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

Blog Fourteen: Taking Over Me
Blog Fourteen: Taking Over Me

Five years ago, my life changed.

We had evacuated the city like so many others near the coast line, watching from the back of cars as smoke spewed out of Cinnabar in the distance, so big and thick it could be seen from across the entire region. When we packed up the essentials and retreated for the hills, we all expected to return to find nothing, that the volcanoes eruption would have laid waste to the land and left only ash in its wake.

I think that's why what actually happened hurt so much. Instead of losing the city under a wash of molten lava, the destruction Giovanni caused was simply left there like a monument. Houses flattened as if made out of paper, sinkholes in the middle of streets: it was a disfigured ghost of what had been, enough left behind to recognise the city that had been, but it was no longer Viridian City.

Being young, I thought the fact our house hadn't been destroyed meant we had gotten off lightly. My room was still intact; we still had four walls; that meant we'd survived the worst of it, right?

Oh, little Alaska, what an innocent, naïve, stupid, moronic fucking idiot you were.

When Viridian was destroyed, so was the life that I knew. My home began to crumble around me, literally and figuratively. My older siblings abandoned us for boarding school, leaving me to tend to an over stressed mother, an increasingly depressed father and a clueless little brother all on my own. I was trapped, unable to leave and go on a journey, stuck in a city I couldn't recognise anymore.

And the more the city changed, the angrier I became. Everything had fallen apart and I didn't understand how or why. All I knew was that someone had to take the blame; someone had to be punished for destroying everything that I knew.

Team Rocket would have been the easy option, but they were just a faceless organisation, anyone that I could blame already dead.

But then we had the statue. Red, Leaf and Blue, staring down at the city they had let fall apart. The three saviours, the three that everyone adored, everyone except me, it seems. Sure, they saved the day in the end, but not before they had left a trail of destruction across the region. Every time I saw Red on TV, or Leaf hanging around her gym, I knew they should have to suffer for destroying my home, and I knew I was the one to make them pay.

For five years now, I've carried that anger with me. Finally, it might be time to let it go.

Well, not entirely. I don't think anyone can simply forgive all that pent up anger in a matter of minutes, not when it has been the fuel keeping me going all this time. However, I think it's time to start, as the old song goes, letting it go.

Over the last few days, I've seen the different ways that these wars and horrors have affected people. I've met people who have let their anger consume and define them, giving them a war-tinted outlook of the world. I've seen people so affected by what has happened that they are afraid to embrace the future, to look beyond their shattered lives and open their minds to what may come next. I've faced someone who wears their rage as a shield, letting it blind them to the possibilities of the world, so fixated on what has happened in the past.

But I saw a different way. I saw a way of taking everything that has happened to you and accepting it rather than letting it surround you. I've seen that it is possible to move on, to look at your past as something to escape from instead of something you need to avenge.

Throughout everything that's happened to me over the last few weeks, I have kept thinking back to Viridian, thinking about how I want someone to pay for what happened to my city. I am still angry that my city had to be sacrificed in order to stop a monster, but it's clear that the people I want to blame have suffered for their past: it's left them cautious and afraid, untrusting and weary, terrified that it might happen again. Just because they aren't crying at my feet begging for forgiveness doesn't mean that they've been affected.

I never wanted to be this person who goes off to war and saves the world. I don't want the weight of Kanto's future on my shoulders. But I also don't want to become what I despise. None of us chose to be in this position, but we can choose how we end this war. I have to accept what happened to me and my family for what it is because it's not going to defeat Gideon or Buzz. If I can accept things, if I can do this right, then maybe no one else will ever have to feel the way I've felt. Maybe I can end this all without anyone else having to suffer.

For years I've felt like the only person in the world left affected by what happened five years, but it's become oh so clear to me that I'm not the only one still consumed by the past. Every decision I've made has been because of that, and so has every decision that has been made against me, but I can't blame everyone else for how I've let things screw with my friendship and my Pokémon. Perhaps if everyone wasn't so fixated on the past they wouldn't be afraid of the future, and none of us would be in this mess, but the time has come to move on together. I don't want to say exactly what I went through this week – there are people reading this who can't know my exact moments – but I've put myself through enough, put my Pokémon through more, and it's time to focus on the future. If I can ignore five years of resentment, five years of internally screaming at a world I cannot recognise, if I can accept a few weeks of being controlled, then I think that most people should be able to forgive what I put myself through in order to reach this point.

Five years ago, my life changed, but the same can be said for a lot of people. I don't know if I will ever fully accept and move on from what happened to Viridian, but if I am going to win this war, it's time to put the past to rest… for now, at least. Because let's face it: who really knows what the future holds?

Yours reflectively,

Alaska



Just want to say thanks to everyone who voted for this story and characters in the awards! I appreciate the recognition :)
 
Interlude Fourteen: Champions in Their Field
Interlude Fourteen: Champions in Their Field

"Look who it is! How are you, Cynthia my love? Not still in mourning, are you? Who died this time?"

Laughter echoed around the small group, and Cynthia laughed with them as Alder lunged in for a kiss. Screw you, you pathetic old drunk. As he kissed her on both cheeks, his ginger whiskers clawing at her face, Cynthia had to resist the urge to kick him in the groin. Every year she was greeted with the same joke, and every year she was forced to play along like a good little girl lest she be the one accused of causing a scene.

You wait until your childhood best friend tries to decapitate you and see how fucking cheery you feel. Once Alder finally released her, Cynthia grabbed the first glass of champagne that passed her and forced a smile as she downed it in one.

"Careful sweetheart, frail thing like you, it'll go straight to your head!" Alder aimed his broad grin at her but his eyes focussed on the small crowd of industry professionals that were lapping up his every word. As much as she despised him, Cynthia could not deny his showmanship: his booming voice, that thunderous laugh, the way he could make ten thousand people in a stadium bow to his every will. Some said the only reason he was still Champion was that no one had the heart to take him down.

Looking at him up close, Cynthia failed to see the attraction. With a bushy, untamed mane of hair, the same shabby tunics he wore practically every day, the constant smell of rum protruding from his body, there was nothing physically desirable to offset his ego the size of a Wailord nor the misogynistic, homophobic attitude that hadn't withered at all during his Championship.

She always complained about Alder after every encounter, and Lucien would always respond with the same thing: Charisma. You can be the rudest, foulest person in the room, but if you can hide it behind a big smile and decade old jokes, no one's going to care.

Cynthia wished she had that. She was popular with the public, she knew that, but their fondness for her came from a place of respect rather than adoration. She didn't have Alder's charisma to disguise her faults, nor the personality to be able to simply ignore what people said about her. Cynthia was tired of questioning herself every time she put on one of her black cloaks, she was annoyed that she had to ask herself nearly every day whether or not to dye her hair, to seem more presentable, more open. Opinion polls were always being shoved at her, telling her that she looked too dowdy, too bored, too sullen, too masculine, too dark.

Part of Cynthia knew she shouldn't care, that the admiration of the public hadn't saved her on Mt Coronet, yet every time one of these Battle Conferences happened, her self-doubt went into overdrive. It was a pain, she was embarrassed by how she acted and knew that once it had passed, she would quickly remember that there were more important things in life than looking good. Yet now she couldn't help stare down at her all black ensemble, wishing she had gone for something else.

Voices around her suddenly registered, and Cynthia realised she had been standing there gormlessly for what must have been minutes, all eyes watching her as their owners quietly smirked behind drinks. Grabbing a second glass, Cynthia looked around the sea of faces for someone familiar and friendly, but the gym leaders and Elite Four were outnumbered by the sales representatives and 'battle consultants', whatever the fuck that meant, that filled up this convention every year. Least she get roped into a conversation with some pushy Silph Co. executive about new technology to improve her strategy, Cynthia reluctantly inserted herself back into Alder's group.

" – that's the trouble when you give these Elite Four people a chance at the big title." Alder talked with his hands, waving them around like two hairy hams, sending droplets of brandy soaring over a crowd too infatuated to notice. "Sure, they are all good trainers, they wouldn't be there otherwise, but they are only little speedbumps along the road to my front door. They don't have what it takes to actually be Champion."

"I agree they promoted Lance far too soon – it was all about keeping those dragon folk on side, I've been saying it for years!" A shrill woman, grey hair in a tight bun, stared at everyone with wide eyes as though forcing them into agreeing with her. "However, that league would be doing much better if he was still in charge."

"Kris defeated him though, you can't –"

"Yeah, with a god! I mean, anyone would lose if they had to face a bloody god! I'll give the girl credit, she has managed to hold on to this title all this time, but she is not a patch on Diantha. She was Champion for, what, two decades, and even in the end she ended every fight with at least three Pokémon still standing and never once had to call down fucking Xerneas to lend her a hand."

"Oh, Diantha, god how I miss her," Alder sighed. "Not only was she a great trainer, but she was a fantastic actress, and fuck, was she beautiful!"

"Alder!"

"It's true! There's never been another beauty like her. I only met her once in person at once of these things, but she was more handsome in real life than she ever was on screen – and that includes that love scene from Midnight in Lumiose," Alder added, winking across the circle at Cynthia.

"Oh yes, remember her gowns? Who was it that said she could walk in wearing a trash bag and still be the most beautiful woman in the room?"

"Winston Diamond," another woman answered, an audible swoon in her voice. "Now there was a gentleman – no offence, Alder, but that man is the ideal Champion: poised, elegant and charming whether he was facing an opponent on the field or across the negotiating table. We really need someone like him again." With no subtly whatsoever, the woman turned and gave Cynthia what must've been the filthiest look she could muster. It was nothing new to Cynthia: she regularly encountered people from a different generation who acted as if she had stolen the Championship from Winston Diamond instead of defeating him fairly and definitively in a gruelling three and a half hour long battle. The flow of alcohol was making her patience wane, and Cynthia had to swallow back her pride with a glass of white wine from a waiter, downing it in one, missing Alder's latest joke that made the group roar once more.

"Jokes aside, these conventions have never been the same without her." Alder spoke with a heavy sigh, cutting the laughter off instantly, and Cynthia almost gagged as she saw how admiringly his supporters were watching him. "It truly is a shame we lost her. We've never had anyone since to rival the level of class and grace she brought to this game." He raised his tumbler, half empty after his overdramatic gesticulating. "To Diantha, the greatest female Champion this world has ever known."

"To Diantha." Cynthia didn't raise her empty glass. She stared at Alder, focusing on the lines around his faces, the crinkled, leathery nature of his skin, the untamed mane that descended down his back. You wouldn't have given two shits about Diantha if she had looked like you.

"Diantha may have had looks, but she died before she could do anything to stop her region from burning to the ground." Alder's false modesty was replaced by shock as gasps rippled around the circle, but Cynthia ignored them, her fury too strong. "And the only worthwhile thing Winston Diamond ever did in his life was to underestimate my Garchomp. I may not dress like the dead woman you use to wank to, Alder, but considering I walked through the doors of hell and managed to stop the apocalypse, I think I can wear what I damn well fucking –"

"Cynthia is that you?!" The shocked, angry expressions softened as a man in a sequined white tuxedo stepped forwards, hand gripping tightly on Cynthia's shoulder. She herself turned and glared at Wallace, but her annoyance faded as the adrenaline passed and the realisation of what she said came back to her.

"Uh-oh, Wallace's around, better watch yourself boys!" Alder boomed, his smile uneasy as he gazed at the two Champions.

"Oh honey, you don't have half the experience you'd need to handle me." Wallace grinned and winked as the crowd giggled, but when he turned back to Cynthia it was clear the joy was forced. "I know he's revolting, but people are staring, darling, I could hear you over the busboy's orgasms; why don't you go find the children and brood with them until the opening speeches, give you some time to clear your head, m'kay?"

"Always looking out for me, aren't you?"

"Bitch, please, I just don't want you distracting from my outfit." Wallace winked as he gently shoved her away. Cynthia was left stranded in the middle of the convention floor, alone, unanchored from any friend or group. She stared around, trying to find a friendly face, but while Alder had been successfully distracted, it was clear within seconds that it would take more than Wallace's sparkly outfit to make everyone else forget.

Fuck, I hate parties.

***

Buzz sat alone in his office. The sun had long set, leaving him in darkness except for the dim glow emitting from the screen before him. He had opened Alaska's blog hours ago, had read it countless times, yet as midnight approached, he still could not look away, could not ignore her words.

I underestimated you. Months ago, when this had all started, Buzz never imagined being in this position: sitting alone in the dark, stuck in a wheelchair, his grand scheme falling apart by the minimal efforts of a pubescent foe.

He had expected resistance, and after the last few years knew the girl could be an issue when she first waltzed her way into his life. Yet Buzz had assumed that once she faced the threat they posed, she would simply disappear and become a forgotten memory by the time he marched into the Indigo League. He had all the money, power and influence in the world at his disposal, and all she had was a childhood pet. She should have run home screaming for her mother, or at the very least had the decency to die quietly off screen.

The fact that she had outsmarted him, wounded him, dismantled his plan, all the while seemingly unperturbed by everything she had done, Buzz still could not fathom how easily she had ruined him.

Hate makes her vengeful; hate makes her want to defeat you, to crush you.

Buzz slammed the laptop shut. It had been days since his encounter with Gideon, yet the scientist's voice rarely left his head. His words were haunting him, following him everywhere he went, a constant reminder of his failure…

"Stop it stop it stop it stop it STOP IT!" Buzz swiped his arm across his desk, clearing it of the few things decorating the surface, and turned his chair to face the window. It was not his normal office, that was still being rebuilt, allegedly – Silph had let Buzz return to work, but the damage to his building had raised questions, and there were rumours of an investigation based on 'allegations'.

Something else she's taken from me. Buzz clenched the arms of the chair as he stared down at the street, watching the people out at dinner, going clubbing, embracing romantically under the streetlights. Five years ago Giovanni had had these people cowering in their homes, yet a greater threat was operating from the same city and the people didn't even care, parading around his base like it was no big deal.

This is all down to her. Alaska thinks she can beat me, she's putting that out into the world, so no one care's anymore. They are going to let a little girl fight their wars for them. Giovanni was right all along, you people deserve to be ruled, you deserve everything that comes to you. Maybe I should write my own blog, do something big so you worthless scum can finally see…

Buzz leant back in his chair, smiling. Why had he never thought of this before? People didn't care about the future, but they were moved by the past. There was something he could do, one way to get the world's attention, one way to show them what a threat he was.

If Alaska is determined to stop me, then I will make her pay on a stage she is all too familiar with. I will not let her beat me, I am not going to fall the same way Giovanni did.

Buzz dived for his phone, ignoring the pain in his groin as he tumbled to the floor. He was shaking with excitement, unable to control himself as the thought of his new plan spread to every inch of his body.

I did not realise you were so petty that you need the commendations of others to gain satisfaction…

"SHUT UP!" Buzz screamed into the empty room as he dialled, putting the phone on loudspeaker and waiting to hear Amanda's voice. He may be too sore to walk, he may have let two teenage girls hijack his plan, but that all ended tonight. Within the next few days, the whole world would know his name, and he would become as infamous as everyone else. The thought consumed Buzz so much he didn't even register that Amanda wasn't picking up her phone.

***

"You know, you are meant to be the hostess of this thing; a good host doesn't throw up before her guests have."

Cynthia had found refuge at the bar at the back of the conference room. It was easy to forget what she had just done while tossing back drink after drink, sullenly avoiding eye contact with anyone.

Yet it was impossible to ignore Argenta. Cynthia looked up and turned to face her friend, managing a mild smirk at her joke.

"Hey, was wondering when I'd run into – wow, what are you wearing!"

"This old thing?" Argenta looked down at her sparkling magenta pant suit and shrugged, not without letting the briefest smile cross her delicate face. How's that for charisma, Cynthia thought, but managed to hold back her words this time.

"I'd suggest we had a drink but I think you might've had a few too many, so why not just some water then." Argenta signalled at the waiter as she nestled herself onto the neighbouring stool. "So, let me guess; Alder again?"

"Who else?" Cynthia took the glass and sipped, leaving Argenta to tut dramatically.

"I don't know why we still let him into these things – remember last year when I caught him pissing off the balcony into the Ever Grande waterfall? Disgusting."

"It wouldn't be a Battle Conference without Alder reminding us all he grew up in southern Unova."

"Well, I still think we should have neutered him a long time ago." Cynthia giggled and Argenta flashed her famous smile. Silence followed as the two simply stared at the other, an understanding falling between them that required no words. Though Cynthia had defeated her thrice in battle, she and Argenta had become friends through her sister, a bond that only grew after Carolina's death. Being the two most high profile female trainers in Sinnoh, their problems were largely the same, and though Argenta handled her issues with more poise and wit than Cynthia ever could, the Champion was always reassured that at least one person out there knew what she was going through.

"Is there a reason you're drinking so much?"

Cynthia shrugged. "It's a party, am I not allowed to drink?" Argenta's manicured right eyebrow shot up, a look Cynthia knew all too well, and she groaned and drunkenly leant in. "Alright, fine! It's this room, these people, the whole fucking thing!" She hissed. "Whenever I arrive at one of these things, I can feel everyone watching me, judging me, it's smothering. Most people have the common courtesy to be rude behind your back, but Alder – god, that man is just a pig!"

Argenta grabbed hold of her hand, and Cynthia realised she had been gripping the empty glass so hard it was in danger of cracking. "You're a Champion, honey, why does it matter what these people think?" She purred. "Most of them are simply jealous that all their money couldn't get them the one thing they've always wanted, and they want to bring you down so they feel better about their failure."

Cynthia slammed the glass down and turned away. "Oh please, they don't even know the meaning of the word failure." She spat the last word out, tipsily falling through her lips. Argenta didn't respond for a moment, hand still outstretched, face screwed up in curiosity, and then something seemed to twig.

"Are you talking about Mt Coro – "

"Of course I'm talking about Mt Coronet!" Cynthia hissed, her words slurring as she rushed to get them out. "I was their Champion and I couldn't do anything to stop Cyrus, he nearly – well, he did end this world, all I could do was watch. At least Diantha went down with her ship, I steered ours into a fucking iceberg and watched as all the passengers died."

"You shouldn't use metaphors, they really aren't your forte," Argenta said with a flash of a smile, and Cynthia snorted, quickly and briefly descending into laughter. It only lasted a few seconds though before Cynthia caught the looks of those watching her, before the crushing weight of over twenty years in the public eye came hurtling back towards her.

"It's just difficult. People expect me to be their idea of what I should be rather than accept what I am: I'm not the person who helped save the day, I'm the Champion who let her country burn for months. Coming here, dealing with Alder, it just reminds me that people want some beautiful warrior dream princess, not a depressed and bitter woman with no interest in their fantasies."

Argenta stepped closer and put her hands on Cynthia's shoulders, forcing her to stare into her eyes. "You may not be perfect, but no one is darling. You may have gone through hell, but I doubt Alder or Wallace could have handled it any better than you have. The war is over, Cynthia, you won! Why do you keep acting like you lost?"

For a moment, Cynthia felt relief. She wanted to believe things were so simple she could just ignore her feelings like this, just accept what she had done and ignore what everyone else thought. In that moment, it all seemed so possible.

But then she saw him: smiling, laughing, strolling casually towards the bar, Cynthia had known she would run into him at some point, but that didn't stop the taste of bile rising up the back of her throat. Tears filled her eyes, she hoped she could hold them back, but then Volkner looked up and saw her: he stopped dead in his tracks, his smile faltered, and Cynthia knew then and there she deserved how she felt.

"Because you don't know what I had to do to win it." Cynthia didn't say anything to Argenta, she smiled turned and ran. She heard Volkner shout after her, but she was already pushing through the crowd, head spinning in a cloud of emotions and alcohol, unable to stop the mental floodgates from opening.

The window shattered. Fire dancing up the walls of the library, reaching out to consume her. Garchomp slamming his fins into Winston's Mamoswine, using those same fins to fight off Team Rocket, using those same fins to save her life in lieu of his own. Viktor, Cyrus, The Messiah; grinning as she fell into the flames; grinning as she lay bleeding on the floor; grinning as the pillar collapsed around them. The children, the children screaming, the children dying trying to do what she could not.

Cynthia wanted to stop the nightmares, but this was what she saw, this was the burden she carried, and as she sprinted across the conference room floor, she knew deep down she would never be able to rid herself of this feeling.

***

All was quiet in Fuchsia, not that it was ever anything different. The calm silence that engulfed the city during the day turned tense and fearful come nightfall, as though the monsters everyone feared were waiting out there in the shadows. Yet the streets somehow seemed emptier, lit only by the flickering lights of the lampposts, not a single soul outside to make their effort worthwhile.

Tonight was different.

A man sat outside the Pokémon Centre. The lamp above the bench had long ago died, but the man had made a living out of hiding in the shadows, going unnoticed until he so wished to be heard. Not a single person knew he had even entered the city, not even the girl he had sworn to protect.

This isn't the path I hoped for you, Alaska. Since that stormy night at the Celadon Mansion, the man had firmly remained in the shadows. He had not taken on this role to tell Alaska what to do, the hypocrisy of doing so only part of his reason. The choice was one she had to make, and attempting to lead her down the right path would inevitably have pushed her down the wrong one.

Yet here they were regardless. The man had been monitoring Alaska closely from afar, watching her personal conflict, hoping that everything would land the right way, guide her to the right decision. Over the past week as she passed through Celadon, allowing him to join her once more, it had become clear that she was struggling, faltering under the pressure being put on her from all sides. The man knew what it was like, but had assured himself she was stronger than he had been.

Never for one second had he thought they would win. Never would he have guessed he would ever read the words that appeared on her blog that day. Never would he have imagined when this all began he would be pushed to the point where he wanted to scream, helpless to do any good with his life.

Yet here they were. The man watched the Pokémon Centre, the lights dimmed, musky shadows surrounding the nurse's desk. He knew he would be able to get in undetected, go to Alaska's room and confront, make her see the errors of her choice, push her down the right path. But now that he was here, metres away from doing so, he found he no longer had any desire to do so.

You've made your choice, Alaska. I just hope for our sake you made the right one. The soft sigh that escaped his lips shattered the city's silence. Nearby curtains flickered, eyes peered out of windows, the sound carrying in the quiet, but the man had already gone. There was nothing for him here anymore.

***

Cynthia kicked open the door to a balcony. The seemingly endless oceans of Sinnoh surrounded her, blending with the night to create an inky black canvas that stretched on for millennia. It felt like she stepped onto the edge of space, and despite the rush of fresh air to her lungs, she could feel the darkness closing in. Her champagne glass shattered to the ground as she clawed the scarf away from her throat, exposing the thick pink scar that dominated her neck. Cynthia let go, letting it float away in the ocean breeze, and sighed. The cool touch of the salty wind finally calmed her, and Cynthia collapsed sideways into an empty chair, clutching her temple as her head continued to spin, but feeling more relaxed now that she was away from everyone, alone with just the stars for company.

"Um… hey Cynthia."

Cynthia shut her eyes, hoping that the voice came from inside of her, but the clink of glass on metal confirmed she wasn't alone. Swallowing a groan, she turned and faced Red, her heart sinking further as Kris awkwardly waved from next to him.

"Well, looks like I've managed to embarrass myself in front of every other Champion tonight. Is there a convention on or something?" She laughed deeply at her own joke, ignoring the sceptical looks the younger trainers exchanged. "What are you two doing out here? Scheming about something?"

Red cautiously stepped forwards, the same calm approach one might use when facing an Ursaring. "It's nothing, not that big a deal. Are you alright, Cynthia, you don't look –"

"I'm fine!" She snapped, swatting his hand away. "Don't treat me like a child; I've seen far worse things than both of you combined. So come on, what are you on about?"

