Pedestal (fanfic)

A Pokémon fanfic that starts out deceptively similar to other stories. A young trainer aspires To Be a Master, with great dreams of being the best, placing his hoped-for Pokemon on a pedestal. A year later than most trainers, he finally receives his starter... And it's a Numel. Hilarity Ensues, but not for long.

It later becomes Darker and Edgier than the games ever dreamed of, with prophecies, genre deconstructions, and the consequences of ignoring warnings. However, it still has moments of comedy.

It can be found here.

It now has a crossover with the Pokemon fic Regret which can be found here.

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This fanfic contains examples of:
""Look, if you're worried about me, really. Don't. I've been preparing this for years.""
 * Aborted Arc: What ever happened to that red jacket...?
 * Accidental Aiming Skills: The protagonist is pro at this - especially when trying to catch birds.
 * Action Girl: Carlita.
 * Action Survivor: It's a wonder that the protagonist is still alive at this point, especially after being mauled by Pokemon (and people!) so many times.
 * A Day in The Limelight: Both Hanna and  have one.
 * AFGNCAAP: The protagonist can be seen as this, sometimes.
 * All Girls Want Bad Boys: Harlan has a massive crush on the moody feline that is Ike, to the point of
 * Alluring Anglerfish: Most ghosts do this at some point.
 * Anti-Air: Ike was meant to be this, but Kostya and Alice are used, more often than not - mostly because the protagonist doesn't believe Ike can be trusted.
 * Anyone Can Die
 * Apathetic Citizens: Deconstructed.
 * Arc Words: You will face many trials. Do not let yourself become dark. Do not get sidetracked with the injustices of the world; do not become angry and bitter. And, when the time comes, let go.
 * However, the full text was interrupted; it first ran 'And, when the time comes, let go of h—'.
 * Artifical Tail:  is probably going to get one. But even with that, she still
 * Attention Deficit Ooh Shiny: Literally with Jude, though it's actually a shiny Pokemon. Still hilarious.
 * Babies Ever After
 * Back for The Finale: Jude makes an appearance for  funeral in the final chapter.
 * Battle Amongst the Flames: The main character has been involved in four so far: when he breaks out of the warehouse during The Tournament arc, when he faces Vaporeon in Sunyshore,
 * Battle Butler: Jacques, Cossette's loyal Gallade.
 * Battle Royale With Cheese: A minor one happened during the battle against Vaporeon, where  Also it seems that
 * Because Destiny Says So
 * Best Served Cold: Hanna seems to have spent an awful long time training up Molly
 * Because Destiny Says So
 * Best Served Cold: Hanna seems to have spent an awful long time training up Molly


 * Big Damn Heroes: Interestingly, two examples in The Tournament arc:
 * Lucian at the very end of the Vaporeon Arc.
 * Sela and Vaikuntha tend to become this from time to time, most recently.
 * Big Sleep:

"Those big blue eyes, so wide, so trusting, so confused."
 * Bilingual Bonus: Cossette and her family speak French natively, and it's been implied that Jude speaks it, too.
 * Bittersweet Ending
 * Blind Seer: Katerina.
 * Blood-Splattered Innocents: The main character, although how innocent he is at this point in the story is debatable. And more often than not, it's his own blood.
 * Blue Eyes: The protagonist has them. They play an essential part in
 * Blue Eyes: The protagonist has them. They play an essential part in


