Sunday, December 21, 2025

Cosplay: Greenland Christmas Festival

Me: I did say "others", didn't I?

Goh: Another one this weekend! It must be busy.

Me: No kidding. But we'll have more on that a little later on. For now...

Ash: OK, so this is a Christmas festival.

Me: Right, a short one. Have a look at the schedule.

Goh: Ooh, that is short. Only a few hours.

Ash: And it looks like the entertainment is all dance groups.

Goh: I think so!

Pikachu: Chu, pika pika! ["A short dance!"]

Me: I'm sure you can tell why that is, especially by the location.

Ash: Oh, it's a market outside a neighborhood!

Goh: OK, that's interesting.

Me: The story that I got is that it's to celebrate the opening of the market, at least in part.

Goh: Like the card game shop about a year ago.

Ash: I saw ads for it while I was there.

Goh: You think they're related?

Me: I think that may very well be the case. 

Goh: So, there was a dance group, and then... a character parade.

Ash: I got in this one! It was free (with something else to do).

Pikachu: Pika chu. ["That works."]

Goh: Nothing to lose - maybe a lot to gain?

Me: I read there are six prizes. But then a lot of characters might want them.

Ash: Sure did! There were over 20, and all of them looked great.

Me: Yeah, I thought that might happen. That goes along with the "busy" thing we'll deal with soon.

Goh: And that meant... you didn't get anything.

Ash: No - it all went to them. And even they had to battle it out. I knew some regular prize winners that didn't win.

Goh: So, you just made things lively.

Ash: Yeah.

Goh: After that, a few more dance groups, and then it was done.

Ash: Pretty much.

Pikachu: Pi pika. ["That's all."]

Goh: Now for that "busy" thing.

Me: OK, so there were actually two more festivals some distance from this one, happening at the same time.

Goh: I see.

Ash: But this one was lively!

Me: I'm not sure about one of them, but I heard the other didn't get many visitors.

Ash: So, at least this one won out.

Me: You can say that. One of them had a singing competition... but in the end I chose this one for you because it was the closest and easiest to get to.

Ash: Well, you did what you could.

Pikachu: Pika pika. ["Of course."]

Me: Oddly enough (or not), they were all Christmas-themed somehow. 

Goh: It's absolutely the season, so it was really the time.

Ash: And it's a good time for all.

Me: Mostly. But for me... 

Goh: Oh?

Ash: Oh, I'm sorry.

Me: More on this by myself soon. At least others will have a good Christmas now.

Eight years ago: Friend Faves
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Saturday, December 20, 2025

Cosplay: Sayonara Kotoshi 2025 - Isshoni, Kagayaki no Mirai e

Goh: Hey hey, it's "your festival" again. 

Ash: Haha, "my festival".

Me: Hmm. It is indeed, and it's on my "home turf", so I (we) should support it, like last year. And this time...

Ash: There's a singing competition! I want to be in it.

Me: You sure can. In fact, I'm giving you "Advance Adventure" to work with.

Ash: OK, Hoenn outfit it is.

Pikachu: Pika chu pika! ["Nice choice!"]

Me: Great!

Goh: So... everything's the same as last year?

Ash: In the same place - with a lot of the same booths for food, merchandise, and community.

Goh: Oh, and entertainment too.

Ash: The same - bands and dance cover groups.

Goh: But then, the singing competition is new.

Me: Apparently so, and that's why we're jumping on it - also since we've been absent from one for a long time.

Goh: All good reasons. How'd you do?

Ash: I nailed it! I had a lot of fun too. And just before it rained somewhat hard too.

Goh: Again like last year. Almost everything in this one was a repeat.

Ash: You could say that.

Pikachu: Pi pi pi pika... ["Almost all the same..."]

Me: As for the winners...

Ash: The three of them were all girls. So the boys didn't get a chance.

Goh: Huh. I guess you two will have to set up something for next time.

Me: Looks like it. And there was also a character parade like last year, but...

Ash: I wasn't in it - and I could tell who was going to win right away.

Goh: Well, looks like your eyes are getting sharper for noticing this.

Me: Or it was already obvious from the very start.

Goh: Hmm. By the way, last year you had Necrozma raids going on... did anything Pokémon also happen at the same time this year?

Ash: I went to look for Solrock and Lunatone by doing tasks around the festival! But I couldn't do much since it was also raining.

Me: Even if I were to do it myself without a festival, it would be a challenge with the rain. At least it's an independent thing. 

Pikachu: Pika. ["Works out."]

Me: OK - takeaways, nags, and final thoughts.

Ash: I think they did great this year! Except maybe for bossing all of us around a bit too much.

Goh: But we do expect some from them.

Ash: Sure, in a way - like getting my bag searched.

Me: Oh, you mean it was like me being at the airport?

Ash: Yeah, you know the feeling. And maybe they can set up the area much better.

Goh: It's an open court, right? And then they have to put up barriers and all.

Ash: Yeah, that.

Pikachu: Pika, pi pika. ["Blocks, here and there."]

Me: Yeah, this is kind of hard. But things were still good overall, from what I can tell.

