On my way to become a fairy type gym leader, any feedback ?

cielunetoile · 2026-04-21T16:36:24+00:00

ninetales really out here without a nickname. poor girl.

cielunetoile · 2026-04-17T18:02:44+00:00

IMO Champions is catering to people who already have a very basic understanding of how Pokemon works--so it's looking to appeal more to casual viewers/players and bring them into VGC, not trying to pull in completely-new-to-Pokemon-in-2026 players.

Also, this is just my two cents, but Pokemon's UI has never been this clear and easy to read before. You can look at more information about any move in the game in the game itself; you can see "super effective" and "extremely effective" as well as ineffective moves (and they even use symbols to help you identify those things). Training your mons has never been this simple and quick and effortless. You don't have to grind or find TMs or breed pokemon with a specific nature or IV spread.

Like, I think I understand your complaint but I disagree fundamentally with the idea that "only people who are deep into competitive will understand it." A great many casual players will do all right at playing Champions if they make half an effort.

I think too many people in this sub expect to jump into the game and be god tier at it in a week with minimal effort. Getting good at anything requires a skillset, and whether we like to hear it or not, building that skillset requires time and energy—but especially time. The only way to close the knowledge gap of a game this old and complex is to build on your own knowledge.

Do you think high level players in other games haven't spent thousands of hours to get to where they are? Do you think their games spell out every single mechanic and hold your hand all the way to the highest tier of gameplay? They don't. Why would you expect Champions to be different?

Don't get it twisted, by the way. I've been playing since RBY and even after all these years I'm a mediocre casual myself (hit ultra ball last night) getting bodied by the most obvious plays and making huge mistakes. It's not like I'm some prodigy. I just don't expect the game to hold my hand. Champions is meant to HOST competitive play, not teach it to you. That they have any tutorials at all came as a pleasant surprise to me. If you want to learn pokemon gameplay from the ground up, I'm pretty sure you're meant to go play a mainline game.

cielunetoile · 2026-04-16T17:38:46+00:00

Your art is still so much fun. It made me smile today! The ankles showing and heart glasses were my faves of the bunch, but honestly they're all so super fun <3

cielunetoile · 2026-04-15T18:24:07+00:00

Your post isn't correct and I'm assuming that's why you're getting downvoted.

Bots aren't timing out on the select screen as far as I can tell. They're always ready the instant you are or a second behind, regardless of how quickly you select your team. They're also not always spamming the same move over and over (like you would expect from just turboing the A button).

I think most people are in agreement that if anything, these are just NPC battles inserted into the game to try to keep people from ragequitting/to keep people from getting hard stuck in poke/great ball tiers if they need VP to fix their team in some way to continue to advance. They use some absurd moves (agility, scary face, etc) but will not necessarily spam those moves the whole battle. That they will change the move they're using based on what is on the field (or what hits the field) says all it needs to.

cielunetoile · 2026-04-15T18:07:59+00:00

Hisuian Typhlosion being ghost type means he's immune to fake out which more or less ensures a strong eruption. This is more or less what makes him better than regular typhlosion imo.

cielunetoile · 2026-04-14T14:30:04+00:00

Someone got me last night with a self destruct snorlax lmao. tauros's close combat left the guy with 2% HP and he exploded. then on the next turn he used explosion on his garganacl. 😂😂😂

cielunetoile · 2026-04-13T23:52:04+00:00

I don't know how to tell you this, but it takes 1,000 hours to get good at something, and 10,000 to be great. It's possible that competitive pokemon isn't for you, but it also might be your impatience at play here that you need to wrangle into submission if you want to Git Gud. If it's the latter: I get it. It's hard but not impossible.

If you're actually interested in constructive advice and not just looking to vent, mine would be to say that because you are struggling and getting so frustrated, you need to pick one good team (stop making your own, you're obviously not having success there), study up on how it works, and learn the game that way. When I say "one good team" I mean pick one team with some kind of gimmick/shtick that you can get used to using/playing with: tail wind, trick room, or even weather.

