Chase

I'm NOT Leffen or anything special when it comes to Smash, but Smash Ultimate really excaberates the differences between the Zeldas. For the first time in like ever, Adult Zelda feels REALLY slow - and he kinda hits like an Ike would. Granted, Ike is pretty good in this game, so that probably isn't a bad comparison to be made. I'd have to say I prefer playing as Young Zelda, because my favorite Zelda title is Majora's Mask, and it feels most like the earlier Smash Zelda iterations to me. I dig both Adult and Toon Zelda's aesthetics though, so it's hard to say I don't like any of them. I'm a swordfighter main.

Welcome to the Hunties! I'm your host. Hunter, and I've chosen to nickname the award family after my most loathed nickname that has somehow been used to refer to me more than once. Gotta use that power for good somehow. Anyway... The point of this thread is to give some shoutouts to Pokémon whose performance in Pokemon Reborn has been conducive to progressing through the game. For those of you that don't know about my efforts with the game - I have been REALLY bad at it ever since the late single digit episode releases. And I'm still really bad at it, but as I'm writing this I am the farthest I've ever gone, preparing to take on the literary lady of steel, Titania, for the right to access Mega Evolution and Z-moves, as well as develop the second remaining city restoration project. For the longest time, I couldn't get out of Tanzan Cove because Noel is literally the most evil "good" child ever. Feel free to leave some blurbs about Pokemon that made your journey through the Reborn region a little bit easier, or whose efforts have contributed to success in other ways. You don't have to use my name as the award. If you don't want to. --- the Huntie for mainstay starter Pokemon goes to.... Charmander. The Charizard line hails all the way from the Kanto region, and the draconian species has been around as long as Pokemon has been as a franchise. Charmander and Co. have won the award for being an incredible asset in combating the earliest challenges the Reborn League has to offer, simply through it's early Dragon-type move, Dragon Rage. Later on, Charizard is able to participate in matches against powerful Fighting type Gym Leaders, as well as gain power in areas like the Tourmaline Desert. The struggle isn't a stranger to the award winner, especially with Stealth Rock, which is an automatic KO condition for Charizard on certain fields, and other Rock-type moves being a favorite for Reborn's trainers to employ as coverage options, but despite that and a somewhat shaky mid-game, Charmander was able to hang on to it's first roster spot throughout the entire journey and is a viable option for other trainers as well. In the future, a good number of Charizard natures will become viable with the release of both of it's Mega Stones, which might ....maybe... be interesting against an A.I. that has to account for them. the Huntie for surprising secondary starter Pokemon goes to.... Squirtle. Squirtle also is a veteran starter Pokemon from Kanto and is the first in a line of Water types. The turtle Pokemon as a starter in Reborn faces a very unfavorable beginning to its journey, with the two lead off gyms holding a type advantage over it. Squirtle also faces a very limited learnset filled with support moves, a handful of physical attacks, and only a couple of decent special attacks for it to make use of. However, as an event Pokemon, it is found relatively early after being given access to the Wasteland and comes with at least a viable option for a coverage move in Aura Sphere, which helps Squirtle build up its moveset. The Water starter, like most other Pokemon in its type, is perfectly capable of running a Water HM movepool in a pinch, and is a great user of Surf in battle as well. It also has Heart Scale access to Flash Cannon, which can be used to further diversify Blastoise's moveset for tougher battles. The shining reason for Blastoise winning this award however is it's decent bulk and good defensive typing. Blastoise may not the most heavy hitter, but she has been able to deliver absolutely critical moments of survival when her trainer needed it most, regardless of what species her assailant was or what type of damage they were inflicting on her. In the not-too-distant future, the event Squirtle may hold the Blastoisinite, which will make moves like Aura Sphere and her native Water Pulse hit for massive damage, alongside a much needed BST increase, thanks to Mega-Blastoise's ability Mega Launcher. the Huntie for not-surprising game-breaking Pokemon goes to.... Drilbur. The Excadrill line wins this award because of it's very decent typing, reliable speed tier, and choice of two absolutely helpful abilities in Mold Breaker (which the trainer has used simply to attempt to keep the game as difficult as it SHOULD be) and Sand Rush (Which apparently just makes Excadrill win every battle under the right conditions.) Excadrill very much might just be the reason the trainer is where they are today, and showing up before Corey as a Mystery Egg hatch is truly a stroke of luck for any trainer who manages to experience it. the Huntie for Most Valuable Early-Game Pokemon goes to.... Male Espurr. The Espurr line features an interesting choice between an early game offensive Psychic type in Female Meowstic, and an incredible screen-setter in Male Meowstic thanks to Prankster. This trainer absolutely hates the ability Prankster, but sees the moves Reflect and Light Screen as not-too-unfair moves to take advantage of the ability with, and with the raw power several of Reborn's trainers have, being able to mitigate damage with 100% confidence for a decent amount of playtime is what made Espurr the winner in this category. the Huntie for "cheesing" difficult optional battles goes to.... Carvanha. There are LOTS of event Pokemon that come with moves such as Destiny Bond or Perish Song for the purpose of giving players the option to "win" battles they probably shouldn't - and this trainer's favorite of these Pokemon is Sharpedo. Aside from making use of the item Focus Sash when necessary, Sharpedo is a fast Pokemon that has access to Crunch and Ice Fang, and further breeding can get the Pokemon Psychic Fangs, which allows it to take on Poison and Fighting types. It comes with the ability Speed Boost, and it also was given a Mega Stone to break free of the "only good cheese" stigma it might carry and take on the mantle of "late game cleaner" that it wears during competitive play.

