ZEL

For Shelly, I had a surprisingly good battle using Competitive Meowstic, since a lot of the attacks Shelly uses have stat-altering effects. Ended up 1HKO-ing some 'mons, including Yanmega and Anorith, my worst enemies in the battle, with Shadow Ball after a couple of stat boosts. By the time Meowstic went down, I still had Growlithe left to deal with the rest (other 'mon on the field was Noctowl); burning the field took care of everything pretty quickly then. As someone who's also used water starters for both runs (Oshawott first, Mudkip second) I somewhat feel your pain, even though Mudkip/Marshtomp obviously had an advantage against Julia, 'specially with Damp ability. I don't know about their usefulness later on; Samurott did me a good service against Cal, but I have since boxed the fella, since it simply didn't manage to live up to the needs of my team at all.

Saphira didn't have to kill those two guards at Tanzan Base, considering that if you team up with Laura, they just get put to sleep. As for the attack on the lake, that's a different story entirely; as sad as it is that people died there, they were the ones invading and Saphira did what she had to to defend the place. She simply didn't want to take any risk by waiting for them to reach the shore, where they'd have been a lot harder to keep in check. And considering that even with "just" the orderlies, Sirius and Sigmund in the Mansion, you still can't protect everyone... I do think that Saphira has as much of a rash temper as Titania under certain circumstances, though. She's fairly adamant in her hatred for Sigmund, considering she's still talking about killing him, even now that it's apparent he might be a help in figuring out more about Lin. Which should be the more important thing on the list, considering she's got Meteor in her grip. Edit: Simon doesn't want venegance, though. His entire conversation at the Beryl Cemetry shows how he realized for himself that further violence is only going to produce more pain and hatred. He's made the decision that he doesn't want to cause Saphira's loved ones the same pain that she caused him.

Yeah, the infinite money can be kind of... game-breaking, in a way. Ever since GH/Circus trainers are to be battled as much as you want, you can kind of abuse that to get more money. I remember for my current run I went to train in the Great Hall when I levelled up my Kricketot after Kiki / before Pyrous Mountain/Solaris, and ended up with a lot of money. I eventually spent it and threw away the items because I felt like I shouldn't have that much money at that point, but it was... excessive.

That's something that obviously varies a lot from person to person, but I do like imagining my player character in the dilemma of not wanting to kill/harm anybody, yet not having the guts to call out Saphira or Titania, for example, on their little killing trips. Kinda puts "me" in the position of not wanting to get my hands bloody, yet not being above letting somebody else do the dirty work and have them take the blame. Obviously, one could argue that both of them are currently stronger than the PC and have no reason or obligation to take orders from them, but I'm quite fond of thinking my character into situations where they show weakness. And of course, that's not even touching on battling other poor people for what little money they have, in the beginning of the game

More like Zero and Fern; they're by far my favourite jerks in the game~ (And yes, I like Gary Oak. Judge me) That said, the Meteors are my favourite faction; I adore the characterization for the ones we get to know better. (Solaris is great, yo!) I just think that in the grand scheme, at least Fern hasn't done nearly as much damage as some others. Maybe I have a bit of fondness for him because I can relate to the feeling of being replacable/disposable and only ever second best to someone else. Neglect can do bad things to people, not all of them come out of it better. (Man did I have a superiority complex at some point in my youth. Sometimes I think my complete lack of self-worth nowadays is the punishment for that.) He has selfish motives, and that admittedly makes him pretty easy to hate on, because he puts himself above others. The great thing about the characters in Reborn is that there isn't a clear cut between good and bad. There's gray morality everywhere, and I love it because there's so much for everyone to relate to. Fern is a character who, so far, is meant to be disliked. But he's still a fully-fledged character like all the others, and happens to be one who's grown on me (thanks for the terrible pun, Ice). Fern jokes are amusing, tho

