Pokémon Pokémon Mythos & Lore

UnderSeaWings · Feb 8, 2022

Ever wonder what fairy tales your favourite Pokémon characters were told before they were tucked into bed? Well, you can get a brief glimpse into that here. The whole focus of this thread is going to be stories and folklore that one might find in the Pokémon world. Some of it will have canon basis and others will not. I will also share some of the inspirations for the story, if your so inclined. :) Hope you enjoy.

Dare not touch the Pokémon's body.
In but three short days, all emotions will drain away.
Look not into the Pokémon's eyes.
In but an instant, you'll have no recollection of who you are.
Return home, but how? When there is nothing to remember?
Above all, above all, harm not the Pokémon.
In a scant five days, the offender will grow immobile in entirety.

From Sinnoh's Archives

In the mists of time nearly forgotten, there were once three sisters who sought to cross the land of Hisui in order to marry. Along their way they came across an injured Pokémon limbing along in the grass, gravely wounded. It was an oddly shaped thing, pale blue in body, with a pink head. Tendrils draped down from the back of it's head and it had two tails that ended in a shape like a crowned leaf.

The youngest of the three sisters, overcome with emotion, asked her sisters to help her forge for Oran berries to feed the creature in order to help it recover. The two older sisters agreed, as they were in no rush, and quickly did they find the berries. The Pokémon smiled and shimmered before a mystic voice spoke into the three sisters' minds, "Thank you for a moment of your time, and your compassion. May your passion always bear fruit. Come to Lake Verity and I will ensure your life is a blessed one."

Moving on, the three sisters soon found their path blocked by the great mountains that split the land of Hisui in half. A storm from the south made going through the warmer lands a treacherous ordeal, and so the three sisters went to the cold lands of the north. The lands of the north are harsh, and will gladly take those unprepared for the journey. The oldest sister, however, was knowledgeable in the ways of the land. She could read the storms in the skies and foresee when the winds would start or cease, just as easily as one might tell red from blue. The oldest could tell when camp needed to be set, and why. When the great snowstorms of the north blew, the oldest was the one to plan out where the safest place to rest was.

One night, as they pitched their tents amongst one of the northernmost places of Hisui where man traveled, a twin-tailed Pokémon flew towards the campfire they pitched. The two younger sisters flinched back, wary of this unknown creature. This creature was like the limbing one of before, though it had a yellow crest that covered it's head like a Krabby's shell rather than the pink tendrils. It's eyes were nearly shut, just slants upon it's face. The oldest of the sisters bowed and greeted the Pokémon, "Great Spirit, I welcome you to our hearth. What is it you seek?"

"I have heard from my sibling to the south, of a trio of sisters who impressed them. I have been watching you as you traveled through my lands. I have found great joy in watching you as you read my lands as a scholar may read from a scroll. You have my blessing, smartest of the three. My lands are open to you, should you know where to look." And with a flash of light, the Spirit disappeared.

The storms died down, and passage to the southern lands beyond the mountain quickly became available for the three sisters. They passed the tall grasslands, and then became stuck at a river. The oldest sister judged the speed of the river, and tested the waters. She found the waters to be too fast and cold to swim across. The youngest beseeched the local Bidoof for aid, and received none. The middle sister, however, took an axe made from Tumblestone and a fallen branch, and began to chop down a thick, wide tree. She continued long into the evening, when her sisters had fallen asleep, but never gave up. A Luxray, hunting in the night, came up to the middle sister and thought to steal away an easy meal, and fell to the might of her axe.

"You have great will, young one," whispered a third twin-tailed Spirit. This one was a dark blue head, shaped like an arrowhead, and wide, yellow eyes. "Many humans would have given up by now…what makes you so different? Keep your will strong and sharp, and you will always be welcome in these lands." And in the blink of an eye, the Spirit disappeared.

Finally, the trio of sisters arrived and were wed. It was quite unfortunate that their parents did not wed them well. The three sisters were wed and taken off to their new homes. The three sisters were separated, and lived all across Hisui. Each sister's husband had their own vices and evils. The oldest sister's husband was a man stuck in the needle, paranoid of every shadow. The middle sister's husband, a vagrant and bandit. And the youngest sister's husband was a man given to his passions, the bottle and the dice. The sisters' only good fortune was that each sister lived in the land of the Spirit that had blessed them. These lands provided for them over the years, when their husbands did not.

One day, the youngest sister ran out to the Great Lake of her home. She knelt by the waters and wept, three letters in hand. As her tears fell to the water, the pink headed Spirit slowly rose. "Why do you cry, what has stirred your emotions so?" Asked the Spirit, head cocked to the side in confusion.

"Oh Spirit! Everything is going wrong. My husband is a fool, and my sisters are hurting. My oldest sister is stuck sharing a bed with a paranoid fool, and no one has heard from my other sister in years." The youngest sister shuffled, touching her scarf to ensure it was in place. "My husband is an awful man. He is never home, and does not work. He plays our money away, and leaves nothing for us to live off of. It is only by your blessing that we have enough food to eat. My husband has become suspicious of how often I am able to provide for us, and has left me a letter demanding I give him the store of money I must have to him. But I have no money to give, for it is your blessing that provides for us. I fear what he will do when I do not give him what he wants, for he is a man of emotion." Again, the youngest sister pauses to fiddle with her scarf.

The Spirit gazed upon the youngest sister and sensed the great hurts that the woman was feeling, both physical and emotional. "Tell your husband that your treasure is buried by my shores, here at Lake Verity. The truth is made obvious here. I apologize that I could not protect you from your husband before, will you let me now?" The youngest sister gazed, tear-eyed at the Spirit before crying. "Thank you, Spirit."

And so, the youngest sister went home and told her husband that her secret treasure was hidden by the shore of Lake Verity, guarded by a growing tree, split nearly in two such that they made a 'V' from the ground up. Immediately, the husband left with a shovel in hand to dig up the treasure. As he was digging, a voice broke the quiet of the lake, "Why do you come here, young traveler?"

"I come for treasure, that my stupid wife has hidden from me. Get in my way, and I will be burying you in a shallow grave, outsider." Though the husband was not well liked in his town, he still knew every voice of those that lived within it. And he knew, this voice did not belong to anyone he knew.

"And if I do not get out of the way? What will you do then?" The voice whispered in his ear, a small sigh tickling his ear, "Then I'll…" the man paused, as he touched the silken flesh of the Spirit with the skin of his cheek, from where it had been hovering just behind him. The man paled and backpedaled away from the Spirit, dropping everything before fleeing. "I fear," the voice continued, echoing after him "that it may be too late for you~"

The husband hurried back to his village and told everyone of what he saw. Given that the husband was a man of the bottle, few believed him. They thought he had fallen too deeply into his drink and just encountered one of the Pokémon that lived by the lake in his drunkenness. That changed, when after three days, all emotion left the man. Nothing thrilled the husband anymore, not drink or die. Lost without the passions that had fuelled his life, the youngest sister's husband fell into a passionless slump. All food became as ash in his mouth, and every touch felt like course sand against his skin. Life became pain for the man, and nothing could motivate him anymore, as all of life had lost it's passion for him, and thus he withered away.

And so, the youngest sister found her respite.

One day, the oldest sister having fled her husband's home for the wild places of the snow fields, came across the yellow-crested Spirit. She had traveled far from the roads, and wandered into the Wilds. She knew her only hope for respite from her troubles was to find the Spirit with whom she had gained some favour. Upon finding the great lake, which thereafter would come to be known as Acuity, she knelt down and prayed, and the Spirit came forth.

"Why are you so far from your hearth, what has driven you so far into my wilds?" asked the Spirit, curious. Few explored their lands as much as this young woman had, and no human had found their lake before. Once more, this woman impressed it.

"Great Spirit, I have been driven from my home by a man of little wit. Some burden has driven my husband deep into the needle, and he jumps at every shadow. One night, not long ago, he thought of me as an ill spirit out to steal his soul. He drove me from our home, and has locked me out. He steadfastly refuses to let me back in to get any of my things, or to retrieve some funds. The way back to town is long, and I believe he'll hunt me down should I try to get help from there."

This greatly troubled the Spirit, for there was no way to solve the problem by way of wit, and it had thought the young woman's travels through their domain to be based upon a search for further knowledge. It knew little of the ways of humanity, and so did not see the troubles the oldest sister had faced as such till now. The Spirit was ashamed that it's lack of knowledge had allowed the woman's plight to continue. "Head to town, and I shall handle your husband. He will not trouble you anymore." At the confused look upon the oldest sister's face, the Spirit chuckled, "You need not worry, I will be able to handle him and his Pokémon. I am sorry I did not notice your troubles sooner."Unsure, but trusting in the Spirit whose lands had provided for her during her exile from civilization, the oldest sister traversed the path to town.

After she left, the yellow-crested Spirit went to the couple's cabin and surprised the oldest sister's husband. In his paranoia, he threw a book at the Spirit and looked it in the Spirit's wide open eyes. "Blessed you have been, with a mind to hold all the secrets in the world. Yet you waste it away, and let your mind fall to madness. It is clear you are not using what I have blessed you with, so I take it back." With a flash of light, and a flick of it's tails, the Spirit took back the mind he had given to the man at the start of all things. All that was left was an empty mind piloting an empty body. A husk, for what is a man who has lost all his knowledge but an empty hollow?

The townspeople found the oldest sister's husband standing still in the married couple's cabin, staring blankly ahead with face slack. All the people of Snowpoint knew the signs, for only those that displeased the Spirit of the land were left in such a state. And so, the oldest sister found respite with the people in the north.

As for the Middle sister, her husband strayed far and wide across Hisui, plundering the roadways and stealing away that which was not his. He hid his wife away from the world, leaving her to her lonesome in a small cabin in the midst of a forest surrounding a great lake. He made merry and treated his wife as an afterthought, only ever coming back to resupply the cabin. Still, he had a sinister purpose in mind for the middle sister, for what he wanted was an heir to his trade of cruelty.

Around the land his cabin lay, this husband had a Pokémon grow a great thorn barrier, preventing his wife from leaving him. This husband, more cunning than the other two, knew that his success lay in providing enough for his wife and so ensured that she would never want for anything, and laid with her every time he returned to restock the cabin.

The middle sister, in time, came to have a child with him and hid the child away from him. She knew that her husband did not truly care for her, and the fact that he lay with her in spite of the lack of passion in their relationship let her know what he wanted from her. She also knew he was not a good man; for bloodstained clothing with cuts and nicks are not easily hidden when you are someone's only connection to the outside world.

In the weeks and months in between the husband's visits, the middle sister tried leaving but the thorn barrier beat her at every turn. One day, skin torn and bleeding, the middle sister went to the one place where she could get clean water, the great lake. She washed her clothing and the clothing of her child in the waters, unintentionally tinting the waters with the blood from her cuts as her child played in the woods nearby. She gazed out over the waters and wished that she could just swim away to safety, but the great lake was deep and had an undertow that would suck her under, never to be seen again.

Before she had her child, she might have considered trying to swim away or trying to make a canoe with which to paddle away. But with her child to consider, she could not leave through a path so perilous. Her child was older now, growing close to their third year and the signs of their presence were now impossible to hide. Her husband was due to return soon, and she dreaded finding out what he would do. And so, with freedom so close yet so far, the middle sister cried. And as blood and tears mingled in the waters, the third Spirit rose from them.

"What pains you so, one so strong in Will?" asked the Spirit, "What has made you bleed and cry in my waters?" And so the middle sister explained her situation to the Spirit, letting it know of all her woes. "I see," answered the Spirit, "you have endured for longer than should be expected of anyone. Truly, you are great in Will."

And so, the Spirit turned from the sister to her child. "Is this child yours, or his?" And the sister told the Spirit that the child was hers, and has never known of their father, "The child is why I cry, for my husband is due to return soon and I will not be able to hide my child away safely from him anymore. The cabin is too small, and my husband is quick to notice any changes. I fear he suspects, already, that I have hidden something from him."

"Fear not," declared the Spirit, "I have a place where you and your child can stay when the time comes. How long till your husband arrives, do you think?" asked the Spirit. The sister answered, "He is due to arrive tomorrow." The Spirit chuckled, and asked for permission to take the sister and her child away to the island in the middle of their lake where they would both be safe from any harm the husband might visit upon them. The middle sister gave the Spirit her permission, and in a flash of pink light, the sister and her child were teleported away to the island in the middle of the lake. The Spirit bade the sister to relax for a time with her child, and that it would return with some necessities before lying in wait for her husband.

And so when the next day came and the middle sister's husband returned, the Spirit was waiting for him. Upon seeing the Spirit in the cabin, the husband cried out and fell to his knees, "Oh Spirit, how can I please you?" While the man was prostrating before the Spirit, there was deceit in his heart. He hoped, by appealing to the Spirit, that some fortune might be had.

