once again thinking about The Worlds End and Pokemon. This time I talk A LOT about it
So if it's like in the original TV series (aka Indigo League), then I imagine all the kids who want pokemon first get them near the end of primary school, with the choice of the pokemon depending on the whatever the Pokemon Organization TM has decided are the 3 starters for the year. Since the lads grew up in the 80s I say their choices were the og Charmander, Squirtle, Bulbasaur trio
I think he would've chosen Charmander. Andy was a feisty boy back in the day and I think he'd be interested in raising a fire pokemon. He would've been very responsible with it and trained it super well. However, that man is so Tauros coded to me---look at the way he charges at shit. I think Andy eventually added a Tauros to his team and came to see it as his main pokemon, maybe he even traded his well-raised Charmander for a good Tauros.
During his Miserable Business Man era, Andy would've made less time for Pokemon. I imagine he donates or sells most of his, and the ones he has a sentimental attachment to he lets stay at home or with a relative or something. That said, I can very much picture him getting rid of the Tauros because it's too feisty and impractical, but then secretly thinking of how sad it looked and regretting it forever. (As Andy is wont to do!)
That man is incredibly main character coded, I'm saying he chose Charmander. Because fire is cool. I can imagine that he really thought he'd be a professional trainer at some point, but that he gradually gave up on that dream. However, I don't think he'd be able to emotionally detach from his pokemon very easily. I imagine that he has a small team and puts a reasonable amount of free time into to keeping them entertained, the same way a dog owner in the city takes their dog to the park and buys it toys. I can picture him training them so he can bring them to work when he's on a construction site, like training a Sandshrew to stay out of the way and play in the dirt piles, or training his Charizard to help the workers by flying beams around.
I really like the idea of Peter choosing Squirtle. Number 1, shy Peter would've related to the pokemon that can hide in its shell, Number 2 it would've loved playing in his pool. I think Peter would be less invested in training it for combat and instead see it as a friend. I imagine that both he and his parents hoped the Squirtle would, on instinct, evolve fast and help protect him from bullies....but that it instead took after Peter's personality and became more of an emotional-support Squirtle than a protective one.
He'd keep it around as an adult. Since he works in his dad's company, he doesn't have to justify having it there, so he could bring it in all the time. I also imagine it as very well-behaved. Even tho Blastoise looks aggressive AF, Peter's is just a big loaf that's content to doze and watch Peter work. (That said, it would be really cute if Pete had Blastoise use its water cannons to help keep the cars extra clean.)
I say he picks Bulbasaur as his starter because 1) what with his early-model cell phone and fancy suit, I think he liked to seem ~different~ and ~more mature~ than his peers. Picking a plant type over a fire or water type fits this vibe, imo 2) I pictured Oliver watering and manicuring the Bulbasaur's plants like a hedge and I cant unsee it.
Like Peter, I think he'd be uninterested in pokemon fighting, but for Oliver it's because he's already based his personality on becoming a businessman. He wouldn't train his Bulbasaur to fight, but he'd be super meticulous with it. He'd totally try to show off how well he's raising/evolving it.
I can imagine him showing houses and asking Venusaur to stand in certain spots to demonstrate what the place would look like with decor (Venusaur would take this job very seriously). Maybe Oliver would get other Pokemon, too, but only so they can help him with his work---like a Ditto that transforms into whatever pokemon the clients own, so it can demonstrate how comfortable their pokemon would be in the house.
I like to imagine that, like Ash does in the anime, Gary shows up late on the day Pokemon are given out and is stuck with whatever pokemon are left. I've also gotten really attached to the idea of Gary having a Psyduck. In most of the games, the Pokedex says that Psyduck uses its "strange powers" when it gets overwhelmed by its constant headaches. Some of the Pokedex entries imply that Psyduck has little to no control over these outbursts. This reminds me of Gary's underlying mental distress, as it occasionally leads him to lash out and is (in some ways) the root of the ""cool"" behaviours his peers admired him for in secondary school.
I like to imagine that Gary was super frustrated with getting one of the most difficult Pokemon to train/evolve. He wanted to trade it, but since he wasn't training the Psyduck well (if at all), no one wanted it. From here, I imagine that he kind of left it behind, keeping it in a pokeball and gradually feeling guiltier and guiltier until he hid the ball out of sight so he didn't have to think about it anymore. He'd try to get other Pokemon, but I think he'd be mostly interested in the aesthetics and never get very good at training, so he never kept a pokemon very long before trading it for a new one.
During his lonely era (after secondary when he's lost contact with all his friends), I think Gary would get more invested in building relationships with his pokemon. I like to imagine he finds a Zorua with shitty stats that kept trying to trick trainers into keeping it by imitating their pokemon. Gary would pick the Zorua because he relates to it, number one, but also because its eagerness to please makes it easy to train. Also, Gary would definitely want to use its transformation powers for deception, theft, and other mischief. I also like to imagine that he gets his hands on a Zebstrika, which he wants 1) for the aesthetic, and 2) to have a getaway method when he's not with his car. I really want the Zebstrika to be as impulsive and high-energy as Gary is, so he's forced to become a more patient trainer. (I want the Zebstrika to remain a bit fucked up tho, still occasionally zapping him or throwing him off even after he trains it)
Eventually he returns to his Psyduck, finally taking it out of the pokeball and feeling really bad about having locked it up for so long. I have a million fluff headcanons about him learning to make the Psyduck happy, like giving it things to cover its eyes and ears with so it doesn't get overstimulated as often. My favorite idea is that it loves to hang out in his car (The sound of the road, the closeness of the space, etc etc... it also makes Gary play its favorite songs over and over, which he enjoys doing)
discoholicmusic
pixelskylines
yousharknotpass
jacobvanloon
dailybridgerton
romaincrisis
ellievsbear
baratheonpilled
