#yeah being sent to the most dangerous place in the region by a professor who is actually unalive will cause confessions to come out

[palletofshipping]

alright it’s officially midnight so here’s day 2 of palletshipping week-I love you

For context: Gary and Ash have a traumatic experience during their research trip to Paldea’s area zero which results in some a confession from Ash ~accidentally~ slipping out.

As soon as they’re out of area zero, they process everything that happened including the confession, which Gary returns Ash’s feelings

#palletshipping week #gary oak #ash ketchum #pokemon #shigesato #the dudes are officially boyfriends #uva academy shenanigans #yeah being sent to the most dangerous place in the region by a professor who is actually unalive will cause confessions to come out #based on pokemon scarlet/violet #well mainly violet but you get the idea lol

[rowdeyclown]

i want to hear about your pokemon ideas!

oh man this is a dangerous question bc i am about to go OFF so i'll just leave this in a read more. also keep in mind i have only played platinum, moon/ultra moon, sword, and a little bit of red and lets go eevee, so if i accidentally steal something from another game whoops. also i do have a lot of inspiration from the games i played here anyway since i am less knowledgeable abt pokemon than most people but anyway here we go

setting: several years prior to the start of the game, as low as 18 or high as 100 years (i have specific reasons for that) this region was very prosperous with many young people moving in all the time to get a headstart on a successful life. the region is known for being nearly a perfect circle and there are 18 areas of the region, each corresponding to a different type. dead center is normal type, maybe i'll make a map later if i get more interested. by the time the story takes place however, the region has become uninhabitable and anyone who didn't evacuate died. for now im calling it Ebril

legendary: part of what once made ebril so prosperous was the presence of their legendary. idk the exact type of creature it is but it was worshipped as a god and protected the land. however an unknown sickness fell over it and it let out an explosion of energy across the whole region that turned each area into a hellscape. for example, the water region completely flooded over; the grass region sprouted dangerous plants everywhere that so much as touching them could kill a person; the fire region literally just lit up on fire and hasn't burned out, and so on. not only this but the air of the whole place is toxic, though the poison air is like 5 times worse. after this explosion the legendary disappeared, and ebril was completely abandoned. it's later revealed that the legendary has died.

characters: at the start of the game there are few people in the region. in fact there are exactly 4, and they all flew in from different regions.

the leader is one Professor Pine, a young professor from wherever the fuck probably new york with ancestors from ebril. she's always been fascinated with the region and decided to start figuring out a way to fix the place and make it habitable again. with her studies she figures out there's a chance to save it and so she contacts the professors of all regions with the request to help, though only 3 other people were sent in to help due to the dangers of this journey.

the player character(s) are both present in the game, a pair of twins named Jade and Grey. their names are puns on the word jaded and the phrase old and gray. the twins hail from kanto, the region the first games took place in iirc, and the player character u choose went on a pokemon journey at age 10. at present time they are anywhere around 18-20 bc theres no way any reasonable person is gonna let a minor into this apocalyptic region. the twin you don't choose at age 10 rather than taking a pokemon journey started working as an assistant to Professor Oak, and as an adult starts studying to become the next professor. the twin you choose had their journey and got all the way through until the elite 4 which they never beat, and for several years in frustration swore off battling. eventually they couldn't resist the call to the world of pokemon they used to love and they start working as an assistant alongside their twin. when Oak is contacted by Pine he initially refuses to help, but the twins find out and volunteer to go. Oak doesn't want them to but in the end he doesn't stop them.

the fourth member of the expedition is the former champion of some region who just got knocked off their throne by some 10 year old. they serve as the rival of this game. like the twins they found out about this expedition and with nothing better to do they decided to join in just to Feel Something. unlike the twins they never told anyone they were going.

starters: at the beginning the starter is actually either charizard, venusaur, or wartortle. after all this is kanto and the player did go on the journey. the twin has the pokemon that is weak to the player and the rival has the type that is strong against it. however Pine advises against bringing the actual starters bc the environment might be dangerous. however, as someone with ancestors from ebril, she does happen to have some baby pokemon native to the region, of course of the classic typings. seeing as how none of the pokemon in the region were much affected by the changes in atmosphere so she knows it's safe to bring them.

story: the expedition starts when Pine through remote studies discovers an energy wave coming from the center of ebril, one she hypothesizes is similar to the energy that destroyed the region in the first place. at this point in time no one knows the original legendary has died, but this leads Pine to wonder if the legendary is gathering the energy after their sickness and thinks maybe it has the power to reverse the damage. she develops hazmat suits that should be able to endure most of the terrain of the land but isn't 100% sure on their durability. with all the preparations she can do, Pine and co set out to land in the dead center of ebril

once there they discover a giant crater right at the center, and at the bottom is an egg. the egg is the source of the energy wave, and they think maybe it houses a baby legendary. the player character is the first to approach the egg and the moment they get near it, the egg hatches, revealing a baby pokemon. it bears a resemblance to the legendary so they assume it is indeed the child of the former legendary, and also it's fucking adorable. whenever i picture it i think of kubfu or toxel bc theyre both Baby so it definitely is shaped similarly. after study its found that surprisingly, this baby is normal type. they're confused because while there are conflicting accounts on what the legendary's typing was, there's an agreement that it's something like psychic or fairy or dragon. however, once the baby is right next to the starter of the player, it suddenly changes to the same type. they experiment with the other starters and find that the baby pokemon does change type depending on its environment, but cannot be more than one type at a time. it defaults to normal if its kept in a neutral environment away from other pokemon. basically it's kinda like silvally

and so they're all in the direct center of ebril which represents normal type and thus the only thing wrong with it is the toxic atmosphere, however Pine theorizes that the baby has the ability to fix areas due to the type changing. she comes up with two hypotheses: either bringing the baby into say the water area will turn it into a water type and it will be able to fix the place with the typing, or if you enter the water area while the baby is a type that is strong against water like grass or electric that can help overpower it and thus reverse the damage of the area. they don't have a fighting type with them so they can't test this theory about weaknesses right in the area they're in so they can only test the first theory, and of course it doesn't work out. and so the first part of the journey starts

each member of the expedition is given a role. Pine remains at base camp and does research there, the twin ventures out to observe the pokemon and how they've changed since the apocalypse, the rival does something or other idk i havent thought abt that, and the player takes the baby to try to heal each area. the first area visited is of course the area that is weak to their starter, so grass if it was fire, fire if it was water, and water if it was grass. these three areas surround the center of course so it works out. and just like Pine hypothesized, when the baby is the strong type in this area the surrounding radius of it and thus the player is completely safe.

in the journey the player discovers healing spots that work as a pokemon center, these spots are named an oasis. the player also encounters some of the wild pokemon which have grown feral and dangerous over time, so they're unable to catch them at the moment. some point in their journey they discover some other spot similar to an oasis, however it emits a strong energy similar to what the baby emits but on a higher scale, and when the baby is placed in the spot the whole area returns to the way it used to be. and so that becomes the goal: to travel to each area with the baby and fix them with this power spot. also every time the baby sits in a power spot it gains the ability to change to the typing of the area at will. also i should mention the baby is carried around in one of those baby backpacks bc i think that would be adorable.

the world is more or less completely open, the player can travel to any area as long as long as they're wearing a hazmat suit, but the area can only be fixed if the baby has been in an area that is strong to another area and so on.

and yeah thats abt what ive got, i havent thought too hard abt stuff like an evil team or whatever but maybe i will one day who knows. thanks for asking and if u read all the way to the end thank u!

#here's the mail it never fails #asterism343

[destructiveshade]

Lightspeed: Chapter one

“Alezxander Luis?” Called the voice from the front of the room.

Silence.

“Alezxander Luis?” Came the voice a second time.

Zxan could not hear his Advanced Physics/Calculus professor asking the class the question because he had his earphones in. He was doing what some would call doodling, but he preferred the challenge of designing the nanotechnology that would make his suit capable of transforming itself into the various gadgets he’d use when he got out of the Academy. At the moment, his nanotech designs were only theoretical. He couldn’t afford to actually make the tech, let alone test it to perfection. Hell, he could hardly afford the Academy in the first place.

“Zxan,” whispered the person next to him as a foot kicked him from the side. He looked up and took out an earphone.

“Ahh, glad you could join us Alezxander. I was just asking the class why time travel is only theoretically possible. Maybe you’d care to answer,” the professor said condescendingly.

“No, not really, sir,” Zxan replied, somewhat awkwardly as he returned to his sketches and equations.

“It wasn’t a question,” retorted the professor.

“Oh. Okay. Well, first off, to time travel, you have to think of time as a continuous line, not a reoccurring event that resets every 364.25 days. We’d have to create a technology that would bend time backward or forward onto itself in order for us to drop into the future or the past. There are actually some pretty compelling theories that state that time travel already exists, it’s just kept from us by our governments so that it’s not used for personal gain. But, to answer your question truthfully, time travel isn’t actually theoretical anymore, and it hasn’t been for a while. It’s just that not everyone can do it. Only people with the innate ability for time manipulation or for speed can time travel. In fact, my great great uncle on my mom’s side was the first Speedster to time travel without using any special equipment.” Answered Zxan.

The professor, who’s dark brown eyes squinted as he scowled at the young man, was obviously not expecting such an in depth answer, so he decided to try to embarrass Zxan with a follow-up question. “And you, Alezxander, are able to time travel also?”

“Well, no, but I never claimed to be able to.” Zxan said, annoyance obvious in his voice.

“Oh, that’s right. And what is your max speed, pray tell.” He said, being supercilious.

“Oh. It’s um, 450 mph.” Zxan responded, looking embarrassed and defeated. A long silence ensued, which drove Zxan, awkward as he is, to continue with his sketches.

The professor just kept on teaching, his thin lips spreading into a smug smile over his face as he won the small victory over the awkward student.

“Alyss Rodriguez, what is the square root of 7,921, and the square root of 1,398,750?” The professor shot off.

“89 and 1,182.68761725148708,” Alyss said, without any hesitation, from beside Zxan. Alyss was short, but fit, and very beautiful. She had long hair, but it was naturally very curly, so sometimes it just looked like an afro if it got staticky. She was born into a hispanic family and with a very rare ability. It is the ability of knowledge. It has its limits, but she pretty much just knows anything at any given time. The only catch is that she has to focus on whatever it is she wants to know.

~Looks like he’s out for me again.~ Zxan typed into the keyboard that was projected onto his forearm by his custom made wristband. The message was immediately sent to Alyss’s matching wristband. The only difference between them was the color. Alyss’s being bright pink and Zxan’s being Black with a streak of bright green.

Zxan had created the wristbands in his garage a few weeks earlier out of old computer and projector parts from his room and some old FitBits he’d found laying in the trash. The FitBit part is purely for show. All the real magic happens because of computer chips he designed, created, and put inside the FitBits.

~These watches are so cool.~ Alyss responded by typing onto her own forearm.

~The beauty of it is that no-one even knows they act as our phones.~ Zxan replied. After reading the message, Alyss looked over at Zxan, and Zxan looked at Alyss and just grinned.

The rest of the school day went by pretty quickly and was very uneventful, despite it being a school for children with abilities. Most of the students, like Liam, were required to wear Dampeners while at school, and through most of their lives. This is only because they don’t have full control over their powers yet, and some of them, like Liam, had very dangerous powers if not controlled properly.

The final bell rang, bringing the school day to an end. Zxan ran from his locker, down the stairs to the second floor of the Academy to catch up to Alyss, who was leaving for the day.

“Alyss! Wait up!” He half shouted, making his voice travel over the roar of the students that filled the hallways. He caught her attention and she waited patiently for him to push his way through the influx of students as they left their classrooms and rushed to their lockers.

“Hey Zxan, what’s up?” Alyss asked with a certain sweetness in her voice.

“I just wanted to see what you’re doing after school and was wondering if you’d want to hangout maybe.” He said, awkwardly.

“Oh, yeah, I’d love to, but Chad is taking me to the beach with some of his friends.”

“Oh.” He started, his smile fading slightly, then returning so quickly that Alyss thought maybe it never left in the first place. “Okay, never mind then. I’ll just head home then. Have fun!” He said as he patted her shoulder. Then he ran off towards the second set of stairs that led to the first floor of the Academy.

The Academy has dampeners for people with physical abilities, like Zxan. It means that even though his top speed is 450 mph, he can only run about 15mph tops, while inside the school. The dampeners are so strong though that he had to push his every last muscle to hit 15mph, so he resolved to keep it around his average when in school. A cool, 8mph. There are special rooms in the four basement levels where they teach the students how to properly control their abilities, but the day is Friday and Zxan’s training day is every other Thursday. And because he didn’t practice this week, he knows next week is his turn to try to push himself to 475 mph or higher.

As he left the school, he accidentally bumped into a sharp dressed man, who in turn helped Zxan from the ground. The man was not super tall, but taller than Zxan who stood at 5’11. He had a cleanly trimmed beard that tied into his mustache to make him look very eccentric.

“I’m so sorry Mister! I didn’t mean to bump into you! I wasn't looking where I was going and I… I’m sorry.” He said quickly and dejectedly. The man started laughing.

“Oh, it’s all right, my boy. Without kids like you keeping me on my toes, how else is this old fart going to keep his edge.” The man said while laughing. “What’s your name?”

“I… It’s Zxan, sir.” He replied, dusting himself off.

“Well, Zxan, my name is Howard Wayne VI.” The man said with a bow. Zxan just stood there looking awe-struck.

“As in, Bruce Wayne’s great, great grandson?” Zxan said in disbelief.

“The very same.” Howard said with a grin, reaching his hand out. Zxan grabbed his hand and shook it emphatically.

“Dude! You’re amazing! All your accomplishments and awards, and not to mention your role in the unifying of the gifted nations!” Zxan said excitedly, still shaking Howard’s hand.

“Yes, yes, I guess it was important, but that means very little to me. I’m here to help the gifted youth of our grand city of Great Rapids.”

“How so?” Zxan asked, finally letting go of the man’s hand.

“I’m here, on the behalf of my company, to present 3 scholarships for 3 gifted young adults.”

“What does the scholarship entail?”

“Essentially, the participants would be taken to my tower in the central region of the city and they’d be taught how to act as a hero, but not only while in uniform. They’d also be able to design and create their own super suits to fit their needs and abilities.” Howard explained.

“Can I apply?” Zxan asked excitedly.

“Of course. Everyone here is encouraged to apply. Then the committee for the scholarship will pick the three best candidates.”

“What are the conditions that the committee bases their evaluations off of?”

“Their are a number of different factors, but the main few are courage, honor, and loyalty.”

“It’s not based on wealth, right?” Zxan asked nervously.

“Nope. You’ve no need to worry. It’s a full scholarship, not like this academy.” Howard said with a hint of disgust in his voice.

“How do I apply?” Zxan asked.

“The applications will be passed out on Monday to all the students, but here, take this one and work it out the best you can over the weekend.” He said as he handed Zxan a packet of paper that looked suspiciously like a math test.

“Thank you, sir. And again, it was very nice to meet you, but I have to get home now. My mom is expecting me.”

As he walked through the front door of his house, he said hi to his mom and then went directly to the garage. He started working on the packet immediately, using his super speed to write and process the questions, he finished in 30 minutes flat. Most of the questions were easy, but the last one had him puzzled. It was a huge equation that looked like a college professor from Mars had written it.

The whole packet, before the last equation took him 5 minutes to finish. The last equation took him the other 25, but he finished it and he was confident he had the right answer.

The weekend went by slowly and painfully boringly. Normally he’d just hangout with Alyss, but since she started dating Chad a month ago, he had nobody who he could really talk to and hangout with. He thought that normally he wouldn’t care. In the past, he had friends who blew him off entirely for their girlfriends, and it didn’t really hurt. But for some reason, Alyss blowing him off for Chad hurt him in a way he hadn’t felt since his dad died.

He learned to cope, of course, using his great great uncle’s Cosmic Treadmill to help him work on his speed while his mom was at work. Or, more normally, he played video games and watched TV. Sometimes he even read books, and not teenager books. Like college level textbooks. He read them to strengthen his mind and to broaden his vocabulary. He never really hung out with his mom because she was hardly ever home.

His mom was also born with a rare gift, healing. That’s why she works as a nurse. Of course, she doesn’t have to hide her powers. Many many people around the world are very open with their powers. But as history shows, there are always people who are afraid of what they don’t understand. There’s a radical group that call themselves Purifiers and basically what they do is kidnap people with abilities and then kill them on an online broadcast. They say it’s to “purify” the gene pool of humanity, but Zxan just thought they were jealous.

Monday morning couldn’t come fast enough. Zxan practically jumped out of bed to get ready for school. Halfway to school, he realized that he couldn’t just pull out the application and say he already did his. The school might think he cheated or something, so he devised a plan. He would ask for one, then switch it out before he has to turn it back in.

When he got to school, he went looking for Alyss. His heart sank when he saw her though, cause she had an extra thick layer of make-up by her left eye. A normal person probably wouldn’t have noticed, but Zxan did because he grew up with her his entire life.

“Did Chad do that to you?” Zxan asked as he approached her.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Alyss responded, trying to walk around him.

“Well, for starters, there’s way too much make-up around your left eye for that to not be hiding something, and second, you don’t even wear makeup that often. Plus I didn’t hear from you all weekend, so what happened?” He asked, stepping in front of her.

“I wasn’t paying attention and I walked into a door.”

“I’m going to kick his ass.”

“You can’t!” She hurriedly replied, “You know you’ll go to jail for using your abilities on regs!” Zxan knew that “regs” was short for “regulars”, which is what the gifted called people without abilities.

“Who said anything about using my powers?” Zxan retorted.

“He’s twice as big as you, Zxan, and he’s the star quarterback. Please just leave it alone.”

“Alyss, I don’t want to leave it alone. What he did is wrong. What he is is wrong.” Zxan said, getting angry with Alyss for protecting Chad. “You know what? Forget it. I just want what’s best for you, but if you honestly believe that he’s not going to do that again, then you’re not as smart as everyone thinks you are.” He said, then he turned and headed towards the stairs that led to the third floor of the Academy.

His first hour class went by slowly because he couldn’t stop thinking about how badly he wanted to hurt Chad and how sad he got when he saw Alyss. He knew Alyss was smart. He knew she’d do the right thing, but just in case she doesn’t, he resolved to introduce Chad to immeasurable pain if it ever happened again.

Halfway through the lunch period, he had decided to head up to his next class to wait. Advanced Physics/Calculus with the insufferable Professor Vlad. Zxan usually sat by Alyss, but today he didn’t want to. He was still mad at her for protecting the woman beater, so he decided to sit at the very back-left side of the classroom, right next to the window that looks out over the track field. It was the only desk in the classroom, the rest of the seats being chairs at small, two-person tables.

He laid his head down on the desk and waited for the bell to ring. After a while, when the bell didn’t ring, he finally looked up. Nobody was in the room. Not even the professor, who had been there when he first entered. He could hear faint shouts, but tacked it up to being because of the lunch hour. He looked out the window and noticed that there was also nobody out there.

‘That’s weird,’ He thought, ‘There’s usually a PhyEd class going on right now.’

Then he noticed the man, floating 300 meters away, shooting beam of lights out of his eyes and evaporating people into dust. Zxan jumped to his feet and ran as fast as they would carry him. He was shouting for Alyss, but couldn’t hear anything over the students screaming in the hallway.

He spotted her, huddled near a doorway so she didn’t get trampled over by all the other students. He ran over to her, pushing his way passed hysterical teenagers and hysterical professors.

“Zxan!” She screamed as she spotted him running up to her.

“Alyss, are you okay? Are you hurt? I need to get you out of here.” He said hurriedly, looking around for their best exit route. They were on the second floor of the academy, the stairwell was stuffed with students and teachers trying to escape the now on fire building.

“Stay here, I’ll be right back.” He said, then turned and pushed his way through the crowd to the room across the hall. He looked through the window and assessed the height then ran back to Alyss.

“We have to jump.” He said as he grabbed her hand and pulled her through the sea of students once more.

“What?! Are you nuts?” She shouted. “It’s got to be at least fifteen feet high!”

“Yup, more or less. But there are bushes down there. Just trust me, okay?” He said, turning towards her and positioning her in front of him with his back facing the window. “Grab my jacket right here.” He said, putting her hands on the chest portion of his jacket, near his collar bone, as he pulled his hood over his head.

“What are you doing?” Alyss asked, the fear obvious in her voice.

“Just hold on tight and do not let go.” He said, pulling her into him and holding her as tight as he could. Then, with a powerful leap backwards, he threw them both through the window. He bit his tongue as a shard of glass dug into his calf as they went through the now shattered window. They landed on the bushes with a loud crunch and Zxan let out a shout of pain.

“Alyss, are you okay?” He asked as he quelled the dizziness from his head.

“Yeah,” She started. “Wait! Are you alright? I just landed on you. And we fell a whole fifteen feet! Are you okay?” She asked hurriedly, tears streaking her face.

“I’m fine, Alyss, just a little back pain and a scratch on my leg.” He lied. In fact, his back pain was so immense that he was sure he wouldn’t be able to move for another five minutes, if at all. But a blast of fire and screams from above shook him out of his focus on his pain. He forced himself to his feet and grabbed Alyss. He pulled her clear of the Academy windows and checked her for damages.

“Alright, you seem to be fine right now, but I’m not taking any chances. Get on my back.”

“What?” Alyss asked, totally confused by his ridiculous request.

“Get on my back, now.” Zxan commanded without any hint at a joke.

“Okay, okay.” Alyss said as Zxan squatted so she could climb onto his back.

“Again, hold on tight.” He said as he stood up, reached his hand up and braced Alyss’s head against his shoulder. He took the other hand and pulled up his scarf around the bottom of his face for a mask, and then he took off. He ran as fast as he could to the hospital where his mother works. He knew that she’d know what to do.

When he reached the hospital, without slowing down, he grabbed two pieces of paper and a pen and wrote two separate notes, then skidded to a halt next to a gurney. He put Alyss on the gurney then leaned down and started talking as he slipped both notes into Alyss’s pockets.

