V O I D @madeofmobsandmissingno - Tumblr Blog

Mar 14, 2018

napoleon! or abe, if someone’s already asked for leo

Foh whoops, this is two three four weeks late, who’d have guessed (us, we would have guessed, immediately after the question was asked) - anyway, time to talk about my favorite TPP child, Napoleon

Some background thoughts:

The thing about Napoleon as this finicky, cold, pretty unfriendly child (i don’t like pokemon come on my boy why would you admit that) is that within the context of TPPverse Sinnoh, it totally makes sense:

Like, even in the actual games, Sinnoh is portrayed as this independent and distant corner of the map, that doesn’t really associate with the other regions and has a pretty substantial mythology unlike anything else in the pokeverse. Yeah, sure, Johto has huge roaming cats in their forest, and Hoenn’s got a dragon that babysits the ocean and land ogres, but Sinnoh has lake spirits and oh yeah you met god and THE DEVIL DRAGGED YOU DOWN TO ITS HELL DIMENSION

With that sort of independence in mind, just imagine TPPSinnoh hearing the sort of shit that’s going down in the rest of the TPPverse. Oh, Kanto is going on some sort of holy war with Johto? Oh, Hoenn and Unova both are getting run over by refugees? Oh, billionaire scientist Bill is fucking with the physics of the universe? Oh, some child resurrected a god? Cool, y’all can fuck off, we’re closing our borders, seeya

So yeah, Napoleon probably wasn’t the friendliest kid when he was younger, and seeing the sort of “region-first” conversations that were happening when he was around 9-13 probably reinforced that behavior

Which makes him somewhere between either 14-18 in my timeline, don’t ask me which, I have changed my ideas around on this issue so much in the last 4 years and probably will again, he’s most likely 16 though

So yeah, in general, before he began his journey, Napoleon kept to himself and was very skeptical about doing anything for other people

I do think he thought a lot about world events when he was younger, he just didn’t discuss them with anyone

Like, he’d hear a couple of adults having an argument at school, and then go through the points they were making to one another, and try to figure out who was right and wrong (sidenote, do pokemon kids even go to school, or do they all just strike out at 10 to go battle? how do these economies even work? all tech and health advancements center around pokemon battles, and never around like, actual people getting sick or trying to work or shit. whatever, my tpp kids go to school, but my stories will involve real geopolitics, damn it)

He’s the kind of kid who read about the invention of pokeyen for “future endeavors”

You never pushed Napoleon in the dirt because if you did, he wouldn’t go to the teacher about it: he would call your parent up himself, and let them know about the selfish, ignorant thing you just did

what a little shit

i love him

Anyway, there were pretty much just 2 people he hung out with on a regular basis before heading out: Pearl and his mom, Johanna

I feel like the situation between Napoleon and Pearl is pretty much one of circumstance for Napoleon; like, Pearl is mostly not liked by other people for 1) making bad decisions, and 2) doubling down on those bad decisions, and so most of the time when he needs to lie low or find a willing (read: apathetic) ear Pearl goes and hangs out with Napoleon, and since Napoleon never learned the social cues to ignore/ask someone to leave, he just has sort of accepted Pearl’s presence

I think that as Napoleon has gotten older he has learned he does need to understand social cues, and he figures that Pearl is as good a person as any, when really

buddy

come on

you’re smart

come on

just ask your mom

On the other hand, I think that Napoleon has an overwhelming sense of love and admiration for his mom that he has absolutely no idea how to demonstrate to her

Like, he calls her Johanna because calling her Mom would be like admitting that he needs a parental figure in his life, and that would mean admitting he needs comfort and support, and nope nope nope better to shut that down with Johanna

Instead, he talks to her about the accomplishments she’s made in life; traveling the world, being a single mom, (briefly) becoming League Champion, constantly calling up friends on the phone, making social calls around the region, planning events, shouting down her political rivals, pretty much whatever she feels like doing

these days she’s working with the league on the “Inter-Regional Kanto-Johto Crisis”

I think she’s against Sinnoh being independent, which Napoleon cannot understand at all. He’s brought it up at few times at dinner, and whenever she talks about the responsibility Sinnoh has to ensure that people around the world do not suffer at their inaction he just gets overwhelmed with the injustice that Sinnoh has to provide their resources to systems of governance that would obviously squander or corruptly take those resources and then Johanna just sighs and takes off his hat and ruffles his hair and says “I love you kid, you know?”

