Tear Jerker / Pokémon Reset Bloodlines

The setting of Pokémon Reset Bloodlines may be A World Half Full, but that doesn't mean the story can't make the audience cry.

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General

• In this fic, the world of the anime, beloved by millions all over the world, is... gone, never to return. While a new world was created, unlike in Ashes of the Past, the new world is so different that it's hard to call it a true replacement. Not to mention that many of the people Ash knew and cared about have changed so much between timelines that they're basically different people. Most of Ash's companions, besides his Pokémon, only have vague and indistinct memories of him (if that). Hell, some of Ash's friends and acquaintances are capital-D dead, with some dying even before his memory convergence, and many dying without ever meeting him again. Add in the fact that most of the people living in the timeline have absolutely no memory of the old one, and likely will live their entire lives without knowing it ever existed, and you have a recipe for waterworks.

Main Story

• In addition to being scary, the story's beginning is quite sad. From Ash's perspective, he had to literally watch how his friends vanished into non-existence one by one, all the while being unable to do anything to save them.
• Ash finding the graves of Brock's parents, learning that some things were lost from the time reset.
• Ash realising that he can't remind Brock at all of the old timeline, even imperfectly like with Misty, and it causes him no small amount of pain having to say goodbye to a friend who doesn't remember him.
• Ash's reaction upon finding that Dawn, Iris and Cilan might be dead in this timeline.
• Iris's breakdown on finding out that she's not strong enough to save her family from Hunter J.
• Chapter 18 has Misty's deep fear of losing Ash to Iris be explored in some depth. It can easily wring a few tears out of a reader, even with the joke at the end.
• Ash's Primeape being blown away by Paul, possibly fatally.
• The reveal that John Archer was murdered in his sleep with his Pokemon trapped in their Pokeballs and unable to know what happened to him for months.
  • Even sadder with the revelation in Chapter 34: His own father had him killed because he was sterile, and thus of no use to him.
• Belladonna and her lovers turned out the way they are because one way or another, they all lost their families, either because they died or disowned them for being bloodliners or for not being straight.
  • Perhaps the saddest part is that they're going through their scheme at the power plant to kill Aurora's father, who is in life support at the hospital, as punishment for disowning her. Aurora doesn't really want to kill him, but is too afraid to tell Belladonna this, since she doesn't want to be left all alone.
    • Word of God at the end makes it worse not only does he confirm that Aurora's father did genuinely love her before he found out she was a Bloodliner, but that Belladonna would have stopped if Aurora had just told her that was not what she wanted.
    • Later, Belladonna is realizing this herself, but can't talk to Aurora about it because she knows how Aurora will react to the questioning.
  • Evanna freaking out when she thinks she might lose her family a third time.
• A lot of things we learned about the Bad Future.
  • According to Clemont, Lille, Gladion, Frax, and Velvet all died.
  • The Bloodliner King did something to Serena and May, which sparked the Bloodline War.
• Paul's Raichu being abandoned by her trainer.
• One of the older Eevee brothers, due to their mother's untimely death, will have to take over the family business and leave behind the career they much prefer. The question of which one has to give it up has put the older brothers at each other's throats, and having Ash show them off their evolution high doesn't change that.
• In Chapter 31, Belladonna learns that the mere fact of having been born at all could have been the factor that caused Aurora's father to disown her. Says a lot that she's visibly stunned at that fact, and how much the mere implication of it, even from a source she'd hardly trust, gets at her.
• Chapter 31 also has Misty refusing the offer to take Togepi's egg. Seeing her unknowingly reject the Pokémon she loved like it was her own child in the original timeline was devastating to both Ash and the readers.
  • Though in Chapter 33 it's somewhat mitigated: after Ash gets kidnapped by Sabrina, she feels a subconscious need to keep the egg safe. Looks like it's not completely gone after all.
