Good – Pinkie's Paradise

Princess Pinkie’s Fantastic Five: Spin-Off Pokémon Games

Hear ye hear ye , Princess Pinkie is here with a new Pokémon Post

Greetings to my Loyal Subjects and Island Guests. As you may or may not know I am kind of into a little franchise called Pokémon. THE game that defined the collectable creature catching genre. However there are so many great Pokémon games that do not follow that formula. This post should go live on the day New Pokémon Snap is launched which is a great example.. but what are some other great Pokémon games to play if you are looking for something besides the 8 generations of goodness?!

Let’s discuss a few games I love to bits! Like a top five.. but without any particular order OR even saying these are THE best.. if you have your own opinion that is fine. You could have had the same opinion as a Unicorn-Duck Princess.. but whatever suits you works as well!

Pokémon XD: Gale Of Darkness

Released in August 2005 a sequel to the game Pokémon Coliseum was launched. Both games were sort of in between the classic Pokémon Stadium Games and the Main Line titles. When I played this game for the first time I was not sure if I liked it. It has some very odd music choices that while great do not always seem fitting. Like using Wild West styled songs for a forest song, while using a desert sounding song for a western town. With some very odd battle themes as well and all in all being a bit clunky. You can not travel the world but use a map system to bounce between several locations that have a few static screens you can interact with. You know those kinds of static backgrounds that they used in Resident Evil and Final Fantasy 7 through 10. Static camera allows you to walk around, interact with a few items and such. It felt slightly cramped and very limited when we compared it to what we were used to. Catching Pokémon was also very limited to so called Shadow Pokémon.. and later a few places where you could place some food.

Pokemon XD: Gale of Darkness review: Pokemon XD: Gale of Darkness - CNET

What makes this game so great however.. and it’s prequel at that is the amazing double Battles. Everything is set around Double Battles and the Shadow Pokémon feature. There are some wild Pokémon you can catch.. but they are nothing compared to the Shadow Pokémon. More powerful versions of pokémon with their heart closed off. You have to steal them from their evil owners and befriend them so you can purify them. The really good Pokémon to use in this game all start out as Shadow Pokémon and are very miserable showing you this game doesn’t mess around! The double battles are a lot harder and really require you to strategise a bit. The story of the game is also pretty fun with some very colourful enemies. Micheal the protagonist isn’t as much of an Edgelord as the guy in Coliseum was which makes him a lot more charming. Seriously the other guy looks like he is about to whip out his Beyblade or something.

Pokemon XD Gale of Darkness Gameplay - YouTube

The Plot of this game revolves around an evil team named Cipher wanting to weaponise Pokémon, and will have you face off against the legendary Shadow Lugia. You really feel like you are on a goal to stop that evil team , rather than on a journey to become the very best. This character has much more tangible goals and while that sometimes does mean competing in a tournament or such, it isn’t the main goal. This time you are liberating shadow pokémon from their cruel owners and trying to nuse them back to health trough double battles and love. Which gives it a nice fresh and more dire tone. This game offers a good challenge, a nice story and is just different enough..but also similar enough to pokémon to be somewhat of a safe choice if you want to play something else.

Pokémon Mystery Dungeon (Red) Rescue Team (Dx)

For many years now, over 20 we have been able to experience how it was to be a Pokémon Trainer, we dabbled in several forms of this With many trainer variants, sometimes we would just photograph them, while other times we yell at a Pikachu trying to make him listen when we secretly know he won’t. However we have very rarely been given the occasion to BE a Pokémon. Released on my Birthday in 2005 came a game called Pokémon Mystery Dungeon Red Rescue Team for GBA.. or Blue Rescue Team for Nintendo DS. By then I did not have a DS yet so I was given a Red Rescue Team. A pokémon game that lets you play as ….a Pokémon, not only that.. this Pokémon is REALLY You.

Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Red Rescue Team Release Date, Videos and Reviews

When you start the game you get asked a few questions and that determines which Pokémon you are. For example stuff like what do you like to do when you get home after school, how many friends do you have. Back then I would be a Squirtle, when I replayed it a few years later I was a Cubone and nowadays I am either a Squirtle or a Bulbasaur. Yet there are a few options like Charmander , Pikachu the other Gen 2 and 3 Starters and even Meowth or Psyduck! I haven’t ever gotten it though. In later games I was a Skitty though, so I could not have been far off. Either way based on your personality you get assigned a Pokémon body, now you have to find a way to get your original body back and you do that by helping other pokémon. This can be various tasks like helping a Butterfree Mamma get her baby caterpie, or you explore a dungeon to find Pidgey’s favourite kind of berry.

bol.com | Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Rescue Team DX - Switch | Games

In a top Down zelda-ish looking style you can walk through a dungeon with a buddy (mine was Bulbasaur) bonk some pokémon on the head and learn some special moves to use against them as well. The dungeons are randomly generated and different each time, whatever task you choose to do in the maze determines how many floors there are before you exit, you earn money from rescuing stuff, upgrade your team ranking, upgrade your pokémon and if you are lucky recruit some new friends. The first one just felt so heartwarming and sweet and while the dungeon running can get a bit tedious in later stages it is just a sweet and delightful adventure to embark upon. It is very much worth it. Nowadays the Nintendo Switch has a remake of the game that improves on a few things so the cuteness has not ended! There is also some sequels but to be fair, the emotionally journey of this one is way stronger! It made me cry and the other games did not even get close!

