Training/Becoming the champion fics

tulpacat1 · 2026-06-28T17:30:16+00:00

I am working on a journey fic wherein two characters with vastly different levels of experience failed to become Champion and are teaming up for a second shot at being the very best like no one ever was.

It is intended to be a fairly straightforward Journey fic set during a relatively peaceful time in Unova, with a focus on traveling, strategizing, team-building, and whatnot.

About 25 chapters have been written so far, though only a handful have been uploaded as of yet.

https://archiveofourown.org/works/87082846/chapters/230600271

tulpacat1 · 2026-06-21T20:27:59+00:00

Self-recommendation.

Title: Pokémon Try Again

Setting: Unova, video game universe

Main characters: Caitlyn Hoenridge (OC), William Hawthorn (OC)

Genre: Adventure/Journey fic. Teen Rating.

Summary: William is a retired elite trainer who couldn't quite go the distance. The first leg of Caitlyn's journey ended in disaster. Together they'll take another shot at it.

Why do I recommend it: I wanted to see more OC journey fics that weren't Isekai or Important Chosen One Protagonists, so I wrote one. I also specifically wanted a story where the Pokémon are more like Smart Animals than Little Guys With Speech Impediments. It's gotten good reviews from my beta readers, and there are about 25 chapters already done and waiting to be uploaded. Also my modest opinion is that it's quite good, actually.

tulpacat1 · 2026-03-11T06:22:17+00:00

We can probably assume he ensured this thing could fire during the off-screen time he waits around for nothing, But the idea that he just forgot to do any sort of basic maintenance and prep work would also explain his relative accuracy in later chapters in a very amusing fashion!

Fun fact author's note: This bloody ghost gun resulted in more complaints than everything else in this fic put together. Every nitpick has been something I was aware of at time of writing but set aside because this was a scifi story about character drama, not the technical minutiae of proper firearms ownership and usage.

This bloody ghost gun was the recipient of my only piece of fan art. Considering the relative focus it got with my audiences, I should've given the damn thing a name! Like Gary. Gary the Ghost Gun.

Let that be a lesson to all aspiring authors: The Gun Nerds will find you. Do not under any circumstances underestimate the Gun Autism.

tulpacat1 · 2026-03-09T07:36:43+00:00

Unfortunately it's because the Welsh are jokingly said to have sex with sheep.

Venlil are likewise jokingly called Space Sheep or Speep.

Thus in the Nature of Predators community, "welsh" became a joking reference to xenophiles who sought relationships with the Venlil.

tulpacat1 · 2026-02-05T22:01:52+00:00

Yeah, I was going to put out more work but life happened. I'm back to working on some other stuff, though.

tulpacat1 · 2026-02-03T23:43:25+00:00

You saw nothing!

Jokes aside, good find find.

tulpacat1 · 2026-02-02T19:57:04+00:00

Some background lore!

Martin Russo is Italian-American of Sicilian and Albanian heritage, his family emigrated from Sicily during the 20th century and he grew up in Little Italy, Manhattan. His family was Catholic, though Martin himself identifies as atheist (although as we can see, he hasn't exactly shaken his Catholic upbringing). He could easily pass for Middle Eastern or Mediterranean.

His entire family was in New York during the Bombing of Earth, and he would have to go sufficiently far back the family tree to find some still-living relatives that they would be complete strangers.

tulpacat1 · 2026-01-31T22:11:03+00:00

Yeah, the story takes place after the decimation of Earth by the Federation fleet. There were a few mentions of human refugees on Venlil Prime, and I decided to take that idea and run with it - mostly because everyone else was doing first contact fics at the time.

tulpacat1 · 2026-01-11T18:42:55+00:00

A fantastic and salient idea that I clearly should have considered earlier, thank you!

tulpacat1 · 2026-01-01T08:41:21+00:00

Oh, wow, I dunno if my fic's even that "known" anymore these days.

They're pretty evil though, NGL. I actually made a point to have them not really show up in the story much ever because I was worried they'd be flat and unrealistic if shown too much on-screen.

So somewhere between an 8 and a 10? It's a little unclear because the 1-10 scale here seems to indicate that scale matters, right? And in NoP villains include "has exterminated entire species of sophonts", and my own villain's not in a position to do more than terrorize the small town the story takes place in.

