Trainer Profile: My Grandpa

Greetings little Watsons.  Today’s blog post will close of the series of tributes I make to my grandfather. Because Detective Pinkie’s blogs always take a lot of time and effort to make I had to seek out a format that fitted the theme of our grand detective but did not take as grand of an amount of time. After playing around with some concepts, we settled on Trainer Profile: A format where we analyze a Character, Blogger , Celebrity or whatever you guys suggest. What would their trainer class be? What type would they have the most affinity with and which six pokémon would they run on their team. As my weak voice disallows me from speaking about grandpa at the funeral I decided to reflect on who he was to me and others by making him my first trainer profile.

Trainer Class: Gentleman

First encountered on the SS Anne the Gentleman trainer class is known for their refined tastes and elegance. Grandpa was a distinguished man himself, some would even call him a snob. While that may have been true up to about five years ago, when he met his current girlfriend he mellowed out on it. Back before my father’s company went bankrupt and before his divorce an alienation from mom.. we were as a family quite well off. Grandpa used to treat us to fancy dinners at michelin star restaurants and in return we would take him to nice dinners or cook fancy meals. He loved mom’s home cooking even if she wasn’t his daughter even after their divorce they kept a warm bond, like a gentleman should. You wouldn’t find him on the SS Anne soon though, he once went on a cruise and did not like it, he did not feel old enough for it he said. While the last years of his life he was plagued  with all sorts of sores and trouble walking right up until he was around 80 he was adventurous and loved to travel and see exocitc new places. Exactly like the gentleman in pokémon. He didn’t like adapting though, even when we went to the fanciests of restaurants he would not dress up, he was the one who paid so he should be able to wear what he wants. Frank Sinatra would have been envious of grandpa.. cause grandpa never did anything that was not his way. Though around the 2013’s range that behaviour led to him become kind of selfish. He had earned the right to be selfish to be sure but he seemed to enjoy things less and less. He stopped going out.. treated my mother as a maid for a while and became harder to deal with. Unfortunately it pushed us apart, traveling to him was tricky for me with my health and financial situation being dire. I would try to come over a few times but either I got no attention because cycling was on tv.. or he did not feel like having people over. So we saw each other very sparingly yet everytime I could actually come over he always had my preferred drink in his fridge. It would be past it’s expiration date..sometimes by a lot…but I was happy to drink it still, because he was so happy that he could serve me my favorite drink and for a little while be that gentleman he was once again.

Preferred Type: Psychic Pokémon.

Grandpa has always preferred the pseudo intellectual talks. Theater shows  running, stuff about his flowers and talks about business and wine where regular conversations at the shared dinner table.  Like I said before grandpa was a little bit elite. Yet he also favored some simple things. In fact the entire reason why I made Detective Pinkie is because he nurtured a passion for crime series in me. From when I was waaaaay to young I was already watching along with him to solve the murders in the red light district in the dutch crime series Baantjer. We would always spar on who done it together as a bonding moment and he kinda sharpened my mind by it.  By the time I was twelve I could recognise narrative structures in crime series that let me to deduce virtually 80% of the murderers as long as I saw the correct set up scene. Sometimes i had to help grandma with her quilting and missed a key scene. Grandpa had a scary talent to play with your mind and help you improve it without sounding all that preachy. He was a master of manipulation even in his later years and he oftenly managed to avoid conflicts by outplaying those who disagree with him. A very clever man that could be somewhat cold and logical seems to fit nice with the psychic type.

The Pokémon Team

Signature Pokemon : Hypno (Psychic Type)

No little Watson’s grandpa doesn’t steal children unlike Hypno, however before I was born he was a teacher of sorts… and a hypnotist. Proficient with a pendulum  it would make them a nice pairing as both can hypnotise you in that case. Grandpa wasn’t the biggest animal lover either and preferred plants or people so it makes sense that his signature pokémon wouldn’t be an animal… there will be one on his team but mostly these are going to be non-animals. Hypno seems the best pokémon on this list because it like my grandpa is sly and smart and to be honest not ALWAYS the nicest. He can be amazing though if things go his way Hypno can be an amazing pokémon that has options to outsmart tanky pokémon or hit much more powerful mon’s much harder than he should be able to himself. You won’t see him on any top 5 or top 10 really, but that is how he likes it. Hidden in plain sight but having the space to do as it wants.So I think grandpa would really have been able to bond with this Pokémon and become best friends. Since grandpa would have probably  would let his Pokémon serve him his drinks ..should he ever figure out he could.. it would also keep Hypno off the streets to prevent him from snagging a kid so it’s a win win.

Special Sweeper: Mr Mime (Psychic-Fairy Type)

While grandpa’s team might not be that competitive, you can easily suffer if you underestimate him. Mr Mime is such a Pokémon Physically inept , (grandpa was never really fit unlike my other grandpa) but keen of mind is a trait that defines Mr Mime as well as well as the father of my father. Silent is a trait that even suits them better. Though grandpa could actually speak, he didn’t really like talking. Even when we were conversing we rarely were talking. When I felt sad as a kid and told him why..he’d rather buy me a toy or give be a big piece of chocolat rather than talk things through.  He didn’t really like to talk about things. When I asked about the past he would answer but often without really saying anything to substantial as well. If he felt insulted or sad that one of his other sons was giving him trouble, he would never tell and suffer on his own.. building up barriers and reflects.. quite like the pokémon I selected for him. Always very defensive and careful he never showed his cards to much even to those who are important to him. Recently mom had gotten him to open up a bit.. so.. she would definitely have a Brick Break Pokémon.

Special Wall: Clefairy (Fairy Type)

A trainer has to have pokémon that can take special attacks and for grandpa that would be Clefairy Now this doesn’t actually have anything to do with the Pokémon’s outer space lore or the moon even though I think grandpa did have a telescope at one point.. I think he did but the memory is to vague I do recall a thing I wasn’t really allowed to play with and I think it was a telescope.. and eventually we were allowed to play with it as he never used it… but I can’t recall it to sharply. My choice for Clefairy is strictly based on the minigame included in Nintendo 64’s Pokémon Stadium. In which we see a teacher clefairy teaching other clefairies dance and sing.. and bonking those who fail with a hammer. Excluding the hammer, probably, that is exactly what grandpa used to do. He had a choir he ran with people he taught how to sing and also taught the piano.  He had stopped by the time me and my sister was growing up so I never REALLY saw that side of him.. but he tried to teach me piano once. Yet me being very twitchy and and not in full control of my muscles made it hard and he was a bit impatient. My sister DID have the talent and even though it was just once or twice I saw him truly light up when teaching went well. I never saw him really play music himself.I only heard him sing in a sea shanty band he formed with my dad, youngest uncle and some of dads friends, called Sunken deep. Grandpa did not live to make music he lived to teach eat. Since Clefairy has Sing and Metronome in it’s regular moveset so besides from that classic mini game it also has the right tools to help teach music.

Physical Wall: Slowpoke or Slowbro (Water Psychic Type )

It’s kinda funny how much pink Pokémon suit my grandpa ! Maybe we have more i common than we thought. This Pokémon is the hardest for me to do as it makes me a bit queasy. It was on here because it’s kinda lazy but tough as nails. My Grandpa during the last few years kind of was like that. They could bond laying on the couch eating some snacks. They could appreciate each others slow rhythm but they both can stand one hell of a beat down as well.  Grandpa survived tumors, massive kidney problems huge inflammations and plenty of other stuff that could have killed him. Slowbro and Mega Slowbro represent him so well in that manner. Once more a pokémon that is part of the oldest generation but one that has grown and developed and requires a bit of a brain to play. I think he would have really fitted well with my grandpa’s play style should he have had one. He may have been oblivious to how people are around him are feeling and he might have stubbornly done everything at his own tempo he kept fighting and in the end he wasn’t even killed by the new things trying to kill him. It was bad luck, a complication somewhat unrelated to everything he went trough.

Physical Sweeper: Kingler: (Water)

On the list for entirely different reasons than all the others… Kingler is a tribute to a memory of my grandfather teaching me how to each crab. Not talking about that fake stuff either. Grandpa pushed lobster and crab onto me. It’s a special memory of where he took me to this very luxurious grocery store in belgium. You could buy both lobsters and crab from a tank. Of course little girl me was enthralled by the creatures and wanted to buy one. He said he would but that these crabs are  not to keep as pets but they have to be boiled alive. Shocked by the harsh truth I did not want the poor things to die. So he then offered to buy fresh crab meat .. from an already dead crab. Somehow he tricked me into wanting a crab and in the way he phrased brain played a trick on me saying that THAT indeed would be the best answer. I really wanted crab but I did not want it to die so clearly this was the answer. Back at home he had grandma serve it to the three of us and what I tasted was such deliciously sweet meat I was instantly hooked. Which was a good thing because he payed for christmas dinner in a nearby castle where we would be serve lobster. My aunt scoffingly said I would pass on the food and be ungrateful (this was before she had kids) and rather  than argue with her.. grandpa hatched a plan to avoid discussion and fights. Kingler is a physical attacker that attacks with quick precision attacks like Aqua Jet attacks after setting up raising it’s attack with Swords Dance. Grandpa later told me what he did once we had an argument with the same aunt in question. He told me (no joke.. this just translates wonderfully well, that my aunt underestimating his grandkids got him just a little krabby*

*Krabby is the pre-evolved form of Kingler.

Legendary: The Eternal Floette (Fairy)

As I come closer to the conclusion of this post it becomes harder to fight the tears. The final pokémon for my grandpa’s team is the legendary pokémon Eternal Floette. The immortal gardener who gave their energy to everything they have grown, dancing in joy if they do well. It was a regular Floette at first that met it’s unfortunate end to be returned ny it’s trainer who loved it so much it could not accept it’s death. It ended up hurting many people. I do not have the opportunity to build an ultimate weapon to bring him back  so I have to do what AZ could not and let go. I have to say goodbye and though I do not follow any of the ‘popular’ religions I do not fully believe we become wormfood either. I do not believe in heaven but I do believe in something. Something like an energy a force a power that we can not comprehend. Scientific facts stats that the energy that my grandpa had can’t just disappear from this world it’s still around there somewhere. Like I told earlier this week my grandpa ..back in his energetic days loved his plants and garden and it granted him great happiness. Having access to  grass moves and fairy has this celestial quality to it. So while I picked the rest of his Pokémon as a reflection of the past.. i picked this as a wish for the future. I hope his energy  like that of a Floette can go to the plants he so cherished. When a Floette sees their flower field blooming they do a little dance of joy. Grandpa  I know you will not be able to dance anymore.. but tell you what… if your energy lets the flowers bloom I shall be the do the dancing part. I will miss you.

Tomorrow  is the day of my grandpa’s cremation. I shall not be releasing a blog on that day. Starting on saturday.. maybe on sunday if I am to cried up to write. I am sorry if this first edition of Trainer Profile was dark and not relatable. Do you have a character you like me to profile next time? What would be your trainer class?  Or your team. Leave a like and a comment and remember.
I am not weird, just very pink!
Until we read again!


My Own Pokemon Game

Hey there little monsters! Normally we would pick up to the story of what if Ash turned into a girl this week. However with my grandfather passing I decided to dedicate this week to pokémon talk which serves in memory of my grandfather. Today’s I will tell you about the concept of a Pokémon game  me and my sister developed while sleeping over at our grandparents place. We spend the entire time crafting our own region and custom Pokémon as well as our evil team. Today I will take you on trip through our little vision.

