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#then again we have yet to actually experience leon so who knows

shadesoflsk · 3 months

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HIS MINI WORLD

ft: Leon Kennedy x Fem Reader summary: Leon experiencing fatherhood. From the day his little miracle's heart started beating to her first steps. warnings: Mentions of pregnancy, self doubts but overall this is just fluff and nothing more! wc: 1.4k author's note: Hello! This is me once again bringing dad Leon content. The last time I wrote him was for Christmas hehe. I don't really know what I did here since this like a combination between headcanons and mini drabbles but hey, it's something. Anyway, take care!

masterlist

Leon who ever since you announced you were expecting he switched to dad mode. All of his friends needed to know that he was now a father to be. Claire? The first one to know. Chris? He needed to know that he may as well be the godfather of his little blessing.

Leon who was next to you at every ultrasound appointment. He couldn't even make out where this little bean was but he already called them the most perfect thing. Because, after all, it's the perfect combination of both of you.

Leon who is the first one to buy parenting books. He often told you not so common facts as he read in the middle of the night. Do you know that babies are born with the ability to swim? He made sure to tell you even if you were fast asleep.

“Darling…” Leon gently shook you, his voice was hushed yet it was enough to stir you from your sleep and say goodbye to your precious dreams. “Mhm…? What is it?” Being woken up in the middle of the night wasn’t something you were looking for. Especially since you already grew used to Leon’s schedule. However, you tried not to show any signs of grumpiness. “Do you know that our baby can recognize music? So… if we put some headphones on your stomach they might know what we usually listen to!” His voice was barely a whisper but it wasn’t enough to hide his excitement. “Go to sleep Leon…”

Leon who has all the money in the world to buy the most expensive and glamorous crib, yet he wanted to experience how it was to build it. So, he made it from scratch. Of course, with Chris’ help. Even though both of them ended up with splinters in their fingers.

Leon who would rarely argue with you. But when the time comes when you disagree about something and go to bed a bit mad at each other, he would place a hand on your belly as he whispered: I'm mad at you, not at them. Eventually, both of you would forgive each other, even if the argument was just a silly disagreement.

Arguing with Leon was obviously something doomed to happen in your marriage. As much as you wanted it to be peaceful and problem-less, your personalities sometimes crashed. It never led to an actual fight. But Leon was… stubborn, even if he knew you were right, he'd never admit it. So, as you lay on your side hoping that sleep comes faster, you feel a strong and calloused hand over your belly. “I'm not angry at them so this is only fair.” Leon said, rubbing and caressing the skin that was starting to stretch as it gave the baby more space to grow. After a couple of seconds of silence, Leon started to feel guilty for not giving you attention. You were carrying his baby, he couldn’t act this immature. “Sorry…” Leon sheepishly apologized for his previous banter. An argument should never make them go to bed angry at each other. “I'm sorry too.” You finally responded as drowsiness started filling your mind and body.

Leon who responded “I just want them to be healthy,” when someone asked him about his baby. But he was a bit too happy when you announced to him that he was going to be a girl dad. In his mind, he wanted to have two beautiful princesses next to him. And now, heaven is allowing him to achieve his dreams and leave behind his sorrowful previous life.

Leon who may as well go bankrupt since he buys everything he sees at the shop. Tiny pink dresses and teddy bears are his favorite things to buy. His little princess deserves the world, she’s already his whole world.

Leon who would speak to your bump, his words full of promises and wishes for his baby. And even when you were asleep, he would go on for minutes, expecting his little miracle to hear him.

“You will be so loved… Everyone is waiting for you.” He said one night, a hand caressing the side of your belly. “I have already bought so many toys you will be playing with. Daddy loves you so much.”

Leon who has to go on missions, he can’t just quit. But, he keeps a photo of your ultrasound in his wallet, next to yours. A totem of his love, a physical item that reminds him he needs to return home.

“Shit…” He hissed as the nurse helped him sit down on one of the chairs. He had recently just come back from a mission which took a toll on him. It wasn’t especially hard since he had help from his new team, yet he believed his age was starting to show in his body. “Mr. Kennedy, your belongings…” The nurse spoke to him for the first time as she picked up Leon’s jacket which had fallen as he sat down. Leon thanked her before he started searching for something in one of its pockets. For a while, he paid no mind to the nurse ministrations. The alcohol swab stung just a bit as she cleaned an injury on his side. Eventually, he found what he was looking for. He pulled out his wallet and there they were, the photos he always carries with him. A proud smile showed on his face as he was reminded that he had succeeded in another mission which meant Heaven granted him one more day to live. He was alive and ready to continue living..

Leon who would practically faint when you told him the baby was coming, that the time has come. He had previously made scenarios about this situation, thinking that he was prepared but dear God… he wasn’t.

Dad Leon who sobbed when he heard his baby’s cries for the first time. However, this time, those sounds didn’t come from someone who was suffering as he is used to hearing in his line of job. Those cries were the living proof that he was once again, given a second chance in life.

The first one was when you agreed to marry him. He held himself from grabbing his daughter out of the nurse’s arms. It’s not that he didn’t trust the medical team, but he has waited almost 9 months to see, to hold his miracle. And even though a part of him fears that his hands are too stained from his job, from his past, and from the near future, he knows that his and your hands will be the ones guiding your baby.

Dad Leon who doesn't know what to do once you were discharged from the hospital. He couldn't spend one second away from the both of you, always checking if you needed something.

Dad Leon who speaks with his daughter as if she was already a grown-up. Her babbles and his words fill the living room as they both engage in a serious conversation.

“Bwaaah” “Yeah, I get it. But you have to understand my point too. If we increase the price of milk people are going to buy even less. “Bwah…” “No need to get so political, miss. I’m simply offering some feedback about the supply and demand of this product.”

Dad Leon who wears matching outfits with you and his daughter. Is the little one wearing pink today? Guess everyone else will too.

Dad Leon who tries so hard to teach his baby how to say dada. Da-da Da-da, that word is starting to haunt his dreams. However, life works in funny ways since his little one decided that her first world would be “No.”

Dad Leon who is terrified when his daughter starts walking. Those wobbly steps make him have a heart attack each second.

Dad Leon who hates it when his kid falls and cries. He would literally just look the other way for a second and boom, his daughter fell to the ground. Between the sobs of his little one, he could hear how she says she got a boo-boo. God, he hates gravity.

Dad Leon who sometimes cries from happiness. Watching his baby girl grow fills his heart with so much joy and pride. The world was a messed up place but whilst he lives, he’ll make sure that no danger ever comes across you two.

#leon kennedy x reader #leon kennedy x you #leon kennedy fluff #leon kennedy #leon s kennedy #resident evil #resident evil x reader

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steveuschrist · 8 months

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Something about Death Island's Intro

I watched Death Island a few nights ago, and something that has stuck with me was how basically all of Leon's information on his file was blacked out in the intro sequence.

Only his name and gender are shown, along with Hunnigan's name at the bottom and some more blocked out things.

It probably is stupid, but I can't help but focus on it. As the audience, we know a lot of things about Leon. We know his past and all of the things that he's been through, so why bother showing a file with a bunch of that information blacked out? Yes, it does serve as a reminder that Leon does a lot of highly-classified and dangerous wok for the DSO, and we can assume that the intro sequence is supposed to "simulate" Dylan researching everybody, but I can't help but feel that there's more to it than that.

To pretty much everyone aside from the other protagonists and maybe Hunnigan, no one really knows what Leon has gone through. At the beginning of Infinite Darkness, Patrick has a really shitty opinion of Leon: "Qualified? More like lucky. The only reason he's the golden boy now is because he was in the wrong place at the right time." Yes Patrick does come around to Leon, but as the new kid with no experience, he already has a preconceived notion that Leon isn't qualified for the job, likely because he's only heard Leon by name and simply as "the guy who saved the president's daughter one time." And while Shenmei quickly comes to Leon's defense, Patrick isn't yet convinced. Why?

Because the DSO simply treats Leon as an asset to be used and not a human being. Patrick hasn't even met him yet and just assumes that Leon never worked for his position before he's even met the guy. Again, this changes over the course of Infinite Darkness and Patrick ends up really respecting Leon after he sees who he really is.

In Death Island when Leon, Claire, and Chris have been infected, we hear Dylan's big plan and him essentially calling all of them out: "The huge corporations and the corrupt execs that run them, the ones getting big, fat bonuses for maintaining the status quo, that’s who you work for, who you really protect. And the innocent will continue to suffer as long as you do."

As he says that, they cut to a shot of Leon. It's hard to tell exactly what Leon's reaction is because he is fighting the infection from the virus, but there's no snappy comeback, no joke, no quip. Dylan drops the bombshell: "You’re nothing more than pawns, suckers." On the word "pawns," the shot cuts to Chris, who also is dealing with his exposure to the virus, and then Jill, who just readjusts her hold on her gun.

This takes us back to the intro sequence, the agent ID was "pawns:"

Literally in being agents, Jill, Chris, Leon, and Claire are pawns. That's how their organizations see them, not as individuals, but as assets. But again, there's a deeper layer with Leon on top of this as I've seen others online point out, in the actual marketing of Death Island:

"One of the government's most formidable weapons." Not agents, weapons. They see him as an asset, a thing, to be used in their "fight" against bioterrorism. The kicker comes back to the intro sequence and Leon's file is shown:

In a sea of what we can assume to be DSO agents, Leon is shown, with the word "pawn" in big letters. The word doesn't actually finish being written out fully, but based on the spacing of PAW, we can assume that there isn't space for both N and S in the remaining box. The N would simply go over Leon's face and there would be some leftover space in the box (yes it wouldn't fit 100%, but the animators worked really hard on this movie and with how fast the shot is, you really have to analyze it to notice that it would look off!).

So yes, while Dylan is trying to say that all of them are pawns, Leon is the pawn. Patrick says as much in Infinite Darkness, calling Leon the golden boy of the government. Even at the end of Infinite Darkness (which takes place before 6), Leon doesn't let Claire make a copy of the drive with all of the information that will basically expose the US government for its hand in what happened at Raccoon City. Before she walks away, she gives him one final look and says: "Like I said before, that outfit doesn't suit you." Of course she literally is talking about the fact that Leon is wearing a very bureaucratic-looking suit, but she also is referring to what the suit symbolizes. She knows that Leon has a good heart and wants to do the right thing, but she's also frustrated with his actions and him, probably unconsciously, falling further and further in-line with what the government wants. She probably knows that he's "in deep" at this point and is just trying to basically stay alive, but she also is frustrated that he's not taking the path that would basically lead to a way out. It's also worth noting that Eiichirō Hasumi, who directed Infinite Darkness, also directed Death Island.

I'm not sure exactly where I was going with this post, I just wanted to share my thoughts about Leon and where he's headed next. I hope that the next movie (or game!) will feature him and be about him coming to terms with the fact that he can choose to do the right thing and that he doesn't need to just be a pawn anymore. He deserves that and so much more. Thanks for reading!

#resident evil #death island #resident evil death island #leon kennedy #leon s kennedy #character analysis #steve's stupidity #analyzing him bc i love him and he deserves the world #this took me way too long to make #kids use your time wisely #long post #long read #text post #long text #i am so sorry #no one should read something this long lmao

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bumblebeesfromvenus · 7 months

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Lost and Found ♧| 2.

Leon S. Kennedy x reader (ft. my girl Ash)

A/N: This... this took me so long lmao I rewrote it like five times. I'm pretty happy with how it turned out, though! I don't really write slow burn, so this might suck. I wanna apologize for how fucking wonky the events of Part one are???? They're all out of order lmao anyway, Enjoy!

~Fi 🪻

Warnings: swearing, reader is an idiot (lovingly, of course), mention of a small injury, sucky slow burn

Word count: 2.7k

Check out part one here!

Please don't copy my work! I put a lot of effort and heart into the things I write.

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It had been a couple of months since Spain happened. Your life has definitely... changed. Both good and bad. You were plagued by nightmares frequently, instinctively grasping your arm every time you shot awake. A faint, pink scar had formed where the gash once sat. Tracing it absent mindedly was a common occurrence ever since the first dream. You'd stare at the blank wall in your living room, gently caressing it.

That mission took a toll on you, so you were granted a few months off to work through your night terrors and process everything. Ashley had been a great help with that. She made sure you hung out at least once a week and always stayed in contact, calling you and you calling her. The events of Spain didn't leave Ashley without any struggles either. But, she had assured you that she was save, protected at all times and getting support from professionals. Talking to her, about Spain or anything really, helped you get out of the hole you were in.

She was your best friend. Whether or not she knew it, she really was. You didn't really have friends. Not since Raccoon City. You stayed inside your dull little home the last few years, working a boring office job for the government. Your only friend had been Dave, a middle-aged man who worked in the security department. So you rotted away for years, mourning your past life. Your past you.

Honestly, you have no idea how you ended up as a special agent in the first place. Your police background increased your chances at scoring the position, but you didn't really have much experience. When you were offered the 'promotion', you didn't think too much of it. Couldn't be that hard, could it? You'd survived Raccoon City after all.

You were so wrong. You basically traded the mediocre lunch breaks you had with Dave, with running for your life from Zombies. Bad fucking trade. And the worst part, your officials didn't give a shit. They just wanted this to be dealt with as discretely as possible. End of the story, they underestimated how big this whole thing actually was, and now you were the one left with the shitty consequences. But you had Ashley! And Leon, of course, but that was a little more complicated.

You still hadn't gotten around to the promise of getting drinks together. He was going away on missions all the time, so although you kept in touch no matter what, he wasn't there. You thought, after some excruciating years, you had found your best friend again. Your person. And you did, but he was so close yet so out of reach. You couldn't take it anymore. You lost 7 whole years with him, and you finally had him back, but he was still gone.

"I don't know what to do, Ash." You sighed, playing with your shirt while you held the phone to your ear.

"Well, have you told him that? I'm sure he wants to spend more time with you too, but you need to tell him that!" She urged. Biting your lip, you hestitated.

"I just... he was my best friend. We did everything together, and now.. I know that it's him but I don't recognize him. He's.. different now. I thought he didn't change, but.. he did. That scares me. What scares me even more is the fact that he's always on my mind, I can't seem to function without him here. I only think about him. 24/7." You mumbled into the phone.

"Sounds a whole lot like you're in love with him."

"I- what? No! I mean, of course I love him, he's my best friend, but that's it. He's just my friend and you can love your friends, right? Like, everyone does, it's not something odd or anything." you rambled.

Sure, your heart lit a flame every time he smiled, and the sound of his laugh was heaven. His dumb jokes never failed to put a smile on your face but that's just how friends are. Yes. Totally. Friends feel like that. Just some regular friendly feelings.

"You're so oblivious! That's NOT how friends feel about eachother. Like ever. I've seen the way you look at him!" She argued. "What look? I don't look at him differently... do I?"

"Yes, you do. Everytime he's near you, that lovesick smile on your face kinda gives it away. Or the blush when he asks if you're okay. Not to mention how you panic when he gets hurt. Just admit it!" Ashley whined.

"I'm not in love with him, Ashley! He's my best friend, that's it!" You argued. She groaned into the phone. "I can't believe you're so smart yet so stupid." She said, clearly annoyed. "Rude." you mumbled.

"I have to go now, Miss Denial. Seriously though, you're not doing yourself a favor by denying your feelings." She said softly. You rolled your eyes and huffed.

"Would it make you feel better if I told you I'll think about it?"

"Definitely. Love you!" She beamed.

"Love you too." You chuckled as she hung up. Maybe you would think about it. If not for yourself, then for her. She was right about suppressing your feelings but about you being in love with Leon... you weren't sure.

Eh, that was a problem for the future you. For now, all you wanted to do was enjoy some drinks with him.

Your teeth gnawed at your lip, trying to decided how to go about this situation. Do you call Leon now? Tomorrow, maybe? Should you call him at all? You hadn't talked to eachother in a while... would it be awkward? Before you can lend any more attention to those thoughts, your phone rang and it was none other than Leon. Speak of the devil. You picked up, your heart racing.

"Hey... look, I'm sorry for not calling more, work s'just been busy. I.. Do you want to go for those drinks I promised tonight?" He sounded nervous. Unsure. He sounded so much like the Leon you knew. Your Leon. Maybe he hadn't changed that much after all. "Y-yeah, I'd love that. Um- how does eight sound?" You responded, a little more nervous than you wanted to. "Sounds good. See you." And with that, he hung up.

Something's up with him. Your brows furrowed. Maybe he worked more to get his mind off Spain? He was a workaholic, trying to do more and more and not realizing how much it actually affected him. He was hurting himself by trying to protect others from harm. Maybe it's just the stress. You had plenty of time to question him at the bar, supported by a few Piña Coladas.

A couple of hours before, the anxiety hit you like a truck. It was safe to say that you were scared out of your mind right now. How the fuck were you supposed to talk to Leon like nothing was going on? Like nothing happened? You couldn't. And after that conversation with Ashley? Nope. No chance. Panic was bubbling up your throat. You felt like you could never face him again. Everytime you looked at him, or even thought of him, it was just pain. The pain of the building collapsing on top of you. Your pained cries when you realized he hadn't come back for you. The pain when you thought he was dead. The pain that if Ashley was right and you really were in love with him, you could lose him again.

He made your world bright and vibrant and when he was ripped from your grasp, you were lost in a sea of grey. Drowning. Desperately gasping for air, refusing to let the water in. Now, he had brought the color back to your life but all the vibrant hues made your head spin and your eyes hurt. You grew comfortable in your sea of grey. Embracing the cold kiss of the water filling your lungs, making you float peacefully.

Could you let the color back into your world? Could you pull yourself from the tide and cough up the water? Did you even want to? You didn't know. It was all too much. You were pulled out of your head when you dropped your glass of water. You were so consumed in your thoughts and anxieties that it had just slipped out of your hand. Carefully cleaning it up, you felt a sharp sting in your finger.

You had accidentally cut yourself on the broken glass shards. A small stream of blood was running down your finger and along your palm. A drop of blood hit the puddle of water, and it bloomed in red. You haven't felt like this in years. You could actually feel something. It's not like you didn't you feel the last seven years, but your soul was too numb to care. You actually felt something. Not like those times when you hit your head or nicked yourself while cooking. You would react relatively neutral to those incidents, but now... you could feel the burn of the cut, a searing sting in your skin. A small smile tugged at your lips.

It's because of him. Because you had him back, and he made you feel alive again. He had just stumbled into your life and turned it upside down. Like he always does. But you wouldn't want to have it any other way. God, how you had missed feeling like this. So vulnerable. So sensitive. So human.

You cleaned up the glass but hung on to the feeling of the cut. You didn't like it per se, but it made you feel like something inside you had been fixed. A missing puzzle piece that slotted right into place. It just felt so right.

Just like he did. You shook your thoughts, having the habit of spiraling, wether it may be good or bad, and continued on with your afternoon. Your nerves about spending time with Leon calmed, it was just Leon! Your best friend. You had nothing to worry about. Well, with Leon, usually there was at least a little something to be worried about.

You were out the door, into the night, on your way to Leon. You had decided to just walk there since parking was an absolute nightmare in this city. Besides, the fresh air in your lungs and cooling breeze on your face was something you hadn't felt in a while. Fumbling with a small box in your pocket, you continued to the bar you two had agreed to meet up at. It wasn't really a present, more something you wanted to return. You never thought you could.

You took a deep breath before stepping into the warmth of the bar. Your eyes were searching for Leon, looking for that familiar blonde head of hair. Spotting him in the back, an inevitable smile crept onto your face. When Leon noticed you, his face lit up, a hand reaching up to signal you over to him. He stood up when you approached and immediately pulled you into a tight hug.

"Hey." He mumbled, muffled by your hair. "Hi." You said, the joy in your voice evident. The first real hug in seven years. You could've melted on the spot. It felt so good. So right.

You reluctantly pulled away, smiling at him. "Wow... It's been a while, huh?" He said with a small laugh. "Yeah.." you responded with a chuckle. You sat down and ordered your drinks. "So.. what have you been up to? How have you been?" You asked. He pondered for a moment. "Not a lot to be honest. Worked a lot, you know, saved the world once or twice." He joked at which you just playfully rolled your eyes.

"What about you?"

"I uh... I adopted a dog. Her name is Lady, she's a Bernese mountain dog. I couldn't stand being alone anymore so I got Lady and yeah... that's about it when it comes to major life events." You laughed, a little nervous but the tension was fading by the minute.

"You gave in, huh? You used to talk my ear off about wanting a dog back then, remember?" He smiled. You did talk about wanting a dog all throughout your time at the police academy and it seemed like you had finally fulfilled that dream.

"Yeah, I did. She's so sweet, you'll love her." you said with a smile. Leon let out a laugh. "I'm more worried about her liking me." He joked.

You two continued to talk and drink, just laughing and having a good time. The night got closer and closer to ending when you remembered the box in your pocket.

"I have something for you." You mumbled, nervous to how he would react. He piped up at that and raised his eyebrows. "Aw, for me?" He teased. You just gave him a shy smile. Now or never. You pulled out the small box and slid it over to him. "I wanted to return this." you said quietly. His brows furrowed and a confused look fell on his face. "Return? Alright."

Leon carefully undid the bow and opened the lid. Not in a million years had he expected this. His jaw hit the fucking floor. It was his goddamn RPD badge. What the fuck? How did you even get this? It was tattered and faded. He gently ran his fingers across his barely legible name.

You chewed on the inside of your cheek. You had no idea how he would react. Leon looked at you completely bewildered. "I.. How?" He asked, still shocked. You shifted in your chair and fiddled with your fingers. "When... when I got out, I found it on the ground. It was the only thing I had left of you." You mumbled, avoiding eye contact. By 'got out' you meant fighting and clawing your way through infected residents and escaping the ruins of the collapsed building.

You could see the pain in his eyes. Whether it was his own for the pain he felt for you, you weren't sure. You spoke before he could. "I made a promise to myself that I would get it back to you one day, but.. at some point, I gave up and just kept it for myself. I thought you were dead and that this," you gestured to the badge," was the only thing I had left of you. My best friend. But it's yours, I want you to have it back." You said, your voice cracking, trying not to cry.

You could see the tears glistening in his eyes, his knuckles turning white as he tightly gripped his badge. "Thank you..." was all he managed to get out. You quickly wiped the tears that were threatening to fall and let out a sad laugh.

"God... I'm sorry for ruining the mood like that. It probably would've burned a hole in my pocket if I kept it any longer, though..."

Leon placed his badge on the table and took your hands in his. "You didn't. Well, a little maybe, but I'm really grateful for this. Thank you." He assured you, sqeezing your hands. Your skin lit on fire. His touch was so addicting. And so comforting. A blush made its way onto your face. Oh, fuck. Was Ashley right? No. No way, it's just a little hot in here. That's all. But you couldn't deny the way your heart twisted and turned when he touched you, the butterflies in your stomach were having a fucking rave right now. Jesus, it's just Leon. Get it together You thought to yourself.

Shaking off all those annoying feelings, you returned a smile. "How about I make it up to you with a Movie Night, hm? Ice cream and cuddles from Lady included." You proposed. He grinned and leaned in a little closer. "What about cuddles from you?" He asked, a teasing smirk on his face. It didn't come off nearly was confident as he wanted it to. His voice shook a little, making him sound nervous.

Leon Kennedy? Nervous? Something was definitely up. His nervousness didn't stop the bubbling feeling in your stomach, though. There go the butterflies again. Stupid bugs. This is normal, though. Right? You always cuddled. Friends cuddle. No big deal. He's always been like that. No sweat. Just a little friendly cuddle session. That. Is. It. Is it bad that you wanted it to be more than that? The idea of being in love with him suddenly didn't feel as scary anymore.

Part three is coming soon~

#bumblebeesfromvenus #leon kennedy fluff #leon kennedy comfort #leon kennedy angst #leon kennedy x reader #leon s kennedy x fem!reader #leon s kennedy x reader #resident evil x reader #resident evil leon #ashley graham

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obsidiancreates · 1 year

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Out Of The Shadows and Into The Neon (Part 7)

"Alright, champ!" Leon hops around a bit, fists up in a defensive position. "Ready for your first real spar?"

Leo raises his own fists. "Dad? Um, aren't you a little... tall, for me to spar with?"

Leo look four feet down at his 10 year old son. "Good point... but Pop-Pop didn't want to, and I don't think your brothers can defend well enough yet."

"What about Uncle Casey? Or Auntie April?"

"They're taller than you too."

"But they aren't giants! You're taller than everyone!"

"So what do you suggest?" He puts his hands on his hips. "Don't say 'robot', I'm not letting Don make anything that can fight again."

"He made Shelldon!"

"He made Shelldon when we were fifteen, and he did try to kill us one time."

"I heard that was your fault."

"Noooo... Maybe a little. Who told you that?"

"Uncle Donald."

"Well, he's a big liar. Just go for my legs since you can't reach my face, okay?"

Leo shrugs, and begins trying to hit his dad's legs as Leon dodges the hits. "Dad? Will I ever be as tall as you?"

"Dunno! You might not want to be, it makes going through doors a terrible experience."

"I don't want to be short forever, though."

"Maybe you won't."

"I think I will. I had a dream that I never got any taller than five foot one."

"That's... really specific. Did you dream about your brothers?"

"Yeah. Raph was five feet forever, and Mikey was four-eleven, and Donnie was five-six. Forever and ever, until the day we all died."

"Whoa, pause, time out." Leon kneels down. "You dreamt you all died?"

Leo looks away and taps his fingers together. "It-it wasn't bad. I just... knew at the end we did. But I didn't see it so it wasn't a nightmare."

"Well, are you okay?"

"Yeah. ... I-I went and woke up Pop-Pop and he told me a story, and when I went back to bed it was okay."

"What story?"

"... The one about Gram-Gram."

"Oh." Leon swallows the lump in his throat that manifest every time he thinks of Karai. "That's kind of a heavy story."

"Yeah. But... she's not gone. Everyone's together again, even though they died. ... It makes it less scary to think about."

"That's... a really good way of thinking of it." He's never thought of it that way himself, actually. Karai waiting, spending time with her father, and he can say sorry to her still someday, to tell her all about her great-great-great way-more-greats grandkids and how awesome they are...

And the whole family will be together someday, without this aching, gaping hole in their hearts.

"Dad?"

"Yeah?"

"Pop-Pop will be with her when he dies, right?"

Leon can't help the way he flinches away at the very thought. "That won't be for a long time, kiddo."

"But when he does, he-he'll be waiting for us? And we'll see him again?" The way his son looks at him, so pleading, so... so young. God, he's so young, why is he thinking of this? Why is his 10 year old son being haunted by this?