Pokémon Puzzle League

Released for Nintendo 64 in september of 2000 this game is the only one on the list that pretty much has nothing to do with Pokémon..but it’s still REALLY REALLY good! I could have given this spot to games like Pokken or Detective Pikachu or even Pokémon Trading Card Game 2 for Gameboy Colour, but for all of those I have a few gripes, so they wont come further than being honourable mentions here. What put Pokémon Puzzle League ahead of them is that it is the best game of it’s kind on N64. A competitive puzzle game in the style of Poyo Poyo or Tetris Attack… in fact this IS Tetris Attack. The latter game was my favourite puzzle game on SNES and Pokémon Puzzle League is it’s N64 counter part. However instead of vague creatures from the Yoshi universe we get Pokémon. Which makes the backgrounds all the more enjoyable for me.

Pokémon Puzzle League | Video Games & Apps

The story/adventure mode let’s you battle against rivals and gym leaders alike and is the only game the Pokémon anime ever got.. except for a fan game I guess. Here you can just have fun against the classic theme rocket including their theme song, you can puzzle away to reveal screenshots from the show and everyone you face is as faced in the show. As a kid this was great. Gameboy Sabrina was waaaaaaay different from her anime counterpart. Team Rocket lacks Jesse and James and Brock and Misty where they throw away characters. Not here…this game is great to play alone but is even better when you play it with friends and the threshold of this game is zero. You can fire it up, play a match and turn the console off again. Perfect between home(work) and dinner. It’s light cute and very nicely animated with a very cute tranquil music list. It is just Tetris Attack.. but it is my favourite version of a game I already love.. so it earns it’s spot on this list!

Pokémon Pinball

Released on April 14 1999 this is the oldest and perhaps strangest title on my list. A Pinball game? Does it seriously beat out Pokken or even Pokémon Go?! Yes! Quite so! I am not a fan of Pokémon Go persé, I enjoy casually checking Pokémon sometimes but I do not like the business model attached to it. I really dislike how it shines so much less special, I really dislike how it takes up so much box space with all special variants. So no… it won’t be on my list, the game I pick might be a lot more simple and less visually pleasing but boy oh boy does it have some charm. I loved Pokémon Pinball. It was a gameboy colour game with a rumble feature which was totally unique. It allowed you to play two machines, Red and Blue and you could travel across routes , catch pokémon and even evolve them by just flapping some paddles around. It was such a creative take that worked really well.

≥ Pokemon Pinball GameBoy || €9.99 - Games | Nintendo Game Boy - Marktplaats.nl

The idea of using a Pokéball as a Pinball (or is it a Pinball-ball?) already is kinda clever and they get so much mileage out of it. You first play the board to travel to one of the many routes in the game, then make a Pokémon Appear that is indeed living in that route. Then you can hit it five times to create the word Catch, after which hitting it with your Pokéball-Pinball-ball will allow you to capture it. Now you can rinse and repeat OR level up the Pokémon so it can evolve. If you do well you can even make it all the way to catching Mewtwo and beating the game.. but you need some serious pinball skills for that. This does make the game a bit weird to play though.

Pokemon Pinball (GBC) - Gameplay - YouTube

Evolution has to happen in one Pinball Session and a lot of the catches are behind an RNG element like the routes selected, the pokémon that spawns on those routes. This is fine at the beginning and it pleased kid Pinkie very much but when I recently tried it again I felt some deep frustration with it! If you make it further in the game you will need certain pokémon, for example let’s say machop. However instead of machop three other pokémon can spawn as well.. and even IF you find Machop you will need to level it up twice without losing all your pokéball-pinball-balls which means you have to be quite good at Pinball. On a device with limited battery life and visibility., which can be a frustrating task. However if you just play this game a very sessions at a time and consider the Pokémon caught a bonus to your pinball experience rather than something you have to complete in a short amount of time this game is really great and young me spend many many hours on this title that was actually owned by my sister.

Pokémon Ranger Shadows of Almia

To this day I still haven’t found a copy of Pokémon Conquest to play and the DS era of Pokémon was the one I missed out on the most. One title I did get the pleasure of playing was Pokémon Ranger 2: Shadows of Almia and it might be my favourite Pokémon game that is not a main-line Pokémon game. I mean it’s friggin adorable! It’s so good! The graphics are cute , the characters are adorable and it’s one of the few games that does really force you to use your stylus that came with the DS… because Pokémon Ranger was all about drawing loops of friendship around some pokemon. For those who don’t know what that means, this is a game in which the main gameplay has you draw circles around moving objects!

I know that sounds super lame, and to an extent it is kinda lame, especially later in the game, but this game is dressed SOOOO well it doesn’t matter. It is kinda fun to see all the special attacks a Pokémon can take to prevent being wrapped up in a laser lasso that makes it more friendly towards you. This game has elements of the old Pokémon games in that you have a world to explore.. and each time you catch something or get a new mission you open up more of the world. In a way it feels like a puzzle game, because drawing loops is mostly used to get a new friend towards a place where you can use their effect. Draw circles around a magnemite and it can turn on the power, draw circles around a squirtle and it can put out a fire, but you only have so much energy if your Lasso breaks, you lose your job and lose the game. It’s kinda interesting how much milage they get out of drawing circles!

So the gameplay is odd but satisfying but what really makes this one of the greatest Pokémon Products ever is the writing. This game is super funny! Sometimes intended, sometimes less intended. “Touch the Bidoof” is said to the ranger and I am already laughing, or how about the time that the evil team is using an ice pokémon to make snow cones and not knowing what to do with the player character, they offer her a snow cone as well. Your rival failing at everything he does but still keeping his ego up was incredibly funny as well and there is just this great vibe of work ethic in this game that makes it feel wholesome. Everyone is living with their Pokémon and working with them and it offers a very interesting peek into the non battling side of Pokémon. The music is great as well! It lacks the endgame and the “community” that other Pokémon games get but by arceus is this game the gem! Skip out on the first one though that one isn’t half as good! Just play this one you’ll have a great time……and perhaps some stylus burn from drawing so many circles.