Kris and Red looked at each other quietly for a moment before the former shrugged and stepped forwards, speaking for the first time. "You know what's going on in Kanto?"

Cynthia paused, searching her cloudy mind for the right information. "This is the girl Cyrus predicted, right?"

"Spot on. She's just posted another one of her blogs saying she's ready to do what needs to be done to stop Gideon, which we've kind of been waiting for," Red said, smiling slightly. "We were just wondering what we do now."

Of course you're relieved, you're the one that's meant to be killed. Cynthia laughed cruelly to herself, her fellow Champions watching in silence, and her private joke quickly collapsed into a painful sigh.

"Well, at least she seems to have a choice in the matter, I suppose. That's one thing we never got." Cynthia shook her head and sighed again, thinking of this girl she didn't know, imaging what she must be going through. "What's her name again?"

"Alaska Acevedo."

"Alaska…"

The Fall of Kalos and the War on Three Sides, that sets everything off. It paves the way for Red and Leaf, Krystal and Alaska, Brendan, Bryan, Yasmin, Kieran… and them… yes, I will meet the others someday, won't I… we both will, we are both there, on the mountain….

Cynthia leapt from her chair, phantom flames burning across her skin. She had to grasp the bannister to steady herself, deeply breathing in the sea air to remind herself where she was: there was a whole sea between her and the library, a whole lifetime between now and then.

"Poor kid," she said finally, opening her eyes onto the dark ocean. "I wouldn't wish this upon anyone. How'd she even get involved?" She asked as she turned and banged on the door, signalling a passing waiter inside.

Kris laughed and tossed back her drink. "That is the question I ask myself every morning. There's some prophecy about her, isn't there, that's how it always starts."

Cynthia swore incomprehensibly and clumsily lashed out at the chair. "All these fucking prophecies, shit, they're doing my head in. How many apocalypses is this now – five, six?"

"Seven, if you count Giratina."

"Good lord. Well, not a good lord, is he, if 'he's' the one responsible for all this. I wouldn't know, never met him. Maybe I should ask Charlotte next time I see her." Cynthia laughed, and for once the other two joined in, brief sniggers tinged in sadness escaping their sullen faces. All three fell silent as the waiter appeared in the doorway, the tray of red wine shaking in her hands. All three lunged at the same moment, pausing only as they surrounded her to silently take their drinks in turn.

"Thanks," Kris mumbled, and the waiter nodded, smiled for a second, and then ran back inside. Cynthia didn't give the woman a second glance, but she turned and found her fellow Champions watching her over the edge of their glasses. Turning back, it was instantly obvious why: the woman was young, probably a few years older than Red, smooth blonde hair that bounced as she retreated, possibly mentally writing a post for about drunken Champions.

Is that jealousy I see before me? Is that what you want to be, minimum wage lackeys, gossiping about the news instead of making it? You should put those dreams to rest, kiddies. I know your stories; don't kid yourselves into thinking you would have been happy with anything…

Even in her head, Cynthia drifted off. Something suddenly clicked inside of her, something that had been there perhaps her entire life but only now became clear. She almost wanted to laugh, stopping only because she also desperately felt like crying.

"You know what the worst part of all this is? Just how fucking selfish it makes you." Red and Kris suddenly looked up, envy replaced with curiosity as Cynthia sipped at her wine. "Look at you two, the way you were watching her. Let me guess, the voices in your head were going 'Why me, why did I have to do this, why couldn't I have had a normal life'?"

"Cynthia, you're drunk and this is only the first night of the conference, do you really –"

"Oh, fuck up Edward, I'm not just talking about you," Cynthia guffawed. "Do you think I'm any different? Sometimes I wish… no, scratch that – every god damn day I wish I had just stayed home that summer. Stayed in that nasty little town with my nasty sister and her nasty friends, dealing with my nasty old grandmother, only a moody Gabite and a bitter old woman for company. Never met Viktor, never heard about prophecies and orbs and fucking encyclopaedias, let someone else create a monster…"

Cynthia paused. She looked past their heads and across the ocean, focussing on the lights shining so far in the distance. She'd only been back to Sunyshore the once since 1985, yet at least once a day she turned towards it, thinking back to those few weeks, thinking of what had drawn her there in the first place, what kept her mind on it now. Neither Kris nor Red interrupted her, what she was staring at obvious to anyone, yet it wasn't long before Cynthia turned away, smiling.

"That's the really awful part about this job. We're supposed to be role models, these people the public can look up to, but not even deep down we are really a bunch of angry, selfish arseholes wishing we didn't have to deal with them or anything else. Because we wish that someone else was standing where we were, that someone else had had to fight these big bad organisations so we didn't have to.

"But we've kidding ourselves, because someone had to do it. If we aren't the ones to save the world, then it means someone else has to be cast with this miserable existence… s'mone else had to watch their friends die, shun their family, watch the world burn around them while they stood by, unable to do anything.

"And as much as I hate how things have ended up, I hate how it was more. Have you ever been to Celestic Town? It's a hole. I mean, literally, it's a giant hole some dipshits decided was a great place to build a town. Every morning there's fog, and you have to walk to school holding hands so you don't fall down the hole and break your neck. There's always drunk tourists there who have made the pilgrimage to the shrine so you can never get to sleep, you can't walk around after dark because someone might come after you in the fog. It's horrible, it's suffocating, and if I had stayed, I probably would've jumped head first into that hole years ago."

Cynthia finished her drink, not noticing the tears rolling down her cheeks. "I hated my sister, but now she's dead and I miss her every day. For so long I blamed myself, telling myself she wouldn't have died if I hadn't turned Viktor into what he became, but that's shit. Fate meant this would happen, and she and I and many others could have died anyway if someone else had been in my position. Saving the world fucking sucks, but I guess someone has to do it, right?"

Kris and Red didn't say anything, their drinks going ignored in their hands. Cynthia sighed and threw her empty glass over the balcony, pausing dramatically as she waited for it to smash.

"I got what I wanted, even if it wasn't how I imagined… maybe I should just be happy about that, eh? I mean, you can only go on blaming everyone else for your problems for so long before you have to accept that maybe it's just you."

Kris looked her in the eye, face blank, and then she cracked a smile, for a moment managing to laugh. Cynthia laughed too, cackling slightly in her drunken state, before stumbling towards the door, pausing only as she had it half open.

"Tomorrow remind me I said this, I'm probably going to forget." She winked and giggled, and as the two Champions smiled back at her, Cynthia wobbled inside, briefly admiring her cloak in the window, savouring a lightness she hadn't felt… ever.

***

Oh, you poor, stupid child, you really have no idea what you're doing, do you?

The dense layer of dust that had built up over the past five years hung thick and heavy in the air as Gideon tore through the house. Tables sat upended, carpet had been ripped up and dumped in heaps, computers and televisions smashed. There was nothing here, just like every other safe house the scientist had searched, just like all the other hideouts he had dismantled over the past few weeks.

His trail was running cold. If he wanted to enact his plan, Gideon had to find everything he needed before Alaska and Buzz converged on the Indigo League. If they got there before him, five years spent in solitude, years more spent researching and developing this plan, his last hope of glory and power, it would all be over.

Yet, still Gideon laughed. Dust, glass and broken wood already obscured the discarded tablet, Alaska's blog disappearing under piles of suburban wreckage. Gideon had been avoiding all thought of her for weeks, but temptation had overwhelmed him, and now he was glad he had done so.

"You still think you can defeat me?" Gideon laughed as he swung his mallet through the last of Giovanni's computers, the outdated machine as useless and unhelpful as everything else in the house.

"You think teamwork and support will save the world?" White plastic flew through the air, sparks feebly spraying out of the computer's corpse.

"You still think there is hope for you and whatever plan the elites have cooked up for you?" Gideon turned back and eyed the spot where he had dumped the tablet, chest heaving, sweat pouring from his face. "Please, Alaska, don't make me laugh."

And Gideon's cackle continued long into the night. His mallet tore through walls, smashed the bench top, destroyed every piece of furniture he could find. His plan may be failing, he may be rapidly running out of time to get his way, but tonight, at least he had his little jokes.




That's that arc done! Only FIVE left. I am not sure yet how many chapters that will be exactly, but we are exactly pretty close to the end of the story given its length. Sure, it may take me another two years at this rate, but fingers crossed we can get through Seafoam before the end of the year.

I am also very grateful and surprised to have gotten the Best Journey award again! I wasn't really expecting it, but I am glad to have won for the quieter chapters as opposed to the more explosive, violent ones that make up most of the story. We will see a big return to the action over the next few arcs as we near the end of the story, but it will be spread out and there will be some interesting changes at the end of this arc that will shake up the story for the better. Thanks for sticking with it for so, so, so many years!
 
I said I would and I did, so here it is. May have missed a few points here and there because I was speedreading, but I think I've said most of which I wanted to say.

- That sign really is ironic, considering the people of Fuchsia have been poisoned in a sense.
- Say, just how much money do they have? Enough to live on when traveling, I imagine...though where does it come from?
- Something is clearly bothering you and it sure as hell ain’t… whatever that is, <- Never really thought of/forgot Sandy was a rural girl.
- I laughed at the mental image of one Shellder going up against the world.
- Speaking of mental images...angry Chanseys. Wow.
- Think I said it once before, but to say it again: this nurse is a right Bitch with a capital B. Like, it'd be great to see her reaction to the League's official support of her. Just for her reaction.

- That feel when there's no reason to come down here, not even for a badge. Or I suppose, when two regions share badges and renders some gyms unpopular, I think? Probably something that's covered in the wider scope of Galacticverse, if not, it's a thought!!
- I forget exactly, what year does this fic take place in? And relative to RBY...well, I suppose it's FRed and such. Five years?
- I got a laugh out of the mental image of a bunch of invaders successfully taking most of a city...then failing because they all try to rushjob the ninjas in a certain building.
- Alaska had always figured it was an act: surely no one could be that crazy and still be allowed to save the world, right? <- Look who's talking, Alaska.
- That thing about Gym Leaders being able to challenge trainers totally seems like a convenient plot device, albeit one that works.
- Janine's sadistic side starts to show...and yet, it's very little compared as to what's to come.

- tfw the fairy tale princess is without makeup.
- The Cynthia Code kind of sounds like some sort of Pokemon version of the Da Vinci Code.
- I did mention this off-hand at one point, but god damn. Galacticverse is a shit universe to live in. That feel when you can't do anything because it's not predetermined.
- Alaska snappage!!
- Totally disagree with Leaf. Being dead arguably means not having to suffer pain anymore.
- Not really too much to say about the rest of it. It really speaks for itself.

- Nice consistency with mentioning the sushi place again.
- "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." <- Like this line. It's in-character, and yet shows off a lot of character of Alaska.
- Curious, did you do that to Kalos to write it out, or simply as the plot hook for a future fic?
- Dang, that description of the house. Nice imagery.
- Wonder how Bertram's mother had him in the first place, let alone his sister too, if she couldn't even charm a man?
- Also, man. Some heavy stuff.
- From one bitch to another <- Another good line.
- Sheesh. Alaska freaking out over any little thing that might be qualified as trying to change her.
- Bertram is swag, just saying. Just his personality alone owns, but being able to get to Alaska? Dude's legit. Shame about characters like this that you don't have room for in the context of the larger picture.

- "I want you to hit me as hard as you can"
- Alaska's personality here is...so different.
- “Ooohhhh… that was so… I’m so… great job!” <- Man, taking this objectively. Sandy is tearing up over a Pokemon standing on its own power. Such an emotional girl...
- Like the generic order of something electrical, which the newborn Pichu doesn't understand.
- Hm. Wonder if Sandy will get the Goomy? Probably not.
- Bertram still swag.

I have a new favorite minor character, if it wasn't clear. :)

- I find it kind of amusing that Alaska managed to trick a psychic, but can't trick a ninja.
- Nice conversation that Alaska and Sandy have early on in this chapter.
- Just me, or is this Sylveon a bit of a prima donna? Maybe
- So wait. Clyde has a smell sensor installed?
- "Die with honor!"
- It's always interesting to think about how game-mechanics orientated places like Pal Park would work in a practical setting. Although I suppose that's why no one really uses it...
- Not too much to say about the battle itself. It's epic, shows Janine is a bit of a glorious bastard (particularly with that prediction), and gradually reveals her true colors.

Real different chapter. Nice to see a different perspective, and one that I'm surprised didn't happen sooner and/or more frequently.

- Interesting bit about Pokemon not being used to their new bodies so soon after evolution.
- stumbling around the field like two drunken men fighting outside a bar <- Super bizarre imagery, although I don't dislike it.
- A Muk. Rare Pokemon to see.
- Odd that Janine says that she's more or less expecting Darwin next, then reacts with revulsion when it actulaly happens. The Muk thing does explain it a bit though, I suppose.
- Frustration!! Shoutouts to rare moves!!
- Nice to see Janine get cut down after her attitude in the battle.
- Going in, I was expecting Alaska to lose the actual battle, but win anyway due to the judgment of the gods. This is close enough, though!
- And a very nice/sweet ending.

Gym battle was fantastic. I'm a huge fan of longer and more epic battles, and this one hit just about all of the sweet spots. You did a great job of building it up over the course of the entire arc, and the earlier battle did a lot to assist with this one as well. The ending was predictable as soon as the gods showed up, but...well. What's more important? The end result, or the journey there? Their presence was not an entirely bad thing - they made for great imagery, and added the battle just having a different feel to it than many of the others so far.

Forgoing the usual style here due to the shorter length, and how there's not much to comment on in point form. This one is different, even for the blogs. Gives a lot of retrospect on Alaska's character and how she's developed.

- Least she get roped into a conversation with some pushy Silph Co. executive about new technology to improve her strategy <- I can totally see like, taking this to its logical conclusion, battles eventually evolving to the point of it just being machines against machines.
- Hm. Is Winston Diamond supposed to be DPP dude?
- Man, Buzz is starting to lose it. Also, it'd be great to see him write his own blog.
- Cynthia is really screwed up!!
- Have we ever seen this man in the shadows before? I forget.
- Well, Giratina was 'banished for its violence'.
- Neat to see the burden of being a Champion being a thing.
- Guess Buzz doesn't have a monopoly on losing it...I'd say if Gideon hadn't been shown to have lost it long ago.

Really intriguing to see the canon character changes on display here. Like Cynthia being a cynical drunk, Alder being a lecher, and Diantha being DED, YO. Probably one of my more-liked interludes

__________

So comments on this arc in-general? It was totally different. If it weren't for the previous chapters and the disclaimer at the end, I'd almost think this was a shift in form. It served as a turning point, a huge step along the way. Instead of the action, it focused a lot more on character development, which isn't a bad thing. It was a nice break.

Alaska's personality felt a bit strange at points over the course of it, particularly when it comes to Darwin sections, but that can be attributed to growing pains or that just being an event great enough to rattle even her. Nothing extreme, though. It'll be very interesting to see how she is moving forward, the fruits of the development put to the test. She's not the only one, either. Sandy got some fantastic exposition here, and we got the formal introductions of Janine, Leaf, and the swaggiest character in this fanfic. Do have to feel sorry for Sandy, though. It was nice to see more sides of her exposed, but you really have to feel for her. She's a supporting character who doesn't get to follow her own ambitions because of the nature of the universe. It was kind of depressing seeing her accept this.

Janine, I'll comment on in a bit more detail due to the antagonist judging thing. She served as an effective antagonist of this one arc, and it's certainly uncommon to see a Gym Leader in a directly antagonistic role rather than an obstacle to overcome. Seeing how she hasn't or didn't develop, and seeing how she suffers from much of the same things that debilitate those in her town was intriguing. It was awesome seeing her go from kind of friendly and inviting, sort of a character who could understand Alaska, to revealing herself to be incredibly twisted.

Leaf for her part was interesting. Not really what I was expecting, but a believable and interesting character. Bertram I went over in the point form sections. That nurse still a huge Bitch. Really, can't think of any other way to put it.

What else...interested in seeing what you've done with Seafoam. It's just a gym and cave complex with Articuno in the games. And it has another decent-sized arc dedicated to it, so it would seem! Those are some pretty foreboding chapter names, for that matter. And looking forward, seems things are going to get insane before Alaska returns to Viridian.

Always have enjoyed this fic, and looking forward to the stuff to come!
 
@System Error:
Thanks for the review.

- That feel when there's no reason to come down here, not even for a badge. Or I suppose, when two regions share badges and renders some gyms unpopular, I think? Probably something that's covered in the wider scope of Galacticverse, if not, it's a thought!!
- I don't really get what you are saying here, can you clarify please?
- The story takes place in 2013, but I don't bother mentioning it very often cause it isn't that important really and it's not 'our' 2013.
- The Cynthia Code is present in the first interlude rewrite, so you might want to go and read that if you haven't already.
- Curious, did you do that to Kalos to write it out, or simply as the plot hook for a future fic?
- I explained this in my Author of the Month interview, but I wrote Kalos out cause I didn't want to set a story there, and the idea of destroying a region fitted nicely into the GVerse.

Shame about characters like this that you don't have room for in the context of the larger picture.
- Again, not quite sure what you mean here.

- Odd that Janine says that she's more or less expecting Darwin next, then reacts with revulsion when it actually happens. The Muk thing does explain it a bit though, I suppose.
- As I said to you before, just beause she thought it would happen doesn't mean she is happy/pleased that Alaska would do it. It's like you know Donald Trump is likely to say something horrible at a press conference, it doesn't make it any better that you saw it coming. Not comparing Alaska to him in anyway, but the idea is the same.
- Involving the gods was a bit of a tough decision, but they have been present throughout the story and I think they needed to be there A) to highlight the scope of Alaska's issues/choices/the prophecy discussion in the arc, and B) to tie up the 'Zapdos and Suicune following her' storyline, not that it was ever big but I needed to remove them from the equation.
- Winston Diamond was Champion of Sinnoh before Cynthia and is the grandfather of Xavier Diamond in Galactic
- The Man in the Shadows was in a lot of the early half of the story, has been a bit sidelined recently though, which is why I wanted to check in with him. He was there in the Beedrill hive, the roof of Celadon Mansion, the tunnel between Lavender and Celadon, amongst others.

This arc was always meant to be the end of the 'second part' of the story, of Alaska's indecision and unwillingness to accept her fate as she learns more about it, and what that does to someone, so it had to really be more character focused. In terms of her personality, she was not her usual self, no, but I don't think anyone is their 'usual self' when faced with trauma or cataclysmic changes. Having to stare Darwin in the eye and see the consequences of her actions was necessary, and I am sure people probably expected her to be casual and brush it off, but that would not have been realistic for her character or indeed any character. Very much a lot of this chapter is about how Alaska could be as sassy as she wants, it isn't going to change the future, and really accepting that.

Sandy has some more revelations to go. The rest of the story will feature her more predominantly as she really looks into what this role means. I didn't really intend for Janine to be friendly, I certainly didn't set out to write her that way, so interesting you interpreted her like that.

Seafoam will be interesting, I am looking forward to describing it in a more realistic way than it is in the games.

Thanks for the review once more and all the feedback - hope you enjoy the final five arcs!
 
Okay, I'm caught up now!

Trying to think of the best way to come at these latest chapters...

I guess I can start off saying, Alaska's had this moment of catharsis a long time coming, and here in the story was a good time for it to happen. Having Alaska play off of someone as snide and unsociable as herself was a nice touch, and a fitting foil to be the catalyst for this crucial moment of development.

As a note of interest; with how much Alaska rages against the established order, how much she despises (despised?) figures of authority like Red/Leaf, how much she would actively refuse their support and advice, seeing it as an attempt to control her; I find it rather unsettlingly natural to see Alaska potentially take a much darker path. In some cases, I feel like I'm reading the start-of-darkness backstory for the boss of a villainous team. I mean, stop and think a moment: as I recall, Alaska sets out on the journey in the first place as an act of spite, to prove that she can upset the establishment. The story also sets up these establishments as exceptionally flawed institutions that would not be undeserving of an opposing force of some sort or another. And if the success and great following of her blog in-story is anything to go by, it would only be a simple few steps away from a potential recruiting drive if she ever wanted to start building a power-base of her own.

In fact, I am prepared to go so far as to say: the biggest, most significant reason this doesn't happen in this story is, in-fact, Sandy herself. She is the morality anchor that has kept Alaska from drifting away into a sea of rage all those times earlier in the story when she very well could have flown off the handle for good. How different the story and setting could have been if Alaska didn't have Sandy holding her back, how easily it could have occurred.

Yeah, that's the big thought that was swimming around in my head reading these chapters. Hearing about the horribly messed up past you've set for this story, seeing the petty decadence, laziness and indifference of the 'aristocracy' as it were. It's exactly the kind of sociopolitical environment that would be ripe for Revolution with the right few pushes...

Dammit, I can't believe I'm seeing parallels in this story with things like The Hunger Games of all things.

I admit I wrote more here about this than I was expecting. It also wasn't for mere novelty's sake that I wondered, "what would happen if Alaska turned 'evil'?" It was because of how startlingly feasible the scenario was when I stopped and really thought about it, when I considering the characters and setting.

I had more to say, like how much Alaska needed to hear the things she heard, about how well it was handled in-story that the moments were. They were welcome moments, and like I said, a long time coming for her, but then that and other scenes shown (Cynthia's outburst scene in particular) got me thinking over the story/setting as a whole, and made me realize just how precariously unstable Alaska's position of "hero" was, and how easy it could have been to turn "How to Conquer Kanto in Eight Easy Steps" into a much more literal representation of the title.

Well, I think I've done enough flailing around in the deep end. Here's to the continuing of this very intriguing story!
 
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Here's your awards review. Post interlude as requested. Mostly c/p of judging, but not totally. Wasn't going to do a brand new thing when I already wrote so goddamn much.

I think I might need to stop judging this story, since I’ve been reading and reviewing it for so long that I feel like I “get it” more than other people might. At its heart it’s meant to be a subversion of a generic “chosen one prophesied to save the world” kind of story. This leads to it following a lot of those tropes, and we’ve only recently really started to get into the actual subversion. Alaska’s always been reluctant, which is the main exception. The plot is paced quite slowly, which is to be expected of a journey fic epic, I suppose, but that slowness is put in a different light by the multitude of action scenes. It’s hard to come up with a good objective reason as to why, but the pacing feels unfortunately slow. It’s a plot with a lot of potential, but that potential has only really been realized in the rewritten first arc and the most recent several chapters.

The characters are all consistent, fairly believable, and a few are even pretty likable. The problem arises, I think, with their depth. The important characters (and even a few of the unimportant ones) have a decent background that ties in well with their present personalities. The trouble is that the plot is so huge and driven that the characters don’t get a lot of time to spread out and do non plot related things that would help make them more real. Of course I’ve already complained about the relatively slow pacing, so maybe I shouldn’t be talking. Again, in recent chapters we’ve been shown new sides of several characters, which is definitely a step in the right direction. How long it took to get here however… it might just be me but it’s been a long ride with little to show for it.

Let's talk about Alaska.

I’m really torn over how I feel about her overall. There’s been some solid development in the last few chapters, yet for some reason… I don’t quite buy it. I have to give points for the effort and time put in to making a character with some nuanced development, but I can’t give too much simply due to the fact that the development doesn’t quite have the impact on me that I feel like it should. As far as journey fic protagonists go, being original while still fitting well within the archetype of journey fic protagonist, Alaska’s pretty damn good. She’s the lens through which we see this retelling of the average journey story.

To be completely honest… I don’t really like her. I’m not a fan of her kind of character, I’m not a fan of her motivations or actions or any of that. I don’t find her relatable and I’ve often found myself cheering against her. I'm not sure if she's really supposed to be likable even. She’s not all bad though. Some good quips here and there as well as the recent straight-talk with Sandy have raised my opinion of her slightly.

