#in particular volo having a rare togekiss which apparently only reveals itself in times of peace... lol

[goldensunset]

i looooove pokémon npcs whose team members subtly imply something about them that's never touched upon in the story or at least never outright said. i love villains having friendship evos. i love trainers who commit hard to one aesthetic or vibe with their team (beyond simply sharing a type) and i love it even better when there's one random exception especially if that's their ace. i love when later down the line someone boxes the cute fun soft baby pokémon they used to have in favor of a seemingly stronger or scarier one to show that they're getting serious. i love when they have a pokémon that's difficult to get and raises lots of questions about them. i love it when the lore behind a pokémon fits the character to a T and i love it even better when it appears to contradict them. give me the story-gameplay harmony but better yet give me what appears to be story-gameplay dissonance but might actually have implications if we're willing to dive deep into it

#to me this is more important than actually making the team hard to beat #but it's amazing if it is #as a new fan i only know so many examples of this myself but i would love to hear more from people who know more #volo and cyrus having friendship evos... #in particular volo having a rare togekiss which apparently only reveals itself in times of peace... lol #also volo/cynthia having spiritomb. i firmly believe cynthia inherited that same pokémon from him #but like volo where did YOU get that #i've heard oleana's team is mostly glamorous ladylike pokémon but her ace is her beloved garbodor #yessss that's what i'm talking about!!! #kieran boxes his furret and suddenly pulls out a scary freak like shiftry #also the evolution of polywag into poliwrath #i've heard hop does something similar with getting rid of his wooloo but i can't verify #as another small note: love when the type of pokéball they have their team in matters #like all of team star having a different type of ball that suits them #or sada/turo exclusively having master balls #y'all what is up... #pokémon