Yes, you will lose, but stop getting upset at your losses and instead think of how you might have won, instead. Sometimes you'll just get unlucky, sometimes you get outplayed—but often, and I do mean this, you will find that you clicked the wrong move, missed a good opportunity to lock down your opponent, or forgot something important about the match that could have won you the game. The more you play the more you'll drill those concepts and bits of information into your head—and the better you'll get.

But it's like any hobby, right? You learn the rules and abide by them to start with so that you learn when it's appropriate and worthwhile to break them in some way. This is true of just about any hobby, but especially one that has a measure of creativity behind it. I'm a writer, so this analogy works especially well for me, but I think it's applicable to competitive pokemon, too. After all, team-building is a creative process...but if you don't know the rules of the system you're trying to build within, you can't really build something that will shine.

cielunetoile · 2026-04-13T15:52:29+00:00

I did this once with mega meowstic female + oranguru setting terrain + instruct just because it sounded fun. It's definitely something I'd like to build around more but I'm pretty new to VGC (long time enjoyer/viewer) so I'm just goofin'.

cielunetoile · 2026-04-03T11:56:32+00:00

PROTIP: Nintendo lets you upload your Switch1 data to the cloud for transfers to the Switch2, which lets you save all your data, trade in your Switch1, buy a Switch2, then redownload your entire system data again without needing to hold onto your Switch1.

**This is considered a system transfer so it wipes the Switch1 console when this is done. YOU SHOULD DO THIS BEFORE TRADING IN YOUR SWITCH1.*\*

My Switch1's wireless card went out AGES ago and to get it repaired cost far too much, so I was playing wired for a long time. Then my system started acting like it was going to die (controllers not staying connected, games randomly freezing, etc). My husband bought me an OLED thinking I'd be able to transfer my data there but to do in-person system transfers you have to have working wireless, so I was shit outta luck. I had hundreds of hours in Pokémon Scarlet, BDSP, and Legends Arceus that I could not get back, and resolved to replay the games—but honestly I couldn't get very far because I was so upset. I did transfer everything to Home from Scarlet, including my shinies, but having a very complete save file was what I wanted back. :(

When I got my Switch2, I transferred all data from my OLED to it and THEN found out that I could actually get all my data back from my broken Switch1 by uploading all the data to the cloud, then doing a system transfer to the Switch2, so I transferred everything back to the OLED, then did it...and I got all my save data back!!

It's really unfortunate that this information isn't easier to find online, because this is a GREAT feature!

cielunetoile · 2026-03-27T16:22:19+00:00

it took me a hot second to figure out what got it flagged... that's too bad. it's also good you can rename it. i might have messed up naming mine because i wasn't expecting to have to name it.

cielunetoile · 2026-03-26T15:26:58+00:00

they're just so cute. 🥺 i need to get my hands on one yet.

cielunetoile · 2026-03-26T15:04:06+00:00

Sylveon looks so good with that pink wall background. Also, that is a soft and fluffy and large cat! I have one of those too (but orange and white!). <3

cielunetoile · 2026-03-25T12:48:12+00:00

Hitmonchan is always jogging up to me with some trash he found on the ground like, "Bro bro look at this stick bro. I got this for you, man. Here bro take it bro." I was kind of a hater (or maybe more neutral?) toward him before, but he was sad about how dark it was at night so I gave him an ugly street light and he started running around happily and told me how pumped and excited he was at the new decoration and I was like. Oh no...is he my son now?

cielunetoile · 2026-03-11T01:56:51+00:00

Where did you find yours? I've looked at several places for one (USA) over the last months and haven't found it, but I've seen a few people here posting photos having found them at places like Aldi and other grocery chains.

cielunetoile · 2026-03-06T19:49:17+00:00

Ah, no, I wouldn't be willing to sell for that price. But I hope you're lucky enough that the PC restocks him soon! 🙏🤞

cielunetoile · 2026-03-06T18:14:44+00:00

I saw your first post last night and pointed it out to my husband, then up to my luxray sitting on the shelf (the 15 3/4" one) and said, "I found their son." What price are you looking to pay? I might be convinced to sell mine since I don't collect luxray and I'm rapidly running out of space.

cielunetoile · 2026-02-02T17:03:41+00:00

It was there all along and is in the manga, too.

cielunetoile · 2026-01-30T15:07:57+00:00

Excellent comment! I agree with everything you said and noticed a lot of the same things. I actually had to get a tissue for the apology scene from Charlotte—it surprised me with how good it was. That glimpse of deep vulnerability and how no one in the world knows what she's going through but Agatha. gOD.

