My team that beat Leon in Sword+my current team.

I beat sword a while ago, and while I'm not the best pokemon player out there-I like to say I know enough to get myself through the main story. Though it's funny to say which pokemon took down Raihan for me.

Playing Pokemon, well I really do get attached to my team. Some more than others, meaning halfway through I'll switch out pokemon here and there. There's just some pokemon that are going to stay on my team no matter what, unless I do finally decide to delve into the world of Competitive play, but I'll save that adventure for something else.

So I'm here to show off the team that beat Leon the Champion, and are pronounced as Galar Champions.

Cinderace-Nickname: Reita

Cinderace/Reita has been the pokemon to get me out of the most jams in battles. With what I think is his most powerful move on his list as pyroball, I definitely think that pokemon beat aeigislash (?) for me for sure. While I'm not sure how well he'd do competitively, I'll definitely keep him on my team should I head that route as well he started out with me on my journey and I'm a firm believer of keeping a starter on your team.

I named him Reita because well scorbunny reminded me so much of the bassist of the GazettE. What with his nose bandage and what not. 

Cinderace is probably one of my favorite starters I've ever had.

Lucario-Nickname: Ruki

I'm not going to lie, I had two other pokemon with the nickname Ruki prior to Lucario, but once I saw him in the wild I knew he had to be on my team. It's almost a given with me, much like any eeveelution, that a Lucario has to make it on my end team. Like with Cinderace, not sure how well he'll stand up in competitive, but he's also gotten me out of a few jams.

I really love watching him in Pokemon camp. It's so cute to watch him Naruto run around the camp. Lucario is one of my favorite pokemon to have on any playthrough on any game, so I'm glad I got to find him this time around.

Ninetales-Nickname: Uruha

I never got a Ninetales on my first playthrough of Silver, and I never got one until after my playthrough of Y so I was always bummed about that. I never got to have one until my playthrough of Let's Go Eevee, and was so happy to find Ninetales while browsing the dens in the wild. Like with Lucario, I knew this pokemon had to be on my team!

Yeah, I know I already have a fire based pokemon with Cinderace, but I couldn't help myself. I definitely think out of the two Ninetales may be stronger as well.  Plus my Uruha is always a happy pokemon, he definitely does loves camping. 

Eevee-Nickname: Aoi

I was so happy to get a free Eevee just for having played Let's Go! Eevee, but when I found out I couldn't evolve him....I was a tad bit upset. I know it keeps up with the theme of the original game, but this isn't the same Eevee....right?

Either way I kept him on the team until the very end, may seem stupid to some people but I was hoping to find an Eeveelution somewhere so I could just trade them out. Never happened. But Eevee was the one pokemon who beat Raihan for me, at the very last second. He definitely earned a spot on the list, unfortunately I did switch him out eventually; but I salute you, original Aoi.

Boltund-Nickname:Jui

I might actually see some Pokemon fans scratch their heads at this one, but like Eevee I've never had the heart to take him off my list. He was there from the beginning of my journey, it seemed silly now to replace him with another electric type. Besides, I like the concept he has, and I know it may seem boring to some people-but there's just something charming about him.

I probably will replace him if I ever get my hands on a Jolteon, but for now Boltund is there for me and I wouldn't have it any other way.

Gyrados-Nickname: Kai

(Okay I can't find a good pic of Gyrados for some reason? I figure most fans know what he looks like anyway, so....)

Anyway, I did grab Gyrados out of necessity for the team I believe on the second to last gym. So I figured I'd keep him all the way through to the end of the game and he really did wonders for me. I did end up replacing him eventually for the legendary of the game, but Kai really did have a good run. I do send him on pokejobs often so he can stay in shape.

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So that's it for my original team, the one that shows up before I boot up the game now. They're the Galar Champions, the ones who really pulled it through for me! But I do have two on my team now that follow me post game, one of them I'm really happy having.

Zacian-Nickname: Good Boi (don't laugh at me lol)

I honestly don't use him much in battle unless I really feel like I need to get out of a pickle, but I really do love his fairy typing anyway. I find it interesting, and his one move Behemoth blade is an amazing move.

I also love seeing him in my Pokemon Camp, he just looks so out of place and honestly hilarious to watch him interact with the other pokemon.

