The Waiting Game

So, it’s been about a week since my last exam, and I’m now working four days a week while not doing very much else besides replaying Pokémon Platinum. There are several things that I’m waiting for though, which are; the release of Pokémon Sword and Shield on November the 15th, my soon to be travels, and word back from the Universal Studios Japan casting team about how my audition went.

1) Pokémon Sword and Shield Release

First thing’s first, Pokémon Sword and Shield. I’ve been EXTREMELY excited for this game ever since they were announced – heck, even since before that, with all the rumours and speculation. Fear not though – I won’t be spoiling anything!

Ok, so the trailers advertising the Galar region have seriously hyped me up, as did the leaks of the entire Pokedex. Choosing a start will be the first challenge for any trainer. I had been slightly disappointed at the reveal of Scorbunny, Grookey and Sobble – they just didn’t look like Pokémon to me, if that makes sense? However, I’ve grown to like them a little more. Although I still don’t LOVE any of the Galarian starters, I was leaning to Team Scorbunny based on the first stage alone.

L-R: Grookey, Scorbunny and Sobble

I generally don’t like committing to a starter before seeing the final evolution, which was the case in both Kalos and Alola. In Kalos, I initially liked Fennekin’s design the most, followed by Chespin, and then Froakie. But in the end, Greninja’s design won me over, and I ended up with a Greninja of my own whom I named Hinomaru. I liked Delphox despite everyone else hating it, but Chesnaught just didn’t interest me at all. Moving on to Alola, I actually disliked all the starters at first, and didn’t know which one to pick up until the final evolutions were leaked. I immediately ruled out Incineroar, and it was between Primarina and Decidueye. I know many people hate Primarina, but I surprisingly found myself liking her design a little more than Decidueye (even though Decidueye is DAMN COOL). So, I kept soft resetting for a female Popplio (I forgot what I named her and I can’t find my copy of Sun lol).

Anyway, I’ve seen the leaks of the final evolutions of the Galarian starters, and I like Sobble’s final evolution the most out of the trio. Scorbunny’s is just ok. Grookey’s evolution looks good but isn’t the style of Pokémon that I like. However, looking at the leaked Galarian Pokédex, I realised that there weren’t any other new fire-types that I wanted to use, and so have now decided to commit to Team Scorbunny for my first copy of the games, which will be Pokémon Shield. Speaking of Shield, I had no idea which version to get, since I did NOT like either Zacian or Zamazenta at all at first (I have now grown to like both doggos a little).

Galarian Ponyta

The reveal of Galarian Ponyta, a Shield exclusive, swung me to Shield. It looks a little cutesy, but still looks pretty well-designed. I’ve seen it’s leaked evolution, and imo, it’s a little bit disappointing, but better than nothing I guess?

The next slot on my team would have to go to Wooloo – now, Wooloo on its own plays on my weakness for round fluffy things, but its leaked evolution is just COOL.

Wooloo aka Wooluwu

Without giving too much away, I’ll just say it’s both badass and heckin’ cute imo. From the trailers, it’s a pretty early game Pokémon, so I already to brainstormed nicknames for it – for some reason, I really enjoyed ‘Butter’ for a male Wooloo, and 'Buttercup' for a female one. For a male Scorbunny, I like the name ‘Zico’, which is the name of a famous Brazilian footballer. I wanted a football related nickname for Scorbunny because its design just reminds me of a football player. Simple as that. For Galarian Ponyta, it reminded me of the book series ‘My Secret Unicorn’ (#childhood), and so really like ‘Twilight’, which is the name of the main character’s horse/unicorn.

Now, this next Pokémon is probably the coolest Pokémon so far in Galar – Corviknight. At first, I wasn’t a huge fan of it due to the weird looking colours it had in the trailer in which it was revealed. However, looking at the official art and some awesome fanarts had be on Corviknight’s side in a jiffy (who even uses that expression anymore lol, I swear I’m not a #boomer). Anyway, I love birds, and one of my favourite Pokémon all time is Talonflame, which was introduced in the Kalos region. It’s in my top 5 favourite Pokémon, and Corviknight is giving it a run for its money, which is saying something. I MUST have this Pokémon on my team.

I will train you, you majestic steel-knight bird thing <3

The nickname I’ve come up for it is ‘Riven’. I’m not quite sure if it’s based on ravens or crows, but both these species are in the corvid family, so deal with it. Obviously, Riven sounds like raven, but I thought back to my childhood (again) and thought of the handsome and mysterious Winx Club character – Riven. Idk, he was kind of a dick, but I liked him a lot as a kid… he’s just a moody teenager imo… ANYWAY, Winx Club’s Riven had slicked back dark hair that reminded me of Corviknight – I DON’T KNOW. It just sounds cool and I’m a hoe for Pokémon nicknames ok!?!

