iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

LillyCoy @dancerlea.bsky.social · 13/03/2025

You’re totally allowed to head-canon that. I doubt there are any ways to confirm it completely. I just don’t personally buy it because so many other features are on the correct island

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LillyCoy @dancerlea.bsky.social · 12/03/2025

I personally believe that these are more related to the idea of Heiau. While it is located on a mountain, the mountain itself isn’t the main focus. The “altar” is. Heiau are typically located on higher ground and have dedicated purposes, much like these altars.

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LillyCoy @dancerlea.bsky.social · 10/02/2025

I think it’s more a family thing. It’s the perfect thing to watch with your family because it’s relatively inoffensive and very heartwarming. It’s a feel good story with amazing acting and writing. For me and my family, we watched most of it during Covid, where it helped with the depression.

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LillyCoy @dancerlea.bsky.social · 09/02/2025

OT 1 and 2 are some of my favorite RPGs ever. They kinda prove that a good jrpg-style game doesn’t need a grandiose story or convoluted characters and development to be good. At its root, the games care about being fun and being stunningly beautiful. They’re games of little moments.

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LillyCoy @dancerlea.bsky.social · 08/02/2025

I know no one cares, but my mom and I just finished Drag Race Season 9…and that was the worst ending to a reality competition show season that I have ever experienced. Like, oh my fucking god. Why would they do that?

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LillyCoy @dancerlea.bsky.social · 01/02/2025

Idk if you think it’s worth it with the switch 2 coming out this year some time, but Mario Odyssey is probably the best 3d platformer ever made. Mario Wonder is one of the best 2D platformers. There are tons of games without the AAA RPG crutch of simply being big

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LillyCoy @dancerlea.bsky.social · 30/01/2025

“Won’t stop yelling…” You asked me, bitch!

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LillyCoy @dancerlea.bsky.social · 30/01/2025

Never played a CRPG, but my first ever RPG was Pokémon Diamond. In terms of a more classic JRPG, the first one I remember playing fully was Dragon Quest IX. Diamond is pretty bad and surpassed by other Pokemon games, but DQ9 is fantastic and very replayable. I recently replayed it and had a blast.

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LillyCoy @dancerlea.bsky.social · 27/01/2025

Idk why, but I thought people liked Agatha?

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LillyCoy @dancerlea.bsky.social · 25/01/2025

It’s the game that got me into Kirby. I didn’t really know other Kirby games existed before it. It is a little bit bare bones in terms of level designs, but the overall gameplay also feels sort of quintessentially Kirby too? It’s much better than it gets credit for (and Darach is so fucking cool).

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LillyCoy @dancerlea.bsky.social · 25/01/2025

Thank god. I was worried that things were going well for that Nazi son-of-a-bitch.

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LillyCoy @dancerlea.bsky.social · 22/01/2025

If you have any more questions or curiosities, I’ll try to do my best to answer. I just love these games and Pokemon so I wanted to massively nerd out as my first real post on Bluesky!. Thanks for reading!

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LillyCoy @dancerlea.bsky.social · 22/01/2025

Other than that…I don’t know. As a Native Hawaiian, I was delighted to see all the ways that Gamefreak tried to represent my home as accurately as is reasonable for something like Pokemon. It’s certainly more researched and represented than many other attempts (I’m looking at you, DQXI’s Lonalulu).

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LillyCoy @dancerlea.bsky.social · 22/01/2025

The Dancer trainers reference hula dancing. However, they're all female, which isn't true of hula which anyone can dance. They wear leipo'o, or head lei, and kūpe'e, or ankle/wrist lei. I don't think they're perfect representations, but they're serviceable enough.

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LillyCoy @dancerlea.bsky.social · 22/01/2025

Alola is an obvious reference to Aloha. Most people think of Aloha meaning hello or goodbye, but it actually means love. Saying Aloha to people is sending your love to them, whether or not they're coming or going. And we don't do a stupid little gesture every time we say it lol.

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LillyCoy @dancerlea.bsky.social · 22/01/2025

Malasada are a thing that Hawaiian people love, that’s for sure. Leonard’s is the bakery that is known for making the best ones, but everyone knows some place that supposedly makes them better than Leonard’s. They’re technically a Portuguese baked good, but they've become an emblem of Hawaii.

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LillyCoy @dancerlea.bsky.social · 22/01/2025

Culturally, a lot of language things are semi-appropriate. Acerola calls Nanu uncle, despite them not being related. That’s a very common thing in Hawaii where anyone who’s older and you respect you would call Auntie or Uncle. Hau calls Hala Tutu, which is Hawaiian for grandparent.

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LillyCoy @dancerlea.bsky.social · 22/01/2025

Solgaleo and Lunala are appropriate because the sun and moon were both important symbols for Ancient Hawaiians, but that’s technically true of every culture. They don’t have Hawaiian influence in their names, probably because they aren’t natively from Alola.

