• A new LGBTQ+ forum is now being trialed and there have been changes made to the Support and Advice forum. To read more about these updates, click here.
  • Hey Trainers! Be sure to check out Corsola Beach, our newest section on the forums, in partnership with our friends at Corsola Cove! At the Beach, you can discuss the competitive side of the games, post your favorite Pokemon memes, and connect with other Pokemon creators!
  • Due to the recent changes with Twitter's API, it is no longer possible for Bulbagarden forum users to login via their Twitter account. If you signed up to Bulbagarden via Twitter and do not have another way to login, please contact us here with your Twitter username so that we can get you sorted.

MATURE: How to Conquer Kanto in Eight Easy Steps - Chapter 100

Okay so, I will admit your chapters do have a thing for making me get attached when I'm reading, like what happens does get to me a lot of th etime and that's probably why I'm always talking about Alaska's reaction and stuff.

I liked Leaf, I do, and I honestly understand everything she's saying and I agree with her and I think she's been the most patient and has tried to be the most understanding towards Alaska. So things taking a turn for the worst as they usually do just made it even sadder. I agree with what Alaska wondered to herself at the end, it seems like she's just being left on her own and every relation she makes fall through. Iknow what you're trying to do, but just making everyone she meets an enemy makes it hard to imagine things could ever go better.

And really that's my biggest issue on the whole chosen one plot, every time it gets tackled it just sinks deeper and deeper to the point that I'm wonder...what's the point? I mean realistically speaking there's no reason as to why things should get better for Alaska, I honestly can't see how she'll end up becoming this hero everyone expects her to when over 60 chapters in she still hasn't calmed down and stopped acting like everyone is out to get her. I know it makes sense with her character and i know that realistically speaking it'd be hard for her to just change like that. But realistically speaking it also doesn't make sense to me how someone could go through all those things and being told off by so many people and not listen at all, like not even care to change, I mean it's your story man but it's starting to become a slog and her developtment is really really slow with very little payoff.

But ignoring all that cause I know I'm just repeating what I always do. There's not really much else to the chapter, don't get me wrong, I liked the chapter for what it is and it was good but it really was just the four of them talking all through, and while I stayed entertianed it does cause the story to drag when most of it is dialogue.

Also I appreciate that the characters didn't explain what happened in viridian because it's supposed to be common knowledge but I wouldn't mind getting an actual explanation of what happened by the narration or like as a tip at the end of the chapter. Even if you explain it in the new draft of the chapters well...it kind of feels like you're just forcing your readers to go read again when you could just also explain it here or like send PMs to the people that want to know but don't have time to reread, I'm just saying it'd make my life a lot easier.
 
Thanks for the feedback. It is always appreciated.

I normally wait, but some of your comments bothered me/ I thought required attention, so I wanted to reply while it was on my mind.

A large reason why I wrote this story was because of the idea that most teenage heroes in books very readily accept that they have to save the world/defeat the bad guys/whatever, and I thought it would be interesting to explore a story where the main character really doesn't want a part of any of that. The first arc was Alaska having fun and basically being all "fuck y'all" and standing up for herself. The second part, of which this arc is kind of the last part of, is about Alaska having to confront those earlier decisions, learn more about what is expected of her, what is coming (i.e. the robo-army) and have to decide what to do.

So on the note that she still hasn't changed, I quite strongly reject that. The last two arcs have been solely about Alaska facing up to her actions - facing Darwin, realising she blew the Saffron Gym challenge, Sandy standing up to her - and she has openly begun to change. The last blog Alaska said she would fight whatever comes her way. Her reaction to Leaf and Janine was fueled more by anger at what she blames Leaf for, and built up emotion at the end about how it is unfair that people think she should just accept it and get over it rather than just whining or whatever. She is fed up, she is exhausted, she tries to please people but it's never enough and everyone wants different things: this is not meant to be an easy journey to reaching this bit.

About things getting better: things will improve, we will see Alaska move further down the path of fighting back against Buzz and Gideon, a path she has already gone down. This really is the final hurdle emotionally before we head towards the climax. However, if you are expecting Alaska to become a mighty hero or something overnight, that isn't going to happen. She is bitter, annoyed, she doesn't want to do this: this act is about her accepting the inevitable, about doing it for her own reasons rather than just going "Oh sure, I'll stop what I'm doing because you random people attempting to manipulate me have me asked to, sure thing".

In summary, there has been change, basically :p

Also I appreciate that the characters didn't explain what happened in viridian because it's supposed to be common knowledge but I wouldn't mind getting an actual explanation of what happened by the narration or like as a tip at the end of the chapter. Even if you explain it in the new draft of the chapters well...it kind of feels like you're just forcing your readers to go read again when you could just also explain it here or like send PMs to the people that want to know but don't have time to reread, I'm just saying it'd make my life a lot easier.
It has been said in the past actually that Viridian was badly destroyed and rebuilt. I wouldn't just dump it there with no prior mention, even with the edited chapters. If you do want more details, you can just ask, I am more than happy to clarify anything for you or anyone else.
 
Okay that makes sense. I mean I do know that's the reason why you wrote 8ES in the first place and I can understand it, just I guess...I didn't think it'll be this long xD; I mean just saying you have to have a really really stubborn personality to not have already accepted it after everything that's happened. Though I honestly don't think the whole chosen one cliche of teens accepting their fate really stands anymore as of recent years myself.

I can understnad your reasons and I appreciate them and it's wha tmake Alaska special, I don't wnat he rot be some savior or anything because that would just be out of character for her xD but I guess I just expected her to not have so much bite to her when people tried to talk to her so far into her journey.

I do remember you mentioning it before, just I don't think it was quite stated exactly what happened aside from it involving Team Rocket, at least it wasn't stated why Leaf got all the hatred for it. But I understand, sorry for the questioning.
 
Okay that makes sense. I mean I do know that's the reason why you wrote 8ES in the first place and I can understand it, just I guess...I didn't think it'll be this long xD; I mean just saying you have to have a really really stubborn personality to not have already accepted it after everything that's happened. Though I honestly don't think the whole chosen one cliche of teens accepting their fate really stands anymore as of recent years myself.

I can understnad your reasons and I appreciate them and it's wha tmake Alaska special, I don't wnat he rot be some savior or anything because that would just be out of character for her xD but I guess I just expected her to not have so much bite to her when people tried to talk to her so far into her journey.

I do remember you mentioning it before, just I don't think it was quite stated exactly what happened aside from it involving Team Rocket, at least it wasn't stated why Leaf got all the hatred for it. But I understand, sorry for the questioning.

This story was started five years ago: I can accept that it has perhaps become a bit dated :p

Part of the rewrites is to establish Alaska's backstory more in relation to her current situation. This last chapter is actually a very revealing one for her, as she says that she doesn't want the responsibility of having so many people's lives in her hands. She has seen her home city destroyed because of what Team Rocket did and knows how much that hurts, and part of why she has been rejecting this future for so long is because she doesn't want to be on the other side of the battle, the one who can be blamed if everything goes wrong. You also have to remember that the people she has been dealing with are fairly unpleasant for the most part. As this chapter also established, people are flipping out over the prophecies and taking them as gospel now, which is why Alaska is now caught between a number of groups with differing views on what to do now. If everyone had come out and said "Here's a plan we've all agreed on, here's how to defeat Buzz and Gideon", she would have agreed to that probably after Sandy got shot. Instead, Evelyn tried to hole Alaska up in her house, the League wants to pretend its not happening, the gym leaders aren't going to fight because of worries; these are people that are meant to be in power, but have instead gone "13 yo girl, kindly save us all because a piece of rock told us to. Thanks, bye". I do think that when I edit the chapters, I will try and establish the supporting players moreso and tone down or balance out Alaska's reactions, but for the most part I think 90% of her actions are defendable from her POV. Some stuff I think has soured people's view of her (the power plant, punching Jericho), and those are things I will fix.

Alaska hates Leaf, not everyone; the edits establish that :p
 
So I just recently started reading your story (from the start of this arc) and I have to say that your writing style is AMAZING! I was attached to my computer screen throughout the whole read and hadn't realized that time had flown by.
I really liked how the villainous teams up to Sinnoh were referenced in the last chapter.
On the note of Alaska's talk with Leaf and Janine, she doesn't stick out as one I'd give my pity to. I mean, she was all THE PAST FIVE YEARS THIS, THE PAST FIVE YEARS THAT. (Because you are an author writing your own story, I'm prepared to be wrong on this. I had been reading under the assumption that Leaf's past is somewhat similar to her Pokemon Adventures past. I'm prepared to be wrong but that was what I had been going off of). I just kept thinking of Green being one of the kidnapped children of the masked man, which apparently meant nothing to Alaska. Again, I'm prepared to be wrong :oops:

Overall, this story is awesome! I'm gonna head back and read the previous chapters and arcs and give some reviews for those too, and I look forward to more... especially the gym match :LOL::LOL::LOL:


-Brought here by the review game :X3:
 
Got around to reading the revised chapters a while ago and have been meaning to leave a review. Apologies that it took so long!

I figure I'll deconstruct the review to chapters.

Chapter 1
First thing's first, I noticed that the grammar and spelling are a lot better, so kudos on fixing that. In fact, I didn't see any issues while reading any of the chapters.

I like Alaska and Steve's new dialogue a lot, really, and it's some good foreshadowing for the future. (And it's also pretty humorous to longtime readers.) d: Only other big things I noticed are some added detail to the chapter and improved syntax. (The world-building with Alaska's dad comes to mind, and I like how we're getting an (albeit brief) introduction to her family before we won't see them again for what appears to be quite some time.)

Chapter 2
As far as this one goes I can't say I see many changes, especially since the chapter is mostly dialogue and introductions. However, I'll repeat what I said with chapter one in that I can see the improvements with your style, and the story does seem more sophisticated (in language, not necessarily tone or the like), so kudos on that.

Chapter 3
Mostly the same thing as chapter two; not a lot of changes but a noticeable improvement on style. I guess I should clarify though that when I say improvement, I simply mean that it reads better, not necessarily that the original versions were bad or anything like that.

Chapter 4
The ending scene really changes the dynamic of the story, in my opinion. In the original versions Alaska simply wants to adventure and prove that you don't need a traditional starter, but now she's also out on a mission to dethrone Red to avenge her town.

I love it.

Especially because of the fact that she's supposed to save him later on, it works really well. The scene itself though is nicely written and I like the addition to the world it adds. It's also a nice little introduction to to Red, Leaf, and Blue, who get some attention later on. Other than that it feels to me like her family is given more time here than in the original version, and like I said with her dad, I think it's nice since we won't be hearing/seeing from them a lot later.

Blog + Interlude
Mashing these together because why not?

Personally, I think there's less of Alaska (or her sass, I should say) in the revised blog. But I suppose what I mean by that is the blog is written from someone a lot more mature than before, and while I do miss the humor, I think the change is nice since it doesn't portray her as a child (even though she totally is) who can't deal with issues in an immature way. Seeing her more mature at the beginning does show a noticeable change as to what her journey has really done to her, and I once again I think it's a nice addition.

With the interlude, there isn't a lot of change I really saw there in terms of what's in it, but I think Buzz's character comes across better here. But maybe that's just me? Definitely feels like he's more composed here than before, at least.

Overall,
I think the improvements are there and are great. It shows that you've grown throughout this story, and they all benefit the arc and story in more ways than one.


That all said, I'm exciting for Alaska's rematch with Janine. I'm not sure whether I think she's going to win or not, so it really adds to the tension for me. d:
 
Chapter Seventy Seven: Falling
@JayGaymes: Thanks for the review. You are wrong on the manga bit - my series has nothing to do with that. I think you'd have to read the previous chapters to see if you would pity Alaska or not. Hope you keep reading!
@Life: As the first person to actually comment on the edits, thanks for your views. The interlude was actually a lot different: the second scene is brand new. I am glad you liked the end of the fourth chapter, the intention is that it adds an extra element to her story and what she has to go through. With regards to her tone, I think there is still an element of sarcasm and sass there, but I did want to up her humour levels a bit - at least in how she presents herself online. Reading over the original Blog One, I could barely recognise that character compared to how she is now, and I think she needs to have some of that earlier on. The first blog was also a bit frivolous, so it really needed updating. I'm glad someone appreciates the spelling and grammar edits :p

New chapter! New character! New location! New monologue!


Chapter Seventy Seven: Falling

Alaska wasn't quite sure how they made it out of the city. She had been distracted, unfocussed, her mind having gone blind in her confusion. Fuchsia had disappeared, replaced by images of Darwin, Venusaur, Leaf, Viridian City, Gideon and Janine, all flashing across her eyes at once. She had ended up stumbling alongside Sandy, barely able to stand.

Several hours had passed since they'd left the gym. She still felt dizzy, and her thoughts were yet to quiet down, but she was calm. Sitting in a wicker chair gazing across what was surely the most beautiful place in Kanto, Alaska was able to let go, relax and think.

"How are you feeling?"

"Fine… for now. You?" If anyone walked onto Diancie Meadows and saw the two of them, they might assume Sandy was the one suffering. The blonde had draped herself across a swinging seat that had seen better days, and had spent several hours now rocking slowly back and forth as the wind blew in from the sea.

"I've had better days. I was really wanting to try that sushi place."

"You could always ask Bertram to order some. They probably deliver for people like him." Sandy murmured something in response, and Alaska left the conversation there, knowing that whatever was troubling her friend, it wasn't sushi.

"More iced tea, my darlings?" As though his ears were burning, Bertram Henry swooped out of the back door, accompanied by a whooshing sound that seemed to accompany him everywhere he went. Alaska wasn't sure why, but she put it down to his clothes: bright blue pants, lemon yellow shirt adorned with an orange polka dot scarf, Alaska finally understood what people meant by a 'loud outfit'.

"Why not?" Bertram delicately poured the light orange liquid into her glass from the ridiculously large jug in his hands. Alaska could feel him watching her silently as the liquid cascaded between them, his lips pursed as he looked her up and down. She wasn't sure if he judging her expression, her clothes or just her herself, but Alaska felt uncomfortable to have this stranger, as kind as he was, gazing down at her.

"Now, will you two be staying for dinner?" He asked as he finished, walking across to top up Sandy's half empty glass. A slight rattle followed him, and Alaska found the dyed green tail of a Furfrou in her face as Bertram's companion followed loyally after him. "I was just planning on throwing together a potato salad for myself, but since I've got guests might as well make something bigger!" He let out a high giggle that had an air of falseness to it; though he had been nothing but warm and hospitable since they'd arrived, Alaska knew the wealthy breeder was a bit put out by their unannounced arrival.

Alaska had completely forgotten about Looker's suggestion to stay there. It had been Sandy who had filed the address away in her mind, it had been Sandy who had dragged her friend like a confused drunk through the streets of Fuchsia. If it had been Alaska's decision, she probably would have broken into one of those abandoned houses and slumped into some dark corner and let all the chaos consume her.

Instead they had ended up here: Diancie Meadows, the biggest breeding farm for Kalos Pokémon in the world. Given past experiences, staying with another wealthy person would have been Alaska's last choice, but having ended up here, she had to admit it made a pretty fine refuge.

The farmhouse was a three storey wooden building, painted a dark pink with the natural oak colour exposed at the beams. It was far back in the property, right at the top of the hill so they overlooked not only Route 15 below but the whole south-east coast. The sea looked like a mural from up here, while Fuchsia resembled a picturesque seaside town, no signs of decay and abandonment from here. She knew it sounded like a travel show cliché, but Alaska could not deny it was truly breath-taking being here.

"It really is an amazing view, isn't it?" Bertram sank himself down into the wicker chair opposite Alaska, gazing out at his property with the jug in hand.

"I am not one to blow smoke up anyone's ass, but this is easily the most beautiful place I have been to on my journey." Wide green fields drowning in flowers; golden brick driveway snaking quietly up the hill; a view you could spend your whole life staring at; this was exactly what Alaska needed. Away from Darwin, away from Leaf and Janine, away from anyone who knew them; it was simply perfect.

"Thank you Alaska, I've heard it's not easy to get a compliment from you so I shall wear that one with pride," Bertram said teasingly. His voice was rich but soft, a trace of his old Kalosi accent making his voice slightly high.

"I've worked hard to maintain these grounds, and I like to think I have done a good job. They were going to turn this into a bunch of apartment buildings when they began to revolutionise Fuchsia. Imagine this view being blocked by a bunch of carbon copied brick cubes, that street below filled with cars and shops on either side."

"More people could have appreciated this scene," Alaska pointed out. Bertram chuckled and sipped his tea, stroking the gelled green fur of his companion.

"The exclusivity of a view is what makes it so special. Not everyone can climb to the top of Mt Silver or Coronet, but when they do, they can appreciate it even more knowing that they are now part of an exclusive club. If these acres had been filled by property, this sight would just be common and meaningless. No one would appreciate this if everyone could come and see it." Alaska had to appreciate that point of view, and she stared contemplatively out to the ocean, sipping quietly on the iced tea.

"Have you seen many Kalos Pokémon before?"

"No, very few actually."

"Ah, well then, you are in for a treat when my assistant Camille brings them back from their evening walk. You will forget we are on a farm; seeing them together in this place, it's like they are roaming the wild." Bertram spoke with such magnitude that it drew Alaska in, his enchanting accent of a lost word causing her to forget everything and simply focus on him. He clearly was a storyteller, this bright little man living high above everyone else, and Alaska found him fascinating.

"What made you want to breed Pokémon?"

"It was a necessity. Someone had to," Bertram said simply, his enthusiasm dissipating slightly. "Enough about me; tell me about you, darling. I've heard such rumours and flickers of tales about you, but I never thought I would ever meet you; the Great Alaska Acevedo, in the flesh!"

"Barely." Alaska forced a smile, not wanting to be rude to her guest, but as the attention turned back to her, the heaviness of her situation returned. She saw Bertram looking at her with a look of sympathy barely disguising his obvious curiosity. "It's been a hard road getting here, that's all."

"Oh yes, of course; the stories, all you've been through, my gosh, it's like you're trapped in a book! Our tragic hero, fighting against the villains threatening to destroy our land. It's like something out of a fairy tale."

"Yeah, except it's not my story, is it?" Alaska replied bitterly. "I have no say in what's going on. I am just being led along; if this is a story, my plot's already been set out for me, I am just meant to obediently follow along and save the day."

Bertram didn't reply immediately, instead stirring his glass while gazing down at Furfrou. Alaska paused to glare back at them, thinking bitterly that she'd come across another person offering to help her but unable to stop themselves from judging her actions.

"I do hope you aren't just obediently going along. That would be dreadfully boring if you were."

"Trust me, I haven't been. I acted out at first, but that only seemed to make things worse. I tried standing up for myself, and that didn't work. I've tried making pledges to myself and vowed to change my ways, but people still don't seem to care. I've already waxed lyrical about all of this, I've had so many conversations about what I should do, what I shouldn't be doing, what I want to do, but at the end of the day, nothing seems to have changed. I'm willing to face off against Buzz and Gideon, but apparently I need to do it in the right way, I need to let go of what I want and just bend over backwards. None of them are the ones with a fucking prophecy hanging over them, none of them are the ones who actually 'have' to fight at the end of the day. Just because they've been through it before doesn't mean we're on the same level, and I just. I… FUCK!" Alaska had slammed her hand down in annoyance, completely forgetting the glass in her hand. She jumped up as iced tea splashed all over her, while shards of glass dripped onto her seat.

"Please don't smash the glassware, I'm rather fond of it," Bertram said drolly, gazing at the mess with amused annoyance. Alaska instantly felt ashamed and began picking the broken shards up, refusing to meet Sandy's eye as her face went red.

"Sorry, I shouldn't be bothering you with all this. We're guests, you aren't even involved in all this."

"No worries, my dear; I could eat up gossip all day long, and the apocalyptic variety is my favourite kind." Bertram didn't say anything as Alaska scooped up the shards and took them inside. She returned with a cloth and began to dab at the growing stain. As she sat on the deck, resting on her knees as she tried to clean up her mess, Alaska struggled to block out thoughts of Darwin. She had found herself in this position earlier; that morning, she had been staring at her own vomit; tonight, it was only a spilt drink, but either way, Alaska had had an awful day. And if I don't start getting people on my side, this won't be the last of them.

"I don't know if you want my advice, since I'm not 'even involved' in all of this, but from where I'm sitting, you've clearly been talking about the wrong things." Alaska dropped the cloth and turned to Bertram, who had not moved at all through this whole process. She wasn't sure if this man was helpful or just nosey and bored, but there was a knowing tone in his voice she couldn't ignore.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, this may just be me, but you seem to be focussing a lot on the people involved, the lessons they've tried to give you. Perhaps your attention should pay more attention to other parts of this story."

"Like… the prophecy?"

"Yes, the prophecy… the trope of every heroic journey, is it not?" Bertram smirked. Alaska grimaced; first the fortune teller, then Charlotte's prophecy, it definitely felt like she was in some tragic YA novel that was overdoing its quirky hook. "There are more of them in our world than perhaps you realise. There was one about Kalos, Looker told me once."

"Really? Why didn't someone stop what happened then?" Even as the words left her mouth, Alaska knew she was being foolish. Her mind went back to something Leaf had said during their argument, about people not taking them seriously. Bertram's face lost its youthful glow once more, and suddenly the mood on the deck felt tense.

"Do you know a lot about what happened to Kalos?"

"Um… a little bit, but when they talk about that night, they tend to talk about what happened in Sevii." Alaska felt ashamed to admit it, but when she glanced back at Sandy, she saw her friend looked just as curious.

February 27th was a day of national mourning, that night was spoken about every year, but Alaska barely understood what had happened. She thinks part of the mystery. Out of nowhere, an advanced militia had appeared south of Kalos. They had attacked the region at large, and when the residents fought back, with help from their neighbours, they had all been slaughtered. It had taken the interference of the legendaries to defeat the mysterious army, but all of Kalos had been destroyed in the process and left uninhabitable.

"Typical," Bertram scoffed, and he muttered something in Kalosi to Furfrou, who growled and nodded. "Sevii had it bad, yes, but nothing like what happened to Kalos." With a dramatic sigh, he finished off his drink and placed it to one side, and then turned his gaze out to the ocean, as though looking across the horizon for his fallen homeland.

