A Spirit's Journey:

"A story, you say? Well, I know a few of those. Some of them are about me, and some of those are even true. This one's one of my favorites. It's how I came to be the Absol I am today. Of course, I didn't like it then, but that's how it always is with life. It's kind of funny that way. It starts with me running down the slopes of Mt. Coronet...

(This story has received the 'So good, someone stole it from me once' Award)

(This is an adventure story that takes place in the Game Universe with a mix of OC and canon characters.)

(This story is also submitted in the 2014 Watty Awards contest)"

Genre: Fanfiction

Ivy (@RiverIvy)'s review:

"A Spirit's Journey" is a Pokemon fanfiction that follows the journeys of a cold, troubled Absol named Spirit as well as of all the new characters he meets along the way. The reader watches along and enjoys their adventures through moments of twisting at the edge of their seat, tearing up, laughing out loud, and smiling at romantic moments.

Starting off, the writing itself, grammar and quality-wise, was great. I spotted practically no errors or typos along the entire story, and each sentence of each paragraph flowed along smoothly and naturally. I felt that the author managed to use a good amount of vocabulary while still making the reading pretty simple and easy to read, and while that doesn't matter much to me personally, it helps appeal to readers of all ages.

I also found the description to be excellent; it was vivid and had a colorful usage of words, however, for the most part, remained small and not a huge part of the overall book. In other words, the description was well-made but at the same time rather short – in this case, I wouldn't really consider that a con, because for a mostly action-packed book such as this one, too much description would really be ruining it.

For example, the very beginning scene with the main character running away from the pack of Ambassnsnow was detailed wonderfully. Everything, from the beauty of the mountains to the fright of the predators to the desperate fleeing actions of the main character, was captured with the perfect amount of words. On the other hand, though, much more dramatic scenes that were to come later on, contained a considerably less amount of description – which created the right balance.

I also feel that most of the characters were fleshed out in a very realistic and heart-capturing way. The prime example of this would be Spirit – every part of him, from his bitterness towards humans to his snappish character traits to his slow, subtle, yet steady character development, was amazing. Readers would be able to look at Spirit on the first page of the book and then compare it to the last, and see the differences in his nature and attitude, while still being able to recognize and appreciate the character for who he is. Rio and Lady Glacier are other shining examples of an ideal character.

Breath-taking, engaging battle scenes spread through out the story spurred the reader into anticipating all the tension and suspense in each chapter, as well as being generally well-written and exciting to read. Even the first scene, with the fighting of the main character against the Ambassnow, was impressive, and it only got much, much better as time went on.

I felt that one really big aspect of the story was how well it portrayed relationships between the Pokemon themselves, like their views on certain topics as well as their interactions. The way it was shown that wild Pokemon, such as Spirit, the main character, held a high amount of scorn towards bred Pokemon, was really interesting. It created a tension between him and other characters, which led to conflict and eventual development to the story. Among all these, relations and news that take place in the world of Pokemon builds out to almost a sort of politics. Impressive.

Speaking of that – the idea of a war among Pokemon was very creative! To be more specific, it wasn't the concept of war itself that was creative, but rather, how it was played out. Each figure, role, and participant in the war among both the sides had entire complexities and backstories of their own. It added well to the war because it made it seem broad and realistic, and also left an impact on the reader that made him/her feel it to be more life-like. Take the character Reaper – it was a Pokemon that invoked pity in the reader yet also left chills running down the spine. Chillingly good character.

The book had good characterization – most characters had striking, well-defined characteristics that clearly set them off from the others, while each having their own mindset and flaws. By far one of my favorite characters in the entire story was *SPOILER ALERT SPOILER ALERT* Lady Glacier. I won't get into this too much for the sake of not ruining the story, but she was an extremely well-made character with a clear development, personality, and realistic flaws that highlighted her bitter past and actions. It was amazing how the author connected a past traumatizing experience, rape – which is a topic rarely touched upon in Pokemon fanfiction and books in general – and connected it to how she grew as a character. *SPOILER DONE SPOILER DONE*

Possibly what made this book so entertaining and unique to most is that it has a great amount of humor – GOOD humor; though light-hearted, it made me laugh a heck lot – cleverly merged among every scene, be they action-packed, dark or serious, while still not usually ruining the mood. During fierce battle scenes you'd be holding your breath in suspense, and then you'd break out laughing as the scary, evil villain is made fun of and has pie literally thrown into its face, but you'd still have your breath held in. The fitting in of comedy to the plot was vital to the book, and done exceptionally well.

