Pokémon Legendaries of the Present World

[windskull]

I heard it is (or was, oops) someone's birthday. Hoped to get to this a little sooner but life got busy. But I'm still here! With how short and sweet these are. I think I'll try to cover them all.

The Original One
Okay. First off. I love the use of what appears to be a fully benevolent Arceus for a change. Like. I can enjoy a story with a neutral malevolent Arceus, sure, but it's a nice change of pace. I like that they recognize that their creations as imperfect, but also feel that those imperfections are what let the world grow and change. It's a very nice, positive outlook.

I also really like the idea that Arceus would want to do more than just observe their world. To see and feel and experience their creation. Maybe it's my religious background speaking, but there's something particularly… heartwarming and maybe even a little humanizing about the idea that an all powerful being would love us and enjoy our company. I think the way that Arceus just Knows that the first human they encounter has had a hard life kind of plays into that. They know things are imperfect. They know people struggle, but they still care about their creations all the same. It feels good, ya know?

The reactions of the humans, and even the other pokemon are also so, so good. I love the idea of a human pulling out their phone to snap a selfie with Arceus and just going like “uhhh…. So I'm here with God.” And I love that these humans are just… treating Arceus like a big dog. Lots of petting and snacks. It makes it even better that Arceus seems to like it.

All in all, a really cute snapshot. On to the next!
–
The One Born in Mew’s Shadow
Someone get this cat a therapist would also be an apt title, though it looks like Mewtwo’s already got that covered.

Not gonna lie, you kind of have to feel for him. The fact that his origin story had been blasted all over the news and made into a movie… talk about a lack of privacy! I can't help but wonder if the movie in particular even had his permission, or if they just did it. If they didn't have permission, then who knows how sensationalized it might be!

I like the little part where he's sitting outside the cafe and eating. Very cute. Is it a reference to Pokemon Cafe? Or just coincidental? I haven't played cafe in a long time and while I know Mewtwo can show up in it, I don't know much beyond that.

Also, I'm not gonna lie, it's kind of refreshing to see him realize he needs help and that, while he does hesitate and struggle a bit with his anxiety, he DOES manage to take that first step. That's a big deal and it isn't easy! He should be proud of himself!

My only critique - and it is minor - is that I kind of find myself wondering if he'd get more than a few stares, depending on how the media portrayed him. It was also entirely feasible for him to get anything from dirty looks to people shyly approaching and asking for his autograph or something like that. I kind of wish we got to see a little bit more of how he was depicted just to make the reactions of those around him just a bit more clear. But like I said, this is relatively minor. And overall, I enjoyed the story!
–
The Wishing Star
Hm, what can I say about this one? I'll admit, I'm struggling to find much substantial to say, not because it's bad (it's definitely not bad) but because it kind of wears what it is on its sleeve. It's a feel-good story with some melancholic undertones.

I guess I could touch on how cute and amusing Jirachi’s interactions with the TV are. I mean. If you slept for 1000 years only to wake up and discover such incredible technology, wouldn't you be enamored too?

And I do like that Jirachi gets a happy ending here. It’s just nice sometimes to see them get a happy ending. They’d been counting each day that passed fully expecting to have to sleep again at the end. Now that I mention that, though, I wonder if having Jirachi count down the days instead of counting up could have helped push that theme even further. They only have so much time left, and they want to enjoy it! Then suddenly, that countdown is gone! On the other hand, counting up does let you say that they’re still there on the eighth day. So it has its emotional perks as well.

Idk, just food for thought. Not much else to say on this one.
—
The Dauntless Shield
And so, we come to the current last snippet. I have to say. I find it kind of cute in a tragic way that Zamezenta thinks of battles. The way that he admires Leon for his sportsmanship and completely defeating without killing his opponents really speaks to the era that he’s from and implies a lot about what he’d been through before joining up with Hop without really going into the details.

