#I have never drawn a magikarp before

[sautetheshroom]

Yeah, fuck you

Got the quote from @hms-incorrect-quotes

I uh. Really hope that @ was correct, I still don’t have a really firm grasp of tumblr etiquette, so feel free to correct me if that wasn’t a chill thing to do!

Anyway, this was super fun to draw! Maybe I’ll doodle more incorrect quotes in the future 👀

[mochirimi]

Meet Me at the Edge of a Memory [Bede x Gloria]

On her eighth birthday, Gloria makes a wish, meets a boy, and irrevocably changes the course of their lives. And she doesn’t remember any of it.

CHAPTER FOUR 

Read Here at A03

Everything is different now. 

When he started, the adrenaline that spurred him forward, pushed him out of the orphanage window towards a picture of open air, whirling nights, and a place that just wasn’t draped in tones of gray, was painted clearly in his mind. Every line of the vision was defined, clear. 

And now, the young boy just wasn’t so sure.

Walking with the tepig girl, things were loud. So loud, in color, and noise. Her presence was everywhere, and now it’s quiet. The world is muted, sounded to the background of looming figures and passing shadows of circus lamplights. 

At his side, the espurr tugs at his hand, calling Bede’s attention to its presence. Its unblinking lavender eyes are full of curiosity as it tilts its head to one side. 

He smiles just a little bit. “I’m fine, really.” 

The pokemon rubs its head against his side before it pulls him forward. Bede stumbles at the sudden rapid pace the espurr leads him forward. But he leans into it, leans into the pokemon’s judgment of where he’d fit best because as long as it's away it’s better than any place he’d already been.

The destination is dark before it’s light. Through a small tear in the canvas tent line, the pokemon pulls him into the darkness waiting. In the darkness, he can make out the sloping tiered seats, the hundreds of heads of a waiting crowd, and the hush whispers of a growing excitement waiting for something on the center stage.

A gold spotlight hits the center stage in a brilliant glow and the lone figure crouched there above a pool of crystal clear water. From an unknown corner, music softly fills the air in a slow unraveling and the figure comes alive.

Beside him, the espurr tugs him towards a waiting indeedee. The pokemon bows to the pair before leading them to an empty seat. He sits

But Bede doesn’t notice any of it, his eyes glued to the performance in the middle of the ring. Small lights fall in minute spiral descents to the ground, and the lone figure dances across the water’s edge. The moves are lithe, graceful and succinct. The performer moves, creates  ripples across the water and arches towards the sky and the lunatone and solrock in the light dappled sky above.

The real performance begins. Descending slowly towards the lone figure is another, the true star comes. Perched on the edge of a rounded hoop, she sits, her arm poised towards the ground. Around her a lunatone and solrock orbit, waltzing to the swell of a distant cello and flute. 

When she reaches her partner performer, the two begin a dance, her feet flitting across the waterscape as her partner gives chase around the ring. She twirls and dances with the silver ring, just out of reach of her partner’s grasp. Her coy smile, the way she calls and beckons to the other performer is a special form of magic.

Even without the wings, she tells the story of a fairy flirting with a human, drawn to him as he is to her. The silver ring she performs with is a mirror she toys with, and with a tug, just as her partner is about to reach her, touch her, she’s in the air, flying. Bending and twisting through the loop she is the shooting star across the tent nightscape. 

The performance ends with a flash of light, the twisting and turning of the ring and person so fast the performer is a blend of lilac and silver hues until suddenly she’s gone, and the partner and audience she leaves behind is awestruck.

When the gold spotlight closes, they are left in darkness once more, the world muted into silence, defined into what the world was before the performance and what it became after. And Bede knows. 

While the spectators around him rise to leave, Bede stays for the next performance, and the one after that. The crowd ebbs and flows around him until a voice announces  the closing of the bigtop. 

It is the end of the night.

When he steps out of the tent, the night’s festivities have completely ended, with only sparse groups of people walking through towards the exit. 

Turning his head from side to side, Bede surveys the area, looking for a place to stow away as the circus packs for its next destination. At his side, the little espurr yawns, rubbing its eyes before walking away.

“Am I supposed to follow you?” He calls after it. The pokemon had been a guide all night, leading him, walking by his side, taking him where he needed to be. But never once had it just completely let him go. 

Almost as if reading his mind, the pokemon calls out to him once, turning to walk through the light layer of snow. 

When it stops, they’re at the edge of the cufant and copperajah fence. Ducking through the metal bars, Bede follows the espurr to the other side of the temporary enclosure. The larger pokemon eye them warily, but pull at the cornsilk-colored straw hill cradled in a large bin in the corner for their cufants’ meal, while the young cufants stomp closer to their newest arrivals. One pulls at Bede’s worn coat and he stumbles.

“Hey, watch it.” He snaps.

The mother pulls back her child away from their guests, and the pokemon is soon onto the next adventure under their mother’s watchful eye.

Bede shakes his head, turns away for the small families to climb into the straw bin after the espurr. The stalks bend and snap under his weight as he settles in beside the pokemon, pulling the gold material over him for cover and warmth. The hiding place isn’t ideal but it’s warm and out of the way; no one would find him until it was too late, when they could no longer return him to the orphanage. 

A copperajah emphasizes his point as it leans against his bin, providing even more much needed warmth to the young boy hiding. Bede silently thanks the pokemon and curls his legs into his chest, allowing his jacket to offer greater coverage from the elements. A small struggling yawn escapes his lips.

Beside him, the espurr snores and turns to curl deeper into the straw. The sight of the sleeping pokemon begins to lose definition, blurring at the edges, the lines between colors seeping into each other and fading into total darkness. 

 ___________________________________

The scanners of the registers ring and beep in the distance and Beder rubs at his eyes, kicking the edge of the display podium his mother set him. In front him, she paces in an erratic rhythm, quickly turning on her heels at the slightest sharp sound, the bumping of a cart, the cackle of a matronly customer. 

“Mom, when are we going home?” The young boy yawns, his sleepy eyes watching the magikarp on their tanks bump lightly against the supermarket glass. 

The woman trembles slightly, her fingers dancing across her lips, as she calculates, her eyes darting back and forth across the floor as she thinks. Her silver-blonde hair, so much like her son’s is pulled back in a severe bun, the locks falling her head darts. 

“Mom, when are we going home!” The young boy whines, kicking the display under behind his feet harder as he demands an answer. 

She flinches at the impact, sharply turning and kneeling in front of her son. Her shaky hands flutter across his coat, pulling the garment tighter to his body, adjusting his scarf around his neck. “Hush, Little One.” She runs her fingers through his curled hair, rubs his cherub cheek. “Why don’t you read your book?” His mother emphasizes the point by opening the tome carefully in his lap. 

“I’ve read it five times already.” Bede whines, but his eyes are drawn to the gilded illustrations and he quiets, his attention absorbed in “Pokemon from Around the World.” 

His mother sighs, patting his head softly. The way her heaves, the way her eyes water and glisten, goes unnoticed by the boy as she kisses the top of his head. “Just read your book until I get back, okay?” 

“Where are you going?” The boy murmurs, his eyes glued to the images on the page. 

“Just away.” She says into his hair. “I’ll be back before you know it.” She places a curl behind his ear. “Will you be good for Mommy while she’s gone?” Her fingers don’t tremble, as she smiles down softly at her son. 

He mumbles an affirmative, kicking his feet as he traces the bold lines of a tepig, an oshawatt, and a snivy. The shadow and touch of his mother retreat, his book illuminated by the bright lights of the supermarket. 

Minutes echo into hours as Bede bores with his book. His lavender eyes begin searching for the familiar face of his mom, her kind eyes, her soft smile, finding none in the questioning eyes of passing patrons.  They reach around him for on sale canned goods, shaking their heads in disapproval at the lone child sitting on the pedestal. 

When the light dies outside and the speakers announce a last call for all shoppers, Bede steps down from the platform, calling out for his mother, the sound of his voice echoing off the near empty store.

[turnaboutwriter]

If you're still writing minifics, would you consider an ikarishipping one? Love your Safe Travels and Bluebells fics and hope you update soon!!

Thank you! Anyway, this one needs a little context before I can dive right in — this summer in the ikarishipping discord, we were talking about an AU where where Brock is not the part of the traveling trio in the DP Series, but Paul is. So here are some brief glimpses (yeah, there’s more than one minific here; really it’s a collection) into that scenario, because I don’t have enough ideas to craft a full story. If you’re interested, I’ll be posting this on AO3 and (maybe) FFN and an appendix with little tidbits about the AU that couldn’t make it into the minifics at the end!

