Deceitful:

"Damian, a teenage boy, is abducted by the group Team Plasma as he discovers that his best friend is a member of the evil organization. Once captured, Damian is shortly transformed into a Pokemon. Read on as Damian is locked up in a cage, held in a facility, and later turned into his best friends own Pokemon, Damian decides that its time to fight back."

Genre: Fanfiction, Action, Tragedy

Ivy (RiverIvy)'s review:

This book is one that I find focuses wonderfully on a theme that's present and relative to all our lives - albeit not in the exact same form - and that is the theme of separation.

Throughout the novel, characters from all sides of the story are forced to deal with being apart from their loves ones based on circumstances beyond what they can control, no matter how frantically they try to fight them off. Seeing the main character and his family crumble as he's forced to lose contact with his parents and sister, due to being on the run for Team Plasma, for major sections of the book is something that touched the reader and made them feel fiercely for Damien's conflict. This was only the prime example; the struggle of separation was a key element that was shown throughout all the book, with Damien constantly being on the run for his life.

Another thing I liked quite a lot was the betrayal. Although not a very shocking twist, the main character's hurt, anger, and disbelief is evidenced clearly through his thoughts and actions; the scene where he confronts the traitor is one that gives off intensity and many mixed emotions. Things started to branch out in more complex ways when the betrayal went about in directions that both aided and damaged the good guys - intentional or not, it was fascinating to see.

A key plot point to the book was transformation from human to Pokemon: executed well enough. The realism in the confusion and lack of capability was satisfying, thank the good lord he loses his ability to read and write and communicate with humans. The internal dilemma that affected Damien later on was a GREAT addition, we get to see both the practical side of the main character's thinking and the emotional side. Again, mixed feeling were something brought up a lot.

Speaking of human VS Pokemon: the theme centering on that was that Pokemon had an entire world and culture of their own (to some extent), and that in reality, Pokemon were just as intelligent and capable as humans. Different viewpoint to what's normally found in Pokemon fanfics - where Pokemon are often depicted as having more animal-like behavior. Not what I'm used to, but not a bad thing, quite refreshing really.

Something very powerful was the intensity of many scenes, such as those of confrontation, doom, and battle - many of them against Team Plasma. You can feel the dread of the character having to face an enemy whom he betrayed, the terror of having to choose between different lives to save, the hopelessness of the cornered ones, the utter shock of death itself. Lots of these lacked richly detailed descriptions and vocabulary, however, the frank feel and straight-forwardness of the writing somehow went well with the genre of this book (which revolved around action and suspense).

On the theme of suspense - the cliffhangers were done great! The end of some (not all, but some) of the chapters left your jaw dropped to the ground, and the bursts of excitement pressed you to move on. The book was bursting with energy all around, heck, the ending is the hugest cliffhanger in itself.

Moving on from plot, and towards characters - a lot of the characters were very strong and well rounded. Take the main character Damien - I'll admit that initially I had small suspicions of him being a Gary Stu, with how he handled his situation of being turned into a Pokemon and all the friendliness he seemed to treat everyone he met, but it was clear as the chapters progressed that he was a realistically made and developed character. His most apparent flaw was his tendency to give up easily and wail about the worst that's to come, to shrink away from his problems easily. More development was added to his personality after meeting another character, Greninja, who I also liked a LOT with his interesting persona and background.

Reading about Greninja's training sessions of the main character was great, since while we got to see Damien's struggling and suffering under each session of Greninja's harshness, we slowly see the progression and change in the way he acted and the way he thought. Brilliant method to indirectly show a character's change.

All this was executed well.

Oh, plus a little thing that was very minor yet I noticed anyway: the dialogue flowed very smoothly. I don't know, there was something about it that seemed very natural. I can't explain why...it just is.

Anyway, moving on, although this book had a good share of brightness, there were some (a few, but big) things that were irritating.

For one - the FIRST thing look at when I examine a book: the blurb. It not only gives away that Damien's friend will betray him, it ALSO says he'll transform into a Pokemon, he'll be held in a cage and a facility, and all this will be done by Team Plasma.

