The Pokémon Reapers [1/2]

[NotAVHLM-GM 1,858]

The Pokémon Reapers

 

It’s better to steal a good idea, than to come up with a crappy media spot. This is exactly what I had in mind after I noticed the Yukon Rush Pokémon article. As a big Pokémon fan myself, I felt we needed to have something like this done for Philadelphia. Blade actually created a room in discord where people could pick the Pokémon to represent them when she would do the story. However, that story was never released. I’m not sure if she still wants to do it, if so, we might have two of these, but this will be too much fun to do for me to pass up on.

 

Without further ado, here is my selection of the Pokémon Reapers line-up.

 

 

 

Blade Maiden - Mega Audino

 

 

The partner in crime for our players, but also the fixer of everything that goes wrong in the entire team. With a team full of diva’s you need someone who can heal all wounds and get them up to speed again, Mega Audino keeps our team up and running incident after incident after incident.

 

Alex Pearson - Blastoise

 

 

Pearson started the season off with full power on his cannons. He jump started the rankings for points scored quickly and has held his lead steadily over the other Reapers. Just like Blastoise, Pearson is not a real troublemaker, but an actually loyal companion. With his Hydro Cannons be your side the Reapers can extinguish any threat that is being fired at them. Pearson has evolved in a forward Philadelphia relies upon and has not dissapointed since. One of the most loyal companions any trainer could have.

 

Benny Graves - Duskull

 

One of the more recent additions to the Philadelpia Reapers is Benny Graves, a player with a name that fits the Reapers theme for sure. Graves is still a work in progress but he has chances to evolve to VHLM starter level and become a Dusclops, or to evolve to VHL starter level as a Dusknoir. But for now, the opponents of the Reapers are not in grave danger yet, but his time to shine will certainly come. Just you wait. 

 

Benson Kramer - Shellder

 

 

This is actually a hard one as I don’t really could think off any Pokémon that fits him, so I went for Shellder, as we didn't see him much. Kramer played for Minnesota as a free agent last season and was added to the Reapers line up, but he mostly hides in his shell as we haven’t seen him around the locker room much. Despite hiding in his shell armor, he still is around though to regularly update and grow into a much larger oyster that will likely still hide in his shell.

 

Brandon LeBlanc - Meganium

 

 

LeBlanc just is a person that you can’t get mad on yet he is still the highest scoring defenseman on the team. As a solid defense you will need a body that can take and dish out hits, and still keep standing on four legs to hand out the puck to your teammates. Leblanc really has it all and due to his friendly nature I decided to pick Meganium for him. He might be one of the most underrated players in the history of Philadelphia.

 

Brock Louth - Machoke

 

 

Just look at his render at the signature Jubo made for him, just look at his render at the signature Blade made for him. This is not your average guy. Brock Louth might be the most buff guy on the team, so we needed a buff pokemon for him. Since Louth doesn’t have four arms, we decided to give him just two arms instead and make him Machope. So be warned, if you trade away your Brock Louth, you might get a four handed Brock Louth back. With Machoke on your team, the Reapers bring in some extra strength to outmuscle their opponents, Buff Louth’s training has not been in vain!

 

Bud Knight - Aegislash

 

 

A knight in shining armor, despite Knight not being on discord himself , we still receive updates from his side through to his brother. And as an actual knight, it would be best to give Bud both a sword and a shield, bring in Aegislash, the perfect embodiment of Bud Knight in Pokémon form. Offensive form when he goes on the attack, but also able to kill the opponents powerplay by going defensive form. Knight is a reliable piece of the Reapers lineup.

 

Case Martell - Braviary

 

 

Somehow I see Martell as a real American Hero, so what would fit him better than Braviary, one of the fiercest creatures that shows their natural pride. As a true offensive force for the Reapers he is almost at a point per game ratio and helping his teammates succeed. Braviary will fight for his team and the same thing goes hand-in-hand for Martell. So a true fit!

 

Cinnamon Block - Tepig

 

 

There wasn’t really a block pokemon, or one that smelled like Cinnamon, but after googling I found that there was a Pokemon episode where one of the featured pokemon was actually named Cinnamon, so bring in the Tepig.  Tepig is a cute little pig with big dreams, just like Cinnamon Block, do not judge her on the outside as inside there will be a fierce fighter mentality. The first female skater in Reapers history will definitely not shy away from battle. Just like Tepig there is a true fighting spirit in her.