One particular character, whose sayings and actions I thought were the most eye-catching was of...I'll call him "A". The things said by A held a large amount of meaning and depth to them, and, although admittedly his quotes and roles were straight-forward, I found him a fascinating and thought-provoking character nonetheless. The message that was sent through him – and the book, in general – did get me to feeling heart-warmed. I find it nice. Although I'm not entirely sure, I think they were supposed to reflect the author's religious views; I'm an agnostic, but in my opinion they were a great input into the story.

This is a very small detail, but one that pleased me quite a lot. The behavior of wild Pokemon in contrast to tame ones is displayed very realistically, and this added to how complex the background details of the story are. When Spirit was still a newly-captured Pokemon and nervous to his surroundings, he recoiled at the scent of fire in a chimney, because the burning wood and flames reminded him of a forest fire.

The final chapters were an absolute roller coaster of emotions. That's all I'll say :)

Moving on, this is something that I definitely want to mention: if you keep up with this book and frequently read my GRA reviews, then you'll know just how much I fiddling DESPISE fourth wall breaking in Pokemon fics. Ninety-nine percent of the time, they're stupid, COMPLETELY unfunny, cringe-worthy, and disturb the flow of the story. Refer to "Writing Pet Peeves" if you want to see my further raging over this topic...

...buuut, I have to admit, that in this case, I actually didn't mind the fourth wall breaking *too* much. There were some irritable moments, however... They were usually separate from the story-line itself and rarely disturbed especially serious moments, and it wasn't done in the ridiculous over-the-top way that most writers do. It still involved mainly silly scenes, but they did have a hint of real wittiness to them. Although they didn't make me laugh as much as the author probably intended me to, I still did laugh, and that's an accomplishment. Still, I wouldn't say they were good, but not bad, either. They were just there: they neither added nor removed anything to the story. It might appeal to some people, and deter others. Eh, I'm just neutral.

Okay – everything that I found good and neutral about this story was covered. Now...to the negatives~

The first thing that set me off slightly from the story was that Spirit seemed to warm up the humans and other Pokemon around him...a little too quickly. I don't know – he still had the harsh and tough attitude that he keeps throughout most of the story, but within a few chapters in he seemed already close to some of the characters, even going as far as joking around with them. I don't know, it wasn't that bad really, but I just expected him to take longer to open up.

Something that bothered me more about the story was that the battle scenes, though well-described, were very unrealistic. The characters were going through HUGELY dangerous situations, battling with extremely powerful legendaries, being in unfamiliar ground, and fighting against a pretty big number of opponents. That they won didn't set me off – that they won with too little injuries and not even a single death of a good character did. Now, some of the injuries definitely made sense – there were characters that suffered considerable blows – but most of them healed quickly. And come on, not even one hero death in the whole (present-time) of the book? In such a huge war like that?

Finally, the last problem I have – some of the characters. As I said earlier, I LOVED most of the people and Pokemon in this story, the majority were excellent. Alas, there were exceptions. Well, very few of them frankly, but there were important characters I didn't like at all.

Syoran and Nine.

You know me – I love nothing more than to tear terribly made characters apart while offering as much vicious commentary as I possibly can. Hahahaha, I love to bash bad writing more than I probably should, that's why you fellow assholes love reading my reviews so much, even if you secretly hate me! But the thing is...I can't do so with the person here named Syoran.

"But, Ivy," you're probably thinking, confused, "you must have some reason to dislike a character. You can't hate something for nothing. What was Syoran like? Describe him."

