Leaderboard

"Great timin' Ari! There's some people I want you to meet too!" "There he is! Hey, Mom, let's go over there!" Ari tugged on his mother's hand, practically dragging her over to where Kazo and a couple of other gijinka were in his excitement. "Oh, who are they? Wait...Kazo, are they your brothers?" he remembered Kazo talking about them before. Feeling his throat choke up a little from nerves, the boy swallowed. He was nervous, but...this was also really, really exciting! "Hi, there! My name's Ari, it's super great to meet you! Kazo's talked a lot about you, Kazo's brothers!" Remembering the person behind him just then, Ari turned around to look at her. His mother was currently staring at one of the brothers--the one with the cape--with surprise, but after a few seconds, she blinked, looking down to meet his gaze with a gentle nod. Feeling a little more confident, the boy turned back to the three. "Mom, this is Kazo and his brothers. Kazo's the one I talked about before." He looked down shyly for a second before looking back up. "He's uh..." he gulped, before setting his expression into one of determination. "He's my big brother! And uh, Mac's cool too, but I don't see her here," he started to babble on, feeling a little embarrassed from his announcement and wanting to get past that point of embarrassment. He couldn't bring himself to look at Kazo's face. "I don't see her anywhere... Well, she'll probably come over when she feels like it. She's just like that." Right at that moment, actually, he caught sight of the Helioptile looking around the ship. "Oh, there she is! Mac, hey Mac!" he jumped up and started waving wildly up and down. "Most excited you've been to see me." Mac said as she made her way towards them. "About time." She added under her breath. "Hey, I've been looking for you--" Ari cut himself off with a glance at his mother. He didn't need to embarrass himself by getting into an argument around his mother. "Anyway, this is my mom, Leah! She's really really nice and never loses her cool and stuff!" He had seen other moms blow their tops, but she had never done so, taking everything in with a calm that could be almost scary at times. Except earlier, she had almost cried, which was even scarier. His mom never cried. Because of that, he was a little nervous at how she would take Kazo or his other brothers, but she had said she wanted to meet them, so hopefully, that meant she liked them. "Hello there, it's nice to meet you all," his mom said, smiling serenely at the group. It was as if her earlier, almost-crying self never was. She gazed at the four with inherent dignity and grace. "Though I've met one of you before," she switched her gaze to the Pupitar. "I'm glad to see you're doing well, Denku. Again, thank you very much for helping us all out earlier. Please pass that on to Beatrice and Fjanna as well if you see them." She paused at the second name, a look of respect flitting over her face. Then she turned to the others, "And Kazo and Mac, I've especially been wanting to meet you two. I've heard you've been taking care of Ariel, and I wanted to thank you for that. He is...a very special person in our home of Pride Rock, and to me as well." She glanced down at Ari questioningly. The Litleo, who'd been wondering just when his mom had met one of Kazo's brothers, straightened suddenly. Oh. Yeah. He never said it, did he? Ugh...hopefully this didn't make anything weird. Would the others think any less of him for not telling them before? He really was going to tell them, honest! But, with everything that was going on, it slipped his mind, and he also felt like it was wrong to bring it up when he wasn't even worthy of the title yet. His uncle James had told him true kings should go out and prove themselves worthy on journeys, so that's what he had done. It had been rough at first. There had been a trio of Mightyena that had chased after him for a bit, but he had managed to lose them in the end. "So..." he paused, trying to think of exactly how he'd say this. "Kazo, Mac, there's something I've been keeping from you. Well, not keeping as in I've been keeping it a secret on purpose! I really was going to tell you, but I forgot about it, and--no, that's an excuse. I'm sorry, Kazo," he looked down. "You're still my big brother, no matter what. And Mac, you're still my annoying--" "Ariel," his mother put a hand on his shoulder, "breathe." The boy took in a breath then. "Kazo, Kazo's brothers, Mac, umm...my real name isn't Ari. Well, it is, but it's not my full name. I'm actually Prince Ariel of Pride Rock. I set out on this journey to defeat Entei and prove myself a real lion and king!" He shuffled his feet awkwardly before straightening up with a jerk. "But wait, that's not important either! Kazo, Mac, I just found out! Kah might be a Godslayer! And she might be dead! I heard somebody talking about having killed her or something over in Mio..." he struggled for a second. "Mioter. Yeah! Mioter! That's what they said!" -- Easter had ended his conversation with Nine at seeing a familiar Flareon, though the conversation had already been nearing its end. He felt the familiar rush of affection overtake him at the sight of the other. It was him. Before, he hadn't been able to handle it, but now...he felt like, now, he was ready. If the other was fine, then, maybe...maybe they could start over again. "Wow, John Silver, is that you? It's been so long," Easter greeted. The other's confident smile remained the same, but there was something different about it too. It was...a little sad? "Hey, Easter," the other greeted. "Long time no see. I'm glad to see you're doing well. You look a lot different from before." "Oh?" the Sylveon looked down at himself. Overall, he still looked the same, so he wasn't sure what John meant. Unless he meant inside? Had that bled over into his outer appearance somehow? "It's not your clothes," the Flareon chuckled. "It's the way you carry yourself. Before, you were always leaning forward slightly, and your eyes were those of a beast's on the lookout for its next meal. Now...you seem more like a gijinka, less like a wild animal." "Is that so? I'm not sure whether to take that as an insult or not," the fairy type joked. "But I think I get what you mean. Before, I was always ready for a fight. Now, I suppose that doesn't mean as much to me anymore. Except now, I'm definitely ready to take on those Godslayers!" he pumped a fist. "But I'm surprised to see you here. You were never one for fighting." It was why everybody was