Hello, everyone.
First of all, I'd like to say "I'm sorry". The reactions I got for this story tell me that despite the fact that the story isn't that well written (which I'm aware of), people liked to know What Happens, pardon the pun.
That's what this chapter is for. I'm here to come clean (which is a good thing, with the pandemic and all...)
The fact is, I've been doing a lot of stuff. If you have an interest in shiny hunting, you may have heard of some stuff from me.
I'll break it down into topics.
FAILURE TO UPDATE THE STORY:
As I'm writing this, "What Happens" has not been updated since November 18, 2016. Since then, a LOT has happened.
I've developed an interest in shiny hunting, which made divert a lot of my time to another project. It's the kind of project that is never really completed, you know? On top of that, IRL stuff happened, which caused this story to go to the back burner, for a while.
You know that feeling when you have an idea in your head, and all you can do it get it into written form? There is this other story, whose characters you may have met in "A Lot of Fish In The Sea", but I want that story to stay private. That story has the (un)fortunate side effect of never leaving my mind. I showed a few chapters of it to an IRL friend, and she loved them. I want to be able to write it in a way that does it justice.
Kinda went off-topic there... The point is: "What Happens" slowly stopped being my focus, and it shows.
GROWING PAINS:
I've said it before, I use notepads and notebooks. It's something I recommend to everyone, keep a small notepad with you at all times. Even in the shower.
I have quite a few of these. Some of them have sketches, others have simple notes scribbled down to remember later, and others have full-on moments where real life meets the imagination of a hopeless romantic.
Why should you care about that? Because as I thought of the scenes, I wrote them down, with little to no regard how I'd connect them to the rest of the story. This works (relatively) well in movies, but not in literature.
So, one notepad has part of a story, another notepad has another part of that story, and so on and so on.
I've often segmented my notes, to keep track of which story the notepads belonged to. At times it proved ineffective. The fact that I'm not that well organized played a part. I have a folder on my laptop with over 1.000 Word docs, and most of them are absolutely identical to each other, which are parts of "What Happens".
Take it from me, kids. Organization is key.
CUT CONTENT:
Let me preface this by saying that the world of "What Happens" is a big one. It has 2 other stories, of which only one was published, named "The Laws of Science and Rollerskating."
It was always a part of my master plan to have Korrina and Clemont end up together.
I will admit that the first chapters don't have that much cut content, it's just mainly some words or phrases that were changed for some reason or another. On Chapter 2, I had Caroline show up as a flight attendant for one reason: plot convenience. It makes NO SENSE whatsoever. But I wanted Serena to be jealous of May, and it seemed like the right thing to do. It would have been much simpler to have her as a passenger.
There's one bit that I did like to add to chapter 4. At the end of chapter 3, Ash and Serena are visiting an old friend, who was always intended to be Pidgeot. But, come chapter 4, and because Serena's tired, "Let's go to Pewter instead." It was a twist I forgot I added, and it allowed me to add in a few more romantic moments and, of course, the "I'll just rescue myself, then." This is clearly the stuff of legends.
Here's a fun tidbit: I've never had any experiences with the Super Smash Bros. series. It was never the kind of thing I enjoyed, and while that has sort of changed with the lead up to the release of Ultimate, I still have only played probably 15 minutes of the whole series, and that was at events.
That being said, in Chapter 3, I had Ash and Serena see the Saffron sights on top of the Silph Co. building. When I wrote that, I intended it to look like a random rooftop of a skyscraper. I guess Sakurai had the same idea, as both our versions of the rooftop of Silph Co. are quite similar, at least, in my mind.
At the end of Chapter 4, May and Max being on the Viridian Pokémon Center and having Max witness Ash's Charizard flying was kind of mandatory. I had to have a way of adding them into the story, and it seemed the best time.
"Serena and May are fated to meet, so why not have May save Serena?" I thought. And I did it. But what I should have done is also keep it going. May just freaking saved Serena, she should be indebted to her. It slipped my mind, I will admit. Oh, and Pidgeot is fine.
These words from chapter 6 still haunt me: "Then Ash went out of character..."
