Aphelli

Yay, Season 4! But I'm really worried the beginning is too good to be true. Too much positive emotion, that's... really ominous. Now I'm really scared... But I now realize it's somewhat true, from E16 on, the picture really looks grimmer and grimmer somehow. Like Pyrrhic victories.

It doesn't necessarily mean that Crescent is alive either. She could be Madelis's nightmare for all we know (or perhaps Zetta if you want to get meta). I thought that too, but actually Freya's timeline makes sense. From Braixen's memories (which could be faked but let's assume they weren't), Crescent appears after the Surfers' attack, barely on time to rescue the downed Saki & co. Still, her saying about them "there's nothing to worry about" at Tesla's house is rather careless if so (but then again, first rule of Being A Mysterious Omniscient Figure: you can't go around and admit that some things are outside your control).

So here we are, at the very last chapter of Part 1. I didn't make any pictures, maybe I'll add some later. Perhaps how the battle against the game's Corey went, perhaps something about Beryl Bridge. As I said, there is going to be a short hiatus after this one, you'll have to go find something else to read for a while (how fortunate, I suppose, that someone decided to start a new season of their tale). I have plot details for Part 2 to figure out -- Yureyu, the Orphanage, Blacksteam to some extent. If you really are bored in that time, you might also try and find some little hints that may be relevant in the future, or bring to light all the pointless references... or try the math problem from chapter 16. Enjoy! Chapter 26: Darwinism Character ratings: Death count:

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I am aware of that. I was using this fact to argue that in the game, the sequences in the past were plot-moving instead of mostly expository. In other words, I was arguing for the first choice of the following alternative: is Rejuv a huge, ramified and intricate stable time loop, or is it rather a linear (timeline-wise) adventure with very “vivid” history lessons? Of course, to draw a conclusion we'd need to consider the entirety of the plot... Random question about Crescent -- does anyone have the impression, looking back into the game, that in her interactions with the cast all she's doing is drive the flow of information away? Attacking first whoever could provide it instead of the main threat? 1) When Crescent gets him, Jenner is busted as a Team Xen operative (on our side) and a traitor (on Team Xen's side), and he's probably desperate enough to regain some sort of esteem to spill most of the beans to anyone. She vanishes him. 2) Same thing with Zetta in Amethyst Grotto, plus the lie to the cast about Melia being dead 3) Crescent chose to chime in Carotos at the very last moment, when the base was already collapsing. From her own admission, Mewtwo woudn't have served Madelis for long. Madelis doesn't get captured and doesn't reveal any kind of information. (I may be a bit harsh -- Crescent needs her own credibility after all, and that also means not fighting battles you don't have reasonable odds of success). 4) Crescent and Ren... well. 5) For all her big talk, Crescent does nothing whatsoever at Blacksteeple. Even though "at this point" (timey, wimey notwithstanding) she's not with the Stormchasers anymore. 6) Crescent and Sharon -- that's the most obvious one. Sharon is at her lowest point, trying to convey into words how come she can't quit Team Xen, finds herself facing a cliff... only to be pushed. Again, we could have got a whole lot of useful information from her, but for Crescent (no matter about Saki & co appearing afterwards). 7) Crescent and Zetta & Geara -- She traps Zetta and breaks Geara. Note how Geara is the main threat (the one with intent) but she goes after Zetta (who iirc is freaking out and on the verge of defection).

