#while it took kalos four generations to get a third one

[tenshiharmonia]

Since it's (finally) Zygarde's time to shine, I must say, I'm quite surprised that it never became a trend among poké-fanartists to imagine new forms for the big hexagon guy. I mean, we already have 10, 50 and 100%, but that still leaves ninety-seven levels unaccounted for (ninety-six if you consider an individual cell or core to be 1%, but this one is debatable). What would a 25% forme look like ? Or 42% ? Or 80 ? Or 69 ? :3 Really, as far as Pokémon go, Zygarde's got such a fun and unique concept ; I'd think people would have been more inclined to toy with it…

[sleeppaw]

The Pokemon Timeline theories

Generation 1 takes place at the same time as Generation 3, then three years passes; in Johto, a boy or girl is starting their Pokemon Journey; halfway on their journey, they capture the Red Gyrados. The report on the Red Gyrados appears on TV Screens in Sinnoh, thus kicking off Lucas/Dawn’s journey. Meanwhile, the Trainer who started their journey in Johto have travelled to Kanto, where some things have changed in three years: Koga has taken a spot in the Elite Four, so his daughter Janine is now in charge of the Gym; Blue, the Rival of Red three years earlier is now a Gym Leader. Eventually, after beating the Kanto Gym Leaders the Johto Trainer battles Red atop Mt. Silver. The Battle Frontier is opened in Johto and Sinnoh, and a teenage girl named Caitlin is one of the Heads. However, she leaves the battling duties to her butler. Many years later, Caitlin leaves the Battle Frontier to take up a spot in Unova’s Elite Four. Sometime after that, Hilbert/Hilda, Cheren and Bianca is starting out on their journeys across Unova; on the way, they encounter N and Team Plasma. Alder, the Unova Champion, becomes a mentor to Hilbert/Hilda and Cheren. So anyway, after Team Plasma is defeated, N decides to leave Unova; Hilbert/Hilda meets Looker, who is investigating the Seven Sages. After the Seven Sages are taken into Looker’s custody, Looker tells Hilbert/Hilda to look for N, and so they leave Unova. Two years later, Cheren becomes a Gym Leader while Bianca decides to become an assistant to Professor Juniper. A boy named Hugh is determined to find his sister’s Purrloin; at the same time Bianca is giving one of the Starters to a boy or girl in Aspertia City. A series of events which ends with N’s return and the Battle against Champion Iris is what follows; The Pokemon World Tournament is opened, against the then-known Pokemon World’s top Trainers. At the same time, a new discovery is made; The Fairy Type, in the Kalos region. A group of friends start their journeys through Kalos, fighting the Gym Leaders and Team Flare befre Calem/Serena fights against the League. After their victory, a parade is held and Calem/Serena meets the mysterious AZ, the ancient King of the region. After a battle, AZ is reunited with his Florette and they vanish. Soon after, Sina and Dexio leaves for Alola; at the same time, a boy named Gladion has stolen a Pokemon from The Aether Foundation and joins Team Skull. Twenty-one months later, a girl named Lillie steals a Cosmog from the Aether Foundation, and escapes via Teleport; she is taken in by Professor Kukui. Three months later, a Trainer from Kanto has moved to Alola with their family; the mother is half-Alolan, so she wants her kid to experience the Trials. The Trainer meets Hau, and they meet Lillie and Nebby. They then takes part in the Trials; during the Trials, Kukui reveals to the player that he is setting up a “Pokemon League for those who passes the Trials”. The player and Hau travels to the Aether Foundation where Lusamine, President of the Foundation, reveals an Ultra Beast; Nilhego. She then vanishes with Nilhego and the Trials resume. Lillie gains confidence, and after the player beats the Trials, decides to go and retrieve her mother. Nebby evolves into the Legendary, Solgaleo or Lunala, and the Player and Lillie goes into the Ultra World. They see Guzma there, and manages to retrieve both Lusamine and Guzma. Ater the Player becomes Champion, a party is held and the Player and Lillie sneaks off to find Tapu Koko; the Player battles and catches it, and return to the party. The next day, Lillie decides to travel to Kanto to try and find a way to remove Nilhego’s venom from Lusamine, and at the same time, become a Trainer. Soon after, Looker recruits the Player to help retrieve the Ultra Beasts with Annabel, who came from a different Universe. Sometime after the Ultra Beasts, the Aether Foundation is raided by an unknown third-party. The unknown person stole the blueprints for Type:Null and a Beast Ball and flee to Galar. The Beast Ball is hidden in Stow-On-Side while a fourth Type:Null is created by Marcos Cosmos. Several years later, Victor/Gloria and Hop are Endorsed by Leon, to take on the Gym Challenge; on the journey, the Player meets Marnie, a girl from a decaying town who is hoping to become the next Champion, and Bede, a boy who has been endorsed by Chairman Rose. During the course of the story Bede loses his endorsement after destroying a landmark, and ends up being taken in by Opal. By the time the player reaches the Semi Finals there are very few people left. After beating Marnie and Hop the player then faces the Gym Leaders before facing Leon. Before the battle Chairman Rose announces that he has started “The Darkest Day” in order to avert an energy crisis in a thousand years. After going to the Energy Plant the Player and Hop arrive just in time to see Leon attempting to catch Eternatus, only for the Champion to fail. With Leon out, it’s up to the Player and Hop to stop Eternatus; aided by the Wolves, the Player and Hop successfully managed to stop Eternatus. A few days later, the Player manages to defeat Leon. Sometime later, the new Champion has to deal with a crisis in the region. After resolving the crisis Hop announces that he is going to study under Professor Sonia. The player then travels to the Isle of Armor and then Crown Tundra. Months later and the Galarian Star Tournament is set up.