In my view, Pokémon Reborn falls somewhere between "E for Everyone 10+" and "T for Teens" - with my lean currently toward making the game suitable for teenagers and upward due to the nature of the following content. Violence: Reborn differs from the main series Pokémon titles in that there are scenes within the game that feature hints of "strong" violence, with a few of them insinuating death. The most profound violent scenes that come to mind are the deaths of Kiki and Ame, with Ame's death in particular featuring blood spatter (if I recall). Both attacks on Kiki and Ame are witnessed by the player firsthand. On top of that, Titania slaughters a few Meteor grunts with Aegislash off-screen, but the player encounters the fallen grunts when they arrive at the Water Treatment Center. Erring on the side of caution - the minimum rating that can be expected on account of the theme of violence should probably be "T" - mostly due to the presence of blood and the insinuation of fatality that can be found. Crude Humor: Reborn also alludes to suggestive themes and makes light of them. It is important to distinguish that crude humor and sexual themes are not one in the same however, so when someone mentions Terra's incredibly graphic language, it should probably fall here, as opposed to sexual themes, which would seemingly be more in line with things like partial nudity and the act itself. After all, Terra and to a lesser extent Cain speak the way they do with at the very least a secondary function of trying to provide levity. I'll cover Cain in another segment, but Terra's incredibly blunt description of things she claims to do with Ciel could be debated as an instance of crude humor. Other areas are not sexual in nature but allude to violence. Solaris mocking Cal over Kiki's death. Fern talking about Corey after his. These instances are all varying degrees of where Reborn uses crude objects to inject somewhat funny moments into the story. Again, erring on the side of caution, the rating on account of crude humor should probably be "T" - 13 years is the expected age for crude humor to begin being acceptable in the VG industry currently. Sexual Themes: Reborn isn't particularly shy about mentioning sexual acts, and has a few characters that even deviate from norms (either for comedic effect or for the sake of progressive views on sex many other games don't particularly share currently.) It also doesn't offer straight cheesecake. While Terra and Cain run their mouths on the matter, there isn't any instances where the imagination is totally thrown out the window. Players are left to imagine for themselves Ciel covered in ketchup or if it is really better with the lights off or not. The game doesn't offer graphic nudity, and there definitely isn't any actual sex. I think when you boil it down - innuendo is highly present, but Terra leaps from innuendo to a verbal mention of exactly what she means. This makes it a debate on if Terra herself is strong enough to push Reborn - solely on account of sexual themes - from "E for everyone 10+" (where innuendo is fair game) to "T for Teen" (where more concrete mentioning is fair game.) I would say that Cain is an "E for everyone 10+" character. With a libido yes, but most of his dialogue is dependent on suggestion, not straight talk. Strong Language: Reborn's outright worst content offense in my humble opinion is the amount of characters that use profanity. I believe there's at least a couple more than Saphira and Charlotte Belrose, Terra, Blake, and Titania (perhaps her brother Hardy when he's visibly upset?). Regardless on whether or not people agree with me on that statement, the kind of content that is most liable to push Pokémon Reborn towards a Mature rating isn't the violence or the sexual allusion, but its use of strong language. There are multiple characters in the game who employ it, with a few somewhat regularly. If I were to advise any revision for a ratings board - toning the language down would be the it. On top of those things, there are a few more matters of interest. Team Meteor is a terrorist organization that makes use of explosives and causes extreme pain to people and Pokémon alike - which is a step up from most main-series evil organizations in level of severity. The game actively encourages the player to join a street gang to progress the plot. The game features simulated gambling - which is seemingly benign - but has resulted in the closure of the Mauville City Game Corner in OR/AS and the lack of one in later generations of Pokémon games. There's also the allusion to illegal/harmful (take your pick) drug use prevalent in Reborn City and the player able to find said paraphernalia and exchange it for a side-quest. Theft is encouraged. At the very least, Pokémon Reborn is a game one should not pick up until they are at least 13 years old - with a high suggestion that parents make their children aware of the kinds of things Reborn offers beforehand. If not, it's a game for high-schoolers, that deals with high-school level issues such as stress, depression, drug addiction, loneliness, broken families, fatal violence, and sexual content. I wouldn't say that it's a majority "M-rating" game, but the language used along with the envelopes being pushed can be shocking for unprepared parents and players.

