Blue – Pinkie's Paradise

Pinkie’s Guilty Pleasures: Hikonin Sentai Aikbaranger

“A tiny paradise amongst a sea of skyscrapers: Akihabara. There we find three warriors who believe pain is power and who fight battles that exist entirely in their heads. They are…Hikonin Sentai Akibaranger!” With these words we open this amazing Sentai Show that I just finished the first season off entirely and I adore it. It’s basically Power Rangers..but instead of do gooder teenagers we get low life Otaku with Deadpool powers.

Plot Power

The word Hikonin stands for unofficial. When this show came out in 2012, it originally aired at a different time slot than any other Ranger show. It was not a morning show for kids.. no this was a tribute show to all Sentai Geeks who have loved the genre for all their life. This was a show designed for Otaku.. but since it veered away to much from the base formula, it was set in another world…our world… but not really. Where Super Sentai is just a show, where the main characters in this show could recognise former power rangers as both the ranger or the actor. So the tag unofficial as added.. and it became a plot point.

This show is about as fourth wall breaking as it gets. Let me try to set up the basic plot. Three Otaku get recruited by a mysterious woman named Hiroyo Hakasa, who gives them devices called Moe Moe Z-Cune’s which allows to transform them into the Unofficial Sentai, Akibarangers. With these new powers they have to stop the Blatantly Evil Marketing Firm (rough translation) from turning Akihabara into a dull commercial wasteland. Fighting the good fight, the rangers hope the be one day be acknowledged as actual rangers and be official and marketable. There is one problem however, they aren’t actually fighting evil.. they are just Otaku imagining they are fighting through the power of delusion/imagination.

The Moe Moe Z-Cune allows people to share imaginations with each other and thus can create powerful delusions that Hakase studies. Also seemingly using the sense of the Otaku people to sense evil.. to let the police do the actual work. So while our heroes are fighting in their suits, the real world only sees them punching in the air as if they are pretending to rangers. This pain apparently has some sort of power… yet a mysterious chain of events bring these two worlds of Akihabara closer together..with serious consequences.

Fourth debries pile

That was the most sober description of Akibaranger I could muster because this show is completely and utterly INSANE and I love it! These rangers powered by the power of delusions for example do not fight with their strength and determination, no their main way of combating evil is to trigger “victory flags”. They are so Otaku they know how these shows go, stats do not matter. If the main bad guy teleports away and tells the other villain “take care of this” the victory flag has been raised and the rangers become unbeatable. On the other hand if such flags are not triggered or they miss to acknowledge it they can’t really win either. A fighting style that is quite different from the usual shows and that works as hilarious tool to understand what makes this genre so lovable. If you loved Power Rangers, you see these guys as your peers. These guys look at the show through the eyes of the audience which can create a surreal experience.

The early episodes are focussed on the three heroes trying to figure out “which episode/which story structure” will apply so they can trigger their story flags. For example in an episode that focus on the training of one Ranger they have to get the spotlight. In an episode where a ranger leaves the team for a bit, the victory flag can only be triggered by having them rejoin this fight. The problem of such an episode is not the monster fight but making a phone call ..with flippy phones, to call up the last ranger to come and share a delusion with her friends. There is a beauty in how low-key this all can be and how simple the solutions actually are. As they grow the rangers learn more and more to break the fourth wall until they accidently shatter it…. literally.

Oddly enough this show has an amazing progressive curve but since episode 1 starts out weird, episode 10 and mostly episode 12 are completely out there. While I will not completely spoil this show to you all because I really recommend watching this the final fight the rangers have to conquer is quite literally “the end” . The thirteenth episode is a clipshow with commentary episode.. set IN UNIVERSE. The characters realise the series creator Saburo Hatte has set them up to make a lame last season episode in the end. Other examples include that the rangers have the power to hit their opponent who is far away with melee punches as long as it on camera looks like you are punishing them or by imagining older rangers they can make them show up and take their weapons, and even combine cross series weapons into a new super weapon. Oh and don’t forget.. once they break the confines of their fictional fourth wall.. they also break that new set ups fourth wall into ours. .. so that the 5th wall or the 8th wall they break?

Red Yellow and Blue

Let’s step back a bit and let me introduce you to the three Sentai making up the team and take a bit of a closer look at their powers and their abilities. To maybe make some sense of this.

The first ranger I want to talk with you about is Nobuo Akagi, who is better known as Akiba Red.He is a 29 year old man who still lives at home and has a job as a part time delivery boy, which he uses to finance buying Sentai Toys and figurines of the popular anime Z-Cune Aoi. His trope is that of the super otaku. He knows all tropes of Sentai shows and can quote every line of it. He is desperately in love with this girl he often has to bring deliveries too, but because he usually just imagines kissing her ..nothing ever happens between them. (Pre show) His name Akagi has “Aka” in it which is Japanese for Red because he knows so much about the genre he is the leader but the other two rangers keep calling him Old Man.. because he is a 29 year old living with his parents. He also complains that his mother nearly threw away his Aoi Dakimakura.

When he transforms he becomes Akiba Red.. his suit is based on the anime protagonist haircut. A black lighting shaped visor goes across the helm that has the “anime protagonist” haircut modeled on top. As he is the most delusional of the three rangers he is also the strongest, he can summon red rangers of the past to fight with them for a while usualing heading them a weapon. These include a pair of giant handcuffs a giant shovel and a flight suit that also can be shot forward as a launcher. He is also the first ranger that is so delusional and otaku that he is able to transform in reality as well as he is first ranger that realises he is just a character in a tv show. His signature is shouting out Super Sentai trivia during their Ranger Roll Call.

The second ranger in the first season is called Mitsuki Aoyagi , with Aoi representing as a word. She is takes on the role of the Closet Otaku. She fell in love with the Z-Cune anime because of the strength she displays, Mitsuki is a martial artist and trough that passion she discovers the art of fight choreography and anime and steps into Otakuism showing a deep but hidden love for it. Because of the fact she keep her geekism hidden she has seen significantly less tropes than her peers and is the worst at things like ranger roll call until she discovers martial artistry is her thing.
She also is the youngest character, stating she is underage to drink and can not drive. Her age is never fully disclosed. In the second season (which I will review later) the creator makes a retcon to get her to leave the show. Yet her development in the first season was amazing we see her embracing her hobbies more and more as she makes friends accepting of that hobby.

As Akiba Blue she starts of as the ranger with the most fighting potential, but is not very good at recognising tropes, costing them a few battles. She is the first ranger to be able to use cameras to make punches connect while not actually making an impact and she is very potent with the shovel weapon the group takes from BoukenRanger Red. She can not drive .. so she is the one ranger who is not able to control their “zord/mecha’ Machine Itasha. Her suit is based on the classic ponytail anime trope. Her rollcall is usually a kata of fighting moves and she has the most consistent and professional one.

Yumeria Moegi is the yellow ranger, which apparently has something of yellow it as well. Her real name is Yuko Yamada though, as Yumeria is just her cosplay name. As such Yumeria is the cosplay Otaku and my favorite character. Her personality changes depending on what cosplay she is wearing. Usually this means her voice changes and she has an anime sentence ending. If she cosplays a catgirl she ends sentences with Nya and if she plays a Warlord she ends sentences with De Gozaru for example. Over all she seems to be bubbly but can be Tsundere as well if it its her cosplay. She creates Yaoi Doujin and seems to be romantically interested in monsters. However she mostly is drawn by Seme characters. Having a great weakness for anime smut and Seme characters she can even faint at the sight of them.