"I come to you, by the pleading of your wife. I regret to be the bearer of ill tidings, for she has passed in childbirth. She is no longer with us, in the world of the living," bowing their head, the Spirit turned to leave.

"Wait!" bellowed the husband, "You lie! I know she still lives, for she was not with child when last I watched my lands a month past. I know she has somehow convinced you to hide her away, with my heir. Give them over to me, to do with as I please and I shall let you leave unharmed." And with a casual toss, he unleashed a large Haunter from it's PokéBall.

"I must refuse," stated the Spirit, "for your unfit for the duties that have been given to you. Should you continue, there will be dire consequences. Leave now, or pay the price." And with a flourish of their tails, a red shean glowed throughout the cabin from the gems on it's tails. "You are unworthy of my Gift."

With a Swift command, the middle sister's husband set his Pokémon to Shadow Claw the Spirit. And as soon as those claws etched their way through the Spirit's body, the Haunter stopped and fled to the Wilds for it knew what was to come. Shouting after his Pokémon, the husband froze as the cabin walls sparkled and shone like polished gold. And as the man tried to release a second PokéBall he found that it did not work. "This is my 'Magic Room' and within it none of your human contraptions will work. Know that you have five days to get your things in order before I come back and take what is mine." And so, the Spirit vanished in a flash of pink light.

The husband, fearing for his life, fled his small domain and traveled as far as he could away from that place. In every town he stopped, he told his version of the tale, before continuing on. Little did he know that his wife and child followed after with the Spirit guiding the way, correcting the story at every stop.

On the fifth day, all Will left the middle sister's husband. Though there was still thought left in his mind, he could not control his limbs. Slumping down in the middle of the road, the Spirit came before him. "Before she came to be your wife, the woman was mine . For having middled in my affairs, I have returned the favour. I curse you, I curse you to a life without Will and a life as long as the misery you have caused in others." And so, the Spirit left that place, never to be seen by the husband again.

And without Will, without the determination to do anything, the man remained slumped in the roads until another bandit passed him by. Seeing the husband down on his luck, the bandit made off with all the husband had on hand and left him to his fate. A day after that, a caravan found the naked man, and took pity on him. The caravan took him along with them, and left him in a town for the healers to care for.

Thus the husband remained in the healers' care for the rest of his long life, with none in the town knowing of his life before and only knowing that though the man lived that he was capable of doing nothing. And so, the middle sister's husband faded into obscurity, trapped within his own mind yet unable to do anything.

The Spirit returned to the cabin in which the middle sister had lived for so long and cleared away the trees and thorns that blocked away the land from the rest of the world. "This land, I return to you. Live here, if you will, and know that the land will continue to provide for you." And so, the middle sister found her respite, and all three sisters lived happily ever after.

Legends Arceus: Mesprit is known as the Being of Emotion. In legend, this Pokémon was feared, as any who showed disrespect would have their emotions thrown into disarray.
Legends Arceus: A Pokémon feared but also respected for stealing away the memories of evildoers. I have found records that suggest Uxie holds dominion over knowledge.
Legends Arceus: The dreaded Being of Willpower, Azelf. Legends tell of this Pokémon manipulating the will of its adversaries and turning them into puppets of its own.

AN: Anyways, howdy everyone. This is my first time posting a thread here on Thousand Roads. Nice to meet you all. I'll slowly be transferring some of my stories over here to share. The vast majority are going to be Pokémon focused, so I am pretty sure I am sharing with an audience that will appreciate it, ahahaha.

Inspirations: 'The Tale of the Three Brothers' of Harry Potter canon. I really liked the way that story flowed and I listened to the movie's retelling of it over and over as I wrote this one up. I think some other fairy tales from The Brothers' Grimm also worked their way into it, but I cannot think of any specifically that may have worked their magic for me here.

UnderSeaWings · Feb 11, 2022

In a far-off place, in a region who's name is forgotten, there was a young woman. Her name is best left unsaid, for they say that it brings her attention. She lived in the mining town, nestled by the roof of the world and was adored by all within it.

A rich man from a city on the far side of the region passed through and was besotted by her beauty. He implored her to spend the night with him but she refused. He did this for twelve days and was twelve times refused. On the thirteenth time he did not take no for an answer.

Before he could do the deed, the woman took her own life. Panicked by the dead body before him, and worried that the townspeople would turn on him if they found him with the body, he took the woman's body as high up the world's roof as he dared and left it there. He fled the town immediately after, sure that his dark deeds would go unpunished.

The spirit of the woman cried and lamented her fate. Her wails pierced the world's roof and echoed into the existence on the other side. There, the Revenger heard her.

Within the ice slicked walls of the cavern her spirit languished, the Revenger drew their insectile head and clicked their mandibles. "Why do you wail so, young maiden?"

"A rich man came into town," the spirit replied, "He lusted after me and for thirteen days asked for me to lie with him. I refused each time and so he tried to have his way with me. I refused to let him tarnish me so, so I took my own life. Now, the man has carried my body far from home and left to continue living his own life unpunished for his misdeeds. I worry for the women there, for if he is willing to try and force his way once will he not try and do so again?"

"I have heard your thoughts and would see to it that he is punished. I cannot act in your world though, or my Father will see it and lock me further away. I can, however give you the guise of one of Father's creations. If I do so, will you do my will for me?"

"So long as it is in matter like this, I am willing to do so and more," answered the spirit. Thus, the Revenger worked their will upon the world. Ice creeped into her soul, and a new body was fashioned from the snow for her.

The Revenger guided her to the city in which the rich man lived. Every path the spirit passed down, ice trailed behind. As her anger grew with the man's nearing presence, so too did a blizzard build around her. As she arrived at the man's door, she could hear him laughing as a servant ran from him.
Guilted in hoarfrost, the door blew open with a gale. The rich man stopped, and the servant escaped out a window. "Who are you," his voice but a whisper over the roaring of the storm, "who would dare enter my home!"

The temperature of the room dropped, the fire blowing out and dropping everything into darkness. "I am she who you left at heaven's door!" The spirit cried, "I am she who you once wished to lie with. You wished to spend one night with me. Be glad," she whispered in his ear, a sleeve tickling his side, "you'll get to spend eternity with me instead."

And with that, she carried the screaming man away on winter winds. It is said that throughout the region, you could hear his cries of fright that day. Anytime you hear a winter gale make a sound like a cry or a scream, it is an attempt by that man to gain rescue by some poor soul. And from that day onwards, the young woman did as the Revenger willed her to do.

AN: Above story is a quick one, with me taking the tale of La Llorona and editing it to be more Pokémon world friendly and combining it with the idea of yurei and shikome... I may or may not have been mildly inspired by the mythos of Japan's death goddess (Izanami-no-Mikoto) as well.

UnderSeaWings · Feb 13, 2022

Long ago, after Arceus had laid the command that all of creation should spread forth and he had bade his disciples to continue his works, there was strife amongst the humans in one of the many lands that Brother Groudon had brought forth. The land was a fertile place, filled with lush grasslands and fruitful forests, and this fertility had brought forth a multitude of humanity to bear. Two great tribes of humanity had made roots upon the land’s furthest most coasts and had spread forth until they met at the middle of their fertile homeland, where a third tribe lived. Each of the two coastal tribes claimed the land to be theirs and did not wish to share, and thus human war came into the world and was visited upon all three tribes.

Sister Zygarde, the Pokémon of Order, found humanity’s war to be displeasing to her as grasslands were put to the fire and forests were cut down to provide supplies. Still, war was a new concept and Sister Zygarde waited for humanity to resolve their issues on their own for such brutal fighting must surely take as great a toll upon the humans as it did on the environment around them. And so Sister Zygarde waited for the humans to stop their war for a year, and then five years, and then finally ten years.

After the tenth year of war passed by without an end to the war, Sister Zygarde found an end to her patience. Going out to the Great Seas, she wandered in search of one who might aid her in stopping the war that humanity fought with itself. And in the midst of the Great Sea, Brother Rayquaza the Dragon of the Skies, saw Sister Zygarde swimming in the midst of the sea and knew something was wrong. Zygarde, afterall, is a being of the land and for her to be so far out at sea meant something terrible must be happening.

“Sister Zygarde, what troubles you such that you would take to the seas? It is clear that you do not travel to another land to oversee. What has brought you to this extreme?” beseeched the Great Dragon of the Skies.

“The humans in the land I was watching over, my Brother, have engaged in something most dire.Two mighty tribes fight amongst themselves, not for the sake of self-improvement or enlightenment, but for the purpose of killing the other,” sighed Sister Zygarde, “so much unneeded blood soaks the land. I know not if it is territory or greed that drives them, but they bring the land around them into discord and I could no longer watch the lands there suffer so.”

Seeing his sister so bereaved for the land that they held so dear, Brother Rayquaza pondered for a moment, before inspiration struck, “What if we made an obstruction between the human tribes, so that they could not by-pass the obstacle to fight one another. A great mountain range would make it so that the humans would not see one another again.”

And so Sister Zygarde became ecstatic at this idea, and left to try it at once after thanking their skyward brother. It was a late evening when Sister Zygarde reached the shore of the conflict-ridden land. Upon reaching the shore, Sister Zygarde reached out and willed the bowels of the earth to buckle and raise above the clouds. Thus, a multitude of mountains came forth from the earth and dominated the skyline of the land forevermore. And so Mount. Silver and the Tyrant Mountain Range came to be.

Feeling good about their work, Sister Zygarde tunneled into one of the mountains and slept. Sister Zygarde slept three nights and two days, before a great, many cries awoke it. A small gathering of humans, wearing the clothes of the peaceable third tribe that had lived in between the two fighting tribes had gathered in the valley outside of the cave. Together, they grieved and lamented their dead, of which there were many. Upon seeing the green head of Sister Zygarde watching them from the cave, the people cried out, “Oh Great Spirit, hear us! Our homes and our fields have been destroyed in the great calamity that brought forth this mountain. We know not how many of our small tribe still live, and now have nothing to eat and nowhere to sleep. Please, help us!”

Great guilt struck Sister Zygarde, upon realizing that they had brought forth much grievance amongst these people. In their guilt, Sister Zygarde let out a great cry that sundered the mountainside from the cave all the way down to the ocean. The people of the third tribe, taking this as a sign, walked down the new slope and found the sea and rejoiced at the familiar sight. And Sister Zygarde followed them, saddened by the devastation they had thoughtlessly caused by so radically changing the environment.

At the sea’s edge Sister Zygarde and the third tribe met Brother Lugia, who had heard their sister’s mournful cry as they were flying by and came to investigate. They lingered in the water, head just poking out of the sea and asked, “Why do you cry, Sister Zygarde? Is it the mountain that you have made that makes you so sad? I think it is a beautiful mountain range that you have made.”

“No, it is not the mountain,” explained Sister Zygarde, “that makes me sad. It is the fact that I made it without thought and have caused these people great tragedy that saddens me. In hoping to quell the fighting between the two coastal tribes, I made the mountain range to separate them. In doing so, I fear I have condemned this peaceful tribe to die without a home just as many of their tribesmen have already died in my making of the mountains.”

“Is there nothing that you could do to help them?” asked Brother Lugia. Gazing up at the mountains that Sister Zygarde had just made, and seeing that the clouds could obscure their peaks, Brother Lugia questioned Sister Zygarde, “Surely, with your powers great enough to raise the ground to the skies above, you could raise up islands from the sea floor. Why not make these people a new home, far from the shores here so that they do not become entangled in the fighting should the coastal tribes meet one another at sea.”

Shaking their head, Sister Zygarde sighed, “I wish it was that easy, Brother Lugia. I do not have any dominion over the waters or the sea, and so I cannot raise islands for these people. If I asked Brother Groudon to assist in making these people a home, then surely Brother Kyogre would take great offense at my asking for the creation of land in their domain. And if I asked Brother Kyogre to move the waters back to allow these people a home on an island of my making, then Groudon would think I was stealing their domain with my making of land where there had been no land before.”

Frowning in thought, Brother Lugia pondered the problem. “What if,” proposed Brother Lugia after much thought, “I beat back the waters, so that you could raise the land. That way, Brother Groudon does not become involved. Brother Groudon is in the midst of making a large land mass at this time, so we can tell him that we did not wish to disturb him from his greatest project when all we needed were a few small islands.”

Sister Zygarde interrupted, asking, “Then, how can we deal with Brother Kyogre? They deal with the currents, and by making an island we interrupt them and surely they will know as soon as we start.”

“Ah,” proclaimed Brother Lugia with a happy splash of his tail, “We make many small islands, so that the current is not disturbed overly much. I have assisted Brother Kyogre with their currents before, so I can tell you that as sure as my feathers are white that Brother Kyogre does not notice every current in the sea.”

