I enjoyed the chapter overall. Even though I thought it had a bit of a tendency to draw on. I wasn't really surprised by what happened in the chapter, though I was pleasantly surprised a few times.
The reaction was longer than I expected it to be. There's several things I wasn't sure about in the chapter I'd like some comments on, not to discourage comments on things I am confident about.
I wonder what this title is referring to?
Steven's gaze rested heavy on her head. If the Champion caught her allusion to his current rudeness—her illness was imaginary, but he didn't know that—he didn't show it. He sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "I see. And there wasn't any other...quirk of yours that she may have been talking about instead?"
I thought this part was funny. They're both hopping blindly around a really sensitive topic. Astra is trying to get him to back off without any understanding of what Steven is alluding to.
Attack him herself? She clawed some precious air down her throat despite the panic. No, that was even worse. Maybe if she stalled him long enough, an answer would appear…?
Maybe Echo would somehow sense her panic through her newly refreshed psychic shields and miraculously whisk her away.
I like that Astra is obviously panicking here. She is quite obviously not trained to manage stressful situations. Sending children out to deal with civilizational problems is how pokemon works, but I like there's a bit of a nod to it being a trope. Someone more trained to deal with stress wouldn't be cascading so much. They wouldn't have thought about Echo at all, or at least thought about Echo
after thinking about teleporting out. But she's a child, so she doesn't have those tools and is defaulting to doing nothing while thinking about violence or hoping someone else takes her away.
"W—why are you asking me this?" Astra stammered out, taking a step backward. She could teleport away, but that would really confirm it for him. It also assumed she could scrape together enough focus and figure out where to go, of which her options were extremely limited.
It's still notable how unprepared she was for this mission. It took her a while to review teleportation as an option. Her conclusion was right based on the evidence she had, but the evidence she had was flatly wrong.
"That said, I don't intend to pry into your home life," Steven continued, leaving Astra reeling where she stood at the sudden backtracking. What was wrong with this guy!? Could he decide whether to be completely terrifying or not already!? "A more relevant question is this: do you know what Pokemon types the Gyms in Hoenn specialize in?"
Honestly I think Steven has done well enough for the situation. I like that he realized how much Astra doesn't know. Roxanne didn't, so she didn't fully get that Astra wouldn't recognize Mossdeep.
But his mind was gone. Whatever method he had used to obfuscate his emotions had crystallized, turning away Psychic energy in all forms.
She couldn't sense him. She couldn't talk to him. Maybe if she forced it, but as it stood...
It was as if he had walked into the Dark.
"I'm sorry, you seem to have cut yourself off, there," Steven noted, and Astra couldn't tell what his expression was anymore. "Could you repeat that?"
Damn that is interesting. I wonder why Steven learned that. It would make sense as Champion, I suppose. Though there aren't any psychic champions to my knowledge.
Astra had a difficulty interpreting Steven's expression after he closed off his psychic readings. That makes me curious how much Astra relies on her empathy to read people. How much does she understand human facial expressions?
The human closed his eyes, focusing on something deep within. The crystal power around his mind sublimated, his presence reappearing—but the relief was short-lived, and Astra's breath caught once more at the very, very faint trickle of something horribly familiar.
No. No. No no no no no no no—
"Something like..."
The trickle twisted, burning itself to form a terrible parody of something she knew intimately well, racing up the remnant thread of Astra's last broadcast.
No no no no no no NO NO NO NO—
{Th-s?}
A message. Horrifically wasteful, formatting alien yet as basic and simplistic as could be. Parts of it had collapsed before she'd received it, even the brevity and short distance between them too much for something weaker than the first attempts of a freshly-hatched Ralts.
That he had that meager strength at all was abominable.
She—
She had to run. He knew. He knew. Her village was wrong. May had lied. Humans were Psychic. And the Champion knew she was, too.
Abominable is an interesting word. I don't think it is influence from the Ancestor, typically that has right-aligned text. It's quite a strong word. Her reaction is strong too. It's just outright terror. I think a lot of that can be attributed to the situation, but I never got the impression that Astra had known enough about humans to be scared at the idea that they could use psychic powers, even quite terribly. She hadn't even known humans didn't have types. She based that off of May telling her. I'm not sure why she took May's word to be inviolate. It's not like May knows everything, Astra knows that. There could be something more to the reaction.
I wonder what she would feel from a proper human psychic. I think the closest one is Edward, on Route 110. The Mystery House also has a lot of them. I wonder what they would feel from her.
