Writings From A Field of Roses

Sly Cooper: The Master Thief himself, Sly genuinely retired following the Cooper Vault job. He had to go back into thievery to save his clan's history. During his travels through time, the raccoon got run through the wringer emotionally. Over time, his perspective on love is reinforced and broadened.

Bentley Wiseturtle: While the smartest of the Gang, Bentley starts leaning into his capability for emotional intelligence. He worked to ground Sly to reality upon contacting him and ended up being the one to save Penelope in the end. That being said, his loyalty to others remains intact.

Murray Austin: Although his development is more subtle than others, Murray remains the emotional glue between the six of them. His time in the wrestling circuit and recalling the teachings of The Guru has showcased his uncanny ability to adapt to different situations.

Carmelita Fox: After getting dragged into the Cooper Gang's time-traveling adventures, Carmelita discovered she has kitsune abilities thanks to her mother's side of the family. She grows to care about Sly and his companions while her adventures go on. It gets to the point where she recalls that she joined Interpol to find closure for victims of crime.

Annette Leparine (OC): The youngest of the six of them and an archer with wind abilities. As this lop rabbit breaks down the walls she erected around herself, she comes to reveal her compassion and resourcefulness during her adventures. Her ultimate wish is to find closure regarding her deceased mother.

Annette rejected his sweet, sweet love for her. Apparently, making sure she was saved from that deer's acts of love spooked her.

Beware, beware, be skeptical Of their smiles, their smiles, so plated gold Deceit, so natural

And Sly would continue to remain an obstacle in his pursuit to save Annette from the raccoon's care and loyalty.

But a wolf in sheep's clothing Is more than a warning!

Alvard's plans for the world involved saving children from the "terrors" of reality. While he seemed to have good intentions given the dangers of the Victorian era, he would make sure no adults who genuinely loved their children would taint the sweet, sweet innocence of minors like Annette.

Caring about someone so much, they'd give anything to see them safe and doing well in life?

It left a salty aftertaste in his mouth.

Baa, baa, black sheep, have you any soul? No, sir! By the way, what the hell are morals?

And then, he saw Thaddeus's calling card in Simon Le Paradox's hands.

Jack be nimble, Jack be quick Jill's a little whore And her alibis are turning tricks

Having narrowly escaped getting brainwashed by Cyrille Le Paradox, Penelope quickly rushes back to her and Bentley's laboratory visibly shaken and soaked from rain. She gets herself cleaned up, but there's still tension between her and Bentley due to him lashing out at her.

Penelope believes Bentley wouldn't get how affected she truly was from his outburst and plans to betray him and the Gang later.

During the Cooper Gang's travels through time, the mouse tries to find the right opportunity to stab them in the back. Unfortunately for her, this is the Sly Cooper world. Things don't always go according to plan.

When they get stranded in the snowy prehistoric era, Murray is the first to learn about the mouse's frustrations and plans for betrayal. After learning how to ice skate to bounce back from his funk, he's the one who brings up her "strange" behavior around the Gang.

If Penelope was with the group from the start after narrowly escaping the brainwashing attempt, here are my thoughts on the Power-ups she'd have.

Thieves In Time

Wrench Mode (Default ability): Utilizes Penelope's weapon changer as a melee weapon.

Hammer Mode (Default ability): Utilizes Penelope's weapon changer to break down obstacles.

Moving Disguise: Allows Penelope to erect a decoy while moving at a slow walk.

Wrench Toss: Toss a specialized wrench to trigger distant switches or briefly stun isolated guards.

Shield Mode: Utilizes Penelope's weapon changer to block attacks for a short time.

Grapple Drone: Utilizes a drone that allows her to zip up to high places like Sly's using his cane

Meter Recharger: Automatically charges the gadget meter when fully depleted.

During Annette's time in Victorian England, she befriends a poised yet innocent white-tailed deer named Eloise. In the unsafe era of Victorian England, Eloise's desire was a simple one: she longed to find someone she could consider her true love.