The last two slots on my team are probably going to be taken up by two new leaked Pokémon, one of which is derpy cute, and the other of which is cute…? I’ve already though of names for them as well, but I won’t say them so no one can say I’m spoiling anything (even though the names aren’t very obvious).

So now that that’s all done, I think I’m ready for Friday. I’ll be getting my pre-ordered copy of Pokémon Shield from Harvey Norman – it was $68 from there, and the same games are going for $79 at EB Games… EB GAMES BE DOING US DIRTY!

2) 2020 Europe Trip

Ahem, moving on to the next thing I’m waiting for – my Europe Trip! Well, technically, Malaysia, Dubai and (partial) Europe trip. I’ve taken a few extra shifts in hopes of earning more spending money, but in my off days, I’ve just been itching to create more travel vlogs. Being so excited, I’ve roughly planned out the types of vlogs I want to make – I’ve reviewed my old vlogs and footage to see what to improve on, and binged channels such as Lost Leblanc and BestDressed to learn vlogging and editing skills. Hopefully my Europe vlog series will be a bit better than the Japan vlog series from this year, which I have yet to finish editing *sweats*.

I’m hoping to have enough commitment to do a vlog a day for the entire trip, starting from Dubai. I MIGHT do a couple videos in Malaysia, but I’m worried that I won’t do enough in a single day to be worth making a video of… Maybe I can do a week in Malaysia? I DON’T KNOW! Back on topic, I do plan on making haul videos, separated into different videos for the things I purchase at the Warner Bros Studio Tour, Platform 9 and ¾ and the House of Minalima and Primark. Speaking of the Studio Tour, I’m thinking of splitting the vlog for that day into different parts, depending on how much footage I get.

Writing this reminded me of the Zoom H1n recorder, which I bought off Amazon a couple weeks ago. Now that exams are done and the lavalier mic I ordered has come in, I need to experiment with it and so that I’m familiar with it by the time I leave for my trip. Can you tell that I really want to make better quality videos lol…

Anyway, I’m REALLY excited for this trip. In Dubai, I’m most looking forward to the desert Safari that we’ve yet to book *sweats*. The red rolling dunes looked amazing in travel influencers’ videos, and I’m super pumped to see it with my own two eyes. Of course, I’m also looking forward to the Burj Khalifa and the GIANT aquarium in the Dubai Mall.

Next up, London – for like a day before we travel to Amsterdam. But I’ll just come out and say it; BESIDE the Studio Tour, which is the pinnacle of my entire trip, the House of Minalima and Platform 9 and ¾ stand out, for obvious reasons. I’m also looking forward to picking up cheap Harry Potter goods at Primark, the British version of Kmart (but cooler). Can you tell that I’m obsessed with Harry Potter? We’re also travelling up to Liverpool and Manchester, and I’m excited to visit Anfield and Old Trafford (WHICH WE ALSO HAVE TO BOOK).

For Amsterdam, I’m looking forward to just walking around the city and seeing the canals and beautiful buildings. And eating everything. Poffertjes. Dutch pancakes. Raw herring. Stroopwafels. GOTTA EAT ‘EM ALL.

Moving down to Paris, I’m most excited to see Mont Matre and Sacre Coeur – I plan to go up Mont Matre before sunrise and get a view over Paris as the sun comes up. Hopefully that happens because I’m keen to avoid the tourist stampede that will inevitably occur if we get there late.

3) Universal Studios Japan Contract (?)

Now that all that is out of the way, the thing that I am most nervously anticipating is the response from USJ about my audition. I’ve been biting my fingers over this since my successful audition in September, and even before that as I was stressed out since May, wondering if I would even get an audition slot. Anyway, I felt really good coming out of the audition on my birthday, but as time passed, I’ve become more and more critical about my own performance, thinking back and analysing every small mistake that I made in the audition. I told myself to not expect much before the audition but receiving positive feedback after the audition just made me want the contract even more than ever. I’m so close but yet so far from that goal – I’ve never wanted anything more in my life than this opportunity to live in Japan for a year. It’s the ideal opportunity for me to learn to live independently and make meaningful connections with people from all over the world. Financially speaking, the savings I would gain from this would really give me some reassurance about my future and open even more doors, such as an exchange abroad and the opportunity to move out.

I realise that I can’t do much more than wait right now, and what will happen will happen. Despite all this, I can’t help but worry about the outcome – that goes to show how much I really want this opportunity, I guess. Making it this far in the audition process was a huge surprise for me, and I’m so grateful for everyone who’s helped me on this journey. Hopefully the wait won’t be much longer, and my audition journey will be successful against all odds.

またね~

Sarah