For those of you wondering why they're doing a yearly awards show in June, 1. the 'year' in review actually began in March due to Pokemon Day occurring in late February, and 2. this show was entirely put together by fans who have lives outside the fanbase (and also careers, although many of these fans' careers as YouTubers are in fact inside the fanbase). All I have to say is, I'm glad they had separate categories for remixes and covers, because both slap.

Bird Keeper Toby may have moved on with his life (which is perfectly reasonable; he's getting into acting now under the name Toby Rivers and I wish him all the best), but his girlfriend Cuppa Phee has been massively picking up the slack with videos that continually impress me with how much effort one person can put into a single fakemon showcase video. This isn't just a set of fakemon; it's an entire epic of adventure and worldbuilding that gives these Bloodmoon forms a real sense of history that fits the Sinnoh lore possibly as good as or better than the official games. Not to mention that editing her vids into a full-out animated series is peak PokeTuber content.

Seriously, Sinnoh is probably still my least favorite Pokemon region, and I'm still trying to figure out why; you'd think a literal clash of gods and mortals to remake the universe itself would be my kind of jam. I strongly suspect that it's largely poor characterization to blame, for humans and Pokemon alike; thankfully Legends Arceus fixed a lot of that by giving us both cool new mons and NPCs with actual personality. Cuppa Phee's decision to have all of the Bloodmoon forms in this video be the literal same Noble Pokemon we encountered two hundred years ago (or three years ago, take your pick) is a similar step in the right direction, giving each of these mons a backstory and a rationale to their current forms and altered behavior. I think the Grass-type mons are my favorite; Voltorb in design, Lilligant in backstory/characterization. I'm happy she's happy. Dance your heart out, little flower.

HoopsAndHipHop often does fakemon videos on his channel, and this is part of a long-running series where he gives legendary groups new members. While I have to respectfully disagree on his association of the Creation Trio/Quartet with the Judeo-Christian Bible (I'm a Christian myself, so I'm not dissing the idea, I'm just saying that Game Freak is Japanese and likely based their creation mythos off of their own culture's religious beliefs first and foremost), I have to say that I wouldn't have thought of creating a Legendary Pokemon based on the Holy Spirit, and quite frankly I have no idea what to think about that concept. It's a beautiful design, though.

Also I really like the concept of Questrier, even if I'm not sure how you'd really go about catching one if it's already dead and gone in the modern era. Maybe it would appear in a Legends game?

While I don't agree with Jon's classification of these three Pokemon as mythicals (I feel that 'sub-legendary' is a more accurate term), these are solid (no state-of-matter pun intended) designs that feel totally at home in the Pokemon world, possibly with some connection to Castform's creation. While there is a theory that the Creation Trio is tied to states of matter (which might have been addressed in Hoops' video above; I add these entries as I find them so I don't distinctly remember if that one mentioned it at all), it's nice to see a legendary trio concept tied directly to this concept in visual design as well as function, and the three little goobers are all just so cute to boot. I'd definitely go out of my way to hunt these down in a Pokemon game.

(The first video isn't strictly necessary to enjoy this video, as all of the fakemon introduced in that video are also shown in this video, but it's still worth checking out.)

If I had a nickel for every time I featured a Dragon-type Eevee clone in this series, I'd have two nickels. Which isn't a lot, but it's weird that it happened twice because it's a really cool concept and I'd have expected more fakemon creators to try it out. My favorites out of the bunch are probably the Flying, Rock, and Poison types in no particular order, although if I had to choose only one, it'd probably be the Rock type. I'm just not personally gelling with the Ghost type design, as it seems too visually complicated to work as a Pokemon. It'd make a cool Digimon, though.

TEARS OF THE KINGDOM SPOILER ALERT

Zactoshi, formerly known as Lumiose Trainer Zac, previously did a Pokemon Sword and Shield anime rewrite that was excellent in and of itself, but this Scarlet and Violet rewrite knocks it out of the park. Expertly incorporating Ash Ketchum, the three game rivals, Team Rocket, and several of the canon ScVi anime characters all in a single adventure is not at all what I expected, and promises to make this a series to watch. Hints at incorporating both of Arven's parents in this one is another win, as is the shadowy appearance of another certain boxart legendary in Koraidon's backstory during the closing theme. Also can I just say that Jessie and James' new Pokemon are perfect fits, and Meowth's crush on Liko's Sprigatito is both adorable and entirely in character.

I've tried my own hand at crafting a Kanto sequel concept in Pokemon Destiny: Tantalum Chapter, which unfortunately had to be put on hold due to a combination of real-world stresses and potential plot conflicts with Pokemon Legends Z-A (yes, really; one of the recurring characters was the Lumiose ghost girl and if she gets revisited in Z-A then the entire character arc and backstory I had originally crafted for her will have to be either reworked or thrown out completely).

One of the ideas Pokemon Destiny shares with Mr. Buddy's concept is showing what happens to Lillie and Lusamine during their stay in Kanto after Sun and Moon's conclusion, so it's nice to hear that I'm not the only one who wants Game Freak to continue that storyline. If anything warrants a Kanto revisit, it's continuing the plotline of my favorite Pokemon generation of all time.

