1. Johto, Team Addison

Oh, boy. Johto is kicking my butt, y'all. So hard. And I've finally figured out my problem: I've been trying to force it. With the other girls, their teams evolved naturally from my own personal first run. This started out as a character run, not a personal run, and therefore the character development and actual team-building has been EXTREMELY slow. I've made it to just before Victory Road, with the following Pokemon:

Java the Feraligatr (seriously love this little dude...though he's not so little anymore! In-story he's actually MASSIVE, close to eight feet tall and thickly muscled. People ask Addison what she's feeding that thing and she just blushes and wails "IDK HE'S SO HUGE")

Rocky the Steelix (thanks to my Poke-Pal Ethan and his selfless sacrifice of his only Metal Coat! I actually like that Rocky's a trade; I wouldn't have picked the name Rocky, but I was surprised that I actually really love the name for an Onix. It's cheesy, but not nearly as stupid as most in-game trade Pokemon's names. And it suits him, believe it or not.)

Bonnie the Machoke (it's more vanity than anything, but I don't think Bonnie's gonna be a Machamp; the four arms thing freaks me out, and Addison is too shy to want to trade any of her Pokemon, even for a moment. Rocky's evolution in-story was a complete accident, just FYI; he'd still be an Onix if left to Addison. But Bonnie's really okay with how she is, and she's a tough cookie, sure enough)

Ella the Xatu (I have issues with Ella. Xatu are much less powerful than I was hoping, but at the same time, the emotional and narrative implications of Addison and Ella's relationship is crucial. Addison's dad disappeared while on a treasure hunt in the Ruins of Alph, and Ella can see both the future and the past; she might be the one link Addison has to tracking down her father. Haven't decided if that's going to be a MAJOR PLOTPOINT or a major character point that mostly simmers in the background...why does everyone in my stories have daddy issues. seriously it's so crazy you guys whyyy)

Benson the Shuckle (poor Benson. Shuckles in general are hardy little tanks, true, but their attack stat almost renders that tankhood irrelevant. Again, though, Benson's utility as a team member is in the symbolic sense rather than the physical, and he's just so darn cute.)

This last space was originally saved for Houndour, but I still can't catch one in the Safari Zone and I can't think of anything else to put there. Right now I have Lugia just hanging out, but the only Pokemon I could think of to fill the gap came down to Dragonaire, Gyrados, or Chinchou. The problem is, it's so late in the game that any of these Pokemon I catch I'd have to train up for sixty years in the rugged mountains, and that IRKS me. Johto's main irksome quality is that I can't just catch six Pokemon and be done with it, just how I like it; I have to catch different Pokemon at different times, and my neurosis is such that I hate doing that. It makes me feel like I'm just using the Pokemon rather than building a team, like "Oh hey I need your help a sec k thx now back in the box where I'll never look at you again." No. I don't like that. I'm very odd and form emotional attachments to these digital little creatures, so when I catch a Pokemon, it's for the long haul. All other regions let me do that (basically), but not Johto. Not really. Ugh. Please excuse my whining, I have a lot of pent-up frustrations with this game.

(A sidenote: nobody in my official team knows Whirlpool, but I caught a Tentacool and named it Elmer. I have a vision in my head of attaching Elmer to Java's belly and winding it up like a helicopter and that's how we get over whirlpools: Elmer goes like a little propeller and Java does the heavy swimming. It's an amusing image, admit it.)

Other than my team-building and characterization woes, the mythology behind Johto is very interesting, much richer than Kanto's. Though whoever named the Legendary Beasts "Dogs" needs to brush up on what saber-toothed tigers, lions, and jaguars look like...because the only one who COULD look like a dog is Suicune. There are a lot of aspects to it, too, which makes my minor world-building a little more complicated in a good way. With most of the other regions, I have to do a lot of improvising with the mythologies; Hoenn and Sinnoh are getting the most tweaking, but I'm not gonna discuss that here (read as: yet). Johto and Unova both have a pretty rigid mythology that's difficult to work around, so I'm just shrugging and weaving the story around it. I think, on the whole, I'm going to probably wipe Victory Road and then start over; I need a fresh slate on this game. It's making me more worked up than is healthy. (But next run, also a character run, but one I'm really excited about: ENTIRE TEAM IS BABIES.)

