Fanfic / As Fate Would Have It

Used with permission from the original artist. Original art by MONO-land.

As Fate Would Have It is a completed Pokémon fanfic by Rmpdc that focuses on Nate and his Love Interest Yancy, as they balance their careers alongside their growing infatuation for one another. It can be found on FanFiction.Net here, as well as on Archive of Our Own here.

Nimbasa City. Our protagonist, Nate, has just earned his 4th Gym Badge. Just outside the gym, he encounters his Childhood Friend Rosa, and invites her on a Ferris Wheel ride. Just as he tries confessing his long-suppressed feelings for her, she reluctantly turns him down, and Nate finds out the hard way that his best friend, Hugh, has apparently beaten him to the punch and has started going out with her. Following this, he begins aimlessly wandering around the amusement park. By chance, he comes across a downed custom Xtransceiver. As soon as he picks the device up and begins leaving for Driftveil City, the device rings, and he picks up. Sure enough, he comes into contact with the device's owner, Yancy, who promptly asks him to hold onto it for the time being. From there, friendship, eventual romance, and awkward moments ensue.

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As Fate Would Have It includes the following tropes:

• A Day in the Limelight: Chapter 21 shows us Black's perspective during the climax of the Team Plasma crisis.
• Adaptation Expansion: A number of elements from the original game are now given focus, due to being related to both Yancy's and Nate's careers and hobbies.
  • Yancy is given a backstory as to how she chose her career path, her social status, as well as a named hometown (in this case, Undella Town). This also extends to her family, who are finally shown in Chapter 16 starting with her father. She's also shown to be good in Contests as well as Musicals.
  • Nate's dates with Yancy in the games were confined solely to the Ferris Wheel in Nimbasa City. Here? They're also shown and/or mentioned having lunch and dinner dates together, at one point in another city entirely.
  • Pokestar Studios, aside from making films, is shown to host fan conventions on the side, in this case the Castelia Comic Con which is the focus and setting for several of the later chapters.
  • As it turns out, Lucario Kid and Sneasel Ninja, the costumed hero and villain (on in this case, Anti-Hero) from the Show Within a Show superhero-themed Pokestar Studios films, are made by a single company, Castelia Comics, and are set within the same comic universe. It's also mentioned in later chapters that these are part of a larger Shared Universe film series that's currently in production.
    • Brycen-Man and Sneasel Ninja are also given full backstories during Chapter 27, during the premiere of Brycen-man vs The Sneasel Ninja.
  • Black and three of the unaccounted for Seven Sages that didn't return in the original Black and White 2 are finally shown, with the former stopping the latter from causing chaos in Unova via the captured Kami Trio.
  • White is mentioned in flashbacks. She's established as a childhood friend of Nate, Cheren, and Bianca, and ends up becoming romantically involved with N between the events of BW and B2W2.
  • The Pokemon World Tournament also hosts regional tournaments for Kalos, Alola, and Galar, with the last one having been the most recent addition to the roster. Gym Leaders and Trainers from these regions are also shown taking part in the World Leaders and Champions Tournament.
• Adaptation Name Change: Zig-Zagged Trope. While Black and White are called as such in the story instead of Hilbert and Hilda from the games, Black later reveals that his actual name is indeed Hilbert, with "Black" being a nickname. The same is heavily implied with White.
• Adaptational Angst Upgrade:
  • Nate from the 2nd chapter onward starts out as a Broken Ace who was humiliated following a huge loss against Red during the PWT Champions Tournament, and has, up until the point he met Yancy in person, refrained from Pokemon battling altogether. Later in the story, he also exhibits signs of PTSD, particularly when facing against the Shadow Triad and Kyurem again.
  • Yancy here begins falling for Nate the more they spend time together much like in the original games, but she initially rejects him and ends up crying and running away from him during his Love Confession for her. In Chapter 34, it's revealed that this was due to having been in an arranged marriage with Curtis, which she definitely wasn't happy with given her actions. Thankfully, her father manages to call the whole thing off.
  • Black is revealed to be a Broken Ace a few chapters following his introduction into the story, having been rejected by White during a Love Confession he made to her, and was Wandering the Earth in order to get over this. He also ended up resigning as Unova League Champion thanks partly to the toll on his mental health said rejection was taking on him.
• Adaptational Badass: Quite a few.
  • Yancy. In the original games, she couldn't be battled with, and only trades Pokemon with Nate. Here? She's managed to earn all 8 Unova League badges offscreen. Later, she proves how strong she when she effortlessly defeats Hugh with her team of Fairy Type Pokemon, as well as giving Nate a difficult time in defeating her when she knocks out half his team with only her Sylveon.
  • White. You know she means business when 3 of her Pokemon are The Swords of Justice.
