Social NintenZone Social 4 - Bring It In, Guys!

[Robert of Normandy]

So when I ate dinner tonight, I noticed this in the newspaper my parents left on the counter...

Spoiler

 

[Yomi's Biggest Fan]

I had no idea what that was, so I looked it up.
Why does it exist? Why do people have to know it exists?

Ironic ****posting, no other reason than that.

Or just to annoy the hell out of people. Silva especially loves making high quality rips of that song.

 

[kylexv]

I'm working on something game releated but I need inspiration.

What do you think the biggest things to happen in gaming this year were?

I'll throw my hat in the ring.

Overwatch: Like others have said, Overwatch is huge. More than 15 million players across all platforms is something that doesn't happen every day. Also, this is Blizzard's first new IP in seventeen years. There's that too.

Pokemon GO: Talk about a huge fad. It seemed like everyone was playing it the first few weeks of its release, and that includes people who have never heard of Pokemon.

No Man Sky: Widely talked about in the gaming community, but for the wrong reasons. Was way too overhyped before release.

The Inevitable Reveal of the NX: Hasn't happened yet, but when it does, I guarantee you it will be huge.

EDIT: SFV EVO on ESPN: Hype seeing a fighting game on national television.

 

[Wario Bros.]

The reason I know about "I Play Pokémon GO Everyday" is "thanks" to SiivaGunner.

Now I sometimes get that song stuck in my head.

 

[Substitution]

So when I ate dinner tonight, I noticed this in the newspaper my parents left on the counter...

Spoiler

Ah yes. Because truly trying to get "hip" and "jiggy" with the kids is how you go about it.
It's worked so many times in the past. Truly.

 

[A Distant Demon]

So when I ate dinner tonight, I noticed this in the newspaper my parents left on the counter...

Spoiler

@Dr. FalКoopa do you know anything about this?


also lol. So many lols.

 

[Erureido]

As I promised, here's my review/thoughts about the last two episodes of the Team Flare arc of Pokemon XY&Z.

For starters, it was a great conclusion! The action was probably even better than the Kalos League finals if I had to be honest, and there were even some pretty dark moments. Yet again, the anime expands on certain details that were never explained in the games.

Let's start with episode 42.

Spoiler: Thoughts on episode 42

The episode starts out with Ash and Alain finally defeating Lysandre's Mega Gyarados with the help of a combined attack from Pikachu, Ash-Greninja, and Mega Charizard. Upon defeat, a dark moment happens afterward. Lysandre walks to the edge of Prism Tower, stretches his hands, and falls off. Greninja tries to save him using its tongue, but it barely misses. As he falls, Lysandre looks perfectly content.

The anime has never a suicide like this until this moment, but considering that Lysandre looked content as he fell, it was clear that he was going to come back, or at least he had a plan B now that the two Zygardes have regained themselves.

We now see what else is going on within the Lysandre Labs. We first see more of Team Rocket vs Mable and Celosia. The battle ends with Wobbuffet using Mirror Coat to counter Weavile and Drapion's attacks, defeating them. James then does the good l' Team Rocket trick and fires a net from the Rocket net gun to trap Mable, Celosia, and their Pokemon. It was nice to see Wobbuffet have some action for once!

We then see Serena, Mairin, Sycamore, and Steven gaining access to the Megalith room. Steven tries to deactivate the machine that houses the Megalith, but it is no use. The Megalith suddenly absorbs Mairin's Chespin. The group escapes despite Mairin's reluctancy. Immediately following that, the Megalith transforms into a Zygarde-like creature, with its transformation destroying the entire Lysandre Labs in the process. Team Rocket also manages to escape and reach the helicopter, and so does the rest of Team Flare.

We don't see Mable and Celosia escape though, probably because they were still trapped by Team Rocket's nets when that happened. RIP Mable and Celosia. Another pretty dark moment just thinking about that.

Back at Lumiose City, Squishy meets up with Z2 and tries to convince it to tag along, but Z2 refuses because it still thinks humans are foolish and destructive, and its ideology is reinforced thanks to how Team Flare exploited it. Squishy can't seem to convince Z2, but that's where Bonnie comes to the rescue. She reaches out as her usual self and plays with it similar to how it first met Squishy, thus convincing Z2 to join forces amongst our allies.

Meanwhile, Ash and Alain reach the inside of Prism Tower. They notice Clemont looking emotionally silent, and they figure out the reason once they see Clembot's destroyed remains. Clemont turns his head and states that he is ready to fight to save the world, and he, Ash, and Alain meet up with Bonnie, the two Zygardes, and Blaziken Mask to ride a helicopter to reach the location of the advancing Megalith.

We now see Serena's group on Steven's copter, chasing after the Megalith Zygarde. The Megalith is moving at an alarming rate. Professor Sycamore relays the information to Ash's group, and reveals where Megalith Zygarde is heading. It is here where the anime expands on another big detail that was never explained in the games.

Remember the Sundial in Anistar City? Fans theorized what its entire purpose is. People have speculated there could be a Moondial version of it, or it could be connected to Mega Evolution, etc. However, none of those fan-made theories turned out to be true.

As it turns out, the Sundial is actually an explosive crystal, and the Megalith is related to it (perhaps it's made of the same material). That's because the Megalith Zygarde is moving towards the Sundial. As the Megalith moves closer to it, the Sundial starts to glow in a bright red color. The closer the Megalith gets, the hotter the Sundial becomes. The Sundial becomes so hot that it even melts the walk-around extension surrounding it.