My theory: Red/Green/Ruby/Sapphire-3 years-Gold/Silver/Diamond/Pearl-13 years-Black/White-2 years-Black2/White2/X/Y-3 years-Sun/Moon-5 years-Sword/Shield.

We do know that Generations 1 and 3 games takes place at the same time

Generations 2 and 4 takes place three years after (Due to the mention of the Red Gyrados in Johto and the hope that the cameraman can get a glimpse of it)

Black and White takes place around 13 years after the events of Generations 2 and 4 (Caitlin is now older, Darach my have either retired or died as in the Unova games, Caitlin refers to him in past tense, Cynthia mentions Lucas/Dawn)

Black and White 2 takes place two years after that (Cheren is now a Gym Leader, Bianca is now an assistant to Professor Juniper, Hilbert/Hilda has been gone for two years; Brycen, Leonra and the Stiration Triplets have stood down as Gym Leaders, Alder is retired and Iris is now the Champion)

X and Y takes place at the same time as Black2/White2 (One person in Courmaine City mentions Team Plasma, someone on Route 10 mentions Colress; the only older character to appear is Looker, however the latter is justified due to the other characters that could have appeared taking part in the Pokemon World Tournament)

Sun and Moon take place two years after that (Sina and Dexio mentions the “Five Heroes who saved Kalos”, Grimsley have a different design while Red and Blue appear a lot older; Cynthia and Wally are also older)

Sword and Shield takes place some five years after that (The Aether Foundation is mentioned while Rotom can inhabit PC’s; another theory is the time it takes between Marcos Cosmos’ raid on the Aether Foundation and the creation of a fourth Type:Null. As seen in the files on the Beast Killer Project in Sun and Moon, it took a long time between the budget for the project and the time it took to create the three Type:Null in Alola. We do know Type:Null was created before Pokemon X and Y as Gladion stealing his Type:Null at the same time the events of Black2/White2/X/Y takes place. In real life, it can take between 5-10 years for advanced projects to reach fruitition. Plus the fact none of the older characters are seen or even mentioned bar Kurt makes me believe that some of the characters from Gens 1 to 7 may have either passed away or retired from Pokemon battling.)

[gingermintpepper]

The Elite Four and the 8th Gym Leader

Something I only really noticed now despite it really being a running theme in Pokemon is the strength of the eight Gym Leader in relation to the League. 

We see in Pokemon Origins that Gym Challengers are encouraged to challenge the Gyms in any order and that Gym Leaders have teams of varying strength to cater to the badges and approximate strength of their challengers but the one thing’s that’s been consistent across almost every region is the fact that the eighth Gym Leader is someone of Champion Trainer Caliber--often times proven to be stronger than multiple Elite Four members. And I honestly don’t know why? 

Don’t believe me? In Kanto, the eighth Gym Leader is Giovanni--a man who has the entire region in his pocket what with Team Rocket’s mafia-like hold on things like Silph and the Game Corner and someone who was undeniably powerful; brazen enough to head the creation of the ultimate battle oriented Pokemon and strong-willed enough to actually control Mewtwo for a while. When you bring him down, Green takes his spot at Viridian even though we know Green’s strong enough to be the new Champion. He beat Lance and the League before Red and he’s still a Champion Class trainer now. But he doesn’t take up a spot at the League like he wanted all that time ago. Is it because he’s grown past his petty one-up complex with Red? We never find out, but it doesn’t change the fact that a Champion class trainer is sitting in eighth Gym Leader’s seat when he could’ve easily snagged a League chair. Alright, one time’s not to bad. 

In Johto, Claire’s the eighth Gym Leader and, not only is she second only to Lance in their family of Dragon Tamers, the elder says that she could surpass him if she just had a better attitude. If that doesn’t make her at least League class then I don’t know what does. 

Hoenn’s the first region where the eighth Gym Leader outright becomes Champion eventually, though it’s not through usurping but rather through request. Wallace and Steven have a great relationship all throughout R/S/E and it’s even better fleshed out in ORAS but when Steven grows tired of being stuck up on Ever Grande, he doesn’t ask any of the E4 to cover for him. Drake’s right there and he’s bound to have tons of experience and strength, not to mention the respect of the other League trainers but, nope, he asks that Wallace hold on to his title and take up his seat on Ever Grande for him while he does some rock finding. Wallace is already widely established as a powerful Water type Pokemon Master but this more or less means that Wallace was always a Champion class trainer and had simply inherited the Gym from Juan because “well, I can still do contests as a Gym Leader”. Not to mention, in ORAS Wallace is revealed to be a guardian and gatekeeper for the Cave of Origin and Sky Pillar. This guy’s got mad power and skill, but he’s most often found chilling in Sootopolis when he’s more than powerful enough to rival--if not outright surpass--Steven in strength. 