Happily convinced that there would be no trouble, Sister Zygarde swam out some distance into the sea with Brother Lugia. When they had covered a suitable distance that the shores of the land were but a distant memory, Brother Lugia took flight and beat their wings with such force that the seas parted. But still, the ocean floor was not yet revealed. Frowning in concentration, Brother Lugia swept their tail and smacked it into the water that remained and the ocean floor was revealed. Sister Zygarde called forth land, and the first of the Orange Islands was made.

The two Legendaries did this many times, and many islands were made. This is why each of the islands are the shape they are today, a great circular shape from the great winds that Brother Lugia’s wings brought forth to beat back the waters along with a deformation from where Brother Lugia’s tail smacked into the sea. As Brother Lugia beat his wings to repel the ocean, three large feathers came loose and spiraled off in the winds he created.

The first feather flew and came to the shores of the mainland. There, a wildfire raged and consumed the grassland in it’s fury. The ash that was made in the fire was fertile, and would ensure the next generation of grass grew better than the last. Into the wildfire, Brother Lugia’s feather fell, and from the wildfire a great, yellow bird took flight. This was the first Moltres; a great bird wreathed in flames. Sister Moltres, like the wildfire she was birthed from, brings with it destruction and rebirth and so came to be known as a bringer of the Spring. When Sister Moltres leaves, all know that Autumn has arrived.

The second feather flew a great distance, carried to great heights. When Brother Lugia’s feather finally came to rest upon the earth once more, it was upon a glacier that had traveled down from the icy lands of the north. The ice was sterile, and could not bring forth any life on it’s own. The glacier itself was unstable and should someone lost at sea have come upon it, they would have surely been found no mercy from it. A gale picked up from the north and as the gale reached a crescendo, from the glacier came forth a great, blue bird. This was the first Articuno; a great bird that glistened as if made of ice. Sister Articuno, like the glacier from which she was born, is cold and without mercy. She signals the winter, whether one is ready for it or not, bringing doom to those not prepared.

The third, and final, feather flew and came upon a thunderstorm as it was blown over the sea. The storm crackled with lightning that refused to touch the seas, dancing along the clouds. A thermal caught Lugia’s third feather, and it was blown up into the storm clouds. Lightning flashed, and from the clouds descended a great, yellow and black bird. This was the first Zapdos; a great bird that embodied the unpredictable nature of lightning itself. Every clap of it’s wings brought forth a surge of lightning that either danced across the clouds or struck the waters below. Sister Zapdos and the thunderstorms she brings herald the arrival of the summer monsoons, warning that her storms have arrived.

Each of the Sister Birds knew their Father the moment they came into the world, and knew of the good work that he was doing. Motivated to help him, the three Sisters came to newly forming islands as Brother Lugia’s strength waned. Warmly, they greeted him and he knew the moment he saw them that they were his Daughters. Able to now relax, the three Sister Birds worked together to form the last of the islands. The smallest islands were the first that they made, each working alone. This they did for a time, before deciding to work on the last island together. This island would come to be the largest island of all the Orange Archipelago, Mandarin Island South.

With the many islands now prepared, Brother Lugia and his three daughters traveled with Sister Zygarde back to the shoreline of the mainland. Each of the Pokémon picked up some human travelers and departed with them to drop them all off on one specific island. The exact island has been lost to the mists of time, but it is from that island that all of the peoples of the Orange Archipelago hail from.

AN:
I have had this idea burning in me for about a week now. It all kind of started when I was looking at some creation myths and came across one of the creation myths of the Ainu people of Japan. They had a story that a water wagtail, a Japanese bird, was one day commanded by their creation deity to fly down to the earth and make habitable lands. This was due to the fact that all of the world was water and loose mud. And so, the Water Wagtail flew down to the earth and beat their wings to blow back the waters. They packed the mud together into hard earth with their feet and tail. In this way, the water wagtail formed the islands upon which the Ainu people would come to live.

I came to think of Lugia as a stand-in for the Water Wagtail pretty quickly, cause water bird is a water birb. I had a few different variations about who would form the mountains of Kanto/Johto (I named them the Tyrant Mountain Range because Tyranitar and because the people in the story were acting like tyrants over the peaceful tribe...two birds, one stone am I right?). At first, I had Groudon doing it, but decided he wouldn't really have the motivation to do it. Eventually decided to have it be Zygarde cause they fit into the theme pretty well.

I came up with the idea of having the Bird Trio be birthed from Lugia as a counterpart to Ho-Oh and their Beast Trio. Drew a little inspiration from the mythos of how the Beast Trio came to be and applied it to some of the PokéDex entries that the Bird Trio have. Moltres is noted as a bringer of the spring, Articuno bringing doom to those lost in the cold (the unprepared), and Zapdos is mentioned as bringing the summer rains (which for Japan means monsoons).

Expect Part Two of the Mythos to come in a week or two. :)

Negrek · Feb 13, 2022

Welcome to the forums! There are plenty of people around here who enjoy these sorts of mythological tales, so you're in good company.

You do a great job of capturing the feel and tone of a myth or fairy tale with these stories. They have that sort of dreamlike quality where the fantastic becomes matter-of-fact and the connections between events are as much metaphor as literal. The house surrounded by a wall of thorns was a particularly good example of that, I thought. I also thought it was interesting, in the first story, the way that the women's husbands related to the lake spirits who used their powers against them. The first husband is ruled by passion, so Mesprit's removal of emotions is a particular drain for him. But the second husband is an idiot, so Uxie simply removing his intellect wouldn't have done much! And the third husband's just an asshole in a way that doesn't have any particular relation to Azelf/willpower. Nice parallel structure with the women's three virtues and the three spirits who were drawn to each in turn. If anything, it would have been nice to see how the different women's talents were reflected in the ways they tried to deal with their respective husbands!

I thought it was very iteresting that Mesprit's advice to the youngest sister was to tell a lie about something at Lake Verity, heh.

I enjoy the portrayal of Giratina as a creature of revenge in the second story! A more insectlike take on it than I usually see. Very cool. This second story is a real classic froslass sort of fic. Ample room for myths about that particular pokémon; I wonder if we'll see more!

I think the third story is my favorite so far; perhaps I just have a thing for creation myths. At first I thought the continent in question was Sinnoh/Hisui, but I suppose Kanto/Johto are also split by a mountain range, aren't they? I haven't seen much fiction that deals with either the Orange Islands or the origin of Kanto's birds (in contrast to all the retellings of the Burnt Tower story), and I enjoyed seeing how you tied in their creation with the islands' formation. It also helps make Lugia's position of dominion over the three birds (per the anime, at least) make more sense. It was interesting to see Zygarde involved here, when they're usually associated with Kalos--but then, the birds show up in Kalos too, somehow, don't they? Interesting parallel.

Definitely curious to see where you'll take part two of this. Might be nice to have some indicator outside the author's note that this is just "part one" of a larger story since the previous stories were self-contained; I thought the story felt a bit incomplete as is, but without any indication that it would be continued, I just assumed that was how you'd intended for things to end! Very curious whether there will end up being repercussions with Kyogre/Groudon after all, heh. Or did you mean that you're going to be continuing the project overall in a couple weeks, rather than this specific story? Not entirely sure what "the Mythos" referred two when you were talking about Part Two, heh.

And thanks for sharing the inspiration/myths that these stories are drawn from! It's always fun to learn more about real-life lore and see how you've riffed on it to create something more pokémon-y.

If there's one thing to watch out for with these stories, I think it might be grammar/mechanics. There were three main things I noticed going through these: first, a lot of homophones and misused words--"limbed" instead of "limped," "guilted" instead of "gilded," "course" instead of "coarse," and so on. You're also using "it's" wrong; it should only be used in cases where you can substitute the words "it is" and still have things make sense. I think every time you used "it's" within these stories, you actually wanted "its" instead. Finally, you're having some problems with dialogue punctuation. You seemed to have things pretty well sorted out in the most recent story, but in the first especially, you had some tendency to capitalize dialogue tags like "The voice whispered" rather than keeping them lower-case and to use periods rather than commas when transitioning in or out of dialogue. Might be a good idea to review how all that's supposed to work. If you can clean up some of these grammar things I think it'll make it a bit easier to appreciate your stories without getting stuck on the occasional odd word or unclear passage.

I was also a bit confused by the one husband in the first story being described as "stuck in the needle." I haven't heard that saying before! Only thing I could think of meaning-wise was that he's a drug addict, but that wouldn't seem to fit the setting...

You might want to put some content warnings on this, though. Nothing is described in any detail, but we've definitely got some sexual assault, suicide, murder, etc. going on here.

All in all, this is a fun collection of stories, and you obviously have a lot of ideas about where to take the project from here. Welcome again, and if you're looking for some other stories to read, you might enjoy Persephone's World Myth Encyclopedia (if you don't already know it!) or kyeugh's collection of short stories from the Pokéworld's past. canisaries is also running a review swap for the next weekend that would be a good way to get more feedback on your story, if that's something you're interested in!

UnderSeaWings · Feb 16, 2022

Negrek said:
You do a great job of capturing the feel and tone of a myth or fairy tale with these stories. They have that sort of dreamlike quality where the fantastic becomes matter-of-fact and the connections between events are as much metaphor as literal. The house surrounded by a wall of thorns was a particularly good example of that, I thought. I also thought it was interesting, in the first story, the way that the women's husbands related to the lake spirits who used their powers against them. The first husband is ruled by passion, so Mesprit's removal of emotions is a particular drain for him. But the second husband is an idiot, so Uxie simply removing his intellect wouldn't have done much! And the third husband's just an asshole in a way that doesn't have any particular relation to Azelf/willpower. Nice parallel structure with the women's three virtues and the three spirits who were drawn to each in turn. If anything, it would have been nice to see how the different women's talents were reflected in the ways they tried to deal with their respective husbands!

I thought it was very iteresting that Mesprit's advice to the youngest sister was to tell a lie about something at Lake Verity, heh.

Thank you. I honestly feel like that was one of my best mythos stories at the moment, so I thought I would start strong here. I do agree, I liked the first sister/husband conflict the most. They were the first pair that I wrote up for this one, during the initial surge of inspiration.

The other two have their own connections. The second sister is the smart one, able to survive someone who has failed themselves. The references to drug abuse and paranoia are there to provoke the sensation of someone who is but a shell of who they used to be, a kind of antithesis to who the second sister was. I did some research on the subject and apparently needles have been used for drug injection since 1850’s, though they did a lot of injection cause they thought it would prevent the addiction. I kind of used some modern connotations cause I couldn’t find anything about how drugs were taken in the ten minutes when I originally wrote the section. The second sister is highly aware of the world around her and how to survive in it while her husband barely got by and was increasingly unaware of the world around him.

The third sister and her husband are a different kind of conflict. She has the Will to survive everything her husband throws her way, while he schemes and tries to exert His Will over her. I tried to convey that their conflict was a contest of Wills.

I’ll admit, I thought that the lying at Lake Verity but was pretty clever myself, haha.

Negrek said:
I enjoy the portrayal of Giratina as a creature of revenge in the second story! A more insectlike take on it than I usually see. Very cool. This second story is a real classic froslass sort of fic. Ample room for myths about that particular pokémon; I wonder if we'll see more!

I figured I would go with an alternate take of their appearance. Pretty inspired by arvalis’ art on DeviantArt.

Negrek said:
I think the third story is my favorite so far; perhaps I just have a thing for creation myths. At first I thought the continent in question was Sinnoh/Hisui, but I suppose Kanto/Johto are also split by a mountain range, aren't they? I haven't seen much fiction that deals with either the Orange Islands or the origin of Kanto's birds (in contrast to all the retellings of the Burnt Tower story), and I enjoyed seeing how you tied in their creation with the islands' formation. It also helps make Lugia's position of dominion over the three birds (per the anime, at least) make more sense. It was interesting to see Zygarde involved here, when they're usually associated with Kalos--but then, the birds show up in Kalos too, somehow, don't they? Interesting parallel.

Definitely curious to see where you'll take part two of this. Might be nice to have some indicator outside the author's note that this is just "part one" of a larger story since the previous stories were self-contained; I thought the story felt a bit incomplete as is, but without any indication that it would be continued, I just assumed that was how you'd intended for things to end! Very curious whether there will end up being repercussions with Kyogre/Groudon after all, heh. Or did you mean that you're going to be continuing the project overall in a couple weeks, rather than this specific story? Not entirely sure what "the Mythos" referred two when you were talking about Part Two, heh.

Part Two means a continuation of the Origins of the Orange Archipelago, no worries. I am pretty proud of the connections I made between Lugia and the Bird Trio, I’d been wanting to connect them and this felt like a pretty natural way to do so. I know how hard it is to find anything about the Orange Isles, so I thought this could be a fun little bit for the Orange fans. I’ll give a hint about Part Two, repercussions will be had.

In regards to Mythos, I am migrating the works over from other sites I’ve posted them on. Orange Archipelago I actually literally wrote up and posted here first though. Not all the works are here yet, so expect more of this soon.