It is there that Lysandre's fall-back plan is revealed: he wants to use the Megalith to crash it into the Sundial, triggering a massive explosion that would end all life on the planet similar to an astroid collision. It's also revealed that Lysandre was never helping Chespin. He was actually preparing it to be the Megalith's vessel. Back in Mega Evolution Act IV, Chespin manages to save Squishy from the experiments conducted onto it, but it did so at the cost of going into a coma. Squishy was supposed to be the original vessel for the Megalith, but now that Squishy escaped and Chespin ended up absorbing the energy that was supposed to used onto Squishy, Lysandre was actually using Mairin's Chespin instead. The Mega Evolution energy Alain gathered was not only used to power up the machine to control the Zygardes, but also for the Megalith.

It is now a race agains the clock to stop the Megalith Zygarde from reaching the Sundial. Serena summons Braixen, Sycamore summons Garchomp, and Stevens summons Metagross. The latter two Mega Evolve their Pokemon, and Braixen hops on Mega Metagross. The three work together to stop any incoming vines, but the Mega Metagross and Mega Garchomp get captured by two unexpected vines, causing Braixen to fall. It is then that Mega Charizard and Pikachu swoop in to the rescue to save it, revealing that Ash's group has reached Serena's group! Serena and Mairin both react with happiness.

Ash Greninja then leaps out of the helicopter like a skydiving boss and free falls toward the Megalith. Charizard, Metagross, and Garchomp continue to pursue it as well. Greninja then throws the Water Shuriken from its back, and it makes contact with the Megalith's core. As it and the other four Pokemon try to fire multiple attacks onto it, they are all caught by unexpected vines. Things look naught...

Suddenly, a gigantic beam fires at the Megalith Zygarde, halting it. The source of this beam is revealed to be...

Yep, all the Kalos Gym Leaders have arrived to help our heroes! What happened in the Black and White games is now happening in the anime! Not going to lie, but I felt a rush of nostalgia as I heard the first XY opening theme, Volt, play in the background. It only made the scene even more awesome! My only complaint with this moment is that I don't think they had to do a montage of all the Gym Leaders' names. We already know who they are.

Steven and Diantha meet up with each other, both discussing their willingness to help out. I can already imagine fans shipping the two together, especially with the events of the following episode. Korrina also meets up with Ash for a short reunion, with Olympia tagging along to state their reasons for helping.

It is around there the episode ends.

And things get even better with episode 43

Spoiler: Thoughts on episode 43

The episode continues right where it left off. With Ash's group and Serena's group now reaching the Kalos Gym Leaders + Diantha with Greninja, Pikachu, Metagross, Garchomp, and Charizard freed from the vines, it is now time for the real final showdown. Ash and Alain decide to run towards the core of the Megalith Zygarde, figuring out they need to get Mairin's Chespin out of there first. As they run toward it, the vines try to stop them, but they got Greninja, Pikachu, Charizard to stop them. However, there are a few moments where it becomes overwhelming for them, and this is where the Kalos Gym Leaders kick in. Each one helps Ash and Alain proceed by taking out a few vines with their signature Pokemon. The Gym Leaders get trapped by the vines in the process, but it is enough help to allow Ash and Alain to move forward.

In this entire moment, Viola and Grant work together to help Ash, but both get captured by the same vines in the process.

Man, the anime sure wants Viola x Grant to be a thing. Nothing against it though. We knew they had chemistry together since the Battle Chateau episode.

Malva and Sycamore also lend a hand as well, but the two also get captured in the process. Even Team Rocket lends a hand with helping our heroes, but one of the vines strikes down their helicopter. Luckily, Diantha commands her Mega Gardevoir to use Psychic to save them.

Ash and Alain are now directly in front of the Megalith Zygarde's core. A few more vines attack them, but Diantha and Steven save them. Both also don't get attacked by the vines as easily as the others, and they end up being the ones to stop any additional vines while Ash and Alain navigate their way through the inside of the Megalith to find Mairin's Chespin.

While inside the Megalith, Ash and Alain have to dodge several crystals that emerge at a fast speed every now and then. It isn't long before they finally reach the Chespin. Alain jumps toward it, with several crystals about to poke him from below. Just as he's about to grab Chespin, we change scenes to see what's going on with everyone else outside. Blaziken Mask took an injury earlier as he tried to stop the vines, but as he gets up, his mask comes off. It is there that Clemont and Bonnie learn that Blaziken Mask was actually Meyer, their father.

The vines ultimately stop, revealing that Alain has successfully grabbed Chespin from the Megalith. He and Ash meet up with Mairin, who was waiting with Serena and Clemont, and hand Chespin back to her.

To be honest, I'm glad it was Alain that saved Chespin. It gives proper closure to his story regarding how he was doing everything to save Mairin's Chespin, and it reinforces the fact that he is the other main hero of the XY&Z series, not just Ash.

But the battle is far from over. The Megalith Zygarde suddenly reactivates, and Lysandre emerges from behind. It's revealed that he used his Lysandre Machine to power it back up, thus allowing it to continue toward the Sundial. It is around this point we see that the walking area around it has melted off, adding to the gravity of the situation.

The Megalith Zygarde fires a giant red beam at everyone, but Valerie orders her Spirtzee to use Wide Guard to protect everyone. Despite the protection, everyone can still feel the force of the blast, almost getting blown away to be exact.

Everyone survives the beam and rushes toward the Megalith Zygarde. We now see Squishy and Z2 conversing with each other. Squishy tells Z2 that this is proof that humans are not necessarily foolish and destroyers of the world, but are in fact protectors. As it watches everyone rush toward the Megalith Zygarde, Z2 finally makes up its mind. It and Squishy call forth all of the Zygarde Cells from around the globe to join together. It is there we see Zygarde turn into its Complete Forme!

What follows is pretty awesome, one of the best moments in the entire anime to be exact, with another dark and satisfying moment at the end of the scene.

For those that want to know what's going on here, Lysandre tells the Complete Forme that it can never stop him, but we all now he is doomed at this point. He commands the Megalith to fire the same beam, but Zygarde counters it with Dragon Pulse, then manages to push the Megalith Zygarde back. Ash and Alain then order their Pokemon to attack Lysandre, causing Lysandre's machine to break off. Not going to lie, it was pretty satisfying to see Lysandre attacked like that.

