Fanfic / Pokémon Black & White: Tale of a Legend

"Volantes and Thrin are new Pokemon Trainers unlike any other. Volan is constantly haunted by a strange white Pokemon, and Thrin by an intimidating black one. Their destinies are closely intertwined, but in a way neither of them even suspect. Can Volan save the Unova region, win the heart of his childhood crush, and become a hero by defeating the ever-growing threat of Team Plasma?"

— Author's summary

A brave boy and a tough girl, siblings, begin their Pokémon journey together. They receive sporadic guidance from odd black and white phantoms, and find themselves drawn into conflict with a seemingly-harmless Pokémon rights group. The story incorporates elements from the first and second Black/White games, focusing on friendship (and perhaps more), destiny, and of course, plenty of adventure. It is written by Cottonmouth25, and can be read here.

It has a sequel called "Pokemon X & Y: Flight of a Legend", which can be read here.

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Tale of a Legend provides examples of:

• Abandoned Area: The Relic Castle, Celestial and Dragonspiral Tower, and Lacunosa Town.
• Aerith and Bob: The Gurei family - the mother, Emily, and her children, Volantes and Thrin.

• The Announcer: Freddy the Scoop for all four tournament arcs, as well as Don George, Clay and Anna, and Skyla.
• Animal Talk: Quite fortunate for the audience, as the Pokémon have lots to say.

• Attack of the 50-Foot Whatever: Perfect Kyurem, although it's described as closer to thirty or forty feet.

• Badass Army: All the Trainers present for the Vertress Conference show up to fight Team Plasma during the Battle of Vertress.

• Bag of Holding: Volan observes at one point that, just as in the games, backpacks are able to hold more than their volume would seem to allow.
• Battle Amongst the Flames: As the fight with the Durant Queen goes on, all those Inferno and Flamethrower attacks start taking a toll on the surroundings.

• Battle Cry:
  • Volan's "Show no mercy!"
  • Hugh uses his a few times: "I'm about to feel my rage!"
  • And Phantom's: "Remember, there are only two types of men in this world..."

• Because Destiny Says So: Eventually, Volan becomes very accepting of his role as the White Hero. Thrin also doesn't mind meeting a huge black dragon if it means she gets to stomp Team Plasma.

• Because You Were Nice to Me: This is the reason Volan fell for Caitlin when they first met, because she picked him up when he was down after losing a Pokémon battle to a cheating bully.
• Being Evil Sucks: Pterano does not enjoy his time in Team Plasma at all.
• Being Good Sucks: Landorus is tired of Legendaries getting involved in human issues, but he's too nice not to come and save innocent people from his brothers' mayhem.
• Berserk Button:
  • Whether or not he's the target, Volan hates bullies with a passion. Especially when those bullies are part of a certain evil team.
  • When Reshiram (in Volan's body) learns the green-haired guy in front of her is in charge of those who disrespect the truth, she is not pleased. She's also angry upon learning what has happened to Kyurem. Zekrom responds in the same manner.
  • For Heatran, it's just being woken up. Thundurus and Tornadus too, since it happened earlier than it should have.
• Big Damn Heroes: Thrice during the climax - the Gym Leaders showing up to battle the Seven Sages just in time to save Cheren and Trip, the Elite Four leading an army of Trainers to assist Volan and the gang against Team Plasma, and Petromyzon attacking Ghetsis' Hydreigon to save Volan.
• Bilingual Bonus: When Professor Juniper upgrades his Pokédex, Volan is able to get the Latin name of any Pokémon encountered. For readers who know Latin, there are some interesting names to look forward to. (For those who don't know Latin, the author is kind enough to translate between chapters.)
• Bloodless Carnage: Pokémon battles can get fairly violent, but blood is only spilled occasionally.
• Brainwashed and Crazy:
  • This is revealed to be what happened to the Pokémon on Route 14 and the Village Elder's Haxorus, thanks to Colress' experiments.
  • Later shown to be a staple of Team Plasma's technology, when a perfected version of the device is then used to turn a number of Pokémon against Volan and Co. - the Durant Queen, Zekrom, and Ghetsis's Hydreigon.
  • Thrin as well, thanks to Ghetsis' Beheeyem's influence.
• Brown Note:
  • For Volan, Thrin, and their dragons, Kyurem's cry induces rage and agony all at once.
  • Mistral's Screech attack is extremely painful, at least until she replaces it with another move.
  • Volan and Thrin stop Perfect Kyurem by calling out to their respective dragons that make up two-thirds of its body. It reacts adversely at first.
• The Bully: Rudy's original trainer, Toby, was very cruel to Volan in a flashback, and to his own Pokemon. Come the sequel, Toby finally appears on-screen, and he's not much better. If that wasn't any indication, in his first appearance in the present day, he tricks a bunch of kids, who are too young to have Pokemon yet, to go into a forest knowing that a wild, violent, rampaging Pokemon is on the loose.
• Call-Back: There are a couple of references to Ash's travels in Kanto, which took place prior to the events of "Tale of a Legend".
• The Cameo: Barry and Paul during one of the tournament arcs, as well as Phantom and his crew, and Ash's Charizard.