UnderSeaWings · Feb 16, 2022

Once Upon a Time before Time, there was a Great Egg that sat amongst chaos and nothingness. This state of being did not last, and so the Great Egg hatched and out came forth Arceus. Arceus looked upon the chaos and nothingness and was displeased. Within the chaos, there was no time or space and this meant that there was nothing. Seeking to gain something, Arceus set in mind the concepts of Time and Space. These concepts, now conceived, brought forth Dialga and Palkia who immediately set forth creating all of Time and Space.

Arceus gazed upon Dialga and Palkia and their creations and was pleased. As Time span forward and Space expanded, a third Pokémon came into being. For as long as Time and Space exist, so too must their counterpart, the Reverse and all that was before. Giratina, in their newness, sought to expand their domain as well, reverting the Time and Space before them into nothingness and chaos and this displeased Arceus. Taking a great swath of the nothingness and chaos, Arceus made a place where such could exist without interfering with the creation of Time and Space that so pleased them and sent Giratina there.

As Time and Space continued growing, Arceus happened upon a place where such existed in perfect harmony. Arceus finding inspiration within this place, set about creating the rest of the world. In this time of inspiration the stars and galaxies were made, and countless worlds were brought forth into being. One particular location, however, called to Arceus.

Following the call, Arceus found themselves returning to an Origin and found what had once been the Great Egg. Time had crumbled the eggshell and now it had collapsed unto itself till it was no more than a great ball. Nostalgic and inspired by their creation of the countless worlds, Arceus set about creating a rocky shell around the remains of their egg. From cracks that had been made in the Great Egg sprang forth a chip of eggshell that seeded itself within the fertile earth. From that eggshell, green life sprang forth and Xerneas came into being with it. Antlers gleaming with the same light that the egg shell had, Xerneas set about bringing Life across the new world.

Intrigued by Life, Arceus began making further creations. Plant life twisted and changed under their influence and so came forth the first Pokémon, the Grass Type Pokémon. At first, the Pokémon did nothing and intrigued Arceus all the same for no life beyond the First Three had yet been made before this. It did not take Arceus long to wish for more for these new creations though, and so Arceus grabbed three split ends from their hide and brought into being Mespirt (emotion), Uxie (intelligence), and Azelf (will).

Not long after, as water fell at Arceus’ command and the gashes of the world filled with water, some of the plants lost their lives and so brought forth from the shadows within the Great Egg came Yveltal. Arceus gazed upon this new creature with curiosity, as it set about countering Xerneas. As life found balance in death, a third creature was born. Green like the life that sprang forth and black like the rot that took that life away, Zygarde came into being. Arceus watched the three Pokémon find equilibrium, and decided that it was good.

Not so long later, the great pressure of the rocky shell upon the egg became so great that the rocky shell rumbled under it. Arceus, concerned for all that had come forth, made two new life forms to ease the pressure upon the world. The first of the two was Kyogre, born to the abyss and the sea. The second of the two was Groudon, born of the fissures of the earth and the volcanic pressures under the world’s surface.

Each set about calming the pressures that rocked the earth and calmed it and Arceus was pleased. With the earth calmed, Groudon and Kyogre met and came into conflict. Arceus was confused by this, for the two were made of the same forces so why would they fight? With time though, came understanding. It is in the nature of water and cold to oppose fire and heat, and what were Kyogre and Groudon if not the personifications of those very things.

In seeking balance, as there was amongst Xerneas, Yveltal, and Zygarde, Arceus set about creating a third being from the third pressure upon the world, the air. From the air, both hot and cold, Arceus made Rayquaza to settle Kyogre and Groudon. Still, Kyogre and Groudon fought in spite of all Arceus and Rayquaza did to stop them. Frustrated, Arceus took some of their power away and sent the two into a deep sleep, so that the world could continue as Arceus thought it should.

Turning to Rayquaza, Arceus bid them to protect the world from forces that would undo it. For just as the world could come undone from the pressures within itself, so too could it become undone from pressures outside of itself. Understanding, Rayquaza turned their gaze to the heavens and stood guard. And so, the world as we know started to be.

AN:
I'll just be honest and say that this one was a spur of the moment thing for me. Got inspired and decided to just ride the wave of bunnies until I stopped. Actually got a full thing out, not sure how good it is though. Feel free to critic as much as you'd like, I'll accept it. haha.

UnderSeaWings · Feb 17, 2022

"My grandfather once told me a story about his grandfather from back in his merchant days. In those times, all travel through the Hoenn desert was by foot and by Camerupt. The people walked alongside the Camerupt, as the Pokemon pulled along the carriage of goods. Every caravan of merchants always carried at least one Cacturne with them, to convince the wild Cacturne to stay away as they travelled at night.

One night, as they travelled, my ancestor's caravan began to be stalked by something in the night. They did not see much, just dark shadows at the peripherals of their vision. They group swept about with their lanterns in hopes of revealing the shadows, but nothing was revealed by the light. There was a full moon that night, so the desert was lit up as much as it could be at night. My ancestor let out his Cacturne, hoping to pre-empt what he thought was a pack of Cacturne marauders from attacking. But, still nothing revealed itself. Normally, just having his Cacturne out would cause marauding Cacturne to reveal themselves so this worried the caravan. Still, the final sign that whatever the shadows were, it wasn't a Pokemon was the sounds they made. Apparently, they sounded like the laughter of children.

Still, they travelled yet further on through the desert night, and still the shadows stalked them. At times, the shadows banged out a rhythm against the caravan wagons' sides. Other times, they knocked hats off heads. Still, the entire time, everyone could hear their laughter. At one point, one of the merchants in the caravan sent out a Torkoal and had it light up the entire area around the caravan as they moved and told it to blast at any shadows that it saw. Still, the shadows danced around at the edges of the light, now much further back from the group than they had been before but much more solidly there as their laughter grew ever more louder.

My grandfather never told me what his grandfather said the shadows looked like. Only that they were fluid in form and never quite really there. The only thing that he did know was that they were not Pokemon of any sort, and they were most definitely not human. The shadows followed them the entire night, and everyone was so scared that none left the group the entire time. The merchant camp stopped with the sunrise and made camp and slept the heat of the day away. Finally night came again, and again the caravan was stalked by the giggling shadows. That second night, one man did end up leaving the group to take a bathroom break with their trusty Mightyena at their side. Neither were seen again, there was no noise to note their departure and no signs of a battle out in the sands. They looked for half the night before they were forced to move on.

My ancestor never did run into the shadows again, but he kept track of his friends and found that some had vanished after talking openly about what they had experienced during that travel. I don't know what really happened beyond that, only that my ancestor only gave the bare bones I just shared about what happened. Well, that and that he never went anywhere close to the Hoenn desert ever again."

Summarized account of the Hoennic Desert Predations by Alex Harper

Stories such as the above are common about the Old Hoenn, when the populations of immigrants and Draconid Peoples were at their most divided. In those days, immigrants most commonly populated the eastern islands, forming what would later become Ever Grande City and Sootopolis City. Some small populations had also begun popping up along the coastline of Hoenn proper. The Draconid Peoples, meanwhile, consolidated on the western edge of Hoenn, centred around their ancestral home of Meteor Falls.

This is a small paper discussing how the Predations that occurred in the Hoennic Desert are Pokémon based rather than anything overtly supernatural. First, and foremost, we point towards the fact that the presence of Fire types and Dark types did not deter the predating Pokémon from the area. Together, the Fire (Camerupt and Torkoal) and Dark (Cacturne and Mightyena) types are noted to be particularly useful Pokémon, capable of either dealing great amounts of damage so as to deter predatory Pokémon or enhanced sensory abilities so as to determine where unseen threats might be.

The most plausible hypothesis that can be drafted with available evidence would be Banette, maybe a troupe of them, executing an operation on a soul-bounded* target. One of the primary themes about the Hoennic Desert Predations stories is that the ones being predated upon are not native to the Hoenn region, having immigrated into the area from beyond. The lack of knowledge about the Pokémon native to the region left many vulnerable to the unique habits of the Pokémon of the region. It has been noted by the governors' of the time that approximately fifteen to twenty colonists a year were taken by Banette, and that is merely the number that were confirmed as such.

Banette have been known to utilize trickery and achluokinesis (shadow manipulation) in the pursuit of both prey as well as soul-bond targets. To those unfamiliar with such tactics, such events occurring would seem otherworldly than anything natural. The mimicry of giggling children is a known trademark of some groups of Banette, as an intimidation display when confronting human opponents. This trademark is most often seen amongst urban Banette, though it has been seen in Wild populations where an urban Banette have been introduced. The disappearances of some of the caravan after the traversing of the Hoennic desert also hints at Banette.

One of the main issues with this hypothesis is the fact that a troupe of Banette would be highly unlikely to antagonize and hang around a caravan of humans under the protection of so many different Pokémon species of such strength. Banette, as a species, tend towards being calculating and clever, and willingly antagonizing such a vast group would be counterintuitive to their own survival. The presence of both Cacturne and Mightyena specimens would have had the troupe on the back-step, due to the weakness that the Ghost types have to Dark type Pokémon. The presence of Torkoal and so many Camerupt should have further convinced the troupe that the caravan was too much trouble to mess with. However, in every story told, at least one human is taken (if not multiple persons) as well as at least one Pokémon. The taking of the Pokémon themselves can or cannot be uncharacteristic of Banette behaviour, depending on the typing and sapience level of the Pokémon involved. Concerning the aforementioned story, it is highly unlikely due to both typing and sapience level. Furthermore, the taking of both a human and a Dark type Pokémon without sign of a struggle would be a difficult task for either a lone Banette or a troupe of them.

The second hypothesis is the possibility a Dusknoir claiming the Hoennic Desert as it's terrority during the time period. A singular specimen of the Dusknoir species would have been a fair match for many of the Pokémon present and so have been unintimidated by the variety of firepower that the caravans were carrying with them at the time. They also would have had the mimicry ability and achluokinesis to do many of the things that the stories discuss. Dusknoir tend to have extremely large territories so the Hoennic Desert would have been the domain of a singular specimen, reaping and feasting on the immigrants who traversed within. Using the mimicry ability and their achluokinesis as a distraction as it picked out it's target and waited for an opportune moment would be within the known methodology of hunting Dusknoir. Dusknoir have also been known to take both human and Pokémon as prey in the past, and Dusknoir are powerful enough that both Cacturne and Mightyena** would fall within the designations of prey. The taking of both human and Pokémon without sign of a struggle would also be well within the realm of Dusknoir's abilities.

The problem with this hypothesis is the fact that it is only recently that Dusknoir have been noted within the Hoenn region before the arrival of immigrants from other regions. The Draconid people have very few records of Dusknoir amongst their archives, suggesting that Dusknoir were extremely rare within Hoenn before the arrival of immigrants from elsewhere. Even today, Dusknoir are incredibly rare within the Hoennic region. Dusknoir's preferred habitats are far removed from the Hoennic Desert as well. Dusknoir prefer dimly lit areas such as dense forest or abandoned human habitation areas, and the Hoennic Desert is one of the most well-lit areas in the region. If a Dusknoir did make the Hoennic Desert it's home range, than it is quite likely the rest of the region was likely populated by Dusknoir, leaving on the desert open for the claiming and no Dusknoir were noted as having been sited within the region during this time period.***

The third hypothesis would be the possibility that of the caravans drawing the ire of the Claydol populations that inhabit the Hoennic Desert. Caravans during this time often spoke of the surreal artifical Pokémon that they came across during their journeys. It is possible that the Hoennic Desert Predations are accounts of Claydols enacting territorial displays. Some of the routes that the caravans have been known to have taken go right through Claydol breeding grounds, so it is possible that some humans and Pokémon were attacked or killed in the defence of their young. The presence of Dark types, such as Cacturne and Mightyena, would have further escalated the situation.**** The presence of Torkoal and Camerupt would not have deterred the Claydol population, especially if the Doll Pokémon were defending breeding grounds. Fire type attacks hit the Pokémon neutrally, and Claydol are immune to the vast majority of Ground type attacks due to their Levitate ability.

The Psychic typing of Claydol would allow it to have an easier time using achluokinesis, it is also a possibility that the shadows and laughter were merely applications of the Claydol's ability to inflict psychic hallucinations through the fine-tuned use of Confusion and Extrasensory. While some of the colony of Claydol would have to focus on the continued group hallucination, other individuals in the colony would be able to pick off stragglers amongst the caravan with ease. Disposing of the straggler would also be an easy task with their Ground type abilities, such as terrakinesis.

