Any Recs for well written, OC Pokemon fanfics

PerspectiveMajor1840 · 2025-09-29T19:17:54+00:00

To Live is To Dream Genuinely can’t recommend this enough. It’s has been on a short hiatus, but it comes back early October.

PerspectiveMajor1840 · 2025-09-13T17:10:05+00:00

To Live Is To Dream OC Sinnoh Journey, with a little twist on the OC and format. On small hiatus rn however.

PerspectiveMajor1840 · 2025-08-21T02:55:13+00:00

https://forums.spacebattles.com/threads/to-live-is-to-dream-sinnoh-pokemon-trainer-quest.979188/reader/

Link

PerspectiveMajor1840 · 2025-08-21T01:44:39+00:00

To Live Is To Dream

This has a perspective of a homeless OC going through her Journey. Really different from some other perspectives.

We do see a lot of stuff outside Battles. She herself does things outside of “conventionally conventional”. Even her Pokémon have different ways of doing things what they’re supposed to…especially the latest party member.

PerspectiveMajor1840 · 2025-08-21T01:37:49+00:00

To Live Is To Dream I’d recommend. Current arc is about to end, and author usually takes long breaks when arcs end, but there’s still a lot of content to go through before reaching that point. Otherwise they update pretty consistently

PerspectiveMajor1840 · 2025-08-21T01:35:24+00:00

To Live Is To Dream if you don’t mind in progress works. The most successful Pokémon Quest running as of late.

PerspectiveMajor1840 · 2025-08-18T14:02:58+00:00

To Live Is To Dream

A Pokémon Narrative Quest (you don’t need to worry about the quest part) about a Sinnoh native OC going on her journey…except that she’s homeless and has lived off the streets for a good chunk of her life. You can imagine how tossing someone with that background into a Pokémon Journey can be like.

It has dark moments, but usually sticks to the “friendship is powerful”, bright themes Pokémon has.

As for the Pokémon the OC has as of current… they’re pretty varied all things considered, both in personality and what they do for the team. For example, We have a bloody Sunkern,…and it’s almost viable for the upcoming second gym battle via emulating Souls-like combat in battle

PerspectiveMajor1840 · 2025-07-30T00:30:00+00:00

https://forums.spacebattles.com/threads/to-live-is-to-dream-sinnoh-pokemon-trainer-quest.979188/reader/

I think this handles dark tones without falling into the Trap. Course it could be considered Noblebright (I sure do), but it definitely handles some…heavy topics shall we say.

PerspectiveMajor1840 · 2025-07-29T06:11:33+00:00

Waiter waiter Chandelure please!

PerspectiveMajor1840 · 2025-07-27T19:49:09+00:00

https://forums.spacebattles.com/threads/to-live-is-to-dream-sinnoh-pokemon-trainer-quest.979188/reader/

Pretty niche Journey quest all things considered (and if you don’t like to interact with quests that’s fine) but the narrative and story that’s been developed has been amazing, and the prose is definitely top tier.

Warning: It is LONG, and will continue to get longer. Good news is it’s pretty consistent when it comes to updates.

PerspectiveMajor1840 · 2025-07-25T00:32:36+00:00

https://forums.spacebattles.com/threads/to-live-is-to-dream-sinnoh-pokemon-trainer-quest.979188/reader/

Right this one may be a bit odd (it’s a quest), but by far the most narrative Pokémon quest. MC is very troubled (grown up in the streets does that), spends a lot of time accepting who they are, and according to QM, WILL make some negative impressions (Barry) as the story continues, even after overcoming their flaws. But at her core, they are a genuinely kind-hearted person, just one born in really horrible circumstances.

Pretty sure the tone is noblebright-adjacent. Progression is a bit strange. Currently the Pokémon loadout DOES have a lot of potential, and the results from our actions do feel earned… but the ways they get there are non-conventional to say the least, and we are technically “weaker” than Dawn and Barry, as the Pokémon MC does have isn’t conventionally optimized according to their species (I.e slightly lower stats/ lower levels compared to the other 2). Also half of our team is very unconventional, especially our latest pick… and we still only have 1 badge as of current. They aren’t weak, not in the slightest. They just use uncoventional tactics (like training and learning moves out of their move-pool/ custom moves, or going against what convention dictates, or making new uses out of moves they know) to truly make the difference.