• Adaptational Friendship:
  • In Pokémon Black 2 and White 2, the Player Character not chosen simply serves as the Subway Battle partner for players in the Battle Subway on the Multi Battle Train. In this story, Rosa is Nate's childhood friend, confidant, and advisor in all matters relating to love and relationships.
  • On the topic of Rosa, in the games proper, she never meets nor interacts with Yancy. Here, she ends up becoming a close friend of Yancy, while also being a Shipper on Deck for her and Nate.
• Adaptational Heroism: In-Universe example with the Sneasel Ninja character that Nate plays as. In this fic, he's an Anti-Hero similar to the likes of Batman rather than a full-on Card-Carrying Villain in the Show Within a Show's story.
• Adaptational Karma: Happens to both Ghetsis and the Shadow Triad.
  • While the former had already suffered a Fate Worse than Death in the original games, he had remained at large and a free man. Here, his safehouse ends up getting raided and he ends up going into custody once more.
  • The Shadow Triad end up giving themselves in to the authorities after their revenge plan against both Nate and Black fails.
• Adaptational Protagonist: Whilst Nate remains as one of the protagonists, his now-explicitly love interest Yancy, who was a Secret Character in Pokémon Black 2 and White 2, now has a much larger role and serves as a protagonist herself, with several of the story's chapters being from her own point-of-view.
• Always Someone Better: Yes, Yancy may be a pretty competent Trainer who has herself earned all 8 Unova badges, but even she's no match for Nate, who, despite having lost to Red prior, is still the most recent Unova League Champion. Not to mention that her team focuses solely on a single type, while Nate's is pretty well-rounded.
• Amazingly Embarrassing Parents: Both Nate and Yancy's parents act like this towards their son and daughter, respectively. Naturally, every other comment they make in their presence has them stuttering and flustered awkwardly. In the former's case, it's not helped by the fact that Mrs. Kyouhei's first face-to-face introduction with Yancy is a Naked First Impression. In Chapter 19, it gets worse for Nate when she apparently narrates the entire aforementioned incident to her husband.
• April Fools' Day: Happened twice, with the first one in April 2015, where 370-word fake conclusion was uploaded. The second April Fool's joke came in April 2018, where the author's notes implied that he was planning on doing the same for the latest chapter. Nope, the joke was releasing the real chapter under the guise it was going to be another prank.
• Ascended Extra:
  • Yancy goes from a Secret Character in the original games to becoming Nate's Love Interest and The Heroine of the story.
  • Yancy's father, previously unseen and unnamed, goes by the name of Jack. He makes his first appearance in Chapter 16, when Yancy calls him via Xtransceiver to introduce her new boyfriend to her parents.
  • Black goes from The Ghost to appearing in a number of later chapters in the second half, as well as explaining his motivations and actions for being absent during the events of the game's main story.
  • Downplayed with Yancy's siblings. While they are still only mentioned in passing, Chapter 19 expands their backstory, mentioning how Yancy's parents adopted them. They finally make physical appearances in Chapter 26.
  • Rosa goes from a minor character who only appears in Nimbasa City to Nate's Childhood Friend, whom he constantly gets romantic advice from. She's also revealed to be dating Hugh later in the story.
  • Nate's father goes from a Disappeared Dad to an onscreen character in Chapter 19, where it's revealed that he works, or in this case, used to work, in another region, thus explaining his absence for most of the story.
  • White becomes a central character in Chapters 23 to 25 alongside N, where they have a Big Damn Heroes moment.
  • Downplayed with Curtis. He plays a slightly bigger role than he did in the games by appearing in person and outside of TV broadcasts, and is also revealed to be Yancy's ex-fiancé before she and Nate started dating.
• Auction: One is held in Chapter 16 as part of a promotion for an upcoming Pokestar Studios film, with the items in question being A Lucario Kid-themed Mega Glove, complete with Key Stone and Lucarionite. Nate and Hugh, being huge comic book fans, naturally join in and keep making bids.
• Bad Actor, Good Liar: Inverted Trope with both Nate and Yancy. Both are established in the story to be a great actor and TV host/Idol Singer respectively, which requires them to act differently in front of a screen. Off-camera, they're both shown to be Bad Liars, with their attempts at hiding their intentions or embarrassing actions failing miserably, as their parents and friends are able to immediately figure out what they're hiding from them.
• Bad Liar: Nate's not exactly good at coming up with a cover story to both his mom, and later, Rosa, regarding his relationship with Yancy. Yancy herself isn't any better either, being too honest for her own good.
• Baffled by Own Biology: Yancy, having had a rather sheltered upbringing, gets rather surprised when Rosa tells her that masturbation is a perfectly normal thing for people of their age to do. The night prior to this, she was baffled and scared at having touched herself out of frustration from remembering Their First Time with Nate, having feared that she might end up consumed by her own lust.
• Battle Couple: Nate and Yancy, more often than not, end up Pokemon battling together, usually in threatening or dire situations.