He always snatches his hat back and harramphs at her, “I hate it when you do that”

She always laughs and says, “I know”

(It’s funny because he doesn’t hate it)

(Also fuck this is making me cry fuck you Napoleon)

I figure that his pokemon journey was also just a matter of convenience; like, it probably just happened during summer vacation, because that’s the only time Napoleon was willing to fit it into his schedule?

Although, actually, Napoleon would more likely have petitioned the school board for the opportunity to learn about the political systems around the region and help achieve “personal growth and social awareness goals”

He was probably like, “Hey, I’m 16 and extremely bored in class, let me venture around the country learning about local politics cause otherwise I’m gonna argue with you the whole time” and his school was like, “Great, please leave now”

(Also, while I don’t think Johanna has ever intervened on her son’s behalf, I think a lot of adults are understandably apprehensive about getting into a fight that she might take an interest in)

And he figured that since the League already has a system in place for young people to venture around the region safely, he might as well just do the pokemon journey

Sinnoh usually has older entrants anyway, so it’s not like Napoleon was the lone teen standing around a bunch of 10-year-olds

Although how AMAZING IS THAT IMAGE

Anyway, it was probably like a year long project? Either that or a summer/fall semester project that ended in the spring time

My thoughts about how Pearl got involved are pretty much entirely influenced by njike’s comics about Napoleon, i.e. Pearl did something stupid and upset the local gambling commission and is on a pokemon journey to lie low (you can find the whole comic here: https://imgur.com/a/6KTpE, which after reading it again, god what an incredible comic)

Also, Pokemon trainers are probably subsidized by the league now that I think about it?

Like, given how much the social and economic structures of the regions are based upon pokemon battles and journeys, I think that pokemon trainers probably get a monthly stipend from the league that varies depending on their position within the organization, just so there’s constantly an interest in journeying

Trainers get the lowest stipend, just enough to pay for balls and meds, hostel bills at pokemon center, and then a little left over for sweets or other goodies. Kids probably pull from a community fund that the league has set up, since they’re not gonna be concerned about money (”now are you sure you want to spend $99,000 on repels?” “YES I HATE BIDOOF THEY’RE THE WORST” “you’re not wrong kid”)

The more badges you have, the slightly higher your stipend is, just cause at that point the cost of journeying through becomes much higher, in that you’re buying ultra balls and max potions and x attacks and stuff

Gym Leaders have the highest stipend, because they have a gym to upkeep and also the price of facing so many trainers is enormous

In addition to stipends, I think that certain Pokemon Trainers become celebrities while on their journeys and are able to pull extra cash that way

Like, Steven Stone could not afford the wardrobe he has on the budget the League has provided, you know? He has that hair product endorsement money

Also, Elesa’s whole deal is that she’s an idol, come on

And also like, trainers probably just have donation pages? Like there’s probably a social media landscape entirely devoted to specific trainers and the league in general, and like Twitch but for pokemon battles, and one of the largest sites is a league-maintained database/trainer update page, where you can follow your favorite trainer and help support their journey through a donation system, and get access to certain perks

God I just mashed Patreon/Twitch but for pokemon, what the fuck

Anyway, so if you become a trainer, you get a certain amount of steady cash, and if you become slightly famous you can start getting a bunch of money from supporters and endorsements and shit

And if you’re Pearl, that sounds like an awesome way to solve your money problems, so you drag Napoleon along on your awesome Pokemon journey because he needs to stop being a stick in the mud and see the world and who better to show the world than me, your greatest friend Pearl, no one that’s who (”Pearl I was already going on my Pokemon journey, you’re the one who’s coming with me” “Ah, see! You’re already so excited to get out there, you’ve convinced yourself that you thought of this! Man, I am so good at motivating people, I should do this all-” “Pearl, please shut up”)

Anyway, that’s enough background for Napoleon, story-time:

By this point I think the voices had pretty much figured out how to control a person without psychologically scarring them too hard, and so when we latched onto Napoleon, we weren’t all “OKAY OURS NOW GOOD BYE BOY” as we could have been

Also, I think that Napoleon in general was a lot firmer about which parts of his personality were his than any of the other hosts at that point. Like I know that Red has a personality now, but like, he was 10-14 when he was possessed, I think that his personality was probably pretty fluid and prone to some influencing

PLUS, what’s more hilarious than this: “WHAT’S UP DUDE WHAT’S YOUR NAME?” “uhhh, Napoleon?” “NAPOLEON, SWEET, LISTEN DUDE, WE’RE THE VOICES AND WE CONTROL WHAT YOU -” “I don’t have time for this, what do you want?” “UHHH, TO GO ON A POKEMON JOURNEY, WE GUESS?” “Cool, already doing that, are you gonna be in here the whole time?” “YEAH THAT’S THE DEAL” “ugh, fine, let’s go” “WOAH THIS DUDE IS SWEET HELL YEAH NAPOLEON LET’S GOOOOOO”

Yeah, Napoleon probably was like, “ugh, it’ll be more of a problem if I don’t leave, i’ll just bring these hell-voices with me”

Again: I love this boy

I don’t think Napoleon factored in the pokemon part of his pokemon journey, and so when Rowan brought out the pokeballs he was like, “oh right, i guess this is part of it, uh, give me the monkey”

This was probably the first pokemon that was actually Napoleon’s, come to think of it? Like, I think Johanna had her team around occasionally, but he thought of them as Mom’s Friends and like, would feed them sometimes but didn’t really hang out with them

So I think that more than anything, this was a responsibility that Napoleon wasn’t expecting and it sort of freaked him out, to have a sort-of person, a companion, to suddenly be around him all the time and to need certain things

Especially since Chimchan was young and totally willing to be a friend and probably didn’t understand this broody teen who she’d seen talking to himself

I imagine that the Voices weren’t making Napoleon’s emotional situation any easier, with half of them shouting murder and the other half in love with their cool monkey

I don’t know how to think about Chimchan’s release, in this case, you know? Because on one hand, it makes sense that Cyrus killed her and Oreo, at least in terms of plot; the villain plants the seeds of resistance that eventually lead to the hero’s victory and all that

But on the other, I can see it being Napoleon’s fault that she died

They were just wandering through the forest, or by the river, and he wasn’t paying attention to her, he was preoccupied with the Voices, or some weird political issue, and there was an accident

And then she was gone

No warning, no goodbyes, just absence

And Napoleon has never had to deal with that before, you know?

Missing a person, and never being able to talk to them again

Missing a person, and wanting so badly to just say, “I’m proud of you,” or “I though of you the other day,” or “I heard a joke and thought you’d like it, I heard a story and knew you’d appreciate it,” and knowing that you’d never be able to

A distance had been created you’d never cross

Napoleon had been trying his whole life to make sure emotions like that wouldn’t happen to him, and then suddenly they did, and he didn’t realize how much he’d missed until then

So I think that when he found Sunbrella, it was an act of penance, you know?

It was Napoleon thinking to himself, “I failed you Chimchan, and I’m sorry, and it’s in your memory that I will do this again. I will try to make this right, even if I don’t ever fully succeed. I hope it’s enough.”

So that’s the background for Napoleon and Sunbrella’s relationship, which is, no joke, probably my favorite Trainer x Pokemon relationship in all of TPP?

I mean, Red x Helix is a gift to us all, as is AJ x Lazorgator, and Baba x Best, Camilla x M4, Aooo x Shield/Armor, Abe x Leech King, but Napoleon and Sunbrella feel the most like a partnership, you know?