Sinnoh is wild. Volkner challenges the Elite Four out of sheer boredom as the eighth Gym Leader. I don’t know if he’s on Cynthia’s level (and let’s be honest, that’s a bit ludicrous to think about) but, like Claire, he’s definitely more than powerful enough to be in the Elite Four. Like Wallace and Steven, Volkner has an excellent relationship with his best friend Flint who’s third in the lineup of the Sinnoh Elite Four and it’s highly implicated that Flint and Volkner are, not only of equivalent strength, but very used to working and training together as seen by their Double Battle techniques and the fact that Volkner turns down battles with Flint when he’s bored because he knows Flints techniques too well. 

Again in Unova, Iris is your eighth Gym Leader in White but is outright the Champion in both Black 2 and White 2. I have no idea if she was always comparable in strength to Alder, we don’t get to see Alder battle at all really in the main stories but in both B/W and B2/W2 Iris is active in the region and she takes care of people. 

And that’s another thing actually! All of these trainers? These eighth Gym Leaders? Not only have they all been super powerful and respected as trainers, they’re also incredibly important people to their regions and communities as a whole. Green keeps an eye on things from Viridian, takes the time to train up new trainers so another Rocket fiasco doesn’t happen and in HGSS he’s investigating things on Cinnabar after the eruption. People speak highly of him and of course they would--this is the kid that helped Red save Kanto from Team Rocket. Claire’s the next head of her clan--Lance is busy with League stuff so it falls to her which is why the Elder pushes her so hard. I’ve already talked ad nauseum at how Wallace is more or less Hoenn’s poster boy--a master of contests, of battles, gatekeeper and lorekeeper of important places to the Continental Trio and of water type Pokemon, something that couldn’t represent Hoenn better what with them being like 70% water. Volkner’s in charge of the lighthouse, an architect, technician and skilled craftsman all in one. This bastard took out the streets of Sunyshore and replaced them with solar panels. Who the fuck?? He’s easily a certifiable genius with energy and that sort of proficiency just sorta naturally bleeds into his battling. It’s why he gets bored so easily. 

Kalos is iffy--we don’t know anything about Wulfric and Alola doesn’t really have a League, but Hapu is chosen by the Tapus which I suppose counts for something. 

In Galar things are back to form with Raihan and Leon’s legendary one-sided rivalry and the fact that it’s outright stated that  Raihan is more than Champion class--all he’d need to do is fight a Champion that’s not Leon-- but he won’t out of sheer stubbornness. So like, what’s the point? Why are the Eighth Gym Leaders some of the strongest in the region without having actual seats on the League proper? 

Is it a bureaucracy thing? Is it a security thing? The strongest trainers can’t all be in the League because generally speaking the Pokemon  League is usually pretty far removed from the action on the ground and that way there’s always a powerful Champion or thereabout-class trainer ready to respond when the Elite Four can’t come and intervene? Pokemon is confirmed to be a universe in which many, many wars have taken place; maybe it’s a left over from that era where first responders meant the difference between life and death.  

I have no idea what the connection is and I’ve been agonizing over it for ages heLP--

[letswritefanfiction]

Mistakes Were Made

A  series of disconnected oneshots that poke fun at the fandom hivemind,  canon, and past!me. I’m taking things that I’ve either observed or done  myself and reframing them in parody where hopefully we can just all have  some low stakes fun and, at best, maybe learn something about our  favorite characters and writing.

Read on ffnet here.

Chapter Four- Wait, How Did We Meet Again?

It was only natural that the Cerulean Gym became the hangout place for all the PokéGirls. First of all, Misty's sisters provided the house with everything one could possibly need for a girly sleepover. Nail polish, gorgeous clothes, lots of makeup, face masks, etc. Secondly, one could presume it was a large space. Certainly it looked that way from the outside, especially after the renovation it must have gotten before Sun and Moon. Similarly, one could only assume that Misty and her sisters lived there, since they're never shown to reside anywhere else. Then there was the central location. Of course, no one has a map of all the anime regions, but since Ash gets to all of them via Kanto��most on foot to boot—we can at least pretend that Kanto is in the middle of all the action.

And, thanks to Misty's dead, missing, or otherwise absent parents—and her aloof sisters—there was no supervision to concern themselves with!

For all of those arbitrary and possibly made up—not to mention rarely canonical—reasons, Misty, May, Dawn, Iris, Serena, Bonnie, Lillie, Lana, and Mallow found themselves sprawled all over Misty's room. Let's say it's a large room, since according to Showdown in Dark City owning Gyms is a good way to make money despite no evidence proving this.

Lana was eyeing all of the Water Pokémon paraphernalia Misty had while Lillie was perusing Misty's closet—Misty, after all, didn't have a mother to force her into clothing that makes her look like a non-Pokémon from another dimension. It was pretty exciting. Dawn and May were gossiping about coordinating while Mallow was trying—and failing—to explain bread baking to Misty. Serena, meanwhile, was dabbing a light amount of makeup on Bonnie's face. The girl was way too young for it, but it was all in good fun, so Serena couldn't see the problem with doing it in the context of a sleepover.

