Chapter 4: Welcome to Santalune
A.N.: Consider this as an apology for my laziness last chapter. Or don't, if you think this story is still crap and you're reading it because... I don't know, because your bored and wanna poke at me with a stick of spiteful criticism? Kidding... maybe. Anyway, this is where the REAL shtuff begins.
Hours after the events transpiring in the forest (IwasakiRika: And promptly forgetting about Shauna and the others for the time being) they managed to travel along Route 3 without incident. It wasn't a terribly long road considering people like to stroll in Santalune Forest. (IwasakiRika: Wait, then why was there- KS90: We'll be here all day if we keep this going. This isn't a parody.) But, being attacked by high level Bug Pokemon is definitely not common. By late day they were able to make it towards their first official city: Santalune City. The city itself took all their breath away as it had a rustic appeal to it. The roads were a classic cobblestone and brick material that varied in colors, but mostly shaded with different browns. Most of the buildings in town matched this style as well with green roofs, and the Roselia statue in the center of the town was made of a gray stone material. The six teenagers stared in awe at the town entrance, gaping at the environment.
"Wow..." Jeremiah said. "I haven't seen much beyond Vaniville Town in person before. Just... wow."
"Most towns in Kalos have evidence dating back to more medieval times. It's part of the culture and has been ingrained into many people's daily lives that they just grow up with this rustic apparel." Rika explained. "Or at least, several articles have said. They also said that Lumiose City is most likely the most 'modern' city in Kalos, though I'd have to disagree."
"Modern or rustic, can't deny this is a beautiful city at least." Deseir added. "Even if it is one of the smaller cities in Kalos, from what I see in documentaries on the place."
Rika looked back to Deseir with a bit of intrigue. "Oh, you're a fan of history too?"
"Not really my thing." Deseir admitted. "There just wasn't anything else to care about on TV..."
Rika just stared blankly at Deseir and everyone sighed. "Well, it's getting late. I say we go to a Hotel and rest up for tomorrow." Rika stated, removing her gaze from Deseir.
"O-oh, um... yeah." Elijah said, seemingly uneasy for a moment. He thought to himself 'I hope no one recognizes me...' Luckily no one noticed before he shook himself from his thoughts.
"I could go for a nap." Thomas yawned. "Maybe I can sleep til noon..."
"T-that's not a nap... that's being comatose." Willow sighed.
Dese glared. "Do you always have to have a stick shoved up?"
"Says the girl who doesn't have the word subtle in her vocabulary." Willow quipped. The two glared at each other with a certain intensity to them, Deseir having a hot intensity to her comments while Willow's ice cold composure seemed rigid and stern.
"Now now ladies. You're both beautiful." Thomas chortled. He let out a brief sigh before a yawn took over. "Ugh, I'm exhausted..."
"Walking along a dirt road after avoiding Bug type Pokemon can definitely have that effect on people." Elijah laughed, trying to re-enter the conversation. "A-anyway. Rika, you said there was a Hotel?"
"I didn't say that." Rika shook her head as she said that. "But, there should be one considering this is Kalos. All Hotel branches in the region are owned by the Richissime corporation, and considering that Lumiose city, the location of their main branch, isn't too far off..."
"I guess that makes sense..." Jeremiah yawned. "Until Thomas said it, I hadn't realized how exhausted I really am..." He trailed off.
Deseir laughed. "Little brothers. I swear they never know..." She yawned mid sentence. "...So delightfully ignorant."
So they made their way into town and sure enough, a Hotel situated right next to the Pokemon Center. The sun had just finished setting, allowing the night sky to wash over the town and illuminating the pathways aside from the stars were the lamp posts overhead. The Hotel was a relatively small establishment with only two floors and a select few open rooms. The decor was nothing notable: A tile floor, a carpet in the center of the halls, and a reception desk. "Bonjour, mademoiselles and messieurs. Welcome to Hotel Richissime- Santalune Branch. How may we help you today?"
"Hello madam." Rika greeted formally. "We'd like to rent out two rooms. One for the boys and one for the girls. Do you see any problems with that?" She asked her companions. "I just think this is the most cost effective method for all of us."
"So long as she's as far from me as possible in the room." Deseir pouted while crossing her arms.