"I was 22 when it happened. I was still living at home because I had no reason to leave. My family enjoyed a high life in Kalos. Lumiose City, the City of Light; people always say it was the grandest place on earth. Sure, Castelia City is big, but it lacks elegance. Lumiose was beauty around every corner, crowded without being stifling, busy without getting tiresome. Everything about that city just worked. It was, without a doubt, perfect.

"My parents were rich; my father a bank manager, my mother had simply been born that way, I forget what her parents did. Our home was beautiful; a three storey town house, typical Lumiose style. The gym challenge had begun but it hadn't really picked up when I was a kid, so I stayed in school, went to university, but it was then I knew I wanted to do showcases. I had always been rich and knew I always would be, and performing with Pokémon was what I wanted to do instead.

"Of course, I didn't get much of a chance to live my dream. I was given a Fennekin for my birthday that year, and we had been training for a few months when the army appeared. I can't recall how we first heard about it, but the news quickly spread, and fear ran with it. Of course, being rich, my family never thought it would affect us, we trusted in the government and the army to protect us: we had Pokémon, what could possibly go wrong?

"We had dinner the night they struck. It was a few days after they had appeared. Even then, we were still pretending like everything would be alright, and the four of us, my parents, my sister and I, we mutually agreed to take part in a charade. My mother pretended it was just another family dinner, but hanging over us was the idea that it would be our last one in case everything went wrong. And, of course, it did.

"We were just about to start the main course when we heard the first explosion. It was just a bang in the distance, but we knew what that meant. Running to the top storey window, we saw smoke in the distance, not sure quite what had been hit or where it had come from. Then there was a second bang and we saw the flash, only a few streets away. That was when we realised they had planes – not like the ones we had; these were sleek, magnificent machines. Despite myself, I began to admire their beauty, and that was when the house opposite the street exploded."

As he spoke, Alaska's mind went back to all the explosions she had lived through, all the ones she had started. She thought mostly of Vermillion, the horror she had felt as the entire city began to crack apart. Even with all she had experienced, she could not imagine living through what had happened in Kalos, how effortlessly the whole region had been torn down.

"Our windows shattered, we were blinded by the light," Bertram continued quietly. "My sister was cut up by the glass, but we had no time to treat her. My mother had packed a bag or two despite her denial, and we grabbed them and simply ran outside. By then, the whole city was on fire. We knew then that the army must have failed. I only found out later just how easily they had defeated them – thousands of soldiers, thousands more Pokémon, all eighteen species starter Pokémon pushed to extinction. And that was only the beginning; as soon as the army had fallen, they had begun to strike at the region. I don't know why they attacked us. No one does. They simply did. Personally, I think if these people did come from another world like people say, they simply got spooked by our fire breathing, earth shaking animals and fought back in instinct. I almost can't blame them… I just wish they hadn't been so violent.

"As we ran through the city, my father got lost in the crowd. There were so many people about, and with the streets quickly disappearing, we had all become crammed together. My mother became hysterical when we realised he was missing. She tried to run back the way we had come, but another bomb was dropped and we were thrown a few metres by the explosion. When I stirred, the entire street had disappeared, just a giant gaping hole. I was so frightened I reached for my PokeBall, ready to arm myself in case we ran across the army. Yet it wasn't there…" Sandy gasped, but Bertram carried on unperturbed.

"We hid just outside the city for half an hour as the entire region was slowly torn apart. My mother had lost one of her bags during the run, and we were all starving and cold and tired. I could have just lain right there and died, it would have been easier, quite frankly. Then the bombs started to stop, and after a few minutes we got up, wondering if it was all over. But no, different monsters had taken their place: the legendaries had arrived to save us. I have seen some of the footage, they did look grand, but at the time I only felt uncertain what it actually meant for us. But then swarms of Abra and Ralts began showing up all over the place, and as I watched Latios and Latias take down a two dozen of those beautiful planes with one attack each, some tiny Pokémon grabbed our hands and took us away." At the mention of her absent guardian, Alaska felt voices stir in the back of her head, whispered screams and confused shouting that she knew had nothing to do with her.

"There was a giant ship that picked us all up, something Unovian I think. Less than a million of us had survived, and we were all shoved onto that boat like cattle. While we waited for the rest of the world to decide what to do with us, we just had to sit there and endure our suffering in darkness. It was only after we got off that we learnt Kalos had been decimated, that Groudon has put it back beneath the ocean. Those who had been injured were stuck with us, and infection and disease spread. My sister was one of the thousands who died on that boat. I remember sitting beside her for hours and not realising she was dead, lost in my own thoughts, scarred enough by the fact my country had been destroyed.

"My mother and I survived, barely, and after a fortnight we were sent off to Sevii. That was the first any of us learnt that they too had suffered that night, though under entirely different circumstances. The people in charge had decided they'd repopulate the islands with Kalos, replace the dead in one place with the living from the other. We were set up in a prefabricated box disguised as a small house, and as an able-bodied young male, I was one of thousands put to work rebuilding all the war-damaged properties around the islands.

"Really, that was the part of it all I hated the most. I never wanted to be a builder. Don't get me wrong, I certainly appreciated the type of man I was working alongside – I definitely have a preference for sweat glistened muscles after all that – but it wasn't what I wanted to do. I wanted to perform, I wanted to take part in showcases, I didn't want to be a tough man. To be torn out of my home was one thing, but to lose everything and be turned into something I wasn't, I couldn't accept that.

"Unfortunately, I had my mother to contend with." Bertram rolled his eyes as he said that, and Alaska noted a touch of disgust in his voice. "You see, she was a woman with very high expectations but a spectacularly low set of talents with which to achieve them. Already shaken by the death of my sister and father, my mother found it extremely difficult to get through the day. She was asked to help at the temporary school they'd set up, doing lunches and that, but even that she struggled to achieve. Yet she wasn't going to let that stop her. She had become accustomed to her lifestyle in Kalos, and she wasn't going to let anyone take that away from her. The only profession she thought could help her achieve her goals was the one job no one in Sevii had considered: sex."

"You mean… she became a prostitute?"

"Oh, god no! My mother, a whore? Please! She was far too good for that. No, she simply became a pimp; I was her means to an end." He stopped for a second, smiling over his glass at the two of them, and Alaska realised her jaw had dropped without her noticing. "Like I said, she didn't have a variety of talents, and charming a man was on the long list of things she wasn't capable of. She suggested the idea to me, then forced me into it, arranging meetings with the various men she came across. Everyone was so stressed and shaken back then, and with no time or energy to arrange dates, sex quickly became a powerful commodity."

Bertram paused there, refilling his drink after several minutes of non-stop talking. Alaska was too speechless to say anything; she had been stunned silent by the waves his story moved through. She wasn't sure quite what to make of his life, what to say that would in any way relate to all he had been through. But as she struggled to think of something, the bitter, angry side of her moved to the foreground, and before she could stop herself, words were pouring out.

"Is this one of those situations where you've told me your story to make me feel better about my own?" She heard a sharp intake of breath behind her, and could almost feel Sandy's eyes boring into her. However, Bertram merely chuckled as he finished sipping at his drink.

"Not in the slightest. Why would I want to make you feel bad?" He said with a smirk and a wink. "From one bitch to another, that was one of the better times of my life. I have two loves in my life; men and money. I never let my mother know, but I wasn't going to turn down being fucked every night by a group of mostly beautiful men. I learnt things about myself, I learnt things about love and humanity, about cruelty and kindness. And, at the end of it all, it brought me my dream." And he moved his arms around, looking at the farm.

"You brought this view with prostitution money?"

"Oh yes," Bertram said with relish. "This view, this house, that chair you were sitting on, it was all paid for without me having to lift a single finger. Well, actually, some people did like it that way." He winked again, and Alaska couldn't help but snort with laughter. "I was brought up here in my last few months as a sex worker. When I saw this view, I knew this was what my life had been leading towards. I couldn't just let some greedy developers take that away from me. I paid double for the farm without even knowing what I'd do with it, but someone suggested Pokémon to me. I had I never wanted to go on a journey or whatever, so cliché, but with so few Kalos Pokémon in the wild, I saw it as a money making opportunity. So, in the end, I got back the lifestyle I was used to. I didn't choose for my region to blow up, I didn't choose to live here, I didn't choose to be a whore, but I made it work for me."

As those words hit her, Alaska felt the smile fall off her face, and within seconds it had become a scowl. "So you have been trying to teach me something. Am I supposed to take that lesson and apply it to my own life? I mean, I know Gideon was down in that bunker for five years, he's bound to have some things he's got to work out, but I don't think that's his goal here."

"Don't be vulgar, dear, that's not what I'm implying at all," Bertram tutted, staring at her scoldingly. "The lesson is that that was how my life turned out. Your life started differently and will end differently, but right now, our lives have been destined to intersect at this point in time, and now here we both are. No one prophesised we would meet, yet it has happened, and it was always going to. Both are paths have been decided for us already; the only difference between you and me is that you know where things are going."

For the first time since Bertram had started, Alaska was confused. "What do you mean?" The camp man shrugged, taking a long gulp of his drink as his eyes flickered towards the trees creeping along the edges of his property.

"It's hard to explain. I've been thinking about this a lot, ever since I ended up in Sevii with my left hand clutching my mother and my right hand holding my sister's ashes. Prophecy isn't just something that happens to champions and heroes. We are all born into circumstances, we are all born into situations we had no choice in and we have to live with. Rich, poor, gay, straight, brown, white, male, female; you don't get to pick what you're born with. When you come into this world, there are already thousands of years of history that will affect what happens to you next. You are just born into an exact time and place, and stumble through life trying to make the best of what happens.

"Even when we start talking about the big prophecies some ghost carved into rocks thousands of years ago, they don't just affect one person or a few people: they affect everyone. I don't even know why we bother differentiating these things with labels; what's a prophecy to you is real life for someone else. I told you the Fall of Kalos had been predicted. That meant that everyone born in that country, everyone living there, we were all born into a prophecy, our lives were all gearing up towards that moment. Look at yourself – you're from Viridian, aren't you? Red, Leaf, Blue, they had their prophecy, and once Giovanni set his Ground types loose on your city, their prophecy became a part of your life."

"All your prophecy means is that you know where you're going, but you don't know how to get there, you don't know what happens when you get there, you don't know what you do after it's over, if you make it out alive. You have to make your decisions just as much as Leaf, Red, Looker, all of them will make theirs, and you have to make the right decisions as they will affect everyone.

"If I can give you one piece of advice, it's that this situation you're in, it's not about losing or about them winning. If only focus on how to best them, you are never going to win. That's not what life is about, and that isn't how you're going to beat Gideon. Now, do you want some more tea, or should I get cracking on dinner?"

Without thought, Alaska grabbed the jug from his outstretched hands and took a huge gulp. She wondered fleetingly how deluded she must look, but given her mind had been failing all day, Alaska really didn't care. Things were suddenly starting to make sense, everything from today falling into place, and she needed something to distract her before she became overwhelmed once more.

"Alrighty then, I suppose I was going to move onto cider at some point anyway," Bertram huffed, clearly not realising the wealth of information he had just dumped on her. "Sandy, if you would like to leave your friend to do… whatever¸ would you come help me with – oh, look, there's Camille with the Pokémon."

Alaska looked in the direction Bertram was pointing. There was movement by the trees on his right, and she could see darkened figures moving around the undergrowth, coming towards them. For a second, she felt afraid, but then, as the sun faded beneath the horizon, emitting one last brilliant burst of orange glow across Kanto, something truly magical happened.

Alaska had never seen so many Pokémon at once. Emerging from the shadows of the trees, a swarm of Kalos Pokémon crossed the sunset-lit fields, moving as one pack through the flowers. An Avalugg thudded across the grass, a mix of Bergmite, Bunnelby, Pumpkaboo and Espurr riding on its surface. Honedge and Phantump floated behind them all, Dedenne and Pancham running underneath. A rainbow of Vivillon soared above them, joined by Noibat, Fletchling and Fletchinder. And the starters; Chespin, Fennekin, Froakie, dozens of them running, playing, jumping behind their handles. The further the sun set, the more they just became shadows being guided through the gardens, yet it was still one of the most unexpectedly stunning things Alaska had ever witnessed.

"There's so many of them," she whispered, and Bertram quietly nodded.

"They are beautiful, but hauntingly so. Some of these could very well be the last of their kind. There are only two other farms in the world, two that have actually survived and stand a chance at carrying on for now. Between us, we have at least two healthy bloodlines of each species. We all used to compete but I can see now how much we need each other." Those last words felt pointed, and Alaska had to fight back tears as she looked the stony faced breeder in the eyes.

"You asked earlier why I did this? So Kalos could live on; if they cannot dance on her shores and through her mountains and fields, I will ensure her children live on throughout the world. I didn't ask for this, I didn't plan for this, but it's just how my life turned out, and I wouldn't look back." He stopped there, and though he had not spoken angrily, his voice still as a soft and effeminate as before, his words still felt like blows on Alaska; they slammed into her, hitting her across the head, but she felt no pain – she simply saw sense.

"I need to go." Alaska got to her feet to make the announcement, lunging for her bag before Sandy had enough noticed what she had said.

"Where? Why? Alaska, you're not going to try and run off on me again."

"No, of course not, no. I just… my Pokémon… I need to do something, I need to say something, but I need to say it to all of them. I know what I need to do." Alaska smiled at Sandy, but couldn't bring herself to hug her, not yet anyway. Instead, she turned back to Bertram. "Thank you for letting us stay here, and for…" Bertram simply raised a hand and smiled.

"No need, my dear. Just stop those monsters; that's all you have to do to." He looked at her kindly for a moment before turning back to his Pokémon. "You, me, them, we're all the same, aren't we? Survivors."

With a short nod, Alaska turned and set off down the driveway. The breeder's words were still sinking in, but as she walked, Alaska knew that Bertram had given her the missing pieces to the infinite jigsaw in her head, and as she walked she let them fall into place.




Can I just say, I love that I don't have to italicise anything myself anymore. It just copies straight over - makes the whole change over worthwhile!
 
totally on time

Time has been a lot more scarce for me as of late, so I was only able to read the new chapters + the first chapter (rewritten). Regarding the redone stuff, it looks clean, I guess? My memory of the original version of the first few arcs is super-hazy, so I'm afraid I can't offer much feedback in that regard--my qualms with the story, barring the fact that middle school girls (Chloe) are never that open about their shittiness outside of books/movies, started coming up later. More on that in a sec.

Oh, and this still happens in the early chapters, but when you do dialogue about people shouting and asking questions:
["This is a question?" she asked]
instead of ["This is a question?" She asked], which you have a bunch earlier on.

The new chapters are nice, though. This has been brought up before, but Alaska actually listening to Nurse Joy telling her she done goofed and not just cursing them out is a really appreciated development. Janine is nice, and I vaguely remember her from the First Warriors, so I figure this is a giant tie-in to the whole Galacticverse that's chock-full of references that I need to read Red vs Leaf to get, but yeah. Seeing people point out Alaska's faults without the narrative hating them is a change that I really, really wanted to see earlier on.

Coming from soneone who has been constantly lectured for puncturing dramatic tension with really bad snark, even I can say that Alaska does this far too frequently, lol. It's mostly all of the jabs at "it's like we're in a bad YA novel or something!!!!1!" Insulting (or jokingly referencing) other forms of literature in your own literature is always a little... in poor taste, I guess? It's also something that no one would really say. Especially when Alaska is making big speeches about pain and life and suffering, and the narrative is talking about how she's grown up, and then there's another breaking of the fourth wall or dick joke somewhere--it all gets quite repetitive quite quickly.

Reading through this prophecy stuff and reflecting on your comments on Alaska in your AOTM interview, I think I've come to my conclusion about how you treat this character: she's definitely how someone could see a thirteen year-old girl behaving. having spent a full year of my life as a thirteen year-old girl, and probably two years or longer surrounded by them, I'm not sure if all the details are there, but my experience isn't the entirety of teenagehood, lol You do a good job of portraying her as stubborn, headstrong, stupid, and generally not wanting anything to do with this bullshit of a destiny that's being thrown at her, and it's an interesting subversion of a trope. That being said, my qualm was never with how she behaved, but how the narration treated the people critical of her behavior. For a lot of the story, people who tried to call out Alaska on her shittiness were portrayed as assholes, and, well, this leads into what I found most off about this structure: the prophecy/lack thereof.

The main reason that everyone has to come back and keep bothering Alaska over and over again is because of this prophecy, you say. The reason that everyone is trying to force this thirteen year-old girl who is clearly not ready for saving the world, is, like you say, because of some rock with a picture of a Pidgeot and some hazy reference to her name, idk. And the words 'Cynthia Code' were dropped somewhere? Apologies if this is in the rewritten chapters after chapter one and I'm just shooting in the dark here, but I honestly don't remember reading about the prophecy stuff until halfway through this story.

What this means is that there's basically no context for this whole "WE GOTTA USE THIS BRATTY KID TO SAVE THE WORLD. RIGHT DAMN NOW" spiel. And this also leads to my main problem with prophecies: for the Chosen One to be world-savingly special they have to offer something that no one else can. There has to be a reason that the Capital Letter Council/Powers That Be are willing to pick this particular person over the other people in the realm, who are almost always far more qualified. Like, in LOTR, they pick the little Hobbit guy because he's shown to be able to carry the Ring without going batshit insane (for a time), which is why they pick him over Gandalf to run into Mordor fuck off, eagles. Harry Potter lives in a world full of accomplished witches and wizards, but he's the only person to survive a killing curse from Voldemort, hence the focus. Here, though, everyone is so desperate to trust Alaska because... reasons? You kind of deal with the fact that the future-telling rock has actually been right and that's why there's a crater over in that corner of the world, but it's been eighty chapters before you brought this up (barring the rewrites again, sorry). But unless this prophecy rock has a huge track record of picking completely innocuous people who end up being the only possible person to save the world, why is it treated as exact fact that all of the other forces (incluing Champions, Gym Leaders, trainers who have captured a fuckton of Legendary Pokemon) are completely useless against some faceless evil, but this kid can totes handle it? It becomes ridiculous to suspend disbelief for me at this point.

The other problem I found with this prophecy is the associated worldbuilding, or lack thereof. The recent chapters in paricular reminded me that there's a lot of talk about bad shit happening--Red will die, more buildings will blow up, and I think the League is supposed to fall idk--and there's really not much showing of it. Because the story focuses so much on Alaska, things like Buzz's giant army of robots or whatever world-ending things you're planning are basically on the same tier of "this is bad" as her almost losing a gym battle. For all the talking that people are doing about how Kanto is falling apart, there's remarkably little falling apart. This ties into the above--it doesn't make sense that people are so desperate to get Alaska to save Kanto when Kanto, tbh, seems to be only in mild disaster mode instead of world-ending death and destruction.

Overall, this feels overwhelmingly negative, even from me :x I want to emphasize that I actually enjoyed the four chapters that went up since I last read/reviewed (unfortunately, they really helped clarify that feeling in the back of my mind about why I was doubting the construction of this fic, eek). It's clear that you're starting to tie threads together and there's finally character development, which is awesome.
 
I awkwardly came on at the exact time this was posted, so I ended up reading it straight away :p
Time has been a lot more scarce for me as of late, so I was only able to read the new chapters + the first chapter (rewritten). Regarding the redone stuff, it looks clean, I guess? My memory of the original version of the first few arcs is super-hazy, so I'm afraid I can't offer much feedback in that regard--my qualms with the story, barring the fact that middle school girls (Chloe) are never that open about their shittiness outside of books/movies, started coming up later. More on that in a sec.
The editted chapters have toned things down. I think if you had read the two new scenes in the fourth chapter and the interlude, these chapters would have made more sense.

Oh, and this still happens in the early chapters, but when you do dialogue about people shouting and asking questions:
["This is a question?" she asked]
instead of ["This is a question?" She asked], which you have a bunch earlier on.
I will go back and double check. Thanks for pointing that out.

The new chapters are nice, though. This has been brought up before, but Alaska actually listening to Nurse Joy telling her she done goofed and not just cursing them out is a really appreciated development. Janine is nice, and I vaguely remember her from the First Warriors, so I figure this is a giant tie-in to the whole Galacticverse that's chock-full of references that I need to read Red vs Leaf to get, but yeah. Seeing people point out Alaska's faults without the narrative hating them is a change that I really, really wanted to see earlier on.
Alaska is in a much weaker state of mind now that she has been battered and torn down so much, and having a random tell her off without the context of saving the world is what caused her reaction. I'm glad that scene was appreciated.

I don't reference the other stories that much!!!!!! You people need to get that frame of mind out of your heads and then you might be able to enjoy the story more XD I reference what I need to reference and explain what needs explaining. As I said in my AOTM interview, I can't expect you to read scenes that haven't been written yet.

Coming from soneone who has been constantly lectured for puncturing dramatic tension with really bad snark, even I can say that Alaska does this far too frequently, lol. It's mostly all of the jabs at "it's like we're in a bad YA novel or something!!!!1!" Insulting (or jokingly referencing) other forms of literature in your own literature is always a little... in poor taste, I guess? It's also something that no one would really say. Especially when Alaska is making big speeches about pain and life and suffering, and the narrative is talking about how she's grown up, and then there's another breaking of the fourth wall or dick joke somewhere--it all gets quite repetitive quite quickly.
Fair criticism. I wouldn't call it insulting and more pointing out the fact this is meant to be a mild satire of a stereotypical YA novel, but I can accept that they may be on the nose - though I have tried to keep the two separate. They may occur in the same conversation, but I don't have Alaska making those sorts of comments when they get that heavy. Sometimes it's not great, especially the middle of the story which is the worst part of 8ES, but I think it has improved a lot since then - well, IMO at least :p

Reading through this prophecy stuff and reflecting on your comments on Alaska in your AOTM interview, I think I've come to my conclusion about how you treat this character: she's definitely how someone could see a thirteen year-old girl behaving. having spent a full year of my life as a thirteen year-old girl, and probably two years or longer surrounded by them, I'm not sure if all the details are there, but my experience isn't the entirety of teenagehood, lol You do a good job of portraying her as stubborn, headstrong, stupid, and generally not wanting anything to do with this bullshit of a destiny that's being thrown at her, and it's an interesting subversion of a trope. That being said, my qualm was never with how she behaved, but how the narration treated the people critical of her behavior. For a lot of the story, people who tried to call out Alaska on her shittiness were portrayed as assholes, and, well, this leads into what I found most off about this structure: the prophecy/lack thereof.
Thank you for the one compliment :p I will tone that down in the rewrites, though, again, the fourth chapter new scene kind of changed how she treats the world. We will see how people treat Alaska and how she treats them change a lot with this new element.