And we see that again at the end when he’s playing with Cinderace (which, by the way, picturing Zamezenta doing the dog play-crouch is a really cute mental image). At the end, when he focuses on how sport and play can thrive (in place of the real strife and war he would have experienced.) It kind of puts Zamezenta in the place of someone who has been through and suffered a lot. He’s seen horrible things. But those things are gone now. And now he can finally relax and enjoy life. Maybe I’m reading into it a bit too much, but that’s the vibe I got.

Anyways, I think that’s all I had to say on this one, so I think I’ll wrap up here. I had a lot of fun with these. They’re short and fairly simple snippets, but they have a lot of charm. And sometimes, that’s just the kind of story I want. Thanks for sharing!

 

[Nekodatta]

Ehi! I read this collection of short stories and found them quite adorable.

It's nice seeing various legendaries in a casual setting and I'm curious what you could write about for a lot of them!

Chapter 1:
This one was really wholesome and nice. It's nice to think that Arceus sometimes just wants to actually experience the world it has created, and I like that the characterization given here seems to pretty much reflect the canon one we got in Legends Arceus, that they do enjoy observing humans and Pokémon exactly because they are imperfect and impossible to predict.
Perfection leads to no growth.

Chapter 2:
This chapter was really nice in showing Mewtwo in a setting that's usually not explored. Most of Mewtwo's appearances everywhere are always emphasising its strength, not really paying any attention to the fact that maybe Mewtwo doesn't even want to fight.
Some Pokedex entries mention that it has a "cruel nature" buuuut the anime and movie portrayal have always gone the exact opposite direction so I've always felt that they were... Pretty much heavily biased lol, so it's nice seeing a Mewtwo that just wants to live in peace and is slowly managing to do so.
I do kind of wanted to see a bit more of the world this setting is painting, because a Pokémon sitting at a café with no "trainer" seems to be normal... Or at least normal for Mewtwo? So is he a kind of special case or supposedly any Pokémon could do it? It gave a bit of a dream - like vibe to it.

Chapter 3:

This one has to be my favourite, I immediately understood what the old man was probably thinking of as a wish. When you think about it, Jirachi's life is pretty tragic: awake for one week every thousands years, any human or Pokémon friend he would make in those seven days would be gone the next time he wakes up...
The old man actually got his wish in a way, because he treated Jirachi like his own child in those seven days, and will continue to do so now that he's freed!
I really liked this one, Jirachi's innocent view of the world around him makes it an extremely charming read!

Chapter 4:
I like that you used Zamazenta since it feels like it's the most overlooked of the two. It has a nice and cozy feel, I like that the most important/serious thing Zamazenta now has to deal with is meeting Hop's mom and chasing a ball ahah.
The last line feels really poignant, the world has changed from Zamazenta's time, and that's nice, a world like this is what they fought for, or at least that's what it feels like to me.

 

[System Error]

Searching for smaller stuff tonight, I happened across this little thing. Yeah, this definitely seems up my caffeine fueled head right now. Let's read the whole thing all at once.

Let's start off at the first of these, which is about the big man (centuar like thing?) upstairs. Talk about starting off with a bang, or should I say, a big bang? It's an interesting implication that the thing fell asleep after creating the world. I'm pretty sure that's also in certain mythologies as well. Or was it in the Pokedexes? Nope, that was you. Sorrow spilling from their eyes is sort of an awkward metaphor.Apparently views things from its dreams, which makes me wonder where the twin dream moon Pokemon fit into the pantheon. An interesting reason for why it created the world to be imperfect. And totally valid too. But wait! Something is amiss?! I'm amused by outright saying it was an "age" and it still hasn't figured it out. An all-powerful creator, but not all-knowing. Somehow, that amused. And then it comes out: they want to be a part of it in some way. It's interesting that you chose Sunkern here as the Pokemon with the human Arceus appears before: one of the weakest in terms of game stats with one of the strongest in terms of game stats before gimmicks get involved. And he wants...pettings. Okay, I chuckled a little. Even a god likes pettings. And then the girl calls her friends up to come give him more pettings, also this is set (and was created) before Hisui so rip to that. There is something too hilarious about people coming up to pet the mysterious new Pokemon not knowing it was the creator of all things. This one amused hard.

