A story regarding one of my favorite Pokemon

Absol is my favorite Pokémon for a lot of reasons. Here's just one of them.

It was around my middle school years when I first saw Jirachi Wish Maker. And for me, middle school was downright awful. Bullies and bad teachers all over, and not one person understood my thought processes, since Asperger's Syndrome wasn't that well known at the time. I was the very misunderstood quiet kid. And then I see Absol on TV, and it looked so cool, and I heard it was also a very misunderstood Pokémon (sensing disasters misunderstood as causing them). I pretty much fell in love with it right off the bat. So, yeah.

 

My first interaction with Pokémon was through the TCG. I didn't obtain any Pokémon cards, but instead the trainers. The art was compelling, I loved the mix of 3D models and 2D art I was getting from the trainers. Lass, Professor Oak, Switch, Recycle..
I saw Kakuna, Magnemite, Weedle, but the one that spoke to me was Jigglypuff on Recycle. The round pink Pokémon was cute, but in this one image, it was defeated and sad, with bandages on its body and being held by a claw machine above a trash can. I wanted to see more of Jigglypuff, I wanted to see it happy, I wanted to know why it was (in my childish mind, not understanding the card's effects as I could barely read yet) being dropped into the trash.
So, in the end, it is thanks to Jigglypuff that I got into Pokémon. Jigglypuff, a Pokémon I now tend to forget/not use..brought me into this wonderful gaming world. Thank you Jigglypuff :') I'll be sure to start using you again, ok~? ;u;

 

Similarly, my first Pokémon interaction was through the TCG, although I played Diamond around the same time. When I played the TCG with my brother, since he was older and more experienced with it, I always lost. He was, like, 12, and I was only about 7. I didn't know what the heck was going on, what these pictures and numbers meant, or anything.

When I got Diamond, my brother also had Diamond. At the time, we weren't close at all. Always butting heads, always fighting, etc etc. Originally, I was gonna play Diamond out of spite, so I could be better than him in something, but I actually got into playing Pokémon rather than just using it as a tool to one-up my brother.

My favorite Pokémon is Typhlosion because my brother ended up trading me his Typhlosion so I could take care of it when he was gonna restart his own game (he had gotten the egg from a trade, I think). Immediately, I fell in love with this angry overleveled fire weasel. And despite the fact it was level 50 something and I only had 3 badges, it listened to me more than it didn't, and absolutely demolished any foe that stood in its way.

Funny enough, Pokémon is what brought my brother and I closer together. He would ask how Typhlosion was doing, and I'd excitedly tell him how awesome it was doing. So, yeah. Typhlosion was the starting point to the improving relationship between my older brother and I. So thanks, Typhlosion.

 

Let's see...where to start. I think it was mid-2015. My church has a youth house that all the teenagers (most, anyways) meet up at on Wednesdays and Sundays. We've got a Wii there and we play Super Smash Bros. all the time on it. I got pretty hooked on that, and my main guy was Falco. Now, I'd been into Pokémon before in my lifetime, but that was when I was really little, and I lost interest at around 9.

One day, though, I remember fighting against Lucario. I hadn't really ever took the time to look at it, and I thought it looked really cool. I started using it, and I got really good with it. Most people had trouble beating me, and I really started getting attached to the character. I was a big Google+ user in those days (still kinda use it from time to time), and I was just getting into roleplaying. I made another account for that, and my character was, of course, Lucario. I started roleplaying with a lot of other Pokémon fans, and that's what really hooked me. I joined a lot of Pokémon communities, and met a lot of people that I'm still friends with today. But the most significant thing it did for me was bring @Luna the Espeon into my life. I met her in a Pokémon community in October of that year, and we really hit it off. We started dating in December, and we're still together today. Yeah, yeah, I know, online dating is dangerous, blah blah blah. Well, sue me, I love this girl to death and I wouldn't want to be with anyone else. It's been almost two years, I would have picked up on it if she was actually a 45 year old rapist by now.

But that's not the point. The point is, Lucario is what led me to rediscover Pokémon, which in turn gave me a new hobby, made me a lot of friends, and quite possibly gave me my future wife, and that's why Lucario still is and always will be my favorite.