"Same here..." Willow said, clasping her hands together and not even bother to look at Deseir. Thomas and Jeremiah sighed, but Elijah seemed preoccupied.
"Elijah?" Rika asked. The boy snapped to attention.
"H-huh!?"
"Are you alright with sharing a room with the boys?"
"O-oh..." He blushed, flustered from not paying attention. "N-no prob. Gives me time to spend with such lovely-"
"This went from awkward to creepy really fast." Deseir chimed in.
"I'm sorry, but did you say your name was 'Elijah'?" The receptionist asked.
'Crap...!' Elijah cursed under his breath. "Y-yes? Is there a problem?" He tried his best to keep his cool but Elijah was so close to sweating bullets he wasn't sure if he'd be able to keep up a proper ruse.
"No, nothing at all." The receptionist replied after a brief pause. "Anyway, please enjoy the night." She said, handing two room keys to Rika. "They're both placed right next to each other, and they both come with three beds each."
"Thank you very much. How much would it cost for just one night?" Rika asked.
"It's just 500 Poke-yen per room, and an extra 200 per night. So roughly around 1400 Poke-yen not including tax." The receptionist replied.
"Alright, so if we all chip in 230..." Rika mumbled, calculating it all in her head. "Alright, everyone, please and over 230 each." Everyone did so and they were able to pay it in full.
"Alright, enjoy your stay." The receptionist said with a bow. The group made their way for the second floor, and all the way towards the end of the hall. The receptionist sighed and decided to disregard a few facts. "If that really was the owner's son, then he's definitely the eccentric type alright..." There, Rika handed Jeremiah the other key and they both unlocked the doors. The rooms were simplistic and relatively small for rooms, especially for a room with three beds. There was a small table in the middle, three beds pressed against a wall with a few gaps between them to allow for travel between them, and a TV at the opposite end of the room on a nightstand. There were a few windows which gave guests a broad view of the town, the Roselia fountain in sight as the water glistened in the moonlight.
"Not too shabby." Thomas yawned. "I can imagine us getting a really good night sleep here."
"Yeah..." Elijah nodded absentmindedly.
"Is something wrong Elijah? It seems kinda weird looking at you all tense and nervous. Especially since you're so... open?" Jeremiah asked, nervously scratching his face.
"I-it's just..." Elijah thought of something that he considered brilliant. "I just really don't like hotels. They don't capture that feeling of home. It just takes me a bit of time to adjust, that's all."
"If you say so..." Jeremiah said. He and Elijah took off their hats and allowed their hair to breathe. Jeremiah having his short dark hair only be slightly ruffled to Elijah having his hair completely messy. "Your hair's all messy now." Jeremiah pointed out.
"Ah-" Elijah touched his hair and gasped in shock. "That's what I get for wearing wool in Spring! I should've picked up that nice cap I saw in the window! Now how am I gonna get to sleep without fixing this!?" He raved on with speed before rushing off to the available bathroom with his bag to fix his hair. Jeremiah wouldn't have guessed Elijah would be so high maintenance. Yet he seems to know a lot about what's going on? Just who WAS he anyway?
With the girls
"Pretty small, but seems kinda cozy." Deseir stated. "Although, Rika... mind taking the middle bed, please?"
"I was planning on doing that." Rika replied.
"Alright. I feel like I'm gonna drop any second... mind if I take the window side bed?" Willow asked to both girls.
"You're grown. You don't need our permission." Deseir scoffed, dropping her stuff on the bed closest to the wall. She yawned and started unpacking her Pokeballs.
"Wait, so you and Jeremiah are siblings?" Rika asked, trying to break the tension.
"Yeah. We've been excited ever since getting that letter from the professor-"
"-Is that why you left him on his own?" Willow cut in. "I just have to know, do you care about your brother?"
"O-of course I do, idiot!" She snapped in reply. "I-it's just I was excited. Weren't you?"
"I guess..." Willow said, avoiding eye contact with Deseir. She looked out the window and ignored any comments that came after that. Her mind began to drift elsewhere.
Rika shook her head in defeat. 'Some people are more stalwart than what they lead on...' She sighed and began to get ready for sleep.
