Line #28 Fanfic/PokemonMysteryDungeonLiberatorsOfFate


1	''Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Liberators of Fate'' is an in-progress ''VideoGame/PokemonMysteryDungeon'' Fanfiction written by [[https://www.fanfiction.net/u/13840561/Navarchu Navarchu]].
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3	Lance and Brian are a young Riolu and a Zorua, siblings and children of Nick the Lucario, a well-known member of the famous Team Hero. Striking out on their own from their hometown of Thornwell as the newly formed Team Liberators, the two Pokémon find themselves caught up in a slowly developing web of adventures, with their painful pasts at the center of it as they fight for the freedom of Pokémon everywhere and strive to move forward as mysterious forces aim to stop them, in a story about redemption, holding on, and overcoming trauma. The major themes are if one can move on from their past, and hope in a better future.
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5	The story is the first entry in a setting the author has dubbed the ''Liberators Universe''. A prequel, ''Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Heroic Dreamers'', is also being written, set twenty years before ''Liberators of Fate'' and starring the human-turned-Marshtomp Shiron as he is given a new chance at life by Xerneas in a different world, meeting up with Nick the Riolu and forming a team with him and a wide array of colorful characters in a story about self-worth, how others can help one become a better person, and how dreams are made to be fulfilled.
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7	''Liberators of Fate'' can be found on [[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13732113/1/Pok%C3%A9mon-Mystery-Dungeon-Liberators-of-Fate Fanfiction.net]] and [[https://archiveofourown.org/works/27284989/chapters/66662677 Archive of Our Own]]. ''Heroic Dreamers'' can also be found on both sites, [[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13980636/1/Pok%C3%A9mon-Mystery-Dungeon-Heroic-Dreamers here]] and [[https://archiveofourown.org/works/34798939 here]].
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11	!!Tropes featured in both works:
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13	* 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.
14	* GenerationalSaga: The setting has elements of this, with ''Heroic Dreamers'' showcasing the past exploits of Nick and ''Liberators of Fate'' focusing on his sons Lance and Brian following in his footsteps.
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17	!!Tropes featured in ''Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Liberators Of Fate'':
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19	* BrokenAce: Lance is an excellent fighter, has a keen analytical mind, and a strong sense of justice. 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, with several chapters showing him grapple with bad dreams, panic attacks and other results of trauma.
20	* BadassBookworm: Lance enjoys reading in his spare time. His favorite story is stated to be one involving [[VideoGame/PokemonBlackAndWhite the 'Hero of Ideals']].
21	* BirthdayEpisode: The first chapter of the second arc (chapter 21) begins with Lance and Brian's birthday. Crosses over with ABirthdayNotABreak as Lance ends up involved in a fairly major fight just a bit later.
22	* CorruptPolitician: Prometheus, the Alakazam Mayor of Bright Dawn and one of the major villains of the first arc. 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.
23	* ContinuityNod: During chapter 20, Gama mentions the [[VideoGame/PokemonMysteryDungeonExplorers Wigglytuff Guild]]. Chapter 26 sees Brian visiting it during a stop in Treasure Town for a mission.
24	* 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]].
25	* 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 an unwitting test subject labeled as 'Number Ten', while Brian had to grow up worried about what happened to him]].
26	* EvenEvilHasLovedOnes: This applies to Morgan. [[spoiler: In spite of his nasty actions and seeing Pokémon as inferior to humans, he did legitimately appreciate Meggie. He does not take being rejected by her several times well]].
27	* {{Fauxshadow}}: The urban legend about Snorunt needing to die before the Dawn Stone can be used to evolve appears to set Meggie to do so. [[spoiler: Her being sent on a large fall as a cliffhanger appears to be a setup for that to happen, but she manages to use the Dawn Stone to evolve while on the brink of exhaustion instead. It's later confirmed the legend was never real to begin with]].
28	* FaceHeelTurn: Lance, thinking he couldn't achieve his goals with his current team, decides to leave them during the 40th chapter of the story.
29	* FamedInStory: Team Hero, the rescue team formed by Lance and Brian's father Nick, is this. Made up of Shiron the Swampert, Nick the Lucario, Yukino the Sceptile and James the Typhlosion, they're a well-known rescue team often at work on difficult missions that keep them away from Thornwell.
30	* FoolishSiblingResponsibleSibling: Brian is the Foolish to Lance's Responsible, 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.
