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#long post – @soveryanon on Tumblr
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In which Cass is the anonest anon that ever anon'd

@soveryanon / soveryanon.tumblr.com

I don't have a tumblr, I swear.
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first day as a second century warlord i have my men tie branches to their horses’ tails to stir up dust and make it look like there’s a lot of us but i forget it just rained so there isn’t any dust and the enemy can clearly see there’s like twenty of us all spread out in a line

second day as a second century warlord i bribe a bunch of kids to start singing a nursery rhyme i carefully crafted to spread misinformation and further my strategic ends but they change the lyrics to be about poop and the enemy isn’t misdirected at all

third day as a second century warlord i lure my enemy into a narrow valley and send a team of archers to shoot them from the high ground but there was a feral hog napping on the trail up to the overlook and they couldn’t decide whether to try and shoot it or just go around and by the time the hog woke up and left on its own the enemy had already passed safely below

fourth day as a second century warlord we attempt to join a battle on the side of the guy we want to ally with but he and the guy he’s fighting have really similar names and it’s finally dusty and i misread the standards and attack the wrong guy. so now we’re stuck with this total loser of a liege lord, because how the fuck do you explain that after a battle?

fifth day as a second century warlord and some sort of wizard wanders into camp, my loser liege lord wants to execute him for being a wizard but i convince him to let the wizard stay, because i want to do more weather-based strategies and i’m pretty sure having a camp wizard can help with that. after the welcome to the team banquet the wizard steals half the treasury and my liege lord’s wife and leaves

sixth day as a second century warlord my loser liege lord sends me to reinforce a city he’s taken, but in the confusion of leaving i forgot to take the token that would have gotten us into the city, so my men have to wait outside the city walls for like eight hours while i ride back to get it

seventh day as a second century warlord and my loser liege lord finally joins me in the city, it turns out he’s actually a pretty cool guy, and he isn’t even that mad at me for letting the wizard steal his wife. i decide to shoot my shot but i’m really nervous and keep on stalling because what if i mess up our relationship and by extension jeopardize the security of my men, and eventually he just says goodnight and goes back to his room, where an assassin is in the process of setting up to kill him

eighth day as a second century warlord and my loser liege lord tells me to fake defect to his rival warlord, the one i originally wanted to ally with, to find out if he was the one who sent the assassin and why. but my whole way over to the rival warlord i’m worried that this has something to do with the wizard thing or how awkward i made it last night

ninth day as a second century warlord i try to tactfully ask my fake liege lord if he sent the assassin to kill my loser liege lord and it turns out the idea of using assassins never occurred to him, but now that i’ve suggested it he’s really into it. in order to save my loser liege lord i volunteer to be the one to kill him

tenth day as a second century warlord on my way back to my loser liege lord’s city i realize i won’t be able to collect my men from my fake liege lord until i bring back my loser liege lord’s head. this would have been a great thing to think of before i got myself in this situation. i go back to my loser liege lord and ask him to rescue my men, and he tells me that if he could sack my fake liege lord’s camp he already would have. that doesn’t change the fact that my men are still trapped. they’re prisoners, even. i go back to my room to sulk

eleventh day as a second century warlord i find a little caged pigeon in the rafters of my loser liege lord’s room and deduce it belonged to the assassin. without asking permission or telling my loser liege lord goodbye i let the pigeon loose and follow it north. don’t ask what i was doing in my loser liege lord’s room. it’s not important

twelfth day as a second century warlord i disguise myself as a wizard and enter the camp of the coalition leader the pigeon led me to. in the middle of my little sleight of hand performance i make eye contact with the coalition leader’s second-in-command. IT’S THE WIZARD THAT STOLE MY LOSER LIEGE LORD’S WIFE. after the banquet i corner the fake wizard and ask him what the fuck is going on and he just says “wouldn’t you like to know” and leaves. i don’t know what to say to that so i just let him go

thirteenth day as a second century warlord i’m honestly so sick of not knowing what’s going on, so i adjust my wizard costume to passably disguise myself as a woman and break into the women’s area of the camp, where sure enough my loser liege lord’s wife is. i ask her what she’s doing here and she tells me the fake wizard overheard her singing a poem she overheard on the street, not knowing it contains the coalition leader’s formation’s weaknesses. the fake wizard kidnapped her and assigned an assassin to kill her husband before they figured out the poem’s significance. she shares the first couplet with me but i’m discovered and thrown out before she can share any more. she doesn’t need to. through a bizarre coincidence of homophones, it’s the poop version of my misinformation nursery rhyme

fourteenth day as a second century warlord i go back to my loser liege lord and tell him everything, urging him to join with my fake liege lord to attack the coalition leader according to the weaknesses in the nursery rhyme. he tells me frankly that he doesn’t trust me anymore. i ask him to execute me if that’s really true, because i can’t bear to live if i can’t protect him and i can’t protect my men. he agrees to attack the coalition leader

fifteenth day as a second century warlord. due to the information in the nursery rhyme, and thanks to my loser liege lord reminding me of the weather conditions multiple times while planning our battle strategy, our alliance carries the day. my loser liege lord gets his wife back. my men tell me that our fake liege lord actually treated them really well and they’d like to stay with him if i don’t mind. i do mind, now that neither the men i love nor the man i love have any use for me, but i don’t tell them that

sixteenth day as a second century warlord i’m preparing to leave to i don’t know where, maybe to try to become a wizard for real, when my loser liege lord stops me and asks me where i’m going. he says he had hoped i would continue to work as his advisor. i was unaware i was his advisor in the first place. i agree, and he tells me he’s truly honored to have me in his service at last. he has known i am a rare and talented man with a strategic intelligence far above his ever since the day he witnessed me tying branches to my horses’ tails in six inches of mud, and could not for the life of him figure out why

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Part 3 of The Magnus Archives liveblogging; MAG034 to MAG040 *strangled mix of happy and sad noises* (As usual: contains spoilers (until the end of season 3) that I really should not have known anything about, were I a decent person, with also the possibility that I misunderstood said spoilers.) (One last time: warning for… length.)

