42 KiB
[RST] Pokemon: The Origin of Species, Ch 49 - The Paradox of Choice
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Author: u/DaystarEld Pokémon Professor*
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URL: https://www.fanfiction.net/s/9794740/49/Pokemon-The-Origin-of-Species
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Score: 80
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Created: 2017-11-01T07:07:00
Post:
Comments:
u/None [+18] (2 hours later)
[deleted]
u/DaystarEld [+14] Pokémon Professor (19 hours later)
In case I didn't make this clear, it wasn't that Mewtwo's psychokinesis went through glass that confused people: it was that it went through something at all. Slight difference, but perhaps a tad less arbitrary :)
As for the rest of the hypothesizing... carry on. sips tea
u/None [+8] (a day later)
[deleted]
u/sidhe3141 [+7] (a day later)
I'd suspect that line of sight is more a practical limitation, unless you're able to do remote viewing at the same time. Psychics can probably work through thick smoke normally, but don't like to since they can't actually tell what they're doing.
u/None [+3] (a day later)
[deleted]
u/DaystarEld [+7] Pokémon Professor (a day later)
Updated the chapter:
Red listens in rapt fascination, scribbling each down for future investigation. Psychokinesis that can go through solid objects? "Is it just glass, or can he move things through other materials too?"
"Just glass, for now," she says. "For various complicated reasons, it is difficult for him to find time to participate in experiments, but rest assured that we hope to get to the bottom of it soon."
Red feels a stab of longing, he would love to be part of that research, his mind is already racing with ideas to test such a unique power's limits... "And you? Do you have any powers like that? Unique abilities?"
u/None [+4] (a day later)
[deleted]
u/Ceres_Golden_Cross [+1] (2 months later)
Have you considered that irl we have a dual nature wave-particule called photons? Maybe the p-particle is something like that
u/None [+3] (a day later)
[deleted]
u/DaystarEld [+5] Pokémon Professor (a day later)
That's what good feedback is all about :) In any contest of writing, I'd take Writer + All their readers' collective wisdom over Writer on their own any day.
u/empocariam [+3] (a day later)
You know it wasn't until I read this comment that I realized Sabrina was^possibly talking about Mewtwo in this moment. She must be rather confident that her mind is totally shielded from intrustions, even if she is sure that Red is to much of a novice to ever "read her mind."
u/Slinkinator [+2] (17 days later)
I may be wrong, but I immediately caught that she was talking about Mewtwo, setting up a potential empathic relationship between it and Red. In addition, I believe that when Red passes out it's because he inadvertently accessed Sabrina's memories of Mewtwo, and so she knocked him out and potentially edited his mind. Did that occur to you, or did you/do you think that was a genuine training accident?
u/u__v [+16] (4 hours later)
I'm going to be fairly disappointed if Red does not take Sabrina up on the offer. Developing his abilities seems really time sensitive in a way a lot of his other goals do not, and every single one of his goals is improved by improving his abilities in this regard. Training Pokemon becomes significantly easier, battling becomes significantly easier, he gains new forms of perception which could alert him to ambush by wild pokemon, and otherwise improve his ability to keep himself and his friends safe.
Putting aside the fact that he would be learning more or less the current state of craft from one of the few practitioners not actively hostile to scientific inquiry, and putting aside the fact that she could teach him skills and abilities no one else could, and putting aside that she would provide valuable knowledge of the broader social context of the craft and of various tidbits of knowledge that have not yet managed to make their way into any book, putting aside all of those things, studying with Sabrina would give him access to a network of other psychics in various states of training, in which he could easily solicit volunteers for surveys, studies and experiments. There is no way the character portrayed in this story so far could study with her for so much as a month without coming up approximately 1 'a lot' of potential publishable papers and directions for future research.
Every bit of extra skill and capacity with his psychic abilities would prove extremely useful to future research, where it could be used to quickly identify a variety of traits of individual pokemon that would be otherwise be extremely hard/expensive to test for. Like, if there are a variety of medical conditions which could otherwise explain away the anomalous data for certain outliers, a full suite of diagnostics might prove too expensive to integrate into a study, but using his psychic abilities, he could narrow down the symptoms to a much more manageable set. Or in a study where uncooperative pokemon were introducing too much random noise into the experiment, improving compliance with the kind of hypnotic skill Sabrina was demonstrating could easily fix things (assuming behavior wasn't the thing being studied, but some physical attribute like strength or agility). I just imagine how many real-world biologists would kill for those kinds of abilities with respect to their research.