The main reason that everyone has to come back and keep bothering Alaska over and over again is because of this prophecy, you say. The reason that everyone is trying to force this thirteen year-old girl who is clearly not ready for saving the world, is, like you say, because of some rock with a picture of a Pidgeot and some hazy reference to her name, idk. And the words 'Cynthia Code' were dropped somewhere? Apologies if this is in the rewritten chapters after chapter one and I'm just shooting in the dark here, but I honestly don't remember reading about the prophecy stuff until halfway through this story.

What this means is that there's basically no context for this whole "WE GOTTA USE THIS BRATTY KID TO SAVE THE WORLD. RIGHT DAMN NOW" spiel. And this also leads to my main problem with prophecies: for the Chosen One to be world-savingly special they have to offer something that no one else can. There has to be a reason that the Capital Letter Council/Powers That Be are willing to pick this particular person over the other people in the realm, who are almost always far more qualified. Like, in LOTR, they pick the little Hobbit guy because he's shown to be able to carry the Ring without going batshit insane (for a time), which is why they pick him over Gandalf to run into Mordor fuck off, eagles. Harry Potter lives in a world full of accomplished witches and wizards, but he's the only person to survive a killing curse from Voldemort, hence the focus. Here, though, everyone is so desperate to trust Alaska because... reasons? You kind of deal with the fact that the future-telling rock has actually been right and that's why there's a crater over in that corner of the world, but it's been eighty chapters before you brought this up (barring the rewrites again, sorry). But unless this prophecy rock has a huge track record of picking completely innocuous people who end up being the only possible person to save the world, why is it treated as exact fact that all of the other forces (incluing Champions, Gym Leaders, trainers who have captured a fuckton of Legendary Pokemon) are completely useless against some faceless evil, but this kid can totes handle it? It becomes ridiculous to suspend disbelief for me at this point.
The prophecy didn't get introduced to Alaska until halfway through the story XD The interlude does bring up the Cynthia Code early on as a mild tie-in to DoD and explains why Alaska is being sought after, but I will bring it up in more interludes. I think the first real mention of it is in the interlude post-Celadon the first time around, I forget which number. There are reasons Alaska wasn't told, but I could spend hours writing about that and I don't want to just throw words at you when it will continue to be developed.

Alaska is picked solely because she was on a rock. As Janine said two chapters ago, the Powers That Be as you said spent years ignoring the prophecies for that to nearly lead to the end of the world. Now they have flipped, they are really focused on Alaska and see her as their hero, and they all have different views on what to do with that information. The story is in part about the trope of prophecies in the first place, and the latest chapter does highlight my take on it, so I don't want to repeat myself since I spent a week writing those monologues. I see your view and understand why you can see it that way, and hopefully things will make sense by the end of the story, by which time the whole thing will have rewrites. I could explain things in PM if you want but I won't be doing so here.

The other problem I found with this prophecy is the associated worldbuilding, or lack thereof. The recent chapters in paricular reminded me that there's a lot of talk about bad shit happening--Red will die, more buildings will blow up, and I think the League is supposed to fall idk--and there's really not much showing of it. Because the story focuses so much on Alaska, things like Buzz's giant army of robots or whatever world-ending things you're planning are basically on the same tier of "this is bad" as her almost losing a gym battle. For all the talking that people are doing about how Kanto is falling apart, there's remarkably little falling apart. This ties into the above--it doesn't make sense that people are so desperate to get Alaska to save Kanto when Kanto, tbh, seems to be only in mild disaster mode instead of world-ending death and destruction.
Kanto isn't meant to be falling apart, which is why there is no falling apart. The whole plot is that Buzz is using the reality show as a front to get into the League. Things aren't perfect, I more than willing accept that, but with the characters I believe their choices can be defended for where we currently are. There are still bits of explanation to come, but as the story is being told from Alaska/Sandy's POV, they still have to learn these things in bits. The third act, which starts with the next arc, sees everyone's plans changing considerably, which leads to more of the 'end' happening. Buzz has been hospitalised for a while and Gideon is still being mysterious and not revealing his plan so the end has been on pause for a reason. The prophecy only predicts one battle, not a whole lot of them (if people hadn't started targeting Alaska in the first few arcs, there wouldn't be any action happening anyway ;) )

(But really, if the world was falling down, I think everyone would be complaining about their being more action/explosions :p)

Overall, this feels overwhelmingly negative, even from me :x I want to emphasize that I actually enjoyed the four chapters that went up since I last read/reviewed (unfortunately, they really helped clarify that feeling in the back of my mind about why I was doubting the construction of this fic, eek). It's clear that you're starting to tie threads together and there's finally character development, which is awesome.
If your worried about it being negative, you could actually mention some of the positive things and not just briefly mention it at the very end of the negative things :p Just saying.[/QUOTE]
 
After much consideration, I trimmed down my long-winded and somewhat rambling critique of this story. Here is what was left of my awards review once I cut away all the embellishments.


I had the pleasure of reading this story twice. Once about a year ago and then a quicker skim through this December for the awards. There is one thing in particular that struck me both times I read this: the sheer complexity of the story. The fact that you were able to keep such a massive, and kind of wonky, plot together after over five years is truly a testament to your skills as an author.

That said, I’m certain you already know what qualms I had with How to Conquer Kanto in Eight Easy Steps. Since the vast majority, in hindsight, ended up being either smaller than or related to the real issues, I’ll get right to the heart of the matter, the problem from which all the other major problems I pointed out seem to have stemmed from.

I’ll put this into movie terms since that’s what I’m most fluent with.

While I was reading your story, it was as if I were watching a movie with an amateur camera operator. Have you ever seen a movie like that? One second the camera is pointed here, then for no apparent reason suddenly it focuses on something else. Sometimes we’re right in the middle of a scene then for no reason the screen goes to black and a whole new setting comes up. Sometimes the camera focuses on one character for ages longer than necessary, and some characters barely get any screen time, only for the camera to overcompensate by focusing on those characters when they don’t need it.

Healthy portions of your story read like a jumpy action movie. Kind of like Battle: LA or Cloverfield. (If you’ve never seen those I wouldn’t recommend the first. The second is worth one watch)

The premise of the story itself really is terrific. I was genuinely engaged in what was going to happen next, and I really am curious to see how it’s going to get wrapped up. If you could just smooth out the story telling, work on your execution, everything would come together so nicely, and you would have a real winner here.
 
I had the pleasure of reading this story twice. Once about a year ago and then a quicker skim through this December for the awards. There is one thing in particular that struck me both times I read this: the sheer complexity of the story. The fact that you were able to keep such a massive, and kind of wonky, plot together after over five years is truly a testament to your skills as an author.

-

While I was reading your story, it was as if I were watching a movie with an amateur camera operator. Have you ever seen a movie like that? One second the camera is pointed here, then for no apparent reason suddenly it focuses on something else. Sometimes we’re right in the middle of a scene then for no reason the screen goes to black and a whole new setting comes up. Sometimes the camera focuses on one character for ages longer than necessary, and some characters barely get any screen time, only for the camera to overcompensate by focusing on those characters when they don’t need it.

Healthy portions of your story read like a jumpy action movie. Kind of like Battle: LA or Cloverfield. (If you’ve never seen those I wouldn’t recommend the first. The second is worth one watch)

The premise of the story itself really is terrific. I was genuinely engaged in what was going to happen next, and I really am curious to see how it’s going to get wrapped up. If you could just smooth out the story telling, work on your execution, everything would come together so nicely, and you would have a real winner here.
Thanks for the review, I always appreciate feedback, and I am glad you did enjoy it twice.

I understand the gist of what your saying, and in the edits I do hope to tie things together more, especially during the middle of the story when the plot picks up. However, I was asking I could clarify a few things:
- is this focused on the action-based arcs (I wasn't sure if your reference to action movies was just a reference or a specific comparison) or the whole thing entirely?
- 'The screen goes black' - is that commenting on how I have Alaska pass out a lot? If so, she is going to pass out a lot less (I will find a stronger link between the Lavendar and Celadon arcs). Or, is it are you talking about the move from one arc to the next?
- I can only guess the last bit refers to the focus on Alaska. I definitely will give Sandy more to do when I edit, like having more dialogue and more battles, but I won't give her any perspective chapters earlier then her first one - at least at the moment. The bit about 'overcompensate', what do you specifically mean by that?
- Finally, what do you mean specifically about it being pointed here and then focusing on something else? Just want to clarify.

Sorry for the several questions! Just want to make sure we are on the same page. It is a good analogy, I can see where you are coming from and fundamentally I do agree with you - I just want to clarify things.
 
How to Conquer Kanto in Eight Easy Steps


Technique 7/10: So all fics start out at their worst and 8ES is an example of this, right now the earlier chapters have been edited and touched up so that makes it better but at its early stages 8ES still suffered from a lot of problems, that still stand right now. It still has the occasional typo that really throws you off when you see it and sometimes there are sentences that just don’t seem to work as well.


Style 6/10: 8ES also has a problem with description in that sometimes the chapters’ description can get really long and suddenly you have to surf through long paragraphs of words that at the end of the day could be summed up much easier. It has gotten better in later chapters but the story can still somehow have problems with its flow and the description issue still pops up, but not quite as much as it used to and paragraphs are at least divided up more.


Plot 6/10: Like Unpredictable, 8ES’s plot is essentially your basic Kanto journey plot, the story itself is a sequel to its universe’s version of Gen 1 and Gen 2 but it still follows the general rhythm of the Kanto games except for some jumping around in regards to the order of the gyms. The issue is that unlike Unpredictable, 8ES does try to set itself apart from the games by the fact that the characters don’t necessarily got up against Team Rocket or an “evil team” if you will.


Unfortunately while this is the case it is still essentially about the characters going up against a group of bad guys to stop them from executing an evil plan that would be bad for Kanto. The plot is also hindered by the fact that it stands an important story in the bigger universe of its fic but it’s still basically an add-on to an overall already seen story. HOWEVER, much like with Unpredictable, execution is key in separating it from the clichés.


Setting 7/10: When it comes to setting 8ES does shake things around by showcasing how things have changed from how they were at the time of its universe’s version of the games and this fic, with some landmarks being moved or changed or outright removed to city’s expanding or changing in appearance. This does help in set it apart from other fics set in Kanto and give it its own feel even if it’s essentially the same setting we’ve seen before. Unfortunately while the setting’s description allows it to become vivid enough to the reader the description problems can also make it hard to imagine certain settings as some of them are described in a way that it becomes hard to really picture how they all work.


Characters 7/10: The characters in 8ES can be really hit or miss depending on what you’re expecting. The issue here is mostly that the fic does try to differentiate the characters from their game personalities and give them more realistic personalities over all…the issue falls on the fact that it kind of ends up going the other way, with most characters being shown as assholes in one way or another with little to no redeemable feature. My main issue with this is that it causes a lot of the character’s interactions with the exception of Alaska’s and Sandy’s in particular to go from kind of realistic to outright mean spirited in how it can end up, the fact that this fic’s protagonist has a very, very short fuse also makes it harder to really like any of the characters regardless of who you think is right or wrong in any particular situation. I’m not saying they’re bad, or am I saying they’re unrealistic but I do think that 8ES treats its characters in a particularly mean fashion a lot of the time. This has changed and gotten better in the later chapters but it’s still not enough to change the sins from the past. Another issue I find is that a lot of the character’s interactions can feel somehow overdramatic or exaggerated.


Overall 64/100: I have to be a little more subjective here because essentially 8ES and Unpredictable kind of even themselves out but I do like Unpredictable more overall. There’s nothing particularly bad with 8ES, at least not enough to make me say you shouldn’t give it ago, but it is just now (in my opinion) stepping out of its remaining early problems and it still has more work to do in regards to its characters.
 
Forgive me if this review isn't super well structured.

To start and to reiterate something I already told you, Chapter 76 is my favorite chapter of the fic so far, but it made me realize an issue very similar to the main issue I had with Galactic.

First, why I like it: It's the first time I've felt like a discussion like this had any real impact on Alaska. Alaska's kind of a typical 13 year old girl. I'd say you portray that well, but the way her age and character makes her act also makes her deserve a good telling off. A lot of the previous arguments painted the scene's antagonist (for lack of a better word) as an insensitive and/or arrogant asshole. In this chapter, no one gets away with that. No one is portrayed as being "in the right," Alaska least of all. A lot of things are said that needed to be said, and you did a pretty good job of summing up the details you added in the rewrites (although I might be biased, since I talked with you about them and actually read them). That brings me to the problem.

I can't remember the exact words I used, but in my first review of Galactic, I pointed out that the actions scenes were great, but after a while they started to get kind of old. The Solaceon fight was huge and felt like a climax, but then it wasn't, casting all following action scenes in its shadow and making every one of them feel like not that huge of a deal. I have a similar problem with this story. Not with explosions or action or battles, but with arguments.

Chapter 76 was an awesome discussion. But you yourself said "Alaska hates Leaf, not everyone." I know you're trying to use the rewrites to establish that, but you've implied that you really only plan to change much of the early chapters, but that's not where that particular problem lies. Chapter 76 was not the first argument Alaska had with someone about war and prophecy. It was the best one, but it would have been so much more impactful if Alaska wasn't treating Leaf the same way she treated Sabrina, Evelyn, and basically everyone else. It honestly left me wondering why this particular conversation had such an impact where others did not. In keeping with my Galactic analogy, I highly suggest not having any more arguments of this kind unless they vary greatly in tone and outcome. Anything else would be devalued by this one.

Anyway, on to some rewrite thoughts. Awesome worldbuilding with all of the fallout of TFW and whatnot. Much better technique overall. It actually felt like its own world, real and alive, rather than some characters dropped onto the same paper-thin backdrop that my mind automatically gives any Kanto journey fic without much description (ie what I imagined the first time I read it). Much better introduction of characters and concepts as well.

The only problem I see is not you forgetting to "fix" something, but "fixing" something that should have stayed as is, in my opinion. And that's Alaska's character. You mentioned I think in your AOTM interview (or maybe somewhere else?) that you were surprised by how much Alaska's character had changed as you wrote the fic and so you got rid of some of the more up front brattiness in the first blog. I'd argue for leaving it in. Honestly, going back and re-reading made me realize just how far Alaska has come. You get a lot of criticism about Alaska not being affected much by anything, and you deflect it by saying development shouldn't happen overnight. That's not what we're saying though. Alaska has changed. She's grown a lot. Early on she was much more catty and arrogant in a naive way. Leave that in! As you rewrite, highlight the changes to her character as they have happened over time. Nowadays she's much more angsty and rude in an "I hate the world" way rather than a "lol I'm mean" way. It's not much of an improvement as far as likability goes, in my own subjective opinion, but it is very much development.

Coming back to current chapters, Chapter 77 was hit and miss. I love the idea, I love the monologue, I love the fact that Alaska's talking to someone she'll listen to again, but all that's undercut by some significant weaknesses. Firstly:

"Oh yes, of course; the stories, all you've been through, my gosh, it's like you're trapped in a book! Our tragic hero, fighting against the villains threatening to destroy our land. It's like something out of a fairy tale."

"Yeah, except it's not my story, is it?" Alaska replied bitterly. "I have no say in what's going on. I am just being led along; if this is a story, my plot's already been set out for me, I am just meant to obediently follow along and save the day."

This felt a little too... on the nose? An explanation after another example:

"Trust me, I haven't been. I acted out at first, but that only seemed to make things worse. I tried standing up for myself, and that didn't work. I've tried making pledges to myself and vowed to change my ways, but people still don't seem to care. I've already waxed lyrical about all of this, I've had so many conversations about what I should do, what I shouldn't be doing, what I want to do, but at the end of the day, nothing seems to have changed. I'm willing to face off against Buzz and Gideon, but apparently I need to do it in the right way, I need to let go of what I want and just bend over backwards. None of them are the ones with a fucking prophecy hanging over them, none of them are the ones who actually 'have' to fight at the end of the day. Just because they've been through it before doesn't mean we're on the same level, and I just. I… FUCK!" Alaska had slammed her hand down in annoyance, completely forgetting the glass in her hand.

It's like the entire point of this conversation is to spell out literally and exactly what you're trying to do with this story while layering in some of your own defenses to criticisms. It may not have broken the fourth wall directly, but I definitely heard some cracks.

As readers, we know this stuff already. The reminder feels a little preachy and kind of broke my immersion.

Personally, I think if these people did come from another world like people say, they simply got spooked by our fire breathing, earth shaking animals and fought back in instinct.

OH...

OH...

Oh.

It's G.A.T.E.

But seriously this entire story Bertram told was super cool. In fact, I'd argue that it was a little too cool. This is the first time this whole incident has been mentioned, and to get such a huge epic info dump all at once really took away from whatever kind of impact the story had on Alaska. At the end of the chapter, I cared less about what Alaska was going to go say to her Pokemon and more about WHAT THE FUCK HAPPENED TO KALOS AND WHERE CAN I FIND OUT MORE.

That said...

"It's hard to explain. I've been thinking about this a lot, ever since I ended up in Sevii with my left hand clutching my mother and my right hand holding my sister's ashes. Prophecy isn't just something that happens to champions and heroes. We are all born into circumstances, we are all born into situations we had no choice in and we have to live with. Rich, poor, gay, straight, brown, white, male, female; you don't get to pick what you're born with. When you come into this world, there are already thousands of years of history that will affect what happens to you next. You are just born into an exact time and place, and stumble through life trying to make the best of what happens.

"Even when we start talking about the big prophecies some ghost carved into rocks thousands of years ago, they don't just affect one person or a few people: they affect everyone. I don't even know why we bother differentiating these things with labels; what's a prophecy to you is real life for someone else. I told you the Fall of Kalos had been predicted. That meant that everyone born in that country, everyone living there, we were all born into a prophecy, our lives were all gearing up towards that moment. Look at yourself – you're from Viridian, aren't you? Red, Leaf, Blue, they had their prophecy, and once Giovanni set his Ground types loose on your city, their prophecy became a part of your life."

"All your prophecy means is that you know where you're going, but you don't know how to get there, you don't know what happens when you get there, you don't know what you do after it's over, if you make it out alive. You have to make your decisions just as much as Leaf, Red, Looker, all of them will make theirs, and you have to make the right decisions as they will affect everyone.

This entire quote was beautiful and on point. I have little else I can say about it (I mean that in a good way).

Despite these gems, the chapter was weakened by the same kind of tonal changes kintsugi mentioned. I get what kind of character and story you were trying to set up with Bertram, but honestly the drama of his gritty war story was really hampered by the sudden and unabashed reminder that he is fabulously gay and how this entire ranch was built off of hot sweaty amazing sex. Kind of a tonal shift there.

To close, I really like where you appear to be going with this. Chapter 76 in particular really set up some great threads for the rest of the story. I look forward to more.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Style 6/10: 8ES also has a problem with description in that sometimes the chapters’ description can get really long and suddenly you have to surf through long paragraphs of words that at the end of the day could be summed up much easier. It has gotten better in later chapters but the story can still somehow have problems with its flow and the description issue still pops up, but not quite as much as it used to and paragraphs are at least divided up more.
What do you consider long? I know I can ramble on a bit, but I thought descriptions in recent chapters had been pretty long XD Do you mean more variety in where the descriptions appear in the chapter? I have noticed my habit of putting lots of description at the start of chapters I am trying to avoid.

Plot 6/10: Like Unpredictable, 8ES’s plot is essentially your basic Kanto journey plot, the story itself is a sequel to its universe’s version of Gen 1 and Gen 2 but it still follows the general rhythm of the Kanto games except for some jumping around in regards to the order of the gyms. The issue is that unlike Unpredictable, 8ES does try to set itself apart from the games by the fact that the characters don’t necessarily got up against Team Rocket or an “evil team” if you will.

Unfortunately while this is the case it is still essentially about the characters going up against a group of bad guys to stop them from executing an evil plan that would be bad for Kanto. The plot is also hindered by the fact that it stands an important story in the bigger universe of its fic but it’s still basically an add-on to an overall already seen story. HOWEVER, much like with Unpredictable, execution is key in separating it from the clichés.
I would argue it is more than just a 'basic' journey plot. Fundamentally at its core, yes, it is about someone travelling around the cities, earning badges and battling bad guys, but practically every single journey fic on this site is that at it's core - that really is the description of a journey fic. I think to get to that description, you have to strip away everything that has happened to the characters, the motivations of everyone involved, and what has happened. From what I've read of my fellow competitors this season, I think each fic is much more than just playing with cliches.

Setting 7/10: Unfortunately while the setting’s description allows it to become vivid enough to the reader the description problems can also make it hard to imagine certain settings as some of them are described in a way that it becomes hard to really picture how they all work.
Any specific examples?

Characters 7/10: I’m not saying they’re bad, or am I saying they’re unrealistic but I do think that 8ES treats its characters in a particularly mean fashion a lot of the time. This has changed and gotten better in the later chapters but it’s still not enough to change the sins from the past. Another issue I find is that a lot of the character’s interactions can feel somehow overdramatic or exaggerated.
It's been said a lot, and I have listened. These views will be noted.

Fair comments all round. Not a lot I can specifically pick up or respond to. Thanks for judging it though - hope it wasn't too much of a slog :p

To start and to reiterate something I already told you, Chapter 76 is my favorite chapter of the fic so far, but it made me realize an issue very similar to the main issue I had with Galactic.
I think you said you liked it, didn't know it was your favourite, so I'm glad things have gotten better :p

I can't remember the exact words I used, but in my first review of Galactic, I pointed out that the actions scenes were great, but after a while they started to get kind of old. The Solaceon fight was huge and felt like a climax, but then it wasn't, casting all following action scenes in its shadow and making every one of them feel like not that huge of a deal. I have a similar problem with this story. Not with explosions or action or battles, but with arguments.
(And that's why I'm getting rid of like half the action scenes before then and one afterwards :p)

Chapter 76 was an awesome discussion. But you yourself said "Alaska hates Leaf, not everyone." I know you're trying to use the rewrites to establish that, but you've implied that you really only plan to change much of the early chapters, but that's not where that particular problem lies. Chapter 76 was not the first argument Alaska had with someone about war and prophecy. It was the best one, but it would have been so much more impactful if Alaska wasn't treating Leaf the same way she treated Sabrina, Evelyn, and basically everyone else. It honestly left me wondering why this particular conversation had such an impact where others did not. In keeping with my Galactic analogy, I highly suggest not having any more arguments of this kind unless they vary greatly in tone and outcome. Anything else would be devalued by this one.
I wholly accept this. I was so nervous about doing another discussion chapter, but as it is the final purely "do this"/"fuck you" discussion, I rolled with it. I will definitely be re-examining the past three big chatty chapters when I rewrite. Alaska's hatred to Leaf is grounded in something much more personal and internal, but yes, it is another chapter of her yelling. I hope that when the story and the edits are finished, the whole thing can be read in it's intended impact.

