History Fanfic / Hyphen

** Subverted later on. When the other Ralts children learn that Astra was given a name, several of them immediately start naming themselves.

* PerspectiveFlip: ''Hyphen'''s main character was a very minor supporting character in Pokemon Emerald--the rival's starter Pokemon.

* PokemonSpeak: As Astra is a Ralts, she can only vocalize combinations of syllables in the word 'Ralts'. Luckily, her telepathy lets her bypass this.

** Norman seems to care far more about battling than about his family: he didn't stop moving between regions every other year when he married or when he had a daughter. When he finally retires from traveling, he moves one last time to Hoenn and, while his family settles in Littleroot Town, he basically lives in his new Gym in Petalburg. He also has no patience for green trainers, waving away anyone who doesn't have four badges already. His daugter May's opinion of him is, to put it lightly, not great.

* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: In this story, May is very foul-mouthed and aggressive on the surface, but insists on sharing a hotel room with Astra upon learning she was planning to sleep outside rather than getting a hotel room despite having only just met her.

* PlayingWithFire: One of the Kirlias in Astra's village, the smith, is a master pyromancer who uses the power for her craft as well as animating flames into storytelling.

** In Chapter 33, when Astra asks whether Brendan and May can dance, and they agree to teach her, the two of them launch into a dancing skit from an old vampire movie they saw. It's a clear reference to the Council of Blood encounter from ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft'''s Castle Nathria raid.

** In Chapter 33, when Astra asks whether Brendan and May can dance, and they agree to teach her, the two of them launch into a dancing skit from an old vampire movie they saw. It's a clear reference to the Council of Blood encounter from ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft''.

** In Chapter 20, after Astra evolves, she's aware that growing eight inches in less than an hour is going to raise suspicions. However, she incorrectly assumes that growing eight inches in a week is more acceptable. Brendan and May discuss this in Chapter 33, and it seems likely that Astra's going to have to reveal her secret soon.

** Forty years prior to the story, another war that may or may not be the same one happened between Hoenn and Kanto. In Chapter 33, an old man rants about it, blaming the destruction in Rustboro on them.

* GreatOffscreenWar: Exactly what happened in this AU is unknown, but it ties into the barely fleshed canon lore surrounding the Regis; namely, how humans sealed them away because they feared them. So far, it seems to begin with an unnamed warlord ''murdering Regigigas'' and enslaving the Regi Trio. This somehow leads into the Ancestor, the CoveredInScars Gardevoir who founded Astra's village, fleeing the human world with every member of her line in the entire region after being betrayed by the human she loved. She subsequently founds the village and sets up Psychic wards that prevent detection from the outside world—with the notable exception of Dark-type Pokemon, such as the local Poochyena. To the world at large, the Ralts-line has been considered extinct in Hoenn ever since.

* HatesBeingAlone: Due to her father forcing their family to move around a lot, May has subtly shown some issues with being separated from her current friends. An example being her getting visibly agitated when Brendan stays behind at Petalburg instead of traveling with her and Astra.

* {{Tsundere}}: May is a Type A example, being often prickly and aggressive on the surface, but seeming to have a crush on Brendan based on her reactions when Astra asks her questions about him.

* MasterOfIllusion: Astra uses illusions to hide her non-human features. She also makes herself appear shorter to hide the sudden growth spurt gained from her evolution.

* InstantExpert: Astra doesn't ''master'' the violin immediately, but she shows the expertise of a couple of months after practicing for only a couple of hours. Partially explained as Astra skipping part of the learning process by manipulating the strings with her psychic powers rather than holding them down with her fingers—which are entierly unsuited for pressing down on the neck of the instrument like a human would.

* MasterOfIllusion: Astra uses illusions to hide her non-human features. She also makes herself appear shorter to hide the sudden growth spurt gained from her evolution.
* MundaneObjectAmazement: Due to growing up in an isolated Pokémon village in the woods Astra has a large curiosity for human culture and their creations, even getting amazed at something as mundane as ice cream and a street performer. A downside of this is that her companions often get concerned and suspicious at her startling lack of common knowledge.

* SuddenlyAlwaysKnewThat: The night before Astra leaves, she touches the Ancestor's stone of power (implied to be Gardevoirite) and sees a flash of her memories meeting the human she would love for the first time. The next day, she is inexplicably capable of reading human words and familiar with certain parts of human civilization. She's unnerved when she realizes it, even if it is helpful.

** May makes the fatal mistake of picking a fight with Steven Stone, the ''Pokemon Champion of Hoenn'', dragging Astra along as a Double Battle partner. Before either of them have gotten ''any'' badges. Steven only has to issue a single command to wipe out their entire team.

* DangerousForbiddenTechnique: The Ancestor's orb, implied to be [[spoiler:Shadow Gardevoirite]], contains some of the Ancestor's Gardevoir's memories and knowledge, as well as great and terrible power. Astra's mother used it to fight a threat to the village, killing herself and Astra's father at the same time. It leaves behind an area of cold, lifeless desert where nothing will ever grow again. The first time Astra truly tries diving into the orb's power, [[spoiler:she's overcome by murderous hatred towards people she's been angry at and causes a massive wake of similar destruction in the forest and scarring the sky itself a putrid, bruising yellow]]. As soon as she comes back to her senses, she's horrified.

** While Max in the Anime is May's younger brother and the son of Norman, here he replaces the unnamed younger child of Professor Birch, making him Brendans younger brother.