Should any of this ever happen? Probably not because as Cass alluded to, the pain these characters have felt is a big part of who they are portrayed as and it wouldn't make for a super alright dating sim at the end without compromising the plot or at the very least raising questions that don't need to be raised. --- For the hell of it though, let's assume Vero, Alice, Kuro, Lucia, Ari, Decibel, or whoever the hell you are, MAKE EVERYONES HURT GO AWAY. ...the next thing that would have to be addressed is the player's age. The characters in Reborn have various ages, so picking any age as your own in a future update would lock you out of certain characters' routes regardless of which age you actually pick. That's not fun - but - so it goes. Without the age being toggleable at all, you get stuck in a weird place where you can make creepy old guy glances at Heather, or Sigmund makes creepy old guy glances at you. --- All that aside, here's who I'd consider trying to unlock dialogue with. - Florinia. I don't think it's too unreasonable to pick Florinia against the rest of the cast, and working to bypass her emotion shields seems super cheesy and cliché and that's the start of a good dating sim route. - Cal. Best character in the game. - the Ringmaster. BACK OFF LOSTY STOP HAVING THE SAME TASTES I DO. YOU THINK YOU CAN JUST RANDOMLY SHOW UP AND MAKE ME LAUGH LIKE OLD TIMES. - The 7th Street Doxy Move Tutor. YEAH I MEANT WHAT I SAID ABOVE. - Randall. Also the best character in the game.

Kanto: CHARIZARD When I was a kid, I had this misplaced notion that you were SUPPOSED to choose the starter on the box art. And I was right. After picking up Pokémon Red, I was rewarded with the coolest of the three starter Pokémon in Generation 1, an actually "tough" opening portion of the game (Charmeleon isn't going to handle Brock and Misty alone), and the ability to look elsewhere at Kanto's many other Grass and Water types - many of which I had a particular fondness for... On the other hand, Kanto doesn't have a vast array of Fire types, and I like Charizard more than any of other choices that -are- present. Johto: FERALIGATR Johto is one of the regions where it is very tough to say which of the three starters I like DEFINITIVELY more than the others. I like Meganium's entire line's appearance game, and I like Typhlosion's as well. But I always, always, ALWAYS picked Totodile. Hoenn: SCEPTILE Where Johto had a bunch of really cool looking starters, Hoenn has what feels like a bunch of REALLY GOOD matchup-wise. Mudkip however, is utterly gamebreaking and doesn't look all that cool to me when it evolves into Swampert (although I'll admit, Mega'Pert over there is funny looking and I appreciate not missing "arm day"), and Blaziken has a somewhat difficult time in the early game compared to the other two. Sceptile is the happy medium, being a good choice early on while having some tougher fights (Flannery, Winona) to look forward to later on. Mega Sceptile is also EASILY my favorite Hoenn mega. Sinnoh: EMPOLEON A purely aesthetic choice because I have not had the pleasure of making a run through the Sinnoh region. However, I can tell you that Empoleon is a very sleek looking Pokémon and in another region where I'd be content with picking any of them to roll with, the looks win out. (I do know that Piplup's learnset is iffy at times.) Unova: SERPERIOR Smugleaf. In recent years pokemon such as Dartrix , Lilligant, and Tsareena show up, and you have a grass type Pokémon that just exudes confidence. In a generation where the starters were very much acquired tastes and the designs were less generic and more partial, Snivy ushered the era of sassy grass type Pokémon. Competitively, Serperior makes its hay on spamming a move and then flipping its "trade-off" side effect to one that makes clicking the move again EVEN BETTER. Contrary is cool. At least in the battle simulator. Kalos: CHESNAUGHT I had told myself I was going to pick Chespin as soon as the idea that the Kalos starters were based off of traditional RPG classes came to be. Greninja is a very....for lack of a better word "sexy" (as in generally an attractive choice, - some of you go there mentally and either judge or try to group me into something I'm not about....you sickos.) Pokémon with a great hidden ability. Delphox finally broke the "Firefighter" drought Fire starters had and while I thought Braixen is a prettier Pokémon before it evolved, it definitely looks like the traditional RPG magic caster. However, I have a soft spot for Paladins, and Chesnaught ends up with a combination of my two favorite types. Grass, and Fighting. Finally, Chesnaught's hidden ability, Bulletproof, makes it immune to ball and bomb type moves, most notably Sludge Bomb, a common Poison type attack. Then there's Spiky Shield. Then there's access to Drain Punch via breeding. Chespin's evolutionary line is outright, uncontested, my favorite of any starter in Pokémon history... and I don't even like Gen 6 that much. Alola: INCINEROAR I had told myself I was going to pick Rowlet when looking at the leaks-...until I saw Dartrix and Torracat. Torracat is definitely one of my favorite middle stage evolutions. Incineroar is admittedly a bit of a hot mess appearance wise, but the lore behind it makes it forgivable. It's made to be goofy and its based on some real life fake combat antics. It's also likely to be a Smash main of mine in the very near future.....and I guess Intimidate is a solid hidden ability for games like Reborn as well as competitively....and I guess Fire/Dark is kinda cool...and Darkest Lariat is good. Okay, "Tiger Mask", take your win.