… when I had mentioned to @sazandorable​ about the end of MAG033 that ahaha, Jon’s audible frustration seemed to be his equivalent of (╯°Д°)╯︵ ┻━┻ flipping a table, I had been answered with a “:))) Flipping a table, you say.” And now that I've listened to what followed, obviously, let’s be clear, I’m so, so mad about her comment, but at the same time, it’s the only one I could have ever accepted.

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short random comic idea

Infiltration complete. Mimikyu the master of disguise

Bonus:

Nothing wrong here, it still Giovanni here guys. They’ll never know. Don’t run Persian.

PERSIAN IS RIGHT TO BE WORRIED O.O

what did they do with Giovanni where is he

I need a remake of the Kanto games where the only difference is Giovanni is replaced by Mimikyuu.

And everyone is clearly aware of it but trying hard not to bring attention to it and very obviously Unsettled by it

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soveryanon

Remember when Satoshi was so intrigued at the end of Advanced Generation?

Because, this time, after not having seen each other for a long while, and although Shigeru had taken the habit of waving his hand when leaving before they would actually learn to handshake for real, there wasn’t anything. Shigeru just left. No hand contact. So, Satoshi felt that something was abnormal?

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TAKESHI IS GREAT. Of course, there is his running gag of trying to flirt with women. But 1°) it’s treated, even in gags, as a negative trait and he is constantly called out on that (Kasumi, Masato and Guregguru acted as his tsukkomi every time to make him stop); 2°) excluding the beginning of the first series, Takeshi never does that to young girls, only women his age or older, 3°) Takeshi has priorities and will take care of Pokémon first instead of trying to flirt if the Pokémon need attention and care. AND TAKESHI IS SO MUCH MORE THAN THAT. Takeshi is used to taking care of his family; and he is not only an “older brother”. He is basically the most responsible person out of his family, because his parents are… y’know. At least, they’re in love and still together. But they’re pretty much really really irresponsible.

AND TAKESHI RULES.

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soveryanon

Iris is Great.

Man, Iris is so amazing.

I will never understand the haters who say Iris hasn’t developed when these pictures clearly prove otherwise.

She has grown so much since episode 2 of Best Wishes, not only as a trainer but as a person as well. I mean, Iris has learned to realize when she’s wrong. These last three pictures you added all depict Iris saying she did something wrong: Iris admitting her mistake in not even trying to understand Excadrill’s emotions, Iris openly expressing regret at not being able to protect Dragonite like she wanted to and Iris apologizing to Emonga because she misunderstood her - that’s all Iris recognizing her mistakes.

What I love the most about Iris is that writers kept throwing obstacles at her to overcome (Axew’s Dragon Rage, Dragonite’s lack of trust, Excadrill’s disobedience) and she overcame every single one, developing in process. Even her relationship with Ash, which started off with Iris calling Ash out for silly things and being hypocritical turned into gentle teasing by the end of Best Wishes. How much Iris cared for Ash became most evident during his battle with Roxie where she showed her true friendship even encouraging Cilan to support Ash with her.

And then we had their fighting episode, where they broke off their friendship, which I gotta say was one of the best ‘Ash Fights the Girl Companion’ episodes since the series began.

All in all, Iris was one of the best characters in Best Wishes, if not THE best character and IS one of the better characters in the series overall. I can’t say her development was handled with perfection, because it wasn’t, but damn, compared to Serena, Iris is perfection.

(I know it’s still too early to say Serena won’t get development, but by episode 33 of BW, Iris had already developed and resolved an established Excadrill issue from episode 9, an Axew Dragon Rage problem, revealed that she wants to become Dragon Master, demonstrated her knowledge about Dragon Types, caught an Emonga, developed a powerful rivalry with Georgia, etc.)

