Closed Orchid's Mysterious Garden

[lisianthus]

^ a mythical creature has appeared; everybody go around the room and say hi (sorry)

hiiiiiiiii hawthornnnnnnnn

 

[airmail]

hiiiiiiiii hawthornnnnnnnn

... hiiii ! =D

Spoiler

I'm stumbling over words a little, but I'm seconding all the excitement again! I also sense character development. . . and am a mix of pure terror and unabashed anticipation. Either way though, I hope everybody gets something fun or cute out of this one!

I don't care what happens, I just wanna see Registeel do something cool. orz

Careful what you wish for, Orchid! Me too, though.
As for Tokio I'm not sure where he went either. . . It makes me kind of nervous to see just Gary and Goh in this one, but I kind of hope they turn out to be friends somehow ?! Or at least acquaintances. . .

 

[Okido]

hiiii ! =D

I'M JUST HERE TO YELL I LOVE THE REGIS I think they're adorable!!

(not gonna spoiler this one cuz it's not technically a spoiler)
Me too!! Steel is my personal favorite, but I like the rest of them just as much.

This sounds so nice... There's a lake by my house I wish I had less anxiety visiting, but past issues and all that. And same about having interesting stuff to say LMAO... regardless I love chatting with you Orchid, I definitely need to get out of the house soon myself, I'm way too much of a hermit. Glad you're feeling refreshed!

aw well it's nice to hear from you! I get where you're coming from, I definitely don't go out as much as I would like to lol. A lake does sound nice (I'm actually right nearby a river myself)... I hope you get to visit worry-free soon enough

---

And including a general update: I've been in a weird mood these past few days and can't really think straight. Or really think at all for that matter, because this post alone took a monumental several-hour effort to write. I feel like I'm all out of RAM and I need to restart my brain; hopefully by tomorrow I'll feel functional enough to catch up with stuff OTL

 

[CuboneKing]

Spoiler

 

[lisianthus]

Spoiler

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is that a Super Saiyan Guy Fieri!?

 

[Okido]

Spoiler

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^ actual picture of me with a headache

 

[Okido]

Feeling stuck in a rut with my art lately. bleh. I need to try new brushes, or mess with my shading methods, or... something. Drawing just feels stuffy right now, which is making everything else feel stuffy too. Does that make sense? Probably not.

Very much looking forward to that HOME update for BDSP/Legends — it finally got me to actually install HOME.
I'm gonna transfer all my oldest Pokémon out of Bank and up into Brilliant Diamond as soon as it drops. I didn't put them into SwSh, because I wanted my very first Torterra from Diamond to live in Sinnoh again, don't judge me. He was meant to run around in Amity Square.
Kind of weird to me though that the release date for the update isn't definitive yet, it's just... "soon". That could mean anything???

I don't have much else to say, I'm still tired and foggy-feeling from my 1 whole hour of sleep yesterday. ummm...

Question of the day: Is there a Pokémon or character that you previously disliked or didn't expect to like, but after giving them a chance they turned out to become one of your favorites?
Just pondering this today because of my Tentacruel in BD. I was pretty neutral on Tentacruel before and only trained one to be a counter to Roserade, but now I actually like the thing a lot because I got attached to it. Such is the way of Pokémon.

 

[lisianthus]

Feeling stuck in a rut with my art lately. bleh. I need to try new brushes, or mess with my shading methods, or... something. Drawing just feels stuffy right now, which is making everything else feel stuffy too. Does that make sense? Probably not.

Sometimes you're just stuck and that's OK~

Very much looking forward to that HOME update for BDSP/Legends — it finally got me to actually install HOME.
I'm gonna transfer all my oldest Pokémon out of Bank and up into Brilliant Diamond as soon as it drops. I didn't put them into SwSh, because I wanted my very first Torterra from Diamond to live in Sinnoh again, don't judge me. He was meant to run around in Amity Square.
Kind of weird to me though that the release date for the update isn't definitive yet, it's just... "soon". That could mean anything???

Hopefully within a few weeks...!! It's absolutely amazing that you can now put original D/P Pokémon into their remakes...wow...

I don't have much else to say, I'm still tired and foggy-feeling from my 1 whole hour of sleep yesterday. ummm...

hopefully you can rest more soon!!

