Wanted to do fanart of three of the muses belonging to the first people I met in this community just for the hell of it (also, Poppy and Alx were two of the muses that inspired me to start ask blogging in the first place). I entered this community with zero art experience and no tablet. Cal, Morning, and Reich all really showed me the ropes and helped me improve at my art when I first started out here. And that was with me being kind of a terrible person who was way too caught up with follower count and the very slow growth of this blog despite both being due to (mostly) circumstances beyond my control. I never really expressed my gratitude both for putting up with that and helping me get started on something I love doing.
So I did fanart of all three, because I’ve never been able to draw Poppy, Alx, or Reich very well. And while I know there’s still a lot of room for growth in certain areas (anatomy and posing in particular), I feel like I’ve improved enough to be able to do all three of them justice now.
Poppy belongs to @daily-poppy-primarina, now @spiritedoperetta
Alx belongs to @seals-and-giggles
Reich belongs to @wandering-canines (I’ve done Fanart Friday of Reich before, but I wanted to draw a happy doggo this time)
[ @wandering-canines | Ra ] *looks at Grune, tilting his head* "Wait... you're a Zoroark too, right? Do you use your illusions to make yourself look like that?"
@wandering-canines “Nope, it’s all tangible! You won’t catch me using Illusion unless it’s for a specific reason. I’ll give you this to chew on, though - I was a totally normal Zorua.”
Hector: "Hm.. seems like I've gone off the charts just a tad.." He mumbled to himself as he guided his head towards the three, "I've seen you guys around, what do you suppose of doing here after your little situation, huh-" He stumbled as he glared towards The Ravener "wh' happened to you..?"
Celosia’s voice rang out in the dog’s frenzy, just about to eat. About to open wide.
“You are not going to eat the body, you aren’t going to eat the soul. You’re going to send that thing off to the Afterlife properly.”
The Ravener paused.
“YES……. MASTER.”
The soul could be seen turning into a wisp, flying off into a direction far away, to the deepest depths of the desert.
Towards the place only the dead could go.
It seemed the dog was finally learning how to reap.
Celosia turned to Hector, shifting The Doctor’s weight in his arms.
“We’re gonna find Jericho. If you know anything about someone– a doctor? Named Jericho, could you let me know?”
Aquamarine’s lust for travel only seemed to grow once she travelled across Sinnoh, making new friends and catching new Pokemon. While it was much to her mother’s dismay when she would send over new Pokemon to live in Johto, Professor Elm was thankfully able to care for the Pokemon that could not live in Ecruteak. It had been a couple years since Aquamarine started travelling across regions, abandoning her past as a Rocket Grunt and doing her best to help those who were in trouble that she met along the way.
She had traveled to a region called Unova after she had explored all she could of Sinnoh, only completing the eight gyms and placing second in the Master Rank Contests. The addition of contest outfits made it harder for her and Trike to place first, but they gave it their all in the performance and battle portions of the contest in Sinnoh, but now it was time to relax a bit. They had heard while they were in Sinnoh that there was a resort in Unova, so they packed up their things to relax on the beach in Undella Town, but when they arrived in Castelia City, they found that the entire eastern region of Unova had been frozen over by some phenomena. She travels north to Nimbassa City in the meantime, hoping to get a better idea as to what was happening when she notices the ice had receded a bit from the bridge to allowing access to the Lostlorn Forest.
The team went and investigated the small forest, finding the area rather quaint for the most part except for what was presumably an abandoned trailer. They camped nearby in the forest, her Pokemon relaxing under the stars as Aquamarine was curled up in the tent. During the middle of the night, Pursuit had heard movement in the surrounding area. He carefully shifted to get a better look around without waking Trike, who was laying on the Houndoom, only to see a fox like Pokemon approach him with an egg. She was injured and one arm seemed to even be frozen stiff, but she made her way over to Pursuit with little concern of being hurt. They locked eyes for a moment before pursuit nodded and let her place the egg next to Trike before she ran off, disappearing into the darkness before an ominous, echoey cry could be heard not too far off.