It’s hard to show depth really well in a story like this that always has something happening. I’ve always felt that depth is best shown in terms of how a character acts in a variety of situations. This story doesn’t have much of a variety of situations, and what variety it has results in Alaska pretty much flipping everyone off and destroying things. That’s begun to change, which has shown off some depth, but is probably better rewarded as development.

Given that a huge portion of this development has revolved around Darwin's return, I'll talk about him next.

Darwin is a decent Pokemon character. But that's not saying much. Recently I've tried looking at Pokemon as if they were actual human characters themselves, which obviously makes me considerably more critical.

At first he’s angry and unruly because… Primeape? Then he gets kicked out of Alaska’s team and is captured and abused by some hooligans. That makes him just quiet. It’s hard to tell why to be honest. Is he just burying his anger? Or was it beaten out of him? I feel like there’s some depth there, but it’s not conveyed very well. He also has some bonding with Alaska I suppose, which is important. I think I’m just waiting to see him actually do something. It’s like a lot of his actions since his development haven’t helped show the development himself. He went from an unruly Pokémon to just a regular Pokémon. I don’t know if that’s good as far as storytelling goes.

Darwin as simply an unruly Pokémon was not necessarily original. The way that Alaska and the plot dealt with him being unruly was, however, quite original. It’s rare to see a Pokémon be told to leave out of anger. Then to have him show up again and in the process teach the protagonist a lesson… that was pretty cool. I’m not usually a huge fan of the disobedient Pokémon trope. The way it was handled here was entertaining to read because my logical response is “get rid of it, it clearly doesn’t want to be here” and that’s pretty much what Alaska did. Although I liked the fact that his return taught Alaska a lesson, I still think Darwin’s a dick and Alaska was right to kick him out rather than try to “fix” him. Maybe I’m also a dick though. #reviewswithAether

Darwin has done more for the story than any other Pokémon, even the legendaries. He’s triggered change in Alaska where countless others have failed and played a huge part in the recent arc.

Sandy's still my favorite character. I'm always a fan of the Joe Schmoe everyman who just happens to be friends with the Chosen One. That said, ten chapters ago I probably wouldn’t have given her a very good score for depth, but things have gotten better. It’s felt like every time she’s about to do or say something important, some big plot thing happens and steals the show. That’s been lampshaded and resolved since and in such a way that was quite satisfying.

Sandy has the core elements of depth down. She has a backstory that inspires her character and we know why she does what she does. Mostly. I’m still having trouble understanding why she’s content to be an observer and not really do much on her own. She’s too passive, and you’d think her backstory would motivate her to do more than just sit around and watch. It's worth mentioning that I don't really buy the "I want to see the world" motivation given her particular backstory. She has come pretty far, which is nice. She’s begun to spread out of being the bubbly friend to someone with a real opinion and some weight in the plot. It’s not much, but it’s a start. A few chapters/scenes from her point of view have gone the farthest in this. I can’t help but feel however, that she’s just kind of there to be someone to talk to. I’m still waiting for her to develop into a character with real agency. I suppose that’s the trouble with most traveling companions though. If they dictated the story as much as the protagonist, then they wouldn’t be “supporting” would they? I guess she’s contributed a bit in being one of the characters who has helped Alaska stop being such a prick, but given how much she’s in the story, I’d like to see more. As I said above, she’s just too passive. I don’t think she’s done anything because it’s something that she specifically wanted to do. It’s hard to write a character that will believably follow their friend around the region with little motivation of their own besides “wanting to see the world” without that character ending up a little loose.

You really have to give credit for having the traveling party just be two girls, and not two guys and a girl or two girls and a guy or (God forbid) a down-to-earth “relatable” girl and an unnecessarily attractive guy. As a character, she fits neatly into a not terribly popular, but far from unseen archetype of the bubbly carefree girl (who secretly has a dark past). There’s not really anything wrong with that in the end I suppose. I was recently talking with Beth Pavell about how characters that are well executed archetypes tend to be more likable and interesting than truly original characters. If a character's totally original then a lot of readers don't really know what to do with that and often think that they're overpowered or lack flaws or what have you. Ramble ramble...

Anyway I suppose I should say why I like Sandy. She's kind of the only entertainment value character, unless you’re a fan of Alaska’s cattiness or the villains’ cruelty. Not to say the story isn’t entertaining, but Sandy’s really the only one I think of when I think of an entertaining character from the story. There’s something to be said for pulling that off at least. She contributes a lot of the humor in either direct dialogue or as the subject of some humorous event. I realize that I’m a fucking child, but that sitting on a Diglett bit made me laugh.

Hokey dokey back to non-character things. The most apparent stylistic choice is the use of blogs and interludes. As someone who enjoys playing around with POV, I personally love these kind of things. The ability to see Alaska quietly reflect every few chapters helped her characterization greatly, and the ability to see what the villains are up to every few chapters helped the plot greatly. While we're on that topic, let's discuss the most recent interlude.

I love reading these kind of things. I love writing these kind of things. Getting in the head of a random other character can add so much to the worldbuilding while also giving a brief breather from the story (often a well deserved breather). The everyday life of champions is something I've thought about a lot, and it's kind of cool to see all of these background characters come together in a social setting (which is a setting we don't really get to see all that much in stories like this). Also, I know I said this before, but these interludes make me more excited for Galactic than Galactic does lol.

Concrit? I've given you most of the advice I can by now. Most of it still holds. Take and leave what you want. The one thing I'd suggest is proofreading harder. I know you probably do it a lot already, but I'd suggest waiting one extra day or re-reading one more time. There are still typos and odd wordings that sometimes throw me off, even in newer chapters. Occasional they’re/their/there confusion, punctuation mistakes, and some other things. Nothing absolutely unforgivable, but enough that I got distracted here and there.

Words words words.

Thanks for writing.
 
@chaos_Leader: That is a very interesting interpretation of the story. I will say that I have no plans for Alaska to start a villainous organisation, but I am also not willing to disclose how the story is going to end in any way (which is why I am keeping my response much shorter than I originally intended, as I don't want to support or dissuade any theories) so who knows, maybe part of this will come true? ;P

I think that Alaska's rebellious streak is not wholly villainous and more a natural teenage thing on steroids due to the nature of her life and the world she is living in. I think that the aristocracy and that is fairly limited in how much it directly affects people's lives as opposed to something like Hunger Games, which is pretty much all shit and oppressive. Here, the elite are more just manipulating or working in things behind the scenes rather than being openly dicks to entire nations.

I do agree though that Sandy is the one reason Alaska probably hasn't openly committed murder or done anything more insane than what she has done already. I would say Alaska needs Sandy much more than Sandy needs her, though I think both of them would view it the opposite way due to their own personality traits.

Though this is much shorter than the response below, I do want to say a big thanks for this: it's always fun and interesting getting reviews like this and seeing the theories peopel have for the story, and the fact they have even put the thought in in the first place. I really appreciated your interest, and wish I could say more about it, but alas will just have to be mysterious ;)

I think I might need to stop judging this story, since I’ve been reading and reviewing it for so long that I feel like I “get it” more than other people might. At its heart it’s meant to be a subversion of a generic “chosen one prophesied to save the world” kind of story. This leads to it following a lot of those tropes, and we’ve only recently really started to get into the actual subversion. Alaska’s always been reluctant, which is the main exception. The plot is paced quite slowly, which is to be expected of a journey fic epic, I suppose, but that slowness is put in a different light by the multitude of action scenes. It’s hard to come up with a good objective reason as to why, but the pacing feels unfortunately slow. It’s a plot with a lot of potential, but that potential has only really been realized in the rewritten first arc and the most recent several chapters.
Are you referring to the semi-drawn outness of everything? I do think looking back I planned too much stuff for the middle arcs and then kind of had to roll with it once it had started. I think that for the most part I am happy with how things have fallen, mostly Celadon and onwards though, so hopefully the rewrites will make it feel... faster? Idk what the solution to this would be, really :p

The characters are all consistent, fairly believable, and a few are even pretty likable. The problem arises, I think, with their depth. The important characters (and even a few of the unimportant ones) have a decent background that ties in well with their present personalities. The trouble is that the plot is so huge and driven that the characters don’t get a lot of time to spread out and do non plot related things that would help make them more real. Of course I’ve already complained about the relatively slow pacing, so maybe I shouldn’t be talking. Again, in recent chapters we’ve been shown new sides of several characters, which is definitely a step in the right direction. How long it took to get here however… it might just be me but it’s been a long ride with little to show for it.
The length is kind of just how it panned out. I probably could have cut certain bits out, but in the recent arcs most of the things that happen are plot related so it would be tricky. My goal with the earlier arcs is to ground them more - more of Alaska's reasons for the journey, more of the world, more nice moments. The next few arcs will also be much more about saving the big plotty stuff for nearer the end and focus on the characters more.

I’m really torn over how I feel about her overall. There’s been some solid development in the last few chapters, yet for some reason… I don’t quite buy it. I have to give points for the effort and time put in to making a character with some nuanced development, but I can’t give too much simply due to the fact that the development doesn’t quite have the impact on me that I feel like it should. As far as journey fic protagonists go, being original while still fitting well within the archetype of journey fic protagonist, Alaska’s pretty damn good. She’s the lens through which we see this retelling of the average journey story.

To be completely honest… I don’t really like her. I’m not a fan of her kind of character, I’m not a fan of her motivations or actions or any of that. I don’t find her relatable and I’ve often found myself cheering against her. I'm not sure if she's really supposed to be likable even. She’s not all bad though. Some good quips here and there as well as the recent straight-talk with Sandy have raised my opinion of her slightly.

It’s hard to show depth really well in a story like this that always has something happening. I’ve always felt that depth is best shown in terms of how a character acts in a variety of situations. This story doesn’t have much of a variety of situations, and what variety it has results in Alaska pretty much flipping everyone off and destroying things. That’s begun to change, which has shown off some depth, but is probably better rewarded as development.
I will be honest and say this is admittedly disappointing feedback. With my main characters, mostly I don't sit down and think about their likability. I may have here subconsciously, since I agve Sandy as a kind of foil, but I wanted to present a moody teenager who actually is a generally moody teenager. She is meant to be both intelligent and short-sighted, complicated and damaged but also a lot of that is within her own head. I think she was perhaps too catty near the beginning without much reason, but this is really a 150ish chapter character deconstruction. I don't set out to make Alaska look positive or negative, just how I think someone like her would realistically act in this situation.

A few years ago, I would have read this, gotten upset, and then spent the next arc trying to make her seem really likeable and friendly and great and all that. But now, as much as I am not exactly over the moon to read it, I can see why you feel that way, but also I am happy with her as a character myself. My vision may be clouded as I know how things end, and how I plan on editing it, but oh well - hopefully in 20 year's time when we reach the epilogue, things will be different. I do think I need to make her more likeable/relatable earlier on before I start tearing her apart.

At first he’s angry and unruly because… Primeape? Then he gets kicked out of Alaska’s team and is captured and abused by some hooligans. That makes him just quiet. It’s hard to tell why to be honest. Is he just burying his anger? Or was it beaten out of him? I feel like there’s some depth there, but it’s not conveyed very well. He also has some bonding with Alaska I suppose, which is important. I think I’m just waiting to see him actually do something. It’s like a lot of his actions since his development haven’t helped show the development himself. He went from an unruly Pokémon to just a regular Pokémon. I don’t know if that’s good as far as storytelling goes.

Darwin as simply an unruly Pokémon was not necessarily original. The way that Alaska and the plot dealt with him being unruly was, however, quite original. It’s rare to see a Pokémon be told to leave out of anger. Then to have him show up again and in the process teach the protagonist a lesson… that was pretty cool. I’m not usually a huge fan of the disobedient Pokémon trope. The way it was handled here was entertaining to read because my logical response is “get rid of it, it clearly doesn’t want to be here” and that’s pretty much what Alaska did. Although I liked the fact that his return taught Alaska a lesson, I still think Darwin’s a dick and Alaska was right to kick him out rather than try to “fix” him. Maybe I’m also a dick though. #reviewswithAether

Darwin has done more for the story than any other Pokémon, even the legendaries. He’s triggered change in Alaska where countless others have failed and played a huge part in the recent arc.
Darwin partly came from the idea of how Pokemon have just one nature in the games, which doesn't really mean much outside of IV/EV/UV/AV training, so I thought it would be interesting to see what a 'Bashful' or angry Pokemon would be like. I don't think he needs a reason to be angry, and I think the only way to really explore why he is angry would be to do some deep level psychic stuff about his childhood or whatever, which I don't think adds to the story. He is angry, and now he is traumatised - not quiet or regular, I would strongly dispute that. Even when Alaska apologised to him, it was kind of done selfishly, so we haven't really explored its effects on him yet or seen him outside of an Alaska-controlled situation. I respect your opinion and think you do make some good points on him, but this storyline is still in the early stages.

And you might be a bit og a dick to want to get rid of him, but who am I to judge? :p

Sandy's still my favorite character. I'm always a fan of the Joe Schmoe everyman who just happens to be friends with the Chosen One. That said, ten chapters ago I probably wouldn’t have given her a very good score for depth, but things have gotten better. It’s felt like every time she’s about to do or say something important, some big plot thing happens and steals the show. That’s been lampshaded and resolved since and in such a way that was quite satisfying.

Sandy has the core elements of depth down. She has a backstory that inspires her character and we know why she does what she does. Mostly. I’m still having trouble understanding why she’s content to be an observer and not really do much on her own. She’s too passive, and you’d think her backstory would motivate her to do more than just sit around and watch. It's worth mentioning that I don't really buy the "I want to see the world" motivation given her particular backstory. She has come pretty far, which is nice. She’s begun to spread out of being the bubbly friend to someone with a real opinion and some weight in the plot. It’s not much, but it’s a start. A few chapters/scenes from her point of view have gone the farthest in this. I can’t help but feel however, that she’s just kind of there to be someone to talk to. I’m still waiting for her to develop into a character with real agency. I suppose that’s the trouble with most traveling companions though. If they dictated the story as much as the protagonist, then they wouldn’t be “supporting” would they? I guess she’s contributed a bit in being one of the characters who has helped Alaska stop being such a prick, but given how much she’s in the story, I’d like to see more. As I said above, she’s just too passive. I don’t think she’s done anything because it’s something that she specifically wanted to do. It’s hard to write a character that will believably follow their friend around the region with little motivation of their own besides “wanting to see the world” without that character ending up a little loose.
Sandy left home to get away from home, and now she doesn't really have much other choice. If she leaves, she would still be 'involved' in everything. I think Chapter 71 explored her side the best, in that she was afraid of losing Alaska and hence didn't speak up or anything. Now that they've done that, the two have been able to talk and explore things more, and we will see more of Sandy as the story progresses. If Alaska is dissecting the protagonist, Sandy is the dissection of the supporting character and what it means for your existence to be tied almost entirely towards helping someone else's journey. We haven't seen much of it yet, just the beginning, but her true role in the story is beginning. She is also the main reason I want to rewrite the old arcs to give her a bit more to do in amongst the reduced explosions.

I realize that I’m a fucking child, but that sitting on a Diglett bit made me laugh.
Hey, I'm the fucking child that wrote it, and I still find it hilarious.

I love reading these kind of things. I love writing these kind of things. Getting in the head of a random other character can add so much to the worldbuilding while also giving a brief breather from the story (often a well deserved breather). The everyday life of champions is something I've thought about a lot, and it's kind of cool to see all of these background characters come together in a social setting (which is a setting we don't really get to see all that much in stories like this). Also, I know I said this before, but these interludes make me more excited for Galactic than Galactic does lol.
Ouch, hashtag burn on Galactic - though, if I'm being honest, I feel the same sometimes XD I just felt a sudden need to write Cynthia, I have no idea where it came from, by the end of her getting drunk at a party just sparked something in me and here we are. I am actually really happy with how it turned out, even if it is really rambly at the end, but she is drunk and nearly got beheaded so she deserves a rant.

Concrit? I've given you most of the advice I can by now. Most of it still holds. Take and leave what you want. The one thing I'd suggest is proofreading harder. I know you probably do it a lot already, but I'd suggest waiting one extra day or re-reading one more time. There are still typos and odd wordings that sometimes throw me off, even in newer chapters. Occasional they’re/their/there confusion, punctuation mistakes, and some other things. Nothing absolutely unforgivable, but enough that I got distracted here and there.
I do have a beta reader now and I downloaded Grammarly to double check things, so hopefully it improves. I have said before that I get bored a lot rereading myself over and over, which isn't good and I try to work on it, but yeah.

Thanks for writing.
Thanks for reading, as always.


Will try for the next chapter before the end of the month, but may not manage it at this stage.
 
I normally don't like to respond to review responses but I know you like having conversations so special treatment ;P

I will be honest and say this is admittedly disappointing feedback. With my main characters, mostly I don't sit down and think about their likability. I may have here subconsciously, since I agve Sandy as a kind of foil, but I wanted to present a moody teenager who actually is a generally moody teenager. She is meant to be both intelligent and short-sighted, complicated and damaged but also a lot of that is within her own head. I think she was perhaps too catty near the beginning without much reason, but this is really a 150ish chapter character deconstruction. I don't set out to make Alaska look positive or negative, just how I think someone like her would realistically act in this situation.

A few years ago, I would have read this, gotten upset, and then spent the next arc trying to make her seem really likeable and friendly and great and all that. But now, as much as I am not exactly over the moon to read it, I can see why you feel that way, but also I am happy with her as a character myself. My vision may be clouded as I know how things end, and how I plan on editing it, but oh well - hopefully in 20 year's time when we reach the epilogue, things will be different. I do think I need to make her more likeable/relatable earlier on before I start tearing her apart

Don't be upset! She's not a bad character overall, it's just that I personally despise people who act like she does. Is it believable? Sure. I'm looking forward to seeing a more nuanced version of her.

Sandy left home to get away from home, and now she doesn't really have much other choice. If she leaves, she would still be 'involved' in everything. I think Chapter 71 explored her side the best, in that she was afraid of losing Alaska and hence didn't speak up or anything. Now that they've done that, the two have been able to talk and explore things more, and we will see more of Sandy as the story progresses. If Alaska is dissecting the protagonist, Sandy is the dissection of the supporting character and what it means for your existence to be tied almost entirely towards helping someone else's journey. We haven't seen much of it yet, just the beginning, but her true role in the story is beginning. She is also the main reason I want to rewrite the old arcs to give her a bit more to do in amongst the reduced explosions

And that's just the reason why I like her I think. I've had a story idea in my head for a while that I'm beginning to realize is pretty much just 8ES from Sandy's point of view.

Ouch, hashtag burn on Galactic - though, if I'm being honest, I feel the same sometimes XD I just felt a sudden need to write Cynthia, I have no idea where it came from, by the end of her getting drunk at a party just sparked something in me and here we are. I am actually really happy with how it turned out, even if it is really rambly at the end, but she is drunk and nearly got beheaded so she deserves a rant.

Those are the best kind of scenes! Some of my best writing has come from sitting down to write a chapter with a plan in mind and then suddenly I'm like, "you know what, fuck this, it's character deconstruction time" and I just improvise some of my favorite things I've ever written.
 
I normally don't like to respond to review responses but I know you like having conversations so special treatment ;P
Well, it's nice that someone is obliging for once XD

Don't be upset! She's not a bad character overall, it's just that I personally despise people who act like she does. Is it believable? Sure. I'm looking forward to seeing a more nuanced version of her.
I think you might have said that first part before, actually. I will remember it and hold it against you in future criticism XD But srsly, I know that she can be prickly, and she is meant to be in a way so I am kind of glad she rubs people up the wrong way. I know I keep saying this, but hopefully the rewrites help.

I've had a story idea in my head for a while that I'm beginning to realize is pretty much just 8ES from Sandy's point of view.
That could be interesting. I think some stories like Harry Potter would be more interesting told from someone else's perspective. I have one story idea for a superhero story told from the love interest's perspective, who is trying to work out why she keeps getting targetted.
 
Chapter Eighty One: A Dream of Wars Gone By
Chapter Eighty One: A Dream of Wars Gone By

The scene opens on a house. One storey, just big enough for the six people that live inside, surrounded by a garden that occasionally threatens to swallow the house whole with its luscious greens and endless flowers. It was the typical tile roof and wooden weatherboard combo, with garishly white paint that shone in the sunlight, or maybe that was just how she remembered it.

And the garden. Its size didn't come simply from the space it occupied; the rainforest's worth of plants and flowers made it appear wilder and more mysterious than a simple suburban lawn had any right to be. Encased by the sort of white picket fence you'd see on TV, flowers crawling up the planks, it was its own private paradise, hidden from the rest of the world. The type of place you could disappear into for hours and never get lost.

It looks like a nice house, not the type that would win awards or appear in magazines, but one that serves its purpose: sheltering people, giving a family room to live comfortably, to sleep and eat and play safely.

At least, that was how Alaska liked to remember it.

The front door banged open, tearing Alaska away from her wistful gazing at the endless garden. A small girl ran into the garden at full pace, screaming hysterically, arms flapping as though trying to fly. A Pidgey trailed in her wake, twittering and squeaking as enthusiastically, soaring into the air and flying about in circles above the screaming girl. There didn't seem to be any point to what they were doing, but there didn't need to be. The girl was young, carefree, oblivious to all that was coming her way. When you're young, there is no need to consider the future, not when it exists in the distance, so out of reach.

"You look so happy."

"I know. I can't even remember the last time I smiled like that. Maybe this was the last time."

"What makes you think that?"

"This is the day I got Paige, I'm pretty sure. I can't remember much about it, just unwrapping the PokeBall and screaming. Wait, that's not true." Alaska sighed, feeling guilty at the mere thought of it. "I remember being disappointed – it was only for a few seconds, but I've been thinking about it a lot recently, that little moment where I nearly said no to her. I don't think anyone ever dreams of their first Pokémon being a little bird, one of thousands that live right next to your house, you know? I wanted something like a… fuck, I can't even remember. Poliwag! That's what it was. Wow, I only just remembered that. Imagine if I had to do all this with a Politoed, just standing there clapping at the robots until they go away."

It was painful to say out loud, the first time she ever had ever shared this with someone else. Latios made no comment, though, simply staying behind her, the mere presence of his being comfort enough, allowing Alaska to speak freely.

"I don't regret getting her now, though. I don't think I would still be here if it wasn't for her, all the support she's given me, which is weird cause she is just a bird and she can't really do a lot but flap, but it's nice that she hasn't, you know, flapped away after everything we've been through." As a tear came to her eyes, Alaska cursed herself for getting worked up over this, but she could not deny that she felt feel awful every time she remembered this day, that thought, never able to escape the guilt that surrounded her.

"I wish I was doing more for her. Paige last evolved weeks ago. I was so afraid of what that weird woman said about me riding her to my doom that I haven't trained her as much as I should have, and now I'm afraid she might have stagnated."

"She will evolve, you do not need to worry. Taking Darwin back in proves you are a good trainer. That is not one of your flaws."

"Gee, thanks," Alaska scoffed. "Well, I'm glad you think I'm handling Darwin, cause I have no idea how that's going to go. I only did it out of guilt, really. I felt so awful to think I put him there I couldn't abandon him again, not after the trauma I caused."

"Trauma you used on the battlefield."

"I know, you don't need to tell me, I feel scummy enough as it is." Alaska sighed, rubbing her eyes as she turned towards Latios. "I don't know the full extent of how he is now; he's mostly just been silent and withdrawn so far. Once his injuries are fully healed it'll be interesting to see how he is, so I've got a few days, hopefully, a fortnight, to think of how I can handle – FUCKING HELL."