 * : The plot and much of the character interactions later in the story thrive off of this trope.
 * Butt Monkey: The protagonist. Let's face it, life for him isn't exactly peachy.
 * Cerebus Syndrome: It starts off as a cheerful, humorous story about a trainer starting his Pokemon journey, but soon there's more blood than Pokemon battles. It Got Worse from there.
 * Character Title
 * Cheerful Child: Cossette, and sometimes even Carlita.
 * Completely averted with the protagonist and Benjamin.
 * Chekhov's Gunman: Lola. First introduced way back in the beginning as a random goth trainer who got stranded in Snowpoint. Then pops up again during the tournament and gym race arc. Then is killed on national televison. However the latest chapters have revealed that,
 * Cliff Hanger: There are some truly terrible ones, some coming right after an even worse one before it.
 * Coming of Age Story: The story starts off technically when the protagonist is ten. Five years so far have passed.
 * Conflicting Loyalty: The main character is torn between
 * Cosmic Plaything: Implied ever since  had a cameo. More strongly implied with the "Starly dream".
 * More than implied now. It's just not
 * Convection, Schmonvection: Somewhat averted. In Stark Mountain characters wearing dark clothing are shown to be boiling and non fire pokemon have a hard time battling for long periods due to the heat. It can also easily kill and destroy things. However a rickety rope bridge can still stand without bursting into flames...
 * Creator Cameo:
 * Curse Cut Short: Fairly often, although more and more in recent chapters due to the rating going up.
 * Chapter 121 starts off with a "Holy freaking sh—", the first time the protagonist has resorted to such language.
 * Dance Battler: Carlita to a T.
 * Dark Is Evil: The dark-haired trainer . He has also been stated to wear dark clothes from then on out.
 * Dark Is Not Evil: Rather, ghost types aren't evil. Mostly.
 * Darker and Edgier: Duh.
 * Dead Little Brother:.
 * Deadpan Snarker: The protagonist, Lola, other characters on rarer occasions.
 * Death By Origin Story:
 * Deus Ex Machina/Diabolus Ex Machina: The entire  in the chapter 154 could be seen as this.
 * Deconstruction: Of many Pokemon friendship fics.
 * Died in Your Arms Tonight: The mercenary's girlfriend, Zoe, dies this way after being shot by Vaporeon.
 * Disguised in Drag: The protagonist cross dresses as a girl in order to get past border control.
 * And to get out of the Sunyshore Gym, although he actually.
 * Double Meaning Title
 * Early-Bird Cameo: Lola gets introduced way back when the main character and Hanna first visited Snowpoint City, and only pops up again during The Tournament arc. Also, the Electabuzz that the main character owned for all of 10 minutes comes back later with a more important role,
 * Enemy Mine: The protagonist teams up with the mercenary who attacked him early on in the story in order to infiltrate Vaporeon's hideout.
 * Even The Boys Want Him: Nick, the protagonist.
 * Eye Scream:
 * Eyes of Gold: Nick, Matthew, Ike.
 * Evil Former Friend
 * Face Heel Turn:
 * Failure Is the Only Option: The only way for the story to end peacefully at this point is if . Considering the protagonist's feelings towards him and  ...
 * Fallen Hero:
 * Famed in Story: Played straight with the protagonist, though it's an unfortunate thing as it could reveal.
 * Nick,.
 * Jude, played straight.
 * Vaporeon is a TV celebrity and Arianna seems to be pretty well known in fashion circles, if Hanna's reaction is anything to go by.
 * Fan Girl: Implied with Hanna's remark in chapter 16. She has also been shown to root for the protagonist and Alicia's relationship, even going as far as to help him out.
 * Cossette, to an extent.
 * Flat What: Nick's reaction to . Possibly deconstructed, given the circumstances and description of how flat the word was.
 * Four Is Death: There are four Pidgey chicks when the main character adopts them. Is it that surprising that not all of them make it?
 * Freak-Out:  suffers a HUGE one.
 * Most of Sunyshore and the remaining Gym race trainers suffer one during the.
 * Benjamin has one after
 * Freak-Out:  suffers a HUGE one.
 * Most of Sunyshore and the remaining Gym race trainers suffer one during the.
 * Benjamin has one after

""Not to mention the fact that when you get to be this high in the world, especially in today's training climate, we're all about five minutes from pulling a ."
 * Fluffy the Terrible: The Tyranitar  is called Molly.
 * Is this a Shout-Out to Molly Weasley?
 * Full-Name Basis: At the point of her introduction, it was almost exclusively Sela Schaffer. More and more, it's Nick or Nicholas Sayre, too.
 * Grey and Gray Morality: The main villain only snapped and killed in revenge of  because the government did absolutely nothing about it, even when it happened before (and to the main character!). Many characters have voiced sentiments agreeing with his basic ideals, even if he took things too far.

"No we're—"

"I don't know where you were, but I was in Sunyshore fighting off trainers and Pokemon with my goddamn fists when that riot broke out. You were all fighting tooth and nail against each other. And judging on your Luxray's behavior, you're not a perfectly innocent trainer, either," she snapped, cold once more. I reeled back, caught off guard by the personality change. "The fact of the matter is that each and every one of us has the potential to turn just as bad, if not worse, than he is. All it takes is the proper trigger. For him, it was Matthew.""