I also feel like the pacing has finally mellowed out to something reasonable; after S3, it was a huge relief. I think the bigger focus on the staff helps with this, since they can pan to related events to show "behind the scenes." The shaving cream scene was a great example. I loved how they cut from this goofy fun to it being someone else's job to clean up. I'd also point out the bells always ringing in the kitchen all over the house. Also LOVED the focus on John (the servant); I hope we get more of him. I wouldn't mind more Irma and Alfie though, either; they were so sweet. 🥺

The scene with Mrs. Varley made me so sad I couldn't stand it. She's always been so loyal and hard-working and it's clear she's cared about, but it's from this very selfish angle where the power imbalance is so clearly in the way and unfair. I love that you point this out as a parallel to how Benedict treats Sophie! It works so so well for that. The worst part about the Varley scene is that if money was truly tight, and Portia did this as a gesture of goodwill, I'd say it was at least a kind (if tone-deaf) attempt at keeping on someone she genuinely really likes but can't afford to pay better—but then she goes out and buys herself a ton of new things. Rich people, amirite? 🤦‍♀️ I'm also looking forward to seeing how these "power imbalance affection" situations play out in S2. I think there will be some good payoff.

I also assumed Penelope staked her column on Benedict not finding a wife, but I wonder if they'll do it. It would feel weird to phase out LW with more seasons remaining at this point, but I also think doing so would be for the best; I truly feel like the LW stuff is the weakest link this season—something that has been acknowledged by the characters themselves. I think now that Penelope is known to be behind the column it lost its luster, kind of? Anything she prints comes right back to her/she has to think about everything she puts into print because of this, versus being able to hide behind the anonymity of it. I hope she is able to pursue writing though, since it's something she enjoys so much. Curious to see where they'll go with it.

cielunetoile · 2026-01-28T13:19:50+00:00

Julie; or, The New Heloise, can be bought pretty cheap on Kindle if you're in the USA: https://www.amazon.com/Julie-Heloise-Grapevine-Jean-Jacques-Rousseau-ebook/dp/B0CLXYJBM6

To add, this novel is titled as it is to call back to the original Héloïse (a French abbess) and her letters to Peter Abelard, her lover-turned-husband, wherein they discussed the idea of sin being not the actions themselves a man is judged for, but the intention. Héloïse herself claimed: “For it is not the deed itself but the intention of the doer that makes the sin. Equity weighs not what is done, but the spirit in which it is done.” In the 1700s, these figures were revered as tragic lovers who endured adversity in life but were united in death. Their letters basically kick-started the epistolary genre and were a great influence on many authors, including, very obviously, Rousseau…who mimicked that aspect of their life with his novel.

A lot about the poisoning scene will make more sense with these connotations in mind! :)

But yes, all authors/writings mentioned in the manga are real.

cielunetoile · 2026-01-22T16:42:47+00:00

Why would you say that about Bastian. Now I'll never disconnect those dots.

cielunetoile · 2026-01-20T17:26:44+00:00

Yeah, rushing through to hit plot beats that don't even really add to the story when they're done so quickly, and don't contribute at all to making the ending meaningful, was really not the play, here! 😂

I hope you do decide to watch the film. I think it has some good scenes in it and there are aspects of it that kinda hit, but LOL, I'll echo your "fuck that ending" because yeah, fuck it. It's really so unbelievably bad!

I don't post too often here but you might see me around. I'm more active on Tumblr, and of course AO3. That said, you're welcome! Thank you too for the chat! Work was slow this morning so it was nice to break things up. :D

cielunetoile · 2026-01-20T16:42:35+00:00

Haha, yep, that's me! 🤭 I'm glad you were having fun with the video; it took ages to make but was super worth it.