As Akiba Yellow she has less stand out features as the other two rangers. Though her delusional powers do outclass that of the others at several times, allowing her to imagine Yaoi scenes that create a stunlock for everyone involved. She is quite versed in Sentai lore and is idolised by many in the city, when the rangers appear in reality she becomes the most popular one. Her suit is based on the anime trope of twintail characters. Her roll call just as her ramble on conventions, cosplays or discussions until she is interrupted. This character made me cry with sadness, in the fifth episode of the first season and her story .. as well as the other rangers is pretty fleshed out. She needs to be together with the other rangers to be inspired as a Yaoi creator because if she is alone she tends to fall back in the same type of delusions. This is reflected in her delusion themes coming back numerous occasions showing she has some dominance in that.

Unexpectedly Good

While this show is really low-brow comedy, it succeeds way too well in making a great show. The first season is SOOOOO well paced it is insane. The rangers actually grow at a pace that makes sense, even in this weird setting. The moment where the rangers are able to break the fourth wall and fall into reality makes so much sense! There is actual build up to it, foreshadowing as well. While the twelfth and final real episode bulrushes you with insanity and weird twists, it is actually a plot point. This show is so incredibly meta that the final villain basically is the plot itself, again that is not completely true but you can watch this for yourself to discover the full details.

Every single character, except for the one that is made to be bland gets story, character development and interesting opportunities. This includes the main villain, but even the secondary villain , and no that is not a spoiler because everything that happens in any other sentai show will happen here it is designed like that. It is easy for fourth wall breaking shows to go stale.. but this one doesn’t .. because it knows when to change it’s pacing. I had a Megu-Nee cry moment in episode 5. I really felt inspired by episode 7. I felt nostalgia , I laughed and I felt confused. This is a show is set in reality but realises that it still would be fiction thus not would be set in reality and the characters realise this in time as well?! It almost feels like inception.. but campy and with deadpool. There should be no way this should work this well, it’s to campy for this to work so well yet it does.

***The rangers gets startled by their posing explosions!***

The show is meta enough to suddenly shift tones and you can be taken aback by it, things suddenly becoming really cool and epic in terms of fighting, keeping you engaged. When you are fed up with the main character, he suddenly becomes someone much more respectable.. when we grow to like him he has to leave, it plays with all these set ups and throws it in your face that it does yet it succeeds so well in them that this show to me surprised me all the way throughout In one episode for example (major spoilers for episode 8) they encounter a super weak alpaca monster named Tsukishimaalpaca (All Monsters have very long or tricky names the rangers instantly remember). Because they want to show themselves in the real word to the real Sentai producing head honcho, they need to move through the fourth wall again which they are only able to do with a strong monster.

We see them try to train up the Apaca in which they learn he just wants to sell street food, they take him to a theme park to conquer his fear, cook with him to hone his craft and also make him stronger. We see them bond and they suspect it might become the monster turns extra ranger trope or a switching side pattern! Yet in the end they decide it should be a reward him for his effort and make a tragic decision pattern as they murder their new friend by blowing him up with a new super weapon. While it flies of to explode it congratulates his friends for using him as a stepping stone… I did not expect that. The way this is paced is just so well done.. I felt really heartwarmed when the heroes hugged the Alpaca and just when I think.. well this is going to be hard to write yourself out off, they misinterpret a trope to end the deadlock.. surprising me.

In the first episode we see a monster called Shibuyaseitakaawadachisohidenagaaburamushi face of against the Akibarangers, a standard corporate monster villian that is defeated by the power of the Moe Moe Magnum, in the second they fight Shibuyakouzorinahigenagaaburamushi a monster that looks exactly the same.. but deems this racist and he tells the rangers there is a big difference between them. He has the power to induce nudeness in people.. but not like regular.. in real life he sells these sort of bubble screens that are skin coloured that you can lay over a the Aoi Tan anime character movie so it covers up her clothes so it seems nude.. he can create these screens for everyone! Trying to turn official dvd’s into bootleg versions of themselves and kill Akihabara’s degeneracy like that. However it is never revealed what the difference is. Until the Clip Show episode where the characters finally realise! The slow burn joke really made me cough up some soda. It would be kinda funny to reveal they actually have a difference but making the character realise after the season was so much better.

The mecha being a giant weeb car, the morpher being a anime figurine all seem like jokes but this all actually is somewhat believable interwoven in a story between father and child… because obviously the main villain is someone’s father..it’s a trope. Despite how weird the show is except for the twelfth episode it never really makes weird story stretches. Reveals in episode 9 make sense since there were hints since episode 1. Despite how utterly random the show feels all episodes have a part in the story and a place where the need to be and I was really amazed by it all. I felt like this was made for me and I very much look forward to delve further into season 2. I only know one spoiler for it! In this season they can harness the power of their Waifu.

Poké Wars: Blue Hope (Part 2)

Hello again little monsters it is time to go back to the world of Poké Wars, in the first part we saw two mechanical pokémon escape from Princess Rita’s ship the Vikavolt, after it was assaulted by Mewtwo’s evil forces led by Dark Blader. With the stolen plans for a secret weapon called the MAS STAR Rotom W kept talking about a secret mission but the magneton 3-people did not want to hear any of it so they separate ways. Only to get captured by mysterious creatures. As fate would have it a young Riolu named Rioluke Skypuncher is in need for some magnets and a washer right in that moment as he and his uncle Unowen travel to a Patrat Sandcrawler. To read up on that part of the story you can click here to go to part 1. If you need a brush up on who the characters were again check out part 0!

Chapter 4: For the last time

A Drowzee was approaching the large Bisharp standing in the conference room of the houndoom shaped Doom Cruiser. ‘Lord Blader, we have scoured every inch of the Vikavolt and there are no traces of the stolen plans whatsoever’. The Drowzee gulps as he can sense the metallic man emitting a dark Aura. ‘Did anyone get away admiral’ Dark Blader says in the most cold of tones. ‘No my lord, one escape pod launched but we detected no life signs on board it seems like that woman made a mis………’ Before Drowzee can finish his sentence he grabs his throat as it seems to close up by an exterior force. ‘You have disappointed me for the last time admiral, clearly those plans must have been on that escape pod’. Using the move Throat Chop from a distance Dark Blder finishes of the poor drowzee who falls to the ground lifeless. He addresses the Hypno with the tar on his chin. ‘Smogon Tar Chin, you better do something about the failure of your subordinate or the next one who will fall shall be you’. The hypno clenches his throat as he feels the aura dancing around it. ‘I will send the clone troopers right away Lord Blader.’

Meanwhile Rioluke and his uncle had arrived at the Patrat sandcrawler. It had been a bit of a hike with the speeder bike out of commision but it had given the pair a chance to have a good heart to heart. The Riolu’s unown uncle had told the boy he really could be replaced in just two good seasons. The two bonded a bit over how fast Rioluke had grown and how uncle Unowen would miss the boy he always had considered as his son. While the mood between the two was still a bit tense they both knew they loved each other. Now they had traveled far towards Outskirts Stand, which was in the middle of the Sea of Sand to not only fix their broken relationship but also Rioluke’s landspeeder but also replace Aunt Natu’s washing machine. The Patrat were displaying various goods. Unowen immidiatly spotted a washing machine that looked great to him. Waking closer to expect it he was already negotiating the price. Patrat were unable to produce normal speech but with nods within a few moments Unowen had bought himself a new washing machine. Meanwhile the riolu was looking for a new suspension system but the only thing of the sorts was a shiny Magneton. ‘How much for the shiny?’ he asked. The Patrat showed 3 fingers. ‘Three hundred poké?’