• Basement-Dweller: Nate, despite earning millions of Poke Dollars, still lives in Aspertia City with his mom. Justified, in that he does it to maintain a low profile, to prevent the occasional Loony Fan or paparazzi from keeping tabs on him.
• Beta Couple: Rosa and Hugh, who are implied and later shown to be in a relationship midway into the story.
• Beware the Nice Ones: Hugh mistakes Yancy, a Nice Girl, for being much easier to deal with than Nate in a Pokemon battle. She utterly trashes his team with her Pokemon not long afterward.
• Big Bad: The Shadow Triad become this when they kidnap Yancy and attempt to kill Black and Nate in Chapters 23 to 25.
• Big Fancy House: The Ruri Estate, the home of Jack and Elizabeth Ruri, is shown to be this in Chapter 17 when it's mentioned to have an elaborate gate and fence, as well as being built on top of a cliff facing Undella Bay.
• Bittersweet Ending: Nate and Yancy manage to stay a couple and manage to beat their respective World Tournaments, at the cost of both their celebrity identities getting compromised, Yancy having to quit her job as an Idol Singer, and Nate deciding to quit being the Unova League Champion for good in order to focus on his movie star career and eventual inheritance of the Ruri family fortune.
• Bloodstained Defloration: During Their First Time in Chapter 13, Nate immediately notices Yancy bleeding and in pain just as they start making love, with some of her blood spilling on the bedsheet in the process. Concerned for her wellbeing, he asks her if they should stop, to which she replies with a request for him to continue.
• Book Ends:
  • In Chapter 1, Nate and Rosa have a conversation that ends on an awkward and bitter note on Nate's end. In Chapter 35, the epilogue, Nate and Rosa have a conversation that ends on a more pleasant and congratulatory note from the latter.
  • The story begins and ends with Nate losing to another Region's Pokemon League Champion, Red in Chapter 2, and Selene in Chapter 35. The first time, he takes the loss badly to the point he ends up temporarily quitting. The second time, however, he takes in stride, and uses the experience as a lesson in order to get stronger.
  • Nate's and Yancy's first and last date have them going to the Nimbasa City Ferris Wheel and having dinner together.
• Bullying a Dragon: What can best describe the revenge attempt by a group of Poke Maniacs against former Unova Champion Nate as well as the reasonably competent Trainer Yancy. Sure enough, they all get their asses handed to them and promptly arrested for trying to assault and harass both of them.
• The Cameo: Several characters are relegated to this, such as Roxie and Brendan, who ask Yancy for her autograph on different occasions.
• Canon Name: Played straight with main characters such as Nate and Hugh, whose names are unchanged from the games. Zig-zagged with Black, who uses his manga counterpart's name in public, but his real name, as revealed to Nate, is Hilbert.
• Can't Catch Up: Hugh, sadly, just can't compete against either Nate or even the less experienced Yancy. Even his girlfriend Rosa lampshades it a few times. Thankfully, by the epilogue, it looks like he'll finally be getting the big break he needs thanks to Nate's help.
• Caretaker Reversal: Defied Trope during the Sick Episode. Nate fully knows that catching Yancy's sickness would be problematic for his acting job, so he maintains his distance from her and controls himself.
• Cerebus Call-Back: In an early chapter, Nate jokingly asks Yancy if he looks like a Team Plasma member in reaction to her Shrinking Violet behavior during their first meeting. Come Chapter 23, actual Team Plasma members, in this case the Shadow Triad, kidnap her to get Nate to comply to their demands.
• Cerebus Syndrome: The story starts out as a romance slash comedy type of story. By the 14th chapter onward, it leans more towards being action-oriented, complete with several Pokémon Battles taking place. And, by the 23rd chapter, it becomes much darker when Yancy is kidnapped by the Shadow Triad.
• Character Development: Happens to both main characters.
  • Nate starts the story as an idealistic and confident trainer. Following his defeat at the hands of Red, he becomes disillusioned with Pokemon battling, and decides to temporarily retire from the Pokemon battle spotlight. After meeting and eventually dating Yancy, he gradually regains his lost confidence and idealism, concluding with him winning the Pokemon World Tournament once more.
  • Yancy starts out as a Shrinking Violet who lacked confidence for the first half of the story. After she starts dating Nate, she gradually becomes more confident and outgoing, to the point that she proves herself as a competent Trainer and giving others a run for their money.
• Chekhov's Gun: A few.
  • In Chapter 9, Yancy just before she returns to Unova, is given a Key Stone and an unspecificed Mega Stone from Lisia as a reward for surpassing her in Contests. Come Chapter 15, she equips the former to her newly obtained Z-Power Ring, and in Chapter 16, the stone in question turns out to be a Mawilite.
  • Subverted with the box of condoms Rosa hands to Nate. When he and Yancy have Their First Time, he forgets to go for his bag due to his impulsiveness.