Vaporeon-Nickname: Aoi

Ah the one who replaced the original Aoi, though I tell myself he just finally evolved into what I truly meant to evolve him into. Yep, I tried to evolve the eevee I got for free into a Vaporeon, but I wasn't allowed to do that. My boyfriend definitely laughed at me when I saw this one in the field and accidentally killed it the first try, but I eventually got him.

I haven't used him a whole lot yet or spent a lot of time with him in Pokemon Camp, but I feel like Vaporeon will do me well once I start trying to do Competitive. 

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I hope you liked this post, if not oh well. I mostly did it to look back on my team, I love them so much even if I did have to switch two of them out. 

Until next time. 

My top 6 vocalists.

I did this before, but because I feel like that list doesn't reflect what I like now, I'm going to just update it again. While I do have a lot of vocalist I like, these vocalists have a personal reason as to why they are on this list.

6. Taehyung of BTS

Taehyung really has a nice voice, a deep soulful voice which in all honestly goes underutilized a lot of the time. I know there are certain dynamics in being in a k-pop group, and I know recently Taehyung has been able to release his own songs and have more lines in BTS songs....I just wish they utilized his voice a lot more.

I really loved Singularity as a come back song, but that one didn't seem to get as much hype as the other members? Or maybe that's just my point of view as a casual fan. I do like the other's voice and they compliment each other very well.

5. Brendon Urie

I've seen Panic! twice now, and honestly waiting for a chance to see them again. I really just love Brendon as a person, and as a performer. I honestly didn't like the Me! song he did with Taylor Swift, but then again I'm not big into Swift to begin with so that could factor into it.

However, I believe Death of a Bachelor really showcases his talent as a vocalist and as a musician. 

4. Masato of coldrain

Another vocalist I would jump at the chance to see perform again. While I don't like putting him at number four, he would definitely be higher up if I was talking about strictly the J-rock/nu-metal type of music I usually listen to. However, I do like his voice in his slower songs, and once again like Brendon I love his personality.

I really liked how he vibes with his audience, I feel like if you experience coldrain at all it's best to try to experience them live. 

3. Jui of GOTCHAROCKA

Jui seems to have this charm to him, having been following him since VIDOLL I can definitely tell. While his vocals may sound like your typical Vkei band, I really do like his style and love listening to him. His vocals in the acoustic version of ASH is truly amazing, and I only wish to be able to see them live one day.

2. Ruki of the GazettE

I've stated before in the last list that yes, Ruki is still my favorite vocalist that is active in the scene today. I do hold a lot of respect for him, as his vocals have improved from his indie days, and I really love to hear him sing live. He's theatrical when it comes to his performance, and he does seem to take care of his voice. (Aside from the smoking, but he hasn't really smoked lately....I don't know.)

Anyway, I really feel like songs like Undying and Deux do showcase his talent very well. 

1. Isshi formally of Kagrra,

I feel like I've said it so many times before that Isshi meant a lot to me. He was the introduction to the J-rock scene for me, and honestly there will never be a vocalist like him. I feel like a lot of bands may try to emulate what Kagrra, did and maybe succeed-but Isshi added something to the band that was just very special and very hard to replicate.

Isshi will forever be number one in my heart, no matter what happens.

Here's to a new decade|Concert experiences in 2019 and planned concerts for next year.

I wanted to make this super personal, and super meaningful because we are going into a new decade.

But honestly, I'm so tired mentally and physically I can't even process what exactly I really want to say so I'm just going to go over a few favorite memories of mine.

This year I've only been to 3 concerts, which now that I think about it was my concert count last year so it was about the same. 

The first concert was One Ok Rock, and while I briefly made mention of what happened on my twitter, I never really talked about my experience seeing them. I'm honestly still just a casual fan, and one of the main reasons I decided to go was to support a Jrock band coming to Utah for once. I thought it'd be cool to see them, but I wasn't super hyped on being up front and all that jazz.

I honestly had an okay experience seeing them, I don't quite remember the opening bands other than Waterparks who I honestly wasn't impressed with. I don't know if the venue just had bad sound quality, but I can't say that they did because I was able to understand Taka when he sang. But the lead singer of Waterparks was just very hard to understand and I didn't quite like the crowd they brought in.