"Yeah. Yeah, of course. We'll all end up in the same place, because we're family. I promise."

Leo nods, and then suddenly throws himself into Leon's arms. "I love you, Dad," he says, his little voice choked up with tears. "I love you a lot, and-and I want you to know that, and-"

"Hey, hey." Leon pats Leo's little shell as he hugs him tight. "... It wasn't just your brothers, was it?"

Leo shakes his head and buries his face into Leo's shoulder. "It was you and Pop-Pop."

"We're right here, buddy."

"Shredder got you."

Leon's blood runs cold. "Shredder is gone, Lee. He'll never, ever hurt you."

"I know. ... I won't let him hurt you either."

"You don't need to protect me, hijo."

"I do." Leo's little body shakes in Leon's hands, making him hug tighter. "I do, I-I need to keep you safe."

"Hey." Leon rubs the back of his son's head with his thumb. "You're just a kid, okay? You don't need to take that burden on yourself. Let me protect you. Let your uncles protect you. Let your grandpas and your aunties and all our friends protect you. These are adult things to worry about. I promise you don't have to."

"I don't know how to stop, Dad," Leo sobs.

"We'll work on it together, okay? You don't need to put all this pressure on yourself. You're just a kid."

"O-okay." Leo hugs as tight as he can with his little arms. "Dad?"

"Yeah?"

"... Can-can we watch Jupiter Jim instead of sparring?"

"Of course we can! Do you want to read me the story you wrote about him and your space hero too?"

"Y-yeah."

"Let's grab some ice cream on the way. Uncle Angelo made some fresh last night."

"But not on pizza like Mikey does, right?"

"Not on pizza like Mikey does. I don't know how that kid never throws up with how he eats."

Leo finally giggles, and Leon smiles as he gets up and carries his son to the kitchen.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Alright, now you draw the outline," Angelo says as he uses his powers to lift Mikey high into the air, "And I'll color it in with the spray paint!"

"Shouldn't Raph do this?" Mikey says even as he begins to doodle a big alligator man, one of his favorite imagined characters to draw. "He's better at it."

"This isn't about being good. It's about having fun!"

Mikey laughs, kicking his legs as he keeps drawing, adding a big crown to the alligator mutant's head. "Yeah! Raph can suck it!"

"Raph can... Mikey?"

"Yeah?" He sticks his tongue out as he focuses, a habit he shares with his genius brother.

"Has Raph been bullying you?"

"NO!" Mikey whips around in midair, eyes as wide as they can get. "No!"

"Whoa whoa! He's not in trouble if he's not, but why can he 'suck it' then?"

"Oh. Well, uh, yesterday he said I'm not serious enough to be a ninja."

"What?! Oh, I am having words with Raphie about this later, that is a whole pile of nonsense!"

"Yeah. Anyway, I told him he's too angry to be a ninja."

"That's not okay either, son." Angelo pulls Mikey closer with his powers. "You guys shouldn't be saying these hurtful things to each other."

"I know." Mikey sounds genuinely regretful, at least. "But then he said I'm gonna get everyone hurt someday, and I said I'm gonna save everyone all the time because they can't imagine stuff to do without me."

"How did this argument start?"

Mikey looks down. "... Leo had a nightmare."

Angelo puts Mikey down completely and sits criss-cross-applesauce. Mikey copies him, still looking down at the floor.

"I heard him sneaking to Pop-Pops room and I followed," Mikey admits. "And Raph and Donnie did too. And we all heard Leo say he had a nightmare where we died."

"Oh, Mikey." Angelo pulls his son into his lap. "Hey, we'd never let that happen, you know that right?"

"Yeah. But Leo said it was all his fault, and-and that he couldn't protect us." Mikey tears up. "And then when we woke up Raph said we should train without Leo and he was really upset. He hit me too hard and we started fighting and-"

Mikey sniffles, leaning into his dad's plastron and hugging him. "I think he wants us to be really good so Leo doesn't worry," Mikey says quietly. "But I don't think he knows how to say it."

"Yeah," Angelo sighs. "I've noticed that about him. ... Look, Mikey, nobody's perfect, and nobody's serious all the time. Being a ninja isn't about not having fun ever, and I think the fact that you do find it fun makes you a very good ninja."

"... It does?"

"Heck yeah it does! You think my razzmatazz comes from serious training? It comes from flash and flair, baby! You can have those without a little bit of fun!"

Mikey laughs. "Yeah. Yeah! And-and Raph said my dance-fight I made up was cool the other day."

"Exactly! He was just in a bad mood, and he didn't express it well. I'll tell Raphie to talk to him about it, okay?"

"Okay."

"And we need to remember that when a fight starts getting out of hand like that, it's time for everyone to back off and take a deep breath."

"But what if I come up with a really good comeback?"

"You can tell me later, or tell Raph later when he's calmed down and knows it's a joke."

"Awww."

"What?"

"... It's kinda funny when he gets mad."

"Mikey. Do you feel good when someone annoys you until you snap?"

"No."

"So do you think Raph does?"

"But he snaps way faster!"

"That doesn't mean he's not just as upset."

"... I guess..."

"Listen. I'm gonna go call Raphie and tell him about this. Do you want to draw something down here while I do that?"

"Okay. ... I'm gonna draw my pet!"

"You have a pet?" Where'd he hide it?

"In my head!" Mikey grins and points to his head. "Her name is Ice Cream Kitty! I'm gonna draw her and let her be real!"

"I bet she'll be great. Okay, be back in a few minutes."

"Okay Dad!"

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Raphie knocks on his son's door. "Hey, Little Man?"

"Come in."

He opens the door and eases it shut again behind him. Raph sits on his bed, flipping through a comic book about superhero vegetables. Raphie takes a deep breath and sits down on the end of his son's bed.

Raph looks up at him. "Dad? Are you okay?"

"Raphie's worried." He's not beating around the bush today. "Angelo told me Leo had a bad nightmare, and it really upset you."

Raph narrows his eyes. "Mikey told you, you mean."

"No, he told his dad, and his dad told me."

Raph crosses his arms, crinkling his comic. "Mikey's a snitch."

"Hey." Raphie reaches out and puts his arm around his son, but doesn't bring him into a hug yet in case he needs space still. "It's okay to be worried."

"Mikey was goofing off!" Raph throws his comic to the floor. "Leo was upset and Mikey was just goofing off about it!"

"Did you tell Mikey it was to make Leo feel better?"

"He should've known! Donnie knew!"

"Mikey likes to cheer Leo up by being silly. You and Donnie like to cheer him up by preparing more. That doesn't mean Mikey doesn't care."

"Leo thought he killed us!" Raph clenches his fits, gritting his teeth as tears form in his eyes. "And he cried to Pop-Pop about it and-and he said he couldn't protect us! Why does he think he has to do that?! I can protect us! I can make sure we can protect him! Leo needs to be okay too! I don't want Leo to die!"

"Whoa, whoa, slow down!" Raphie pulls his son in for the hug, grounding him before he spirals too badly. "Where's this coming from, little buddy?"

Raph is quiet for a long time, and then he lets out a sob. "I had a dream Leo died too."

There it is. Raphie rubs his son's back and waits for him to go on.

"He did it over and over and he didn't even care! He just said he needed to protect us and he died and died and died! And-and when I woke up I heard him and he went and told Pop-Pop he dreamed we died and he can't let that happen and-and that means my dream will come true! And I don't want my big brother to die!"

"He won't," Raphie assures, giving Raph a squeeze. "Your Uncle Leon would never let him do that to himself, and your Uncle Donald would make sure he'd make it through anything that hurt him. Uncle Mikey would rip open a million portals through time to make sure you're all okay."

Raph sobs again, and screams into his dad's arm. "But Leo would try! because he's stupid, and-and pretends to be fearless, and that's stupid because he should be afraid to die and leave us!"

"He should," Raphie agrees. "And I'll talk to Leon about this, I promise. Leo shouldn't think it's up to him to keep all of your guys safe, that's our job."

"He thinks because he's the big brother he has to," Raph growls, still crying and gripping his dad in the tightest hug he can muster.

"When'd you guys decide he's the big brother?"

"He just is."

"Okay."

"But I'm a big brother too," Raph says firmly. "And Mikey and Donnie are little brothers. And I have to make sure we all stay exactly where we should be, but I'm the only one who cares! Leo doesn't care, he just wants everyone else to be okay, but we can't be okay if he isn't okay!"

"I know." Raphie begins rocking as he holds his son. "Boy, does Raphie know. Leon was the same way when he was younger."

"It's his fault?" Raph's voice hardens with anger.

"No!" Raphie shakes his head. "No, he's learned his lesson! That's why I know he'll talk with Leo about it, because he learned his lesson the hard way and doesn't want any of you to go through the same!"

"What if Leo doesn't listen?"

"All we can do is try. ... Maybe you should tell him that you worry about him. Let him know that he's not the only one worrying about everybody. Maybe if he knows you worry too, he'll feel less alone."

"... You think he feels alone?"

"Sometimes." The way Leo lingers after training to practice more, the way he sometimes goes quiet when the other three joke around, the way that ever since they wandered into Big Mama's hotel four years ago he's started telling them where they should and shouldn't go.

"... I don't want him to feel alone." Raph curls up, snuggling deeper into Raph's side. "I do sometimes. I hate it."

"What makes you feel alone?"

"Being angry. ... I'm too angry."

"... You know... there's other people out there who feel angry a lot and don't know why. I do, sometimes."

"You?"

"Yeah! Raph gets really angry and upset when he's alone too long, and it makes him weird. But you know what helps with that kind of thing?"

"What?"

"Talking to someone who knows a lot about it. And Uncle Angelo has some friends in the Hidden City who know about it." Therapy is something they've all done for years, but... he had really been hoping his son would never have to do the same.

Still, it's... not for the same reason. So it's not... he can handle it. He can handle taking his small son to that office, to that room, because he's not there for pain and suffering. Just to learn about himself. Just to learn.

"That sounds nice."

"We can go there soon, bud. But how about we talk to Leo first? I'll be there with you, and so will Uncle Leon."

"... Can we bring Mikey too? ... I yelled at him this morning."

"We can bring Mikey too. Should we bring Donnie when they get home?"

"Yeah."

"Okay. Let's call your uncle, then."

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Really? I thought he seemed distracted today. Okay, we'll be home soon." Donald turns off his communicator and looks over at his son, who's examining a bundle of wires. He activates his shell and flies over through the junkyard.

Donnie is looking between the wires and the drawing he and Shelldon made together last week. Shelldon, while only a program in a phone for now, had quickly bonded with his 'younger brother'. It's a bit of an intimidating thought, the two of them teamed up. They're both so much like Donald himself, in so many ways.

"So," Donald says, and Donnie groans and lowers his head. "What?

"That's your 'we need to talk' so," Donnie grumbles, putting the wires in his bag.

"Yes, it is. Raphie told me Leo had a nightmare, it upset Raph, and he and Mikey had a fight."

"Yeah." Donnie's little hand shakes as he digs through the pile. "And Leo won't have any more nightmares soon."

"What makes you so sure?"

Donnie hands over the drawing. "He can fight for us."

Donald looks at the drawing. It's a stout robot, angular and simple, not unlike the Shelldon blueprints that made Donnie have his first truly big tantrum a whole decade ago.

A whole decade. Suddenly Donald feels ancient.

"That's a good idea," Donald says, looking back up. "But I don't think Leo will accept it."

"He should." Donnie picks out a piece of an old motherboard. It looks like completely useless garbage to Donald, but Donnie pockets it. "I'm going to fix it for him, and... and then it'll be okay. That's what science does, right? It makes things okay. Makes them make sense."

Donald nods... and then Donnie sniffles. And wipes his eyes.

Oh dear.

"Son?" Donald hovers closer and picks Donald up, setting him down and then lowering to his knees so they're face-to-face. "Science is a wonderful, beautiful thing. She's a fascinating mistress who can consume your every thought for hours on end. But she can't make everything perfect."

Donnie sniffles and wipes his eyes again. "Why not?"

"Nothing can perfect, Donnie. Even I, genius of the ages, am always looking back on old projects and seeing ways to improve them, or things I could have done better."

"Metalhead will fight for us so Leo doesn't have to get hurt."

"That's a fantastic goal. But Leo will keep fighting anyway."

"Why?"

"Because he's his father's son, and his father is my twin, and I know him far too well. They don't see things the way we do most of the time."

"Sometimes they do," Donnie sniffles. "Sometimes he thinks more than I do, and sometimes I jump at things before he does, and he knows better. I-I don't want him to get hurt because I do something I shouldn't and he knew better and-"

"Donatello." Donald puts both of his hands on his son's shoulders. They're huge around him, but that just means Donnie feels safe and cocooned. "genius comes from learning, from everything. That includes mistakes. If you make a bad decision, and Leo stops you, what does that mean?"

"... Don't do that next time?"

"Exactly."

"But-but he'll still be hurt-"

"But that won't be your fault. We operate based on all of our best knowledge, and we operate based on chemical reactions in our brains. When you and Draxum work on your chemical projects together, and you accidentally add too much of one compound to another and it explodes, does Draxum blame you?"

"No." Donnie shakes his head. "We note it down, and we don't do that again."

"Right. And when it explodes when neither of you expected it, does he blame you if he gets hurt?"

"No. But-but if he does know and I do it anyway-"

"When he does know and you do it anyway, what happens?"

"I get in trouble."

"And?"

"And... and he doesn't let me sit by the chemicals without supervision."

"And?"

"... Um..."

"And," Donald says, "He treats his injury, and invites you to work with him again the next day. Donnie, listen to me. Never beat yourself up over not making the absolute perfect decision every single time you're faced with on. You know who used to do that?"

"... I-I don't know."

"Uncle Leon." Donald nods as Donnie's eyes go wide. "He thought because he wasn't perfect, he was a bad leader. He started being bad at it on purpose so he wouldn't have to be anymore. He made a lot of mistakes in that time. We got hurt, all of us. Badly. But you know what happened after?"

"... You got better?"

"We got better. And he learned. And he's been a very good leader ever since."

"... What if I don't know something... and... and we can't get better because I didn't know it?"

"Well..." Donald blows out a breath. "Well... you have to learn to accept it. And it will hurt for a very long time, and never fully go away. And you learn to live with it."

"How?"

"... I don't know." Donald takes his hands off of Donnie's shoulders and looks at the robot drawing again. And he sees Shelldon, and all of his old tech, and he sees The Shredder tearing it all apart, and he sees rubble, and he sees Karai buried and twitching but still trying her best to protect them, and he sees all of his tech and knowledge failing to make a difference-

"But you do." He nods to himself. "You learn to move on, because there's more to do. You accept, you learn from what happened, and you do everything you can so it never happens again."

"... What if it does?"

"... Then you keep trying. And you... might never get there. But that's not your fault." Donald looks into Donnie's eyes. "It's not. You can do everything right, and still fail. So all that matters in the end is that you did the best you could."

Donnie thinks for a long, long time. Long enough that Donald's phone buzzes, probably Raphie asking where they are.

"Is it still okay to be afraid of that?" Donnie asks quietly.

"Yes." Donald stands. "It's always okay to fear failure, as long as it doesn't stop you from trying. Science is all about trying."

Donnie is quiet again, and then reaches up to hold his dad's hand. "Can... can we go see Leo? ... I think... I think I need to talk to him. Before I make him a robot. I want to try that first."

"Now that is truly brave," Donald sighs heavily. "Emotional conversations. You're braver than I, my young son."

Donnie grins up at him with his little gap-toothed smile. "Does that mean I can build our go-karts?"

"Not until we find you helmets."

"Aww..."

"... Which... I can have Auntie April do tomorrow. As a reward for the conversation we're all about to have."

Donnie grins again.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Leon worries about the burden his son is taking onto himself.

Angelo worries about how his son works with his brothers.

Raphie worries about the way his son is trying to be a Team without telling his team anything.

Donald worries about his son not being able to work through his anxieties of failure.

There's a good way to check how severe each of these issues are.

But it can wait.

First, group family therapy.

Then... the boys' first patrol.

#tmnt 2012 #tmnt 2k12 #tmnt 2018 #rottmnt #tmnt crossover #tmnt fic #tmnt fanfiction #fanfic #my attempts at fanfic #reincarnated au

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msmargaretmurry · 1 year

Note

JUST IN CASE you'd like to break up the perspective flip prompts, could i ask for BTS of the nye facetime scene or the first kiss scene in head above water?

i appreciate this 😂❤ i will absolutely get to all the perspective flips, but in the interim here's a BTS of the nye facetime scene in head above water!

In the elevator up to his condo, Matthew’s phone rings.

His drunk fingers answer the Facetime call out of habit, and gets about half a second of Leon’s flushed, grinning face before he realizes what he’s done, says, “Oh, shit,” and hangs up. [as with most things, the significance of leon facetiming him here goes totally over matthew’s head — leon’s drunk, he’s had a new year’s eve that was more contentious than he’d have preferred, and when he crawled into bed he decided the way to end the night on a good note was to call matthew. he’s been thinking about calling matthew for a while, feeling like they’re maybe building up to that level of communication, but he hasn’t had a good excuse to do it before now.]

“Everything okay?” asks Keith.

“Yeah, just a drunk dial.” Matthew puts his phone on silent and stuffing it deep in his pocket. He doesn’t look at it again until his dad is safely asleep in the guest room for the night, and he’s in his own room with the door locked.

There’s a second, missed call from Leon, and two texts: Wtf, then Ok fuck you?

Matthew grins, just a little, and calls him back.

“Too late, I’m pissed at you now,” Leon says when he answers. He’s in bed, shirtless, which is a welcome sight. He isn’t in his house, Matthew is pretty sure, but he can’t see enough of the background to tell for sure. Maybe a hotel room. He has had too much to drink to remember the Oilers’ schedule right now. Leon is still flushed, still grinning, kind of sweaty — drunk, obviously. [drunk enough that his feelings are showing! he’s thrilled that matthew called him back!] It’s New Year’s Eve.

“Dude, I was in the elevator with my dad,” Matthew says, and laughs at the face Leon pulls. “Yeah, exactly. You should thank me.” [leon is 1000% convinced that keith tkachuk doesn’t like him. they have never had a conversation but he feels this in his soul. he assumes big walt doesn’t like anyone who maligns his precious son. relatedly he does not yet have a very good grasp of how complicated matthew’s relationship with his dad is, lmao.]

“Yeah, okay, whatever,” Leon says. “Let me see your face.”

Literally that is the entire point of Facetime, and in fact they are currently looking at each other’s faces, Matthew does not say. But he does laugh about it.

“Wow, you’re extra rude tonight,” he says, going to the bathroom to let the bright vanity lights illuminate his latest battle wound. “Did you call to jerk off to my black eye? [so what if he did matthew] It’s okay if you did, but if so I think I get to watch. I don’t think it’s that bad though.”

It takes him a moment to find an angle where he’s getting the light on the right part of his face while not blocking it with his phone. The bruise is less swollen than it was earlier, but more colorful. From Matthew’s extensive experience with getting punched, he’d estimate it’ll be gone within the week.

Leon scrunches his brows. “Who does the gift basket go to?” [tbh it’s less that leon literally finds the bruised face hot, but he finds the way matthew gets under people’s skin hot, and it’s kind of an extension of that. it’s also only hot if matthew’s not seriously injured, and going with the bit that he likes it when matthew gets beaten up gives him and easy way to check on him.]

“I’m not actually sure. Maybe send them to everyone in Dallas just in case.”

“Thanks, that’s very helpful.”

“You know I love to be helpful.” While he’s in here, Matthew figures, he might as well get ready for bed, so he props the phone up on the sink and reaches for his toothbrush. “But seriously, to what do I owe the honor?”

“Next week,” Leon says, and Matthew’s drunk heart skips a beat. “We have a game the night before at home, so we don’t get in until early on the game day. But it’s the first stop on a road trip, so we’re staying overnight before we fly to Vancouver. So I was just thinking. Uh. It felt like too much to type all that.” He rubs a hand over his face and up through his hair, leaving it sticking up in a million different angles on top.

His accent is stronger when he’s drunk. Kind of like when he’s really turned on, but not exactly the same. More like he sounded at Boots and Hearts, except Matthew wasn’t as familiar with the baseline back then, and he’s probably drunker than he was then, judging from all the mumbling.

Matthew grins at the phone and says around his toothbrush, “Leon, are you soliciting me for sex?” [i was out to brunch with members of the rat crew shortly after receiving the hard copy of this fic from the incredible @sayornispress and one of them was like, HANG ON I HAVE TO FIND MY FAVORITE LINE, which turned out to be this line, and ceremoniously marked the page with the book ribbon. 😂]

“Obviously,” Leon says. “And I want my shirt back.” [he says, like he hasn’t been wearing matthew’s regularly]

“Oh, the truth comes out,” Matthew says. Spits in the sink and adds, “It looks pretty good on me. Maybe I want to keep it.”

“We’ll see about that.” Leon rolls onto his side, settling into the pillow. “Mostly I just want to fuck you. So everything else, whatever.” [he is sooooooo fucked]

The witty rejoinder Matthew’s mind supplies is something along the lines of, oh good because I think about you every day [he is also sooooooo fucked], but instead of saying that, he ducks down to rinse his mouth with water from the sink. Splashes some on his face for good measure, scrubbing the sweat of the night away, taking a moment to try to pull himself together. It doesn’t work very well. Matthew’s brain is still sloshing slightly in his head every time he moves. There’s something about the current view on the phone, Leon tucked into bed, hair mussed and eyes heavy, that makes Matthew wish he wasn’t about to crawl into bed alone. He could go for some lazy, drunk-ish sex before passing out. Or even just some making out and rubbing up against someone.

That’s not the kind of sex he has with Leon, but. Whatever. Fuck. [my dude you’re so close. you’re so close to getting it.] [walking the line in this scene between matthew being drunk enough to be a little bit more honest with himself but not quite sober or self-aware enough to get it was an adventure, lol]

He straightens, patting his face dry with the hand towel. Leon is just watching, so quietly that Matthew wonders if he’s going to fall asleep.

“So come over after the game,” he says, hauling his train of thought back onto tracks that aren’t headed straight for a cliff. “Just promise you won’t be a sore loser.”

Leon grins a grin that has surprisingly little smirk to it. “I don’t think that will be a problem.”

“Why, have you finally discovered sportsmanship?” Matthew adjusts the phone on the sink so it’s facing more towards the bathroom door, away from the toilet. “Sorry, I need to piss.”

“Very sexy,” Leon says. “Obviously we’re going to win, so you will have to not be the sore loser. Besides, after the game is better anyway. We can have more fun that way.”

“Can you not try to give me a boner until I’m done peeing?” Matthew asks. “It’s hard enough just looking at you.”

Leon snorts. “Hard enough.”

“I’m gonna hang up on you.”

“Yeah, okay.”

“You think I won’t?”

“I mean, I can't stop you.” [i really love this part of the scene — the casual intimacy and easy conversation, dorky flirting, the (however briefly) uncomplicated understanding that they want each other.]

Matthew finishes his business, washes his hands, and takes Leon back to the bedroom. “Where even are you right now?”

“Davo’s guest room. He had a party.” This admission comes with a beleaguered sigh, which makes Matthew raise both eyebrows as he props the phone on his dresser.

“Don’t tell me there’s trouble with the League’s favorite duo,” he says. “Say it ain’t so, Leo.”

“No, it’s just whatever.” A big yawn, and afterward, his words are heavier, drowsier. It does something to Matthew’s insides. Or maybe that’s all the alcohol. “Remember last season, like, February? When we were in that big slump and might not make the playoffs?”

“Of course.” Matthew grins, starting on the buttons of his sweaty button-down. “My favorite part of the season.”

Leon rolls his eyes, but keeps talking anyway. “In the middle of that, I told him, like. And maybe I shouldn’t have said it, but, you know, I told him I couldn’t fucking wait to test the market in a couple years. So he’s been wanting to do everything together all the time since then. Like this summer, you know? Like that’ll make me want to do matching extensions. I mean, I love the guy, but I don’t know what I’m doing yet.” Another sigh, big and heavy in the way only drunk sighs can be. “Are you getting naked?” [one of my regrets for this fic is i didn’t manage to fit in more of leon’s dilemma here, but the story got so tightly focused on matthew that anywhere i tried to fit more in felt too forced. usually he would confide in connor, but connor is really bad at dealing with the idea of leon leaving him. they’re close friends, they’ve been in this together from the beginning! leon says ‘he wants to do everything together’ here like they don’t already do everything together during the season, including leon third-wheeling beach vacations with connor and lauren, so the complaint is really less ‘connor wants to do everything together’ and more ‘we’re both now way too aware of the possible future where we are in the nhl as separate entities and not a two-headed monster, and it’s weird and hard’. leon is going to feel pretty weird about spilling this to matthew in the morning, even though he really likes the idea of matthew being someone he can confide in about stuff like this.]

“Are you trying to phone sex me from McDavid’s guest room?” Matthew asks, one hundred percent aware of his dad down the hall, and one hundred percent aware that his resolve won’t last if Leon says yes. [this is by far the horniest fic i've ever written. i know they don't have sex in this scene but i've never before written two people who stay so consistently horny for each other for the entirety of the fic. bless their hearts.]

Leon bites the side of his thumb. It’s difficult to read his expression, but even through the video call, the way his eyes drop down and back up, evaluating, makes Matthew feel hot all over. But then Leon shrugs, pressing half his face into his pillow. “Not this time. Just let me watch.” [after the teeth-brushing, etc, leon wants to hang onto this fantasy of getting ready for bed together, like normal people who are normal about wanting each other. like he’s already in bed and matthew is getting ready to crawl in next to him.]

“Uh,” says Matthew, his fingers going still on his shirt. “Watch me — change?”

“Not like I haven’t seen it all before.” And there’s the smirk. Sleepy, but very present. Matthew swallows.

“If I try to do a striptease, I guarantee you will never want to sleep with me again,” he says. [he's joking about it, but he IS nervous about whether leon will continue to want him if he sees too much of matthew being a whole person instead of just someone to sleep with.]

“Not stripping,” Leon says. “Like a normal person. I know that’s hard for you, but—”

“I should have hung up on you,” Matthew says, but goes back to his buttons with unsteady hands. He wasn’t even thinking about it, before, and now he’s hyper-aware of every inch of skin. Of Leon’s gaze following the deepening vee down his chest. The back of his neck is burning, but at least the light is low enough that Leon can’t see him flush.