The Heather Region

Our game would have been set in the Region we called the Heather Region.. (translated)  heather is a type of growth or land that is very common in our area. Though my grandparents didn’t actually live on heather it was injoke based on how we referred their house as. The region was entirely based on their garden with gyms being based on rooms of their house. The player would start as bright student of Driveway-Village  and would travel across places like Tullip-Town, Rose-shrine-city, Cascade City, Magicherri, Composthold and White Arch town. There were a handful of other villages which I either forgot because they were minor or do not translate well. Like Lamphoven, which was a reference to a lamp that had a phillips bulb.. a company that is based in the city of Eindhoven.  Like the garden the region was mostly boomerang shaped with mountains instead of hills to the north a neighbouring country ruled by a madman to the west. A desert to the east. (there was a sandy construction lot in real life.. not actual desert) To the south there would our variation of indigo plateau. Since back then Johto and Kanto shared a league name we just named it New Indigo Plateau cause we kinda thought it had to be called that.

The gym leader representing the bathroom  was a water type user . The fire type leader of the Rose-Shrine-City Kitchen Gym dressed like a chef but could not actually cook . Lamphoven was the home of the electric gym leader, her gym represented the computer area. She was very flirty to girls The home office represented the psychic types because in our minds working people where all very smart like psychic types as well. Some of the typings were a bit more far fetched like the living room was normal type because all normal types back then.. or most of them .. like jigglypuff and clefairy and snubbull felt pink and soft and they had pink couches. The garage gym had rock types because it had a stone floor.. and the laundry room had flying types because their drying machine used this hot air hose that was always very prominent in the room.. as we figured the birds in this gym would glide on the hot air. It was kinda cleverly crafted if I do say so myself. Grandpa liked it too.. he said. 

Flora and Fauna

We came up with an interesting concept for the games. We would divide the game in two versions as well. Pokémon Flora and Pokémon Fauna, unlike the Gen I and Gen II games out at the time you’d pick on professor to assist. Professor Jan (my grandpa’s name)   would assist you in Pokémon Flora as he would send you on a quest to protect the lands of Heather from a Pokémon infestation by catching them or by defeating them in battle. He especially hated mole Pokémon (as grandpa hated animals in his yard and killed many mole mouse and bug) in our version though you could still just catch them all to solve the problem. You’d also encounter more grass and ground type pokémon in this version.  It would be somewhat of the ‘evil story’ as you take out all animals to make Heather blossom again.

Pokémon Fauna was the ‘Good Side’ where you followed professor Toos (grandma)  who would try to welcome as many life forms as possible, as she loved animals and to have everyone around. In this version you’d move pokémon to Toos research garden similar to what Oak had in the anime. So Flora would be more of a Noah’s Ark verison of pokémon… or a trump version where you end up yeeting them all over a wall maybe.. we never settled on endgame.  Fauna would have been a more classic experience with the Pokédex.

There was also Team Eco based on my quite successful and rich but distant uncle. They sold nature friendly but crappy pokémon equipment.. like bio-degradable pokeballs.. but that meant the pokémon inside lived in constant fear of being stuck. Potions blessed by Jomanda.. a dutch.. touch healer person who “positively radiates’ your water bottles for health benefits. She was a new age white witch of sorts who at the time was relevant but to our child minds was silly and scamming so we used that. They cared for profit only and would wear outfits quite similar to team flare.. but mixed with hippies.  They would use very natural pokemon such as grass ground and bug types. While Flora would have many exclusive grass and ground types, Fauna would have extra normal and bug types.
Our legendaries were based on grandma’s lapdog, whose name we will redact to Fido cause the real name is way to specific,  and grandpa’s magic Cherry Tree who we gave the name Mystertree .. as I was old enough to read english well enough and it seemed like a great name. Most of the Pokémon designs we made I can not say where great though.

What Fido actually looked like! More or less, she was a bit darker.

My designed Pokémon

We never made a very full Pokédex for the game unfortunately I think we came up with about 30 pokémon and I do not remember the names or designs of my sister’s Pokémon very well. We decided to make non animal starters .. because grandpa needed to like them too. So we ended up with a grass Pokémon that was themed after a cucumber.. would evolve into a zucchini and  end up as an eggplant. Their names were based on their dutch names. Komkom, Courcour and GineGine (after aubergine) .

Our water starter was a bubble that would get larger with more small bubbles as it grew. This one we named in english.
Blue-Bubble.. the blueberry bubble, Purble.. the berry bubble and Rainbubble…the rainbow coloured bubble who knew self destruct cause bubbles so big pops.  It’s pokédex entry stated it that it loved to play with it’’s trainer in the tub and that it occasionally swallows rubber duckies. It would get jealous when his trainer is playing with soap bubbles and would attack them with his own.

Our fire starter was based on a fire pit. Grandpa loved to light these when we stayed with them in summer in the yard. It would evolve into a gas barbeque as its final form but we never settled on a second form, but their old coal barbeque was up for consideration, as well as a burning table ..because I accidentally set on of their tables on fire once. The first one would be named Korf.. after the dutch word Vuurkorf.. being a fire pit. The final evolution was called has to do with the german word for burning and our dialect from Limburg as well as some other things which make it a bit to long to explain properly.

Other Pokémon we invented was a grape that would end up evolving into wine. There was also  a snake based on the garden of Eden..which had moves like apple toss. (In that period we were still being thought religion and it came up for either me or my sister)  and the final one I distinctly remember was a compost pokémon who was our muk clone so it became it poison type named Compie. Yeah I know weird typing..but it smelled so poison!

When things became  to slow we blatantly plagiarized things. We had a pokémon named Scrappy that evolved into Scooby for example and our legendary trio became a legendary quintet. There was a Red Tyrannosaurus, a Blue Triceratops, Black Mastodont , Yellow Sabertooth Tiger and Pink Pterodactyl. I think they were called Jaty, BiTi, Zama, Trisa and Kimpte. Let’s see if a reader is smart enough to figure out how we got those names! Our main legendaries where Fido and Mystertree. Fido was normal ghost type.. normal because it was based on a normal dog.. and ghost because it was dead and back then neither of those types had a legendary. Mystertree was a Grass ghost type… grass because it was a tree… ghost because.. you probably know where this is going…it was dead.

People of Heather

Even though we went clever in some aspects the same can not really be said for the people inhabiting the Heather Region. The main trainer was a girl rather then a boy but we fixed the issue of Red and Blue .. where you always start as Red even if you had Blue version. You either started with Fauna .. basically my sister or Flora basically me. I remember this making me upset because my sister said that Flora could walk weird like me so that Fauna could be faster. My sister didn’t mean this as insulting but she had to make sure her version of Pokémon was better…because she was better in Pokémon (she was not..but she attack me and hit me if she lost so I played to lose..but she would kick me if I lost intentional so I learned full well how much moves did so I could convincingly lose ) again since not listening to her usually resulted in her launching punches at me .. I agreed but I felt upset that even game me would walk funny. She also wanted to dibs mom and I would get dad… but me and dad do not exactly go along well.. she punched me until I relented. Grandpa told us to play nice and gave me a chocolat for being the bigger person.. actually telling my sister that after which we played nice so she could earn her chocolat as well. However by now I was losing my heart for this.

So we named everyone to people from our village or family. Gym leaders  were based on family. Funniest one now would be dad’s somewhat actively bisexual polyamorous uncle. Back then we did not know. At a family party he was talking to my gay uncle and mom..I was playing waitress when I overheard him saying call me Sletje, which basically translates to little slut. Even though I was .. I think around 14 or 15 here I had no idea what a slut was… I really am panda… so we called him Gym Leader Sletje or translated Gym Leader Little Slut. Little Slut had a catchphrase ‘Hey Listen’ which he would say to access. We did not know about Navi at the time.. which reminds me first time I played Ocarina of Time my first Zelda game.. my sister forced me to play it under the name Turbann (Tulband in dutch) 8. My gay uncle was the gym leader ot the living room just so he could use jigglypuff (fairy types weren’t a thing by then so it’s not meant as a cruel thing to gays or anything) because he sings a lot and really stuff that is waaaay out of my comfort zone.. like italian opera stuff and other classical stuff. In our game he would try to kill us with boredom.

For some reason we decided to name all bug catchers after a classmate of my sister. Cochise was his name. We ended up changing the class to Cochise as well so eventually we ended up with Cochise Cochise wants to battle. Of course we decided to also design a pokemon named Cochise who only knew the move Cochise.. which would have been a bug type.. but we never got around to designing it. Hikers became fat ladies and where called …… ‘s mother.  So rather than Hiker Anthony you’d face Anthony’s Mother. BEcause there was one mom that was REALLY fat and it was a joke towards her.. not PC I know.. but hey we designed this as kids. The champion would be Mario (like super mario) that way we figured we could sell the game to nintendo more easily. 

Game over

Eventually my grandma became less mobile and she got a brand new mobility scooter. That was way more interesting to play on than designing a pokémon game. I would race my sister,  who got to ride the scooter first of course by sliding down the hill on a large plant trolly. Of course I shouldn’t have.. because I was bound to gravity so way faster.

I also always had to babysit my tinier nephews because my aunt made me responsible for them even if I did not feel like playing with them.  One time they wanted to play pranks by ringing doorbells with my sister and I did not feel like it so I went inside for a drink. My aunt scolded at me for so long for leaving her child unattended (they had a tiny one of like 3 or four with them) but my sister was 12 and her oldest was like 10 but I somehow ended up being responsible so every time those kids were there.. I would be in trouble if they broke anything or did something bad. It pissed of my mom that she did that but dad seemed fine with it so I couldn’t exclude myself.

It at least ended up with us gradually forgetting about our Pokémon project so it was never fleshed out more. Being in a reminiscing mood lately I just remembered it and figured it was a nice story to share with you. It’s a shame it never became a full world concept but I think we got the basics knocked out pretty well.  Of course grandpa was a bit insulted he was basically a bad guy what wanted to move all animal life and grandma just said we earned a treat for our hard work and good play but still it was really nice to do and something I have only done so once ever since, for my tabletop campaign.. which currently is unhealthy. Who knows maybe one day I will create a concept for my own Pokémon game again. As for now Pokémon Fauna.. has fainted.

I do hope you guys do not mind how I pay tribute this week. It just felt like a sweet thing to do where I give grandpa his own little place here in my safe space. What would you like to see in a pokémon game, what kind of pokémon would you design? Which one of the ones I mentioned is your favorite! Sorry that I am not an artist .. I tried my  best to draw these from my own memory. Even if you are looking at those though.. .Remember..
I am not weird, just very pink
Until we read again.


Top 5: Floral Pokemon

Hey little monsters, I am back! Well sort off! Thursday we have to say our final goodbyes to grandpa and friday the cremation will take place so we might see a missed blog. What blogs I get too before the goodbye I would like to dedicate  in his memory. Back when I was the age of an actual Pokémon Trainer (10) grandpa had this beautiful garden. It was a boomerang shaped garden with the greenest and softest lawn I ever saw and beautiful flower beds. All around the boomerang shaped edge (north side) there was a seven feet earthen soundwall he planted sturdy but beautiful plants on. Dead in the middle, for a large part of my life but changed near the end of them living their,  there was a big waterfall made in the middle of that hill leading up to a body of water where I played with my toys or read some of the amazing books they had hidden in their old timey attic. So today’s topic is in honour of that garden.
Princess Pinkie’s top 5 Floral Pokémon!

Floral Pokémon Number 5: Cherrim

Subjects… first a disclaimer, this isn’t my top five grass Pokémon, this is my top five of flowery pokémon. They fit in the garden theme better and they would be something grandpa would have liked over some of my other picks. He hated owls and leapfrogs so it wouldn’t feel right. This means we aren’t limited to a single type either… but since we are talking about flowers… 80% will be.  My first pick would be Cherrim. The evolution of the pokémon Cherubi is one of my favorite floral Pokémon mostly because it resembles me a lot.