* DangerousForbiddenTechnique: The Ancestor's orb, implied to be [[spoiler:Shadow Gardevoirite]], contains some of the Ancestor's Gardevoir's memories and knowledge, as well as great and terrible power. Astra's mother used it to fight a threat to the village and died in the process, leaving behind an area of destroyed, darkened earth where nothing will ever grow again. The first time Astra truly tries diving into the orb's power, [[spoiler:she's overcome by murderous hatred towards people she's been angry at and causes a massive wake of similar destruction in the forest]]. As soon as she comes back to her senses, she's horrified.

** May makes the fatal mistake of challenging Steven Stone to a battle, dragging Astra along as a Double Battle partner. Before either of them have gotten ''any'' badges. Steven only has to issue a single command to wipe out their entire team.

** May makes the fatal mistake of challenging Steven Stone to a battle and making Astra join her against him. Before either of them have gotten ''any'' badges. Steven only has to issue a single command to wipe out their entire team.

** May makes the fatal mistake of challenging Steven Stone to a battle and making Astra join her against him.

** Norman seems to care far more about battling than about his family: he didn't stop moving between regions every other year when he married or when he had a daughter. When he finally retires from traveling, he moves one last time to Hoenn and, while his family settles in Littleroot Town, he basically lives in his new Gym in Petalburg. He also has no patience for green trainers, waving away anyone who doesn't have four badges already. His relationship with May is, to put it lightly, not great.

* NeverFoundTheBody: The Ancestor's actual fate is unknown; all anyone knows is that one day, when she was very old, she went into her house and disappeared.

** According to Astra’s grandfather, the only way a Kirlia can evolve into Gardevoir is by going through intense stress. The Ancestor had a trial wherein she put any Kirlia interested in evolving through intense trauma to induce evolution, though the only ones who ever passed were Astra's parents.

* GreatOffscreenWar: Exactly what happened in this AU is unknown, but it ties into the barely fleshed canon lore surrounding the Regis; namely, how humans sealed them away because they feared them. So far, it seems to begin with an unnamed warlord ''murdering Regigigas'' and enslaving the Regi Trio. This somehow leads into the Ancestor, the CoveredInScars Gardevoir who founded Astra's village, fleeing the human world with every member of her line in the entire region after being betrayed by the human she loved and warding the village with Psychic defenses that prevent detection from the outside world—with the notable exception of Dark-type Pokemon, such as the local Poochyena. To the world at large, the Ralts-line has been considered extinct in Hoenn ever since.

* InstantExpert: Astra doesn't ''master'' the violin immediately, but she shows the expertise of a couple of months after practicing for only a couple of hours.

* ParentalSubstitute: Since her parents died around the time she was born, Astra's grandfather seems to have assumed the role of main caretaker.

** In this story, Max is Professor Birch's second child rather than Norman's, making him Brendan's younger brother.

* GreatOffscreenWar: Exactly what happened in this AU is unknown, but it ties into the barely fleshed canon lore surrounding the Regis; namely, how humans sealed them away because they feared them. Somehow, this leads into how the Ancestor, the CoveredInScars Gardevoir who founded Astra's village, fleeing the human world after being betrayed by one that she loved, taking all members of her species with her, and warding the village with Psychic defenses that prevent detection from the outside world—with the notable exception of Dark-type Pokemon, such as the local Poochyena. To the world at large, the Ralts-line has been considered extinct in Hoenn ever since.

* CoverBlowingSuperpower: Astra's PsychicPowers, including telekinesis and telepathy, are potentially this. She avoids using most of her powers in public, only using telepathy to speak and disguising it as ventriloquism for normal conversation and musical direction for battling. Unfortunately, the ruse doesn't last: Pokémon experts like Professor Birch and Roxanne figure out her telepathy not long after meeting her, and Steven Stone sees through it the first time he hears her talk. Nobody has called her out on it yet, though.

* FanArt: It's technically commissioned, but there are many illustrations of scenes in the story from [=Dexexe1234=], creator of Webcomic/TerreneSpire.

** Norman seems to care far more about battling than about his family: he didn't stop moving between regions every other year when he married or when he had a daughter. When he finally retires from traveling, he moves one last time to Hoenn and, while his family settles in Littleroot Town, he basically lives in his new Gym in Petalburg. He also has no patience for green trainers, waving away anyone who doesn't have four badges already. Hence, May is not fond of him at all.

** Norman seems to care far more about battling than about his family: he didn't stop moving between regions every other year when he married or when he had a daughter, and when he finally retired from traveling, he moved one last time, to Hoenn, and while his family settled in Littleroot Town, he basically lives in the Petalburg Gym he took over. He also has no patience for green trainers, not even his daughter, waving away anyone who doesn't have four badges already. Hence, May is not fond of him at all.

* GreatOffscreenWar: Exactly what happened in this AU is unknown, but it ties into the barely fleshed canon lore surrounding the Regis; namely, how humans sealed them away because they feared them. Somehow, this leads into how the Ancestor, the CoveredInScars Gardevoir who founded Astra's village, fled humans after being betrayed by one that she loved, taking all members of her species with her, and warded the village with Psychic defenses that only Dark-type Pokémon could penetrate. And since then, the Ralts line has otherwise disappeared from Hoenn.

* CoverBlowingSuperpower: Astra's PsychicPowers, including telekinesis and telepathy, are potentially this. She avoids using most of her powers in public, only using telepathy to speak and disguising it as ventriloquism for normal conversation and musical direction for battling. Unfortunately, the ruse doesn't last: Pokémon experts like Professor Birch and Roxanne figure out her telepathy not long after meeting her, and Steven Stone sees through it the first time he hears her talk.