whats up i played pokemon violet for 12 straight hours today and i have barely progressed through the game bc i keep getting sidetracked on routes trying to find all the hidden dropped items

Missingno! Larry AU Evidence

This is an AU/Headcanon made by johnchurch on AO3, this was all inspired by them and I really fell in love with it, please support them! (I hope it’s okay mentioning you)

I wanted to share this AU and give some “evidence” to support it for fun. Larry deserves to have some glitch eldritch vibes <3

The iconic Missingo from Red and Blue had a Bird/Normal typing! The Bird Type was a scrapped typing for Red and Blue, which became the Flying Type. Larry specializes in both Normal and Flying types due to being a Gym Leader and an Elite Four member. This is probably a reference to Normal/Flying being the most common dual typing.

Missingno’s party sprite appears as the “generic man” NPC sprite. Larry the Exceptional Everyman…

Missingno is very pixelated with lots of squares and rectangles. Some believe the white spaces with a pixel in the middle are its eyes. Larry is the only character in Scarlet and Violet to have square eyes

Missingno causes a lot of glitches in areas like the Pokémon League Hall of Fame, making all the entries become scrambled or straight up ineligible. In the Scarlet and Violet Books, there are pages that are missing words and letters in every single copy of that book. *Squints at Larry working at the Pokémon League for 3 different jobs*

This is a bit of a joke, but when describing Missingno’s appearance, many websites say it’s shaped “like a backwards L.”

L for Larry haha

Larry’s Gym Floor has this odd clipping effect going on. It’s more noticeable once you send Pokémon out in the Gym Floor. Depending on the severity of glitches in your game, Pokémon can sink halfway into the floor! Interesting how this effect is only seen in Medali Gym! (His Gym vs Elite Four room for comparison)

The Elite Four battle music has become infamous for somehow glitching, repeating the first few notes over and over again. It’s caused by a Memory Leak glitch, and it’s very unnerving to battle with it playing haha. What did you do, Larry? Were you in a bad mood?

Looking at the slowed-down animation of Larry’s Pokeball throw kinda freaked me out. I love his aggressive throw, but looking at it carefully, it looks like there’s a frame where his head is detached from his body? Once I noticed it, I can’t unsee it! It’s a lot more noticeable when watching the actual animation. Please be more careful with your vessel, Larry

This glitch was so funny to me, but when battling Top Champion Geeta, a glitch can occur where Larry appears at the edge of the arena. He just…watches you battle, unmoving. It’s so perfect haha. Larry glitches his way in to support you and watch you beat up his boss

I know this is just classic Pokémon animation, but Larry pulls all his Pokeballs from his breast pocket instead of a belt or pants pocket. I’ve always loved this animation for its ‘misdirection’ trick. He goes to adjust his tie, and in a flash he pulls out a Pokeball! Considering he has several teams of Pokémon,how do they even fit? Missingno glitches the 6th item in your inventory, giving you 128 copies of that item. People have used this glitch to get tons of Masterballs or Rare Candies. Perhaps Larry’s pocket has these infinite capabilities as well? (also he looks so cool in this screenshoot!)

I love how…aggressively normal Larry is. Average office worker, average tired overworked man, normal personality , normal appearance, normal normal normal. I’d like to imagine that Missingno!Larry tries so hard to behave like a normal person, to the point he’s a bit abnormal haha. If you think about it, his title of the ‘Exceptional Everyman’ fits very well. Exceptional can mean “outstanding,” but also “unusual” and “abnormal.” His title is very deceptive

This AU is so entertaining ! Having this sort of mindset makes the glitches in the game a lot more fun. All the twisted movements, glitched out faces, and see-through landscapes may all be from the forbidden presence of an ‘unremarkable’ Missingno.

I’d love to hear some other ideas/evidence y’all have! Thank you johnchurch for my new obsession haha, it’s such a cool idea

Edit: I’m definitely making a Giratina! Larry AU because the reblogs are right, it is too funny to pass up. The real banishment is being stuck in a 9-5 office job and working two side jobs to make ends meet

Normal/Flying/Enigma - or 'Larry is a goddamn Christmas present, and here's what I found when I unwrapped him'

... Fucking Larry, huh? Mad guy. Absolutely unhinged set of pixels. He's got as many interpretations as days in the year - autism, depression, the working man stereotype, 'just a dude', to name a few - but... and I know this is a bold claim, but I think I've got him figured out. I've already meta'd him before on a smaller scale, and concluded that Mister Quiet, Calm and Collected here is actually a secret showman who loves crowd approval, so let's carry on.

Let's work our way under his skin, yeah? You just sit there and eat onigiri king, take a well-deserved break.

Let's start with the obvious: Larry has no clue who he is. He gives you the Facade TM, tells you he hopes you have no need to put on the same front as him, and then during his rematch says this on why he loves Normal types:

... Which is all well and good, right? Fair, valid, pretty regular guy - except oh no wait, hang on, he is literally the least ordinary trainer in this franchise.

This right here is a perfect example of the duality of Larry already, and we've just started. He's a showman, an exhibitionist in the Pokemon arena, and he duel-serves as Elite Four and gym leader.

Just to put that into context for those fans who are newer than my veteran ass, no one does that. Even those who got promoted later - Lance, Koga and Wallace, unless I'm forgetting anyone else - have never wielded two titles simultaneously. And even in their promotions, Lance, Koga and Wallace keep their damn types. They don't master a whole new one, at the highest of battling levels, on a goddamn whim because their boss said to. Whether he likes it or not, by the established standards of this series, Larry is a fucking genius. Even those with mixed teams don't hold type mastery to this degree. Whether or not you personally found him easy or difficult to defeat either time is not the point - literally, no one's doing it like he is. He trains four entire new team members, between his three jobs (because oh yeah, he's got another one), to the late fifties/early sixties in levels and acts like it ain't shit. That's endgame levels to anyone else, the culmination of their eighteen-badge journey or their literal years of training - for Larry, it's fucking LEISURE TIME. Man's doing this in front of Netflix.

... And we're supposed to believe he's NORMAL? And the thing is, I don't even think he's gaslighting us, at least not consciously - he genuinely believes this. This is his normal.

No wonder Geeta sticks him in the gym right next to Area Zero. 90% sure he could solo the place if you gave him a few hours to go and catch the right team. Don't even know what we're doing here, to be quite honest. Might as well go home and hug the Skwovet in my own lounge, the adorable little bastard. What the honest fuck.

My man, take a look in that mirror as you munch those delicious rice balls. There ain't a single thing regular about you. Larry seems to have no clue that his life is anything but standard - he walks around wearing a facade. His penultimate mon, which I've covered the significance of before with Flapple and Hassel (and with Larry himself here), is Staraptor, a lone wolf, who leaves the flock upon evolving to live alone, and yet his ace Flamigo only functions well in a group. Just a quick compare-and-contrast between the dex entries of them both here:

... Excuse me whilst I error 404. He's got so little clue who he is, even his team has personality conflicts.

Thing is, right... if he walks around wearing a facade, why does he? In fact, whilst we're on the subject of his team, why doesn't he take his clearly vacation-themed team ON A VACATION?

Look at these guys.

Palm trees, tropical birds, blue skies with clouds, and... well, Staraptor's clearly his favourite. Man's got a holiday-themed squad, which leads us to another core point:

Larry doesn't drown himself in work because he likes it, he does it because he doesn't have anything else.

Logically, Larry must make bank. We don't know what the gym leaders get paid - though for the first time, we know that they definitely do, thanks to this:

(Thank you for that little screenshot, @prince-kallisto. <3)

And not only does he get paid from this, but he's in the Elite Four - every sensible conclusion says that this man has to be one of the highest-paid trainers in Paldea. And he's got a third job that we don't even know about. Bearing in mind that every other adult NPC in this game seems to get along just fine with one or two jobs, I don't think we need to remotely worry about Larry's finances.

And he doesn't particularly like any of his jobs, so he doesn't do them for love... and if he doesn't take any time off, he must be drowning in potential time to take off...

So, why doesn't he go on holiday? Why does he drown himself in work he dislikes when he has no financial need to; why does he live a lie; why doesn't he find out who he is?

Well, there's only one thing that really connects all that together, isn't there?

Larry's life is a void because he's alone.

When people are lost, they throw themselves into work to find purpose. What's the point of going on holiday when you've got no one to go with? This man does embody a stereotype perfectly, but it's probably not the one you think. It's much simpler - 'money can't buy you happiness.'

He tells you about this loneliness himself, in a way.

Larry has normal and regular interests, in a world where he is anything but, and people only want to be surprised. No one gets him, whether because they're not on his battling level, or because he's too ordinary. And when no one gets you... how are you supposed to get yourself? However introverted we are, we experience ourselves partly through others. He has the Elite Four, who are 100% a found family, but... the problem with that is that they accept him at face value because they love him. Which is amazing and all, we adore that, but it means no one gets under his skin.

And the further problem of that is that he's no happier deep-down. And that's not on his colleagues, not at all. Rika is relaxed and easygoing, Poppy is a child, and Hassel... well, Hassel is drama, Hassel is married. Hassel has his own perfect love story already. Hassel has already seen someone a little bit like Larry before - directionless, depressed, unsure of his own self - and he went and promised him forever anyway. (Hello Brassius, I see you king. Be careful on that windmill.)

... And that... yeah, that's kind of the crux of it all. Larry needs him someone very much like Hassel; someone who sees through every layer of facade, someone who accepts. (... I realise this is me right now, and yes, I do volunteer as tribute. Come here, you beautiful fucking not-normal man. <3)

Essentially, what I'm saying is...

Larry needs a partner... and I don't mean another Pokemon one.

But, as sad a conclusion as that is... he's learning, by the end of your time with him.

(Can we talk about the chef lady in the background, by the way, who is ignoring her TikTok to listen to his conclusion? What a sweetheart.)

We've taught him to open himself up a bit, to start embracing the new and the different. We've started to help this man, and if that isn't the most worthy thing my Nuzlocke son Juan here has done in his adventure through Paldea that wasn't helping a sick dog, I don't know what is.