READ W/ APPENDIX: AO3

U-Turn - After making its attack, the user rushes back to switch places with a party Pokémon in waiting.

“Tch. Fine. Have it your way,” Paul grumbles to his Murkrow, whose beak is turned away defiantly from the poffin in his hand.

A sweet giggle comes from beside him. “Hey! Come on, guys, one at a time!” Hmph. Dawn’s Pokémon — and his and Ash’s, for that matter — are all over her poffins.

“Aww, c’mon, buddy! Mine can’t be as bad as Paul’s!”

“Pika … ” Pikachu looks apologetic as he makes a face at the taste of the burnt poffin in his mouth, before scampering to Dawn.

Murkrow, too, looks intrigued by the crowd forming around Dawn. “Krow!” he declares, before flying to her side like the rest of Paul and Ash’s Pokémon have.

“Aww, man … “ Ash bows down in defeat, before he looks back up, determined to prove his Pokémon wrong by trying one for himself. But as his Pokémon have indicated, he finds the taste to be awful, making a gagging sound and spitting it out into the nearest trash can.

Paul grimaces at the scene, but then turns back to his starter Pokémon, the only one who hasn’t flocked to Dawn’s poffins, and holds a poffin out to him. But Torterra, too, simply shakes his head, before moving to Dawn.

He lets out a sigh. He knew this was a bad idea — he told Dawn that making poffins was not something in his range — and questions why he listened to her pathetic idea in the first place.

.

He hates it every time she wears that stupid, short, and very pink outfit for his and Ash’s gym battles. He doesn’t need a cheerleader, and he especially doesn’t need her carrying pompoms.

.

Paul catches her curled up and crying to herself the night she loses the Solaceon Contest.

Dawn lifts her head up as he approaches her, sensing his presence.

Without looking at him, she whispers, “I’ve lost in only the appeals round two contests in a row.” From the soft glow of the bonfire starting to burn out, he sees tears rolling down her cheeks. She sniffles, but makes no move to wipe away the tears.

Paul stares at her wordlessly.

She whips her head up to him. “Why are you quiet?!” she cries. “Aren’t you going to say something? Tell me how pathetic I am like you normally do!” When he offers no response again, she lowers her head. “Forget it,” she mumbles, her eyes averting his. “It’s not your business to deal with, anyway.”

“ … You’re trying too hard to make your Pokémon look good.”

Surprised, Dawn looks up at him through her tears, with furrowed eyebrows. “Huh?”

“Isn’t a coordinator supposed to help enhance how good a Pokémon already looks?” he continues. There is no stern expression on his face like she expected, but, instead, a blank face. “You don’t appear to be very confident in how good they look. That’s not fair to them.”

It takes her a moment to process his words — she’s still in shock that he’s speaking her her. With a start, she she realizes that he’s right. Her mind begins to run through her mistakes during training and the past two contests, but Paul’s low murmur breaks her out of her thoughts.

“You need to have more confidence in your Pokémon … and in yourself.” He holds out a hand to her.

Dawn’s not a bad coordinator — in fact, Paul has learned many techniques through watching her contest battles — but, even to him, it is clear that she still has a lot to learn.

She quickly brushes away her tears with a hand before nodding.  With a newfound confidence, she takes his hand and allows him to help her up.

Since that day, he has pushed her to do better, in his own silent but supportive way.

—

A few days later, when she battles Maylene, the gym leader he deemed pathetic after crushing her in battle, Paul intently watches them display their strength on the sidelines with Reggie and Ash.

He gains a newfound respect for both Maylene and Dawn after that.

.

The corners of his lips twitch, threatening to turn upward.

He used to be completely uninterested by contests, and in fact, refused to come and see Ash and Dawn in the Jubilife City contest, until Dawn forced him to watch her participate in the Floaroma Contest. Impressed by how she handled her Pachirisu’s stage fright, he decided to continue attending her contests with Ash. Since then, he has learned many techniques from her — including counter-shield and evasion.

Next to him, Zoey — Dawn’s rival and friend, one he finds to be a nosy pest — and Ash cheer.

She did it. She won the Wallace Cup.

An unfamiliar feeling of pride bubbles up in his chest, and now he’s actually giving off a small smile, unable to suppress it any longer.

.

Paul holds some disdain for Ash and his training techniques, but has learned to tolerate him. Sure, they have their disagreements, but Dawn (who Paul gets along with the most), manages to mediate and helps them to understand that they are two different persons … not to mention that they happen to battle it out a lot as a way to see who is the stronger trainer. It is obvious to anyone that sees them fight on the battlefield that Ash and Paul clash in an equal battle of strength and power, each with their own radically different ideals.

Surprisingly though, it is with Dawn who Paul fights the most.

Whereas he mostly fights with Ash over major things that differentiate them as trainers, he and Dawn usually fight over little things when they travel — she’s loud and troublesome with no sense of direction (and a Togekiss who has his Honchkrow smitten), and he’s a grouch who is always in a rush to get to where he needs to be (and hates it when she spoils his Pokémon with her poffins).

There are times, though, where they have more serious fights, where Dawn will yell and maybe cry as well, and Paul will disappear for the remainder of the day (though he tends to do that when he gets into a more serious disagreement with Ash, too).

During the times he wanders off on his own, Paul wonders why he listened to Reggie and Professor Rowan’s idea in the first place and decided to travel with Ash and Dawn, but the thought of separating from them — and to his surprise, especially Dawn — unsettles him.

In the beginning, he clearly remembers trying to keep to his own, promising himself that after the first gym, he would part ways with them. Dawn and Ash were too rambunctious and distracting to travel with, anyway. There were always needless stops along the way and irritations like Team Rocket popping up were all a waste of Paul’s time.

And he nearly did leave after beating the Oreburgh Gym, but curiosity killed the Delcatty, since he decided to watch Ash’s first and second matches against Roark — though the second time was to examine the strength of Roark’s newly-evolved Rampardos. He planned to depart the day after Ash’s victory, but Dawn struggled to catch a Pachirisu, and then, that hunter, J, swiped his Elekid and Ash’s Pikachu, and then, they ran into a Coordinator with a very powerful Magikarp that all three of them were unable to defeat in battle …

Somewhere in between all of the events that grounded him to the group and made him stay, the lines he had so carefully drawn blurred, and he got used to having them by his side.

And that’s what brings him back to Ash and Dawn at the end of the day, and quietly resolve his disagreements with them.

.

The opened refrigerator greets her with a burst of cool air. Ignoring the shiver that runs down her arms, she immediately reaches for the orange juice.

“Huh? Orange juice? Who drinks that?”

With her hands on her hips, Dawn rolls her eyes at Ash. “Paul, of course!” she immediately answers. And then, her cheeks flame, realizing how attentive she has become to Paul’s likes and dislikes.

Isn’t that normal, though? she questions internally, seeing her reddened cheeks in the reflection of the refrigerator door. She’s been traveling with Paul and Ash for quite a few months now. Surely, it’s normal to know their favorite juice by now. But when she tries to think of what Ash’s favorite juice is, her mind draws a blank.

Why is it that she has subconsciously been focused on Paul more than Ash?

Averting her eyes from her reflection, she makes a mental note to learn what Ash’s favorite juice is.

.

“You battled well, Paul,” she says softly to Paul. She’s never seen such burning passion in his eyes before, and, frankly, it unsettles her a bit.

He jolts, turning away from his intent gaze on the Battle Pyramid and scowls at her. “I don’t need your pity. I lost today, but I will win against him next time.”

The pain she sees clouding in his stormy grey eyes also worries her.  

(She will find out the estranged, paternal relationship Brandon has with Paul is what lies beneath that pain — but only two years later in Kanto, a few nights before Paul’s final battle against the man.)

.

“I’m going to challenge Paul to a battle now. If I manage to win…”

“Then, what?”

“Then, Dawn, I want you and I to go on a journey together.”

“Journey?” She’s thoroughly surprised at this.

“I know this is out of nowhere, but I had to tell you how I feel!”

Paul, leaning against a nearby tree, watches as Kenny runs away and Dawn calls out after him.

He’s never liked Kenny.

During Flint and Jasmine’s battle, he, Dawn, and Ash were discussing Flint’s defensive style, when Paul noticed Kenny looking over Dawn — in his eyes, Paul easily identified envy.

And then those envy-filled eyes met Paul’s.

