The Eon Academy [S.S. Wishmaker Side-Story]

[[Desolate Divine]]

Really late response, but I finally did catch up after some pretty major life events happened last year. I’ll admit, I fell far behind, and had a lot going on as time just kept on slipping by, but I finally caught up after months of pushing and reminding myself that this was still out there. I haven’t forgotten and this has still been on the back of my mind all this time.

Mate, you and me both XD legit, I think it's been over two years since I got halfway through the final episode, before losing momentum, then life just caught up. Around the time I fell off, I had been having issues with my job at the church which was my only source of income, and that seemed to take over. Then April of 2024, I started working as a streetsweeper which was 50+ hour weeks, whilst also meeting my now wife. I worked as a streetsweeper until July, before getting the Chaplain job at my old high school, however four months later, I was sacked, less because of what I could and couldn't do, and more to do with who I was, and who the school leadership thought they saw me to be. I went back to the streetsweeping job in April of last year, and stuck with it, whilst I proposed to my wife in August, then was planning a wedding until mid January when we got married. And just like you, this has been in the back of my mind the entire time, largely thinking how silly it was that all was written but the final episode, and why I haven't just finished it!

What a heck of a ride this has been. The amount of sheer DEPTH you dive into for each character and their own unique journeys and career futures is incredibly impressive. What really makes me smile is how tactfully and carefully you took the baton for Cassandra, Jarena, and Violet and further developed their characters after the events of the Spiritwater RP. It was a pleasure to read how each of their unique journeys and careers would continue and the impact the Eon Academy had on each of their lives and the development of their Pokémon teams. I’ve never read a Pokémon fan fiction like this where this level of depth and development was covered with such care and great detail.

This was something I wanted to be super intentional about - because the original five had pretty well thought out futures and ambitions, even if they were a little simple, I didn't want to risk having the Diamond Ladies and Willow end up playing second fiddle/getting the Temu version of what the original five got. And lots of planning ahead for this season helped. I think while I was in the early days of writing Season 5, I already was planning Season 5+1.

Moreover, you do a great job of knowing when and how to add in side-plots and developments and when to shake things up. And nothing feels disruptive or like an obstruction to the main story as all these things get woven together and interconnected with no loose ends left untied.

The battling strategies are also very clever. Even for Cassandra, Jarena, and Violet, you did a fantastic job working with the Pokémon they had during Spiritwater and did the homework on what kinds of moves and attacks their Pokémon could use, how the character personalities would reflect their battling strategy, and still keep it compelling. You recognize that to keep things interesting, keep the reader guessing. You get us invested in the success and future of these characters and when the stakes get high, who knows what may happen?

Honestly, I think this comes from a love of anime XD I have mentioned before that as I wrote all of this, I never saw it in my head as a book, or even a live action show, but an anime, and not something that is quite clearly designed to sell children toys, but more of a passion project. And nothing is better than when the anime protagonist was actually three steps ahead, or found a way forward that is so them, when none seemed to exist before.

I think the only small criticism I have is that there are points when there are a lot of back-to-back battles. I think the best way I can describe it is each individual battle is like a sweet and delicious unique cupcake with its own unique flavors, toppings, and creamy fillings. Individually, they’re a good read and have fun surprises in store (although the Protect move gets used a bit too much in my opinion and some variety to dodge the attack, take cover, or otherwise negate the attack would go a long way). But in some cases, (the showdown battles with the Blackstone operatives for example), there are just a lot of cupcakes to eat all at once. And in that final Blackstone showdown, the way they’re broken down is half of one cupcake gets eaten, a new one is started but not finished, a third is introduced, and so on until coming back to the original first cupcake. It was a pretty intense final showdown with some clever strategies and surprises implemented and we got to see just how strong Jon and his crew have become, but it was a lot to digest all at once, too. I still think you did an awesome job with it all and the incorporation of each of the characters trapped in their own pocket dimensions was unique, but I think maybe a bit of modification of the delivery would have been good so it just didn’t feel all at once with one battle cut short to immediately drop into another one. It just made it a little tricky to follow but, in the end, it was still a very satisfying showdown with Blackstone having to fight tooth and nail against time while Eon Academy was on defense and collateral damage to their home and school threatened their entire livelihood. Both sides had a lot at stake and everything was on the line.

