Anonymous asks:

Isn’t Corrosion such a neat ability?

It certainly is!  Odd that it belongs to Salandit and Salazzle, though; thematically it seems like it should go with a Pokémon like Grimer who has a toxic or corrosive body, whereas functionally it doesn’t seem to make a lot of sense on a Pokémon like Salazzle who seems to be very much more offence than support, from what I can tell so far.

chels202 asks:

What are your thoughts on the topic of man-made Pokémon?

What about them, exactly?

I think they’re an interesting thing to have.  There’s an obvious moral dimension to the creation of new living things, or to repurposing created life thousands of years later as we do with ancient Pokémon that may be artificial like Sigilyph and Golett – let alone whatever Spiritomb is.  Ecologically they’re curious since you wouldn’t expect an artificial life form to fit neatly into any preexisting ecosystem, although for some of them, like Grimer (if we can consider Grimer “man-made”; it is a byproduct of human civilisation, at any rate) there is a ready-made niche for them to fill as a result of the circumstances of their creation.  The technological level that must go into creating Pokémon – even by accident, as might have happened in Voltorb’s case – is interesting to think about, particularly in terms of whether the ancient ones were created by “technology” as we understand it or by some mystical practice.  And equally curious are the Pokémon who aren’t explicitly artificial but look like they should be, like Klink and Magneton – what’s their relationship with human science and engineering?  There’s a lot of different directions you could potentially go with them.

VikingBoyBilly asks:

Are there any unevolved pokémon that are so adorable you just don’t want to evolve it? My list is magby, teddiursa, munchlax, tirtouga, and phantump. (I am DETERMINED to make a kickass eviolite phantump. BTW, do you think phantump is a Tiyanak (Also see wikipedia)? Pretty disjointed comment but I can kill multiple questions in one stone with this)

Hmm.  Well, nothing really jumps to the forefront of my mind… I’m scrolling down Smogon’s Little Cup tier list (that being the only place I could think of that just lists all the unevolved Pokémon) looking for possibilities but I’m having difficulty.  I mean, I like the cute ones, don’t get me wrong, but in most cases I find that that’s outweighed by the sense of realisation of potential that comes with evolution.  I’m half with you on Magby, I suppose, in the sense that I do like Magmar but Magmortar looks pretty stupid.  Perhaps Glameow a little, because Purugly is just so grumpy and surly-looking.  Koffing, definitely, because it’s a shame that Koffing is so happy and Weezing so… lung-cancer-y.  Patrat, I guess, insofar as Watchog is that much more unspeakably nightmarish.  And… Ralts, but only to spare her from the ravages of Rule 34.  The internet is a dark and terrible place.

Regarding the tiyanak… hmm.  Well, the biggest objection I can see is that tiyanak normally do look like children.  In the absence of any strong, specific tip-off that this is what they mean (e.g. in the name), it seems plausible that there could be some other similar myth, closer to Japan, that I just plain don’t know about.  But it makes sense; I don’t think it can be ruled out.

Pokémon Moon, Episode 9: In Which I Do Battle With A Demon Jellyfish From The Endless Void

I should really just get out while I’m ahead.

I got this sparkly bracelet thing, I got a bunch of weird voodoo crystals with a variety of dubiously magic powers, I got a bunch of… arguably cool Pokémon that I’d never seen before.  Some of those things’d have to fetch a decent price if I just left Alola and never looked back, right?

And if you’re with the police, no, obviously I’m not talking about the Pokémon; they would stay with me back in Kanto and I would do my best to give them all a good life.

(If you’re not with the police, look, I know a guy who knows a guy, okay?  Just be cool)

Continue reading “Pokémon Moon, Episode 9: In Which I Do Battle With A Demon Jellyfish From The Endless Void” →

Anonymous asks:

Since you so cleverly figured out Kalos’s Champion during your playthrough of X, I challenge you to try and figure out who Alola’s Champion is! No hints, not even whether or not you’ve met them so far.

Well, at the moment I don’t think Alola even has a Champion.  At the point I’ve reached in the story (obviously I’m ahead of what I’ve actually written, since writing takes time), I’ve learned that Professor Kukui is currently working to form a Pokémon League in Alola; it seems likely that the creation of the League and the selection of Alola’s first Champion are going to be focal points of the rest of the story.  That being the case, it seems possible that the story could end with the player being appointed to the position.  Kukui himself isn’t out of the question either, since he’s clearly far more martial than other Professor characters.  That Hapu chick also seems like a good bet, since she’s clearly very powerful, but doesn’t wear a Captain’s insignia and doesn’t really act like a Kahuna either (she doesn’t hang out on just one island).  She just shows up from time to time, helping people and offering advice, which is consistent with the role Champions tend to have in Pokémon games before their formal introduction.  If I were a betting man, my money would be on her.

Anonymous asks:

You should give Z-Splash a try. Use Normalium-Z on the move Splash and see what happens. 😉

Oh my god I hadn’t even thought of that

I’m doing it right now

…

Huh.  I’m… not sure what I was expecting, but… hmm.  I guess I figured either it would turn into a devastating super-move, or it would still just be completely useless.  +3 attack isn’t even bad, though – just not really worth using your Z-power.  I feel like this is a missed opportunity for some really kooky easter egg.

