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Haven't been keeping up with outside opinions/discourse on the starters since they were announced, but I guess now's as good a time to ask: Anyone else getting worried about the lack of announcements? I know it's probably not coming out until late 2027, but I'm impressed there hasn't been any major leaks or such since. Good on Game Freak, etc. for keeping their cards close, and if I'm optimistic, they're hiding some big things, but... Well, I was hoping to see some basic regional Pokemon by now. I guess compared to previous gens, it's better than just Announcing Everything Outright, but I dunno what to make of it. I mean, I'm just guessing there's a new gimmick, but what else can surprise at this point? New types? Whether we need more of those or not is up for debate, but place ya bets, I guess!

Anyway, more directly on topic, I've since decided I might want to do a mono-Water run (It's my favorite type and I've never done that before), so I feel like starting with Gecqua only makes sense. Since Pelipper is in, might as well do a rain team. Haven't done that since *squint* the X and Y days, I think.

I know I was gonna hold off on theorizing on their evos, but I hope Gecqua is Water/Poison. Already seems halfway there, honestly. Pombon... idk, as long as it doesn't stay pure Fire for no good reason, I'm not picky. I think it'd be cool if Browt's final evo was some sort of bean-based owlbear-type thing, but we already have TWO (2) Decidueye forms, probably don't wanna triple up there, lest I give Game Freak ideas, lol. As for typing... I honestly dunno, but I hope it's cool, too.

Oh dang, Iceduck! Haven't heard from you in years! I think we only interacted like, twice, but I remember you being a chill guy. It's good to hear you and the others are doing well and pursuing cool things! I had no idea anyone from here was actually doing stuff for The Pokemon Company itself-- that's kinda huge! And so is the fact you won an award!!

...and not to get too mushy or anything, but generally speaking, if I haven't said it elsewhere on here: I remember PUK being especially welcoming for me when I first joined, compared to other sites' forums which were a little... well, typical 2000s Internet-y, in retrospect (and those sites were that way for better or worse, lol). I don't wanna ramble TOO much on the topic, but... Thank you. Joeno, Iceduck, and whichever mods/admins happen to see this. I'm glad the forum's still around-- it means more to me than I think even I understand sometimes!

All those MSN Messenger meetings about handling issues! Balancing how users liked to use the site with our desire to curate a space with a particular ethos.

Imagine if people applied that kind of thinking to modern social media ...

Confession time: I tried to get back into social media despite swearing it off for five years and, after about a year back in, have come to the conclusion I need a minimum of at least a month away from it again. Been not-logged-in for about two days and am already feeling the detox, lol

Not for nothing, but I'm not seeing any pictures here... Not just me, right?

Ampharos is one of my faves, though, so I'd like to see that one, at least!

^Thank you! Yeah, "cute" seems to be my default, for better or worse, haha. Would like to share "cool" stuff in the future, though!

And yeah, it does kinda lend itself to one of those! Glad you liked it!

...No, but seriously, I was curious if anyone still collects them. I heard they doubled in price since the last time I checked, or was it just those Kirby Air Riders ones?

I feel kind of bad some of mine are gathering dust (literally or otherwise), but it's not like a lot of games use ALL of them for anything special. I mean, outside maybe Smash Bros. I don't regret buying the Shovel Knight one; that'd be cool for me to have even if it was just a regular figurine, haha. But yeah, in most cases, if your amiibo isn't from the Mario series or such, it's probably not getting a lot of special use. I got Ness out of obligation to Me Liking Earthbound, but I'm not under any impression it'll work outside of the Smash series, unless Mr. Itoi decides, "Yeah, you know what? Mother 4 and/or Earthbound Remake!!" Which probably won't happen any time soon!