  • In Chapter 35, Professor Kukui has Poke Balls containing the 3 Alolan starter Pokemon and offers one of them to Nate and Yancy. The former ends up picking Rowlet and the latter chooses Popplio, with Litten remaining in the Professor's hands. That particular Pokemon ends up being given to Nate by Professor Kukui offscreen as a thank you gift for taking on the Alola League, and Nate ends up giving the Pokemon to Rosa later that same chapter.
• Chekhov's Gunman: In an earlier chapter, Yancy mentions Lisia as being the one who mentored her in Pokémon Contests. She finally makes a physical appearance in Chapter 28, with Yancy meeting her at the end.
• Childhood Friends: Nate, Rosa, and Hugh are childhood friends, having grown up in Aspertia City together.
• Chuck Cunningham Syndrome: Professor Aurea Juniper makes no appearance whatsoever, despite her major role in the games.
• Completed Fic: As of the 24th of April, 2021, the author has published the epilogue and final chapter, ending with an epilogue set in the Alola Region.
• Curb-Stomp Battle: Quite a number of Pokemon battles become one-sided affairs.
  • Yancy effortlessly defeats Hugh in Chapter 16.
  • Nate's battle against Red in his flashback becomes one-sided for the former once the latter unleashes Mega Charizard X.
  • Yancy herself is on the receiving end of one when she battles Nate at the Ruri estate in Chapter 17.
  • A group of Poke Maniacs are quickly defeated and humiliated by both Nate and Yancy in Chapter 29.
• Curb Stomp Cushion: While many a Pokemon battle in the story is depicted as a Curb-Stomp Battle, there are also a few where the losing Trainer manages to make the winning one pay for their victory.
  • Nate manages to knock out two of Red's Pokemon, which forces the latter to go all-out and use Mega Charizard X against him. And even then, Nate's Samurott puts up quite the fight despite being on the short end of the stick.
  • Hugh despite having most of his team knocked out and backed into a corner, manages to at least take down Yancy's Azumarill with his Boufallant.
  • Yancy with her party sans Sylveon wiped out by Nate's Pokémon, manages to give Nate a hard time at the last minute by knocking out three of his Pokémon with her Sylveon, before it too gets knocked out by his Mega Lucario.
• Cutting Off the Branches:
  • It's apparent in this story that Nate picked Oshawott as his starter, with Hugh raising a Snivy from an egg, as his weapon is Samurott as shown in both flashbacks and recent chapters.
  • Black using Zekrom confirms that the story is set in a scenario based on the White's and White 2's version of events.
• Demoted to Extra: Ghetsis. His only role is him being catatonic, being tended to by The Shadow Triad.
• Did You Just Have Sex?: Rosa immediately figures out her two friends made love the other night, simply by analyzing their expressions, and the fact that one of them had a hickey on her neck. She then asks both of them to stop trying to deny it after she states the matter of fact.
• Disappeared Dad: Justified and Subverted with Mr. Kyouhei, who is mentioned by his son as working in another region. He is also finally mentioned having just come home in Chapter 19.
• Disposable Fiancé: Curtis is revealed to have been Yancy's fiancé before Nate became her boyfriend. Thankfully, he was never interested in her, having been in an Arranged Marriage setup that even Yancy's father regretted making and eventually called off.
• The Dreaded: Red, as with so many other works. Even Nate, following his defeat at the Kanto Champion's hands, is utterly shaken by his experience.
• Erotic Dream: Yancy has one where she recalls Their First Time with Nate. It leads to...something else that's equally erotic...
• Everyone Has Standards: One Poke Maniac in Chapter 32 absolutely refuses to take part in his friend's plan on getting revenge on Nate and harassing Yancy, and leaves them in disgust.
• Even Evil Has Standards: The Shadow Triad, despite having kidnapped Yancy and attempted to kill both Black Nate, absolutely refuse to unleash Kyurem and harm the people living in Icirrus City and the rest of Unova, to the point that they restrain the Boundary Pokémon's power by capturing it beforehand with a Master Ball.
• Extremely Short Timespan: Downplayed. Chapters 6 to 17 take place over the course of 3 or so days.
• Faint in Shock: During Yancy's flashback to when she was training to become the Idol Singer she was in the present, Lisia ends up giving a Love Confession to her, followed by what is revealed to be her First Kiss. These two, combined with Yancy being exhausted from having just exerted herself in a Pokemon Contest not too long ago, cause her to pass out backstage. This incident causes Lisia to cut ties with her mentee, for fear of having gone too far.
• The Fair Folk: Yancy's preferred Pokemon type is Fairy.
• Fan Convention: One is held between Chapters 6-16, known as the Castelia Comic Con. Naturally, it mainly caters to fans of the superhero-themed Pokestar Studios films, although there's also a huge amount of related Pokemon memorabilia around as well.
