MADE IT. It's time for the final instalment of Rachel's Pokémon Journey in Old Fanfiction Book Club! Time to get no closure whatsoever, because I never finished the fic (although, to be fair, I doubt we'd have much closure if I'd finished it, giving how many plot threads I've already left dangling).
Previously on Old Fanfiction Book Club: Leena's paralysed, but who cares? More importantly, Rachel caught a new Pokémon!
Original author's note on chapter twenty: You may notice that in the three chapters (inc. this one) where I’ve stated ‘Paralyz Heal’, I have spelt it differently EVERY time. Not only that, but I skipped from chapter 18 straight to 20. Not only THAT, but I’ve gone back to using plain speech marks for the Pokémon. My excuse? Um... *runs away*
Hey, past self, I'm the one who's here to make fun of you! You're going to put me out of a job!
I've corrected the skip from 18 to 20 for this book club; the chapter that was originally listed as chapter twenty is the preceding chapter, chapter nineteen.
These two final chapters were both written in early 2003, at the age of fourteen.
( Rachel's Pokémon Journey, Chapter Twenty, with annotations. )
Original author's note on chapter twenty-one: Quite a short chapter today, I’m afraid...
( Rachel's Pokémon Journey, Chapter Twenty-One, with annotations. )
And that's all that exists of Rachel's Pokémon Journey, my first real effort at fanfiction!
The writing is clumsy. The attempts at plot are incoherent nonsense, abandoned as soon as they're introduced. I clearly had no idea how human beings interacted, and I stole concepts from everything I could get my hands on.
But, looking back at this fic, I do have a certain fondness for it. I was just a kid having fun, trying out this 'writing' thing and starting to learn how it worked. I loved the Pokémon world, and this was a way I could spend some time there, on an adventure with my friends and my brothers (and, you know, an evil Pikachu that hated me for no reason).
Plus, if I'd never been brave enough to start writing in spite of my inexperience, I'd have missed out on all the joy writing has given me over the last twenty years.
In November 2019, nineteen years after twelve-year-old Riona started writing Rachel's Pokémon Journey, adult Riona visited a pop-up Pokémon Center in London. I bought a soft toy Vulpix and named her Secret. She's sitting on my desk as I write this.
If any of you want to dig up your early writing and annotate it yourselves, I'd love to see it! I've had a lot of fun with this project, even if it's been a bit of an embarrassing experience sometimes; I hope you've enjoyed it too.
Previously on Old Fanfiction Book Club: Leena's paralysed, but who cares? More importantly, Rachel caught a new Pokémon!
Original author's note on chapter twenty: You may notice that in the three chapters (inc. this one) where I’ve stated ‘Paralyz Heal’, I have spelt it differently EVERY time. Not only that, but I skipped from chapter 18 straight to 20. Not only THAT, but I’ve gone back to using plain speech marks for the Pokémon. My excuse? Um... *runs away*
Hey, past self, I'm the one who's here to make fun of you! You're going to put me out of a job!
I've corrected the skip from 18 to 20 for this book club; the chapter that was originally listed as chapter twenty is the preceding chapter, chapter nineteen.
These two final chapters were both written in early 2003, at the age of fourteen.
( Rachel's Pokémon Journey, Chapter Twenty, with annotations. )
Original author's note on chapter twenty-one: Quite a short chapter today, I’m afraid...
( Rachel's Pokémon Journey, Chapter Twenty-One, with annotations. )
And that's all that exists of Rachel's Pokémon Journey, my first real effort at fanfiction!
The writing is clumsy. The attempts at plot are incoherent nonsense, abandoned as soon as they're introduced. I clearly had no idea how human beings interacted, and I stole concepts from everything I could get my hands on.
But, looking back at this fic, I do have a certain fondness for it. I was just a kid having fun, trying out this 'writing' thing and starting to learn how it worked. I loved the Pokémon world, and this was a way I could spend some time there, on an adventure with my friends and my brothers (and, you know, an evil Pikachu that hated me for no reason).
Plus, if I'd never been brave enough to start writing in spite of my inexperience, I'd have missed out on all the joy writing has given me over the last twenty years.
In November 2019, nineteen years after twelve-year-old Riona started writing Rachel's Pokémon Journey, adult Riona visited a pop-up Pokémon Center in London. I bought a soft toy Vulpix and named her Secret. She's sitting on my desk as I write this.
If any of you want to dig up your early writing and annotate it yourselves, I'd love to see it! I've had a lot of fun with this project, even if it's been a bit of an embarrassing experience sometimes; I hope you've enjoyed it too.