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LillyCoy @dancerlea.bsky.social · 22/01/2025

Tapu Fini’s name references fins, cause it’s a fish. The Ruins of Hope should reference the last god, Kanaloa, the counterpart of Kāne. He is the god of salt water and voyaging. The Ruins’ location on the coast makes total sense, and I guess to journey that far you would need hope.

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LillyCoy @dancerlea.bsky.social · 22/01/2025

Tapu Bulu’s name references a bull pretty obviously. The Ruins of Abundance reference Lono. Lono is the counterpart of Kū. He is god of peace and also agriculture, as peace times were great for farming. It makes it even funnier that the Ruins of Abundance are in a desert.

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LillyCoy @dancerlea.bsky.social · 22/01/2025

Tapu Lele’s name references the hawaiian word for butterfly, pulelehua. However, funnily, lele also means flight. Tapu Lele is found in the Ruins of Life, which reference Kāne. Kāne is the ancient Hawaiian god of life and fresh water.

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LillyCoy @dancerlea.bsky.social · 22/01/2025

Tapu Koko’s name references the Hawaiian onomatopoeia for a rooster’s crow. Its home, The Ruins of Conflict, references Kū. Kū is the ancient Hawaiian god of war, and he is typically represented by feathered warriors.

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LillyCoy @dancerlea.bsky.social · 22/01/2025

The Island Guardians all start their name with Tapu, which is a Hawaiian word meaning forbidden or sacred. They also share the colors of the islands, but they also reference the four main gods of Hawaiian religion.

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LillyCoy @dancerlea.bsky.social · 22/01/2025

Jangmo-o’s line has the Hawaiian word for lizard in the second part of their names, mo'o. They replace the glottal stop, called an ‘okina in Hawaiian, with a hyphen though. Hakamo-o also references the Māori form of dance that you might have seen them do before rugby, the haka.

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LillyCoy @dancerlea.bsky.social · 22/01/2025

Sandyghast and Pallosand have great shiny forms that are actually appropriate. Hawaii has eight black sand beaches, seven on Hawai’i Island and an eighth on Maui. the most famous one is Punalu’u. I do wish one of them was green, because Papakōlea Beach is one of only four green sand beaches.

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LillyCoy @dancerlea.bsky.social · 22/01/2025

Mareanie and Toxapex are based off the invasive Crown of Thorns starfish. The can majorly fuck up coral reefs, hence why they appear in horde battles alongside Corsola in the game. I had always wished that Cursola had a STAB that was super effective against them.

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LillyCoy @dancerlea.bsky.social · 22/01/2025

The Oricorio forms are based off the colors of the islands, which I talked about earlier. They are all based on types of dancing too. The pink one is named after Hula, specifically the pā’ū skirt worn by hula dancers (“‘ōlapa”).

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LillyCoy @dancerlea.bsky.social · 22/01/2025

Yungoos and Gumshoos are based off of the mongoose. It’s an invasive and terrible animal that was introduced to deal with Hawaii’s rat problem, something it did not accomplish. Now it has become a symbol of Hawaii, despite being invasive and terrible.

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LillyCoy @dancerlea.bsky.social · 22/01/2025

Popplio’s name comes from the word pop, like a bubble. But the -lio comes from the Hawaiian name for the native Monk Seal, ‘Ilioholoikauaua (“Dog that moves through rough water”). It’s evolutions lose that cool theming though and I wish they kept it.

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LillyCoy @dancerlea.bsky.social · 22/01/2025

Rowlet is my favorite starter pokemon of all time because of its inspiration. It is inspired by the Hawaiian pueo, an endemic owl that is endangered but is sacred to many families. Its final form, Decidueye, is based on the now extinct Hawaiian Stilt Owl. Hence why it becomes a ghost-type.

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LillyCoy @dancerlea.bsky.social · 22/01/2025

Now onto the Pokemon, some of which have really cool inspirations. Most are pretty obvious though. Alolan-Raichu is surfing, Comfey is a lei. However some of them have symbolism that goes a bit deeper that I think is fun.

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LillyCoy @dancerlea.bsky.social · 22/01/2025

All of Lusamine’s family also use German names for plants. Lusamine is the Balsamina, Gladion is the Sword Lily, and Lillie is the…Lily. All of these plants have forms that are naturalized to Hawaii. I am not an expert on botany though so I can’t say much more about these plants.

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LillyCoy @dancerlea.bsky.social · 22/01/2025

Faba has a native-ish name as well. He’s named after the Hawaiian Faba, called the Koa in Hawaiian. Wicke is the same, as she uses the german form of the Vetch plant. A Hawaiian vetch grows natively in Hawaii, and is critically endangered.

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LillyCoy @dancerlea.bsky.social · 22/01/2025

Kahili is named after these feather totems that were used to mark sacred spaces or chiefs (Kāhili). Plumeria is named after a flower famous in Hawaii, specifically for leimaking. But it’s technically not native. Guzma is named for the guzmania, a naturalized plant like the Plumeria.