• Feminine Women Can Cook: Played straight with Yancy, who can cook Fried Rice Balls and Belue Berry Pancakes really well. She even impresses Nate's mom when she volunteers to cook breakfast alongside her.
• Ferris Wheel Date Moment: Naturally, since the original games had Nate's and Yancy's dates as this. Here, they don't happen as often due in part to Adaptation Expansion, but there still at least three notable ones in Chapter 2, Chapter 12, and Chapter 20.
• First Kiss:
  • Nate kisses Yancy on the lips in Chapter 4.
  • Subverted with Yancy, as in her case it was Lisia.
• Flashback: Chapter 9 has one for both Nate and Yancy. The former's depicts how he lost his World Tournament fight against Red, which involved the latter unleashing Mega Charizard X, while the latter shows how she got into Pokemon Contests and Musicals, with her being mentored by Lisia. The latter is also revealed to to have had a crush on Yancy, who incidentally is also her First Kiss.
• Foil: Black is this to Nate. Both of them are the heroes of their respective stories who are in love with their Childhood Friend who both end up in a Did Not Get the Girl situation. However, their paths end up differently. Nate ended up staying in Unova, decided to continue an acting career in superhero movies and found a Second Love in Yancy, while Black chose to leave Unova and train in other regions.
  • Both of them also ended up beating Team Plasma, stopping their plans, and eventually went on to be the Champion of the Unova League. However, their motivations for quitting this position differ. Nate quit because of his Once Done, Never Forgotten situation relating to his loss to Red at the PWT. Black, on the other hand, resigned due to depression following him finding out that his childhood friend, White, loved N and not him
• Gameplay and Story Segregation: Yancy mentions having all the Unova League gym badges in order to be able to use the HMs she has on hand. Except in the actual Gen V games, HMs don't require the gym badges.
• Genre Shift: Starting with Chapter 15, the story becomes more action-oriented, showcasing the battling abilities of both Nate and Yancy firsthand.
• Good Parents: Both Nate's mom and Yancy's mom and dad are shown to be relatively normal parents, and pretty chill ones at that.
• Halfway Plot Switch: The first half is a lighthearted romance story akin to the type seen in Visual Novels. Starting in Chapter 14, however, it gradually becomes closer to a follow-up to the events of the main games, complete with the occasional Cerebus Syndrome in later chapters.
• Happily Adopted: Yancy's siblings turn out to be adopted in Chapter 17, when Yancy's parents tell Nate that Yancy herself is their only blood-related child. And based on all indications, they seem to be well-off, considering that they're studying in an exclusive school in Kalos.
• Hero of Another Story:
  • Black, who clearly went through a lot of things after leaving Unova. Among these was helping to fight the rest of Team Plasma after N asked for his help in a flashback.
  • N and White themselves are also this, being established as Trainers of similar strength to Black, even having their own respective Legendary Pokémon in their parties such as Reshiram and Virizion.
• Idol Singer: Nancy and Christoph, aka Yancy and Curtis, as they were in the original games. Later chapters introduce Lisia, who is revealed to be Yancy's mentor in both Pokemon Contests and in being an idol singer. Yancy later ends up quitting the idol industry altogether in order to be with Nate, deciding to pursue a movie acting career instead.
• Instant Humiliation Just Add Youtube: Subverted. A Youngster films Nate and Yancy dancing along together at Village Bridge, and promptly uploads it later. However, despite initially feeling humiliated, Nate and Yancy end up becoming more famous because of it, complete with positive reception.
• Knight of Cerebus: The Shadow Triad. Every time they appear, the story shifts into a more serious tone.
• Let Us Never Speak of This Again: Nate, Yancy, and Rosa, in Chapter 19 make it a point never to mention Mrs. Kyouhei apparently narrating to her husband about how their son and his girlfriend were caught the morning after Their First Time ever again, the latter being threatened into complying by the embarrassed couple.
• Living a Double Life: Yancy, as usual, but interestingly, this also applies to both Nate and Rosa now, having decided to use Screen Names for their movie roles. Subverted in Chapter 15, where both of them are forced to come clean after Professor Kukui figures out their celebrity identities in public.
• Locked Out of the Loop: Hugh is locked out of knowing that Nate and Yancy were caught by the former's mother naked in bed the other day, thanks to the couple threatening Rosa into keeping it secret. While her parents don't know about it per se, they do have an idea of what may or may not have happened.
• Loony Fan: During the PWT arc, a group of Poké Maniacs, who were fans of Nancy, attempt to go after Nate and eventually Yancy, as revenge for "stealing" her from them.
• Love Confession: Happens in Chapter 4 between the main characters following a fancy dinner at a hotel in Driftveil City. Thanks to Nate's actions and timing, however, Yancy, out of surprise, runs away with conflicted feelings, and it isn't until the next morning that she decides to reciprocate.
