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Fanfic / Pokéumans

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https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/pokeumans_logo_v2_0_by_gamer_dragon_standard.png
Are you one of us?note 
The whole world we have reset, our presence shall never be known. Those who have to leave their children and partners…it is a pain no one has the capability of understanding by themselves.

Pokéumans is a Pokémon fanfic written by Pokemonmanic3595, which has in turn spawned hundreds of spinoff stories and a Shared Universe. The original series focused on a Lucario Pokéuman named Brandon in the secret base under Long Island in America and his battles against the Mewtwo scientist, Mr. X.

Hidden from everyday society, there are certain people who can transform into Pokémon. These are called Pokéumans. Some want to live in peace with humanity, while others believe that they are a superior race.

But not all is well. A Secret War rages between the Pokéuman and the Pokéxtinction organizations. The former sees themselves as rebels, hiding from humanity due to fear of persecution or fighting against an oppressive system. The latter, on the other hand, fear the Pokéuman want a world ruled by only Pokéuman and thus, they strive to serve as humanities' guardians. Other parts of Pokéxtinction feel the Pokéumans should not exist at all, and are attempting to make sure of this themselves.

In November 2018 Pokemonmanic3595 began a rewrite of the original series called Pokéumans Remastered, to redo earlier scenes with the benefit of experience and clean up/remove some details that he was unhappy with the first time around. Any chapters of the original series that do not have a Remastered replacement are still canon, but if you want to get the amended and improved version of the backbone story then start here.

The main story was declared cancelled in 2022 as per Word of God, citing the whole thing as Old Shame.

The group homepage can be found here.

Tropes found in the original Pokéumans series include:

  • Bullying a Dragon: The MSN gang spend a lot of time picking on Brandon early in the story and then really regret it later.
  • Can't Kill You, Still Need You: Since Brandon's status as an Energy Channeller means he possesses a huge amount of latent energy, Mr. X is very keen to use Total Absorption to claim that energy for himself on top of his own incredible power. Conveniently doing so would also kill Brandon, so two birds, one stone.
  • Cave Behind The Waterfall: In Chapter 13, one of the Dimensional Gems is stashed here.
  • Chekhov M.I.A.: Connor, Zane and Ryan, in the respective histories of Sakato, Nathan and Starr (See Death by Origin Story).
  • The Chosen One: Brandon seems pretty well qualified to be one of these given the way other characters talk about and his potential. Then Spiritus says that he's no more special than any other Energy Channeller in history.
  • Clear My Name: Chapter 4, where Brandon is set up for base treason.
  • Combat Pragmatist: A lot of Dustin of the Elite Four's strategy boils down to using all of his Ghost powers (and his disturbingly-uncaring attitude to his opponents' lives) to screw with them and cheat in any way he likes.
  • Dangerous Forbidden Technique: Total Absorption grants enormous power, but is fatal to the enemy (it literally consumes their aura) and can bring out a Superpowered Evil Side.
  • Death by Origin Story: Well, more like Capture And Brainwash By Origin Story, but Connor, Zane and Ryan suffer this unfortunate fate to give Sakato, Nathan and Starr something greater to fight for.
  • Despair Event Horizon: Chapter 14 mostly consists of Brandon going across this and slowly coming back, in response to the death of Reggie.
  • Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu?: Chapter 17 sees Brandon and co. beat up no less than Dialga, Palkia, Giratina, Reshiram and Zekrom. In one chapter, although two were offscreen.
  • Dwindling Party: The team entering the Poke Dimension was about ten or so party members - four chapters later there are three capable party members left, and that's including the ones that joined them mid-arc.
  • Exposition Beam: Zygarde's 10% form communicates with Brandon by directly beaming information into his head.
  • Eyes Are Mental: When Darren and Mew occupy the same body in later chapters, their eyes switch between yellow and pink depending on who has direct control.
  • Failure Knight: The fact Sakato wasn't fast enough to save his friend Connor is the driving reason behind his training to be the fastest Pokéuman pretty much ever.
  • Fighting a Shadow: The legendaries fought by the heroes in the Pokédimension arc were actually mirages to protect the keys to Mt. Origin. Justified in that the legendaries have important jobs maintaining things like the flow of time and the balance of the ecosystem and such.
  • Four-Temperament Ensemble: The Elite Four:
    • Sanguine: William
    • Melancholic: Dustin
    • Choleric: Zeke
    • Phlegmatic: Rikuto
  • Fusion Dance: The scene in which thousands and thousands of Zygarde cells fly together into the campsite and unite to form Zygarde's 10% form.
  • Healing Factor: Energy Channelling - an intense, instantaneous Healing Factor.
  • Heroic BSoD: Mega Brandon killing everyone in the Pokéxtinction camp sends Brandon into a severe depression.
  • Hidden Depths:
    • The MSN, particularly Nat, had some of these uncovered through a Cerebus Retcon that showed just how crap it is to be the bullies no-one likes. But at least they have each other.
    • An enounter between Brandon and Rikuto after the former's Elite Four victory went into more depths of Rikuto's character and history, even if his origin story is several shades of weird.