• The entire scene in chapter 37 with Amber's father. He's clearly a wreck, knowing that he can't really be considered a good man anymore after what he's done. He's finally managed to find a way to stabilize Amber's new body, even making her a Bloodliner in order to make sure she'd survive, and is so mentally tormented that he actually seems to have developed a personality disorder, which he notices when he realises that he was having a mental argument regarding whether or not to further augment her to keep her safe. He's only biding his time until he can abandon the project and take Amber with him... only for Mewtwo to break loose and lay waste to the facility. His final thoughts/words after worrying that Amber will be lost with the facility's destruction, and how everything he had done to bring her back had lead to the world being at risk, is that no matter the afterlife, he will willingly walk to whatever punishment awaits him.
• Iris worrying that she'll have to choose between her Dragonite family and her new companions once they're finally rescued.
• Anabel can sense Ash's worries about telling his companions about the old timeline, but it concerns her so much that Ash feels like he can't share it with them.
• Ash feeling like a stranger in his own hometown after being gone for a while, truly feeling the saying 'you can't go home again' for the first time.
• Apparently when Goodshow was a trainer, there was a bias against female trainers in the sport.
• Even though Anabel's blog seems to be gaining in popularity rather quickly, there are still people calling her a monster and telling her to kill herself.
• Ash tries to talk Mewtwo down, but the latter captures him in one of his black Pokeballs, determined to use him to bring Amber back.
• In the second part of his arc, as Mewtwo continues to break down more and more when he finds himself unable to win against Ash and the others, it becomes clear that everything he's doing is just because he doesn't want to be alone anymore, which is why he's so bent in trying to bring back Amber to life regardless of the cost.
  • Moreover, to finally convince Mewtwo to stop the fighting, Ash has to let him peer into his mind so he can see that he too suffered the pain of losing his friends and family before and that even if he manages to find all of his old team, he can never just go back to how things were. Ash willingly reminisced how the world ended so Mewtwo could see it. That couldn't have been easy, even though he's come to terms with it.
• Before that, there's also when Red's Clefairy, recognizing what his clone is going through, makes a sincere attempt to reach to him so he can help. Then Fraxure, misunderstanding his intentions, attacks Clefairytwo, and he doesn't realize until it's too late and the damage is done.
• Misty is shown to have trouble sleeping, because the dark and quiet brings her memories of being trapped inside Mewtwo's Dark Balls. She's clearly afraid, but feels too ashamed to admit it in front of Ash and the others.

Expanded Universe Sidestories

• The fact that, for all her efforts and everything she did, Johanna still lost her parents.
• During the end of his Interlude, Gary suffered severe self-doubt upon seeing Red after his talk with Casey. Gary remembers every loss he had against Red, and it makes him doubt he could achieve his dream To Be a Master.
• Georgia losing her parents to the Reaper in her one-shot.
• Ash's Butterfree having to say goodbye to his mate after having a brief Hope Spot on finding she was okay and accepting that her new lover has made her happier than he ever could.
• The Holiday Special 2016 has a surprising amount of this:
  • Pryce having to spend holidays alone because his wife is visiting family, leaving him all by himself.
  • Lt. Surge noting how many of his former war buddies are dead, and wanting to go for a beer.
  • Just how far Lysandre is disillusioned by humanity, even when he is dealing with genuinely nice people like Mr. Stone.
• Just the thought of how many innocent people and Pokémon were killed by Twenty Gyarados Bill's Roaring Rampage of Revenge, most of which had nothing to do with the mockery he received and drove him to commit those atrocities. The one who finally brought him down was the Johto Elite Four member Denki Tekina, at the cost of his own life. The T.A.T.O. representatives then decide to name the protocol for restricting trainers to six active Pokémon after him in his memory.
• Serena was expelled from Oak's Summer Camp, not because of something that was her fault, but to prevent Ash from being unjustly blamed for an incident that could have hurt a lot of people.
• In Giselle Interlude, Joe suffered from the other students, who called what they did tough love, but it only made Joe resent the school. Giselle eventually realizes their mistake, but by then, it was too late to stop Joe from leaving Pokemon Tech behind.
• It's quite sad to see Sabrina at the beginning of her oneshot: she was a very kind girl and wanted to use her powers to help others. Unfortunately, the laziness of the people in her hometown drove her to resent them for never making efforts to improve themselves, and she grew to become a cold and ruthless Social Darwinist.
