#scrawlers pokeverse

[sage-nebula]

Because honestly, Lea being such a hot mess (design-wise), is what allowed me to start off my Gen V novelization like this:

Sixteen-year-old Cheren Alabaster stood in the doorway of what he was pretty sure was the messiest room in Unova, if not the entire world.

It looked like the bedroom of a frat boy, or perhaps a tornado based pokèmon. To start with, there were clothes everywhere. The largest pile was in the corner, overflowing from a wicker hamper that was sitting by the window, spilling down onto the hardwood floor. Mismatched socks hung from random surfaces: the top of the lamp, down from the ceiling fan blades, from the edge of a mini orange basketball hoop stationed above a small wire trash can by the desk. The desk itself---pressed up against the wall between the bed and the wicker hamper---was covered in random papers (from old, half-completed homework assignments to poorly marked essays), and a laptop bearing a Steel Samurai/Jammin' Ninja wallpaper was sitting dead center the abandoned homework zone. The low-rise bed wasn't made, its covers halfway pooled onto the floor, and a myriad of soda cans dotted the room: sitting on the bedside table, on what space there was on the desk, and on the television stand set up along the right wall. Said television stand had various game consoles plugged into it, and there was a bookshelf beside that, lined with an extensive collection of comic books (the only organized things in the room) and collectible figures. The back wall, meanwhile, sported a dresser, which housed a large stereo and several half-open drawers with clothes spilling out, and mounted on the wall next to the dresser was a full length mirror with a spider crack in it, random stickers plastered all over the glass. Any wall space that wasn't covered by furniture, meanwhile, was covered by posters, either for various bands (Dragonite Force, Iced Ground, Rhapsody of Fire Types, et cetera), or various video games and superhero movies (Assassin's Deed: Sisterhood, The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask, Zubatman: The Dark Knight). The room vaguely smelled of nacho cheese, and after a moment, Cheren spotted why: A plate of nachos was sitting on top of the dresser, balancing precariously on the edge.

And amongst the chaos, chewing gum and tying her long, dark brown hair into a high ponytail to tug through her baseball cap, was the owner of the supposed bedroom (more like disaster area): Whitlea “Lea” Fiona Fair.

“Oh, hey, Cheren!” Lea said, grinning brightly. Cheren raised one hand in greeting, and was about to verbalize said greeting, when she spoke again. “You're early!” 

Cheren frowned. “I'm actually a couple minutes late, which means that you should have had enough time to clean this place up.” He adjusted his glasses, his eyes sweeping the room. “Please tell me all of those soda cans are empty, and that those nachos are from today. Honestly, Lea, I don't see how your room isn't overrun with bug pokèmon.” 

Lea rolled her eyes. “Oh, c'mon, it's not that bad. Most of the soda cans are empty, I think, and the nachos are from today. Don't be so prickly.” 

Cheren rolled his eyes in turn, and stepped around the fallen clothes to try and make his way over to the bed. For a moment, it appeared as though he was going to sit, but seemed to think better of it after a moment and refrained.

“I'd rather be prickly than incorrigible.”

“I don't even know what that means,” Lea said, folding her arms across her chest as she stared at him, “but I'm going to take it to mean that you're a jerk.”

“That's fine by me.”

And I wouldn’t have her any other way.

[sage-nebula]

How do you think Alan and Sycamore spent their first Halloween (or whatever the pokemon equivalent would be) together?

Hmm, well, that first requires figuring out what the PokéWorld equivalent of Halloween is—and in this case, the Kalosean equivalent specifically.

I have a very strong fondness for Halloween (as in, it’s the only holiday I actually enjoy), so I like to think that all regions celebrate it in some form or another. However, the regions are all pretty culturally distinct from one another; even in the case of Kanto and Johto and their joint League due to their history (i.e. Johto as we know it is still a pretty young region that only recently gained sovereignty in the grand scheme of things), culturally Kanto and Johto still have many distinctions between them, which is a huge part of what drove Johto to fight for its own autonomy to begin with. Therefore, while there may be some holidays that regions around the world share (such as how many countries in our world celebrate Christmas in its commercialized form), I feel that not only would there be many holidays that would differ or would be region specific, but that even if there are some holidays that are shared, the lore behind them might shift and change even if the traditions practiced during the holidays remain the same.

So with that said, as far as Kalos’ version of Halloween goes …

In Kalos, the holiday is more than likely called La Veille de la Cercle. According to Google Translate (and apologies to any native speakers if both Google Translate and I horribly bungled this), this translates to “The Eve of the Hoop / Circle / Ring”. In this case, the hoop / circle / ring referred to in the name is one of Hoopa’s rings, and the lore behind the holiday is …

Tales and legends throughout Kalos’ history speak of Hoopa, a legendary pokémon that spread mischief and mayhem wherever it went. Stories about Hoopa vary greatly; in some tales Hoopa is merely mischievous, if it a bit greedy, and doesn’t harm those which it transports through its massive rings. In others, Hoopa is more malicious, actively transporting people and pokémon and who knows what else through its rings to Hell dimensions, where they’re never heard from again. Over time, these stories began to be split between Hoopa’s Bound form and its Unbound form, but regardless, Hoopa is still a legendary pokémon that, in all stories, is better avoided than crossed. Even if Hoopa doesn’t transport you right then, if it takes a liking to you, it could transport you later, the stories say. It’s better to safe than sorry.

With that said, many, many, many years ago (like, potentially thousands of years ago), there spawned a belief that while Hoopa was wild and unpredictable for most of the year, there was a brief spell near the end of the autumn that Hoopa would be more active. The reason, ancient Kaloseans believed, had to do with the changing seasons; in winter the land becomes sparse and barren, and people retreat indoors in order to keep warm and outlast the frigid months. Many people and pokémon are affected by the barren state of the world when winter came calling, but for Hoopa—a pokémon known for its selfish hoarding tendencies—those months are unbearable. Therefore, it was reasoned, Hoopa would make a last ditch effort to stockpile a collection in its dimensional world to last it through the winter months. For a period near the end of autumn and beginning of winter, Hoopa would snatch up any vulnerable people and pokémon and transport them through its rings, never to be seen again. Therefore, it was imperative that everyone take necessary precautions in order to ensure that they would not be one of Hoopa’s victims.

Now, in the past, there were numerous traditions practiced that have fallen by the wayside in modern times. In ancient times, for instance, it wasn’t unheard of for sacrifices to be made to Hoopa, with the thought being that if a town or village offered up someone for Hoopa to take, then Hoopa would leave the rest of them alone for another year. These sacrifices were usually tied up out in the woods nearby (or out in the plains nearby, whichever), and while they were never heard from again, it’s highly unlikely Hoopa actually took them. More like, pokémon who were offered up as sacrifices probably freed themselves and fled, and humans either did the same, or were, uh … attacked and possibly eaten by wild pokémon. So they were probably still sacrificed, in a sense, but it just … didn’t do anything to actually appease Hoopa. Oops.

Sacrifices in ancient Kalosean history aside, it’s also possible that other offerings were made. Food, candy, shiny trinkets … Hoopa is a selfish hoarder, after all. Living sacrifices weren’t necessarily necessary. Some Kaloseans made very intricate, detailed dolls (both human and pokémon) to offer up to Hoopa, thinking that Hoopa could be contented by cuddling with nice dolls and plushies instead.

There were decorations strewn up and about as well, both around individual homes and in settlements. Certain flowers could be woven together in wreathes shaped like protective crests or sigils to be hung on doors. Special incense was continuously burned around the clock in homes in order to ward off Hoopa, as well as thrown into communal bonfires. And those are just the decorations for the scenery; it also became tradition to dress up in special clothes every year, in order to protect oneself (and one’s children and pokémon) from Hoopa’s capture as well. Many years ago, special cloaks with protective crests sewn into them were worn. Over time, particularly since those special cloaks weren’t always available to everyone, this shifted to less “you need cloaks made of this certain (and expensive) material with this specific crest on them” and became more “you need to disguise yourself so that Hoopa does not recognize you / will be repelled by your appearance and not want to take you.” Therefore, frightening and ghastly costumes were woven into the tradition and became popularized, although as the years went on the requirement for the costumes to be scary waned (at least with some, because there are people who do still prefer frightening and spooky costumes).

Now, as mentioned, years and years and years ago, La Veille de la Cercle spanned several days. As time went on, however, the reported range of Hoopa’s activities dwindled down to a single night. There are some parts of history and lore that try to explain this, but what it really boils down to is the fact that as society modernized, responsibilities to professional positions grew, and as such practicing La Veille de la Cercle for multiple nights in a row became too time-consuming and inconvenient to maintain. Regardless, it is still practiced for one night per year in Kalos (October 31st), and it’s still quite a lot of fun. In the modern era, traditions include:

Dressing up in costume, which is an activity for adults and children

Trick-or-treating, but with a bit of a twist from how we know it. In Kalos, the lore shifted over time so that children (and adolescent chaperones) would go door to door in order to trick or treat. The objective, however, was not to gain candy for themselves, but rather to gain candy as offerings for Hoopa, so that the people and pokémon of the household would not be transported by Hoopa’s rings in the dead of night. Furthermore, it’s not that the trick-or-treaters say “trick or treat!” and then get one or the other. Rather, while costumed, the trick-or-treaters must try to trick the person who opens the door into giving them the candy. If successful, they get the candy and move on to the next house. If not, they are “banished” and must gathering their offerings elsewhere. (Note that in the modern day, most adults pretend the children successfully tricked them even if they didn’t, because come on, they’re kids. Also, obviously Hoopa doesn’t take the candy, so the kids always get to keep it and most know that this is how it’s going to go, but again, it’s part of the fun of the holiday.)

Some villages / towns / cities still have communal bonfires on the night of. Many also still put up decorations throughout the month of October in preparation of the night of.

Costume parties! Themed baked goods! Special deals on grooming and the like for certain species of pokémon (such as pumpkaboo)! Things like that.

So with all of that figured out, as for how Augustine and Alan would celebrate their very first one together …

Well, first things first: Augustine would have only had Alan for about a month at this point. Genesis takes place at the very end of September, about five days after Augustine’s 25th birthday, meaning that Alan and Augustine would have literally known each other for a month and a day by the time La Veille de la Cercle rolls around. Augustine would be pretty excited; he was never one who cared overmuch for holidays, but he always still appreciated La Veille de la Cercle a little more than others because of a few factors (namely the fact that pokémon such as pumpkaboo were more prone to wandering into cities so they could be pampered, and because of all the discount candy and La Veille de la Cercle pastries the day after). Additionally, he would feel that it’s important to teach Alan about various holidays and traditions, and as such, unofficially adopting Alan ends up making Augustine pay more attention to holiday traditions as well. It gets him more into the holiday spirit, because he wants to make sure Alan has that kind of childhood.

Alan, however … wouldn’t be excited. Unlike Festival de la Vie, where it was a thing he knew happened but he never really participated in, La Veille de la Cercle was always unpleasant for him back in Isolé Village. It is, after all, a holiday themed around spooky things, and mischief, and potential misfortune; creatures, or things, or people that are seen as ill omens or tokens of bad luck are often mistreated at that time of year. (So like, pumpkaboo may love La Veille de la Cercle, but absol often receive the short end of the stick from crueller Kaloseans during this time of year, because they’re seen as omens of disaster and misfortune.) For the first four years of his life (because remember, by the time the fifth one comes around, he’s out of that village), this was Alan’s experience. No one there liked him anyway, but the basis for a lot of the dislike was that he was seen as a nuisance and burden at best. In the eyes of some (like Maurice), he was even speculated to be a changeling that they were burdened or cursed with. These rumors and speculations always tended to increase around the time of La Veille de la Cercle, both when it came to the adults who were already prone to believing it, as well as when it came to the other village children who already liked to bully him throughout the rest of the year, but ramped it up around La Veille de la Cercle time because they were more in the mood for it. So for Alan, La Veille de la Cercle last year was the night when Maurice “accidentally” locked him out of the house for the night, and then Alan overheard him talking to his wife the next morning after claiming it as an accident, saying, “too bad; I was hoping Hoopa might take him back to wherever he came from.” For Alan, La Veille de la Cercle was the time of year when the village kids (some around his age, but some older) would always tie him up somewhere as a sacrifice like in the old stories, usually multiple times throughout October. (He’s pretty good at getting out of being tied up by now, especially if what’s being used to tie him is a jump rope or otherwise old rope.) It’s not a time of candy or dressing up in fun costumes; it’s just a time when everything gets worse, and he honestly wishes that maybe Hoopa would come get him because, hey, maybe living with Hoopa would be more fun than living here.

Obviously his situation changes once Augustine takes him in, but even so, he has 0% excitement as the days creep closer to La Veille de la Cercle, even as Augustine tries to get him excited about the pumpkaboo flying through Lumiose, or the themed pastries, or decorations, or anything else. And Augustine can’t really understand it. All kids love La Veille de la Cercle! It’s a fun holiday with traditions just for kids built in! What’s not to love? He tries asking Alan various questions about it (e.g. “Do you not like orange? Do you not like pumpkin flavored things?”), but Alan (as could be expected) is cagey and doesn’t want to say. What if he says, and the Professor thinks he’s just being a baby? What if he says, and the Professor agrees that, yeah, he probably was a changeling brought in by Hoopa in the first place? The Professor is so nice, so Alan doesn’t think he’d say things like that, but … well, Alan doesn’t want to create an opportunity.

Nonetheless, Augustine is determined to make this all very fun for Alan, especially when it comes to trick-or-treating. He spends the entire month of October planning out costumes (at one point he pitched the idea of a Kangaskhan costume for himself, and a baby Kangaskhan costume for Alan, but Fulbert shut that down before Augustine even finished his sentence like, “First, that’s so disgustingly saccharine I might throw up, and second, you’re not his dad, we’re still looking for his birth parents, be careful about screwing with his head like that” so, that ended). Eventually he settles on werewolf costumes for the both of them, with his werewolf costume being based on lycanroc, and Alan’s based on rockruff (and though Fulbert opens his mouth to object, Augustine cuts him off with, “This isn’t specifically a parent and child cosplay, so it won’t send any mixed messages, so you don’t have any right to complain”). Augustine’s on something of a budget, so there aren’t any masks or anything; it’s mostly just wolf ears, claws, tails, et cetera. You know, that sort of thing. Werewolf. (And still very cute, no doubt. You know how Augustine is about wanting to get Alan the cutest everything. Cutest damn little werewolf pup you ever did see.)

