Welcome to the world of Pokémon! Here's your starter. Enjoy the soundtrack.
For a non-laconic version, Route 29 is a Journal Roleplay that works as a bit of a darker Fusion Fic set in Johto, the main region of Generation II of the Pokémon franchise (and their Generation IV remakes). None of the characters in the original Pokémon setting are playable - all of them are NPCs kept only to keep the worldsetting from collapsing on itself. Instead, characters from any and all other walks of life and fandoms find themselves waking up either in a Team Rocket base or in "Mom's" house, ready to begin their lives as Pokémon Trainers!
Originally, the game was located here
, but then it later moved to Dreamwidth.
This game provides examples of:
- All There in the Manual - In-universe example. Every character is given a handbook along with all of their other starting gear, which they can consult at any time.
- Back from the Dead - It is possible to apply for a character after their canon deaths, while others such as Envy were Dead to Begin With.
- Becoming the Costume - Halloween 2011 was excellent.
- Big Brother Mentor - Soul to Eridan, and it was adorable.
- Brought Down to Normal - Everyone with supernatural powers, and even enhanced physical abilities to some extent, so as not to upstage the Pokémon.
- Cast Herd - Traveling parties tend to stick together. People from the same canon tend to stick in traveling parties. The Soul Eater + Homestuck crew had formed an especially enormous Cast Herd that has all but singlehandedly populated Goldenrod City.
- And they aren't even in Goldenrod yet. Imagine what just Azalea is going to be like when they make it.
- The Umineko: When They Cry cast had stuck together like glue.
- The Silent Hill cast, minus the cult members, tend to travel together.
- Character Development - Oh so much, especially you consider that some characters have been in Route for over a year.
- Chick Magnet - Hayate, Athrun... HOW DO YOU DO IT?!
- Cloud Cuckoolander - There are some weird folks showing up in Johto.
- Jack Skellington doesn't get how folks don't understand that he got better.
- Cool Horse - Ponyta and Rapidash, natch. Of course, for some characters, this can lapse into Why Do They Have To Be On Fire?
- Curb-Stomp Battle - Most Gym Battles, if the challenger has overleveled their Pokemon. Which is nearly always the case.
- Darker and Edgier - Oh, yes. It's to be expected when you mix things such as Silent Hill, Twin Peaks, and Puella Magi Madoka Magica with Pokémon.
- Let's not forget some of the events. The nightmare event in September '10 and the MissingNo. event the following month. And then there was the time that Tarantulas unleashed a swarm of insane Bug-type Pokémon on Johto...
- Lighter and Softer - As a counterpoint, the bright, colorful, Nobody Can Die setting provides quite a bit of light to characters from the more dark, cynical settings.
- How about the recent event featuring soul stealing Shedinja?
- Dogs Are Dumb - Heather's and Claire's Growlithes.
- Doomed by Canon - Some of the unlikely ships that have developed. For example:
- Liquid and Otacon, as Liquid is pre-series, and Otacon is circa Metal Gear Solid 4.
- Most Roleplayers Are Girls and All Girls Like Ponies - Route includes one of the largest casts of FiM ponies on Livejournal, and all of them are surprisingly active. Pinkie's random songs included.
- Five-Man Band - The mod team.
- The Hero: Sunny
- The Lancer: Din
- The Smart Guy: Alex
- The Big Guy: Kev
- The Chick / Tagalong Kid / Team Pet: YOUNGSTER JOEY AND HIS TOP PERCENTAGE RATATTA... er, Muffin.
- Genre Savvy - The ability to reference first-gen games gives some characters a lot of prior knowledge.
- Good Old Fisticuffs - While Pokémon battling is the preferred method of settling disputes, fistfights aren't banned. In fact, some people, such as Lancer, prefer to settle things with their fists.
- The Great Flood - The first major, mod-generated event involved a massive storm system that hammered southeastern Johto for over half a week.
- Hostile Weather - The November 2010 Snowstorm comes to mind. It dumped nine feet of snow in three days.
- Hot Skitty-on-Wailord Action - Breeding is a viable job here.
- Humanity Ensues - For non-human characters.
- Hurricane of Puns - Maka goes to the library.
- Idol Singer - Yayoi, Azusa, Haruka, and Lacus.
- If It Tastes Bad, It Must Be Good for You - Averted. Berries are bad for humans, with some of their effects verging on the downright deadly. Of course, some people are strange, and may prefer a Masochist's Meal.
- Insurmountable Waist-Height Fence - Think you can hop over those little ledges? AHAHAHAHAHA have fun in the hospital.
- Jaywalking Will Ruin Your Life, Can't Get Away with Nuthin', Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking - Police Alerts can and have been offered for the following things: Skipping out on a job, near-deadly assault, stealing Pokemon, and possessing an illegal weapon. One of these things is not like the others.
