Pokémon Horror Story: Doll

Since it is the month of halloween, we will put Star Wars on hold for just a bit and dedicate our story of the week to something a bit more fitting. For all all fridays up and until November 1st, I will attempt to write a short Pokémon Horror story. Now this isn’t THAT hard to do so there is a twist. These stories all will revolve around actual Pokédex entries. Meaning I am only making a pokémon as scary as The Pokémon Company makes them. They feature actual pokémon behaviour and origin as stated per the pokedex. 

Chapter 1: Growing pains

Tyler was super excited ,even though it was raining outside. The next day the now ten year old ,grass coloured haired, boy would get his starter Pokémon and he would finally become a Pokémon Trainer.  He would be the greatest master of them all. Earlier that day he had cleaned out all his toys, he was a big boy now. He all stored it neatly into a box, just in case he ever wants to play with them again or donate them to a fan. the really bad ones he threw  away, he would not want his future fans to get trash He was ready to finally grow up , he would not need toys when he had pokémon! Suddenly a knock on the door threw him out of his headspace. His father entered the room holding a raggedy doll with a zipper in its mouth. ‘Hey son, I saw you threw this one out..you know it used to be your mother’s favorite plushie right?’ Tyler sighed and stomped the floor. ‘I am to old for plushies dad, mom isn’t around to see it anyway.. Look it’s all worn and swe cant even sell it or donate it or anything. It’s worthless. Besides I do not need a doll to remind mom?! I always got her in my heart’ Tyler would smile to his dad as he presses his hands on his heart. It had been a rough two years for them since Tyler’s mother had passed during their vacation. Tyler shook his head trying to shake the horrible memory of seeing her dead like that. ‘I know you are all grown up son, but sometimes it’s nice to keep something like a physical memory , a memento they call it’. Tyler sighed and took the doll back. “Fiiiine” He put the doll on his desk and hugged his father. ‘Now go to bed, you don’t want to oversleep and be stuck with an overrated mascotte pokémon tomorrow now would you? ‘ Tyler smiled and said ‘I will just pack my notes and then head straight to bed. ‘I love you son, see you tomorrow’ The two said their goodbyes for the night as Tyler went to his desk to pick up the notes. He cursed as he saw the rained up doll released some water which had made his notes runny. ‘Thats it’ Tyler said annoyed as he opened the window ‘I told dad you were nothing but trash’ Tyler threw out the doll as it landed in a filthy puddle.  Satisfied Tyler would head to bed… tomorrow he would finally grow up.

Chapter 2: Rat attack

The next day it was drizzeling yet again. Tyler rushed out of the house. He had said his goodbyes to his dad, which clearly left the father distraught, but every boy had to go through this one day. So Tyler just rushed out to make it easier for the both of them. He would soon choose Charmander that one was the coolest! He smiled happily as a sound suddenly made him turn around.. it sounded like a footstep in a puddle very close by. As he turned around no one was there. A muddy puddle seemed to be have been disrupted recently though, it must have been a pidgey. Tyler kicked the empty puddle and laughed. ‘That’s for s startling me’  He then began to run to the professor. For some reason Tyler could not help but feeling watched though. It made him somewhat nervous and he began to run even faster. Eventually he reached the laboratory of professor Stump where he would finally get his new friend. After a lot of boring administrative stuff and a talk with a forgetale professor he finally was handed his charmander. ‘Charmander show me what you can do use flamethrower!’ Tyler said. Professor Stump who was a bronzed old man with a powerful jaw and a long beard chuckled. ‘Charmander isn’t ready to learn those kind of moves yet .. right now he can only use Scratch and Leer, you will have to train him up to learn some other moves’ Tyler nodded , it didn’t matter, he just wanted to start his journey. He thanked the professor and wanted to rush out when suddenly he heard a scream. ‘What was that?!’  He ran towards the source of the ruckus, his charmander at the ready, only to find out it was professor’s Stump’s wife. She was standing on a chair swatting at a Rattata with a brooms. “Eeeeeek it’s a rat’. Tyler and the professor laughed at the antics. ‘Why don’t you try to battle it Tyler it will help you train that pokémon of yours’. After a short battle of scratches and tackles, the young boy and his fireless fire lizard were victorious over the rat. Feeling good Tyler left the professor’s home just to hear a rumble of thunder in the distance. He grinned, a famous trainer he took inspiration from also left on the day of a thunderstorm, this was a good omen and so he set his first steps towards greatness..or so he thought.

Chapter 3:  Red Eyes

The rain and thunder did not seem to bother Tyler. He wanted to reach the neighbouring city tonight so he could call his dad and make him proud. He used to visit Peachburg with his mother when he was young. They would go to the petting zoo where he could pet the Miltank and the Deerling of farmer Tom. He might visit that park while he was there , just for old time sake. ‘Tyler!’  The boy turned his head around to the side of the road where he heard his name but nothing was there. He could have sworn he heard a voice.. something familiar, not very clear, almost like a whisper. He couldn’t really recall where he heard the voice though. He looked again but nothing was there. Another rumble of thunder in the distance urged him to continue walking. About twenty minutes later he passed by a thin wooded area, a small forest, on tyler’s left side. For some reason it felt .. bad to him, it was not a good place. ‘Tyler!’  He heard the voice again, this time he thought he recognised the voice, but could not make a clear connection. It sounded like his mother… yet not really… very twisted more high pitched. As if she was doing a voice, but he could not remember where it was from. It came from the woods, when he stared at the direction he thought he saw two red eyes. Though it could not have been more than a meter high. ‘Tyler’ the voice called out again..it was definitely coming from the woods while clearly it sounded a lot like his mother, like a forgotten memory calling to him. He looked at the woods and remembered how his mother looked like when he foundher on that island, on their vacation. Her spine twisted… her eyes empty.  He never would hear her voice again.. yet hear it was…but it felt bad … devious….evil…. ‘Tyler!’ the voice again called out to him as the red eyes began to move towards him. Panicked Tyler began to run, his backpack snagged a tree but he was so scared he decided to leave it behind as he ran! He sprinted as fast as he could, whatever was speaking in his mother’s voice, that was not her. Whatever it was he knew it was chasing him. He slipped on the the dirt road he was walking, muddied by all the rain. His knee hit a rock as a sharp pain shot through Tyler. As he crawled up .. he felt as if evil was crawling up his back.. he began to run again, knowing the beast hunting him was drawing closer . What was even scarier was whatever it was… it made no footsteps at all. It was only when he reached the outskirts of Peachburg that he dared to look back.  There wasn’t anything there. Yet he was pretty sure he wasn’t imagining things. He then rushed into town as dusk began to set in.

Chapter 4: Curses

Tyler was swearing as he was walking around. His map was in his backpack, so now he did not know where the pokémon center was. He had roamed around for a while but could not find it. He could probably find that petting zoo though. He could ask farmer Tom for directions. Farmer Tom once told him about his starter pokémon. Nuggets the torchic. He might be able to give Tyler some tips to learn some fire moves, maybe even have a TM  for him. With reinvigorated spirit Tyler began to move through the town heading towards the petting zoo. By now it began to properly get dark, but he knew a shortcut. His mother used to park his car around where he was now. They could cut a long walk trough an alleyway. Since it was still raining , that would also keep him a bit out of the rain and save him about 10 minutes of walking a blessing with his painful knee. When he entered the relatively dry path he began to notice how soaked he had gotten. His knee began to sting even more now the adrenaline began to wear off. He would have to look at that once he got inside somewhere. His attention was drawn by a garbage can falling over. He got startled., as he saw a Galarian Zigzagoon search the metal bin for some food. He chuckled a bit in relief as he turned his gaze back forward.  His breath seized.. right in front of him was a pair of red eyes. He could now also make out what those eyes belonged to as a memory began to flash in front of Tyler’s eyes. 

Suddenly he realised why that voice sounded like his mother so much, he recollected the memory he could not drag out earlier. The voice…belonged to that doll he threw out yesterday, at least the voice his mother would give it when they played together when he was small. He would have his Teddiursa doll and his mother would have her weird doll. Tyler really liked playing with them together when he was young. Then one day his mother got a job and could not be around as much. As a gift she gave Tyler her doll so he could play his favorite game by himself. A gift of abandonment, just like his mother left him. Suddenly he lost his fear as a deep anger of unprocessed grief took over and he shouted to the doll. ‘You stupid doll.. I want Mom back… not you! I miss her… you can never fill that void NEVER, I keep her in my heart..not in whatever you are with that zipper mouth! Mom gave you to me because she wanted to leave.. i never liked you’ The doll looked at him.. hovering a bit higher now as it’s zipper mouth twisted upwards into a grin… dark energy began to gather around it chasing its shape.  It’s once grey and patched body now turned into a mixture of dark cloth floating around it’s head. the two horns formed together into one big tip. The eyes stared at him as the closed zipper mouth turned into a cruel malicious smile. ‘You.. are a pokémon’ Tyler realised as he got out his charmander. ‘Charmander… attack it with scratch’ Tyler yelled. The starter pokémon did it’s utmost but all the scratches seemed to pass trough the spectral opponent. As Tyler lost his pokédex he could not consult it..but he knew whatever this was must be a ghost type pokémon. Maybe he could catch it. As he grabbed his pokéball he saw the doll take out a long iron nail. Tyler moved his arm backwards ready to throw the pokéball as the doll slammed the nail through his own body making a nauseating sound.

Tyler cursed Arceus as he wanted to move the pokéball towards the pokémon, he realised he could not. His body was frozen, his body was cursed. As the doll came in closer and closer fear got a hold of Tyler again. He wanted to speak, he wanted to apologise.. but his body was made numb by the curse. Even if he could run, he knew with his knee and the heavy clothes he would not be fast enough to outrun this pokemon in front of him. He tried to fight to curse, tried to break free but each moment the doll pokemon came closer Tyler was even more crippled by his own fear. Charmander was trying to scratch the pokémon in vain as it did nothing.  The doll now hovered in front front of Tyler’s face ..it’s zipper mouth smiling deviously it’s red eyes piercing his soul. The doll took out another nail and placed it on Tylers forehead. Tyler knew he had to think of something right away or he would have to think of something. “Charmander use scratch on my leg’ he yelled., gathering all the bravery he could just to speak. Maybe that could make him fall over away from the nail or snap out of the curse. ‘Charmander scratch my throat’ .. Tyler’s voice sounded once again. Yet he did not say that. As Charmander clawed his legs he indeed fell down, realising that Tyler, in the past also gave his voice to he doll , he always used his own voice for it..imagining it was his mother’s twisted voice. Thus the doll could use Tyler’s voice as its own.   As Tyler hit floor, he felt charmanders claw rip open his throat. Bleeding in an alley he could not even speak anymore as he knew it was all over. The doll climbed on his body holding the nail again..placing it against Tyler’s forehead. Then it was all over. Tyler wasn’t afraid anymore, he did not miss his mother anymore and he no longer felt any pride that he was growing up. It was all gone.

Tyler’s father would have waited all night for Tyler’s phone call that he had arrived in Peachburg. It was only around the early afternoon of the next day that he got a phone call from officer Jenny.  She told him they had found his son’s body,leaving out that they found it ‘discarded.. face first in a dirty puddle.

This concludes the story of Banette,  the vengeful doll pokémon. The fact that they hunt those who discard them and conjure powerful curses by slamming nails trough their body are entirely ideas of the Pokémon company. So if you have a plushie you no longer want.. remember they have feelings too! Treat your plushies well and dont throw them out! Donate them to another family if you must… but never throw them out.. otherwise you might be the one Banette comes after next.

The Pinkiest Poké Blogger is blasting off again!
XO
Pinkie

Trainer Profile: Jason Voorhees

Halloween is coming little Watsons so during the month of October you will see us post content related to the matter.  We already have the case of Chibi’s mysterious disappearance and Professor Pinkie talking about a frosty ghost. Today I will make a profile for one of the most classic horror villains of all times! Jason Voorhees.

Trainer Class:  Hiker

Hikers in the pokémon game are commonly known for their burly physique and somewhat dimwitted nature. Always hiking across nature trails carrying pickaxes and preferring , ground rock and steel types. Jason Voorhees is an undead man roaming the earth literally and even in space at one point. His favorite spots are campsites and where there are campsites there are usually hiking trails. Camp Crystal lake is the perfect spot for a hiker.  While Jason could have been a youngster as well, as he died as a young boy.. that somehow grew up into a Jojo’s character the hiker analogy seems to work a lot better for this classic villain.

Jason dresses similar to a hiker in usually choosing something practical over fashionable, wearing dark leathery coats and jumpsuits. Both Jason and Hikers have a sympathetic nature… and yes this serial killer has a heart which is shown throughout his movies on several occasions but there are bigger things making him into the murdering menace we all know and love. Jason surprisingly has high moral standard, killing mostly because he hates the immoral behaviour of teenagers. That behaviour got him killed and now will get them killed. Hikers are simple folks, much like Jason’s still somewhat childlike mind. So I say they are a rather good fit.

