, but Goh doesn’t know who Hop’s brother is yet, so he’s shocked when Leon answers. Leon is surprised that Ash and Goh have met Hop – he hadn’t seen Ash participating in the tournament because he’d been too busy to watch it – but he’s proud to hear that his little brother won and laughs at the merch prize. He makes a joke about autographing the ball for Hop, but then he has to go take care of some Champion thing – he promises to call Hop again soon before hanging up.

Bede makes some snide comment behind them about the Champion not making time for his little brother, and Hop gets mad at Bede for eavesdropping. Bede says he shouldn’t make phone calls in a public place if he doesn’t want people to overhear. Hop tries to get Bede to admit that he’s not weak, but Bede only acknowledges that he’s less weak than before and asserts that he’s still a better Trainer than Hop – Hop’s victory was just a fluke. He adds that since he was able to beat Ash, the Champion’s eye will be on him now. Then he strides away with smug confidence. Hop tells Ash not to listen to anything Bede says, and the episode ends with Ash declaring that he’ll beat Bede next time.

Episode 7: Leon’s Day Off

The episode opens with Leon doing boring Champion stuff: meetings, interviews, paperwork, and the like. He makes a comment to Oleana about this being his least favorite part of the job, but she’s not terribly sympathetic and tells him to get to his next meeting. When he gets lost on the way to the meeting, he declares that he needs a break from all this. Then he asks a nearby office worker if they can escort him to the meeting room he’s supposed to be in.

Later, Ash, Goh, and Hop are doing some research task in the Wild Area; Ash and Goh were asked to do it by Professor Cerise and they happened to run into Hop, who volunteered to join them. They’re just finishing up with it when Hop gets a phone call from his mum, who says she misses him and wants him to come home for dinner. Hop awkwardly tells her that he’s with friends right now, and she invites them to come for dinner, too – she’s barbecuing and there will be plenty of food for everyone. Goh says that he wouldn’t mind seeing Hop’s hometown, while Ash was hooked the moment she brought up food. So, the three of them finish what they were doing and head to Postwick together.

Hop points out some landmarks along the way like the Wooloo fields and the Slumbering Weald. They meet Hop’s mum out front of their house and she makes some remark along the lines of being happy for Ash and Goh being friends with Hop because Hop was never as good at making friends as his brother, and Hop gets all embarrassed about it. When Mum finds out that Ash and Goh have traveled here all the way from Kanto, she insists that they spend the night and tells them to go inside and pick out places to sleep.

They head into the living room and Hop invites them to look around, make themselves at home. Ash and Goh take him up on the offer and start looking around at everything. Hop says that if they don’t want to sleep on the floor, then someone will have to sleep on the couch and the other can get the guest room. Then he remembers that someone could use Leon’s room, so he says that they won’t need the couch after all.

However, someone else says that room’s already claimed. They whirl around to see Leon and Charizard standing in the entrance to the living room. He’s wearing totally casual clothes – no cap, no cape, no uniform. Hop greets him with an enthusiastic hug, and Leon says it’s good to see him again. He notes that he wasn’t expecting to see Ash and Goh here, but it’s good to see them again, too.

Ash explains that Mum invited them, and Hop says that they weren’t expecting to see Leon – “Why didn’t Mum say anything?” Leon explains that he took the day off today and decided to come home, and he asked Mum to invite Hop here so that he could surprise his little bro. Hop says that he was definitely surprised. Then he jokes that he’s more surprised that Leon made it home by himself without getting lost, and Leon ruffles his hair and says that Charizard guided him.

Goh’s attention has returned to all the trophies on the wall, and he asks whose they are. Hop sheepishly replies that they’re all Leon’s – he hasn’t won any trophies. Leon asks him what happened to the trophy Hop won at the Hammerlocke Challenger’s Cup and Hop says it’s up in his bedroom; Leon comments that all the trophies he puts up in his bedroom mysteriously migrate to the living room by the time he next comes home. It’s starting to feel a little cramped in the living room, so they all agree to head out to the backyard.

In the backyard, there’s a battlefield and beyond that a pasture where all the Pokémon Hop and Leon have caught are roaming. When Ash sees the battlefield, he gets excited and tells Leon he wants to battle again; Leon’s seriously considering it, but then Mum interrupts to chide him for thinking about battling when he’s supposed to be on vacation. Leon protests that battling is fun, but Mum is insistent that there will be no battling while Leon’s here. She sets the “no-battles” rule for the other boys as well, so Leon won’t get tempted. Ash makes a comment that it feels like something his own mom would do.

They go out to the pasture to play with the Pokémon while Mum cooks. Ash and Goh get to meet Leon’s other Pokémon; Ash and Leon bond over the fact that they both have a Charizard. All of the Pokémon that Hop uses in his in-game battle teams are here, as well as Drakloak, Xatu, and any other miscellaneous Pokémon he might have caught in earlier episodes. Ash is particularly excited to see Cramorant again after not getting to see it back in Episode 2. It’s revealed that Hop’s Cinderace and Dynamax Band were both gifts from Leon, as well as the fact that Leon had told Hop long before he met Ash about the kid from Pallet Town with a Gigantamax Pikachu. Leon and Hop mess with each other a couple of times, and Leon generally demonstrates that he has about as much maturity as the younger three. Overall, everyone’s just having a good time.

When Mum’s finished barbecuing, everyone returns to the backyard for dinner; after dinner, they all start getting ready for bed. Ash opts to sleep on the floor of the guest room while Goh takes the guest bed. As they go to bed, Goh asks Ash if he noticed that the Champion acts differently when he’s at home, but Ash has no idea what he’s talking about. Goh’s not really sure how to put it into words – the best he can describe it is that Leon seems friendlier, but Ash doesn’t get it because Leon’s always friendly. Goh sighs and tells him to forget about it.

Over in Hop’s room, Hop and Dubwool are facing the dilemma that Dubwool is too big to fit in its bed now that it’s evolved. Leon shows up in the doorway and says that Dubwool should just sleep with Hop – half the time when it was a Wooloo, it ended up in Hop’s bed by morning anyways. Hop sticks his tongue out at Leon and pulls out an extra blanket and pillow for Dubwool to sleep on. He arranges it to be comfortable for Dubwool and gets back up, only to realize that Leon is still standing in his room.

Hop asks Lee what’s up and Leon explains that he has to leave early tomorrow morning to make it back to Wyndon in time, meaning he’ll be gone before Hop wakes up. So, he thought he would say goodbye to Hop before they go to bed so he actually gets the chance to do that. Hop is disappointed that Leon has to leave again so soon and he complains about Leon being so busy, but Leon says that that’s just a consequence of being Champion and World Monarch. Hop says that he’ll just have to become the new World Monarch to take some of that burden off Leon’s shoulders, and while he says it in a lighthearted way, Leon responds very seriously that he doesn’t want Hop to be burdening himself with anything and certainly not to try to make things easier on Leon. He’s an adult, he can handle it; Hop should enjoy being a kid while he still can.

Realizing that he just killed the mood, Leon teasingly asks Hop if he’d like Leon to tuck him in and read him a bedtime story. Hop hits Leon with a pillow in response. Leon grabs the pillow from Hop and hits him back, knocking him onto his bed. The two of them share a laugh. Leon says goodbye and goodnight to Hop and gives him a hug before he leaves the room, turning off the lights as he goes.

The episode ends with a shot of the trophy collection in the living room in the morning, to which Hop’s Hammerlocke Challenger’s Cup trophy has been added.

