Crossed Paths: 

After the world was destroyed by legendaries, only 1 reigon, Mahtu, remained. This reigon was full of Pokemon from all reigons, and every trainer who survived. Including one girl with a unique power, which she currently doesn't know of.

But Amber soon begins to piece together the clues to the destruction of her friends homes, finding dark secrets, foretold destinies and...love? When People and Pokemon begin to go missing, who is behind it? Amber's crazed ex or Silver's father? And what is A girl named Serenity doing there? Find out in Crossed Paths!

Genre: Fanfiction

Ivy (@RiverIvy)'s review:

The first thing that caught my interest of this story was the fact that it took place in a whole new region – Mathu. I always loved fanfics like that; all the new creativity and originality of an entirely made-up setting, history, culture – just brilliant. I do wish that, at some points, though, the author focused more on it and its aspects.

I love the beginning prologue – the hook was great: the whole scene with Giovanni watching on his screen as Mew and Mewtwo destroy the other regions. It gives a beginning hint of the plot of the story, while at the same time building up a mysterious atmosphere that makes the reader crave answers.

In fact, the entire prologue in itself was great, as it did a fantastic job in piquing the reader's interest and urging them to read on – with the introduction of the main characters, villain, and plot being an added bonus.

I also did love the humor! It added a nice spice to the story and made it all the more entertaining. At some points, though, I think it was used in a bit of the wrong place or time. For example, in the prologue, when Giovanni is talking to Silver, the use of sarcasm about his gloves somewhat wavered the atmosphere – which was supposed to be tense and serious. Still, all in all, great comedy!

There's a great improvement in chapter five. Much more elegantly written and detailed!

I noticed several times that there were mistakes in dialogue formatting. It's easy to make for a beginner: but remember to always start a new paragraph when another character speaks!

Author's notes where a little too excessive for my liking. It's fine to have them in the beginning or end, but if it's in the middle it just gets irritating, frankly.

At some points, I thought that the writing was rather messy, and a bit unprofessional: like overused exclamation marks, capitalization, and too-short paragraphs.

Could use more details and elaboration; I felt like the author sometimes just rushed through certain pieces of information, with things like only the usage of parenthesis, just to get over with it.

I honestly don't see the point in using things like "flashback" or "The next day", "Few hours later", things like that. It would be much better to instead use some sort of indication (like, "I remember once, when..." following the use of italics to show that it's a memory from the past). It makes it much neater and more story-like.

Grammar was decent. I felt like it could be worked on with some things, especially punctuation and capitalization. Generally good, though!

This book was a light-hearted, funny and entertaining read – just perfect if you're looking for something comical and easy. While there are some areas to be improved on, I think the author shows promise in her writing. Keep up the good work!

Rating: 6/10 

X (@calliope95)'s review:

"OOOOOOH, MY, POST-APOCALYPTIC?! THIS IS GOING TO BE FUN!" I love post-apocalyptic stories, they put so much more drama into the story. But I digress.

This is my first story- everyone's first story here, I guess- which has not been completed. So my review's probably going to be short, but I've tried pointing out whatever I could. With this, let me dig in.

Cover's okay-ish. Nothing to say about that department. The blurb catches the attention (again, I love post-apocalyptic stories!)

So, here's what I've gathered from the 5 chapters in this book so far: 

Pros:

The charming narration. It's almost adorable. I can visualize the characters poking and laughing and walking- it's almost lifelike. And the exclamations and whines- well, it's so nice to read.

So many questions. THIS IS ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT FEATURES A GOOD BOOK SHOULD ALWAYS HAVE. You must think why I think this is a pro, and not a con, so let me tell you this- one of the most vital roles of a book is to get the reader glued to the book so that they could find out what happens in the end. "Why is he here?" or "Why did so-and-so do that to so-and-so?"- all those questions make you ache to read the story as it progresses. I think I have some 10 questions about this book so far, and I can safely say that I've caught the bait.

The story itself. Post-apocalyptic, charming narration, multitude of questions- all fit into just five chapters. That's real talent.

Cons:

I noticed around three instances so far where the word "said" has been used to describe someone currently being talked about, like, "said Trainer came in" or "said <insert color here>-eyed boy appeared on top of a nearby dune". While it's not the worst thing in the world, a better idea could be to substitute that for some other way of describing the scene, like, "The <insert color here>-eyed Trainer appeared on top of the dune as I thought" or "Speak of the devil, he came in and noticed my face". I hope you get it. Once again, it's not so bad, just wanted to point that out.

Battles could be elaborated. *SPOILER* Of course, there's only one battle here so far, *SPOILER ENDS* but it's quite nice to make the readers visualize the battle, with, say, Pikachu running at full speed towards the enemy, glowing white. I hope the author works on this in the future.

VERDICT AND RATING: Even though the story's under works, and there are a few departments the author could try to improve in, this is a fun, interesting book- perhaps the right word here is series- to read, especially when you need some context to work on. I'm really interested to know what's going to happen in the upcoming chapter, and I'll definitely be reading more of @LittleSkitty's (formerly @M_loves_Pokemon's) works.

