ANNOUNCER: It's time for The Destiny Talk Show! And now, your host! Trevor Hallett!

Trevor is sitting at his desk, with a smile on his face. He's quite excited about today's show.

TREVOR: Hello! Welcome to the Destiny Talk Show! My name is Trevor Hallett. We have a great show for you all tonight! My guest tonight is my all-time favorite Pokemon Fan Fiction writer! He wrote the outstanding The Road to Our Destiny story. Please welcome, the one and only, HAKDurbin!!!

HAKDurbin enters the set, shakes hands with the host, and sits down on the sofa.

TREVOR: Hello Mr. Durbin. Welcome to the show. It's so nice to have you on.

HAKDurbin: Thank you for having me.

Trevor: Now then, normally we ask about your upcoming projects, but I want to first talk about your book, The Road to Our Destiny.

Is that alright?

HAKDurbin: Sounds good to me.

Trevor: The Road of Our Destiny was the first book I read when I came back to Wattpad. I started reading it and I was immediately amazed by it. The book has such astounding authenticity to it that it sounds like it could actually happen in the anime. How did you accomplish that?

HAKDurbin: Brainstorming and a lot of research. You see, I used to watch the show as a kid before my parents banned me from it because they thought I was too obssessed. This was during the final season of the Johto Journeys. So there was a large gap of what I knew about the show before getting back into it again with Pokemon X&Y and XY&Z. When Palermo told Serena to go to Hoenn to compete in Pokemon contests, I thought it made sense because I thought contests only took place in either Hoenn or SInnoh. But then, I watched the other series between Johto and X&Y, including the Advances series, which ended with the Battle Frontier season where May competed in contests in Kanto and left to compete in contests in Johto. About a week after I finished the series, I was at work as a deli clerk at a supermarket at the time, and I was thinking about the series while I wasn't busy when I thought to myself "Wait a minute. If there are contests in Kanto and Johto, then that means there are actually four regions Serena could chose from to continue her dream. She really only went to Hoenn because Palermo said so. So, if you just tweak the dialogue between them from that scene (which is what I did in chapter 1,) you basically have the chance for her and Ash to travel together in the Kanto region since that's where he went at the end of the series." From there, I started writing, temporarily holding off other writing projects in the process, which led to doing a lot of research to double check certain things in the anime as well as what is accurate about certain Pokemon and their strength and weaknesses and so on via Bulbapedia. Add that to having an editor who is more devoted to the show than I am to correct any mistakes, and The Road to our Destiny became the story that some people like you admire for its authenticity.

Trevor: I sure do. Heck, I will say it is the best amourshipping and Pokemon fan fiction I have ever read on Wattpad

HAKDurbin: Thank you. I'm glad that you think so.

Trevor: You're quite welcome. I do wanna ask about its cover because I seen that style of artwork before on DeviantART.

HAKDurbin: You most certainly have. I commissioned a popular digital artist named hikariangelove for the cover and then added the text through Powerpoint.

Trevor: I knew it was her! She helped made the artwork for a yugioh card I made on DeviantART. She's quite talented. I think we have it here.

There it is

HAKDurbin: Nice.

Trevor: Thank you. I have been thinking of asking her to make the cover for Destiny Hearts.

HAKDurbin: Well, she as the talent to do anything as long as you have the money for what you have envisioned.

Trevor: I do have the money. I work as a gig worker with Instacart

HAKDurbin: Nice.

Trevor: Yep. Now then, back to Road to Our Destiny, I want to ask about Brock's character development throughout the story. Now, we all know about his heartbreak with Professor Ivy and he does have a girl problem. But this story, he struggles with this obsession deeply when it concerns Holly and Lucy. What inspired you to write that for Brock?

HAKDurbin: Well, the thing is the first series I watched to catch up with the anime was Diamond and Pearl since I kept hearing about how it's debatably as good if not better than X&Y, which lead to watching the tag team tournament where Holly started to develop feelings for Brock only to leave him because she wanted to be a better partner for him. Since then, I've been very supportive of the unpopular shipping between them to the point that I frequently pair them together in my other Amourshipping stories. So, when I decided to have him tag along during Ash and Serena's new journey, I was interested in bringing Holly into the picture. At the same time, however, there was the fact that Luckshipping appears to objectively be the most popular pairing for Brock, and it made sense that Brock might eventually run into her too since Timothy is competing in the Battle Frontier and occasionally bumps into Ash and his companions throughout the story. From there, it was a matter of coming up with a side story that is fitting to how Brock is obssessed with women and how that would eventually get into trouble, while at the same time displaying the potential of the pairing between him and Holly that very few people see.