And One Ok Rock did a great show, I liked their set, and their personality on stage was cool. I just didn't have the greatest experience because of the girls in front of me. I know you get lost in the moment in concerts, and they're always going to be crowded no matter what. But I could hear them giggle at the fact that they were so tall people behind them couldn't see.

And the two people who were behind them? Two small girls, who were there with their mom. Their mom tried multiple times to move them so they could see, but the tall girls would see and move in front of them. I got so irritated with them, and slightly irritated with myself for not saying anything to them.

Then when the drummer threw their drumsticks they fell on me trying to catch it, causing me to fall on top of another girl. I turned to the girl behind me and apologized, asking if she was alright and she said she was. We looked to the girls who caused us to fall, but they only sneered at us. Yeah, not the greatest experience overall, but it was still nice to sing along to the Beginning.

Probably should've stuck to my plan of sticking in the back however.

The next concert was GazettE obviously, and my personal experience was great. I seized the opportunity to be right on the barricade on the left side, right in front of Aoi. (Olli if you're reading this, again I'm sorry for just running off on you lol)

Honestly the whole concert was kind of a blur, I do remember specific parts where I interacted with Aoi and he shook his head at me a couple of times. I did meet a nice fan next to me, and we had fun rocking out with each other which made the experience a lot better for me. I also remember during the last song on their first set (Unfinished) I got super tired and sank against the barricade, my arms just dangling in the front. 

Aoi saw that I wasn't jumping and clapping my hands with the rest of the crowd, motioned me to do so, and so when I did he nodded and gave me a smile. I also remember when they were leaving after Encore, I threw my fist at Uruha for some reason, so he kind of threw his back up at me. (I wondered if he remembered cause he gave me a look during Meet and Greet lol)

Meeting them was great too, I wrote a blog about that already, but here's a recap of what I remember. 

• With Aoi I said thank you, gave him his shirt, and said thank you again. I do regret not saying any more to him, but the girls in front of me were rushed so I thought we were going to be rushed. (I learned later we wouldn't have been, sad.)
• I barely remember Reita other than what he looked like up close, I said thank you to him and he said it back. I believe he put his hand over mine as I held his hand with both my hands though. I did get caught between him and Ruki for a moment so I just swayed back and forth. I still regret not seeing the Offspring the week prior to gift him with Offspring merch. Next WT.
• Ruki is the one I feel like I had the most time with, but the one I confused the most. I gave him a fennec fox plushie, but instead of just handing it to him I put it on the table and said it was for him. He went to grab it, but I went for the handshake (I'm awkward, so sue me) I was so relieved at how pleasant our interaction was anyway, as ironically he was the one I was most nervous to meet. 
• With Kai, I really had no idea what came over me, but the minute he turned to look at me from watching the girl in front of me leave I just shouted "Kai!!!" and like....threw my hands up a little. It was almost like I was seeing an old friend after a long time. I think that made him happy, and I don't really remember what I said to him other than 'thank you so much'. 
• Uruha did the same thing Kai did almost, where he watched the girl in front of me walk off before turning to look at me. Except he like.....slanted his body a little? I don't know how to explain it, but he stared into my soul a little and I was almost too nervous to even touch him. I did the same thing with him I did with the other four, grabbed his hands with both of mine and bowed and said thank you. I remember looking up at him as I came back up and he just gave me his squinty eyed smile he does so much and I said "Thank you" again before running off towards the exit. 

Honestly that was such a good experience for me, aside from a few things that happened during my Dallas trip. I felt sad walking away from them not knowing when or if I was going to see them again, but I'm glad for the experience nonetheless.

The last concert I'm going to talk about is Hyde. Unlike the other two, he was just an opener for another band, but I really did like his set and his style. I didn't get to see a lot of him as he played a lot in the dark with his mask being the only thing I could see in the dark. But Hyde is such a great performer I forgave him for that.

Starset's set was pretty good, but I left like halfway through because I had a pounding headache and I just couldn't handle the crowd anymore. I do remember some of the Japanese fans hounding wherever Hyde probably was staying during the show, and I kind of cringed at that. Reminded me of that video of GazettE leaving Dallas Bomb Factory, left a bad taste in my mouth.

Also reminded me almost of a Saesang (a crazy kpop 'fan').

Also before I forget, the first band that played in that concert did an awesome cover to Africa by Toto so that was fun.