Anyway, Alan’s still not super enthused, though he is a bit surprised when Augustine presents him with a costume and says they’re going trick-or-treating. Alan hasn’t expressed knowledge of how trick-or-treating works (and really, he only has a vague idea—it’s not something he’s ever done before), so Augustine explains it before he takes him out …

… and yet, when they get to the first house, instead of trying to trick the person who opens the door, Alan just … holds out his pillowcase and sort of half-mumbles something about needing candy. It makes the situation a bit awkward, and Augustine laughs and explains that Alan is shy, and the person at the door takes pity and gives him candy anyway, and then they’re allowed to move on.

But before they go to the next house, Augustine pulls Alan aside and asks him, “Hey, are you all right? I’m sorry, it slipped my mind that you might not be comfortable talking to strangers just yet …”

And Alan shrugs, because that’s only part of the issue, but then he mumbles, “It’s mean.”

Augustine blinks. “Pardon?”

“Tricking people is mean.” Alan isn’t looking at Augustine; he’s looking at the ground instead. “Tricking people makes them feel bad. And you have to lie to trick people, and lying is bad, too. I don’t want to upset anyone, and I don’t want to do anything bad.”

“Oh …” Augustine smiles faintly. “Well, yes, what you said is usually true. Usually lying is bad, and sometimes tricking others can be mean. However, there are always exceptions to the rule. There are some tricks that are harmless, and sometimes little white lies are okay.”

Alan looks at him askance. “What do you mean?”

“Well …” Augustine taps his finger against his chin. “Sometimes my mother likes to experiment with new recipes, and sometimes they don’t always turn out the greatest. However, I usually tell her that they taste all right, but could use mild improvement, to spare her feelings. Or sometimes I tell Fulbert that he is as young and spritely as ever, even though you and I both know he is a grumpy old man, to make him feel better about himself. It’s a lie, but it’s a lie to spare his feelings, so it’s all right.”

“Oh.” Alan blinks. “So … you can lie to help people?”

“Sometimes, depending on the situation,” Augustine says. “And in this case, tricking people as we go from house to house is all right, because they’re expecting it. They want to be tricked. It’s a … it’s a game we’re playing with them.”

“Really?”

“Really.” Augustine smiles, and puts his hands on Alan’s shoulders. “So, do you want to keep going? You don’t have to talk if you don’t want to. You could trick them by … jumping out from behind me, perhaps?”

Alan considers this for a moment, before he suggests, “If they want to be tricked, and they’re expecting to be tricked, won’t it be a bigger trick to just ask them for the candy?”

Augustine stares at him a moment, caught off guard, but then starts laughing. “I suppose,” he says, “that being faced with a polite young werewolf would be a bit unexpected. All right, Alan; let’s see if this works.”

[sage-nebula]

oohhh, pokemon games or your personal pokeverse for the meme?

OOOOH, this is going to be really hard, since there are so many characters that I’m sure I’m going to forget some, but I will try! Also, these two things are kind of one in the same for me, because I adapt the games to my personal ‘verse as they come out. So like, for me, even if they’re technically not, the Red and Green we see in the Gen VII games would be, in my ‘verse, my versions of Red and Green. (And Leaf is also there, but she was drawn to the Aether Foundation because she was curious about Ultra Beasts . . . oh Leaf, what did you get yourself into?)

But hmmm, okay, let’s see---

Zinnia --- MY GIRL, MY LOVE, THE LEGEND, THE LOREKEEPER. BEST CHARACTER IN THE GAMES HANDS DOWN, 500/10, BEAUTIFUL, FANTASTIC, ASTOUNDING, A++++, WHY DOES NINTENDO KEEP TREATING HER LIKE DIRT, I’LL NEVER UNDERSTAND.Okay, now that that’s out of the way, I love Zinnia. Okay? I really love Zinnia a lot. She’s hands down easily my favorite character across the games, period, and I am beyond salty that Pokémon Generations denied her an episode. Like, honestly, my salt for this exceeds even my salt that they used Blair instead of Lea in the B2W2 shot, and that’s saying something. (Even if it just barely surpasses it. Just barely.) I love everything about Zinnia. I love that she has the best Trainer Class in all of the games (LOREKEEPER, how cool is that?!). I love that she comes from what is heavily implied to be an aboriginal race of people in the Hoenn region, that this is just a part of her character but does not define her (and that this is even lampshaded, with this exchange:STEVEN: “You’re the---!”ZINNIA: “The Draconid, yup. But you can just call me Zinnia.”This is after she has introduced herself, so Steven really has no excuse---and Zinnia calls him on it in a way that feels completely natural and flows with the script. Love it. I love her sass, and her snark. I love her determination. I love that she knows she has to sacrifice herself and she tries to look for another way, suggests that the others come up with another way, but when she sees that there isn’t she does what must be done anyway because she knows she has to. And I relate to her, too, in her grief over Aster; Shiloh died shortly after the ORAS games came out (they released in November of 2014, and Shiloh died in my arms on 9 January 2015), and so I was playing the Delta Episode right around that same time. Zinnia’s speech about the original Aster hit me hard, becuase that is exactly how I felt about Shiloh, right down to:“We were always together, in good times and in bad. I loved her . . . I loved her with everything I had, but . . . I still lost her.”Word for word, that’s how I felt about Shiloh. Her grief, her desire to do anything to see Aster again---I empathize, oh so deeply.I love Zinnia. I love everything about Zinnia. Fandom hates her, but of course they do, fandom always hates my faves. But I love her. I just wish Nintendo could show her the same amount of love. //salty4life

Leaf Tyler --- I am always, always, always going to have a soft spot for Leaf, the girl who I honest to goodness wish had been in the original Kanto games (and she was originally going to be, but it was either a time issue or a cartridge space issue or both that kept her out), the girl that I know eight-year-old me would have latched onto with a grip so tight you’d think she had rigor mortis on top of being frozen solid. I’ve of course fleshed her out far beyond anything Game Freak has done, but I love every bit of this girl that I’ve created.She’s whip-smart, she’s incredibly determined, she’s headstrong when it comes to what she wants and what she chases after. She doesn’t let the criticisms or condemnations of anyone get her down (and boy have there been a lot of those given her insistent belief in legendaries that the rest of Kanto---or at least her home town of Pallet---scoffs at). She’s incredibly passionate about what she loves and nothing, not even eldritch abominations or legendaries that can and will kill her, will frighten her away from her goal. She is a myth hunter who is determined to be a lorekeeper in her own right (even if not in the same way Zinnia is), and she chronicles everything she knows in extensive journals. Professor Oak probably suggests at one point that she try her hand at being a professor herself in an effort to get her to settle down, but nah. Nah. There are ruins to be spelunked, there are eldritch abominations to chase. She’s not stopping for anything.Professor Oak just sighs.

Whitlea “Lea” Fiona Fair --- How could I not mention my girl Lea? Lea, like Leaf, is rather headstrong and determined---but she’s always determined about all the wrong things (well, usually). This is a girl who sees life as a giant adventure and, if it isn’t, then she will make it one. She hates sitting still. She eats nachos for breakfast. She legitimately traded her Pokédex for a special Zelda edition DS Lite because she wanted to play Spirit Tracks, and she has forbidden Bianca from telling Cheren because Cheren will tell Professor Juniper and then Lea will get in trouble. She’s being followed around by a Victini she calls Thing because Thing imprinted on her, thinking she’s its mom, because she accidentally woke it up in Liberty Tower. She has dubbed N “Captain Unova” because he never understands any references. The only books she reads are comic books, she loves sports and games, won’t tolerate it at all if you fuck with her friends and, as of the latest chapter, is feeling seriously conflicted over this whole “pokémon liberation” dealio.Basically, Lea is a helluva lot of fun to write and, since I know all of Reversi even if I haven’t written it, I know all about her character development and think it’s great. I love Lea. I’ll always love Lea. And I still think she has the best design out of any of the female protags, hands down.

Mortimer “Morty” Matsuba --- I’m never going to ever stop loving Morty. Morty is a character I always loved due to his design, but I really fleshed out his character when writing liveblog drabbles of SoulSIlver back in the day, and I absolutely love him for being the deadpan snarker straight man to Eusine’s . . . Eusine. But even as he is a deadpan snarker who legitimately believes Eusine will get himself arrested one day, he still loves Eusine with all his heart and will always bail him out of whatever trouble (or prison) he gets himself into. (He would just rather Eusine not get himself into that trouble / prison in the first place.)

Eusine Minaki --- And of course I can’t mention Morty without mentioning Eusine. Again, I fleshed Eusine out a lot, and bouncing him off Morty was so easy, their banter came so naturally. So much of it was childish bickering despite the two of them being adults, but that’s what happens when you’re childhood best friends. As energetic and ridiculous as Eusine can be at times, however, he has a serious side to him as well that I like, and I took Lyra stealing his dream from him a lot more seriously than the game did. I like to think my version was better, even if it would definitely need a re-write now.

Gladion --- Gladion was a character I knew was going to be a fave from the moment I saw him, and while I still think that his development was rushed and poorly written in-game (and while my version of Gladion is far more temperamental, heh), I still adore him and his incredible theme music oh so much. The way Gladion reacted to the abuse Lusamine doled out on him is very similar to how I’ve reacted to the abuse I’ve gone through in my life, and so I find Gladion to be a pretty relatable character---including and especially when it comes to his scathing sarcasm, because damn. I can in fact be that way at times if someone aggravates me. There have been times when I’ve taken no hostages, I can freely admit that.

N Harmonia --- I love so much about N. He’s such a complex character, and perhaps one of the most complex characters Game Freak has written into their games---which is why it makes me sad that fandom tends to focus on only one or two of his traits and ignore all the rest. N is many things; he’s an older teenager / young adult who was abused and sheltered for pretty much his entire life, but he’s also an older teenager / young adult who was raised to believe that he is a King and a Chosen One and acts accordingly. N is one of those characters that is very difficult to write correctly, but I think he’s brilliant all the same. I love him. (And the fact that he is just as headstrong, blunt, and passionate as Lea makes them delightful to bounce off one another, let me tell you.)

Brendan James Anderson --- Brendan, son of Petalburg City’s Gym Leader Norman, is as surly and salty as they come, and I love him for it. He’s absolutely that moody teenager who is salty about anything and everything, and while some of his woes are understandable (e.g. he didn’t want to move to Hoenn, he’s salty at his dad for separating from his mom over work, et cetera), the truth is that he will complain endlessly about stupid things as well, and he damn well knows it. He likes writing poetry and reading, which is why he named his mudkip Moby Dick . . . aaand his mudkip appreciates this about as much as you would expect, so. Brendan complains about their vitriolic best buds relationship frequently (especially as Moby, once a swampert, routinely bucks him off mid-Surf and sends him careening into the ocean). I love writing Brendan because, personally, I find the fact that he is perhaps even saltier than the oceans that surround Hoenn to be hilarious. His complaining isn’t whining so much as it is just bitching, and sometimes you just need a salty af protagonist to get you through. (Also, it makes for a nice contrast with his cheerful neighbor, May Birch.)

Iris de Nadder --- A DRAGON PRINCESS, I love Iris, I love her so much, and I wish we got to see more of her in the original Black / White games, though I do love what we do get to see. I love how she protects Bianca after the incident in Castelia City, and though I definitely upped that scene in Reversi (wherein she flat out kicks the shit out of the Plasma grunts assaulting Bianca, mocks them for getting their asses kicked by a twelve-year-old girl, and sends them packing), I do still love what we see originally. I see Iris as being unwilling to take anyone’s shit, but also generally being upbeat and friendly, because honestly, a human’s life is too short to spend being prickly and unpleasant. Dragons? They live ages. But humans? Practically babies from birth to death in a dragon’s eyes. Iris only has a human lifespan, so she’s gonna live it to the fullest and encourage others to do the same. She’ll encourage others to be their best selves while being her best self, and I think that’s awesome.

Karen Noir --- Finally, the last spot will probably have to go to Karen of Johto’s Elite Four. Not only does she spout the truest words in any Pokémon game (that you should battle with the pokémon you like), but I love how I fleshed her out with regards to her relationships with Morty and Eusine. (Basically, she was Morty’s rival in childhood, but Eusine felt that Karen was stealing his BFF, so he and Karen actually have a rivalry in which Karen mostly just makes fun of him and Eusine gets angry, and meanwhile Morty just honestly doesn’t want to know what’s going on, he just wants the yelling to stop.) Plus, I mean, she’s a total badass and has a houndoom named Lilith that can and will fuck everyone up, so. I love her.

This is super long but I always have a lot of Pokémon feelings, so. It’s to be expected, I suppose!!

[sage-nebula]

Blair coalsen please !

B --- Do they have any allergies?

Nothing too abnormal. Pollen is somewhat bothersome for him in spring, but that’s about it.

L --- What is their favourite board game?

Sorry! It’s perfect for a passive-aggressive little shit like him. (I mean, I love Blair, but let’s be honest: He’s far from aggressive, and he has to work hard to learn to be assertive. Passive-aggression is much more his style before his character development.)

A --- What are/were this character’s best subjects in school?

Most of Blair’s studies were focused on his courses to obtain his Trainer License, but in terms of typical academics he excelled at literature courses. Everything else he was mostly average at, with a bit of struggle when it came to math and science, but he loves reading and can write a mean paper if he enjoyed the book he read. (Even if he didn’t enjoy the book, he can write a pretty decent paper. He’s just less enthusiastic about it.)

I ---On a scale of 1 to 10, how much do they love themselves?

At the start of Reversi, it’s about a 3. It’s a 4 on a good day. By the end of it (mild spoilers, I suppose!) he’s up to about a 7. By the time book two rolls around (which takes place after the time skip Game Freak gave us), he usually coasts around 8 (and 9 on a good day).

R ---What are their hands like?

