MatsubaEnju’s two-word response sat front and center on the computer screen as Sam blankly stared forward.
“It’s... real,” he whispered.
He had known it probably was back when he checked it against a Pokédex, but it took seeing a completely alien source confirming it for everything to fit together in his mind.
It took several full seconds for his thoughts to ...
2024-02-01 23:04:26 +0000 UTC View Post“...Dear Reader, I know the information within may seem unbelievable, but you must throw those compunctions aside. This journal contains the culmination of my life’s work—both of this life and last. Decades of effort went into assembling everything here, and countless Pokémon and trainers contributed to ensure the veracity of what is written. It is my deepest wish for this work to il...
2024-02-01 23:02:10 +0000 UTC View PostThe Ghost Specialist chapters:
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
2024-01-31 23:10:00 +0000 UTC
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Sam felt like he was in a daze as he sat on his bed. His mother had been supportive—far too supportive.
What is it that she actually wants?
He didn’t want to think about that topic. It’d been years of no discussion, and out of nowhere, she was suddenly supporting this random match. Confused and honestly worried, he turned his thoughts to something else: namel...
2024-01-31 23:07:00 +0000 UTC View PostSam felt sore when he entered his home and mother’s shop. Most of his free time was spent sitting around and reading, not running and hiking and fleeing and dealing with all of that back at the mansion.
Cyndaquil, being a small enough Pokémon, had curled up behind Sam's head within his hood. She didn't perfectly fit, but that meant the fabric was tight against her, creating th...
2024-01-31 23:05:00 +0000 UTC View PostThe creak of the crystal chandelier came so suddenly that Sam almost jumped out of his skin. He froze, stock-still, the teenage boy now resembling some kind of dark jacket-wearing statue. Slowly, he panned his flashlight around the dusty entry hall but saw nothing more than the aged building around him.
“There’s definitely something here,” he said. “This mansion’s been abandoned...
2024-01-31 23:00:06 +0000 UTC View PostNeed a bit more time to make sure everything is in proper order. Here's the planned release schedule for the new fiction:
Wednesday, 1/31: First chapter comes out on Patreon. Three chapters a day until Friday, where there'll break for the weekend.
Monday, 2/5: First chapter comes out on Royal Road. Date is tentative, as Royal Road needs to manually...
Big thanks to my friend, @fishfronds on Insta, for this incredible artwork of Alex and the team. I'll see you all in the next fiction!
2024-01-18 23:05:00 +0000 UTC View PostThat’s strange. An extra chapter?
Cliffhanger warning. Again, I can’t overstate it enough, but cliffhanger warning. Given that the fiction is over, this might be worth putting off until I’ve released a few extra chapters down the line.
(If you missed the final chapter, you can read it 2024-01-16 01:04:10 +0000 UTC View Post
“What do we do next?”
The answer was clean-up. There was a lot of clean-up.
The Aether Foundation needed to be investigated from the top down, just about. Even the most slightly suspicious paper had to be gathered and checked, and almost every employee had to be looked into for evidence of wrong-doing. The “incident” at the Altar of the Sun and Moon was enough to lo...
2024-01-16 00:31:49 +0000 UTC View PostThe sheer, horrific majesty of what floated before us was hard to put into words. Bright blue light bloomed off of Lunala’s exposed wings, and the blackened armor that was once Necrozma somehow managed to stand out from within the absolute darkness around us. There was an aura to it—an almost white outline—that allowed it to remain visible despite the removal of all other light in the are...
2024-01-11 23:27:49 +0000 UTC View PostThe urgency of the situation was not lost on me, but I had to make sure we knew what was going on before any snap decision. Looking around, it quickly became clear that the damage ahead of us was filled with clues.
The visible devastation appeared as if something absolutely massive had torn straight through. Far-too-big footsteps flattened the dirt both nearby and on the damaged route its...
2024-01-08 23:45:48 +0000 UTC View PostWatching Hope leave was a bittersweet moment for Lillie. On the one hand, it hurt to be left behind, to be told that she and her team weren’t strong enough to contribute. On the other hand, it marked the moment where someone was finally doing something about the Aether Foundation. Lillie could at least recognize that, which was why she didn’t complain (too much) when she was told to stay be...
2024-01-04 23:09:15 +0000 UTC View PostPokémon trainers flooded into Alola through boats, planes, and subtle teleportation. Step by step, person by person, certain individuals entered far too sporadically and casually for the Aether Foundation to take note. By night, figures would step out of alleyways they had never entered and join unassuming crowds. By day, no one blinked an eye at others joining the throngs of tourists entering...
2024-01-01 23:13:06 +0000 UTC View PostI’ll be taking a little extra time both to enjoy the holidays with my family and to better plan out the final few chapters. However, I said there would be a chapter tomorrow, and since that has changed, I’ll open myself up to any questions you might have about the fiction or Pokémon in general. World details, what-ifs, meta questions—I'll do my best to answer what you ask right now, and ...
2023-12-27 22:10:02 +0000 UTC View PostMAJOR ANNOUNCEMENT: Christmas Is next week! There will be no chapter on Monday—Christmas Day—but Thursday is where things will get interesting. As it stands, I'm currently predicting a minimum of 4 to 5 chapters left in this fiction overall, with next Thursday being where the final sequence properly begins. (Though, I’ve been wrong with my predictions before. I genuinely ...