Alaska nearly fell to the ground as she covered her eyes: there was no Pokémon waiting behind her, only a blue light that shone like a crack across the back of her memory. It was blinding, and when Alaska opened her eyes the image was burnt into her brain, seeping throughout the rest of the memory to give it an aqua tinge.

"I am sorry." Latios' voice was jarring and distant for a second. It was as though her brain had briefly gone out of tune, but slowly it was coming back into focus, and after a few seconds Alaska could hear her past shrieks once more.

"It's fine, it's not your fault… well, it probably is, actually…"

"You have never set eyes on me, so you cannot visualise me properly. At least, I can only assume that is the problem. I have never been able to step into the dreams of those I bond with before, not like this."

"This isn't really a dream, though, is it? Don't you wake up if you realise you're dreaming?"

"You are right. My sister made reference to the Dream World having changed, but I was not sure what to make of it until now. At any rate, it seems that we have more control of our subconscious selves now, can choose what we dream – or, in this case, reflect on. Is there a reason you wanted to show me this?"

Alaska looked back at the garden. She wasn't sure if it was her memory or how it had really unfolded, but her younger self – wearing a hideous navy blue dress that felt quite Poliwag-esque – and Paige seemed to simply be running in circles. Literally. It was like watching a video on a loop, the two caught in an endless cycle of carefree joy. It was strange to watch, but Alaska imagined might just be how things were back then: pointless, stupid, time slipping by, but carefree and ridiculous, the way youth should be.

"When I wake up tomorrow, I start training, not to help myself but to try and save the world. I just wanted someone to talk to, someone not… as involved in everything. I don't know, I just feel strange. I have fought this for so long, to think that once I wake up I'll be really accepting this, saying goodbye to my life… it's a lot to process.

"It's strange to think about… my life before all this happened." The emotion in her voice was so overwhelming Alaska noticed it herself, and she wiped away her tears, wondering briefly if she was really crying or if it was all imaginary. "Thirteen years spent completely oblivious to what was coming my way, living life as though I would simply grow up normal like everybody else – travel a bit, battle the gyms maybe, settle down and get a job at the end of it. And now…" There was a pause, but Alaska didn't notice, lost as she stared down at the dancing, happy girl.

"Over the last few days, I've wondered what would have happened in they had tracked me down earlier or something. Like, if someone just knocked on my door one morning and said 'Hello there, we need to take your daughter with us. We believe she might have to save the world in a few years' time and we'd like to prepare for that'. I don't know if that would have been better or worse, cutting straight to the point like that…"

"Your life was also going to unfold this way, whether you were aware of it or not. You cannot mourn a future that was never going to be yours. Regardless, you are writing yourself off before you even begin. You have fought valiantly, if unusually, so far. There is nothing to suggest you will not survive, that you will not be able to live the life you dreamed of at the end of this."

Alaska laughed, causing the tears to fall out of place and tumble down her face. She turned and faced the light despite the pain. "Do you think it will be that simple? Do you really think I could just ignore that the whole world is seemingly pre-determined, that we are simply acting out roles in a pre-written story?"

"That is a very black and white take on what you learnt," Latios replied in a deep, quivering tone that made Alaska think he was frowning. "You are not fully bound to one set path, there is no one dictating exactly how you must get from point A to point B." Alaska raised an eyebrow, and Latios sighed. "Alright, yes, people are trying to influence you, but the choices are still yours. You are one of many who has the curse of knowledge, who know the secrets of the world, but you are not controlled by them. There is no prophecy outlining your individual choices or what you do next, whether it be how you face Gideon or what you eat for breakfast tomorrow."

"Are you suggesting if I ask Bertram for waffles instead of pancakes tomorrow morning, the fate of the world might be irrevocably affected?" Alaska let that hang there, and after a moment Latios chuckled, a deep, booming sound that sounded jolly for a few seconds, but as it echoed the more Alaska became aware of the sadness lingering in every beat.

"Ok, so the prophecies do not control every part of my life, but they have given me a path – a vague one, I'll give you that, but still a path – and I am not going to be able to completely ignore it. And if I do survive, what happens with the next prophecy? This doesn't seem to be a job where you only get one apocalypse to deal with: everything I do after winning, should that happen, would simply lead me towards the next disaster."

"Potentially, but what makes you think you would be called?"

"Um, hello – you," Alaska said incredulously, nearly holding back a laugh.

"What about me?"

"Are you forgetting that you are a god? A god that I just happen to be bonded to for whatever reason? I kind of imagine this isn't a one-time-only deal that expires after Gideon gets arrested, am I right?"

Latios didn't say anything for a while, which Alaska was fine with. This was quickly becoming intense, more than it currently was, and she wanted a chance to breathe before they got too deep. For a few seconds or a few hours, she watched herself and Paige running around in the endless loop, hoping to become lost in the past.

"Yes, I am a god, and you and I are cosmically linked now. Is that why you wanted to see me, to confirm you cannot get out of this?

Alaska hadn't realised it until he said it but knew it was true before Latios had finished his sentence. "Look at that girl, look at her and imagine trying to tell her she is destined to be psychically bound to a god, it's mad! After your… peers judged me the other day, I just know that the further I get into this, the more you and I will become one, that it will suddenly become normal that there is this connection between us."

Latios made a noise as though pondering, the sound a judgemental professor might make. "Does that frighten you?"

"Of course."

"Why?"

"It's… that's a lot of power I'd be connected to. I've spent so long focusing on avoiding what's coming I haven't had time to stop and think about what it really means for this to be happening. I don't think – no, I know I don't want that."

"You have nothing to be afraid of, the effects on you would be minimal."
"But you're a god. I didn't start all of this to end up with a fucking god under my control. I started this to prove that you don't need strength to be the best, and this kind of goes against that."

A deep chuckle made the whole image shake, and Alaska turned angrily back to the light.

"What exactly is so funny?"

"The fact you think you still believe that."

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"Did you not truly leave home to do something groundbreaking? Is this whole journey not an excuse for you to show the world your strength, what you are really worth?"

"What? How dare you, that is not –"

"I can see into your thoughts, Alaska, you cannot lie to me."

The image around them changed instantaneously. Alaska snapped back around to find her house had disappeared and a golden statue now sat in its place. Every time she thought of the Warrior Statue, of Red and Leaf's smug faces frozen in time, Alaska remembered the locals who idolised it, the crowds who swarmed to Viridian, those who treated the journey to it like some great religious pilgrimage, leaving flowers, tributes, tokens scattered at their golden feet as some feeble and undeserved recognition of what they had done.

But in this scene, it was bare. Only one figure stood there: a girl, not as innocent as she had once thought yet more so than what she would become. Fists clenched, face vengeful, this was a girl who clearly thought she had seen it all, that her life had gotten as bad as it could possibly get. She looked at the statue with a face that could have melted it, a glare so heated and withering Alaska was ashamed she had used it mere minutes into her journey, that she had judged a piece of metal with the same disgust she would later reserve solely for the shadowy men out to end her.

"You left home to make a statement, yes, one disguised in your belief of training unremarkable, unexciting Pokémon, but we both know that was not where you wanted to stop. If that was your goal all along, why wait until Chloe Carmichael left?"

"Oh no, don't try and make this about –"

"But it is about her, is it not?" Alaska knew that if she could actually see Latios, he would be smiling as he said this, a triumphant grin as though he had finally unveiled a trap long in the making. She opened her mouth to argue, but the legendary powered past. "Maybe not her specifically, but those she represents. Chloe and her family, your siblings and their education, champions and their allies: those who have it lucky, the easily recoverable from all that have befallen them. When you knew Chloe would be given this one-way ticket to Red's doorstep, you were spurned into action, were you not? The blog, your plan, that simply was built around your desire to leave, to prove that you were at least better than Chloe, the nearest, most visible and most pertinent of your enemies.

"Yet once you got the idea in your head, it became about Red. You wanted to prove him mortal, crush the martyr that had come to dominate your life. He represents everything you hate about the world: the powerful, the mighty, those of mysterious, world-shaping influence, or am I simply exaggerating the same way you did?"

"What are you trying to achieve?" Alaska's voice cracked as her words exploded out in angry, guttural growl, her body clenching up like the shadowy memory behind her.

"Red simply became the final prize as five years of resentment, disappointment, confusion and anger finally reached breaking point. You could defeat Chloe or your siblings, but felling one hurdle once would achieve nothing, not in your mind. Yet take down the biggest hurdle of them, and you must have just proved a point. What point exactly, I am not really sure, but then again, are you?"

"Stop this."

"I feel that this may be where most of your conflict the past few weeks has lain. It is not about having to save the man you think you hate, but rather the fact you want to see him fail. Why get in the way of Buzz and Gideon when you all seek the same end result: destroying an icon, punishing him for what you perceive as a slight against you?

"I don't want him dead! I never wanted him to die, I wanted him to know that he can't take the credit for saving a city he destroyed!"

"Would it not be better for him to die though? Die a champion rather than fail and all he achieved failing with him?"

"WHAT ARE YOU EVEN FUCKING ON ABOUT?"

The memory shattered. Suddenly Alaska was standing on what seemed like a cloud, a swirling lump of pink smoke that surrounded them yet was impervious to their presence. She knew straight away this wasn't a dream or a memory, yet it felt familiar, as though she had been here before. She thought for a second if it Sabrina's gym, but everything was more gaseous, swirling and churning as though waiting to form into something else.

As much as it confused her, Alaska couldn't focus on it. Angry tears descended her face as struggled to find the words to level at Latios, sentences profound and raged enough to convey what she felt. She turned towards him, intrinsically just wanting to yell and swear and protest, random words coming to her lips, desperate to shout them out.

Yet as she opened her mouth, only a sigh escaped. She was tired. Even in her head, Alaska was done with fighting. She had spent the last weeks arguing and debating, and after everything she had been through, Alaska felt broken, unable to carry on pushing back against a system much stronger and better prepared than she. And what if Latios was telling the truth? Could she really argue against him when she couldn't even tell if he what he had said was true or not?

"Just cause you're in my head doesn't mean you get to psychoanalyse me." Alaska slumped down, landing on something resembling a floor, staring wearily at the world. "You're a Psychic type, not a therapist."

Latios made the same noise like he was smirking again, and Alaska wasn't sure whether to be amused or annoyed. "I am not analysing you, I am informing you. I simply see the words in the back of your head. You say you are afraid of taking the final step towards the life laid out for you, that you don't want to forget about your mission. I am simply pointing out that I know what you truly desire, Alaska, and a simple life is not that – at least not after what happened to your city. You tell yourself you do not want the power that comes through bonding with me – which, by the way, is vastly different to your human concept of capturing, but that is an explanation for another tale – but I am merely saying that perhaps it is what you want, you just don't know it."

Alaska shook her head. "I know it's not. Maybe I didn't leave home purely to prove a Pidgey could be a winning starter, who knows – I'm 13, I don't go to school, I don't know about psychology! But I do know I never wanted to be in a position of a leader, either in a way where I end up inspiring joy, fear or both. I wanted to make a statement, I wanted to defeat Red. The last thing I ever wanted was to become him."

There was a pause for either a moment or an eternity, but a more softly spoken Latios eventually replied. "That I think is true. Whether it is your sole reason for fighting now, I am not sure."

"Well, I don't really want to keep going on about it," Alaska sighed. "Maybe we can start talking about you for a change. You may be in my head, but I can see into yours as well. I've heard voices over the past week since Saffron, whispers that I know have nothing to do with me. Every time someone mentions war or Kalos –

The scene changed so violently Alaska nearly screamed. She leapt to her feet as a burning city appeared beneath her, pink smoke giving war to total devastation. A city she didn't recognise was entirely on fire, buildings imploding all at once, skyscrapers and towers collapsing to the streets below. Smoke surrounded her yet in this nightmare memory it could not touch her, leaving Alaska to imagine what horrors lay beneath her.

"- that happens."

There was no response. A silence unlike anything Alaska had experienced filled her mind. Beneath them, buildings burnt, flames tore through streets, people died in packs as hellfire rained around them. But it was in a vacuum, presented without commentary. Alaska had searched for footage from the fall of Kalos after talking to Bertram, but nothing could come close to the real thing. This was what she imagined the Distortion World was like: people in pain, burning, tortured for eternity in a flaming wasteland. Words escaped her. This world was indescribable, simply fire and death, but one thought reverberated around her: whatever had happened to Viridian, this was much worse.

"The last human I was bonded with died here." Alaska had become so transfixed by what she was witnessing she had forgotten about Latios. His voice was distant and mournful, decade-old sadness penetrating every word. "My sister and I were amongst the few of our kind who roamed the earth before the war, so naturally we were first on the scene when we learnt what was happening. It was overwhelming, unlike anything we had ever experienced. In the chaos, trying to process everything, one of the enemy missiles hit me. The pain… when that bond is closed, it is indescribable, and in that pain, I lost it. I attacked blindly, not caring who I was hurting, if I was meant to be protecting them or not. When the other deities were unleashed, they had to control me as much as stopping the army.

"I have bonded with few humans over the centuries, less than my sister has, which has made my connections to those rare few stronger. The pain of that loss was so intense I had to revert inside the Enigma Crystal that birthed me to cope, and for seventeen years I stayed there, stewing on my past, my mistakes, what I would do differently. You wanted to know why you, why we are destined to be together? Perhaps it is because we are both toxic. The rage that burns within me, I can feel it in your soul: Red, Chloe, your family, the world, you have a fire that makes you and me one in the same. I think I need you as much as you need me."

There was nothing left to say. Latios had trailed off near the end, sounding wearier and sadder with each syllable, and Alaska did not want to push him further. Quiet fell between them again, Alaska and this strange crack of light hovering over a nightmare – though that seemed like a perfect summary of her life to date. Words, whispers, bounced around them as Alaska stared at the scene, thinking about why she had called for him tonight, about what had happened and what will. Time passed on and the memory kept replaying, and Alaska looked down thinking of Bertram, thinking about his story and what he had done to survive.

Eventually, the silence overwhelmed her. "How did you even fit inside a rock?"

"It's a… godly thing. You wouldn't understand," Latios answered wearily.

"I bet that's what you tell all the girls." Alaska paused, smirking, but her smile died when it was met with silence. "What is this whole bonding thing, actually? Is it like a ceremony, or…?"

"You will learn in time."

"When? Is that part pre-destined?"

"It is undoubtedly noted somewhere in the cosmic plan of time and space, but I am not aware of any details, it will simply happen when we are both ready. I would have come for you already, but breaking out of the rock before you had properly summoned me, it reopened some of the scars I spent years trying to close. My sister has had to heal me, and I am nearly at full strength. And then –"

"Then the party begins."

"Quite."

Alaska looked back down at the city, the memory looping over and over as they spoke. She wasn't aware she had needed answers, as there was no question she had thought to ask, but seeing this memory, she knew more than ever what she had to do. "I'm ready. Well, I think I am," Alaska said, thin-lipped but determined. "Whatever it takes, training with Janine or bonding with you, if it stops that from happening again, I have to be prepared to do it."

"You are willing to ignore your convictions to save the world?"

"That's the sort of thing a hero has to do, right?" Alaska sighed. "I don't know what happens next, but I know there is literally no backing out of this now."

"There never was any chance of that. You were simply the last one to realise it."

"I know that, stop reminding me," Alaska tutted. "I just meant… I can't change my mind anymore. I've chosen a path, I have to commit to now. I don't want power, but I'll do anything to stop the world from ending, anything that will help me move on after."

"No more trying to live in the past?"

Alaska glanced at Latios and gestured down at the memory. "Clearly, the past isn't really worth living in, is it?"

"That is very true about mine, but yours? Are you ready to leave this behind?" Smoke was replaced by greenery, and Alaska found herself back where they had begun. Sound returned in the form of her youthful shrieks, and she looked back at the happy-go-lucky girl untouched by war and devastation, the girl with only dreams before her, the girl she longed to be once more.

"The past won't save me now, will it?" It was all she could manage, the memory hitting deep. Alaska didn't want to move on, but necessity, prophecy, dictated otherwise, and saying farewell to her past was one part of her next step. She assumed Latios could hear her as he did not interrupt for some time, leaving her to watch the scene play out as though alone with an old movie.

"Daylight approaches. I should leave you to enjoy what remains of your sleep in peace."

"How considerate, I'm sure I'm going to be as fresh as a daisy when I wake up from this." Alaska glanced over her shoulder, unwilling to look away from herself but wanting to say goodbye. "Thank you, though, for this. I didn't realise I needed it."

"Yes you did, otherwise I would not have come, but you are welcome." Latios sounded genuinely proud as he said that, and Alaska couldn't help but smile. "Until we meet properly, Alaska Acevedo."

"Until then." The light suddenly got brighter, which Alaska took as a sign of his leaving. Something occurred to her suddenly, and Alaska smirked at the thought.

"Hey, before you piss off: would it be too naff to ask if this is real or if it's all just happening in my head?" She said, beaming. Latios let out his booming laugh once more, the light quivering as it got brighter still.

"Oh Alaska, we're far beyond the point of pretending this isn't real." Alaska began laughing herself, and as the light washed over her, rapidly engulfing her dream, she turned back towards her old memory one last time. For what felt like hours, she watched her younger self and Paige running wildly around the garden, content, for now.




Another long break between chapters - hopefully there are still people interested in this story! This was a tricky chapter to write, one that only really came together in the last few days, so hopefully it works. Was based around the idea of Alaska and Latios talking over one of her dreams, but it kind of went a lot of different ways and might be too messy for what I really intended - but I'll leave y'all to be the judge of that! Hopefully can get a few more chapters out by the end of the year.
 
I am now current. I.E. I just read the stuff after Sylveon's evolution.

I'm going to start with the criticism I will leave every damn time I read this: holy crap Alaska is just 13? Like... I mean... sometimes it's very believable, what with the emotional craziness and whatever, but sometimes (particularly in the later, more dramatic/subdued blogs) it's... ok. If she were portrayed as exceptionally bright for her age I could see it, but she's not. Which is where it sometimes gets strange.

I actually quite liked the Legends finally coming out to show their faces (or voices, in Latios' case). Like, if they've been there the whole time maybe they could show up more? The gym battle seemed interesting. Not sure why Alaska didn't realize that a switched out Scolipede could go on to lay more spikes in the future, meaning she could also switch out Nidoqueen, but... meh. She's not the best at thinking on her feet or thinking ahead. I can forgive it.

Rest of the battle was good as always. Kind of glad there was only one mid-size one and a short battle this time around. Allowed for more scenery (fine as usual) and character development. Which was especially kind to Sandy, who remains the deepest character in this.

I think my love for your antagonists has faded a bit as of late. Could just be that neither had done anything exciting in a while or the cartoonish evil ranting in the interlude, but meh. Kind of soured on them for the time being. Granted, antagonists don't really *have* to be great, so...

Oh, yeah, Cynthia was good and I agree with Aether that 8ES' looks at Galactic are better than Galactic itself.
 
I'm going to start with the criticism I will leave every damn time I read this: holy crap Alaska is just 13? Like... I mean... sometimes it's very believable, what with the emotional craziness and whatever, but sometimes (particularly in the later, more dramatic/subdued blogs) it's... ok. If she were portrayed as exceptionally bright for her age I could see it, but she's not. Which is where it sometimes gets strange.
I never really see Alaska as being particularly intelligent. I think she is aware of her own emotions, or thinks she is, but she still approaches things quite defensively and with touches of immaturity. I made a conscious effort in her discussion with Latios to keep her language quite unsophisticated in comparison to Latios, and that she doesn't really have any big epiphany. I think any moody teenager can sit down and churn out a blog and make it look and appear more intelligent than they really are, which is something I have been trying to showcase more (Alaska's internet persona versus her real life one) and perhaps I do need t make it more obvious somehow.

I actually quite liked the Legends finally coming out to show their faces (or voices, in Latios' case). Like, if they've been there the whole time maybe they could show up more?
As I improved the story, I figured constant nods to Zapdos and Suicune would prove repetitive and become like the eagles in LOTR. I did that scene largely to address their existence and write out that plot hole I had created for myself. They'll just be saved for special occasions. And Latios has been around in her head on and off, I've just had to keep the two separate as Alaska from several arcs ago really shouldn't have a god under her control :p

I think my love for your antagonists has faded a bit as of late. Could just be that neither had done anything exciting in a while or the cartoonish evil ranting in the interlude, but meh. Kind of soured on them for the time being. Granted, antagonists don't really *have* to be great, so...
Fair enough. I was becoming tired of finding new things for them to do each interlude when really they aren't up to much. Gideon is just searching and Buzz acts through Amanda, so having each interlude remind us of this would bore me at the very least. Expect them to appear more though as we are hurtling towards the end now.

Oh, yeah, Cynthia was good and I agree with Aether that 8ES' looks at Galactic are better than Galactic itself.
I'm glad my random desire to write drunk Cynthia has paid off. And it is encouragement to go back and fix Galactic and all its many many flaws.

Thanks for the review as always, glad you enjoyed it and hope you enjoy all that is to come.
 
Chapter Eighty Two: The Rules of Someone Else's Game
Chapter Eighty Two: The Rules of Someone Else's Game

"Anyway, that's quite enough talk about my baking for one conversation! Tell me about your journey? Where are you right now?"

"I'm at Fuchsia at the moment, just got my sixth badge, and –"

"You're in Fuchsia? Oh honey, that's so close! How many gym badges left now – one, two?"

"Two."

"Wonderful! I'm so proud of you! We'll have to prepare something for you when you come back to battle Leaf."

"Oh, well, that'd be nice, but I've been thinking about maybe going to Johto for a little while, maybe test Paige out against Falkner."

"What, and miss out on coming home?" Robin Acevedo looked visibly upset and annoyed at the suggestion, and Alaska instantly regretted saying it.

"I didn't mean it like that! You know I want to come home. It's just… you know how I feel about Leaf. I'm not sure if I really want to face her."

"Oh, of course, silly me." Robin boomed with laughter, but Alaska knew her mother well enough to know she was faking it. Whether she had forgotten about Alaska's distrust or was simply hiding her hurt, it was impossible to tell, but her reaction still cut deep.

A pregnant pause fell between them. Despite there being several hundred kilometres between them, the sudden, unspoken tension resonated around them. In the silence, Alaska could hear the sounds of her Pokémon training echoing down the hallway, making her long for the conversation to end so she could re-join them.

"Are people still reading your blog?"

Alaska snapped back to attention. "Oh yeah, just a few, you know?"

Her mother smiled, the way a parent does when amusing their child's fantasies. "Well, isn't that just lovely, darling! I told you you'd build up a loyal following one day, didn't I?"

"Yep, there are pretty loyal alright – going to see this right through to the end, I think."

"Well, that is just wonderful!" As she said that, a cry sounded in the background down her end. Robin's face sank as she turned. "Oh, that's Freddie, I should… I should go tend to him." She looked back, her heartbreak obvious. "I'm so sorry honey, I know we don't talk enough anymore, I do want to –"

"It's fine, mum; you need to be with him, I understand." Alaska smiled in what she hoped was a reassuring manner, but if anything, her mother simply looked sadder.

"I love you, sweetheart, I hope you remember that. Stay safe."

Alaska cringed internally. "I love you too. Bye!"

The screen went black, and Alaska instantly tipped back into the chair and screamed into her hands, unleashing the tension she had been holding back for the last ten minutes.

"Oof, I know that feeling." Alaska spread her fingers and saw Leaf hovering in the doorway, wearing a knowing smile. "Did it really go that badly?"

Alaska nodded, still clutching her face. "It's so hard to talk to her now. Every time I talk I expect her to have found out everything that's happened to me, and when it's clear she hasn't, I spend the whole time we talk wondering if I should tell her while trying not to say anything."

"They don't know about what's happening with you?"

