#If they had more dragons in gen 1 to make his team an actual dragon team I wouldn't bully him as much

[fairydares]

fuck it, new fic. let's do this.

(there's a 'keep reading' line so don't worry, this isn't too long.)

Title: Chasing Tails (AO3 Link) (Chapter 2) (Chapter 3)

Fandom: Fairy Tail

Rating: E (Explicit) because I'm almost positive there will be eventual smut. I'll be clearer about this as I actually decide what I'm going to write lol. Overarching Warning for Graphic Depictions of Violence.

Categories: 2nd gen fic; adventure, humor, romance, fluff, and angst in approximately that order. i guess.

Pairings: Nalu, Gruvia, Gajevy, Jerza, Miraxus+Fried (don't know what that ship's called sorry), Chendy, Sting/Yukino, Baccana-- next gen has pairings, too, but I don't want to reveal those yet.

Tags/TW's: The first chapter contains UFC/MMA-esque violence as well as some implied street violence. There may be more TW's I need to add later, but I honestly haven't written the whole story or decided everything, so that's all I can give you for now. I'll do my best to tag appropriately as I go.

Summary: It’s been almost 12 years since 17-year-old Layla O'Neil was found living alone on the streets and put in foster care, and she likes to think she’s done a pretty good job of forgetting the past. She doesn’t remember her birth family, the name “Nashi [*1] Dragneel,” or where she heard the absurd stories she told the police who found her. Stories about Wizard Guilds, flying cats, and–most cringey of all–her self-proclaimed status as a “Fire Dragon Slayer.”

But the past becomes pretty impossible to ignore when it confronts her in the form of some middle-aged, pink-haired stalker who won’t stop calling her the ridiculous name she’d nearly forgotten, and trying to convince her to come back to “Fairy Tale.”

Oh, and claiming to be her dad.

Like Layla doesn’t have enough problems! The last thing she needs is some delusional freak following around. Especially one who’s starting to make her want to take his hand…

Yep, this is a Second Gen (and therefore post-canon) fic. The idea took root and just would not let go. I’ll warn you ahead of time that the premise is somewhat dark. That said, I’m the kind of writer who likes (and tries to write) stories with sad beginnings, hopeful middles, and triumphant ends. I don't want to give too much away, but you shouldn't expect major character deaths or anything like that, though their may be some forms of lightly implied abuse.

Feel free to reblog, make your own additions with commentary, whatever. I'm quite lax with stuff like that. Hope this was comprehensive enough, and that you enjoy!

Chapter 1: Dragon-Slaying Aliens

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“That’s correct…a world that exists independently from the one we know. And, unfortunately, a world that’s begun losing its Magic…unlike here, in Edolas, Magic is a finite resource. Without limits on its use, it will one day disappear forever.” -from Episode 78, “Edolas”, (English dub, ~00:09), Carla’s line [*1]

------------------------------------------------------------------------------To say this mission had gone sideways was a big-ass understatement, and even Natsu had to admit it. 

It had started well enough. A relatively small mission. Not even S-Class! Puny wannabe Dark Guilds like the one Shirotsume needed dealt with–what was it called? Bony Jewel or something? Anyways, they were a dime a dozen, these days. Hell, Natsu was pretty sure he and Happy took out, like, a billion of them in the past seven years by pure accident. So how the hell was he supposed to know that this time, he’d get blasted to another world–one even Team Natsu hadn’t wound up in? 

And he was positive they’d never been here. He may have had a bad memory (something he’d begrudgingly been forced to actively acknowledge as he grew into a man) but he was sure he’d have remembered somewhere that made him feel this bad. It wasn’t just that he couldn’t use his Magic. If it had just been that, this might have been fun. Hell, a lot of the worlds Team Natsu had visited–even Edolas–had been fun.

This one sucked. 

If he hadn’t known better, he’d have thought he’d been transported to the future–one where FACE had been activated and all the Magic had been dissipated. Because it had felt, truly, like all the Magic was being sucked out of him. When he’d woken up on the forest floor, he’d felt as if he was dying. His lungs had burned with each breath (and not in the good way). His limbs had felt like lead when he tried to rise. 

He’d quickly realized that couldn’t be the case, though. Even if the Dragons hadn’t destroyed FACE, if all the Magic had been sucked from Earthland he’d have Magical Deficiency Syndrome. He’d either be down or in forced into his END form. 

He’d wandered around the small forest he’d woken up in alone, trying to focus through the stink and noise he was only capable of perceiving through what felt like about a hundred layers of thick blanket, and calling for his best friend as long as he could. It hadn’t been long before he gave up and left; Happy had never shouted back (something he considered fortunate, at this point; hopefully Happy was back in Earthland) his stomach was trying to eat itself, it was dark–and, worst of all–he still couldn’t use his Magic. At all.

Actually, scratch that: the absolute worst part was when a glance at his (as usual) bare shoulder showed him that his guild mark had vanished. It was just gone. So was his scarf, and so was his Mini Communication Lacrima. Obviously, his guild mark and scarf were bigger deals personally, but the Mini Comm was a bigger loss in immediate, practical terms. After That Day, seven years ago, Laxus–now Fairy Tail’s Master–had started putting Navigation Enchantments on everyone’s Comms so that anyone who went missing could be traced. There was a 3D map of Earthland and Edolas visually tracking everyone’s movements in the Master’s Office. It could even find them in Edolas. 

Now, Natsu’s was nowhere to be found. No one would be able to find him, wherever he was, and any hopes of contacting them were obviously dead in the water, too. 

He was gonna have to find his own way back, somehow. He only prayed his scarf was somehow back in Earthland, and that Happy had grabbed it for him. 

As he hobbled down the weird, too-neat walkway he’d found, he had to believe that whatever was preventing him from using his Magic was what kept him from sensing anything beyond the general–the stink, the sound, the pain, the hunger. Normally, with his better-than-normal resilience and enhanced strength, his pain would have mostly taken care of itself by now. Usually, making himself move helped. Now, it seemed to be making things worse. 

After finding the pathway, he’d kept shouting for his little buddy a whole bunch of times, but all he’d gotten were several loud verbal confrontations and one physical one. He’d expected to beat the massive brute towering next to the smaller woman beside him–and he had. But it hadn’t been as easy as he’d expected. His movements had been slower than normal. His limbs had felt like lead. His strength had been lesser. Every time he tried to call up his Magic, a wave of dizziness and lethargy had overcome him. It was like he’d feel the rushing up inside of him only to sputter to coldness at the last second; he hadn’t seen so much as a spark since he’d woken up. 

In the end, it was only experience and determination which had allowed him to level the much larger man, and hard-earned wisdom which had seen him running from the screeching woman and the gun-wielding, uniform-wearing soldiers her screeching had drawn. Yet the punch he’d taken to the nose had made it bleed and the kick to the thigh had made him limp. 

It wasn’t just that his Dragon senses had vanished, making him woozy, making it difficult to stand and excruciating to move. His strength was gone as well. Not even sealstone would have weakened him this much.

He’d wandered, now, for what felt like several hours. The number of Magical Vehicles around were astounding–astounding, and nauseating; just looking at them made Natsu want to vomit. The one good part of having an empty stomach was that he had nothing to give up. He meandered in a stupor, through unbelievably thick crowds, dodging Magic Vehicles and their honking, and glaring down anyone who yelled at him for not understanding something, occasionally barking back to scare them off.

He’d never been so disoriented, and the worst part was that deep down, he knew that there was no one to blame but himself. 

Lucy and Happy had asked him, point-blank, if the Quest he’d chosen had anything to do with his search for their long-lost daughter and kitten. 

It had. Of course it had. 

However, Natsu had denied it. Because if he hadn’t, he and Happy wouldn’t have been able to leave right then. Lucy would have forced him to bring someone else along; she was busy taking care of their son, Luke; the Perve-sicle was already out on his own mission/search for Juvia, and Erza was away, which meant he’d have had to ask someone outside Team Natsu. 

No thanks, he’d decided, covering up the fine print on the mission request with his fingers before holding it up to Lucy’s nose. 

Now, as he snarled at yet another person yelling at him for being in the way, Natsu was starting to consider the possibility that he just maybe should’ve been more upfront, and even that he should–perhaps–have waited for the stripper to get back before taking on Bony Jewel or whatever alone.

But how the hell was he supposed to have known it would end up like this?! It had been going fine–in fact, it had been going great! A couple opponents had offered a real challenge before their Master had shown up. Natsu had been laying down brick in that fight, too. Yet when the guy had been on his last legs, he’d whipped some creepy, sparkly rainbow skull from nowhere (now that he thought about it…that might have been what the Guild was named for!) and shot one last attack. One so big, Natsu had been unable to dodge–though, of course, he’d made to both block and finish the fight with an enormously powerful Fire Dragon Wing Attack. 

Based on his current predicament–he had to assume it hadn’t worked. Even though the skull had shattered in the heat of his flames at the last second, the blast had still hit him. His one consolation was that he was pretty sure his little buddy had heeded his final warning to get back. So he was almost definitely still back in Earthland.  

It had taken Natsu several pathetic attempts to stand. Getting here felt like a blur. Now, he had no idea what he was doing. What he should do. Their money had been in Happy’s knapsack, and without his precious nose, finding food was basically impossible anway. 

Man…Lucy’s gonna kill me, he grumbled internally, grunting at another group who shouted at him for bumping into him. 

Okay, yeah, maybe he should’ve been honest. Maybe he should’ve waited. But how could he do that when the lead was so good? When there was even the smallest chance he might finally find Nashi [*]? 

At the thought, his footsteps halted temporarily. He ducked his head, bangs shadowing his eyes. He balled his fists at his sides. The thought of the missing daughter he’d never stopped searching for never got easier to bear. 

It was the worst thing that could happen to a parent, to lose their child. Something he wouldn’t have wished on Fairy Tail’s most vicious, evil enemy. He and Lucy understood that too intimately. Still, he didn’t let himself get bogged down, not when it might hold him back, not when it might keep him from finding her. Seven years, she’d been gone. Her, Wendy–so many of their nakama and allies. Time had neither hindered nor halted his search for any of his missing comrades, but especially his little girl. She’d be twelve, now. He’d gotten better with birthdays and anniversaries when he married Lucy. He’d woken up and started crying on April 14th this year, the same as his wife. 

Still, even on that day, he’d spoken of her. When he was with Luke, Lucy, and Happy, he talked about it. He talked about how he’d find her and Harley–Happy and Carla’s kitten–how they’d be a family again. He spoke of the future to give it power, just like Igneel had taught him. Just like he’d taught his own kids. Wherever Nashi was, he was sure she must be doing the same; speaking of how she’d find them again, the same as he strove to find her. 

But he couldn’t continue his search (covert or not) until he got home. So getting home was definitely at the top of the to-do list. Right after eating. 

He kept walking.

Wherever he’d wound up was seedy, dark, yet strewn with lights that made paths across his newly-sucky eyes when he looked at them directly. Gross and smelly, too. The people he’d just bumped into started shouting back at him, something about bumping into someone’s girlfriend, and he huffed irritably. Normally, he’d never back down from a challenge like this, but believe it or not, he was too lost, confused, hungry, and tired to deal with another fight–not when the injuries he’d sustained from the previous one were still hurting this much. 

It was humiliating. He’d always been the type of person who refused to back down from a fight, no matter how outmatched he was. These days, a lot of fights were honestly pretty boring for him. Erza would always be scary, and Gray was admittedly pretty strong (if not badass enough to stand up to him, or so he would always insist). He could proudly admit to having achieved (at least) Gildarts-level strength without the clumsiness to make him dangerous. 

Now, he was balking out of fights with people who weren’t even using Magic. 

There was something viscerally terrifying about how much his injuries were troubling him. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t limp without worsening whatever injury that asshole had doled out on his knee. His nose felt bigger than his head. 

He stumbled on, brooding. 

The guy whose girlfriend he’d bumped into got louder, closer. Obviously, the freak wasn’t gonna let it go. Cursing, he started hobbling more quickly, turning the next corner. To his relief and curiosity, bright lights, loud voices, and a huge crowd–littered with food stands he might be able to beg food from–appeared. He made his way into the thick of it, ignoring the shouts behind him, and ducked and wove between people. It took him several seconds to realize he was still trying to find food by his nose, which barely even freaking worked. Frustrated, he turned his attention to the source of the light, which seemed to focus down on whatever sat in the middle of the crowd. 

Curiosity shoving past the numbness and hunger, Natsu pushed his way towards it. 

“Ow!” 

“Hey!” 

“Watch it, freak!” 

“Yeah, yeah,” Natsu grumbled. “Watch your damn selves!”

He still felt like shit, but the crowd was oddly invigorating. As he crashed through the thickest (front) lines of the crowd, more lights came on while the darkness behind him fell deeper. Natsu winced, blinking. It took him a few moments to register what he’d stumbled upon: a roundish sort of stage, elevated a few feet off the ground and bordered by some kind of chain-link cage thing. Two corners were open to be entered, but fended off  by some big dudes in black suits, holding back the crowd. 

“WELCOME, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN!” boomed a voice that came from everywhere and nowhere at once, making Natsu flinch again and the crowd start chattering loudly. 

Match? Natsu wondered despite his disorientation and exhaustion, thinking of the Grand Magic Games. He shoved aside every stranger who tried to take his place at the front of the audience, looking around with wide, curious eyes, shoving his gnawing stomach to the backburner.

“FIGHT FANS! ARE YOU REAAAADDDDYYYYY??!!! ” 

Fight? Natsu thought, perking up, conveniently forgetting his injuries in a burst of excitement. Several people started chattering at the crack of the loud voice that was everywhere and nowhere, making Natsu look around even more fervently. 

“BECAUSE THIS LONG-WAITED MATCH-UP IS… ABOUT…TO…BEGINNNN!!!”

The cheering got louder, the shoving got more aggressive, and Natsu got more aggressive right along with it. He’d be damned if he was going to miss a good fight. Besides. He needed to see what the Magic here was like. He was being smart. So ha! How about that, Lucy?!

“INTRODUCING: OUR FIRST FIGHTER!” the voice shouted while Natsu continued to elbow and shove, anticipation rising. Music rang out, a dude’s loud, snarly voice backed up by a bunch of deep bangs and booms which had Natsu trying to decide if what he was listening to was awesome or fucking awful–nope, definitely fucking awful. For the first time, he was glad he couldn’t hear properly since he got here. 

A light flashed at one corner, drawing his eye. “UNLIKE HIS OPPONENT, THIS FIGHTER IS WELL-ESTABLISHED IN THE SEMI-UNDERGROUND OCTAGON! HAD HIS PERFORMANCES BEEN FORMALLY JUDGED WHILE THE UNDERGROUND WAS STILL ACTIVE, HE WOULD LIKELY HAVE LONG-BEEN PERMANENTLY DISQUALIFIED! YET, IN SPITE OF A CONTROVERSIAL CAREER, HE HAS REMAINED A STAPLE OF THE SEMI-OCTAGON FIGHTING WORLD FOR TWO YEARS!”

“Er, feels kinda harsh?” Natsu muttered to himself, sweating slightly. Though he didn’t really get what “controversial career” meant. 

“WHILE THIS IS NOT FOR THE CHAMPIONSHIP TITLE, DUE TO HIS HISTORY, MANY WILL NO DOUBT VIEW HIM AS REIGNING CHAMP AND DEFENDER! INNNNTTRRROOODUUUCCCINNNG… ‘MAD BULL’ MATTHEW BRON!” 

A door Natsu hadn’t even seen was slammed open as if it had been kicked, and an enormous man–even bigger than the one that had managed to tag Natsu just a little bit ago, a man built like that potato head guy from Lamia Scale, and actually bearing a similar-shaped bald head–appeared, yanking off headphones and chucking them over his massive shoulder one of the lackeys who’d followed him out. The much shorter guy jumped, barely catching them and fumbling a lot once he had. “Mad Cow” or whatever grinned maniacally as he stormed for the ring, dark eyes wild.

The response from the crowd was mixed but mostly positive, Natsu quickly noticed as he glanced around. His eyes skated quickly over the group next to him (which was booing, unlike most of the crowd) then returned his focus to the stage-circle thing. He could see well enough, he was glad to note, even if his vision was nowhere near as sharp as it was back on Earthland. Big Guy took his place at the corner of the ring and immediately started pacing, lifting tree-like arms and roaring as he did so. Meanwhile his lackey scurried for the bit of protected corner behind him, trying to shout for his attention and getting nowhere as he continued to pace. 

Natsu quickly decided he didn’t like the looks of this guy, intro aside. He was the type of asshole Natsu lived to knock down a peg, and despite his injuries and exhaustion, Natsu found himself appraising the big bastard, hands twitching. Sure, he wasn’t in the best shape, but since when had he been one to turn down the chance to kick some ass? It was more a reflex than anything. For about the billionth time since he’d landed here, he tried conjuring up some fire only to curse internally as all he got for his efforts was a wave of dizziness and a wash of helplessness. 

“NOW FOR OUR CONTENDER,” the voice boomed. “SHE’D ONLY BARELY ENTERED THE UNDERGROUND BEFORE IT BECAME THE SEMI-UNDER, BUT WAS ALREADY MAKING WAVES! THIS FIGHTER HAS SPARKED INTENSE DEBATE ABOUT WHETHER WOMEN SHOULD BE ALLOWED TO FIGHT MEN–IN ANY OCTAGON!” More mixed din. Natsu frowned in confusion. Was it for the other fighters’ safety or something? Because someone should ban Erza from contributing to the guild hall violence. Oh, yes. That was a great idea. He’d have to bring the idea up to Gray when he got home. 

“BUT IT’S DIFFICULT TO ARGUE WITH HER HANDY VICTORIES!” the voice boomed. “THANKS TO HER NEARLY-UNBROKEN STREAK OF INSANE WINS, SHE HAS BEEN NICKNAMED THE THE ‘PHOENIX’, ‘UNDERDOG’, ‘TENMEN’...AND HER PREFERRED NICKNAME…” 

A new song started, and this one was undeniably cool, in Natsu’s opinion. Something hard, fast, and catchy, punctuated by an angry-sounding woman singing something about “not giving a damn” about something or other. The door at the opposite end of the ring swung open. A girl came swaggering out, and Natsu froze.

“THE DRAGONESS, LAYLAAAAA O'NEEEILLLLL!!!!”  

It wasn’t his daughter. It couldn’t be. Her name wasn’t Layla. Her name was Nashi. His Nashi would be twelve, and this girl was in her late teens–maybe even her early twenties. The fact that her fighting nickname was “The Dragoness” was a nasty coincidence, but that’s all it was. This couldn’t be Earthland’s Nashi.

But it was this world’s Nashi. Of that, there was no doubt. And Natsu couldn’t make himself take his eyes off her, couldn’t even make himself blink as he stared, ignoring the cheering and booing all around him. 

A couple strands of unruly pink hair at her bangs had broken free of their tight braids, as adorable and predictably unpredictable as his little girl’s. They clung to her forehead, bouncing as she strutted towards the monster still pacing, practically frothing at the mouth, and Natsu vaguely registered the sound of several peoples’ alarmed murmuring. If he hadn’t been so distracted, he’d have understood; she was about half the guy’s size and about -50% as insane-looking.

Not scared, though. 

And…she looked like Lucy. She looked so much like Lucy that it hurt. He could still remember times when he’d call his little girl’s name, she’d turn around, and he’d gasp–because it really was like an adorable, wild little pink-haired Lucy turning to look up at him, her whole face lighting up like he was the greatest thing in Earthland. The memory choked him up, a feeling he’d gotten used to over the past seven years. He swallowed hard.