Anyway, on to some rewrite thoughts. Awesome worldbuilding with all of the fallout of TFW and whatnot. Much better technique overall. It actually felt like its own world, real and alive, rather than some characters dropped onto the same paper-thin backdrop that my mind automatically gives any Kanto journey fic without much description (ie what I imagined the first time I read it). Much better introduction of characters and concepts as well.
Thank you - can't say much else :p

The only problem I see is not you forgetting to "fix" something, but "fixing" something that should have stayed as is, in my opinion. And that's Alaska's character. You mentioned I think in your AOTM interview (or maybe somewhere else?) that you were surprised by how much Alaska's character had changed as you wrote the fic and so you got rid of some of the more up front brattiness in the first blog. I'd argue for leaving it in. Honestly, going back and re-reading made me realize just how far Alaska has come. You get a lot of criticism about Alaska not being affected much by anything, and you deflect it by saying development shouldn't happen overnight. That's not what we're saying though. Alaska has changed. She's grown a lot. Early on she was much more catty and arrogant in a naive way. Leave that in! As you rewrite, highlight the changes to her character as they have happened over time. Nowadays she's much more angsty and rude in an "I hate the world" way rather than a "lol I'm mean" way. It's not much of an improvement as far as likability goes, in my own subjective opinion, but it is very much development.
Alaska's development is tricky because I view it differently since I know where the story is going and how things will end up for her, and not to toot my own horn or anything, but this is a reasonably complex character story I am telling (successfully or unsuccessfully, that's for you lot to decide). The rewrites are going to ground her attitude in her past more and hopefully from arc-to-arc we will see more of a change. I'm not 100% certain what each arc will show, or what people are wanting it to show

With regards to the rewrites, it's not about removing it/making her better: I meant that I was just making it a bit cleaner, with less crude humour that felt like it was written by a very immature writer who thought every joke he came up with was high-larious. The blogs in particular are going to be altered to show more of a difference to how Alaska is in real life to how she is in the blogs. She will still be the same person, but her attitudes will be more grounded and less outright and obnoxiously vulgar, as I feel like it is hard to subtlely move between that sort of personality into the type of so-subtle-it's-practically-unnoticeable form of development I prefer :p

This felt a little too... on the nose? An explanation after another example:
/
It's like the entire point of this conversation is to spell out literally and exactly what you're trying to do with this story while layering in some of your own defenses to criticisms. It may not have broken the fourth wall directly, but I definitely heard some cracks.

As readers, we know this stuff already. The reminder feels a little preachy and kind of broke my immersion.
I didn't actually intend it as a defence, it was more stating Alaska's point of view, but I can see how it would be read that way. Both the paragraphs you highlighted I wasn't 100% happy with and will try and look over before the next chapter.

OH...

OH...

Oh.

It's G.A.T.E.
I had to Google this reference. I thought you meant Stargate. But yeah, this is probably the first multiversal mention outside of Dawn of Darkness

But seriously this entire story Bertram told was super cool. In fact, I'd argue that it was a little too cool. This is the first time this whole incident has been mentioned, and to get such a huge epic info dump all at once really took away from whatever kind of impact the story had on Alaska. At the end of the chapter, I cared less about what Alaska was going to go say to her Pokemon and more about WHAT THE FUCK HAPPENED TO KALOS AND WHERE CAN I FIND OUT MORE.
Yeah, a bit of my fault. The edited chapters will expand on the idea of the wars, as will The First Warriors. I would have preferred people focus more on the moral and why the story is being told, but I can understand that critique. Not sure how I could fix it but will look this over.

This entire quote was beautiful and on point. I have little else I can say about it (I mean that in a good way).
I am glad you liked it. That was largely the point of this chapter.

Despite these gems, the chapter was weakened by the same kind of tonal changes kintsugi mentioned. I get what kind of character and story you were trying to set up with Bertram, but honestly the drama of his gritty war story was really hampered by the sudden and unabashed reminder that he is fabulously gay and how this entire ranch was built off of hot sweaty amazing sex. Kind of a tonal shift there.
I can understand that criticism in this sense, but there is meant to be a tonal shift. We will see more of Bertram and touch further on the war, but largely he is someone who has lived through it, it's been nearly 20 years since (admittedly not stated in this chapter), he has had to move on and accept it and has embraced what happened to him. While this may be the first time Alaska/we have heard about his story, it's something he has lived with for a long time - and, at the end of the day, it is true he built his empire that way. He has very much moved on from what happened to him, in contrast to Alaska who is still hurting from all that has happened to her over the last five years.

To close, I really like where you appear to be going with this. Chapter 76 in particular really set up some great threads for the rest of the story. I look forward to more.
Hope I can keep this train going.
 
Chapter Seventy Eight: Addicted to You
Chapter Seventy Eight: Addicted to You

It was two in the morning before they let her take him.

For several hours, Alaska sat alone in the Pokémon Centre foyer, staring blankly at the outdated posters decorating the walls. Occasionally, one of the night staff or a Chansey would pass through the double doors into the back hallway, letting snatches of the debate around her Pokémon escape out into the open, but otherwise there was silence.

Alaska knew they would not give him back to her without a fight. She knew from her mother there were procedures around this sort of thing: if a Pokémon was presented with serious injuries, the cogency of the trainer would be taken into question, and the only thing more serious than Darwin’s current state would be if he was dead.

A new nurse had been on desk when Alaska arrived at the Pokémon Centre. She had thought she would be spared from having to suffer the soul destroying look of judgement from the earlier nurse, but watching the smiling, round faced nurse disappear into the backroom, only to come out looking like she’d just seen a murder site, that hit Alaska a lot worse.

She left two nurses and Darwin’s surgeon to debate her future. Alaska said she only needed him for a few hours, than he would go back. The younger nurse, despite her initial shock, seemed to understand Alaska’s story, and was the only one standing up for her. Alaska could hear her voice every time the doors opened, briefly interrupting her from the staring contest she was engaged in with an eerily outdated poster of Casimer.

I wonder how Red reacted when he took over from you, Alaska thought. Did they mould him to replace you? Did he tell you all to fuck off, or did he relish being handpicked by the gods for glory?

In the end, they lamented, albeit reluctantly. The younger nurse came out, jolting Alaska out of a doze.

“We called the League and informed them about your case, but they said that they’ve already concluded their investigation and know you aren’t in the wrong.”

Great, bailed out from accepting responsibility once again.

“Dr Monroe still doesn’t want to return him, though legally he can’t withhold a trainer’s Pokémon,” the nurse explained, tutting slightly. “However, he does him to check him over again in the morning. He and his Blissey have done all they can for today – poor Blissey’s worn herself out – but your Primeape will be able to stand on his own two feet now.” She passed the PokeBall over.

“Thanks,” Alaska said coldly, and grabbed hold. However, as she tried to pull away, she saw the nurse hadn’t let go. She was staring at Alaska with nervous eyes, her hand shaking slightly as she slowly, unwillingly, let go.

“What happened to him?” She whispered, the words echoing inside the empty foyer. Alaska stood up, a cold sensation spreading through her chest, and swung her bag over her shoulder.

“A lot,” she replied, and left without another word.

The training pitch was dark and empty. There were no lights except for a dim glow coming from inside the centre. The moon was hidden behind clouds, only occasionally escaping to cast its light briefly before it was snatched away once more. Alaska preferred the darkness though. It would make it easier to look him in the eye.

With a casual flick, she threw the first four PokeBalls towards the sidelines. For a second, the field was lit up by the red and blue light, briefly illuminating the derelict pitch: four non-descript walls surrounded them, and the tree they’d dealt with earlier marked the only bit of nature in the dirty, unloved space.

Her Pokémon didn’t seem to mind. Though she could barely see them in the light, their eyes lit up as they focussed on her. Paige, Frances, Nadia and Shelley: the four seemed very innocent, unaware of why they were here or what Alaska was about to do. Do Pokémon have a grasp of time? She asked herself, staring at the four attentive faces. Do they just go where their trainers tell them to go? Do any of them have a grasp of what I’ve put them through, or do they just think that’s how it’s meant to work when you have a trainer?

Alaska turned away and pulled out her fifth PokeBall. It had gathered a layer of dirt sitting at the bottom of the bag: as she looked at it, brushing her finger over the surface, Alaska felt what seemed to be a bit of a brownie stuck to the bottom. The thought made her smile, until she realised how long it must have been down there, and just as quickly the sensation to throw up returned.

Unable to put it off any longer, Alaska pressed the button and pointed the ball. Red energy swirled in front of her, rising up into a barely familiar shape. When the light faded, a sudden tension descended over the group, all eyes falling upon Darwin.

He’s standing, that’s good. That was the first thing that came to her mind, and Alaska held onto it, refusing to let go in case she lost control. It made it easier to watch him standing shakily before her, staring between her and the Pokémon as though he barely recognised them. In the faint light, she could tell they had washed most of the blood off him, though Alaska noticed his fur was shorter in some places. Unable to watch him any longer, she glanced at her other Pokémon, wondering how they were reacting. Frances had stepped backwards in fright, clutching a curious Shelley like a shield, while Nadia had done the opposite, leaning forwards while eyeing Darwin with intense scrutiny. Paige’s face was stern but silent, and when she caught Alaska’s eye she gave her a little nod. The tiny recognition of her efforts made Alaska smile back, and she knew it was time to start.

“I’ve brought you all here because I need to say something to all of you. It can’t wait until morning – if I go off and sleep on it, I know I will just end up repressing it all again. I have to say it now, and I need you all to bear with me, but first… first, there is something we have to get out of the way.”

No avoiding it now. Alaska took a few deep breaths, preparing herself, and then turned back to Darwin. She couldn’t avoid him any longer; if she wanted to speak to him, she couldn’t do it gazing over his shoulder. The Primeape seemed disorientated, wobbling slightly, the proud fighter no longer. However, he felt Alaska’s gaze on him, and he finally turned to face her. His eyes were as wide and empty as they’d been on the operating table, and Alaska was hit with the familiar wave of guilt and regret, bile rising up throat. But the burning need to speak her mind overpowered her stomach, and Alaska forced herself to talk before her strength passed.

“First things first: while I may have handled certain things badly, for a Pokémon, you were kind of a douchebag. You can’t deny your culpability in what happened between us. I mean, you nearly killed three different Pokémon – I couldn’t just let that slide.” Alaska paused to gather her words, and briefly wondered how Darwin was taking it. He was watching her silently, not shouting or screeching as he had once done, emotionless eyes boring into her like drills. She couldn’t tell if he was judging her, resenting her, or just simply listening.

“However, I can’t blame it all on you. I wasn’t in the right headspace to handle you back then. I never wanted you to get hurt or to suffer because of me, but I knew that if we had continued in this relationship back in Celadon then things were only going to get worse for both of us. But I should have done more earlier to stop you, or train you or something, I don’t quite know what. I’m sorry I let things get out of hand, I’m… I’m just sorry.”

She held out his PokeBall, clutching it firmly in her hands, and his eyes flickered towards it. “This little capsule means that you are still mine. I’m still responsible for you up until I decide not to be. If you want me to, once you’re fully recovered, I’ll take you to a breeder I met today, break the ball and you can be free to do whatever you want.

“However, there is a place on my team for you if you want. I want you to come back. I don’t want to release you in your current state, that would just be cruel. But… I also can’t let you come back if things are going to be the same. I want to try again, but if you want to be a part of my team, you’re going to have to listen to me and you’re going to have to be on my side.”

Darwin didn’t respond. He simply looked at her with his pain ridden eyes. The silence was unbearable. For a fleeting second, Alaska considered calling upon Latios to unlock Darwin’s mind for her. No, you can’t do this the easy way. Breathing slowly again to centre herself, Alaska knew what she had to do.

“I thought this would be hard to get across, so I thought of a way we can move past this. I want you to hit me.” She heard gasps from her Pokémon, followed by an angry growl from Nadia.

“Pidge?” Alaska ignored the cautious cry of her starter, focussing entirely on Darwin. For the first time since she started talking, Darwin finally reacted, eyes widening in shock. She saw his hands twitch as though he wanted to make a fist, but he stopped himself, suddenly watching her suspiciously.

“You heard me – hit me.”

“Pidge Pidge Otto!”

“I am not kidding. I want to know you will do whatever I tell you to do, and I want you to know I am willing to trust you not to go beyond your limits.” Darwin now looked confused, and instead of coming for her he stepped backwards, stopping only as he began shaking once again.

“No, you… we… none of us are walking away from this, not this time. You hit me back in Celadon, do you remember? Well, this time, you actually have my permission. Come on, do it!” Darwin looked away, and Alaska could see his eyes fill with shame. She was hit by guilt again, but was glad she had brought it up.

Sitting in the waiting room, talking to everyone that day, Alaska had realised this was the one moment from her whole journey she had been trying to forget: in a moment of weakness and anger, she had cast him aside – not after he had hurt other people or their Pokémon, only after he had attacked her. This isn’t about me – I can take the pain, I need to take this.

“Come on, fucking hit me. I deserve this.” Angry, fuelled by her own guilt, Alaska marched towards her shaking Pokémon. “I told you to hit me, so hit me!” And she slapped him. Frances squeaked and Paige squawked, but Alaska did it again. “Can’t you hear me? I’m the one that abandoned you out there, I left you out there to die. I didn’t once think of you after that – that’s how much you pissed me off. Those scars, those bruises, they are my fault, and if I hadn’t run into the bikers you would have died and I never would have even wondered about you.” Alaska was talking through tears now, thin, silent tears streaming down her face. Darwin looked scared, confused, and Alaska had no idea if this was working, but she couldn’t stop; weeks, months of emotions had come to the surface, and she kept feebly slapping Darwin, thinking of Leaf, thinking of Bertram, of Venusaur, Sandy, Gideon, everything.

“Don’t you want revenge? Don’t you want to scar me the way I’ve scarred you? Come on, hit me!”

“Pidgey Otto Ot!”

“You’ve done it before, just hit me!”

“PIDGEY!”

“HIT ME!”

“AAAAAPPPPEEEE!”

The fist slammed into her stomach. For a second, Alaska seemed to rest on the end of his glove-like hand, raised slightly above the ground. She could feel the impact spreading through her body: her abdominal muscles, her organs, her ribs, it was like she had been punched by a brick wall.

Then she flew. Though her vision had turned white, stars blotting out the darkness, Alaska could tell she was soaring over the pitch, feet in the air, arms flailing, vomit threatening her once again. She could only think of the pain, but a small voice in her head warned her to prepare for a hard landing.

Instead, she collided with something soft. Her neck snapped back, adding more pain to her growing list of injuries, but whatever she had hit softened the blow: Alaska crashed to the ground with such force she thought her bones might break, yet she knew she had come off lightly. It was only when she came to a stop, after painfully rolling almost to the wall of the centre, that Alaska realised it was Paige who had tried to save her: the Pidgeotto limply pushed herself up from where she had been flattened, shooting her trainer daggers with her beady eyes.

“Thanks for that,” Alaska grunted, clutching her stomach. Groaning, she cast her eyes across the blackened pitch, trying to find her other Pokémon. Frances was running towards her in a frantic panic, clutching Shelley in her pincers and waving her about wildly, the Shellder squealing with equal discomfort. She could not see Nadia, but her angry grunts could be heard, and Alaska eventually saw a spiky shadow jumping around Darwin, defiantly protecting her trainer to the very end.

This is the team that’s going to save the world… Alaska rolled onto her side and shut her eyes, trying to adapt to the pain enough to carry on. I probably should have spoken to them all first before getting punched in the stomach. That was probably the smart thing to do, wasn’t it? Sighing, Alaska opened her eyes, ready to finally reach the end. With a jolt, she found Darwin staring down at her.

For a moment, she felt weak, exposed, laying on the ground as he stood over her. He stood strong and sturdy, no longer shaking. Alaska could feel his eyes focused on her, but it was too dark to see his face. Silence descended over the field as the other Pokémon gathered around them, everyone waiting to see what happened next.

Has he forgiven me, or is he going to finish me off? The thought was dark and unpleasant, and Alaska felt sick just thinking about it, but she could not deny her feelings. Trying to stay calm, she focussed on his eyes, trying to find some hint of sanity in them. Like little black buttons, they shone in the dark, one more bloodshot than the other. Both were locked onto her, and Alaska wondered if that was hate she could see in them. The longer Darwin watched her, the more Alaska thought back to Fuchsia Gym. He shared the same look of pain and suffering with Blue’s Venusaur, and Alaska could feel her tears staring again.

Finally, Darwin leaned forwards. Alaska winced, but saw he was simply holding his hand out to her. As a single tear slid down her face, she accepted his offer, and let him lift her back to her feet.

The light at this end was brighter. Alaska clutched her stomach as she straightened herself up, but looking down at Darwin, the stitches and across his body, she knew her injuries meant nothing. She stayed staring at Darwin, taking in the quiet anger in his eyes, the pain etched into his face: for the first time since she’d found him, Alaska could see the old Darwin in him. And, strangely, she couldn’t have been happier.

“He’s not the only one who deserves an apology.” Finally breaking away from his gaze, Alaska looked down at the other four Pokémon. They all looked uncertain in their own way, looking cautiously between her and Darwin. It hurt to see them like this, and Alaska strengthened her hold on Darwin. “I want each of you to know I’m sorry for everything I’ve put you through. I’ve neglected all of you for no reason, and I cannot apologise enough.” The four all spoke up, shaking their heads, but Alaska held out her free hand.

“No, I have to say this. I’ve spent so long trying to keep my two lives separate – the person I want to be and the person I have to be – but that has only put us in the situation we’re in. I’ve been so focussed on myself and my decisions I never properly considered how it was affecting you all, only how you were affecting me.” On this, Alaska looked painfully at Paige. Her oldest friend in the world, clueless that for weeks now Alaska had thought of her as the Pidgeot she would become, the Pokémon she would ride into a battle she wanted nothing more than to avoid…

“There’s a prophecy out there that says I am meant to play a part in stopping Gideon and Buzz and whoever else is plotting against the region. I’ve spent so long trying to run from it, trying to blame other people and make excuses, but at the end of the day, no one cares: I have to do this whether I want to or not… we have to do this.”

Alaska paused, staring briefly at smiling Shelley, thinking back to their training battle. “I’ve been neglecting you all. We’re strong, but I’ve been holding you all back, either on purpose or out of my own carelessness. I only realised today that all five of you are as linked to this prophecy as I am, and I’m starting to wonder if fate brought us together. I know that sounds stupid and cliché, but maybe it did? We all just sort of stumbled across each other, and now here we are, preparing to face down an army. I think we all have a role to play in stopping this, and I am just so, so, so sorry I didn’t realise this earlier.

“You guys have a choice though. Me and Paige, we’re in this whether we want to be or not. The rest of you don’t have to be. If you want to leave, I won’t blame you. Bertram will look after you, find you a new home, whatever you want. If you stay with me, know that I have to start taking the end of the world seriously… I will be a better trainer, a better person… I just need your help getting there.”

Alaska stopped, fearful she gone on too much. She looked at the five Pokémon assembled around her: not a single one moved, no one said a word. Alaska waited, preparing herself for the inevitable. Yet the minutes dragged on, and not a single one of them moved.

“Well then… thanks, I guess.” Alaska looked down at them, trying to smile, but instead a sob escaped her lips. Within a few seconds she was crying, down on her knees weeping before then. She had no idea why she felt so overwhelmed: the sickening sadness that had dogged her all day was gone, now she felt only relief, a lightness she could not put into words. Paige, Frances, Nadia and Shelley moved in closer, and Alaska hugged them, feeling stupid as she sat crying on the ground. Only Darwin remained standing, staring down with his arms crossed. Alaska looked at him through his tears, and the Pig Monkey gave her a gruff, silent nod before walking away. Alaska smiled as she watched him go. Both of them knew that what she had said as she slapped him was true; the guilt, her punishment, it wasn’t over yet. Alaska knew they both still had a long way to go, but as she caught Darwin briefly looking back at her from across the pitch, she was simply glad they had made a start.


*****​

“Come on, Weepinbell; Magical Leaf, let’s go!”

Weepinbell gazed up at her opponent: wide mouth stretching in a determined grin, the leaves on her side lit up like a rainbow. Keeping a steady eye on Butterfree, Weepinbell let loose, firing off a stream of multi coloured leaves. Sandy watched as they hurtling towards Butterfree, satisfied when they inevitably collided. However, as the attack cleared, Butterfree looked unfazed, diving down as though nothing had happened. “Freeeee!” She squealed, and a small ball of rainbow energy appeared in her hands. With a yell, Butterfree unleashed the Signal Beam: it hit Weepinbell square in the face, blasting her backwards several feet.

“Don’t let that stop you; Sludge Bomb!” Sandy ordered, but the command felt sour in her mouth. Weepinbell was struggling to push herself back up, having rolled onto her face, yellow and green body quivering.

“Free Free Butterfreeee.” Sandy looked up to find her oldest friend floating a few feet in front of her, concern in her big red eyes. With a sigh, Sandy nodded, admitting defeat.

“Let’s stop there for now, shall we?” Sandy stepped forwards and bent down to scoop up Weepinbell. Her hands were nearly around her when a brown vine slapped the ground before her, making her jolt back up.

“Bell Bell!” Weepinbell groaned. Her face was buried mostly in the earth, but from the glint of eye visible, Sandy could see the Grass type was not going to give up. She simply watched with Butterfree by her side, and saw an intrigued Eevee and Pichu had stopped playing and were coming to survey the scene. With a huff and a groan, Weepinbell used her vine to push against the ground, and, combined with her crumpled leaves, she forced herself back up the right way. Sandy’s shock quickly dissipated, and she instead clutched her hands to her face, feeling tears coming through.

