Pokemon Cardinal is a series of storybook videos on YouTube by HoopsandHiphop
that went up in 2020. It's a demonstration of his idea for what a hypothetical Canadian Pokemon game could be like. Set in the fanmade region of Norcloh, viewers get to play the role of either Reed or Wendy (the respective male and female leads) as they assemble their own teams of new Pokemon and Pokemon forms, take down the villainous organization Team Tundra, and aim to become the next champion of Norcloh, all within the comments section of each video.
Viewers are given a choice of three starters: the grass moose Shrubberoose, the fire rabbit Embit (this was planned more than a year before Sword&Shield came out with Scorbunny), and the water narwhal Narwade.
The full series can be found here.
Pokemon Cardinal contains examples of:
- Action Girl: Rori is the secondary rival and the granddaughter of the ice-type gym leader, Bora. She takes her training and her duty as the protector of the Aurora Stone very seriously. Despite this, she's much friendlier than the primary rival, Crim.
- Bio-Augmentation: Team Tundra genetically engineered several different Pokemon families to create new ice-type variants called Tundra forms.
- Fossil Revival: The Canine and Manus fossils can be found on Mt. Norcloh and revived at the Norcloh History Museum, where they become Granine (a saber-toothed tiger) and Scythosor (a newly discovered species of tyrannosaurus), respectively. They're based on the concept of old and new, as shown by Granine's black-and-white coloration (like old black-and-white televisions) in contrast to Scythosor's more varied colors.
- Their respective evolved forms, Fangray and Mortosor, are featured on the team of the rock-type gym leader, Lawrence, who gives out the Fossil Badge upon beating him.
- The Gambler: Leo is a grass-type specialist who frequents the Game Corner in Donoment City, which has remained unaffected by "game-rating restrictions."
- Gotta Catch 'Em All: It's a Pokemon fan project, after all.
- Haunted House: The Abandoned Manor, found just west of Orenak City (where the ghost-type gym is), is filled to the brim with ghost-type Pokemon, including Finrit, a member of the Life Trio that represents death.
- MacGuffin: The Aurora Stone, said to contain the power of winter itself. Team Tundra wants it in order to power their amplification machine.
- Making a Splash: Jacque is a pirate themed gym leader who specializes in the water-type.
- Moose Are Idiots: Played with. When the grass starter, Shrubberoose, evolves into Arvidae, it becomes hard-headed and gets into trouble because it wants to show off its strength. Averted when it evolves into Elderoose, which is respected for both its strength and its wisdom.
- Mysterious Stranger: The hooded man is an Anonymous Benefactor who gives Reed/Wendy the keystone to unlock Mega Evolution (as well as the Mega Stone for Cardivios) and shows up at certain points in the story to try and stop Team Tundra. In the finale, he reveals himself to be Crim from the future.
- Passionate Sports Girl: Belle, the fairy-type gym leader, is a workout enthusiast whose gym doubles as a gym.
- Second-Person Narration: The narrator talks directly to the viewer as they explain what's going on, which Pokemon are available in which area, and what options they have for their journey.
- Set Right What Once Went Wrong: Mixed with Timey-Wimey Ball, as the Hooded Man (aka Future Crim) tries to prevent Team Tundra from fulfilling their goals as they had in his timeline, atoning for his involvement in that catastrophe.
- Shared Universe: With The Kaskade Region, as well as the Asone and Solympia regions, all made by other Poketubers.
- Shock and Awe: The first gym leader is the electric-type specialist Ella.
- Sibling Rivalry: Champion Erys is the younger brother of Team Tundra Leader Cronus. While it's never revealed how exactly they ended up on opposing sides, Erys' dialogue in episode 12 implies that Cronus' motivations are noble but misguided.
- Stock Shōnen Rival: Crim is the non-friendly rival who wears dark-to-gray clothes, tries to do everything on his own to prove his strength, gets frustrated at Reed/Wendy because he can't seem to beat them, and joins Team Tundra for more power. Unlike canonical rivals like Blue, Silver, and Bede, Crim doesn't have an established backstory to explain his behavior.
- Weather-Control Machine: Team Tundra's whole plan is to use the amplification machine to freeze over the entire region and essentially stop global warming.