Trevor: I agree. I also like the pairing between Brock and Holly. Lucy only has a confirmed crush on Brock. Honestly, with her being a Frontier Brain, I would find it very hard for Brock and her to make the relationship work. So I'm glad you paired Brock and Holly in this story. The two make a good couple

HAKDurbin: So, am I. Though I should note for the record that I also wanted to display how Brock and Lucy make sense on paper with the moments they have together so that it's not completely one-sided. Something my editor appreciated since he's a Luckshipper.

Trevor: I bet he was disappointed with who Brock ended up with.

HAKDurbin: Well, he already knew that I support Brock and Holly since he's seen my other work, which is how he started watching me on DeviantART.

Trevor: Who is this editor of yours?

HAKDurbin: His name is Shadic4566.

Trevor: Sweet. He did a pretty good job editing your story.

HAKDurbin: I agree. It's not overselling it when I say that there were some major mistakes revolving around the anime and Pokemon in general that would have been super embarrassing if I published the story without having him look at it first.

Trevor: Too true. I use Grammarly to check for any grammar and spelling errors after writing a chapter for Destiny Battles.

HAKDurbin: I have a premium account on Grammarly myself, which is helping me improve on things like that. I usually download the google docs where I write my stories to my desktop computer and then go through the mistakes using Grammarly on Microsoft Word.

Trevor: I only have a free account on Grammarly. I have also been writing the new chapters of Destiny Battles on Google docs. It is quite nice

HAKDurbin: It is handy, especially since it enables me to write on my phone, which useful for writing when I take public transportation to work or when I'm on break.

Trevor: I can only write on a laptop. It is hard to type fast on the phone keyboard. Was The Road to Our Destiny written on the phone, laptop, or both

HAKDurbin: Mostly phone, but occasionally on my desktop. I don't have a laptop. Same with my other work.

Trevor: I see. There is one thing that is bothering me in The Road to Our Destiny. How was May able to compete in the Kanto Grand Festival without having seen her compete in the other contests. Was she able to use her five Kanto Ribbons to grant her entry?

HAKDurbin: If I did my research on Bulbapedia correctly, you only need to collect five ribbons again if you've won a previous Grand Festival for that region.

Trevor: Oh...and that goes for the Pokemon League as well?

HAKDurbin: There doesn't seem to be a reason why it would. It certainly would be cruel since there are some badges that Ash properly earned.

Trevor: Yeah. The series was quite weird back then

HAKDurbin: True that.

Trevor: Let's talk about your original characters, especially Timothy. His backstory was so tragic and realistic. His Pokemon, affected by this horrible events, going through PTSD was done so well. What made you came up with that backstory for Timothy?

HAKDurbin: Ah, now that's a good question. Originally, I thought of Timothy to be this guy who has a long history with Giovanni and occasionlly interacts with him in a sort of Sherlock Holmes and Professor Moriarty kind of way. But then I decided against it because that would overdo how important my OC is to the story, which people wouldn't like, especially since he's a self-insert. So, I decided that I should create an archenemy who is a threat, but not in the same way as Giovanni or Lysandre. I then came up with the idea of Trent Lane a.k.a. Agent Basker and how Timothy has a dark past with him in roughly the same way as Thorin Oakenshield does with Azog the Defiler in the Hobbit trilogy. From there, I had to come up with a way of how Trent is boastful and proud, but in a more twisted way than some rivals and villains in the Pokemon franchise, and then come up with the concept of Team Rocket trying to force Pokemon who only evolve through certain stones to evolve them by force at some point before the events of the series.

Trevor: Agent Basker is such the evil bastard for doing that to poor Timothy.

HAKDurbin: Indeed. There are some readers like you who really dislike him for his deeds.

Trevor: Yeah I was kinda hoping he died in that explosion, but like Ash in Destiny Rebirth, he did not

HAKDurbin: Yup.

Trevor: Now then, the climax of the book was like Endgame. Everyone coming together to stop this incredible threat to the Pokemon world. I gotta say it inspired me on how I want the climax of Destiny Hearts to be like when I start writing it. How did you accomplish bringing all those characters together to fight for a greater cause?

HAKDurbin: Well, first of all, it's interesting that some readers like you see the climax like the climax in Avengers: Endgame, because it actually was designed to be something like the climax in Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King. Originally, the climax was meant to be just a final battle between Ash and Serena against Giovanni, but then I decided that it should be bigger than that. That's when I started to think about what would make the most sense for a major battle with the elements I gave myself throughout the story at that point while still having what I originally planned. Ultimately, I came up with so many things that I had to write a couple of samsung notes on my phone to keep track of what happens and in what order and in what chapters. At the end of the day, comparing what I had originally planned to what happens at the end is a testament of how writing involves putting together, rearranging, or removing the pieces of the puzzle as you go along.