• Martial Pacifist: Yancy normally avoids Pokemon battles, and prefers doing Contests and Musicals. However, as Nate noticed, she was able to earn all 8 of the Unova League badges offscreen, implying she's actually a good battler when push comes to shove. Confirmed in Chapter 16, where she easily defeats Hugh and his team.
• Masturbation Means Sexual Frustration: Following waking up from the middle of an Erotic Dream where she recounts her and Nate's first time, Yancy ends up touching herself a little too much afterward during the middle of the night, she herself having been frustrated at not being able to do the deed with her now-boyfriend ever since then. This ends up causing her to suffer from sleep deprivation the very next morning. Thanks to not having done this before, however, she initially ends up scared that she'll eventually be consumed by her own lust. It takes her talking to Rosa for her to realize that it's a natural thing to do.
• Meet the In-Laws: Thrice, with Yancy meeting Nate's parents on two separate occasions and Nate meeting Yancy's parents at the same time.
  • In Chapter 14, Yancy ends up meeting Nate's mom for the first time the morning after Yancy and Nate have had Their First Time. Naturally, the meeting is awkward at first, no thanks to Yancy being nude and in bed together with Nate. Thankfully for both of them, Mrs. Kyouhei is pretty chill, and comes to like Yancy immediately after finding out about her story.
  • Chapter 19 has Yancy meeting Mr. Kyouhei at the Kyouhei Residence in Aspertia City. It again turns awkward when Mrs. Kyouhei manages to tell her husband about the aforementioned first meeting between her and Yancy.
  • Chapter 17 has Nate being formally introduced to Yancy's parents. Thankfully, this meeting is cordial and not awkward.
• Mentor Archetype: As revealed in Yancy's flashback in Chapter 9, Lisia was this to Yancy.
• Mid-Season Upgrade: Chapter 15 gives has both Nate and Yancy receive Z-Power Rings from Professor Kukui following an informal Rite of Passage and an invitation to the Alola Pokemon League. For Nate, this goes further, as he receives a Lucarionite and a Key Stone from an auction, courtesy of Yancy.
• Missing Mom: Subverted. While Yancy doesn't mention her mom to Nate, she's eventually revealed to be alive, well, and Happily Married to Yancy's father once the young couple visit the Ruri Estate midway in the story. There's actually a reason why she doesn't like to talk about her mom.
• Mons as Characterization: The two main characters use Pokemon that match their personalities almost to a "T".
  • Nate's two most commonly used Pokemon are Lucario and Braviary. The former reflects his status as a hero, namely his status as a superhero movie star, his stopping of Team Plasma in the past, as well as his status of being the (former) Unova League Champion. The latter, on the other hand, reflects his love for Pokemon battling, as well as the fact that he's willing to risk his own life to save those he cares for.
  • Reflecting her status as a Rose-Haired Sweetie and the fact that she's Living a Double Life, Yancy's team of Pokemon is composed entirely of the Fairy type, known for their aura of mystery and many of them having a pink or feminine theme to them. Her Signature Mon in particular is Mawile, better known as the Deceiver Pokemon, which helps to reflect that she has to look and act completely different on TV.
• Mythology Gag:
  • Every character's given last names (ex. Nate Kyouhei) are their original Japanese names.
  • Nate's and Rosa's screen names are the Japanese names of their counterparts in Pokémon Adventures. The same applies for Black, except this time this is his given name instead of a Screen Name.
  • Red is shown using Mega Charizard X against Nate's Samurott, a blatant nod to similar events in Pokémon Origins.
• Naked First Impression: Yancy's first face-to-face introduction to Mrs. Kyouhei has her naked in bed with Nate the morning after the couple have had Their First Time.
• Named by the Adaptation:
  • Nate's mother is named Natalie.
  • Yancy's father is named Jack Ruri, while her adopted siblings are named Ricky and Cindy.
• "No Peeking!" Request: During Their First Time in Chapter 13, as Nate is stripping Yancy, she requests him not to stare at her now-exposed chest out of embarrassment. He ends up staring at her anyway, no thanks to his curiosity getting the better of him.
• No Periods, Period: Averted and Justified. In Chapter 20, during Yancy's and Rosa's conversation, Yancy mentions that she took and still takes birth control pills because of period cramps, and in no way knew that she and Nate would be "doing it" that one night.
• Nothing Is the Same Anymore: By the end of the story, Nate and Yancy are not only dating one another but also engaged to one another, the former has finally left his position as the Champion of the Unova Pokemon League for good, and the latter has quit being an Idol Singer and TV host as well in order to stay with him.
• Oh, Crap!: Played for Laughs in Chapter 14. Nate has a minor freak-out when he finds out that he didn't use a condom the night he and Yancy had Their First Time.