  • Beyond that, it's quite sad to see the more villainous turn Sabrina took in this reality in general. While Canon Sabrina caused a lot of trouble for Ash and friends, Haunter was able to get her to open her heart and become a better person quite easily. By contrast, Reset Sabrina is not only much more villainous and dangerous than her old counterpart, but seems downright uninterested in changing her ways even after peeking into Ash's memories of the old timeline and seeing what her previous self was like.
• Despite all of Ash's efforts, he learns that some things will happen no matter what and Lara still gets injured, taking her out of the race. Her friend Hex also came quite close to dying because of Dario's cheating attempts, and only avoided that fate because Ash got her medical attention in time.
• Misty Gaiden has quite a few.
  • When Misty falls into the pool and thinks she's going to drown, she starts musing that maybe she's better off dead. The idea of a seven-year-old having those kinds of thoughts is just depressing.
  • Not related to Misty herself, but there are several instances of Bloodliners getting lynched after it was discovered they were Bloodliners.
• Ultima Interlude:
  • Ciel was casted out by her parents because she was a Bloodliner.
  • Fitz's mother was quite accepting of his Bloodliner powers though. However, the lynch mob disagreed.
• In the Laramie Gaiden, despite becoming close friends and reaching an understanding with each other's philosophies, Leeroy and Jenkins have to return to their respective homes, never to see each other again, because even though the war ended, their respective nations did not reach the same understanding of each other as they did.
  • Not to mention at the beginning having seen several of his crewmates die from the Gyarados attack, and later when he finds the remains of his commanding officer and his Pidgeot. The guy surely must have coped with a lot of guilt for having been the Sole Survivor of his crew.
• The Charmander Gaiden, full stop. In order:
  • First, he barely gets to enjoy one single day with his trainer, a really nice and upbeat girl, and they're attacked by the murderous Spearow flock. He does his best to try and protect her, but ultimately she recalls him to his Pokéball when he gets hurt. He wakes up two weeks later in a Pokémon Center, and she's nowhere to be seen.
  • Since he can't survive on his own now, he's assigned to a new trainer, who is of course none other than Damian. All the while he takes the abuse while still doing his best to please him, because he thinks he deserves it.
  • The worst part? Turns out his previous trainer didn't die from the Spearow attack, but didn't come out unscathed: they pecked her eyes out. She still remembers him fondly, despite only spending one day together, yet Charmander blames himself for failing to protect her and thinks she probably hates him for getting blinded!
    • It does become heartwarming when the two eventually reunite again and Kaia recognizes him in the Indigo League, finally giving them both closure as they shed Tears of Joy.
• While we've seen many loving mothers, the exception always exists: Pia, Wicke's sister and Zilant's mother, even willing to use him as legal leverage during her divorce. To think that his step-father loves him more, despite not being of the same blood.
• While Leeroy and Jenkins are proof that Trainers and Ranger can peacefully co-exist, Zilant's and Betty's conflict also prove that there are also plenty of Trainers and Rangers who can't yet get past the Culture Clash.
• Everything Mars went through that set her down the path of becoming a Galactic Admin, including her only friend getting killed by Mars' uncle.
• Politically Incorrect Villain that he is for believing Bloodliners are abominations, there's a certain amount of tragic irony in William Stronger's origins. He believes he's on a divine mission, but Mars Gaiden reveals it was the Resetverse equivalent of the devil who set him down that path. One can only wonder how Kibou, who viewed him as her Parental Substitute, would react if she saw what he became.
• It turns out that the Kangaskhan who took Tommy in lost her baby, murdered by the Nidoking who terrorized everyone.
• Gray ended up losing his former gang, as well as his girlfriend, Emmy. They were murdered. No wonder that he gets upset when Clair (albeit unknowingly) mocks her.
• Agatha losing her little brother Tony to a horde of Ghost-type Pokémon, who not only tortured and killed him, but also turned his soul into a Gastly.
  • Even more during the Ghosts of Maiden's Peak Interlude. For over four decades, Tony had to see how his sister grew, got married, had kids and grandkids, while he remained the same, and they couldn't reveal the truth to their family out of fear of being rejected.