Well, that's just the thing! I can't describe Syoran to you because he was just such a bland and empty person that I can think of nothing, no personality trait that could define him. If you asked me that question, I would respond, "Syoran, he's...hm...Syoran is a...um...a character?" I can't tell you what I like and dislike about his set of traits because there WERE NO SET OF TRAITS! It was just nothing.

Everything about the other character, Nine, screamed "Mary Sue". She very rarely wavered or broke down during intensive moments, EVEN when she suffered a very major health problem that was basically life-changing, she hardly seemed to complain, she's a talented fighter, she's brave, she's kind, she's fair, she's reasonable, she's loyal, she's the main character's love interest, and UGH. You see where I'm going. It's frustrating because there wasn't any flaw to her.

I think that's all. Obviously, the pros heavily outweigh the cons, and I found this a truly outstanding book that I'd recommend to anyone, as it has a number of different themes and elements to it. A wrap-up – great plot, great character, great grammar and writing quality, great themes/messages, great nearly everything. Oh, and one thing I forgot to mention! I loved how Jessie and James were present in the story. They only appeared for a bit, but the role they played was a bit different than the typical one, and I liked that.

Rating – 8.5/10.

X (@Darker_X)'s review:

"A Spirit's Journey" by RolftheAbra is an entertaining Pokemon fanfiction that focuses on the adventures of an initially free-spirited Absol after he is bound to a Trainer and experiences life as a Trainer's Pokemon. The story progresses as the Absol discovers the complexity of humans and the Pokemon serving them, alongwith being sucked into a "maelstrom"- a word the author often uses in the book and is now becoming one of my favorite words- of events concerning apocalypses, hell and so much more. The brilliance of this book lies in the fact that not one of the aforementioned macabre concepts are portrayed as such.

One thing that makes this book stand out from all the other fanfictions I have read so far is the fact that this book is entirely told in a Pokemon's perspective while also involving humans. There are many fanfictions that only have human PoVs, not caring to portray the Pokemon's thoughts; while other fanfictions portray purely Pokemon PoVs, no human involvement in them, like a Mystery Dungeon story. "A Spirit's Journey", however, contains all the experiences of a Pokemon when it's under the possession of an actual Trainer- how it feels about being inside a Pokeball, fighting as per the Trainer's commands, and most amusingly, what goes on inside a Pokemon Center! (Who knew Chanseys could be so terrorizing!) You don't see many fanfics like this, and I applaud the author fiercely in this aspect.

In terms of characterization, "A Spirit's Journey" wins as one of the best books on my list. Every human or Pokemon you encounter inside the book has a distinct personality, a distinct past, a distinct future. The author has managed to take apart character histories and stereotypes and portrays them in an entirely different way- the true nature of Absols, an in-depth analysis of Ghost- types, how politics is played in the Pokemon legendary circle, how Mews can be so... eccentric, and so much more. Concepts sad and happy are interwoven into the character's personalities, making it almost lifelike and interactive.

Speaking of Ghost-types, (pardon the grim nature of what's about to follow) it's literally amazing how the Reverse World is portrayed as a place of eternal hell for Pokemon that have died and passed into the afterlife. Charon the Ferryman, Giratina the Lord of the Underworld, Hecate the Sorceress, shades working to develop their realm as retribution for their crimes done during their life, how the food there is poisonous, how a mortal soul cannot escape it- as an enthusiast of mythology, I liked seeing the concept of hell in a Pokemon-friendly fashion. Not many people are comfortable with the topic of such natures, and RolftheAbra has done a marvelous job in that aspect. (Banettes with sickles! My!)

Furthermore, the book had a perfectly scripted, perfectly paced, perfectly planned feel to it. Most books are rushed, or lack in detail, or are too confusing, but this particular piece of work was staged wonderfully, like directing a movie. It was also fascinating to see how something as simple as catching a Pokemon which didn't wish to be captured, escalated to apocalyptic, universe- threatening levels in such a small area of content, and still seemed amazingly in place.