Zygarde follows up with an Extreme Speed, blasting straight through the Megalith's core. Bonnie cheers it on, and she even manages to command it to use the final attack! We then see Zygarde using its signature move, Core Enforcer, on the Megalith. This attack destroys the Megalith and kills Lysandre. Yes, Lysandre dies to Complete Zygarde's signature attack.

Let me sum up why this scene was awesome:

This cute little character...

managed to command this awesome legendary...

to kill this threatening character!

Just let that all sink in!

With Lysandre killed and the Megalith destroyed, Zygarde reverts back to its two cores. Marion's Chespin wakes up from its coma, causing Mairin to burst into tears of joy now that her main Pokemon has finally recovered and returned to normal.

After that, we have a pretty emotional scene: Squishy bidding Bonnie farewell by recounting all the happy times and thanking her for the time they spent together as it and Z2 float away to another location of Kalos.

Here's the scene for those want to watch it. Again, a tissue box might be needed (I didn't cry, but it still moved me; then again, I'm not that much of a cryer).

And with that the episode ends.

So to summarize my thoughts about this entire Team Flare arc..

Spoiler: Summary of thoughts

Pros:
+Amazing animation
+Great emotional moments, some of which are even good contenders for the most emotional scenes in the entire Pokemon anime
+Serious dark moments compared to previous seasons
+Team Flare being WAY better handled/written compared to the games
+The Team Flare scientists getting good screen time compared to the games
+Lysandre being a far better villain than in the games
+Lysandre being killed in a satisfying fashion
+Steven Stone being an absolute badass from the moment he showed up until the very end
+Sycamore being a badass
+The anime actually making Diantha involved in stopping the crisis, unlike the games
+THE GYM LEADERS AIDING THE HEROES
+Ash and Alain getting equal amounts of screen time to show that both are the main heroes of the XY series
+Ash and his Greninja putting up an even better fight than the Kalos League
+Alain getting proper closure by saving Mairin's Chespin from the Megalith
+The anime expanding on Lysandre/Team Flare's backstory and details about the Sundial that the games never explained about
+Malva surprising the audience by aiding our heroes for good reasons when everyone thought she would side with Lysandre from beginning to end because of her behavior in the games
+Team Rocket having great moments by exposing Team Flare to the world by providing live coverage of the event (destruction of Lumiose City and break-in of Lysandre Labs) and aiding our heroes by defeating Mable and Celosia, as well as the final battle against Megalith Zygarde

Cons:
-Steven never talks to Ash about the time they met in Hoenn, not even following the Megalith battle. Would've been an amazing callback if they did.
-Looker didn't appear once even though he was in the games dealing with Team Flare.
-No Essentia, AZ, or Zinnia even though they could've been incorporated into this arc somehow (definitely for the former two, the latter not so much)
-The XY rival trio and Sawyer not contributing much other than aiding refugees/victims (though it's understandable why they were put into that spot, I just wish they had a little more screen time)
-Serena could've done a little more than just protect Mairin
-Pointless montage of the Gym Leaders' names

The first four cons are more personal opinion though.

In all, the Team Flare arc has to be my favorite arc in the entire Pokemon anime. I've felt so many emotions and even cheered for different characters as the arc developed. Today's episode even offered the perfect conclusion to the ultimate climax of the XY anime.

If the Kalos League arc disappointed you, I encourage you to watch the Team Flare arc instead. Way better handled than the League in my opinion, not to mention the events of the Mega Evolution specials and the episodes of XY&Z were leading up to this very arc, making it the true conclusion to XY's story. The Team Flare arc doesn't disappoint one bit! It feels like watching a Pokemon movie, a good movie to be exact.

 

[AwesomeAussie27]

Why, why does this song exists? Is this kid intentionally trying to be the new Rebecca Black?

 

[Robert of Normandy]

Ah yes. Because truly trying to get "hip" and "jiggy" with the kids is how you go about it.
It's worked so many times in the past. Truly.

To be honest, when I saw it, I thought for sure it had to be a joke, or a hoax or satire or something

I mean, it's just so ludicrous on the face of it.

 

[powerprotoman]

the diffrence between yokai watch 1 and 2 combat can be best described as
going from cheer leader to coach

yokai watch one had you
- rotate active party
- target enemies
- pop wisps
- use items
- use soultimate
- purify a inspirited party member

yokai watch 2 build upon this by adding the yokai watch zero which lets you
- poke inspirited enemy yokai to get additional rewards (once per enemy
- poke loafing allies to get them to stop and get back to fighting
- use a powered up M(oxie) Soultimate that drains the spirit power(sp) from the two yokai next to it

yokai watch 2 also adds upon the side games (including a top down diablo stype hack & slash..the mode dosent have online tho)
and adds online trading and battle (which funfact in yokai watch 1 they didnt have multiplayer period untill the westeren release)

now for thoes of you intrested in YW2 and think you need to play the first game to enjoy the second.....dont worry at all the first games story as far as i know and have been told dosent actually come up much if at all so you can effectively skip to the better game

 

[Chrono.]

Why, why does this song exists? Is this kid intentionally trying to be the new Rebecca Black?

Because bad music makes the internet go crazy.

Reminds me of this "experiment" some swedish guy did. He made intentionally bad music videos and the internet kinda blew them up, he later came up with another video stating it was all a prank (bro) and proceeded to post decent music.

Here's one of his videos (that's not his actual account though).