They bonded over longing to live a civilian's life despite the darker aspects of their worlds. After Thaddeus meets her, Eloise opts to help the Gang stop Simon Le Paradox by using her knowledge of sewing to fashion disguises. As a resident of Manchester, she also implements her knowledge of the city during a Job involving Carmelita.

On a starry night near the hideout, Eloise and Annette solidify their friendship by making a pearl necklace together. They vow to keep going on their paths to the light the next cloudy day.

...And then, Alvard nearly kills the deer by garroting her in a bid to "protect" Annette from her while fog rolls in.

"A little canary singing bravely in a coal mine...how does one so pure expect to defend themselves in a dark cave?" the wolf asked the doe once he discarded her tattered dress.

"Eloise!!" the young rabbit screamed from raw terror.

To Alvard Lupus, minors were like colorful sugar stars. Their purity and innocence were something to hold onto forever...like saving them from a cliff some distance away from a rye field. So, he embraced his wolf's stigma, aiming to be the hero of their stories.

Seeing Annette Leparine's light pink fur and brown eyes for the first time...it was like a contrast of cotton candy and milk chocolate. Usually, a minor would fill the jar in his heart with a colorful sugar star.

But that Sly Cooper...he was the raccoon who swiped that chance to love her. Seeing her natural bright smile around him...it left a sour taste in his mouth.

One way or another, Annette will be his conversation heart to treasure in his jar.

Leila Mau wasn't impressed by the message that the Cooper Gang was making a move for the throne. To her, they would be just minor nuisances. Pests that can easily be squashed underfoot.

Still, she had to throw Pharaoh Paradox under the bus in some way.

Rat-tat-tat when I rack it back And now, I've got you in my sights Like a photograph

Leila wanted to expand beyond Ancient Egypt so that she could show the world that she was the paragon of style and society. To do that, she'd take Cleopatra's place as the first female Pharaoh of Ancient Egypt.

Why you starin' with them brand new boots? You ain't never had it rough, little kitty cat

When she saw Pharaoh Paradox walk by, she maintained her poise around him. Deep inside, she planned to get rid of both the Cooper and the Le Paradox clan by nipping their influence in this time period in the bud.

That ice gauntlet would do the trick just fine.

Have a drink, take off the edge You done caught me in a mood, boy Here's your chance, so...

Little did she realize that in this world, things don't always go according to plan.

That was indicated by the calling card carved by Slytunkhamen II in the small piece of parchment in her hands.

After Annette's rescue, she began training under Slytunkhamen II in archery. For the raccoon, he felt that Annette's presence was calling back to Unut, the goddess of fertility and new birth.

When Annette got to meet Pharaoh Ahmose for the first time, the Pharaoh hound was surprised, yet pleased by her respectful tone of voice. Regardless, the dog predicted that her shut (translation: shadow) indicated her broken soul.

To show the Gods that she's a good person, one of the hound's sau (read: priest-physicians), a lion, trained her so that she can unlock her aerokinesis.

As Annette's time with Sly and his close ones goes on, she develops a bond with Murray, becoming the long-range back-up to his close-range combat. The hippopotamus even called them the "Sky Strikers" at one point during a job.

So, when Murray lands himself in trouble during a Job in Medieval Scotland, Annette tries to rush to fly him out with her long ears.

Thinking about it now, she should have realized that him being a hippo would have meant it'd be a fight to do so.

Thankfully, help comes in the form of a R/C vehicle's engine.

"Bentley? Is that you?" Annette asked him through communications.

"Okay. I'll establish a video call with her ASAP."

That came from Bentley during a surprise call with the therapist assigned to undo Penelope's brainwashing. Once the call ended, Bentley was genuinely smiling. Things were going well between the mouse and the Golden Retriever working with her.

"I've got some good news, Murray. Penelope is going to provide assistance from the present day," Bentley stated with pride and joy.

"All right!" the hippopotamus cheered. "She's back to her old self!"

"I don't think she'll truly recover from everything she's been through, but the good news is we got a member of the Gang back," the turtle clarified.

"Yeah, but...Annie really wanted to get to know Penelope," Murray recalled. "Does this mean she can't talk to her yet?"

