So we send a kid with absolutely no training out into the wide world with only a disobedient Pikachu at his side. What could go wrong, right? Fortunately, we have a grumpy pitch-black legendary to keep an eye on him, although that's not without its pitfalls as well. After all, there is that one suspicious omen..."That the world will turn to shadows and ash."
Shadows and Ash is a fanfic that serves as a rewrite of the Pokèmon anime with one main difference: in addition to his normal companions Ash also has a very grumpy Darkrai following him around and occasionally helping him. This changes more than you'd expect with Ash having similar adventures with different outcomes along with some brand new ones and catching different Pokèmon than in canon. The fic also includes several aspects from the games.
The fanfic can be found on Fanfiction.Net here.
This fanfic provides examples of:
- Adaptation Amalgamation: The fic injects quite a few concepts from the games, Let's Play, Creepypasta, fan games and even Twitch Plays Pokémon series into the anime universe.
- Adaptational Badass: Multiple people in the fic.
- Brock and Misty due to having a more diverse team and catching Pokèmon belonging to Ash in canon.
- Pikachu learns Volt Tackle early in Vermillion City.
- Most of Ash's badges are won via battle, unlike the anime, and he tends to win them on the first try too.
- Adaptation Expansion: Many concepts such as why 10 year olds are considered adults in Kanto and the Viridian Gym being the last to visit are explored in the fic.
- Instead of being a one-off mention, Ash and his friends being the survivors of the St. Anne is more serious where they are interviewed by the police and their families come to see them in Porto Vista.
- It's implied that Koga and his family protect the Safari Zone during their promotion of the area.
- The Pikachu troupe the gang runs into also includes Raichu that were abandoned by their trainers and Pichu, the baby form of Pikachu. They also turn out to be Pikachu's family.
- Adaptational Heroism: A few people in the fic
- The Team Rocket Trio, since they are trying to catch Darkrai and not Pikachu, are friendlier with the main group than in canon. They even mention to the Pokèmon they recruit that they are hunting down rogue agents such as the ones who killed Marowak in Lavender Town.
- Sabrina. She is not the cold hearted trainer who would turn her opponents into dolls and instead sends out her child self as a test for potential challengers. She also does not force her Pokèmon to evolve like in canon.
- Adaptational Nice Guy:
- Team Rocket are not as antagonistic towards the twerps since they are focusing on capturing Darkrai instead of Pikachu, doing small things such as helping them out of their pitfall traps. In return, Ash, Brock, and Misty have gone out of their way to be friendly as well such as offering them a hot meal after they got dropped into the ocean and even help James fake his death so he can stop having to worry about marrying Jessiebell.
- Sabrina is friendlier in fic with a team of Psychic Pokèmon that act as her family and friends, such as her Alakazam, is an avid fan of the in-universe radio drama The Shadow and the Nightmare, and is a major Fangirl for Darkrai. In fact, her parents are delighted that she brings over Ash, Brock, and Misty for dinner and rejoice that she has made human friends that aren't afraid of her powers. She also thought that Ash destroying the dojo with Frenzy was hilarious.
- The Sensational Sisters. While they do belittle and tease Misty, they were overjoyed and hugging their sister upon reuniting with her after the S.S. Anne incident.
- Adaptational Jerkass:
- Gary Oak. While his appearance in Porto Vista was just to show up Ash and have his fanclub participate in a beauty contest, he does not come with his grandfather and Delia to check on Ash after they get the news that he survived the sinking of the S.S. Anne in favor of staying ahead of Ash on their journey.
- Erika. In canon it was her attendants that threw Ash out of both the perfume shop and banned him from the Gym. Here, Erika throws Ash out both times and goes as far as to ban him from her Gym for not liking her perfume.
- The Drowzee and Hypno duo from Hophophop Town. In canon, Drowzee and Hypno were the new favorites at the Pokèmon Fanclub but in fic they were kidnapping kids so Hypno could feed off of them using Dream Eater with Drowzee being more cooperative with Darkrai's offer than his partner.
- Affably Evil: Giovanni. He may run a criminal empire but he does reward the T Rio with larger missions as rewards for their successes, gives some praise concerning the number of Pokèmon and recruits they have sent his way, and all his workers get benefits such as dental insurance and a 401k.
- Berserk Button:
- Harming children is one for Darkrai, even if it gets rarely pressed. Another one is using Hypnosis for brainwashing or mind control purposes.
- According to Janine, apparently the Naruto series is this for Koga.
- Blaine and how media depicts lava and magma.
- Blood Knight: Frenzy the Paras, later Parasect, to the point that even Lenny the Gyarados is afraid of him.
- Cloudcuckoolander: Ash has shades of this as he thinks Darkrai is a person in s costume when they first meet, considers Frenzy's behavior to be normal, and sets out to find Missing No upon arriving on Cinnabar Island.
- Turns out Blaine is this as well. He keeps all his Pokèballs inside a stuffed Tepig and claims Missing No exists and always steals his left socks. He also starts making plans for the Zombie Parasect Apocalypse after facing Frenzy.
- Creepy Child: Ash is a lighter version given his childhood with Darkrai, with most of the media he consumed being horror themed, over which he bonds with Sabrina.
- Darker and Edgier: The fic maintains a level of silliness about on par with the source material but is also quite darker, featuring much more graphic violence and bloodshed along with some rather disturbing scenes of mental torment.
- Deadpan Snarker: Due to traveling with Ash, both Darkrai and Misty take plenty of opportunities to make snide remarks, including at eachother.