#pokemon #pokeani #anipoke #rival hop #trainer hop #hop pokemon #champion leon #postwick bros #listen if they can't do the full-fledged arc then at the very least i'm begging them to give us something like episode 7 #the one thing that hop brings to the table that no other rival can is humanizing leon - bringing out the soft/domestic side of him #for as much as journeys focuses on leon as the ''big celebrity that everyone looks up to''#it hasn't given us much of the ''big brother to everyone in galar''#and both aspects of leon's character are important and deserve to be given weight #not that i WANT hop to be reduced to a prop for leon's character development #but honestly? i'd rather see him be a prop for leon's character development than not appear at all

46 notes · View notes

sparkga · 3 years

Note

Inkay Geodude Vivillon Wooloo Cramorant and Tsareena!

If you were a Pokemon what would your method of evolution be?

Trick question! I would be a gimmicky one stage Pokemon like Minior, Rotom, and Wishiwashi.

Favorite and least favorite Pokemon Gym Leader?

My favorites are Opal and Roark. Lt. Surge is dumb. Does he just watch children dig through trash all day?

Show your face. Post a selfie!

Too tired and too have this face.

Weirdest item of clothing you own?

I don't own any weird clothing. I'm too cheap to buy anything too avant-garde.

Favorite weird food combinations?

I put pickles on grilled cheese sandwiches. And I'll dip almost anything in French dressing.

Someone/thing gays are usually nuts over that you just Don’t Get.

Treasure Planet is a bad Disney movie. Its aesthetic is great, but it's BORING.

Thanks for the team!

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j-ellyfish · 4 years

Text

Different takes on Pokémon design - Sugimori Vs Turner

Aka: me writing down my opinion on why Gen8 art style seems to differ so much from previous gens. Yes, I am critical of Turner’s style but this essay is not meant in any way to claim that you’re supposed to despise it. It’s just a series of observations from my part based on two quotes Sugimori and Turner gave about coming up with a Pokémon design.

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I found a short interview from circa 2007 where Ken Sugimori states what elements, in his opinion, make a Pokémon and I think his answer, compared to James Turner’s in the video that was released during the SWSH campaign, says a lot about how different the gen8 style is compared to what we had so far, and why many people feel uncomfortable with this shift.

Sugimori said that «lovely, creepy and a bit charming» are the «three main elements of Pokémon [as creatures]».

On the other hand, Turner claims that while coming up with a design, what he always keeps in mind is that a Pokémon must be a creature «you could be friends with».

I think this completely changes the purpose of Pokémon and it reflects in the designs they would come up with or approve as Art Directors.

Sugimori’s main concern when creating a Pokémon is how that creature would exist. What he puts a focus on is the sense of discovery that should come with finding a new Pokémon, you should feel charmed and intimidated by it as if you just saw a weird animal in the wild you had never known about. This is true to the sentiment Pokémon was born with, as wild creatures trainers would manage to tame and become friends with. The focus is on Pokémon as unknown and fascinating creatures rather than companions for humans. That aspect only comes later into the frame as Pokémon can exist independently from humans, too.

On the other hand, what Turner seems to put the most focus in is how the creature would interact as a friend with humans. This means that he perceives the human-creature relationship as more important than the creature existing in the wild on its own when thinking about what a Pokémon is.

This is visible in many of gen8 Pokémon designs, especially the starters’ final evos. They are anthropomorphic because Turner’s main concern is to make them visually friendly, and in order to achieve this feeling, he makes them familiar by giving them traits that are specifically linked to the human realm. It’s hard to imagine Inteleon or Cinderace living in the wild because they are inherently human in their essence. They are not simply spy/soccer-inspired, they are literally a spy and a soccer player. They work no longer as wild creatures but, rather, as Turner said, as familiar creatures ‘you’d be easily friends with’ because they look like you in a more or less symbolic way. Of course this applies a bit less to Rillaboom as it’s a gorilla, but even in that case you can definitely see the shift if you compare it with any ape-inspired Pokémon we had in the past. Take Oranguru and Passimian, for instance:

Passimian is a rugby player and Oranguru is a shaman/guru. Rillaboom is a drummer. All three are apes combined with a human profession. Yet, there’s something crucial that makes their design apart: Passimian’s ball and helmet are made out of something visibly natural, what the Pokédex describes as “hard berries”, which are a sort of coconut variant. Oranguru has a shawn made of its own fur and a fan made up of leaves and, again, its own purple fur. In both cases, the 100% natural origin of Passimian and Oranguru’s items is very clear.

On the other hand, despite the Pokédex claiming that Rillaboom’s drum is simply a “special tree stump”, it is absolutely clear that it’s not something you’d find in nature shaped that way (it even has a green circle where a drum brand sticker would go!). Same for the sticks it uses to play it, which look exactly the same as the ones created by humans. Turner doesn’t even try to make it credible in a 100% wild habitat because imagining Pokémon living on their own as wild creatures is simply not his concern, not the No.1 Rule in his book. He values familiarity over credibility. I don’t think Rillaboom’s case is as bad as Inteleon and Cinderace when it comes to imagining it as a wild creatures far from humans, but its comparison with previous apes brings this difference to light much better because we had Pokémon with a similar inspiration before, imo.

Moving on to another Gen8 Pokémon that show Turner’s different focus compared to Sugimori’s, we have Appletun.

This is indeed a Pokémon you’d be friends with. Look at it, it makes me want to have apple pie :Q~ ... But again, how would this thing live in nature? The Pokédex does a very good job at making it credible as a wild creature, but the design doesn’t hold up to it. That’s literally an apple pie shaped Pokémon. It just ... That’s it. That’s an apple pie. I have a very hard time imagining it simply existing like this. It isn’t a credible wild creature. The way its eyes work is cute but very impractical for a wild creature and the Pokédex doesn’t give any reason why it’d be useful for it to have such weird eyes (it’d be reasonable if the eyes were constantly open so they fold this way when it sleeps or stuff like that but it does have eyelids too so?? Why???). Don’t get me wrong, I actually like it as a creature but it just leaves me puzzled as a Pokémon because, again, you can see that delivering a credible wild creature is not Turner’s main concern and it is inherently anthropomorphic in the sense that the thing on its back not only looks like an apple pie but it is an apple pie (the Pokédex states that kids eat the skin on its back because that’s literally apple pie crust).

As a design, I guess it could be put in comparison with Tropius, but Tropius feels much more credible as a wild creature because fruit is natural, apple pie isn’t. Tropius is just a dinosaur that happens to grow edible fruits on its neck. On the other hand, making a handmade food like apple pie the essence of a Pokémon design makes it feel pretty weak as a wild creature because it’s hard to imagine something so strikingly similar to a human product existing as a separate thing from the human world. It works with Pokémon like Polteageist because they are spirits that happen to inhabit items that humans produce, but it cannot work as well with animal-inspired Pokémon such as Appletun, because those are supposed to exist independently from humans.

I’d have more to say about Gen8 designs taken singularly but you get my point already. Turner’s Pokémon mainly gather and refer to humans, while Sugimori’s Pokémon gather first to nature and then to humans. Of course, there are some Gen8 Pokémon that stay loyal to the concept expressed by Sugimori (for instance Frosmoth, Cramorant, and the aforementioned Polteageist) and some pre-Gen8 creatures whose concept seems closer to Turner’s take (ie Incineroar or Tsareena), but the ratio in which these two cases appear reversed, as now many more Pokémon seem more fit as human companions and much less as creatures of their own.