As much as they annoy us sometimes, happiness is other people. Other people who see your soul, and smile. Perhaps he doesn't even need a romantic partner... perhaps he just needs the world's best friend.

But whatever it is that he needs... let him go on holiday, Game Freak. Let him be him, and very happy because of it. Give him a Hassel who isn't Hassel, and a month off at a certain DLC festival to spend with them. Larry exists in a club of one - he's too talented in the same breath as he's too average.

(Personally, I think he should take Katy, but... hey, that's me and my vanillacupcakes agenda. And the fact her ace is a Normal type who likes dessert.)

Thinking about jrwi bitb but in the pokemon universe. Long post ahead.

Rand was basically the player’s rival. The player was basically Rachel. It was very much just fun sibling rivarly thing and Rand definitely knew Rachel was a better trainer than him but didn’t really mind because he just had fun travelling with his pokemon and seeing his little sister grow as a person and stuff.

But then Rachel disappeared. And Rand completely gave up on all of his aspirations and went back home because nothing really mattered anymore. He still has his (fully evolved very powerful) team but never battles with them. His team consists of an original dog pokemon I created based on Rand, delphox (his starter), galarian ponyta (i wanted him to have a fantasy theme for his pokemon because dnd), ribombee (a pokemon rachel gave to him in a trade, not sure what he gave her in return), hydreigon (the last pokemon he caught before Rachel disappeared) and because I wanted them all to have legendaries/mythicals/etc: ogrepon (mostly for the fantasy theme but also i just love her and think she kinda fits with her sad backstory)

Kian really wanted to become a contest star, and tried for it basically his entire youth but it just never went anywhere. I’m not sure what he’s doing these days honestly, maybe he’s just given up and just keeps his old team as pets now because he loves them. A lot. Maybe in an ideal world he would run a pokemon daycare or something I think that would be cute

His team was basically built for contests and performing and consists of an original butterfly pokemon I created for Kian (cuteness, singing and dancing), milotic (beauty, of course, doesn’t really do much in terms of actually performing but is very pretty), lilligant (clever, main dancer propbably), toxtricity high-key (coolness, i. I know its a pokemon but i imagine it having a guitar), kricketune (pov me desperately looking for pokemon that learn a lot of good tough moves that fit kian’s vibes, also, of course just its music thing) and for mythical: meloetta. Of course.

Rolan did like a bit of battling when he was younger but never really tried anything with it. He still has pokemon but they’re all either from his youth that he just doesn’t have the heart to release or give away or pokemon that simply appeared in his life. He’s literally just a normal lawyer in the pokemon universe

His team consists of an original shark pokemon i made for him, a psyduck that’s technically not even his like he never caught it it just follows him around, a pidove he accidentally threw a ball at and now can’t bear to give away (he named it after rand because it reminded him of him), an applin that he traded from Kian when they were younger (he gave Kian his feebas) ((also. If you know you know. Rolan does not know)), a dudunsparce he just caught as a kid and still has (i needed him to have at least one pokemon from larry’s team because c’mon they are the same person), and a pheramosa. He does not remember how he got this pheramosa. He just woke up one day and had it. It scares him a little.

Also, other characters:

Rachel was basically the player until she disappeared

Donna is the typical mom in pokemon

Becky’s a gym leader I think! Or maybe even an elite four member

Mr Dickman is the professor. He gave all three of them pokedexes and stuff but only gave a starter to Rand because the other two had gotten their first pokemon by then (Kian just like caught his first and Rolan got his from his parents as like a gift) so he didn’t need to give them pokemon

Hi! Could I request dating headcanons for Larry with gn s/o please?

authors note ; i am so not normal over larry it pains me pls i wont him so fuckin bad

tags ; neutral reader / established relationship / mention of wanting a baby

wc ; 834

🪶 you and larry started going out the second the two of you graduated from school.

🪶 dating while attending the academy was honestly something he wasn't wanting, which you respected, and it explains why the two of you got together once you finished your academics.

🪶 your relationship with him is, well, plain and simple. but that doesn't mean it's boring.

🪶 although larry finds himself to be simple and "normal", he's far from it. he has habits that make you realize just how different he is from other people.

🪶 for example; when the two of you brush your teeth? his elbow always knocks into yours, and it makes you choke on your toothbrush. what does he do to fix the problem? he just adjusts your elbow, apologizes quietly, and keeps doing what he's doing.

🪶 sometimes when he brushes his teeth, he stands there staring at himself with toothpaste foam all over his mouth and chin, and it takes everything in you not to laugh at him.

🪶 another example? one time while the two of you were babysitting poppy, he kept applying hand sanitizer every time he touched her. and when she sat on his shoulders? he'd ask you for a wipe or something to disinfect himself. doesn't help that he's always adjusting something she "ruins". he says it's so his staraptor isn't bugging him at the end of the day with grooming, but you know it's because he can't stand feeling messy.

🪶 poppy likes when you help larry babysit. she feels like she sees the best of him come out, and it also helps her scheme of giving you baby fever so she can have a baby sibling figure.

🪶 you two do your best to go on dates and spend time with one another, but with him being a gym leader and elite four member, and you having your own things to do, it's often hard.

🪶 but that doesn't mean you two don't try to find a way to be with each other.

🪶 nights are quietly spent in each other's arms, speaking silently so that the world outside can't hear. sometimes you can't hear one another, so oftentimes lips brush when the other speaks- and kisses are stolen.

🪶 mornings before work are heavenly. your nails always gently scratch the back of his head, or between his shoulder blades, and larry kisses your collarbones as he wishes you a groggy "good morning".

🪶 these moments are always cherished. especially when larry comes out of his shell a bit.

🪶 which honestly, you have made such an influence on him.

🪶 he's still the same old larry to his peers, but when he comes home? you can tell he's picked up on your own habits

🪶 there are times when you catch him staring at you from across the room, or he's simply just watching you. when you ask him what's up, he always says the same thing- "I'm capturing the moment."

🪶 it makes you melt when he says that, so you always tell him to take a picture instead. he shoots down the idea, constantly, as he confesses that a memory is 10x better than some digital photograph. because with that memory... he can remember what the room smelled like, what it felt to be in that moment.

🪶 he thinks you look so beautiful doing whatever it is your doing.

🪶 he has a hard time telling you time from time that he loves you, but you know he does when you see a delivery boy taking you lunch that he's ordered for you.

🪶 or when he cooks you your favorite meals and makes sure your pokemon are well fed.

🪶 speaking of pokemon, his pokemon adore you.

🪶 his komala likes to hang off your shoulders when you're doing housework, and is like a weighted blanket on your chest when you take an afternoon snooze.

🪶 dudunsparce used to be afraid of you, but now? it likes to wiggle between your ankles and try to make itself useful by licking the floor to get rid of crumbs. your own personal roomba!

🪶 his staraptor was whom he was more afraid of, as it had quite a personality, but after treating the raptor pokemon to some treats and making sure it knew you were no threat, the two of you are as close as you can be, as are your pokemon with him and his team.

🪶 it always warms his heart to come home to see you, his pokemon, and yours all fast asleep somewhere in the house.

🪶 larry thinks about having children with you time from time, but thinks komala is enough, so he doesn't bother bringing it up.

🪶 but if you bring it up, he'll go with it. a life spent with you is a life he wants to have.

🪶 especially if it means the two of you wed at the end of the day <3

Pokémon Month

Day 5: Larry

Personal Opinion: Oh, Larry. The character that no one saw coming but who has stolen everyone’s hearts because of the realistic notion of being a job-hating workaholic. And that includes me. I love this guy and he’s a goldmine of potential for both comedy and the narrative.

What was kept: Larry’s Gym Leader team is the first time that we start seeing the need for an overhaul of change, as only three of his five original members were kept for the final cut. These are his Komala, Dudunsparce, and Tera Staraptor, being solid and diverse members to put some respect onto the name of the Normal type like what Larry himself preaches.

Substitutions/Replacements: Braviary isn’t a bad choice by any means, but I do believe that it is better suited to another certain team (which may or may not also be Larry’s), so I replaced it with another Unovan Pokémon in the form of a winter Sawsbuck. Oinkologne is definitely something of a letdown with it being a weaker, early-game normal type with not a whole lot to offer. So I replaced it with a Maushold, which I think better suits Larry given its deceptive appearance and the hidden power behind the mice. Persian is then the added member to make his team a full party of six, as I feel it’s a simple and straightforward cat Pokémon that’s still able to pack a punch, which is all a guy like Larry would need.

Favorite Sandwich: My chosen sandwich for Larry is the Peanut Butter Sandwich, which consists of Peanut Butter, Jam, Bananas, and Butter. One of Paldea’s simplest sandwiches that would help any normal man get through the daily grind, and therefore perfect to be Larry’s absolute favorite of the bunch at the end of the day. Even if his rate might be more varied from time to time in contrast to his simplistic battle typings, he’ll more than likely always come back to what’s familiar and predictable.

So while I've been meaning to do it for a while, if you were curious about how I interpret Larry and Saguaro's teams of Pokémon, I'll hand down my personal canon them, including nicknames! (I mean, it's easy to just call a Pokémon by their species name, but not necessarily for me when more than one person has the same Pokémon...^^; )

We'll start with Larry's team for now, as he...well...he's got a lot of them. XD; Saguaro's will becoming soon, but not too long!

I'll put it under a cut because it's a bit long and image-heavy:

Gym team:

Spot is his eldest, and has been Larry’s Pokémon since his boyhood in Sinnoh. Despite getting up there in age, Spot shows no clear signs of slowing down: if anything, he’s been getting ornerier. It took a very long time for him to warm up to Saguaro (and even to this day acts a little aloof around him), but in his defense, it takes a long time for Spot to warm up to anyone.

Believe it or not, Larry has *two* Dudunsparce! (I’m serious, he has a female in his initial gym battle and a male in his rematch, thanks @prince-kallisto for finding this!) Kuba is the one he’s had since Sinnoh, and only evolved once Larry began his tenure as a Gym Leader in Paldea. Nica, on the other hand, is a much younger Paldea native that he got by accident, and Larry reserves her for typical gym matches. She hasn’t been a Dudunsparce for very long and relies on Kuba to show her the ropes. Also, you can tell them apart by Nica being larger than Kuba!