April 1, 2014
The next morning approached gently. The sun shining off in the horizon, the cool spring breezes ever abundant at this time, and time for early risers to seize the opportunity. Rika woke up similar to how she did every other morning; almost like a machine. She rose at precisely 7 AM, washed up and brushed her teeth at 7:05 after doing some stretching, dressed at 7:25 and was ready to be out the door by 7:35. She was very precise in all that she did and followed a regimented schedule such as "Being indoors by 9 PM". Rika has followed this scheduled practice for as long as she could remember, holding all these practices in such high value. She also grew up to be very thorough in what she did, hence why and how she caught every single Pokemon species from Routes 1 to 3 and eventually released the undesirable Pokemon. She only held onto her Charmander (Sol), a Pansage (Seji) to cover Sol's weaknesses, and a Pidgey to simply meet the requirements from the other day. She's also very intelligent; having read many books on Pokemon Biology written by various professors, Lore and Belief on how each region came to be, and just general Pokemon facts like how Fire is weak to Water, but Water is weak to Grass. She was practically a walking encyclopedia of facts.
Her Pokemon matched her personality: quiet, reserved and did as they were told. They weren't heartless, so to speak, but they never questioned orders. Maybe she was just lucky, unlike other trainers. "Get in the ball, Ratsu!" Jeremiah cried out as he chased his Chespin around the halls. He held out his Pokeball trying to return his very naughty Pokemon. He panted and whimpered in defeat as the Chespin chuckled at this as it felt like it was a game of tag. "Honestly, you're a real trouble maker..." Jeremiah wasn't much in terms of being tough or suave. He stammered most of the time, didn't really talk much to people he didn't know, and was most of the time too shy to ask for anything. He was always too afraid to stand out and when he did stand out it wasn't always something he was thinking about. Most of his Pokemon didn't do much to help him overcome his timid nature as his Chespin (Ratsu) was a bit of a troublemaker, and his Starly (Muku. I know that Starly isn't catchable until later on in the games but its a story. At least try rolling with it) who wasn't a troublemaker, but had a bit of a habit of going headfirst into trouble. His only saving grace on his team was his Bunnleby (Horu) who was very reliable and stood up for Jeremiah. Bunnelby had freed itself from it's Pokeball and used its natural speed and strength to catch and hold Chespin so its trainer could return the hyperactive Pokemon to its proper ball.
Jeremiah sighed in relief and gave Bunnelby a pat on its head. "Thank you, Horu." He said. The Bunnelby reiterated its name with glee before allowing its trainer to return the small bunny to its ball. Rika watched on with intrigue and wonder on how his Pokemon seemed so rambunctious. Jeremiah noticed Rika staring at him and he hopped to his feet. "I-I'm sorry if I woke you up." He said with a nervous look on his face. "I-I-It's just that Ratsu got out of his ball and started bugging me. One thing lead to another and well..." He rambled on.
"It's fine." Rika said. "I always wake up at this time. In fact, I didn't even hear any of that until I opened the door." The girl continued to explain in her usual calm manner.
"O-oh. Really?" Jeremiah asked dazed. "I-I mean, it sure is convenient that a hotel like this has soundproof walls. R-right?"
"I guess. Definitely helps get in a good rest. The beds were very comfortable one could make it synonymous to a cloud, right?"
"Y-yeah. I haven't slept on a bed so soft and cozy before. Nor did I ever sleep with Pokemon before." He went on.
"You actually allowed Pokemon on the bed with you?" Rika asked.
"Elijah and Thomas said it was fine since they said the bed covers are resistant to claws and fire... W-was something wrong with doing that?"
Rika paused, unsure of how to answer. She felt tongue-tied for only a moment before finally saying: "I suppose not..." She turned away from the male trainer and began to wander off. "I hope the meals they offer in town are as good as the pamphlets say they are..." She mumbled to herself before wandering off. Jeremiah just nervously waived goodbye to her, then knocked on the girl's room to wake up his sister.