 * Although he now has followers who completely agree with him, possibly more than he himself agrees.
 * The 'good guys' also have done horrible things. The main character himself, is more keen on stopping his   instead of his fanatical followers, Shadow Sneaked an entire camera crew to who knows where and never bothered to care about where they potentially ended up, may or may not have been indirectly responsible for the deaths of at least eight Pokemon, and, of course, could very well be responsible for  , anyway.
 * Groin Attack: Hanna uses one during her fistfight with
 * Handicapped Badass:
 * Heroic Self-Deprecation: The main character, more and more as the story wears on.

""I can still fight! I—I'm not bleeding anymore, see?""
 * Hoist By His Own Petard:
 * Hold Your Hippogriffs: Any time a real-world idiom that references an animal is used, the appropriate Pokemon is substituted.
 * Holy Hand Grenade:
 * Hot-Blooded: Carlita, Des (when he gets mad, anyway).
 * I'm a Humanitarian: Several lines of ghosts, most notably the Duskull line, have been stated to eat humans as part of their diet. Dusclops can speak in human tongue specifically to lure children to them.
 * I Can Still Fight: Carlita quotes this as she desperately tries to stop the main character from recalling her.


 * Idiot Hair: The protagonist is shown to have one in pictures drawn by the author.
 * I Have Your Wife: Happens a lot.
 * Incompatible Orientation: Archie and, and their respective relationships with the protagonist.
 * Important Haircut: Cynthia cuts her hair short after the Champions Tragedy.
 * During the Gym race, Hanna cut her hair, too.
 * Improbable Weapon: Skarmory feathers have become an increasingly popular alternative to swords.
 * In the Back:
 * Intergenerational Friendship: Nick is quite a bit older than the protagonist and even Hanna.
 * Somewhat the norm, though, considering Benjamin and Cossette are the only major characters who are younger than the protagonist, anyway. Most of his friends seem to be at least a year or two older.
 * Ironic Episode Title: "It Is Cruelty To Be Humane To Rebels" in the chapter where, "Sweet Dreams Are Made Of This" for the  , "A Horizon To Catch Up To" for  , and many others.
 * Jade-Colored Glasses: Definitely in place on our protagonist, especially considering that most recently, he has
 * Justified Title
 * Karma Houdini: Depending on whether or not you believe she was lying,
 * Karmic Twist Ending: Arguably, most of the ghosts' warning turns out to have this to some degree.  The real kicker is that he is even aware of the last one, and simply is unable to. The only part of the prophecy that's been completely played straight so far is that they told him not to die - but it's unknown whether that was the ghosts' attempt at humor or honestly a part of the warning.
 * Kick Chick: Carlita.
 * Kid Hero
 * Lethal Lava Land: The inside of Stark Mountain.
 * Living Shadow: Kostya and Pollyanna both fit this regularly - but subverted a bit in that that's not their real form.
 * Lovable Alpha Bitch: Hanna, Alice to an extent.
 * Machete Mayhem: Vaikuntha could go this way.
 * The protagonist's efforts to jump and the bandwagon have so far fallen a bit flat.
 * The protagonist's efforts to jump and the bandwagon have so far fallen a bit flat.
 * The protagonist's efforts to jump and the bandwagon have so far fallen a bit flat.

""…I want to be alone, I want to be alone…""
 * Madness Mantra: Nick has one when.

""NamNar, c'mere."
 * Mama Bear: Alice, most trainers if their teams are threatened.
 * Mind Screw:
 * Arguably, what the.
 * Misery Builds Character: Out-of-story, but the author loves this trope.
 * Mood Whiplash: Even lampshaded by a couple characters at various points.
 * Morality Pet: The Pidgey chicks and Cossette for the narrator. Zarek, too, although for a shorter time.
 * In a way, most Pokemon become this to their trainers, and even vice versa.
 * Motor Mouth: Alicia talks a lot, especially when nervous.
 * Musical Theme Naming: Alice.
 * My Name Is Not Durwood:

"Uh, who?"

"You, silly."

"That's not my name. My name is--"

"Ach! No, none of that yet.""