Preferred Type: Steel

Jason  is a creative killer, who has used several items as weapons during his career, but his favorite method of killing is old fashioned weapons. His signature weapon his trusted machette of course the most well known weapon but he isn’t afraid to go out of the box. In Jason X we see him killing with liquid Nitrogen, in the original series we also see him killing with his brute strength, a spear, meat cleavers, corkscrews and even a party horn. This man loves to wield tools he does. The steel type also reflects how Jason functions himself. Jason excels in his physical attributes. His beastly strength only being overshadowed by his sturdiness. While it is hard to truly ‘kill’ him it even is hard to damage him. We see people trying to fight back not leaving a dent. He is almost an unstoppable object that only takes damage under the right circumstances. In the 8th installment of the series we even see a (somewhat) professional boxer going up against him and it doesn’t do ANYTHING to him. While in Pokémon steel is weak to fighting.. in real life I guess the analogy pretty much holds up. Extremely durable this man, a lover of sharp objects and strong. The steel type seems like a very good fit for him.

The Team

Signature Pokemon: Cubone

Cubone is a lonely pokemon. Jason started his horror career as a hermit. Both wear a mask and wield a weapon. I am sure you can see a resemblance already forming right?  Yet there is a lot more to go for on this one. In the first Friday the 13th movie , the series Jason is from the first killer wasn’t actually Jason at all. It was his mother, she was angry that her son drowned while camp councillors were having fun with another and decided to go on a vengeance spree.  Pamela Voorhees revenge scheme proved moderately successful. While raking up quite the bodycount the fact that she truly died kinda makes her endeavours somewhat void. However her demise gave rise to Jason. A lonely being who is sad for the death of his mother, wearing a mask and wielding a weapon.. makes the two even more similar. The proverbial nail to the coffin however comes in the fact on how they honour their mother. Both Cubone as well as Jason, treat their mothers severed head as some kind of token of their affection. While Jason builds as shrine for his mother’s head Cubone flat out wears the skull of his mother as a mask. I am sure Jason would have done the same if he had the possibility.. but since he is more swole than Kylo Ren it just would not look right.

Both Cubone and Jason are very well known for wearing their masks. Even though Jason’s mask did not come into play until the third installment of his franchise. Jason is also depicted as a deeply tormented character, whose rage stems from anger over his own and his mother’s death. Cubone and Jason have shown to be very territorial as well. While Jason did have his outings outside Crystal Lake, like Springwood, New York and outer space, he has shown a clear preference for his old stomping grounds of crystal lake. Near his mother.  In my post about the Cubone Theory that you can read here, I explain that the pokémon has shown some very territorial behaviour as well. 

Physical Wall:  Honedge


Jason isn’t really the type of person to do things with tact. Giving him a balanced team of a Physical Sweeper, A  Physical Wall, a special sweeper, a special wall and a legendary would not work for Jason. He is simply not the type to go for such a thing. Jason unlike Dio and Cell, doesn’t care about balanced battling and he just wants to use his raw strength.. preferably using tools and weapons he finds along the way. While I expected his team to consist out of nothing but Physical Sweepers surprisingly Honedge has a higher defensive stat than it’s offensive ones.  In a way it makes sense that this is his defensive pokémon because Jason surely would wield this Pokémon as a weapon and would serve as his final defences. Which still is a pretty terrifying thought.

A Honedge is born when a spirit attaches itself to the weapon, it will then drain the life force of its wielder, until every bit of life force of that user is absorbed. Now for narrative sake we will give this a bit of a scenario in the story of Jason. The spirit inhabiting his Honedge would of course be his murderous mother and since Jason has near infinite life force the two would be an ideal pairing. Even if it would be any other random spirit. The blade could consume the life energy of it’s victims while Jason can punish those who show immoral behaviour and lewd Gardevoir or even Flygon. The Steel Ghost type would match very well with Jason as well, as he is some kind of hybrid undead serial kiler with a bunch of weapons. It would not take long for these two to become best friends.

Physical Sweeper 1: Incineroar 

Jason has shown brutish strength throughout all of his movies. He has twisted heads 180 degrees in a single snap and he whacked a girl hiding in her sleeping bag against a tree with the utmost of ease and he has even torn of a limb or two.  The Pokémon that embodies Jason’s style of fighting best in that way .. in my opinion is the final evolution of Litten. Incineroar. The pokémon is currently mostly known as ‘that wrestling cat thing’ in Super Smash Bros Ultimate. The Fire-Dark type looked to much like a fighting type again to many.  While yes, he is a professional fighter his methods are quite brutal compared to everything we have seen before. He has no style, he has no grace this cat has something else entirely. His signature move Darkest Lariat is easily a move I can see Jason use to one of his more creative kills. The intimidating style  and those red streaks on its black face even can be seen a bit in Jason’s classic mask.

The wrestling pokémon is according to its pokedex known for its violent disposition and I don’t think I need to explain where that matches up with Jason? The pokémon basicly does what it wants to do.. if it doesn’t want to listen to it’s owner it will follow its own devices.  Given that Jason doesn’t speak this actually is a boon to serial killer trainer. He could simply send this thing out, let it notice some teens doing very questionable things.. let the rage flow and enjoy the sight. It feels very akin to how Jason would use a pokémon too. Let the pokémon do the work.  In Friday the 13th 3d we see Jason crushing skulls and in the 8th one we see him uppercutting a guys head off. If we are honest to ourselves we surely can all see Incineroar do the same thing.

Physical Sweeper 2:  Trevenant

Horror is one of the genres that heavily relies on tropes.  Subconsciously we all think the forest is more scary than your local suburbia. There is a reason that Jason drowned at camp in a wooded area, and wasn’t just the victim of a drunk driver. Trees are scarier than buildings it’s just fact.  Trevenant is one of the scariest trees. Being a ghost grass type he should be scary. A phantump .. it’s pre-evolution is born when a little kid dies in the middle of the woods. While Jason drowned in a lake.. said lake was in the woods so hey.. close enough as far as static pokémon go. So similar like origins. Both Trevenant as well as Jason were once kids that died one way or another in a wooded area.  In the second movie we see Jason living as a hermit with a burlap sack over his face.. trying to keeps the woods clean from , teenagers that do not have horns on their head.. yet still the adjective for such a condition would apply to them. You’ll never guess what Trevenant does! ‘Awwww you guessed it’ Thats right it exact vengeance to those who defile his woods.

Now besides the fact that this tree is horrifically strong and loves to bludgeon people, much like our case study for this week. He is on his team though because he has a power Jason definitely can use. According to his Pokédex Trevenant has the ability to change and alter the forest trapping people in forever.  Of course this would allow Jason to isolate all his victims and pick them off at his leisure. No longer would anyone be able to outrun him in the forest nor would they be able to escape. He can even prevent the police or people like Tommy Jarvis from coming in. For those who don’t know Tommy Jarvis managed to kill Jason in the fourth installment , triggering his absence in the fifth movie. However this was disliked that much he was given regenerative powers in the sixth installment and returned. In the friday the 13th game, Tommy Jarvis is the only one who can kill Jason. So alongside regenerative powers.. controlling the woods would make Jason completely immortal and unstoppable.

Physical Sweeper 3:  Bisharp

A pokémon made out of sharp objects is of course a perfect weapon for Jason to use.  He has used cleavers and other sharp weapon on multiple occasions. A pokemon made out of blades  on basically every limb including the torso would give him plenty of room for creative kills. Think of ramming someone into Bisharps bladed chest, or using said pokemon to cut his opponents legs so they can not run anymore. Bisharp also learns the move guillotine.. a one turn knockout move. He is a pokemon that relies on a quick finish. Jason’s kills also are always brutal and swift. They are executioners of sorts. When you spot them there is a very high chance it will be the last thing you see.

Bisharp according to his pokédex is also a hunter who relishes in finishing off it’s prey. The bladed pokémon hunts using a group of his pre-evolutions to weaken and tire his opponent before finishing it off. No matter what pokédex entry you read, it always makes a mention of Bisharps murderous intentions. So pairing it up with an actual serial killer seems like a pretty good team up. Now do not get me wrong I do not condone violence in any way. I mean with people stressing about the new Joker movie , I have to make the distinction. As a detective I am a servant of the law. Do not actually kill.. we are just saying, there would be a synergy between a pokémon with murderous attention and a pokemon with the same. That is not the same as glorifying it. So back to the subject at hand. I would love to see a movie where Jason uses a Bisharp to murder some politically correct teenagers there is just so much room for creativity if these two combine forces.  Heads are gonna roll! If it’s mine for suggesting this or heads on silver screen we will just have to wait and see.

Physical Sweeper 4: Kangaskhan

Jason’s origins are very deeply rooted with his mother. He worships her and she was the one who started the killing cycle. So it seems we can not leave the mother pokémon out of this list either. Especially when they emphasis Jason’s fighting style again. Pamela Voorhees is a mother who lost her sanity when she lost her baby, Kangaskhan is said to have zero forgiveness for those who harm her baby and hunt her down.  Pretty accurate and a great additional teammate. This would be the pokémon Jason leads off with in battle. Most likely equipped with a Mega Stone, so mother and son pokemon can fight together. Very much a punching pokémon this kangaroo once more reflect Jason’s strength yet again. Its normal typing reflecting his humble origins as well. Jason once was JUST that kid protected by his mother, but it went horribly wrong and ended up in the destruction of dozens of lives.
Somewhere inside Jason there is also still parts of that son left. Unlike for example Freddy Krueger and Michael Myers there is SOME good in Jason… not a lot, but what Jason does he does not only do out of revenge, there is some sort of morality inside him even if twisted.

Jason would lead this pokémon to symbolise the mother was the first killer in the series, as soon as the pokémon would go down it would trigger a deep rage inside him which would allow him to use his other pokémon better. Again Jason does not talk so his way of using pokémon would require some set up. Mega evolution could be activated without using actual words. This would allow the mini roo to be attacked to incite the mother’s rage , if that one goes down Jason and his pokémon could wreak havoc on those the trainers that defeated his mother. This would be the proxy mother and reagent to his violence. The pokémon would be his trigger. It would set up the stage. Jason only battles on Friday the 13th and since he is a sucky battler, the mother would go down every time.. inspiring a new horror sequel where Jason goes on murdering trainers around camp Crystal lake. 

Legendary: Ho-Oh

This one was tricky, while most likely not used by Jason the phoenix has a lot in common with the man nonetheless. Jason , unlike Michael, Jason is canonically dead. Unlike Freddy he actually came back. Resurrection is a big theme for Jason so the phoenix as his legendary makes a lot of sense. There is another one that would fit the brief.. but that one fits in with ALL  of the horror villains so I want to avoid using it when I can. Next week though I will most likely not be able to get around using the other one. Ho-Oh’s hidden ability is regenerator .. which of course applies to Jason as well.. whom at least after part VI has been granted these powers. It was sort of retconned in so it feels a bit cheap but a power is a power. Of course we can safely say that Ho-Oh’s rainbow analogies have NOTHING to do with Jason.

So to make it fit in our little narrative we will write a fanfictiony event. When Pamela Voorhees was slain at Camp Crystal Lake, Ho-Oh was watching, being somewhat of a sap for sad stories it made one fatal mistakes it misunderstood and thought the current generation of camp counselors killed Jason, the mother was so passionate and all.so Ho-Oh decided to revive Jason. Just like happened to the three dogs who became Suicune Raikou and Entei.. Jason came back changed, but inside him an unquenchable rage. Using his strength and  rage Jason somehow managed to capture Ho-Oh now functioning as his power source.. bringin him back over and over again. As each horror villian has a weakness.. taking the power of resurrection away from Jason could very well be the way to actually kill him for good. Jason can control the woods, has a soul stealing weapon on him.. and when he hunts you he is not hunting alone? So how do you stop him do you ask? Well that I’ll leave up to you little Watsons that I will leave up to you.

Question too my Readers:

How would YOU stop Jason?

Now that we have competed this case I think it is time for somes scones and tea.  Next time we will look at yet another classical horror villian very likely even one who Jason has already met! With that little hint I will leave you for now.

The Pinkest Poké Blogger is blasting off again!
XO
Pinkie

Froslass : The Yuki Onna

Dear Nintendo, I know you you did it first and better, but basing pokémon on yokai makes me think about that imitation with the time telling and the orange cat. What should I feel? I really like this pokemon but I do not want people to think I am into that other series! I WATCHed it once.. but  I really like you so much more! I am devout to Nintendo, Game Freak and the Pokémon Company so please forgive me when I say. These creatures based on yokai are awesome! I only mean it for you! Also hey their are sort of monsters or spirits at least so it ties in nicely with Halloween.

A friend’s favorite

Welcome back my little aides to another installment of Professor Pinkie’s Pokédex. Today we shall discuss the Ice-Ghost type Pokemon Froslass. Froslass is the pokémon of my dear friend Angel. As a result I have come to identify her with such a pokémon. Both are very girly, and she is a northern european. Which means I’ll always imagine her living in a snowy area, quite frail as well I oftenly keep one my team to name it after her… and then I teach it destiny bond so I can sacrifice it to take down hard to kill pokemon. Of course I would not ever do this to Angel *shifty eyes*. Anyway.. Froslass is the evolution of Snorunt, who looks kind of like a shivering Dorito, it is actually a little black oval creature wearing a warm parka like triangle. These creatures are oftenly Jolly and happy folk who are very social and love to interact with other Snorunt and sometimes come to visit human homes to have fun as well.