The fighting type pokemon looked sad the price seemingly to steep for him when the magneton suddenly spoke. ‘I beg your pardon young man but we must say that 300 poké for us is quite a steal, we speak all pokémon languages, posses levivate and are schooled in both etiquette and diplomacy.’ Rioluke sighed. ‘I just need you to fix my Landspeeder’ to which the golden hued cluster of magnets replied. ‘I do possess the potential to let something magnet rise as well , so I can assure you I am well fit for the ask as well as many others. ‘It’s fine luke my son..’ the unown said. I will cover that for you. The rioluke beckoned the magnet over as the Patrat came closer to strike the deal. While pushing the washing machine across the sand suddenly unownen noticed something. ‘Hey Patrat.. are you trying to trick us? This washing machine has a C for it’s energy label! What are you trying to pull of here?’ The patrats squeeled disgruntedly. ‘No i am not buying something that can cause even more heat on this planet.. so off with it .. I want an economic model.’ The letter O pokemon was bouncing up and down upset and angered. ‘Master now that I am in your services may I suggest purchasing that orange washing machine over there?’ It is possessed by an electric ghost so it will never consume power and will only run out if it faints.. a quick revive and it is good to go again. The washing machines traded places and Unowen was happy that this washing machine could actually levitate across the desert himself. On the way back the old sigil and the young dog had a conversation…for the last time.

Chapter 5: Off on a secret mission

Early the next morning Rioluke was woken up by 3-people who sounded upset. I am so sorry master.. please do not scrap us… I told him I vouched for him and he could absolutely not do this ..but he kept going on about some secret mission! I really tried to stop him.’ Rioluke rubbed the sleep out of his eyes and asked ‘What are you talking about’ The trio of magnets in panic replied. ‘Rotom W of course master ,he took of on his mission about an hour ago’ Rioluke shot up in his bed. ‘No no no.. if my aunt doesn’t have her washing machine we can not wash the Miltank ‘s cuddle quilt! If they aren’t happy they wont give enough Blue Blue Milk and I am stuck here for another season. We gotta find him what else do you know’
The Rioluke quickly got up and began gathering some supplies. ‘Well master he kept going on about some man called Obi the Kadabra. He wants to go seek him as the princess ordered’ Rioluke turned around quickly ‘A princess?’The magneton nodded ‘Yes she was captured aboard the starship we were on.. she kept whispering stuff to the washing machine said she had something for him to hand to this Kadabra person.’ Rioluke replied while fetching a stick like weapon ‘Could this Kadabra have evolved into an Alakazam?’ The magnets bobbed in the air as if trying to give a shrug. ‘I do not know master , they do share the same evolutionary line so it would indeed be possible, however the criteria for an Alakzam are quite strict.’ His master however was barely listening and preparing his landspeeder. ‘Magneton use Magnet Rise to make my speeder fly again’ Rioluke would speed away from home to find the droid heading towards the territory where Alakazam was rumored to dwell , hoping he could find the washing machine before something bad happend to it. Luke new very well what dwelled in that area! Sandshrew People!

Rotom Wash was merrily bleeping as he was on his way to Kadabra’s last known location. He would complete his secret mission and get a kiss from the beautiful princess for being a hero! The washing machine looked around the cliff walls he was traversing remembering the first time he was captured.. that would not happen to him again. Listening closes he could hear the sounds of something what seemed like a donkey that mated with a seal in the distance far far away, no traps on top of the cliffs either. He was almost there.. just a twenty minute walk west. Somewhere in the hills close to Phenac City and Pyrite Town. That was where he would earn his medal. The Seal-Donkey sounds came closer as Rotom W analysed that chances of his success. Anything living out here would mostly likely use ground type moves, he was immune to those, he should be safe. Suddenly he noticed some yelling though! ‘W it is us?! Rioluke and 3-people, please wait’. Rotom was unable to outspeed the landspeeder anyway so he decided to obey orders for now allowing our protagonist and the nervous little sidekick to catch up to him. ‘Why did you run away little guy? Why didn’t you tell me about your mission’ Rioluke would look at the washing machine in a dissapointed manner. ‘That is right Master Rioluke was worried sick about you.. not me I do not care much i you die.. but he is our new master we should at least do our best… Master Rioluke , I am sure, has enough of your antics’ Rioluke turned around and said. ‘No I am going to help him! If the princess needs our help it must be worth our time’ Magneton ‘s eyes turned smug! ‘See , W , we are going back home exactly as I……whhhhaaaaat?’ The magnets looked at the fighting type baffled. ‘Oh come one 3-people it will be an adventure it will be the most fun we will have on this planet for two seasons , besides what is the worst that can happen.’ Haven not even spoken those words fully yet Rioluke heard the Seal Donkey sounds from very up close.. as one of the Sandshrew people hit him with a ferocious tackle..knocking Rioluke to a ledge below.

Chapter 6: But that would lead them……..

The first thing Rioluke saw was not one but at least three Sandshrew people on the cliffs he fell off from, two more near their totem-gogoats. This was looking bad. They would definitely crush him to death or use those defunct home made capture beams to surely send him to the pc.. or even in the glitch. Crawling back to his feet their ferocious war cry bosomed fear even into the likes of the magneton and the rotom wash. With the sandshrew being electric types both of them would miss their best offensive moves.If they would be smacked to the ground by them.. their electric typing would make them super vulnerable to ground type attacks as well. ‘Leave them alone’ Riolu would yell, one of the Sandshrew balled up and hit him again. A super annoying alert begin to fill Riolu’s head, he was close to fainting, this could not be the end! A sand attack from a third sandshrew prevented him from counter attacking blinding his sights. His fist hitting only the sky , very true to his namesake. His world was dark, awaiting the final blow in utter blindness he suddenly began hearing some ghostly noises. Was this the sound of the pokémon in the box? Were these the sounds of what they came to call “Bill?’ Suddenly he felt a small whack against his forehead.. nothing that hurt him enough to faint.. just a tab by what felt like a small egg like object. ‘Foolish Boy, you should not have come here this unprepared’ Alakazam whacked the riolu with his spoon once more. Rioluke who began to regain his sight a bit just saw a yellow shape in front of him. ‘What are you even doing here boy?’ the man like pokémon grumpily asked. ‘My Washing Machine is looking for someone named Obi the Kadabra, we are visiting Alakzam to see if they are related. The princess needs Obi the Kadabra’. The Alakazam sighed. “Get that sand out of your eyes and follow me, we have a lot to talk about’

Alakazam took Rioluke and the mechanical pokémon back to his home where he revealed to them that indeed he was once Obi the Kadabra, general in the army of the Galatic Monarchy and Poké Knight of the Poké Order. He even confessed to having known Rioluke’s father. ‘You knew my father?’ Rioluke’s ears twitched as he heard that. ‘Yes , much like me he was a brave poké knight, strong with Aura, he was supposed to bring balance too the aura until Dark Blader meant his end. ‘My father was killed by Dark Blader?’ Riolu looked upset, having been told his parents had died this was still a harsh fact to deal with. ‘Luke I sense you are strong in the aura like him, perhaps you can even be a Poké Knight one day. However lets focus on the task at hand, you said this washing machine had a message for me?’ On this cue Rotom W opened a little drawer normally meant for suds to go in the machine revealing a tiny USB device. The mustachioed psychic pokémon took it out. A I see it is hidden in the Technical Machine for Focus Blast.. this princess is a smart one. The Pokémon placed the device against his head as by magic t seemed to resonate with him. He looked quite serious. Rioluke, this little washing machine holds the plans for a weapon of great power, A weapon that can capture entire planets.’ Rioluke looked shocked. ‘Entire planets…that is terrible, we must get this in the ands of the rebels then. The overlord can not be allowed to build this weapon.. and if he does the rebels should know how to destroy it. Where do we need to bring this? I am coming along! … but wait… … the overlord, he must want these plans back … if they knew these pokémon landed on this planet.. than the trail would lead them back………. home’!’

Question to my Readers:

What is your favorite scene from A New Hope?