 

[Lord Dio]

I'm gonna join the bandwagon (I'm seriously late though)
Top 10 Favorite newcomers, who I want to see return in the next game.
1.
2.
3. (counting her as separate from marth)
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10

 

[Erureido]

I forgot to post my planned Sun and Moon team earlier in light of a previous discussion, so I thought I'd join in on the fun

-Popplio's final evolution
-Pikipek's final evolution
-Lurantis
-Gallade (as long as Ralts is catchable during the story)
-Lugarugan (Midday Form)
-Alola Marowak

Other options:
-Alola Raichu
-Mudsdale
-Vikavolt
-Jangmo'o (hopefully it evolves into something cool and is easy to obtain)

That's about it for what I have in mind so far.

 

[A Distant Demon]

Why, why does this song exists? Is this kid intentionally trying to be the new Rebecca Black?

Immediate first thought

 

[PsychoIncarnate]

Marxist communism is hip with the kids these days already

That's essentially what SJW's are.

With Straight, CIS, white males as the bourgeoisie

Edit:

Does anyone know coding?

I'm trying to make a texture for Minecraft and I can't figure out how to make variant textures

I f anyone knows coding, although this is assuredly different, can you check to see if I made a mistake...

Blockstates

{
"variants": {
"normal": { "model": "nether_wart_block" }, { "model": "nether_wart_block1" }, { "model": "nether_wart_block2" }

}
}


Models

{
"parent": "block/cube_all",
"textures": {
"all": "blocks/nether_wart_block2"
}
}

 

[Chrono.]

I don't really have a planned team for Sun/Moon other than using whatever current gen Pokemon I like.

But I will have Litten and Rockruff in the same team.

 

[Wario Bros.]

I have SOME plans for my Sun/Moon team but I'll wait when it's out.

I KNOW I want Alolan Raichu. I plan to nickname it either "Puka" or "Pancakes" (can't decide currently).

 

[PsychoIncarnate]

Turtinator
Werewolf dude
Lurantis
Wimpod evo, maybe
Snowslash
Vikavolt

 

[Lord Dio]

so far I want a lugarugan, vikavolt, mudsdale, alolan ninetales, and bewear.

 

[PsychoIncarnate]

so far I want a lugarugan, vikavolt, mudsdale, alolan ninetales, and bewear.

Vikavolt! That's my last one

 

[Jaedrik]

Today, I learned the original 1942/55 Salk and Sabin polio vaccine was developed using monkey kidneys as hosts. Despite Bernice Eddy, M.D.'s efforts to stop it after testing it on her monkeys and paralyzing them, and despite Dr. Ochsner killing his grandson and paralyzing his granddaughter with the vaccine, it went ahead anyways and nationwide inoculation resulted in tons of children falling sick with polio.
Eddy was taken off of polio research and placed on influenza, met Sarah Stewart, M.D., who proved that some cancers were caused by viruses and gifted us the tool of DNA recombination, and they discovered the virus Polyoma which causes multiple cancer tumors in small mammals. It was the first known single virus to cause cancer in multiple species. Steward injected suspended kidney cell cultures in hamsters and, lo, they got cancer. Vaccine manufacturers used monkey kidneys for growing the polio virus. Despite all this, successive versions of the Sabin polio vaccine had the same problem. An entire generation of millions was inoculated with cancer-causing monkey viruses.
The Nixon administration classified it, and polyoma was renamed SV-40 (the 40th errant virus the found in the polio vaccines, and oh what other horrible things there were...!).
Eddy gave a talk to the New York Cancer Society in 1960. Without warning anyone in advance, she said she examined monkey kidney cells in which the polio vaccine was grown, and found SV-40 in abundance. She forecasted the cancer epidemic we see today. When the cussing stopped, the National Institute of Health put her under a gag order, crushed her professionally, took away her lab and destroyed her animals, and delayed the publishing of her papers.
SV-40 is routinely found in human tumors. Vaccines that contained it were still in stock and were used up in 1963. I'm sure some of you have loved ones of that generation...
Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r8FCJ_VPyns

On another note, I'm playing Black 2 Randomized. My team right now is Combusken, Pupitar, Venusaur, Tentacruel, Excadrill, and Electabuzz. Oh and one of the first TMs I got was Giratina's Shadow Force. okey

 

[Curious Villager]

Hey just a quick question but I just want some opinions.

What do you look for in a good map design in an action/adventure game?

I've been trying to design a hub field for my project but I've kind of been drawing blanks though, I thought about looking at the Hyrule Field map from Ocarina of Time for some inspiration and see if I can probably come up with a hub map like that but I'm still not quite sure on how to approach this.

I've pretty much got a good idea on character and enemy design's but I'm reaching a bit of a brick wall when it comes to coming up with good map idea's so I thought I should probably ask for any opinions/advice on that.

Thanks in advance.

 

[Z25]

As I promised, here's my review/thoughts about the last two episodes of the Team Flare arc of Pokemon XY&Z.

For starters, it was a great conclusion! The action was probably even better than the Kalos League finals if I had to be honest, and there were even some pretty dark moments. Yet again, the anime expands on certain details that were never explained in the games.

Let's start with episode 42.

Spoiler: Thoughts on episode 42

The episode starts out with Ash and Alain finally defeating Lysandre's Mega Gyarados with the help of a combined attack from Pikachu, Ash-Greninja, and Mega Charizard. Upon defeat, a dark moment happens afterward. Lysandre walks to the edge of Prism Tower, stretches his hands, and falls off. Greninja tries to save him using its tongue, but it barely misses. As he falls, Lysandre looks perfectly content.

The anime has never a suicide like this until this moment, but considering that Lysandre looked content as he fell, it was clear that he was going to come back, or at least he had a plan B now that the two Zygardes have regained themselves.

We now see what else is going on within the Lysandre Labs. We first see more of Team Rocket vs Mable and Celosia. The battle ends with Wobbuffet using Mirror Coat to counter Weavile and Drapion's attacks, defeating them. James then does the good l' Team Rocket trick and fires a net from the Rocket net gun to trap Mable, Celosia, and their Pokemon. It was nice to see Wobbuffet have some action for once!

