Hopes for the Nintendo Direct Tomorrow

Sorry for the late update, I've been trying to let my arm recover a little since it's been sore and in pain a bit after doing all of the spriting recently, and leaning on it far too much. Just another small update to mention tomorrow's Nintendo Direct (because I know you guys love when I post short and pointless updates xD).

So we, of course, only know that it's going to focus solely on the 3DS and will most likely detail some games that are coming out in the Fall and in the Winter, and maybe a few titles released early in 2017. I, like plenty others, have hopes that maybe they'll reveal the NX, or reveal something about it, because we know very little other than it's the next system they're working on, they have yet to reveal it, and as far as games, we only know for sure that The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild will be a game on the system. There's plenty of rumors about it being a handheld or being a home console or both, just a lot of speculation and questions that really need some answers.

And, for me at least, I'm dying to see more Pokemon news, as we didn't have our 3rd monthly huge news reveal as we did the last 2 months, where the news and reveals were leaked a day early and so the Pokemon Company had to release the official stuff early as a result. Maybe they got wise to how people work? Who knows. As always, I'm always holding on to some shred of hope that they might reveal the starter evolutions, because as of September 18th, the game drops in 2 months, and if they;re going to go with the X and Y route, they won't show us 2nd stage starters until October, a month before the game drops. They should do what they did with Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire and just drop a demo for us, maybe give us a reason to play it, like we can send items or something to our full game once we get it. I don't know. I just really always want more Pokemon news lately to be honest.

But I'll be making an early post tomorrow, just to briefly go over what the Direct had to show us and my thoughts on them. Depending on the titles, I might not have many thoughts because of not playing a game in that series, or maybe just knowing too little. Either way, I'll keep you updated on that news tomorrow. Thanks a bunch for reading, I appreciate it! See you next time! :D

Tips and Tricks for Skyrim Newcomers

So I'm sure that this is very very redundant at this point, because really, who hasn't played Skyrim at this point, let alone any of the Elder Scrolls games? However, as pointless as this may be, maybe someone might read this blog and say "Hey, I'd love to try that game out now!" However, I'm sure that's a pretty low possibility, unless we're counting friends or such who have never played them before, but who knows. Of course, I won't be going into a huge in-depth analysis like I did with Fire Emblem Awakening, mainly because the game itself does a pretty good job at telling you about the things you need to know. But then there are questions people might have, maybe about exploration, maybe about quests? Like I said, no super analysis here, just some tips from me to you, whomever you are who's reading this right now. Whether you know this game or not, let's get started!

So of course after an opening scene where you get the bearing over how to move the camera, and possibly a quick glance at the options, you're told to create your character. Obviously, for the most part your gameplay is not affected by your race or gender or anything like that. However, your race generally alters your gameplay and gives you different passive abilities. As the game does a great job at telling you what race does what, I won't explain all of them. However, I will give a few pointers with my own opinions.

Are you looking for extra gold? Then be an Imperial. Wherever gold is found, Imperials always get a little extra. It's not much extra, but the little amounts here and there will add up eventually. Are you more of a stealthy player? Maybe try being a Khajiit, as they have permanent night-vision, which is a great help in those dark areas or dark dungeons. Or maybe you enjoy being a very offensive and strong warrior? If that's your play style, invest in being a Redguard, as not only are they 50% resistant to poison, but their starting skill regenerates your stamina by 10 times for the next 60 seconds. If those aren't for you, try looking at other classes and see what they have to offer you.

Always remember, you're never timed to do anything, for the most part. Take your time and explore. The world of Skyrim is huge and expansive. Travel the land and enter caves, find gold and treasures, and find key items you will inevitably need at a later time, and you'll see that the story isn't as long as it seems. It's mostly long because you have to travel through (at times) long dungeons and find certain items. If you already went in the area, or already found the item you need, you're already set. Of course, some places are locked until you make story progress, as is normal, but there's still so much to do. Plus, you can easily fast travel to any place you've been, so discovering more areas will ultimately benefit you and make your travels far easier.

Balance yourself as you level up. This may seem obvious, but there are times where you might invest more into Magicka than your Health, for example, and it leaves you short-handed. Or maybe your low Stamina hinders your ability to fight better. When you level up, consider what you need now and consider what you think you may need. Ultimately, it's your choice to make, but never balance one option over the other three, or else it might make things harder for you.

Talk to everyone. A typical RPG trope, but many people have quests for you, and the quests offer some good rewards. Maybe you get a weapon, maybe some armor, maybe a lot of money. Talk to everyone and see what they have to say Exhaust your talking options and see what happens.