He feels like he’s rushing through it, so he slows down, but that makes him feel ridiculous. Who the hell decided shirts should have so many buttons? Also, he kind of hates the idea of Leon not being in Edmonton, which is stupid. Leon not being in Edmonton would make Edmonton way easier to beat, which would be a net positive. It’s just that anywhere else would be farther away. Which would be — something. Inconvenient. [i’m sure the metaphor here is heavy-handed enough that it doesn’t need explaining, but just in case, this is absolutely about matthew letting himself be vulnerable, and about letting himself be intimate apart from sex.]

“Matthew,” Leon says. “Don’t tell what I said about the market. Yeah?”

Matthew swallows. “Yeah, of course not.”

And then he’s out of buttons. He starts to shrug out of the shirt, but Leon is watching so quietly, and suddenly everything feels quiet. That stifling kind of quiet that sucks up all the air in a room. Matthew strains his ears for something, anything — the building’s heating system, Leon breathing. Not his dad snoring, even though that’s surely happening. Anything else. But it’s so quiet.

“I’m just gonna,” he says, and goes to get his pajamas from where they’re shoved under the edge of the duvet on his bed. Technically, he’s still in view of the phone, so. Yeah. It’s not like he’s not used to taking his clothes off in front of guys, after years of locker rooms and plenty of sex, but he’s not one of those guys who just hangs around naked. Not because of how he looks or anything. He’s fine with that. It just feels weird. [this is a running theme that i really enjoyed playing with in this fic — matthew thinking about covering his body when he feels emotionally vulnerable.]

He finishes changing there by the bed, trying very hard not to look like he’s hurrying through it. Button-down off, old t-shirt on. Jeans off, pajama pants on. He cannot imagine it’s a particularly scintillating show, but whatever. It’s done. [heavy-handed metaphor continues: he gets through it, but only after running away a little bit!!]

Leon is exactly how Matthew left him, except maybe more sleepy-eyed than before.

“Are you happy now?” Matthew asks as he climbs into bed, pulling the covers up to his chin, except for the one arm he keeps out for the phone. His battery is really low. If it cared about him at all, it would have died before he started undressing. [he is so terrified of letting this be real. my poor little rat boy.]

“Ja,” Leon says, rubbing his face. “Yes.”

“Ja,” Matthew echoes, smiling despite the embarrassment still warm on his skin.

“Shut up.”

Matthew does, but only because he’s distracted watching Leon, who is clearly on the edge of falling asleep. His eyelids keep sliding closed for long moments before he blinks his focus back again. The view from the phone camera wobbles, like he’s having trouble remembering to keep it propped up. Maybe he won’t even remember this whole stupid striptease thing in the morning.

It’s quiet again. [the inside of matthew’s head is so loud for so much of this fic; part of why he keeps having sex with leon is that he can goad leon into testing his limits to the point where his brain briefly shuts out everything else. here, he gets a moment of quiet that has nothing to do with sex.]

“You know that thing,” Matthew says, “where they say, like. However you spend New Year’s Eve is how your year is gonna go?”

“Is that true?” Leon asks. He closes his eyes with a soft laugh. “Fuck.”

“Yeah,” Matthew says. “Fuck.” [they’re both sooooo fucked!!! the difference is that leon comes away from this conversation hopeful and matthew, as usual, immediately starts catastrophizing. sorry leon.]

#ask #my fic #ratnovel #hockey for ts #this was really fun ty!! <3

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pinkhairandpokemon · 7 months

Note

📰📰📰 🗡️💖 //i saw that @touya-san now give us the gossip

[An online news article, dating back to around four years ago:

Champion Blake: Galar’s Knight, The Underdog Who Climbed To The Top

“The people of Galar were in for shock after shock last week, first when the Pokémon League’s very own Chairman Rose unleashed the power of a legendary onto the region and sowed chaos- and then again when one of the young trainers who stopped him ended up bringing beloved Champion Leon’s long ten-year reign to an close.

It was an outcome hardly anyone could have expected. So that begs the question: what do we know about this scrappy young hero who not only bested the might of the unbeatable champion who endorsed them, but helped save Galar from the brink of crisis? Well, you’re in luck, because today we have an exclusive interview for you all with the kid that League fans have come to affectionately refer to as ‘Galar’s Knight’.”

Underneath it is a video linking to said interview. It starts with the interviewer sitting down on a chair in what looks like a studio. Soon after, a younger looking Blake walks in; they’re wearing a champion uniform, and their hair is still its natural light brown. They appear to be 16 or so.

Interviewer: Good to see you, Champion! We’re so pleased you could join us today. Why don’t you have a seat across from me?

She points to the chair a foot or two away from hers, and Blake shuffles over to sit down.

Blake: Oh, yeah, okay…

They have a bit of a forced looking smile on their face, and they wave awkwardly to the camera man.

Interviewer: Great, so- let’s get right into it. Tell me- how exactly are you feeling right now? About winning the championship tournament, about stopping the Darkest Day- I can imagine you have a lot of thoughts running through your head! All of this has happened in like, less than a week, after all.

Blake adjusts their microphone ear piece, finding their words before speaking.

Blake: It’s um, y-yeah, it’s been a lot… I’m uh, really excited about winning the championship, though. As for um, the Darkest Day, I… haven’t really collected all of my thoughts on that yet.

The interviewer casts the young champion a sympathetic gaze, when she sees the way they seem to fidget nervously at the mention of the Darkest Day.

Interviewer: I see. Well, in that case, we’ll just stick to the topic of the championship tournament for now. So, next question- how did you feel taking down the unbeatable Leon?

Blake: It- it felt pretty surreal, honestly. When I saw Charizard go down, I thought I was dreaming.

Interviewer: How were you expecting the match to go, going into it?

Blake: Um, I don’t really know. I knew my team was strong, but I knew Leon had years and years of experience under his belt. I felt it could’ve gone either way, you know?

Interviewer: Mhm.

Blake: But, um- it wasn’t like I was expecting my team to lose or anything, I knew that whatever ended up happening they’d give it their absolute all- but before the match, I really had to just uh, steel myself for the possibility of defeat. I knew who I was up against, and I had to make sure my head was in the game. Didn’t wanna get too cocky.

Interviewer: Yeah, that’s fair- I mean, you were up against a champion with one of the longest running titles in the world, with a pristine record of win after win for a solid decade.

Blake: Y-yeah, so- when we actually won, I just kinda… stood there on the field silently for like, a-a good thirty seconds while the crowd was going absolute nuts around me, heheh. I guess in that moment, I kinda saw my whole journey flashing in my eyes- and it just, I dunno, really hit for me that I made it. Like, somehow, I made it.

Interviewer: Starting out on your gym challenge, we’re you expecting to get as far as you did- getting the opportunity to even battle Leon in the first place, let alone win?

Blake: Nope. I could have never imagined it in a million years.

Interviewer: Really? How come?

Blake: Well, when I started out, I had like… no idea what I was doing. It all changed pretty fast, to be honest. I was a kid from a home that barely wanted anything to do with Pokémon, so I didn’t have the opportunities to hone my battling skills like a lot of others did. I’d always wanted to be a trainer, but I always thought it was way out of my reach so I never got my hopes up. Until then Leon himself came along one day, and just… handed me a Sobble. Not only that, but he endorsed me for the gym challenge? That sounds like something out of every aspiring trainer’s fantasy.

Interview: Well, we heard from a previous interview- with your rival, Hop Laventon- during the semifinals that Leon had you test your strength against each other, right? Do you think that’s when he spotted the potential in you?

Blake: If he did, I couldn’t see it. I lost that battle I had against Hop- I felt like I’d let my Pokémon down pretty miserably, so I thought for sure he was gonna give Hop an endorsement letter and not me. But then he did anyways. I couldn’t fathom why, for the longest time I thought he’d given it to me out of pity. But for some reason, he always gave me this look that said he still saw great things in me. Even in my early days when I was just stumbling around, trying to grasp the basics, he kept trying to encourage me. If it weren’t for him, Hop and Sonia giving me those pushes forwards at the start, I don’t think I ever would have made it to where I am today.

Interview: My, I wish we could get some of these people in here to get their side of the story. You quickly became a rising star amongst this year’s challengers about halfway into your journey, so it’s really interesting to hear you started out as the underdog. Is it true that you had no prior battling knowledge before you got your starter? Was this the cause of a lot of your struggles?

Blake: Well, maybe a little- I watched a lot of League matches on TV growing up, Leon’s included. Hop taught me all about type-matchups, and I read a bit about strategy online from time to time, but I never thought it’d be knowledge I’d need. Besides, my anxiety always made me freeze up at the most pivotal moments, so… I would end up getting all in my head and just… fumbling, right in the middle of battle.

Interviewer: Interesting. And how did you end up overcoming this habit of yours?

Blake: I think the biggest factor in getting over that was my Pokémon- it was all about learning to trust. Trust my team, showing them they could trust me; but the only way I could do any of that was putting trust in myself. That was the biggest roadblock I faced, I think- but over time I finally learned that the trainer played as big a role in winning a battle as the Pokémon did. Once I realized that, I knew I had to become the kind of trainer my Pokémon relied on, not the trainer that solely relied on them. I… guess in short, wanting to be better for them is what inspired me to be more confident in myself and my skills.

The interviewer nods, seeming in awe of Blake’s story.

Interviewer: That’s incredible. I mean, seriously, that’s so inspiring! I mean, a lot of the Gym Challenge is centered on the thrill and grandeur of the battles, but a lot of people don’t realize just how much it can mean to the trainers. Like, it’s so much more complex than just winning and losing- like for you, the trust you and your team exhibit during a battle is the foundation of your bond with them, right?

Blake: Yeah, yeah. That’s- that’s the part I’ve come to enjoy about it most really, getting to work in sync with my Pokémon.

Interview: With all that said- where do you plan to go from here? Do you feel you’ve reached the top, or do you still think there’s a long way left for you and your team to go?

Blake: Well- I uh, I really wanna keep getting stronger, so I can live up to my title and stuff. And um, I think now that I’ve made it this far I really wanna start… being myself, if that makes sense? Cause um, I think that way I can… be sort of a b-beacon for kids like me. Who have anxiety and feel like it’s holding them back… I-I guess I wanna be um, the role model I needed growing up. Who- who shows them that it’s okay to be scared, it’s okay to be unsure, but you can overcome it all at your own pace. Like, even after I realized what kinda trainer I needed to become, I didn’t change into that overnight, I needed to work at it, you know? And even I had setbacks, but I still made it- and they can too.

Blake: Taking those steps to becoming a better trainer were scary, cause I didn’t know if I would succeed, and I knew it’d be hard to unlearn all that doubt I had in myself- so I-I feel like if I start working towards embracing myself now, may-maybe I can encourage others to do the same. And show them that road isn’t scary, that failure and the fallbacks aren’t scary.

Interviewer: That’s amazing. It’s good to see you have a solid idea of your future and what champion you wanna be for Galar- I personally have no doubt in my mind you’re gonna be one of the best our region has had yet, and I hope the rest of the public will feel the same after getting to know you and your story a bit better.

Interview: As much as I’d like to delve more into the life of our new champ, that’s all the time we have for today. Everyone at home give Champion Blake a thank you for agreeing to join us and tell us more about their road to success!

Closing out music begins to play, and Blake gives the camera a wave and a smile as they stand up, before being escorted out of the room.]

#(( eee had fun w/ this one ))#pokeblogging #pokemon irl #pokeblog rp #pokemon #pokemon oc #pokemon rp #trainer blake #asks #pokeirl #pkmn irl #pkmn rp

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pokeexehasstoppedworking · 1 year

Text

A Champion Time For The Heart Ch11 Back To Motostoke

(Warning: Contains another fight between younger reader's mom and herself in a flashback.)

To say you two had a long night when you got back to your hotel room was an understatement. The boys jumped at the first chance they got asking Gloria how the dinner went to which she just let out a long drawn out 'Uuuuuhhhhh' and you had to cut in saying that he had just asked her about the gym battle and her day. Which she seemed thankful about you doing to save her the trouble. Luckily neither seemed too miffed about Glory getting to dine with THE Chairman Rose apparently, you certainly didn't enjoy the experience other than the free meal. You changed the subject by asking Hop when his battle was to which he proudly stated tomorrow. Alright! Seemed cleaned cut enough......Surprise, surprise it wasn't. The four of you ended up having to stay another few days instead for the one you all planned because Hop had lost the first battle with Nessa, visibly upset about the entire thing, and Victor hadn't had a chance to take her on yet. Quite understandable. But to your surprise once meeting him outside the stadium he seemed...rather happy. Quickly finding out the reason not only because Nessa have him her ultra rare league card as compensation but that she offered to battle him again a second time first thing tomorrow morning to which he quickly agreed to. So the four of you agreed to spend another night in Hulbury. The next morning the four of you left bright and early for the stadium and after waiting for Hop to redo the gym challenge again, watched him battle Nessa for a second time. It was intense. It was stressful. And it was certainly rough on both parties. But you were SO glad Hop was able to win! Not only because you wanted him to win, but because you didn't want to spend another day in Hulbury. It was a close one too. With Hop winning two out of the three rounds but it was a good enough score to earn the badge! And he was proud to show it off as well when the three of you managed to meet up with him again outside the stadium by the Hulbury lighthouse. Victor wasn't too long after and like Hop before him nearly won just by the skin of his teeth.

Hop had smiled instantly shoving the bronze-golden badge out to you three with the same patterns that was on Gloria's water badge. "LOOK!! I FINALLY GOT IT! And on my second try too! Pretty good huh?"

"You were so cool out there!," Gloria excitedly complimented him smiling widely. "Now we're all caught up!"

"Doesn't make us less rivals y'know!"

"...Hey. Speaking of gym badges," you cut in gaining their attention as you gestured towards the badge in Hop's hand. "Do you guys know which gym you wanted to go to next?" You were really itching to get out of Hulbury by this point and just wanted to GO.

Gloria opened her mouth to speak but Hop beat her too it making all of you look back at him. "Actually, I have one on my mind."

"What is it?"

He turned to Gloria. "All right, Mate. You've got both the grass badge and water badge by now right?" She nodded confused. "In that case, we're all headed for Motostoke and the fire gym leader Kabu!"

All three of you stared shocked at him. The twins seeming at something else, and you because MOTOSTOKE. As in the city you all started in?! Hop wanted all of you to walk back ALL the way there to challenge a gym leader!? WHAT-

"What!? We have to go all the way back to Motostoke for that?!"

"KABU!?", both the twins yelled at him and you rose a brow at their reaction.

"....Ok. I feel like this is the part where someone tells me more about this gym leader."

With a slightly worried look Victor turned to you. "Kabu is the Galar Region's Fire Type Gym Leader and his gym's in Motostoke. He's also the only gym leader who's not from Galar himself."

"He's also the SECOND most powerful gym leader behind Raihan," Gloria jumped in frowning, "If Raihan and Leon weren't in the picture he could've easily gotten the title of 'Galar's Strongest Gym Leader' or the Champion itself. He's been known to make a whole bunch of trainers quit the entire gym challenge as a whole because they couldn't win against him." She turned back to Hop raising a brow. "Which begs the question on why do you want to go there next of all places?"

"Nessa suggested I go there actually." She did? That sure surprised you. "She said if I wanted more of a challenge for myself then he'd be a good candidate to battle before we reach Raihan. I thought it would be a great idea to challenge myself even more!"

.....Gloria hummed. "Actually you might be onto something. We can't get stronger unless we push ourselves..." She smiled. "Ok! Count me in too!"

"I think the both of you are in over your heads." Victor sighed. "But if that's where you wanna go then fine. We can take the train."

You felt internal relief you wouldn't have to walk again, but that begged the question. "Exactly how long would it take to get back there?"

"About another month by walking. Two weeks by corviknight taxi. And five days by train over nights too."

"Yeah..We're taking the train this time."

There was one tiny problem with that notion tho. The morning train had already passed so the four of you had to wait in the shade of the train station for at least another two hours until the afternoon train came rumbling up to the station at last! As nice as this place was, you wanted to leave as soon after you and Gloria attended the dinner with the Chairman and his assistant. After hearing he had come there often enough to have 'a usual' dish you didn't want to accidentally bump into them again especially after what you did and getting the off feeling about them. It was too weird, so you were glad to get on the train. You were slightly afraid you wouldn't be able to get on without paying but luckily you slipped through the bars quickly behind Gloria after she scanned her train pass in the slot and piled on inside with the rest of the kids and a few other people who either got on too or were leaving.

"Good Afternoon, Ladies and Gentlemen. We will be leaving Hulbury Station in five minutes. Please gather all your belongings and exit or enter accordingly. Next stop shall be Nester Town. Thank you for using Galar Transportation for your traveling needs," a man's voice came through the speaker over head and you gave it a raised brow. You had to remember there was more than one town in Galar since now it wasn't just a game. ...In fact with how big this region was, it must've been home to millions of people like a region back in your world.

The four of you all settled into the train cars and gotten yourself situated into one of the seats with the table between them. The twins on one side and you with Hop facing them as you sighed into the soft seat cushions. It would be nice not having to walk somewhere for once at least. You also assumed Sonia must've had the same idea about taking the train outta here because you hadn't seem her since she excused herself and ran out from the dinner about two days ago now. Oh well. Where ever she was, you were sure she was fine. After all you slightly remembered her reappearing later in the game too, so if events were going as they were in the original game then you would most definitely see her again soon. But for now you sighed content to just tug off your backpack and leave it on the floor at your feet, your sobble taken residence on the table between you all, and you just leaning back into your seat and looking out the window waiting for the train to start moving again. Not really paying too much attention to what the others were talking about-

"How about I share with you a little tip about that leader, Kabu?" Your eyes blinked back over to Hop who was glancing at his phone you assume reading something. "From what I heard, he's holed up now in Galar Mine No. 2 undergoing special training."

"What?!," Gloria gave him a look. "He's underground while the gym challenge is goin' on? What kind of gym leader does that?"

"If he's in there then we can't take him on in Motostoke even if we zip right over there, putting the breaks on our gym challenge!"

"That's what I literally just implied....Wait. How long has he been in there?"

"Uh.." Hop quickly flipped through his phone's screen. "According to this...since about three days ago."

"WHAT? Who trains in a cave for three days straight? ...What if he's not out by the time we get there? We'd be waitin' for days by that point!"

"....So I say we head to galar mine no. two ourselves!," Hop decided lowering the phone from his face. "Let's go see what all the fuss is about!"

"Uh-...NO!!" All three teens looked at you as you frowned and crossed your arms in a stern pose. "No. No. HECK NO!! I went through one mine thank you very much and was almost caught by miners chasing us because someone wanted to take a short cut. We can go and wait for him like every other person."

"...You did what!?"

"Actually Galar Mine Number two is open to the public since it's naturally a part of the Wild Area," Hop explained ignoring Victor's earlier question. "It's full of a lot of water pokemon since it's connected to an underground spring. You can also find a couple Wishing Stars if you're lucky. ..Huh. Maybe that's why he went there?"

Unconvinced you rose a brow but sighed and leaned back into your seat just as the train gave a small little lurch before slowly beginning to pull away. The kids going back to talk among themselves about mines and gym leaders. Despite not walking, you had a feeling this was going to be a long trip back to Motostoke. ...And you weren't wrong either. The world went past as the train moved along as a rapid pace, the town of Hulbury quickly disappearing from view as it did. Replaced by nature and forests, and the distant view of the ocean side within a matter of minutes. As the talking of the kids and other passengers chatting in the distance continued you pressed your forehead to the window and closed your eyes. Peace allowing you to drift off for the moment as for once you had no worries and nothing weighed on your shoulders, so you got a well deserved break for once. The next five days for the four of you were a bit uncomfortable but manageable. A lot more manageable than camping at least. When night fell you four decided that you'd take the two empty seats across the small walk way from the four of you so each of you could have one place to sleep comfortably(or as comfortable as you could sleep on a train) and would take turns staying up to make sure none of you missed the stop at Motostoke. Or in case something else happened. Victor volunteered to stay the first night up that rolled around which you were thankful for and the other three of you slept. The next morning you woke and you were greeted with the sight of Victor barely awake leaning his head against the table. Guess he kept true to his word. He only had time to east a couple things Gloria shoved into his hands from your food rations into his hands before he ended up falling asleep leaning against the wall. You felt a little guilty for letting him stay up for so long but it was for a good reason. The second day went as well as the first. The train rode on, Victor slept most of the day away only waking up around sunset before going back to sleeping again that second night, Gloria excitedly showed you the battle between herself and Nessa from the League's official website as well. You watched and had to agree with Gloria that it was a very close call. Managing to defeat Nessa in the first round, losing the second, and then just BARELY winning the third. Good thing it was a good enough score to pass. She was certainly stronger than Milo from what you'd seen. When it came the second night Gloria ended up volunteering to stay up that time stating that she'd use her favorite videos of the League's past battles to keep her up as she always stayed up and never missed a detail when she did watch them. This being confirmed by Victor who looked a little worried over that but was too tired from last night to argue and it was agreed. Day three rolled around and it was the same as the first two. Only this time Gloria spent most of the day leaning against a slightly annoyed Victor snoring. Did she always snore? You must've been too deep in sleep to notice before now, at least Hop found his friends' situation amusing. And then guess who got volunteered by Victor to stay up that night as revenge for laughing at him. Hop wasn't very amused after that. And thus the fourth day came and everyone was awake minus poor Hop who laid upon one of the empty seats during most of the time there. But it was a matter of fact your turn to keep watch as they all slept and agreed without hesitation. After all it was only fair. During the entirety of the trip so fair you all rationed out the food you bought from Hulbury whenever hungry, and walked up and down the walk way between all the train seats if you needed to stretch your legs. Many people coming and going and sometimes giving the one taking up a whole seat to sleep a strange look before moving on. The conductor announcing each stop and as you all came to it. So far none were Motostoke but it was only a matter of time. That night you stayed up as slowly one by one the kids and your sobble fell asleep leaving you the only one awake as the sun set and was replaced with the moon and stars in the silent night. The dark nature of forests and meadows flew by quickly only with the occasional town or house in the countryside lighting up the landscape. It was actually rather peaceful and beautiful. You could almost fall asleep. And you almost did quite a few times but you managed to jerk yourself awake each time. Gloria had offered to let you stream some shows on her phone just as she had done before but you had declined the offer.....Maybe you should've accepted because your eyes slipped closed once. And once again like in your dreams you were back home. A much younger you. Around Gloria's age of fifthteen or so. You were playing a game. The whole surroundings were fuzzy..as if you were seeing everything through a foggy telescope, being able to see things but being too blurry to see much of the finer details. Younger blurry you looked up just as angry footsteps stomped their way towards you and whatever game you were playing. BAM!! With a loud bang your door was flung open hitting the wall and younger you jumped to your feet as the blurry form of your mother standing in the doorway. Even if her face was blurry you could tell she was very angry.

"WHAT DID I TELL YOU!?" She shouted angrily as you dumbly stood there. Even as she stomped over and swiped the controller from your younger self's hands. "I told you to study for your year's finals and what do I find!? You playing these stupid games after I slave away at a minimal wage job that barely covers the bills as it is!! Do you want the electricity bill getting higher!? Do you not want to get into a good college!? No daughter of mine is going to be stuck with her mind in the gutter from these dumb timewasters!!"

"HA!"

Your head snapped up colliding with the cool window of the train which in turn made you curse out as your hands instinctively shot up to clutch at where you hit your head. Groaning and looking around, it took a moment for your eyes to adjust to the dark again....And you sighed in relief seeing the sleeping figures of the kids and your sobble sleeping facedown on the table. Your hand went from rubbing your head to rubbing your face as you let relief wash over you....A dream...It was just another dream thank goodness. But one you weren't keen on revisiting. Safe to say you didn't fall asleep again that night, nor did you the fifth day despite the kids insisting you at least take a powernap before you arrived but again you refused dodging the questions and eventually they dropped it but kept giving your very tired form worried looks every so often. The day was a blur as you kept drifting in and out of small sleeping spells until nodding off that fifth night, barely remembering Victor volunteering to stay up a second time for that night before completely nodding off into a thankfully dreamless slumber.

"AH!! Y/N WAKE UP!!"

"AH!" Once again as if fate thought it'd be some funny joke, you ended up hitting your head against the window...again...and once again you cried out and clutched your head. The only difference this time was that someone was dragging your half awake butt out of the seat as your brain barely registered what was going on as you barely managed to stumble to your legs getting dragged out. Another person grabbing your other arm and pulling along with whoever was already making your barely upright body hurriedly stumble down the walk way of the train. Your brain began to finally catch up and you realized the two who were pulling your staggering form was Hop and Gloria with your sobble desperately clinging to her enormous backback. By the time you fully registered what was going on they already had you stumbling into what could only be the inside of a train station. "What the-"

"You couldn't have woken us up?," Gloria barked at someone and you blinked over tiredly where she was looking as Hop ushered your staggering form over to one of the seats. Took you a moment to realize that it was Victor who was sluggishly putting his grey beanie back on his head.

"M' sorry," he tiredly mumbled. Judging by the bags under his eyes and the tired look he gave, he was in need of some sleep. "I guess I must've dozed off when we passed the station in Motostoke."

Your blood ran cold as you stared at him and Hop made you sit down. Passed Motostoke!? Any sleepy feelings were mostly dashed out at the spike of concern. How far were you away from Motostoke then!? Were you going to have to walk a long way back there!? Take another train back!? Were you going to miss the chance to battle Kabu?!

"Actually this is better than stopping in Motostoke."

.....The three of you turned to Hop as he smiled. "....Excuse me?"

"Yeah!" He pointed towards the outside of the station. "Mine Number two is located just out of Motostoke right? We're back in the Wild Area. Which means we can go to the mine sooner and see about the hold up with Kabu!"

...Gloria slowly gained a smile. "Oh yeah! I hadn't realized that! That's why yer a genius Hop!" Hop chuckled shyly at the praise. Tho Victor very much disagreed as he frowned.

"What?! We can't just go to the mines as soon as we step off the train! What about getting a spot at Budew Drop Inn for sleep!?"

"There'll be plenty of time for that!" Gloria waved her brother off as he scowled looking like he was about ready to yell at her.

Guess you'd better step in. "Hey. Calm down you two." Both of them looked towards you as you frowned. "Gloria, Victor has a point. He's tired and probably needs some sleep....Maybe we should go back to Motostoke City and let him get a couple rooms for us-"

"THAT'S A GREAT IDEA!!," Victor yelled out reaching around to grab his backpack from the slew of seats offered too by the station.

"....What?"

