Fiery Lands and Stormy Seas: An Account of Tribal Hoenn:

"In days long past, before Poke-balls, the Great families of the Hoenn region were able to bond with their Pokemon through their Spirits. What follows is history's account of the second Great War between bonded Humans and Pokemon, as tribes and kingdoms clash for supremacy over the region."

Genre: Adventure, FanFiction

Rating: PG-13

Ivy (@RiverIvy)'s review:

All right, so, as usual, I'll start with the negatives:

The worst problem about this book were the characters. I wouldn't actually say that it's bad, it isn't, but it isn't that good either.

They all seems to be straightforward: either they were wicked and greedy, honorable and willing to do the right thing, or loyal and trusting, etc. My point it: they weren't very complex at all. Their general personality focuses on only one or two traits, like the ones stated above.

Another thing that also bothered me was how all of them either had just good qualities, or just bad qualities. Again something that really bothers me; when writing the most important thing about creating a character is making them *balanced* and *realistic* - add some good traits as well as mixing in some nasty ones. Don't just make it black and white, add shades of gray in between!

Another thing I didn't like: the ending.

Now, don't get me wrong, I'm a sucker for sad and gloomy books. It's always a fresh breath of air for me from the typical YAY YAY! - sunshine and rainbows and puppies and ponies ending of most books.

But the problem here is that... I'm not quite sure how to explain the ending; abrupt? I don't know, I just thought of it as awkward that after the ENTIRE action-filled and suspenseful plot: the whole thing ended just like that, because of something so insignificant?

It's like this: there is a story about a hero who has to save the planet from evil invading aliens, so he goes on a quest and kills the enemies and whatnot, and then, suddenly, while he's driving down the road to the grocery store he gets into a car crash and dies.

I mean, yeah, it's sad, but at the same it, it just... it doesn't really make the readers emotional since it's just so abrupt and awkward that it's almost comical. It leaves the reader with an "Uh... Okay?" kind of response.

Anyway, now onto the finer aspects of the story:

The plot. Oh my GOD how I adored it. Perfect blend of originality, deep and thought-provoking themes, thrills, unexpected twists and turns, action-packed war and battle scenes, heart-breaking losses... I could go on quite a while with this.

Another thing that impressed me was definitely the fan-made history. Very rich and complex and I saw no errors or loopholes in it. It must have taken quite a while to plan it, and I applaud the author for that.

To sum it up: I can't deny that the book had some flaws, however, it DEFINITELY is a worth-while read. A true rare gem among Pokemon fanfiction. I wasn't at all surprised when this won first place in the Pokemon Wattys.

Rating: 8.5/10

X (@calliope95)'s review:

I was piqued by the title, expecting battles between the Continent and Sea Basin Pokemon. And only then did I come to know that it was not what I thought it was.

First, the cover. Swampert appearing was good, but it would've been nicer if you'd chosen a more book-appropriate font. Honestly, I have to admit, I lost my interest when I saw the cover. I didn't read it for a day or two.

Today, after my data structures exam, and an exceptionally nice lunch, I sat down to read it, for the sake of giving a review.

Gods be good, how wrong I was.

Cons:

All three of my cons seem to be personal rather than professional, but I wanted to put it out there. Other than that, I have ABSOLUTELY no negative comments for this book.

Milotic being Glamour's symbol. It pains me to think of it. Milotic is such a gentle, beautiful Pokemon. To see it being adopted by the antagonist is heart-breaking. And Sootopolis City too. It's music is so cheerful.

Story is so short. I was hooked the moment I came to the prologue. 33 chapters! It was so wonderful too.

Destructively devastating end. I'm surprised I'm not crying. It feels like that day when I saw Robb Stark, Talisa Maegyr and Catelyn Stark killed in cold blood. So broken. But it was wonderful as well. A perfect cliffhanger.

Pros:As I said before, destructively devastating end, wonderful as well. The "inception" effect. A story inside a story(Hoenn) inside a story(the game). I absolutely loved the idea, even if the author didn't intend it. Hooked to it the moment I reached the prologue. I read like a student with OCD reads his books for two hours straight, not taking even a single break. It was astonishingly addictive. The various character and concept references. The Spirit Bond reminded me of Philip Pullman's humans and daemons concept. King Davis Forrest reminded me of the Elven King, Thranduil, a fact that I squealed with delight upon seeing. Thranduil was one of my favorite LOTR characters. Almost all the cities corresponded by the Pokemon that represented them, the House that ruled them and their specialty- Fortree "Forrests", Lavaridge "Brightfires", Mauville "Sparks", Petalburg's Slaking symbol, Slateport's fish, Fallarbor's glass flutes and so on. Game of Thrones references. Sarah sounded like Arya Stark. Brightfire sounded like Lannisters. Marsh sounded like Starks. I loved it. Martin's work is one of my favorites, even if I only saw the series. My verdict and rating: PokeBroncoFan, alongwith this book, is special and talented. It was hard to put down after being taken, and was mindblowing. A true magnum opus among Pokemon fanfictions, though I haven't read many. I'm sincerely looking forward to a sequel to THIS book. And I hope PokeBroncoFan's talents take him places. I will be reading his other works soon, and I would love to pick some tips from him on writing.