By using a Dawn Stone on a female Snorunt you can evolve it to Froslass. A ‘slightly less’ sociable creature.  That’s right since when it evolves Snorunt changes from a pure Ice-Type to an Ice-Ghost type.. and everything with the ghost typing has to be twisted in some way! Yet more on that later. Froslass is a cute looking pokemon that is very reflective of its only possible gender. It looks elegant and feminine, yet portrays a coldness quite well. When you look at her you just know she isn’t just a sweetheart. There is a hint of danger around her. She wears a stunning white garb reminiscent of a kimono, tied together with a bright red obi (a belt for a kimono oftenly with an ornamental bow or pillow like at the back) The kimono moves over her head like a cowl only revealing some holes for the eyes, mouth forehead and horns, which are two stumpy ice crystals. Behind the holes in the cowl we see a deep purple body  and a cold yellow eye with frosty blue iris starting at us. Her hair is in the same colour bending behind her hat into the shape of the cowl. This is by far my favorite ice type design pokémon and I can see why Angel likes it.. but is it any good?

Dead ghost

The short answer is no, she isn’t very good. Basically every fully evolved ghost type has a higher base stat total than this one. With a base total of 480 she isnt that much behind the pack, but  having no bad stats means she also doesn’t have really excellent ones. There are better ghost when it comes to defense and there are better ghosts for offence as well. With only her speed being in the ‘good tier’ her special offence and physical offence are tied do mean she can swap roles to suit your needs though. Decent enough in everything to function  there is however little room for her in the metagame. There is one main boon to having a froslass on your team though. She has a great speed stat , outspeeding even most legendaries as well as many many other pokémon. This means unlike most ghost , who can be on the sluggish side she is a great swap in to quickly finish something already damaged off. After which you try to safely swap her out or you use Destiny Bond.  Destiny Bond is a move from the second generation of pokemon games. A pokémon that has cast the move upon another pokémon, will make that pokémon faint .. if that pokémon knocks out the caster, a revenge kill of sorts.

In an official match, should the last two pokémon go down together due to destiny bond, the trainer using the revenge move wins. This mechanic makes Froslass worth carrying because she can easily be sacrificed for a Pokémon you otherwise would be unable to take down.Unfortunately usually it means sending this pokémon to it’s death (or fainting at least). Othermoves you can run would be high attack power attacks of it’s typings, like Shadow Ball and Ice Beam.  Perhaps a boosting move like Calm Mind if they dont have something super effective out against you, but Destiny Bond is kind of a must have! A gimmicky pokémon whose theme seems her inspiration. This one likes revenge.

It’s not Ikea!

While it evolves out of female Snorunt and a Dawn Stone,  pokedex entries for this pokémon state that it once was a woman. A woman who was left alone all in the cold, usually  on a snowy mountain top or so. When she passed away she became a froslass. Her pokedex entry is kind of messed up. It’s first ever pokedex entry in Pokémon diamond stated that it’s breath has a temperature of -60 degrees Fahrenheit.. which would be around -51 in Celsius. It uses this breath to freeze it’s opponents. What we see as its body is actually just a hollow shell. So this ghost chose to animate a frozen shell , this shell is shaped into a cute little feminine entity to fulfill its greater desires.

What those desires are being made clear her pokedex entry from Pokemon Platinum.  This time the word opponent of foe has been replaced by prey! Slightly reducing her coldness to -58 degrees Fahrenheit. The term prey is used because it doesn’t just use it in battle anymore. She freezes her victims shit and relocates them.. collecting them in it’s den. Later Pokédex entries specify this a bit more clearly. It looks for both Pokémon AND humans to display, picking everyone they think would make a nice decoration. It preys on people hiking the mountain trails and collects the pokémon and people to make their home as stylish as possible. Now since we are dealing with anime and game logic there is several ways to freeze someone. Pokémon  can recover from being frozen and people are perfectly fine after defrosting. In case of Froslass not so much. Someone really thought the pokedex entry of Froslass wasn’t dark enough and in Pokémon Moon it was stated her favorite food is the souls of men. In pokémon Ultra Sun, they somewhat retconned what she collected and says she only chooses handsome man to be her victims, while the Ultra Moon pokédex entry has her going out in blizzards to collect people from their villages. I’d rather have furniture but that is just me. One thing is for sure, if she devours souls I doubt this is a freeze status you’ll just shrug off.

With skin as white as snow

The inspiration for this amazing pokémon dates back too as early as the Muromachi period of ancient japan. This period dated from the mid 1300’s up to the the mid 1500’s. (Around from 1336 to 1573) where the poet Sōgi made a reference of one. It is likely stories have even been told longer than that.  The Yuki-Onna has an abundant number of variations and forms. From and old lady in a white kimono, to a fully naked young lady. Young ladies with white Kimonos however their most described form. With their skin so unnaturally white it blends in with the snow and the white Kimono. Ravenlike hair.. which lets be honest is nothing special in Japan and blue lips.  We immediately see some design similarities between the general image of the Yuki-Onna and Froslass. Also the snow-lady’s origin story appears to be mostly considered the same. It is fairly common belief that the Yuki-Onna was once a woman who fell in the snow of the mountains. There the snow can be deep and trap you inside making sure you meet a frosty demise. Imagine quicksand but with snow. In the Aomori prefecture , which lies at the utmost northern part of Japan’s ‘main’ island  , we find the most commonly known story, know as the Shigama-Onna. This tells us about a Yuki Onna who is hugging a child on a snowy mountain, she would ask passerby’s to hug the child as well. In doing so the child would increase in weight.. each hug bringing it closer to sinking into the snow and death by freezing, dragging the unfortunatly soul who hugged it last with it into the afterlife. To refuse the ghostly lady would result in her throwing you off the mountainside. 

There are many others stories , most of them quite gruesome and yet somehow Game Freak has seem to have chosen a mix of the most gruesome stories. In the Iwate area it is believed that the Yuki-Onna uses her looks to steal the vitality of her victims, while in the Niigata prefecture specifically  mentions her freezing people to death with her breath. This same variation would feast on children’s livers and rip them out of their still living bodies. In other myths they tell how on nights of blizzards Yuki Onna would rattle the door and if you opened it would certainly spell doom for you or like in most myths your children. Yuki-Onna have also been described gathering many children and ‘putting them’ into a field. Which seems to be the inspiration for the collection part of the myth. However for some reason all mentions of children have not made it to the pokédex.  Now don’t get me wrong I do get why you can’t describe Froslass ripping the liver out of young trainers, that might be too scary and describing them as child killers might make players fear it, but Drifloon was said to drag children to the afterlife in the pokédex so it doesn’t feel completely consistent. 

Now we hope that in future generations Froslass gets an evolution to make her a bit more viable than a speedy sweeper and sacrificial pawn. In one myth a man took a Yuki-Onna in during the night of a blizzard and he treated her well. He most likely given her hot tea (which is a recurring theme in her myth that seems to end stories favorably) took care of her and shown her kindness. When the man woke up the next day he found out the woman had turned into gold.  It could be interesting to see Froslass shed her ice typing and become a steel-ghost type trough leveling up with friendship and it would grant a ghost type line a somewhat happier pokédex entry. I certainly would like to see it. I wish I could say the same for a Yuki-Onna in my life, even though I would treat her with kindness it would never work out between us… she likes children to much.

Question to my Readers:

What is your favorite Yokai?

Now that we had our fun in the snow it is time for some warmer thoughts! So I suggest you make yourself a hot coco, subscribe to my blog if you already haven’t , which you can easily do on my home page and even on any page of the official site,  have a good day and don’t forget the marshmallows in your chocolate milk!

The Pinkest Poké Blogger is blasting of again!
XO
Pinkie

Top 5: Favorite Legendary Pokémon

Dear little subjects, this may come as no surprise to you but Princess Pinkie scores high in terms of views and likes. Of course this makes sense, because this is the only place on the internet with factually correct rankings of pokémon.  Since I princess Pinkie am such an legendary icon for this site, today we shall look at legendary pokémon as well. Fit for a princess. This list will contain ALL of the legendary subclasses. This means Ultra Beasts, Mythical Pokémon and all that jazz goes as well. While in the future this list might be split up and revisited we start things with no restrictions. 

Legendary Number 5: Tapu Lele

Tapu Lele is my favorite Island Guardian, she is cute  girly a fairy type and her ability is my favorite of all the Tapu’s as well. The case of Tapu Lele is helped that she of course is pink. It is the Akala Island guardian which so happens to be my favorite Island in the Alola region.  While arguably not the most useful ability psychic surge , which sets up psychic terrain can be a great interruptive move to your opponent’s strategies. The terrain itself will influence everything that is on the ground by sealing away priority moves. If your opponent set is build on those, like Sucker Punch or Ice Shard you can really disrupt their momentum. I like getting under the skin of my opponents and Tapu Lele allows me to do that. She just looks adorable on my team and even her brief appearances in the anime are quite cute.

However the reason why adore Tapu Lele as much as I do is actually her TCG card.  The trading card game GX version of Tapu Lele fits in every deck that relies heavily on their supporter cards. My (albeit aged) fighting deck needs me to keep as much Korina’s in my hand as possible for combo options. Tapu Lele just needs to be played to the bench (backrow) so you search for a supporter card. Since my deck’s ace is a normal pokemon and not a GX (thus low hp) Tapu Lele can also function as a (somewhat costly) wall. In other words she is an amazing supporter to virtually any deck and mine even more so. To this day the Tapu Lele card is fairly costly due to how relevant it is. While the card is now also aging rapidly it doesn’t blemish the memories of me roffle stomping my friend when I had this girl in hand and could pull of some epic combo shenanigans My current best friend Jilly just bought it for me one day and it was a really beautiful and appreciated gift. So this pokemon just has a lot of fond memories for me and she looks good while doing so.

Legendary Number 4: Regigigas 

Now for  those who know anything about pokémon this choice might be very weird! Regigigas is commonly known as one of the worst legendaries if  not the worst. Yet I have to say something to them! Everyone doubting Regigigas, saying Slow Start is the worst!. Well you are absolutely …….. true.  There is no way around it.. Regigigas is quite bad. It’s base stat totals aren’t exactly that high and his main stat is halved until five turns in! Each time you swap the ability resets. To me that is exactly what makes Regigigas so fun to play.  It is a challenge to keep it alive for five turns so that slow start ends, do you run confuse ray and protect or do you  try to sap health with a Drain Punch. It’s a battle of wits that only expands in double battles where it is such a treat to use. Frustrating at times but it feels rewarding to pull off. Especially when you can use it alongside cool team combinations.  My favorite combination is letting my gentle giant attack into my own coffagrigus which I equip with a ring target. Doing this while it uses the move power-up punch will result in a one turn .. nightmare to deal with. People usually assume I will set up trick room and either attack  It is just so much fun to see your opponent realise what just happened and how now they are doomed.

It makes the funniest sounds and I just really like normal types and underdogs and this Trio Leader is both. He is also a craftsman who just creates smaller golems while being a golem. I don’t know why I think that is cute. Something that lakes little friends for itself I always like. But mostly those sounds!  While it will do little against ghost types it will wreak havoc on the rest. It can be quite fierce in the anime, it has shown that it has the ability to control the three legendary Golems even if they are under the control of a trainer. Regigigas is more important to them which is really a nice sentiment for a pokémon and their trio master. It how ever can also be a big friend giant as well.The fact that I have nothing with stories about Golem or constructs makes the fact that I like it this much even more amazing.

LEGENDARY NUMBER 3: Kyogre

Kyogre is one of the legendaries I ever actively used on my team. I started my first game of pokémon sapphire with a blaziken, because torchic was the cutest of the three. Though I later got to appreciate Mudkip a lot more it meant that in that particular playthrough I did not really carry a water pokémon I really liked with me. While there are plenty to be found, on my first go around I just did not lay my hands on it.  I usually go complete the league first then use the money I got to catch in a dedicated fashion. I had a water HM slave but I needed something better for the league. Since you catch Kyogre before the league and relatively early compared to most games I really got to form more of a bond with it. When I came back to do a mono water type run in it (it has a lot of great water pokémon) I named my Kyogre Laboon. Laboon was great , since I had a monotype team it really helped me carry the rest trough some of the tougher final fights.

I also have fond memories of Kyogre in the trading card game.  My best friend at the time used a Kyogre and Mega-Kyogre EX deck against my Medicham Deck, and we always had exciting matches. It was great fun to battle together and catch up over a lunch before or after our game. I am thankful for the pokémon who helped me win as many games as i did, but I am also grateful to the Kyogre in the deck of Alpha-Geek. I didn’t like his Blastoise though! Stupid Deluge ability. Designwise Kyogre als always appealed to me, it’s deep blue colour is really pops and seems brighter than that of most water pokémon. Those mysterious stripes on its body really help sell a legendary quality to it. A quality that only got better when they added Primal Reversion in the remakes. 