While Cherubi is like the cutest cherry you’ll ever see, not including any strippers you might meet going by that name, Cherrim is a much more complex beasty. It has two forms, it’s overcast form in which it hides it entire body behind some large purplish bell shaped flower petals and its sunshine form. Once the sun comes out Cherrim transforms into a happy little dancing pink creature that wields the power of fire.. sort’s still a regular grass type but it has access to fire. If being pink wasn’t enough for me to identify with it , I am also one who hides her true happy but geeky and childish self from the real world a bit. At conventions and when blogging I put up Sunny Day and can transform into my Sunshine Form. You can see how Cherrim is to finally be itself throughout it’s design and that is a strong concept. The versatility in it’s color scheme is also quite amazing. Starting out as a red orb.. it becomes a purple flower to move into pink blossom with a yellow happy little sunshine face.

It’s a flower fit for a queen…or a princess and Cherrim is definitely something I still want to run on my team on playthrough of a fangame or something special. Speaking about cherries… remember when I told you about that waterfall? There used to be a tree there in my youngest days. One day I would ask what sort of tree it was.. and grandpa tricked me into believing it was a cherry tree. He wanted me to eat some fruit.. and I was very picky he told me it was a very special cherry tree and he just plucked the fruit, while giving me a bowl of cherries. A few visits later when I was nagging to grandma about getting come candy (they had a LOT of candy in a cupboard I found out about) when grandpa came in and this time the tree had given other fruit. Instead of giving me candy he gave me an apple. I was amazed by it and gladly ate the least I assumed…magic apple. He never told me what tree it actually always remained the magic cherry tree. When I knew better, but the tree had to be cut down (it was sick and a risk to the garden or something) and I felt blue  he came in with a big chocolate bar.. telling me i’d never believe what the tree dropped for me right before the end. So a transforming cherry seemed a nice fit on this list.

Floral Pokemon Number 4: Sunkern and Sunflora

Sometimes a princess can fall in love with a pauper and that I did, a few years AFTER Pokémon Gold and Silver actually released. Sunkern is a little seed pokémon that transforms into the jolly sunflower pokémon Sunflora when exposed to a sunstone. Both quite basic in design they aren’t all that special at first sight. Yet Sunkern is actually quite well known in the Pokémon Community. It is known as the weakest pokémon ever, and this is factually true. Sunkern has the lowest stat total of any of all the 920+ monster. Now for balancing reasons you might think that Sunflora must be a beast then? Raising the weakest Pokémon to get the strongest? Nope! Sunflora is the weakest evolution final evolution ever.

This is exactly what endeared me so to it.  When in my early tens playing this game I just saw an average looking pokémon that would not fit on my team, I tried it because I liked Sunkern.. but I could not use it so it ended up in my box without thinking much more of it. Years later when I found out it was so weak I became endeared to it again. Rooting for the underdog and all, but it also became a good metaphor of Pokémon to me.

You start out with a little sprout and need to give it love to make it great. In Sunflora’s case you need a LOT of love to accomplish that.  People oftenly look down on Pokémon and how “weak” it is. ‘Oooh turn based combat is so 1990’s…’ ‘Oooh they use crappy textures the game should look like breath of the wind’. Pokémon is like sunkern and sunflora itself.  Yes there are better functioning games out there, better designed and better looking. Even now that Pokémon has evolved it still falls behind the pack when it comes down to graphics and maybe even gameplay. Like a Sunkern , it will never be NEEDED on your team. You don’t have to have played a Pokémon game to be a gamer, you use  sunkern and play pokémon because you love it. A lot of trainers in the game tell you a true pokémon trainer doesnt just use the strongest pokémon but use the pokémon they want to use and Sunflora has been designed with this very idea in mind, and who can resist that smile.

Floral Pokémon Number 3: Budew Roselia and Roserade.

Probably the most generic top 5 pick you’ll find on this list is the rose Pokémon. Roselia being my absolute favorite of the evolutionary line, but cheers to the baby pokémon budew for all the misery it put me through to train it up.  Budew is a little sprout that can finally blossom into a Rosellia if you befriend it enough and level it up during daylight. To evolve Roselia into Roserade you need to find a Shiny Stone.. one of the rarer stones to find in the Pokémon world. Which encapsulates the idea of growing your own flowers perfectly well.

I can not do it! In dutch we say those who are good with plants have green fingers..well that must mean mine are black with death. I am so bad with plants I even managed to kill plastic ones. I once won some hyacinth with a lottery and decided those would be my babies.. I gave them love and attention plenty of water.. and they grew! So fast! So fast that their heads became too heavy for their stems and they snapped and died. Luckily Pokémon gave me a  evolution-line where I could not mess up (Although Budew fainted a lot) . The difficulty to raise it reminds me of an actual plant so for some weird reason Roselia is the pokémon I identify most as a grass type because it reminds me of how difficult it is.

Roses where grandpa’s favorite gardening project for a very long time, during a time we used to visit them a lot so I saw the process he had to get trough. They had their own little fertilizer and he clipped acces leafs so it would not have to work to feed all those leafs. I was not allowed to play around them. My my little pony ball was banned from entering the rose area and whenever I asked to help with the roses my attention was diverted elsewhere… which in hindsight was good because of my touch of death. It is funny, while giving someone roses is seen as something very romantic , every time we see people depicted taking care of them, they are slightly toxic grumpy folks and this cartoony stereotype I found out to be at least semi true. Which makes it funny that roselia is a grass and poison type to me.  When the designers made Roselia they could have focussed on the romantic aspect of roses, maybe nowadays making it a grass fairy type. Yet instead we got the reflection on how it is to raise the flower, so I have to wonder. Did the designer have a grandpa like mine?

Floral Pokémon Number 2: Floette

A pokemon that is not a grass type? For Shame! Why put it in this list Pinkie? ‘The pokémon technically isn’t even the flower it just holds it’! That is Princess Pinkie to you!  Even though I know Floette is holding a flower it’s never found without how spoink would not make sense without his pearl Floette would not make sense without it’s flower so it is on this list.
Unlike the previous two entries on my list the other two forms are not included. Though cute and fine they aren’t as iconic and symbolic as Floette to me. Flabébé  is the name of the base form and using a Shiny Stone Floette can evolve into florges. Whose “hip’ design I find somewhat disagreeable making Floette a single entry. Floette is just a cute twin tailed fairy like creature clutching tight to one of five possible coloured flowers. Technically six but one is quite obtainable through normal means. 

Being A fairy type Floette can withstand the foe of any dragon. Having quite good special defences (for a mid tier pokémon) and passable special offence it can measure up to quite a few pokémon on this list even more so if you allow it to evolve. This isn’t a list of battle prowess however because Roselia and Roserade would certainly kick their ass. Floette is the ultimate gardner Pokémon.  Often sought out by royalty to landscape their castle gardens.  Which means it’s a perfect one for a princess like me. It is also kind hearted, it protects flowers dearly and wishes to see them grow and bloom. Flabébé it’s prevolution seeks a flower to call it’s own to draw power from, while Florges the evolution recovers its stamina by basking in the plants energy. Floette follows a different path. It bestows the plants with its own energy to  make them grow. Putting in their soul if it were to protect their own flower beds. This is what every true gardner at heart does and what I saw my grandpa do. Even when his body ached he would try to be there for his dear plants…until he got to old and passed it onto a gardner and after grandma passing away moving away so he did not have to worry about those things anymore. Everyone with a passion for their garden can relate to Floette in some way at least. Having their favorite flower and clutching onto them tightly.

Yet Floette ‘s story goes even deeper.  Floette plays a crucial role in the story of Pokémon X & Y teaching us a lesson about accepting death.
In ancient times Kalos was ruled by a king named AZ. His Floette fought in this war which lead to it passing away. Heart broken by his loss AZ created ‘The Ultimate Weapon’ in order to bring Floette back. That process cost the life of so many soldiers and Pokémon of each site that when Floette finally got back it was devastated at the price that was payed to ensure it’s return that it could not accept AZ anymore and it left him. It left AZ to suffer near eternally ever he waited hundreds of years to be reunited with his Pokémon and his attempt nearly led to the extinction of all life because others would abuse the weapon. It teaches us that sometimes letting go and keeping a memory can be better. Like a flower all life is made to bloom and wither in the end. Without the withering we would not be able to appreciate the bloom so there is always a price to pay. So even if we have to sometimes say goodbye and it can hurt like mad, without it.. life would lose it’s dazzling gleam.

Floral Pokemon Number 1:  Bellsprout, Weepinbell Victreebel

By now it should come to no surprise that I pick one of the ugliest flowers in the pokéverse as my favorite flower. I love my underdogs. Bellsprout arguably is one of the most simple pokémon designs that is just a stone thrown away from being a stick figure. It’s evolutionWeepinbell quite dopey looking and victreebel being full on weird.

Unlike all the others there are no deep stories why I like these pokemon so much. My grandfather did not have any carnivorous plants in his yard, nor did he particularly like yellow flowers. We did not bond over me sharing stories about either. There’s only one pokémon my grandpa ever knew by name.. and that might become a blog post itself and it wasn’t any of these.  This line I just love ..just because. I don’t particularly use it very often nor do I have great tales about DingDong the Bellsprout and how I used it in one of my adventures. Yet every time I see a Bellsprout I feel happy. Everytime I hear Weepinbell say it’s name I have this goofy grin that makes the pokemon seem less derpy than me. When James obtained Victreebel in the anime their interaction became something I totally loved and applauded at like a small child. Bellsprouts magnificent performance in the pokémon league or even when Weepinbell is shown during the pokémon rap it was always a little burst of happiness.

I love it when other people use it in nuzlockes or let’s plays, I love it when it showed up in a pokéball in Super Smash Bros and I can’t exactly tell you why. Maybe that’s why my bond with it is so strong, I don’t need anything to like it I just do and always will. Sometimes when I play Pokémon Let’s go I just take a bellsprout out and let it walk next to me …just to see bellsprout walking.. and I can turn on a game just for a brief burst of that. I giggle and turn the game off again and move onto something else.  Battlewise it’s stats are nice enough but nowhere near spectacular.

It’s definitely usable even in some of the harder fangames but it’s not a pokémon that you’ll see in competitive. Aside from bellsprout itself it doesn’t have great shinies either. It’s a pokemon where objectively there is nothing to love about it, yet i love everything about it instead. In fact it’s kinda like a flower, you can’t REALLY use it, you do not gain a direct benefit from having it, it tastes a lot worse than it smells and smells way less strong than people make you believe and usually scary bugs go near it. Yet when we look at them sitting in the grass, being taken into our home or even if we just see a painting of picture of it we can’t help but feel content.

There you have it readers my top five floral pokémon. I hope you had a good read even if backdrop is on account of something sad. I must say I felt happy doing these posts and getting some stuff out. What is your favorite flower Pokémon?  What’s your favorite flower? Or anything else you want to share with me? Let me know in the comments and I will get back to you!
I am not weird, just very pink!
Until we read again.

Notice of Absence

Today 24th of August, I got the unexpected announcement my grandfather has unexpectedly passed. Hospitalised for a minor thing, today he would be discharged when he rapidly deteriorated during care, leading to him passing on. As I write my blogs on the day I post them, I will be unable to keep my regular daily blogging schedule up until at least the to be determined day of the funeral.

I want to be transparent to my readers as to why my content is not releasing and I hope you can all understand.  Though currently unaware of the specifics I may occasionally try a post as a mental distraction, when I am not able to support the family and funeral arrangements. I might not feel up to it however. The loss has come very unexpected and fills me with fear how the already damaged and separated family will respond.  Should the proceedings be as emotionally rough as how it happend when grandma died my absence may vary over a few days beyond the funeral. 

Having somatic stress syndrom myself i project a lot of stress quite physical (and that is quite weak)  so I can not tell you how much or how regular I can keep my posts in the next coming days. Just know I will be back when things have improved.

Until we read again!



Snowy And The Seven Spoink (Finale)

My sweet little monsters it is time to close the book on the brief adventures of Snowy and the seven spoink, today this three part fairy tale will reach its grand conclusion.
If you haven’t embarked on this fun adventure yet you can find part 1 by clicking here. Do you want to brush up on the second part you can do that by clicking here.