"Not a thing. It's not something you can just casually bring up. 'Hey mummy, just so you know, two sociopaths are trying to kill me so I don't stop them from killing the Champion. How's Mrs Mitchell's fundraiser going?'"

"I know it must be hard, but surely talking to her is easier than lying about it?"

Alaska shook her head. "I've only seen her cry once after Viridian was destroyed, and that was the day my siblings went off to the Academy. She cares about us kids than anything else. It would destroy her to know I'm in danger and what I need to do, and she wouldn't understand it's unavoidable… like daughter, like mother, eh?"

"I can understand that," Leaf said quietly, stepping forwards and stroking Alaska's shoulder. "There were so many things Red lied to his mum about, and I could see how much it hurt him and the strain it caused on their relationship, and they barely got along in the first place.

"It hurts to have to lie to her: if she knew how to use a computer, it would almost be easier if she knew all the horrible things happening to me. But I'm not going to look her in the eye and explain to her myself how fucked up everything is.

"But because of that, I haven't been talking to her. I can tell she feels like I'm forgetting about them, the same way the twins have, but I'm just trying to protect them from everything. I want her to comfort me, but if she has no idea what's happening to me, can I really make her worry about the future of the region on top of my safety and everything she has to deal with back home?"

If she had been explaining this all to Sandy, Alaska might have broken down at this point. But since it was Leaf's eyes she was staring into, she held it in, maintaining her façade that was cracking every day.

Yet there was little hiding from Leaf: the gym leader was tearing up on her behalf, and when Alaska finally stood up, she pulled her into a hug. It was awkward and deeply uncomfortable, but Alaska reluctantly wrapped her arms around her, feeling it was the nice thing to do.

"I couldn't imagine doing any of the things we did and knowing my parents were home worrying about me. I guess that's one of the plus sides of being an orphan," Leaf said with a grim smile. "Oh wait – fuck, I just realised how that sounded. Sorry, I didn't mean to come across competitive or anything, I just –"

"It's fine, really, I'm not fussed," Alaska interrupted, smiling to hide the fact that had been her first reaction. "I can't imagine never getting to know my parents, and then having to face the person who killed them."

"Come on now, in Giovanni's defence, he didn't kill them personally, just… generally, I guess, not sure if that's better or worse…" Leaf drifted off, staring off into space as her eyes began to water. Guilt-ridden, Alaska went to say something, but Leaf shook her head and flashed a smile. "Enough about wars past, let's stick to the ones we've still got to fight, shall we?" The sounds of Pokémon fighting had gotten louder with each passing second, and Alaska finally smiled, glad for the distraction from everything. Beaming, Leaf wrapped an arm through hers as though they were old friends, and they set off together.

With the bonds of trust now between them, Janine had moved from wishing Alaska dead to opening her gym up so they could all prepare for the fight ahead. Alaska had assumed she and Sandy would simply end up fighting each other as per usual, with advice and input from the two gym leaders. What she hadn't expected was to show up the day after the gym battle and find an army of ninja warriors waiting to put them through their paces.

Growing up, all that Alaska had learnt about Fuchsia had come through entertainment. The old movies about crafty ninjas and brutal samurai that aired on weekend afternoons had been her amongst her favourites, and for a long time she had imagined Fuchsia as some feudal place untouched by the modern world, where men walked around with swords strapped to their sides. Even though she had long grown past those views, Alaska had hoped she would at least see one ninja before she left.

Thankfully, it turned out Janine did practically a battalion hidden away. They had emerged from the shadows (or the back rooms, as they were better known), not quite the cinematic characters Alaska had expected, with purple and violet robes like Janine's instead of all black, but they definitely were as bloodthirsty and intimidating. Yet even when they were throwing knives at her and trying to beat her up, Alaska couldn't help but be slightly thrilled to have her childhood dreams confirmed.

Even now, standing at the side, it was like watching one of her old movies once again, Janine's gym transformed into a chaotic warzone. The ninjas, for lack of a better word, were slamming sticks against Frances, forcing her to use her claws and speed to evade them. Shelley and Weepinbell sat on the floor firing attacks at over two dozen Zubat, trying to bring down each one. Nadia and Ned had the most space, the two swinging punches and kicks as they faced off in the middle of the room, several people shouting commands and suggestions to the Nidoqueen while Nidoran of both genders watched in delight.

"PIDGEEEEY!" Alaska jumped backwards as Paige cheekily swooped past. She soared back towards the roof, re-joining Leaf's Pidgeot in a race to build up speed.

"If only we could let them outside, they would probably have the time of their lives!" Leaf yelled, laughing. Alaska nodded absently, briefly watching the flowing hair of the large Pidgeot before turning away, looking for a distraction. Shouts turned her attention to the stage where she and Janine had first fought: Sandy was up there now, Butterfree and Sylveon squaring off against an old man's Drapion and Golbat. Blonde hair swaying, punctuating each command with a wild hand gesture, Sandy looked wildly intense, and Alaska couldn't help but smile.

"Finally, you're done." Janine leapt in front of Alaska before she could walk any further, her face glistening with sweat. "I've been waiting for ages; can we get on with it?" She asked, glowering at Leaf.

"You look pretty tired, are you sure you don't want to rest first?"

Janine shook her head, smiling wickedly. "Arbok threw me into the wall before, I want to get this over with so I can teach that slippery bitch a lesson."

"Alright then," Leaf sighed, rolling her eyes as though this was an everyday occurrence. Alaska smiled and nodded as she so often did now, cautiously keeping an eye out for any purple serpents. "Alaska, now that your training is underway and going really well, it's time to focus on the next stage."

"Is the next stage the end of the world?"

"Yes – well, hopefully not, but you know what I mean." Leaf led her and Janine across the hallway into the same room where they had argued last week, pulling the sliding wall shut to muffle some of the noise. "Given how long this had been going on for, all signs suggest that we fast approaching the end game. I imagine by the time you get back to Viridian at least one if not both of our adversaries will be ready to strike."

"Well, for homicidal maniacs, I must say it's pretty considerate of them to wait for me to finish my journey before destroying the world."

"Yeah, they all tend to do that. At any rate, it means we only have a few weeks left. Indigo Dreams has already passed through here and will be heading back that way soon, which means they are pretty close to getting into the league."

"Did you see them?" Alaska asked Janine, who nodded sourly.

"I can't refuse battles so I faced all three a few days before you got here. The girl, Cleo or whatever, lost but the boys won. They were meant to come back for a rematch but never showed. We did some digging and found out they chartered a boat to Seafoam. We think they might have an eye out for Blaine, but if we can't find him, they sure as fuck can't."

"Blaine…" Alaska murmured. "He's the fire guy, right? Last original gym leader left?"

"Exactly."

"So, why wouldn't they be able to find him?"

Leaf and Janine exchanged looks for a moment, their faces equal parts exasperated and nervous, and Alaska's heart sank, expecting the worst.

"Because… no one exactly knows where he is," Leaf answered finally, laughing awkwardly. "That's what we needed to talk to you about: we need you to find him."

Alaska was stunned silent. This was definitely the last thing she had expected, and she had no idea how to respond. But… he's a gym leader… how the hell do they not know where he is?

"How do the hell do you not know where a gym leader is?" Alaska said finally, unable to think of any other response. "I know Cinnabar got destroyed and that would've included his gym, but… did he just not tell anyone where his new one was?"

"Pretty much," Janine said, shrugging. "Didn't you read about this when planning your journey?"

Alaska laughed, partly out of frustration. "Wow, you really must have gained some confidence in me to think I actually planned anything here."

"I know it sounds bad, Alaska, but there's no getting around it," Leaf said, stepping in before Janine could reply. She placed a tablet on the table and pressed a button: a holographic map of Kanto appeared that promptly zoomed in on two islands. "Blaine was one of Giovanni's main targets and they went after him hard. He's a tough man, but one person can only take so much. Losing his gym and home in the eruption was one thing, but then… well, things got worse, and after the fight, he simply left. We all respected and understood his choice so we didn't bother with him for a while, but once the League got underway again and we hadn't heard from him, we got worried.

"People tried to find him, but he has a Delphox nearly as old as him, and the thing about Psychic types is the older they get, the more powerful their brains become. He is hidden from anyone he doesn't want to find him, and for whatever reason, he doesn't want to talk to any of us."

"We know, though, that he is based somewhere in the Seafoam Islands," Janine said, and Leaf tapped at a large island south-west of Fuchsia. It didn't look particularly special, but images of ice-covered caves surrounded by giant lakes appeared alongside. Alaska knew enough about Kanto to know about Seafoam, and she had to wonder how a Fire trainer could hide somewhere so wet.

"If trainers bother coming down here, most of the time they head to Seafoam to train and catch Pokémon. We starting hearing rumours back in 2011 that people had seen Blaine, but it wasn't until someone showed up with the Volcano Badge at last year's Championships that we knew for certain. We focused our efforts there, but again, no luck."

"We have no idea how hard it is to find him," Leaf added. "We know of just four people who have beaten him in the last two years, but we think that he is wiping the minds of anyone who loses. The few that have defeated him can remember the battle but not where they encountered him: they just wake up on the beach outside with the badge and no memory of how they got there."

None of this was sounding particularly appealing to Alaska. Blaine sounded unhinged and unstable, and not in the good way like she was. Hunting through frozen caves with the possibility she might just have her memory wiped at the end of it was not how she wanted to spend the next few weeks.

"Why is it so important we find him now?"

"The other day you asked why we hadn't attacked yet," Leaf began. "The main reason is we have to form a plan and build up an army. The problem with fighting a war on two fronts is that if we go after one, the other might strike when our backs are turned. In this case, we know where Buzz is and could theoretically go after him, but since we have no idea what Gideon is planning, he could use the opportunity to unleash his plan.

"Currently, our strategy is to attack both fronts at once. We lead one team against Silph Co. to neutralise the robots, we send one team to defend the Indigo League, and we have the legendaries and you in the air ready to move wherever is necessary. We have the backing of the other gym leaders from here and Johto, but having Blaine and his particular strengths are a must if we want to guarantee an easy victory."

You still could have done more to help me, Alaska thought, but she smiled and nodded silently. "So when would you want me to go?"

Leaf didn't meet her eye and she replied. "Um, well, does straight away work for you?"

"What?" Alaska waited a moment, wondering if she had misheard, her blood rate rising with each passing second. "Don't I need to, you know, train more?"

"Do you want to train more?"

"Not really, but I thought –"

"While it will be good if you can defend yourself, we don't have time to make you a perfect fighter. However, we can use your personality. I imagine if anyone was able to coax Blaine out of his hidey hole, it would be you."

"Why me?"

Leaf shrugged in response, angering Alaska further. "Blaine is, and I believe this is the technical term, a crazy old man whose lights started going out long ago. He is obsessively secretive and hides everything behind riddles and jokes, and, quite frankly, if we weren't desperate I would be content to let him be."

"But because he acts so oddly, it's easy to forget he is one of the most intelligent people in the world, or that he is a formidable trainer that could have been Champion if he had wanted the job. He can take down extremely strong teams with just one Pokémon, and Red was the first person to defeat him in three years when he won their match. He loves to be challenged, and you are, and I mean this in the nicest way possible, the single most challenging, difficult and unhelpful person in all of Kanto," Janine finished, smiling widely. "You two would get on like a pile of shit on fire."

Alaska dramatically sobbed and clutched her chest. "And here I was thinking we'd never be friends." Leaf and Janine both laughed, and Alaska managed a smile despite her desire to bang both their heads together and walk out of here forever. She may not hate them as much anymore, but it was clear they didn't trust her much either, and it was difficult to look past their secrecy.

"So… are you on board?" Alaska paused, staring bitterly at Leaf, for a moment tempted to speak her mind. She looked at the maps and the photos, imagining how long it would take to scour the whole island, if Blaine would even want to talk to her. You can say no if you want to, and you know you want to, but that option isn't really on the table, is it?

"Um, I guess so?"

"Great! I'll make the arrangements." Leaf beamed as she turned off the tablet, the room suddenly dark with the holographs. She rushed towards the office, moving so quickly Alaska knew she had known all along how their chat would end: asking her had just been a courtesy. She thought she would be left with Janine, but she turned and the gym leader had already disappeared, leaving Alaska alone with her thoughts.

So this is what I'm throwing away my family for: hunting down old men and convincing them to join a fight I want no part in. I'm really living the dream, aren't I?

Sighing, Alaska slumped into a chair. This was not how she had expected giving up her freedom to go. All those weeks of fighting, making so many sacrifices, having to be the bigger person, and she was already being carted off again. It was easy to feel like she was being kept out of the way, roped in to the company line and then shunted off before she saw too much of what went on behind the scenes.
The whole situation was absurd and frustrating. She was supposed to trust them, and she wanted to, but every day she seemed to find a new reason not to. They had painted Blaine as an absolute nutter, but Alaska wondered if he was the only sane one of the bunch: hiding out in a frozen cave, completely disguising himself, refusing to go anywhere near the chaos that engulfed the region.

Maybe when I find him I can convince him to hide me. If Red and Leaf can't find him, I highly doubt Buzz or Gideon could.

"You ready for more training?" Alaska looked up, surprised to find Janine standing there with two swords in hand.

"I didn't realise I had misbehaved that badly."

Janine didn't smile. "Cute joke. Come on, we don't have much time and I'd sleep easier if you could use a weapon that wasn't baked by your brother."

Alaska grunted as she forced herself up. "If I'm supposed to get good at this, why send me after Blaine?"

Janine groaned and lowered the swords. "Have you got your tits in a twist about this? We are running out of time, and if you want us to have a chance of ending this war on our terms, we need Blaine. And really, if you had just fallen into line earlier, we would have had plenty of time for all of this."

"Oh, so is it my fault now?" Alaska laughed. "You know what; you can stick your training. My Pokémon and I have gotten on pretty well by ourselves, no weapons necessary, and I am sure we can manage without your ancient ninja skills."

"Oh really?" Janine raised an eyebrow, thin lips spreading into a smile. "You seriously think all your Pokémon are up to this?" Her eyes flickered towards the window, and Alaska knew exactly who she was referring to.

Outside, Darwin sat alone in the courtyard. It was small, the sort of place that was meant to be relaxing but the moss covered paving stones and tepid water fountain made it feel sparse and unloved. The Primeape had gone there every day since he had decided training wasn't for him. They had started the week putting him against Leaf's Beedrill and Janine's Dodrio, but he been reluctant, eventually gave up midway through fighting Butterfree. Every time Alaska let him out now, he simply walked right outside.

His wounds were healing rapidly thanks to the Pokémon Centre, and his fur had even begun to grow back, masking any obvious signs of what he had been through. Yet he had shown little emotion since the gym battle and ignored Alaska whenever she spoke to him, always gazing off into the distance.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have used him as an insult." Janine joined her by the window, staring at Darwin's scarred back. "Do they know what's wrong with him?"

"Not a clue. The nurse said they normally bring a Psychic type in, but when I suggested it to Darwin he ignored me." Alaska shrugged, too tired for any other response. "It feels mean to do it without his permission."

"I hear you."

"Plus, I'm his trainer; I should know what's wrong with him. I don't know if it's guilt or trauma or if he just doesn't want to fight or be around me. And what's worse is that I don't have time to think about him, not with training, my other Pokémon, Sandy and her team, and I've still got badges to win and the world to save. I feel awful constantly, and whenever I look at Darwin, I want to help him but it's like looking at the embodiment of every bad decision I have ever made."

Alaska wasn't sure where that had come from or why she had said this to Janine, but she felt relieved. After having to lie to her mother, finally letting something off her chest was liberating, even if it only made her more aware of her guilt.

"If you think you are alone in feeling that way, you don't know anything about humanity. Guilt is everywhere; no one walks through life without regretting or feeling bad about something. Pain surrounds each of us, and the only way you can live is by learning to deal with it and move on. And believe me when I say Pokémon manage much better than we do. Just watch."

Great thudding footsteps sounded through the window, and Alaska looked up as something large and green sidled into view. The burns on Venusaur's face stood out more than the flower on his back, his two withered eyes shining like beacons amongst the scar tissue. Venusaur looked briefly at them both, and Janine titled her head towards Darwin, edging the Seed Pokémon on.

"Are all of his Pokémon here?" Alaska whispered before she could stop herself. She didn't dare say his name out loud, but glancing at Janine, it was clear she didn't have to.

"Venusaur's the only one," she replied quietly. "The others felt more comfortable going with Red, but Venusaur… we never really knew what he was thinking, but I think he did it for me… to keep a piece of Bl – of him around me."

Janine sniffed and Alaska looked away, letting her grieve in peace. She instead stared at the two Pokémon, watching silently as Venusaur began grunting at Darwin.

"This is going to be hard. What we're doing may not seem ideal by any normal standards, but nothing we do is normal. We gave up our lives to this cause whether we wanted to or not, and we are all just trying to do the best we can. Red broods, Leaf overcompensates, and I murder things. You'll find a way to survive, but I suggest you find it soon before Gideon or Buzz use your own pain against you."

If she had shed a tear at all, Janine didn't let it show. When she turned to Alaska, she was as steely and composed as always, her face saying it loud and clear that this conversation was over. Again, Alaska simply nodded back. She looked at Darwin and Venusaur one last time and walked away, saving that problem for another time.

"Thanks for letting me use your computer."

"Anytime. I know what it's like when a family falls apart, I know what a distraction it can be, how badly it can mess someone up."

"You? Messed up? Don't say that, I'm sure plenty of people solve their problems by stabbing everything they see."

It only lasted a moment, but Alaska took a certain pleasure in seeing Janine smile. It passed the second they walked back into the gym, the Poison trainer turning and throwing her the sword. "Let's pick up where we were yesterday."

As their blades met, Alaska struggling to even hold onto hers, she couldn't help but grin. She was living one of her childhood dreams at the moment, sword fighting with ninjas in the midst of a real life battle. Things may not be ideal, but focusing only on the problems was not going to end the war. They were finally in the end game of this prolonged nightmare, and if Alaska could just make it through the next few weeks, find some way to handle everything, she had the whole rest of her life to make it up to everyone she had let down. For now, there was nothing to do but roll with the punches. Sword or no sword, it might just be the only way for her to survive.
 
Chapter Eighty Three: Look at Me
Chapter Eighty Three: Look at Me

Do I really want to leave?

Sandy paused, letting her guidebook fall to the ground. How had she not asked herself this before she had started packing, or in the days since Alaska told her their next step? It seemed the most obvious question to ask, yet it had never even occurred to her – why?

Leaving her bag on the bed, Sandy crossed the sweeping bedroom, the sort of room she had only ever seen in period dramas, and went back to the window. All of a sudden, Sandy felt as though she had spent three weeks at Bertram's mansion and never once taken the time to truly appreciate the view. Because of their position on the hill and the trees around them, they could see nothing of the outside world. The manicured blanket of lawn around the mansion seemed to simply give way to the ocean, which just went on forever and ever.

You don't have to leave.

Yes I do. Do I? Shut up! And Sandy forced herself away from the view, rushing back to her packing. Yet she only folded one more dress before groaning and coming to a stop.

"What's gotten into me, Butterfree?" Butterfree looked up in the middle of folding clothes, eyes wide and curious as ever. "I've just suddenly had a… epiphany, I think, is this what an epiphany is? I've only ever heard about them, never really felt it… it doesn't feel very epiphany-y though."

She sighed and sank into one of the many luxurious armchairs scattered around the room. It had barely been twenty-four hours since Alaska had told them they had to move on, their next mission already waiting for them. Sandy had gone along with it as always, rushing about getting ready, so much so she had never once stopped to think about if it was what she wanted.

"We don't need to leave this house, you know… and I don't think I really want to," Sandy mumbled, thinking aloud. "It's like a little voice in the back of my head suddenly woke up and realised I am about to leave behind that view. I mean, you've got magic eyesight, that's a great view, isn't it?"

"Free," Butterfree sighed, putting down the folded clothes before floating over. "Freeeee Freee Freee?"

"I'm not being rash, thank you very much," Sandy tutted, but under Butterfree's watchful glare she sighed, suddenly exhausted. Maybe I am being silly, I do need to go, don't it? But I have a bed here, I can get fed regularly… there aren't murderous robots…

"Well, you don't have to leave it behind if you don't want to." Sandy screamed and jolted off the armchair, clutching her chest. Bertram chuckled as he strolled into the room, a plastic tub in hand. "I was coming to give you these," he said, shaking the container so the cookies inside rattled, "but I suppose if you aren't going to leave, we can just eat them later."

Sandy forced a smile. "Why not start now?" Heart still racing, she jumped back to her feet as Bertram offered her a cookie. She took it tentatively, like a small child unsure if she was allowed or not, and sat silently back in the chair. Bertram perched himself on the end of the bed and they ate in silence. Sandy wanted to speak, but she felt rattled to have been caught out mid-thought and had no idea to say: was Bertram being serious? If he was, could she actually stay here?

The silence was broken by a shriek from the window. Sandy, Butterfree and Bertram watched as Paige soared into the room, nearly crashing into the chandelier, Pichu and Goomy screaming gleefully on her back. The sight made for a welcome distraction, and Sandy laughed for the first time in days as Paige did loops beneath the ceiling, briefly chasing after Butterfree before finally landing.

"There you are! I was wondering where you were!" Sandy beamed brightly at Pichu as he climbed carefully off Paige's back, mentally cursing herself for forgetting where one of her Pokémon had gone. "Thank you so much for playing with him, Paige."

"Otto," the Bird Pokémon chirped with a brisk bow. "Pidge Ot Pidgey Gee?"

"Oh, right… um, tell Alaska I'll be down soon – maybe twenty minutes?" Paige nodded, and after one final glance at her passengers, she spread her wings and soared out the window. A giddy Pichu ran up to Sandy with an infectious smile, but while she scooped him up and cooed at him, the brief joy she had felt watching him play was gone.

"Twenty minutes to decide your future, that's really not much time," Bertram remarked as he similarly cradled Goomy. "Though, I suppose I had to decide on my future on the spur of the moment as well…"

"Are you trying to one up me in my time of need?" Sandy said, unable to stop herself, and Bertram boomed with laughter.

"Oh, no, of course not my darling – though, if I was going to, I think we'd know who would win that one."

For a moment, Sandy was able to laugh, let some of the weight off her shoulders, but it didn't last long. Across the room, Bertram continued to smile chirpily, perhaps in some weak attempt at passing it on to her, but he stopped when it became clear it wasn't working.

"Well then, if you aren't sure about what to do, you just need to ask yourself what you're doing here and if you want to carry on."

Sandy rolled her eyes, tutting without irony. "You make it sound like it's as easy as picking which movie you want to see. We're talking about fricking robots here, Bertram!"

"Don't sass me, honey," Bertram fired back, stopping just short of snapping his fingers. "I only meant that you need to re-evaluate your situation and how it fits into your plan. I mean, you must have goals for this, right? Why did you leave home in the first place?"

"To get away from my father."

Bertram raised an eyebrow. "Is that all?"

"Well… yes, really." It always sounded pathetic and unconvincing whenever Sandy told someone that, but it was the simple truth. "I mean, I always wanted to see the world, but I had to get away from him first – he was drunk most days, really unpleasant, I couldn't stay there. When I finally got away and knew he wasn't coming after me, I realised I didn't have anywhere to go specifically and decided I wasn't really bothered. Wandering around the country just seemed like a good idea at the time. My mum used to warn me about strangers going after children, but really I'd take a pervert over a robot any day of the week. Is that insensitive? I can't really tell anymore." Sandy let out a deflated sigh and avoided Bertram's eye, her skin crawling as she thought of where she had picked up sentences like that from.

"Okay... hmm… why did you stay with Alaska then?"