There’s just something that speaks to me about the way that their relationship proceeded, even from the beginning of having Sunbrella: like, the entire process of getting Budew out of the PC was a pitched battle, but one where the chat felt like we had made the correct choice

And then there was that moment a couple days in, where we had just finished getting either our 3rd or 4th badge and were running around on the beach that makes up Route 213, and happened to walk into the Footprint readers house, who told us that Sunbrella “likes you as a friend!”, and then immediately afterwards the chat broke and it felt like there was a moment of silence on the beach

I can imagine their journey to that point

Napoleon picks up Sunbrella from the PC - or maybe during a moment in the tall grass, fighting off some Staraptors who are here to terrorize a helpless little Budew, reminded of this promise he’s made that hasn’t been fulfilled yet, and he’s like, “alright, this is the one that I’m going to protect”

But it’s not like Sunbrella is helpless, you know? Like, yes, she’s weak, but that’s only because she hasn’t had the opportunity to train. In battle she’s fearless and elegant and tough, especially when she evolves to Roselia, and as a travel companion she’s good company, cheering up the rest of the team and giving Napoleon the space he needs to grieve or just be alone

Which, Napoleon would recognize that behavior at that point, right? Like, he’s been out on this journey for a couple of weeks now, and I think in that time he’s probably met dozens of people who have been kind to him, and some who have been rude or put off by his behavior, and told him that he should “cheer up! You’re on a pokemon journey!” So the concept of someone who actually is attuned to how he’s feeling is something that’s new, but that he does recognize

So like, by the time that they’re on that beach that makes up Route 213, I think he’s comfortable enough with Sunbrella to confess how much he enjoys her company, and how much better he’s doing now that she’s here, and that he appreciates her being in his life

And she probably, like, raises a leaf eyebrow or something?

I don’t know, pokemon with human-like intelligence is always a little like, “how does this actually operate in the real world?” Are they animals, and therefore not on the same level of operating? Or are they more like spirits, and therefore allowed to considered as “human” enough to be understood as sarcastic? That’s the problem with human-centric societies, we have no idea how much to value other intelligences in other non-human persons

Or is there like, a human-pokemon language that’s evolved over time? Maybe like sign language? Or body language? Cause clearly pokemon can communicate with one another, and we understand pokemon to be intelligent beings, so there must have been some effort for the species to develop a shared language?

Maybe it’s sort of how people can understand droid speak in Star Wars, like, it’s just another language because droids are intelligent, and some people speak it and some don’t, and it’s part of existing in that universe. Granted, everybody deals with pokemon in the Pokeverse, so it’s probably a more universal understanding

And given that few pokemon have hands with which to sign, it’s probably a series of elaborate body signals, but that are specific to a species.

So the dex is not only a type of guide, but also potentially a translation device when dealing with species that have specific body languages

So yeah, she raises a leaf eyebrow and gives a slight nod, which Napoleon understands to mean, “I understand and am amused by this conveyance, and I reciprocate”

And he smiles and drops his head down and shakes it, which means for the roserade species, “I appreciate the reciprocation, and now am readying myself for the new situation we find ourselves in.”

God, just imagining Napoleon doing little dances for Sunbrella is giving me life, what an excellent child

And it’s in that moment, the Voices leave for, who knows what, probably something about the randomization is messing with the structure of the universe, and in that brief moment of peace, Napoleon and Sunbrella just enjoy the sunset

I guess that’s also how the idea for the Court of the Sun came into being, just from the companionship between these two

Like, I don’t think either of them really felt this need to create the court from the beginning, it more feels like one of those ideas that kept on popping up while Napoleon and Sunbrella were journeying, you know?

They’d make camp for the night and then just start reflecting on the things they’d seen that day, the sort of people they’d come into contact with and the opinions they’d heard

Because it’s the TPPverse, and even with the actions Sinnoh has taken, things haven’t really gotten better for the region, you know?

Like, the war between Kanto and Johto has died down, but only because Kanto’s god was defeated in an incident no one has any clear details about, and so there’s no actual peace, just floundering on the part of Kanto while they reevaluate

And Hoenn’s been overrun with refugees, causing a semi-police state that’s being overworked and allowing vigilante forces to take on some of the enforcement work

And Bill’s been working on something in his offices in Kanto that has completely blocked off all communication from Kanto, to the point that no one has any idea of what’s happening there, beyond a new batch of refugees that are talking about “punching birds” and “god spiders”

Plus, I can’t imagine there was a total block of refugees, so I have to imagine that there are probably camps of people that are fleeing from Kanto and Johto who have wound up in Canalave or Sunyshore cities, or have even tried wandering through the mountain ranges in the center of the continent and made camp on Mt. Coronet, and there are citizens who are like, “Oh fuck, we have refugees, get them out,” while other’s are like, “we need to protect these people”

