This turned out to be much longer than I had originally anticipated, so it's been a while since I last updated this series.
Notes and explanations are at the bottom, as they may contain spoilers. I apologize in advance for the second scene, it’s sooo random. It doesn’t really advance the plot of the main story either, so you can skip it if you want. Some people might find it funny, though. If you don’t understand it, I have included a fairly lengthy explanation at the bottom.
****
“Jonathan, can you answer the question that I just posed to the class?” Mr. Dinsmore asked.
Jonathan snapped his head up and looked around him. His fellow students were watching him expectantly. Unfortunately, his mind had been focused on the upcoming weekend’s Academy Awards presentation, so he hadn’t been paying one bit of attention.
“Uh, nope, I don’t know the answer either,” he said hesitantly.
Apparently, he had said something wrong, because suddenly everyone started snickering.
“You mean to say that you don’t remember your own birth date?” the history teacher asked, his eyes gleaming with amusement.
Jonathan’s eyes widened, and he blushed profusely as he answered the original question.
“Very good. Class, as Mr. Kent has so *kindly* seen fit to inform us, Superman’s son was born on…”
Oh great, more ‘progressive education’. Jonathan silently groaned to himself.
“If you think *this* is bad, I heard that the experimental college at the university is offering a course called ‘Kent History’ this fall. What do you think about *that*, Jonathan?” Ben whispered.
“’Kent History’?? Are you kidding me?”
“No, it’s no joke! Sounds like an easy 4.0 for you if you decide that you want to take it though, eh?”
“Yeah, but it would be *weird* being in that class. Besides, I’m not going to be a history major anyways.”
“True. But it just goes to show, this whole obsession the world has with your dad can be kind of funny sometimes,” Ben chuckled.
Jonathan didn’t really see anything funny about it. Kent history indeed! It just didn’t get any weirder…
****
Meanwhile, unknown to Jonathan, somewhere in an alternate universe…
****
“Martha, can you answer the question that I just posed to the class?” Mr. Dinsmore asked.
Martha snapped her head up and looked around her. Her fellow students were watching her expectantly. Unfortunately, her mind had been focused on the upcoming weekend’s Academy Awards presentation, so she hadn’t been paying one bit of attention.
“Uh, nope, I don’t know the answer either,” she said hesitantly.
“You mean to say that you don’t know the significance of the Emancipation Proclamation?” the history teacher asked, suspecting that Martha simply hadn’t been listening.
Martha eyes widened, and she blushed profusely as she answered the original question. Of course she knew what the significance of the Emancipation Proclamation was – after all, it was something that was very important to her best friend, Ben Johnson.
“The Emancipation Proclamation freed all of the Pokemon from their masters. Previously, Pokemon could be randomly beaten up and stuffed into pokeballs, which also served as sophisticated brainwashing devices. They were then forced to beat up other Pokemon to capture *them*, too, as well as having to fight each other in gladiatorial arenas just for the entertainment of humans,” she said.
“Very good. Class, as Ms. Kent has so *kindly* seen fit to inform us, the Emancipation Proclamation…”
Mr. Dinsmore’s voice faded into the background as Martha redirected her attention towards Ben, who was trying to get her attention.
“What is it, Ben?” she asked.
“Pikapi, Pika PI Kachu!” Ben responded.
“What? Now that everyone knows that my dad is Superman, you want to use *me* as target practice for your thundershock attack? But, *why*?” Martha asked, sounding hurt.
Ben stared at her with his beady black eyes, as if to say, “Don’t give me that look”. Crossing his arms over his furry yellow chest, he said, “Pika Pika, Pika CHU.”
“Yeah, I *know* I’m invulnerable. So you need to use your thundershock more in order to speed up your evolution? But, why do you have to be in such a hurry to evolve? You look so *cute* as a Pikachu!” Martha whined.
“Pika pika, chuuuuu…” Ben moaned miserably.
“You need to evolve or Jennifer will never go out with you?” Martha gasped.
“Oh my god, Ben, I didn’t know that you were…Well, you know that I don’t think that there’s anything wrong that – I mean, just look at my parents! But this comes as such a surprise; I didn’t know that you swung that way! I mean, you never said anything…” she babbled.
“PIKA PIKA PIKACHU!” (NOT THE HUMAN JENNIFER, YOU DOLT! THE RAICHU!)
