Alisa180

I'm writing a half-novelization/Pokemon crossover of Fates using the Invisible Kingdom path myself. While obviously not fully applicable here, I have changed some things that might be useful in a straight-up novelization. And that's all I have, I think. Hopefully you find some of it useful!

First draft of the first chapter is ready!

It looks very interesting! I would personally switch Leon and Takumi's Pokemon, as I think Houndoom would better fit Leon and Manectric would better fit Takumi, at least in my opinion. I understand why you did it this way though! What would you think of Leon as the Pokemon Absol, and Takumi as the Pokemon Ampharos? And what would you think of Camilla as Aerodactyl, and Hinoka as Altaria? Good luck with your project either way! Have fun! Houndoom is actually a better fit for Takumi then you think. In Japan, the Dark type is known as the 'Aku', literally 'Evil', type. That's why so many Dark-type attacks are based around dirty fighting tactics. This was something I kept in mind with a few of these assignments, including Takumi. Manectric always seemed like a good fit for Leon, I can't really explain why. Unfortunately, I can't really use Altaria for Hinoka, because there's a 50% chance it's going to serve as Mega Evolution for another, plot-important character. Absol is *most definitely* going to be the Mega Evolution for a certain character Kamui is going to battle towards the end of the story, so I can't assign it to anyone listed here either. I chose Sableye/Mawhile for Camilla/Hinoka, because Camilla is creepy but well meaning (being Yandere for Kamui) making a creepy ghost type like Sableye fitting for her. While Hinoka is tough, having taken up fighting specifically to get Kamui back, making the femine yet tough Mawile a good choice. All said, I'm pretty satisfied with those four. I'm still wavering on Marx/Ryouma, but I think they have okay assignments. For Elise/Sakura, I keep bouncing between Contonee/Petili, and Plusle/Minun for their Pokemon. Another one I'm having trouble with is Thank you for the encouragement! The post Chapter 6 outline is going very smoothly so far, and in the end, I probably won't require as much of the Invisible Kingdom script as I originally thought. I'll still need it, though, if only to nail down the finer details. It's shaping up to be what I hope will be a really good story!