Ash: They hope it would be shining, even - like the subtitle of this year [OOC note: it means "together, to a bright future"].

Goh: Hey, yeah! That makes sense.

Me: Well, there's hope for bright futures just yet, with this one and others. 

Four years ago: Merchandise over Games?
Six years ago: Sitting Pikachu Keychain
Eight years ago: Movie Manga!
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Friday, December 19, 2025

More on Precious Departures

I'd said earlier in this Pokémon Go season's opening post that it being called "Precious Paths" would imply meeting with certain things but also parting with yet other things. The latter is now what I want to bring up, also in the specific context of them departing - a context that may be considered to go deeper in some ways. For that, I do want to dig deeper in some of the contexts while keeping others shallow, at least for the time being.

The elimination of Aeos Coins in Pokémon Unite would certainly be a departure for the game, even with some of its shades remaining through the item exchange and another feature - for those who are observant. It has apparently become a departure that many have not taken too well either, making it "precious" in another way. Whether or not this will lead to a precious departure of a different sort, that is for players to determine.

Meanwhile, a different Pokémon game, one that I rarely mention by itself on this blog by virtue of not playing it, has apparently been making the rounds on ending its service and playability in certain places first. A significant place in relation to that is also coming up, and it'll be a "precious" departure for it when that happens. How that will play out for me in covering it here is a bit of a doozy and might even constitute a "departure" in itself.

As for applying all this back to Pokémon Go, the game that is behind the season itself, at this point it might still be a little vague. However, considering some of the events and happenings on tap for this month and the next, a fair bit of it can be considered a "wrap-up for loose ends" for this year, and that may be taken as a "departure" in some ways, with the hope of things coming out better for later happenings this season.

Sometimes the most precious path might be the one that one has just treaded, and all of these Pokémon game happenings strongly indicate that, even with Pokémon Go as the "umbrella" for their interpretation. Any departure will certainly be reminisced somehow, and reminiscing these seems to become something to do on the "precious path" that is this season. With that, the season continues to progress and depart along its points.

Now... it seems I have to address a relevant precious departure for me very soon...

Three years ago: Scarlet and Violet Uptake
Eight years ago: Nostalgic Returns
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Thursday, December 18, 2025

Bigger on the Inside

Fans of certain fictional series might recognize a concept related to certain things in those series, in that they are "bigger on the inside". The concept is obvious enough, suggesting that those things are internally more spacious than their outsides - in particular with regard to size - would suggest. This concept may be considered to have a place in Pokémon as well, with the way that certain small things here can (do) or may just encapsulate bigger things.

As expected, one of those things is the Poké Ball. Like a certain encapsulating time travel device, there is the thought that its inside portion is actually much bigger - otherwise species behemoths like Rayquaza and Eternatus won't be able to fit. Else (or perhaps in addition), there is also a "compression" factor in play that allows Pokémon and environments to fit in such a small space, much like archive files on a computer. Whatever happens, there is some universal agreement that the Poké Ball is definitely "bigger on the inside" somehow.

Then, there are the dungeons in different Pokémon regions. Often, from the outside and in particular their entry points, they might appear to be pretty small. However, as soon as one steps into and navigates them, one realizes that they're actually pretty big. In fact, it could also be considered that the actual dungeon, if it were to actually exist, would also be quite big by actual standards. This too is similar in regard to a different game outside of Pokémon, for which the "bigger on the inside" is also a hallmark of some of its areas.

In similar fashion, the regions of the Pokémon world can be considered to be a lot bigger than their illustrations and manifestations would suggest. If their real-life models have anything to say, it may be that they're similar in size and in scope, and one would definitely be dealing with something major. In this case, the "inside" is the true nature of things, and that true nature is being able to fit all the Pokémon, people, and other things within that true expanse. The "bigger on the inside" concept thus has its own way of manifesting here. 

Something to be gained from the "bigger on the inside" concept is that not everything that is depicted is true to their scales, furthermore if they have things that lay hidden within them. So it is that the fictional series have big things inside seemingly little compartments - and for that matter, so does Pokémon. In some sense, size does matter... and yet that size may also depend on things as they are on the outside followed by what really goes inside them.

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Wednesday, December 17, 2025

Old Gimmicks, New Flavors

By now, Pokémon Café Remix has many gimmicks that are used in regular rotation in its puzzle stages - some certainly more than others. Each of those gimmicks in turn need to be dealt in certain ways in order to clear them, whether by linking Pokémon icons or using special icons (megaphones and skills). With so many gimmicks and only so many ways to clear them, it is potentially possible to have some that are very similar if not outright the same, and the latter case could be construed as giving "new flavors" to old gimmicks.

As an example, more recently there has been the addition of "bottle-type" gimmicks that if not cleared with a Pokémon that can handle them directly, they would generate other gimmicks. In one case, the soda pop creates soda bubbles if cleared by hitting it normally, and the mayo jar results in mayo when cleared in the same manner. Their mannerisms and usage of older gimmicks lend them their "new flavors".

