Aphelli

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let's just wait for Darky to see this and start regretting allying with Lin... even before doing so. 

Or he (?) might ally himself with Lin just to make us shut up for good. 
 

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Typical genius work right here. She knows what buttons should be pushed, and what shouldn't. 

I’d hesitate to call it “genius”. Lin’s take is not that exceptional imo. Any “talking villain” with sufficient intelligence could have figured this one out. 
 

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Karma functioning? Or maybe mass vendetta? If something that went down, and the mechanics of the story were more to real life... I must say this is logical. For the 99.99% of the time. 

This would be when I operate under real-world logic. And real-world mobs cannot look weak. Such a humiliation would trigger horrific retaliation. “One in ten thousand” looks like reasonable survival odds – and it would take some serious paranoia and luck. 

 

What you describe about “how things work” is not what I meant. It’s not about the relationship of the story to the game, nor about depth or backstory or new names. It goes deeper than that. It’s not easy to explain, but what I had in mind was more like the difference between a DnD campaign story, a Discworld novel, Game of Thrones, and the Lord of the Rings. All of them exist in a fantasy-medieval setting – but you couldn’t mistake any of them for another, even without any of the plot details. Because the “baselines” for these universes, the expectations about what counts as normal, what doesn’t, about which actions elicit which reactions – they’re all wildly different. 
 

For instance, say a city is under attack:

in GoT, the inhabitants who couldn’t flee cower in their homes and they know it’s going to be hell for them. In DnD, the heroes are the main spotlight of the battle, everything is on them, and they find a clever way to win nearly by themselves. In LotR, the heroes fight as muchas they can and inspire the troops, but they can’t win alone: they need every man, every ally that they can get defending the city. But if it’s Pratchett’s Ankh-Morpokh, the inhabitants open their arms to the would-be invaders who wake up two months later and realize that they have become another quaint minority.  
 

All of these are valid, but they need different sorts of logic operating their world, and different answers to foundational questions such as “is there a Rule of Cool? A Rule of Funny? Does Will beat Skill? What is the Sliding Scale of Idealism vs Cynicism? Of Silliness vs Seriousness? (tvtropes usual warnings)” and many others. That’s what I was trying to convey (although I’m not sure if I even made it clearer). 

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What did I deserve to those conversations?!

There are two writers discussing. How on earth can you believe they will manage to be short and to the point?

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Well, that can depend on situation - being kind to allies, being merciless to enemies. Not everything is black and white.

"Do tax collectors not do the same?" 

Sure, it's not all black or white. But I personally object to calling 'kind' a person willing to do this. While violence is acceptable in certain situations, I believe it has to be proportionate. (S)He Who Fights Monsters, etc. 

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But Titania did threatened to kill Oscar if he was standing in her way, so he responded with the same way: which was much more effective. 

Why...? You can try to guess.

I'm not going to try. Instead, I'll probably just try to read what you wrote (I really should, soon). I suppose that falls under "fight fire with fire" (death threats are Bad, but perhaps they're the only way to have a meaningful conversation with Titania...).

Still, Lin's death threat was about Amaria ("it's a nice relationship you have -- it'd be a shame if someone were to set you free...") in a particularly devious way. 

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Bennett is like a real-life bugs - weak. Lacking a moral spine. He did follow some random Jehovah's Witness who was declaring himself to be his crush's father, and also promised him to be in the Reborn Elite Four, which is something only League Chairman and Grand Champion can decide, usually. 

To be fair, Elias is a gifted speaker, but still - Bennett is so naive to follow stranger just because he promised something really big for loyalty...

It's mostly true -- but not the whole story imo. But it's a bit complicated and I'd rather not go into that. 

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With good, compelling storytelling, everything may make sense. You just need to extract the elements needed, combine them within specific area/event and here ya go. 

I think you're forgetting an important part: what kind of universe you're building. Some basic idea about "how things work".  I'm trying to keep realistic outcomes while toning down anime elements -- a different choice from yours. Both are acceptable, but some things work in one setting and not in another. It's hard to give an example because I haven't read your story... but let's just say that in my setting, anyone seen feeding a Meteor grunt to a Gyarados would have very slim chances to live another day.  

What I mean is -- the way I see the story, large-scale redemption of the Meteor rank-and-file through charisma isn't happening. But if it fits your setting and that's what you want to do -- by all means!

(especially if it weakens Madame X in your Rejuv story^^)

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Are that things in the hidden content actually "bad"? Like... "I" have done 3 out of 4 in Reborn events. 

Well... 2.5/4, but still. 

Uh... Yes? 1), 3), 4) are quite unambiguous (with added context of "she did it for giggles and barely won anything from it") to me, while 2) is despicable, typicaly villainous and extremely risky (the kind of risk you don't want to take when steel really makes you bleed). 

Then again, you're calling "kind" a character who's willing to break a thief's spine to make a point, so we might not interpret some values in the same way.

(however, I do not want to call 'evil' a person for a few evil actions -- sometimes one has to fight fire with fire). 

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 - I sense an sarcasm in that sentence. 

 Now what would anyone ever think that? 

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 - especially Sirius; being Lin's defacto right hand man, and Fern, who's pissed off because of being embarrassed by the protag all the time. Bennett is more allied with Elias, who is Solaris' right hand (but who knows what that good-for-nothing kid will do), and Blake is a bit too... nihilistic-but-in-his-own-weird-way to actually care. 

I wonder why you didn't include Zero, who MAY be worried about his status as Admin/Commander after he got separated away from Evelynn and Luminia, and is one of the more cruel/sadistic ones. 