A few hours later, around 10 o'clock, everyone but Thomas had woken up. Nobody actually expected him to follow through with the sleeping til noon mentality. Elijah didn't mind however, as it gave him time to wash up, do his hair, get dressed in a new outfit that looked very similar to his outfit from yesterday (only difference being the green on his jacket from yesterday was Harlequin, but today it was dark pastel green) and put on the same white wool hat and green button to match his bag. He was a perfectionist, though not in the way Rika could be considered one. Elijah was all about fashion and an outward appearance. He always put on the latest trends and was always follwing what was cool. His Pokemon seemed to appreciate his flair for fashion and clothes as they also felt charismatic. His Fennekin (Fennix Flare) loved wearing bows and having its fur kept nice and combed often. His Ralts (Domovi) wasn't keen on clothes but rather getting attention and just feeling clean. And his Kirlia (Serenity) loved just about anything Elijah found for her. He liked Pokemon that could pull off that "glamorous" style, things that just embraced a frivolous beauty.
Once he was all dressed up he was out the door not a moment too late. Thomas remained fast asleep, enjoying the time he had to just spending it quietly. Sleeping was just always peaceful for him, and he could do it almost anywhere. Under a tree, on a rock, a cozy bed; you name it. It helped him feel at ease, just resting and allowing everything to move at their rapid pace while he just laid back when he could. His Pokemon didn't mind sleeping in either, as Froakie (Dusk) was afraid of having to go out and battle other Pokemon, and Fletchling just enjoyed resting. He only had two since the incident involving the Beedrill took up some precious time and energy, but showed off his worth as a trainer nonetheless. He just yawned and turned in his sleep, just dreaming and not even bothering to check the time.
Deseir was on a hunt. For what, you might be wondering. Her brother of course. Jeremiah woke her up early, but he left before she could get her hands on him. Sleeping was one of the things Deseir could control in her life. She's hotheaded and spontaneous; never once considering to be subtle. So you can imagine results of situations by just going into them without a plan. Her life in a nutshell. Her Squirtle (Leonardo the ninja turtle) had a more cool and pompous air to it. Never seeming to get angry at its trainer for being impulsive as it just sighed and went along for the ride. It's only been a day and the Squirtle can tell the partnership was going to be an interesting one. Her other Pokemon, Pikachu and Pansear (Lighting and Burns respectively), were totally different. The Pikachu seemed to admire her bold and heedless tendencies and did its best to emulate her actions whenever it could. While Pansear was a little more on the fierce side; having a bit of an awful temper especially when it didn't get what it wanted. Of course, Deseir naturally chastises her Pokemon to try and keep them in line but it just wound up to look rather silly as Pikachu would make a face back while Squirtle and Pansear would scoff or pout.
"At least you sit still whenever there's food put in front of you..." A familiar voice sighed. On a bench, Jeremiah was sitting with his three Pokemon while they all had a breakfast from the Cafe. "Honestly, can you be like this all the time?" He patted the Chespin's head with a sigh while the grass type chuckled.
"A-HA!" Deseir exclaimed.
Jeremiah jumped and let out a yelp of surprise. "AH-! S-sis!? What the heck, y-you scared me...!" The boy whined.
"I hope I did. After all, you did wake me up a little too early. It's just sisterly duty to repay the favor." She chuckled. "Anyway, how about we battle?"
"What...?" Jeremiah asked in surprise. "You wanna battle me?"
"Of course! We've been dreaming about this for like, ever! C'mon, please?" Deseir pleaded, being openly oblivious to her brother's trepidation.
He eventually sighed and gave in. "Okay, we can battle... let me finish my croissant first."
"Of course. Want us to be at full strength when we battle." The sister stated with glee.
"Stop. Go away." Willow said to Elijah as he trotted behind her jubilantly. Willow was trying to leave Santalune through Route 4, but Elijah had been pestering her ever since he saw her in the boutique.
"C'mon, I just wanna talk some more!" He begged.
"No." Willow put bluntly. She wasn't much one for social interaction. In fact, she resented talking with people. They bothered her, as most people came up to her and only wanted to talk about the most mundane things as possible. She pegged Elijah to be the same. She only wanted to be alone with her Pokemon Bulbasaur (Acanthus) Scatterbug and Panpour. Elijah wasn't going to have any of it, however.
"Ugh..." He groaned. "I got it, an offer you can't refuse!" He said with persistence. "A battle!"
"Go on."
"If you win, I leave you alone and go bug someone else. But if I win, you have to hang out with me!" The persistent boy stated.
Willow groaned and shook her head. "Fine. We'll play it your way." She said, going for a Pokeball from her waist. "Right here. Right now."
"You seem pretty confident." Elijah smirked, reaching for his own ball as he prepped to toss it. "I'll let you show off first."