• Ito Jenny, saddened that her childhood friend decided to go down the path of becoming a criminal as the Black Arachnid, and the realization that she will eventually have to arrest him because it's her duty as a police officer.
• The ending of Sir Aaron & Lucario Gaiden. Like canon, Lucario is sealed into the staff. Unlike canon, Lucario is fully aware of the reasons why and agreed to it, but that doesn't change the fact that two close friends have been separated, never to see each other again.
• The Holiday Special 2017, same as the first.
  • Tobias can never go home. Because of his hubris, the very Pokemon he offended, a Celebi, will always thwart him. He can't even send them a message, as the Pokemon will destroy his messages.
  • Lusamine. We get to see firsthand the impact the Nihilego toxins had on her, with a scene of her before Nihilego, and then a scene after Nihilego. The stark contrast before and after is heartbreaking.
  • The insight to Belladonna and her group's backstories. Belladonna and Vedia clearly had sad childhoods, while Evanna and Aurora had happy ones, but would eventually lose everything they had. No wonder they end up sticking together as they do.
  • Gray and Emmy are clearly very happy together during that Christmas in Castelia City. Like above, it's sad to know how that's going to end.
  • Katana's husband tried to kill her and their daughter, Tsurugi, just because they were bloodliners.
  • It seems that Korrina doesn't have a good relationship with her grandfather in this timeline. One wonders what could have happened between them.
  • Eve was abandoned by her family at such a young age that she doesn't even have a name at first.
  • Another parent who leaves their child: Vermell's mother, again, for being a bloodliner.
  • Vermell implies that he used to travel with one of his half-siblings, but said sibling had certain opinions, which he rejected.
  • AZ's story, full stop. He's doomed to wander around the Earth, unable to die, and seeing how humans continue to try and destroy each other. And still carrying with the memory of his beloved Floette.
  • Alain spending his Christmas alone with his Charizard, lost in a snowy mountain during a blizzard. He feels tempted to call Professor Sycamore, but ultimately decides not to.
  • Tommy reminisces about his family while still trapped in the Safari Zone. It's clear he still misses them dearly.
  • Calem finding the letter the old man from Anistar left for him, with his final request for him. Even Chesnaught and Chespin join him in the mourning.
• In Iris Gaiden, a lot of Iris’ family didn’t accept her at first, though they came around eventually.
• As it turns out, Zinnia has plenty of reasons to hate Sootopolitans. First, she was raped by one, resulting in the birth of her daughter, whom she named Aster after the previous lorekeeper, who was a close friend of hers. And like in canon, the previous Aster is dead, and if Zinnia's brief flashback is anything to go by, she dreamed of having peace between Draconids and Sootopolitans and leave those grudges behind one day.
• Fabron losing all of his loved ones to Dainsleif, who posessed his older brother to kill everyone in their village. Not to mention Elder and Feu, who lost almost all of their friends from their forest sanctuary, either killed or captured by Accentus.
• Squirtle, certain that all of his old friends in the Squirtle Squad are dead, and unlikely to ever learn that at least one of them survived and is now living with the local Officer Jenny.
• Like in canon, the Maiden still awaits for the return of her lover. Just imagine her, waiting there, all alone, for over two thousand years to see him again.
• The Hypno in the Berry Forest hypnotized kids to come to it because it was lonely. Yellow had almost talked it down before Red and Clefairy came and attacked it. The thing honestly didn't realize that what it did was wrong, even as Red forces it to flee.
  • This however, turns it into heartwarming when Red offers him to come along with him, after they defeat the Team Rocket cell together.
• Velvet feeling concerned about how she doesn't seem to bond with her Pokemon quite as easily as her brother does.
• For all the effort the effort that Oak and Hastings did in bringing peace to their sides, they couldn't admit that they worked together to do it or they'd be labelled traitors. The best they could do was end the war, but they can't get their respective sides to see each other eye to eye.
• Mewtwo Interlude gives insight into the titular genetically-engineered Pokémon's mind. Deep inside, he's nothing but a scared and confused child, who was forcibly pulled out of the safe world he knew, and whose only friend since he came into existence faded away without him being able to do anything to save her. All while forced to hear the thoughts of the scientists who created him, who saw him as little else than an experiment, a disposable species that could easily be replaced by a new one should he fail his intended purpose.
