Trivia / Ashes of the Past

• Development Gag:
  • One is done to the Johto games, as Misty was originally intended to be an Elite Four member in them, while she does successfully become one here.
  • There were ideas for Latias to join Ash's group. However they were vetoed because the staff didn't want Ash to own a Legendary because Ash's other Pokémon would be Overshadowed by Awesome, nor did they want the movies to be canon to the anime proper. This didn't sit well with fans, who rejoiced when Ash did catch Latias in the fic.
• He Also Did: Saphroneth also writes for The Infinite Loops.
• In Memoriam: Chapter 256 has a Johto contest rival for May that is a tribute to the author's grandmother, who had passed away only recently.
• Milestone Celebration:
  • Chapter 100 contained the entirety of the 5th movie adaptation, when major events are normally split into multiple chapters.
  • Chapter 150 features purely secondary characters and none of the main characters, dubbed as "Ashes Nowhere to be Seen"
  • Chapter 151 has an appearance by Mew, which is the 151st Pokémon in the Pokédex.
  • Chapter 200 is focused on various legendaries, including the early appearance of Manaphy.
  • Chapter 250 contained the entirety of the 10th movie adaptation, much like Chapter 100 with the 5th movie.
  • Chapter 300 has Ash's battle with Volkner, an Electric-type gym leader and the final Sinnoh gym.
• Official Fan-Submitted Content: There have been some suggestions from his Spacebattles readers that made it into the story. One example is Ash's Honedge. It had been considered a new OC Pokémon to add to the cast, but it was a reader that suggested it would come from a ceremonial sword Ash had received prior, considering the physics-defying stunts Ash pulled off with it.
• Series Hiatus: The story has been put on hold in part due to the author working on Accidental Apotheosis. Another reason for the hiatus is general burnout and lack of motivation, especially since Saph continues to have new ideas for fics and can't focus on everything at once.
• What Could Have Been: There are a lot of major and minor examples of plans changing either before or during the writing of a chapter, often due to either the situation working better in a different way, or fan-input on opinions. Examples include, but are not limited to the following:
  • Team Flare was planned to be connected to Cyrus' plot. Dropped after Team Flare made an appearance in the anime.
  • Zinnia was considered to make an appearance in the Destiny Deoxys adaptation, as foreshadowing the Delta Episode.
  • An early version of the N buying Pokéballs scene had him purchasing a Master Ball, but readers on the Spacebattles forum objected to it, stating that N shouldn't have gotten a Master Ball from a normal shop, even if he did have the money to afford one.
  • Zoey wasn't going to be one of the "remindable", due to the author's lack of knowledge regarding the character. He quickly pulled a Author's Saving Throw after being told by the readers on the SpaceBattles.com forums how a major part Zoey was in Dawn's character development.
  • The human that became Ash's Honedge was originally named Kelly Burns, but Kelly was considered a bit to Anachronistic a name for a female knight that lived centuries ago. The reason Kelly was originally picked that it would be a rather ordinary name for a legendary weapon.
• Write What You Know: The author has geology knowledge, so he tends to write that in geologic matters come up in story. Ironically, in regards to this being a Pokémon fic about Cyrus causing the End of the World, the author never did watch the Diamond and Pearl series.