Tf m8?

A blurb is not supposed to give us the outline of events in the story. It's not supposed to spoil plot twists to us. It's supposed to give a general overview of a book. It was too damn revealing!

Another rather important thing the book did poorly in was the lack of motives for a lot of characters. Why was Lewis a part of Team Plasma? If him and his family seem like good people, why are they a part of them of all things? Why is the main villain so brutal and savage when she has no obvious advantages to being such? Why is a legendary Pokemon so keen on helping one being? What were Team Plasma themselves even doing? All this left me very unsatisfied.

By the way - although I mentioned earlier that the characters for the most time were created excellently, there were some exceptions...like the goddamn Bunniot. Good Lord was he a very, very, very, very, very, very, very bland Pokemon. He has no traits or unique quirks that gives him a sense of individuality whatsoever, no flaws, no personality, and it was so weird how Damien became close to him so quickly. Buniot helped him one day and brought him to his home then Damien was all, "Ay m8, we listen to the same music let's bestest friends 5ever."

Small things:

- Too many commas at times and slightly awkward grammar/format.

- Paragraphs are too short. A lot of them were one sentence. Thankfully this was fixed later on in the book, but at the start it was still there.

- Found it a little odd that Pokemon would use the same slang as humans, like "man".

- Hunh? Hunh? What is the "n" doing in "huh"?

...and, that's all.

Overall, this book was an engaging and energetic read, with newfound action at every turn and corner. The characters were vast and unique, the plot was decent, the twists and shock-scenes were epic, and the grammar was okay. Although having some glaring amateur flaws, I forgave them easily as I really did enjoy this book.

Perfect to read on a bleak and restless day to make up for a lack of excitement in your day.

Rating: 7/10

Emerald (Chansey-)'s review:

Deceitful review

A book that won a place in the last annual Pokemon awards, this book showcases a theme about Pokemon and humans. Their nature, and personalities taken to a whole new level, let us find out what makes this book good and bad.

First, let's get to the structure. This book is alright, filled with a few typos here and there. The dialogue texts are sometimes in the wrong form, so if you want an explanantion of this read my previous reviews here in this book because I am sick and tired of explaining this every single time.

Now, what else? Paragraphs range from long descriptions to short replies from each character. The visual settings give just enough information to make a mental picture for yourself. And the book is filled with a few new words I haven't encountered yet, which means more knowledge to gain from this book.

Now, next we have the characters. Since the main character earns the ability to understand other Pokemon, each of them show different personalities. The main character himself seems to be calm and smart, yet angry and dumb at some points. A totally normal character for once, how lovely.

And let me admit that the longer you get attached to them, the more dread and sorrow you'll feel for them. Though, I might admit that there is SLOW character development in this. And I have yet to find a part in this book where Absol doesn't know anything.

Now, let's enter the story itself. The book is not growing in a constant pace, one time it's slowly filled with fillers, then everything's happening way too fast. I like it somehow, I feel like everything's thought out but not that well-planned. Which gives me bittersweet and conflicting emotions to this book.

Overall, this book is a great book. But it's just that, and it's drifting with the popular books. I feel like this deserves more reads, so please check it out!

My rating: 6.5/10 Considerably Good

Ji (Shaymin-)'s review:

"Deceitful" by @riolu17 is a good book by many accounts.  Seeing as I didn't have as much time to read it, what with just returning to the GRA, I'll try to keep this relatively short.  The book revolves around Damian, a Pokémon Trainer, and his involvement with Team Plasma.  I'm not going to spoil anything for anyone but I will say that he is turned into a Pokémon by said villains.

Starting off on a good note, I particularly liked how the author portrayed Damian, though I found that at some points in the story I was slightly confused.  The Pokémon in his party could do with a little more characterisation, though.  It was fine that they didn't have names - if anything, it was easier to tell who was who - but naming Pokémon does make them seem more human and allows the reader to become more attached to them, so I think the author should try to write something like that in the future.  I also liked the way each chapter ended because it made me want to read on without a pause.