But while the book was perfectly paced, wonderfully characterized, and beautifully written as the memoirs of an Absol, three things about this book ticked me off far too much. (The third, not so much.)

The first one, and pardon me if I lose my cool- there were several instances in the book, before the start, during the chapter, or after its end, where a battalion of elements which had NO place there laid a siege on and broke THE FOURTH WALL. NO. Unless you're a 150% sure that it serves SOME function to the storyline, or it's ACTUALLY humorous- a "Snorlax waking up after a long sleep for attacking the foe" kind of humor- instead of being there only for the PURPOSE of humor when it's actually NOT humorous in that situation, DO. NOT. BREAK. THE. FOURTH. WALL. Write down this somewhere noticeable and embellish it with royal colors of gold- UNLESS THE STORYLINE IS GOING SAFE ENOUGH, DO NOT BREAK THE FOURTH WALL UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCE. Seeing Pokemon slap each other for fun or
saying random stuff about peach cobbler when there's a God-forsaken apocalypse going on in the background REALLY spoils the intensity of the story. PERIOD. If you want to tell the story from another perspective, mention the name of the person whose perspective it's being told from, or give some sort of author's note. NEVER BREAK THE FOURTH WALL WHEN NOT NEEDED. It's a fanfiction, not a parody or an anime.

The second flaw carries a specific portion of the first point I stated before- there are so many elements in the story which look highly unrealistic in certain scenes.
*SPOILER ALERT*
For example, no one worries about the Internet in hell. No one talks so insolently to a giant terrifying centipede dragon of death as if they were a Hydreigon talking to a Sunkern. Furthermore, no Rotom would talk of telecommunication and security companies when they're protecting their lord Giratina from a group of individuals seeking their world's downfall. And if you want to give bonus content, give it at the end of the story, or maybe in a separate book.
*SPOILER ENDS*
Such scenes looked very out-of-place and unnatural when they were portrayed in the wrong color. I hope the author corrects that in the future.

Lastly, while the story is still wonderful despite the fourth wall and the certain unrealistic scenes, a minor spelling and editing check would work wonders on it. Several Pokemon names(Dusknoir, for example) were misspelled, and for the record, it wasn't really necessary to embolden Darkrai's lines, it would've sent the same message anyway. Spelling and grammar is important not only for fanfictions, but for language overall. Make sure you use it correctly.

VERDICT: Despite its ticking-off flaws, "A Spirit's Journey" is yet another book that shines brightly, standing alone from all the other mainstream fanfictions with its one-of-a-kind storyline and perfectly planned narration. This story should be taken as a template of how fanfictions with Pokemon telling the story should be. And how brilliant the book is as a read despite its rather macabre nature of "maelstroms". (I need to get myself a Banette with a sickle!)

RATING: 8/10.

Emerald (Chansey-)'s review:

Ok, and hello! This book has such a good concept, and its depth is really appealing. It is set in Sinnoh, I believe? And Pokemon are battling all around the world! Well, Pokemon are used in battle all the time by humans, but... What if the Pokemon of Life and Death battle and wreck havoc around them?

First of all, the story overall is very interesting. It really grabs the reader's interest because, honestly, this book can be read by anybody because anyone can relate to this book. The concept of Legendary Pokemon as deities is a nice touch to the book too.

Subject-verb agreement is used very well, the writer understands it completely and there were no errors regarding the topic as I could see. The battle scenes were also fun to read, though I for one got bored because I was rushing, but I reread them because I want to enjoy the thrill. And I promise you, you will not be disappointed.

When @d_s_t_e made a part on her book about character development, I checked the book and its characters are well-made. They all had redeeming qualities as far as I know, and the characters were so unforgettable.

Like Nine! She seemed to be the one person to be fully protective of her trainer, but she also had a soft spot for each one of her members, even the rogue. Like Ivy, for example. [The admin of GRA,] no matter how rebellious we are, and how focused she is in the club, she still understands us and makes a great leader. :3

Now, let's enter the dark side. One really annoying redeeming part of this book is how he uses pronouns that signify possession. Like "... I my ball is bouncing around and they their looks were angry..."