surprised when they had started dating. After all, a pacifist paired up with somebody like Easter? It just didn't make sense. But it worked. John's presence had always been a soothing balm from the stresses of everyday ship life. He understood Easter's need to keep training and rise to the top and accepted him for it. "I'm still not," the man shook his head. "I'm only here because of my boyfriend. He wanted to fight, and I couldn't just leave him to do it alone." Easter froze. "Your...boyfriend?" "Yeah," the Flareon nodded toward a Manectric in the distance talking with a small Fletchling girl. "Met him a year or so ago, and we've been going steady ever since." "I...see," the fairy type struggled to get his thoughts in working order. "That's...I'm really happy for you." "Easter..." John looked at him with pained eyes. "I'm sorry. I didn't think--" "No, it's fine," the Sylveon interrupted. "I knew...you couldn't wait for me forever. I understood that. And after what had happened, I...wasn't in any state to continue our relationship." He shook his head. "I'm the one that's sorry. I left you. I left everybody in the S.S. Showdown. I ran away from my sorrows instead of facing them." He clenched his fists. "It wasn't your fault," John said gently. "You weren't the only one that left, Easter. You were just the first. None of us could handle being on the ship after that. Heh, even now, I still feel like I'd rather dive off this ship than stay another minute onboard, and I'm a fire type!" he laughed. "Really? Well, don't do that," even to Easter, his laugh sounded forced. "Anyway, I should continue making rounds. I think I saw Rei earlier. Should probably go and greet her." He began to walk off but was forced to stop. His wrist was being held in the Flareon's hand. Try as he might, he couldn't bring himself to shake it off. "Easter...I hope you find somebody too. You deserve it. Don't let this hold you back from anything, all right?" "...Yeah," the Sylveon swallowed, his eyes misting slightly. "All right." "Good," John nodded, letting go. "It was good seeing you again. I'm sorry...even if we're not...you know," he paused awkwardly. "You're still special to me, all right? All of us who were on the S.S. Showdown then. We're family, even if we're apart from each other." "I know..." Easter gave a wobbly smile. "All of you...for me too. Take care, all right?" he nodded. "Will do so. You too." "Yeah." The Sylveon turned away, unable to stand the awkward atmosphere any longer. As he began walking, not toward Rei, but toward an alcove on the deck where he knew nobody would bother him, he couldn't help the mess of emotions that churned in his gut. This was a terrible day. A small Eevee girl watched him go, her eyes wide. "He said Easter...is that...? Big brother?" But no matter how hard she looked, that looked more like a big sister instead. But...maybe that made sense. Her brother had been kicked out of the house because he would dress up in girls' clothes, after all. Her parents had refused to say anything on the matter, but that's what she had heard from some of the townsfolk in Northshore. If so, then wasn't this her opportunity? It was true that she had wondered if her brother would be here, but she hadn't held out much hope for it. After all, her brother had never been a fighter. He was good at other stuff, like math, playing the violin, and billiards. That was the only time her parents mentioned him to her, whenever they compared her talent to his. But they had never taught him to fight. They disapproved of fighting and anything associated with it like Chasers. But from what she had overheard...wasn't he actually a good fighter? If that was so, then maybe...maybe he'd teach her? Growing a little excited, she began to follow after him, but then stopped. "Never mind. I'll ask him later," she decided. Brother or not, he had just been dumped, so he probably wouldn't be in the mood to teach her anyway. "When this is all over, I'll ask. And maybe then I'll get to become super-duper strong like those gijinka that defended the town! Soon they'll be calling me Morgan the Magnificent!" Pumping her fist, she marched away, determination blazing in her eyes. -- "Well... no. Realistically, there probably isn't much left, if anything. But that's all the more reason to go back, see. I want you to imagine a spider's web that got torn down while the spider was out looking for food. The spider doesn't just sit down and say 'oh, I guess I'll just not have a web' does it? It builds a new one. So we'll build a new home too. If one little spider can build a new home from scratch, why can't we?" "A spider, huh?" Keanu scratched his head. "I'm not sure I like that analogy that much, but I think I get what you mean. You're saying we should try to rebuild our home, right? But what's stopping us from building a new one from scratch here?" "And that's where these legends come in. Put frankly, we're laying our lives on the line for a foreign region against an enemy far stronger than us. If these legends are really that desperate for help, I'd go so far as to say they owe us for saving their hides here. And if we scratch their back by getting rid of these pests, they can take a bit of time off to scratch ours by cleaning out whatever's been causing trouble back home so we can rebuild. They may even want to help with the construction if they're hard workers. Who knows?" "Well, put it that way, I guess that makes sense," the Raichu replied. "I don't know much about legendaries, but they're supposed to be really powerful, right? Maybe they can do something. But then again, weren't our own legendaries unable to do anything? After all, you saw those two--or maybe you didn't. But wait, you were on the same boat, right?" he shook his head. "Well, Solgaleo and Lunala fled from Alola as well. If our own legendaries can't do anything, who's to say these ones can?" Maybe this was pessimistic of him, but he didn't want to get his hopes up for nothing either. The Mimikyu did have a point though. "Maybe you're right though. Suppose it wouldn't hurt to ask them and see what they say." Keanu looked out across the ship to the sea. "The sea is so vast...even if these guys won't do it, it doesn't mean that there aren't gijinka out there that can and will help us. Worst comes to worst, we can just ask for a ship--maybe one like this--and set sail across the waves again." He laughed. "Well...hopefully, that won't happen. I like surfing, but you don't get the really big waves much 'less you're near the shore."