• Offscreen Moment of Awesome: Most of Black and White 2's story is skipped over, with Nate's part in the defeat of Ghetsis and becoming Pokemon League Champion mentioned in passing instead.
• The Ojou: Yancy is revealed to be from a rich family early on. In fact, she's daughter to the CEO of one of the richest companies in Unova, as Nate's mom finds out.
• Olympus Mons:
  • Black, true to the canon of the games, is still in possession of one of the Legendary Dragons, in this case Zekrom. He's also mentioned to have caught all 3 members of the Forces of Nature offscreen. In Chapter 32, he ends up using Landorus during the Champions Tournament.
  • During the Rescue Arc, N and White bring with them Reshiram and 3 of the Swords of Justice in order to fight Black Kyurem.
  • As part of their revenge scheme, the Shadow Triad capture Kyurem and use the Legendary Dragon in an attempt to kill Nate.
• Once Done, Never Forgotten: Following Nate's defeat at the hands of Red during a Champions Tournament in the Pokemon World Tournament, many a Trainer and media will constantly bring this up, even when he manages to do well in the other tournaments. It serves as one of his motivations to resign from his position as Unova League Champion.
• Overdramatic Dating Commotion: Given that Nate and Yancy are famous and well-known, their fans finding out that the two are seeing each other in a Fan Convention is met with positive reactions, except for some of Yancy's more hardcore fans, who take offense to this development and attempt to battle and defeat Nate for stealing her from them.
• Parent-Preferred Suitor: Subverted with Curtis. As Mr. Ruri states, he regretted making that arrangement with the young man's father, and wanted his daughter to look for someone she herself loved. When she found and began dating Nate, he fully supported her decision to go out with him, to the point he called off the old arrangement altogether.
• Parents Walk In at the Worst Time: A Type 1 case happens when Nate's mom walks in on her son and his girlfriend the morning after they've had Their First Time. Since Nate was pretty bad at hiding his intentions when he asked her for permission if Yancy could stay at their place for the night, she's pretty chill with it.
• Perfectly Arranged Marriage: After seeing Nate prove himself as a Trainer and saving their daughter's life, Yancy's parents offer him the chance to become their daughter's fiance. While both Nate and Yancy are initially unsure on whether to accept the offer or not, they eventually come to accept it after talking it over with one another a day later.
• Pregnancy Scare: Variation. The morning after they've had Their First Time, Nate realizes too late that he forgot to put a condom on when he sees his bag, where said condoms are placed, zipped shut from the other night. He panics for a few seconds about the possibility of Yancy becoming pregnant and him becoming a father at a young age, only for her to laugh at him and tell him that she takes birth control pills.
• Reasonable Authority Figure: Yancy's father, Jack Ruri, as it turns out, is this. He's fine with Nate dating his daughter, who shows that she clearly loves him and has established himself as a Nice Guy, so long as he proves his resolve to him by having a Pokemon battle with her.
• Red Herring: In Chapter 4, you'd think that, based on Yancy's little story, it was Curtis who tried to confess to her before Nate, right? Nope, he's not. In Chapter 9, that honor goes to Lisia, who confesses to her after kissing her in the lips.
• Related Differently in the Adaptation: Yancy's two younger siblings are revealed to be adopted, and thus not blood-related to their older sister and parents, in contrast to the game, where it's implied they're blood-related.
• Relationship Upgrade: Yancy and Nate finally become a couple for real in Chapter 5.
• Rescue Arc: Chapters 23 and 24 focus on Yancy's kidnapping by the Shadow Triad and subsequent rescue by Nate and Black.
• Rescue Reversal: In Chapter 24, Nate and Black, who were originally planning on rescuing Yancy from the Shadow Triad who had kidnapped her the previous chapter, are themselves Lured into a Trap and almost killed. Instead, Yancy, who is freed by White, helps rescue the first two at the end of the chapter.
• Revenge: The Shadow Triad's primary motivation for their Evil Plan in Chapters 23 to 25: to get back at both Nate and Black for derailing Team Plasma's plans and turning Ghetsis into a catatonic shell of his former self.
• Rite of Passage: Professor Kukui has Nate and Yancy go through an informal one involving Z-Power Rings, allowing them access to the Alola Pokemon League should they ever be interested in taking the challenge.
• Sacred First Kiss: Yancy, after she and Nate start dating, eventually admits to him that him kissing her at that park in Driftveil City was not her First Kiss, but was instead her mentor Lisia, who is revealed to have had a crush on her in the past.
• Screen Name: As usual, there's "Nancy" for Yancy. Interestingly, both Nate and Rosa, being high-profile actors in this story, have their own, in "Lack-Two" and "Whi-Two".
• Second Love: Yancy is this for Nate.
• Secret Identity: Both Yancy's and Nate's lines of work are kept secret from the other until midway into the story, where they find out, awkwardly, that the other is a famous celebrity.
