i have no genuine idea how to introduce this shrine honestly. its fucking pokemon. most lucrative franchise in the planet. everyone and their grandma knows about it, what do you expect me to say? well i guess Something so im gonna try to the best of my abilities...
ive been a fan of pokemon for about 10 years now, which i completely understand isnt that big a time considering how famous and influential pokemon is, but in my defense, back then i was a kid who could barely afford even false consoles, much less actually legit nintendo stuff, and even to this day getting a switch and keeping up with new video games is wishful thinking for me... still though, with what i can only assume was either a knock off gba console, or some weird psp/vita thing plastered with pink, i started playing pokemon somewhere around 2012. fun fact: my first pokemon game was.... the INFAMOUS rom hack chaos black. if i could, i would go in-depth about that thing, because its hilariously nostalgic to me, but to be brief, its one of the first known pokemon rom hacks made because there was no third version of frlg like there was for the previous games, except it never got completed (one of the devs confirmed it was just completely abandoned without much progress) and its notoriously glitchy; aside from the weirdly designed mons, the only other memory i have of that game is that the maps are horribly designed, of note being mt moon in which you simply couldnt progress through because it required surf. yeah, it was very obvious that game was unfinished... but im rambling too much about a fangame. moving on.
aside from my original excitement over finally being able to play pokemon in 2012, i remember i had a horribly cringy and embarrassing phase in 2016, the entire thing taking place during sumo's reveal and release. i hate it, because 2016 was one of my worst years, but i also kind of love it because it definetly helped cement how i am as a pokemon fan now. nowadays i dont really care about pokemon, i only play it periodically when im in the mood, but i guess pokemon is important enough to me as a developing teen(ager) to get its own shrine.
firered is definetly the first official game i played and one of my favorites. its obviously the blandest remake of the bunch (well, maybe not, considering BDSP exists now), and i know not many people like kanto, but i love firered and have an enormous amount of fun playing it no matter how many times i replay it. its comfortable and small, not requiring too much attention to its story, probably one of the closest we have to an open world pokemon game outside of legends arceus. fun fact: to this day, i fight sabrina before i fight koga, despite that being the incorrect order of gym leaders. the game doesnt punish you for doing it differently, so who cares?
i love kanto and its mons, their designs are bland and simple, but not in a bad way. the sevii islands are also very fun to explore, and a much welcome addition to kanto, i think. its kind of funny to think that, were it not for the sevii islands, we probably wouldnt have had gen 1 remakes, since they only actually exist to make trading with gen 3 and getting all possible pokemons possible.
and, personally, most important of all: firered (and leafgreen) are the only games with leaf. im not talking about "green", or blue, or whatever name the other female kanto protag takes on; its specifically leaf. i dont know why exactly, but leaf resonates with me on a level that not many other fictional characters have managed to do. maybe its because she has zero personality and as such its very easy to project onto her, way easier than red, since shes essentially almost not canon? maybe! who knows! i just know that leaf was very important to me growing up, and to this day, no other human pokemon character has made me as happy as leaf. shes great, and i wish we got more official content with her.
emerald is the fucking goat end of story
jokes aside, this is my n1 favorite pokemon game of all time. no other pokemon game entertains me as much as emerald does, though funnily enough my enjoyment isnt dependent on the side activities like most people; i dont need the battle challenges or contests to so thoroughly enjoy this game, just the main story is enough for me. though, obviously, the other challenges help me love this game, too.
this games story is probably the best in the entirety of pokemon, yes, even better than gen 5. its the perfect mix of 'oh this is kind of serious huh' and 'the evil team leaders are fucking dumbasses' in a way that still keeps me engaged and giggle at the same time. archie and maxie are THE evil team leaders, and i love how they hint at them doing a possible heel-face turn at the end of the main story while not bastardizing their character and still keeping them as the scheming nerds they are. steven and wallace are also great characters, wallace managing to give off a strong impression even if he only shows up near the end, and steven hanging out with you since the beginning, and i love the gym leaders as well; wattson, flannery, winona, tate & liza, and juan all being some of my favorite gym leaders with how much charisma and/or charm they give off despite barely having anything to do with the plot.
hoenn is my favorite region, with some of my favorite areas, my favorite OST, and some of my favorite pokemon. everytime i play emerald, i always go 'oh shit, it has this place! hell yeah!' because there are so many areas in the game that stick out to me, be it because of the pokemon i can encounter, or the song that plays in the background, or it just sticking to a part of my brain for no reason whatsoever. aside from kanto, theres no other region in the entire franchise that manages to make itself so iconic to me as hoenn does.
also, emerald is probably singlehandedly responsible for making rayquaza one of my favorite pokemon. that cutscene in which it tells kyogre and groudon to shut the fuck up is definetly one of the gamer moments of all time. also also, RSE >>>>> ORAS. that remake aint got fucking NOTHING over the originals, move out of the way 3ds!