I'll be honest: I've been thinking of doing a PokemonxFire Emblem crossover for a while, using Pokemon Conquest as a primary inspiration. While my attempts at doing so fell flat with Awakening, with Fates I'm suddenly finding the idea with new life again. And so, this topic concerns the planning of the story. Feedback, input, and comments are welcome! Especially concerning the Pokemon assigned to characters. Here's my notes and planning so far: Concerning Pokemon Assignment Each character non-neutral character has a 'foil'/counterpart on the the other side of the conflict. At first, the idea was to give each recruitable character on the Nohr side a Pokemon that was exclusive to Pokemon Black/Black 2, and give their respective 'foil' characters the version exclusive counterpart from Pokemon White/White 2. For example, Elise and Sakura are counterparts, being the 'little sister' for the Nohr side and Hoshido sides respectively. Elise, in current planning, has been given Cotonee, a Black version exclusive, as her Pokemon. White Sakura has been given Cotonee's White exclusive counterpart, Petili, as her Pokemon. That said, that did break down a little as planning went on, especially once I decided each of the siblings minus Sakura and Elise should receive a Pokemon capable of Mega Evolution, mostly for the later phases of the story. Still, I kept to the idea of 'version exclusive foils' for 99% of the recruitable characters. For instance, if a suitable pair couldn't be found from Black and White/Black 2 and White 2, I would use a pair from X and Y versions instead, with Y for Nohr and X for Hoshido. The most notable instance of this happening was in assigning the Pokemon for Marx and Ryouma. Originally, Marx was going to get Garchomp, while Ryouma would recieve Dragonite. This was based on how you would recieve Gible as a gift in Black 2 at a certain point, while in White 2 you would recieve Dratini. Unfortunetly, once I started working in Mega Evolutions, I had to change their signature Pokemon for the obvious reason that Dragonite does not have a Mega Evolution (Damn you, Game Freak!). Version exclusives vary from game to game naturally (such as in Diamond and Pearl, Tyranitar and Salamence are version exclusive counterparts to Diamond/Pearl respectively, while in X/Y, Tyranitar's counterpart (seems to be) Aggron instead), but the versions assigned to each nation in determining Pokemon assignments are as follows: Nohr: Black, Black 2, Y, Alpha Sapphire, FireRed, HeartGold. Hoshido: White, White 2, X, Omega Ruby, LeafGreen, SoulSilver. Provided I'm not forgetting anything from all my rearrangements, the only time I knowingly broke the version assignment was in determining the Pokemon of Arthur (Harold) and Subaki (Tsubaki). And that's for the simple reason that not giving Arthur Braviary (A White exclusive otherwise) would probably be a federal crime somewhere. UPDATE 7/31/15: The Pokemon list has been changed, and at least some of the above no longer applies. You can find the new list further down. *Further Pokemon Notes* The concept of 'Warriors' from Pokemon Conquest, those who can 'link' with Pokemon, is a thing in this universe. Speaking of Pokemon...They actually aren't referred to as such in the story. The Pokemon movie, Arceus and the Jewel of Life, revealed Pokemon weren't called such until after the development of catching devices (Apricot balls, and later Pokeballs). As this setting lacks any such capture device, it instead uses the term from that movie. In Arceus and the Jewel of Life, Pokemon were referred to as majuu, literally 'demon-beast.' This was translated to 'magical creature' when the movie was dubbed. I actually snuck in this discrepancy as a fun touch in the story. Nohr calls the Pokemon 'magical creatures,' while Hoshido refers to them as 'demon-beasts.' Lilith isn't in this story. Instead, her role is taken up by none other then Latias. Latias has a canon maid human from courtesy of Pokemon Special: Her backstory is mostly the same as Lilith, in that Kamui found her injured, and helped nurse her back to health. Afterwards, she assumed this form and served her in secret. The main difference is that she's mute (because only a special few Pokemon are going to have the 'talking' ability, and I've decided none of them are going to be under the command of humans), and communicates mainly through gestures and body language before the reveal. She's called Eana before the reveal, but that was a name everyone gave her, since she could not tell them her actual one. She's actually quite clingly towards Kamui, but trusted because she's helped drive off enemies in the past. Given how they're unaware she's a Pokemon in disguise, they assume any manifestation of her powers is some strange, unknown form of magic. While the nature of her powers is unknown before the reveal, it's generally accepted that she is not one you want to mess with. Like in the games, she outs herself to save Kamui from falling into the Infinite Chasm. I'm still figuring out how to handle the fact that Kamui got transported into another dimension from there, 'cause the plot isn't looking like it will be easy to write out that point. The current idea I'm kicking around is something involving Hoopa. Afterwards, Latias joins Kamui's team, though she still spends a good chunk of her time in maid form. *Warrior and Pokemon List* Here's the updated Pokemon assignments, following a Conquest format with each character having a Type Specialty, a Warrior Skill, starting Pokemon, and a Perfect Link. The Pokemon are listed as "Pokemon Name-Move Name-Ability Name." The Warrior Skills are still in progress, and as such most characters right now have their personal skills from Fates as a placeholder. *Neutral* *Nohr* *Hoshido* *Pokemon Notes* Corrin's team has changed (again), but that's fine since I came to the realization that she had a Mega without Lucario. Take a wild guess what. Xander and Ryoma are no longer going to get Megas. But don't worry, they are far from getting the short end of the stick. Just having Megas on top of everything else that due to happen to them was too much to ask from their character arcs. I eased up on the 'foil' theme, but I made sure it remained a thing for the siblings for their 'main' starting Pokemon. However, for the older brothers and younger sisters, their Perfect Links are foils, but instead what's fitting for them. Insert something about representing character development here. *Plot Notes* The story follows the Invisible Kingdom storyline...for a while, at least. It changes significantly after a certain point, though the basic underlying stuff (uniting both the Nohr and Hoshido families, then fighting Hydra in the Invisible Kingdom) remain the same. The path just