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Bandits of the Forest

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Bandits of the Forest is an ongoing Alternate Universe Pokémon fanfiction series written by Poke Master 64. The series follows the adventures of Melissa Penworth, a young buneary princess who runs away after nearly being forced into an Arranged Marriage without any input from her on the matter. As she is fleeing into a dark foreboding forest, she is picked up by a notorious guild of bandits known as the Foresters. In order to prove her worth, and show that she can be a successful ruler, Melissa decides to join the Foresters, leading to a myriad of misadventures.

Stories featured within the BOTFverse

  • Bandits of the Forest pt1: Rising Stardust: Princess Melissa Penworth, a timid, but ambitious heir to the Verde Kingdom, finds her life thrusted into a spiral of disarray as she becomes pressured by the roles forced upon her. In her desperate act of freedom, she runs away and unwittingly joins with a group of criminals called the Foresters. Through their actions, she may just learn she isn't as powerless as she believes.
Published January 1st, 2019
  • Bandits of the Forest pt2: Tales of Virdis: Virdis' extensive history carries secrets untold. Everyone has a story, and everyone carries a secret. However, some Pokémon do whatever it takes to keep those secrets buried. How far will someone go to keep those secrets underground? And who will strive to search for the truth? The rogues of Virdis seek only one truth: the true history of Virdis.
Published September 24th, 2021
  • Bandits of the Forest pt3: Withered Spirits: "The strongest mountains can be weathered overtime by the unrelenting winds. They can stand mighty and proud until one day, even from the slightest breeze, they shatter and crumble to pieces. A Pokémon's resolve is no different. What happens when that resolve breaks, and the spirit shatters? How do you fix a broken spirit?" -Marie.
Published October 3rd, 2021
  • Bandits of the Forest pt4: Silence Knells in the Fog: The Echo Bell Kingdom celebrates the annual Misty Lights Carnival where Pokémon from all over Virdis come to experience the joy of life and self-indulgence, where the barriers of class fall down for just one week. For all that happiness, there are those who forgot how to smile after seeing the world beyond the colors and music. All they see through the comedy is the tragedy.
Published September 2nd, 2022
  • Bandits of the Forest pt5: Blood and Iron: The New Chariot Empire has launched its invasion on West Virdis, pushing the kingdoms and its inhabitants to fight back against the insurmountable force. Seeing the threats ahead, Melissa Penworth must challenge the unstoppable power of New Chariot's emperor and surpass his title to become the unyielding leader she strives to become. A battle of wills in the depths of war.
Published August 21st, 2023
  • Bandits of the Forest pt6: Reflections in Silver: Do the actions of a single individual change the course of history? Can one's will be so strong that it creates a tangible change on society? Across Virdis, whispers of a new era have been spoken into existence. Those who wish to impose their will onto the region will set forth a change into the new future. But what do they seek most of all? Power? Peace? War? Or something greater?
Published September 13th, 2024
  • Bandits of the Outlands: Sand and Toxins: Amos Lancaster, a mercenary with no direction for his life, resigns himself to his inevitable fate. His life has no purpose. Only death is certain. However, when granted a second chance to live, he must brave the unforgiving Outlands of Virdis in search of those he called allies. But one does not venture forth into the Outlands...and survive so easily. Side Story to BOTF.
Published August 20th, 2023
  • Forest Tales: A collection of one-shots set in the world of Bandits of the Forest. Outside the events of the plot, there's a lot to look forward to. Side stories hidden within the parts, histories of characters revealed, or just whatever absurdity the colorful world of Virdis finds itself in.
Published September 5th, 2022


Tropes:

  • 11th-Hour Superpower: While it does have its first appearance around the middle of pt1, Melissa doesn't start to get a full grasp on her Inherited Will later known as Faithless Imitation until near the end of the first part.
  • Abhorrent Admirer: Marie is constantly flirting with other Pokémon, with the majority of them showing no interest in return, but Melissa especially demonstrates discomfort from her.
  • Aerith and Bob: Character names range from Jason, Melissa, Frank, etc., to names such as Basil, Pandora, Jet, Blitz, etc.. Very much justified given the clearly wide array of cultures found among the different kingdoms, as well as the simple fact that some of the characters ended up naming themselves.
  • Arranged Marriage: Melissa and Erasmus are arranged to be married at the start of the fic, without any input from Melissa on the matter.
  • Artificial Cannibalism: It's outright stated that Pokémon eating one another was a practice that only ended among civilized Pokémon fairly recently, and the reason this was achievable was thanks to the development of faux meat created from berries.
  • Beyond Redemption: Darby is revealed to be this in pt3, where he and his knights are revealed to be taking advantage of various women using love potions combined with attract, and he only gets worse from there.
  • Either/Or Offspring: In contrast to how Pokémon breeding works in the games, in this series the Pokémon offspring has a 50-50 chance to be from either of the parents' evolutionary line. In rare instances there can even be cases of two different species hatching from the same egg.
  • Face Death with Dignity: The end of pt5 invokes this with Emperor Nero, who faces his execution from Marie looking toward the sky, eyes shimmering with pride, declaring that he's lived a marvelous life.
  • Go Out with a Smile: At the end of pt5 Emperor Nero faces his final moments with a massive grin on his face, to the point where he ends up smiling, even as a corpse.
  • A Lighter Shade of Grey: The Foresters are more or less this trope at play, Virdis is depicted as more or less a Crapsaccharine World with each of the kingdoms having their own set of issues. And while the Foresters might be thieves, they do demonstrate concern for the innocent, and are trying to fight for a better world.
  • Light Feminine and Dark Feminine: Melissa is a light feminine to Marie's dark feminine. Melissa's kindhearted and polite demeanor has drawn the admiration of many characters throughout the story (some even having romantic implications). Meanwhile, Marie is a flirtatious pervert who loves to tease the people close to her, but she also hides some sadistic glee when it comes to interrogating Pokémon like Marsaili or Ainsley
  • Love-Interest Traitor: Darby fulfills this trope in pt3, where it's revealed that contrary to the Prince Charming persona he puts forward, he's actually a conniving scumbag, and a rapist on top of that.
  • Magical Sole Inheritance: Basically how Inherited Will operates. Whenever someone with an Inherited Will dies, their Will gets passed down to their next bloodline descendant when they hatch.
  • Not-So-Innocent Whistle: When King Roscoe declares that the Foresters have a mole planted among the castle staff, Sadie begins to innocuously whistle to herself.
  • Pint-Sized Powerhouse: Multiple examples. Given that this is a world of Pokémon, it stands to reason there are a myriad of smaller Pokémon who still boast great strength. A couple of the most standout examples would probably be Melissa, a once feeble Buneary princess who Took a Level in Badass, and Jason, who, despite being around the size of your average Pikachu, managed to become the second most wanted criminal in all of Verde.
  • Precision F-Strike: Melissa invokes this trope in pt3 when she refers to Darby as an "asshole" upon realizing what he's been doing.
  • Pretty Princess Powerhouse: Somewhat downplayed with Melissa, since she technically doesn't demonstrate any aptitude for fighting until after she runs away from home. But nevertheless, she still demonstrates her more feminine characteristics even after she's become a quite formidable fighter.
  • Reports of My Death Were Greatly Exaggerated: In the final chapter of pt5 Rikmai invokes this trope when she's found by the Foresters, after previously having been thought dead.

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