31	* ForcedTransformation: As per Mystery Dungeon tradition, there are humans turned Pokémon in the story. However, in a twist, [[spoiler:none of them are actually main protagonists, 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]].
32	* FriendOnTheForce: 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.
33	* GadgeteerGenius: 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.
34	* HappilyMarried: Nick with Amelia (stated to be a SecondLove after the passing of the birth mother of the siblings), and Shiron is also mentioned as being married with a Chesnaught.
35	* HeelFaceTurn: Two examples: Lance, during the third arc of the story, and later [[spoiler: Lilith, after going through a similar arc and realizing Necrozma's goal isn't what she wants]].
36	* HonoraryUncle: The other members of Team Hero are this to the brothers. One of them also gifted Lance his radio.
37	* IdiosyncraticEpisodeNaming: Each main story chapter is labeled "Dungeon".
38	* ImposterForgotOneDetail: Brian is fairly good at employing several different illusions, but most of his disguises often fail to hide his red-tipped tail. This is rectified over time.
39	* InnocenceLost: Lance sees [[spoiler: having to kill an innocent Servine, Maya, to save his own life during Morgan's experiments]] as the moment his innocence was gone for good.
40	* 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.
41	* KilledOffForReal: [[spoiler: Napoleon and Atlas are both murdered in chapter 19, by Flint and ''Lance'' respectively]].
42	* LethalLavaLand: The second dungeon Lance and Brian explore, the Endless Inferno, is a magma cavern inhabited by Pokémon of the Houndour line among others.
43	* LifeForce: Aura is expanded heavily from canon as something that every being possesses, even if Lucario specifically are still specifically attuned to it. [[spoiler: Scar later explains that the reason Mystery Dungeons turn Pokémon feral when they stay inside too long is due to making their Aura unstable. Lucario are also stated to change the color of their Aura based on their emotional state, which spells bad omens when Lance's Aura permanently turns ''purple'']].
44	* MasterOfIllusion: Brian's specialty, as befitting a Zorua. Beyond standard impersonation, he's also able to turn himself and other characters invisible with ease, and he only grows more adept at crafting illusions after evolving into a Zoroark.
45	* NiceJobBreakingItHero: During the third arc of the story, Lance slowly starts to work with a group that wishes to ressurrect Necrozma, an old God that was sealed thousands of years ago. He eventually realizes what's going on, how wrong it is, and promptly decides to work against them. [[spoiler: It doesn't work in his favor, and he's possessed by Necrozma]].
46	* NoHonorAmongThieves: In spite of their closeness, the Heart of Steel Crew doesn't have perfect teamwork. [[spoiler: 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]].
47	* OnlyOneName: While most of everyone plays this trope straight, it's averted for at least some characters. 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. Later on, other characters are shown to have last names as well.
48	* OriginsEpisode: A few examples throughout the story.
49	** Chapter 9 and 10 serve as one for the Heart of Steel Crew, explaining how they met each other and became a team.
50	** 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]].
51	* PainfulTransformation: Mega Evolution tends to be like this, at least during the first time.
52	** Later, during the third arc, [[spoiler: Necrozma forcefully possesses Lance's body, causing him a great degree of pain as his body starts to be overrun by Necrozma's wil]].
53	** Sometime later, [[spoiler: During Necrozma's ascension to his ultra form, he forcefully makes Lance go through the transformation. It's described as "like a thousand stars burning at once"]].
54	* ProfessionalKiller: The 'Heart of Steel Crew' are a trio of well-known mercenaries in the underworld of Bright Dawn, made up of Flint the Bisharp, Napoleon the Empoleon, and Atlas the Aggron, with no qualms killing Pokémon for the right price. Flint makes his debut in chapter 2 murdering a political rival of the current mayor.
55	* ReligiousBruiser: Scar is revealed to be a devout follower of Necrozma early after being introduced, and often shares some teachings of his faith to characters in need for some comfort.
56	* SixthRanger: Meggie the Snorunt, [[spoiler: a human-turned-Pokémon with no memories of her past]], joins Team Liberators at the very end of the first arc, on Nick and Shiron's request to the brothers.
57	* SmarterThanYouLook: This turns out to be the case with Maxwell, as in spite of his silly behavior he is actually an ''university professor'' from [[VideoGame/PokemonMysteryDungeonGatesToInfinity Post Town]]. He claims his students like his lax approach to teaching.
58	* SuperMode: Mega Evolution is this as per canon. However, [[spoiler: it is not seemingly a natural part of the Pokémon world here. Morgan's experiments are aimed at recreating it, and as of the end of the first arc he's been successful. The story starts delving into the results during the second arc]].