Red's reluctance to spend even a year or two on something like this just seems really puzzling.
u/thrawnca [+20] Carbon-based biped (5 hours later)
If he does work closely with Sabrina, she's bound to learn about Bill eventually.
I also suspect that his collapse was less innocent than she claimed. She just coincidentally decided to demonstrate a conventional mind shield, which she must have known would abruptly boot him out, when he was getting an impression of her childhood isolation? Without discussing such a demonstration in advance?
u/FeluriansCloak [+16] (7 hours later)
Also, I'm fairly sure it wasn't because of her isolation, it was right as she was thinking how it helped her relate to a certain other isolated individual....
u/martiniguy [+15] (8 hours later)
This, her thoughts seemed to be drifting towards Mewtwo, so she kicked Red out when she realised.
A demonstration would have been better done by slowly erecting a shield so Red would have the time to see the effects.
u/The_Magus_199 [+4] Ankh-Morpork City Watch (2 days later)
“Look, I won’t ask about Mewtwo if you don’t ask about Bill. Deal?”
:P
u/Slinkinator [+2] (17 days later)
I just made a comment above, but I'm open to the possibility she knocked him out AFTER he breached her knowledge of Mewtwo, and she went inside his mind. If that's the case, whether that information was destroyed or just suppressed until the plot requires is a coin-toss.
u/leakycauldron [+5] Imperium of Man (6 hours later)
Agreed. Bad motives
u/None [+11] (8 hours later)
[deleted]
u/u__v [+6] (13 hours later)
This honestly seems to me like turning down a chance to go to Hogwarts because one feels there are already so many witches and wizards, so what could one possibly contribute? There seem to be no major researchers who are psychic in this universe, and the number of researchers studying psychic phenomenon is small, if still non-zero as we found out this chapter. The goal of studying wouldn't be to become a world-class psychic, but to at the very least become a reasonably competent practitioner of the craft, so that one could bring the mindset of a researcher to a fairly under-developed and under-investigated subject.
u/None [+6] (13 hours later)
[deleted]
u/None [+3] (17 hours later)
Ah but the thing is, studying with the Sabrina would the fastest way he could get to any level of psychic proficiency he wants. If he wants to just become a well informed practitioner and then leave, he has that option. And when he leaves, Sabrina could probably offer him the best possible advice for future self-guided development of his powers.
I know that Red wants to be a fantastic professor, and is always trying to align his choices with that goal. But psychic powers are an incredible advantage, and Sabrina didn't even ask Red to commit himself to her tutelage for years; in fact she didn't bring up a time frame at all if I'm remembering correctly. And if Red can get free teleportation down before he has to make a decisions, then it's possible he could work out a way to not even has to leave his friends.
Turning down Sabrina as a teacher feels like shunning an incredible opportunity, simply because it does not align perfectly with your own goals. Becoming a better psychic might not directly help Red become a better professor, but it would certainly help him in that endeavor. And Sabrina is, so far, the fastest way he knows to become a better psychic.
u/None [+2] (a day later)
I read this chapter though I havent read the last 20. Is there some reason that people seem to be ignoring that he has two abras? He could use one Abra to go to saffron and leave the other with his friends. Then at a predetermined time his friends could then send the Abra with them to pick him up.
u/DaystarEld [+4] Pokémon Professor (2 days later)
Abra can only teleport one person, specifically their trainer whose mind they're familiar with. For that to work, they would have to register the abra to the new location so it can teleport there, which it can only do if Red is there in the first place to register it.
u/thrawnca [+3] Carbon-based biped (2 days later)
It's more like deciding that with the number of evil professors, deadly monsters, and rising Dark Lords, eleven years old is too young for Hogwarts and he needs to wait a few years.
u/None [+7] (a day later)
Red's reluctance to spend even a year or two on something like this just seems really puzzling.
Red isn't a perfect rational actor remember, he's a human being. Here's a few emotional reasons he might be reluctant:
He has an emotional connection to travelling with his friends, he has repeatedly talked about how this is one of the most enjoyable times of his life and he probably doesn't want that journey to end soon.
He's still very uncomfortable about his psychic powers and strongly associates them with deep grief and pain.
