Totem Raticate's Aura flared to life!

Y’all still here? Cool, strap in and get ready for a ride.

First things first, there were two big mysteries that I’d planned to sprinkle in through this blog’s story, and here’s the first one: Maximus is Remulus and Atticus’s dad. There were already a few hints of that, such as those three being the only one’s who’s pupils I outlined in black, as well as their naming similarities.

I wanted to make it not so obvious how Maximus was a terrible parent by not revealing that he was a parent at all at first. He does what is expected of him as a totem, he’s cut-throat in his leadership, but behind the scenes he’s an abusive parent, not only to Remulus, but to Atticus as well. That scar on Atticus’s back? Maximus’s doing.

The event of the scarring was one of the most important backstory events that I wanted to reveal. Atticus and Remulus used to be close, but his failure to protect his brother and the resulting scar changed that. Maximus saw ‘potential’ in Atticus for not fleeing after the attack, and chose him as his heir. 

The brothers were to have a strained relationship throughout the blog’s story, right up until the end.

((Old art of an interaction between the two. Atticus tries really hard to live up to his father’s expectations as second in command.))

I never really knew what to do with Kiralyn. I knew she was a bit pompous, and likes to tell tall tales. She’s the best outer guard in the caves, and enjoys being in the outer caves cuz she gets to hang out with her Zubat friend.

((More old art, never figured out her friend’s name.))

I honestly planned to use her primarily for holiday doodles and such, then eventually have her hang around in the background while Remulus angst happened. She was friends with just about all the inner cave rats, and probably some outer cave rats too. If I ever had something about the outer cave rats, it would’ve probably been through her.

Then there’s the two characters I never got to introduce, Samson and Kimi.

((Samson’s ref. Him fuzzy.))

I’d planned for Samson to be the no-nonsense rule enforcer, and probably Maximus’s second choice for next totem if something happened to Atticus. Honestly aside from that? Can’t remember what else I’d wanted to do with him. I think his design was just me trying to find ways to make all the Alolan Rattata look unique? Meh, not quite sure at this point. Only ever drew one other image of him aside from his ref.

((The image title is ‘friendly_chat’ but I have no idea if I had any specific scenario in mind for whatever this is.))

Then there’s Kimi.

((Her little ref. Wanted to have one(1) Kanto rat in the squad.))

I think I wanted a full arc about what the heck she was doing there. She was going to tie into the big blog-wide mystery of What Is Up With Alicia. She’s a rather important piece of the puzzle, as she was brought to the cave by Alicia herself. Which brings into question how in the world did a blind alolan rat bring a kanto rat to Alola, I mean dang. Kimi’s best friend is Kiralyn.

((More old art. Kimi is smol.))

While we’re on the topic, let’s talk about Alicia. I knew almost from the moment I designed her that Alicia would be one of the most important rats in the cave, and I’d sprinkle hints about her true identity throughout the blog. I’ll outline some of those hints for you, lets see who can figure it out first. 

First, her healing abilities. It would’ve been discussed at some point whether she’s using Heal Pulse or not, which of course, isn’t a move that Rattata can learn, alolan or not.

Then there’s the fact that she’s always where she needs to be somehow. One such instance of this already occurred: she found Remulus after he was hurt before Maximus told her he even needed healing in the first place. 

She’s oddly sneaky; she would happen to show up often without anyone noticing her. The only exception to this would be Kiralyn’s Zubat friend, who sees(lol) her coming from a mile away, and notes that they feel really uncomfortable around her. Kiralyn would express confusion at this, and perhaps the topic would come up once or twice in the future.

Then there’s the elephant in the room of where she comes from. She doesn’t talk about her origins with anyone but Remulus, and she tells him personally that she doesn’t come from Alola at all. She apparently earned her place in the cave by displaying her healing prowess to Maximus, and in return for safety she asked that Kimi be safeguarded there as well.

She always knows where everyone is, what they’re doing if they’re in the same room as her, and how to tell everyone apart. She’s blind, but if she had to, she would actually be able to tell how many fingers someone’s holding up, though she keeps that a secret.

The surprise of what she is would be kept until the very end of her time on the blog, at which point she’d be revealed to be......

....a Mew! Big surprise, I know. She releases psychic waves like echolocation to see things around her, which leave blanks where they pass over the dark-type denizens of the cave, while unnerving the poison-type Zubat friend.

The reason she leaves the cave in the end? Remulus gets caught by a trainer.

Throughout the blog, Remulus would be the butt of everyone’s jokes, belittled and mocked for his cowardice at every turn. A terrible fighter, who’s only real friend was Alicia. The bullying comes to a head at the tail end of a Trainer’s Trial. She’s just got done defeating Maximus and Atticus, and is going back through the cave when Remulus gets pushed out of a hole by the other rats as they laugh at him.

He’s shaking, terrified of the trainer and her Brionne, while the other rats laugh at him. They think he’ll get beaten up, maybe learn something. Since Rattata are common enough, they don’t imagine that any trainer would have a reason to catch Pokemon in the cave after their trials.

Of course, one Great Ball later and everyone stops laughing. Alicia turns to leave, Maximus tries to stop her, she reveals herself as a Mew, and informs him that being a comfort to Remulus was her sole reason for staying. She’s taught Kimi every herbal remedy she knows, and can take over her job as healer.

The next arc of the blog would follow Remulus’s journey as a trainer’s Pokemon. He struggles a lot in the beginning with his fear and paranoia, disbelieving that anyone would value him for any reason after all the abuse he went through. 

The Brionne, Azura, becomes his best friend, values his presence unconditionally, and helps him through his self-esteem issues and trauma. He refuses to evolve, memories of Maximus staining the idea of evolving for him permanently, so he gains an everstone, and with it, the confidence to shine as himself.

((The first drawing I ever did of Remulus, with the rest of my Moon Team. Yes, this rat is part of an actual playthrough! The only member not featured is my Kommo-o, and that’s just because I couldn’t draw him.))

The blog probably would’ve ended with a shot of Remulus on his trainer’s shoulder, on the peak as snow falls around them. About to face the Elite Four, finally able to believe in himself. All he needed was love.

And yeah, him and Azura?

Absolutely a match made in heaven. Together forever.

And as far as I can tell, that’s what I had planned for this blog in a nutshell! Buuuut I don’t think I had the patience for it, especially since I couldn’t stand writing Remulus going through as much crap as I knew he had to. Rip. But yeah, thanks to everyone who stuck around this long. Sorry this story had to end prematurely.