Only Iris was alone. Not only because she didn't have much of an interest in nail polish or makeup, but because…well, she was confused. She kept on glancing at Dawn—and everyone else—trying to gauge if she was the only one who felt out of place in the situation. But if anyone else felt the way she did, they weren't showing it. Finally, in the din of the room, she cleared her throat to speak up.

She said something, but it was lost in the noise of the girls' chattering. She tried again, a little louder, but again, it was swallowed up like a lone voice in a cafeteria. This time, however, Dawn looked over at her and asked, "Did you say something, Iris?"

She said it just loud enough for the room to quiet by half. Taking that as her cue, Iris said, for a third time, "I'm sorry, but just who are all of you?"

Dawn blinked, not sure what her friend was talking about. "Well, I'm Dawn. We met in Unova, remember?"

"No, I know you!" Iris said sharply, not able to hide her frustration any longer. "But who are the rest of you? Whose house is this?"

By then, everyone had hushed and was staring at Iris. They seemed alarmed by her questions and that caused Iris to recoil a bit.

"Well…this is my house," Misty said. "But I'm not sure about the other part. We're all best friends. We all met through Ash."

"Okay," Iris said, almost eagerly, having found something to cling onto. "But how did you guys meet?"

Misty, having accidentally become spokeswoman for the room, took it upon herself to continue. "Uh, well, I met Mallow, Lana, and Lillie in the airport when they came to visit Kanto. And May and I met in Hoenn for the Togepi Festival. And then…"

Misty looked between Dawn, then Iris, then Serena and Bonnie. Her brows furrowed as the words left her. She was left with nothing more to say than, "I…I don't remember."

"Did Ash introduce us?" Iris insisted.

Misty shook her head slowly. "I don't think so. He's not very good at that. I mean, Ash is only indirectly responsible for me meeting any of the rest of you."

"Do we have anything in common?" Iris asked, now on something of a roll.

"Of course we do!" Dawn answered. "We're all great friends with Ash. We all love Pokémon. We've all gone on journeys—"

"Technically we haven't," Lillie interjected in a meek voice. "We do travel occasionally, but I live in my mother's house."

"And she has a butler who drives her everywhere," Lana added.

Iris blinked. "Yeah, that's not so relatable to me."

"Well, we all have careers and aspirations in Pokémon, right?" May asked. "Misty's a Gym Leader and Dawn and I are coordinators…"

"I wanna be a Dragon Master," Iris agreed.

"I've been making a name for myself in Pokémon Showcases," Serena offered humbly. "And Bonnie—"

"I can speak for myself!" Bonnie said. "I wanna be a Pokémon Master, just like Ash!"

"I hope you mean what Ash wants and not what Ash is," Misty mumbled.

"I want to be a Water Type Trainer like Misty," Lana added.

"And I suppose I've been toying with the idea of being a Pokémon researcher," said Lillie.

Mallow was the holdout. She looked awkwardly at the other girls and said, "I think I just want to work at the restaurant with my dad. I mean, my Pokémon work there too and I want to serve to Pokémon customers but…it's just a restaurant."

Her comment was met with silence. Silence which Iris was quick to interrupt. "So. What I'm hearing is that we don't necessarily have a lot in common. I mean, I'm sorry…" she gestured towards Serena, whose eyes grew wide with having been singled out, "but I've never even heard of Pokémon Showcases. That, combined with the fact that I have no idea how I ended up in the same room as any of you, makes me a little hesitant to call you my best friends. My best friends are Ash and Cilan, and Dawn is an acquaintance. The rest of you are strangers."

Once again, the room was thick with silence. This one, profoundly awkward. Silence was not a thing meant to happen at slumber parties. If there was a lull in the conversation, put on a rom-com. If people started ignoring the rom-com, throw on some throwback music. If that failed, take it upon yourself to prank call any one of Misty's sisters. Apparently a lot of unknown numbers were in this room, ready to be utilized for prank calls. However, none of that happened.

"Well, that sure took the fun out of everything," Bonnie pouted.

"It's okay, Bonnie," Serena comforted. "She's probably right. Maybe we should both go home."

"To Kalos?"

Serena shrugged. Just as she was about to stand up to leave, Misty said, "No, that's ridiculous. The least we can do is stay here and get to know each other. We're all friends with Ash and that's enough in common for me. I trust his taste in friends."

"Me too," Dawn said decidedly.

"That's fine with me," Iris said, surprising everyone. "You're just not my best friends."

Moral: Um, sudden endings are off-putting? Sorry, it seemed as good a place to end it as any.

Real Moral: Most of these characters don't know each other. I've read a lot of stories where Misty, May, and Dawn are all best friends, but Misty and Dawn have never met in canon. And there's never any explanation for this. As Misty said in this story, I don't trust Ash to have done a thoughtful introduction between any of these characters. I would buy that May would introduce Dawn and Misty but when? Why? Where? These are good questions to consider when putting these characters in a story together.