A "rival" is someone who competes with someone for the same objective or to prove superiority. Literally all there is to it. I wanna go through all the main series rivals -AND- one in Reborn to sort of discern if they are truly rivals or not - and whether or not hatred makes them more compelling. --- GEN 1 - Blue. Blue absolutely IS a rival, but he is mostly so in that both you and him are trying to become Kanto's Pokémon League Champion and it all comes down to who can win between two trainers who have both bested the Elite 4. With regards to our next door neighbor from Pallet Town's attitude, what's interesting is that Blue is never - at least considerably - rude to the player. He does have an aire of arrogance, but that comes with being in a heavily involved Pokémon family prior to going on his journey. Blue passes the test not because of his personality but because of his purpose. You might be shocked by a few others who make the cut too in this regard. GEN 2 - Silver. Silver is the biggest jerkface of the main series, which the player's "motivation" to compete with him stemming from Silver's stealing his starter from Professor Elm and constant penchant for shoving the player out of his way. That "motivation" however - wouldn't be enough to qualify him as a rival through purpose. Silver does have a very good story arc throughout the game, when he comes to realize the reason for his lack of success is wrought out of being a careless Pokémon Trainer who was using his Pokémon as tools. Not only that, Silver even manages to literally BECOME your rival in a strange twist that would later be repeated. Silver has a significant disdain for Team Rocket, and has good reason to want to take them down. The player and Silver are both trying to stop the organization - as seen when Silver finds the player at the Goldenrod City Radio Tower during the Rocket raid. He also qualifies as a rival because he comes off as DESPERATELY trying to prove he is better than the player. This means Silver is a superiority clause rival. He may be the only main series rival to go that route. GEN 3 - Brendan/May, Wally The first game to start giving you multiple friends to compete against, and the first one to have a character that is typically considered a rival NOT qualify much at all. The first person you battle routinely is Professor Birch's son/daughter. You meet them in their room when you move into Littleroot, discover that their Pokémon journey is more of a supplementary field work marathon on behalf of their dad, and the character is relegated to giving the player helpful items after friendly battles. Brendan/May doesn't strive for the same purpose as the player (or at least, they don't make the Pokedex recording a competition, as a later potential candidate does) - therefore, it is difficult to say they are even your rival at all. WALLY on the other hand, is the main rival in Hoenn, via purpose. His screen time is very limited, but provides the wonderful effect of time passing and a once sickly boy not only becoming more durable to the elements, but a strong Pokémon Trainer who challenges the player in Ever Grande City to see if they are ready to take on the best of the region's best. The negative is really that we don't see him all that much, because it is an interesting "mentor-mentee" relationship that seemingly forms between the player and Wally, with Wally, the Student, trying to become the Master at the end, by beating you with a quality team. GEN 4 - Barry I don't have any personal experience with Barry as a rival, but I don't think you can really call him one through the two criteria (shared purpose that they compete with you over, superiority) based on what I've read. Barry seems to be an awesome friend who takes risks and knows what he wants - but it isn't necessarily that he wants what you do, or thinks he's better than you at achieving YOUR goals. I could be wrong however. GEN 5 - Cheren, Bianca/N/Hugh Of the four characters, Cheren clears the hurdle and earns the title of "rival" due to the having a desire to become the Unova League Champion. He is FAR less successful than Blue before him, in part because N's involvement with the Pokémon League kinda just opens the door for a battle of opposing forces instead. Cheren is your reprensentation of "idealism" - which is half of an important conflict in the Unova titles. He wants to be the best there ever was, and works hard to achieve that goal. Bianca is simply your friend. She has her own goals, and definitely doesn't see herself as better than you when it comes to yours. This is due to her being the other side of the coin to Cheren. Where Cheren is an idealist who wants to constantly improve, Bianca understands that being the best Pokémon Trainer isn't for her fairly quickly and seems to have less drive than you and Cheren in comparison. Bianca doesn't want to become the Champion either, so where Cheren qualifies, Bianca simply does not. Truthin. N is more similar to Reborn's Taka than he is to say...Fern or....Fern. He's in with the wrong crowd, doesn't have a particular desire that mirrors yours, and he may be confident to a certain degree, but it isn't in superiority so much as it is in that he believes his actions are the correct ones to take. His battle with you at the Pokémon League seems to be interpreted as one between equal forces that are simply opposing one another fundamentally. He may be an intriguing recurring opponent, but he isn't your rival because he doesn't want to be Pokémon League Champion (at least in the sense that the player does), nor does he think he is an outright better trainer. Nate/Rosa have a different character to consider in Hugh. What's interesting bout this guy is simply that it's more like we're trying to compete with HIM than it is him trying to compete with us at times. Hugh is a very determined, easily angered trainer who has a clear purpose very early. Going after Team Plasma to rescue a Purrloin that was stolen from his sister. We kinda get dragged into it. Hugh is a good opponent that ACTS like a rival should - but whether he is or not comes down to how you view the situation he and Nate/Rosa have as a duo. It really just seems like they are childhood friends and he's being a ringleader if anything to me. He doesn't so much interest in being a Pokémon League Champion, and while he kinda flexes on us because he's had his Pokémon longer than we have, he doesn't consider himself better than us either. GEN 6 - Serena/Calem, Shauna, Tierno, Trevor. All four of these people are amicable friends but none of them seem to be developed as much as the "not chosen player character" - or Serena or Calem - is. And while that doesn't seem that much better given the repurposed models and bland dialogue, Serena and Calem are DEFINITELY rivals in purpose. Not only in merely being a Pokémon League Champion, but in the best rival scene in the game, having to battle for the right to use the sole Mega Ring in the Mega Evolution Guru's possession. They are genuinely disappointed in losing that battle. Anyway, Serena/Calem want to be champion as you do and want to use Mega Evolution as you do and are forced to fight you for the right to do either. They are a bona fide rival. In fact, at Café Soleil in Lumiose City they make it a formal proposal. Shauna doesn't have a similar purpose as the player and the rejected player model character does. They are seemingly just in it for the ability to bond with their partner. Shauna is more of an asset character to the protagonist than she is a rival. She also definitely doesn't consider herself superior to us. Tierno has a random moment where he wishes to battle the player as they approach the Snow city in Kalos. However, it is borne out of impulse more than anything else. Tierno isn't a rival. Trevor...may actually be one if you choose to routinely compare Pokedexes with him. However, he's simply a friend elsewhere. GEN 7 - Hau, Gladion Both are rivals here. Hau is literally USUM's Champion encounter - and is also doing the Island Challenge with you. He may not be as determined as the player is to complete it in a timely manner (islanders are super chill) but there's enough there to say he qualifies in purpose. Gladion has a shared interest in taking down the Aether Foundation (or at least opposing the agenda of his mother, Lusamine), and is the second coming of Silver although the game's presentation and dialogue make Gladion appear more easy to relate with than Silver. Silver was a rival, ergo, Gladion was a rival. --- Now, if people believe hatred has anything to do with making a good rival that's more of a preference thing than a science. Some of the rivals in this series BY DEFINITION are nice people that call you their friend. However, people tend to appreciate their rivals going for the superiority angle. Fern - everyone's favorite grasshole in Reborn - nails "Rival" in both strokes. All of a sudden, you piss him off so much he wants to be Pokémon League Champ, and he DEFINITELY thinks he's superior to you. On top of that, the player may be unseating Fern as -....well, let's just say it's a total rivalry in the ugliest sense of the word. It happens this way in real life sports as well. Some of the most memorable rivalries are the ones where both parties absolutely despise one another. However, there are definitely good rivalries that are borne simply out of proximity or something else that is completely benign (such as both schools being academic powerhouses - think Harvard and Yale - hey look, purpose rivals!)