Although, I gotta say, Zoroark is awesome, too-

 

Here comes the long rant.

There's this Giratina card that I got, and I really, really loved it. The art was beautiful, and I became oddly fixated on the form it showed, since I had only seen Altered before. I carried the thing around like a lucky charm; to school, to the store, you name it. At first, I didn't know what Giratina was, or even it's Origin form, so I thought I was holding this magical, secret creature that nobody else knew about.
I slowly learned more about Giratina, and how it was banished for violence, staring silently at the world it left behind. I felt a kind of connection with it.
I began collecting it, sketching it, battling with it more and more. I started calling the card Gira, as a nickname, because I was so young, I didn't know how to pronounce Giratina. When I battled with it, I started saying, 'Go, Gira!' as well, and it became a bit of a nickname for me. All the way back in elementary.
It's been years, and I no longer carry Gira with me as an object. But I still have that card.

Spoiler

#MissingNo

 

Personally, I love a ton of Pokémon, but Espeon holds a special place in my heart. I've always loved the Eeveelutions, but I love Espeon so much because of how adorable it is and, I mean, psychic power is pretty boss. But, of course, there's something more to it.

I'm pretty big on roleplaying. My very first Pokémon character I ever made was an Espeon named Luna. It was with a roleplay using her as a character that I came to know my amazing boyfriend, @Anubis the Lucario. I found I loved Espeon so much that I even made two more characters: two angels, one light and one dark, both sisters, and both taking the form of Espeon.

I've been through a lot with these characters, so they'll always have a place in my heart.

 

I got an Eevee Plushy from my mom when I was little. And then I started watching the anime and playing the game, not realizing that that is where Eevee came from until I saw the Eevee brothers' episode. That is when I got really hooked on Pokémon.

And in my Blue copy, I had a Squirtle for a starter, evolved my Eevee in a Jolteon, and needed a fire type to beat Erika. Note that I was five and couldn't read English. SO my brother showed me where he found Growlithe. Imagine my surprise when I found a little fiery fox in the same grass. I fell in love and to this day my favorite Pokémon are Eevee and Vulpix/Ninetales.

 

My favorites are all for relatively normal reasons. Design, stats, first starter, first ever seen, etc. All except two: Malamar and Poliwrath.

The former is because in Omega Ruby, the first Pokémon game during which I actually knew what I was doing the entire time, I was in wonder trade and received a level 100 shiny Malamar with Contrary and Superpower and an Assault Vest. I realize now that it was probably hacked, but I don't care because it has a legal moveset. So I challenged my brother to a battle and swept his team, including his Primal Kyogre. Since then I've known all the ups and downs of Malamar, and how to use it well, and now I love one of the most evil Pokémon in existence. Probably only second to Tapu Bulu. #TapuBuluIsAnEvilMonster

Poliwrath is different. In every generation I have played, my brother trades me a Poliwhirl nicknamed Hi, and I evolve it into a Poliwrath and use it on my team. I don't even remember why it still happens, but that thing is my go to water type for if I don't like any of the new ones. I treasure it because it reminds me of my brother so much and I enjoy playing these games with him.

 

I don't remember why I started liking this pokémon in the first place, but I definitely remember why Houndour has remained one of my favorites. When me and my siblings were younger, about 8 years ago I think, we frequently role played pokémon. We stopped doing it as we got older, because I was always the one that got the games going, and it was harder for me to come up with a good story when they all got older and started to form ideas of their own. We usually played eevees, but me and my baby sister had our own special game. She was my Princess Pichu, and I was her Houndour, her guardian and protector.

I don't think we ever really played a specific story, she was only three or so at the time, but we loved to play pretend. Even now, years later, Pichu has remained her all time favorite pokémon, and Houndour has been one of mine. Me and my sister are still close, but I feel bad that I don't have that same connection with her as I did back then. I don't understand why the age difference didn't matter when we were 3 and 13, but it does when we're 11 and 21.

Still, at least we'll always have Pichu and Houndour.