Even more recently, chocolate cookies have been added, which require three hits for a normal clear. This is pretty much the same as the whipped cream, which is cleared in the same manner if not using a Pokémon with the specialty for it, or special icons. In fact, the appearance of the cookies is rather similar to whipped cream, only being chocolate-colored, which further suggests the "new flavor" aspect to the gimmick.

While new and old Pokémon alike can adapt to new gimmicks, the latter in particular through kitchen notes that are waited for them, it may be that it's hard to adapt new gimmicks in other ways that are different from the current gimmicks in their existing ways. Even so, whether that may or may not be necessary could depend on the puzzle stages and events to come, and in turn the implementations of the gimmicks.

Café Remix already has plenty of puzzle gimmicks to challenge old and new players alike, and they're still rather challenging in the puzzle stages where they are concerned. The next concern and challenge may then be having gimmicks that are nicely adapted to them, and it may be that in the process, some old gimmicks may just have some "new flavors". 

Four years ago: Pokémon Lectures?
Five years ago: Quibbles with Candy XL
Seven years ago: Raid Dramas
Eight years ago: Hoenn Pokémon Are Go!
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Tuesday, December 16, 2025

Quickies: On Donuts, Rings, and Lords

It was a few years ago that I brought up a few local Pokémon donuts that are the result of a fascinating collaboration. The longing I felt for them a year later is still felt even today to some extent. Aside from these special donuts that are solid, though, most donuts are in the shape of rings with a hollow center, a characteristic shape that allows heat to penetrate and cook the pastry. Of course, rings will allow other things to pass through their middles, as any person can attest, and for Pokémon, a particular ringbearer comes to mind.

That ringbearer is certainly none other than Hoopa, whose rings have passed through quite a few particularly powerful Pokémon, many of the Legendary sort. I sometimes refer to the Pokémon as the "lord of the rings" (with apologies to a certain author of a famous fantasy series) because with such powers, it does seem rather appropriate to consider the Pokémon as a kind of "lord" with certain divinations - or powers - that enable the rings to manifest and then pass through those specific Pokémon.

Meanwhile, the ringbearer is known for another whimsy that goes back to the first of the mentioned topics for this post. The whimsy concerns donuts, certainly, and the Pokémon is linked to them by a certain kind of fascination, one that obviously has something to do with shape. The latest Legends game (ZA) furthers the connection with donuts in its expansion DLC, while going somewhat further back, Pokémon Unite had its Hoopa event with a donut baking aspect that further cements its fascination link.

A lord with such a whimsy might not sound too "lord-like" in one sense. Yet given that it is still possible for it to get a lot of what it wishes for, it's still a "lord" in many ways. And if the "lord" wishes for donuts, then it is likely that it is what it shall have. As for me, now I feel interested in getting donuts just by the virtue of writing up this post, though they may never hold a candle to the Pokémon donuts I covered so long ago. Still, their ring shape is a testament for passing things through, and at least one of them might be hunger.

Four years ago: Salim Group and Pokémon
Six years ago: PvP: After One Year
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Monday, December 15, 2025

The Next Friendship Level: Forever Friend

Many years ago, I had discussed the possibility of more friend levels in Pokémon Go beyond Best Friend, along with how I would have proposed the system. That proposed system, though, admittedly could be considered somewhat complicated, and an actual implemented system might just be simpler. Now, Pokémon Go has provided the answer to that conundrum, and it in fact has been implemented for all Trainers to take advantage of after having been tested by others just a few weeks earlier.

The next friendship level above Best Friend is called Forever Friend. Trainers attain this after 180 days of interaction in total (90 more days after attaining Best Friend), which would have correspondence to my proposed Ultimate Good Friend level, but without the Lucky Friend requirement. Its XP bonus is the same as that of Best Friend (150 thousand), and interestingly, it can be attained again in connection with another feature related to this addition, which is to be detailed separately for all its significance.

Presently, however, no one has attained this level. That's because everyone starts with the friend level that they have attained to now, and even Best Friends will still need those 90 days to interact. Moreover, the testing period was also short, and the global rollout was only a few days ago. At least in this way, no advantage is conferred to anyone who is already Best Friends with others and (would) have interacted as needed; every Best Friend is essentially "starting fresh" from that point, on up to become Forever Friend.

Because of the "forever" aspect, it may also be considered that the level would be the "final" friendship level - or "ultimate", referring back to the posed terminology as above. With the possibility of attaining the XP bonus repeatedly (again, alongside that specific feature that I'll discuss when the time is appropriate for that), that also supports the consideration. With the "forever" aspect, many friends will certainly remain on one's Friend List; accordingly, the limit of friends has also been increased to 650 to accommodate this.

Friendship is always a big thing in Pokémon Go, and the addition of the Forever Friends level seems to clarify that even further. It will take some work - in the three months of this season and beyond, for both Best Friends and non-Best Friends - to get to that level, but the payoff can be considered big as well, with that feature that I keep hinting about. Friendship is also a simple thing as long as one keeps interacting, and Trainers in Pokémon Go will certainly keep doing that for as long as possible, and now when "forever" is a concern.

Six years ago: Cosplay: Panniversary 3
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