RATING: 7.5/10. For the five chapters currently published. Good work, honestly.

Gren (@Grenineon)'s review:

First off, I would like to say that the comedy in this book is one of its greatest strengths. Whether if it was the silly jokes or the corny retorts, I seriously laughed out loud. It even offered some development for certain characters.

I was drawn to this book from the very beginning because of Project 101 - a case about a girl with interesting powers. What are these interesting powers? If you're like me, things like this attract you from the start.

The grammar was pretty good, but I wish that each line of dialogue had its own paragraph. There were great descriptions - something I really appreciate.

One thing I didn't like was N. He was there for less than one chapter, and he had no development. AT ALL. Character development is what attracts people to a story. If you introduce a relatively important character, or even just a character in general, development is important. The author should've tried developing him a little further.

Another thing that wasn't developed is Project 101. I was so interested and curious to learn more about this, but Project 101 wasn't even mentioned again after being introduced. Not even once. Again, the author introduced something but did not follow up.

Overall, I thought this book was pretty good; however, I missed a little bit of development. I do realize that this book is still going on, so I hope the author improves/fixes the errors I pointed out.

My rate: 7/10

Night (@Nightels_Scarlett)'s review:

"Crossed Paths" has been a short uncompleted story, it was a decent one and very laid back simple. I liked how easy and plain the Author seem to explain everything and how the story compliments the way she writes it. It seems like the perfect way she writes if that even makes sense. But another thing that gets me is the story itself, where she manages to squeeze a plot in the original Pokémon story. But there has been a few problems too.

One, the story goes a tad bit too fast. Sure I like a fast story, but I could hardly process things that happen. I mean, what if a reader just skips one chapter from a romantic scene to a war scene? That seems too fast. Secondly, the explanation may be simple, but there are also some parts where I couldn't describe things. The problem here is that some descriptions are a bit too simple, not very specific and detailed. Third, the common grammar and spelling errors, but I suppose this gets like 99% of the Population of authors, so it's fine, nothing too much.

Above all, the story was interesting and me couldn't wait for more. My rate would be a 6,5 over 10

Interview with the author:

Q: Why do you write?

A: I write because I find it fun and kind of a release from my day-to-day life. When I'm writing I loose myself in it and zone out.

Q: What's more important in your opinion: characters or plot?

A: For me, the characters are most important, as the reader will be able to see how they develop, and sometimes relate to them.

Q: Do you work out an outline or a plot or do you prefer just see where an idea takes you?

A: I usually think of a plot in my head and keep it there, but when I actually write it down, I usually go off track.

Q: While you are writing, do you ever feel as if you are one of the characters?

A: Sometimes, when I'm writing a chapter in a certain character's P.O.V., I try to imagine how they would react to the situation, and sometimes I do end up feeling like I am them!

Q: Could you give us an insight into your main character.

A: My main character is Amber and she is the girl who saves Silver and Gold at the beginning. She is a happy-go-lucky and friendly person, though it will be revealed she is different towards strangers later on. Amber has a strong bond with her Pokémon and will do anything for them.

Q: Do you read as much as you write and if so, who are your favorite authors and books?

A: I probably read more than I write. When I was younger I read works by famous authors such as JK Rowling. When I discovered Wattpad, I read books by many authors, such as @shinymewgirl, @Pyro_Maniac, @SilentCopper, @FloralArtistry, @Serena-Daniels, @dragonrose8910 and many, many more! 

Q: Which writers inspire you?

A: The writers who inspire me are the ones mentioned above.

Q: Do you ever get a writer's block? If so, what are your ways of overcoming and dealing with it.

A: Writer's block is my biggest issue with writing. When I get it, I find listening to music and relaxing a big help.

Q: What are your ambitions for your writing career?

A: One day, I would like to get a fiction story published and work full-time as a writer, doing what I love.

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

A: If I had to write "Crossed Paths" again, I would make the chapters more detailed and longer.

Q: What advice would you give to your younger self?

A: To my younger self, I'd tell her to write all your ideas down, and improve from there.

Q: What advice would you give to aspiring writers?

A: To aspiring writers (like me!) I'd say to just write as best you can, then go back and review it yourself, and improve in any way you can!

Q: To finish this interview, would you like to share your favourite quote, if you have one?

 A: My favourite quote is: "Seven seas can't sink a ship, so why should a few words get you down?" Don't ask me why. I just like it, I guess!

* * *

Credits:

Article written by: Helsu (@FloralArtistry)

Reviews by: Ivy (@RiverIvy), X (@calliope95), Gren (@Grenineon), Night (@Nightels_Scarlett)

Interview conducted by: Helsu

Fanfic recomended by: Rainy (@RainyFantasy)

Special thanks to: Mitzi (@LittleSkitty, formerly @M_Loves_Pokemon)

--------------------------------------------------------------

Hello! We really do hope you enjoyed this article.

We are terribly sorry for not posting this article on the weekend, since we had some minor technical difficulties with ourselves. But on a brighter note, @Nightels_Scarlett is back and we have introduced a new member to the club - @Grenineon, who's going to join us as a critic.

Tune in for the next and have a happy holiday!

-Ivy and Helsu