2023-12-21 23:11:00 +0000 UTC View PostThe upstairs Pokémon Center bedroom was silent yet filled with tension. A pager sat on a table that had been dragged to the center of the room, now resting perfectly between where Lillie sat on the bed and I nervously paced.
No Pokémon were out, save for Nebby the Cosmoem, who Lillie clutched tightly in her hands. She kept him close to her chest, almost in a hug, pressing him against th...
2023-12-18 23:10:14 +0000 UTC View PostOf course, Phoebe met with us right before night, so by the time Hope and I finished sharing every piece of information we had, the sun had already set. To anyone that stumbled upon our resulting campsite—which was unlikely, given Phoebe’s penchant to use ghosts to ward visitors away—it would have looked like nothing more than three people sharing spooky stories over a campfire. However, ...
2023-12-14 23:07:49 +0000 UTC View PostNote: It's finally out! This bonus chapter is a little different, as it’s a battle and nothing else. It details a match between Alex and Acerola, Alola’s resident Ghost Type Trial Captain and Elite Four hopeful.
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A few days ago...
“Same rules as always. Six on six,...
2023-12-13 09:48:25 +0000 UTC View PostTwo quick announcements before the chapter starts:
If you're looking to read one of the best Pokémon fictions out there, The Most Evil Trainer on SpaceBattles has released its final chapter. It's a bit darker than The Type Specialist, but I still highly recommend checking it out if you haven't already. You can read the completed fiction 2023-12-11 23:15:45 +0000 UTC View Post
Hoping to get the Alex versus Acerola chapter out alongside Monday's chapter. If not, it'll be out alongside next Thursday's chapter at the latest.
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The young Kommo-o's roar was loud enough to shake the very earth. A dozen other Hakamo-o stomped their feet and clawed at the ground. The atmo...
2023-12-07 23:32:33 +0000 UTC View PostThe pseudo-legendary Dragon Type stalked back and forth below us, with each stomp of its feet causing pebbles to dislodge from the cliffs around it. The threat it posed meant there was no point in heading out to travel while it was still here, but this Kommo-o was clearly young and had not yet reached the full potential of its strength. All we needed to do was to soundly defeat it and “encour...
2023-12-04 23:05:00 +0000 UTC View PostI will be releasing a bonus chapter that contains the fight between Alex and Acerola. It’ll be out within the next week or two alongside the usual scheduled chapters.
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There were just under two dozen trainers entering the Vast Poni Canyon, and each one was quick to spread out. Most headed directly forward...
2023-11-30 23:35:22 +0000 UTC View Post“I... I just don’t get it.”
The silence that punctuated Professor Burnet’s words was palpable.
“If I didn’t have the energy readings right here in front of me, I would never have thought Nebby would start absorbing Ultra Wormhole energy! It’s a complete reversal from what he used to give off!”
She fiddled with her strange, mechanical devi...
2023-11-27 23:05:02 +0000 UTC View PostAnnouncement: Due to the upcoming holiday, there will be no chapter on Thursday. Apologies for the late notice. It crept up on me as well. I hope that you all have a happy Thanksgiving, regardless!
Content Warning: Expect unethical treatment of a Pokémon at around the same level as what some Legendaries go through in the movies. (It's bad.)
... 2023-11-20 23:05:52 +0000 UTC View PostThe Pokémon at Gladion's side was sleek, tall, and stood on four legs. That should have described Type: Null, but Lillie only recognized a few familiar aspects of its previous species. Just like Type: Null, this Pokémon almost appeared to be an amalgamation of several others, having insect-like front claws, canine back legs, and a fish’s fin for a tail, but there was no mask covering its he...
2023-11-16 23:05:00 +0000 UTC View PostThe villa that overlooked Po Town was sealed off by an old, rusty gate. A row of metal bars divided the Team Skull headquarters from the actual, livable city. As this place was a villa, there were a few rundown houses along its sides where I could already see a handful of Team Skull grunts lingering about. At the very center, however, there was a decaying mansion that was only ever referred to ...
2023-11-13 23:05:01 +0000 UTC View PostThere were several different mid-stage evolutions that tended to lose most of their ability to fight when they evolved. Bug Types were the most famous, with species like Metapod and Kakuna being unable to do anything but use Harden. However, if properly prepared, it was possible to retain one or two of their attacks, most famously String Shot, and in rare cases, Poison Sting.
How does thi...
2023-11-09 23:05:11 +0000 UTC View PostHope had out her most recently evolved Pokémon, Decidueye, as we traveled northward. What was once the rather ball-shaped Rowlet was now an owl almost as tall as Lillie with a natural, leafy hood and wings it could use to fire out feathers like arrows from a bow. It leapt from tree to tree as we walked through a forested meadow. There was an ever-present gloom of fog drifting between the area...
2023-11-06 23:11:42 +0000 UTC View PostMimikyu was a ghostly specter when he appeared on the battlefield. Sure, he didn’t do much outside of landing with a bounce and nodding respectfully to Shiinotic, but his innate capabilities and powers as a Ghost Type made him the perfect opponent to test Lillie.
See, I had no doubts Lillie had planned out ways to fight against my team. After all, brainstorming hypothetical strategies a...
2023-11-02 22:05:00 +0000 UTC View Post