Pokémon: Storm Clouds: Difference between revisions

[http://deeman45.deviantart.com/journal/33636764/ Several months later, the author announced a sequel]. Titled simply "Storm Clouds II", it is set 19 years after the events of the first story. To give hints of what was to come, he posted a series of updates through his [[Deviant ART]] journals over a 13-week period regarding 'elements' of his version of the Pokémon world which are to play a role in the story. More recently, he posted [http://deeman45.deviantart.com/journal/37159706/ A Q&A about the characters, the plot, and the writing process, with all questions asked by fans].

 

 

"Storm Clouds II" is [http://deeman45.deviantart.com/art/Storm-Clouds-II-Ch-01-194703762 here], and the fanfiction.net version is [http://www.fanfiction.net/s/6682749/1/bStorm_b_bClouds_b_II here]. The first chapter was posted in late January 2011.

* [[Break the Cutie]]: Poor Missy ends up going through a lot of crap throughout the entire story. {{spoiler|It's not until the very end that the author finally allows her to [[Earn Your Happy Ending|Earn That Happy Ending]]}}.

* [[Break the Haughty]]: {{spoiler|Ruby, very much so}}.

* [[Character Development]]: You can bet your life savings that there's a lot of it going around - even the supporting cast aren't all what they seem to be at first glance.

* [[Climax Boss]]: Rico for the Team Rocket hideout. {{spoiler|Giovanni}} for the Saffron City ruins.

* [[Combat Pragmatist]]: Nightshade.

* [[Darker and Edgier]]: Than pretty much any [[Pokémon]] canon, except for possibly [[Pokémon Colosseum|Orre]]. [[Tropes Are Not Bad|This isn't a bad thing, though.]]

** Mind you, being darker than [[Pokémon]] canon isn't a terribly difficult feat. It's still far from [[Grimdark]] levels.

* [[The Ditz]]: Artemis.

** Erika as well. Also, both are also [[Hidden Depths|deeper than the initial impressions they give off would have you believe]].

* {{spoiler|[[Earn Your Happy Ending]]: A definitive example of this trope.}}

* [[Elsewhere Fic]]: Like most non-shipping ''[[Pokémon]]'' fics.

* [[Evilly Affable]]: Masque is so eloquent, melodramatic, and occasionally downright ''funny'' its easy to forget that he's a completely unsympathetic, hateful bastard. {{spoiler|At least until the final chapters, when he [[Moral Event Horizon|shows his]] [[Complete Monster|true colors.]]}}

* [[Failure Knight]]: {{spoiler|Nightshade and Artemis feel this way for failing to protect their trainer, but ''especially'' Nightshade, since the two of them grew up together and were best friends}}.

** 1st half of the story:

*** [[Big Bad]]: Giovanni

*** [[The Brute]]: {{spoiler|The Aerodactyl}}

*** [[Dark Chick]]: {{spoiler|The Dragonair}}

** [[The Hero]]: Missy, naturally. (The author even said, during a Q&A time, that Dan was a [[Decoy Protagonist]] in the early chapters including the opening, and that Missy herself is the story's main protagonist).

** [[The Lancer]]: Ruby, of the [[The Rival|rival]] variant.

** [[The Heart]]: Nemo.

** [[Mission Control]]: Dan.

** {{spoiler|Said Scyther has his scythe cracked and broken in battle with Missy. He's initially angry about this, but later comes to appreciate it for making him more unique, ''and'' for making the scythe sharper and deadlier as a result}}.

* [[Guile Hero]]: Missy herself. All of her defeats over the Scyther (and a good deal of her other victories as well) basically revolve around exploiting or tricking an opponent into doing themselves in. Of course, given that she's not actually a Pokémon, this is probably her best option in taking on the world.

* [[The Leader]]: Dan is a Type II for his group, Giovanni tries to be a Type IV but comes across as more of a type III for Team Rocket, and {{spoiler|Masque is a Type I/IV hybrid for the end of the story.}}

* [[Lovable Coward]]: Nemo. {{spoiler|Subverted in that he shows signs of great courage when he needs to, and along with Missy, has the best [[Crowning Moment of Awesome|Crowning Moments]] throughout the story.}}

** Come the sequel, the [[Posthumous Character|deaths of both Blaine and Dan's father during the interim]] makes this [[Harsher in Hindsight]].

* [[Malevolent Masked Man]]: [[Meaningful Name|Masque]], obviously.

* [[Ragtag Bunch of Misfits]]: Dan's Pokémon team give off this vibe. A human-girl-turned-Eevee (Missy/Storm), a somewhat comical but loyal Muk (Armor), a high-and-mighty Ponyta (Ruby), a timid but courageous Seadra (Nemo), a cynical Oddish (Nightshade), and a hyper Electabuzz (Artemis). Yeah ... and you thought ''[[Pokémon (Anime)|Ash]]'' sometimes caught the weirdest Pokémon.