The following morning, Trike was curled around the egg with Pursuit, much to the surprise of Aquamarine since she knew the two canines were male. Not bothering to question how, she accepted the new egg to their team and was the one to look after the egg when they were travelling. After they had packed up and made it back to the main road, they found that the ice had somehow vanished overnight and were now able to travel to their initial destination. Upon arrival, the team began their bit of R&R though they were unaware of all that had just transpired overnight. That was the least of their worries, though. For the egg that had suddenly come in their possession seemed to almost be a stillborn. It barely gave off any sign of life, the egg itself being almost icy to the touch when Aquamarine had picked it up that morning. After she got an incubator for the unhatched Pokemon, the team was quite protective over it.
Aquamarine became more concerned as their time in Unova grew, having decided to at least take on the gyms while she was in the area, the egg barely seemed to make any signs of getting closer to hatching. It wasn’t until they were about to take on Marlon did the egg even wiggle. While the battle itself was not a big deal, finding out the egg had made progress and was getting closer to hatch had the team riled up beyond belief.
However, the team would have to wait quite a while before the the egg would hatch…
It wasn’t until they had left Unova and were in Geosenge Town did the egg finally hatch, revealing a baby Zorua inside. Trike and Pursuit were ecstatic, having adopted the Pokemon as their own since it was an egg, and began doting on the little kit immediately. Having noticed the crystal blue eyes the Zorua had, she decided to name her Raine.
From a young age, the fox Pokemon was a devious little trickster and would play some harmless pranks on occasion, but for the most part she would just enjoy the thrill of exploring with her dads. It wasn’t until late in her run in Kalos was she able to start battling with her dads, the young Zorua showing promise with her tactical skills once she has studied her opponent.
However, it seemed good times do have their limit...
It was their first night out in Alola when the storm hit. It was powerful, unforgiving, and came out of nowhere according to all reports. Trike and Raine had been resting together just at the edge of their campground when a huge wave caused by a mudslide further upriver had snatched them and washed them away. While they should have been killed, they somehow managed to survive and were washed ashore a nearby island. Waking up on the edges of a beach where some Pokemon both were unfamiliar with seemed to be living, the father and daughter made it their goal to survive in the wilds as best they could. However, it meant that Raine had to grow up fast.
They were in luck, though. It seemed that Trike and Raine were able to make more friends than foes while they were at this unknown island, meeting Pokemon that seemed to care for their well being and even become close friends with one another and learn about the region they were now in. As Raine grew stronger with the training her father provided her and the love and support from him and their friends, the young Zorua evolved into a much stronger and more agile Zoroark. With her new strength, she could now fight with more confidence and could disguise herself with her illusions to try and locate some information from the humans that were near their makeshift den.
A few weeks into their sudden adventure without their trainer or team, Raine was gifted a mysterious egg suddenly by a shiny Dragonair on an early morn. Many of the Pokemon they talked to thought it might be a Spinarak or even a Rayquaza, but what actually hatched after a few days was a hybrid. The newly hatched hybrid was a Riolu and Natu fusion with an odd palette. Being the combination of Pokemon known for aura reading and prophetic abilities, Ra was quick to pick up on various skills as well as give warnings to things that might go awry. He was even able to predict the reunion between Trike and Raine with Pursuit before he even knew him.
However, while his predictions seemed to be rather accurate, he wishes that they weren’t. After his encounter with Trike and Pursuit’s doubles and their teammates, Ra had grown rather quiet and distant from the pack. While he would return to them when he became hungry, he would disappear for days to meditate and try to focus on one vision that he kept losing focus for… He saw a vision of himself losing control.. Of himself hurting someone, but he didn’t know who...
After disappearing for a month to try and make sense of this vision and to try and control his emotions, Raine welcomed him back with a hug and joy since she had worried about her young pup. Ra was stunned how much his mother had worried over him after pushing her and his grandfathers away for so long, that for the first time in awhile he let himself express his emotions. He cried and held on to his mother’s pelt, apologizing and telling her he was scared of what he saw. Though surprised by the confession, Raine assured him that no matter what happens that she and their friends will support him and help him if that day ever came to pass.