And that is where we will be leaving things for this week. Next week we will meet our third and final main character for this story. Rioluke will face some nasty surprises and Rita will also be popping by. Lots of Poké Wars for you to enjoy still to go! The Pinkest Poké Blogger is blasting off again!
XO
Pinkie

Pink-Poké-News: Week 35

Ladies and gentlemen it’s sunday again. Time to find out what announcements you might have missed during the week.. as we leave the month of August today it’s time for a brief edition of Pink-Poke-News.

Pokémon Masters is LIVE!

The new mobile Gacha-game Pokémon Masters is now available worldwide. The highly anticipated three versus three pokémon legacy game launched earlier this week. Due to personal circumstances the reporter however was unable to acquire a copy for reviewing. When finally getting back into the swing of things, it turned out that Pokémon Master would not be released in the Netherlands and Belgium because of their strict laws against loot boxes However should YOU live in the Netherlands or Belgium yourselves a bit of research has allowed this reporter to find a work around. Trough using a so called APK file you can download an app that is not available in your app store. Since this reporter is about as technically apt as her D&D 5th E characters, she is utterly unable to tell if a site is safe or unsafe. She just clicks and hopes for the best. Therefore there will not be any links to sites for a APK and the reporter asks the readers interested in playing this game to google it themselves. “How to play Pokemon Masters in (your country)” worked as wonderful search prompt for me.. of course in your native language. Our copy of the game has been handed over to Chibi Pinkie for a review which will follow as soon as she makes it through a bit of the game. Pokémon Masters also have revealed that their first event will feature Blue. He will most likely be obtained through this event with his signature pokémon Pidgeot.

Once more we unfortunately can’t go into details due to massive system updates in the beginning of the game .. taking their sweet while. However finding out about the game yourself can also be quite fun and discovering how to unlock mister “smell you later’ can feel rewarding on it’s own. Pokémon Masters launch has been quite successful , though on launch day there where a few crashes and log in problems, this sooner testifies of success these days as to failure because most of these errors were caused by it’s sheer popularity. Quite like pretty much every Blizzard release. The new game is already the most downloaded app in over 25 countries, even though it already was downloaded several million times during pre-registration. The player count thusly being very healthy at launch and reviews are mostly quite positive, which for a mobile game is still a win. People are praising the gameplay and looks but are all complaining on how expensive it is to spend money on pulls, yet since everyone seems to agree with this statement most reviewers also feel this issue will be solved in the future.

Pokémon Go shoves more Eevee down your throat.

We at Pink-Poké-News have made it pretty clear that we aren’t big fans from the direction Pokémon Go is currently going. However the announcement of Unova Pokémon coming soon has rekindled some hope… this week Niantic snuffed out that hope again by announcing the september breakthrough research. By doing our dailies like a good loyal player in september we can get.. Floral Crown Eevee. This is an Eevee with a flower stuck on it’s head. What makes this event Eevee..somewhat special is that it can evolve into all of it’s seven eeveelutions. Once more proving that Niantic is not interested in letting you fill up your pokédex.. they just want you to fill up your box with faux unique pokémon. Adding a flower to Eevee means players who want to collect everything are forced to allocate another 16 bag slots to fill get every possible variation. Floral Crown Eevee, Flareon, Vaporeon, Jolteon, Espeon, Umbreon Glaceon and Leafeon.. as well as all of their shiny counter parts as well as their shiny variations. Currently a standard box in Pokémon Go can hold 300 pokémon, for upgrades you need to spend money or coins that takes at least 4 days to grind up. No matter if you grind or pay each upgrade costs about 2 dollars for a 50 pokémon upgrade, not a whole lot but still annoying. Now.. let’s see how broken Pokémon go has really become to the true collector. The game currently features 394 ish.. pokemon. So already.. you can’t collect them all without spending money… you can still complete the pokedex though.. but that isn’t were the game caters to anymore. Currently you lack about 100 slots to fill your box with everything. Now there are 32! (Maybe more if there was another headgear Eevee) possible Eevee combinations to currently collect. There is 38 shadow Pokémon that also have a purified version meaning that is 76 additional combinations to add that do NOT really contribute to you catching them all. There’s 8 spinda forms .. which also has a shiny meaning there is 16 Spinda to collect. Since Pikachu has a noticeable gender difference between male and Female.. as well as having a shiny there is currently 44 Pikachu’s to collect, most hat forms can evolve or hatch into a prevolution.. so there’s (rough estimate) over 100 pikachu evolution line pokemon. 100+ Pikachu line , 76 shadow pokemon with their 38 regular counterparts, 32 eevee’s 16 spinda’s.. that’s already 262 pokémon for you to fill you box with that equal 51 legitimate Pokédex entries. That’s over 5 times as much! Niantic is inflating their Pokémon count to force players to spend money on getting the same pokémon over and over again.

We aren’t even that salty about it as it seems like smart business strategy.. but just LAST month we had an event where you could get floral crown Eevee AS well. Rehashing the pokémon in this period makes it feel like creative poverty. It marginalises tradability by rehashing event pokemon over and over again until everyone has them .. just like how community day has killed the values of shinies… as well as filled up my box. I would not nag about how unfair Pokémon Go is treating their player base if they at least launched a new variation that is unique to playing in september. It would force us to trade again. They marginalised raids by putting former raid pokémon and cramming them into the field research as well. Sure it is nice that you can get some pokémon the way you want to play but it feels conflicted with how they initially meant the game to be played. Everyone can get anything if you wait long enough and rather then come up with something new .. or at least keep something unique to a certain aspect of the game they just rehash and repack so everyone can fill up their box space as soon as possible to spend their money on upgrades.
This game used to have a soul but Niantic is quickly selling it out for an easy buck. We will admit we understand why you cater to the hardcore and new players.. but me as a casual high level player feel completely forgotten and forsaken by niantic right about now.

Hidden Fates and Cosmic Eclipse

Now that I finished my rant how about a rave! Pokémon Hidden Fates launched last week and it’s slowly becoming available throughout the english speaking world. Hidden Fates is a translation of the long time japan only GX Ultra Shiny packs with a twist. Unlike Japan we do not get guaranteed GX’s in our packs.. but we pay a lot less as well. It uses a few more modern cards from recent sets as well to make it more relevant. What makes this set so special is that it features a lot of shiny pokémon. Both as GX’s as well as some regular holographic ones. Unlike the japanese set.. HF comes with a lot of set unique GX’s that though lackluster in battle strength feature some nice close up art. One of the unique cards in this set is Articuno Zapdos Moltres Tag Team as well as a shining Charizard of course. Hidden Fates much more a collectors set than a battlers set though. There are some very good cards in the set still but you’d sooner by this set to collect rather than to play. This is reflected in the prices a card can fetch. Shiny Charizard graded will most likely fetch a few hundred dollars, while even the quite oftenly pulled legendary trio of Kanto fetches a few bucks. Pull rates for this set also seem quite well, that being said we mostly saw the promotional blister box being opened which admittedly does have some better pulls than your more conventional booster box or elite trainer box.The set is gorgeous and expansive with plenty cards for the true collector. However those who seek to build a deck would be better off with unified minds or unbroken bonds. Quite possibly even the last Sun and Moon set that will ever be release Cosmic Eclipse.

The Pokémon Sun and Moon card sets have decided to go out with a bang. Around the 10th of November.. just a few days before the release of Pokémon Sword and Shield.. the final card set from the series will arrive. and boy will they deliver some goodness. For those who don’t know.. as soon as a new series begins generally all cards from the older generations become tournament illegal at least at official games. (With the exception of like the last two sets.. if they haven’t changed those rulings). Since Hidden Fates is a legacy set.. it will most likely mean that besides some good supporters you from HF Cosmic Eclipse singlehandedly has to close the gap between the new V cards and their own generations Tag Team cards.
While we got the gist of what will be inside the packs , the specific content was only teased at. The set will contain 9 new tag team cards, 7 additional gx’s and well over 20 supporter cards and a brand new form of special energy. New in this set will be the so called Tag Team Supporters. A supporter card featuring two trainers liked “Red and Blue’ as well as “Cynthia and Caitlin’ How these will impact the game remains to be seen. Other than that.. two new triple tag team cards where announcement. The Sinnoh Creation Trio: Arceus & Dialga & Palkia GX as well as the ultra cute pink card Togepi & Cleffa & Igglybuff GX. These were briefly depicted in the trailer for the Sword and Shield set at Pokémon worlds but now.. they are finally rolling of the press. I bet you guys can guess which card this reporter will be pulling for.