Average-sized fingers, and they tend to be pretty soft, since Blair always stayed away from things that would rough them up and give him callouses (i.e. he hates sports, didn’t really climb trees, et cetera). He keeps his nails short, but not on purpose; he had a bad habit of biting them when he was younger, and though he has gotten a bit better about it through concentrated effort, it still happens sometimes. 

C ---Can they swim well?

He’s okay! He knows how to swim, at least, mostly because he had to learn when he was five and Jet chucked him into a pool without warning. It was sort of sink or swim, do or die (though he probably wouldn’t have died---there was a lifeguard there---but tell that to a panicking five-year-old). Learning to swim was kind of a necessity for survival given who his brother is. So he can swim all right, but since he picked oshawott as his starter, he has Saphir carry him across the water more often than not nowadays. Samurott are rather good at that. ;)

O ---What would it take to break them, inside and out?

Blair tends to be a pessimistic person by nature; he’s sensitive, has been timid for most of his life, and his inability to stand up for himself or effect change has led to it being easier to make him give up than it would others (say, Lea). For this reason, to completely break Blair and make him completely give up, all that would really have to be done is to show him that there really is no hope of victory, no hope of turning things around . . . and to do that, you would need to kill Lea, Cheren, and Bianca. It’s not enough to just imprison them somewhere, especially because Blair believes that no prison would ever be strong enough to hold Lea Fair. You actually have to kill them and make sure he knows they’re dead. It was meeting them that taught him to be more optimistic, that inspired him with courage, that made him realize that people could make a difference, that even he could if he tried. Yes, it’s Bianca that he’s closest to, but Lea and Cheren inspired him as well. He genuinely feels like the three of them can do anything, and that he, too, can accomplish things in the light their blazing trail leaves behind. So if you take them out of the equation? Then in terms of a crisis situation, you’ve taken his hope, too. Maybe he’s still living, but there’s no fight left in him anymore. He doesn’t see a point to it. If they couldn’t do it, he definitely can’t. He’d fall back to how he was before, and it would be one hell of a time trying to get him to muster up the strength to fight on. As far as he’s concerned, if the three of them die, then it’s Game Over.

A --- What are/were this character’s best subjects in school?

Answered!

L --- What is their favourite board game?

Answered!

S ---How stealthy are they?

Quite, actually, but not purposefully! Blair is just very quiet by nature and is the type of person that sneaks up on people, startles them, and then feels bad about it. He doesn’t mean to be stealthy; he’s just such a wallflower that it’s very easy to not notice him.

E ---How are they with children?

Not . . . great. It’s not that he has anything against kids, per se, but it’s more that his personality tends to let kids run roughshod over him, and kids can, at times, be little monsters. Whether intentionally or otherwise, sometimes kids can be cruel, and if you’ve ever wondered if it’s possible for a sixteen-year-old to be bullied by a ten-year-old, let me tell you: It’s possible. Even after he gains some assertiveness and some will to stand up for himself, it’s hard for him to “stand up to” kids because they’re, well, kids, and so they tend to walk all over him whether or not he thinks that giving into them is a good idea. And because of this, Blair’s opinion of children doesn’t tend to be very high. Like, he doesn’t hate them, but they’re not his favorite. He’d much rather play with pokémon.

N ---What do they usually eat for breakfast?

Cereal if he’s at a place where he can have cereal (such as at home, or at a Pokémon Center or something), but fruit of some kind if he’s on the road.

[sage-nebula]

Whoops! So sorry about that! "Please I just...... really need space right now." For Blair and Bianca please

((No problem! This takes place, oh … probably about five years after Reversi, so Blair and Bianca are ~21 here.))

- - -

What had happened was not her fault. In fact, she had very little—if anything—to do with it, particularly given how quickly everything had escalated. Bianca knew this, and yet she still couldn’t help but feel guilty for the state of mortified silence Blair was in the entire train ride home.

The banquet that evening hadn’t been in Blair’s honor, per se, but it had been held to celebrate the premier of his newest film. Finally a leading man instead of a side character shuffled off in the background, many of Unova’s finest had clamored for the chance to speak with him, and it felt like the cameras hadn’t stopped flashing all night. This, Bianca knew, was enough in and of itself to stress him out. Though he had no problem pretending to be someone else in front of the camera, the moment he was expected to be himself his crippling shyness came back in full force. Well, “crippling”—he had gotten a lot better about it over the years, had gained some confidence, and Bianca was more than a little proud of him. He had done really well, and for the first half of the evening he had handled himself and the situation with grace. He had even made a few of the reporters laugh, and not unkindly at that. Bianca had seen him smile at their laughter. It had made her smile herself around the rim of her wine glass.

But then Jet had arrived.

The premier banquet was one in which an actor could invite his or her family, and while Bianca was the only guest Blair had intentionally brought, he had told his parents—his mother, mainly—about the event as well. They were unable to make it, but Blair’s older brother, Jet, was.  Despite his travels taking him all over the world, Jet had found time to return to Nimbasa City and attend the premier banquet. He had sought Blair out through the crowd of paparazzi and other cast and crew members, had slung his arm around Blair’s shoulders (interrupting Blair mid-sentence as he did so), and had proceeded to have a blast telling each and every reporter details about Blair’s entire life history.

“It was no surprise to any of us back home what career path my baby brother would take,” he crowed, gesturing widely with one hand as he smiled broadly into the camera. “He was always dressing up as a—our mom used to put him in all kinds of costumes, wanna see? I brought pictures.” 

Blair had tried to stop him—had said, “Jet, no—!” as he fumbled for Jet’s cell phone—but it was too late. The damage was done. Some of the interviews were live, others were hastily being recorded on notepads, and while Jet did lose possession of his cell phone, it was only so a tabloid reporter could e-mail the photos to herself. Bianca didn’t think the disaster would be that bad; the photos weren’t inappropriate, and it wasn’t likely to ruin Blair’s career before it had a chance to get off the ground. But it was still embarrassing, it was something people would be talking about for a long time to come, and she knew as well as Blair did that he was going to face at least an uncomfortable year of each and every reporter he spoke with asking about the photos and his childhood, two things Bianca knew Blair absolutely did not want to discuss with anyone, not even her.

After the damage was done, Blair had more or less fallen silent, mumbling responses whenever one of the reporters asked him about his brother’s stories before he finally mumbled an excuse and left. Jet had stayed; Bianca had thought that perhaps she should stay as well, or that perhaps she should have had Munny put Jet to sleep so he couldn’t talk anymore, but ultimately she had decided to follow Blair instead. He needed her more. (She did wish, though, that they had invited Lea. Lea was very good at handling people like Jet. Cheren might have called a full-body tackle inappropriate, but that would have been after the fact, because Lea would have tackled Jet before anyone had a chance to scold her for anything.)

But Blair was silent on the ride home, and while Bianca tried to say a few comforting words (“He didn’t have that many pictures, I don’t think—” “Everyone will forget about it soon enough—” “You were really cool in the movie, I think everyone will be too busy focusing on that to worry about some silly pictures—”), he didn’t respond to any of them. He was silent, too, on the short walk from the train station to their apartment, and when they got home he grabbed his DS from the end table by the couch, went into the guest room that doubled as a home office, and shut the door.

He didn’t turn on the light.

Bianca waited for a minute or two, worrying her bottom lip between her teeth, before she finally went to the door. She knocked gently, twice. “Blair?” she called, but still there was no light from beneath the door, nor any sound. “Blair, honey? Are you all right?”

There was still no response. Nothing but silence and darkness, and Bianca—well, she couldn’t let him sit alone in the dark.

The door was unlocked, thankfully, and so she slowly opened it. The light from the hall cast across the floor and the guest bed, but Blair was nowhere in sight. Bianca slipped into the room, looked behind the door and under the bed—and finally, when she turned back toward the hall, she spotted him crouched beneath the desk, his DS in hand but not open, his forehead on his knees.

“Blair?” she said, and she crouched down by the desk. Curled up as he was, his tuxedo was going to get all wrinkled—but that, Bianca supposed, was probably the least of his worries. She reached out and gently touched his arm. “Are you—?”

“Please,” he said, and his voice was muffled, but she could hear it shaking. “I just … really need space right now.”

Bianca withdrew her hand, her lips still pressed tightly together before she took a deep breath. “Okay,” she said. “Then I’ll be … right on the other side of the door if you need me, all right? Just right outside. Is it okay if I leave the door open?”

Blair jerked a little in a gesture that could have been either a nod or a shrug. 

Bianca stood, knowing it was better not to press, and exited the room, only to sit right on the other side of the wall as she had promised. Seated as she was, with her knees drawn up to her chest, the evening gown she had worn to the banquet would get wrinkled, too. But, with Blair as humiliated and hurt as he was, she figured that was probably the least of her worries.

[sage-nebula]

iris from pokemon

Gameverse, for reference.

First impression

Cool girl, I love how she’s swooping in to save Bianca like some kind of superheroine (though I wish she could actually save Bianca, rather than leaving the bulk of things up to the player, but still).

Impression now

I love her!

Favorite moment

Hm, probably when she was revealed to be Champion of Unova. She definitely worked her way up to it, and I was so proud of her.

Idea for a story

Well, in my novelizations, she actually trains Bianca in self-defense after the incident in Castelia City (and that incident is changed as well, to make things more personal / dire for Bianca, to explain why she actually needs rescuing). It’s all well and good to have pokémon, but sometimes your enemies don’t play fair in pokémon battles, and you need to be able to defend yourself, too. So she trains Bianca in self-defense, and the two of them become closer through that.

Unpopular opinion

I’m not familiar enough with opinions on Iris to know what opinions regarding her are or aren’t popular, sorry.

Favorite relationship

With Bianca!

Favorite headcanon

She’s descended from nobility (hence why I have her surname as de Nadder; “Nadder” comes from “deadly nadder,” a species of dragon in Dreamworks Dragons, but “de” is a nobiliary particle, used to denote nobility in a family), and so her princess get-up as Champion isn’t just a get-up—she actually is of royal (or at least noble) blood. Despite this, she’s still very down to earth and doesn’t consider herself better than anyone, or anything like that. The opposite, really; she’s actually a very strong advocate for equal rights throughout her time as Champion, and even after.

[sage-nebula]

I was wondering how well do you think you are version of leaf and Cynthia would get along?

Well, Leaf idolizes Cynthia. Not for her Champion title—Leaf honestly, legitimately does not care about titles of that nature, never once wanted the title for herself, and firmly believes that giving someone respect just because they’re the Champion or a member of the Elite Four or whatever is nonsense (and as such, she treats Red just the same way she always treated him, never wavering on that for a second)—but rather for her work in studying the myths and legends of Sinnoh. Leaf has read all of Cynthia’s works on the matter, from the smaller articles in academic journals to the actual books she has published. Of course, Leaf is the type of person to not just read, and instead investigate for herself—she did her own trawl through the Sinjoh Ruins, has traveled to Sinnoh to see the three lakes and other such sites for herself, et cetera—but she has still studied everything that Cynthia has done and is thrilled that there is a Champion out there who cares about this subject, who treats it seriously, who has done legitimate academic work on it, because maybe that will make the people back home take this subject as less of a joke.

(Read: It doesn’t. Cynthia is, after all, Sinnoh’s Champion, not Kanto’s.)

So Leaf definitely has some hero worship going on for Cynthia, and so when they first meet she gets all starry-eyed and can’t stop gushing. (Should Red and Green be around for this, they would be bewildered, because they’ve never seen Leaf gush over a person like that.) Cynthia takes it in stride and good humor; she’s used to people fangirling/fanboying over her, after all, albeit normally they’re more in awe of her Champion title/position than they are her work researching the myths and legends of the world. But she listens to what Leaf has to say, and I imagine she’d actually be impressed with Leaf’s own work. She’d agree to look some of it over, might correct a misconception here or there, and otherwise just treat Leaf very seriously. This, naturally, would send Leaf over the moon. I think it’s safe to say that Leaf would definitely develop a crush on Cynthia, and that even though a good portion of it would still be hero worship, it would be legitimate, too. Of course, at this point Leaf would likely be a teenager while Cynthia is an adult, so Cynthia would not reciprocate. Leaf would still feel it nonetheless.

So yeah, I think they’d get along! Mostly because Cynthia is a really chill and kind person, haha. But Leaf would definitely be all starry-eyed over her for her. Cynthia is one of her idols. There’s no question about that.

[sage-nebula]

This may seem out of the blue but I was curious what made you characterize Blair the way you did in reversi did something about his design influence it at all?

Kind of!

In his official art, Blair is wearing a comfy jacket, he has one of his hands in his pockets, and he’s gripping the bill of his hat. While he’s smiling and there’s nothing necessarily shy about his pose, it was pretty easy for me to imagine him tugging the bill of his hat down to cover his eyes, and to see him sticking his hands in his pockets as a means to take up less space and make himself seem smaller. The fact that he’s so covered up and has a pose that’s easy for me to envision such body language also provides a pretty good contrast to Lea . . .

. . . who is wearing shorts, has her arms bared, has her fists on her hips (and having her hands be balled into actual fists instead of just splayed across her hips says so much!), and who is smiling much more broadly, teeth bared. Everything about Lea’s official art screams confidence, whereas Blair’s is more ambiguous, right down to the fact that he has a closed-lip smile instead of a big, broad one.

And that’s another point. Having Lea and Blair be very similar in terms of personality wouldn’t be very interesting. I felt it would be more interesting if they foiled each other in just about every possible way. And off the top of my head, we have:

Blair is a boy with a traditionally feminine name, while Lea is a girl with a traditionally masculine name (well, Lea’s full name isn’t masculine, but the way her nickname is pronounced is);

Lea comes from a small town (Nuvema) while Blair comes from a big city (Driftveil)

Lea is quite athletic and hates studying/learning, whereas Blair is more of a bookworm who hates sports;

Lea is an only child, while Blair has an older brother;

Lea grew up with two very best friends, whereas Blair grew up friendless;

Lea is very loud and extroverted, while Blair is quieter and introverted;

To that end, Lea is quite aggressive and confrontational, while Blair is far more timid and meek;

And so on and so forth. They’re very different in just about every way you care to name, but that only serves to make their interactions more interesting and them both stand out more as characters. There’s no chance of confusing one for the other because of how much they contrast, and given that Lea is a bold, energetic, hot mess of a person, it only made sense that Blair would be a more meek, calm, insecure wallflower.