I've been a part of the Pokémon community for a long time now, and back in 2007, I was in the Serebii .net Forums, in the AdvanceShipping (Ash and May) thread. We liked to discuss the hints, discuss fanfics, share fanart and just having a good time. In the same site, there was a ContestShipping (May and Drew) thread, where they did the same. I guess some people liked their ship a bit more than everyone else's, because soon after, the Last Great Shipping War broke out. Now, this war had battles everywhere. Forums, MySpace pages, blogs, everywhere where comments could be left, there would be a shipping battle. We (AdvanceShippers) had our threads locked and restarted. Twice. The mods on SPPf were a bit biased against us, so jumped ship (heh). We made our own forums, where we would set the rules, and then we had our own set of problems.
What's the point of this history lesson? Glad you asked. When Ash asks May about Drew, I was gonna have May dismiss any mentions to Drew. But then I thought "This is the perfect opportunity to have some good old-fashioned petty revenge." Drew always felt like a bit of a playa, kinda like Barney Stinson, only much less awesome. So I had May explain things how they were. Having May tell the gang that while Drew was seeing her, he was also seeing Soledad on the side. In my worldview, that's a no-go. So, May rose above it (yeah, I just noticed it, I'm leaving that in), and she just couldn't say the word "Lego", so she just said "I hope he steps on a Lego" but with much more flair.
On the same topic, when the girls are talking and May mentioned having been to the roof of the Silph Co. building, it is implied it was with Drew. In another version, she actually states that it was Drew who took her there. He also took Soledad there. And Brianna too, if she was older.
As stated previously, Korrina and the Lemon siblings are in Pallet together. Why? Because I was gonna get them together in the end, which ended up not happening... Korrina telling Serena that Clemont asked her on a date links the story to "Laws of Science and Rollerskating". And that's not all. There was supposed to be another story, named "What Now?", told by Jessie, James and Meowth, where they are fired form Team Rocket, get a huge severance package, and Team Rocket is immediately raided by the International Police. You can see remnants of that storyline when Prof. Oak says "Team Rocket has been disbanded..."
While I didn't end up writing "What Now?", I did write a little segment about that, I just never ended up putting it into the published story.
Everyone was having fun at the party, they did not hear the door being knocked on. Pikachu, being able to notice the faintest of sounds, notified its trainer to the sound coming from the door. Ash approached the door and opened it, but he could not believe who it was that stood on the other side was.
Two adults, a man with short, purple hair, and a woman with long, curled purple hair, stood there with a smile. Between them, a Meowth stood on its hind legs. If Ash didn't know who they were, the 'R' logo on their shirts worked as a way to identify them.
"Team Rocket!" Ash shouted, readying himself to defend the guests inside the lab, Pikachu dropped to the ground, sparks coming out of his cheeks, in an effort to intimidate the intruders.
"Please wait, don't blast us off yet!" The man begged, his hands clasped together, hoping to not get shocked.
"Have you not seen the news?" The woman asked Ash.
"No, why?" Ash questioned back.
"Team Rocket has been dismantled!" Meowth exclaimed.
"WHAT?" Everyone, except for the newly arrived trio, asked. Professor Oak turned on the TV and changed to the news channel.
The text "TEAM ROCKET HQ SEIZED" was written on screen, while the anchorwoman showed footage of several members of Team Rocket being arrested. The news report that was airing stated that all employees had been arrested, all Pokémon they used were to be submitted under psychological tests, and after that, released to the wild. The Pokémon they stole would be returned to their trainers.
Ash turned to face the Team Rocket trio, who tried to steal his Pikachu almost on a daily basis, and questioned them. "If Team Rocket has been disbanded, then why are you still here?"
"Before Team Rocket was disbanded, Giovanni fired us." The man continued. "He paid each of us 3 million Pokédollars, and said that the severance package was about only 1% of what we costed Team Rocket monthly."
Ash stood perplexed at the trio who stood before him. These are the people who constantly tried to steal, not only his Pikachu, but other people's Pokémon as well. He couldn't let them slip by so easily. His kind nature was telling him to give the disgraced trio a chance, but the logical part of his brain shouted at him to close the door in their faces. Ash was unsure of what to do.
It seemed as May was able to sense Ash's moral dilemma, because she approached Ash and placed her hand on his shoulder.
"Give them a chance, Ash. They've been bad, yes, but there were times in which they helped us, too." The Hoenn coordinator reminded the Kalos champion.
"If it was Drew instead of them, would you help?" Ash asked May with a whisper, who was taken aback by his query.
"Yes, I would…" May answered, after a while.