Pinkie’s Pokemon Reached 50 followers.

Now existing for about 2,5 months Pinkie’s Pokemon has reached 53 subscribers at the moment of writing. Once more I would like to thank everyone who has made that possible. Blogging about a niche in a niche we never expected things to grow this fast. With plenty of content experiments planned in the near future like Trainer Profiles.. where I turn you favorite character, blogger or celebrity into a trainer. Little crossover stories of your universe of choice .. mixing it with Pokémon as well. We will delve into some material deeper by providing you tutorials for it then later discussing it in depth referring to these base posts amongst other things. Still we all wonder what YOU’d like to see on this site.

What would make you frequent it more and what would you like to see added. Here at Pinkie’s Pokemon we would love for this little community to grow and ambitious as we are there is a certain other pokémon blog whose way of bringing content I am not a fan off that I would like to surpass one day. Though our next milestone is simply 100 subscribers that will not be our final goal. Pinkie’s Pokemon wishes to properly showcase passion and love for her fandom in her own unique way without resorting to copying and pasting tweets and calling it a post. Yet Pinkie is not the only one who makes this blog.. it’s everyone reading as well. So tell us what you would like to see. I’d really love to hear more from you all! I might be the Pokémon trainer of this blog.. my readers are like my Pokémon.. I would not be anywhere without them.. so what flavor poffin do you like best? What’s your nature and what would raise our friendship?! Tell me in the comments or look around for if I finally manage to knock out a content page on my actual site! For some reason I can not do a contact form so I will have to be creative. I am happy that I can grow you all helped! Thank you for making Pinkie’s Pokemon possible!

This concludes week 35’s edition of Pink-Poké-News. In the following week you can expect: Professor Pinkie talking about Arceus, Pinkie returning to the what if Ash was a girl story, a Pokémon rendition of “Star Wars a New Hope’ (Part 1 of Part IV) a review of Pokémon Masters and more! Do let me know what you’d like to see on this site yourself so we can grow. Thank you all for your support during my difficult time last week and for following this blog! Remember
I am not weird, just very pink!
Until we read again!

XO
Pinkie

What if Red Joined Team Rocket Part 2

Hello my little monsters, it’s the middle of the week so that means the voices in my head lay low so that I can tell you another story. This week we are coming back to the story of what would happen if Red joined Team Rocket after getting their invitation just beyond Nugget-Bridge. In the last part we saw him getting orders from Giovanni to capture Bill so they could steal Pokémon from the box system. However at his house Red found a talking Nidorino. In the original story this pokémon tells Red he is in fact Bill and Red helps him go back to normal, however Bill pretended to be just a Pokémon to the criminal boy, unfortunately revealing he could talk. Red captured the talking Nidorino which refused to tell him where Bill is. In order to force the Nidorino to obey he decided to challenge some gyms along the way. Just as he was about to leave the house Red found a ticket for the SS Anne, perhaps his mark could be there. Recruiting Gym leader Misty, Red then moved on towards Vermillion City.

Chapter 4: A Pie-red’s life for me!

There she was the SS Anne, the most luxurious and brand new cruise ship in all of Kanto. People from all over the world had come to embark on it for its maiden voyage. This seemed like the perfect hit! Bill would be here for sure, and think about all those rare pokémon from those snooty rich people! ‘Red, how do you expect us to come on board’ Misty asked him grinning a bit , still excited by this thrilling lifestyle she had chosen. ‘Well dollface I have one ticket, I will board the ship and cause a commotion, distracting that ticket guy, then you sneak in’. Red walked past her donning his old trainer suit for a bit to sneak on board, as he flashed his SS Ticket the man allowed him to pass, with Misty pretending to wave him out. Inside the ship felt even more elegant than it was on the outside. Beautifully polished hardwood floors and an immaculately white ceiling with big luxurious lights welcomed the young criminal. Immediately he noticed some staff patrolling the hallways knocking on cabin doors to deliver tiny cute looking pies. Perfect! Red thought. He checked the room number on his ticket and then proceeded to move into that cabin, redressing in his Team Rocket outfit! He would make a statement here today! Perhaps Blue would then see he is not just average. Red waited impatiently until there was a knock on the door. A man with a thick Kalosian accent spoke ‘Sir vould you like some cherie-pie!?’ Red grinned at how stupid this sounded. ‘Ah yes come in mister waiter’ the order was quickly followed and a thin balding man appeared in a red velvet suit, wearing some gloves and a thin moustache.

Le cake.. would be 300 Poké s’il vous plait. As Red took a cherry pie, he pretended to get his wallet but ended up smooshing the pie into the waiters face, before slamming his head onto the tray. Calling out his pikachu to zap the man into paralysis right after. Ripping up his bed linens, he would tie his victim to the pie trolley. smooshing more tartlets into the man’s face. Turning him into a display, before rolling the trolley out he waited to see if the hallway is clear. With the cost clear he drove the trolley to the ramp leading outside.. where he entered a while ago. He waited for the perfect time and then gave the trolley a final push.
Outside Misty grinned when she saw the trolley storm of the ramp, waiting for the ticket checker to chase after his co-worker before he would drive at the docks. It happened exactly like Red planned. The ticket guy ran full force after the cart having noticed it’s tiny wheels on the metal ramp earlier. Giving Misty more than enough time to make it onto the ship. Just before heading inside she would order her Staryu use Water Gun and push the pair over the edge before they could inform anyone. Inside Red waited for her with a smile and gave her a hug with a malicious smile on their faces. ‘Time to find and capture Bill and do a little plundering for ourselves.’

Chapter 5: The great Blue.

After Misty got suited in her Rocket outfit as well, they were ready to steal some Pokémon. Their first victim a Galarian Gentleman who had but a single growlithe. No match for Misty’s water pokémon the growlithe was easily taken care of with a water gun. Being ripped from hs originals trainers hands, they threatened that if he left his room or would inform anyone he would suffer a worse fate than his former pokémon. As the man sobbed over the loss of his beloved friend the pair moved on, searching the rooms for Bill and taking any Pokémon they liked. They would not steal everything however, many trainers had such basic Pokémon. Red ended up stealing a machoke from on of the sailors of the ship as well as the growlithe mentioned before, while Misty only claimed a Poliwhirl for her own. The rest of the trainers were just relieved of their money and other valuables. Having searched most of the ship without any succes of finding Bill , the former hero of Pallet Town became restless.
“Darn it all, where is that Bill guy’ he sighed as he punched a wall in frustration. A waiter hearing a unhappy guest came to check up on them.. alerting the ship with a yell that team Rocket had arrived. ‘Well I guess we are done playing nice’ misty snickered, readying her Staryu to battle off the weak crew that staffed this ship. Red readied his Pikachu telling it he would buy him something very fancy if he would help them defeat everything. ‘Pikachu we are going to commandeer this ship, you can be the first mate of Captain DrRed! The most fierce pirate in the Kantonian see! Help me make those weaklings walk the plank!’ Red though having chosen a much darker path still loved pokémon, his ones particularly. Having been disrespected so much by all these weak trainers however he felt he was clearly superior and others were not worthy of keeping Pokémon. Pikachu growled somewhat angrily in response ‘Kaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa” as if it was ready to face anyone. With the powers and talents of Red and Misty combined there was no stopping them. The combination of Misty’s Staryu and Red’s Pikachu proved to be to much. When nearing the captains quarters however they were faced with one final challenge. Blue stood guard outside the captains quarters.