twists a bit on the way there. In keeping with the Black and White theme, the changed plot will involve Reshiram, Zekrom, and Kyruem. You can probably speculate what that's going to entail from that. I'm withholding spoilers. I'll give one hint though: The Fire Emblem is still a thing in this story, and it still plays a pivitol role in the plot. But there's a caveat: The Fire Emblem in this story is NOT the same as the Fire Emblem in Fates. A different artifact serves as the titular object. *Current Story Progress* Due to my trouble handling the 'prologue dream' when attempting my Awakening novelization, I have decided to skip it in this story and save myself some grief. First couple chapters are currently in the process of being re-written, in light of revelation concerning Conquest's mechanics courtesy of the Conquest manga. Once again, feedback, inputs, and comments are welcome! Especially on Pokemon assignments. Hope you enjoyed reading this, and watch this space for my progress. Update 7/24/15: Added Gunther, Yukimura, Joker, Felicia, and Flora I changed Corrin's team a bit, which involved swallowing a few of my own rules. I tried to avoid Lucario because it tends to be 'cliche', and it was also the signature Pokemon of one of the Lord characters from Awakening. But over time, Combusken (and it's later planned evolution into Blazikein) seemed less and less fitting. That, and no one is ever going to see the Awakening story. I needed one of Corrin's starting Pokemon to be a Fighting-type, and in the end, Lucario was the best choice. On the bright side, it freed up things for a few other changes in her post-Choice Pokemon. The 'elemental' tribes work a little differently in this universe. Instead of possessing powers over their elements, they instead have a special connection with a specific Pokemon type, similar to (but not exactly like) the link ability of Warriors. I failed to mention this, but I'm using F!Corrin. I keep wavering between the English and Japanese names, so apologies for that. The children aren't going to be featured, and with one special exception, there won't be any pairings either. Actually, there might be three exceptions. Depends on how badly I want to incorporate my headcanons. And before you ask, F!Corrin isn't planned to be paired with anyone. I made the call to have the characters use Pokemon primarily. I figured out how to make the plot points that I thought would require martial intervention from the characters to work with them using Pokemon. That doesn't mean we won't see the characters fighting themselves from time to time. But let's be honest, getting involved in a fight that involves monsters with powerful magical abilities is borderline suicidal for most. Common sense in most cases says you should just let them handle the fighting. Hm, I'm not sure how much more I should say about this. I'll probably let you guys see for yourselves once Chapter 2 is finished (I'm making steady progress on Chapter 1. I'll post it here when finished). Update 7/27/15 Good news: I finished transcribing everything up 'till Chapter 6, courtesy of timdayoo's translations. Bad news: Certain plots points are turning out to be harder to handle then I originally anticipated. Still require Invisible Kingdom Script translations, but will continue with plan to write out the story up until the decisive choice. If anyone scourges up Invisible Kingdom translations (NOT just a summary) I'd be really grateful for the heads up!Update 7/28/15 So, turns out the My Castle is actually important, and I can't just write it out. It does mean I need to do some revising of my current outline. The bright side is, I can bring things more in line with Conquest by replacing most of the stuff in the My Castle with stuff from Conquest (since the focus is on Pokemon development, rather then development of the human characters). Speaking of Conquest, I'm trying to bring things more in line with that in general. Most characters will only have one 'move' per Pokemon, as per Conquest. Only a select few, those planned to have more personal and involved battles rather then the army conflicts that are typical, will have full movesets defined for them. I'm currently in the process of assigning moves and abilities. Also, mostly for fun, I'm translating each character's Personal Skill into a Warrior Skill. Yes, only some have the ability to actually Link, but pretty much everyone fights anyway. And I don't think I made much sense right then. One of my goals is to not let the darker tone of Fates get dulled by the fact that, well, its Pokemon. On the other hand, I've never been a big fan of 'grimdark' stories, and I don't expect that to change with this story. Its a tricky balancing act. The former is my main concern right now, and to help, I've been drawing inspiration from another strategy game with Mons: Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor. I have like, 3/4ths of the story all outlined and ready to write the second I get ahold of the Invisible Kingdom translated script, whenever that is. It's that first 1/4th that I just can't seem to figure out. Hm... Update 7/31/15 Omigosh, I just came up with a *brilliant* idea. It'll take some re-working of the plot (well, more then then I've already changed), but if I can get it to work holy crap. Gah, why must Fates become more and more perfect for this fusion!? The fact that I can't draw (very well) despite my best effort still sucks utter bollocks. Update 7/31/15 2 So, I guess that idea won't really work. And it was so promising too. Ah well. In other news, I discovered the Pokemon Conquest manga! I also found some interesting Conquest art. The end result is that I have a *much* better idea of how things in Conquest work 'in practice' (outside of the game, in other words). I'm probably going to have to do more rewriting...and revamping...again...but the end result should be a much smoother integration of the Pokemon elements. And make the story more, well, Conquest. The manga also demonstrated several things: 1) While not everyone is a Warrior, they are *much* more common then I originally gave credit for. 2) It showed how the Link work. Here's a hint, it wasn't how I was portraying it. Both of these are things that are going to be playing into the re-write. Which by the way, that's next on the list. A re-write of the first two chapters. Because the new information changes that much. But I don't really mind. Update 8/4/13 I've come to a compromise regarding how to handle the story given the lack of a script for IK. Since the plot changes significantly after a point, I'll instead be writing the chapters depicting the plot changes leading up to the deviation. It will be easier to show then explain this, so expect the first one up soon.