• Can't Take Anything with You: Zig Zagged. The prehistoric pokes that Volan and Thrin befriend during their visit to the Cretaceous Period fail to make the return trip... but Volan and Thrin do end up with two very well-preserved Fossils, which they take to the lab and revive.
• Carry the One: Because Colress neglects to carry the five, Genesect wakes up seven-and-a-half hours early.
• The Cavalry: The Unova Gym Leaders show up to battle Team Plasma's Seven Sages.

• Chekhov's Gun: Volan obtaining a shard of the Reveal Glass (creatively called the Reveal Shard) allows him to Dream Spy on Thrin in Team Plasma's castle later on.
• Chekhov's Gunman: During the final battle, Petromyzon comes out of nowhere to save Volan, evolving into Eelektrik in the process.
• Chekhov's Skill:
  • Earlier, during one of their Pokémon League battles, Will orders his Ariados to wrap a flaming Seed Bomb up in web and hurl it back at his foe. Later, when he and some other Trainers are fighting many Team Plasma grunts, this comes in handy when they have to clear out a large number of enemy Pokémon.
  • Petrie learns how to ice-skate during the PWT, which allows him to excel in later battles involving icy terrain.
• Christmas Episode: One Exists as a separate story, not recommended for those who have yet to reach Chapter 100 or so.
• Clueless Chick-Magnet: Volan manages to catch the attention of both Caitlin and Roxie without realizing it. A couple of other girls comment on his looks (including Sapphire), but don't pursue him further.
• Combination Attack:
  • Used a lot by Volan near the end, and teaching his Pokémon these is what most of his last-minute training for the Pokémon League consists of.
  • Will and Lola come up with one involving Flamethrower, Seed Bomb, and Spider Web during the climax.

• Crash-Into Hello: Volan's first meeting with Caitlin in several years, in the Nacrene City library.
  • A platonic version is how Volan meets Grimsley.

• Crossover:
  • The gang spends several legs of their journey with either Professor Scatterly or the Barebones siblings, from the Fossil Fighters series.
  • A couple of major supporting characters come from two separate fanfiction universes also based on [1].
• Curb-Stomp Battle: Whenever Joey and his Watchog show up, they end up on the receiving end of this.
• Cutting Through Energy: Petrie uses Dragon Claw to split a Flamethrower in half.

• Dark Is Not Evil: Zekrom is hunted by Team Plasma to achieve their ideals and is antagonistic to Reshiram, but he is just as benevolent a Pokémon as any other.

• Defeat Means Friendship: More or less happens with every capture, but Stephan's Durant is a special example in that she regards her capture as a sign that her new 'colony' is a tough one. Her undying loyalty is immediately granted.
  • Another notable example is none other than Ghetsis's Hydreigon. After being released from his evil master, he joins Volan's team once it's clear there's nowhere else for him to go.
• Defiant Captive: Thrin does a stint in Plasma prison. She is rude and does what she can to undermine them.
  Thrin: Suck Tynamo guts.

• Did You Just Flip Off Cthulhu??: Volan delivers an epic tongue-lashing to Zekrom at one point.
  Volan: And you! You're supposed to follow Thrin! The real Black Hero, not this fancy cape-wearing idiot. Get your priorities straight, you big black lump!

