They Put The Joker In Pokemon Violet (my thoughts on the teal mask DLC)

not really a review, just casual observation and thoughts and personal opinions!

i beat part 1 just minutes ago, and i LOVED teal mask! what a wonderful DLC to add onto an already amazing pokemon game!! the main story of scarlet/violet already blew me away enough but the DLC is shaping up to be just as good, and with characters i like and also   dont like! 

carmine has soared to the top of my favorite NPC roster just with this, i love it when they let girls be insane and bossy and intense and dont frame it as evil like its common to in media. N, cynthia, and rika were my top faves before her, but i think carmine just took cynthias place as second fave overall

kieran.... went joker mode and i dont really like him lmao. im not looking forward to seeing more of him in the indigo disc. he had a really sweet character going for him until.... all THAT happened. on one hand, its nice to see a more antagonistic rival crop up again after years of having friendly rivals! on the other hand, his weird complex makes my skin crawl and the way he treated ogerpon as an object he "deserved" because he liked it is sickening! (EDIT: i know kierans a kid and that excuses some of it but like. only some of it. the joker-fication is really not normal lmao)

ogerpon is so cute and stories like this between pokemon and their partners always touch my heart in a real special way. its not just about healing but forging ahead and making new good memories with new people. its something pokemons always touched on, and seeing it as a central plot makes me happy every time :)

the roster of pokemon in kitakami is really cute and i love the new additions/forms! i havent explored the entire island yet, only having focused on the story, but im excited to run around and explore more! especially with all the hidden nooks and crannies i found just by following the story along, theyre VERY generous with items to find, kitakami might become a pokeball farm spot as a whole for me

really excited to see what indigo disc has in store! and not excited to see kieran again! 8/10

(bonus: scarlet/violet gets a 10/10 its genuinely on par with black/white the plot is very fucked up in a cool way)