  • Made of Iron: Asula. As well as being ridiculously powerful, she also later shows ability to shrug off Pokéxtinction lasers that completely incapacitate weaker Pokéumans. Potentially justified in her really being roughly a hundred years old, and so having had plenty of time to train.
  • Many Spirits Inside of One: A slightly strange example: Mew uses Transform to turn himself into a Golurk so that Darren's extracted soul can be transferred into Mew's body, since Ghosts are not tied down to any specific body themselves. However, this means that control of said body flips between Mew and Darren intermittently, which takes quite some time for them to get the hang of.
    • This also leads to Alternate Identity Amnesia, which causes them to not remember anything that happens when the other takes control, except for a strange sense of 'Did I just go somewhere?'. Mew even seamlessly finishes his sentence on return.
  • Martial Pacifist:
    • Amy. She's only ten, and hates unnecessary fighting.
    • Cameron can also be seen as this, but he'll fight if he absolutely needs to.
    • Sakato's Mightyena roommate Austin also qualifies. He absolutely hates conflict.
    • All of the original Pokémon live this way, apparently.
  • Meaningful Name (specific to the original series): Rikuto Hadoryu's surname translates as 'Surging dragon'.
  • Mentor Occupational Hazard:
    • Reggie catches quite a nasty dose of this.
    • Also Mr. Raso, Cameron's mentor.
  • Mother Nature: Xerneas is practically depicted as being this, with her ability to revitalise anything and gentle, warm persona.
  • Noodle Incident:
    • Mike's prankster tendencies lead to several of these: his 'soap bubble fiasco' is Asula's office, his first attempt at a Groudon transformation and numerous incidents involving 'Electrode bombs'.
    • Something non-specified also happened on April Fools Day (in-universe) that involved a guy named Willy getting flushed down the toilet. This leads to Mike being Hoist by His Own Petard in Chapter 10.
  • "Not So Different" Remark: Andy tries to torment Brandon with this after Mega Brandon kills a camp of Extinctionists. It actually comes very close to working.
  • Offscreen Moment of Awesome: In Chapter 17, only Brandon's side of the team are shown in their battles. That means we never get to see more than a brief glimpse of the other guys taking down Palkia and Reshiram.
  • One-Letter Name: Mr.X.
  • One-Man Army: Asula, what with managing to force entry into Mr. X's direct hideout in Chapter 17 Part 2 and then only a single chapter later staying back to fight off an entire army of Pokextinctionists. As well as being able to do more damage in one attack than most of the other characters can do in several.
    • What ended the Great War? Zygarde. That's it. Just Zygarde. With its immense power, it restored a state of Order to the damaged world. However, the knowledge that the Order wouldn't last prompted the mass emigration to the Pokédimension.
  • Only the Worthy May Pass: Spiritus tells Brandon that Xerneas and Yveltal, the original Energy Channellers will only descend to help him once he is sufficiently worthy. When that will be, who can say.
  • Out of Focus: Some of the characters that didn't make it into the Spotlight-Stealing Squad like Travis the Raichu got some of this, although they have come back in later chapters.
  • Painting the Medium: When Austin the Umbreon uses Confuse Ray on Brandon, Brandon hears the names of all Austin's moves backwards.
  • Pre-Knockout One Liner: A simple and direct one from Chapter 7:
    Dustin: No! I cannot lose!
    Brandon: Yes you can. [Iron Tail to the face]
  • Punny Name:
    • Larry Bellowich the Loudred.
    • The author has personally confirmed that the joke of the Arcanine police officer being named Officer Johnny (when all the police officers in the Pokemon anime are named Officer Jenny) is purely accidental.
  • Shipper on Deck: In Chapter 10 Mike gets to play Meta Guy to say what everyone was thinking:
    Anyways, have you and Starr sealed the deal yet? Or are you both going to foolishly convince each other that you're just friends? I've lived with Starr for six months, and I've never seen her look at someone the way she looks at you!
  • Shout-Out:
    • Lull periods are marked with reference to them enjoying various games, films, shows etc. while giving time for plot points to develop.
    • The chief librarian at Long Island is a Noctowl named Mr. Lechku.
  • Spirit Advisor: Spiritus, Brandon's Dream Messenger who meets with him at night in the Dream Dimension. Later, the spirit of Reggie takes the day shift.
  • Soul Jar: After Mr. X rips the souls of Brandon's friends out of their bodies through a twisted form of Energy Channelling, their souls are transferred into capsules.
  • Stalker without a Crush: AB, who follow Brandon almost everywhere. Non-threatingly though - he's a Hero-Worshipper.
  • Stealth Insult: Spiritus admits that the original Pokémon referred to the developing humans as Homo Stultus.
  • Transflormation: Xerneas was able to escape attack from Pokextinction by turning back into the tree she had been in the form of beforehand.
  • Two Girls to a Team: Starr and Amy in the last story arc.
  • Waif Prophet: The quiet and enigmatic Kyle Uchia sometimes has visions of the future. One of them is the key to proving Brandon's innocence.