Pokemon Ranger: Shadows of Almia :: Full Walkthrough

Those are five fantastic games that are very much Pokémon Franchise games that aren’t part of the main line! Of course the original Pokémon snap was amazing as well but I felt that would be such a cheap choice! Soon I will be able to tell you if New Pokémon Snap is any good! Until then tell me which Pokémon “spin-off” games you really like! While you do I will take a nap and wait for my game to arrive, because remember folks. Friendship is Magic, but Dreams are even more Wonderful! Oyasumi!

Pokemon Mystery Dungeon Rp - Sleeping Dorms - Wattpad

What if: Jessie and James turned good (Part 1)

It is time for another What if story, the final storyline we open before we begin to further the other stories. As we are writing complete fiction, the other Pinkie persona’s have allowed me to be myself today as I tell you this story. For this one I was inspired by the Rewatching Pokémon Blog. Check it out after reading my story. Recently this site reviewed an episode named A Poached Ego, I knew this episode would be a good springboard for my next story: What if Jessie and James turned good.

Things you need to to know first

Before we roll this story out, here is a little need to know to follow this story. It is set in the Hoenn region, the third region Ash and our soon to be heroes visit. Team Rocket, followed Ash still planning to steal his Pikachu see the regular heroes check into a Pokémon Center on their way to Rustboro city. While planning an attack on Ash, their talking Meowth falls down a ledge where they encounter a smuggler capturing a bunch of Koffing and Ekans.
Their signature Pokémon that since have evolved. Feeling pity for these they decide to free them. This ends with them ending up in a no win situation forcing them to release Arbok and Weezing to take care of the wild versions while they distract the enemy. Though their plan succeeds, they are too injured to deal with the poacher, allowing Ash to randomly encounter the poacher with officer Jenny. This negated the heroism of Jessie and James a bit, ending up with them losing their long trusted friends and meeting a cute cacnea. However this time around we will allow them to play into their strengths more. Having some realisations and taking a more level headed approach, sending them over the edge into a full redemption arc.

Chapter 1: Facing your Fearows!

Meowth realised he had taken a wrong step as he began sliding down that hill, little did he know that this plunge would lead him and his friends to rising higher than ever before. Being a cat pokémon he had no trouble keeping his footing and gently slid down the slope. Having arrived at the bottom he noticed something strange was going on. The forest in front of him looked odd.. and shallow. He quickly noticed it was a camouflage screen, with hissing sounds coming from the inside. He looked around , but there was no one to be seen. Quickly he yanked the cloth down revealing a cage filled with seriously injured Ekans. ‘What are youz guys doin in theah?’ he asked staring at those pre-evolutions of his friends. Ever since he learned to speak Meowth had a thick accent, spoken in this large metropole city in a land far away. He grew up learning speech from Gangster movies that were being shot in that town he lived in. The Ekans however seemed to understand him perfectly as they told him they were captured by a bad guy. ‘Let me get youz outta that cage’ the cat set trying to pick the lock with his nails, only to get a major jolt of electricity. ‘Jessie, James I need some help here’ Meowth shouted upwards prompting the two Rocket members to slide down in unison. The man with his shiny blue hair that was perfectly parted down the middle looked at it somewhat shocked ‘Oh my , it’s ekans, a lot of them’ he said while flipping away the single lock of hair that escaped the perfectly parting of his hair. As he flipped it his shoulder length hair danced along, giving him quite the elegant look. ‘We have to save them’ Jessie said in reply. Her eyes were a deep blue sometimes mistaken for a darker colour while her hair flowing in the most impossible wave was a saturated magenta. Their outfits were the traditional team rocket clothes, but white rather than black.

‘You aren’t saving anyway’ a man stepped from the shadows, prompting Jessie and James to call forth their Arbok and Weezing. ‘Weezing immediatly noticed another cage behind the man filled with trapped Koffing, which then seemed to anger James and Jessie as well. Ah even better, I’ve been paid to capture as much poison pokémon as I can… and I get paid extra for evolutions, so if you hand over those Pokémon, nothing bad will happen’ The man had moss green hair, parted like James but in length only enough to reach his eyebrows. Wearing a red polo shirt with a high colour, as well as some standard khaki pants and some gloves, he seemed intimidating by his well build posture…as well as his weapon. ‘No way in hell we are going up our Pokémon, Arbok attack him with poison sting’ jessie said rushing into combat. ‘Her purple cobra following orders. Weezing use smokescreen’ James ordered while joining the battle. A deep sea mine shaped pokemon with a lilac tint with a smaller orb fused to it, began to spew smoke The poacher only smiled tossing a Pokéball as strong gusts of wind would blow away the smoke and the needles. ‘Fearow take care of these fools, Rico does not deal with weaklings’ As the bird pokémon engaged combat, Rico lifted an eyebrow at the level of resistance these people put up. They took a beating from Fearow, but they managed to hold their ground with them even getting some hits in. ‘Pupitar finish this fight’ Rico tossed in his new pokémon knowing it was all over.
Try as they might Jessie, James and their pokémon were being beaten mercilessly, they knew their defeat was imminent when suddenly a spray of green needles hit the Pupitar, as it fell to the ground it created a heavy plume of dust. Jessie and James used this momentum to retreat and regroup fleeing into the woods. Allowing Rico to move on for now.

Chapter 2: To protect the world from devastation.

