Pokémon: The Lost Child is an ongoing Pokémon fanfic by Ordeaux26. It exists in a world where there are no humans and young Piplup is abandoned by his parents and needs to find his way in the world meeting new friends and enemies along the way.
The fic can be found here
at Archive of Our Own and here at FanFiction.Net.
For the sake of this, the characters will be referred to as whatever evolution form they were in at the time of the event the trope is describing.
This fanfic contains examples of:
- An Aesop:
- Chapter 2 has one where it shows that kindness does have its reward. Treecko doubts the idea, and Piplup is rewarded after being nice to an Eelekid who just attacked him after being overcharged through the storm.
- Chapter 7 has one with Grovyle learning that threatening information out of Pokémon is not a good strategy as it means they will just give up anything they think they want to hear.
- Chapter 16 has one where Empoleon learns that he needs to think before he acts after he loses to Hippowdon due to having no plan when he rushes up the mountain to battle whoever he comes across.
- Alternate Universe: The opening narrator claims this is an alternate reality from the main Pokémon world where humans never existed.
- Amnesia Episode: There is one in Chapter 23. In this case, though it's not one of the main heroes that gets amnesia, they discover a Pokémon that has amnesia and can't remember who he is. It turns out to be Deoxys.
- Awesome, but Impractical: Prinplup and Grovyle have some very strong Combination Attacks that require one of them to hit the other with an attack.
- Big Bad: For the majority of the story, Darkrai plays this role as the leader of The Brotherhood, which is responsible for much of the conflict. That is until he gets disposed of by his "father" and killed along with the rest of The Brotherhood.
- Connected All Along: The Magmar that Piplup is fighting in Chapter 6 is revealed to be the older brother of the Magby they rescued in Chapter 5.
- Combination Attack: After Chapter 11, Prinplup and Grovyle begin using these moves, which prove to be very effective in defeating Tyranitar and Exploud.
- Crazy-Prepared: The village in the desert in Chapter 11, has rest spots for Pokémon of all types due to how often they get exhausted travellers.
- Curb-Stomp Battle:
- Prinplup and Grovyle's battle with Plusle and Minun goes very badly for them, to say the least. They get very quickly overwhelmed by their helping hand-boosted electric moves, with Prinplup getting knocked out in one hit and Grovyle only taking one hit before forfeiting.
- When Empoleon goes to take on Hippowdon, he loses very badly due to being weak to his ground moves after his evolution and needs to get bailed out by the newly evolved Sceptile.
- In Chapter 17, Cacturne is overwhelmed by having to deal with three opponents at once and is defeated very easily.
- Defeating the Undefeatable: In Chapter 11, Prinplup and Grovyle manage to take down the seemingly insurmountable Tyranitar, which is what makes them start to notice how effective they are working together.
- Doomed Hometown: The first village the two heroes visit is destroyed offscreen by The Brotherhood, with only Magmar surviving, and not for long.
- Driven to Suicide: In Chapter 13, Slowking ends up killing himself by blowing his head up after reading Prinplup's heart and his mind getting overwhelmed as a result.
- Enemy Mine: While Sceptile is clearly against it and Empoleon doesn't like it, the two are forced to team up with Aegislash to fight against a much bigger threat, Camerupt.
- Eviler than Thou: The Sandslashes are the ones who killed Shiftry, and they are promptly dispatched by Aegislash in the same chapter to reveal the greater evil.
- Evil Power Vacuum: It is eventually revealed in Chapter 36 that the whole series is due to one. In the past, the gods rose up against Arceus and sealed him away, but without Arceus as the ruler of the world, the rest of the gods started fighting each other for control over the world. Which led to Darkrai forming The Brotherhood in an effort to rule the entire world.
- Fire-Forged Friends: Empoleon and Sceptile's friendship is formed due to the hostile conditions of the world they live in and having a better chance together to survive it.
- Foreshadowing: Very early on in Chapter 2, there is a very minor scene of Landorus and Thundurus fighting with each other, which would be an early hint about the larger battle going on between the gods of the universe.
- Gilligan Cut: In the first chapter, Treecko claims that he will be fine and he doesn't need his help. Cut to a few minutes later, where he is trapped in a web and needs to be saved by Piplup.
- Good Cop/Bad Cop: In Chapter 7, Prinplup and Grovyle have this dynamic. Grovyle keeps threatening the information out of the Pokémon they are interrogating while Prinplup tries to get him to stop doing so. At first, Grovyle seems to be winning, but his methods end up giving them bad information.
- He Knows Too Much:
- Magmortar, Golem, and Simisage attempt to do this when they realize that Grovyle overheard their plans. Unfortunately for them, it was a trap.
- Aegislash disposes of the two Sandslashes for this reason.
- Homage: The series serves as a one to the Starter Squad series, with it focusing on a duo of starter Pokémon and their adventures. In the case of The Lost Child there are no humans, while in Starter Squad, they exist but have minimal involvement.
- I Can Still Fight!: The Magby that Treecko and Piplup rescue in Chapter 5 insists he can still walk but quickly realizes he can't and Treecko and Piplup need to carry him back to his village.
- Just in Time:
- Subverted. Piplup evolves into Prinplup during the match against Magmar, and it seems like it may turn the tables, but he is already so weakened that it doesn't make a difference.
- Played straight in Chapter 9. Prinplup and Grovyle are about to be killed by Aegislash then Zorua evolves into Zoroark at the last second and pushes away Aegislash.
- Played straight again in Chapter 15. Aegislash has just killed Magmar and is ready to kill Prinplup and Grovyle when Prinplup evolves into Empoleon and Aegislash, unprepared, is beaten up and decides to retreat.