Being a weather pokemon it is great on rain boosted teams with enough offensive power with moves like Water Spout , Thunder and Origin Pulse to hold it’s own. Choice Scarfed this Pokémon can really reduce your opponents team to nothing quite fast. It’s oigins are very much explored in the game’s narrative so you always know what pokémon you are using. This trait is oftenly lacking at other legendaries. Sure there are some signs and books to read on the events of burned tower, but the legendary birds were hardly explained during the games. Mewtwo was .. but the way Kyogre and Groudon are interwoven in their stories I think is so much better. Better than any other game in my opinion. Mewtwo I feel myself is a tad overrated (do not get me wrong it would be number six) the myth was great, the story was great but we did not get it from one source, we had to go out of our way to find all that amazing lore. As a kid that is easy to miss. They messed up the landing.. had they let Giovanni use Mewtwo in battle and afterwards you can capture it.. it would have taken this spot.  I do not mind a mystical pokémon being shrouded in mystery.. but for one so important to the story and to the world of pokémon you kind of get it late. Kyogre (and Groudon too for that matter) stuck the landing. The whale just had a super cool design and moveset to go with it. A myth , not everyone has heard about.. a legend everyone knows.. so that is why the whole mythos and Gen 3 story is Legen…..wait for it!

Legendary Number 2: Poipole

Generation VII introduced us to the first legendary who could actually evolve , Cosmog! This was something I wanted all my life… or well at least since generation one.  Unfortunately you really dont evolve Nebby the Cosmog yourself and Lillie does all the work for you. Even if you get your hands on another Cosmog and evolve it, both the basic and stage 1 evolution know no useable moves.. so you can’t actually use. My hope died that I ever got a legendary that I could raise. But one year later my prayers to Arceus were answered when I got Poipole. A legendary that could evolve into the awesome Naganadel. Yet I vastly prefer the little one. It’s design is steller it looks kind of like an alien with a dragon tail. It is a Pokémon that lives in Ultra Megatropolis , a pokémon that lives in the depths of Ultra Space.  People live here as well (though different) . In it’s world it enjoys incredible popularity and thusly is often chosen as a starter. So to put it bluntly, it’s the pikachu of an alternative eldritch infested dimension.

Being unevolved of course it does not have to amazing stats, it ends up being around the power of a first evolution starter. Exactly at the level of the Alolan starters stage 1 evolution. However it’s ability Beast Boost, which upgrades its strongest stat with each kill it makes, puts it in a league above them. Yet in all honesty by the time you get Poipole it is a bit underwhelming, but it is just so cute you do not really care and make it work.  It’s the first legendary that is a poison type which is one of my favorite types.. and thusly factually one of the best types. Ash caught one, and it is soooo adorable in the anime. Perfectly adorable! From the moment it had been caught to how it sleeps next to Rowlet in Ash bag. It is such a delight to look at in literally everything it does. Speaking of a delight to look at it’s shiny is among one of my favorites ever as well. It’s white body with golden details really resonate with me, giving it quite a regel quality for something that strange… also it kinda looks like a fried egg.. and for some reason I love it. It has a fun moveset and as Naganadel even more so, it’s an evolving Ultra Beast.. so you kind of feel like you are carrying along an overpowered baby! I LOVE overpowered monster babies!..I hate the real ones though but let’s not talk about those. Popole’s Ultra Beast name is Adhesive.. or STICKY in japanese. It must be named that way because you never want to let it go anymore and keep it with you always! I really need a poipole plushie!

Legendary Number 1: Mew

Of course Mew would be my number one, I looked under the truck, I talked to professor Oak 151 one times so he would take mine back  and trade it for a Mew, I did weird step patterns outside of Cerulean City. and so much more. We searched for hints of Mews in tons of magazines and tried to unlock it via all sorts of tricks and unless you got a gameshark or clever friends we simply never got it. It was the proverbial white whale. The only Mew I legitimately caught to this day was the one in Pokémon Go. The others where  either in fangames or randomisers, randomisers are basically ‘hacks’ which replace the pokemon spawns with different one, so your Pidgey can suddenly become Shellder and instead of hundred Zubat in caves you might find hundred Mew. When you finally get your hand one in it is a delight to use! Mew has a equal 100 in all of it’s stats which means it can literally play into any role depending on how you raise it up. That is helped by the fact that it can use ANY Technical Machine thus he learns every single move that has one. Randomised that means it can literally learn anything. 

It is the blank sheet Pokémon. When you bring it out your opponent will never know what is coming towards them so Mew always has an upper hand. Now there is a risk with a pokémon that can be everything. Can it be itself? Yes! Mew can be run with sets that no one else can but also has been given a lot of love in terms of lore and it has even gotten it’s own Z-move A little move to call it’s own. This only contributes more to it’s awesomeness. There is nothing I can about what moves makes it great because it learns everything. So let’s take a look at it’s design! It’s so pink and cute. it’s so playful it has so much personality! IT HAS A FLUFFY MARSHMALLOW DRINK!!!!! Now that it will play big role in the anime it even has me more excited for the pokemon. Now we only need a main line game where it isn’t behind  a paywall or extra item. With Go hunting for Mew in the new Pokémon Anime series , I actually think we will get it as well, as an event pokémon. I have high hopes! It’s blue shiny is super cute as well and one of the retro pokemon trading cards I am currently hunting for.. speaking of which I run a old Mew-Ex in my secondary deck as well.. because mew has the ability to use any attack of a pokemon on the board as long as he has the correct energy. So it means that if you build your deck smart Mew can use all of your own attacks, keeping the enemy guessing at your strategy. In the beginning of this post I already said I liked mind games and Mew either as a card or a monster is the ultimate pokémon for that. The Pokemon Card even created a villain in the pokemon world!! Talk about messing up minds!..It even drives me crazy! Because I gotta have that FLUFFY MARSHMALLOW DRINK!

Question to my readers:

What is  your favorite legendary?

So we conclude our list of my favorite legendaries at least for the time being. Favorite pokemon are always in shift each memory we make with them can bring them closer to our heart. So if I left your favorite out don’t feel sad that just means there is another pokemon out there for me to enjoy one day. Don’t forget my opinion is right cause I am a princess! Also…….dairy!

The Pinkest Poké Blogger is blasting off again!
XO
Pinkie 

Review: Pokemon 3 – Entei the spell of Unown

Little subjects it is time for me to bring yet another factual opinion on the pokemon movies. This week it’s the third one that is going to get reviewed. Like always the shorts that come prior to these are not being taken into the review and  if possible I try to watch the uncensored version with english audio. This movie featured the legendary pokémon Entei and the mysterious Unown as its main subject. It is produced by OLM Inc, whose is responsible for all 22 animated pokémon movies.  This would be the last Pokémon movie written by Takeshi Shudo and also be the last movie Warner Bros would launch internationally up until detective Pikachu. Like my previous reviews, I will discuss the plot in detail in the third part of this review, so that  part will contain major spoilers. 

How Does it look and sound

Entei, the spell of the Unown is the best looking Pokémon animated movie I have reviewed to date. Only being launched one year after the second one, (US launch in April 2001)  the improvements are quite noticeable The drawings in a distance have significantly improved, right up until the end credits where they might not have tried as hard. The movie has a much more ethereal setting , surreal even, with spirit realms and fantasy worlds. Lighting looks a lot chunkier in this movie and it doubles down on explosions and special effects. The 3d animation we saw used in the second part returns to animate the unown , and unlike the last movie here it works! Unown are supposed to be from a different dimension and those qualities are portrayed quite well.The way pokémon combat is mostly animated overall seems great and well thought out. At first you wonder why Entei uses such odd coloured flames (even if he has an attack called Sacred Fire) yet later we find out there are “beam struggles” with other fire pokémon and it all just ends up reading a lot better. We also finally get a really colourful setting,. Mewtwo’s palace was kind of bland in looks and about half way in the second we mostly ran through icy landscapes. While the setting here is mostly crystalised landscapes we do see some nice vibrant colours in it and around the middle part we get a few other settings to keep it fresh. The crystals setting itself can even range from a bright princessy looking bedroom, a cool blue crystalised flowerfield with spikes as a warning and even twisted strains of crystal with nothing but endless black depths below. There was also a lot of attention to detail, in terms of animation. At one point Misty and Brock  enter a room while riding a stream of water gun. When Ash rejoins them their hair has actually changed from being wet.While it sounds logical these kind of effects oftenly get overlooked and people would just and drops to their har.. but in this case it is actually weighed down and slightly darker as well. Tiny details occur throughout

The sound design I am somewhat less ecstatic about, overall the music score just felt very forgettable. The only song that stuck somewhat is the remix of PJ Lequerica ‘s  Johto Journeys opening. Besides that the music is there and it isn’t detracting either but never did I get the feeling ‘this is pokémon or now ‘this is amazing. Near the conclusion there is one particular scene  that has some great music but at least during the first two thirds of the movie it all feels a bit , meh. There is one particular entry that felt particularly disjointed and it was something that made me frown a little, but that disjointed tone kinda fits the tone of the movie, so I somewhere have to give them credits for choosing this as a score, it seems well thought out it just hardly managed to capture me. I missed the quirky sound design that was in the first and second movie. At least I could not detect effects they “stole” from other movies. So little monsters if you know of a weird sound effect in it please let me know.. it has become a sport of me somewhat. All in all just forgettable sound design.

How does it Feel

So when we come down to the emotional impact of this movie, I have mixed feelings. Do not get my wrong both of my feelings are fully factually correct and a lot better than that of others who have written these reviews but this movie does feel very pokémon and not very pokémon at the same time. That doesn’t mean I do not like this movie though, in fact all in all I was very invested in this movie. Which was mostly due to it’s ironclad plot, but more on that later. This movie felt consistent. The treat wasn’t a black and white villian but the concept of how grief and loneliness and how it can impact people. A story on how we can fool ourselves with denial or refusing to see reality and how we can become a prisoner to our own delusions. That is is a lot more powerful stuff than ‘People were mean to me.. time for revenge’ or ‘I liked collecting Pokémon Cards I need to have more so let me destroy the world to collect real ones’. We get an antagonist much more comparable to the Japanese Mewtwo rather than the Western one, resulting in Ash fight being much more layered this time around. The way the movie opened with a trainer battle featuring the opening team, hugging his pokemon was an homage to the way  the Mewtwo movie started. A nice little tribute. The battles feel like pokémon battles, although they can be fairly short that actually is much more reminiscent to how things go in the games so I did not particularly mind. It felt like good hybrid of the games and the series, while the later battles added some oomph. Now the best choice they made in this movie by far is to give Brock and Misty stuff to do! Of course it was the ‘You go ahead I shall take care of this battle’
Yet  was done very well. Their persona , their careers and even their battles contributed to resolving this fight just as much as Ash did, in their own way. Even Delia, who plays a major part in this movie, contributed to the plot. For those who forgot Delia is Ash’s mother. No one feels redundant…. well almost no one.  I guess it is time to bring up some of the negatives so I can end up with some positives again.

Team Rocket in this movie is completely throwaway and they this time really detract from movie. This isn’t just because they dont really do anything, it is also because their humor this time is really lackluster. The movie is a lot more nuanced in a lot of things but it came at the price of the zippy humor of the previous part. The fourth wall breaks are still there, but that is basically all they are good for and they only do it once. This results into the movie becoming a bit more heavy handed, with less for the non pokemon fan to enjoy. This only enforced by the fact that most of the things happening in this movie are.. only semi real. Molly our sort of antagonist is a tortured little girl who is being granted the power to sort of live in a reality bubble. Where she can create what she imagines and shape her own little dream world. This results her in using Pokémon  that can never really be beaten, but also not really pokémon. It results into a house that is crystallized leading into grassy fields, onto a nice little beach and stuff like that. The power they give the unown isn’t as lore intrusive as what happened with the legendary birds but it is all a bit ‘out there’. Way too much for someone not into the pokémon franchise to handle. It has a plot that is enjoyable for everyone, but it al seems quite unhinged and the pokemon spirit and mindset patches this back up. This one isnt for you if you do not like weird.

What I do like however is the journeys everyone makes. Ash has to do some creative puzzle solving to get to a location, has to show trust in his friends and than has to do a battle which he cant blatantly win. He has to grow. Molly as a ‘antagonist’ has to learn and grow to reach the resolve she reaches by the end. Each scene feels like it’s own , where the second movie had four kinds of boat scenes  here that felt interchangeable the action in this felt diverse. Every single Pokémon on Ash Team was at least used for something whether it be combat or to make progress in moving through Molly’s ‘home’. We encounter several types of situations that need to be resolved in certain ways and none of them feel like a rethread. The actual journey feels like a sensicial one .. even if it is in twisted reality it all feels logical and engaging. We get to see some old familiar faces which felt nice and heartwarming, you feel sad for the suffering little girl who caused all this and you really hope for an happy ending. I believed all the characters, aside from maybe the Deus Ex Machina trainer that led them  stumble upon the town.. and she hardly has a role other than provide some occasional exposure in a fairly natural manner. This time we even see the official instances making some attempts to solve this dire situation, Ash just gets some motivation to not be as cautious as them. Great job! It doesn’t reinvent the wheel but as only the third movie it didn’t really need to either. It uses it tropes well enough to be a very solid pokémon product. Nagging about how he flies on pokemon and  how he uses the same types of strategies again is like complaining you about how all D&D have dungeons where you have to kill a lot of things.

How is the plot?