Also he's been told that Sabrina is manipulative and potentially dangerous, by someone he trusts. Being her pupil would put him diectly in her power in a very real way. So some caution is understandable.
Also, learning about psychic powers doesn't seem particularly time sensitive right now, but other things he could do would be. E.g. the immediate benefits of attention and momentum to his research career. Opportunities that come dirctly from travelling with Blue and Leaf, etc.
u/None [+6] (4 hours later)
I agree. Hope he does goal factoring to arrive to that conclusion next chapter.
u/eroticas [+3] (a day later)
He will likely interact with sabrina more for plot reasons if he is to collide with mewtwo
u/DaystarEld [+16] Pokémon Professor (13 seconds later)
Hey everyone, welcome back! Not much to announce this month, but lots of thanks to my patrons for their continued support, and to my new patrons for motivating me all over again to make this story the best it can be. I'm still working on the second chapter of Guardian too, and hope to finish it by next month. Thanks for reading, and all feedback appreciated as usual!
u/None [+2] (19 hours later)
[deleted]
u/DaystarEld [+3] Pokémon Professor (19 hours later)
I quite agree, which is a shame, since I enjoy them so much more than vampires or werewolves or other supernatural creatures.
u/Slinkinator [+1] (17 days later)
@Daystareld If you haven't read The Ladies of Grace Adieu and Other Stories, you should make it a priority. It's a collection of really phenomenal short fiction, on the relationship between the Fae and England, and English Magicians.
u/DaystarEld [+1] Pokémon Professor (20 days later)
Ooo, by the same author of Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell! I watched the tv series, which I enjoyed quite a lot, so I'll be sure to check it out, thanks :)
u/JanusTheDoorman [+9] (a day later)
Y'know, I was just thinking the other day that one of my frustrations with a lot of rational fiction is that despite the emphasis placed on problem solving and plot progression that's realistic and replicable, too many plots are centered around the premise of the main character being THE hero of their setting, or otherwise somehow uniquely positioned to make a difference in their world.
One of the things I've realized I absolutely love about this story is just how normal and unremarkable the main characters are. Sure, they're smart, Red's a psychic, and they've got their connections to noteworthy people, but those aren't the driving forces in the story. The trio and Aiko are mostly concerned with trying to drive their day-to-day activities into larger, long term goals, and having to contend mostly with the fact that everyone around them is doing the same thing.
Also nice that despite the unrealness of the Pokemon setting, Red is still grappling with pretty mundane, real world dilemmas - different career options, demands on his time, reputation and relationship maintenance.
It's really a breath of fresh air.
u/DaystarEld [+6] Pokémon Professor (a day later)
Thanks! Glad you enjoy that aspect of it: I know it's not as satisfying for those waiting to get to the power jumps, but as long as it's still entertaining, I think a story like this has a lot of potential value in it too :)
u/None [+4] (a day later)
Agreed. Though I'd not thought of it that way before. Also makes the varius techniques seem more practical when applied to everyday situations not end of the world.
Also the fact that the focus is spread across the 3 main protagonists and some pretty competent side characters helps a lot. If the main character was both a super competent scientist and a champion trainer it would strain disbelief a lot more. Also means that they can take turns being right and wrong in a more realistic way.
u/None [+7] (12 hours later)
You see, I've always loved the concept of psychic humans in Pokemon. Their existence has driven almost all of my best tinfoil theories, the episodes in the cartoon that feature them are my favorite, and the fact that, despite endless searching, I can't find more than one or two good psychic MC pokemon fics (that don't either make all Pokemon so sentient that the entire setting becomes barbaric; or just kind of ignore the powers) had been a constant source of frustration for me.
So when I saw that Red, a main character in an exceptionally well written fanfic about rationality, was a Psychic... words cannot even describe how excited I was. I simply could not wait to see how a rational character would react to having that sort of powers. The Misty chapters only heightened that excitement. I wanted to see if Red's point of view would be changed from the expansion of his own perceptive powers. And while I was kind of OK with the fledgling nature of Red's powers, and realistic exploration of grief and mourning that came with it , and I realized that power spikes weren't really a part of rational fiction... part of me wanted the story to skip to the part where Red was at least as powerful a Misty, just for my own personal gratification, plotting and characterization be damned.