Ah, people are not going to like this one... but choosing "I'm not going to sacrifice a Fire Emblem character and I'll just die instead" is lame. After much deliberation, I PERSONALLY would sacrifice Marth, and replace him with Gallade. --- BUT HUNTER. YOU CAN'T KILL MARTH. KILL LUCINA. SHE'S THE ECHO FIGHTER- Hey, you know what that means? We aren't losing too much of anything anyway! I get it. Marth's the original Fire Emblem Lord. The OG. The face of the franchise. Whatever... However, I personally like Lucina's story (which I have experienced personally, something that can't be said for me regarding Marth's games) more than Marth's, and I've mained Marth most of my Smash experience - well before I even knew what the heck Fire Emblem was. Roy? I like that he was added retrospectively as a DLC character in Sm4sh. Ike? Who's going to kill Ike? Huh? Robin? One of the more unique Fire Emblem reps. Corrin? That's MY first lord of the franchise - and this is MY vote. Chrom? The man just got here and he's not letting his memes be dreams. I'm not THAT heartless. It's nothing personal Marth. You're a cool dude, but just dying is almost an non-answer and it's not that fun. --- Gallade is about the only potential "smash rep" Pokemon that I think would be interesting - and I think some of Marth can live on in spirit through said Pokemon.

Will LGPE have some kind of representation? Probably not in the traditional sense - and due to the nearing of the game's "completion" Ame may not even update the game for gen 8 next year unless the game is somehow still in development when the games are released. The project being finished may result in Ame moving on to a different project before we have updated moves and tutors - and LGPE, as pointed out, updates moves and tutors for lots of Pokemon, I'm not sure that any Pikachu or Eevee is able to learn the LGPE special moves - because they seem like a compensation for target audience skill -AND- for the fact that the titular Pikachu and Eevee are unable to evolve. If Reborn were to allow any Pikachu or Eevee the ability to learn those moves, you would the only instance in any Pokemon medium where Raichu, Alolan Raichu, and the Eeveelutions have these LGPE moves. HOWEVER - having an instanced Pikachu or Eevee is not totally out of the question. Reborn isn't above generation references and meme culture, so as long as being referential is something Ame likes to do, there's always a chance these event Pokemon show up somehow, somewhere. It may be anything from having an actual Pikachu/Eevee that can't evolve, to an opponent having the two Pokemon with those moves or something.

Thumbtacks, obviously. ...balloons hate thumbtacks.

Look. I’ve been playing Smash my entire life as a casual, but I owned the game for the N64.... ...and it’s objectively Jigglypuff. Pichu’s being a clone is salvaged by two things. The hilarious harming itself, and Ultimate’s alternate skins with the Team Aqua and Skull representation. The Puff isn’t as iconic to Smash to me as Pichu is, and I think the other fighters are unique enough to stand out as roster spots in a fighting game. — As for the FE Rep? I’d like to posit Azura - from Fates - partially for the same reason Ephraim/Cordelia might be appealing but also because of how she differs from them. Not counting the female skins for Corrin and Robin, the Fire Emblem Smash roster truly is a boy’s club. Roy, to me, is a good enough GBA male rep who I thought wouldn’t even come back, and even if we wanted a girl from that era, Lyn and Eirika are swords. Azura, like Lucina, is always female, and like Ephraim is an infantry lance user that is well known. Ridley aside, a full Pegasus Knight in Cordelia seems absurd size-wise and making her a footlancer cheapens her representation a bit for convenience. Therefore, Azura seems the most tailor-made if I were conducting this ritual. She’d be the first female melee weapon weilder that isn’t an echo fighter. (Unless Sheik counts. I’ve thought she was more a brawler than a swordswoman.)

