Flower and First Dates

Afterword

Hola! This is Purim, the author. I hope everyone who picked up Pokémon Scarlet and Pokémon Violet yesterday are enjoying their time in the Paldea Region! At time of writing, my game hasn't arrived in the mail yet, but hopefully I'll be joining in soon! I'm excited to see what the next generation of Pokémon has to offer!

But as far as this story goes, we're still in the Eighth Generation, which means we're chiefly looking at Pokémon from Sword, Shield and Legends Arceus, so I hope this is acceptable for the time being.

Admittedly, this story doesn't advance any plots as much as others, and it's got several sections that are meant to build up to cheap gags that I, at least, thought were funny. But still, it is currently the single longest chapter I've written... ever, I'm pretty sure. At the very least, since Pokémon Journeys began in 2019.

But can you blame me? I really wanted to enjoy Goh and Chloe on their first date together. After months of indecision and hesitation, we get a story fully dedicated to their relationship, and I'm glad it turned out the way it did because I had a lot of fun writing it.

The amusement park they visit in this story is based on Yokohama Cosmo World, located in real world Yokohama, Japan! In case you were unaware, Yokohama is the real-world city that Vermilion City is based on, and throughout Pokémon Journeys there are references to life in real-world Yokohama, as well! It will also be the location of the 2023 Pokémon World Championships, so if I get a chance, I would definitely like to attend the event and see the city in person!

But back to Cosmo World, I did a lot of research on the theme park and how it was set up and I think I did a good job of translating it to the world of Pokémon Journeys. I really wanted to include the Diving Coaster: Vanish (here renamed Vanishing Coaster: Dive to be inline with the Pokémon move) and the famous Cosmo Clock Ferris Wheel. I've had it suggested that the park should be called Cosmog World, but given that Cosmog is a rare, relatively unknown Pokémon, the name didn't feel like it fit.

Chloe's outfit was borrowed from a friend of mine, Yuu (Cheruyuu on Twitter) who drew an amazing fan art back in may of this year. Goh's outfit was sort of mandated by the plot, but hopefully he'll get a chance to wear the cute one Yuu drew him with in that art soon, too.

Next time, come back for something very different!