Blitz 2025: Hype and Rec Thread

[Namohysip]

Weekly Fic Rec Week 2

My chosen catchup longfic this week is for Salvage by the admin of this very forum, since I promised to eventually catch up I was meaning to get back to it this blitz. In any case, if you're someone who enjoys carefully constructed prose, while still having a more gritty, callous protagonist, the contrast will lead to a very unique interaction when reading! The protagonist isn't that sympathetic, but at the same time bad stuff happens due in large part to their poor behavior, so it balances out. There's a mystery at the start that, once answers, transitions well into the actual plot of the story (at least as far as I can tell, for as far as I've gone!) just as it's answered.

 

[Starlight Aurate]

Week 2 fic recommendation:

Pokemon: Legendary Adventures by Flyg0n.

This starts out mostly typical to your standard Sinnoh trainerfic, except that the main character winds up with a Zubat as his starter, of all Pokemon! As the story progresses, the protagonist, Koa, warms up to his Pokemon and develops bonds with them. This not only includes the com 'mon, but also with a more reticent Tyrunt, through his sheer patience and desire for her to really become part of their team. This fic does a lovely job of putting unlikely characters together and showing how they slowly become friends and learn to trust each other. It's a nice story about adventure that also includes plenty of heartwarming moments. If you want a trainerfic with unique flavour, this is a good read!

 

[Nekodatta]

Week 2 Rec:

TCG2: Doduo Adventures - Book One: TCG Island by @Tango

I'm recommending this fic because it's definitely one of the most unique one's I've ever read. There aren't many fics based on Pokémon spin offs that aren't Mystery Dungeon, and I doubt that there are many based not only on the trading card game in general, but on the two (of which one never got translated) Game Boy games based on the trading card game! The premise of the story is quite simple: the main character is already the Champion of Trading Card Game Island, but finds himself unable to earn money because he's too strong and no one wants to fight him anymore. So he sets out in his self imposed challenge of using a deck containing only common cards.... But let's say that things go much deeper than that!
If someone has played the original game boy game and/or is familiar with the card game in general, the story will be really nostalgic and fun to read because of all the npcs from the game making an appearance (and getting a lot more characterization that they ever got in the games).
The story is also particular in that it takes the inherent silliness of a world where everything is solved by playing card games and plays it completely straight, which results in some delightfully weird yet well thought out wordlbuilding.
Also there's Doduo, who is best bird.

 

[Goolix]

Weekly Fic Rec Week 2 (Catch-up)
"International Celebrity Ruins Everything" by @Slayerofthewind

This story is a sort of novelization of Legends Z-A, with a twist - the protagonist is not some no-name tourist but Serena, the champion player character from Pokemon X/Y. And this means she has baggage besides the leather bag she brings with her to the city - trauma from dealing with Team Flare; anger about how institutions failed to protect Kalos; guilt that she's re-enacting a cycle of harm. When she arrives in Lumiose City and sees that Quasartico has had some major renovations with seemingly no pushback from anyone, she's naturally suspicious, and when they contact her at her private number, she's livid. She intends to use her skill as champion to climb up the Z-A royale and expose Quasartico.

This story brings a delightful amount of characterization to the normally mute protagonist. Serena has a very clear personality - she loves fashion, ghost and dark Pokemon, scheming, cute outfits, winning, and Lumiose. Her immediate suspicion of Quasartico has you wondering - is the organization really up to something sketchy, or is her hypervigilance causing her to tilt at windmills? The chapters are long but they don't feel like a slog to get through, with readable breezy prose. If you're a Z-A fan looking to revisit the story with some fresh eyes, I recommend checking it out.

 

[Phoenixsong]

Weekly Fic Rec:
Nothing Fickle About Loyalty by @elyvorg

I love stories that take a look at the pokémon-trainer relationship from the pokémon's point of view. I love stories where we can see examples of that much-celebrated pokémon-trainer bond not quite running as smoothly as the romanticized ideal, where the two parties have their own issues to deal with and they could probably help each other with this, but a lack of communication—and I don't just mean not speaking the same language—twists things into a big, complicated mess all the time. And I love when it turns out that the different issues plaguing both the pokémon and the trainer maybe turn out not to be so different after all, and you get to see how those same issues play out not only from the more familiar human perspective, but also a unique pokémon perspective. Or perspectives, plural, as it may happen.

Do you also love these things? Great! Read Nothing Fickle. This fic follows Kieran (of Scarlet/Violet DLC fame) through his character progression from awkward, friend-seeking kid to obsessive victory-chaser to... other stuff, but does so through the eyes of his applin. It's rough just being a little guy in an apple who can't do much of anything, but the way Applin-Dipplin-Hydrapple grows and changes and definitely gets stronger and better so nothing is wrong anymore alongside Kieran puts up a pretty harsh mirror to what Kieran himself is going through, while also forcing Hydrapple to confront a very literal version of the internal strife his trainer's feeling. Watching both of them go through this is rough, but handled in a lot of really clever ways, while still sticking to a lot of the small details you can see indicating the shifts in Kieran's (and Hydrapple's) arc as the original story moved along in the games.

In conclusion, check out Nothing Fickle About Loyalty if you want to see what happens when a multi-part pokémon has to take a good, hard look at what it means to truly support your best friend, and also truly take care of yourself.

Also, justice for Furret. That is all.

 

[Tango]

Weekly Fic Rec:
Dark Winter Night (One-shot) by @Ambyssin

Want something thematic for the holidays? Looking for a nice short one-shot? Look no farther! This seems to be crafted with the spirit of blitz Christmas! Somehow Ambyssin has managed a story that delivers a meaningful message in just 1.4k words?! My goodness, I think that is even shorter than the short chapters in my multi-chapter fic!

Join Murkrow as it goes on a 5 minute stroll an epic quest to find the master of moping stealthology, Darkrai?! But the timing had to be perfect, because only one time a year does Darkrai languish bored out of it's mind due to a deal it shouldn't have struck await students willing to learn it's secret dark arts! But Darkrai will literally take anyone at this point only the most crafty and agile of students will do. Can Murkrow dodge some snowballs master the hidden arts that only Darkrai can impart, or will Murkrow's entire journey be for naught? Read to find out!!