‘Red you joined Team Rocket? I always knew you were weak minded but to think you were such a coward’ Blue said the look on his face hardening. ‘The captain is sick.. and I will not allow you to harm him or anyone else on this ship’ Blue looked at Misty, he knew he could not beat the two of them, he had to play this smart. ‘Red fight me Man to Man, if I win you leave this ship and you leave the Pokémon you stole. If you win..you will get all my Pokémon’ Red shook his head. ‘You’ve never one against me Blue.. and I am planning to take all your Pokémon anyway. I don’t need the captain.. I just need Bill’ Blue looked puzzled for a moment, but then realised what was going on. ‘Bill isn’t here.. but I know where he is beat me and I’ll tell you lose and leave.’ Red nodded this time. ‘Very well then Blue I accept!’ First I’ll choose Nidorino!’ Red tossed out the ball as Bill landed on the battlefield. Blue looked different from before, less relaxed and casual, this time the stakes were high, he could not afford to lose here. For the sake of everyone on board. Silently he tossed a pokéball onto the field as Pidgeotto came out. This was a battle he needed to win. His brown sparrow like pokémon looked at him, it’s pink hair waving in his face as it flapped its wings. It’s pink and olgen tail feathers moving upwards as the Pidgeotto moved towards his target. “Pidgeotto Sand Attack”

Chapter 6: Team Rocket’s Blasting off

My eyes” Nidorino yelled while it was being blinded. Blue gasped when he could hear it talk, but he could not lose concentration now, whatever that pokémon was it was his opponent now and he could not let these people be harmed. ‘Nidorino use poison sting’ Nidorino disobeyed and tackled the Pidgeotto instead, landing close to Blue he whispered ‘help me’ Red cursed his Pokémon ‘I told you poison sting.. obey your master’. ‘Pidgeotto use gust’ Blue said while nodding to the talking creature, stakes had just been raised. Bill the Nidorino immediately after impact pretended to have fainted to be withdrawn by Red. ‘Ha that one was just to show you I have special poklémon.. it will learn to obey once it gets beat up enough like that, Pikachu destroy that bird! Thunderbolt’. In a bright flash of light the room was illuminated with yellow. When everyone’s eyesight returned Blue’s Pidgeotto was lying fainted on the field. ‘I can’t let you win here Red, not today’, hand me that Nidorino and this doesn’t have to end badly for you’ Blue said while sending out his Nidorina. ‘You never won Blue.. and today you shall lose everything and learn to respect me’ Blue frowned ‘Is that what this is about Red? I can not respect someone like you especially now… I may have lost before but I didn’t take you seriously.. stakes are to high for me to do that now’ Red ‘s face turned into the purest colour related to his namesake yelling out many profanities Blue before snarling at his Pikachu. ‘Pikachu kills his pokémon, Use Thunderbolt’ In the brief moment Pikachu doubted this order Blue took out a rock like item from his pockets and tossed it towards Nidorina, then the room went to a bright mix of yellow and white once more. This time even leaving a big cloud of smoke at the spot of impact.

As Red stared at the cloud of smoke he laughed diabocaly. It’s over Blue, your squirtle is not enough to defeat my team, your Nidorina is dead and soon you will be too.’ Blue became visible from the smoke cloud first for Red, his arrogant smile had returned to his face. ‘I am not using Squirtle Red, and I do not have a Nidorina’. Red nearly hurt himself in confusion at this having lost all self control. “What yo do you mean you don’t have a Nidorina….. you….’ Red felt silent as the smoke began to clear, A blue hulking bipedal presence was standing in the place of where Nidorina used to be. ‘What is that?’ Red asked frustrated. Blue shouting ‘Nidoqueen use Earth Power’ immediately answered his question as Pikachu got hit by its tremendous force of conjured earthen energy. The attack caused massive damage to the hallway they were standing in as well. Pikachu now fainted was withdrawn by Red who knew he was outclassed. ‘Misty have Staryu tear open the hull!’, Charmander use smoke screen’ Red’s little fire lizard filed the room with a thick smoke as Red took Misty’s hand. ‘Let’s get outta here dollface, if Bill is not here this fight is not worth losing, Team Rocket is blasting off’’ Misty being a former gym leader knew she had type advantage over this thing but should the law be outside it would be best not to arrive with all their pokémon drained. They should escape while they still could, she really liked her new Poliwhirl as well and did not want to risk losing it now. “Staryu Rapid Spin through that wall’ she commanded, her seastar beginning to spin like a massive shuriken torn down the wall, allowing the two to leap outside. Once in the water she would grab onto staryu and Red ordering the first one to get them out of there as fast as it could.

Once the smoke cleared Blue stood in the torn hull, watching a little wake with two black dots connected to it fade away in the distance. He realised he had been mean and petty to Red before with no reason, this felt like his fault. Though Red’s lack of knowledge and self control were his main flaws, flaws that Blue was able to use today to get him this “victory” he knew that with those two Team Rocket got some very dangerous new members. In order to stop them he would have to find out the secret of that mysterious talking Nidorino and he would have to find Bill before his rival did. He called his grandfather to ask him if he could send information about Bill’s research to him. Samuel promised to do what his grandson asked and then offered to analyse his pokédex for him. Blue didn’t pay any attention to that, his goals were no longer that selfish, or deluded. His new goal was to stop Red before it was too late.

With Red retreating, Blue has been given a wake up call! He could no longer ignore his rival’s skill and has to go all out and grow quite early. Blue and Red now further apart than ever before! Who will be the one that comes out on top? Can Red learn to keep his temper and stomach disrespect? Will Blue be able to compensate for his shortcomings and become the saviour Kanto needs? Find out in our next episode! Another four weeks of waiting! What do you think will happen? Very important to say this little monsters:
I am not weird, just very pink!
Until we read again.

My first pokemon game

So nice of you to read this again my little monsters. Thank you!
For my “Something Something” Saturdays, even if this one is not written on a Saturday but earlier, to ‘complete’ my site, I can write just about anything.
Since I am brand spanking new, I figured some kind of introduction would be nice.
Now talking about how I am feels a bit redundant because I do not have many fans yet, and those who do read are most likely my real life friends, so for a first story let me tell you a story neither new fans, or old friends have ever heard. The story how I got my first Pokémon Game.

Delibird but different
To explain my story, I first need to tell you some Dutchie lore, you see we have the distinct honour of ‘inventing’ the original Santa Claus. That is right we did it first. But rather then a old fat man that looks like a Delibird, this one is a holy bischop, that looks like a red clad version of the pope. His name is Saint Nicolas, or Sint Niklaas and he is quite a bit creepier than Santa. The latter is basically the same person who got made fatter and jollier by the Coca Cola company and relocated to the North Pole because Spain or Turkey was not a good home for him. His dark skinned henchman that come down the chimney with their bright red lips and curly hair were replaced by cheerful elves and his steamboat has been replaced by a sled with reindeers. Sinterklaas as we dutchies call the OG gift bringing bloke was a less forgiving person as well. If you have been a bad kid, you did not get a block of coal, you either would get beaten with twigs by his henchmen or even abducted. Yes that is right, that sack Santa always carries around, here in the Netherlands it doesn’t always holds gifts.. it also holds bad children who will be forced into slave labour for the man. We celebrate this man on the 5th of december and to young childeren that day is quite a lot more stresfull to young childeren then Christmas would ever be….after all that day might be the last day you see your family. Me being a gullible girl was absolutely terrified of the man, and when I was very little I even broke his staff onc.and our plant pot…and some other stuff. It was November 5th 1992, I was a six year old nervous wreck. He asked me to hold it and I dropped it, it was a very heavy but fragile prop, which landed on mothers favorite candle knickknack , then on the planter and then it’s head broke of on the floor. I blacked out in fear, I do remember though that I still got presents, I knew one day they would come and collect me or that I would at least pay the price.

