"How Fortunate For You, To Have Had Such Experiences," Steven Says. "Some Might Consider Such A Deep

"How fortunate for you, to have had such experiences," Steven says. "Some might consider such a deep affinity for the gods and the natural world a burden more than a blessing--I might have, before I was chosen by Groudon. But to feel my patron in the world around me has given me an understanding of my geological interests that I have never had before. I can't imagine life without it. I certainly haven't been able to see my rock collection in the same way as I have before."

He smiles as he sips his tea, as he mulls over Red's other words. He believes him, for sure. As one who is supernaturally gifted himself, how can he not?

"The gods could have been calling for just anyone, but your story also sounds as though you may be a chosen one of some sort," he muses. "Among my people, those who have experiences such as yours--hearing Pokémon, feeling the gods--are told that the gods have given them spiritual gifts. Of course, we are not taught to place all of our lives in the hands of the forces that lie beyond us that may have given us these blessings. We are taught that what we actually do for the community and in others' lives is far more important in determining our destinies and our place in the world than simply being born with certain advantages. A god may give someone the ability to talk to Pokémon, but the community will always value a virtuous one with no powers over a Pokémon whisperer who is apathetic to the community's needs--and we believe the gods think the same. It's much more important how you use your gifts--or what you do with a lack thereof--which is how I managed to become Archchosen of Groudon despite having no supernatural experiences whatsoever. I trust, though, that you've been using your gifts well. I can't imagine the gods of any Hoenn allowing you into their most sacred place otherwise."

He nodded in agreement, confirmation, and quiet understanding. People don't tend to approach the primordial powers and guardians with the calm that he did in his world either. Red called them "Old Sea", "Old Land", "Old Sky" for short, and he had kept those monikers to himself for a long time. He kept it quiet along with the information that he could simply... hear these huge beasts under the ground and feel them in the rain.

[Yes. That's true. Ten years ago, I came to Hoenn. Started noticing that I could hear something in the rain, if you can believe it. Something was talking to me not with language, so I listened for a while and eventually followed it. Cave has these underwater paths in. Went in to meditate and listen for a while.]

Most didn't hear him after the first admission that something was speaking to him.

[Was a few years after they were calmed the first time. Never actually settled their debate, I guess.]

Red took a cup of tea off the tray in front of him, and sipped at the bitter liquid, switching to signing with one hand.

[I think they were calling anybody to come out. Not a lot of people can hear Pokémon.]

Shame meme - Volo is prone to make people and pokemon stinky cat face

CONFIRMED.

May won the Kanto Grand Festival in my timeline. Because it still makes me rather sad about the Pokéani that none of Ash's traveling companions--May, Dawn or Serena--ever won their performance arcs (Contests and Showcases).

I mean before Alola and Galar I was sad that Ash didn't win for 6 whole generations as well, because I felt it was really discouraging to viewers that characters never seemed to reach their goals after we fell in love with them and became so invested in their dreams. (I also feel pretty damn upset that when Ash did win Alola and Galar it was through plot armor, but that's a story for another post.) And it was an extra kick in the teeth to see some of the main characters being defeated by characters who were basically introduced at the last minute solely to take the wins from the established characters and who never appear again. Tobias in the Sinnoh League was one example, but it happened to May as well, with Solidad taking the Kanto Grand Festival win from her in a battle we only got to see like 1 minute of and Robert winning the Hoenn Grand Festival too. (Like come on, couldn't Drew at least have won the Hoenn one? If Coordinators are allowed to participate in subsequent Grand Festivals after becoming Top Coordinator, it would narratively have made a lot more sense to set up extra tension between May and Drew for the Kanto Contest arc because then May would be determined not to lose a Grand Festival to him again. Or if not, it would give May more motivation to get on Drew's level.)

Despite the fact that the writers didn't write Ash's victories very well (I'm pretty mad about how they had Cynthia lose to him), I'm at least glad they decided to allow him to realize his dream after 20+ years. But I still think about the Pokégirls who never won the top prize and wish that at least one of them had. Dawn I am more willing to accept that she didn't win, though maybe I'm biased because Zoey is my forever fave. And I wouldn't have minded if not all of them won in the first place--sometimes people don't reach their dreams even when they give it their all, and I think it's valuable to portray that occasionally in fiction. But I remember when I was more familiar with the Pokéani having strong feelings that Serena should have won her Showcase final against Aria, and not buying the explanation why Aria won instead (it was like "she was performing for the crowd instead of herself" or something but I felt that Serena put on a better show with just as much or even more passion). And then May losing both of her Grand Festival arcs? Now that's just mean.

So yeah, the way I write things, May is a Top Coordinator now. She lost the Hoenn Grand Festival to Drew, who then challenged the Kanto Grand Festival alongside her--filling her with even more fire to surpass him when she traveled through Kanto. She narrowly won against Solidad in the finals, cementing her place as, well, a top Coordinator--and then went on to further cement her place as a top Coordinator of modern times. If the Pokéani won't give my girl what she deserves, I will.

@allthingsglittergold just referred to Hikari as a "weird multiversal revenge machine of a woman" and what can I say? That's her all right 😂

MUSE SHAMING

send me a ⚠️ with a reason my muse should be shamed (e.g. “hangs toilet paper backward”) and I can only confirm or deny