“Don’t let them know you have abilities and do not tell them where you came from and who brought you here. Ask for my mom, okay? Her name is Roxanne Luis. And please, Alyss, stay safe.” And with that said, he rushed back to the school.

#Tell me what you think about the first portion of it.

[letswritefanfiction]

Pokémon Alphabet Challenge: Q is for Quota

A/N: This takes place just after XY070, Beyond the Rainbow!

Circles were a constant bother in drawing until you realize that, with perspective, nothing is ever a perfect circle. So Tracey had long since given up the elusive goal of mastering geometric shapes in favor of mastering perspective.

But the Ledyba he was currently trying to sketch was certainly making the job difficult. It was flitting about erratically as it flew from flower to flower, helpfully pollinating the more lush areas of Professor Oak’s Pokémon habitat, but constantly changing which angle it was at in relation to Tracey’s hidden spot in the bushes.

Still, a decent sketch was coming together. Working at Professor Oak’s was a dream come true. Not only because Professor Oak was his idol, but because of all the Pokémon he was able to sketch every day, all from different regions. He had even recently been able to start making some serious coin on some sketch commissions. And Professor Oak paid him for his assistance, of course, though most of that was through food and lodging.

“Ehem.”

…Speaking of which…

Tracey jolted up from his spot in the bushes, slightly startling the Ledyba as twigs and leaves went flying and Tracey began rambling. “Sorry, Professor! I was feeding the Pokémon, but I got a little distracted by this perfect Ledy—”

“Tracey.”

“Whaa? Oh. It’s you.”

Tracey rapidly calmed down as he realized that it wasn’t his boss coming to scold him for breaking on the job. There were more Pokémon sent to the lab every day and the job of feeding had just gotten to be too much for the old Professor to handle. So most of the weight had fallen squarely on Tracey’s shoulders, and Gary’s if he was available.

And it was Gary who was in front of him now, looking slightly amused at the outburst, a smirk tugging at his lips. But unlike the Gary that Tracey had met when he’d first come to work at the lab, this Gary had kind eyes twinkling along with it.

“Expecting me to confiscate your art, Tracey?” Gary joked. “I’ll give it back to you after class if you promise not to daydream.”

Tracey blushed. “Sorry. I was just about to move onto the Water Pokémon.”

“Nah, actually I’m here to take over your job,” Gary said, heaving the bag full of Water Pokémon chow onto his shoulder. Somehow he managed to do it a lot more gracefully than Tracey had ever managed to. He usually suffered a bit until the bag got down to half. “You’ve got a phone call.”

“A phone call?”

Tracey grabbed the mostly empty bag of Grass Pokémon chow he’d finished up with before getting distracted, and headed for the lab.

He was slightly sweaty by the time he got inside—early fall in southern Kanto was only modicums better than the heat of the summer—and was thankful that his headband kept the worst of it in check. After all, Gary hadn’t told him who was on the phone, so he wasn’t sure if he had someone to impress or not.

When he finally reached the monitor, it turned out that he shouldn’t have worried.

“Ash! Hey! How’s Kalos?”

“Hey, Tracey,” Ash said, his face shaking slightly in the frame. That and the background of the wilderness gave away the fact that he was using a mobile device for this call. Unusual. Tracey hoped that it didn’t signal anything urgent. “Kalos is great! I just got my fifth Gym Badge, so it won’t be long until I’m qualified for the Kalos League!”

“That’s great news, Ash,” Tracey said. “On this side, your Pokémon are doing really well. All are happy and healthy.”

“That’s really great to hear, Tracey,” Ash breathed, sounding oddly relieved. Like his Pokémon could be in any other condition in the Professor’s—not to mention Tracey’s!—care.

There was a brief moment of silence as Tracey expected Ash to continue, but as that was looking continually less likely, he took it upon himself to get to the point. “It looks like it’s starting to get dark there. Any reason why you’re calling so late?”

Ash glanced back at the sky, the screen wobbling more as he did so. It didn’t look like it was sunset yet, but the sky was looking like it was hitting that point of pale blue-gray just before it did. And since the days were still pretty long, Tracey had to bet that Ash and his friends had already had dinner, and that Ash should be preparing for sleep wherever he was.

“Uh, yeah, kinda,” Ash said, his voice higher than usual. “I guess I just have a lot on my mind.”

Tracey knew that’s when Misty would make a comment about how that was rare or dangerous, but insults aside, Tracey did know that that kind of issue was uncommon for Ash. Honestly, he was kind of flattered that Ash was turning to him instead of just laughing it off with Pikachu or whatever it was that he normally did that kept him so carefree. In fact, Pikachu wasn’t anywhere in frame, which was strange. A chill hit Tracey’s stomach as he hoped that nothing had happened to him.

“Well, what’s up?” he asked, trying not to make any assumptions.

“I…” Ash scratched the back of his head, glancing away from the camera for a second. “I just released one of my Pokémon.”

“Oh, Ash…”

A ragged laugh escaped Ash’s lips. “Yeah. Believe it or not, Lapras was the last one that I did that for. Well, except for Charizard, of course.”

“Gosh, Ash, that’s gotta be tough. I wish I had more to say.”

Truthfully, Lapras’s goodbye had been sad, but Ash hadn’t seemed devastated by it. He’d handled it like a pro. This seemed to be hitting him harder, and it left Tracey unprepared.

“Just remember that it’ll be better off for this, okay?”

Ash looked at Tracey skeptically. “How do you know? You never met Goodra?”

Ah, so it was a Goodra. That would have been interesting to study…Focus, Tracey!

“But I know you,” Tracey said firmly. “I saw what pushed you to release Lapras and it was obvious that that was for the best. Why did you leave Goodra?”

“To go back to its friends now that it was strong enough to protect them,” Ash mumbled.

“Exactly,” Tracey said. With anyone else, that kind of logic would have been a shot in the dark, but with Ash, there was no doubt in Tracey’s mind that he would only leave his Pokémon behind with the best of intentions.

“I just wish it wasn’t so hard. Or that I could see how things turn out.”

As Ash was looking at the ground, the bill of his hat completely shielding his face as the grief seemed to strike him anew, Tracey was hit with an idea.

“What if you could?”

Ash’s head shot up. “What? How?”

“Well, not exactly,” Tracey quickly amended. “But why don’t you give a call to your friend Iris? She was the one you were with when Charizard rejoined your team, wasn’t she?”

“Yeah…” Ash affirmed, looking confused as ever.

“She’ll be able to give you a firsthand account of how great Charizard was doing after spending time away,” Tracey explained. “Just to give you some reassurance.”

Ash nodded slowly. “Right…” Then, all at once, he perked up. “Thanks, Tracey! That’s a great idea!”

“No problem, Ash! Now, if you don’t mind, I have a Ledyba sketch to finish before Gary realizes I’m off the phone,” Tracey said slightly conspiratorially. He rarely planned to goof off at work. It just seemed to happen before he realized it…

“What? You didn’t finish the first time around? You’re usually so fast!” Ash exclaimed.

“Yeah, well this Ledyba wouldn’t stop flittering about and pollinating all the trees.”

“You know what Brock told me?” Ash started. “Just feed it a Nanab Berry. That will keep it from flying so irrita—wait, no—errat…so crazily, you know?”

Tracey thought about it for a second, and it checked out. To think, a piece of advice from Ash, when Ash had been the one looking for advice. Who’d have ever thought such a thing could occur?

“Thanks, Ash! Now, don’t forget not to be a strang—”

Tracey cut himself off when he realized that Ash had already said goodbye and hung up. Tracey shook his head with a good-natured smile as he turned off his own monitor. The kid always had been one-track minded…

Being a new Gym Leader was hard. It felt like every day it was being proven why she wasn’t competent in the job. Yeah, she managed to cream the weak, little kids that showed up thinking that just because she was the newest Gym Leader in the region, she would be a pushover. But then stronger Trainers came to her Gym, thinking the exact same thing. But they destroyed her, especially if they had a solid team of Ice Types. God help her if Fairy Types showed up. Her only blessing was that they were rare in Unova.

Every day was hard. Living in the city still sucked, losing sucked, and to top it all off, she felt like the PIA was looming over her, waiting for her to lose too many Battles.

The only thing that was really getting her by was that she knew what it was to be in this city and hate it. That had been when she’d been in school at the academy. At least here the challenge was Pokémon Battling and proving herself.

That she was prepared to do.

And she’d gotten a membership at a rock climbing gym so that Officer Jenny didn’t have to ride her ass about climbing on city buildings this time around.

She was training her Emolga and Excadrill—her only hopes against Fairy Types—when the phone rang. It was irritating to be interrupted, but when she saw Emolga come to a landing, panting heavily into the dirt floor, she realized that maybe it was time for a break anyway.

“Get some water, guys!” she shouted as she tried to remember where the phone was. Luckily she could just follow the ringing.

Finally, she managed to locate it—left on the kitchen counter—and panted into it, “Hello?”

“Iris?”

“Ash?!” Iris went on the hunt again, this time for the monitor to which the cordless phone was attached. Fortunately, that never moved, so it was much easier to locate, she flicked it on, saying “What a surprise!”

“Yeah!” Ash said. “Listen, I’m calling because, well, see, I caught a Goodra—well, it wasn’t a Goodra then, it was a Goomy—but—”

“You caught a Goodra!” Iris gasped, eyes instantly lighting up. “I dream of having a Goodra on my team!”

Iris let herself fangirl for a second before she noticed Ash’s perturbed expression.

“Sorry. Go ahead.”

“So, the thing is, I just had to release it back into the wild,” Ash admitted. “And, well, I was wondering what you thought of Charizard when you first met him? Since he’s a Pokémon that I let go of, you know?”

Well, now it made sense. Why Ash was calling, why he looked particularly disturbed. And, honestly, now that she knew where it was going, she figured that altering the course was the best route for both of their sakes.

“Oh, Ash, I don’t know what to tell you. Yes, Charizard was strong and very impressive when he returned to your team.” Then, in a grumble: “I mean, he would have beaten me and Dragonite, even though you two had spent years apart from each other.”

Ash was looking at her expectantly, as though he was hungry for more affirmation.

“I don’t think you should regret that choice, and if that helps you feel better about Goodra, then great. But I get the feeling you’re looking for emotional support and, uh, I’m not so good at doing that with humans. I think you should talk to Cilan about all this instead. He might be able to give you what you want.”

Ash’s brow furrowed, like he wasn’t completely following her. “But I don’t know what I want.”

Iris shrugged, offering the best she had: “He might give it to you anyway.”

“Fair enough!” Ash exclaimed. “Good luck with everything at the Gym! Not that you need it, I’m sure!”

“Oh, I need it,” Iris said. Her voice was light with good humor, but something deeper in her expression said that she really believed it.

Ash, who had looked like he was about to hang up, stopped and looked at Iris. “Is everything okay at the Gym?”

Iris sighed heavily, feeling her emotions bubble up a bit as she did so. She took another steadying breath to squash them down. “People just keep on coming in with type advantages and sweeping the floor with me. So many Ice Types…”

He seemed to consider her for a moment before he said, “Well, Excadrill is your only Pokémon that isn’t weak to Ice, so maybe focus on strengthening his Steel moves?”

Iris rolled her eyes. What a kid! “I’ve been doing that already, Ash,” Iris said dryly.

Ash didn’t seem to catch on to her derogatory tone and went back to thinking. Don’t hurt yourself, Iris thought to herself. “Maybe you need to train yourself?” Ash finally suggested. “Maybe part of the problem is that you’re still afraid of Ice Types.”

Iris was about to cut him off and say that that was not true when he barreled on forward.

“Ooh! You should talk to Misty! She totally knows what it’s like to have to bring a Gym up and she has Ice Types! She could totally help you! I’ll give you her number!”

Ash proceeded to do just that while a bewildered Iris sat by, copying the number down out of habit, not even knowing if Misty would know who she was upon calling—she, herself, only had any concept of who Misty was through the stories Ash had told including her back when they were traveling together.

“Great!” Ash exclaimed, clearly excited by his assuredly amazing idea. “Now you call Misty and I’ll call Cilan! Bye-a, Iris!”

Iris sat, looking at the numbers she had scrawled on her arm. She sighed and looked back at the video phone.

It was worth a shot.Things had been tense at the Straiton Gym since Cilan’s return. Unfortunately, that had been many months ago, and Cilan was feeling much like a tough pie dough: overworked.

Somehow, after the debacle with Morana, his brothers had decided that he was head Gym Leader. Even though he was the one who wasn’t even technically in the Trainer class. He was a Connoisseur in addition to being a Gym Leader and restaurant co-owner. So shouldn’t they be the ones picking up the slack?

The problem was, it had happened so subtly that Cilan hadn’t even noticed anything was wrong at first, like unknowingly drinking a mixed cocktail: by the time you realize something’s off, it’s already been going on far too long. Chili and Cress would just hand Battles off to him in favor of working at the restaurant. Cilan hadn’t thought anything of that, especially since Chili usually passed it off with the excuse that Cilan needed to make up for his time away. The excuse had seemed suitable at the time, but now it was past its expiration date. Surely, his brothers couldn’t be holding a grudge against him for that long! They had encouraged him to continue on his journey with Ash, after all.

Cilan was currently trying to work his way out of that very situation with Chili, who was insisting he take on a Battle against a girl and her Pignite. Sure, Chili’s Pansear wasn’t strong against a Pignite, but poor Pansage was weak against it! If anything, Chili should have been bothering Cress, who was only doing some simple baking in the kitchen.

Fortunately, the phone began to ring at that very moment, and Cilan called out a brusque, “I’ll get it!” leaving Chili with his Gym Leader responsibilities.

Saved by the bell, Cilan thought.

The strange thing was that the ringing was the sound of the brothers’ personal phone rather than the restaurant phone. That’s why he was rushing to answer it at all, rather than letting the current hostess on duty answer what would assuredly be nothing more than a reservation or question about the menu. Phone calls in the restaurant were completely ordinary. But Iris and Ash weren’t great about using the phone, so it was more frequent that he made outgoing calls than he or his brothers received any.

“Hello, Striaton Restaurant and Pokémon Gym, Cilan speaking.”

“Hi, Cilan!”

“Ash!” Cilan said in surprise. “A call from you is like an extra helping of dessert! What can I do for you?”

Ash quickly caught Cilan up on what had led up to this particular phone call, and Cilan was left perplexed. He was flattered that Iris thought that he was well suited to the task, but he honestly thought that she was selling herself short. Iris had proved herself to have great empathy, not just for Pokémon, but towards Ash and himself many times over. But he supposed that was a train of thought for another day. Right now, his friend, Ash, needed him.

“Well, if you’d like an ex post facto evaluation between you and Charizard, I can give you one,” Cilan offered.

Ash paused. “Yeah, I guess that’s what I’m looking for.”

“The bond between you and Charizard was like that of a fine ganache. Two ingredients long separated, and wonderful on their own, but whisked together into one perfect creation, glossy, seamless, and delicious. And somehow better together.”

Ash’s head had tilted to the side through the explanation, almost falling out of frame. “Huh? What’s a ganash?”

Cilan sighed; he should have known better than to fall into a food-related rambling around Ash. Inevitably, it would either confuse the boy or make him hungry. “Ash, it was clear that you and your Charizard continued to carry a strong bond even in the years you were apart. That is why you were so strong, even upon your first battle reunited. N said the same thing.”

“He did?” Ash said, looking slightly more interested. “What did he say?”

“Oh, I don’t remember exactly.” It had been a while back; it wasn’t as though Cilan could remember word for word. But somehow, the things N said, tended to resonate more with people than just any old passing phrase. “He said he could sense the bond from when you’d been together, and how strong that was, and he could sense the time that you were apart. But that you were, uh…er…Oh! You were the truest of friends.”

Ash seemed to smile at that, perhaps slightly buoyed by Cilan’s words. Cilan sure hoped so.

“Does that make you feel better?”

“Yeah, a little!” Ash said, cheerily. His inflection sounded more enthusiastic than the paltry words that came out of his mouth. Cilan wasn’t sure which to believe; either way, it made him feel as though he hadn’t completed his duty as a friend.

“You know what?” Cilan asked, struck with inspiration. “Didn’t you trade one of your Pokémon to Dawn back when you were traveling with her?”

“Yeah,” Ash responded, confusion clouding his face once again. “Her Ambipom used to belong to me as an Aipom.”

Cilan almost laughed at Ash’s lack of understanding. Why, it was totally obvious! “You should call Dawn and ask about her Ambipom. Because she knew it when you had it and she can tell you how well it’s been doing since she’s had it.”

All at once, Ash’s face lit up to the expression that Cilan had been hoping to see: Ash’s usual tangible excitement. “That is a great idea, Cilan! Thanks!”

“Wait one second! Cilan is getting no thanks around here!”

Cilan turned around in his chair, surprised to see Chili standing behind him, sweat beaded on his forehead and dampening the shorter sections of his hair. “Chili? What happened? Aren’t you supposed to be battling that challenger right now?”

“I lost, okay? Again! I was going to win, but then his Pignite had to go and evolve into an Emboar!”

“Ooh, cool!” Ash said. Cilan cast him a look, but Chili pointedly ignored him.

“So?” Chili started, impatiently tapping his foot. “What do you have to say for yourself?”

“Uhh…”

“Sounds like it was a great Battle!”

Chili turned to take in Ash for the first time since he had arrived in the room. “Weren’t you listening? It wasn’t a great Battle! We lost!”

“Everyone loses sometimes,” Ash replied easily. “Losing makes you better too!”

Cilan and Chili turned fully to Ash, considering him more seriously now.

“Besides, it must have been a pretty close Battle if Emboar had to evolve to keep it going, right?”

Chili seemed to soften, some tension releasing from his shoulders, and the veins going back into his neck, like a boiling broth cooling down to a simmer. “Yeah, I guess it was pretty close in the end.”

“I bet it was,” Ash said confidently. “You guys are all such great Trainers!”

“Really?” Chili asked. “But the last time you heard about us battling, Cress and I had just almost lost the Gym.”

“But you learned a lot, right?”

By this point, Cilan was sitting back, watching the exchange between Chili and Ash with a light smile beginning to show on his face.

“Yeah, I guess.”

“And you’ve learned a lot since then, right?”

“Yeah…”

“And I bet you learned even from this battle you just had, didn’t you?”

“Yeah, I guess I did,” Chili said, some of that fiery light beginning to return back into his eyes.

Ash pumped a fist and returned Chili’s expression. “So now you’re even more prepared for the next Battle that comes your way!”

“Yeah!” Chili exclaimed, returning to the doorway. “Bye, guys! I need to train!”

“Bye!” Ash said, waving despite the fact that Chili was long-gone.

“Thanks for that pep talk, Ash,” Cilan said after a few moments’ quiet.

“What pep talk?” Ash asked. “We were just talking.”

Cilan smiled. Typical Ash. “Yeah, well, thanks for that.”

“Anytime!” Ash said cheerfully. “I have to go call Dawn now. Bye!”

“Goodbye, Ash.”

Not a moment after the call ended, Cilan heard shouting from the kitchen.

“Cilan!” Cilan reflexively turned at the sound of Cress’s voice. “Chili? Anybody?”

Cilan remembered at just that moment that Cress had been holding down the restaurant all by himself that whole time. He hurriedly got up to help his brother serve. Perhaps they would all be a little more balanced in the days to come.

Over the years, Dawn had learned that losing streaks weren’t as bad for her as they were for others. Typically, they brought her down for a bit, but she always bounced back stronger. She’d begun to realize that back in Sinnoh when she’d manage to win the Wallace Cup—over May of all people!—and it had come back a few times since when she seemed to be losing Contest after Contest.

But Johto had not been treating her well.

May had said it was fantastic there, and Dawn had been quick to believe her, since it was where May had built up a lot of her reputation as the Princess of Hoenn. But Dawn was feeling more than a little chewed up and spit out.

Not that she’d been totally failing. She’d lost the Wallace Cup this time around, but there’d been no need to worry, because the season in Johto hadn’t even technically started yet. So she’d come back from the defeat and charged headlong into the Contest season. So far she had four ribbons. Which wasn’t bad. But the Grand Festival was only weeks away, which was very bad.

To top it all off, the only friend that Dawn had in the whole region was Kenny, who’d also traveled down for the Wallace Cup as well, then deciding to stay for the season. May and all her friends had already done Johto and had circled over to Kanto, only staying in Johto for the duration of the Wallace cup. None of Dawn’s other rivals were there either, not even Ursula, for Mew’s sake!

Nevertheless, Dawn was enjoying the fact that she and Kenny had just so happened to end up at a lot of the same Contests. It was nice to have at least once old friend to decompress with every once in a while.

She was currently on the road to Azalea Town for her penultimate shot at that last ribbon when her new Pokégear began to vibrate. Dawn stopped in her tracks, causing Piplup, who had been trailing behind her and wasn’t able to hear the near-silent vibrations of the device, to run into her legs.

“Oh, sorry, Piplup!” Dawn hastily apologized before answering the call. “Hello?”

“Hi, Dawn! It’s me, Ash!”

A thrill looped around Dawn’s stomach as she searched for a place along the well-trod road to sit. There was a decent-sized rock only a few feet away, and Dawn plopped down on its smooth surface, resting her elbows on her knees. “Hi, Ash!”

Dawn was immediately overcome with the impulse to high-five Ash, but of course she knew there was no way to do that through a phone. Piplup scrambled up onto her shoulder and waved. “Piplup!”

“Oh, Piplup says hi, too!”

“Hey, there, Piplup!”

Dawn expected Pikachu to pop into frame just then, but it seemed like it was just Ash on the other side of the line. But judging from the shadows all around Ash, it was rather late in—Kalos, was it?—so perhaps Pikachu was already asleep. Dawn took that moment to take off her hat to keep her own face from being shadowed in the video camera. “What’s up?”