Sandy shrugged. "Friendship. It's not that I was getting tired of Butterfree," she added, looking apologetically at her Pokémon, "but I needed someone I could actually talk to. I guess it was always meant to be, but at time we just randomly encountered each other and we both seemed to need it so there we have it."

Even as she said it, Sandy wondered if Bertram knew she was lying. It hadn't been as simple as following after Alaska. She felt ashamed remembering it now, but back then it had seemed so exciting: rampaging Onix, exploding robots, a cast of villains they had to thwart. If she had known where it would end up, Sandy would have run away screaming, but this fantastical view of travelling and saving the world, being like Leaf or Cynthia or Sapphire, it had been the most thrilling thing in the world. When Alaska didn't object to her presence, Sandy had followed after her, overwhelmed, for a short time at least, about the adventure she had found herself on. Part of her wished

"That was then, though. Are you still happy with her?"

Sandy had to think for a minute. It was a struggle to remember the good moments when so much of her journey had been dominated by nightmares – both those they had already faced and those waiting for them around the corner.

"Am I happy with what happens to us? No. I hate it all so much, but I have to grin and bear it because if I don't who else will? And Alaska… I don't hate her. I love her, like a sister – not that there'd be anything with loving her in, you know… that…" Sandy trailed off, blushing. "I don't like her sometimes, and really, there have probably been more times recently where I have wished to be anywhere but with her… oh god, that sounds really horrible, doesn't it?"

Bertram shook his head. "It sounds like something any reasonable person would think after everything you've been through." He paused, exchanging mournful looks with Goomy. "I guess it's time to ask the question then. If you can't be around her anymore, do you want to stay with me?"

And just like that, it was time to make a decision. Sandy could feel Butterfree, Bertram, Pichu, even Goomy all watching her, but she couldn't look at any of them. Instead, almost ashamedly, she fixated at the floor, wishing it would swallow her whole, take away all the pain and confusion that now engulfed her. She only had two options to choose between, yet somehow deciding between saying 'yes' or 'no' was always harder than having a dozen options. Sandy had never considered before just how much power those two words held: each one had the power to change lives forever, change destinies – or, at least, reveal them to the uninformed.

Cause it's not like anyone actually gets a say in this, she thought. It was like a penny had dropped – a sad, painful, heart-wrenching penny – and, with a sigh, she knew she had her answer.

"Thanks, but no, I… she needs me, I know it." Sandy felt her body slow down, all the thoughts that had been bouncing away inside her head crashing to a stop. She had found her answer, she should've been happy for the clarity, but really she only felt worse.

Bertram smiled and nodded, but even his cheeky grin couldn't hide the disappointment from his face. "I knew you would say that, I just had to make sure you found it yourself."

"I always knew it had to be this way, I'm just being silly." Sandy cracked a smile even though every muscle in her face resisted it. Butterfree floated down and nuzzled her arm, and it took all of Sandy's willpower not to break down right there.

"I should go make sure Alaska has everything then if you've got everything sorted." Without another word, Bertram stood and left. Sandy stood up as though to follow him, but he had already disappeared, Goomy a purple blur on his shoulder. Had she upset him by not agreeing to stay, or was he just as heartbroken as she was with the destiny she had been stuck with?

"But I don't… nothing's sorted," Sandy mumbled weakly after him. There was a tug on her dress, and she looked down to find Pichu watching her, his little yellow face twisted in a state of sad confusion she had never seen before.

And just like that, Sandy was broken. Everything she had been holding back – all day, all week, possibly since the moment she had met Alaska – it all came loose. She stood there, her entire body heaving, suddenly blind as her eyes less swam and rather drowned in tears.

"Free Free?"

"NO, of course I'm not alright! Do you actually think I want to go with her?" Sandy sank to the ground, falling meekly between the bed and the chair, unanchored in her grief. "I can't keep doing this, Butterfree, I don't want to, I really don't want to go with her. This whole thing, everything, it's just so awful!" She sobbed, tears falling from her face and pooling in the plush carpet.

"Freeee?"

"I know what I said, of course I'm still going. That's the thing; it's not up to me. I have to go, it's what I was shitting born to do, apparently," Sandy snapped, waving her arms in the arm. "The only reason I'm here is to ensure someone else gets to live their life without bloody screwing it up."

"Free Butterfree Freeee!"

"I'M ALLOWED TO BE MEAN! Imagine being in my shoes – well, you are, aren't you? I caught you, so you've probably got some grand role in this. Who knows, the world's never relied on String Shot to save the day before, has it, but maybe this might just be your time to shine, Butterfree!" Her whole body shook as she spat out the words, barely hearing herself, her tears and snot and animalistic growls consuming her. Her eyes locked with Butterfree's, and Sandy watched her, waiting for her to say something, but the Bug type didn't make a single sound, silently perching on her shoulder not moving from Sandy's shoulder, only looking at her. Sandy felt her lip quiver, and she fell to the floor as a second wave hit her.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I didn't mean any of that," she wept, and pulled Butterfree into her arms. "It's just… my life is worthless, isn't it? No, don't deny it, you can't," Sandy moaned over Butterfree's protests. "My entire life's purpose is to… I don't even bloody know; am I meant to help Alaska, protect her, cook for her? Is that why I was born, to make sure she has a balanced diet? Cause I haven't been doing that, Butterfree, so I guess I really am a failure."

She fell silent, throat too hoarse to carry on. Defeated, weak, pained, Sandy slumped face first onto the damp carpet and lay there, staring at the luxury of the room through her tear stricken eyes. In her heart, she knew this was the place she wanted to be, and part of her willed her body to dissolve and sink into the floor forever, so she could finally be somewhere that felt like home.

"When I think of everything that happened to my mum and dad, I wonder if all of that had to happen just so all of this could come after… Like, was their whole purpose in life to create me so I could protect Alaska? They achieved nothing after they had me: she disappeared, he became a dick. I actually pity him now, just a little bit. To think he had to be so miserable and horrible and nasty, all so Alaska didn't die the first day of her journey."

Sandy shut her eyes, trying to recall her mother. The memory got more distant with every passing day, every new nightmare that occupied her thoughts, but if she tried really hard, Sandy got the faintest impression of a woman with long flowing hair, saw images of a happy family frolicking in a park. It was all so long ago it felt like she was watching a movie, and in reality, Sandy couldn't tell if it was real or not, yet just thinking about that time made her the happiest she had felt in weeks.

If everything was really so perfect why did she leave? Something had to be wrong, right? Sandy shut her eyes, breathing deeply, trying to hold it all in, hold back the dark thoughts. It seemed she had doomed herself to a life of two halves: before and after Alaska – or was that before and after the prophecy? As much as she may spite her, Sandy knew this had nothing to do with her. The prophecy was not Alaska's doing, nor had it been her choice to tell Sandy how pointless her life was. She could at least sympathise with me, though. She's not the only one that's been cursed.

"Chu Chu Pichu Chu!" Sandy snapped out of her stupor, her head rolling lazily over towards the Electric types cries. Pichu was standing beside her, his tiny body shaking, eyes watering. Sandy gasped breathlessly, the site enough to start her sniffling again. Yet before she could make a sound, Pichu flung himself forwards, grabbing tightly onto her neck and squeezing so tightly sparks flew between them.

"Oh Pichu, it's alright… shush, don't cry… everyone's going to be fine." Sandy wrapped an arm around him, too tiny to hug him properly, and she looked to Butterfree, desperate for the support. Butterfree flew closer and Sandy reached out and nuzzled her chin, softer tears rolling down her face.

"You're never going to leave me, are you?"

"Freee," Butterfree replied, and Sandy smiled and shut her eyes.

There was a knock at the door. Sandy looked up for a second but turned away as Bertram walked in, Goomy still clinging to his shoulder.

"Back so soon," she mumbled, wiping her tears away, but when she looked up she knew there would be no hiding it. Bertram stopped for a second, smiling slipping, but seemed to sense her reservations and made no comment. "Is it time to leave already?" Sandy asked, relieved that she could suffer in silence.

"Soon, yes, I've just spoken to the captain and the boat is all ready to go. But I realised you've forgotten something."

"Really? What's that?"

"GOOO!" Goomy slid oozily off Bertram's shoulder and fell with a wet splat into Sandy's lap. Her smile made up her entire body, but Sandy still didn't get the hint until Bertram reached out and revealed a PokeBall.

"No, no, no! I can't take Goomy, you said she was one of the only ones left in the world," Sandy gasped and tried to grab hold of her but Goomy slid out of reach, smiling wickedly.

"I know what I said, thank you darling, and I still want you to have her – and I am not taking no for an answer!" Bertram placed the PokeBall on the bed and backed away.

"But… but… but why?"

"Well, now you always have a reason to come back." His sad smile made Sandy choke up again, but she couldn't bring herself to cry anymore, not with Goomy staring at her so cheerfully, nor with Pichu playfully poking her oozing body. "Hurry up, you have to go soon!" Sandy looked up as Bertram walked away, her puffy red eyes meeting his own mournful pair, and she was struck suddenly by a question she knew she had to ask.

"Were you really a prostitute?"

"I prefer the term rent boy, but yes, I sold my body," Bertram replied, pausing in the doorway with a sly grin. "Why do you ask?"

"I'm not sure…. I've just never met one before."

Bertram laughed. "If it reassures you, I haven't done that for a long time." Sandy smirked for a moment, but that wasn't the answer she needed.

"Talking about war, making light of what happened…how have you adjusted?" For a moment, Bertram didn't respond; instead, he stared wistfully around the room, smiling strangely, and for the first time Sandy wondered if the huge house and the magnificent lawn was not just one big distraction, something to think about that didn't involve death.

"You want to know why I was awake the other night? It's because I still have nightmares. I still wake up in the middle of the night calling for my father in the middle of the burning city or feeling around for my sister's cold hands. What I went through, what my people went through, it was hell on earth, and not a single day goes by where I don't remember what was done to us and what my country sacrificed for everyone else…" A sudden darkness descended over Bertram, and Sandy was almost afraid to see the anger in his eyes. It only lasted a moment, but it was easy to believe there was a lot of rage boiling beneath the surface.

"But even if I do resent everything, am I supposed to be sitting here in my mansion, cut off from society, bemoaning the loss of my region and people? What good would that do anyone? If you only focus on your grief, then there is no way you can move on from it. Remember it, of course, but if you define yourself by it, then instead of growing as a person, you simply become grief."

His words stayed with Sandy for the rest of the day, and she remembered them as he waved them off that afternoon, weeping beside Leaf and Janine. As Sandy watched him, Fuchsia, the house on the hill, and everything else slip away, she didn't turn away once nor shed another tear. Beside her, Alaska stood stiffly, false smile and cold eyes focussed on the journey ahead.

She needs me, more than she realises, probably more than I can give, but she needs me.

This wasn't what she wanted. It still hurt her every time she considered what this prophecy meant, the pathetic destiny that fate had bestowed upon her, but Sandy was not going to let that make or break her. She was in this now, and she would not let anything get in their way.

This has to be worth something, she thought as Fuchsia finally disappeared from view. I wasn't born just to be a sidekick. If she has to save the world, then I have to help her. It's not my choice, but I'm doing this my way. Mum… she didn't suffer through a loveless marriage for me to do anything less. She grabbed onto Alaska's hand, squeezing it to stop the tears from flowing again.

"Are you alright?" Alaska asked, the worry clear in her voice, but Sandy turned to her, and for the first time in days, her smile was genuine.

"I'm fine, everything's just… fine."
 
Chapter Eighty Four: The World Keeps Spinning
Chapter Eighty Four: The World Keeps Spinning

"I don't think I have ever been so bloody bored." With a groan, Alaska slumped forwards on the table. Her head hit the polished wood and she stayed there, feeling every bump and jolt as the boat skipped over the waves.

"We're nearly there, only another hour or so."

"That can't come soon enough. How has it taken us days to get here? When I went to Sevii as a kid, it didn't take this long."

"Yes, but we're trying not to attract attention. It may be long but…" Sandy trailed off as she stared down at Alaska in the way an exasperated teacher would face a difficult student. "Never mind."

"You can finish your sentence."

"No, it's fine!" Sandy got up and walked away – not that there was much room on the boat for someone to walk away to. Alaska watched as Sandy fussed around in the kitchen, banging cutlery and crockery together, flinging open cupboards at random. "There's still some bread, do you want a sandwich?"

"You don't need to make me a sandwich."

"I've got to do something." Sandy sighed and rested her head against the cupboard. Alaska sat awkwardly in silence for a minute, with only the sound of the waves crashing against the boat interrupting them.

"Sandy, I –"

"You're right, this is bloody boring, but it would be nice if you didn't complain so much about everything. I – we don't need the reminder all the time, ok?"

Alaska nodded, even though Sandy wasn't looking at her. "Okay, that sounds fair… sorry."

"Excellent." Sandy straightened up. She looked at Alaska with a wide smile before stepping to the fridge. "I don't think we used all the ham yesterday. Can't just have lettuce and tomato, after all, we need a balanced diet, don't we?" Sandy laughed, though Alaska wasn't sure if she got the joke – was it a joke? Her mind was so frazzled, so utterly battered and bruised, she really had no idea what to make of anything anymore.

The last few days had been weird, to say the least. Meeting gods, training with ninjas, leaving behind the glorious mansion paid for by prostitution – Alaska had thought her journey had gone through every possible motion, yet around every corner, there was another surprise waiting for her. If a time-travelling alien dressed like a hipster was waiting for them at Seafoam, she would be pleased for the return to normality.

To top it all off, they were now on a boat, bobbing their way through the southern Kantonese seas, hoping to find one old man hidden inside a giant frozen rock. The boat was pure luxury – when Alaska had seen it waiting for them at the port, it looked like it had been ripped straight from a rappers music video; white, sleek and huge like a pale Wailord – but the strangeness could be felt in every room. The shift from intense training to five-star boating was odd, to say the least, and Alaska simply couldn't settle.

It didn't help that her mind was constantly elsewhere. From the impending battle to her talk with her mother, Alaska kept flickering between a dozen thought patterns at once, nothing able to hold her focus for long.

One thing she kept coming back to was the moment she had said goodbye to Leaf and Janine. After such a hostile first meeting, the trio had parted so cordially on the Fuchsia docks it was as if they were in an alternate reality. They either wanted her to be best friends with them or the gym leaders were simply ignoring the underlying tension in order to force Alaska into their bidding, it was hard to tell, but she also didn't mind. It had been the first time in weeks she had said goodbye to their hosts without any anger on her part.

Yet it had all been fine until Leaf had hugged Alaska, wearing that smile too broad to be believable.

"Remember, once you've got Blaine and made it to Viridian, we need to have our own battle. How does a six-on-six sound?"

"I don't have six Pokémon," Alaska had replied as she stepped onto the boat.

Leaf had exchanged looks with Janine then and giggled. "Not yet, anyway."

Several days had passed, but Alaska kept going back to that. Was she supposed to meet Latios sometime in the next few days, and what, capture him? She knew it was possible, but the thought of catching legendaries still felt impossible. Was he ready for that – was she ready? Could anyone ever really be prepared?

Yet Alaska had seen six of them up close. They had judged her, examined her, given them their godly seal of approval. Was that what Latios needed to be captured; approval from his peers? Or had that all been purely for Alaska? For what purpose? Frighten her, amaze her, arouse her? Speaking of the gods, could one of them move the boat along before she screamed…

"The ham looked a little gross so I washed it, so if it's damp that's why." The plate crashed down in front of her, snapping Alaska out of her thoughts. Sandy slipped back into the seat next to her, still beaming brightly as she tucked into her own sandwich.

"Thanks." Alaska picked up the sandwich and bit into it. It definitely was too wet, but she didn't want to upset Sandy, not when she was smiling again. The joys of sandwich preparation seemed to have lightened her up, though Alaska couldn't tell if it was genuine anymore.

She didn't think she was being suspicious. Every morning, Sandy greeted her with a smile as she had done nearly every day since Mt Moon, but since they had been on the boat Alaska had noticed how red Sandy's eyes were as she did so, marks down her cheeks to show where tears had dried. Had it been like this for a while now or only the last few days? Alaska hated that it took being trapped on a boat for her to notice, but she also didn't want to bring it up and spark another argument.

"The sandwich is good," she said. Sandy was staring contemplatively at her own as Alaska spoke, and looked up, disappointment visible on her face.

"Well, it isn't, is it? Not really." She threw it down onto the plate.

Alaska dropped her own one. "Well, now that you say it, it was quite…"

"Moist?"

"I was going to say 'dripping wet', but no, let's go with moist." She smiled, and Sandy laughed as she leant back in her seat. "It'll be fine once it's, I guessed, dried out a bit. Here, let's try this." Alaska grabbed both plates and moved through the cabin: the tiled kitchen area that looked ripped from a catalogue gave way to a plush burgundy carpet that covered the front of the boat, with a huge leather couch against one wall and an entertainment unit so big it would likely crush her flat if it ever came loose.

Floor to ceiling glass doors opened up to the bow of the boat, where the luxurious deck sheltered from the harsh sun by the overhanging top floor. Spread out across the wooden floor, Paige, Frances, Shelley, Butterfree, Pichu, Sylveon, Goomy and Weepinbell relaxed in the sun, so content that none of them stirred as Alaska stepped past them and placed the soggy sandwiches on the table in the middle.

"They look so peaceful," she whispered as she stepped back inside.

"That's because they are tired. Tired and hungry, just like us." Sandy had produced a box of Crustle Crackers and a lump of cheese in gold foil, which she was stabbing with one of the brown wafers. "Found these at the back of a cupboard. The crackers are slightly stale and I'm not sure if this cheese is meant to be mouldy or not, but at least we know it's not going to kill us."

"You don't know that, the food poisoning might just wait and kick in halfway through the battle," Alaska laughed, though she reached for the crackers regardless. "Who knows, Gideon might strike tomorrow, anything's possible!"

She let out a single booming 'ha' before realising the weight of her words. Her eyes met Sandy's and she saw her fear reflected back at her. The two put down their crackers and sank into their seats like mirror twins. Alaska tried to avoid looking at Sandy or the Pokémon, but in the tiny cabin, there were only so many places to turn to.

"Should we battle? I feel like we need to battle." Alaska got up as she said it, knees banging against the table, and she began to pace.

Sandy shook her head. "They trained enough yesterday and the day before that and the day before that. They've done a month's worth of training in the space of a few days; we need to let them recover."

"You're right, you're right," Alaska replied, her words coming out curt and sharp. "They are ready, though, aren't they?"

Sandy shrugged. "They are about as ready as they can be, probably more so than any of the Pokémon of the other… saviours." She almost spat the word out, disgust rising up her face.

"Yeah, you're right." Alaska smiled as she said it, even though in her heart she doubted it. They had trained well the last few days – Paige in particular had benefited from bonding with Leaf's Pidgeot – but was any of that enough whether Gideon attacked in three hours or three months?

"Look, if you need to think about something else, why don't we do something sensible for once in our lives and plan ahead? We need to come up with some sort of idea of how to find Blaine." Alaska stopped in her tracks and wheeled around to face Sandy, who seemed to have devoured half the crackers.

"How? We literally have no idea where he is or why he chooses which people to battle. I think we're just going to have to get in there and start searching."

"That will take ages."

"I'm fine with that. Anything that delays the final chaos battle of doom is fine by me."

Sandy pursed her lips. "What if we spend weeks in there and we miss something important? Or we could get lost and freeze to death."

"Good point," Alaska murmured. She glanced around as she paced, wondering how many blankets Bertram had here. Did I even pack a jumper?

"I think we should split up. We can cover more ground and hopefully get out of there faster." Sandy looked up, eyebrow raised. "Is something wrong?"

Alaska hadn't realised she had stopped walking, nor that her face had betrayed her emotions, and quickly tried to rearrange her features. "What? No, nothing's wrong!" Sandy raised an eyebrow, and Alaska sighed. "I just don't… I'd rather not get separated from you, you know?"

There was a moment, frozen in time. It stretched on for an eternity, and Alaska wasn't sure why, but as Sandy looked at her, cogs ticking away in her brain, it seemed as though they had reached a make or break moment.

"Alright, we won't separate, if that's what you want," Sandy said finally, and she grabbed three more crackers and looked away.

"Is it what you want?" Alaska asked, her voice creeping out in a whisper.

"I'm not really fussed. It would be nice though to have a proper plan." Crumbs flew out of her mouth as she vigorously crunched down. Alaska could hear Sandy's teeth slam together over the slosh of the waves outside. The invisible presence between them was more obvious than ever, something Alaska knew couldn't follow them around once they stepped inside the caves.

"Sandy, is there something you aren't –?"

"I'm just very tired, Alaska, ok? It's been a rough few days… training and everything, I'm just quite tired." Sandy made a smile that she must have thought looked relaxed, but it was more strained than any other expression she could have chosen. Alaska bit her lip and stared at her: if she had been acting this way, Sandy would have tried pulling her out of her funk. Would Sandy appreciate being scolded the same way she yelled at Alaska? Not like I ever got a bloody say in it. She scoffed, catching Sandy's attention, and Alaska fell silent, her friend's eyes clearly shutting down that idea.

Instead, she grabbed some crackers and continued pacing. Sandy was right that they needed to plan, but Alaska couldn't concentrate. Her mind had been racing non-stop since they left Fuchsia, and it seemed worse than ever. Everything from Sandy to Blaine to Leaf to Buzz to her Pokémon, she was going over in circles so much she almost felt dizzy. She longed for something to distract her; Alaska gazed out the window, for once hoping someone like Kyogre or Palkia would swim past, so there would at least be something to talk about.

"Why haven't we seen any other islands? Shouldn't we have gone past a Sevii or something like that at least?"

"What? No, we're way too south for that. Sevii is, like, more… east, I think?"

Alaska shrugged, gazing out at the empty ocean. "I didn't realise my geography was this bad."

"Wouldn't it have been nice if we had had the option to go to a special place, say, every weekday, and learn important things like geography, math, Kantonese…"

"What sort of fantasy nonsense is that?" Alaska looked around with a smirk, and Sandy managed to smile, which turned quickly to confusion.

"Wait, I thought you had been to Sevii?"

The shock was clear in her voice, and Alaska quickly went to defence mode. "You don't have to know the geographical location of a place in order to visit there! Don't act high and mighty when you don't know where it is either."

"I'm not high and mighty, thanks! It's just…" Sandy drifted off, her expression turning sheepish. She reached out for some more crackers but stopped, hand hovering over the packet. "Can I be honest here?"

"Isn't that our policy?"

Sandy shot Alaska a look before carrying on. "I really knew nothing about what happened to Sevii before we met Bertram. Is that bad?"

"How nothing-y are we talking here?"

"I knew there had been a war, obviously, but not about how much of the islands had been destroyed, or the Kalosi people having to move there to rebuild everything. Did you?"

"A bit," Alaska admitted. "Remembering the past became a big thing, at least for a while, after they rebuilt Viridian, so we learned all about the big wars and what Team Rocket had done, I guess as a lesson not to repeat the past?"

"Right." Sandy nodded absently, still wearing that dour look. Alaska tentatively stepped forwards, contemplating if she should put a hand on her the same way Leaf had with her, but never got the chance. "I don't know why I'm bringing this up, it's just been on my mind for a few days now. I guess I just feel bad that all that suffering happened and already it's just a thing of the past, you know?"

"I do." Alaska thought of how Viridian been, the wide streets and the mismatched houses, the suburban feeling where you felt like you knew everyone. Now all that was gone and no one talked about it, not around the townhouses sitting symmetrically opposite each other. No one wanted to remember what had happened; they just wanted to move on, heads down and hoping the past would leave them alone.