Earlier in Snowy and the Seven Spoink

The journey for Snowy has been though. From losing her dear family due to an unfortunate series of events and her being forced to live with her mean stepmother, to that stepmother having her hunted down for having a higher IV and EV level than the queen. Snowy fled into the woods. Where she saw the cutest little cabin, that was very messy inside. It belonged to seven spoink. Named Hardy, Jolly, Hasty, Naughty Sassy Quirky and Lonely. By keeping the house for them Snowy was allowed to stay there with them. Her stepmother found out her huntsman had betrayed her and went to kill snowy herself. Revealing she was actually a Ditto .. related to the former king she transformed into an old man Drampa and tricked Snowy eating a poisonous berry causing her to seemingly die. The spoink realising realising there was something wrong with their pecha berries arrived but a minute too late began to chase the queen.  Transforming into a Spoink herself the queens amazing EV’s allowed her to outspeed them, but Hardy came up with a plan. By tossing their pearls at her they tricked her into ducking..and thus not jumping, which is the only reason why a spoink’s heart keeps pumping, the spoinks now pearl less stare at the queens dead body as the sky weeps for the amazing treasure they had just lost. They make their way back home in silence.

Chapter 9:  An icy funeral

Sassy stroked Snowy’s hair, the female spoink shed big pearly tears as the Alolan Vulpix was lying motionless on her bed. ‘I can’t believe she is truly gone’ she said. ‘We will be so lonely without her smile’ Lonely the lonely natured spoink said while hiding in a corner. Hardy, their leader, shook as he was also crying hard. ‘We… we have to give her the most beautiful funeral… and the most beautiful coffin we have ever seen, tomorrow we will venture higher into the frozen caves and find the most beautiful stone to build her a final resting place from’ All six other piglets agreed.  No one slept that night, everyone kept looking at Snowy and reminiscing stories about how she was able to make them pancakes and how beautiful she looked when she sang. The seven tiny creatures gave up on trying to sleep and gathered around Snowy’s bed one more time as they would sing a song they had learned from a Grookey named Phil a musical monkey who lived in the forests of Collin’s hill.

For one so small
You seemed so strong
We spoink have failed to
keep you safe and warm
This bond between is shan’t be broken
We will be here!
Don’t you cry!

Because you’ll be in our hearts
yes you’ll be in our hearts
With every bounce
Your name will sound at every beat
You’ll be in our hearts
No matter how still we stay!
You’ll be in our hearts

It wasn’t exactly the song the Grookey taught them but they adapted it at least shared a melody. At the crack of dawn they all gave Snowy a kiss on the forehead and moved to towards the ice caves. These were very dangerous to Hardy and his crew because if one of them would slip their hearts would at least skip a beat if they did not suffer the faith of the queen. With the utmost care they moved throughout the cave, well most of them Hasty was kind of rushing and nearly slipped but he was saved by Quirky who was a lot sharper of mind now that he wasn’t performing british sitcom sketches. When deep inside the cave they could suddenly hear a weeping sound, they decided to investigate. The sound let them to a weeping Rotom Dex. ‘What are you doing here?’ Hardy asked. The pokémon looked back and said ‘I was used by a very bad person to do some terrible things..but it was gonna kill me if I didn’t help… I was so scared.’ Hardy looked down,  this little thing reminded him on how Snowy used to tell that her good friend Decidueye was made to betray her .. so he could not help but to feel for the little thing. Then he had a realisation ‘You are a Rotom Pokédex Form right? That means you must know a lot about this world.. do you know any good material to make a coffin off?’ Rotom Dex realised who they had to be talking about, unlike the spoink he very much new what an Alolan Vulpix was, this might be the chance to redeem himself.. but he would have to trick the spoink, which should not be to hard due to their poor eyesight. ‘Yes… I know of an item called Never Melt Ice.. it will make for beautiful coffin.. I am sorry for your loss by the way.’ While the Rotom Dex guided them all the spoink wept. Rotom hovered above an Icy Rock, a very much different item than Nevermeltice but he could not risk the pigs objecting to this, maybe this could work. ‘Use this to make a beautiful coffin and she will remain beautiful forevermore.’ The spoinks nodded and thanked the electrical ghost possessing appliances and took the Icy Rock with them.  They would craft it into a coffin and where getting ready to say their final goodbyes to their dear friend.

Chapter 10: White Light

It drizzled on the days of the actual ceremony Snowy was placed in the icy coffin that was put on a homemade stretcher. The spoink would escort the coffin back to the balance where she belonged, resting her next to her father. Snowy had always told how she loved her father so, even if he was kind of a weird pink blob that did not look anything like her. Jolly wasn’t feeling very jolly today but Naughty tried to lighten the mood by playing a prank. He had oiled up one of the stretchers handles making it all slippery, making the spoink who took it seem as clumsy when trying to lift it. Sassy was the one picking up that end. Hardy and Lonely would take up the other spots.. with Naughty taking the one furthest away from Sassy. ‘One two lift” Hardy said, the for spoinks beginning to lift Sassy’s hands slipped away. Naughty did not really take into account the after effect as  Sassy was the strongest beside him, the stretcher and the coffin slammed on the floor. With a shock the whole thing crashed into the earth. ‘Oh no I am so sorry!’Sassy shouted out, it got really slippery I lost my grip!Hardy Immediately began to straighten things out when he noticed the lid of the coffin had been cracked. ‘Oh no the coffin broke’ he said. Naughty felt his stomach turn, his joke had turned bad. Just as he wanted to confess they all noticed a bright  white light emanating from the crack. ‘What in Arceus name is happening’ Lonely shouted. Moments after he said so the coffin burst apart into a million snowy particles. As the snow descended to the earth they saw a beautiful nine tailed fox standing there, her fur as white as snow still covered in the glow of evolution. A malicious looking piece of oran berry was lying right next to her. 

‘The fall must have knocked out the poisonous berry’  Hardy said his heart racing even if he wasn’t jumping that fast. ‘Could it be? Could you really be Snowy?’  As Hardy asked this he looked up to the sky as he noticed a cold setting in and the purest white snowflakes began to descended  from the heaven. The Alolan Ninetales look at him confused. ‘Of course I am Snowy Hardy..also why do you look so small?’ The Alolan Ninetales had no idea she had evolved by the power of the Icy Rock that Rotom Dex had set up. The Electrical Pokémon had the intent to revive snowy but he did not know if the spoinks would agree on bringing back the dead so he had tricked them into using this evolutionary item. With enough time she would evolve and the poisonous berry would dislodge from her throat. However Naughty’s prank caused the Berry to be knocked out earlier thus triggering her evolution a lot faster.. as she came back from the dead she quickly got stronger around this stone.. thus causing the evolution they now saw before them. ‘Snowy you evolved girlfriend’ Sassy said while trying to snap her stumpy arm. ‘I whaaaaaaaaa” Snowy examined herself and then bucked in excitement.  ‘Wow I really did! I feel amazing…. but wait… I remember… eating something bad and feeling really sick!’ Naughty hopped closer to her and hugged her leg because she was way bigger than them now. The other spoinks followed suit, soon she was hugged by six of them, only Lonely did not move in for the hug. Instead he picked up the poisonous berry and held it up for Snowy to see. ‘ We dropped your coffin… and I think the shock must have made you spit it out… I tried to hold on but it just was to heavy’.
Snowy still a bit shaken just smiled and bend forward and gave Lonely a small kiss on the cheek ‘I think you saved me then Lonely thank you so much’  For a moment the shy spoink went nearly as pink as it’s shiny form. ‘Wait the queen she told me.. she poisoned father the same way… if I came back maybe?’  Suddenly Alolan Ninetales dashed off. The spoinks left behind looked confused and a bit hurt, when Snowy’s head popped back from behind the tree’ she just disappeared behind.  ‘Come on guys we gotta go save my father!’ The seven bouncy pigs smiled and jumped right after her on their way to the castle. 

Chapter 11: Hail to the king

Snowy couldn’t help but giggle.. it felt so funny, like the weirdest massage ever.  Seven spoink were bouncing on her back, she took them for a ride as they were just to slow. Dashing through the woods she would think about her father and how she might be able to bring him back. She could have a family again. When she was nearing the castle she neared the place with the tables where she used to get her food. She was now bigger than those tables and could look on top of them. She saw Decidueye sitting on one on of them talking to a Rotom Dex. They looked at her surprised. ‘Snowy is that you?’ the  decidueye asked. Snowy snarled at the hooded owl ranger and with a threatening tone answered with a question. ‘Did you know my father could still be saved?’ The ranger was so startled he nearly fell of the table ‘Wait what nooo.. the queen told me he had PokéRus. ‘ Snowy barked threatening ‘Lies… she told me you are a like her… you must be in cahoots with her’. The huntsman sighed. Yes I am a Ditto… I was attacked by a decidueye when the queen, now according to Rotom Dex former queen saved me with a Hex attack… I transformed into this form and together we beat him. Indebted to her for saving my life I swore my loyalty to her, I met my wife Xatu shortly after… she never knew I am not really part of her egg group if she ever found out she would leave me, we have a little egg on the way my little Natu.  My child… the queen threatened to tell my secret to my wife if I did not follow orders I am so sorry my queen please forgive me. The huntsman kneeled for her. ‘I am not a queen’ Snowy said.. but I guess I can understand you wanting to protect your wife and child and wanting to be there for them… even if you just transformed you really love them right?’ The ditto in disguise nodded. ‘My heart is filled with love but now I only wish to share it with them’ Snowy smiled weakly. ‘Why have you never turned back though, you could have warned me if pretending to be another Pokémon’ .  Her feathery friend shook his head. ‘I could not .. to transform we need to have an example close’ It was Snowy’s turn to shake her head. ‘No the Queen transformed into a Ninetales and also went back to Ditto.. and she would not transform into Drampa if it meant giving up the kingdom right? ……Wait…. ‘  her breath stopped as her heart raced like crazy at the realisation she just made. ‘Mom’s still alive too’

She rushed towards the castle more eager and determined to save her family than ever. Having arrived at the abandoned the spoinks disembarked Snowy with Decidueye and Rotom following in close pursuit.  ‘I think I know where your mother is’ Rotom said.
Snowy asked the huntsman to retrieve her father’s coffin with Sassy, Hasty and Naughty. She along with Rotom Jolly and Lonely would try to find her mother.  Hardy and Quirky were charged with climbing up the royal Balcony..once the king was placed in there they had to bounce from their on his stomach to knock the poisonous fruit out. Everyone went on to do their part. Snowy was rushed towards the queen’s tower where Rotom told her that the queen would always come back from behind the bookcase transformed.  Snowy used an ice beam attack to break the bookcase down to impatient to be reasonable, she ran down the stairs into the dungeon. ‘Mamma?! Mamma are you there’ she said while moving down the flight of stairs. A weak voice echoed through the room. ‘S-S…, Snowy is that you?’
The alolan ninetales reached the bottom of the stairs staring at the familiar but dishevelled and weighted ninetales in the first jail.’ Mamma!’ Snowy tackled the door at full force knocking it wide open her frosty aura making the bars a lot more frail.  All her nine tails embraced the nine of her mother as she put her head under her mother’s chin.

Mamma! Mamma!’Snowy could not utter more words than that just enjoying her embrace with her long lost parent. Lonely meanwhile broke the shackles holding the former queen with the help of Rotom.  With a squeaky voice Lonely dapperly said ‘ You all go ahead, I will rescue the other prisoners.. you go say hi to your Pappa for me’As Snowy and her mother went up the stairs heading towards the throne room the two looked at each other and smiled. Mother was very weak but she would be alright after eating a little. The moment they came to the throne room they saw the tub holding the king with the lid off as two piglets fell from the ceiling into the goo.. springing up amazingly high as the pink goop was kinda bouncy a piece of berry flew out of the kings mouth as he too began to open his eyes slowly.