But that wasn’t Lucy’s smile. Natsu felt like he had seen that smile somewhere but he wasn’t particularly interested in thinking about it all that deeply, because what mattered was that it was her smile, his little girl’s, big and toothy and unmistakable–a little lopsided, the corners of her lips characteristically curling. 

It hit his chest like a shot from Zeref, making him briefly clutch at his waistcoat’s dirtied fabric. 

Natsu knew, firsthand, just how similar other worlds’ versions of his loved ones could be to his. Hell, Edolas Lucy had chopped off her hair to make it a little easier to distinguish herself from Earthland Lucy. 

That didn’t make it hurt any less to suddenly see another world’s Nashi– Layla, this one was called. That was Nashi’s middle name. It made sense, when you thought about it. Names were one thing that seemed to sometimes differ slightly between worlds, as he’d learned on the 100-Year-Quest [*3]. Her canines were sorta sharp, maybe, but they weren’t Dragon Slayer sharp, like his and daughter’s. Besides. Edo Nashi and Fireball’s canines were a tiny bit sharper than normal, too. 

It couldn’t be her. It couldn’t be. Looking at her still felt like being punched in the chest by Erza. Yet he couldn’t stop watching as the music, cheers, and boos faded, she stripped off her sweats (to much catcalling and whistling) to reveal a black sports bra/shorts getup sort of like “Mad Bull’s” shorts, revealing a body packed with much more muscle than any of Fairy Tail’s women would’ve allowed themselves to accumulate. She looked pretty badass, he decided. 

The voice that was everywhere and nowhere boomed on:

“NOT ONLY A CHANCE AT THE UPCOMING TITLE ON THE LINE, BUT–POTENTIALLY–THE FUTURE OF MIXED SEMI-UNDERS. TWO CHALLENGERS, SQUARING OFF FOR A CHANCE AT THE SEMI-FINALS. THIS IS A GIGANTIC CULTURAL MOMENT IN THE HISTORY OF THIS SPORT… ‘MAD BULL’ MATTHEW BRON VS. THE ‘DRAGONESS’ LAYLA O'NEIL!” 

“‘Dragoness’ is fucking right!” Mad Cow or whatever roared while he hugged one arm across his chest, grinning ferally at his much smaller opponent. “Here hoping some man will look at you, fugly?!” 

Several people in the audience laughed. Even the announcer chuckled. Meanwhile, Natsu’s blood boiled. On some level, he knew he needed to separate himself from this. From this fight, from this “Nashi.” Especially when he was this powerless to do anything about any of it. But it was impossible to listen to someone say that to another version of his daughter and not have every protective instinct in his body flare, especially when the spectators apparently thought it was fucking hilarious.

However, her grin didn’t even flicker. “Like you’re one to talk!” she cackled. “You look like Popeye fucked Bigfoot!”

Natsu didn’t flinch at the language like many people in the audience seemed to. In fact, he found the disapproving murmurs confusing. The other guy hadn’t exactly been polite, but he hadn’t gotten the same reaction. Still, a solid number of people were laughing their asses off, including the group next to him which had booed Mad Cow. 

He also had no clue what the hell she’d just said even meant, but the way Mad Cow’s smile dropped off his face, a handful of people started howling with laughter, and the commentator’s chuckles cut off abruptly was enough to make Natsu grin. 

Some random guy in some sort of black, collared uniform entered the arena, signaling to the loud, annoying commentator. Unlike her opponent, no one had followed This Nashi into the arena; she was all alone. So she ran back to her own bit of protected yet empty corner and threw her clothes and a water bottle over the chainlink fence, then ran back towards the middle of the arena. There, she  hopped up and down, shaking out her arms. Stretched them above her head. 

“OUCH!” The commentator finally seemed to recover, though he sounded somewhat vexed. “WELL, ONE THING’S FOR SURE, THE CHALLENGER CAN TALK GAME…WHETHER SHE CAN LIVE UP TO IT IS ANOTHER QUESTION.” 

“God, I fucking hate when Hansis commentates,” the guy next to Natsu muttered, his friends snorting in agreement. Then he glanced at Natsu–only to double take. “Oi, are you related to the Dragoness or something?!” he asked, eyes on his hair. 

“Uhhh…” Natsu chuckled nervously, feeling himself start to sweat. He may have been what Erza would (and frequently did ) call an “impulsive idiot”, but he had no clue how to explain that he was the father of her other self. “Something like that.”

“Whoa, seriously?!” The guy’s friend leaned around him to look at Natsu with wide, shining eyes, then continued, “I won’t ask anymore, ‘cause obviously you’re trying to protect your identities or something, but that’s so cool! We’re huge fans!” 

“Hmm…” Natsu said, scanning their apparel–t-shirts and hats emblazoned with her face and silhouette–and what looked like homemade signs of her name, written in fiery letters. “I can see that…what is this, exactly?” He asked this while looking around at the lights, spectators, an unfamiliar kind of money being exchanged and counted between several people.

Natsu tilted his head, blinking. “No?” he said. 

“The semi-underground tournament?” the only girl in the group said, eyes almost as wide as her friend’s. When Natsu only continued to look confused, she said, “What, do you live under a rock?! You’ve at least heard of MMA, right? Mixed Martial Arts?” 

He perked up at this. “Like a fight?! Hell, yeah! How do I get in on this?!” He grinned, cracking his knuckles, his earlier scuffles and empty stomach completely forgotten. 

“YOU DON’T!” the entire group shouted, eyes bugging. 

The dude who’d first started talking to him huffed, sweating slightly. “The ‘semi-underground’ octagon used to just be called ‘the underground fights,’” he explained loudly, Natsu still having to lean in to catch what he said with his new, bad ears over the increasingly excited din. “It was illegal, but, like, illegal in the ‘everyone knows but won’t squeal’ way, you know?” 

Natsu nodded, fully getting this. After all, how many times had soldiers arrested him only for Queen Hisui to let him off with a finger-wag. Of course, his luck on that front had run out seven years ago…

“The feds finally cracked down on it,” the guy continued, “but didn’t prosecute any of the fighters. Now, it’s called the ‘Semi-Underground’...it’s got no weight-classes (which is why the Dragoness can fight big dudes like Mad Bull). All genders are free to compete and fight each other. It’s a bit more for entertainment than pure fighting prowess– that was different, before,” the guy added with a wistful tone. “But still! You can’t just go waltzing into the octagon, you know? Back in the basement where this used to happen, you could’ve gotten away with that, but now you’ve gotta work for it, you know? Seriously, do you live under a rock or something?” 

Irritated, Natsu opened his mouth, but his response was cut off when a loud voice–not as loud as the announcer, but still–redrew all their attention to the ring. “Alright, fighters,” the black-collar guy said into a microphone which was smaller and not as loud as the commentator’s, quieting the audience. “We’ve been over the rules. Protect yourself at all times. Follow my instructions. We’re going to have a clean fight, you hear me?” He glared at Mad Bull, but This Nashi was the only one who dipped her chin in recognition. Natsu’s eyes narrowed along with hers when her opponent refused to acknowledge the guy’s words. “Now, touch gloves at this time, and come out ready to do this!” 

Both fighters instantly danced away from each other. Black collar guy scowled. Both the commentator and the audience made sounds like “ OOOOOOOH!” 

“NO TOUCH!” came the commentator’s gleeful voice, “I REPEAT, NEITHER FIGHTER TOUCHED GLOVES, AND SO FAR, NEITHER ARE REALLY MOVING FOR EACH OTHER–” 

“SAY YOU’RE PRAYERS, BITCH!” Mad Cow roared. “YOU’RE DEAD MEAT!” 

“BRING IT!” This Nashi roared back, and Mad Cow lunged, swinging in immediately with a big, dramatic overhand hook that would have knocked her out immediately if she hadn’t skated out of its way. It took about three similar exchanges for Natsu to sag in disappointment. 

“Oi!” he shouted, utterly let down, “Where the hell’s the magic?!” 

“Geez!” the guy next to him laughed. “The fight’s only just started: give them a minute to warm up! Then we’ll get to see the cool stuff.”

“What, they’re not allowed to use it at first or something?” Natsu asked, still staring as This Nashi fended off huge, devastating blows raining down from above and leapt back from the powerful kicks, eyes narrowed and expression tight. 

“...Er, what?” the guy asked. 

“Magic–duh!” Natsu huffed, flickering wide eyes between the guy and This Nashi, who was now darting backwards around the round-ish ring, still fending Mad Cow off, weaving and ducking with a speed few could hope to match. “You know?! Fire, Ice, Celestial Magic…?

The guy stared at him for a second along with his companions, all of whom were also sweating. It was then that Natsu knew: 

Something more was going on here. Something he didn’t understand. This place…wherever he was, it was like Edolas. Not now, but back when he, Lucy, and the others had gone there. Magic didn’t just not exist, here; was some kind of… taboo on it.

“Oh, sorry,” he chuckled, rubbing the back of his head. Trying to keep his voice as quiet as he could over the crowd, he continued, “I didn’t mean to say something that would get you in trouble...” 

The group’s only response was to sidle away from him surreptitiously, glancing at him and sharing looks with wide eyes. Natsu was thrown for a loop once more. Ooo- kay, talk about overly-suspicious. Were there guards listening in on their conversation or something? As discreetly as possible, with his hand still at the back of his head, he looked around, eyes narrowed. 

Yet…he saw nothing to warrant their suspicion. An unruly crowd…and an astonishing lack of guards. At the Grand Magic Games, there’d always been a ton of guards. Way more than he wanted to be there, honestly. Did this have something to do with the whole “underground” thing? 

He looked at the group again, then realized something important: it was him they were looking at nervously. Nervously, and like…he was crazy or something. 

It had taken time, but the years had made Natsu wiser–cooler–about situations like this. Even as his stomach sank with the realization that getting home was going to be a much harder task than he’d initially realized, he acknowledged that he’d need to be careful about mentioning Magic here. Dropping his hand, he forced a small smile at them then turned his attention back to the arena, where Mad Cow continued to chase This Nashi around the edge of the arena. Meanwhile, his mind continued to reel, loud to himself and no one else. 

“–IT’S ONLY A MATTER OF TIME BEFORE SHE’S CAUGHT IN A CLINCH, HERE, AND THEN OUR NIGHT WILL BE OVER!” the commentator was blaring. It was sort of surprising, how easily he’d been able to tune out when Natsu’s ears were registering so little. “I HATE TO SAY IT–” (Based on the glee in his tone, Natsu doubted that.) “–BUT HOWEVER MUCH OF AN EXTRAORDINARY FIGHTER SHE IS, SHE’S STILL A FEMALE FIGHTER. HER OPPONENT HAS WELL OVER A HUNDRED POUNDS ON HER [*4]. AND, AGAIN, I HATE TO SAY THIS–BUT THERE ARE JUST PHYSICAL BARRIERS NO CHICK FIGHTER WILL EVER BE ABLE TO OVERCOME! RIGHT NOW, THIS IS A DOG FIGHT, AND NOT ONE SHE CAN KEEP SCRAPPING IN! SHE’S NOT GOING TO COME OUT AS THE ‘UNDERDOG,’ THIS TIME–”

“Man, she’s getting her ass beat!” someone from the group broke the awkward silence as This Nashi was swept aside by a blow that caught the guard at her ear. 

“Maybe she’ll make a comeback!” another guy said, tremulous but hopeful, as a log-like shin crashed into her stomach. 

“She definitely will!” the guy who’d first spoken to Natsu said, though there was a distant note of doubt in his voice as she barely reeled from an arrow-fast straight right. 

Despite the awkwardness of their last interaction, Natsu couldn’t help appreciating these people, who were so devoted to this world’s Nashi. He decided to end their night more positively. “Is that what you think?” he asked in a somewhat bored tone, eyes on the girl still gliding backwards, dancing away from the hits and kicks or else blocking them. He felt, rather than saw, the group’s eyes jumping to him, some of them quickly leaping away only to dart back. 

“What do you mean?” the first guy ventured when he said nothing else, edging a little closer once more.

Natsu crossed his arms over his broad chest, eyes thinning as Big Boy brought down a hailstorm of fists on This Nashi’s head. His eyes tracked the way a particularly big hit caught her forearm–but only barely, seeing as she’d slid out of the enormous range even as she blocked. Just like he’d thought…

His stomach churned uncomfortably. It was eerie and cruel, how much her movements and the memories aligned–

“OUCH! That hurt, Daddy!” After the exclamation, Nashi began grumbling, vigorously rubbing her forearm where his fist had just him. 

“Woops!” Natsu chuckled sheepishly, “My bad!” 

Despite the fact that she was still rubbing the arm he’d tapped with a light hit, the little girl who barely came up above his knees scowled. 

It was midday, now. In their front lawn; his and Happy’s house, now much larger with the rooms he’d added for Lucy and their kids. 

“But–” He grew serious. “–you think your enemies will take it easy on you, Nashi? You think they’ll give you a break because you say ‘ouch’?” 

She dropped her arms to her sides and scowled–pouted, really. She was so cute, he couldn’t have kept his lips from quirking into a grin if he tried. Strutting forward, he planted a hand on top of her head, rubbing the unruly locks. He only grinned wider when she turned her scowl/pout up to him. “Sorry, kiddo, but they won’t!” 

Lucy would have lost her mind, if she saw the interaction. Natsu could just hear her now: “NATSU, WHAT’S WRONG WITH YOU?! SHE’S FIVE! BE CAREFUL, WOULD YOU? BLAH BLAH BLURGH BLAH– !” 

He never really got Lucy, when she acted like that. Nashi was a Dragon Slayer, like him. She could take much more than a normal human, but would never learn that she could if he didn’t show her! Not to mention that Igneel had been way tougher on him, when he was five. Besides, he didn’t want his kid to be some weakling! What father did want that? 

Not any good ones, that was for sure. Especially not when their kids had Nashi’s determination and drive. 

“I’m sorry I hurt you,” he apologized again, still rubbing her head affectionately. “But you’ve got to understand…if I hurt you, it’s because I know your enemies will hurt you the same way…I don’t want it to surprise you. I want you to be able to fight back, still. You do still want to be a big-time Dragon Slayer, don’t you?” 

She stared up at him dubiously, but the smile caught on quick. She’d never been able to resist smiling back at him. 

“...Yeah,” she admitted finally, feigning reluctance. 

He lifted his hand off her head, cupping it around his ear and leaning down towards her. “What was that?!” he shouted. “I couldn’t hear you…what was it you want?!” 

“I–pfft–I WANT–” Her small smile turned to a grin–the big, corner-curled grin only his daughter ever could or would achieve. The one that always melted his heart. 

“I WANNA BE A DRAGON SLAYER!” she managed to roar through her grin. “NO–I MEAN, I WANNA BE THE STRONGEST DRAGON SLAYER EVER!” 

“HELL YEAH, YOU DO!” he roared back, the pride managing to make his chest burst even as he squared up again, preparing for more training. An adrenaline only teaching one’s prodigy could spark electrocuted his system. “IF THAT’S REALLY TRUE, THEN COME ON, NASHI! YOU’VE GOT MORE IN YOU! I KNOW YOU DO!” 

“OH YEAH? WELL I DO! I GOT WAY MORE IN ME!” She dropped into the stance he’d taught her, grinning for everything she was worth. The sun illuminated her smile. 

He somehow managed to grin even more widely. “Right, then listen up!” he commanded. “When Dragon Slayers fight, they got one big advantage: they can take a whole bunch of hits–then still get up. So that’s exactly what you’re gonna do.” 

“...Huh?!” The little girl’s eyes bulged out of her head. “You’re sayin’ I’m gonna let myself get hit?!” 

“Well, not too hard,” he elaborated. “And not too much…you’re just gonna play defense for a while, see?” He moved for her, throwing a fist much more slowly than he normally would have. Automatically, she wove away, eyes wide on his face. His right fist was followed by his left, then a kick–all too sluggish to be real. She easily moved around and blocked all of them. “This way,” he continued, throwing another kick. “You can learn the guy you’re fighting, how step, how they breathe…” 

“How they step…how they breathe…” she repeated to herself in a murmur, eyes flickering all over his body as he continued to pantomime a real fight. Natsu couldn’t help but grin. Nashi was a distractible kid, but when it came to fighting, she was always on the ball.

Natsu didn’t mind one bit when Lucy blamed him for that. 

“...how they fight,” he finished. 

“...how they fight!” she whispered. 

He started speeding up his movements. Let her orient before he lit up his fists. She mirrored him, flames igniting her much smaller fists. Their dance became even faster “That’s it, Nashi!” he praised as she leapt back from a kick, only letting it clip her shoulder. “Get into the flow of it! Read my movements! Remember, breathe, and–” 

“She’s reading him,” he murmured, voice softer than he’d meant it to be. “Fending him off and waiting for the right moment; his hits are only clipping her.” His hunger was catching up with him again, as was his pain. He ached. He wanted to sleep. And…

…It hurt. It hurt too much. Knowing it wasn’t his Nashi…that just made it hurt more. Each hit, each block, each flash of those brown eyes…they felt like shards of glass piercing his heart.

I can’t stay here, he realized. 

“What was that?” the girl in the group asked, venturing closer to him. 

His heart was heavy, sinking as he watched the girl. Embarrassment washed over him as he realized that had been a stupid thing to say in the first place. This wasn’t his Nashi. She wasn’t using what he’d taught her because he hadn’t been the one to train her. Hell, she probably wasn’t even gauging her opponents’ movements; she was probably fighting for her life, here. 

She would lose. 

“Nothin’,” he replied thickly, dropping his arms even as he watched the girl roll away from a rather impressive and extremely long-ranged crescent kick, not even the man’s big toe catching her at all. “I was wrong…enjoy the rest of the fight, guys.” He used the ensuing beat of silence to stare–for just one more second–at the girl. This world’s version of his girl. 

Without thinking, he went to heft up his backpack, only to sigh in quiet defeat–the exhale almost visible even in the warm air–as he remembered it wasn’t there; he was just a weakling in this world. That’s why his back (and whole body) felt so heavy. 

“Oh, you’re leaving?” the first guy who’d spoken to him said as he turned away, pushing back through the crowd. His tone was an odd mixture of relieved and disappointed. Natsu said nothing, merely waving. 

Overhead, the booming voice–which he’d tuned out during the competition–continued to sound off. “–AN ADMITTEDLY UNBELIEVABLE DODGE, BY ,” it said, clearly shocked, as Natsu pushed past a woman who was obviously excited to be moving closer to the arena. “BUT THE NEXT FLURRY OF BLOWS LANDS, ALTHOUGH IT APPEARS SHE’S BLOCKED MOST OF THEM–” 

“YOU’RE DONE, BITCH!” roared Mad Cow, so loud that he managed to drown out the commentator–who went silent, anyway. This made Natsu pause, his brows knitting with fury. 

It doesn’t matter, he reminded himself. She’s not your daughter. He refused to look back, forced himself to take another step, then another. She’s just some fighter from another world who’s, apparently, out of her league. She’s not–

A loud slam, like a body falling on a mat. “SHE’S DOWN! I REPEAT, ’S DOWN!” 

Natsu smirked. “See, dumbass?” he murmured to himself. 

“IT’S ALL OVER, FOLKS! SHE’S–” 

All of a sudden, a fleshy CRACK rang through the air, followed by an enormous chorus of gasps and cries of surprise from the crowd. A deafening silence ensued. 