Tropes applied to spinoff stories:

  • Extranormal Institute: Pokéuman and Pokéxtinction bases are effectively schools, but with some non-standard lessons.
  • Fantastic Racism: What the problem was in the first place, and certain species are still disregarded by others even within bases.
  • First Law of Gender Bending: If fate/ancestry determines that a boy will become a female-only species, he's going to become a she. This is irreversible. The reverse is also true. If a girl becomes a Nidoking then he's now stuck that way, too.
  • Forced Transformation: The premise is based on humans turning into "Pokéumans".
  • Good Is Not Soft: Given how important battling and combat skills are, pacifism is possible but not easy.
  • The Great Offscreen War: Often referred to as 'The Great War', the original conflict between people and Pokémon. Few details are known, except that it went really badly for both sides involved.
  • Heroes "R" Us: The Pokéumans organisation, who train students among other things to be prepared to fight Pokéxtinction.
  • Hollywood Genetics: Given the role that genes play in the setting of the group, there has been a little of this and a little Unscientific Science to accompany it. Fortunately, not on the level that it becomes an actual problem.
  • Human Furniture Is a Pain in the Tail
  • Humanshifting: Humanisation tech allows for Pokéumans to become human, although wearing it for too long can cause genetic mutations.
  • Inter Species Romance: The original Pokémon, who had families with humans. Also any Pokéuman falling in love with any species not the same as them is technically this.
  • Involuntary Shapeshifter: No-one chose this transformation, after all.
  • Just Woke Up That Way: Several transformees discover the beginning of their changes as they look in the mirror in the morning. Bonus points are lost if they just had a dream about being the species in question.
  • Let Us Never Speak of This Again: The Chosen series, which everyone (including its own author) acknowledges as a perfect example of how not to do it (particularly its God-Mode Sue protagonist).
  • Made of Iron: Brandon's Energy Channelling aside, it is pretty well established canon that Pokéumans are far more resistant and recover from harm faster than normal humans do.
  • Magic Genetics: Powerful ones, even by the normal standard - these hijack your entire genetic code and kick in after centuries.
  • Manchurian Agent: Pokextinction uses sleeper agents.
  • Masquerade: Pokéumans and Pokéxtinction live in societies hidden from humans, hiding in underground bases and erasing the memories of anybody unfortunate enough to discover the secret.
  • Memory-Wiping Crew: Conducted by both Pokéxtinction and the PRT to maintain The Masquerade.
  • Metamorphosis: This transformation can only be undone temporarily. Once it happens to you, you're in for life.
  • Mind-Control Eyes: The brainwashed have glazed over grey eyes.
  • The Mind Is a Plaything of the Body: Pokéumans acquire new natural instincts on transforming, to help them handle their new powers/senses/number of legs etc. One may pick up certain traits of the species like those seen in the Pokédex (e.g. Zangoose and Seviper instinctively hating each other).
  • Mutant Draft Board: Joining either the Pokéumans or Pokéxtinction is mandatory for a transformee, but this isn't enforced by The Government as in other versions of this trope.
  • Names to Run Away from Really Fast: Don't mess with Pokéxtinction.