We then see Serena, Mairin, Sycamore, and Steven gaining access to the Megalith room. Steven tries to deactivate the machine that houses the Megalith, but it is no use. The Megalith suddenly absorbs Mairin's Chespin. The group escapes despite Mairin's reluctancy. Immediately following that, the Megalith transforms into a Zygarde-like creature, with its transformation destroying the entire Lysandre Labs in the process. Team Rocket also manages to escape and reach the helicopter, and so does the rest of Team Flare.

We don't see Mable and Celosia escape though, probably because they were still trapped by Team Rocket's nets when that happened. RIP Mable and Celosia. Another pretty dark moment just thinking about that.

Back at Lumiose City, Squishy meets up with Z2 and tries to convince it to tag along, but Z2 refuses because it still thinks humans are foolish and destructive, and its ideology is reinforced thanks to how Team Flare exploited it. Squishy can't seem to convince Z2, but that's where Bonnie comes to the rescue. She reaches out as her usual self and plays with it similar to how it first met Squishy, thus convincing Z2 to join forces amongst our allies.

Meanwhile, Ash and Alain reach the inside of Prism Tower. They notice Clemont looking emotionally silent, and they figure out the reason once they see Clembot's destroyed remains. Clemont turns his head and states that he is ready to fight to save the world, and he, Ash, and Alain meet up with Bonnie, the two Zygardes, and Blaziken Mask to ride a helicopter to reach the location of the advancing Megalith.

We now see Serena's group on Steven's copter, chasing after the Megalith Zygarde. The Megalith is moving at an alarming rate. Professor Sycamore relays the information to Ash's group, and reveals where Megalith Zygarde is heading. It is here where the anime expands on another big detail that was never explained in the games.

Remember the Sundial in Anistar City? Fans theorized what its entire purpose is. People have speculated there could be a Moondial version of it, or it could be connected to Mega Evolution, etc. However, none of those fan-made theories turned out to be true.

As it turns out, the Sundial is actually an explosive crystal, and the Megalith is related to it (perhaps it's made of the same material). That's because the Megalith Zygarde is moving towards the Sundial. As the Megalith moves closer to it, the Sundial starts to glow in a bright red color. The closer the Megalith gets, the hotter the Sundial becomes. The Sundial becomes so hot that it even melts the walk-around extension surrounding it.

It is there that Lysandre's fall-back plan is revealed: he wants to use the Megalith to crash it into the Sundial, triggering a massive explosion that would end all life on the planet similar to an astroid collision. It's also revealed that Lysandre was never helping Chespin. He was actually preparing it to be the Megalith's vessel. Back in Mega Evolution Act IV, Chespin manages to save Squishy from the experiments conducted onto it, but it did so at the cost of going into a coma. Squishy was supposed to be the original vessel for the Megalith, but now that Squishy escaped and Chespin ended up absorbing the energy that was supposed to used onto Squishy, Lysandre was actually using Mairin's Chespin instead. The Mega Evolution energy Alain gathered was not only used to power up the machine to control the Zygardes, but also for the Megalith.

It is now a race agains the clock to stop the Megalith Zygarde from reaching the Sundial. Serena summons Braixen, Sycamore summons Garchomp, and Stevens summons Metagross. The latter two Mega Evolve their Pokemon, and Braixen hops on Mega Metagross. The three work together to stop any incoming vines, but the Mega Metagross and Mega Garchomp get captured by two unexpected vines, causing Braixen to fall. It is then that Mega Charizard and Pikachu swoop in to the rescue to save it, revealing that Ash's group has reached Serena's group! Serena and Mairin both react with happiness.

Ash Greninja then leaps out of the helicopter like a skydiving boss and free falls toward the Megalith. Charizard, Metagross, and Garchomp continue to pursue it as well. Greninja then throws the Water Shuriken from its back, and it makes contact with the Megalith's core. As it and the other four Pokemon try to fire multiple attacks onto it, they are all caught by unexpected vines. Things look naught...

Suddenly, a gigantic beam fires at the Megalith Zygarde, halting it. The source of this beam is revealed to be...

Yep, all the Kalos Gym Leaders have arrived to help our heroes! What happened in the Black and White games is now happening in the anime! Not going to lie, but I felt a rush of nostalgia as I heard the first XY opening theme, Volt, play in the background. It only made the scene even more awesome! My only complaint with this moment is that I don't think they had to do a montage of all the Gym Leaders' names. We already know who they are.

Steven and Diantha meet up with each other, both discussing their willingness to help out. I can already imagine fans shipping the two together, especially with the events of the following episode. Korrina also meets up with Ash for a short reunion, with Olympia tagging along to state their reasons for helping.

It is around there the episode ends.

And things get even better with episode 43

Spoiler: Thoughts on episode 43

The episode continues right where it left off. With Ash's group and Serena's group now reaching the Kalos Gym Leaders + Diantha with Greninja, Pikachu, Metagross, Garchomp, and Charizard freed from the vines, it is now time for the real final showdown. Ash and Alain decide to run towards the core of the Megalith Zygarde, figuring out they need to get Mairin's Chespin out of there first. As they run toward it, the vines try to stop them, but they got Greninja, Pikachu, Charizard to stop them. However, there are a few moments where it becomes overwhelming for them, and this is where the Kalos Gym Leaders kick in. Each one helps Ash and Alain proceed by taking out a few vines with their signature Pokemon. The Gym Leaders get trapped by the vines in the process, but it is enough help to allow Ash and Alain to move forward.

In this entire moment, Viola and Grant work together to help Ash, but both get captured by the same vines in the process.

Man, the anime sure wants Viola x Grant to be a thing. Nothing against it though. We knew they had chemistry together since the Battle Chateau episode.