Ash understood what May meant. He still didn't know what did Drew do to May to make her hate him so much, but if she was willing to help him despite that, then Ash would too.
"Come in." Ash said. The former Rocket trio stepped inside the lab of the renowned Pokémon professor and stopped to shake Ash's hand.
"Congratulations, by the way." James applauded the champion. "If we weren't working at the time, we'd be on the edge of our seat the whole time."
"Thank you." Ash replied dryly.
"So, what do you need us for?" Gary questioned.
"Help." A collective gasp was heard. Why would the former Rockets need their help?
"You have 9 million Pokédollars! Why would you need help?" Max inquired, as he tried to find holes in the Rockets' explanation.
"Yes, but we can't just go to the bank and ask for the money, not the way we are dressed." Jessie explained. "We don't need money, we need something else."
"We need a job." Meowth spoke.
"Why would you need a job?" Brock inquired.
"We wouldn't if Meowth here knew how to use Pay Day, but he doesn't know how to, after learning how to talk to impress a female Meowth…"
"I got it!" Professor Oak exclaimed.
"Huh?" The trio turned to him, a curious expression on their faces.
"This Meowth can talk. You realize what this means? It means there is a really efficient way to talk to Pokémon, one that doesn't rely on guessing and technology. You could work on basically anything that requires Pokémon to talk." Prof. Oak explained. "You can be an interpreter, and Arceus knows there aren't that many of those. The ones that exist had to study for many years."
There was a silence that allowed the people to hear the second hand tick away on the clock Professor Oak had on one of the walls. The Scratch Cat Pokémon knew the decision rested on his head and, truth be told, he liked helping people and Pokémon.
"Okay," Meowth nodded, "I can try that. If I don't like it, I can always try something else, right?"
"That's the spirit. And you can do one better. With the money you received, you can create a company that does that, let you interpret Pokémon." The Professor suggested.
"Yes, but to do that, we're gonna to change our clothes. Is there any place where we can do that?" Jessie complained.
"Oh, yes, sure. Tracey, can you point them to the bathroom, please?" Tracey did as Prof. Oak told him.
Soon after, the Rockets had changed their clothes, and were now wearing their civilian outfits. Delia asked them if they wanted to stay and enjoy the party, but Jessie politely declined, saying they should get to the bank fast, to make sure they could get their money, before all Team Rocket's accounts were frozen. Having said that, the former Rockets thanked the hospitality they were shown and left on their own volition. Delia then revealed that she didn't expect they'd stay, but she was just too polite not to ask.
After returning from showing the Rockets the bathroom, Tracey approached Misty and whispered: "It's time."
Why Misty and Tracey? Well, it's just the logical extension of what's happened in the past. It's not uncommon to have scenes set in Pallet Town where Tracey (whose job is to assist his idol, Prof. Oak) is nowhere to be found, and we're later told that he's in Cerulean City, for some red-haired reason. Speculation? Sure. Wild speculation? Not really. But hey, if the concept of OrangeShipping doesn't float your boat, my apologies.
There's a line by Tracey in Chapter 6, "Imagine you liked a girl and... Oh, right, I'm talking to Ash...", to which Misty laughs. While funny, I think, and this is only my thinking, that Misty realizes that either A) Ash just doesn't understand romance, B) isn't into girls at all, or C) will take a while to start seeing girls in a new light. It is only when Bayleef heals Serena and Ash is tending to her, that she notices, with Tracey's help, that Ash actually knows what love is.
When May, Dawn and Serena are discussing people who think "Companionship = Love", I had Dawn say "I always thought of Ash as the older brother I never had. And I know that to him, I was like a younger sister, and people still shipped us." This is a shot at all the hardcore Pearlshippers out there. The ones who went out of their way to harass other shippers who didn't agree with their views. Think anti-vaxxers, if they were a bunch of people on the internet with nothing better to do. Oh wait... *shots fired*
Another storyline that I also wanted to have was Latias. Yes, Latias. And, again, I messed up by not having it flow into the other story segments.
All of a sudden, a loud cry is heard from outside the house. As everyone ran outside to locate and verify the source of the noise, a winged figure appeared in front of the sun, making it impossible for anyone, except Noivern, to find out who that was.
They could not understand who and why this figure was there, and its intentions remained a mystery and a secret to everyone.
As it approached closer to everyone, Ash and the gang ordered their Pokémon to stand ready, in case a fight happened to start. But they were not ready for the events that this figure set in motion, simply by landing.