Tiredly, Victor looked at the rest of you three. "You all can head to the mines and I can go reserve our rooms and wait for you. I'm tired."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa." You interjected pointing a hand at him. "You REALLY expect ME to let you go into Motostoke by yourself when you barely got any sleep last night??"

"I'll be fine," he insisted regaining his composure and sighing as the weight of the very large pack settled back on his back. "If it makes you feel better, I'll wait for you guys here and we can take the noon train back into Motostoke in a couple hours. I'd rather wait for Kabu to battle with me than go lookin' for 'em anyways."

You paused for a moment before turning towards the door outside. It looked like the sun was just starting to rise from the night and the train was starting to pull away at this moment. It was pretty early in the morning, so if you left now then the four of you could make the noon train back in time. And Victor could get a bit of rest..but you were a bit unsure about letting Victor just stay here by himself. So you looked back at him. "Are you sure you wanna stay here by yourself?"

"I spent an entire year by myself traveling before Gloria even started this journey," he confirmed waving his hand. "I'll be fine for a few hours...*yaaawwwnn*"

You still weren't too convinced but agreed that this would probably be a better plan than letting Victor try to go into Motostoke by himself and drop from lack of sleep, or having Hop or Gloria just run off into a mine. (especially since that worked oh so well last time.) "Ok. You win. But I at least want you to seat over here where the station master can see you in case something happens, alright?"

Victor sighed but nodded. "Fine. But make sure you guys get back before the next train otherwise we'll have to wait for the night train or walk there."

The three of you agreed before exiting the station and once again you found yourself standing in the Wild Area like you did a month ago when you were on your way to the Entrance Ceremony. It may have only been a little more than a month ago but it felt like forever ago now. It still looked the same as it did when you first arrived here minus the giant herd of wild wooloo on the tracks. Hop walked up next to you and looked around at the lovely sight. Commenting on how cool it looked. To which you agreed before turning over to Gloria who finally walked out of the station stuffing two pokeballs into her bag as she walked up to you.

"Hey. What are those?," you asked gesturing to them.

"Some people in there didn't want their eevee and pikachu. So I got both of them."

You rose a brow but decided not to comment on that, instead looking around. "Ok. So do either of you two know where this mine is? I don't remember seeing it last time we were here. ..Mostly being chased around by a giant onix and battling super powered pokemon."

"You're never going to let me live that down are you?"

"I do." Hop beamed before pointing off to the fight across the giant spacious open land to where a pretty decent area of trees were huddled together by a hill side. "It's there by those trees according to the map, and every other site where it's listed. C'mon! We can get there and be back in like two hours."

While you were weary of wondering around an area where wild animals-...Er..Pokemon could chase after you at any moment, but seeing no other option the three of you began walking. Despite you still feeling a bit tired from not sleeping the night or day before last night, you felt alert looking around you three in the grass and plants as you walked. Making sure no pokemon jumped out at the three of you as you walked and walked..and walked before the cliff side jutting out of the earth surrounded by trees. As you three approuched and managed to pass through the trees you finally came across it. A giant, dark opening within the rocks being only lit on the inside by a few lanterns strung along the walls leading down into it.

"This is it!," Hop excitedly exclaimed as he picked up his pace gesturing for you two to follow him faster. "C'mon! Kabu's close! I can feel it!"

Increasing your speed you followed him into the cave's opening and blinked as mostly darkness overtook your vision. This cave was BIG, way bigger than the last cave you and Gloria traveled through. The ceilings were high and the same gems as the last one was scattered about the walls....as well as a few construction workers and equipment.

......You pointed at them. "Hey. I thought you said this was public area!"

"It is," Hop's voice from somewhere ahead of you called back, "But they can collect Wishing Stars here too so they come by and collect them."

Oh that made sense, you glanced at the workers for a little while longer before turning back about to ask Hop something but stopped....They were gone. "....HOP!?" You shouted getting only an echo back, and some of the workers looking at you before you took off in the direction his voice came from. Oh great! First minute in the cave and already you lost these kids!! "GLORIA!? HOP!! C'MON YOU TWO!!" You called out but surprise, surprise only got your echo back. ...Great. Well you better find them before they got in trouble again or any of you got lost. As you traveled farther in with only lanterns plastered on the walls for light, you began to notice how it was connected with the Wild Area. There was pokemon all around here. From bat-like pokemon hanging from the ceiling, a couple scraggies hopping about, and more than once in this GIGANTIC cave and it's caverns, you walked by a small cave like pond and could've sworn you saw some kind of red crustation pop in and out. But with the limited light it made it hard to see and find out for real. More than once you would call out either of the two's names but the only answers were more echoes of your voice, and the sounds of scared pokemon as they fled from your voice. Your sobble(who had regained it's spot on your shoulder after leaving the station) was staring around wide eyed with chirps, occasionally reaching out towards the sparkling stones on the wall. "Yeah. I know they're pretty. But we can't stop and look at them right now. We need to find those two before they get in trouble again." Your sobble chirped curiously grabbing at a sparkling stone from a very close stalagmite as you passed it, the rock easily plucking free as he tugged it. Looking at it curiously...before sticking it in his mouth. !? "HEY!" In an instant you grabbed him by the chin. Your other hand trying to open his mouth as like a child, the sobble squirmed and pushed away. "DROP IT!! BAD POKEMON!! SPIT IT OUT!! IT'S NOT FOOD!!" Instead of listening your pokemon turned his head cheeks puffed out as your fear of him swallowing something that could hurt him rose. "Spit that out or I'm never going to let you have bites of my curry ever again!" This time the sobble paused, looking at you for any signs of deceit, but you absolutely meant it. Holding your hand out expectantly to it.......It opened it's mouth and the sparkling stone fell right into your hand. Quickly you pulled it away from your sobble releasing it with a scowl. "Good boy. Now don't do that again! Rocks aren't edible!" He gave off a chirp in protest but didn't do any more than pout like a toddler on your shoulder. With a sigh you shook your head and looked at the small stone in your hand...Huh. This one didn't look like all the others on the wall. Maybe it was a different one-

"You!" You jumped at the sudden voice. Blinking around at who could've said it when your eyes landed on someone walking towards you in the dim light with pale features. ..Your f/c eyes widening when you realized who it was. Standing before you was Bede! You hadn't seen him a little over a week ago by now, but for some reason he was here and he frowned at you. "It's an inconvience in of itself that I run into that girl and the Champion's chatterbox younger brother, but now I run into the very lady who disrespected the Chairman's assistant as well! Are you all trying to get on my nerves or is this bad luck on my part?"

It took you a moment to respond as he rubbed his head but you frowned right back at him. "Look, Kid. I'm not the one who straight up walked up to someone who's minding their own business and rudely ask about why I was here? For all you knew I could've just been going for a walk or sight seeing the famous Mine Number Two or just exploring the Wild Area. Did I come up to YOU and accuse you of following us from Hulbury? No. No I didn't."

Bede stared at you from under his hand, brain seeming to process what you were saying before a deeper frown is what he chose to go with. "BAH!! Never mind then! I've wasted enough time as it is down here especially after running into those two again. Now if you'll move aside I'll be taking my...." He froze. Purple eyes widening at you, and you rose a brow at his all of a sudden silence. ".......You." He pointed right at the sparkling stone in your hand. "That Wishing Star! Give it to me."

...You held up the stone. "Y'mean the rock this guy tried to eat-" Hold up! Weren't Wishing Stars the magic stone thingies everyone used to gigantamax their pokemon around here!? " You already have one of these." You pointed to the band on his wrist. "Why do you need this one?"

he gave a small growl of frustration. "I don't need to explain myself to the likes of you, Woman! If you won't give it too me then I'll just take it from you!" With that he whipped out a pokeball.

"Oh for the love of- You can't be serious!"

With a toss and bright like a small Gothita pokemon exploded in black in white in front of you. .....WHY was the first reaction for everyone to just whip out a pokemon to intimidate you if you hesitated even just a little bit?? This kid absolutely had NO manners! "Gothita will make quick work of you and your sobble if you don't hand that stone over to me this instant." He was REALLY getting on your nerves. You stepped forward. He smirked. "Another challenge? Really I couldn't be more inconvenienced today as it i-" You stepped OVER Gothita who looked confused as it why you weren't standing farther away sending the sobble on your shoulder to battle. Bede seemed also rather smackgobbed as well. Guess he hadn't ever experienced someone who would physically step over his pokemon instead of battling. His eyes widening as you walked right up to him with a scowl.

You stared a moment at his frozen and confused stance before deciding to talk. "Y'know. Obviously you have no manners. The Chairman should be ashamed of himself if his endorsed challenger is so rude to someone minding their own business and demanding things like a spoiled toddler who's never been told no before."

Bede flinched. Blinking rapidly in your shadow before seeming to regain his voice. "D-Don't talk about Chairman Rose like that-"

"I WAS talking about YOU, Bede!" He flinched back as you leaned forward. "Obviously no one ever taught you manners so I'll teach you a quick lesson in them right now."

His eyes became smaller. "L-Lesson? What l-lesson you m-mad woman-"

"Is THIS what you want?,'' you cut him off holding the wishing star to his face. He paused for a moment, almost going cross eyed as he looked at the thing in front of his face...before reaching a hand towards i- You held it away from him with a scowl. "NO. You don't take things that don't belong to you without asking first. Now I'll ask again. Is this what you want?"......He nodded. "Ok. Do you know what please and thank you are?"....He nodded again. "Good. Now what do you say when you want something?"

He didn't answer at first. Looking at you with some unreadable expression. Confusion? Shell shock?...Maybe fear? ".....May I...please have that Wishing Star, Miss?" Narrowing your eyes for a moment you eventually held it up to him and he reached for it again.

"Yes, you may. But I want an apology first?"

He paused again. "....A-Apology?!"

"Yeah. For acting so rude before. If you really are the better person you will apologize because I don't think the Chairman raised a boy with no manners."

You both stood there for a moment not moving or breaking eye contact before he backed down first and looked away. "Tch! Fine! I'm.....sorry! Now can you please just give me the stone so I can leave!?"

Smiling satisfied you nodded and held it out to him...he...slowly finally took it from you. "What do you say?"

"Mmmm....Thank you," he forced out through gritted teeth as you nodded.

"Good. Now I have to go now but I don't want to be talked to rudely like that again if I ever see you again. ...And don't call me Woman. My name's Y/n. I know you're better than that, Bede." He paused....blinking and looking up at you again seeming to be so, so confused. "You said you saw Gloria and Hop right? Did they go down that way?" You asked pointing behind him. Still staring he slowly nodded. "Ok. Thanks. You be careful getting out of here ok?"

He didn't say anything and just confusedly watch you step around him silently and continue walking away down into the dimly lit cave. At least you were on the right track now. Hopefully you'll be able to catch up with the two of them soon. And by soon it meant it'd take longer than you realized, coming across a fork in the road as hey say and leaving two caverns tunnels to chose from.......You ultimately decided on going left since it was more lit and figured they'd be smart enough to also go down this passage way. As you walked you called out a few times more still getting no answers. This was getting ridiculous!! Where could those two have gone!? Surely they couldn't have gone THAT far away from you in the short time you weren't looking!

"Thank you for helping out with my training, Team Yell." You paused as the voice rang out....What was- "But I must say it's unforgivable for you to get in the way of a carkol hard at work." ...OK! THAT WAS DEFINATELY A VOICE!! Granted it sounded older and nothing like the two kids, but if someone was down here then maybe you could ask for directions or if they saw the two. You broke out in a job up the tunnel towards the voices up ahead.

"We weren't gettin' in it's way! We were tryin' to cheer it on!," a different man's voice insisted loudly. What the-

You rounded the corner as the tunnel gave way to a giant cavern and you froze....OH NO NOT THEM!!

"Still, you did a number on us in that pokemon battle so...it's time for Team Yell to scarper and give a morale boost elsewhere!," one rock star wannabe said to an older man and standing next to another rock star wannabe.

You stared dumbfounded. SERIOUSLY!? What was the chances that you'd run into them all the way down here again!?

"Cheering is one thing but one shouldn't get in the way of honest work,'' the older man scolded the two of them.

You rose a brow at them, eyes slowly going to look behind them. And widening as you saw two teens standing in the entrance of another passage way across the cavern room. ...You frowned. "HOP!! GLORIA!!" Everyone either jumped or snapped their heads over to you as you shouted at the kids' direction. "Dang nabit! Why'd you run off from me like that!? Don't you know how to wait up!?" You started walking over towards them.

...One rockstar wannabe grabbed his friend wide eyed as he stared at you walking past. "C-Crikey! Bro, it's that dame that nailed Andrew in the eyes with dirt!"

"Wha- Seriously!? Let's get outta 'ere before that sobble starts singing a sad tune yo!"

You paid no mind to the scattering footsteps as you walked up to the now guilty looking pair of kiddos. "There you are! *sigh* Do you know how worried I was running around here like a headless chicken?"

"......What's a chicken?," Gloria asked.

"We're really sorry, Y/n," Hop apologized frowning, "we thought you were right behind us and then we ran into some trouble."

"Oh yeah. So did I. Bede needed some manners taught to him."

"Wait..Ya saw the Mareep Head??"

You nodded. "I ran into him on his way out. He said you gave him some trouble."

"By trouble if ya mean kickin' his behind-"

"Nevermind that. Y/n we found him!"

"Found who?"

Hop pointed behind you and you turned with a brow raised. The old man was petting a pokemon that looked like a giant living piece of coal. "There! That's Kabu!...Man, he's wicked! No wonder he's the fire-type gym leader!"

...THAT was Kabu!? Well whaddya know. It made sense since by looking at him now, he wore an unmistakable gym suit. The old man, Kabu, looked up at you three from petting his pokemon and gave a polite smile. "Ah, you are the trainers endorsed by Leon! Hop and Gloria, am I right?"

Both pair of young eyes went wide at him. ".....You know our names!?"

"Yes. Leon has spoken about you before. And your concerned friend just literally shouted your names just now."

"......Oh. W-Well we're here to see you actually! A-About having a pokemon battle!"

"Naturally you would. I'm just training right up until the last moment so that I can guarantee the perfect match when I face you gym challengers."

"Oh really?," you asked and he nodded, "This deep in a cave?"

"I specialize in fire-type pokemon, and the water-type pokemon in Galar Mine Number Two are the perfect opponents to train against, Young Lady."....He hummed and you all watched as he looked at a watch around his wrist. "....Regardless it's getting late. I must leave if I'm going to get the gym ready by tomorrow." he looked back to the three of you with a smile. "Just go straight once you get out of this mine and you'll reach Motostoke. Get a good at the hotel, and make sure you're both in your top condition." He turned around calling to the pokemon. "Come on, Carkol. Time for you to head on home, too. I'll make sure you get there safely. We're going to be on fire tomorrow!" He began jogging off and the thing lumbered off after him with a grunt of it's own. The man looked old enough to be your grandfather and could still jog as fast as you had done earlier. Impressive.

"....I remember Lee talking about Kabu." You blinked over to Hop as he looked at where Kabu disappeared. "He said that a lot of gym challengers give up because they just can't beat Kabu. Man, now I'm getting all fired up too!"

"Yeah. Well, I'm tired out!" Both paused looking at you. "C'mon. You heard what he said. Let's get back to Victor and get to the Inn."

The three of you started making your way back out of the mine and back towards The Wild Area Station. You were tired and you could use a rest before catching the evening train back into Motostoke where you began in the first place. Surprisingly you made it out faster than it took going in the caverns.

"That carkol from before," Hop commented off in thought, "I guess it must've been here on a job. You do know about poke job by now right?" You nodded. "Course you do! I bet he hired that carkol to train with him or something!"

"You might be right, but after today I think I just want to get to the hotel and relax."

Hop nodded. ".....Oh hey. I think we found out who those guys in the punk make up were?"

You froze. Nearly stumbling over your feet as you did so before snapping your face over towards the boy. "WHAT!?"

He nodded. "Yeah. They called themselves Team Yell. Which is weird cuz I've never heard of them before and I don't remember Lee mentioning them at all. What about you Glor?" Gloria shook her head no to his question.....Team Yell?? They were team Yell?? What name was that?? Any 'team' you knew from the Pokemon franchise was evil. Team Rocket being the most obvious in your mind, but if that's true then does that mean those Rockstar wannabe's are more dangerous than they seem? Did Team Yell have a world domination scheme from the game!? You tried to wrack your brain for any and all possible villainous plots in the game that could involve a whole bunch of rockstar make up wearing hooligans....But ended up with...absolutely nothing!! DANGIT!! You couldn't remember anything from playing it years ago! ....*sigh* The only thing you could do now was push on and keep your eyes peeled for any possible trouble they'd cause you. "Now, I'm cream-crackered." Hop's voice snapped you back into reality. "I'm for the Budew Drop Inn and some sleep. Come tomorrow that Fire Gym Leader Kabu better be ready because I'm coming for him!!"

Gloria nodded in agreement. "Yeah. We better get back ta Vic before he decides on givin' us another boring lecture on being late."

You couldn't agree more either. Maybe some more sleep will help you think more clearly than normal. The three of you made your way back towards the station with the afternoon sun rising high in the sky, upon entering you discovered Victor exactly where you all left him. Fast asleep leaning back in one of the chairs. He must've been more tired than you realized, maybe it was for the best he stayed behind here. It took only an hour of your four waiting, appreciating the small break your body got, before the afternoon train came rumbling on in as per usual. It was a jumbled process of trying to wake up Victor who acted like a caffeine lacking zombie until you and Hop decided 'Screw this' and both of you picked him up by either side and dragged his half asleep, staggering, groggy butt over and onto the train with Gloria right behind. It wasn't much easier pushing him into a seat next to you and trying to wake him up for the ten minute ride back into Motostoke, before unsuccessfully doing so and resulted in both of you again half dragging Victor off the train in Motostoke station and on your way to Budew Drop Inn with Gloria trailing right behind you three. Sure it was hard, but you couldn't imagine trying to do this walking all the way back to Motostoke through the Wild Area with dangerous pokemon about, so the train was much better. It took a bit of lifting and slight yelling from Hop for Victor to wake up, getting some strange looks from other people as you went, but by some miracle the four of you somehow managed to make it into the inn you stayed at before during the entrance ceremony. The golden statue still gleaming as ever as you and Hop struggled to get the mumbling Victor up the stairs and over to the bewildered looking clerk at the front desk. WHAT THE HECK WAS IN HIS BACKPACK MAKING HIM SO HEAVY!? It was an effort to keep him up standing as Hop smiled awkwardly at the man.

"Uh hi! We need two rooms for the night please. And fast before my friend decides to drop dead on us."

The clerk blinked for a moment before slowly nodded. "Oh. Of course. Are you challengers here to battle against Kabu?"

Hop nodded. "Yeah that's us alright. Or will be once we get some sleep."

The clerk nodded in understanding smiling. "Oh yes! Wait here for a moment and I'll get you your room keys."

You rose a brow. "Don't we need to register?"

"Oh no. Mr. Kabu has graciously told us to put any registered gym challengers' stays on his tab and send him the bills. After all he doesn't know how long they'll stay before quitting and going home. He's a kind man that doesn't want them or their families stuck with any expensive hotel bills if they stay for a long time before getting stomped out," he said so casually like it was no big deal. ....You and Hop gave each other a look..before exchanging one with Gloria who just shrugged at the both of you. The clerk turned around. "Just one moment please while I check and see which rooms would be available."

"Jeez. If Kabu's this tough, Rahain and Lee's gonna be even more tough-"

"Excuse me." The three of you looked over your shoulder towards a soft polite girl's voice with an accent you couldn't place. Standing there was a teen around these guys' age in almost gothic attire and right blue eyes. At her heels was a small pokemon who you'd call hamster like. Except she wasn't looking at you or Hop or Victor. But Gloria. "Uhhh. Challenger Gloria, Right? From Postwick?"

Gloria blinked in surprise seemingly surprised, before raising a suspicious brow at the girl. "Yeah? ....And yer who?"

"Marnie." She answered politely back. "Out givin' it your all even this late, huh? Hey. Help me with somethin' for a sec. Would you?"

Gloria remained silent for a moment. "....Help you with what?"

"I want t' see if I'm ready for the next leg of the Gym Challenge."

"...Why me?"

"You're one of the challengers endorsed by the Champion. I figured the best way to see if I was ready at all was t' see if I'd be able to beat a fellow gym challenger before I leave. Would you like to battle with me?"

"Gloria. We need to get Victor to his room so he can sleep," you countered feeling the weight of Victor start to weigh down more on you.

"I know, I know but...." She looked between the girl and the three of you. "She asked for my help, and it'd be rude to just say no right?" You gave her a look. "Oh c'mon please, Y/n! It'll be quick. N' and out! Easy peasy berry squeezy."

....You groaned. You really didn't have time for this! " Fine! But please for the love of Mike hurry and get back? We've been running around all day and you need rest for the battle tomorrow!"

She beamed. "Ya got it! Get ready ta have your team beat!"

The girl smiled. "Wicked! Got some fight in you, Huh? "

"You bet! Let's do this!"

You sighed and turned shaking your head. Only distracted from them when Hop grabbed the keys from the clerk and jingled them at you to let you know you two could now go and get Victor laying down. As the two of you turned to struggle Victor towards the elevator the girls left-....!? Your head snapped around as a dash of red and black crossed the corner of your eye, but it was gone the moment you turned around.....What the-

"C'mon Y/N! He's gettin' too heavy to lug around for much longer."

...You turned back to the elevator before the doors closed behind you. It was probably nothing anyways. Right now you had a kid who needed to sleep badly. The two of you managed to drag Victor who ended up passing out in your arms to his and Hop's room, and after Hop struggled to open the door, dragged him to the nearest bed and plopped him on top of it with sighs of relief when your poor body was finally freed from heaving him around. After assuring you he'd take care of things from there, you took your own room key from Hop and went to your own room. It didn't take you too long to get settled in after taking a quick shower, and again rummaging through your pack to fish some food out for your chirping, pouting, hungry sobble. Man the little guy ate a whole lot. It was a little while later as you were eating yourself that Gloria finally showed up, knocking on the door before coming in after hearing your voice.

"Hey. How did the battle go?"

She smiled. "I'd hate to brag....But I won."

You nodded. "Hey! That's great. Glad to know it went well."

She nodded again. "Yeah....But I gotta tell ya something." You rose a brow at her curiously. "...Those Team Yell guys from earlier? They were there."

You dropped the small dried piece of fruit you were holding which your sobble was quick to snatch up and eat. "WHAT!?"

"YEAH!! There was a guy and this woman wearin' all this all this punk make up, and they were cheerin' for 'er. I almost lost cuz I they were so loud makin' it hard to focus. I guess that's why they're Team 'Yell'. Should call 'em team Scream if ya ask me."

"Team Yell was with the girl?" She nodded. "Did they try anything?! Are you ok?"

"I'm fine," she assured you, "But nah. One of 'em was wavin' this flag that had Marnie's picture on it. ...Do they do that? Y'know make merch for Gym Challengers with our faces on them? If they do I'm totally buying Mum one!"

They....Team Yell was....Cheering on Marnie?? That didn't make any sense. They had said a while ago that they were trying to stop Gym Challengers. Why would they be cheering a Gym Challenger on if they were trying to stop them let alone have merch of one??? It didn't add up. Except for maybe-......You paused. Back at the bridge. When you and Victor encountered those two thugs trying to steel the poor nurse's bike!! They spoke of a lady! Could it by that the girl and 'Our Lady' they spoke of was one in the same? Or was Marnie somehow connected to the woman they spoke of?? Was she a part of Team Yell secretly? If yes then what interest did they have in the Gym Challenge?? Did Leon have something they want?? Were they just trying to cheat their way to the top??.....Or..Your eyes widened. Was there something that the Challenge league had that they wanted and were after?? Control over the Galar Region? Money? Power? Fame? Some other powerful thing you couldn't remember?? ...If she wasn't a part of them then what WAS their purpose for cheering her on?...Could the mysterious woman they spoke of be related to Marnie? Or maybe someone who endorsed her for the gym challenge? You shook your head. It was all so confusing. Too many questions and absolutely no answers at all. It made your head hurt just swimming with the many possibilities.

"Oh by the way. While I was out the battling got me thinkin' 'bout some strageties I could use to beat Kabu."

"Oh really?," you muttered half listening deep in thought.

"Uh huh. But I gotta ask. Y/n, can I borrow your sobble?"

"Sure you can-.....Wait. ..What?!"

#pokemon leon x reader #pokemon leon #pokemon reader x leon #pokemon reader #reader #Leon #reader x leon #leon x reader #pokemon sword #pokemon shield #pokemon sword and shield #pokemon swsh

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weirdthoughtsandideas · 2 years

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Soulmates in DCLA shows

When it works... and when it doesn't

Soulmates is something these shows really want to use in a lot of ways. I will be discussing mostly the 3 main characters in their respective shows, but I will also make some examples to side characters as well as discussing platonic soulmates as well as romantic ones. I also will go from my own personal opinions - which means, I may disagree with some things that you agree on. But you know this - in the DCLA fandom, we agree on everything, but we also do not agree on anything. Everyone has really different takes. We may think the same for one thing, but have opposite opinions for the next. Yet it's wonderful that we all can get along and whenever we do get offended we write our own posts about it instead of being cranky in someone's comment section (at least most of the time, I've probably been cranky in someone's comment section, but hopefully I've stopped with that). With that being said, I hope you'll enjoy my little "essay".

We will go in order and therefore, we will begin with Violetta. Here's an interesting fact about Violetta - she was supposed to end up with Tomas. That was the original plan. But due to things like Tomas' actor feeling really homesick and having to quit the show because of it and that affecting how well he performed with the others, Tomas and Violetta did not really have that... chemistry (I think Pablo and Tini got along, it seemed like no one really was arguing in the Violetta cast, but they simply didn't have the same chemistry when acting like Tini did with others... one, in particular). Nonetheless, the show desperately wanted to convince us they were soulmates - to the point that it was all they ever talked about. A lot of scenes of these two often includes Tomas telling her "You and I belong together. We are soulmates. You like me." Basically, he tries to tell Violetta how she is supposed to feel. Back in the days, when Violetta first aired, a lot of kids, some kids I knew irl, stopped watching mid s1 because they thought it was too annoying that Violetta was constantly confused over which boy she wanted to be with (and they also thought it was annoying that Angie never told her she was her aunt). But can you blame her? She has been isolated all of her life and Tomas is essentially the first boy her age she meets. She has never had a crush. She has never had any friends. She has no social life experience whatsoever. Hearing someone telling you that when you're in her situation, you might believe it. But then Violetta also has Leon. Leon is the boy she genuinely falls in love with. Leon doesn't force her to feel anything. He's always open with how he feels, but he won't tell her how she feels. So now Violetta, an isolated girl with no social life until the age of 17, has one boy she genuniely loves and wants to be with and one boy who tells her that she actually is in love with him and that they are soulmates. No wonder she's confused how she feels and who she wants to be with. It's a running theme in these shows that "the boy she meets in the first episode is her soulmate" - and that does not work here. Violetta met Tomas first, yes, but in her situation it was, again, also the first person her age she met. She didn't know what to feel at all.