I wasn't saying that it's okay for him to behave the way he does, but just like the other antagonists, he does have reasons behind why he acts like that. They're not necessarily valid reasons, but they're reasons. What I was trying to say is, Fern is a jerk, but it's not something he just does. There'll be things that caused him to be that way, but unlike characters such as bratty Heather, he hasn't yet experienced a real turning point. I don't think it's okay of him to be an ass all the time, especially with remarks as the ones towards Shelly or Corey. I just think that he's as much of a deep character as any of the others, and tends to get brushed aside by people as being nothing more than "that one unlikable jerk". If the Meteors and Cultists aren't "just bad guys", then Fern's not "just a jerk", is all~ The thing is, I have a huge soft spot for jerkass characters. <3

Purely from the player character's perspective I'd still much rather encounter Fern than, say, Sirius/Solaris/El/[pick your poison]. I mean, say what you want about how much of a jerk he is, at least he hasn't killed anybody yet. I don't understand why people keep saying that Fern is "just" a jerk. If we can excuse the cultists and the Meteors and allies like Saphira and Titania from their actions, why not Fern? Do we know why he's behaving the way he does? Let's take a look - has an older sister who, through something that happened in her youth (which Fern was probably witness to/knows something about) decided that ridding herself of emotion is the best solution (that didn't work out very well for Cyrus, Rini) - is constantly overshadowed by said sister, "merely" the reserve leader - once he starts doing the League challenge, he just can't seem to prove himself better than you either (you keep beating him and he's only margially faster at obtaining badges) - as of E16, still can't beat you, and has to listen to his Boss praising you while his sister points out how hard he's failed - as of E16, during the little "Fern's a hostage" fake, has to listen to Florinia basically saying that it doesn't matter if he's her brother, she's not gonna save his ass (regardless of her own obvious loss of composure during the whole scene, that must be bad to hear) Is Fern a jerk? Yes. Does he say really cruel things about people? Yes. But at least he hasn't tried killing me with my back turned yet. Thanks a lot, Solaris. Neither does he go into a blind killing spree of everything that's in his way. Really, what's with Saphira and Tania? Neither is he continuing to allow an organization like Meteor to keep using his invention to destroy cities and kill people, even after the blackmail that started it no longer works. Following a desperate pipe dream there, Eve. Neither has he attempted to brainwash his own daughter because she's got different beliefs. El please. His reasoning for siding with the Meteors? He wants his rightful place. He said that he doesn't give much of a damn about anything else they believe in or do. He wants to be "where he belongs", on the top. Sounds to me like he's really desperate for recognition/attention that he probably never got. And yes, he's a jerk. But I hate him less than Sirius \o/ jk jk Sirius is also a cool character. But y'know, not the nicest of the bunch.

That had nothing to do with the level cap and merely to do with Friendship evolution, because I wanted to point out that someone who is a "bad person" as far as the game's storyline is concerned doesn't necessarily have to be a "bad person" to their pokemon, thus potentially being able to earn their love or respect anyway. So if people like Fern or Zero who are generally jerkasses to other humans are able to obtain Pokémon that evolve through friendship (Roselia and Umbreon), who's to say trainers like the various members of Team Meteor can't gain the respect of their Pokémon through something else than the League challenge/badges? There's got to be huge numbers of trainers in the Pokémon world who don't want to challenge the league/gym leaders, it's be implausible for that to be the only way to get a Pokémon to obey.