Since that moment, Ra has been training alongside his mother, working to perfect his fighting skills though he still lacks a mentor to help him control his psychic abilities. He compensates for what he can by meditating, though he occasionally needs to snap himself out of trances when his visions get too intense.
His most recent one, he is unsure if it is of the future, the past, or the present; but he saw a large Pokemon shuffling aimlessly in a large corridor before a canine made of white and green scales starts to carry them away despite their smaller size. He is not sure what it means, but he feels that they are to somehow find these two… that they need help…
Over ten years ago, a young trainer named Aquamarine was starting her first trek out into Johto’s wilderness. With her partner, a Houndour named Pursuit, by her side; the duo left Ecruteak City in hope of becoming a powerful trainer. However, things would turn out to be quite difficult. While she was able to catch a new friend, a Zubat named Radar, the team had a hard time keeping themselves strong enough to defeat the other trainers, let alone the Gym Leaders. She won against Faulkner just barely with his Pidgey and Pidgeotto constantly using Mud-Slap and Faulkner had her entire team poisoned at some point she wouldn’t have won if Pursuit hadn’t burned Scyther.
They were struggling, the routes to Pokemon Centers being vital to them surviving the trips between towns. Supplies were expensive and she was still learning type advantages, her Pokemons’ weaknesses, and how to budget their Poke-yen on supplies that they needed for the road. It was a lot for the ten year old to grasp.
When they managed to finally get to Goldenrod City, her last stop before she could take a break and visit her mother, she heard a man on the corner just before the Pokemon Center talk about teaching new trainers how to become the best trainers in the world. With one look to Pursuit, the naive trainer signed up for the training. Within months, Aquamarine became a member of Team Rocket. She was able to receive a few days off after her training and even received a small amount of pay for completing the training. Excited with her team’s new strength, she managed to easily win against Whitney before she went to visit her mother.
Aquamarine had been proud and excited to become a strong trainer, even if it did mean joining a group she knew little about but she felt she was the start of a better cause once she had signed up. Her mother, however, was not happy in the slightest. Her mother saw her uniform and at first went pale before she started to yell at Aquamarine, scolding her for blindly signing up for Team Rocket. Not understanding why her mother was so angry, she grabbed some of her things and left. Her vacation time was almost up anyway, so she had to return to Goldenrod City. Little did she know, her mother was distraught when she left and was no more than a worried mother.
Upon Aquamarine’s return to Goldenrod City, the young grunt was stationed at the first floor of the Radio Tower. She did not understand why, but she followed her orders and stood guard with an older grunt who had two Raticates. She felt confident, prepared to defend her position with her team. Radar had just evolved into a Golbat the day before and she felt that Pursuit would evolve soon. They also had the advantage that they were a close team.
She didn’t anticipate that she would be fighting against two trainers around her age, though. The one kid was named Gold, someone she had heard about over the radio a couple days before being a growing champion through the region. The other was a kid named Silver, someone she didn’t quite hear any chatter about over the radio but the older grunt with her seemed tense with their presence. The older grunt took on Gold while she fought Silver. Aquamarine had been prepared for the two to be a bit tough since her senior was nervous, but she did not anticipate to be overpowered so easily. With only one Pokemon, even. She had no idea what to expect when Silver sent out his Sneasel, a Pokemon she knew about but had never battled against. Her Golbat lasted only a couple turns before he fainted, a little taken aback by the strength the Sneasel possessed but she did not hesitate in sending out her Houndour. She tried to take down the opponent’s Pokemon with Ember, trying to keep space between the two, but the agile Pokemon soon closed the distance after a deafening Screech immobilized her and Pursuit. Then, before she could even react, the Sneasel attacked with such power that Pursuit was down in one hit.
She didn’t even look over to her senior grunt to see how he was holding up, too stunned and concerned for her Pokemon. She ran over to her Houndour and saw that he was hurt badly, the Sneasel’s claw having left a deep scratch over one of his eyes from the attack. She could hear the red haired boy say something to her, but she never quite fully registered what he had actually said. Perhaps something about her being naive for joining Team Rocket. All she knew was that she needed to get her Pokemon healed.