I hope the author edits this! And another one I see in almost "amateur" books is how they use the word "Pokemon." To all authors, here is a lesson you need to know. According to my memory of bulbapedia's article, the word Pokemon is a singular plural. Like, how "fish" can never be "fishes," "sheep" must not be "sheeps," and "deers" is not the plural for "deer." So, Snovers is not the plural of Snover. Magikarp, not Magikarps.

There were some parts were the structure of the dialogue is wrong. I admit, I had a sort of confusion with this, and of course, here is an example:

"Hey, there's Nora, Kenneth!," He said to me. I looked straight to him. "Quiet or the teacher will hear us", Chad just stared back and said "Oh, come on don't worry."

There are at least three wrong things in this paragraph. Minimum. XD The speaker, unless it's a name, should not be capitalized. There should only be one punctuation in the end. The punctuation should not be written after the qoute marks. And lastly...

Never have two speakers in one paragraph. Are we clear? Ok! :D

Lastly, this is what I hate personally, and whether executed well or not, NEVER EVER BREAK THE FOURTH WALL. If you want your book to be a formal one, never break it. Or else a magic flood will come out and an army of letters will attack us.

No, seriously don't. Unless the character is in a one part where e talks to the audience- wait, no, scratch that. Just don't! It's unprofessional and weird.

So, that was A Spirit's Journey! I really don't want to spoil anything in my reviews, so find out everything else by reading it yourselves! It's actually amazing.

My Rating: 7.5/10

Interview with the author:

Q: How did you find Wattpad?

A: Well, that's a sad story, actually. I was originally on Fanfiction.net, but one day when I Googled my story, I discovered a duplicate on Wattpad. I won't name who it was, because the situation has been resolved. Someone hacked my computer or something and gave him the story so he could post it. The situation was not the member's fault. However, I regret to say that I wasn't very gracious about the whole deal and actually got his account banned without really giving him a chance to explain himself. Fortunately, he made a new account, explained the situation, and we became friends.

Q:How do you avoid clichés when writing?

A: Well, it's rarely possible to avoid all clichés. If you don't believe me, look up TVTropes, a website devoted to ALL of them. And I do mean ALL. However, it all depends on how well you pull them off. A well-written story should hide all the stitching which holds it together. That's...something I'm still practicing. But! I hope you enjoy my stories as I perfect my craft.

Q: Do you ever get writer's block? How do you fix this?

A: Honestly, I take a walk, ride my bike, and go talk with people. By 'talk', I don't mean discuss favorite bands, sports teams, or the like, but find my friends and discuss issues, philosophy, economics, anything that stimulates the brain.

Q: Where do you get story ideas?

A: Anywhere and everywhere. Sometimes, I watch a show and something shows up onscreen. So I say 'huh, that's an interesting idea. Wonder where I can fit that in...' Other times, I literally dream them up. But most of the time, they come to me as I read people like John Donne, C.S. Lewis, Owen Barfield, Nietzsche, Dostoevsky, the Malleus Maleficarum and the like. They give me ideas because they are themselves full of them.

Q: What inspires you?

A: The supernatural. No, seriously. I'm a devoted Christian and an apologist. I think about these things constantly and they are my reason for writing. I want to show that Christians can write good stories too. (And make good movies, but that's something for the future). Ones that everyone can enjoy and show the world from our viewpoint, which to me fills the world with life and vitality, turns the motions of the planets into a song sung by stars, and fills it with hidden wonder, majesty, and mystery.

Q: Do you like to work out an outline or just see where the plot takes you when writing?

A: Originally, I wrote where the plot took me. Then I realized that was the best way to turn a good idea into a bad story. Some people can do it, I can't. Originally, A Spirit's Journey was a handwritten manuscript that I wrote because I was bored in high school history class. Then, I decided to write it up and...heavily altered it. I won't go into spoilers, but let's just say there were a lot of things that needed polishing. Now, I always at least have a bare-bones outline, though I'm not afraid to alter things as the story dictates.