"How kind of you." Willow huffed. "Scatterbug, to me." She tossed her Pokeball into the air. It burst open and out came the black wormlike Bug Type Pokemon. It landed on the ground and gave off its cry.
"Interesting." Elijah replied. "Go Domovi!" He threw his Pokeball and the male Ralts came out and smiled as it saw its trainer. "Okay, let's battle!" The Ralts nodded and turned to the Scatterbug.
"Scatterbug, String Shot." Willow commanded. The Scatterbug gave a deep breath before spewing out a thin silk from its mouth. The silk had entangled itself all over Ralts. The psychic type 'Mon let out a cry of disgust as it was covered with the sticky substance.
"Ah- Look at what you did to Domovi! He's all dirty! It'll take a long time to get him clean!" Elijah whined.
"Focus on the battle." Willow sighed. "Now, hit him with Tackle." The Scatterbug charged forward and thrusted its full body at Ralts. Ralts took the full impact and was knocked back. Ralts shook it off as it got back up.
"Oh- right. Um..." Elijah seemed too flustered to give a command before finally shouting. "Use your Growl attack!" Ralts let out a small growl, and it intimidated Scatterbug slightly.
"Seriously? Don't you even want to win?" She asked. "Tackle again." The Scatterbug attempted to thrust into Ralts again.
"Watch out!" Elijah called to his Pokemon. Ralts managed to avoid getting attacked that time as it heard Elijah's call in the nick of time. "Awesome! Okay, use Confusion Domovi!" He ordered cheerfully. The Ralts emitted small waves of psychic energy and managed to push the Scatterbug away allowing Ralts to avoid being injured. Scatterbug seemed disoriented somehow.
"Wait, no-" Willow gasped.
"Too late. Confusion!" Elijah cried out. The Ralts once more emitted waves of psychic energy and they made impact with the Bug Pokemon once again. Since it didn't have high stamina it was down on the second strike.
"Darn..." Willow said in agitation, withdrawing her Scatterbug.
"Hmhmhm." Elijah giggled. "Do you wanna quit while you're ahead?"
"Not a chance." Willow said, turning deadly serious. "Panpour, I need you." She tossed her next Pokeball and out came the Water Monkey. It was much like a monkey and had blue fur on its head. Its eyes always seemed closed and wore a goofy smile.
"Fennix Flare!" Elijah exclaimed as he exchanged Ralts for Fennekin. "I know Fennix Flare is a fire type, but I have confidence he'll pull through on this one!"
"Water is resistant to Fire." Willow put bluntly.
"I-I know that!" Elijah shouted in annoyance.
"Do you wanna switch while you have the chance?"
"No way! Fennix Flare can do it!" The male trainer exclaimed while his Pokemon yipped in agreement. "Use Scratch!" Fennekin revealed its sharp claws and started running towards the seemingly dazed Panpour.
"Aqua Tail." She put calmly. The Panpour turned calmly and its tail became enveloped in water. Panpour swung its tail out towards Fennekin and gave it a nice hard smack. Fennekin was down in one hit since Fennekin wasn't the best choice when it came to facing Water moves.
"Aw what!?" He cried out in agony as his fire type had been knocked out. He returned Fennekin to its ball in dismay and pouted. "No fair, you cheated!"
Willow returned her Panpour to the Pokeball. "I didn't. I caught Panpour like this."
'She's so lucky!' Elijah yelled in his head. "Fine. Last Pokemon."
"Acanthus." Willow sent out her Bulbasaur, whom of which was her ace in the hole so to speak.
"Alright. Serenity, don't let me down!" He sent out a Kirlia, the evolved form of Ralts.
"Another one?" Willow asked. "Now, this one is evolved."
"Haha, yup." Elijah replied. "Serenity, attack using your Psyshock!" Kirlia nodded and created balls of energy around Willow's Bulbasaur.
"Acanthus, Vine Whip!" Willow responded. Bulbasaur extended two vines from its bulb and used them like whips to swat away the orbs in various directions. Then Bulbasaur used the same vines and restrained Kirlia. "Alright, show em." Bulbasaur tossed the Kirlia to the ground. Kirlia winced in pain at the sheer force of the throw.