Exception: Really, there are lots. I've certainly done this (the chapter "Effeminize" in my Alphabet Challenge comes to mind) and I'd say being a oneshot is the most common exception. The truth is that not every oneshot is going to have the space for this kind of exposition or back story. But, generally, if you can avoid being arbitrary with this kind of thing (or anything) the better your story will be. Specificity is almost always the way to go. But in a multi-chap there's really no excuse for not fleshing this out.

Secondary (Tertiary?) Moral: Yes! A second one! Apologies for this level of preachiness. The second moral is that even if these characters have been introduced, they are unlikely to be best friends. Take into account how much time they've spent together and what they have in common. There might be less there than you'd think. Example: Misty has a real friendship with Lana because they have so much in common, but they're still not best friends like her and Ash or Brock because they haven't spent much time together. She and Tracey spent a lot of time together, but they don't seem to have too much in common, so they're close, but probably not best friends.

Exception: A character who doesn't understand emotional boundaries? I don't know.

[bi-antagonist]

20 Years

 I found this at the far end of one of my Purple Tint drafts and decided to share it with you all. I don’t remember exactly why I wrote this chronological thing, but it looks really neat so... enjoy, I guess.

Title: 20 Years

Word Count: 1617

Pairing: Namelessshipping (Red/Green)

When he's four he makes the most unemotional kid at kindergarten cry. He managed to truly upset a child that never spoke, never cried, never screamed. His teacher was yelling at him for it, but he only remembered reaching out in guilt and offering the kid his expensive and fluffy Poliwag doll. The tears stopped as the boy looked up at him, his body drowned on a large, ridiculous dark blue overall, which fitted awkwardly over a red shirt and Meowth socks. He took the pokemon doll in his tiny hands and smiled. Blue found himself grinning, too.

 When he's five, he and Red are running through gramps’ lab, tripping on the carpets and making a mess in the computer room. Gramps gave them the lecture of their lives, but it didn't matter. Green had won the race, so now Red had to share his candy with him.

 When he's six he's coming back from school, Red and Daisy waiting for him with a warm taiyaki. Green takes it and dramatically retells his day, focussing more on the pokemon lessons than the boring numbers his teacher forced him to memorize, or the basic hiragana he already knew long before joining first grade. Red loved pokemon, so even though his sister could care less about Bulbasaur’s evolutionary line, Green kept going and retelling every detail he could remember with his serious grown-up voice.

 When he's seven, he's walking hand in hand with his best friend, a boy much shorter than him whose nerves made his hands tremble. They cross the road as Green tries to cheer Red up for his first day of school. It's his duty to do so, after all. Red's anxiety becomes curiosity when Green talks about Miss Honda's Meowth, the boy staring at him with big puppy eyes and a sulky pout. Green laughs at him, receiving a well-aimed kick in the shin.

 When he's eight, he takes Red to the Cerulean Aquarium. Both of them scream and run around in pure bliss, gramps explaining each pokemon and from what region they are with a smile. Red and Green press their faces against the glass and gape, blue light casting on the walls and reflecting on each water type like neon. On their way home, gramps puts him on his shoulders as Red walks by their side, a large Horsea plush between his arms.

 When he's nine, he's making a promise under the covers in the middle of the night, a lantern casting light on the walls of their small shelter. He and Red promise to never leave each other, no matter what, before breaking in a fit of laugher. Daisy screams at them from the other room. Green tells her off and reaches for his cards, silently asking for a game. Red nods.

 When he's ten, he's lost. He goes to fifth grade, unsure on what to do. Red proclaims he'll become champion, much to gramps delight. Green frowns. If Red wanted to be a champion, then so did he. That made them rivals. Green never went to a sleepover with him again.

 When he's eleven, he starts his journey. He trains his pokemon hard and attacks fast, leaving his mark on the world. Everyone knows him, everyone praises him for his talent, and most despise him for his loud mouth. However, it's not enough, it will never be enough. Red always wins, his enemy always wins. And gramps seems happy with it, no longer calling Green every week to know how he's doing.

 When he's twelve he becomes the youngest champion, receiving the title directly from his childhood idol, Lance. It doesn't last long. Red comes and takes, not even Green’s dignity escaping his dirty hands. Green falls on the empty hall in a voiceless cry, the world shattering around him. Gramps doesn't give him a ride home, too busy with his favourite grandson.

 When he's thirteen he's actually screaming, voice raw as tears pour from his eyes. He grabs Red by the jacket and keeps on jabbing out each angry word, shaking the body in front of him till his fingers go numb. Red's eyes are wide, his lips parted as he takes it without fight. Green punches him for it, the boy falling on the dirt as a purple mark stretched across his face. For the second time, Green makes Red cry.

 When he's fourteen he becomes a gym leader, Lance handing him the title. Red is long gone, off into some mountain far away from him. Gramps doesn't speak much, safe from the occasional pokemon report. Viridian is distracting enough.

 When he's fifteen, he realizes how dull life is when you're at the top. There's no challenge, no adrenaline, no nothing. Only a cocky mask to cover how bored you actually are with each passing battle. At least Leaf and Misty were fun to argue with. He wonders if Red feels the same hole in his chest as well.

