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A Way To Reunite

IFBench

Rescue Team Member
Location
Pokemon Paradise
Partners
  1. chikorita-saltriv
  2. bench-gen
  3. charmander
  4. snivy
  5. treecko
  6. tropius
  7. arctozolt
  8. wartortle
This is my oneshot for the 2021 Friends and Partners oneshot contest. Contains spoilers for Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Gates to Infinity. Hope you enjoy!

Again, it taunts you.

The shimmering pool that first led you into that world of only Pokemon. That entryway that had led you to an adventure of a lifetime. The portal that led you to meet Vernir, Emolga, Dunsparce, Virizion, Umbreon, Espeon, Hydreigon, and so many others that you held dear to your heart, and still do.

If you could just move forward, and dive in, you'd be back. You could see them all again. You could talk to them all again. You could be with them all again.

Yet no matter how hard you try to move, you can't. You can't move your arms, your legs, or your tail that you no longer had.

You can only watch the pool as it ripples from the breeze. So close, yet so far away.

Then you wake up.

Light flooded into your eyes, as you witnessed a sight you've seen almost every morning. Sunlight shining in through the window right to the left of you, and your dresser next to that. Your television in the corner of your room opposite you, unplugged for the night; your bookshelf next to it, filled with books and a few random objects; and an open door across the room from you, leading into the rest of the house.

Still the same room it's always been.

Yet another dream about that place. How many have you had of it since you came back? Five? Six? Seven? You were beginning to lose count.

Maybe a good book would take your mind off things.

You got out of bed, then walked over to your bookshelf, beginning to look across it. The Three Swords; The Porygon and the Jungle; History of Ransei; Ferrum and Synergy; the frism—

The frism.

The one object you took back with you from your adventure. The object that proved that it wasn't just a dream, that it all really happened. The object that was Vernir's final gift to you.

You picked up the crystalline object, and walked back over to your bed, sitting down with it in your lap. Looking down at the frism, you thought about just how strange they were. Being able to store sound not with machinery or electronics, but just with a simple layer of ice, was completely fascinating. Even though messages could only be played once, it was no wonder they were so valuable in that world of only Pokemon.

And Vernir had given you his.

You thought back to when you had received it. Hydreigon gave it to you before saying goodbye and letting you float away, in a ball of light with your world as its destination. You were shocked — Venrir knew that you were going to go.

And then you warmed the frism, and Vernir's words spilled out. About how Hydreigon told him what was going to happen, how you were going to go back to the human world and everyone was going to forget you, about how he didn't want to take you away from the people who cared about you in the human world, about how he'd never forget you, no matter what...

"I won't ever forget you, Gen! Come on, we've even changed fate by now, haven't we? Our friendship isn't something that's gonna disappear so easily!"

And then everyone else's voices came.

"They think we're just gonna forget you or something? Like that'll ever happen!"

You had felt so surprised when you heard Emolga's voice, but also comforted. He was the light of the team, keeping everyone smiling and laughing. He was such a joy to be around, and despite his feuds with Virizion, you were so glad he had joined your team. It was great to hear him one final time.

"After all, Gen...you're my hero!"

Dunsparce was next, and you felt so proud of the little guy. He was definitely the weakest of the team, but even so, he saved the team on multiple occasions, and what he lacked in strength, he made up for with heart. And hearing him call you his hero...you remember shedding a tear right then.

"When I think of how much you meant to us...there's just no way we'd forget!

Even with how cold Virizion was when you first met her, Virizion was a great part of your team. She got the team out of so many tough situations, and she even started to open up to everyone as you adventured together. You were glad that she felt like having friends again.

"That's how much you care about everyone, isn't it, Gen?"

To the end, Umbreon and Espeon were so understanding and caring. Despite the team's initial suspicions of them, the two were a key part of the team, and with their entercards, they were able to get to places they never thought they could, and so quickly, too. And despite you never directly saying goodbye to them, they understood why you did it.

"I'd go all the way to the human world for a friend like you, Gen!"

Even Gurdurr, who ripped you and Vernir off when you first met him, and caused you to chase him to the peak of Hazy Pass to get him to finally build you a house, even he cared about you. Enough to declare that he'd build a house for you in the human world if you needed one. Though you doubted he'd actually be able to do that.

"Thank you so much for everything you've done for us. Thank you for being one of us. Good-bye, Gen. Please have a good life."

The final thing Vernir said to you was a thank you, and to have a good life. Yet, you felt sort of empty now. You barely had the motivation for anything since you returned. You still missed them all, so so much. You really wished you could return and see them all again.

And there was that promise you made, too. That you would stay in the world of only Pokemon. Even if it was doomed to fail, you still felt guilty about it.

Vernir had a point, though. You cared about your family, too, and they had been so worried while you were gone. You remembered when you saw them for the first time after arriving back home. There were looks of pure joy on their faces when they saw you, but also bags under their eyes, and their hair was the messiest you had ever seen. You didn't want to put them through that again.

Maybe you didn't have to give either up? Maybe you could find a way to go back and forth between both worlds! Though that'd require being able to go back to that world at all, and that seemed extremely unlikely…

Maybe something like what Gurdurr said could happen, and they come to the human world? How would that even happen, though? Hydreigon never mentioned anything like that being possible, and what if what prevented you from staying there also prevents any Pokemon from that world from coming here? Once again, he never asked about that possibility.

You heard a beep, and looked over towards the source. Your alarm clock was signaling that it was time for you to get ready for the day. You should probably do that.

You stood back up, and walked over to your bookshelf, putting the frism right back where it was before. As you did so, you said something to yourself. Maybe you were deluding yourself, or maybe it was actually possible. Whatever the case may be, it was comforting to you.

"I will find a way to reunite."

===================================================================​

I woke up to the sun shining through the window of our little house. I immediately looked over towards the straw bed next to mine, in hopes that I'd see someone there.

Still empty. Just like it had been for the past several months.

I sighed and stood up, walking towards the door. Halfway there, I realized that my tail was dragging against the ground. I lifted it up into the air. Had to make sure everyone thought I was ok.

I walked outside and greeted the sunshine.

Looking around, I noticed that the new grass was growing great. This place really has come a long way from the wasteland it used to be.

Emolga and Dunsparce were quietly chatting about something near the oran field. I walked over to see what was up.

"—ve you noticed how down Vernir's been lately?" I heard Emolga ask.

"Y-yeah. I can tell he's been trying to hide it, but I don't know why," Dunsparce answered.

Ah. So they have noticed. My tail drooped back down, lightly smacking against the ground.

Quickly, Emolga and Dunsparce both turned towards me.

"Oh, hi Vernir!" Emolga said, a mareepish grin on his face. "How long have you been standing there for?"

"Long enough to hear that you don't think I'm ok," I said. "Look, I'm fine—"

"It's about Gen, isn't it?" Dunsparce interrupted.

"...yeah. I still really miss him," I said.

"We all do," Dunsparce said, slithering closer to me. "I really want him to come back. I wish he didn't have to leave. But at least we still have the rest of us."

"Yeah…" I couldn't imagine how I'd be if we had lost Emolga, too, or Dunsparce, or Virizion, or anyone else. Still, though... "But he's my dearest friend! He gave me my name! He saved the worl—"

Before I could finish, Emolga walked over and hugged me, while Dunsparce curled around me.

"I understand, I miss him too," Dunsparce said. "I know Emolga does, too."

"I know he's your best friend, but we're your friends, too!" Emolga added.

"We care about you, too!" Dunsparce exclaimed.

I took in the embrace of my friends for a few seconds. Slowly, my tail lifted back up into the air, and a smile formed on my face. "Thank you," I said.

"Y-you're welcome," Dunsparce said. "We're here for you, no matter what."

"Maybe wearing your reunion cape again will help!" Emolga suggested. "You haven't worn it since Gen disappeared. It might help you feel closer to him!"

"Maybe," I said. I wasn't sure if I was ready to look at it again. "Thank you for cheering me up. I'm going to go check on the rest of Paradise. Bye!"

I pulled away from the two, waved, and then walked away, to see how the rest of Paradise was doing. The shop area was bustling as usual. The dojo area was packed with fighting-types today, including Virizion and Keldeo. Hydreigon was dancing next to Meloetta's music device. Things were good.

I looked over towards the entrance to Paradise, where Victini was posing next to his V-Wheel while Umbreon and Espeon talked to him. So much had happened in this area. It was where I first got a name, where we decided which requests to take each day...and where we all watched Gen float away, never to return.

My tail drooped back down to the ground. I'd never see Gen again.

I thought again about Emolga's advice, to try and wear my reunion cape again. It was worth a shot.

I walked over to the deposit box and opened it. With a vine, I sifted through the items inside, until I spotted something green with frills. I wrapped the vine around the reunion cape and pulled it out, staring at it.

When I had first got it from that box Rampardos had busted, Gen had the bright idea of dying it green to match me, to prevent it from being mixed up with the other 14 that were in the box. The dye was faded now, but it was still there.

