History Fanfic / PokemonMysteryDungeonLiberatorsOfFate

* CriminalFoundFamily: The Heart of Steel Crew has shades of this. [[spoiler: They have known each other since they were kids and were the only survivors of their hometown, and after moving to Bright Dawn and needing to resort to robbery and murder to survive eventually started their career as a mercenary team]].
** Unfortunately, however, [[spoiler: it is not enough for them to put their own safety above the group itself when the chips are down, which results in their downfall]].

* ShoutOut: When asked by Magnus to sing something for him, Shiron ends up delivering some of the lyrics of [[Anime/DigimonAdventure Butter-fly]]. Some later chapters even employ other lyrics as a pre-chapter introduction.

* ImposterForgotOneDetail: Brian is fairly good at employing several different illusions, but most of his disguises often fail to hide his red-tipped tail.

* OriginsEpisode: Chapter 9 and 10 serve as one for the Heart of Steel Crew, explaining how they met each other and became a team.
** Chapter 13 and 14 are fully focused on expanding on Lance's prior ordeal that led to his trauma [[spoiler: after being kidnapped and being subject of torture in the name of scientific experiments]].

* UrbanFantasy: The city of Bright Dawn leans far more in this direction than a typical ''Mystery Dungeon'' setting, being described as particularly industrial, polluted, and having modern elements such as condominiums, casinos and the like, but still having a traditional guild set up to help Pokémon and plenty of typical action.

* ContrastingSequelMainCharacter: Shiron is this to Lance. On the surface, they're both relatively young characters dealing with past issues as they attempt to move on from them, but while Lance was born a Pokémon and his trauma happened years before the story, Shiron was born a human whose death was immediately followed by his reincarnation. Lance comes off as a stoic guy bottling up his feelings, not comfortable with others, while holding an efficient mindset about fighting, while Shiron is extremely self-conscious, craves positive relationships, and has zero talent for fighting at first.
** Nick is also a contrast to his own son. While Lance is a stoic, serious-minded Pokémon, Nick is quite the jokester and a much more lighthearted person, with a penchant for silly puns and bad jokes. Nick is also a bad Aura reader who's considered 'defective' by some characters, in contrast with Lance's much better control over the power. Nick also begins the story with a fairly steady relationship with Audrey the Zorua, in contrast with Lance having broken up with his prior boyfriend Blitz before ''Liberators'' began.

* BadDreams: Lance suffers of them, hinting at his DarkAndTroubledPast.

* KidHero: Both Lance and Brian start the story at sixteen years old. They become seventeen at the start of the second arc, after a brief TimeSkip of six months.

* KilledOffForReal: [[Napoleon and Atlas are both murdered in chapter 19, by Flint and ''Lance'' respectively]].

* ContinuityNod: During chapter 20, Gama mentions the [[VideoGame/PokemonMysteryDungeonExplorers Wigglytuff Guild]]. Chapter 26 sees Brian visiting it during a stop in Treasure Town during a mission.

* KidHero: Both Lance and Brian start the story at sixteen years old. [[spoiler: They become seventeen at the start of the second arc, after a brief TimeSkip of six months]].

* LethalLavaLand: The second dungeon Lance and Brian explore, the Endless Inferno, is a magma cavern inhabited by Pokémon of the Houndour line.

* ContinuityNod: During chapter 20, Gama mentions the [[VideoGame/PokemonMysteryDungeonsExplorers Wigglytuff Guild]]. Chapter 26 sees Brian visiting it during a stop in Treasure Town during a mission.

* OnlyOneName: While most of everyone plays this trope straight, it's averted for at least one family. As revealed early on, the family name of Nick, Lance and Brian is Williams, making this a rare ''Mystery Dungeon'' fanfiction where Pokémon characters can have full names.

* WhatIf: The second special episode, 'The taste of metal', is labeled as one to chapter 18 and 19. [[spoiler: It showcases an alternate demise for the Heart of Steel Crew, with Atlas devolving into a feral as part of the Mystery Dungeon curse]].

* BrokenAce: Lance is an excellent fighter, has a keen analytical mind, and a strong sense of justice. [[spoiler: He's also haunted by his past trauma even years after the fact, and early on quietly breaks down after a nightmare takes too much of a toll on him]].

* NoHonorAmongThieves: In spite of their closeness, the Heart of Steel Crew doesn't have perfect teamwork. [[In the main story, Napoleon turns coat when the fight is not going his and Flint's way, and Flint himself ends up murdering him in retaliation. The second special episode shows that this would've happened even without fighting the siblings, as well, with Flint preventing Atlas from following them while trying to escape the dungeon due to being too slow]].

* GadgeeterGenius: One of Brian's aspirations, due to his interest in technology. After taking part in an engineering course, he starts to shape up into this come the second arc of the story.

* KidHero: Both Lance and Brian start the story at sixteen years old. [[They become seventeen at the start of the second arc, after a brief TimeSkip of six months]].

* BalefulPolymorph: As per Mystery Dungeon tradition, there are humans turned Pokémon in the story. However, in a twist, [[spoiler:none of them is actually the main protagonist, being either part of the previous generation like Shiron, or antagonists like Morgan. Meggie, the human-turned-Pokémon of Team Liberators, doesn't even join the story until the very end of the first arc as setup for the second]].

* LoveAtFirstSight: Shiron is immediately smitten by Amy the shiny Kirlia the moment he sees her. Downplayed, however, in that he gets just as much if not more romantic buildup in his relationship with Magnus the Quilladin, which starts as a slow-forming friendship.