And now that Red has gotten an offer to train under the most power psychic in the country... I don't think I could forgive the character if he passed that up. Training under Sabrina would give him access to a whole variety of psychic Pokemon to study, as well as expanding his own ability to better study all Pokemon and making him stand out more in the research field (because while I know that in this universe Professors must make use of psychics, I have yet to hear about an actually psychic Professor).
And not only would expanded perceptive powers make Red's narrative more easy to read, it would also allow the fic to explore new areas. Is the mistrust psychics face justified? Are there any areas in the world where they face discrimination, or are intentionally marginalized? Are there no psychic Professors because psychics in the field face discrimination? If Alakazam really is as intelligent as a three year old child, is it also as sentient? If so, are there struggles unique to training Alakazam and other intelligent psychic Pokemon? There are so many questions surrounding psychic Pokemon, that I don't really see how Red immersing himself in the psychic world wouldn't help also become a better researcher, simply by the virtue of exposing him to so many useful things.
And also I'd like to point out how good the writing is: I only noticed later that Blue gave Red a speech about how much easier life becomes when people know about you, and like you, directly after Red was offered an opportunity he only received because he (unintentionally) made himself known within the psychic community.
u/LazarusRises [+11] (12 hours later)
Minor nitpick, but power spikes are totally part of rational fiction! Zorian learning mind magic, HJPEV figuring out partial transfiguration, Taylor making spider silk costumes. They need good reasons behind them, and all those examples required practice and careful thought, but I would say they're part and parcel of the genre.
u/DaystarEld [+8] Pokémon Professor (20 hours later)
I can't find more than one or two good psychic MC pokemon fics (that don't either make all Pokemon so sentient that the entire setting becomes barbaric; or just kind of ignore the powers) had been a constant source of frustration for me.
It is by far the most underutilized aspect of the world in the anime (what I've seen of it) and games, and possibly the manga, which I haven't read yet.
How awesome would it be if they released a pokemon game where the main character was psychic, and could detect pokemon hiding nearby or get a hint in combat as to what the opponent is about to do or bond better with their pokemon the way Pokemon Amie currently works? As far as I know no fan game has tried to utilize it either, which means we'll all have to wait for /u/ketura 's before we get the chance.
u/blanktextbox [+5] (a day later)
Just think how horrible they could make catching Dark-type pokemon!
u/Revisional_Sin [+1] (6 days later)
get a hint in combat as to what the opponent is about to do
And yet your character always knows what Pokémon your opponent is about to send out...
u/DaystarEld [+3] Pokémon Professor (6 days later)
Heh, I turn that off personally, but would make a good psychic ability :)
u/sidhe3141 [+2] (16 days later)
Hm. You can teleport between fixed points in Silph and the Saffron Gym. In emergencies, you teleport yourself to the last safe place you visited; any teleporting Pokemon you have follow the same rule. Talking to other Trainers who are apparently you on a different timeline isn't just possible, it's essential to completing the Pokedex. You have what appears to be the ability to either see the future or loop time, and messing up can create all sorts of interesting problems.
Oh, and your subjective time can go hours:seconds, and you always know your Pokemon's exact status.
u/empocariam [+5] (17 hours later)
Eh, I'm not convinced Sabrina is the most powerful psychic trainer. Perhaps the most popular, or maybe even just the most famous or even infamous. Nothing she's done so far paints her as particularly powerful, just uniquely driven and has a bit of edge for her age, and is kind of "normal" for a psychic so people like her. She is probably one of the most politically powerful psychics in Kanto, and for that reason I would think Red avoiding her tutelage would be sort of a mistake.
But, I totally understand Red's perspective and decision. He is a shy teenage boy who has already suddenly been thrust into like three separate public spheres (celebrity, researching, psychicd), something he is clearly not comfortable with from their dinner conversation, and then to suddenly be invited to one of the highest levels of those spheres on a random afternoon, I wouldn't just say yes right away.
Plus, Red is a teenage boy that has shown some romantic interest in girls. I don't think it would be in appropriate to suggest that their may be some other anxieties in play during his interaction with a young, attractive, and powerful woman wearing a short pink tank top in a cafe.
u/None [+4] (17 hours later)
To be honest my view of Sabrina as the most powerful comes from the cartoons and some half-remembered quotes from the games, and the fact that Mew-two (if I remember correctly) described as being more powerful than all the other psychics at Giovanni's disposal. And considering Giovanni seems pretty well-connected and powerful, and Mew-two is his most important project that we know of, I feel like he would have gone out of his ways to recruit the best psychics possible.