Yes - and it was especially tough with Emonga given how, in the same episode, Emonga had indeed reacted badly twice (immediately attacking when she was hurt first from collateral damage in an accident, then from a baby Pokémon (Zuruggu) reacting out of fighting instinct) and it was only in the third case that she was completely innocent. It was nice to see Emonga so actively protective of someone from the gang, being all sister-like to Kibago! And Iris misunderstood, but Tsutarja did the same thing and they were both the ones who knew better what tricks Emonga was usually prone to pull at them. Their defiance of Emonga wasn't coming out of the blue, it was coming out of habits – the part they missed was how Emonga now genuinely cared about Kibago and wouldn’t have hurt him on purpose. Honestly, I am not disappointed at all with Iris’s development. She began as a powerful trainer (having lived with wild Pokémon her whole life, having beaten 99 opponents seemingly before reaching ten years of age – she sure sounds like Corni~?) and it took a while for us to learn to what extent. She had flaws since she was a kid; she was cocky, a little arrogant, she tended to be wary of people doing things differently from herself, she lacked social skills and had trouble putting things into perspective and seeing them following a logic that wasn’t her own. And indeed, Iris's development had to do the whole time with accepting to see what she did wrong, acknowledging it, apologizing for it; her evolution didn’t pretend that learning the theory once would change someone in an instant, but presented it quite believably (it takes effort to change internalized habits and to replace them by new ones). When we met Iris, she had spent years not understanding Doryuzu's feelings; at the end, with Emonga, it was resolved in only a few hours (Iris needed Dent and Satoshi's hypothesis but she just went with the flow and quickly accepted that, maybe, things were not what they seemed; her "power" activated when she tried to reach for Kibago but, before that, she had already remembered that Kibago had been trying to tell her something about Emonga: that’s where the fact that she had grown was apparent). And it was especially nice that Iris's last episode in the main series had once again to do with communication issues and misunderstandings, and at the same time involving Iris's weakness regarding her Pokémon team - she tends to trust and care about Kibago the most... which makes sense: he is the only one of her Pokémon who didn't initially come with her out of his own volition. At the end, she herself pointed out how she still had progress to do on that point:

And twice, as Iris was pointing out her flaws, it was Dent who explained to her the good sides of it. Compared to kid!Iris challenging Shaga without doubting she could win, Iris had learned humility.

Her special once again had Iris actively trying to think the world through Fukamaru’s eyes, to understand what s/he was going through and what s/he was seeking - she didn't need anyone, and she did it because she felt involved (it was a Dragon-type) and wanted to help. She was destined for greatness from the start (Shaga got interested in her and kept her in mind even when Iris failed and suffered in Souryuu City) and she received other people’s approval in that regard (with the Old matriarch, Shaga, Ibuki). She made mistakes, and she didn't have it easy either: Doryuzu shut down as a result, she was isolated in a school and social environment due to her way of living (while she was having fun with Pokémon!), she was unable to link her heart with other Pokémon; the Kibago she was given was a baby needing time, care, and a lot of training; Emonga went with her for her own interests and caused a lot of mischief, Kairyu was strong and touched by her but fought his own battles (and Langley insisted pretty harshly that they were Kairyu’s victories, not hers) for a long while before Iris managed to gain his respect. She was a little too condescending towards others' mistakes (but given how hers were never forgiven in her past…), prideful and at the same time wasn’t taking things for granted, she communicated mostly through teasing, it took her a while to open up to others, she had troubles managing crisis, but she learnt teamwork and to value the good side in others, to rely on them. She was able to make friends. She was able to have a better understanding of the Pokémon she fought alongside with.

It felt really good to have a main girl who was already accomplished as a Pokémon trainer from the start, who had her own field of knowledge (she uses it with Emy’s Crimgan, with the Monozu from the Daycare, with Shôbu’s Sazandora), who learnt from her childhood environment (dragons and nature – her knowledge of medicinal herbs just felt believable), who actively got interested in and asked for challenges with people related to Dragon types (Shaga as a Dragon Master, Shirona because of her Gaburias, Ibuki as a specialist), and who still had flaws and shortcomings that she needed to work on. Dragon types were a rarity in Isshu (we know that Generation 5 doesn't have many Dragon-types, that they're few in Isshu, and Iris herself pointed it out) and she still managed to make every encounter with a Dragon valuable and meaningful. It wasn’t Satoshi who “structured” and gave meaning to Best Wishes! - it was mostly Iris and her relationship to Pokémon (and, to some extent, Shooti and N). She made big steps: she became better to the point of resolving the issues she had suffered from with the Shaga events (she reached Doryuzu; she went back to Souryuu City with true friends). In both sides, Pokémon and humans, Iris’s growth in the series was so touching…!

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Character development and training incoming /o/ XY032 was a really verbose episode, and there were some points made about hadō. It wasn’t really possible, with only speech, to tell the exact word used: if it was meant as the very special ability of hadō-users, or as the more common phenomenon of a “wave” of any sort, since it manifests as such. A lot of occurrences of the word were also about the move Aura Sphere / はどうだん Hadō-dan (from Concombre’s Rukario), but we know that XY033 will be about 波導 hadō (wave-guiding) given the title, which has been a specific writing used to refer to the power of hadō-users in the past (DP071/DP072, same meaning as in movie 08), be it Pokémon or humans. So, wave-guiding is indeed what Concombre’s Rukario used when not launching a move. For world-building: early on, when Rukario was testing his new strength by moving air, Corni said that what they could all feel was Rukario’s hadō; we indeed saw the wave being emitted twice in succession. Corni furthermore explained that “the thing that seemed to be wind” was in fact this: hadō. Eureka described it as “warm” and didn’t find it unpleasant at all.

Satoshi specifically mentioned that he could “feel Rukario’s hadō”, but that sounded quite neutral and on the same scale as what the others could feel, not about his special ability... However, he later noticed that the “hadō” (not saying “Hadō-dan” this time, though it was possibly what he implied) of Concombre’s Rukario was clearly stronger than Corni’s when Hadō-dan beat Bone Rush.