The basic principle is that Pokémon choose to obey trainers that earn their respect. For player characters in the main games, that's usually done through obtaining badges, but if you look at spin-off games like Ranger or Conquest, it's apparent that there are more ways to achieve that. Now, it's probably debatable as to what extent Conquest fits into what's regarded as the canonverse, but we do see Rangers as a trainer class in the regular games, so apparently that works. So even if we leave aside the obvious explanation that badges are simply a milestone mechanic to introduce certain elements to the game (HMs, plot progress, level cap) and are a thing that we're meant to obtain because the core games are all about becoming the new Champ, it's pretty clear that there's more than one way to make Pokémon obey. The basic key appears to be respect. Respect doesn't even mean that a Pokémon has to like its trainer, considering the existence of moves such as Frustration. (Though if we're picking this apart, we might as well consider the fact that some Meteors have Pokémon that evolve through friendship. Could they have been stolen? Sure, but I'd say just because a character is a jerk and has err, problematic motives, doesn't necessarily mean they don't have what it takes to raise a Pokémon team. Just look at Fern; the majority of people hate his guts, he's made some questionable decisions in-game, it's established that he is not a nice person to other people (at least not recently), yet we see his Budew grow into a Roserade throughout the game.) Respect is a broad term, and badges are merely one way to get it. They're supposed to be proof of a trainer's skill in battling, but there's nothing saying that a Pokémon can't recognize/acknowledge it in any other way.

Technically, it does. PULSE 'mons gain a huge stat increase (in-game dialogue has Zero mention this by saying that according to Eve, the machine "makes the Pokémon [Tangrowth] stronger") and go through a transformation (usually making them look more monstrous, save for Abra) (this one's very obvious, but Solaris still points it out to you with Muk). However, purely story-wise, it's different, because Mega-Evolution is basically the result of a strong bond between trainer and pokémon + mega artifact (like the bracelet in XY), whereas PULSE is like forced mega-evolution, and obviously very painful/straining for the pokémon involved (as repeatedly lamented by Lumi, similarly mentioned by Taka, and Solaris also goes to lengths to illustrate this). So as far as the mechanic goes, they're similar, but as a concept, PULSE is like a twisted counterpart. ...Which kinda makes me wonder if Eve would have been better off Mega evolving an Audino or something.

Someone dropped this thread link on me via Skype for "when I'm awake". You've already gotten the responses, but if you're interested, I have... well, it's not 100% complete (I left out the repeating "dear diary" parts), but anyway, here's the diary. Edit: whoops, forgot one! Fixed it.

I don't believe we've ever talked personally, and I haven't been here for long enough to say that I havecome to know you well as a person. But still, I can say right away that I'm glad that you're still with us to this day. In the short time I've been here I already owe a lot of things to Reborn, and none of this would have been possible without you. But how it affects me is rather besides the point. You might not have intended this to be a "Happy Birthday" thread, but still - Happy Birthday, Ame. It is incredibly touching to read what you've said, and I admire you for having made it as far as you did. You can be proud of yourself for so many reasons, and I hope you are and will be. I remember you posting on the dream job thread, too, that you wish to do something related to game design, and well... just take a look at what you already have created. There's more to come for sure. You already did make a difference, that much is certain. And there'll be more where that came from. I wish you the best of luck on the rest of your way, and I genuinely believe you do have the power to achieve more. And if you doubt that, once again, look at what you've already built. It always strikes me as morbid how knowing what it is like to want to die ultimately ended up making me personally cherish life so much more. But at the end of the day... you're still here, I'm still here, a lot of us almost faded away, but we're still here. We're the ones who made it, some by luck and some by strength. And that in itself is a good reason to keep fighting. Especially on behalf of those who didn't make it. To all your future birthdays!

Confession time, I was just waiting for someone else to make this post so I don't look as obsessed with them as I am, oops I second the request.

Understandable as far as it goes for the current game. But once the game is completed, would it be possible to get a bief timeline of pre-game events? I'd be more than interested in knowing some approximate dates for certain events, like various steps Team meteor took to ensure Reborn's downfall, or even just stuff like the deaths of characters who died previously to the start of the story (Corey's wife, the Belrose parents, the Seijaya parents, Lyssa, etc) or things like when Lin joined and/or took over Meteor... Obviously we can't have that yet, since there's still a lot of history for us to uncover, but once the game's final release is over, it would be cool to have an overview over pre-game history.