Question of the day: Is there a Pokémon or character that you previously disliked or didn't expect to like, but after giving them a chance they turned out to become one of your favorites?
Just pondering this today because of my Tentacruel in BD. I was pretty neutral on Tentacruel before and only trained one to be a counter to Roserade, but now I actually like the thing a lot because I got attached to it. Such is the way of Pokémon.

Hmmmmmm...yeah! I didn't like Zoroark before, but Hisuian Zoroark is a form that I actually like, basically. Same thing with Raichu and Alolan Raichu, come to think of it!! Maybe not characters, I think. Wait no!! I actually started to like Irida from Legends, after playing it a lot!! Her and Adaman are great~

 

[Blanc]

Feeling stuck in a rut with my art lately. bleh. I need to try new brushes, or mess with my shading methods, or... something. Drawing just feels stuffy right now, which is making everything else feel stuffy too. Does that make sense? Probably not.

I feel this, especially when your art feels stuck and not really growing or improving… when it all feels ‘samey’. If you need some brushes, I’ve got you covered! I can send links to some of my favorites to use from the CSP asset store! (It’s called a store, but they’re all mostly free LOL…)

I'm gonna transfer all my oldest Pokémon out of Bank and up into Brilliant Diamond as soon as it drops. I didn't put them into SwSh, because I wanted my very first Torterra from Diamond to live in Sinnoh again, don't judge me. He was meant to run around in Amity Square.

Awww, don’t want your torterra to get homesick! My first Pokemom (Empoleon!) is… I forgot where she is right now! I have to check! LOL I’m probably gonna pay for a month of HOME at some point and transfer all my important mons there, and then just… pay for it again whenever I need to access it en mass.

Is there a Pokémon or character that you previously disliked or didn't expect to like, but after giving them a chance they turned out to become one of your favorites?

Rivals like Barry and Hugh. When I was younger, I honestly didn’t care for them! But as I got older I started to see the charm in mischievous Barry and the Hugh that stands up for what he believes in. Somehow, Gary got passed this for me immediately, probably because my childhood friend and I called each other Red (me) and Blue (her) respectively, so association made me love him.

I think because as a kid I only saw people as either “nice” or “mean” without exploring the depth behind either.

We artists sure suffer through funks, huh? No matter what, I love seeing your art!! I’ve been vomiting nothing but sketches lately… LOL

 

[Okido]

I feel this, especially when your art feels stuck and not really growing or improving… when it all feels ‘samey’. If you need some brushes, I’ve got you covered! I can send links to some of my favorites to use from the CSP asset store!

Many a day later, I FINALLY figured out how to download new brushes last night... and omg a whole new world has opened up to me, goodbye default "bit husky" paintbrush. I'd love to try some of your preferred ones sometime!

I still need to push myself, but I do feel like I've shaken off that art fatigue a little bit. Cheering you on so you can do the same!

Somehow, Gary got passed this for me immediately, probably because my childhood friend and I called each other Red (me) and Blue (her) respectively, so association made me love him.

This reminds me so much of my own childhood best friend I want to like, cry LOL. She was a huge fan of Yellow from Pokespe, and I'm pretty sure she kept insisting I had to be Green. Just us two weirdos roleplaying Pokémon battles in the hallway instead of working

I didn't like Zoroark before, but Hisuian Zoroark is a form that I actually like, basically. Same thing with Raichu and Alolan Raichu, come to think of it!!

I understand not liking Zoroark, but you didn't like Raichu?!? What did that orange tabby ever do to you /j

That makes sense to me, though. I was never really a huge fan of Farfetch'd on its own, but its Galarian variant + Sirfetch'd have made it grow on me. Plus I like the whole Mime line to begin with, but Mr. Rime is especially great.

 

[Artuditwo]

I found your garden of mystery Orchid!

 

[Okido]

I found your garden of mystery Orchid!

welcome R2!

Spoiler: how I feel when you guys post here

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I wish I had more to say but my day was mostly average and somewhat tiring. I had an Oreo with my morning coffee (which was a surprisingly great combination and I do recommend it), I got caught in the rain a couple hours ago due to my blatant disregard for thunderstorm warnings, and now I hope to just sit down and get some art done.

