Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: True Colours, is a fanfic by Giga Bowser NS based on the Pokémon Mystery Dungeon franchise. It's first chapter was put up on the 18th of September 2019 before being completed on the 12th of August 2023.
It centers around a Raichu called Sparks, who ends up taking in a young Buizel orphan called Ziggy after he catches the Buizel trying to steal from him. There is one thing complicating the matter however - Ziggy is a Shiny Pokemon, and Shinies tend to be heavily prejudiced in the society that Ziggy lives in...
You can find the fic here
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Tropes in this fic:
- Amnesiac Hero: Ziggy is introduced not remembering much about his early life other than the fact that he was in a school and lived in a place called "Teardrop". It's eventually revealed to be due to brief contact with a Nihilego.
- Amnesiac Lover: Rico and Terry's relationship is complicated when Rico is attacked by a Nihilego, making him forget everything about Terry. They try to continue their romance, but Rico eventually breaks up with Terry, finding it too strange, and goes into a relationship with Lupe. It isn't until Rico's memories are eventually restored that their love is able to be salvaged.
- An Arm and a Leg: Dante the Lucario manages to lose one of his legs to a Buzzwole.
- Babies Ever After: After a romance complicated by amnesia, the final chapter reveals that Terry and Rico are expecting a child.
- Cosmic Plaything: Ziggy goes through so many bad things in his life that even the others acknowledge this, and wants the universe to move on from him and give him a good life. He's prejudiced for being a Shiny Pokemon, lost his parents and home at an early age, lived several degrading years as a Street Urchin and still has to suffer prejudice after being given happiness, culminating in him being permanently turned multi-colored.
- Distant Finale: The final chapter of the fic is set three years after the events of the fic, showing that Terry and Rico are expecting a child, Ziggy is a much happier Pokemon, and Sparks is still taking in Pokemon from the street.
- Distant Sequel: The events of the previous games are mentioned in the fic, but are said to have occurred a long time ago.
- Even Evil Has Loved Ones: Myrtle Opalescence IV may be an unlikable Rich Bitch, but she clearly cares for her daughter and granddaughter enough that when she learns that the Buizel she considers a freak and is suing against had previously rescued her granddaughter, she drops charges against him.
- Fantastic Racism: Shiny Pokemon are looked down on in this society and are usually referred to as freaks, with Pokemon who don't like them being referred to as "chromaphobes". It's what made Ziggy's time as a Street Urchin much harder and is something he still faces even after being given a warm home.
- Karma Houdini: Hilo successfully escapes into the world of the Ultra Beasts and doesn't face any on-screen consequences for either his kidnapping and injection of Ziggy or the fact that he destroyed the settlement on Teardrop Island. The closest we get is Kona suspecting they didn't survive their trip there.
- Kidnapped for Experimentation: An early event in the fic has Ziggy seemingly get lost in the city after Sparks leaves him alone to take care of an injured Monferno. However, a later chapter reveals that he was actually kidnapped by Dr. Hilo, who used the opportunity to take Ziggy's blood and some photos of him before wiping his memories and returning him to an ally. In looking for answers to this, the team is captured by Dr. Hilo again, who explains that he needed Ziggy's blood to engineer a cure for being a Shiny Pokemon, which he believes are freaks, so took him off the street to do so.
- Laser-Guided Amnesia: The main effect that short contact with a Nihilego with an electromagnetic field can do is wipe a very specific element from one's memories. When Rico is attacked, he loses all memory of Terry, with his memories involving Terry altered so that Terry wasn't involved. It's eventually revealed to have happened to Ziggy as well, as contact with the Nihilego caused him to lose almost all of his memories of his parents and his childhood on Teardrop Island.
- Mad Scientist: Hilo and his cronies are creepy scientists so obsessed with heading into the world of the Ultra Beasts that they don't care if it will destroy a city or end in a massacre. Hilo in particular is perfectly fine with kidnapping and injecting patients against their will and is severely chromophobic to the point that he is trying to find a cure for it.
- Object-Shaped Landmass: Teardrop Island, Ziggy's original hometown, is so called because of it's resemblance to a teardrop.