As I continued to look at it, tears welled up in my eyes, as memories of Gen flowed through my mind. Of us going through Ragged Mountain together after meeting for the first time, of us traveling through Hazy Pass to confront Gurdurr and Scraggy, of us working together to escape Munna at Mount Kilionea, of him rescuing me in Holehills, of me pleading for Kyurem to spare Gen, of the two us forging through the final spire of Glacier Palace together, of the final day we spent together, of him giving me a name…

Almost every Pokemon had a "special name" in addition to their species name, given to them either by their parents, or someone else close to them. Something to call themselves as, something to designate them as their own person, something to give them a sense of self. Even though few openly went by their special name, there were even less who didn't have one at all.

I never had one. I never had anything to call myself, other than "Snivy". I never had anyone who would give a name to me.

I looked at the Oshawott in front of me. Gen, the human. I had met him only a few hours ago, and yet I already felt closer to him than anyone else I had ever known.

It was weird that he had given his special name to me so quickly. Was that a human thing? Whatever the reason was, though, every time he uttered his special name, I was reminded that I didn't have one. If he was going to go by his special name, I wanted to finally have one, too.

Maybe he could give me one.


"So, Gen, now that we're officially friends and all...If you want to give me a name, that would be OK!" I said.

"Give you a name?" Gen asked, looking confused. "You don't have one?"

"No, I don't. It's...a long story," I said. As much as I liked Gen, I wasn't sure that I was ready to spring on him the fact that nobody else ever cared enough about me to give me a name.

"Hm…" Gen muttered. He looked to be lost in thought for several seconds, turning towards a patch of grass in the rocky wasteland.

I wondered what name he would give me. Would it be something cool! Would it be something cute? Would it be something I liked? Would he even give me one at all?

Eventually, Gen looked back at me. "How does "Vernir" sound?" he asked, smiling.


"Vernir?" I said to myself, testing out how it felt to call myself that. It sounded...nice.

No, it didn't sound nice. It didn't sound good. Not even great.

It sounded perfect.


"All right then, Vernir it is!" I said, my tail thumping against the ground as I smiled. "Call me Vernir from now on!"

I wanted Gen to be able to call me it, as thanks for finally giving me a name.

Vernir. Vernir. Vernir.

It felt so great to finally call myself something other than Snivy at last. It felt so great hearing my name.

I wanted to let the whole world hear it, too.


"That's it! I'm going to have everyone else call me that from now on, too!" I said, smiling. I wasn't Snivy anymore. Now I was Vernir!

Gen didn't explain just what it meant until much later, until the day before we went to Mount Kilionea. It was made from a word from the language I knew, and two words from a human language. The "ver" was from the word "verde", which was what green was in that human language. The "ern" was from "fern", chosen because I were a grass-type. The "ir" was another word in the human language, meaning "to go". Gen said that he put it in my name because I had kept going places from the moment I met him. He also told me that while he didn't intend it at the time, my name was also rather similar to the human word "venir", which meant "to come", and "to come back".

How I wish that part of my name would come true, for me to come back to Gen.

I looked back down at the reunion cape. It was covered in damp spots.

There was a reason I never wore it again after Gen disappeared. The memories were too much to bear.

I almost put the reunion cape back in the box, before stopping myself. I should at least try putting it on.

I took a deep breath, then put the reunion cape over my head, feeling its fabric for the first time in months. How I missed this feeling. If I closed my eyes, it was almost like I was with Gen again, going through mystery dungeons together, tapping the bow to reunite if I ever got separated from him.

Reunion capes were such fascinating items. Sending you to someone you were connected with via a tap of the bow. They'd brought me and Gen back together many times after getting separated in mystery dungeons. But unfortunately, mine couldn't do that now. They couldn't send people to other worlds.

...actually, could they? I never heard anything saying they couldn't.

But if they could, surely someone would have done so by now, right?

But then again, just how many reunion capes were connected to people from other worlds? As far as I knew, Gen, the other humans Hydreigon summoned, and that human who saved the world from a falling star were the only ones who had ever come to this world from another one.

Could it really bring me all the way to the human world, though? That seemed impossible.

But we had already done the impossible by defeating the Bittercold and keeping our memories of Gen after he left.

I needed to at least try. It was the only idea I had that might work.

After a few seconds of hesitation, I took a deep breath, and tapped the bow of the reunion cape.

It flashed white for a brief moment and then suddenly I was thrown into the sky. I barely heard a shocked yelp from Umbreon before he was too far away for me to hear.

I continued rising up, passing by the rainbows of hope in seconds. Did it...did it actually work?!

I looked down towards Paradise below, and Post Town next to it. They were so small now from up here!

Suddenly, my vision flashed white, and then Post Town and Paradise were gone. The only thing below me now was a pool of pure blue below me, surrounded by clouds.

Abruptly, I was yanked to the side, away from the pool. Around me, I saw a swirling vortex of colors, and a bright light in the distance, growing closer and closer. Could this be the entrance to the human world?

Before I knew it, I entered the light, and then immediately began falling towards some sort of town below, unlike any I had ever seen. The buildings were so tall, and there were so many of them! On the paths of it, there were a ton of figures that didn't look quite like any Pokemon I knew about. Was that what humans looked like?

I continued falling down, directly towards one of the figures. That had to be Gen!

Was I going to collide—

SMACK!

===================================================================​

You had just exited from your house to take a breath of fresh air, wondering what you were going to study during tomorrow's school day. Old Johtonese architecture? More about speaking Galarish? Pokemo—

SMACK!

You felt something leafy smack into you, knocking you down to the ground.

What had just happened?

You got up and turned around to see just what hit you. Did a potted plant fall down?

On the ground, you saw a dazed, small, green snaky Pokemon...with a three-pronged leaf on its tail...wearing a... green reunion cape...

'Is...is that Vernir?!'

You watched in shock as the Snivy slowly got up from the ground. They looked around, seeming to be trying to figure out where they were.

You watched as they turned around, and saw you, their eyes opening wide.

"...Vernir? Is that you?" you asked, your voice shaking from the suspense.

A thought crossed your mind. 'If this really is Vernir, what if he can't talk here? Or what if he can't understand you here? Or what if he really did forget? Or even—'

"Gen!" the Snivy—no, Vernir exclaimed with a smile, his tail swaying from side to side. "It really worked!"

You felt tears well up in your eyes, as a great, big smile emerged on your face. It really was Vernir!

You didn't waste any more time, immediately picking Vernir off the ground and hugging him tightly. You felt vines wrap around your chest, as he hugged you in turn. You felt his tail thump against you rhythmically, as Vernir always did when he was happy.

"Vernir! It's really you!" you said, a small laugh escaping your mouth. "I thought I was never gonna see you again!"

"Neither did I!" Vernir replied, closing his eyes as he briefly laughed as well. "But we already defied fate to not forget you, so no reason I couldn't defy fate again and reunite with you!"

So the others didn't forget, either...that was a relief.

Vernir opened his eyes, and looked up at your face from within your embrace. "You know, you look pretty weird as a human! I'm so used to seeing you as an Oshawott!"

Before you could say anything, though, Vernir continued. "It doesn't matter if you're a human or an Oshawott, though, you're still my dearest friend."

Your smile grew wider as you looked down at your partner. No matter if you were a human or a Pokemon, no matter which world you two were in, no matter if fate itself tried to make Vernir forget you, you two were the closest of friends.

"Thank you, Vernir," you said. "Thank you so much."

The two of you stood there together silently for several minutes afterward, simply taking in the presence of each other for the first time in what felt like forever. It felt so nice to hug Vernir again, and he probably thought the same about you.

A few questions were on your mind, though.

"How did you get here?" you asked Vernir to start, loosening your hold on him slightly.

"I really wanted to see you again, and I tried activating my reunion cape," he answered. "I didn't expect it to actually work, though, but I'm so glad it did!"

So it was the reunion cape that brought you two together again. That item that you had thought little of at the time, was the thing that reunited you with your best friend.

And...only your best friend, you realize.

You were so, so happy to see Vernir again, but what about Emolga and Dunsparce? Virizion and Hydreigon? Umbreon and Espeon?

Were you never going to see them again? Was Vernir never going to see them again, now that he was here?

"What about the others?" you asked, worried what the answer might be. "Did anyone else come with you, or...are you the only one?"

Vernir's eyes widened, and his tail drooped. "Nobody else came with me. I'm the only one. I'm sor—"

You hugged Vernir tighter before he could finish. "You don't have to apologize. I'm so happy that you're here."

"...thank you, Gen," Vernir said, hugging you back.

"If you're here, there must be a way for the others to come here, too. We...we can't give up hope when we're this close to all being together again," you said. "If there's anything I've learned from the Bittercold, it's to never give up hope. Even if...I was beginning to fail at that before you came here."

"...yeah. We can't give up hope. There has to be a way," Vernir said.

