- "1939: War breaks out. 1945: War ends. 2016: We still remember."— The Tagline
Hetalia: Axis Powers... WITH POKEMON... but without the stereotypes.
That's pretty much the summary of Poke Countries: Or, What Happened After the Events of the Second Pokemon World War, a Pokémon fanfic which answers the questions "What if nations, cities, states, territories, etc. were Pokemon?" and, just as importantly, "What if none of them carried a single offensive national stereotype (key word: offensive)?"
The basic plot mainly involves the exploits of five main national delegates, all of whom are represented by Pokemon: Germany (a Caterpie), America (a Grotle), Turkey (a Psyduck), Sri Lanka (a Teddiursa), and Canada (a Drillbur, and the only one with a stereotype attached to his name). Those five go on epic misadventures in order to defeat the ruthless new enemy North Korea, and along the way discuss the histories of their subsequent nations. And, of course, with 195 nations, they aren't in it alone.
The fanfic is notable for being much more fact-based than Hetalia: Axis Powers, both in terms of the actual countries' histories and their personalities. Also, it did what Hetalia and Polandball couldn't: treat Sri Lanka as an actual nation and not leave it unnoticed.
Poke Countries contains examples of:
- Actual Pacifist: Germany, full-stop. He would much prefer a cold war than anything else, and part of it stems from the terroristic reign of Nazi Germany. It fits in with what happened to Germany in Real Life post-WWII, when they began to take a pacifistic stance.
- Affectionate Nickname: America has two for Germany: "Germ" and "Deutsch-2," with the latter being used more frequently. Similarly, Germany has his own for America: "Yoosah." No prizes for what that's based on. note
- All Germans Are Nazis: Subverted. There have been four different delegates for Germany- one was The Stoic (#1, a White Kyurem), one was a Shrinking Violet who slowly gained confidence in himself (#3, a Zweilous who later evolved into a Hydreigon), and one is an entergetic Keet (#4, the current Germany). Of them, only #2 (the blind German Staraptor) was an actual Nazi.
- All-Loving Hero: Germany, so much so that he even changed the first verse of his national anthem so it went, "Freunde mit alles" (friends with all).
- Sri Lanka also counts, mainly because Children Are Innocent.
- All-Stereotype Cast: Completely and utterly averted. The only countries that carry any sort of stereotype are Canada (a Nice Guy), England (an upper-class snob with a heart of gold), and Japan (a Genki Girl).
- Germany zigzags this. He is a Big Eater who loves pastries and chocolate cake, and is extremely fearful of Nazi Germany to the point of having nightmares about him. However, his overall personality (he is an exciteable, hyperactive, giggly All-Loving Hero) does not bring to mind regular stereotypes about German people (okay, maybe that one, but this Germany doesn't drink beer, wear lederhosen, or eat sausages).
- All Work vs. All Play: North Korea vs. South Korea. The former is a strict, Ax-Crazy militarist Empoleon, while the latter is a laidback, ditzy Jigglypuff.
- Anxiety Dreams: This is what kicks off the plot of Chapter One. After hearing rumors that North Korea could invade and possibly even drop a Voltorb, Germany begins to have hallucinations and nightmares of Nazi Germany and the events of the war. It turned out he had nothing to worry about, and North Korea was never planning to drop an atomic bomb at all.
- Ascended Extra: Sri Lanka, who was barely given a mention in Chapter One and goes on to be one of the main characters of the whole series.
- Ax-Crazy: Nazi Germany and North Korea, for reasons that do not need explanation.