That's it for my concert experiences in 2019, I did go off on the GazettE, but whatever. The only concert I'm hoping to see next year so far is Hayley Kiyoko, but we'll see where I'm at in life when that rolls around.

Until next year.

Reita's pokemon team

Reita-Gym Leader-Fighting Type

Lucario

• Reita would probably be one of the later gyms you visit, so he's got relatively strong pokemon.
• Lucario being the strongest, possibly the one he sends out last and ends up dynamaxing.
• Reita has a special bond with this Lucario, as they've been pals long before he became gym leader.

Blaziken

• Why wouldn't Reita have a fire chicken that is also a fighting type pokemon?
• Honestly wouldn't put it past him to spam flamethrower. 

Hitmonlee+Hitmonchan

• But of course he has the two OG's of fighting type pokemon.
• Depending on the game/adventure you chose, he could use one or the other.
• Favorable towards Hitmonchan however.

Machamp

• Reita works out with him all the time, probably why he keeps losing his pokemon battles. Too much exercising, not enough training his actual pokemon.
• Second battle with him he definitely buffs him up a little, becomes a real challenge.
• Reita definitely uses him on Battle Tower. 

Emboar

• Another fire/fighting type duo.
• Raised him since he was a tepig, was pleasantly surprised at his evolution.

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Reita wasn't too hard, I just didn't have too much to say about it? A lot of these pokemon I chose based on his personality as well, so that's why I included two fire type duo pokemon. Plus I doubt Reita'd be a hard gym leader to beat, even if he's one of the stronger ones. 

I just see him training for the fun of it, and that's why he's a gym leader.

the GazettE and their pokemon teams part 1 (Kai)

I thought of this post for a minute, and decided to make it a fun little blog post purely for my own entertainment. I did do a lot of thinking of what type of pokemon they would have, whether or not they'd be gym leaders, or just trainers as well. So that also went into the thought of whether or not they would have a more diverse team rather than being specific to one type.

Kai was thought out first, with the help of my best friend who's also a Kai stan.

We decided he'd be more Ground type, possibly even Rock type. I really just decided he'd be one of the first gyms, if not the middle that you visited on your journey.

Kai-Gym Leader-Ground type Pokemon

Cubone/Marowak

• Definitely would have cubone on your first encounter, but on your second it would have evolved into Marowak.
• Our reasoning for Cubone/Marowak is basically he's perfect for Kai, as in this alternate reality I think Kai'd be heavily into drumming and what better partner to have than Cubone?
• I also think Cubone would be with him from the very beginning, serving as one of his family's original pokemon who went on him on his adventures.

Nidoqueen

• He wouldn't have her on your first encounter, but definitely on his second encounter. 
• Honestly haven't thought of a backstory as to why he has her, or how she became apart of her team-but something along the lines that he saved her from some sort of abuse possibly.
• He's rather affectionate towards her, protective even though she can very well protect herself.
• She's a very fierce pokemon and is the one that brought them to be almost champions.

Flygon

• First encounter this was a Vibrava.
• Another pokemon that's been with Kai since very young.
• Usually the third pokemon he throws out, but considered one of his toughest pokemon because of his dragon typing.

Wooper

• Has him for the first encounter, but discontinues to use him after that. Though in storymode he's still seen by his Master's side from time to time.
• In possibly future battles, like a battle tower type deal, he'll bring Wooper back evolved into his Quagsire evolution.

Mudsdale

• Has him during both battles, including the possible Battle Tower match.
• Usually is the one he dynamaxes during battle if possible.
• Uses him as a means of transportation.

Sandslash

• Had him as a Sandshrew in the first battle, and evolved into Sandslash for the next two battles.
• Is usually one of his easier pokemon to get through if you use water type against him.
• If he didn't dynamax mudsdale, he could possibly dynamax Sandslash.

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Kai wasn't too hard to figure out, as I've always seen him with Ground type pokemon considering I've always seen him with a Cubone.

Because I haven't really thought out the rest, I decided to make an individual post for each member whenever I come up with a team for them.

So that's all for now.

Shoya Ishida+Redemption|A Silent Voice

A couple of nights ago I finally broke down to watch A Silent Voice on Netflix. I've always had the idea of what this anime had been about, but I really wasn't ready for all the emotions I was going to feel.

Given the flashbacks to understand the beginning of the movie and why the character was doing what he was doing, I actually didn't like Shoya. Possibly because I saw every negative trait that Shoya showed, in myself, and this held true until he got into High School. 