I'm pretty sure I've made a thread about this character sometime in the past, but if I remember correctly, that characterization focused primarily on Fire Emblem: Conquest's version of the character, and why she (going by the gender-split indicated by the box art - as there is some story significance to it found in the DLC 'Heirs of Fate') was getting a bad rap. The reality is that while the antagonism has died down a little bit, Corrin in general is still a heavily criticized main character who is seen as more flawed than acceptable by the fandom. Today, I want to focus on Birthright's Corrin. A character that has a better head on his shoulders than his female counterpart who makes the opposite choice as he does, but is not challenged enough along the route for it to be significant to the character's perception. In Revelation he is probably the better fit over Female Corrin for that storyline due to the first piece I want to discuss... --- ---

Again. Pokemon reps are going to be made likelier depending on recency. It’s the only trend with the franchise to stick. This means that Hawlucha would be more likely to replace Greninja than Incineroar because at the time Sm4sh was released X and Y were the most recent Pokemon games. Series like Pokemon and Fire Emblem that have significant continuity and differing lists of characters from one game to the next are likely to prioritize recency. Of all the Alolan Pokemon, Incineroar could be argued as more unique than Decidueye/Primarina or other Pokemon that might be considered a grappler from Gen 7. Previous generations don’t get considered because they likely already have a rep. (Greninja) You seem to dislike Corrin too. Maybe it’s the “last game/next game rep” methodology that is the real root of the problem? I think having a preference for Geno (a legacy Nintendo character) or Shadow (a recurring Sega entity that is timeless) is resultant of wishful thinking and buying into leakers over searching for patterns. When you trust patterns over leaks and high hopes, you may not get all that you want - but you certainly avoid disappointment.

It Is Election Day If you are registered to vote - go do so. Make sure you know where your precinct is. (it should be found on your registration card) If you - for whatever reason - get turned away at the polls, make sure you try a few things. Offer to sign an affidavit confirming your eligibility. Ask for a provisional ballot. Bring any form of ID you do have on you. Even if it’s not the kind your state wants.

No problem, Candy. Glad to know this is at least somewhat educational. I haven't really brought up House races yet have I? Now that Early Voting is beginning to close in most states today, I figured I try to get that and the importance of statehouse races (or Governor's races) --- So, there are a total of 535 seats in Congress. 100 of those are Senate seats (with each state in the union getting 2 seats, equally representing both small and largely populated states in the higher chamber) and there can be no more than 435 seats in the House of Representatives (with the number of seats per state being proportional to the states' populations, making larger states more influential in the lower chamber.) The majority party in the House of Representatives needs to win 218 seats in order to be the majority party. Currently, the Republicans hold onto 235 seats to the Democrats' 193. What the means is that Democrats need to win about 23 more seats to become the majority party in the House when the 116th Congress meets next year. --- Unlike the Senate, the map favors Democrats here, and all that needs to be said is where the "toss-up" "congressional districts", or the divided areas of states that are represented by one congressman that do not have an apparent Republican or Democratic advantage going into Election Day, line up with the current Congress. There are 36 toss-up congressional districts. 31 of those seats are held by Republicans as opposed to merely 5 Democratic seats that are competitive. What this means is that Democrats are poised to make gains because they are largely playing offense without the risk of losing too many seats they currently hold. Putting this into perspective, if the Democrats lose those five seats they would sit at 188 (assuming they win all of their races where they have an advantage) and would only need to win 30 seats (possible mathematically) in the Republicans' toss-up tally (or upset a few Republicans) to become the majority party. If the Republicans lost all 31 of their currently held competitive seats, they would be sitting at 204 seats and would need to win 14 seats from the Democrats' toss-up count and upset some Democrats in likelier races. The Republicans don't have 14 Democratic toss-ups to win mathematically - only 5. That means that they would need to steal 9 seats from the Democrats in races they have the advantage in. TL:DR? Democrats only need to win the jump-ball districts to obtain the majority. The Republicans have to fight an uphill battle in Democratic districts to retain their majority. --- The Democrats are also in great shape to pick up some Governor's mansions, as most of them were decisively won by Republicans the last few cycles. Governors are important figures in state politics, particularly when it comes to what congressional districts look like. In a sense, Governors determine the state's electoral maps and have an outsized influence on elections. It's why things like "gerrymandering" (drawing congressional districts that lessen the impact of certain voters to the advantage of one political party over the other) is such a big problem, and its also why winning at the state level is important.

In all fairness, I think ShadeStrider may have been referring to how Inineroar was the most generic Pokemon starter in Alola, and not prospective Smash character. If that's the case, I'd be willing to agree there, only because I do think Primarina and Decidueye are fairly creative and Incineroar has a bad case of the "literally was almost yet another Fire/Fighting type" syndrome. That being said, I'm pretty excited for Incineroar in Smash, because I tend to enjoy playing SuMo better with Litten as my starter than I do with Rowlett.

