♛ 𝔽𝕒𝕥𝕖𝕕 𝔹𝕪 𝔻𝕖𝕤𝕥𝕚𝕟𝕪 (𝔸𝕞𝕠𝕦𝕣𝕤𝕙𝕚𝕡𝕡𝕚𝕟𝕘) ♛

Chapter 51: Reconciliation

Author's Notes (7)

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Well, first chapter of the year. And it's finally time for Movie 1!

Hopefully, I can finish Johto by this year as well as Serena's POV in Kalos. But alas, procrastination is too tempting.

Also, there're a lot more reviews and questions for Fated which I'll be happy answer in this Author's Note so I'll do the best I can!

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From user Jidorima:

[ I really liked this story, I really liked everything.
How is it formatted, the writing, how the stories are expanded, characters connected, the Fate inspiration, etc.
But there's one single thing that seriously brings it down and that I simply cannot ignore despite how central it is to the story.
Serena.
More specifically, the whole Ash and Serena "fated meeting" thing.
I am sorry, but I really really cannot suspend my disbelief enough to find ways to not justify them meeting or talking to one another at all through years and years in a world where there's telephones, internet, streaming, videocalls, travel between regions, etc.
The whole "you took him away from me" Serena did at her mom was just horribly and terribly rude, inconsiderate and illogical. How am I supposed to sympathize with her at all there? She was a toddler. How is it even her mom's fault? Was she supposed to just leave her toddler daughter behind in another region?
In a world as technologically advanced as the Pokemon World, and as the one portrayed here, there's just no excuse.
They aren't meeting because they don't want to despite wanting to do it so much.
I really really wish I could just ignore this since I seriously love the story otherwise. It saddens me I cannot enjoy it as much as I want to because of this. ]

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First off, I would like to thank you for such a polite criticism for Fated! Seriously! The fact that a reader can be this passionate for something I decided to write while I was bored is really flattering! Now to answer your questions, Jidorima:

I agree that Serena's in the wrong here for blaming her mom when the latter didn't do anything that would earn her ire.

But that's because our main heroine here's still only 11 at this point of the story. Funny thing is, I kinda get why you would think that she's being immature despite being 11.

And that's partly my fault since the Pallet Trio are rather mature for their age, including Ash. The reason for this is due to their experiences and journeys. But even then, I made sure their own flaws managed to come to light.

For example, Gary had lost Raticate during his scuffle with TR. But since he didn't know how to process it, he lashed out at everyone and tried to justify his death by grasping at straws (i.e his Power spiel and values), not knowing that he's just running away from the problem. And that is his flaw.

Blue's flaw was her innocence. She started her journey thinking everything was sunshine and rainbows, kinda like a Let's Go player. But after receiving Eevee and the remergence of her trauma of touching Pokémon, she was forced to confront herself and accept that the world isn't going to let her wishes come true (Like going back to the good old days).

And finally, Ash. Well, Fated!Ash is really just a screwed up child from the get-go. But his main flaw is his tendency to try and fulfil his promises without thinking about what it entails. Seriously, the kid has a lot of issues that will slowly get sorted out as the story progresses so I'm not gonna talk about him much since that's spoiler territory.

Now, why am I saying all this? It's because none of our main cast are mature enough to think about their actions. Current Serena, let alone a normal 11 year old isn't emotionally capable enough to look at other people's perspectives like what you've described, Jidorima (i.e leaving your own child in another region).