It had been a while since Dawn had heard from Ash. First of all, the boy just didn’t call a lot in general. He wasn’t even good at keeping in touch with his own mother. But, usually, he seemed better at keeping in contact with the friends who weren’t traveling—like Brock or Misty—as Dawn always was. Even though everyone had mobile devices now, Dawn supposed there was something strange about being called on the road. It was like taking a pit-stop while you were still surrounded by trees and nothingness.

Ash gave a little chuckle. “Heh, it’s a bit of a long story at this point,” he admitted, rubbing the back of his head.

Dawn twisted into a slightly more comfortable position, taking one hand and resting it behind her on the rock. “For you, Ash, I’ve got all day.”

Fortunately, she was ahead of schedule for arriving in Azalea Town, so—despite the time crunch she was on for the Grand Festival—her next Contest wasn’t going anywhere for the moment. Besides, it might take her mind off things.

Nevertheless, Ash recounted the last few calls in the only speed he had—full throttle—going through Goodra and Tracey and Charizard and Iris and Cilan, leading all the way to Ambipom and Dawn.

“Well, Ash, you don’t even need me for this!” Dawn exclaimed with a giggle as soon as Ash had finished blurting everything out. “You had Buizel. You know he was happier battling with you than performing with me!”

“I guess that’s true…”

“Oh, man, even better example!” Dawn exclaimed. “Infernape! You can’t even pretend to me that he would have been better off with Paul than with you. And—no, Ash, I can see on your face what you’re about to say—no, he wouldn’t have been better off in the wild either.”

Ash seemed to pout, maybe even blushing a little—though the lighting on his side was so terrible that everything just looked kind of gray-blue. “I wasn’t going to say that.”

“Yes, you were. But you brought out the strength in him that only a trainer can do. In fact,” Dawn began, her eyes alight with a new idea, “you should just call Paul. I’m sure that even he would admit it.”

Ash was in deep at that point. Even he knew that. He’d made so many calls his phone was hot in his hand. But at this point, what was one more call?

“Fine,” Ash surrendered. “You and Ambipom win your next  Contest, okay?”

Dawn sighed. “I’m not so sure that’ll happen. I haven’t won anything in weeks.”

“Aw, that’s too bad,” Ash said. “But what’s that got to do with your next one?”

She sweatdropped. Surely he was joking? “I’m not doing well, Ash,” she explained as though she were speaking with a small child. “That means that I’m likely not to do well next time.”

“But you’ve won a lot in the past too,” Ash said simply. “You’ve won a lot and you’ve lost a lot. Me too. I have no idea how I’m going to do at the Laverre Gym. But I’m still gonna try my best!”

Dawn looked at Ash, dumbfounded. How could someone go from saying something so stupid to sounding so wise?

“Thanks, Ash,” Dawn said dumbly. Then she shook out of it and gave him a fiery look. “Now go call Paul.”

“Will do!” Ash grinned.

Paul was training in Unova. He’d done Kalos the year before—he was not amused by Diantha’s career choices. He was in the midst of comparing two Roggenrola when his phone rang. He let it ring once. Twice. Then he was irritated. He yanked it out of his pocket and spat, “What?”

“Hey, Paul! I—”

Click.

Ash sat dumbfounded for a second. He was certain Paul had picked up. Why would he hang up on him? He looked at the phone as though it was the one that had done him wrong. Paul was probably busy with something. Maybe he’d call back later. It had been too long since they’d last caught up! Maybe Ash could call Reggie to see what Paul was up to…

No, no, he was getting off track! Well, if Paul didn’t want to talk, there was one other person who was there with him in Sinnoh…

Let no one be fooled: Pokémon med school for was just as hard as human med school.

Scratch that—it was harder. Because all humans share near identical bodily functions. Brock had been busy learning about 800 different Pokémon and what would be unique about treating every one.

Frankly, it had been making his head spin.

Fortunately, he had come into school with a lot of practical experience—one of the reasons he’d been accepted into the best med school in Kanto—from his travels with Ash, his internship with the Pewter City Nurse Joy, and he time on Valencia Island with…you know who.

Nevertheless, he was loving it. He felt confident that the Gym was in good hands now that Forrest was the official Gym Leader. And now that both his parents were back home, he knew that he didn’t have to worry about the kids either. But still, it was nice to know that he was only in the next town over and could visit home any weekend he wanted to. He hadn’t made much use of the fact, but it was comforting nevertheless.

But at just this moment, Brock wasn’t thinking about school or family or being a doctor; he was thinking about the plausibility of taking a brief nap. He’d just come from his lecture class on Fairy Types—the Type class that he was doing the worst in. He’d tested out of the Ground and Rock Type classes because he knew a lot about them, but Brock knew hardly anything about Fairies. Understandably, the class exhausted him.

His next class was a practicum class that—so far—was mostly reiterating the work that he had done with Joy. And, more importantly, it wasn’t for a few hours. So he could probably squeeze in a nap…

Ring ring ring! Ring ring ring! Phone call! Phone call!

Well, not with that going on.

Ring ring ring! Ring ring ring! Phone call! Phone call!

He really needed to change that ring tone.

Ring ring ring! Ring ring ring! Phone call! Phone call!

Most people just kept their phones on vibrate.

Ring ring ring! Ring ring—

Better answer it. It could be the fam.

“Hello?”

“Hi, Brock!”

“Ash!”

Suddenly feeling a bit more awake, Brock opened up his laptop to switch the call over to a larger screen. “Hey, man! How’s it going?”

“Well, Paul hung up on me, so I thought I’d call you.”

Brock blinked. “Um, okay.”

Ash seemed to maybe, possibly realize that his answer hadn’t been much of an explanation. His face took on a strangely serious shape and he tried again. “I’ve been trying to figure out if releasing my Goodra was the right decision.”

“And you thought Paul was the best person to ask about that?” Brock deadpanned.

Ash rubbed the back of his neck. “I was telling Dawn: it’s kinda a long story at this point.”

Dawn too? Was Ash trying to meet his quota for calling his friends this year all in one day?

Brock glanced down at the time on his laptop screen. His next class wasn’t for a couple of hours. He’d still be able to fit in a healthy nap, even if he did settle down for a chat with Ash.

“Okay, I’m confused,” Brock said, when Ash had finished recounting what, at this point, was definitely a mess of a story. “Why do you think that Lapras is the last time that something like this has happened?”

Ash eyed Brock with a narrow gaze, almost condescendingly, if Ash were capable of such an emotion. Brock would have been offended, if he had any shame left. “Because Lapras is the last Pokémon that I released?”

“Yes,” Brock agreed, nodding his head. “But you leave all of your Pokémon at Oak’s lab every time you start a new journey. You don’t just have a handful of outlier Pokémon that you’ve released; you’ve left almost every Pokémon you’ve caught at Oak’s lab. Most have probably spent more time there than with you.”

When Brock saw the way Ash’s face fell, he realized that maybe his clinical assessment didn’t make his friend feel better. Oof, maybe he’d been spending too much time in the classroom and not enough with his friends and family. Like, talking to people. He really needed to go home. Or visit Misty. Or something.

“I’m sorry, Ash,” Brock said. “I didn’t mean it like that. Starting fresh has given you the opportunity to bond with new Pokémon.”

“I hope that I would have done that anyway,” Ash mumbled.

“And it’s given Professor Oak the opportunity to easily study Pokémon from all over the world,” Brock continued. “That’s been invaluable.”

“I didn’t really set out to do that, though.”

“That’s kind of my point!” Okay, it hadn’t been, but Brock was improvising here. “You never plan out what you’re doing, but you always end up doing the right thing and helping people. Releasing your Goodra is just like that. Letting Professor Oak care for your Pokémon while you’re not using them does that.”

“I just…” Ash began. “Doesn’t it sound like I’m abandoning them?”

“No,” Brock said firmly. “Abandoning them is like that what Damien kid did to your Charizard. You give your Pokémon a choice. When you tried to leave Pikachu, he came back because that was what he really wanted, and you welcomed him with open arms.”

“I guess that’s true.”

Brock looked at Ash. It was hard to read his expression, as it seemed to be growing quite dark in Kalos, but he was looking down, which usually wasn’t a good sign for Ash.

“Am I making you feel any better?”

Ash’s head shot up. “Oh, yeah! Totally.”

Definitely not. That was Ash’s fake happy voice. He sold it well, but Brock had never known anyone to fall for it before. The kid was just too dang easy to read. Brock sighed. He was really out of practice with the older brother act.

“Okay, look, why don’t you continue your apparent night of calling everyone you know and call May?” Brock suggested. “She was there when you first left your Pokémon behind. I’m sure she can objectively tell you that you’ve always done the right thing when it comes to your Pokémon.”

“Um, okay?”

“She’ll probably be better at boosting your spirits than I am.”

Brock hung up the phone, feeling strange about what had certainly been his weirdest conversation with Ash to date. He wished that he could have helped more, but he had an idea of who could really knock some sense into Ash Ketchum.

And May was the perfect person to stall him out until Brock talked to her.

“Yeah, I would do that too,” May said into her phone.

Drew was leaning against a tree, brushing through his hair with his fingers. He didn’t think that May even realized that she had stopped walking some time ago. So, Drew was left bored, watching as May gesticulated, talking on the phone with Dawn.

He thought about doing something passive aggressive, like getting a Pokémon out and beginning to train (loudly) right there in the middle of the road. Or maybe just continuing to walk. But, knowing May, she probably wouldn’t notice.

They weren’t officially traveling together anyway, so if he did walk far enough ahead to lose her,  she’d probably just think they were going their separate ways again.

So, there he was, waiting on her. As per usual.

“Wait, Dawn, I’m getting another call…Oh, wait, it’s from him! I’ll have to call you back.”

It took everything Drew had in him not to groan.

He knew he should have traveled with Solidad.

“Hey, Ash!” May chirped.

This one was a video call, leaving Drew privy to both sides of the conversation as May held out the phone in front of her.

Lucky him.

“Hey, May,” Ash said, his tone coming out duller than Drew was used to hearing it.

“Dawn told me that you feel kind of crummy about letting go of one of your Pokémon.”

“Oh, she did?” Ash asked, surprise coloring his voice.

“Yeah. Not that we were talking behind your back or anything!” May frantically added.

Drew scoffed. “Technically, you were.”

If May heard him, she ignored him. But Drew would have bet his aqua pants that she didn’t even remember that he was there.

“Yeah, well, I just got off the phone with Brock, and he said that I should call you and, uh, ask you what you thought about my leaving all of my Pokémon from Kanto, Johto, and the Orange Islands behind with Professor Oak.”

“What I think?” May echoed. “I think it was fine. I mean, did you love them any less?”

“Of course not!”

“And they know that,” May stated. “I mean, look at me. I haven’t used my Munchlax in a Contest in ages because it just doesn’t make much sense there. It doesn’t mean that I favor my other Pokémon to it. And it doesn’t make me a bad Coordinator. Right?”

Drew blinked. That was surprisingly astute for May.

“Right,” Ash echoed.

“So then the real problem is just that you’re sad about one of your friends leaving and you need comfort, so you know what you’re gonna do?”

Ash looked taken aback. “What?”

“You’re gonna call your mom.”

“I am?”

“Yes, you are.”

“O-Okay,” Ash said. “I’ll do that right now…Bye, May.”

May lost her authoritative expression and gave Ash a glorious smile and a wave to boot. “Bye, Ash!”

May clicked the phone off and slipped it into her fanny pack, completely unaware of Drew’s dumbfounded expression.

“May…” Drew began. “That was…wow. I can’t believe you thought of that all yourself.”

“I didn’t.”

Drew narrowed his eyes. “What?”

“All of that is just what Dawn and were talking about on the phone. We both said that if we were upset like that, we’d call our moms.” And then she turned to him, catching him completely off guard with a stricken expression. “Drew, am I a bad Coordinator for not using Munchlax?”

Drew sighed. There was the May he knew.

“Not if you let us get to the next town before nightfall.”

Delia was getting started with lunch. Since her household was only made up of herself and Mimey—who  didn’t usually eat human food—this shouldn’t have been a big to do, but for the past couple of years, Delia had been making lunch for herself and the Oaks. It had started with her bringing over little things like pies and casseroles—she knew how busy the Professor was and Tracey had better things to do as an assistant than make a meatloaf.

This custom had slowly evolved into her staying at the lab so they all could eat whatever she had made, which had evolved into her inviting them over to her house for dinner—why bother transporting the food when you could just transport the people?—which had somehow become lunch for four at the Ketchum residence every afternoon. This being because she knew those boys, what with all the time they had to spend feeding the Pokémon in the lab, had no time to feed themselves. She hardly liked the idea of them living off of protein bars and coffee for lunch.

So it was quite a hitch in her routine when the phone rang as she was dropping some potatoes into hot water to cook.

“Ketchum residence.” Delia said as she grabbed the corded phone off the hook and continued with the potatoes.

“Hey, mom!”

“Ash!” Delia, making a quick decision, left her potatoes—they’d be fine on their own for a few minutes—and ran to the video phone in the living room. “Darling, how are you?”

“I…I’m sad,” he admitted.

“Oh,” Delia said, taken aback. Ash didn’t usually come to her with anything but good news, so this was a switch. More than that, she knew her little boy to be a very happy kid. So once her feet were back under her, her mom alarms were blaring in her ear. “What’s wrong?”

Ash had never been one to hold back information, so before he knew it, he was spilling the whole stupid story to her. He was sad about something that he’d done half a dozen times before with nary a qualm. He’d been telling all his friends the same dumb story for the past, what? Half hour? Hour? He didn’t know, but long enough for it to get pretty dark out.

“Aw, Ash, I wish I could give you a hug,” Delia said, her forehead scrunching with worry. Ash suddenly saw how much deeper those lines had gotten since the beginning of his journey, and he wanted to give her a hug too.

Saying: “Thanks, mom,” was the best he could do, however.

“I have to say, though, Ash…has it made you feel better to talk to all of your friends?”

“Huh?” Ash blinked. “Well, yeah. May gave good advice, and so did Cilan and—”

“No, Ash,” Delia interrupted gently. “Hasn’t it felt good just to talk to your friends? Regardless of what they say. Isn’t it nice to check in with them? See what’s happening in their lives?”

“Sure,” Ash said. “Of course!”

“Because,” Delia explained, “it seems that that’s your whole problem.”

“What do you mean, mom?”

“Your Pokémon are you friends. And you’re sad to leave them. And you continue to have to do it. Perhaps you’d feel better if you kept in better contact with your friends, both Pokémon and human. And your mother.” Delia added that last sentence with just a hint of a scolding tone.

“Maybe you’re right,” Ash said, a new smile growing on his face.

“Of course I’m right. I’m your mother.”

They both laughed and Ash felt a better than he’d felt all night. Not a lot, but just enough.

“So, you’re going to continue what you’re doing,” Delia commanded. “Why don’t you give Gary a call? He’s your oldest friend, and I didn’t notice him on your list of people that you’ve talked to this evening.”

“Nope, not yet!” Ash affirmed.

“Then call him. And make sure to tell him that if the mashed potatoes are gluey this afternoon, it’s because you were chatting my ear off.”

“Gramps! We really have to scrape up the cash to hire a secretary!”

Gary had just come inside from finishing Tracey’s job of feeding the Pokémon. And he had to say, he was much more time effective than the Pokémon Watcher was.

And now he was off to do another thing that wasn’t his job. Answering the phone.

Again.

“What?” Gary asked sharply, his tone clearly telling whomever was on the other end that he was sweaty from being outside feeding dozens of Pokémon.

“Er, hey, Gary…”

“You’ve gotta be kidding me.” Gary turned on the video feed and gave Ash a look that he hoped put forth the fact that he was one hundred percent done. “You again?”

“Uh, yeah, it’s me.”

Ash answered like it was a real question, and Gary couldn’t help but feel his sharp edges dull a little.

“What do you need, Ashy-boy?”

“I just wanna talk. Oh, and tell you that if the potatoes are gluey it’s because I was talking to my mom.”

Gary shook his head, deciding not to touch that one and instead focus on Ash’s first statement. “Really? It seemed like you actually had something that you wanted to talk about when you were looking for Tracey.”

“I did,” Ash said simply. “But now I just want to talk to you. If you’re not busy!”

Of course he was busy. He lived at his place of work. Even when he was sleeping it felt like he was on the job. Every moment spent relaxing was a moment that he was supposed to be working.

But…he could make time for Ash.

“I have all the time in the world, Ashy-boy,” Gary said kindly. And then his expression took on its normal edge and he somehow managed to look down at Ash through the screen. “Time for you to explain why you were on the phone with Tracey, then your mom, then me when you haven’t talked to any of us in months.”

Ash—or what little Gary could see of him in the dark—looked taken aback. Gary figured as much.

Ash had never much been able to keep up with Gary.

Gary became more incredulous as the story fell out of Ash’s mouth. He’d hardly known Ash as a person to lack confidence or ever second guess his decisions. No wonder the kid’s behavior of the last hour had been so erratic.

Still, when the story came to a close, Gary had only one thing to say:

“Ash, you’re an idiot.”

Ash, for his part, looked a little offended, leaving Gary glad that he still had the ability to rile up his old rival. Ash had become so mellow in recent years he hardly resembled the hotheaded kid that Gary had set out with at the beginnings of their journeys. Sure, Gary had changed too, but he could appreciate the joy in going through a good-old regression every once in a while.

Gary could practically see Ash’s brain stagger as he asked, “Wah…Why?”

Such a simple boy.

“Just call Misty. She’s the only one of us who’s ever been able to knock any sense into you. I mean, you called Paul before Misty?”

Gary couldn’t help but laugh at that one. Sure, he’d never had the pleasure of meeting Paul himself, and Ash couldn’t bring himself to say too much negative about the Trainer, but still. He seemed like someone you’d cross the street to avoid.

“Well, my mom said that I should call my friends, so I guess—”

“I don’t care. Call her.”

Misty had been surprised to see Brock show up unannounced at her door. Ever since he’d begun university in Cerulean she’d told him that he could drop by any time he wanted, but…well, he hadn’t done it yet, so she figured he hadn’t taken the invitation literally.

Well, apparently he had.

Not that had she minded. Sure, she’d been wet from a swim and her skin had been peeling—the chlorine dried it out—but he’d seen her far worse. She could hardly bring herself to care at all.

At the present moment, they were seated on the couch with some tea, Brock spinning threads about his apparent social incompetence—and maybe that’s why he couldn’t get a date? But he said to put a pin in that until later—and Ash being sad about releasing a Pokémon.

Well, Misty had been there for every instance of Ash giving up a Pokémon. Butterfree (both times, if the St. Anne counted), Pidgeot, Lapras. And then, of course, Primeape, Squirtle, and Charizard. Charizard had been by far the saddest, if she remembered right, and it had taken Ash a while to bounce back from that one. And then there was the instant buyer’s remorse that he’d gone through with Butterfree and that Raticate (which had almost led to their demise…she should probably remind him of that fact. He’d grown far too comfortable since she’d gotten her bike back and she needed something to nag him about).

But if she compared both of Butterfree’s goodbyes, then it was clear that the difference was in whether Ash thought what he was doing was right for Butterfree. It had nothing to do with selfishness and it was…just pure Ash.

Somehow, it wasn’t altogether a surprise to Misty or Brock when Ash called. Brock even had the good sense to leave the room. Misty only hoped that it wasn’t with the intent to snoop through her sisters’ stuff. He’d been creepily disappointed enough when she’d told him they were out of town.

“Hi, Ash,” Misty said, unable to keep a full smile off her face, even though she knew she was supposed to have sympathy for the tough time Ash was going through.

“Hey, Mist.”

“Brock told me about your day.”

Ash chuckled, which Misty took as a good sign. “Yeah, apparently it’s been traveling through the group.”

“So, what chain of events brought you to call me?”

“Well, mom said I should keep in better touch with my friends and Gary wants you to knock some sense into me,” Ash recited perfectly, as though the second part of that wasn’t completely insulting.

Misty smiled. He was just too adorable. “Well, you’ve come to the right place.”

Ash laughed, more fully this time. “I figured.”

“You wanna know what this sounds like to me?” Ash nodded. “It sounds like you’re growing up.”

“Growing up?”

“Yeah. You’re feeling connections deeper, you’re becoming more emotionally complex, and you know better the consequences of your actions.”

“Heh, that doesn’t sound like me.”

A laugh escaped out of Misty. Ash was nothing if not honest.

“I just mean that you’re not the hopeful kid sending worms out against birds anymore. Now you know that if you leave a Pokémon behind, you may never see them again. That’s scary. And your body is, you know, processing that.”

Ash shrugged. “Well, yeah,” he said soberly. “I know all that because…well, it’s happened now.”

Misty smiled, shaking her head. “That’s called life experience, Ash. That’s growing up.”

“I’m not sure I like it then.” Ash pouted, jutting his lip out at Misty like it was her fault.

“Well, then I think now’s the time when I knock some sense into you,” Misty said, cracking her knuckles. “You’re a good person for releasing Goodra, Ash. Of course, I don’t know the circumstances, but you’re you, so of course it was the right thing to do. And the advice that our dear friend Brock should have given you is that if you feel bad about leaving so many of your Pokémon with Professor Oak, then you can always trade them in for a bit. It’s not like it’s a mistake that you can’t rectify. Just like you’re checking in with me right now, you can check in with them any time.”

“You’re right,” Ash admitted sheepishly. “Of course you’re right.”

“Like I said. You came to the right place.”

There was a small pause as the two looked at each other, Ash’s expression morphing into a grin somewhere along the way.

“You really think that I’m growing up?”

Misty felt just a hint of a blush kiss the tips of her ears, but she chose to ignore it. “Well, if any of us thought that you were ever capable of growing up, then yeah. We’ve just decided at this point that it’ll never happen.”

“No,” Ash said, his voice full of jest, “I heard you say it. You said that I’m emotionally complex and I understand the consequences of my actions.”

“Yeah, like now,” Misty said. “If you don’t stop pulling at that thread, then I’ll figure out a way to punch you in Kalos without ever having to leave my Gym.”