I've got the relationship and pasts between Addison and Quinn (rival) worked out pretty well by now, but poor Rudy (secondary rival) is still in the dust; that's probably why his run is going to be played next. Out of all the Adventures, I think Johto is going to be heaviest on the romance; Addison and Quinn have a weird, kinda twisted, pretty mean, co-dependent relationship, the growth of which is intrinsic to their personal arcs as well as the overall story arc. Rudy's really playing third wheel, and I've gotta think of a good way to Make It Stop. Also: need to work on making Quinn less like Silver. I'm basically stabbing myself in the face here, giving Quinn Silver's backstory and personality almost to the letter (if ramped up a bit), but this is still in early development; if anything, Quinn is way more tsundere than Silver (emphasis on the tsun), a lot more bitter and abrasive. I'm thinking I can't change that Quinn and Novalee are half-siblings at this point, because it's actually become an Important Plotpoint now, and their dad HAS to be a Rocket, but maybe I can devolve it a little and give the Dear Old Dad award to someone else, since the entire point here was to make these Pokemon Adventures slightly ORIGINAL (though based on the games and a bit on the manga). I think this project has run away from me screaming.

2. Ghosts. Ghosts EVERYWHERE.

I've finally gotten to the Sinnoh run I've been most excited about since I found out about the Pokemon Drifloon: the Cora Shalott: Ghost Whisperer run.

Cora Shalott is a one-of-a-kind OC in that she's actually a FOURTH player in the formula. Every other region has the Heroine, the Rival, and the Secondary Rival, without fail. Cora came into being because I had a really awesome revelation about Sinnoh my first playthrough. I'm so shooting myself in the foot for when I actually start seriously WRITING these things, but here's my theory in a nutshell:

Kanto has Viridian Forest, the magic place where, in the manga, if a child is born there he/she has the unique ability to communicate with and heal Pokemon. Sinnoh has Eterna Forest (and I haven't read the manga past a few pages into the Hoenn Special, so zip it if you know things), in Platinum the place where you can catch Gastly and home to the Old Chateau. I find it curious, the importance of forests to Pokemon and humans in the Pokemon world, and the mystical quality afforded to them (also coming from the Celebi legend, in the limited sense I understand it in), and that the Sinnoh region's forest is host to Ghosts. Then there's the Ultimate legendary in Platinum, a Ghost-Dragon type who's basically the Grim Reaper of the Pokemon mythos to the god that is Arceus. Then the three new Ghost-types, one another Ghost-Dark (Spiritomb), one a Ghost-Flying (DRIFLOON YAY), one a Ghost-Ice (Froslass, a Pokemon that actually EVOLVES into a Ghost-type, implying that the Snorunt has to actually DIE for this to happen). Lots of emphasis on death and ghosts and chaos and misrule, don't you think?

Cora Shalott is an orphan (yes, another one, hooray), born and until the age of five raised in Eterna Forest, in the Old Chateau. Her unique birthplace, much like Yellow (and Giovanni and Lance whatever), has given her a unique gift: she's basically a Pokemon Medium, able to connect with ghostly Pokemon spirits and communicate with Ghost-types with ease. This is something special for me, because I've never done a one-type team before and I adore Ghost-types. Cora especially has a significant connection with Giratina, though she doesn't remember it, and is a dangerous threat to Cyrus; she fights with the one thing he absolutely abhors: Spirit, in a very literal sense. She's also gonna be the one Player who actually fights, in-game and in-story, with a Legendary. All four of the Deity Pokemon are going to play a role in the Sinnoh story (along with the Spirit Pokemon teehee these kids are so overpowered curse you Sinnoh for having so many symbolic Pokemon groups), but it's Cora and Giratina that I've been most excited for.

Naturally, in-game I can't play with JUST Ghosties; there needs to be someone to look after the TMs, so my starter is Chimchar (which is appropriate; Cora and the main rival Xavier Mustang have a bit of a thing for each other), and I traded over a Poliwag from SoulSilver. Once Giratina's been obtained I'm going to box the Infernape (which is symbolic, since once Cora does the same in-story it's like she's become her own complete person and she doesn't rely quite so heavily on Xavier for support) and keep the Poliwrath (because Water-Fighting frack yeah). Currently, the team stands thus:

Max the Monferno (hee I love Chimchar. Not as much as Turtwig, but definitely more than Piplup. Man, me and Water starters do NOT get on well)