  • Subverted for both of them in Chapter 15, where Professor Kukui manages to put two-and-two together, and, thanks to the number of people hearing him say this out loud, are forced to come clean and reveal everything on TV.
• Self-Made Man: In contrast to Yancy, Nate's current social status was the result of him perfecting his acting career on the big screen, as well as his winnings during his tenure as Champion.
• Sexy Shirt Switch: In Chapter 13, Yancy ends up wearing one of Nate's shirts over herself after a freak rainstorm soaks them both. This ultimately leads to Their First Time not long afterward.
• Shown Their Work: Quite a few.
  • Several of Yancy's lines in the early chapters are actual lines she tells Nate, either during his calls with her, or during their Ferris Wheel dates.
  • At least two of Yancy's Pokemon are from the same evolutionary line as those she trades to Nate in the games, in this case the Mawile and Togepi lines.
  • Hugh's team is his in-game team should the player pick Oshawott.
• Show Within a Show: Brycen Man vs The Sneasel Ninja and Mystery Doors of the Magical Land: Return of the Witch Queen, Pokestar Studios movies where Nate and Rosa are starring in, respectively. The former is based on the Brycen-Man and Full Metal Cop films from the games, while the latter is a sequel of the film series of the same name. Chapter 27 even features the full plot of the former.
• Sick Episode: Yancy suffers from a slight fever in Chapter 22 thanks to her actions in the previous one, thus causing Nate to take care of her for the rest of the chapter.
• Single Woman Seeks Good Man: Yancy ends up falling in love with Nate thanks in part to him being there for her when she needed advice and companionship the most, something he never failed to do during any of their meetings. He ultimately proves his worth when he risks his own life to save her when The Shadow Triad kidnap her during the story's Rescue Arc.
• Supreme Chef: Yancy is shown to be a talented cook, which impresses even Nate's mom when she starts cooking different breakfast dishes alongside her.
• Suspiciously Specific Denial: Yancy constantly states her reason for taking birth control pills is for medical reasons, and not because she expected to make love to Nate beforehand.
• Talking in Bed: The main characters, after having Their First Time, talk to one another for a bit before both of them eventually fall asleep.
• Teasing Parent: Nate's and especially Yancy's mothers love to tease their children about Their First Time, which the young couple were forced to come clean about after Nate's mother caught them the morning after the deed. Unsurprisingly, both Nate and Yancy turn absolutely red with embarrassment when it's talked about.
• Teen Idol: Yancy and Curtis as Nancy and Christoph, as in canon. The former, however, ultimately decides to quit in favor of keeping her relationship with Nate by the end.
• Their First Time: Yancy and Nate have sex for the first time in Chapter 13.
• Time Skip: Several happen in the first part of the story.
  • The first chapter takes place just after Nate earns his 4th badge from the Nimbasa Gym. The second chapter takes place a while after he's defeated the Unova League, as well as after he's resigned from his position as Champion.
  • Nate's and Yancy's hanging outs between the 2nd and 4th chapters take place within months of one another, with several more meetings mentioned in narration.
  • Chapter 20 takes place two weeks after the events of the previous chapters.
  • Chapter 35 takes place a few months after Chapter 34.
• Tournament Arc: The second part of Chapter 28 marks the beginning of one, where Nate, Yancy, and Rosa, among others, are participating in the Pokémon World Tournament.
• Unlucky Childhood Friend: It's Nate who's the unlucky one here, Rosa apparently having had a thing for Hugh before the start of the story.
• The Unmasking: Revealing your Secret Identity to the public may, on one hand, be a relief to the burden of maintaining it, but doing so also comes with a huge risk to your own personal security. As the Shadow Triad, and later, a group of Poké Maniacs would demonstrate in later chapters.
• Valentine's Day Episode: A Fated Exchange, which, in addition to Valentine's, also covers White Day.
• Victory Sex: Nate and Yancy have sex not long after both of them win the Pokemon World Tournament in Chapter 34.
• Villainous Valor: Even as the Shadow Triad's Evil Plan is falling apart following N's Big Damn Heroes moment, they absolutely refuse to give up until all their Pokémon are knocked out and Black Kyurem is defeated. When that happens, they attempt to retreat.
• Will They or Won't They?: Nate and Yancy for the first four or so chapters gradually start to have feelings for one another, but are unable to convey them to each other effectively. Nate finally subverts this when he kisses Yancy on the lips and gives her a Love Confession following their date at Driftveil City, but it takes the subsequent chapter for her to finally make it clear that she reciprocates them.
• The Worf Effect: Two of them, in Chapters 16 and 17, respectively.
  • Hugh, already a pretty strong trainer in his own right, is easily defeated in Chapter 16 by Yancy during the auction for the Lucario Kid-themed Mega Glove, Lucarionite, and Key Stone.
  • Yancy herself is utterly trashed by Nate in Chapter 17, to establish how strong he still is.