The plot of The spell of Unown: Entei, or Entei and the crystal tower, or MO3 Entei: The spell of Unown (this movie has a LOT of names)  easily has the best plot of all three movies I saw so far. It’s written very very well with the English Dub in fact even having my preference as in consistency. (There are a few minor changes between versions) We start of with an intro seeing Molly’s father playing with his daughter. Showing her pictures in a book of a pokémon he is researching Unown. We also see a picture of Molly and professor Hale hanging out with Delia, Ash and professor Oak. Already a lot of strings are being set up and while it initially feels forced this tie actual makes sense later on. We see the scientist getting a call about a new room being discovered in some ancient ruins, consistent to how unown discoveries are made and having to leave his daughter for it. We see the pain in her face as she is established to be a lonely girl. He  gets sucked into an alternate dimension and thus goes missing. His aide takes some of the mysterious symbols along to investigate the disappearance and then goes to the daughter and her butler to report it.  Molly distraught she is an orphan now interacts with the symbols which summons the unown from her father’s stories, wishing her father returns to her but als remembering he played an Entei. As it appears for her and agrees to be her father the house begins to crystallize making sure the staff has to flee leaving the daughter in a proverbial ivory tower. The unknown are making her wishes appear to gather psychic energy from her fantasies. It’s a perfect start albeit a bit stuffy in terms of originality. Knowing that Unown only knows the move ‘hidden power’ this to me fits the brief of their mysterious powers as well.

The title pops up and we move our perspective to Ash Where we get the intro titles and the set up for the heroes to be where they need to be. While somewhat of a Deus Ex Machina, it really isn’t that much of an issue.  Ash battles a trainer and Bulbasaur Chikorita and Pikachu get scuffed up so it makes sense he ventures to a pokémon center. The pokémon center lies near the crystallizing town so.. sure I can believe it. Cheap but functional. We get a better hook from professor Oak and Delia. The missing professor was a student of Oak’s and having been present in Pallet Town he was a classmate of Delia. His wife had gone missing so while he was working Ash and  Molly would occasionally play together. Delia and Hale being childhood friends is nice way to provide exposure. Delia tells about how Molly’s mother had gone missing. (In the japanese version she got sick) and now that her father is missing , what it must do with the girls minds. It is exposure but done in a smart way. It also sets up for another incident to drag Ash into this. Traumatised Molly looks at the photo of everyone together and sees a surrogate for a mother in Delia and asks her mental Entei to give her a mommy. Which of course would be Delia who then gets kidnapped.  It gives Ash the determination to brave the dangerous that is to come but also seems like what a little girl that is traumatised would wish for. She deludes herself with fake family and builds herself a fort so no one can take her little family away ever again.  It makes her an interesting ‘obstacle’ for our heroes to overcome. The rescue operation uses a lot of , sort of, clever pokemon and terrain usage to get to their destination which I found quite enjoyable. 

The third part of the movie is the actual rescue operation. Get Delia out of the clutches of Molly and Entei. This  means climbing one the crystal towers the mansion , now crystal flower, has gotten. One each floor Molly shows up, or an illusion of herself. On the first level she fights brock as a mature woman because that is how she feels she has to be to be a pokémon trainer. She uses a Flaaffy, Teddiursa and Phanpy to properly kick Brock’s ass. We discover that in this realm Rebecca can not be beaten because she can always imagine her pokémon as strong enough. Brock manages to bond with Molly though saying how pokémon of a trainer are like family too.  On the next level Molly fights Misty and discovers she is a gym leader. While Misty also fights a losing battle, the discovery that a young girl can be a gym leader causes mature molly to regress .. to more Misty and Ash’s age (her real body a floor above is a bit younger) Before the battle can finish though Delia and Ash meet up and tell Molly they need to all leave this place. Which triggers an anxiety attack in Molly as she has to give up her delusions but is not ready yet. A final battle ensues between Entei and Ash squad. This goes about as well as you expect for Ash. His Pokémon , aside from Pikachu get oneshot. Pikachu can hold his own against a legendary AGAIN!.. but this time the movie does it right. We see Entei coming from the encounter unharmed while Pikachu is quite spend. The look in Entei’s eyes reveals he is just wearing the pokémon out to proof their fight is hopeless. Which he also tells them (of course Entei can speak like a lot of movie pokémon and since Molly imagines him with her father’s voice) .Ash  jumps in front of an attack again in a way very similar to the first movie and gets blasted out the tower falling to his death. He is however saved from this fate by his Charizard, who saw Ash on a news report ad decided to go help him. This was very impactful to me, albeit a bit convenient. It felt so sweet that Ash got reunited with his pal and it opened new dimensions to this fight. As Ash takes to the sky, and Molly’s mind manipulates the tower with her mind so Entei does not fall either. During this fight Ash realises he can not flat out win, because Molly would lose her father again.. thus not solving anything. Instead he also shows her the bond between a trainer and their real pokemon and how it is more genuine than what Molly has now. With the help of Delia who comforts her during these hard realisations they manage to quell Entei’s anger. However the confusing Molly experiences cause her psychic energy to go out of control and the crystals begin to grow wild.  Consuming everything in its path.

The final act sees our heroes dealing with the unown and their messed up spirit-bomb. It becomes all to obvious that they do not have the strength to stop this raw power. Their fates are in the hands of Molly. This place still amplifies and realises her fantasies. She has to believe in Entei one last time, which in the Dub she now calls Entei while in the original version she still calls Pappa. The dub showing better how much she has progressed. She has to believe in her hopes and dreams ..while fully realising that once Entei stops this treat he will fade away. Entei tells her she has the strength to stop this, that she can believe in him if she wishes, to signify this choice. Teaching Molly to take strength from her memories but to never live in a state of delusion. Completing her lesson Molly sacrifices her Entei and her safe space to rescue the world. Realising their goal, Molly’s fantasies fade away as Entei says it goodbyes. It makes you stronger to have fantasies but we can never lose grip of reality either. A strong lesson for a strong plot.  During the credits the Unown move back to their world and set free Molly’s father, as they also seemingly have learned their lesson. Causing the father to go home.. where he to has learned to put his ambitions over his family.
In the original western release, this scene takes place prior to the end credits as they believed no one would stick around in the movie after the credits. It was different times back in the early 2000’s .

What is the Verdict

As you can most likely tell I was quite pleased with this movie, as a pokémon fan. I fully well realise that this movie is not for the average eye. If you know little about Pokémon and do not have an open mind about “thought manifestation’ as such this movie most likely will be horrible for you to sit through. If you however believe in the power of the mind and  enjoy pokémon, nearly everything in this movie will click together nicely. You won’t be as invested and shouting as let’s say the second Gurren Lagann movie and you won’t cry as much as you would in Your Name and no where does this movie show any creativity like in the Ghibli movies. Yet this manages to be a movie that does everything well enough and it just works. It  is a perfect movie to watch on a rainy saturday morning. Like those classic saturday mornings cartoons it’s quite cool.

Three down, about 20 movies to go if we include detective Pikachu. At least there is plenty of content so I wont be out of a job any time soon. If at least some of these are as enjoyable as this one I will have a blast. There is a lot of them to go trough and I am kind of scared.. I heard the Hoopa movie is allegedly terrible! It will be a good while before I get there though!

The Pinkest Poké Blogger is blasting off again!
XO
Pinkie

Pink-Poké-News: The 24 Hours In Glimwood-Tangle

Hey there little followers, welcome to another episode of Pink-Poké-News. From Friday 3pm till Saturday 3pm , Local Pinkie Time, a 24 hour live stream aired. Assistant Sonia had put a camera in the forest of Glimwood-Tangle and we send our reporter there to be present.  What has been discovered? Find out here! These are all the audio recordings she send us.

Friday 3pm till 4pm

Live from Glimwood Tangle, this is Pinkie Cherry Blossom reporting and I am a Mushroom! You can not see me because I am hidden behind some shrubbery but I am there. I can watch everything you watch. The light on the camera just came on! It has begun! Twentyfour hours of pokémon research.  I have taken a crate of red bull along.. but it’s hard to drink while in the mushroom. I hope everything will go alright… Oh.. what’s that.. A Pikachu is approaching the camera. It’s really cute! And that’s only the first five minutes I am sure this will be exciting!

Another five minutes in! Yes Morelull will be in the game! This little mushroom s so cute.. there are a lot.. one of em seems to be scraching it’s back against my mushroom… wait it’s not doing that it’s … …shooo! I am not in your egg group you vagrant!.

Ten more minutes in.. nothing happend for the past ten minutes. Yet I have an earpiece in.. directly connected to twitch chat…for some reason the chat has no moderates. There are so many dicks in chat… and I don’t mean the people! I mean pictures made with symbols and such…. so many!

It’s about half past three now Twitch chat is sick… why did they think leaving chat open was a good idea! Unmodded even! I threw up a bit… it made a pokémon run away.. all I saw was a mysterious tail. Wait… is that a Phantump I hear?!

Friday 4PM till 6PM

After hearing the Phantump there is no more news… it’s been nearly an hour since the phantump cry and we have yet to hear something new. Perhaps now is the time to tell you about a rumor that Pokémon Sword and Shield would have 18 gyms. This is untrue however. The game will feature 8 gyms like normal games. The confusion of this rumor stemmed from a translation error .. or impatient journalism.  What was said was that canonically there are 18 gyms in Galar. However the players will only visit eight. This may have interesting implications though! Could it be that the Elite four of Galar aren’t type specialists. Maybe this time the endgame really is a league! Possibilities!

It’s nearly five of clock right now! It was a phantump.. .. yay!  It just floated by!i love that pokémon! Wait.. does that mean a kid starved in this forest? It has too.. I mean..that’s how phantump are born. It’s actual in it’s pokedex. Perhaps I should eat a snack! I am pretty sure I saw a swirlix too! So that made me hungry for sweets.

Thirty minutes have passed since we spotted phantump.. I may have eaten most of my snacks already…whoops… but hey! Impidimp just cam strolling by. The Dark Fairy type that was shown during E3 finally got some love! It’s real and he won’t be scrapped at least! I am so happy! Three hoorays for Impidimp.

Another twenty minutes have passed I find it hard to keep fully invested….. but what is this!  A mysterious new pokémon ran bye! It galopped! I haven’t gotten a clear few… but… Aaaargh… it stole ,my snacks!

Friday 6PM till Midnight

Nothing new to report for well over an half hour, I am now snackless, and getting cranky. Speaking about cranky! Let’s rip on Pokémon go for another bit! They released yet another wave of useless stupid shadow pokémon. This time it’s Onix Steelix, Shuppet, Banette, Duskull ,Dusclops, Dusknoir, Sableye, Snorunt, Glalie, Snover, Abomasnow, Delibird and Stantler. Another 28 bag slots wasted if you want to have them all plus in their purified form. Better upgrade your bag size AGAIN.. cause this is what we will be doing now.  On the plus side of things P-Go released shiny Oddish. I love Vileplume (Bellossom not that much but mostly because it wastes what could have been another Vileplume) So this is my chance to catch a shiny Oddish and get my shiny Vileplume. Another six box spots gone though if you wish to own the shinies in both genders looks. At least the hunt for shinies with normal rates kinda feels exciting to me so yay for them on doing something nice as well.

I think it’s about seven pm for me right now.. I am not sure  cause I had one of those candy watches… I ate it… ! There appear to be a lot of Fairy Pokémon in Glimwood-Tangle as a Cottonee just floated by. It’s a cute pokémon but not very exciting. I love Whimsicott and I will definitely go catch it.. but it’s unlike I will actually run it on my team. 

Two hour past since I saw Cottonee, I hear a lot of morelull and stuff like that…nothing new to report.. as a pokémon fan I am happy to see the morelull every now and again.. but as a reporter…I mostly feel sleepy.’Wait I just heard a Ponyta cry’.. this is an odd  for a fire horse! Will I die in a forest fire?

It has been an hour since I heard of the Ponyta.. no fire has come to consume me so I assume we are save. A Shiinotic is walking around.. this isn’t really a big reveal since it’s pre-evolution was already shown.. it is starting to look delicious though.

Events seem to be happening once every hour.. the mysterious pokemon made it’s return.. it looks like a horse.. but a Impidimp licked my glasses.. and then moved towards the camera. My view was obscured by slime… I suspect the viewers view was hindered by Impidimp himself.

Saturday Midnight to 8AM

Thats right can you see that timeleap there! …  In the timestamp thing above me right here! Do you have any idea how bored I am gonna be?! Well neither do I because this is supposed to be a live report.  Midnight has past and I saw a streak of the same pokémon.. it now is clear that this is the pokémon that this event is going to be all about. So many hints.. 

It has been somewhere between three and four hours since i last talked to the recording device… the horse pokémon tried to eat the camera. It could not possibly be as hungry as me as it at all my snacks… the things I would do for a  Mew’s Fluffy Marshmallow drink right now! I feel cold and alone! I wish I brought some of my plushies! Speaking of which to all my american and japanese readers or those who are creative enough! There has been a new line of plushies announced for the pokémon center stores.  These will be Scorbunny, Sobble and Grookey. .. Jeez I wonder which one i will get… spoiler.. non cause i can’t get them.. But i want a sobble! They all look pretty darn cute. And I wish I had some on me right now.
So cold….

It’s been well over four hours since I reported to you last… my life force was draining.. but I hear hooves clopping around. Oh my Arceus.. it is finally walking around at normal speed! It’s beautiful. It must be a Galarian Ponyta! It looks so much like the Kantonian one. It is really amazing. I wonder if it will keep showing up! This might become my new favorite Pokémon!

