Unable to draw so have a Sword/Shield headcanon that probably has been thought of before lmao; Spoilers for SW/SH I guess?
I think that 20,000 years ago(?) was back when pokemon weren't entirely destroying the regular animals so the prince and princess had normal dogs, and then they come across the meteorite after it crashes into their kingdom; tiny Eternatus comes out of the meteorite and its unable to control its energy intake from Galar, so it goes berserk, even if it's tiny. They defeat it and send it back into the meteorite to sleep for 20,000 years, but the energy released from Eternatus when it's defeated combines with the dogs and the siblings themselves, turning them into the legendary dogs.
The townspeople couldn’t comprehend what happened to their royalty, so they created a shrine in the place of the Slumbering Weald, and placed the Princess’ sword and the Princes’ shield onto it. Every year after that the townsfolk would give gifts to the shrine, offering up sacrifices in return for protection. But the legendary dogs fell into a sleep, leaving only their illusions in return, and the shrine fell into disrepair after people stopped believing in the dogs and their protection. The forest grew around the shrine, and the illusions would scare away everybody who came into the Weald because they weren’t chosen to wake up the legends.
Gloria and Hop, or Victor and Hop, are the reincarnated forms of the prince and princess, and they were destined to wake up the legendaries and save Galar just like their past selves.
Hi, given up on order. Have some random headcanons for the tailtwined!AU, lmao. Highlights/overview I guess: Psychic trainers, Moth/Butterfly winged people, a few uncommon headcanons, random side-characters from the anime that aren’t important at all to the story, general world-building stuff.
-Ritchie is Tiger-based, but he dyes the brown part of his fur to distance himself from his father. It doesn't matter the color, but he usually picks a neon yellow to match with Sparky.
-It's my headcanon that because Ash is Giovanni's son, Ritchie is, too. (They are so similar and we never see or meet Ritchie's parents!!)
-Butch's got a German Shepherd tail and ears that match his personality swimmingly, but just like his name, constantly mistaken for a "mutt".
-"Mutts" aren't bad or looked down on. They're just people who look more unique than the rest of the world.
-Cassidy is a snow leopard but she dyes the white of her fur purple, mostly to spite Jessie (so she can look prettier than her.)
-Lance has Scarlet Macaw's wings. They're huge and it's a bit of a struggle to fly, but he manages and looks as intimidating as an elite four member/champion should.
-Casey (probably) won’t be a main protag, though she’s still a fun character to think about. She’s quite a bit older than she was in the anime (she’s portrayed as younger than Ash even though only 10+ can get Pokemon and Ash is still 10) so I’ll place her at about 15 when Ash is 19. She’s kind of wired and energetic, so having a yellow labradors’ ears and tail fit for her personality.
-People who are Psychic in some way usually come from one main lineage. Sabrina, Will, and Caitlin all have an ancient Psychic (rumored to be the first) in their bloodline, and being Psychic is a much more rare phenomenon than it is portrayed in the anime, which is already not much. Every single Psychic with him in their lineage has a Serval’s ears and tail and their animalistic features all look exactly alike.
-Olympia is a Psychic that just popped into existence by pure chance. None of her family were Psychic, and in no way was related to the first Psychic. She is one of the few Psychics that doesn’t have Serval’s features, and instead has a Clouded Leopard’s. She is unique and she knows it, and she sees the world through a different lens.
-Fur hygiene is extremely important in all regions, and it’s heavily frowned upon to touch other people’s tails and ears without their permission. It varies based on region, but some are more relaxed on this than others. A majority of the time it differs from person to person, because some people’s bodies are more sensitive to touch than others. A good rule of thumb is “don’t touch others without their permission!” which should be a golden rule.
-Most people go for looks that complement their animalistic features, and a good example of this is Valerie, the fairy type gym leader in Kalos. She has a Rosy Maple Moth’s wings and antennae, and she based her outfit around them. Not much is different from her canon outfit other than the fact that the back of her dress is modified for comfort. Her wings are pink and cream.
-Butterfly and Moth wings are extremely delicate, and require a lot of care. While you can forget to brush or wash a tail, you cannot miss a beat with such special wings. These types of people are rather rare due to the stressful nature of taking care of them, and it’s also quite common to see “regular people”--IE people who had to have surgery to get their wings removed because they messed them up beyond any medical professional’s ability. Most of the time these are seen as a sad fact of life, and people who are poorer are less likely to keep their Moth or Butterfly wings into old age.
-Butterfly and Moth people can’t fly most of the time. Maybe when they are younger, but after the dust from their wings fall off they are rendered useless other than they are pretty to look at. Their avian counterparts do not have any problems however, and a lot of the time think of themselves better than non-fliers.
-Butterfly and Moth anthros are extremely rare, but they seem to all find each-other in the end because there’s such a small group of them.
-People who have their wings removed experience phantom limb syndrome.
So this ended up being too big to fit into one post and I have a problem with giving too many descriptions/ideas/etc so I’ll be chopping my AU up into more bitesized pieces. A LOT. After the cut, because if it wasn’t it’d literally destroy your dash. Just be warned that if you open this up there’s like, a whole paragraph for each character mentioned. (or more)
The Tailtwined!AU is based around another AU that I have yet to find a fitting name for, and everything is generally the same story-line (he still goes through regions in the same order, wins Alola’s league, etc) wise except for one crucial plot detail: The night before Ash’s defeat in Sinnoh’s league, the Sandgem town Pokelab burns down with people still inside; though Ash is upset by all of this, the thing he’s most upset about is Gary’s death/disappearance.