“... HOLY– UNBELIEVABLE!” the commentator managed. “A KICK FROM THE GROUND–AND O’NEIL'S BACK ON HER FEET! THEY’VE GAINED GROUND FROM EACH OTHER, AND MAD BULL–MAD BULL IS NOW TRYING TO RECOVER!”  

Despite himself, Natsu slowed even as he urged himself to keep walking. Even as he continued to force himself not to turn back. Looking back is only a distraction. It’s not Nashi. That is not Nashi. It’s not–

“Man, I really hate guys like you, you know that?” 

The seething voice was what made him stop, closing his eyes. There was just…something about it. A growl. A fire. Something that punched right back into his memories:

“Remember, breathe, and keep your eyes on my chest! That way, you can see my whole body at the corners of your eyes!” A combo, one which he pumped more speed and power to than before–throwing her off on purpose. 

“Oof!” she grunted as she landed on her butt. 

“There, when you fall– that’s when you make your comeback! Now that you’ve watched your opponent, and tricked him into thinking you’re down– now is when you get back up and blow them away! That’s how a Dragon Slayer fights! That’s how a Fairy Tail Wizard fights!” She stared up at him with huge eyes, shining with admiration, and flushed cheeks. 

He grinned. 

“So?! Get up! Always get back up, Nashi! I’m not asking the impossible of you–you can do this! I know you can!” 

“I–I will!” she scrambled to her feet, fists blazing with gold heat as she lunged for him. “I’ll always get back up! No matter what, I’ll–” 

His chest seized. He clenched his jaw, knowing he needed to make himself keep walking, but unable to do it. Even as people churned around him, trying to push past him, he found himself shoving them off, refusing to move from exactly where he was. One foot planted in front of the other. Half-hovering. Eyes still closed. 

Whatever just happened had quieted the crowd, an anticipatory sort of silence that made him clench his fists, eyes still closed. 

And then, Natsu’s world flipped upside down: 

“You didn’t even bother to study my previous fights, did you?” Her growl carried across the hushed crowd. “Tch, typical…if you had, you’d know: You’d know I always get back up!” 

His eyes flew open. 

He whirled back around and watched, wide-eyed and world rocking, as the pink haired girl rose. Rolled her shoulders against her ears, one at a time. The grin was gone, a heavy, intimidating scowl having taken its place as she recovered, getting her feet back underneath herself, her stance back in place. Her nose was wrinkled in fury. Her eyes burned. 

Natsu’s lips parted on a gasp as he stared. 

Mad Cow scoffed, hunched and rubbing his chin with a hand like a mitt. Natsu guessed that This Nashi must’ve caught him there–probably with a kick, given the size difference. That must have been what made the crowd react with shock. They were recovering now, though, getting louder.

“And why the fuck would I bother to do that?!” Mad Cow shouted, dropping his hand. “I don’t need to! Every guy you’ve faced could’ve beaten you easily if they’d quit acting like even more of a little bitch than you! You shouldn’t fucking be here anyway…fucking birds, knowing dudes will take it easy on you so you can take advantage of it and collect the reward…well I’M NOT ONE OF THEM!” He roared the last part. The bitter fury in his voice was a kind Natsu was familiar with. 

“Studying what you can find of your opponent’s fighting style–that’s basic! And you wanna sit here and bitch about how I don’t deserve to be here, you lumpy-headed fuck?! ” 

“The FUCK you just call me?!” McCow snarled back. 

“YOU HEARD ME, SHITWIT!” 

“THAT’S IT!” the man shouted. “I’ve had it! I was gonna take it easy on you, but–” 

“THAT’S MY LINE!” 

It seemed that was both their limit. 

They flew at each other. But now, everything was different, and Natsu doubted that anyone without a trained eye and fighting experience like him could recognize it. 

Apparently, the commentator was one such person: “THIS IS–THIS IS INCREDIBLE!” the voice boomed, full of disbelief, as the girl caught the fist rocketing towards her face with a hard elbow, making Mad Cow let out a roar of pain. She kicked away an arm flying towards her head, and launched a sidekick at his now-uncovered stomach–one that landed hard. She built on the damage, bearing down on him as he stumbled backwards, tripping over his own heels. A right roundhouse followed by a left to his head. Despite the fact he was obviously disorientated, he caught the first one– blocked it and tried, unsuccessfully to catch her foot–but not the second, which cracked into his ear and made him stagger, her chasing him and hammering him with surprisingly powerful blows. Each one of her hits accumulated speed and strength.

The commentator picked up again, saying something or other about “striking machines”, but Natsu didn’t hear. His eyes were wide, now, and glued to the girl cracking her shin into her opponent’s nose, teeth bared. The expression on her face…the fire in her eyes…the speed of her hits…her fighting style…it was like he’d begun watching the fight currently happening through one eye and a stream of memories through the other, his breath going still in his lungs–

“–No matter what, I’ll always get back up!” screamed the little girl, running forward and hammering him with fiery strikes, kicks, and even elbows. They’d only just started elbow work. Natsu staggered back with each good combo she landed. He put in the effort to make it look convincing, pride swelling within his chest. 

“That’s it! Build on it! Faster…harder! C’mon!”  

This Nashi slipped underneath and into one of Mad Cow’s big overhand hooks, the corrected trajectory of his fist barely skidding over her shoulder as her right fist tore up, slamming into his chin. Even as his eyes rolled and he staggered backwards, her expression was so mutinous it was almost funny. 

But as good as the uppercut was, it turned out to be a set-up: 

“LOOK AT THIS COMBO…CROSS, HOOK–WHOA! AN ABSOLUTELY DEVASTATING LEG KICK! CLASSIC MUAY THAI-INSPIRED COMBO FROM TURNING–” 

“FUCKING BITCH–!” Mad Cow roared, but his opponent cut him off with a voice like thunder. 

“I’M THE BADDEST BITCH YOU’VE EVER MET!” 

“I’LL ALWAYS GET BACK UP! I WILL! I’M GONNA BE A GREAT DRAGON SLAYER, JUST LIKE YOU! NO–I’LL EVEN BEAT YOU, ONE DAY!” Nashi took a deep breath, and Natsu grinned, allowing the pause in the fight, because he knew what was coming. The catchphrase both like his and not. Inspired by him, but all her own. 

Her fists blazed brighter than ever. The sun illuminated her grin.“JUST WATCH ME, DADDY! DON’T EVEN BLINK! BECAUSE I’VE–” 

“–GOT A FIRE IN ME THAT YOU’LL NEVER PUT OUT!”

Mad Cow’s eyes were wild with fear as he desperately swung for another, big lead cross–one which spelled his downfall. The Dragoness leapt off her left leg–her back leg. Her right shin cracked into his already dipping head. 

He fell forward and bounced off the mat, limp as a ragdoll, while the audience screamed all around him. 

Even as the giant fell still, she made for his prone form, fist raised, but didn’t fight at all when the black-collared man appeared seemingly from nowhere, grabbed her around the waist, and practically threw her away. Instead, This Nashi– The Nashi skipped backwards, smirking, and raised a wrapped fist.��

And that was the realization which thundered through Natsu, now gaping up at the victorious, pink-haired fighter stalking towards the edge of the cage: not This Nashi. The Nashi. 

After seven, grief-filled years, Natsu Dragneel was absolutely sure he had just found his daughter.

*1. Yes, there will be quotes from the original series (the anime dub, sub, or the manga depending on whichever version I like best) at the beginning of each chapter. HOWEVER. The quotes are not spoilers and are often only tangentially related to my plotline. The one for this chapter, for instance, is specifically about Edolas, but is not actually true of the world where Natsu has landed.

*2. Yes, I know the canon Edolas Nalu child is “Nasha.” I decided on “Nashi”, instead, for reasons which will be explained later.

*3. Sorry in advance, but I pretty much kept what little I remembered/liked from 100YQ and ditched everything I didn’t. Same with the original story, but way more with 100YQ. Idk what it is but even though I’ve read the whole thing, 100YQ has this unique quality where a lot of what happens slips straight out of my mind as soon as I’ve read it. In one eye, out the other. So you’ll just have to roll with me, sorry.

*4. Real-life inspiration for Layla (/Nashi) comes mostly from Ronda Rousey, whose biography I read and happen to have on hand, along with Kaoklai Kaennorsing (especially his fighting style). Those are the two main ones. If you’ve read My Fight, Your Fight, you’ll understand how Layla (/Nashi’s) personality is inspired by her–especially as you go on. I highly recommend looking up the Thai kickboxer/Muay Thai fighter Kaoklai Kaennorsing. He has been called the Giant-Slayer because he did, in fact, defeat opponents who had over 100 pounds on him. Watching his fights is just an incredible experience. Other inspirations include Rose Namajunas, Connor McGregor, and some others. There are also several fictional inspirations including and outside Fairy Tail which I won’t bore you with (some of them I’m sure fellow anime fans will be able to guess lol).

#nalu #fairy tail #natsu dragneel #lucy heartfilia #nashi dragneel #nasha dragneel #gruvia #gajevy #jerza #fan fiction #fanfiction #2nd gen #post-canon #if this is wonky i'll fix it tomorrow. too tired now. #nalu fic

[thebladeblaster]

So umm…somehow I ended up making a VERY bizarre crossover between gen 1-5 and Vanguard

It started off as the random thought of what if Link Joker was in Pokémon and things spiraled out of control after that.

For those not in the know Link Joker is essentially like the Evil Dead but rated E. Basically, it’s like a supernatural infection where if you loses to a reverse fighter in a battle then you become reversed. If a reverse fighter loses then they are freed. It’s like some sort of contract whenever you fight a reverse fighter. You’re staking your soul and freedom to save someone from it. The entity behind this is known as the Void which is putting its essence in people and taking them over. They retain their intelligence (for instance reverse fighters are smart enough to hide that they’re reversed) and parts of their personality. However, their personality is warped. Much like Vanguard when you lose your deck or in this case Pokémon team gets reversed too. They don’t really know this at first though and have to find this out 😅.

As for how reverse Pokémon would function I kinda imagine them like a combination of some sort of evil regional variants and shadow Pokémon.

The reverse units themselves would be UBs along with the Void itself.

So, takes place 3 years after DPPT & HGSS it starts with Olympia having an ominous premonition about Link Joker’s arrival. In preparation she tries to gather the Lake Trio to use against the threat. However, she ends up getting blindsided by Chaos Breaker Dragon. Link Joker literally was able to take over a guy who had a book that could tell him about any possible future so precognition won’t save her.

So, she is defeated and taken over then becomes Link Joker agent much like Takuto. The agent seems to be like the Void’s representative kinda (Vanguard doesn’t explain things well okay). Anyway, if the agent loses then the everyone is freed. Nice, right 🙂? However…whoever beats the agent has the seed of Link Joker enter them which will eventually resurrect Link Joker and make them the new agent. So…not good.

With the protags Lucas was actually the office assistant and Dawn was the protagonist of DPPT. Also Dawn’s in the 1800s rn which honestly is a blessing in disguise considering what’s going to happen 😅. Lucas misses his friend and feels like kinda a fraud. Like his friends saved the world and he’s just like an office assistant. After Dawn went missing he’s been trying to get stronger to pick up the slack and keep Sinnoh safe. He’s been working with Looker off and on and finally got around to getting all eight gym badges.

Ethan is currently in Sinnoh training to get stronger after actually losing to Red. At this point the dude seriously has like 32 gym badges. He’s completed the Hoenn league to train and is on Sinnoh now. He ends up befriending the depressed Lucas and helps him gain some more confidence in himself and helps him get better at battling. Of course he’s having some of his own confidence issues that he won’t share after losing to Red. He has basically forcibly adopted Lucas. He needs it honestly. His dad is Professor Sycamore who is lite too stupid to live as himself without divine intervention. After getting Cynthiaed Lucas and Ethan are having a talk. Then, suddenly Red appears leaving Ethan stunned. He can tell that something is different about him, he has a strange creature with him and he’s acting bizarrely animated. Ethan ends up losing and getting reversed which leaves Lucas sadder, confused, and alone. Cynthia and the Elite Four appear and help Lucas get away.

Brandon has just kinda chilled out and is focused on becoming a rescue worker, he hasn’t actually battled in 6 years. Yes, he’s pulled a Gohan but unlike Gohan he gets it through his skull that he needs to keep training after this happens. He’s still in Hoenn and has absolutely no idea what is about to happen. If he didn’t have trust issues before then he’s going to gain them😅. Brendan is heading home one day as he just starts to notice that something is off but everything seems normal enough. He just thinks he’s being paranoid. He finds his dad being an asshole and is challenged to a battle but his dad is always an ass so he doesn’t notice 🤣. Like my brother in Arceus he put is son in the back on the moving truck with the luggage. You cannot convince me that he’s a good father.

However, he slowly starts to realize he’s in a horror movie. This culminates in him having to battle everyone in Little Root town and having the most desperate battle of his life against reversed May. So, this gives him the wake up call he needed to get back in the game. He becomes determined to find whoever caused this, starts training again, and searches around Hoenn for them. Steven ends up arriving soon after to tell Brandon what’s going on. Essentially the reverse was originally isolated to Sinnoh with it being kept secret to prevent a worldwide panic. However, it seemed one reverse fighter slipped through Hoenn’s defenses.

One important detail to mention is that he released Rayquaza after the game mostly because Rayquaza is a being that performs an important function in protecting to ozone layer and he felt that it wasn’t right to keep Rayquaza for that reason. He gets Rayquaza back later though while Rayquaza and Zygarde are hunting down Link Joker units. I thought that Zygarde should actually do its job so it is😅.

Hilbert is on the other side of the world chilling at Blueberry Academy in the Terrarium and he couldn’t be happier. He has literally no idea that any of this is happening. This is an after he’s beaten N and Ghetsis but hasn’t beaten the Elite Four yet or set out to find N. He appears way later after Alder lets it slip that something weird is happening over in Japan.

Cliff notes version:

Here’s their teams:

Note: Ethan and Hilbert do have Lugia and Zekrom. These are just the versions of their teams without them AKA their casual not saving the world teams. Like let’s be real do you think they’re going to use a Pokémon that could destroy a continent or the world on a normie? This isn’t following game scaling it’s following lore scaling. That’s like using a hydrogen bomb against a coughing baby. That would just be cruel😅. Latios is weaker so Brendan can get away with it. Also I have my own unique idea for the legendaries that make them more god-like and a bit more balanced at the same time but that’s a discussion for another post.

I will talk about the girls in part 2 because I don’t have enough image space left in this post.

#pokémon #pokemon dppt #pokemon hgss #pokémon bw #pokémon rse #Pokémon rbgy #pokémon xy #cardfight vanguard #link joker #trainer lucas #trainer ethan #trainer red #trainer brendan #trainer hilbert #gym leader olympia #champion cynthia #rival barry #gym leader norman #champion steven #my crappy writing #my crappy edit #au #crossover

[pkmnomegaverse]

Okay unhinged omegaverse posting time but….I’ve for sure thought about what a dystopian omegaverse AU would look like for this verse (basically omegas are getting the short end of the stick in society. “Misogynistic” route, so to speak). And while it’s pretty easy with Gen 1-4 since protags so young that “arranged marriage” to a not-terrible partner is how I often run things (as ships are all presumably the same(ish) as Mainverse), it’s 5-6 that are always tricky to work with. Since protags are old enough they would be going through their heats and probably would have a matebond in the works. Per how I headcanon things.

So! My thoughts on Hilbert/N and the mess that could be. Hilbert would he promised away to some guy. No canon character fits in my head so just some older alpha guy OC. But not Cheren since would need to be an alpha so beta Cheren it out of the running. But something something in this route Hilbert hasn’t quite gone through his first heat yet (which is typically the time bonding would be arranged in these “arranged marriages”). So Hilbert is traveling around for one last hurrah before married life it is. But he would end up going into heat for the first time in Chargestone Cave while N is around and things get out of hand (obviously) and bam. They sleep together since can’t hold back (not like Hilbert actually likes the guy he’s promised to). Easy to give into the guy he’s actually attracted to. Matebond time (RIP the Shadow Triad kinda just lurking and not having the gumption to stop things tho. Even tho you know Ghetsis said they better intervene if N tries to hook up with some troublesome omega). Like in theory, Hilbert was suppose to call up his betrothed once he could tell he was going into heat and get things sorted out with him. But since he never liked the guy…

On N’s end, I headcanon that the con of Ghetsis keeping him so isolated is that he’s initially more susceptible to omegaverse nonsense since has no built up tolerance. It’s one thing if it’s an omega he doesn’t know. Can resist enough to flee the area. But when faced when someone he’s attracted to…his feelings overwhelm him.

I do think it would make kind of a mess of the plot and N leaving at the end would be extra cruel. But would for sure explain why Hilbert leaves to find him. Would not actually make N back down though. Would instead push him further towards the idea that Hilbert will join his side after he defeats him. Will still need to fulfill their roles as opposing heroes in the short term. But will be together in the end, as the twin heroes were always meant to be one (going with the idea Kyurem was originally the three dragons as one). Even in non-dystopian Mainverse I tend to view it that in the back of his mind, N kind of assumes he and Hilbert will get together in the end once he defeats Hilbert. Hero dragons were meant to be one, afterall. But the feeling is more pronounced in this version of events.

My gut reaction to the idea was actually that they would just disappear together after the main plot of BW. Hilbert had fucked up the life he was suppose to lead (disgraced omega) and since they’re bonded, the two are tied together. Would be painful to abandon each other. So when N makes his whole speech thing about leaving, Hilbert grabs his hand and asks to go with him. And they disappear together. No one sure what exactly went down during that final confrontation with the heads of Team Plasma, as no one remains behind to tell the tale.

As for how this would effect BW2, I have less thoughts on that, but maybe Hilbert is with child or recently given birth to his and N’s first child, thus why he wouldn’t show up and only N does, once word of Team Plasma resurgence gets out. Boy on maternity leave (ignoring how I don’t actually think this would stop Hilbert from getting involved. Boy could be in his third trimester and is still gonna throw hands with Ghetsis). Nate/Hugh are easy to deal with though since are just another “happily arranged marriage” where Hugh isn’t opposed to Nate going on a journey despite being at the age heat/rut are just starting to affect them both (can continue my Gen 5 parallels Gen 1 agenda since that’s how I deal with Red/Green as well. Happily arranged marriage duo who travel at the same time so the alpha can be close by on the off chance the omega goes into heat). So Nate/Hugh would def have to deal with that during their travels. Like maybe Hilbert would show up post canon to talk with Nate (since wants to meet this guy in person who N seems to like) and Nate is kinda shocked since was not expecting to meet the hero of Unova despite all the stuff he did for the region. And then it turns out the region's hero is already expecting/has had a child!! A bit inspiring, perhaps. How being an omega with a mate doesn't stop Hilbert from being kickass when the going gets tough.

#Hilbert #N #IsshuShipping #Nate #Hugh #GreySkyShipping #I need to post more actual omegaverse nonsense here even if it’s just thoughts #I’m putting the blog name to shame #under cut cause long not cause overly spicy #sorry boys it’s drunk Syd posting time even tho this has been in my drafts for a few weeks now? #but the drunk part is what makes me actually post it!

[a-tale-of-legends]

For funsies,I did the Johto gym leaders teams in my au as if they were in the actual game!

First gym: Orchid

Second gym: Bugsy

Third gym: Whitney

Note: I'm honestly debating on whether or not to include her Clefairy since it's a fairy type now instead of normal. Also I think Furret would have been a good choice for her given it is a very cute pokemon, something that Whitney clearly leans towards.