Annie chose herself, attracted to Larry's gloomy aura and likely saw it fit to help him sleep better. As Komala typically do, she’ll enter deep sleep through just about anything, to the point she’ll be in a bed or a couch and nobody notices at first (hilarity has ensued more than once after Larry and Saguaro married). Although when it involves even the mention of food or a battle she’ll perk up…or at least, as much as a Komala can perk up.

Goldstrike was a rescue as a Rufflet when Larry was first inducted as a Gym Leader in Paldea, who at first hesitated accepting his help, but won his loyalty after seeing the trainer in action. He and Spot have never quite gotten along because of this, both claiming they’re Larry’s “best bird” and have viciously fought in the past over this. It only stopped being violent when Larry got in the middle of it and was sent to the hospital, but they’ve still never quite gotten along.

Marble was given as a wedding gift as a Lechonk! No, not to eat, silly: Lechonk and especially Oinkologne are ideal companions for keeping a future home. While she’s a competent battler (so much so that Larry reserves her for Geeta’s gym evaluations), she much prefers the gardens of the cortijo and going to market with Saguaro.

Elite Four team:

King was an involuntary sign of Larry’s annoyance for having to pick an alternate type for his Elite Four position. But the Flamigo's showy attitude, intense desire to please, and surprising strength eventually won him over. He’s Spot’s polar opposite and the head-butting between the two are straight out of a sitcom. When at home, he likes standing still in the garden to sun himself, and many passersby mistake him for a decoration at first.

February is his second-eldest after Spot, also one of Larry’s Sinnoh expats along with Spot and Kuba. She is still very beloved by Larry despite long since dropping the part-Normal of a Swablu; in fact she had stayed a Swablu for a long time, because she feared he wouldn’t still love her, having heard he prefers Normal-type Pokémon! Her beautiful voice and soft feathers have helped with Larry’s anxiety and occasional insomnia long before he met Saguaro.

Jade, like Marble, was a wedding present! Larry appreciates his presence as it reminds him of a visit to Hoenn when he was very young, one that is scattered in vestiges in his memories. Since Tropius fruit is a popular delicacy, it’s a big deal in Larry and Saguaro’s home when Jade’s ripens enough. Jade’s need for sunlight and open fields is the other factor the two chose a cortijo over any other type of home.

Golddust was a well-intentioned gift from Geeta, which Larry had naturally interpreted in a more negative slant. Despite this, her cheerful and energetic personality won him over. She’s the biggest advocate to make Spot and Goldstrike get along, but her efforts have been met with varying success. She and Pionono are close friends and have been known to get into mischief together.

Medea Plays Pokemon Scarlet & Violet: Part III

I’ll get to Larry soon enough.

This might be a longer than normal post. I got in an extra day of playing due to a snow storm preventing me from going to work. Tee-hee. Let’s see how my journey is fairing out.

*gasp* Would you look at that?! A shiny! I’m not even a shiny hunter.

Oh my goodness, two of them!

Just like with Legends Arceus, it’s a little easier to point out and find shinies.

Is this a nod to the anime and TR’s Meowth or just a coincidence. I see what you did here, game.

I ran into more interesting-looking students again. Not as cringey as bruh who looks like a pedo. Buuut...

Ooh, oh no. This woman got a Frollo hairdo-look going on. What are you doing, Pokemon?

Okay, I have to admit. Out of all the memes on the internet involving the new Pokemon game, there’s one character/pokemon that I’m enjoying with all of the memes. I think you know who I mean.

That’s right. Oop, wrong file photo.

Yeah, I kinda fell in love with this sledgehammer-wielding psychopath.

Let’s see what’s up with school.

Huh. This reminds me of a Ren and Stimpy episode.

Them lummoxes love their meat on meat sandwiches. Maybe Miss Dendra is related to the lummoxes. Meanwhile, in art class...

Say no more. I’m shipping this until the day I die. Hassel loves his dear Brassie. It chokes him up inside.

Wow...um. I didn’t expect him to start crying because he heard Brassie-boy’s depression through art. This isn’t the last time you’ll see him cry.

You have no idea, lady. Let’s check out the Team Star incident.

Oh God. I know bullying is very wrong and everything, especially in this game. But...this kid just has such a punchable face. He’s like Bede, Dilandau, and Trip all mish-mashed into one entity.

Seriously, this kid here. I would like to punch him. And that’s stiff competition because the last Team Star person I fought before this little dingleberry acts like David Cross playing a Warlock.

But, you learn to let the fists go when you learn about Team Star and how they are not in the wrong. Like, at all. Everything stems back from 18 months ago. Team Star was bullied. Teachers did nothing. Team Star was formed under the guidance of the unseen boss. Turmoil hit the school. Bullies were sent to Galar. Teachers resigned. The former director covered everything up. Team Star was used as a scapegoat.

But educators like Clavell, Ms. Tyme, Jacq-strap, all of those people started AFTER this incident. The final Team Star boss is.

Whoa. I am at a loss of words with Eri. Except, I think she might be the daughter to a professional ultimate fighter and Stripperella. I ain’t even sorry for that crack.

After defeating all 5 squad bosses, you learn the hacker who told you to track down all the places and defeat the bosses that they are indeed the big boss. They will fight you on the school grounds at sundown. Let’s smash some titans.

I know you see this ginormous fella earlier in the game, like when your team is at level 20-30. Heed my advice and wait until, maybe your 6th badge to fight him. If you don’t believe me, look at some playthroughs on Youtube. People were not expecting this. Now for the confusing titan.

Is this the titan? I mean, he is bigger than some of the oth...

Ohhhhhhhh shiiiiiii...

Don’t worry, he comes back once you beat Monstro, the big, blue whatchamafucker.

So, is this guy really the titan or was the big fella the titan? I don’t know. Let’s continue.

Oh God...don’t kill me with this now.

Doggo all better. Me happy. Me very happy. Let nothing ruin this...

Bad timing. Bad timing from bad parent. And if you don’t believe me...

I feel like this was Arven’s childhood in a nutshell.

But now, Arven’s mother Professor Crazy Bitch needs his help.

Wait, aren’t we forbidden from entering the hellhole of Paldea.

That is not a good sign. Let’s wrap things up with the Victory Road saga.

Meet Japanese businessman gym leader. A.K.A. Larry. And according to the internet, the most interesting man in Paldea. I’ll stick to my Tinkaton memes thank you very much.

The interesting gym challenges continue. For Larry’s gym, you have to order the correct secret dish that he eats at this restaurant. You get clues from fighting trainers all over town.

Next gym will have you compete in double battles in front of a crowd. When the crowd is warmed up, it’s time for a concert with Gym Leader Ryme. Yes, she’s the sister of your math teacher Miss Tyme.

Oh and the gym leader also does double battles. So there’s that.

In the next gym, Miss Dendra comes in with battle faces. You will also fight some trainers. No, Dendra is not the gym leader. She’s just good friends with her.

On a side-note, Miss Dendra is the best teacher.

Anyways, fight the Cover Girl model and win a badge. In your final badge...

You have to go through this Mario Party-style obstacle course and race down before time runs out. And then you can fight Grusha.

I kept forgetting he was a boy this whole time. These characters confuse me greatly. Okay, you obtain all 8 badges, time to meet with Geeta the champ.

I was really hoping the first time someone fought for me it would be Tracey Sketchit and not female-Goku over here.

So, you know how after you finish the gym battles, you go on to Victory Road and then face the Elite Four. There’s one trainer outside the Pokemon League and that’s it. Oh, there’s something you’ll have to face that’s more terrifying than 10+ trainers in a cave.

I know I know all the answers. But she’s so intimidating that I fear I might slip-up.

After that, you face off against the Elite Four. This includes Rika, a toddler, your art teacher, and...

Oops, wrong file photo.

...

They’re the same thing.

Yes, not since Koga have we seen such a jump. After you defeat all four of them, Geeta time.

You know what? I have some things to say. This was by-far, the easiest Elite Four I’ve faced-off against. This might be because a year prior to this, I was facing off against Sinnoh’s Elite Four + Cynthia. Plus, these guys don’t stop in mid-battle to give their pokemon a Full Restore. They just take the beating, thinking they’re going to annihilate you. Spoiler alert, they don’t. Also, don’t expect to take them on again after this. You can only fight the Elite Four once.

That’s right. Let me say it again for the people in the back. This is the only time you can fight the Elite Four and Geeta in this setting.

And now you’re champ.

He’s so overcome with joy. Okay, time for a sandwich break.

To be continued...

Pokemon Scarlet Character Thoughts: League Members

Katy

The first (if you go in order based on strength) Gym Leader people will face. Her outfit is rather cute, and her dialogue is enjoyable as well, but to be brutally honest, she’s kind of boring. I had actually forgot about her later on in the game as she didn’t stick with me compared to some of the other leaders. I do enjoy seeing that the Paldea Leaders have additional occupations instead of just being a Gym Leader, as it gives them more character depth. I think Katy is a nice character, just a bit boring compared to other characters, maybe if she had more bright pops of color in her outfit it might make her stand out a bit more. Her gym challenge was fun, as it made me think of the olive farms in Italy that have huge harvest festivals.

Brassius

The thirst I had for this tired look man when he first dropped! This tired man is so extra but I love it! Brassius, as well as other characters in these games, all give me vibes of theatre children, they’re so extra, but also passionate and unique. He’s an artist but also a climber, as when we first met him, he was on top of a windmill! Compared to other grass gym leaders I love that he gives off a totally different vibe, he’s edgier, but he does have his moments, especially later on in the game. His gym challenge was fun, playing hide and seek with Sunflora, I’m not sure if other people had this happen, but one of the last Sunflora actually ran from me and I had to chase it down and battle it to get it to come with me.