Feel like you've done everything so far? In your journal, turn on every quest, important or miscellaneous, you'll see guide arrows all over your HUD and the world map, allowing you to remember that there's always more to do in this huge game. And there's never a shortage of quests either.

Use your favorites option. Take your favorite weapon or some favorites and mark them for easy use in the favorites menu. This allows you to quickly use items you know you're going to use, or items you want to use. It's organized and it saves you time trying to scroll through everything you own so you can get right back into the action.

Work hard to become Thane of the realms. When you help enough people in a realm, and assist the Jarl, you will eventually be called the Thane of the area. This lets you buy a house in the area and typically you gain a neat item from the Jarl him/herself. And guards will recognize you as the Thane, and sometimes they'll even look the other way if you get into mischief (Wow, how sneaky).

Want to get better at fighting, magic, or stealth? There are organizations that specialize in each of those aspects, and you're allowed to join all of them if you wish, and that also includes the Dark Brotherhood, if you can handle murdering people. The organizations never have a complete end. Their questline ends at some point, yes, but afterwords there's always some small task you can do with them for some extra gold. Might not seem fun after a while, but gold is gold in Skyrim.

And that's all the tips for Skyrim. There's a lot more I could say, but as I said, the game does a great job at telling you what things do and how things work. I love Skyrim, I think it's an excellent game, and a must-have for any RPG fan, or fan of exploring and open world games. If you made it this far, thanks for reading! If you're reading this to learn some beginner tips, I hope they helped you out, and I hope you have fun playing and experiencing Skyrim. As always, thanks so much for reading, I appreciate it a ton! See you next time! :D

The Satisfaction of a Smile

In a small vein similar to Sonic, I might as well stick on that subject a little while longer. So, I mentioned previously that I was caught up in doing sprite work for people as gifts to them. Well, there's a few reasons behind that really.  Mostly it's because I take up spriting here and there to kill time and generally for the fun of it. Another part was from the urge to see if I could make a decent sprite edit of a few characters belonging to a friend. So I gave her main character a try, finished it, and showed it to her. Needless to say, she was super excited, so I did her other 2 characters and she loved all of them. Now of course I'm no master sprite artist, I surely can't make a sprite from scratch. But it's still nice to make something and see someone smile or get happy because of it. So I made a few more as a surprise to people. Everyone has been happy about their gifts. Someone even cried tears of joy because they'd always wanted a sprite of their character, which I subsequently delivered to them.

It's funny, really. My liking of the Sonic series and my wanting to make sprites way in the past ended up starting something I go back to here and there and it makes other people happy. I'm glad it does, they deserve to be happy, even if it's for something small like that. Luckily I learned how to sprite better or mine would still look like gross recolors.

But yeah, something so small ends up as something big for you and something even bigger for people you care about. No matter what you like, if it makes you happy, and you can use it to somehow make others happy, then the smile you get in the end is well worth the effort you go through in order to make it appear.

Poll Reminder!

Just a quick reminder that this week's poll is halfway through. Be sure to get your vote in before it ends by midnight on Thursday!

I apologize for the late updates, I've been doing some sprite work for friends since last night and I get so into it that I forget to update, so I apologize for that. Tomorrow I'm gonna have a way better post for you all, so I thank you for your patience with my lackluster updates.

My First Video Game Ever!

Confession time! No matter how much it gets put down, the Sonic series will always have a special place in my heart, because that's how I started gaming, on my dad's old Sega Genesis, that, to this day, still works like brand new. I actually never owned the original Sonic games, like Sonic 1-3, Sonic Spinball, etc., nor did I have Sonic games on my Game Gear. I honestly am only able to play those old games thanks to Sonic Mega Collection, Sonic Gems Collection, and in Sonic Adventure DX via rewards as you collect more and more emblems. However, I own the first Sonic game I ever played on Genesis, and it's ironically the only Sonic game I own on a Sega system, as I never had the Saturn or Dreamcast. The game in question? This lovely game right here:

Sonic 3D Blast, the Genesis version, is my first game I have ever played, to memory, and it remains as generally my most favorite game, essentially for nostalgia and bias. There's just something about how amazing this game looks, sounds, and feels, and I always find myself dropping a couple hours just to blow through it, collecting all the Chaos Emeralds super fast, then milking the special stages for tons of points and extra lives, and just being surprised at secrets I'm still learning. I love this game a lot and no matter what games enter my Hall of Fame or enter my all-time faves, they will generally get beaten out by this game as it holds that special spot in my heart as the key that unlocked the door to the gaming world.

Another short post, I apologize, but I'll get better ideas soon, I promise. Until then, just small topics and details that kind of help you learn about me in the process. What was your favorite game? Do you remember your very first video game? Let me know, I'd love to hear about them! Don't forget to take part in this week's poll, your input is greatly appreciated! Until next time, thanks for reading and I will see you all next time! :D

This Week's Poll is Up!