So even though Sabrina hasn't been explicitly stated as the most powerful psychic training in the actual fic, I feel like there is definitely enough evidence to infer that she is at least one of the most powerful in the region, and not just for her age.
And I also understand Red's perspective, and his decision not decide right away. I just feel like after some thought, his answer should be yes unless some new information comes up.
u/thrawnca [+4] Carbon-based biped (a day later)
Despite the difficulty of learning and practising psychic techniques, she was able to guess the nature of his shield, invent a countermeasure on the spot, and successfully carry it out on her first try.
Surely, in the psychic realm, that kind of talent equals power.
u/Trips-Over-Tail [+2] Death of Crabs (3 days later)
Although they aren't in the games, I feel equally fascinated about the concept of Dark humans.
Though it probably would work well in the games especially since in Japan it is known as the Evil-type. Though Pokemon OoS makes it clear that the Dark trait is primarily that of being psychically blank or null, the games portray it as a combination of psychic immunity and dirty fighting. Or as you and I might call it, smart fighting.
u/DaystarEld [+6] Pokémon Professor (19 seconds later)
Typo thread!
u/None [+4] (12 hours later)
"noticeably less construction projects" should be "noticeably fewer"
u/DaystarEld [+2] Pokémon Professor (19 hours later)
Fixed, thanks!
u/thrawnca [+3] Carbon-based biped (5 hours later)
even if offers/even if she offers
many psychic's/many psychics'
I didn't know about/I didn't know about that
have predictable schedule/have a predictable schedule
the Kanto/Kanto
exist,and/exists, and
practicing/practising
u/DaystarEld [+2] Pokémon Professor (19 hours later)
Thanks, fixed! Except the last one, in the USA we use practice exclusively :)
u/Trips-Over-Tail [+5] Death of Crabs (a day later)
You yanks are so damn reckless. What if there's a C shortage?
u/None [+2] (2 hours later)
[deleted]
u/DaystarEld [+2] Pokémon Professor (19 hours later)
Fixed!
u/tokol [+2] The Greater Good (11 hours later)
Such lessons would mostly being able to observe
mostly being -> mostly consist of being
u/DaystarEld [+3] Pokémon Professor (19 hours later)
Fixed :)
u/LazarusRises [+2] (11 hours later)
>Fire or Plant type pokemon
Do you mean Grass?Amidsts the mists
"Amidst"
u/thrawnca [+4] Carbon-based biped (12 hours later)
No, he doesn't mean Grass. Are there any pokemon that actually look like or incorporate grass? It's one of Red's pet peeves about the type system.
u/LazarusRises [+2] (12 hours later)
Ah fair, I thought I remembered something like that.
u/DaystarEld [+2] Pokémon Professor (19 hours later)
Closest one, I think, though obviously a radish comes more to mind overall.
u/Trips-Over-Tail [+2] Death of Crabs (a day later)
Kernal, the Wheat Officer Pokemon.
u/DaystarEld [+2] Pokémon Professor (19 hours later)
"Amidsts" is how the original goes, I think it's an archaic form of english unless the author just added the s to make it more rhymey :)
u/LazarusRises [+2] (20 hours later)
I thought that might be the case, but Wikipedia says not! Do you have the original book saying amidsts?
u/DaystarEld [+2] Pokémon Professor (20 hours later)
Huh, that is the original source, so yeah I guess I misremembered it, or saw it elsewhere mispelled and took that to be the original. Thanks!
u/sc770 [+2] (13 hours later)
sites all over the Kanto,
should be the Kanto region, or just Kanto
u/DaystarEld [+3] Pokémon Professor (19 hours later)
Fixed thanks!
u/Omegafinity [+2] Chaos Legion (15 hours later)
Not specifically a typo but a semantic mistake. Chai tea/ *Chai saying chai tea is as redundant as saying 'tea tea' since Chai basically means tea.
u/DaystarEld [+2] Pokémon Professor (19 hours later)
Woops: I originally wrote masala tea and wanted to change it to masala chai and somehow screwed it up completely :) Thanks!
u/Omegafinity [+5] Chaos Legion (a day later)
You're very welcome!
Going off on a tangent here but I love your writing. I was giggling and smiling like mad while reading the latest chapter with tons of possibilities and metaphors running through my head. Seriously, Yudowsky's and your writing make me rethink my whole life.
