Tony Stark Deserved Better

I am CONVINCED it's a misdirect because Sparky is the one with Blue Lung.

When we first see him, his vaporizer has blue stains all over it

This is consistently shown throughout the Pilot.

But what we ALSO see-

-is a discolored tongue, something Andi doesn't have in the same lighting.

And as for the saliva, we can see it from far away for both Sparky and Andi, and neither is tinted blue. We don't see a close up until after the handshake.

Sparky bringing up his hand to look at it makes me think he expected to see something there. Who looks at their hand after a spit shake?

Okay so this might be a hot take, but if we ignore plot armor, Ash is the top Pokémon Trainer exclusively in the sense of rearing a battle-ready team.

Think about it, all the Champions are adults (except Iris) and have been raising and honing their teams for years. But even Iris worked with Pokémon prior to becoming a trainer and was a prodigy Dragon Trainer. Leon has specifically been unbeatable for who knows how long.

Then there's Ash.

Other than Pikachu, this guy decides to raise up a completely green team for the biggest tournament of his life.

A newly evolved Dragonite that has never been in an official battle before but takes down a Champion's Ace in one of her first major battles.

An abandoned Gengar who took a three year hiatus from training before proceeding to annihilate most of his opponents leading up to the Masters Eight and also learns to Gigantamax.

A newly hatched Riolu who evolves, then Mega Evolves in a freakish speed-run and proceeds to be the team Ace.

A Galarian Farfetch'd that barely listened to Ash at first and then evolves and takes down a Mega Altaria belonging to an Elite Four member that had so many type advantages it was crazy

A Dracovish that is freshly revived and if we think about it probably never actually existed before that moment, and in its first real battle takes down Iris's brute of a Dragonite.

Each one of them took down one of Leon's Pokémon (Sirfetch'd playing support) The Strongest Trainer in the World was defeated by Pokémon in their first year of training with Ash. Do you understand how insane that is?

And Pikachu. This glass cannon that defeats every Metagross it fights, and never lost a battle in the Masters Eight, only winning and tying. And this tiny thing just keeps getting back up again and again.

If that is the team Ash can train up in the course of a year(?) I can't imagine Leon giving Ash any trouble if Ash used his past Aces.

Cyllene watches the young man, and he watches right back. 

There’s a caution in his amber eyes, eyes much too old for the sixteen year old who bears them. He watches her like she’s the enemy. Watches her like he’s waiting for her to lash out. Watches her like she’s a ghost. 

Like she’s familiar.

Even if she wanted to, his beast of a Pikachu would kill her before she had the chance. 

At first glance, Cyllene had been sure the boy had a Raichu draped over his shoulders. A Raichu that looked so at home wrapped around this human. The beast was massive, and dwarfed Akari’s Pikachu as if it was a Pichu. The two didn’t even seem to be the same species. 

This Pikachu was a hulking, narrow-eyed, scarred thing, battle wounds worn like the stars Cyllene so seldomly bequeathed. Old, odd red scars burned a long-healed pattern into its flesh, circles with branching lines situated on its forehead and stomach. The fur on its tail had been worn away over time, now a razor’s edge raised in warning.  

Its cheeks sparked red with cursed lightning. 

The boy wasn’t much better. 

His flimsy clothes did nothing to hide the array of old injuries; lacerations, burns, gouges, bites, and a particularly harsh lichtenberg figure that carved through his right palm and up his arm. 

How could this boy bear all the brutality of Pokémon and still treat this monstrous Pikachu as a brother? How could he be so calm with Laventon’s three research subjects so lovingly wrapped around his legs, or cradled in his arms? 

Cyndaquil’s flames could erupt without warning, scorching the boy’s leg in seconds. 

Oshawott could take its scalchop and slash through his achilles tendon, crippling him without a thought.

Rowlet was so close to his throat, it could tear through the skin and muscle and vasculature and there’d be no time to save him. 

Instead of fear, the boy's cautious expression would deepen to sadness when he looked at them. Standing there like these beasts were old friends.

He stood there like his life wasn’t in the hands of others.

Cyllene was wary.

This boy falls from the sky, no word on his origins or how he came to be here, just that he had Fallen from Heaven’s Fracture. 

This was an omen, she knew. An omen for better or for worse, and it was up to her to decide if Jubilife Village’s fate would rest on his shoulders. Give this Fallen free range over her home and risk the sky’s wrath? Or cast him out, and risk forsaking the cure so mercifully proffered?   

In the end, she could only test him. 

Okay I just need to talk about this scene for a moment. 

I have felt more raw emotion from this 3 second scene than my own family reunion. 

Look at Pikachu’s expression. 

He’s limping. He’s spent. He’s exhausted. He’s in pain.

But all he cares about is getting to Ash; his best friend, his brother. His body can’t keep up with his drive, but he’s trying. so. hard. 

It’s like it doesn’t matter that he’s the strongest Pokemon in the world now, he just wants to get to Ash and its so. fucking. beautiful. 

*I have never read the comics involving the team

1. When there’s a better men:women ratio among a team of anti-heroes than there is among the OG Avengers 

2. Why is Taskmaster on the team and not with the other Black Widows? 

3. Curious why Bucky agreed to be on a team with John

4. Curious why Bucky is on a team of anti-heroes in the first place? I thought TFATWS concreted the idea he’s a hero

5. Yelena my beloved how did you get your vest back from your sister? Did someone give it to you? Was it in her will? Any answer will be devastating

6. Why are there 3 super soldiers on one team

7. The interactions between Yelena and Alexei will be absolutely hilarious 

I’m sick of how dark and heart-wrenching it is. It’s emotionally draining and I’m dreading each episode.

I’ve been trying to stay optimistic and invested with the MCU and it’s future. But I’ve been finding it hard since Endgame.

Marvel has been shitting on Tony Stark since the beginning, and continue to do so in Phase Four and even with What If.

Steve Rogers gets a pedestal in FATWS, a Broadway musical in Hawkeye, and brought up every 20 minutes in Black Widow.

Tony gets mentioned offhandedly every once in a while.

It’s disheartening.