“Oh. Right. Of course,” Martha squeaked, stretching her mouth into a sheepish smile. “Well, OK…I guess I don’t mind being a super target dummy for a while…”
****
Saturday, back in the regular universe – the relatively normal one
****
“So, are we all ready to head back to Smallville?” Clark asked cheerfully.
“Sure am, dad!” Jonathan declared.
He was really looking forward to the trip; it would be nice to visit Smallville again, as the city remained a familiar constant for him. It hadn’t changed much at all in the weeks since the world found out that Superman was Clark Kent.
Oh, some things had changed, but nothing big. The name “Smallville” was kind of a misnomer, Jonathan thought, considering how the place had boomed after Lord Nor’s 1996 invasion. There was simply no room for any further development after that - plus, the International Assembly had later classified it as one of its protected World Heritage Sites.
That was not to say that Smallville had not become the center of attention, however. There was renewed interest in the tourist sites now that the world knew the reason the New Kryptonians had chosen to land there to begin with. Superman had grown up there! So, the signs reading “Alien Invasion Capital of the World” at the entrances to the city now read “Home of a Great Man”. Other than that, though, there were really no noticeable changes.
“All right! I’ll take you there first, Jonathan – your mom and I will be over later. We have to, uh…finish up an article that we’re working on,” Clark said as he grinned in anticipation.
****
“It’s so nice to see you again, Jonathan; us old folks really appreciate having company. Not that I’m not enjoying our conversation, but where are your parents?” Martha asked.
“Yeah, what are they up to? I thought they’d be here shortly after you,” the older Jonathan Kent commented.
The elder Kents were still living in Smallville, although they had since stopped farming and retired now that they were in their early 70s. A surprising number of people in Smallville had chosen not to sell their land to the rabid developers that had arrived after the Lord Nor incident; the old small town ties were very strong.
“Oh, they had some work that they had to finish up. They’ll be here once they’re done, though,” Jonathan informed his grandparents.
As if on cue, the three heard a loud *swoosh* outside, and soon they spotted Clark landing outside the front door, carrying Lois in his arms.
“Mom, dad, I’m home!” Clark exclaimed as he and Lois walked through the front door.
As greetings were exchanged, the younger Jonathan asked, “Hey guys, how did the article turn out?”
Lois wrinkled her forehead in confusion. “What article?” she asked.
“Huh? You know, the article that you and dad were working on after he brought me here,” Jonathan reminded his mother.
Lois blinked in understanding. “Oh, you meant *that* article! Yeah, it was great!” she said, shooting a glance at Clark.
Clark grinned weakly at his wife as they both tried not to blush.
“Oh, good,” Jonathan remarked, as his grandparents shared knowing glances behind his back as they struggled to suppress their laughter. “Well, I guess that’s what happens when you spend a lot of time on something.”
****
“So, you really haven’t gotten any trouble from people for ‘keeping Superman all to yourselves’?” Clark asked skeptically.
“Oh, *no* honey,” Martha laughed, “in fact, most of the people who called either expressed how thankful they were that Superman wasn’t found by ‘crazy ultra-right neo-cons’, or else how grateful they were that it wasn’t ‘flaming leftist liberals’ who found you.”
“Well, that’s good. I was afraid that you and dad would come under criticism for not handing me over to the government as soon as you found me.”
“Nah. In fact, there was a poll recently, and 83% of Americans agreed with our decision, based on the circumstances,” Jonathan said lightly.
“That’s right. In fact, it’s already causing quite a stir in governments all around the world, being so humbled by a family of farmers. Oh, I’m so proud of you, honey!” Lois said as she smiled warmly at her husband.
****
The Senator
****
“Ladies and Gentlemen of the United States Senate, we must now accept an uncomfortable truth. Too long have we sat here trapped in this malaise, practicing our self-serving politics of hypocrisy and bland appearances. It is time we stopped deluding ourselves into believing that our government, or any other government for that matter, is actually making an honest effort to put the interests of *the people* first.”
“For there is something *fundamentally wrong* with a system in which a large majority of the American people would consider it *perfectly reasonable* to assume that *their own government* launched an *infant* into outer space, given that they found a baby in a spaceship!”
“The fact of the matter is, this government has *long* since lost the trust of the people! It is now *assumed* that world leaders do not subscribe to the same moral principles as everybody else. When the inner workings of governments are so shrouded in secrecy that people lose faith in their ability to do what is right, *we have a problem*!”