Q: If you had to write your book all over again, what would you change in it?

A: More time spent defeating the resurgence of Team Rocket. No seriously, they went down too easy in my opinion. They are Team Freakin' Rocket. An organization that took Red and later Gold to defeat. I should have respected that more.Plus, the main characters should have been afraid of Giratina when he appeared. He's the Lord of the Underworld! Death is scary! That, and others things like it, don't make the best of sense. Were I to write this again, I would definitely take the time to sit down and think through these things.

Q: How committed are you to writing and/or Wattpad?

A: Oh, I intend to make a career of it. However, I have not posted any of my non-fanfiction works to this site yet and I am not yet sure if I will. So when you see a lull in my writing, it's probably because I am working on things like that.

QL What advice would you give to your younger self?

A: Stop putting things in just because 'they are cool!' SERIOUSLY, KID!!! It just annoys mature readers and makes more work for me cleaning things up!

Q: What is your favorite book you've read, one that inspires you?

A: Avalon by Stephen Lawhead. It's the story of the return of King Arthur to modern day England. The vision he casts for the world he's returned to is just...beautiful. There is no other way to describe it, but let me give you a quote:

""I have seen a land shining with goodness, where each man protects his brother's dignity as readily as his own, where war and want have ceased and all races live under the same law of love and honour.

I have seen a land bright with truth, where a man's word is his pledge and falsehood is banished, where children sleep safe in their mother's arms and never know fear or pain.

I have seen a land where kings extend their hands in justice rather than reach for the sword; where mercy, kindness, and compassion flow like deep water over the land, and men revere virtue, revere truth, revere beauty, above comfort, pleasure or selfish gain. A land where peace reigns in the hill, and love like a fire from every hearth..."

It goes one, but that's the world I want to bring into existence. Heaven on Earth. If my writing can help, even in a small, unnoticed way, it will not have been in vain.

Q: How much research do you do before you write?

A: Depends on the subject. For Pokémon, nothing (well, almost nothing) I do is without precedent in the games, manga, or anime. Of course, I do take some liberties, but nothing that horribly abuses the universe. Like the Storage Balls, Poke-balls converted for storing up to ninety-nine copies of a single item. This explains the carry limit in the games, where you can only have 99 copies of anything, as well as in the old games how your bag ran out of slots. After all, one backpack can only fit a limited number of storage balls.

Q: Who is your role model?

A: Tolkien. Bit cliché, I know. I admire the man's mastery of the English language of course, as any student of the subject should, and love to read his ultimate work, the Lord of the Rings, but there is a particular thought of his that I have taken to heart. He and Lewis fiercely disagreed over this, but Tolkien said in effect that if any of his works could not stand on their own apart from Christianity, he hoped someone would knock the Christian stilts out from under them and let them collapse. That is why his works are loved by everyone, not simply members of the Church. Though they undoubtedly are informed and inspired by Tolkien's Christianity, they do not require the reader be Christian to enjoy them. That is my aim as well.

Q: What's your favorite quote?

A: There are so many good ones...let's see here.

"The world isn't black and white, that's indeed true. What causes problems is when you decide that everybody, even the pyschotic child-murderer and the gentle saint, is exactly the same shade of gray."

I have no idea who first said this, but it is one I love.

* * *

Credits:

Article Written by: Ivy (RiverIvy)

Reviews by: Ivy, X (Darker_X), Emerald (Chansey-)

Interview conducted by: Abby (abbert21)

Special thanks to: RolfTheAbra

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Phew, so sorry for being late with this review!! Will never happen again.

We hope you found these reviews to be as interesting as we found the "A Spirit's Journey" to be! Do you have any suggestions to us? Do you think we could alter or improve our method of critiquing? Remember, we're critics, but that doesn't mean that we can't take any criticism ourselves :) Please leave any feedback or complaint you have in the comments!

We'd like to wish happy holidays to all you wonderful readers - Merry Christmas :3

-Ivy