ZEL

[high school drama prep voice] You can't sit with us

@Bibs hunger games club when Can't lie, I'm glad as all hell to see exp die. It was a broken system and I was long wondering if you'd ever agree on anything to finally deliver the promise of tying showdown and discord participation into it at all. But yeah I'm actually excited for the possibilities of clubs. Interested to see how things will turn out.

@Dream I imagine it was probably this map (fair warning, huge): https://i.imgur.com/DwIjMSG.jpg

Jep, you have to have Ace to see who gave you rep. Nothing for us lowly regulars :') But consider... next number to aim for... the WEED nubmre...... the,, 420..

@Dream There are two instances in the game where a character talks about relations between Terra and Lin. The first is during the Ametrine arc, when you chase down Blake with the ring, coming from Cal: The second is from an NPC couple in the rebuilt Reborn City, Terra's parents. They can be found in the Beryl Ward (you enter the house sidewards so it can be a bit difficult to spot at first). Lin isn't named in that dialogue with the parents, but with knowing that 1) Lin seems to 'favor' Terra, and 2) Lin was the name of a girl in the orphanage, it's pretty strongly implied IMO.

(Eve actually) Lin has never acted in the interests of Team Meteor as far as their original goals go. IMO it's pretty transparent that she has only been using the entire group for her own gain and is willing or even planning to rid herself of them eventually. Like, did anyone actually expect her to share the glory of whatever it is she's working towards? Nah, man, she's gonna be backstabbing everyone. As a matter of fact, what happens to ZEL in E16 is, I think, a prime example of her doing just that. Here's Ame's response to a question someone sent her om tumblr: http://amethystblack.tumblr.com/post/155506997117/hi-ame-first-of-all-thank-you-for-all-your-work Tl;dr - Lin is just using everyone, including us, to benefit and further progress her own plans. I think it's very likely that we end up accidentally helping her in some way while we are trying to stop her. She's the exact type of character who would pull a "you did exactly what I wanted you to do, just as predicted" moment on us. She only 'needs' us in the same way she 'needs' Meteor, as tools for her plans. She's just keeping us around because we yet have to play our part in her scheme, and after that she's definitely going to try to do us in.

[manually quoting like a moron because the quote button is broken] The old Hall of Fame thread is actually still there. You can find it here, if you don't mind the lack of formatting. Savage's entry is on there as #5. You can probably find quite a few things on the Victory Road forum that had their pages removed with the update. Unfortunately, I don't think there's any backup of all the old battle logs. Which were the most interesting parts, really. But some of those old threads are fun to read through. Gardevoir's league recaps, anyone? Edit: Ice threw this one at me just now, too.

I think the thing here is there's a difference between what would make a neat concept, and what makes sense for PULSE 'mons specifically. Most* of the PULSE 'mons have abilities directly related to what they already do. Tangrowth already has the ability to generate/regenerate vines at a quick speed (and is known to catch prey with them), the PULSE just exaggerates this. Muk's dex entries already show that it can pollute its environment easily (Ruby's dex even mentions water specifically). Camerupt already is described as a living volcano that can erupt violently, etc etc. Hydreigon's dex entries all suggest that it's little more than a creature hell-bent on destruction and consumption. (Unless you count the one in PmD: Gates to Infinity.) So I feel like executing the concept of a more defensive Hydreigon would be difficult to carry out - it'd be kinda like a defensive Gyarados in that context. Sure, it would be a cool idea, but the PULSE system is meant to amplify existing traits (Eve calls it a 'hybridization-amplification mechanic' on your first encounter with her, and the acronym itself contains the word 'Exaggerata'), not rewire the Pokémon's behavior completely. The idea behind it is "do the same thing, but better." *=PULSE Magnezone is kinda funny and probably not a good example, because the function assigned to it by the PULSE dex entry ("mass reproduction") is probably the least related to what the Pokémon is known for, compared to other PULSE 'mons. (I'll admit I have no idea where it came from. Perhaps just a plot device - maybe it was involved in the production of the newer machines?) But unlike all the others, it was also created by accident, not with the thought in mind to fulfill a certain task. It was just meant to test the machine, not a proper project, so you could argue it gets a pass on not being the most impressive of the bunch, since it wasn't selected for an actual purpose. (Magneton was probably just a convenient pick to see if the machine really amplifies its power, since you'd notice something like increased magnetic pull easily.)

This is the Energy Post of Celebration. It occurs only once every year, to transfer power and bestow wishes of prolonged vitality to its recipient. Have good one, friend!

Y'know, part of me is surprised that the username 'eevee' wasn't taken. Sometimes Reborn seems really small. Anyway! Welcome~ Glad to hear we've somehow managed to leave a good impression on you already^^ Though tsk - asking us about our favourite part of the game without setting a good example and telling us about yours first? I'll be wanting to hear about yours, this being your introduction post and all that. Do tell!~ Mine's PULSE Abra. Wish we could've taken that lil' fella home. It was entertaining.

Oh, Saarland? I have to admit I'm a little surprised, because literally every time anyone mentions visiting Germany, it seems they end up in the east - I've gotten so used to it that I stopped considering that people could be anywhere else. I live in Münster at the moment, so it's still a fair bit of distance, but hey, Germany and by extension Europe are pretty small compared to, say, America.