So that was my thought process. =) Thanks for asking!

[sage-nebula]

Does the battle between Red and Gold/Lyra still happen in your pokeverse or do the events play out differently?

(Ethan, not Gold. ;D)

The battle on Mt Silver does happen, but it’s not just Red in my ‘verse, and therefore it’s not just Lyra, either. Instead, it’s Red & Leaf vs. Ethan & Lyra.

Essentially …

Lyra and Ethan end up going through Mt Silver together, both as a training exercise and to spend time away from people (but with each other). You see, in my ‘verse there’s an incident in Ecruteak City where Ethan accidentally summons Ho-Oh to the Bell Tower, but Team Rocket finds out about it and tries to capture Ho-Oh so they can … well, probably do unsavory things to it in order to make a profit, as they do. There is a huge fight, people are injured, Ethan is blamed by a few people (particularly Johto Rival/Will) even though it isn’t really his fault (he didn’t even know that was going to happen, he had the Rainbow Wing because an old man in Kanto just gave it to him, he didn’t know Team Rocket had people tailing him, et cetera), and overall it’s a huge mess and conflict that leaves Ethan feeling pretty emotionally devastated. Lyra doesn’t blame him, though, and because he’s her childhood best friend she isn’t about to abandon him either, and so she decides to travel with him for a little while to give him emotional support. The situation being what it is, Ethan wants to get away from society for a bit, and so Lyra decides to take him to Mt Silver (because as the Johto Champion, she has access) so they can train and get away for a while. (Lyra figures that suggesting a training exercise is good, because part of what has Ethan so down is that he feels that he wasn’t strong enough to handle the situation in Ecruteak on his own. Training, Lyra feels, could build his confidence back up.)

Anyway, so they go to Mt Silver and travel through the mountain, and by coincidence Leaf is also there, having finally tracked Red down. (This is either her first or second visit—probably second, but it could well be her first.) Ethan and Lyra climb to the top and happen upon Red and Leaf. Red is a bit startled, because now that’s four humans who know where he is (Nurse Joy at the base of the mountain, Leaf, Ethan, and Lyra) when previously there were none, and Leaf is a bit miffed that two people could just happen upon Red by accident when she has been actively searching for the past three years. Meanwhile, Lyra puts the pieces together due to the fact that Red’s mother had previously asked her to keep an eye out for her son (and at that point proceeds to tell Red that he should really call his mom), and Ethan is subsequently flabbergasted that they just happened upon the missing Kanto Champion and wonders aloud why things like this keep happening to Lyra. I mean, honestly, all the weird stuff happens to her, how and why does this happen.

“I ask myself this every day and I don’t have an answer yet. Neither does Pan,” Lyra says, and her furret nods solemnly beside her. Mari, Ethan’s marill, huffs in agitation.

In any case, when trainers meet they have to battle—and now four trainers have met. Two Champions (Red and Lyra), each with a childhood friend (Leaf and Ethan)—and that means it’s not just a single battle, but a double battle.

Unfortunately for Ethan and Lyra, this is a double battle that they lose. Not only are Red and Leaf quite a bit more experienced than they are, but they weren’t prepared for this fight at all, and they had just finished slogging through the mountain, so their pokémon were already pretty tired. (Although Leaf had also slogged through the mountain, her team had time to rest before the fight. Red, meanwhile, has been living on that mountain for three years, so.) But it wasn’t an easy victory for Red and Leaf, make no mistake. It was a hard-fought victory for them, but a victory nonetheless. And it ended on a positive note, or at least friendly terms, even if Lyra reminded Red one more time that his mom was worried and he needed to call her.

“I know,” he says quietly, and he sighs as he tugs his hat farther down over his eyes. “I will. Just …”

“Just nothing. She’s right,” Leaf says flatly.

Red sighs more audibly. “I know, and I will call her, so please drop it.”

At this point, Ethan is the only one who hasn’t scolded Red about calling his mom, and he thinks that maybe he should, but then also thinks that maybe Red has been scolded enough and he doesn’t need to add to it. Mari, however, feels differently, and she sprays a Water Gun at Red’s feet. Given that Mt Silver is covered in snow, this is appreciated by no one (least of all Red, who gives her an indignant look as PK’s cheeks spark on his trainer’s behalf), but Mari is completely unabashed and even looks a little proud of herself for serving him right.

So, I mean. That all totally happened.

[sage-nebula]

For the fandom ask how Pokemon black and white?

Sure! But as per custom I’m going to answer this in accordance with my ‘verse, haha.

Favorite character:

I’m going to consider this “favorite character to write,” the circumstances being what they are, and in that case the answer would be a toss-up between Lea, Thing the Victini, and the Shadow Triad (as individuals).

The most entertaining thing about Lea, from the perspective of a writer, is that she holds pretty much nothing back. That, combined with the fact that her dialogue is usually strewn with pop-culture references and odd slang, make her fun to write because it means that there’s never really a dull moment with her around. She says whatever comes to her mind the second it does, and bears no consideration at all for things like “tact” or “grace.” This is especially useful when it comes to the central conflict, because it means that she will get in N’s face and butt heads with him, which is honestly what is needed. Lea doesn’t keep her thoughts to herself, ever, but she also doesn’t lie (and even when she tries to she’s usually kind of bad at it, tbh), which means that what you see is what you get … and trust me, you’re going to be getting a lot.

Thing, on the other hand, is lovable not only because I find him to be incredibly cute with how ditzy he is, but also because he actually forces Lea to shape up and be mature, which is … actually rather important, tbh. Thing is hyperactive and has even less consideration for decorum than Lea does, and so as a result Lea has to be the one to be responsible and stop it from mauling fry vendors or eating an entire table of cookies inside a store. Thing is quirky and there for coming relief, but it actually helps Lea’s development as a person, which is important.

And finally, the Shadow Triad. My version of the Shadow Triad goes completely against canon due to the fact that I created them before B2W2 came out, but whatever, I don’t care, I like my version better and I’ll do what I want, Thor. Essentially, for those who aren’t familiar, my Shadow Triad are triplets Altair, Lucy, and Desmond, born in that order to a couple in Lacunosa Town. They’ve had psychic powers ever since birth (telepathy shared between them, teleportation, telekinesis, et cetera), and for this reason rumors were often started up about them and they were ostracized by others in the town, even though their parents loved them (and did their best to care for them, including trying to help Desmond with his rampant paranoia and anxiety problems, of which he has many). When they were thirteen, however, their parents tried to murder them after they went to bed. Not realizing that it was their parents doing it, the trio fought back, and ended up killing both of them in self-defense. Terrified that they’d be killed for this (since the town hated them anyway), the three fled to Castelia City and lived on the streets. That was where Ghetsis found them about a year later, on their fourteen birthdays, as they were freezing, starving, and (in the case of Desmond and Altair) very badly ill. He took them in, saving their lives in the process, and they’ve been indebted to him ever since.

Of course, it was a set-up; using a pokémon that had hypnotic abilities, Ghetsis forced their parents to attack them, resulting in them defending themselves, so that they would be forced to go on the run and live on their own. Then, when they were desperate and dying, he appeared like a savior to “rescue” them and take them in. They don’t know this, of course; they still don’t understand why their parents tried to kill them. But they’re grateful to Ghetsis for what he did for them, even if he terrifies them all the same. He did, after all, take them in. He provided medicine for Altair and Desmond to get better. He had Desmond undergo meditative therapy to help with his panic attacks, et cetera. He’s helped them, hasn’t he? And they don’t know that he’s the reason why they had to kill their own parents, so …

Anyway, I grew to really love the Shadow Triad as I write them. I love Altair as the eldest triplet, responsible and calm and always looking out for the younger two, even as he hardly knows what to do himself (but pretends that he knows what he’s doing so that he can try to reassure Lucy and Desmond, especially Desmond); I love Lucy as the most hot-tempered of the lot, the one who tries to pretend as if nothing scares her even if it does, and how she calls Desmond “Dezzy” as an affectionate nickname; and I love little Desmond, always on the verge of falling to pieces even as he tries to rein it in (especially so his siblings don’t get in trouble), and how he is extremely sensitive and gentle at heart, even though in all honesty Ghetsis took them in so they could be his personal assassins. (Though Altair and Lucy handle the dirty work there. They try to keep Desmond’s hands clean, even though it upsets him all the same.) And I love how the three of them are essentially N’s babysitters when he’s out and about in the world, how they (particularly Altair and Lucy) refer to him as their “boy-king,” and how they’re exasperated a good deal of the time but still take the job seriously, even though N himself doesn’t really realize (or acknowledge) the fact that they are, in fact, his babysitters.

They’re nothing like they are in canon, but I love them all the same. Some might know them as the “witch triplets,” but to me, they’re my babies. ♥

Least Favorite character:

Mmmh, honestly any of the Seven Sages could count, tbh. I don’t really have a solid vision of them as characters, and it doesn’t help that they’re all old dudes who look roughly the same. They’re kind of underwhelming for characters called the Seven Sages, you know?

5 Favorite ships (canon or non-canon):

I’m honestly not sure that I have five ships, if we’re being entirely honest, haha. But I guess, if I try to think of five:

Lea/N — This is a queer-platonic partnership in my eyes, at this point, and even then it would only happen that way at some point after Book One. Book One is devoted to the two of them becoming friends, which is a rocky road considering … well, how they are.

Blair/Bianca — These two are just sweetie pies, and this relationship just developed naturally. It’s not one that I thought about beforehand or ever had to work at; it just happened. 

Skyla/Elesa — I haven’t really thought about this one much, particularly since the characters aren’t even to Nimbasa yet in Reversi (I’m terrible jfc), but these two are totally girlfriends and you cannot convince me otherwise.

Cheren/Roxie — I’m not sure that this would be an “endgame” type of relationship, but it would definitely be one that would happen for a time as Roxie enjoys getting under Cheren’s tightly-wound skin, and Cheren—being sixteen/seventeen when he meets her and under so much stress due to recent events—decides to try out a bit of “teenage rebellion” and “what the fucking hell” and go for it. So it might not be “forever,” but they’re also teenagers. It doesn’t have to and isn’t expected to be forever.

Burgh—>Lenora — The arrow is because this is 100% one-sided. Lenora is happily married to her husband, but Burgh is very much into her and is constantly flirting and otherwise trying to be a homewrecker, as Lea and Cheren agree upon in Reversi. He’s an unsuccessful homewrecker, but he nonetheless tries.

Character I find most attractive:

Umm … no one is coming to mind, haha.

Character I would marry:

No one.

Character I would be best friends with:

Probably Blair, to be honest. As fun as Lea is to write, she would get on my nerves in about five minutes because she is Way Too Extra™ pretty much all of the time. Bianca is very sweet, but I’m very snarky, and I feel like that would cause some conflict. Cheren can match me on the snark, but I’m not sure that our interests would align enough, and also he’s a bit too straight-laced for me. Then you have Blair, who is also sweet and shy, but also prone to muttering snark beneath his breath where no one can hear him, and also very into things like JRPGs and dating sims. Blair and I would get along great, I feel, so if I have to pick one to be BFFs with, it’s him.

A random thought:

Black/White actually has the potential to be the darkest game in the series and definitely pushes the bill, and would have succeeded if they had actually showed ordinary trainers being cruel to pokémon as well to give Team Plasma some level of validity (versus having them just be all around evil 5ever the end).

An unpopular opinion:

N is not merely a naive, baby child woobie who is incapable of taking care of or thinking for himself.

Ghetsis is absolutely, 100% an abusive parent, there is no doubt about this, there is no excusing and no getting away from it. N didn’t know that Ghetsis planned to usurp the throne once N had won it (or else simply rule as a shadow king), nor did he know that pokémon labor was used to make his castle, nor did he know (until he went out into the world) that there were trainers who treated pokémon with kindness. All of that is true.

However, here are the things that N did know:

He knew that Team Plasma was forcefully taking pokémon from their trainers;

He knew that he was going to pass an executive order to mandate that all trainers release their pokémon once he took power;

He knew that Team Plasma would rule Unova, with him at the tip-top as Unova’s new King;

He knew that there were people who opposed Team Plasma’s goals, but he brushed them aside as evil across the board until the player challenged his mindset

When you go to confront N at the castle, he expected you to come. He wanted you to come. He knew precisely what he was doing, knew precisely what the consequences would be, and still believed that he was Right, because he had been raised to think that. Yes, he still has toys in his room—toys that the pokémon play with as well—but that doesn’t mean that he has the mindset of a child. He doesn’t. And yes, Concordia calls him innocent, but Concordia is also one of the big sisters that helped raise him. She is incredibly blinded by her love and sympathies for N, so of course she’s not going to call him on what he’s doing or challenge him in any way. Even though she knows that what he’s doing is wrong, she’s not going to dare speak against him because she doesn’t want to upset or hurt him. To be fair, she’s as abused as N is (and Anthea is as well), but nonetheless we cannot take her word or view as an objective look on N’s character because she, as a person, is not objective.

And keep in mind, I’m not vilifying N here, because N IS NOT the villain in these games. N is an antagonist, but antagonist doesn’t always equate to villain. N is not a villain, he is in no way a villain. Ghetsis is the villain, full stop. But what I am saying here is that N does not have the mindset of a child. N is not a defenseless woobie. N was raised to be a King, fully believed that he was a King/Chosen One, and he acted accordingly. N has a spine. N stands up for himself and for his beliefs, and he does so passionately. The only time he doesn’t stand up for himself is when Ghetsis starts railing against him, and given the fact that Ghetsis is not only his emotional abuser, but someone he trusted, that is not a surprise. It’s completely understandable that he shuts down there. But otherwise? In normal circumstances? N is not a pushover, he doesn’t have the maturity/mindset of a five-year-old, he was complicit and supportive of most of Team Plasma’s activities and goals (in the first games, mind you), and he should be treated as such. N is a King; show him some respect. 

My canon OTP:

I guess Lenora/her husband? Hahaha, I don’t know.

