Aelita is your favourite and mine. Otherwise, it's hard to pick any one, really, esp this version with lots of characters getting glow ups. Every time I think about ranking favourites it's too hard lmao.
I like doing sidequest trainers and bosses just because usually I can be a bit sillier there! I really enjoyed how some of the fields came out though; Deep Earth and City/Back Alley were mostly my proposals iirc? and I liked how they came out.
If there is good enough reason to, or we can think of a good enough idea that isn't just for the sake of it, then sure. Most custom TMs were already in from earlier versions, so they've just been kept in and updated if necessary. There is an idea I want to sparkle on with though...
I'm very excited, I've only seen just the start of things and man, there was a casual "Jan what the fuck" counter for a reason.
1. No Tera, sorry. I do encourage modders to try it out though, it's just more stuff to deal with on our end.
2. It's hard to choose a favourite... Perhaps Aero!
3. It's not one chapter but Terajuma is just really fun and good right now.
1. Volcarona is definitely overpowered, and some other things like Lapras might be, a bit strong and I would want to readjust myself, but I don't want to really take away from people. Also, we can use them against you as much as you can use them. Bronzong is a case of the gimmick kind of working against it, and it's hard to try to change this in a way that isn't really *forced*.
I go "X deserves a crest" and we go from there lmao. Jan forced me to make Zoroark crest then Fal and Az came in and made it what it is now - after a lot of issues. Fuck Illusion. We also try not to force crests anymore, even if one of a group get it, cause it sometimes leads to unsatisfying results. As for any crest suggesters if the suggestion sheet comes up, try to avoid "sets trick room/hail/random field thing on switchin" crests, cause they'll be usually be overlooked.
1. City and Deep Earth are big. I think Concert has left me a little wanting more, and Colosseum right now feels like it works better on paper than practice. Also reworking Swamp was fun because I feel like before it felt really specific to a poisonous swamp and not just like, marshes and bogs and fens that have a great deal of life in it.
2. I'm not sure if I have a least favourite, but my favourites is like. Most of the new boss fights tbh. The new Master of Nightmares fight is really good now I feel, and when silly stuff works I really like it, for example Ren's fight on Helojak: Never gonna see Nasty Plot Corviknight serve like that elsewhere. Before 13.5, I didn't like Spirit Keta's fight because it was annoying to balance just due to the nature of high BST mons making it difficult to balance in a satisfying way, and it often got some kind of complaint. It felt like we just had to work too hard to hold back with it that it now being optional boss fight later is good for us to work with a bit more freedom.
1. Wouldn't you like to know, weather boy?
2. Any kind of early game changes from now on will most likely just be adjustments or touch ups that would happen normally.
3. Bosses with specific mechanics. They often required coding to be done elsewhere and balancing them required new ways of looking at it, especially during alphan and beta testing and taking in people's reports.
Crests can and probably will be changed if needed! Noctowl for one got changed because it was kinda useless before, and now is a pretty niche stalling crest. As for Infernape crest, I've been wanting to try that one for a bit, perhaps it can be made earlier or something because it isn't a power up as much as it is a style change. As has been said, Infernape is a pretty good mon so it doesn't necessarily need more power. Generally people do tend to like offensive Pokemon more than Defensive though, just due to ease of use and especially in a game like Rejuvenation, there is a higher and more accessible power ceiling due to seeds and fields, making some defensive options harder to use.
Answering part 1 here: There is definitely some optimisation going especially in the later game, and some characters will have some mons that don't seem to "fit" them. The way I view it, however, is that people probably just won't catch pokemon that fit their own aesthetic, but also based on the character's own likes and favourite pokemon too; sometimes going too hard on a theme can bite back and end up with a surface level read of the character. Aevis is a Huntail stan, I just know it!
I am good! Probably!
There is definitely at least one crest, and I'll leave a hint for it:
"Throw that ass in a circle"
okay thats all the questions on page 1 I'll do page 2 in one business week or three