Trevor: I agree. That's what happening with Destiny Hearts. I need to first plan out the story, figure out what's necessary and what's not, and how to best describe the emotions the characters are feeling. So yeah you did a pretty awesome job with the Ash and Serena vs Giovanni. It inspired me to have Serena involved in a big way during the climax of Destiny Hearts.

HAKDurbin: Sounds interesting.

Trevor: I also noticed throughout the book you do not have any music attached to the chapters. I understand that most stories don't have music but for me I will like to listen to some music while I'm reading. So what types of music do you like to listen?

HAKDurbin: Oh, a large variety of songs, I've been a fan of Aaron Carter since I was a kid, I occasionally listen to Christian music, sometimes I listen to music from musicals like Les Misérables, and then there's music from my favorite show, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic as well as some of the great fan music from the Brony community. Basically, if you look at my list of music on the music app on my phone, there's lots of different music, some of which are just one from for a certain band or artist or movie and so on.

Trevor: I'm sorry but did you say your favorite show was My Little Pony.

HAKDurbin: I did.

Trevor: Fair enough, my favorite show was Blue's Clues.

HAKDurbin: Ah, yes. I remember watching at occasionally as a kid.

Trevor: Yeah. It was childhood for me

HAKDurbin: Indeed. I would be remiss, though, if I didn;t point out how My Little Pony led to writing fanart and making fanfiction. Fanfiction only became an official hobby after I wrote my first MLP story which took 2 1/2 years to write, and I wanted to keep writing when it was done, which led to start writing Amourshipping stories. So, without MLP, none of my work, including The Road to our Destiny, would have ever been made.

Trevor: Well, I guess we have to thank MLP for giving us The Road to Our Destiny. Have you thought of putting a MLP Easter egg in The Road to Our Destiny?

HAKDurbin: I don't believe so, although I did create names that were variations of some Pokemon characters in my first MLP story, A Search for Something More.

Trevor: Pretty cool. There are a few Kingdom Hearts easter eggs in Destiny Rebirth and Destiny Battles.

HAKDurbin: Nice.

Trevor: Have you ever heard of Kingdom Hearts?

HAKDurbin: Oh, yeah. I've played the whole series. I've even made some Amourshipping fanart of Serena being my Jedi and Keyblade apprentice.

Trevor: Awesome! Then you will definitely like Destiny Hearts as it will include Sora, Riku, and Kairi in it.

HAKDurbin: Cool.

Trevor: Yep. It will also have Phineas, Ferb, Isabella, Kim Possible, Ron Stoppable, Rufus, Wade, Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, and Goofy too

HAKDurbin: Sounds fun. I think we're getting way off subject though.

Trevor: Oh yeah we are. Sorry. I do have two more things to say about The Road to Our Destiny before we talk about your upcoming projects.

HAKDurbin: Sounds good.

Trevor: First of all, the pacing and development of Ash and Serena was done extremely well and effectively at the payoff. Were you worried about readers being impatient to when they are going to kiss and confess

HAKDurbin: Not particularly. There were some people who were very eager to have it happen already, but I wasn't worried since people kept reading for the big payoff.

Trevor: Exactly, plus this is Ash. I like how it took a certain professor to help him out at the end. Where everyone else failed to do

HAKDurbin: Yeah, it seems fitting.

Trevor: Yeah! Ok now the last thing is questions regarding your character, Timothy. Firstly, what does HAK on his shirt stand for?

HAKDurbin: Well, in real life the name H.A.K. stands for His Autistic Knight, but in the story, it's meant to be something else that only Timothy, Grandma Judy, and Serena know.

Trevor: You wanna know what I thought it meant in the story

HAKDurbin: Go for it. There's plenty of people who have guessed.

Trevor: Holy Arceus Knight

the audiences laughes, so does HAKDurbin

HAKDurbin: Now that's a unique one. It probably would be strange if it was since Timothy didn't hold Arceus in that regard.

Trevor: Yeah true, but I have been waiting to say that for quite a while now. Your reaction was totally worth it

HAKDurbin: I'm sure it was.

Trevor: Now my last question about your character is a bit of a spoiler alert for the end. Who was that girl? The girl that was his wife. What was her name?

HAKDurbin: Well, the thing is, she's suppose to be a mystery because she's a mystery in real life. It's unknown who she is or if she even exists, hence why I have made her a mystery in other stories as well, and even said that she doesn't exist in one of them. So, much like what happens to Ash and Serena at the end as well as what H.A.K. stands for, it's a mystery where the characters know the answer so that the audience doesn't have to in kind of the same way as the mystery to what was in the briefcase in Pulp Fiction, or whether or not the top fell in Inception, or what Bill Murray said to Scarlett Johansson at the end of Lost in Translation. The answer isn't what's important. What's important is the outcome and what the characters are feeling because of it.

Trevor: This is true. But according to Michael Caine, from Inception, he said that the scenes he was in meant it was taking place in the real world.