- Mood Whiplash: Chapter 13 starts out pretty normal, but then Slowking kills himself and the mood shifts to dark instantly.
- Mystery Episode: Chapter 7 has the heroes help out Magmar to uncover corruption within the tournament, including fixed matches. In the next chapter, they uncover that it is Magmar's father Magmortar along with a Golem and Simisage who are doing so to make money.
- Myth Arc:
- The big one getting set up is the truth behind the Nebulous Evil Organisation, The Brotherhood, and what they have planned. Later on, it's revealed that Darkrai plans to trap everyone in an eternal nightmare so that he can Take Over the World.
- The other one getting set up is the truth behind the mysterious Arceus. Eventually, it gets hinted at that Arceus is the true Big Bad behind everything, at the very least Aegislash seems to think so. This is confirmed in Chapter 36 where it is told Arceus was sealed away long ago due to his tyrannical rule.
- Another one introduced, later on, is the mysterious Greninja helping the Brotherhood and what their motives are. Eventually, it's revealed that Greninja is Zoroark in disguise who has been working to take down The Brotherhood.
- Mythology Gag: In Chapter 23, Deoxys and Rayquaza are depicted as enemies, which references how various Pokémon media usually depict them.
- New Powers as the Plot Demands: In Chapter 5, Treecko evolves into Grovyle as Piplup is getting overwhelmed by the Poocheyena raiders and deals with them effortlessly.
- Offscreen Moment of Awesome: Landorus supposedly was in an epic battle with Thundurs offscreen in the second chapter, but we only see bits of it.
- Parental Abandonment: The fic starts with the main protagonist Piplup being abandoned by his parents for unknown reasons.
- Professional Killer:
- Aegislash acts as the main assassin of The Brotherhood and is willing to carry out their orders without question.
- Cacturne from Chapter 17 also plays this role, but he ends up killed off quickly.
- Pokémon Speak: Averted. Due to this being a Pokémon fic, you would expect the Pokémon to be like this, but since no humans exist, all the Pokémon can speak perfect English.
- The Power of Friendship: Due to the raw teamwork of Prinplup and Grovyle in Chapter 11, they manage to take down Tyranitar, a Pokémon several times their size and way more powerful.
- Previously on…: Each chapter has one recapping to the reader what happened in the previous chapter.
- Rape, Pillage, and Burn: A gang of Poocheyena's attempt to raid a village in Chapter 5. Luckily the inhabitants are able to fend them off.
- The Reveal:
- The "Close Combat" two-parter has two major ones:
- Aegislash was the one who murdered Zoroark's parents.
- We finally find out who the leader of The Brotherhood is, and it is a Darkrai, and he also has some sort of dark Empoleon.
- "Shadow Ball" also has two major ones. The fact that Arceus the god of the Pokémon universe is likely the true mastermind behind everything and Aegislash is actually Darkrai's son.
- The "Close Combat" two-parter has two major ones:
- Super-Power Meltdown: An Elekid is overcharged with electricity from the story in the second chapter and starts attacking everyone in sight.
- Teeth-Clenched Teamwork: Empoleon and Sceptile end up teaming up with Aegislash due to the possible oncoming threat of Arceus, though both sides really don't like working with each other.
- Tournament Arc: Treecko and Piplup compete in a tournament in Chapter 5. The following two chapters play with this in a different way. Prinplup and Grovyle end up discovering there is some corruption involved in the tournament and, along with Magmar, set out to expose it.
- Torture Always Works: Grovyle in Chapter 7 holds this opinion about interrogating suspects, constantly threatening them with torture if they don't give up their information. This ends up backfiring later when a Machoke gives them bad info.
- Underestimating Badassery: In the early parts of the story, the Brotherhood in general has a pretty bad case of this towards the heroes. After Aegislash, along with two other members, is defeated by them, Dsrkrai and Aegislash make it clear they won't do that anymore.
- Wham Episode:
- Chapter 15 has Magmar's village burned to the ground and his family and friends killed, with Aegislash coming by and effortlessly killing Magmar off. It causes Prinplup to evolve, and he now wants to go after The Brotherhood personally after previously being scared off.
- Chapters 19 and 20 are very major ones for the series. We both found out who the leader of The Brotherhood is, and now Empoleon and Sceptile are going to start playing a more active role against The Brotherhood.
- Chapter 34 is another big one for a big shift in the story. Empoleon and Sceptile end up teaming up with Aegislash as there is a likely new threat in the form of Arceus, as Giratina was sent after the trio. It is also revealed that Darkrai is Aegislash's father.
- Whole Episode Flashback: Chapter 36 is almost entirely devoted to flashbacks to the past, detailing how Arceus was defeated and sealed away, as well as how the war of the gods began.
- Worthy Opponent:
- Zorua quickly views Treecko and Piplup as this, actually being impressed with their fighting skills. She continues viewing them this way later as well.
- Magmar from the tournament views both Prinplup and Grovyle as this despite their losses to him.
- Mightyena from Chapter 14 respects Prinplup and Grovyle for their teamwork and for giving him an entertaining fight. Plusle and Minun also view the two this way, despite Prinplup and Grovyle losing pretty badly.
- You Have Failed Me:
- When Magmortar and his partners are exiled for sabotaging the tournament, his partners rat him out that it was his own mistakes, along with trying to help his son, that got them exposed. Chapter 8 ends with Magmortar being executed by his unknown master for his failure.
- Ironically, several chapters later, Darkrai is on the reciving end of one from his "father", who blows up The Brotherhood's base, taking Darkrai down for his failure.