The fourth, and most unlikely, hypothesis would be the possibility that a Haunter or a Gengar was introduced to the region during this time period. As the preferred habitats of Haunter and Gengar are similar to the aforementioned Dusknoir (dimly lit, dense forest or abandoned human habitation areas), the desert would have been an area they inhabited as a last resort. In the case of this hypothesis, it is theorized that the Haunter or Gengar was driven out of their preferred habitation range by the native Ghost types of Hoenn. Haunter and Gengar would been unable to reproduce within the deserts, the high winds leaving formation of Gastly an impossibility. While the mimicry and achluokinesis are well within Gengar's range of abilities, a Haunter would struggle with the achluokinesis. Furthermore, there are areas within the Hoenn region that a Haunter or Gengar are more likely to flee to than the desert if they were driven out of the more preferable areas of in the eastern portion of the region. Even just by traversing around the coastline, it would be likely that the hypothetical Haunter or Gengar would find an uninhabited area to claim. Thus, this hypothesis is ranked as the most unlikely.

Moving forwards, it would be best to explore the trade routes of the Hoennic Desert that were less commonly used...

* A soul-bonded target refers to the target of the grudge that acts as the catalyst for the Banette's evolution. Most often the target is the owner of the doll that the Banette is possessing, those there have been cases wherein the person is not the owner, but the person who caused the doll to be misplaced in the first place.

** Cacturne and Mightyena are the two most common Dark Types utilized by Hoennic merchants of the time, especially within the Desert. Cacturne were common, as a easily trained grass type capable of thriving within the desert habitat they were ideal for the protection of the caravan from rock and ground types that often make deserts their home. Further useage came from dealing with native Cacturne bands that would predate upon caravans. Mightyena were common as an adaptable Dark type, able to handle the various different habitats that merchants may traverse. Mightyena have been natively found everywhere in Hoenn, from the grasslands, to the frozen mountain tops, to the baking deserts.

*** It should be noted that just because no Dusknoir were noted as having been sited in the region during this time period does not mean that there were no such Pokémon present. Such inferences have been erroneously concluded in the past, as has been noted by the Groudon and Kyogre debate of Professors' Oak and Birch against Professors' Rowan and Juniper. As a side-note, please do not bring up Primal Reversion when the aforementioned Professors are present.

**** Cacturne and Mightyena are known predators of Baltoy. Cacturne use the clay elements found within Baltoy to fertilize the nurseries that they seed their Cacnea in. Individual Claydol or small groups of the Pokémon have also been known to have been predated upon by Cacturne bands should the opportunity arise. Mightyena, on the other hand, have been known to go after Baltoy in specific instances of intestinal distress (this is a behaviour primarily displayed by desert dwelling populations of Mightyena).

Umbramatic · Feb 19, 2022

Hi! I'm here for Catnip! And what do we have here but a very Umbracore story! Mythicalizations and fairytaleizations of Pokemon lore? Yes please. The Catnip dice were in my favor I see. I read the first "chapter".

We start with a classic, the tales of the three Spirit Gods of Sinnoh, who wind up intersecting with three noble sisters. Curious, are these sisters connected to the Clans or other factions of Legends Arceus? Since you specify this is set in the point Sinnoh is called Hisui.

Anyway the sisters all please the Spirit Trio in some way, but not all is well, as they are yoinked into arranged mairrages with really, really horrible husbands, as one might expect. The Spirit Gods, mercifully, are not lax as one might expect a god to be, and pay the sisters back by getting revenge on their neglectful husbands, turning this into a fitting cautionary tale.

This was really well done in trying to get the sort of cautionary fairy tale vibe you were going for! It really sells that tome well. I do wish it had room to sell the sisters as more distinct characters - for now their evil husbands are more distinct as characters than they are, and that feels weird.

But this is a good start to a sort of series of stories that very much appeals to Umbras, and I am hoping to check out more at a later point.

UnderSeaWings · Feb 23, 2022

After the First People of the Islands had been left upon the Home Island, they set to work working the land. Soil was toiled and prepared for the seeding, and the People went out and fished the shores around the Home Island. The berries grew quickly from the island’s soils, blessed as they were by Sisters Moltres and Zapdos. The seeds that had been brought from their homeland took longer to sprout, but when they did the harvest was great when it did. The People rejoiced for the great bounties that they had been blessed with.

Still, the coast of the Home Island was bare and the ocean ate away at it a little bit everyday, for like their master Brother Kyogre, the sea feuds with the land. After some time had passed, the First People began to reach out to the Legends in fear that they would lose their new home just as they had lost the last one.

It did not take long for these pleas to reach Sister Xerneas, the Great Provider. Sister Xerneas walked across the waves, and arrived at the Home Island in short order. Stepping from the waves, to the shore and from there into the village. Sister Xerneas found the First People within the village hard at work, praising the Legends as they worked the fields. Sister Xerneas came to the Chief of the First People and asked, “Why is it your people plead with the Legends? What could worry you so on this land that my siblings have provided for you?”

“Oh, Sister Xerneas, the ocean is like it’s your Brother Kyogre and hates the land. It eats away at our shores everyday and steals a little bit of our island everyday,” the Chief shared with Sister Xerneas, “We worry that we will lose our new home so soon after having lost our last one.”

Pondering on the situation, Xerneas came to a solution. “I will grow trees for you to safeguard your shores. Their roots will dig deep into the ground and protect your shores from the sea.” She meandered along the path from the village to the shore, before breaking out in a trot along the shore, causing trees to come forth from her hoof steps.

The first trees were spindly, and weak. They drank of the ocean’s salty waters and withered and died before Sister Xerneas’ eyes. Crinkling her eyes in frustration, Sister Xerneas commanded another tree to sprout before her. Watching with knowledgeable eyes, Sister Xerneas understood the problem and turned towards the Chief, “I will convene with my fellow lifegiver, Sibling Mew, and we will do our best to find an answer.” The Chief nodded, knowing that all good things come in time.

Thus, Sister Xerneas went out upon the seas searching for Sibling Mew. Eventually, Sister Xerneas found her sibling working upon his latest works in a place without light. Sibling Mew was shaping their newest creation, molding their own flesh into the new form and testing how it would move when Sister Xerneas walked up to him. “Mew, I have come across a new work that I would like your input on.”

This intrigued Sibling Mew, for it was not often that Sister Xerneas came across a situation that she could not puzzle out for herself. Rarely, did she seek his advice. “There is a group of island-going people, who live entirely on the islands. The island they live upon is being eaten away by the sea, and they fear that their home will be taken away. I thought of growing trees, so that the roots might hold the land away from the sea but the trees are unable to live with such salty water. You were the one to make the sea plants so you were the first solution that came to mind.”

Sibling Mew laughed, happy to have the chance to show off some of his creations, “I’d be glad to show you,” before transforming into a squat, purple flower. The Grass type Pokémon’s swaying, pink tentacles entranced Sister Xerneas before she noticed the glowing eyes hidden in the central trunk of the plant, “This is one of my creations, who live deep within the seas. They get all of the water they need to grow and thrive by luring in other living things and consuming them.”

Sister Xerneas shook her head and sighed, “I do not think that this one will work, Mew. The people often go beyond the shores, when they go fishing and to swim for pleasure. I doubt that they would appreciate a danger lurking along the shore.”

Sibling Mew, spirit eternally high, chuckled and pondered for a moment. Transforming again, this time into a long strand of algae that writhed about and gripped whatever debris around it could. Slowly, the mass of vegetation began to shape itself into another form through the debris it gathered. Mew’s voice, now echoing and haunting, asked beseechingly, “What of this form? It takes i-”

“No ghosts. Just…no ghosts,” Sister Xerneas interrupted, with an exasperated look upon her face. Sibling Mew took a single glance at Sister Xerneas, and laughed.

Transforming once again, Sibling Mew changed their form a third time. This time, Xerneas took the form of a great, white seal with a horn upon it's head and clapped their flippers together. Smirking at their Sister, Sibling Mew drank in her shocked look before explaining, “I made this creature so that it could spend all of it’s life in the seas. It never drinks freshwater and takes in much of the salt of the sea. They have the ability to blow out all of the salt in their bodies through their noses. We could do something similar for your trees, so that they do not poison themselves.” Taking Sister Xerneas’ smile as an affirmative answer, the two began to workshop their new creation.

Over the course of many days, Sibling Mew and Sister Xerneas came up with many designs. The first designs were simple, as much like a normal tree as could be. When Sibling Mew tried these forms out on the shoreline, the trees sank into the sand and the silt and eventually fell over as their roots rotted out from under them. From there, Sibling Mew began to play with the roots, making them tougher and stronger. Sister Xerneas, meanwhile, tried to solve the problem of the silt and the sand. She came across the solution during a walk along the beach when a branch of driftwood propped itself skywards with it's many branches supporting the main branch overtop itself. So, Sister Xerneas came to the thought of having the tree stand up on their roots, shallowly rooting itself into the sand and taking what it needed from the air and the water instead. Combining the strength of Sibling Mew's new roots with the aerial root solution that Sister Xerneas had thought of, the two Legends tested multiple designs before settling for one.

Finally, the two Legends were proud of their final design. The resulting tree had many roots that pushed the central trunk far out from the water, keeping it away from the salt of the sea. The roots, spindly and many in number like the branching antlers upon Sister Xerneas’ head, grew thick and strong to support the weight of the tree above the waterline and dug widely throughout sand, mud, and silt alike. The roots did not dig deeply, ensuring that they would not asphyxiate themselves and begin to rot. The leaves of the tree sweated out what salt was absorbed so that the tree did not poison itself. The two Legends smiled upon their creation, happy with the final design.

Galloping back to the Home Island, Sister Xerneas came upon the First People harvesting in their fields. She showed them the new tree, and got to work growing great forests of the new tree all along the coast. When the Chief asked Sister Xerneas what they should call these new trees, after thanking her for all the work she had put into creating them, she answered, with a small smirk, “I call them ‘mangrove’ trees, for they are the groves of trees that you, man, requested.”

And so the mangrove tree came to be.

Story Notation: Within the Orange Archipelago, I like to believe that the Mangrove tree is often referred to as the Antler tree, the Deer Tree, or Xerneas' tree due to her part in the tree's creation in this myth and because the many roots and branches the mangrove trees have bring to mind the many antlers that Xerneas has.

The part of the story where Mew explained how seals expels their excess salt out of the body was completely true IRL. Lots of different seals will get rid of all the salt they get through nose blowing, since they have special glands in their noses where they store all the excess salt.

AN:

And so the second part of the story comes out...going to be honest and say that this is actually just something I thought of today. Was originally writing the second part that I originally thought of and this demanded to be written instead. So tonight, turned on Moana to listen to and wrote this out. Pretty sure that some people can already guess that I was partially inspired by the story of how Maui created the Coconut tree. I am pretty sure I was also inspired by some of the Native American stories I remember hearing while growing that explained certain aspects of nature (the one I remember most was the tale of how the Raven got it's black feathers).

I decided to go with a gender neutral term for Mew, because of their shapeshifting nature. Thought it might be fun to play with Mew's mischievous nature and their creator status to get a happy-go-lucky sculptor who sculpts using their own body to test trial things before committing anything to flesh. So, I guess I made Mew into a Trickster Creator? Oh well, that won't end badly. *insert eye-roll here* Can you guess the three Pokémon they transformed into?

Review React:

Umbramatic said:
But this is a good start to a sort of series of stories that very much appeals to Umbras, and I am hoping to check out more at a later point.

Thanks for reviewing. I really appreciate the input. I will definitely keep in mind the bit of including more characterisation for protagonists. I'll admit, that in retrospect that I wish I had done more on that front for that story myself. I don't want to go back and mess with it though, cause I am pretty sure I will ruin the general flow that the story has going on now if I do.

UnderSeaWings · Feb 24, 2022

One day, Brother Kyogre was swimming along and maintaining the course of the currents. As he did so, Child WishiWashi came upon Brother Kyogre and said, “My Lord, thank you for the fertile shallows you have created. My school has found new feeding grounds where the food grows nicely in the water column and many broods have been made.” This praise pleased Brother Kyogre and Child Wishiwashi swam on it’s way with a blessing. Though he had not made any new shallows, Child Wishiwashi was one of so many young that many of them found old places and called them new, making it so this situation was not out of the ordinary for Brother Kyogre.

Not long after, Chief Seadra swam along on the current the Kyogre was working on and praised Brother Kyogre, “Many thanks, My Lord, for the new nesting grounds. The seas are shallow there, and my young grow strong on the prey that flourish there. Their father rarely needs to protect them with how safe they are amongst the roots that drink the seawater.” This praise confused Brother Kyogre, for they had not made any new shallows of late and Chief Seadra was much less likely to forget any of the shallows that their Lord had made previously. Most importantly though, Brother Kyogre knew of no place along his seas upon which the trees drank of his domain.

Shifting towards Chief Seadra, and commanding the current drag the draconic piscine back to him, Brother Kyogre asked, “Where are these shallows, young dragon. I would like to inspect them to ensure that everything is as I have designed.” Happy to be able to provide for his Lord, Chief Seadra told Brother Kyogre that it was a three day drift along the current to the south. Given the right direction, Brother Kyogre set his course and was quickly on his way.