You smiled. You'd find a way. The two of you were here together now. You both defeated Kyurem together! Getting the Gardeners back together again couldn't be that difficult...right?

Suddenly, you noticed someone walking on the sidewalk across the street. Quickly, you headed back inside, and closed the door behind you.

"What was that about?" Vernir asked, still in your arms.

"I saw someone, and I don't know how to explain...well, you," you said. Who knew how someone else would react if they saw you talking with a talking Snivy, or if they heard any of the other things you two were talking about.

Actually, thinking about it now, how would you explain Vernir to your parents? You never really told them what had happened when you disappeared, they had just assumed that you had gotten kidnapped and managed to escape, and you went along with it thinking that they wouldn't believe you if you told them the truth. How would they react to a talking Snivy? That you were in another world while you were gone? That you had saved that world?

Well, you could think about how to explain things later. For now, you just wanted to be with Vernir, and figure out how to bring the rest of the team back together.

"But that can wait," you said. "Catching up with you is more important. I'll figure out how to explain things later. Come on, let's go to my room for now. Follow me."

You set Vernir down on the ground, and the two of you began walking through your home. Vernir stuck close to you as you led him to your room.

Before you could arrive there, though, an orb of light formed around Vernir. Just like the one that had formed around you before you were taken back to your world.

He couldn't stay here, could he?

"Oh," Vernir said, looking around at the orb. His tail drooped. "...I guess this is goodbye, again."

You felt crestfallen. You were finally able to reunite with Vernir, and he was already going away. Even if he could come back after returning home, you'd never be able to be together for more than a bit at a time again.

"...goodbye, Vernir," you said, as the orb of light began floating up into the air. He looked down at you, tears welling up in his eyes.

Even after the two of you had found a way to reunite, you could never truly be together again for long.

...no.

You couldn't give up hope.

There had to be a way for him to stay here, right?

As Vernir began floating away, and as you waved goodbye to him, an idea crossed your mind.

"Vernir, try activating your reunion cape again!" you shouted. If it brought him to you from another world, could it bring him back to you even as he is floating away?

Vernir's eyes widened, and he didn't hesitate to tap the bow of his reunion cape. Immediately, he was flung towards—

SMACK!

You were knocked to the ground again. Quickly getting back up, you saw that Vernir was on the floor in front of you, and there was no orb of light surrounding him. He looked dazed, but was smiling. That bright smile was exactly like the one he showed back then, when you promised you two would always be together.

"It worked!" you cheered. You picked Vernir up, and hugged him. You didn't have to say goodbye again!

You should probably make sure he's ok after that, though.

"Are you alright?" you asked.

"I can still feel something tugging at me to bring me back. I think another orb of light is going to try and bring me back soon," Vernir said, "But I think if I keep activating my reunion cape every time I'm about to go back, I can stay as long as I want! And I can go home by just letting myself be taken there!"

"Great!" you said, smiling back. "Now we just need to figure out a way for the others to—"

SMACK!

You saw something white, black and yellow smack into Vernir, knocking him over. Immediately, you ran over to him. "Vernir, are you okay?"

"I'm fine—wait, Emolga?!" Vernir exclaimed, looking past you.

Your eyes widened, and you looked behind you, seeing a white, black, and yellow squirrel sprawled on the floor, wearing another reunion cape. He slowly got up, and turned around.

"Vernir, where did you—" Emolga began, before looking towards you. "Is that a human?!"

You run over and pick him up, hugging him. "Emolga! It's me, Gen!"

"YOU'RE Gen? You look so weird!" Emolga said, eyes wide.

"Yep, that's Gen," Vernir said. "I managed to reunite with him!"

Immediately, I felt Emolga wrap his arms around me, as much as he was able to. "It's super awesome to see you again! I thought you were gone for good!"

"It's great to be with you again, Emolga," you replied.

As you hugged Emolga, you noticed Vernir standing alone on the floor. Holding Emolga with one arm, you picked him up with the other arm, and hugged both of them at the same time.

The three of you took in the hug together, saying nothing. Even if the whole team wasn't here, the three of you had reunited.

After a few minutes of hugging, Vernir looked towards Emolga. "How did you get here? My reunion cape was connected to Gen and activating it was how I got here, but I thought yours was connected to Dunsparce?"

"I had one connected to you, too! We have 15 of them! Once I saw you fly up into the sky suddenly, I grabbed mine that was connected to you, activated it, and now I'm here with you and Gen!" Emolga explained.

Vernir disappearing must have been quite the shock for the rest of the Gardeners. You wondered how everyone else back in Paradise was doing. Were they worrying about what happened to Vernir and Emolga? Had Emolga told anyone what he was going to do before doing so?

"So...what now?" Emolga asked. "How are we going to get home? And can Gen come with us?"

"I...can't come. I don't have any way of going, and Hydreigon would probably send me back even if I could," you said. "And I think you'll start going home in an hour or so. An orb of light appeared around Vernir just before you came here."

"Ohhh," Emolga said, frowning. "How is Vernir still here, though? Or did I knock him back down when I smacked into him?"

"Gen suggested that I try activating my reunion cape, and it caused the light to stop pulling me away," Vernir explained.

"So pretty much we can stay here as long as we want?" Emolga asked.

"Yeah," I said. Aside from probably sleeping and such. "Just you two it seems, though."

"Awwww. Dunsparce would have loved to see you again," Emolga said.

Actually...Emolga's reunion cape was connected to Vernir...and the team has 15 reunion capes...and they'll go back if they don't activate their reunion capes again...

Maybe...

"...I have an idea to get us all in one place again," you said, smiling.

Vernir's eyes widened. "What is it?"

"Once you two go back, grab as many unregistered reunion capes as you can out of the deposit box, and connect them to Vernir. Then give those reunion capes to the rest of the Gardeners, and Gurdurr, Quagsire, and Swanna too. Then, Vernir can activate his reunion cape and get sent to me, and then everyone else can activate their reunion capes and get sent to Vernir, and then we'll all be reunited!" you said. "How does that sound?"

"Perfect!" Vernir exclaimed. "We can finally all be together again!"

"Sounds good to me!" Emogla cheered. "I can't wait!"

"For now, though, until you go back, let's just appreciate being with each other again," you said. "I have so much to tell you all."

"Yeah! You gotta tell me all about the human world!" Emolga said. "It's so different!"

"Let's have fun until then," Vernir said. "And then, once we're all together here, let's celebrate our reunion!"

You smiled widely.

You had found a way to reunite. And you couldn't be happier.
 

Umbramatic

The Ghost Lord
Location
The Yangverse
Pronouns
Any
Partners
  1. reshiram
Here for Review Blitz! I know I already reviewed this for the contest, but I definitely have more to say about it with a second pass.

I say this in the most affectionate way possible - in the contest it was very obvious it was you, with a protagonist named Gen and not one but several Reunion Capes being huge major plot points. But this is still something distinct from your main story -It follows more directly from the events of Gates To Infinity with a Snivy partner. The sort of mishmash compared with your other work is very intresting.

It's nice to get both Gen and Venind's perspectives on the events of this story - I like the touch that Gen is second person while Venind is first. It's sweet but sad that they mjiss each other, and that sense of longing and loss in them both was really nicely portrayed here.

The resolution here is definitely unique! In most Pokemon Mystery Dungeon fics Gen would stay with his Pokemoin family forever because screw those smelly humans, or just be stuck and sad forever, but here, here you get an entire town to cross over and visit him. And I see you included a line to address my concern from the contest about how they can NEVER SLEEP AGAIN. Or it was always there and I'm just dumb. Either way good to see they can safely go back and sleep and shit without messing this whole thing up.

But this is still a cute fic! Nice job on it again.
 

windskull

Bidoof Fan
Staff
Partners
  1. sneasel-nip
  2. bidoof
  3. absol
  4. kirlia
  5. windskull-bidoof
  6. little-guy-windskull
  7. purugly
  8. mawile
Hi Bench! This is my blitz/catnip review! I do have some critiques for this story, but I did find the premise cute and heartwarming overall.

This felt like a cute story about friends separated between worlds trying to find a way to be together again, without causing problems for their own world. It’s a very cute concept, and I’m glad it worked out for everyone in the end.

I’ll admit I did get a tiny bit tripped up by you having the protagonist named Gen, since I remember that the protag for Eternal Shadows was also an Oshawott named Gen. It’s not necessarily a bad thing, mind you, but could be confusing at a glance.

While I normally would recommend not swapping tenses within a story - particularly a short story - I do think that it worked to differentiate the two pov character voices. It definitely felt like an artistic choice.

The one particular critique I do have, while ultimately a nitpick, has to do with the following line:

Actually, thinking about it now, how would you explain Vernir to your parents? You never really told them what had happened when you disappeared, they had just assumed that you had gotten kidnapped and managed to escape,

To me, this just sort of feels unrealistic. If my child was kidnapped and managed to escape, I’d be wanting to know what happened/go to the authorities. If my kid wasn’t explaining where they went, I would probably assume they ran away for a while. Maybe that’s not a character decision you want to make for Gen, but keep in mind that it’s not what really happened to them.