With Tomas and Vilu's scenes lacking chemistry, Vilu instead have a clearer chemistry with Leon. It can be the actors having a much better chemistry with each other, or just that their scenes were better written. And with Pablo feeling homesick and leaving the show, the writers I think realized that Leonetta simply... worked much better. And from season 2 and forward, it's very clear Leonetta will be endgame. In season 2, Diego comes in and does date Violetta - but the difference here is that I, personally, noticed already as a little middle schooler that whatever happened, Leonetta would be endgame. Because I noticed, I knew, that Leonetta were soulmates. They aren't soulmates as "love at the first sight" soulmates - they are accidental soulmates. They became soulmates. And I noticed this in season 3 too - which was why, when Leonetta broke up in season 3 I was of course very upset - but I knew that they would get back together (even though I do wanna rewrite some things in s3 with them lmao). Diego and Violetta were never soulmates and the show is actually very good with showing how they're not that - they date due to a lot of other reasons and complications, which I will explain more when I get to SL (as I will compare them a bit to Lutteo).

There are other couples that I am not sure if I would call soulmates or not. For example, Federico and Ludmila. They went from literally not caring about each other at all to suddenly be head over heels for each other. Now, I do hc Ludmila as a lesbian, but if we take it in canon... these two flirt with each other like "we're binary stars, we're two supernovas, we're soulmates". I guess, in a way they're soulmates because they are like... both agreeing that they are?? But it can also just be them saying a bunch of words. Some people would also call Diecesca soulmates, but tbh no. Diecesca was just "accidents and coincidences", they're very cute and are a nice couple, but I wouldn't call them soulmates. Though, you're welcome to give your points if you think they are.

Now, in Soy Luna, they once again used the "soulmates meet in episode 1" trope. Only this time, they actually do become endgame at the end of the show. For me... this did not work. There's a lot with Lutteo that I don't like and I won't make a list of why, cause it's irrelevant. But once again, the show wants you to believe they're soulmates and so painfully tries to convince you of that. Even though Lutteo is not like Tomletta - I will give them that, at least they're much better than Tomletta - it's still the same thing of "look! They met each other and it's love at first sight!!" (which it definitely is not). And I just feel like... I never fell for this the first time, why should I fall for it the second time? Lutteo also has similarities with Diego and Violetta in some regards - the thing with Dieletta is that, most of us agree that their relationship was fine as it was, but it was always clear they weren't gonna be endgame. In season 2, Violetta is even open with Diego that she feels things for Leon and Diego sees it as his purpose to try to make her forget about him (also he has a plan with Ludmila to destroy her and stuff). Diego also, at one point, kisses Violetta against her consent in front of a livestream, and this gets major consequences. It makes Leon break up with Violetta, it makes her dad start spying on her and it makes her really hate him for a couple of episodes - and it's in this vulnerable state that Diego makes the move. I want to argue that Violetta forgives him a little too fast, but I also see that while she hates what he has done, she notices the effort he makes to make her forgive him. Diego goes out of his way to make her forgive him - to the point where he goes to her home with a clown nose and tells her he won't go until she's cheered up. Even if Violetta doesn't like it, he charms her and he charms us too, even if we don't want it. Now, in SL, Matteo also kisses Luna against her consent in front of a livestream. This time, it's treated as their "romantic first kiss". Matteo gets no consequences for this and even though Luna was clear with not liking the kiss, she has to convince herself she liked it. She has to convince herself it was a romantic moment, even if we can see in canon that it wasn't that for her. She is shocked, confused and doesn't know what to say. She was also, again, being recorded in a livestream, so it's hard to do much of anything in that situation. For having essentially the same writers, directors and producers, it feels like with SL, they sometimes took one step forward and two steps back. And with the show every now and then reminding us that this in fact was one of their most romantic moments, just makes me even less convinced these two are supposedly soulmates.

You know someone who I really would see as Luna's soulmate? Simón. I am not saying this just as a Lumón shipper (cause, with Simón, I also really did like his endgame with Ámbar). I would argue that Luna and Simón are soulmates both platonically and romantically. No matter if they stay friends or end up as a couple, they still belong together. They are what I call, established soulmates. They've known each other since before the show, they're childhood friends. They have a pre-established bond that is very strong and won't go away. As we see in the show, even when they break up after their short dating period, they go back to being the strongest of best friends. They won't go anywhere. They're together forever. They're soulmates. Platonically soulmates in canon, but if they ended up romantically, they still would be.

You might ask, are Simbar soulmates? That's once again a little complicated. Yes, and no. They're once again perhaps "accidental" soulmates. It wasn't their plan to end up together - Ámbar initially just wanted to fake being in love with him to get him to turn against Luna (which didn't work because Luna actually supported his relationship with Ámbar lmao, and Ámbar just fooled herself and actually fell for him).

And... due to their shared past, shared trauma and shared bond, I would argue that Luna and Ámbar, too, are soulmates, in a way.

Now... Bia! In Bia, once again, we have "soulmates meets in the first episode". But this time... it works. I don't know if it is because Bia likes Manuel and only Manuel. There's never anyone else she even considers dating. With Manuel being essentially the only option (unless you ship Bia with a non-canon ship, which I feel many people don't cause... 1) most people agree Binuel is the best and 2) many non-canon ships are wlw/mlm, and there's no girl Bia really has... that chemistry with, yk), you kind of have to accept them. No matter if they break up or argue, they will always be endgame, cause... there is no one else! With that description, it sounds like I am complaining, but I really do not. I do think love triangles provide options for you to pick and makes you have more things to say and discuss, but I don't really think every show needs it. Bia does not need it. All it does it making you perhaps not having as much to say, unless you don't like Binuel I guess, but I have not met anyone who dislikes them.

What makes them work as soulmates after meeting right away is also their shared history - and the fact that they come from rivaling families. They're Romeo and Juliet soulmates. They're always in sync. They're two adorable little puppies. It's at the point where I can't tell when they're dating and when they're not (especially at the time when they "pretended" they had broken up but they were actually still dating). DCLA writers, you finally made this trope you tried to work.

Also, Ana/Helena and Thiago? Soulmates by fate. I don't know how to explain it properly, but like... the fate brought them together and they're soulmates, yk? Do I make sense? Probably not. But I think so.

So that was my little "essay" on soulmates in DCLA. What do you think? Do you want to disagree? Do you want to add something that I forgot? <3

#dcla #violetta #soy luna #bia #disney bia

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medea10 · 1 year

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My Review of Pokemon Journeys

Um…is that really the title you guys are going with? Not Pokemon: Around the World? Pokemon Sword and Shield? Pokemon 8 Ways from Friday?

Get it? Because there are 8 regions and it airs on…oh forget it!

Whatever, Japan! Whatever!

America: Okay, how about Pokemon Journeys?

Eh…sounds like reusing titles from the Johto arc, but it’s better than Japan’s sad attempt.

At least The Pokemon Company was gracious enough to give us a simple title. Pokemon Journeys! HOW FUCKING HARD WAS THAT?! Pokemon 2019 makes it sound like this is a reboot. It is NOT a reboot, it’s a continuation! There are butt-loads of people from Ash’s past that make surprise appearances and he remembers most of them! Not a reboot!

WARNING: Medea gets a little ‘mouthy’ in certain moments of this review. If you don’t know why, you will eventually. Please note she does not think everyone here is an asshole. She loves each and every one of her readers. But it goes without saying here…Viewer discretion is advised.

RINSE AND REPEAT! Ash leaves the previous region to go back home to Pallet Town and start from zero AGAIN. What does that mean? It means we reset all the stats. Ash will be 10 years old again, Pikachu can be trumped by a level 5 pokemon, and the animation will change again making the viewer forever confused. Yet with all the resets, all of Ash’s previous accomplishments are heavily implied and shown.

WHAT THE WHAT?!: So, as you can tell, this series of Pokemon is going to be extremely different from all the past seasons. For one thing, Ash is not traveling by foot with a boy-toy and a piece of arm candy to the next town like we’ve seen in the past. Nor is he going to take on gym battles. At first it was uncertain of what Ash was going to do aside from traveling the world with Goh. But after an eye-opening experience in Galar, Ash is going to enter the Pokemon World Championship and face off against the world’s greatest trainers. This actually feels like the step in the right direction in becoming a pokemon master. In this journey, Ash is going to go up against a bunch of trainers so he can rise up in the class system these trainers are now under. This is in hopes for Ash to one day face-off against undefeated trainer and Galar champion, Leon.

As for the boy-toy of this arc Goh, his mission in life is to catch Mew. But in order to do that, he’s going to catch as many pokemon this world has to offer. In this way, almost like the mobile app game Pokemon GO! Even though these boys have different goals, they’re going to travel together and maybe learn a little bit from each other. Ash and Goh are under supervision with Professor Cerise (who is the G-rated version of Shou Tucker), along with his daughter Chloe, and his two assistants.

BEFORE TAKING OFF: The first episode took us waaaaaaay back! Professor Oak held summer camps, Ash was six years old, and a baby electric pokemon by the name of Pichu was born. This episode barely showed us Ash because…dude likes to sleep in. And because of that, he missed the pokemon camp. But half the episode consisted of Pichu being taken in by a mama Kangaskhan and the other half revolved around a young Goh at the camp seeing Mew. This of course was the start of Goh’s fascination with the rare phenomenon of Mew.

NEW CHARACTERS INTRODUCED: So, we shorten the cast list a bit from what we had in Sun and Moon. Ash travels the world with his new companion, but finds himself starting off at a professor’s lab in Vermillion. Which seriously begs the question of how long does it take to get from Kanto to all the other regions in the Pokemon world? Better question, how can anybody afford all of these planes, trains, and automobiles…oh right, no one cares! New characters time!

Goh is the young lad with one goal in mind and that is to capture the elusive pokemon, #151, Mew! Ever since he was young and ran into Mew, he’s made it his mission to find and capture Mew! So now, he travels with Ash to capture as many pokemon as he possibly can in the hopes that one day he can find and capture…okay you get the picture! One track mind with this kid! Halfway into the journey, he does meet Ash’s old rival Gary and joins an exploration group called Project Mew.

Chloe has known Goh since she was a child and would go to school with him. She’s easy to point out Goh’s faults, but offers advice from time to time. She’s also aided by her little corgles pokemon, Yamper. While Chloe loves Yamper, she’s not a pokemon trainer yet. In fact, during this series she’s unsure of what she wants to do as she has several options presented to her. Much like the Eevee she catches later on, they both have many possibilities. Will she be a pokemon professor like her father, an illustrator like her mother, a coordinator like Serena, Dawn, and Lisia? Who can say?

Professor Cerise is the new professor in the Kanto region and will eventually commit the greatest taboo by fusing his daughter and her dog together.

MEDEA, THAT’S STILL TOO SOON TO MAKE THAT JOKE!

Professor Cerise is the father of Chloe and the professor in Vermillion City. Him, along with his two assistants send Ash and Goh on their way to different missions to different regions of the world.

Leon is the #1 trainer in the not only Galar, but the world it seems. With the introduction of the Pokemon World Championship, Leon has been undefeated as we see him taking down heavy-hitters like Lance and Raihan. But he’s happy to encourage any and all challengers. As long as they battle a bajillion trainers before that and then make it to the top 8 trainers in the world.

Horace was friends with Goh a couple of years prior to the events of this series. But due to a misunderstanding, Goh thought Horace stood him up. But they made up years later and both boys end up becoming members of Project Mew.

BETWEEN THE SUB AND THE DUB: The sub finally got Kana Hanazawa! Now if y’all can just obtain Daisuke Ono, life would be complete in the Pokemon World!

*12 episodes of this series later*

OH THANK YOU ARCEUS! Yes, I know this picture from Lucky Star. I happen to like it! I gotta say, when I first saw Leon in the game, I thought Daisuke Ono would be awesome as that character. Who knew you were going to read my thoughts and go with sexy voice Daisuke Ono? Hey, can you guys get Junichi Suwabe to play anything next? I’m not picky, just someone that makes the butter melt on my toast. No? Okay, fine!

The dub…Okay, so you know how at the beginning of a new arc, the company would usually give us an early tease and then air the rest of the series a couple of months later? Not this time! Yeah, in almost all other arcs (except Best Wishes), America would get a world premier around the same time as Japan. I guess because Sun/Moon was still airing and in the middle of the Pokemon League saga, they didn’t want to interfere. I mean, that league was a pretty big deal! As it turns out, Pokemon made YET ANOTHER move to a different channel…or should I say platform! Seven months after its debut in Japan, Pokemon Journeys made its debut on Netflix.

Boy oh boy, tracking down Pokemon was a fucking journey! From the WB to Cartoon Network to Disney XD to Netflix! Hey U.S., Japan only needed TV Tokyo to air Pokemon the last 25 years and it was fucking successful for them. I don’t know what your hang-up is! Actually, I do because the WB fell apart and 4Kids lost the rights around the same time, Cartoon Network wanted to focus on rotting kid’s brains with Teen Titans GO, and not many people tune into Disney XD unless Ducktales or Gravity Falls repeats are on (plus it’s on the expensive channel package). I see the good and the bad here. It’s just that I really miss catching Pokemon on a weekly basis. Again, I’m not a binge-watcher and I’ve grown accustomed to watching things weekly. ESPECIALLY POKEMON!

I honestly think the switch to Netflix was the worst decision yet. Yes, Netflix has improved significantly when it comes to animes airing simultaneously. But not by much! Some animes have been given weekly updates, others there’s a several month wait. Pokemon gets released with a batch of episodes (12-15) every 3-6 months. Meanwhile, Teletoon in Canada is airing episodes once a week and FAR AHEAD from Netflix’s schedule. So really, not helping out with piracy that everyone seems so hung up on! And so much for the hope of FINALLY getting subbed Pokemon on a legitimate streaming platform. Nope! I’m sure there’s so much deeper things I can’t get into that’s involved, but from a viewer standpoint this was shit.

Moving away from Netflix drama, let’s talk about dub voice actors. Cherami Leigh is a main character. Let me repeat, Cherami Leigh of Sword Art Online, Fairy Tail, and Railgun fame has graced us with her prescence on Pokemon! Huh…and so has Ray Chase! I know technology has gotten better so that just about anyone can record in a studio from just about anywhere, but the Pokemon Company is really reaching hard for L.A. voice actors as of recent. The anime has mostly been NY-based, but things like Pokemon Origins, Generations, Twilight, Evolutions, Snap, GO, and Masters EX, they’ve enlisted a lot of L.A. voice actors like Robbie Draymond, Brianna Knickerbocker, Michelle Ruff, and Bryce Papenbrook.

Oh good fuck, Screamy McYellsALot!

One addition that really made me happy was to hear the return of Megan Hollingshed. She was everywhere in the Pokemon anime for the first 6 seasons with playing gym leaders, mothers, Nurse Joys, and so on.

And now for a somber note, Billy Kametz! I was happy to hear Billy Kametz as Ren, one of Professor Cerise’s assistants. I’ve really enjoyed his work and am very glad I got a chance to hear him in a dub one last time before tragically passing away from cancer. At the end of the episode, “It’s All in the Name” Netflix was kind enough to put up an “In Memory Of” for Billy Kametz. I’ve never seen this happen before for the Pokemon anime. At least in the English version! The only other English voice actor that passed away fast and suddenly was Maddie Blaustein. But because she wasn’t voicing for Pokemon anymore at that point (ahem, because she was replaced), there were no memoriums for her on the anime. Well, I will always cherish Meowth and Ren. R.I.P. Maddie and Billy!

And finally, there’s the subject of all these cameos from back in the day. Did everyone’s original voice actor come back to voice their original characters? Hell no! But some did. Let me put it to you this way, if it’s a character who was once a main character like Brock, Dawn, and the cast of Alola, more than likely their original voice actor would come back (not Eric Stuart though). If it’s gym leaders we haven’t seen in 3000 years, more than likely it’s changed. Flint, the Elite Four member of Sinnoh has a new voice actor. As does Drake from Hoenn! And Gym Leader Erika’s changed for a third time (yes, I count the 20th movie here). Honest opinion, Lauren Landa as Erika is the best Erika. I ain’t even sorry for that opinion! WITH ALL OF THAT SAID, here’s what you might recognize these folks from.

JAPANESE CAST: *Goh is played by Daiki Yamashita (known for Deku on My Hero Academia, Joro on Oresuki, Zeke on Attack on Titan, Umino on Sailor Moon Crystal, Sakamichi on Yowamushi Pedal, and Shion on UtaPri)

*Chloe is played by Hana Kanazawa (known for Nadeko on Monogatari, Anri on Durarara, Mayuri on Steins;Gate, Kanade on Angel Beats, Shiemi on Blue Exorcist, Kuroneko on Oreimo, and Onodera on Nisekoi)

*Prof. Cerise is played by Yuuichi Nakamura (known for Greed on FMA: Brotherhood, Tomoya on Clannad, Gray on Fairy Tail, Shigure on Fruits Basket 2019, Karamatsu on Mr. Osomatsu, and Kyousuke on Oreimo)

*Leon is played by Daisuke Ono (known for Sebastian on Black Butler, Shizuo on Durarara, Jotaro on Jojo’s Pt. 3, Erwin on Attack on Titan, Fafnir on Miss Kobayashi, William on Black Clover, and Koizumi on Haruhi Suzumiya)

*Horace is played by Ayahi Takagaki (known for Erika on Durarara, Kuro on Blue Exorcist, Lisbeth on SAO, Doll on Black Butler, Itori on Tokyo Ghoul, and Sylvie on Baccano)

ENGLISH CAST: *Goh is played by Zeno Robinson (known for Hawks on My Hero Academia, Shuuji on Tokyo Revengers, Garfiel on Re:Zero, Genya on Demon Slayer, Alan on Ben 10, and Blackluster on One Punch Man)

*Chloe is played by Cherami Leigh (known for Asuna on SAO, Lucy on Fairy Tail, Uiharu on Railgun, Minako/Venus on Sailor Moon redub, Patty on Soul Eater, Lizzie on Black Butler, and Sarada on Boruto)

*Prof. Cerise is played by Ray Chase (known for Roswaal on Re:Zero, Puripuri Prisoner on One Punch Man, Yuu on Charlotte, M on SAO: GGO, Yukiatsu on Anohana, and Saburouta on Blue Exorcist: Kyoto Arc)

*Leon is played by Alejandro Saab (known for Kuga on Food Wars, L’Arc on Shield Hero, Tatsuya on Irregular at Magic High, Tsukauchi on My Hero Academia, Takezou on Kono Oto Tomare, and Shizuru on Free!)

*Horace is played by Jenny Yokobori (known for Kaie on 86, Umino on Blue Period, and Kumiko on The Simpsons)

FAVORITE CHARACTER: Ahem.

Right here. Best boy right here!

Besides the obvious…it’s hard to say anything this time. This season gave me so much happiness with the return of several of my favorite characters like Bonnie and Lana. And of course, just slapping on a two-second cameo for my boys Tracey and Cilan! Or even that one-second cameo of Harley (yes, I care about that too). But I suppose my answer would be Piers, Marnie, or Allister. And truth be told, I loved all three characters in the game as well as the anime. But I feel something lacking here. Maybe it’s the fact that I only see them once or twice and then they’re forgotten.

But seriously, Allister is a sweet wittle cinnamon roll.

DISLIKED CHARACTER: Ooh boy! With the return of many of my favorite characters, seeing the banes of my existence were sure to pop up. And the worst return to come from this show were every single rabbid Amourshipper to scream for a straight-month about Serena showing up unannounced. You people are the reason why the writers had to sneak her in. Otherwise, they’d just get endless emails and letters from the rabble about Serena returning to the show. Rabbid Amourshippers are worse than cancer and truly the worst part of Pokemon as a whole. Remember all of those idiot fans that put out petitions to have Misty return? Y’all are officially worse than that! You are on par with fucking MAGA.

Um…Medea, that really wasn’t a take on ‘disliked characters’. And I’m pretty sure you just pissed off a lot of people including some of your friends.

I know, I just felt really good getting that off my chest! Anyways, I do not hate Serena. If you read my XY review, I said that she wasn’t a bad character and was actually refreshing compared to some of the other crybaby powder kegs the show has given us. And I might add, her character has improved significantly during this series. So high praise from me! Now onto the butt-warts I’ve hated during the ages.

Thankfully, only Alain and Paul were the ones I hated to show up in this series. Now I have kinda officially laid off Alain despite his rap-sheet during XY. But then there’s Paul! Paul, as I live and breathe! The worst scum to appear since Damien. But Paul seems to have changed for the better. I can’t confirm it fully. But the fact that he would prepare Ash for his Masters 8 tournament by having him fight pokemon that belong to these champions really speaks volumes. I see that he somewhat respects Ash enough to spar with him and prepare him for the worst. Now does Paul still abandon pokemon that don’t reach his potential? I do not know. But for now, he is a few notches up and not so sucky.

And Paul’s return did reignite my demented love for Comashipping.

Oh yeah, this’ll be the one Pokemon review where I do not put a shipping category. I have absolutely no need for one this season. Nothing romantic. Kukui x Burnet set sailed last season. Serena didn’t blush like an idiot this season. No Pokeshipping either. Contestshipping is alive in my heart but dead everywhere else. And nothing to tickle Ash’s pickle.

DISAPPOINTED IN…: Out of the many, many, many, many, many, many cameos and reappearances we got, there were some characters I was happy to see, some I rolled my eyes at, and some that surprised me and made me have a new-found respect in! But then came one character whom I’ve loved from his first game appearance, yearned for his anime appearance for years, praised it when he finally appeared and then…Journeys just made me not like it.

And that dishonor goes to Wallace! I don’t know if he took a class in Ego 101 from Kanye West or what, but something felt off. Anime Wallace and (later) Game Wallace felt different in terms of his demeanor and seeing that change was kind of a bad taste in my mouth. Plus, I feel like a battle between Ash and Wallace should have been something more than just a B-story. Wallace deserves better than playing second-banana to fucking Serena and Chloe.

AND NOW FOR SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT: I know I use this portion to put up some random ship I support or find a doppelganger of a character from years past. But for now, I would like to use this time to put up a picture of…

This. Fucking. Angel!

Look at this cute baby! LOOK AT THIS BABY! This is Kukui and Burnet’s baby. They made one cute baby! Pardon my Maes Hughes impersonation here, but this is one cute baby! The only other couples who could possibly make a cute mutant child are May and Drew or if my anime counterpart shags Tracey and we…

Stick to the topic, moron!

Right! I fucking hate kids, but I am just so happy Kukui and Burnet had this baby. Mostly because I was thrilled to see someone grow in this series. Ash is eternally 10 until the day we die and the fucking world blows up. But with this, can Ash please, for the love of Arceus, turn 11 years old? I’m just saying!

HALF AN EPISODE: I think I pissed off many people with this picture alone. This was an episode that many fans have dubbed the worst episode ever. I’ll stay out of that one. It was bad. Just not, dropping your child out of a helicopter and blaming it on your wife bad like a certain episode we don’t talk about ever.

Pokemon Journeys has decided to put two shorter stories in one whole episode. I gotta say, it’s weird. When they first did this, I thought there was a reason why two totally different stories are in the same episode. But when I see it happen again, maybe Pokemon realized that they should learn from that slump of the filler and condense it a bit. I think we could have gone through Johto in half the time if we cut most of those fillers and put two in the same episode. With that said, the majority of these half episodes are total shit. Everyone has their own opinion on which filler stunk the worst this season. For now, I’m going to praise one of them in the next category.

FUNNIEST EPISODE: Huh! I never thought I would have this section ever again. But this season is full of surprises. The Team Rocket podcast episode caught me by surprise, but my guilty pleasure of rap battles tickled my funny bone once again. Whenever an anime has this random moment, no matter how long it may be, I will more than likely laugh. Kaguya-sama, Clannad, and Zombieland Saga are prime examples.

But then we get several episodes where Ash and Goh end up on these islands inhabited with Slowpoke and a Slowking crown would attach itself to either Ash or Goh. Let the hilarity ensue. But the second Slowpoke Island episode had me in stitches with Ash and Goh in a literal rap war. Hearing Rica Matsumoto go, “YO YO YO” is a thing of beauty and I’m happy to witness it.

TOUCHING EPISODE: I am so glad Journeys gave a happy conclusion to Lillie’s family story. Throughout Sun & Moon, I would wonder so much about Lillie and her development, even watching it before my eyes. Lillie has definitely had the biggest amount of character growth of anyone from the Alola gang. And despite the drastic contrast between the anime and games, we didn’t see anything torn from Lillie and watched her thrive. With the changes of Gladion and Lusamine compared to their game counterparts, there was one character I was always nervous on how the anime was going to tackle it. Fortunately, the anime has been improving on serious issues.

But admit it, you were scared just as much as I was about what Lusamine and the kids would do if they ever found Mohn again. Mohn suffered massive amnesia after an incident with an Ultra Beast and the wormhole. And yes, their reunion was just as heart-breaking as I anticipated. And it only gets even sadder. When Mohn was unconscious, a shiny Nihilego carried him to a wormhole entry (in Crown Tundra, Galar) where they lived for several years. Nihilego took the form of what Mohn’s eyes thought his daughter would look like. So, hearing Mohn in present time say he doesn’t recognize Lusamine, Lillie, Gladion, or even Zoroark and say that he’s living with “his” daughter, it’s painful. But we finally get to the touching part where Mohn finally gathers is memories. I’m happy with this. Good for Lillie. Good for the family.

A FIRST IN 22 YEARS: I’ll get to Ash’s accomplishment in catching some pretty choice pokemon in a bit. Now I would like to bring up this ugly, old wound. COVID-19, it seems like only yesterday we were learning how to social distance and called the president a fucking retard for suggesting to inject household cleaners. But because of this deadly virus, many productions in Japan were put on hold. Still are! And yes, that included our beloved Pokemon anime. In fact, this was Pokemon’s first hiatus since their four-month hiatus in 1997 when Electric Soldier Porygon mucked things up. And this series survived several recessions, the Fukushima disaster, many other natural disasters, and 9/11.

