Today marks three years since I hatched him back in Platinum. While I'm just like everyone else in trying to get through the Bank situation, I had to celebrate my guy's special day. I played around with him in Amity Square, cooked Poffins with him, fought a few Gym Leaders, and finished off the day by letting him do Contests.
Happy Birthday Buddy ❤️🔥🎂
Growing up, one of the first Pokémon I remember falling in love with was Celebi. I adored its role in their movie so much I wanted one of my one.
I wouldn't get one until my Shiny VC Crystal one in 2024, and while it obviously made me happy, I always wanted the special event version in HGSS both to access its unique quest and because I have a lot of memories of YouTubers I watched growing up use it. Plus I wanted a normal version to be twins with my pink one. Unfortunately, it wasn't possible for a long time for me because the specific means to access the Gen 4 Mystery Gifts in the present required a mobile hotspot, which I didn't have access to under my original phone plan.
Coincidentally, three days before the Bank shutdown announcement, my phone broke, and I was finally able to get an affordable plan with a free hotspot as a bonus. I was excited to finally be able to achieve my dream of obtaining and Ribbon Mastering the special event Celebi...until the Bank shutdown was announced literally THE NEXT DAY. I finally got one of the Pokémon I always wanted, but now it's at the expense of a time limit and knowing that I realistically won't be able to enjoy the other gifts and Ribbon Master Celebi and my other Pokémon at the same time.
I love that she's finally mine, but the bittersweet context will always haunt me.
Growing up, one of the first Pokémon I remember falling in love with was Celebi. I adored its role in their movie so much I wanted one of my one.
I wouldn't get one until my Shiny VC Crystal one in 2024, and while it obviously made me happy, I always wanted the special event version in HGSS both to access its unique quest and because I have a lot of memories of YouTubers I watched growing up use it. Plus I wanted a normal version to be twins with my pink one. Unfortunately, it wasn't possible for a long time for me because the specific means to access the Gen 4 Mystery Gifts in the present required a mobile hotspot, which I didn't have access to under my original phone plan.
Coincidentally, three days before the Bank shutdown announcement, my phone broke, and I was finally able to get an affordable plan with a free hotspot as a bonus. I was excited to finally be able to achieve my dream of obtaining and Ribbon Mastering the special event Celebi...until the Bank shutdown was announced literally THE NEXT DAY. I finally got one of the Pokémon I always wanted, but now it's at the expense of a time limit and knowing that I realistically won't be able to enjoy the other gifts and Ribbon Master Celebi and my other Pokémon at the same time.
I love that she's finally mine, but the bittersweet context will always haunt me.
This guy is one of my favorite Pokemon and plushies so I'd hate to make the damage worse from my inexperience. I just want to fix him so I can cuddle him again without stressing. I honestly don't even know how this happened. I played with him a lot when I first brought him home but I was gentle with him.
I think I can say with complete honesty that this game has completely taken away the creative spark I had for Animal Crossing New Horizons, and I played that game for over 700+ hours in the three years I've had it. When I first played the game, I had a simple goal for an island themed around Pokemon Contests, and a hospital based on the one I use in my fanfics. I was so fixated on this idea I named my island Twinleaf after my first ever Pokemon game in Platinum. Unfortunately, I learned pretty quickly that the game mechanics limited a lot of my ideas.
Not being able to make your own buildings meant I couldn't make a Contest Hall, so even though I had plenty of items I liked for it they'd just be awkwardly sitting in an open field. As for the hospital, the DLC having certain furniture be required during decorating combined with being in a separate area away from my island meant that I had to do a lot of running back and forth which I quickly grew tired of. I eventually made a cooking spot similar to the Poffin House, but as much as I liked the design of it knowing that villagers will barely interact with it when they weren't outright ignoring it felt like I put a lot of effort in for little reward.
Fast forward three years and 200 hours later to this game after I beat the main story and it immediately blew New Horizons out of the water with its decorating options. Once I got accustomed to Pallete Town (which I renamed to Twinleaf Town because of course) I locked in and finally created the Contest Hall I always wanted. It's still a work in progress, but I felt more accomplished in the five hours I spent making exterior than the three years I spent scratching my head trying to figure out how to begin decorating in New Horizons. At this point, I'm not only in the process of building the hospital I wanted, but I'm even adding a bakery to go with the Contest aesthetic. I've only been back to New Horizons twice since this game released, and in both situations I only played for a little over ten minutes at best when I used to play for over five hours daily. The excitement I had for it just wasn't the same anymore.