My sleep schedule is all out of whack too, and I should probably fix that, but... eeeh...

 

[Okido]

man, I know we don't yet know what the next series will look like... but I'll say it now, I'm gonna be real sad when Pokémon Journeys ends.

I've been thinking intently about what I said here in this thread, and what it means in the long run:

Spoiler: pokeani spoilers and speculative nonsense

On the one hand, yes, I think it's great that we're seeing all these older characters making progress towards their goals and seemingly tying up any loose ends with their stories. Even if they haven't made huge advancements since last time we saw them, it's still nice that all of their returns are actually contributing to the plot in some way.

On the other hand, it kind of makes me sad, because in some cases it feels a lot like we might not ever see them again after this series.

It feels like they're going out of their way to give some of them a good send-off, before they retire them from the series as a whole. Mainly Iris and Serena in particular. (edit: Butch & Cassidy, too!)

I'm happy they're doing that, and I much prefer it over simply letting them fade into the background as they've done in the past, but I can't help but feel a little wistful about it.

While I don't mind letting some characters finally rest for good (Iris is getting amazing closure, Paul will probably be handled well, Cassidy and Bert have already moved on with their lives[!!], and uh... I'm personally not too upset to see Serena go) — and while I know some will never really be gone (i.e. Brock and Misty)... I still worry about the ones for whom Journeys might be their "last chance", so to speak.

Whether or not we go back to a more traditional format for the Gen IX saga, the odds seem very slim that we're still going to be seeing callbacks left and right every other week like this. That's a big part of what makes JN unique, that "world tour" aspect.
Therefore, those that are being sent away now are probably not going to come back for years, if ever again — and those who still haven't been so much as mentioned yet (like May, or even Ritchie, for instance), will just continue to sit in off-screen land indefinitely.

It just feels weird, ya know? It's a lot better than what they used to do, where they'd just let most characters disappear without alluding to them again... but doesn't it feel weird that they're setting up a lot of them to, potentially, never be able to return again after this? A lot of these past characters' departures have seemed very final, or at least that's how I've interpreted them. Obviously nothing is certain about the Gen 9 series yet; but it really feels like they're gearing up for... something with all this, and it's a little concerning to think about what that could possibly be.

...And of course, this all may or may not be a roundabout way of saying... no matter what happens with Gary at the end of this series, I'm probably gonna be in tatters about it LOLLL. No real closure, leaving the future uncertain? I'll cry. Way too much closure, making it seem like we'll never see him again??? I'll definitely cry!! I think that decade of absence after DP gave me, like, favorite character separation anxiety. say goodbye to Ash this time, at least. T_T

Besides... I really like this saga, and while I'm aware a lot of people have been over it for a while, I don't feel like I'm ready to move on just yet. It's the first one I've actually kept up with the whole way through from beginning to end! I'm attached to it!!
Regardless of where all this is going, and even if I end up being totally wrong in the end — when it's over just a few months from now, I think I'm going to miss JN a lot.

I know this isn't the kind of content you come here to see, but it's been weighing on my mind recently more than I'd like to admit. ...wait, then what IS the kind of content you come here to see?! >_>

Anyways, I've been shiny hunting in Let's Go Eevee for the past few days, since now I'll be able to transfer any shinies from LGE to Brilliant Diamond, and the catch combo is a lot easier than using the Poké Radar.
I haven't really touched LGE since 2020, when I was trying to hunt down a shiny Diglett for what seemed like weeks. The shinies I ended up with by the end were a Chansey, a Zubat (the only two encounters in Diglett's Cave that are NOT Diglett/Dugtrio)... and a Psyduck on a route I wasn't even trying to be on. And no Diglett. So yeah, hopefully things go better this time. ._.
This time I'm hunting in the Power Plant, since I would be okay with any of the Pokémon except Chansey that spawn there. Nothing yet, but I'll update if I run into something sparkly!

Sorry for the mile-long post this time around. Consistency is not what we aim for here on this blog.