* [[Reverse Mole]]: {{spoiler|None other than Rico.}}

* [[Rule of Symbolism]]: Is Masque--with his strange speech, strange mannerisms, and even stranger dress--completely at odds with the Pokémon world as we see it? Yeah. Why do we accept his presence in the story so readily? Well...see [[Fridge Brilliance]].

* {{spoiler|[[Sealed With a Kiss]]: Mm-hmm.}}

** It helps, of course, that the story was hugely inspired by [[Pokémon Special]], the [[Darker and Edgier]] canon counterpart of both the Tv Series AND the games.

* {{spoiler|[[The Starscream]]: Masque, though not for the [[Ambition Is Evil|usual]] [[For the Evulz|reasons]].}}

{{quote| {{spoiler|'''Scyther'''}}: You know, I would tell you to not bother, that by overexerting yourself with a wound like that you could very likely keel over from exhaustion, except that I don't care and I'd love to see you suffer. I ''hate'' your type, little {{spoiler|Ponyta}}, do you know that? All your talk about training and practice and striving to be the best day after day after day...hah! All that training was for one reason only: to hide your shameful weakness. You started off '''weak''', you little meal! It took quite a bit of effort to reach where you are now. Whereas I-I was born strong. Before my first birthday I had an impressive number of victories chalked up against powerful wild pokemon. Powerful pokemon; pokemon that ''hunted'' my species! I showed them that I am no prey. Before my first year passed I had ''killed'', weakling! Killed! Human and pokemon alike! ''Legions'' of pokemon have fled from my blade. And what do you have to your name, weak one? A few victories in one-on-one battles in the safe haven humanity provides for you with their little rules? With their honor and ethics and all their safety? And even those slight triumphs were only earned after effort on your part. Do not hide what you are. The weak should not masquerade as the strong!}}

** Later the {{spoiler|Scyther}} himself gets one from {{spoiler|Missy}}, it's a very epic one.

{{quote| {{spoiler|'''Masque'''}}: Are you so shocked by murder, {{spoiler|Giovanni}}? Pitiful. You are like a vulture flying high above a pack of predators, waiting to pick off whatever they leave you. You can’t kill. You’ve ordered plenty of deaths to be carried out, but you’ve never done it yourself. Any weakling can order an execution, but it takes a certain caliber to actually join the firing squad. You should have known your ambitions would attract souls much blacker than yours.<br />

''' {{spoiler|Giovanni}}''' attempts to attack {{spoiler|'''Masque'''}} with his pokemon, which refuses to obey him.<br />

* [[Trapped in TV Land]]: Most of the story takes place in the world of the ''Pokémon'' games.

* [[True Companions]]: Dan's other Pokémon become this for Missy. It's a [[Crowning Moment of Heartwarming]] when all of them, even Ruby, strive to bring her out of her [[Heroic BSOD]]. It becomes even more moving when you realise that they sacrificed their homeworld, their own sense of normalcy, and their chances of finding potential mates and having children in order to follow Dan and Missy back home, even when they don't need to. All they need now is a cheesy speech.

* [[Xanatos Gambit]]: Masque uses one {{spoiler|when he allows himself to be imprisoned. He has his Hypno hypnotize the guards into releasing him and then has it wipe their memories so that they forget he was there. Thereby allowing him to move around freely while everyone thinks he's imprisoned.}}

* [[You Have Outlived Your Usefulness]]: {{spoiler|Masque pulls this on Giovanni, cementing himself as [[The Starscream]] and the story's [[Big Bad]].}}

* [[The Medic]]: Dulcet, being an Audino, acts like this in combat.

* [[Reasonable Authority Figure]]: Most of the Fox Creek town council (save [[Mayor Pain|the current mayor]]). Bertrand deserves special mention - he openly confesses to {{spoiler|hating Pokémon}} because {{spoiler|his teenage daughter was a casualty of Masque's attack}}, but he's not incapable of empathising with Missy when {{spoiler|her son is kidnapped}} and agrees to her proposition. Missy even notes that he usually opposes her on principle.

* [[Obstructive Bureaucrat]]: The Mayor of Fox Creek tries to be this, but Missy and the other Council members [[Badass Bureaucrat|aren't having any of it.]]

* [[Older and Wiser]]: Everyone's getting this to some degree, but Artemis in ''particular'' has really calmed down over the years. Nemo is this of the more self-confident variety, and Ruby looks to be considerably calmer.

 

* [[Mind Screw]]: In his little weekly tidbits for the sequel, [[Word of God]] has generally presented information that, if vague, is still comprehensible enough. And then week seven gives us [http://deeman45.deviantart.com/journal/34785202/#comments this]. Bwuh?

 

== Meta ==

[[Category:Troper Works]]

[[Category:Pokemon Storm Clouds]]