“My fellow colleagues, you know as well as I do that these very issues are being confronted all over the world. The challenge that I propose to you is this: let there be no function of government that is not a matter of public record and directly subject to the will of the people. Now, I understand that the road to achieving this goal will be a long and difficult one, but should we succeed, I believe that it would usher in a new era of global cooperation and trust.”
“No longer can we say to ourselves that ‘Superman is above all of us’ and that we can never aspire to hold the same ideals that he does! Events have shown us that he is not. Our society remains mired in social unfairness; no longer should truth and justice be denied for *anyone*. Let twenty years of excuses end this day! Let it be said by posterity that this new society was the legacy that Superman bequeathed unto humanity. Let it be said that *we were all of us* his descendants.”
****
“And all of this,” the younger Jonathan began, “*all of this* happened just because a couple of punks with guns tried to shoot up a school.”
Clark nodded solemnly. “Amazing how things turn out, isn’t it? But, what’s done is done, and all we can do is see where this takes us. I guess you can just never know what life will throw at you next.”
Jonathan analyzed his father’s words carefully. “You sound like something like this has happened to you before,” he said cautiously.
“It has,” Clark replied as he dipped his head in acknowledgement, “you know Doctor Klein?”
Jonathan nodded.
“Well, before you were born, he had this hypothesis – that Kryptonians start aging extremely slowly after reaching maturity.”
Martha and the elder Jonathan raised their eyebrows in surprise; this was news to them.
“Really?” the younger Jonathan asked.
“Yeah, what if that had turned out to be true? Then who knows how early the secret would have been out? It would have been pretty hard to explain how I never aged in 20 years,” Clark remarked.
“Oh, why I never even thought of that,” Martha said in wonder. “I guess we ought to be thankful that the secret lasted even this long.”
“Well, sorry son, but it looks you’re growing old just like the rest of us,” Jonathan chuckled.
Lois smiled. “Don’t worry, Clark - you still look good to me! I’ll never leave you just because you’re getting a bit old,” she said jokingly, rubbing her husband’s arm.
“Thanks honey, I appreciate that,” Clark said as he smiled back, “but, it’s getting late – I think I’m going to turn in now for the big Academy Awards presentation tomorrow.”
“Do try to enjoy yourselves there, dear,” Martha urged, as everyone rose to call it a night. “You’ve touched *so many* lives – you of all people deserve to have a good time without stressing out about what the future might hold.”
As his parents rushed to assure his grandparents that they would enjoy themselves, Jonathan reflected that it was probably true what his grandmother had said. The revelation that Superman was Clark Kent was already now considered one of the defining moments in history, one of those things that people would forever remember where they were and what they had been doing when they had heard about it. In that one single moment in time, many lives had indeed been touched.
****
The Fangirl
****
“No, *I’m* Superman’s biggest fan!” the teenaged girl said to her friend.
“No, *I* am!” her friend insisted.
The two girls had been arguing in this manner for some time now while the first girl’s kid brother looked on, wondering if and how this feud would be resolved.
“Well, *I’m* the president of the school’s chapter of the Superman Fan Club!"
“That’s only because you got more votes than me! I’ve got all of the Superman t-shirts and you’re missing one!”
“I am not!”
“Yes you are!”
“Am not!
“Yes you-”
The girl’s friend was interrupted by the previously forgotten television suddenly blaring to life in a whirlwind of color and sound.
“And this just in! We’ve just learned that Superman is in fact none other than Clark Kent, the husband of Pulitzer Prize winning journalist Lois Lane!” A picture of Lois receiving the Pulitzer Prize was displayed on the screen.
The two girls looked at each other wide-eyed. “Er, I guess *she’s* Superman’s biggest fan then,” the first girl said, after an awkward silence.
“Yeah, you’re right. There’s really no point in us arguing about it.”
As the two girls started chatting and playing amicably once again, as they had been before their argument had started, the first girl’s kid brother looked at them in confusion.
“Uh, why makes you guys so sure that *she’s* Superman’s biggest fan?” he asked.
“Oh, I’ll tell you when you’re older.”