• Dreaming of Things to Come: Our (white) hero does this multiple times throughout the story. He foresees the fight with Zekrom and the 'Black Hero', finding the Relic Castle shrine, and the Tornadus-Thundurus fight.
• Dream Spying: Volan does a little of this when he sticks Landorus' piece of Reveal Glass under his pillow; this is how he finds out what N, N's servant, and his own sister are getting up to.
• Dressing as the Enemy:
  • We get a villainous example when Zinzolin, disguised as a cop, breaks his subordinates out of prison.
  • Later, Volan does this when he and Rickie check out the Plasma Frigate.
• Dual Boss: Volan has to battle both Skyla and Tony for the Jet Badge.
• Early-Bird Cameo:
  • Despite taking place during the events of Black and White, several Kalos Pokémon make appearances as species unable to be fully identified by the Pokedex. Mega Evolutions also appear.
  • An unnamed character appears at the end of Chapter 172, "The Story is Not Yet Over". It's Sera De Lis, formally introduced in the sequel.
• Eaten Alive:
  • The Plasma nicknamed Kermit, by a hungry Tyrantrum.
  • More Plasmas, by the Frillish/Jellicent whose home they destroy
  • Happens offscreen to four unlucky tourists, by the same angry Frillish.
• Light 'em Up: Elemental beams are used by various Pokémon, but most notable is the one used by Perfect Kyurem, which is described as an Ice Beam, Flamethrower, and Thunderbolt fused into one.
• Elite Mook: The four Elite Team Plasma Grunts. The Durant Queen might also count, being a powerful wild Pokémon.
• Embarrassing Nickname:
  • Cheren has one, but it's only mentioned once.
  • Several Plasma grunts are given nicknames based on what they look like.
• Enemy Mine: Phantom's motivation for joining the Final Battle.
  Phantom: Remember, there are only two types of men in this world. Those who fight for what's right, and those who do not!
• Escaped from the Lab: Genesect, as a result of Colress' careless mistake.

• Face–Heel Turn: Thrin does one in a fit of anger after Volan visits Celestial Tower. At some point after leaving the group, though, she decides that she will go back. However, N and Team Plasma decide to complicate matters for her.
• Face Palm: Scatterly, bless him, drives his companions to this. A nearby Sigilyph opts to perform a wall-bang instead.
• Face Your Fears:
  • Volan is not a fan of Frillish (or the sea, really), since one tried to drown and eat him when he was little. The universe seems to pick up on this and he keeps seeing reminders of the watery grave that was nearly his. Joining forces with Sapphire and her homies helps him get over the problem.
  • Due to her Kyurem misadventure, Thrin has similar issues with Ice-types until Blanca the friendly Vanillite comes along.

• Final Battle: Becomes known in-universe as the Battle of Vertress. It takes place in Vertress City, the site of the Unova League, and consists of a battle between Volan and Thrin, then Reshiram versus Zekrom, Perfect Kyurem versus Volan and his friends as well as a number of Legendary Pokémon, a war between Pokémon Trainers and Team Plasma, and finally a battle between Volan and Ghetsis.
• Fire-Forged Friends: Bernice and Rudy promise to squash their beef for their Trainer's sake, but later they really come to care about each other.
• Fireball Eyeballs: Volan sports a brilliant blue version of this when Reshiram's Berserk Button is pushed.
• First Girl Wins: Roxie develops something of a crush on Volan, but his heart and mind are already full of Caitlin.
• Fish out of Temporal Water: Petrie and Plastron do a good job adjusting to the future, though.
• Flashback Cut: Alder recounting how his Druddigon escaped.
• Flashback Nightmare: Thrin's nightmare about the time she snuck into the woods and met Kyurem, as well as Volan's dream about the battle that caused his Cynicism Catalyst.

