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

[Kentucky Fried Torchic]

I'd be very interested to know which GCeA story you're referring to! I wrote that many, and my character in that (who started as a lazy carbon copy of myself, and evolved into a traumatised wreck trying to do what is right even when it may not look that way) had some similarities to Jon, but I'd say Jon is far more well rounded and believable as a character than him xD

Funnily enough, my day job is youth work in a church. So there are parts of that role that find their way in the story. That and I have a history in education (only just) so that plays into it to. That and I do a concerning amount of googling. My google history is filled with plenty of searches that if one didn't know about this, they would be having me institutionalised xD

For the life of me I wish that I could remember! There was an island (maybe outside of time?) and the main character was receiving training (in swordsmanship, I believe?). It's a good thing that your real-world experience lends it so well to this story. Pity the fanfiction writer who wants to demonstrate his knowledge of procurement and logistics in a story.

I'm glad to hear you appreciated this! I love Pokemon but funnily enough, in terms of anime, I much prefer Digimon for the simple reason that it actually grew with its audience. Whilst seeing Pikachu strike Swellow with a thunder attack to give it Thunder Armour, or seeing Team Rocket sustain every manner of injury, for it only to be shaken off, was appealing as an eight year old, unlike Ash, I and many others of my generation aged. Meanwhile Digimon had the first season's main characters as kids aged ten, plus minus a year or two. The next season had all but the youngest take on more of a mentoring role whilst a new generation took lead, but still being available to help. The third iteration was with the main characters in their final year of high school (plus minus a few years), and this point, the subject matter goes to heavier questions such as whether their intervention is worth the damage the fighting causes, and instead of character growth hingeing on them identifying their natural strengths (like in Seasons 1 and 2), it is based on them having their weaknesses forced into their field of view, and them having to come to terms with them.

Always a pleasure to find another Digimon fan! I gave a whole presentation in college about the Digimon anime for a public speaking class and got full marks. It had the great benefit over the Pokemon anime in that each series actually ended, giving them a chance to build up characters, develop storylines, and end things on a satisfactory way. Although now the original Pokemon series has ended, anyways. That doesn't have to be the case with fanfiction, and I'm looking forward to seeing how you wrap up this story.

Rant about Digimon aside, all this to say is that the Pokemon Company (likely for the purpose of not wanting to risk putting children (and parents) off the franchise as a whole for the sake of the older generation) has neglected to actually have media grow with its original audience, and as such, a lot of these more complex moral questions are not broached. With the Eon Academy, I intended to create a story of growing up (both for Jon, who for the longest time, was partially still stuck in his past, and the students), the good, the bad and the ugly. And where insurance, PR, crime and eugenics fit in is not a clear cut answer.

One thing that I think the Pokemon movies did very well, or at least the first three, was that they tackled different aspects of the fantasy of the Pokemon franchise and tried to explore ways that the ideals of battling, collecting, and companionship could lead to bad outcomes. Digimon, as you mentioned, had similar instances of characters forgoing fighting (Mimi and Joe's sidequest during the Dark Masters arc has only grown on me with time). The main Pokemon series, on the other hand, does not really consider the underlying tensions at the heart of the series. Paul in the Diamond and Pearl era is a jerk, but his crime is more one of degree than of type. The split between the world and the players provides a lot of opportunity for exploration which, as I've brought up already, you have done well in this story.

Yeah, I definitely can say that including Pokemon outside of battles, and sometimes just general work-horse type stuff is a weakness in my writing. The amount of times I write something, publish it and realise that effectively, the story I have just written could quite easily exist in a world where Pokemon don't (such as the episode with Abbee's dad's funeral, or Dylan visiting home, and the truth about his homelife coming out), which I guess is because I tend to place a lot of stock in the fact that the characters are human, all of which being complex and messy, and that tends to dominate my focus. That, and honestly, I struggle maintaining unique identities of the characters present.

It's not something which really takes away from how well done your story is, but it is something that I wanted to note. Your attention to the issues brought up earlier show that you are really thinking about a "Pokemon World", and that world will naturally include its pieces of human drama and triumphs as well. Let's be honest, giving the Pokemon partners distinct personalities isn't something that actual show has done well and the games hardly even bother. A reckless Latios and a snarky Victini are worlds beyond a simple assignment of a nature.

Honestly, I think that Justin desperately needed the Epilogue, as during Season 1, especially earlier days, I felt like he was far too similar to Chris, the biggest difference being Chris' pride and Justin's indifference.

I have my notes for Season Two and I just need to format them into (another) long post, but I will say that Justin grew into my favorite of the five original students during the second season. So, you did a good job rectifying what I found to be shortcomings with his character!

The missed opportunity of Jon being able to speak to Pokemon stems in world from the fact that it was on record that Jon was not among those transformed (in terms of league reports) and at this point the only known Shadowcraft users who could transform him are dead, and for Jon to slip up and show he understands Pokemon to too many people could give away the fact the Diamond Ladies are still alive. However, really, it goes back to what I said before. I tend to focus too much on the people and end up writing a lot of content that practically could exist without Pokemon existing at all XD

Well, I hope that with everything that Jon and his mentees have gone through as of the end of Season Two that he will open up to them about this more and use it to help them going forward. It seems like a really valuable tool to use for improving their skills as trainers and solving problems.

Keen to hear your thoughts of Season 2!

And they will be coming, hopefully on Monday!