Fourth gym: Morty

Literally the same as his canon team except he has a fucking misdreavus now. Like he should have had all along.

Fifth gym : Aiko

Note: Aiko is Chuck's niece in the Legendverse! Hence why she ended up taking over his gym.

Sixty Gym: Jasmine

Note: Forretress was Pineco that Bugsy gave her!

Seventh gym: Yumi

Note: Yumi is Pryce's grandson! I usually save the last pokemon for the gym leaders ace, but I think Mamoswine fits better. Both to connect Yumi to his grandson, and to properly give some Johto rep/ not feel too similar to Candice. I do think Froslass, formerly Snorunt, was one of his first pokemon.

8th gym leader:

Note: Clair has 2 dragonairs like she does in the games. So she ultimately has 5 pokemon. Why she has an Arbok? *Shrugs* I needed to space out the pokemon she uses, and Arbok is part of the dragon egg group that's within gen 1 and 2. Unless Clair decides to make her battles be double battles ( in which then she would only have 4 pokemon), then I don't see why not? Double Intimidate, who doesn't like that?

Some after thoughts: In GSC/HGSS, the player kinda had some freedom in choosing where to go after Morty's gym. Specifically with Jasmine and Pryce( I was going to include Chuck but Chuck is clearly meant to be the definitive 5th gym leader with a lower level cap compared to the other two). I still want that level of freedom for the players in this what if sequel to HGSS. That being said, I still want there to be proper leveling involved based on which gym leader you take first. Since, hopefully, Amphy isn't sick, challengers can choose to challenge either Aiko or Jasmine first. Yumi to an extent, but is definitely much more challenging. If you challenge Jasmine first, Aiko would then have a higher level cap, and vice versa with Aiko to Jasmine. Both of their level caps would be lower than Yumi's, but if a challenger feels confident enough, they could challenge Yumi before the other two. I'm not sure if the level cap for them would change, but if so, the ultimate goal is to make the player have some freedom when playing. At least in theory. I'm not a game developer, so I don't know how achievable this is. It's just a fun idea.

I might do the Johto elite 4 of my au later. I'm giving them some more range in pokemon cause why not.

#r rambles #legendverse

[octobeann]

Reasons why Quagsire is the best pokemon in the history of the franchise

1. Competitive history

Quagsire is often underestimated in competitive pokemon, especially by people who don’t know it’s history. Quagsire has been in the lowest possible tier that’s even considered a tier since the pokemon’s introduction in 1999. However, he has never had much use in this tier, and rather than usage in it being what keeps Quagsire relevant. Instead, it has always been use in Ubers, the highest tier (that actually has rules, but we’ll get to that.) Despite not having much that should make it be so effective, it always seems to have a use in any generation’s Uber meta, typically for countering one particularly powerful pokemon (such as ho-oh in gen 2).

2. Beyond (normal) competitive formats

Past Ubers, the next “tier” up is AG (Anything Goes), where god is dead and baton pass killed him. AG allows for the use of banned moves/strategies, removes clauses (allowing for sleep to happen outside of the move Rest, and more than one of the same pokemon to be used), and for a while that was it. However, due to power creep, 2 pokemon have become so stupidly powerful they are banned from even Ubers. Those being Mega Rayquaza and Zacian-Crowned. And I’m sure you’ll never guess what pokemon counters Zacian!

3. What makes Quagsire so good against legendaries?

Two main things, his type and his ability. Water/ground is one of, if not the best type combo in the game for defending, with only one (4x) weakness and a ton of resistances. A pokemon who can only be hit hard by grass moves, in the anything goes meta (dominated by fire, dragon, fairy, and steel), where grass coverage is extremely scarce, is bound to be powerful. The issue is, Swampert’s base stats are all higher than quagsires, and Swampert has access to more moves. Quagsire however, has abilities. Quagsire’s default ability is Damp, which is the most useless ability that doesn’t entirely detriment a pokemon. The real reason Quagsire is so good is his hidden ability, Unaware. This ability has a simple effect, of ignoring any and all stat changes the other pokemon has (positive or negative), which could be a double edged sword, If it wasn’t  Anything Goes. Stat boosting moves are incredibly overpowered, and Baton pass allowing you to put them on a pokemon who can use them better than the one who built them up is such an overpowered concept that metas were dominated by teams built around it until it was banned from use altogether. This means that roughly 50% of AG’s meta is based on stat changes, which Quagsire himself can access, while nullifying the enemy’s boosts. This is of course, VERY powerful, and is only further boosted by being a pokemon that’s seldom used, meaning nobody sees it coming, and oblivious baton pass teams will let you set up, confident that their boosts will simply be stronger. Quagsire does not care how strong you THINK you are, Quagsire only cares if you are stronger than him, and you are not.

4. Just look at him :)

[birdkeeperlance]

Ok I know I bully Lance a lot but like

I actually? Feel really attached to him I have zero idea why but

I just really really love Lance

#If they had more dragons in gen 1 to make his team an actual dragon team I wouldn't bully him as much #Its just too funny #And its playful teasing #I dont hate lance at all #I know noone asked if I did but like #I felt it needed clarifying #Talk

[chockfullofsecrets]

D20 Fantasy High: Making Room

(Read on AO3)

Rating: Gen

Summary: She grunts, presumably shoving at him and not having much success given Fabian’s triumphant snickering. “I said make room-”

Riz pries himself up off the carpet, thinking of moving to help her, when Fabian lets out a startled squeak. Everyone goes quiet.

Fig leans off the bed with truly devilish glee in her tiefling eyes. “Guys, he’s ticklish.”

The Bad Kids try to plan a sleepover, Fabian needs to learn how to share, and Riz is maybe starting to get the hang of this whole friendship thing.

Wordcount: 2.1k

A/N: not to be entirely into D&D on main, but - hey, look, it’s another cool D&D campaign XD shoutout to @hypahticklish for expressing enough interest in this fic to make me want to write it <3

Loose spoilers for the end of Fantasy High Season 1, beware!

---

Riz thinks he’s really starting to get a handle on this whole friendship thing.

Solving a mystery and getting thrown in jail and killing a dragon together aren’t exactly reproducible results, which kind of sucks, but - hey, the six of them are friends now, and they’re hanging out in Fabian’s room on a summer evening, and it’s novel enough to feel like a solved case all on its own.

What’s less satisfying is the amount of missed work they have to catch up on if they want to start as sophomores next year; no one bothered to worry about bringing them homework while they were in actual prison, but all their professors sure seem to care about it now. He gets the feeling that at least part of it is Aguefort trying to keep some degree of respectability after everything that happened with Goldenhoard, but any attempt to reason with him thus far has gotten nowhere but wild-eyed stares and increasingly obtuse lectures on chronomancy and time management. And sure, Riz prides himself on being able to untangle obscure information, but he’s not touching that with a ten foot pole.

They’re all sprawled out on Fabian’s floor, working through assignments with varying levels of fervor ranging from Adaine - actually working with a stack of textbooks nearly up to her shoulder next to her on Fabian’s desk - to Kristen - texting Tracker with a lack of stealth that makes Riz want to grind his teeth a little, even more so than the way she goes bright red and giggles every time her crystal pings - when Fig groans and rolls onto her back.

“You know what?” she says to the room at large, throwing her arms wide. Her hand knocks into her bard notebook, somehow both dusty with disuse and covered in scribbled ballpoint pen sigils. She flips it neatly in the air and elbows it away in Adaine’s direction, earning a half-annoyed yelp. “We should have a sleepover.”

Half of them blink uncomprehendingly, but Kristen drops her crystal in a sudden rush of excitement. “YES,” she shouts. Gorgug, propped against the wall next to her and dozing off over barbarian meditation manuals, startles. “I can show you guys so many cool camp things! We just need a bunch of different colors of yarn and some sticks and - yeah, we can probably skip the holy water to keep the sinners away-”

Riz has - he’s had sleepovers before, if Penny coming over to babysit and finding him crashed out on the couch after a night of reading old case files from his mom counts. He reaches up and straightens his cap, trying to make it look smooth. “Hey, Fabian, do you have coffee here?”

“Wait, wait, hold on a minute.” Fabian, sitting against his giant bed, waves dramatically for all their attention. He looks them over once he gets it, self-importantly adjusting his eyepatch. “Yes, The Ball, we have coffee, we’re not peasants - but sleep over where? Did I miss that part?”

“Uh, here?” Fig says, flinging herself upright. “You’re mom’s super hot - uh, cool, I bet she’d let us do anything.”

“Stop calling my mom hot!” Fabian yelps, glowering for a moment before his chest puffs with familial pride. “Well, we do have at least five guest bedrooms that we could house all of you in-”

“Oh, I don’t need a bed,” Gorgug says hastily. “I’d probably break it, I can just sleep on the floor.”

“Yeah, Fabian, no,” Kristen interjects, gesturing with her staff. Gorgug scrambles to remove the cups they’ve been drinking soda out of from her path. “We’re all supposed to hang out in the same room, that’s kind of the point!” She frowns a little, zeroing in on him. “Have you. Have you never been to a sleepover before?”

Riz hasn’t quite gotten around to making a conspiracy board of how all the specific issues of their messed up childhoods overlap, but he can read the way Fabian startles indignantly loud and clear. “Of - of course I have!” he blusters. “I just - why the fuck would you share a bed if you didn’t have to?”

Adaine scoffs. “Fabian, your bed is enormous, I think we could all fit on it with room for the Hangman left over.”

“No, it’s not!” Fabian scrambles up, chin still raised haughtily, and throws himself bodily on the bed - judging from the way his ankles hang off the edge, he’s starfishing out as far as he possibly can. “I’m - see, I’m a growing boy, I need my space! Cathilda says so.”

Adaine, having claimed the only chair in the room and therefore being the only one at eye level with the mattress, cranes her neck and laughs. “Fabian, you’re covering less than half of the bed. You can just say you’ve never been to a sleepover before, you know.”

Fig stands up and launches herself onto the bed too, landing heavily with the zippers on her leather jacket clanking behind her. “Yeah, you just have to - oof - make room-”

She grunts, presumably shoving at him and not having much success given Fabian’s triumphant snickering. “I said make room-”

Riz pries himself up off the carpet, thinking of moving to help her, when Fabian lets out a startled squeak. Everyone goes quiet.

Fig leans off the bed with truly devilish glee in her tiefling eyes. “Guys, he’s ticklish.”

The room erupts into chaos - Fabian shouting denials, Fig cackling evilly, and Kristen shooting up and banging her shins against the bed before scrambling around to Fabian’s other side. Riz hops up on the desk next to Adaine just in time to watch each of the other girls seize his outstretched arms and start to mercilessly tickle his armpits.

“GAHAHA - no, no, stoHOP-” Fabian flails helplessly between the two of them, still trying to sprawl out over the bed. He manages to wrench his arm free from Fig and shove her away even as he shouts with laughter. “Seacasters are not - ahaaa, haaAA - I’m not ticklish!”

“Oh, yeah?” Kristen taunts. “Then why are you laughing, you - ohshit-”

They’re trying to wrestle him down, but he’s too strong for Fig and too dextrous for Kristen. She lunges for him, red hair flying behind her, and falls straight into his lap.

Fabian catches both of Fig’s wrists in one big hand and uses the other to poke triumphantly at Kristen’s belly, sending her into a fit of cackling giggles. “Aha!” he exclaims triumphantly, struggling into a sitting position. “A Seacaster cannot simply be rousted from his territory!”

All of them know better than to say anything about his dad by now. “Gorgug, come help us hold him down!” Fig demands instead, kicking at Fabian with her platform boots and making him yelp in pain.

Gorgug pulls his headphones all the way off his ears and straightens just enough to take in the tangle of the three of them, looking dubious. “Are you sure? That sounds kind of mean.”

“It’s not a problem if he’s not ticklish, right, Fabian?,” Fig retorts. “And he’s breaking sleepover code by hogging the bed!"

Kristen, still laughing uproariously as she fails to save herself from Fabian’s tickling fingers, somehow manages to shoot Gorgug a pair of finger guns. “Get him, Gorgug!”

Gorgug still looks a little confused - Riz can relate - but he gamely climbs to his feet. “Well, okay.”

He pauses to knock gently on the bedframe, sighing in relief at the heavy thunk that echoes back. “Oh, cool, that’s pretty strong.”

Fig yelps as Fabian lets up on Kristen and starts prodding at her belly instead. “Gorgug, come on!”

“Oh, right,” Gorgug says, and sends the mattress an entire inch to the left as he scrambles on.

“Hell yeah!” Fig cheers as Gorgug climbs on the bed and sweeps Fabian up in a restraining hug. “Sig Figs solidarity!”

Kristen squirms out from between the three of them. “Hey, I’m here too!”

She flops down with a breathy sigh and hugs herself, grinning widely as she catches sight of the identical what-the-fuck expressions that Riz is pretty sure he and Adaine are wearing. “Ugh, I haven’t been tickled in forever.”

Adaine makes a considering sound as Kristen twists back to the battle royale happening behind her. Riz looks over at her, catches one of her ears twitching under the attention before she looks back. “I don’t think I’ve ever been tickled,” she murmurs, a little shy.

Penny’s tickled him before, and maybe his mom when he was little, but yeah, it’s been a while. He shrugs. “You think you’d like it?”

There’s another cry from the bed, and both of them whip around to look. Fig’s looming over a thoroughly trapped Fabian now - just barely, even with her horns - and wriggling her fingers evilly with gleaming eyes. “Are you going to say you’re sorry for breaking sleepover code?”

“There’s - there’s no sleepover code,” Fabian sputters, but he’s grinning sheepishly even as he squirms against Gorgug’s hold. “Gorgug, man, come on, you can’t just betray a fellow member of the Bloodrush team like this!”

“Oh - uh -” Gorgug looks pleadingly at the both of them. “But I’m in the Sig Figs too - does that mean one of you guys is going to be mad at me?”

Fabian barely blinks. “Yes.”

“YES,” says Fig, even louder.

“Oh, come on, you two.” Kristen sits up between Fig and Fabian, poking at both of their sides and cutting their protests off as they suck their lower lips between their teeth with identical wide-eyed looks. Then, with a curious tilt to her head, she reaches around to tickle Gorgug’s side too, grinning as he squeaks. “There are no sides in a tickle fight, everyone knows this.”

Riz forgets that Kristen has three little brothers, sometimes. It’s easy to, until she starts playing peacekeeper between the rest of them.

“Where are all these rules coming from?” Fabian questions indignantly. Adaine makes a sound of agreement next to Riz - is she writing these down?

Oh, who’s he kidding, he’s probably going to ask her for a copy afterwards.

Fig smirks. “Well, I think the person with their hands free should get to enforce the rules. Like so.” She reaches for the thin tank top Fabian’s wearing and scribbles her fingers over his belly, crowing in delight as he shrieks. “Not ticklish, huh? Who’s ticklish now, bitch?”

“You - ahaha, haaa, fuck - anyone’s ticklish when they’re being restrained!” Fabian insists through panicked laughter, wriggling for all he’s worth. Riz squints - maybe it’s just the rogue homework he’s been doing lately, but it looks like Gorgug’s not even holding him that tight.

He shrieks again as Kristen bounces excitedly and reaches for him too. “Nonono, NOHOHO - Kristen, ahaha! You said - eheheee, stop - you said no sihihides!”

“These are your hips, Fabian. And no sides doesn’t mean you can’t gang up on people,” Kristen sticks her tongue out in concentration, squeezing at one of his hips and then the other. “Hey, say you’re ticklish.”

“What? No - hahaha - shit, shiHIHIT-” Fabian starts to really thrash under their teasing - Riz catches him elbowing Gorgug neatly in the gut, but their barbarian absorbs the blow like it’s nothing. Riz tries not to feel jealous and doesn’t entirely succeed.

Kristen smiles beatifically from cheek to freckled cheek. “The truth’ll set you free, brother.”

Fabian shakes his head frantically, catching sight of Riz and Adaine by his desk through teary eyes. “The Ball - The Ball, help me, this isn’t - ahahaha, nonoplease - it’s not fair!” he pleads through the widest smile Riz has seen on him so far, which is saying something. “Don’t you care about justice?”

Fig looks over at them too, now, hair slipping from her braid and fangs on full display as she beams. “Yeah, you two, get over here or you’re next! You’re missing out on the sleepover fun!”

“Oh,” Adaine says uncertainly. “I didn’t know this was part of it.”

She looks over at Riz - not that he knows any better, but he’s absolutely not going to cop to it. “Oh, yeah, tickle fights,” he blusters. “Definitely part of sleepovers. To, uh, tire everyone out.”

Adaine looks out of the window at blue skies just barely starting to blush pink and gets a small, quiet grin on her face that he can’t help but return. “Oh, okay,” she says. “Riz, are you ticklish?”

Oh. Oh, no.

Riz stiffens. It doesn’t seem like anyone else has heard Adaine’s question, maybe he can get under the bed before any of them notice -

He. He could, is the thing, he’s an awesome rogue, but - out here seems pretty fun too. “That’s more of a hands-on investigation thing,” he shoots back, and leaps for the bed before she can catch hold of him.

He is, after all, an investigator first and foremost, and there’s more room to be made on that mattress.

#tickling #dimension 20 #fantasy high #riz gukgak #fabian seacaster #figueroth faeth #kristen applebees #adaine abernant #gorgug thistlespring #chocfic #i really don't know why i decided to start with writing all six of them but uhhhh i hope the characterization is okay?

[reversemoon255]

(This is the second of a three-part series chronicling the story, concepts, and original Pokémon that appeared in a Dungeons and Dragons campaign I worked on for several months. This entry will be more focused on a lot of my original designs and how their encounters would play out, rather than concrete story. Also, much of the art was done by @extyrannomon on Twitter, and I suggest you check them out.)

Dungeons ‘n’ Dragonites - Phase 2: Ultra City

The Queen Durant would prove to be a difficult foe, able to use all manner of elemental attacks to strike from a distance to compensate for her low speed. Furthermore, she would have full command of the Duranthill, using her followers to guard herself. As the battle rages, the team slowly begin to evolve, and their newfound strength and Types, along with the aid of the Princess, would have them see victory.

I was unsure as to the ultimate fate of the Queen. Either having it disappear into the tunnels alone, or be sucked into another Ultra Wormhole like the Poipole. And with the Queen vanquished, the Princess would choose to become partner to whoever she felt most worthy (a combination of good role playing and damage dealt).

I designed every Pokémon in this campaign under the pretense that it could actually exist. The Queen and Princess fall under the category of “Rare Variants.” There’s only one queen in a colony of thousands of ants, so it makes sense for it to be rarely seen. They’re still Bug/Steel, but special attackers, with the three spheres on each of their abdomens made to mimic the pattern of Tri-Attack, symbolizing their ability to use those Types.

As for the Starter evos, Flymph has evolved into Epipesis, gained the Electric-Type, and become a full Dragonfly. Calfyre into Steared, staying mono-Fire, but growing considerably (4 feet at the shoulder, the largest mid-stage Starter). Squisque into Knaval who’s now Rock, because he’s a rock lobster! And Utaw into Uteteo who may still be pure Fairy, but has gained some gold adornments.