• Foreshadowing: Sol's evolution is given a lot of this. A Volcarona is present on the mural depicting a battle between Reshiram and Zekrom located in the Relic Castle's throne room, where Volan originally recruits Sol. Sol is later noted to be unusually strong after he learns Flare Blitz. Then, throughout the Pokémon League arc, Sol contracts an illness (actually just an extended molt) that involves bouts of sneezing and shivering and causes his fur to gradually fall out, which is later mentioned by Anthea and Concordia to be a completely natural phenomenon. And right when Sol is looking his worst, his exoskeleton finally splits and he bursts into flames as he evolves.
• Foregone Conclusion: Thanks to the first chapter, we know that Volan will get the girl and send Team Plasma packing.
• Forgettable Character: Quite a few during the tournament arcs, although some of them, such as the Barebones siblings, end up playing larger roles later on.
• Frame-Up: Done to Pterano, which motivates him to join Team Plasma.
• Framing Device: The story begins with Volantes telling his son how he met his mother.
• Friendly Enemy: The Barebones siblings are formidable rivals to Volan and friends during the PWT, but they mean no harm to anyone, since all they want is to scour Unova for some worthy opponents. After the attack on Lacunosa Town, they even help him take on Colress.

• Friendly Ghost: Some are more mischievous than others, but the whole gang in the forest off Route 7, including Mistral, counts.
• Fusion Dance: Kyurem is forced by Ghetsis to become Perfect Kyurem by absorbing both Reshiram and Zekrom.
  Tentatively, Volan dared to look at what Kyurem had become, and the sight that met his eyes was simultaneously so horrifying and awe-inspiring to look at that he simply couldn't find the words.

• Go Through Me: Before Reshiram appears, Bernice and Oliver attempt this against Zekrom.

• Guardian Entity: Reshiram to Volan (and to his son as mentioned in the prologue), Zekrom to Thrin. Victini exhibits traces of this, too.

• Hate Plague:
  • Mindless violence is induced in Pokémon on Route 13 and near the Abundant Shrine by one of Colress' awful experiments. Even worse: two of the victims are Tornadus and Thundurus, who weren't even supposed to wake up yet. Later he figures out how to target individual Pokémon, including Zekrom.
• Hates Being Touched: Volan, when it's not by somebody he cares for, although it bothers him less as time goes on.

• Heel Realization: N realizes all at once that he was not meant to have Zekrom and change the world. He's reduced to meekly asking for Thrin's forgiveness for everything he's done for Team Plasma.
• Hell Is That Noise: Perfect Kyurem's roar, a combination of the roars of Reshiram, Zekrom, and Kyurem.
  Perfect Kyurem: PREEEOOOOAAAAHHHRAAAAAAANN!
• Hired Guns: Phantom and his crew have been paid to come to the underwater ruins to find an important object.
• Hold Your Hippogriffs: "Not the brightest flames on the Chandelure", "son of a Bisharp", "we're Muk'd"...

• Hopeless Boss Fight: Volan and Stephan only wanted to stall Thundurus and Tornadus until Bianca and Ash could make it to the shrine. After putting up a good struggle they and their pokes are out like lights. They do recover and come to help in Round 2 right before Landorus arrives.
• Humans Are Bastards:
  • The belief of the Sacred Swordsmen, although Volan gives them cause to begin thinking otherwise.
  • N, as a result of Ghetsis' manipulation, believes this as well. He comes around eventually.
• I Come in Peace: Sapphire isn't an alien, but she tells Volan this (in Pokéspeech, natch) after his initial freakout.

• I Will Punish Your Friend for Your Failure: This is how the villains make Thrin agree to let them use Zekrom -they say that people she cares about will suffer if she doesn't.
• If My Calculations Are Correct: There's only a 50% chance Team Plasma will win, and that's why Colress decides to cheat some more.
• Instant Sedation: People tend to black out when the Shadow Triad kidnap them.
• It Amused Me: Why Marlon is in the Pokémon Center basement helping fight the Plasmas.
• It's Personal:
  • You do not steal a man's Pokémon team if you enjoy having teeth.
  • You also do not kidnap somebody's sister if you like breathing.
  • Ulna joins Volan in order to help ruin the lives of the people who flattened her home and scared her family away.
  • If their other shenanigans weren't bad enough, now Plasma's gone and frozen Volan's hometown.
  • The Barebones siblings become temporary allies due to some of their Pokémon suffering the same fate as Volan's team.
  • Villainous examples: After the gang interferes with his research one time too many, Colress declares this... right before fleeing. Also, the Elite Plasma Grunt, Aldith, reveals that she was one of the grunts Volan and Thrin took down way back on Route 2, and has come for revenge. And, as in the games, Ghetsis flips out when Volan defeats everything that Team Plasma puts in his way.
• It's Quiet… Too Quiet:
  • The gang notices this as they travel through the woods of Route 13. They find out why soon enough.
  • At one point, this happens when Volan is fleeing Perfect Kyurem. All is quiet, until he looks up from his hiding place and finds the giant dragon almost on top of him.

