I drew this illustration for Trainer Wants to Fight! to celebrate Kris's Togetic learning Fly. 

Sometimes the HM moves some Pokémon are able to learn seem a bit... implausible.

Shadow Play, Chapter 3

Chapter 1 - Chapter 2 - Chapter 3

Terra woke up from dreaming that she had a stomachache, to discover that she really did have a stomachache. With a grimace, she carefully rolled over onto her back and tried to relax, listening to her own breathing.

“You okay?” Blynn asked, and Terra knew her moving around had woken up the Zafara. Blynn had always had a keen sense for when something was off—intuition, she called it.

“I’m trying to be,” Terra grunted. “That dinner was pretty rich. It’s taking a while to digest.”

“I’m sorry,” Blynn said. “Need the Selket Elixir?”

“Yes, please,” Terra said. The nice thing about Neopia was that apothecaries had concocted all sorts of helpful remedies. Selket Elixir was a potent digestive aid, so Te made sure to always carry a bottle when her family travelled.

The Museum of Idaho has been hosting a travelling exhibit all about the Permian Era, and I managed to make it before they moved on! I love the Permian--I think it's so overlooked and underrated in culture because a lot of people just kinda gravitate toward what happened next: dinosaurs. But Permian critters weren't just the warm-up act for the main event--they were fascinating and successful animals in their own right. And, like the dinosaurs, their demise came about because of an unfortunate mass extinction. Gorgonops and Ulemosaurus and Lystrosaurus may not be household names, but in my opinion they should be. <3

I brought my drawing supplies, and although I was a bit tired that day, I managed to do a pretty nice marker sketch based on the lovely Dimetrodon mount in the exhibit. My sister says he looks like he wants treats from you. That's probably accurate.

They also had some fun animatronics scattered around the exhibit--it was awesome to see animatronics of lesser-known critters and not just big-name dinos. I really wanted to pat their tummies and bring them home and give them treats, but my cat would not approve.

 Still working through my extensive list of scientists to turn into cats. George Washington Clawver is a handsome breed of cat called the Havana Brown. 

It's a common myth that George Washington Carver invented peanut butter--it was around before he began his agricultural studies, but he did do a lot to invent and promote peanut products to encourage crop rotation in the South. Also cats playing in piles of things is just cute, so.

 This is an odd and question-provoking line from one of the Rocket Grunts in the Radio Tower. Do Team Rocket members actually self-identify as evil? Most criminals claim their actions are justified, but are Rocket members perfectly ordinary people who just decided "today I'm going to be evil"? What does that say about the place of ethics in the society of the Pokémon world?

... And so she proceeded to write an entire criminal psychology paper based on a throwaway line in a video game.

I designed another amigurumi--Scotoplanes globosa (the "sea pig" sea cucumber) with a hitchhiking juvenile king crab! This was a more involved design than the previous one, and I learned a lot working on it. To ensure that the sea pig was capable of supporting itself on its adorable little tube feet (and that its back tentacles would stay upright instead of drooping), I made an armature out of pipe cleaners and then crocheted tubes that I slipped over the ends of the pipe cleaners that were sticking out of the body.

I was going to do the same for the legs of the king crab so that it could actually hold on to the sea pig, but I didn't have enough red yarn. Ultimately, I think it looks better and more accurate with the thinner legs anyway, even if I couldn't incorporate the holding ability.

... Man, I'm so much of a nature nerd that I crochet holothurians. Not sure what that says about me.

And here are some WIP photos!

 

 Let's face it, what the Team Rocket members really need is some good life counseling.