While that one part did take me out of the story, I still think the fic was good overall. It was a cute, fluffy, enjoyable read that made me happy for the characters in the end. A good read.
 

Inkedust

Harbinger of Sunrise
Location
Pokémon Square
Pronouns
she/her
Partners
  1. ninetales-inkedust
  2. solgaleo-inkedust
  3. xerneas
  4. zoroark-inkedust
Heya Bench, thought I might give this "reviewing" thing a try.

Second person is a tricky beast to pull off and I must say, an admirable attempt was made here. The first few paragraphs did a good job pulling the reader into Gen's headspace by giving a sense of monotony with the repeating dreams and the matter-of-fact way Gen's room is described. Unfortunately, a few problems begin to rear their heads after these paragraphs which persist throughout the entirety of the fic.

I will say this now; the biggest issue I had was that your prose didn't aspire to be anything beyond merely functional which in turn left me uninvested.

For starters, once Gen started reminiscing about his time with Vernir in the PMD world, I noticed that the fic seemed more concerned with just recapping what'd happened rather than showing how Gen felt about what happened. This paragraph exemplifies the issue perfectly:
You thought back to when you had received it. Hydreigon gave it to you before saying goodbye and letting you float away, in a ball of light with your world as its destination. You were shocked — Venrir knew that you were going to go.

It tells me that Gen was surprised that his friends from Paradise would remember him through ~~video game magic~~ the power of friendship but it doesn't show me much of his reaction. Did Gen stiffen up? Did he jump in his seat? Or did he audibly gasp? Small details like these go a long way in characterisation and gives me a much clearer image over "he were shocked". As it is now, I don't have a very solid grasp on his character--which in turn, doesn't give me a good idea of how close Gen was to Vernir or the rest of his team.

Then we switch over to Venrir's PoV and I was left scratching my head. I do like that we get a glimpse of both sides of the story but I was wondering why the PoV changed from second to first. Not only did I find it rather jarring but it also begs the question as to why Gen's PoV couldn't be done in first person, or Vernir's in second. I'd just say to pick a style of PoV and stick with it.

Anyway, with those gripes out of the way, I really enjoyed the small bits of worldbuilding on display here, with the special names and the way the reunion capes worked and the justification behind Vernir's name was a nice bit of characterisation for Gen.

I also found the fic's resolution to be very cute and very different from what I was expecting (being a Gates fic set in the post game, I was fully expecting Vernir to head to the Worldcore and wish Gen back from there).

I don't have much else to say. Despite a few gripes, I found this to be a very charming read and I definitely enjoyed myself. Keep up the good work!

Cheers!
 

Spiteful Murkrow

Busy Writing Stories I Want to Read
Pronouns
He/Him/His
Partners
  1. nidoran-f
  2. druddigon
  3. swellow
  4. quilava-fobbie
  5. sneasel-kate
Heya, ducking in for that one-shot review trade with you that we’ve got going on that... I totally didn't completely forget about until the deadline. Totally. But anyhow, I'm here to make good on my end of my things, with a review of A Way to Reunite.

So let’s get right into things, shall we?

Again, it taunts you.

The shimmering pool that first led you into that world of only Pokemon. That entryway that had led you to an adventure of a lifetime. The portal that led you to meet Vernir, Emolga, Dunsparce, Virizion, Umbreon, Espeon, Hydreigon, and so many others that you held dear to your heart, and still do.

If you could just move forward, and dive in, you'd be back. You could see them all again. You could talk to them all again. You could be with them all again.

I did a fast sanity-check against ES, and oh. This is the story of that other Gen. Or more accurately the story of how he handled what I presume was the GtI postgame. Kinda neat how you dovetailed all these little stories of yours together like that.

Yet no matter how hard you try to move, you can't. You can't move your arms, your legs, or your tail that you no longer had.

You can only watch the pool as it ripples from the breeze. So close, yet so far away.

Then you wake up.

Light flooded into your eyes, as you witnessed a sight you've seen almost every morning. Sunlight shining in through the window right to the left of you, and your dresser next to that. Your television in the corner of your room opposite you, unplugged for the night; your bookshelf next to it, filled with books and a few random objects; and an open door across the room from you, leading into the rest of the house.

Still the same room it's always been.

I hadn't ever considered bodily dysphoria for humans who go back to being human from the PMD experience, though it makes sense that it'd be disorienting. Especially if you got stuck with a species that isn't particularly human-like in layout.

Yet another dream about that place. How many have you had of it since you came back? Five? Six? Seven? You were beginning to lose count.

Maybe a good book would take your mind off things.

You got out of bed, then walked over to your bookshelf, beginning to look across it. The Three Swords; The Porygon and the Jungle; History of Ransei; Ferrum and Synergy; the frism—

The frism.

The one object you took back with you from your adventure. The object that proved that it wasn't just a dream, that it all really happened. The object that was Vernir's final gift to you.

Oh, so that's where that story you were talking about on the TR Discord. Also, I dunno how I forgot about it, but... right, the GtI protag does have that Frism when returning home. I just assumed that it'd get lost when going full 'ball of light' and going home, but it's an interesting take to assume that it wouldn't be left behind.

Makes me wonder if Other!Gen also has his old GtI scarf chilling around somewhere in that case, though.

You picked up the crystalline object, and walked back over to your bed, sitting down with it in your lap. Looking down at the frism, you thought about just how strange they were. Being able to store sound not with machinery or electronics, but just with a simple layer of ice, was completely fascinating. Even though messages could only be played once, it was no wonder they were so valuable in that world of only Pokemon.

And Vernir had given you his.

Wait, I could've sworn that there was a cutscene in GtI that assumed that Frisms were good for multiple playbacks where they were used for a prank around your team base.

But eh, your setting, your rules. And I can't say that it doesn't give things a bit more emotional punch this way.

You thought back to when you had received it. Hydreigon gave it to you before saying goodbye and letting you float away, in a ball of light with your world as its destination. You were shocked — Venrir knew that you were going to go.

And then you warmed the frism, and Vernir's words spilled out. About how Hydreigon told him what was going to happen, how you were going to go back to the human world and everyone was going to forget you, about how he didn't want to take you away from the people who cared about you in the human world, about how he'd never forget you, no matter what...

"I won't ever forget you, Gen! Come on, we've even changed fate by now, haven't we? Our friendship isn't something that's gonna disappear so easily!"

And then everyone else's voices came.

"They think we're just gonna forget you or something? Like that'll ever happen!"

Uh. Yeah, this was hands-down the most tear-jerky ending of the canonical series. So I don't blame Other!Gen for being affected by it.

You had felt so surprised when you heard Emolga's voice, but also comforted. He was the light of the team, keeping everyone smiling and laughing. He was such a joy to be around, and despite his feuds with Virizion, you were so glad he had joined your team. It was great to hear him one final time.

"After all, Gen...you're my hero!"

Dunsparce was next, and you felt so proud of the little guy. He was definitely the weakest of the team, but even so, he saved the team on multiple occasions, and what he lacked in strength, he made up for with heart. And hearing him call you his hero...you remember shedding a tear right then.

"When I think of how much you meant to us...there's just no way we'd forget!

Even with how cold Virizion was when you first met her, Virizion was a great part of your team. She got the team out of so many tough situations, and she even started to open up to everyone as you adventured together. You were glad that she felt like having friends again.

Wait, are those the actual lines from that sequence? I can't tell since it's been almost a decade since I played GtI, but it feels very in character and like something that would've fit that moment.

"That's how much you care about everyone, isn't it, Gen?"

To the end, Umbreon and Espeon were so understanding and caring. Despite the team's initial suspicions of them, the two were a key part of the team, and with their entercards, they were able to get to places they never thought they could, and so quickly, too. And despite you never directly saying goodbye to them, they understood why you did it.

"I'd go all the way to the human world for a friend like you, Gen!"

Even Gurdurr, who ripped you and Vernir off when you first met him, and caused you to chase him to the peak of Hazy Pass to get him to finally build you a house, even he cared about you. Enough to declare that he'd build a house for you in the human world if you needed one. Though you doubted he'd actually be able to do that.

"Thank you so much for everything you've done for us. Thank you for being one of us. Good-bye, Gen. Please have a good life."

The final thing Vernir said to you was a thank you, and to have a good life. Yet, you felt sort of empty now. You barely had the motivation for anything since you returned. You still missed them all, so so much. You really wished you could return and see them all again.

... Kind of an ironic echo considering how Gen in ES ticks, which is most assuredly not like this. Or at least not yet.

And there was that promise you made, too. That you would stay in the world of only Pokemon. Even if it was doomed to fail, you still felt guilty about it.

