Web Video / Dogs In Love

"I’ll wait in the car while you guys do terrorism."

Espeon, Pokémon Colosseum - Dogs in Love

Dogs In Love is a part-Let's Play, part-improvised Abridged Series by Brendan Blaber and company similar to his previous series Miles is a Robot. Ostensibly a highlight reel of livestreams of Pokémon Colosseum and Pokémon XD: Gale of Darkness, the series quickly goes off the rails to focus on an over-the-top improvised storyline starring the protagonists' Pokemon.

The first video, based on Pokémon Colosseum, sees Wes' Umbreon and Espeon—a loving couple—run a terrorism company which Umbreon is gung-ho about but Espeon struggles to cope with. As the two travel Orre with Wes, they find more weird recruits, battle Cipher and their Shadow Pokemon, and challenge a nasty "Pregymleader" named Justy.

"THE CHILD," a sequel based on Pokémon XD: Gale of Darkness uploaded a year later, follows Umbreon and Espeon's son, a very kind and upbeat Jolteon who happens to be literally the spawn of hell. Alongside Pokemon Trainer "Exit," he fights Cipher alongside his new best friends while dark forces plot to unleash Jolteon's power.

A second Gale of Darkness video is in progress and yet to be released.

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This series provides examples of:

• Adaptational Jerkass: Justy. Everyone's frustration with his stall/evasion strategy leads to him becoming seen as a Bitch in Sheep's Clothing who deliberately stacks the deck against his opponents and is an extremely Sore Loser. In "THE CHILD," he starts acting like an incel and turns out to be working with Cipher.
• Adaptational Nice Guy: Cipher Peon Cole, who loves his Shadow Aipom very much, and helps grow plants with his Remoraid.
• Adorable Abomination: Jolteon is a beaming ray of sunshine... and an abyssal spawn of Hell.
• Affably Evil: All of Terrorism LLC is this to varying degrees, as besides the terrorism they're a relatively normal company and team. Espeon is the Token Good Teammate who keeps trying to course-correct his boyfriend into not doing terrorism, Umbreon himself is very lovey-dovey with Espeon and shows a goofier side after becoming a dad, GrnPikachu is constantly fearful of everybody else, Simphony is obsessed with Umbreon and completely harmless otherwise, Trefor is a Mellow Fellow, Weh barely cares about her job or co-workers and Noctowl, while scary from afar, is actually rather harmless and boy crazy.
• All Animals Are Dogs: Wes considers all his Pokemon to be dogs because none of them speak (as far as he can tell). Anything that can speak is a human to him. Which includes mountains, as one answered back (via echo) when he asked if it was a dog.
• All Girls Like Ponies: Crap Gorps mentions that he loved horses when he was a little girl.
• Ambiguously Human: Ambiguously Pokemon in this case. While it's apparent he's not a normal Jolteon, his egg having a different design from a normal Pokemon egg and the inside of his body being a pulsating mass suggests he's something else entirely that only took the shape of an Eevee and later Jolteon.
• Ambiguous Syntax: When Crap Gorps comments that "nothing escapes [Jolteon's] gaze," Jolteon hears it as "gays" and thinks Crap is referring to his dads.
• Anti Anti Christ: Jolteon emerged from hell as an egg and possesses various dark powers. He is completely unaware of his true nature and is exceedingly polite and friendly to everyone.
• Back from the Dead:
  • Jolteon apparently resurrected Simphony on accident when he was visiting her grave with Umbreon and Espeon in the past, though it seems Espeon re-killed her shortly after with a pistol. She later ended up staring in on Umbreon and Espeon's house, implying Espeon's attempt at getting rid of her didn't stick.
  • Craig comes back to battle alongside the cultist Wailmer (along with many more Craigs).
  • Wailmer himself returns later, but is killed again by Jolteon shortly after. It's implied he'll be back a third time.
  Wailmer: You cannot kill me in any way that matters!
• Battle Couple: Umbreon and Espeon, facilitated by Colosseum exclusively using Double Battles. Best epitomized when they take down Evice's Slaking together.
• Berserk Button: Espeon enters a Tranquil Fury state whenever Simphony tries to get him out of the way or otherwise hit on Umbreon.