Alpha Team Karaoke It had been a bit since they had defeated Giratina and, for once, Lok was at ease. While things weren't exactly normal, they were at least peaceful. Still, it was hard to enjoy the change of pace after what had happened. What happened to Gwen still lingered in his mind - even though she was safe, things felt... empty without her. He let out a heavy sigh before his train of thought was interrupted by the message from the gods. He hesitated for a moment, contemplating staying home. He had missed the relative peace between then and now, and considered abandoning it all. However, he knew that wasn't an option. He had gone too far to give up now, and leaving the quest behind now after Gwen had sacrificed herself felt wrong. So, with a heavy heart, he accepted. And, as he did, the world around him vanished in darkness. S.S. Showdown Team Karaoke He found himself on a ship of sorts, with various gijinka here and there. He even recognized some of them from Juyu, which made him smile. One of those faces, however, was Fiona. His stomach turned - what was she doing here? Didn't she work for the Godslayers? He tried his best to avoid eye contact as Fiona gave her speech, although for a moment their eyes locked onto each other. "What..." Did she have a change of heart? At least that's what it seemed like what was going on. The girl had already betrayed his trust multiple times, but maybe he had been too hard on her that day. He really didn't want to talk to her, he knew it was going to be awkward. However, he felt like he had to tie up loose ends. As he was contemplating on what to do, he felt Nine pat him on the back, nudging him to go talk to her. He blushed. "O-Oh, yeah... I probably should, huh? Haven't seen her in a bit - crazy, she's here now huh? I never thought I'd see her..." He rambled on as Nine moved on to talk to others. He let out a sigh. "Ok Lok, you can do this... you've talked to a bunch of people before... just a simple 'how's it been' and you're golden! Ha... ha..." Nervously, he made his way towards Fiona, thinking about what he was going to say. Eventually, Lok found Fiona among the crowd. As casual as he could pretend to be, he walked up to her. "Hey... It's uh... It's been a while, hasn't it?" He said, with a nervous chuckle. "Didn't think I'd run into you here... or ever, really..." The worst thing he feared was happening. It was awkward.