Final Chapter : Coronation

‘Oh goodness me, I should not have eaten so many Aguav Berries’ the king said dazed and confused. ‘ Oh Arceus who art in heaven… I believe my recent wife has poisoned me.. where am I? Who are you?’ The king asked while looking at the two Ninetales. ‘Pappa it’s me Snowy.. and it’s Mamma she wasn’t captured by a human but by  Ditto who pretended to be Mamma so they could steal your kingdom.. they made you sick so they could then kill you with a poison’ Ditto scratched it’s blobby head. ‘Snowy is that really you? My love… is it… I thought you were a trainer pokémon now..or that you even were discarded… my advisor told me terrible things’ Mother Ninetales gave the king a head-nudge. ‘That Ditto was a traitor dear.. you have always been trusting but Snowy saved us both we are back together now’ the rightful queen paused for a bit then jokingly said ‘Yet if you ever remarry again while I am still living in this castle your current death will not be the scariest thing you will have experienced’  The king smiled broadly ‘My heart only belongs to you my love it always had.. I only remarried to give Snowy someone to look after her, I am sorry to have caused all this fuss’ Snowy’s tails grabbed her dead in a tight embrace. ‘It’s okay dad, now that you are the king again we can fix everything that went wrong right’. The Ditto shook his head. ‘No dear’ Snowy look confused and scared. ‘What do you mean no? Y-your not going away again a-a-are you?’ The Ditto grinned back sheepishly. ‘No dear…but I died…my title past on.. to you… you are going to be our Queen now… your mother and my time has come and gone and your time has just begun.. the time of Queen snowy’.  Ditto Ninetales Rotom and Decidueye all kneeled in front of Snowy while the spoinks made a bow while still bouncing. ‘I … I….I’ Snowy looked around the room in panic first, but then realised how many friends she had made and how many things she had endured and all the injustice she had seen. Even though she was just an ice-type she felt her mother’s fire burning inside. ‘I will do my best’ she said.

A few days later, her mother and father had made a full recovery. The spoinks had been bestowed with new and even bigger pearls by Prince Ditto and Princess Ninetales. Snowy sat on the throne wearing a red winter cloak while her father approached her with a newly made royal crown. Phil the Grookey had come with a band and they were playing some ceremonial music while guest from all across the country where watching the ceremony. Decidueye was shedding a tear of pride while one of his wings was draped over his wife Xatu whom was holding an egg. ‘I can hear sounds from the inside it must be hatching soon’ she said. ‘OIIIIIIINK I can’t believe my best friend is a royal guard now ..and will be a father soon’ a little Swinub standing next to the other side of Decidueye said. The huntsman grinned to the Swinub  giving him a little bump on the shoulders with his wing. ‘I can hardly believe it myself buddy’ The swinub waited for the Xatu focussed back on the ceremony before softly talking to his best friend in the whole world. ‘Thank you for not stealing my heart like you planned to best friend! I would give you my heart ..but I kinda need it OOOINK’ he then lifted an eyebrow and asked. ‘Whose heart did you take to take to give to the queen then?’ The Decidueye peared straight ahead looking at the ceremony. ‘This is a beautiful day Swinub and a happy one.. so let’s not Jynx it.’ The Decidueye smirked.. grinning at his pun. 

Prince Ditto had finally reached the throne as Snowy bowed so that her father could place the crown on her head. As soon as he did everyone began to cheer loudly and there were three hip hip hurray. Snowy looked up and began a little speech. ‘Dear friends, I stand before you tonight as your queen, but know this I am also one of you. My journey has shown me that everyone has their strengths. If you are naughty.. you might be able to shift the status quo’ she gave the similarly named spoink a smile who blushed and rubbed it’s pearl a bit. ‘If you are hasty you might be ahead of your problems and see things others would have missed’ Hasty hopped enthusiastically as the queen mentioned him ‘Being lonely will learn you to fight for yourself and when you inevitably meet new friends you will already be stronger than most.’ The spoink of this name stood by itself clapping it’s little stubs together at these words before the others spoinks hopped towards him to hug him closely. ‘By being sassy you show you have some backbone and that you half self respect , being quirky you show this world you aren’t afraid to be yourself and by being jolly you can face your troubles with a smile.’ All the spoinks where invited to join the queen as she let them mount her back again, and while giggling at the jumping massage the icy queen finished her speech. Citizens of this kingdom.. always keep in mind to be hardy! Face your adversities instead of running away from them, if you run away from your troubles they will only follow you. These seven friends have thought me these lessons and with them at my side and you as my citizens we can make this kingdom in something greater than our individual values we can even be greater than the values of our efforts. We can be a team!’ A proud mother and faster kissed each other lovingly as their daughters speech conclude, while Decidueye and his wife Xatu began to kiss as well..a tiny crack appeared in their egg.. and preluded by the sound of thunderous clapping they all lived happily ever after.

So ends the story of Snowy And The Seven Spoink, did you enjoy the story? What fairy tale or other story would you like to see next be done in Pokémon style? Leave a like or a comment and remember
I am not weird, just very pink!
Until we read again

Pikachu’s Stolen Evolution

Top of the day to you my dear Watsons! I am back from my escapades as Zubatgirl. Last week’s posts was one of the least liked posts that have been recently made! Princess Pinkie told me that is because I am the least liked Pinkie and that I am boring. I do not wish to believe such poppycock so today we will return to format and get back on the regular cases. Today we investigate the story of the stolen evolution!
The story of Gorochu!

A Neutral Choice

There is no doubt in my mind that everyone in the world knows Pikachu even if you haven’t  played anything of Pokémon, one could not have missed Pikachu… well at least not if you’re reading this blog. I am sure your aunty Trisha from that manor in Higher Upton who has silverware ranked for how fancy her meals are and who collects Hummel-statues  might not have heard of the electric mouse. Pikachu is the official Pokémon mascotte. The electric mouse pokémon is so present throughout the franchise the games might almost have been called Pikamon. Few people know however the story on how Pikachu became the mascotte. An anime was planned to launch alongside the game with a young trainer going on his pokémon journey. However there was a problem, from a marketing stance it would have been unwise to let him choose either Bulbasaur , Charmander or Squirtle.  If Satoshi/Ash chose one of the three people playing the game might have felt they picked the wrong one. So an election was held. Kunihiko Yuyama, the lead for the anime printed out the , not fully official, line up and have a popularity contest.

Pikachu’s original sprite was elected as the most adorable partner for the anime protagonist.  Atsuko Nishida was the woman behind this design says she based the design of the shocking little rodent on a  long Daifuku rice treat with ears.

It resulted in a more plumb looking Pikachu a very fat looking mouse, that nowadays more resembles pika-clones  like Dedenne , Marill and Togedemaru. However thanks to some concerned mothers who feared Pikachu’s fat look might promote childhood obesity and issues like that Pikachu was eventually slimmed down due to peer pressure. An inquiring mind like me can’t help but to wonder. Would Pikachu still have won the election if it started out slimmed and not so adorably plumb?  Maybe they would have elected another Pokémon to be the cutest and we could have had Farfetch’D or Snorlax as our mascotte. We do know that miss Nishida designed is quite different from what Pikachu is now and in 2018 she told us Pikachu wasn’t only meant to evolve into Raichu it was meant to go even further beyond. 

Devilish good looks

Anno 2019 we know this for a fact Pichu->Pikachu->Raichu (or Alolan Raichu)  but in 1995 Atsuko designed it as follows Pikachu->Raichu->Gorochu. The latter would a more devilish design. Witth horns and large fangs it would resemble an electric demon and look somewhat more serious than the other two. This would also be reflected by it’s name. The Pika for example is a certain type of mouse/hare like creature indigenous to most of the northern hemisphere, western europe being the exception.

From the forests and plains of Asia to the Himalayan caves as well as large parts of eastern Europe and North America, much like Pikachu this mouse is everywhere. Pika is also the onomatopoeia (sound-imitation) of a japanese spark… yes sparks sound differently in japan! They make a Pika sound. Rai is japanese for thunder. Gorochu’s name would have been derived from Gorogoro the japanese  onomatopoeia for a threatening rumble in the distance. Though the original design for Gorochu has never leaked, and twenty years after it’s planned release it is unlike that it ever will, yet fans have come up with a few designs of how it might have looked like. Such a handsome devil I must say.


At some point Gorochu was scrapped from the game. Now it’s easy to blame the design. Western mothers are terrified of any religious references let alone the devil. It has lead to many dubismn’s and censors. Stuff like Dark Magician Girl from yu-gi-oh losing her pentagram pendant.

Digimon censored a lot of religious names  mostly in attacks and even completely negated Joe’s budhiman in the first season. Perhaps one of the biggest examples is Kami from Dragon Ball, he is actually meant to be God.. like THE god. Of course that did not fly with some people so that is why we call the green guy Kami to this day. Could Gorochu be the same?  

Ken Sugimori the final artist of Pokémon claims the answer to this question to be no. ‘There weren’t any problems with Gorochu’s design at all, it was removed from the game for balancing reasons’ he said in an interview with Yomiuri. Now this seems a somewhat odd statement to make for a few reasons. First and foremost stats are simply a numeric value which would be very easy to change to rebalance the monster. There are no two stage evolution electric pokémon in gen I  at all so makes it rather unique as well, in fact it may very well be the only typing in the generation that doesn’t have any stage 2 evolutions (not counting the repurposed fairy) the only other typing that didn’t get a stage 2 evolution would be the ice type and those are extremely rare in the game as it is unlike the electrical type. So state wise as well as type wise it would not seem THAT unbalanced at all, at least nothing that is not fixable. Raichu itself does not have to great stats either, though Alolan Raichu is decent , regular Raichu has fallen flat for many years. It’s one of the more lackluster evolution lines so once more excluding Gorochu seems a very odd call when it comes to game design and balancing. Could it be that there actually is some ulterior motive behind these choices? Would Gorochu really be that overpowered it would unbalance and already unbalanced game?  Why come up with such a easy excuse. Even if it was unbalanced it could have been patched in generation II where a few others pokémon got new evolutions as well. Why was it completely omitted?  It is time to come up with some theories!


How would Gorochu evolve is the first question we have to ask us. Would it be by thunderstone and Raichu by level?  No! There is still some dialogue in the game that flat out confirms that Raichu was meant to have a trade evolution. When you arrive on Cinnabar Island there is a laboratory there. Inside that labtratory you can find a trainer, an old man wanting your Raichu and offering an Electrode for it.  Now this is not a trade many people would make because in Gen I Raichu was actually better (nowadays it arguably is not). However should you have traded and talked to the man he tells you that the raichu you traded him went and evolved.

So Gorochu seems to function like a trade evolution and this trade though bad was meant to clue us in on that. With that in mind we can distill a theory that Gorochu was scrapped for being the  fifth trade evolution. It would be a lot easier to have 4 trade evolutions and you can bounce them off each other, with a fifth you’d have to put faith in the other trainer at some point… but this argument doesn’t fully hold up as you can basically trade anyway you want and both can trade the same trade evolution as well, both could trade a Raichu to get Gorochu. But the companies do prefer round numbers so four for trade makes more sense than five A flimsy excuse but an excuse nonetheless.

The official Gen I trade evolutions we coould have had 5!

it is strange however that the line of dialogue made it into the english version of the game. Dataminers never found any artwork for Gorochu as it was scrapped n the japanese version already and the american version came out nearly two years later.  For the dialogue to exist it would mean they deleted Gorochu in the japanese version and making the mistake not to adapt the dialogue, then letting it go unnoticed for two years after which the american production makes the mistake to directly translate it without noticing it either. Not impossible, but in a game with so many secrets and where they are discussed at playgrounds and all.. somewhat unlikely. If we talk about the Mew/Truck why not speak about the secret Pikachu evolution? Could it be the perfect storm of a trade that none one really wanted to make and translators not knowing the game in addition to a oversight from japan? Most likely yes, but could it be that they initially planned for Gorochu to return in the future as well and left the dialogue in as a tease? … they just might have.