“Why are you so mad?” Ash asked through a laugh. “We’re just talking about my emotions!”

“And we’ll have one more to talk about when you receive that punch. Pain.”

“…You know, I bet my friend Clemont could come up with a machine for that.”

“Great, I’ll call him.”

Again, silence settled over the phone line, the two of them waiting to see who would break out of their violent scenario first.

It was Ash, of course.

“Thanks, Mist. For the talk.”

Misty breathed out, the violent energy seeping out of her and rendering her posture hunched, but comfortable. “Of course. Any time, Ash.”

“Maybe…Maybe more often than I’ve been doing?”

Misty felt a bit of joy bubble up in her stomach, but she suppressed it, let it bring a blush to her cheeks. “That would be great.”

“Cool,” Ash breathed, looking relieved, as if he’d thought she’d say no. “In that case, I’m gonna go, so that we have more to talk about later.”

Misty shook her head. Leave it to Ash to come up with the ironclad logic.

“Sure. Talk to you later.”

“Bye, Mist!”

“Bye, Ash.”

The phone clicked off and Misty pressed her fingertips to the still-warm screen. She nearly jumped out of her skin when she heard a rasped, “Bye, Mist,” behind her.

“Brock!”

“ ‘We’re just talking about my emotions.’ ”

“Brock,” Misty said again, this time devoid of fear. Instead, her voice was low and dangerous. “If you heard all that, then you also heard the part about me punching him. I’d like to remind you that that was a very real threat, and he’s in Kalos.

“You’re in my living room.”

The threat was just enough to draw a very feminine squeak out of Brock as Misty proceeded to chase him around the house.

Brock ended up taking a swim that day.

#pokemon #oneshot #fanfiction #pokeani #anipoke #pokeshipping #aaml

[serpent-bearer]

The Mountains of the Moon

4.

The school that lay carved into the face of the Mountains of the Moon was, and always had been, in Aion Sinistra’s opinion, the most stunning sight his eyes had ever beheld. The most intricate carved rock sculptures of planetary bodies, magical African beasts, and the faces of most Ancient Vodun spirits lay at the entrances of the great mountain – guarding all those who dwelled within her walls. The face of the Great Creator herself, Mawu (whose seven children ruled over each realm of nature since the creation of time itself), stood towering above the great stone door high atop the mountain; which had served as entrance to Uagadou School of Magic for thousands of years before even Hogwarts had been founded.

 On the very top of the mountainside, above the swirling mist, lay dozens of tiny observatories: little gleaming gold freckles scattered amongst this vast landscape, engraved with sacred Vodun runes of the cosmos. Occasionally a little gleam would spin slowly, focusing its eyepiece on some distant star, or galaxy… evidence that the school was still well and truly functioning to train the curious minds of the generations to come.

 Aion had spent all his years of magical education here, before travelling to wizard Britain, and every time he had returned it filled him with a sense of purpose that no other place on earth did. The warm, wet, tropical savanna air… the smell of the ferns and broad leaf grasslands, and Robusta coffee in the air… there was nothing like this place in the world.

 If only his visit had been for more a joyful reason. But he was not here for reunions, or the damp smell of grass and coffee beans.

 “Sinistra.”

 Aion waved a casual to the fellow witch who had been accompanying his surveillance of the outskirts of the school.

 “Anything interesting, Olanrewaju?”

 The witch, dressed very purposely in robes the same colours of the dense tropics that surrounded them, pointed toward the lake from which she had appeared from.

 “There is something you should help me look for over there,” she stated hurriedly. “I was maintaining the Shield Charm on the Eastern end of the Mountain… someone was talking in hushed voices, I am sure of it.”

 Aion looked over in the direction of the lake to which she was pointed and frowned interestingly. They had not come across anything but the sounds of distant fauna and the flickering of the leaves on the tall trees for months… this was most indeed interesting. He began walking back with her, side-by-side.

 “Unruly students, perhaps?” he offered a suggestion.

 Olanrewaju shook her head.

 “Doubtful,” she whispered as they instinctively ducked down into the camouflaged safety of the grass and sat, watching. “High Headmistress Gisemba has the entrances completely sealed with charms only she can break. Besides, the place is crawling with Grootslang. Nobody in their right mind would be out here with a bunch elephant-eating serpents hanging around…”

 “No-one but us, you mean,” Aion grinned, pushing some wayward bush aside so he could get a clearer view from the marsh behind the lake. “How’d she manage to get a tribe of Grootslang from the Dahomey? Must have been quite the challenge.”

 The witch he knew as Naki Olanrewaju: Uagadou alumni and Mother Africa expat to Britain such as himself, chuckled as silently as she could.

 “Don’t know,” she replied. “But I would have loved to see it. From about fifty miles away.”

 Eyes, still trained on the source of the voices, they nevertheless began to laugh, almost positive that the disturbance was nothing but a particularly irate Grootslang hunting for a first-year for dinner.

 “Aion…” Naki mused quietly after a few moments. “That’s a very strange name for a Malian wizard. That surely isn’t regional.”

 Aion gave her a curious side-eye but indulged her.

 “It’s Ancient Greek.”

 “Greek?”

“Yeah,” he muttered, shifting himself slightly to make himself more comfortable. “My father was a bit of a traveler - and a Deity enthusiast to boot. He named all three of his children after Gods and Goddesses… and everyone wonders why we have such big egos.”

 Naki’s shoulders jumped as she began to laugh silently.

 “What does it mean, then, ‘Aion’? What do you rule over like the gigantic egomaniac you are?”

 Aion remained completely silent until she shoved him gently on the shoulder.

 “… the circle encompassing the zodiac and the universe…” he replied with a heavy sigh. Naki could not keep her laughter in any longer.

 “Oh, that’s not going to give anyone a big head!” she cackled manically. Aion dropped the pieces of grass he was absentmindedly toying with and playfully pushed her away.

 During that one split second of distraction, of them allowing themselves one moment of respite in their jokes and tinges of flirtation, a flash of green light shot straight across the lake opposite them, passing by Aion’s head so closely that it singed the black hair on his head. The witch and wizard threw themselves to the ground and began scrambling toward the edge of the lake, screaming various protective charms and hexes as they did so.

 “Aquamurus!” Naki shrieked, throwing the palms of her hands toward the water’s edge. Suddenly, the water began rising out of its container within the lake, creating a wall of shimmering blues variegated with moss and tiny flickering fish. The curses which were being hurled at them began hitting the wall of liquid instead of passing straight through the air, decelerating them immeasurably and affording Naki and Aion precious time to make their way around to the other side.

 Aion, who had been accustomed to wand magic for too long to hark back to his wandless heritage, began firing Stupefy curses off in all directions as they reached the other side. Grass and tree roots were blasting through the air as if bombs were falling all around them. In the corner of his eye, Aion could see a couple of lights saturating the entrance to the school as the great door above them swung open, and hurried footsteps begun skirting their way down the mountain.

 “There! There!” Naki suddenly screamed – thrusting her hand directly in front of her, which sent another hex swirling off in the intruder’s direction. Aion looked around and saw them. Two hooded figures in black. One had just been inadvertently hit by Naki’s spell – and it had thrown them completely off their feet.

 “Expelliarmus!” Aion cried as the backup had arrived behind him. Soon, hexes and spells and shouts were heard from every direction, and the intruders knew they were now very much outnumbered. The one still standing Disapparated into thin air, but the second figure was still on the floor scrambling for his wand… Aion caught one millisecond vision of a mask.

 “QUICK!” one witch behind him shouted but it was too late – the second figure had leapt for his wand and had vanished in an instant. It took a minute or so in the confusion for everyone’s spells to dissolve and cease.

 While Naki sped off into the grasses to look for any evidence of the spies, Aion turned to see the High Mistress of Uagadou School behind him, surrounded by several other professors.

 “Who was it?” High Mistress Gisemba questioned. “Was it one of… them?”

 Aion looked back to the spot where the other pair had vanished – the spot where Naki was currently sweeping her hands over, attempting to pick up anything they had left behind.

 “I couldn’t say,” he made up. He knew very well who they had appeared to be, but his theory was based on a few seconds of visual evidence and it was not enough to cause mass panic within the Uagadou community.

 Gisemba, an aged witch who still exuded the mass power of younger years, turned around to the seven or so witches and wizards behind her, some of whom Aion remembered as his teachers.

 “Go,” she commanded, throwing out her arms. “I want every inch of the boundary searched. Any evidence of more of… this… I want brought to my attention immediately.”

 The teachers made their various exits into the dense forest surrounding the school, wands now lit up as darkness had begun to descend. Naki returned to the sides of both Aion and Gisemba and sighed.

 “Nothing,” she relayed. “Probably just troublemakers stirring the pot…”

 Aion could tell immediately from the look on High Headmistress’s face that she did not believe a word of it. He didn’t blame her suspicion: one of the ‘troublemakers’ had tried to kill him, after all. A deep line had appeared between Gisemba’s brows.

 “We must have constant surveillance,” she said. “At every entrance point of this mountain and further out into the boundaries of the forest. I trust you can assemble more people, Sinistra?”

 “Olanrewaju might have to tackle that alone for the time being,” Aion replied, exchanging looks with his look-out partner. “I think I need to pay my sister an overdue visit.”

 “The Order…” Gisemba nodded knowingly, “I’ll take you back up to the school.”

 Before they began to work, Aion felt a small hand on his back. He turned to see Naki’s face looking up at him – it was full of apprehension and fear.

 “You’ll be ok?” she queried, her breathing noticeably raspy. “It’s dangerous over there…”

 Funny, how the tides turn, Aion thought ironically. Only just a year ago the situation would have been completely reversed.

 “I’ll be fine,” he assured her, something deep within him wanted to stroke her arm but he managed to resist. No point in developing something else in times such as these...

 “Hogwarts is perfectly safe,” Aion continued when it was clear that she did not believe him. “All I need to do is rely a message to her and I’ll be back.”

 “Take me to Hogwarts then,” Naki insisted, grabbing onto him. “If it’s as safe as you say – take me with you.”

 “There’s no… there’s no need for you to come. You’re needed here.”

 He realised suddenly that Gisemba had started wandering off toward the school by herself, obviously intuition telling her to leave both of them to themselves for a few moments. Naki bit the corner of her lip as she pondered this and suddenly she reached out and kissed him lightly on the cheek before pulling his disheveled robes together.

 “You tell your sister that she needs to get you back here in one piece,” she commanded. “Or she’ll have me to answer to. Okay?”

 Aion flashed a final smile before turning back to the Headmistress. “I wouldn’t worry,” he answered behind him as Naki watched them ascend the mountain. “I think Rora’s stubbornness alone is enough to keep us all immortal…”

 Gisemba and Aion arrived at the vast stone doors near the top of the mountain; the High Headmistress looked up into Great Creator Mawu’s inscription upon the rock, swept her hands over her head and began to chant. Suddenly, the Great Creator’s sleepy eyes creaked open to reveal the most brilliant purple coloured eyes. Her eyes were almost like staring into the sun… one could not look directly at them without being momentarily blinded. The wizard and elder witch shielded their faces and moved into the opening entranceway.

 Uagadou was more like a wizarding city than merely a school as Hogwarts was. The African wizarding community was far more insular, more secretive, than wizarding Britain. They could not afford to be sprawled out all over the continent as their British contemporaries, else they all risk mass extinction. Numerous little shops and market stalls scattered the edges of the cave-like kingdom, witches and wizards running around selling everything from Vodun jujus to breads and stews. In the middle of the vast cave was the entrance to the hospital; Vodun practitioners were scurrying in and out, carrying various smoking amulets and potions, Aion could catch the sound of distant chanting radiating out from its doors, along with stomach churning wailing…

 On the very top layer of the inner mountain was the entrance to Uagadou School. Aion and Gisemba walked briskly up the twisting stone steps and through a hallway, scattered with the occasional teenager or two making their ways back to their rooms after dinner. Up and up they ascended until they were in par with the observatory.

 “In we go,” Gisemba motioned to one of the doors along the corridor, they both stepped into her vast and intricately decorated office. On the other side of her office stood a very different looking kind of entrance… it was a complete circle, shrouded in both Adinkra and elder futhark runes, a melting pot of African and European protective symbols.

 Gisemba stood directly in front of the passageway and began to twist her hands and chant underneath her breath, almost as if in song and dance. As her body moved and her voice carried, an Adinkran rune the symbolized the cosmos that appeared to have been carved into her chest began to glow and pulse, the runes upon the door pulsed a deep blue along with the one on her body.

 Aion watched on as the solomonic circle in the centre of the wall turned, creaking against the outer edge of the rock as it begun to spin faster and faster, until there was nothing but empty, black space beyond.

 “She should be aware that the portal has been opened,” Gisemba instructed, tapping Aion gently on the back as she guided him into the darkness. “Go. I cannot keep it open for long… not anymore… we cannot risk unwanted fugitives finding it. Give my regards to Aurora and Dumbledore.”

 Aion nodded and stepped his way boldly into the nothingness.

 It was like wading through a giant, viscous bubble. Nothing as sickening as Floo powder and for that he was thankful. Aion strode determinedly through the thick, fluid-like air, moving forward and forward through the pitch blackness. After about five or so minutes a line of white light appeared before him; he strode toward it, its beacon becoming brighter and brighter and larger…

 The light eventually took on the form of another door. He struggled against it, pressing his palms down upon the exit as he gave a great push and opened the door.

 He landed in a pitch-black, and very cold, room. Aion immediately began to shiver, kicking himself for not thinking to dress for Scottish weather. Frost coated the windows before him, but what he saw inside the office made him warmer than even the tropics of Uganda had made him feel. There was a silently orbiting solar system above his head by the unlit ceiling lamp; walls of planetary systems and equations written in familiar handwriting had him surrounded in ease.

 Before he had any chance to flick his wand to at least get a fire started in the abandoned office, the door opposing the portal flung open so hard that it ricocheted off the wall, causing one of the planets above him to come falling to the ground.

 The lights in the room all became illuminated at once, and he was facing the one person he had dearly hoped to see. His younger sister, dressed in far more appropriate thick robes and cloak, stood before him. Just behind her shoulder loomed the bat-like Severus Snape, and his wand was already raised upon the intruder.

 At the mere sight of her brother behind her desk, Aurora’s eyes flooded with tears.

 “Balima…” she wept in their native Bambara, and ran full-speed into his arms. Aion caught her entire body in his.

 “Balimamuso,” he replied, fervently kissing her now saturated cheeks. He held her to him as tightly as he could, thanking Great Mawu Herself that she was safe. And, after an entire year without their voices or seeing their faces, that he was finally home, even for the briefest of sweet moments.

#Aurora Sinistra #Severus Snape #Uagadou #wizarding schools #second wizarding war #Hogwarts #Half-Blood Prince #Vivienne #'97 #pensieve #African magical community #Aion Sinistra #Naki Olanrewaju

[mysidewriting]

Through the Storm

Prologue

Chapter One:

Two weeks after Kukui had informed me of his "champion travel plans" I was put on a plane and sent to my home land in Kanto. Now there, in the Celadon City airport I was tasked with finding champion and ex-champion Red and Green. About a week from now I was due to spend a few days in Professor Oak's lab and review his research on the Kanto region's flora and fauna.

Before any of that though, there were two people I had to find. My father, who lived only a city away in Saffron, and Lillie who was last residing just north of Cerulean.

G//when are you free?

A frown creased my face as I read the text. I'd made the decision to not tell anyone other than my mother and the league that I was leaving for six months. I hadn't wanted to spoil my surprise visit with Lillie on accident and didn't want Hau to attempt to discourage me from the plan. I'd already been hesitant as six months was such a long time to be away, but I seriously wanted to make the trip.

Now, seeing Gladion being oddly persistent to do something, I was starting to feel bad not telling my friends about traveling. Sure, I didn't get to hang out with them all that often but that once a month was still special. Now I wouldn't see both the guys for six months and the thought was sour on my mood.

I shook myself from the thoughts and exited the airport, the heavy scent of thousands of people living within seconds of each other hitting me like a rock. Cars whizzed passed me in the streets and crowds of sightseers, businessmen, and locals pushed and shoved me around.

Kanto.

One of the busiest and most populated regions. I loved and hated it for that reason, I for sure hadn't yet missed it.

Working my way against the crowd of moving bodies I finally made my way out of the city and onto a side route that would lead me towards Saffron, where my father lived. My hand instinctively drifted to my bag for the useful ride pager but I fell short of the pocket it was normally kept in, Pokémon Ride was only in Alola. I would have to ask my own team of Pokémon to travel around Kanto unless I wanted to foot it everywhere.

The only current team member I had that was large enough to carry me around comfortably was the Type:Null that Gladion had entrusted me with and I hated the idea of forcing it to do such a task. I would need to make some new friends and team members here in Kanto to make transportation easier. Not that I hadn't already planned on doing so.

The trek to Saffron would only take about twenty minutes with the newly paved footpaths that had been placed in recent years. With all the commuters between Celadon and Saffron it had been a necessary implementation to make by the cities. Otherwise the route wound through the countryside where unsuspecting civilians could clash with potentially dangerous Pokémon.

I released Kai and Type:Null to walk with me, making sure to move the ladder of the two off to the side whenever someone passed by. Kai was cute and lovable by appearance and many passerby stopped to gawk at the rare species. Null, on the other hand, was far more intimidating... but I wanted it to feel comfortable with me so it could evolve and walking was a great way to build a bond.

M//idk really...

//my life is about to be super crazy busy

I can't tell him yet, but I feel bad brushing him off like that. I would go to Lillie soon, then I could tell both Hau and Gladion about this.

The door to my father's house creaked open once I had unlocked it, announcing my arrival rather unceremoniously. I called out a timid 'hello' but no response came. Every room was empty save for the living room where my father's pet growlithe, Brutus, was curled up in his bed. He watched me with a wise gaze, tail wagging back and forth furiously in excitement but he couldn't be bothered to drag his old bones out of his comfortable position.

I stroked his head, checking my phone to see if my father had called me while I was on the plane. He hadn't contacted me at all... before leaving I'd made sure to tell him when I would be over, figuring that meant he would be home to see me as well. It had been a few years since I had last seen him...

I bit back my disappointment, telling myself he had run out to grab something super quick and hadn't expected me to be here so promptly. I took a seat on the couch after setting my heavy backpack on the floor. Kai popped out of her ball and sniffed at Brutus curiously, pulling back in surprise as he huffed a small plume of smoke in her direction. I couldn't help but laugh at the Lycanrock's shocked expression. She was behaving much more warily now that we were in a new place.

"Watch out, Kai. Old Brutus is a real master of fire." I said with a giggle as a small flame left the greying growlithe's mouth.

She glanced back at me, grumbling before turning to sniff around the house. I watched her fluffy white tail disappear around the corner before looking down at my phone once again.

G//well...let me know when you have time

M//for what? Do you actually want to hang out with me??

G//I guess

//don't go and make me change my mind

M//haha ok

Guilt wrecked my gut and I quickly sent another message out to him. Why didn't you ask last week?! He never wanted to do anything, he'd never been the one to initiate anything.

M//seriously though, I don't know if I'll have any free time whatsoever for a long time. I'm sorry... just bad timing.

A long sigh left my mouth and I locked gazes with Brutus, the Pokémon mirroring my noise and settling it's head down against its paws. Kai paced around the corner again and I laid across the couch, stretching my arm as far as possible to run my fingers through her coarse fur.

I attempted calling my father after an hour had passed, but he didn't answer. Worry had started to set in, my overly exposed mind rushing through terrible scenarios of what could have happened to him in the few hours since we had last spoken. I paced the living room, attempting to quiet those thoughts, telling myself I was being paranoid.

Finally the door opened and I span fast to face the balding man, a single plastic bag in his wrinkled hands and a shocked look on his mustachioed face. "Oh, Moon! I thought you said five!"

A sigh of relief left my mouth and I quickly closed the space between us to give him a hug. "No, Dad. Four." I laughed. "It's okay though, Brutus and my Kai kept me company."

My father's gaze drifted to the living room to see both Pokémon lying near the window. He grinned as he saw the Lycanrock and she stood, barking a kind hello towards him. He chuckled a hearty laugh.

"It's still so hard for me to believe you have your own Pokémon, Moon."

I scoffed, "Why's that? Couldn't you tell how much I loved Pokémon when I was younger?"

"Of course I could, but I had this strange idea in my head that you would go on to be a researchist. Not a trainer, or champion at that." The smile he gave me, half hidden by that thick dark beard my mother always loved, seemed oddly awkward and nervous.

I brushed it off, figuring he was intimidated by how long we had been apart. I'd only been seventeen when Mom and I left for Alola. Now I was twenty, a smidge taller than him, and much more experienced and matured.

"Well, anyway. Make yourself at home, deary. It is still your home, whenever you need it to be." His eyes crinkled at the corners, the age lines much more significant than they had been last time I'd seen him. "I was planning on ordering a pizza and watching a movie tonight."

I grinned, that was still the same. His love for lounging, something we had always shared.

I'd left most of my team back in Alola to train by themselves and spend some time relaxing. The only two I had brought with me were Lycanrock and Type:Null. My own personal goal for this trip, aside from exploring and learning from all the professors, was to form a new team for each region. It sounded like a decent challenge, and making new friends was always a plus.

As such, I spent the first few days in Kanto exploring and catching new Pokémon. I'd found a dragonair near the ocean and caught him - naming him Tsunami. While exploring Mt.Moon I met a small fairy type Pokémon that rotom dubbed clefairy and I added her to my team too. I found the name Cecil to work well for the small pink fluff ball.

One rainy day on the coast of Fuschia I ran into a man with scruffy dark blonde hair and an ego that outstepped most bounds. He didn't flinch when he saw Type:Null bounding around in the sand beside me and he looked at me as though he knew who I was.

"You look strangely familiar." He said, a smooth grin on his face.

"Do I? Well that's strange considering I don't live in Kanto." I acknowledged, having Null take a seat next to me.