"That's why we have to fight. To ensure that no one else dies saving a world that will only try to forget them. Cause that's the thing, no one cares about war until it affects them, and even then they always just move on and pretend they care on anniversaries when they don't give two shits about it the rest of the year. I mean, even we don't care about this war and we have to fight in it!" Alaska said, flailing her arms madly. "I don't want to have to save the day, but I hope we do because the world doesn't need another Bertram or Leaf or Janine who has to live with something no one else cares about."

Alaska didn't know where that had come from, but as she said it, it felt good. She could imagine someone saying it in a movie – not a classy one, probably, but something she would've watched on a rainy afternoon when nothing else was on. With a weary grin at Sandy, she collapsed onto the couch near the deck and sighed.

"The world couldn't handle another Bertram anyway. I don't think there is enough space on the Fuchsia coastline for two former sex worker billionaire farmers."

Alaska looked at Sandy: it was the last thing she had expected her to say, and from the sly grin the blonde was struggling to keep off her face, she hadn't expected it either. She broke first, and Alaska followed. It was the first thing they had had to laugh at properly for what felt like weeks, and personally, Alaska was just glad to see Sandy smile and know it was genuine.

She wasn't sure how she was herself, but she couldn't deny that the more she considered things, the more she could see the other side of this insane situation. She still wasn't a happy or willing soldier, but the idea was growing on her – for now, at least.

"Ladies, we are about to dock at Seafoam." The driver's voice boomed from down the stairs of his cabin, making them jolt – they kept forgetting there was someone else on board, and it renewed their laughing fit. Despite their giggles, the two managed to stand up, and they looked at each other in the eye, not saying anything but not needing to either.

"Let's go see this frozen island wasteland then, shall we?"

"Well, we're here, aren't we?" Alaska linked arms with Sandy as they stepped towards the deck, where their Pokémon were beginning to stir.

From afar, Seafoam looked purely unremarkable. It resembled a giant boulder that had been pushed out of the ocean, one only made special by the presence of a god. Inside it was meant to be beautiful, yet you would simply sail past if you didn't know better. The plain, windswept island would have been a disappointment after the long haul getting there, if not for the other ship already waiting by the shore.

Alaska had known they would run into them again at some point, life was simply too cruel for anything else. Yet she hadn't thought it would happen so soon. Standing next to Sandy and their Pokémon at the front of the boat, it seemed like only yesterday since the last time they had seen Damian, Lachlan, Chloe and Amanda, and there they were, standing on the island's beach like old friends waiting for them to show up.

Though even before Alaska saw the excited glint in Amanda's eyes, the look of a hungry predator who had finally found her prey, she knew there was no chance of civility waiting for them on the shore. Alaska felt Sandy's hand grip tightly onto hers, and despite herself, she gripped back, well aware they had just sailed into a trap.
 
For the Review Game:

I haven't really taken the time to read Eight Easy Steps before, but I can say that it's well written! I at firs thought that 'storey' was a spelling error, but then I realized that it's just the British spelling of 'story' for us Americans. Still, I felt like the at has progressed well, and while I haven't read the previous chapters before 81, I have some sense of what happened. I didn't spot any spelling or grammar errors, even if some areas of comma use had me think for a second.

I can see now why Eight Easy Steps is as praised as it is. I wouldn't mind reading it myself, but I generally veer away from stories that hold...vulgar content, in terms of language. I know that using the f-bomb and other words can be accurate to the character of teenagers (I know about it well, I'm in high school), but I myself don't find it necessary to make a character. Still, on that matter, I won't ask that you change that, as it's just an opinion that I hold. Eight Easy Steps is still a wonderful story!
 
"No, it's fine!" Sandy got up and walked away – not that there was much room on the boat for someone to walk away to.
I've read this chapter twice and wanted to point out some inconsistencies. The kitchen size seems drastically disproportionate to the rest of the boat. A yacht (i.e. the type of boat rappers in music videos love) is a HUGE vessel, so it's strange that it would have a puny kitchen. Minor nitpicking, I know, but wealth and fine dining are synonymous.
The last few days had been weird, to say the least. Meeting gods, training with ninjas, leaving behind the glorious mansion paid for by prostitution – Alaska had thought her journey had gone through every possible motion, yet around every corner, there was another surprise waiting for her. If a time-travelling alien dressed like a hipster was waiting for them at Seafoam, she would be pleased for the return to normality.
I felt like the last sentence was a little too "random" for the paragraph. It detracts from the seriousness of the former sentences, but not in a profound way. Does that make sense? A time-traveling alien hipster is so out-of-context that it wouldn't really return things to normality; it would add to the unusual series of events.
hoping to find one old man hidden inside a giant frozen rock
inb4 blaine is the last airbender . . . er, firebender
The boat was pure luxury – when Alaska had seen it waiting for them at the port, it looked like it had been ripped straight from a rappers music video; white, sleek and huge like a pale Wailord – but the strangeness could be felt in every room. The shift from intense training to five-star boating was odd, to say the least, and Alaska simply couldn't settle.
See, the descriptions don't match up. How big is this boat? And how does one quantify 'five-star boating?' I know hotels can be measured in that manner, but boats? And what exactly is this 'strangeness in every room?'
One thing she kept coming back to was the moment she had said goodbye to Leaf and Janine. After such a hostile first meeting, the trio had parted so cordially on the Fuchsia docks it was as if they were in an alternate reality. They either wanted her to be best friends with them or the gym leaders were simply ignoring the underlying tension in order to force Alaska into their bidding, it was hard to tell, but she also didn't mind. It had been the first time in weeks she had said goodbye to their hosts without any anger on her part.
Poor Alaska, she doesn't have any real friends beyond Sandy. Although, given her explosive personality, it makes one wonder about the reasonability of Leaf and Janine.
Was that what Latios needed to be captured; approval from his peers? Or had that all been purely for Alaska? For what purpose? Frighten her, amaze her, arouse her?
whatchu implying here, aceroni
ALASKA x LATIOS 2017?
Alaska grabbed both plates and moved through the cabin: the tiled kitchen area that looked ripped from a catalogue gave way to a plush burgundy carpet that covered the front of the boat, with a huge leather couch against one wall and an entertainment unit so big it would likely crush her flat if it ever came loose.
Why would the boat have a massive entertainment center and a puny kitchen? I know I'm beating a dead horse now, looool. I feel like you could describe the entertainment unit in more detail. Frankly, a modern entertainment set (large flat-screen TV [~40 to 60 lb], speaker set w/ subwoofer, and BD-DVD devices) would not 'crush [a teenage girl] flat.' An outdated CRT TV (the boxy kind that weighs a TON) could kill a teenage girl. But, then again, assuming said yacht is designed for efficiency's sake, then we can assume it's a flat screen TV. Anyway . . .
"Who knows, Gideon might strike tomorrow, anything's possible!"
She let out a single booming 'ha' before realising the weight of her words. Her eyes met Sandy's and she saw her fear reflected back at her. The two put down their crackers and sank into their seats like mirror twins. Alaska tried to avoid looking at Sandy or the Pokémon, but in the tiny cabin, there were only so many places to turn to.
I think you could reword the 'Gideon is gonna kill us' sentence. It sounds flippant/Alaska-esque, yes, but doesn't carry much weight.
"I'm fine with that. Anything that delays the final chaos battle of doom is fine by me."
'Final chaos battle of doom' sounds a bit melodramatic. I know Alaska is a kid, but given her recent development, this just sounds juvenile.
Alaska gazed out the window, for once hoping someone like Kyogre or Palkia would swim past, so there would at least be something to talk about.
Does Palkia swim, though? Maybe Kyogre or a Wailord (then mention how the boat looks like a giant Wailord, etc).
"Why haven't we seen any other islands? Shouldn't we have gone past a Sevii or something like that at least?"

"What? No, we're way too south for that. Sevii is, like, more… east, I think?"

Alaska shrugged, gazing out at the empty ocean. "I didn't realise my geography was this bad."
They aren't too far south, the Sevii Islands are too far south. They're very far away from the Kanto mainland. Although the islands are open to interpretation, so I can let this one slide.
"Let's go see this frozen island wasteland then, shall we?"
'Frozen island wasteland' seems a bit redundant. But, then again, she's a teenager!
Alaska had known they would run into them again at some point, life was simply too cruel for anything else. Yet she hadn't thought it would happen so soon. Standing next to Sandy and their Pokémon at the front of the boat, it seemed like only yesterday since the last time they had seen Damian, Lachlan, Chloe and Amanda, and there they were, standing on the island's beach like old friends waiting for them to show up.

Though even before Alaska saw the excited glint in Amanda's eyes, the look of a hungry predator who had finally found her prey, she knew there was no chance of civility waiting for them on the shore. Alaska felt Sandy's hand grip tightly onto hers, and despite herself, she gripped back, well aware they had just sailed into a trap.
PLOOOOOOT TWIST

Although I pointed out errors more than anything, I must say that I enjoyed this chapter. It's nice to see Alaska and Sandy get introspective. And if those crackers really were old, they're probably be rancid. 0/10 do not recommend eating rancid crackers.
 
Well, I've never reviewed this fic before, and since you are a pretty big name here, I don't see why I shouldn't.

Also, concerning this the title '8 easy steps'? You have over 100 chapters planned! Although, 'over 100 rather time-consuming steps' doesn't quite have the same ring to it.


It had been a peaceful day on Five Island, until the explosion occurred.
That's kind of a given? Don't you think?

In the middle of a calm and beautiful day, a day where the sun, sea and wind had been perfect
What made the 'sun, sea and wind' so perfect? 'Perfect' is kind of a vague statement.

An orange and yellow fist
Quite an odd choice of metaphor.

out before flying away on their Pokemon.
I like how you included this little line, it ties it is to the Pokemon universe especially well.

Only a few locals worked there as cleaners and gardeners, and they told everyone about the strange, secretive and oddly dressed people who employed them,
I think this line is a good subtle way to introduce the mystery into your plot.

Detective Inspector Arthur Reynolds stood in the middle of the remains, casting his eyes across the charred rubble. He was one of the top police officers in the Sevii Islands, having worked the area for decades. His speciality was in arson cases and he had headed many investigations into suspicious fires over the years, and had been the first one called to investigate. But, as the aged detective gazed at the cracked floor, the melted roof and the fallen walls, he knew that this case would be different from all the rest.
This character seems interesting enough, but I can't find myself caring about them all that much? Although, this might just be me.

It looked like things could still go to plan after all…
But does that plan involve conquering Kanto in 8 steps or less? A bit of a cliche cliffhanger if you ask me.

I figure I should start this off by introducing myself: the name's Alaska. Alaska Acevedo
And I'm a protagonist from a YA Fiction!

I have black hair, I'm short-ish and that's all you lot need to know *glares at all you creepy perverts*
Does she have long painted fingernails? Oh is she a vampire too?

Back in 2008, as you all should know, Kanto had a little, shall we say, giant criminal conglomerate
At first this character seems very laid back, and perhaps not all that intelligent but now she's using words like 'conglomerate'?

Red. Short for Edward
The word 'Edward' cannot make the word 'Red', there is no 'e' in Edward for starters. But I still kind of like the idea of 'Red' actually being a nickname.

The only title I've ever had is "Most Beautiful Handwriting" back in Year One, but I only had that for a few days (bloody Susan Smith!)
Name dropping in a public blog without the person's permission (when said person is not a celebrity) seems like a rather bratty, arse-holish thing to do especially in a negative manner like this, but I'm not sure how likable this character is suppose to be at the moment.

And now they have begun this new one: Indigo Dreams. The premise is that three teenagers will be given one of the three regional starter Pokémon (Bulbasaur, Charmander and Squirtle)


Around the same time, the Silph Corporation, that big research and development company who most likely made the laptop or phone you're currently on

These both add some nice world building aspect, especially considering it's not often you'll see both Silph Co. and the Indigo League be painted in such ways.

Chloe Carmichael.

Chloe is this, to put it nicely, bitch that lives down the road from me. I could go on for several pages and a couple hundred thousand words describing specifically the kind of person she is,

She sounds repugnant, doesn't she?
Again with the name-dropping, also is this character important in any way? They seem kind of placed here so that the character could have a ramble about her, but she's not established why she's important here.

I guess the clash came from being entirely different people. I am a very simple, non-materialistic girl. I do have a PokeGear, as practically everyone does, and I own some CD's and DVD's, but I don't flounce about, waving my parent's money around and acting like a Barbie doll that got brought to life.
'simple, non-materialistic' eh? Her arrogance really shows here.

Red began with a Charmander, Kris with a Chikorita, Wallace had a Mudkip – everyone thinks you can only be the very best if you get given a starter.
I kind of liked how you pointed this out, since it is mostly true, a lot of other trainers don't seem to have a starter Pokemon in the games and anime, but many of the 'great' trainers, including the player themselves do.

I think you got this story off to an interesting start, you introduced quite a lot of characters (although quite a few of them in passing so I am yet to form opinions on those ones.) Alaska seems like a bit of a brat right now, a typical self-entitled teenager, probably a rather interesting character to follow but not one which is so likable (I'm guessing she will develop to be much more likable however). The prose is generally good, although you do point out a few 'obvious' things here and there, but that's me being nitpicky. I also notice you move from a first person blog (a very personal perspective) to third person between Chapter one and two, which is a little jarring since I feel as if I connect with Alaska's character a little less than I did in the First Chapter, that's mostly another personal gripe though. The scientist seems interesting enough, but the last line he uses 'It looked like things could still go to plan after all…' makes him seem like a bit of a cliche or childish villain, and I don't quite think that's your intent.
I'm quite fond of the world-building in this actually, which you did well in these early chapters and you built on certain aspects of the Pokemon World at large too, which is nice to see.
 
Chapter Eighty Five: A Million Things I Haven't Done
@lucarioknight56: Thanks for the review, I hope it was enough to tempt you to read more! I can understand the swearing putting people off, but I think it ties in with Alaska's brash, purposefully 'in your face' personality. There is a reason for it though, which will be revealed in the next arc.

@Arkadelphiak: Thank you as well. I can see that I should've put more thought into the boat. I really viewed it as secondary to the events unfolding in the chapter, as I wanted the focus to be on the characters rather than do my typical "Here is a lot of description, aren't I artful?", but I agree I didn't really plot it through much. The boat is being viewed through Alaska though, who lived for five years in a broken house, so anything better than that is luxurious.

ALASKA x LATIOS 2017?
Never

I think you could reword the 'Gideon is gonna kill us' sentence. It sounds flippant/Alaska-esque, yes, but doesn't carry much weight.
/
'Final chaos battle of doom' sounds a bit melodramatic. I know Alaska is a kid, but given her recent development, this just sounds juvenile.
People don't really mature over night though, and I think language in particular falls under that. Alaska is someone who thinks she is smart and uses big words when she wants to impress but also is still a dopey teenager. I can appreciate your view though and will keep an eye on it for future chapters.

Does Palkia swim, though? Maybe Kyogre or a Wailord (then mention how the boat looks like a giant Wailord, etc).
Palkia glides, I imagine. It is a water-based god so I am sticking to it :p

They aren't too far south, the Sevii Islands are too far south. They're very far away from the Kanto mainland. Although the islands are open to interpretation, so I can let this one slide.
Sevii Islands, as Sandy said, are more east of Kanto/Johto in the GVerse. Cinnabar is south of Pallet and a bit further away than in the games, and Sevii is east of that. Seafoam, given it is a literal block of ice, I decided needed to be further away from tropical islands to be realistic. I imagine it being north of Sinnoh/Snowpoint City.

And if those crackers really were old, they're probably be rancid.
Definitely. Never eat rancid crackers, especially with dirty ham.

@Ghostsoul: Another new reviewer, thanks for reading! Hope you enjoy the rest of the arc :)

Again with the name-dropping, also is this character important in any way? They seem kind of placed here so that the character could have a ramble about her, but she's not established why she's important here.
I went and re-read this part of the blog and realised that, in editing it, I removed the specific mention that Chloe is doing the reality show. I will update that ASAP - thank you!

Name dropping in a public blog without the person's permission (when said person is not a celebrity) seems like a rather bratty, arse-holish thing to do especially in a negative manner like this, but I'm not sure how likable this character is suppose to be at the moment.
It is meant to be a flippant remark, not intended to be bratty or arsehole-ish. I may rethink it though.

The word 'Edward' cannot make the word 'Red', there is no 'e' in Edward for starters. But I still kind of like the idea of 'Red' actually being a nickname.
Technically there is an 'e' in Edward XD Red's best friend was Blue, Ed rhymes with Red, hence the nickname. I didn't really want to call him Redwood or something.

At first this character seems very laid back, and perhaps not all that intelligent but now she's using words like 'conglomerate'?
It's a blog - it's meant to be for showing off ;)

And I'm a protagonist from a YA Fiction!
Does she have long painted fingernails? Oh is she a vampire too?
I'm not quite sure what you mean here? Is there something wrong with having black hair XD

But does that plan involve conquering Kanto in 8 steps or less? A bit of a cliche cliffhanger if you ask me.
I see your point. I have never really liked that ending, so I am working on altering it now. Thanks for this!

That's kind of a given? Don't you think?
Fair point but how would you prefer the story began: "A building exploded"? You can ask Arkadelphiak about why that would be a terrible idea for me XD

Also, concerning this the title '8 easy steps'? You have over 100 chapters planned! Although, 'over 100 rather time-consuming steps' doesn't quite have the same ring to it.
Eight Easy Steps = eight gyms. It is not a reflection on the amount of chapters.

'simple, non-materialistic' eh? Her arrogance really shows here.
I am not really sure why this is arrogant - could you clarify what you mean please?

The prose is generally good, although you do point out a few 'obvious' things here and there, but that's me being nitpicky. I also notice you move from a first person blog (a very personal perspective) to third person between Chapter one and two, which is a little jarring since I feel as if I connect with Alaska's character a little less than I did in the First Chapter, that's mostly another personal gripe though.
Alaska's blog is meant to be her reality and her take on things, whereas the chapters themselves are more... accurate, I'd say.

Alaska seems like a bit of a brat right now, a typical self-entitled teenager, probably a rather interesting character to follow but not one which is so likable (I'm guessing she will develop to be much more likable however).
Again, I don't think she is self-entitled or acting like a brat in the blog. She is introducing herself and being a bit flippant/looking to stand out. The first arc should put her actions into some kind of perspective, but really I am biased, I cannot promise how you will feel.

Chapter Eighty Five: A Million Things I Haven't Done

The cave was freezing. Alaska had known it was coming, but no amount of forethought had prepared her for the sheer wall of coldness that engulfed them the second they entered the cave.

"Do you think a lot of people have died here?" Alaska watched her breath as it danced in front of her, so thick and white it looked more solid than gas.

"Don't say that, I don't want to think about that!" Sandy sounded incredulous, but when Alaska looked at her friend, her worried, calculating eyes made it clear she was trying to work out the possibility of dying down here.

"Just imagine, our breath could freeze in our lungs. Is that possible?"

"No, of course not! Well… probably not…"

Alaska smirked and looked up, enamoured. "You have to admit though: if you had to die somewhere, I don't think there's anywhere better than here."

When she and Sandy had first boarded the ship, they had found a file from Leaf detailing what they'd expect to find in Seafoam. She had explained that it was an ice cave, and the photos had revealed how literal that was. Alaska had groaned at that; not only were they going to be looking blindly around for an old man in a series of identical caves, but they were going to freeze as well.

Yet after the initial shock of how horribly cold it was, Alaska found herself taking back all her preconceptions. Seafoam was beautiful; it was as simple as that. There were no words worthy enough to describe how overwhelmingly gorgeous this world was. She had never thought ice could look so beautiful, but it was so much more than the frost she had expected based on years living in a damp, broken house. The ice formations that covered the walls and ceiling looked as though they'd been painted on, the water-glazed surface covered with streaks and patterns that seemed artfully placed. A rich, pounding blue resonated from within, the ice glowing from every angle like a wall of translucent sapphires.

It was an impossible beauty, one you'd never expect to be hidden inside such a hideous mound of rock, and Alaska could nearly forgive the island for the cold if it meant creating something so astounding.

Yet if the glowing cave was a natural wonder, the scene unfolding before her was as unnatural as it could get.

"How are we looking?" Amanda Anderson's bark echoed throughout the cave. Even though Alaska and Sandy were standing well out of the way, the acoustics made it so that Alaska had to look around, for a second thinking the producer was hissing into her ear.

"It's as good as we will get in this setting," the director mumbled back. "Couldn't we have done this outside?"

Alaska watched as Amanda ignored the suggestion and checked the monitors herself. Deeming it all satisfactory, she nodded brusquely before stepping behind the director. Alaska could see him shudder as he lifted a megaphone to his lips.

"Okay then, if we are all ready, let's get this show on the road – three, two, one, ACTION!"

Once the echo died away, there was only silence. All eyes rested on Damian, Lachlan and Chloe as they sat still in the middle of the cave, joined by a Tangela, Exeggcute and Cubone respectively and a large metal crate. As Lachlan heaved it open, Alaska examined his co-stars: they had both looked sullen and moody ever since she had stepped off the boat. Plopped next to each other on a frozen rock, they looked more like naughty children in time out than reality stars, and Alaska couldn't help but relish their demeanour.

"So… we've got a rope, some clippy things, and… boots?" Lachlan emerged from the crate holding a pair of bright blue leather shoes that he presented to the camera.

"They're climbing boots – look, they have cleats on the bottom," Damian said, holding up a green pair and showing off the metal spikes.

Lachlan withdrew a sheet of paper and gave it a dramatic shake, emitting a fake cough and arching his eyebrows like an announcer in a pantomime. "It says here that we have to head down to the next floor of the cavern and find a waterfall. Then we need to use our pre-selected Pokémon to climb to the top."

Damian snatched the paper from Lachlan's hand, his anger visible even from far away. "How the hell are we meant to do that?"

"The magic of teamwork?" Lachlan laughed but stopped as soon as he caught Damian's withering expression. Instead, he grabbed a pair of hot pink shoes and turned to Chloe. "I'm going to guess these are yours - unless wardrobe has finally worked out that pink really is my colour."

The shoes went ignored. The quiet was more obvious than ever as Chloe stared blankly off into space, either ignoring Lachlan or simply not registering him. The ginger coughed awkwardly and tried to pass them again, but Chloe pushed them back.

"I can't do this – just cut."

"Chloe, just –"

"Shut up, just shut up! Cut, CUT!"

"What's your problem?"

"My problem? HER! It's always fucking her."

Everyone turned towards Alaska and Sandy as Chloe's shrieks echoed accusingly. The blonde glowered at Alaska for a moment before leaping to her feet and storming past the cameras. She ran towards Amanda, the producer pulling her close and leading her into the glumness of the cave.

"Someone should let her know they don't give out acting awards for these shows." Alaska smirked at the sudden interruption, but her joy was short-lived as a stony-faced Sandy stepped into view.

"Alaska, we should move."

"Why? I'm comfortable here.

"Clearly, but us standing here isn't going to achieve anything. I'd really rather we didn't piss them off."

Alaska tutted, her smile completely gone. "For once, I am not trying to piss anyone off deliberately." Sandy scoffed; the brief sound cut deep, but Alaska knew she deserved it. "Look, I refuse to believe that it is a coincidence that we are all here at the same time. Janine said that they were meant to go back to her gym but just disappeared – that was before we got there, which means they should have been ages away by now. Why did they only get to Seafoam right before we did?"

Sandy pursed her lips and glanced back to the set, where the crew were already disassembling everything, the shoot clearly abandoned. Alaska could see the clogs ticking away behind her friend's eyes, and struggled not to smile, surprisingly satisfied at how rational her thinking was.