Paul will admit it to himself that afterwards, he leaned over to engage Dawn in further conversation regarding Jasmine’s Steelix, just to spite Kenny.

With the glare Kenny shot him in that moment, Paul got the feeling that Kenny’s never liked him either.

.

“When does Buneary’s Poké Chic campaign finish?” Paul asks Dawn quietly, as they watch the ship depart the port in the sunset. They have just bid Ash farewell, as he has gone back home to Kanto.

“Huh?” She turns to look at him, confusion crossing her face. “Um, in two weeks. Why do you ask?”

“I’m going to Hoenn in a few weeks. Come with me.”

[anistarrose]

Illusion (Pokemon x Gravity Falls One-Shot)

Summary: When you're afraid you'll never have a chance to hug your brother again, there's only one thing to do.

Word Count: ~2300

Warnings: Some self-blame and self-hatred

[Can be read without prior knowledge of Pokemon. However, it may be helpful to know that (caesar ciphered for vaguely implied spoiler) Crurdun kdv wkh delolwb Looxvlrq, zklfk ohwv lw glvjxlvh lwvhoi dv rwkhuv.]

July 2nd

It’s only the beginning of my third week in Gravity Falls, and already, I’ve encountered far more strange Pokémon than I could have ever anticipated! Just this morning, Decidueye and I nearly captured a strange creature wearing a decorated rag over its body, as if to mimic a Pikachu! Based on how easily it escaped the trapping power of Spirit Shackle, I’m tempted to classify it as a Ghost-type, but the attack also seemed to do no damage whatsoever to the Pokémon itself, only busting its disguise. We’ll be keeping an eye out for this “shadow of a Pikachu” to show up again it to show up again, of course, in hopes of exposing its true form!

Beheeyem has also been especially delighted lately — I can’t help but wonder if it senses the presence of other extraterrestrials! Perhaps that’s even the origin of all the anomalies in this town?

Stan buried his head in his hands. He’d reread the damn journal four times now, and it was still half useless information and half information he was too stupid to make any sense of.

His Pokémon — except Gyarados, for obvious reasons — were milling about the basement, unsure of what to do to help but too loyal to leave. Pangoro sat cross-legged in front of the portal, as if guarding it, while Persian slowly paced around the room, sniffing things he had definitely had time to sniff before. Even Gabite, who hated the cold and would definitely rather be upstairs under a pile of blankets, was lying at Stan’s feet, wrapping his fins around Stan’s leg for warmth.

And then there was Zoroark — good old, reliable old Zoroark, who’d gotten him through more rough points in life than Stan could count — who leaned over his shoulder, offering a faint murmur of reassurance. There were no words, but twenty years of time spent together made the message clear:

You can do this. We believe in you.

But Stan was tired, so tired. His brain was crying out for coffee, but his limbs felt too heavy for him to get up and make any, his mouth too dry for him to ask any of his Pokémon to bring it to him…

He was tired of being the dumb twin, tired of being the failure twin, tired of being the twin who wasn’t good for anything but protecting others and ultimately just ended up doing the complete opposite. He was tired of being seen as a shadow, as a poor pathetic imitation of something better. He was tired of Ford and everyone who saw him like that not being wrong.

He didn’t remember falling asleep, but he must have, because a hand on his shoulder was suddenly shaking him awake.

A six-fingered hand.

“You’re not a failure,” Ford told him gently.

“And you’re not real,” Stan responded.

“I’m saying what he would say if he was here.” Ford’s nose twitched slightly, in a very inhuman — yet still familiar — way.

“Pretty sure just about the last thing he said to me was that I’d never done anything worthwhile in my life. And he was right.”

“He was angry,” Not-Ford replied. “Angry and wrong.”

He gestured around the basement, to where Stan’s Pokémon had all drifted off into sleep. “Was all the time you spent with Persian and Gabite and Pangoro not worthwhile? Was training Gyarados up from a weak little Magikarp you found stranded on the beach one day not worthwhile?”

He rubbed his shoulder, where his trench coat was singed — though subtly, in a way that Stan might have missed if he didn’t know exactly what it meant. “Was convincing your parents to adopt me and Vulpix off the street in the middle of the winter not worthwhile?”

Stan closed his eyes and shook his head slowly. “No, it was — it was worth something.”

Still wearing Ford’s appearance, Zoroark wrapped his arms around Stan and hugged him tight, in just the same way that Ford always had. Stan hugged back, and a sob caught in his throat, just in front of his heart, blocking any other sound from coming out.

“If Ford was here right now, he might still be angry,” Zoroark told him. “But I know he wouldn’t say that any of those things were worthless. You’re not worthless, and you can figure this out. We all know you can. That battle won’t be the last one Ford will ever have with us, and calling you worthless won’t be the last thing he’ll ever say to you. I promise. You’ll get to hug him again for real.”

“Thank you,” Stan choked out as the illusion melted away and Zoroark buried his long black snout in his jacket. “You’re right, buddy. You’re right.”

***

From the moment the memory gun slipped out of his hands and clattered to the ground, the end of Ultramageddon dragged on and on for Ford like some kind of eternal punishment, even as it only registered in his memory as a series of blurred and disjointed images. He barely registered the bricks of the Fearamid flying out from underneath his feet as he grabbed Dipper and Mabel and Decidueye and Ninetales and held them tight as stared up to the chaos that was the sky.

The Ultra Wormhole closed itself like cracked glass being melted down into one cohesive whole again, colors streaking from horizon to horizon and until they finally, finally subsided to a uniform blue dotted with white clouds, a faint rainbow forming above the falls in the distance.

Ford thought, for a moment, that he saw the silhouette of a winged creature above that rainbow, lit up from behind by the blazing summer sun — but he blinked and it vanished, and he had a million other things to worry about, the most horrible being the man who wore his face but was no longer his twin.

It wasn’t hard to find Stan (he almost wished it was), because Zoroark, whose bright red mane stuck out in the woods like a sore thumb, was waiting by his trainer’s side, standing down on all fours like he hadn’t since he was a Zorua and whimpering faintly as the others approached.

Mabel, wonderful blessed optimist that she was, ran up to Stan, returned his fez to his head and and was greeted by a confused smile and a question. “Uh, hey there… kiddo. What’s — what’s your name?”

“Grunkle Stan?” Mabel asked. “Grunkle Stan, it’s me! It’s me!”

“We had to erase his mind to defeat Bill,” Ford explained, the words sounding hollow in his mouth — because no explanation could ever make this any better, could ever lead to anything but more sadness. “Stan has no idea, but — he did it. He saved the world.”

Ford let out a ragged breath.

“He saved me.”

Not a full minute ago, he’d made a promise to himself that he wouldn’t expect Stan to still be Stan, wouldn’t expect him to behave like his brother would, wouldn’t say anything to this poor confused man that we wouldn’t say to a stranger.

But he’d known, in his heart, it would been a promise he wouldn’t be able to keep. All of a sudden he was hugging Stan and crying, tears seeping into his own trench coat, the coat of the man who should have taken the fall.

“You’re our hero, Stanley.”

Stan remained limp and silent, not making any move to return the embrace.

I’ll never hug my brother again, Ford realized. I haven’t in forty-three years and I never will again.

Soos joined them on the way back to the Shack, his Bibarel tailing after him, and Stan just blinked at them slowly. Zoroark pressed his nose to Soos’s shoulder and let out another mourning whimper, as Soos’s smile melted away and he wiped at his eyes with the end of Zoroark’s tattered mane. Waddles waited for them at the doorstep of the Shack, as if he’d known they were coming, but his expression remained as blank and innocent as a Pignite’s could be as he followed them inside.

Stan settled into his chair in his chair comfortably, his expression a little brighter, a little less confused-looking, and for a moment it was as if a stream of pure oxygen was being blown at the last spark of hope in the back of Ford’s mind. Maybe, just maybe, there was a bit of Stan left —

“Hey, what’s wrong? You guys look like you’re at someone’s funeral!”

And then it was gone, extinguished by the deluge that was reality, and while Ford knew the kids needed him, that their Pokémon needed him, he couldn’t stay, couldn’t keep looking at this — this shadow of a brother.

He remembered the time when he’d convinced himself that Stan had always just been his shadow, an inferior imitation, and hated himself for ever thinking it. He deserved to be hated for thinking it. If anything was a shadow, a warped reflection, a mockery of what it was supposed to be, it was the stranger sitting where Stan should have — which wasn’t fair to this amnesiac man, Ford knew, but he couldn’t keep looking at his once-brother like this, couldn’t stay here —

Hurriedly, awkwardly, he excused himself and rushed to the wreck of a kitchen, where sitting amongst the rubble was… Stan.