I have to say Lazwald/Marx is my favorite Support so far. Lazwald is unique in that

I second this request! I'm really curious about this one!

It doesn't stop there. We now effectively have two new *third* generation Awakening kids: Soleil and Ophelia, tied to Lazward/Inigo and Odin/Owain respectively. Think about that. Does this mean that if F!Robin married either of them, these respective kids existed in M!Morgan's future as their sibling? Holy crap, the fanfiction potential there is *enormous.*

Out of all these characters, I can firmly say that Soleil is the one who I'm more interested in *by far.*

What do I have to pay to have some of Soleil's Supports translated as soon as they're leaked/dumped? She's the character I'm most interested in and I need some actual dialogue for her darn it!

Someone on Reddit pointed out that Severa's single ending in the English version had her return to visit her parents once a year. The fact she's in Fates like this possibly contridicts that, depending. Anyone have a translation of Severa's ending from the Japanese version of Awakening? Also, someone else on Reddit proposed a 'Narnia' type situation is in play with them. This has precedent given the whole 'time flows differently in the Outrealms' deal. So perhaps in their endings they'll return to Ylisse and not much time will have passed.

Thanks.

So, basically, very few on this forum has anything good to say about Awakening's plot. The entire point was to be positive, but instead, it attracted more critism. That's kinda depressing, honestly. Please don't post more critism. We have enough of that. Post what we liked, if anything, about the story.

No, but to be fair, I already have a 'Need to Play' list a mile long. I've played other JRPGs noted for their stories, like Final Fantasy 9, and I know FE:A plot isn't the best for plot or characters. But I enjoy it, and its characters are good enough. Really, though, 'best' is subjective. As a writer myself, if a story is enjoyable, then I consider it a good one, depth or not.

I agree, Future of Despair was brilliant. But what's so wrong with having black and white villains? The problem with deep stories is that they are often as difficult for the readers to digest as it is for a writer to create. A study done shows that, in the short-term, when given the choice between 'fun and forgettable' and 'memorable but harder to digest' people tend to chose the 'fun and forgettable' story first. Not to say Awakening's story is forgettable, but its up there. This, of course, implies 'trashier' work is inevitably more popular then 'highbrow' work. And what's do wrong with that? As LordTaco42 said, Awakening's plot isn't the best, but it was *fun*, and keeps people hooked until the end. I've seen my fair share of hackneyed plots, and Awakening isn't one. Its engaging and has memorable enough characters to get the job done. I enjoyed it, like it, and I think there's no shame in that.