"Lemme guess, Alola?" The man assured, his smooth grin becoming smug.

"Yes" I laughed, unfazed by his arrogance. "I'm Moon, you are?"

"Green." He extended a hand to me, "ex-champ of Kanto."

I shook his hand with a smirk of my own. Finding Red and Green was on my task list for the week, but I hadn't expected to run into either of them so easily.

Green and I spent a few hours inside a small cafe chatting and learning more about each other. He was twenty five and although he reeked of narcissism, he was still a half decent guy. A great sense of humor and a real knack for Pokémon by the sound of it. Around seven years ago he had been the champion of Kanto, but his reign had only lasted a couple hours before his rival Red stole the seat. He's been pissed about it for a while but apparently the feud between the two had long ended and he now considered Red to be his closest friend.

He was currently the final gym leader of Kanto. I spent a good forty minutes explaining Alola's trials and how we didn't use a gym system at all. He was baffled by it, but interested.

After the rain subsided he introduced me to his current team and challenged me to a friendly battle. I explained that I didn't have my normal team with me at the moment and wouldn't be able to put up a proper fight against him. He was disappointed but agreed to a rain check, forcing me to promise that the wait would be worth it.

We parted ways after agreeing on a day to meet up with Red as well. The two had been wanting to explore a strange cave located a ways out on the ocean and he invited me along, figuring it would be a good chance to exchange tips and tricks between fellow champs.

The sun had set and the sky had cleared as I walked back towards my father's house. The large expanse of night sky was nearly empty in comparison to Alola's skies. With all the light pollution from the large cities it was nearly impossible to see the stars.

The moon looked lonely in the vast empty sky and I felt a strange hollow sensation in my chest, as though I was sympathizing with the large rock soaring up in the heavens

My mind drifted off to wonder about my mother, how she was doing knowing that most of her family was hours away from her. Only reachable through phone or internet. She struggled just being away from Dad half the time, I'm sure her only daughter being gone didn't make things better.

One of the pokeballs at my waist burst open, Cecil the clefairy appearing on my shoulder. I shrugged a bit, knocking her enough off balance for her to cry out in annoyance and settle on top of my head instead, pushing my hat off.

"Hey hey hey! What's going on, Cecil?" I asked with a playful laugh.

She sang out in a rhythmic matter, I felt her weight shifting back and forth as though she were dancing.

I stopped walking as I heard more chanting from the woods on either side of me, other clefairy hiding in the bush and singing with Cecil. Three of them were hiding in the branches of a pine tree and I gawked in amazement as they wiggled their fingers back and forth in rhythm with their chant, their claws glowing and a strange sparkling mist hovering around their small bodies.

I reached for my rotom dex and asked what the heck was happening at the moment. It replied in it's signature staticky voice 'on the nights of full moons many clefairy gather to chant a mystical spell towards the sky. This has lead researchers to believe they originally come from the moon.'

A large smile fell across my face and I carefully picked Cecil off my head and cradled her in my arms, "you come from the moon?" I asked her.

The clefairy simply smiled at me, not breaking from her harmonious song.

How extraordinary and fascinating.

Hau texted me later that night after I had gotten back to my father's. I was curled up in my bed and talking at Kai about my day when my phone started vibrating endlessly. I was surprised to see his name only for the fact that there was a six hour time difference between Kanto and Alola - meaning that Hau was up and bursting with energy at nearly one in the morning.

H//MOON!

//WHERE ARE YOU

//Why was Kukui the "champion" today?!

//what the heck

//ARE YOU OKAY?

M//calm down, Hau!

//I'm fine, just taking some time off haha

H// why tho?!?!?

M//just to take a break

H//what is it getting too hard for you?

//I could take the job over if you're tired of it 😉

M// ha ha ha no

//you have to win it fair and square

H//I miss you... hang out with meeee

//if your off than you have tiiime

M//I don't have time too actually

//sorry

He continued on, complaining about how I never had time to see him in general and it wasn't fair that I was doing something else with my free time. I tried to ignore the guilt tripping since I knew he was just messing around... but I still felt bad anyway.

He drifted off to just chat with me about random things after that and I let the conversation go on for about an hour before I gave him crap for staying up so late. He fired it back at me and I struggled to not point out the fact that it was only nine where I was.

#gladion x moon #fanfic #lonashipping #gladion fanfic #pokemon #romance #adventure #Hau x Lillie #through the storm #through the storm chapter one

[funnythingshere0-blog]

Neuroscientist Hannah Critchlow: 'Consciousness is a really funny word'

New Post has been published on https://funnythingshere.xyz/neuroscientist-hannah-critchlow-consciousness-is-a-really-funny-word/

Neuroscientist Hannah Critchlow: 'Consciousness is a really funny word'

On any given day in Cambridge, you may see numerous people jogging along the towpaths, and it’s not unreasonable to assume neuroscientists may be over-represented. “You see so many,” says Hannah Critchlow, a neuroscientist who likes to jog along the river. Physical fitness may be a secondary consideration, she says; what they are really trying to do is ramp up their neurogenesis – the birth of new nerve cells in the brain.

“People used to think that once you were born, that was it, that was all the nerve cells you have throughout life,” she says. “Then, 20 years ago, Rusty Gage [a professor at the Salk Institute in California] discovered that you get neurogenesis in adults, in a region of the brain called the hippocampus, which is involved in learning and memory. It turns out that jogging is really good at increasing neurogenesis in the brain.” And so, Critchlow says with a laugh, she likes to run. “I go: ‘This is wonderful, my neurogenesis is really happy with me at the moment.’”

We are sitting in her study at Magdalene College, Cambridge, where Critchlow is outreach fellow, tasked with public engagement. Once described by the Telegraph as “a sort of female Brian Cox”, she has given numerous talks, been a presenter on Tomorrow’s World Live, the interactive version of the BBC science show, appeared on TV, radio and podcasts and was named as a top 100 scientist for her work in science communication. She has just written a book on consciousness – part of the Ladybird Expert series aimed at adults, a brief but mindbending introduction to the brain and the idea of consciousness, taking in philosophy, famous neuroscience breakthroughs and brain facts.

Critchlow speaking at the Hay festival in 2016. Photograph: Alamy Stock Photo

“Our brain contains around 86bn nerve cells,” she writes. “To scale it down to something more palatable, if we took a dot of brain tissue the size of a sugar grain, it would contain roughly 10,000 nerve cells. Even more incredible: each of these nerve cells connects to around 10,000 others, forming the most densely packed and complicated circuit board imaginable.”

She also writes about smart drugs, such as those prescribed for ADHD, that increase focus (she has said in the past that they are a problem among both students and academic staff). Does she still think that? Yes, she says. “First of all, people are buying these over the internet so they have no idea what they’re actually getting. And they’re taking them at doses that aren’t maybe optimum for that person’s chemistry. We don’t know what the long-term effects are, particularly on the developing brain. The brain is undergoing a huge amount of plasticity until the mid-20s, so I think it’s a terrible idea to take any kind of mind-altering drug until you’ve passed your mid-20s. I think it’s a really worrying issue and a potential timebomb.”

She has started writing another book, based around the idea of free will. “There’s quite a lot of evidence to show it’s largely an illusion,” she says. “There’s a huge amount that seems to be hardwired into us and predetermined. You are born with a particular brain and that shapes your perception, shapes what you are hardwired to find rewarding. You are brought up in a particular environment and that reinforces what you are born with.” What does that mean for decision-making? “If your perception of the world is based on prior experiences and hardwiring, then that shapes your reality, which goes on to affect your decision-making. A large amount of your decision-making taps into your reward system in your brain. Although there is scope to change certain behaviours, you have to make a real conscious effort in order to break habits and change how your reward system affects your motivation. I think neuroscience can be very empowering in that, in making me go for a jog rather than reach for a bottle of shiraz.”

Surely there is a danger in being a neuroscientist, running injuries aside, that you can start to view people as simply a bunch of chemical and electrical reactions. “I haven’t got to that point, yet,” says Critchlow. “I hope I never do.” But isn’t that what neuroscience is basically saying we are? “Yeah, but it’s an awe-inspiring, highly sophisticated, highly dynamic system that is incredible and beautiful in its intricacy. There are some gorgeous videos of new connections taking place in living, moving mammals as they’re moving around, going around a maze, for example. It’s incredible that our brain, as we are navigating the space around us – or in this case, the mouse – changes shape. You can see consciousness happen, new connections forming.”

Demystifying the brain’s connections doesn’t reduce its magic, she says. “We each have such unique takes on the world. And then – and this is where I think it gets really interesting – our brains have these flaws, which means we make assumptions or we get things a little bit wrong, so our reality is not quite right. If we then discuss reality with another person who has another perspective, then we’re more likely to get a common understanding and appreciation of the world and it will become closer to reality.” But aren’t we living in polarised times, where nuance is out and it is impossible to find common ground with someone who believes the exact opposite? She thinks that ideas sharing through social-media technology is in its “toddler-tantrum” infancy and hopes we will be able to “exchange ideas in a more positive way”.

“Hopefully the educational system will catch up and help people to evaluate whether they trust a particular source or not. That’s a skill that needs to be fostered from a young age.”

The thing Critchlow most remembers about science lessons at school was being sent out of class for talking. She thought she might want to study medicine, but while working as a nursing assistant at a psychiatric hospital, she became fascinated by how the brain worked. “The medication and therapies on offer weren’t really doing anything other than making a lot of the patients almost catatonic. People would lose their cognitive capacity and potential to have joy from life.”

After a degree in biology at Brunel University, she studied for a PhD at Cambridge. Her experience informs her work now as outreach fellow – she goes to state secondary schools and colleges to give talks about neuroscience, but also about the possibility of higher education and the Oxbridge admissions process. For state school intake, Cambridge is ranked fifth worst (Oxford is fourth). While Critchlow can’t talk about the prejudice that may lurk within the admissions system, she says perception from students is one problem. “I went to a state school and when I was thinking of applying to university, there was no chance that I’d have thought about applying to Cambridge. I came here for my PhD but that was because, at that point, I’d gained enough confidence. It’s maybe the perception of Oxford and Cambridge being elite universities and maybe students not having the confidence to apply, or not knowing much about the application process.”

Critchlow at Magdalene College, Cambridge, where she is a fellow. Photograph: Martin Pope for the Guardian

There is still a gender gap in science. While women make up 42% of the scientific workforce, less than a quarter of professors are female. “I think lots of women are drawn to science but there’s quite a steep drop-off rate,” says Critchlow. Much of this is to do with the lifestyle and, often, its incompatibility with starting a family. “A lot of grants run for two or three years and you’ve got to get results, so if a woman is off for a year on maternity leave, that has quite a big impact.”

Is sexism a problem? When she was working on her PhD, a decade or so ago, she was giving a talk and one of the professors told her he couldn’t concentrate because when she was pointing to the data, her top was riding up slightly, exposing a “really small amount of my midriff. Apparently it was too distracting and he couldn’t concentrate on any of my data. I was pretty pissed off about that. You don’t imagine a male student gets those kind of comments.” People are much more aware now, she says. “I think there is still a bit of bias, but it’s been acknowledged.”

It’s a particularly fascinating time to be a neuroscientist, she says, because society is having discussions about consciousness, artificial intelligence and what it means to be human. The question of consciousness has plagued neuroscientists and philosophers for centuries. What is Critchlow’s definition? “I think consciousness is a really funny word, and as we learn more about how the brain works, I think it is going to become even more difficult to give a succinct definition. Generally speaking, it has been agreed that consciousness is the ability to form a subjective view of the world, to have a unique view.”

She says that in the future, we will probably be appalled at the way we treat animals now as we learn more about their brains and consciousness, but she’s also interested in the idea plants can be “conscious”. In her book, she writes about plants using electrical signals to send information around their “bodies”, and responding to their environments. She gives the example of a caterpillar eating a leaf: “The plant will start to produce a chemical to repel the insect. Even if the plant is simply played an audio file of a munching caterpillar, it will respond, indicating that plants can hear.”

“So what do we eat?” says Critchlow. “Where do we draw a line? It’s starting to force us into this position where we have to ask ourselves maybe we don’t have this sovereignty over nature that we’ve always led ourselves to believe.”

Can AI be considered to be conscious? “As we discover more about the neural networks and connections in the brain that allow us to learn and remember and form a subjective view of the world, we are starting to be able to use that information and emulate it in artificial intelligence systems. They can learn and remember without being coded to process information in the way we have told them to. So using that definition, yes, we’ll be able to develop AI that has some semblance of consciousness. But it’s a funny word. It’s almost as if humans have developed this word to make ourselves seem more important than we are.”

Should robots have rights? She thinks for a while. “I’m not sure what the point would be. I think it’s going to be interesting to see how it all develops, to see the implications as AI evolves, what kind of rights should they have and what kind of limits should they have. I don’t think there’s a set answer. We don’t have a full handle on AI.”

Consciousness by Hannah Critchlow.

She caused a bit of a stir at the Hay festival in 2015 when she said it would be possible to download someone’s brain on to a computer – it seems less remarkable now that there are companies working on this, although in the face of much scepticism from the neuroscience community. “It’s a possibility, but I think there are a lot of things that are possibilities,” she says. “There are scientists that are working on taking a snapshot of the connectome, the 100tn or so connections in the brain, mapping those connections on a computer. So does that mean you can upload your brain if you have a snapshot of it at one particular time? Or if we have enough information could you then run simulations to see how the brain would evolve? We probably will get there at some point in the future.”

Critchlow says she’s not keen on the idea for herself, although she is planning to donate her body to scientific research. “I don’t think it would be me. A simulation of me. This would just be a copy of me, of my connections.” Besides, she says, she thinks her simulation might still miss tangible, physical pleasures that come from being attached to a body. Such as gnocchi. It makes me laugh because it’s so specific, and not what I was expecting her to say – wine, perhaps, or running. But it’s lunchtime and she’s hungry (and she really loves gnocchi). Or at least her hypothalamus is telling her she is.

[sketchs-trashcan]

Diamond Skies

Prologue | Chapter 1 | Chapter 2

Chapter One: The Journey Begins!

Notes: ok I don’t remember exactly how this chapter went so if things seem somewhat forced I’m sorry past me was not a professional writer and present me is not one either am sorry

Present Day

After a week of traveling, we were finally in Alola. The salty tang of the sea was even stronger here than it was in Vermilion City. Once we cleared customs, we went to the town hall of Hau'oli City so that my mom could take care of a few legal things. I wasn't entirely sure what she had to do, but it probably had something to do with us moving from Kanto to Alola. Once that was taken care of, we set out for our new house. It was not in the busy heart of the city, but more in the outskirts. Shortly after we arrived, I went to my new room and fell asleep. Jet lag between the two regions was killer.

I woke up a few hours later, feeling somewhat refreshed. I put on a fresh pair of clothes and stepped into the living room. My mom and Mewy had apparently unpacked some of the boxes that were scattered across the house, so it looked slightly more like a home rather than an empty shell. I went out and joined them on the porch in the moonlight.

"Oh, you're awake," my mom said when she saw me. "Isn't Alola just fantastic? The people are so nice, and the air is fantastic, too! I'm sure the Pokemon here reflect all of this."

I thought the atmosphere was a bit too humid, but I knew better than to say that. "Yeah, I guess the weather's nice. I'm more excited to meet new Pokemon!"

Before she got a chance to reply, someone started knocking at the door. I was confused. Who would be knocking at our door this late at night? We were new here; nobody should know us yet.

We walked back in and saw that the person had let himself in. He was a tall man with tan skin, wearing sweatpants with a lab coat. His hat had Alola's symbol on it, and he was also wearing sporty sunglasses.

The man noticed us, and a huge grin split his face. "Cousin! There you are! Glad to see you made it here in one piece, yeah! Hope the jet lag isn't too bad."

"Kukui! Great to see you again!" my mom said as she hugged the man known as Kukui. "It's been such a long time! I think the last time I saw you was when you took on the Kanto League."

Kukui laughed. "Ah, I remember that! I thought I knew a thing or two about battling, yeah, but those Kanto gym leaders sure did prove me wrong!"

My mom turned to face me. "Alani, this is Kukui, a dear friend of mine. He's the Pokemon Professor here in Alola."

"It's nice to meet you, Professor Kukui," I said.

"Nice to finally meet you, Alani! And, you can just call me Kukui," Kukui said as he extended his hand, which I shook.

"So, Kukui," my mom began, "what brings you here? I thought you weren't going to stop by until tomorrow."

"Oh, yeah, guess I should explain myself, huh?" Kukui said as he rubbed the back of his head. "You see, there's a festival going on in Iki Town, and kids can get their first Pokemon there. Most of 'em are closer to 11, but there are a few older ones, like Alani here." He turned to look at me. "Whaddya say, Alani? Wanna go?"

Unusual excitement bubbled up within me. Ever since I had turned ten, I desperately wanted to go on a journey with Pokemon. I watched the battles of every challenger that dared to face the Indigo Plateau on tv, and each one made me want to be the next person to try and become the Champion. Professor Oak was more than willing to give me a Pokemon, and even encouraged me to go on a journey, but my mom had refused, saying that I was too young to go off on my own. So, instead of setting off and exploring Kanto with my friends, I had to sit and watch as most of them walked off with their new partners, while I remained in school. Now, however, I was 16, and nearly 17, at that. I couldn't wait any longer for my opportunity.

"Yes!"

Thankfully, it didn't take too much for Kukui to convince my mom to let me go, and we soon set off on the path near my house. It was a rather steep hill, teeming with nature all around it. Pokemon I had never seen before would often run and fly around us as we went. Kukui explained to me some of the basics of being a trainer, but I already knew most of it. Back in Kanto, I had always read books on how to be a good trainer so that once the day finally came, I could hit the ground running.

As we approached Iki Town, I could hear music playing and people singing and laughing. The whole town was teeming with life. Kids too young to become trainers were playing tag with other kids as well as Pokemon, and older people were dancing around a stage in the center of town.

"Hmm. That's odd," Kukui thought out loud. "Hala's not here, but everyone's still celebrating, yeah." Kukui tapped me on the shoulder. "Hey, Alani, let's split up and look for Hala. Go check Mahalo Trail. Let's meet up at the stage in about ten minutes, yeah?"

"But Kukui, I don't know wh-" I protested, but Kukui was already out of sight. Steeling my nerves, I started weaving my way through the crowd, looking for something that pointed to Mahalo Trail. I eventually found myself out of the crowd and on a path surrounded by trees going up a hill. It had a mysterious atmosphere to it, and it pulled me farther along the path. I came to a clearing, and in front of me was a girl of about 15 in a white dress, seemingly in distress.

I approached her cautiously. "Hey...is something wrong?" I asked.

The girl whipped around and looked at me with terrified emerald eyes. "Ah...Those Spearow...they're going to hurt Nebby! But, I'm too scared to go out there...my legs feel like they might give out...Please! Help!"

I looked behind her and saw that a small flock of Spearow was harassing something in the middle of the bridge. I took a deep breath. I wasn't the biggest fan of heights, but that Pokemon was in danger, and I couldn't just stand aside and do nothing. Taking cautious steps, I started to make my way across the rickety bridge. Once I was within range, I leapt at Nebby and covered it, trying to fend off the Spearow.

What in the world was I thinking? I thought as they pecked at me. I don't have any Pokemon! This is bad.

Suddenly, a blue light started to emit from Nebby. I looked down to see what was happening, and a huge burst of energy came from it. It drove away the Spearow, but it also blasted the bridge to pieces. Without anything supporting us, Nebby and I began to fall.

Time seemed to slow down. I couldn't grab on to anything that was still firmly attached to the bridge, and the cliffs were too far away to reach. I hugged Nebby, awaiting our inevitable demise at the bottom of the ravine.

But it never came.

Before I knew what was going on, a streak of yellow came shooting at us, saving us from the fall. We were gently placed back at the top of the cliff next to the girl in the white dress. Electricity crackled behind us, and the girl and I turned to see what looked like a Pokemon with a black body and large yellow arms looking at us. It shot off once again, leaving a glimmering stone in its place.

"Was...was that Tapu Koko?" the girl wondered aloud. "It must have been...The tapu must have noticed you and Nebby were falling and decided to save you." She bent down and grabbed the stone, then turned to face me. "Thank you...thank you so much for rescuing Nebby!"

I gave her a shy smile. "It was what anyone would have done. I'm glad to be of help."

Nebby jumped from my arms and began to circle around the girl. She frowned a bit as she watched. "You tried to use your powers again, didn't you, Nebby? You remember what happened the last time you did that! You couldn't move for ages after that!" She shook her head. "No...I shouldn't say that. I'm sorry, Nebby. I know you were trying to save me that time." She smiled at it, then started to speak again, holding the stone out to me. "I think the tapu meant to give this to you."

I wasn't entirely sure about it. After all, if that 'Tapu Koko' was such an important figure, why would it bother to give something that looked so special to a foreigner like me? I was practically a nobody, even back in Kanto! I tried to refuse, but the girl wouldn't take no for an answer. I put the stone in my bag, and after the girl put Nebby in her bag, we started to head back to town.

Once we arrived, we saw Kukui sitting on the edge of the stage. There was an old man next to him, and they were engaging in lively conversation. Once Kukui noticed us walking up to him, he stood up and waved.

"Hey, Alani!" Kukui said. "Turns out the Kahuna had to solve a problem up in Hau'oli, which is why he wasn't here when we arrived, yeah. But it looks like you managed to find my assistant! In case you two haven't properly introduced yourselves yet, Alani, this is Lillie, and Lillie, this is Alani!" He gestured to each of us as he said our names.

"Ah, so you're the Alani I've heard about from Kukui." The old man walked up to us and joined our conversation. "I am Hala, the kahuna of Melemele Island. Welcome to Alola! I've heard you're interested in getting a Pokemon?"

My attention switched instantly from Lillie and Kukui to Hala. "Yes, please!" I said, "I really want to be a Trainer!"

Hala gave a hearty laugh. "Alright, alright. I have three left, so you can have one of them."