Malva and Sycamore also lend a hand as well, but the two also get captured in the process. Even Team Rocket lends a hand with helping our heroes, but one of the vines strikes down their helicopter. Luckily, Diantha commands her Mega Gardevoir to use Psychic to save them.

Ash and Alain are now directly in front of the Megalith Zygarde's core. A few more vines attack them, but Diantha and Steven save them. Both also don't get attacked by the vines as easily as the others, and they end up being the ones to stop any additional vines while Ash and Alain navigate their way through the inside of the Megalith to find Mairin's Chespin.

While inside the Megalith, Ash and Alain have to dodge several crystals that emerge at a fast speed every now and then. It isn't long before they finally reach the Chespin. Alain jumps toward it, with several crystals about to poke him from below. Just as he's about to grab Chespin, we change scenes to see what's going on with everyone else outside. Blaziken Mask took an injury earlier as he tried to stop the vines, but as he gets up, his mask comes off. It is there that Clemont and Bonnie learn that Blaziken Mask was actually Meyer, their father.

The vines ultimately stop, revealing that Alain has successfully grabbed Chespin from the Megalith. He and Ash meet up with Mairin, who was waiting with Serena and Clemont, and hand Chespin back to her.

To be honest, I'm glad it was Alain that saved Chespin. It gives proper closure to his story regarding how he was doing everything to save Mairin's Chespin, and it reinforces the fact that he is the other main hero of the XY&Z series, not just Ash.

But the battle is far from over. The Megalith Zygarde suddenly reactivates, and Lysandre emerges from behind. It's revealed that he used his Lysandre Machine to power it back up, thus allowing it to continue toward the Sundial. It is around this point we see that the walking area around it has melted off, adding to the gravity of the situation.

The Megalith Zygarde fires a giant red beam at everyone, but Valerie orders her Spirtzee to use Wide Guard to protect everyone. Despite the protection, everyone can still feel the force of the blast, almost getting blown away to be exact.

Everyone survives the beam and rushes toward the Megalith Zygarde. We now see Squishy and Z2 conversing with each other. Squishy tells Z2 that this is proof that humans are not necessarily foolish and destroyers of the world, but are in fact protectors. As it watches everyone rush toward the Megalith Zygarde, Z2 finally makes up its mind. It and Squishy call forth all of the Zygarde Cells from around the globe to join together. It is there we see Zygarde turn into its Complete Forme!

What follows is pretty awesome, one of the best moments in the entire anime to be exact, with another dark and satisfying moment at the end of the scene.

For those that want to know what's going on here, Lysandre tells the Complete Forme that it can never stop him, but we all now he is doomed at this point. He commands the Megalith to fire the same beam, but Zygarde counters it with Dragon Pulse, then manages to push the Megalith Zygarde back. Ash and Alain then order their Pokemon to attack Lysandre, causing Lysandre's machine to break off. Not going to lie, it was pretty satisfying to see Lysandre attacked like that.

Zygarde follows up with an Extreme Speed, blasting straight through the Megalith's core. Bonnie cheers it on, and she even manages to command it to use the final attack! We then see Zygarde using its signature move, Core Enforcer, on the Megalith. This attack destroys the Megalith and kills Lysandre. Yes, Lysandre dies to Complete Zygarde's signature attack.

Let me sum up why this scene was awesome:

This cute little character...

managed to command this awesome legendary...

to kill this threatening character!

Just let that all sink in!

With Lysandre killed and the Megalith destroyed, Zygarde reverts back to its two cores. Marion's Chespin wakes up from its coma, causing Mairin to burst into tears of joy now that her main Pokemon has finally recovered and returned to normal.

After that, we have a pretty emotional scene: Squishy bidding Bonnie farewell by recounting all the happy times and thanking her for the time they spent together as it and Z2 float away to another location of Kalos.

Here's the scene for those want to watch it. Again, a tissue box might be needed (I didn't cry, but it still moved me; then again, I'm not that much of a cryer).

And with that the episode ends.

So to summarize my thoughts about this entire Team Flare arc..

Spoiler: Summary of thoughts

Pros:
+Amazing animation
+Great emotional moments, some of which are even good contenders for the most emotional scenes in the entire Pokemon anime
+Serious dark moments compared to previous seasons
+Team Flare being WAY better handled/written compared to the games
+The Team Flare scientists getting good screen time compared to the games
+Lysandre being a far better villain than in the games
+Lysandre being killed in a satisfying fashion
+Steven Stone being an absolute badass from the moment he showed up until the very end
+Sycamore being a badass
+The anime actually making Diantha involved in stopping the crisis, unlike the games
+THE GYM LEADERS AIDING THE HEROES
+Ash and Alain getting equal amounts of screen time to show that both are the main heroes of the XY series
+Ash and his Greninja putting up an even better fight than the Kalos League
+Alain getting proper closure by saving Mairin's Chespin from the Megalith
+The anime expanding on Lysandre/Team Flare's backstory and details about the Sundial that the games never explained about
+Malva surprising the audience by aiding our heroes for good reasons when everyone thought she would side with Lysandre from beginning to end because of her behavior in the games
+Team Rocket having great moments by exposing Team Flare to the world by providing live coverage of the event (destruction of Lumiose City and break-in of Lysandre Labs) and aiding our heroes by defeating Mable and Celosia, as well as the final battle against Megalith Zygarde

Cons:
-Steven never talks to Ash about the time they met in Hoenn, not even following the Megalith battle. Would've been an amazing callback if they did.
-Looker didn't appear once even though he was in the games dealing with Team Flare.
-No Essentia, AZ, or Zinnia even though they could've been incorporated into this arc somehow (definitely for the former two, the latter not so much)
-The XY rival trio and Sawyer not contributing much other than aiding refugees/victims (though it's understandable why they were put into that spot, I just wish they had a little more screen time)
-Serena could've done a little more than just protect Mairin
-Pointless montage of the Gym Leaders' names

The first four cons are more personal opinion though.