=====

My working title for this campaign was “Ultra City.” Hinted at by the appearance of the Poipole early in the game, my intentions would come into full swing during this portion, with boss encounters against many of the known and some unknown Ultra Beasts. I had a few encounters planned, from a pickpocket Pheramosa that they’d fight in a mall store room full of mannequins, to a Blacephalon that had kidnapped several children, hypnotized them, and had them watching his performances, to a beach episode where there’s just a Buzzwole hanging out and not causing trouble.

Things would take a twist when a Guzzlord would take over the abandoned district, raining destruction down from its highest building. The crew would have to climb a multi-floor dungeon in order to battle it, many scared and aggravated Pokémon blocking their paths. After reaching the top however, after initiative had been rolled, a mysterious Pokémon would descend from the sky, felling Guzzlord in a single strike...

Majra, the Dragoon Pokémon (a slurred portmanteau of Magic and Dragon). A Dragon hunter with a unique ability, “Hunter of Evil,” that removes all its resistances but makes it immune to Dragon, Dark, and Ghost. This Pokémon came about as I was trying to create a dramatic encounter that would interrupt an expected one. As I was thumbing through DnD and fantasy ideas, the idea of a Dragoon who furiously hunts Dragon-Types came to mind. Ice/Fairy seemed the perfect combination, and the sentient suit of ice armor fell into place soon after. As Pokémon don’t typically hold weapons, I made him part scorpion, having him hold his tail as a workaround, and also informed how his extremities would look. The Haxorus skull buckler also helped drive the Dragon hunter aspect home.

Ultra Beasts were the second category of original Pokémon in my campaign, and encompass all purely original Pokémon (including the Starters). However, I didn’t want to just haphazardly make a ton (as commissions cost money), so I gave myself the condition that if I made an Ultra Beast it had to play with weaknesses and resistances in a way to trip up experienced players, hence Majra’s ability.

Majra would not attack our players in their first encounter, unless someone was using a Type he hunts. He would be a reoccurring boss character, helping or hindering the players depending on their enemies or allies.

The next unique encounter would have been a tutorial battle against another Rare Variant, a Shiinotic possessed Parasect. Every boss encounter is technically 4-on-1, so I wanted to give a Pokémon a reason to have multiple turns, and fused or symbiotic Pokémon felt like a naturally occurring way to have that happen. I created this Shiinotic as a way to teach the players how these Pokémon work.

As Shiinotic is a bio-luminescent mushroom, I wanted to have Parasect faded in color from its light. I also thought it’d be a nice touch to have Shiinotic’s spindly fingers act as puppet strings to move Parasect’s arms around. It would have been encountered after a swarm of scared Paras started flooding out of the sewers near everyone’s school.

Then would be Fortifiend, who would be encountered a few times as an easily circumventable castle wall in the middle of the street before Majra would eventually attack it, forcing our players to take a side in the battle (with Fortifiend possibly joining them if they help it). His ability would make all attacks not very effective while it had over 50% HP, and the opposite when under 50%. Despite the name, I pictured him being very nice, and giggle whenever he heard someone compliment his stone structure.

I imagined that the world he came from had naturally occurring stone structures similar to him, and his folded castle form was a sort of net to help him catch large prey; partly why he doesn’t attack the smaller people and Pokémon of the game’s dimension (he’s around 30ft tall). He could be encountered anywhere, so he wasn’t a full quest; just a fun “what the heck is this” moment to confuse players.

Also, while it wasn’t purposeful, Fortifiend and Majra both also matched the DnD aesthetic. That definitely helped them stand out as some of my favorites, and Fortifiend barely missed the final pass for the last round of commissions.

Then was the twin encounter of Feyerre, a Fire-Type igloo and snowmobile Pokémon, and Eyescse, an Ice-Type pyramid and four-wheeler Pokémon (probably the most Ultra Beast-esque concepts I came up with). They would be messing with the weather across the city, causing disturbances until the players eventually found one of them, in when the other would appear. Their ability would flip their weaknesses and resistances, and they would have an attack that could do the same to a target. And fun fact: there’s meaning to the color and number of their eyes! Feyerre’s are F.I.R.E (Fire=Red, Ice=L.Blue, Rock=Brown, Electric=Yellow), and Eyescse’s are I.C.E (Ice=L.Blue, Sea=D.Blue, Electric=Yellow).

But their defeat would incur the wrath of a mysterious Pokémon they had encountered a few times:

“As you turn around, you see a grey Charizard standing there. It stares at you for a moment, wide-eyed and unblinking. Then it begins to open its mouth, wide, wider, and wider still, stretching beyond what should be possible. Then a hand reaches out of it...

“Suddenly you’re falling. The lights and sounds of countless unknown worlds whir past you incomprehensibly as you plummet through time and space. You try to close your eyes to shut out the flurry of stimuli, but it’s impossible to drown out as your minds begin to feel the strain of the void. Then, after what feels like hours, time seems to stand still as the heavy rain of an unknown world hits your face. For a brief moment you are able to take in the desert that surrounds you before a flash of lightning illuminates the sky, revealing a titanic silhouette looming above you before you are once again thrown into darkness. And as you come to outside the warehouse (where you encountered Feyerre and Eyescse), in the distance, you hear what sounds like laughing.

“Fofofofofo...”

The final original encounter I had planned for Stage 2 was Meadew. It would have been wandering the city, spawning grasses and flowers wherever it went. However, while beautiful, the sudden growth would be causing havoc and destruction to all the buildings and vehicles it could root into.

Unlike the other Ultra Beasts, Meadew’s ability didn’t affect its weaknesses, but instead created Substitutes since I wanted a way for it to form its own adds (the concept behind its inception). However, it wasn’t without a Type gimmick; rather than an ability it has a signature status move called “Radiance” that raises its attack and special, as well as give it the Fire-Type, making it Grass/Water/Fire (the 3 Starter Types). It would invoke this after its adds were defeated, but could be talked down through diplomacy, unlike some of the other encounters.

=====

I’ve mentioned Rare Variants and Ultra Beasts, but there was a third Type of original Pokémon that could appear: Mutant Evolutions. Essentially, evolutions like Probopass or Leafeon where being in an energy charged area or coming into contact with a huge ore deposit (what I interpreted the Mossy and Icy Rocks as, since they became Leaf and Ice Stones in later Gens) could force an unusual evolution in a Pokémon already shown to be susceptible to unique evolutionary conditions. Due to a future encounter, I already knew there would be large Metal Coat and Ice Stone Ore deposits in the mountains to the north, so I wanted to do some test prototyping using each of those items, whether I used those evolutions or not.

Poliwhirl is already shown to be capable of multiple evolutions, all of which use items, so I thought having it come into contact with a massive amount of Ice Stone Ore (since it should be chemically similar to Water Stones) could force a Mutant Evolution. This is Policuti, from the Latin Cutis meaning skin, and Poli-Cutis would mean “multiple skins,” as it wears the shed skin of preevolution. And being freshly shed is why its skin lacks pigment. It’s just a cute little frog in a raincoat! Also, the swirl on its jaw is actually its tongue.

Since Magneton evolves into Magnezone through being electrically charged, I thought about how it might evolve if charged with Steel energy. I imagined it being magnetically attracted to the Metal Coat Ore, fiercely trying to pull itself away, being stretched and elongated in the process, resulting in the bullet train Pokémon Magneline. The Mutant Evolutions weren’t supposed to be anything important to the story or that they’d run into in the wild. They were more so surprises to excite the players who would be expecting something, well, expected. I had considered doing at least one for each player if they caught a compatible Pokémon, but as no teams were filled out, I was merely left with my prototypes. The only reason I had these two commissioned was because I was very happy with their designs.

=====

As we reach the end of Stage 2, the reoccurring group of rowdy Onix would return once more. Following them deep into their tunnels, our heroes would come across a massive chamber with a giant metal stalagmite and frozen stalactite in the center of it. The Onix would then appear, twisting around them, forcing their evolutions. One into Steelix, and the other into Glacix...

#Pokemon #dungeons and dungeons #DND #dnd homebrew #durant #shiinotic #parasect #poliwhirl #magneton #onix

[crystalnet]

Current X-book Mood-Ring Guide

There are an awful lot of X-books on the shelves right now. They are most of my monthly haul. No joke it is at least 12 books at this point. So, in order to cope with that, I’ve organized all the books into one of four different categories, aka “booster-pack” themes. Click through if you want to jump aboard the best X-men run since Morrison before the boat pushes off for the Hellfire Gala this summer! These are the 4 categories:

-Mainline Blue/Gold-style 

-Jr. Mutants Academy 

-2nd-Wave Krakoa Niche (aka “the good stuff”)

-Cetera

#1. Mainline Blue/Gold-style

Mood-color/vibe: Actually 90s-style Blue/Gold and like bright primary colors (but also muddy-ass colors from X-factor). 

Books included: X-men, Excalibur, Marauders, X-force

Typical Pokemon: Scott Summers, Jean Grey, Wolverine, Betsy Braddock, Kate Pride, Beast, Black Tom, Storm, Bishop, Emma Frost, Rogue, Gambit, Jubilee, Kid Omega, Domino, a Pyro, Iceman, Avalanche. Rare drops: Apocalypse, X-23, Synch, Darwin, Kid Cable, Fantomex (in that Giant-Sized!)

These be the books for someone who wants those direct, mainline, core-members-style lineups. On the main book (adjective/word-play-less X-men) Hickman/Yu have worked wonders with their run, but it hasn’t been a stable team, instead focusing on Scott and his adventures dealing with some of the more prominent threats to Krakoa. 

So it’s essentially been a revolving door of a book with Cyclops sometimes leading assaults against major problems and sometimes just being a dad to teenagers from the future, and it’s been generally great. 

Meanwhile, the teams we find on the other 3 books could basically be a main X-men team if you just throw Jean/Scott/Logan onto them (except for X-force because Logan is usually on that one, actually, and Jean sort of is..)

X-force: Wolverine usually, Kid Omega, Beast, Jean (quitting?/back-up), Domino sorta, Sage, Black Tom Cassidy, Colossus once? Forge sorta. [Lot’s of backup or sometimes-members on this team but kinda centers on Beast, Omega, Wolverine and Jean or Domino]

Excalibur: Betsy Braddock, Rogue, Jubilee, Gambit, Avalanche, baby/dragon Shogo, Apocalypse (honorary, mia)

Marauders: Kate Pride, Storm, Emma Frost, a Pyro, Iceman, Bishop

On X-force, you get a little Morrison-homage energy going on what with Beast being sus, Quentin Quire having a character arc and dating a cuckoo and then all the body-horror. This one hasn’t been amazing and the art sometimes has issues for me but it’s been a solid expansion on Krakoa-Era lore. 

On Marauders, you get a book centered on Kate Pride and the Hellfire Club. It’s been aight but I’m not the biggest Kate fan. Definitely has heart and the art has been beautiful. 

Excalibur started a little weird for me... I lack the references or attachment to Otherworld or Davis/Moore-era Excalibur so I don’t think I’m even really the target demo, but I will say it recently, post-X of Swords-- which it set up single-handedly basically [along w/ one ish of X-men]-- has gotten more interesting in recent months. The Betsy + Kwannon stuff was great! And Howard did great with Apocalypse before he went off to another dimension. (points off for iffy color-palettes sometimes). 

#2. Jr. Mutants Academy

Mood-color/vibe: Pastel

Books: New Mutants, X-factor, Children of the Atom, Cable

Common Pokemon: Magik, Cable, Rachel Summers, Doug, Warlock, Armor, Boom Boom, Scout, Dani, Warpath, Karma, Glob, Beak, Daken, Eye-boy, North Star, Rachael, Prodigy those Children of the Atom kids, Magma, Rahne, and a lot of lil kid mutants runnin’ around in Akademos/the Wild Hunt area of Krakoa whose names I don’t know yet.

This is the junior-crew club. New Mutants would be in the Blue/Gold books practically due to being part of the first wave of post-HoX/DoX books, but its basically been 3 different books/teams over its run and along w/ Children/Cable/X-Factor, it feels like there a whole handful of books offering up junior-crew shenanigans specifically. 

So New Mutants has been all over the place, starting with a lineup of OG Claremont era New Muties, then focusing on a team consisting of Glob, Armor and Boom Boom (perpetual...”young adult” I guess?), now settling on a new team under Vita Ayala with Magik and Warpath heading up a squad of young ‘uns (beautiful art on the recent stretch). Hopefully it’s settling into its self now, because I can see longevity for this new squad... maybe. 

I still have to read the 2nd issue of Children of the Atom,  but am intrigued by it. X-factor meanwhile seems to be focusing on queer representation with people like Prodigy, Daken, North Star and Rachel on the same group together. Polaris started out the lead of that title only to be plucked out by Duggan (or the fanbase) for the main X-team coming up. This honestly makes sense, because even though she isn’t drawn this way, shouldn’t Polaris be considerably older than someone like Rachel? Eh. 

Also, in issue #4 of X-factor we had a beautiful homage to the Academy X mutants, with several cameos, so it seems like Marvel is intentionally using these junior-crew books to acknowledge all the various junior-crews, whether it be OG Claremont kids, Generation X people, the kids intro’d under Morrison and Whedon, or even the dang ‘ol Academy X ones, they seem to all be getting at least some representation in some book. 

Also Cable owns. Didn’t know I’d like the Kid-Cable guy until this book and his appearances in the main title, but now it’s confirmed. Him dating Esme, Kid Omega dating Phoebe? These crazy telepaths! Anyway, I hope Duggan’s main-team book is more like Cable than Marauders, in terms of pacing and characterization, but they both have beautiful art!

New mutants: Karma, Magik, Mirage, Scout, Warlock, Warpath and Wolfsbane

X-factor: Daken, Eye-boy, Polaris (quit?), North Star, Rachael, Prodigy

#3. 2nd-gen Krakoa Niche aka “the good stuff”

mood-color/vibe: purples, metaphysical/cosmic pallets, tertiary colors

books included: Hellions, S.W.O.R.D., Way of X

common Pokemon: I mean they’re basically all rare drops

This is the good stuff! Who would have thought. And when I think about it,  Way of X and S.W.O.R.D., as part of the second wave of Krakoa-era books that started with Cable, both address some of the core issues and ideas that the whole HoX/DoX mini kicked off better than-- or at least more directly-- the other books. So I guess the non X-men, first-wave Krakoa books feel “mainline” in terms of their team lineups, but in terms of content, these newer ones almost feel more relevant by design. S.W.O.R.D. focuses on the cosmic context of the mutants post-Krakoa and Way is Kurt’s first spot-light moment in the era and is expressly concerned with Kurt’s addressing of the deeper moral quandaries that a people who have conquered death will be faced with. I mean, it's expressly about religion and like, spirituality-- a very tall order, but first issue pulled it off super deftly.

Also Hellions is better than it has any business being! Read this if you want savagely dark humor and some very obscure mutants + Havok/Psylocke/Sinister. But if I had to reccomend one, it’d be a tie b/w S.W.O.R.D and Way. First issue of Way was exceptional and got right into things and Kurt’s very well-written and will surely prove a meditative lead for a book like this, whereas S.W.O.R.D is epic in scale while still have sick character moments/dialogue. Manifold had a great issue or two and is now my favorite new mutant, even in the context of a somehow-actually-good King in Black tie-in. Damn! And everything going on b/w Magneto and Fabian Cortez (who was made to argue for why mutants should be allowed to murder “flatscans”/humans to the whole Krakoan council this week whilst naked. It’s fantastic. Hell, even the Snark-War sounds...interesting? What’s happening to me. 

S.W.O.R.D.: Fabian Cortez, Magneto, Abigail Brand, Peeper, Manifold, Wiz-Kid, Mentallo, Fenzy

Children of the Atom: Cherub, Marvel Guy, Cyclops-Lass (?), Gimmick, Daycrawler

Hellions: Havok, Psylocke, Empath, Orphan-Maker, Nanny, Wild Child, Sinister, Greycrow

#4. Cetera

Mood-color/vibe: colorless, “normal” element

Books included: Fallen Angels (complete 6-ish mini), All the damn Wolverine books, the uh Sword of X “guidebook” and the new Peach Momoko Demon Days books and whatever X-men Legends is.

These are titles which are either complete or don’t fit in with other things or in Demon Days or the X-men Legends’ books’ case, I think don’t even occur in-universe. And per usual of course there are multiple Wolverine books... the main one seems fine. 

Anyway all-in-all, these books are doing weirdly well. Mutants as a concept shouldn't be able to be spread this thin story-telling wise, but the books don’t really feel redundant and most are filling a specific niche or purpose. I may be dropping some of the first-wave Blue/Gold style books (Marauders and X-force I'll probably just check in on from time-to-time), but S.W.O.R.D., Way, the main book under Hickman or Duggan and Hellions all have me verrrrrry satisfied. Even standard stories in the Krakoa era feel special, and that speaks to the power of Hickman’s vision. Hellfire Gala, here we come. 

#Jonathan hickman #hickman #leinil francis yu #pepe larraz #Scott summers #cyclops #jean grey #summers clan #duggan #tini howard #vita ayala #hellfire gala #gala #Emma frost #phoebe #esme #stepford cuckoos #xavier #kurt wagner #nightcrawler #daycrawler #magik #cable #Rachael summers #children of the atom #S.W.O.R.D. #excalibur #Alan moore #davis #ewing

[crabas-lordes]

Explaining Gen. 3 Legendaries/Mythicals in My Remakes

According to the games/anime:

Regirock - The Rock Peak Pokémon, a pure Rock type, unknown gender, 5′07″ tall, weighs 507.1 pounds, was sealed away hundreds of years ago. It lives in caves or ruins.

Regice - The Iceberg Pokémon, a pure Ice type, unknown gender, 5′11″ tall, weighs 385.8 pounds, capable of surviving extremely hot temperatures, and is made of Antarctic ice. 

Registeel - The Iron Pokémon, a pure Steel type, unknown gender, 6′03″ tall, weighs 451.9 pounds, actually made of metal harder than any known metal and hollow. It’s body was tempered underground pressure for thousands of years, therefore, it cannot get a scratch. It’s food source is unknown. 

Latias - The Eon Pokémon, a Dragon and Psychic type, always female, 4′07″ tall (long), weighs 88.2 pounds, capable of Mega Evolution, can telepathically communicate with people and disguise as people. It is capable of refracting light to become invisible. It is highly intelligent and capable of understanding human speech. It is highly sensitive to human emotions, and will act intimidating if it senses a hostile person. 

Latios - The Eon Pokémon, a Dragon and Psychic type, always male, 6′07″ tall (long), weighs 132.2 pounds, capable of Mega Evolution, can telepathically communicate with people. It is highly intelligent, capable of understanding human speech, and dislikes fighting. It can fly faster than a jet plane, and can open its heart to any compassionate trainer. It can detect peoples’ emotions. 

Groudon - The Continent Pokémon, a pure Ground type, unknown gender, 11′06″ tall, weighs 2,094.4 pounds, has a Primal Forme, depicted in mythology as a Pokémon who raised lands. It can make volcanoes erupt upon awakening, and saves people from suffering from floods. It has beef with Kyogre. 

Rayquaza - The Sky High Pokémon, a Dragon and Flying type, unknown gender, 23′ tall (long), weighs 455.3 pounds, has a Mega Evolution, lived for hundreds of millions years in the ozone and never descended to the ground. It feeds on meteors and water particles in the atmosphere. It is only to descend to the ground if Kyogre and Groudon were to battle. 

Kyogre - The Sea Basin Pokémon, a pure Water type, unknown gender, 14′09″ tall (long), weighs 776 pounds, has a Primal Forme, capable of causing downpours. It was depicted to form the oceans, and saved people suffering from droughts. It sleeps in a marine trench after battling with Groudon. 