Yeah, with hindsight I can definitely see where you are coming from! I think two factors played into the final showdown against Blackstone.
1. The timing of Spiritwater. Because the Spiritwater RP was created while I wrote Season 1 and was set four years after Wishmaker, it put a definite point in time for huge events with world shattering consequences, and a) I didn't feel like three years at the Eon Academy was enough to set the characters up for Spiritwater to be their final showdown, and b) I didn't want to hijack Spiritwater which was originally a collaborative effort to showcase my characters. It was already tricky enough not to do that with the Eon Academy crew being so established in this telling of the story, even with Charlotte, Justin and Chris away from the main conflict. The consequence of having something after Spiritwater was that it needed to feel higher stakes, without feeling like it was higher stakes for the sake of higher stakes, you know? Agatha is gone, but now we have Mega Agatha. I also felt like that whilst the stakes were high in Spiritwater, they were high due to Shadowcraft, which has never been a predominant part of Eon Academy until Spiritwater itself. So the stakes needed to be equally, maybe a smidge higher in season 5, without relying on Shadowcraft. And given that battles have been a key part of the story, as well as the Eon Academy being their home, I decided one last final battle to protect the Eon Academy from an invading force, that is well beyond any invasion they have faced prior.
2. Again, I am a big anime fan, and some of my favourites (Fairy Tail especially, but My Hero Academia as well) finish their story with a large scale battle than spans entire seasons. I'll reference Fairy Tail again later, though the emblems they get tattooed are a very clear nod to that, but it in particular was probably inspiring that decision. Hard to say as these were decisions made two years ago.

Granted what you say is very fair! I had the advantage of word documents with plans to keep track of it all! Maybe I need to find a way to add some titles that help make things clearer.

Overall, I feel you’ve done an amazing job with this story and it’s incredible to see what you’ve created stemming from what was just a fun but incredibly memorable RP of mine. You impressively took the reins and ultimately took this to become an even more impressive and deeply fleshed out saga that far surpasses what simply started in the Wishmaker RP. The values of rites of passage, redemption, coming of age, protecting family, being true to oneself, and friendship and kinship are all here. There’s way more than what meets the eye and it’s a refreshing take to see values like that defended and fostered as opposed to just another story that’s morally gray. In a trending and jaded sea of morally gray movies and stories, it’s great to see this rise above that and build on promoting the values that matter.

I'm glad to hear that this stood out to you! As I get older, the more I find myself realising that the inherent brokenness of people, and our tendency to opt for selfishness, makes it so much more meaningful and refreshing when people opt to do the objective right thing. Does this mean Eon Academy characters are perfect people? Hell no, Lance's hospitalisation, Dylan punching Chris in season 3 and Chris' drunken eighteenth birthday prove that. But I like the fact that they as flawed people see an objective right and wrong that they do their best to stick to and own it when they don't, instead of a wishy-washy inner code that lets them do things that are objectively wrong.

I’m not sure if you have plans to continue this and complete that final last farewell to the incredible characters you’ve created here, but even if Epilogue Episode 4 is the final page, it was a good way to end it and symbolic that what started as a journey on the wrong path for Cassandra and who had her tumble from ill-gotten grace can begin again on the right path with that critical introspection, acceptance of accountability and responsibility, and being true to oneself and others, regardless of what the rest of the world throws in opposition. For someone who came so close to just giving up on everything, you’ve recognized that value of finding that light at the end of the tunnel and running for it with every step a fight against time and against the darkness that keeps trying to creep in. It recognizes how sometimes we need to confront and fight our own demons instead of hiding them under the rug where they can still live with us in the shadows. It isn’t until you outright evict them out of your life and be true to yourself that you can truly move forward and be at peace with yourself. And many of the other characters faced similar struggles and all faced difficult choices, each with their own rewards and consequences. At the very end, you made them all feel like real people with real stories and futures to look forward to.

Thanks for the journey and reminding us all of the values that are important in life.

Timing is a funny thing. I had been thinking moreso than normal a few days ago, how I should finish it. I keep thinking of ideas for side stories that I wanted to do after which Season 5+1 sets up for, but this last half a chapter gets in the way. I just didn't know when I'd have the time. Work had a surprise busy season over Christmas/January/Early February and the real busy season is from late March to July. Even in the lull between I now don't have the same big chunks of free time I used to and honestly, even when I do, one part I am still adjusting to with living with my wife is taking me time, and not feeling like I'm neglecting her when I take a reasonable chunk of it.

Then yesterday at work was probably one of the hardest days I'd had. I was on my way back to the depot to clock off, waiting in an intersection to turn right when there was a gap in oncoming traffic, because there was a green light but no green arrow. Two cars are in the far left lane coming the other way wanting to turn, but the light went orange so the front car slowed to a stop and I went, but the car behind the car at the front cut around this car, and almost hit me. The driver skidded to a stop to not hit me and began screaming abuse at me, then drove off. I kept going towards the depot, and found that the car had waited until the road had narrowed to one lane and had a traffic island in the middle of the road, where I couldn't get past him, before getting out of his car and coming to my truck to scream more abuse at me. I locked my door, but because I drive a dual control truck on the left, and my door is technically the passenger door, the right door didn't lock, and I was terrified that he would realise the other door is unlocked and get in. No surprise I was a but shaken up and didn't sleep last night, but took today off. But after work yesterday, I logged on and saw you had posted, and are still reading/waiting. So for the first time in about a year I'm opening up the final episode of Eon Academy and seeing if I can take this time while my wife is at work to finish it off, between other things I need to get done.

Here's hoping this isn't the end of the journey!