 When he's sixteen, a boy walks into his life like a tornado. He reminds him of a distant friend, safe from his obnoxious personality. The boy challenges him every week. It makes Green feel alive for the first time in a while. Ethan becomes a constant afterwards, always there to both piss him off and cheer him up. Green finds himself calling the boy and rambling each time he feels off. Ethan never judges him for it, taking each word with a nod and an invite do the fighting dojo.

 When he's seventeen, reality hits him like a slap. Ethan defeats Red, making the guy enter his life once more. Each night is plagued with thoughts about how he's doing, if he's okay, if he's mad. Green feels his heart clutching each time, a dreadful energy flushing through his veins. On the same year, Daisy leaves for Unova in her honeymoon. On the same year, Ethan returns to Johto. Not much later, all magazines are talking about his apparent interest in men. Green wants to say he doesn't care, but the way he reacts when people name call him out on the fame check says otherwise. At least gramps doesn't seem to care.

 When he's eighteen, he takes a trip to Kalos. Lance says he needs to take a break, and Leaf offers to take the gym for as long as he's gone. Green takes the chance to enrol in some pokemon genetics class, ending up staying a year in the region. It feels as if a weight was slowly being lifted from his shoulders. He wonders if Red needs that too.

 When he's nineteen, he gives up on pretending he doesn't care. He marches up Mount Silver, a testament on his tongue, only to have all words knocked from him when he sees him. Red looks equally as shocked, dropping whatever he was doing to stare at Green. His hair is longer, he’s taller than Green ever was, he’s broader, he is... He is Red. Instead of saying ‘I missed you’, Green runs up to him and punches his shoulder, going into a shouting spree again. Red doesn't look as scared this time, only re-throwing the punch before hugging him tightly.

When he's twenty he takes Red to Unova. They battle, but most importantly, they explore. They walk arm in arm through the streets, Green filling up the silence as Red looks around. The air is cold, so they press against each other, grinning from ear to ear. It’s still rough, but at least it’s something.

 When he's twenty one, they kiss for the first time. It's cut short when Silver screams, Ethan taking a picture of them with a grin plastered on his lips. Red hides his face with his cap as Green chases the brat around the apartment, breaking a vase along the way. A week later, gramps and Daisy come to congratulate them. The media doesn't talk about anything else for a month. Somewhat, Green couldn’t be happier. He traces invisible patterns on Red’s chest before drifting off, his room not feeling as empty and cold as it used to.

When he's twenty two, he and Red move into a new apartment on the far end of the Viridian City. It's calmer, but still close to everything. He has a warm bed to greet him each night, and a person to talk to about his generally boring days at the gym. At night, they watch unrealistic soap operas as Pikachu and Eevee nap on their laps, the occasional laugh filling the air.

 When he's twenty three, he goes to Alola with him. The sun is hot on his skin, his throat is always dry, and not even the local fruity drinks manage to cool his stomach. He drags his feet through the sand as the sun sets, tired from a day of multi-battling. Red grabs his hand with a lazy smile and kisses his forehead. Green feels like it's time. He makes Red cry one third time as he gets on knee, the words 'marry me' melting together after a string of sappy and honest compliments. 

 When he's twenty four, they get married. It's nothing big, only family and a few close friends sharing the moment and smiling on each photo. Ethan spills champagne all over the wedding cake as Leaf slips and tears part of her dress, gramps almost choking on his laugh. Daisy catches everything on camera, even the giddy smiles and tiny kisses Green and Red share when they think no one is looking.

 He doesn't know what happens at twenty five, or afterwards for the matter. He just hopes he never forgets the promise he made when he was nine years old.

[j-e-green-blog]

The Demon Inheritance (5)

