[Meta Thread] Pokerole Mystery Dungeon: Primal Shadows

[PhantomUnderYourDesk]

You know, I'm suddenly feeling nostlagic for the Skull Ruins campaign, so fo curiousity's sake and just for fun to ask everyone: what were your favorite Pokemon in it? Specifically:

1. Your personal favorite among the many Pokemon your PCs owned
2. Your favorite from each PC
3. Your favorite Pokemon from an Encounter
4. Your favorite Plot Deviced Pokemon

That was quite fun to think about!~ And it did bring back some more or less bittersweet nostalgic feelings - oh the memories attached to that campaign, some great ones and some not-so-great ones. While yes we did have some problems within the party (in-chara) and between ourselves (outta-chara) that cannot be denied, it's kind of amazing how things have developed by now since starting to RPwithin this mere forum. Uhm, that being said, a big thank you t y'all, just because.

To not clogg this thread with potential text walls, I'll answer to each question behind its own spoiler tag:

1. Your personal favorite among the many Pokemon your PCs owned

That's...not that easy to answer as there are many Pokemon Shiva has captured and/or befriended over the course of the story that are still close to my heart and would consider personal faves, independent of how often they were in her party or how often/not often they got to battle. On the highest spot of the ladder are definitely Primal Eevee, Delphox and Azumarill though:

Primal Eevee (being a Primal Espeon currently after having evolved into Primal Glaceon, with plans of the final evolution being a Primal Jolteon) has a plain awesome diversity and potential within itself, being able to evolve three times and therefor making it possible to build up a movepool that'd be unique af and suprise a foe with ease. Trainer tries to counter my Primal Eeveelution with a Pokemon of a Type that's SE against it? Watch me having an ace up my sleeve by displaying a move that for example Espeon could never have, like Ice Shard and Icy Wind from the time it were a Primal Glaceon. Plus playing with such a Pokemon is simply enjoyable due to my personal fondness of Eeevee and Eeveelutions.
Delphox...was a wishlist 'Mon, everything about that furry mage matched Shiva, basically screaming for her training one of these foxes. I'm glad that this wish got fulfilled relatiely early and in a cool way even if thinking back to how Shiva has encountered Fennekin, the evolution process was fun to follow, and I always enjoyed interacting and battling with him; not only did it became of of Shiva's strongest Pokemon eventually but also one that fits her interests and personality all too well. Awesome synergy alongside Nightshade (Cherrim) too, due to Sunny Day + Delphox's Fire typ'd moves being boosted + Cherrim's Flowe Gift ability!~
Azu is another Pokemon that joined Shiva pretty early, and over the course of the game became the powerhouse! Starting out as a tiny and meek mouse that hid away in a top hat (or Shiva's sleeve) it became a brave and confident Azumarill in the long run, which is...similar how Shiva herself grew slowly but steady. It was far from an easy journey for both but they made it together eventually, especially since Azurill started out with -1(!)Happiness and ended up with full 5 Happiness and Loyality.

2. Your favorite from each PC

I've kept track of who caught what Pokemon in a seperate tab in my charasheet, both because I enjoy documenting things like that and because it was convenient for potential trades + planning out our party of six Pokemon together in MetaThread before important trips where a PC would be unaccessible. No particlar order:

-Heart: That's a tie between Axew --> Fraxure --> Haxorus (Koa) for how that Pokemon really fits Heart me feels + the rivalry between that dragon and Shiva's Cottonee --> Whimsicott was fun to roleplay as well as that Electric/Poison type'd Pikachu (Inthra) he caught in the Safari Zone. Sad that this one didn't get that much of the spotlight.

-Nathan: Hands down, it's Calam (Absol). Really enjoyed how that Pokemon was introduced early, followed us around all silently and had their purpose/intentions releaveled muchhhh later, that's something I really like in roleplays. Bonus: While I really disliked all the in-chara drama that Delta Houndour (Orthros) from the scary dreamworld brought the Ventus and Shiva and how the encounter with the Houndours there traumatized these two, I outta-chara liked how Nathan was non-condemning towards that doggo and treated him like any other Pokemon.

-Ventus: Ekans --> Arbok (Aspis), that poisonous snake that matched Ven's person sooo well, slightly more than Togekiss (Raphael) even which is a very very close second favorite. Battlewise Aspis was amazing with her elemental bites attacks, she helped us as a party out of complex situations more than once, and I really really liked how Ventus managed to bond with such a at first glance 'dangerous' Pokemon and how protective she eventually became towards him.

-Terra: That's an easy one, it's Flygon (Genie) that fairy-like desert dragon with her mind focused on mischief. I loved that scene where Shiva and Genie played hide-and-seek and how she managed to have a ride on Genie's back much to Terra's suprise, given Genie - if I remember that correctly - lets not even Terra on her back.

-Spira: Dusknoire (Toya). Might be that I'm biased due to loving Dusknoire's character in the Explorers of Time/Darkness/Sky, but something about that ghost by Spira's side makes me really like him. His protective Bannette Noire is a close second.

Dies Irae, Larry, Nylon and Sage were too little involved with their Pokemon for me to properly decide on a favorite 'Mon of theirs, sorry about that!

3. Your favorite Pokemon from an Encounter

For that question I will consider solely encounters I took, for the sole reason that these are the ones I at least remember properly, my memory on what encounters everyone else took is too foggy already, sorry again!

Either way, it's that strange genetically-drifted Poochyena with tiny tiny bioluminescent Butterfree-wings on his back that Shiva met on Route 4, which eventually became her strong, loyal and special butterwolfly. Loved how over the course of the story Shiva managed to learn more about how hat Poochyena was a uique phenotype and how it played into her interest and upcoming career in Pokemon Breeding.
A close second is that Espurr from the same dreamworld these Delta Houndours roamed, enjoyed how she met that once and convinced him to come along with her (which was, by solely appearing protective when Espurr was chased by one of the deltadogs and a lucky roll caused Espurr to jump into her opened arms).

4. Your favorite Plot Deviced Pokemon

That's a question I can answer relatively easy, as for me it's that huge Arcanine we met down the Crater of Myth, that one that took care of Eggs from - in our time - endangered species of Pokemon. That one that made us pledge when we took some of the Eggs with us (I remember me having gotten the Egg of Minicorn + Flabebe, nathan the one of Dratini and the Megastone for Absol and Heart the Egg of Moltres) in the hope of working on a slow but stead repopulation of the Pokemon in question. Such a graceful and majestic Pokemon with a purpose that I found the most interesting and meaningful, the scene with that Arcanine were to me emotional (in a positive way) and not easy to play, yet I loved it to bits.