I want to be a teacher. It's the only thing that I consistently felt would fit me over the past years, and the only thing I can see myself doing independently of what my temporary interests are in between. I've had times when I considered other jobs, but my interest in them always faded after a while. But even after all the years, I still believe teaching is what I could be good at. ...Now if only I could get accepted into university. I keep getting accepted for one subject, but then rejected for the other .-.

Quick, somebody summon Lost! He turned out amazing, aaaaa Honestly, that messyness actually looks really cool, it gives the art a certain character. I like it. Seriously, I'm definitely gonna be stalking this thread. It's gonna be so worth keeping an eye on c:

Aww man, the things you all want to do to this poor guy :c Shocking and brainwashing him, damn. Clearly, he just needs a hug. You know who else needs a hug? Mr. Biggles. Coincidence? I think not~

Easy! Think about your most desperate wish in life, decide that it's worth destroying and rebuilding the entire world for, then ask for Sirius and tell him all about your newfound, burning passion for your selfish desires and mindless destruction. You'll be accepted in no time! I mean, all it took for me was a plea to let my favourite characters survive that game...

Sleep? [nervous laughter] It... actually depends. Sometimes I can't get more than two hours, and sometimes I sleep for eight hours straight. I'm a night owl. Not necessarily by choice; I have pretty horrible insomnia and usually cannot fall asleep before 5am nowadays. Though lately it's been around 7am more often than not. I prefer nighttime, actually, and thus wouldn't mind staying awake, if it weren't for those days where I'm doomed to wake up after an hour or so because I have stuff to do during the day. Not looking forward to trying to survive on two hours of sleep in the case that I make it into uni.

Oi, you can't just drop a Harry Potter line on us and then not even tell us what your House is! ...Err, I mean, welcome to Reborn, Thums. Forgive me, I am just one easily excited Ravenclaw with just as little sanity as everybody else here. Hope you enjoy your stay here; it's gonna be a rather long one, so you best prepare yourself. Everyone's already shown you everything important, so I'll just sit here and totally subtly remind that Team Meteor is still recruiting, blah blah, y'know. Reborn's a crazy place, but you'll fit right in for sure. Have fun!~

>tfw that was actually discussed at some point and I lost the showdown log about it IIRC, something about how Eve would come up with a decent recipe, only for Zero and Lumi to ruin it because they have no idea what the hell they are doing and keep adding unnecessary ingredients. So it's probably safe to say that ZEL are not very good at cooking :c And really, could anybody be better at it than Sirius, anyway? Though rumor has it that they are co-starring in his increasingly popular new cooking show, Searing With Sirius...

Holy shit, that looks great! Is "all of them" an acceptable answer, then? ...Jk jk. Your style is interesting; I'm wondering how Ari would look, or perhaps Lin. I know her battle and VS sprites haven't showed up in the game yet, but this might help. You can find her at the bottom. Seriously, though, that Decibel turned out awesome! There's a fanart thread over here, if you're interested.

I don't really like Saphira either, but I guess with how much I like the Meteors, and her killing them off like they're vermin, that's just to be expected. I'm very interested to see the reactions of the sisters to learning the truth.

Umbreon is the only one of ZEL's pokemon that I immediately connected to Zero from the beginning, because it matches his personality best (Dex entries) (and his design; they both got that black-and-yellow thing going on). I was more curious about Espeon and Glaceon in the beginning, because as OP mentioned, you could connect Espeon to Eve because of the Psychic = brains associations, or Glaceon for her cold attitude. And similarly, Lumi would fit both Pokemon, especially since Espeon always strikes me as more connected to emotional intelligence (from the Dex entries anyway), and Lumi appears to be the most empathic one of the trio.

Such font size, scary. Why no t? Evening is when the sun goes down, it's a nice name, Espeon is purple and red, which are sundown-like colours. ...Or we could start a petition to get Eve renamed to "Sunny". A bright name for a bright lady. /shot