With a jolt, Astra realized that Roxanne had known too. The phone number she'd been given wasn't for albinism at all.
It was so she could talk to other Psychic humans. The twin Psychic Gym Leaders of Mossdeep to boot!
And if they had both noticed...who else had?
And why had nothing happened to her!? If they had known for all this time that she was a Pokemon, then...!
But...they hadn't been talking to a Pokemon, had they?
If humans could be Psychic, then…
Then they'd assumed she was a human Psychic. The shortest step between confusion and realization, the same mistake she'd just made in assuming the worst.
I think she could have put it together sooner, but it makes sense considering the circumstances. It's clever that Astra noticed that they made a similar mistake to the one she did.
And, coated in a brilliant purple glow, slowly levitated them before the Champion's face from afar.
It took long seconds for Steven to react. He twitched, then sniffed wetly, then groggily looked up as the berries' scent gradually registered. His eyes widened as he saw them floating in front of his face, and he held out a shaky hand. Astra obligingly dropped them into his palm.
He stared at them, rolling the bright red fruit around before his twitching fingers plucked one out.
"Leppa Berries?" he muttered, a pained grin crossing his face. "Heh. I can't say I've ever been treated with raw fruit before. But...thank you."
He popped the berry into his mouth, chewing slowly. To Astra's astonishment it didn't seem to work, his fatigue still as rampant as before. It was only after Steven had swallowed that she noticed the edges of his ailment had started to dissipate, a process that grew only a little faster as he consumed the other two. Peculiar. It only took moments for a Leppa berry to cure her of fatigue; were humans unable to take in their strength as easily?
It's funny that Astra defaulted to giving Steven a Leppa berry. It's another sign of her being off. Humans wouldn't think of giving Leppa berries. Very young children might, but that's because of their youth. Humans probably don't have the same absorption capacity of pokemon. So most people wouldn't bother. But someone who thinks that Leppa berries work for them without understanding humans would too. It might be different for powerful human psychics like Sabrina.
"By most standards, no," he said, groaning as he shoved himself back onto his feet. He reached into his pocket and drew out a folded piece of cloth, dabbing at his nose and grimacing as bright crimson began to stain the delicate-looking thing. "Anyone can learn a small trick like that if they're willing to put in the very great effort needed, but very few ever do. Natural affinities for the energy are extraordinarily rare; talents like yours, even moreso."
So...only some humans were Psychic? Alright. Sure. Why not? It wasn't like the rest of their nonsensical species was consistent either.
Except...
"How did you close off your mind, then? What is that...pressure I feel coming from you, sometimes?"
Steven's lips quirked. "Everyone has their secrets," he coyly refused. "I'm afraid what you're talking about is just part of my mysterious aura."
He seemed to find that extremely amusing for some reason. Astra had never before wanted to manually embed her fist in somebody's face so hard.
Astra is (kinda) back to normal! I'm still wondering why Steven learned it and why he's being mysterious about it. I think it's mostly for amusement. But there's probably something more to him learning it as part of being champion. I think the idea that all humans are psychic was first established by Sabrina.
"What did you mean by my talent?" she asked instead.
"Your skill with telepathy is second to none," Steven informed her. "I know of nobody else who communicates as you do. You gave me quite the shock back in Petalburg Woods, you know."
Astra tensed. "So you did know."
Steven inclined his head. "I did."
"Why didn't you do anything, then?" she demanded, hands shaking in her sleeves. "What do you want?"
I can't really think of any other humans who can match her. Sabrina could communicate with her pokemon in the anime, like what Astra does. But not much beyond that I can find.
But it wasn't, because somehow her disguise had an ablative layer she'd known nothing about. She had no answers for him. Only the terror of creeping through the brush at night and hoping the beasts in the dark wouldn't at last catch her scent.
This is honestly really funny. I wonder what the Ancestor thought of psychic humans.
"Astra, I can promise you with everything I am, no harm will ever befall you so long as I can prevent it. You are not owed anything for this, nor will I ask for anything in return. I do not know what you believe of this world, but I will tell you with absolute certainty:
"You are worthy of love. The love of family and friendship; the love of community and of belonging; and the love of living in this world, and knowing that the world loves you back. You are worthy of this no matter what the circumstances of your birth are, nor what abilities you began with or cultivated, nor what experiences you have lived through or choices you have made."
A beacon of light in the darkness. A tower of stalwart metal and spearline of piercing steel in one. Determination and resolve enough to drag a nation by the throat toward a distant, dream-like future.