I 100% totally believe that these two cupcakes are dating and have been for a long while! They have cute nicknames for each other and just look so comfortable with each other! One thing (of many) that solidifies this is Brassius is the grass gym leader, and Hassel has a Flapple, which, according to the Pokedex and lore, if you give an Applin to someone you care about you’ll be together forever!! It’s canon and they’re so stinking cute together I could cry!!

Iono

In comparison to Katy, who I think is a little bland looking, Iono is the exact opposite, she’s vibrant, colorful, and definitely not forgettable. If I had one complaint, I feel like she’s almost a little over designed, she is very busy from her outfit, her adorable pastel hair, oversized accessories, her shark teeth, and her wild personality. This is not to say she’s unlikable as I adore her character, she’s fun and lively and her gym challenge was very fun.

Kofu

He is another gym leader whose personality I adore, he’s so nice when he’s coming out to our match, interacting with kids and other people around, he’s so likeable. This being said, his facial hair, eyebrows and beard, are... yeah... I’ll leave it at that. It was nice to have a bit more involvement to getting to the point of battling him, from taking his wallet to the auction, winning the auction, and then meeting him back in his town, but I kind of wish there was an actual gym challenge on top of it as it would have been interesting to see what Gamefreak could have come up with for a challenge for his gym.

Larry

Oh lordie, this tired, old, normal, salaryman. HOW I LOVE YOU!!! 100/10 best gym leader EVER!!! He vibes so much with me as I work a grueling 9 to 5 office job myself, so I complete understand why this cupcake is the way he is! Yes, he is plain design wise, but his character is anything but forgettable as everything flows so easily together for him. I was also extremely happy to find out that his style when throwing his Pokeballs was based on Koyo Aoyagi of the Hanshin Tigers! I know baseball is very big over in Japan, but to see this little easter egg in a Pokemon game was very enjoyable!

Ryme

Even though I adore Larry to pieces, Ryme is my favorite Paldea Gym Leader, she’s fierce, she uses one of my favorite types of Pokemon, she’s the sister of one of the teachers, and she’s a rapper! Her gym challenge was overly simple, but it was all forgiven when I came out to see her in a rap battle with a store clerk! I was offended when she asked if I wanted a rap battle and then told me no, even though I would get torn to shreds by Ryme, I still wanted to have fun! Her design is so much fun and I love when she gets mad and her eyes go white, that’s so funny when it happens. Not going to lie, when I see Ryme and Tyme, all I see is Salt n’ Pepper!

Tulip

Her design is so beautiful, she’s elegant and feminine and just so freaken pretty!! She gives that vibe that she can snap your neck if you disrespect her without any issues while putting on mascara and not losing a single ounce of her concentration. When I first met her, I thought she was a snob, as she was on the phone, but once I got to see more of her character afterwards, she quickly grew in favor and showed that she’s not just a pretty face. Her gym challenge was Simon Says with a few battles thrown in, nothing majorly difficult, but my favorite thing was the photo we took afterwards, she did that position in those high as frick heels and made it look easy.

Grusha

Grusha is so pretty but personality-wise, I hated this pompous prick until I saw more of the dialogue. Grusha was very rude to me and acted like battling me was going to be a huge waste of time. However, I came to realize that Grusha was trying to protect me, by being an asshole, as Grusha was one of the top snowboarders, keyword ‘was’ which makes me think there was an accident with major injury that resulted in Grusha’s retirement; they’re trying to keep others from doing the same because they don’t want us to get hurt and ruin our futures. Grusha is, according to the official site, male, but I’m not convinced, and prefer to keep their pronouns gender-neutral. Design wise I love Grusha’s design, it’s simple but not boring, I love the two-toned hair color and the oversized scarf that is so adorable that I want to find a tutorial to crochet myself one.

Rika

GAY PANIC INTENSIFIES!!!

When I first saw her, I thought Rika was a skinny man, but once I found out that she was female, my inner lesbian all of about exploded from immense glee! Her design is amazing!! I can’t find a single thing bad to say about her other than I wish we had seen more of her and had more interactions with her!!

Poppy

How in the world did this child become an Elite Four member at such a young age? When I first met her, I was in disbelief, how is this possible?! She was decently strong, and her design is rather cute, and the dialogue she has with others is rather cute. It is amusing to see this little bebe that is one of the strongest trainers in Paldea. I feel like her color palette could use something, her outfit is mostly all the same color and I wish that there was some more color differences, like maybe her shoes could be black as well, and the lining of her jacket could be black. I’m not sure what that giant key thing around her neck is, it reminds me of a key holder that younger kids would carry their house keys in. Ahh latchkey kids, brings back memories...

Larry

Nuff said <3

Hassel

Woof, this man radiates DILF energy, he’s elegant, kind, and goes hard in battles but is so sweet and a wonderful teacher on top of it! When I found out he was in the Elite Four after only knowing him as my art teacher, I squeed. His design of beautiful, his eyes remind of me of a hawk, and his clothes scream professor but at the same time he’s so handsome!! He was one of the hardest battles in the game when I faced him in the Champion Test, but I loved it! By end game (Elite Four time) I’m usually over-leveled as I want to be able to handle it in one shot, but he gave me a run for my money. When I beat him and he started to cry and tell me how proud he was of me, I cried, I wanted to immediately adopt him as my new dad.

Geeta

Not going to lie, when I first saw her, I thought she was going to pull a Chairman Rose and be the secret secondary bad guy like in Sword and Shield. The way she carried herself and just the vibe screamed sus to me, and I just couldn’t shake it. Now that I’ve finished the game and now know that she is just a very serious person, I’ve come to appreciate her more as a character, unless if they bring out a DLC and my sus vibes were telling me the truth and she really is evil! Her design was a little...ehh for me. Her hair is very full, almost like a mane, and her outfit makes her seem very boxy, unlike Rika who pulled the look off well. She is another character that I wish had a bit more color in her palette, the black, blue, and yellow is fine, I just wish there was a bit more of varying colors.

Overall, the Paldea League is very diverse, design wise, and most of the characters, if you didn’t know them, you wouldn’t be able to tell what kind of trainer they were, which I like, as it makes it fun to learn through trial and error with each of these trainers.

Pokemon Scarlet Playthrough: Part the 7th, I get lost again but this time it's the mountains and tunnels, I fought a hungry businessman, and then got lost again but even worse

So as I always do, I wondered off and got a bit lost in the mountains. I was exploring while trying to make my way to the normal gym. First I thought I was wondering off in the tunnels before realizing I was going the right way. Then I back tracked so I could explore more. My rock salt friend evolved again, now it looks like a golem. And my starter evolved to it's finale form too.

I wondered around the mountains for awhile before being like, "I should save this for later." So I'm going to do it later. I ran into a Hawlucha 10 levels above me and I was like "I don't feel like dealing with this."

I ran into another absurdly high level wild Tera Pokemon, like the Espeon. It was an ice Lucario this time. It was level 75. And I was like, "NOPE" So I ran.

I ran into some new Pokemon. He would have guessed that Frill Pokemon would evolve into an Ostridge. I expected it's evolution to look ugly like Slurpuff's evolution looks. But it actually looks great!

One thing I always thought to myself was that if there was going to be a grass/fire Pokemon it would be a pepper. I was right! Called it! So I now have the pepper pokemon.

I also saw the new dragon line. I saw a piece of artwork with it along with other dragons, so I assume that's what it is. I tried to catch it but I didn't know it was ice type, maybe I should have guessed from the name, but I used a super effective move and it fainted.

I also caught the ice whale and ghost dog. I was talking in the last post about trying to get a female Salandit. no need now, I caught a Salazzal in the wild, I'm all good.

Also I underrated how fun High Jumping would be, it's pretty cool actually. So yeah that's it of this session. Gonna play more later. You don't have to wait though, it's all in the same post.

Very short session because I got hungry. Got into the town w/ Normal Gym, currently exploring town before fighting Larry. I know he's popular, so let's see what all the fuss is about. Tinker evolved into Tinkerton. And I caught another Pokemon that I have never seen before, some sort of stork called Bombirdier. So yeah that's it, will play more after I eat.

Speaking of eating... I have completed the normal gym! I really liked the test for this one, it was fun running around town and gathering the info I needed for the test. The battles ended up being kinda easy because I was over leveled and was using a kick ass Flamingo with really high attack, that was holding a held item that increases physical move damage. Seriously, my Wowza is a powerhouse.

I don't I ever mentioned this but I really love the theme that plays when the gym leaders do the Tera thing, it's a hype theme. I also love Tera raid music, but I especially love the music you get when you complete a Tera Raid.

So yeah, kind of ironic that I got really hungry right before the Normal Gym. Larry's alright, I do find it funny that he doesn't really seem to take his Gym Leader position that seriously. It seems like a side gig/hobby to him. I wonder what his actual job is though, is he like an accountant or something? I can't help but wonder how he became a Gym Leader because he doesn't strike me as the sort of person who would go out of his way to get that position.

In unrelated news, what I thought might be undisguised Mimikyu was 100% not that. It was just a big grasshopper. In my defense, you don't really get that much detail in the little map sprites. It's still implied that there is an undisguised form out there, and I want it.

So apparently I can change my Pokemon's Tera type if I get enough shards. I was wondering what the shards are for because I already found a few. So the chef lady is going to cook them into a dish that can do that... I wonder what eating a Tera shard is like, is it like rock candy? Does it get crushed up to become like some sort of weird salt/seasoning? I wonder about the logistics.

So I asked the nurse where I should go next and she said the Dragon Titan. But I'm looking at the map and I'm like r u serious? That's an island! Koraidon can't swim! Is there like a ferry or something? I guess I'll try to see if it's possible but I'll probably end up going someplace else.

Yeah it's impossible, I can't swim and the Pokemon around the area are a bit overleveled for me. I don't know why she told me to go over there. I ended up wondering around A LOT. And catching lots of Pokemon!

I finally caught a Goomy! I tried to catch a Toedstool but this is the 2nd time that it was actually shapeshifter in disguise. I caught a Giraferig, evolved it, and replaced my Tinkerton with it. It's undrleveled compared to the rest of my party but I was just really excited to finally get one. I managed to catch a Pachirisu, they kept getting away from me by climbing up trees, but not this time! I got chu! Also caught the Dung Beetle. I caught another Gimmighoul, but it's much higher level now.