I'm not that worried about Fern or Bennett (I don't think they can do it). Maybe a post-E18 Bennett could do that if he truly believed in its necessity, but I remain skeptical. I agree with Sirius being the main threat, but I think Blake would react too  (and he wouldn't mind killing) if his status in the new world was at stake. I forgot about Zero who would be dangerous too. 

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It's better to beat thier leaders, take over thier minds and hearts with your own set of charisma, and reform them for better. 

When you can pull it off, sure, go for it! That's not happening in any setting I can imagine for this game, but I assume that you have other plans.  

If you have a sufficiently strong stomach, why not? After all, the point of morality is that you don’t have to do good. 
 

So let’s indulge – say you join Lin. Great.  

Congratulations! Your new ally: 

This is what she’s done onscreen. Offscreen, depending on how you interpret the timeline, she may have been the impulse behind Team Meteor’s most heinous actions. 
 

But, if you have the guts to be a part of all this, stay tuned for the best part! 
 

You are now a criminal wanted as an accomplice to an unprecedented series of ghastly deeds, and known to be unbeatable except by the very strongest. 
 

This puts a literal target on your back for people such as Titania, Saphira or Radomus (all of whom are completely healthy adults with mild reactions, seen to enjoy straight and balanced fights, instead of blasting you to smithereens, stabbing you dead, or mind-controlling you into surrendering or jumping off a cliff).
 

Not to mention Sirius, Fern, Bennett or Blake who may worry about their place in the new world – some of which would certainly enjoy killing you. And Lin sure won’t protect you (it’s even a miracle no one has tried to chop her up in her sleep). How does 24/7 of watching your back feel? 
 

That is all assuming that Lin doesn’t mock you for the feeble-minded attempt to stay in the victors’ good graces and doesn’t do away immediately with you.

In the end? Lin still kills you when she doesn’t need you anymore. 

Don’t join terrorists, kids! It’s not as fun as it looks! 

Ah, I see, thank you for clarifying. What’s this IV glitch in the Factory? I confess I know very little about the Battle Frontier apart from the rules and that I basically was never able to get a single symbol when I played Emerald eons ago… 

What is Emerald Plus? Is it an official port of Emerald?

Anyway, great job and good luck for the gold!

Why not evolve Vulpix though?  

Sigh…

V13 is a gen 8 update and a story update. As far as I know, there is at least one new Leader to challenge and a ton of story content. However, I'm pretty confident that you can't challenge the Elite 8 in this version.  

I wish I knew what to say in these circumstances -- or maybe that I could gather the wisdom to stay silent instead of maybe writing the wrong thing. 

Perhaps it's okay to feel demotivated, to not want to do anything. It's vacation time, isn't it? We just aren't wired to produce all year around. 

I do struggle sometimes with a feeling of emptiness too, often mixed with some demotivation. Sometimes I can manage to get through it by getting back to work (or, more precisely in my case, study). But the solution that works best for me is to take a break. A true, guilt-free break. Do something that I usually don't. Ideally, in a different place. That might work for you too? 

Here are some other... considerations? 

You Are Not Alone.

This is crucial. It has been an exceptionally difficult year for the entire world, and it did a number on everyone. On the other hand, social interaction helps with a lot of issues. 

And I can't believe I am actually saying this, because I have a nearly inexistent social life -- but what little I had definitely was a relief in my hardest times. 

It gets better. 

This one's pretty basic too, but that doesn't mean it's not important. 

It gets better. We know you can and will get through this.

Of course, that doesn't seem to address the root cause of your emotions. I wish I could say something less clichéd, but I really don't trust my words. 

I'm not sure, but I think there's an "emotional support" channel in the discord, and perhaps they might help?

Not sure, to be honest. Perhaps someone with Earth Power could help, or (field-boosted) Mud Bomb Gastrodon, you could just bring more Psychic types, who really are a pain. 

As for Toxapex, I guess the question is more: "how much of a nuisance does it remain?". If you manage to get it to sleep, that should help you get some time to deal with some of Aya's mons and hopefully gain an advantage. 

But again, I'm not very good at this game, and you'll certainly get far better ideas from other members if you create a thread for this (or use the Gym Leader help thread).  

People will be more likely to notice your question and give detailed answers if you write a thread about it in the relevant section (Team Showcase, I think, but I’m not sure). 

First things first – get everyone to the level cap (45). It’s worth it. 
 

Second – get some healing items. They’re not as broken in doubles as they are in singles but they’re still useful. 
 

Third – what’s your precise problem? Is it that you can’t beat Toxapex even after beating everyone else? Or that it remains a thorn in your side preventing you from actually beating the rest of Aya’s mons? 
 

I have a suggestion that can help you get a head start (although how you play after the first couple of turns is up to you, I guess). 

You can lead Meowstic and Noctowl. Fake out the Nidoqueen and Hypnosis the Toxapex. Then Psychic+Extrasensory the Nidoqueen (Aya might switch, but she’ll switch out the useless Toxapex rather than the Nidoqueen). I would expect the next mon sent by Aya to be Drapion, and then Meowstic can use Reflect before escaping (for Durant, maybe, since it seems to fare well against most of Aya’s team) while Noctowl Air Slahes it down. If Aya doesn’t send Drapion (or sends Drapion and another non-sleeping mon), you could attack the other enemy with psychic attacks, while, if needed, putting an enemy to sleep. 
 

Hi! It’s good to have some news! 
 

(yes, I had spotted the first name change, but not the second one. Is it recent?)

Although I’m a little bit unsure why you mentioned me. Did I discuss canon characters or mischaracterization? 
 

Good luck on your writing (and I’ll try to read it if I can)! 

It's going to be all right. *hugs*

Good luck, Evi! You can do it!