Is it a good thing? Is it a bad thing? It really depends on your tastes and your own opinion on what a Pokémon should be, but it’s undeniable that Turner is not Sugimori, they are two different people with a pretty different take on the subject and there is a visual difference in how gen8 generally looks compared to previous ones. It’s no crime to point it out. No, it’s not just fans being whiny and hateful, there is a very real explanation for this which I hope I managed to bring to light in this post.

#pokemon #pokemon swsh #pokemon gen 8 #gen8 #ary spoke

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the-endless-storm · 4 years

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Nuzlocke Shield Part Six

Part Five

After a bit of training to get everyone up to the same level, and hitting up the move Re-learner, I went back to Route 9 to explore and fight trainers. Everything was going well, until a Cloyster managed to get a lucky 5 hits with Icicle Spear and knocked out Ddraig. Blast it.

Ddraig is KO'd

With Ddraig out for the count, I rely on Chamomile before going back to Spikemuth and sneaking in.

I take Spritz out of storage and evolve him into a Vikavolt. He does have a good SAk boosting nature, so there is room for him to work out well. I don’t have much in terms of Dark beating Pokemon, so I lead with Bullseye to fight Marnie and pray for the best.

The battle animation for Mudsdale using Body Press is one of the worst. It spins around, kicks out it’s back legs then flies up and lands on the enemy Pokemon with its back legs still kicked out. Looks absolutely ridiculous. Still knocks out Leipard in one shot, so I can’t complain.

Bullseye's Stamina kicks in with a Crunch from Scrafty which means Body Press will do more damage. Two hits take out Scrafty.

Toxic rock gets a Sucker Punch in first, more Stamina for me, but swallows an earthquake whole and suffers for it.

Morpeko starts with Torment, which technically should have stopped me using Earthquake (as I’d just used it) but it doesn’t stop me one shooting the little Pikachu knock off.

Ah Spikemuth, the poor man's Po Town. I get that Team Yell are just meant to be over eager fans, but the whole city on lock down just doesn’t cut it. They are officially the worst 'team' and really don’t deserve any kind of promotion. Any other team would have kidnapped Gym Challengers by now.

Team Yell always come out in pairs, and this game really dropped the ball on having more double battles. A handful of trainer battles here and there, one here in Spikemuth and Raihan's Gym and that's it. I love Double Battles (and Hoard Battles and Rotation Battles but let’s not open up old wounds) I want more.

Ok, I might love Double Battles but obviously my lack of doing them often enough has rendered me incapable of doing them properly.

I swap out Chamomile for Pina Colada so Bullseye can Earthquake and hit both Pokemon, with the grass type tanking the hit. I don’t take into consideration a Poison Fang from Draipion which leaves Pina hanging on with a mere 10HP. Luckily, Bullseye knocks the other two out, but that could have been a disaster again.

Time to heal up and use the first Ether of the game to give Bullseye enough PP to spam Body Press for the battle with Piers.

A single Sand Attack from Scrafty has had me miss more than I’d have liked, and Malamar did some hefty damage with various attacks, but they both fell. I heal up and let Obstagoon have a first hit, which is then followed its Obstruct. Thanks to Bullseye's Stamina having maxes out my defence, the harsh drop doesn’t do much, and Body Press knocks out Obstagoon in one hit.

Skuntank leads with Toxic, Earthquake leaves it on a silver of HP, but it doesn’t do enough damage to me again and falls the next turn.

Dark Badge get!

Oh you want me to come help with a disaster on Route 9? I'd love to.

Oh never mind, Leon is here. I guess I’ll back inside then.

Considering the big deal they made at the start of the game about Leon being unable to find his way around, he does a great job of immediately running in the direction he's meant to go in. It would have been hilarious if he ran off down the wrong way, then stopped and doubled back. Having said that..

When a game that tells you “wild Pokemon started dynamaxing all over the place” but fails to show it is such a cop out. Ruby and Sapphire making it sunny or raining everywhere on the map was a far more effective way of showing the disaster taking place than just a couple of characters running around talking about it. They couldn’t even manage an actual “Ka-BOOM” and had to put it in a text box. Such a disappointment.

Speaking of characters talking about it, Hop is hanging around on the outskirts of Route 7. Yep, more talking about wild dynamaxing Pokemon. Thrilling.

Route 7 I’ve already done the encounter, so let's just shoot back to Hammerlocke with a quick trainer battle on the way.

Bullseye is the first of my team to reach level 50.

I have done a lot of cycling around, picking up items, selling and buying potions and heals and levelling up Spritz. Now everyone is at level 50 and I'm going to face Raihan.

As I said about double battles before, I remember that Raihan's gym rookies are all weather based battles. For the Rain Dance battle I’ll use Spritz and Pina Colada, as the latter's Swim Swim will come into play. Pelipper eats a Thunderbolt, Sligoo falls to a Bug Buzz and Energy Ball combo. Next!

Otis should do well in the next Sunny Day battle as he has Flash Fire, and Bullseye can do some heavy damage even without using Earthquake.

Turtonator's Shell Trap is a little tricky, and Bullseye got burned on the first turn. I focus on knocking out Ninetales so I can get both pokemon to attack the Turt'. It's going to spam Shell Trap which is hurting Bullseye but that just means Stamina is going to keep boosting Body Press' damage, so the battle is over before I need to use more potions.

Last up, Hail. Otis is out again along with Cyanide. Cyanide's Quick Draw lets it go first and it knocks Hakamo-o out with a single Psychic. I forgot it was a fighting dragon, so that was a spot of luck on my part. Otis' Fire Lash has the desired and expected effect on a x4 weak Pokemon. Raihan is up next.

It's cool that the Hammerlocke Stadium isn't a standard stadium like all the others and is obviously the castle, but having the battle take place in the same area as all the others is disappointing. I would have loved to see more themed Gyms rather than repeats of the same thing every time. This is why long time pokemon fans were so disappointed with Sword and Shield.

I heal up and swap my team around a little, this match might be difficult. I'm leading with Bullseye and Cyanide. No Quick Draw to start but Stamina lets Body Press do half damage to Gigalith and Icy Wind from Cyanide levels the HP of Flygon down to the same as Gig.

A Crunch from Flygon hurts Cyanide, but he takes it. Another Body Press gets rid of Gigalith and Icy Wind knocks out Flygon. So far so good.

With Raihan brining both Pokemon out at the same time and Gigantamaxing Duraldon straight away, I Dmax Bullseye and swap Cyanide out for Pina Colada. Hopefully Pina can tank any ground attacks. Max Duraldon uses Max Quake in Pina and takes out a third of his HP, and Sandaconda attacks it too, but it stays alive with only 12HP! I heal Pina and continue to attack Duraldon with Max Quakes and Knuckles. Duraldon is tough, it is tanking these attacks.

Ok, GMax Depletion looks amazing, I have no idea what it's done though. Pina has been untargetted so knocks out Sandaconda with a single Energy Ball. The Dynamaxing will be over both both sides after this turn so I can focus all my attacks on Duraldon. Another Energy Ball and Body Press finally knocks it out.

Dragon Badge get!

Final Badge get!

Time to call it. I have to do my AC dailies too. Next time, Wyndon!

Also, if you’re enjoying reading my Nuzlocke progress, you should check out Mattoyaki’s own playthrough which he started after reading through mine. His has pictures and he’s set a lot more rules against himself that in hindsight, I should have used too. You can find his Part One here.