"Whoa, you really are good!" Elijah complimented with a smile. Willow averted her gaze and didn't reply with anything. "Unfortunately we have to wrap this up if I wanna win after all."
"What do you-"
"Serenity. Psychic."
"Why do we have to do this again...?" Jeremiah asked as he stood a considerable distance across from his sister, Pokeballs ready at his belt side. They both stood on the outskirts of Santalune City that lead out towards Route 22.
"Because I asked nicely." She said. "Also, consider this a favor to me for waking me up too early."
Jeremiah sighed in defeat. "Of course... Ready whenever you are."
"Alright, here we come!" Deseir shouted. She grabbed her Pokeball as it reflected in the sunlight. "Lightning!" She sent out her Pikachu with the heart shaped tail first.
"Okay. Horu, come on out...!" Jeremiah lobbed the Pokeball and from it emerged his Bunnelby. "Okay Horu, use... erm... Agility?" The Bunnelby nodded and began to run circles around Pikachu, gaining momentum with each revolve.
"That's cool. Now Lightning, Thunder Shock!" Deseir ordered. Pikachu charged up a small amount of electricity and released a condensed bolt of it. Since Bunnelby had been moving relatively fast it was able to dodge the bolt with ease.
"Okay. Horu use Tackle..." Jeremiah commanded, a bit of uncertainty in his voice. However, Bunnelby seemed to know what to do as it made a beeline for Pikachu. It tackled Pikachu, causing it to go tumbling across the ground. Pikachu got back up, a little hurt but it was tough. Bunnelby seemed different somehow. It seemed to be stiff. "Horu, what's wrong?"
"So cool! Lightning's Static! Now your Bunnelby is paralyzed!" Deseir explained with satisfaction.
"What...!? No, Horu!" It was too late. Deseir had given the order to use Thunder Shock again. This time it hit the paralyzed Pokemon very hard. Bunnelby could do nothing to retaliate as it struggled with paralysis.
"Alright then, finish Bunnelby with a Quick Attack!" The sister said. Pikachu dashed towards Bunnelby at a rapid pace and rammed right into the normal type. It was down and out with that attack.
"No..." Jeremiah whimpered as he returned Bunnelby to its Pokeball.
"Don't feel bad, let me send out an easy one." Deseir responded, returning the dancing Pikachu and replacing it with her Squirtle.
"Oh, Squirtle's Water type so..." Jeremiah pondered for a moment before sending out his Chespin. It saw the Squirtle and grinned, having an ego knowing it had an advantage over the opposing Pokemon. "Alright, use Vine Whip." Chespin used two vines from its back to strike the Squirtle.
"Leonardo, Withdraw!" Squirtle tucked itself into its shell and the vines only made contact with the shell. "Now Tackle!" The Squirtle retaliated by charging forward.
"Ratsu, dodge." Jeremiah said. Chespin didn't listen and stood tall, thinking it could take the hit. Squirtle hit Chespin hard and sent it flying back a few yards. The grass type got back up and grunted with frustration. The Squirtle scoffed, almost as a response to Chespin's scowl. Chespin cried out and went charging for Squirtle. "Wait, Ratsu-" Jeremiah cried out, but flat out being ignored as Chespin used its Vine Whip and blindly swung at Squirtle. The water type was able to dodge every time and gave the grass type a smug glare. The Squirtle took it upon itself and taunted the grass type by turning its back to the Pokemon, wagged its tail, and pulled its eyelid down. "Ratsu, no...!" Chespin still didn't listen to its trainer and Jeremiah was unsure of what to do. He was starting to get frustrated, but Chespin was still considerably young.
"Uh... Squirtle? Mind wrapping this up rather than playing?" Deseir asked, just wanting the battle to end now. Squirtle nodded and used its Tackle attack and managed to weaken Chespin. The grass type struggled to get back up but it couldn't. Chespin let out a gasp and collapsed.
"Ratsu..." Jeremiah said with mixed emotions as he picked up the tired Pokemon. Chespin huffed in frustration as Jeremiah cradled him like a small child. It then looked away with resentment then glared at Squirtle that smirked at him as Deseir returned the water type to the Pokeball.
"That was... okay for our first battle." Deseir commented as she scratched the back of her head.
"It could've gone better..." Jeremiah mumbled.