Non-canon OTP:

I’m not really hardcore about any romantic ships, tbh.

Most badass character:

IRIS. She’s a little girl who kicks tons of ass, hell yeah.

Pairing I am not a fan of:

I don’t like the way Female MC/N is portrayed in 99% of fanworks. Most of the fanart I see for it is pretty stereotyped (N as the mysterious bishounen, Female MC as innocent shoujo heroine), and I’m just not here for that.

Character I feel the writers screwed up (in one way or another):

BIANCA. I’m going to forever rage at the way she was treated. I hate the fact that our first female rival is not only the one who has to be consistently rescued throughout the game, but that they had her develop a valley girl speech pattern midway through to try and make her look ditzy, and they had her constantly tearing herself down and commenting on how she isn’t a good trainer and can’t hack it, when frankly, her stoutland alone gave me more trouble than Cheren’s entire team combined. I also hate that she ended up giving up on being a trainer, because while I love that she went on to be Professor Juniper’s assistant, I hate the fact that her father (who was a massive dickhead) was proven right when he said that she couldn’t handle it as a trainer. Bianca deserved so much better and I’m forever angry at what Game Freak did to her. (She gets justice in my ‘verse, should I ever get around to finishing Reversi, but nonetheless.)

Favourite friendship:

THE NUVEMA TRIO OF LEA, CHEREN, AND BIANCA, ONLY OF COURSE. There’s no better friendship in the entire ‘verse, they are supreme. 

[sage-nebula]

i was wondering if you had any headcanons for Trainer Gold by any chance,also many people seem to see him as arrogant and a bit immature (that may be because that's how he's portrayed in the adventures manga) what kind of personality do you see him having ?

Well, I don’t call him Gold---I go by the name he was given in HGSS, which is Ethan---but yes, of course I do! In my ‘verse, his story is as such:

Ethan Andrew Soule was born in New Bark Town, Johto. He’s Lyra Hart’s best friend and works, somewhat unofficially, as Professor Elm’s assistant, even as he pursues his own journey as a trainer. This is by and large so that he can have something of a steady income; Ethan’s family is poor, subsiding mostly on government assistance, because his father is mentally ill and, because of this, unable to work and on disability/assistance. His mother, meanwhile, has not been in his life since he was around six years old.

To get a bit more specific:

Ethan’s father is a retired international police officer. When Ethan was very small his father used to be gone a lot, off on missions around the world in an attempt to bring down crime syndicates such as Team Rocket while Ethan’s mother stayed home to take care of him. However, when Ethan was around four or five years old, his father suffered an incident. Ethan doesn’t know the details, and his father can’t tell him (and wouldn’t even if he could), but the incident resulted in everyone in Ethan’s father’s squad dying except for him (though he was done pretty grievous injuries). The shock and trauma of this left Ethan’s father with extremely bad PTSD, and he was honorably discharged from the force and sent home.

Ethan’s parents tried to make it work for a time. His mother continued to work at the local restaurant there in New Bark Town while Ethan’s father watched him during her double shifts, but whatever Ethan’s father had gone through left him with periods of disassociation and hallucinations, and while he was never violent with either Ethan or his wife, it was still difficult for Ethan’s mother to handle. The two of them began to fight; Ethan, as small as he was, tried to intervene whenever the fighting started, but he was only six at the oldest and there wasn’t a whole lot that he could do about it. Ultimately, in a bid to stop fighting with her husband all the time (and also get some space), Ethan’s mother accepted a job in Olivine City. The idea was that she would commute; she would live there during the week, and come home on the weekends. She left Ethan with his father, figuring that it was best if he didn’t commute back and forth between Olivine and New Bark all the time, and knowing that Lyra’s mother could help keep an eye on him besides.

This lasted for maybe a year.

Eventually, Ethan’s mother started missing weekends. First it was a weekend here or there, but then it was more frequent, until finally she stopped visiting altogether. She didn’t write. She didn’t call. Ethan’s father tried calling her, but he was never able to get through, and eventually she got a different job.  Divorce papers came in the mail; Ethan didn’t know what they were, specifically, but he could put the pieces together well enough that his mother wasn’t coming home and he didn’t know why. That was the final “wake up” call that Ethan’s father needed; he had started to make a conscious effort to be more present and there for his son when his wife started working in Olivine, but once he realized that she really was gone for good, he redoubled his efforts in therapy, made sure to never miss taking his medication, and started to at least try working from home to help cushion their expenses a little more. In other words, Ethan’s father does the best he can for his son. It’s not easy. It’s a struggle every day. But he does the best he can because he does love and feel responsible for his kid, and likewise, Ethan loves him, and understands (as much as a kid can, anyway).

At any rate, this measure of responsibility that he feels toward his father (in that he feels like it’s his job to take care of his father, too) means that he never completely pursues a dream of being a trainer, because he doesn’t want to do anything that will take him too far away from New Bark Town, or that will keep him away for too long. He started helping out Professor Elm as a way to bring in some extra money, and it was through this line of work that Professor Elm gave him an azurill egg. Dubbed Mari as soon as she hatched, Mari the marill is Ethan’s girl, his best friend in the whole world aside from Lyra. They go everywhere together, and though Mari typically runs the show (and is very protective of her boy), they’re still quite affectionate with one another, too. There’s a lot of love there.

As for Ethan’s mother, the reason why she stopped visiting/calling/writing is because she fell in love with another man in Olivine City, and as it happens, started a new family with him. Though Ethan does not learn this until after he begins his own journey (and even then it’s completely by accident), he actually has a younger half-sister named Kay, who has no idea that he exists. For that matter, his stepdad has no idea that he exists, and any Mother’s Day cards that Ethan did send his mother after finding out her address were shoved into the drawer on the bedside table, locked up and placed out of sight, out of mind. Ethan doesn’t hate his mother for walking out on him and his dad, or even resent her, really, but . . . he is hurt, and confused, and does grow upset when he’s all but barred from forming a relationship with Kay. She’s his sister. Why can’t he know her? Why can’t . . . why can’t they be family, too?

But his life isn’t wholly tragic. Although he doesn’t know what he wants to do aside from helping to support his father, Ethan does have a best friend in the form of Lyra Hart, whom he has known for pretty much his entire life. He does end up developing something of a crush on her when they’re of training age, but he never brings it up and in fact lets it go when he realizes that, although she cares for him deeply, she doesn’t love him like that (and that’s fine by him---her friendship is reward enough). He does end up befriending Will (Johto Rival) over time, though it’s a challenge given how aggressive Will is 100% of the time toward everyone (and he also gives Will the “if you ever do anything to hurt her” speech, complete with Lars the tyranitar standing behind him, mostly because Will doesn’t know that Lars is actually a giant teddy bear and Mari is the one he should really be afraid of). Ultimately, Ethan sees Will as something of an exasperation, but thinks that’s okay. It’s not really Will’s fault that he doesn’t know how to people. That’s just what he and Lyra have to help him with. ;)

All in all, personality-wise, Ethan is a pretty sweet guy. The boy next door type, you know. And he really doesn’t understand how Lyra gets caught up in so much drama and gets so many weirdos after her. The Kimono Girls, and Eusine, and Juggler Irwin . . . honestly, Lyra, how does this happen? How do you do it?? And do you need Ethan to call the police for you? Because, honestly . . .

[sage-nebula]

PKMN Worldbuilding - Government - The League System

A long time ago---I want to say likely about six or seven years ago---I came up with a working idea for how the government functions in the Pokémon (gameverse) world, at least for regions operating under a League system (as such, regions such as Orre, Oblivia, et cetera have their own systems of government). Additionally, I created a bit of history as well, albeit at the time only really encompassing the Kanto and Johto regions, along with the Sevii Islands and Orange Archipelago, which I decided to lift from the anime and insert into the gameverse even though they’ve never actually been present for the games. Much like the Orange Crew, I tend to do what I want.

(And on that note, although the Orange Archipelago technically has a “league,” they do not operate under this same structure. The Orange Crew is something different entirely (aside from having badges they can dole out to victors) and will be explained in a separate post.)

Way back when I deleted my deviantART account I copied and posted that write-up on this blog. Recently, however, I lost that post. That being said, I’ve decided to go ahead and rewrite it, especially considering the fact that I utilize these same headcanons in the fics that I write for the animeverse, and as such explaining how I see things indepth might help explain why I headcanon certain things the way I do.

With that said . . . let’s get started!

Basic Overview:

A region operating under a League system has the following governmental hierarchy in place:

Champion         \

                      Parliament/Council    

                    /

Elite Four

Gym Leaders = Local elected offices if applicable (e.g. mayor)

Police and other law enforcement

The duties of each of the above stations is as follows:

Champion:

The Champion functions as the executive branch and the highest office of power within the region. The Champion’s duties primarily include:

Safety and Protection of the Region --- In times of regional crisis, it is the Champion’s duty to lead the charge in defending the region however the Champion sees fit. Some Champions choose to strategize and utilize the Elite Four and Gym Leaders as a form of military; others prefer to investigate and handle the crisis, whatever it may be, on their own until complicaions arise. However the Champion chooses to handle the task is up to their discretion, but as the most powerful trainer in the region it is the Champion’s duty to use their strength on behalf of the people should the need arise. In other words, the reason why the strongest trainer in the region is made Champion is not so that they can feel good about themselves and everyone can stand in awe of their battle prowess, but it is because they have proven that they have the strength necessary to protect their region and everyone in it should it come to that. (Hopefully they have the wisdom as well, though again, they aren’t alone even if some Champions like to pretend they are.)

Legislative --- The Council/Parliament are by and large in charge of things such as the economy, law passing, et cetera (more on that in a moment), but the Champion also has a say, particularly when it comes to laws that affect trainers (given that the Council/Parliament are typically, but not always, made up of those who choose not to train pokémon in order to give non-trainers a say in their regional politics). The Champion does have the ability to veto laws provided they can express reasonable basis for doing so (and it is not uncommon for hearings to be made with the Elite Four as well if disputes arise between a Champion’s judgment and the Parliament/Council’s), and the Champion is also expected to be able to give input into the creation of the laws and legislature that is passed as well. To that end, the Champion can (and does, in certain cases) create and pass executive orders wholesale as they pertain to trainers (not so much non-trainers---technically the Champion can do this, but most regional Parliaments/Councils pitch absolute fits if a Champion tries) which must therefore be followed. For an example of this, please look to how N became the (temporary) Champion of Unova specifically so that he could pass an executive order mandating all trainers to release their pokémon into the wild. That would be a prime example of something within the Champion’s power to do from a legislative/executive perspective. In addition, while the Parliament/Council does handle much of the economy, the Champion is expected to weigh in on the budget and part of the responsibility for the economy does in fact rest on their shoulders, especially again with regards to portions of the economy that affect trainers primarily. (So for instance, some regions have a hell of a time keeping pokémon healthcare free, because Pokémon Centers are funded by the government and many non-trainers don’t understand nor agree with the idea that Pokémon Centers should provide free service, despite how the Champions typically argue that a ten-year-old is not going to have the money required to pay for medical care for their pokémon, particularly in the event of an emergency. These fights can and have lasted years, some of which are ever on-going.) The bulk of a Champion’s administrative duties (and do they ever have administrative duties---again, they aren’t simply sitting on a throne waiting for challengers all day) come from this portion of the job.

Judicial --- In addition to the above, as the highest ranking office within a League system, the Champion does have to oversee some judicial duties. Namely, if a member of the Elite Four or a Gym Leader commits a serious crime, the judges for that hearing are typically the (remaining) members of the Elite Four and the Champion (inquiries from the Parliament/Council can also be made depending on the situation, but more on that later). The Champion’s word/judgment carries the most weight in these situations and the actual law of most regions operating under a League structure state that the Champion has final say, but most Champions are reasonable enough to go with the vote of their Elite (most). In the event that a Champion is accused/indicted on grounds of corruption or another crime, the Elite Four are the ones to spearhead the judiciary process, and the senior member of the Elite Four is the one to lead the charge.

Foreign diplomacy --- The Champion is the face of the region, so to speak, so when there are international matters to be dealt with, the Champion is typically the one to deal with them. This can include anything from peaceful meetings, to treaty negotiations, to trade negotioations, to alliances, to declarations of war. Often it involves meeting with Champions of the other regions, but in the event matters need to be handled with a region that does not operate under a League structure (e.g. Alola), the Champion would then meet with whoever holds the highest office within that region. (Note that this also includes meeting and working with the Ranger Union, which will be discussed in a later post.)

Appointment of the Elite Four --- While there is a bit of a process to this, by and large the Champion is given the final say on nominating/electing trainers to the position of Elite Four when a position on the staff opens up. While the process may vary a bit from region to region, the basic process in most regions operating under a League structure is that, when it comes time for a member of the Elite Four to retire (or if they need to be replaced for other reasons, such as death or criminal indictment), then their replacement has to battle them in a match overseen by the current Champion. (Note: If the Elite Four member being replaced is dead or incarcerated, the nominee will battle the Champion instead. They do not necessarily have to win the battle if that is the case.) Should their performance be satisfactory and make them a suitable replacement in terms of battle prowess (usually achieved through defeating their predecessor, but again, not always), the Champion then reviews their other qualifications to ensure that they can properly uphold their duties as a member of the Elite Four. If they are able and are the best candidate suited for the position (in the Champion’s eyes), the Champion can then appoint them to the position. (Note that although this is in the Champion’s responsibility set, the Champion cannot simply clean house once they earn their position and appoint whomever they like. For instance, when Red became Champion of the Kanto region, he wasn’t able to simply oust the Kanto Elite Four even if he had possessed the desire to. The Champion can terminate an Elite’s employment, however, they cannot do so without good reason and due process. In this sense, a Champion would only be able to build their “personal” Elite Four if, by some happenstance, all members of the Elite Four when they joined left their positions for some reason or another.)