 

Condor Adrienne - Togekiss

 

 

This might be a weird pick to most that read this, but Togekiss and myself have come a long way since being the main member of my team in my competitive Pokémon period during the Diamond & Pearl era. During that era, my Togekiss was also named Captain Awesome and was the true leader of any team I created. It’s ability to boost his stats through Nasty Plot and the double flinch chance due to the Serene Grace ability in combination with Air Slash, gave him a 60% chance to stun the other Pokémon while also being bulky and actually doing more damage. And the saying is true, 60% of the time it works every time. Just not during the Smogon World Cup games I played where I went 0 wins and 3 losses for Team Netherlands. But as the captain of my team, I also pick Togekiss to represent Condor Adrienne.

 

David Lindberg - Galarian Linoone

 

 

Another person who we haven’t had much contact with, David Lindberg was acquired from Ottawa but hasn’t really said much in the locker room, he upgrades with press conferences and practice facilities but theres not really much to say, so what do we do then, we find a pokemon based on his player name. As Lin are the first three letters of Linoone, this seemed like a perfect fit. And with him going back to the franchise where he first started his career with, he must have a bit of a dark side. And indeed, this would be perfect for the new Galarian version of Linoone, even though the new Pokemon game is not released yet, David Lindberg is the first wild version that is encountered worldwide of the Galarian Linoone

 

Duncan Jeffers - Kangashkan

 

 

While this part isn’t correct in a gender way as Kangashkan are only female and Duncan Jeffers is still male the last time we checked under the team showers, but with a user name like tophdaddy, Jeffers is definitely a daddy on the team. As one of the S66 players he is also one of the players with most experience in the VHLM, despite being outclassed by most others on the team. Since the Kangashkan is the only Pokemon to carry around his kid, this seemed like the best possible choice for someone we haven’t seen active the last months (just like Kangashkan in competitive Pokémon).

 

Dylan Doyle - Rapidash

 

 

After some hard choices, this was an easier one, Doyle is one of the fastest guys on teams and earns TPE in a rapid pace. Since he was drafted by the Calgary Wranglers last year he is a perfect pick for the Rapidash Pokemon. The fiery Doyle has been a threat for enemy defences over the last season which resulted in him scoring over a point per game average. He is a great addition to the locker room and who wouldn’t want to have a friendly horse around, so Rapidash is a great pick for Dylan Doyle. 

 

Fang Flashback - Midnight Form Lycanroc

 

 

Just look at him, no matter if you look at Fang or at the Lycanroc, you see they have one thing in common and that is the crazyness in his eyes. Fang was a cheerful personality and was really playfull when he still was a young pup in the team. But after a certain pool party, there has released some kind of darkness in him that nobody had predicted to happen. This makes him a perfect option to be represented by the Midnight Lycanroc. Fierce in both the locker room and in battle. I am not sure how many opponents he tried to slash so far, as it is not a tracked statistic, but as soon as they come too close, they will get a direct hit of him.  The kid actually IS crazy, it’s not just a story.

 

Keith Harris - Tyrogue

 

 

The guy with the username Ty, deserves a Pokemon that starts with the same letters. A Tyrogue is a baby Pokémon who can evolve in either Hitmonlee, Hitmonchan or Hitmontop, so a lot of possibilities to grow. He has been gaining updates in a slow pace compared to others, but that doesn’t have to be a bad thing, this gives him time  to develop into a future asset for the Reapers. It will be nice to see which route Harris will take and how he will turn out for the future of Philadelphia.

 

Ricky Johnson - Noctowl

 

 

With a username of Midnite, a midnight lycanroc would have been fitting here, but that was already taken. So what Pokemon also live in the night? Owls! That’s right, Ricky Johnson is a night owl , funny enough this would also have fitted Fang as he has problems of getting into bed at a decent time. But Johnson would have a fitting Pokemon with Noctowl, so we’ll keep it this way without changing it around.

 

RJ Lloris - Zapdos

 

 

RJ Lloris will be our zapdos, not because he’s that legendary, but because of him being one of the prospects of the New York Americans. While Zapdos is yellow and this hasn’t got anything to do with the colors of the American, he is the native american thunderbird, which is as good as a comparison I could find for him. Lloris was drafted high and surpassed the tpe limit, meaning he will make his vhl debut next season, he is however only a small piece over the limit, so he will need to work hard to indeed shock the league with his presence. 