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LillyCoy @dancerlea.bsky.social · 22/01/2025

Nanu might be named after the Nānū shrub, which is native to Hawaii. Olivia might be named for the Olopua, an endemic Hawaiian Olive Tree. Hapu might be named for the Hāpu’u fern. Molayne is named after the Mullein, an invasive species to Hawaii. Maybe indicating his foreignness to Alola?

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LillyCoy @dancerlea.bsky.social · 22/01/2025

Acerola has an interesting name. The Acerola is a type of cherry that originated in the Yucatan, but grows well in Hawaii. One of the varieties is the Mānoa Sweet, but another one is the Hawaiian Queen. Interesting because Acerola is the last of the Alolan Royals, but doesn’t have a Hawaiian name.

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LillyCoy @dancerlea.bsky.social · 22/01/2025

Ilima is named after the flower that is the symbol for O’ahu. Lana means to float, or calm like water. Kiawe is named after a tree which has wood perfect for smoking meats. Mallow refers to several native plants, like the ‘Ilima. Mina can be regret or to value highly, but I'm not sure.

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LillyCoy @dancerlea.bsky.social · 22/01/2025

Onto some of the characters. Professor Kukui is named after the Kukui Tree, or the Candlenut Tree. It’s a good name for a professor, who would light up the way for young trainers. Hala and Hau are also named after native Hawaiian trees that have uses in medicine and leimaking and weaving.

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LillyCoy @dancerlea.bsky.social · 22/01/2025

The other is a combination of areas. The areas leading up to the Battle Tree are reminiscient of the Nā Pali Coast (“Many Cliffs Coast”), which contains a famous and difficult hiking trail called the Kalalau Trail which leads to Kalalau Valley (“The Straying/Wandering” Valley).

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LillyCoy @dancerlea.bsky.social · 22/01/2025

Most of the island’s locations are called Poni *something*. There are two major landmarks that could be based off famous places on Kaua’i. Vast Poni Canyon could easily be Waimea Canyon, “Red Water Canyon”, named for the erosion of the red earth by rain. Also called the Pacific Grand Canyon.

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LillyCoy @dancerlea.bsky.social · 22/01/2025

Poni Island is based on Kaua’i. It is one of my favorite islands, mainly because it is pretty sparsely populated and is beautifully lush. It gets a lot of rain, specifically on Mount Wai’ale’ale. One of my hula brothers was found of saying, “Wai’ale’ale? She’s the wettest place on earth.”

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LillyCoy @dancerlea.bsky.social · 22/01/2025

Finally, Tapu Village means Forbidden Village, but is probably only referencing its destruction by Tapu Bulu. Po Town means Obscured Town, probably referencing the dark clouds over it or the tall walls that surround it.

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LillyCoy @dancerlea.bsky.social · 22/01/2025

Haina Desert is based off the real desert of Ka’ū. It’s a very historically important area to Hawaiians. It was the territory of the rival to Kamehameha, Keōua. "Haina" could mean “cruel” from Hainā, but it could also mean “offering” from Haina. In songs, the dedication is called Hā'ina.

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LillyCoy @dancerlea.bsky.social · 22/01/2025

Mount Lanakila (“Victory”) is more directly tied to Mauna Kea. It is the tallest mountain in Alola, much like how Mauna Kea is the tallest mountain in Hawaii and the largest mountain in the world. It also has snow on it, something Mauna Kea has. Some Hawaiian gods even go snow sledding in myth!

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LillyCoy @dancerlea.bsky.social · 22/01/2025

Mount Hokulani (“Heavenly Star”) is based off of Mauna Kea (“White Mountain”) or Mauna Loa (“Long Mountain”). Both have observatories, but Mauna Kea is more well known for its observatories, being the largest in the world. Mauna Kea is the inspiration of another mountain though…

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LillyCoy @dancerlea.bsky.social · 22/01/2025

Malie City, “Peaceful” City, is probably based off of Hilo. Its botanical gardens could be the University of Hawaii Botanical Gardens. Hawaii also has a big appreciation for Japanese culture, with every island having some Japanese influence that is represented heavily here in Malie City.

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LillyCoy @dancerlea.bsky.social · 22/01/2025

‘Ula’Ula Island is based off of Hawai’i Island, what you may know as the Big Island. It is probably most famous for the volcano of Kīlauea dramatically erupting. I know it better for the Merrie Monarch festival, a hula festival lasting three days and being the pinnacle of hula competition.

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LillyCoy @dancerlea.bsky.social · 22/01/2025

Konikoni City, “Passionate City”, is probably based off of Hana. Hana is a relatively isolated town in Maui that is only accessible by a winding, cliff-side road. It was the birthplace of the first queen of Hawai’i, Ka’ahumanu. Konikoni City is about as isolated as Hana and has a small/quiet feel.

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LillyCoy @dancerlea.bsky.social · 22/01/2025

Heahea City, meaning “Welcoming City”, is probably based off of Wailea. Wailea has some of the fanciest resorts on Maui and even the whole state. The Grand Wailea might be the inspiration for the Hano (“Magnificent”) Grand Resort. No clue what the Tide Song Hotel is supposed to be.

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