 * Nameless Narrative: We just call him NamNar, short for the Nameless Narrator, since his name still hasn't been revealed yet. The author keeps the protagonist's gender unknown for half the story. The protagonist's name has yet to be revealed. Yet, the narrator is given a lot of character development, and the story is a very good one.
 * Never Got to Say Goodbye:
 * Never a Self-Made Woman: Initially played straight with Hanna, but she has come into her own later in the story.
 * Never Found the Body: The bodies of many people who died in the Vaporeon Arc,  were never recovered due to the place they died in going up in flames.
 * Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Taken Up to Eleven.
 * No One Gets Left Behind:


 * No Name Given: See Nameless Narrative above.
 * Not Me This Time: Turns out
 * Only Known By Their Nickname: Des, short for Pedestal.
 * Outsourcing Fate/Humanity On Trial:.
 * Parents in Distress:
 * Peaceful in Death:

"I couldn't decide whether or not she was forcing herself to be cheerful."
 * Played for Laughs: A lot of the violence is. Only to coincide with Mood Whiplash when the other characters/the readers realize that the injuries don't simply go away.
 * Powder Keg Crowd
 * Power Trio: (In The Beginning)
 * Super Ego: Nick
 * Ego: Narrator
 * Id: Hanna
 * Pragmatic Adaptation: In this 'verse, you can buy Pokemon translators that let you understand your Pokemon.
 * Properly Paranoid: Well, Des is weak against water...
 * Likewise, Vaikuntha won't let Koel fight fire Pokemon.
 * Prophetic Fallacy: And how!
 * Prophecy Twist: . See Karmic Twist Ending above.
 * Psychic Dreams for Everyone: It's hard to tell. But then there are the nightmares. Which takes this trope somewhat literally, as.
 * Earlier in the story, the protagonist regularly gets dreams visited by stalker ghosts and goddesses of love. Again, taken a little more literally, as he didn't actually see the future in any of them.
 * Psycho Supporter: If they use a Pokemon name, chances are they fit this.
 * Put On a Bus: Happens to Hanna and Jude at different points during the Vaporeon arc.
 * Real Men Eat Meat: Partially subverted, in the fact that the protagonist fought with vegetarianism and killing Pokemon for food. He went back to eating them, however.
 * Roaring Rampage of Revenge:.
 * Sanity Slippage:
 * Screw Destiny: Played straight, subverted, inverted, and all around just screwed around with to the point where even the cast isn't sure what would be screwing destiny and whether or not anything they've done counts as it.
 * Screw This, I'm Outta Here: Jude ditches the main character after his What the Hell, Hero? moment at the end of the Vaporeon arc. The main character does this when
 * Selective Slaughter:
 * Self-Fulfilling Prophecy
 * Shout-Out Theme Naming: Nick fits this trope best, surprisingly enough.
 * His Garchomp, Chase, is a shout-out to Chevy Chase, voice of the landshark in the Saturday Night Live skits.
 * We also have Chekhov, Who, Patru, Harlan, Jules, and Ser, which is short for Serling.
 * Shout-Out: One part has a small reference to Marble Hornets and the Slender Man Mythos. The protagonist reacts accordingly.
 * Shovel Strike
 * Smitten Teenage Girl: Hanna towards Nick in the first half of the story. Gender bent with the protagonist and Alicia in the second half.
 * Also, Cossette counts as a smitten preteen girl.
 * Sonya, towards Nathan, although her exact age is unknown.
 * So Proud of You: This is pretty much the last thing
 * Partially subverted in the fact that the protagonist refuses to see his parents' pride in him, instead concentrating on their constant worry.
 * Socialite: Hanna.
 * Sour Supporter: Ike would qualify.
 * Sometimes, even Des fills this trope when his trainer gets whiny or loses track of the right way.
 * Spoiled Brat: Hanna, though the fandom loves her for it.
 * Cossette and Zarek fit this, too, thanks to the main character.
 * Static Stun Gun: Ike, most of Lola's team.
 * Stay in The Kitchen: The main character bans Hanna and Cossette from coming with him to . This is justified though, as   Hanna doesn't have any pokemon and Cossette has next to no battle experience and only has a crippled Gallade to rely on.
 * Stepford Smiler: Carlita shows signs of this when
 * Stay in The Kitchen: The main character bans Hanna and Cossette from coming with him to . This is justified though, as   Hanna doesn't have any pokemon and Cossette has next to no battle experience and only has a crippled Gallade to rely on.
 * Stepford Smiler: Carlita shows signs of this when