So it needs a nerf, I see. And here I thought it be kept in check by the fact that DARK monsters with high DEF are rare, especially with 3000+ DEF, and you cannot even use Link monsters. How about spinning a card for every 750 ATK? That way the maximum you can spin with the first effect is 4, and the card costs 2 in a vacuum for a net of 2 only if you Tribute a 3000 DEF monster. It occurs to me I can make it require 2000 or more DEF, and apply the effect if you Tributed a 3000+ DEF, or maybe push it down to 2500+. That would make the first effect more potent and net immediate rewards while disabling you from Tributing little critters, but the gradual removal effect is harder to trigger. But then this approach feels like over-nerfing it.

Well, like you said, it's better than 0.

I guess this means I'm social distancing properly, right?

Shout Factory starting to release Kamen Rider in the US starting with the original on their Youtube.

 While Randy was still in thought, he noticed that Marie had found another familiar face: Morgan from Northshore. He was pretty surprised that she was around here, but at the same time, also felt like her life was put at risk here now as well. A sigh escaped his lips as the Incineroar shook his head. ...gotta look after her too, I'm sure. he thought, before turning to do some more walking around...when he noticed another gijinka. One he saw in Northshore as well. "...son of a..." he muttered, seeing the all too familiar form and appearance of a Poliwrath who was jogging in place. Apparently he was trying to get others to join him in a work out, much to no avail. Regardless, Randy made his way over towards the Poliwrath, smirking. "Having trouble getting anyone to join ya, I take it?" "No one here has the guts!" "Heh, harsh words there...but probably not wrong." Randy chuckled, flashing another smirk as he too began to jog in place with the Poliwrath. "See?" He said loudly towards those around him. "Learn from this man!" Randy felt really good about hearing this, not used to being praised like this...especially here in this region. "Well, can't say I half blame them. They didn't go through that bit of rigorous training you had me go through at Northshore." the Incineroar laughed, shaking his head. "Need to have you put them through that before they can even attempt this." "Need to start sometime. Why not now? May not get another chance if we lose. Though that's a big if!" He then dropped down and started doing one handed pushups. Randy noticed the Poliwrath dropping to a one handed pushup, to which he did the same thing. "Heh, honestly I doubt we'd be losing at all. Still, ya got a point regardless. Best start now...especially now!" "You got any friends you can get in on this? We could start a health revolution right here!" Randy motioned with his head over in the direction of the Alola gang, chuckling. "Over there. Though I'm fairly certain they're perfectly fine leaving this stuff to me. Especially the Raichu...kinda prefers the laid back approach." The Poliwrath started alternating which arm he's using. "No! That's quitter talk! You must show them the joy of a good work out!" "Yeah you'd think they'd understand that with the regimen you suggested to me while I was at Northshore!" Randy chuckled, swapping arms. "100 push-ups in the morning, the afternoon and the evening. And an extra 200 before bed!" "HaHA and that's only stage one!" "There's a second stage? And you didn't mention it?" Randy raised an eyebrow only to laugh. "You've been holding out on me? I feel insulted! Haha!" "Can't give ALL my secrets. How do you think I got these muscles?" He then flexed. Randy could only laugh a bit more. "Ya know what...that's a fair point. And honestly, at this point I figure I'll get there eventually...so go ahead and keep those secrets. No fun in just being handed all that!" Yeah...definitely swear that him and Charlie are somehow related...heh, wouldn't put it past Arceus if that was the case.