“Ooohhhh… that was so… I’m so… great job!” She blubbed, and picked up her Pokémon, pulling her tightly towards her chest. Weepinbell murmured embarrassedly, but Sandy kept holding on. This was the first good thing to have happened to her since she had left the Pokémon Centre that day, and she wasn’t going to let the moment pass, not when everything else seemed to be falling down around her.

“Goomy Goo!”

“AAAHHH!” Weepinbell went flying as Sandy jumped, screaming as something soft and slimy rubbed against her leg. Butterfree swooped in and caught the spiralling plant, but Sandy didn’t notice as she tried to rid her leg of the squirming attacker.

“Pichu, I need light, do something electrical!” Her youngest Pokémon simply gave her a perplexed look, and a fearful Sandy signalled to the other three, gesturing wildly at what seemed to be a slimy ball crawling towards her thigh.

Yet before anyone could help her, they all jumped as light suddenly exploded around them. It was an intense, a blinding white that engulfed the pitch: Sandy heard Pichu and Eevee whimper in discomfort, and her mind fearfully jumped to conclusions: was this an attack – could Buzz have tracked them down, out to avenge his wounded groin? She quickly looked down at her leg, wondering if the light would unveil her sinister foe, but through her blurred vision Sandy saw it was simply a purple, almost ball-like Pokémon, now writhing on the ground as it tried to hide from the light.

“I think Goomy likes you.” All her irrational fears disappeared as Sandy turned towards the voice. Her eyes had adjusted now, and she could see Bertram standing at the edge of the pitch, surrounded by Furfrou and three pumpkin shaped Pokémon with light shining through their bodies.

“Oh… hey….” Sandy guiltily smiled at Bertram, part of her wishing it had been some unknown assailant. She hadn’t asked if she could use this training pitch on the side of the house: Sandy had noticed it earlier, and after hours lying awake, going over and over the day’s events and the words that had been exchanged, Sandy had been overwhelmed by an unstoppable desire to battle, and had come down here before she even knew what she was doing. “I didn’t wake you, did I?”

“Of course you did, it’s five in the morning and you’re battling in my backyard.” Bertram paused dramatically before cackling, his Pokémon joining in on the laughter. “Don’t feel bad though; you are my guest, you are welcome to use my facilities.” The breeder smiled reassuringly as he bent down to greet Pichu and Eevee.

“You don’t have to let me off the hook, I know I should have asked – it was an impulse decision, you know, and when I got out here, I knew I needed to train, and I – ”

“Sandy, its fine.” Bertram gave her a more forceful look, and reluctantly Sandy breathed a sigh of relief.

“Still, I’m sorry. It’s been so kind of you to let us stay here. I still feel bad for showing up on your doorstep and intruding in your life.” Bertram brushed it aside with a wave of his hand, something only a man in his position could ignore, but Sandy couldn’t so easily ignore the circumstances through which they had arrived.

It had been a truly mad day. After the argument at the Fuchsia Gym, Alaska had become nearly catatonic. Quiet, distant, unresponsive, Sandy had known straight away that her friend had been affected by Leaf and Janine more than anyone else they’d encountered. The two had rarely spoken about Alaska’s home life, but Sandy knew that Team Rocket’s attack on Viridian was a chip on her shoulder, and confronting people involved in it was never going to be easy.

When it became clear Alaska was in no fit state, Sandy had assumed responsibility as she so often had. She had been planning on calling Bertram and arranging a meeting once the gym battle was done, but as she practically dragged Alaska through the empty streets of Fuchsia, Sandy impulsively decided they had to be somewhere comforting – and, she was ashamed to admit, she needed someone else to deal with her friend.
Alone she had hauled Alaska out of the city, slowly dragging her along the southern coast like she was taking a drunk friend home from a party. Form the corners of her eyes, Sandy could see the ocean spread out brilliantly before them for miles, but with so much going through her mind the beauty meant nothing to her. Even when she had forced Alaska up Bertram’s gravel driveway and finally sat down, suddenly surrounded by luxury and views to die for, Sandy had only felt cold, staring out at the sea but taking nothing in, her mind still at Janine’s table facing the harshness of her reality.
“You have a pretty good team for someone not doing any of the challenges.” Snapping out of her thoughts, Sandy looked up and saw Bertram was now cradling Weepinbell, inspecting her leaves in the light of his Pokémon, who she now recognised as Pumpkaboo.

“We do our best. The only chance we get to train is when Alaska needs a battle partner,” Sandy replied, shrugging. We could be better, so much better¸ she thought with guilty bitterness. “I’m not sure how much use we will be when Gideon starts his little mission…”

“Don’t undersell yourself: if you weren’t good, Goomy here wouldn’t have come over.” Sandy looked back down at the squishy Pokémon: she had heard of Goomy, and if she was feeling better one trying to climb her leg would definitely have been greeted differently. The Goomy was watching her with its luminous green eyes, wide mouth stretched in a smile, but Sandy couldn’t bring herself to return it. “You should be proud: Goomy is very particular of who she talks to. She makes it pretty difficult to find a buyer, but Goomy have a natural instinct towards people they think will help them reach their potential.”

“Why are people after he – do you not have a lot of Goomy?”

“A lot? Oh honey, I dream of having more Goomy,” Bertram said with dramatic flair. “This is likely the only pure bred Goomy you will ever see for the rest of your life.”

“Seriously?” Sandy looked down at the Goomy who was sliming over her feet, amazed at its rarity.

“Absolutely, I won’t be getting another one any time soon. I had a male Goodra for years but sold him on last year – he wanted to battle, and I can’t give that to him here. I borrowed a female Goodra from an old friend before he left though, and this Goomy is the product of that little meet up.”

“How many Goodra are left now?”

“Hard to tell – I know of at least a dozen with trainers. It’s hard to know how many have live happily in the wild without humans ever interfering. I just have to do my best to make sure the ones I know of are taken care of – Pokémon may be tougher than us, but they are just as finite.”

Aren’t they just, Sandy thought, looking guiltily at her Pokémon.

“Anyway, you aren’t out here to discuss my breeding programme,” Bertram boomed, jumping back to his feet. “So what reason do you have for battling at this time of night?”

“I couldn’t sleep. Stuff… just stuff on my mind.” Sandy forced a smile, but Bertram shot her a witheringly sassy look of discontent.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t realise we were having this conversation on Trainer.net after you posted a vague status update. Would you mind spelling things out a bit further, or do I have to pry it out of you?” Sandy laughed, yet her joy only lasted a moment. Now that the rush of battle had passed, the crushing weight she had been trying to ignore was suddenly on top of her once again, and she knew she couldn’t hold it in any longer.

“It was something Janine said earlier, about how I’m basically just a supporting part of all this. I hadn’t really considered it before, but I realised she has a point. I may be part of her prophecy, but all of this is about Alaska really, isn’t it? I’ve been dragged along and help out when we can, but Janine just made me think…” Her thoughts had been getting at her all day, and now that she was saying them out loud, Sandy knew how horrible it would sound. Four of her Pokémon were watching her, Bertram and his Pokémon were all here: for a moment, she wanted to stop and change the subject, but knew if she didn’t, the words would never come out.

“I just worry I’ve let my journey get hijacked. I wanted to see the world, catch some Pokémon, maybe battle gyms eventually. I didn’t have a plan, but it certainly wasn’t this. Dragging Alaska here today, after what Janine said, and listening to you, I’m just worrying I’ve let myself become like her carer, that all I’m destined to do is make sure Alaska stops being rude to people.

“And then… when I look at my Pokémon…” Sandy paused, feeling tears coming on, briefly looking at Eevee, Pichu and Weepinbell in turn but unable to hold their gaze, avoiding Butterfree all together. “I just worry they’ve become victims of all this, that I’m holding them back from reaching their potential, which is the last thing I wanted, and I’m afraid if we do end up fighting they won’t be strong enough because I’ve let our journey become all about Alaska. Shit, I sound like such a cow right now, but… urgh!” Sandy violently wiped the tears from her eyes and turned away. “It’s just… I didn’t run away from home to become a footnote in someone else’s prophecy.”

She fell silent, listening back to what she had said; it was like someone else had spoken through her, none of this seemed like her. Yet even though she had only accepted it today, Sandy knew that those thoughts had been there a long time – that no matter how many times she and Alaska argued and apologised, forgiveness wouldn’t take away her fears.

“Do you really think that’s all you will be?” Sandy felt a hand on her shoulder, and she turned slightly so Bertram was just in her peripheral vision. “You are a lot more than just a footnote. Sure, you may just be helping Alaska right now, but do you think that girl would still be here without you? I’ve heard all about her and what she’s done. I bet if she hadn’t had someone looking out for her, she’d either be dead in a ditch or would have murdered someone by now. When Looker told me you’d be coming here, he mentioned how you are the only one who can make her see sense. If that’s true, then I doubt we would have reached this point without you. Sure, some may see you as her sidekick, but everyone important knows who you are and how important you’ve been.”

Sandy sniffed, noticing Bertram’s sincerity was reflected in the kindly smile of the Goomy. “That all may be true, but my Pokémon and I, we –”

“- will be fine, trust me,” Bertram interrupted. “You say you haven’t trained them much? Well, you seem to be pretty solid from where I’m standing. I’ve met people who have simply followed older family members around, or train their Pokémon at home for years before going traveling, and none of them would ever have the experience your team has. But if you think there are problems, that’s what will really hold you back.” The breeder bent down and scooped up Goomy before stepping aside, revealing Sandy’s four Pokémon sitting quietly behind him. “I think we should let you get back to training – and I think you all need to have a talk.” Sandy managed a smile, and with that, Bertram turned and set off. Goomy watched Sandy over his shoulder, and those luminous eyes shone out well after the Pumpkaboo light had faded. Sandy watched them go until the light was truly gone, and only then was she able to face her team again. None of them had made a sound for several minutes, and a heavy awkwardness hung in the air.

“I’m sorry for bringing that up now, at this time of night. I was going to talk to you guys soon… well, I don’t know really when I would have. You have to know, I’m not blaming any of you, no, not in the slightest, nor am I blaming Alaska. I guess I’m blaming myself, but I don’t really know, and –” Sandy fell silent as Pichu ran up to her. For a horrible second, she was afraid, wondering if he would attack her, unleashing bottled up rage she had never suspected. However, the Tiny Mouse simply wrapped his small arms around her leg.

“Oh Pichu, I don’t know what to say…” Another set of arms grabbed her, and Sandy looked down as Butterfree nestled against her. Then Eevee ran up to her, followed by Weepinbell rolling awkwardly towards her. Sandy was speechless, and she stared silently at them, unsure how to react.

“Thank you for… actually, just thank you,” she whispered.

“Eevee Vee Vee!” Eevee said, and suddenly removed herself from the hug. “Vee E Eevee Vee!” She looked at Sandy determinedly, head held high as she continued to chatter. Sandy couldn’t understand a single word, but there was something about the way Eevee held herself that filled her with pride.

“I can’t tell what you’re saying, but thank you for whatever it is you said.” Eevee rolled her eyes before shutting them, and, as though making a point, she began to glow white. Sandy’s jaw dropped, and she watched in amazement as her Pokémon changed before her, and she knew in an instant what she was trying to tell her, what she was proving to her trainer. Sandy looked down at her other Pokémon, seeing them all in a whole new light, and all she could do was smile.
 
Hey so the thing finally happened. Four months after it got spoiled in a spinoff project. Yay.

OK, to start with I really liked the last two chapters (it's been a while since I read the third-to-last one so I won't comment there). Might be my favorite string of two consecutive chapters in the series. The slower pace, Pokemon emphasis and Bertram worked well together, especially since the cathartic moments didn't really end in anything blowing up... except for a punch that really should've done more damage, but I'm going to set aside the OP physics of 8ES for a moment. And the Kalos backstory and farm were more interesting and well-written than I would normally expect from the story. So you're clearly getting better.

If there were two things I didn't like, they would start with the very meta sequence in Alaska's conversation with Bertram. You called me out on "lol book tropes" humor once, so I can return the favor here. I think the chapter would be better off without it. Alaska, to be fair, has played with it on and off throughout the series and is in general a fairly meta character. But in that context, in a chapter sequence that was serious but not grimdark, it just kind of threw things off. I would save it for the lighter chapters.

Oh, and in Sandy's conversation the trainer.net joke. Bertram kind of struck me as an older character given the name, wealth, occupation and speech patterns. So the joke seemed a little weird coming from him.

Otherwise, good chapter string. Really liked it, keep up the good work, and bug kintsugi about the SS v. CC battle.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Review game because no one loves you like I do.

I wonder how Red reacted when he took over from you, Alaska thought. Did they mould him to replace you? Did he tell you all to fuck off, or did he relish being handpicked by the gods for glory?

It's really telling about Alaska's character that these are her two sole theories for the circumstances around Red's becoming champion. Selfish arrogance or divine intervention. I'm really looking forward to Alaska and Red actually meeting.

Great, bailed out from accepting responsibility once again.

Again, this is kind of on the nose, but I think it's okay here. Alaska becoming more self-aware is a huge part of her development.

Do Pokémon have a grasp of time? She asked herself, staring at the four attentive faces. Do they just go where their trainers tell them to go? Do any of them have a grasp of what I’ve put them through, or do they just think that’s how it’s meant to work when you have a trainer?

I know this is internal dialogue so all rules are out the window, but repeating words like this sounds clumsy. I'd change one of them to "do they understand" or something. I find reading my writing out loud helps catch stuff like this. Maybe you do that already and this just slipped through, idk.

“HIT ME!”

I don't know what it is, but in various stories I have seen characters I don't like get punched for being dumb/whiny and suddenly they become awesome. I'm okay with that and I hope it happens here.

When it became clear Alaska was in no fit state, Sandy had assumed responsibility as she so often had. She had been planning on calling Bertram and arranging a meeting once the gym battle was done, but as she practically dragged Alaska through the empty streets of Fuchsia, Sandy impulsively decided they had to be somewhere comforting – and, she was ashamed to admit, she needed someone else to deal with her friend.
Alone she had hauled Alaska out of the city, slowly dragging her along the southern coast like she was taking a drunk friend home from a party. Form the corners of her eyes, Sandy could see the ocean spread out brilliantly before them for miles, but with so much going through her mind the beauty meant nothing to her. Even when she had forced Alaska up Bertram’s gravel driveway and finally sat down, suddenly surrounded by luxury and views to die for, Sandy had only felt cold, staring out at the sea but taking nothing in, her mind still at Janine’s table facing the harshness of her reality.
“You have a pretty good team for someone not doing any of the challenges.” Snapping out of her thoughts, Sandy looked up and saw Bertram was now cradling Weepinbell, inspecting her leaves in the light of his Pokémon, who she now recognised as Pumpkaboo.

First off, the spacing between these paragraphs is missing. Second, I'm not sure about the chronological order of these scenes. I suppose it doesn't matter, but it would be nice to know if this took place after Alaska got punched or during it or what. A brief mention of Alaska leaving Sandy at Bertram's place or Sandy making a comment about Alaska being beat to shit would clear this up and help set the scene better. Again, it doesn't exactly matter, but it's nice to know as a reader unless you're purposefully withholding the information.

“I can’t tell what you’re saying, but thank you for whatever it is you said.”

This is the most adorable thing Sandy has ever said.

Not much else to say. Been a while since I've done a single chapter review.

I liked the chapter. Some much needed development for both Alaska and Sandy. I'm looking forward to see where this goes.
 
Chapter Seventy Nine: Poison Paradise
Hey so the thing finally happened. Four months after it got spoiled in a spinoff project. Yay.
Yeah, it was meant to come out like the same month as that... I've been lazy....

OK, to start with I really liked the last two chapters (it's been a while since I read the third-to-last one so I won't comment there). Might be my favorite string of two consecutive chapters in the series. The slower pace, Pokemon emphasis and Bertram worked well together, especially since the cathartic moments didn't really end in anything blowing up... except for a punch that really should've done more damage, but I'm going to set aside the OP physics of 8ES for a moment. And the Kalos backstory and farm were more interesting and well-written than I would normally expect from the story. So you're clearly getting better.
I am glad you enjoyed it. Hopefully I keep up the pace. I think Darwin would have held back a bit punch-wise instead of trying to kill her - plus he was still qutie weak despite being treated, so that plays into it.

If there were two things I didn't like, they would start with the very meta sequence in Alaska's conversation with Bertram. You called me out on "lol book tropes" humor once, so I can return the favor here. I think the chapter would be better off without it. Alaska, to be fair, has played with it on and off throughout the series and is in general a fairly meta character. But in that context, in a chapter sequence that was serious but not grimdark, it just kind of threw things off. I would save it for the lighter chapters.
Yeah, the past use of her meta remarks made me include it, but I can see it doesn't really work. I think I'll rewrite it at some point and cut it out.

Oh, and in Sandy's conversation the trainer.net joke. Bertram kind of struck me as an older character given the name, wealth, occupation and speech patterns. So the joke seemed a little weird coming from him.
Fair point, but I don't think Bertram is so old and stuffy he wouldn't know about the internet. Trainer.net is basically this world's Facebook.

Otherwise, good chapter string. Really liked it, keep up the good work.
Fingers crossed!

Review game because no one loves you like I do.
They say it better than me <3


It's really telling about Alaska's character that these are her two sole theories for the circumstances around Red's becoming champion. Selfish arrogance or divine intervention. I'm really looking forward to Alaska and Red actually meeting.
;)


Again, this is kind of on the nose, but I think it's okay here. Alaska becoming more self-aware is a huge part of her development.
I'm never been one for subtelty XD


I know this is internal dialogue so all rules are out the window, but repeating words like this sounds clumsy. I'd change one of them to "do they understand" or something. I find reading my writing out loud helps catch stuff like this. Maybe you do that already and this just slipped through, idk.
I think you or someone made this point a few chapters back, and it has stuck with me. I regularly rewrite entire paragraphs just to avoid using the same two adjectives in a row, so this one was an accident. Thanks for the reminder though - I'm not as vigilant with proofreading as I'd like to be.


I don't know what it is, but in various stories I have seen characters I don't like get punched for being dumb/whiny and suddenly they become awesome. I'm okay with that and I hope it happens here.
When writing I knew the punch would feel a bit tropey, but given the relationship between the two, I think it works enough. I promise we will be getting change.


First off, the spacing between these paragraphs is missing. Second, I'm not sure about the chronological order of these scenes. I suppose it doesn't matter, but it would be nice to know if this took place after Alaska got punched or during it or what. A brief mention of Alaska leaving Sandy at Bertram's place or Sandy making a comment about Alaska being beat to shit would clear this up and help set the scene better. Again, it doesn't exactly matter, but it's nice to know as a reader unless you're purposefully withholding the information.
Alaska left the farm in the last chapter and she's at the Pokemon Centre, while Sandy's outside the city. Maybe it does need some clarification at some point and my internal narrative had me brush it over, but the pieces should all be there.


This is the most adorable thing Sandy has ever said.
Yes, yes it is.


I liked the chapter. Some much needed development for both Alaska and Sandy. I'm looking forward to see where this goes.
Glad you liked - two positive reviews from you in a row, and two positive reviews for one chapter? I really am improving XD

Huge delay, yes, but I wrote the next two chapters at once to ensure they flow as they are told from different perspectives. After so very long this arc is very nearly over - let's hope these chapters don't let you all down!


Chapter Seventy Nine: Poison Paradise

Once again, Fuchsia was quiet. It was as though people were afraid of going outside, terrified that if they left the safety of their home, chaos would land on their doorsteps once again. As she moved through the city, Sandy felt like an intruder, as though she was disturbing something that had been laid to rest a long time ago.

What is wrong with this city? It didn't matter where you went in Fuchsia; the whole town simply felt dead. The unkempt Pokémon Centre, the abandoned building projects, house after house dripping with neglect, and not a single person around trying to do anything.

Though she hadn't seen anyone else, Sandy knew that people still lived here; she could feel their eyes watching her as she strolled through their city. She stopped on a street corner and looked around, eyes darting from abandoned house to overgrown lawn, finally landing on a one story brick house behind her. A woman watched her from behind her curtain, but she did not flee from the stranger watching her; instead she met Sandy's eyes and defiantly glared back, her look screaming at Sandy to go away.

It was an expression Sandy had seen all too often in the last few weeks: fear mixed with anger, the eyes of someone who had seen it all before and wasn't ready to face it again. Alongside Viridian and Cinnabar, Fuchsia had suffered the most at Team Rocket's hands, but only they were unwilling to move on. Sandy thought back to the nurse at the Pokémon Centre, how she had made Alaska feel after only a few minutes together: the town was angry, wounds that no amount of new attractions could heal, but Sandy knew that ultimately these new visitors to their home simply made them scared – none of them were ready to suffer again.

Shivering, Sandy continued on her way, catching more curtains flick out of the corner of her eyes. The watchful townspeople did little to help her nerves. Sandy got this way before all of Alaska's gym matches: it had started off as excitable jitters, hoping everything worked out for her new friend while anxious to experience the marvel of battles. In recent weeks, it had become flat out nerves, not about whether Alaska would win or not, but how she would react afterwards, what the people watching them would do, what her winning or losing would mean for their future.

She better make this work, she can't trick Janine like she did with Sabrina. Once her Pokémon had helped her move past Janine's words and her own fears, Sandy had been able to turn her attention to the forthcoming battle. With Alaska on the other side of the city, she was in no position to help and had no clue what her friend had planned.

If she even shows up… Sandy had wanted to leave earlier and go straight to the Pokémon Centre, prepared to drag Alaska kicking and screaming if that was what it would take. But Bertram had forbidden it.

"You may be the one who has to hold her hand, but part of helping someone is making sure they can do things on their own."

So Sandy had waited: she threw herself into training her Pokémon, and her joy at their ever improving skills had been enough to calm her worries. When she had left the farm an hour earlier, she had felt reassured, confident, hopeful that the battle would play out how she hoped. But walking through this dead town had drained the joy from her: seeing the effects rebellion and war had brought Sandy right down again. Now, as she made the final turn towards the gym, the blonde headed girl was prepared utterly for the worst.

"Look who finally decided to show up!" Sandy stopped dumbfounded in the middle of the road, and watched Alaska leap off the post she had been sitting on across the road from the gym. She looked tired, her hair limp and greasy, her eyes red, face pale, but she was here on time.