Jirachi - The Wish Pokémon, a Psychic and Steel type, unknown gender, 1′ tall, weighs 2.2 pounds, capable of granting every wish written on its sticky notes on its head. If it senses danger, it can fight without awakening. Jirachi will sleep for thousands of years and waken to a voice of purity. When it sleeps, a tough crystalline shell envelopes its body to protect it from enemies. It only stays awake for seven days. 

Deoxys - The DNA Pokémon, a pure Psychic type, unknown gender, 5′07″ tall, weighs 134 pounds, has 4 forms total (Normal, Attack, Defense, and Speed), created from a alien virus in space that underwent DNA mutations. It’s crystalline orb in its chest seems to be its brain. It is highly intelligent and has psychokinetic powers. 

My Take on Gen.3 Pokémon For the Remakes:

Regirock - It was originally sealed away by the ancient people of Sinnoh, but then a Mew decided to put it to good use. Mew set Regirock free from its temple confine and lead it to the Tree of Beginning to guard. Regirock has no gender in my remakes, since it is completely made of rocks and therefore, cannot mate. It sometimes likes to collect igneous minerals, and has a liking toward crystals. Even though it is made of rocks, it is intelligent, and has a telepathic connection to its other siblings. It can also shed its rocks when it feels it becoming too clustered.

Regice - It was formed from the powerful storms around Snowpoint City, and was awakened by a Mew to be brought to the Tree of Beginning to guard. It is highly intelligent and has a connective mind with its other siblings. Regice has no gender in my remakes, since it is made of entirely ice. While it still can survive very hot temperatures, dragonfire would easily be able to melt and kill it. It sheds shards of ice occasionally when it feels it needs to be cleaned. 

Registeel - It was found sealed in a cavern by a scientific team. They took it to their base to study, where Registeel was awakened. It wasn’t violent, but was seen as observative and intelligent. It mimicked the humans’ actions. Upon discovery, it was stated to be hollow, and its armor harder than tungsten (the strongest metal known to Earth). Registeel has no gender in my remakes since it is made of metal, and therefore cannot breed. Registeel was shown to communicate to humans, and is the only one of its siblings capable of speech (but it sounds artificial). It was soon abducted by Team Rocket, where they would take its shed armor and use dragonfire to meld its powerful metal into god-killing weapons known as “God-Killers”. 

Latias - Latias is very skittish, but loves human contact. Once she warms up to someone, she will become emotionally attached to them. She is highly intelligent but tends to act like a puppy. Latias was made from the soul of a little girl with a free spirit. When her village was destroyed by a volcano in Groudon’s wake, and flooded by Kyogre’s fury, Rayquaza had saved her and transformed her into a Latias. Latias can disguise as a human to hide herself from enemies, turn invisible, and telepathically communicate with anyone that deserves her voice. Latias likes to whistle and hum. 

Latios - Latios is more confident than Latias, and is more of a protective older brother. He’s more skeptical about humans, but can warm up to them. He too can become invisible, but he lacks the ability to disguise as a human. He is also much faster than Latias, having passed speeds of over Mach 1 in times of crisis. Latios was made from the soul of a young boy with a wish to become a knight, and was transformed by Rayquaza, just like his younger sister. Latios can also speak telepathically, and also can project his vision into the mind’s of those he finds worthy. 

Groudon - Groudon is extremely territorial and almost impossible to catch and tame. Groudon is a male in my remakes. Team Magma has failed an abundance of times to catch the Legendary beast, but would fall to his extreme heat and radiation. Groudon likes to rest in volcanoes, where he swims and drinks the magma and feeds on radiation. Groudon’s armor is iron; it is usually hard to pierce his hide. Groudon also protects Jirachi in her sleep; he nests her cocoon in a connective cave in the volcano, so the deity is not always a savage. Groudon has only battled Kyogre once as the continents and oceans formed, and the battle was eventually ended by Rayquaza. Groudon is the middle sibling of the Weather Trio. Groudon now stands at fifteen feet and weighs about a ton, due to his size and armor. 

Rayquaza - Rayquaza is one of the most territorial dragons on the planet. Rayquaza is a hermaphrodite in my remakes, which means its both male and female. Rayquaza mostly has beef with the Deoxys species and Ultra Beasts, due to them invading its home. Sometimes Rayquaza descends to check on the people of Hoenn, and only Hoenn (it’s birthplace). There, it made friends with a young boy, and sometimes it visits him in a time of need. Despite its territorial tendencies, Rayquaza is usually very curious to its surroundings. Rayquaza is now slightly longer at 25′ long, and its Mega Evolution now slightly longer at exactly 50′ long. Rayquaza is the most respected deity in Hoenn. Rayquaza is the oldest of the Weather Trio.

Kyogre - Kyogre is the least territorial and is a female in my remakes. She is the least territorial because she remains nomadic around the oceans -- until she gained the trust of Team Aqua. Once Team Aqua moved to the coasts of Sinnoh due to their discovery of Samiya, Kyogre followed, now loyal to Archie. Archie had no interest to catch Kyogre, but rather, study and monitor her. Once Kyogre joined their ranks, she would circle her routes from Sinnoh to Hoenn, and stay near those two regions. She only fought Groudon once in her lifetime, and nor does she plan to do so again. Kyogre is extremely intelligent and can pinpoint the solutions to problems fairly quickly. Kyogre is now around 25′ long and weighs slightly over a ton. She is the youngest of the Weather Trio.  

Jirachi - Jirachi is a female in my remakes and is very childish despite her age. She also is very curious and skittish, which is understandable when you only have so many days to be awake out of a thousand years. She can remain to her sleeping schedule, but rarely does she sense someone worthy to wake early for. While she can grant most wishes, she cannot grant the wishes that involve serious crimes/harm or resurrect the dead. She can speak telepathically, but is limited in speech, and almost sounds like a three-year-old. Despite how old she sounds, she is quite intelligent. She is smart enough to remember the faces of anyone she meets for quite a while, and she’s also smart enough to understand the situations she is put in. She can sense people’s emotions like her own, and does her best to change it if the emotions are negative. Jirachi mainly stays in Hoenn, but can choose to go to any other region that she pleases. She is very attached to Groudon and Giratina. 

Deoxys - There are two Deoxys on Earth; one with a purple core, and one with a green. They always stay together as partners, not mates. They have no genders, since they are mutated viruses and almost tend to breed asexually. However, Earth is slightly too harsh for them to raise their young, given Rayquaza nearly hunts them down every chance it gets. Their core is not their brain, but rather, their “heart”, or life source. If it is shattered, then the Deoxys disappears forever. Deoxys are smart enough to evade problems and don’t go looking for fights. They are usually very curious, especially in the human world. They have a fascination for humans and tend to try to mimic their actions. The two Deoxys have notably different personalities: The one with the purple core is confident and protective, and more willing to fight offensively as the one with the green core is curious, skittish, and prefers to fight defensively. To put another example in the make, if there was a lost child in the woods, the purple-cored Deoxys would more likely leave the child, but the green-cored Deoxys would most likely bring the child to safety.  

Disclaimer: These remakes are for fun and by no means are meant to replace the Pokémon franchise.

#pokemon remakes #remakes #pokemon #my take #fanfiction #pokemon fanfiction #explanation #deoxys #pokemon deoxys #jirachi #pokemon jirachi #kyogre #pokemon kyogre #team aqua #archie #rayquaza #pokemon rayquaza #groudon #pokemon groudon #team magma #latios #pokemon latios #latias #pokemon latias #registeel #pokemon registeel #team rocket #regice #pokemon regice #regirock

[gale-gentlepenguin]

Gale’s Top 10: Favorite Pokémon

Rules:

1. No mega evolutions/gigamax alone. I have to like the Pokemon outside of just those bits.

2. Regional versions are covered if they make the list.

3. These pokémon are not Meta, they are my personal favorites. 

4. This is simply my favorites. I would love to hear yours.

_______________________________________________________________________

10. Volcarona

This thing just looks really f***ing cool.

The Fire bug typing.

The mothera reference. The insane special attack.

Stupidly fun to use when playing.

Volcarona is Alder’s ace for a reason. And if you don't kill it quick. You will be begging for your life by turn 3.

When ever I get the chance. It always has a spot on my Unova team. No question about it.

_______________________________________________________________________

9. Guzzlord

The Ultra beast with the code name Glutton.

I will say that gen 7 was... interesting in its approach towards Pokémon. I honestly didn't care much for the designs (outside of the Alola forms). The Generation did have a few cool things going for it, but I found most of the line up to be kind of boring.

UNTIL THIS MOTHERF***ER SHOWED UP.

This Dark Dragon type Pokemon just looks so ... monstrous. In the Ultrasun and Moon games, The pocket of space where you find it is a decimated city with nothing in it but it, waiting for something to eat. This thing destroyed its world, likely ate every person and Pokemon. Its downright terrifying. It looks like a boss monster or the final form of a JRPG boss. (Plus his appearance actually made me watch the anime for a brief moment, so kudos)

And it hits like a truck. Sure fairy type attacks grind it to dust. But outside of that, I can just RELATE to this thing. Being unable to fill its stomach and wanting to eat all the time. 

But the reason he is so low is that... you can't really use him until late game and in a sea of other ultra beasts, his impact is minimized

_______________________________________________________________________

8. Electivire

I just love this Thunder Yeti.

One of my favorite build on evolutions. The means of getting him are a bit hard, (having a special item to trade with just to do it) but the benefits are vast. He is fast and his ability neutralizes electric attacks, allowing him to go even faster. 

His movepool allows him to use fire, ice, ground, rock, steel and even Psychic attacks.

He can even learn a move that lets him get rid of his ONE TYPE WEAKNESS. 

Regardless of what side of the fight he is on, Electivire is one tough customer.

_______________________________________________________________________

7.Arcanine

He is a big fluffy boi!

ITS A DOG THAT BREATHES FIRE AND IS BIG ENOUGH TO BE RIDDEN!

My 10 year old self DREAMED about having one. It has soft fur and is loyal. It also is mega versatile. It can learn dragon type, electric type, ground and even grass type moves. It also just looks so cool. I wish we got to see it more commonly used, but sadly it is always outshines by ANOTHER fire type of the gen and that is sadly that.

_______________________________________________________________________

6. Rayquaza

Its a giant green dragon that looks like Shenron and has the best mega evolution. He is also my favorite Legendary. Sorry all other Legendaries. not even Arceus or Mewtwo could touch this beast at his best.

It is majestic, and I have played through emerald version MORE times than any other Pokemon game ever.

So let me tell you about how  monstrous this thing is. Its mega evolution was banned BECAUSE IT WAS SO RIDICULOUSLY OP and it is the reason why Mega evolution is no longer allowed because Z moves couldn't counter this thing. 

It always is cool. And THIS is what a dragon is.

______________________________________________________________________

5. Empoleon 

This might have been shocking to see him so low on the list. Only barely making the top 5.

His design is one of my favorites. And his evolutionary line is my favorite LOOKING of all starters.

Its just... I always keep forgetting he is steel type and when someone uses a ground or fighting move he gets rekt. Now this is more on me and not on the grace that is empoleon.

I also wish this Pokemon got more love. It was overshadowed in the anime, its constantly ignored by most when talking about Sinnoh, and it has a diverse move pool.

I just wish it was either more of a tank or more of a fast sweeper. 

I want to love him more, but battling is kind of important to me and I just feel on edge using him.

______________________________________________________________________

4. Hawlucha

My favorite Gen 6 pokemon.

Bar none. This wrestling bird is just so cool. It has THE best Shiny colors. It is based of a luchadore. It has its own special move, Flying Press. And it hits like a truck.

He has great versatility, he also is just fun to look at. And the Pokemon anime gave me a new appreciation for this bird. If he was a penguin, he would be number one.

_______________________________________________________________________

3. Lucario

Okay I admit it, Lucario is my more obvious pick. BUT COME ON!

It is one of the coolest Pokemon ever created!

It is fast and strong. It has Aura Sphere (one of my favorite moves in the game)

He was also my main in smash before Ultimate came out and nerfed him.

He was my boy. He also has one of the better Pokémon movies made about him and he deserves it.

Also you know a trainer is a bada*** when he/she has one on her team. Its like a status symbol.

And with the coverage he has, its no wonder he is so well loved. 

Plus his design is amazing, his shiny is one of the coolest designs, and he looks like a good boy.

_______________________________________________________________________

2. Raichu

HE IS SHAPED LIKE A FRIEND!

okay so I always liked the Raichu line, but I always felt Pikachu was overrated.

I still love the electric mouse, but I always evolved him.

When Gen 7 happened and THIS form of Raichu happened. I fell in love. Look at this Electric Psychic typing. And the answer to evolve or not was put to rest forever.

Having access to Thunderbolt, surf, psychic and an assortment of other moves. I just love how amazing it is to use. He also looks so cute and cuddly. This is the ideal Pokemon design, you may not agree, but this is what perfection looks like.

Plus, his tail is a surfboard. Your argument is invalid.

_______________________________________________________________________

1. Feraligatr

Let me tell you all a story.

My first Pokemon game that I ever played by myself was Pokémon silver.

My first starter was Totodile.

I started my journey with this little gator and every step of the way, whenever I was backed into a corner, this guy came through for me. I called him Gatorhawk. Because he had the little red tuft that I thought was a mohawk.

I remember playing the game in the car on my way home, doing my best against Lance and his three dragonites. The rest of my team was down. Only Gatorhawk remained as I faced his 3 remaining Pokemon. Surviving attack after attack.  Yet somehow finishing off his dragonites.

I got down to his last Pokemon, Out of healing items, and up against charizard.

My Gatorhawk was in the yellow. I was so close. All I needed to do was survive that Charizard’s attack.

It fired a hyper beam. I thought it was over. All of the hardwork I had gone up to this point, it was for nothing.

But Gator tanked it. By some logic He tanked a hyper beam with only one HP left.

And he hit with a critical Surf. It was over. We had won. 

I screamed so loud my mom thought something bad had happened.

I was a pokemon champion. I had beaten Lance. No older cousin help, no sister assistance. it was just me, and my Gatorhawk.

So when I see Feraligatr. I think of Pokémon, I remember the nostolgia, the good times.

I remember what it meant to be the best.

#Pokémon #pokemon #gale's top 10 #Gale's top ten #man I love pokémon

[dragonrajafanfiction]

Justice Chapter 1: How?

This is a mini series (hahaha mini series... ok) about the MC in the ReWritten Series, now named Uesugi Yoko. What happens to her after she’s left in Japan by the Caesar Team and what challenges is she facing?

If you read, please leave me feedback! ^_^

Yoko Uesugi looked at her phone from the rumpled sheets in a black tank top and shorts. Tokyo was seven hours ahead of Rome so it would be midnight, ‘Caesar Time’. She’d cheekily texted ‘you up? >:P’, but got no response. He probably was awake, but Caesar was the worst texter and seemed to get worse the more she wanted to hear from him.

She imagined him still awake, smoking a cigar and drinking Champagne. In the Takamagahara he used to stay up all night long to work and sleep in the morning. Yoko still struggled to wake up in the morning and sleep at night, even now. Most of her studying she did at night by the light of a lamp, polishing her Japanese reading and script, studying history, and dragon genealogy. On the nightstand she had crossed off 35 assignments. But this was an accelerated pace she set for herself, not something required by the Japan branch. In fact, Anjou blithely told her that thanks to her performance on the mission, she could be excused from classes entirely.

But knowledge was power, and she needed power.

She made an effort not to bother Caesar. Her assignment in Tokyo was her business after all. He had nothing but full confidence in her ability to handle any difficulty that came her way. So it felt like she was doubting him when she suddenly wondered if what she was doing was going to end up well done in the end. 

And now she wondered if she was going to end up dead.

Months ago, she’d awakened at Cassell College after experiencing the destruction of Black Swan Bay. The disorienting change in circumstances was made all the worse when she was subsequently shipped off to Japan to perform a dangerous mission. She learned that the man who had run the human experimental labs at Black Swan continued the cruelty in Japan. Dr. Herzog set up two organizations from a single family group of hybrids, splitting families apart by their bloodline heritage either the stable ‘good’ genes of Hydra or the ‘trash’ violent genes of the Devil Clan.

He ran experiments on both groups and used violent means to dispose of the undesirable results. When he finished his research, he launched a campaign to eliminate the Devil Clan by framing them for wanting to resurrect ‘god’ that is, the Light King. In less than a week, hundreds of people were dead, thousands were injured. And those who survived had their lives torn apart.

Herzog was dead by her hand, but his legacy lingered in the ruins of the Hybrid families of Japan. Yoko’s assignment was to help heal the fracture between the Devil Clan and the Hydra. Herzog’s legacy in Japan was connected to Black Swan Bay and she knew him intimately. It wasn’t enough to just kill Herzog and call it justice. She wanted to dismantle Herzog’s entire deadly philosophy that caused the slaughter in the first place and undo his legacy in Japan down to the foundation.

However, what needed to be done was going to run her up against some very powerful people. She wanted Caesar’s advice, but he wasn’t answering. Yoko put her phone down and got up to get ready for the day.

Yoko Uesugi wasn’t her actual name. Her real name was Russian because that’s where she was conceived. Her dark hair and eyes appeared Asian, however, only her square jaw and longer nose spoke to some other mixed heritage. It was easier to just adopt a Japanese name rather than have them struggle with her Russian one.

The light was already on in the bathroom. A girl with long red hair brushed her teeth in the mirror and moved aside to let Yoko in. Erii was the one who gave Yoko her last name, fully adopting her as an Uesugi sister. Like Yoko, Erii was the result of Herzog’s experimentation and should have been killed by him. She was the chosen vessel for the Light King parasite, the so-called Tsukiyomi-no-mikoto, who could fully assimilate the genes of the dragon into her own body at the cost of her mind. 

She was horribly unstable. The dragonblood in her body was eating away at her. Yoko was in a similar state and together they bonded over their shared illness. Thankfully, they both ended up sharing the cure of the Light King’s fetal blood that saved their lives, but even this was at a great cost. The resurrection of the Light King provoked the eruption of Mt. Fuji, devastating earthquakes, and a large tsunami that killed hundreds of people. Erii and Yoko got their lives back but the scars on Tokyo were still very apparent.

Erii wrote in her notebook and held it up. “Sakura-Kun got promoted. He’s a big man in College now.”

“That’s good news. Tell him I said congrats.” Yoko runs a brush through her hair and yawns. “Hope it doesn’t get a big head.”

Erii lifted up the paper again. “He says he doesn’t know how he’ll manage.”

“I can sympathize with that.” Yoko looks down at her brush.

As soon as Caesar Gattuso, Chu Zihang and Lu Mingfei left Japan, Yoko was approached by the Clan Chief, Nanami Sakurai who had been placed over the Hydra Executive Board by Chisei Gen before his disappearance. Yoko didn’t know Nanami very well other than a brief encounter where she’d furiously slapped Caesar in the face, not knowing it was him. The cold, murderous look in her eyes frightened Yoko into fleeing the elevator she was in.

But after the events in Japan, Nanami was very different. 

Nanami Sakurai had suffered from both sides of the War. Her relatives were members of the Devil Clan. Akira was less than ten years old when it was determined that his bloodline was dangerous and he was shipped off to the prison like schools for the violent. Kogure Sakurai was older, about fourteen when she was sent away. The two half siblings both died because they took Herzog’s poison and mutated. They were both killed by Chisei Gen.