Current Team

Bullseye - Mudsdale (lv 52)

Otis - Heatmor (lv 51)

Chamomile - Polteageist (lv 51)

Cyanide - Slowbro (lv 52)

Pina Colada - Ludicolo (lv 51)

Spritz - Vikavolt (lv 51)

Boxed

Jigglypuff | Chansey

Losses

Bandit the Nickit - Knocked out by a fat squirrel

Gumball the Tympole - Devoured by a centipede with a moustache

Castlevania the Rookidee - Torn apart by a cute mole

HaagenDazs the Vanillite - Murdered in an act of revenge by a smelly frog

Ddraig the Druddigon - Speared by a selfish shellfish

Wild Area Tracker

All but Axew's Eye

Isle of Armour Tracker

Final Part

#me #pokemon #pokemon shield #nuzlocke

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flyswhumpcenter · 4 years

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Bad Things Happen Bingo! The event where you send me requests according to this marvelous card! (Red cross is the completed prompt, character headshots are prompts I’ve already filled. Green deltas are for requested prompts.)

Choo choo, the Sickfic Express has just arrived in Galar, straight from Oreburgh City!

First fic of 2020 is a sickfic oneshot. How rivetting. I've very recently beaten Pokémon Sword and loved it! I found myself really loving the characters, what they are and what they've already become in my mind, so I couldn't help myself but type what I know best... A sickfic. Also, this fandom needs more of this stuff, so here. I'm providing. Is this story OOC? Chances they are. Was it absolutely a blast to write? You bet. I'm probably gonna look back on it later down the lane and be uncomfortable with how I depicted the characters; but you do need to discover the characters first, and what better opportunity for that than a little sickfic with some angst and pre-rel dramatic tension? Anyway, I hope you'll like this lil' thing I busted out in literally a couple hours. I forgot how fun it was to write without worrying yourself over continuity or already established elements like in Earth Never Stops... Btw, this fic was originally requested to me as a FE3H fill for Hubert, so I decided I'd most likely use another square on my card for him. Sorry Nonnie for this, my inspiration got the best of me yet again!

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Candles in the Rain

Summary: Is feverishly staggering through the damp streets of Hammerlocke under the rain with very little hope to feel warmth again and even less sense of direction a fitting end for a former Champion now that he's been defeated once? Scratch that: he doesn't have the time or brain power remaining to process such a question. Or: Leon witnesses a miracle in the form of a little dog and a childhood friend.

Fandom: Pokémon Sword and Shield (post-canon/game: beware for spoilers) Relationships: Pre-relationship Leon/Sonia

Wordcount: 3.1K words

Event hosted by @badthingshappenbingo

AO3 version available here.

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The streets of Hammerlocke are covered by a thick layer of rainwater, typical early winter in Galar. Nobody dares going against the terrible weather, which isn’t unlike the flooding that almost ate Kabu’s region of origin, or rather how he once described it based on bedtime stories, a couple thousand years ago. Honestly, after what Galar just went through, he can believe the tale to have been real all along, no issue there…

As always, he’s lost in the grand city of his main rival, and that frustrates him. He’s cold from the water having filled his shoes and wet his hair for hours and hours on end, not even the fire of the camp being able to make him feel warmer. If it wasn’t for his partners’ demands, urging him to stop camping in the wilderness and find a Centre already, he’d have surely stayed in the Wild Area and biked to a better spot. Ah, he misses Postwick, now. At least, he can’t get lost in Postwick, there’d be Hop and his now-Champion best friend, if not Sonia paying them all a visit, and there’d be the warmth of his childhood home… Gods, perhaps he does miss the peaceful life of a ten-year-old whose only contact to the Gym Challenge is dreams of grandeur.

Ah, if it didn’t rain so badly, Charizard could be warming the both of them as he tried to make his way to the nearest Centre.

Despite his best efforts to remain proud and confident, he ends up having to lean against a wall to stop a coughing fit from suddenly urging itself out of there. He must look pathetic and he does wish, deep down, that someone would get out of their house for a reason or another, recognize him like literally everybody in Galar; but his pride and brand would be on the line, and nobody is fighting against the terrible, terrible weather today. He’s all alone in the streets of the city, pushing himself from the wall with wobbly arms, trying his hardest to remember where to go with slow, hazy thoughts…

Even if he was cold merely moments before, his head now burns. He feels too hot under clothes that are wildly unfitting of such a muddy season, despite the hair rising on what is exposed of his arms. A Cramorant stole his jacket when he was training, a Linoone tried to steal his stuff, and he ended up having a Pokemon knocked out and losing most of his healing items in the kerfuffle. It really hasn’t been his day, lately…

His chest hurts. Not from the outside, as if he had injured himself in one of the falls he endured trying to feel from the Wild Area with no Pokemon to battle with and the slippery grass constantly trying to get the best of him, but from the inside. He doesn’t doubt the possible existence of bruises under the shirt that sticks to his limbs like a second, drenched skin; but this isn’t it. It intensifies when he coughs and it rattles strangely. When he tries to ignore the excruciating weather wishing for his demise, he hears the strange sounds his breathing now makes. He doesn’t know them so, in a moment of out-of-character lack of reason, he gets scared of them and vaguely wonders about worst-case scenarios.

It isn’t just his chest either. It’s his throat, it’s his mouth, it’s his feet, it’s his legs. Everything in his body is tired and screaming for rest, but he cannot provide it for any of his own self at the moment, stuck trying to navigate with what little he can distinguish with almost-closed eyes from how much he has to squint. His eyes can’t focus anymore, this much he realizes with a bitter sense of resignation, so everything he sees is blurry, including the weird gooey stuff he keeps coughing out whenever he can’t breathe anymore and has to stop for who knows how long.

He trips over his own unmade shoe tie, losing in one fell swoop what was left of his balance, and falls right into the rainwater that has accumulated on the ground. It sounds and looks and feels like it’s the end, that this is where his journey ends: in some damp street of a city that he has never been able to find his way in, alone, cold and hot at the same time, rain burying him with the rest of the pavement. Not that he even thinks he has the energy to go on… Not like that. Not when his strength, the only thing he thought he had left, has all but given up on him too. Truly alone in a time where, sitting against a giant wall, he realizes what has been going on and poisoning his breath. Hah, ironic.

Still, this isn’t how he should admit defeat. He’s been won over now, and recently at that, and it’d be more than a shame for him to all but give up now. He needs to bring his team to the Centre, he can’t not try taking his revenge on the new Champion, he can’t not at least prove his superior battle skills to Raihan yet again, he just can’t leave Hop, and Sonia, and everyone else like that…

So he rises up once again, on weak arms and unsteady legs, almost tripping over himself, shoulder stuck against the wall. He won’t let this be the end of him.

Even with a new resolve, it still doesn’t make it much better for him. Unless there’s a miracle happening right before him, he’s stuck with his heavily weakened state trying to find a place whose location he has no idea. His phone doesn’t seem to be able to show a map, its signal disturbed after whatever happened to it while he was looking or doing the polar opposite, so he’s stuck with his truly inefficient sense of orientation.

But it’ll be okay. It’ll have to be okay, because he needs to see Hop become a Professor, to buy Sonia’s new book, to rematch the Champion and his Leader friends, to give his team at least one more chance to shine. It’ll be okay, surely it’ll be okay, of course it’ll be okay… It’ll be okay, because this is all a terrible nightmare he’s going to wake up from, where he isn’t stuck in the torrential rain with a fainted party and very little hope of finding way out.