Out of breath the group arrived at a clearing. James punched the ground in frustration. ‘Darn it he is going to get away’. Meowth patted him on the back, as James now was on both hands and feet saying ‘Hey don’t ya worriez we still got tha chance to take ‘im out ya know, we can use Arbok to listen for vibrations underground..and ya know we have some gear as well.’ Where in another timeline these three would have rested up to rush back in, these words inspired them to think things through. It was true they weren’t the best of battlers and that guy had a very strong team, much like the twerps. They had to approach this with some cunning. However before they could form a plan, a little green cactus monster appeared from the bushes. It walked up to them and smiled “cacnea’! it said. James fascinated by the creature seemed to put the connection between it and those green spikes together. ‘You are the one that saved us aren’t you?’The cacnea nodded and gave James a smile. ‘Thank you, I know it’s not much but here is your reward’ the man took a bag of cookies from satchel and handed it over to Cacnea who looked at it confused lingering around the group. ‘We need a plan to take down tha Rico goi! Meowth tried to urge the group but something was wrong. Both Jessie and James were staring a bit vacantly. ‘James, I felt horrible when that man was going to steal Arbok and I can’t stop thinking about those poor Ekans..could it be we were…’ Jessie said while drawing some circles in the sand. ‘Wrong?….I know Jess .. I feel the same’ James took a deep breath and then continued. ‘I joined Team Rocket because I needed the money after running away…besides you guys.. i never got along with any of them, i thought stealing that Pikachu would make me great at something.. but that fear just now to lose Weezing.’James went silent while Canea held the cookie bag up to him. ‘No those are for you.. you eat them’ the blue haired man sadly smiled to the cactus opening the bag for it and handing him a cookie. As Cacnea ate the cookie it seemed to thoroughly enjoy it inspiring it to hug James. It’s needles digging deep in James flesh he ushered a cry of pain. Jessie chuckled at this a bit ‘ If my father hadn’t been a high ranking member of the team… they would have never me given the chance they gave me now,but I only joined them after I flunked Pokémon medical school, I guess deep down I never really wanted to hurt Pokémon, look at that guy James.. it clearly loves you .. is it really okay to take something away that another loves,’ Their spirits broken after their defeat allowed them to ponder their situation. ‘Whateva you guys decide.. I’m with ya..’ Meowth said. As James freed himself he said ‘I want to protect our world from devastation’ Jessie looked at her dear friend who still was holding the Canea endearingly even if it hurt him so much just a minute ago. Jessie stood up… her Rocket shirt flying off in a swoosh, landing in the dirt, somehow wearing a shirt underneath. ‘That’s it… from this day on, we will return to our original goals to protect pokémon.. form now on we will be heroes!’ James looked at the motivated Jessie and followed suit in discarding his shirt, though he would end up bare chested. ‘Jessie how can we be heroes though…we are still wanted criminals.’ Jessie grinned. ‘We are masters of disguises James, we will just take on some superhero identities and make costumes! Then we go stop and take down that Rico guy!. We aren’t Team Rocket anymore… we are Celestial Force! Canea stared blankly.

Chapter 3: Who are they?

Meanwhile officer Jenny was taking Ash, May, Brock and Max through the forest. to a place they found traces of poacher gear earlier. Their patrolling had slowed down Rico, he was trapped there. Little did they know he had a surprise for them, he had been waiting the return of those two weaklings who just hurt his Fearow and Pupitar and set some traps. In true Pokémon tradition the heroes of old fell in this trap only officer Jenny dodging out of the way. As she summoned Growlithe, Rico called out Pupitar who evolved into a Tyranitar a large godzilla-like creature with the power to hurl boulders and fire energy beams.. The latter easily overpowering the little fire dog of the police woman. Quickly after that she was shot in the shoulder by Rico, who now approached menacingly with his gun. ‘Consider yourself lucky.. you can decide how you die… tyranitars hyper beam or a bullet between the eyes but decide quick I got some pokemon to deliver’. Rico grinned, his victory was complete and he would make a huge amount of money from this and now even the cop looking for him would meet her end. Right as he wanted to finish her off, something cast a huge shadow over them. As Rico looked up he saw a large balloon painted silver and gold…sloppily, it featured a moon and a sun that seemed to be drawn on a sort of cat shaped balloon. As it approached some smoke bombs were tossed down, creating a silver and golden smoke, as he coughed.. he saw two shadowy figures appear in the smoke! They began to speak in a dramatic presenting way as if stating a motto.

Prepare for Heroes

That’ll reduce villains to zeroes

To protect our world from all it’s wrongs!

To make sure every pokemon stays where it belongs!

To denouce the evils of lies and deceit

To leave all bad-guys in utter defeat.

Luna!

Sol!

Celestial Force fights Evil day and night!

Surrender now or face our might!

We’re the heavenly light!

As the smoke cleared their flamboyant costumes were revealed. A boy man with some flair with purple blue hair dressed in a golden costume, with a mask resembling the sun. A woman with long impossible waving hair…in a rich magenta.. a silver blue outfit with the the mask resembling a moon, and a mysterious pokémon donned in cape and a mask tinted like sunset or sunrise. Though Ash had to admit that Motto sounded a bit familiar to him, he could not, nor could any of his fellow trapped companions, figure out who they were. The help was welcome regardless. Ash had rarely met superheroes before, they were kinda cool.

Chapter 4: Goodbye , dear friend!