C’mon man. I don’t even follow Smash leaks or the game much at all and I know how the ‘Mons roster tends to shake up. Both Fire Emblem and Pokémon tend to stick to recent relevance. We also knew it was going to be an Alolan starter if anything because lately the starters have been more iconic Smash reps and somewhat unique in movesets or easily implemented as characters. (Yeah, amalgamations like Ridley are fair game now - and the earlier ‘Mons reps are not necessarily starters even up to Lucario.) That narrows your alternatives to Primarina and your wanted Decidueye. I tend to like grass types and Decidueye is cool - but I think the bigger outrage is how many people drank the Grinch’s Kool-Aid.

I have three more Senate races I want to call attention to. These are -supposedly- more easy to call, but they do have some interesting sub-stories behind them that may lead to political upsets. TEXAS MICHIGAN NEW JERSEY

Professor Kukui ties with Cynthia for me. --- I feel like this is an answer that changes for me all the time. 1. Blue makes for an interesting story of how that punk you grew up next to in your little village town competes with you throughout the entire game - but his team is something that evolves throughout the game very subtly. It leads to a satisfactory takeover from a rival that may have been a bit annoying, but a someone expected final battle. In my older age, I find that anticlimactic. 2. Lance is probably my least favorite Champion. This won't make sense later, but I feel like part of it is that Johto simply didn't introduce enough Pokemon to make Lance feel special. 3. Steven is usually in the top 3. I love the guy's personality and his team gave me some trouble as a kid. 4. Cynthia wins the aesthetic award (I've never played a Sinnoh game anywhere close to completion) - but in subsequent games when I could battle her, I definitely understand the hype. Her team measures balance and quality of the Pokemon evenly. 5. Alder is rather forgettable, but I like his presence and his unique choices in Pokemon, which sets him apart from Lance. 6. IRIS is one of my favorite champions. She's essentially Lance but with a better situation in regards to Pokemon selection. 7. Diantha's team is notable because of Mega Gardevoir, which is definitely one of my favorite Megas. However, the rest of her team seems too nuanced around the sights of Kalos. She's not difficult at all. 8. Professor Kukui is Professor Oak but ACTUALLY making the final cut. Kukui's personality and being a professor that specializes in battling and moves made him a very interesting and somewhat underrated champion. However, he may not actually be a champion at all, as the story in SuMo has the player become the first official trainer to claim that title. 9. Hau suffers from Blue syndrome, and while he's a better Rival in USUM, he's not necessarily a better Pokemon Trainer. Not playing Let's Go Pikachu/Eevee, but if Blue's not the champion in that game i'm down for some spoilers.

When I started following Reborn Shofu legitimately had a great time playing the game. He was always really bad at puzzles, but he seemed to take failure better when he was younger because he was actually enjoying the Pokemon battles. Shofu wasn't a Smash-tuber, and Reborn, if I remember correctly, would be a hit among viewers when Pokemon was having slow news periods and games were getting stale. Evolving a Pokemon in Reborn was an event worth watching an episode for, as he would freestyle over the evolution music, and would follow it up with laughter and hype. I always thought when the grind started to hit Shofu in his later years that it would be really good for this game if another PokeTuber began playing it without any additional rules, on top of Shofu playing the game. I grew up watching people like Shadypengun (who certainly -at least recently- had a falling out with Pokemon) and Haydunn (who I think still likes Mons and was just as entertaining a nuzlocke player and spotlight on fangames as he was a competitive battler in lower Smogon tiers. I think it's a testament to how well off Reborn actually does that someone like King Nappy and his crew are doing a ......(what the heck is a penta-op)........thing with Reborn themselves. It's still marketable as a free experience, and we have people that are more recently picking up the story, so that their playthroughs can march on even longer than they normally would.

I believe Grima's role in the story was beautifully retconned in Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia (#EchoesPariahStrikesAgain, #JustPlayGaidenBro), and I also believe that Grima's "long game" is better understood in Awakening after understanding why Grima is as powerful as they are. When you get to the part where Chrom and Robin in the Future Past timeline encounter Validar (the flashback at the beginning of Awakening) Grima has already encountered a foe like Chrom and recognizes just how much of a threat Chrom is. They has the foresight to have Robin, their Vessel, forge a strong bond with the Exalt so that when the time comes, Grima can eradicate the only known enemy they had. You have to give a lot of credit to Lucina and Naga in the Future Past. Without them, Grima had done everything they needed to do, evolved in their strategy in the long millennium that they were sealed, and adapted so much that they were not only extremely powerful, but extremely smart and cunning. Jumping back into the future introduced a second Robin and opened the door for all of that power that backed up that long-harbored adaptation to be lost. Without Robin of Earth-Two, Grima wins and Lucina, her friends, and her world are all but toast more likely than Lucina is able to muster the courage alone to land the killing blow, simply because this isn't Grima's first tango with someone wielding a Kingsfang and trying to play hero. This is where playing Awakening as a stand alone title falls for me. The game hinges so much on the understanding that Grima as a villain is formidable, but the only thing we really get a sense of is that they are immensely powerful and have a fetish for destruction. You wouldn't know how much it meant for Grima to topple Ylisse unless you played a completely different game and were maybe paying attention to an exposition dump during the game at some point.