Hey everyone. Another short post today to let you know that I just put up a poll, and it ends at midnight on September 3rd, so in one week! The question of the week is "Should I make a Trophy/Achievement Guide for certain games?"

For those who don't know, there are guides online that help players gain trophies or achievements in games that have them, most typically for Playstation and Xbox titles. Most notably there are the sites Playstation Trophies and Xbox Achievements. And I have used PS3T for many a trophy hunt in my PS3 games. And seeing as I have at least some kind of trophy hunting ability, I'd like to help others who might want help. I can't promise to do Xbox stuff, however, as I don't have an Xbox of any sort, but most trophy lists for Playstation are the same as Xbox so multi-platform titles are pretty much covered in one fell swoop. Half the time, the only difference is that Playstation has a Platinum Trophy for most games.

But I would love the feedback! Once the poll ends next week, if the overall answer is yes, I can get started and have my first guide ready a week after the poll ends, provided life doesn't get in my way. So please give me your input and thanks for supporting the blog! :D

Thank you!

So, I've been here for a week, and with my 7 posts, I already have 4 followers and 200 views on this blog. I'd like to say thank you very much for choosing to look at my blog and for the 4 of you who have chosen to follow me, thank you so much for the support. It means a lot to me to see that anybody would like to follow this blog. I'm not usually one to point out numbers or statistics, to be honest, but I know that every little bit counts. Every 1 view and every 1 follower is important and it'll all add up one day, so long as I keep trying and just continue to do what I love, and that's talking about video games.

So again, thank you so much for your support so far, and I can't wait to continue posting every day, even if the content isn't the most amazing content ever. Don't worry, there will still be a post later tonight, I just wanted to briefly give a thank you to those who continue to support me and believe in me and this blog. If, or when, the blog gets even bigger, I'll have all of you to thank for it!

Cyndaquil and Why It's Special to Me

So, for the people who aren't aware of Johto and the 2nd generation of Pokemon, this is Cyndaquil, the Fire starter of Johto, and my personal number 1 favorite Pokemon in existence. Now, I know what you're thinking, "How can you be so sure when there's 721 to choose from, and with a ton of Alola Pokemon on the way?" And my answer is that, unlike my other favorites, Cyndaquil defines important parts of my life, as weird as it may seem. Plus, think about it. My username, Cyndrqwill, is just a silly way of saying Cyndaquil. But even though I hold my other starter choices in high regard, Cyndaquil stands above the rest in a fashion that only it has ever managed to do, with Mudkip and Snivy being close behind it, but not close enough to reach a considerable reason to be my all-time favorite. If anything, Mudkip and Snivy helped Cyndaquil get to that point and get even higher up after the fact. But let me get into why this Pokemon means so much to me.

So, to be 100% clear, Cyndaquil wasn't my first pick back in the day. It was my 3rd, actually. After trying Chikorita, then trying Totodile, I tried Cyndaquil. And Cyndaquil worked the best for me and I loved it a lot more than the other two, and not even for its battle prowess or for its advantage early on in the game. It's hard to fully describe but Cyndaquil was the first Pokemon that really felt like a buddy to me, one I could always rely on in battle and one I could always count on, like a best friend. And as I got older, I only enjoyed it more. When I played Soul Silver for the first time, as soon as Elm gave me the option to pick a starter, I found Cyndaquil and chose it immediately and without hesitation. I pretty much sat there and said "Okay, Cyndaquil, let's get going on our adventure!"

Cyndaquil also represents another aspect that I always feared while growing up: Having to completely sacrifice anything that makes you silly or childish. And while, for the most part, you do have to, for the sake of growing up and being mature, there are still aspects that you can maintain as long as you know when and where is okay to be silly and childish, like with a group of good friends. Cyndaquil is a constant reminder that just because I'm growing up, doesn't mean I have to forget everything that made me happy or everything that I thought was fun while I was young. And on the flip side, its final form, Typhlosion, is a reminder that getting older doesn't change the kind of person you are. Your looks may change, but your personality can stay the same and you don't have to sacrifice it just because you're growing.

And finally, Cyndaquil is a reminder of the things I love in my life, and the friends I have that love Pokemon. With them I can always sit and blabber on about Pokemon and talk about our favorites. It's a reminder that I'm not alone when I sit there and say "I love Pokemon and this one is my favorite for these reasons." Sure, I have bad memories associated with the name Cyndrqwill, or some bad memories involving Cyndaquil, but most of them are good or happy memories. I even wrote a short story, called Cinders - Cinders is my nickname for the little guy - and it went over surprisingly well with my friends, to the point I actually made some of them cry! Surprising, indeed, and I would even be willing to share that story one day if the demand for it is reasonable.