I especially loved the part where Sabrina comes up with a novel solution to penetrate Red's shields ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) on the fly. It was really creative albeit quasi-brute force (esp. when compared to Mewtwo's really nuanced undetectable bypassing, which I know is a very unfair comparison). I was half expecting Red to ward off sabrina for typical protagonist reasons but I was pleasantly surprised. You did an excellent job at illustrating:
- that sabrina is supposed to be powerful AND smart in the use of her powers. Basically a psychic savant.
- That there are other highly intelligent characters which Red has to look out for.
- That strengths can be converted into weaknesses given the right context. The whole tapping to beat and going with the flow thing made me think among other things if my love for music can somehow be taken advantage of.
I also love your usage of phrases like 'alien/inhuman pattern' for the droplets and 'colours that can't be described' for psychic EM-waves.
Also this is probably the first unfinished fanfic whose updation process I'm personally witnessing. Feels great! Thank you for doing such a fantastic job.
P.S. : Sorry for making this so long. Had to stop myself or it would've devolved into an essay.
u/Trips-Over-Tail [+3] Death of Crabs (a day later)
His name is Red!
u/Omegafinity [+2] Chaos Legion (a day later)
Oh my, that's blasphemous. Fixed; thank you for pointing out! Jokes aside, I honestly have no idea why I wrote 'Ash' in the first place. Maybe because I was drawing parallels with another pokemon fic which had ash in it. In any case. my bad!
u/Trips-Over-Tail [+2] Death of Crabs (a day later)
I'll leave it to the community to determine your penalty.
u/Omegafinity [+2] Chaos Legion (a day later)
Please be gentle ;)
u/Trips-Over-Tail [+2] Death of Crabs (a day later)
Would the Harry Potter subreddit show mercy if you called the titular character "Luke Skywalker"? I think not. They'd chase you up a tree and set fire to it.
Burn the Errortic! Burn!
u/DaystarEld [+2] Pokémon Professor (a day later)
This is high praise indeed :) Thank you, and I'm glad you're enjoying it all so much!
u/None [+2] (20 hours later)
Technically yes. But in colloquial English chai refers to a specific type of tea. So given the intended audience its a perfectly sensible usage
u/DaystarEld [+2] Pokémon Professor (23 hours later)
This is true too, I was first introduced to it as just "chai" and it wasn't until later that I discovered it had its own specific name.
u/Omegafinity [+2] Chaos Legion (a day later)
Well, given that the majority of the intended audience isn't aware of the correct usage of the word, I don't think it's justified to use the word incorrectly and call it sensible because of it.
Don't get me wrong. I'm not trying to be pedantic, it's just that I'm from the land of chai (I make a good cuppa too :P ) and it's extremely jarring to hear 'chai-tea' being used anywhere (I'll admit some personal bias too. XD) Also chai doesn't necessarily refer to just a single type of tea. I'm from a household that's used to nearly 4 types of chai on a fairly regular basis.
Cheers :)
u/None [+2] (2 days later)
[removed]
u/DaystarEld [+3] Pokémon Professor (2 days later)
This is actually just stylistic choice of how his internal voice sounds :) Thanks though!
u/nipplelightpride [+1] (5 days later)
not a typo but,
an older man in a long coat and woolen hat, and the Gym Leader sitting across from him.
This was a bit confusing to read. It took me a while to figure out that 'him' referred to the older man instead of Red.
u/DaystarEld [+2] Pokémon Professor (5 days later)
I'll clarify it next time I edit the chapter, thanks :)
u/chaos-engine [+5] (an hour later)
Love the story! A bit surprised that Red's charmander is the size of an average charmeleon right now. Assuming it grows during evolution, doesn't that imply that Red's charmander one of the larger charmeleons once it evolves (prob in the top 95%)?
u/Electric999999 [+6] (3 hours later)
Maybe it won't grow much when it evolves (we haven't got a lot of information of precisely how that works, unless I missed it), were any other pokemon mentioned to be close to the size of their evolved forms prior to evolving?
u/thrawnca [+12] Carbon-based biped (5 hours later)
They don't immediately get bigger when they evolve (conservation of matter), they're just rearranged.
u/Aretii [+9] Cultist of Cthugha (5 hours later)
Zephyr was specifically called out as remaining about the same size upon evolving to pidgeotto.
u/Trips-Over-Tail [+3] Death of Crabs (a day later)
In the show there was a giant Magikarp that evolved into a normal-sized Gyarados.
u/DaystarEld [+3] Pokémon Professor (2 days later)
Was there really? Do you remember what episode it was?
u/Trips-Over-Tail [+3] Death of Crabs (3 days later)
Bulbapedia has it as episode 92, The Joy of Pokemon, though in the list I sourced the episode itself it was 94.