Because there should be a reason other than “he went up against Mythical and Legendary Pokemon” because that was such a cop-out for the anime. And also, yay! Angst and death (seriously where did Gary go??)
Also I’ll be cherry-picking stuff from the mangas, anime, and games and shoving them all together but I’ll try and keep it simple and not confuse too many people. The focus is currently on the timeline of Pokemon 2019/Journeys, so all of the characters up to that point that are main/side (that show up in more than one episode or are important in the games) will show up.
Notable information:
TEAM ROCKET IS A BIG. DEAL. Team Rocket has reached across the globe: Police officers that aren’t Officer Jenny or Nanu or people like Looker; Gym leaders like Sabrina and Koga, Elite four members like Will and Karen.
-People in this AU work a lot like the Wolf Children movie. Not in the fact that they can completely turn into animals, but in the fact that their features contort when they get angry or overly emotional. Most can grow claws and it is actually a sport in Galar for people to train themselves into their more animal-like forms and then fight. Outside of the ring it is frowned upon, but stuff happens.
-People with domestic animals’ features are much more common in this AU, with exotic features being more uncommon/rare. Big Cats and creatures like Wolverines are examples of this.
-Royalty and high ranking trainers like Champions and Elite four members are extremely likely to be non-domestic, but it’s not like common people have never managed to become Champion/E4 before.
Kantonian-based characters:
-Ash himself would be long-furred Birman based, with white ears and tail that are umber-tipped. This is a bit more uncommon to see but by no means the rarest of the domestic breeds. I headcanon that he has dyed it before, probably red to match his clothing, or yellow to twin with Pikachu. (Dying fur is also a statement of mourning if done correctly.)
-Gary and his father, Blue, both have a Russian Blue’s ears and tail: Their fur is quite a deep grayish-blue, but Gary’s is lighter than his father’s. Blue isn’t around in this AU, but I thought I’d mention it anyway. This type of domestic cat would be one of the more rare because it’s a recessive gene; the likelihood of Gary inheriting Blue’s cat breed was very slim but it happened anyway. Gary himself is rather vain when it comes to his fur and he's constantly picking leaves and sticks out of it, making sure it's completely pristine.
-Gary’s Mother (also not in the picture because she wasn’t in the anime/games/etc) and Daisy (Gary’s sister) are short-haired cream tabbies. Daisy is much more prominent in this AU because she’s in the games and manga. She was hit hard by Gary’s disappearance and that made her Professor Oak’s only remaining family.
-Professor Oak himself has solid brown ears/tail, but he was also one of the few “common-folk” who became Champion of Kanto. His fur is normally matted and it is more dull than it used to be, but he still tries to take care of it. He’s just really forgetful and also extremely busy with other things.
-Delia also has Birman features, but her fur is longer than Ash’s. She used to be a Pokemon Trainer in this AU, but she quit when she got pregnant with Ash, and most of her Pokemon went to be with Professor Oak.
-I know we’re taking a huge leap here, but Giovanni’s cat-like are based on a tiger's. His ears are rounded like a tiger’s. Giovanni used to be the pinnacle of attractiveness, but as the years wore on his fur began to fall out. His tail is patchy and discolored despite attempts to keep it clean and tidy, and painful fur-implants didn’t help at all. Whenever Giovanni has to make appearances, he usually makes it so no one can see his tail because his ears are mostly untouched.
-When someone’s soul or aura becomes corrupted, their body is no longer able to regulate hormones needed to keep their fur looking glossy, so it falls out and becomes frazzled/ugly. It is worse for those with a large amount of radiating Aura (think Sir Aaron or Ash or in this case, Giovanni.)
-Instead of Red being Ash’s father in this AU, Red is Delia’s sister. His ears and tail are Calico, and he--like most male Calico cats IRL--can't have biological children. Male calico anthros are just as rare as their real life counterparts. He is the one who defeated Professor Oak and became the next Champion of Kanto.
-Jessie's fur is long and white, but she dyes it completely to match her red/purple hair. She's extremely vain and when not stealing Pokemon or messing with Ash, she's grooming her tail or getting someone else to do it for her.
-James is similar to Jessie in the fact that he dyes his fur to match his hair, but he comes from a rich and higher-calibre family so he's a white tiger anthro. His family usually exclusively marries other white tiger anthros. His fur is constantly messy and it drives Jessie and Meowth insane.
-Misty has a Spaniel's ears and tail, perfect for swimming. Her ears and tail are tri-colored with white, brown, and black. She's still Cerulean City's gym leader, and she still tries to keep in touch with Ash the best she can but he ignores her calls most of the time. Brock and her are always hanging out when she's not busy with the gym.
-Brock is the visualization of a scruffy village dog. He has a long brown tail with fur as wild as you'd like to imagine, and his ears are floppy and brown with the tips being white. That's not a good look for a healthcare professional, so he straightens the fur without too much issue.
-Tracey, though he doesn’t have a super big part of the main story, has a Great Pyrenese’s ears and tail. Because his fur is white and he’s an artist, there’s always a large array of colors displayed on his coat.
I did a screencap redraw! I know it’s a trend with Sailor Moon but I don’t watch that so here is this one. I’m open to critique but please be kind if you take the time to give me any, because this is the first time I’m going so far out of my comfort zone. Thank you <3
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