And I think that this confusion is something that Cyrus has really taken advantage of, in a way that Napoleon and Sunbrella have found really uncomfortable in a way they don’t know how to describe yet

Like…I wonder if Cyrus was almost the head of the Sinnoh Populist Movement, you know? Like, there’s a whole bunch of problems with the rest of the world, let’s block them out and continue doing our own things seems like a very proto-Cyrus position, before he realizes that that’s not working, and so he needs to literally destroy the rest of the world so that they can’t get to Sinnoh

And Napoleon…I wonder if that’s the sort of position he recognizes as the one he used to have, and so he has to grapple with this tendency inside himself to push people away, one that could definitely incorporate a world-wide annihilation if normalized/radicalized enough

But while he’s been journeying, he’s found that he’s a better person when he chooses to support people, when he tries to help people out with their problems and learn what issues have arisen that cause these problems

Something he’s come to learn by partnering with Sunbrella, and that he’s realized is the basis of Johanna’s work

So when the Court of the Sun comes into conversation, it’s always Napoleon and Sunbrella talking about ways they could help the people of the region; how to deal with refugees, how to combat fear of the war, how to inspire people into helping one another

And slowly they realize the best thing for everyone would have Sinnoh emerge as a leader on these issues; to take point in conciliating Kanto and Johto, to help direct refugees, to create a group of individuals who’d be able to focus the resources of Sinnoh to help ease the pain of everyone else

So as Napoleon and Sunbrella journey around the region, they begin working in the ideas of the Court as they meet people; they try and facilitate refugee/city discussions, to help ease tensions and reduce the amount of resource drain that refugees are having on the ecosystem and local populations

Later on, I think they’d work on incorporating refugees into the population of Sinnoh, trying to build systems that could manage a new workforce and also keep families together

Oreburgh and Jubilife see explosions in both productivity and population, since I’d figure Kanto refugees probably include substantial tech and mining workforces

Johto refugees would probably shack up in Canalave, given all the port stuff they do, although I’m sure some would wind up in Hearthrome and Celestic?

And there’s definitely a Johto family that winds up in Floaroma town and starts a Johto strand of flowers and techniques, and end up completely beloved by the rest of the town

And everywhere, people talk about the Court of the Sun; how they direct people where they’re needed, how they understand the need for second chances and an opportunity for renewal, how they seem to light a path

Which, I think Cyrus sees and tries to undermine over the course of these months

Cause Cyrus’ whole conception of people is that they’re awful, right? That they can’t be trusted to treat each other well, and they’re always selfish, which is why our whole society needs to go

Granted, the TPPverse is built on the back of the Fossil Gods and includes Missingo and Olden, so he’s…not wrong?

So Cyrus sees the Court doing this, and I think he’s angry, and I also think he’d whip up opposition by appealing to his supporters basic fears

That the refugees are criminals who can’t be trusted in society

That they come from regions who are falling to pieces due to low values, and have brought those values with them

That Sinnoh shouldn’t be expected to pay for the mistakes of other regions, and that these individuals should go back to their old places

that basic nationalist shit

And I think that it’s successful; I think a lot of what Napoleon and Sunbrella and Solareon and Sunshine and 007 and Steve and Moonbat had to deal with during their journey is a constant mistrust of what they were trying to do, not just from Team Galactic but also just regular folk from Pastoria and Jubilife, Snowpoint, Veilstone

Everywhere they went, they met with people who were convinced that any group of refugees, regardless of how well-mannered they were-

or fucking, even if they weren’t well-mannered, how deserving they were of basic human decency and pissed off for not receiving it

- had secret murderous tendencies and would overthrow regular Sinnoh folk and values in a second

And it was draining for them all, I think

I think Napoleon was probably was awake pretty often in the dead of night, sharing stories with Moonbat or voicing conflicts with Sunbrella, constantly worried, “I am doing this right? What am I even doing here? Why am I the one doing this?”