Not only the series was put on the back-burner, but the bloody movie, Pokemon Coco was delayed for 5 months! Yeah, the first summer we all went without a Pokemon movie hitting the theaters in Japan. Believe it or not, Japan had no intention of putting their newly-released movies available on a streaming or on-demand service like us greedy-fuck Americans. Yet, Japanese Netflix is somehow on a good system of putting things out once a week while American Netflix lumps everything together. Profiteering is hard! Point is that this was quite a monumental moment. Totally called for because the Covid was no fucking joke! It’s still not a joke. It’s still around. Get vaxxed, ya dummy!

GOTTA CATCH EM’ ALL: This series definitely surprised us in many ways. First, I’ll begin with Goh. Because Goh wants to one day catch Mew, he’s gonna make it his mission to capture each and every pokemon as humanly possible. Goh goes the distance by catching anywhere between one pokemon to 13 pokemon in a single episode. And it wasn’t like that time Ash caught all those Tauros in one episode, he catches different ones throughout the episodes. Goh catches small pokemon, big pokemon, fossil pokemon, pokemon that Ash has caught before, pokemon that Ash will never get in his life (like Raichu), starter pokemon, and even legendary pokemon. And not just some one-and-done catch, he’s caught more than one legendary! I just wish Goh’s Suicune catch didn’t feel so…dumbassary.

And then Ash…well, I sort of got my wish of Ash getting a psychic pokemon. I just wish it wasn’t Mr. Mime! Although, this wasn’t a catch! Delia just loaned Mr. Mime so he would watch over Ash while he stays at Professor Cerise’s lab. But Ash wound up with some really, big and surprising catches. And it breaks all sorts of protocol!

First of all, you know how many of Ash’s first catches in a new arc are usually a bug type, the flying type of the region, or a starter? His first catch was a Dragonite! YEAH! DRAGONITE! Fully evolved form Dragonite!

Then, do you remember every now and then, Ash will catch a fire-type that was previously abused or had a rough time before being captured? Replace that with Gengar and you’ve got his next catch!

Ash caught a fossil pokemon! Yes, one of the messed-up ones from Galar, but still…

And then…after waiting 14 years for Ash to one day get a Lucario (or at the very least Riolu) it finally happened. Ever since the 8th movie, fans have wanted Ash to catch Lucario. Even in Sinnoh, that was never gonna happen. Apparently, Riley was never gonna give Ash a Riolu egg. Fast-forward 11 years after that and Ash is drawn to a Riolu egg and catches it. Riolu and later Lucario was one of Ash’s best in this arc.

BUT NOT JUST THAT!!! Ash finally, finally, finally, FINALLY gets to mega evolve! Do you have any idea how big this is? We had a whole arc filled with people who could mega evolve. All of Ash’s rivals and villains were able to do it. Even during Sun & Moon, Misty and Brock were able to mega evolve their pokemon. I understand Misty, but Brock is studying to be a doctor. He’s not a friggin’ gym leader anymore. Stop giving this guy more air to breathe! He’s been in too many episodes and arcs. Make him disappear and…Whoa, I’m being mean to Brock again. Where was I?

Don’t get me wrong, the syncro with Greninja was bad-ass. But Ash had at least four pokemon from his past that had the ability to mega evolve. Do you have any idea how fucking awesome it would have been if Ash mega evolved Charizard, Heracross, Glalie, or Sceptile?! Well, we’ll never know because it never happened. However, I think they wanted to keep Ash to his pokemon in Kalos and not even look at the past whatsoever in that arc. Kalos was really stingy with cameos. And that’s why I will always bad-mouth Kalos more than normal.

COMEBACK: When I learned that Ash was going to pop in and out of every region throughout this series, I refused to let myself get happy at this. Besides the fact that I’m a die-hard Tracey fan and sadly know he’ll never be shown again. But the fact that Ash has revisited a few places in the past and would never come upon the same person twice (including gym leaders unless under special circumstances). However, with the addition of Ash preparing to be in the Pokemon World Championship, there’s been an array of past folks either mentioned, cameo’d, or would straight-up battle Ash! And these cameos are far more than just the usual surprise pop-in from Misty and Brock. Please note, I will not count Delia and Professor Oak. They don’t count, they’re seen in EVERY SEASON. Here we go!

Kanto: *Gary “Mother Fucking” Oak returns after a short cameo in the 20th movie, a cameo in the sky at the end of Best Wishes, and his last speaking role being in during DP. Gary is involved in Project Mew, an expedition in search for the rarest pokemon in the world. Him and Ash’s relationship has improved significantly. Goh hates his guts at first, but tolerates him later on. *Lance (16 long years after his last anime appearance) reappears to battle Leon in Galar. Later in the series, Lance became the 4th strongest trainer in the Pokemon World Championship. *Lt. Surge is mentioned by his temporary replacement at the gym and remembered by Ash. *Misty was shown in shadow form when it was discussed about gym leaders and the world championship competition. But Misty was finally shown at her gym watching Ash compete against Leon. She is also shown in the final episode as Goh visits the Cerulean gym. *Brock got a mention in the first DP special to come from the anime and I would have hoped this would be the end for that glory hog. Oh, but no! He shows up with not just a doctor degree, not just a fully evolved Blissey, but a license to drive a fucking jet. I call bullshit! *Mewtwo. Yes, that Mewtwo. Yes, the Mewtwo from the first movie. There was a moment. It passed. Moving on! *Erika, the Celadon City gym leader returns after a very long time. Her last anime appearance was in 1997, but she did appear in Pokemon I Choose You. Here, she holds a flower arrangement class. *Cassidy and Butch return after…I think Diamond and Pearl was their last appearance. However, things have changed for them. They’ve gone straight! Cassidy is running an inn and Butch runs a bakery. Either this was a mirage that was hallucinated by Jessie and James, or this really is a thing. *Richie appeared (after nearly 15 years since his last appearance) to watch Lance in the Masters 8 conference. *Todd. I can neither confirm or deny that he was outside Wyndon Stadium, but looking at the back of that guy’s head after Eternatus arrived is making me say, yeah, that’s totally him.

Johto:

*Professor Elm is mentioned by Professor Cerise when the topic of pokemon eggs is brought up. *Chuck (after 19 long years since his last appearance) reappears when Ash has a rematch with Bea. And best of all, Chuck is still voiced by that booming voice mother trucker, Dan Green! *Clair gets a nod when Ash learns of Iris’s full transformation. Do note that Iris and Clair have been training together. There was an episode 10 years ago with the two of them that was never released in English. *Jimmy, Marina, and Jackson/Vincent (from the Raikou special and Johto League) made a small cameo while watching Lance compete in the Masters 8 conference.

Hoenn:

*May got one mention. ONE! And that’s only because she participated in the Wallace Cup. They’re really holding out hope Kaori will make a recovery so she can voice May again! At least she was seen watching Ash fight Leon.

*Max was seen once watching Ash fight Leon alongside her sister May. *Drew and Harley (my second-tier baes) made a cameo while watching Steven compete in the Masters 8. And honestly, seeing both Drew and Harley in the same episode as several Tracey cameos was one of the best things I have ever seen in Pokemon history. Easily a 10/10 episode! *Drake was actually the first person from Hoenn to be featured. Quite surprising since he is the only Elite Four Hoenn member featured in the anime and was only featured in one episode. Is it any wonder he barely remembered Ash’s name. *My sexy boy Wallace re-emerges in his fabulous updated outfit from the ORAS games and battles Ash in a plot b, not important as contests battle. *Steven Stone is mentioned by Ash and Wallace is angry Ash remembers Steven but not him. Steven is still a top-tier trainer and champion as he is ranked #3 in the world and he ends up battling Ash in the Masters 8 conference. *Professor Birch, Kelly (one of May’s other rivals), Janet (one of May’s other rivals), Katie (Hoenn league competitor), Tyson (Hoenn league winner), Morrison (Hoenn league competitor), Jimmy (from Judgement Day), Kain (from Going for a Spinda), and Vito Winstrate of the Winstrate battling family ALL APPEAR IN ONE SHOT to prove that Advanced Generation hasn’t been neglected.

Except, yeah, they were neglected! Hoenn got butt-fucked and you all know it. I don’t remember Hoenn getting this much attention in the anime when the ORAS games came out. Oh-ho-ho, but when Diamond and Pearl gets a remake, what do you suppose happened there? Look down below!

Sinnoh:

*sighs*

So, remember during the Kalos arc when we got the Ruby and Sapphire remakes and how much the anime gave us nostalgia to remember them by? Yeah, me neither. Kalos only gave us Steven Stone and fuck all. HERE, they decide to shove every bit of Sinnoh up every ass. They give us not one, not two, but three hour-long specials including one exclusive to Amazon. And they shoved every fucking bit of it to the fans. Because who doesn’t want to see Cynthia and Team Galactic and Dawn’s prissy bitch-ass? Um, hi! I don’t! Sit the fuck down! There are far more deserving characters that should get more air time despite game promotions. But we’re here anyways!

*Dawn returns several times throughout the course of this series. Actually, they mostly came out around the time the remakes to Diamond and Pearl released. But Dawn seems to be a bit of a mentor to Chloe as they are seen together numerous times throughout the series. *Johanna (Dawn’s mother) makes a cameo as she is interviewed on TV. *Paul gets a small cameo when his battle with Ash in the Sinnoh Pokemon League was mentioned. And then the little cock-sucker got another appearance by battling Ash at Oak’s lab. Okay, this anus-tart gets a point for doing this! *Volkner battles Ash when Ash made it into the Hyper Class. He’s later seen with Flint watching the Masters 8. *Cynthia returns! And best of all, her seiyuu came out of retirement to voice this champion. Just like Dawn, Cynthia is seen in several of these specials and other episodes. Best of all, she is the second strongest trainer in the world. I truly find that hard to believe since I really do believe she could beat Leon. *Professor Rowan returns during the Dialga/Palkia wormhole episode. *Saturn, Mars, Jupiter, and all of the Team Galactic grunts make their appearance after 10 long years to hopefully bring Cyrus back to the living world. *Cyrus…um…he is talked about in the special and we see him in flashbacks. But that’s it. He’s still a bag of bones floating around in a different dimension. *Flint of Sinnoh’s Elite Four cameoed as he fought (and lost to) Leon. Ash remembered him! He is later seen watching Cynthia compete in the Masters 8 conference. *Reggie (Paul’s older brother) has a cameo when he watches Cynthia and Ash compete in the Masters 8.

Unova: *After being butt-fucked by the anime, Iris finally returns. And she’s gone through a lot of changes. She’s champion of Unova. Her Axew is fully evolved. She can communicate with dragon-types telepathically. And near the end series, Iris became the 7th strongest pokemon trainer in the world. She even went toe-to-toe with Cynthia of all people and managed to have her bring out the big-guns. Did she win, fuck do you care? This was a big leap for someone like Iris. All of you haters can eat a buffet of dicks and choke on it. After Tracey-bashers, I hate the Iris-bashers. Iris doesn’t deserve the hate she got. *Cilan was first seen in a flashback flash when Ash remembers traveling with Iris. He later appeared alongside Brock and Alexa watching Ash fight Leon. Do note that Cilan has met Brock prior to this appearance. There’s an episode that was never released in English. *Drayden returns as well as the Iris vs. Ash match took place in his gym. *Bianca, Georgia, Trip, Stephan, and Alder all have quick cameos as they are watching Iris compete in the Masters 8.

Kalos: *Clemont and Bonnie make a return when Ash prepares for his big Hyper Class battle against an Elite Four member. And even better, when the narrator mentions these two, they neglect to mention Serena making me enjoy the salty tears of Amourshippers. But as I learned long ago, this bitch never dies and comes back stronger. And one week later… *Serena returns with a new look and helps Chloe in her contest debut. Give the bitch some credit as she didn’t blush once. She appears again alongside May and Max to watch Ash compete in the world championship. *Korrina challenges Ash as part of the Pokemon World Championship and helps Ash in search for the Lucarionite. *Gurkinn (Korrina’s grandfather) also returns with Korrina in several episodes. *Diantha makes a cameo appearance on a magazine and later in Pokemon World Championship as the 5th strongest. She does well in the championship…except for one battle. *Greninja has returned and about a thousand pokemon fans just pissed themselves in excitement. *Alain gets a cameo when Ash reminices about Greninja. Not only that, but has gone on a journey of self-discovery to become the 6th strongest trainer. And got a new mega stone! *Professor Sycamore and Mairin were shown watching Alain when he competed in the Masters 8. *Sawyer, Tierno, Trevor, and Shauna all cameo when Diantha competed in the Masters 8. *Alexa (gym leader Viola’s sister) appeared alongside Brock and Cilan to watch Ash in the Masters 8.

Alola: *Professor Kukui, Kiawe, Lana, Mallow, Sophocles, Rotomdex, Samson Oak, Professor Burnet, and all of Ash’s Alolan pokemon are featured in an episode when Ash visits Alola. *Sophocles gets his own episode where he gets the chance to work in a space program in Mossdeep City (in Hoenn). *Gladion and Lillie (while not there in the first Alola episode to see Ash), were seen in an update. Later in the series however, they appear in the Crown Tundra of Galar in search of their father. *Anna was a reoccurring character throughout Sun & Moon as she was the one who would commentate on certain pokemon events and races Ash and the gang might participate in. Anna returns during a random race Ash and Goh participate in. *Mohn is alive and well. Unlike the games, he does regain his memories and return to his family to Alola. *Abe, Ulu, Hala, Wicke, and Faba return during the celebration of the Aether family reunited. *Hau, Guzma, and Team Skull cameoed when Ash participated in the Battle Royal match against Kiawe, Gladion, and Kukui. *All the memorable pokemon make several apperances including Bewear, Mimikyu, Maerine, Ash’s Alolan team, and Tapu-Koko.

…

Orange Isl…

HE’S ALIVE! HE FUCKING EXISTS! YOU SEE THIS HATERS? THIS IS TRACEY SKETCHIT AND HE STILL EXISTS! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU IN THE ASS! TRACEY IS STILL OAK’S ASSISTANT! HE’S THERE! HE’S MENTIONED! EAT A WHOLE PLETHORA OF DICKS AND CHOKE ON IT!

AHAHAHAHAHAHA!

Not only that but he’s the only one of Ash’s past travel companions to watch him compete in the Masters 8, the semi-finals against Cynthia, and the finale. Where was your precious Brock and Misty? They were out taking a shit. Tracey watched. Tracey’s there. He stood there watching the whole thing. He cares! Look at him elbow-bump Snorlax. He’s awesome!

GALAR CHARACTERS: Because Pokemon decided to do things a little differently with this arc, only several characters known in the Sword/Shield games were featured in the anime. Let’s see who got in and who got shafted.

*Leon! No way were they going to leave out the hammy champion of Galar. He was featured several times throughout the series from being a Master Class Trainer in the Pokemon World Championships to the big fight against Eternus to just him getting lost in a forest.

*Sonia was there to talk about the Darkest Day and was later featured prominently throughout the big battle against Chairman Rose and Eternus. But she returns from time-to-time when Ash and Goh are in Galar, including to see Leon’s final match.

*Professor Magnolia was mentioned early in the season by Professor Ceriese. But she became a supporting character during the Darkest Day arc. Extra points here because she’s voiced by the same woman who voiced Izumi Curtis on FMA.

*Bea, the fighting-type gym leader made several appearances. As it turns out, she’s one of the toughest trainers in the Hyper Class for the championship. She even defeated Ash pretty bad during their first interaction.

*Raihan! He battles Leon, he appears during Darkest Day, he takes a selfie, he bakes pastries with fairy types, he takes another selfie, he’s voiced by Tatsuhisa…whoops, not anymore, he’s voiced by dude who did Kirito now, he takes another selfie, he loses to Leon, he punches a wall, and he takes another selfie! Raihan is one of the 8th strongest trainers in the world. He takes another selfie. He is demoted from 8th best. And yes, takes another selfie!

*Chairman Rose and Oleanna appear quite early and leave quite fast after the Darkest Day arc. Yeah, the whole thing came and went as did their appearances.

*Opal still loves pink! If you lack pink, she’s not afraid to say so. And I still say she’s a lost member of the Triplets of Belleville. But she briefly appears when Ash and Goh are separated from Chloe and again when she hosts a baking competition for the kids, Raihan, and Leon.

*Allister makes his debut with helping Ash when he’s possessed by a Spiritomb and helping his Gengar Dynamax.

*Piers, Marnie, and the hooligans of Team Yell make their debut as well. Marnie fought against Ash in hopes of advancing further than “Hyper Class Trainer”. Piers is there to be a supportive big brother. And as for Team Yell, they made Ash late to his own match against Marnie.

*Mayor of Freezington! I didn’t expect to see this dude here, but in the Lillie and Mohn episode, he appeared.

*Hop, Leon’s younger brother is seen in the audience of the PWC cheering for his big bro. I really wish they would have used him more than just cheering for Leon. But, we get what we get here.

CHARACTERS WHO EXIST IN OTHER POKEMON STUFF BUT NOT ANIME UNTIL NOW: Long title for this segment, but definitely called for. As this arc is very unorthodox, there were several characters who exist in other things like the games or manga, but never made it into Ash’s inner space until now. These are characters that should have made their debut years ago.

*Wikstrom if you recall was an Elite Four member in the Kalos region. He however never made an appearance in XY. Too much focus on Malva and Diantha I suppose. He makes his debut by offering some sword play for Ash, Farfetch’d, Goh, and Scyther.

*Drasna was also an Elite Four member in Kalos, but was never shown until Ash competed in the Hyper Class tournament. You’d think her being a person who can mega evolve would have already made her appearance, but alas no. Admit it, you forgot she even existed.

*Rita and Phil…wait, from Pokemon Snap? Yes! They made a short, five-second appearance in the movie Pokemon: Secrets of the Jungle.

*Lisia, coordinator introduced during Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire finally debuted in anime form. She gives Chloe her contest pass and is a rival to Serena.

*Rei from Pokemon Legends Arceus makes a cameo at the end of the 4-part Arceus special. He literally had more screentime than his descendant Lucas.

BIG TEAM BATTLE: So, this portion happened earlier than what we’re used to. By episode 40, Ash and Goh found themselves dealing with the Marco Rose company and their bringing about “The Darkest Day” to the Galar region. Goh and Ash get split up while the random dynamaxing happens to pokemon in the wild area. Goh ends up researching with Sonia, while Ash is helping these affected pokemon with Leon.

While short and unexpectedly fast approaching this arc was, we got some pretty momentous happenings. For starters, during the big battle, Ash’s Riolu and Goh’s Raboot both evolved at the same time (not in the same place however) into Lucario and Cinderace. And then, something unheard of for a main character in the anime! Goh and Ash caught Eternatus.

Let me repeat this. Goh and Ash caught Eternatus after battle. Just don’t expect to see them use this monster in battle. It’s sealed away in a pokeball, inside a glass case, inside a safe, covered with sutras, armed with lasers and Dick Cheney with a gun.

Now as for bad guy stuff afterwards, it feels a lot like Sun & Moon where Team Rocket try to disturb a legendary pokemon’s habitat and try to catch it. Probably because Team Rocket is the only bad guy team where their leader is still in tact and in this series we have Ash and company go to every region. It’s not like we’re going to see any of the other villains like in Pokemon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon. No, the anime won’t do us like that. Archie is doing 20 to life, Maxie is on probation but still has an ankle monitor, Cyrus is a bag of bones in another dimension, Ghetsis is doing life for attempted mass genocide and child endangerment, and no one has found Lysandre’s body or Hunter J for that matter. But that’s just my opinion on that matter!

Going back to Cyrus of Team Galactic, while we don’t see him currently, we do see the rest of Team Galactic as they attempt to find him. This is the Arceus Chronicles special (exclusive to Amazon Japan and U.S. Netflix). I honestly found the special a cheap ploy to whore out the Legends Arceus game and for Dawn to have more screen time.

MUSIC: One song, several versions! You would think I would get tired of that? A little bit, but not as bad as you’d think. Pokemon has been known to have one or more versions to an opening theme. Mezase Pokemon Master has been used countless times in countless ways with several revamps to it. It’s still a classic! Many others had remixes like Saikou Everyday and V(Volt). Yeah, V(Volt) is still annoying. 1, 2, 3 however didn’t feel annoying to me. Probably because there’s a T.M. Revolution version and a Rica Matsumoto version!

English opening. Generic. Moving on.

MOVIE: Normally, the Pokemon movies would hit theaters in Japan during the second or third week of July every year consecutively. For this arc, we got ONE movie. Just one! As usual, Pokemon’s 23rd feature film was on track for release in July 2020. Ah-ha, you see that year, right?! You know that shit got bumped. And bumped, it was! The release date got pushed to Christmas of 2020 and the U.S. release date wasn’t for another ten months later. Thanks a lot Netflix! At least when Sailor Moon Crystal came out in Japan, it only took four months for Netflix to get it!

Pokemon: Secrets of the Jungle. You ever see Disney’s Tarzan? It’s Disney’s Tarzan but with pokemon. You’re welcome.

Okay, okay, I’ll be kind. Actually, this was a very good story. It does follow Ash down that alternate timeline from the I Choose You story. It follows Ash as he meets a boy who lives with the Zarude. And you know Tarzan, it has a bad guy, dead parents, monkey-type pokemon, Team Rocket…Yeah, you know. Spoiler alert, the bad guy doesn’t die horribly like Clayton. I’m loving these alternate universe movies. My only gripe is that we never see any of Ash’s other pokemon.

TEAM ROCKET UPDATE: Hmm…They don’t go out for the world championship spot like Ash. Jessie doesn’t enter contests. They don’t break up. And they don’t catch the twerp’s Pikachu. Don’t tell me they spend another arc doing jack-ass-shit!

Podcast!

My God, that’s perfect for them. And honestly if Megumi Hayashibara and Shinichiro Miki ever start their own podcast together, I would pay any amount of money to hear that regularly. I’m going to be honest here. Aside from the podcast episode, Morpeko shenanigans, and the episode where they temporarily go their separate ways again, I barely remember or acknowledge Team Rocket’s existence for this season. Did Jessie actually catch a pokemon this season? I don’t know. It's like later season Black/White here. What are you doing Team Rocket?! Are you going to take what Cassidy and Butch say seriously about how there’s more to your life than just Team Rocket? Or are you just going to chase Pikachu until the inevitable end?

CHLOE’S CHOICE: Unlike many of the other girl protagonists in the past, Chloe isn’t featured in every episode. In fact, a lot of episodes Chloe doesn’t even appear. She’s at home or at school. She’s not technically a trainer, but she does have one pokemon and a Pokedex. When we do get Chloe-focused episodes, the earlier ones feature her contemplating her future. Because of her father being a pokemon professor, people automatically would say she should follow in her father’s footsteps. Not for Chloe! And she’s not going to become a graphic artist like her mother.

It wasn’t until Chloe traveled to Sinnoh on her own that she learned about Pokemon Contests. She got curious watching an interview with Johanna and then Dawn talked about her love of pokemon contests to her. But it wasn’t until Chloe went to Lilycove City in Hoenn where she met Lisia and Serena that she really enjoyed taking the stage with Eevee. Does Chloe become a coordinator like the travel-mates of Ash’s past? Chloe’s whole saga was given the permanent halt once Masters 8 started and it only got mysterious from there. Yeah, the series ends with Chloe going on a journey of her own. Where is unknown. What she will be doing is unknown. Is she and Eevee going to give contests another try? Will she catch a Galarian Ponyta? Will she become an Eeveelution trainer? Who fucking knows?!

ENDING FOR GOH: Goh has been an interesting character to say the least! And the fandom for this character runs both hot and cold. They either love him or hate his guts. The hate is because Goh wound up catching all three Galar starters and Ash didn’t catch any of them. At the beginning of the series, Goh had a one-track mind in catching Mew and that’s that. It even caused some friction when Scorbunny wanted to be his first pokemon early in the series. Thankfully, Goh and Scorbunny (later Cinderace) made a great team.

Throughout the series, Goh caught many pokemon during his time with Professor Cerise and Ash. He caught fossil pokemon, legendary pokemon, pokemon of different forms, shiny pokemon, starter pokemon, pokemon Ash will never own in his lifetime, throw-aways, and the occasional surprise pokemon like Suicune. None of them are Mew! In the middle of this arc, Goh gets introduced to the Project Mew group by Gary Oak. Throughout the series, we got a few episodes dedicated to special missions Goh got in order to go further in this group. Goh was even able to catch a rare Regi pokemon (alongside Gary) and stop Regiggias from being Dynamaxxed. That was kind of a cop-out because I thought Regiggias was going to be a bigger episodic thing. After that, Goh was able to join the big expedition with Project Mew. Will he get closer to his dream of catching Mew?

Goh got the message on a big lead with finding Mew. Only problem was that he had to leave right when Ash was about to fight the biggest battle of his life. Goh left Ash before his masters finale against Leon. This is actually a first! Every single one of Ash’s companions were there to witness his finale in whatever league. Even Tracey and Max! YEAH, THAT’S RIGHT ASSHOLES! TRACEY WITNESSED THE ORANGE, JOHTO, HOENN, AND MASTERS 8 LEAGUE. SUCK IT!

I promise, this’ll be the last time I call you ‘assholes’.

No…it probably won’t be. Sorry!

Goh did leave Ash. His final mission with Project Mew was his toughest yet where communication was cut off, pokeballs were unable to be used, and legendaries are out for your heads. Goh, Gary, Horace, and the rest of the expedition team finally came in contact with Mew. This is the closest anyone has come. And also, nice that they made a mention to Jessie’s biological mother as she did search for Mew too. But the fight against Mew was pretty intense as this is the one pokemon that has the capability of taking on any form and can learn any move it damn-well wants to. But, it also has the ability to give those it comes in contact with knowledge of the world. Did Goh catch Mew? Fuck no! But there’s a respect and this experience is something he’ll hold onto for the rest of his life. We’ll see what happens with Goh’s own journey.

ENDING FOR ASH: Ash has certainly done wonders throughout this arc by entering that Pokemon World Championship and catching some major powerhouse pokemon. Next to his Sinnoh and Kalos teams, this team he has this time around is amazing. And it has taken him to the Master Class status. This championship has had Ash face up against old gym leaders from his past, old friends who have grown exponentially, and new challengers. As we remember in Ash’s past, going up against an Elite Four member ended in utter failure. Let’s never forget his failures against Agatha, Prima, and Drake. He did get lucky against a champion once, but his synchronization with Greninja went haywire so we really don’t discuss that.