HAKDurbin: Perhaps, but Christopher Nolan has said before how there's a different meaning to what happens that people seem to miss. Either way, that's why my readers don't get an answer as to who that woman is.

Trevor: This is true. I like Christopher Nolan's movies. Mine favorite is The Dark Knight

HAKDurbin: Same.

Trevor: Sweet. And now, let's talk about your upcoming projects.

HAKDurbin: Alright.

Trevor: What stories do you plan on writing next?

HAKDurbin: Well, the first one is an adaptation to a romantic comedy from the mid-90s that doesn't get the attention it used to starring Sandra Bullock, Bill Pullman, Peter Boyle called "While You Were Sleeping" that's planned to be published around Christmas time.

Trevor: Perfect for the holidays. I heard you were doing a Pokemon adaptation of Disney's Hunchback of Norte Dame

HAKDurbin: That's the idea, and I hope it will be uplifting for my readers after a stressful, chaotic, and painful year. And yes, that is my second project.

Trevor: Yeah, this year has been so boring. I just want it to end.

HAKDurbin: Everyone does.

Trevor: Now then, from experience, doing an adaptation based on a Disney movie is not easy as you may think

HAKDurbin: Oh, I'm perfectly aware of that. In fact, this will be my darkest and most ambitious project yet. With original characters as the main hero and villain, sticking to the dark themes of the movie while adding a couple of my own, no music, and having it in a 1500's setting of the world of Pokemon while still giving my audience the Amourshipping that my loyal followers love to see, this will be a challenging story that I hope will pay off to being a thrilling, thought provoking, fun, and romantic experience that people will enjoy.

Trevor: That is quite ambitious if you are not putting in the songs. I did an adaptation of Pooh's Grand Adventure called Pikachu's Grand Adventure and it strictly follows the plot of that movie

HAKDurbin: Yeah, sometimes it's necessary. Take my "The Writer and the Host" story for example. It's a loose adaptation of the film musical "Moulin Rouge," which basically had to involve some songs from the film as well the "I Choose You" song from Pokemon the Movie: I Choose You. It's important to be careful with how much you still to the source material, though, because you want your story to still be a unique experience with characters you love, and done in a way that works in a written story as opposed to a film.

Trevor: Ok. Good to know. Now, we're running out of time, but before we end, what words of advice would you like to give to the inspiring writers out there?

HAKDurbin: Hmmm. Let's see. Firstly, don't be afraid to ask for help from more experienced writers about writing as well as using software like Grammerly to help if you're inexperienced. Secondly, do your best to write in a way that keeps in mind that you're writing a literary story as opposed to a movie. Be as descriptive as you can be for your audience, but not the point that you write details that are unnecessary for your story. Thirdly, don't be afraid to make changes as you write. Knowing your beginning, middle, and especially your end is all well and fantastic, but as I said before, there are pieces of the puzzle that you will have to piece together, rearrange, or completely remove as you go along. Fourthly, if you're putting original characters into your fanfiction story, especially is they are self-inset, keep in mind that while your audience has emotional attachments to characters from the source material like Ash and Serena, they don't know anything about your character, and may skip anything that has to do with them because they don't care. Think of ways to make your characters interesting in a way that people will want to read whatever your OC does with the other characters. It's also important to make sure that your story includes characters people know at the very beginning of your story, so that your readers are in familiar territory, like how the first chapter of The Road to our Destiny focused on Serena, Palermo, Ash, and their friends before I wrote anything about Timothy. It's also a good idea to establish personalities and flaws to your OCs as opposed to make them perfect and powerful in every way. Finally, look into as many sources as possible as how best to write certain things. I personally watch videos on a channel on YouTube called "Hello Future Me" which talks a lot about fictional writing and worldbuilding. Don't be afraid to look into other sources like books about writing too. I'm even planning to do that by reading some to advance my craft.

Trevor. That's an essay of advice and I give it an A++. HAKDurbin thanks for coming on, we've been talking for like 2 hours and 45 minutes, and it was a great time.

HAKDurbin: Thank you. I'm glad we could do this and I had a great time too.

Trevor: You're welcome. I look forward to your future stories.

HAKDurbin: Thank you. I hope that you and all of my other readers will enjoy them.

Trevor: I am sure we will. Ladies and Gentlemen, go check out HAKDurbin and his stories, especially Road to Our Destiny because honestly, it is the best Pokemon story I have ever read. Good night everyone.

HAKDurbin: Yes, the Lord be with you all, and have a good night!

HAKDurbin shakes hands with the host and then leaves the set.

Trevor: That's it for today's show! Now, the next show won't be hosted by me. It will instead be hosted by my manager, rakuyouu. It will be her first time hosting, so give her your support please. See you then! Good night!