 

[lisianthus]

Spoiler

as a girl who's seen about 5 episodes, at most (yes, I'm getting around to seeing the Lisia one!!) of Journeys, hearing about all these characters say hello and sometimes get closure...well, it feels kinda like an end to the current version of Pokémon? I only know about the Masters Eight from writing my Bulbanews article about it lol, that's the only bits I know other than Lisia♡

• ash got a championship
• ash is in the running to be, quite literally, the very best
• ash is maybe going to defeat his bracket demon in Alain, who megafucked his dream up in Kalos
• all his friends are saying hello!!

If Ash's time as a main character doesn't end, I'll be even happier, but it kinda seems...strange to me?

↑ in this post i talk about journeys which i know nothing about!!

 

[Okido]

This time I'm hunting in the Power Plant, since I would be okay with any of the Pokémon except Chansey that spawn there. Nothing yet, but I'll update if I run into something sparkly!

~15 hours of hunting later, shiny Magnemite has been acquired:

Spoiler: image

Such a subdued but pleasant shiny palette. I named them "Alloy". I didn't keep track of how many encounters it took to find it, because I didn't want to suffer - -;

up next... Koffing, Voltorb, or Electabuzz. Then I will struggle indefinitely for an Eevee or Squirtle.

On an unrelated note, it's been 90°F+ (~32°C+) temperatures here today, and that will continue into tomorrow. It'll go back to normal after this weekend, but it has been dampening my spirits all day. Just let me live in fall forever. OTL

 

[airmail]

It's cuuuuuute! I'll be wishing you good luck on the further hunts, especially for that Eevee or Squirtle. Shiny Blastoise does look very cool, but your Eevee bias. . . Maybe you could go for both ?!

it's been 90°F+ (~32°C+) temperatures here today, and that will continue into tomorrow.

here, too! 90's a little warmer than what we had today, but otherwise it's been super hot out with no sign of cooling down. I went out around 6 A.M. only for it to feel like a warm, muggy afternoon. =[ I hope the temperature stays cool for awhile after this weekend and you're not withering away in the heat over there. Or that fall comes around quicker this year, but either way let's just agree to not think about August. . . /shudders

 

[Okido]

Shiny Blastoise does look very cool, but your Eevee bias. . . Maybe you could go for both ?!

what bias? I know not of which you speak. :face_with_monocle:

Thank you for sharing your good luck with me. I'll try for one then the other, probably - I can't not go for a shiny Blastoise, it's purple and green and I love that. ;_;

I hope [...] you're not withering away in the heat over there.

failed step one, I look like this right now:

Spoiler

(I'll be fine I have iced tea )

 

[DogmationsAlt]

hold on can I leave my 794 cyndaquils?

 

[Okido]

hold on can I leave my 794 cyndaquils?

yeah sure, just put them over there with the rest:

Spoiler

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sorry for the quietude around here. I've been feeling more than a little bit off lately, so writing here feels more difficult than it should.

Is it just me, or was this the longest month ever? I personally feel like it's been May for a hundred years. Thankfully it'll be over tomorrow; I really just want to move on.

Oh, and don't worry guys, I have good news regarding this thing I said in passing back in February:

I genuinely wouldn't mind another Pokémon Smile update yes I actually use that app I can do what I want >_>

toothbrush hype

Edit: I got so enthralled by toothbrush hype I forgot to mention there's more Scarlet/Violet news tomorrow. ._.
New Eeveelution(s)... new rival(s)... please...?!

 

[Okido]

Today's been okay so far. Always nice to get time alone, especially on a weekend. Hopefully I'll be able to get outside a little later once it's cooler; for now I'm going to (try to) catch up on some art.

I say "try to" because I am... a little exhausted, I've been sleeping especially terribly this week. Back on Friday I pulled an all-nighter to catch JN113 when it aired (Pokémon airs at 5:55 AM in my time zone... whatever it was worth it) — and I didn't go to bed early that night, even though I was dead tired — and last night I was awake until 7AM for... no reason?? I don't know how I'm alive. I need to just go to bed and pass out tonight, this is getting ridiculous.

Also, a fun fact I've recently noticed, for anyone wondering how long I'll procrastinate on something: every time I restart my computer, it still tells me that Adobe Flash will no longer be supported after December 31, 2020, and I should uninstall it now before that happens.

I've been clicking "remind me later" for over two years...