I caught the baby version of the pepper monster I mentioned earlier in this post. I also managed to catch a Tatsugiri. They were in the area that was ovreleveled for me. I only have one form though, they keep using Memento and fainting.

I also evolved some Pokemon using exp candy. So I now have a Dachsbun, Espartha, and Dolliv. I suspect Dolliv evolves one more time.

Anyway there were other Pokemon I caught/Evolved but they aren't worthy of note.

I visited Porto Marinada. The auctioneers there pretty much told me to fuck off. I guess I have to unlock that at a later point. I decided to choose between the water gym and the ground titan as my next target, and I choose the ground titan. The water gym after that, the the dark star raid. Maybe after I beat the ground titan I can swim.

I saw but didn't catch a "Veluza", a Dratini, and also these giant catfish. I wonder if that catfish Pokemon has an evolution now or if this is an unrelated mon. Just checked Pokedex, no room for it to have an additional evolution, must be something new.

Checking the Pokedex... I don't think Kilowattrel evolves again, I'm pretty sure the space after it is meant to be Eevee. Anyway... I think I'm going to leave this post off around here. Next post will probably have a bunch more actual progression.

Giratina! Larry AU Evidence

I’m going to do it, I really have gone insane haha. After my Missingno! Larry post, I thought it would be funny to do a Giratina! Larry post also giving evidence. This is all just for fun please don’t take me seriously

Larry has exactly six strands of flyaway grey hairs. Giratina has a reoccurring motif of six: six red spikes on the wings, six legs, six wings in its Origin form, and six gold spikes on its chest. Perhaps no matter what form Giratina takes, six is a constant motif?

Larry has three noticeable clouds on his tie (he has more, but y’know). Three is a pretty important number in Diamond and Pearl for the Creation Trio and the Lake Trio. Continuing this theme is the fact that Larry has three jobs.

Giratina observes from the Distortion World (it silently gazes upon the old world), and Larry is known as the The Exceptional Everyman. The everyman character is meant to connect with the audience for how normal he is. Part of what distinguishes the Everyman from or hero or villain is that he observes and avoids engaging in situations unless he is forced to. Larry has a very passive role, keeping an eye on everything. (I hold onto the theory that Larry is in Medali to watch over Area Zero)

Larry’s facade doesn’t make much sense. I made a post about his Facade in case you want more in depth explanation, but it’s never made clear what his “facade” really is. He doesn’t hide his emotions or his position as an Elite Four member, so maybe his entire being as a person is his facade.

His title can be very deceptive as the “Exceptional” Everyman. Exceptional can mean “outstanding,” but also “unusual” and “abnormal.”

I love the reoccurring joke about Larry’s mysteriousness, but really, his identity as a gym leader and an Elite Four member is purposefully kept in the dark. Even in the art book, there's a question mark instead of a photo of him in the Elite Four section, and he keeps his back turned whenever there are photos of him.

Giratina is on the cover for Pokémon Platinum, Larry has platinum eyes. Plus, with all the focus on the Diamond and Pearl games lately (remake, Legends Arceus), this lines up

Larry is unique for several reasons, such as being the only character to be both a gym leader and Elite Four member, only gym leader to battle inside, terastallize more than one Pokemon, and only character to have square-shaped eyes. Giratina is unique in the Creation Trio for having its own battle music, different stats, even different box art. Giratina is also the tallest Generation IV pokemon, and Larry is one of the tallest characters in SV.

Regular Giratina’s color scheme features red and gold, quite an opposite to Larry. However, Shiny Giratina’s color scheme is blue and silver. Am I trying to imply that Larry is a shiny Giratina? Yes.

Giratina represents Antimatter. I always thought this was a unique choice to complete the Space and Time duo. Pokémon depicts it as an opposite force through the Distortion World. Larry stands out A LOT because of how normal he is compared to literally every other character in Pokemon. Giratina sees reality different than the normal Pokemon world, where "common knowledge is distorted and strange." Perhaps he designed his appearance off of what was normal to him? I’ve seen people say that Larry looks like he doesn't even belong in the world of Pokémon. He’s normal to us, as the players, which in theory makes him not normal to the Pokémon universe. Additionally, Larry is the only character in Scarlet and Violet, and I think even in the whole Pokemon universe, to have square-shaped eyes.

The Summoning of the Everyman is a 15th-century morality play where the English word “Everyman” was first used and defined. A morality play often features personified concepts, angels, and demons. These characters often try to convince the generic everyman towards either good or evil, so morality plays center around temptation, the fall, and redemption of the Everyman. It’s a very religious story, but I won’t go too deep in those aspects. There are certainly some religious influences in the concept of Arceus and Giratina, as Giratinia is literally the Renegade Pokemon (although Giratina is not a representation of death, underworld, or the devil). Oddly coincidental connection to the play??

The conclusion? I’ve become insane, but Giratina! Larry suffers from a similar situation to Missingno!Larry where he tries way too hard to be human. Shiny Girantina is drinking his coffee while desperately trying to hold on to a resemblance of sanity, and trying to make it through the work day.

Yes I’ll also be making a Arceus! Larry post because ive already gone this far xD

If you were a pokemon gym leader, what type would you use?

Honestly, a difficult ask. My all-time favorite pokemon is Axew, so I use Haxorus a lot. I really like Dragon type because all you have to worry about is Ice and faster dragons. (Oh, and now Fairy)

My number two pokemon is Heracross and I do often gravitate to Fighting types. Usually easier to come across and there's lots of fun ones in there like my boy Scraggy. And MaCHAMP.

My spiritual pokemon is the Snorlax. Big, sleepy, always in the way. I relate to Snorlax more than any other. And now we've got the most perfect gym leader Larry, running the Normal gym in SV. And I love him. He is me if pokemon were real.

Long review of my time with Pokemon Violet

Scarlet/Violet spoilers down below

I love the game. These sets of games are on the same wavelength as Pokemon BW/BW2 in terms of the characters and their motives.

I want to say hats off to Dir. Clavell. Director Clavell is a great ‘how you do fellow kids?’ old character in the game, actually, because he is one who just wants to see their pupils flourish and be great at studying in the academy. And when he heard about the whole Team Star and what went awry with them, instead of blatantly expelling them for their mishaps, he took what he heard about Team Star, what’s up with Penny and her friends, and, in in the best and most constructive way, gave them the opportunity to actually make the Academy a much more awesome place by turning their bases into training grounds for any student who wants to be the very best like no one ever was. He wants to keep up with the younger generation by having a chat about what their passions are. The whole Treasure Hunt thing was amazing. You’re doing great, Director. 10/10 such a chill old man (plus that disguise he had was so kickass lemme tell ya). We need to see more IRL people be like Director Clavell someday.

For the Pokemon League side of the games. The Gyms leaders are, as usual, mostly not interesting, BUT!!! Larry is interesting. He’s such a normal guy, but not in the usual kind of normal guy way. He has a PhD in Accounting. He has a thing for Normal-types. He has a thing for birds (me too Larry, me too). He knows how many Normal/Flying types Pokemon are out hence the reason Larry’s a Normal-Type Gym Leader AND a Flying-Type ELITE FOUR MEMBER. He’s got an office job that must’ve got some really good salary. He pays his taxes like the good civilian he is. He yeets his pokeball in a baseball-like manner; has he played baseball before? He truly is The Exceptional Everyman, and I understand why some parts of Tumblr is appointing him as a Tumblr Sexyman candidate. Also I think Ryme being a Ghost-Type Gym Leader, Grandma Rapper, and a Teacher at The Academy is really great too.

What about Nemona? Pretty much like Hugh, she wants to see us grow strong and powerful with her bc she knew how much potential we’ve got. But at the same time she needs to learn where to set her boundaries. She’s a little too fun. There’s Penny. She’s an introvert computer hacker who has a thing for Eeveelutions. She has an assortment of anime that she wants to binge-watch. She got promoted to fixing the LP security system bc she hacked into them in the first place. Wow what a great person actually. :)

All I can about Arven is that he should be besties with N :)

But what the hell was going on about Arven’s Mom/Dad?

Oh my god. The idea of an AI being really aware that they’re insanely programmed by the original Sada/Turo to protect the Time Machine from going haywire, the fact that the AI Sada/Turo has little control over whatever insane program it’s been prompted with, it’s all so.... auuuughghuhghghghhh... gives me ‘Do Computers Dream of Electric Sheep?’ vibes honestly. That AI has passed the Turing Test in so many ways... but why?

The AI Sada/Turo knew how much damage that the Time Machine may cause to Paldea’s ecosystem, and that they needed someone powerful enough to shut the machine down, but at the same time the AI knew that they're aware that they are programmed to protect instead, and that if they ceased to operate, the Time Machine would cause damage to the ecosystem beyond Area Zero. So pretty like how N farewelled us before leaving for distant travels and leaving us emotionally broken, the AI has chosen to go to the Time of The Dinosaurs/The Time of Future via the Time Machine, leaving us sad and Arven too. Arven was devastated when he realized all of this, and I feel so bad for him, but not just him. I feel bad for the AI that has been programmed to protect the thing that causing a paradox, knowing that they’ve got no control over it. I feel bad for the Professors because they had to sacrifice their quality family time to build an AI clone of themselves as some form of way to keep Arven company and to give a program that the AI has accepted, everything about the program basically, even knowing the risks that the program carries. The real Sada/Turo recklessly sacrificed themselves to the territorial Paradox Legendaries secretly in order to protect what they’ve love the most from the worst kind of dangers, that being their own Kuraidon/Miraidon, their Arven, and his goodest boi Mashiff. The AI knew the truth, and had to accept  everything about it.