• Bizarre Alien Biology: Jolteon has four hearts (his "limiters") and pulsing eyes inside of his flesh. When one of them stops working, the others start working harder to reactivate it. He also automatically healed his wounds when scraped as a child.
• Blatant Lies: Jorge claims he has a genuine vampire accent, but given he switches accents every other sentence and never actually does a vampire accent, Crap Gorps very easily guesses his secret.
• Body Horror:
  • Poochy and her siblings are horrid human-Pokemon hybrids. Poochy herself has a human eye and human hands and by the time she evolves she can crawl about on her fingers while also mentioning to Jorge that she doesn't have all of her teeth in her head. Craig has a human ear on his side and Poochyena ears on top of his head, and by his second appearance he has to breathe through his mustache.
  • Even the "regular" party members have their moments! Jorge has vampire fangs on top of his head once he evolves, Crap Gorps is apparently just goo under his carapace "like a Cadbury egg", and Jolteon apparently has 4 hearts and has unnatural pulsing eye-flesh under his fur if he gets cut.
• Butt-Monkey: The entire species of Spoink is there just to suffer.
  Spoink: [having been caught by Dusclops' mitts] Hngh! Curse you! Now I owe you a wish!
  Dusclops: No you don't! When you stop bouncing, your heart stops!
  [beat]
  Spoink: Aaagghh...
• Card-Carrying Villain: "Terrorism LLC" isn't exactly trying to sugarcoat what they're doing. Though Espeon isn't on board with it and Umbreon only went down the path of terrorism because he mistook terrorism for heroism.
  Umbreon: I didn't know people die when they are killed!
• Celibate Hero: Umbreon is heavily against premarital sex, and even says the rings on his body are all chastity belts engraved into his skin.
• The Chanteuse: Tannenbaum, despite still being a Shroomish. His dress is just draped around him like a Christmas tree skirt.
• Compressed Adaptation: The edited videos leave out a few bits and jokes that elaborate on the characters; for instance, the reason for Noctowl’s name being only ellipses is cut.
• Cursed with Awesome: As a part of her predicament Poochy has human hands, including opposable thumbs. She's very good at playing music, especially the guitar, no matter how much she downplays it.
• Demonic Possession: Inverted. Wound is possessed by an angel, watching over Jolteon, and Justy is also possessed by the angel after Crap Gorps solos him.
• Denser and Wackier: Just barely, as both playthroughs are very comedic. The original revolved around a group of terrorists and their attempts to stop Team Snagem with morally ambiguous methods, with the main duo being a violent Umbreon and his fearful Espeon boyfriend. "THE CHILD" instead focuses on the friendgroup of Umbreon and Espeon's Adorable Abomination son, with the main duo being the obliviously cheerful yet demonically powerful Jolteon and the self-doubting but friendly Crap Gorps.
• Does Not Know His Own Strength: Jolteon, who doesn't understand why giving Pokemon his "special hugs/kisses" leads them to them "not talking for a little while" while Espeon and Umbreon start digging holes.
• A Dog Named "Dog": Umbreon, Espeon, and Jolteon are never given nicknames, so just go by their species names. Jolteon does have another name, but it's incomprehensible and seems to drive those that hear it to madness.
• Dying Declaration of Love: Simphony's last words before dying to Evice's Walrein are this towards Umbreon. Umbreon didn't catch what she was saying.
• Evil Laugh: Jolteon has a particularly good one, in spite of being the hero and main protagonist.
• Forced Transformation: If Chobin is to believed, he wore his unhealthy sandals for so long that he regressed into a Gulpin.
• Greater-Scope Villain: The mysterious "Mother" who is worshipped by Wailmer and apparently created Jolteon's egg.
• Half-Human Hybrid: Poochy's father is a Mightyena, but her mother is a human woman. As a result, Poochy has human-like eyes and hands. Her brother is much the same, and Craig is a human-Poochyena-Ninjask hybrid.
• Heroic Self-Deprecation
  • Poochy is an incredibly skilled and versatile musician despite her downplaying her abilities.