I wish we knew. What we do know is that it is important. If it weren't, then it's just a plot device to get us/someone else to the 18 Badges and that sounds too lazy. Other indices of its importance include: 1) the fact that someone took the bother to circumvent the (heavy) procedures to register us. 2) the fact that these procedures were very paranoid in itself -- especially when time travel is involved, any mildly relevant background (such as the tournament's former fiasco and Cassandra's former decisions) event can and should be treated as deliberate interference. 3) That weird programming glitch to shift brackets (if it was just a retcon, then it would have been retconned -- or perhaps that's what Jan wants us to think ) 4) Aelita and Venam being impersonated Given 3), one can wonder if the goal wasn't to force the cast's best Trainer (ie the MC) to become as strong as possible when facing Risa. It would cement Risa as a bad guy, of course... Or maybe it's a setup for Risa to know as much as possible about us and thus be able to wreck us. 4) is, at least for Venam, really, really strange though. Venam is supposed to be turned to stone (a perfectly acceptable excuse for failing to show up and battle, imo), and somehow nobody, not even Amber, noticed? Good idea. Showing us a prize to keep our attention focused... Given how the plot works, it makes sense, and sounds plausible. Then again, it seriously backfires, does it not? It doesn't explain why somebody bothered to impersonate Venam. Perhaps it was the original attempt and some other parties are trying to profit off the opportunity. I don't know. If it's not of serious significance, then it's probably Cassandra or Team Xen higher-ups registering us, and honestly there are easier ways to gauge our strength -- make a fake Xen ambush (like, get Florin kidnapped by Team Xen grunts that you want to be rid of anyway) and nudge the cast in the right direction while feeding the rest of the world misinformation. It's also an interesting theory, but it would sound like a pretty clumsy attempt to get us to train, wouldn't it? (and we'd do it anyway) Melia is a weirdness magnet enough, and Team Xen has her DNA, so she could be easily impersonated and registered; however, if the goal is Melia-related, why involve everyone else? Emotional reasons or attempts to divide the group are good ideas, but I don't really believe them. If you want to unbalance Melia, just fetch Stormchaser files (or, I suppose, forge a Xen file about why they want her light and make it as gruesome as possible)... If you want to divide the group, there's no chance a mundane tournament is going to do the trick (the cast is supposed to be a group of fire-forged friends, isn't it?). You'd need to pull off something worse than a Reborn!Lin to do that. I agree to a certain extent. But if we hadn't been there, I wonder what would have happened? I think Vivian would have done the ritual anyway, because she knew she had to, and neither Cella nor Anju would have been aware of it. Sounds like a worse outcome to me. I also forgot one very measurable example of effect from the past on the future -- when we first meet him, Indriad has no Gardevoir to make us disappear... I don't know if it's a good thing or not though.

Clearly, a lot of parties are interested in the tournament. We could be sent back in time to register once we realize how important it is. I understand your point about time travel being (in the game) mostly a glorified way for exposition of past events. But I don’t quite agree – we make a lot of ripples in the past. Saving the officer (if so), the Rift book, interfering with Indriad’s bomb, stealing a file from Rejuv. Co, killing Gardevoir (at last!), helping Vivian make the protection spell and helping Cella and Anju figure out what is happening...

I don't know, Karrina is rather the kind of person to take justice into her own hands, so perhaps she could lock Karen up herself? After all, she managed to get the drop on her in Alamissa Urben... I agree 100% about the legal system. It's absolutely messed-up.

Ok, so I found a couple of very strange ideas instead of doing whataver I was supposed to do, so let me sketch them... 1) About Yveltal's Demise 2) About Amanda Oh, and a third one about the Tournament because I really don't want to do whatever I'm supposed to:

(Spoiler for the end of the hidden library sidequest)

Did I miss something, or is everyone completely forgetting about whoever is behind Melia being the antagonist is really a funny idea though.