Vernir had a point, though. You cared about your family, too, and they had been so worried while you were gone. You remembered when you saw them for the first time after arriving back home. There were looks of pure joy on their faces when they saw you, but also bags under their eyes, and their hair was the messiest you had ever seen. You didn't want to put them through that again.

Maybe you didn't have to give either up? Maybe you could find a way to go back and forth between both worlds! Though that'd require being able to go back to that world at all, and that seemed extremely unlikely…

Er... yeah, that kinda sucks for Liquedir and I think it was Apoyime's families as prior humans from ES, since... yeah. They didn't exactly get this option opened for them after their adventures.
:fearfullaugh~2:


Maybe something like what Gurdurr said could happen, and they come to the human world? How would that even happen, though? Hydreigon never mentioned anything like that being possible, and what if what prevented you from staying there also prevents any Pokemon from that world from coming here? Once again, he never asked about that possibility.

You heard a beep, and looked over towards the source. Your alarm clock was signaling that it was time for you to get ready for the day. You should probably do that.

You stood back up, and walked over to your bookshelf, putting the frism right back where it was before. As you did so, you said something to yourself. Maybe you were deluding yourself, or maybe it was actually possible. Whatever the case may be, it was comforting to you.

"I will find a way to reunite."

Aaaaaand title drop there. I admittedly never played through this sequence of GtI, so I don't know how much of this actually gets driven by the protag versus the partner canonically, but it's still neat to see things on the flip side of what the games depict.

I woke up to the sun shining through the window of our little house. I immediately looked over towards the straw bed next to mine, in the hope that I'd see someone there.

Still empty. Just like it had been for the past several months.

I sighed and stood up, walking towards the door. Halfway there, I realized that my tail was dragging against the ground. I lifted it up into the air. Had to make sure everyone thought I was ok.

I walked outside and greeted the sunshine.

Small typo there and huh. Jumping to first-person perspective? I suppose that that makes Venrir the narrator of this story as a whole and he's recounting this after the fact? If he's not, not sure who the narrator in the original scene was supposed to be.

Looking around, I noticed that the new grass was growing great. This place really has come a long way from the wasteland it used to be.

Emolga and Dunsparce were quietly chatting about something near the oran field. I walked over to see what was up.

"—ve you noticed how down Vernir's been lately?" I heard Emolga ask.

"Y-yeah. I can tell he's been trying to hide it, but I don't know why," Dunsparce answered.

Ah. So they have noticed. My tail drooped back down, lightly smacking against the ground.

Venrir: "L-Look, I'm doing better than that Hero of Time was! 'Pahelia' right?" >///<
Emolga: "Didn't that 'Pahelia' 'mon wind up having a breakdown and devolve into a sobbing wreck on their hometown's beach on at least one occasion that we know about? That's... not exactly a high bar to cross, Venrir."
:fearfullaugh~2:


Quickly, Emolga and Dunsparce both turned towards me.

"Oh, hi Vernir!" Emolga said, a mareepish grin on his face. "How long have you been standing there for?"

"Long enough to hear that you don't think I'm ok," I said. "Look, I'm fine—"

"It's about Gen, isn't it?" Dunsparce interrupted.

[ ]

"...yeah. I still really miss him," I said.

"We all do," Dunsparce said, slithering closer to me. "I really want him to come back. I wish he didn't have to leave. But at least we still have the rest of us."

"Yeah…" I couldn't imagine how I'd be if we had lost Emolga, too, or Dunsparce, or Virizion, or anyone else. Still, though... "But he's my dearest friend! He gave me my name! He saved the worl—"

Something about this segment feels like it needs at least one description paragraph. There's multiple candidate locations you can roll with, but I think the bit before Venrir fesses up to being down about Gen's absence makes the most sense since it allows you to show off his mood and internal thought process a bit more.

Before I could finish, Emolga walked over and hugged me, while Dunsparce curled around me.

"I understand, I miss him too," Dunsparce said. "I know Emolga does, too."

"I know he's your best friend, but we're your friends, too!" Emolga added.

"We care about you, too!" Dunsparce exclaimed.

I took in the embrace of my friends’ embrace for a few seconds. Slowly, my tail lifted back up into the air, and a smile formed on my face. "Thank you," I said.

D'aww.
:seviuwu:


I do wonder if it'd have made more sense to split Venrir's line off from the description at the end and expand it with an extra sentence or two, though.

"Y-you're welcome," Dunsparce said. "We're here for you, no matter what."

"Maybe wearing your reunion cape again will help!" Emolga suggested. "You haven't worn it since Gen disappeared. It might help you feel closer to him!"

"Maybe," I said. I wasn't sure if I was ready to look at it again. "Thank you for cheering me up. I'm going to go check on the rest of Paradise. Bye!"

Something about the 'Bye!' feels really animated all of a sudden relative to the rest of Venrir's dialogue. It might have worked a bit better to roll something a bit calmer like 'See you around.' or 'We'll touch base later.' It could potentially work with it cut outright with no replacement.

... Though I just noticed the 'Reunion Cape' comment. So Gen from ES isn't the only 'mon of plot importance that has a thing for those. I kinda wonder now if that's just a running/mythology gag for your members of the Council of World-Savers in your broader story. :V

I pulled away from the two, waved, and then walked away, to see how the rest of Paradise was doing. The shop area was bustling as usual. The dojo area was packed with fighting-types today, including Virizion and Keldeo. Hydreigon was dancing next to Meloetta's music device. Things were good.

I looked over towards the entrance to Paradise, where Victini was posing next to his V-Wheel while Umbreon and Espeon talked to him. So much had happened in this area. It was where I first got a name, where we decided which requests to take each day...and where we all watched Gen float away, never to return.

[My tail drooped back down to the ground. I'd never see Gen again.]

I thought again about Emolga's advice, to try and wear my reunion cape again. It was worth a shot.

The third paragraph here feels a little too short for its own good. IMO you should both build up Venrir's state of mind, and build up more into "I thought again about Emolga's advice". One throwaway suggestion would be as follows:

[ My tail drooped back down to the ground. Paradise had grown into a place that Gen would've loved if he were here. One that we'd both be proud of... but he wasn't, and I knew full well I'd never see Gen again.

Ugh, w-why did I have to think about that? I'd just gotten out of this awful mood thanks to Emolga and Dunsparce's help and now it was back stronger than ever. ]

I walked over to the deposit box and opened it. With a vine, I sifted through the items inside, until I spotted something green with frills. I wrapped the vine around the reunion cape and pulled it out, staring at it.

When I had first got it from that box Rampardos had busted, Gen had the bright idea of dying it green to match me, to prevent it from being mixed up with the other 14 that were in the box. The dye was faded now, but it was still there.

You'd think that'd be standard practice to avoid these sorts of mixups on a regular basis. :V

As I continued to look at it, tears welled up in my eyes, as memories of Gen flowed through my mind. Of us going through Ragged Mountain together after meeting for the first time, of us traveling through Hazy Pass to confront Gurdurr and Scraggy, of us working together to escape Munna at Mount Kilionea, of him rescuing me in Holehills, of me pleading for Kyurem to spare Gen, of the two us forging through the final spire of Glacier Palace together, of the final day we spent together, of him giving me a name…

Almost every Pokemon had a "special name" in addition to their species name, given to them either by their parents, or someone else close to them. Something to call themselves as, something to designate them as their own person, something to give them a sense of self. Even though few openly went by their special name, there were even less who didn't have one at all.

Oh right, this is that same naming system from ES. It seems to be decently common among adaptations, but hey, I can't really complain since my own PMD writings thus far have used variants of such a system, even if the given names are a bit quicker to be slung around than what I've seen in your PMD setting.

I never had one. I never had anything to call myself, other than "Snivy". I never had anyone who would give a name to me.

:sadwott~1:


I never pegged the GtI protagonist as being an effective orphan since they always came off as fairly well-adjusted, especially compared to the Explorers partner. But that's definitely a mood.

I looked at the Oshawott in front of me. Gen, the human. I had met him only a few hours ago, and yet I already felt closer to him than anyone else I had ever known.

It was weird that he had given his special name to me so quickly. Was that a human thing? Whatever the reason was, though, every time he uttered his special name, I was reminded that I didn't have one. If he was going to go by his special name, I wanted to finally have one, too.

Maybe he could give me one.

"So, Gen, now that we're officially friends and all...If you want to give me a name, that would be OK!" I said.

Okay, so I kinda skimmed ahead over the entire flashback sequence here, and... yeah. Part of me wonders if it'd have been better to yeet it into a proper scene of its own since it's a bit weird to go from present day activities and thoughts to a past flashback with no leadup into it.

Gen: "... I'm sorry, but a name's kinda important. Why are you trusting this to someone you've met for all of a few hours again?"
Venrir: "I-It's a gesture of gratitude?"
:fearfullaugh~2:


"Give you a name?" Gen asked, looking confused. "You don't have one?"