Ssssso, to me so far, it left room to see it alternatively as Satoshi being more perceptive, or, on the contrary, just more vocal about it. Open to interpretation as far as I could tell, so if that’s indeed the case, nice! Actually the insistence on a materialisation of a wave that seemed directly emitted by the body (air moving), rather than magical and created separately from the user (namely, the blue energy from movie 08) portrayed the phenomenon as something more natural, and not as special and exceptional as what we’ve seen at work in the past. So I don’t know whether the two are meant to be perceived as different uses of the same power, or as a new presentation of the old use (movie 08’s Rukario was also portrayed doing far-reaching recon by using something akin to echolocation, which Arlon had trained him for). It sure made more sense as it was portrayed this time: the representative move being Hadō-dan (Fighting type move) and the representative Pokémon being Rukario (Fighting type), the surges of energy emitted (by Corni’s Rukario when practicing, and by Concombre’s when blocking or escaping moves) were reminiscent of the Type and seemed more… physical.

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I agree 100% that Serena not having a clear objective nor a very interesting reason to stay with the party is suckish and totally an overlook by the writers, but please let’s not forget she’s not the only person suffering from lazy writing in XY.

Clemont decided to stay with Ash after the Froakie incident, but it was the Garchomp incident that truly made him want to follow Ash around - same as Serena. Clemont has no reason to stay other than he thinks Ash is cool and wanna tag along. And like Serena, he doesn’t have a very compelling goal either, his vague objective being “I wanna get stronger”.

And Bonnie gets it worse because she’s tagging along for the sake of tagging along and gets completely shadowed by her brother in the sense that she can’t do anything without his permission, not even getting a pokémon of her own.

So yes, the lazy writing affects everyone, not just Serena (but mostly Serena for other reasons), so if we’re gonna call out on her for it, then it’s just fair to call out on Clemont and Bonnie for it as well.

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soveryanon

… Except Citron is already someone accomplished (a Gym Leader) and does work on his flaws, ie his confidence issues? As shown in XY009 and XY015? So in Citron’s case, the fact that yes, he was “moved" (that’s literally what he says at the beginning of XY003 - kandô) by Satoshi actually… makes him move forward, as he said. He takes more initiative and learns to not systematically belittle himself, is more and more assertive (XY018) and that’s… development… As for Eureka, it’s not so much a matter of constantly asking his permission; it’s that she is his responsibility from the start and respects his authority in that regard. Masato was the same and still showed it was possible to progress (he was constantly prioritizing theory at first and learns the good side of practice and unpredictability); Eureka learns to take care of someone (Dedenne) instead of being taken care of, and grabs every occasion she sees as a way to do grown up activities (battling, helping). She has casual flaws (‘childish’ traits) that she quickly works on (for example in XY027, giving a little tantrum when she first learnt Flabebe couldn’t stay with them -> she puts a caring and happy face despite her sadness to not sadden Flabebe at the end, highlighting she put Flabebe’s feelings above hers); they’re usually resolved in the episode, but that’s mostly because she had a fairly good behaviour from the start (a little too hyper, but constantly reaching for everyone, being quick to apologize, etc.) I don’t see where the writing would be “lazy” with them? X_X They don’t have a regular quest but that doesn’t prevent them from being dynamic characters? (Heck, XY!Satoshi has been less dynamic so far… :/)

Clemont being a gym leader (and Clemont specifically, not other gym leaders) doesn’t score him any more points to staying with Ash with a half baked reasoning than Serena being a Rhyhorn racer in training (arguable, considering Serena did seem very reluctant of actually following that at first, but I digress). Neither are accomplished at what they do - Serena fails in controlling her mother’s Rhyhorn, just as Clemont fails to take care of his gym (which is the reason he needs to go through XY009 and XY015 to begin with, as well as Serena going through XY007 and XY021 for the same reason), and they both have something to fix before they even meet Ash (both of which get fixed after meeting Ash - the Lumiose gym incident and the Rhyhorn race issue).

The thing about Clemont joining the party, in the sense that he believes staying with Ash will make him stronger, is also not much better than Serena wanting to tag along because she wants Ash to remember her at first (I think she forgot about this? Not really sure if the writers wanna touch this at some point again - actually I kinda hope not). Both have very so-so reasons to stay, but if I recall correctly, Cilan’s reasoning in BW wasn’t much different from either of them (really, they just wanna tag along because Ash).

Bonnie being his responsibility is one thing (and expected and respectable considering her age), but her being unable to literally do anything without asking him first is kind of a bummer imo. I haven’t watched past seasons with child traveling companions (namely Max), so I don’t know if this is a recurring thing or not, but it’s kinda sad to see her constantly asking her brother to do things she could do on her own. Literally the only thing she does that doesn’t require her brother’s approval is hitting on ladies for him, and even this is arguable since this is more of a running gag than anything else. Haven’t watched the Flabébe episode yet, so I can’t comment on that either.

It’s not that I don’t think they should stay with the party or anything, they’re totally awesome and I love them, I was just pointing out that it’s unfair how Serena gets called on it when Clemont and Bonnie are literally the same (aka this is not a Serena exclusive problem, it affects all of them). I agree, they’re very dynamic (Serena included), but I guess when it comes down to it, I just wanted them to have a more compelling reason to tag along, not just “hey, you’re cool, let’s go”. But I guess that’s as much as the writers can muster to allow the party to grow and anime to flow.

