Pokémon Retold: Black 2 Afterword
I wanted to write a really big author's note for this story because this has been an extremely passionate project for me, and I just had a lot to say about it out of the confines of the world itself.
First, I want to say that Nate's character has been an extremely personal one for me. He goes from a hostile, unapproachable, resentful person to someone who is borderline violent with his desire to protect and save others. What he endured at the hands of his father did not break him but only served to make him stronger. I want to say that this is not to imply that nobody can be strong unless they have suffered profoundly; with Nate, I just wanted to give hope to others out there that may have endured something as bad as he, others that might have endured what I did at the hands of others, that no matter how hurt and beaten you are, you can always rise up. You can always do amazing things. There will always be people out there waiting for you. Even if it's just one (1) person that cares about you… just having them alone can make it all worth it. You are never 'wrong,' you are never 'broken,' just because you endured something terrible. Nate is more than his scars and so is anyone else that has undergone maltreatment such as his.
Second, Rosa; Rosa is 16 going on 17 over the course of this story, placing her at 17 and a half or so by the time the epilogue takes place. I make no claim to say that what happened between her and Nate or Colress is a good thing or one that should be fetishized at ALL. Rosa's character arc revolves around the idea of the cycle of abuse. Ghetsis abused Colress into believing he was inhuman, suffocating his very human desires, to keep him painfully dependent, and then Colress imitated these learned behaviors to suit his experimental needs with Rosa. Rosa did suffer from the isolation and stress under his hand, but Rosa was also extremely arrogant, and this was a toxic mix, turning her into the possessive, controlling monster we know by the end of the story, especially after Nate bucks her. As is repeatedly said in the story (this line was intentionally repeated)—Rosa made her bed, refused to seek help, and now she must lie in it, and that is a fitful, turbulent life with Dr. Colress. Abuse isn't pretty. It's a situation where oftentimes, nobody wins. That being said, I don't want anyone coming away from this story thinking I am trying to say abuse victims are destined for being chaotic, evil people, that is by far from the case (re: Nate above). It's just that it's definitely a cruel, horrible possibility.
Hugh admittedly did not get as big a character arc as I originally intended. His has turned out to be something about self-acceptance and is briefly referenced in Church's piece in the last chapter (before the epilogue). He is the Hero of Acceptance, of tolerance, not so much justice as Nate is, with the physical manifestation of that being in his sister telling him it's okay.
Anyway, I could drone on and on and on, but that's what I really wanted to get out the way. Personally, I want to say that while I am proud of this story, I am also VERY nervous because I know how off the rails it went at the end. I welcome criticism and all, as I try to make these stories very high quality and also use them to practice storytelling techniques, but… please try to keep it respectful and kind. I am ADHD/ADD and something they don't like to tell you about that is it comes with this fun thing called rejection sensitive dysphoria. It basically means if you say something mean to me, I feel like you punched me directly in the heart, instead of just kinda frowning and going "huh, that wasn't nice." So, yeah… Just… Idk, lol. Also questions and discussion are welcome (can PM me here/on FFN, or send me anonymous Asks on my Tumblr below). Just again, please be kind and respectful—I promise I won't bite as long as you're respectful, lol.
If you enjoyed this story, please check out other Pokémon Retold titles in the future! The new upload schedule is as follows (story title followed by protag name followed by release date):
Red - Red (Oct 2020 - Nov 2020)
Heart of Gold - Lyra (Apr 2021 - May 2021)
Omega Ruby - Brendan (Jun 2021 - Jul 2021)
Platinum - Dawn (Dec 2020 - Jan 2021)
Black - Hilbert (goes by Hil) (Finished!)
Black 2- Nate (Finished!)
Y - Calem (Feb 2021 - Mar 2021)
Ultra Sun - Selene (Aug 2020 - Sep 2020)
Sword - Hop (I know that seems like an odd choice, but I'll post more info about it when the story goes up) (Aug 2021 - Sep 2021)
World of Pasio – various main characters (Oct 2021 – onward)
If you've seen the old Sword story that was posted, I am deleting that and will be reuploading a completely rewritten version with a different plot next year. I just do not like my current Sword story and I just want it to die. Also, yeah… that kid named Victor in the epilogue of Black 2? He's gonna show up in Sword. ;)
World of Pasio will be the culmination of all the Pokémon Retold series, including various characters from across all the stories! It will operate something like a TV show, with "seasons," and will focus on various different characters. It is LOOSELY (I emphasize LOOSELY) based on the Pokémon Masters mobile game. I have never actually played that game and so that is why I say loosely lol. I am mostly just stealing some concepts from it and spinning them into a story.
If you want to support me, feel free to follow me on Tumblr! I promise I'll be more active on there soon hahaha. It's undeadtrashessDOTtumblrDOTcom (replace the DOT with a period.).
Anyway, here are some more general notes…
Legendary Recap—
Nate: Cobalion, Terrakion, Virizion
Hugh: Keldeo
Church: Victini
Hil: Reshiram
N: Zekrom
Rosa: Genesect
Stats for nerds—
True word count: 235,240
Word count of my working Word doc: 261,551 (my outline and character chart were like 30k words alone lol)
Page count of working doc: 541
Trivia: Chapter Titles—
- Prologue: Feel the Rage – Title is in reference to Hugh's catchphrase.