Without even thinking, she scooped up Pursuit and ran past the two trainers to the Pokemon Center. She was panicking, not even listening to the shouts of the few police officers who were now rushing to the Radio Tower. As she ran up to the counter, she felt the judging stares from the other trainers in the place because of her uniform. She was starting to understand why her mother was upset with her, but she would dwell on that later. For now, she was pleading to Nurse Joy to heal her two Pokemon as she fought back tears. Nurse Joy took pity on her and healed her Pokemon, on the condition that she changed out of the uniform and went home after they were healthy. Aquamarine agreed, changing while her Pokemon were cared for in the back. After a few hours, her team was bandaged though still a bit too weak to do any serious fighting for awhile. Before she could fulfill the second half of her agreement though, she had to wait until the police reopened the northern exit for Goldenrod City. So, she travelled south towards Ilex Forest to camp out away from the chaos.
It was during the early morning the following day did she start to feel some hope. A small Snubbull had curled up under the edge of her tent to hide from the rain and rest from a fight it seemed to have been caught in. At first, the Pokemon seemed scared but once Pursuit calmed down the fellow canine, showing that he still was a calm and caring canine despite what he had experienced the day prior. The Snubbull relaxed and enjoyed a small breakfast with the three travellers inside the warm tent and away from the rain. As Aquamarine was packing up once the sun was out, the Snubbull watched until Aquamarine tried to say goodbye. Not wanting to be left behind, the Snubbull followed for a bit before she grabbed onto Aquamarine’s leg and hugged her. Seeing that the small Snubbull didn’t want to be left behind, she offered for the Pokemon to join them on an adventure. Happy to tag along, Rizzo became a part of the team. The start of a new chapter in Aquamarine’s life was unfolding, she just had to take the first steps. Starting with a return to her roots.
It had been about a month since the incident in Goldenrod City. Aquamarine was now resting at home with her mother and their Pokemon. Pursuit and Radar were able to heal from their injuries, though the two would have lingering scars that would most likely never leave. Aquamarine was still feeling a bit bad, for she had left abruptly after her mother and her fought only to welcome her back with open arms. She did what she could in the meantime to try and repay her mother for her kindness until she was ready to travel again. She ran errands for her while she was at the Kimono Girls rehearsals, travelled to Olivine City and the nearby dairy farm to pick up goods with her mother’s Rapidash, and helped care for her mother’s Pokemon that stayed home while she was out of the house.
It was a simple enough life, though she could never see herself follow in her mother’s footsteps and become a Kimono Girl herself. Not after what she had done. While she was in Olivine City, she saw a pamphlet at the Pokemon Center there advertising a sail from Johto to Hoenn that was at a relatively good discount to trainers. She pocketed the pamphlet and returned home, pondering the thought of travelling to a new region. Having a new start…
That evening, she talked with her mother a bit about travelling over to Hoenn. Her mother, at first, was cautious about the trip and warned her about possibly not wanting to travel again so soon. After a few minutes of debate, they settled on Aquamarine travelling over there for a few days but when she returned, she would have to take on the rest of the gym leaders in Johto.
Determined to face this new region, she packed up her bag and gathered her team for this mini adventure.
Within a few hours thanks to the advances in sailing technology, Aquamarine took her first steps on Hoenn soil in Slateport. Hoping to make the most of her trip, she checked in at the Pokemon Center before starting to explore the large coastal town. She started in the marketplace, examining the different berries and goods that Johto didn’t have and wondered what the various berries were used for.
As she chatted up one of the sellers, Pursuit began to wander a little. The different smells were interesting and there were so many Pokemon he didn’t recognize, except for a couple Rattata here and there. Pursuit drifted a bit further until he saw a group of Pokemon around the edges of the town. They seemed to be training, battling against each other to hone their skills. One of the Pokemon was an old Mightyena that seemed to be watching over the smaller ‘mons when Pursuit walked up. The younger canine stood proud, wanting to be trained as well but was turned away since he smelled like humans. Pursuit was persistent though, standing his ground since he only wished to share his battling skill with the wild ‘mons.
