Happy Orre sweets fair, happy spring, happy April Fools' Day - 💐

November 2023 The second of my Pokemon Colosseum anniversary fanzine submissions. I've always found Colosseum and Star Wars have a lot in common aesthetically (and thematically to an extent), so this is based on one of the original 1977 Star Wars posters.

I was thinking about the Cipher admins lately. Since Colosseum and XD don't have gyms, the admins are the closest equivalent we have. But instead of each one specializing in a type, each admin's team is built around a particular strategy and/or theme.

Miror B. uses all Ludicolo because he's a dancing king, utilizing Rain Dance for Swift Swim and Rain Dish. Then throws a curve ball with Sudowoodo, a Pokémon which the unsuspecting trainer could mistake for another Grass-type, who will also stand still and pose like a tree. And Miror B. can appreciate a good pose. And then he throws in an Exploud at Realgam Tower because music.

Venus uses a cute or graceful Pokémon like Delcatty and Milotic, but also Vileplume and Banette, two Pokémon that look like a harmless object but are more dangerous than they appear. To top it off, they all know Attract. Then there's a Steelix symbolizing The Under (since its dex entry mentions them living deep underground). Notably, she drops the Vileplume, Banette, and Steelix when you battle her in Realgam Tower, going all in on cute Pokémon instead. It's like when she's outside of her home turf, she's more focused on keeping up appearances.

Ein uses a combination of Rain Dance/Thunder strats and various status effects. He's a cold strategist who wants to maximize his chances of winning while reducing yours as much as possible. Also worth noting that he's the only admin whose team actually has synergy with their Shadow Pokémon, as if he's the only one who actually took to that into account when putting together his team.

Then Dakim has.... Earthquakes? And then Sunny Day/Solar Beam in the post game? Yeah, sorry, I can't really think of any deeper meaning behind this. Dakim is by far the least developed member of Cipher, I don't have much to work with.

And then there's Nasour. At first glance, it just looks like a random assortment of strong Pokémon, yet he notably uses 3 Psychic-types, with Metagross even getting swapped out for Alakazam after you snag it. We have Dusclops, a Pokémon that is said to be hollow on the inside, like a Black Hole (a clear analogue for Shadow Pokémon), then Blaziken is just a strong warrior to represent Nascour's thirst for battle. Walrein and Gardevoir both have Pokédex entries saying that they will die to protect those close to them, perhaps calling to Nascour's ruthlessness in battle and viewing his subordinates as pawns to be used and discarded. This is further backed up by both Gardevoir and Dusclops having Destiny Bond. Beyond this, Nascour runs no particular strategy, using a balance of strong attacks and status moves, with a decent amount of coverage despite the lack of type variety in his team.

Xatu's a tricky one. All we know about it is that it can see the future (and also the past) and is thought to be from another world. It could just be a nod to his line at the beginning of the game predicting that he and Wes will battle one day, or it's just a mystical Pokémon representing his looming presence throughout the story.

That just leaves Metagross and Alakazam, both stated to be extremely intelligent. Cipher spent years lying in wait to begin the Shadow Pokémon Plan, which no doubt took a lot of planning and coordination, so they're both fitting for the mastermind of an evil organization... except, you know...

For week 2 of orretober, I present every major villain by chapter! Yes, I did reorder some events, and yes, I decide that Nascour got to serve.

The Cipher Admins from Pokemon Colosseum tell more about them with their designs alone than the Vees??

Like...:

Just by design alone, you can tell what their personalities are...

Now compare that to the Vees...

Its a bit harder to tell what their core traits and personality are with their designs

It barely tells anything, in my opinion at least

Twenty years ago, one of my absolute favorite games released in Japan. One year later, I would pull some of the shadiest shit involving bad grades and a white out pen in order to get my hands on a gamecube-- to which I spent countless nights over the years pulling allnighters with friends (with the assistance of Doritos and a variety of mountain dew), create stupid ass OCs and """"original"""" comics, roleplay as one of its main villains-- Pokemon Colosseum holds a huge place in my heart.