Pokémon Moon, Episode 8: In Which I Am Given A Stern Talking-To By A Colourful Sisterly Figure

“So what you’re saying is, you almost killed my Totem Lurantis because your crazy great-grandmother would have wanted it that way?”  Mallow folds her arms as she waits for an answer.
“…she had a drinking problem.  And a gambling problem.  And… several legal problems.  But she was pretty spry for 94.”
“When did she…?”
“Um… well, about eight years back, the law caught up with her, and she grabbed a shotgun, stole a motorbike, kidnapped the neighbours’ Heracross, and skipped town, laughing all the way.  Honestly she’s, uh… probably still kicking.  Somewhere out there.”  I idly dunk a spoon in the half-finished pot of stew from Mallow’s trial and taste it.  “Mmmmmmmm, that’s so f%&£ing good.  Good call on the Revival Herb, by the way.”  Mallow shudders.
“Okay, well… I’m pretty sure you did technically pass my trial… somehow… so… take these, I guess.” She thrusts a sack of Nest Balls at me, then hands me her Z-Crystal, the Grassium-Z, and leaves me to explore the jungle on my own.  Now that I can encounter and catch wild Pokémon there, I am rewarded with three new ones: Bounsweet, Comfey, and Oranguru.  I’m not exactly inspired by these so far.  Bounsweet is a round, pinkish-red fruit Pokémon that brings to mind the phrase “oh, look, it’s Cherubi,” but it does evolve into something that might not be Cherrim, so we’ll give it the benefit of the doubt.  Comfey is a Hawaiian lei Pokémon, one of those Flabébé-like Fairy-types that really looks as though it should be a Grass-type and has a bunch of stuff that supports Grass-types; it’s nice and thematically appropriate to the setting but doesn’t seem to evolve, and so far doesn’t really look like it’ll measure up to a fully-evolved Florges.  The third Pokémon, Oranguru, is so far the most interesting-looking – a purple and white apelike Normal/Psychic Pokémon that fights from a cross-legged sitting position.  It too shares a Pokédex page with something else, so there’s a good chance it will evolve.

Continue reading “Pokémon Moon, Episode 8: In Which I Am Given A Stern Talking-To By A Colourful Sisterly Figure” →

Anonymous asks:

I’ve been excitedly reading your Sun and Moon playthrough and enjoying it immensely. However, you passed through route 8 and didn’t even mention Colress’s appearance! I’m disappointed, I wanted to see you thoughts and your character’s reaction!

Good heavens, you’re right!  I completely forgot about that while I was writing!  We must remedy this situation at once!

…

“You there!”  I stop walking and turn around, ready to fire off a snarky quip at whoever just called me “you there,” until I see… oh.  Ohhhh good.  This guy.
“Oh, excuse me!  I am a scientist.  My name is Colress,” he introduces himself.  Colress still has his trademark lab coat and sweeping plume of blue hair, but has added a pair of robotic gauntlets with touchscreen displays on the wrists, so he can look like his every gesture is something important and sciency.
“Yeah, I’ve… I’ve heard of you,” I tell him haltingly.  He looks surprised, then worried.
“Really?  A young trainer like you has heard of my work?  Or- oh.  You don’t know about-?”
“The whole war crimes thing, with Team Plasma back in Unova?  How you were complicit in a plot to plunge a continent into a new ice age and bring about the end of modern civilisation?”  Now he looks very worried.  “No, look, it’s fine, I don’t care, just… look, we’ve sort of met before; it’s kind of a long story… I was a few years older, I might have been a chick at the time…” I shake my head.  “I was literally a different person, is the point, and so were you, as far as I’m concerned.  And I’m on holiday.  So unless whatever you’re doing in Alola is somehow a threat to the entire planet, it is officially not my problem.”  Colress just stares at me blankly.  “Seriously.  We.  Are.  Fine.  What’re you up to, anyway?”
“Well…” Colress begins cautiously, “That is… the theme of my research is… ‘bringing out the potential of Pokémon.’  What brings out the power of Pokémon is… I believe that is – the bond they share with their trainers!”  Okay, so he’s still working in the same research area, but the events of Black and White 2 have proven to him that supercharging Pokémon with evil machines to create powerful weapons is not the best method.  “And thus my attention is drawn to trainers like yourself… trainers bound to their Pokémon through the power of the Z-ring!  Z-power… is it the true potential I seek?  Does it surpass the Mega Ring?”
“Nope.”  He blinks at me.
“…what?”
“Surpass the Digivice.  Pretty sure it doesn’t.”  He stares at me in confusion.
“Digi- Digiwhat?”
“Digivi- oh, um.  Mega Ring.  Whatever.  Look, the Mega Ring unlocks a whole new level of evolution, changing a Pokémon’s form and powers, bringing it one step closer to spiritual completion… The Z-Crystals blow stuff up.”  He raises a finger like he’s about to say something.  “I mean, I guess if you only have a Charmander then a Firium-Z is gonna get you further than a Charizardite-X… seriously though, try ‘em both out.  They give Z-Rings away practically for free here in Alola; you just have to, like… risk your life to help out a terrorist, or something.”  Colress shakes his head in amazement.
“Alola is fascinating!  I believe I will stay here for some time!  Well then, I hope to see you again some time.”  He turns and walks away.
“But don’t get any ideas!” I call out after him.  “You better not try to destroy the world with this stuff!  I live here!”