my only real complaint is that unfortunately, the protagonists (aka the player character and rivals) dont interest me as much as kantos main characters do. i love may to bits, but leaf will forever be the best human character in pokemon; and brandon and wally are, eh. theyre okay i guess. im one of the few people who much prefer the asshole rivals from the first two gens, because i feel so much better beating garys sorry ass in firered. i just feel sorry for wally, he doesnt deserve it.
basically, emerald is good. if you havent played emerald, you are missing out.
before you ask: yes, based on my favorite pokemon my life as a pokemon fan is a living hell
anyway yes, i am completely aware that having machoke as my favorite pokemon is a very uncommon choice and its something wildly looked down upon in the pokemon community. i am constantly aware of that. thats not going to stop me from having it as my favorite mon, though! i dont know what made me like it in the first place, funnily enough. i think it might have been when i was playing platinum for the first time in 2015 and just by happenstance i found a wild female machoke at the end of my run and i was like 'oh fuck! the machop line can be female! thats so cool!' and ever since then its been my favorite pokemon. LOL.
this pokemon just seems wildly misunderstood to me! its a lot more than just 'that pokemon weirdos really like', i think. theres this one episode in the original season of the anime during the johto adventures that focuses on chikoritas mid-evo, but it also features a nice old lady with a machoke who helps her tend to her garden, and its like. the cutest fucking thing. the machop evo line in general is super misunderstood and i dont think enough people take note of how cute it can be. shoutout to sun & moon for having that one old lady whos carried by a machamp because she cant walk and shes visiting a family member whos passed, i never stop thinking about that mini-event.
i also have a machoke oc who definetly helped cement this pokemon as my favorite. shes probably one of my best ocs overall, even if we include my original characters into the list. maybe i created her specifically because i want people to stop thinking this pokemon is weird? maybe! but also, shes great. shes shy and nice and doesnt like fighting. and also shes gay (LOL)
i genuinely struggle to really say why machoke is my favorite pokemon, but it just is. funny beefy lizard mon just is the peak of pokemon, i guess! before i move onto the next mon, fun fact: the reason machoke and machamp wear those belts is because they are literally so powerful they need the belts to contain their power. literally OP mon. i fucking love it.
lopunny is my second favorite mon! i kind of really hate how its based on a playboy bunny, of ALL fucking things, but ive been a fan of this mon for long enough that im also just kind of numb at this point. in other news, i always found it hilarious how buneary and lopunny are the only pokemons that start out with a base friendship of literally zero. lopunny hating your guts from day one instead of just being a bit attached like other pokemon is so incredibly fitting in my eyes that its almost like gamefreak knew id be a fan of this pokemon or something. comedy gold.
lopunny is also a pokemon that i always have on my platinum playthrough. its not the greatest, of course, but its already carried my ass quite a few times. im very thankful for my funny bunny man for saving me in some fights. oh, i also love how it turns normal/fighting when it mega evolves. normal and fighting are my favorite types, which is like. wow gamefreak. thank you for this christmas gift
i also have a lopunny oc, who is... definetly the most insane of all my pokemon ocs, in terms of concept at least. hes a spring lopunny (global pokedex plus players will know) with robotic limbs and an arm cannon. hes fucking wild. i love him a lot.
gardevoir is probably the least important of my three top fave mons, but its still a pretty important mon to me nonetheless. i was personally always fascinated with gardevoirs design since i was new to the series; it doesnt really resemble any animal, not even a human, being one of the few pokemons whose influences arent very apparent. despite its appearence though, it still gives off the feeling of a powerful and loyal pokemon, which just means its design is cool as hell. i still cant believe this thing has legs though. i always assumed it just kinda lost them.
gardevoir is also like, the beginning of my hatred for cis (or male) pokemon fans. lol. i alllwaaaayyysss hated how people immediately assumed gardevoir was a female-only pokemon. theres nothing about it that implies that! aside from gallades existence, which also so happens to be my LEAST favorite pokemon, so. lol. its a running theme among my favorites, it seems, huh? on a more positive note, my 'not like other pokemon fans' phase led me to finding out what gardevoirs inspirations were, and gardevoir being a fucking knight is cool as fuck. i love how this evo line goes from ballerina to possible war criminal. why is pokemon like this
other mons that i really like: mew, mewtwo, mudkip, ditto, cradily, hypno, rayquaza, giratina
below are my mons from gpx. i only play it every now and then and dont really care about interactions,
so i use it mostly to show off my pokemon ocs, but youre free to add me there if you also play gpx! or feed my mons, they appreciate a berry.
thats it for the pokemon shrine for now! click on the fucked up little specimen below to return to the shrine directory
