#anyways yeah i just wanted to infodump in the tags for a split second

[faunsoda]

[shima-draws]

Please share your thoughts on Kieran/Ash

GRINDS MY TEETH OKAY ALRIGHT WE’RE DOING THIS

-Ash arrives in Kitakami and immediately butts heads with Carmine. Needless to say this leaves a strong first impression on Kieran who has never really seen someone stand up to Carmine before

-Carmine challenges Ash to a battle. Ash whoops her ass. Kieran is enthralled. Kieran proceeds to laugh to himself saying “It’s not like I lie awake thinking about him at night or anything” cut to Kieran lying in bed thinking about Ash going AW MAN

-Ash and Kieran get paired up together for the little interactive tour. Kieran is a hot mess. How do you not act like a total oddball in front of the really cool foreign trainer who was able to beat your sister in a Pokemon battle.

-Kieran’s a nervous ball of anxiety the ENTIRE time until they get to the first signboard. Then his autism kicks in and he tells Ash about Ogerpon. Ash notices how passionate Kieran seems to be about Kitakami’s history and is like whoa that’s really neat 😳

-Ash agrees with Kieran and says whoa yeah the ogre actually sounds really cool!! Aw man now I really want to meet it!

Kieran: Oh no I think I’m in love with him

-Kieran is inwardly having a mental gay breakdown and wonders what to do. How does he handle this. How can he impress Ash, who is already so impressive. Maybe a Pokemon battle? But there’s no way he could beat Ash after seeing how strong he was yesterday…

-Kieran decides to battle Ash anyway. Unsurprisingly, he loses. He’s about to go into a self-deprecating spiral when Ash comes over and is like WOW that was AWESOME!! Your Pokemon were so great, that was such a good battle!! Man battles are really really fun huh ^^

-Huh. Kieran’s never really thought about it that way before. At least with his background, battles have always been about power and proving yourself the strongest and winning. Maybe Ash is onto something? Kieran doesn’t feel the sort of disappointment he usually feels when losing a battle. He actually feels…satisfied?

-They continue on to the second signpost, and then to the Dreaded Den. Kieran infodumps about Ogerpon again. Ash listens to every word with a dreamy look on his face. Is nobody else seeing this?? Okay. Alright

-The Festival of Masks is ready to start. Kieran’s grandparents let Ash borrow an extra set of jinbei. Kieran sees Ash all dressed up and tries not to let his gay show too much. (He fails.) Kieran’s grandparents watch them awkwardly flirt with each other and do that eyebrow raise thing.

-THEY GO TO THE FESTIVAL! With Carmine tagging along. Carmine is her usual snarky self and unintentionally insults Kieran. Ash gets angry on Kieran’s behalf. Kieran manages to calm both of them down and he and Ash split from Carmine for a little while.

-Ash: I don’t like how your sister treats you >:(

Kieran: O-oh 😳

ASH CARES ABOUT HIM. He wants to cry. This is the best festival ever.

-I actually considered having Ash and Carmine being the ones to have a run-in with Ogerpon, and then Ash refusing to keep it a secret from Kieran, but. I like to think that Ash would change the narrative so much that he and Kieran would encounter Ogerpon from the get-go. This is the Good End route.

-Ash is able to start befriending Ogerpon with his Protag Powers and Kieran is stupidly impressed. And very very gay.

-Ash, freaking out: Was that the ogre?!! OH MAN

Kieran, freaking out: OH WOWZERS

Ash cares about him AND they met the ogre. This is DEFINITELY the best festival ever.

-Since Ash is bad at keeping secrets they’ll probably end up telling Carmine about Ogerpon anyway. Lmao

-The next morning the three of them find out the Real Story behind the Loyal Three and Ogerpon’s past. Carmine is furious. Ash is also furious but to a lesser degree. Kieran is just heartbroken that Ogerpon’s had to live this way for so long. And Ash is like holy CRAP Kieran was right the entire time!! Kieran you’re amazing!! How did you know Ogerpon wasn’t the bad guy?? You’re so cool Kieran 😤

Kieran: (A cute boy is complimenting me I think I’m going to explode)

-They aren’t sure what to do about changing the townspeople’s minds. Carmine says they should probably keep it a secret like her grandfather told them to. Ash refuses. Kieran also refuses. Carmine gets angry that Kieran is taking Ash’s side. Kieran actually snaps back at her and Ash is VERY proud Kieran’s standing up for himself

-They split up for the time being. Ash and Kieran decide to go tackle the last signpost. Along the way Kieran’s p dang quiet. Ash asks him what’s wrong when they get there and Kieran asks him for another battle.

-This time it’s CLOSE. And both of them get REALLY into it. Kieran realizes he’s never had this much fun battling someone before. Along this crazy adventure he’s learned so many things. And Ash has inspired him so much. Kieran’s always wanted to get stronger. But the way he’s been going about it has been all wrong.

-Kieran has an epiphany of sorts. Battling with Ash made him realize it’s not about winning or showing off. It’s about having fun!! And this whole time Kieran’s gotten stronger without even realizing it.

-Ash runs at him after the battle ends and he’s like “That was AMAZING did you see the way those moves collided?!! And when Furret dodged Pikachu’s attack like that I was like WHOA and then they were like WHAM and I was like YOOO!!” And Kieran’s gushing right along with him. The tism LEAPS out

-Ash makes Kieran develop a true passion and love for battling and he’s so thankful 🤧 Bc before he never could really grasp why he wasn’t improving at all. Focusing on strength kinda blinded him to what was really important.

-Kieran: Let’s battle again soon! I’m feeling really pumped up now, battling you and watching you strategize has given me some good ideas :’D

Ash gets the DOKI DOKIS and he’s like uh yeah okay! Definitely! (I don’t know why my heart jumped just now.) Pikachu looks at him like homie I think you’re catching SOMETHIN but it’s not a Pokemon 👀

Obviously there’s the rest of the DLC plot to finish but you can probably guess the direction it’s going in. Kieran’s obviously overcome his weird thing about strength so he doesn’t spiral and become unhinged over Ogerpon like in canon. Lol

Oh and this

-Kieran: You’re the WORLD CHAMPION???

Ash: Oh yeah did I not mention that?

Kieran: *Proceeds to have a heart attack*

Anyway I love them thanks bye