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Shigeru is full of doubts and of awareness of his own mistakes, failures and insufficiencies. It is something that was hinted pretty early when he decided to leave and encouraged others to do the same, when he faced the fact that he wouldn’t be able to do anything about the Digda in EP031. It then resurfaced occasionally when losses (Pokémon battles, hesitations about his future and path, inability to be what (he thought) he was expected to be) were more explicit and perceived as such.

Shigeru knows how to play with language. It has been shown since the first episode, in which his toying with Satoshi established a distance through the use of honorifics: to Satoshi’s implied proximity (Satoshi just called him “Shigeru”), Shigeru demanded that he add the -kun and himself switched between -kun and -san towards Satoshi. He covered a factual pre-existing relationship with a veil, created by words, to deny its consequences. He twisted reality with abstractions. “Friends” was never pronounced: to Satoshi’s genuinely friendly and curious behaviour, Shigeru opposed the word “rival” (in English), something that Satoshi discovered at that moment (and complied with, as he reminded Shigeru in EP018 that they were supposed to be that). When the word osananajimi (“Childhood friends”) was used for the first time, it was in Satoshi’s mouth and way later (EP268). However, it was something that could have been expected given Red and Green’s status in that regard in the games. But Shigeru manages to push it back so efficiently with words that it had never been brought up before that. Shigeru’s behaviour is the same: it was often presented as a game of pretense. Of course, there were the flamboyant, exuberant, bratty and petty demonstrations at the beginning (Shigeru creating his own legend, always being marked by exaggerations); but it somehow remained after downfalls: Shigeru kept his expressions hidden from Satoshi when defeated.

Was his defeat at the Johto league a loss? A lot of things (this smile and the following ones, him being able to confess that he wanted to quit competitive training, something that seemed to have been nagging him for a while, sufficiently for Ookido to notice he wasn’t happy while receiving his Hoenn dex) showed it was more of a relief. We don’t know a lot about Shigeru's travels, about his way of thinking. There were, however, mirrored details that could help trace what happened in him since the Tokiwa Gym: the first round of the gym (which he won) being re-enacted at the Kanto league (where he lost),

the evolution of Eievui into Blacky (a Dark type, which is immune to Psychic types),

the fact that Shigeru’s tendency to be consistently illuminated had morphed into him being characterized by night after having been kept in the Tokiwa Gym’s shadows before Satoshi’s arrival, the fact that, with Ptera and then the Tatetops, he was hinted to specialize in ancient, disappeared Pokémon (so unknown to the modern knowledge),

were giving the impression that Shigeru, consciously or not, was haunted by this particular loss. Shigeru seems to often put on a facade or, at least, to choose what he wants to show of himself. He was insecure about his skills (SS015) and accepted to show it to Kenji and Ookido; but as soon as he was face to face with Satoshi again (AG192), he took back a confident and nearly authoritative attitude that somehow made Satoshi somehow chase after him, or at least in the same direction – Shigeru was leaving without a sign, leaving for Sinnoh, and Satoshi decided to do the same right away.

There were two big instances of Shigeru accepting to open up to him: the successive talks around the lake during the Johto league (Shigeru thinking about the past and how it had influenced their present), and in Sinnoh (when Shigeru took the blame of Tatetops’ kidnapping, because he wasn’t able to notice its fatigue).

His behaviour fluctuates a lot around Satoshi – it is often a matter of what he wants to show in the first place and what influence he seeks to have on Satoshi (drowning him in his condescendence, making him move forwards). Moments in which he confided have been rare, but it doesn’t mean that Shigeru doesn’t care about Satoshi’s opinion, well-being or dynamism. Am I the only one to have the feeling that his strictness (to make sure that Satoshi would follow a new road) at the end of Advanced Generation was a way to try to apologize?

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Informative list! (So no links, but it can actually serve as a reference to know what to search for in the first place...?) Here is a list of all the Japanese episodes that, to my knowledge, have been subbed in English, regardless of their subbing teams (even though [PM] obviously made most of them), amongst the ones available in RAW (there are also a few French or Portuguese subs when I know some existed while there wasn’t English ones for the concerned episodes); so, in terms of priority: English subs > other subs > RAW. I’m using Bulbapedia’s numbering system here to have a common ground, as subbing teams all have their own way of classifying them. The only episode which was apparently subbed but for which I wasn’t able to confirm it is AG089 by [RG] – hence the fact I’m not taking it as a “subbed” one as long as I can’t tell firsthand. Taking into account English subs only, it means the ratio of subbed episodes for each series is, so far: - Original Series: 58/276 episodes -> 20,9% - Advanced Generation: 56/192 episodes -> 29,2% - Diamond&Pearl: 127/191 episodes -> 66,4% - Best Wishes!: 142/142 episodes -> 100% - XY: 140/140 episodes -> 100% - Sun&Moon: 050/111 episodes -> (ongoing)

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Does this dialogue mean something?

This is a question, I have been wanting to ask people for days. 

In the last episode of Best Wishes, you see Ash saying this dialogue in a somewhat disappointed tone. Now usually, you see Ash feeling bad about losing a league but he usually forgets about it and only talks about the next journey. But at the end of Best Wishes, for the first time you see him look a bit disappointed.

And that’s not it, even in the concluding episode of the league, you see him say “Best Eight huh…” (In Japanese version).