  • Omniscient Council of Vagueness: The Dream messengers often serve as this (given that they're all linked through the Board). Don't expect straight answers in a hurry.
  • Retcon: Originally it was Brandon's Energy Channeling abilities that allowed receive messages in the Dream Dimension, but this was changed and now it's open to all.
  • Sliding Scale of Idealism vs. Cynicism: One could find pretty much point you liked on the scale somewhere in the group gallery.
  • Slow Transformation: It takes a full week for any given person to become a Pokemon.
  • Spell My Name With An S: The spelling of Larry the Loudred MC's surname varies depending on the series: variations include Belowitch, Bellowhich and Bellowich.
  • They Look Just Like Everyone Else!: Disguised Pokéumans look like normal people.
  • Tomato in the Mirror: The small number of spin-offs that have had the clone realise their true nature have had one of these moments, and usually a bout of Clone Angst.
  • Unreliable Expositor: The official group page has two conflicting accounts of how the war between Pokéumans and Pokéxtinction came to be.
    • Details common to both versions: After the dinosaurs went extinct, an advanced species called Pokémon became the dominant species on Earth. Eventually, humans evolved. Pokémon used special stones to disguise themselves as humans and had families with the humans, passing down their genes. Eventually, Pokémon and humanity went to war. The war ultimately resulted in the Pokémon wiping the humans' memories of them and leaving Earth for another dimension, leaving Mew behind to observe the humans and make sure they were forgotten. Eventually, in 1910, a man named Mr. X had an encounter with Mew. This encounter caused a genetic shockwave that turned the Pokémon genes from recessive to dominant, transforming affected humans into Pokémon and killed Mr. X's entire party save himself and one other survivor (established in the original series to be Asula). Mr. X himself was transformed into a Mewtwo, and founded Pokéxtinction to wipe out the Pokémon once and for all. Mew founded the Pokéumans to combat him, and eventually took the form of Satoshi Tajiri to create the Pokémon games as a tool to scout for potentially affected humans.
    • According to the Pokéumans, the Pokémon society was a utopia. Humanity's intelligence developed far faster than their morals, and they eventually began to enslave and exploit Pokémon, leading the Pokémon to rebel. Mr. X found one of Mew's hairs and accidentally caused the shockwave when he tried to restore it to a living organism. His founding of Pokéxtinction is driven by anger at Pokémon for rebelling against the rule of humans. Mew and the Pokéumans' ultimate goal is to create a world where Pokémon and humanity can live in peace and harmony.
    • According to Pokéxtinction, the Pokémon society was a Social Darwinist hellhole. When humans evolved, Pokémon enslaved them and subject them to horrific experiments, including breeding. Eventually, humanity rebelled and drove the Pokémon off of Earth. Mr. X was exploring the jungles of South America when Mew appeared, beat the shit out of him, and murdered his entire party save him and one other survivor. Mew unleashed the shockwave himself in order to restore rule of Earth to the Pokémon. Mr. X founded Pokéxtinction to stop him and save humanity from the Pokémon, and Mew founded the Pokéumans as an extension of his will.
  • You Can't Go Home Again: See Sliding Scale of Idealism vs. Cynicism: much personal drama and angst has been brought out in multiple series over this issue.

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