59	* 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. This is [[LampshadedTrope lampshaded]] when Brian happens to visit Treasure Town and is surprised by the differences after getting used to the big city.
60	* UrbanLegend: One about Snorunt's evolution is mentioned several times, claiming the species needs to die before the Dawn Stone can be used. [[spoiler: It actually turns out to be completely wrong, with Apollo saying similar legends are spread about other evolutions via stone. Morgan uses it as more evidence of how primitive the world he and Meggie find themselves in is]].
61	* WeakButSkilled: Owing to having been in the world of Pokémon for just
62	* WhatYouAreInTheDark: Lance promised to himself to do whatever it takes to deal with the Heart of Steel Crew, and as part of his plan to face them uses a Warp Orb to bring himself and Atlas in a part of the dungeon where they'd have no witnesses or interruptions. [[spoiler: In a subversion of the expected outcome, however, Lance ''does'' kill Atlas rather than holding back, thinking it's the correct choice for the greater good]].
63	* 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 and eventually Flint devolving into ferals as part of the Mystery Dungeon curse]].
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66	!!Tropes featured in ''Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Heroic Dreamers'':
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68	* BirdsOfAFeather: Nick and Audrey are both outliers of their species line, with the former being a Riolu with poor Aura capabilities and the latter a Zorua who wants nothing to do with illusions. It's part of what makes Nick fond of their relationship.
69	* BigEater: Due to his new Marshtomp metabolism, Shiron enjoys eating ''a lot''. Crosses over with SweetTooth due to his preference for sweets.
70	* TheBully: Daichi the Golem and his team, made out of Jackett the Beedrill and Onyx the Charmeleon. They're the currently operating team in Thornwell, and don't take kindly to Nick's attempt at kickstarting a competing one.
71	* ChildhoodFriends: Nick and Magnus have known each other for quite a few years before the story began. Audrey has also been in a relationship with Nick for a while.
72	* {{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.
73	* TheChosenMany: While the purpose of Xerneas reincarnating Shiron is not yet known beyond seeming benevolence, it's implied throughout the early chapters that he's not the first human-turned-Pokémon to be seen in Thornwell, with 'amnesiacs' being relatively common a few years before Shiron's arrival. [[spoiler: Nick's grandfather Rowan is implied to be another reincarnated human and to be a SecretSecretKeeper towards Shiron, while Daichi's remarks about Xerneas and suspicions towards Shiron imply he's either a reincarnated human or familiar with one]].
74	* ContrastingSequelMainCharacter: A few examples.
75	** 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.
76	** 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, making him much closer to Brian. 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.
77	* 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.
78	* HeroicSelfDeprecation: Shiron has ''very'' low self-esteem, and often believes to have made something wrong or to not be capable to do much. It's implied his upbringing had something to do with how he ended up like this.
79	* 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 learns how to use Liquidation at the climax of his first dungeon exploration, with Liz noting how Marshtomp are usually not able to learn it]].
80	** Nick is also this to a lesser degree, being much less adept at Aura than a Riolu his age would normally be, often only getting it to work half-right and still training to properly master his natural abilities.
81	* 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.
82	* 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 [[spoiler:and ''Liberators of Fate'' confirms eventually leads to their marriage]].
83	* TheMindIsAPlaythingOfTheBody: After turning into a Marshtomp, Shiron started to develop a faster metabolism and enjoy the feeling of water among other things. It leads to a small comedic freakout as he realizes this also means he's starting to find local Pokémon attractive.
84	* MyMasterRightOrWrong: In spite of Liz's continued insistence that Terry should act like his station would command and recurring disagreements, she's still loyal to him and follows his orders all the same.
85	* 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.
86	* RoyalsWhoActuallyDoSomething: Terry is dedicated to do things by himself if he can, and is a competent fighter and negotiator that's willng to help Nick in his aim to start a team.
87	* ScarfOfAsskicking: He hasn't quite grown into the 'asskicking' part yet, but Shiron is gifted a red scarf by Nick early in the story. It's made from Wooloo wool.
88	* ShoutOut: Quite a few.
89	** 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.
90	** 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]].
91	* SupremeChef: Magnus works at his father's bakery, and he's quite the talented cook. He and Shiron start to bond thanks to the latter's appreciation of his food.

Context Fanfic / PokemonMysteryDungeonLiberatorsOfFate