Nothing in the Dark

Nǐ hǎo and hello! A little about myself: just a gal who enjoys fantasy, science fiction, adventure, action, and mystery, among other literature or video game genres. I'll try to be optimistic and objective in my posts, but may occasionally devolve into snark and at times, savagery. Will also try not to squee too much if I post about my babies, whether furred/scaled or digital.

Caveat: Please do not post or share content of a social, political, or religious nature here. This is a space for fandom content (and occasionally, cute animals, mythological monsters, and scientific fun facts) only.

I realize I've been out of the blogging game for awhile, due in no small part to Pokopia, but I'll be dipping my toes back in the water today on account of the Nintendo Direct, specifically the Pokopia segment. Being able to dive will be great for adding another dimension to the environment, and will hopefully cut back on drowning when trying to aquascape in general! Not to mention, it'll give fish Pokémon a chance to shine!

The Game Music Collection announcement was something of a shocker, especially when you consider each individual track is on its own, personal card. It would fit right in with some of the tech I remember playing with in the late nineties...

This year's batch of mobile news was fairly interesting. Although, you have to wonder how literal Scopely plans to take "a huge range of Pokémon," considering there are over nine hundred in the entire game right now.

It's great to see one of the best Pokémon games of all time get some love! I wonder if the re-release will cause GameFreak to at least think about revisiting the original Shadow Pokémon again...

I can't say that Pokémon Champions seems like something I'd play (I prefer solo adventuring and a good story over straight battling), but given the compatibility with the other main series games, it's certainly sparking interest, at least.

Kinda sad we didn't get a second part to the Mega Dimension DLC story, but at least we got Mega Garchomp Z, which looks glorious! I bet its ability in Pokémon Champions will be Levitate, which would be at least two kinds of irony.

Between all the new features rolling out with every trailer, March fifth can't come soon enough! I'm most looking forward to going on "far-off adventures," as I'm curious about what kind of adventures you can have in a cozy game.

Undertaking yet another Heroes Journey with Lyn! I suppose these would be prime examples of why it's important to research your destination and pack properly before leaving.

Can't forget to treasure hunt!

Getting in some house-building practice in anticipation of Pokopia!

These should keep us fed for a month or so.

Embarking on yet another Heroes Journey with my favorite Fire Emblem character, Lyn! Battle practice is always good, but it's important to read and relax as well!

Apparently, the Summoner is still as much of a foodie as ever.

As well as an animal lover/magnet.

The best part is the scenery!

I just want to say, I absolutely love Mega Absol Z's design, especially the pseudo-reversal of normal Absol's coloration to continue the Yin-Yang theme! Although, I wish it had been either part or entirely Fairy type (hey, if GameFreak can add, change, or delete types in other Mega Evolutions, that shouldn't be too much of a stretch), which would be more useful both offensively and defensively than the Ghost typing. Not to mention it would've been a nice touch of irony, having the angelic-looking regular Mega form be a heroic Dark type to contrast the demonic-looking Mega Z form being a cruel/morally ambiguous Fairy type, especially since old school fae could be pretty nasty. Still one of the best new Mega Evolutions, in my opinion!

My top three favorites, mostly because of the decadent-looking confections (and because the food truck's cheap, sue me).

As call-backs to the original X and Y's Pokémon-Amie and rollerskating mechanics, you gotta love Café Rouleau and Café Pokémon-Amie! I almost wish I'd brought my Tatsugiri to Café Triste, but that might be a tad morbid.

Nothing like a bit of discourse at Cafés Bataille and Kizuna. Can't say I miss the PR Videos loved by Café Action! though.

Note to self: next time, don't try to photograph alphas, they're too hard to fit in the frame...

From my first Legends: Z-A partner to my last... at least until the Mega Dimension DLC releases!

How is it Ange looks freakier than the Ultimate Weapon?

Insert hammy Mega Evolution invocation here.

Mega Zygarde is awesome!

Ready, aim...

Fireworks!

Welcome back, Urbain and Floette!

Thanks, AZ!

Many thanks, friends and occasional allies!

Rest in peace, AZ...

I'm happy for you, Urbain!

Haven't gotten around to talking about Pokémon Pokopia yet, but I have to say it looks AMAZING! As an avid Pokémon Mystery Dungeon fan, having a Pokémon turn into a human makes for quite the interesting reversal. And, being able to use moves to interact with the world seems more visceral than relying on smartphone/tablet apps à la Animal Crossing: New Horizons, Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, etc. Although, going by the extended trailer, it seems that we're getting a smart device in some form anyways...