With that, he pulled out three Pokeballs and sent out the Pokemon in them. From the one on the left came a beige owl with a leaf bow. The center one was a black and red cat, while the one on the right was a blue seal with a pink nose.

"First is the Grass-type Pokemon, Rowlet!" Hala explained. "Next is the Fire-type Pokemon, Litten! And last is the Water-type Pokemon, Popplio! Which one will you choose as your partner?"

I held my chin in thought. They were all so cute! I wished I could have all of them. Rowlet and Popplio looked up at me with endearing eyes, while Litten played it cool and simply began licking its paw. After a moment of careful thought, I spoke up.

"I...I choose...Rowlet."

"Great choice!" Hala boomed. "Now what is left is to see if Rowlet chooses you. Only when you have both chosen each other can you truly call each other partners."

Following Hala's instructions, I stood on the stage opposite Rowlet. In that moment, it was if there were no sound, no ground, no other people, just me and Rowlet. We gazed into each other's eyes for what seemed like forever, until Rowlet's eyes seemed to smile, and he let out a gentle koo. He ran over to me, and I carefully picked him up.

"So little Rowlet has accepted you, too. Congratulations, Alani!" Hala said, snapping me back to reality. "Rowlet is yours!" He handed me Rowlet's Pokeball, which I happily accepted.

Kukui gave me a firm pat on the back. "You know, some trainers like to give their Pokemon nicknames. Brings them closer together, oh yeah. Are you going to give your Rowlet a nickname?"

"I think so," I said, still looking at Rowlet in my arms. "How about...Pueo?" I was greeted by enthusiastic chirping from Rowlet, now known as Pueo.

"Nice to meet you, Pueo!" Lillie said.

Hala seemed to remember something as Lillie spoke, because his eyebrows went up for a moment. "Ah, before I forget, did something happen while I was gone? For some reason, I thought I saw Tapu Koko flying around."

Lillie nodded. "Oh, um...Yes, Kahuna Hala...Nebby was being attacked by Spearow on the Plank Bridge when this girl, Alani, helped it get away. But the bridge collapsed, and I thought both of them might fall to the bottom of the ravine, and that's when the island's guardian deity swooped in to save them!"

"Woo!" Kukui whistled. "That's not something you hear every day!"

Hala laughed. "Ho! Although it is said to protect us, our Tapu Koko is a rather fickle creature. Yet our guardian was moved to save you."

"Pew!" A little cry was heard at Lillie's feet.

"Oh?" Lillie said in surprise, "When did you get out again? I know that Kahuna Hala and the professor will keep you safe from any harm, but you should still stay in the bag and out of sight. It's safer that way." She shook her head, then looked at me. "I think you chose a wonderful Pokemon. Please take care of it."

Kukui clapped his hands. "That's it, Alani! Now that you've got a Pokemon, you're a real Pokemon Trainer, yeah! And here's a lovely gift from me to help make it special, cousin." With that, he pulled out a red object from his lab coat and handed it to me.

Pueo and I looked at it in wonder. "What is it?" I asked.

"It's a Pokedex!" Kukui explained. "It's a real high-tech kinda tool, yeah, that can automatically record facts about any Pokemon you meet. Try it out on Pueo later! And this," he continued, pulling out a small booklet, "is a Trainer Passport that I had put together for you."

"Thank you...thank you so much, all of you!" I said. I was so happy I could cry. I finally had a Pokemon of my own. I had a Pokedex. I was an official Pokemon Trainer. All of my dreams were coming true.

"How about you go show off your new friend to your mom, Alani?" Kukui suggested.

I nodded, and set off for home. Before I could get far, a kid who looked to be about 15 ran up to me. He was tan with greenish-black hair and was wearing a black shirt and yellow shorts.

"Hey!" the kid shouted. "You and me! Let's have a Pokemon battle!"

Hala walked up to us. "Dahahaha! Where's the fire, boy?" he laughed, "And what kind of a Pokemon battle would that be where you don't even give a name first, eh?"

The kid put his hands behind his head. "Fair enough. Then I'm Hau. And my partner's Tarin, a Popplio!" Hau looked at Pueo, who was perched on my shoulder. "Your Rowlet looks really cool, too! Anyways, I couldn't wait for you to find your way to Iki Town, so I've been all over looking for you so we can battle!"

"Really?" I asked. I never had someone search for me, especially not a stranger.

"Of course!" Hau replied. "It's not often that someone new moves here, and it's always exciting to have a battle with them!"

"Oh yeah, your first battle already!" Kukui grinned. "Just have your Pokemon dish out some moves and see who wins. Woo!"

I bit my lip. Was I really ready for this? Watching others and reading books could only teach so much. What if I failed and my Pokemon got seriously hurt? I looked at Pueo. His eyes were glimmering, anxious to spread his wings in what would probably be his first battle.

"Alright," I said, a smile beginning to form on my face. "I'll do it." A chorus of cheering erupted from Kukui and Hau.

"I appreciate you deciding to battle my grandson," Hala said. "I expect both sides to not hold anything back! Let the battle begin!"

Hau sent Tarin out onto the battlefield, while I sent out Pueo. I was extremely nervous, and I'm sure Pueo was a little bit, too. After all, neither of us had been in a battle before, and we didn't really know what to expect. I decided to pull out my Pokedex to see if it could help me figure out what to do. As I turned it on, it registered Popplio as well as Rowlet. It also showed me what moves Pueo knew.

"Alright, Tarin, use Water Gun!" Hau shouted. His Pokemon prepared the move, and water started shooting out towards Pueo.

"Ah!" I exclaimed. "Um, Pueo, dodge it and use, uh, Leafage!"

Pueo wasn't quite able to dodge the full attack, but he was able to pelt Tarin with leaves from the move I chose. Battling with Pueo was amazing. It felt like if we worked together, there wasn't anything we couldn't do.

The battle wasn't incredibly long, with both Hau's and my Pokemon being relatively weak, but it was still intense. Pueo and I barely managed to win against Tarin and Hau.

"Hooo-ee!" Hau exclaimed as he jumped around. "That gave me chicken skin!" He stopped and walked over to me. "Alani Mahina, right? Your Rowlet was awesome! Here's some prize money for beating me in your first battle." Right after giving me a bit of cash, Hau went right back to jumping. "Now that settles it! I'm going to go all-out tomorrow!"

At that moment, the stone in my bag glimmered. It was bright enough that the people around me noticed it was there.

"Hm? Alani. Would you be so kind as to give me a look at that sparkling stone you have there?" Hala asked. When I gave the stone to him, he began to closely inspect it.

"Could it be?!" he gasped.

"Tutu, isn't that..." Hau spoke up.

Hala looked up at me. "You were rescued by Tapu Koko at the bridge-isn't that what I heard, Alani?"

"Yes," I responded. "Tapu Koko flew in and saved me. When it left, that stone was where it stood."

"I see..." Hala said thoughtfully. "So it even deigned to give you a stone... Perhaps you are here in Alola, Alani, because this is where you are meant to be. Allow me to borrow this stone for now. Fret not! I'll return it to you tomorrow evening." Pocketing the stone, Hala started to talk about my battle against Hau.

"It would seem that you have the makings of a fine Trainer," Hala said as he smiled. "You must do us the honor of joining in our festival tomorrow!"

"It does sound interesting," I replied, "I'll give it a shot."

"Let's make sure you get home safe first," Kukui said. "Lillie, you come with us, too. Wouldn't want to go off losing you twice in one day! You or that precious Pokemon of yours, yeah."

"Alright," Lillie nodded. "I'll be sure to keep track of..."

"Pew!"

"Oh, you!" Lillie chided as she turned to face Nebby. "Don't go trying run off the moment you're told not to!"

Nebby danced around, avoiding Lillie, while the rest of us laughed.

I said goodbye to Kukui and Lillie, and opened the door to my house. Mewy ran over and greeted me and Pueo. The two Pokemon continued looking at each other, starting up what seemed like a very lively conversation.

"Welcome home, Alani!" my mom said from the kitchen. "What kind of Pokemon did you get?"

"I chose a Rowlet," I said as I smiled at Pueo.

"Koo!" Pueo exclaimed, looking up at her.

"Oh, how adorable! So, why did you choose this lil cutie?" my mom asked.

"Well," I began, "it was a tough decision, but in the end, Pueo here looked like the best of the three Pokemon!"

My mom laughed. "Well, I think you made the right decision! You two look great together!"

As we sat down for dinner, I told my mom about the festival. She seemed fairly supportive of it. With that, I went off to bed, eagerly anticipating the next day.

#i still don't know how to tumblr #pokemon #pokemon sun #pokemon moon #pokemon sun and moon #fan fiction

[funnythingshere0-blog]

Neuroscientist Hannah Critchlow: 'Consciousness is a really funny word'

New Post has been published on http://funnythingshere.xyz/neuroscientist-hannah-critchlow-consciousness-is-a-really-funny-word/

Neuroscientist Hannah Critchlow: 'Consciousness is a really funny word'

On any given day in Cambridge, you may see numerous people jogging along the towpaths, and it’s not unreasonable to assume neuroscientists may be over-represented. “You see so many,” says Hannah Critchlow, a neuroscientist who likes to jog along the river. Physical fitness may be a secondary consideration, she says; what they are really trying to do is ramp up their neurogenesis – the birth of new nerve cells in the brain.

“People used to think that once you were born, that was it, that was all the nerve cells you have throughout life,” she says. “Then, 20 years ago, Rusty Gage [a professor at the Salk Institute in California] discovered that you get neurogenesis in adults, in a region of the brain called the hippocampus, which is involved in learning and memory. It turns out that jogging is really good at increasing neurogenesis in the brain.” And so, Critchlow says with a laugh, she likes to run. “I go: ‘This is wonderful, my neurogenesis is really happy with me at the moment.’”

We are sitting in her study at Magdalene College, Cambridge, where Critchlow is outreach fellow, tasked with public engagement. Once described by the Telegraph as “a sort of female Brian Cox”, she has given numerous talks, been a presenter on Tomorrow’s World Live, the interactive version of the BBC science show, appeared on TV, radio and podcasts and was named as a top 100 scientist for her work in science communication. She has just written a book on consciousness – part of the Ladybird Expert series aimed at adults, a brief but mindbending introduction to the brain and the idea of consciousness, taking in philosophy, famous neuroscience breakthroughs and brain facts.

Critchlow speaking at the Hay festival in 2016. Photograph: Alamy Stock Photo

“Our brain contains around 86bn nerve cells,” she writes. “To scale it down to something more palatable, if we took a dot of brain tissue the size of a sugar grain, it would contain roughly 10,000 nerve cells. Even more incredible: each of these nerve cells connects to around 10,000 others, forming the most densely packed and complicated circuit board imaginable.”

She also writes about smart drugs, such as those prescribed for ADHD, that increase focus (she has said in the past that they are a problem among both students and academic staff). Does she still think that? Yes, she says. “First of all, people are buying these over the internet so they have no idea what they’re actually getting. And they’re taking them at doses that aren’t maybe optimum for that person’s chemistry. We don’t know what the long-term effects are, particularly on the developing brain. The brain is undergoing a huge amount of plasticity until the mid-20s, so I think it’s a terrible idea to take any kind of mind-altering drug until you’ve passed your mid-20s. I think it’s a really worrying issue and a potential timebomb.”

She has started writing another book, based around the idea of free will. “There’s quite a lot of evidence to show it’s largely an illusion,” she says. “There’s a huge amount that seems to be hardwired into us and predetermined. You are born with a particular brain and that shapes your perception, shapes what you are hardwired to find rewarding. You are brought up in a particular environment and that reinforces what you are born with.” What does that mean for decision-making? “If your perception of the world is based on prior experiences and hardwiring, then that shapes your reality, which goes on to affect your decision-making. A large amount of your decision-making taps into your reward system in your brain. Although there is scope to change certain behaviours, you have to make a real conscious effort in order to break habits and change how your reward system affects your motivation. I think neuroscience can be very empowering in that, in making me go for a jog rather than reach for a bottle of shiraz.”

Surely there is a danger in being a neuroscientist, running injuries aside, that you can start to view people as simply a bunch of chemical and electrical reactions. “I haven’t got to that point, yet,” says Critchlow. “I hope I never do.” But isn’t that what neuroscience is basically saying we are? “Yeah, but it’s an awe-inspiring, highly sophisticated, highly dynamic system that is incredible and beautiful in its intricacy. There are some gorgeous videos of new connections taking place in living, moving mammals as they’re moving around, going around a maze, for example. It’s incredible that our brain, as we are navigating the space around us – or in this case, the mouse – changes shape. You can see consciousness happen, new connections forming.”

Demystifying the brain’s connections doesn’t reduce its magic, she says. “We each have such unique takes on the world. And then – and this is where I think it gets really interesting – our brains have these flaws, which means we make assumptions or we get things a little bit wrong, so our reality is not quite right. If we then discuss reality with another person who has another perspective, then we’re more likely to get a common understanding and appreciation of the world and it will become closer to reality.” But aren’t we living in polarised times, where nuance is out and it is impossible to find common ground with someone who believes the exact opposite? She thinks that ideas sharing through social-media technology is in its “toddler-tantrum” infancy and hopes we will be able to “exchange ideas in a more positive way”.

“Hopefully the educational system will catch up and help people to evaluate whether they trust a particular source or not. That’s a skill that needs to be fostered from a young age.”

The thing Critchlow most remembers about science lessons at school was being sent out of class for talking. She thought she might want to study medicine, but while working as a nursing assistant at a psychiatric hospital, she became fascinated by how the brain worked. “The medication and therapies on offer weren’t really doing anything other than making a lot of the patients almost catatonic. People would lose their cognitive capacity and potential to have joy from life.”

After a degree in biology at Brunel University, she studied for a PhD at Cambridge. Her experience informs her work now as outreach fellow – she goes to state secondary schools and colleges to give talks about neuroscience, but also about the possibility of higher education and the Oxbridge admissions process. For state school intake, Cambridge is ranked fifth worst (Oxford is fourth). While Critchlow can’t talk about the prejudice that may lurk within the admissions system, she says perception from students is one problem. “I went to a state school and when I was thinking of applying to university, there was no chance that I’d have thought about applying to Cambridge. I came here for my PhD but that was because, at that point, I’d gained enough confidence. It’s maybe the perception of Oxford and Cambridge being elite universities and maybe students not having the confidence to apply, or not knowing much about the application process.”

Critchlow at Magdalene College, Cambridge, where she is a fellow. Photograph: Martin Pope for the Guardian

There is still a gender gap in science. While women make up 42% of the scientific workforce, less than a quarter of professors are female. “I think lots of women are drawn to science but there’s quite a steep drop-off rate,” says Critchlow. Much of this is to do with the lifestyle and, often, its incompatibility with starting a family. “A lot of grants run for two or three years and you’ve got to get results, so if a woman is off for a year on maternity leave, that has quite a big impact.”

Is sexism a problem? When she was working on her PhD, a decade or so ago, she was giving a talk and one of the professors told her he couldn’t concentrate because when she was pointing to the data, her top was riding up slightly, exposing a “really small amount of my midriff. Apparently it was too distracting and he couldn’t concentrate on any of my data. I was pretty pissed off about that. You don’t imagine a male student gets those kind of comments.” People are much more aware now, she says. “I think there is still a bit of bias, but it’s been acknowledged.”

It’s a particularly fascinating time to be a neuroscientist, she says, because society is having discussions about consciousness, artificial intelligence and what it means to be human. The question of consciousness has plagued neuroscientists and philosophers for centuries. What is Critchlow’s definition? “I think consciousness is a really funny word, and as we learn more about how the brain works, I think it is going to become even more difficult to give a succinct definition. Generally speaking, it has been agreed that consciousness is the ability to form a subjective view of the world, to have a unique view.”

She says that in the future, we will probably be appalled at the way we treat animals now as we learn more about their brains and consciousness, but she’s also interested in the idea plants can be “conscious”. In her book, she writes about plants using electrical signals to send information around their “bodies”, and responding to their environments. She gives the example of a caterpillar eating a leaf: “The plant will start to produce a chemical to repel the insect. Even if the plant is simply played an audio file of a munching caterpillar, it will respond, indicating that plants can hear.”

“So what do we eat?” says Critchlow. “Where do we draw a line? It’s starting to force us into this position where we have to ask ourselves maybe we don’t have this sovereignty over nature that we’ve always led ourselves to believe.”

Can AI be considered to be conscious? “As we discover more about the neural networks and connections in the brain that allow us to learn and remember and form a subjective view of the world, we are starting to be able to use that information and emulate it in artificial intelligence systems. They can learn and remember without being coded to process information in the way we have told them to. So using that definition, yes, we’ll be able to develop AI that has some semblance of consciousness. But it’s a funny word. It’s almost as if humans have developed this word to make ourselves seem more important than we are.”

Should robots have rights? She thinks for a while. “I’m not sure what the point would be. I think it’s going to be interesting to see how it all develops, to see the implications as AI evolves, what kind of rights should they have and what kind of limits should they have. I don’t think there’s a set answer. We don’t have a full handle on AI.”

Consciousness by Hannah Critchlow.

She caused a bit of a stir at the Hay festival in 2015 when she said it would be possible to download someone’s brain on to a computer – it seems less remarkable now that there are companies working on this, although in the face of much scepticism from the neuroscience community. “It’s a possibility, but I think there are a lot of things that are possibilities,” she says. “There are scientists that are working on taking a snapshot of the connectome, the 100tn or so connections in the brain, mapping those connections on a computer. So does that mean you can upload your brain if you have a snapshot of it at one particular time? Or if we have enough information could you then run simulations to see how the brain would evolve? We probably will get there at some point in the future.”

Critchlow says she’s not keen on the idea for herself, although she is planning to donate her body to scientific research. “I don’t think it would be me. A simulation of me. This would just be a copy of me, of my connections.” Besides, she says, she thinks her simulation might still miss tangible, physical pleasures that come from being attached to a body. Such as gnocchi. It makes me laugh because it’s so specific, and not what I was expecting her to say – wine, perhaps, or running. But it’s lunchtime and she’s hungry (and she really loves gnocchi). Or at least her hypothalamus is telling her she is.

[funnythingshere0-blog]

Neuroscientist Hannah Critchlow: 'Consciousness is a really funny word'

New Post has been published on http://funnythingshere.xyz/neuroscientist-hannah-critchlow-consciousness-is-a-really-funny-word/

Neuroscientist Hannah Critchlow: 'Consciousness is a really funny word'

On any given day in Cambridge, you may see numerous people jogging along the towpaths, and it’s not unreasonable to assume neuroscientists may be over-represented. “You see so many,” says Hannah Critchlow, a neuroscientist who likes to jog along the river. Physical fitness may be a secondary consideration, she says; what they are really trying to do is ramp up their neurogenesis – the birth of new nerve cells in the brain.

“People used to think that once you were born, that was it, that was all the nerve cells you have throughout life,” she says. “Then, 20 years ago, Rusty Gage [a professor at the Salk Institute in California] discovered that you get neurogenesis in adults, in a region of the brain called the hippocampus, which is involved in learning and memory. It turns out that jogging is really good at increasing neurogenesis in the brain.” And so, Critchlow says with a laugh, she likes to run. “I go: ‘This is wonderful, my neurogenesis is really happy with me at the moment.’”

We are sitting in her study at Magdalene College, Cambridge, where Critchlow is outreach fellow, tasked with public engagement. Once described by the Telegraph as “a sort of female Brian Cox”, she has given numerous talks, been a presenter on Tomorrow’s World Live, the interactive version of the BBC science show, appeared on TV, radio and podcasts and was named as a top 100 scientist for her work in science communication. She has just written a book on consciousness – part of the Ladybird Expert series aimed at adults, a brief but mindbending introduction to the brain and the idea of consciousness, taking in philosophy, famous neuroscience breakthroughs and brain facts.

Critchlow speaking at the Hay festival in 2016. Photograph: Alamy Stock Photo

“Our brain contains around 86bn nerve cells,” she writes. “To scale it down to something more palatable, if we took a dot of brain tissue the size of a sugar grain, it would contain roughly 10,000 nerve cells. Even more incredible: each of these nerve cells connects to around 10,000 others, forming the most densely packed and complicated circuit board imaginable.”

She also writes about smart drugs, such as those prescribed for ADHD, that increase focus (she has said in the past that they are a problem among both students and academic staff). Does she still think that? Yes, she says. “First of all, people are buying these over the internet so they have no idea what they’re actually getting. And they’re taking them at doses that aren’t maybe optimum for that person’s chemistry. We don’t know what the long-term effects are, particularly on the developing brain. The brain is undergoing a huge amount of plasticity until the mid-20s, so I think it’s a terrible idea to take any kind of mind-altering drug until you’ve passed your mid-20s. I think it’s a really worrying issue and a potential timebomb.”

She has started writing another book, based around the idea of free will. “There’s quite a lot of evidence to show it’s largely an illusion,” she says. “There’s a huge amount that seems to be hardwired into us and predetermined. You are born with a particular brain and that shapes your perception, shapes what you are hardwired to find rewarding. You are brought up in a particular environment and that reinforces what you are born with.” What does that mean for decision-making? “If your perception of the world is based on prior experiences and hardwiring, then that shapes your reality, which goes on to affect your decision-making. A large amount of your decision-making taps into your reward system in your brain. Although there is scope to change certain behaviours, you have to make a real conscious effort in order to break habits and change how your reward system affects your motivation. I think neuroscience can be very empowering in that, in making me go for a jog rather than reach for a bottle of shiraz.”

Surely there is a danger in being a neuroscientist, running injuries aside, that you can start to view people as simply a bunch of chemical and electrical reactions. “I haven’t got to that point, yet,” says Critchlow. “I hope I never do.” But isn’t that what neuroscience is basically saying we are? “Yeah, but it’s an awe-inspiring, highly sophisticated, highly dynamic system that is incredible and beautiful in its intricacy. There are some gorgeous videos of new connections taking place in living, moving mammals as they’re moving around, going around a maze, for example. It’s incredible that our brain, as we are navigating the space around us – or in this case, the mouse – changes shape. You can see consciousness happen, new connections forming.”