But that's why I love Cyndaquil, and will continue to love it. May not be the best explanation, but I owe a lot to this little guy, even though it's not real. If you made it this far, thanks so much for reading, I really appreciate it. What's your favorite Pokemon and why? Let me know, I'd love to hear your thoughts! Thanks a bunch for reading and until next time, see you later! :D

Time for a Ramble #1

Very, very sorry about the extremely late post. I actually wasn't sure what to write about today, but as I played some games I actually had an idea to write briefly about 3 games I finally beat today. All of these games are on the PS3 title "Sonic's Ultimate Genesis Collection," which is one of my favorite games to play, because of the myriad of Genesis games and even extra games like a few Master System titles as well. I won't go over every title right now. but one day I definitely will. For now, I'm going to talk about these 3 games I finally beat today. I would also like to say that I beat these games with the use of save states. Yes, that's cheating, but it's not like I can't go back and beat them the proper way. The game offers save state use and I take advantage of it sometimes, but not always. I won't go into massive length about the games, just a little overview and my thoughts on three. Let's get rambling!

The first game I finished is the RPG known as Beyond Oasis, also known as "The Story of Thor" in other regions. In it, you control Prince Ali (yeah, I know what character you're thinking of right now, you can't hide it, we're all thinking of Aladdin right now after reading that name xD) who discovers a gauntlet called the Golden Armlet, a part of a set of twin gold and silver armlets. The Gold Armlet was used by a wizard who could summon the spirits of the elements, and the Silver Armlet used by an evil wielder who wanted to plunge the world into chaos. The game is actually shorter than you think, and the ability to summon the elemental spirits on your quest is fun. In a similar sense to the Legend of Zelda series, some dungeons make use of the last spirit you obtained, while later dungeons have you utilizing 3 or all 4 of them to solve the puzzles within. There's no level up system, rather, as you defeat enemies, eventually they'll drop a heart. Picking it up makes your rank go up by one. It's essentially a level up, as it increases your max HP and your max SP. Enemies drop food items that you can use to replenish HP or SP, and you can use multiple weapons. The game even has a battery in it, so you can save your progress without having to beat the whole game in one fell swoop!

I enjoy this game quite a lot. For a 1995 title, the presentation is very charming. The music is nice, the animations are smooth and solid, and even though the bits of voices used are a little.. bit-crushed, they still sound pretty good to be honest. I can beat it in a few hours because I like to run to the next location asap, and my save file said I beat it in just under 4 hours when I beat it. While this game isn't huge like, say, Phantasy Star games, it still holds up as one of my favorite RPGs and I enjoy going back to it from time to time to take up the Golden Armlet once again, to save Oasis.

The next one I finished is a game I've been dying to finally beat for ages now. Dynamite Headdy is one of those really strange and weird games that has a lot of charm, in my opinion. The entire game looks like a play, the backgrounds are clearly painted, you see props often, you see bits of machinery behind backgrounds in some stages. Nearly every level also mentions "Scene," which adds to the charm. Headdy is also a puppet, according to the game. A puppet whose head doesn't stay on his shoulders and you throw it around to bonk enemies and transform it into different forms, like a hammer, or a spike ball. You can tell it's Japanese because of the strangeness that most American audiences wouldn't understand, at least not back in 1994 when the game came out. I really wish this game had some kind of sequel, I would love to try it out.

Another thing I love is the post-credits joke battle. To get to it, you have to play a Basketball minigame and beat it 4 times. There are limited chances so if you miss too many, you can't do it. And you cant go online to find the code, it's always randomly generated every time you play the game. So for example, my code to use was "2342," however next time my code might be something like "8402" or something else. I think it's cool because you have to work for this silly ending battle. After watching the credits all the way through you reach a keypad, and if you remembered all 4 digits (because they tell you to remember, they don't just display it for you) you can access the battle against a businessman and his employees. And they throw money at you. Money that harms you. This game is quirky, silly, and amazing, and I love it!

And lastly, the game I just finished prior to starting this post, ESWAT: City Under Siege, or just ESWAT. This game does NOT mess around, either. Firstly, you're a cop. And once you reach stage 3, you don an awesome mech suit as seen here on the title screen. It comes with rocket thrusters, a plasma cannon, and rockets, to name a few features. As hard as it is, I keep playing it and I try to beat it but I could never beat the 4th stage. However, I tried harder tonight, and save stated a lot, and I finally beat this 10 stage game. Even though, for me, it's really difficult, its just how games were back then. You had to earn that win. I don't think I could beat it without save states, but if I practise more, I know I can finally do it. If you're looking for a retro and challenging game, this may be one for you to try out. I know I would definitely recommend it.