F I V E

In the middle of the night, I noticed that the strange dreams began to take a more lucid turn. They were frighteningly real before, but I felt more in the skin of the people I dreamed of, if that made sense. I dreamed of being Ebony once more, and instead of it having anything to do with Salt, she fought someone whom she called a "Dark general”. That dream faded as soon as my eyes opened. I woke in the midst of that dream, and glanced over. I had Dillan’s books collected to the side of my bed, neatly propped against the mattress, waiting to be read. The notebooks had paper within the metal spiral, and were very thin, suggesting he had torn a lot of paper out of it. I picked up book two by random and opened to another randomly selected page. I have come to the conclusion Emma Whitestone is so attractive to humans because she is a succubus. The handwriting was unique, messy, and thinning on the edges. Definately that of a teenage boy. I wrinkled my brow in confusion, not a bit amused. I set that book down and, in the dark, went for book one. I used my air to flip on the lightswitch, and opened it up the the first page, not including the title page. Everyone suffers it differently. Some are cut off from reality in the midst of beginning again. Some experience great physical and mental pain until the day they begin again. Some wait to suffer until after they begin. This caught my interest. There is a transitions occurring there. Imagine: Your whole life you were human, and then you wake up as something else with the fate of existence on your shoulders. This is the way I suffered. I tarnished like metal under the stress of what I could barely believe was real. And what had triggered it? Of course, it was my bloodline. I was found by my Apotropaic, Carter Vurandoes. He came to Earth in a vessel, looking for me, the Vurandoes prophet of darkness. So the tacosexual boy could be serious if he wanted to! To understand some of these things, Emma Whitestone, you should begin reading information at the second book while following book one. I was already used to the fact that these books had been addressed to me. They were written in pen. The ink, at the time of the party, had been able to smear. It suggested Dillan had gone back in older pages to write to me directly, and left the books where he knew I’d snoop. At this point in time, I didn’t imagine myself as ‘crazy’, either. After all, other people experienced the weird daydreams and such. Isn’t that what Dillan had claimed in the first passage? I leaned over and picked up book two. EXTANT LIST Murondoes, Angels - Nahara Claire (Light) Minium, Faeries - Unknown (Fire) Kalos, Demons - Emma Whitestone (Wind) I stiffened at the words sprawled open to my eyes. Dillan knew about my air. And If I wasn’t mistaken, Oliver had called me a demon in one of my former dreams. Is it true? I’m a demon? Perhaps calling me a succubus hadn’t been a joke to Dillan, but the truth… I chortled at the thought. What a weird prank, I thought underneath my fear, and turned the page. Bleahdos (Demons) - Fango Mills (Earth) Minios (Faeries) - Delta Waters (Water) Vurandoes (Angels) - Dillan Raking (obviously) (Darkness) Although the entirety of the six kingdoms was ruled by one deity, two of them have had a founder from the beginning. Murondoes was founded by Jupus, and Kalos was founded by Ebony. My blood went cold and my face went slack. My amusement slipped. It wasn’t realistic, but then again, nothing seemed to be anymore. Everything was true, then… Something huge was going on, and I was a part of it. I let the fact sink in before I kept reading. APOTROPAIC LIST Murondoes - Gan Minium - Ace Kalos - Oliver Oliver was my Apotropaic. I guessed that much. I’d have to call Oliver out on that next time we saw each other in reality, not in my dreams. Vurandoes - Carter Minios - Caleb Blaehdoes - Mun The Apotropaics train their Extants to use their element and amongst other things. They are really old… Seriously, Oliver is over seven hundred years old, and he’s the youngest. (Still don’t know how he’s immortal after all these years! Actually, it’s probably because he isn’t gay and all the females are either his mom or his aunt, but whatever). The only power they share is their species, and they can combine mental energies (for the Extant, it’s their element, not their mental energies), but so can anyone with a Croman mental energy. It doesn’t mean those fake human telepathics or even the real human ones. We can only combine energies (or element) with other Cromans. That's weird, isn't it? And the way our powers work: I am the darkness. I could levitate tacos in the shadows and eat them. I could wipe my ass if the lights were off, using my mind! I huffed. There is literally no new info I can put in and I want to write, so, yeah. I had the feeling that passage hadn’t been looked over when Dillan set the books out for me. This one also actually seemed written by Dillan, while the others took on a dangerously serious tone. I eased up in my bed, unsure that I wasn’t going to across anything so deathly serious that I’d have to tense and hurt myself to take in. The Croma Garden has soil that Croma died on, and so it will be the only fertile soil in the land. However, coming across green in the garden is rare, even more so finding seeds. Dark and Croma were brothers, born alongside the universe. Croma was the very first God, Dark the very first Devil. What was born was an entity of dark (Dark, obviously), light (Croma), and gray (the universe). Dark destroyed, and only knew how to create minions. Croma created, and only knew how to destroy sadness in the lives of his people. This guy was literally like my Grandpa, but with powers, according to all the books about him. So, anyways, the Dark killed Croma in a huge war, an uprising to try and take his land and his beta dimension. The fight was led by the four Dark generals, Satan, Death, Salt, and Gary Bluethorne, who has taken more of a liking to earth than his land. My breath caught in my throat. Bluethorne? That explained his little arguement with Oliver. And he knew I was an 'Extant'. Jupus and Ebony led our defense. Croma died, and his soul was carried away through tunnels in space to another dimension he was making we called The Second, but the new, weaker inhabitants called The Milky Way. Croma - God, as he was reincarnated as - barely had power over the new place, and the inhabitants had to eat and stuff to live, which, apparently, Cromans don’t. Whenever they reincarnated Croma’s soul on earth, one of each kingdom came with. There is actually a theory that most of them died, but we don’t care… The deal was, we find all the prophets in one generation and have them fight. At times, people from the kingdoms became lost in the dimensions. For example, the Kalos died, but Emma Whitestone is still the daughter of two demons, and she isn’t a killer. (Obviously, since I just found out who the Kalos prophet is, this information I’m writing is new.) Me, the daughter of two demons? My mother and father found it difficult to squash a fly, much less anything else. I scoffed nervously at that bit, and set the book down. So, I'm not crazy. Something was happening, and my dreams portrayed it. But what exactly was I fighting, and why? Was I fighting the Dark? I leaned over to pick up the third book, then settled back onto my mattress. The first words on the page jumped out at me. The Dark could make a good several billion devils cower in fear, and more. He is destruction. He is, as the name suggests, dark. I gulped, flipping the page. Each Extant is a piece of Croma, holding in the elements he used to create us. I’ve heard combined energies and do some pretty awesome things, and all six elements being combined is pure creation, which can destroy pure destruction. Not the best wording, but it comes from Ace, so of course it’s going to be awful. Anyways, that’s what happened. Now we’re expected to fight, because the Dark wants to kill Croma (God, he goes by now). God is literally a million times weaker than Croma, and has no idea what’s going on. It’s our job to protect our world and our creator. In the end, we will win. The Dark will die, an we will all suceed and get fat on glory. The war will be won. Either that, or we will come to a stalemate. We will all die… All Extants, the Dark, and the beta dimension will collapse. We’d have given our lives for earth, for our families still on earth, and for our friends that were never part of this. We’d have sacrificed ourselves for everything. We are the ultimate soldiers, trained by the best Apotropaics, ready for war to erupt. People will die in the end, as it happens in every war. Failure is not an option. It's your demon inheritance to win. Emma Whitestone, if you get in my way of saving this world, if you turn on us because you are new to the order here, I will gut you and feed it to Mary. Get it across your head before you act stupid. Oh, and welcome home, soldier. I blew a shaky breath, more in anger than fear. The tacosexual thought he’d be able to hurt me? Even if he had a stronger ‘element’, he couldn’t get to me. Besides, I planned to cooperate. My own way. I didn’t give a rat’s ass about earth, or Croma, or the dimension I lived in. However, like Dillan had said, I had a family and my best friend to protect. To an extent, I agreed with Dillan’s writing. Failure is not an option… I closed the notebook. Shakily, I put it back beside my bed. Then, I lied back in bed. That's right. Even if it's a prank, I have people to protect. My eyes closed. Failure is not an option...