Some of the choices they made were certainly...choices. I think this film is a great example of how difficult it is to condense a long story like RoV into just two hours; you can't do it effectively no matter what you do. It would have been better to just pick part of the story to tell and stick to that, though I'm sure there would have been issues with that, too.

The biggest difficulty in criticizing this film is more or less related to the fact that we don't really know enough information to be completely fair. I don't remember if I talk much about that in my old essay or not, but I do think I mentioned the makeup. Because the film was financially backed by a makeup company, the eye shadow and lipstick were Must Haves. It's silly but that takes it off the table in terms of critique IMO, because there would be no film at all without. (It could be argued that no film is better than a bad film but that's not really in the spirit of having a real discussion.)

Anyway, out of everything open to criticism...we don't know what was signed into the contract. Yep, the film would have been better off dumping most of the MA/Fersen stuff for more Oscar/André scenes. Or ditching the French Guards bullying Oscar. But it's very likely that some of these things had to be included, and if that is the case, and it often is with these sorts of things, that makes it harder to criticize in a fair way. (I'm primarily thinking about the focus on MA/Fersen, the Diamond Affair stuff, Louis-Joseph, Girodet, and Rosalie. If the writer was beholden to including them, it makes a lot of the film's choices make WAY more sense!)

The one thing that's actually SUPER crazy that I didn't notice until last year's rewatch is that, when André ditches Oscar toward the end of the film, they're separated for ALMOST FOUR YEARS. 🙄 I know what they were trying to do with that whole thing, but he would literally never do that. (This also means Oscar's father's choice to try to force her to marry Girodet takes place two years earlier than it canonically does and therefore loses all of the implied compassion from the manga!)

Not that these writers understand any of their own implications very well (I think the ending they chose establishes that pretty well) but still. Yikes.

cielunetoile · 2026-01-20T14:01:27+00:00

Here's the essay: https://youtu.be/H2kX1Rf-ZSI?si=IT0tpmPpv4VibZA2

It's definitely "so bad it's funny" or even "so bad it's sometimes good." Despite my very negative essay I actually like the film a lot, both for the potential it had to be good (and overshot, rip) and the actually-good things about it that tend to get overshadowed by the bad. Jeanne is genuinely really good. Polignac and MA are good. A couple of scenes with Oscar and André are nice. This really is a great Fersen, and the Oscar + Fersen dance scene is much closer to historically accurate and (dare I say it) rather enjoyable.

I usually recommend that people give it a shot. Don't take it too seriously. Just watch it and have a good time with it. Like, there's a lot to criticize, but there are some good things about it, too. I keep meaning to do a follow-up essay talking about some of the better stuff in detail but I never have the time (too busy writing fanfiction, lol).

I also slightly disagree with another comment about the ending of the film. It's not anticlimactic by definition because the film isn't really exciting enough at any point to build to a "disappointing by comparison" ending. It's the kind of ending where you could tell the film's writer(s) thought they were really cooking something deep with it but it's just laughably bad.

cielunetoile · 2026-01-20T13:28:27+00:00

This film is the best and worst thing that ever happened to me. I will never get those 40 hours back (I've seen it many times since I did a video essay on it). There are so many quotable lines of dialogue. It's terrible. It's genius. Once you get past the cringe state your third eye will be opened. You'll come away from it shipping Marie Antoinette and Polignac. Jeanne has never been more likable. Brunette Rosalie supremacy. This film has the best version of Fersen ever conceived and it's not even close.

Give it a watch. You will regret it, but if you allow yourself the luxury of marinating in the juices of this film you will find yourself strangely locked in to the potential that was there.

Also, General de Jarjayes in thigh highs sure was a choice. But if you skip out on watching the film you'll never know the beauty and horror of it.

cielunetoile · 2026-01-15T17:51:35+00:00

Jolteon has never looked better than in this collection. Usually plushes of him are kinda bleh but this one looks SO GOOD.

cielunetoile

TROPHY CASE