It did not take long for Brother Kyogre to arrive at the first of the islands, just off the shores of Kanto and Johto, and he was infuriated by what he saw. Islands, so many islands across the horizon. Land sprouting from his beautiful sea, land where Brother Kyogre knew it should not be. Friend Gyarados came across Brother Kyogre in this rage, and turned to flee from the enraged Legend. Though rage clouded Brother Kyogre’s mind, he still had the wits about him to learn more.

“Why,” grinded out Brother Kyogre, gills flaring open and shut violently, “are there ISLANDS here. I know I did not agree to them.” Friend Gyarados, a friend of Brother Lugia and of the First People, did not answer because her loyalty to Brother Lugia was stronger than that held for Brother Kyogre. Brother Kyogre tossed the unfortunate Gyarados into a violent Whirlpool, for the lack of response in a fit of rage. The Whirlpool tossed about Gyarados, much as a Growlithe would a Rattata, as Brother Kyogre rampaged along the seafloor, sending forth great waves to strike at the shore. So great was Brother Kyogre’s rage that he split the very earth beneath the sea and lava spewed forth from it to light up the deep.

Shortly after creating the undersea volcano, Brother Kyogre’s rage came back round to the cold anger that is the calm before a hurricane. Stopping the Whirlpool entrappening Friend Gyarados, with a twirling of his fin, Brother Kyogre froze the confused Friend Gyarados in a block of ice such that only her head was exposed. “Tell me, WORM, who was it that made these islands? Who has MESSED with MY DOMAIN!!”

Still, Friend Gyarados did not give away the secret. Instead, she gave a different answer, “My Lord, I have seen many Legends come by here since the last time you visited these waters. Rayquaza flew by recently and Sister Zygarde actually came by for a swim recently. Why, Sister Xerneas came by recently with a new idea for the benefit of the seas. The new trees she has made make for great nurseries for your denizens.”

With eyes cold as the glacial ice of the south-most pole, Brother Kyogre demurred, “Oh, Gyarados, surely you don’t mean to give your own life just to delay me. You know my might is as endless as the sea, Gyarados~ You know my rage is as unfathomable as the ABYSS below. WHY do you test me~” As Brother Kyogre finished, he punctuated it with an increase of pressure upon Friend Gyarados. At that moment, Brother Kyogre placed all of the ocean’s weight upon Friend Gyarados.

Whiskers quaking, Friend Gyarados broke under the immense weight of all of the ocean, and cried, “It was Brother Lugia. He did it for the First People of the Islands, so that they would have a safe home!!” At his admission, Brother Kyogre smiled with his many, serrated teeth, and rendered a curse onto Friend Gyarados, “For withholding this from me, may the rage I feel in this moment forever cloud you. May all of the ocean by your enemy, and may you be an enemy to all of the ocean. Never will you or yours know of safety for as long as they reside in my waters.”

It is for this reason that all of the world feast upon the Magikarp, for they are many, vulnerable, and a Legend proclaimed it to be such. In making Gyarados' young the weakest of the sea, Brother Kyogre has made sure that all of the ocean will be their enemy. And with the rage of a Mother protecting her children, Gyarados still rage against the injustice that has been done unto them to this very day.

Thus, Brother Kyogre swam on his way, leaving a feverish Friend Gyarados to drift along in shock. Soon, Friend Gyarados felt the cursed rage begin to come upon her, and she cried out in anguish, “How cursed will I BE! For being loyal, will I become a BEAST!!” Then, the rage fell upon her. Empowered by the rage of the Sea Lord Himself, Friend Gyarados churned the ocean itself around her and rose to the surface. Her Whirlpool met the sky and rose ever higher, until one could no longer tell where the sea ended and the sky began. Thus, the first Twister came to be.

Guided by Brother Kyogre’s rage, Friend Gyarados swam to the settlements along the coast in a blind fury, and much destruction was had. Homes were destroyed, livestock killed, and families lost in the wake of the storm that Friend Gyarados brought to the land. Friend Gyarados even took to rampaging further inland, following the rivers, and reeking havoc herself. All through this, did the Twister rage.

Intrigued by the new phenomenon below, but more importantly the intensity of the emotions being felt, Mesprit floated downwards through the eye of the Twister and came upon Friend Gyarados. “What ails you such that you would cause the sea and the sky to become as one Little One?” inquired Mesprit, “What has caused you to feel such rage?”

Reaching out, darting around lightning fast lunges from the enraged Gyarados, Mesprit tapped her upon the forehead and eased the rage that had consumed Friend Gyarados in her entirety. Like a fog bank clearing out in the noonday sun, Friend Gyarados re-emerged from the blinding rage. Knowing all that she had done when not in control of herself, Friend Gyarados wept and mourned all of the loss she had caused. “What could have caused you to have done this?” Mesprit tried asking again.

Snarling, Friend Gyarados flashed bloodshot eyes at the Guardian of Emotion, “It was Brother Kyogre. He was enraged by the fact that Brother Lugia dared to raise islands to help some humans,” Friend Gyarados roared out her rage and sorrow. “Look at what he has done to me, for daring to care about another. Cursed to carry the rage he felt, it is too much for a mere mortal such as myself to bear. I fear that I will return to that mindless state, as soon as you leave. If that should be so, please…end me so I do not harm anyone else.”

Mesprit reached out and slapped one of Friend Gyarados’ whiskers, causing it to jiggle and flap as if in an unseen breeze. “I will not leave you to bear the weight of a Legend’s anger alone. Brother Kyogre knows better than to meddle in another’s domain, such as he has in this moment…I will be having WORDS with him,” Mesprit giggled, causing shivers to cascade down Gyarados’ spine, “Though I will not be able to remove Brother Kyogre’s curse from you, I can change it. Instead of a mindless rage, it will be one you can direct. Given proper guidance, you and yours may become guardians of righteousness. Rage at the world for the injustice you have received, and bring them to kneel beneath your might.”

This is the reason why Gyarados rage. For just as there are those who do good and right, standing loyal by their friends and the innocent; so too will there be those that stand opposed to them. For the act of one loyal Pokémon, all of their kin were cursed. Does Gyarados only bring their rage to those places where injustice reigns? Or does Gyarados rage for the injustice that has been heaped upon them? Who can say?

Yellow: Brutally vicious and enormously destructive. Known for totally destroying cities in ancient times.
Gold: They say that during past wars, Gyarados would appear and leave blazing ruins in its wake.
X: In ancient literature, there is a record of a Gyarados that razed a village when violence flared.
Ultra Sun: It fires hyper beams in all directions, burning the surrounding area to ash. There are some regions where it's called “the deity of destruction.”

AN: This was the bit I was trying to write before the Mangrove snippet kind of highjacked me. Going to be honest, the Gyarados portion kind of overtook what I had originally planned (what I originally had planned will likely be posted next week), but I like it too much to not go with it. I liked the idea of writing up an explanation for why Gyarados might be such a rage beast, and this felt like a nice sympathetic version I could do.

Smugraptor · Feb 25, 2022

I’m really enjoying these myths that you’ve written up. I can’t wait to see what else you’ve gotten plotting in that devilish mind of yours.

Spiteful Murkrow · Mar 4, 2022

Heya, here for my Catnip review, and I’ll be covering the first two short stories from your collection as part of Pokémon Mythos & Lore. I’ll be going in blind with zero foreknowledge of your story, though I must say that the stated premise at least sounds very promising, and I’ll be looking forward to seeing what sort of folklore tales you came up with for this thing.

Touch Not, Look Not, Harm Not

UnderSeaWings said:
Dare not touch the Pokémon's body.
In but three short days, all emotions will drain away.
Look not into the Pokémon's eyes.
In but an instant, you'll have no recollection of who you are.
Return home, but how? When there is nothing to remember?
Above all, above all, harm not the Pokémon.
In a scant five days, the offender will grow immobile in entirety.

From Sinnoh's Archives

Oh boy, the Lake Fairies, huh? Well, this myth could potentially go places fast. Let’s take a gander and see where this goes, and the unfortunate soul that gets the brilliant idea to mess around with them.

In the mists of time nearly forgotten, there were once three sisters who sought to cross the land of Hisui in order to marry. Along their way they came across an injured Pokémon limping along in the grass, gravely wounded. It was an oddly shaped thing, pale blue in body, with a pink head. Tendrils draped down from the back of its head and it had two tails that ended in a shape like a crowned leaf.

The youngest of the three sisters, overcome with emotion, asked her sisters to help her forage for Oran berries to feed the creature ~~in order to~~ and help it recover. The two older sisters agreed, as they were in no rush, and quickly did they find the berries. The Pokémon smiled and shimmered before a mystic voice spoke into the three sisters' minds:

"Thank you for a moment of your time, and your compassion. May your passion always bear fruit. Come to Lake Verity and I will ensure your life is a blessed one."

Yeah, I’ll take the under on this ending well considering the title. Though there were quite a few out-and-out typos just in the first two paragraphs. I’m not sure what your proofreading system is, though if you’re not already doing it, I’d encourage you to read your text aloud on at least one occasion before publishing, since… yeah. I honestly think doing so would’ve helped you find those typos very quickly.

Moving on, the three sisters soon found their path blocked by the great mountains that split the land of Hisui in half. A storm from the south made going through the warmer lands a treacherous ordeal, and so the three sisters went to the cold lands of the north. The lands of the north are harsh, and will gladly ~~take~~ claim those unprepared for the journey. The oldest sister, however, was knowledgeable in the ways of the land. She could read the storms in the skies and foresee when the winds would start or cease, just as easily as one might tell red from blue. ~~The oldest~~ She could tell when camp needed to be set, and why. When the great snowstorms of the north blew, the oldest was the one to plan out where the safest place to rest was.

I’m not sure if I’m feeling the “lands of the north are harsh” since it’s in present tense while the entire rest of your paragraph is in past tense. One way of splitting the difference would be to frame it as something like “then, just as now, the lands of the north were harsh”. I think the bigger issue is that you use “lands of the north” verbatim twice literally back to back. I’d personally recommend making one or the other different so that way it feels a bit less repetitive.

One night, as they pitched their tents amongst one of the northernmost places of Hisui where man traveled, a twin-tailed Pokémon flew towards the campfire they pitched. The two younger sisters flinched back, wary of this unknown creature. This creature was like the limping one of from before, though it had a yellow crest that covered its head like a Krabby's shell rather than the pink tendrils. Its eyes were nearly shut, ~~just slants~~ almost mere slits upon its face. The oldest of the sisters bowed and greeted the Pokémon, "Great Spirit, I welcome you to our hearth. What is it you seek?"

More typos here. I’m not sure what the story is behind “limbing” instead of “limping”, or “it’s” (short for “it is”) instead of “its”, but I’d recommend running through your existing prose to typo hunt and maybe see if the sentences sound right to your ear when spoken aloud, since while minor, some of them can get a bit distracting.

"[I have heard from my sibling to the south, of a trio of sisters who impressed them]. I have been watching you as you traveled through my lands. I have found great joy in watching you as you read ~~my lands~~ them as a scholar may read from a scroll. You have my blessing, smartest of the three. My lands are open to you, should you know where to look." And with a flash of light, the Spirit disappeared.

I’m not really feeling that first sentence’s ordering. Like it might sound a bit smoother with things shuffled around kinda like so:

[I have heard from my sibling to the south, who told me of a trio of sisters who impressed them.]

Also, something in general that I’ve noticed is that you have been repeating certain words and phrases in rapid succession in some paragraphs. In this case, “my lands”. Like it’s not strictly wrong grammatically, but it does make the prose feel a little off, since people in normal speech don’t normally do that unless they’re deliberately trying to draw attention to the topic of repetition. It might make sense to replace a few of them with pronouns, as I suggested here with the middle instance of “my lands” and “them”, which doesn’t change the meaning of the paragraph, but makes it sound a bit more natural to the ear.

The storms died down, and passage to the southern lands beyond the mountain quickly became ~~available~~ possible for the three sisters. They passed the tall grasslands, ~~and then became stuck at~~ came across a river with no bridge to cross it. The oldest sister judged the speed of the river, and tested the waters. She found the waters to be too fast and cold to swim across. The youngest beseeched the local Bidoof for aid, ~~and~~ but received none. The middle sister, however, took an axe made from Tumblestone and a fallen branch, and began to chop down a thick, wide tree. She continued long into the evening, when her sisters had fallen asleep, but never gave up. A Luxray, hunting in the night, came up to the middle sister and thought to steal away an easy meal, and fell to the might of her axe.