There's also Gary's Krabby, which we first see in EP013 compared to Ash's much smaller Krabby. We see it again in EP65 and it's almost as big as a Kingler. Not that that stop's Ash's Krabby from evolving into a full-grown Kingler when he madly uses it, unbattled, to fight in the Pokemon League.
u/empocariam [+1] (2 days later)
This one has a giant magikarp that evolves into a gyarados. Not sure whether it is a particularly large, regular, or small one.
u/DaystarEld [+3] Pokémon Professor (2 days later)
Got it. Do you happen to know if any other magikarp are shown evolving in any episodes?
u/Trips-Over-Tail [+1] Death of Crabs (4 days later)
Jame's magikarp evolves in gyarados' debut appearance in EP016.
Though you may be more interested in EP109, in which the team assist a Pokemon Watcher (a kind of hands-off observational field researcher) in his study of wild magikarp and their natural evolution.
u/DaystarEld [+1] Pokémon Professor (4 days later)
Ah, okay, for a second I thought the "magikarp grow really big before they evolve" thing I decided on was canon in the anime :)
Thanks!
u/DaystarEld [+6] Pokémon Professor (20 hours later)
Thank you! And yeah, in my world a pokemon tends to grow the majority of the way to its next evolution before it evolves into it, particularly the smaller ones.
u/Icare0 [+2] (2 days later)
In the games, all pokemon have mostly the same size, except for a few notable exemples for which having many sizes is the main gimmick of the evolutionary line, AKA, the Pumpkaboo line.
u/DaystarEld [+3] Pokémon Professor (2 days later)
Which I take as mostly a game conceit, really. Having the pokemon vary in size would be a massive headache if it would have mechanical significance, and probably be seen as a waste of development time if not.
u/Icare0 [+3] (3 days later)
Agreed. I would honestly think that pokemon do vary in size if they didn't make so much of a fuss over the Pumpkaboo line.
And I still kinda think that pokemon being the same size is just a form of narrative/gameplay segregation.
u/KiritosWings [+1] (16 days later)
Personally I take the difference in IVs to be the difference in size and stuff. Like why DOES this one Charmander have more attack and less speed than this other one by birth? IVs. And it makes sense since those are passed down through breeding and stuff.
u/Rakiteer [+5] (an hour later)
Absolutely loving this fic, keep up the good work!!
u/DaystarEld [+2] Pokémon Professor (19 hours later)
Thank you!
u/LazarusRises [+3] (11 hours later)
Midway through and loving it. Will edit with more comments later, but I just wanted to say DAMN I wish I was Lucian's grandkid.
EDIT: Great chapter :) The description of Sabrina's mind was really beautiful. The IT reference was fun, and I look forward to seeing how Red develops his mental patterns--and also to him getting a Psychic type for use in combat, or evolving his Abra.
Loved the discussion about the values of building a public persona. Rings very true to a lot of things I've thought about myself. Also made me think of the famous people I look up to, and I realized that the ones I admire the most are the ones whose work speaks the most for itself. For instance, Elon Musk of course gives interviews and writes articles, but I don't really care about those compared to his actual work, which I think is world-changing. My favorite writers are the ones whose books are really good, not the ones who write incisive social commentary and also write good books (Rebecca Solnit is cool, Brandon Sanderson is cooler).
So I guess I agree with Red: he should focus on the work itself, not on communicating it to others. Blue is right that he will have to be interviewed from time to time, but I'm with Red that it feels slimy somehow to start influencing public perception of him before there is all that much of it to influence. If he does good work, it will gain traction and people will talk about it, and he can engage with them then. Writing a blog now, in order to spin up positive perception of a currently very minor celebrity, feels like time and effort that could be better spent on research or training.
u/DaystarEld [+2] Pokémon Professor (19 hours later)
Glad you enjoyed it :)
u/PM_me_couchsurfing [+3] (20 hours later)
You are the best xoxo
u/DaystarEld [+3] Pokémon Professor (20 hours later)
\o/!
u/Trips-Over-Tail [+4] Death of Crabs (4 days later)
Something to note: in many rational stories featuring young protagonists, for them to accomplish anything in a world of adults means that, unless they are actively resisting or subverting society, the adults are letting them do that. One way to make that work, as in this story, is for that to be normal: it's a dangerous world and the kids are expected to grow up fast, and do.