Except it wasn’t, because this Stan’s suit was singed and ripped over his left shoulder. The place where Ford’s Ninetales had struck Zoroark with a far more powerful than intended attack in the heat of that fateful battle thirty years ago, an attack that still left a scar to this day.

“Why are you doing this?” Ford blurted out. “Why are you being him?”

“I don’t know,” Zoroark replied, voice close to that of Stan’s yet somehow different, as if with a very faint accent. “Denial, maybe? I — I miss him. I miss him a lot already.” The sorrow in his voice, on the other hand, sounded very, very believably human.

Ford flinched as Zoroark leaned towards him, only to be drawn into a hug just like the one he’d hoped so desperately that he’d receive from Stan back in that clearing.

This isn’t real, he told himself. It’s just an illusion. It’s not really Stan.

But he also hugged Zoroark back.

“He didn’t hate you, you know.” Zoroark murmured between sniffs. “Was frustrated by a lot of things you did, maybe. But he forgave you for all of that in the end.”

Ford nodded slowly. “Do you want to go back to Stan? Together? The kids… the kids need us.”

“Mmhm.” Zoroark let its illusion fade away and withdrew from the hug. When the two of them got back to the living room, Mabel was sitting on Stan’s chair with him and crying, flipping through pages of a scrapbook.

“This’ll work! This has to work! Here’s the first day we came to Gravity Falls, Grunkle Stan, and here are the seals I used on my ball capsules that ended up blinding you!”

“That time we went fishing with you and Gyarados?” Dipper offered. “That time a giant Aerodactyl kidnapped Waddles and you punched it in the face?”

Stan shook his head sadly.

“I’m sorry,” he told them, “but I don’t know what any of this is, or who you are — ah, quit it, Waddles, I’m tryin’ to remember my life story here!”

Ford nearly collapsed with relief, and next to him, he felt Zoroark jump.

“What did you say?” Dipper gasped.

“I said get Waddles off of me!”

“It’s working!” Ford exclaimed, rushing over to Mabel’s side and putting a hand on her shoulder. “Keep reading!”

“Skip to my page! He needs to remember our boss-employee relationship!”

“Hey, just because I have amnesia don’t go tryin’ to give yourself a raise, Soos!”

From somewhere above them, something let out a caw, so loudly that it had to have been from an absolutely giant Pokémon. Between the cracks in the roof of the Shack, Ford could see a rainbow of colors in the sky — and for just a moment, a giant red and white winged creature flying past.

Ho-oh, the Pokémon of rainbows… and revival.

“You okay, uh… Ford? You’re Ford, right?” Stan asks. “My brother? Or is that just short for somethin’, or —”

“No, that’s my name — and I am fine, now. I just…”

He shook his head. “Never mind. It’s not important —”

Stan frowned, and met eyes with Zoroark, who also frowned.

“Alright, fine. Could — could I have a hug?”

Stan got a strange look in his eyes, but Zoroark nodded to him, and he stood up and let his head rest over Ford’s shoulder.

“I missed you,” Ford told him, and for a moment Stan was quiet and Ford was afraid he’d said something wrong, triggered some unpleasant memory to come rushing back without context.

“I don’t know why,” Stan finally said, “‘cause as far as I know I’m the only one who got my mind wiped lately, but… I missed you too. I don’t know what happened, but… I get the sense I’ve been really worried about you lately. And maybe, uh, not on the best terms with you.”

He sniffed. “But I’m… I’m really glad you’re here.”

Ford nodded. “It’s thanks to you that I am. You and your team.”

Overhead, Ho-oh cawed again, and a single feather drifted down between the crack in the roof, shining in red, white and green.

“To new beginnings?” Ford asked, catching it.

“To new beginnings,” Stan agreed.

***

Thanks for reading, feedback is appreciated as always! I definitely have plans for more stuff in this crossover, but also some other fics I want to prioritize over those, so it may be a while.

[infoburger]

Name: Kano van Schouten ( formerly Imagawa [ still go back for some purposes ] )

Age: 22

Hair Color: Medium Brown

Eye Color: Light Brown

Origin:  Fontaine, Ransei

Raised: Fontaine, Ransei

Current Residence: Unknown

Occupation: Ship captain and trader, infamous pirate [ CEO of a trading and shipping company ] companies in modern verse ]

Partner: Magikarp -> Gyarados  

Family:

Parents ? Jan van Schouten ( father, appr.late fifties [ unknown if alive and  incarcerated or dead ] )  Imagawa, Saigo ( mother, 50 )

Siblings ? Nobuo van Schouten ( younger half-brother, 21 ) ( probably others as all )

Grandparents ? N/A

Aunts and/or Uncles ? N/A

Cousins ? N/A ( probably a lot )

In Laws ?  N/A ( probably a lot )

Nephews and/or Nieces ? N/A ( probably a lot )

Others ? Hamako ( 15 )

Height: 6’3 / 190.5 cm

Birthday: August 17th

Usual Place to Find at: In the office of of his ship or wandering through markets

Important Notes: 

Owns a trading business involving that vary greatly to weaponry to information on research. Explaining his large ship and crew.

Have a large collection of rare items and various types of weaponry

Can be seen with one his crew members often and usually have his Gothita at his side.

Most of his crew are made up of runaways, orphans, debt owners, and outlaws . Also their Pokemon are technically his, but let them keep the claim of their own Pokemon unless he have a motive for something.

Quick Personality Sum:

Prideful and stubborn, always thinks he knows best until proven wrong. Even though he won’t directly admit it either.

Over confident and brash, he don’t seem to care what comes out his mouth or how he acts. His decisions and actions are rash with little to no fear of his consequences.

Have a casual even comical demeanor about himself, but still holds a authoritative and demanding attitude with others. His childlike personality makes it hard to know if he should be taken seriously or not.

Even though his trading business is a mere cover for his criminal, he do know how to behave like a good merchant and how his ‘business’ works. Can be very professional and charismatic at the flip of a switch

Backstory: Born from a trader told be from a foreign land and a maiden he took from the nation, Fontaine. He was raised purely by his mother who was a housekeeper for a wealthy and noble family.

Kano was never one to settle for nothing, after reaching his adolescent years heand small crew of local Pokemon he befriended raided the home as well as others for valuables.Giving his mother new gifts and pets frequently making her smile, however when she found out how he obtained this wealth she rejected him.

Writing a letter to his father so he could learn a productive way of earning money and the right way to treat Pokemon. However living on his father’s ship, Kano learned that his father just used his trader title as a cover up for his piracy activities.

Deciding to send Kano back to Fontaine in his mid teens since the boy was becoming a weakness to his business, giving him a map and boat. However Kano had no interest of going back to his old town, visiting other kingdoms instead.

Looting many areas until he gain a a even more infamous status than his father, keeping up an appearance of a ship captain of traders like his father as well. But, he prides himself as an more honorable man than his father still.

Faceclaim: Date Masamune from Sengoku Basara

Specialize in what types: None

Favorite Type(s): Water and Dark

Hobbies ?: Fishing , studying trade and politics, and spearman-ship

Favorite Food(s): Most seafood dishes, most pickled and salted dishes, most desserts. He just love food in general, so he’s not too picky.

Interest(s) with Pokemon ?: Over his lifetime his treatment of Pokemon vastly different for viewing them as companions to valuable merchandise or investments then finally to individual creatures. He value potential strength in a Pokemon, though he is softy for cutesy Pokemon. He see his underlings’ Pokemon as worthy members ship members and enjoys having time to converse with his own Pokemon and his crew Pokemon [ from praising, teasing, playing, and even sparring with the larger Pokemon ]. 

Know any other muse(s): None

——————————————————————————————————

Modern Verse 

  An well known foreign business tycoon of various of companies, but notably his trading and shipping company inherited from his father’s side. He frequently travels abroad, but since most of his business is in Unova he spends the most time there. In actually he runs an underground crime syndicate and known in the criminal world to run underground auctions from anything to be thought of whether legal or not.

He’s said to be many of bastard children of former crime lord and president of the companies that he nowrun, but as an young and upstanding financial figure people think that the Schouten’s name can be something of good.His was life full of delinquency after being disowned by mother and left for dead by his father after working so hard to find him.