Okay, so, since Team Xen is doing PSAs over the Coronavirus, some particularly dirty-minded opponents are bound to counterattack... (warning: what follows is nowhere near any kind of sound medical advice -- please don't follow anyone's actions as shown below) ***** Getting into Xen headquarters had been a breeze. She should have done that earlier, actually. These distancing measures were actually severely hurting their ability to be a nuisance, and their security. She hadn't had any trouble to find a sick executive, send them wherever she pleased, and take their uniform (and access codes the person had so carelessly written on a small note on their desk, because they were better off self-isolating but worried about forgetting the codes -- everyone knew why no one ever claimed they had forgotten the codes). The cafeteria was sparsely populated, with at most a couple of people per six-person-table, always at opposite ends. A crowd of Team Xen grunts was waiting outside and ugly words were already said about how "the profiteers should eat faster". She almost felt bad for what she was up to do. She rose up and tinged her spoon against her lifted glass. "Your attention, please." The ambient noise instantly stopped. Everyone remembered the disastrous PSA announcement that had ended up with over fifty deaths, curtesy of Madame X's utterly lacking impulse control. Not that, of course, anybody would ever dare even think it in these terms. "You are aware that for a few weeks now, we have been enforcing stringent distancing measures to stop the propagation of the Covid-19 epidemic among us. I am aware that for many of you, it was a considerable and unexpected effort, and I cannot tell how much I appreciate it. I come back to you because there are news on this topic." She stopped for a short break to appreciate her effect. Everyone was mesmerized by her words. She took a sip of water and went on. "According to recent groundbreaking works by world-known specialists such as Pr. Nat R.D. Doplum and Dr. Jonas Railobro, the damages caused by that epidemic are mostly psychosomatic, a symptom of self-fulfilling prophecy. Everyone fears a disease such as the Coronavirus, and that very concern causes people's bodies to mimic the symptoms. In the light of this truly astounding finding, we believe that the time of self-isolation has passed, and that activities should start again as they used to be." Of course, the noise started again, mutters of wonder and, perhaps, skepticism, which would need to be addressed. She raised her glass, hit again once with the spoon, and everyone fell silent. She took a sip and finished: "Our operations stopped abruptly, so recovery of our pre-epidemic rhythm will not be instantaneous. I will present to you tomorrow the plan that your upper management has devised, and its execution will begin the day after. Medical supplies, such as masks, gloves, soap and disinfectants, for people whose concerns have not been addressed will be available, for we must be ready to all outcomes. Preventive medication will be issued as well. Thank you." Crescent sat down, and, hearing the applause, seeing the rush of the waiting grunts in the cafeteria, fought hard to suppress the wide, vicious smile she felt coming to her lips. Perhaps, she thought, perhaps the epidemic had a silver lining after all.

Okay, so first -- don't stress so much! (and please don't be stressed or ashamed over your own stress, that's doubling your troubles ). Second -- it's finally out! You've been teasing it for a while, I was quite excited. So, I think it's a nice prologue. Are the events in Sinnoh that drove her to Reborn mundane, plot-relevant, or very plot-relevant (like, end-of-arc revelations)? Does she have a specific reason to go to Reborn? How will she react to Reborn? I'm very interested to find out!

Since we're in kind of an important progression, I'm making a slightly shorter delay for this chapter and the next one which is the finale of Part 1. Expect a bit of a hiatus afterwards as I need to fully figure out Gabriel's next misfortunes the next steps of the plot. Mostly, I need to fill in the blanks between the end of Part 1 and whichever showdowns I plan for Part 2. Warning: There are some descriptions of violence in the chapter but nothing imo that's harsher than the game. Chapter 25: Last Stand Character ratings:

This sounds like amazing work. I look forward to seeing the end result. There's something I'm not sure I understand however, what exactly is the difference between Game and Game-Z?

1-2- I am not 100% sure but I think that all the learnsets (and Move Tutors) are from US/UM. 3- I would say it is because each of these keys lets you do the given action (for instance, “Cancel/Menu” can be done with either Esc or X).

I think that for a large part the beginning of the game is fine – IMO we’ve got good enough lore for you to cover at least Blacksteeple and maybe even to Mt Valor (though you’d want to be careful around the Indriad parts). But I would be very wary to postpone your start to V13 – we’re at 41% and it’s been 8 months since V12. If you want to write it, I don’t think it’s good to procrastinate by that much. As long as you don’t get characters killed or shipped, any mistake is probably repairable (and even so, you can break relationships – see eg “Awesome Adventure” for Reborn – and the Rejuv plot gives us several factors capable of retconning a death, at the cost, possibly, of further plot intricacies). I would also be careful around Crescent – we still know very little about her motives, knowledge, intentions, plans and goals, so it’s not easy to get how she would react in a different setting. A mistake there is probably harder to fix, but I can think of ways it can be done. But then again, it’s your story, you do what sounds best for you. For all it’s worth, I think it’s a good idea to get the MC (or Melia) closer to other characters.

