starkidcosmo

8:55 AM- Route 1 Entrance Mio took advantage of his apparent invisibility to take a few breaths. Meena pressed her face up against his cheek and purred lightly, before returning to her normal high-and-mighty demeanor as if nothing had happened. Mio smiled. A boy with dark brown hair and freckles introduced himself as Jack, and his Poochyena as Lara. Meena feigned disinterest in the dark-type pokemon, but Mio could tell she was sizing it up. "Hi Jack, hello Lara." Mio said. He cooed a little bit at Lara, much to Meena's disgust. "I'm Mio, and this is Meena, just in case you didn't hear the first time." Meena flicked her tail, directing Mio's attention to the boy with a Minccino and twitched her ears. "Oh, Meena thinks you might be right about the researcher, um...?" Mio trailed off once he realized he didn't have anything to call the guy besides 'brunette with a Minccino.' "Maybe... we could go around and say our names? For us latecomers." he suggested, sliding his feet back and forth in place.

8:35 AM- Mio Acerbi Meeooow! Mio woke with a short oof as Meena, his family's Meowth, jumped straight onto his stomach. "Wazzat for?" Mio mumbled, rubbing sleep from his eyes. He'd been too excited to sleep last night, instead opting to go over basic theory into the wee hours of the morning. Now, he was paying the price. Meena glared, then dropped off the bed and bounded to Mio's desk. She stared pointedly at the XTransceiver seated in its case, still as shiny and new as when he first got it. Realization dawned on Mio slowly, but the panic that set in after came as fast as a Rapidash. Mio scrambled out of bed and grabbed his alarm clock. 8:37 am, and he'd apparently hit his snooze button six times in his sleep. Groaning, he stumbled to his XTransceiver, eyes narrowing to read the 'new message' notification. It was from Professor Juniper. Mio almost sobbed as he pressed the play button. He felt like his insides were going to fall out. Mio glanced back at his clock. 8:41. He was so screwed. He strapped the XTransceiver to his wrist and rushed over to his closet. Key Item picked up! XTransceiver added to BAG. He threw on the most durable clothes he could find: tight, long-sleeved black shirt, green cargo pants, his running shoes, and a fake leather jacket for good measure. He snagged his sports glasses from their spot on his dresser and turned to his mirror. He looked a little worse for wear, but luckily his smooth, brown skin didn't make the dark circles under his eyes too obvious. He shook his head and ruffled his hair, quickly turning his actual bedhead into "stylish" bedhead. Meena made a noise akin to a forced cough. Blushing, Mio tore himself from his reflection and rushed downstairs. Predictably, his father had already left for work, but there was a note left on the counter. Mio smiled, but he really didn't have time to be sentimental. He sped to the door, where he strapped his Kalosian rollerblades to his shoes. He stood and gave and experimental twirl. Meena made another 'hurry it up' noise, and he laughed. Key Item picked up! Rollerskates added to BAG. "Sorry, Meena. Hop on and we'll get there faster." Meena leaped gracefully to Mio's shoulder and draped herself around her neck, sharp claws digging into his jacket. Mio pushed open the door and shot towards Route One. 8:54 AM- Mio Acerbi, Route 1 Entrance Mio slowed to a more dignified pace as he spotted the group of people who were undoubtedly the others who'd been selected for this project. Meena relaxed her grip slightly and mewed. "Yeah, no reason to be nervous! I'm not even late. Just... not early." Mio practically heard Meena rolling her eyes. "Do that too much and they'll fall out." he quipped. He rolled to a stop next to a blonde girl with long hair and waved, feeling somewhat awkward. "Uh, Hi! I'm Mio..." he trailed off, not sure what else to say. Meena swung her back legs down, then pushed herself up to perch on Mio's shoulder. She meowed rather haughtily, eyeing the other pokemon present. "Meena..." Mio hissed, then remembered himself. "Oh! this is Meena. She's a little... well, she's a lot nicer than she acts! Probably." BAG: -Potion (x3) -Rollerskates -XTransceiver

I think the failure on x/y's part is probably lack of... 'time,' for lack of a better word. We don't get a lot of time as the player to really connect with any characters besides Calem/Serena and Shauna, and even then, their interactions can come off as a little forced. I know I, for one, cannot stand Calem/Serena, because their dialogue is clunky and unappealing. if that ass calls me 'neighbor' one more time i'm gonna throw 'em off a cliff i s2g More than that, the team flare plot seems to happen very suddenly to me? We're shown Lysandre, who's obviously a creep, we're accosted by flare grunts a little bit, and then all of a sudden they're trying to kill everyone and we're the only ones who can stop them. I really feel like most of the problems in x/y could have been lessened, if not fixed entirely, if there had been a little more time to get to know the friend group and a little more build-up with flare. Also, you're planning on addressing this later but I just want to go ahead and say my piece: The main failing of Diantha is that she never got involved. Diantha has what, one? two appearances before you fight her? Her dialogue also comes off as being very detached somehow. Malva was compelling because of her pre and post-fight monologue, but again, there was very little build-up to her reveal as a team flare member. If she had had a few actual appearances besides her holocast reports I feel that fighting her as a member of the elite four could have had more impact.