Steven is being really assuring here. He does have a certain charisma when in his setting, though little outside of it. The prose in the last paragraph is also really invocative. It characterizes Steven excellently. Metal refers to his preference for the steel type. Perhaps it could have had a reference to precious stones, but it's fine.
"Because in the end, despite what so many throughout history have said…
"You are just as human as anybody else."
The light shattered. Steel corroded. Piercing thorns choked out the sky as darkness fell.
Steven Stone knew more than most.
But he was still only protecting a lie.
Yet Astra still found a measure of comfort in the sodden ashes of his impassioned speech. If Steven could be this fervent about protecting some neglected portion of humanity, then maybe...
I really like the imagery in this portion of the text. It's really well worded. It was unfortunate wording choice for Steven, but it was good for Astra to get that confirmation regardless.
"I can assume your friends don't know, yes?" Steven asked. Astra flinched; both at the prospect of Brendan and May finding out about any of this, as well as recalling that they were still stuck somewhere in this labyrinth. "I'll take that as a yes. While I can completely understand why you hide your abilities, I urge you to consider if, how, and when you disclose this aspect of yourself to them."
This is an excellent point. Few secrets can last forever. Obviously as pointed out when they noticed Brendan and May. But I wonder how long Astra will keep her greatest secret.
Also a conjugated title drop.
"Oh, you're interested in rare stones as well?" Steven asked, eyes lighting up in pure delight. "Absolutely fantastic! I have quite the assortment myself; I was searching for exotic minerals in these caves before Metagross alerted me to this buried cavern. Alas, while I'd love to compare our collections…well, I've got something that needs doing."
He sighed ruefully, then paused. "Oh, sudden thought: do you have a lantern?" Steven checked. "Or perhaps a Pokemon who knows flash? I don't want to leave you in the dark."
Astra silently held up her hand. Luminescent energy coalesced around it, bathing the room in a paradoxical bright-dark purple.
"I think I'll be fine."
Steven raised a finger, open-mouthed, then reconsidered, dropping it with a shrug. "Fair enough. Just...don't damage any of the carvings, please? I've taken a lot of pictures, but a site like this is literally priceless. Oh and obsidian—those shiny black stones in the tunnel—can get obscenely sharp when broken; it will literally slice your fingers to the bone without you noticing."
I like that Steven offered to help Astra out to the surface. He mentioned that he regretted not helping her through Dewford and he can probably tell Astra wasn't in the best place emotionally. You can also see Steven's enthusiasm for rare rocks. He got led off onto a tangent on them pretty quickly, when it should have been obvious Astra wanted the conversation to end.
It's creative to use the glow from psychic power as a light.
"Take care," Steven finished, and finally turned into the tunnel—
—where he stopped dead in his tracks, eyes widening as he registered what he was seeing. A pure deluge of emotions erupted from his mind—shock, confusion, realization, disbelief, annoyance/anger/indignation, dismay, horrible remorse and regret, and, finally, a deep, crushing resignation.
Another crack in the dam. Nothing could ever go right, could it? This entire day had been nothing but catastrophe after catastrophe, and just when she thought it was mostly over...this. Catalyzed by Steven's sudden emotional cacophony, Astra could barely hold back tears of her own pure frustration. What the ever-loving fuck was it now!? Something in the tunnel?
On the verge of utter delirium, Astra cast her senses into the tunnel and—
No.
I was really surprised they had been there the whole time. I had thought Astra would have had a choice to tell to them or not. I like seeing how empathetic Astra is. Her dread when she noticed Brendan and May was great. It really matched how she acted, just frozen.
And.
Crunch
Again.
Brendan stepped into the room, nervously shuffling to its center.
Hesitant, pale as bone, shaking like a leaf. Regretful. Ashamed. Curious. Amazed.
May followed him, slowly coming to rest at his side.
Wide-eyed, jittery, disheveled. Incredulous. Indignant. Self-hateful. Amazed.
Astra just stood there, blankly. The torch of her mind contorted on her hand.
The three of them stood there in that ancient room, underneath the uncaring visages of an ancient calamity.
Reunited at last.
I really liked the wording here too. The emotions that they have suit their established personalities. It's great that they are conflicted on the revelation. They're amazed at Astra, but they are also upset that they weren't told. But they also regret overhearing it. It really would have been better if they hadn't been there.
That comment from the Ancestor is interesting. Is she just referring to Steven, then Brendan & May finding out? Something more? I don't know.