Deciding to be a wanderer like many other teens were doing, but found very profitable joy out of this after the years so he decided to enroll in school and afterwards college before launching an start trading companyon his own. It didn’t take long for him fall into his father’s ways and start corrupting merely year or two after proving success without criminal tactics.

—————————————————————————————————————

( Impish, Loves to eat )

Fished out as a Magikarp when he was a younger while sailing aimlessly at sea. Kano was planning on eating him at first until the fish slapped him repeatedly in the face. Throwing him back in the water in frustration, the Pokemon found the emotionalturmoil amusing following him around. Having to endure the travel made him stronger to the point of eventually evolving.  When Magikarp evolved he decided to wreck the wannabee treasure hunter’s raft as a ( horrible ) joke and way of asking to be join him officially.

Primsy-chi  ( Sassy, Somewhat vain )

While in the nation ofIllusio he wanted to link with some of the new Psychic Pokemon he saw. Thinking the little cutie wouldn’t be picky about him since she was so small and harmless looking. Refusing to be at Kano’s side until he gave up and looked out for anotherPokemon. This made her jealous that the pirate was not trying hard to win over her friendship like before and practically demanded to join him. Usually seen being carried by him and recognized by most Kano’s business partners.

( Jolly, Likes to fight )

Met as a Zweilous near a strange floating rock near the Yaksha nation while visiting the area. Kano was drawn to the fearsome appearance of the dual headed dragon, wanting a strong Pokemon since he only counted on Gyarados and his crew’s Pokemon to defend the ship. Have a energetic and playful personality, like to have friendly bouts with the crew Pokemon and with Kano when practicing his spear man-ship.

—————————————————————————————————————

Relations with Others ( RP Wise or Not )

Family

Jan van Schouten / Baas / Father and former captain

Kano will not mention his father at all, not due to most knowing that’s related to infamous criminal in some way. In actually, Kano just don’t like his father as a person and rejects looking up to himwhen he was younger. Determined if he sees his old man again that he will give him a good beating, if he’s still alive that is.

Imagawa, Saigo / Kaachan / Mother

He have very strained relationship with his mother, buthe still care a lot about her. However, Kano still have not made the effort to go back home and apologize for years. Despite his estranged status with her the man still affectionately calls his mother “kaachan” instead speaking about her more formally. 

Nobuo van Schouten / Nobo / Younger Half Brother and second in command   

Though both met as adults, Kano feels a sense of an kinship loyalty and believes Nobou feels the same. Though slightly older, Kano is the one that runs to the more rational and calm Nobuo for advice; one of the few people he give complete trust to. 

Hamako [ van Schouten ] / Hama / Loyal Brat and younger sister figure  

He found Hama in the Pugilis kingdom as leader of local street orphans. After some fast talking she found her way in Kano’s crew and forced the man to feel obligated in helping her friends find families. They get into quarrels and he’s constantly lectured by the fussy teenager. But, he does view her as a younger sister and respect her bonds with her Fighting Pokemon.

Naemi van Scouten / Little doll / Daughter 

Despite his short adult life so far, Kano have fathered a cute and polite 

—————————————————————————————————————

Mun Notes: Usually I like to place Kano in an mid-late 1500’s time-set, but if someone wants place him in an modern time for convenience I’m fine with that. Just talk to me at first before doing it, so we can plan something out first.

[kelpiemomma]

I have not played Rune Factory before! I’ve seen it around but it never grabbed my attention. I may have to grab one in the future!

The three starters are essentially what you said! She’s got an Oshawott named Sprinkler that helps her water plants, a Rowlett named Petrie that does... something, and her Cyndaquil (C4) who helps with various chores. I imagine C4 either burns the wood or Akari uses it either as kindling for fires for food, or stores it for firewood. The stones are a bit more difficult- the smallest ones she and the starters can pick up and move, but there are several that are too big for her or the starters (or her AND the starters) to move. She either has to wait until they’re stronger, get another pokemon, or pay someone with the kind of pokemon who can help her out. Which might not be a bad development idea...

Her background is still hazy. I’m considering she might be Dawn on the run, or a family member who left, or maybe she has amnesia... not sure yet. But like, considering how the pokemon universe regularly sends pre-teens out on multi-year-long adventures... it’s entirely possible she’s just someone who decided against the trainer route and went nomadic, stumbling across this dying little town and going ‘ah, perfect, no one will find me here’ (but then, why would people be looking for her?) She’s definitely closest with her pokemon at first, but she is also quite close to Pesselle as the nurse regularly finds her collapsed and brings her back to her own home for safekeeping. Pesselle fills the role of ‘grumpy but loving older cousin’ lmao.

The native dragons thing is definitely interesting 0v0 maybe she’s actually hiding from them? And thinks the best way to do so would be in a dying little town? She certainly doesn’t expect to be the one to help improve it- sure she can fix her farm up enough to stay there, but accidentally befriending Elesa and the twins was NOT on her list!

I LOVE THE IDEA OF THEM TAKING HER ON ADVENTURES!!!! They’re proud of her and her little farm and all the work she’s put into it but she’s way too serious for a 13 year old, she doesn’t have any friends her own age, and she needs to take better care of herself! They come up with ideas to get her out and off the farm, taking her on a hike or a picnic to feed her and get her doing fun things. Cyllene is the one who shows Akari the old lake that used to be stocked with fish but is now overgrown, reminiscing on how she and her friends - what few she had as a kid, before they grew up and left or became bitter and cold over their hometown - used to go skinny dipping, or would see who could catch the largest Magikarp. She doesn’t mean to but it inspires Akari to clean the lake, except once it is cleaned everyone finds out that Akari loves swimming, and therefore can be much more easily drawn away from her farm by the suggestion of a swim.

Akari, frankly, constantly falls for people asking her for help. She just wants to help, just wants to please. She’s more of a brat when she’s not feeling good (naturally) or when Ingo and Emmet are around because she’s comfortable with them. She never turns down a request from Kamado but that’s also partially because she’s terrified of being kicked out. She grows to love Jubilife and the residents and the family she’s found. She doesn’t want to have to leave. (She wouldn’t have to, because Cyllene would usurp Kamado to keep Akari around, but she doesn’t know that).

I’ve never actually played Magical Melody but I’ve read the wiki and it looks fun!! I’ve played Friends of Mineral town and... a couple others I can’t think of off the top of my head. And I’ve never finished a single one FJDKFLASD. Honestly the plot is more along the lines of the original Harvest Moon: Friends of Mineral Town with just a bit of added stakes!

They have a Ponyta Race festival!!! Because I always loved the horse racing part of the festival (and always kicked ass at it!) so she’s got her spicy Ponyta, Dolly, who is an absolute firecracker during the races. An obstacle course one would be fun as well, or one where people have to have their pokemon perform certain maneuvers (lighting a fire, putting out the fire, etc) and Akari surprises everyone with how diligent and detailed her pokemon are and she’s like. “We work on a farm. Every day. Do you think we’re just wildly clearing bush and stones?”

I imagine for the sort of family-oriented festival, Akari hears people talking about it and assumes she isn’t welcome because... she’s new, and isn’t part of the family. It is a bit painful (she’s a 13 year old isolating herself lmao rip) but she’s like “this is fine, this is how it is”. The first year it’s Rei who comes to find her, because she’s younger than him and therefore he has to take care of her! The second year she’s close enough to Elesa that Elesa is the one to invite her, claiming Akari’s the cutest niece-sister-cousin-kid-whatever and since Elesa’s own family isn’t there, they can be each other’s! Kamado is a little irritated that the kid is still around (he’s... not keen on her, but he also doesn’t hate her. He didn’t want her to stick around but he also wasn’t about to give her the boot and seem like an unrepentant dick to the Jubilife residents) which makes Akari a little wary, but Elesa drags her around to all their friends and distracts her. The third year she and Elesa haul the twins to the festival and Akari is content that she’s found her own family on accident. (there is absolutely Dad!Ingo. There is always Dad!Ingo. There is somewhat Dad!Emmet as well due to Ingo and Emmet not being able to decide which of them should be her dad and which of them should be her uncle after she accidentally, unintentionally, dared them to adopt her)

She manages to improve the farm! Really if you think about it, any improvement was improvement to a worn-down, dilapidated, broken old farm that no one had lived in for decades. She fixed up the barn doors, patched the roof (somehow), cleaned up the fields... she even manages to make some money by harvesting and growing a few items. Kamado can’t give her the boot (and honestly he’d expected her to just leave instead.) and tells her that she’d better keep it up, that she has to produce x amount of money by the end of the next year or she has to leave. (It’s bullshit. It’s a small amount of money, all things considered. It’s another challenge because she barely has enough money to feed herself and her pokemon before she spends it on seeds and care for the farm.) It’s Lavnton gifting her some sort of produce-pokemon (a Miltank? some sort of bird pokemon to lay eggs? Maybe a wooloo?) that allows her to start getting produce and making more money. Elesa thinks Kamado is suspicious and asks Akari about him, about their agreement. Akari is reluctant to admit anything (she’s now 14, knows she’s doing something that maybe she shouldn’t be) but finally says he’s told her that she improves or she has to leave. Elesa doesn’t have these requirements and finds them to be bullshit, and therefore begins to buy Akari’s produce for a higher price than she really should be paying. Akari makes it through the second year, while the twins finally move in. On the third year, Kamado comes calling again. She improved the farm, she’s making money on it, except... she doesn’t own it. She’s, technically, squatting on it. Sure, he told her she could live there as long as she improved it and all, but her name isn’t on the deed.