I still enjoyed it, but the longer I played Pokopia, the more I realized that the version of New Horizons I imagined in my head and what it actually is were quite different. Pokopia is the farthest thing from perfect (the electricity and painting system is just AWFUL), but it brought me genuine joy and a sense of accomplishment I didn't feel in New Horizons for a long time. As a life simulation when it comes to bug catching and exploring the stores it's either great but gets boring pretty quickly if you're like me where you're not seriously dedicated to collecting EVERYTHING in the game, or it arguably hinders your gameplay when you work late and don't time travel so everything's closed when you do eventually play. As for the decorations, New Horizons definitely has a lot cuter options (my love for the Fairy Bottle is the only thing stopping me from outright abandoning my island completely), but it feels more satisfying decorating in Pokopia because the Pokemon actually interact with the items instead from acknowledging their presence with a few lines of dialogue. Even making food is more satisfying because I know the Pokemon will actually eat it when I give it to them.
Granted, I acknowledge I'm biased because I've been a Pokemon fan since I was a kid and didn't get into Animal Crossing until I was an adult, but I digress. I'm not trying to say that one game is superior to the other, just that I love both games for different reasons, but Pokopia scratches that creativity itch more for me. And my island is definitely gonna be a weed filled mess whenever I go back to it. 😂
I've been silently browsing this subreddit ever since Episode 8, and after those scenes I immediately thought about how you guys were doing after the fact. Loved what happened? Insisting that what happened was fake while being dragged into a padded cell? Just wanted to check up on you guys 💜
I can't wait to finally escape Destiny Islands and kill Heartless outside my house.
I've been looking for the Celeste Lego Set ever since it came out since she's my favorite NPC. I've had no luck with my visits to Walmart but I finally discovered them by accident at my local Dollar General! I unfortunately didn't have any money with me during my first visit but I prepared for the second one! It's adorable and absolutely worth the $10 I spent on it! Took a little over an hour to put it together!
(Yes I'm aware of the slight mistakes in the telescope. I'm obviously gonna fix. Just really wanted to take a picture of it first.)
I'm progressing pretty well through Violet, but I still want to work on unlocking the necessary criteria to earn Ribbons in other games while my Ribbon Masters progresses through the story.
My Infernape needs the Ribbons from the BDSP Battle Tower, but Doubles has always intimidated me, so I was wondering if anyone has any suggestions for decent Singles teams instead. I know the Battle Tower is a nightmare in this game so I don't want to add to the stress by using a format I'm not accustomed to.
I would finally reach Great Ball Tier when the competitive playerbase is non-existent now because of Champions. I'm honestly afraid to find someone because I'm scared to lose and rank down but Master Rank isn't gonna earn itself.
I genuinely had no idea what to expect when I bought it. The only "cozy" game I've ever played was Animal Crossing New Horizons, and despite having 700 hours in it at this point after three years I always wanted a Pokemon version of it.
I can say with total honesty this game surpassed that dream and more. I loved exploring the world and rebuilding something out of the barren remains of the land while simultaneously unraveling the mystery of what caused the situation in the first place. I obviously have my complaints about it like the abysmal storage system and powering things with electricity being excessively complicated (I won't replay the game again and reach Bleak Beach specifically for that reason), but overall this is now my second favorite Pokemon game in the Switch series after Legends Arceus, and I've only played for a month and 85 hours at this point.
If there's anything I would change about it, it would be adding an update or DLC to include all the Starter Pokemon. Not having my favorite Pokemon Infernape is the only thing stopping this game from being perfect 💞❤️🔥
As someone who's played Animal Crossing New Horizons for three years at this point, this makes my heart ache that we can't have something this simple. I'm absolutely making a section for a bathroom in my house in the future.
This happened yesterday. Fair warning it gets a little gross in the third paragraph so proceed with caution.
I'm a 26F who can't drive (have my permit but can't find the time to practice for my license due to my job,) so I had to go in with my sister earlier than usual, both so she could get to work on time and I could have my therapy appointment without any conflicts. I normally don't bring my Switch 2 to my job, but I ultimately decided to do it this time since I would be waiting a whole five hours for my shift to start.