"The, uh. The Makuhita," he said, rubbing his arm. "Since then."
"I caught him," May interjected, and even here some of her arrogant pride showed through. "We, uh, we were pretty lost for a long time. Our guys were almost totally worn down, too. Figured that if we managed to catch a native, it could guide us around. Found him nearby after something blew him up. I asked him if he'd seen anyone who looked like you around. Cause, uh. You were kidnapped by that Kadabra, right? I uh..."
May shuffled around, looking faintly embarrassed. "I got worried. I've been sprinting through these caverns for four straight hours trying to find you, you know! I didn't even know if you were alive until you texted us. I had to punch out some Zubat by myself because we weren't going fast enough. Even dropkicked some creepy fucking purple gremlin thing.
"But Makuhita recognized you when I told him what you looked like, and then he led us here and rushed ahead. Then he ran back and knocked us down in the tunnel. Practically dove back into his ball. Then, uh..."
This is one of those parts that I was surprised by. But it makes sense from a narrative perspective. I hadn't even thought to connect the Makuhita attacking the Aron to the Makuhita investigating the room. It's funny that the Makuhita was fine running after Astra, the one who attacked him, but was scared running by Steven glaring at him. I'm impressed that May fought off pokemon to get to Astra personally.
"We didn't want to interrupt" "I didn't want to talk to Steven."
They paused, looking at each other. Brendan's expression thinned.
"There was a lot of pantomiming," he stiffly explained, a bit of angry flush returning to his skin as he stared intensely at May. "But I believed that we were waiting for you two to finish what seemed like a heavy personal conversation without interruption first, and Makuhita knocked loose a bunch of broken obsidian that would've alerted you both if we'd tried to go back."
May glared right back. "Steven's an ass, but you weren't like...screaming for help or anything, so I thought we'd just stand up and go in when everything wound down so I wouldn't have to look at his stupid face for long. Which we almost did, but..." She trailed off, grimacing.
"Then he mentioned Tate and Liza," Brendan sighed. "Nothing about anything after that made any sense. I was confused and...curious."
The explanation about why and how they overheard makes sense. I'm curious if they over 'heard' Astra. Telepathy can be tuned to message everyone nearby, but it can also focus on one person individually. It makes sense that Brendan was the one who held May aback. He's more observant than May, so it makes sense that he would be able to put pieces of the puzzle together quickly enough to know he wanted to eavesdrop.
"You weren't throwing your voice at all, you lying shit!"
Astra's jaw dropped. A wet, strangled chuckle burrowed out of her throat. That was what she was focusing on? Despite everything, leave it to May to find a way to leave her feeling momentarily exasperated instead.
"You were telling your Pokemon what to do with telepathy!" May screeched, throwing her hands up in pure indignation. "You underhanded Rattata bitch! You even got me thinking I was in on the secret with the violin after you jumpscared me! But you were covering up your cover up! I can't believe you got me like that! Well played and fuck you, god damn. Wait."
She paused, coming to a dead stop. She turned to Astra, eyes wide.
"Wait, is that what happened to that bastard in Rusturf when he dropped the bird? Did you knock on his head?" she asked, eyes brightening like stars. "Please tell me you did, that would be so damn funny."
May is excited about Astra's capabilities and is upset that Astra hoodwinked her too. That makes sense for her character.
"Was it you that slammed the Exploud into the wall!?" he asked, awed. "It—it makes so much sense! We were in such dire straits that you tapped into some sort of hysterical strength and psychokinetically embedded him into the stone!"
"That is so fucking badass!" May's awestruck grin was so wide Astra thought she might dislocate her jaw. "Astra. Astra. Please tell me you can lift things with your brain."
How was she supposed to feel?
She didn't know.
A small collection of obsidian stones had been tracked into the cave. Astra pointed at them. A couple choicier rocks glimmered with purple energy and flew across the room, depositing themselves in her pack. Her friends erupted with surprise and elation.
"She really did throw that big blowhard into a wall!" May shouted, punching the air in excitement. "Fuck yeah, that's my girl!"
"I saw it and I can barely believe it," Brendan said, looking at her in amazement. "That sort of power is...heh, astronomically rare, and Psychics are uncommon enough as-is! Astra, how—"
He cut himself off, squinting at her carefully. "Er...how...are you? I—you've barely talked, and...you don't look too good."
Astra stared at him through the violet gloom. It occurred to her that maybe humans couldn't make out facial expressions in psychic lighting as well as she did.