It landed in a secluded place, far enough to not be seen, but close enough that it could be accessed quickly. When the group arrived there, Brock and Misty recognized who they saw, and approached Serena, with a piece of advice.
"I'm sorry, Serena, but you'll have to be very strong."
In front of them stood a girl. She wore a green shirt and white skirt, with a small pouch. After seeing the girl, almost everyone was wondering who she was, and none more so than Serena, the curiosity flames being fanned by the fuel that was Misty's warning. All she could see a girl, who was heading directly to Ash and ended up kissing him on the cheek… Wait, what?
There was a girl she didn't know, making the moves on her Ash? What in Arceus' name is this? She would expect this from Miette, not some random girl who just showed up…
"Nice to see you too, Latias." Ash spoke, causing people to question why would Ash refer to this girl as Latias.
Then, to everyone's shock and amazement, the girl who kissed Ash turned into a Pokémon, but not any Pokémon. She turned into Latias…
"Have you been good, Latias?" Misty asked, while approaching the Pokémon.
Latias nodded to the girl and pointed at the pouch she was carrying. Ash picked it up, looked inside it and found a letter addressed to him.
"Latias, is this for me?" Ash questioned, to which Latias nodded.
Seeing it as the next logical course of action, Ash opened the letter and read its content.
Ash,
News of your victory have reached us here in Alto Mare. Truth be told, we didn't even know where Kalos was until we saw on TV that you won the League there. Congratulations!
You are probably asking yourself why am I writing this letter to you. Well, I'm not. Well, I am, but I'm not the one who decides which words are put on paper. Latias is the one telling me what to write.
Last year, something weird happened. Latias was flying around Alto Mare, like she likes to do, then suddenly, a huge golden ring shows up, and a Latios comes out of it. Not knowing what happened, it kept flying, and crashed into Latias. She hurt her arm, poor thing. But the Latios stayed here. So, we have two protectors again.
Oh, and by the way, Latias told me she kissed you. You lucky man, you...
Sincerely,
Bianca.
PS: I hope you are keeping the painting I made of you. Latias wanted to give it to you.
Ash finished reading the letter and held it in his hand. It had been Latias who kissed him all those years ago in Alto Mare. It never really mattered for him, but it was nice to finally bring closure to that subject.
"Hey, Ash, what does that letter say?" Brock questioned his friend.
"Sorry, Brock, it's personal." The Champion smiled.
Latias switched back to human form, placed her pouch over her shoulder, gave Ash another kiss in the cheek, something which got Serena kind of upset, changed back to Latias, and gave out a small cry before flying away, back to Alto Mare.
Hell, in Chapter 4's ending, I reference the battle-that-never-was between Ash and Max. I set it up, and it ended up not happening. By the way, Max's first Pokémon was that Ralts he befriended, evolved all the way to Gallade. So it would be Gallade vs. Pikachu. This is one of the things I know I did right. I would have definitely butchered this battle, so I'm glad I never got to write it. A friend of mine was going to write it, but he never ended up doing so (IRL, you are a fickle mistress).
ABOUT THE EPILOGUE:
Just like I said in the Epilogue's author's notes, I recognize it is badly written. Hell, the same can be said for the whole story. But like I said, I want to have a clean slate next time I take a shot at writing, with no projects in the back of my head.
You're probably also wondering about the names of the kids in the camp, Ben and Gwen. They're sort of an homage to a friend of mine who passed away. She liked having those names in her stories, so I took them and used them here as an homage.
CLOSING REMARKS:
This story's premise is good. It is. Ash and Serena win their respective competitions, and there's a party in Pallet Town to celebrate Ash's victory. The execution, however, was a bit of a rollercoaster.
There's no transitions between segments, and lots of other bad practices. If I were to give a piece of advice regarding this story, it would be "Visualize everything. If there's a blade of grass that is leaning downwards because of the weight of a water droplet, and it springs back up once the droplet falls to the ground, add it. Doing this brings life to your work. But don't overdo it. Find a place where action, dialog, and description are evenly balanced. As all things should be. Also, don't do stuff like this: 'As she began to drift away to dreamland (A/N: Area 51)...'"
Thank you to anyone who had even thought of reading one of my stories. And, if I may borrow a line from FootOfAFerret, DFTBA (Don't Forget To Be Awesome)