But another common thread in rational fiction is that the protagonist kids are often the only ones who actually do any of that, or at least that the reader gets to see. Sure, 10 year olds are routinely handed powerful elemental powers and sent unsupervised into dangerous forests to battle deadly monstrosities and that's normal. But how many other ten-year-olds are getting published in scientific journals, newspapers, and acquiring large followings from the public and public figures alike?
I know that they are exceptional in many ways and have a certain amount of privilege that lubricates some of those successes. But maybe a peek into the accomplishments and extra-curricular activities of their peers would serve for some world-building.
Such characters, properly developed, might also make good outgroup rivals, friendly or otherwise.
u/DaystarEld [+3] Pokémon Professor (5 days later)
I'll definitely be fleshing out what other trainers on their journey are doing in upcoming chapters :) Thanks for pointing that out!
u/empocariam [+2] (a day later)
I'm not sure where best to put some of my comments from my reread, so they may as well go here.
In Chapter 18 there is a random NPC named Aiko in Viridian woods during the forest fire. Now, is it impossible for two different people in the same country to have the same name, no. Does it make the reader go "Wait, is that..?" unnecessarily, yes. The author should do with this information what they will.
Also, I got to the part again with one of my favorite moments of the early story: Leaf's interview with the mayor of Pewter. I really love the seeds its planting about the political reality of the world. Its subtle and brilliant, a wonderful portrayal of small town political intrigue, with grander external implications.
Which now, in light of the discussion about the Fighting gym leader and Sabrina, I am even more curious about how exactly the Indigo government is structured. Is there a civilian branch of the Indigo league government? Like, Mayor is to Leader as X is to Champion? I'm also curious about some more noodley political organizational things like there is actually a political organization that is "Kanto" and "Johto," or are they mostly just culturally aligned city-states with a historical feudal bond.
u/DaystarEld [+4] Pokémon Professor (2 days later)
Reviews on fanfic work for reread comments, but this is fine too :)
I try not to worry about name duplication among minor characters that people aren't expected to remember in their first read through :) I'm bad at naming characters and in a story like this I think it would get weirder if there aren't at least some same names, even if that's a standard allowance for most fiction.
I'm glad you liked the mayor scene! I plan on expanding on the way the government works eventually, but if you want I can tell you now?
u/Ibbot [+2] (2 days later)
if you want I can tell you now?
I'd certainly take you up on that.
u/DaystarEld [+5] Pokémon Professor (2 days later)
Sure! So the idea of culturally aligned city-states is pretty much correct: each city and town has a democratically elected mayor, legislators, chief of police, district court judges, etc.
Above that, the cities and towns send representatives to the Regional Council, which serves as the legislative body, the Regional Court, which is its judicial body, etc. The executive branch is headed by the president, who is chosen by the only region-wide election, since all he's tasked to do is oversee the other Regional bodies and make sure they follow its constitution, which can differ from place to place.
Each region's League, its Elite 4 and current Champion, functions as its domestic defense and potential war council. No democracy here, it's all merit of pokemon battling.
Rangers are the closest thing to a military that most regions have, but their focus is of course on pokemon, not neighboring states, which are more the focus of the League/Gyms if war is on the horizon. The Rangers are a separate political body that are also not elected: instead the organization is run by the successors of the previous generation, with a hierarchy that's topped by a Ranger General, who's elected by the Captains that are in charge of smaller locations, and answers to the League, though they're funded by the region as whole as part of the legislators' budget.
Kanto and Johto is a somewhat unique in that each has a separate Regional body for their various branches, but their League, the Elite 4 and Champion, is shared. Together they make up the Indigo League.
u/Ibbot [+2] (3 days later)
Interesting. I think I'll enjoy seeing how all that interacts with each other and with our main characters as they progress enough to start having such interactions (we've already seen Leaf and a Mayor, of course).
u/nipplelightpride [+2] (6 days later)
The evolution scene was adorable!
u/DaystarEld [+2] Pokémon Professor (6 days later)
Glad you liked it :)