Cruel Karma
Seven years later, minus a day, we celebrated it on the 4th because my dad had to play a concert that sunday. I had known the truth about good old Satan Nicolaas for quite a while now, unfortunately my health had taken a turn for the worse, my motor functions and muscle usability had dropped quite a bit. I was bad at physical things, I could thread a needle easily, but playing catch, running around, kicking a ball or even walking up the stairs was quite a challenge for me. My muscles did not always function like they should, this included some really important ones. Of course when you are sick like this in grade school, it forms a special bond between you and your classmates, the bonds of a victim and her bullies. As a result, I did play with dolls a bit but I never had much people to play with and playing outside was hard, so I got into video games, it let me do amazing things that would get me injured or I would not even been able to do at all. On october 10th 1999 a game came out that I desired soooo much. But back then it wasn’t widely available at stores yet, gaming was much more a niche and weird Japanese RPG’s .. forget about it, but when it picked up popularity they would make it widely available for december purchases. Never had I desired something so much as long as I can remember, it even overshadowed consoles. On this night, my parents decided they wanted vengeance for having them buy that prop from the fake Satan Niklaas all those years ago. We were about half way with the presents when we got a square little box, both me and my sister, we both knew what it was, she would get Red , I would get Blue. She got to open her first, after she read a poem first. It was nice and witty and wished her a lot of fun in playing but it would also mention that something went wrong so that they hoped everything would be alright. It was Red like we expected, super excited my sister ran around the house to get her gameboy colour, she was even kind enough to bring mine. Then it was my turn, mine was “not written by my parents” but by Sinterklaas. In which he told me that when he was buying the gifts he hesitated for a moment when picking up mine, because I broke his staff all those years ago. Then someone just snatched the last copy just from right under him, so I would have to wait till early next year and he would deliver it to me then. The sound of my little heart breaking was drowned out by my sisters copy firing up on her gameboy colour. The first time I ever heard the Pokémon theme of Red and Blue was when I found out I would not be playing it. I actually felt sick. That might have been spoiled of me, but I was so sad.. I desired this so much more than my sister had done, perhaps they were tricking me? I unwrapped the bo and it was an old box of my games with a post it with sorry sweety on it.

Bulbasaur I choose yo…..NANI!?!
I did not really enjoy the rest of the evening, even though my parents gave me more gifts to make up, it was all chocolat and socks, and whoop some Pokémon stickers, that wasn’t the game. My sister got less, but my parents told her she would get the candies another day, it was just to make me feel better… while I was there, meanwhile my sister tried to show me how she picked Charmander. It took all my strength to not burst into crying and seem ungrateful, but my parents liked messing with me, so they told my sister I might share my candy if she shared her game.. to which of course she said no too, they knew she would it was part of their fun. When we finally got through all the gifts and there really was no copy of Pokémon Blue, I stacked up my stuff and went to bed, I felt horrible. My parents went to clean up, and let my sister play first before calling me back down again a good 20 minutes after I went to my room. Now I cried, and they told me “if you had cried we would have given this to you sooner’ before handing me another gift, in the right dimensions, giving my sister a bag of candy. I opened it and found my Pokémon Blue, I just hugged my parents not caring how cruel the joke was they played. I began playing it and made a character, I named it Ash because well.. it was a boy. I named my Rival Gary, because that’s how it’s supposed to be. The music was great and when I wanted to choose Squirtle my sister told me I could not..cause that would beat hers, since I just wanted to play I just did not care and chose the adorable looking bulbasaur. But then Gary suddenly challenged me to a battle. Alright..here I would prove I am better in Pokemon than my sister, I would ace this game … Bulbasaur I choose yo…..and then my batteries ran out. My sister had just taken the last pair of batteries, my parents realised they should have gotten some. While I could not contain myself and did cry quite loudly this time, my mother comforted me and said ‘Don’t worry we will get you some batteries in the morning’ and then she realised, the next day was a Sunday, back then all the stores were closed on Sundays. My first bulbasaur…had just died.

A super solution
I did not sleep well that night, I saw Bulbasaur slowly fading from existence before me, knowing everyone will be much father in Pokémon when I went to school on monday. Stressful things as a child. The next day, I avoided my sister like the plague, she was continuously playing the game and I lucked out, now some might wonder why my parents did not ask my sister to not play until I coul play. Well, this kind of bad luck always had been happening to me, like when someone handed out apples in schools, mine would be one with a worm, if we went to a school trip I would be the one get gets stung by wasps right in the beginning..in the middle of my ear , making me half deaf for the rest of the trip and if we ever played hide and seek on a birthday in the forest, they would forget about me and leave me behind..because I was the courtesy invite. To this day people know me for how unlikely unlucky I am. So yeah, the bad luck with the batteries, that’s just Pinkie let’s not punish her sister for it. My mother tried to borrow some batteries from our neighbour but no such luck, so eventually I decided to play Super Mario , so at least I could drown out my sisters cries of joy when she found a new Pokémon. When browsing through my SNES library I suddenly gasped. I had forgotten all about this thing, I had a super gameboy! Would it work? Pokémon might be to new for it, let’s try it out. OMG it works and it gives everything a cool blue colour that is amazing. I chose to not name myself Ash, I used my own name, even if it might look silly on a boy. I picked Bulbasaur again and apologised for killing it’s brother. I decided to name my rival Niklaas right before battling him I went downstairs to get some drinks, I told my mom I fixed it and she was so happy for me that I could play, she told me she would bring me some snacks and drinks in a bit. She let me play the game the entire day without disturbing me. That day me and Bulbasaur’s brother started an amazing journey, and though that Bulbasaur has now been long gone, I am still on that same journey to catch them all and I do not plan on retiring from this amazing journey anytime soon.

I think it’s quite clear that the first game and thus the franchise stole my heart. I just figured it was worth to tell how it almost did not happen, I was quite close to recent the franchise for not being available to me.. when my sister spoiled it all, or was I? Maybe I love the franchise as much because I could not take the game for granted, we will never know but what I do know for sure is that that little blue cartridge had a massive impact on the person I am now.
Is there a game that defined you as a person? Leave a comment or a like! Cherish some nostalgia, pay tribute to that what shapped, but most of all stay Pink!
Until we read again!

What If: Red joined Team Rocket Part 1

Hello there my little monsters!
In my What If series we take a look at a familiar story, but apply some changes to the story. Since this is my first actual blog it makes sense that we start with the first Pokémon story as well, the story of Red as in the original games. Though the story began exactly the same and Red chose his charmander, and went on to defeat Brock and clear Mount Moon, everything you knew is about to be thrown out the window.
Because after he defeated blue, and the Nugget five, Red got an interesting offer, and this time, he will not decline.