And probably at some point, the worst did happen: there was some accident, and a group of Kantonese refugees - torn from their home and mistreated by Sinnoh citizens - had one of their own die

In the mines? From the cold? Refused treatment by the city for injuries, or necessities? All are possible

They were angry, and scared, and they wanted justice, or maybe revenge

So they rioted, setting fire to houses, beating up citizens who “didn’t mistreat us, nah, but didn’t treat us while either,” and the league and the court had to send in the regional guard, which hardly ever happened

And Napoleon saw this and became so angry with the refugees because he had known, he had known that this would happen

He had known they would abuse the benefits Sinnoh had given them

Mistreat the citizens of his region

Cause ruin to his people

He had said this from the beginning, and they had said, “People need help more than they want violence”

And now he had caused innocent bloodshed in Sunyshore, and it was all because he had ignored what he knew-

Sunbrella tapped Napoleon on the shoulder and pointed

And all around him, other refugees, those they had helped relocate, ones who he had advocated for and fought with, those who had thanked him and those who accepted his help without a single gesture, all of them started flying in on Swellows and Staraptors and Pidoves and Pidgeys, and immediately asking how to help, getting directions from town people, fighting the fires, providing medical assistance, giving the help that they’d been given

And he watched them as together, refugee and citizen alike, they worked through tragedy

Sunbrella raised an eyebrow

Napoleon dropped his head and shook it

And I think he took that knowledge with him through everything else. Through his fight with Cyrus on top of Mt. Coronet, through his arguments and fights with the League, through his confrontation with Giratina, Napoleon held onto that image: of people working to help and sacrifice and support and grieve. Of people constantly trying to keep those things alive, to pass them around to others, and keep them present

Like a path, maybe, a straight, well-defined set of behaviors that kept them out of wilder, more destructive tendencies

Or instead, maybe the sun; a constant, a source, a presence

I think that when Napoleon finally made the argument to the League for the existence of the Court of the Sun and the opportunity Sinnoh had to provide leadership, they saw the integrated communities and the boom in development and the lack of cynicism and anger and thought, “Of course Johanna’s kid was gonna do this. Well fuck, let’s just let him have it.”

And that’s how Napoleon became the greatest fucking trainer we ever had, and why he’s my fucking forever fav

Other run-specific/convergent shit:

When Napoleon hung out with his Mom during his journey, they definitely had a huge conversation about the difficulty of creating consensus in politics over dinner, and Napoleon was probably even more radical than his mom concerning direct help and the refugee crisis, and she was like, “Oh my god, I can’t believe I’ve raised an anarchist” and he was like, “Admit it Johanna, you love it,” and they both just laughed

Napoleon is probably like, kinda old now? Like I can definitely imagine him being in his 20s/30s as the Missingno/Olden/Phancero crisis starts

Although I can also imagine him being 18 and living in a house with all the other hosts and being constantly annoyed by the shenanigans

I feel like Dappergator, Tux, and Lampeon were probably all pokemon who were brought up by the Court of the Sun? Like Lampeon especially I feel had the same sort of “light the way out of the darkness” that the Court of the Sun brings to the table

Also, I’m not sure how they interact with the Silence?

I sort of get the feeling that they’re two sides of the same coin, like the Court of the Sun deals with the human-centric/material affects of the Pantheon and the Neo-regions, while the Silence deals with inter-dimensional/reality shifting affects of Missingno/Glitches/the Voices in general

Although the Court might just be a Sinnoh-specific order? Gotta hammer that out more

I like to think that after the Court got set up, Napoleon and Sunbrella went on a well deserved vacation and just like, gambled for a week straight

“Oh why do I gamble? Well, I’m possessed by a mob of obsessive/forgetful disembodied sociopaths who love cheap thrills, and I’m not really interested in listening to your mind-numbing grocery store encounters, so this is the best way to spend my down time” “nice dude”

In all, Napoleon’s the best, and I hope you can understand why

#cunninglydisguisedkeybearer #DONE #freaking finally #TPP #twitch plays pokemon #i hope you like this mitz #also i hope you're doing okay despite your current bad cycle #also writing this made me realize how rich the geo-political issues of tpp really are and god damn it why don't we ever get into those?#i wish we could give tpp more world to draw on #i guess that's what we're here for!#anyway #this is for you mitz #enjoy :)

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