Once again, cheers. Go Forrests! :-D

My rating: 9/10. Half a star for the ending, half a star for making this so short.

Night (@Nightels_Scarlett)'s review:

At the first chapter, I got immensely confused and bored since it was hard to keep track of the words and names since none of them were related to any characters in Pokémon, the only thing that made it a Pokémon fanfic was because it was based off from the Hoenn Region and it has Pokémon in it. When I turned to the next chapter, I met up with more new things I need to keep track on.   But don't get me wrong — I'm not saying I don't like it. I'd say this story is in a different level of Fanfiction: It's making your own book of an original story.   For those who are interested in reading, I suggest you have a level of patience, a true love basic literature and isn't bothered to open up to new things since this book definitely have a bunch of new stuff to know. Like the wars that never happened in the original versions; this book is for those who truly love fanFICTION simply because it is its own fanfiction itself if you get what I mean.   There aren't much problem, I rarely see grammatical errors and each part in the story is almost to the reach of perfectly written. Long chapters made the reading worth while, it's more of a story for people with much free time. Now, for what I've known from the story itself, I have to say it must be the most realistic fanfiction I have read— anyone could have passed it off as an original book by Pokémon, because I say it deserves to be one.   The story was a fantasy story (but isn't Pokémon fantasy already?), there was a Prince and a Princess growing up in the time of a war. The Author may (I think) be a boy but you I have to say wrote the romance part with no problem. But what I don't like is that sometimes there are boring parts in the story, but that's my own opinion and that's why I'm here as a critic. When the war started, each part seemed to interesting I swear my eyes were glued to the screen and I began to read without even understanding anymore. I just felt like reading everything. @PokeBroncoFan I don't know who you are but you made a good book and I'm sure it took you some time and effort to publish it. You were very creative with the characters but the plot, not so much, but what I liked the most is how you knew Hoenn so well and the Spirit Pokémon thing made me hope for having one. There really is no problem with the book; except for the lack of romance! My rate: 9

Interview with the author:

Q: Why do you write?  

A: I write for fun and for my readers to have fun  

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

A: The characters drive the plot. Their actions determine their outcomes. But without the plot, there is no story. When it comes down to it, if the reader really cares about the characters, it makes the plot better.  

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

A: I make an outline. I need it to keep track of the timing of major events, but once I start writing I'm not afraid to change my plans.  

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

A: I do sometimes. Although I try to use a different voice in all the "POV" chapters, I'm sure a little of myself bleeds through (in some more than others).  

Q: Give us an insight into your main character.  

A: In order to answer that, we have to ask ourself who is really the main character(s). Most would say "Chris". He's the most like me, except he's more emotionally driven. Chris is very protective of his family, his friends, and he is always trying to be a good ruler of his people. He often weighs his own decisions against those that his late father would choose.  

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

A: I do read A LOT. When it comes down to fanfiction, I try to read as much as I want people to read my book. Some books I really liked are @Serena-Daniels "The things that define us", @TrainerAsh0 "Pokemon Neo Journey", and @Vespin "The Golden Throne".  

Q: Which writers inspire you?  

A: As far as inspiration goes, I LOVED "A Song of Ice and Fire" by George RR Martin (that's the game of thrones series). The themes and setting of it really inspired me to make my own plot and story set in a medieval Hoenn region. If anyone likes real life books, you HAVE to read these. Or else.

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

A: After I make my outline, my writer's block kinda disappears. When I'm driving places sometimes I brainstorm or play with some ideas as to what's coming next. Once I start writing a chapter, I don't stop.  

Q: What are your ambitions for your writing career?  

A: To write for fun and have other readers on Wattpad have fun reading what I write. Nothing major.  

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

A: I would spell check closer. Even minor changes in the plot would cause a butterfly effect across the rest of the story.  

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

A: When jumping over a rope, jump high enough so that you don't trip and break both your elbows.  

Q: What advice would you give to aspiring writers?  

A: KEEP WRITING! It doesn't matter how good or bad you or anyone else thinks it is, you'll always be a better writer with each new paragraph. Even the most experienced writers were noobs before.  

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

A: "Chaos isn't a pit; chaos is a ladder." -Petyr "Littlefinger" Baelish (Game of Thrones)   Basically it means that chaos isn't some put of nothingness and barbarians, it's an opportunity to take advantage of life and climb the ladder

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Credits:

Article written by: Ivy (@RiverIvy)

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

Interview conducted by: Flora (@FloralArtistry)

Special thanks to: PBF (@PokeBroncoFan)

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Hello! We hope you enjoyed reading this article as much as we did creating it. See you next week!

-Ivy and Flora