The habitat-building feature looks great too, but hopefully we'll get to create a wide range of environments besides just urban, beach, and craggy. I personally think it would be cool if we got to work with jungle, desert, and polar biomes!

Crafting has possibilities as well, although I have to wonder if they'll source any crafting materials from the Pokémon themselves, like they did for TM Materials in Scarlet and Violet.

I also hope that we'll get some more farming mechanics beyond just growing fruits and vegetables. If nothing else, we could at least get to harvest milk from Miltank, wool from Wooloo, etc. if they want to go the quasi-vegetarian Stardew Valley route.

Finally, I have to wonder if the world will be near infinite/extremely large like Minecraft, judging by the game size and the newly-revealed ability for Ditto to swim or fly to other places. Either way, I'm eagerly awaiting the release date!

Taking a quick break from the recap of my Legends: Z-A playthrough to talk about the latest Mega Dimensions trailers. Personally, I can't say Hyperspace Lumiose seems all that exciting, mostly because it looks like it's pretty much the same map. And, well, I'd been holding onto the hope that we'd be able to use Hoopa's rings to region-hop, at least to a limited extent. That would've be awesome, considering we were confined to one city in the base game and there's a good chance GameFreak scrapped that leaked multi-region game (and I really wanted to at least see Hoenn on the Switch). On a less negative note, the level one hundred-plus feature looked intriguing, especially when you consider how strong the Rogue Mega Evolutions and Alphas are in the base game. This is going to be fun!

Not to mention, we'll get to make donuts!! For some reason, that sounds even better than making our own Poké Puffs!

It's about to get real.

That makes two of us!

Honestly, as much as some people complain about Urbain/Taunie stealing the spotlight now, I personally think they deserved this more.

Still on about that, I see.

Okay, now it's about to get real.

It's so nice to see that first fist bump with Urbain evolve into our "thing."

I have to wonder, if Ange can use Light of Ruin and is supposed to parallel Xerneas the way the Ultimate Weapon parallels Yveltal, if it's actually a Fairy type?

Oh, that feeling of finding that one last cell, even though we didn't actually have to do the Fetch Quest.

To paraphrase Canari, oh !%☆@^$*&=§#!!!

Zygarde used Core Enforcer! Guess Ange isn't a Fairy type after all.

Not five minutes off the train and I'm already being tourist trapped...

After reading the leaks, I just had to pick Totodile! Still, kinda wonder how you're supposed to fist-bump Tepig and Chikorita...

Such a hospitable young man!

Two down, twenty-four to go...

I suppose I'd try it as long as there wasn't too much sauce in the croissants...

Didn't realize how much I missed Emma and Mimi until now.

Mega Absol, huzzah!!! Thanks, Zygarde!

Okay, so we've got a foul-mouthed streamer, her scaffolding-happy grandfather, a literal gatecrashing musclehead, his done-with-this sister (not pictured because I thought he'd have more of a reaction after being beaten and autosave kicked in before I could think of going back), a couple of crime bosses, a spoiled princess, and her dragon maid. Is there anyone in the Z-A Royale who isn't insane?!

Coming from a 3000-year-old guy, that means a lot!

Happy Pokémon Day, once again! The Presents was amazing, even if I personally was more interested in the announced main series games than the mobile stuff (and sad there wasn't a new Mystery Dungeon title in the works).

Pokémon Champions looks amazing, although I'm not really into battling online anymore. It will be cool to see Mega Evolution against Terastallization, though! Hopefully, we'll see Dynamax/Gigantamax and Z-Moves as well. I also wonder if there will be some of the more exotic battle modes such as Triple, Rotation, or even Battle Royals!

Legends: Z-A looks amazing! The new battle style looks intriguing; it's cool that the Legends series is branching out! The wild zones seem kind of small, but perhaps they'll get better over the course of the urban redevelopment.

Glad to see they'll be adding Omega Ruby & Alpha Sapphire Megas to Legends: Z-A alongside the X & Y ones. Although, if they bring in the Hoenn starters to ensure every Mega Evolution is included, we'll be looking at four sets of starters, huzzah!

Of course, the Mega Evolution I'm most looking forward to is Mega Absol!

Too bad there wasn't any information about Zygarde, but I suppose they have to keep some things a surprise. One wonders if it'll be something of an antagonist regarding the urban redevelopment plan, despite it being toted as beneficial for both people and Pokémon.