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Happy 28th anniversary to Pokémon!
Part 41 - Unwanted Adversary
in Chapter 3 - From the Ashes

Part 41 - Unwanted Adversary
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Author Notes
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Hobo of Justice

31st May 2023, 10:15 AM

I, uh… wound up taking a long time again. Whoops. Hello to any hibernating passengers, you’re a year older now.

Unwanted Adversary wasn’t planned as its own page, these events were just supposed to be the first half of what's now going to be 42. But during the paneling process, there were so many little things that felt like they needed touched on that it just kept ballooning until things started to feel like they were either gonna seem rushed pacing-wise or they’d have to be split to give each section room to breathe. So what did I decide to do in the midst of the worst drought the comic’s ever been in? I cleaved that thing in half and increased my workload. Smart.

But the split doesn’t feel as clean as it should. This episode, more than the others, gives off “does this deserve to be its own thing?” vibes. I’ve done this kind of split before (Two Birds One Stone/You’re Not Alone, Shattered Dreams/The Voice of Reason), but I’m cool with those. They feel right. This one feels less necessary, though. There’s a good chance that it’s no big deal and reading through it in a binge won’t feel much different, sure. But that’s not really the problem anymore. Time is the problem. If an entire year passes and the only thing I have to show for it is a single subpar page, was it really worth putting in the effort to flesh it out? The ridiculous pace the comic finds itself in these days is magnifying any small issue to wacky proportions, and I think that’s probably why I feel discontent with this.

And speaking of pace, I should probably touch on this episode’s forcibly separated conjoined twin - Part 42. The decision to split happened during paneling – when the script was coming together with sketches and stuff – and afterwards I pretty much solely focused on this half. They barely even knew each other. So what that means as far as progress goes for the next Part is that it’s still fairly barebones and I don’t have any sort of timeframe for it. I'd really like to avoid running up against the dreaded year gap again, though. That hurts every time.

Onto the episode itself: It feels like a pretty generic point A to point B page to me. Nothing really stands out, though I guess this is actually the first death of the chapter. I didn’t even fully realize until I noticed the death X hadn’t been redrawn yet. Hearthome’s a pretty fun place spatially, even if I didn’t do it justice. Wish I had more patience/interest in drawing environments. It’s been forever since Chim’s been in the comic. 32 episodes? Whew.

Next time on Power of the Universe: monkeying around.

Comments
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Mantopichu

31st May 2023, 11:10 AM

are we back for real?!

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Hobo of Justice

31st May 2023, 11:46 AM

Hopefully at least a little bit more.
Next page is probably gonna take a while, though

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Flavia-Elric

31st May 2023, 3:11 PM

It may not seem like much happened here, but I giggled all the way from the obvious bad decision to send a normal type against a fighting to all Barry antics. xD
And I think this page ended with a pretty good antecipation panel!

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Hobo of Justice

31st May 2023, 7:48 PM

Oh, good. If it can draw out some giggles then that's probably all it really needs to feel worthwhile.
Thanks!

Roe

31st May 2023, 10:31 PM

A classic problem in any Nuzlock, an under leveled team that relies too much on one Lynch pin Pokemon. I love how it's hinted at visually by just how swole Brady is.
This page is short but you met your promised deadline and it's very funny. I've always despised Barry with a passion for how he popped up at the worst times with a punchable cheery attitude, so seeing him like this is brilliant/relatable.
Dark humour is the best humour and this page on it's own is epic in it's own right for the amount of it

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Hobo of Justice

1st Jun 2023, 2:23 AM

One tip for getting ripped they don’t want you to know: carry an entire Nuzlocke team on your back
“Punchable cheery attitude” is such an apt description of Barry. He’s fun to depict as a little ball of chaos in this, so he’s at least partially forgiven for his in-game shenanigans.

Salem Ga Kyokski

3rd Jun 2023, 1:40 AM

I guess I should have expected for Ears to die because I did not see him/her/zer on the chapter 3 cover

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Hobo of Justice

3rd Jun 2023, 2:26 AM

Ah, yeah. Was wondering how people might take the cover. If I'd had more space to work with on that, I would've put in a lot more Pokémon. The idea behind it was to show potential future - allies and enemies alike - to avoid seeming like a spoiler-fest. I kind of leaned towards cooler looking silhouettes (plus Bibarel for some reason), and guess I decided that Lopunny didn't gel with the aesthetic.

Thinking back on it, maybe I should have added my intents to the author note. Or just made a better cover.

Mrakulos

1st Jul 2023, 10:40 PM

Been a while since I checked in, and today I see a new (to me) comic! Brightened my day a bit. Thanks for the comic.

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Hobo of Justice

2nd Jul 2023, 2:50 PM

Nice timing, it's still pretty fresh
Glad it could brighten your day a little

Possum

26th Jul 2023, 11:35 PM

A... A chapter? Is this real life? Am I dreaming? I used to comment every month, and somehow this website fell out of my usual routine...
I'm so glad to see another chapter and hear you're still going Hobo!

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Hobo of Justice

27th Jul 2023, 6:12 PM

Power of the Universe? Updated? You’re probably dreaming.
I used to frequent this place, too. Those were the days…

Thanks for making the comic a part of your routine back then and checking in!
Trying not to let it slip out of mine

LordRowyn

17th Sep 2023, 7:53 AM

Hey man, I know you're having a hard time with the updates being slow and all (my own personal project has slowed to a crawl these last few years so I know the feel) but I just wanted to make sure you knew that what you're making here is *fucking incredible*, seriously, I spent nearly an hour enthusing about PotU to my sister-in-law when we were chatting about pokemon and nuzlocks a while back. Anyhow, I'm sticking around to the end, even if it is a slow ride, I just hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

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Hobo of Justice

23rd Sep 2023, 8:33 PM

Nice. That’s a lot of enthusing.

It sucks not knowing how to find your footing again. But hearing that someone can be invested enough to talk about PotU for that long makes me want to do better. Thanks for this.

And it's funny – “hope you enjoy it as much as I do” sounds like something I should be saying. I hope so, too.

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shadowtitan2010

12th Oct 2023, 3:27 AM

Brady has been hitting the gym and using his creatine. That boy is SWOLE

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Hobo of Justice

24th Oct 2023, 5:15 AM

That's one whey to do it