Something about the middle sister taking out an electric lion on her own with an axe feels handled fairly anticlimactically there. Like that entire episode could easily be like 3 or 4 paragraphs in its own right where you can beat it over the head of the readers how the middle sister’s willpower is such that she would not back down from a Luxray without Pokémon of her own, but I don’t think that it really comes through that well crammed all into one sentence like that.

"You have great will, young one," whispered a third twin-tailed Spirit. This one was a dark blue head, shaped like an arrowhead, and wide, yellow eyes. "Many humans would have given up by now…what makes you so different? Keep your will strong and sharp, and you will always be welcome in these lands." And in the blink of an eye, the Spirit disappeared.

… Wait, is this happening while the other two are asleep? Or else why are the other sisters not present for meeting Azelf? Since I could’ve sworn they were all present in some capacity for Mespirit and Uxie.

Finally, the trio of sisters arrived and were wed. It was quite unfortunate that their parents did not wed them well. The three sisters were wed and taken off to their new homes. The three sisters were separated, and lived all across Hisui. Each sister's husband had their own vices and evils. The oldest sister's husband was a man ~~stuck in the needle~~ perpetually on pins and needles, paranoid of every shadow. The middle sister's husband, a vagrant and bandit. And the youngest sister's husband was a man given to his passions, the bottle and the dice. The sisters' only good fortune was that each sister lived in the land of the Spirit that had blessed them. These lands provided for them over the years, when their husbands did not.

Well, that certainly took a dark turn fast. I do wonder if something about this shouldn’t have been handled all in one paragraph. Since it feels like we abruptly go from “end of the journey”, then the sisters get married in a sentence, and then we get a hurried explanation of how their marriages all suck.

Maybe it’s just me, but it might have made sense to end the scene on the note of the journey ending, getting their hopes up, and then you just methodically wreck that happy and hopeful outro in another scene where you go on at length about how their marriages suck, and tee up the inevitable moment where someone pisses off a Lake Fairy.

Some food for thought, anyways. Since I realize that’s not exactly a trivial change to drop in.

One day, the youngest sister ran out to the Great Lake of her home. She knelt by the waters and wept, three letters in hand. As her tears fell to the water, the pink headed Spirit slowly rose. "Why do you cry, what has stirred your emotions so?" Asked the Spirit, head cocked to the side in confusion.

"Oh Spirit! Everything is going wrong. My husband is a fool, and my sisters are hurting. My oldest sister is stuck sharing a bed with a paranoid fool, and no one has heard from my other sister in years." The youngest sister shuffled, touching her scarf to ensure it was in place.

"My own husband is an awful man. He is never home, and does not work. He plays our money away, and leaves nothing for us to live off of. It is only by your blessing that we have enough food to eat. My husband has become suspicious of how often I am able to provide for us, and has left me a letter demanding I give him the store of money I must have to him. But I have no money to give, for it is your blessing that provides for us. I fear what he will do when I do not give him what he wants, for he is a man of emotion." Again, the youngest sister pauses to fiddle with her scarf.

Yeah, make sure to keep your tenses consistent there since you don’t want to mix past and present tense. Keep everything in one or the other. Also, I’d recommend chopping your second paragraph up since it’s pretty long. I still feel what I turned into a “third” one is longer than it needs to be, but I was short on ideas of how to handle that, and it’d probably make sense to try and tackle that after taking a closer look at things since… well, some of the bits were repetitive like the “you blessing provides for us”, which is there twice with only minor changes in phrasing.

The Spirit gazed upon the youngest sister and sensed the great hurt that the woman was feeling, both physical and emotional. "Tell your husband that your treasure is buried by my shores, here at Lake Verity. The truth is made obvious here. I apologize that I could not protect you from your husband before, will you let me now?" The youngest sister gazed, tear-eyed at the Spirit before crying. "Thank you, Spirit."

Not sure how this lady’s going to react to her husband becoming an emotionless husk, but you can’t say he didn’t have it coming.

And so, the youngest sister went home and told her husband that her secret treasure was hidden by the shore of Lake Verity, guarded by a growing tree, split nearly in two such that they made a 'V' from the ground up. Immediately, the husband left with a shovel in hand to dig up the treasure. As he was digging, a voice broke the quiet of the lake, "Why do you come here, young traveler?"

"I come for treasure, that my stupid wife has hidden from me. Get in my way, and I will be burying you in a shallow grave, outsider." Though the husband was not well liked in his town, he still knew every voice of those that lived within it. And he knew, this voice did not belong to anyone he knew.

Uh… yeah, that kinda feels like a late introduction for a character detail about Mespirit Lady’s husband. If you do opt to patch in another scene expanding on the women and their hubbies, you probably want to bring that detail up over there.

"And if I do not get out of the way? What will you do then?" The voice whispered in his ear, a small sigh tickling his ear, "Then I'll…" the man paused, as he touched the silken flesh of the Spirit with the skin of his cheek, from where it had been hovering just behind him. The man paled and backpedaled away from the Spirit, dropping everything before fleeing. "I fear," the voice continued, echoing after him "that it may be too late for you~"

The husband hurried back to his village and told everyone of what he saw. Given that the husband was a man of the bottle, few believed him. They thought he had fallen too deeply into his drink and just encountered ~~one of the~~ a Pokémon that lived by the lake in his drunkenness. That changed, when after three days, all emotion left the man. Nothing thrilled the husband anymore, not drink or die. Lost without the passions that had fuelled his life, the youngest sister's husband fell into a great depression. All food became as ash in his mouth, and every touch felt like coarse sand against his skin. Life became unrelenting pain for the man, and nothing could motivate him anymore, as all of life had lost its passion for him, and thus he withered away.

And so, the youngest sister found her respite.

… How does one fall into a ‘great depression’ if ‘all emotion left’ you?

Might want to think that one through carefully, since depression itself is an emotion, so I wouldn’t expect that to be the guy’s response if he’s legit becoming an emotionless husk.

Though I see that Mespirit Lady is taking her husband’s change in stride here. Though I suppose him ‘withering away’ would help out with that.

One day, the oldest sister ~~having~~ fled her husband's home for the wild places of the snow fields, and came across the yellow-crested Spirit. She had traveled far from the roads, and wandered into the Wilds. She knew her only hope for respite from her troubles was to find the Spirit with whom she had gained some favour. Upon finding the great lake, ~~which thereafter~~ the one that would come to be known as Acuity, she knelt down and prayed, and the Spirit came forth.

"Why are you so far from your hearth, what has driven you so far into my wilds?" asked the Spirit, curious. Few explored their lands as much as this young woman had, and no human had found their lake before. Once more, this woman impressed it.

Woman: “Marital troubles.” >_>;
Uxie: “... I’m sorry, say what now?” .-.

"Great Spirit, I have been driven from my home by a man of little wit. Some burden has driven my husband deep into the needle, and he jumps at every shadow. One night, not long ago, he thought of me as an ill spirit out to steal his soul. He drove me from our home, and has locked me out. He steadfastly refuses to let me back in to get any of my things, or to retrieve some funds. The way back to town is long, and I believe he'll hunt me down should I try to get help from there."

… Unless if “into the needle” is a regional idiom, I’m not sure what you mean there with the phrase. I assume it’s supposed to be “on pins and needles”, but it wouldn’t sound too good if used in this case.

This greatly troubled the Spirit, for there was no way to solve the problem by way of wit, and it had thought the young woman's travels through their domain ~~to be based upon a search for~~ had been for the sake of finding further knowledge. It knew little of the ways of humanity, and so did not see the troubles the oldest sister had faced as such ~~till now~~ until then. The Spirit was ashamed that its lack of knowledge had allowed the woman's plight to continue. [ ]

"Head to town, and I shall handle your husband. He will not trouble you anymore." At the confused look upon the oldest sister's face, the Spirit chuckled, "You need not worry, I will be able to handle him and his Pokémon. I am sorry I did not notice your troubles sooner."

Unsure, but trusting in the Spirit whose lands had provided for her during her exile from civilization, the oldest sister traversed the path to town.

For the bit in brackets, I’d recommend adding something like saying [ [...] continue, and resolved to come to her aid. ]

Also, you should probably consider splitting that paragraph up into a couple places. I assume you actually already meant to do so for the last one, but there’s a typo such that there’s not even a space between ‘Unsure’ and the quotation mark beforehand.

After she left, the yellow-crested Spirit went to the couple's cabin and surprised the oldest sister's husband. In his paranoia, he threw a book at the Spirit and looked it in the Spirit's wide open eyes. "Blessed you have been, with a mind to hold all the secrets in the world. Yet you waste it away, and let your mind fall to madness. It is clear you are not using ~~what~~ the wisdom I have blessed you with, so I take it back."

With a flash of light, and a flick of its tails, the Spirit took back the mind he had given to the man at the start of all things. All that was left was an empty mind piloting an empty body. A husk, for what is a man who has lost all his knowledge but an empty hollow?

The townspeople found the oldest sister's husband standing still in the married couple's cabin, staring blankly ahead with face slack. All the people of Snowpoint knew the signs, for only those that displeased the Spirit of the land were left in such a state. And so, the oldest sister found respite with the people in the north.

I love happy endings. ;<;

Though this is another block where you ought to consider dividing up one of the paragraphs.

As for the Middle sister, her husband strayed far and wide across Hisui, plundering the roadways and stealing away that which was not his. He hid his wife away from the world, leaving her to her lonesome in a small cabin in the midst of a forest surrounding a great lake. He made merry and treated his wife as an afterthought, only ever coming back to resupply the cabin. Still, he had a sinister purpose in mind for the middle sister, for what he wanted most was an heir to his cruel trade ~~of cruelty~~.

Well, it’s not completely an afterthought if he’s going out of his way to keep her fed and tended to… even if it’s just because the guy wants a Bandit Jr. to follow in his footsteps.

Around the land his cabin lay, this husband had a Pokémon grow a great thorn barrier, preventing his wife from leaving him. This husband, more cunning than the other two, knew that his success lay in providing enough for his wife and so ensured that she would never want for anything, and laid with her every time he returned to restock the cabin.

Okay, so what went wrong here? Since lack of social life aside, you can’t say Mr. Bandit isn’t at least making an attempt to buy his wife’s happiness. It’s more than what the other two could say, at least.

The middle sister, in time, came to have a child with him and hid the child away from him. She knew that her husband did not truly care for her, [and the fact that he lay with her in spite of the lack of passion in their relationship let her know what he wanted from her.] She also knew he was not a good man; [for bloodstained clothing with cuts and nicks are not easily hidden when you are someone's only connection to the outside world.]

I’m not really feeling the phrasing of the two bits in brackets there. They just don’t quite feel like they match the ‘folktale’ prose of the rest of the story they’re in. Some attempted solutions would basically be something along the lines of the following.

For the first:

[for in spite of tending to her needs, there was no passion between the two. And that he lay with her in spite of it let her knew that his desire was for the fruit of her womb.]

For the second:

[for he was her only link to the world beyond the wall of thorns. And every time he returned, he came with cuts and nicks, bloodstained clothing betraying the cost of his cruel trade.]

There are other directions that could potentially be taken for both, but some food for thought.

In the weeks and months in between the husband's visits, the middle sister tried leaving but the thorn barrier ~~beat~~ thwarted her at every turn. One day, with her skin torn and bleeding, the middle sister went to the one place where she could get clean water, the great lake. She washed her clothing and the clothing of her child in the waters, unintentionally tinting the waters with the blood from her cuts as her child played in the woods nearby. She gazed out over the waters and wished that she could just swim away to safety, but the great lake was deep and had an undertow that would suck her under, never to be seen again.

Before she had her child, she might have considered trying to ~~swim away~~ make the swim anyway or ~~trying~~ to make a canoe with which to paddle away. But with her child to consider, she could not leave through a path so perilous. Her child was older now, growing close to their third year and the signs of their presence were now impossible to hide. Her husband was due to return soon, and she dreaded finding out what he would do. And so, with freedom so close yet so far, the middle sister cried. And as her blood and tears mingled in the waters, the third Spirit rose from them.

Props to this woman for managing to hide a baby from her hubby for three years. Since babies aren’t exactly quiet.

"What pains you so, one so strong in Will?" asked the Spirit, "What has made you bleed and cry in my waters?" And so the middle sister explained her situation to the Spirit, letting it know of all her woes. "I see," answered the Spirit, "you have endured for longer than should be expected of anyone. Truly, you are great in Will."

This… admittedly feels a bit rushed and parallelism-breaking since the other two sisters very explicitly laid out their grievances before their respective Lake Fairies, but we basically just got a summary here. It might make sense to either expand this a bit more, or else condense the other two sisters’ accounts such that they match up with each other better.

And so, the Spirit turned from the sister to her child. "Is this child yours, or his?" And the sister told the Spirit that the child was hers, and has never known of their father, "The child is why I cry, for my husband is due to return soon and I will not be able to hide my child away safely from him anymore. The cabin is too small, and my husband is quick to notice any changes. I fear he suspects, already, that I have hidden something from him."