It’ll be okay, oh so okay…

He tumbles and falls over again, this time hitting the ground with no grace whatsoever, most likely scratching elbows and knees in the process. Even rising his head up as not to cough in water when a fit claws at his throat again takes most of the energy he has left, only for his blurry sight and cottoned-down hearing to spot the first good thing in who knows many hours: a familiar yelp and vague brown-and-yellow figure rushing towards him.

With a trembling and feeble hand, he tries reaching out to the Yamper who has guided him so many times out of dangerous situations, only for an oh so familiar voice to yell in his direction. Still, it’s hard to know if it’s real or just his imagination. Ah, well; he’ll have to see when he’ll have woken up. If he even wakes up from the darkness starting to invade his vision…

“Yamper, where in the world are you running like that?!” This creature never stops running, doesn’t it? “Yamper, wait for me!”

If she’s used to her trusty furry assistant running around everywhere it goes and pursuing it, Sonia has to notice there’s something odd in the air. Yamper never goes this fast, especially not in a city where it could smash muzzle first into people. There’s an urgent feeling to its yelps as it runs in one precise direction.

As suddenly as Yamper started running when she had just gone out of the vault to investigate a little bit more into the Galar mythos she had become a specialist of, it stops right in its tracks in a little street she’s frankly never seen nor noticed before. With how much it’s raining and how unlikely it is to stop pouring soon, she doesn’t want the both of them out for much longer than needed.

She stops to regain her breath, hands on her knees as she folds in two, wet red hair hanging from her head. Yamper stays in place, running around her in circles, then disappearing from her view into the old, little street covered in rain and shadows. It doesn’t seem to have any intent on leaving soon.

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“Why did you… bring me here…? Seriously, it’s raining Growlithes and Purrloins…!”

Still, Sonia gets herself together and goes on to follow her “assistant”. There’s dread building in her chest and stomach that she can hardly ignore… She’s seen enough movies as a teenager to know where this is going. She’s going to end up tangled into some messed-up situation, isn’t she…?

Her heart skips a beat when she notices a very familiar person lying face down on the pavement, drenched to the bone. A person who hasn’t given her any response or sign of life for a few days.

Someone who’s gotten lost in Hammerlocke again.

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When he wakes up, everything feels different than the last time he’s been awake. It’s all white, dry and soft. He stills feels too hot and too cold, breathing remains a chore and he wishes he wasn’t there anyway; but he supposes he’s now safe and, honestly, he can’t think of anything much worse than treading through the torrential rain with little strength left.

Now, if he knew what the thing on his face was, he’d be doing a bit better, but his arms feel like they’re made out of lead and he lacks the energy to rise them to his mouth and at least touch it…

“Leon?”

The voice, even if it’s muffled, is undoubtedly Sonia’s. He can’t quite put a finger on why exactly, yet he feels like this confirms something. If his chest didn’t feel so heavy and full, he’d have sighed in relief. That doesn’t prevent him from coughing again when trying to respond to his own name.

“Let me do the talking, okay? I’m sure you have a metric ton of questions to ask, but for the love of Galar, spare your voice unless necessary.”

Now that his vision is focusing again, he notices both the pipe inserted in his wrist and the frown on her face. She seems less than content with something. What, he doesn’t quite know, and thinking hurts his head even further than it already bothers him, heavy on his neck despite resting on a pillow. Speaking of which, where is his stuff? His clothes?

“Hey, hey, hey,” Sonia rises from her chair and puts her hands on his chest, putting him back into his mattress. “You stay here and don’t cause anyone any worry more than you’ve already done!”

He’s confused as to why she’s so adamant on him not doing anything. No speaking, no moving… If he didn’t feel this drained and lethargic, he’d absolutely get back at her with playfulness. Well, that does kind of answer his own question, doesn’t it? Or, at least, it seems to make sense to his brain which has troubles keeping up with the situation…

Yet, he sees a small smirk contrast with her frowned eyebrows. She seems… pained. Pained by what, or who, he doesn’t know; he’s most likely at least partially responsible for it, because she wouldn’t be there otherwise.

“I don’t know how you’ve ended up in that situation exactly, Leon, but you’ve managed to surpass yourself in terms of putting yourself in harm’s way. You’ve scared us before, but not to that extent!”

“I…” His voice sounds hoarse and it absolutely feels that way. “It’s complicated…”

“Your entire party was fainted, safe for Charizard who was about to follow; you somehow bricked your phone in the process and ended up catching more than a death of cold. Where were you during all that time?!”

Sonia sounds a bit too scared for someone who’s facing her childhood friend stuck in a bed.

“The Wild Area…”

“That’d explain why you were soaked to the bone when I found you lying in a puddle… You’ll have to excuse me for using that crude language, you scared everyone on that one!”

It’s his turn to ask a little question, even if the state of his body makes him want to remain quiet. Still, no matter how intelligent she is, Sonia doesn’t read minds, so he’s somewhat forced to go through with it if he wants his answers.

“Where are we?”

“A clinic in Hammerlocke. I forgot to add you also scared the ER staff with how bad your breathing was.” Has to be that irritating wheezing sound he’s hearing since he’s woken up. “By the way, since I know you’re going to ask me about that, your team is safe and doing much better now. They’re all gently resting in their balls while you recover.”

He misses Charizard and everyone else already. He owes them a big apology, that’s for sure, but he’s also certain his brain can’t process much right now. Sometimes, you just need to admit yourself to have been defeated… even if it bothers you to no end.

Sonia paces around for a little bit before sitting down on the chair next to the bed, arms still crossed. She sounds more than frustrated, and, well… He can’t really hold it against her, can he? He already can barely hold anything against her to begin with, considering how much they’ve lived through together; it’s not today, in these circumstances, that he’ll try finding a reason for her not to be frustrated. Who knows how long he’s been gone without giving news: he frankly, forgot how quickly or slowly time was passing while he was wandering through the Wild Area.

“At least, you’re still here and breathing with us. Just, if you could not do that ever again, it’d be better, you know? I can’t always be there worrying after you when I’m now a Prof! Arceus, I don’t even imagine what sequence of events has thrown you into such a state. You looked absolutely pitiful when Yamper found you.”

He tries to puff at himself to ease the tension he feels rising, but all he ends up doing is coughing. And coughing. And coughing.

“What did I say about sparing your voice? Tch, you’ll never change, will you? You’ve always stubborn, after all, so there’s no reason that’ll change now. That’s part of your charm, I suppose.” She shrugs before suddenly darting her eyes away from him. “But you’re right, I shouldn’t have to worry! You were the Champion of Galar for more than ten years, why would I be afraid of you? That makes very little sense, haha!”

“S-Sonia…”

He only now spots the dark rings under her eyes and the hair pulling out of her ponytail, one strand at a time. How long was he out for, and for how much of that time was she there, exactly? (Hey, he does work fairly well, for someone who can’t stop sweating and whose entire frame is shaken up by chills at irregular intervals!). Too many questions, too little available brain space, he guesses…

“Go for it, make fun of your good old friend who still hasn’t gotten the memo. I should have been like Hop and blindly believed you’d come back to us, as you’ve always done…”

Oh, right, Hop! How is he doing, has he advanced in his research, does he still worry for him? Well, sadly, it’s not the time to think about his brother: his childhood friend seems to have a meltdown right in front of him.

“Why?”

Sonia stares at him, completely silent, eyes wide. Seems like she doesn’t have an answer to her own interrogation, until pain comes back on her face like the wave crashing on the shore.