- Death by Adaptation: Erika's Gloom in the anime was her starter and had been her best friend since childhood. Here, the Gloom had died some time before the start of Ash's adventure and the Gloom saved from the fire is the child of Erika's childhood Gloom.
- Fluffy the Terrible: Ash's Gyarados is named Lenny. Granted, he named the mon when it was still a Magikarp and even after his evolution, he is still loyal and loving towards his trainer and friends.
- Food as Bribe:
- The easiest way to get Darkrai to do something is to offer him an oran cake or to threaten him with a lack of oran cake.
- At one point, Meowth suggests bribing Ash and his friends with a pizza in exchange for forgiveness when one of their schemes goes a little too far.
- During the adventure on New Island, Mew is tempted to intervene on Darkrai and Mewtwo's battle, but is bribed into staying with the others by Ash offering some cake to eat while watching the battle.
- For Want Of A Nail: Darkrai's presence in Ash's childhood and on his journey changes a lot with Ash having new adventures and catching different Pokèmon.
- Instead of catching the three Kanto starters, Ash only catches Charmander with Bulbasaur going with Brock and Squirtle being caught by Misty.
- Ash never catches his Caterpie, Pidgeotto, Krabby, Muk, or Tauros, but catches a Magikarp, male Nidoran, Paras, Eevee, Ghastly, Riolu, Venonat, and Aerodactyl instead.
- Due to having Darkrai's influence on him, many Pokèmon either stay away from Ash or even vow to stop Darkrai and join Team Rocket in an effort to do so.
- Due to not being attacked by the Spearow flock, Ash and Pikachu take more time to become friends.
- Since he already raised his Riolu from an egg, Ash gives the egg containing Togepi for Brock and Misty for them to decide who gets to raise it instead of having the group fighting over who gets to keep Togepi.
- Due to hunting down Darkrai instead of Pikachu, Team Rocket is friendlier with the main group.
- Instead of putting all their efforts into stalking Ash, Team Rocket puts a tracker in his badge case since they know wherever he goes, Darkrai will be with him.
- Since their experiences with Darkrai have them closer than in canon, Brock and Misty actually help Ash after he gets kicked out of the Celadon Gym.
- James took Growlie with him when he ran away from home instead of leaving him behind.
- After recognizing Jessie and James, the Biker Gang join Team Rocket for the benefits.
- Mikey's Eevee evolves into an Espeon after having a tag team three-on-three battle with Ash against his brothers.
- Ash does not turn to stone trying to stop Mew and Mewtwo from killing each other. Here, Darkrai calls out Mewtwo's narrow-minded views and challenges him to a battle with the stakes being command over the clones. While they battle, everyone goes back into the dining hall to take part in the dinner feast that had been left behind, including Mew after a bribe involving cake.
- Genki Girl: Sabrina has shades of this rather than being the cold-hearted and aloof Gym Leader she is in canon, as seen when she finally gets her dream of meeting a Darkrai come true.
- Idiot Hero: Ash is arguably even more of a bonehead than in canon, often making stupid mistakes and only getting out unscathed due to dumb luck and Darkrai's help.
- In Spite of a Nail: Even though Darkrai's presence changes quite a bit, Ash still has some adventures that are similar to those in canon (though they tend to end differently), such as the trip on the SS Anne and the encounter with Mikey and the Eevee brothers.
- The Nicknamer: Ash gives all of his Pokèmon nicknames in this fic if they want one. The only member of his team without one so far is Pikachu.
- Olympus Mons: Darkrai, a powerful Pokèmon who is classified as a Legendary in the games.
- Papa Wolf: Darkrai. While is is mostly a Deadpan Snarkerswho pokes fun at the group, he does not take Pokèmon bringing harm to children lightly, having eaten the Hypno in Hophophop Town that had kidnapped children and brainwashed them into being Pokèmon to feast on their dreams or almost decimating Lavender Town's population of ghosts for daring to harm Ash, Brock, and Misty with their worst fears.
- Running Gag:
- Ash always failing to catch or acquire a Dratini.
- People and Pokèmon commenting that something is not right with Frenzy.
- Screw This, I'm Outta Here: Team Rocket after the events of New Island decide to take their two weeks vacation in Alola after their experience of meeting Mewtwo and to try to forget that Frenzy was cloned.
- Snark-to-Snark Combat: Darkrai and Misty are not fond of each other and often get into fights which, since they're both Deadpan Snarkers, mainly consist of them throwing snide remarks at each-other until someone, ususally Brock, breaks them up.
- The Stations of the Canon: Averted for the most part starting with the aftermath of the S.S. Anne incident. The group never lands on the Island of Giant Pokèmon and instead ride Lenny the Gyarados to Porto Vista. From there, they start visiting the Gyms out of order until Cinnabar.
- Team Chef: As in canon, Brock makes most of the food for the group while they're on the road. He uses this to his advantage and threatens to stop cooking as punishment if the group's bickering gets out of hand.
- Team Dad: As in canon, Brock does double duty as both this and Team Mom below, usually being the one to break up fights and keep the group on task or explaining concepts to Ash.
- Team Mom: Again, as in canon, Brock does double duty as both this and Team Dad above, being the most reasonable member of the group at any given time and serving as a mediator for the constant fighting between his three other teammates.
- Undying Loyalty:
- Frenzy to Ash, to the point that he will only listen to his trainer and recognizes when Ash is being mind controlled by Melvin's Exeggecute.
- Pikachu with Ash. While not as strong as in canon, Pikachu is still loyal to Ash and forgoes the opportunity to stay with his family in order to be with his Trainer. He's the Starter so he has the most responsibility.
- Villain with Good Publicity: Team Rocket amongst wild Pokèmon who have encountered Darkrai.