Demystifying the brain’s connections doesn’t reduce its magic, she says. “We each have such unique takes on the world. And then – and this is where I think it gets really interesting – our brains have these flaws, which means we make assumptions or we get things a little bit wrong, so our reality is not quite right. If we then discuss reality with another person who has another perspective, then we’re more likely to get a common understanding and appreciation of the world and it will become closer to reality.” But aren’t we living in polarised times, where nuance is out and it is impossible to find common ground with someone who believes the exact opposite? She thinks that ideas sharing through social-media technology is in its “toddler-tantrum” infancy and hopes we will be able to “exchange ideas in a more positive way”.

“Hopefully the educational system will catch up and help people to evaluate whether they trust a particular source or not. That’s a skill that needs to be fostered from a young age.”

The thing Critchlow most remembers about science lessons at school was being sent out of class for talking. She thought she might want to study medicine, but while working as a nursing assistant at a psychiatric hospital, she became fascinated by how the brain worked. “The medication and therapies on offer weren’t really doing anything other than making a lot of the patients almost catatonic. People would lose their cognitive capacity and potential to have joy from life.”

After a degree in biology at Brunel University, she studied for a PhD at Cambridge. Her experience informs her work now as outreach fellow – she goes to state secondary schools and colleges to give talks about neuroscience, but also about the possibility of higher education and the Oxbridge admissions process. For state school intake, Cambridge is ranked fifth worst (Oxford is fourth). While Critchlow can’t talk about the prejudice that may lurk within the admissions system, she says perception from students is one problem. “I went to a state school and when I was thinking of applying to university, there was no chance that I’d have thought about applying to Cambridge. I came here for my PhD but that was because, at that point, I’d gained enough confidence. It’s maybe the perception of Oxford and Cambridge being elite universities and maybe students not having the confidence to apply, or not knowing much about the application process.”

Critchlow at Magdalene College, Cambridge, where she is a fellow. Photograph: Martin Pope for the Guardian

There is still a gender gap in science. While women make up 42% of the scientific workforce, less than a quarter of professors are female. “I think lots of women are drawn to science but there’s quite a steep drop-off rate,” says Critchlow. Much of this is to do with the lifestyle and, often, its incompatibility with starting a family. “A lot of grants run for two or three years and you’ve got to get results, so if a woman is off for a year on maternity leave, that has quite a big impact.”

Is sexism a problem? When she was working on her PhD, a decade or so ago, she was giving a talk and one of the professors told her he couldn’t concentrate because when she was pointing to the data, her top was riding up slightly, exposing a “really small amount of my midriff. Apparently it was too distracting and he couldn’t concentrate on any of my data. I was pretty pissed off about that. You don’t imagine a male student gets those kind of comments.” People are much more aware now, she says. “I think there is still a bit of bias, but it’s been acknowledged.”

It’s a particularly fascinating time to be a neuroscientist, she says, because society is having discussions about consciousness, artificial intelligence and what it means to be human. The question of consciousness has plagued neuroscientists and philosophers for centuries. What is Critchlow’s definition? “I think consciousness is a really funny word, and as we learn more about how the brain works, I think it is going to become even more difficult to give a succinct definition. Generally speaking, it has been agreed that consciousness is the ability to form a subjective view of the world, to have a unique view.”

She says that in the future, we will probably be appalled at the way we treat animals now as we learn more about their brains and consciousness, but she’s also interested in the idea plants can be “conscious”. In her book, she writes about plants using electrical signals to send information around their “bodies”, and responding to their environments. She gives the example of a caterpillar eating a leaf: “The plant will start to produce a chemical to repel the insect. Even if the plant is simply played an audio file of a munching caterpillar, it will respond, indicating that plants can hear.”

“So what do we eat?” says Critchlow. “Where do we draw a line? It’s starting to force us into this position where we have to ask ourselves maybe we don’t have this sovereignty over nature that we’ve always led ourselves to believe.”

Can AI be considered to be conscious? “As we discover more about the neural networks and connections in the brain that allow us to learn and remember and form a subjective view of the world, we are starting to be able to use that information and emulate it in artificial intelligence systems. They can learn and remember without being coded to process information in the way we have told them to. So using that definition, yes, we’ll be able to develop AI that has some semblance of consciousness. But it’s a funny word. It’s almost as if humans have developed this word to make ourselves seem more important than we are.”

Should robots have rights? She thinks for a while. “I’m not sure what the point would be. I think it’s going to be interesting to see how it all develops, to see the implications as AI evolves, what kind of rights should they have and what kind of limits should they have. I don’t think there’s a set answer. We don’t have a full handle on AI.”

Consciousness by Hannah Critchlow.

She caused a bit of a stir at the Hay festival in 2015 when she said it would be possible to download someone’s brain on to a computer – it seems less remarkable now that there are companies working on this, although in the face of much scepticism from the neuroscience community. “It’s a possibility, but I think there are a lot of things that are possibilities,” she says. “There are scientists that are working on taking a snapshot of the connectome, the 100tn or so connections in the brain, mapping those connections on a computer. So does that mean you can upload your brain if you have a snapshot of it at one particular time? Or if we have enough information could you then run simulations to see how the brain would evolve? We probably will get there at some point in the future.”

Critchlow says she’s not keen on the idea for herself, although she is planning to donate her body to scientific research. “I don’t think it would be me. A simulation of me. This would just be a copy of me, of my connections.” Besides, she says, she thinks her simulation might still miss tangible, physical pleasures that come from being attached to a body. Such as gnocchi. It makes me laugh because it’s so specific, and not what I was expecting her to say – wine, perhaps, or running. But it’s lunchtime and she’s hungry (and she really loves gnocchi). Or at least her hypothalamus is telling her she is.

[funnythingshere0-blog]

Neuroscientist Hannah Critchlow: 'Consciousness is a really funny word'

New Post has been published on https://funnythingshere.xyz/neuroscientist-hannah-critchlow-consciousness-is-a-really-funny-word/

Neuroscientist Hannah Critchlow: 'Consciousness is a really funny word'

On any given day in Cambridge, you may see numerous people jogging along the towpaths, and it’s not unreasonable to assume neuroscientists may be over-represented. “You see so many,” says Hannah Critchlow, a neuroscientist who likes to jog along the river. Physical fitness may be a secondary consideration, she says; what they are really trying to do is ramp up their neurogenesis – the birth of new nerve cells in the brain.

“People used to think that once you were born, that was it, that was all the nerve cells you have throughout life,” she says. “Then, 20 years ago, Rusty Gage [a professor at the Salk Institute in California] discovered that you get neurogenesis in adults, in a region of the brain called the hippocampus, which is involved in learning and memory. It turns out that jogging is really good at increasing neurogenesis in the brain.” And so, Critchlow says with a laugh, she likes to run. “I go: ‘This is wonderful, my neurogenesis is really happy with me at the moment.’”

We are sitting in her study at Magdalene College, Cambridge, where Critchlow is outreach fellow, tasked with public engagement. Once described by the Telegraph as “a sort of female Brian Cox”, she has given numerous talks, been a presenter on Tomorrow’s World Live, the interactive version of the BBC science show, appeared on TV, radio and podcasts and was named as a top 100 scientist for her work in science communication. She has just written a book on consciousness – part of the Ladybird Expert series aimed at adults, a brief but mindbending introduction to the brain and the idea of consciousness, taking in philosophy, famous neuroscience breakthroughs and brain facts.

Critchlow speaking at the Hay festival in 2016. Photograph: Alamy Stock Photo

“Our brain contains around 86bn nerve cells,” she writes. “To scale it down to something more palatable, if we took a dot of brain tissue the size of a sugar grain, it would contain roughly 10,000 nerve cells. Even more incredible: each of these nerve cells connects to around 10,000 others, forming the most densely packed and complicated circuit board imaginable.”

She also writes about smart drugs, such as those prescribed for ADHD, that increase focus (she has said in the past that they are a problem among both students and academic staff). Does she still think that? Yes, she says. “First of all, people are buying these over the internet so they have no idea what they’re actually getting. And they’re taking them at doses that aren’t maybe optimum for that person’s chemistry. We don’t know what the long-term effects are, particularly on the developing brain. The brain is undergoing a huge amount of plasticity until the mid-20s, so I think it’s a terrible idea to take any kind of mind-altering drug until you’ve passed your mid-20s. I think it’s a really worrying issue and a potential timebomb.”

She has started writing another book, based around the idea of free will. “There’s quite a lot of evidence to show it’s largely an illusion,” she says. “There’s a huge amount that seems to be hardwired into us and predetermined. You are born with a particular brain and that shapes your perception, shapes what you are hardwired to find rewarding. You are brought up in a particular environment and that reinforces what you are born with.” What does that mean for decision-making? “If your perception of the world is based on prior experiences and hardwiring, then that shapes your reality, which goes on to affect your decision-making. A large amount of your decision-making taps into your reward system in your brain. Although there is scope to change certain behaviours, you have to make a real conscious effort in order to break habits and change how your reward system affects your motivation. I think neuroscience can be very empowering in that, in making me go for a jog rather than reach for a bottle of shiraz.”

Surely there is a danger in being a neuroscientist, running injuries aside, that you can start to view people as simply a bunch of chemical and electrical reactions. “I haven’t got to that point, yet,” says Critchlow. “I hope I never do.” But isn’t that what neuroscience is basically saying we are? “Yeah, but it’s an awe-inspiring, highly sophisticated, highly dynamic system that is incredible and beautiful in its intricacy. There are some gorgeous videos of new connections taking place in living, moving mammals as they’re moving around, going around a maze, for example. It’s incredible that our brain, as we are navigating the space around us – or in this case, the mouse – changes shape. You can see consciousness happen, new connections forming.”

Demystifying the brain’s connections doesn’t reduce its magic, she says. “We each have such unique takes on the world. And then – and this is where I think it gets really interesting – our brains have these flaws, which means we make assumptions or we get things a little bit wrong, so our reality is not quite right. If we then discuss reality with another person who has another perspective, then we’re more likely to get a common understanding and appreciation of the world and it will become closer to reality.” But aren’t we living in polarised times, where nuance is out and it is impossible to find common ground with someone who believes the exact opposite? She thinks that ideas sharing through social-media technology is in its “toddler-tantrum” infancy and hopes we will be able to “exchange ideas in a more positive way”.

“Hopefully the educational system will catch up and help people to evaluate whether they trust a particular source or not. That’s a skill that needs to be fostered from a young age.”

The thing Critchlow most remembers about science lessons at school was being sent out of class for talking. She thought she might want to study medicine, but while working as a nursing assistant at a psychiatric hospital, she became fascinated by how the brain worked. “The medication and therapies on offer weren’t really doing anything other than making a lot of the patients almost catatonic. People would lose their cognitive capacity and potential to have joy from life.”

After a degree in biology at Brunel University, she studied for a PhD at Cambridge. Her experience informs her work now as outreach fellow – she goes to state secondary schools and colleges to give talks about neuroscience, but also about the possibility of higher education and the Oxbridge admissions process. For state school intake, Cambridge is ranked fifth worst (Oxford is fourth). While Critchlow can’t talk about the prejudice that may lurk within the admissions system, she says perception from students is one problem. “I went to a state school and when I was thinking of applying to university, there was no chance that I’d have thought about applying to Cambridge. I came here for my PhD but that was because, at that point, I’d gained enough confidence. It’s maybe the perception of Oxford and Cambridge being elite universities and maybe students not having the confidence to apply, or not knowing much about the application process.”

Critchlow at Magdalene College, Cambridge, where she is a fellow. Photograph: Martin Pope for the Guardian

There is still a gender gap in science. While women make up 42% of the scientific workforce, less than a quarter of professors are female. “I think lots of women are drawn to science but there’s quite a steep drop-off rate,” says Critchlow. Much of this is to do with the lifestyle and, often, its incompatibility with starting a family. “A lot of grants run for two or three years and you’ve got to get results, so if a woman is off for a year on maternity leave, that has quite a big impact.”

Is sexism a problem? When she was working on her PhD, a decade or so ago, she was giving a talk and one of the professors told her he couldn’t concentrate because when she was pointing to the data, her top was riding up slightly, exposing a “really small amount of my midriff. Apparently it was too distracting and he couldn’t concentrate on any of my data. I was pretty pissed off about that. You don’t imagine a male student gets those kind of comments.” People are much more aware now, she says. “I think there is still a bit of bias, but it’s been acknowledged.”

It’s a particularly fascinating time to be a neuroscientist, she says, because society is having discussions about consciousness, artificial intelligence and what it means to be human. The question of consciousness has plagued neuroscientists and philosophers for centuries. What is Critchlow’s definition? “I think consciousness is a really funny word, and as we learn more about how the brain works, I think it is going to become even more difficult to give a succinct definition. Generally speaking, it has been agreed that consciousness is the ability to form a subjective view of the world, to have a unique view.”

She says that in the future, we will probably be appalled at the way we treat animals now as we learn more about their brains and consciousness, but she’s also interested in the idea plants can be “conscious”. In her book, she writes about plants using electrical signals to send information around their “bodies”, and responding to their environments. She gives the example of a caterpillar eating a leaf: “The plant will start to produce a chemical to repel the insect. Even if the plant is simply played an audio file of a munching caterpillar, it will respond, indicating that plants can hear.”

“So what do we eat?” says Critchlow. “Where do we draw a line? It’s starting to force us into this position where we have to ask ourselves maybe we don’t have this sovereignty over nature that we’ve always led ourselves to believe.”

Can AI be considered to be conscious? “As we discover more about the neural networks and connections in the brain that allow us to learn and remember and form a subjective view of the world, we are starting to be able to use that information and emulate it in artificial intelligence systems. They can learn and remember without being coded to process information in the way we have told them to. So using that definition, yes, we’ll be able to develop AI that has some semblance of consciousness. But it’s a funny word. It’s almost as if humans have developed this word to make ourselves seem more important than we are.”

Should robots have rights? She thinks for a while. “I’m not sure what the point would be. I think it’s going to be interesting to see how it all develops, to see the implications as AI evolves, what kind of rights should they have and what kind of limits should they have. I don’t think there’s a set answer. We don’t have a full handle on AI.”

Consciousness by Hannah Critchlow.

She caused a bit of a stir at the Hay festival in 2015 when she said it would be possible to download someone’s brain on to a computer – it seems less remarkable now that there are companies working on this, although in the face of much scepticism from the neuroscience community. “It’s a possibility, but I think there are a lot of things that are possibilities,” she says. “There are scientists that are working on taking a snapshot of the connectome, the 100tn or so connections in the brain, mapping those connections on a computer. So does that mean you can upload your brain if you have a snapshot of it at one particular time? Or if we have enough information could you then run simulations to see how the brain would evolve? We probably will get there at some point in the future.”

Critchlow says she’s not keen on the idea for herself, although she is planning to donate her body to scientific research. “I don’t think it would be me. A simulation of me. This would just be a copy of me, of my connections.” Besides, she says, she thinks her simulation might still miss tangible, physical pleasures that come from being attached to a body. Such as gnocchi. It makes me laugh because it’s so specific, and not what I was expecting her to say – wine, perhaps, or running. But it’s lunchtime and she’s hungry (and she really loves gnocchi). Or at least her hypothalamus is telling her she is.

[funnythingshere0-blog]

Neuroscientist Hannah Critchlow: 'Consciousness is a really funny word'

New Post has been published on https://funnythingshere.xyz/neuroscientist-hannah-critchlow-consciousness-is-a-really-funny-word/

Neuroscientist Hannah Critchlow: 'Consciousness is a really funny word'

On any given day in Cambridge, you may see numerous people jogging along the towpaths, and it’s not unreasonable to assume neuroscientists may be over-represented. “You see so many,” says Hannah Critchlow, a neuroscientist who likes to jog along the river. Physical fitness may be a secondary consideration, she says; what they are really trying to do is ramp up their neurogenesis – the birth of new nerve cells in the brain.

“People used to think that once you were born, that was it, that was all the nerve cells you have throughout life,” she says. “Then, 20 years ago, Rusty Gage [a professor at the Salk Institute in California] discovered that you get neurogenesis in adults, in a region of the brain called the hippocampus, which is involved in learning and memory. It turns out that jogging is really good at increasing neurogenesis in the brain.” And so, Critchlow says with a laugh, she likes to run. “I go: ‘This is wonderful, my neurogenesis is really happy with me at the moment.’”

We are sitting in her study at Magdalene College, Cambridge, where Critchlow is outreach fellow, tasked with public engagement. Once described by the Telegraph as “a sort of female Brian Cox”, she has given numerous talks, been a presenter on Tomorrow’s World Live, the interactive version of the BBC science show, appeared on TV, radio and podcasts and was named as a top 100 scientist for her work in science communication. She has just written a book on consciousness – part of the Ladybird Expert series aimed at adults, a brief but mindbending introduction to the brain and the idea of consciousness, taking in philosophy, famous neuroscience breakthroughs and brain facts.

Critchlow speaking at the Hay festival in 2016. Photograph: Alamy Stock Photo

“Our brain contains around 86bn nerve cells,” she writes. “To scale it down to something more palatable, if we took a dot of brain tissue the size of a sugar grain, it would contain roughly 10,000 nerve cells. Even more incredible: each of these nerve cells connects to around 10,000 others, forming the most densely packed and complicated circuit board imaginable.”

She also writes about smart drugs, such as those prescribed for ADHD, that increase focus (she has said in the past that they are a problem among both students and academic staff). Does she still think that? Yes, she says. “First of all, people are buying these over the internet so they have no idea what they’re actually getting. And they’re taking them at doses that aren’t maybe optimum for that person’s chemistry. We don’t know what the long-term effects are, particularly on the developing brain. The brain is undergoing a huge amount of plasticity until the mid-20s, so I think it’s a terrible idea to take any kind of mind-altering drug until you’ve passed your mid-20s. I think it’s a really worrying issue and a potential timebomb.”

She has started writing another book, based around the idea of free will. “There’s quite a lot of evidence to show it’s largely an illusion,” she says. “There’s a huge amount that seems to be hardwired into us and predetermined. You are born with a particular brain and that shapes your perception, shapes what you are hardwired to find rewarding. You are brought up in a particular environment and that reinforces what you are born with.” What does that mean for decision-making? “If your perception of the world is based on prior experiences and hardwiring, then that shapes your reality, which goes on to affect your decision-making. A large amount of your decision-making taps into your reward system in your brain. Although there is scope to change certain behaviours, you have to make a real conscious effort in order to break habits and change how your reward system affects your motivation. I think neuroscience can be very empowering in that, in making me go for a jog rather than reach for a bottle of shiraz.”

Surely there is a danger in being a neuroscientist, running injuries aside, that you can start to view people as simply a bunch of chemical and electrical reactions. “I haven’t got to that point, yet,” says Critchlow. “I hope I never do.” But isn’t that what neuroscience is basically saying we are? “Yeah, but it’s an awe-inspiring, highly sophisticated, highly dynamic system that is incredible and beautiful in its intricacy. There are some gorgeous videos of new connections taking place in living, moving mammals as they’re moving around, going around a maze, for example. It’s incredible that our brain, as we are navigating the space around us – or in this case, the mouse – changes shape. You can see consciousness happen, new connections forming.”

Demystifying the brain’s connections doesn’t reduce its magic, she says. “We each have such unique takes on the world. And then – and this is where I think it gets really interesting – our brains have these flaws, which means we make assumptions or we get things a little bit wrong, so our reality is not quite right. If we then discuss reality with another person who has another perspective, then we’re more likely to get a common understanding and appreciation of the world and it will become closer to reality.” But aren’t we living in polarised times, where nuance is out and it is impossible to find common ground with someone who believes the exact opposite? She thinks that ideas sharing through social-media technology is in its “toddler-tantrum” infancy and hopes we will be able to “exchange ideas in a more positive way”.

“Hopefully the educational system will catch up and help people to evaluate whether they trust a particular source or not. That’s a skill that needs to be fostered from a young age.”

The thing Critchlow most remembers about science lessons at school was being sent out of class for talking. She thought she might want to study medicine, but while working as a nursing assistant at a psychiatric hospital, she became fascinated by how the brain worked. “The medication and therapies on offer weren’t really doing anything other than making a lot of the patients almost catatonic. People would lose their cognitive capacity and potential to have joy from life.”

After a degree in biology at Brunel University, she studied for a PhD at Cambridge. Her experience informs her work now as outreach fellow – she goes to state secondary schools and colleges to give talks about neuroscience, but also about the possibility of higher education and the Oxbridge admissions process. For state school intake, Cambridge is ranked fifth worst (Oxford is fourth). While Critchlow can’t talk about the prejudice that may lurk within the admissions system, she says perception from students is one problem. “I went to a state school and when I was thinking of applying to university, there was no chance that I’d have thought about applying to Cambridge. I came here for my PhD but that was because, at that point, I’d gained enough confidence. It’s maybe the perception of Oxford and Cambridge being elite universities and maybe students not having the confidence to apply, or not knowing much about the application process.”

Critchlow at Magdalene College, Cambridge, where she is a fellow. Photograph: Martin Pope for the Guardian

There is still a gender gap in science. While women make up 42% of the scientific workforce, less than a quarter of professors are female. “I think lots of women are drawn to science but there’s quite a steep drop-off rate,” says Critchlow. Much of this is to do with the lifestyle and, often, its incompatibility with starting a family. “A lot of grants run for two or three years and you’ve got to get results, so if a woman is off for a year on maternity leave, that has quite a big impact.”

Is sexism a problem? When she was working on her PhD, a decade or so ago, she was giving a talk and one of the professors told her he couldn’t concentrate because when she was pointing to the data, her top was riding up slightly, exposing a “really small amount of my midriff. Apparently it was too distracting and he couldn’t concentrate on any of my data. I was pretty pissed off about that. You don’t imagine a male student gets those kind of comments.” People are much more aware now, she says. “I think there is still a bit of bias, but it’s been acknowledged.”