His persistence was noted and the Mightyena paired him with a young Electrike. The two started to play fight, the slightly younger canine seemed to favor dodging and using his speed against the slower Houndour, and by the time Radar had tracked Pursuit down they had become close friends. They ended their session with a harmonized howl before they parted ways, a bond formed between them that would be hard to break.
The following day, Aquamarine and Pursuit went and watched their first Pokemon Contest. On the stage, they saw various coordinators and Pokemon perform beautiful feats of elegance, power, and bonds. Seeing the synchronization between trainer and Pokemon left Aquamarine feeling inspired, wanting to take that inspiration and using it when she returned to Johto in a couple days.
Those days went by quickly as the team trained on the beach with some sailors and explored the rest of the town. On their last evening before travelling back, Pursuit met up with the Electrike he met earlier in the week and explored the city at night. They chased Wingull and enjoyed some free berries before Pursuit had to tell him that he had to leave. While their time together was enjoyable, he could not stay in Slateport since he had to be with his trainer. The following morning, the Electrike watched their new friend leave on the boat…
When Aquamarine returned to Johto, her and her team set out to conquer the gyms. It was tough getting back into the battling scene, but the three managed to find their groove once more once they had managed to gain some new friends. It took them about a year to cover all of the ground and train up for the increasingly tough battles, but through their teamwork they had managed to make it all the way to the Elite Four. After their grueling fight through the four leaders, she found herself facing the Dragon Tamer Lance.
While she had never fought the man before, she had heard stories from fellow grunts while in training and it was easy to say that they had not exaggerated his power. She had some difficulty facing his cousin Clair, but she was nothing compared to the ferocity of Lance’s Pokemon. She was practically swept aside and a bit disheartened by how easily he had beaten her until the Champion admired her for making it as far as she did. With the blow to her pride softened, she left the Elite Four and Champion with a new respect for the titles the five had earned and made her way back to Hoenn.
Just over a year since she had first set foot on the land, Pursuit and Aquamarine travel back to Hoenn to make their name in the region. As soon as they landed in Slateport, though, Pursuit leads his trainer off the ship and towards the edge of the city. With a howl, the Houndoom calls out in search of his friend but there was no response. Worried, Pursuit looks around frantically until finally there is a howl in return coming from the nearby tall grass before a small, green canine walks out nervously. Pursuit was overjoyed to see his old friend, but the Electrike seemed nervous still despite seeing his friend. Pursuit had forgotten he had evolved and changed since they last saw each other, leaving the older canine flustered and soon laying down to show he didn’t want to hurt the Electrike.
Aquamarine helped by backing up so she wasn’t as much of a threat, allowing the Electrike to get used to seeing his friend again. Once the two had warmed back up to each other, the Electrike was running circles around Pursuit and nuzzling against him. It wasn’t until Aquamarine called Pursuit to go check in to the Pokemon Center did the happiness waiver once more, the Electrike saddened by not being able to see his friend for awhile again. That is, until he was offered to join them on their adventure. Though the electric canine was hesitant, the Electrike could not bear to be alone again and joined the team.
With their new friend, the adventure in Hoenn had begun. With Pursuit and Trike, as he was named, they travelled across Hoenn and the two canines became quite the duo. While they were a pair in battle, Trike became a star on the stage when it came to contests. He was a natural showman and enjoyed showing off his skill to the masses. His fur was silky and gave off a natural glimmer with his electricity, it was little surprise that they quickly rose in the ranks to become contest champions in Lilycove City. Their signature combo, Dash and Flash, became a feared set while in the battle portions since Trike was quick on his paws. It was such an effective move, though, the combo was used during their final fight against the region’s Champion, Wallace, and his Milotic as their finishing move.
Becoming Champion both in Contests and Battles, Aquamarine felt this was just the start and would soon travel on to Sinnoh with Pursuit and Trike… and beyond.