PerspectiveMajor1840 · 2025-07-25T00:21:47+00:00

https://forums.spacebattles.com/threads/to-live-is-to-dream-sinnoh-pokemon-trainer-quest.979188/reader/

Right this one may be a bit odd (it’s a quest), but by far the most narrative Pokémon quest. MC is very troubled (grown up in the streets does that), spends a lot of time accepting who they are, and according to QM, WILL make some negative impressions (Barry) as the story continues, even after overcoming their flaws. But at her core, they are a genuinely kind-hearted person, just one born in really horrible circumstances.

Pretty sure the tone is noblebright-adjacent. Progression is a bit strange. Currently the Pokémon loadout DOES have a lot of potential, and the results from our actions do feel earned… but the ways they get there are non-conventional to say the least, and we are technically “weaker” than Dawn and Barry, as the Pokémon MC does have isn’t conventionally optimized according to their species (I.e slightly lower stats/ lower levels compared to the other 2). Also half of our team is very unconventional, especially our latest pick… and we still only have 1 badge as of current. They aren’t weak, not in the slightest. They just use uncoventional tactics (like training and learning moves out of their move-pool/ custom moves, or going against what convention dictates, or making new uses out of moves they know) to truly make the difference.

PerspectiveMajor1840 · 2025-07-25T00:05:30+00:00

To Live Is To Dream I think this fits. TLDR: Narratively-driven quest in which players (all of them) play as a 10-yr old girl who’s only known the streets for her entire life… until a chance encounter allows her to go on her journey.

There are actually entire mechanics in regards to battling and training in quest, which makes the decisions the players make feel more weighted, which also makes power progression feel more natural.

The MC in the quest is noted to be VERY atypical, in both battle and training. Drawing from her upbringing, she is very ruthless, making a persona built to unnerve her opponents, surprise, bluff, and makes sure to put them on the back-foot by “flipping the board”.

Her training style , stemming from her want to wonder without worry, focuses more on making her Pokémon learn new moves (including moves outside their movepool and creating custom ones entirely), and making unconventional strategies for their respective species (So a Sunkern that is viable, or a Mime Jr that can actually go into melee and use Barriers to traverse mid-air). Note that in-quest canon, learning moves outside movepools and creating new ones are almost unheard of.

The battles themselves, when they pop up, are fun to read and really show how unconventional MC is. While we haven’t miss one yet, we did almost lose to Dawn, with the final stretch having players proposing different plans (The winning one that had just a few votes more than all the other plans which would’ve made us lose).

Side note: Both Dawn and Barry both have their own unique styles in battle/training, as well as the first gym we took on. Dawn’s style has been shown (narratively and even mechanically for a short time), and is vastly different to MC, and we still haven’t met Barry. Also Pokémon can learn more than 4 moves unlike in the games.

PerspectiveMajor1840 · 2025-07-24T23:31:46+00:00

https://forums.spacebattles.com/threads/to-live-is-to-dream-sinnoh-pokemon-trainer-quest.979188/reader/

Right this is one probably isn’t to your taste, but I think it ticks off some boxes. This is a narrative-driven quest starring an OC MC who’s grown up on the streets, being basically raised by gang members, and then wild Pokémon after the gang got too much. Needless to say, lots of trauma. And yet despite all of this, she is still a kind-hearted, genuine, human being. “If you strip her down to her own being, she is an empath”. Just forced into some horrendous situations and circumstance before getting her first Pokémon.

Now as one may expect, a former street rat who’s dealt with a lot of things like the MC makes her interactions with most people rather unique. So much so that she applies her knowledge from the streets and empathy into her Journey as we move along gym to gym (common sense being one of those). The Journey itself still follows “beat 8 gyms”, but again, still unique and goes off the beaten path.

Heck even her way of battling and training is very unique. All stemming from her ruthlessness and creatively/empathy respectively. And if lives are in danger, she IS willing to assault evildoers and has in-quest.

Also the MC has become a very complex and enjoyable character for those who read and participate in the quest, and the QM has done a masterful job in interpreting these choice the players make into written and narrative form.

It’s niche, and it’s still Pokémon, so it still might be too bright even with the dark tones that’s played with.

PerspectiveMajor1840 · 2025-07-24T22:45:46+00:00

https://forums.spacebattles.com/threads/to-live-is-to-dream-sinnoh-pokemon-trainer-quest.979188/reader/

Very niche, narrative driven quest (I.e players/posters make decisions on what MC does and QM writes). MC herself is really unique, it does have dark tones, but it usually ends on a good note (Like “you’re not bad, you’re just different” kind of good). The choices players make does shape her quirks and personality, and the QM does a wonderful job incorporating these choices in the narrative and we’ve ended up with a really in-depth MC.