And there you have it. I know this isn't extremely interesting to read tonight, but it's something, you know? And don't worry, I'll be rambling more about Sonic's Ultimate Genesis Collection and the games within when the time comes. If you made it this far, thanks so much for reading. Have you played these games before? If so, let me know what you think about them, I'd love to hear your stories! Until next time, thanks a bunch for reading and I will see you next time! :D

Thoughts on the Current New Pokemon

*Please note that this contains spoilers for new Pokemon revealed in Pokemon Sun and Moon. If you're trying to avoid any potential spoilers about the new Pokemon, please stop reading now! Also, note that, at the time of typing this, on August 23rd, 2016, we currently have 39 new Pokemon, and 8 Alola Forms currently known. I won't make another entry about this topic until the games release in November and we have the full Pokedex revealed to us. So, please, if anything new comes out after this is made, and you don't see it here, the Pokemon was not known to us until sometime after this post was completed. Thank you and I hope you enjoy!*

So, it's no secret that I am super hyped about the new Pokemon games coming out in just under 3 months now, and just before my birthday no less, so I'm even more excited. And with just under 40 new Pokemon revealed to us thus far, I wanted to take some time and show you all of them and give a brief look at what I think about them, and maybe any hopes for an evolution if none of been shown off yet. This will seem very long as I am essentially adding a ton of pictures here, but I really hope that you all find a Pokemon you really like. Let's get right to it, and begin with our adorable starters.

Rowlet is, well, a fat, adorable owl. Our very first Grass/Flying starter, too. Like pretty much the entire Internet, I love the fact that it's so fat and fluffy, and the little leaf bow tie really adds a layer of charm to this bird.

Litten is my fire kitty, and personally my starter choice for my journey through Alola. Everything about it just feels "me," from the fact that it's a cat, and I love cats; the colors, as I love red and black a lot; and just its neutral 'I just woke up and haven't had coffee yet, piss off' look to it just feels like me, too. I really hope that Litten becomes Fire/Dark, as that would make it a fun little rival for Houndoom in a dogs vs cats situation. I dunno when they're gonna show is starter evolutions, but it sure can't come fast enough.

Poor little Popplio, the little guy can't catch a break. In what seems like repeating history, Popplio is getting the same treatment Oshawott received back when Black and White were coming out. Personally I think the cruelty is unwarranted, as I think Popplio looks adorable. If I wasn't already dead-set on Litten, I would have chosen Popplio as my starter. I hope Popplio becomes a Water/Fairy type, to be honest. I feel that it would suit it a lot and maybe Popplio will become majestic as it evolves.

Rockruff is a Rock type puppy, that's pretty much all that needs to be said about this adorable Pokemon. I'd love to put it on my team asap, but we still have yet to know what its evolution is. However, we'll be seeing it soon. When CoroCoro drops next month, it will be revealing Rockruff's 'secret evolution' to us. Considering its flavor text, saying how it will howl at dusk to signify its evolution is near, it's not too much a stretch to say it could become a werewolf. I think that'd be awesome, but it it's part Dark, and Litten ends up being Fire/Dark, I can't bring Rockruff with me due to my strict "no overlapping types" policy in my teams, which is sad, but it makes me choose different Pokemon than I would initially.

Komala is our first Koala Pokemon and it is Normal type. It's new ability, Comatose, allows it to evade any status ailments except for Sleep, meaning that it cannot be Burned, Poisoned, etc., which is pretty scary in a sense, because if your tactics go along the case of burning or paralyzing, for example, you can't do it to this little guy. I hope to see an evolution that keeps Comatose, and just gets more powerful.

Pikipek is our main bird of the region, much like Pidgey or Fletchling. This was a wire frame in the original reveal before it was finally revealed during E3 and the gameplay demo. I think it's adorable and I love the name, it just fits it so well.

Yungoos is our 'rodent' Pokemon of the region, along the lines of Rattata and Sentret. Of course, the Internet is filled with Donald Trump jokes, especially with its evolution. I think the little guy is cute and I just like the eternal Grr face that it has going on too.

Ah yes, Donald Trump- I mean Gumshoos, the evolution of Yungoos. Again, it's not hard to see why the Internet says Gumshoos looks like Trump, and I find it funny and ironic. I'm not too big on Gumshoos, to be honest. Not because of the memes, but... well, I'm not 100% sure myself, but I just think Yungoos looks a lot cuter. Gumshoos is probably really powerful though, hopefully.