• Kaiju: Perfect Kyurem is treated as such, described as being as tall as a three-story building.
• Kill It with Fire:
  • Happens to Vulcan the Elite Plasma Grunt, after the boss wakes up a pissed-off Heatran.
  • Zig Zagged in the case of the Durant Queen. She turns out to have the Heatproof ability, so everyone's best Fire attacks do little damage. However, after the fire spreads to the surrounding area, her wings are too damaged to fly any more, and there's nowhere for her to land and Dig to safety. She only delayed the inevitable.

• Laser-Guided Karma:
  • Two grunts blow up an underwater ruin that was home to countless Pokémon. The kingdom's new ruler is very unhappy about this, and has his subjects... invite them down for dinner after they discover their equipment isn't working.
  • Vulcan is roasted right after he and Colress do their dirty work and wake up Heatran.

• Let's Split Up, Gang!: Bianca opts to do some heavy solo training after her troubles at the Humilau City Gym.
• Life Energy: Reshiram uses hers occasionally to heal Volan of life-threatening wounds.
• Limit Break:
  • A couple of times during the final few battles with Team Plasma, Petrie becomes able to ignore his own Defeatist ability, which works by crippling him with fear. It is postulated in the sequel that he could only have done this due to the dire circumstances he was facing during that time.
  • Reshiram and Zekrom both attain physical form despite being locked in the Light and Dark Stones when their respective heroes are in mortal peril.
• Love at First Sight: Volan figures out that his affection toward Caitlin has existed ever since they met, it just took him a while to figure it out. The prologue specifically mentions this, but Caitlin enjoys keeping him in suspense about whether or not it was the same for her.
• Luck-Based Search Technique: A couple taps of the foot happens to reveal the computer with Ghetsis' security feed of Kyurem.
• Made of Explodium: When a Pokémon's attack connects, there's usually an explosion involved.
• Meaningful Name:
  • Some of Volan's Pokémon get these - Rickie for the Richter scale since the Seismitoad line causes earthquakes, Petromyzon for the genus of the sea lamprey which the Eelektross line resembles, Sapphire for her eye color, Sol for his evolved form's association with the sun.
  • Volantes himself -he's named for the act of flying, which proves to be his favorite activity.
  • Valkyrie is a fitting nickname for Thrin's bloodthirsty Venipede. Jet is named for the color of his body, and Plastron the Tirtouga is, of course, named for that part of a turtle.
• Mistreatment-Induced Betrayal: After he's had enough of his old Trainer's abuse, Rudy tricks the guy into leaving him behind. He ends up being found by Volan and taken in.

• Never Tell Me the Odds!: Spoken (well, thought) word for word by Genesect during the fight with Colress' Metagross.
• Nice Job Fixing It, Villain: Zinzolin's taunt is the impetus for not one, but two opposing Pokémon to evolve, defeat his Weavile, and run him out of town.
• Non-Idle Rich: Caitlin is wealthy, but still works hard as an Elite Four member.
• Noodle Incident:
  • Cheren has ordered Bianca never to discuss the 'Swadloon Incident'. She disobeys. Volan and Thrin also don't talk about the 'Jelly Bean Incident'.
  • Professor Scatterly and Will have gotten into... something involving Beedrill near Olivine City.
• Oblivious to Love: It takes Volan a while to figure out exactly why Caitlin makes him feel odd. She has the same issue. And later, he realizes that he's been in love with her since they first met.
• Oh, My Gods!: Arceus is invoked every so often. Giratina, too.
• Oh, Crap!: When Stephan's Chatot Mimics a Clefairy's Metronome, then gets Explosion.
  Volan: GET DOWN!
  Announcer: Oh cra- [explosion]
• Olympus Mons: Reshiram, Zekrom, and Kyurem play the largest roles, but all of the Legendary Pokémon of Unova show up at one point or another.
• Order Versus Chaos: Reshiram (truth, uniformity) and Zekrom (ideals, change).
• Our Ghosts Are Different: The original White Hero lives on (er, sort of) as that one Trevenant off Route 7.
• Outrunthe Fireball: After Heatran wakes up, Volan and company, with help from the Sacred Swordsmen must do this multiple times.

