Let's Talk About (Im)Perfect Timings

Me: Um, we didn't do a "Let's Talk" last month, so we've got to have one this month.

Ash: What about Halloween? We did talk, but Pikachu didn't get in.

Pikachu: Pi, pika! ["No, I didn't!"]

Me: I guess technically we did one then, but without Pikachu. In any case, we have to have a "proper" one this month, this time with Pikachu.

Pikachu: Pi pika pika chu! ["I like the sound of that!"]

Me: Welcome back, I suppose. So this time, I thought we'd talk about things that happen at the right time... or even the wrong time. Or it might be both.

Ash: Oh! I know what you're talking about. It's like the time I had when I battled Brawly in Hoenn, twice. That was a rough time.

Me: I know it was. The first time you battled, I recall that Makuhita evolved into Hariyama near the end, and that practically voided any chance of you winning the battle. It was the worst thing to happen at the worst time possible.

Ash: But then the second time Hariyama ran into a problem, and that let me defeat Brawly easily. You can say it was the best thing to happen at the very best time.

Me: Indeed. So you know what we're discussing about today. Something else in the same vein is when you had to say goodbye to your Pokémon. The one that always comes to mind in this regard is Butterfree.

Ash: Well, you know, that time Butterfree met its sweetheart, so they had to be together. It was really the perfect time for the both of them. It was also sad, for you too I think, but they had to go.

Pikachu: Pi pika, pika chu. ["It was really the best time."]

Me: It was sad for everyone, I think. Perhaps what was almost just as sad was when you thought you needed to say goodbye to Pikachu.

Ash: That was a difficult time too. But in the end, we made up... and we're still together today. You might think of it as a mistake if it happened.

Pikachu: Pi pika, pi pika chu. ["It was really the wrong time."]

Me: I couldn't agree more. It would be a terrible mistake, and who knows what would become of your adventures after that point. So it would have been a bad time, and by avoiding it, you created lots of good times.

Ash: Yeah! I'd think of it the same way.

Me: Now, speaking of right times and wrong times, this weekend seems to have a spade of them, including for some Pokémon things. If I could, today I'd send you to certain faraway happenings either today or tomorrow, but with current times, that may not be in our best interests.

Ash: No, maybe not - maybe if we had our friends together it could be OK, but just myself and Pikachu, probably not.

Pikachu: Pika! ["Maybe not!"]

Me: On the other hand, today and tomorrow there is a virtual happening, and it's one that I'm attached to - I'm sure you know. But I found out about it too late, and the virtual versions from what I can tell tend to not be too exciting anyway.

Ash: I would say it feels very different. It's like you don't connect to anything with anyone, and you miss out on that. It would be hard if it was a Pokémon battle tournament, to put it that way.

Me: That would explain why some of my friends never bothered to deal with it or even discuss it. Meanwhile, today, I'm having a different kind of bother. I'm trying to hatch Mime Jr. out of Eggs and have so far been unsuccessful. I also lapsed and only found out late that today I'm supposed to be battling a lot, which mostly demands sitting, but the hatching demands walking. You can tell it's a difficult time.

Ash: I can see that! You definitely can't battle while you walk, and you can't walk while battling. It totally conflicts.

Me: Worse yet, tomorrow I'm due for an important thing to keep us healthy, and that comes just before I have to catch lots of a single Pokémon - I'll spare the details very soon. I thought the former was going to come well before that, but it had to be moved to that day.

Ash: Yeah, I can see that everything just ran together this weekend for you. There's some bad timing going on.

Me: It's a terrible timing for everything to run together. At least I already decided that we would have a talk today, and that had been perfectly timed along with some of my earlier discussion.

Ash: That should be some very good timing, and I'm really glad we had this chance too.

Pikachu: Pika chu, pika! ["I'm glad too!"]

Me: Now it seems I have to deal with the rest of whatever this weekend may bring.

Ash: Don't worry - I'm sure you can! Pikachu and I will support you the rest of the way.

Pikachu: Pika pika! ["For sure!"]

Me: At least there may be some good times and timing even in the middle of bad ones.

One year ago: BEMANI-Pokémon Connections

Two years ago: The State of Nominations, Part 2

Three years ago: A Raid Group Gathering

Four years ago: On Cosplay Props and Prop Makers