"I agree that it's dodgy, but if Amanda really was waiting for us, I don't want to just be sitting ducks waiting for her to strike. We have a job to do, and, frankly, if they do try to kill us, finding Blaine before that would really work in our favour."

Alaska wanted to disagree – she'd much rather keep Amanda in her sights instead of getting ambushed by her as they stumbled blindly through the caves – but knew Sandy had a point.

"Fine, let's go." Alaska hitched up her bag and started off. Some of the crew watched as they left, but Alaska ignored them all, glancing only at Damian. He had his back to her, but she could see he looked tense, his Tangela appearing to stroke him with a vine. What's bothering you so much? Alaska couldn't tell if the question came from a place of curiosity or concern, but she glanced back to him repeatedly as she and Sandy left them behind.

It didn't take long for them to lose sight of the Indigo Dreams team, nor for the pebbly floor to give way to ice. The temperature seemed to drop a few degrees with every step they took; Alaska's teeth chattered, her feet so cold she had to check she was still wearing shoes. The blue glow followed them, lighting the way ahead, while the icicle formations became more abstract and haunting, but Alaska quickly found herself not in the mood for appreciation.

The two walked in silence, heading through a series of smaller caves that led nowhere and backtracking after one path took them to a sudden cliff edge. It was too cold to talk, but Alaska was pleased for the silence, giving her time to think everything over. Sandy was sticking close to her, focused on the caves rather than Alaska, but the tension that had been hovering around for days seemed to have faded. After weeks of waiting for something to happen, they finally had work to do, and Alaska was glad they had a mission to focus on.

The sooner we find Blaine, the sooner we can move on to the next stage and the sooner this whole mess is over, she thought, but with none of the bitterness she had felt over the last few weeks.

After a few minutes of walking, the two came to a small tunnel that had been smoothed by from years of travellers coming through to hunt for Pokémon. The sound of rushing water sounded on the other side. Intrigued, Alaska and Sandy stepped through, emerging in an impossibly large room. It was a cave the size of a stadium but with the curved roof of a cathedral, rising up to a mass of violently beautiful stalactites jutting out from the ceiling. The empty, smooth cave floor was split in two, the rushing water coming from a monstrous waterfall gushing from a crevice at the far end.

Overtaken with childlike glee, Alaska sprinted forwards to investigate the crack, covering an area the same length as Janine's outdoor battlefield before she reached the edge of the land. It was a steep drop to the rushing river below, the water shining a remarkably crystalline colour that made the ice glow even more brightly.

"This… this is amazing." Alaska sighed as she gazed at the frozen wonder around them. For a few minutes, she forgot all about her trials ahead and simply watched the river flow, speechlessly captivated.

"It is, it really is." Alaska nearly jumped, having forgotten all about Sandy. Guiltily, she turned to her friend and was surprised to see her eyes were watering.

"Are you crying?"

"No!" Sandy wiped the tears away as she stared forcefully ahead, but felt Alaska watching her and turned to her with a sigh. "It's just… this is why I left home, you know? To see sights like this. This place really is breath-taking, but I was just thinking how long it's been since I actually got to admire the beauty of where we are." She shook her head and wiped her eyes again. "Forget about it, it's silly, ignore me."

Alaska smiled. "You don't need to apologise, I understand completely. I think we've both forgotten a lot about why we are doing this in the first place, it's important to hold on to those goals."

"Very." Sandy smiled briefly at Alaska, but there was something in her eyes that jolted her for a second. Her look was almost accusatory; was Sandy blaming Alaska for everything that happened, for distracting her from her? Alaska watched her friend for a second, wondering if she'd catch the look again, but when Sandy turned back to her, her smile seemed genuine as she dabbed at her eyes with a tissue.

"We should probably keep moving – if we stand still any longer, these tears might freeze," she said with a laugh.

"Yeah, we should move." Alaska laughed briefly, her eyes still locked on Sandy. "Any idea where? We could try getting to the top of the waterfall: if I was a reclusive gym leader, I'd try to go somewhere impregnable."

Sandy nodded, humming as she gazed up. "Onix can probably get us up there. If we go that way, it might make it easier for us to get away from the reality stars."

"Why, what's wrong with us?" Alaska and Sandy both jumped as a cocky voice whispered behind them. They turned simultaneously as Lachlan burst out laughing, clapping his hands as he took in their fright.

"Damn, I was hoping one of you would fall into the water," he cackled.

"Do that again and I'll fucking throw you in myself," Alaska hissed. As Lachlan laughed harder, something moved behind him, and Alaska quickly peered around. For a second, she thought Amanda had somehow sneaked up on them, but it was only Damian, smiling tentatively as he approached.

"Did he try to scare you?"

"Yep," Sandy said simply and sourly.

Damian sighed and whacked Lachlan over the head, instantly silencing him. "Sorry about him, I can't let him out of my sight without him pissing someone off."

"Maybe you should get a leash – a nice tight one," Alaska added and smiled as Lachlan recoiled. "What are you two doing here anyway?"

Damian rolled his eyes and glanced back towards the tunnel. "Had to get away from there. Everyone's pissed off at Chloe ruining another take, the mood isn't very pleasant, so we've come on ahead." He pointed at the waterfall. "Supposed to climb that with Tangela – the things people do for success, eh?"

"Mmm," Alaska murmured. "Well, I suppose we better get going, a tad too cold to –"

Damian interrupted. "Are you guys hungry?" He reached into the pocket of his puffer jacket and pulled out a small thermos. "It's pretty gross, but we've both got some soup if you want some. Doubt you'll be able to cook anything in here – unless, you know, you brought something off that fancy boat you arrived on."

"Actually, the only thing we had to eat on there was some soggy sandwiches," Alaska said.

"OooOoh!" Everyone looked at Lachlan, whose cheeky grin quickly evaporated under everyone's collective stares. "Soggy sandwiches… get it? It sounds like… you know…" He glanced down and back up, his face bursting with redness, before finally turning away. Alaska didn't really want to stop now that they had gotten started, but she couldn't ignore the rumbling her stomach had made as soon as food was mentioned. Glancing at Sandy, it was clear she felt the same.

A few minutes can't hurt, can it? Alaska thought, instant regretting even suggesting that to the universe. "Sure thanks, we'd love some."

Not wanting to turn her back on the tunnel, Alaska suggested they sit where they were. There was no obvious entrance on the other side of the canyon, so there was no chance of Amanda sneaking up on them unannounced. Reassured, Alaska let herself relax, pushing thoughts of Sandy out of her mind and instead focusing on the joys of warm food.

"So why were you on that boat?" Damian asked as he tipped some of the soup out into the lid and passed it to Alaska, while Lachlan did the same with his thermos for Sandy.

Alaska shrugged. "We met some new friends." Damian raised a curious eyebrow, but Alaska remained silent as she drank the soup in one go. She nearly moaned in relief as the warm, chunky liquid slid down her throat. She didn't notice the flavour, simply savouring the momentary escape from the cold.

"Hey, I'm not trying to pry, just to trying to make conversation," Damian said.

"I know. It's just been an intense week or so, not something I want to relive." Alaska forced a smile as she passed the lid back. Damian looked unconvinced, but he didn't push further.

Alaska leant back, feeling bad. She didn't want to exclude Damian or Lachlan. There was nothing wrong with them from what she had gathered over these many meetings, but she couldn't help but feel cagey around them. What if Amanda had them bugged, or if she had missed some tiny detail that hinted at where their loyalties lied? She and Sandy had come so far, were so close to the finish line, that she could not risk letting one tiny slip-up ruin everything.

Maybe in another life, we would've been friends. For a second, Alaska indulged the thought: the four of them sitting here as they had so many times, bonded after weeks of travelling together, fighting the gyms and taking on rivals, their bodies unbroken, their Pokémon undamaged. That's the life she had imagined, the life that the League liked to market; go on a journey, make new friends, have grand adventures. Instead, even after half a dozen meetings, Alaska knew nothing about the people sitting opposite her, just two more empty relationships in an endless line of them.

After a few minutes of quietly sipping soup and refilling their lids, Lachlan suddenly piped up. "Did you battle Janine?"

"Yeah," Alaska said. "It was close but I got the badge so that's what counts, eh?"

"Totally! I'm so keen for the next one – only two more and then we get to Indigo, yeah baby!" Lachlan let out a whoop that echoed around the cave for a minute. Sandy and Damian laughed, and Alaska managed a smile, slowly relaxing.

"Where are you going to go next? Head home to Viridian or go to Johto first?"

Alaska turned to Damian, perplexed. "Why would I go to Johto?"

"Well, you need to get your eighth from somewhere, don't you? Unless you plan on being the one to track down Blaine."

"What? Blaine? Don't be ridiculous!" Sandy blurted out, and she began laughing again, a sound so obviously false that everyone stared at her. She let it die out naturally and then downed her second helping of soup in one go.

Alaska hoped it would go unremarked, but she caught Damian and Lachlan exchanging looks out of the corner of her eye. "I haven't really decided my next step, but we might sail to Goldenrod or –"

"Are you alright?" Damian asked, cutting Alaska off mid-sentence. Sandy looked stunned, and Alaska knew she had to distract.

"Do you mind not interrupting me?" She snapped, and Damian raised his hands defensively.

"Hey, I'm just wondering what's up with your friend, that's all!"

"Nothing's 'up' with her, thanks! How about you, you alright?"

Damian's eyes narrowed. "Why wouldn't I be?"

"I was watching you earlier; you seemed a bit tense after Chloe stormed off. Something going on there?" Instantly, Alaska saw her words had had an effect. Damian didn't say anything, but he and Lachlan exchanged a look as soon as she spoke, their expressions speaking volumes. "Ah, so there is trouble in paradise, eh?"

"It's nothing, Chloe has just been… difficult, I suppose, the last few weeks," Damian said quickly.

"Chloe, being difficult? Who'd have thought it!"

"Oh will you cut it out," Damian snapped. "Most of it's your fault!"

Alaska couldn't stop herself from snorting with derision, even as Sandy eyed her disdainfully. "Me? What the fuck are you talking about?"

"She's unstable and it's all because she wants to be better than you." Lachlan's words came out in a whisper, yet that didn't stop them from echoing. He looked up after a moment, startled, as though he hadn't realised he had spoken aloud. Lachlan blushed as he realised everyone was watching him, but as Alaska's curious glance started to wither, he coughed and straightened up.

"Chloe hates the fact that you keep showing her up, and over the past few weeks, ever since the bar incident, she's been obsessed with wanting to beat you. She doesn't care about the gyms or any other part of the show; she just talks about beating you all the time. She never was particularly nice, but now she's just… fucking crazy."

"It doesn't help that Amanda hates you as well," Damian added. "She's practically pushed Chloe down this path; half the time it feels like we are training to battle you rather than Red."

Alaska simply scoffed. She had taken a lot of blame over the last week, but she wasn't taking responsibility for Chloe Carmichael. "Well excuse me for pissing people off. If I ever once thought that pointing out to Chloe what a bitch she is would turn her into a maniac, I would've kept my mouth shut."

"You never do seem to think, do you?" Damian said acidly.

Alaska went to reply but fell silent, feeling winded. The truth always seemed to come out in arguments. She could deal with clashing with Leaf, Janine and the rest of them, but she had met Damian properly, laughed and joked with him. It was something else entirely that he felt the same way they all did. They only have one thing in common, don't they?

An awkward silence followed, punctuated only by the rushing water below. Alaska avoided looking at Sandy, not wanting to catch that same judgemental look again, even though she knew it was earned.

Eventually, Damian sighed. "Ok, I'm sorry, I didn't mean it like that, I swear! I know it's not your fault that Amanda… you know…"

"Wants to kill me?" Alaska suggested.

"She doesn't want to kill you," Damian retorted, though he sounded unconvinced.

"I'm pretty sure she does, but really, that would be your fault, Alaska, since you kind of made yourself involved," Sandy pointed out, and Alaska couldn't stop herself from glowering at her.

Bloody hell, I know you're angry but you're meant to be on my side!

"That isn't my fault, that's… that's… fucking fate's fault! So go blame, I dunno, Uxie or whoever the god of fate is!"

"I don't think we have a god of fate," Lachlan interjected quietly.

"Enough!" Damian leapt to his feet. "Lachy, I think we should head back."

"Oh no, don't leave, we were having so much fun," Alaska said sarcastically.

Damian didn't say anything, staring forcefully at the cave as he obviously ignored her. Alaska felt something hit her shoulder, and when she turned she found Sandy watching her with angry wide eyes swimming with judgement.

"Alright, I'm sorry for causing all this drama with Chloe. That never was my intention. I just wanted to show her up, that's all. I guess it got a bit of hand." Alaska shrugged, unsure of what else to say. She tried not to look, but out of the corner of her eye she saw Sandy smiling, and her heart swelled with pride.

"It's fine, I know it's not you… well, not just you." Damian grinned cheekily, and Alaska smiled briefly.

"Sandy, we should keep going as well then."

"Sounds like a plan!" The blonde leapt to her feet beaming. Alaska wasn't sure why she was so happy, but she imagined it had something to do with the fact they were all parting ways without anything having blown up.

The four gathered their things and headed towards the tunnel. Alaska glanced up at the rows of stalactites hanging frozen overhead. There were so many she couldn't tell where the ceiling was, but she liked to imagine that this cave stretched all the way up to the peak of the mountain.

"I know every time we meet up something tends to go wrong, but you must know that I do actually kind of like you." Alaska glanced sideways at Damian, struggling not to laugh at what he had said. "What is it?"

"That almost actually sounded kind of like a compliment," she shot back, smirking.

"I'm serious!" Damian said as he laughed himself. "I respect what you are doing and how you stand up for yourself, and you never seem to let any of this shit with Chloe or anyone else phase you."

"Well, I wouldn't say that," Alaska replied, forcing herself not to glance at Sandy.

"Well, I do! I know it must be hard running into us since we're the reason you are doing this all, but you always handle things really well."

Alaska stopped in her tracks. "Excuse me?"

Damian paused and turned back, looking confused. "I thought you were doing this to prove non-traditional starters are just as good as ours?"

"That was part of my inspiration, but I didn't leave just because of you, thank you very much!"

"Oh god, what are you arguing about now?" Sandy yelled, every word dripping with exasperation.

"We aren't arguing!" Alaska said quickly, mentally unwilling for another round of judgement. "We're just –"

"Alaska is trying to convince me that she isn't doing this whole trip because of us," Damian said, an eyebrow raised cockily as he gazed down at Alaska.

"I thought you wanted to show up Chloe," Lachlan mumbled.

"I thought it was because you hated Red," Sandy added awkwardly.

Alaska was so annoyed she wanted to kick someone in the face. "I'm layered, ok? Can't I have multiple reasons for wanting to leave that cesspool of a city?"

"Viridian, a cesspool?" Damian scoffed. "You're mental!"

Alaska mentally twitched. She paused, breathing deeply for a few seconds, asking if she really wanted to do this. She didn't want to become side-tracked from finding Blaine, she didn't want to keep disappointing Sandy, she didn't want to be this difficult person anymore. But on the list of crap she was willing to put up with for the good of saving the world, being questioned on her hometown was not on there.

"Are you some sort of expert on my hometown all of a sudden?"

"No, I'm just saying, it's a hell of a lot better than Pallet Town."

Alaska couldn't stop the snort of indignation bursting from her body. "Of course. This makes so much sense."

Damian crossed his arm, face suddenly sour. "What is that supposed to mean?"

"No wonder you signed up for this show – defeating Red, your old neighbour. There's something almost theatrical about doing that, isn't there? Like a reboot of some medieval play, one of those wanky ones from Kalos."

Now it was Damian's turn to look enraged. He stepped forwards and pointed a finger centimetres from Alaska's face, but froze with his mouth hanging open. Alaska could see a pained look in his eyes, but she held her ground, glowering back with all her might.

"Alright, fine, just fucking fine!" Damian spat the words out and stepped back, flinging his arms in the air as he spoke. "I don't want to keep going around in circles with you, it's so pointless. I shouldn't judge your city, but you sure as shit can't judge mine!"

He stepped back for a moment, clearly annoyed but not wanting to carry on. Yet it only lasted a second before Damian wheeled back around, unable to contain himself.

"Everyone thinks we're all obsessed with training and beating the league – 'the town that turns out Champions', that's what our town sign says now. It's really just some shitty sleepy hole that no one ever gave a fuck about three years ago.

"And then Red happened, and that all changed. And no, I don't want to be like him. I wanted to be a trainer, sure, every kid wants to, but I never admired Red. No one in my town does. If all he did was become the Champion, we probably would, but that isn't all he did. You try living next door to a kid who ends up destroying half the region, or the boy who ends up dead a year after leaving home. Do you think my parents wanted me to go on a journey after that happened?

"The only reason I'm able to do this is because the bloody producers think the same way as you. They scouted around Pallet Town, thinking it would add a bit of drama if Red went up against a hometown kid like him. My parents said no to me doing it initially, but even they couldn't turn down the money we got offered.

"I know you think this show is evil, and if I am really being honest with myself, it almost definitely is. But if they hadn't come and dragged me into this, I probably never would have gone on this journey. It would have been nice if it hadn't been fucked up since the first day."

"Are you saying this is – " Alaska began, but Damian interrupted, ramming his finger back in her face.

"Damn right I am! You might act all high and mighty now, but you're just like me and Lachy – you're just like Chloe! You only did all this because you were jealous and angry that you didn't get to go on the show and that you were going to be stuck in your shitty house forever!"

Alaska raised her hand to slap him, but Damian grabbed it, his fingernails digging into her flesh. "You don't talk to me like that. You don't know me and you don't know my life and what I went through." She yanked free, but Damian didn't step away, their faces only inches apart.

"That's your problem, you know? You seem to think that you are the only one whose life got fucked up. Stop thinking that you alone in the whole region got screwed over by what Team Rocket did – everyone fucking did!"

Silence refused to come, not when their words echoed incessantly through the enormity of the cave. No one spoke though, an unsteady tension falling between them all. Alaska could feel Sandy's eyes burning into her, but she didn't feel regret right now. Instead, she reached for a Poké Ball, unsure how this was going to go, and saw Damian's free hand move into his own pocket.

"You can judge me all you want, you wouldn't be the first and definitely won't be the last, and I doubt you'll have anything to say I haven't thought of myself. But you should be fucking thankful that I'm around, because there's one person standing in this room prophesised to stop whatever war your producers have planned, and it sure as shit ain't you."

Her words hung in the air for a minute, Damian's face still contorted with rage, but the seconds passed and his lips slowly rose up.

"Oh yes, I forgot. You seem to think you're really important, don't you? So what, are you supposed to save us, is that right?"

"Yeah, bitch, I am."

"Huh. Well, I guess we're all fucking doomed then, aren't we?"

Applause sounded behind them. The sound echoed through the cavernous space, but it was clearly only one person, given how slow and sarcastic it was. It was the type of applause Alaska instantly associated with supervillains in cheesy movies, so it was no surprise when she saw Chloe walking out of the tunnel. She swaggered into the cave wearing the widest smile Alaska had seen in her life. The hysterics from earlier were long gone, the blonde cool and collected as she walked up and stopped just a few feet from them.

"Wow, Alaska, just wow. I think that must have been your best performance yet. And Damian – props, man! If you had done work like that earlier in the season, you might still have a chance."

Alaska had reached nuclear levels of anger. Everything had gone to shit, she knew it was her fault, and things were only about to get a lot worse. Her whole body was trembling as she stared at Chloe's smug smile, and her hands gripped tighter on the Poké Ball in her pocket, longing to throw it at her face.

"If you've come to get us, don't worry, we're on our way," Lachlan said as he stepped forwards. His fear for Chloe seemed to outweigh his concern for Alaska and Damian, his face nervous as he edged towards her.

However, Chloe ignored him; she only had eyes for Alaska. "Sorry to interrupt whatever lovers quarrel you've got going on here, but the clock is ticking, and we've got to give the people what they want."

"What the fuck are you on about?"

Chloe giggled at Alaska's snarl and turned her head slightly, gesturing into the shadows. Three people began to walk forwards, their faces quickly illuminated by the blue glow: two cameramen led the way, while a woman clutching the large microphone on a stick walked slowly behind. Alaska nearly groaned in frustration but remained silent as the three got closer and she could see them clearer.

They're trembling. Heart sinking, Alaska looked for Sandy, wondering how quickly they could reach the cliff edge, but it was too late.

The rap of high heels on the icy floor echoed long before they could see Amanda. Everyone except the camera crew stared into the tunnel as the producer slowly made her entrance. She didn't bother hurrying: they were all playing her game now, and she was going to take as much time as she wanted.

"I'm sorry to tell you kids, but I've made an executive decision," she yelled, her clipped voice high and savage. "This is going to be our last episode."

"Aww," Chloe moaned, though her smile didn't waver.

Amanda laughed as she stepped into view, her twisted face shining in the blue light, while the slick, black assault rifle grasped in her hands seemed to sparkle. "Don't worry," she purred, smirking as she raised the weapon, aiming right for Alaska's head, "I think this is going to be our best one yet."
 
Wow, what a story you have here! I've only read the first (well prologue too) and last chapter so far, but hopefully you can still find these comments helpful in some way ^ ^

First of all, I'm a huge sucker for stories with a lot of character development. I don't mind a chapter like this which moves forth solely on the dialogue and interactions of characters within. That being said, I questioned how this last chapter tied into the first. It seemed that Alaska's beginning mission somewhat revolved around her hate for Chloe, and... well eighty chapters later, it seems like that exact same revulsion is still in place. This made me ponder what sort of progression Alaska had in the previous chapters, but I think that ponderance was amplified with a statement such as this:

She didn't want to become side-tracked from finding Blaine, she didn't want to keep disappointing Sandy, she didn't want to be this difficult person anymore. But on the list of crap she was willing to put up with for the good of saving the world, being questioned on her hometown was not on there.

In short, it sounds like there's a lot of little things bothering Alaska besides a very big one (saving the world, a yike!) Perhaps I'm reading this wrong, but it seemed that these characters' difficulties with one another lied in a plethora of very trivial matters. It read like a typical teen drama until we got to the end - and perhaps this is your intention! It was entertaining, even though I didn't know anything about these characters exempting what I've briefly read about them, though in the back of my mind I constantly thought: where is the plot right now? On top of that, how has Alaska been impacted by the overarching plot she began the story with?

I'm missing a ton in the middle, but I felt like a very serious, beautiful and entrancing plot was happening in the background while these teens were sprinkled on top. This last chapter left me wondering: where do the kids fit into all of this, and how are they related? Perhaps more of their agency can be shown with how they impact the plot directly, or maybe all the side quips and comments can be somehow reformed so they still fit into the seriousness of what happens by the end. For example, I really liked this line!

Alaska knew nothing about the people sitting opposite her, just two more empty relationships in an endless line of them.

This, to me, was the epitome of how she felt about Damien and Lachlan, and I could have gotten that without all their extra conversations. The added bonus of cutting out these conversations, on top of progressing our plot a lot quicker, is also that you sober the tone, too. A room full of people you hate is even more suffocating when no one speaks.

Moving forward, I'd really like to compliment you on your description! I had a clear image of Seafoam the entire time, although I did chuckle at this:

Seafoam was beautiful; it was as simple as that. There were no words worthy enough to describe how overwhelmingly gorgeous this world was.

> continues on with many AMAZING words about how beautiful Seafoam is

But for real, I loved your descriptions! I had a clear image of our setting the whole time, and I'm sure if I read more of the story, I would vividly know what our characters looked like, too. Their personalities shined through their dialogue, and while I struggled to figure out how I feel about Alaska, I definitely pictured Sandy's sweetness or Damien's bitterness. Wow, characters are fruits!

Also, I like that Red is short for Edward

Hope you keep on writing!
 
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