Why would Gorochu be that unbalanced? Could he have competed with a pseudo legendary?  Could that be the reason why the anime Pikachu became such a Gary Stue, having access to incredible powers? Was Pikachu meant to evolve and be Ash his way to glory? The story seems to have begun with the idea of an immensely strong Pikachu that got more and more retconned as they went along.  There seem to be some oddities about the way the original story was told, Pikachu got reinvented as the show went on.. he slimmed down, became weaker or less powerful and around the third gym the door to evolution was closed off to us in the anime at least. Could the decision the anime made have led to Gorochu never being reintroduced?

We might never know! One might speculate though that had Pikachu never been fat, we might have had another mascot and Pikachu could have evolved because there would be no need to freeze it in time much like Ash. Maybe they did not want their mascot turning into something quite so evil themed…. maybe if they had implemented it I could have ran the pokémon onto a decent team. As much as I adore Pichu for it’s cuteness, the moment Gorochu was deleted from the game they robbed the line of it’s true potential. Alolan Raichu may have patched it up a bit but we could have had such a great electric type that got snuffed out for some very weird reasons.

What do you feel happend to Gorochu? Why did that beautiful boy have to be cut from the game?  Do you know of other Pokémon that didn’t make the cut you would have liked to have seen become a reality?  Let me know in the comments or leave a like! Onto the next mysterious case and onto new adventures and remember
I am not weird! Just very pink!
Until we read again!

What if Ash Started With Eevee (Part 2)

Hiya my little monsters!  Happy wednesday! Five weeks ago we started this blog, just like four weeks ago Ash started his journey through Kanto again. This time however he did not get a Pikachu, he got a very timid Eevee. We saw Ash struggle with his cowardly Pokémon as both fell in battle against some spearow. Revived by Ho-Oh’s  sacred ash they caught the attention of three onlookers from the sky as Ash held a rainbow feather he found on his person. Accompanied by Misty they decided to head for a Pokémon Center to check out if Eevee is and Ash are alright, even though they don’t seem to have any injuries at all. You can brush up on part 1 by clicking here.

Chapter 6: A Run-In with the law

Ash and Misty are walking towards Viridian City when they hear an announcement through a city wide PA speaker. ‘Attention! A group of mysterious strangers have been spotted. They are allegedly pokémon thieves, everyone be on the look-out for  strangers.’ The message ends when suddenly a dapper looking woman runs towards the group. ‘Hey you Halt’ The woman has shoulder length hair which fans out all across her shoulders, The hair is a rather unique turquoise like colour. Wearing a short skirt police outfit that is mostly indigo coloured with a large cyan triangle shape following her chest line. Donned with Red and golden details the outfit is quite official looking as she looks at Ash and Misty sternly.
“You two what is your business here in the city’ the woman says. Misty takes the lead being a bit more familiar in the environment. ‘My name is Misty Waterflower from Cerulean City and this is Ash Ketchum from Pallet Town, Eevee and Ash got attacked by a group of Spearow and we want to have them checked out at the Center.’  the policewoman frowns. ‘Eevee doesn’t look injured at all nor does that boy..though his clothes are tattered.. please follow me inside the police station for interrogation.. my name is officer Jenny’ Jenny waves the couple to follow her inside a small round building.

While Ash and Misty take a seat Eevee hops onto Ash’s head.  “Why isn’t Eevee inside it’s pokéball? You aren’t those pokémon thieves everyone is talking about would you?’ Ash looks startled and insulted. ‘No I would never steal a pokémon, and Eevee doesn’t want to be in his pokéball’he takes out the pokéball to demonstrate. Eevee flees at the sight of the pokéball, crawling under officer Jenny’s desk looking at her a bit defiantly for causing this traumatic situation.  Jenny chuckles a bit at this warming up to the strangers a bit. ‘Well why are you covered in ash Ash? How are your clothes so damaged but you don’t have a single bruise?’
Ash looks to the floor ‘I don’t know… I felt so much pain… than everything went black.. I thought I was going to die but then I just woke up with this’ Ash shows the officer his rainbow feather who looks intrigued. ‘Well I need to see some ID and then you can be on your way for now!’. Jenny smiles , her years as an officer has shown her to judge characters properly and these two are definitely no criminals, but very weird. ‘I don’t have any ID” Ash says embarrassed. Jenny frowns once more ‘Well.. that’s gonna give some trouble’ From above… they can suddenly hear some laughter as two Pokéballs fall through the little skylight in the police building. A dandy male voice speaks ‘and make it double’ just as the pokéballs burst open. 

Chapter 7: Koffing up!

From  one of the pokeball a small purple rattlesnake , with yellow rattles on its tail and equally yellow eyes. Justb below it’s head it’s purple scales transition into a collar shaped yellow scale, before returning to purple through the rest of the body emerges. Dashing forward it destroys Jenny’s computer and sends her back onto a wall. A female icy voice from above seems to command it. “Ekans Attack’

From the second  pokéball a spherical pokémon appears. Covered with geyser like protrusions that release a mustard coloured gas it’s body is about as purple as the snakes. A big dopey grin rests on it’s large eyes are fixated on Ash. A skull and crossbone on it’s lower body reveal that the mustard coloured gas is most likely poisonous A dandy voice from above confirms this when he shouts “Koffing use Poison Gas’. The orb begins to fill the room with a noxious gas.

‘Everyone outside’ Jenny shouts while finding the way to the exit herself. As they make their way outside  coughing and dazed from the gas they are cut off by two figures sliding down a rope from their balloon. Alongide a cat Pokémon. They begin to do some sort of rhyme.

To protect the world from devastation

To unite the people within our nation

To Denounce the evils of truth and love.

To extend our reach to the stars above



Team Rocket blasts off at the speed of light!

Surrender now or begin to fight

Meowth! That’s right!

‘So you are the Pokémon Thieves’ Jenny says. “Meowth That’s Right’ is her answer. The man who introduced himself as James looks at Ash and Eevee. ‘We have come for that boys Eevee and that mysterious item that made them rise from the dead’ ‘We died?” Ash asks. ‘Meowth! That’s Right’ would once more be the answer. ‘Well I am not handing you my Eevee’ Ash says while stepping in front of his pokémon. The crimson haired woman laughs  and says ‘We do not expect you to give it to use twerp so we will just take it instead’ Her white short top features the letter R quite prominently as she waves her black gloved hand towards the boy and commands her Ekans to attack him. Jenny wanting to intervene is cut off by another cloud of poison gas. The man commanding the koffing wears a white overall with the same letter R. His hair is shoulder length and the most glossy and soft you have ever seen. It’s tinted in a purplish blue. As Ash flinches in front of Eevee the little pokémon runs between it’s owners legs and tackles the Ekans keeping it away from Ash.  James immediately sends Koffing in with another cloud of poisonous smoke enveloping the pair. Ash and Eevee begins coughing as their sight is blurring. They would have to finish this fight fast! 

Chapter 8: Phone Home

With Ash and Eevee struggling for breath they were saved by the young tomboyish companion that had escorted them into town ‘Staryu..blow that smoke away using your rapid spin’’ Misty skilfully commanded her brownish sea star pokémon donned with a red gem in the middle. set in a golden ornate circle. The Starfish began to rapidly spin around creating a big gust of wind that send back the noxious clouds to the two criminals and their pokémon. Jenny who was quick on her feet used this moment  call for her growlithe. An adorable yet intimidating fire tiger dog. ‘Growlithe ignite that gas with your ember’ The orange pup obeyed and fired a little bolt of fire towards Koffing smoke which ignited and caused a large explosion blasting the criminals away from them.. as well as making them hit the wall of the police station. When the smoke cleared, the criminals were gone.. shouting from their balloon in the sky. ‘We will get that revived Eevee and that item the next time.. just you wait’ Then their ballon ruptured making Team Rocket fly away. 

‘Is everyone okay’ Jenny asked while checking around. ‘Yes we are unharmed’ Ash said with Eevee sitting on his head again. ‘Staryu and I are fine as well’ Misty added.  Jenny looking at the boy and his eevee scratched her head. ‘What did they mean when they said you had risen from the dead’ Jenny asks Ash. ‘I do not know Officer Jenny I just woke up covered in ash and with this feather in my hair’ the ten year old boy showed the rainbow feather again. A silence descended across the group with  this mystery. Had Ash and Eevee indeed died Ash knew those criminals were speaking the truth somehow, he remembered his life slipping away when those spearows attacked but he was too scared to admit it. Maybe he was a zombie?
Maybe he was a vampire?

A bonk on the head brought him back to the real world. Ash I asked , could you not call the professor that send you  on your journey for advise’ Misty said while twisting her knuckles on his cranium. “Ooouucch, y–y-eah I can ask.. please stop that’ Ash said while making the call using a payphone Jenny guided him too.  The phones here having pictures displayed the greyed pokémon professor. “Ah Ash I was just about to call you… or try to see if you have arrived in the Pokémon center with all the other trainers having arrived hours ago I began to worry’  Ash, kinda upset he was last, frowned. ‘You were really worried about me?’ he asked. Samuel Oak nodded. ‘I bet my grandson 1 million poké that you would arrive before the end of the day with at least one pokémon’.  Gary said you’d probably arrive dead and without any pokémon caught. Ash stomach twisted. ‘Well professor I got something to tell you’. Oak took the following conversation really well for someone who just lost a million especially when Ash showed him the feather.

Chapter 9:  Sacred Secrets
‘Magnificent, A pokémon  with the power to revive the dead? First hand experience? You must allow me to examine you two. I shall not ask you to come back.. don’t be afraid… why don’t we meet at the Pewter city museum, they have a lot of scientific tools I could use and we might shed some light on what pokémon this could be with their historians as well .. . oh and Ash.. do not tell Delia you died, she would try to make you come home, but you my boy have discovered something truly amazing, I mean you are the first trainer ever to die on route one… but to return from the dead is something truly spectacular’  Professor Oak sounded giddy and excited, not even noticing he hurt Ash’s feelings by mentioning how he died on route 1. However Ash sat through this , he wanted to know what happened himself. Even with all the events of the day he felt energetic and eager to set out. ‘Oh Ash I will send you some money for a new outfit.. don’t clean this one of any further I want samples from that strange dust, replace your clothes.. the girl can help you please let Officer Jenny seal your old clothes in an evidence bag.’ After a bit of smalltalk the phone call concluded with Misty seeming very eager to go shop. ‘Come on Ash it will be fun! It’s kinda like a date when you think about it?!’ Ash blushed a bit for  ‘I- I don’t date girls I am going to be a Pokémon Master’ he retorted much to Misty’s bemusement.

‘I was only kidding but come one it will be fun and your old clothes are ruined anyway so we might as well!’ Ash looked at his clothes who were more rags than anything else right now and nodded. He could not face his mother’s phone call like this so he would have to shop anyway. Misty, Ash and Eevee thanked Jenny and left while Jenny sealed the old outfit away. Ash still had some spare pants and shirts but his cap and jacket were gone. As the three explored the mall in Viridian City Misty spotted a new outfit for ash. A crimson/red jacket with a matching cap with a white arch on the top of the headwear.  Using the money that was left they also bought him a slightly larger backpack.. yellow instead of the green one. ‘This is a much more slimming look’ Misty smiled at Ash and took a selfie with her new project in the background.