Grubbin is our native caterpillar/worm of the region, much like Caterpie or Wurmple or Scatterbug. I think this little guy is adorable, it just has little pincers and it looks like it wants to bite your finger. Plus the orange, yellow, brown, and grey combination looks pretty cool too.

Charjabug is Grubbin's first evolution. When I first saw this little battery, all I could think was "It's a cube!!" and laugh cause it really is just a cube battery. And its cry sounds like an accordion. When Grubbin evolves into Charjabug, it becomes Bug/Electric, just like Joltik and Galvantula's typing.

Keeping the Bug/Electric typing, Charjabug finally becomes Vikavolt, this amazing stag beetle. I love this design and I think it's one of the coolest final Bug evolutions we have. I was really surprised when it didn't gain Flying as one of its typing, opting to stay as a Bug/Electric type. Regardless, though, this Pokemon seems like it could be strong or even a threat if you're not careful.

Drampa is a Normal/Dragon, the first of its kind. Considering this to be a sure-spot on my team, but needing to see more Pokemon before I make that choice. Everyone is convinced that Dunsparce evolves into Drampa, but I just don't see it honestly. Sure, the pieces are there, like the colors, overall design, typing, etc., but I still can't see Dunsparce turning into this. But then again, the reveals aren't over yet. Who knows what they'll show us. But until then, I love Drampa, I think it's silly but awesome.

To be honest I'm not big on Bruxish's design but that doesn't mean it's bad. Being Water/Psychic, it feels like it could be a possibly bulky Pokemon, but to me I feel like Bruxish is a standalone Pokemon. Could I see an evolution or pre-evolution? Absolutely, but right now, until that's confirmed or not, it's a standalone to me.

Cutiefly is a Bug/Fairy Pokemon, and it lives up to the name; it's an adorable little fly. Not entirely sure what else to say on it. I feel like it could use an evolution though, it could still be just as cute, probably just a little bigger. Another Pokemon I'm honestly considering for my team.

Here we have our Pikachu-clone of the region, Togedemaru (and yes, that's its English name). This Electric/Steel porcupine is really fat but it's really cute. It also has Iron Barbs or Lightning Rod as its ability, which are pretty wonderful in my opinion. Alas, this poor thing would be destroyed by Earthquake.

If I wasn't being strict about my overlapping type rule this time around, Salandit would have had a very guaranteed place on my first team. It's our first Poison/Fire type, it's black and red, and it looks smug as hell. I love it. Its ability Corrosion allows it to inflict Poison on any Pokemon type, including Steel and Poison, which makes it pretty scary in the long run. You just missed out on my team Salandit, but be assured that you will be on quite a few teams if I need a Fire or Poison type.

Stufful, a Normal/Fighting red panda plush toy. Yeah, not even joking, this Pokemon is in fact a stuffed animal, complete with a tag on its butt! I also think it's cute because it doesn't like being touched and it'll struggle and flail about, which I just think is really cute. Even in its animations, it flails its arms around!

Stufful evolves into Bewear (yes, that's the real name too) and when it evolves, it gains a total personality switch. Now, it loves giving bear hugs to its Trainer and other people, but they're so strong they can snap anything in two, to which people in Alola have warning signs about Bewear. Poor thing, it's just misunderstood cause it's so strong and innocent.

This is Mimikyu, a Ghost/Fairy type that took the Internet by storm with its cute look and how it only wants to be loved, so it dons a Pikachu disguise in hopes that people will befriend it. See those dots by the tummy? Those are its eyes. Mimikyu has the ability Disguise, which acts as a one-hit Substitute from the get-go, which is pretty handy as you won't lose 25% of your HP to have a substitute, in a way. Mimikyu was a strong consideration for my first team, but a Pokemon further down the list beats it, and it's only because of the typing and personal preference.

Wimpod is the second Bug/Water type, preceded only by Surskit in Hoenn. This poor guy is a total coward, so much so that its ability, Wimp Out, has it fleeing when its health hits 50% or less. In battle, it will flee if it's wild, but in a Trainer's possession, it makes you switch it for another Pokemon. I hope it evolves into something brave and fearsome, honestly.

Bounsweet is a Grass type fruit that very much reminds me of Cherubi and Cherrim. It just has a happy demeanor about it that I love a lot. In its flavor text, however, it mentions that it's so bouncy and happy most of the time that when it's in real danger, people can't tell. The result? The poor thing ends up eaten alive by other Pokemon. Talk about dark.

This is as Hawaiian as you're gonna get. This is Comfey, a Fairy type that is literally a lei, or a flower crown, which is something almost everyone thinks of when they think of Hawaii. Its new ability Triage allows its restorative moves to gain the highest priority, which makes it pretty scary if it has Synthesis, as it can heal itself before you even manage to attack it again.