- Large Ham - Coooobraaaaaaaa!
- Left the Background Music On - Played straight. It can't be turned off. It can't be blocked out. Nobody knows where it comes from. Occasionally causes character breakdowns. You'd crack too after hearing that cave music for a week.
- It can, however, be drowned out by the radio.
- It can also be drowned out with your own theme music, if you have enough badges.
- Level Grinding - Pokémon can only gain a maximum of five levels per week, but considering how long characters stay in towns, this quickly adds up. It results in trainers with level 80 Pokémon challenging gym leaders with level 50 Pokémon.
- Loads and Loads of Characters - At the three-week mark, the game's application post had hit eight pages. The current list stands at over 200.
- The total number of series represented in the game used to add up to 142. Yes, I did count them all. Twice.
- Lotus-Eater Machine - The fate of the characters whose souls were stolen in the Shedinja Plot.
- Mushroom Samba - The mushrooms that grow on the back of Paras are smokable, and have similar effects to weed.
- The Nicknamer: Albert Rosenfield, and usually with plenty of sarcasm attached.
- No Fourth Wall - Invoked with characters such as Otacon and Hayate.
- Nobody Can Die - It's even stated in the rules. Characters CAN get seriously injured, though.
- For one case of this, Ise Nanao fought a Scyther hand-to-hand. And won. (She was, however, seriously injured in the process.)
- Another example involves Shelly de Killer and Matt Engarde. It wasn't pretty.
- Non-Player Character - There are a few of these, the most notable being Prof. Oak, gym leaders, and Team Rocket executives. Prof. Oak, however, takes it a step further in that he will not acknowledge anyone unless they specifically mention Pokémon — and then he goes off on a tangent about adventure.
- Everyone should feel sorry for Officer Jerry. He will never have children. Ever.
- "Mom" tends to freak out even the most hardened of characters.
- Odd Friendship - Comes with the territory, being a panfandom game.
- Ominous Fog - Caused hallucinations ranging from hilarious to horrifying during a September Event.
- Ontological Mystery
- Papa Wolf: Harry Mason.
- Pokémon Speak - A variant. As animals, they make the expected sounds as well as saying their names, but those characters with Psychic Powers or Psychic-type Pokemon can read the minds of their Pokemon, and hold conversations with them.
- Police Are Useless - Well...they are!
- The penalty for breaking the law? Always community service. And that's if you get caught.
- Psychic Powers - Those who possess them can keep them...but they will only work on Pokémon.
- Punny Name - Carmen Sandiego names her Pokémon in the style of her henchmen, terrible puns and all.
- Team Mom - Minnie Mouse all the way.
- Ironically, Other Father is one of these too.
- Overly Long Gag: x20 REACTIONFACE COMBO
- Quirky Household: Soul, Maka, and Eridan as of recently.
- Xanxus, Squalo and Killua have formed a tight-knit bunch of late.
- Souji's Breeding Centre has most of the Persona 4 cast living there, along with some Persona 3 characters, and several others.
- The Tennis Haus and The Otherhouse, coincidentally both in Goldenrod City.
- Reality Ensues - The setting, while strictly following the rules of the game's universe, seems to take a fair amount of its flavor from the anime - routes are no longer a short jog but instead several days of walking to traverse, gym leaders are professional battlers who are to be feared and respected, and the thought of becoming a League Champion is a years-long ordeal.
- The Scrappy: Youngster Joey has become an in-universe example.Doc Scratch: How. Do. I. Make. That. Infernal. Brat. Stop. Calling.
- Stuff Blowing Up - The Summer 2012 Powers Plot resulted in the destruction of a lot of Pokémon Centers.
- The game currently has both Solf J Kimblee and Dr Kato working for Team Rocket, both of whom are not afraid to live up to their Mad Bomber reputations.
- The Man Your Man Could Smell Like - Someone tried to app him. He was rejected, sadly, but think of what could have been...
- Theme Music Power-Up - Related to the above, the radio (and now songs that can be downloaded onto the PokéGear) are occasionally used to invoke this ICly.
- Characters are allowed their own BGM after getting five badges, which opens up all new possibilities for invoking this.
- Theme Naming - How many trainers choose names for their Pokémon.
- Took a Level in Badass - The gym leaders, when compared to their video game incarnations. To give you a good idea, Falkner — the first gym leader — doesn't have a single Pokémon below level 30.
- A further example - Clair's lowest leveled Pokemon is a level 65 Gyarados. No one knows how strong the Elite Four are meant to be... yet.
- Trapped in Another World
- True Companions - Characters have the tendency to form groups for the purpose of traveling.
- The playerbase, my god, the playerbase.
- Why Did It Have To Be Dogs: Some weren't too happy with their starters. Heather and Cooper come to mind.