‘Say how about I help you and your Pokémon get through the forest and to pewter city? ‘ she asked with a slight blush when the evening was nearing its end. ‘I have to go that way myself anyway and with those horrible criminals after you and your poor pokémon skills you could use someone who is actually capable. ‘ Misty said this half jokingly half seriously concerned about Ssh his Pokémon and boy himself as well. He had a good heart but was wildly incompetent. Ash objected against being called weak. ‘I know you are not weak Ash but you know very little of Pokémon and with two criminals after you.. including three Pokémon, you’d always be outnumbered. You may be a very important person now and I can not allow you to fall into the hands of those criminals’ Misty said. “Now how about we get some ice cream and head to the pokémon center to rest for the night?’ Misty proposed. ‘We can sleep in Pokémon Centers?’ Ash asked.  See this is why you need me… treat me to an icecream and I will be your mentor on this journey’ the orange headed girl spoke with a lot of pride in her voice. Ash considered his options for a moment before agreeing.  Ordering three cups of ice, handing Misty one, as well as one for Eevee and himself. Quite hungry they all dug in to the sweet delight. Misty made a whiney sound as she grabbed her head. ‘Uuurgh Brainfreeze. As he looked to his new companion grab her head in pain, seeing Eevee devour it’s ice cream and seeing his own half eaten cup he realised something was off. Even though he was eating faster than Misty he did not feel any effect at all. Neither did Eevee.

And with their day coming to a close we will leave this story once. Next week our heroes will travel through Viridian Forest where Ash will begin his real training as a Pokémon trainer. What did the revival do to Ash though.. what is happening to him?  Eevee clearly being weaker than Pikachu is already coming into play, with Misty taking a much more capable role revealing her talents early, how will Ash grow? Find out in the next installments!. if you have a suggestion for a what if let me know in the comments. What do you think will happen in Viridian Forest? Leave a like or a comment and remember!
I am not weird! Just very pink!
Until we read again.


Top 5: Games to start your Pokémon adventure with.

Subjects, it has come to my attention  that a great many of you never really played Pokémon! I should have you flogged and put in the dungeons! I’d rather use the dungeons for my afternoon naps though. Quite cool and not a lot of light equals quality napping and this princess needs her beauty sleep! So instead I will spend the time until said nap to inform you how to get into Pokémon, what game can you best start with! So prepare yourselves for a wonderful journey across some amazing games in the radiant presence of yours truly.

Starting Point number 5 : Pokémon Let’s Go Eevee and Pikachu.

The game that was designed to get more people into pokémon is indeed in my top 5 but barely so! Some might find this controversial but I do not care about those feelings! Iamwright, my Aipom agrees with me.  In let’s go you control a trainer of a new generation. Living in Pallet Town in the Kanto region , you’ll soon catch a super special Eevee or Pikachu to travel with on a journey to get 8 gym badges to challenge the championship known as the Pokémon League. Meanwhile you stumble onto the evil Team Rocket who is trying to capture the ultimate Pokémon. Featuring only 153 pokémon to collect this is definitely one of the least daunting games on this list.  However this one is this low on the list because it enforces a lot of the stereotypes about Pokémon, nor does it truly reflect what it’s like to play a main line game.  This game feels very mechanical and somewhat arcade like. Chaining together catch combo’s of 30+ to gain levels and shiny chances reduces the impact of a capture quite a bit.

It is super streamlined and sleek but the capture and improvement system is so slimmed down that it will result in the main games feeling odd. Now don’t get me wrong this is a fair choice to make if you do not want to be overwhelmed..but let’s be honest if you are reading this you have most likely past the age of 10 a decade or so ago at least. So we can handle a bit of depth. Lets go isn’t deep at all, it is a very shallow dive into Pokémon but a very charming one. Seeing your partner Pokémon interact and react to you is nice.

Dressing it up in a matching outfit to you has its charm as well. Eevee and Pikachu really shine as your partners..but they do shine a bit too much.  They are infinitely powerful and get all sorts of moves they normally would not get. Pikachu gets a lot of weakness covering attacks and can breeze by every gym by himself. Eevee gets attacks of each and every one of it’s Eeveelutions ..and those moves are brokenly OP. With Kiddy names like Glitzy Glow and Bouncy Bubble and Zippy Zap it’s not that surprising people stereotype it as a kids only game. In truth it really isn’t. The game is a great trip down memory lane, it’s sweet and charming..but if you really want to know what Pokémon is about .. this is not it. If you are looking for some low brow , quick to finish Pokémon fun where you can catch them all in about a week or so, this IS the game for you.

Starting Point number 4: Pokémon Red and Blue

Available both digitally as well on the original cartridge the first games would be an obvious plays to start. Sharing the exact same story as Let’s Go.. with the twist that you can actually pick three starters it the form of Bulbasaur Charmander and Squirtle. In this game you have to work yo catch them all and you aren’t  hoarding a million and one captures you have to train (or glitch) them all up the hard way, catching them is harder and getting them all is more rewarding on it’s own. However nostalgia tends to blind people and in truth, the originals could be a bit of a broken mess. Special Defence and Offence weren’t split yet, abilities and held items were not a thing and the Ai and a lot of the NPC things were quite busted. It isn’t that hard to break this game and create infinite loops , glitch your game into forcing a hard reset and others things.

Now these can have their charms and contribute to the retro feeling, but this isnt a list about the most fun to play Pokémon games. It’s a list on where best to start. For the dedicated completionist who haven’t tried this yet , but t I doubt there are any of those. here, this would be the place to start. If you want to do anything in chronological order this would be the place to start as well. Gold and Silver would be the best classic game to start , in truth were it not for one thing I had to mark it down for. They break. Gold and Silver cartridges can become unplayable because the internal battery can dry, the game will not start if this is the case.  Pokémon Crystal is on digital marketplaces but do NOT buy Gold or Silver original cartridges it could get you into a lot of trouble.

Red and Blue however are safe to buy regardless of what media you buy it on, going back waaay to the beginning you will miss out on a few new types but you get a mostly enjoyable experience that was improved upon for next generations. I only recommend this one if you really want to start at the beginning! I do however think that starting at the beginning is very natural for a lot of people so that’s why this one takes the number 4 spot. Be warned though, unlike every other game of this  list, this one has 0 post game. Well… there’s one thing.

Starting Point number 3: Pokémon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire (ORAS)

This one would be my ‘The Empires Strikes Back’ of the Pokémon franchise. The holy grail and shining beacon of the franchise. One of the best Pokémon games ever in quite possibly the best region. To me only trumped by Heart Gold. With the remake taking part in the 6th generation you have every typing available and you even have access to new features like Mega-Evolution which..for now.. is an important element in the games after. The story takes you through the Hoenn region as the child of a gym leader you want to make your father proud. Once you hear the cries of professor Birch and help him out, you get that chance by going on a journey with your newly acquired friend Mudkip, Torchic or Treecko, one of the best starter sets throughout the series.  Hoenn is plagued by two criminal teams. Team Magma and Team Aqua, who want to use ancient creatures to reshape the earth. Team Magma wants more land and Team Aqua wants more water. You quickly find out that both these options will not do the world any favors and have to stop these teams from creating a cataclysmic event.

The game has a great journey from receiving your starter to claiming the title, quite possibly the best elements in every pokémon game are present (though I miss trainer customisation in this one..that’s more because I just love outfit stuff). It has an amazing post game story revolving around a meteor coming to end the earth. We have Wally, who takes  the number 1 spot in my favorite pokémon battles. (ORAS holds the entire top 3) The music is spectacular. As a special character in this remake we have Zinnia. The Dragon Type trainer who named her Whismur after her deceased daughter.

ORAS shows Pokémon can be both cute but also can be a bit more serious and has a great diverse set of Pokémon. This would have taken the number one spot of it didn’t skip over some important game elements. The game little in terms of explaining HM’s , Mega-evolutions and some other elements.  It’s not THAT hard to figure out as you are given some clues but you can tell this was designed as a bit of a follow up game. Definitely the best game in the series so far but less user friendly than number one and two.

Starting Point Number 2:  Pokémon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon (USUM)

This one might be a bit of an odd pick for a number two spot , because this isnt exactly the most beloved game. However all gripes with the game come on how similar it was to the regular Sun and Moon and if we are talking about a great place to start, you wouldn’t have played those.. so that argument is invalid.  USUM has a much more epic conclusion, better post game content and more pokémon so I do not see a point in recommending the originals over it. In this game you play the nephew or niece of professor Kukui, Pokémon professor of the much more traditional Alola region. As you came from Kanto you inspire KuKui to host the Pokémon League for the first time ever, but trainers would have to prove their worth by taking on the island challenge, which consists of a series of trials followed by battling the four Kahuna’s of the Alolain isles. Meanwhile you stumble upon a mysterious young girl named Lillie who is fleeing from something.  She carries a mysterious smoke cloud pokémon she named Nebby..which doesn’t like to stay in it’s bag around and all you know her pursuers want Nebby for some reason or another. While you travel you discover there are.. for the lack of a better description, eldritch abominations dwelling in a realm named Ultra Space. These so called Ultra Beasts are different from Pokémon and you will have to stop the evil that is trying to bring them into Alola, but that is not all from Ultra Space comes a group of people saying that there is an even bigger threat in this timeline as they warn you for Ultra Necrozma which has the power to devastate the world. 

This game by far is the most cinematic one. Lot’s of dramatic scenes which leads to tons of character development. The journey we see Lillie take as well as the roles we see your rivals named Hau and Gladion fulfill are all top of the bill. Rarely has a Pokémon game felt this alive. The second time you play through you’ll be annoyed as frizzlesticks because of all the cutscenes.. but again.. that doesn’t hurt it’s spot on THIS list

The trials and fights against totem beasts are a bit easier to get into than the classical gym battles and offer some nice variation, the lack of Hidden Machines or HM moves allow to get more creative when teambuilding, trainer customisation is neat.. but a lot better for a female trainer (but Ultra improved options for boys as well compared to regular sun and moon). The setting is very comfy to play around in as well, an adventure on subtropical islands is more compelling than seeing a reimagination of a very specific japanese region.

. This game is this high on the list because it does an excellent job on explaining mechanics. It also hands new players some proper tools to deduce which types are effective against other types. It will display which moves are super effective or are not very effective against a type. Not from the get go however, you have to discover it by trying stuff out against certain types or dual types. Once more featuring great music, fun new mechanics and a lot of support for the player this game will be THE game to pick up if you want to get into Pokémon right now and if you like to follow a narrative.  It also will display symbols on maps where you need to go so unlike the other games you will never really get lost if you miss over some dialogue It also offers you a fair bit of challenge with the Rainbow Rocket challenges or the Ultra Necrozma fight for example. It will show of most villains throughout the show and overall is a very good choice to start with.. 

Starting Point Number 1: Pokémon Sword and Shield

Now my loyal subjects , I know it is weird to recommend a game that hasn’t event come out yet but here me out on this one. Sword and Shield has a lot going for it already to be a great starter game.  First of all is the whole Dexit controversy, the region based on Britain will not have the full Pokédex and people are going mad over it. However it will have a fair chunk. However this is exactly why it will be a great starting point. You can collect around 500 to 600 pokémon rather than a daunting 1000 or so. What’s more , the new game will feature raids meaning you can play alongside friends who can help you get better and get better pokémon.  The Job system will make it easier to EV train, the lack of HM’s will give you the ability to run a team in the way you want too. Battling will be held in tiers meaning you might even be able to enjoy a bit of the competitive side without being forced to spend a million hours on breeding.

Max Raids , which once more you do tackle with friends, offer pokémon with better natures and abilities already so it won’t be too hard to actually learn. The biggest reason I put it on this spot is actually how much of the game will change. Mega Evolution is gone, enter dynamax and gigantamax. Z-moves are no longer a thing but are replaced by Max Moves. We don’t know much about the story yet but it seems to be quite deep, with several rivals and an evil team that doesn’t seem THAT evil implying there surely is more evil lurking somewhere else.  The rules of Pokémon are changing quite a lot as it would seem in this game with new options to play with and against others players it’s the perfect moment to learn alongside the veterans or show your skills against other rookies.

Being released on switch which doubles a home console and handheld only makes this easier. The displayed effectiveness of attacks makes it return as well as well as new cleaner menus being easier to manage. On the 15th of november we are entering a new phase of pokémon and you can be part of those pioneers which discover Galar… this time we can explore together……sortoff!