• Pre-Asskicking One-Liner: Drayden to the Sages of Team Plasma.
  Drayden: "I believe I owe you all a bit of payback for what you did to my city."
• Prophecies Are Always Right:
  • According to the Dragon Elder's legend, if Tornadus and Thundurus wake up too early, their rage will make them even stronger than usual as they rampage. They do prove to be extremely challenging opponents.
  • Another prophecy is mentioned when Ghetsis and Colress investigate the Giant Chasm, concerning the Black and White Heroes and the Legendary Pokémon. This prophecy turns out to have come true during the fight with Perfect Kyurem.

• Rank Scales with Asskicking: The Legendary Pokémon, Gym Leaders, Elite Four, Champion, and elite members of Team Plasma all count. Alder even mentions this near the end:
  Alder: Let's go, Bouffalant! We'll show them precisely the reason why we're the strongest in Unova!
• Really 700 Years Old: Cute little Victini has actually waited thousands of years to see his old friend again -or rather, his new friend.

• Redemption Quest: One might see Thrin's continued journey after leaving Volan and the others as one of these, as she strives to improve herself as a Pokémon Trainer.
• Retcon: Ash's travels in Unova take place directly after his adventures in Kanto. He starts smartening up as a Trainer after coming close to death, setting up his higher levels of competency in other regions in the future.
• Revenge: Genesect would like some of this on Colress due to him being a heartless creator.
• Royals Who Actually Do Something: Sapphire's parents are the king and queen of Undella Bay's ruins; this would make her a princess. A princess who's putting in serious work.
• Run or Die: The grunts say this about Tyrantrum; Volan is forced to agree.
• Running Gag: A number of them.
  • Sapphire will leave her Poké Ball whenever she wants, summoned or not, and hit on whichever opponent or teammate she pleases.
  • Nobody can get Steven's name right. The gag dies out during the Final Battle, however.
  • People occasionally get Ghetsis' name wrong as well.
  • Alder cannot get anyone's name right.

• Sequel Hook: Volan and his family are moving to Kalos, and a mysterious figure is shown studying TV footage of the Battle of Vertress.
• Shipper on Deck: Victini turns out to be a shameless Volan/Caitlin fan. Meloetta is all too eager to join him in his good deed.

• Shout-Out: A huge number of them in this fanfic.
  • Bernice is named for Bert's pet pigeon in Sesame Street. Rudy shares his name with the Baryonyx in Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs. Petrie is named after a character in the Land Before Time series.
  • The Plasmas Rinkus, Sierra, and Pterano are also named for, and based on, Land Before Time characters.
  • Hugh named two of his Pokémon Dewey and Lou.
  Volan: So Hughie's missing Dewey and Louie? Must be hard to keep your Ducklett in a row.
  • The way Skyla talks is reminiscent of the Le-Matoran from BIONICLE. She even quotes Lewa Nuva from time to time, who is said to exist in-universe as a famous pilot.
  Skyla: When you travel with me, there will be no ground-walking - just air-flying!
  • Also, several characters are fans of Omastar Wars and will reference it if given the chance.
  • Another popular Unovan show is The Shuppets, starring Kermit the Frogadier.
  • Seeing the mess Colress made of Opelucid City reminds Volan of The Inkay after Tomorrow.
  • Fossil Pokémon Park is mentioned. As an Archeops, Petrie is said by Word of Arceus to be based on the Velociraptor from the same movie.
  • Holiday of a Legend has several more references, such as a list of several Christmas-related villains including Ebenezer Scraggy, a mention of Pocket Monster Hunter, and an homage to Omastar Wars.