"No, I don't. It's...a long story," I said. As much as I liked Gen, I wasn't sure that I was ready to spring on him the fact that nobody else ever cared enough about me to give me a name.

"Hm…" Gen muttered. He looked to be lost in thought for several seconds, turning towards a patch of grass in the rocky wasteland.

I wondered what name he would give me. Would it be something cool! Would it be something cute? Would it be something I liked? Would he even give me one at all?

As cute as this moment is, I... kinda wonder if it'd have made sense to describe more of the setting that Gen and Venrir were in back in the flashback. Since as it stands, this sequence is really talking heads at the moment.

Eventually, Gen looked back at me. "How does "Vernir" sound?" he asked, smiling.

"Vernir?" I said to myself, testing out how it felt to call myself that. It sounded...nice.

No, it didn't sound nice. It didn't sound good. Not even great.

It sounded perfect.

"All right then, Vernir it is!" I said, my tail thumping against the ground as I smiled. "Call me Vernir from now on!"

Vernir: "... Though what does 'Vernir' mean anyways?"
Gen: "... You'll have to ask the author on that one, but I'm pretty sure it's just 'Verne' and something Spanish mixed together. It's a bit of a trend in your world."
:joltyshrug~1:


I wanted Gen to be able to call me it, as thanks for finally giving me a name.

Vernir. Vernir. Vernir.

It felt so great to finally call myself something other than Snivy at last. It felt so great hearing my name.

I wanted to let the whole world hear it, too.

"That's it! I'm going to have everyone else call me that from now on, too!" I said, smiling. I wasn't Snivy anymore. Now I was Vernir!


<><><>

[ ] Gen didn't explain just what it meant until much later, until the day before we went to Mount Kilionea. It was made from a word from the language I knew, and two words from a human language. The "ver" was from the word "verde", which was what green was in that human language. The "ern" was from "fern", chosen because I were a grass-type. The "ir" was another word in the human language, meaning "to go".

I remember G
en said told me that he put it in my name because I had kept going places from the moment I met him. He also told me that while he didn't intend it at the time, my name was also rather similar to the human word "venir", which meant "to come", and "to come back".

Oh, you straight-up explained the whole "name and something Spanish" blendering in the actual story.

I do think that the flashback sequence works better hard-divided from the rest of the scene here, as indicated by the bit with the diamonds. In this case, you'd additionally drop in a sentence or two revealing Venrir's back in the present day, like having him shake his head to snap to attention from zoning out.

How I wished that part of my name would come true, for me to come back to Gen.

I looked back down at the reunion cape. It was covered in damp spots.

There was a reason I never wore it again after Gen disappeared. The memories were too much to bear.

I almost put the reunion cape back in the box, before stopping myself. I should at least try putting it on.

... Pretty sure that this is just going to turn you into a bawling wreck since by your own admission you find just looking at this cape to be too much to take like a paragraph earlier, but hey. You do you.
:joltyshrug~1:


I took a deep breath, then put the reunion cape over my head, feeling its fabric for the first time in months. How I missed this feeling. If I closed my eyes, it was almost like I was with Gen again, going through mystery dungeons together, tapping the bow to reunite if I ever got separated from him.

Reunion capes were such fascinating items. Sending you to someone you were connected with via a tap of the bow. They'd brought me and Gen back together many times after getting separated in mystery dungeons. But unfortunately, mine couldn't do that now. They couldn't send people to other worlds.

...actually, could they? I never heard anything saying they couldn't.

But if they could, surely someone would have done so by now, right?

I'm pretty sure this canonically isn't possible according to ES, but guess we'll find out the answer to that question soon enough.

But then again, just how many reunion capes were connected to people from other worlds? As far as I knew, Gen, the other humans Hydreigon summoned, and that human who saved the world from a falling star were the only ones who had ever come to this world from another one.

Could it really bring me all the way to the human world, though? That seemed impossible.

Waaaaait a minute. I get that the human from the Explorers game is technically from the future, but where did that one come from if not from another world given that there's flatly a 'human world' in this setting?
:what:


But we had already done the impossible by defeating the Bittercold and keeping our memories of Gen after he left.

I needed to at least try. It was the only idea I had that might work.

After a few seconds of hesitation, I took a deep breath, and tapped the bow of the reunion cape.

It flashed white for a brief moment and then suddenly I was thrown into the sky. I barely heard a shocked yelp from Umbreon before he was too far away for me to hear.

I continued rising up, passing by the rainbows of hope in seconds. Did it...did it actually work?!



Pretty[/I] sure you have a whole grand journey to the Worldcore ahead of you, Venrir.

I looked down towards Paradise below, and Post Town next to it. They were so small now from up here!

Suddenly, my vision flashed white, and then Post Town and Paradise were gone. The only thing below me now was a pool of pure blue below me, surrounded by clouds.

Abruptly, I was yanked to the side, away from the pool. Around me, I saw a swirling vortex of colors, and a bright light in the distance, growing closer and closer. Could this be the entrance to the human world?

Before I knew it, I entered the light, and then immediately began falling towards some sort of town below, unlike any I had ever seen. The buildings were so tall, and there were so many of them! On the paths of it, there were a ton of figures that didn't look quite like any Pokemon I knew about. Was that what humans looked like?

... Wow. That actually worked. Maybe. Possibly. Can't tell just yet.

I continued falling down, directly towards one of the figures. That had to be Gen!

Was I going to collide—

SMACK!

Ooh, that's gonna leave a mark.

You had just exited from your house to take a breath of fresh air, wondering what you were going to study during tomorrow's school day. Old Johtonese architecture? More about speaking Galarish? Pokemo—

SMACK!

You felt something leafy smack into you, knocking you down to the ground.

What had just happened?

You got up and turned around to see just what hit you. Did a potted plant fall down?

On the ground, you saw a dazed, small, green snaky Pokemon...with a three-pronged leaf on its tail...wearing a... green reunion cape...

'Is...is that Vernir?!'

I still can't get over the fact that this actually worked. That would certainly be a handy way to cheese the entire canonical GtI postgame.

You watched in shock as the Snivy slowly got up from the ground. They looked around, seeming to be trying to figure out where they were.

You watched as they turned around, and saw you, their eyes opening wide.

"...Vernir? Is that you?" you asked, your voice shaking from the suspense.

A thought crossed your mind. 'If this really is Vernir, what if he can't talk here? Or what if he can't understand you here? Or what if he really did forget? Or even—'

"Gen!" the Snivy—no, Vernir exclaimed with a smile, his tail swaying from side to side. "It really worked!"

Gen:
3f1663bbae0843ca672b6af9d1fca057.gif

Venrir: "Uh... Gen? Are you alright there?" .-.
Gen: "I- But- How?"
Venrir: "... It worked for Ginji in the manga, so don't question it too much?"
:joltyshrug~1:


You felt tears well up in your eyes, as a great, big smile emerged on your face. It really was Vernir!

You didn't waste any more time, immediately picking Vernir off the ground and hugging him tightly. You felt vines wrap around your chest, as he hugged you in turn. You felt his tail thump against you rhythmically, as Vernir always did when he was happy.

"Vernir! It's really you!" you said, a small laugh escaping your mouth. "I thought I was never gonna see you again!"

Okay, so that confirms that the narrator in Gen's scenes isn't Venrir. Though now I'm curious who on earth it is.

"Neither did I!" Vernir replied, closing his eyes as he briefly laughed as well. "But we already defied fate to not forget you, so no reason I couldn't defy fate again and reunite with you!"

So the others didn't forget, either...that was a relief.

Vernir opened his eyes, and looked up at your face from within your embrace. "You know, you look pretty weird as a human! I'm so used to seeing you as an Oshawott!"

Gen: "Y-You think I look weird?"
:fearfullaugh~2:

Venrir: "I mean, I've only never seen a human's body before, so... yes?" ^^;

Before you could say anything, though, Vernir continued. "It doesn't matter if you're a human or an Oshawott, though, you're still my dearest friend."

Your smile grew wider as you looked down at your partner. No matter if you were a human or a Pokemon, no matter which world you two were in, no matter if fate itself tried to make Vernir forget you, you two were the closest of friends.

"Thank you, Vernir," you said. "Thank you so much."

The two of you stood there together silently for several minutes afterward, simply taking in the presence of each other for the first time in what felt like forever. It felt so nice to hug Vernir again, and he probably thought the same about you.

Gen: "I love happy endings." ;<;
Venrir: "Uh, Gen, there's like a thousand words left to this thing."
Gen: "Wait, wha-?"

[ ] A few questions were on your mind, though.

"How did you get here?" you asked Vernir to start, loosening your hold on him slightly.

"I really wanted to see you again, and I tried activating my reunion cape," he answered. "I didn't expect it to actually work, though, but I'm so glad it did!"

So it was the reunion cape that brought you two together again. That item that you had thought little of at the time, was the thing that reunited you with your best friend.