“You don’t… think it’s ridiculous?”

“What?” His throat doesn’t take kindly to his attempts at having a conversation.

“Everything! We swore we’d trust each other, but look at me, worrying over you as if we were still kids running in the fields with the Wooloos… And I’m telling you all that while you’re cooking on the inside! Really, isn’t that ridiculous?”

Gathering his breath and his strength, he rises up with shaky arms against the bedhead, pillow still preventing his head from entirely lulling over his shoulder from how heavy it is. Whatever he’s caught, it’s one hell of an affliction he’s found himself with. Still, if it’s for Sonia, if she’s this distraught over the situation (he did almost pass away), he can put up with the migraine, the difficult breathing, the mask over his mouth, the lethargy, the chills…

“I’m sorry, Sonia.”

He does cough immediately after apologizing, as expected. For once, she doesn’t reply immediately, doesn’t make a witty remark; instead, she looks confused and maybe embarrassed, considering the red he can see with the eyes that still refuse to entirely focus for more than a few seconds.

“Sorry for what? And, again, spare your voice, you…”

“For all of this.”

Her expression softens, eyebrows drooping and eyes shining brighter. Even if it’s slight and his eyes almost miss it, she finally smiles.

“How long…?” He’s interrupted by a fit.

“How long you’ve been out?” He nods, still trying to calm his chest down. “Around half a day. You did wake up at some point but immediately passed out again. No wonder why you don’t remember that.”

He now points at her with an unsteady finger. “Why are you… Oh, how long I’ve been here?” He nods again. “Most of that time, I’d say. I’d also say I fell asleep at some point too…”

She crosses her arms again, just as his vision starts weakening again. It’s back to sleep, right?

“I think we both need our rest. I’m also certain Hop is waiting at the door, so you’ll even have a guardian angel watching over you, isn’t that super cool? And if you attempt rising from that bed, you’re sure to be put back into it in mere seconds!”

He’d try laughing if it didn’t trigger such a massive reaction from his lungs, so he decides to just nod instead.

“See you later, Leon. Goodnight.”

He waves at her, the lethargy still reflecting in his slow and sloppy gestures, but that’s fine enough for now. Her smile is worth it, isn’t it?

Absolutely worth trekking through the rain with full lungs and little energy left…

#pokemon #pokemon sword and shield #pokemon leon #pokemon sonia #lionheartshipping #sickfic #hurt comfort #pre-relationship #pneumonia #bad things happen bingo #bthb 2 #leon (pokemon)#sonia (pokemon)#otp: watchful eyes of gold

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inikavulpixelreviews · 4 years

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Let’s Talk About Pokemon - Arrokuda and Barraskewda

846: Arrokuda

I was perhaps unreasonably excited to see what on earth Cramorant's ammunition was gonna turn out to be, Pokemon-wise. Since when Cramorant was first revealed, it TECHNICALLY also revealed Arrokuda, except we only knew of its appearance and nothing more. For all we knew, Gamefreak just invented a regular “fish” for Cramorant to eat!

And who can blame me for being curious? For a basic “simply a fish” Pokemon that doesn't turn into any monstrous sea-serpent later on, it might just be the best-looking one. And of course, it never hurts to fill out Pokemon's biodiversity. Ocean's got tons of fish, and even if not all of them are really in need of representation, a barracuda is a pretty cool choice. Think whenever they get around to making a clownfish Pokemon, they'll make it this line's natural prey?

Especially neat that they modeled it after a throwing dart or a missile, since that would work even just on its own but works even better when it's got a bird to toss it around like a projectile. And I just adore that face too! That toothy, curly grin is funny, especially with those wide googly eyes. No matter what, Arrokuda looks like it's just happy to be here.

847: Barraskewda

And Barraskewda just looks even better! Even toothier, and I love that it tries to have a meaner face but in the end it still has funny googly eyes. It's also got plenty of design elements pointing it as forward as possible. Fins, its arrow-shaped head, and the rad fishbone markings along its side. It is a pretty basic motif but it's extra effective for Barraskewda here. The red is also a good addition to the color scheme to add a splash of menace. As funny as it looks, it's still a barracuda, after all!

It also has a new feature to the back fins that spin around on a pivot. It's just about as physically impossible as Tails's helicopter tails, but oh well. Fictional animals doing weird impossible things should never be a biggie, and it only makes Barraskewda look like a full-on torpedo. All the more fitting for one of the fastest dang Pokemon in the game. Not THE fastest. But sorta is, since it gets Swift Swim and so long as its raining its Speed stat becomes a whopping 272. Eat your heart out, Speed-Deoxys.

Personal Score: 8.5/10

[Archive]

#Pokemon #Arrokuda #Barraskewda #Pokemon Reviews

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satoshi-mochida · 5 years

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The Pokemon Company has released new information, video, and screenshots of Pokemon Sword and Pokemon Shield introducing two new Pokemon, Pokemon Camp, surprise trades, character customization, and more.

Get the details below.

■ Newly Discovered Pokemon of Galar

Cramorant

Category: Gulp Pokemon

Type: Flying/Water

Height: 2’7”

Weight: 39.7 lbs.

Ability: Gulp Missile

When it comes to food, Cramorant will try to swallow anything it can fit in its mouth. Sometimes it will swallow things that aren’t its intended prey, spitting them out once it realizes its mistake. A Cramorant can be forgetful, but it will never forget a Trainer it grows to trust. However, even Trainers will face fierce attacks from their Cramorant if they try to steal its food. Cramorant’s Ability, Gulp Missile, is a new Ability that can be triggered during battles. After Cramorant uses Surf or Dive, it will return with a catch in its mouth. If it takes damage while in this state, Cramorant will retaliate by spitting out its catch at that opponent.

—A voracious eater—Cramorant is insatiable.

When it comes to food, it will try to swallow anything it can fit in its mouth. Sometimes it will swallow things that aren’t its intended prey, spitting them out in a hurry once it realizes its mistake.

—It never forgets its bond with its Trainer.

Cramorant can be forgetful, but it will never forget a Trainer it grows to trust. However, it seems that even Trainers will face fierce attacks from their Cramorant if they try to steal its food.

—Cramorant’s Ability, Gulp Missile

Cramorant’s Ability, Gulp Missile, is a new Ability introduced in these titles, and it can be triggered during battles. After Cramorant uses Surf or Dive, it will return with a catch in its mouth. If it takes damage while in this state, Cramorant will retaliate by spitting out its catch at the attacker!

Polteageist

Category: Black Tea Pokemon

Type: Ghost

Height: 8”

Weight: .9 lbs.

Ability: Weak Armor

Polteageist’s body is made from black tea, and it’s said to have a very distinct aroma and flavor. It will only allow a Trainer it trusts to sample its tea, although drinking too much can lead to indigestion. Many Polteageist make their homes inside hotels and restaurants where they disguise themselves and hide among the tableware. Because they can pour their power into leftover tea and create even more of their kind, they’re often treated as pests.

—Black tea with a distinct aroma and flavor.

Polteageist’s body is made from black tea and is said to have a very distinct aroma and flavor. It will only allow a Trainer it trusts to sample its tea. However, drinking too much can lead to indigestion or an upset stomach, so be careful!

—Pests for hotels and restaurants.

Many Polteageist make their homes inside hotels and restaurants, disguising themselves and hiding among the tableware. They can pour their power into leftover tea and create even more of their kind, so they’re often treated as pests.

