Ladies and gentlemen, Weird Al Yankovic.
Hello again everyone. I'm back with yet another monthly update. I know last month's update got pretty long and political, so I'll try and keep this one as short and light as I can.
So Christmas will soon be upon us once more, and every year it gets just a little bit harder for me to get into that holiday. It could be because I've been working a few too many years in retail, or because I'm getting older and the rest of my family is getting older. Then of course there's the current state of the world, or at least the country. Whatever the reason, Christmas has become less fun for me. I'm not saying at all that I've come to hate Christmas, but it has become more of a source of stress, and even a little depression.
Of course it doesn't help that I was laid up with a nasty stomach virus last Christmas. This virus hit me two days before Christmas while I was at work. I was suddenly running to the restroom every five minutes with mild diarrhea, and I ended up needing to leave an hour early because I was starting to feel incredibly nauseous. Soon after I got out on the road, I had to stop at the nearby gas station to use their restroom, where I finally threw up in their toilet. Then a few minutes later out on the highway, I had to stop at the side of the road to throw up yet again. I didn't actually get out of the car, I just opened the door and bent out to throw up on the pavement This was one instance where it really sucked to live forty-five minutes to an hour away from where I work.
Once I finally got home, I spent the rest of the night either throwing up or sitting on the toilet. The next day I finally stopped throwing up, but I still had some diarrhea and a really nasty migraine that wouldn't go away. I was pretty much in and out of consciousness for that entire Saturday, with bad sci-fi movies running on my T.V. I don't know who thought Event Horizon was an appropriate movie to run shortly before Christmas, but it seemed in poor taste. By the time Christmas actually came I was mostly recovered, but I wasn't up to eating anything more than crackers and a pot pie.
So that's how I spent last Christmas. I've yet to catch any illnesses this year so far this year, but we still have a couple more days before the big day arrives. Anyway, I at least already have my Christmas shopping done, which has become one of the more stressful parts of this holiday season for me. I never know what to get my dad for Christmas, and each year it feels a little harder to figure out. Hell, most years I don't even know what I want for Christmas anymore. Every year I used to make a list, but ever since I got a job and started making my own money I usually just buy most anything I happen to want myself (within reason, of course). So now each year when Christmas rolls around, I never know what to ask for.
My Grandma makes it easy for me and just sends me money each year, and she mails it ridiculously early. This year she sent me a larger check than what she normally sends each year. At the first opportunity I used the check to buy the ridiculously expensive blu-ray set of Puella Magi Madoka Magica. I'm sorry, but a hundred plus dollars is a little much for a twelve-episode anime on blu-ray. Anyway, there was even enough money left over to buy the movie trilogy as well. I also got a free pin from Crunchyroll with my purchase...that I'm probably never going to use.
Well besides my Christmas angst, the only thing I have worth reporting at the moment is my gaming activities during this past month. A few days ago I took a break from the new Sword Art Online video game, Fractured Daydream to take part in a special event happening in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet right now. Maybe some of you reading have seen this trailer.
I took part in the special Tera Raid battle to get the Shiny Rayquaza at the first opportunity. It ended up being a pretty easy battle thanks to the Level 100 Enamorus that I transferred over from Legends: Arceus. I nicknamed the Rayquaza I captured, Skyfall. It's not really meant to be a reference to the James Bond movie. I always just thought Skyfall would be an appropriate name for a Shiny Rayquaza. Of course I am thinking of changing it eventually because the name causes me to think of the blasted theme song from that movie.
After catching Skyfall, I took part in the special Mass Outbreak event that's also happening in Scarlet and Violet right now. This event focuses on three Pokemon that also have a black Shiny coloration, or at least evolve into ones that do.
- Cetoddle
- Carbink
- Fraxure
I found a Shiny Cetoddle in the first outbreak I attacked. It took a little longer to find a Shiny Carbink though. Finding a Shiny Faxure ended up being extremely difficult. I was forced to take on every Mass Outbreak of Fraxure happening in Blueberry Academy at the time, and for the last Outbreak I was forced to boost my odds by using rare sandwich ingredients (this would make sense to anyone who actually plays Scarlet or Violet). It paid off though, and I immediately used a Rare Candy on the Fraxure I caught to evolve it into a Haxorus. So here's a list of the Pokemon I caught during these two events, with their nicknames.
- Cetoddle (Orca)
- Carbink (Obsidian)
- Haxorus (Asuna)
- Rayquaza (Skyfall)
For anyone wondering about the nickname I gave my Haxorus, I was originally planning to nickname the Shiny Fraxure I caught, Kirito because of the coloration of its evolved form, but the Fraxure I ended up catching was female. So I decided to compromise and call her Asuna instead. I'll be the first to admit that I'm not great at Pokemon nicknames. After a while, it gets kind of hard to think of good ones.
I think that pretty much covers it for this post. There is more stuff I coiuld talk about, but it's relatively unimportant and I've got other stuff I want to get done this afternoon.
Until next time, here's wishing everyone a Merry Christmas.