Oh....

hurgh....ace attorney but its pokemon

i boot up my switch. i check the news. i see the trailer for the crown tundra. i immediately get pokemon brainrot

anyway heres some half-baked ideas for an au with some help from ppl in the narumitsu discord gdsngksns (it got long so it’s under the cut)

gym leaders. everyone’s a gym leader. also i’m stealing the concept of the gym challenge from swsh because that SLAPS

whatever region theyre in thats based on japanifornia it’s pretty lax with their gym leaders. the gyms have to be branded based on what type they specialise in but the gym leaders can use basically whatever they want. as a result a lot of them lean more heavily on specific gimmicks during battle (remember how half of raihans team isnt even dragon type because they have weather abilities? yeah that but everyone could get away with it if they wanted to)

phoenix, larry, and miles did their gym challenge at the same time, that’s how they met and became friends. larry bailed out after the 7th gym, phoenix lost to miles in the semifinals and miles lost the final match of the finals, before he could get a chance to face the champion

miles moved to another region a few months after the gym challenge, and when phoenix turned 18 he moved to the other side of the region for college, so they lost touch for a few years. they meet again when they all become gym leaders in the same year. they’ve all changed a lot but they recognise each other almost instantly.

the first gym challenge after they become gym leaders is also when maya, klavier and apollo sign up for the gym challenge. (maybe trucy, athena and pearl as well but wouldnt they be super young i dunno)

oh yeah gym leaders.......hang on here they are in order

gumshoe - runs a normal type gym, but his team actually consists almost entirely of dogs. his partner is a bibarel.

phoenix - runs a fire type gym. i didn’t put any thought into this. the only reason he’s a fire gym leader in this au is because someone in the narumitsu server mentioned him having a fletchling as his partner and i liked the idea too much. his partner is a talonflame.

larry - runs a psychic type gym. this comes as a shock to basically everyone because “psychic-type specialist” brings about a certain mental image and he aint it, chief. he just thinks psychic types are neat. also he has an alakazam who hates him. his partner is an espeon.

mia - runs a ghost type gym, but she doesn’t lean into it that much. i don’t know what her gimmick is. her partner is a froslass or a chandelure (i never decided. i could see diego being a fire type specialist and giving her a litwick as a gift)

iris & dahlia - run a fairy type gym together. they inherited it from someone, probably. their gym’s main gimmick is double battles, which doesn’t work out great for them. they’re incredibly competent trainers on their own, but in double battles they’re rarely on the same wavelength. iris’ partner is a mimikyu. dahlia’s partner is a galarian weezing (or maybe a salazzle)

kristoph - runs a poison type gym. i thought it was funny. i never bothered to figure out what his partner is because i haven’t played aa4 in a LONG time.

blackquill - runs a flying type gym. his team is all birds, and they’re all best friends with him. there’s a reason NPCs can’t use stuff like affection (that thing where your pokemon spontaneously cure themselves of status conditions and tough out fainting blows bc they love you so much) but blackquill’s team can and they’re so op, pls nerf. i didn’t decide what his partner is.

miles - runs a dragon type gym. the von karmas are essentially dragon tamers, so once he started training under them he became skilled with dragon types as well. his partner is a bisharp that he doesn’t use in battle (at first, anyway...)

there’s no elite four. i like sword and shield, sue me.

manfred von karma is the champion of the region. he’s corrupt as fuck. idk i only thought out like 20% of this au

some miscellaneous shit:

mia wants to retire after the gym challenge and pass her gym on to maya.

kristoph is also corrupt as fuck. probably doing some chairman rose bullshit behind the scenes. klavier inherits his gym because kristoph got arrested lmao

phoenix has a salazzle on his team. he got it from dahlia

i havent decided what partner pokemon the challengers have, but i like the idea of klavier having a toxtricity. after he takes over kristoph’s gym, he makes it music-themed and all his pokemon use sound-based attacks like echoed voice and perish song

franziska is probably the champion of whatever region is based on germany. her partner is an altaria

idk if or where diego appears in this au but if he does he’s got beef with phoenix because they both use fire types and he’s disproportionately mad about it gkldsngkl im not funny

gregory edgeworth specialised in steel types (which is why miles has a bisharp). he’s probably still dead but i don’t know how he dies

maybe the first thing phoenix realises after meeting miles again is “hey i thought you didn’t like dragon types what’s up with that” but idk

something phoenix DEFINITELY realised is that he’s got a type disadvantage on miles now. on their gym challenge he had the upper hand when it came to fletchling vs. pawniard because fire > steel, but dragon resists fire so every time they fight miles wipes the floor with him dskfjsdkfjk

if trucy or any of the gramaryes are in this au maybe they’re psychic type specialists? :eyes:

if athena’s here she has a pikachu. i just think it would be funny. (but seriously i like the idea of her being an electric specialist. i have not seen jack shit about aa5 or 6)

oh speaking of shit i dont know about 5 or 6: aura might be here? if she is she’s a steel type user. her partner is a skarmory which is the sister of simon’s skarmory. it slaps

thats your lot. if you have any other ideas lemme know bc i think this is a neat concept but im way too lazy to do anything with it

Your blog is phenomenal. You are just wonderful and incredibly informative That Interview magazine article just wrecked me, what a truly beautiful and sensitive soul Taylor is. Do you happen to have the entire article? I'd love to know more as I am completely lost and new in the world of fandom. Thank you for your time and all your efforts in promoting and sharing your love of Taylor.

Thanks for the blog love! Always love sharing Taylor information with new fans. 

The Interview Magazine article is probably the most he’s ever opened up to date. Sometimes he’s super guarded in interviews and other times he really opens up. It’s interesting 

Here is the entire article, it’s long:

When I told a female friend I'd be interviewing Taylor Kitsch, the actor who broke out as the hard-nosed, brooding fullback Tim Riggins for five seasons on NBC's Texas high school football melodrama Friday Night Lights her jaw actually dropped. Kitsch's rugged looks - he's a former model and junior hockey player - and world-weary onscreen demeanor, often have this effect on women; another friend referred to him as a "classic hunk." But the 32-year-old British Columbia native possesses a surprising absence of vanity. Kitsch bought a home in Austin while filming FNL, and still lives there, ducking the Hollywood spotlight as much as possible. When I met up with him in New York, he wore a T-shirt and jeans to a luxury hotel lounge and asked if I was planning to "get some grub." He's remarkably grounded, with a ready laugh and a tendency to pepper his speech with the word fuckin'. The lack of pretense shows in his latest effort, the gritty drama Lone Survivor, which happens to be Kitsch's third collaboration with director Peter Berg (after FNL and the big-budget action pic Battleship, 2012). Based on former Navy SEAL Marcus Luttrell's nonfiction book, the film, which co-stars Mark Wahlberg, Eric Bana, Emile Hirsch, Ben Foster, and Alexander Ludwig - depicts a botched 2005 mission in Afghanistan. Kitsch playsLieutenant Michael Murphy, one of four SEALs drastically outnumbered by Taliban forces. The protracted gunfight at the center of the movie is unsparing, graphic, and hyper-realistic, but Lone Survivor surrounds it with moments of unsentimental tenderness among its band of brothers.Lest you think Kitsch is only interested in stoic roles as athletes and soldiers (he was also a Civil War veteran transported to Mars in 2012's John Carter), he's subverting his image with upcoming turns as a gay activist in a TV-movie adaptation of the 1985 Larry Kramer play The Normal Heart, and as a doctor in the Canadian comedy The Grand Seduction. And he recently wrote, directed, and produced a half-hour short about small time criminals, Pieces, which he's planning to adapt into a feature. I sat down with Kitsch to talk about the movie, his time spent sleeping on subways in New York and his car in Los Angeles, and inevitably, how he reacts to his female admirers. (To my awestruck friend, and other aspirants: he's single - but read on for how not to approach him.)TEDDY WAYNE: I didn't really know the story behind Lone Survivor. What, other than Peter Berg's involvement, drew you to it?TAYLOR KITSCH: There's not a day that goes by that you don't think about it, really. [Marcus] Luttrell's become a great friend of mine now, and I was talking to him about it. It's not even the responsibility of just the performance or just the memory of Murph being part of the SEAL community - this is a torch I have for the rest of my life. How often in this gig do we get to have that, and want it? You didn't know of the book or the story, and now you're going to think of my performance when you think of Mike Murphy, and that's an incredible responsibility.WAYNE: How much of that is solely inspired by the real figure and how much of the work is purely fictional?KITSCH: I think so much of it is that it actually happened, that these guys are still out there doing it. When you meet guys who were buds with Murph, guys that fought right next to him, you really do see how much it means to them that the film's done right. You have the opportunity to be like, "Okay, let's see what I'm fucking made of here, let's see what I'm capable of doing," and training to do it.WAYNE: So what was the training?KITSCH: There's a workout called the Murphy that he created when he was in the SEALs. It's, like, a mile run and then a hundred pull-ups, 200 push-ups, 300 sit-ups, then another mile run, with a 40 - to 50-pound weighted vest. Some guy claims to have done it in under 30 minutes. I couldn't get there. I was under 35, which is a fucking insane time. I was in the best shape of my life.WAYNE: How about the weapons training?KITSCH: We went to Albuquerque. We had guys who had fought with Luttrell to teach us the weapons systems. And that's live fire; it's not like standing there and just shooting at a target. They call it bounding, and all these other things these guys do as a team. Murph was the leader of the guys, so he's making the call, and you really do see it kind of seamlessly int he film. When he makes a call of "peel right" or "peel left" or "get on line," it's those things that the SEALs fucking love. We got the technical part of it.WAYNE: Was there any improv?KITSCH: Absolutely. Some of this funnier stuff - when I'm in the hide with Mark [Wahlberg] talking about a girl and a Coldplay concert, that was roughly scripted and we just went with it, and Mark is fucking on it. That guy has endless energy, he's quick. Pete would call cut, and the whole crew would burst out laughing. Or we would even have a bit of a camera shake because the camera guy's dying, you know?WAYNE: You were a junior hockey player in Canada before you injured your knee at age 20. Do you feel like you were on the path to professional hockey?KITSCH: Yeah, at least semi. I was hopefully going to go on a scholarship and turn pro. If I even scratched the lineup, it would've been fourth line, up and down from the minors, but, I mean, a minor career was a dream as well.WAYNE: When that injury happened, was it clearly career ending?KITSCH: In retrospect I think it was career ending. But at the time, it was that denial of, "fuck it, I'm gonna recoup it." But then I recouped it, and my first game back it blew out again.WAYNE: So what were you thinking in terms of life plans?KITSCH: Oh, it's over. I was devastated. It really is close to art simulating life in the sense of what FNL was - if you wreck your knee, that's it, everything is gone. Obviously it's not; it's a blessing in disguise, but at the time I remember my best friend came and took me off the ice and I was a wreck. My mom was in the stands and she was a mess, and then I was in the dressing room and I refused to take my gear off. I just knew the second time I did it - like, buddy, uh-oh.WAYNE: So did you do any acting by that age?KITSCH: I loved it. I always grew up winning all these public-speaking competitions in school.WAYNE: Did you move to New York soon after the injury?KITSCH: Yeah, at 21.WAYNE: I read that you were, at points, homeless and sleeping on subways - is that true?KITSCH: It's true. Only for a couple weeks. It wasn't like I was walking around with a grocery cart. I didn't have a visa; I couldn't get fucking work. I wish I could've waited tables. I was taking classes for free with my acting coach, Sheila Gray - she's been amazing, and so I finally paid her back after the first movie I did - and then I just ran out of money. I was staying at my best friend's place. He sublet a bedroom in a big family house, and I was sleeping on his floor, then I wore that out, and I leased a place up on 181st Street in Washington Heights, pretty fucking sketchy area, and I couldn't get electricity because, one, no money, and two, I had no Social Security. So from that best friend, I would take his girlfriend's blow-up mattress and use candles. And then that wore out, got kicked out of there, and I would go back to my buddy's place, and at midnight or whenever, he wanted to go to bed, I'd be like, "All right, I'm gonna go stay at" - make up somebody's place - or a gal's place or whatever, and then that ran out. [laughs] Quite literally. And then I'd sleep on the subway until 5:30, 6 in the morning, and I'd go to the gym and work out for god knows how long and have a shower and just loiter.WAYNE: And you were also a model at this point?KITSCH: Yeah, but I was completely out of work. Didn't work, really. And I was living in a spot that they give you, and by the time you get a job, you owe them so much back end that you're in debt anyway, so then I left that because that was just stupid to just keep building debt.WAYNE: What was your first big break?KITSCH: While I was homeless, I met my manager through one of the guys at the modeling agency. She's like, "Yeah, I'll take a meeting, whatever," just being nice to him. So I had a meeting, and 10 minutes in, she's like, "Okay, I'll take you on." Then my first reading - still homeless - I got but I couldn't do because I didn't have a fucking visa again. So I stayed and studied more and then I moved away to Barbados to work with my dad and dig ditches, and that was the most time I ever spent with my dad in my life on a one-time basis. I made like, 6K. Then I bought a little - it's called a Firefly or a Chevy Sprint, which is like a 12-inch wheel hatchback car that lives on fumes. It'll go forever, and so I bought that when I got to Vancouver - moved back - moved down to L.A., sublet a room for two months. That money ran out, and then I lived in my car.WAYNE: So you had two homeless stints. And both times you picked the transportation choice of the city you were in - subway in New York, car in L.A.KITSCH: Yeah, that's a good point.WAYNE: You need to be in a seaside place for a while and live a few months in your boat.KITSCH: I know! I was super-angry one day in L.A. - my car's a piece of shit, and then the front window wouldn't go down, and so I'm screaming at the handle, forcing it down, the window shatters, and it's the bigger one, 'cause it's a hatchback. So now I'm fucking homeless and I got a plastic bag with duct tape. So I stayed over at my best friend Josh Pence's place, and I'm like, "I think I'm gonna go home," and his mom overheard it, and she's like "You're not fucking driving 23 hours to Vancouver with a plastic bag," and so I went to the junkyard and got it replaced for, like, $75.WAYNE: I thought she was going to say, "No, you should stay here and fulfill your dreams," but she was just making sure you got a new window.KITSCH: [laughs] Yeah! When you're doing it, it's not like, "Oh, man, I'm really paying the price." You just did it. I'd go to Trader Joe's and get a big thing of cottage cheese and brown rice cakes, like, four bucks - that's all I'd eat. And I'm a nutritionist, so I'm like, that's probably the best bang for my buck. I've got protein, carbs..."WAYNE: You start doing the protein-price ratio. Split pea soup is good for that, too.KITSCH: Yeah, garbanzo beans-WAYNE: Tuna fish.KITSCH: Yeah, the cans, that was New York. The Sunkist cans?WAYNE: Starkist, right? But it should be Sunkist - just drinking Sunkist orange soda all day long.KITSCH: [laughs] Yeah, have diabetes at 25. So she gave me the money, I got the thing, drove from three in the morning till midnight, straight. Back at home with mom and then my first or second reading was Snakes on a Plane [2006]. Got it. And then The Covenant [2006] and then Friday Night Lights.WAYNE: In the first few episodes of FNL, Riggins seems to be a secondary character.KITSCH: He was. I was told he wasn't gonna last.WAYNE: What happened? People started responding to you?KITSCH: Yeah, I guess. Whatever it was, people clicked to me, and the studio loved him and what we were doing with him.WAYNE: Most of the humor comes from Riggins off-the-cuff moments.KITSCH: Yeah, the dry humor that Riggins has - that's mostly improv. I played hockey my whole life. I was just hanging out with a bunch of pro-hockey players who were good friends. Calling everybody six, seven, two, zero - that's Riggins. Calling that whole apology on the field, all of it was made up on that day of.WAYNE: You mentioned digging ditches with your father was the most time you ever spent one-on-one. You were raised by your mom for the most part?KITSCH: Yeah, for the most part, with my two bros. I'd see my dad every Christmas for the most part growing up, but he left when I was one-ish, and then I'd spend a couple weeks over Christmas with him. I remember going fishing with him; I remember snow-mobiling. I remember him carrying me around on the ice because he played hockey growing up, too. I remember those flashes, and I don't know if it's made up in my head - but I do remember blips, and being super pumped that he's letting me, at 6 years old, rip on the open lake in the snowmobile.WAYNE: Riggins didn't have a father around. Not to get too precious about it, but did that inform the role?KITSCH: Absolutely. I had no doubts when I was going to play it. It just felt super-organic.WAYNE: Do you see your dad more often these days?KITSCH: No, maybe once or twice a year. Not even. I haven't seen him in years. I've stayed in contact via e-mail, but I don't reach out as much as I should, I guess, but I don't have that - this may gut him, but I don't have that...where I'm like "I want to know what's going on," or "Why did you..." My brothers and I talk about it a lot but - and sometimes it's joking, you know, but...I think it's affected them more, especially one of them a bit more, just because he was older - he was 8. And my mom was with an older guy, and he was a super-sensitive man, and he connected more with me than either of my two brothers. So I think I got a lot of that sensitive part that allows me to be that kind of actor through him. My mom and he split up when I was 12, and I wanted to go live with him, and then I would still go spend weekends, neither of my brothers would, but I'd go spend a weekend with him as much as I could. And he was getting older, and I was not conscious of that either, and then my mom told me he'd died not long ago - man, and it was shitty that I couldn't have reconnected before he did, because it had been five, six, seven years from the last time I saw him. And he was just the softest soul.WAYNE: You live in Austin now. What were your thoughts when you first got there for filming FNL?KITSCH: I didn't even know where Austin was. Quite literally, I'm like, "We're going where to shoot this fucking thing?"WAYNE: You thought it was Boston? "Massachusetts Forever."KITSCH: [laughs] Yeah, totally! Which doesn't have the same kind of tone does it? And Austin was like nothing what it is now. It's, like, the fastest-growing city in the U.S. now. But I bought a place end of second-season, and that's my place now, just a little 1,000-square-foot condo.WAYNE: What's your life like there?KITSCH: I golf a lot. I'm in a men's hockey league. I've made some great friends there. I'm on my motorcycle a lot. Kyle Chandler [of Friday Night Lights] lives there, so whenever we can make time, we'll go on these long rides together. Had a great gal there. Southern belle.WAYNE: "Had," you said?KITSCH: Yeah, it's been tough lately. You never know how it's going to turn out. But I was with her for years.WAYNE: And she was from Austin herself?KITSCH: From Corpus [Christi]WAYNE: How did you meet her?KITSCH: Through my stunt double. He's like, "You gotta meet this gal; she's ridiculous active." She's a yoga instructor now, but she wasn't when we met. But just a super-sporty Southern belle, you know? Great.WAYNE: I don't want to embarrass you, but I told a female friend I was interviewing you, and she was momentarily stunned. I feel like male actors don't often discuss this, but does it ever get almost boring, or do you ever feel objectified if women respond this way? I mean, it's a good problem to have, but is there ever a point where it's like, be careful what you wish for?KITSCH: You're conscious of it. I mean, I'm never going to be like, "Oh, this attention from women sucks." It's flattering 99 percent of the time. After the premiere screening in L.A., there was a young woman, beautiful, mid - to late, twenties, and you're pretty crushed after this movie, it hits you hard, and I was talking to a guy who had served. All of a sudden this girl comes up and she's like, "Hey, I just gotta say this movie was this-and-that, but that fucking scene of you walking down the hall [in which Kitsch is shirtless]..." And then it inevitably went to, "What are you doing later tonight? Can I give you my number?" I kind of took offense to it. That's the one shitty experience out of it, but it's still flattering. Out of every thing in that fucking movie, that's what you took?WAYNE: Is dating a non-actor much more appealing to you?KITSCH: Absolutely. I mean, it's hard because you're all in or I'm all in, and I become super-myopic with work and kind of shut everything else out, and I don't know anything different because that's what's gotten me this far, so I live a pretty unbalanced life. And it's tough because the gal can't really relate in that sense. It doesn't mean she's not supportive, but that part of it wasn't relatable. She didn't understand, "Oh, okay, this guy's gonna be off the grid basically for whatever it is."WAYNE: That'd be tough no matter what.KITSCH: Yeah, it is, but if you're dealing or dating another actress or whatever who goes through that same process, then maybe they might have a bit more acknowledgment of it.WAYNE: But you seem pretty divorced from the Hollywood scene. You're not tabloid fodder that much. How do you safeguard your privacy?KITSCH: Austin helps. No Facebook. If anyone ever thinks I'm on Facebook or Twitter, it's not me, for the record - it's never me.WAYNE: But you are on MySpace right?KITSCH: [laughs] Totally.WAYNE: It sounds like you've preserved your lifestyle pre-acting, pre-fame as much as possible.KITSCH: I try. When I'm in L.A., I'm with one of my best friends, who's an actor coming up, and it's good to have that dialogue. In Austin I don't have that a lot. So that's one of the downfalls of being in Austin, if there is one, that I don't have another couple artists to bounce shit off. It's great to decompress, but it's tough because it goes from a hundred miles an hour living this fucked-up lifestyle to you're in your apartment, dead silence, and you're like, "Oh, what do I do today?" I guess I go for a coffee by myself and just read a couple scripts or something.WAYNE: You're doing a couple different movies this year - The Normal Heart, The Grand Seduction. Far different from Battleship and John Carter. These are more in an indie direction.KITSCH: I was always on that track, from The Bang Bang Club [2011], which is one of my proudest things I've ever done in my life. And that's kind of my personality, too. I'm going to keep swinging for the fences. I'm not going to play another Riggins - that's done. I can go and now try and disappear into Normal Heart. I was just talking to Ryan Murphy about it, the director, who took a fucking leap of faith with me to go and play this, another true story - that's a bigger risk than what John Carter was, because if you don't go in there and nail that role, this could be a fucking career-ender.WAYNE: Do you have any ambitions beyond acting?KITSCH: I wrote and directed a short [Pieces] that Oliver [Stone, who directed 2012's Savages] has seen, that Berg has seen, that [John Carter director Andrew] Stanton has seen, all the producers of John Carter have seen, and I just got two to four million bucks to make it into a feature. So I'm going to hopefully write it in January, February. Pete's mad for it, and Pete will tell you - man, he'll fucking rip it in half - but he's been incredibly supportive, so hopefully, I'll go shoot that in Detroit and Texas.WAYNE: Can you see yourself transitioning at some point to someone who directs, like Peter Berg did?KITSCH: Absolutely. I'd be fucking stupid not to be taking notes from a Stone or a Berg. The way I direct is open. I want to empower you as an actor, and when you're not on track, I'll tell you, but when you are, I want you to fucking just go with it. And so I cast Derek Phillips, who played my brother in Friday Night Lights - he's unrecognizable in the film. And then my best friend in L.A. [Josh Pence], whose mom gave me money for the window, he plays the other guy in the short.WAYNE: Would you ever do an over-the-top comedic role?KITSCH: I'd love to, it's just got to be the right one. When I work, I take it super-seriously, but when you get to know me, man, I'm not - I laugh as much as possible. Growing up, I was that guy at school getting kicked out of class every day to make someone laugh. Voted funniest guy in the school twice.WAYNE: Just twice? What happened the other times - you finished second?KITSCH: [laughs] Yeah, totally! Last. The jokes didn't hit that year. I was off.