And we're heading in the exact opposite direction wherein the subject is the creation of man. Born from Mew's shadow. That's definitely not literal, but it's funny to think about it being the case.

Initial impressions from the very beginning: it seems Mewtwo is just sort of chilling and walking down the street. Or rather, just having a bite to eat at a local cafe. How did he even get the money for it? It's sort of weird and I assume the rest of it is going to explain what the deal is there. In any case, that the first movie was canon in the sense that it was the film version, priceless. There seems to be a shared theme here of powerful Pokemon just observing the world from up close and relaxing in it. I wonder if the other two are going to be the same way? I like the little detail of having to watch his tail. I don't know, it's just a good attention to detail of a problem he might have to deal with. Shining and moving things from the windows? Wonder what those are? Mew's a mother? Well, I suppose "Mew gave birth". And is apparently really a cat. And Mewtwo finally works up the courage to go see a therapist.

This one was weird. Like, the deal with a Pokemon just walking down the street isn't really gone into. It's not something you'd see in every world, yet here he is doing so without being seen as unusual or anything. The content here was good, but have a lot of logistics questions, I guess.

So onto the third, and from the description and first line, there can only be one thing this is. A thousand year sleep must suck, especially seeing how much the world changes. The genie is awake and there's some guy here who wishes for...care. Mixed emotions in the guy. Buttering up the thing? Hey, at least Jirachi only sleeps for a bit. Moving visions with the buttoned slab, that's a ridiculous and amazing description, heh. Midway through I'm wondering what the deal is here. Knowing about spaghetti technically isn't an anachronism, but it feels a bit unlikely given invention and introduction locations. Meanwhile the sad man is getting a little creepy. Especially with the revelation of the mysterious locked room with the stars and painting, maybe some deceased kid that he wants to wish back to life? Or simply wanting a temporary substitute? Or maybe they really are just that nice. And yup, there it is, the lost child. It seems it's within Jirachi's power to do so, though I imagine it'd be a bit of a pain with legal stuff, but then here comes the selfless wish that I also thought might've been coming: freedom. And hey, it continues the theme so far. Even if the world is just this one room.

Cute little one here. I don't have much else to say about it, really.

And onto the fourth of these, which puts us in unfamiliar terrority compared to the first three: a weapon pup in the Swordverse. It's not about power with the shield doggo, it's about defense. Shame Hop was in the wrong universe, but then again, maybe he'd be too defensive in this one. Old wolf? Interesting to consider Zammy thinks of himself that way. And ha, the tail wagging. I am genuinely surprised that Hop has never visited his mother with his legendary before this point. Yes, I imagine flying taxis would not have the room in there. It seems Arceus is not the only one who is getting pettings here. Another theme those two share, I suppose. And again, we come to the fic's recurring theme of legendaries just absorbing life and the world. Wasn't so much there in the third part except in the future tense. Interesting choice of words to refer to Cinderace as an ally, I suppose this meeans they aren't friends. Yet. A bit of fetch seems to make the bond happen, except that ally is still the term used. It's a good thing that there is peace, just don't tell him about Surge's history. Pokemon Gun and all that.

Finishing this up right as I started to get queasy of all things for whatever reason. I liked this. It's absolutely not what I expected going into it, which was legendaries being high and mighty and maybe lonely. In fact, it's the exact opposite. That is a good thing and shows that they really aren't all that different from any other Pokemon, just more revered and maybe stronger. Not a lot of fics go in that direction, I feel. Not even canon, except for that one declaration of Ghetsis. But this is goofy, it's fluffy, and I like it.