Kamado is both grateful towards Akari and loathes her. Because of her, because of her efforts and relationship with Elesa and the twins, the town is getting attention again. There is more income, there is interest, it is a (small) stop on a train route that hasn’t been running since before Kamado was alive. He’s overjoyed that his town is starting to come to life again. He’s also absolutely enraged that it’s her who pulled it off. That it was a strange with no attachments who brought Jubilife back to life. He is very defensive, protective, possessive of his town. He fought tooth and nail to become Mayor, fought with everything he had to keep it from completely fading, lost his family and loved ones because he refused to leave his home... It absolutely grates on him that some little nomadic nobody managed to bring attention to it. He wants the tourists, he wants people to live there... he wants Akari to leave, because she’s a reminder of his own failure despite his best efforts. Unfortunately for him, nobody else wants to see her go. She’s almost like the town’s mascot.

(Cyllene, after a bit of time, becomes Mayor instead. Kamado ends up seeing a therapist, talking to someone, and comes to terms with his own trauma and issues. He ends up leaving but always returning- he has to leave to appreciate the fact that he can come back to it. He and Akari never quite see eye to eye, are never quite comfortable with each other after he all but tried to kick her out, but they are cordial.)

You have a Harvest Moon au? 👀 I was gonna ask about FaW/Jumping The Rail but the Harvest Moon part captured my attention (and I don't want to bug you with too many questions). What characters is it centered around and do you have a basic plot/idea for it yet?

I do!! It's literally called Pokemon: Harvest Moon bc I'm basic. There's a link on my pinned post to all of my aus (I think it's all of them) but here is a separate link https://kelpiemomma.tumblr.com/tagged/pokemon%20harvest%20moon

Never feel bad about bugging me with questions. I love opening Tumblr and seeing I have messages, especially when they're from people I know. It's very exciting to talk to people (esp my friends) about the nonsense in my brain and I would love to do it more 😂 ask all the questions you want, you might stir something up that I feel the need to put down somewhere.

ANYWAY. PHM. It's centered around the young (13-ish) Akari who comes to Jubilife Village (possible a little subset-like area of Jubilife City, like. Several miles out of the city. Not easily walked to. Middle of nowhere pokemon style.) needing a place to stay. Mayor Kamado leads her to a decrepit, rundown farm that she is allowed to stay on and live on with the caveat that she is required to improve upon it. If she hasn't improved upon it in a year, she gets the boot. (She is a child who doesn't understand contracts, property law, etc, and he is desperately clinging to a greatness the village hasn't seen in a century). Akari agrees to this and lives out her life harvest moon-like. I've focused on a more pokemon-esque version of it where she gets the Hisuian starters in various ways and they help her on the farm. She's also got a ponyta named Dolly who is ✨spicy✨

Elesa moves in during Akari's first year and the become friendly. She's absolutely confused by this grubby little dirt urchin who wanders up to her clothing store (formerly run by Anthe, who sold it to Elesa so she could retire) and just offers her a massive bag of coin in exchange for new clothes. Elesa lays claim to her as a cute niece and makes her SO MUCH farmer chic clothing. (Side note- Cyllene doubles as law enforcement (of a sort, there's really no crime in Jubilife Village because... there's no one really living in Jubilife Village!) as well as Kamado's aid with the town. Elesa has a crush on Cyllene, which is required, but Cyllene is highly stressed and quite expressionless, and Elesa is often too nervous to really do much more than offer to make her custom clothes as a way of flirting, which Cyllene honestly takes as her just being nice... this is my own ridiculous little ship that I love.) Akari thinks Elesa is funny and enjoys spending time with her, though she does do a lot of teasing her about her crush.

Laventon and Rei double as livestock owners and the local vet (and vet tech). Rei is a couple years older than Akari and deeply protective of this Tiny Baby in the universal way of "oh my god this person is just barely younger than me, they're a baby I must protect". We all have those moments. I know it. You know it. Rei is always trying to give Akari free stuff that she insists on paying for. Laventon, Rei's father (adopted or otherwise, idk), also gives her free stuff but more subtly. Taking care of the animals. Giving her advice on the best food. Telling her they "just" got a certain food in and asking her to use it and give him her opinion.

There's ALSO a train that runs nearby. It used to run through the town, and actually passes by Akari's farm, but "improvements" and speed had it passing by instead. Think of how Route 66 used to be the main thoroughfare across the country until bypasses were put in- that's essentially the "station" in Jubilife. Akari always waves at the train (to which she gets a responding horn, ALWAYS to her delight) and is somewhat beset upon by Ingo and Emmet one day, who came to visit Elesa and were curious about the girl on the farm. Again, they immediately take her under their wing, and they delight in both picking on her and making her take care of herself. Akari is terrible at taking care of herself and frequently faints due to overexertion (Elesa, Passelle(?), and Cyllene hate this but are unable to convince her to take breaks, drink water, and eat better because Akari is afraid she'll be thrown out if Kamado thinks she isn't working hard enough and won't listen to them tell her thats not how it works. 13 year olds!!!) and scares the twins one day as they find her passed out in the fields after her pokemon sought their attention while the train passed by. They manage to convince enough people that adding Jubilife Village to their stop (or a different stop) would be beneficial for everyone and end up somewhat taking over that route. It means they see Elesa every day (win! Beties reunited!), get to ensure Akari is taking care of herself, and get to give their pokemon (especially the large ones) plenty of room to roam. The subway bosses AND the former gym leader being in one spot also makes the village a draw for battlers.

Akari hates her house and doesn't put any work into it. It's her own little rebellion against Kamado. She'll improve the farmland and the stable and the barn and the cool but the house? FUCK that house. (Everyone hates that she literally STILL SLEEPS IN THAT FALLING APART FUCKING HOUSE.)

It's another of my silly self indulgences that I need to revisit 😂 especially since the comic of Ingo and Emmet being dared to adopt Akari by Akari has reached 100 notes and I said I'd redraw it if that happened fksbsjs

[tumblunni]

Hi, I'm the anon who sent the messages about Rotom-Cyrus to TWJ. I wanted to explain myself. There are two books in Rotom's Room: one written by Charon where he says he found out about Rotom "by pure chance." So Charon is involved with Rotom (prob why he has that card) but he isn't the one who met Rotom as a kid. I don't want to spoil exactly what happens in USUM incase you haven't reached that part but it does basically confirm Cyrus is the one who wrote that account.