I know the statistic, yes. It’s a horrible one, too — it means people who can’t get access to the good works, and endless self-esteem issues (which, according to the stat again, are well-founded) and wastes of time for writers. I remembered from tvtropes that this famous statistic had a flip side, but, alas, I was mistaken. Only stubbornly optimistic people insist that the remaining 10% are great. The rest say that at least 90% of anything suck, and also the remaining 10%. About canon compliance (that’s insane considering “canon” is a fan work already ), I meant that different authors will follow the story differently – some will stick to the game, some will take a few liberties here and there, and some will rewrite history completely – and you may like some of these options but not others. About that one fanfiction you’ve been reading – would you recommend it (and share a link)?

You probably noticed, but just for reference: there are at least 7 Reborn stories on this very website, with various advancement levels (Candy's, Q-Jei's, three by J-Awesome_One, Evi Crystal's and mine), I dimly recall someone speaking of novelizing Reborn on fanfiction.net and I saw at least 3 links on the Rejuv fanart thread (plus J-Awesome_One's story -- although some of them may have been given up). Obviously though, the amount of liberty they take with canon may not suit your tastes (either too compliant, or too rebellious). I'm too late for you, but this thread needs a warning nonetheless -- beware fanfiction, and more so for fanfiction of fanfiction! People's brains are such strange places... (and when it's not too weird, not too bad, it ends up being great and then you just can't stop...)

Or perhaps, given that the Yveltal's Decimations did not turn Aelita and us into dust (and razed half the castle with it), perhaps it wasn't Yveltal actually. Perhaps it was just a powerful move from a powerful Pokemon, maskerading as an Yveltal... We know that Madame X allies with rather competent illusion-makers, after all. Now, why the bother? 1) Shock value -- you're much more terrifying if you ride such a beast of death 2) Perhaps she also needs to fool someone else as to her real move (maybe Indriad).

Aaaand the bets are off! Will Gabriel and Heather triumph from the PULSE Tangrowth and the Meteor Edgelord? Are they equipped to handle the cold reality? Keep reading to find out! Chapter 24: The Cleansing Character ratings:

About Team Xen: (spoilers for WLL) Also, I agree with @MhicKy in that their goal is probably more twisted than world domination (after all, with a time diamond, and freaky powers/armor and thousands of people willing to obey you or get slaughtered, how hard can that be?) For Indriad: Nymeria calls him the embodiment of evil. Maybe he's not really living as such, or, really, why would the life of anyone be of concern? Melanie: what's the evidence for her wanting to rebuild the world? Seems more the type to toy with everyone, destroy them because that's what that game entails (v12 spoilers) and escape to another timeline at the verge of the final destruction. Crescent: I think it's too simplistic. She doesn't like the Xens but it doesn't mean they are her actual goal -- else why would she toy with Nim? Urge everyone to not stay involved? Remind that everything isn't black or white, nor does anything of significance revolve around the cast (expect, y'know, the MC, Aelita, Melia, Erin, and so on)? Spacea & Tiempa: We don't really know their game, but I'm about sure it's nowhere near as simple. For all we know it's their efforts actually that drive Storm-9. I quite agree with you on Flora. Angie: I don't think she intends to destroy the world (until Melia drove her -- unwittingly, of course -- over the edge). I think she's fine with a merely arctic-cold world, if it means she's the unchallenged ruler and spiritual authority. (also who are you to know that Arceus wasn't originally carrying an Ice Plate?) And you forgot a last villainous party --