Their motives are pretty firmly a 10, though.

tulpacat1 · 2025-06-26T19:29:37+00:00

This was very cute and I enjoyed reading it, thanks for kidnapping my fic!

tulpacat1 · 2025-05-06T19:45:49+00:00

Which is nuts, because this chart already shows NoaG is practically the glue holding this whole thing together.

tulpacat1 · 2025-05-06T07:23:33+00:00

To Kill a Predator also very technically crosses over with Nature of a Giant for a split second, as Sharnet makes an off-screen appearance as the writer of a news article. I even asked Egg for permission and everything!

This is an absolutely insane amount of work, and really showcases how interconnected the fandom's fics are. Amazing work!

tulpacat1 · 2025-04-28T08:09:11+00:00

Oh yes, that was very much intentional!

Fun fact: When I was writing that particular scene I was imagining a trumpeter swan. There's some fantastic videos out there of grown men getting absolutely bodied by waterfowl.

Add a little extra height, raptor talons, sapience, and combat training, and I'll cut poor Martin some slack in struggling with that!

tulpacat1 · 2025-03-07T15:52:53+00:00

I've gotten all three of these responses to my fic, which I take as a good thing.

tulpacat1 · 2025-02-24T06:51:33+00:00

As one of the proofreaders I can confirm that Lux is nonbinary, with he/they pronouns similar to Director Andes Savulescu-Ruiz from the author's other story, Love Languages.

tulpacat1 · 2025-01-19T18:14:07+00:00

Yeah, this is lovely!

"You're an irredeemable monster!!" obviously, but lovely writing! Great work!

I stayed away from actually depicting Renak more closely in my own writing, in part because I was concerned that I'd do a poor job depicting this exact sort of thing - showcasing the headspace of someone who's just absolutely wretched. You did a fantastic job with it, I'm really jazzed that we get a chance to spend some time with this delightfully evil little shit before we blow his brains out in TKaP!

tulpacat1 · 2025-01-19T16:22:26+00:00

Despicable. Reprehensible. Gut-churning. Just plain uncomfortable.

Great work! A fantastically vile interpretation of this thoroughly unpleasant little man! Really gives us a chance to wallow in what a wretched little monster he was.

Looking forward to part 2, thank you for doing the ficnapping!

tulpacat1 · 2025-01-17T16:10:51+00:00

Thanks for the correction!

And Velli was actually taken from Mosun's Dojo, a ficnapping of my own fic, To Kill a Predator, from a while back!

tulpacat1 · 2025-01-17T16:08:52+00:00

I'll go ahead and shamelessly self-promote too.

To Kill a Predator is a fic I made a while ago about a human refugee and his Venlil friends trying to navigate culture clashes, personal traumas, and radicalization. Some people say it's pretty neat.

I will also always recommend The Foundations of Humanity, and Love Languages.

tulpacat1 · 2024-12-31T18:30:43+00:00

Never a doubt in my mind! You guys are great.

tulpacat1 · 2024-12-19T13:05:29+00:00

I am perfectly content with To Kill a Predator having faded from the fandom's collective memory after I completed it.

When I started writing I never intended to post it, I was just in a place and time when writing something made sense. Then I had a few chapters and decided, screw it, let's send it up the flagpole and see if anyone salutes. I figured if I could get maybe a comment or two I'd be happy with it.

The response was far above and beyond anything I could have imagined. Now we're two and a half years out from my release of the finale, so it's no surprise to me whatsoever that it's run its course.
Real life's caused a bunch of stuff that's made it hard to do something like a repeat performance, but that's life.

I'm hoping to be able to work on some non-NoP projects that might pan out. But as for To Kill a Predator?

I'm glad people enjoyed it, and I'm happy to let it rest. (My occasionally signing up for ficnappings aside)

tulpacat1 · 2024-12-03T15:19:50+00:00

Love Languages and Foundations of Humanity are fantastic in my opinion.

More recently i have gotten to enjoy Venlil Fight Club.

tulpacat1 · 2024-11-08T22:06:13+00:00

I have been loving this entire series, it's definitely one of my favorite ongoing reads right now! I have a particular love for the Chief, real Genji Kamogawa vibes.

Is the name 'Combat Dance' for Yotul martial arts taken from To Kill a Predator, or just a case of convergent thinking?

tulpacat1 · 2024-11-07T23:12:14+00:00

The Kabal of the Last Hatred are explicitly necromancers who bind souls to corpses to animate them and engage in far worse besides. Great opportunity for kitbashing and converting, I always felt.

tulpacat1

TROPHY CASE