Sandy didn't say anything. A sudden rush of shame overwhelmed her, and she simply marched forwards and embraced her friend.

"You smell disgusting," she mumbled, voice shaking, and Alaska laughed.

"Training non-stop for, what, thirty hours does that to you." She broke loose of the hug and stepped back. "How have you been?"

Sandy shrugged. "Good, actually. It was relaxing – nice and quiet. I really needed the break."

"From me?" Alaska asked, eyebrow raised.

"What, god no, that's not what I meant!"

"I'm joking!" Alaska laughed, though there was a dull heaviness to it. "I'm happy for you; you looked like you needed it. You were pretty quiet after we got to Bertram's."

"No, no, I'm fine!" Now wasn't the time to bring up what Janine had said. Sandy couldn't give Alaska any reason not to focus on the battle. "Oh, I do have some exciting news though!" Sandy stepped backwards and produced a PokeBall. Alaska's eyebrows narrowed in curiosity and she watched as red energy poured onto the road. The Pokémon that formed was bright pink, with skin like ribbons protruding from her neck and left ear. Her wide blue eyes looked cautiously around her, and her lips were held tightly together as though displeased with her new surroundings. Alaska's jaw dropped, and Sandy simply beamed, soaking up her friend's reaction.

"Oh… wow…a Sylveon! So, is that…Eevee?" Sandy nodded enthusiastically, and she stared giddily down at her Pokémon. She still couldn't get her head around the fact that this was hers, that Eevee had had the potential for evolution in her this whole time. The thought of what she had done for her brought made Sandy well up with happy tears, and she longed for the opportunity to put her latest addition through her paces.

Sylveon seemed nonplussed by the attention: the Fairy Pokémon was delicately cleaning herself, rubbing her tongue across her cream and pink fur, her tail gently swishing. She only looked up when Alaska playfully patted the ribbon-like appendages protruding from her neck and head, shooting her a blue-eyed glower.

"These feel weird," Alaska said, holding up one of the bows. Sylveon angrily chirped at her and whacked Alaska's hand away with another of the ribbons.

"Yeah, they are a bit odd," Sandy whispered, hoping her Pokémon could not hear. "Bertram said they are a defensive thing, though they just remind me of tails… only backwards." She looked at Alaska, who was biting her lips in a futile attempt not to laugh. They stared at each other in silence for a minute before cracking up, their laughter echoing down the abandoned road. Sylveon looked at them in disgust and carried on cleaning herself.

"Ah, I needed that," Alaska sighed a few minutes later. "All work and no fun makes Alaska a boring bitch. Well then, now that you're here, shall we head in?"

"To the gym?"

"Yes… is that a problem?" Alaska asked, her eyebrows rising once more.

It could be. Her happiness turned sour, Sandy crushed to be brought back to reality. She opened her mouth to speak, but the words wouldn't come. She wanted to question her, she wanted to make sure that what her friend was doing was right. But how to word it, how to ask her without hurting her, shaking her confidence, damaging their chances of winning? Sandy had spent much of the walk here thinking about how to phrase her concerns, and had been confident of what she would say, but the thought of facing Alaska and the reality were entirely different.

"No, not at all," she said finally; Sandy could hear her voice quiver under the lie, but Alaska didn't seem to notice. With a determined nod, the trainer turned and marched up to the gym doors without another word. Sandy sighed, cursing herself for multiple reasons, and followed her up the path. Alaska pushed on the doors and stepped forwards, only to slam into the thick wood a second later.

"What the hell, the doors are locked!" Alaska gave the door an angry shove followed quickly by a kick to no avail. A robotic giggle sounded around them, and Alaska sighed and looked upwards. "Let us in, Clyde."

"Can't do that, I'm afraid. The gym leader's not home, so it's all locked up."

"What do you mean? I've got a gym battle scheduled for today."

"For today, yes, but not here – Miss Janine found a much more appropriate venue for you. It's a short walk from here; I'm sending a guide for you." A putrid smell hit their noses before he had finished talking, and Sandy gagged and looked around; a purple ball with a cartoonish grin appeared around the side of the gym, and then dopily bobbed towards them.

"Koffiiiiing!" Khaki smoke oozed out of the grinning Pokémon, who seemed oblivious to their disgust, and it swerved around them before heading towards the western side of the gym.

"My goodness Alaska, did you not bathe this morning? How disgusting!" Clyde's cackle sounded from all sides, and a seething Alaska glowered at thin air before following after the Koffing. Sandy and Sylveon followed in her stride, heading down a path between the building and the trees.

"Come on Alaska; don't let him get to you." Alaska didn't reply, marching solidly onwards in Koffing's putrid wake. Sandy had to jog to keep up, Sylveon skipping playfully by her side like it was all a game. "Alaska, I really think –"

"Not now," her friend snapped back, and Sandy felt her heart sink. All her worries had come true. Alaska's anger was the thing that frightened her the most as it managed to make her wildly unpredictable yet disappointingly predictable. The people they were up against, they would soon know how to get under her skin if they didn't already, and when that happened, you never knew what version of Alaska would get. Sabrina had tried to teach her to strategize and prepare for battle properly, to see things from the opponent's perspective. Sandy had hoped that the message had sunk in after Darwin returned, but seeing her friend fall so quickly into a temper, her old doubts quickly rose to the surface.

Janine's going to have a plan. She's going to know each of Alaska's weaknesses and she is going to know exactly how to exploit them. She doesn't trust Alaska, she doesn't want the fate of the world to rest in her hands… she won't let Alaska win if she can help it.

"Alaska, wait!"

"What?" Alaska turned around with a snarl on her face, and the two stopped. Sandy had barely paid attention to where they were going, but now found herself surrounded by trees: thick, ancient trunks enclosed them, an almost invisible path their one guide onwards. It felt like something from a fairy tale, but Sandy's mysticism died as she looked back into Alaska's eyes, facing the anger once again: they weren't travelling to some mystical hidden kingdom in the woods, they were off to duel a warrior stronger and more capable than either of them put together.

"So… do you know what you are going to do?"

"I have a plan, if that's what you mean. I spent all of yesterday and this morning working on it."

"Do you… do you want to share?" Alaska turned to Sandy and smirked.

"I have won five of these already; I think I can handle this." She turned to walk away, but Sandy grabbed onto her arm. "What?" Alaska's face was twisted with rage, and it took all of Sandy's willpower not to let go. The silence dragged on, and the anger slowly faded from Alaska, and her eyes fell to the hand wrapped tightly around her wrist. "Sandy, is something wrong?"

Sandy couldn't speak, her nerves making her seize up again, but she refused to let go. Yes, of course something's wrong; is anything about this fucking situation right? She wanted to shout that, to yell and scream and let out everything she had been holding in for weeks. Instead, Sandy took a deep breath and paused; this was her one shot, her last chance, to say everything she wanted to say, and screaming her lungs out wouldn't solve anything.

Simply put, Sandy was worried. She couldn't help it. It was a difficult thing to put into words: how does one express disappointment with a friend without losing the friendship? Even after everything they'd been through, Sandy still had no idea how Alaska would react if she questioned her. They had a friendship built mostly on nightmares and broken promises. Alaska had given Sandy her word countless times in the past, but in the end it had proven worthless. Their conversation at the Athlew Mansion had felt different, like they had reached an understanding, but it hadn't been put to the test yet.

If Alaska loses here, there is no coming back. Everyone important will be watching the outcome of this battle, and this is her last chance to appease everybody… especially me.

Sandy felt selfish, making this about her when the fate of the region was at stake, but after everything they'd been through, she felt she had earned the right. She had been dragged into this, sucked up into someone else's prophecy, and there was no escape for either of them. Sandy knew she was in too deep to back out now; Gideon, Buzz, the robot army, they could all come for her, kidnap her, torture her, murder her, just to prove a point. She was as much a part of this as Alaska was, but Sandy didn't have her strength or resilience. Her Pokémon loved her and supported her, but Alaska had the power and experience Sandy couldn't possibly replicate on her own.

All this had been on her mind for weeks, but Sandy had never found the courage to say it. And here they were, only a few minutes away from the most important test so far on this journey, and only now could Sandy find the courage to speak. She wished she had said something earlier, found the courage to speak her feelings instead of cheering on the side lines, but she could not let Alaska go into that battle angry, she couldn't let her fight without speaking her mind.

I have to know you aren't going to get me and my Pokémon killed. I need to know you are still a good person underneath all that armour you wear, that you will do what has to be done.

"Sandy, seriously, we're going to be –"

"You can't stuff this up." Sandy softened her grip but didn't let go, mostly as she needed to maintain contact, as though her touch would be enough to calm Alaska. "We need them on our side, you have to understand that. Do you have a plan, Alaska, and not one of your complicated creativity set ups?"

"Yes – don't you trust me?"

No. "Of course I do, but they don't. You need to show them you can… well, behave. They aren't going to trust you with the freedom we both want unless you can show you don't need them watching over you. We're talking about the end of the world here: none of us want that to happen, but they don't want to co-operate with you because they don't see the point."

"So you want me to be a good little girl so we –"

"No, Alaska, it isn't that simple and you know it. You can't just dismiss everything you disagree with like that. The way you battle today will be the difference between having a choice in how you save the world and continuing with this cold war of mutual hatred and distrust that will only result in the bad guys winning. You have to go out there and fight fairly, even if Janine doesn't, and prove to them that you are the person who is going to stop Gideon and that it's time they treated us – you, I mean, like that."

She was nearly there, she had nearly made her point, but Sandy had run out of things to say. She couldn't stop there; she needed something to simple and easy to drive her point home, to make Alaska see sense. Sandy cast her mind back to Bertram, to Leaf and Janine, to Looker, but everything she'd thought of while she walked through the city was gone from her mind… unless…

"I know this is going to be tough for you because of what happened to Viridian, and I understand that. But the same thing happened to Fuchsia; they've let their hatred and anger and fear define them for the last five years, and look at how little they've progressed. You can't let the past define you Alaska, otherwise we will carry on fighting them, and you'll just become the person you hate."

The silence that followed was long and heavy. Even the foul smell pouring out of Koffing couldn't distract them. Sandy felt both the lightness of a moral weight being lifted from her shoulders, but at the same time her stomach churned and twisted upon itself, her whole body shaking with fear as to what would come next.

"That's a lot to take in," Alaska said. She smiled weakly, and from the sad, defeated look in her eyes, Sandy knew her words had worked. "I am taking this seriously, I cannot stress that. I don't want to get into it here, but the stuff with Darwin… its changed things. Really, it all started with our talk in the tent that night; I didn't have time to process that since we, you know, got kidnapped a few hours later, but you and then Sabrina and Alistair and everything we've learnt, it's all snowballed and this is what were left with. I wish we could stop and talk about this, but if I don't face Janine now, I don't think I ever will. I just want you to know that I never want to feel the way I did after my battle with Sabrina, so I promise you, this is going to be different."

For a second, Sandy felt like crying – not out of any one overpowering emotion, but from the surprise of it all. No yelling, no fighting, no cursing to the winds: Alaska was smiling and nodding and taking it all in. Sandy held back the tears and simply smiled: the negative side of her doubted Alaska was reacting so calmly internally, but now wasn't the time to push her further.

"Well then, on we go!" There was a pause, a little moment of tension that made Sandy seize, but Alaska cracked a smile and turned, leading the way behind Koffing. "Here's hoping I've totally overthought this and Janine isn't up to anything."

"Even if she is, there's nothing here that I'm not prepared for." There was a pause, and then Alaska groaned. "Fuck me, I shouldn't have said that, should I? She's going to have something awful planned, won't she?"

"I'm sure it won't be that bad…" Sandy said, unconvincingly. She looked down at Sylveon who was shaking her head, and nervously Sandy carried on. The trees soon began to thin, the pale blue sky peering through the branches, and Koffing gathered speed as he soared towards their destination. Alaska and Sandy shared one last glance, one final smile, and together they stepped out of the forest.

Instantly they froze. The sight that greeted them was unlike anything either of them had ever seen. They stood in the clearing for what felt like hours, staring upwards, completely speechless. Sandy felt herself go breathless, could feel the oxygen leave her body as her lungs, heart, brain, everything seized. She had imagined plenty of ways today could have gone wrong, but never in her wildest, most terrifying dreams would she had ever picked this.

They had stepped into a gathering of the gods. It was like some ancient mural come to life: the three birds of Kanto, Articuno, Zapdos and Moltres, soared overhead with bodies the size of planes, while beneath them on the cliffs above, Raikou, Entei and Suicune stood silently gazing at the pair, their beautiful manes rustling in the northern winds. Sandy had briefly been in the presence of gods before, but this was something else entirely. She could feel them all staring at her, six pairs of eyes that probably outdated her bloodline watching her, and Sandy wasn't sure if she was meant to bow or run away screaming.

"Well fucking fuck me." Quivering under the mere thought of the power surrounding her, Sandy turned to face Alaska: her jaw hung open, her eyes were glazed over. Sandy reached out and grabbed her hand, partly to reassure her friend, to let her know that it was all going to be fine even though she doubted that any of this was good news.

"About bloody time!" The cry sounded from beneath them. Sandy had been so distracted she hadn't noticed they were standing at the top of a hill: they were on the edge of a small mountain range, but the battlefield was waiting for them in the valley below, positioned between the two cliff faces. The earthy pitch was nothing like the wooden dojo they had seen the other day, and Sandy felt uneasy as she followed Alaska down the steep slope.

Janine was waiting for them on the edge of the pitch, scratching Koffing's underside with Leaf by her side, hand clutching nose. She lowered her hand as the pair approached, throwing them a smile, and Sandy watched with disdain as it disappeared under Alaska's renewed glower.

"What the hell is this?" She snapped, pointing to the legendaries above them.

"A bold statement." Janine let that hang there before cracking a smile. "Oh god, you should see the look on your face."

"Answer me!"

Janine raised her hands in pretend surrender. "Calm down now, love, you don't want things to get out of hand. You think you know better than us, that you can do this without Red's legendaries watching over you. Well, now is your chance to prove it: you're going to be judged by the gods – literally. You see, I wouldn't trust you to look after a Caterpie let alone the fate of the world, so even if you defeat me today, I'm still going to be rooting for Option B. If you want to carry on without constant supervision, you have to prove to them you are worthy."

Though she wanted to stay positive, even Sandy felt the strong urge to slap the gym leader. Bringing out the gods felt like it was against all kinds of rules, but the angrier Sandy got, the more she thought about Sabrina: you had to roll with what your enemies threw at you, and that was what they would have to do.

"Remember what I said," Sandy hissed through clenched teeth, quiet enough she hoped the others wouldn't hear it. She could see Alaska's eye twitching, and for a moment Sandy feared all the stress she had put herself through for those few minutes of bravery would be for nothing.

"Very well: I hope you're prepared to lose in front of your biggest audience yet." Alaska's words were sharp and venomous but delivered so calmly Sandy audibly breathed a sigh of relief. A silence followed, all four women looking quietly between each other, but then Alaska spoke up. "I feel like I should apologize for how things got the other day. I meant what I said, but that was probably the wrong time to bring it up."

Did that seriously just happen? Sandy was beginning to wonder if she had walked into a dream. Alaska facing her enemies calmly, quietly, almost politely? Was this some imposter, or did Sandy have so little faith in her friend that even the smallest progress seemed impossible?

"That's quite alright Alaska," Leaf said, interrupting before Janine could reply. "We probably were a bit hostile as well, weren't we Janine?" She nudged her friend, and the gym leader shot her a glare.

"Potentially, yes." It was as much of an apology as they were going to get, and Sandy gripped onto Alaska's hand as the tense moment passed, urging her not to say anything.

"Where are we exactly?" She asked, hoping to distract them all from the tension.

"We're on the very edge of the Pal Park. No one ever uses it really so Janine rents this area out when we want to train," Leaf explained. It's probably a pretty handy place to hide some gods as well, Sandy thought, her eyes flickering upwards as the three birds continued to circle them. "Well, if that's all that then, shall we battle?" Alaska and Janine turned before Leaf had even finished speaking, and the brunette shrugged at Sandy before following after Janine, Koffing following behind.

"Oh, I can't wait to wipe that smirk off her face. I'll hit her with the full Viridian force," Alaska hissed caustically as Sandy caught up with her.

"Don't let her get under your skin, you need to –"

"I am focussed, I'm just pissed off as well. But that's good, trust me – it means I'm prepared." Alaska smiled, her eyes shining, and Sandy wasn't sure if she should be pleased or concerned. There was nothing more she could say; all Sandy could do was head for the side lines, the spectator once more. She had only taken a few steps when Alaska grabbed onto her shoulder, stopping her in her tracks.

"Thanks for being here. You don't know how important it is to know there's always at least one person in my corner." Stunned, Sandy turned to face Alaska, but her friend had already let go, only a faint look of contentment on her face.

"Um… you're welcome, Alaska." The words stumbled out of Sandy's mouth, and she managed to force a smile before quickly turning away, her eyes swimming with tears. Sylveon by her side, she rushed to the side and collapsed onto the hill. Both trainers were in position now, but Sandy couldn't think of the battle: her mind had gone back to Saffron City, when Alaska had turned post-victory against Sabrina to her waiting audience, only to find them unable to meet her eye. Alaska had said only a few minutes ago that things had begun snowballing around then – was that all it had taken to change Alaska's perspective, Sandy letting her real emotions show for the first time?

Bertram was right – I do have a part to play in all this. Alaska needs support; she needs someone to guide her through this. I may not end up on a statue, but this is the job I've been given: professional support person, that's me.

"This match will be a four-on-four single battle," Leaf announced, her voice echoing inside the valley. Above them, Sandy watched as the three birds landed on the cliff opposite their counterparts: old paintings they'd been shown in Sunday school had always made the legendaries seem so relaxed and graceful, but even from afar Sandy could see they were all serious about their task today, their eyes focussed on the trainers below. "When all four Pokémon on one side are unable to battle, the legendaries will declare a winner. Are we clear on these rules?"

Though she was looking straight at them, the other three may as well have been in another world. Sandy stared blankly into space, her mind a rush of a million different thoughts at once. She had spent so long worrying about how Alaska would react, yet she had never once expected she would listen to her, that her views would matter. Something soft brushed her eyes, and Sandy looked down and saw Sylveon was wiping her tears away with one of her ribbons.

"Thank you," Sandy blubbed, pulling her close. She'd let her friendship become something false in her mind, her fears and loathing shape her reality, and the realisation was like a knife to the heart.

"If we are all agreed, then trainers, send out your first Pokémon, and let the battle begin!"

If I had fallen out of that tree a minute later, neither of us would be here today. Life has put me here; it has given me this job to do. If the sole reason why I was born was to help Alaska, then… well… I'm going to make her the best person she can possibly be. So come on Alaska, win this, for me.

"Paige, let's do this!"

"Scolipede, make this quick."

Her fears were still there resting on the fringes of her consciousness, but now that the battle was underway, the atmosphere instantly drew Sandy in: sitting on the side lines, watching the fight unfold, it reminded her of Sunday nights watching the sports news with her dad. Nothing had thrilled her more as a little girl than seeing the beautiful beasts she dreamed of owning face off in the endless dance of battle. Her dream to train and fight had long since faded, but ever since Alaska's battle with Misty, Sandy had felt that long dormant feeling of excitement she had felt every Sunday slowly return to her.

As Paige formed and soared into the sky, a towering maroon beast appeared on Janine's side of the pitch. A Scolipede – I never knew they were so big! Sandy knew that Scolipede were amongst the tallest Pokémon in the world, and as Alaska's opponent craned its neck skywards, eyes beadily locked on Paige, she could see that that title was no understatement.

"That's a lot of Pokémon for Paige to hit," Sandy mumbled to Sylveon, "but Scolipede can curl up into balls, and their armour is nearly impenetrable in that shape. It'll take a lot to bring him down."

Janine's anger had disappeared, and she wore a wicked smile on her face. "Oh, I have been looking forward to this for so long – you better put on a good show or I'll be very disappointed."

"Shut up and battle," Alaska snapped, and Janine cackled.

"Very well: begin with Toxic Spikes."

"Hit him with Aerial Ace!"

And thus the battle began. Paige's wings glowed the familiar shade of lilac and she soared down towards her opponent. Good decision, Sandy thought: the type advantage was on their side, and Toxic Spikes would have no effect on an airborne Pokémon. Despite the lack of target, Scolipede still unleashed his attack with full force: the tips of his antennae shone purple, and two glowing spikes shot out from each. They soared past Paige and slammed into the ground, exploding and spreading poison across the pitch.

"That's gross," Sandy muttered, and Sylveon nodded. The two turned their attention to Scolipede, and watched as Paige successfully clipped him with her wings. The Poison type groaned and stumbled backwards, and Sandy whooped at the successful hit.

"Perfect – do it again!"

"Rock Slide!"

The words were barely out of Janine's mouth before the mountainside began to shake. Scolipede stamped multiple legs against the fields, eyes glowing a brilliant shade of brown, and he unleashed a screechy, unintimidating roar.

"Get out of there!" Alaska yelled, but it was too late: the cliff face exploded, glowing rocks tumbling magically down towards their target. Paige dived, trying to hit Scolipede first, but the first rocks to hit her knocked her off balance, and Sandy watched in agony as she crashed to the field, the avalanche burying her in the middle of the pitch.

"Steamroller, now!" The thud of Paige's body hitting the ground still echoed, but Janine was giving Alaska no chance.

"Heat Wave!" Alaska looked determined, fists clenched and eyes focussed, but Sandy could tell the match up was already over. As Scolipede rolled forwards into a ball, Paige wearily raised her head and began to glow orange, but her reactions were slow and paled in comparison to the speed of the reddish ball racing for her.

"Pidgeeey!" Paige's cry was feeble as she unleashed the fiery wave, and Scolipede rolled right through it and over the broken rocks. Sandy looked away, unable to watch the Pidgeotto be literally steamrollered, and Paige's strangled cry was enough to confirm her fears. Nervously she looked back, and was more stunned than pleased to see the Flying type was still trying to get up, the attack not enough to defeat her.

"You've raised an impressive Pokémon there – I've faced a lot of starter Pokémon, and most Fire types usually would have fainted by now, so at least you've succeeded in proving one part of the establishment wrong."

