#askpharos

This story happened a really, really, really long time ago, like more sun cycles than I can count. Back in the days of the Four Primarina Tribes of Alola, there lived a Popplio among one of the tribes who was different and thought that she didn’t belong. Now, the Popplio was good and followed all the rules of her tribe, and there was nothing strange about the way she looked - I always thought she probably just looked like me except bigger and without the flower.

But this Popplio was different because of her singing. You know how our kind are amazing at singing, right? Well, this Popplio was better at singing than everyone else in her Tribe! Her voice was so beautiful that every time she sang, anything that heard her voice would come to listen!

She wanted fish Pokemon to eat? She sang a song, and fish Pokemon came to her.

She wanted help with her training? She sang a song, and strong Pokemon came to her.

She wanted friends to play with? She sang a song, and friendly Pokemon came to her.

It sounds nice, right? I mean, who wouldn’t want anyone to listen to their songs no matter what, right? But I guess sometimes, to some Pokemon, different can be kinda scary, huh? Because of her singing, all the other Popplio, Brionne, and Primarina in her tribe were scared of her. No one talked to her, no one played with her unless she did sing, no one even helped her when she really needed it. She was completely alone all the time.

And you wanna know the worst part? It was the things her tribe said about her.

“Look what she can do as a Popplio, what will happen when she grows up?” they whispered.

“Mother said we can’t play with you!”

“ Stay away from us, Monster Popplio!”

“She does not belong here!”

I know, it’s sad, isn’t it? The Primarina tribes were really mean back then.

And every night, the Popplio looked out at the sea, listening to the lonely waves and wondering if she belonged somewhere else. Finally, one night, she cried, "I’ve had enough! I'm gonna leave this island, because I do not belong here. I'll try living with one of the tribes on the other Alolan islands, maybe I belong with one of them."

So for many days and many nights, she swam to the next island, and the next, and the next, but on every island, she heard the same mean words her own tribe said to her when they heard her sing.

"Look what she can do as a Popplio!' they screamed. 'What will she do when she grows up?"

"Stay away from us, Monster Popplio!"

"She does not belong here!'"

By now, the Popplio was very sad. She'd swam through all of Alola and didn’t belong with any of the tribes? How could that be? “I don’t belong anywhere, do I?!” she cried.

So with tears in her eyes, the Popplio did what she did most nights. She looked out at the sea, listening to the lonely waves. But this time, she saw something she never noticed all those other nights.

I’ve been to Melemele Island and Akala Island, Ula’ula Island and Poni Island, too. But the ocean continues on and on and on - I can’t even see where it ends! There must be more places out there! Maybe if I follow the ocean until it ends, I’ll find where I belong!

Okay, here’s where the story gets much happier! The Popplio left Alola to see the whole world! She visited… hmmm, let me see if I can remember the names. There’s Kanto and Johto, Hoenn and... and His... Hiss-ui, I think that's what it is? 'You-nova' and Kalos and… and Galar, too! And many, many others! She made lots of friends in these new places, and some of them could even listen to her sing! She evolved into a Brionne and then a Primarina, and as she grew, so did her singing abilities.

And the Popplio - or, Primarina now, I guess - had lots of adventures! She fought all kinds of scary Pokemon and saved towns and villages all over the world, protected humans and weaker Pokemon, and even met Kyogre once! She was a hero back then! But those are all their own stories, and some of Kai’s favorites too, you know!

Finally, after a long, long time, the Primarina came back to the island she was born on. By then, stories of her adventures had come to Alola, and the tribe that was mean to her when she was a Popplio greeted her with open arms. Flippers? Anyway, they tried to say they were sorry and tell her she can live with them and all that kinds of stuff, but the Primarina just laughed and said, “Why would I want to spend my life on one island when I can have the entire ocean as my home? No, you can have your island, I think I will stay in the ocean, because that is where I belong.

So the Primarina spent the rest of her life traveling all over the world by ocean, making friends and having more adventures. She also had lots of children who could sing just like her who joined her on her adventures, and so did their children’s children! And their children’s children, until the Primarina died and became one with the ocean. And for the rest of her life, the Primarina was happy, because even though she was different from those of her kind, she had found where she did belong.

"Over the next, uhhhh... thousand, million, however many sun cycles it was, the Tribe got bigger and bigger, and everyone had the same singing abilities Akua had. All the way down to me and Mother and Kai and everybody else today!"

"So? What did you think?"

@askpharos