****
The Criminal
****
It was a familiar scene, although with different faces this time. Judge Angela Diggs’s face remained impassive as an Asian woman named Patricia read aloud the charges facing the defendant. Normally, Patricia’s voice would be gleeful as she read the indictments, but given the seriousness of these particular crimes, and the fact that she too was a woman, even she was somber.
Angela did not possess any of her usual humor either, and she listened with a deep pang of sympathy in her heart as the victim tearfully recounted how she had come home to find a man whom she barely knew already inside of her apartment. As the woman spoke, her boyfriend provided a comforting arm.
In the end, the jury reached a decision and the accused listened unemotionally as the foreman read aloud the guilty verdict. No sooner had the juror finished reading than a courthouse clerk came rushing into the courtroom.
“Everybody! It’s on the news! Clark Kent is Superman!” he exclaimed.
The condemned man’s eyes and mouth widened and his knees buckled. The hubbub in the courtroom was barely audible to him, as he felt suddenly overcome with remorse for his past crimes. In that one instant of revelation, he came to realize that his victims, too, were *people*, and that they might not deserve what he had done to them. From that moment on, he resolved to do better.
Finally, it was time for the sentencing. The judge’s voice was stern and uncompromising. “This is probably all just a game to you, but what you have been doing is no joke to everyone else, especially your victims. Now, given the repeat nature of your offense, I feel that I have no recourse but to sentence you to *one full year* in prison,” she said authoritatively.
The criminal held his head high, and looked Angela in the eye as he said, “I understand, Your Honor. Believe me when I say that, this is the last time that you will find me in here for breaking and entering.”
The judge blinked, clearly surprised at the sincerity that was apparent in his voice. He had always been unrepentant in the past. Nodding, she said, “I trust that you won’t do it again then, Mr.-“, suddenly forgetting the man’s name.
The now-enlightened criminal, who had turned over a new leaf, smiled at her. “Please. Call me Daniel.”
****
The Disheartened
****
Dominique Trias was experiencing a crisis of faith as he had never experienced before. All throughout his life, he had served his calling faithfully, without questioning the value of what he did for his fellow man.
But now, after more than twenty years, his mind was troubled with doubt. *Why* did he do what he did? For what purpose did he work so hard, only to be rejected by most of the very people that he was trying to reach? While he still believed in his message, the longer he kept at it, the more he realized that others *just didn’t care*.
Tears of frustration began to make their way down his face as he reflected on his entire life’s work. Throwing his hands up into the air, he exclaimed, “O Lord, please give me some sign!”
And Lo and Behold! Just as he had done this, he heard a woman’s voice call to him, “Dominique! You won’t believe this! Clark Kent is Superman! It’s on TV!”
Dominique gasped in recognition as his mind became numb at the meaning of the revelation. In that single moment, a lifetime’s worth of doubt was dispelled, and he was filled with determination as he had never been before. With renewed vigor and will, once again he set his mind back to the path that he had chosen so long ago.
“Dominique? Aren’t you going to come watch?” the woman asked, after having not received any response from him.
“Not now, sweetheart. I have important work that needs to be done!” he declared.
By George, if Superman got home a week from now and found that he had not received his Cheese of the Month, it would most certainly not be because Dominique Trias had turned his back on his organization!
****
Back to the present - Sunday
****
“Hey, Rachel, it’s good to see you again!” Clark exclaimed.
“Well, I am just ever so glad to see you, Clark!” Rachel Harris drawled, “Oh. And you too, Lindsay.”
“Uh, it’s Lois,” Lois corrected her curtly as she smiled through gritted teeth.
“Eh heh, Rachel was just kidding around with you, honey,” Clark interjected, “and who are you, sir?” he asked of Rachel’s date. Apparently, one of the men who had been invited to attend the Academy Awards presentation had thought it would be fashionable to appear escorting Superman’s ex-prom date.
“My name is Bond. James Bond,” the very handsome man responded, extending his hand.
“Oh hey, I know who you are! You’re the guy who played James Bond in those ‘007 movies!” Clark said, stating the obvious as he grinned in delight.
The actor inclined his head slightly in acknowledgement. After Clark had finished shaking his hand, he turned to Lois.
“Hey honey, it looks like some of the women who I used to date have gained some attention for themselves. Do you suppose your old boyfriends have done the same?” he inquired of his wife.
“Oh, honey, you know how I was before I met you. I didn’t really have dates – I only had interviews,” Lois said, somewhat self-deprecatingly.