"She was perfectly silent."
 * Stout Strength: Des.
 * Stranger Safety: The Pokemon universe thrives off of this, and our hero is no exception.
 * Stunned Silence: Carlita, after the main character tells her that

"Alice: "You want me to go and talk to a hostile Garchomp?""
 * Sympathetic Murderer:
 * Talking Your Way Out: The main character orders his pokemon to do this in order to convert some hostile pokemon to their side. Probably would've worked better if they weren't in the middle of a raging battle at the time...

"Sela: "Looks like I'm playing cavalry again, huh?""
 * Team Mom: The protagonist. It's even been lampshaded by a couple characters..
 * Tempting Fate: NamNar actively avoids this at this point.
 * The All-Concealing "I": There are more than 150 chapters at this point and we still don't know the narrator's name.
 * The Bus Came Back: For Hanna at the end of the Vaporeon arc.
 * The Cavalry: Played straight for both sides during


 * The Cheerleader: Hanna doesn't lampshade it; she proclaims it, drags others along with her, and even dresses for the part.
 * The Fashionista: Hanna shows shades of this.
 * The Messiah: Vaikuntha.
 * The Not Love Interest: Hanna.
 * The Reveal:
 * The Runaway: Cossette is implied to have run away from home after having an argument with her parents, shortly after the main character moves to Sunyshore, and is currently living with him in the gym.
 * The Starscream: Ike.
 * The Stoic: Des.
 * Theme Naming: Jude plays this straight, though some of it is a little... obscure and random.
 * The Eevee litter Isabella and Alexander came from all had four-syllable names that started with vowels.
 * Title Drop: The main character gives an epic one during his confrontation with

""Guys, no. I want to name them! And Des—Vai, really?"
 * Token Evil Teammate: Also Ike.
 * Token Mini-Moe: Cossette.
 * Tomato Surprise:
 * Not really. More like a Tomato in The Mirror for the protagonist, and a sufficiently Genre Savvy reader already suspects that
 * Tomboy and Girly Girl: Carlita and Alice.
 * Torches and Pitchforks: The.
 * Touch of Death: Seems to be how
 * Tsundere: Alice.
 * Two Guys and A Girl: For a short time.
 * Mirrored in the Gym race arc, with the introductions of Vaikuntha and Alicia.
 * Possibly Des, Carlita, and Ike, and then later Kostya, Alice, and Zarek.
 * Unreliable Narrator:
 * Unlikely Hero
 * Well-Intentioned Extremist:
 * We Named the Monkey "Jack":
 * Well-Intentioned Extremist:
 * We Named the Monkey "Jack":
 * We Named the Monkey "Jack":

"No, Vi. It's said differently. And uses different letters," he replied smartly.

"I still will get confused and I'm the one deciding what to name them!"

Three guesses as to what they ended up being named."

"NamNar: "I thought you were my friend. I thought you were still... Good, somewhere, in there.""
 * We Used to Be Friends: Boy is this drilled home during

""What. I'm not afraid to hit a girl, and she's been infuriating and awful this entire night.""
 * Wham! Episode: Chapter 57.
 * Chapter 132, as well.
 * Wham! Line: Chapter 121:
 * Chapter 147:
 * The meaning of these words:
 * Chapter 156 is full of them. The most jarring would have to be
 * What the Hell, Hero?:  gives an absolutely epic one to the protagonist. It snaps him out of his mindset.
 * Again:
 * And again: . And is then more or less rewarded for it, and at the very least, forgiven by most of the cast.
 * Jude also gives one the the main character, complete with a punch to the face, after his attempts to team up with the mercenary in the Vaporeon arc go pear shaped.
 * Whole-Episode Flashback:.
 * Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds:.
 * Would Hit a Girl: The protagonist smacks Lola with a Skarmory feather to shut her up while.

""You do not have to bear the weight of the world on your shoulders, contrary to popular belief. I am here to help you.""
 * The protagonist also slaps Hanna. To be fair, she started it.
 * You Are Not Alone: Hanna lectures the main character about this after


 * You Can't Fight Fate: