For the Mission
is a For Want Of A Nail story by AeroJester203 based around the events in Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Sky. The shifting of events stems from the protagonist keeping his memories, and not having amnesia. With his mission not erased from his memory, the human-turned-Pokemon seeks to find a way to complete it, despite still being turned into a Pikachu. However, saving the partner, an Eevee named Martha, from thugs that tried to mug her, she sets her heart on recruiting him to form an exploration team. Not being able to tell her his mission and out of other options, he takes up an alias and accepts until he can figure out a way to leave.
The story has received praise for the protagonist's character, forged from his experiences not lost in amnesia, as well as the Tear Jerker moments and twists in the story from the protagonist's actions.
Tropes in For the Mission:
- Actually a Doombot: After beginning to use his Substitute move again, Nate rarely spoke in person. He knew that if he showed up as himself, he would risk being captured and all would be lost.
- And I Must Scream: Dark Martha's ultimate fate in her fight with Nate. After being petrified, her life ends one of two ways: starvation from being unable to move (Timeline 2) or disappearing (Timeline 3). In the latter, she's even screaming internally as she starts to disappear.
- Armor-Piercing Response: When Dark Martha attempts a Breaking Speech on Nate, the following exchange occurs:Martha: Of course. You just have to be the hero all the time! You thought I'd be proud that you left to save the world?! You were just too afraid to look me in the eye and tell me the truth!
- Batman Gambit: Used by Nate against Team Skull, three times, as well as Wigglytuff's Guild.
- The first time, Nate figured they'd cause trouble if he just stayed up late to catch them in the act.
- The second time, he made it abundantly clear that he told Chatot they were raiding the food stores, fully aware that Team Skull would listen in. He also knew that they'd follow them in an effort to get revenge by making them fail their mission, so he ordered Maribel to get their target items and return them to Chatot to complete the mission. While Team Skull is so focused on their revenge, Maribel has already gotten back and reported that Team Skull had attacked them. Team Skull got thrown out by Chatot after going back to salvage their cover.
- The third time, after Nate deserted the guild, he left a Substitute to follow Team Skull around, since he knew they'd still be spying on the guild for any chances to get back at Martha and him. The clone listens in on their plan to get the Relic Fragment from Martha and go to the Hidden Land. He also uses them to get information on where the guild is going.
- Being Good Sucks: According to Nate. Doing the right thing his entire life meant he and his only friend got endlessly chased by Primal Dialga and his minions. Then, since he had to keep up his charade to The Dragon sent to catch them, he was Forced to Watch said friend be dragged off, likely to be executed, all so he could see their mission through. And their mission, no matter which way it falls, always ends in death.
- Berserk Button: Do not hurt Martha's friends or she will deal a No-Holds-Barred Beatdown on you. The same with hurting just about any Innocent Bystander in front of Nate, especially children.
- Better to Die than Be Killed: In this case, not so much "die" as never exist.
- Break the Cutie: Martha. While she doesn't get dragged into the future, the events that happen still plunge her into despair, and in the worst case, insanity. All the more heartbreaking that it's her partner that's putting her through most of it.
- Break Them by Talking: Nate. For any opponent he can't take down immediately, this tactic is usually his fallback option. Even more effective if he throws in an Armor-Piercing Question or two.
- Incidentally, Dark Martha tries this tactic after Nate's repeated pleas for her to either let him finish his mission or help him if she really cares about him. After her responses, and Nate's rejection of her offer to go back with her, she attacks him again and then shouts that he just always wants to be The Hero and didn't have the guts to tell her the truth. It backfires. Very, very horribly.''
- Combat Pragmatist: Nate is not above striking any enemy before they see him, and will do so with minimal provocation. His paralyzing attacks also render the enemy helpless to him, and his tricks get more clever once he starts using his Substitute move again. And in his last fight with Team Skull, the fight culminates with Nate tricking Skuntank into a rage after turning around every one of his tricks and then leaving him at his mercy by blinding him.
- Skuntank and Team Skull also qualify, since after their first encounter with Team Rapid. They always made plans to fight the duo (and possibly their recruits) only after they were weakened.
- Dusknoir matches each of Nate's moves trick for trick after finally cornering him in the Old Ruins, a place he is certain that Nate cannot run away from.
- Devil in Plain Sight: Subverted, unlike in canon, in the case of Team Skull. Nate exposes them the first night of their stay by monitoring their activities and then reports them to Chatot. Although, he keeps their names out of it so Chatot investigates instead of denying that their "guests" wouldn't do such a thing.
- Also Nate, arguably. While he's not evil, he is keeping up a deception to hide his true identity.
- Expendable Clone: Nate's Substitute clones.
- Famous Ancestor: According to Magnezone's files, Maribel is descended from a long line of explorers, one of those being the near-legendary Team Aero.