Saturday 8AM till 3 PM

I wish I could bring into words the vast amount of nothingness that has happened over the last  6 and a half hours of my life. There has been a lot of moreloll and even some more shiinotic action but that really is about it.  The blandness and fatigue is taking over my senses. I just wish one of the morelull came close so I could bite of it’s head and finally get some food. Yet I won’t.. it’s so sweet.  Speaking of sweet, Game Informer recently let us know via an interview they had with Game Freak that the latter has made a lot of back end changes in the game. Hidden parameters that people will understand once they see it. While they could not go into detail they basically said they had put systems into place to take your starter straight up into the competitive scene or will let you use old pokémon for sentimental reasons but allow you to make it better so you can battle with it.  This means creating competitive pokémon very well might become a whole lot easier! Nice!

It has been nearly 24 hours since the event started a little under two minutes left.  Two galarian ponyta came running down together they planned which each other. One did seem to lack a tail. When they hugged one’s fur glew all rainbowy .. the tailed one I think..it’s hard to see as their manes also fall over their butts at times. It seems like this is the ‘grand’ conclusion of this event. Nothing factual yet about ponyta but let me summarise. In twenty four hours we have seen the pokémon of Glimwood-Tangle and these Pokémon will be.
-Morelull & Shinotic
-Phantump
– Swirlix
– Cottonee
– Impidimp
– Galarian Ponyta.

With the exception of the latter we all knew this within the first four hours. That means I kinda wasted 20 hours and a lot of sleep! Yet it was worth it to see what very well might be my new favorite pokémon! What is that… oh no! Something just destroyed the camera… and now it’s coming for me! It looks beautiful… It’s coming after me! …. I’m so scared! Aaaaaargh!

Well we seem to have lost contact with our reporter at around Five minutes past 3pm. Hopefully we will learn more and if so we will keep you informed. This was Pink Poké News for now!

Question to my Readers

What do you think about Galarian Ponyta?

The Pinkest Poké Blogger is blasting off again!
XO
Pinkie

My dream: A trip to Pokémon Café Tokyo

Some people dream about making a trip around the world, others wish to see the seven wonders of the world, other want to see all the art of the great masters. I dream of going to Japan one day, Tokyo most likely. I want to dine or lunch at the Pokémon Café and shop my Mudbray (Arse Pokémon)  off in the pokémon center. Unfortunately since my health prevents me from proper employment in most branches, it may be just a dream. It is a nice dream to talk about though.

Mew’s Fluffy Marshmallow Drink

While doing my research for this post I literally upset my own heart. I made it flutter so hard by cuteness overload I had to take a minute to calm myself. I am THAT excited for these kind of things. I imagine this must be how a normal girl feels when she looks at Chris Hemsworth. I feel like I am looking at a Magikarp using splash! Nothing Happens. Some people can stare at the Mona Lisa for hours and question the emotion on her face her feelings .. the brushwork blahblahblah. I look at things like that and be like… saw it in that movie.. nice that I saw the real one.. but it looks the same to me. Nice story to tell , moving on. This process takes me about thirty seconds to a minute. Sure it’s impressive but so is the floor in the Louvre. So is the cleanliness in Disneyland, you don’t see us fawning over that. I do not get excited because ‘I need to be’. When Robert Downey Junior is close to me, I’ll get just as scared as normal humans do. I’d might not even take a picture with him.. it’s just a person. It’s cool if you take a photo with him because people know him!’ Well I took a picture of me with a coca cola bottle in the background that’s more famous than Robert Downey Junior.. and that wasn’t impressive. I like what I like and I don’t have to go crazy over the common thought.

However I was looking through the official website of the pokémon café for this website and I moaned and squeed and went Oh YES, loudly. My tiny neighbour must have believed I had the best carnal encounter in years. Truth of the matter is I saw that the Pokémon Café serves a Mew’s Fluffy Marshmallow Drink. It looks like the most amazing drink in the world and it’s really basic. Just a 10 dollar cranberry yoghurt drink with strawberry flavor and lots of marshmallows with a cute mew straw. Yet somehow..the entire picture together.. tied to my favorite franchise, this drink is THE thing I  desire to have tasted most in my life right now. I have eaten in fancy restaurants have drank $400 dollar a bottle whiskeys and fancy red wines of my birth year and still this is the thing I want to taste most. Even if it can’t hold a candle towards others in quality or taste and not even in complexity. Yet this to a fan like me might be the ultimate food experience. It gets even better, I know that if I ever eat at the pokémon café it will for me be my best food experience ever and one I will never forget. Will I ever make it there? I am not sure, but does it even really matter? I already feel all fluffy inside knowing this exists and having a fantasy about a yoghurt drink just makes me incredibly happy for some reason.

Screaming at a cheesecake

  Just looking at one item on the menu made me all spinny and happy in my head and the goodness  absolutely doesn’t stop there. Having alternating menu’s what you find is always a surprise. An omelet shaped like a pikachu’s butt while he is trying to hide from something is a dish for example. A curry with pikachu shaped bread is a hearty meal for everyone to enjoy… and enjoy! There are other great drinks like the gengar grape smoothie and the legendary bird shakes. If you buy a drink you get a coaster to keep for free! And that’s done with a mini game! The server approaches you with a tablet which lets you randomly pick,  from what I assume would be the starter pokémon or the original 150 you get a coaster for you! To keep! Yay! That makes the Mew Marshmallow Drink a bit more affordable by comparison. The plates you can not keep, which is a shame because those look adorable as well. Squeee! No matter if it’s a poké paw, a pikachu head or an eevee head or even a snorlax shaped rice bowl.. it all needs to go into my kitchen someday. The Eevee hamburger needs to go into my belly as well.. gotta eat em all! The food is that adorable.

At the moment of writing they are serving cute halloween plates of Zorua Pikachu and a Meowth pumpkin pie for example. I outgrew smilies on my pancakes but this I will never outgrow. The real kicker is when you see they have a Jigglypuff Cheese cake! It’s decorated with some chocolate music notes and strawberry or raspberry jelly decorations as well. Now this alone would be enough to kill me, but during my intensive research to my dream I have found out other qualities about it as well.  People seem to love this dessert as it tastes great.. but they did something with the texture as well… get this .. they made jigglypuff .. a little jiggly! By now I am screaming at the Jigglypuff cake on my screen! I choose you! While my human eyes actually begin to transform into desirefull anime eyes…which hurts by the way,  so I am screaming at the little jiggly cheesecake. The burgers from what I hear are nothing special but I would not order a burger in Japan anyway! I want the curry and maybe an omelet as a starter. Of course I would also have to eat one of the seasonal specials so I guess when I actually get there I will be screaming at the Jigglypuff Cheesecake as well! I ate too much!!I will eat you to! Gotta eat you al! People will think I am insane, though I genuinely expect the restaurant to be full of people like me. We all scream at the Kawai Cheesecake and nearly die of happiness. 

Max Happiness

My heaven is located in Nihonbashi near Tokyo Station, on the 5th floor of the Takashimaya department store.  I do believe the pokémon center is right next to it so all I need is a little apparantment adjacent to them and the ability to the plushies and food I want and I would work there for free for the rest of my life.  Arceus knows how I will do my laundry or pay my doctor bills but I would be in bliss. I could start my days with a Ditto fruit salad.. which has a bit of blueberry yoghurt next to it decorated with a ditto eyes and smile. I am crying with happiness just thinking about eating it every day!  A nice omelet for lunch and some adorable sweets to go! Because yes! They also sell candies and little sweet buns that are perfect on the go. Reservations are mandatory in the restaurant but of course I would just book a life-time in advance , and I can do that cause you can reserve a spot there using english!  So aside from money I got my plan laid out! I do play the lottery and I totally deserve this so we know it is just a matter of time until I am a winner and migrate to the café.

I’d settle for a once in a lifetime visit though if I only win a little money! Maybe one day the pokémon company will discover how much I love the franchise and allow me to work for them! And pay me enough to make the trip! Bliss! Now the biggest issue about a one time visit is , would be the limitations of my suitcase. I would definitely have to pay extra to ship all the stuff I want to bring along back. In the café I can buy mugs, plates and plushies! By now I am in love with a marshmallow drink, screaming of at a cheesecake, crying of joy by thinking of eating Ditto Yoghurt everyday… I might just begin spewing rainbows in a bit.

A Million Starmie

I realise I am wearing rose coloured goggles. The food only gets 3,5 stars out of 5 on Trip Advisor and one guy left a negative comment about it on a website called Japan Experience.. saying he wasted his money  and it was the worst food he ate in Japan. Well I hope he chokes on a Mcdonald’s hamburger! I very well realise that what this place serves is Mall-Food.. for Mall prices. Yet many foodies describe the same phenomenon when someone eats their mothers home cooking.  It may not taste that great to those who do not share your sentiment.. but to you , your mother’s cooking is quite possibly the best in the world. My mother’s thai green curry I prefer over any restaurant who probably does it better. Food can be an experience, food can be emotion, you do not eat with just your mouth but your brain as well. While your taste buds and nose may not taste something that is particularly tasty.. the brain can ‘season’  a dish because its ‘your favorite’ or mamma cooked it.. or because it looks like a friggin adorable… *intense yelling* jiggly jigglypuff!Coca Cola in a can tastes nicer in it’s can because we know it’s coca cola than it tastes inside a glass. Unless it’s an official glass .. which Mcdonalds and the other evil burger flippers hand out like candy.  If you put housebrand cola in a coca cola glass it also tastes nicer. We might taste food with our mouth and nose, we truly experience it with our brain. 

Inside a café that displays a lot of pokémon, has lights and plants shaped like pokéballs and background music from pokémon, I know I could even eat one of the annoying kids running around there and it would still taste great. I could even just eat their shoes and still be hungry for more. This is one of the most ‘pokemon’ experience known to man. I will have a good time there even if I get shot inside the place. This is what makes it a dream to me, I might even go there if I knew I would die afterwards. It is something I want to experience that much.  Should I ever be able to get myself there, I will probably book two days to visit it.. because the first day I might be dazed. This is my Disneyland .. maybe even my heaven. Words fail to describe how deep it touches me. It might be a glorified fastfood place .. but the heart wants what it wants.  This is not a review of the restaurant and should I go there the result will be I love it , regardless if I had a tasty meal.  On yelp I would give it a million Starmie, and another million Staryu as well.. you need to do that stuff anyway in pokémon lets go so here have them! Two Million stars! This dream I would not accept critique about, if I want to waste my hypothetical money on this I should Charity or sanity be damned this is my dream and everyone should be allowed to spend money on their true dream. So yes my carbon footprint would improve and yes there are healthier foods etc. But no people do not need the money more! I need it for my dream and nothing is more important to someone than be able to live their dream. Not even being a good person. So think bad of me all you like for having such a silly dream. Keep the hate to yourself though as I just want to sip my Mew’s Fluffy Marshmallow Drink while I dry my tears of joy  and scream at my cheesecake!

Question to my readers:

What is your ‘petty/selfish’ dream (No ‘that everyone is happy’ dreams here)

A less than informative post for you this time but hey, you at least learned a little bit more about me again. Also a lesson, never let the general opinion stand in the way of your own happiness. You never know if you do it right for someone else.. and you will always know if you do right by yourself. So make sure you are happy! It’s okay to have ‘petty’  dreams!
That of course doesn’t mean you should not support anyone.. but find a balance that works for you! We all matter, you matter, I matter! Be happy, have a dream!

The Pinkest Poké Blogger is blasting off again
XO
Pinkie

Poké Wars: Blue Hope (Part 3)

Hey little monsters, it is time once again to move to a galaxy far far away. It is time for the third official installment of Poké Wars: Generation IV Blue Hope. In Part 2  which you can read here, Rioluke met up with Rotom W and 3 people by purchasing them from the Patrat sandcrawler with his uncle Unowen. Soon it turned out that Rotom Wash did not want to abandon it’s former mission and and took off in the night. The Riolu and the magneton chased him only to be attacked by sandshrew people. At the last moment the threesome was rescued by a man named Obi the Alakazam, formerly known as Obi the Kadabra. When it was revealed that Rotom W had plans for a secret weapon they had to deliver to a contact on Galaraan, Rioluke realised Overlord Metwo would send his forces to retrieve those plans. He rushed home only to find it in ruins! Check the end of this post for links to the other parts.

Chapter 7: It’s on Galaraan

Princess Rita sat in her cell for Arceus knows how long when two cloned pokémon came to get her. It was a Zubat and a Bulbasaur, the last one roped her with his vine whip. It hurt her quite a lot, she had endured a lot of torture to loosen her tongue and her body was quite frail and cut still.  There was this weird Pokémon that tortured her shaped like a lamp, it burned her with its ghostly fires while trying to look at her soul. It was quite horrible. She knew that if she that thing was praying on her soul and looking straight into it. She nearly told what she knew, she had to come up with a plan because surely she could not fool Dark Blader in this state. Rumors said he could read her aura with his dark powers. He would be able to spot deceit in her aura. She would have to pick something credible, something that would hurt her to mention. As a plan began to form in her head as a little of her soul died… at least Lampent would not get it now.