It’s a particularly fascinating time to be a neuroscientist, she says, because society is having discussions about consciousness, artificial intelligence and what it means to be human. The question of consciousness has plagued neuroscientists and philosophers for centuries. What is Critchlow’s definition? “I think consciousness is a really funny word, and as we learn more about how the brain works, I think it is going to become even more difficult to give a succinct definition. Generally speaking, it has been agreed that consciousness is the ability to form a subjective view of the world, to have a unique view.”

She says that in the future, we will probably be appalled at the way we treat animals now as we learn more about their brains and consciousness, but she’s also interested in the idea plants can be “conscious”. In her book, she writes about plants using electrical signals to send information around their “bodies”, and responding to their environments. She gives the example of a caterpillar eating a leaf: “The plant will start to produce a chemical to repel the insect. Even if the plant is simply played an audio file of a munching caterpillar, it will respond, indicating that plants can hear.”

“So what do we eat?” says Critchlow. “Where do we draw a line? It’s starting to force us into this position where we have to ask ourselves maybe we don’t have this sovereignty over nature that we’ve always led ourselves to believe.”

Can AI be considered to be conscious? “As we discover more about the neural networks and connections in the brain that allow us to learn and remember and form a subjective view of the world, we are starting to be able to use that information and emulate it in artificial intelligence systems. They can learn and remember without being coded to process information in the way we have told them to. So using that definition, yes, we’ll be able to develop AI that has some semblance of consciousness. But it’s a funny word. It’s almost as if humans have developed this word to make ourselves seem more important than we are.”

Should robots have rights? She thinks for a while. “I’m not sure what the point would be. I think it’s going to be interesting to see how it all develops, to see the implications as AI evolves, what kind of rights should they have and what kind of limits should they have. I don’t think there’s a set answer. We don’t have a full handle on AI.”

Consciousness by Hannah Critchlow.

She caused a bit of a stir at the Hay festival in 2015 when she said it would be possible to download someone’s brain on to a computer – it seems less remarkable now that there are companies working on this, although in the face of much scepticism from the neuroscience community. “It’s a possibility, but I think there are a lot of things that are possibilities,” she says. “There are scientists that are working on taking a snapshot of the connectome, the 100tn or so connections in the brain, mapping those connections on a computer. So does that mean you can upload your brain if you have a snapshot of it at one particular time? Or if we have enough information could you then run simulations to see how the brain would evolve? We probably will get there at some point in the future.”

Critchlow says she’s not keen on the idea for herself, although she is planning to donate her body to scientific research. “I don’t think it would be me. A simulation of me. This would just be a copy of me, of my connections.” Besides, she says, she thinks her simulation might still miss tangible, physical pleasures that come from being attached to a body. Such as gnocchi. It makes me laugh because it’s so specific, and not what I was expecting her to say – wine, perhaps, or running. But it’s lunchtime and she’s hungry (and she really loves gnocchi). Or at least her hypothalamus is telling her she is.

[funnythingshere0-blog]

Neuroscientist Hannah Critchlow: 'Consciousness is a really funny word'

New Post has been published on https://funnythingshere.xyz/neuroscientist-hannah-critchlow-consciousness-is-a-really-funny-word/

Neuroscientist Hannah Critchlow: 'Consciousness is a really funny word'

On any given day in Cambridge, you may see numerous people jogging along the towpaths, and it’s not unreasonable to assume neuroscientists may be over-represented. “You see so many,” says Hannah Critchlow, a neuroscientist who likes to jog along the river. Physical fitness may be a secondary consideration, she says; what they are really trying to do is ramp up their neurogenesis – the birth of new nerve cells in the brain.

“People used to think that once you were born, that was it, that was all the nerve cells you have throughout life,” she says. “Then, 20 years ago, Rusty Gage [a professor at the Salk Institute in California] discovered that you get neurogenesis in adults, in a region of the brain called the hippocampus, which is involved in learning and memory. It turns out that jogging is really good at increasing neurogenesis in the brain.” And so, Critchlow says with a laugh, she likes to run. “I go: ‘This is wonderful, my neurogenesis is really happy with me at the moment.’”

We are sitting in her study at Magdalene College, Cambridge, where Critchlow is outreach fellow, tasked with public engagement. Once described by the Telegraph as “a sort of female Brian Cox”, she has given numerous talks, been a presenter on Tomorrow’s World Live, the interactive version of the BBC science show, appeared on TV, radio and podcasts and was named as a top 100 scientist for her work in science communication. She has just written a book on consciousness – part of the Ladybird Expert series aimed at adults, a brief but mindbending introduction to the brain and the idea of consciousness, taking in philosophy, famous neuroscience breakthroughs and brain facts.

Critchlow speaking at the Hay festival in 2016. Photograph: Alamy Stock Photo

“Our brain contains around 86bn nerve cells,” she writes. “To scale it down to something more palatable, if we took a dot of brain tissue the size of a sugar grain, it would contain roughly 10,000 nerve cells. Even more incredible: each of these nerve cells connects to around 10,000 others, forming the most densely packed and complicated circuit board imaginable.”

She also writes about smart drugs, such as those prescribed for ADHD, that increase focus (she has said in the past that they are a problem among both students and academic staff). Does she still think that? Yes, she says. “First of all, people are buying these over the internet so they have no idea what they’re actually getting. And they’re taking them at doses that aren’t maybe optimum for that person’s chemistry. We don’t know what the long-term effects are, particularly on the developing brain. The brain is undergoing a huge amount of plasticity until the mid-20s, so I think it’s a terrible idea to take any kind of mind-altering drug until you’ve passed your mid-20s. I think it’s a really worrying issue and a potential timebomb.”

She has started writing another book, based around the idea of free will. “There’s quite a lot of evidence to show it’s largely an illusion,” she says. “There’s a huge amount that seems to be hardwired into us and predetermined. You are born with a particular brain and that shapes your perception, shapes what you are hardwired to find rewarding. You are brought up in a particular environment and that reinforces what you are born with.” What does that mean for decision-making? “If your perception of the world is based on prior experiences and hardwiring, then that shapes your reality, which goes on to affect your decision-making. A large amount of your decision-making taps into your reward system in your brain. Although there is scope to change certain behaviours, you have to make a real conscious effort in order to break habits and change how your reward system affects your motivation. I think neuroscience can be very empowering in that, in making me go for a jog rather than reach for a bottle of shiraz.”

Surely there is a danger in being a neuroscientist, running injuries aside, that you can start to view people as simply a bunch of chemical and electrical reactions. “I haven’t got to that point, yet,” says Critchlow. “I hope I never do.” But isn’t that what neuroscience is basically saying we are? “Yeah, but it’s an awe-inspiring, highly sophisticated, highly dynamic system that is incredible and beautiful in its intricacy. There are some gorgeous videos of new connections taking place in living, moving mammals as they’re moving around, going around a maze, for example. It’s incredible that our brain, as we are navigating the space around us – or in this case, the mouse – changes shape. You can see consciousness happen, new connections forming.”

Demystifying the brain’s connections doesn’t reduce its magic, she says. “We each have such unique takes on the world. And then – and this is where I think it gets really interesting – our brains have these flaws, which means we make assumptions or we get things a little bit wrong, so our reality is not quite right. If we then discuss reality with another person who has another perspective, then we’re more likely to get a common understanding and appreciation of the world and it will become closer to reality.” But aren’t we living in polarised times, where nuance is out and it is impossible to find common ground with someone who believes the exact opposite? She thinks that ideas sharing through social-media technology is in its “toddler-tantrum” infancy and hopes we will be able to “exchange ideas in a more positive way”.

“Hopefully the educational system will catch up and help people to evaluate whether they trust a particular source or not. That’s a skill that needs to be fostered from a young age.”

The thing Critchlow most remembers about science lessons at school was being sent out of class for talking. She thought she might want to study medicine, but while working as a nursing assistant at a psychiatric hospital, she became fascinated by how the brain worked. “The medication and therapies on offer weren’t really doing anything other than making a lot of the patients almost catatonic. People would lose their cognitive capacity and potential to have joy from life.”

After a degree in biology at Brunel University, she studied for a PhD at Cambridge. Her experience informs her work now as outreach fellow – she goes to state secondary schools and colleges to give talks about neuroscience, but also about the possibility of higher education and the Oxbridge admissions process. For state school intake, Cambridge is ranked fifth worst (Oxford is fourth). While Critchlow can’t talk about the prejudice that may lurk within the admissions system, she says perception from students is one problem. “I went to a state school and when I was thinking of applying to university, there was no chance that I’d have thought about applying to Cambridge. I came here for my PhD but that was because, at that point, I’d gained enough confidence. It’s maybe the perception of Oxford and Cambridge being elite universities and maybe students not having the confidence to apply, or not knowing much about the application process.”

Critchlow at Magdalene College, Cambridge, where she is a fellow. Photograph: Martin Pope for the Guardian

There is still a gender gap in science. While women make up 42% of the scientific workforce, less than a quarter of professors are female. “I think lots of women are drawn to science but there’s quite a steep drop-off rate,” says Critchlow. Much of this is to do with the lifestyle and, often, its incompatibility with starting a family. “A lot of grants run for two or three years and you’ve got to get results, so if a woman is off for a year on maternity leave, that has quite a big impact.”

Is sexism a problem? When she was working on her PhD, a decade or so ago, she was giving a talk and one of the professors told her he couldn’t concentrate because when she was pointing to the data, her top was riding up slightly, exposing a “really small amount of my midriff. Apparently it was too distracting and he couldn’t concentrate on any of my data. I was pretty pissed off about that. You don’t imagine a male student gets those kind of comments.” People are much more aware now, she says. “I think there is still a bit of bias, but it’s been acknowledged.”

It’s a particularly fascinating time to be a neuroscientist, she says, because society is having discussions about consciousness, artificial intelligence and what it means to be human. The question of consciousness has plagued neuroscientists and philosophers for centuries. What is Critchlow’s definition? “I think consciousness is a really funny word, and as we learn more about how the brain works, I think it is going to become even more difficult to give a succinct definition. Generally speaking, it has been agreed that consciousness is the ability to form a subjective view of the world, to have a unique view.”

She says that in the future, we will probably be appalled at the way we treat animals now as we learn more about their brains and consciousness, but she’s also interested in the idea plants can be “conscious”. In her book, she writes about plants using electrical signals to send information around their “bodies”, and responding to their environments. She gives the example of a caterpillar eating a leaf: “The plant will start to produce a chemical to repel the insect. Even if the plant is simply played an audio file of a munching caterpillar, it will respond, indicating that plants can hear.”

“So what do we eat?” says Critchlow. “Where do we draw a line? It’s starting to force us into this position where we have to ask ourselves maybe we don’t have this sovereignty over nature that we’ve always led ourselves to believe.”

Can AI be considered to be conscious? “As we discover more about the neural networks and connections in the brain that allow us to learn and remember and form a subjective view of the world, we are starting to be able to use that information and emulate it in artificial intelligence systems. They can learn and remember without being coded to process information in the way we have told them to. So using that definition, yes, we’ll be able to develop AI that has some semblance of consciousness. But it’s a funny word. It’s almost as if humans have developed this word to make ourselves seem more important than we are.”

Should robots have rights? She thinks for a while. “I’m not sure what the point would be. I think it’s going to be interesting to see how it all develops, to see the implications as AI evolves, what kind of rights should they have and what kind of limits should they have. I don’t think there’s a set answer. We don’t have a full handle on AI.”

Consciousness by Hannah Critchlow.

She caused a bit of a stir at the Hay festival in 2015 when she said it would be possible to download someone’s brain on to a computer – it seems less remarkable now that there are companies working on this, although in the face of much scepticism from the neuroscience community. “It’s a possibility, but I think there are a lot of things that are possibilities,” she says. “There are scientists that are working on taking a snapshot of the connectome, the 100tn or so connections in the brain, mapping those connections on a computer. So does that mean you can upload your brain if you have a snapshot of it at one particular time? Or if we have enough information could you then run simulations to see how the brain would evolve? We probably will get there at some point in the future.”

Critchlow says she’s not keen on the idea for herself, although she is planning to donate her body to scientific research. “I don’t think it would be me. A simulation of me. This would just be a copy of me, of my connections.” Besides, she says, she thinks her simulation might still miss tangible, physical pleasures that come from being attached to a body. Such as gnocchi. It makes me laugh because it’s so specific, and not what I was expecting her to say – wine, perhaps, or running. But it’s lunchtime and she’s hungry (and she really loves gnocchi). Or at least her hypothalamus is telling her she is.

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Neuroscientist Hannah Critchlow: 'Consciousness is a really funny word'

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Neuroscientist Hannah Critchlow: 'Consciousness is a really funny word'

On any given day in Cambridge, you may see numerous people jogging along the towpaths, and it’s not unreasonable to assume neuroscientists may be over-represented. “You see so many,” says Hannah Critchlow, a neuroscientist who likes to jog along the river. Physical fitness may be a secondary consideration, she says; what they are really trying to do is ramp up their neurogenesis – the birth of new nerve cells in the brain.

“People used to think that once you were born, that was it, that was all the nerve cells you have throughout life,” she says. “Then, 20 years ago, Rusty Gage [a professor at the Salk Institute in California] discovered that you get neurogenesis in adults, in a region of the brain called the hippocampus, which is involved in learning and memory. It turns out that jogging is really good at increasing neurogenesis in the brain.” And so, Critchlow says with a laugh, she likes to run. “I go: ‘This is wonderful, my neurogenesis is really happy with me at the moment.’”

We are sitting in her study at Magdalene College, Cambridge, where Critchlow is outreach fellow, tasked with public engagement. Once described by the Telegraph as “a sort of female Brian Cox”, she has given numerous talks, been a presenter on Tomorrow’s World Live, the interactive version of the BBC science show, appeared on TV, radio and podcasts and was named as a top 100 scientist for her work in science communication. She has just written a book on consciousness – part of the Ladybird Expert series aimed at adults, a brief but mindbending introduction to the brain and the idea of consciousness, taking in philosophy, famous neuroscience breakthroughs and brain facts.

Critchlow speaking at the Hay festival in 2016. Photograph: Alamy Stock Photo

“Our brain contains around 86bn nerve cells,” she writes. “To scale it down to something more palatable, if we took a dot of brain tissue the size of a sugar grain, it would contain roughly 10,000 nerve cells. Even more incredible: each of these nerve cells connects to around 10,000 others, forming the most densely packed and complicated circuit board imaginable.”

She also writes about smart drugs, such as those prescribed for ADHD, that increase focus (she has said in the past that they are a problem among both students and academic staff). Does she still think that? Yes, she says. “First of all, people are buying these over the internet so they have no idea what they’re actually getting. And they’re taking them at doses that aren’t maybe optimum for that person’s chemistry. We don’t know what the long-term effects are, particularly on the developing brain. The brain is undergoing a huge amount of plasticity until the mid-20s, so I think it’s a terrible idea to take any kind of mind-altering drug until you’ve passed your mid-20s. I think it’s a really worrying issue and a potential timebomb.”

She has started writing another book, based around the idea of free will. “There’s quite a lot of evidence to show it’s largely an illusion,” she says. “There’s a huge amount that seems to be hardwired into us and predetermined. You are born with a particular brain and that shapes your perception, shapes what you are hardwired to find rewarding. You are brought up in a particular environment and that reinforces what you are born with.” What does that mean for decision-making? “If your perception of the world is based on prior experiences and hardwiring, then that shapes your reality, which goes on to affect your decision-making. A large amount of your decision-making taps into your reward system in your brain. Although there is scope to change certain behaviours, you have to make a real conscious effort in order to break habits and change how your reward system affects your motivation. I think neuroscience can be very empowering in that, in making me go for a jog rather than reach for a bottle of shiraz.”

Surely there is a danger in being a neuroscientist, running injuries aside, that you can start to view people as simply a bunch of chemical and electrical reactions. “I haven’t got to that point, yet,” says Critchlow. “I hope I never do.” But isn’t that what neuroscience is basically saying we are? “Yeah, but it’s an awe-inspiring, highly sophisticated, highly dynamic system that is incredible and beautiful in its intricacy. There are some gorgeous videos of new connections taking place in living, moving mammals as they’re moving around, going around a maze, for example. It’s incredible that our brain, as we are navigating the space around us – or in this case, the mouse – changes shape. You can see consciousness happen, new connections forming.”

Demystifying the brain’s connections doesn’t reduce its magic, she says. “We each have such unique takes on the world. And then – and this is where I think it gets really interesting – our brains have these flaws, which means we make assumptions or we get things a little bit wrong, so our reality is not quite right. If we then discuss reality with another person who has another perspective, then we’re more likely to get a common understanding and appreciation of the world and it will become closer to reality.” But aren’t we living in polarised times, where nuance is out and it is impossible to find common ground with someone who believes the exact opposite? She thinks that ideas sharing through social-media technology is in its “toddler-tantrum” infancy and hopes we will be able to “exchange ideas in a more positive way”.

“Hopefully the educational system will catch up and help people to evaluate whether they trust a particular source or not. That’s a skill that needs to be fostered from a young age.”

The thing Critchlow most remembers about science lessons at school was being sent out of class for talking. She thought she might want to study medicine, but while working as a nursing assistant at a psychiatric hospital, she became fascinated by how the brain worked. “The medication and therapies on offer weren’t really doing anything other than making a lot of the patients almost catatonic. People would lose their cognitive capacity and potential to have joy from life.”

After a degree in biology at Brunel University, she studied for a PhD at Cambridge. Her experience informs her work now as outreach fellow – she goes to state secondary schools and colleges to give talks about neuroscience, but also about the possibility of higher education and the Oxbridge admissions process. For state school intake, Cambridge is ranked fifth worst (Oxford is fourth). While Critchlow can’t talk about the prejudice that may lurk within the admissions system, she says perception from students is one problem. “I went to a state school and when I was thinking of applying to university, there was no chance that I’d have thought about applying to Cambridge. I came here for my PhD but that was because, at that point, I’d gained enough confidence. It’s maybe the perception of Oxford and Cambridge being elite universities and maybe students not having the confidence to apply, or not knowing much about the application process.”

Critchlow at Magdalene College, Cambridge, where she is a fellow. Photograph: Martin Pope for the Guardian

There is still a gender gap in science. While women make up 42% of the scientific workforce, less than a quarter of professors are female. “I think lots of women are drawn to science but there’s quite a steep drop-off rate,” says Critchlow. Much of this is to do with the lifestyle and, often, its incompatibility with starting a family. “A lot of grants run for two or three years and you’ve got to get results, so if a woman is off for a year on maternity leave, that has quite a big impact.”

Is sexism a problem? When she was working on her PhD, a decade or so ago, she was giving a talk and one of the professors told her he couldn’t concentrate because when she was pointing to the data, her top was riding up slightly, exposing a “really small amount of my midriff. Apparently it was too distracting and he couldn’t concentrate on any of my data. I was pretty pissed off about that. You don’t imagine a male student gets those kind of comments.” People are much more aware now, she says. “I think there is still a bit of bias, but it’s been acknowledged.”

It’s a particularly fascinating time to be a neuroscientist, she says, because society is having discussions about consciousness, artificial intelligence and what it means to be human. The question of consciousness has plagued neuroscientists and philosophers for centuries. What is Critchlow’s definition? “I think consciousness is a really funny word, and as we learn more about how the brain works, I think it is going to become even more difficult to give a succinct definition. Generally speaking, it has been agreed that consciousness is the ability to form a subjective view of the world, to have a unique view.”

She says that in the future, we will probably be appalled at the way we treat animals now as we learn more about their brains and consciousness, but she’s also interested in the idea plants can be “conscious”. In her book, she writes about plants using electrical signals to send information around their “bodies”, and responding to their environments. She gives the example of a caterpillar eating a leaf: “The plant will start to produce a chemical to repel the insect. Even if the plant is simply played an audio file of a munching caterpillar, it will respond, indicating that plants can hear.”

“So what do we eat?” says Critchlow. “Where do we draw a line? It’s starting to force us into this position where we have to ask ourselves maybe we don’t have this sovereignty over nature that we’ve always led ourselves to believe.”

Can AI be considered to be conscious? “As we discover more about the neural networks and connections in the brain that allow us to learn and remember and form a subjective view of the world, we are starting to be able to use that information and emulate it in artificial intelligence systems. They can learn and remember without being coded to process information in the way we have told them to. So using that definition, yes, we’ll be able to develop AI that has some semblance of consciousness. But it’s a funny word. It’s almost as if humans have developed this word to make ourselves seem more important than we are.”

Should robots have rights? She thinks for a while. “I’m not sure what the point would be. I think it’s going to be interesting to see how it all develops, to see the implications as AI evolves, what kind of rights should they have and what kind of limits should they have. I don’t think there’s a set answer. We don’t have a full handle on AI.”

Consciousness by Hannah Critchlow.

She caused a bit of a stir at the Hay festival in 2015 when she said it would be possible to download someone’s brain on to a computer – it seems less remarkable now that there are companies working on this, although in the face of much scepticism from the neuroscience community. “It’s a possibility, but I think there are a lot of things that are possibilities,” she says. “There are scientists that are working on taking a snapshot of the connectome, the 100tn or so connections in the brain, mapping those connections on a computer. So does that mean you can upload your brain if you have a snapshot of it at one particular time? Or if we have enough information could you then run simulations to see how the brain would evolve? We probably will get there at some point in the future.”

Critchlow says she’s not keen on the idea for herself, although she is planning to donate her body to scientific research. “I don’t think it would be me. A simulation of me. This would just be a copy of me, of my connections.” Besides, she says, she thinks her simulation might still miss tangible, physical pleasures that come from being attached to a body. Such as gnocchi. It makes me laugh because it’s so specific, and not what I was expecting her to say – wine, perhaps, or running. But it’s lunchtime and she’s hungry (and she really loves gnocchi). Or at least her hypothalamus is telling her she is.