- Fragile Speedster: Nate. While he's a Guile Hero and has his fair share of Heroic Resolve, his Pikachu body can only take so much punishment before he's down for the count. Even as a human, his usual tactics involved tricking the enemy with Substitute. He'll often make the first move in hopes of overwhelming the opponent before they can fight back.
- Guile Hero: Nate, as a human. While the weaker of the duo, comprised of him and his partner, Grovyle, he had trickery with his flawless Substitute clones and Dark-type attacks fueled by Killing Intent against Ghost-type Pokemon. Even after gaining electric attacks he still has a knack for manipulating the Pokemon around him.
- Later lampshaded by Nate.
Martha: But weren't you-Nate: A human? Yes. But just because I couldn't breathe fire, wield plant swords or suplex a boulder didn't make me completely helpless. What, you think I just sat on my hands while Grovyle did all the fighting? - Impostor Forgot One Detail: Averted. Nate's clones are always filled with the relevant memories and have his exact personality down to where he can reliably trust them to make the decisions and say what he would. And nobody can ever spot the difference. Justified, since he's had 400 years to perfect it.
- In the Back: Nate's "protection" of Martha is executed while she has her back to him.
- Mirror Match: Nate's clones. See Impostor Forgot One Detail above.
- No-Nonsense Nemesis: Dusknoir. While he's limited by orders from his superior, Dark Martha, once he's sure that he has the real Nate and not a Substitute clone, he immediately gets ready to execute him.
- Nate also becomes this for Dark Martha after he finds out that she killed the rest of Team Rapid. Subverted when he winds up leaving her alive.
- Not So Stoic: Nate. One time crying Manly Tears over Grovyle's death, Suddenly Shouting at Dark Martha when she blames him for what she'd become, and when he laughs genuinely for the first time when finding out the Martha of Timeline 3 recruited Dusknoir to their mission to change history right before his literal Post-Victory Collapse.
- Really 700 Years Old: Specifically, 413 years old.
- Screw Destiny: Zig-zagged. Nate tries to do this preventing a vision he had of him and Martha traveling to Temporal Tower, because he doesn't want her to see him disappear once history is changed.
- While appearing successful at first, although it hurt Martha greatly, he winds up falling to Primal Dialga and inadvertently causing Martha's Face–Heel Turn because she becomes obsessed with saving him and making sure he never disappears by keeping the future locked in darkness.
- But, because Dark Martha came back to convince Nate to come back with her he saw just how his failure kicked off the future of darkness and turned Martha into an insane shell of her former self. With the new revelation, Nate writes back to his team through the Adventure Log in hopes of changing the future, telling the truth about everything and apologizing to Martha for being too cowardly to tell her in person.
- Through all of these events, the future changes again, this time Martha being the one to invoke this trope, fleeing the guild in the night and taking her team to the Hidden Land to wait for Nate to be born and travel back in time to help him.
- Sdrawkcab Alias: While not strictly backwards, Nate's alias, Ian, ends with the first letter of his real name.
- The Farmer and the Viper: Nate invokes this, discouraging trust in himself after revealing his deception to the guild.
- He even internally chastises Martha for trusting him with her back after all he did.
- The Mole: Deconstructed with Ian/Nate. While he's not a villain posing as the good guy, or vice versa, if they found out what his mission entailed, nobody would believe him. Worse, they would try to stop him. And yet he earns trust that he doesn't want, simply by helping Pokemon like he wants to while looking for information on his mission. Because of that, he's surrounded by "friends" that could become enemies at a moment's notice.
- Totalitarian Utilitarian: Nate. He'll put his mission above anybody and anything else, including Martha.
- Tranquil Fury: Nate's usual way of expressing anger at someone who's endangering innocents.
- Unstoppable Rage: Martha, when you hurt her friends. Nate has also shown signs of it, but it's implied that Grovyle taught him how to Tame His Anger, so he never fully goes into a rage. Not to say that he won't brutally and efficiently tear you apart if you really manage to piss him off.
- Villains Act, Heroes React: Exploited by Nate when he pretends to pick up the Villain Ball. He causes Wigglytuff's Guild to chase him down to Treeshroud Forest, which lets them see that returning the Time Gears to their altars didn't do anything.
- Welcome Back, Traitor: Inverted. After Nate deserts the guild, his greeting upon his return is uncertainty and caution. After his confession, he didn't expect anything less.
- Zero-Approval Gambit: Nate's denouncement of the guild as well as confessing his identity as Grovyle's partner. After saying that he intended to collect the Time Gears again, they sent Team Rapid after him and saw that time was still stopped in Treeshroud Forest. Nate still never regained anybody's full trust after revealing his lies.