"Is that an actual compliment I detect?" Alaska said, faux gasping, but her eyes remained on Paige, the trash-talk coming second for once.

"Don't get too ahead of yourself," Janine smirked. "Toxic Spikes hasn't kicked in – ah, there we go!" The ground beneath Paige turned purple, poison spewing out of the earth, and the Pidgeotto groaned and winced as the toxin spread into her body.

If she wasn't doomed already, she is now. Losing first was never a great way to start, but Sandy knew the rest of Alaska's team could handle the challenge – as long as Alaska held it together.

"Pity, I was enjoying this match-up. Ah well, finish her with Venoshock!"

That'll do it, Sandy thought, sighing at Sylveon. It was hard to feel defeated when it had been this inevitable: Sandy simply watched as Scolipede fired a steady stream of violet poison, the attack hitting an unmoving Paige square in the face. The toxins were twice as effective when the opponent was already poisoned, and it was with a final grunt that Paige flopped forwards onto the field.

Sandy pulled Sylveon tight as Alaska quietly withdrew Paige. It had all happened so quickly and efficiently that she hadn't begun to feel yet. The initial excitement of battle had faded, and now Sandy's sole concern was how Alaska would react next. She dared a look upwards and saw the legendaries wore the same steely looks of judgement as they had earlier, none of them giving anything away.
Looking back at the field, Sandy saw Alaska had replaced Paige's PokeBall with her next choice without a single word, but now simply held the capsule there, staring across the field towards Janine.

Say something, do something, don't let this get to you. You told me you were prepared, you have to know what you'll do next.

"Did you really think I would come to a battle with a Poison-type master and not expect to get Toxic Spikes?" Sandy shut her eyes and smiled: Alaska's words may have been dripping with sass, but to hear her confidence, to hear she had planned, that was exactly what she had wanted to hear. Why did I ever doubt her?

"Oooh, looks like someone used their laptop for something other than bitching about their problems. So you've sacrificed your Pidgeotto to test my strategy – I'll admit, that's gutsy. I'm impressed, but that plan has its faults: you've only got three left now, and I'm not going to make this easy for you." Scolipede's PokeBall was in Janine's hand within a millisecond, and just as quickly the Megapede Pokémon disappeared into red energy. Alaska's smile wavered briefly, and Sandy knew the switch made things trickier: now Alaska had to hope her choice for her second Pokémon would still work.

"So, what's your great plan then?" Janine purred, smirking across the pitch. "Think you've got something up your sleeve that could surprise me?"

"Oh, you don't need to worry about that, I think you'll be surprised." Smiling widely, Alaska threw the PokeBall forwards. Janine laughed briefly before copying the move, and both capsules hit the field at the same time. Red energy poured out and swirled into shape in front of Alaska, and Sandy found herself in the precarious position of not recognising who it was. The Pokémon was human-like in shape, but was much bigger in both height and weight than Darwin, with a thick tail that slammed onto the pitch.

She hasn't caught a new Pokémon has she? Sandy thought, but the light faded, revealing a deep blue Pokémon and Sandy felt her breath escape her. Oh my god… is that… Nadia?

"NIDOOOOOO!" The roar echoed around the valley, making the legendaries above them stir. Her initial shock passed, and Sandy had to hold back the urge to punch the air as she stared at the Nidoqueen standing proud and angry before her. Sharp claws marked the end of her thick arms and legs, while a row of spikes jutted out of her spine: this was a true evolution in both size and power, and Sandy wanted to applaud Alaska's thinking.

"Did you really think I wouldn't come prepared?" Alaska called out to Janine. The gym leader stood scowling behind her Arbok, who slithered and hissed in circles across her half of the pitch. "Everyone knows you use Toxic Spikes as your opening strategy, which is a fine move if a tad repetitive. But sending a Poison type out completely negates the effects – and sending out a half-Poison, half-Ground type only gives me the advantage." Janine raised her hands and slowly brought them together, the echo only heightening the sarcasm.

"You've got me there, well done. We'll see in five minutes though if this plan of yours actually works." Despite the cattiness of the slow clap, her venomous words made it clear Janine was annoyed at having her strategy used against her. Sandy fought back the urge to smirk, and instead gave Alaska a thumbs up as the second round began.

"Poison Tail!"

"Meet it with Ice Punch!"

Oooh, exciting, we're getting physical now. Both Pokémon took off from opposite ends, racing to cross the halfway mark first. Disconcertingly, speed didn't seem to be Nadia's strong point: her legs were as thick as tree trunks now; very different to the tiny frame she'd had only a few days ago. Nadia ran sluggishly across the pitch, moving like she didn't know what she was doing, and that meant the race was lost.

Arbok, nimble and speedy despite her age, slid rapidly across the field and used her momentum to lunge for Nadia. The Nidoqueen tried to dodge but Arbok was too quick: she swung her body around and slapped Nadia before the latter had even made a fist. The Drill Pokémon stumbled, but she regained herself and launched forwards, flattening Arbok to the ground as she tried to flee. Ice-blue fist met face, and Arbok hissed as Nadia remained dominant, hefty frame weighing her down.

"Crunch!"

"Venoshock – aim for the eyes!" Now that they were on an even field, Nadia wasted no time in leaning in and wrapping her teeth around Arbok's ribs. The Snake Pokémon snarled and slammed her tail repeatedly against the Nidoqueen's mouth in an attempt to push her off. Nadia refused to relinquish her hold, and Arbok was forced to contort herself: Sandy saw her ribcage fold, bringing Arbok right up close to Nadia's teeth, and she sprayed the purple liquid from point blank range.

"QUEEEEN!" Nadia growled, stumbling backwards as she wiped the poison from her eyes, giving Arbok the chance to escape.

"Coil, now!" Janine yelled quickly, and Arbok slithered back to her trainer, coming to a stop in a spring-like shape. White energy began to glow around her, and Sandy had to approve of the boldness of using a status move at this point.

"You don't need to see her, just destroy the field – Earth Power!" Nadia stopped wiping her eyes and nodded back at Alaska, her hands suddenly glowing a golden brown. With another roar, Nadia slammed her fist onto the field: golden cracks spread out from the impact towards Arbok, and the Poison type yelled out as earthen energy exploded beneath her, tossing her into the sky.

"Ice Fang!"

"Ice Punch!"

Soaring through the air, Arbok tucked her body in and spun, using the explosion to launch herself towards her enemy. Nadia wiped the last of the poison from her eyes and ran towards her falling foe, frozen fist raised and ready to strike.

"BOOOOK!" Arbok hissed, unfurling from her coil with fangs glowing a blinding blue. The two Pokémon collided, hand crashing into teeth, but her forward momentum gave Arbok the advantage: her full weight slammed into Nadia, and the two went crashing backwards.

"Wrap yourself around her and use Ice Fang!" Janine yelled. Arbok used her momentum to land upright and then instantly sprung forwards: a dazed Nadia was too slow to stop her, and Arbok wrapped her whole body around the Nidoqueen.

"Chaaar-bok-bok!" Arbok sank her fangs into Nadia's neck, ice spreading out from the wound while her tail tightened around the Ground type's stomach. The Nidoqueen roared and tried to free herself, but Arbok had pinned her arms beneath her tail, leaving her immobile. Unless Alaska had taught Nadia some miracle move over the last few days, Sandy couldn't think of a way the Nidoqueen could possibly get out of this.

"Use Ice Punch – both hands!" Alaska shouted through clenched teeth.

That won't do anything, Sandy thought, and was proven right a second later: Nadia was concentrating, trying to fight back against her constraint, but Arbok had her gripped too tightly.

"Some friendly advice: you might want to try something without hands," Janine laughed. "Ice Fang, keep it going!"

"Hold on Nadia, keep using Ice Punch!" Alaska was clearly building to something, but Sandy couldn't work it out. She watched as Arbok sunk her teeth into Nadia once more, the Nidoqueen was powerless to stop her.

"Hold on!" Alaska shouted, and Sandy just wanted to scream back TRY SOMETHING ELSE! But suddenly, Arbok began to hiss, and as all eyes turned towards the Pokémon, Sandy realised what Alaska was doing: Arbok had begun to turn blue, a coldness spreading from the bottom of her tail as the Ice Punch did its magic. The Snake Pokémon reared back and tried to flee, but her whole body froze over, turning her to an ice sculpture wrapped around Nadia.

"Great plan; now she's frozen around your Pokémon, genius!" Janine snarled.

"If she's frozen that means she can't fight back – Earth Power, let's go!" Nadia's tail turned brown and she slammed it repeatedly into the ground. Then, in one swift movement, she tipped backwards and landed on Arbok just as the golden energy exploded from the cracks. The force threw Nadia upwards, but she was too heavy to go far and landed smoothly on her feet. She growled, and Sandy saw her arms had appeared beneath Arbok's tail.

So she used Earth Power to knock Arbok loose – nicely done, Alaska. It was times like this that made Sandy proud to call Alaska her friend, and for the first time since the match began she felt things were going their way. Nadia roared as she raised her arms, pushing Arbok over her head and freeing herself from her confinement.

"Earth Power!" Alaska shouted, and Nadia threw the frozen snake down the field. Arbok barely landed before Nadia slammed her glowing fists onto the pitch, and a second later the Poison type was back in the air.

"Poison Jab as she lands!" Nadia leapt over chunks of earth and landed barely a metre in front of Janine. Arbok smacked into the cliff face and bounced off, spiralling back towards the pitch.

"NIDOOOOO!" Nadia roared, and she threw her weight behind a shining purple fist, striking Arbok on her head and sending her flying for the third time straight. This time, when Arbok crashed into the hill a few metres from Leaf, she stayed down, rolling back to the pitch with her eyes shut.

"One each; nicely played." The dust had barely settled and already Arbok disappeared in a flash of red, Janine barely reacting to the fall. Sandy's brief elation at the victory vanished, the swiftness of their enemy too calculated. "You should know though that I completely saw that coming."

Alaska laughed. "Oh really? You totally predicted that, did you?"

"It was back in Celadon when Daisy gave you some evolutionary stones, wasn't it?" Janine replied without hesitation, and Alaska's laugh vanished. The gym leader wore a thin, triumphant smile, and Sandy knew they had entered a trap. "Receiving such a rare gift, you were bound to use them at some point: a Water Stone for your Shellder, a Leaf Stone for your friend's Weepinbell, and possibly could have used a Thunder or Fire one on her Eevee, which leaves the Moon Stone for you and your Nidorina. After you used her the other day and lost, I knew you wouldn't rely on her in that form again – not when the possibility of a type advantage was there at your fingertips. You're right in saying I use Toxic Spikes a lot – but if I did that first, out would come Nadia to ruin that little plan, oh dear!"

Sandy felt her chest go cold. Glancing briefly at Alaska, she saw her friend's face had sunk, the joy of her first victory having been quickly snatched away. Janine had her third PokeBall in hand, and Sandy knew that this was not going to end well.
"I know a lot about you and I barely know you – just imagine what information Gideon and Buzz have that they could use against you. If you're too predictable, your enemy will crush you. And honey," Janine said, smiling cruelly as she threw her PokeBall forwards, "you're pretty fucking predictable."

As her third Pokémon formed, the depth of Janine's strategy became apparent. Sandy had always imagined Nidoking as simply the male version of Nidoqueen, but seeing the different species stand opposite each other, the differences were clear: the Nidoking had a longer, smoother tail, while shaper horns adorned his head; as arms like purple concrete pylons swung at his side. It could have been any random Nidoking Janine had in her possession, but as the beast reared back his head and unleashed a deafening roar, Sandy could see the familiar scar around his throat that meant this had all been planned.

"You remember Ned, don't you?" Janine's smile was wide but thin, a victorious smirk of someone who knew they had won. Sandy, whose heart was threatening to burst from her chest, watched her friend, silently urging her to carry on, not to let it get to her. But as both Nidoqueen and Nidoking roared, a clash of poisonous titans ready to fight, Alaska didn't do anything: she simply stared forwards, eyes blank, jaw slack, hands limp by her side, all fire and determination gone from her body. She wasn't even angry: Alaska was simply defeated, and Sandy felt her whole world come crashing down around her.

Well, we're fucked…





Part Two of this battle and the conclusion of this arc is coming soon - and don't worry, it's just as long ;)
 
Chapter Eighty: Intoxicate
Chapter Eighty: Intoxicate

Well, I'm fucked…

Alaska felt her heart sink. She had spent two days coming up with a strategy, one she had been convinced would work. The surprise of Nadia's evolution had been her ace up her sleeve, the trick she had hoped would bring Janine to her knees and hand her the match.

Yet it had done nothing.

"Your move," Janine called out, her smile thin but triumphant. Alaska simply stared blankly at the Nidoking opposing her, all her strategies, all her plans and ideas, all gone from her mind.

She had tried so hard to avoid forming one strategy. Admiteddly, she had set it up for Nadia to absorb the Toxic Spikes, Paige a willing sacrifice for the sake of her team mates. However, for the first time, Alaska had really tried to keep an open mind, going over different possibilities with her Pokémon: Frances, weak to Poison, had been their training dummy, taking hits and going through the various possibilities so Alaska was ready for anything.

But it had all been for nothing. This is exactly what Sabrina was trying to tell you, you dumb fucking idiot, a voice in her head snarled, and Alaska had to agree with it: there was no avoiding being predictable in the past, and she had fallen into a trap of her own creation. In her research Alaska had learned that Janine rarely used either Nido, having lost her Nidoqueen during the war against Team Rocket. When Alaska planned for Nadia to sway the battle in her favour, she knew there was a slim chance Janine would send out a Ground type in retaliation, but the fact she had predicted Alaska's strategy so much to evolve the same Nidorino she had faced the other day, that was some next level mind-fuckery.

If Nadia falls, I'm done. I'll be left with only two Pokémon, neither of whom can bring down three by themselves. Alaska could feel everyone watching her, waiting for some reaction: Janine hadn't given any orders, letting her statement hang there, egging Alaska on. Above them, the six legendaries watched in silence; if Alaska didn't win this, she didn't want to imagine what they would do – remove her from this war in one way or another, leave it open for the next prophesised child to take her place?

So this is where everything has gotten me: fighting a sociopath vastly superior to me while someone I hate and her pet gods deliberate over my future. Big fucking whoop. A few weeks ago, this whole situation would have boiled her blood, and even now Alaska was tempted to walk away with her middle fingers in the air. But this situation was beyond her now; what she wanted barely registered in the grand scheme of things. Alaska had to save the world whether she liked it or not – her only obstacle now was whether she was going to have a say in what happened next or remain a malleable pawn in the complete control of those she despised.

If I don't win this battle, I'm done. The Elites, Evelyn, the International Police – if the fucking gods don't think I deserve to win a gym battle, then why would any of them let me try and save the world on my own? Everything she had done and thought she'd gotten away with had come back to haunt her. The weight of the world rested not only on her shoulders, but on all three of her remaining Pokémon. Yet how Alaska was expected to defeat someone who hated her, seemed to want her to lose, and had readily predicted every moment of the match, was beyond her.

"Come on Alaska!" The shout shattered the silence. Alaska jolted suddenly from her thoughts, feeling like she had just woken up. "You can do this, I know you can!" The sound was coming from the side lines. Alaska turned and there was Sandy on her feet, clapping, cheering, Sylveon less enthusiastically by her side. All thoughts of failure, all thoughts of pressure faded from her mind, and Alaska simply stared at her friend, a smile spreading across her lips.

Janine's drawl called out from across the field. "Well, I'm fucking over the moon for you that there's one person here who thinks you still stand a chance, but if you're still in this battle would you mind hurrying it along?" Glancing back at her opponent, Alaska saw Janine's smile had turned to a scowl. She had no idea how much time had passed since Ned had come out, and she knew she had to get back to the battle. Yet Alaska couldn't look away from Sandy, she couldn't ignore the surge of honour she felt watching her friend cheer her on.

It had been a long time since Alaska could remember the way Sandy had looked at her after her battle with Sabrina, or, rather, had avoided looking at her. She had expected everyone else to be annoyed with her, but in that moment, to know her best friend couldn't even meet her eye, that had chilled Alaska to her core. Everything she had done since then, it had been fuelled by Alaska's desire to escape the situation she had created, one where not even her friend could pretend it was still working. I can handle letting myself down, but I can't disappoint her, not again.

There was more riding on a victory today than simply appeasing Leaf and Janine. Alaska had to do it for Sandy, for everyone else she had failed along the way: Sabrina, Darwin, Looker, practically everyone she'd come into contact with. Losing was not an option – it was time to face things head on, and Alaska knew she couldn't fail.

You have to win this. Forget about the end of the world and the gods and every other fucking messed up thing right now: Sandy wants me to win, my Pokémon want me to win – I have to fucking win.

"Ice Punch, go."

"Earthquake."

And so the battle began again. Alaska swore at Janine, but the choice of move was no surprise: no one would send a half-Ground type out against a half-Poison type and not go for the most advantageous move. Unfortunately for her, Nadia was still unused to her new body: she clumsily ran towards Ned, fists glowing, but the Nidoking was swift and ruthless.

"NIDOOOOOO!" He roared, eyes glowing a rich brown, and the whole field began to quake. Alaska could not deny the power: rocks tumbled from the cliffs above, the shock wave spreading well beyond the confines of the pitch. Nadia stumbled, struggling to stay upright, and when she finally reached Ned her shaking fist missed.

"Megahorn," Janine commanded without a fault.

"Ice Punch!"

Nadia reared back up, fist still glowing, but Ned was in there straight away, his biggest horn extending into a long, green point: with a roar, he ran forwards and rammed the Megahorn into Nadia's jaw. She roared and pushed him back with her Ice Punch, but the attack left her clutching at the puncture wound.

She's already weak; he could bring her down easily. I've got to keep some distance between them.

"Earth Power!"

"Earthquake!"

The ground began to shake on the sound of Ned's roar, but Nadia just as swiftly slammed her glowing fist onto the pitch. Golden light spread in awkward zig-zags around her, the Earthquake interrupting the spread of the attack. Suddenly but perhaps inevitably, the ground between both Pokémon exploded: chunks of earth flew through in the air in a burst of glowing energy, and Nadia and Ned were thrown backwards. Alaska watched her Nidoqueen land heavily near her feet; it was painful to watch, but she took solace simply in the fact the explosion had happened closer to Ned.

"Are you alright?"

"Nido Do Do Nido," Nadia grunted, resiliently getting back to her feet. She looked battered, purple dripping from the puncture wound and Alaska knew she wouldn't be up for running.

We can't get up close to Ned, we'll have to settle for Earth Power. The thought of being constricted to one move irritated her, but Alaska could see no other option.

"Hit her with Earthquake!"

More long distance moves, she's thinking the same as me. As the ground quaked and Nadia stumbled again, a thought suddenly occurred to Alaska: it was so obvious that she almost laughed, stunned that she hadn't realised this sooner.

If Nadia is struggling having just evolved, than won't it be the same with Ned? Janine evolved him sometime in the last two days – if they are fundamentally identical Pokémon, than surely going through similar bodily changes would lead to the same results? She wants to wait for Nadia to bring the fight to them rather than sending Ned to me. Well, that can work to our advantage.

"We need to end this – use Crunch!"

"That's your finishing move?" Janine smirked across the pitch. "Stand your ground Ned."

Keep smirking, see how long that lasts. Alaska smiled as Nadia lumbered her way across the torn apart pitch. Her lack of speed made the play risky, but it was the only way Alaska could see them winning this any time soon.

"Megahorn!" Ned's horn began to shine, and he charged towards Nadia with his head hung low.

"Grab it!" Alaska shouted, and Janine's smile fell from her face. Nadia stepped aside so the green horn brushed her, then grabbed hold with her glowing left fist.

"NIDO!" Ned shouted, thrashing his head about, but Nadia dived for his neck, making him howl as her Crunch sank into his flesh.

"Ice Punch, aim for the gut." With her opponent caught in her hold, Nadia used her free hand and repeatedly slammed her ice blue fist into Ned's pale stomach.

"ThunderPunch, push her off!" Janine's voice cracked as she shouted her order, and Alaska took pleasure in seeing her strategy fall apart.

Ned's hands turned yellow and he quickly and repeatedly punched every inch of Nadia he could reach: the electricity coursing out of his body had no effect, but the force behind the punches made Nadia groan. Yet she simply held on tighter, her fist flying just as rapidly, and Alaska could tell the true battle had begun. Nadia and Ned were locked in a violent embrace, stumbling around the field like two drunken men fighting outside a bar. The ground rumbled with each thunderous step they took, cracks spreading around them, a true gladiatorial match that neither one wanted to lose. It was brutal to watch; Alaska knew that Nadia wouldn't stop until Ned had fainted, but he had the same ideas in mind.

He won't faint, not this easily. Nadia needs to end this in a way that won't give him any advantage. Alaska looked quickly over the damaged field, and realised Ned had his back to the crater the Earthquake-Power collision had caused. "Let go of him and kick!"

With a grunt of approval, Nadia freed her opponent from her grasp and stepped backwards. Ned stumbled, suddenly finding himself pulling back against nothing, and his body slipped backwards.

"QUEEN!" Nadia boomed, and she aimed a large blue foot for the same spot she'd just been punching: the sound of Ned's breath escaping his body was like music to Alaska's ears, and she watched triumphantly as the Drill Pokémon somersaulted disgracefully into the hole.

"Get down there and hammer him!" Alaska ordered, and Nadia greeted her shout with her own Amazonian roar. Jumping on top of her opponent, her fists became shining blue blurs as she pounded Ned with all her strength, her angry roar competing against his thundering, pain fuelled shouts.

"Venoshock, force her off!" Janine yelled, but there was no response. After another solid minute of flailing fists, Nadia paused and climbed off her enemy. No sound escaped the crater, and Leaf rushed forwards and stared below.

"Ned's unable to battle – the win goes to Alaska."

"WOOO, GO NADIA!" Sandy leapt to her feet and clapped, Sylveon joining in by slapping her ribbons together. "Two down, two to go – you can do this!"

Yes I can. Alaska couldn't stop herself smiling. She watched as a scowling Janine withdrew Ned, quickly replacing his PokeBall with her next choice.

"Scolipede, out you go!" As the towering Bug type took pride of place once more, Alaska's smile faded: Janine clearly wanted to get rid of Nadia and set up Toxic Spikes again.