Rico just smirked! ‘You have no chance against my tyranitar..Tyranitar use Hyper Beam’‘Wobbuffet use Mirror Coat’ Jessie said with determination. However Wobbuffet would not be able to get up his counter in time, due to the sheer difference in strength of the two combatants. ‘Hahaha you are weak’ Rico laughed but cut it out as soon as he noticed the woman in the moon costume laughing. ‘And your Pokémon is recharging which means it’s time for our new weapon’ *As she said this she pressed a button and their balloon launched a net covering the Tyranitar. The sun-masked man then ordered Cacnea to mega-drain the trapped creature, keeping it up while it struggled until it went down. ‘Good Job Cacneaaaaaaaaaaaargh the pain’ James his new cactus pokemon hugged him at the compliment. Rico angered by the defeat of his strongest pokémon reached for his pokéball to call out fearow but was struck by poison needles of Jessie’s Arbok causing his hand to swell up unable to let go of the Pokéball. Meowth ran up to the man to fury swipe him in his face. Pushing the man backwards until he fell onto one of his electrified cages and knocking him Rico out. James would alter his voice a bit when moving to the poacher trap the kids fell in, talking to them as Sol ‘How did you twer..I mean kids get involved in this, that is a mighty nice looking Pikachu you got there…better keep it safe’ He would remove the net from them and help Jenny up as well. ‘We shall take care of the Koffing and Ekans… officer if you could apprehend the criminal and take him to jail. Jenny would look at them. “Well I would but there is questions I need to ask you first’ James shook his head and said. ‘No can do officer, for justice calls! There is work to be done!.. Weezing use smokescreen!’ Using the smokescreen “Sol and Luna” retreated to the forest followed by the Koffing and Ekans. Ash asked Jenny ‘should we go after them’ She shook her head and smiled, these strangers saved their lives, they at least deserved their privacy for now, moving over to Rico to cuff him.

Back in the forest, Jesse and James took Weezing and Arbok from their Pokéballs, their eyes brimming with tears. ‘Arbok’ ‘Weezing’ ‘We need you to take care of these Pokémon from now on, they need someone strong to look after them’ Arbok and Weezing began to cry shaking their heads that they did not want to go. James gently held Weezing leaning his head onto his trusted pal. ‘I know that this is not easy and I do not want you to go, but we are heroes now.. you are as well, and sometimes we have to make sacrifices for the greater good, these Pokémon need you.. this poacher was hired that means he might hire another, until we find that man we must say goodbye. I need you to be brave’ Meanwhile Jessie embraced her Arbok one final time tears running down her eyes. ‘ We will do everything we can to find whose responsible and if we find that man, we’ll promise to be back okay? We can’t promise you that we will find him but we will try’ Meowth pretends not to cry by keeping his mask up. ‘You have been the best pal’s pokemon like me could wish for, but these guys need pals as well you knowz?’ Arbok and Weezing looked at each other, all crying as well before they would simply nod. Gently both trainers now on their path of redemption released their partners. Weezing and Arbok calling out for the wild Pokémon to follow them. James went up to Jessie who was shaking as Arbok vanished out of sight and gave her a hug. ‘It will be alright Jess.. we’re on the right path now…. if the twerp has taught us anything… we will see them again’ Jessie buried her face in James chest and just cried.
He held her there closely, not moving an inch. Not even when Cacnea hugged him because he saw his new master crying.

That is how Jessie and James begin their journey towards heroism giving up their old lives, to pursue even older convictions. Will they ever see their partners again? Will they be able to adapt to a life without Team Rocket.. and how will the crime team respond to this desertion? Tell me what you think will happen next in the comments and remember: I am not weird, just really pink!
Until we Read again.

Top 5: Best Pokemon Trainers

Happy 30 July little monsters! No nothing really special about this day, though on this date Vanuatu got their independence so yay for them, but I just want to celebrate each day! Today it’s Tuesday so that means I am writing a brand new top 5 for you. Today we will discuss the the top 5 best Pokémon trainers in the world of Pokémon. Please note I am not necessarily referring to the strongest Pokémon Trainers. Tobias having access to legendaries would easily make that list, however strong Pokémon do not make you a good trainer none of your partners do. With this list we consider a trainer’s capabilities and impact on their pokemon not their team.

5. Ash Ketchum
In fairness , Ash is not a bad trainer, not anymore at least…well not truely anyway.
Sort…off…maybe. It really depends on perspective. He would have been higher on this list if it wasn’t for the soft reset he has gotten after Kalos to be honest. Of course he would never be number one, because Ash never wins. What makes Ash a good trainer though, in my opinion much stronger than Gary, any other rivals he had or even Tobias is ts the fact that he doesn’t rely on power alone. Time and time again, Ash has shown to be able to think outside the box. Ash is one of the few trainers, aside from maybe his companions at times that has shown he is able to think outside the box. He, not only his Pokémon influence their battle. His love for his team is always great, yet how he treats his team is ls also a reason why I’d consider him for bad trainers as well. His willingness to set pokemon free, is not necessarily a good thing. Maybe it’s even worse for those he just puts in Oaks garden. Poor Bulbasaur must be bored by now and miss it’s master. Yet Ash also managed to invent/obtain an (mega)evolution method of his own trough an intense bond with his Pokémon. Which he then abandons , but this doesn’t diminish the feat that Ash impact on his Pokémon literally allowed them to synchronize.. and become one to a certain point. Ash has shown an unwavering resolve to go ahead. No matter how many times he loses, he will not give up until he succeeds. He is loved by his Pokémon, and even developed a unique power.
He is however a horrible person, who does not honour his bonds, refuses to give up and in the process constantly gives up on his friends.