In Pokemon Journeys, Ash has faced a lot of tough challengers. And I thought that day would never come since we all know Ash’s peak perfection team was during Sinnoh. But his team now is pretty fucking stacked and now has the ability to mega evolve, synchronize, gigantamax, and z-move with several of his current team. Not only that but go up against some of the toughest trainers in the world. I mean let’s face it, Ash in the past has gotten his ass handed to him by some pretty boss trainers. Even here, Bea, Volkner, and Iris gave him a run for his money. Did anyone think he could hold his own and become the 8th strongest trainer in the world?

Ash’s biggest moment is here and now with going up against the heavy-hitters. Iris, the champion of Unova. Alain, the winner of the Kalos Pokemon League. Diantha, the champion of Kalos. Lance, the champion of Kanto and Johto. Steven Stone, the champion of Hoenn. Cynthia, the champion of Sinnoh. And Leon, the UNDEFEATED champion of Galar.

Is Ash going to fight ALL OF THESE TOP DAWGS?! Hell no! Just some of them. For starters, Steven and Cynthia. These two are champions of Hoenn and Sinnoh. They’ve shown how bad-ass they were in certain parts of the anime. And now Ash has to go up against both of them in the quarter finals and semi finals. In a three-on-three match, Ash was able to take out Steven and his mega evolved Metagross and move onto the semis. His match against Cynthia will be his toughest yet. Even gamers are annoyed with Cynthia in battle as well as her ancestor Volo. That guy was a real fucker! Ash faced off against Cynthia and won. It wasn’t easy. Roserade’s Poison Point, Milotic’s iron head, a Dynamaxed Togekiss, and Garchomp make Ash’s battle pure hell. Give this battle some credit as we didn’t see Cynthia be predictable with a Mega Garchomp. Togekiss dynamaxxing was a surprise. Prior to fighting Ash, Cynthia was planning on retiring. But after that battle, the retirement plans are on hold.

And now for the finale, Ash vs. Leon. Will Ash get lucky here? Hard to tell. Even Japan knows that the stats are highly in favor of a Leon victory. But as I learned from looking at polls and stats for politics, DO NOT LISTEN TO THE POLLS AND STATS, THEY ARE ALL SHITE! Also, Ash is unpredictable so anything can happen in battle. Leon decided to allow Ash use all of his battle enhancements. That means Gengar can be Dynamaxed, Lucario can Mega Evolve, and Pikachu can do a Z-Move. Ash was able to take out some of Leon’s pokemon early on. Leon is no pushover, his pokemon are tough. Tough enough for only 2 of them to take out all of Diantha’s pokemon. Dragapult and Mr. Rime gave Ash the toughest time. Soon enough, Ash found himself with only Pikachu left against a Cinderace with Limber ability and a Dynamaxed Charizard.

Enter Eternatus! Yeah, Satan’s tapeworm escaped from its captivity. I guess it wanted to give Dynamax energy for Ash and Leon’s pokemon to go Gigantamax again. Wish granted as Pikachu and Cinderace went Gigantamax. And even though Pikachu’s past experiences with Dynamax didn’t go well, it was successful against Cinderace as he was able to take it down. So, it’s down to one-on-one. This moment between Ash and Leon was one of the most finely animated battle I’ve seen since both Sinnoh’s and Kalos’s pokemon league. And Charizard was so powerful that Pikachu almost died.

Yeah, you heard right. It looked like Pikachu almost died on the floor. But Pikachu saw all of Ash’s pokemon from past to present. ALL OF THEM! EVEN PRIMEAPE! EVEN PIDGEOT! EVEN LAPRAS! AND LITTLE LARVITAR TOO! THEY COUNTED HIM TOO! And all of Ash’s friends were watching from wherever they were to catch this moment. Misty at the Cerulean gym, Tracey at the Oak lab, Brock and Cilan at a pokemon center, Clemont and Bonnie at the Lumiose gym, May, Max, and Serena at a contest, Iris in a tree, and the Alolan gang in the classroom were there together in unison for this. Goh didn’t watch, but he’s there in spirit. LAME! Victory! Pikachu defeated Charizard. Ash is world champion!

So…what now? Ash is literally world champion! Unless there are pokemon on other planets with pokemon trainers, I don’t think Ash can get anything higher than that. This is something that won’t be answered in this series I’m afraid. Stay tuned. For now, it’s time to focus on what this show is going to do with Ash, Chloe, Goh, and Team Rocket. Team Rocket will do whatever they do. They do their usual last episode thing by visiting the boss and lying to him to get praise.

Of course, in the finale we get a falling out between Ash and *insert name here*. It happens almost every arc to this story it’s almost formulaic. Misty has a moment at the end of Johto. Max was depressed at the end of Hoenn. Dedenne has a panic attack in the middle of an airport in the Kalos finale, and the less I remember about Piplup’s meltdown, the better for my sanity. This time it was Goh. Apparently, Goh doesn’t know Ash well enough to realize that bro goes on journeys by himself all the time. Usually, it’s his friends that leave him. Actually…EVERY FRIEND HAS LEFT ASH! Except for the Alolan gang. Stay cool Kiawe and Lana!

Thankfully, this moment passed as Goh and Ash come under attack by…well, yeah, Team Rocket did attack them in their usual manner. But I was talking about Lugia! This was indeed the very same Lugia from the second episode of Pokemon Journeys. They fought. They flew together. They even ran into Ho-oh. And you know whenever Ash runs into Ho-oh, it’s an omen for their journey continuing. For now, anyways.

We end this season with a party for Ash and Goh. Many decisions were made about their future. Goh and Ash are splitting up to go on their own, but will remain good friends. And Chloe is to go on her own journey.

EPILOGUE…SORTA: A week after the Pokemon Journeys finale, we get one special episode. However, this is Alternate Universe Ash. I Choose You, Secrets of the Jungle, Power of All movie universe. Ash meets a dead boy. Yeah, it’s like I said. He meets the spirit of a dead boy who loved pokemon. Meets his parents. A familiar scene with a Mankey and Ash’s hat. And talks about Ash’s DAD?!

Yeah, they really mention Ash’s dad more often than not in the alternate universe. We never see him and neither does Ash. But he leaves behind a new hat for his son. And we get this choked-up scene where Ash eats and cries. Shit, I was ready to write off this episode, but damn that almost kicked me in the feels.

FINAL THOUGHTS: I’m not going to lie, I have a love/hate relationship with this series. I feel like the Galar region was just crammed and stowed to the side and it really shouldn’t have been. Call me old fashioned, but I would have loved to see Ash collect gym badges again. We only saw, like half of those characters. I would have loved to see Ash take on the likes of Kabu, Melony, Gordie, Nessa, and Milo. It would have been awesome to see Ash go to the Isle of Armor and Crown Tundra. Do you know how bad-ass it would have been if he got a Kubfu? We didn’t even get to see the Isle of Armor! Ah, what would have been.

What we got with Pokemon Journeys wasn’t all bad. Pokemon gave another chance to anime-only main characters again and I’m always a proponent of that. Unlike so many haters of Goh, I really couldn’t hate him. Yes, he did irritate me at the beginning for other reasons. But I grew to like him. This addition of a Project Mew side-story was inventive. But it also feels…I don’t know, crammy?! And as for Chloe…I have a strict, no-hate policy on everything Kana Hanazawa plays. And that goes double for Cherami Leigh. I’m not breaking that clause so deal with it. I just wish more was done for Chloe, especially at the end. But I feel like more was planned and possibly scrapped due to that baby hiatus back in 2020. I can’t be the only one who thinks that is a proponent to this. I’m sure it isn’t, I’m just putting it out there.

As for Ash being a helper at the Cerise lab, I guess it’s great to see him do other stuff besides collecting gym badges. I would have preferred he kept doing the status quo, but in order for him to be a Pokemon Master, I suppose he’s gonna have to step out of the box every once and a while. Seeing him take on old rivals, gym leaders, and such was awesome. There would have been so much I would have preferred to see. And I’m just going to say this and it’s probably not going to be popular with some. I really think Ash should have gotten at least ONE Galar starter pokemon. They all didn’t have to go to Goh!

With the World Champion arc, I was so happy to finally see people like Cynthia and Steven Stone battling for real. In this anime form, we never saw that. We would only see snipits of Cynthia battling someone and then they lose. Every battle Ash was in, I was not disappointed. Others however, don’t get me started. Iris and Alain were automatically dealt a shitty hand when they both had to go up against the #1 and #2 strongest trainers. In fact, Alain lost so bad that Trevor felt it all the way in Kalos and laughed. And then there was Diantha! First of all, I’m pissed we didn’t get to see that entire fight. But at the same time, if she lost 6-2, I think I would have felt nothing but sickness if I watched the entire thing. On the other hand, STOP GIVING US LOST POKEMON FILLERS DURING A TOURNAMENT ARC PLEASE!

Another thing that I felt was lacking was of rivals in a sense. Ash competing in the world championship has him going up against old and new gym leaders like Bea, Korrina, and Volkner. But what about the other trainers that don’t have a gym leader status to their names? We see Ash battle people like that early on and then we never see them again. We saw this guy Rinto for a couple of episodes and then we never see him again. And then there’s Hop! You would think we would see Ash and Hop spar from time-to-time. If Ash wanted to fight with Leon, he might as well get his feet wet with his baby brother. Instead, we are introduced to Hop during the tournament and all we see him do is be in the stands cheering for his onii-chan. What a waste!

But now that Ash has actually become the champion of the world…what’s next?

Here comes the bittersweet moment. In December 2022, it was announced that Ash and Pikachu’s journey was going to come to an end. With the ending of Pokemon Journeys, we were to get only 11 final episodes. Pokemon as a whole will continue and thank goodness for that. But Ash and Pikachu…man, that’s a lot to take. I’m going to separate this review from the final 11. I feel like that would be in my best interest. But with no more Ash and Pikachu, we run the risk of never seeing anyone he’s associated himself with again. That means Misty and Brock. That means Professor Oak. That means Iris. That means Cilan. That means freakin’ Team Rocket. That means Blushy McIdiot, Dawn, the Alolan gang. And for me, it runs the risk of never, forever-ever, never ever, ever, ever gonna see Tracey Sketchit again. I nearly vomited at that thought. He’ll stay alive in my fan-fictions. You best believe that! I’m just going to feel worse than when he left before Johto started. I will definitely say more in the following review for the final 11.

As for Pokemon Journeys, yeah I enjoyed it. Watch it. Stay away from several fillers. Don’t get your hopes up for Chloe. Keep an open mind about Goh. R.I.P. Billy Kametz. Long live Daisuke Ono! Every episode will be up on Netflix. Other seasons, check out Hulu, Amazon Prime, Disney XD, and Pokemon TV.

DID MY HIGH HOPES COME TRUE?!: I won’t be doing a high hopes section here. With only 11 episodes left and several of them have aired as of posting this review it would really defeat the purpose. But let’s see if any of my silly wants came true.

*Yes, Tracey exists in this season. Everyone does apparently! Tracey has been given the bum’s rush at nearly every turn since…well, his last speaking role was September 2006. To give you an idea how long ago that was, I have moved 3 times since then, my eldest cat Harley wasn’t even born yet, my fan-fic “you-know-what” was in the early stages of writing, Naruto Shippuden wasn’t airing yet, Death Note and Code Geass haven’t aired yet either, Kanye West was still respectable, Justin Timberlake’s SexyBack was #1 on the charts, Jackass #2 was in theaters, I still thought George W. Bush was the worst president in history, and Robin from One Piece just uttered the words “I want to live” for the first time. THAT’S HOW LONG IT’S BEEN!

And to this day, he still hasn’t uttered a word. I had to survive all of Kalos and Alola without seeing his face at all. Or even being mentioned. Seriously, there were episodes back at the lab and you don’t even mention your assistant, Oak. The fuck is wrong with you?! That’s how stingy and fucked this has been. But this season, Professor Oak at least mentions him without having him be at the lab when we get an episode AT THE LAB. But when it came time for the big tournament, Tracey was watching. He watched the whole thing. We didn’t hear him, but he was there. I am so happy. I think it’s because getting Tomokazu Seki to do it-bits here and there might be expensive. I mean, he is a really big freakin’ deal in the seiyuu world. Yes, he’s even more expensive than Yuuki Kaji and Mamoru Miyano. Ted Lewis would happily do it and I would be happy to hear it. To sum up, I saw Tracey. Was it a lot? No. Did he speak? Hell no. Do I want more? Fuck yeah! Are you happy? Fuck to the infinity yeah!

*I was quite expletive when it comes to seeing May and Iris again. We saw May in voice-less cameos. That’s pretty much what I’ve come to expect due to her seiyuu Kaori’s illness. Kaori has fully retired from voice acting and singing due to a vocal condition. She had this problem when she voiced May one last time during Diamond and Pearl. Even though I only saw May once, at least the anime acknowledged her existence. She’s known as the Princess of Hoenn in the contest world. She’s still doing contests and even made friends with Serena.

As for Iris, boy did we get the upgrade of Iris and I couldn’t be prouder. Since leaving Ash and Cilan, Iris has trained and has become the champion of Unova, is able to telepathically communicate with dragon pokemon, has fully evolved Axew into Haxorus, earned the respect of Dragonite and Excadrill, and is currently the 7th strongest trainer in the world. We got Iris in several episodes in full and I am beyond happy. I wish she could have had more screentime than Dawn this season, but I shouldn’t complain since Iris went through all of this.

*Did I see Clefable…no, not really. We did get a touching episode with a Cleffa. I’ll accept that.

*Yamper!!! This got confusing. Chloe is Yamper’s owner. But she doesn’t carry him in a pokeball nor does she travel with him once she got her pokedex. After that, it just became the Eevee show. I guess Yamper is the family pokemon and I’ll leave it at that. I got to see the poke-corgi more often than not and I’m okay with that.

*Did Ash battle around in Galar? Sorta. The only people he met up with or battled with were Leon, Raihan, Bea, Opal, Allister, and Marnie. Qutie a puny list. I’ve already beat my thoughts about this into the ground so let’s move on.

*Much to my dismay, none of those fun game characters from Team Rocket ever showed up and I suppose they never will.

*No, we did not see Ash go to any Battle Frontier or Battle Tower this season.

*James did not get a Galarian Weezing. I don’t think we even saw one. Did we? Just a flash in the final episode. This season didn’t even show all of the Galar pokemon.

*Rica Matsumoto eventually sang the opening theme. It was a duet, but even her best songs are duets. High Touch, anyone?

*Ash…sadly got a psychic pokemon…it was on loan from his mother and it was Mr. Mime. I am not amused by this at all.

*And finally, PROFESSOR BURNET GAVE BIRTH! Thank you for not keeping her pregnant for three years. People finally aged here!

AND FINALLY…IN MEMORIUM (SILLY EDITION): Usually I do an in memorium if someone notable passes away during the production of an anime. Last season, I wrote one for Unshou Ishizuka. I mentioned Billy Kametz here, but for my full memorium be sure to read my Rising of the Shield Hero second season review. This is not going to be that. It’s going to be quite absurd.

This is a dedication to all of the characters I wished would have made an appearance in Pokemon Journeys. Here’s to all of the trainers, gym leaders, coordinators, elite four members, random bros, etc. that for one reason or another never made it to this special season of pokemon. And because they never got to appear, I’m putting up my own stock-photos here to make it even more sillier. Mwahaha! May the Poke-Gods be kinder to you in another realm than they would have here. I WILL REMEMBER YOU. WILL YOU REMEMBER THEM?

Barry

Fantina

Nessa

Sidney

Prima

Tobias

Melony

Thorton

Sabrina

Zoey

Ursula

Gardenia

Lenora

Phoebe

Proton, Petrel, Ariana, and Archer

Nando

Lucian

N & Ghetsis

Cress & Chili

Damian

Wish you were all here.

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rescuefield-a · 1 year

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"SOMEBODY ALWAYS NEEDS TO GO FIRST. I KNOW THIS. I GO FIRST." - A STUDY ABOUT FEAR.

( no i promise i'm not jason and this is actually going somewhere lmao )

there's something ironic in how claire is perceived as a civilian ( albeit with good skills ) yet at the same time whenever we see her in a situation where an outbreak is happening, she is always in the front: in raccoon city she fought all the way to keep sherry safe, same in harvardville with rani ( and the other survivors to an extent ) and then again at sejm island trying to keep moira safe because she's family and if something happened to her, claire would never forgive herself, and then again sonido de tortuga with the tv show crew.

she stays calm, goes first, kills the zombies, and everybody almost always makes it back home - at least those close to her ( but that's not her fault, rather capcom adding random people in the story just to kill them off ) so we can say safely that she's been through it all, and up until sejm island she had seen enough for the T-Phobos to not kick in while most of the team turned, with the exception of those who managed their fears. i wouldn't say claire was unfazed about the events unfolding on the island, but in the end if you think about it, everything was really just another thursday for her.

is claire redfield fearless? no, but she might as well, because her tolerance has become so high chances were she realistically would have been the sole survivor of those experiments. but what does this mean for her life and her future? well, to put it simply, claire is obviously scared in these situations but there's always the awareness that she can go through it, because she can do anything - her confidence in her skills saves her more times than she'd like to admit. so... is she not a good host for T-Phobos? yes and no, because claire might be scared but you'll always catch her do the craziest shit even if it saves one person, she's selfless like that.

T-Phobos activates based on the levels of adrenalin and norepinephrine, so an intense fear or panic should be enough to start a mutation. to avoid this issue, claire wears an upgraded version of a wristband retrieved from their second trip to the island to rescue moira. for those who are not familiar, the wristband shows the results based on the colours green, orange and red: green means stress hormone readings are normal; orange is for significant but acceptable hormone production. a blinking red light means the subject is actively producing large quantities of the hormones, and finally a fixed red light means the subject is determined to mutate.

what could possibly spike claire's panic to a point her health might be in danger? well, infinite darkness trailer ironically gives us an answer about it when we see leon run to her and jason's voice tells us that the root of terror starts with fear. let's go over that for a second, yes? sure, claire has a noble heart and cares for everybody... but at this point a lot of people died around her - some were good, some were bad; you take that in and eventually move on.

but her family ( blood or choice doesn't matter ) is not like the others. the main cast of this franchise is pretty much the only people who actively get the job done, and so far they all always made it out alive. if that were to change ( i hope capcom would never tho ) then that would be enough for claire to give up and the dormant virus to kick in - because all it takes is a second, no take backs.

so yeah, claire has been wearing the wristband since 2011, never takes it off and it's literally her life saver. sometimes it goes up to orange but she's learned how to control her breathing and has started meditating and all that helpful stuff to clear her mind when life is too much.

#ɢᴇɴᴇʀᴀʟ meta.#this is actually important bc it ties to ID and DI since capcom just forgot about it #claire never goes first when her family is around so i'm appropriating this coincidence in my changes lol

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introvertguide · 3 years

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Abuse of Children Portrayed in Film

I like to use movies as an escape from the harshness of the real world and one of the things that I have learned about in my education is the effects on children when they are mistreated. I have a Masters Degree in Developmental Psychology and one of the hardest classes for me to handle was Abnormal Development in Children and Adolescents. We covered everything from dealing with dyslexia and ADHD to surviving severe abuse and loss at a very early age. We had guest speakers that ranged from people who had escaped genocide as children, to individuals who had been sold into prostitution by their parents, to people who had suffered severe abuse from their parents or guardian. I have heard stories that will stick with me forever and that is nightmare fuel that I don't want to share.

Because of my background education, I take note of the treatment and behavior of children and adolescents in the movies that I watch. There have been many great movies over the years that have depicted the suffering of children and it has always been difficult for me to deal with. There are more well known examples of films that focus on suffering but throw in more of a "sometimes we all suffer, even the children" message that demonstrate that kids aren't immune to great travesties (basically any film about The Holocaust). There are also well known films that show children "coming of age" through hardship (Annie 1982, Oliver! 1968) but end perfectly. There is a more current series of films that focuses entirely on a boy discovering a fantasy world that was robbed from him when his parents were murdered by a tyrant (Harry Potter series). But in this list I want to review some lesser known films that show examples of abuse. Even after all that I have seen and heard, the following list of films have affected me personally for one reason or another. Sometimes the children in these films endure and overcome their situation in the end. Sometimes these children do not survive or sadly remain in their misfortunes. To me, this can make the movie all the more powerful because of the incredible amount of pathos that endangering a child character can add. It can also make it a heart wrenching experience that is painful to watch. Here are some powerful films in which children suffer and the struggle is one of the main plot lines of the movie:

SPOILER WARNING AND VIEWER DISCRETION ADVISORY!!! I AM GOING TO GIVE AWAY THE PLOT TO THESE FILMS AND IT SHOULD GO WITHOUT SAYING THAT SOME OF THE PLOTS ARE DISTURBING!!! EITHER WATCH THE FILM IF YOU DON'T WANT SPOILERS OR CHECK OUT THE FOLLOWING SUMMARIES IF YOU WOULD RATHER JUST HEAR WHAT HAPPENS SO YOU KNOW IF YOU WANT TO WATCH OR NOT!!!

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Sybil (TV Movie) 1976

I just recently saw this film after I had heard of the story in my abnormal development class almost 10 years ago. It is the story of a woman who developed multiple personalities to deal with a childhood in the care of an undiagnosed schizophrenic mother. The movie stars Sally Fields and is based on a true account of Shirley Ardell Mason and her treatment by psychologist Cornelia Wilbur. The acting in the film is overdramatic at times, but it definitely reminded me of some of the actual old videos of Shirley Mason and her sudden strange switches in personality when she was scared or anxious. Dr. Wilbur used hypnosis to actually introduce Mason to her alternate personalities and she was able to recognize her disassociative identity disorder and overcome it. It still hurts me to think that this person was mentally wounded so deeply by her parents that it basically shattered her into pieces in an effort to make sense of things.

Leon: The Professional 1994

I mention this film a lot because it is a heartwarming story of an assassin teaching a young orphan how to murder. It is the breakout role for Natalie Portman and it is just amazing. Leon is a "cleaner" that lives next door to an abusive and addictive family with a troubled girl named Mathilda. The father gets in trouble with the mob and some enforcers come by and slaughter most of the family while Mathilda is getting groceries. She returns during the massacre and realizes what is happening so continues next door and pleads for shelter. Leon takes her in and teachers her the trade and protects her from the men who want to finish her off. The movie was written and directed by Luc Besson and stars Jean Reno, Gary Oldman, and Natalie Portman. The suffering that this girl endures because of her parent's addictions hurts me, yet I have seen and enjoyed this film many times. I recommend watching when in the mood to be deeply affected by the trials of a little girl and the killer who protected her.

Kids 1995

This film came out when I was early in high school and bothered me greatly. It is a story by Harmony Korine, and one of his many attempts to capture the hopeless lives of unmotivated and unsupervised teens. These are young teens having unprotected sex, stealing money to do drugs, and attacking people in the park. I did not really go to these kinds of parties when I was that age (or ever really) and it has bothered me to think that adolescents would partake in this kind of behavior. It is hard for me to believe that these kids had the ability to mentally comprehend the consequences of their actions and some of the characters end up contracting HIV from each other. I would not recommend the film because it is a depressing day in the life that no youth should have.

Gummo 1997

I would not call this a good movie and I wouldn't really recommend it. It is another work by Harmony Korine and really details the depravity that can occur with unsupervised youths living in low socio-economic conditions. This movie is just depressing and motivated me to find something to motivate me into action. I got into both psychology and teaching, which has served me well for the past 20 years. It was this film that showed me how low the bar for quality of life could be, and I guess for that I am thankful. However, I still wouldn't recommend it.

Happiness 1998

This movie I didn't see right away but noticed it at the video store on many occasions. I final watched it when I was about 25 on the recommendation of a friend and one particular storyline greatly disturbed me. It is basically the story of 3 sisters that feel they should be happy and project a face of happiness, yet they are miserable and have horrible lives. One sister in particular is married to a psychiatrist who turns out to be a pedophile that rapes the friends of his young son. At one point rather early on in the movie, this man confesses to his son that he raped the boy's friends and that he would do it again. The son is so confused that he asks his father why he never raped him. It is so disturbing to me because I know the boys that were assaulted will be forever damaged and this boy who was not actually raped will be mentally scarred as well. The fact that there are people in the world that would harm children that way, recognize what they had done, and then know they didn't have the self control to stop themselves from doing it again is horrifying to me.

Lilya 4-Ever 2002

This film is deeply disturbing and I highly recommend never watching it. I will spoil it for you now so you never have to see it if you don't want. A 16-year-old girl named Lilya lives with her mother. The mom gets a boyfriend and the couple move to America and abandons Lilya with a neglectful aunt. The aunt movies into the old apartment of her sister and Lilya is forced to move out and become a prostitute to make money. A boy comes along and convinces her to move to Sweden to escape her life. When they arrive, this boy sells her to a pimp and she becomes a teenage sex slave. She almost escapes, but is then captured and beaten almost to death. She escapes again and this time commits suicide so she won't be recaptured. This movie is awful and changed my mind about giving every film a chance. I wish I could forget this film, but I can't. Perhaps it is just not for me, but this film presentation is definitely an experience that you won't soon forget.

The Kite Runner 2007

I read this book in my twenties and saw the film in my thirties and both affected me greatly. A well-to-do boy and his friend are in a kite battle competition and the friend is beaten and raped when he goes to retrieve a fallen kite. The well-to-do boy denies knowing what happened to his friend (he does know) and basically shames and abandons him. This action haunts the well-to-do boy for the rest of his life. How the boy who was raped is basically falling prey to blaming the victim is heartbreaking, and the lifetime of guilt of the other boy is pitiable. Neither boy was the actual attacker yet they both were the ones that suffered.

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There are many other examples of movies along these lines and could be found if you feel like suffering. I can't say that I would recommend them because they are very difficult to watch. Beyond just dealing with the content, it is rare to find child actors who can actually portray somebody who has truly suffered. The mix of bad acting and a depressing plot can make for a terrible movie going experience. The genre of movie involving suffering does exist, though, and it could be enjoyed (?) by some. Just not generally by me.

