i've finished emerald!! and with it comes the end of the era of the dexholders constantly meeting up with each other and interacting between generations 😔
we'll still get to see these guys again (other than yellow. sorry yellow. i hope they bring u back one day honey) but past this point it's gonna be a lot less overtly interconnected. which is fine! but it is a little sad :')
anyways, here's my thoughts on the chapter as a whole!
(i also wanna preface this with the fact that i realized near the beginning that as a kid i definitely never actually read this arc in its entirety, just the end part once gold and crystal show up 💀 so technically this wasn't a true reread. but yknow. anyways)
the first thing that i noticed is that this arc feels a lot more focused on the battles and gimmicks at first; it kinda takes a while for the story to really kick in, which did make the first bits of it a littleeee boring/bland for me personally. but thats ok
i think part of that is because of how emerald as a character is depicted. i love emerald, but he is a character where for most of the arc, we see him from an outside perspective, via other characters observing him and wondering about him rather than really getting to read his thoughts and learn about him as a person. this can make him feel kind of uninteresting in the beginning, but i dont think its a severe issue or anything.
i do also think that the way his backstory is revealed is a littleee clunky? like having ruby and sapphire just be like "we dont much about you so tell us all about yourself!" feels like kind of an obvious plot device to get emerald backstory and doesnt read very naturally. but i dont rlly care, esp since we then immediately go INTO his backstory which is very enjoyable to read through.
speaking of which, i love his dynamic with crystal so so much. i think it's really cute how the whole reason he became a dexholder was just because he wanted to train with her :)
and speaking of emerald's friends........ latios and latias YIPPEE. i love that they just like him for some reason and go around being his friends its cute as hell. and of course. latias. im not going to lie to you and say that human latias isnt cute as hell IT'S CUTE AS HELL OK. ALL OF ITS OUTFITS ARE ADORABLE AND I LOVE IT JUST LIKE EVERYONE ELSE. sorry...........
moving on, i reallyyyy love ruby and sapphire in this arc. their dialogue and just general characterization is. mwah. i love them trying to be friends with emerald and him just totally shutting them down LOL
i will say that ruby forgetting the climax of R&S is. kind of stupid and feels like a way to just artificially create more relationship drama between these two. i think that was mentioned/implied at the end of R&S but i forgot lol. anyways iirc i dont think this gets resolved until ORAS which is fucking insane. we'll see but considering that my memories of ORAS are not good, i feel like it's very likely that i'll end up just retconning this in my personal hc lol
ok DUDE. the shit with the blue orb was sooooo sick. i was so happy that they explored that a bit more bcuz the whole thing of the orbs corrupting anyone who touches them (and RUBY AND SAPPHIRE HAVING BOTH DONE THAT) was really fucking cool and i def thougt it could be touched on more.
i like how we learn about it more not just for the sake of it, but also it ends up being relevant because of archie. and we get to learn through it that there are permanent side effects no matter what, via sapphire's eyes apparently having a dim glow to them because of her contact w the blue orb? which um. is fucking sick
circling back to archie, him being guile is genuinely a cool twist and i didnt see it coming even though i have literally read this before. also him literally KILLING(?) maxie for another shot at life is genuinelyyyy fucking crazy. and i like how they tied in team galactic, it makes this feel at least a little connected to the upcoming chapter.
ok and now. something that's not at all relevant to the chapter as a whole but i have to talk about bcuz to middle school me this was the only thing that mattered about this arc
gold and silver in this arc make me sooooo fucking ill oh my lawrd. this shit is still just as crazy as it was in middle school WHAT ARE WE DOING RIGHT NOW
ok first of all. gold giving silver the ring (via very much Holding His Hand) and calling him his buddy. looking absolutely MURDEROUS after archie taps on the petrified silver. i love how this arc shows just how much gold cares about silver. crystal too ofc, but its less expected from gold due to how rocky their relationship was in the beginning. like that is his friend and if you touch him you will die. understand?
and then of course this moment oh my godddd bro. like him calling silver his buddy is just like aww theyre friends but then gold had to go and act as gay as possible about it. WHY ARE YOU FULL FACE BLUSHING OVER SILVER OVERHEARING YOU CALL HIM YOUR FRIEND! YOU ARE GAY!!!!!!!!!!
also i already said this in my initial post about this moment but like. its even gayer when you imagine what it looked like without gold's inner thoughts here, like silver tells him he heard and gold just blushes and looks all nervous/embarrassed. and then silver just continues talking. like hello.......
ANYWAYS. YELLOWWWWWWW
them getting to deal the final blow was fucking awesome. they didnt get to do a lot this arc since they were petrified with the others, but im glad that they were specifically highlighted here. getting to see them finally as officially part of the dexholders is so cool! esp since we dont get to see yellow past this point, i think this is a nice little mini sendoff to their character (for now)
seeing all the dexholders interact in general is just so fun and makes me so so happy. they're a family!!! they look out for each other!!! grahhhh
anyways. that's about all i have to say :) i've become a little busier so i dont know when i'll be starting diamond & pearl, but im very excited to since that means I GET TO SEE DPP AGAIN. MY CHILDREN.
its gonna be so polyamorous in this bitch i cant fucking wait. esp to expose anyone unfamiliar with pokespe or that specific chapter with the absolute canon polycule that is those three. oh my lordddd i miss them so much i cant wait.