"It was fun for me at least." She laughed, trying to make light of the situation. Jeremiah smiled reluctantly before turning around. "W-well, we have to get to a Pokemon Center to heal back up. See you around?"
"Okay." Deseir said, waving bye to her brother. She didn't notice that her brother's face had contorted to a look of frustration and shame.
A.N.: So sorry this took longer than I expected, with Sun/Moon releasing several weeks prior to this chapter. I did manage to scrape out a complete in the game so that's something. Along with college bogging down a bit of my inspiration with school work its been trifling to get this story properly going at times so I've been on and off for a while. But now we're in gear and one week left of the first semester.
But on the topic of Pokemon Sun/Moon, a friend (IwasakiRika on this site. You guys should check out her stuff. Rika is actually her designed character.) and I were discussing the game. While we love this game with all our hearts, there were things we found to be a bit lackluster at times. I'm not making this claim to insult the game nor the people who find it perfect. We just love the game too much to think like that. We just want to see something we love get even better. Now then, these are nitpicks we've noticed in the game.
Now if you haven't finished Sun/Moon then SPOILERS AHEAD! DON'T READ TO PRESERVE FRESHNESS!
.
.
.
First, the Pokemon designs. X and Y has some of the best Pokemon designs (Yes, even Boobookeys) Sun and Moon has, for the most part, very good designs but they have a bunch of dud designs. (Lookin at you big lips!) This is the more trivial complaint and definitely show they tried for the most part. Now comes the other parts.
Second, while the characters are well-developed for the most part, some of them come off as shallow. I blame the fact that some of the characters don't have the necessary screen time to flesh them out more. Take Lusamine as an example. (SPOILERS HERE!)
She's the main antagonist of the game and tries to use Cosmog's power to summon the Ultra Beasts. She's also the mother of Lillie and Gladion and is very crazy. Her major problem is the fact that she's kinda shoehorned to be the villain. The climax of the game comes outta nowhere as you're just trying to complete your challenge. Lillie gets kidnapped off screen and there was no tension or any sort of signs she'd be in any danger and suddenly she gets herself kidnapped. And its then revealed that Lusamine is the bad guy. The only other time we see her in the game was just her being nice and having several lines of dialogue. Then she's evil. Maybe if they had a bit more hints towards this like Lillie being hesitant being around Aether House (Like how she was when she was invited to the Paradise) may have added a bit more tension. Or maybe an extra scene or two with Lusamine showing her real side of being very selective towards things then things involving her character would seam together better. Her motivation for doing these things were never clear. Say what you will about Team Aqua/Magma; Galactic' or even Flare. Their leaders had clear motivation that they explained before the climax. Again, Lusamine is a little on the deep end but I feel an explanation as to why she was obsessing over these beasts would've been excellent for this game. If you're someone for fan theories then yes, its open to suggestion based on external sources from the story, but that doesn't change the fact its a little too vague. And if you have to cite external sources to understand someone in a story line, it's bad story telling. (If you made it this far, then you know I'm an expert at awful stories)
She's not the only character I have a thing to say here. Professor Burnet, Kukui's wife (And the internet was sad that day), has only one scene. She's only here to give exposition on the Ultra Wormholes and a brief explanation to what the Ultra Beasts are. It's fine to have someone explain it, but wouldn't it be better if someone from the Aether Foundation explained it? And the reason the characters travel to Aether Paradise because Burnet or Lusamine wants to share findings. (I'm not saying make Burnet an antagonist, just have a bit more cohesion since Burnet and Kukui don't have any real connection to the Aether Foundation) and it feels kinda clunky when put together. At the very least, give Burnet something to do rather than be exposition and be married to the comic relief professor. (Seriously, I don't understand why Kukui had to be married while Juniper Sycamore and Willow aren't. But that's just a personal nitpick. Maybe they didn't want people to ship him with Guzma- Too late. Or maybe it was because Game Freak knew people would get the hots for this dude and added a wife to try and chastise the crowds- Too late.)
Overall, I love this game a heck of a lot. But it felt like some things were cut out since some connections are missing and how the climax is a bit rushed. Again, I don't hate the way it turned out but ironing out some of the more minor details would've fixed this story a lot and easily have one of the best story lines. For now, it sits comfortably in my Top 3. Other than that, I hope you enjoyed.
