#by intentionally straying from 404's canon

[stargazeraldroth]

Hm… I’m curious- How does 404 even know Ink? Assuming he actually knows him at all, of course- Did he wanna be Ink’s rival when they were younger, only to get upstaged by Error? We’re they friends and 404 just got way, way too possessive? Does he actually think Ink is in love with him, or does he not care about that? Do Ink and Error even know he exists, or is this a case of, like, erotomania or something?

Does Didi factor into it at all- What does she think of Error and 404?

Congrats, Anon, you did it. You made me look up what erotomania is. Not like it's dramatic or anything, since I know some similar words (such as nymphomania), but still. I didn't even know this was a word. For those who don't know what that word means, it's basically just an excessive desire to smash like hell.

And you know what? Yes. Yes he does. He's also a fricking yandere, for that matter. But the erotomania isn't that important, it'd really just be like, trivia or subtext or some crap. I know I said that there would be more mature content in the Pokemon AU, such as Pokemon experimentation (*cough* Didi *cough*) and potentially even character death, but I don't know how I feel about adding any kind of NSFW content. If I do, it'd most likely be in the form of adult jokes, like the ones hidden in cartoons or something.

I actually forget what the plan for 404 was, so I'm just gonna be pulling everything out of the trenches of my memory and my ass. I think one of the ideas was that 404 was gonna be one of the students that went to the same academy as Ink, Error, and others. 404's a strong trainer in his own right, but battling also isn't his strongest passion. I'm thinking he's kinda like Colress. I'd say he and Ink at least knew each other, maybe they were classmates, but drifted apart due to different paths- Ink went on to become a Champion and 404's working as a scientist. The important thing with the Cult is that they're all pretty delusional, which should be obvious by their goal of obtaining perfection by any means (and what the frick they're doing), so 404 is very much delusional about what could be. I like to think that 404 and Error were always rivals, even when Ink wasn't in the picture, and the fact that Error married Ink just rubbed salt in the wound for 404.

Astral Mother: And then we'll kill Ink, one of our greatest opponents-

404: NOOOOOOOOOO!!!!

Astral Mother:

X-Gaster (he's also here, completely separate from normal Gaster):

404:

Astral Mother: ... Fine. You can keep him.

404: YAY :D

Didi is actually very crucial to the storyline, more than what you'd expect for a Champion's Pokemon. Didi was actually one of the Pokemon experimented on and abused by the Cult, which led to the discolored look they have. Instead of looking like a shiny Diancie, they have a brownish palette for their "skin" (is it skin or is it all just rock?), to match Broomie's own color palette. I forget if I mentioned that, but Didi's basically the Broomie of this AU, hence why she has a nickname and isn't just called "Diancie". The Cult used Didi to create hundreds if not thousands of diamonds for their larger scheme. This is where Ink comes in: in true Protagonist Fashion, he ambushed the operation and beats everyone there, freeing Didi in the process. Now, just to clear things up, the Cult wasn't present for this. It was actually a different group carrying out orders from the Cult. In other terms, the Cult is pulling the strings behind everything, and other Cults essentially get forced into cooperating with them.

As for Didi's bond with Error, there... really isn't much of one. Until it gets revealed, Error's actually one of the only people who knows about Didi being in Ink's possession. And while he can't say he's too fond of Didi, they're a good Pokemon. He just wishes they would stop trying to jump on the bed, they can't keep replacing the sheets and blankets. Well, they can, they're rich, but you know what he means.

So, to summarize: 404's a yandere and a sore loser, Didi is an experiment survivor, Didi tolerates Error, and Didi despises 404.