I’ve been wandering around Kalos because I decided to check out every corner of the region, and I just happened across an NPC in this random, blank building in Lumiose who said to me “When we live aimlessly every day, we sometimes feel so empty that we can’t even stand the color of the blue sky. I wonder if Pokémon ever feel like that, too.”

I don’t know what to make of that.

Well, I did it! Ran straight into the Pokémon League 9 levels underleveled, and now I’m the Champion again. And none of my Pokémon fainted fighting against Diantha, either. And I didn’t use any items in battle.

Just wanna say the names of my team right here in tribute: Swanna, Golurk, Toxicroak, Absol, Gardevoir, and Mega Lucario.

Just got to the Kalos Pokémon League with my whole team at level 59. Think it might be my first time getting there with all of my Pokémon under level 60. The levels are a lot higher in Kalos, I think. Probably not a good idea to jump right into the Elite Four, but I’m probably going to do it anyway and see how it goes.

My whole team just reached level 50 because of the penultimate battle with Lysandre. And I think that completed their movesets, because it let Golurk replace Magnitude with Earthquake and Absol replace Quick Attack with Sucker Punch. Very satisfying. I’m just going to bask in this moment for a bit.

I don’t think I’m going to be able to get a shiny Iron Hands. I don’t like its shiny, though, so maybe I shouldn’t be disappointed, but I think it would be kind of neat to have all of the Paradox shinies with my OT.

I just realized that I must’ve accidentally hit the thing that sets a plushie as one of your favorites at some point because I noticed that Squirtle was in there, which is kind of a weird coincidence because I did use a Squirtle for a while in my current playthrough of X but boxed it a little while after it became a Wartortle.

My current team is Ducklett, Gardevoir, Croagunk, Golett, Absol, and Lucario, and I’m pretty happy with it for the novelty because I don’t think I’ve ever used any of them before in a playthrough of any game except for Absol. Ducklett was the final addition and was twenty levels behind by the time I decided to add it to the team because none of my Pokémon could use Surf or Fly, but I had a nice and easy time getting it caught up by turning off the EXP Share and battling all of the trainers I missed from the beginning of the game with just Ducklett with those powerful moves.

Is there any part of any Pokémon game that feels as free and joyful as wandering onto that random ranch on Route 12 in Kalos and then running around on a Skiddo?

I still haven’t bought a Pokéradar. I wonder if I should get one and try to shiny hunt Giratina myself or keep waiting for someone looking to sell a shiny Giratina to contact me.

I wish I didn’t have to worry about tornadoes every time there’s rain.

What is wrong with Letterboxd? It looks like it’s been averaging a down time of a whole hour every day. They really need to do a lot better.

Are there any countries that are accepting American women fleeing Project 2025 as refugees?

15th Brute Bonnet, still no shiny.

... Once, I think I half remember,
Ere the grey skies of November
Quench’d my youth’s aspiring ember,
Liv’d there such a thing as bliss;
Skies that now are dark were beaming,
Gold and azure, splendid seeming
Till I learn’d it all was dreaming—
Deadly drowsiness of Dis. ...

Evil wings in ether beating;
Vultures at the spirit eating;
Things unseen forever fleeting
Black against the leering sky.
Ghastly shades of bygone gladness,
Clawing fiends of future sadness,
Mingle in a cloud of madness
Ever on the soul to lie.

Thus the living, lone and sobbing,
In the throes of anguish throbbing,
With the loathsome Furies robbing
Night and noon of peace and rest.
But beyond the groans and grating
Of abhorrent Life, is waiting
Sweet Oblivion, culminating
All the years of fruitless quest.

14th Brute Bonnet, still no shiny.

13th Brute Bonnet, still no shiny.

12th Brute Bonnet, still no shiny.

Just grabbed the wrong egg from the lab because I wasn’t thinking clearly because of a family fight IRL.

I honestly don’t know if I’m able to cope or not.

I just came within 14 minutes of losing my Duolingo streak because I didn’t realize I was out of freezes. I just haven’t felt up to doing it recently.

I just got a bunch of horror movies from the library, some of them classics I’ve known about for a long time but never got around to before and some of them new ones from the last few years. Spooky Season continues!

I also got a few different kinds of maple syrup. I’ve been pretty disappointed about the only brands I’ve had access to since my stash of the only kind I’ve had my whole life finally ran out earlier this year, so I’m still searching for a replacement. Unfortunately, I can tell already that they’re all going to be watery, still not like the thick, dark syrup I’ve been missing.