* CorruptPolitician: Prometheus, the Alakazam Mayor of Bright Dawn. He attempted to bribe one of his political rivals to drop out of the race, eventually resorted to hire the Heart of Steel Crew to get rid of him, and clearly abuses of his authority to ensure his continued political power.

* DarkAndTroubledPast: The siblings didn't have the best life before the story began. [[spoiler: Lance was kidnapped and went through a lot of pain as 'Number Ten', while Brian had to grow up worried about what happened to him]].
* KidHero: Both Lance and Brian start the story at sixteen years old.

* FriendInTheForce: From his introduction, Apollo the Arcanine takes this role, as the only authority figure in Bright Dawn that Lance and Brian can trust to help.

** Nick is also a contrast to his own son. While Lance is a stoic, serious-minded Pokémon, Nick is quite the jokester and a much more lighthearted person, with a penchant for silly puns and bad jokes. Nick is also a bad Aura reader who's considered 'defective' by some characters, in contrast with Lance's much better control over the power. Nick also begins the story with a fairly steady relationship with Audrey the Zorua, in contrast with Lance having broken up with his prior partner Blitz before ''Liberators'' began.

** Liz's introduction of Terry to Thornwell citizens starts with a 'Rejoice!' and a boast of Terry's status, not unlike [[Series/KamenRiderZiO Woz's introductions to Sougo's forms]].

* BadassBookworm: Lance enjoys reading in his spare time. His favorite story is stated to be one involving [[VideoGame/PokemonBlackAndWhite the 'Hero of Ideals'.]]

* ContrastingSequelMainCharacter: Shiron is this to Lance. On the surface, they're both relatively young characters dealing with past issues as they attempt to move on from them, Lance was born a Pokémon and his trauma happened years before the story, while Shiron was born a human whose death was immediately followed by his reincarnation. Lance comes off as a stoic guy bottling up his feelings, not comfortable with others, while holding an efficient mindset about fighting, while Shiron is extremely self-conscious, craves positive relationships, and has zero talent for fighting at first.

* BadassBookworm: Lance enjoys reading in his spare time. His favorite story is stated to be one involving [[VideoGame/PokemonBlackAndWhite the 'Hero of Ideals'.]

* =[Delinquents]=: While describing Nick's personal room, Shiron thinks that the Riolu is just trying to pretend to be one, down to a 'Keep Out' sign on the door.

* GenerationalSaga: The setting has elements of this, with ''Heroic Dreamers'' following the past exploits of Nick and ''Liberators of Fate'' focusing on his sons Lance and Brian following in his footsteps.

* [=Delinquents=]: While describing Nick's personal room, Shiron thinks that the Riolu is just trying to pretend to be one, down to a 'Keep Out' sign on the door.

* HowDoIShotWeb: While Shiron is ecstatic at the idea of being able to use Pokémon moves, between being unused to his new body and having little idea what the Mudkip line can even use he has trouble using any. [[spoiler: He eventually leans how to use Liquidation at the climax of his first dungeon exploration, with Liz noting how Marshtomp are usually not able to learn it]].

* RebelPrince: Terrence 'Terry' the Tyrunt ran away from his native Kingdom of Cydonia to escape his responsibilities as the heir to the throne, much to Liz the Roselia's chagrin, eventually joining up the team Nick is setting up in Thornwell.

* FoolishSiblingResponsibleSibling: Brian is the Foolish to Lance's Responsabile, the former being quite excitable and the latter being more level-headed. PlayedWith, however, as Brian can be plenty serious when the situation requires it.

* LighterAndSofter: While ''Liberators of Fate'' is somewhat darker than regular ''Mystery Dungeon'' fare, ''Heroic Dreamers'' is much more comparable to an official entry of the series, starring a fairly quirky set of characters with plenty of comedic moments, lower stakes and trauma, and even being headlined by a human-turned-Pokémon rather than inhabitants of the world.

EldritchLocation: This setting's take on Mystery Dungeons heavily lean in this direction. Some of them defy the laws of physics in various ways, and they all share the trait of slowly turning any Pokémon who enters them for too long into a mindless feral Pokémon, making every dungeon exploration into a RaceAgainstTheClock.

BrokenAce: Lance is an excellent fighter, has a keen analytical mind, and a strong sense of justice. [[spoiler: He's also haunted by his past trauma even years after the fact, and early on quietly breaks down after a nightmare takes too much of a toll on him]].
DarkAndTroubledPast: The siblings didn't have the best life before the story began. [[spoiler: Lance was kidnapped and went through a lot of pain as 'Number Ten', while Brian had to grow up worried about what happened to him]].
KidHero: Both Lance and Brian start the story at sixteen years old.
OnlyOneName: While most of everyone plays this trope straight, it's averted for at least one family. As revealed early on, the family name of Nick, Lance and Brian is Williams, making this a rare ''Mystery Dungeon'' fanfiction where Pokémon characters can have full names.

ForegoneConclusion: Being a prequel, it's easy to discern how some events will turn out. Just for some, Nick will survive the events of the story as ''Liberators of Fate'' stars his sons, and he and Shiron will manage to become one of the most famous teams of the setting eventually.

!!Tropes featured in ''Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Heroic Dreamers'':

''Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Liberators of Fate'' is an in-progress VideoGame/PokémonMysteryDungeon Fanfiction written by [[https://www.fanfiction.net/u/13840561/Navarchu Navarchu]].