Ash has died 8 times! He lost more liives than Pokémon Leagues

4. Lillie
A bit of an odd choice, because Lillie is not a very accomplished trainer. She isn’t particularly smart, clever or even brave. Yet Lilie has one thing going for her that puts her above many of the trainers on this list. Her reasons to become a trainer. Lillie’s journey is one of self improvement , to overcome herself rather than to overcome the world. She doesn’t want to beat the Pokémon League she wants to conquer herself. This in my eyes is an excellent motivation to become a trainer, she fights for herself and not in a selfish way. Her Pokémon will never be disposable tools for her, to feel the excitement of a new journey again. Her catches become friends who help her become a better person. Her goals are way more achievable, which is both rewarding for her and her partners. Lillie’s progress stays. Let’s compare it with Ash’s for a moment where his dream is to become a Pokémon master. If Ash gets a badge, it’s a nice moment because it’s one step closer to his goal, but as soon as he loses the league, the achievement of the badge is invalidated as in the end it did not get Ash his goal. This invalidation he even uses on his Pokémon. Greninja was great to attempt the league with… oh I lost.. well let’s try again. Goodbye my friend.
Lillie is nearly the exact opposite of that. When Lillie finally is able to touch Vulpix, that achievement will never be invalidated. Vulpix’s help and love, will forever have contributed to Lillie’s s goals. She gives her partners a significance and reward that no other trainer can. She will not impact the world, but she impacts everyone around her and it’s nice to see a trainer who knows that is good enough.

Lillie is very precious! But each time we hang she keeps telling me to get in the bag for some reason.

3. Alain
A man who recognised Ash as his superior in every way, ended up taking a higher spot then him? Why? Well it’s mostly because of the character Arc Alain was given in both the mega-evolution specials and the main series. Alain’s journey was all about the Mega Stones. Starting out as the assistant of Professor Sycamore, he gathered a lot of knowledge about pokemon themselves as well as mega-evolutions. His defeat at the hand of Lysandre for the raw mega-stone changed him though and showed him he needed to be stronger. Which at the time was true as well. Lysandre having made false promises to use the power of mega-evolution for the good of mankind, also gave Alain a much nobler reason to become strong then Ash. Alain wanted to improve the world, a goal that pushed him to his limits. He removed his close friend Mairin from his life in order to get the goal he needed. Again much like Ash, but Alain was more upfront and honest about it. He told her she would hold him back, not as nice as Ash does it but more sincere and fitting of his goals. Alain throughout his journey had much more to lose, like how Lysandre would take back his Mega-Stone if he did not win ten fights in a row. He is a trainer that has been pushed more and pushes his pokémon more. Yet that is not necessarily bad. Allain is the trainer he needs to be when he needs to be, he can adapt and make hard choices. Much more focussed than his rival as well. In the end Alain gets a redemption arc when he found out Lysandre’s trough goal, once more actively learning from it.. in comparison to how Ash is much more a passive learner. When Ash learns something, he just uses that knowledge. When Allain learns things he adapts himself as a trainer. Allowing him to be much more dynamic. Him giving up his mega-stone in the end and resetting like Ash does a lot, is not without reason like with Ash. He actually gives things up to become better as the trainer Alain is. In my eyes making him a perfect version of Ash. One that deserves to hold the championship position over the protagonist.

You might say that compared to Ash, Alain is a Mega Trainer.

2. Brock
Although being quite the oddball, Brock is one of the best Pokémon Trainers I know.
I would loved to put Cynthia on this list instead but I saw too little of her to judge her as a trainer. With Brock we once more see a trainer with a much more realistic fleshed out goal, of becoming a great Pokémon Breeder. His feeling trapped in being the Pewter Gym leader and having his brothers to take care of , felt like a good pay off to start his journey. Yet what makes Brock truly stand out is his knowledge of the world, brock truly understands pokemon. He can tell their nature by interacting with her, he can tell their abilities and their moves on the most subtle of nuances. This knowledge must come from a great passion for the subject. Brock loves all the monsters, more than anyone in the series does. Not only is he knowledgeable about trivia and facts, he has shown amazing empathy skills towards pokémon. “I think paras is trying to say that it’s scared’, “I think Corsola wants to come with you’. Brock throughout his appearances in the show has been shown to know what a pokémon is thinking. He can make the most amazing food which all pokémon like, once more showing his deep understanding of the creatures. Brock also inspires other trainers, makes them better as well. Ash would not be where he is today without the aid of Brock. He isn’t exactly the strongest of trainers out there and until Sun and Moon his accomplishments on the battlefield weren’t exactly noteworthy. Brock however is respected by everyone. Whether it is for his knowledge about the pokémon, his skill in judging matches, or the amazing food he makes, or first aid he can provide for pokémon, he knows the game very well. Him picking up Olivia and having an actual relationship certainly was nice to see after the overdone flirtation bit. Yet even in that he shows his greatness as a trainer. Because Brock knows there is more in the world than just being a trainer, and he is a better trainer for it.

1. James
The biggest loser in the entire series is my number one pick. I must have lost my marbles again. Yet there was never any doubt in the world who I had to put on number one. James shares a lot of the qualities Brock has, being quite knowledgeable about the subject matter. In fact, one can argue that he fills the exact same role as Brock.. on the bad guys side. Everytime we see an episode from Team Rocket’s perspective, James is the one with the answers. James isn’t even that bad at battling , he doesn’t really win but most of his fights aren’t that official either. Whenever he does fight the ‘twerps’ one on one it’s oftenly a lot closer than you might think. Like Ash he has been capable of showing some battle awareness, though in his case usually dirty tricks, like Brock he is capable of understanding a lot of species of Pokémon and kind of like Lillie he mostly became a trainer to explore himself. He may not have chosen the right path, he chose that path because he felt trapped in his wealthy family. He renounced everything, so like Alain he was willing to make sacrifices that count, in order to change himself. It got him involved in a life of crime and dishonour but that is more a medium for change then something he inherently is. He shows care for Pokémon, which is also shown in his battling and even machine building style. Koffing never really attacked much, he rarely is trying to cause physical harm he is only trying to escape. The traps they make also rarely focus on taking a Pokémon out. They want to capture them healthily, without much pain. James shows qualities of all the ones earlier on this list, but just doesn’t do them as successfully. Yet whenever James catches or gets a Pokémon it loves him instantly. Pokemon see something in James and adore him. Give James an Eevee and it evolves into Sylveon the second he owns it. He can make pokemon evolve because how much they care for him and their desire to make him succeed. If James would give up on Team Rocket and thusly freeing himself from the narrative restrictions that had to be placed on him, his potential would be near infinite. A trainer whose Pokémon adore him, who can fight dirty/smart, who is blinded by ambition and who is knowledgeable about Pokémon in general. When given freedom this man would definitely be one of the worlds greatest.