It also makes sense that Brendan would have his own questions about what Astra has done with her powers. Brendan is still very observant. It says a lot that Astra is barely speaking, considering her normally boisterous personality. She really did not want to have this conversation, ever. That pun is funny.
"Alright. Alright," Brendan said, slowly walking up to her. "It's been a really crappy day. For all of us, but especially for you. But no matter what we overheard here, we're still friends, and we care about you, alright? So I think we all deserve some serious rest and recovery time. I suggest that we leave this dark cave, go heal our Pokemon, and...how about we go get some ice cream, yeah?" he asked, smiling at her. "Maybe rent a movie or something? Decompress. We can...discuss all this later, when we've had time to think about it, alright? We—I really screwed up here. I don't—I want to make it up to you, if you'd let me."
Astra looked at him. Considered it, as much as she was able.
It sounded...better. Better than this.
"I—" she started.
"Oh!" May exclaimed, hitting her palm with her fist. "That's why your face keeps changing shape!"
Static.
May frowned. "Wait, no. That's just how. Why are you even..."
Astra could have felt the moment May looked over by the spike in panic and regret.
She could have felt Brendan's stress and outrage and concern.
Brendan had a good idea here. Whatever the reason is behind Astra's choices, the explanation can wait until they have had time to rest and destress. To get themselves out of danger and into a place that is more comfortable. He initially tried to say they both messed up, before solidifying on the fact that he messed up. That's responsible of him.
May of course gets impulsive and has a realization at a bad time. That wouldn't have been a good question for Astra no matter when it was asked, but it's still the worse timing. Especially right after Brendan suggested that they relax. I'm not even sure how that would be answered. I can think of options, and Astra will have help coming up with answers. The best would be saying that she was injured when she was younger and prefers to conceal the injury. She could also say it is just a self image problem, but that isn't a good option.
What was she supposed to feel?
How was she supposed to act?
What was she supposed to say?
How was she supposed to handle this?
What was she supposed to do?
Astra didn't know anything at all.
And so she stood there.
Floating, as if adrift from her body.
Until everything faded away.
I like how Astra's dissociation is written here. There's also some decision paralysis here too.
Astra looked up at Brendan. Saw his stressed fury as he scolded May for her thoughtless actions while trying to stay as a comforting presence. Looked over at May. Witnessed her fumbling, prickly attempts to take back her error, attempting to help in what little ways she still knew.
I can feel how everyone knew what May sad was bad and that it would be for the best if they just pretended it didn't happen, but they can't. Brendan was upset at May for nearly immediately tossing his suggestion out of the window.
At her prompting, Brendan confusedly held out his hand. He stared down at the red hair clip she'd put there.
"That's my mom's hair clip." Astra said. "It's one of the last things I have of hers. Can you hold on to it for a while?"
....
"And you're giving it to me?" she asked. "Now?"
"I'll want it back," Astra replied. "Take care of it for me until then, okay?"
"I...I guess?" May said, confused. She paused, eyes widening. "Wait, wait—"
I don't know why she gave those keepsakes to them. She might have given them to them as a guarantee, to herself and them, that she would return. There could be multiple reasons.
"Hey Brendan," she called. "You said you knew about what other Psychics could do, right?"
"Not really?" Brendan half-questioned, his distress soaring into the skies.
Like a rocket.
"But do you?" Astra asked again.
He threw his hands up, "I guess!?"
"Tell me," Astra said, grinning widely. Then, she pushed.
The room glowed, every shadow banished from sight as Astra became the eye of a wild pillar of Psychic energy. It was all for show, really; she could have done this with only a thought and a clap of air. But honestly she deserved to be a bit dramatic if she wanted to be.
"Can any of them Teleport?"
I think she's being more than a
bit dramatic. Just a tad.
Sabrina can teleport in the anime. Typical human psychics have demonstrated slight telekinesis and an ability to see the future. Though there are more powerful psychics beyond Sabrina. The Anistar Gym in Kalos might have been the work of Olympia. It's a house that teleports you to a maze of platforms in the shape of a ball that you walk across, with a stary sky in the background. Olympia might teleport the player to the normal house. She also floats. The last one I can think of is Inver, introduced in XY, who can once a day inverse the Type advantages and disadvantages of pokemon for a battle.
"I'm sorry," Astra said. "I'll explain...something, when I return."
May reached for her face. Brendan moved to embrace. The glow intensified, concentrated, little specks of light gathering from the corners of the room and sticking to her until her silhouette appeared to be white-hot.