Another first as far as species are concerned, Mudbray is a Ground type and our first donkey. Its face kinda reminds me a little bit of Froakie, as Froakie would typically have its eyes looking similar to that style. This little guy is too cute, though, as it just loves playing in the mud, as its name suggests. It also gets stressed and upset when it has no mud to play in. I bet it'd have a field day on rainy days.

This is Mudsdale, the evolution of Mudbray, and somehow it is only 60 lbs lighter than Groudon, and about 1,800 lbs heavier than Mudbray. Talk about becoming a real Trojan Horse, am I right? Its Pokedex entry goes on about how strong it is and how it can't run along city streets in Alola. It also gains a new ability, Stamina, which boosts its Defense by one stage when it takes damage, presumably from physical damage only, but it's still unclear.

This is Minior, a Rock/Flying, cute and fat star inside a meteoric shell. When its HP goes down to 50% or lower, its shell breaks to reveal the core. Despite the art being pink, the core has several colors, including blue, purple, green, yellow, and orange. Another cool aspect is that you can't tell what color the core is until you actually break the shell. So if you're after a specific color, you're gonna have to break the shell, which I think is a neat little bit of added detail to this cute little star.

This is Fomantis, a pure Grass mantis Pokemon. I'm surprised it's only pure Grass, as you would expect a mantis to be Bug, too, if not pure bug. But I really think this is adorable, and the shades of pink and green compliment each other very well in my opinion. However, I think that's nothing compared to what I think of its evolution.

Fomantis evolves into Lurantis, and Lurantis is also pure Grass, and gains a new move called Solar Blade. Lurantis is my guaranteed 2nd slot in my first team. I don't know what it is about Lurantis. Maybe it's the cute design, maybe the shy demeanor is has, I'm not too sure. But regardless, I love this Pokemon. I think it's cute, and it fits in with the "elegant Pokemon" category among others like Gardevoir, Lilligant, Milotic, etc. Even its flavor text mentions that it is the most elegant of all Grass types. What a hefty title to wear, but I can't wait to get myself a Fomantis so I can have this mantis on my team.

This is Oricorio, or rather, one of its forms. But since this is generally considered the "official" look for it, I'm only going to use this one. Oricorio has 4 forms, one for each island in Alola, and each with a different type attached to its existing Flying type. The picture here is of its Baile Style, which makes it Fire/Flying. Oricorio has the ability Dancer, which lets it immediately copy any dance moves, like Sword Dance, Teeter Dance, etc. without spending a turn, and it can be pretty scary to see it setup just like you do. It also has the move Revelation Dance, which has an offensive typing related to the form of Oricorio that uses it. I think this is a cool concept for a Pokemon, especially for a bird. Probably won't use it on my first team, but I like it nonetheless.

This is Sandygast, a Ground/Ghost sand Pokemon. Yep, it's living sand. As silly of a concept as it is, and silly of a design as well, there's just something so charming about how silly it is. Then again I always seem to like designs that look weird or out of the ordinary because they stand out to me. I don't know, I just really like this thing, but its evolution... well.. Let me show you.

Keeping the same typing, Palossand sits here as my 3rd guaranteed slot in my first Alola team. When I saw the CoroCoro leak of this Pokemon, I laughed and said "It's a sand castle... I love it!!" And I honestly do love it, it's a weird Pokemon and it has a silly design and I just love everything about it honestly. Along with Sandygast, it has the new ability Water Compaction, which boosts its Defense by 2 when hit by a Water attack. It's not currently known if it has to be physical, special, or if it's just any Water type attack. The reason this beat Mimikyu is because I think everyone is going to take Mimikyu. I never said I would definitely have Mimikyu, and after I saw this, I wanted to see it in action before deciding on it, and I sure did decide on it.

Wishiwashi is a pure Water fish with a cool gimmick that I didn't grab the picture for, in order to keep the surprise. Its ability, Schooling, has it change into a School Form once it hits a certain level, and will revert back to the Single Form once it takes a certain amount of damage. What makes this so cool is that the form change acts like evolution does, as it changes form after reaching a certain level, but it never actually evolves. I think that's a cool concept. Wishiwashi, mostly for the amazing School Form alone, gets the guaranteed 4th slot in my first Alola team.

This is Pyukumuku (another case of English name not even looking English), a pure Water sea cucumber. I don't honestly have much to say about this little guy. I think it's cute, and its ability, Innards Out, is pretty scary. Much like Aftermath, when Pyukumuku is defeated, it damages the opponent. However, the damage done is equal to the amount of HP Pyukumuku had before the finishing blow. For example, if you defeat it and it had 50 HP left, your Pokemon would suffer 50 points of damage after it faints. Truly a scary ability, especially if you're going to defeat it in one hit.