Lose the life of crime James, and you’re reach can certainly be extended to the stars above!

Who is your favorite trainer? What makes a good trainer do you think? If you had to make tea from a grass Pokémon which one would it be and why?
Leave a like, please subscribe if you haven’t already and most off all stay pink!

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Theory: A post-apocalyptic world

Welcome to another post my little Monsters. Since 1996, 1998 or 1999, depending where in the world you are from, we have been referring to ‘the wonderful world’ of pokemon. Yet in today’s Thursday’s Theory we will be taking a look at a contemplation of mine, which is shared by some on the net. However I decided not to take a look at these. So all evidence I bring for this theory is the ones I found by simply playing the original games and the original anime.

Some reservations before getting started
Alola in both anime and game has been shown to be fairly utopian, Kalos was quite decadent and nice as well so over time the vision on how the world of Pokémon should be has changed quite a bit. So the theory we will be addressing today isn’t really based on it’s modern intentions. Much of the Pokémon world were decisions due to its large success. Spin-off games and the explosive growth of the franchise would always have led to create a much more moldable world, a continuation of the rules established in Kanto would have driven the franchise against a creative wall. So for the purposes of this post, we will only look at the original games and the first ‘season’ of the series. Rather than asking if the pokemon world IS post apocalyptic, we focus more on the question if it was ever meant to be.

Don’t expect anything like this, clearly this is untrue… Ethan doesnt wear his cap.

Evidence: No government
The ‘wonderful’ world of pokémon, doesn’t seem to possess any form of government. The rules of the region seem to be established by the pokémon organisation. If that even is a thing. Though in Galar we can see a stricter hierarchy, in the original games and in the anime we never really see those who have decided that 10 year olds can travel the land with their pokémon. We see some chairmen around the time Ash participates in the pokemon league but that is about it. Charles-Louis de Secondat, Baron de La Brède et de Montesquieu argued that a government should exist with three separate forms of power. The legislative, the executive and the judiciary power.

Here I thought I could never give him Pokémon flavor? Why is stage 1 a cat though?

The first and the second barely seem present, if anything there is only the laws leading up to the Pokémon League and its organisation. Even if that is what goes for those powers, they are controlled by the same organ, the league organization, which is a no no. However there seem to be no laws, except for some very basic criminal ones when it comes to non trainers. Everyone can open their own stores, there doesn’t appear to be any fines on polluting and trespassing etc, no gambling age or any sort of systems for civic control. The only law that does seem to exist is criminal law, and even that seems to mostly based on the common moral and values rather than hard written laws. All in all, the legislative force’s presence is neglectable in Kanto. Their judiciary force is up next, which quite honestly is a joke. In the anime, there basically only is Jenny who has to do it all. Yet like the lawmakers, there is little to no real influence. Though later in the series we are introduced to Looker and his organisation that try to prevent crime, which is a basic task of those who need to enforce justice, the Jennies seem to function reactively only. Their capabilities far beneath sub par, where in basically every instance we see them they do require some aid from our protagonist. To me it feels more like the officers are actually renegades trying to do the right thing, or something else I will talk about later. The executive force, why would it surprise anyone is also sorely missing. Schools, for non trainers aren’t a thing, like at all 10 year olds can travel the world using their Pokémon but later throughout the anime , and also in the game it’s revealed that there are even younger ones drifting on the road. There is educational tv and that’s about it.
In the games we at least have a trainer passport, showing some kind of governing agency to hand those out, but in the first game.. not so much, in the anime Ash just pins the badges to his vest and carries no form of ID what so ever. In no gyms do you actually have to identify yourself as a legit trainer and in the anime, Ash discovers the Pokémon League challenge by accident , seeing a poster, never it being his true goal. All in all it’s pretty solid proof that there is no government so at least there is something wrong with this world..

Rumor: The War
Fact, Kanto has recently seen a war at the beginning of Red and Blue, and though people theorise Red is Ash’s father, I do not believe that theory for in the japanese game Red and Ash are both named Satoshi. No that is not a last name, he is named after Satoshi Tajiri the creator of Pokémon, Tajiri being his family name/ last name. (In Japanese he is called Tajiri Satoshi) Since Red and Ash are thusly established as the same person it’s safe to say he would have seen the war as well. Lieutenant Surge is the one who talks about using his Pokémon in the war to zap his enemies into paralysis, yet it would be a war that did not do Kanto any favours. Perhaps Surge even belongs to those who ‘took over’ or deleted the Kantonian government. Making the Pokémon Organisation a potential antagonist. Evidence of this war is found throughout the entire game, evidence which would not fly nowadays cause it might not be totally PC. Kanto has a severe lack of adults, mostly of mature men above the age of 25 and below the age of 65. Given Lieutenant Surge’s age being mid 30’s at best, quite possibly younger this war could not have happened over 20 years ago. Since Ash father is nowhere to be seen, it would make very much sense if he was drafted, yet killed after he at least made Delia pregnant, meaning this war at least ended a little less than 11 years ago.