- Only Known by Their Nickname:
- Sparks' real name is Raz, but barely anyone calls him that.
- Ziggy's actual name is Kalei, but no one calls him that either. Helps that it was done by necessity early on, as all that Ziggy could recall regarding his name was that Ziggy was just a nickname.
- Parental Abandonment: Ziggy's parents are revealed to have been killed by Nihilego whilst trying to save Ziggy. Ziggy manages to get hit by the Nihilego and ends up forgetting his parents, leading him and the others at first to assume that he was abandoned at an early age.
- Politically Incorrect Villain: Being the main antagonist of the fic, Dr. Hilo is also incredibly chromaphobic to the point of trying to find a cure for it, and he also believes that disabled Pokemon are inferior beings.
- Rich Bitch: Myrtle Opalescence IV is an absolutely rich Pokemon who is also severely chromaphobic, plays up a minor injury as if she has been permanently disfigured, will cause a scene just to get a Pokemon kicked out, and is perfectly willing to sue the Rescue Society out of their money just because one of their members lashed out at her in self-defense.
- Sole Survivor: Jasper the Gumshoos starts out as seemingly the only survivor of the Teardrop Island fire, as he was visiting his son off the island when everyone else died. In fact, Sparks and Danika seek him out because he would have been the only Pokemon who saw Ziggy in his youth. It's there that it is discovered that Ziggy was a survivor as well, having fled not long after what is soon revealed to be a massacre.
- Street Urchin: Ever since he lost his mother and father at an early age, Ziggy has been struggling his way through the streets, surviving by stealing food from other Pokemon. This is clearly depicted as not being a good time for the Buizel, especially since he's a Shiny Pokemon, leading to his attitude of pessimism, anxiety, and paranoia at the beginning of the fic.
- Sympathetic Murder Backstory: It's eventually revealed that Sparks once murdered a Zoroark by accident, the paralysis caused by hitting the Zoroark with a Thunderpunch causing him to fall off a cliff helplessly and into the sea. The result was so traumatizing to Sparks that he now has severe PTSD, and he was worried that Ziggy would hate him for what he did. Thankfully, Ziggy doesn't.
- Trauma Button: Thanks to accidentally killing a Zoroark, using an offensive move on a Pokemon or even going to the location where he killed the Zoroark causes Sparks to have a panic attack severe enough to go into a catatonic state.
- Wham Episode: Chapter 17 starts out fairly chill with Sparks, Ziggy, Rico, and other members of the active team cleaning up trash in Edwards National Park. This peace is suddenly shattered when a sudden boom happens in the park and a crack in the world opens up, followed back a Nihilego coming through and Ultra Wormhole. The team tries to communicate with it, only for Sparks to detect a massive electromagnetic field stronger than one generated by a Zapdos emanating from the Nihilego that Sparks asserts will kill anyone who touches it. Not long after the Nihilego notices them and begins to charge towards them, leaving scorch marks on any trees in touches. After the team fires off all the moves they can while dodging it, Lupe sprains her ankle while attempting to get away from the Nihilego but just before she is struck Rico pushes her out of the way and is grazed by a tentacle with a single visible spark striking Rico and knocking him unconscious. Not long after the Ultra Wormhole reappears and sucks the Nihilego back to the other side, this allows Sparks to check Rico's body and determine that he's still alive. After waking up and appearing to mercifully not have suffered any notable injuries other than a bit of charred fur on his head the team heads back to the Rescue Society Headquarters. Everything seems fine if tense until Terry returns after hearing what happened. After hugging and kissing Rico, he is struck silent and looks confused. After Sparks and Terry ask what's wrong he drops a bombshell on them all; he doesn't remember Terry.
- Wham Line: Chapter 17 already shook up the story with the appearance of a Nihilego, a Pokemon that has never been seen before in this universe. But within all of the crazy world-changing implications this chapter brings, it does not compare to the question Rico asks Terry.Rico: Uh… I'm sorry, but…
Rico worked his jaw wordlessly for a few moments, as if he was trying to find the right words. When he finally found him, the words he spoke were pretty much the last thing Sparks had expected the Riolu to say.
Rico: …Do I know you?