■ Play with Pokemon in Your Pokemon Camp

Become Friendly with Lots of Pokemon

You can enjoy a moment of relaxation and fun with the Pokemon in your party through Pokemon Camp! Watch your Pokemon closely as they have fun camping, and as they play together, you might discover a new side to them that you don’t normally get to see!

Just give a call to any Pokemon that’s far away, and it’ll happily come to you!

You can also play with your Pokemon while camping. There are several toys that your Pokemon will enjoy—you can play with them using a Poke Toy or a variety of bouncing balls! Take some time to play with your Pokemon and get to know them better!

About the Differenct Apperances of Alcremie

Alcremie is known to be able to create whipped cream from its hands. Apparently, there are several variations of color and flavor for this whipped cream, as well as the decorations on Alcremie’s body.

Make Curry on Rice, the Dish that’s All the Rage in Galar!

In your Pokemon Camp, you’ll be able to make wondrous curries that are hugely popular in the Galar region! Curry is a dish with tons of variety. You can create curries of many different flavors depending on which ingredients and Berries you choose to add to your pot! Pour your heart into cooking and create a delicious plate of curry!

The first step to cooking up some curry is choosing the ingredients you want to add. The type of curry you’ll make will change depending on what ingredients and Berries you choose to put in.

You’ll need to fan the flames until they’re strong enough and then stir the pot just right to make the best batch of curry!

Once you’re done cooking, you and your Pokemon can dig in together! The ingredients you choose change the type of curry you’ll end up with. There are plenty of types of curry, so try to cook them all and complete your Curry Dex!

Stop by Pokemon Camps Set Up by Other Players

The Wild Area is a vast expanse of open land in the Galar region. There are lots of different ways to connect with other players in the Wild Area, and Pokemon Camps are just one example! You can join the camp of another player or have other players visit your own camp until a total of four players are gathered to interact with Pokemon or make some curry!

If you come across a tent while using local communication or when connected to the internet, it’s a sign that another player has set up their Pokemon Camp there. You can take one of your party Pokemon with you, so why not have a look and join their camp! membership in the Nintendo Switch Online (paid) service is required for joining other players’ Pokemon Camps using an internet connection. You do not need to be have a membership to play with other players using local communication features.

When camping with other players, you can let your Pokemon play with their Pokemon, or you can cook up a big pot of curry and enjoy it together!

■ Trading Pokemon is Easy with Surprise Trades: You Just Never Know Who You Might Trade With

In these games, you can use Y-Comm to do things like trade Pokemon and have Link Battles via the internet or local communication. If you see a stamp pop up during your adventure, it might be a sign that another player is looking for somebody to connect with! You’ll be able to trade and have Link Battles with friends by checking these stamps, but they can also be invitations from people you’ve never met before!

—One of the features available on the Y-Comm menu is the Surprise Trade. Select a Pokemon from your Boxes that you’re willing to trade, and that’s it! A trading partner will automatically be found as you continue on your adventure!

—The game will keep trying to match you with a trading partner even as you engage in the Pokemon battles or other activities you’ll find while exploring Galar, so there’s no need for you to hunt for a trading partner or feel like you’re left waiting!

—These trades can be carried out with players from around the world if you’re using the internet. But with local communication, you can even get a trade from someone around you before you know what’s happening! Head out to lots of different places, and see if you can get a Surprise Trade! You won’t know what Pokemon you’ll get in exchange for your Pokemon until you actually receive it. If you’re lucky, you might end up with a rare Pokemon.

Membership in the Nintendo Switch Online (paid) service is required to participate in Link Trades and Link Battles using the internet. There’s no need to set up a membership for local communication use.

■ Put on Your favorite Clothes, Get a New Hairdo, and Set out on Your Adventure in Style

As you travel, you’ll come across boutiques and hair salons. By visiting them, you can buy new clothes for yourself or change your hairstyle to freshen things up! There are plenty of different clothing items, hairstyles, and even makeup options, so try out different combinations and show the entire Galar region your favorite look!

Find the Clothes You Want at Boutiques

Boutiques always have a wide selection of items, and they’ll be your go-to spots for trying on and buying new clothes. Boutiques can have outerwear, tops, gloves—you name it! You can mix and match styles in any way you want. Boutiques in different towns and cities have different items for sale, so keep your eyes open for that perfect outfit while you travel.

Head to a Hair Salon to Get a new Haircut and a New Look

Salons let you choose your haircut and hair color, style your eyebrows, or even swap out your color contacts! Spice up your adventure by changing your look to match your favorite outfit or the uniform you wear during your Gym Challenge!

■ Make Your Very Own Unique League Card

Pokemon Trainers in the Galar region make League Cards for themselves. These cards provide detailed information about the Trainer, and they are traded and given out across the region! As a Trainer, you also have your own League Card! You can use the Card Maker function of Rotomi to customize your card until you hit a design you’re happy with!

The Card Maker will give you a lot of freedom in editing your League Card—you’ll be able to change the background, the frame, your expression, your pose, and more!

You can trade League Cards with other players, and League Cards are displayed during Link Battles, too. Make one that’s really unique! You’ll be able to check all the League Cards you’ve received from others in your album.

Pokemon Sword and Pokemon Shield are due out for Switch on November 15.

Watch the footage below. View the screenshots at the gallery.

English

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Japanese

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#Pokemon Sword and Shield #Pokemon Sword #Pokemon Shield #Pokemon #Game Freak #Gematsu #long post

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battlers-of-galar · 4 years

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Character Patch Notes ( 4 / 1 )

For the past few weeks, a large majority of characters have been getting revamps and new stories to go with their exclusion in the upcoming story. As a result, I decided to compile most of the surface level changes for those that wish to see just what has changed for the characters. Don’t worry, I did my best to make it as compact as possible.

Charles ( Grookey )

I took the liberty of rewriting Charles’s backstory to open him up as a Grookey who, under the passion of his father and brother, is a Grookey aspiring to partake in the gym challenge and practice his drumming skills. As well as being the one to often help cheer others up during a tough situation.

Pokemon Level:

19 ---> 20

Pokemon Moves:

Taunt ---> Knock Off

Likes:

Tree Swinging ---> Helping Others

Berries ---> Battle Planning

Dislikes:

Negative Pokemon ---> Tense Moments

Occupation ( Job ):

Pokemon Trainer ---> Gym Challenger

Personality:

Laid Back ---> Passionate

Vanissa ( Scorbunny )

I decided to focus on revamping a number of characters with Vanissa being one of the bigger ones due to the lacking feeling in her character. I decided on having her and Gabriella, her Cinderace Sister, have difficult terms together which could lead to story and interaction between the two. I also wish to avoid all of Vanissa’s character being the hot-headed one of the group.

Pokemon Level:

19 ---> 22

Pokemon Moves:

Tackle ---> Agility

Likes:

Battle Planning ---> Showing her strength

Dislikes:

Judgemental Pokemon ---> Judgy Pokemon

Occupation ( Job ):

Pokemon Trainer ---> Gym Challenger

Personality:

Tomboyish ---> Stubborn

Henry ( Sobble )

Not much was needed to be changed for Henry seeing as how his character is the sort I would imagine, but I did revamp his bio to help shape as to why he’s still nervous at such an old age. I did feel him showing signs of wanting to change, yet being held back by fears that still haven’t left him, could make for a nice character that could have some interaction and such involving him.