[sleeppaw]

Sinnoh Remakes, Let’s Go Johto or Detective Pikachu 2?

Here’s why:

Diamond and Pearl is currently the oldest main series game without a remake (The main series games are Red and Green, which had a “Third Version” in Yellow, followed up with Gold and Silver, whose third version was Crystal. Ruby and Sapphire was followed with FireRed and LeafGreen, which reintroduced Kanto Pokemon into Generation 3; Emerald added the remaining Pokemon that was missing. Diamond and Pearl added 107 new Pokemon; Platinum fixed problms with Diamond/Pearl while HeartGold and SoulSilver updated Johto. Black and White gave 156 new Pokemon and introduced the Unova region; older Pokemon can be obtained by transfer; these Pokemon can be brought forward to Kalos, which introduced the “Mega Timeline”, while OmegaRuby and AlphaSapphire confirmed there are “Two Universes”, one, the timeline up until Black/White2, where AZ never activated his “Ultimate Weapon”, and the other where Mega Evolution exists. Sun and Moon introduced Alola, a region where Trials are a ritual for aspiring Trainers, while UltraSun and UltraMoon is in an “Alternate Universe” where the Ultra Recon Squad plays a role in the events of Alola; later on in the Post Game we are introduced to “Team Rainbow Rocket”, themselves coming from an Universe where the Villainous Team succeeded.) Sword and Shield is at the latest point of the “Core Timeline”, but there are no in-game hints to how much time has passed in the series:

Kanto and Hoenn takes place at the same time, while Johto takes place three years later; Sinnoh takes place around the time Ethan/Kris/Lyra catches the Red Gyrados (The programme Dawn/Lucas watches at the beginning of the game mentions the “Red Gyrados”). At least ten years passes before the events of Black and White, and two years after Hilbert and Hilda leaves Unova to find N we see Nate and Rosa start their journey; at the same time Calem and Serena started their journey in Kalos (Someone in Couramine City mentions that “Team Plasma has been causing trouble in Unova recently”). At the same time these events takes place, Gladion steals Type:Null from the Aether Foundation after he got fed up of his mother’s abuse. Sun/Moon/UltraSun and UltraMoon takes place two years after the events of Pokemon Black2 and White2 and Pokemon X and Y, while it is unknown when Pokemon Sword and Shield takes place. This brings me to the Remakes: In every remake, either the more recently-introduced region is mentioned (Hoenn was mentioned in FireRed and LeafGreen, while Kalos was mentioned in OmegaRuby and AlphaSapphire) or characters from the recently-introduced region makes an appearence (Steven and Cynthia* in HeartGold and SoulSilver, Mina in Let’s Go Pikachu and Let’s Go Eevee. Note: Cynthia only appears if the player has an Event Arceus in their Party) so if we get Sinnoh remakes I could see some Galar characters cameo. As for which Galar character that could make a cameo, I think it would be likely Raihan (Though Leon could cameo)

Let’s Go Johto: At this point in time, Pokemon Crystal is currently the oldest game without a remake, plus in “Let’s Go” Sabrina says she will face a Trainer three years from now.  Plus if we do

Detective Pikachu 2: It was announced some time ago, but we haven’t heard of anything since (It took a year between it was announced for Detective Pikachu to get it’s first game footage; this was due to the shift in generations between development, as Detective Pikachu was announced in 2015; Alola Pokemon started to appear in “Case Four” and were seen on the other cases.)