In all, the Team Flare arc has to be my favorite arc in the entire Pokemon anime. I've felt so many emotions and even cheered for different characters as the arc developed. Today's episode even offered the perfect conclusion to the ultimate climax of the XY anime.

If the Kalos League arc disappointed you, I encourage you to watch the Team Flare arc instead. Way better handled than the League in my opinion, not to mention the events of the Mega Evolution specials and the episodes of XY&Z were leading up to this very arc, making it the true conclusion to XY's story. The Team Flare arc doesn't disappoint one bit! It feels like watching a Pokemon movie, a good movie to be exact.

I actually like the Gym leader intro cards, it was neat. And Zygarde complete's part was pretty good but also dark. And Steven could technically talk to Ash next episode. The episode ends with them all looking out on the sun rise, so it's possible the next one will pick up from there, especially since they are repairing Luminous. Perhaps they all stay a bit, or at least Steven. If not then oh well, but it be cool regardless. And no looker was disappointing, but at least we've got generations for him!

Oh and this is Bonnie in a nutshell:

Spoiler

anime spoilers for today's episode if you actually care]

 

[AreJay25]

Can you feel the sunshine, Nintenzone?

 

[SegaNintendoUbisoft]

Can you feel the sunshine, Nintenzone?

No, but I'm living in the city.

 

[AreJay25]

No, but I'm living in the city.

Ah, I remember the days of living in the city.

Makes me want to go back in time.

 

[Deleted member]

Can you feel the sunshine, Nintenzone?

Doesn't Wario feel that sometimes he just needs to run away?

 

[AwesomeAussie27]

Phew, never knew writing a defense for a character can take up so much time. I'll do one for Itsuki and maybe Tsubasa much later when I have the time to do so. Made sure there's more than enough American English and not too Aussie slang for the people of Tumblr to understand my defense. Hopefully more than enough Tokyo Mirage Sessions fans are overjoyed that someone was willing to step up and take one for the team. This ought to show them that the game and its characters isn't as irredeemable as Ride to Hell Retribution.

 

[Aetheri]

Hey just a quick question but I just want some opinions.

What do you look for in a good map design in an action/adventure game?

I've been trying to design a hub field for my project but I've kind of been drawing blanks though, I thought about looking at the Hyrule Field map from Ocarina of Time for some inspiration and see if I can probably come up with a hub map like that but I'm still not quite sure on how to approach this.

I've pretty much got a good idea on character and enemy design's but I'm reaching a bit of a brick wall when it comes to coming up with good map idea's so I thought I should probably ask for any opinions/advice on that.

Thanks in advance.

Variety helps...Hyrule for example usually has a decent variety of different terrain; from grassy fields, to heavily wooded forests, mountains and volcanoes, to frozen glaciers and tundras...

Looking at how some places are designed usually you have easy to traverse areas within or near the 'start' of the journey and often times acts as a safe zone or central hub if not leading up to such an area...Hyrule field being a prime example of this as you can access different areas from there...Other examples could be perhaps Tallon Overworld or Crateria as they once again provide a bit of a haven for the player while giving access to different areas in the game...

You also don't want too much variety of course...you want the different areas to feel apart from one another as if they are separate regions...You don't want to have grassy meadows just suddenly transition into lava fields (unless there's an explanation for this in the plot of course)...
Xenoblade X's Mira is a good example of this as each region is it's own continent and some areas actually have a pretty good variety of terrains within them (such as Noctilum) that actually still feel separate within them...
Additionally sometimes separating regions with 'natural' boundaries...such as mountains and rivers, can help separate them even further, perhaps even provide the player with a bit of a challenge to get from one region to the next...maybe there's a large canyon in the way and they need to travel through a cave to get to the next area...

Also sketching random shapes can sometimes yield interesting results...have a look at real geographical maps to see how the land, sea, mountains, desert, tundras, rivers, lakes, etc interact from above...you can start doodling random islands/continents while adding in some blotches that represent different areas...as well as some lines to represent boundaries, rivers, and countries...

TL;DR-you want to add an area that provides a more or less safe haven for the player, usually near the start of the journey...this area usually acts as a central hub (or at least provides easy access to a central hub) that allows for access to some other areas in the world...
Give yourself a decent variety of terrain but make sure you are able to separate them enough so that they feel apart from other terrains...Also don't over do it as sometimes less is more...
Study existing maps both fictional and real to see how the different terrains...
Sketch randomly and see what happens....a lot of game design you see are based on a bunch of trial and error and what we like to call 'happy accidents'...

 

[Chrono.]

Bamco sent out a 2nd updated PR for Digimon World: Next Order. No more PS Vita version. https://t.co/qOflNu70kB pic.twitter.com/OeZGQipIqh

— Gematsu (@gematsu) September 16, 2016

The Vita is just in a sad state of affairs huh.

 

[Z25]

My sun and moon team is mostly undecided, but I'll most likely use rowlett, rockruff's day evolution, and probably Alolan raichu, but we'll see.

And I'm watching the new steven universe and one of the characters in it looks like the main character from undertale...

 

[SkywardStriker16]

Doesn't Wario feel that sometimes he just needs to run away?

He's no match for that Tails Doll.
He really needs to work it out here.

 

[AreJay25]

Bamco sent out a 2nd updated PR for Digimon World: Next Order. No more PS Vita version. https://t.co/qOflNu70kB pic.twitter.com/OeZGQipIqh

— Gematsu (@gematsu) September 16, 2016

The Vita is just in a sad state of affairs huh.

Well, let's look on the bright side.

It got 2 brand new colors.