Is it just me overthinking or does Ash feel worried about taking a step back from his Best Four rank in the Sinnoh League?  

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soveryanon

He also apologized to Ookido about it at the beginning of Episode N:

I wouldn't say he was worried, but he indeed acknowledged (meta-wise, too) that it was his first counter-performance in a League. Overall, I think it depends on the way you're looking at Best Wishes! as a whole, and how Satoshi handled his relation towards Pokémon? He reached a really strong status, during Diamond&Pearl, with a team who suffered a lot all through Sinnoh: it was straining, productive, yet potentially noxious at the same time. In Best Wishes!, the focus (as a series, and as Satoshi himself was interacting with people - he could have been way angrier at Shooti, for example, but let a lot of things slipped, as if he didn't want to get angry) was more on the time spent with Pokémon. Satoshi initially came for vacation, after all, and the journey was, although predictable, decided after his arrival. Best Wishes! appeared as an appeasement, something, maybe, to go back at the core of what Satoshi said he cherished the most: a partnership with Pokémon where they would have an equal status. More communication but less stress; less emulation but more openness? (Personal opinion, though, this is my way of conciliating meta-intentions and Satoshi's intention behind his behaviour.) We did have a proof with the League that, although Isshu's journey was more peaceful, contained maybe more... happiness?, it didn't make Satoshi and his team as powerful as in Sinnoh. But at the same time, it showed that Satoshi was still able to reach an honourable level without having a "competitive" journey? He didn't have any "main rival" either in Hoenn, where he reached the same level as in Johto/Isshu, but he was Haruka's mentor, so put in a responsible role, a guiding figure. In Best Wishes!, Iris and Dent were both more experienced (given how Iris was already shown fighting as a child) and Satoshi didn't have any responsibility towards them, nor anything to prove to anyone; his rivalries were, overall, all friendly (I wouldn't say Shooti was a "main" rival given that his story was tied to Adeku and stayed that way: there wasn't any personal rivalry (like with Shigeru) nor "professional" one (like with Shinji) until the end; he was more indifferent than defiant). Satoshi, in Best Wishes!, was "free" of any pressure.

So, as I see it, Best Wishes! was about appeasement (in Satoshi's behaviour from the start, and as a development for Iris, Shooti and N), strong interactions and communication issues/resolution. It wasn't a "stage", it was made of mini-arcs standing on their own. Best Wishes! ended while saying we would go to something else:

... Maybe a more competitive/"responsible" saga where Satoshi would take the lead, after feeling that he had relayed too much on his Pokémon without returning the favour during Best Wishes!? It wasn't the first time that the end of a series was introducing a different "spirit" which would blossom in the next one. (I wouldn't say it's a retcon, I would say that, the way it is presented each time, it is assumed that Satoshi put himself in a different state of mind before each journey, with different intentions and expectations.) I thiiink that what was what acknowledged is that Isshu's journey wasn't negative, but not sufficient enough or, more precisely, incomplete on the matter of Pokémon-training: while going back to the root of focusing on Pokémon interactions, it lacked a sharp emulation. It was highlighted when N happened: we didn't see a clash between them which would have forced Satoshi to go higher, Black&White-style, but a story about N coming out of his shell and reversing his system (he was presenting the negative as a norm). And then, there were rivals in Best Wishes!, but it was mostly about sharing and facing things together, as friendly rivals, than confronting each other as respectful rivals. So, now that Satoshi had gone back to do things for himself and his Pokémon, without pressure, he was somehow... acknowledging and readying himself that, to go higher, to actively put his values to use, he would have to go back to being... "sharper", less intransigent? Hence his resolution, at the end of Best Wishes!, to focus once again on his goal now that he had learnt again to enjoy things without any ulterior motive?

That's the impression Best Wishes!'s ending gave me, but it's too soon to confirm it in XY ^^'