Princess Rita was led to a observatory in a huge space station. Helmed by some Drowzee as well as some cloned Toucannons who appeared to be the space stations gunners all gazed at her with a look of horror  in their eyes, like they had a good idea on what would come next. Smogon Tar Chin took the lead and broke the silence. ‘We will not ask again , where is the rebel gym!’ His tone was vicious and disrespectful clearly not respecting her status as royalty. It was his tone that gave Rita some resolve. She would not be talked to this way by the likes of him. ‘Aah  Smogon Tar Chin, I thought I smelled a poorly written reference from my cell but now that i am standing here I am still disappointed’ The Smogon set pokémon looked angry for a moment but then bit off with a smirk. ‘I would not have guessed you have a sassy nature “princess” you’d do well to be as talkative when the dark lord is asking you questions, you can’t keep pretending you have a quiet nature for long’ The Bisharp standing next to him looking menacing lifted his hands as the hypno clenched his throat.  ‘You should not put ideas of being quiet into the princess head, if I have to spend more power points to make her talk I will make sure you’ll both regret it’. As Dark Blader turned his head to Rita , she suddenly felt as if her mind was being probed, an unseen assailant noticing her superficial thoughts. ‘Indeed princess Rita this is not going to end well for you anyway’

Princess Rita was running out of time, she had too make up her mind. She knew her plan would cost millions of life, would she have the strength to push through with it? She would have to sacrifice millions so that billions could live. Would she be able to say the words? She had no room to give this any more thought for he would pick up on her conflict. She HAD to buy time, she could not let hope be snuffed out. She thought about her adoptive mother and father and about all those pokémon out there in the galaxy she never met.  Being on board of a weapon that allegedly was able to capture planets she knew very well what would happen next. Her pain would hopefully be enough to deceive Dark Blader. She took one deep breath and then uttered the words. ‘It’s on Galaraan, the rebel gym is on Galaraan’
Dark Blader looked at her menacingly, would it have been enough. ‘Set course for Galaraan’ he ushered. Rita shed a single tear not show her weakness to these two. She had just sacrificed her homeworld for but a glimmer of hope.

Chapter 8: Not the mons

Rioluke stood in distraught seeing his home ransacked, destroyed. His aunt and uncle gone. Surely they must have been send to Bill. He wept for their loss. Alakazam padded his shoulders and told him. ‘Rioluke, you are the son of a Pokéknight , you have to fight this pain, pain leads to suffering and suffering leads to the dark side of the aura. Rioluke was intrigued despite his grief ‘You are saying I could be a Poké Knight?’ Alakazam shook his head. ‘I am saying you may HAVE to become a Poké Knight in order for us to save the galaxy! Going against the overlord will be very hard otherwise.’ Anger still lingered in Rioluke but he could for some reason sense wisdom and truth in the words of the old man. He knew  somehow that their journey would become a long one, for a moment Rioluke sensed it’s destiny. ‘How do we get of this rock though? I don’t have money for a spaceship, even if I can fly one’ Rioluke said in his squeaky voice. The Alakazam could not help but chuckle ‘Of course you would, your father was a great pilot as well, we will go to Phenac City and find someone who can move us past the overlord’s blockades. There should be plenty of smugglers. Rioluke nodded, he stared at his home for one last time before mounting his landspeeder along with his three companions as they raced towards Phenac City together.

After little over an half hour speeder ride they began noticing a growing presence of clone pokémon.  Luke could have sworn he saw a cloned squirtle riding on a huge Salazzle, which is a big lizard but Alakazam swore there was nothing there. Rotom just bleeped at the discussion. 3-people translated this as. ‘Rotom W says  that there have been several incidents of this occurring across the galaxy. People of younger generations seem to perceive the galaxy somewhat differently at times, often more lively and special, while the older generations see the galaxy more barren but often more vicious and raw. Yet he absolutely assures you that those people young people see in the background will never really interact  much with the world.’ Alakazam and Rioluke still bickered for a bit who was seeing the world right but eventually they were approached by two cloned pokémon. Citizens two of your passengers seem to meet a general description of non organics wanted by Overlord Mewtwo, prepare to be searched. Alakazam smiled at them and showed him a spoon, waving it across the man’s face. ‘I would hate to waste your time officer, these are not the pokémon you are looking for’. The cloned pokemon shook his head confused for a bit. ‘That’s right, these are not the pokémon we are looking for! Move along citizens, glory to the overlord.’  The pale squirtle tapped the vehicle signalling Rioluke could drive into town. Which he did staring at Alakazam in awe. ‘How did you do that?’ 


Rioluke moved to town seeing all shorts of shady Pokémon. While plenty of law patrolled outside the town, as little seemed to dwell within. The most odd pokémon staring at him and his landspeeder.  At least selling the vehicle off would not be very difficult, this should be able to pay for a flight from one of these shady folks. A shady penguin pokémon seemed very interested in particular. Alakazam noticed as well and told Rioluke.  You just go inside that cantina and I shall sell the landspeeder, it might be best if you don’t .. know what they will pay for it’. Rioluke nodded, he would most likely not like the price his beloved landspeeder would be sold off for. Alakazam might squeeze out a few poké more with that mind stuff off his anyway. The non organics were tasked with making sure no one should steal the speeder, they could zap their attackers into paralysis.  Rioluke walked into the cantina alone, where a catchy tune was playing being played by a group of elgyem.

Chapter 9: Who shot first?

The cantina was even seedier on the inside then the outside. As soon as Rioluke walked inside he was immediately the   subject of some scrutinous looks. The little fighting pokémon was looking for someone looking like a pilot when he accidentally bumped into a Walrein.. a big Walrus Pokémon that seemed  to be accompanied by a Pignite. The Walrein began barking at our hero in a language he did not understand. ‘I-I am sorry for bumping into you mister but I do not understand what you are saying’ The pig pokemon looked at him and snickered. ‘He says he doesn’t like you’. This made Rioluke quite sad, he just wanted to make new friends, he was still a baby pokemon after all who had no one in this world. And now this Walrein did not like him already.  The pig saw him looking sad and let out a greasy sounding snicker again. ‘Hehehehe and I don’t like you either’ Rioluke began to cry a bit by the bullying. ‘I.. I am sorry.. you don’t like me’. Rioluke turned to the bar and ordered some Blue Blue Milk when the pig grabbed him. ‘I got a death sentence on twelve systems so be warned’ he said threateningly. ‘I .. I will be carefull, sorry you don’t like me mister’ the fox like kid says now fighting his tears more and more’. The pig motioned to the walrus to move in closer when that one was being struck by a large blue beam. Solid about one an armlength in size, eerily humming. The walrus began to colour red and was promptly send to the pc. ‘You killed my friend’ the pig yelled in panic. ‘Well you were threatening to kill my associate and all our weapons kill on first hit.. otherwise I would have just sliced a fin off.’ 

Meanwhile at a table in the back the pair was being watched by a hoodlum scarfty and his ursaring pal. While distracted by the death of the Walrein though  they did not notice a little bug pokémon crawling onto a chair at their table when it readied it’s blaster under the table it coughed. It was a little orange yellow bug worm with a cute pink nose  and a horn on its head. It was the most infamous weedle in entire Phenac city. In a very nasal tone it began to address the scrafty. ‘Shaun Yolo, how nice we finally see face to face once more.. Halva really wants his money now’ The scrafty sat back in the couch he was sitting on putting his feet on the table. ‘Ah Weedo, they let anybody in these days’ the hoodlum would say while pointing at the weedle but also pointing out Rioluke with his eyes. ‘Halva has put a bounty on you Shaun, and I think I will collect after all that stunt you pulled on me on Unovellia cost me a lot of money.’ The weedle  moved his capture gun under the table unlocking it with a click.’ The bear pokémon next to Shaun roared. ‘Easy Bakka, it’s not like i’m in danger or anything’ the scrafty said while crossing his feed on the table and putting his hands in his neck. Weedo laughed ‘I would not be so sure about th…’  before he finish the sentence he was shot by a capture blast coming from a blaster Scrafty had hidden behind the couch. The little weedle faded away in red light while his blaster fell on the floor. Shaun did not really notice it anymore his mind was working overtime. “Darn it if Halva the Zygarde has put a bounty on me I have to get out of here. Yet my ship  is locked away by those clone pokémon. Then he looked closer to the old man who just extinguished his capture saber after slaying the Walrein. Then he looked at the sniffling riolu and smirked. These suckers might be his way out. He beckoned over the Rioluke ‘Hey Kid, you look lost , how about we have a little chat’. Rioluke looked at Alakazam as he looked a bit worried. No twisting realities for each generation this time. ‘Should we even meet with him’ the young man asked Obi ‘ he clearly shot first!’

Question to my readers:

What is your favorite Star Wars species/race ?

So we conclude yet another chapter of this story! In the next part we will see daring escapes, dogfights, epic captures  and celestial body confusion! Make sure to follow my blog to not miss an exciting new episode of Poké Wars: Blue hope!

The Pinkest Poké Blogger is blasting off again!.
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Pinkie

Previous Parts
Part 0
Part 1
Part 2

Trainer Profile: DIO

Hello again little Watsons , last week’s profile of the villain Perfect Cell did well amongst you all and it was a very amusing write up for me as well.  Since we are detectives of course , the pursuit of making profiles for dangerous enemies seems like a noble practice so we will do so again today. This week we look at a man who is a time bending, manipulative mastermind. You might have thought it was You might have thought it was Thanos .. but it was DIO!

Trainer Type: Evil Team Boss

Mister Brando is a man who would fit many archetypes for trainers.  He would definitely be able to become a Champion, he has some qualities of a gentleman and most definitely would also fit the role of an Ace Trainer as the man turned vampire can be quite an elitist son of a jynx. However his modus operandi is very unlike most of the trainers n the pokémon-world accept for Evil Team Boss. When Dio has a problem he sends his underlings to deal with it rather than deal with things himself. He doesn’t play as much of an active role as a champion would, he isn’t as interested in a fair competition. He wants his ultimate goal of achieving heaven (a goal only revealed in stone ocean/ part 6). A world in which he can clear any uncertainty. Rule over people by giving them peace of mind. Of course translated into pokémon he and his team that we shall call team Divination (because of his desire to get the perfect godlike form, as well as a reference to the tarot card stands of his followers and himself), try to eliminate pokémon battles as their outcome would be unpredictable and will allow people to grow stronger to eventually match an topple Dio. paranoid as he is. 

Throughout the entirety of Stardust Crusaders, and later looked back on in Stone Ocean, Dio is a manipulator who makes people do things for him rather than to them himself.  He has minions which we can divide into grunts, like how Kakyoin and Polnareff and Hol Horse used to be or executives. Like Pucci and Enyaba and to a lesser extend the egyptian gods stand users near the end of Stardust.  Dio would rule over Team Divination much like somewhat of a Hybrid between Giovanni from Gen I and Cyrus from Gen IV. Having the well mannered and respectful behaviour Giovanni shows to the likes of Archer but having the disrespect for lesser life, much like how Cyrus disrespects life. 

Preferred type: Dark Type

While Dio keeps a very diverse team of underlings his own combat style is pretty direct. Crafted plans are for his minions while when he fights he usually relies on sheer force.  Of course if you are reading this you are very likely to know all about his Muda-Muda-Muda which definitely would be of the fighting type I opted to choose the Dark Type for the best hit for him instead. Dark types easily  fall into the mostly physical category as wel, thusly reflect Dio as well. What makes this type resemble him more than the fighting type is the dark types usually go for the cheap shots. They throw Sucker Punches, Feints , they  throw taunts or items using the movie Fling. Throughout his fights we see Dio using his Stand to land cheap shots on his enemies.

Flinging knives at his opponent with frozen time. Dio taunts his opponents but is not above flattery to manipulate people either. By now of course you must surely understand that Flatter is yet again a dark type move. Foul Play is yet another  move of the type that seems to be made for Dio. Throwing a steamroller on an enemy while engaged in fisticuffs seems like pretty foul play to me. Being a vampire Dio has a pretty nasty bite as well, and with the type being called Evil-Type in japanese, it seems quite useless to argue with this typing.

The Team

Signature Pokemon: Zoroark (Dark Type)

Zoroark is the perfect signature pokémon  for Dio. No it doesn’t resemble it’s stand, we will deal with that one in a bit! Dio nowadays isn’t really best known for his Muda Muda or not even for it’s Za Warudo. Dio is best known for his meme! You thought we would talk about Za Warudo but is I Dio!. You know those kind of shenanigans.  Whenever we think of Dio.. we think of that. Now it happens to be there is a perfect pokémon for this and it is Zoroark. Being a dark type he already is right up Dio’s alley but this is a very special pokémon! Zoroark in the game possess the ability illusion. This makes Zoroark look like another pokémon in your team. Say for example you run a team with Croagunk.. a psychic and poison type, which is 4 times weak to psychic moves and a Zoroark, as long as you lead (being the first pokémon send out)  with Zoroark your opponent will see you sending out Croagunk. He will surely try to use a psychic move to hit you but finds out your pokémon is immune, thusly he loses as turn. Only after Zoroark has been hit once will the illusion break.

‘You thought it was Croagunk but it was ME ZOROARK!’ It’s an incredibly useful battle strategy in the pokémon games. Zoroark will always take on the appearance of the last Pokémon in your team unless that pokémon is fainted or a Zoroark. It will copy nickname, gender, and even shininess to make the surprise complete. It plays dirty by forcing the opponent into a suboptimal play by underestimating it’s speed or attacks. It is one of the best designed and most beloved dark types as well, directly mimicking Dio’s natural born Charisma, Zoroark has that too. While Dio’s Warcry is Wryyyyyyyyy Zoroark’s one is actualy Yrrrwwwwwwwwww which is the same thing but backwards!

