Pokémon Sage

I was just Skyping when the topic of Pokémon came up, and rather than ramble on and on there about a discovery I made related to Pokémon, I'll ramble here where fewer people will notice, goodie!!

I've already mentioned recently coming across a fan-made Pokémon game called Pokémon Sage, made by 4chan's dedicated Pokémon board. It looked a lot better and much more authentic than I expected, there's already 229 mostly finalized designs, tons of spites, art assets, implemented mechanics and much more! Though it doesn't sound like it'll be ready anytime soon, certainly not this year, I do want to keep track of it in case a new demo comes out, the last one was 2 years ago, but it seems they have progressed a lot since then.

So, I could talk about pretty much all of it and how much I adore pretty much everything about it, I think I'll just stick to linking to some of my favourite Pokémon from the game just so I can get the excitement off my chest.

Floressum

This is the final form of the Grass starter! It's Grass/Flying and it's totally adorable! I want one and I want to hug it and listen to it chirp with its cute red cheek and whatnot. The only other really cute final evolution I can think of is Meganium, and I couldn't for the life of my justify using Meganium. But I could use this any day of the week, eeee!~

Pengliff

While most Pokémon games start out in a temperate climate with Ice Types being rare until around the seventh gym, at which point you really already want to have your finalized team, this game actually starts in an icy area! It's certainly unique, and it means there are earlygame Ice types! Earlygame Pokémon tend to be cute, penguins tend to be cute, and I tend to like Ice Pokémon, so it's little surprise I like Pengliff! Just look at it!

Montegrew

I tend to like Pokémon that come in pairs, as well as Pokémon that are sort of gimmicky, which is why I like the idea of lovestruck Pokémon based on Romeo and Juliet that evolve into feuding and bitter Pokémon once they finally learn Attract. And they're called Growmeo, Tuliep, Montegrew and Capulilly. That's just great and amazing and they all look so good and agh, I wish the third demo was ready soon, it looks so good!

Macabra

I don't really have too much to say about this one, I just like its wicked smile and wolf in sheep's clothing look. It's apparently also Dark type except it was raised to ward off Psychic-type sheep that cause nightmares, which rather amuses me. It looks pretty huggable, assuming it doesn't bite me. Or claw me. Or choke me with its wool. Is that even possible though?

Fumighast

Isn't this guy a cutie-pie?! I bet a lot of people would dislike the design given it's based on chemical reactions and flasks and such, rather than some kind of animal, but I've always been fond of such designs, they've had a spot in the Pokémon world since its inception, giving more variety to the Pokédex as well as having interesting reasons for existing, whether they are based on some kind of obscure spirit that possesses inanimate objects, or given life due to artificial means, purposefully or not. There were a few of them I could pick here, but this one stood out the most to me! I just really like its design, it rather reminds me of a prop using in Pokémon Black 2/White 2 while filming a movie about erasing an ancient gaseous demon!

Cobrascet

Aww, back to another cute design! I love this design, it's adorable, it's silly, it's clever, I like it! I've always had a soft spot for serpentine Pokémon, and this one is definitely no exception, it rather reminds me of Ekans, except it's infinitely more interesting. There's not much else to say, the design just speaks for itself. 

Forthorn

When I saw there was a Pokémon called Koblin, I was ready to use one of my team and call it Klobin', but it was more Kobold-inspired than Goblin-inspired, but the ears on this Pokémon can't hide the very Goblinoid-looking Pokémon that lurks beneath those leaves and that mask. Its current Pokédex description says "Forthorn scares off people wandering in the woods to impress others, hoping they will accept it into the group." which just makes me want to catch one and hug it forever and ever. Also, it has two sets of arms, does it? I like to imagine it's two Goblins standing on top of each other, one on the other's shoulders. Now I want one even more!

Glocto

A Water/Fire type Pokémon! Well, one of two such families, actually, but I like this one the most! It just works so well, a combination of an octopus (Squid? Cephalopod? It does have only six tentaces, but whatever, spider Pokémon never had eight legs either.) and a lava lamp! It even has little lava-lamp like parts at the end of each tentacle, and you can see its molten innards and whatnot! It's definitely going to be my go-to Pokémon for Surfing, even if HMs have Key Item alternatives.

Howlequin

I had to save my favourite for last! And yes, this is my favourite out of all 229 designs! It's a Dark/Normal type and the evolved form of Chihaha. I really love all the punny names these Pokémon have, Anyway, Pokémon has had the Mr Mime family, which was really the only Pokémon that fell into the clown-archetype, as a Mime. I can't say I've ever been very fond of that family, but this one I just simply love, love, love! I tend to like clowns and jesters and mimes and harlequins and pierrots and such in games, even though it seems most people hate them! Really, they most often seem to be obviously plotting and backstabbing underlings, incompetent stooges who are more sinister than first appear, or in the worst version, they are NPCs which act as a blockade with various stupid riddles and games. (Agh, why is there no such NPC in Laser Lords?! Inconceivable!) But I always bring one along when they are a playable class, just like I like Bards and Dancers and Mimes. This design is just so perfect for a cross between a dalmatian and a harlequin, though, an idea which I already like on paper, and all the more in this execution! So that's why it'definitely my favourite, and I am probably one of the very few who would call it his favourite.

So yes, Pokémon Sage! It looks really good and I'm glad it seems like the project has already come this far and people still seem to be working on it. I hope the next demo comes out sometime this or next year! One more thing I want to link to is the regular trainer battle theme, because out of the music pieces I've heard so far, it's the one I like most. The regular trainer battle music's probably the music you hear most often during the game, and I imagine it's not easy to make it since it has to evoke a feeling of battle without seeming like some gigantic, epic theme. I think this track captures that feeling perfectly, kudos to the composer! 

https://soundcloud.com/dewdneym/pokemon-sage-trainer-battle?in=dewdneym/sets/pokemon-vp-battle-themes

You can also read more about the project on the wiki, and look at all the Pokémon designs through the following links:

http://capx.wikia.com/wiki/CAPX_Wiki
http://vignette2.wikia.nocookie.net/capx/images/0/01/WikiDex062614.png/revision/latest?cb=20141102172810

Anyway, that was my ramble about Pokémon Sage. It's nice being able to ramble in a blog like this rather than spamming it in a chat where things just get disorganized and people probably don't care, yes!