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I already talked a little about it (cautious: image heavy and long post that could crash your browser), but… See, during the Kanto arc, Shigeru was always somehow associated to light. He appeared, mostly, by daytime; to the point he even often left before the episodes’ events themselves when they took place during the night or in dark places (EP031 with the Digda found its resolution during the night; part of EP046 took place in a cave for Satoshi; in EP074, when Satoshi was having trouble sleeping because he thought about people saying he would fail in the league, it was night for him but he recalled events which took place with Shigeru during the day). In EP058, Shigeru did appear at night but still in a luxurious and brightly lit room, from which Satoshi was excluded (the group didn’t have a shelter), and didn’t have any participation in Satoshi’s nightly gym battle. When Shigeru was present for the duration of the entire adventure of the episode (EP018, EP065, EP075), he took his leave during the day. When he left during sunsets — the passage from day to night — he in fact missed a good part or the entirety of the events of the episode (EP046, EP074). Somehow, saying he wasn’t presented as a being of the night would be a euphemism: he fled night. There was, however, a first rupture in the Tokiwa Gym (EP063): the light was outside, the gym was shadowy, Sakaki was the one in the light, his face backlit and therefore hidden for Shigeru until the end – and, in this closed space, Shigeru failed, was beaten by Mewtwo and somehow trapped inside the dark building until Satoshi and the others came. This is something I say a lot, but I really think that, implicitly, the Tokiwa Gym episode wasn’t considered an isolated occurrence without any consequence by Shigeru, but something akin to a traumatic event. When he lost during the Kanto league (EP077), his last round had the exact same setup than in his first round in the Tokiwa Gym (Shigeru using Nidoking against a Golem). The similarity between the two is too strong: I really think the League battle was made to be seen as a re-enactment of his loss at the Tokiwa Gym. Except, this time, Shigeru didn’t even win against the first Pokémon he could face without any problem at the time. So, was Yoshiki’s Golem stronger than a Gym Leader’s, to show that the League was assembling strong trainers? Or did something happen in Shigeru between the moment he walked inside Sakaki’s gym and the moment he got out? Then, Shigeru left for a journey, a personal journey (without his cheerleaders), and came back alone with an Eievui who, somehow, became quite iconic of him: - It was a G1 Pokémon having new evolutions during G2, hence serving as one of the bridges from Kanto to Johto. - It somehow mirrored Pikachu. In the Original Series, Satoshi and Shigeru only had two battles: Eievui against Pikachu after the Orange Islands, and then, their battle at the Johto League where they didn’t use Pikachu nor Blacky. They had a special status – in Satoshi’s case, it was also surreptitiously highlighting the fact Shigeru was someone from a time “before Pikachu”, so it could have been kind of the same for Shigeru (he still used his starter, Kamex, so Blacky really appeared special by comparison. Kamex was Lizardon’s opponent to make a call-back to a G1 endgame type of round, disadvantaged starter against a Pokémon with a resistance to and effective against it, but Lizardon wasn’t Satoshi’s starter.) - Shigeru was mostly characterised, during the Kanto arc, by his arrogant personality and his way of mass-capturing Pokmon, but Eievui only evolve into Blacky with a high level of friendship: it proves Shigeru was (/ had turned into) a good trainer, who was loved by at least one of his Pokémon. In the episode of its first appearance (EP171), Blacky was indeed seen out of his monster ball outside of battle and living with Shigeru as a partner. But, more importantly, Eievui evolve into Blacky at night, and it was implicitly saying Shigeru’s Eievui somehow gained experience by night: that Shigeru lived, at least partly, during those moments. In Johto, his apparitions became mainly nocturnal: in EP121, he encounters the group in the dark forest and is able to cross it (so, darkness doesn’t harm him); in EP171, he camps out in the open (while Satoshi’s group was at a PokéCen in the city Shigeru could see from a cliff: he consciously isolated himself) and helps the group; he meets Satoshi twice near the Silver Conference’s lake in EP266 and EP270 (to have personal and calm conversations), both times at night; he also helps the group during the night in EP272, understanding the Muma (a Ghost type, so associated to shadows) better than the others. In EP266 again, when Satoshi is captured by Team Rocket, Shigeru rescues him at dusk and, when night has fallen, leaves to him the honour of lighting the arena, while staying in the shadows himself.

The three other times he made an important appearance in the Original Series, he also took his leave at sunset, or when sunset was coming (in EP115/EP116, there was a clear blue and white sky, but from the moment Shigeru appeared to rescue Ookido’s lab contained under the Rocket trio’s fabric to the end of his match against Satoshi, the sky was full of colourful nuances: dusk was coming; in EP228 and EP272, he left at sunset), so at the moment of passage between night and day and after having participated in the episode’s events.

Overall, either Shigeru appeared in front of Satoshi at night, either he took the road again after having participated in the adventure at dusk: the two exceptions where Shigeru came and left during the day took place in Masara Town at the end of a series (EP273 and AG192), so when the episode was focusing on Satoshi’s new path to follow, and during his special (SS015) in which Satoshi didn’t appear at all.

Now, PokéAni often features lakes and separations during sunsets (a moment that marks the end of a cycle, a pause before a new one). But Shigeru systematically gives his farewell to Satoshi in the frontier between day and night during Diamond&Pearl: sunset at the end of the Tatetops’s crisis in DP045, sunrise after the kidnapping of Satoshi and the evolution of Glion in DP085 (in which Shigeru also safely guided Takeshi and Hikari to a location throughout the night: he can make his way in the dark), sunset at the end of the Ginga-dan crisis in DP152.

They were moments of transition, from one universe to another. And again, they were moments filled with lakes or water: after the two occurrences during the Johto League, Shigeru studied on an island in SS015, and again appeared in front of a lake in Satoshi’s projection of him in AG187 (based on his postcard, and we indeed see the lake on one side: at the same time a reminder of their talk at the end of Johto, and also introducing Sinnoh’s lake which would bear importance); DP045’s separation took place near a lake; Shigeru was explicitly going to Rishii Lake to investigate it in DP085; he did witness Hunter J and Ginga-dan’s actions in front of that lake during DP151, where he was beaten and reduced to watching helplessly (he also saw J’s ship crashing into it.)

Water is often associated to night: because of its peacefulness and, also, because water is deep and hides its secrets, contains the unknown in itself, a form of primal life which gets out of reach (the moon attracts water to form tides), and is thus tied to metaphorical obscurity. It’s something that shapes Shigeru, that is part of him – and that’s also something that was kind of denied during the Kanto arc. So, Shigeru’s resolution, at the end of Johto, was actually prepared: because Johto was the season he was himself and living at a rhythm that suited him best in the first place, and could choose a path that corresponded to him due to that travel. The lyrics are quite clearly alluding to Satoshi, but remember the first opening from Johto, just after Shigeru’s cameo in it? “Golden Sun, and Silver Moon.” Satoshi is a sun. Shigeru, despite pretending it at first, was never one.