• Small, Secluded World: Rickie and his curious, stony neighbors occupy one beneath Wellspring Cave. The occasional Woobat comes by to tell stories about the world above.
• Sneeze Cut: Stephan gets a couple when he's not present for the mangling of his name.

• Strange-Syntax Speaker: Skyla, as well as Petrie and Plastron to those who can understand their language.
  Skyla: HELLO, UNOVA! I've always wanted to loud-shout that!
• Straight for the Commander: Volan goes for Ghetsis while other Trainers are battling Team Plasma grunts during the Battle of Vertress.
• Sugar-and-Ice Personality: Volan is a good friend and brother... but if he doesn't know you he's going to be pretty closed off. This changes as his adventure goes on.
• Summon Bigger Fish: When Reshiram and Zekrom join the gang against Ghetsis, he promptly calls Kyurem. Which then proceeds to fuse with both dragons and become Perfect Kyurem.
• Taking You with Me: Thrin's Cofagrigus uses Destiny Bond to do this when she battles Volan for the last time.
• Talking Animal: The Sacred Swordsmen (Cobalion, Terakion, Virizion, and Keldeo) and Genesect are all able to speak regularly, as opposed to using normal Pokémon-speak.
• Talking Is a Free Action: Used several times with the Pokédex, although there are times when there's too much going on for this to be safe.
• Tempting Fate:
  • Welcome to Undella Town! Welcome to Undella Town! "It's just going to be a trip to the coast. It's not like anything can go wrong."
  • Zinzolin taunts Volan and Bianca during their battle, right before Bernice and Servine evolve.
  • Upon arriving at Victory Road, Stephan shouts for the area to show them its worst. Plenty of trouble follows.

• The Stoic: Caitlin strives to be one of these because she fears that getting emotional will cause her to get careless and let her team suffer. But she'll have Volan to help her work through it.
• The Swarm: Innumerable angry Durant on the path to Victory Road.
• Took a Level in Badass: Elite Plasma Grunt Aldith, in that she was first encountered as a random grunt that Volan and Thrin fought at the beginning of their travels.

• True Companions: Volan and his team, especially him and Bernice, as she was his Starter and they've known each other for many years. More broadly, the group of Volan, Thrin, Stephan, and later Bianca.
• Uncertain Doom:
  • What happen Everythings Better With Monk to the various Legendary Pokémon after the fight with Perfect Kyurem, namely the four Sacred Swordsmen and the Therian trio is left unclear.
  • During that fight, Genesect is left comatose and badly injured. If it ever recovers is also a mystery.
• Utopia Justifies the Means: N wants to create a better world for Pokémon, and goes to such lengths as kidnapping in order to bring about his vision.

• What Happened to the Mouse?:
  • It is never explained exactly who or what tricked Thrin into leaving the group, although N may have had something to do with it.
  • Two for Petromyzon. At first, it seems as though he's gone for good after N releases him, but then he's shown having a prophetic dream of Volan in danger and comes to the rescue just in time. During the final chapter, though, he's completely vanished again.
• What the Hell, Hero?: Bernice is admonished by Volan concerning her bad attitude after she becomes an Unfezant. Justified, in that the Pokédex states that Unfezant is a naturally proud Pokémon.
• The Worf Effect: Stephan and Trip, the two Unova League finalists, stand no chance against N and Zekrom.

• Worthy Opponent: How Trip sees Volan during their first couple of battles, but he stops taking Volan seriously after his victory in the Club Battle Tournament.

• You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: Ghetsis attempts to have Phantom killed after he retrieves the Dark Stone.
• You Must Be Cold: Actually, Caitlin is fine, but she greatly appreciates Volan's mid-PWT offer just the same.
• You Said You Would Let Them Go: After stealing Volan's Pokémon, N tells Volan to enter the Clubsplosion tournament and win to prove his worth. But when Volan does this, N decides that winning that just isn't good enough any more, and demands one last battle before returning Volan's team. Said team comes out to help Volan win, showing their loyalty and satisfying N.

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