 

[Yomi's Biggest Fan]

Phew, never knew writing a defense for a character can take up so much time. I'll do one for Itsuki and maybe Tsubasa much later when I have the time to do so. Made sure there's more than enough American English and not too Aussie slang for the people of Tumblr to understand my defense. Hopefully more than enough Tokyo Mirage Sessions fans are overjoyed that someone was willing to step up and take one for the team. This ought to show them that the game and its characters isn't as irredeemable as Ride to Hell Retribution.

Well ****, I was wondering why things were too quiet during my conquest of having the perfect interview questions for this 9/11 artist tomorrow.

I'm quite curious to see what you've written for Maiko myself, assuming that's who you wrote a defense for. Strange, I've expected you to target someone more controversial like Itsuki or dare I say it Barry first before someone like Maiko. Glad that you are putting your page to some good use instead of there four characters having zero defense.

 

[Curious Villager]

Variety helps...Hyrule for example usually has a decent variety of different terrain; from grassy fields, to heavily wooded forests, mountains and volcanoes, to frozen glaciers and tundras...

Looking at how some places are designed usually you have easy to traverse areas within or near the 'start' of the journey and often times acts as a safe zone or central hub if not leading up to such an area...Hyrule field being a prime example of this as you can access different areas from there...Other examples could be perhaps Tallon Overworld or Crateria as they once again provide a bit of a haven for the player while giving access to different areas in the game...

You also don't want too much variety of course...you want the different areas to feel apart from one another as if they are separate regions...You don't want to have grassy meadows just suddenly transition into lava fields (unless there's an explanation for this in the plot of course)...
Xenoblade X's Mira is a good example of this as each region is it's own continent and some areas actually have a pretty good variety of terrains within them (such as Noctilum) that actually still feel separate within them...
Additionally sometimes separating regions with 'natural' boundaries...such as mountains and rivers, can help separate them even further, perhaps even provide the player with a bit of a challenge to get from one region to the next...maybe there's a large canyon in the way and they need to travel through a cave to get to the next area...

Also sketching random shapes can sometimes yield interesting results...have a look at real geographical maps to see how the land, sea, mountains, desert, tundras, rivers, lakes, etc interact from above...you can start doodling random islands/continents while adding in some blotches that represent different areas...as well as some lines to represent boundaries, rivers, and countries...

TL;DR-you want to add an area that provides a more or less safe haven for the player, usually near the start of the journey...this area usually acts as a central hub (or at least provides easy access to a central hub) that allows for access to some other areas in the world...
Give yourself a decent variety of terrain but make sure you are able to separate them enough so that they feel apart from other terrains...Also don't over do it as sometimes less is more...
Study existing maps both fictional and real to see how the different terrains...
Sketch randomly and see what happens....a lot of game design you see are based on a bunch of trial and error and what we like to call 'happy accidents'...

I see, thank you very much for the advice. I was mainly looking at the main field of Ocarina of Time as I wanted to create a hub map that leads to multiple locations similar to how the map was designed in that game, giving the player the option to choose which area's to traverse in their own order.

I will take a look at the examples you mentioned as well as the geographical locations in the real world in order to gain a better understanding on how to ensure that the locations transition in a natural way and see if I can doodle up anything that might work on a more detailed and larger scale.

Thanks again for the advice.

 

[BluePikmin11]

By the way I made a contribution to the UNDERTALE anniversary, I hope you like it:

I also got two of my favorite Nintendo games ever physically!

They work perfectly!

 

[AwesomeAussie27]

Well ****, I was wondering why things were too quiet during my conquest of having the perfect interview questions for this 9/11 artist tomorrow.

I'm quite curious to see what you've written for Maiko myself, assuming that's who you wrote a defense for. Strange, I've expected you to target someone more controversial like Itsuki or dare I say it Barry first before someone like Maiko. Glad that you are putting your page to some good use instead of there four characters having zero defense.

Well isn't the whole bloody point of the blog defending the characters you love that fandoms hate? Like hell anyone would have done the same for these characters since it's one of those Nintendo games that was begging to fall under the radar for the pettiest reasons (too anime, censorship, not dark enough, etc), even if they happen to be fair dinkum.

You bet my sweet *** I'm going to do the same thing for my two babies and the creepy otaku (even if he's far from my favorite character in the game). I bet I could gain me some traction or some new followers if manage to strike the gold well this arvo (afternoon). Those fans can grant me a sweet as ta (thank you) latter. Opportunities like this don't happen too often you know love?

 

[Deleted member]

Can you feel the sunshine, Nintenzone?

Yes, it brightens up my day.

 

[A Distant Demon]

Just beat Pikmin for the first time because of the Pikmin 3DS announcement (and a slight bit because of Source Gaming's Game Club)


Pikmin 3 is easily one of my favorite games on the Wii U. . .maybe even #1 because it is just so good. And while I have seen Chugga's LP that was yeeeeeeears ago so this was pretty much a fresh experience.

Compared to Pikmin 3 this game is SUPER clunky. You can't even switch what pikmin you are throwing. The only way to pick a pikmin to throw is to get one out of the crowd, or dismiss your whole army. It's awkward to say the least. The pikmin are also very very stupid. Many would just run and drown themselves or get distracted in the middle of running away or a battle.

But barring that, and a few awkward little map details and way more glitches than I expected (a mamuta, an enemy that is supposed to be only able to bury pikmin, flowering them killing 50 of my pikmin in a single swing, vanishing pikmin etc) the game was extremely fun. Good enough puzzles, neat enemies, very fun combat, and neat little followers.


Neat game. Would recommend and play again.

Got all 30 parts in 18 days.

 

[False Sense]

So are SuMo teams being discussed? I have mine mostly planned out at this point:

-Popplio
-Drampa
-Lurantis
-Salandit
-Mimikyu

Haven't quite decided on the sixth team member, though. I'm considering Lugarugan, but I'll need to see what else this game has to offer first.