Clark hugged her reassuringly. “Oh, it’s ok, Lois. What’s important is that *now* we have *each other*,” he said with a smile.
****
The Ex
****
For what must have been the millionth time in the last two weeks, A Frenchman named Claude considered the possibilities that came with the news that Lois Lane was Superman’s wife.
There was potential there for fame, fortune, and notoriety. But every time Claude thought of revealing what had transpired all those years ago between himself and Lois, he couldn’t help but cringe at the less desirable consequences that doing so would bring.
Oh, he wasn’t worried about being seen as the villain; he didn’t mind that, in fact, he would rather enjoy it. But the problem was, if the story got out, there would inevitably be *comparisons*. Completely unfair comparisons, between himself and Superman. Comparisons in which he would never, could not ever, measure up – after all, he was just a man, not a god!
Yes, he might get rich, but what about the ridicule that would come with it? No woman would ever look at him again. “Oh, he was so bad that it took *Superman* for her to regain interest in men,” they would say. “Well, how was your boyfriend last night?” one would ask another. “Oh, terrible. He was a Claude,” the response would be. And of course, given the circumstances under which they had parted, Lois would do nothing to eliminate those perceptions. In fact, she might even encourage them.
That was *not* how Claude wanted to go down in history. It was just about the worst thing imaginable. He had to do everything in his power to make sure that the secret died with him, and Lois of course. Unfortunately, while he was vulnerable, she was in a perfect position to strike back at him after all these years – perhaps he should offer to give her story back in order to buy her silence.
No, that would not be a good idea. Odds were, Lois Lane had long since forgotten about him anyways. After all, she had *Superman* now! If the rumors about his *other* abilities were true…
Reminding her about the story he had stolen would make her remember him, and then he would be doomed. It wasn’t as if she would care any longer about such a minor award anyways. She had achieved much greater things now, not least of which was attaining “the ultimate sexual conquest”. It would be better to just lie low now and hope that she had forgotten all about him. But maybe, just in case, he should look into the possibility of having his name changed…
****
“So, like I was saying, you’re really something of a hero to us Hollywood actors now, Mr. Kent,” the former James Bond actor remarked.
Lois and Clark were eating lunch with Rachel and her date. Jonathan was off somewhere trying to get autographs in the hours before the big event. Probably giving out autographs of his own, too.
“Uh…lot’s of people consider him to be a hero,” Lois said, confused.
“Well…yeah,” Clark admitted, “I really don’t see what you’re saying here…”
“Oh, yes, of course you were always a hero as Superman! But, before, that admiration was always tinged with a bit of resentment, you see,” the actor explained. “Do you have any idea how much trouble you caused the movie industry just by landing on Earth?”
“Trouble? No!” Clark responded, “What do you mean?”
“Well, your very existence makes it harder to make movies! For instance, what if a director wanted to shoot a film about say, an alien invasion, or perhaps Godzilla? Then we’d have to consider the fact that the audience might watch the movie and say, ‘Well, why didn’t Superman just take care of that?’ You can see what the problem is – either all of those movies would have to be set before 1993, or they would have to contain some sort of disclaimer saying that they take place in some alternate universe in which you don’t exist, or something of that sort. And that can be really lame!”
“Wow. In all these years, I never even thought of that,” Clark said, amazed.
“Yeah. It’s the same with books and TV shows too.”
“So what changed?”
“Oh. Right, back to the point. Well, the reason you’ve become such a hero to us is the way you *totally* pulled the wool over the eyes of the paparazzi! I mean, most of *us* would consider ourselves fortunate to just be able to have a wedding without those guys crashing it. But *you* managed to not only get married in private, but also to keep them from even *finding out* about it for *eighteen years*! It’s a total victory for us!”
“A victory? But, I’m not even an actor,” Clark pointed out.
The actor waved his hand at Clark dismissively. “Oh, well *that* doesn’t matter! The *point* is that you hoodwinked the paparazzi! And in such a spectacular fashion!”
****
That Evening
****
“And the award for ‘Best Actor’ goes to…Clark Kent for his real-life performance of ‘Superman’!”
“What??” Clark exclaimed incredulously. “How was I even nominated? *Was* I even nominated??”
“C’mon, dad, go on up!” Jonathan grinned as he urged his father towards the awards platform.
For her part, Lois rolled her eyes at the blatant Hollywood stunt, although she wore a huge smile on her face from her efforts to not laugh.