"Wait, you want me to take Sly's place?" Annette questioned with confusion.

"It's good practice!" Bentley reassured her. "Think of it as getting out of your comfort zone."

"Y-You are aware I've just hit the eighth grade level of your lessons?" the rabbit reminded him. "This isn't part of the curriculum!"

"Relax, Annie," the turtle stated. "Just take your seat in that chair right there."

Bentley's mechanical arms reached into a compartment in his wheelchair.

"And if you get stuck, just check my notes," he instructed.

Annette's next mission in Victorian England is not a Job, but rather a chance meeting with Penelope during her downtime.

On a quaint evening near Canbury Gardens, Annette is seen happily walking along the developing public garden for the park. At around that time, Penelope had successfully gotten away from Alvard Lupus, calling him "almost as illogical as Bentley."

They ultimately end up meeting near the proposed site of a bandstand that would be developed in the future. Recognizing that Penelope is a troubled former Cooper Gang member, the rabbit tries to approach the mouse in a friendly manner.

Due to the mouse's brainwashing, Penelope isn't too receptive toward her openness. Life isn't kind to prey animals like them. There was no way she was going to let that newcomer into her life.

The conversation they have is a rocky one. Hearing Penelope's side of the story didn't make Annette accept her as completely in the right. Instead, the lop rabbit believes that the whole thing was one huge misunderstanding.

That causes something to break in Penelope, and she turns her back on Annette upon gripping her head.

"Penelope?" Annette asked out of confusion.

"That girl's a naïve fool!" Penelope began. "One successful operation with the Cooper Gang, and she thinks she knows Bentley?!"

"What if she has a point? What if Bentley really didn't neglect me on purpose?"

Penelope using a more innocent voice when she asked that question caught Annette completely off guard.

"Don't be ridiculous!" Penelope exclaimed. "Everything Bentley did, he did for Cooper! I was always the third wheel between them."

"What about the China operation? The way Sly spoke to me and Murray...it was brief, but...it always felt like he had someone else on his mind from the beginning!"

"Whoever that person was to Sly, she never mattered to him!" the mouse tried to counter.

Annette's brown eyes go wide at that statement. Carmelita may be giving the rabbit the cold shoulder, but she knows Sly cares about the Interpol officer.

Unable to watch this go on, she makes a desperate move.

"Penelope!!" she shouted.

That stops the mouse's argument with herself and gets her attention. Those brown eyes are wide from shock.

And then, the woman runs off.

Annette tries to reach out to the mouse, but finds herself unable to do so due to how rattled the rabbit is.

Remember when I wrote that Ash's outburst made Serena question whether she truly loved Ash or not?

Her final farewell to Ash goes differently here.

Before she takes her leave to catch her flight to Hoenn, she calls Ash her best friend instead of her goal. The next time they meet, she's going to be someone who can walk alongside him.

Coming clean about his past experiences to his friends was the ultimate catharsis. He admitted to the rocky first meeting with Misty in Kanto. How he wanted to earn some of his badges in battle there, but they were given to him out of gratitude instead. How his Charizard's disobedience cost him the Indigo League.

And how, as time went on, he placed better in each League he entered. He felt he hit a setback upon losing to Cameron in Unova, hence his growing frustrations.

Serena was the first to accept him as a person. While she apologized for her outburst and pelting him with snowballs, he acknowledged her point in that he had to be honest from the start. It served as a wake-up call that broke down his walls.

"Welcome to our lives, Ash," Serena kindly greeted with some tears forming in her eyes.

Clemont followed suit afterward. He pointed out that if there was something he learned from Ash during his time with him, it was that he had to embrace being creative in battle.

"I think we can go forward like this, helping each other with our flaws," the Lumiose Gym Leader offered. "Would that work for you?"

Ash warmly smiled without hesitation.

"I was gonna say the same thing," he told him.

Bonnie teared up once she heard her older brother's kind offer to Ash.

"I'm sorry, too!!" she cried out.

That got their attention. Even Dedenne was visibly upset.

"I thought something was wrong before all that...but I didn't know what it was!" she revealed "I just...couldn't figure it out at all...!"