I feel that something about the transition here is kinda abrupt. I'd recommend expanding the first paragraph such that you play up Gen having a "... Waaaaait a minute" moment a bit more and then realizing that he's wondering how on earth this all happened.

And...only your best friend, you realize.

You were so, so happy to see Vernir again, but what about Emolga and Dunsparce? Virizion and Hydreigon? Umbreon and Espeon?

Were you never going to see them again? Was Vernir never going to see them again, now that he was here?

Gen: "... Venrir, how on earth are you supposed to get home again?"
:uhhh:

Venrir: "I... didn't think that one through, honestly." 😰

"What about the others?" you asked, worried what the answer might be. "Did anyone else come with you, or...are you the only one?"

Vernir's eyes widened, and his tail drooped. "Nobody else came with me. I'm the only one. I'm sor—"

You hugged Vernir tighter before he could finish. "You don't have to apologize. I'm so happy that you're here."

"...thank you, Gen," Vernir said, hugging you back.

Gen: "I mean, you might be kinda ever so slightly stranded here right now, but let's not dwell on that too much-"
:fearfullaugh~2:

Venrir: "W-WHAT?!" O.O;

"If you're here, there must be a way for the others to come here, too. We...we can't give up hope when we're this close to all being together again," you said. "If there's anything I've learned from the Bittercold, it's to never give up hope. Even if...I was beginning to fail at that before you came here."

"...yeah. We can't give up hope. There has to be a way," Vernir said.

You smiled. You'd find a way. The two of you were here together now. You both defeated Kyurem together! Getting the Gardeners back together again couldn't be that difficult...right?

Oh, so they were 'Team Gardeners', huh? My memory fails me, but are all of the World-Savers named after plant things, or is that just a coincidence here with Lidequir's team?

Suddenly, you noticed someone walking on the sidewalk across the street. Quickly, you headed back inside, and closed the door behind you.

"What was that about?" Vernir asked, still in your arms.

"I saw someone, and I don't know how to explain...well, you," you said. Who knew how someone else would react if they saw you talking with a talking Snivy, or if they heard any of the other things you two were talking about.

Actually, thinking about it now, how would you explain Vernir to your parents? You never really told them what had happened when you disappeared, they had just assumed that you had gotten kidnapped and managed to escape, and you went along with it thinking that they wouldn't believe you if you told them the truth. How would they react to a talking Snivy? That you were in another world while you were gone? That you had saved that world?

Venrir: "Gen, what about getting me back to my world?" O_O;;
Gen: "I-I'm still working on that? But hey, if we defied fate on multiple occasions? What's one more with a dash of universe-hopping thrown into it." ^^;

Well, you could think about how to explain things later. For now, you just wanted to be with Vernir, and figure out how to bring the rest of the team back together.

"But that can wait," you said. "Catching up with you is more important. I'll figure out how to explain things later. Come on, let's go to my room for now. Follow me."

You set Vernir down on the ground, and the two of you began walking through your home. Vernir stuck close to you as you led him to your room.

Before you could arrive there, though, an orb of light formed around Vernir. Just like the one that had formed around you before you were taken back to your world.

He couldn't stay here, could he?

... Oh. So much for cheesing the postgame.
:uhhh:



Gen: "W-Well on the bright side, we figured out how to get you back home?" ^^;
Venrir: "B-But I don't want to leave right now! I just got here!" 😰

"Oh," Vernir said, looking around at the orb. His tail drooped. "...I guess this is goodbye, again."

You felt crestfallen. You were finally able to reunite with Vernir, and he was already going away. Even if he could come back after returning home, you'd never be able to be together for more than a bit at a time again.

"...goodbye, Vernir," you said, as the orb of light began floating up into the air. He looked down at you, tears welling up in his eyes.

Even after the two of you had found a way to reunite, you could never truly be together again for long.

...no.

You couldn't give up hope.

There had to be a way for him to stay here, right?

Venrir: "Well, there's supposed to be this place called the Worldcore, but it's supposed to be a really hard dungeon and-"
Gen: "Let's try something simpler first." ^^;

As Vernir began floating away, and as you waved goodbye to him, an idea crossed your mind.

"Vernir, try activating your reunion cape again!" you shouted. If it brought him to you from another world, could it bring him back to you even as he is floating away?

Vernir's eyes widened, and he didn't hesitate to tap the bow of his reunion cape. Immediately, he was flung towards—

SMACK!

You were knocked to the ground again. Quickly getting back up, you saw that Vernir was on the floor in front of you, and there was no orb of light surrounding him. He looked dazed, but was smiling. That bright smile was exactly like the one he showed back then, when you promised you two would always be together.

"It worked!" you cheered. You picked Vernir up, and hugged him. You didn't have to say goodbye again!

Okay, never mind. Venrir was able to cheese the GtI postgame after all. Or at least while wearing that Reunion Cape.

Venrir: "... Not sure if there's any big, potentially world-wrecking side effects to doing this, but hey. If it works, it works, right?" ^^;

You should probably make sure he's ok after that, though.

"Are you alright?" you asked.

"I can still feel something tugging at me to bring me back. I think another orb of light is going to try and bring me back soon," Vernir said, "But I think if I keep activating my reunion cape every time I'm about to go back, I can stay as long as I want! And I can go home by just letting myself be taken there!"

"Great!" you said, smiling back. "Now we just need to figure out a way for the others to—"

SMACK!

Okay, so what hit him that time? :V

You saw something white, black and yellow smack into Vernir, knocking him over. Immediately, you ran over to him. "Vernir, are you okay?"

"I'm fine—wait, Emolga?!" Vernir exclaimed, looking past you.

Your eyes widened, and you looked behind you, seeing a white, black, and yellow squirrel sprawled on the floor, wearing another reunion cape. He slowly got up, and turned around.

Oh, so there was a point to explicitly mentioning that there were 14 of those other Reunion Capes just chilling around. ^^;

"Vernir, where did you—" Emolga began, before looking towards you. "Is that a human?!"

You run over and pick him up, hugging him. "Emolga! It's me, Gen!"

[ ]

"YOU'RE Gen? You look so weird!" Emolga said, eyes wide.

"Yep, that's Gen," Vernir said. "I managed to reunite with him!"

Immediately, I felt Emolga wrap his arms around me, as much as he was able to. "It's super awesome to see you again! I thought you were gone for good!"

"It's great to be with you again, Emolga," you replied.

As you hugged Emolga, you noticed Vernir standing alone on the floor. Holding Emolga with one arm, you picked him up with the other arm, and hugged both of them at the same time.

IMO, it makes sense to drop in a short paragraph describing Emolga’s reaction and body language a bit more. Since it doesn’t quite come through in the existing text even though he’s supposed to be very surprised.

Also, this can't possibly be good for the timespace continuum, but it's a bit too cute for me to care right now. o<o

The three of you took in the hug together, saying nothing. Even if the whole team wasn't here, the three of you had reunited.

After a few minutes of hugging, Vernir looked towards Emolga. "How did you get here? My reunion cape was connected to Gen and activating it was how I got here, but I thought yours was connected to Dunsparce?"

"I had one connected to you, too! We have 15 of them! Once I saw you fly up into the sky suddenly, I grabbed mine that was connected to you, activated it, and now I'm here with you and Gen!" Emolga explained.

... Probably don't want Virizion to try that party trick out, Gen. Since I'm pretty sure you're gonna die if she hits you in the same fashion. ^^;

Vernir disappearing must have been quite the shock for the rest of the Gardeners. You wondered how everyone else back in Paradise was doing. Were they worrying about what happened to Vernir and Emolga? Had Emolga told anyone what he was going to do before doing so?

"So...what now?" Emolga asked. "How are we going to get home? And can Gen come with us?"

"I...can't come. I don't have any way of going, and Hydreigon would probably send me back even if I could," you said. "And I think you'll start going home in an hour or so. An orb of light appeared around Vernir just before you came here."

I... didn't get the impression that 5 minutes had passed with Venrir before he started getting pulled back towards his home, let alone an hour. If the 'hour' is deliberate, you probably want to rework things with some sort of scene cut such that Venrir and Gen actually go off to his room, mess around offscreen, and then he gets pulled towards home from somewhere else.

... Or you could radically shorten the "start going home" bit from "an hour". That would work, too.

"Ohhh," Emolga said, frowning. "How is Vernir still here, though? Or did I knock him back down when I smacked into him?"

"Gen suggested that I try activating my reunion cape, and it caused the light to stop pulling me away," Vernir explained.

"So pretty much we can stay here as long as we want?" Emolga asked.

"Yeah," I said. Aside from probably sleeping and such. "Just you two it seems, though."

"Awwww. Dunsparce would have loved to see you again," Emolga said.

Actually...Emolga's reunion cape was connected to Vernir...and the team has 15 reunion capes...and they'll go back if they don't activate their reunion capes again...

Maybe...

"...I have an idea to get us all in one place again," you said, smiling.