aaaa that suuuuuckscos literally its fuckin a book signed by charon how was i meant to know that oh the other book right next to it isnt by charon alsoand the trading card has no meaning whatsoeverand we’re just giving more sad backstory to a guy who already had a sad backstory and nope charon has no backstory whatsoever and was just super evil and everyone was right for all these years telling me i’m a jerk for liking this characterand right when basically the same thing just happened with faba seriouslyharmless comedic villain in sun and moon, is shown apparantly redeemed in the postgame, but NOPE now its retconned and he was The Most Evil One and something something lusamine isn’t bad anymore and everything she ever did is now being done by faba in the animecos hey yknow thats what i get for giving the benefit of the doubt to ~ugly people~seriously fuckin everyone hated faba right from when he was first revealed, you had people predicting his ENTIRE PLOT based on just one picture of him and his name and no information whatsoever on his personality. we all just fucking knew what was going to happen because he’s a science man with an ‘ugly’ face and he’s ~flambouyant~and then charon fuckin literally existed to be the ~worse man~ who was added to make cyrus more redeemablethats how he was treated in both mangas. he was made more evil just so cyrus could be redeemed, which was POINTLESS because we all already believed he could be redeemed! and fuck we even all already thought he had cute moments with his pokemon as a kid, geez! there’s a hundred fanarts of that same scenario but with murkrow or zubat or magikarp or houndour or sneasel...just fuckin the pokespe manga wrote a personalityless charon who murdered a child and was outright shown not being friends with rotom and actually hating rotom and getting his ass kicked by rotomand then in DPA we get not only More Evil Charon Who Kills People but also he’s drawn really stupidly over the top scary while everyone else is big eyed shoujo dorks. and our protagonist believes that everyone is redeemable except charon. lets show cyrus committing far more evil acts than charon ever did in the game, lets show him being ooc as fuck and talking about murdering pokemon while surrounded by graves. but THAT IS OKAY and our hero will insist on saying he’s redeemable but NOOOPE charon just fuckin steals some money and has an ugly grandpa face and he gets no such sympathy. he just exists to make you forget that moment of cyrus being ooc double evil. cos we literally retconned that charon was responsible for all cyrus’s evil acts last arc, even though he wasnt even in the fuckin story yetand like now my only damn consolation here is that the character i connected with when i first played the game is AT LEAST NOT THAT EVIL. but all the potential signs of headcanoning him as not evil were all false and i just should have known it. and apparantly its a better and more worthwhile plot to just give sad childhood man another pokemon he knew in his sad childhood, and the thing i thought was Really Cool And Interesting Writing didn’t actually exist. like seriously i was fuckin literally suffering from the same abusive childhood cyrus has in his backstory back when i played dppt and i DO NOT KNOW WHY but i ended up connecting with this stupid grandpa more than him and it saved me in a dark time more than him. back then i was a stupid fuck and i hated cyrus cos i saw myself in him, like i didnt want to admit that i was in an abusive family and i wanted to hate him for daring to want to take revenge against the world that fucked him over. i felt he didnt have the right, like I didnt have the right..so yeah i didnt even fully realise cyrus’s backstory until i replayed the game as an adult, but the one thing that did hit me back then was how unexpected and cool it was to turn our opinion of this jerk grandpa on its head. like i mean whoa! i didnt hate him like everyone else did, i found him pretty funny, but still i wasnt a big fan or anything until i saw that diary entry. like charon does LITERALLY NOTHING in the plot there is no reason they should have added him in a third version, he has no reason to exist unless he was meant to be the guy who introduces rotom’s new forms also added in the game. and it was such a mind blown moment! it doesnt even make him less evil! like “whoa this evil guy used to be a good kid once” could still work even if it WASNT a sign of him having potential redeemability, like it makes him so much more personally evil and horrible if he abandoned his best friend or something. I was so dissappointed you don’t get a boss battle with him, cos i went and caught that rotom and was hyped to defeat him with the pokemon he once betrayed and like there’s NONE OF THAT ANGLE if it was cyrus. it doesnt make rotom any different than any of his other pokemon that he owns right now and we know he already cares about, cos he has a crobat.and it JUST DOESNT MAKE SENSEbecause the journal SOUNDS like charon!they both talk all smart guy style but it felt more formal like how charon talksand like how charon boasts a lot, but the journal has him boasting about his friend instead. it sounds too enthusiastic to be cyrus...and like we already know where cyrus grew up as a kid and it wasnt eterna city. and he doesnt have a secret lab in galactic hq also in eterna city, like charon does. and also he’s not like friggin fifty years old so why would his childhood poke-friend be in a wrecked abandoned house if it was just ten years ago or something. and also why would they give charon this trading card where they draw the 100% evil guy having a vaguely genuine smile on his face and not looking like rotom hates him and he’s got it caged up or anything and also why would the card’s effect be all about friendship and why would they define him as The Rotom Guy and why would they even bother to give a trading card to charon if charon is a pointless character who never did anything important and had no actual relevance to this rotom wifi event except apparantly stealing a bunch of diaries from some other guy who was really responsible for it all. and why would they bother to point out that someone signed the diary if it wasnt the guy who wrote the diary, and also we are not going to sign the diary by the guy who actually wrote it. like if it was meant to be cyrus whey didnt they make it clearer?? nobody could be expected to have figured that out!also why does charon have a second rotom room in silph co in HGSS which timeline wise means he would have had it before DPPT and he’s talking about finding a rotom by chance before he ever found this diary that doesnt really belong to him. like why would he build an entire lab of form machines if he didnt own a rotom yet? how would he know enough to make them actually work for rotom if he never owned a rotom yet?why did nintendo decide to do all this if i wasnt supposed to reach the conclusion that charon had ANYTHING to do with rotom???why didnt they make it fucking clearer. why couldnt i have been saved years of clinging to this stupid ass headcanon and basing a lot of my taste in stories on the whole concept of ‘wow that was so fucking cool how they took a one dimensional looking villain and then turned it on our head with a cool reveal and made me super eager to see future stories with him’ and hey we’re not ever gonna get those and also everyone else was right and i should just give up and agree that ugly looking granddads will always be eviland why the fuck did i somehow link my self worth to such a random ass headcanon for a random ass character like seriously could someone have properly explained cyrus’s plot to me as a kid so i could have had him stop me from committing suicide instead. like seriously if they’d just made cyrus’s grandpa less hard to find and explained the plot more clearly and explained that he was the rotom kid AAAAAAAAARGHand i really didnt fucking need this, usum, right after also people started telling me that lusamine is ~really good~ and her whole child abuse plot is gone now like ha ha ha ha fucking ha lets crush bunni on two damn levelsand what is my fucking luck that this happened to happen right on the same day when i got some stupid ass anon hate and also had a horrible nightmare about my abusive fatherlike seriously dude who sent me this ask im really sorry ive had such an incoherant babbling reply to it, its just been a really bad day for me and like.. im not freaking out because of this minor headcanon being proven wrong, its just like i was already freaking out and having some random irrelevant headcanon bullshit happen right now is REALLY bad timing to push me off the edgehopefully i can calm down and come back and give a more coherant response of like.. why i headcanoned the different thing and why I’m sad its not true, even though i’m happy for you that your personal headcanon did become true instead.but like it sucks to be told ‘nope you’re not allowed to have your favourite character, his one and only personality trait was just a misconception you had’ during such a really bad timing of such an already bad daynintendo could u give us like a sassy science villain gramps who DOES have a redemption plot? or at least a plot that isnt ‘exists to be worse than the main villain’? like seriously why did it happen twice. i was happy at original sun and moon cos it felt like faba as charon but better written but then NOOOOPEjust...god...what.what sort of fuckface up in heaven decided to throw all the bad shit at me today and not at least spread it out across the rest of the week?

[1wngdngl]

Pokemon Shield playthrough - Part 3

In this post, I explore the industrial city of Motostoke, then venture on to Route 3.

Once I enter the town, several new features open up to me. One of them is the ability to collect and create my own “league” card. There seems to be two types - there are player cards, which have your play stats and achievements; and there are NPC cards that have mini-profiles on that character.

I like how many different expressions you can choose from in your league card - they really show how more lively the player models are in this generation.

I also unlock the ability to send Pokemon on jobs. This seems like a good way to raise the endless boxed Pokemon that won’t be in my main party.

With that out of the way, I explore more of the city’s lower level. I like a lot of the design elements in Motostoke, like the different-sized water fountains so Pokemon can drink too.

I got excited when I saw this cafe. But unlike in a normal cafe, where you can buy a drink and relax a while, this one makes you battle. I did get a glimpse of that milky Pokemon that was hinted earlier. I still think it’s probably related to either Polteageist or Alcremie.

One thing I noticed, when I was battling Dynamax raids earlier, is that the moves I was rewarded with were referred to as “TR’s” instead of TM’s. I thought it might have been a typo, but actually they are two different types of items, with TR’s (technical records) being one-use-only like in the old Pokemon games. That makes more sense why they would be given out as a battle reward.

I stop at the clothes shop to buy a new sweater.

I also acquire this “earbuds” item, though I haven’t figured out how to use it yet.

As I approach the main stadium, I see some fans hanging around. Like this guy. There are hundreds of Pokemon he could have dressed up as, but he had to pick a Pokeball instead. Maybe one day he’ll wear a Master Ball costume?

Hop and I register for the Gym Challenge. You can see the two rivals from the trailers in the background.