"Oh, Bonnie..." Clemont said with gentle, brotherly concern.

Ash also extended an apology to his Kalos Pokémon team, too. He wanted to get stronger, but he believed he was doing it in all the wrong ways.

"It's not good if I'm too passionate, but it's also not good if I'm too relaxed," he noted, recalling Brandon's words in the Battle Pyramid. "There has to be a middle ground somewhere..."

Then, Ash recalled his clashes with Paul, through ideology or otherwise. If Paul was able to pivot his team to adapt to changes in battle, then maybe...

"Hey, Hawlucha. Can I count on you to keep up momentum instead of jumping in immediately?" Ash requested. "I know you like to show off, but I think I can use your moves in a way that allows you to come in after one of my Pokémon."

That briefly surprised Hawlucha, but if it meant hitting hard and fast, he'd make sure his Trainer could count on him.

"Talonflame, I learned from Clemont that your Ability is Flame Body, right?" Ash asked. "Can you hang in there long enough for Flame Body to activate when things get tough? If that doesn't work, I'll have you return so you can take a break."

It would be an interesting challenge, and the Scorching Pokémon accepted this with pride.

"Noivern, as much as you want to help me out, you don't have a move that can hit Ice-types," he realized. "I'm gonna have you sit out my rematch with Wulfric. Sorry..."

Ash's outburst during his first Gym Battle against Wulfric caused a fundamental change in his group's dynamic.

Beforehand, Serena, Clemont, and Bonnie thought Ash was amazing and striven to follow his lead in taking that first step forward. Thinking about it now, Serena recalled a conversation they had early on in their journey.

When Clemont asked Ash how his time in his home region went, Ash's response was that "I-It was smooth sailing!"

She should have paid more attention to his answer. That sudden stutter he gave off? It was an indicator that he was trying to build up a false image.

And then, her eyes went wide at a question that broke through her planned counter-argument against those doubts.

Did she truly love Ash for who he is? Or did she only admire him from the surface-level?

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types, Pocket Monsters | Pokemon (Main Video Game Series), Pocket Monsters: X & Y | Pokemon X & Y Versions, Pocket Monsters | Pokemon (Anime 1997-2023) Rating: General Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Satoshi | Ash Ketchum & Shouta | Sawyer (Pokemon the Series: X & Y) Characters: Shouta | Sawyer (Pokemon the Series: X & Y), Satoshi | Ash Ketchum, Urup | Wulfric (Pokemon) Additional Tags: Headcanon, Fix-It, Fix-It of Sorts, Canon Rewrite, Rewrite, Characters Find Out About Satoshi | Ash Ketchum's Adventures, Satoshi | Ash Ketchum Needs a Hug, Satoshi | Ash Ketchum Has Issues, Rare Characters, Rare Relationships, Character Development, Pocket Monsters: XY | Pokemon the Series: X & Y, Drabble Summary:

For Ash, Kalos's competitive nature and the fact that Clemont, Bonnie, and Serena look up to him actively put pressure on him. If they found out about his past journey in Kanto, he feared that his Kalos friends would change how they view him. Especially since Unova resulted in him losing to Cameron in the League.

So, he covered up his Kanto journey to them somewhat while acknowledging Serena's belief that Ash never truly lost major battles until his time in Kalos came.

Wulfric directly challenged that mindset during their Gym Battle, resulting in burn out and a period of depression. During Ash's Gym battle with the Ice-type specialist, Ash yells out that he realizes that he can't hold back, not just to seasoned veterans but also to "Trainers that go head-on." If he loses, he'd hate the fallout that would come.

"I lost a League to that kind of Trainer!"

That directly affected Serena. For once, she didn't take hold of her blue ribbon from concern.

Sawyer was watching the battle along with Ash's Kalos friends. Any thoughts of questioning why the person he looked up to would suddenly get uncharacteristically angry came to an abrupt halt when he saw how rattled Serena was.

However, he ultimately opted to part ways with them out of respect for Ash. His farewell to him was one rooted in a genuine desire to battle as equals.