On the other hand, there were a few things that could have been better.  Some grammatical errors and spelling mistakes popped off the screen as I was reading this story.  Correct spelling and grammar helps the readers read more smoothly, thus making them like the story more.  In addition to this, I felt that the story was a little too long.  The first thing one sees when they scroll down on a book when checking it out is the number of chapters.  Too many chapters can deter readers and the story was progressing steadily but could be made a few chapters shorter.  However, it's fine to have a long book as long as every moment is engaging.  Otherwise, you'll find that some reader give up along the way.  Battle scenes could also be described more vividly and some literary devices could be utilised effectively to add to the story

All in all, I thought this was a book worth reading but could do with having an editor look it over. Certain parts could be spiced up - making the beginning more gripping would be a start - but others were really good.  I would recommend this story to readers who had more time on their hands and a bit of patience, as is needed with reading any fic on Wattpad.  It is not too different from other Pokémon fics, so it isn't too hard to read.  I look forward to seeing any future works by this author as I'm sure they'll be better.

Interview with the author:

Q: How did you find Wattpad?

A: Honestly, I searched up "Sites like Fanfiction" and Wattpad happened to be one of the more popular sites.

Q: How do you avoids cliches when writing?

A: I try to avoid a Mary Sue type of character, or a character that's perfect in every way. I also avoid "He said, she said" a lot and use many synonyms.

Q: Do you find it difficult to write (writer's block, school gets in the way, etc.)?

A: Sometimes, but only because I maintain a Youtube gaming channel and I make music for a small label so I'm pretty busy.

Q: Where do you get story ideas?

A: I always loved the Pokemon Mystery Dungeon series, and reading some fanfiction online got me into writing my own. But the ideas for my actual story come from events in real life, just told in a different sense. Like for example in Deceitful, it's more about how I was betrayed by my foster dad and then a huge divorce happened with him and my foster mom.

Q: What inspires you?

A: My readers of course! The new comments and private messages really push me to write!

Q: Who's your favorite YouTuber?

A: Seeing as how my inspiration to start Youtube was VanossGaming I'd have to say him.

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

A: A lot actually. I feel like some character deaths didn't have much impact on the reader. So I would change who dies and who lives again.

Q: What makes you smile?

A: Everything, I'm very optimistic about everything so there's not much I don't smile about.

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

A: Not as much as I'd like to be. I used to be persistent with it but now I've been kind of slacking.

Q: Are there any songs that inspire you?

A: I listen to a lot of dubstep, so it's not gonna be a song most people know. Tha Trickas X Creaky Jackals - OG Purp (VMP Remix) he showed me the song before it even released. The perks of being a musician! :)

Q: If there is any place in the world that you could go, where would it be and why?

A: I'm not very outgoing, but I've always wanted to go the UK. Not sure why.

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

A: Writing Pokemon fanfiction and not knowing what most of the new Pokemon even are is difficult as all hell. The last Pokemon game I played was Platinum so I'm over trying to figure out what the heck this key ring looking thing is. So I would say a lot research about the moves the Pokemon use and how to describe them.

Q: What is your favorite color and why?

A: Orange, it's just a very nice color to look at for me.

Q: What's your favorite quote?

A: Believe it or not it's an analogy I made myself in Deceitful. It's something I live by personally. Absol stated, "Do not be the boat being tossed in the waves. Grab an oar and take control." What this means is take control of your life, don't expect life to be handed to you. I learned that the hard way. Everything you do in life is earned. And don't let other people tell you how to live your life, take advice to heart but if there's a dream you want to fulfill don't let anyone tell you that it's stupid or ridiculous. Go for it by all means.

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Credits:

Article written by: Ivy (RiverIvy), Gren (Grenineon), Shinju (-_CorruptDemonic_-)

Reviews written by: Ivy, Emerald (Chansey-), Ji (Shaymin-)

Interview conducted by: Ivy

Special thanks to: @riolu17

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Hello! Sorry for the long delay in posting this article. Fortunately, we're glad to report the club is back on track, and we'll also be posting our interview book very soon! Thank you so much for reading this!

- GRA