#aka he's an insane feral rat

[the-blazing-light]

Two characters I've made and levelled the past month or so: Aria Siegebreaker and (Researcher) Kialli

[doubleddenden]

Continuing on with this fakemon AU thing, I decided to try a what if team for Ash if he visited the Eldiw region from Xenoverse Per Aspera ad Astra, aka Pokemon Xenoverse. This one was kinda tough all around because there aren't really a lot of new Pokémon. However, sticking with how he usually does things, I decided to just do my best.

As per usual, I made Ash's sprite based a bit on the design for the male MC from the original game. The Pikachu situation is rather interesting this time, but like the other sprites used, I found it in the game's files. I'll elaborate on this below.

But before I do, yall, play Xenoverse. It and Uranium are probably my favorite fan games, and Xenoverse is insanely high quality all around.

Now let's go to cringe town

So the way Ash comes to Eldiw I think will be different. This Ash is on his way to another region via a boat and happens to get caught up in some weird Xenoverse distortions that unleash Sharpedo X upon the ship. It's a massive incident where everyone is saved merely by being caught up in a dimensional portal by Dielibi and taken to another dimension. Upon waking up, Ash finds himself and Pikachu in an unfamiliar place saved by Aster, Kay, and Alice, and most importantly, something is weird about Pikachu after this happens.

Ash learns about the X Pokémon breakouts in the Eldiw region and decides to help out and do some adventuring and gym challenges, all while discovering strange things that are different from his dimension, and searching for a way to go home.

I imagine he travels with both the MCs and Aster, and Pikachu gets along well with both of their X Pikachu from conflicting dimensions. He is determined to help Kay find his missing father, and along the way they meet certain strange Pokemon.

Pikachu (Retro), was afflicted by X energy from the Xeno wormhole that opened and the trip through dimensions. Other than a changed color pallette, Pikachu remains largely the same, except he now has access to a sort of "soft evolution" to a strange creature called Gorochu, in which he gains a massive power boost but loses control of his own power. He is able to transform back, but only after being totally exhausted. In places that weigh heavily with Xenoverse energy, Pikachu can turn somewhat feral, but does his best to fight this. He's still the best boy.

Trishout, Fire/Sound, capable of shifting through Earth, Xeno, and Astro Forms. Kay already has Shulong from childhood, Alice eventually finds Shyleon, and Ash finds Trishout trapped in a hidden Team Dimension hideout where he is rescued. Trishout is a bit of a naughty boy that enjoys pranks and is highly curious about everything. Trishout, as well as Shulong and Shyleon, can ascend forms and become stronger, but still retains this playfulness in battle. He likes to ride Ash's shoulder in base form and gets along famously with Pikachu, but seems to have strange secrets with the others.

Vesperfum (Plant Bat, Grass/Dark) is the reliable flier of the team and decent in a fight as well. Ash caught it after a quick detour to Dorado village, and Aster seems to have taken interest in its line, as well as the lines for Swelephant and Croakraze. Vesperfum in particular is crazy for fruits.

Swelephant (Elephant man, Water/Fighting) started out timid, and even as a fully evolved Pokémon he is afraid of small Pokémon, particularly rat Pokémon, even Pikachu. Vesperfum is more or less Swelephant's emotional support friend, but Swelephant will absolutely wreck things if it needs done or someone is in danger.

Whisteract (Ghost/Fairy) saved Ash and co from a haunted forest by lighting the way. It is very affectionate and acts as sort of the team mother. It especially dotes on Swelephant, and will emphasize the Ghost in ghost type to those that threaten or harm her friends. She came through for the gang during the G.E.I.S.T. incident

Honchen (Dragon) tried to destroy a village after being exposed to too much Xenoverse energy, and Ash just barely managed to catch it to save it. It turns out that Honchen is rather agreeable when in its right state of mind. It is slightly bigger than average, but is actually a tad weak and is a bit insecure. That being said, it has won very important battles, and everyone loves him.

Other than these, I imagine he would have caught a Sharpedo X for Aster to study.

Again, just for fun.

[polskasroka]

I'm not going to anon but I am going to ask - do you think it was inevitable for Dutch to turn out like he did in the end? Or was it just Micah's influence? Or both? Like he must have genuinely cared at some point right?

Ah yes, I love you all shameless people who don't ask on anon 💖💖💫

Oh boy, now there must be some consideration done here.

In my opinion, it didn't have to end like it did. It could've been prevented had tragedies not happened one after another. Of course, Micah had a lot of impact on what was happening around Dutch but it wasn't only because of him.

I think the constant running away and being chased by the lawmen, Pinkertons etc. also had a big influence because for how long can one act like it's okay and they won't catch us? There must've been some fear, even hidden and locked deep inside of him, that one day found its outlet and started to break the man. He might've been afraid that he'd lose the position he had, bc bruh, he was the leader of a goddamn powerful gang after all!

I have no idea if he had a narcissistic personality disorder (or a different one) because it's impossible to tell for sure (I love this game for its ambiguity omg) and I'm not a professional but if he did, then I wouldn't be surprised.

I know that on one hand he would take all of those stray kids under his wing, you know, Arthur, a feral raccoon with rabies aka John Marston, and so on, which would indicate that he did care. But on the other, he might've been doing it all only for his gain. We'll probably never know the answer to that and it's probably for the best.

I choose to believe that he DID care at some point, that he wasn't faking it all. But there's always that something telling me that he's never been pure.

Anyways, after all this thinking I've done now, maybe the disasters weren't as preventable as I'd like them to be? Maybe there must've been a breaking point and, in fact, there was. A popular opinion but I find it very accurate - it was a game over for Dutch's sanity when Hosea was killed.

I have no idea why Dutch wouldn't listen to Arthur after that'd happened. Maybe because his goddamn son was doubting him in those trying times? Because he would betray him and/or hide the truth from him? (call breaking John out of jail as you wish) Maybe he knew that Arthur was simply right and couldn't bear the fact that someone was actually a better man than he was?

So many questions, so few answers. I could go on with this but it's already longer than you probably wanted it to be. Sorry XD

Ok one more thing. In those times when everyone seemed to turn away from Dutch, Micah remained by his side no matter what he did. Of course, he took advantage of lost and insane Dutch for his own benefits, just like the slimy rat he was. And this only led to even bigger catastrophies.

So much ranting damn, I hope I didn't bore you too much. Actually, it's been the first time I was asked to rant abt this game, so thank you very very much