  • Shortly after evolving, Crap Gorps gets down on himself for his poor stats. Jolteon tries to cheer him up.
• Hero with an F in Good: "THE CHILD" reveals that Umbreon wants to be heroic and just doesn't understand the difference between heroism and terrorism.
• Hidden Depths
  • Espeon is actually really into crime shows—which was apparently the impetus for Umbreon getting into terrorism.
  • Weh is an extremely popular and skilled video game streamer, but doesn't tell her coworkers because she doesn't want them to watch her.
  • Poochy is an incredibly talented guitarist due to her human hands, and once she evolves she's capable of playing all the background music. She's shown playing guitar, piano, drums, and kazoo in a one-man band setup.
• Homoerotic Subtext: Somehow, in a series with gay Pokémon, Director Krane still manages to invoke this.
  Krane: [in a blatantly erotic tone] Oh, oh, stop it, let me go~
  Krane: Oh no, oh, they're dragging me away~
• Ineffectual Death Threats: When Simphony threatens to kill Espeon, he retorts, "You're like an inch tall. I could squish you and no one would even find the body."
• Intergenerational Friendship: Jolteon and Crap Gorps, the former likely still a kid Eldritch Abomination, while the latter had his first court case in 1998.
• I Thought Everyone Could Do That: Jolteon thinks that resurrecting the dead with his mere presence is "typical grave stuff that happens to everyone and not just me".
• I Work Alone: Wound specifically asks Exit to get rid of the friendship-powered move Return, since they aren't friends.
• Killed Off for Real: Simphony perishes to Evice's Walrein, letting out a Dying Declaration of Love to Umbreon. In the original second stream of XD, Brendan states that if no Altaria appears then that was her canonical death, although she ended up coming back from the dead thanks to Jolteon.
• Lazily Gender-Flipped Name: Quagsire is nearly named "Trevor", until it’s remembered that she’s female. Instead, she’s named "Trefor".
• Left the Background Music On: In "THE CHILD," Poochy is the one playing the background music.
• Lightning Can Do Anything: One of Jolteon's accidental thunderstorms apparently triggered Crap Gorps's evolution.
• Meaningful Name: "Simphony" is a combination of "simp" and "Tiffany" which doubles as a pun on "symphony."
• Me's a Crowd:
  • The second encounter with Craig reveals there's many of him, apparently tied to Wailmer's Religion of Evil.
  • The Justy Gang.
  Justy: Finally! We've perfected the Double Team technique!
• Mistaken Identity: Most characters take the name "Green Pikachu" at face value and don't realize he's actually a Jumpluff.
• Non-Indicative Name: GrnPikachu, short for Green Pikachu… the Skiploom. Not only is he not a Pikachu, but he stops being green after his evolution into Jumpluff. Everyone else (except Espeon) takes his name at face value and believes he’s a Shiny Pikachu.
• Oblivious to Love: Umbreon never catches on that Simphony is into him.
• Oh, Crap!: Umbreon, realizing where exactly Jolteon's egg came from.
  Espeon: Do you know which way God is?
  Umbreon: God is... [lifts up paw] make an L with... Ooooh, oh noooo.
• Older Than They Look: Crap Gorps is an unevolved Ledyba who acts like a nerdy kid, but he mentions taking the bar exam and having his first court case in 1998, meaning he's definitely an adult, and possibly around fifty.
• Opposites Attract: The violent Umbreon and the neurotic Espeon are deeply in love and eventually have a son together.
• Out of Focus: The human protagonists tend to get upstaged by their Pokemon. Wes and Rui fare a little better (Wes even getting his own Running Gag), but Exit is barely glanced at in the second video outside of him progressing the in-game story.
• Our Vampires Are Different: Jorge is looking to imitate one's accent, and Crap Gorps admits that with Jolteon around they'll probably find one. They end up finding two, Cipher Peon Cabol and a Houndoom. The latter of which bites Jorge, which implied to turn him into a vampire upon evolving as he finally nails the accent. He also has teeth sprouting out of his head.
• Pet the Dog: Terrorism LLC chooses to let Cipher Peon Cole keep the Shadow Aipom he keeps as a workout buddy while raiding a Cipher base.
• Red Eyes, Take Warning:
  • Wailmer has glowing red eyes, and they greatly accentuate his Slasher Smile.
  • Jolteon's eyes are only depicted as open when he's laughing maniacally. They're not just red, they're downright demonic. Dark-red sclera, diamond-shaped blood-red pupils, demonic.
• Religion of Evil: Wailmer is part of one, based around the worship of Craig the Nincada and the "Mother below." It recognizes Jolteon as the "promised child."
• Seen It All: Crap Gorps eventually just accepts the horrors around him as normal and okay.
  Jolteon: Hey, I don't know what a vampire is, but I bet we can find one and he can show you what a vampire accent is!
  Crap Gorps: Well, actually, with Jolteon around that feels very feasible.
  Cipher Peon Cabol, dropping down from the ceiling: I AM A VAMPIRE!
• Sequel Hook: The first video ends with Brendan deciding the protagonist's Eevee in XD is Umbreon and Espeon's son.
• Shout-Out:
  • When Tannenbaum starts skipping like a Broken Record during a verse of his own song, the beginning of Mass Destruction from Persona 3 can be faintly heard in the background. It helps that the word he just so happened to get stuck on is "baby."
  • Jolteon accidentally pushes Gacha the Spheal, causing her to start rolling with seemingly no sign of stopping. Cue Katamari on the Rocks.
• Slasher Smile: Wailmer's facial image in XD results in him being deemed a cultist worshiping Jolteon and the Craigs.
• Smurfing: A couple of characters, starting with Trefor and even including Dakim, use “quag” as an adjective.
• Soul-Crushing Desk Job: Weh is extremely dry and bored and she hates all her coworkers.
• Stepford Smiler: Crap Gorps discusses this, saying that it's better to explain why you might not feel like smiling so that others can help you smile genuinely again.
• Third-Person Person: Chobin and Jovi talk like this. Apparently, this is the default state of speech, but a "first person disease" has been spreading over Orre making people talk in first person.
• Token Good Teammate: Espeon is the only member of Wes's team who's not on board with their constant crimes, and tries to convince his boyfriend Umbreon not to be a terrorist.
• Transgender: Crap Gorps is a trans man, as revealed through a brief moment where he mentions that he used to love horses when he was a "little girl", complete with the transgender pride flag fading in from the background. In the courtroom flashback, he's also shown to have shorter antennae like female Ledyba have, implying it took place before his transition.
• True Companions: Jolteon's crew ends up as this, largely thanks to Jolteon's positivity.
• Unfortunate Names:
  • The Gale of Darkness player character, whose default name is Michael, here is instead called Exit. Everybody is constantly telling him to leave as a result.
  • Ledyba/Ledian's name is Crap Gorps. It's apparently short for "Crapton Gorporation." Jello discussed this in combination with him being trans, implying he either kept his birth name despite hating it or he changed his name to something he hates.
• Unstoppable Rage: Subverted when Crap Gorps gets in the crossfire of one of Jorge's attempts to mimic a vampire accent going wrong, as he flies into a blind rage and even stops just short of dying thanks to his anger, but a Jigglypuff uses Disable on him, making him completely emotionless for the rest of the fight.
  Crap Gorps: I can no longer angry.
• Villain Protagonist: The first Dogs In Love stars a company of terrorists who (for the most part) are unabashedly proud of what they do.
• Weather Manipulation: Whenever Jolteon laughs hard enough or cries, a storm begins to brew above with lightning dancing around the clouds.
• Wholesome Crossdresser: Tannenbaum wears a red dress in both of his forms.
• With Catlike Tread: Terrorism LLC openly declares their terrorist status as a registered company and on members' Twitch channels and barges right into Cipher bases to attack, and still doesn't get caught most of the time.
  Cipher Admin: (with an alarm blaring in the background) How did you get in without my notice?!
• Yandere: Simphony constantly tries to sabotage Espeon and Umbreon's relationship so she can have Umbreon for herself, including making death threats against Espeon.

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