"Nothing comes to mind." Milla responded almost instinctively while still reviewing what she had on her mentally. Surely there was no pressing need until after their training and exploration of the ruins had concluded. Nomi too didn't seem to be in need of anything from the stores before they moved out but did manage to produce a bag of now partially melted marshmallows which she offered to the group. With a smile sneaking onto her face, Milla happily tore a bit away in a sticky mess before giving a little bit to Rondo who seemed fairly thrilled with the offering. The mess contained, the girl withdrew her Sneasel to his pokeball and the group began heading out explore and train. What first came into view were several, somewhat run down, stone buildings that looked long since abandoned. Beyond them was a field, and beyond that a large wall which was where the ruins proper actually began. Ever curious, Milla couldn't help but stop in at one or two of the buildings on the way over. Each showed a similar story. Whatever had been there had long since been taken away. There were stools or other stray bits of furniture and common household items, but anything valuable or interesting had long since vanished away. The curious nature of all this the girl pondered silently, not desiring as immediate an explanation as she had of the pillars in the desert. With the pondering concluded for now, the girl rejoined the group as they stepped up to the field that lay between them and the large wall. "Well then, no reason to linger I sup-" she began as something green stirred and suddenly jumped out at them. A wild Spinarak! The jump itself had startled her more than anything as looking at it Milla couldn't help but find the bug pokemon somewhat cute. Almost instinctively she reached for Rondo's pokeball before pausing, and reaching a little bit further. This was the perfect time to start training and her newer friends had yet to really catch up to Rondo's strength. "I-I'll handle it." she told her teammates, not wanting the opportunity to slip by. Though perhaps she was a bit too unaware of just how many pokemon called the place home. "Andante!" she called out as the Litleo emerged from her pokeball. Almost immediately she transitioned from content to nervous as she saw the Spinarak ahead of them and so she cowered a bit towards Milla's legs. "Don't worry, I know you can do it. You're gonna get a lot stronger in no time!" she offered to console the newest member of her team. As Milla herself struggled to maintain a bit more confidence in her words and actions, so too Andante now attempted to stand tall and face down the fearsome bug before them. The effort made her trainer's heart melt but it wasn't the time to lose focus. And so began the fierce battle of lion cub and spider. Flame and claw against string and stingers. Though really it was a lot of string. This bug seemed determined to stop the Litleo dead in her tracks. Milla told the lion to do it's best to dodge but when it seemed less than likely Milla called for an Ember. The string burnt away fairly readily but it still continued through the air as it caught fire, startling the already nervous Andante. At each scare Milla offered encouragement and each time Andante did her best to recompose herself and face her opponent. The call came for a Tackle which the Litleo undertook before veering off course as the bug readied a Poison Sting with the stinger on its head. Eventually Andante tripped over herself off to the side of her opponent as the bug pinned one of her legs down with another String Shot. Andante was very clearly not having a fun time by this point as she scrambled to free her leg as the Spinarak approached. Milla issued another command, calling for more Ember. The words helped the Litleo decide what to do as she took aim at the approaching bug and found a successful hit. The Spinarak very definitely did not appreciate the fire to its face and it backed off as it took the hit. Another order and again the Litleo fired Ember, her confidence building seeing how the hits impacted her opponent. Very clearly struggling, the Spinarak suddenly charged in, stinger leading the way, looking to poison the impaired Litleo who continued struggling, just barely pulling her stuck leg off the ground in time to move out of the way and this time actually land a solid Tackle. The Spinarak could take no more and so fainted where it stood. Trainer and pokemon alike looked on for a moment to make sure the battle was actually done before Andante took off running toward Milla, jumping into her arms and burying her face in her trainer. "There there, you did great!" Milla assured her pokemon as she looked her over for injuries while attempting to console her. At the least she needed to get the string shot residue off of her back paw. Another sticky situation this one was but nothing too difficult. Andante seemed on the verge of tears from the experience which only melted Milla's heart further. "There's nothing to worry about, you didn't even get hurt. You're a lot stronger than you think." she said with a soft smile as she pet the Litleo's head a few times to calm her down from her victory. While helping her nervous wreck of a pokemon she looked around to establish where her teammates were and what they'd gotten up to during the battle of the ages.

The first bit is a bit too wordy. If it is your monster that is attacking, it means it is your turn so ALL Quick Play Spells can be activated from your hand when it is your turn.... Also, I think if you write the DEF changing effect after the "no effects can be used" effect, your first effect will always be live, while the second one won't matter if it does or doesn't so you won't need to specify anything about a Link's lack of DEF. All in all the effect could look more or less like this: If a monster you control battles an opponent's monster: Until the end of the battle, your opponent cannot activate monster effects and the effect of your opponent's battling monster is negated. Also, your monster gains ATK equal to half of the battling monster's original DEF (if any) +500, during Damage Calculation only. I went ahead and put the 500 at the end as part of the ATK to help your monster a little bit to survive more often, and because you needing to inflict battle damage to make 500 effect damage afterwards doesn't really benefit from jumping over the battle damage reductors like Waboku or Kuriboh anyways. The way you had it could trigger effects that work off effect damage taking place but stuff like "Dark Room of Nightmare" isn't very promising on its own in my opinion.... All in all, the card is pretty solid. We are looking at consistent +1000 or 2000 ATK and the same effect cancellation from Odd-Eyes Meteorburst Dragon, which are pretty potent.