 

Scotty BigShotty - Conkeldurr

 

 

The guy has such a big shot, that he actually can hold sticks with both his hands and fire them at the same time. He has such a big shot, he could even use large bricks as sticks. Meet Conkeldurr, the living embodiement of BigShotty. Conkeldurr might be an underrated Pokemon but his strength is unmatched. As BigShotty loves to throw people around, he needs a strong and big Pokemon to show who he really is. With his strength and solid scoring ability, you will not get Conkeldurr or Scotty off the ice easily.

 

Sigard Gunnar - Alolan Sandslash

 

 

Our teams own icelandic player, what would be better than portray him than an actual ice pokemon. Sandslash always has been a Pokemon that could attack with full strength, but with the added touch of ice, you surely cannot underestimate him. He has shown he has what it takes to defeat goalies in the VHLM, Gunnar will also move up to the VHL next season after he’s drafted to slash some opponents defenses.

 

Sunny Burst - Solrock

 

 

Every team needs his ray of light and with Sunny you can smile every day. Shamefully Sunny is no longer active, but there is no other option here then to go with a Solrock to burst the locker room into a lightly atmosphere again.

 

Tauras Karazija - Tauros

 

 

The tradeline acquisition, Karazija his first name is reason enough to make him into a Tauros, the Lithuanian born player is definitely like a bull on the ice and he has a lot of room to grow for the next seasons. Philadelphia hopes he continues his practice and grows into a solid pillar for next year’s defence

 

This concludes the actual players that currently are on the Philadelphia Reapers, however we also have some old time reapers and fans that are going strong as our cheerleading squad (as well as a co-gm) and who would we be if we excluded them from our list. But that my friends, will be published another time!

 

Words: 2000 pictures+  (media spots will be claimed later)

Disclaimer: pictures were chosen by my son, so excuses if they offend your character (my own is called Annie as well apparantly, so im no exception here)

 

@FerdaJets @Jayrad28 @zepheter @RJMW @Shaka @Dilly Dilly @Big Mac @Benson @Ty343 @Psanchez55 @Green @Tophdaddy @Jayhawk @Midnite @Sunburst @uphillmoss @STZ @Beaviss @ontanis @omgitshim @BladeMaiden

[Enorama 2,039]

3 minutes ago, Green said:

Brock Louth - Machoke

 

 

Just look at his render at the signature Jubo made for him, just look at his render at the signature Blade made for him. This is not your average guy. Brock Louth might be the most buff guy on the team, so we needed a buff pokemon for him. Since Louth doesn’t have four arms, we decided to give him just two arms instead and make him Machope. So be warned, if you trade away your Brock Louth, you might get a four handed Brock Louth back. With Machoke on your team, the Reapers bring in some extra strength to outmuscle their opponents, Buff Louth’s training has not been in vain!

 

tbh he's a machop at best

[BladeMaiden 1,807]

Thank You For This!

@Green thank you for doing this article! I love that your son picked the Pokemon images and sharing the part about Annie the Togakiss was adorable too. I have said it before that you are all a bunch of divas but you know I love you all for it I am glad you gave me a fairy type even though I run a team with a dark persona and i feel like though this you made me the MEGA Diva of Philly! You continue to surprise me and inspire the rest of the team to be creative and have fun, you are a LR MVP

[NotAVHLM-GM 1,858]

Annie is just the picture he choose though My own Togekiss ingame i had actually named CptAwesome

[BladeMaiden 1,807]

56 minutes ago, Green said:

Annie is just the picture he choose though My own Togekiss ingame i had actually named CptAwesome

 

I mean that is your new team nickname now Cpt.Awesome lol 

[NotAVHLM-GM 1,858]

Claiming week 1/4

[NotAVHLM-GM 1,858]

Claiming week 2/4 - donation doubles

[NotAVHLM-GM 1,858]

Claiming week 3/4

[NotAVHLM-GM 1,858]

Claiming week 4/4

[Renomitsu 934]

Review

 

I don't know about half of these fancy Pokemon, but you get props from me for actually going through the effort to parse the billion-plus varieties (there have to be a billion now, right? What are we on, generation 5,500?) there are for meaningful comparisons. The MLP Rapidash/Doyle and depressed Machoke/Louth comparison made reading this article oh-so-easy. There are a couple of flow and tense-oriented errors (e.g. "funny enough this would also have fitted Fang, as he has problems of getting into bed at a decent time") but that's something that's bound to happen in an article this long.