Books I read in 2016

This a list of books that I read this year -- or, more accurately, finished. I have at least four other books began in 2016 that are in some stage of reading. Maybe more. I've included a few brief thoughts on each...

1. Fish in the Dark by Larry David (January 2): I vaguely recall this. It had its funny moments. I wish I'd gotten a chance to see David in this.

2. The Power of the Dog by Don Winslow (January 9): Goddamn... this picks up pretty much where Ellroy's stuff stops and shifts gears just enough. Not as much mixing of historical figures, but it's the same broad strokes -- the same nasty sort of people. Really fucking good.

3. Stories I Tell Myself: Growing Up with Hunter S. Thompson by Juan F. Thompson (January 29): I got this for my birthday and read it that day. Funny book... a little surprising in parts... and ends with some bits of barely disguised bits about his issues with Anita. The Hunter/Juan stuff is something that had never really been explored too much anywhere and to have a whole book detailing one side of that relationship was cool.

4. The Man Who Sold the World: David Bowie and the 1970s by Peter Doggett (February 13): A bit of a chore after a time. It goes through every song Bowie recorded in the '70s and that sort of approach can grow tedious. But, there's a reason why I read it when I did and that's fine enough.

5. Baseball Prospectus 2016 ed. Patrick Dubuque, Sam Miller, and Jason Wojciechowski (February 18): A new yearly tradition. 2017's edition is already pre-ordered. My strongest memory of this one is sitting in this tiny Starbucks connected to the Indigo in Tecumseh while Michelle was at the gym (and Ryan at the daycare there). As it was around Valentine's Day, I had some raspberry chocolate coffee thing. I also got a croissant. It was overpriced and undergood. I do love reading the team essays. A nice primer on the upcoming season.

6. The Cartel by Don Winslow (March 6): The Power of the God was sprawling, while this was more contained. But, it covered more ground in its own way. It was heartbreaking in a larger way. This book hammers you. I don't know what a third one will bring, but I'm there.

7. Gone with the Mind by Mark Leyner (March 15): I liked The Sugar Frosted Nutsack, but that felt like a warm-up book. A bit tedious; a bit too involved with itself. This was the return to the Mark Leyner I know and love with himself as the protagonist. What surprised me was how fucking good his mother's section was. How affecting it was and how much it added to the book. Probably the best new book I got in 2016.

8. Et Tu, Babe by Mark Leyner (March 19): Still one of my favourites... always.

9. My Cousin, My Gastroenterologist by Mark Leyner (April 10): So hit and miss. You have to find a lot in the small moments and sentences. I'm not sure if this has aged well.

10. Launching a Leadership Revolution: Developing Yourself and Others Through the Art and Science of Leadership by Chris Brady and Orrin Woodward (May 3): This year, I began a leadership development program at work. It's a two-year thing and one of the homework assignment is reading books. This was the first that I picked and it was a good place to start. It was very hit or miss with regards to things you probably already knew. But, kind of like what I said about Bendis's book last year: it's good to have it all in one place. Plus, there were some things that I learned.

11. Eleven Rings: The Soul of Success by Phil Jackson and Hugh Delehanty (May 8): I bought this to contribute to the leadership program's library. As my company/industry is, in many ways, female-dominated, I saw a lot of "woman's rise to the top of business in a man's world" type of books available and, hey, that's great, but I wanted something that seemed a bit more like a book I would choose to read. I also thought about the sort of leaders that I respect and anyone who can make a pro sports team with all of the egos and money and shit work -- 11 times! -- is someone I was interested in hearing from. My biggest takeaway is that coaches have one advantage: the shared goal. All of the players want the championship and I've been struggling to carry that over to my profession where there is no inherent goal like that. But, it's a good book.

12. Your Favorite Band is Killing Me: What Pop Music Rivalries Reveal about the Meaning of Life by Steven Hyden (May 29): Such a fun read. I love stuff like this. I can't wait for Hyden's next book. He fills a bit of a void that Klosterman has left as he's moved, with each book, to more high concepts and less about specific popculture. Not that that's a bad thing... it just leaves a void and I'm glad someone with Hyden's talent and smarts is able to fill it.

13. But What If We’re Wrong? Thinking About the Present As If It Were the Past by Chuck Klosterman (June 22): Speaking of which... A really interesting read that goes in some unexpected directions. I'm not sure it carries as strongly through the finish, sometimes becoming a little repetitive. Some chapters really had me going...

14. Imperial Bedrooms by Bret Easton Ellis (August 18): A spur of the moment reread. No new thoughts really.

15. Predators by Jim Starlin and Daina Graziunas (August 27): This took forever to read. Lots of putting it down to read other things. It's an odd book that feels like book five in a series about this telepathic hunter of serial killers. The plot doesn't go anywhere you'd expect. Not as good as their first novel; way better than their second.

16. Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman by Haruki Murakami (September 18): My first time rereading this completely since it first came out. I'd reread some stories here and there over the years, but never the whole thing. I love the simplicity of his stories. And the variety.

17. Wicked and Weird: The Amazing Tales of Buck 65 by Rich Terfry (September 24): Picked this up from the bargin table. It was $4-$6. Not sure what exactly. The first two-thirds are great; entertaining and engaging. The final third just goes off the rails. I wish he'd make another album.

18. Sputnik Sweetheart by Haruki Murakami (September 24): Another that I hadn't reread in a while. Not sure what I think about it.

19. What I Talk about When I Talk about Running by Haruki Murakami (October 2): I got the mind to read this after different people in the leadership program talked about running. I was also gearing up for the new Murakami book and the two seemed to intersect.

20. The Greatest Albums You’ll Never Hear: Unreleased Records by the World’s Greatest Artists edited by Bruno MacDonald (November 6): Informative in places. Books like this suffer a bit, because, if you know about a musician well, then you probably know about the album(s) discussed and learn little new. If you don't know about a musician a lot, then you learn lots, but don't necessarily care. Good book for what it is.

21. Absolutely on Music by Haruki Murakami and Seiji Ozawa (November 28): I'm surprised at how much I liked this. It definitely put me in the mind to want to listen to this type of music. My only complaint is that they didn't touch on topics I would have liked them to (orchestras playing with rock bands, for example), but that's not a fair criticism at all. This was two guys having some conversations with a purpose, but also because they enjoyed it.

22. Who Moved My Cheese? By Spencer Johnson (November 29): Another leadership book. It was alright. I read it while Ryan napped. It took half an hour.

23. Normal by Warren Ellis (December 3): Depressing and fun. I read this in one shot on a Saturday with the house empty. Ellis probably could have gotten more of the concept, but why push it? The brief flirtation with the campers take over the corrupt camp plot was fun. The final revelation is slightly disappointing at first, but it stayed with me. It sunk in a bit. Hmm...

24. Triggers by Marshall Goldsmith (December 5): Another leadership book. I really liked this one and have been working to implement some of its concepts into my daily life.

And that's it. I've finished one book in 2017 already.