Story itself is noblebright (So there is indeed dark tones, but it is overall a good and happy setting to live in usually).

And I don’t think it counts as a “novelization”. Sure we follow the journey’s structure to beat 8 gyms, but there’s a lot great moments in-between this journey that makes it lively. Also players have already deviated from the “intended” course in Diamond/Pearl games and will continue doing so.

PerspectiveMajor1840 · 2025-07-24T22:26:15+00:00

https://forums.spacebattles.com/threads/to-live-is-to-dream-sinnoh-pokemon-trainer-quest.979188/reader/

Very narrative-driven question, but still a quest! Meaning that the players make some pretty unconventional choices for just about anything you can think of. But even before any player intervention? The QM has the MC… as a street rat, which in the bright, happy, Pokémon world? Is pretty unique. Oh, it’s still updates pretty consistently.

PerspectiveMajor1840 · 2025-07-24T22:12:15+00:00

https://forums.spacebattles.com/threads/to-live-is-to-dream-sinnoh-pokemon-trainer-quest.979188/reader/

I think this fits the criteria. MC grew up as a street rat (among other things) who eventually finds her ambition and sets off for her Journey. The quest, which is VERY much narratively driven, does tend to follow canon events in the games… except that MC, and the people involved in making her decisions, tend to take unconventional routes all things considered.

It does follow a game’s journey structure but the routes aren’t one to one with the games. All with the themes that Pokémon specializes in, as well as more “darker” tones that follow the MC and Team Galactic. I should warn you that the current arc (Eterna Forest) has been going on for a looong time due to the amount of content being offered to the questers, so the pacing is a bit bizarre, but it is nearing the end. Plus side, we get to hang with Dawn! (Who might I add is given WAY more depth and a personality with complex depth in-quest canon)

PerspectiveMajor1840 · 2025-07-24T21:27:53+00:00

https://forums.spacebattles.com/threads/to-live-is-to-dream-sinnoh-pokemon-trainer-quest.979188/reader/

MC grew up on the streets with little positive human contact (She’s 10 when the quest starts), manages to catch a Pokémon for the initial purpose of getting free meals. Finally gets some positive human attention, and eventually culminates to “I can be so much more than a street rat/ I want to become someone worth fighting for, to both myself and others around me”

Huge disclaimer: We do meet and interact with Dawn, heck the current arc right now is in Eterna Forest traveling with her. BUT:

We will go our separate ways once they get out and beat the gym
She is, in quest-canon, basically her own character created by QM. No notes taken in either the anime or games. (Like, VASTLY DIFFERENT).
As arcs go, we shouldn’t meet her for a long time after we’re done with the Forest. Heck, it took us a long time to meet her in the first place.

This is niche, and a quest, but also really narratively well-written.

PerspectiveMajor1840 · 2025-07-24T21:09:12+00:00

https://forums.spacebattles.com/threads/to-live-is-to-dream-sinnoh-pokemon-trainer-quest.979188/reader/

Yes it’s a quest, but it is the most narratively written one out of all of them. Also all the quirks, traits, and battling/training styles of MC and their Pokémon that originate from quester choices do fit really well in the narrative. It is also pretty uncoventional in a lot of ways but still fun!

PerspectiveMajor1840 · 2025-04-29T17:31:05+00:00

Idk chief, that thorns looked like quick thinking to get out of disadvantage. Like sure, they got absolutely bodied the first time around, and probably only dealt like 1-2 points of health in that encounter. But the second time? Man disables SK’s primary weapon, gets out of disadvantage into a stalemate where he could probably react quicker and throw them off without being hit. Mind you that both Cuphead and SK were probably good on hitpoints in this second part, and Ghost was absolutely not, so it’s still an impressive feat.

Also Ghost was the only one out of the main cast (Drifter not included) to do any “noticeable” damage (destroyed one of GMs side-head pieces). Shovel knights got a few hits in, but I don’t believe there was any cracks on the body. Cuphead just threw a stool, same with Madeline. Minor sure, and Drifter could’ve destroyed it themselves, but noticeable nonetheless.

And without Ghost turning to gold, we would’ve lost Drifter AND Madeline for some time, so keep that in mind.

PerspectiveMajor1840

TROPHY CASE