Chasing After A Legend

Update & Announcements

So. It's been a hot minute.

I'll just cut to the chase - I'm sincerely sorry for the long delay, and yes, I am writing chapter 19. Along with major updates to the previous chapters.

And by "major updates", I mean rewrites, additional scenes, retcons, and the like. I've done some minor changes before, mostly to reflect the events of the anime as they were occurring.

But now Ash is World Champion. His journey is coming to an actual end. Plus, Scarlet/Violet came out. I could very well disregard these facts and simply treat this fic as an alternate universe where Ash didn't win the World Championships, or even come up with some shit like Ash decided to become the Kalos Champion after beating Leon. I could just not give a damn about continuity and just move on.

I won't, because in all honestly, stuff in the anime has lined up so perfectly to more elegantly steer this story in the direction I want that I can't not take the opportunity.

Plus it's my story and I can do whatever I want with it, so yeah.

As for the update schedule - well, there isn't one. I won't make promises and give specific timeframes, because let's be frank, those never come to fruition.

What I will say, is that Chapter 19 is about 60% done (I guess?), and that when that drops, you can expect that the updates to previous chapters will be uploaded at the same time, giving you (hopefully) more content than just a single new chapter.

I should also mention that in addition to Chasing After a Legend, I've been working on three other Pokémon fanfics which may or may not be uploaded around the same time as Chapter 19. I know that at least two of them won't be one-shots, which means that, if anyone happens to like them, they'll also have to wait for new chapters - and considering my track record, I'm actually pretty worried if I can even manage writing between all four fics. I can only say that I'll try my absolute best to deliver.

So, to summarize -

1) No, this fic isn't dead. Chapter 19 is being worked on.

2) Chapters 1-18 are going to be getting significant revisions.

3) Three new Pokémon fics are also coming in the near future.

Obviously, the above isn't all that's causing the delay - I still got other obligations and life stuff to deal with. But it's not too far from the mark to say that all that I mentioned is a significant cause of delay.

My sincerest apologies once again, and thank you all for being so patient and understanding. And thank you for just being fucking awesome and sticking with this fic regardless of all the delays it's had.

As part of my apology, I'll first offer you some details about the new fics:

One will be set in medieval times - about 200 years after the tale of Sir Aaron as detailed in the eight Pokémon movie, known in the West as Lucario and the Mystery of Mew.

Another will be a parody of an overused trope in Pokémon fanfics. I won't spoil which one, but you're more than welcome to guess ;)

Another will actually be a prequel to Chasing After a Legend! It will detail Red's childhood all the way up to arriving at Mount Silver.

And as a second part of my apology, I present to you a preview of the next chapter...

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"It's as good as ours."

J listened to a confident Matori utter those words as they stood in the middle of a storm on the boardwalk with some Team Rocket grunts with their Pokémon at the ready. In front of them, two terrified fishermen were gagged and bound, covered in various parts of a Tentacruel's corpse and dangerously close to the edge of the boardwalk.

"Yeeeah, great plan." Petrel gave his input from behind the two women. "Lure the mystery 'Mon using the same tactics as the fish market. They would be so proud of you."

Neither of the two women made any acknowledgment of his sarcasm, aside from the sound of grinding teeth from Matori.

"Really ladies," the snide executive continued, "I guess this is s'posed to be one of the quieter operations compared to Team Rocket's other ventures, but c'mon. Fishing? We forget our submarines, or what?"

"We didn't forget, Petrel." Matori finally snapped at him. "But Hunter J would not be able to fire her weapon from within a submarine. That's why we need to lure the Pokémon to the surface, and who better to do so than a pair of fishermen?"

"If only J didn't get her old tech blown up. Things would be so much easier..." Petrel sighed dramatically and shrugged, though his face nothing short of amusement.

J didn't bother turning around.

"If you're done being useless, Mr. Lambda, I suggest you step back and let the professionals handle this." Matori made a shooing gesture at her colleague.

Petrel's amusement wore off. "Girl, you wish you were a professional and not an over-glorified secretary-!"

"Can we get on with this?" J interrupted. "I doubt your boss will be happy with the additional charge I'm about to incur from how much of my time is being wasted right now."

Matori nodded. "Of course. Unless Agent Petrel would like to explain the bill to Giovanni?"

Petrel scowled but instead of making a snappy comment, opted to "tsk" and step back slightly.

"Alright, you all!" Matori barked. "Throw in the bait!"

"MMF! MMFF!" Arnold and Roland cried furiously behind their gags in a desperate attempt to beg for mercy. But it fell on deaf ears as a Rocket grunt and his Machoke kicked them both into the water.

Behind the group of Rocketeers, Petrel smirked. The faces on those two dolts were priceless.

J had no visible reaction herself, although she immediately activated her goggles to detect any heat signatures near the ocean's surface. At the same time, she readied her arm cannon, determined to get through this quickly so that she could snatch her real prize.

"By the by," Petrel said casually, "this storm kinda came outta nowhere, don't you think?"

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This storm definitely came out of nowhere, she thought.

Literally. It was as clear as a baby's bottom before she blinked, and then, like someone flipped a switch, heavy rain, dark clouds and lightning galore.

And somehow, she didn't even see it coming.

Maybe she just wasn't paying attention?

... No. She was one of the most intelligent and powerful creatures on the planet. Not to mention a mother. She always paid attention.

The girl floated there, pondering her next move. She was intending to check in on her favorite trainer, maybe notifying him as to what was happening... then again, knowing him he would drop everything and everyone, if she presented him with this information. No, that wouldn't be healthy for him, she decided.

"Myuu..." the Ancestor of Pokémon moved on ahead. She would investigate this herself.