If you know the context of the story, Shoya is the one that bullies and harasses Shoko-a deaf girl who just transferred into his elementary school. While the topic of bullying hits close to home for me, considering my own personal experiences with boys like Shoya, it's his path of redemption that makes me wish that this was still true for me. Most of my bullies continued to either bully me or ignore anything they've done well into High School.

So why am I feeling like I relate to Shoya of all people?

After being shunned by his classmates, especially those he considered his best friends, Shoya develops anxiety when dealing with people. He shuts them out by not looking anyone in the eye, hence the x's that are drawn on each character's face, and he refuses to hear the noise that surrounds him. He refuses to listen.

A lot of the time, I feel like I've dealt with this type of problem. 

I went through High School like this, and it's his way of coping with his guilt from his past is something that I feel all too familiar with. 

Out of all the characters in the show, other than Shoko of course, I feel like Shoya is the one who is actively trying to right the wrongs of the past. He tries to make amends, though he doesn't know exactly how to go about it in the beginning. I feel like even if he couldn't properly apologize until the very end of the film, his goal of trying to make Shoko feel loved and to love herself was noble and a brave act.

He could have been like Naoka and push all the blame onto Shoko.

He could have been like Kawai and denied his participation in the bullying.

But the fact that he was actively trying to be better, trying to make it so that they could all at least be friends and civil with each other......well that's brave on his part. Which is why his development was so important, and something to admire even. 

I was going to close this with something smart, but I don't know how else to end this topic. (Note: It's been sitting in my drafts for like two months waiting for me to come up with more to say.)

So I hope you enjoy my thoughts on it anyway.

My introductory to Visual Kei|Kagrra

Sometimes I think about how I got into Visual Kei, and my stance on the culture now as opposed to when I was first introduced to it. Some friends, and even most of my family, think that the GazettE is the band that started it all-that they're the ones that introduced me to this thing I am still kind of into to this day.

However, if it weren't for Kagrra, a somewhat underdog when it came to the overseas fandom, I wouldn't even have thought to give them a chance. (My logic was a bit off when I was fifteen, but I must say I'm sort of grateful that it was.)

At the time of my friend introducing me to Visual Kei, and thus digging me into a hole I probably will never get out of, I didn't listen to much heavier music than Metallica or Three Days Grace. If you played a song like.....LEECH to me when I was 12, I would've probably said "Ew, get that screaming out of my ear." 

Music tastes change, and mine certainly did.

I've said on twitter how she composed a playlist/CD of songs she think I'd like. And none seemed to catch my eye, but among the songs composed by Kagerou and Dir en Grey, I picked up on a unique voice. 

The first song I ever liked and really dug was Satsuki. I remember thinking the music, Isshi's voice, had been great and that's when my friend started sending me more from them. For a while I was obsessed with Kagrra, I even went as far as to tell my friend that I didn't need to get into more Visual Kei bands-they were all I needed.

Isshi became my first bias, with Izumi the drummer becoming my second. I read interviews, watched clips of theirs, listened to all the albums my friend could make me at the time. Kagrra, made me feel relaxed, they eased something inside me that no other music could. They showed me that there was more to music than what I had originally thought could be possible.

I recall the TV interview they had done with the GazettE, and while I knew who they were-I remember thinking 'Ha ha, wow that other band is scary, I can't believe my friend likes the vocalist.' (She was a big Ruki stan.)

But my friend eventually ran out of Kagrra, songs to show me, so she put GazettE's more tamer songs on a CD and asked me to listen to it. And after a while I did eventually listen to it, thinking that if Kagrra, was friends with them that they were worth at least a listen. 

And that started a whole chain of events that led me down to where I am now in life. I know a lot of my friends who know me by now know how much I love Kagrra, and how much I miss them. Every opportunity I get to talk to them I do it, and honestly I still can't believe it's been almost eight years since Isshi died.

I always wonder what would have become of the Shiki project he was working on after the disbandment of Kagrra, but I suppose we'll never know it's full potential. Knowing Isshi, it would have been great.

I'm hoping for a possible Kagrra, reunion of some sort in the near future. Of course it'll never be the same without their vocalist, but I hope that the remaining members are healthy and happy no matter what they're doing.