The Pokémon War Theory fits inside my theory…apparantly so does Bobba Fett

Whatever this war was about, it left deep wounds onto Kanto. Gyms are oftenly entrusted to kids, males are sparse and are often either extremely capable, like Koga and his ninja’s , beefy bulky sailors, or soldiers, warriors and the likes. Scientists are still there, but their role in a war would have probably put them out of harm’s way, But are these even kantonians? Could it be that the scientists are the ones that took over, because Mew was in Kanto? It is no secret that Professor Oak would have a boss battle at the end of the game. Maybe Team Rocket are actually old world kantionian rebels fighting to regain their independence from the Pokémon company. It would explain why they steal Pokémon from the government, because they do want to topple the system. It would also explain why the want Mewtwo.. to prevent the government from abusing it. This might just seem like wild speculation, but let’s look at Team Rocket’s motto for a bit shall we? To protect the world from devastation! To unite all peoples within our nation! To denounce the evils of truth and love!. These are the three lines that speak mostly about their intentions. Their original writing not a lot different except for the last line. In japanese they say’ To prevent the destruction of the world! To protect the peace of the world! To stand by the evils of love and truth!’
Rather than denouncing truth, they stand by it.So these people seem to fight for peace and against the furthering of the apocalypse. They also wish to let you know the truth!. Truth doesn’t sound evil.. but it IS evil if a lying organisation took over, which prevent the world from knowing the truth. So perhaps in this war, the League organisations took over, wiped out Kanto as it was before and Rockets are the (R)ebels to fight

Team Rocket being good is ASO a seperate theory… well apparantly I am onto something! Just look at theem being good!

The technology
Pokémon has always felt a little odd in the technical aspect, on the one hand, there is a company that is capable of dematerialising throwable pocket dimensions in your hand and store them in their grand database, as well as healing tables that seem to radiate healing energy inside those pocket dimensions. The common folk however have technology that seems miles and miles away from this. Your overruling company can send Pokémon through time, people rarely even have TV’s. Roads are barely being maintained, while the company is able to make life.
Cloning clearly is a thing, no matter what the Joys and Jennies say, they aren’t sisters. It has been ESTABLISHED in the world, that the Pokémon Company, which they work for have cloning technology as Mewtwo was a Mew clone and Ditto basically a failed mew clone.. manmade. To test it first on the legendary Pokémon that created all Pokemon live makes no sense, they must have test it on others first. ‘We are sisters’ has never really been proven in the series.
Technically even if cloned they would not even be lying coming from the same parent.. the Joy factory or whatever. Common sense would say that the likelihood of all Joy’s being 100% the same, would all end up in the same job but at different cities would be extremely flimsy at best. But no one notices.. because no one goes to school anymore to learn some common sense!If it was an anime only thing I could understand it being a running joke, but the same joke twice odd. Joy is funny because it could work due to sprites, but the same logic is not applied to anything else, hikers all look different in the anime. Jenny even is barely a thing in the game so why?!Because they are clones thats why! Just because a character says something, it doesn’t mean they have to speak truthfully. When Rose tells Jack she would never let him go, she was just saying something. When Ash in the first episode of the series told he would swear he would become a pokemon master, he was kinda full of garbodor. Clones working for the evil company.. sounds pretty messed up and post apocalyptic to me, after all , all the other nurses and health care has gone away.

If you even doubt these are clones you might need some X Intelligence!

Much like in fallout, there is plenty of drugs that are commonly available as well. Steroids for your pokemon? No problem have some X attack, pretty much what Psycho is in Fallout, how about a PP up? Well that’s just some jet! What utopian world would allow you to alter your Pokémon’s core by pumping it full of medicine? How about forcing it to learn moves it would not naturally learn by using training discs. Yet this is all technology that is readily available. However lights in a well traveled cave, roads to drive, no investment is made in that because it has nothing to do with Pokémon, so the company can’t do it therefore doesn’t care. Besides Gary’s car, we rarely see any technology that isn’t owned by the company.
No matter how you twist or turn things, something doesn’t add up in the difference in tech, the power balance shifted to an extreme, Gary proves that exist(ted) but he again is linked to the company, for the power balance to tip so far in one direction, some big event must have happened. Where did all that normal tech go? Why is the gap that big? It doesn’t match with the utopian theme. Something bad must have happened

Propganda I say! Tech is only available to those who follow the will of the company!

Closing thoughts
Nowadays it seems unlikely that the organisation behind Pokémon is evil, look at how chill professor Kukui is, elegant stuff went in Kalos. Lance became a great hero, though all he ever did was face Rocket, which may have just been a resistance. Lorelei helps you in let’s go, but only to stop team Rocket. But there is not a snowball’s chance in hell that gym leaders and elite four could be evil right? No one ever intended that?! …. Well if we follow the manga , they are all pretty darn evil. World ending and “I‘d have to murder your pokemon to stop you” evil.
However there is no way the company destroyed the world of Kanto and rebuild it in their image so they can just earn money and experiment with Pokémon right? There is no way professor Oak would ever be evil? Well he might have been, there was this boss battle… and he didn’t look too friendly with the sprite. So yes I do think it is entirely plausible that at some point in the development of at least Red and Blue , it was designed with a different vision than it has now. Ideas that seeped into the world, however the project had been adapted because the game took on more hype then expected and might have been better than expected. Now i’ll finish this up, if iI have to think of a peaceful post apocalyptic world that is kind of nice to have fun in as a young boy…I would depict that in one scene. Four boys, walking on a railroad.

So my little monsters, that ends yet another blog on the subject of Pokémon. I really like dedicating myself to a subject , it may be niche but I do hope you enjoy some of my content.
Please keep reading in the future, catch them all and most of all stay pink! Also let me know why you think Montesquieu evolves from a cat please!
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