These are a Champion’s primary duties. Please note that in the first case, it doesn’t have to be a world-ending crisis that affects the region for a Champion to step in. Rumors of Team Rocket circulating again in the Kanto and Johto regions are enough justification for the Champion to get involved, for instance, and the Champion is expected to get involved in that case (which is why Lance, the standing Champion of Gen II, got involved when he did---well, part of the reason why, anyway). The crime rate of the region is something the Champion is expected to pay attention to and handle as well, particularly if it escalates. Obviously there are lower branches to deal with more menial crimes---there are police officers, for instance---but if a region is falling into corruption and crime, or if it feels that way to the populace, then the Champion is expected to do something about it. Again, the safety and security of the region falls under the Champion’s jurisdiction most of all. They have that title and position for a reason. Yes, they are the strongest---but it is because they are the strongest that they are expected to use that strength to the benefit of their people. If they are not prepared to do that (and also if they are not prepared to handle all of the political and administrative duties that come with the position as well), then they need not go for that position. This is not to be something to be taken lightly---it is not merely a shiny trophy, title, and spot in the Hall of Fame. (Hence why Kanto more or less dodged a bullet when Green was ousted from the position. Even if he might be ready someday, he did not have the proper temperament or mindset for the position at all when he first achieved it.)

Moving on.

The Parliament/Council:

I was going to talk about the Elite Four next, but since the Parliament/Council rests alongside both the Elite and kind of the Champion (not really but kind of since they assist in maintaining the economy/laws), it is probably better to address them next.

The Parliament/Council (terminology varies on the region) of a region operating under the League system is almost (but not always) comprised entirely of non-trainers/those who aren’t involved in raising pokémon in any capacity. While there is no official law mandating this in most regions, it serves as something of an unspoken rule. The Parliament/Council exists so that the Champion and Elite Four (and Gym Leaders below them) are not allowed to completely railroad the region. The idea was that the Champion and Elite Four clearly have a lot of power at their disposal already given that they are the most powerful trainers in the region; allowing them to create and pass every law on top of that would at best tip power completely in favor of those who train/raise pokémon, and at worst allow them to create a true oligarchy from beneath which those who don’t train pokémon could never hope to rise above.

Thus, the Parliament/Council was created as a counterbalance, and given that the idea was to counter the power posed by the Champion/Elite Four and provide a voice in government for those who do not raise/train pokémon in any way, those elected to the Parliament/Council end up being those who do not raise or train pokémon more often than not. Again, sometimes there are still trainers/breeders/et cetera that are elected to positions within the Parliament/Council, but it’s rare for whatever reason you care to name. (e.g. Maybe people are less inclined to vote for someone who has trained/raised pokémon, maybe those who go into pokémon-oriented positions have less interest in a Parliament/Council seat, et cetera.)

Unlike positions that are typically occupied by those who train/raise pokémon, there is an age restriction on Parliament/Council seats. In order to be elected to office, members have to be at least twenty-five years of age or older. This law exists in most regions operating under a League system and was put into place in order to provide another counterbalance---this time, a counterbalance against the fact that some Gym Leaders are no more than ten years old, and that people can sometimes be crowned Champion at thirteen. Ageism is bad, but most regions operating under a League structure seem to feel more secure knowing that at least a good portion of their government is comprised of adults.

In most regions operating under League systems the Parliament/Council typically consists of twenty seated members whose primary duties include:

The Creation/Passing of Laws --- As mentioned above, the Parliament/Council is the primary legislative force within regions operating under a League structure. Particularly as it pertains to laws that govern those who choose not to train/raise pokémon, the Parliament/Council is expected to have their best interests at heart and speak on their behalf. Thus, the argument mentioned up above about whether or not Pokémon Centers should continue to be funded by the government and thus provide free services to trainers. There are several regions (of which Kanto is absolutely one) wherein the Parliament/Council argues against this, arguing that it is unfair for the non-trainer population to have their taxes fund medical centers they will never use. The Champion and Elite Four have to push back against this, arguing that 99% of trainers first starting out will not have the money to provide medical care for their pokémon, and therefore having free Centers is a necessity. At which point the Council argues back that perhaps they shouldn’t become trainers then . . . and the argument continues. This specific argument aside, the Parliament/Council of regions operating under a League structure do create and pass laws pertaining to trainers as well (such as the age at which a person can legally obtain a Trainer License, for instance), but all the same, special mention goes to the focus they are expected to pay toward speaking on behalf of those who don’t train at all.

Economy --- Also as mentioned above, the Parliament/Council is by and large responsible for approving the regional budget and maintaining focus on the economy to make sure the entire region doesn’t collapse in on itself due to debt (or at least, they do their best to make sure this doesn’t happen). While the Champion does have some say in this as well as noted above, the Parliament/Council still does tend to handle the bulk of it, particularly since this provides a failsafe against one person single-handedly ruining the economy (whether on purpose or on accident), and also helps aid against embezzlement and other forms of corruption since there is more than one person keeping an eye on the regional treasury and other financial matters.

Judicial --- Once again as touched upon above, the Parliament/Council does step in sometimes in judiciary matters, particularly if they concern matters of corruption pertaining to the Champion or Elite Four (namely, if there is suspicion that the Champion + Elite team are all corrupt, the Parliament/Council could file in an inquiry to have that investigated, since obviously the Champion cannot be trusted to do so in that case). This is really the only circumstance in which the Parliament/Council gets involved in judiciary matters, however, and this part of their duties really exists as a failsafe against the other branches of the government.

The Elite Four:

And now it is time to talk about the Elite.

As touched upon above, the Elite Four work directly with the Champion on many of the matters surrouding regional security and some administrative duties. The Champion is by and large responsible for the appointment of the Elite, and when inquiries need to be made into the Elite, the Champion is always the one expected to spearhead that investigation and take matters into their own hands. (So for instance, the Kalos Champion would be the one to make an inquiry into Malva’s activities and press criminal charges due to her involvement with Team Flare should charges be able to be drawn up. Given Malva’s status as a member of the Elite, and particularly one of Kalos’ Elite, the Champion is the only one who could aside from the Parliament.) Different regions have different hierarchies for how the Elite is handled beyond that general overview, but in essence the breakdown is:

Kanto, Johto, Hoenn, and Sinnoh all have hierarchies. There is the Champion, and then there is the leader of the Elite Four, who essentially serves as the Champion’s second-in-command. In Kanto, this is Lance (which is why he acts as standing Champion when Red is A.W.O.L.). In Johto, it’s Karen. In Hoenn, it’s Drake. In Sinnoh, it’s Lucian. Following the Elite Four’s leader, the rest of the responsibilities fall on down the ladder, usually in the order descending from when trainers are able to challenge them. So, to use Kanto again as an example, the person next in charge after Lance would be Agatha, then Bruno, then Lorelei. In this sense, when trainers challenge the League in regions set up under this hierarchical structure, they are more or less climbing the ladder to the top.

Unova and Kalos, meanwhile, operate under no such set hierarchy. There is no “leader” of the Elite Four in these regions. Instead, all members of the Elite Four share equal responsibility and rank, with individual tasks and responsibilities doled out not based on role, but rather based on ability. So for instance, while Lance was automatically made standing Champion in Red’s absence in Kanto/Johto, there was no standing Champion in Alder’s absence in Unova. Rather, the Champion’s duties were divvied up among Shauntal, Grimsley, Marshal, and Caitlin based on who was best suited to handle which task. Opinions on whether or not this system is better or worse than the hierarchical system of course vary among different people; some say that this is fairer, as the Elite Four should all be considered equally Elite, rather than having some members at a technically lower rank than the others. Others argue that this creates room for anarchy and chaos in the event that a Champion is temporarily unable to fulfill their duties, as members of the Elite could turn on each other in petty squabbles. Regardless, the fact that trainers can challenge the Elite Four in any order in Unova and Kalos points to the fact that they do not have their Elite in a hierarchy system as the other four regions do. For better or for worse, that’s simply how Unova and Kalos operate.

Regardless of whether the Elite Four of a given region operates under a hierarchy or sets all four members as equal to one another, the basic duties of the Elite Four are as follows:

Supporting the Champion in Times of Crisis --- If the Champion and Elite Four make a team, then it is fair to say that the Champion is the leader while the Elite Four comprise the rest of the five-man band. In that sense, “support” means a few different things here depending on the skillset/responsibilities of the Elite Four members in question. In some cases, it can mean helping prepare and carry out strategy. In others (and in the most common) it can mean fighting alongside them in battle. Essentially what it boils down to is that while the Champion takes point when it comes to protecting the region, the Elite Four supports them in this endeavor and stand as the first people the Champion calls on in times of regional crisis or disaster. To this end, the Elite Four by and large spends much less time protecting the region as a whole than the Champion does, since their efforts are concentrated on what the Champion needs them to do and they very often don’t have to act unless the crisis/threat is large enough that the Champion feels the need to call them in to help deal with it. (Another way of looking at it is that it’s a “who will guard the guards” type of situation. The Champion guards the region, and the Elite Four help guard the one who guards the region. Depending on the Champion in question, this can sometimes feel like a full time job.)

Governance over Gym Leaders --- While the Champion oversees the Elite Four, the Elite Four oversees the Gym Leaders. (The Champion does as well to an extent, but the Champion has enough on their plate that this is better left to the Gym Leaders.) The process to become a Gym Leader can vary by region, but most regions have it set up so that the Gym Leader Certification Exam is overseen by the Elite Four (and again, sometimes the Champion, but it’s not required or common), who then make the final determination over whether or not a trainer is qualified to become a Gym Leader. To that end, Gym Leaders answer directly to the Elite Four, and the Elite Four by and large handle inquiries into a Gym Leader’s activities should the inquiries have to be made, though as mentioned above if it goes to trial the Champion has to get involved as well. Different regions divvy this up in different ways, but it isn’t at all uncommon to see each member of the Elite Four take on two Gym Leaders to directly oversee in order to even out the workload. (It is rumored that there were arguments in Hoenn over what would be done about twins Tate & Liza, and that Champion Steven Stone asked if he was being punked when the squabbling was brought to him because he could not believe the Elite Four were getting heated over something so petty.)

Judicial --- As mentioned, if a Gym Leader commits a crime (and particularly if the crime is severe enough), then the Elite Four occupy the judge’s bench, often with the Champion as the chief among them. This ties in to how the Elite Four govern over the Gym Leaders; since the Gym Leaders are their responsibility, to an extent, so to are they the authorities to which the Gym Leaders must answer if a crime is committed. As well, if a member of the Elite Four is suspected of a crime, then once any necessary inquiries as to the activities of the rest of the Elite have been completed, the Elite Four member in question is put on trial before their peers (and boss in form of the Champion) in order to be tried (and quite possibly convicted) of their crime.

Legislative --- The Elite Four doesn’t handle too much of this. In most cases, they handle paperwork and legislature as the Champion needs them to, whether it is because the workload has become too immense or because particular laws are better addressed by someone of a different expertise (for example, if the Parliament in Kalos was proposing new restrictions on the capture/distribution of water-type pokémon in certain bodies of water around Kalos due to complaints lodged by non-trainers about trainer activity in the area, Diantha might refer to Siebold for more information on how that would affect the water-type pokémon and suggestions for how to compromise on the proposal if needed). In addition to this, the Elite Four will also sometimes attend governmental meetings with Parliament if necessary, particularly if the matter affects trainers in specific (such as with the issue of potentially deregulating the Pokémon Centers as mentioned above---Kanto’s Elite Four is quite involved in that fight).

Gym Leaders:

After the Elite Four, you have the Gym Leaders.

Most regions operating under a League structure have eight Gyms spread across the region. While there are no strict regulations or laws determining where each Gym must be placed, and therefore a city that doesn’t presently have a Gym could have one if one of the previous Gym Leaders retired and the replacement Gym Leader wanted to operate a Gym in a different city, Leagues do make a concentrated effort to have an even distribution of Gyms across the region (rather than clustering them in one area) due to the fact that Gym Leaders help serve as local government.

In addition to serving for the town that their Gym is based in, some smaller towns are also under the jurisdiction of nearby Gym Leaders. For example, in addition to managing Saffron City (which in truth is a task and a half on its own), Sabrina also accepts some responsibilities for Lavender Town and helps in some of the decisions there. (As a result, she received some of the backlash from the decision to tear down Lavender Tower and replace it with the Radio Tower (from those who were upset with the decision, anyway), though in truth this was unjust as the situation was out of her hands. Nonetheless, she knew months before it happened due to her precognitive abilities that she was going to receive hate for it, so at the very least she was prepared.)

The basic duties of Gym Leaders are as follows:

Crime Management/Prevention --- Given that Gym Leaders are, in theory, the most powerful trainers in the region, Gym Leaders are tasked with the safety and protection of their cities (as well as any other towns under their jurisdiction) similarly to how the Champion is tasked with protecting the safety and security of the entire region. (So think of it as: The Gym Leaders protect their own, while the Champion protects them all.) To this end, Gym Leaders are expected to work with the local police and authorities in order to combat larger threats to the cities. It isn’t that they’re expected to investigate every purse snatching that happens, because they aren’t, but if, say, Team Rocket sets up an illegal pawn shop that is secretly helping them traffic pokémon right there in Saffron City, Sabrina is expected to at least attempt to do something about it as the local Gym Leader. The people of cities with Gyms look to the Gym Leaders for protection in this sense, and the worst crimes (e.g. murders) are always brought to the attention of and ultimately involve the Gym Leader in some way as a result.

City Management --- This one varies heavily from region to region, and even from city to city. Depending on the region/city, the Gym Leader may have a large or small part in city planning and management, including everything from helping in construction decisions to passing legislature. For instance, Morty of Ecruteak City works very closely with Ecruteak’s elders when it comes to city planning, primarily because Morty’s family spans back generations in Ecruteak (and for that matter, Gym ownership in his family spans back generations), and, as such, his word and position as Gym Leader holds a lot of weight. By contrast, Burgh of Castelia City lets the mayor and other elected local government officials do as they please, because he is not interested in city planning or management and would rather spend on his time on personal affairs. So when it comes to this particular responsibility it varies heavily from Gym Leader to Gym Leader, and is not as ironclad as the first.