"You ready to go again, Nadia?" Alaska shouted. Nadia turned and nodded, though her right eye was swollen, her punctured chest heaving rapidly as she caught her breath. She won't last long, but if we can just a few good moves in… "Alright, Earth Power!"

"Bulldoze!" Janine countered instantly, and Scolipede instantly reared up. Alaska was stunned silent, the last move she had been expecting. As golden light appeared beneath Nadia, Scolipede slammed his front legs on the ground with a powerful scream: a wave of energy that made the earth move instantly covered the field, the attack colliding with Earth Power. Nadia yelled as earthen light exploded beneath her, throwing her a metre into the air. Alaska could only watch as Nadia briefly stopped in mid-air before falling back to earth.

There was no groan as she slammed head-first into the pitch. The outcome was clear to anyone, but still Leaf stepped forwards and formally announced it. Alaska did nothing for a moment, the magnitude of this loss weighing heavily down on her, but finally she pulled out a PokeBall. You did good girl, you did good.

With a heavy sigh, Alaska contemplated the last two Pokémon on her side. It was the halfway point, everything was even now, but Alaska had just lost her only real advantage. Neither of her remaining Pokémon had any clear strength, meaning she would have to rely solely on strategy and hope.

I need Darwin for whoever Janine's got waiting. Looks like it's up to you then. Almost reluctantly, Alaska threw Shelley's Great Ball forwards. The Bivalve Pokémon formed grinning goofily amongst the rubble of the previous matches, instantly dwarved by the giant Scolipede she had to face off with. Alaska saw Janine smirk at her choice, her fists clenching.

She may be small, but she's going to kick your fucking ass.

"Toxic Spikes."

"Icicle Spear – aim for the chest."

With an excitable squeak, Shelley opened her mouth wide as Scolipede's antennae shone, and she unleashed her storm of frozen spears. Scolipede fired the Toxic Spikes at the same time, and purple and blue soared past each other as the attacks headed for their targets: Shelley shut her eyes but the poison harmlessly slammed into the ground around her, but Scolipede yelled in pain as all five spikes slammed into his stomach.

"Steamroller." Alaska had been dreading this but knew it was unavoidable – literally, in fact: there were little options for Shelley to get away, stranded on dry land like this. Her only hope was that her hard shell would dull the blow.

"Razor Shell!" Scolipede was already barrelling towards them, a swirling maroon blur obliterating the chunks of earth lying in his path. Shelley stretched her mouth wide and her top shell shone blue. Scolipede rumbled towards the Shellder, and Alaska looked away as the Poison type rolled over her Pokémon. Shelley's cry was muffled under her enemies weight, but when Alaska cautiously looked back around, she saw Scolipede was wobbling dangerously as he rolled away, the Razor Shell having at least knocked him off balance.

For a brief second, Alaska felt relief, hoping that once attack was enough to deal some damage. But then the field began to bubble, and Shelley squealed as her body shone purple.

"No one here to stop the poison now," Janine called out, her tone taunting, and Alaska couldn't deny she was at a serious disadvantage. Venoshock would be coming, that was clear, and there would be little she could do if Shelley fainted. Unless, maybe…

"Venoshock, get this over with!"

"Counter with Whirlpool!"

Looking pained, Shelley opened her mouth, this time firing a spinning stream of water. Alaska felt stupid as she watched Shelley attack, knowing it would be easily defeated but sincerely hoping otherwise. The attack expanded as it left her mouth, smoothing out into a literal whirlpool, and it collided mid-air with the Venoshock. The Whirlpool obliterated the attack and carried on spinning to Scolipede, who only had to brush it aside with his head to render it ineffective. However, the desired effect had happened, and Alaska could tell from Janine's face that Venoshock was off the table.

"Smart play, but let's see how long she lasts after another Steamroller."

As Scolipede curled into his ball once more, Alaska knew it would take more than just Razor Shell to defeat him. His shell is too hard to penetrate – Icicle Spear did some damage, I need to unfurl him again. Alaska watched as he rolled towards them, more dirt being squashed in his rampage, but then she noticed one thing: he swerved to avoid the giant crater, curving around the edge and straightening as he approached. Alaska grinned, knowing what to do now, and simply hoped Shelley survived the hit.

Scolipede barrelled over Shelley, squishing her into the damaged earth and rolling so close to Alaska the trainer thought she might get hit. It pained her to make her Pokémon suffer like this, but it was all for the advantage.

"Brine, now!" She shouted. For a second, she thought Shelley wouldn't make it, but as Scolipede retreated, Shelley wearily twitched open. A powerful blast of water like a geyser shot from her mouth, the stream hitting Scolipede in the middle of his ball. With his trademark screech, Scolipede was blasted off course, crashing into the crater. He slammed into the edges where his comrade had fallen, and inelegantly rolled out of his ball, falling to the field with his belly exposed.

"Icicle Spear, now!" Alaska bellowed, and Shelley responded with mutual intensity: flying forwards like little frozen rockets, each of the five found its target, repeatedly impaling Scolipede where he lay.

"SCOLIIIIIIII!" The Bug type groaned, trying desperately to get back to his feet, but his giant neck barely lifted up before crashing back down again, his giant form still and finally silent.

For the first time, Janine didn't react straight away. She stared across at Alaska, eyes narrowed, a look so dark Alaska couldn't focus on the win. "Savour your victory while you can," the gym leader said finally, "your Shellder barely has one move left in her, and I highly doubt Darwin will survive being poisoned for long." Her words made Alaska's blood boil, but her opponent had a point: her tongue was limp, her eyes exhausted, too weak to react as the poison struck her once more.

Just a few more turns, that's all I need from you. I can't send Darwin out until I know I can win this. Though she had spent hours researching Janine's typical team online, Alaska had no idea who Janine would send out: the gym leader had prepared for every moment of this match, so her fourth Pokémon was bound to be glorious.

Yet once the light from the PokeBall had faded, Alaska wasn't sure if she was seeing things properly. She had been expecting something like a Drapion or Toxicroak, something big and powerful to go toe-to-toe with Darwin. Instead, it appeared Janine had simply poured a pile of sludge onto the field, a pair of wiry, narrow eyes that hinted it was a Pokémon. Of all the Poison types in the world, it was the last one Alaska had expected, and looking at Sandy confirmed she was not the only one.

"A Muk? Really?"

"You'd be surprised," Janine purred back. Alaska waited, wondering if this was all a joke, looking between Janine, Leaf and the gods as though a camera crew was about to jump out. Yet the silence that followed made it clear this was a serious move. Momentary laughter was replaced with fear as Alaska wondered what Janine was playing at, but there was no time for questioning: Shelley was slowly losing energy from the poison, so no matter who she had to face, Alaska needed to make these last few moves count.

"Whirlpool, go!"

"Minimise!"

Alaska narrowed her eyebrows, contemplating the implications of the move. As Shelley fired her second Whirlpool across the field, Muk seemed to collapse upon himself, sucking in his liquid-like body and slimming down to a much smaller shape. So that's your strategy, eh? If you're relying on accuracy to win this then you really are something else.

The Whirlpool struck despite Muk's smaller size, and the Sludge Pokémon was sucked inside, his loose, gooey body flung about by the swirling vortex. It was like watching clothes spin in the dryer, and Alaska failed to see how Janine hoped to win.

"Alright, another Brine, let's go!"

"Gunk Shot." Alaska seized up as she heard the command: Gunk Shot was the one of most powerful Poison type moves available, and Janine's choice finally made sense. Despite the endless spin of the Whirlpool, Alaska could see Muk already had a glowing purple ball in his hands, and his eyes had narrowed, focussing upon the unmoving Shellder.

"Shelley, come on, quickly!" Alaska yelled, but her encouragement was too late: the ball flew through the air, soaring across the field and squarely hitting Shelley. The impact of the attack sent her flying, while purple sludge splattered Alaska, Sandy and Sylveon. Ignoring her soiled shoes, Alaska leapt up and caught Shelley before she hit the ground: she knew even before she opened her hands what she'd find, but the sight of her unconscious, poison soaked Pokémon was still a blow.

"You tried your best, thanks for bringing one of them down – I promise to do a better job of cleaning you this time." With a heavy heart, Alaska withdrew Shelley and wiped the poison from her hands. There was no time to waste feeling sorry for herself: the situation was shitty, she faced an uphill battle to finish this off. If she wanted to win, she had to focus and put aside everything else: forget about Janine's schemes, forget about the gods eyeing her silently from above – none of that was going to help Darwin win.

Almost reluctantly, Alaska pulled out her final PokeBall. She hadn't told the staff what she was doing or where she was going: the hard-speaking nurse from the other day had glowered at her as she left, and that had only made Alaska more resilient, more determined to prove she wasn't a terrible trainer. Though standing here now, the only sound the swishing as the Whirlpool carried on, Alaska knew she was taking the biggest risk of her journey so far, doing something far more dangerous than any of her other decisions so far.

The PokeBall sailed through the air and exploded against the field. Knowing the poison that awaited him, Alaska strained more than ever to hold back her emotions as Darwin took his place. She heard Sandy gasp from the side lines, the exact reaction she'd had when facing the Primeape in daylight yesterday. He was steadier now, a determination burning across his face, but there was no ignoring the patches of shaved fur, the bloodshot eyes, the scars both old and new. Darwin didn't belong on the field, but both he and Alaska knew this was the only way she'd win, no matter how much it pained her.

"Wow… I didn't think you'd actually resort to him, but I… wow…" Janine shook her head, ignoring her own Pokémon trapped in a whirlpool a few feet from her. "This feels borderline illegal if you ask me."

"Shut up."

"I probably shouldn't have called and gotten you off the hook the other day – I wouldn't have if I had known –"

"SHUT UP!"

The legendaries above shifted and turned at the cry, and Alaska's rage dissipated under their glare, but they couldn't stop her heart from pounding angrily against her chest. Janine smiled and shrugged.

"Oh well, who am I to judge? I thought the Muk might have put you off using him, but I suppose if you have to win, what can you do?" Finally, the choice of Pokémon made sense, and Alaska instantly felt sick as the pieces clicked into place. She was suddenly back on the Cycling Road, Paige and Nadia facing off against Jack's Azumarill and Muk, Darwin kneeling defeated behind them. Alaska wasn't surprised Janine had found that out: she had planned this match so carefully she was bound to play such a joker, but it still chilled her bones to think it had come to this.

"Are you up to this?" Darwin turned and paused, his own body heaving as his eyes watched the swirling Muk, and Alaska almost felt like laughing: of course, this was where Janine's plan would backfire. Any other Pokémon would probably crumble when faced with the same species their tormentor had owned, but Alaska had raised a grade-A psychopath for a pet – if anything, this would only ensure their victory.

"ThunderPunch!"

Janine froze for a second, seemingly startled by Alaska's renewed energy, but she snapped back into focus: the game was truly on now, and there was no time for second guessing. "Minimise!"

Darwin threw himself across the field: despite his injuries, he still soared like a bird in one foul jump, fists glowing yellow as he rocketed towards his foe. He landed with a stumble next to it, but regained himself and swung to attack.

The whirlpool exploded in a burst of electricity: Darwin leapt backwards to avoid the cascading water, leaving Muk to land with a wet splat on the field. The Sludge Pokémon crackled with electricity, looking stiff as he sank into the pitch, and for a short moment Alaska felt victorious.

Then the poison struck.

"Prime," Darwin moaned softly, and he collapsed to his knees, body glowing purple. The instantaneousness of the effect made Alaska's heart skip a beat: was his immune system so compromised he had already lost?

"Venom Drench!"

"MUUUUUUUK!" Despite his shrunken stature, Muk stretched his mouth open, wide enough to fit a car in, and he vomited up a neon-coloured liquid. Darwin looked up just as the attack washed over him, hitting him so strongly he rolled over. Alaska knew it was only a status move, but in Darwin's state, any loss of power was a bad thing.

"Power-Up Punch!" Darwin shakily got back to his feet and, after briefly glancing back at his trainer, turned and sprinted to his opponent. Janine watched him run, and it was only when Darwin was a few metres away did Alaska realise it was a trap.

"Shadow Punch." Darwin swung his red fists at nothing: Muk slipped backwards into the shadows cast by the overhanging cliffs, melting away into darkness. The Primeape stumbled to regain his composure, looking frantically around, and suddenly Muk leapt out from behind him.

Alaska winced as the fist easily struck. Too weak to respond, Darwin silently crashed to the ground. He rolled to a stop near the crater and didn't move, the only sign of life the purple glow as the poison struck again. For a long, tense, quiet second, Alaska thought Darwin had fallen already. Thankfully, a soft groan sounded across the field, and Alaska sighed with relief as the Primeape slowly pushed himself up.

"One more hit like that and your Pokémon is down," Janine called out. "If you want to stand any chance of winning this, I hope for your sake you've got something left up your sleeve."

I hope so too, Alaska thought. She realised she was breathing heavily herself, the intensity of the battle draining the last of her energy. She had already felt tired before the battle began after a solid day and a half of training, and the fact that could all soon be for nothing was draining.

"Let's get this over with – Shadow Punch."

"Wait for him to appear and use Seismic Toss!"

Alaska doubted Darwin would be fast enough to avoid another hit, but Muk had already disappeared once more, and she couldn't send him chasing after shadows. Darwin stood poised and ready, eyes darting around waiting for the attack to come. He's still in this, he's willing to try – I need to do the same.

"MUUUUK!" Darwin turned as the Sludge Pokémon leapt from the shadows, moving so rapidly his battle cry did little to help them. The Primeape stepped to side, but Muk's liquid-like body stretched and clipped him regardless.

"PRIME PRIME!" Darwin angrily grabbed Muk's disappearing folds, and weakly he flung his enemy across the pitch.

"Shadow Punch!" Janine yelled, sounding like a broken record, and Muk smiled as he melted into the shadow before he had even landed. Alaska resisted the urge to scream and instead watched as Darwin sank back to his knees: the anger lingered on his face, but his eyes gave away his exhaustion. As the poison struck him once more, Alaska was tempted to grab his PokeBall and admit defeat.

Then a shout came from the side lines. "Remember why you're here Alaska, you can't give up now! You still have a shot at this!" Alaska turned to Sandy and managed a smile, seeing the determination on her friends face and knew she had to try for her sake. The battle would still be in the hands of the gods even if she failed: giving up was not going to win her any points.
Looking at Darwin, she knew there was only one play left that could secure her the victory. The move would work, Alaska didn't doubt that, but this was her last chance to win. If they were going to play this card, Alaska had to ensure it would win, and there was only one way to do that: face her past.

"Darwin, forget about the match. Ignore her, ignore Muk, ignoring everything around you and think back to last week. Think of everything that happened to you: everything Jack did, everything his gang did, his Pokémon. Focus on every part of your body he broke, the hours he spent torturing you. Focus on that!"

Alaska could see Darwin tense, his large hands curve into fists. They didn't have long until Muk appeared, but Alaska knew it wouldn't take much to get him where she needed him – something that pained her to accept.

"Now look at me." Darwin turned to her, and Alaska was back in the Pokémon Centre, watching him lying on the operating table. She dug her nails into her palm to keep her focussed: his eyes were faintly glowing red, but it wasn't enough, she couldn't stop here. "I'm the one who did that to you. Everything they did is on me. All your pain and suffering is because of me and my own self-interest. They are trying to use my selfishness against me, against us – but this pain, the guilt, that's ours, isn't it?"

"APE!"

"Are you going to let them use your pain like that, appropriate what I did to you?"

"APE!"

"Are you ready to finish this?"

"APEEEE!"

"Then use Frustration, NOW!"

"PRIMEEEEE!"

Darwin's scream didn't just echo: it attacked them for all sides, his rage exploding and engulfing them all. Tears in her eyes, Alaska watched as Muk leapt from the shadows, magenta fist connecting with Darwin.

His eyes burst open at the Poison types touch: a devilish red lit up the field, and Alaska almost laughed, her mistakes finally good for something. With a renewed energy, Darwin turned and a slammed his fist right in the middle of Muk's gooey underbelly. The heavy smack echoed, like a rock falling into mud, and Muk instantly soared backwards. Sandy cheered as the Poison type crashed into the cliff, disappearing in a cloud of dust.

Alaska's eyes weren't on him though: for a moment, Darwin stood there, body heaving, watching his opponent's demise, and then he fell. Alaska didn't hesitate and was running across the pitch before Darwin had hit the ground.

"The match is still in progress!" Janine yelled, but Alaska ignored her, sliding to her knees and grabbing hold of her Pokémon. Darwin's eyes were shut, the battle was lost, that much was clear, but Alaska had to check him over. Invisible hands seemed to be pushing down on her throat as Alaska rolled him over; checking every scar, every bruise, every shaven patch to make sure the battle hadn't damaged him further. She only stopped when a hand grabbed her shoulder, and under Sandy's reassuring gaze, Alaska left Darwin to sleep in peace.

"I'm sorry, I'm so, so sorry for doing that to you," she whispered, hoping no one else would hear, but her words carried despite barely escaping her lips. A true silence had descended upon the valley; no one was moving, no one said anything. Alaska sat there with Darwin in her arms, looking at Sandy for guidance, but despite the faint glimmer of a smile on her face, her friend looked just as uncertain as she felt.

Footsteps sounded behind her, and Alaska turned as Leaf and Janine moved in. The Viridian gym leader looked worried, while her friend wore a scowl that was difficult to read. She felt a familiar rage as Leaf looked down at her, but Alaska pushed it aside: there was no time for old wounds now.

"Muk's out for it, so both Pokémon have fainted."

"Darwin fell first though, technically," Janine added, and Leaf shot her a look.

"You don't know that – the punch could have knocked Muk out before he hit the cliff," she retorted. Janine glowered at her friend but curtly nodded, leaving her fellow gym leader to make the next move. "We were going to do this anyway, but the winner is really in their hands now."

Alaska was last to look up. After the last few days, the last thing she wanted to do was endure another test. Win or lose, she needed to sleep, to sleep and think and prepare for whatever was to come next. Yet there was no avoiding this, and Alaska craned her neck and gazed at the cliffs above.

After being followed by them for so long, after living with one inside her head for weeks, finally see legendaries up close, so intimately, was not the experience Alaska had expected. It felt like a scene from one of the Arcethian dramas her grandmother had watched religiously: the lowly mortal on the ground, the gods towering over her, sun making them glow as they gazed wisely down at their disciple. Yet Alaska felt nothing. Articuno, Zapdos, Moltres, their wings fluttered in the breeze; Entei, Raikou, Suicune, they looked regal with their flowing manes and silent, angry faces. But Alaska felt no fear, no need to start bowing or praying for forgiveness: immortal they may be, but at the end of day, they were all pawns in the same game as she. This moment had been written in prophecy years before she was born, all six of them destined to cross paths with her at this point in time: this wasn't destiny, it was simply appointment.

As these thoughts crossed her mind, Alaska watched as each Pokémon nodded silently in turn, the movements so subtle she nearly missed them. It was only when each legendary turned and moved out of sight, the birds taking to the sky while the beasts skulked away, did Alaska turn back to the women that were both her allies and her enemies.

"What did that mean?" Leaf's face gave nothing away, instead turning towards Janine. The gym leader looked neither pleased or annoyed, her resting face blank as she stared daggers at Alaska. Finally, after several tense moments had slowly passed, Janine extended her hand and dropped something small and metal to the ground.

"You did good kid. We might have a shot at this after all. Meet us at my gym tomorrow and we can start preparing." For a second, something like a smile passed over Janine's lips, but Alaska blinked and it was gone: the gym leader simply turned and headed through the valley, and for the first time Alaska realised a sword was strapped to her back.

That must be what fear is, she thought, turning to Sandy and smiling, her friends words slowly coming back to her. Before she could talk, Alaska felt a hand on her shoulder, and she looked up at Leaf. She wore the same smile that had been immortalised in the middle of Viridian City, and Alaska was surprised by how little the reaction fazed her.

"You were as amazing to watch as everyone told me."

"Really? I didn't think any of them would have anything nice to say about me."

Leaf laughed and began to walk away. "None of them want to hate you, Alaska; you've just made it so easy for them." She waved and followed her friend into the valley; Alaska watched the two gym leaders leave, disappearing into the fields that lay beyond, feeling lighter and freer the further away they got.

She wasn't going anywhere though. Now that the battle was over, the tiredness and the pain Alaska had been ignoring had come back in spades, and she had no intention of fighting her body any more. Sandy seemed to understand though and flopped down next to her, joining Alaska amongst the clumps of earth. The silence of the valley pressed down on them, and as her friend pulled in close, Alaska stared back to the forest at the top of the hill, thinking of everything that had been said amongst the trees.

"Sandy, I –"

"No, Alaska. Now's not the time for that." Sandy was on the verge of tears, but her smile was unbearably wide, and Alaska simply smirked back, glad she had been stopped. She didn't have the words to say what she wanted to, not now anyway, and Sandy was right: there was no need. Instead, Alaska rested her head on her friends shoulder and the two simply sat there. Sandy pulled Sylveon in close while Alaska slowly stroked Darwin's fur, her mind drifting elsewhere.

As she had trained yesterday, Alaska had kept thinking about everything that had been said at the gym: what she had yelled at Leaf and Janine, what they had yelled back, the mission that lay before her. Not once had those thoughts left her mind. The task ahead of her was borderline impossible, the idea that she would have to save the world so utterly ridiculous and fantastical that Alaska still doubted it was real. Yet there was no avoiding the prophecy, what she had been born into, and now was as good of a time as any to take that seriously.

Leaning forwards, Alaska picked up the badge Janine had dropped and held it up to the light: dark purple, with a slight pink crack down the middle, the heart-shaped Soul Badge was finally hers.

"Six down, two to go."

"And then what?"

"Then we have to keep on fighting, won't we?" The words came out heavy, and for a moment Sandy didn't respond, staring blankly at the now-empty cliff tops.

"Well, we've made it this far despite everything you've done. Now that you're under control I really have no worries." Alaska reared up and glowered at her friend, but Sandy simply shrugged. "You know it's true," she replied, head held high. The two stared at each other for a moment, and then the valley echoed with sounds of their laughter, no one around to stop them.
 
Please note: The thread is from 2 years ago.
Please take the age of this thread into consideration in writing your reply. Depending on what exactly you wanted to say, you may want to consider if it would be better to post a new thread instead.
Back
Top Bottom