Anyway, I thought of this in the first place because I was recalling the amiibo x One Piece collab. I know One Piece is a giga-popular anime/manga franchise, but think about it: that collaboration made history and it feels like hardly anyone cares. So much untapped potential for amiibo, that's all I'm saying... Or, well, I guess there's only so much "statues unlocking costumes, etc." can do in the first place. But still! Maybe they didn't do it for DBZ because then people would be all "GOKU FOR SMASH!!" harder than they already do, lol

So... Good, bad, or ugly, how's YOUR amiibo journey been, if you have one at all? I have more than I've admitted to having here, but I'm not really "Gotta Catch 'em All!" about it... Or, if at some point I was, not so much these days...

I like how this came out, so I thought I'd share!

This was originally going to be a more full-body-ish drawing, but unfortunately, the rest of it didn't come out as well, so I had to scrap it. Next time, I suppose!

Okay, so First Impressions, now that I've played five or six battles: It's fun enough so far, but it feels like every time I try to go up a rank, I get someone who's Actually Into Competitive and, well, they clearly have the advantage at that point, lol. I needed a break after the third time it happened.

Also, I have yet to make use out of Rental stuff outside of the freebies they give you to get you started, but I've been using *sigh* HALF of my Sandstorm team (Not Actually A Dealbreaker, but it's funny to me they didn't at least allow Ludicolo or Sandslash... Hardly surprised Magcargo isn't exactly in yet, though) Wish they could Terastalize, but I suppose "that comes later"... along with the rest of my team. Hopefully. Maybe. Might be a hot minute before they add Z-Moves, too, come to think of it... if they do at all. They might sooner add Winds & Waves' gimmick!

Oh, forgot to add: the game is generous enough to give you rewards just by *mock shock* playing the game! VP added up for me pretty quickly, among other gifts, haha.

^Yeah, that's what I was thinking too, that they'd add it in post. Also now that you mention the "Gym" thing, it does ring a bell. I thought I read somewhere it was to help that old guy make a new gym, and it would be cool to be a "Gym Leader" of sorts yourself, but yeah, it could also just be an encore for the tutorial. Too soon to say!

I guess it depends on how much VP you earn per match on average, but yeah, fair enough. And yeah, I feel you on the team-planning part. If I wanted to try some of the rentals (and I just might, because Why Not?™ ) it might open some possibilities I wouldn't have thought of on my own...

Being battle-worthy actually barely matters, because you can just do it all in Champions, after all. there are no IVs (everything is just set as if they were max), all moves are available, and natures and EVs can just be set. the only issue you might have is the VP cost, but it sounds like we're gonna have enough to make at least one team.

Oh, good point. I just meant most of my other Pokemon don't have as much team synergy as the Sandstorm team I made. Should have clarified, lol

I think it got confirmed there's no single player content outside of the opening tutorials though, which basically amount to "this is what a super effective move is! this is what terrain is! this is how mega evolution works!" etc.

Kind of a bummer if so, but that's just me. Not a deal-breaker or anything, but I guess times have changed since *squint* Battle Revolution?* Most people that into Pokemon battles would rather cut out the middle-man, I suppose. I think it's annoying you need VP to customize your character(s), too, but at least the option's there! (I assume there might be some free customization options, but eh, arguably more important features to worry about anyway)

*Never played it, but if I had, I'd have had my character(s) say stuff like [Pokemon], assume battle mode!" or [Pokemon], I release thee." when sending them out. Not expecting full text customization for Champions anyhow, but we'll see?

You know, the game that comes out in a couple weeks for Switch, Switch 2, and... phones, I think? Anyway, the 8th of April is the exact date of release.