And here's another Mr. Buddy video, this time focusing on his own monster taming game in progress, Buddymon. I love concept art and it definitely intrigues me to know that the cultures depicted in Buddymon's world are based on real-world cultures native to the region this game is based around. That's something Mr. Buddy has often tackled in his "What if X country was a Pokemon region" videos, so I fully expect it to be active in full force here. Also, can I just say that I love those charms and all the different eggs?

I don't care what the vocal portion of the fanbase thinks, I love the Trubbish line. (And find it hilarious that it's the only non-Kanto, non-Galar Pokemon to get a Gigantamax form; okay technically you could call Melmetal a Kanto Pokemon because it was created specifically for Let's Go Pikachu and Eevee, but that's a whole nother discussion right there.) Quite frankly I'm surprised to learn that apparently Trubbish is a kitty? I guess that would make Garbodor a mountain lion, since those are the closest large cats to house cats... and suddenly the enormous trash monster feels even more dangerous and my anxiety is flaring up.

One of my favorite parts of the Pokemon metagame is when a competitive player finds a mon that you wouldn't expect to be good and makes it work. Jumpluff has always been a favorite underdog of mine despite (or because of) its abysmal stats, and learning that it once won a huge tournament feels oddly vindicating. Also its design is still cute as hecc.

On the subject of Pokemon metagames, I originally hated Walking Wake's guts when it was first revealed and basically looked like Suicune's mascot horror knockoff. (That thing should be a jumpscare in Pokemon Snap 3.) I soon grew to like the design for its uniqueness, even though it was the polar opposite of the original's vibes (or perhaps because of that?), so it's interesting to hear that there's a metagame where it wrecks house. Now I'm imagining a Pokemon AU based on some of these metagames and what the ecology would be like if these Pokemon actually had these abilities in the wild... that'd make an interesting worldbuilding exercise.

Sylveon with Ground-type Judgment was not something I expected to ever hear about, but it makes sense considering that all three types that resist Fairy (Poison, Steel, and Fire) are weak to Ground. Learning how STABmons works is kinda weird when you consider mons like Ogerpon and Rotom that can freely shift their types and suddenly get a whole bunch of weird moves out of it. Imagine if this metagame was merged with Almost Any Ability and suddenly you've got all of the tools to play with and the tierlist goes absolutely insane. There could be some ridiculous bans in that one. (Wait... that's basically Balanced Hackmons, isn't it?)

One of the fun things about being a fan of a massive multimedia franchise is that you never seem to reach the point of knowing everything there is to know about it; there's always more to learn. We already know that Kecleon had a (minor) role in Hoenn's plot as an obstacle that required the Devon Scope to get past; now you're telling me that it was (probably) intended to have multiple forms in-game? The time traveler in me is curious as to whether Kecleon would've become more popular if this Flabebe-like trait had carried over into the main games...

Recently I was thinking about Dr. Starline (who's one of those fictional characters that lives rent-free in my head) and for some reason I started thinking about Syndrome. This video pretty much confirms what's so similar between the two characters, and it's not just impeccable fashion sense. Both started out as starry-eyed fanboys only to be betrayed by their idols, and both ultimately fell to their own hubris after trying desperately to prove themselves 'better' than said idols. It's pretty sad when you think about it, but it's even worse for Syndrome, who started out with genuinely good intentions but chose to pursue the path of evil. (Also, neither of them is above kidnapping children to raise as minions. Just throwing that out there.)

Admittedly, I still haven't finished building the last three-hundred-dollar Lego set I've bought, but this one definitely intrigues me. Not just for the pieces either (although that foliage is sick), but because it's a freaking Great Deku Tree Lego set and it's awesome. I'm not sure which version of the build I'd go for, but I'm heavily leaning towards the one with the pretty pink cherry blossoms.

I know that Weta Workshop already has an official hobbit-based cozy game in development (because everyone and their mother wants in on the Animal Crossing clones these days), but if you just can't wait that long, this video makes a good argument for giving it a try in Disney Dreamlight Valley instead. Although I'm sure that if I went to the trouble to look it up, I'd find at least five different Animal Crossing New Horizons islands based on Hobbiton...

And speaking of ACNH, I've never actually really worked with terraforming on my previous island, but more experienced designers than myself have done amazing things with it. I'm not sure which I like more: the sunken lake with the cave, or the dig site. I think I'm more likely to do a sunken lake on my current island than a dig site, although I won't rule out the possibility of the latter. It's kind of a shame they don't have any real terraforming in DDLV aside from placing natural objects...

I didn't want to break up the division by theme in this article, but this felt like a 'save the best for last' type of thing. I love Hoops' work and I'm super curious as to where this project will go, and quite frankly, I'm probably gonna have to wait and see what the starters will evolve into before being able to pick one, because they're all so fantastic. (I am leaning towards Totrot, however, on the basis of its 'sea horse' inspiration. Love the fin ears and tail.)

...I'll hold off on any comments on the 'legitimacy' of the Chinese Zodiac theory. Suffice to say I'm tired of hearing about it, I'm tired of arguing about it, and I'm tired of every Fire starter fakemon being based on the same four animals every single time. It's just way too repetitive.