#harmony korine #gummo #kids #the kite runner #suffering #psychology #depressing movies #introvert #introverts #happiness #lilya 4 ever #leon the professional #movies

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omegalomania · 3 years

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I think tumblr ate my ask or it just didn't sent but what are your favorite Bastille songs / what are some songs you recommend?

i did NOT get this ask im very sorry anon.

it's genuinely hard for me to narrow down cause bastille is pretty up there in terms of favorite artists. i love all their shit, but a special mention goes out to their second studio album wild world since it's the one that made me a Fan

uh so here's a primer i guess i spent too much time on this lmao.

if you wanna listen to their big hits:

flaws - their first single in the uk. if you ever listened to ship playlists on 8tracks in like 2013-2015 then you've probably heard this song or a variant on it at some point.

pompeii - this is the song that really put them on the map and you definitely know it. it dominated the charts all over the place.

happier - the marshmello song that you've definitely heard before too. i think bastille wrote this for justin bieber or some shit but then decided they liked it too much to give it to him? lmao. anyway if you're not digging the version you hear on the radio all the time i recommend trying the stripped down version

good grief - their big hit off their second album. big in the uk, didn't really make as many waves elsewhere, but it's a really solid song anyway. one of those "upbeat tunes that's actually really fucking sad" ones

things we lost in the fire - another one off their first album. if you live in a wildfire area this might not be one to turn to. or maybe you'll find it cathartic idk i certainly do!!

quarter past midnight - a song about escapism, as was fitting when it was released in 2018 and equally fitting now. running away for a night of fucking around with friends, craving any kind of brief departure from the chaos of the modern world

skulls - this one was not a hit or a single and is technically a bonus track but i'm including it because once again if you ever clicked on a ship playlist on 8tracks in like 2013-2015 you've heard this one. and you know what that was justified this one is also good

if you wanna feel existentially depressed:

their whole discography. i mean i kid but i also don't. that's just kind of how bastille does it. BUT IN ALL SERIOUSNESS ones that hit me in particular would beeee

two evils - kind of a grim, haunting one introspecting about morality of the self.

oblivion - musing about the afterlife, love, and how time changes all of us.

those nights - contemplating what it is we seek when we plunge into reckless escapism, and the inherent loneliness of it; how even when surrounded by people there's still the pressure of the world outside, continuously coming to pieces

the draw - this one was written about the pull of pursuing a career in music vs. staying home with family and friends. in a broader sense, it can apply to a lot of things. i always felt it resonated with feelings of paranoia and displacement

winter of our youth - discusses childhood, nostalgia, and regret. if it feels like everything's slipping away, is it easier to relive the past, especially if the past is tinted rose?

sleepsong - loneliness, desperation, and the cyclical, abyss-like nature of all it encapsulates

if you want discussion of serious topics:

final hour - a bonus track off their second album that also became a bonus track off their third album? anyway this song talks about climate change and gun control. happy stuff

doom days - this one talks about, uh, everything! doomscrolling, political divides, escalating national tensions, climate change again, etc.

the currents - a song centered on political rhetoric and the power that figureheads have over the masses, the way they can orchestrate hate. basically it's not so subtly aimed at donald trump lmao, dan's literally sung it as much in a few live settings

WHAT YOU GONNA DO??? - social media addiction and the way capitalism and corporate interests have annexed our online experiences, fighting desperately for our attention as they seek to monetize every available aspect of our lives

four walls (the ballad of perry smith) - well this one is about uh. perry smith. who was charged with the death penalty for killing 4 people in the late 50's. but it's less directly about him and more a discussion of the morality of the death penalty and capital punishment

snakes - burgeoning anxieties and the impulse to turn to easy outs, like ignorance or alcoholism, to escape the world's global problems

if you want some pop culture sprinkled on top:

icarus - greek mythology. i like this one because it addresses something that i feel isn't addressed enough in discussions of this myth, which is that icarus is a very young lad. less about the pride of the fall, and more about the inherent tragedy of that.

laura palmer - the whole song is a david lynch shoutout. i've never seen twin peaks myself but the song still slaps.

daniel in the den - christian mythology. discusses the biblical tale of daniel in the lion's den and links that up to themes of betrayal and family.

poet - this one's a double feature, referencing both william shakespeare's sonnet 18 and edmund spencer's sonnet 75. also one of my favorites.

send them off! - this is another one of my favorites of theirs. it's also been described by dan as "othello meets the exorcist" and it very much delivers there

if you want something uplifting:

joy - while bastille (understandably) has a bit of reputation as a band that makes sad music about sad things, they've definitely got some happier songs in their catalogue. pun intended cha ching. this one's one of their more straightforwardly happy tunes

survivin' - this was a song they wrote while they were touring and then felt weird about releasing once the panini hit because it felt a bit on the nose. they ended up releasing it anyway and i am so glad they did cause it's a mood

act of kindness - the "happy" part here is debatable but i'm gonna include it anyway. it’s when someone does something nice for you and that impulse Changes you way down deep you know???

warmth - one of those "the world's going to shit but at least we have each other" kinds of tunes

the anchor - one of those "the world's going to shit but you're the one fucking thing that's still keeping me here" kinds of tunes

give me the future - their latest single as of this writing and one of the more optimistic tracks in their catalogue imo! it's yearning, but it's also with a genuine hope for the future.

and LASTLY. because im going to take every chance i can to plug this band. im going to throw some collabs and covers at you because there's one thing this band does SUPER well and it's collabs and covers.

of the night - this is the big one. it mashes up rhythm of the night by corona and rhythm is a dancer by SNAP! and it's so good they still do this one live and it goes off every time.

no angels - a mashup of "no scrubs" by TLC and "angels" by the xx, poured into a strangely mournful tune with clips from the hitchcock movie psycho. doesn't sound like it should work but it does. kinda really does.

torn apart - with GRADES and lizzo no less!!! it's got two parts but they're both excellent listen to them both

weapon - collab with angel haze, dan priddy, and F*U*G*Z and one of my absolute favorites

remains - remix of their song "skulls" but featuring rag'n'bone man and skunk anansie that adds an entire new dimension to the song, really fucking excellent

old town road mashup - lil nas x's old town road meets lizzo's good as hell meets radiohead's talk show host meets talking heads' road to nowhere meets the osmond's crazy horse. "what the fuck that shouldn't work" i KNOW and yet here it is!! BLATANTLY BANGING!!!

we can't stop - one of the few times dan smith subtly changes the lyrics of the song he's covering (most of the time he opts to keep the original pronouns and the like, which is very nice to see). anyway this one mixes miley cyrus's we can't stop with eminem's lose yourself and billy ray cyrus's achy breaky heart. and also the lion king's i just can't wait to be king is there. yes i know it sounds batshit especially because the whole thing is surprisingly melodic and heartfelt and you know what it works.

anyone but me x nightmares - mashing up joy crookes' anyone but me with easy life's nightmares and absolutely one of my favorites.

bad guy mashup - how many songs can they include with the word "bad" in the title? we've got bad guy (billie eilish), bad decisions (bastille), bad romance (lady gaga), and bad blood (taylor swift). bastille even has a song called bad blood and they didnt use it. they used taylor swift's version. also the distinctive guitar riff from dick dale's misirlou is there.

somebody mashup - how many songs can they include with the word "some" in the title? someone like you (adele), somebody told me (the killers), somebody to love (queen), use somebody (kings of leon), and someone you loved (lewis capaldi). seriously these guys take mashups to a new level.

final song - this is a cover of MØ's final song. it also adds in craig david's 7 days and, impossibly enough, europe's final countdown. how does it work. how.

ALL RIGHT. THATS ALL IVE GOT IN ME. HOPE THIS HELPED ANON AND IM SORRY IF THIS IS TOO MUCH

#askin hours #anon #bastille #ill put this in the bastille tag why not #this is predominantly a fall out boy blog but if any bastille bloggers are out there....all like 20 of you....#i see the work u do in this fandom and i love u for it

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ythmir-writes · 3 years

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Fictober 21, Day 03

Prompt: I've waited for this. Fandom: Ikemen Prince feat: Leon Dompteur Audience: General Tags: painful 1471 words

She watched Leon approach her and berated herself for the way her heart began to flutter.

It should be impossible for a single man to be so much larger than life. Yet there he was, walking towards her, holding not just her fate but the fate of thousands of Rhodolitians on his shoulders and not looking any worse for wear. Here was a man who had all the tell-tale signs of classic royalty: handsome, charming, extremely likeable, with an air around him that made people want to follow him to the end of the world and back. He laughed and people swooned. He thundered with power on the battlefield and his enemies yielded.

The first time they had met, he had frightened her. It should be impossible for a man like Leon Dompteur to exist. And that feeling had only escalated the more she came to know him. With his warm smile, and his laughter, with his kindness and compassion. With that cruelty that can only come from a good man with good intentions.

Here was a man so brave, so absolutely reckless in his willingness to give only the best for Rhodolite that he could leave himself empty and yet still find something in him to smile.

She was afraid of him because he was everything she hoped she could become.

“Finally found you,” Leon said.

She should run away, she told herself, as Leon took the last steps to stand beside her under the wisteria, smile warming her through. She should run and hide and shield her eyes away from his sunlight. She should shrink away, stop him from reaching out to touch her cheek. She should not nuzzle against his hand. She should –

She should try to be brave like him and never tell him the truth.

“I missed you,” Leon said to her.

Damn it all.

“All’s well with the campaign, then?” She smiled back, ignoring the tug his words made on her heart.

A flash of tiredness came to his eyes, and he let his hand drop. “We were able to drive away the last of the Obsidian knights. The eastern borders are clean but I still had Jin make a final sweep. You can never be too careful.”

“And Chevalier?”

“Recovering,” Leon answered, this time a hint of sadness crossing his features.

Before she could stop herself, she placed a hand on his shoulders. “It’s not your fault.”

“So you’ve repeatedly told me.”

“A few scrapes won’t keep the Tiger down.”

“True.” Leon let out a quiet laugh. “How’s the Castle been?”

“Same old, same old.” She shrugged. “Clavis, bless him, has found a new best friend in Nokto. Luke has been staying more since everyone else save the three of them have been away. Sariel’s been busy and been keeping me and Rio busy. I never imagined his duties to be so extensive. It’s like a different reality altogether.”

“Much more confusing than attending balls?”

“Simpler, actually.” She could not help but grin. “You have to dance at a ball. Here, sometimes all you need is a well-placed knife.”

At that, Leon barked out a laugh and she allowed herself to join him.

A lull in the conversation then, as the two of them quietly watched the sky from beneath the purple flowers.

She should turn him away now. Leave him to his stately duties. He had no injuries as far as she can see - that was enough for her to know. He would be expected inside the palace, where his place was. Sariel would be calling for him as soon as he stepped inside. Then, Clavis and Nokto would be waiting to fill him in with their reports. “You should get some rest. You’re literally still in half your armor.”

“I wanted to see you first.” Leon smiled.

Her heart thumped again at that, and she looked down at her hands before she could say anything she would regret. “You know where to find me. You could have visited after.”

“I wanted to give you something.”

“You could have had Rio – ”

“No.” She heard Leon move closer again. “Based on my experience, Sariel’s favorite apprentice is more elusive than the man himself. So, no not a chance. I’ve waited for this. Sariel and Jin have explained it all and they both oweme this much.

That made her look up at him, confused. “What do you mean?”

Leon took a deep breath, as if gathering strength. “I don’t care what anyone says, I owe you more than anyone alive in the kingdom right now.

“And I’ve missed you.” Leon said again, with just a little bit more pain, a little bit more desperation. “I miss you. Nothing has been the same since…”

Since I made you King, she finished in her thoughts, pressing her lips together, reminding herself again to be brave.

When it was obvious she would not reply, Leon ran a hand through his hair in frustration. “You made it clear that you’re abiding by the law. Sariel and Jin explained it all to me so many goddamn times I’m still angry just remembering it –”

“Leon –”

“ – and as much as I think it’s a stupid law, I respect your choice.” He finished in a huff. “And I’m not going to try and convince you otherwise. We all make hard choices.”

It was not fair to hear him so dejected.

“So. For everything you’ve done for me, for my brothers, and for this kingdom, respecting that choice is the least I can do.” Leon looked as if he had so many other things to say but decided against it. “But I have something else too. Hold out your hand.”

“What?”

“Hold out your hand, please.”

She did.

Leon reached inside his chainmail, taking out a small pouch that hung from his neck. He shook it and a pair of garnet earrings set on intricately carved gold lion’s head tumbled unto her palm, glittering in the sunlight.

“I would not be here if it were not for you. So, I want for you to have these as…” Leon hesitated again, as if it physically pained him to stop the tide of words spilling from his mouth. “As a heartfelt appreciation for what you did. For what you do.”

Panic bubbled inside her. “I don’t think I could accept a gift from – ”

“Please. From me.”

She stared at him. Whatever protest she may have had died in her throat. What was she to say to that? What could she possibly retort to such an honest confession? Despite all that Sariel had lauded her for her wit and her cunning and her tongue-in-cheek remarks at Court – what was she to say in the face of a heart bared?

Or at least, placed delicately in her hands, in Dompteur colors and the Dompteur crest.

“They’re beautiful,” she said.

“To match you.” There was reverence in his tone. “May I?”

She could have moved, turned to let Leon have an easier time to put the earrings on her. Or she could have done it herself, cut the anxiety before it spiraled out of control.

But she didn’t. She simply nodded.

She felt Leon move closer again, taking the earring and closing it around her ear. She felt his small exhales, felt the heat from him mingle with hers. His fingers grazed skin, lingered there, and it took everything in her to control herself and not have her heart burst from her chest.

She let out a breath she had not meant to hold in, an almost shuddering relief at the longest six seconds of her life. But the movement only signaled to her that Leon, despite having put the pair on her, had not bothered moving away.

She tried to calm herself, to let her breathing continue its steady even beat, as she slowly opened her eyes. Her mind needed to be calm, when her heart refused to contain its joy at their proximity.

Leon was looking at her as if he could coax from her eyes alone everything he knew she refused to say. She felt his fingers slowly run down her arms, pause at her wrists, hold her hands so lightly as if anything more could make her bolt.

She needed to move. Now. She needed the courage to dampen the moment before it could escalate into something else, something beautiful and wondrous and ultimately damnably tragic. She needed to remember who she had been, what her duties had entailed. That Leon was classic royalty. Not for commoners. Especially not for former Belles. She needed to be brave and burn down this path.

But then, she felt Leon’s lips on hers as he whispered, “Stay with me for a little while?”

She closed her eyes. Did not move.

And how she was such a coward.

#fictober21 #ikemen prince #leon dompteur #ythmir fanfics

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knightofmordred · 3 years

Text

let's talk about gwen's trauma in bbc merlin

tw // trauma, grief, torture, death, potential racism.

im not sure what else to tw but my post will surround conversations such as these so if you are reading this and may be triggered please either stop or read with care <3

forgive me for any mistakes i will mainly be talking from memory and ofc if i say anything wrong please lmk !!

generally to start off, all of the main four characters went through trauma however you were always able to see their reaction/result of their trauma e.g morgana turning evil, arthur being self-conscious and doubtful of himself and merlin putting up a barrier in S5, but with gwen there was never anything like that which happened.

gwen went through so much throughout the entire show and yet nothing was ever handled or addressed within the show.

SEASON ONE

from the beginning it was indicated that gwen's mother passed away before the time frame shown in camelot and of course that was later confirmed. the only mention about her mother, that i can remember, is when gwen briefly spoke about how her mother was a maid in sir leon's household. we also know that elyan left camelot shortly after their mother passed away, clearly the reasoning was from grief and hurt. we didn't get to see gwen deal with the loss of not only her mum but also her brother, yes he was still alive however he left without a word, gwen and her father were left alone trying to survive.

(also elyan's trauma is also something important to be raised and spoken about)

during this time gwen and her father were still able to make a life in camelot, thomas being a blacksmith and gwen getting a job as morgana's maid. of course events unfolded and gwen was accused of witchcraft. she was thrown in prison and set to be executed. as we know this isnt the first time this will happen. we obviously saw gwen distraught and inconsolable trying to deal with her sentence however this epsiode revolved a lot around morgana and merlin more than it did gwen. e.g. them trying to release gwen etc

a few episodes later thomas is the one imprisoned and eventually was killed due to his attempted escape. again this epsiode focused more on morgana and merlin. the small clips we saw of gwen crying over her father whilst he was imprisoned and then again when she was mourning her father were little to nothing, and the only other scenes surrounding gwen were shown as her being "strong and getting her life back together". following on to merlin asking gwen if she would wish uther dead and she said no, if he died she would feel nothing but wouldn't wish him dead.

now why does gwen have to be this strong and kind hearted woman especially in this epsiode. she lost her father, practically her last and only family member left as elyan was awol and yet she was portrayed this way. she would have been allowed to be angry and upset over everything that happened.

there was a scene where gwen was crying with morgana and spoke about how she cannot go home but it wasn't about her father. it was about tauren - the man who hired thomas for whatever he was making,he came and threatened gwen.

SEASON THREE

a season later gwen and arthur are romantically involved and caught by uther and morgana during a date. uther banished gwen and was later accused of magic (again) and set to be executed (again). this episode focused more on gwen than the last ones i spoke about but again morgana and merlin's side plots were heavily involved.

after each event has taken place in these episodes, it's almost as if gwen's trauma and what she went through were put aside or forgotten about. twice she was nearly killed and once she lost her father.

later, gwen was kidnapped by cenred and morgause and threatened to bring arthur in exchange for elyan's life.

noticing a theme so far? gwen's trauma seems to be revolved around the white characters surrounding her, whether it is entwined with another character's plot or focuses on them.

SEASON FOUR

i don't remember the epsiode but i believe it was the dochard episode. gwen was attacked by morgana in an attempt to kill her.

during this time too she was also looking after and caring for uther. we know she wasn't doing it for uther but for arthur and her love for him and so he wouldn't have to worry and can focus on his duties but....she was still looking after the man who killed her father, nearly killed her a couple of times and overall ruined her life too.

now we get into gwen and lancelot. of course we all know lance was a shade and gwen was enchanted. the way this epsiode was and how they decided to portray gwen and lance for me was ://

again gwen was thrown in jail. the bracelet was never found and nothing ever came to light that she was enchanted.

so...gwen had to live with all of that regret, guilt and feelings of not understanding or knowing why she kissed lancelot for the rest of her life.

she was banished and threatened with death if she ever returned (again).

shortly later in S4 EP11, she was kidnapped (again) whilst living in ealdor. she was able to escape but then turned into a deer by morgana??? then accidentally hunted by arthur and mithian leaving her injured and hurt. which is so unnecessary because why tf turn her into an animal ???

she was nearly killed again.

and again nothing was ever addressed or spoken about in terms of what gwen went through.

SEASON FIVE

S5, uther came back as a ghost, he threatened and attacked gwen to the point she nearly died had she not been found by merlin.

in the middle of the season, gwen was kidnapped and tortured which eventually led to her being enchanted and under morgana's control in the Dark Tower.

again, gwen's trauma is tied to a white character (as in plot and needs etc).

during her enchantment gwen did a few things:

poisoned arthur and nearly killed him

killed tyr

imprisoned merlin and blamed him

conspires with an enemy and tried to kill arthur again

her enchantment was thankfully lifted but once again it just seemed like it was ignored once it was over but also i know S5 was rushed in itself anyway.

tbh you could say gwen knew nothing and couldn't remember what happened whilst she was enchanted but in With All My Heart there seemed to be some awareness from gwen about her enchantment. and also ofc people would say she couldn't remember in order to avoid the conversation around her trauma.

in the finale we see gwen in the battle helping the wounded and when the battle is won we see her having to cope with the fact they couldn't find arthur.

by this time we know where arthur is and it cuts to a scene of leon telling gwen arthur has still not been found and of course gwen is visibly upset.

when gauis comes back and gwen is informed of arthur's condition of course she believes he will get better but then she would have had to battle with the thoughts he wouldn't.

i really wish there had been a scene after this where gwen just talks to someone about what exactly she is feeling but instead it cut to the plot about eira.

the ending was kind of the same for everyone, no one got to mourn apart from merlin.

overall it just makes me so sad that gwen went through all of this and it was ignored or pushed aside because she is a "kind, strong and honest woman". she went straight back to work when her father died because it was "better than sitting in an empty house waiting for my father to return" no gwen!! you can do that if you need to!! you are allowed to be sad and hurt!!

i genuinely do think it is racist writing as black women especially are portrayed as "strong women who get on with things" when actually they've gone through a load of traumatic events and as any else are should be angry and upset and should be allowed to be portrayed that way too.

it also angers me that majority of these events which took place and gwen's experiences/trauma were almost always tied to a white character and aiding their development/storyline/plot. just why

#gwen pendragon #guinever pendragon #bbc guinevere #arthur pendragon #camelot #merlin #emrys #bbcmerlin #morgana pendragon #elyan #angel coulby #katie mcgrath #bradley james #colin morgan #gauis #knights of camelot #once and future queen #once and future king #bbc merlin

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somedaytakethetime · 2 years

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No I don't have one (yet) but i would looove to have more of those lists from players maybe about bodycount OR their links 😩

Yeah I am German sorry for the "und"

I'll go with body count first because it's "easier" than kinks (I'll take 30 years to write all the kinks down... bear with me on that one soon xD) Please don't apologise I loved that und there because it's one of the few German words I actually understand!!

Okay, *cracks knucles* here we go: Players and... "how much of a hoe are these man" edition!

Manuel Neuer - I have a feeling his body count is both higher and lower than I'm thinking.... which around 20 in my head Kasper Schmeichel - like 2 or 3, *maybe* 5... possibly even less, I just can't imagine him with anyone other than Stine xD Simon Kjær - for some reason I have a feeling he got around a bit? He was BEAUTIFUL when he was a bit younger (he's still BEAUTIFUL now but we're talking model good looks without the beard and the longer hair in like I think 2000-something) so I'd guess a bit less than Manuel but higher than Kasper so: 8? 10? more? Łukasz Piszczek - oh man... he's so pretty but for some reason I feel like people aren't as into him as they should be, I'd say 20-28 possibly a bit more. Mats Hummels - oh man... *snickers*... hum-hum he's HOT but also I feel like women pass him over a lot? But I'd say 25+ but less than 35, but who knows... he's probably gotten around a bit. Gregor Kobel - I have a feeling around like 10?... once again, I feel like he isn't as looked at as he should be. Marco Reus - why do I feel like he's a hoe?..... I don't know but I just do... 50+ (women and men) Leon Goretzka - I... can't see this dude being a ladies' man? I just can't?? I think it's the Twinkeon phase... I'll say around 12, sounds like a good number Federico Chiesa - he didn't have that many before, but starting now? Oh... he's about to get those numbers UP... so far though? like 5 Leonardo Bonucci - I can see this man crushing puss but at the same time I CAN'T see this man crushing puss.... about 28-30 Nicolò Zaniolo - *snickers**chokes*.... hum-hum.... 3 or 4.... *looks at camera like in the Office**snickers* (that's sarcasm by the way, he's a hoe) Alessio Romagnoli - I CAN'T SEE HIM BE A LADIES' MAN!! I JUST CAN'T HE SEEMS WAY TO SHY AND SWEET!! I'll say like 3. Ciro Immobile - HOE!! this man as had all the experiences in his youth! I'll go with a 30+ but less that 55. Davide Calabria - he's still young, he hasn't gotten around all that much... 8? 9? Matteo Pessina - I don't think he's gotten around much, probably only like 5 or so... Manuel Locatelli - WHORE!! WHO *HASN'T* THIS MAN HAD?? DID YOU SEE HIM ON THAT PITCH THAT ONE TIME?? HE'S HAD *ALL* OF THEM! Eric Dier - I feel like he's a way bigger whore than people give him credit for, he seems all low-key and nice... he's crushing puss when no one notices... especially during his years in Portugal? I'm sure Portuguese women threw themselves at him and back when he had the Prince Eric Hair? SO MUCH PUSS RAINING DOWN! I'll give like 35+ up to 45 Hugo Lloris - not that many, but he is French and the French are charming.... around 20 Rúben Dias - *snickers*.... a lot of them.... have you seen how naked he is all the time? around 25-35 Ben Chilwell - if we're going by the rumours? He's had all of England going twice around.... xD Andriy Shevchenko - this man crush puss like crazy! I can feel it! Around 35+ Paolo Maldini - another one!! IT WAS THE EYES!! HE GOT THEM ALL WITH THE EYES!! 38-40 Peter Schmeichel - 👀👀👀 Scorpio..... Tall Blonde Dane..... I'll let you guess... Jürgen Klopp - THIS IS A LADIES' MAN!! THIS MAN CAN GET THEM ALL!! HE'S JUST KIND ENOUGH TO LEAVE SOME FOR THE REST OF THEM!! 55+ Giovanni Di Lorenzo - he's cute and he seems like a naughty bastard.... around 20 Patrick Cutrone - he's young, he's precious, he's adorable, I love him, he's my cinnamon roll AND PEOPLE DON'T LOVE HIM LIKE THEY SHOULD!! 10 Roman Bürki - WHORE!! but he was a shy whore... I still remember the time.... I'll say around 30 John Stones - *snickers*.... a saint..... definitely has never gotten around... ever..... *cackling* Thomas Müller - Lisa and Lisa *only*, he's never wanted anyone else. he's like Kasper I just can't even see them with anyone else but their wives. maybe made out with like 3 girls before Lisa Marco Rose - DILF could always get it, and he probably still does. 30+ Pepe Guardiola - I think this man is so sexy... DON'T JUDGE ME! I think he's crushed some before he got married... around 23 Benjamin Pavard - he's French, he's a Himbo, he's got abs, and he

can sweet talk the skin off a snake... he also likes MILFs... and he's also young though.... around 17 Adrien Rabiot - none of them. have you met his mother? women are terrified of going near him (NOT ME ADRI I CAN MATCH YOUR DEMON MOTHER PLEASE!!) Jan Vertonghen - ALL.OF.THEM.!!! ALL!!! there's rumours about this dude but I won't touch of them because I think they are super disrespectful... but.... he looks like a total magnet that's all I'll say.... Matty Cash - I barely know anything about him, he seems young and sweet.... 5? Kevin Trapp - OOF!! not as many as people think, I think a lot of women would be intimidated by how pretty he is. around 10-20? Thomas Delaney - I've heard the song they made about him back when he played in Denmark... he could still get it but he's a loving husband now. I'll say he also is shy and sweet and he probably didn't even realise women were hitting on him before his wife. xD Nicolò Barella - a baby... that also has a baby... I'll say his girlfriend and maybe like 3 others? Oliver Giroud - in his youth? oh boy!! also... the rumours.... he's gotten around... he's French and smexy after all....

#also yes i know Zaniolo also has a baby but he has the absentee father energy....#i need to start tagging these #players and... lists #there it's tagged nwo #ask

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