This is Morelull, a Grass/Fairy mushroom. I think I would honestly be taking this little guy if I wasn't already super dead-set on taking Lurantis. It's just a tiny batch of mushrooms and it's just super adorable! I think it also helps that, besides being a fan of small, cute things, I do like the existing mushroom Pokemon, like Shroomish and Foongus. I hope this Pokemon evolves into something bigger but keeps the adorable look to it.

This, right here, is Turtonator. Yes, Turtonator. It's a turtle that looks like a land mine, and it's Fire/Dragon! I don't know how this thing can be a dragon but damn if it's not a badass looking Pokemon. I wasn't too big on the design at first but after I got used to it and saw it a lot, it grew on me. Since I'm taking Litten I can't pick up this Pokemon for my team but I bet it's gonna be a terror to fight.

Finally, as far as non legendary Pokemon, this is Crabrawler, which is deceptively only a pure Fighting type, as opposed to a Water/Fighting type. I don't mind that it's only Fighting, it's actually pretty clever because you can deceive others who might not know or might not remember that Crabrawler is pure Fighting. I like the concept and I like the idea a lot, but chances are I won't be taking this champ with me in my first team.

This is Tapu Koko, one of the guardian deities of Alola, specifically the deity of Melemele Island, the island you start your journey at. It looks pretty cool, especially for an Electric/Fairy type. I like how it can put its hands together and look like a tiki mask, which is most likely the motif they were going for. I think this is cool and I can't wait to see the other 3 deities when they reveal them, if they do.

Solgaleo, literally the reason I chose Pokemon Sun over Pokemon Moon. As much as I like Lunala, Solgaleo just looks more fierce and more, well, awesome, to me. Being Psychic/Steel is a cool type combo, even if everyone, including myself, expected Fire in some way. The irony is that this makes Solgaleo weak to Fire, which I find pretty funny. I love this Pokemon and I can't wait to encounter it in Pokemon Sun.

And here we have Lunala, the Psychic/Ghost legendary for Pokemon Moon. Another case of, I wasn't big on the design, but it did grow on me over time. I like that it's another bat and that it looks pretty amazing, and it's shaped like the moon when it puts its wings together. I may not encounter Lunala in Pokemon Sun, but it's still an awesome legendary Pokemon nonetheless.

Finally, our last new Alola Pokemon so far, the mythical Magearna. I like how Magearna looks, it looks like a metal bunny, kind of. I haven't seen the Volcanion movie, so I'm unsure about a lot of details involving our Steel/Fairy friend here, but I love it all the same, and I'll definitely be getting it once the event comes out one day.

So, now we look at Alola forms briefly. This is Exeggutor's Alola form. It ditches the Psychic typing and becomes Grass/Dragon. Not sure how a giraffe neck turns it into a Dragon, but I don't make the rules in designing Pokemon.

Next is Alola Vulpix. I love it, and even though I'm not using Alola forms on my first team, I want it. It becomes pure Ice and it just looks too cute!

This is Alola Ninetails. It becomes Ice/Fairy and it just looks really pretty and majestic. I already loved Ninetails before, but this might make me love it a lot more.

This is Alola Sandshrew. It becomes Ice/Steel and it has an igloo body and an igloo for a head now. Another case of it's so cute and I really want it!

Alola Sandslash keeps the Ice/Steel typing and just generally looks more badass than it already did to begin with.

Alola Meowth is pure Dark type, that's right! Not sure why Meowth, of all Pokemon, got an Alola form, but then again you can ask the same thing about Exeggutor, honestly. I like this, to be honest. I just wonder if Persian will also have an Alola form.

Alola Marowak is Fire/Ghost. It's badass, I want it, and it's just really cool. I think Ghost/Fire just suits it so well, and even if it was just pure Ghost, it would still fit so well in my opinion.

And last, but certainly not least, is Alola Raichu. It becomes Electric/Psychic and it gains the ability Surge Surfer, which is.... underwhelming, to say the least. All it does is double its Speed when Electric Terrain is active. Not bad, but nothing super extraordinary either. It's super cute though, somehow that made Raichu even cuter than before.

And that's it for my thoughts on every new Pokemon so far. I'm sorry that this is such a long post. It's only really long because of the pictures. If I cut out the pictures, and it's only text, you could read it in like.. 2-5 minutes, tops. If you made it all the way this far, thanks so much for reading my silly thoughts. Let me know what Pokemon you like and why, I'd love to hear your thoughts and opinions! Until next time, thanks a bunch for reading, and I'll see you next time! :D