All the salt around Fates and the accusations around 'Awakening pandering' is discouraging. Awakening was my first Fire Emblem game (as a side note, I've read the story script for Blazing Sword and Lyn is right up there with Lucina in terms of favorite FE characters so I'm not completely ignorant) and I LIKED the plot. Sure, it has its weak points, like the Valm arc could have been better. But it struck some very good notes. For example: -I've stated this on multiple occasions in many other places, but its worth repeating: If F!Robin doesn't marry Chrom, the two become one of the best examples of the opposing gender equivalent of bromance I've EVER seen. I like stories where a guy and a girl are close friends, and yet they aren't romantically involved. Sadly, such stories are painfully hard to find. Awakening's plot scratches that itch in a wonderful way with an unmarried F!Robin and Chrom. That's a not-insignificant part of why I like Awakening's story so much. Needless to say, I almost never pair F!Robin with Chrom. (And also because them not marrying allows me to have M!MorganxLucina, one of my favorite parings.) -The children characters are generally very well written, with Lucina being one of my favorite characters. Besides Lucina, I'd have to say the Morgans are my favorite children characters. I've always had a soft spot for peppy, spacey types. Maybe 'cause I'm one myself. -Grima is a wonderfully sardonic snarker, and F!Robin, from her unique supports, is apparently a playful troll (See: Her supports with Lon'qu and Yarne. I've called F!Robin a more mature and grounded version version of F!Morgan on several occasions for a good reason). Really, the characters in general are well-done, and I hardly find them 'cliches' as some like to say. I'm going to think of more, but this is generally an 'optimism' thread. This isn't what Awakening did wrong. We hear plenty about that. This is about what Awakening's writing and story did *right.* What did you all like about Awakening's story?

Mm, maybe part of it is because with Donnel there's a definite 'end-point' to the grinding. I mean, sure, you can use that effort to make other units beter...But at that point, it's just grinding, especially before you get Second Seals. With Donnel, there's a definite goal in mind, especially if you plan to burn your first Second Seal on him. It's hard to explain. It's like...You have to work to get him to the same point as the others, but once he's there, you know he's going to be a frontliner for the rest of the story. The others don't really require work to make them better, beyond the requisite grinding to keep up. It might be more psychological 'cause Magikarp Power then logical, but the worst unit? Hardly.

Um, because Normal and Hard Mode are what I primarly play? I've done endgame DLC and optimal pairings runs on them. By the time I get to the DLC, I'm primarily using the children characters, same as anyone else. I've heard enough 'Luck Based Mission' horror stories about Lunatic and Lunatic+ to be almost scared off (almost. A LTC run is in the cards at some point). But too many times I have had Donnel tank whole sides of a map for me in story mode to have him dismissed as crap like this. Can't get to the endgame without beating the story, you know.

I tend not to really dislike any characters in any media, and often cycle through favorites. But Yarne in this game simply gets on my nerves. I understand they were going for a 'Lovable Coward' angle, but they really didn't pull it off very well.

So many people are saying Donnel is the worst unit...I don't completely get it. On all of my Normal and Hard playthroughs, he always ends up as one of my frontline units, and pretty much a god. Then again, I assume this is without DLC, since I usually grind him in EXPonential Growth... Worst unit: Virion. Archers in general suck in this game. Or I just suck at using them. In either case, I've found him pretty much useless, except for fathering one of the kids. If I need range, a mage serves my purposes far better. Which is too bad, since he's one of my favorites personality-wise.

I like most of the characters in FE13 and even those I don't actively like I don't really dislike. In general, I've never really 'disliked' characters. However, there is one exception... Yarne. Argh, I can't remember the last time a character ground on my nerves like him! I understand he's terrified of 'going extinct' and all that, and he's supposed to be the 'lovable coward.' But what gets me is when he ropes other people into 'protecting' him. I also hate how he panics so much over so many little things. I have tried, very hard, to at least not dislike him, but I can't stand him! Its probably because he reminds me of myself at my worst, trying to avoid duties at every turn and even getting others to do it for me. I used to dislike Owain because of the very reason most people like him (his over-the-top speech). I warmed up to him after realizing he was a writer like me, and acting out the stories in his head as a way of coping. His 'Manual of Justice' is effectively pages of solid worldbuilding, something I myself am guilty of. I'm growing more and more fond of him as a result.