That ended up being a good decision on my end because everything went TERRIBLE after we arrived. The Wendy's in my area's Wi-Fi signal was too weak to maintain the online chat and it was too loud and crowded to go inside, so we had to end the session earlier than usual. This was pretty upsetting because while I obviously know not every session can go perfectly, there was the matter of both A) The stuff I was trying to discuss was stuff I had been stressing over for a while and I didn't even get the chance to get everything I wanted to say off my chest, and B) We had left an hour earlier than usual on my suggestion because I was confident that the Wi-Fi would work, so I lost time I could've been sleeping for nothing. I vented to my mom about it afterwards, but it still bugged me.
To make matters even WORSE, my period started thirty minutes after that, so I had to hurry inside my job just to deal with it. That was already frustrating, but then it started raining, and cold air makes my cramps worse, so I had no choice but to stay inside. And since my cycle is sporadic, I packed a cold water not realizing it was going to happen, so I couldn't even drink anything to take medicine with and soothe the pain. By the time my shift started, I ultimately got sick twice and ended up leaving two hours before it ended.
When I finally got home and took two Advil, I killed time playing Pokopia so I could have SOMETHING positive happen today. And in the five hours I was waiting for my shift to start and then the rest of the day after I got home, honestly...saying hi to all my Pokemon friends and decorating the areas cheered me up so much it almost made me forget how badly my day started. It brought me a sense of peace that I don't even get from Animal Crossing, and I've put over 700 hours in that game over the three years I've played it. Even when I'm not progressing the story I love just exploring the areas and listening to the background music and watching the Pokemon play together. It was a much needed source of comfort for me when I really needed it.
I've been watching from the original series (skipped SM so I won't be talking about it), and I decided to watch Horizons because I've always wanted a girl protagonist. Disregarding Liko's writing in the later seasons for a minute, I enjoyed the first two seasons, but I couldn't shake the vibe that something was off, and it finally hit me today: The actual journey isn't just a fun trip anymore.
While I enjoy the plot and the established lore, rewatching DP (my favorite series) on Pokeflix, OS on Netflix, and AG on YouTube made me realize that their journeys were more relaxing because everyone was having fun and moving at their own pace. They had their own individual goals, but they still took their time to appreciate the world through either shopping, meeting new people or Pokemon, or participating in the regional activities like the Johto Festival. They took their time to "smell and stop the roses" as they say, and the villain arcs stand out because they were only a temporary roadblock to the end of their journey and resumed life like normal once they were defeated.
Horizons in contrast while full of fun moments where the cast occasionally unwind, that's the key word--*occasionally.* The overarching story of getting to Laqua, then defeating Spinel, meant the cast could never truly relax and unwind for too long, and it shows in the structure of the show. Only a handful of episodes involved them doing something unrelated to the overarching story, and all the major moments like evolutions or getting a new Pokemon went from exciting moments in a carefree environment to a stepping stool to the larger goal of the end of the story. It never truly feels like you can truly relax and breathe because the cast are almost always on their toes.
I think Episode 4 is the best example of what I'm trying to say. It initially started out as a seemingly laid back episode where everyone has a picnic, Liko helps Dot open up a little more, and Roy gets his second Pokemon. Right when the relaxing vibes have reached their peak, the episode smacks you in the face with the infamous ending of Spinel brainwashing her Liko and stealing her pendant while simultaneously sabotaging The Brave Olivine. It turned what would've been a nice cozy episode into a high stakes one with the ending alone.
This is ultimately what I mean by the journey not being a journey in Horizons. There's so much emphasis on the plot it feels like you're constantly holding your breath in a way you never did with the earlier seasons. You could just relax and enjoy the ambience of the world while Ash and the cast train or meet a new character of the day. Even with the higher stakes of XYZ it still keeps you entertained with the battles and the lore of Ash Greninja in a way that doesn't feel outright suffocating like Horizons does because Ash ultimately has the goal to just get stronger, which is much more lighthearted compared to Liko's goal that will LITERALLY result in the end of the world if she fails.
Ultimately, as much as I initially enjoyed the first two Horizons, in hindsight I feel like it set the bar a little TOO high to the point where one of the main traits of the series were unintentionally sacrificed.