- Boy Who Cried Plasma – "Boy Who Cried Wolf"
- Hurt Herding Herdier – It's just alliteration
- The One Who Seeks the Right Path – This line is on Cheren's plaque outside of his gym in Aspertia in-game in BW2
- Apples to Oranges – In reference to how Nate feels (at the time) his and Hugh's problems are incomparable.
- All Too Well – References the song used in the chapter, which is very symbolic of Church's character at the time.
- White Noise – References Nate's dissociative reaction to his father's Xtransceiver call.
- True Colors – References how Nate first showed his propensity to defend others, violently if need be, when he leaps to Hugh's defense (even though he's still very not nice about it lol)
- Kings of the Clouds – References a P!ATD song ("King of the Clouds") and, again, references Nate's dissociative response to his father/abuse, but the plural of Kings was deliberately used to show that Hugh's problems are, in fact, comparable to Nate's.
- For, Not Away – References dream Vincent's dialogue in the chapter.
- The Rainbow After the Rain – Honestly? I just thought it sounded nice lol
- Doctor of the Shadows – Foreshadowing for Dr. Colress, because he created the Shadow Triad and he is referred to with the 'doctor' prefix, so… he is literally the doctor of the Shadow Triad.
- Taste What You're Made Of – References Nate's hotheaded reactions again but also is partially a reference to a song, "Stand" by Rascal Flatts.
- Stay the Nights – References the song "Stay the Night" by Zedd, which I felt just captured the uncertainty of Church and Hil's relationship well.
- Fatherly Advice – Just references how Nate has a tender, desperate moment with Burgh due to how badly he'd love to have a loving father figure.
- Where the Breeze Blows – References N's callsign line ("he loved the breeze"/"he missed the breeze").
- A Hill to Die On – References the phrase "I will die on this hill," which is something someone might say if they are adamant about refusing to change their mind on something. Church is refusing to change his mind on how he wants a domestic life with Hil, and Hil is refusing to change his mind on how he is lying to himself to say that he wants that, too.
- Boiling Point – Just references how everyone's differences come to a head in this chapter.
- Invincible Pasts – References Vincent.
- Black and White – I hope I don't need to explain this one tbh.
- The Verge – Named after how Rosa appears to be veering far off the right path. She's on 'the verge' of going down a dark road.
- Warning Lights – Hil's dreams are 'warning lights' to him.
- Unova's Bleeding Heart – References both Meloetta literally dying but also N's softness.
- Do or Die – another not really that clever one
- The Story of Us – References another Taylor Swift song. I'm sorry. I real life headcanon Church as a Swiftie. "Story of Us" by Taylor Swift lol.
- Baby, It's Cold Outside – Another song reference. "Baby, It's Cold Outside." Don't ask me who the artist is, I have no idea
- Iron-Willed Defiance – References Cobalion's scientific name (Iron Will Pokémon).
- Ideally, No Hero – Callback to another chapter title from Black ("Truthfully, No Hero") and is also a reference to how Hil ideally would like to not be the Hero (or so he thinks).
- Battle Symphony – References the song of the same name by Linkin Park. I even have Zoroark literally use a line from the song in her dialogue: …He will march to the rhythm a lonesome defeat at your words…
- The Night We Met – References the song of the same name by Lord Huron.
- A Stacked Deck and the House of Cards – References how Rosa sees her problems as a deck stacked against her and Nate views his friendship with both her and Hugh as a fragile house of cards.
- Weight of the World – References how Nate feels lighter after telling Rosa everything about his father.
- Rotten to the Core – References how Meloetta's death has started to make everyone very hopeless, specifically with Grimsley in this case.
- Addicted to the Madness – References Rosa's spiraling interest in Dr. Colress specifically.
- The Queen of Diamonds, The King of Hearts, and the Ace of Spades – Rosa sees herself as the Queen of Diamonds, Nate as her King of Hearts, and Hugh as her Ace of Spades. She sees them as things to use, subconsciously—like cards in a card game.
- The Beast of Black Ice – Kyurem. The nickname was meant to foreshadow the fact in my version it would be Black Kyurem, and also black ice is a thing that affects people mostly at night… I'm creative damn it
- Of Ice and Fury – References the phrase "fire and fury"
- To Lose the War – nothing really that creative about this one
- A Dab of Heaven and Hell – again, metaphorically comparing Rosa's interest in Dr. Colress to a drug addiction ("dab"), the heaven being what she wants from Colress, while the hell being the obvious abuse and manipulation going on
- All's Fair in Love and War – referencing Nate and Rosa's relations here
- No Going Back – references how Nate literally can't back out after he follows Ghetsis
- Breaking Point – Referencing how even Nate had a breaking point that his determination wouldn't carry him through. He's not a one-man army as much as he would love to act like one.
- The Harmonia Legacy – References how Hil "overwrites" Ghetsis' violent Harmonia legacy by saving Unova again.
- Cusp of the Bravest Dawn – References how the dawn after the battle aboard the Frigate/in Giant Chasm feels so meaningful because of how hard it was to get there.
- Rhyme and Reason – References Nate's speech to N, how he is trying to explain to N that there is no rhyme or reason to abuse.
- All Was Lost, All Was Found – Unova suffered greatly, but it will rise stronger from the ashes for it.
- Rosa's Thorns – Roses have thorns… ha ha laugh