Not only that, but two men she loved among Hydra died to the Devil Clan. The Kotaro of the Fuma Clan and Genichiro Ryoma.

Nanami took Yoko to an onsen and teahouse where they stayed for a week, talking and swapping stories. Yoko told Nanami the truth. The man who separated Kogure and Akira from her family was the same man who provided the poison that turned them into monsters and the same man who sent Chisei Gen to kill them. The man who did that was also the same man who drove Chime Gen to madness by converting him into Ruri Kazama. Ruri Kazama then killed Kotaru Fuma. This same man planted the Kanto Group in Hydra and induced them to rebel, an action that would lead to the death of Genichiro.

The men she loved in Hydra and her Devil Clan family were all victims of the same man who wanted to resurrect the ‘god’. Dr. Herzog.

Nanami Sakurai was silent and numb for a long time, her eyes dull. She didn’t speak again that night.

Once Yoko returned to her lodging in Genji Heavy Industries, she sent her a memo on how she thought the damage should be repaired. Yoko commented that it was important to listen to all the victims to get a full account of matters and collect evidence to document what happened first before making any decisions.

Kaguya the super computer had her core destroyed in the fighting and was still being rebuilt from a backup, but many of the records were held on personal devices and Nanami also sent out neutral representatives for witness testimony. 

Yoko had spoken to a man of the Inuyama family named Chance who gave her a glimpse of the violence during that horrible week. His family was all killed and their apartment block set on fire. The young children were all orphaned and institutionalized. But even that was only the tip of the bloody iceberg.

The Devil Clan controlled eleven of the eighteen yakuza gangs in Osaka, and the seven gangs loyal to Hydra had always been peaceful to them. But overnight the world changed. The gates of the Genji Heavy Industries building opened, black vans drove out in a convoy and the top members of the Hydra poured out. The moment they arrived in Osaka, the seven Hydra gangs launched an attack on the Devil Clan. Never before in history had a yakuza war been fought so efficiently. It was no less than Hitler's blitzkrieg of Poland. The Devil Clan gangs were crushed one after another before they could organize themselves. Seven of the eleven Devil Clan gangs declared their allegiance to the Hydra Yakuza, three of Devil Clan hold out gangs were beaten to death with bats, and the last one was disbanded. Overnight, Osaka became the Osaka of the Hydra

Not only Osaka, but also from the south to the north, all the gangs loyal to the Hydra family took action and spared no effort to attack the gangs loyal to the Devil clan. Either the Devil Clan members surrendered or their bodies were left on the street.

Hydra had almost all the information about the Devil clan, including the illegal transactions of the clan's gangs and government officials who had dealings with them. The police department received anonymous emails with evidence of the Devil Clan’s crimes, and as soon as the judge accepted the evidence, more than half of the Devil Clan members would be sentenced to prison. The officials who covered up for them received death threats. A prefectural assemblyman was suddenly lifted by a helicopter on the highway in his car, flying 500 meters in the air. The terrified prefectural assemblyman received a phone call in the air from Zuo Shang, an old-timer in the Hydra family, expressing his cordial greetings. Ten minutes later, the helicopter dropped off the senator's car in front of the prefectural assembly building, and by then the senator had become a member of the Hydra family. 

But the ‘ghosts’, the unstable hybrids, never even had the option to defect. Even though they had the blood of the Hydra family in their bodies, in order to escape, some of them used potions that forcibly purified their blood. In front of the Executive Board, which was created to kill people like them, they were just a bunch of desperate beasts. No matter how furiously they struggled, their hearts were pierced by explosive bullets filled with mercury. The aces that the Executive Board brought along with them were responsible for pouring the bodies of the ‘ghosts’ into the cement piles. The cement piles were driven into the bottom of the sea to form a neat array. The Maruyama Construction Institute, to which the Hydra family belonged, would build a shrine on that reclaimed land to commemorate the dead. 

The ghosts who did surrender would be imprisoned for life. During the Heian period, the Hydra family set up a black prison in the hollow of Mount Kobe to imprison the ghosts that appeared in the family. After the Meiji Restoration, the family was exposed to Western ideas and felt that the black prison was not humane enough, so they closed it, but suddenly the rusted iron gate had opened again. Very few ghosts surrendered however, preferring death to an eternal prison and that prison filled with their children.

Yoko had stood on the shore of the sea, looking over the rows of concrete piles under the waves, knowing that each one contained the body of a man or woman who had chosen not to be imprisoned forever and a great cold came over her. Right behind her, the people assigned as her escort and guard were the same ones who had ended these lives. Unless there was an investigation, it would be impossible to tell who was acting in good faith to repair the damage and restore the Japan branch to harmony and who would much rather let all the former Devils serve as a building’s foundation elements.

Thoughts of financial reparations and placement of orphans were suddenly overshadowed by the names of famous courts like Nuremberg and the Hague and Gacaca…

The suggestion of an investigation and trial of cruel members of the executive board went over as poorly as she expected. Where in Japan could she find impartial judges? Hydra owned everything, all the officials in the courts. No witness would ever testify openly in such a situation. Outside judges would have to be brought in. Who could be trusted with compiling such a roster? Who would be in charge of protecting them from corruption and intimidation?

The pushback was immediate. The Executive board were respected and highly regarded members of the Hydra. How could they be prosecuted for sparing no effort in stopping the Devil Clan from resurrecting god? Nanami didn’t tell anyone that this was all a plot of one man. They all still believed it was 100% the Devils’ fault and they all deserved to die. Tachibana was their respected and dearly departed leader who died saving his son at Tokyo Tower! Why were the guardians of Japan being held accountable for a war that the Devils began?

On the way home from shopping, Yoko was researching the Meiji Restoration when a bullet shattered the window. Despite there being a clear blue sky and it was broad daylight, there was no evidence to be found regarding who fired that bullet.  It was a warning shot. Only someone who was very high up in the Hydra rankings could have known where she was at that moment. The next bullet probably would not miss.

Yoko slipped on her shoes at the door and checked her phone one more time before stepping out into the hall of the Genji Heavy Industries building.

Caesar had still not texted her back.

#Dragon Raja #Justice AU

[cricketnationrise]

February 2021 Reading Roundup

jan 2021 here

21 brief descriptions/feelings under the cut because i talk a lot

Love Lettering by Kate Clayborn: light romance novel with lots of miscommunication, cute not-a-date-dates, and whistleblowing on a giant corporation

Upright Women Wanted by Sarah Gailey: buckle up because you didn’t know you wanted future semi-post-apocalyptic horse-riding queer librarian spies but you definitely do. especially when its less than 200 pages and you can read it in the morning and make your friends read it the same afternoon (warnings for violence with guns and authoritarian governments)

Across the Dark Water by Richard Kadrey: tor.com short story, plague has left the city in ruins and perpetual quarantine, thief hrires a guide to lead him safely through the city to the person who can five him the travel papers he needs to escape, warnings for violence, feral dogs attacking humans, plague

The Long Earth by Terry Pratchett: there are infinite parallel universes and some people can naturally “step” between them, but society is changed forever when someone posts the plans for a “stepper device” for free on the internet and suddenly (almost) everyone can travel between worlds

The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin: part of the Hainish cycle but can absolutely be read out of order, genderfuckery abounding, basically everything that happens is a political machination

The Fifth Season by NK Jemisin: reread because my copies of the other two books in the trilogy came in the mail, first in the Broken Earth trilogy, where to start, umm, theres a group of people called orogones who can control rock/earth and there is lots of prejudice against them for that. triple POV that alternates, including one in second person, which is cool, explores all levels of this society from very poor to very rich, “fifth season” refers to a geological event where everything changes and usually a lot of the population dies (the seasons vary from acid rain to earth quakes to volcanoes etc); warning for harm to children, power imbalance, violence, murder, extreme coersion; not exactly a cliffhanger ending, but its not NOT an ending that makes you want the next book pretty quickly after

Empire of Ivory by Naomi Novik: book 4 in the temeraire series, please please please read these in order, alternate history of napoleonic wars with talking dragons that are part of the military and form really close bonds with their captains/riders/crews

Hood Feminism: Notes from the Women That a Movement Forgot by Mikki Kendall: relatively short, non-fiction, what it says on the tin

Just My Type: A Book About Fonts by Simon Garfield: non-fiction, extremely nerdy because that’s how i roll, history of the actual fonts, printing/writing, and a brief look at the most famous designers of fonts, the chapter on comic sans was particularly good

The Soldier’s Scoundrel by Cat Sebastian: book 1 in The Turners romance series, can be read out of order, sex on the page, m/m

Return of the Thief by Megan Whalen Turner: last book (sad) in the Queen’s Thief series, absolutely must read these in order, political machinations abounding, gods meddling a bit, Gen is terrifying as per usual (complementary)

The Uncommon Reader by Alan Bennet: novella? short story? featuring the queen of england discovering reading for pleasure and freaking out her staff, her family, various government officials, and the members of the public who get to meet her

The Book Charmer by Karen Hawkins: technically book 1 in a series but can be read alone, some light magical realism (there’s a family with ~powers~ but small ones like being good at plants or being able to talk to books), a woman moves to a small town with her niece (who she has guardianship over as her sister has just died) and her foster mom who has been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, the town is struggling financially and she thinks she’ll only be there for one year while they get their feet under them. she is wrong. alternating POV between three characters, light romance

Romancing Mister Bridgerton by Julia Quinn: book 4 in the bridgerton series, focuses on the third oldest brother, Colin; romance, sex on the page, reveal of Lady Whistledown

Beneath the Sugar Sky by Seanan McGuire: book 3 in the wayward children series, novella length, lots of world hopping in this one, some characters from previous books, Confection world, you probably should read these in order

The Obelisk Gate by NK Jemisin: book 2 in the broken earth trilogy; picks up almost immediately after the first one ends, still a three-narrator structure, although the narrators have changed, definitely read in order or nothing will make sense, the worldbuilding in this series is amazing

Lucky Jim by Kingsley Amis: buddy read with my mom, one of those books where the situations are hilarious and the banter is witty but i hated every single character because they are awful, set in an English university outside of london post WW2, warning for alcoholism and smoking

The Tyger by Tegan Moore: tor.com short story, Jules’ favorite exhibit in the museum brings the past to life, from present to prehistoric, tonight at his aunt’s wedding reception as jules walks along the path, it comes alive like never before; horror, but not gory, also it was short enough that i wasn’t too creeped out while reading it

Hockey Bois: A Beer League Romance by AL Heard: romance novel about two guys on the same beer league (adult rec league) hockey team who fall for each other, little to no knowledge of hockey is required, lots of emotions and an amount of not using their words, super cute, their teammates are awesome, their families are fun, plus I love a recurring local dive bar. plus the author is @jhoomwrites on here and there is more written in the universe if you’re interested (there’s smut on AO3 here)

In an Absent Dream by Seanan McGuire: book 4 in the wayward children series, novella length, backstory for a character introduced in book 1; read in order for your own sanity, many emotions were had

The Lawrence Browne Affair by Cat Sebastian: book 2 in the turners series, romance novel, don’t need to read in order, sex on the page

#reading roundup #feb 2021 #book recs #book rec #love lettering #kate clayborn #upright women wanted #sarah gailey #across the dark water #richard kadrey #the long earth #terry pratchett #the left hand of darkness #ursula k le guin #the fifth season #nk jemisin #broken earth trilogy #the obelisk gate #empire of ivory #naomi novik #temeraire #hood feminism #mikki kendall #just my type #a book about fonts #simon garfield #the soldier's sccoundrel #cat sebastian #the turners series #return of the thief

[ladychandraofthemoone]

MLDC Pokemon Au Characters: Champion Felix Team

(Note that this takes place in the Kalos region but all the pokemon from each gen 1-8 is here plus this is different class au where Mari is with Mendeliev from the beginning of the show and kwamis don’t exist but BURST power does)

Champion Felix Etienne Durand of the Kalos Region: A world famous actor, plus part time model and full time activist, despite being aloof and difficult to talk with, constantly shoving a hand upon cameras being in his face with a deadpan expression. However beneath his cold exterior lies a quite soft spot for trainers that show talent and is quite protective of those he considers to be “friends” including his own pokemon. Yep he has friends but also his region. He is very regal, prim and proper like most champions but is also surprisingly cunning, crafty and sneaky, willing to salt on anyone who dares get on his bad side. Free time you can find him in cafes, reading anything or practicing magic tricks.  is nicknamed mister grumpy pants by Jagged and Ice King?prince due to his use of ice type moves and pokemon 

Main partner is Gallade named Galahad , who he can Mega evolve but refuses to do so all the time, only when the time is right. He makes sure Felix isn’t too distant or rude or dismissive until the person deserves it and Felix is internally grateful for that even if it doesn’t look like it. Don’t worry, Galahad knows though psychic mind reading and their bond is so deep that Felix can command him through movements without speaking!! He is like a gentleman, very much into respect and chivalry but also very loyal to Felix

P Team is based off Diantha’s and fairytale/movie genres

Gallade: based off the white knight part of Felix, is actually quite protective of those he cares for even if he has trouble showing it, also all of his team is base off an movie genre and fairytale, Galahad being the knight and romantic lead, found him as a Ralts and protected him from a Druddigon, now has a best friend since Ralts can detect emotions and despite his icy glare and closed off attitude, senses loneliness as a result from his abusive, isolated childhood and ended up running away together, is his closest companion and based on the knight/romantic lead since Felix is always portrayed as the lead

Dragapult: Tristan,obviously, the dragon of the fairytale and has a personality similar to Plagg and the most similar in appearance quite lazy and mischievous, always pulling pranks with Morgana, Felix’s XL Gourgeist being besties with her, also in the horror genre with her, decided to join Felix whether he liked it or not, seeing as he couldn’t scare him so easily after Felix hear rumors of a ghost causing chaos and trouble in Route 14 and wanted to debunk it, plus he needs a puesdo-legendary like many champions and the quiet mysterious personality fits him, Felix secretly adores him and his mini children, a soft spot

Aurorus: Guinevere was with Launcelot when they were both discovered together as fossils and when revived, just kept each other company and whenever one was going to be taken, the other (mostly Launcelot) would throw a fit, attack fellow pokemon and scientists and basically destroy everything, Amaura would just freeze everything and make the room cold so Felix saw a bit of himself in them and took both of them, she is the only one who can calm Tyrantrum down despite a type disadvantage and Felix enjoys her personality and her being the queen plus dino movies

Tyrantrum: Launcelot is his name, he represents the king being a king like pokemon in the old ages and fits old fossil movies like Jurassic Park and Land Before Time plus those natural geographic documentaries, like with Guinevere was found together and refused to leave each other as an Amaura and Tyrunt since they only had each other so Felix took them since he made more of a mess and was difficult plus Felix was reminded of his friendship with Bridgette, Marinette’s cousin, may look and act tough and scary, he is but also is very touch starved, loves cuddles and pets from Felix

Gourgeist XL: Like Dragapult, Vortigen simply followed Felix around since he ignored his ghostly moans and proceed to prank and scare his teammates (earning Tristan’s respect) so he made a deal with him that if he could try and scare him as he’s hard to be afraid then he’ll leave them all alone, he failed but decided to stay by throwing a pokeball at Felix’s face unlike Tristan who simply caught himself and woke Felix by sitting sat on his chest as a Pumpkaboo, is best friends with Tristan over being unable to terrify their trainer and enjoying watching the gardens grow and helps out, he appreciates that

Frosmoth: A tiny snow that he found when traveling though Galar in an attempt to get along with Kalos-Galar diplomatic relationships and going a movie shoot, he ended up camping 🏕  ⛺️ with his pokemon and well making curry to feed them a tiny snow ends up with them wanting food and Felix, despite his cold exterior let’s it joins the meal and oops it decides to stay, Vivien is a shy bug but like Felix doesn’t like bad guys or people who refuse to leave her trainer alone and ends up getting friendship points with him to evolve much to his shock and now there are mysterious many Alolan and Galar pokemon in Kalos

Relationships: Gets along well with Penny Rolling, Sinnoh League Champion and Camilla Hombee, Unova Champion with their studious personalities and enjoy talking with each other about books/myths/lore and swapping stories, few who can take Felix’s distant, closed off personality and actually get him out of his shell/bubble and talk to, Felix even smiles a bit when around Penny and is secretly excited to see her at champion meetings,

Has a love-hate relationship with jagged since he traveled with him and penny, their personalities clash a lot with Felix’ chivalry gentleman like yet very much gives the cold shoulder, polite yet quiet, Jagged the total oppiste: loud, boisterous, gets into people’s faces, love to give each other crap and act terrible to one another but both are terrified of Penny’ wrath since she’s the only one to keep them in line, secretly both are jealous of each other

Wants to protect Marinette and her friends since he failed to protect her cousin and former accoquinâtes since he worked for Interpol as an agent but a mission failed resulted in them and their pokemon being killed, makes him have crushing guilt and trauma, masking of his emotions, is so determined to make sure Mari doesn’t have to go through that and is fond of her as a successor and trains her though is quite envious by the fact that Mari has a huge crush on Chandra

Ali respects him due to his Champion a social status and the fact he would sacrifice everything to protect his citizen and regions, Felix would give him advice on the pressure and knows of Ali’s feelings for Marinette, quietly teasing him much to his embarrassment but like Ali likes to help everyone out 

with Aurore thinks he’s dreamy and cute like a tsundere but also is quite salty that Auroue prefers Chandra over him cause parasol goals , is quite overwhelmed but enjoys by Ondine’s cheerfulness/peppiness and is internally mortified that Jean acts like Jagged but likes his card tricks, listens to Zora cause though she young she has much smart advice

Does not get along with Andre due to corruption and him searching undercover due to employer complainats, Gabriel he can’t get along with since he calls Felix creepy things like he should remain young forever much to his disgust cause Felix wants to grow old, Nadja he hates nosy reporters and how she assumes Felix is in love Gallade and how Marinette was in love with her Greninja, shutted her down, Caline he hates that she keeps gulitripping Marinette int traveling with Chloe and releasing her “dangerous” pokemon like Greninja so he puts a stop to that with Mega Gallade on all of them

Gets along with Dimitrina Mendeliev and Anne-Jeanne Théoxanne du Bocquale cause professors (don’t know who’s Kalos and Anne might be Alola’s and Kalos professor) and Mendeliev tells him everything what’s going on like her pesky coworker refusing to take a hint in leaving her students alone, so like two grumpy parents who will risk their lives for their kids, plus tall gf and smol bf, he meshes well with Anne evn though her hyperactive, doesn’t look before she jumps and sometimes forgets to think things through, loves her happy-go-lucky nature, reminds me a lot of Bridgette where both also have their brave wise moments.

Respects all the other champions, being his fellow coworkers and help each other out though is very intimated and insecure with Darius due to his physique and height (Felix, slender and skinny 6ft, Darius 6′5 and very muscular) but mutual understanding his dragons and power, Marianne and Fu were retired but have everyone’s attention and huge respect since they were the first, oldest, champions where Marianne is now part of penny’s Elite four

Due to not many dude/guy champions, Felix is the closest with Penny, Camilla, sigh Jagged, Ali, Marianne, Fu, plus his successor Marinette and even Chandra, maybe even has a slowburn love with her later on

#submission #ml pokemon au #champion felix #miraculous pokemon #miraculous pokemon au #felix ml #felix miraculous #miraculous felix #gallade #mega gallade #mega evolution #tyrantrum #aurorus #gourgeist #dragapult #frosmoth is the princess or enchantress #Gallade knight #tyrantrum king aurorus queen #switched his team gave him two ice types cause of Pokédex entries #frosmoth #gour Geist witch #dragapult dragon

[welcometomy20s]

February 7, 2021

This is Part two of the introduction of Nijisanji. I have written for an audience who has just gotten to know vtubers through hololive and wants to explore more. This part cover all of Nijisanji members who has debuted in the year 2019.