Prepare for Trouble

A man in a trenchcoat approached Red after he had just defeated the fifth trainer of Nugget bridge, without to much trouble he might add. “Hey kid congratulations you have got some skill, here is your price” said the mysterious man while handing Red a little gold Nugget, who gratefully accepted to valuable metal. Wow, that was some easy money, this money could really let Red stand up against people who pestered him like Blue. “By the way kid, would you like to join Team Rocket, we could use someone like you” the man suddenly said. Taken aback by the offer Red was about to decline when a thought popped up in his head.
The way how Blue treats him, even if he was the better trainer, the way that weak old man had blocked his path when he tried to leave Viridian city, that guy who doubted he was strong enough to move through mount Moon, forcing him to deal with Brock.
No one had shown him much of the respect he by now should have started to earn. If the other trainers are as weak as these ones, there would not be a real thrill in battle. Perhaps this could solve all his problems.
At that moment time seemed to stop as Red thoughts entered overdrive. Finally he would be able to command some respect, he and his Pokémon could train to be truly great. He did not need Professor Oak’s mission to complete that virtual encyclopedia, Blue was going faster than him anyway. The world had been rough to him long enough, it was time for the age of Red. ‘Yes… I will accept your offer’ Red said to the man his eyes shining with the same determination he had faced Brock with. ‘Ah excellent, well then if you follow me , you will meet our Boss and get your gear recruit!’.
The criminal seemed excited guiding the kid back across the bridge, guiding him back to the foot of Mount Moon, where they would wait a while in silence, Red telling his Charmander what their new objectives would be. Suddenly a man in an orange tailored suit would step out of the cave, a persian walking besides him, his skin tone darker than most of the region, more akin to something you might find to the south of Kalos. ‘So you are the kid who stopped our operation in Mount Moon.. but now you want to join us huh? Welcome to Team Rocket then Red… thank you for pointing out the rotten apples in our organisation’. Red just stood up and reached a hand out to the man, as they shook Giovanni looked at Red with a smile.’ ‘Get ready kid, because I got an important mission for you something I can not trust to these grunts of mine’

A talking Pokémon
After Red finished fitting his new outfit he approached Giovanni again, his new found demeanor allowed him to talk to the man rather casually. ‘So.. Boss…I guess? What do you want me to do that these clowns of you can not?’ Giovanni chuckled a bit before he spoke in his deep voice.’Well that compliment certainly went to your head very fast. I want you to go across Nugget bridge again, once you cross it head East and you will find the house of a man named Bill. I want him captured, he is the designer of the box system for Pokémon, with his help we can steal all the Pokémon that people hide in their pc’s without them even knowing, it will be glorious.’
Giovanni looked down at the 10 year old to see if he understood the mission, the boy reminded him of his own son Silver, whom he had left behind some years ago, but it was not only the sentiment that made Giovanni warm up to this boy, his years as a gym leader made it a very easy tell that this boy had potential. He would have been an eyesore if he would have kept interfering with them like he did in Mount Moon, so Giovanni would do what he always did, pay well and allow the young man to feel powerful, feed his ego to make him feel entitled. Red looked at the man, his eyes seemingly excited at the prospect of commanding respect, and stealing Pokémon away from that horrible Blue, he would teach his rival to respect it. “Done Boss” Red said trying to sound casual. ‘Bring him to Celadon city, I will bribe the guards to let you trough, head to the arcade.. we will greet you there’. Giovanni dipped his head and began to wander off, after petting his Persian, which looked at Red callously. Red went on with the task, noticing now he walked in a rocket outfit, people were scared to challenge him. It felt good, instead of being looked down upon by these weaklings, with their Rattatas and Pidgeys they now finally saw him for what he truly was.
After defeating a camper and his girlfriend, just for the heck of it , Red arrived at Bill’s house. Choosing to use a Geodude he captured in Mount Moon to bash the door in , Red was ready for his success as he stepped in the doorway.
Inside the house was very cluttered a large machine with two chambers hissing and the sound of a computer running were all Red heard after the initial ruckus he had caused. No Bill to be seen though, but when examining the room he did see a Nidorino which was looking at him.“Hi I am a Pokémon, Bill is not at home right now, he is dating a cop and they will be back any minute now” the Pokémon suddenly said. Red looked at the Nidorino amazed, who start back at the black clad boy. While Red felt the R on his shirt, a smile creeped over his face as he reached for a Pokéball and ordered Geodude to attack the Nidorino. “Wait” the Pokémon yelled, but it was already to late, his breath was knocked out of him as the Geodude slammed itself into him, the Nidorino hit the wall. Dazed he tried to get up.. but suddenly the room around him began to spin and then there was no room at all.

Make it Double
The room came back as fast as it had disappeared. When the Nidorino gained back his sight and orientation he saw Red standing above him. ‘You are my Pokémon now, tell me where Bill is, I need to find him so my boss can access the box system he made’. The Pokémon knew he could never let that secret fall into the hands of team Rocket..but this one did not really seem to have a clue on what happened, for now he would just have to play along, he would escape as soon as he saw a chance. ‘I can not tell you, Master Bill forbade me to’ the Nidorino said somewhat wooden. Red driven by his desire to succeed and be respected to angry to notice the strange intonations just shouted at the purple monster. ‘You are my Pokémon.. Obey’. The Nidorino just shook his head, with an angry yell Red called the disobedient monster back into it’s Pokéball. ‘Fine I will look for clues myself.’
Searching the room, he only found some computer entries of three elemental dogs, one lighting one fire and one water. Just as frustration began to get the best of him, he noticed a booklet, with a ticket to a cruise ship on it, one ticket seemed to have been torn out already. ‘Hmmm the SS Anne huh…. I bet Bill is sipping some champagne and caviar boasting about his fancy system’ red said to himself before packing up. Still frustrated that his new Pokémon would not obey he walked all the way back.. to head to Vermillion city. When he passed the Cerulean city gym, he suddenly had a thought, if he would trash their leader and get the badge his new Pokémon might obey, he would not fail his first mission and that Pokémon might know more then it would tell now.
As red entered the gym, the man in the white suit looked at him ‘Yo Champ in the making what happe…..’ Red punched the man in the gut who keeled over laying on the ground . ‘I have no time for your preaching old man, I just need to defeat the gym leader. Not even paying heed to the others in the Gym, Red walked straight for the red head. ‘Yo toots you and I battle right now, I am here for your badge, if you refuse me and my friends will trash this place’. Red enjoyed the sensation of showing this bravado, seeing the other trainers cower, but this girl in front of him was different she was brazen and spunky, he would relish defeating her. Misty looked at him, she was kind of fascinated by this boy, his confidence and determination where dare she say it even quite attractive, sure he might be a criminal of team Rocket, but she does like herself a confident man.
An intense battle unfolded , Red’s clever use of his Pidgeotto and the Pikachu he caught in Viridian forest gave him the win. Despite his alignment, the boy still had a bond with his Pokémon that was very strong, they would follow him wherever he may go. Misty felt her heart throbbing in her throat, what was this raw passion, this ferocity and intensity she felt from this boy. ‘Well toots Time for you to cough up your badge’ Red said smirking when he suddenly had a realisation. ‘By the way Toots, I could use a girl like you in my team, need to visit a cruise ship..could use a fine water trainer like yourself along, I bet there are some fancy water Pokémon for you there and you don’t have to hold back either anymore’.
That final line was enough to push Misty over the edge. She DID have to hold back as a gym leader, and her dating life had not been particularly interesting either with those weird experiments going on at her favorite dating spot. This boy proved to her that you do not have to treat Pokémon badly as a Rocket, but that if she joined she could finally chose herself, over her duties. She could finally be selfish. A smile appeared on her face, and a blush as she stared into the boys eyes. He smiled back to her while he reached out a hand to help her off her little podium. As soon as she began reaching he grinned at her and ushered the words “Prepare for trouble”. Misty took Red’s hand allowing him to help her step of the podium, letting him pull her a bit closer then he had intended to, she grinned back and replied. ‘Make it double’

And so comes and end to the first part of this story,As Red and now Misty as well, travel to vermillion city to raid the SS Anne to find Bill, what kind of criminal adventures await them next. How long will Bill be able to resist obeying his new master? Will the box system fall into the hands of Team Rocket or will Blue maybe be able to stop them? Find out on the next part! Don’t be shy to leave a comment or a like! Don’t steal Pokémon in real life, that would be super mean and remember to stay pink my little monsters. Untill we read again.