Rosie the Poliwhirl (since she's a trade I have to be careful, but I have practice with unruly trades with Rocky; Rosie isn't gonna be a huge problem, so long as I watch her level carefully)

Edgar the Haunter (I love this guy. So much. SO MUCH. He really pulled through with aplomb during the Fantina fight, but more on that later)

Skye the Drifloon (OMG IT'S SO CUTE YOU GUYS I JUST LOVE HIM. shhh i know his name is unoriginal leave me alone to die)

Cal the Rotom (Let me tell you about this little twit. I had ten Pokeballs going into that fight and had gotten his HP down as low as it would go. He fought me until it was my very last Pokeball, then he submitted like a lamb. TEASE, I say. TROLL. Nearly gave me a heart attack, thinking I was gonna have to restart and try again. And, though Rotoms are genderless, this one identifies as male)

I can't get Spiritomb in-game, since you have to talk to someone in the Underground thirty-two wretched times (or thirty-two people, whatever) before it becomes viable, so Rosie's gonna be taking its spot. Rosie's moveset is gonna be entirely HMs and I feel a little guilty about it. Ghosts are not good HM carriers, because I'm fairly certain Drifloon and Giratina are the only ones that can learn HMs and neither can learn Surf or Waterfall, so...yeah.

I underestimated one aspect of this run, though. Its name is Fantina.

I did what I've never done before, half-accidentally: I went to Wayward Cave, picked up that little lost girl Mira, and trained like heck (half because I needed it, half because I couldn't find my way out. That's why I left her in there during my Xavier run). I wiped the floor with Fantina's face, and it was GLORIOUS. Then I ate my rival for dessert. It was a good day, you guys. But, in the future: consider all challenges ahead before doing a run like that. For instance, I'm thinking of doing an all-Grass run in Hoenn (crap, now I have to go talk about that); Flannery is NOT going to be a fun challenge. But either way, so long as you're having fun, do what you wanna do when you play Pokemon. Experiment. I have respect for people who play one game their entire lives and spend hours and hours building up perfect competition-worthy teams and EV training and all that jazz, but I identify much more with people who restart frequently and play often. I mean...it's meant to be an Adventure, which can only be measured by you. Play on.

3. One Last Thing...

Hoenn. My Dylan run is going well, thanks for asking (still grinding for the Mossdeep Gym challenge, but everyone's doing well and I have high hopes for victory) (...given that I can defeat that cursed Claydol...), but let's talk about what's gonna happen AFTER Dylan's run is through.

Once I've beaten the Main Character runs to death, I'm planning on, slowly, building some minor characters. One of those is going to be what I am sorely disappointed in Ruby/Sapphire/Emerald for lacking: a Grass-type trainer who becomes a Gym leader. Hoenn is a lush region, with a lot of different Grass- and Bug-types (Bug will follow Grass oohoohoo), and yet it never occured to them to make a Gym dedicated to all the awesome Grass-types?

She's gonna be one heck of a trainer, let me tell you now; the Grass-types are fierce, and she's gonna have a powerful lineup (once I can get the details nailed down). Let's take a look at the options, shall we?

Sceptile. Grass Starter, guardian of the forests, fast and agile and LEAF BLADE okay.

Breloom. Grass-Fighting. Will Eff Your Mess Up.

Ludicolo. Grass-Water. Fire and other Grass-types? Please. Ground and Rock? Run for the hills. He will DANCE you into oblivion. And you'll LIKE IT.

Shiftry. Grass-Dark. Scary as heck, 'nuff said.

Cradilly. Grass-Rock. An ancient and powerful FLOWER. OKAY. A PREHISTORIC FLOWER.

Tropius. Grass-Flying. A tropical dinosaur. Let me say it again. A DINOSAUR. THAT GROWS ITS OWN BANANAS. AND FLIES ON PALM LEAF WINGS.

Cacturne. Grass-Dark. It's a moving cactus. It wants hugs. YOUR hugs.

Roselia. Grass-Poison. You even touch this thing and it'll kill you. Also it's more fabulous than you.

I'm having a little bit of trouble working out exactly who I want, naturally, because there are so many quality choices, but rest assured, this character is going to be so cool you'll wonder why she's only in the background. (The answer: if she was in the foreground her coolness would be a deus ex machina and the plot would be resolved too quickly.) Hoenn always was my favorite region; time to give it a character that kind of encompasses why I love it so much.