I haven’t caught up with the playthrough because I’m debating playing the game and not finishing for the God-knows-what time now, but as someone who has been watching Shofu play this game for nearly a fifth of my time on Earth (I’m a fossil by Pokémon forum standards) I have to say two things. 1. Shofu has earned the right to critique the game through his dedication to providing the content for this long. YouTube makes lots of things more work intensive than they should be. That makes an endeavor like Pokemon Reborn less enjoyable than it intentionally isn’t at times because every moment is a part of his show too. So, for spending a great deal following the game’s development, which has not been as consistent as Ame herself may wish it was at times, and sticking with it, regardless of how worn out his intent is, is nothing short of remarkable. If that seems weak to you - keep in mind that I have very little time to even play myself. Let alone record and milk the experience into internet gold for others. 2. Ame is more understanding and resilient than Shofu as the one developing this game. There are some things about the Pokemon formula she doesn’t like as s creator. And when I’ve talked about my experiences with Pokemon to her personally it was met with healthy disagreement (as most things are - if it wasn’t it was unhealthy argument or not a conflict in the first place. Heh.) but not dismissal. She had to reconcile her creative direction with criticism that has not always been civil. But she did it because the game’s fans are not the only people there. Shofu’s comment section and his demeanor have rattled her before. She didn’t respond by complaining publically. Instead - she often agreed and would often put more things on the bug list or tweak things in previous episodes to improve the game retroactively not just for her. Or her home crowd here. But for everyone. Why? Because if she wants to make it big in game design, the general public is her audience. Her consumer base. The people that buy her game. I’m sure she’d appreciate making -enough- money off of the few of us that would pay her if she shot me in cold blood for no good reason... (some of you might think that’s a good idea...maybe I need a different metaphor.)... or because she’s Ame and we appreciate the entity for who she is and not what she does. That’s not how life works though - and she didn’t run from it. She walked it off, rubbed some dirt on it, and went back to work. 3. She’s not perfect, and neither is he. Somedays, a bug prevents you from getting Ditto and she has to put it there for you. Somedays he just feels like griping. Some people watch him just to see him angry. Others prefer to watch him not be. It is okay to criticize both of them - or experience frustration with their work. Sometimes the anger makes the experience better. Like beating Noel once in like 473 times over 6 playthroughs. I appreciate both for sticking it out this long. It’s been the journey for me. And while no it hasn’t been to my liking on either experience (playing/watching Shofu play) it has been the course of a great deal of time. Both Ame and Shofu have a way of cheering me up. this was probably way too sentimental. It’s Deep O’clock.

Man, I really REALLY think I remember hearing somewhere that Corey's story was based off of someone Ame knew or at least heard about in the real world who had done some similar - and thus the character perhaps means a little more to the developer than it does to the player in this situation. However, I think silent .... at least handful of us would probably echo Fern's....er......"sentiments" regarding the incident. Especially because his gym battle with you doesn't end as expected because of it. I came to that conclusion because I make my snap judgements with my brain, which is far colder than my heart. Slowing it down though might lead you to at least understand that Corey is hurting. The question then becomes if you as the player actually care. I don't think too many people will judge you if you just wanted to play some friggin' Pokemon.

I wanna talk some Senate races, notably the ones that are considered toss-ups and could very well determine if the Democratic "blue wave" is the result of normal political ebb and flow or is a #Resistance charged force that will cause the Senate to change hands. EARLY VOTING STARTS IN TEXAS TOMORROW, so if voting before Election Day is your kind of thing, start looking for when it opens in yours. NEVADA ARIZONA MONTANA MISSOURI INDIANA FLORIDA

In my experience, Grass type Pokemon are poor choices for Starter Pokemon in the Reborn Region, whereas other Grass type Pokemon compliment Water or Fire type starters very well. Cain has an affinity for Poison type Pokemon, Victoria's starter Pokemon is Fire type, and Fern's own grass types all amount to grass starters having to find better teammates to carry them through to the later parts of the game. Your Grass Starter would have to engage in a struggle to out-muscle Julia, and is a poor choice for Florinia, Corey, and Shelly, making a Grass Starter not very effective against many of the opening benchmark fights. The amount of early game water types to compliment Grass Starters is limited to Goldeen, Finneon, Panpour, and Surskit (from the last time I played the game; at least pre-Julia) and not all of those Pokemon have the learnsets to really help out. However, Roserade is a very solid Pokemon when paired with a Water or Fire type starter, pretty much throughout the duration you use it. I would also recommend Cherubi as a "heavy-toil" pick to compliment other starters that pays off nicely.

I'm aware it isn't that hard... I have a problem with getting far too invested with video games at times, especially ones that require grinding (which I am a vocal minority member on, grinding is super relaxing and helpful), searching for favorite things to use, and really trying to understand some kind of lore. I'm trying to escape college so I can have a life at the same time as this game is evolving. It's either I play Reborn and my grades suffer, or I do school and Amethyst makes a ton of progress while I'm not looking. I am TERRIBLE at Pokemon. Noel is actually the most annoying child fictional -or- real on the planet.