• The glimpses in the Red Seven Island Interlude hint at the fact that Ash and Red at some point in the Bad Future lost many of their beloved ones. It even drove the latter to try and bring one of them Back from the Dead, which ultimately led to a confrontation between them.
• The Bloodliner Hunter Interlude opens with a woman in Vermillion City being severely anguished by the deaths of her twin children. It's very hard to read without getting at least a little misty-eyed.
  • The ending is no less heart-wrenching. William Stronger is very much aware that his actions are unforgivable, but feels that he's gone so off the deep end it's too late to back off now. Not even the pleads of Kibou's ghost are enough to convince him, and he's determined to carry on with his mission to the bitter end.
  • It's also clear that his adoptive daughter's disappearance also took its toll on him. In the case that Kibou's ghost might just his own consciousness telling him that he's wrong, he's too emotionally broken to accept it, and pushes back any remorse he might feel about it.
• The Holiday Special 2018, despite being significantly Lighter and Softer than its predecessor, still has some sad moments:
  • Rosso now feels like an outcast in his hometown for having acted as a bully before. He sees Unsho and Shige happily sparring together and wants to approach to apologize for his previous actions, but ultimately can't bring himself to do so.
  • Seeing Fitz's mom being so loving and doting towards him is just made the more heartbreaking, as we know she's doomed to die protecting him from an angry mob.
  • Same for Mars and Kibou, as we know the latter's death is going to spark the former's Start of Darkness.
• The Holiday Special 2019 has fewer, but no less sad:
  • Ciel still tries to keep a smile, despite being broken inside due to her family kicking her out, because she feels Christmas isn't a time for sadness.
  • Luna tries to convince herself that she doesn't care about not seeing her dad for Christmas. Turns into heartwarming when she sees he's going to make it.
  • Bruno, despite enjoying himself during the Elite Four's Christmas party, thinks back of the family he left behind to pursue his career, and while part of him does want to see them again, he feels ashamed to do so after being absent of their lives for so long.
• Butterfree Interlude II, being a Sequel Episode to the first one, has a few:
  • Being Alone Among the Couples makes Butterfree recall the loss of his mate, causing him to become bitter and angry. He later takes out his frustration on Viv when she challenges him in the fight club, giving her a No-Holds-Barred Beatdown and attacking her even after she gives up. Naturally, he's horrified when he realizes what he just did.
  • Later when he tells Viv the story about how he lost his mate, it's clear that the pain still lingers. It must have been especially painful to recall that he felt tempted to kill his rival, even if it was just a fleeting thought.
  • Even after everything is cleared and they're having friendly spars with each other, he still has some remorse for beating down on Viv. Fortunately, she quickly catches on and clears up she was only joking and doesn't hold it against him.
• In the Holiday Special 2020:
  • Ultima lamenting how much she and her friends have drifted apart as they grew older, having been so close to each other during their youth. She's especially sad about Pryce turning into a grump when he was a cheery young boy back then.
  • Katie still reminisces about John Archer's death, wondering if she could perhaps have saved him if she had stayed with him instead of parting ways to meet later.
  • The moment shared by Litten and Stoutland, while quite heartwarming, becomes this with the Foregone Conclusion that Stoutland will eventually pass from old age, so Litten can join Ash in the future.
  • Similarly, Lear sharing a moment with his mother, who doesn't spare any love for him despite her illness. Anyone who knows his stuff about Pokémon Masters can tell it'll be very heartbreaking when she passes on, and how he'll turn out afterwards.
  • Scorbunny deep down yearns for adventure in the world outside Wyndon, but feels obligated to stay with the Nickit trio because he considers them his family, and doesn't want to be selfish and leave them behind.
  • Dramatic Irony for Rubrum, who was convinced by Hilda to help the Bloodliner Prince with his plans. He's certain they'll eventually make the world a better place for him and the rest of his siblings, so what happened to John Archer won't happen to anyone of them, unaware of the real implications.