#also when ingo gets home i just like the idea of clay being one of the people to help ingo through the process

[madd-nix]

Not me thinking about Clay having an uncle-like relationship with Ingo and Emmet, alongside Drayden, their actual uncle. Then once Ingo gets eebied to Hisui, he meets Lian and feels this weird sense of familiarity, like has he seen that hat before? And Ingo acts like an uncle to Lian, similar to how Clay was for him. He gives Lian advice, hangs out with him, listens as Lian talks all about rocks and ores. And I think Lian tries to act more grown up than he really is, trying to prove himself as a worthy warden amongst the adults. But when he's alone with Ingo, he feels comfortable enough with him and Ingo insists that he gets to play and act like a child. Lian knows Ingo would never tell anyone if he ever acted a bit more goofy and silly, or if he cried or got upset. And Ingo wants Lian to act like the child he is. Sure, their duties as wardens to the Pearl Clan are important, but a kid is still a kid.

Anyway, just feeling feelings about Ingo and these rock collecting cowboys that are his family.

[waywardstation]

Since you've mentioned that you want the friendsgiving/harvest festival story idea to take place in Unova, my brain has been wandering around just trying to think of how to make the two ideas mix together harmoniously... And this is what my brain came up with!

Every year on the same day, the Pokemon League members all get together for some kind of autumn-themed party/all day event thing. They've been doing this for as long as anyone remembers, and it's just a special day to spend time with friends and loved ones. This year Drayden, Elesa, Iris, Clay (whom I like to imagine was an old mentor of theirs), among others (I like to imagine that the Subway bros are friends with Roxie too) are INSISTING that Ingo and Emmet come to the party this year and bring some loved ones along too!

There's a lot of weird traditions at this party that no one quite understands what they're for or where they came from, but they're here nevertheless. Slowly as the day goes on Ingo and Akari feel that something about all of this is familiar and Johanna points out the similarities between what they're doing here and a festival that is celebrated in Sinnoh. While they're doing these things, Ingo and Akari are telling stories about this disastrous festival with a play that they had back in Hisui. Eventually they make the connection that the festival-play thing that Ingo and Akari did eventually became the holiday that is still celebrated in Sinnoh today. But why is there this bastardized version being celebrated here in Unova by the Pokemon League members?

At the end of the day, it's revealed that Clay was actually the one to start whole thing. Back when he first became a Gym Leader, he wasn't able to go home to celebrate this holiday that was so important to his family. Clay goes on at length about how important this holiday was to his family, and especially to his great grand pappy who always had the wildest stories to tell about this day and who was insistent on always spending this day with loved ones. And so instead of sitting at home and feeling bad about himself, he decided to start spending this holiday with his new family- the rest of the Unovan Pokemon League. So sure, the traditions he tried to show his friends may have gotten lost in communication and became some weird mutated variant of what they were originally supposed to be, but the most important thing is to spend this time with the people you love and care about- your clan. It also turns out that Clay's great grand pappy was Lian. And while the festival as they celebrated it back in Hisui that first time was kinda a huge disaster, that day ended up becoming something genuinely important and meaningful to Lian, continuing to be important to him for the rest of his life. So much so that its importance was passed down to Clay who then spread this tradition to everyone he cares about in Unova too.

Ohh OP this is a great concept!! This ties up a lot of things together super well, and the connection with Clay and Lian is perfect ;w;

What a great connection!! I really like this mixture of the two; this might influence my fic a little if that’s ok!