Before heading to the hotel, I explore the city a bit more. I like the view when shot through this tunnel.

Also, this business uses an Octillery as their mascot.

In this sketchy part of town, I find a TM.

I really like the little hopscotch board drawn on the ground. It makes the city feel more lived-in.

Ah, vending machines at a train station. I have fond memories of these.

This is a pretty cool banner.

I keep fishing, but I only catch Magikarp and occasionally that bitey turtle. Maybe I need to upgrade my fishing pole to catch anything else?

I discovered a shop that sells Gym Challenge uniforms. Given that the list includes the Fighting and Rock uniforms, which are Gyms I don’t have in my version, I’m guessing these are uniforms from the “minor league” Gyms that you don’t actually battle. You can probably unlock the “major league” uniforms when you beat the related Gym.

Finally, at the hotel. There’s a cool statue here that’s obviously related to the legendary wolves. Maybe his sword and shield actually transformed into Pokemon?

My first brush with Team Yell. They don’t seem too tough, although this is another situation that begs the question: “Why don’t they have /police/ that can deal with thugs like these?”

Finally, I get to rest. It’s a nice-enough room, but no private bar?

The next day, I put on my new uniform and get ready to make my debut.

The Gym leaders also line up to welcome in the new “Gym Challenge” season. There’s only seven present - obviously there’s no Dark-type Gym leader, but I’m sure a suitable person will show up during the story, and probably be part of team Yell.

Yeah, I’d be a bit overwhelmed too.

After that brief moment in the spotlight, I’m ready to head out on my journey. Fortunately, I can now use the taxi service to quickly fly anywhere (that I’ve already been, that is ;) )

It’s kinda refreshing to be cheered on like this. In most Pokemon games, you are an anonymous nobody as far as the general public is concerned. Maybe I can develop a fan club of my own?

Finally, I step out onto Route 3. This area is more rocky as it leads toward the mines.

I catch a Gossifleur, and replace Simon the fox. Why? Because I think my bird will evolve into a Dark type, so Simon would be a duplicate type.

Speaking of my birb...

Along the route, I encounter a coal processing plant, which seems to have connections to Chairman Rose - like every other thing in Galar, apparently.

Is Pokemon even /trying/ to hide the fact that he’s a shifty guy? An insanely powerful person that everyone seems to praise? The only question is, /how/ evil will he turn out to be? Is he just a selfish businessman who wants to control all of Galar’s wealth, or are his power plants stealing the life force of Pokemon or something?

Here’s another nice surprise - the Escape Rope is a key item, so you never run out! Now if only it could be used inside buildings...

I catch myself a Roly Coly, and Janis leaves after only a brief stint in the party.

This bug thing this kid was using is really cool, but I wasn’t able to find one myself despite a thorough search along the route. :(

I’m getting really close to the end of Route 3, and to the Galar Mines. You know what that means?

Time to knock off and go do some other stuff for a bit!

First, I go to the salon to update my eyes. I thought about putting literal stars in them...

But this a bit more my style.

Then I updated my trainer card.

This NPC on Route 3 had a tent set up that I was allowed to visit, and all our Pokemon hung out. Her Vulpix can do a pretty mean somersault.

We made curry together...

And of course, she had to brag about her Pokemon.

I also went back to the Wild Area to catch a few more Pokemon there. Amazing how a simple change in weather or time of day can really affect the landscape.

I found this Stufful here which was glowing weirdly, and gave me Watts when defeated. I still think all this stuff about Watts and Dynamax energy has to do with Chairman Rose’s ambitions somehow.

Just for fun, I wanted to see what would happen if I tried to catch a Pokemon that the game said was “too high-leveled” for me. Apparently it won’t even let you try. I guess that’s to keep you from getting one lucky catch of a high-level Pokemon and then steamrolling through the game that way.

A few more pictures of what the Wild Area looks like in the sunlight.

By this point, there were new jobs available, so I took on a few more, and collected my Pokemon from the first job.

I catch a new Dynamax Pokemon...

Found a sneaky TM hiding in a log. What is this, a King’s Quest game?

Also, I went back and found a Roselia right where the other one was, and managed to catch it this time.

Also, my Roly Coly evolved into something much scarier.

Next time - I finally enter the mines, and hopefully find some more Gen 8 Pokemon.

[hanazuki97-blog]

Steelfed "Would it be all right if I borrowed your sweater? It smells like you.” steven in riley's turtleneck. please.

ofc it took being literally exhausted to find the inspiration to write this. smh brain why you do dis to me. well hope you’ll enjoy anyway!

The frost on the windows spelled the peak of the winter season. Sometimes, Winter’s breath battered at the glass panes with an enchantingly haunting keen. He couldn’t help but find himself drawn to the sound. It was a reminder that one should never underestimate the power of Mother Nature. Riley had made the foolish mistake once and learnt his lesson. This time, he had made adequate preparations.

His simple cabin, built as nothing more than a three season kind of place, had managed to stave off the worst of the chill once he placed in new insulation. With the small wood-burning stove slaving away at the corner, it chased away the winter nip in the air. He could comfortably stay inside even in the harshest of storms wearing nothing more than a couple of long sleeved sweaters and a pair of fuzzy socks.

Unfortunately, he couldn’t say the same for his companion. While Riley felt touched at Steven’s concern for his well being, he wasn’t exactly freezing on his island. When he opened the door in the middle of a heavy snowfall, imagined his surprise to see a walking snowman. With his layers of jackets covered in powdery snow, he fit the description quite nicely. Riley had ushered the human ice pop, question after question slipping past his lips as he peeled off the damp clothes from Steven’s shivering form.

He eventually got an answer, once the silverette sat in the front of the stove and all but smothered in a couple of thick, fluffy blankets. Steven had explained in quiet embarrassment that he was worried about Riley when he saw the news about the snowstorm that hit the entire Sinnoh region. He had tried to get a hold of him but apparently, the lines were down. Fearing the worst, Steven dropped everything and scrambled on the only plane that was able to fly in this weather.

“That was quite foolish, Steven. Being outside in this kind of weather is asking for pneumonia,” Riley lightly scolded him, a frown tilting his lips. Figuring that Steven got the message upon seeing the shift in his aura, he let loose an exasperated sigh. “A fool you may be but you’re my fool.” With that, Riley leaned in close to plant a soft kiss on Steven’s cold lips. 

“How does a cup of hot chocolate sound? It’ll help warm you right up.” A playful grin crept into his expression. “That way, the next time we kiss, it won’t feel like I’m kissing a Magikarp’s lips.”

Ignoring Steven’s indignant look. Riley entered the kitchenette to prepare the hot and sweet drink. Knowing where everything was allowed him to whip up two mugs of hot chocolate in no time at all. For that extra dash of indulgence, he took out a bag of marshmallows from the cupboard and popped in a few of those fluffy goodness into each mug.

Riley carried the drinks to the living room, only to find Steven missing. He looked around once he placed the mugs down, pinpointing his location within a few seconds. What was he doing in his bedroom? Before he could go and investigate, Steven slipped out of the room with a familiar article in his hands.

“Would it be alright if I borrowed your sweater? It smells like you.” Steven asked with a wide smile. 

Riley didn’t mind at all but the comment at the end caught him off guard. Against his wishes, red crept into his cheeks as an embarrassed sort of glee zipped through his body. Honestly, how could a grown man be so cute?

“Sure, I don’t mind,” he answered at last. Steven’s smile became wider at that, which made Riley’s heart beat a little faster. Without wasting any time, his partner put on the sweater. As he had the bigger body size, Steven sort of... drowned in his clothes. Of course he had to pick the purposely oversized one. Riley had a couple of those for those moments where he wanted that extra comfort. 

On Riley’s body, it was a little loose. Steven’s hands couldn’t even make it out of the sleeves. Around the collar area, it hung a little, showing off the other sweater he was already wearing. Though, if that was out of the way, it would have been a nice little window for Steven’s delicate collarbones...

Riley coughed once, cheeks once again red. Arceus give him strength. Now wasn’t really the time. The hot chocolate would get cold if he acted upon his impulses right now. It was obvious that Steven wanted nothing more than to huddle in front of the stove together with a mug of hot chocolate in hand. Right now at least. 

Waiting was good. Waiting will get him a warm, snuggly body, not Magikarp lips and ooh, chocolate kisses.

Yes, waiting. 

In the midst of all of this, Steven brought the floppy sleeve to his nose and took a deep breath. “I was right. It does smell like you!”

... Arceus, please give him strength.