2019 Part 1 (Jan-Apr)

Warabeda Meiji - Another eleven year old, but likes FF14 and K-On! So frequently described as an 11 year old third season. But she is genuinely cute! And a really good singer, so much so that her K-On cover gets banned for being too close!

Gundou Mirei - Actually a teacher, but definitely a ditzy and lazy one, that is incredibly sexual to an uncomfortable degree, you know, a fan favorite, including of mine. Watch her 3D streams and you will be amazed. Has a ship with Shoichi as mentioned before, even though she’s a self-professed bisexual. It’s odd but, you know, it works!

Yuzuki Roa - Kind of innocent devil like Towa, but more like a kid than an older sister. Really like Belmond. Was friends with Chitose, a retired member, and got a costume based on her a bit, and maybe is retiring herself, considering she hasn't uploaded for quite a few months now. Well, whatever. She’s cute and innocent.  

Onomachi Haruka - Another of the rare, truly seiso people in the team, but can go wild if the vibe goes that way. Lost and found a llama in minecraft once.

Seto Miyako - Kind of a quiet girl who might be psychopathic... you know the type. Her true tendencies pop up during gaming. Also tweets a lot... make sense.

Kataribe Tsumugu - Basically retired, but her concept was so shocking that it took Naruse Naru’s return of old design to push her into the bottom of the list.

Otogibara Era - She’s a Cinderella if she has gone completely out the window. People routinely separate the original Cinderella side as Era, and her true side as Gibara.

God, how do I describe her. Gibara is just great. Her adult comments are something to behold, let’s say she gels with Tamaki very well. She returns to monke often, and does other types of screams too... seriously look at her gacha stream and witness Gibara in her full glory. Also incredibly lazy and definitely cannot live by herself.

But as you have guessed it, she is an incredible singer. (It might be the case that incredible singing is associated with madness) Had knockout hit with her 3D stream, trending number one on twitter and 30,000 US dollars in superchats!

Lize Helesta - Queen of Shizuoka, I mean Heleste kingdom. Usually behaves like an empress, but as with most royalty has a real competitive spirit, so she knows how to badmouth when she needs to. So, she’s a really stingy person as well... not really fitting for a royalty, but you do know some people that act like that.

She’s a strange person. Look at asphalt or a handstand in order to sleep. Friends with Ange, who was a childhood friend, even with an age difference. Also does radio stuff with Lulu as well. Reveres Mito, wonder why. Again, incredible 3D debut.

Ange Katrina - Nice low-middle voice with a smooth upper body, and surprisingly small but that got fixed as 3D started. Think she’s cute, but blushes when people agree. Just a cool gal who I enjoy very much... her streams, I mean.

Inui Toko - She’s a cerberus, and now works at a cafe. A little bit out there, but definitely a tsukkomi. Usually does little gaming outside Minecraft, so mostly talks and sings. A unique laugh and loves Ensemble Stars. Hangs out with red and blue people, like Lize, Ange, Roa, Ayame, Suisei and so on. Actually is boing boing, Ange felt betrayed.

And as mentioned above, a great singer, and can play many instruments as well!

Saegusa Akina - High tension singer, who is quite sickly and is terrible with girls. But he got better as time went on and the ship with his gen mate Manami started to sail. Actually he hangs around with many girls... maybe it’s just Manami?

Arizona Manami - Ito Life’s daughter... so you know what she looks like. Calls herself the queen of sensitivity, and yes she does very suggestive streams... but she’s pretty innocent and childish... so she’s kind of like Melody in a way. Has a very fond-looking relationship with Akina as mentioned above.

Suzuhara Lulu - Just your typical art student. She’s a rich girl, so she knows very little about the outside world. Definitely has stamina of a thousand horses, famously played 11 hours of Dark Souls, then straight onto 10 hours of Ring Fit, and never got phased. Seriously, she never gets phased. She rode the freaking snake without a problem! Apparently really beautiful in real life, really has large expressions.

There’s a rumor going around that she’s actually some kind of an eldritch god... and I don’t know where that comes from at all. Look at her, she’s such a sweet gal, look at her dancing and singing... she’s a true idol, that’s what she is... (don’t hurt me.)

Yukishiro Mahiro - First-year high-schooler. Good variety of content. Her personality is of a rude kouhai. One viewer described her as a bad-tempered chihuahua. Really likes Kanae, which is okay, I guess. There’s not much more than that.

2019 Part 2 (May-Aug)

Ex Albio - A hero from a different world. Originally portrayed as a rude snarky figure, much like Kazuma without charm or luck but with perseverance. Got his fame through his noob Minecraft experience, as with Minecraft servers, they are ripe with collab opportunities, so he started to collab especially with Ars Almal, which he thinks as a mentor... and so they both talk in high register. Eventually became a couple.

Has a thing where he questions something and immediately denies it, which is quite funny. Eventually got a dark alter version due to the imagination tournament I talked about earlier, which brings the fact that he can’t fight until tragedy occurs.

Levi Elipha - Actually only six years old, and apparently dense, like physically dense. Great singer and good physique, does some English songs as well.

Nui Sociere - A 25-year old witch, but more like a NEET with an addiction to horse racing. Very much like Megumi in terms of magic abilities, but capable of melee.

Kind of sounds like Doraemon when she screams... usually plays JRPG... and well, just look at her. Damn... well, least you have something to look forward to.

Hayama Marin - Hayame is Hayame. She’s just a little kid with a pure mind. Yeah.

Hayato Kagami - CEO of a toy company, so called that. Polite and diligent, but like a CEO of a toy company, completely becomes a boy when getting a bit excited.

Actually is a great singer, maybe a trained singer as well. As a good example of rich getting richer, fans have a tendency to throw red superchat, a typical stream might hit 10K USD, even though there’s nothing particular going on.

Yorumi Rena - Idol magician, but no actual proof of her magic abilities. Plays APEX a lot. Very much an outgoing person with lots of collab from everyone. Hakase calls her mama. Sleep promptly at midnight, except when ARK was involved.

Also makes 8-bit art proficiently, does all her loading screen. A bit of a lewd mind.

Hakase Fuyuki - HIgh school girl who likes to experiment, but it’s obvious none of it ever works. Tries to ship Yorumi and Kagami, and calls him papa. Just absolutely in her own world and everyone is just privy to it... also incredibly bad at gaming.

Mayuzumi Kai - A white hacker. Very cool, but has a thing for comedy, almost to the level of Joe Riikichi, but laughs very little himself. Make sense, since he lost his parents at an early age and lived in the system, therefore is a night streamer. Very good with kids as a result, and very kind and polite as well.

Ars Almal - A mage who specializes in lightning. Started out by apologizing, gets bullied for her round face, usually by Shiina. Cute voice with toxic words with a knack for pranks and taunts. Actually is quite boing boing. Good at Minecraft construction, but get rough and dirty under the wheel, as in Mario Kart. Became a kitsune, and then immediately got compared to Fubuki... much like Fubuki in a sense.

Aiba Uiha - Another idol who is a bit out there, has a tendency to be clingy. Also has a large physique... kind of a denatured Lulu is what I’m getting at. Sisters with Ara Chae, incredibly bad eyesight, apparently. I can see that, actually.

Eli Conifer - A flower fairy and maid with a unique phrasing. Likes to immerse herself in games, very knowledgeable, especially with teas, and also handy at housework, and superb at drawing and singing. Ryushen and Rion think she’s a badass, and they might not be entirely wrong on that aspect, actually.

Kokoro Amaiya - Dragonborn, I think. But there’s no dragon anymore. Has that mumble-speak that people really don’t like. She’s very much kid-like in a sense, uh, so get put into the loli category much like her fellow peer. Incredibly weak.

Ratna Petit - Adventurer with an independent streak. Does games and ASMR, tries to be grown up during collabs, but retreats into a kid in solo streams. Got the infamous random deletion of the account that Kiara famously got.

Nijisanji ID Gen 1

Taka Radjiman - Another CEO, this time a food CEO. Usually streams games, but much like other CEOs here, a pretty good singer as well. Obviously a good cook as well.

ZEA Cornelia - She’s an automata. ZEA is short for Z-type Executive Automation. Likes to sing, and sung many songs including La Vien en Rose by IZONE! I really like her, her streams are bit odd and ZEA can carry a stream like no another.

Hana Macchia - A design student, much like Lulu. Likes drawing as you expect, also like gaming as well. Does some barista stuff as well, a kind of the ambassador of Nijisanji ID, since her father is American and her mother is Japanese, and she lives in Indonesia.

Papa Macchia appears on stream from time to time, and apparently was the progenitor of Hana’s gaming prestige as he played Doom and Half-Life. She’s on the cute side of things, but blushes when she gets called that. Also cries in horror, but screams in excitement... just overall a well-rounded in strangeness. I really like her.

2019 Part 3 (Sep-Dec)

Sukoya Kana - Incredibly smart, but also has an otaku and perverted side. Likes acting, as you might have guessed and bad at housework. Has a quiet voice, but gets savage when a game is involved. Pretty good at english as well. Does a radio show as well.

Oh, yeah, likes to throw up. It’s a thing. Also plays drums. She’s pretty cool.

Shellin Burgundy - Before Kanata did her PPT intro, Shellin was the first one. Professes himself to be a detective, but little lightheaded for that. Good narration voice, though, which means he’s a good singer as well. I kind of like him. He’s good.

Hayase Sou - An outdoorsy girl who likes cosplay and road biking. Kind of talks like she’s middle age, but she acts pretty young. And of course she likes shotas.

Fumi - It took over a year for her to debut. She’s a hikikomori gundam otaku and a goddess. A bit airheaded and pretty bad at gaming, and since she is 67, gets called grandma infrequently. She’s fun to watch. Has a ship with Nagao.

Hoshikawa Sara - Half Japanese and half English. Definitely a cool and tough, ready to take whatever sex jokes and insults you throw at her. Hangs out with Mahiro a lot, or with male members like Yumeoi, Ebio, Shellion or Kanda. Has a wide voice range, with a wide personality as well. There’s a sense of healing to her, honestly.

Obviously gets fangirled by many, including Matsuri, whose frequently red superchats her much to her confusion and relative embarrassment.

Yamagami Karuta - She’s a tengou in training, since she is filled with desires, mostly to connect with people. This is real, apparently. Has a ship with a staff member...

Matsukai Mao - Smartest devil... no, she’s an airhead like the rest of them. Apparently she can spit out crude oil... which is pretty useless. Definitely an unlucky, miserable person who needs to be protected at all times, and she relishes that like the devil she is.

Hangs around with Luis a lot in real life, apparently. Also plays APEX and stuff.

Emma August - Demon Lord that was thrown in an uprising, living with Morinaka Kazaki, and got a new house in February of last year. An alcoholic and a masochist, who gets berated by Kazaki of all people. Definitely not a loli, that’s for sure.

Luis Cammy - An expert thief, which excites Shellin very much. Seen as the leader of the gen, but found out to be much of a kid as the gen mates, especially around Shellin. They are a couple now, apparently. Oh yeah, she did an Outlast stream with a cat outfit and invited Shellin because she was scared? Now there's a loli version of her... yikes.

Fuwa Minato - A host, but a teetotaler, because of health problems... yet drinks Monster energy like it’s no business. A bit out there, as Nijisanji people are. A bit of a trickster, a bad boy if you will... right there with being good at games as well. He’s pretty cool.

Shirayuki Tomoe - When I first saw her, she felt like one of those people in mahjong tournaments. Well, she’s a queen of the night, so night-time streamer, although she has daytime streams as well. Strong drinker. Talks about SM, but also effortlessly friendly and a lovely person. I think she’s attractive, but I can see why people call her cute. She hates bugs, loves cute things, odd thoughts... feels like an aunt to me.

Very bad at reading kanji, not that she’s good at anything else. Likes to practice, hence preserved her way in the Mario Kart tournament. Does talk and ASMR streams with a third of her viewers being women. Likes Mirei, makes sense. Oh, she’s a nudist.

And don’t forget the relationship between Kana and her. Purported to be the most real of the ships of any vtubers. I believe it’s called Crossick. I don’t know too much.

Gwelu Os Gar - Presenter for the elf kingdom, hired as a presenter, since Nijisanji got so big and there’s only so many Kakeru around. Unfortunately seen as boring, and transitioned into kind of a Maimoto character.

Already married, I don’t know why that’s significant but there you go. Oh, and an actual dad! That is pretty significant. Although Setsuna also has a child, and had to retire to take care of the little baby. Teaches math to others, so that’s cool.

Mashiro - Recent high school graduate. He’s a boy. Yes, he has heels and boobs, but he’s a boy. And yes, he is a bit out there, stealing candies from the office.

Naraka - Another oni, and a loli-baba. Obviously a fan of the fellow oni, Mikoto... which has a queen kid relationship. And yes, her chest is smaller than Mashiro... sad.

Kurusu Natsume - 19-year old college student who likes music and sheep. Very smart and very normal. Has an ASMR test stream, which was pretty fun.

Nijisanji ID 2nd Gen

Rai Galliel - An interdimensional policeman. Likes cheese, but hate porridge due to only eating one for four months. Likes baking, pretty cool personality, if a bit straight edge.

Amicia Michella - A freelance illustrator, so the drawing is superb. Like sleep but also sports. Also penguins. Likes to play horror games pretty calmly. Raises two dogs, well one of them passed away late last year. Sang a 10cm cover?

Miyu Ottavia - A business student, and likes otters and is optimistic. Mostly plays RPG and online multiplayers. Tries to be cool, but look at her! She’s very cute.

Riksa Dhirendra - A 24-year-old freelancer and works as an editor and translator. Looks mean, but is actually a very decent gut. He is pretty competitive. Plays RPG.

#nijisanji #vtuber #long post

[askkrenko]

Krenko's Guide to Pokemon: Goldeen Line

FUCK YEAH SEAKING!  Or, you know, fuck no is more like it.

DESIGN:

Goldeen is a goldfish. Not one of those cheap carnival goldfish, but one of those high-quality, properly-bred Chinese goldfish that's actually pretty and interesting. Goldeen also has a horn because... reasons. It's possible it's tied to the Hindu Matsya, who is sometimes depicted as a golden fish with a horn, but this is Pokemon so lots of things have horns. Goldeen isn’t a particularly unique design, but it's very pretty, so it's well known for that.

Seaking, on the other hand, is a blob. It's still a goldfish, but it's just ugly looking, with a splotchy appearance, unflattering colors, and a stupid mouth with tiny fangs. Seaking is undesirable and looks stupid.

Let me break for a storytime: Years ago I was in a freeform Pokemon RP. One thing you'll see a lot of in freeform Pokemon RP is that people will just happen to have Shiny pokemon, and it'll always be something super special and super cool, and just happen to be their favorite Pokemon. After enough people had done this with that obvious hint of 'look how cool and special my Pokemon is' I decided to have my character catch a shiny, too. He got a Seaking. He made a point, in nearly every conversation he had for the rest of my time in that RP group, of offering to trade his Shiny Seaking. There were no takers. Because Seaking is hideous and awful and nobody wants one.

EVOLUTIONS:

Goldeen evolves into Seaking at 33, which is honestly... late.  Like, really late for something Seaking's size. It's especially noticable in normal gameplay, because Magikarp evolves so early, Psyduck evolves at the same level, and even Krabby evolves five levels earlier, all of which have noticably stronger evolutions. Even worse, in RBG or their remakes, you're going to use Seaking for only a few levels before someone just outright hands you a Lapras, an all around better Pokemon.

Art by PeregrineJazmin

And then Seaking's done. Now, sure, 450 isn't an unreasonable stat total for a fully evolved Pokemon, but it's also not too high for a Pokemon to get another evolution, and definitely not too high for a Mega Evolution.

On a related note, a pre-evolution for Goldeen was cut from RBG and then cut again from GS. This is fine. A lower form of Goldeen might have some use early game, but not that much. Goldeen's about the same size as a starter as is.

Art by Rachel Briggs

TYPING:

Water is a good defensive type, sure, but it's also a type with a lot of competition. Water is the most common type, and even just counting single-type water Pokemon, there's a ton of competition.  Even in Gen 1, it had to compete with Golduck, Kingler, Seadra, Vaporeon, and Blastoise, and that's not even counting the TEN other fully-evolved Pokemon that were water and something else.

STATS:

As a fully evolved Pokemon with 450 base stats, Seaking could theoretically be weak but useful... if it had a stat distribution worth noting. Instead, its best attack is a lackluster 92 attack, and everything else is an average 80 or below. Stats that are pretty evenly spread out only works if they're all decent stats. Seaking's just bad at everything, and an above-average attack still winds up being bad when compared to other Pokemon whose best stats are attack.

Art by Inosuke-0101 

ABILITIES:

Water Veil makes Seaking immune to the Burn status effect which is... not really relevant. Burn's a real effect, sure, but it's a corner case here, and being immune to burn doesn’t actually open up strategies.

Swift Swim is an ability I've spoken of fondly in the past, and it's still good here if you can set up the rain. This, of course, means a very specific type of team Seaking can go on... and also runs into the problem of 'there's plenty of other Pokemon with Swift Swim who are better.'

Seaking's best ability is, without a doubt, its Hidden Ability Lightning Rod. Trading out a weakness to Electric attacks for immunity (plus the ability to protect its partner from Electricity in a double battle) seriously spikes its survivability.  Any competitive Seaking, as much as that's a thing, is going to want Lightning Rod.

Art by thewrabbithole

MOVES:

Did you know that before becoming an HM with a use outside of battle, Waterfall was Seaking's signature attack? Seaking's only primary attack options are Waterfall and Aqua Tail, and while Aqua Tail is very barely stronger on average, Seaking's speed isn't so low that Waterfall's flinches aren't a factor. Both are viable options, with Waterfall getting better if your specific Seaking is faster.

Seaking's other big attack optin is Megahorn. Though its accuracy leaves a bit to be desired, its damage is on par with STAB Waterfall, and it'll be more effective against Dragon, Grass, Water, Dark, and Psychic enemies.

Though not huge or special, Drill Run provides a solid hit that's super-effective against Steel, Poison, and Electric. Combined with Lightning Rod, this makes Seaking a surprising counter to the Electric type.

For a fourth move, the right option is the new move Flip Turn. While not as quite as strong as Waterfall, it switches Seaking out, allowing you to put in a Pokemon that's significantly better.

Art by Shoxxe and boy-wolf

OVERALL:

Seaking is bad. It's a physical attacker without great STAB moves, its abilities are solid but not enough to actually help it win fights, and its stats are too evenly spread to be good at anything. It's not quite as down there as some things- there are some fully evolved Pokemon with stat totals below 400- but it's definitely all around weak.

If Seaking didn't have so much competition, I'd be looking at it more favorably... but it does. It's an ugly Pokemon that has no niche except maybe catching Thunderbolts in doubles. I'd say it needs a new evolution, but I don't actually like it enough to think it deserves that much.

...And maybe I'm being harsher to it than I should be, I just really hate this fish for some reason.

Art by JoshuaDunlop

#Krenko's Pokemon Guide #Goldeen #Seaking #Fuck yeah seaking