Lvl 3 Regional Protection --- As mentioned, the Gym Leaders are the next line of defense after the Elite four, meaning that if there is a widescale regional threat, they are expected to step up and do something to defend their region against it. The best example of this comes in the form of the Unovan Gym Leaders when they traveled to N’s Castle in an attempt to defeat Team Plasma after Plasma’s takeover of the League. While primary regional protection comes from the Champion and then the Elite Four after them, the Gym Leaders are still expected to step up when needed, because while they are primarily local government, they are still part of the League and therefore it is still their duty.

Provide Explanation/Training for Gym Trainers --- Almost every Gym Leader will have at least two Gym Trainers employed at their Gym to not only assist with duties (whether that includes taking care of pokémon, keeping the Gym clean, or else helping run errands while the Gym Leader attends to other necessary tasks), but also to teach them how to be better trainers, and perhaps prepare them for taking the Gym Leader Certification Exam themselves one day. Gym Leaders also help newbie trainers within their own towns out, providing them with instruction and even helping them capture pokémon if need-be (such as when Norman had his child assist Wally in capturing a ralts in Hoenn).

Battle Challengers, Award Badges --- This doesn’t need explanation.

Gym Leaders have fewer overall responsibilities than the Elite Four or other branches of reigonal government, but serving as a Gym Leader still provides excellent experience in serving in a governmental position, which is why it is not uncommon to either hear of Gym Leaders who aspire to join the Elite, or to see Gym Leaders who rise to the Elite (such as in the case of Koga becoming a member of Johto’s Elite Four after serving as Fuschia City’s Gym Leader). In fact, the best Elite Four members are often those who served as Gym Leaders first, as it gives them helpful background in dealing with legal matters and helps them be prepared/know what to expect moving into their new position.

Mayors/Other Offices of Local Government:

These function much as they do in our own world. They help pass city ordinances and local legislature, maintain laws, help decide city construction and reconstruction, et cetera. Not every city or town has a mayor; those without Gyms certainly do, but when it comes to those with Gyms it is hit or miss more often than not. Smaller towns tend not to have them, as the Gym Leader is often seen as authority enough; larger cities, such as Saffron or Castelia, do. The mayors in these cities will often work alongside the Gym Leaders (hence the equal sign in the flowchart above) in order to maintain laws and legislature, but as mentioned previously, that does vary from Gym Leader to Gym Leader, as there are some who are all but wholly uninterested in that part of their position and thus shirk the duty wholesale. It really depends.

Much like the Parliament/Council, seats at the local government level are often filled by those who do not train or raise pokémon at all in order to provide some balance, and there is the same age restriction in place (twenty-five), something which is particularly valued in areas where the Gym Leader is very young (and therefore seen by some as unreliable for everything but battling).

- - -

All in all, this is the basic overview of how the government operates under the League structure. There are some special circumstances (the Kanto and Johto circumstance is a special one, for instance, given that they share the Indigo Plateau but each have their own separate Elite Fours . . . kind of---they share Bruno and Lance), and there are more specific issues and details that would be worked out over the course of the job, but this serves well enough as a basic overview.

Next up is either some regional history for the first reasons (i.e. Kanto, Johto, Orange, Sevii), or perhaps simply an entirely separate post on how the Orange Archipelago functions. We’ll just have to find out next time.

[sage-nebula]

I mean---okay. To be fair, a lot of the “issues” that I have with Lance (and I’m talking about game!Lance, not Lance from any other adaptation of the series) come from the backstory I’ve built up for him in my ‘verse, from the history I’ve given him, and the way that I’ve fleshed out his character. There are a lot of things I “know” about him (and his connection to Red) that aren’t present in the games, and I fully accept that.

But things that are present in the games are the way he had his dragonite use a Hyper Beam on an unarmed, human opponent simply because they were a member of Team Rocket. That was completely unnecessary. Yeah, Team Rocket are criminals---they’re the Pokémon equivalent of the yakuza, no doubt---but that could very well have been an act of murder and was ostensibly because Lance felt like it. After all, he didn’t need to do that to get by. If he had to actually have his dragonite do anything at all, his dragonite could have just picked the guy up and moved him. You can’t tell me a dragonite is not strong enough for that. But no, Lance obliterated the guy, seemingly because he could . . . and yet, we’re supposed to see him as a good guy? We’re supposed to see him as a hero? Really?

There’s also how he reacts to the Johto Rival. The Johto Rival is anywhere from 10-13, and he ran away from Team Rocket (and by extension, his father Giovanni and very-likely-his-mother Ariana) in order to try and make it on his own as a trainer. It’s never stated in the games that he was abused or anything (though I can’t see Giovanni and Ariana being loving parents), but being raised within Team Rocket is still not going to foster a healthy mindset in a child. The Johto Rival has a lot to unpack and a lot to work through; he has a lot of healing and a lot of learning to do.

Yet Lance battles him (curbstomps him, really), and then gives him parting words that he lost because he doesn’t “love and trust his pokémon enough.” Now, I understand that we’re supposed to see the Johto Rival as this cruel, callous trainer, but the fact remains that however much he blathers on about how he’s going to ditch all of his old pokémon and get new ones, unlike Paul from the anime, Johto Rival never actually follows through. Instead, we see him with the same pokémon (with all the new additions along the way) from start to finish, to the point where he actually manages to evolve his golbat into a crobat, proving how much he loves it. Sure, he spouts Team Rocket dogma that he’ll ditch his pokémon because they’re weak and get new ones, but this is something that he never, ever does. Not even once. Even when Green ditches his raticate (no, it didn’t die, hush up), Johto Rival doesn’t ditch his pokémon. He keeps them.

So what gives, then? Why does Lance look at this literal child and say, “You lost because you don’t love your pokémon enough?” I understand that rivals being treated as heartless was still kind of par for the course in Gen II---Professor Oak said something similar to Green at the end of RBGY, which was kind of “wtf that’s your grandson chill out old man” inducing as well---but at the same time, Lance doesn’t know this kid from Adam. He doesn’t have any idea who this child is. All he knows is that the kid is wandering around Rocket HQ fighting Team Rocket members (because remember, Johto Rival hates Team Rocket!), and so he, I don’t know . . . decided to pick a fight? Accepted a challenge? Went all out like he did on that defenseless person upstairs? And then criticize the child he just curbstomped by saying “you lost because you don’t love and trust your pokémon enough” as if Lance isn’t the current Champion with a team of three overpowered dragonite plus others?

And, again, I’m supposed to see him as a good person?

I’ve played GSC and HGSS and I don’t believe for a second that Johto Rival ever actually abused his pokémon (unlike, you know, Paul), and we have canonical evidence that he never abandoned them either. This makes Lance’s behavior rather distasteful to me. It’s my personal belief that Lance knew (or at least heavily suspected) that Johto Rival had a connection to the Rockets (possibly even knew that this was Giovanni’s runaway son?), and that biased his perception. Lance being Lance, he saw nothing wrong with beating the shit out of a child’s team and then tearing him down verbally after the fact. After all, the kid is a Rocket, right? So that makes it justified, in Lance’s eyes. He can dehumanize the Johto Rival like he has the rest of them. I guess on the plus side, at least he didn’t Hyper Beam him, too.

. . . well, okay, the dehumanization bit is extrapolation, but I can’t see any other reason for using a Hyper Beam from a dragonite on a defenseless human being. If he was supposed to be a villain, okay, but he’s not. So the only way I can explain it is that he has dehumanized them---he doesn’t really see them as people, or at least not people whose lives are worth anything. So if they die, oh well. One more piece of trash off the street, in his eyes. It’s the only way I can see that behavior making sense. (And that’s where I get into backstory I created for why he hates Rockets so much et cetera, but that’s headcanon territory entirely, haha.)

So yeah, admittedly, the “issues” I have with Lance stem a lot from headcanon, but there’s also his questionable af behavior right there in the games. He’s a great character, but I can’t see him as a great or “good” person. I just can’t.

[sage-nebula]

I really love all your pokemon meta and characterizations! (Especially your Unova cast!) If you don't mind me asking, what do you think N would have thought of Mega Evolution? Or how does the N in a dimension with mega evolution see it i guess?

Thank you so much! I’m really happy you like them!!

Hmm … N’s feelings on Mega Evolution definitely depend on where he is in his character development.

Prior to everything that happens in Black Version/Reversi, the very concept would have both confused and irritated him, because he would have thought that it was just a myth—a lie—something that trainers created in order to justify their actions. Despite the fact that he was raised believing the Unova legends about the Legendary Hero and Reshiram/Zekrom (as well as the legends and stories about other Unovan legendaries, such as Victini), this is one that he would have dismissed as nothing more than fantasy—human dribble designed to placate them and mute any deserved guilt they felt over the way they used and abused pokémon. The mere idea that a pokémon could experience a special form of evolution due to its bond with its trainer—the idea that this could only be brought about as a result of battle—is one that N would scorn. Even late into Black Version/Reversi he would reject this idea, because while he has slowly come to realize that there are some humans who are, perhaps, not that bad (such as Lea), and while he knows that he has a unique bond with pokémon that (in his eyes) no other human could ever claim to match, he still doesn’t see how any human could ever achieve such an emotional connection with a pokémon that it could trigger a special evolution based on that. And no, pointing out that some pokémon only evolve via happiness with their trainer would do nothing, because N would point out that such an explanation is just more human nonsense. After all, he would point out, there are wild pikachu, and pikachu are not born as pikachu, but as pichu. Therefore, there are some pichu in the wild who eventually evolve due to their own satisfaction and happiness with life.

“It isn’t happiness with you, but happiness in general that allows these pokémon to evolve. Claiming otherwise is nothing more than typical human conceit,” N would say coldly.

However, after the events of Black/Reversi (and there is quite a bit more that happens in Reversi that doesn’t happen in the game, but I can’t reveal the specifics of that for spoiler reasons), his worldview has shifted … though still not completely. When N leaves on Zekrom, it’s because he has a lot of reflection to do. Reflection on himself, on his beliefs … thoughts and feelings to sort through. He has seen now that not all humans abuse pokémon, that there are good humans out there. More importantly, he has seen that, as the cliché goes, “the road to Hell is paved with good intentions.” His intentions were good, but his actions were not. At the same time, the same could be said for Lea, and for many—most, perhaps even all—of the other humans involved, save for Ghetsis, whose intentions were selfish and disgusting. (And which left lasting scars on N, emotionally/psychologically speaking, but that’s a discussion for another time.) He has a lot to think about and work through, and he needs time to do that, so he leaves.

So that said, N at that point in his life would be curious about it. There would still be some deep-seated skepticism; N was raised on the belief that humans were cruel to pokémon, that pokémon were better off free and wild. He was essentially indoctrinated in this, and as such these beliefs are not going to be easy for him to shake. His gut reaction to anything pertaining to pokémon trainers is going to be negative. But although he would have that initial negative kick, he would do his best to swallow it down and listen/watch. He would want to see Mega Evolution for himself, would want to study the effects that it has on both pokémon and trainers. His curiosity might drive him to Kalos, to speak with Professor Sycamore to see what research has been done there. He might seek out Serena and Calem, seeing as how they’re two users of Mega Evolution that Sycamore knows, but more than likely he’d go to the Tower of Mastery to study it there. N doesn’t enjoy training pokémon, so I don’t think he’d ever want to use Mega Evolution for himself. He doesn’t like battling. But I do think that he would want to know more about it, if for no other reason than to help him along in his own thoughts about the relationships between humans and pokémon.

That said, keep in mind that while he does need to get past his idea that all humans are evil, that doesn’t mean that the school of thought he needs to work toward is “all humans are good.” There are truly despicable people out there, there are people who treat pokémon cruelly, and not all of them are obvious villains like Ghetsis. In chapter six of Reversi, N and Lea come across two ordinary trainers who torture a purrloin to death so they can put it up in YouTube (well, ViewTube in their universe) for shock value views (mirroring the type of animal cruelty that does happen in real life). Yes, Ghetsis raised N on stories of abused pokémon, but:

It was never said that those stories were lies, just that they were the only ones N was ever told/those pokémon were the only pokémon N was ever introduced to, and

N has witnessed some of this for himself

So N’s journey of reflection is not so much that he needs to shift to the extreme opposite view of what he had before, but more so that he needs to learn how to be comfortable in the grey area that actually exists. Yes, there are cruel and horrible trainers out there, but there are good and kind trainers out there as well. N needs to learn to fully understand, embrace, and accept this fact, and then he can move forward to be a true advocate for pokémon rights to create the kind of change in the world that actually does need to happen.

Thanks for asking!

[sage-nebula]

reversi + 3/5/9?

Thank you!!

3.) What’s your favorite line of narration?

Like with Whispers, this is a bit difficult because there is so much narration to parse through. But off the top of my head, I still like Blair’s introduction at the start of chapter two (which is coupled with a description of Accumula Town):

Accumula Town was the sort of town that liked to pretend that it was a city. The buildings weren’t necessarily particularly large, but they were tall; many tried to touch the sky in a way that would block out the sun, and they were packed closely together, as if by touching sides they could prevent each other from falling over. Not only were they jam-packed together, but they were jam-packed together in little clusters, which all seemed to form a ring around a central plaza. That wouldn’t have been so bad, except that all of the buildings looked roughly the same, and the only spaces to venture between them existed either in the manner of a well-paved street, or a set of stairs that compensated for a steep drop from one level to another. The only building that was set apart from the rest, in fact, was the Pokémon Center, distinguishable by its red roof. It was sitting off by its lonesome—though still right next to the plaza—and was bordered by a cluster of trees. Everything seemed to be a cluster in Accumula Town, and Blair thought that Cluster Town might have been a better name, therefore.

The point, however, was that he was lost. Every time he tried to make it to Route 1, he either ended up back at the plaza or back at Route 2. Asking people for help didn’t get him anywhere, either, but that was mostly because he was the sort of person the universe decided didn’t exist. When he tried to call out to people, they never heard him, and when he attempted to tap their shoulders, they walked right past him. It wasn’t because they were cruel people, or even particularly spiteful; it was merely that Blair blended into the scenery for just about everyone, even when he tried his level best to stand out. One could almost say that it was like he was a ghost, except that wasn’t true, because even a ghost would have attracted more attention than Blair.