I'm not super into competitive, but I still have fun with online battles under the right circumstances, so I might try it. Something happened to my previous SD Card which (as far as I know) made me unable to play Pokemon Scarlet (and Legends: Arceus, but yeah) and I found out YEARS LATER Pokemon Home gives you at least one box for free (Paid obviously gives more storage options, among other perks...), so it'd be a waste to not use my beloved Sandstorm team after figuring out that's all it took to recover it. Question is, how many Pokemon will be available at launch? Because it might throw a wrench in my plans if I can't use all six. Most of my other 'mons on Home aren't battle-worthy, lol

(Yeah I know they'll "add more" down the road, but speaking as a customer, I'm not sure if this is just how developers have to do it to ease their workload anymore, or if it's just Game Freak being weird)

So, uh... Anyone else at least curious about the game like I am? I hope there's a single-player mode, too, just to help refresh my battle skills before I try and go online to do everything. But then I saw some of the character designs and they were cool enough to have me invested to learn more about them. Also why haven't they been prominently featured in Western news stuff that's really bizarre to me

^Yeah, their respective stats are a letdown even in-game, and like you said, getting one to work would be more difficult than just having something on your team that does her job better. But yeah, the gimmick IS cool, haha.

^To be fair, they seem to be a real "Either you like them or you don't" trio so far. I suppose it depends on whom you ask and where, but I've seen more like for each of them than not. I'll try and keep a more open mind myself, at any rate!

Ditto on the final evos, though I'm curious as to what they'll all be, type-wise. I'd theorize and/or say what I'd think would be neat, but at this point it's just easier to wait and see.

Feeling oddly nostalgic for Pearl Version right now, so I thought I'd ask: What do you guys think of Burmy and its evolutions? Or, do they even cross your mind at all?

I used to have a Sandy Cloak Wormadam (it's my favorite) named Ethel. She had Hidden Power (fighting), which I thought was cool even if Wormadam in general have better things to do, lol. I simply had fun having it beat up everything in Snowpoint Temple after I beat the game. I think its other moves were Rock Blast and Earthquake, also Protect? Not like Wormadam can do much else!

I don't have anything against the others (and heck, Mothim's shiny is pretty neat), but I can see how other fans might be all "ANOTHER Bug/Flying?!" about Mothim and be less than impressed with Wormadam. I wish they'd all get stat tweaks, at least, but who knows if they'll ever do that again (they only time they did that for any Pokemon was... Sun and Moon, I think? Power creep sure is rough!)

Anyway, send some fond memories my way! Or... not-so-fond! Whatever you think of these bugs!

^I wasn't impressed with them, either, and it makes me worry what they'll evolve into. I guess I could say I like Browt the best, but I already betrayed my Water Starter loyalty back in Sun (Worth it, though, I like every member of the Rowlet line) so I'll probably at least give Gecqua a shot... but the minute it evolves into something I don't care for, I'm boxing it and replacing it with Wailord (because I always wanted to try raising one, which for some reason I never had before now despite having ample chance to, lol)

Honestly, the trailer had me interested enough until the starters themselves were revealed. Outside of that, I'm not opposed to getting Waves when/if I'm able. On the subject of using older Pokemon, I somehow never used a Swellow before, so I'm happy to see Taillow back!

this is all a moot point anyway as i cant afford the switch 2 so i'm sort of forced to skip the gen anyway.

Yeah, I feel that. I have other (non-Pokemon) games I've been wanting to try, but I haven't gotten past the hurdle of saving up enough for a Switch 2. There's also trying to find a comfortable spot for it once I do get one, but that's neither here nor there, lol

By which I mean, I meant to upload this here sooner! Anyway:


(Huh, I guess the site I uploaded to resized it? No complaints, it looks alright!)

I'd like to say more about these characters, but just know I wish you all a happy 2026! It's not so much a "New Year's Resolution" as something I'm always constantly trying to do, but I really wanna try and improve my art, specifically focusing on more original projects (as opposed to fan stuff). I have several stories I wanna tell, ideas I want to see to fruition... but one thing at a time, eh?

Maybe for the next anniversary of this site, I'll do something more PKMN dot net-relevant, but I'm rusty on the lore and/or whoever is even around anymore, eheh. On that note, here's hoping 2026 is a good year for the site, too! I definitely want to post more than I have been!