I'm guessing this gambit is to go back and get another Reunion Cape, bring it to Gen, and have him use that to go back to Venrir and the others, but I guess we'll find out really quick. ^^

Vernir's eyes widened. "What is it?"

"Once you two go back, grab as many unregistered reunion capes as you can out of the deposit box, and connect them to Vernir. Then give those reunion capes to the rest of the Gardeners, and Gurdurr, Quagsire, and Swanna too. Then, Vernir can activate his reunion cape and get sent to me, and then everyone else can activate their reunion capes and get sent to Vernir, and then we'll all be reunited!" you said. "How does that sound?"

"Perfect!" Vernir exclaimed. "We can finally all be together again!"

"Sounds good to me!" Emogla cheered. "I can't wait!"

Oh, got the target party wrong, though the overall gambit was about the same.

... The only catch to this plan is that Venrir's going to get crushed by falling Pokémon, some of which are significantly bigger and heavier than him. :V

Venrir: "... Boy I sure hope that I bothered to learn Protect from a TM." 😰
Gen: "Ah come on, Venrir. You're a Pokémon. You'll be fine taking a smack or two."
:gardeshrug:


"For now, though, until you go back, let's just appreciate being with each other again," you said. "I have so much to tell you all."

"Yeah! You gotta tell me all about the human world!" Emolga said. "It's so different!"

"Let's have fun until then," Vernir said. "And then, once we're all together here, let's celebrate our reunion!"

You smiled widely.

You had found a way to reunite. And you couldn't be happier.

Venrir: "... Probably should still look into that whole Worldcore thing though, since I don't think this solution is super sustainable." ^^;
Gen: "Shh... worry about it another time, Venrir." ^^

Alright, overall thoughts:

I liked the piece. It was cute, and surprisingly enough, it didn't have a ton of GtI spoilers for the postgame. I don't recall if Venrir canonically ever did the whole Worldcore arc properly in ES' chronology, but eh. It's a one-shot. You're allowed to short circuit things for the sake of needing to keep things short plot-wise.

As for things I wasn't so hot on... there's some bits that would've benefitted a lot from having more description. Especially the flashback sequence. But on the whole, I thought that the overall story was still strong and cute enough to stand on its own merits in spite of those issues.

Cute one-shot there, @IFBench . I hope the commentary was fun to read and helped you out a bit with your story if you opt to touch it up a bit down the road, since it had a lot of heart, and it'll be interesting to see if you do anything to expand Venrir and the other past heroes of your setting in ES or your other writing. Since... yeah, they've got some cute personalities once they're given a bit of focus and time to shine through.
 
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Blackjack Gabbiani

Merely a collector
Pronouns
Them
Partners
  1. shaymin
  2. dusknoir
I'm here for Catnip! I admit I don't know anything about this game (I played part of the first MD and that was it) but this was cute.

I liked the shifting perspective of "you" and "I". It also seems rare nowadays to find a fic where "you" is an established character rather than the reader, so that was refreshing as well. I also liked the passing references to other side games, what with having books on Ransei and Ferrum (and Snap? Is that why there's a book about Porygon in a jungle?). Really fleshes out the world even just to reference them.

If Gen's parents thought he had been kidnapped, why did they seem to do nothing about this? It doesn't seem like there was an attempt to find out who had taken him, and he seemed content to let them believe that that was what had happened. And while it was a passing note, it seems to be a plot hole.

That was really my only issue with the fic though, so I got it out of the way. I like the explanation of Vernir's name and why pokemon tend to only go by their species name. I don't know if that explanation is canon or not so I'm assuming it comes from your fic! It was really nice, name as an establishment of bond to another.

Gen's going to have a heck of a time explaining everything and why suddenly his room is full of all these random critters running around. It reminds me of the ending of Labyrinth, where everyone shows up to party with Sarah again (huh, should I spoiler that if the movie is like 35 years old?).

Overall a fun read!


(fun fact, when I ran my review though the Word Counter site it told me it had "significant plagiarism" but refused to tell me what it meant by that)
 

Pen

the cat is mightier than the pen
Staff
Partners
  1. dratini
  2. dratini-pen
  3. dratini-pen2
Hi Bench, I'm here for Catnip! I haven't played Gates to Infinity, but luckily the premise here is one that feels universal to any PMD game--the protagonist has returned home and misses their partner, who misses them. It's fundamentally a wish-fulfillment story and I appreciated that it didn't shy away from that. Sometimes things go right instead of wrong! Sometimes people get exactly what they hoped for!

I wondered for a moment when Venir came through the portal whether he would be transformed in the opposite way that Gen had been and come into the human world as a human! It was an interesting thought and not something I think I've seen before. But ultimately your choice to not have the crossing over cause any problems with Venir's appearance or ability to communicate let the story stayed focused on their reunion.

If you were to expand on this, I'd be curious about what things in the human world Gen might want to share with Venir, just like Venir shared things with him back in the pokemon world. The fic is very focused on the logistics of bringing them all together, so we don't get to see what they'll do once they're together.

All that said, the moral of this story is clearly that capes are very powerful and everyone should wear them! A very good moral.

Maybe something like what Gurdurr said could happen, and they come to the human world?
I think you dropped a word here by accident--they could come to the human world

Halfway there, I realized that my tail was dragging against the ground. I lifted it up into the air. Had to make sure everyone thought I was ok.
This was a nice moment of body language that's true to pokemon physiognomy.

You never really told them what had happened when you disappeared, they had just assumed that you had gotten kidnapped and managed to escape, and you went along with it thinking that they wouldn't believe you if you told them the truth.
Hm, this took me out of the story for a second. If they thought he was kidnapped, they presumably would have gone to the police, who would have wanted to talk to Gen after her got back. It's a bit hard to buy that everyone would have shrugged and not asked any questions about where their kid was!
 

Sastrei

Emotional spelunker
Location
Everywhere (but currently Michigan)
Pronouns
She/Her
Partners
  1. dragonite
Hi there! Popping in for our review exchange. I'm excited to read more of your work. From what I can tell it seems so... wholesome. And both the world and myself always need more of that.
Also, as I've mentioned previously I'm still pretty unfamiliar with anything related to PMD, so if there's something obvious concerning those games I'll probably miss it. But I hope my ignorance can be entertaining at least, haha.

Onward!


The shimmering pool that first led you into that world of only Pokemon. That entryway that had led you to an adventure of a lifetime.
Ah, for me this would've been the power switch on this badboy. Already this sentence gives me nostalgia goosebumps.

Game-Boy-FL.jpg
Looking down at the frism, you thought about just how strange they were. Being able to store sound not with machinery or electronics, but just with a simple layer of ice, was completely fascinating.
Fascinating indeed, what a cool (no pun intended, okay maybe some pun intended) concept. An ice memory storage device.
Dunsparce was next, and you felt so proud of the little guy. He was definitely the weakest of the team, but even so, he saved the team on multiple occasions, and what he lacked in strength, he made up for with heart.
OH LITTLE DUNSPARCE, I haven't even met him but I love him already
You cared about your family, too, and they had been so worried while you were gone.
Ah okay, so this wasn't necessarily an expected adventure. Or at least an adventure that happened without warning.
Halfway there, I realized that my tail was dragging against the ground. I lifted it up into the air. Had to make sure everyone thought I was ok.
We are back to pokemon world, I see!
"It's about Gen, isn't it?" Dunsparce interrupted.
OHHH OKAY so I'm finally meeting this Gen I've heard so much about. Or at least I'm guessing that's who Gen was in the first part of the story. I'm glad I get to meet them at last!
Before I could finish, Emolga walked over and hugged me, while Dunsparce curled around me.
An Emolga and Dunsparce hug actually sounds really comfy.
Vernir. Vernir. Vernir.

It felt so great to finally call myself something other than Snivy at last. It felt so great hearing my name.

I wanted to let the whole world hear it, too.
Aw this is sweet~ <3
He also told me that while he didn't intend it at the time, my name was also rather similar to the human word "venir", which meant "to come", and "to come back".
Ah okay, I was wondering about the origins of Vernir's name. Very thoughtful.
You got up and turned around to see just what hit you. Did a potted plant fall down?
A potted plant, hahahaha
You felt his tail thump against you rhythmically, as Vernir always did when he was happy.
THIS IS TOO ADORABLE little happy snivy tail-thumps, awwww
The two of you were here together now. You both defeated Kyurem together!
Ohhhh hence the name "Bittercold", things make more sense now
He couldn't stay here, could he?
Darn it, pokemon physics!
Then, Vernir can activate his reunion cape and get sent to me, and then everyone else can activate their reunion capes and get sent to Vernir, and then we'll all be reunited!
I will admit my eyes crossed a little at this explanation -- I'm guessing reunion capes are a thing in the PMD side of games -- but either way, I'm happy it worked out for everyone.

Such a nice and heartwarming bit of writing. Thanks for doing the exchange with me! I look forward to getting to know your writing and characters more over time :quag:
 
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