There are probably better pieces of narration to be found within the fic, but I still like how I opened this with Blair being lost in Accumula Town, and his complete inability to get any real, genuine help because of how difficult of a time he has getting people’s attention. (That said, now I’d probably edit out the bit about him trying to stand out, because he doesn’t ever really try that due to how shy he is, but nonetheless.) This part in particular has sort of a glib tone to it, as if it’s poking gentle fun at Blair, and given that Blair often feels as if the universe itself has made a joke out of his entire life, I felt it fitting to introduce him in this way.

5.) What part was hardest to write? 

Either the pokémon crushing/purrloin murder scene in chapter six, or Bianca’s assault in the same chapter. Both were difficult because the first one dealt with a brutal murder of a pokémon/animal abuse, and the second one dealt with (what I felt was) a pretty graphic description of an attempted sexual assault/violence. Both were difficult due to the emotional impact and the skill needed to handle those types of scenes.

9.) Were there any alternate versions of this fic? 

Actually, yes! And quite a few, at that.

When I first sat down to do something with Black Version, I treated it much like I had the SoulSilver drabbles: It was merely supposed to be a log of my playthrough, sort of like a liveblog but in fic form. The characters still had roughly the same personalities, but not as fleshed out, and their teams were all different. Just like with SoulSilver, I originally gave Lea the same team I had, which also shifted Cheren’s starter around (though Bianca always had oshawott). Looking at my files, I still have some of those old drabbles saved, so here, have some Early Installment Weirdness:

“Pssst. Girl. Hey. Hey. Hey, girl. Pssst.” Lea looked slowly over at aman with a grizzled beard, trench coat and sunglasses, cupping one hand aroundhis mouth to call out to her. “Hey. Hey, girl. I’ve got a deal. I’ve a got adeal for you. The goods. Yeah. The goods. I’ve got them. For you.”

“Uh.” Lea looked him up and down, and while she wasn’t one for judgingothers based on their appearance, she had to admit that she really didn’t wantto know what was underneath his trench coat. “Nah, that’s cool, I think I’ll—”

“I’ve got a free Pokèmon for you.”

“… Well, what’s life without a little danger? A little risk? Allthe better, I say.” Lea went over to him, eyebrows raised. “So, what’s it gonnabe, stranger? What’cha got?”

“Monkeys.”

“… Monkeys?”

“Monkeys.”

Silence passed between them for a few moments, the stranger merelywatching her with a gap-toothed smile, before Lea cleared her throat. “So, uh .. .”

“What Pokèmon do you have? What did you start with? Grass? Water?Fire?”

“… Grass?”

“Then here.” The man reached into his trench coat without opening it,producing one Pokèball from within. “For you. Water. Panpour. Mighty fine.Monkey Pokèmon. Free.”

“… Right. Thanks.” Lea took it, staring at the Pokèballsuspiciously. “And it’s not, uh … dead or anything, right?”

“Right. Free Pokèmon. Free of charge. Free. Monkey.”

“… Right. Thanks.” Lea turned away, edging away from the man whowas still watching her with a leering smile. “So, uh, I’ll be going now …”

The man said nothing, but merely watched her as she ran off.

- -

After the Gym Battle (and after healing her Pokèmon), Lea stopped bythe Pokèmart counter in the Pokèmon Center in order to stock up on Potions andthe like. She’d heard from Bianca that Professor Juniper wanted her to help outsome woman named Fennell, but Lea was never one to quickly do what she wastold, and anyway, Potions were important, right?

Right.

So she stopped to stock up on them. The thing was …

“So, I’ve been wondering,” Lea began, sweeping the Potions off thecounter to drop haphazardly into her bag, “why are you guys in here? I mean,don’tcha want your own shop or something?”

The teenage boy working the counter shrugged, though he eyed hermethod of stowing her items with a bit of bemusement. “The Pokèmart chain wasbought out by the Pokèmon Center corporation awhile ago. Ever since then, we’vejust worked inside the Centers.”

“Really?” Lea raised her eyebrows, and the boy nodded. “Huh. But PokèmonCenters heal your Pokèmon for free, so how did they make enough money to buyout an entire line of Pokèmarts?”

“Beats me,” the boy said, shrugging. “But they did, and anyway, theymake money off item sales now, so …”

“Huh.” Lea closed her bag, twisting her lips in thought. “Weird.”

–

“I guess it’s no surprise that you’re here, eh, Cheren?” Lea said,grinning all the more at the way he scowled at her as she turned. “Always sucha studious little bookworm, right? Total school nerd alert! You’ll probablyjust spend all day in here studying and junk, won’tcha?”

“Why are you even here, Lea?” Cheren asked, sighing in exasperation. “Weall know that we’ll experience Armageddon before you crack any book that’s notfilled with comics or video game strategies.” Lea scoffed.

“Armageddon? Jeez, Cheren! Way to pick the lame movies to reference.Good job, bro.”

“Armageddon is a synonym for apocalypse.”

“Don’t see what cinnamon has to do with anything, but whatever.”

“I said syno—never mind.” Cheren reached to his belt, pulling off oneof his Pokèballs. “So long as you’re here, you might as well learn something. Let’s battle. Only this time,” he warned, eyesnarrowing behind his glasses, “let’s be careful. We don’t need this to be arepeat of what happened to your bedroom.”

“Yeah, yeah, whatever, no sweat! Chill out, Cheren, it’ll be fine.”Cheren still didn’t look completely convinced, but he maximized his Pokèballanyway, and tossed it lightly to the floor.

“Peony, battle stance.”

Not surprised to see the little fire piggy at all, Lea chose her ownPokèmon with a grin. “Let’s go, Abu!”

“… Abu?” Cheren stared at the little water monkey as it appeared,dancing around on the spot, completely oblivious to anything going around it.Lea nodded.

“Yup, Abu. See, I reference movies that aren’tlamecakes coated with lamesauce.”

“I wasn’t referencing a movie when I made my statement before. Besideswhich, that Pokèmon …” Abu kept dancing, twirling on the spot, and Leanodded, squatting down.

“Yeah, he’s a goof.” Reaching out, she tapped him lightly on the headwith one fist, finally bringing his attention to the battle before him. “But hewas free, and he’ll kick your ass. Abu, Water Gun!”

I also had a couple other actual novelizations of Reversi before this final product, I think, but I don’t have them saved on my computer anymore. Then there was that fic I started writing where Ghetsis actually succeeded, Lea was marked a wanted felon, and Unova was turned into a dystopia (and in that fic, Blair had not met the others during the journey), but that’s another story (literally!) altogether.

[sage-nebula]

What are the starters choices for your own Pokemon canon? for example for me Chimchar is always Dawn choice while Piplup is Barry and Lucas is Turtwig.

We have the same opinion on the Sinnoh starters! I’ll list them out by region, though.

KANTO -

Red: Red received two starters: A bulbasaur he named BB, and a pikachu he named PK. The reasoning for this was because Red had wandered over to the tall grass leading out of Pallet upon seeing PK, and he and PK had a brief bonding moment before Professor Oak showed up. Professor Oak showing up spooked PK, who then attacked them, which lead to Oak capturing him. Although Professor Oak had only planned on giving Red his bulbasaur, PK was already showing fussiness when it came to staying in a pokéball and seemed to hold preference toward Red, so Oak gave him both starter pokémon as a result.

Green: Green also received two starters: A squirtle and an eevee. The reasoning for this is because he, as might be expected, pitched a fit when he saw that Red was getting two starter pokémon and demanded that he be given two starter pokémon as well. Eevee was the only other pokémon that Professor Oak had on hand, and so Green was given that (which he bragged was objectively better than a pikachu given that eevee could evolve into several different pokémon depending on how it was raised) as well as his pick of squirtle. Green did not name either of his pokémon (or any of the pokémon to come later) because his father deemed naming pokémon to be something girls would do/a waste of time, and at the time Green was very bent on living up to his father’s expectations. He would cease caring about that by the time his journey was through.

Leaf: Leaf received only one starter, and that starter was a charmander that she named Efreet. She did think it was pretty unfair how both Red and Green were getting two starter pokémon while she only got the one, and Professor Oak did apologize for this (and felt somewhat wary of the idea that she might throw a tantrum like his grandson did), but in the end Leaf just said that, well, she didn’t need a handicap like the boys did; she and Efreet would get on just fine by themselves. To say that Professor Oak was relieved is something of an understatement.

JOHTO -

Lyra: Lyra received a cyndaquil as her starter pokémon, which she named Byrnison. Lyra, as you probably known, was given Byrnison simply because she went to go run an errand for Professor Elm and needed a pokémon to protect her, but she and Byrnison bonded pretty quickly, and as a result she was allowed to keep him.

Ethan: Ethan did not have one of the traditional starters. Instead, his starter pokémon was a marill he named Mari, whom he hatched from an egg he received from Professor Elm prior to Lyra receiving her starter (so, technically an azurill, but she evolved pretty quickly).  Ethan was given Mari’s egg because Professor Elm not only felt bad about Ethan’s family situation/life, but also because he figured having a pokémon could help Ethan mature and grow. In the end, honestly, Professor Elm was not wrong.

Will (Johto Rival): Will stole a totodile from Professor Elm’s lab right around the time Lyra started her journey. While his pokémon did not initially receive nicknames, much later in his career he ended up naming his feraligatr Gator.

HOENN -

Brendan: Brendan’s starter pokémon was chosen at random out of Professor Birch’s bag when Professor Birch needed someone to defend him from a wild poochyena, and that pokémon happened to be a mudkip which Brendan ended up naming Moby Dick (Moby for short). Moby and Brendan have a very vitriolic relationship, but they do care for each other … for the most part.

May: May’s starter pokémon was a treecko, whom she named Liz. Liz actually never evolves past the treecko stage, purely because she likes riding around on May’s head or shoulders (and May likes that as well, so hey, it works).

SINNOH -

Dawn: Dawn ends up with a chimchar that she names Laurent. I say “ends up with” because both turtwig and piplup were chosen before she got to pick, and truthfully, piplup probably would have been her first choice. However, Laurent’s work ethic matches Dawn’s own, and so in the end she’s not unhappy at all. She quite likes Laurent, and he likes her in turn.

Lucas: Lucas, as Rowen’s assistant, got to pick his pokémon first, and he picked a turtwig that named Tort, purely because he knew that turtwig would eventually evolve into torterra, and knew that torterra would be excellent for taking naps on. No joke, Lucas’ entire team is based around how easily each pokémon can either assist him in napping, or join him in naps, and he will often just sleep on Tort’s back while Tort wanders around Sinnoh.

Barry: Barry, as could be gathered, chose piplup, and named the poor thing Pengzilla. Truth be told, though, Pengzilla doesn’t mind so much, because Barry has assured him that he is fifty thousand feet tall and wears sixty billion pounds, and therefore—despite Pengzilla’s actual size—Pengzilla feels that he lives up to his name quite nicely.

UNOVA -

Lea: Lea chose tepig, and she named him Ganon when she realized that he was a fire piggy that would eventually grow into a giant fire piggy, just like how Ganon, the great King of Evil from the Legend of Zelda series, sometimes transformed into a giant fire piggy himself. Also, she wanted to be able to sometimes shout, “Go, fire piggy!” when sending him into battle, so there was that.

Bianca: Bianca chose oshawott and named him Wotter, because she felt that he was just the most darling little thing. (But that said, she holds that opinion about most of her pokémon, so.) Similarly, she felt that the most darling little pokémon should have the most darling little name, and as such … Wotter.

Cheren: As you could guess, Cheren ended up with snivy, which was fine because that was honestly what he wanted anyway. (See? No stepping on toes with the Nuvema Trio.) He named her Nagini.

Blair: Blair was not part of the Nuvema Trio, but he started at around the same time they did, and ended up choosing oshawott from the choices Professor Junipter offered him. Like the others, he gave his a nickname, and the nickname he chose for his oshawott was Saphir.

Nate: Nate is Lea’s little cousin and started his journey two years after she started hers (and as such is the male trainer from Black 2, if that wasn’t obvious), and he didn’t actually get a traditional starter. He was offered a traditional starter by Professor Juniper (well, actually by Bianca, who was doing it on behalf of Professor Juniper), but things happened and he ended up asking (well, “begging” in that way he does) if he could have a golett that he found instead. Bianca’s reaction was something along the lines of, “Um, well, I guess if you really want—?” and Nate took that as a yes before Bianca could say anything more. His golett, for the record, is named Iron Giant, or just Giant for short.

Rosa: Rosa (the female protagonist from Black 2) also doesn’t have a traditional starter, though the reason for this is that she comes from a very poor family, and as such could never afford the classes that would net her a Trainer’s License (ergo, she trains illegally). Instead, her mother saved up a ton of money in order to buy an ultra ball, which she gave to Rosa so she could capture a starter of her own and then go out and earn some money as a trainer to help out the family. Rosa captured a ditto she found lurking beneath her family’s mobile home, which she named Fortune, since, you know … that’s what she was hoping to earn as a trainer.

Hugh: My Hugh is vastly different from Game Freak’s Hugh (then again, most of my characters are, haha), and so his starter is also not a traditional Unova starter. Instead, because Hugh comes from a place of immense financial privilege, his starter pokémon is an eevee, albeit one that he actually captured himself in the Castelia City garden where they are known to frolic. (The “immense privilege” comes into play here because he had the money to purchase the ultra balls needed to capture one, as well as the limousine driver to take him there so he could do it.) Truth be told, his parents believe that he is wasting his time in being a trainer when they could buy him literally any certification he wants, as well as when they want him to inherit the company, but Hugh wants to legitimately train pokémon to prove that he can. As such, he refused their offers of having a starter pokémon purchased by them, and went out to catch one himself. You know, it’s the little things.

You’ll find out more about Nate, Rosa, and Hugh should I ever finish Reversi and get on to writing the sequel.

KALOS -

Serena: Serena chose fennekin, because she felt that delphox looked like the most commanding and regal of the three final evolutions of the Kalos starters (so, more commanding and regal than either greninja or especially chesnaught). She named her fennekin Elizabeth.

Calem: Calem chose froakie, because he felt that greninja would be the strongest final evolution of the starters. He named his froakie Deluge.

And of course, we know nothing of the Alola trainers yet, so we’ll just have to wait and see on that. =) Thanks for asking!