It is hard to overstate how much of an influence Pokemon has on my life. I was part of the generation that grew up with the games, watching the shift from something glorious (but glitchy) into a sleek machine of great ideas, into … whatever the modern era has become – a disappointment. There’s some great licensed Pokemon work out there, but relatively little of it written with anything other than kids in mind. So, Pokemon-inspired books catch my eye. When they’re written by Tobias Begley? It’s an auto-read. Actually, I’m astounded it took me three months from release to get around to this.
It’s going to be impossible to not draw some level of comparison to Travis M Riddle’s On Lavender Tides, which similarly tries to situation itself in the ‘Pokemon but for a fantasy novel fan.’ I dropped that series around book 3, largely because I was unsatisfied with the actual Pokemon elements and the villainous team he created.
The Premise:
When magic came, it gave humans the chance to try making a good world over again. Now they have magitech and the ability to bond with Primals, creatures who can also wield magic. Aiden is a rural guy itching to get started with his journey as a professional tamer. He just needs to save enough money to really get started. When a job from a local Councillor (gym leader) to serve as a guide through local wilderness offers tons of money, he sees an opportunity to meet a hero and jumpstart his destiny.
Read if You Like: Pokemon, sports leagues, utopian societies, a fun read that is straightforward and breezy
Avoid if You Dislike: neurodivergent love interests, rivals to (presumably) lovers, explicitly political writing, ‘leveling up’ or other game mechanics
Making Pokemon Ethical:
It’s not really a secret than any Pokemon book is going to grapple, at some level, with the ethics of battling animals. Yes, violence is common in fantasy books, and animal companions are a dime a dozen. However, a society who has dedicated sports leagues for battling creatures is going to create a lot of discomfort, especially when the author wants to show it as sunshine and rainbows. One reason I dropped Riddle’s series was that I didn’t like his solution; he had trainers downloading data of creatures they interacted with, creating mana-constructs to battle. That meant the protagonist didn’t actually have companions with a personality, which is a big high point for me. This series keeps the animal companion aspect (we love a dog-shark hybrid!), so Begley needed to find some answers to why this isn’t all one giant pro-PETA advertisement.
To start with, the Primals in this series create magic battle forms around their normal bodies. They aren’t actually getting hurt, just their armor. Abused or trapped Primals can send out distress signals bringing all sorts of dangerous creatures to attack shitty tamers. Plus, unlike with animals (whom also exist), many wild Primals enjoy battling in their personal lives and see bonding with a tamer as a pathway for them to improve their own skills. Begley definitely made a lot of hoops to jump through, but they work just fine for me. Disbelief suspended, and fun battles all around!
What Worked For Me:
Earlier, I described this book as a cozy action story. In some ways, it reminds me of the Monk and Robot books, if Chambers chose to do battles instead of introspection. After magic’s arrival, humankind turned things around and has learned lessons from its past. We’re vaguely in the East Coast of the United States, but in the far future and in a country called Oceanseed. It’s a utopian and responsible society that makes clear the world is a good place and everyone is going to be safe. Begley isn’t particularly subtle in how this idyllic society is meant to poke at our own lives. In particular, the entire world takes potshots at billionaires. Greed is the #1 sin, people can’t own more than 4 storefronts, mental health checks get made on those who display symptoms of gambling addiction, and there are lots of safeguards against fraud and accumulation of excessive power. Hell, one of the most intense fight scenes in the book was against the ghost of a billionaire from the time before magic. Products are expensive, but designed to last. People generally pursue careers that make them happy, but a universal income, free healthcare, and government-sponsored kitchens for free meals mean that everyone’s basic needs are met. Most meat comes with a sustainability tax, and there’s a system to prevent people from being career politicians. The world would make a Socialist rejoice.
As a rather pessimistic person with socialist tendencies, I can’t help but doubt the possibility of any such future. It’s just so good, with so few flaws that it begs the question of whether society has any problems at all. However, I think Begley is doing something interesting with the Pokemon inspiration here. The games were always ‘friendship is magic,’ but with darker shadows hanging in the background (such as cutting off Slowpoke tails en-masse). Begley is pushing a more consistent tone, a queernormative and hopeful future where magic has given humankind a second chance to get things right. Is this a believable or nuanced world? Nope. Is Begley subtle in his messaging? Not a whit. But it works really well, and is a smart tonal choice to facilitate this particular story. If you want a darker take on Pokemon worlds, the Pokemon Adventures manga by Hidenori Kusaka is legitimately excellent, though it takes a few arcs to hit its stride.
Begley chose to lean into the professional sports angle of Pokemon. This is not a setting where everyone has 1-2 Primals as pets. Developing the ability to bond locks off other paths in life (such as becoming a magician capable of magic yourself), and plenty of people choose to not take any such path, simple because their interests are elsewhere. Most professionals are also influencers and content creators, meaning that there’s extended discussions between characters about audio equipment, characters learning to record a good recap video, and some editing montages. Hell, there even gets to be some WWE style components, where characters start building up storylines for themselves and dramatic pre-battle corny speeches. I’m excited to see the sports aspect get more attention as our characters’ rise the ranks and start to get fans – and people donating after watching their videos. There’s also some great bits about how social inequities bleed over into sports. Like the rest of the thematic commentary, it isn’t subtle, but it is apt.
Even better, the urban/populist nature of taming-as-celebrity sport gets mixed with a lot of wilderness survival elements that Pokemon media tends to ignore: lots of rare Primals and good training grounds are far from society, and Aiden being a bit of a ranger figure has been fun! The kayaking in the opening arc was a delight. I’ve been hankering for a good sports fantasy, and maybe this will get to the point where it scratches that itch?
Final fun note, is that the slow burn rivals-to-romance plot didn’t sell me at first, but I’m really excited about it. Not only do the Love Interest’s mysteries give some excitement for future plot points (maybe a villain even?), but also covers some really delightful content around learning to adapt communication styles to someone who thinks differently than you. Really great example of working through miscommunications, as opposed to letting them linger as a plot point for the sake of a plot point.
What Didn’t Work for Me:
I would have appreciated it if Begley had gone further afield with some of the Pokemon elements. Specifically, the different types – and their interactions – match up fairly evenly with actual Pokemon. Compare that to On Lavender Tides which features some funky typings like ‘elastic’ and the TemTem games which adds ‘digital’ along with messing with interactions, and there’s lots of cool directions you could take this. Begley was a bit basic in this book, and I don’t know that much new was brought to the table. The Primals were cute, endearing, and evocative. The structuralist nerd in my head wanted a bit more under the hood. Maybe in the sequels?
A slightly more pressing challenge is that this series doesn’t showcase Begley’s ability to write intense fight scenes. Part of this is tone, to be sure. Unlike many of his series, the danger level is almost nonexistent. However, I don’t think he’s nailed using moves (or spells, in this case) to create choreography and diversity. The choice to have a defensive Primal at the helm – again, I cannot overstate how adorable he is – doesn’t help with this. I love defensive tactics when I play games, but in a book it can be tricky as a protagonists’ main schtick. I will note that the final battle(s) of book 1 were by far the best, once they got a wider variety of moves and team-members. So hopefully this is just a gripe for the first half of book 1, never to be seen again.
Conclusion: A great book for me, but probably not for anyone who doesn’t already love Pokemon.
- Characters: 4
- Setting: 3 (I enjoyed it, but there’s a ton of holes)
- Craft: 4
- Themes: 3
- Enjoyment: 4
