Are you a fan of books? Are you a fan of Pokémon? Well then, you've come to the right place! In this book club, we will devote every review purely to Pokémon fanfiction.
Includes:
- Articles on Pokémon Fanfiction
- Specific interviews with the autho...
"A young girl's blissful summer in Alola is slowly coming to a close, and soon she will be back at home in the cold of Sinnoh to begin a dreary life once again. In the midst of her final week, she does her best to make the most of the rest of her stay, but coming to terms with reality is more than difficult as she only happens to fall even more in love with the tropical region.
✧・.☆4th Place in the Short Story category of the 2018 Pokémon Watty Awards!☆.・✧"
Genre: Short Story
Hoppla! Dieses Bild entspricht nicht unseren inhaltlichen Richtlinien. Um mit dem Veröffentlichen fortfahren zu können, entferne es bitte oder lade ein anderes Bild hoch.
Alola, Alola was my own personal equivalent of how The West Wing was to Democrats of the Bush Era. To me, it was the fantasy ending to a personal struggle I dealt with when I left Germany to come to America. A struggle where I was in my final days of living in a Europe that I found peace in and enjoyed. It was a reflection of myself and my emotions, but with an alternate ending.
As someone who has found a home in a foreign place before, I could completely relate to the wide range of emotions that Mizuki was going through. And if I didn't go through them personally, logically I could see and understand.
When you leave a place you've found a home in, there are so many little details that you latch onto. I really respect how the author took the details of masala bread and the Wishiwashi and included them in the story. I love the locations and the love poured into them. It reminds me a lot of how on my last day abroad, I went on a long walk through all of my favorite places and ate all of my favorite foods. And the struggle of trying to keep yourself together is something I related to as well.
My farewell dinner with all of our expatriate friends is something that I was reminded of when the author talked about Mizuki's second day. The descriptions of loving the heat and the sun remind me of my own parent's reasons for leaving the north and coming to the south.
In short, this short story captures the bittersweet essence of having to live in and leave a place. It celebrates Alola for Alola and its culture. Especially with the ending. I think it was really creative how the author ended the short story with using Alola as both a greeting and signifying the place. It rings true of "I want Alola".
However, there is one issue I have with this short story, and it's because I'm someone who has experienced this feeling. It's about culture shock and about foreign assignments in general.
Three months isn't necessarily enough time to really build a home in a place. When I was first going through cultural training on my own assignment, they teach you that it takes about a year to build a home in a place. When you move, there's about a six-week "honeymoon period" where you are enthralled with this new culture and new place. However, after those six-weeks, your mood goes on a massive decline for about 3-4 months until it starts to pick up again and you find a home. The entire process lasts about a year, which is why a lot of people on short-term moves struggle a lot.