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... I heard someone say that 2013 was "the year where bad luck likes to fuck me in the butt", and it's THAT CERTAIN SOMEONE'S BIRTHDAY TODAY! So what would be more suited than a picspam about Satoshi getting all the boys (and some girls and a lot of Pokémon) and being persecuted by everyone, compromising poses included?

(Image heavy (REALLY heavy), many shippings, possible molestation/stalkerish jokes, dubious humor.) What time is it? IT'S TASTING TIME! After all, Satoshi's adventures began by being licked.

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larvitarr
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makomaragi

cilan aint having any of that gay shit

Nah, he was okay with it, kind of confused, but mostly okay up until Pinot Noir started throwing shade.

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soveryanon

Sorry for the headcanon and gigantic ramble about a fictional character’s sexuality. There have been two points at which Dent seemed to be directly confronted to homosexual behaviour: Both times, he didn’t take that really well. (Buuuut depending on the way you see it, Dent wasn’t trying to be homophobic in the first case (I prefer to take an “optimist view” on this sequence because if not, that moment would be kind of squicky and not nice at all from the Pokémon anime ^^’) but referred to the fact that Mijumaru and Nyarth totally gave up on that Choroneko once they learnt it was in fact a dude (“in your face” way), or to the fact Choroneko consciously misled them which wasn’t very nice, or to the fact that the whole group got involved with a Choroneko in the first place, THAT DEMONIC PRESENCE HAS ALREADY STAINED HIS DELICATE SKIN AND HE WILL SPEND HOURS TRYING TO GET RID OF THE SMELL OH SWEET SHAYMIN WHY DOES IT KEEP HAPPENING TO HIM / in the second case, the fact that, for once, Dent was on the receiving end of an invasion of personal space (DISCOVERING WHAT HE HAS BEEN DOING A LOT DUMDUMDUM), or that Pinot Noir was commenting on the fact he hadn’t washed his hands this morning and really should have (Dent is a grown-up, his regular needs come with Great Responsibility), or that Pinot Noir was just pretending to be courteous in order to make mean pesky remarks about his inexperience.) I love how we have (yet again) a very flaming and fabulous male character in the Pokémon show aaaand although it doesn’t equal to “gay” at all, you can’t deny that he has been suspiciously sparkly, invasive and ALL OVER a bunch of male characters: (I mean, seriously, he is a fan of ARTI, you can’t deny it says a lot.) (Just become BFF already, you’d have a lot of dresses to wear and man-to-man bonding over your female travelling companions being mean to you.) (Mature men are fine, too, I guess.) (Nobody can resist Kenyan, fact.) (Dent and the SubMas Have History.) (Bobby-san and Dent have had an offscreen nightly bonding moment.)   (Charles’s manliness.) (Such a nice-looking half-naked man what kind of movies, Dent?) (Another bonding-over-movies time.) … but then, in front of KAMITURE, QUEENEST QUEEN OF THE SPARKLES AND THE FAB’?! Nothing. Nothing at all. SERIOUSLY NOTHING. He didn’t express any interest for her whatsoever - and didn’t bond that much with any female except that lovely Pokémon nurse apprentice: Who might perhaps be meant to remind us of the games’ Nursery Aide Enatsu, a crossdressing boy who doesn’t identify as female, so I am not totally sure Layla counts as a girl. But then, when Choroneko misled two male Pokémon and when Pinot Noir smelled him up (and we all know that he has probably given him a little peck on the hand, come on, why would have he restrained himself)? Dent made a face. [Overall, Dent’s sexuality is always a hilarious thing to headcanon, whether you see him as flaming and mostly gay (he has history with Satoshi), or reluctant/embracing/sobbing-a-little-because-he-is-the-older-one-and-PLEASE-JUNSAR-SAN-I-WASN’T-DOING-ANYTHING-WRONG pansexual and/or polyromantic (BWOT3~~~~). And some other times, I see him as identifying as strictly heterosexual (in which case Satoshi is often THAT ONE EXCEPTION HE DOESN’T UNDERSTAND, WHY IS HE SALIVATING OVER THAT BOY, IT’S A BOY oh and he is really young), probably crushing on Iris, who thinks Dent is crushing on Satoshi and would try to make them go at it when she is not protecting Satoshi’s virtue from the predator / is Dent’s husband anyway, whether he wants her to be or just has to face the harsh truth and cry because he would have liked to go by the book and be ~her gentleman~ but Iris takes none of your pseudo-heteronormative hierarchy bullshit anyway, especially if the gentleman is being a ~nice guy~ only to make himself feel good (and frustrates Iris a lot, YOU WANT SOME, I WANNA GET SOME, SO SCREW YOUR ETIQUETTE, I AM SCREWING YOU NOW.) Whatever the case, Dent sobs a lot, curses his life whether he is a lucky or a frustrated bastard, and that’s delicious. Sorry for the off-topicness /o/]

Oh my God, that came completely out of left field, but I’m about as impressed as I am surprised by this long response.

(Just become BFF already, you’d have a lot of dresses to wear and man-to-man bonding over your female travelling companions being mean to you.)

I love this idea so much.

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