Physical Sweeper: Machamp (Fighting Type)

Of course when it  comes to physical attacks there is no other choice than Machamp. Arguably, Hitmonchan is more of a punchy pokémon but the many arms of the final Machop evolution sells this quality a bit more. Being overly muscular like any Jojo character, it was between this Pokémon and Buzzwolle and I need the Legendary Pokémon to be something else so it had to be Machamp, even though Buzzwole poses a bit more. Machamp’s pokédex entries state some very interesting things however.

In pokémon gold for example his entry states “It quickly swings its four arms to rock its opponents with ceaseless punches and chops from all angles’. That is close enough to a Muda Muda Muda level of attack. Yet this gets better in Pokémon FireRed entry “Its four ruggedly developed arms can launch a flurry of 1,000 punches in just two seconds”. Pretty sure that Za Warudo is capable of similar features. Finally in Pokémon moon his pokédex entry say he can easily lift dump trucks , and while some entries even stay he can move mountains the feat described in Moon make it at least plausible he can lift up a steamroller.  Of course Dio’s Machamp would have to be equipped with fightinium-z, the z crystal needed to use the move all out pummeling in the pokémon games but Dio has shown time and time again that he doesn’t really mind some bling. 

Physical Wall: Yamask/Cofagrigus (Ghost Type)

Now rarely do I come across a case where an entire evolution line fits the subject in question but in the form of Dio’s physical wall we got one. While his Part III counterpart would have the Cofagrigus the Dio from Phantom Blood would still carry a Yamask.  Yamask is a ghost pokémon who carries a stone.. mask with him.. which has the face of the human it once was. Dio’s journey into villany truly began when he first put on the Stone Mask from that series. A mask of the dead that turned him into the vampire. Yamask is a basic ghost pokémon has a fairly high physical defence modifier. Even in the first series we see Dio as someone who is quite durable. Yet as a villain he also still has a long way to go and a lot of growth to experience. Only in the arrival of part three we see him fully grown into the megalomaniac we all know and love and it all starts with the find out the black coffin. Which happens to be the shape that cofagrigus likes to take. Well Sacrophagus..but hey Dio was in Egypt.

While extremely slow, this is reminiscent of Dio’s role in the show. We know he is there, but he doesn’t really do anything of sorts until the last half of the second season. The sarcophagus pokémon is also known for its ability Mummy, while the ability doesn’t do much itself it bestows it on others. Much like a trend that Dio started when he began transferring his abilities using the golden arrows.  Everything that survived the encounter gets bestowed with the ability as well as it spreads. Somewhat alike how to stands spread and now Dio works once more. Cofagrigus is also a well known Trick Room user.. a move which is said to distort time. Finally since it is a ghost type it can even be seen as an undead, because ghost types in the pokemon can still reproduce and hatch from eggs and all. So an undead mask and sarcophagus pokemon , that can also bend the laws of time, has a lot of punchy arms and knows how to bestow his ability on others. Yes this sure is a fit.

Special Sweeper: Houndoom (Dark-Fire Type)

Dio has the tendency to use his underlings kind of like dogs. Through a natural charisma they become very loyal to him and willing servants. The devotion Enrico Pucci has for him, but also that of his followers in Stardust Crusaders is akin to that of a loyal dog. So it would make sense to give Dio a loyal dog to symbolise this. Houndoom makes a lot of sense for this. While there are plenty of other dog pokémon they all tend to be physical sweepers or walls and Dio has this covered himself. He uses his henchmen to fill his own gaps. He is aware of what he can and can not do and gathers followers to compensate. He can not go out in the light so sending a henchman that is strong in the sunlight is definitely something that would work for him , it represents his minions quite well and it has a mega-evolution as well. Symbolising how Dio is able to push his followers past their limit by forcing a bond and giving them a cause and Zeal allowing them to become stronger than ever before.

Houndoom choose their leader themselves which is a staple of how Dio chooses his minions. They are never forced they all serve him willingly. While this is mostly based on the vast difference in their strength, this is similar to how Houndoom and Houndour choose to serve. Houndoom is a hellhound, a dog who has toxic fire burning within him. There is something about Dio and a dog on fire, that seems quite fitting as well. But for the love of Arceus I can’t seem to recall that one scene of episode 1 of phantom blood.  

Special Wall: Umbreon (Dark Type)

Another Dark Type, Umbreon like Dio plays the long con. It plays the role of a toxic staller.  It tries to stay safe while withering it’s opponents away slowly, using moves like wish to keep it’s health up while using moves like toxic to bring their opponents health down. The way vampires work in the world of Jojo is that they are everlasting because of their determination and  will power.. which basically replaces their life essence. While this does not fully pan out with Kars for example, one can argue that since he became a vampire god he is lifted from said burden. So in a way a vampire keeps its health up by wishing for it.. with zeal.

Umbreon of course is also the moonlight pokemon, the eeveelution you can evolve by leveling it up in the dark/ at night. As a vampire of course this is Dio’s route as well. He would only be able to level up his eevee and night and the way Dio treats people is with friendship. These friendships might be fake to an extend in his eyes as these people or his pokemon would be tools but they all seem to definitely consider him as a friend. Dio in fact is quite friendly with his inner circle. Talking about philosophy and deeper thoughts with them. There is a form of trust and sharing. So I think he would definitely be able to bond with Eevee enough to form an Umbreon. He would also know how to play the pokémon properly  to realise its maximum potential. Umbreon is often played quite offensively, but a good set doesn’t really have an offensive move. Dio has the patience to blossom this oddball of an eeveelution into the weapon it can be causing despair in his opponents.

Legendary: Dialga (Dragon-Steel type)

Dialga is here for obvious reasons. There are few pokémon that can alter time but Dialga one. Aside from Celebi , which is a little grass fairy it in fact is the only one.  Now Dio can use women , men and children alike .. but a little grass pixie and him would not get along. Dialga can speed up, slow down and even stop time. Definitely the best alternative out there to Za Warudo (the world). Alongside Palkia and Giratina or sometimes Arceus in the latters stead it is part of the creation trio. Dio’s goal was basically to create HEAVEN .. or the ideal world where everyone has peace of mind with him as it’s ruler it makes sense he takes on a pokémon of the creation four as they are more aptly named. Even from a design perspective ,the way Dialga and Palkia are shaped are fairly close to the way stands are designed. While stands are rarely quadrupeds the mix of metal and flesh as well as the crowns and other design elements seem to fit the style quite well. Dialga also exists in a realm outside ours allowing to fade in again much like Dio’s main offence. An ability the pokémon doesn’t really have in the games but it’s canonical so Dio would most likely be able to draw it out.

Dio throughout his existence in Stardust Crusaders is unable to use his full power. Not unless he feasts on the blood of a living Joestar. He locked away his true potential when he fused his head with the body of Jonathan Joestar which held him back until he drank the blood of Joseph Joestar. This partially inspired the plans to deal with the bloodline in Part 3, his fate was connected to the Joestars until that point. He achieved a new form when serving those bonds..sort of .. he looked different at least. Dialga has a Primal form, which it can reach by being severed from its ability to control  Both Dialga and Dio reach new forms when they break free of their destiny, not really great on their sanity. But I am sure that if they work together they can rule THE WORLD!.

Question to my readers:

Which character would you like me to cover next?

With a stand or with Pokémon, Dio will always be a terrifying foe to face in battle. Cunning, intelligent and oh so charming. Do not cross this villian unless you are very well prepared.
To fight Dio bring a lot of fighting types and make sure your they know some dark moves as well, maybe a Zen Headbutt as well and you might be able to win. Some Pokémon may die though. Dio has ended a friendship or two.

The Pinkest Poké Blogger is blasting off again!
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Pinkie

The New Pokémon Series

Recently we got new about the newest Pokémon series announced. Unfortunately we will not see Marnie as a protagonist or even one of the Galar people as companions yet the series will revolve around an interesting concept which could save it.

Ash is Back

Let’s first address the elephant in the room, the series opted for the safe route and decided to let Ash and Pikachu make their return. Something I expected but really rooted against. It remains unclear if we get a rebooted Ash or a continuation who once more left his pokémon behind.  In the teaser that was revealed we hear him yelling he wants to be a pokémon master, which he kind of became already so softly I hope to see a rebooted version. The concept of the series however seems to make this unlikely. It seems more to become more akin to a legacy season.  However looking at his design Ash looks younger once again. His eyes have become a lot brighter and bigger, his hair spikes upwards rather than horizontal, giving him a more playful and energetic look. He wears a vest that closely resembles his vest in season one, similar as how the title changed back to pokémon, without a subtitle.  Similar to when he first began. The white sleeves of the vest are gone though.. instead it is sleeveless and he wears a white shirt underneath.. to produce a similar look still. His shoes also look look like an updated version of Gen I Ash. For some reason though they chose to replace his jeans with shorts. Which this reporter doesn’t find that fashionable.  It makes him look like a Youngster. It’s weird because his buddy walks around in skinny jeans. His Rotom Dex will become more smartphone like.

Let’s Go

This time Ash will be accompanied by an androgynous boy named Go. Dark skinned, blue eyes with some bobby pins in his hair and somewhat feminine eyes he appears to be a fully original character. Whose design I find very agreeable. Having a cool demeanour around him he comes across as a confident young trainer of his own. Not something like the throwaway followers like Max or Bonnie and more passionate than Gym Leaders like Cillian or Clemmont. In fact by the looks of it it almost seems as if the series will focus slightly more on Go.

This time Ash will be accompanied by an androgynous boy named Go. Dark skinned, blue eyes with some bobby pins in his hair and somewhat feminine eyes he appears to be a fully original character. Whose design I find very agreeable. Having a cool demeanour around him he comes across as a confident young trainer of his own. Not something like the throwaway followers like Max or Bonnie and more passionate than Gym Leaders like Cillian or Clemmont.

In fact by the looks of it it almost seems as if the series will focus slightly more on Go. The teaser makes it look like it will be a two protagonist series, yet Go’s goal seems to be very central in the story. When he was a young boy Go met Mew and he wishes to find him again. Featured both on the poster and it being an adorable sound bite at the end of the short teaser, this search seems to be an extremely relevant aspect of the plot. More so than Ash potential gym challenge. Yes I am saying potential gym challenge because it may not even be about it at all.  Could this be a series in which we pass the torch? Moving from Ash to Go? It would be very interesting and a very open ended way to handle Ash departure. Pleasing both his supporters as those who wish to see him retire. In the japanese version he will be voiced by Daiki Yamashita who is best know , at least recently, for his voice portayel of Deku from My Hero Academia The only thing I do not like about Go so far is giving him a Scorbunny as his partner pokémon. Making it seem like the best pick! Cleary that honour should go to Sobble!

Traveling across the lands

What makes this series potentially interesting is the concept. On the reveal poster we saw a globe featuring all the regions and they will all be visited in this anime. Kanto, Johto, Hoenn , Sinnoh, Unova, Kalos , Alola AND Galar. A trip across the world to find Mew. This is where a non rebooted Ash comes in. It would be a lot more rewarding to see everyone Ash has interacted with in those regions to react to his championship title  and to reminisce , it would validate Ash alongside Go for this story. It would be nice to see May again, if we found out that Max has tragically died (I really hated him in the anime) it would even be nice to see Ash and Serena catch up that way.

Yet it would also make sense to let the rebooted Ash travel alongside Go.. picking up after Ash first saw Ho-Oh they could travel together to find the legendaries who influenced their lives so much. The concept has potential but makes it hard to be focussed around a gym challenge. Without a rebooted Ash this makes perfect sense though!  He already is a champion so he would pursue other goals, with two protagonists it would also prevent us from having to look at a double gym battles should Go be into similar endeavours. It would make for an interesting show if we deal with other teams rather than getting stronger and stronger but instead focus on the more mysterious side of the pokémon world. Questing for other goals than a simple competition can lift the series much more into a exciting serial anime with less of the ‘filler’ content the other shows had. There definitely is potential in this one but a lot of dangers too. 

A birthday gift

The new series will begin airing on the seventeenth of November. The day of my birthday.  Now this series could be a lovely gift or something I trade in immediately it remains to be seen. I am getting a Sylveon rug for my birthday as well and I will gift myself the Pokémon Sword game of course, so it has a lot of great gifts to compete with.  Sun and Moon got a lot of flack for its art style..but the fluidity it brought to animations was actually great, with the developments in style it looks a bit more crisp as well. While the main character might not appeal to me all that much anymore this would be the way to make him more appealing.

If the other regions however turn out to be filler in between Galar gym badges this show will be dropped faster than a bungee jumping Snorlax.  Since I am a little social bug I might be quite busy around that day but reviews will be coming and they will be honest! The transition from Kalos to Alola was to much of a drop-off for me to fully follow the series.  Yet this time we don’t see a badass Ash reverting back into a kid. This might be something I can get behind. Keep following me up until december at least to find out if this show is any good.

Question to my Readers:

Do you like the concept of this new series?

While I feel incredibly mixed about the idea, there is potential to build the show out in a new way, yet if they do not innovate this will turn out to a big dud. Either way we either will have a Gyarados of a series or a Magikarp of a series.. no in between for this one. Let me know what you think in the comments.
The Pinkest Poké Blogger is blasting off again
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Pinkie