Of course these are only the main titles, there still is plenty other content to explore, such as the mystery dungeon series, the pokémon ranger games and even the Nobunaga inspired Pokémon Conquest. You can play Pokémon Puzzle League or Brawl it out in Pokken. Just as easy, potentially just as fun. Regardless of your preferred genre there more than likely is a Pokémon game out there for you as well.  Though there isn’t a pokémon financial sim just yet.  Let me know what type of Pokémon game you would like to play..or which game you would recommend to a starting adult or just write something nice in the comments and remember.
I am not weird! Just very pink!
Until we read again.

Time for a dungeon nap!

Pink-Poké-News Week 33: World Championships Edition

Hey little monsters, welcome back again, due to sunday special today we bring you the Pink-Poké-News! Over the course of the past weekend the Nintendo World Championships 2019 took place in Washington DC. People competed to be the very best like no one ever was not one but THREE! separate games.  With up to three divisions for each game. Pokken (the Pokémon fighter game) Pokémon Trading Card game and Pokémon VGC all have new champions. This stage where titans clashed was a great source for news as well. This is Pink-Poké-News!

And the winners are?

First of all we at Pink-Poké-News would like to thank everyone participating and attending these venues. You keep our community strong and and alive. You are our backbone and our trainer. For those who do not know the Pokémon World Championships are an invite only tournament for those who have gathered enough points. These points you can gather by participating at other official tournaments and getting higher rankings in those.  So this tournament really pits the best against each other.
Generally each tournament has three divisions Junior for those of twelve and below, senior trainers are of the ages of 13 to 15 and master trainers at the age of 16 and above. Regardless of their division and age champions of the trading card game will take home a price of $25,000 dollars, winners of the VGC (video game championship.. or main game)  will take a $10,000 dollar and the winners at Pokken take home a $6000 dollar price.
Quite a difference when we compare it to Fortnite paying  3 million for the winners. But for those interested here a brief summary of the winners.

Trading Card Game Winners:
Juniors Division: Haruki Miyamoto from Japan
Seniors Division:  Kaya Lichtleitner from Germany
Masters Division: Henry Brand from Australia

As Pink-Poké-News prides itself in being the least objective news search we would like to say that seeing Kaya win her final match was the best moment of the TCG for us. Kaya placed second last year and it is great to see a strong european and female presence at the top of the crop. Thank you Kaya! And congratulations to all winners of course.

Video Game Championship Winners
Juniors Division:Pi Wu from Taiwan
Seniors Division:  Ko Tsukide from Japan
Masters Division: Naoto Mizobunchi from Japan

VGC is a format that features two on two fights which doesn’t which means it’s quite a different.. and kind of trickier format than your standard one v one battles. So you still have ways to defeat these champions. Naoto was interviewed at the end. Not very high on charisma but he managed to charm this reporter and the public when he was asked. “Who would you like to thank?’ Naoto without a moment of thought looked at the reporter and said (trough translator) ‘Noone it was really just me’

Pokken Tournament DX  Winners:
Seniors Division: Ashgreninja1
Masters Division: Subatan

The news crew over at Pink-Poké-News is less into competitive d fighting games than they are into 2d fighting games. The zoning and trapping just doesnt gel to well. It was nice to see Ash take the stage and thanking the community for making tournaments like these possible though.
As for the game itself, personally I find a bit too much meta to have snuck in so let’s hope that next year we really see someone push the envelope there. Once more congrats to all winners and giving us pokéfans such an amazing weekend!

The Arrival of V

With Sword and Shield coming to your Switch, it will also come to your decks very soon. The Pokémon TCG has announced that their game is eVolving.  After the Team-Up cards we are getting new mysterious V cards. Little is known but they will function like a GX or classic EX card. If your V card is knocked out your opponent gets  two prize cards. In the trailer we see a card shrouded in darkness with 330 hp. The average these days would be around 250, back when the reporter used to play this was about 180, with our deck hero only having 90 hp. We see a Zacian have an attack called brave blade, an attack that deals 230 damage with the downside it can’t attack next turn. Zamazenta has the attack Assault tackle which forces the opponent to discard special energy. Unfortunately energy cost has not been revealed yet so we can not  deduce their typings yet. Based on the spacing between the edge and the name.. of the move and the card edges it would however seem they have a fairly high energy cost. Though not much is revealed it seems that V cards are going to have just a single attack and a “bigger ability” however this has yet to be confirmed. It will be interesting to see what V cards will actually bring to the table.

Competitive Sword and Shield

Pokémon also released  a new trailer for Sword and Shield. No new Pokémon or story elements were described but catering to their demographic Nintendo offered a trailer that wet the appetites of competitive battlers, with some new modes, abilities and items it was a very solid , well thought out trailer that will show us the changes in the competitive metagame. Ladies and gentle people Nintendo is actually listening.   

The unstoppable Dynamax
A few new mechanics about Dynamax were revealed in the new trailer that can leave a definite impact on the battle ground. All max moves have a secondary effect that is the same regardless of what base move it replaces. The Max Grass attack for example will set up Grassy Terrain, while Max Flying will have the same effect as defog and remove hazards. The Max Ice move will set up hail. This in itself will make Dynamax much more fluent  and balanced than Mega-Evolution or Z-moves. The focus is back to controlling the battle momentum by having a team. In most recent games you build your team around a Mega-Evolution and have a strong meta in your way to play. Since every pokémon can Dynamax without an item, you can pick the way your team flows. Will you use Dynamax to set up the Rain for speed and power or will you negate the opponent’s strategy by dynamaxing your flying pokemon. Pokémon is becoming so much more than a single mon’s game again which is super exciting. Dyanmaxxed Pokémon won’t be able to flinch and will (partially)  be able to attack through a protect, making the moment you Dynamax absolutely crucial in battle. It lasting only three turns means being smart about this is an absolute must.

New Items
We have also heard about two new held items which both are something quite amazing.
Room Service will be a super fun item to use for people using a trick room team.  In Pokémon who goes first is determined by who has the highest speed. However the move Trick Room makes it so that the slower Pokémon go first. It’s a tactic that is often used by the more bulky/defensive playstyle pokémon, that can turn the tide of battle.  However it is very hard to build an entire team that functions in Trick Room, however Room Service is an item that will reduce your pokémon speed by one stage (from 0 to -1 means your stat is 0.66 of it’s original) allowing a lot more monsters to be viable in the twisted dimensions. Giving new depth to the game. 
Eject Pack: The Eject Pack will be a consumable item which switches the user out once it’s stats are lowered. Switching out a Pokémon resets their stat changes to 0 (0 means 100% regular stats) In Pokémon there are a lot of moves that deal massage damage with the trade of of lowering your stats, this item will let you switch them out for free (once per battle) This on itself would be great but it basicly alters moves like Draco meteor or Super Power, into extreme switch moves like U-Turn or Volt Switch (Moves used to deal damage while switching Pokémon.. opposed to hard switching which consumes your turn) .  Since the item also pops when your opponent lowers your stats as well it can become a bit of a double edged sword where the item becomes wastable.. just adding more excitement and giving your opponents possible counters.

New Abiltiies
Mirror Armor is one of the two new abilities that has been released.. and like everything that was announced it is awesome. It reflects any stat lowering effect your opponent uses on you.. back to the one triggering it. Corviknight is currently the only pokémon known to receive this ability but as he is going to be a tank pokémon this ability suits him greatly. If your opponent has a  pokémon with the ability intimidate (lowers attack modifier with 1 stage) Corviknight will make sure that ability is reflected back to the user itself. Most intimidate users are physical attackers themselves so this ability could be a game changer.
Neutralising Gas however is the ability that is shown in memes. Galarian Weezings ability negates ALL other pokémon effect that are on the field.  The impact on the game is huge. Not only can you mess up your opponent nicely, you can also use this to remove bad traits on your Pokémon. I could remove defeatist from my beloved Archeops, you can run Slaking without Truant and you can retrigger field effects by swapping Weezing in and out next to a weather pokémon to retrigger the weather. You can trigger intimidate multiple times and so much more. Hats off to you Galarian Weezing you really are amazing.

Ranking system
Competitive battling will finally have a decent matchmaking system by giving you access to tiered ranks. Named Pokéball Great Ball Ultra Ball and Master rank. It will make battling quite a bit more fun for people like me and maybe you who on occasion like a battle but don’t commit to breeding the perfect little monsters. This Battle Stadium mode will also allow you to participate in friendlier battles where everything goes like legendaries and certain move combinations. Ranked mode will of course be a bit more strict and level the playing field with updating rules to keep it balanced.  We know too little to go deeper to go speculating and call it good yet but should they do this properly this reporter and her alternate personalities might dabble with competitive. 

Mobile game news

Pokémon Go and Pokémon Master news will be combined in this one given that they both only had just a titbit of new information. Pokémon Masters has passed a mark of having 5 million pre registered users showing us the game will at least be quite healthy before it even starts. Plenty of countries don’t have the pre-registration as well as a lot of people won’t bother and just will go for it upon release. We think it’s a great sign that so many people are taking interest in this mobile game, the developers seem to have put a lot of love and attention in this game and it’s nice to see people of the Pokémon community are at least able to somewhat drop the stigma surrounding mobile games. Just because it’s a different form of gaming that focus on other forms of payment doesn’t make it bad and soulless.

Pokémon Go had some exciting news. On the 23rd of august there will be a water festival event during which we can catch a lot of aquatic pokémon and are able to hunt for shiny barboach and carvanha. A fun way to fill up some of your box spots. However don’t go to wild because it looks like you are going to need your space soon. The goals of Pokémon Go fest Yokohama have been reached which means all players will get the so called Ultra  Unlock Bonus. Least year it resulted in regionals being in eggs, this year we get something else.
-Unusual Pokémon will be appearing in the wild during this week.
-Noteworthy opponents are coming to raids, too.
-Over the course of the event, you may also be able to add some Pokémon to your Kanto Pokédex that previously eluded you in your part of the world.
-Venture out to take on challenges and make discoveries.
-As always, happy exploring, Trainers!
These five bullet marks read down Unova the fifth Pokémon region that is the next in line to be implemented in Go It looks like soon we can finally expand our collection again! Maybe this reporter can find her spark for the game back that way.

Pinkie’s Pokémon joins OWLS

Those who have visited my website rather than my reader recently may have already noticed. This Blogger has joined OWLS. OWLS is an acronym for Otaku Warriors for Liberty and Self-respect.  A group of bloggers dedicated to promoting individuality without having to conform to stereotypes. To give people who are different a community where they are the same as well. No matter the colour of skin, sexual preference or what way you identify you are an Otaku or part of a fandom, someone that can enjoy the same stuff we all like. To me being a part of OWLS feels quite amazing. I am a part of the LGBT+ society myself and I have seen the embracing power of the geek/otaku community first hand.  Being part of OWLS feels like sharing that warm welcoming blanket I received.
Having joined the group will mean I shall partake in their blog tours from the next month on , meaning you will quite possibly see some non (fully) pokémon content for me. Though I will try to keep a Pokémon theme where possible but you can expect some fresh posts from me in the future. Besides the blog tour I would like to do my own little OWLish thing called OtakUnite.  A post I will make fusing my beloved pokémon fandom with the fandom of one of the people commenting on the post.
What I do with it will remain a surprise until the post launches! All you have to do is make a suggestion! So who wants to do a fusion dance with me?  Who wants their fandom spliced with mine and prove we aren’t that different and all?!

Let’s united my fellow Otaku? Let me know what show you want me to connect with Pokémon for the first OtakUinited post and who knows your suggestion might get picked! United we can create some amazing things.
I am not weird! Just very pink!
Until we read again.

A Sunny Sunday: The Sunshine Blogger Award



Question number one is…..!







What is your favorite thing to do during summer?








Have you been reading anything lately?


Tell us about your favourite film







Selector Infected Wixoss.


The Nominees!



The Rules


The Questions


Remember little monsters
I am not weird just very pink!
Until we read again.