"I love you both. See you later."
It's nice line to close that scene on. I like that she's not entirely sure of what she is going to tell them when she gets back. It is also reassuring that May and Brendan were so upset about Astra teleporting off. They're going to be more upset at Astra for making such a big deal of it when the time comes, but I can't really hold that against any of them.
They also completely forgot to make sure that Astra delivered the letter.
With a pop, she reappeared on top of it, elegantly balancing on the sharp edge she'd found herself on. Ignoring the surprised gasp behind her, she peered down at the city and, grinning, teleported once more, entering the Pokecenter and leaving an awestruck crowd in the street outside.
Several long minutes later—express service had an actual cost but was very handy for the situation—she retrieved her now-healed team and popped right back to the ship with a burgeoning headache, leaving a stunned Nurse Joy in her wake.
I think she's being too free with her teleportation. It makes sense as part of her character, but establishing herself publicly as an very powerful psychic will draw attention. Though the sidestory
A phone call (Chapter 21.5) does mention that psychics who are out with their power tend to be public about it. That convergence is funny. She could have teleported that frequently because she was concerned that Brendan and May would catch up. Something to note, as far as she knows, she ran the risks of it being genuinely impossible for psychic humans to teleport. Not that is true, but it could have been.
Steven didn't even know that that she was that powerful when he left. He's going to walk into Dewford hearing rumors about the teleporting cloaked girl. That will up his estimate of Astra's power up significantly, even if Brendan and May run into him on the way out. Her rapid teleportation will also raise the bar for the reveal with Brendan and May when she returns. Brendan is probably going to try to research human psychics. I wouldn't be surprised if there was something Astra did that would be bizarre for human psychic to do.
It also demonstrates a lot of power, even by the standards of her village. She teleported four times over a decent distance with little time between a most of those, with only a headache. The fire-shaper's description of Astra's mother implied she was better than Astra, but it could be experience.
"Sorry Mr. Briney, I was in a rush," Astra apologized. She absently noted that he didn't seem very surprised. Oh well.
"So I heard," Mr. Briney said, readjusting himself. He patted Peeko, who trilled happily. "Peeko gave me one of our signals; I take it you needed me somethin' fierce. Can't say I was expecting a call this soon, but what can I do for you?"
That is one clever bird. It's not that Peeko understood Astra's telepathy, though that is impressive. He also managed to communicate that to Mr. Briney.
"Aye?" he asked, eyeing her uncertainty. "And what are you doing out there?"
"It's only for a little bit, but, you see..."
Astra smiled at him. A weary thing, weighed down by four decades of strife and decline.
But the corners of her mouth and glimmer of her eyes showed hope for what she sought next.
Respite.
"I just want to go home."
That's a nice closing line. I love this story's prose. I halfway didn't expect to return to the village until the end of the story, but it makes sense that she would. The route the game takes you through gets you close enough to Petalburg that she could teleport over without significant problems. Respite is also a future title drop!
I'm sure her grandfather and the village will be happy to see her. Astra also has a bunch of berries that the village would probably be interested in. She could also introduce the Barrage game to the village. They're going to be fascinated, if worried, by the tale of the Granite Caves Abra colony.
The village can probably help the Abra-colony. It would be a long treck though. It'd also be difficult to smuggle in any Kirlia to the village. I don't think Astra has the range to teleport from the village to the Granite Caves. She could get on a boat and the others could teleport into the hold for an uncomfortable journey I guess. But they don't know enough about boats to hide. Dermonster has mentioned that we'll see Echo "relatively soon."
I am confident Astra won't evolve any time soon. It's way to early for that. She has been through a lot of stress, but she has gotten through it. Respite and Succor also don't make sense as titles for chapters when that happens.
Brendan and May probably won't try to text or call Astra. I think they're aware enough that poking Astra before she is ready would be a bad thing. They might try if time starts stretching on without any response. Can Birch track the pokedex? That could have interesting implications in the future if he can.
I hope we don't get the journey back, or that it is at least truncated. We don't need to see everything.
I'm curious about how Hyphen will proceed from here. We're only two gyms in and one of Astra's big secrets is out, though it in itself protects her core secret. I can think of a few ways of how Astra could hide her pokemon identity. The best I can think of is that she got injured as a child and uses illusions to cover it. But that would involve more lies. I don't think that thematically makes sense. But Astra revealing that she is a pokemon this early (lol, lmao) in the story would be surprising. She could tell them she's not ready to give the full explanation. I just don't know.