I do enjoy traveling, it's just sad that I always have to leave again right when I just got comfortable. Though it seems we're opposites here - I rather enjoy being away on my own, too much time with my family would quickly get stressful. (Nothing better than living on my own, really.) Funnily enough, I visited Berlin for the first time this year. I live in North Rhine-Westphalia, so it's not exactly nearby, and I never really had a reason to go? So nope, haven't been there yet, whoops. Somehow I did manage to visit ten other countries before spending a day in my own country's capital. I enjoyed smaller fests when I was younger, but they grew a little stale as time went on. Hope you'll have fun!

Ah, that actually sounds pretty nice! I sometimes wonder if I should consider living abroad for a while to improve my language skills, but the thought makes me quite nervous - having to find work 'n all. I imagine it must be a cool experience to get around so much, though. Ah, I'm afraid those wouldn't really be my thing^^ I fit into a lot of German stereotypes, including the whole Sauerkraut thing, but I don't actually like most types of alcoholic drinks. Neither beer nor wine really suit my fancy though I'll take beer if I'm desperate enough to get a little tipsy. The region I live in isn't exactly known for wines, either.

Ohey, currently in Germany, huh? That's me, too. Welcome to Reborn \o You seem like an outgoing and fun person, plus you appreciate Glaceon. You can stay. Traveling a lot sounds like a dream, honestly. Lil' bit envious here. Though, how long do you usually stay in one place before you have to move again? If I may ask, that is!

Does solo'ing Samson with Espeon count? 'Cause that's a thing that happened. Admittedly, it was pretty close. Altaria almost did ruin it. Psychic OP pls nerf. I also don't actually remember whether or not that same Espeon solo'd Terra. If she didn't, then I guess I beat Terra with two 'mons. Just can't recall for the life of me which other it could have been. Chances are it'd be Klinklang? Tbf I have a terrible memory for this stuff and don't tend to remember what I used if it wasn't memorable. So there's probably a bunch of battles that were won with ~3 mons, I just didn't keep track.

Nobody asked for grainy webcam pictures, but I don't care. I feel good about myself today.

Holy shit I finally got my new credit card last month, and even finallier remembered I was gonna do this. Kinda hoping I'll be able to pledge more eventually, but I'll have to test how much I can spend without cutting down too much on my own budget. Is there any option for one-time donations to you, by any chance, such as ko-fi? I know people can change the amount of money they pledge any time, but that seems a tad annoying to keep doing for situations like "I just wanna throw my Christmas money at people".

IMO Taka falls on the neutral axis rather than evil. He very clearly expresses regret and unease about the crimes he has to commit, and while he will still follow his father's orders (to some extent), there have been instances in which he either sabotaged himself to help you or outright helped people on his own accord. To be on the evil axis he would have to be more indifferent. He wouldn't try to save lives unless it was for his gain. None of the 'good deeds' of his have so far been to his benefit. They all made him look worse in the eyes of his father/Meteor as a whole, since his constant inability to actually stick to the cause has given him the reputation of being unreliable and a failure. Taka doesn't harm people because he thinks it's okay or necessary. He tells you he doesn't agree with any of it. It's all because of Solaris' influence. Taka's simultaneous regret about his actions but inability to outright stand up against Solaris makes me think he's a better fit for a borderline Lawful Neutral/True Neutral... not sure about his tendencies - he occasionally does rebel against Meteor, but he doesn't have the guts to really go through with it. He has moral objections against Meteor's methods, and if he is given the necessary freedom, he will act in ways that will benefit the player. Telling you where to find the next PULSE (he plays it off as a trap in front of Corey, but it's pretty transparent that he knew you could destroy the PULSE if you found it), helping you in the WTC (ordering grunts to care for Amaria, changing water levels, giving you the option to not fight him despite knowing it will likely get him punished). He doesn't have what it takes to completely disregard his father's orders and go his own way, but I'm hesitant to put him as Lawful because none of his loyalty feels genuine. He has been pressured and raised into following Solaris' beliefs and plans his whole life, and it clearly left him dependent on his father's approval - but it's easy to tell that nothing else of it all really matters to him. His entire speech to Tania in the WTC is summed up as "I know I'm doing shitty things that I don't actually agree with, but dad says so". He's obedient entirely as the result of abusive parenting. He feels obliged to follow his father's authority, but certainly not out of a pure belief that it is the right thing to do. We have seen that lack of belief in action every time he defies Solaris, however subtle. Solaris is very much aware that Taka's heart isn't on the mission. @Ice says he considers Taka chaotic neutral, and I can definitely see him heading that way - but right now, at this point in the story, he hasn't made that development yet. He still hasn't snapped out of his obedience, but if he manages to, I'd agree with that alignment.

Personally I've found that besides your preferences, it depends entirely on what you use on your team. I've never felt the need to care about natures, IVs and EVs on my mixed teams, and made it through the game just fine. The few 'mons that I EV trained were mostly late-game additions, because ya gotta do something in between episode releases. But for some runs it can certainly be a big advantage. I can honestly say that without EV training, my normal/flying run would have nearly ended at Serra, because her Froslass outsped and one-shot my entire team. I only managed to beat it once my Swellow outsped, which it didn't without EV training. That's a pretty extreme example, though - mixed teams and mono runs that allow for varying dual types are usually fine. It's only when you keep limiting what you can use that you'll want to get the most out of your options. IV breeding and EV training can always make things easier, but the general consensus of the community seems to be that it's only a preference and your progress in the game won't be hindered if you don't do it.

Hey, I do remember that username and avatar! (But especially the avatar.) Welcome back, guess you really can't escape from this place :') Shame about that save file, though :/ That sucks.