Amidst boisterous applause, the announcer continued, “I mean, I actually thought it was *real*!” The audience laughed at the joke. After all, they too had believed it was real.
“And *real* people were actually rescued during production, using *real* superpowers…”
****
That Night
****
Back home in Metropolis, Lois and Clark snuggled in bed together as they discussed the weekend’s events.
“Well, *you* may have the Pulitzer, but *I’ve* got an Oscar!” Clark said as he kissed his wife on the lips.
“Yeah. I have to say, I never even thought of the possibility that you might get an acting award now that everyone knows that you’re really Clark Kent,” Lois commented.
“There were also legal issues that I had to take care of. You know how Superman owned all of the rights for his merchandise so that the proceeds could be donated to charity?”
At Lois’s nod, Clark elaborated, “Yeah, well I figured that might not be legal anymore, so I got the rights transferred to myself. Superman is now the intellectual property of Clark Kent,” he said proudly.
“Mmm, that’s good, honey. By the way, I noticed that your license to pursue criminals finally came in the mail.”
“Oh, great! Now I’ll finally have something to flash when I read criminals their rights.”
“Well, you’ve *already* got something to flash to me, and I’ve been a *bad* girl…” Lois said impishly as she ran her hand down Clark’s chest and below.
“Asserting your rights, huh? Well, in that case…”
Luckily, their son Jonathan had never been a light sleeper. After all, they couldn’t just send him away to Kansas *all* of the time.
****
to be continued in Part 5: property taxes
Notes: Here follows an explanation of “Pokemon” to help explain the alternate universe scene.
“Pokemon” – this refers to a Video Game/TV show. Basically, Pokemon are animal-like beings, except that they have special (fighting) powers corresponding to different attributes, like electricity, water, fire, etc. Pokemon of certain attributes are strong against Pokemon of certain other attributes in combat. People called “Pokemon Masters” or “Pokemon Trainers” train Pokemon in their fighting skills, kinda like personal trainers/coaches.
Despite the fact that Pokemon are sentient, self-aware beings, the humans have complete ownership of the Pokemon, and they can be bought, sold, and given away as property. Pokemon are capable of understanding human speech, and humans for some reason seem innately capable of understanding their speech. This is unusual because all of the different species of Pokemon have the unique quality that their speech is limited to *only the syllables that their species names are comprised of*. So, for example, Pokemon of species “Pikachu” can only use the syllables “Pi” “Ka” and “Chu”, although they can use them in any combination thereof, and say them in any inflection they please. Pokemon are also capable of making non-linguistic sounds such as growling, yelling, crying, etc. But yeah, I have no idea why humans seem to understand what the Pokemon are saying in that TV show.
Certain (most) Pokemon also have the property of being able to “evolve” – that is, change physical forms corresponding to later stages in their life cycle. For example, a “Butterfree” (butterfly Pokemon) is a mature “Caterpie” (caterpillar) after it has hatched out of its “Metapod” (cocoon). So, this species would start out as a Caterpie, evolve into a Metapod, and then evolve in to a Butterfree, and then it’s ready to mate, etc. In addition, Pokemon gain additional special moves as they level up, which may or may not coincide with evolution.
The Pokemon protagonist of the Pokemon TV show is of species “Pikachu”. (a yellow furry rodent type, red spots on cheeks, furry yellow thing with black stripes and a jagged tail, beady black eyes, kinda cute actually) Pikachu evolve into “Raichu”. Most of the Pokemon in the TV show don’t have names, and they are just addressed by their species. However, you can name your Pokemon in the video game.
Humans acquire Pokemon in the TV show and video game by capturing them from the wild. If the Pokemon is low health (video game) or beaten up (TV show), the human throws a sophisticated electronic device called a “pokeball” at them, which shoots a red laser and shrinks the Pokemon into the Pokeball. While Pokemon initially resist capture, and use their special abilities to fight the Pokemon aiding in their capture, after they are captured and put into a pokeball, they are generally obedient to their masters.
Pokemon is generally aimed at younger kids, and neither the game nor the TV show raises any ethical questions about Pokemon training. It’s just portrayed as a fun thing to do, with a paternalistic relationship between people and their pokemon. But yeah, that’s about all I know about Pokemon, so hopefully that’s enough to explain the second scene of this story.