Serena ( Wooloo )

Serena’s bio was pretty old, mainly being made when Wooloo was first introduced and had little to no changes outside of including the name of her younger brother. With that said, her backstory was changed to allow for how she met her current friends and the intrigue she has on wanting to see more of the region.

Likes:

Sweets ---> Sweets / Desserts

Rolling About ---> Exploring

Dislikes:

Sheared Wool → Aggressive Petting

Personality:

Gentle ---> Considerate

Valerie ( Galarian Farfetch’d )

I wanted to tone back on the idea that Valerie grew up in a strict household as the idea was hard for me to accept with Arthur getting more character. I decided instead to change it so that rather than her father’s actions being the thing she dislikes, it’s the fame her father has that bothers her. It’s not like she hates this fame, but the fact her training is being seen under Arthur annoys her.

Age:

19 ---> 22

Likes:

Leek Practice ---> Teaching Others

Dislikes:

Item Management ---> Unnecessary Attention

Occupation ( Job ):

Pokemon Trainer ---> Gym Challenger

Personality:

Tough ---> Honest

Hardworking ---> Venturesome

Rowdy ---> Reserved

Louisa ( Sirfetch’d )

I took the liberty of rewriting parts of Louisa to allow her to tie well into her daughter Valerie. The idea is that Louisa is quite invested in battling, but worries that she can’t enjoy battling forever once her leek withers. This has led to her taking the opportunity to try and teach others some of the proper ways of battling.

Age:

38 ---> 42

Likes:

Tough Opponents ---> Teaching Others

Dislikes:

Leek Tampering ---> Leek Trouble

Occupation ( Job ):

Gym Challenger

Volunteer ---> Poke Job Volunteer

Amity ( Greedent )

With Amity being one of the characters who doesn’t require too much depth her stuff pretty much stays the same outside of a few things. Otherwise, she’s the same Greedent you love.

Likes:

Sweets ---> Desserts / Sweets

Vida ( Dracozolt )

Not much was changed aside from giving Vida a bit of a relationship with Louisa, allowing Vida to become more prominent for the sword side of things.

Josephine ( Inteleon )

Lately, I found a lot of people really wanted to interact with Josephine in many unique ways. However, due to the overwhelming amount of interest, I realized Josephine might not be the easiest to present for interactions given how she is. As such, Josephine’s backstory and aspects have been rewritten to make her an Inteleon struggling to understand more about what she can do. As well as wanting to show she doesn’t have to be a strong pokemon to be a leader all the time. This backstory ties into one of the major criticisms I received where she had mostly water type moves while lacking important ones such as U-Turn or Acrobatics. I took this criticism as a new way to present Josephine since she might look and act cool, but deep down she’s not really the best. She can only really use Snipe Shot and has trouble with other moves.

Age:

28 - 27

Dislikes:

Cheating Opponents ---> Inteleon Problems

Camping ---> Feeling Incompetent

Occupation ( Job ):

Pokemon Trainer ---> Gym Challenger

Relationships:

Portia ( Hungry Bird ) ---> Dara ( Group Cook )

Personality:

Adaptable ---> Calm

Cooperative ---> Clear Headed

Gabriella ( Cinderace )

I decided with Gabriella to have her story focus on competition in Cinderace fashion, but have this also tie into her relationship with her own sister. The two of them often being at odds with each other is a great way for Vanissa to push wanting to show she can be more without evolving.

Age:

26 ---> 25

Likes:

Soccer ---> Sports

Spicy Curry ---> Competition

Dislikes:

Dynamax ---> Getting Blindsided

Occupation ( Job ):

Pokemon Trainer ---> Gym Challenger

Relationships:

Anya ( Rocking Friend ) ---> Dara ( Favorite Cook )

Personality:

Daring ---> Competitive

Vittoria ( Thievul )

I wanted to give a much better take on the young thief idea with a bit more story to her. As well as presenting the idea for why she steals more during a battle because of being impatient.

Age:

27 ---> 25

Likes:

Stealing Practice ---> Thieving Practice

Occupation ( Job ):

Pokemon Trainer ---> Gym Challenger

Relationships:

Amity ( Neighbor ) ---> Amity ( Slow-witted Neighbor )

Dara ( Grapploct )

Did a bit more work to present her as this odd team member who has trouble holding back, but is pretty cool to interact with when you aren’t being squeezed by her.

Age:

27 ---> 25

Dislikes:

Her Training Method ---> Holding Back

Occupation ( Job ):

Pokemon Trainer ---> Gym Challenger

Poke Job Volunteer

Relationships:

Louisa ( Decent Battler ) ---> Maria ( Volunteer Buddy )

Anya ( Toxtricity )

I wanted to try a better take at a character who is developed to be a loudmouth and give her a bit more depth. Now she is loudmouth that loves music and wants to battle to show it off.

Age:

27 ---> 25

Dislikes:

Music Haters → Being Silenced

Classic Music ---> Slow Music

Occupation ( Job ):

Pokemon Trainer ---> Gym Challenger

Dominique ( Obstagoon )

Dominique now has a bit more importance towards the overall story coming up and may or may not be related to a certain Zigzagoon. Though it is strange to see where her daughter went.

Pokemon Abilities:

Defiant ( When its stats are lowered its Attack increases. ) ---> Guts ( Boosts Attack if there is a status problem. )

Family:

( Brother ) ---> Maverick ( Brother )

Relationships:

Charles ( Piper’s friend ) ---> Portia ( Gullible Bird ),

Anya ( Music Partner ) ---> Anya ( Neighbor's Daughter )

Gabriella ( Neighbor ) ---> Amity ( Piper’s Cook )

Personality:

Tomboyish ---> Freewheeling

Hazel ( Morpeko )

As Hazel’s bio is already perfect as is, not much was needed to be done about making sure she was presented as a Morpeko struggling with her hunger.

Relationships:

Portia ( Hunger Management ) ---> Amity ( Hunger Management )

Vida ( Fossil Friend ) ---> Portia ( Cramorant Friend )

Emeline & Archer ( Dreepy & Dragapult )

I realized the mother and son dynamic that these two had makes it a little tricky for Emeline to interact with others on her own. However, someone gave me an idea that I felt was really useful to consider. What if instead of Archer being Emeline’s son, he was instead Emeline’s adopted son. This would give Emeline the dynamic of not really being a mother, but still trying to act like she is one. As a result, I rewrote Emeline from the ground up to include this idea. Also now she likes plushies

Likes:

Meat Foods ---> Plushies

Dislikes:

Destructive Pokemon ---> Feeling Alone

Family:

Archer ( Son ) ---> Archer ( Adopted Son )

Occupation ( Job ):

Pokemon Trainer ---> Gym Challenger

Relationships:

Vida( Fossil Pokemon ) ---> Maria ( Friendly Babysitter )

Personality:

Motherly ---> Affectionate

Stern ---> Protective

Valencia ( Duraludon )

As Arthur will be a strong impact on the story, I decided to have a character present just how much of an impact his achievements have pushed others to do what he has done. He might not be a champion, but boy does his dedication show.

Age:

32 ---> 30

Pokemon Level:

62 ---> 57

Likes:

Gigantamax ---> Target Practice

Dislikes:

Being Pushed ---> Rough Pokemon

Being Climbed On ---> Terrible Curry

Family:

( Father ) ---> ( Mother ), ( Father )

Occupation ( Job ):

Pokemon Trainer ---> Gym Challenger

Poke Job volunteer

#Pokemon #Blog Post #OOC #April Fools?#Not really april fools

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