You’d think that he’d have noticed sooner as a bandit since you kinda need good situational awareness for that trade. Though I suppose just going full murderhobo allows one to get by with while being less adept on that front.

"Fear not," declared the Spirit, "I have a place where you and your child can stay when the time comes. How long must you wait until ~~till~~ your husband arrives~~, do you think~~?" asked the Spirit.

[ ] The sister answered, "He is due to arrive tomorrow."

The Spirit chuckled, and asked for permission to take the sister and her child away to the island in the middle of their lake where they would both be safe from any harm the husband might visit upon them. The middle sister gave the Spirit her permission, and in a flash of pink light, the sister and her child were teleported away to the island in the middle of the lake. The Spirit bade the sister to relax for a time with her child, and that it would return with some necessities before lying in wait for her husband.

It’s technically not wrong, but “teleport” is a very modern-feeling word. You might find it more fitting with the old-timey feel to say something like “whisked away” or “spirited away” there. Also, you probably want to break things up around the bit where the sister answers Azelf’s inquiry, and expand the woman’s paragraph a bit to even it out, since it’s a bit weird to have things jump back and forth between Azelf and the woman all in one paragraph.

And so when the next day came and the middle sister's husband returned, the Spirit was waiting for him. Upon seeing the Spirit in the cabin, the husband cried out and fell to his knees, "Oh Spirit, how can I please you?" While the man was prostrating before the Spirit, there was deceit in his heart. He hoped, by appealing to the Spirit, that some fortune might be had.

Pretty sure that that’s not what you want to be doing when an avatar of Willpower is just chilling in your hideout and your wife that’s normally always there is nowhere to be seen, but okay there.

"I come to you, by because of the ~~pleading~~ pleas of your wife. I regret to be the bearer of ill tidings, for she has passed in childbirth. She is no longer with us, in the world of the living," bowing their head, the Spirit turned to leave.

[ ]

"Wait!" bellowed the husband, "You lie! I know she still lives, for she was not with child when last I watched my lands a month past. I know she has somehow convinced you to hide her away, with my heir. Give them over to me, to do with as I please and I shall let you leave unharmed." And with a casual toss, he unleashed a large Haunter from its PokéBall.

I feel like there should’ve been more buildup to the bandit being mad with Azelf there. Also, it was admittedly a bit jarring to see the surprise Haunter from nowhere, since all this entire time, nobody else has had a Pokémon with them, and this is literally the first mention that the Haunter even deals with Pokémon when IIRC it’s supposed to be a rarity in Hisui.

"I must refuse," stated the Spirit, "for your unfit for the duties that have been given to you. Should you continue, there will be dire consequences. Leave now, or pay the price." And with a flourish of their tails, a red shean glowed throughout the cabin from the gems on its tails. "You are unworthy of my Gift."

[With a Swift command, the middle sister's husband set his Pokémon to Shadow Claw the Spirit. And as soon as those claws etched their way through the Spirit's body, the Haunter stopped and fled to the Wilds for it knew what was to come.]

Shouting after his Pokémon, the husband froze as the cabin walls sparkled and shone like polished gold. And as the man tried to release a second PokéBall he found that it did not work. [ ]

"This is my 'Magic Room' and within it none of your human contraptions will work. Know that you have five days to get your things in order before I come back and take what is mine." And so, the Spirit vanished in a flash of pink light.

Something about this sequence I’m not really feeling. I think that the biggest offender is that the part where the bandit sics his Haunter on Azelf feels like it’s missing a few steps. For instance, you could fill in some details kinda like as follows:

[ With a swift cry, the middle sister’s husband barked out at his Pokémon to rake the Spirit with a Shadow Claw, much as it had to many a prior victim. The wraith shot forward and threw its blow forward, though as soon as its claws etched their way through the Spirit’s body, it froze and its will to fight melted away. At once, the wraith was overcome with fear, and turned and fled for the Wilds, for it knew what it had done, and what misfortune was to come because of it. ]

As for the other bracket, I think you want to add more of a transition where you have the bandit panic a bit while showing Azelf’s mood and the like off a bit more before explaining that he set up Magic Room. I’ll leave that one up to you, since there’s multiple ways you could play that.

The husband, fearing for his life, fled his small domain and traveled as far as he could away from that place. In every town he stopped, he told his version of the tale, before continuing on. Little did he know that his wife and child followed after with the Spirit guiding the way, correcting ~~the~~ his story at every stop.

On the fifth day, all Will left the middle sister's husband. Though there was still thought left in his mind, he could not control his limbs. Slumping down in the middle of the road, the Spirit came before him. "Before she came to be your wife, the woman was mine . For having middled in my affairs, I have returned the favour. I curse you, I curse you to a life without Will and a life as long as the misery you have caused in others." And so, the Spirit left that place, never to be seen by the husband again.

Huh, somehow I missed the part where Azelf explicitly mentioned that he’d take the guy’s will in 5 days regardless of what he did. Also, again:

And without Will, without the determination to do anything, the man remained slumped in the roads until another bandit passed him by. Seeing the husband down on his luck, the bandit made off with all the husband had on hand and left him to his fate. A day after that, a caravan found the naked man, and took pity on him. The caravan took him along with them, and left him in a town for the healers to care for.

Well, at least Azelf’s curse of a long life panned out, since if the other bandit were a bit more cutthroat, that’d have been a pretty short “long life” there. :V

Thus the husband remained in the healers' care for the rest of his long life, with none in the town knowing of his life before and only knowing that though the man lived that he was capable of doing nothing. And so, the middle sister's husband faded into obscurity, trapped within his own mind yet unable to do anything.

The Spirit returned to the cabin in which the middle sister had lived for so long and cleared away the trees and thorns that blocked away the land from the rest of the world. "This land, I return to you. Live here, if you will, and know that the land will continue to provide for you." And so, the middle sister found her respite, and all three sisters lived happily ever after.

I wonder if it’d have made more sense to do the framing more along the lines of “and she, like her sisters, lived happily for the rest of her days”. Since the other two sisters technically are scattered across Hisui and aren’t there for this at the moment, so it makes going from “middle sister’s resolution” to “everyone’s resolution” a little jarring.

You could alternatively whip up a short outro scene that addresses them as a whole, but it’s something that caught my attention.

Legends Arceus: Mesprit is known as the Being of Emotion. In legend, this Pokémon was feared, as any who showed disrespect would have their emotions thrown into disarray.
Legends Arceus: A Pokémon feared but also respected for stealing away the memories of evildoers. I have found records that suggest Uxie holds dominion over knowledge.
Legends Arceus: The dreaded Being of Willpower, Azelf. Legends tell of this Pokémon manipulating the will of its adversaries and turning them into puppets of its own.

… Yeah, I really should play PLA sometime soon. Especially with fluff like that floating around. Azelf being able to outright puppeteer others like Calyrex is definitely something that I didn’t see coming. ^^;

Inspirations: 'The Tale of the Three Brothers' of Harry Potter canon. I really liked the way that story flowed and I listened to the movie's retelling of it over and over as I wrote this one up. I think some other fairy tales from The Brothers' Grimm also worked their way into it, but I cannot think of any specifically that may have worked their magic for me here.

Oh? What is the ‘Tale of Three Brothers’ anyways? Though a little surprised to see that this story has such modern roots for inspiration. It’s not bad, just a tad unexpected.

Anyhow, that’s a bit short for a review. Let’s throw in your second short story as a bonus.

Revenger's Handmaiden

UnderSeaWings said:
In a far-off place, in a region whose name is forgotten, there was a young woman. Her name is best left unsaid, for they say that mentioning it brings her attention. She lived in the mining town, nestled by the roof of the world and was adored by all within it.

A rich man from a city on the far side of the region passed through and was besotted by her beauty. He implored her to spend the night with him but she refused. He did this for twelve days and ~~was~~ twelve times was refused. On the thirteenth time he ~~did not take no~~ refused to take ‘no’ for an answer.

Not sure where this is set, though I can’t tell whether that’s going to take a cute turn or a-

- Checks title -

Well, scratch the ‘cute turn’ then.

Before he could do the deed, the woman took her own life. Panicked by the dead body before him, and worried that the townspeople would turn on him if they found him with ~~the body~~ it, he took the woman's ~~body~~ corpse as high up the world's roof as he dared and left it there. He fled the town immediately after, sure that his dark deeds would go unpunished.

Well, that certainly got dark quickly.

The spirit of the woman cried and lamented her fate. Her wails pierced the world's roof and echoed into the existence on the other side. There, the Revenger heard her.

Oh. I assume that this is in Sinnoh, and that the Revenger is none other than the Great Dreepy of Turnback Cave.

Within the ice slicked walls of the cavern her spirit languished, the Revenger drew their ~~insectile~~ insect-like head and clicked their mandibles. "Why do you wail so, young maiden?"

… Okay then, never mind. I don’t have the foggiest clue where this is set or who this ‘Revenger’ is in that case.

"A rich man came into town," the spirit replied, "He lusted after me and for thirteen days asked for me to lie with him. I refused each time and so he tried to have his way with me. I refused to let him ~~tarnish~~ taint me so, so I took my own life. Now, the man has carried my body far from home and left to continue living his own life unpunished for his misdeeds. I worry for the women there, for if he is willing to try and force his way once will he not try and do so again?"

[ ]

"I have heard your thoughts and would see to it that he is punished. I cannot act in your world though, or my Father will see it and lock me further away. I can, however, give you the guise of one of Father's creations. If I do so, will you do my will for me?"

Oh, never mind, this is Hisui and Giratina again. Though you probably want to add a paragraph expanding on how Giratina is reacting to the dead woman’s plight, instead of just cutting straight into dialogue there. It sells more of a sense of the internal gears in its head turning.

"So long as it ~~is in~~ regards matter like this, I am willing to do so and more," answered the spirit. Thus, the Revenger worked their will upon the world. Ice creeped into her soul, and a new body was fashioned from the snow for her.

The Revenger guided her to the city in which the rich man lived. Every path the spirit passed down, ice trailed behind. As her anger grew with the man's nearing presence, so too did a blizzard build around her. As she arrived at the man's door, she could hear him laughing as a servant ran from him.

My money is on Giratina having turned her into a Froslass. Since I can see the comment about ice trailing after her.

Gilded in hoarfrost, the door blew open with a gale. The rich man stopped, and the servant escaped out a window. "Who are you?" his voice but a whisper over the roaring of the storm, "Who would dare enter my home?!"

The temperature of the room dropped, the fire blowing out and dropping everything into darkness. "I am she who you left at heaven's door!" The spirit cried, "I am she who you once wished to lie with. You wished to spend one night with me. Be glad," she whispered in his ear, a sleeve tickling his side, "for you will ~~get to~~ spend eternity with me instead."

Pretty sure that that’s going to be an eternity of torment and not snu-snu, but you can’t say the guy didn’t bring this down on himself. ^^;

And with that, she carried the screaming man away on the winter winds. It is said that throughout the region, you could hear his cries of fright that day. Anytime you hear a winter gale make a sound like a cry or a scream, it is an attempt by that man to ~~gain rescue by some~~ cry for help to poor soul. And from that day onwards, the young woman did as the Revenger willed her to do.

And then there was much rejoicing. Especially since the world got a neat split-evo out of it for its trouble.

I do wonder if it’d have made sense to be a bit more explicit that this woman’s spirit became a Froslass. Like on one level, I could piece it together, but on another, I think that things were a bit light on description, since we didn’t even get clear Froslass features described in the prose during this sequence.

AN: Above story is a quick one, with me taking the tale of La Llorona and editing it to be more Pokémon world friendly and combining it with the idea of yurei and shikome... I may or may not have been mildly inspired by the mythos of Japan's death goddess (Izanami-no-Mikoto) as well.

Huh. Interesting spread of mythologies there. Dark, but it’s definitely a memorable origin story for Froslass and screaming winds there.

Alright, my final thoughts for everything:

I’m honestly kinda torn about this story. On the one hand, I can clearly see that it’s got a lot of really great ideas behind it, and it blenders mythologies together to come up with stuff that feels both fresh and fitting both to the world and the Pokémon involved, and I’ll give props to you for doing that.

On the other hand, I honestly found myself getting distracted a lot by little issues here and there. Some are ultimately small and easy to resolve like typos and word choice that I really do think could be smoothed over with an aloud readthrough before publishing. Others… were a bit more structural, such as some parts that felt rushed through, while others that took me out of the whole folktale/fairytale vibe that these stories aim for.

I think that you have a decent foundation here @UnderSeaWings , and I genuinely like the overall premise of this collection. But if you have the will and patience to do so, based off the first two stories that I read, I’d strongly recommend giving the stuff you have written a solid once-over to try and smooth things out. I feel that if you do that, it’ll help tighten up your story considerably, and help draw out its strengths better for your readers.

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