Fanfic / Two Garnets and some Cherries with Cream

"Son, it's about time I tell you how I met your mother."

"What...? It's 2 AM!"

— Summary

Kayi Rowling's most recent work (started in June 2010). As of this writing, it's currently on its fourth chapter, entitled "Chapter 4 of ?". The beginning, "Chapter 1 of ?", may be read at Fanfiction.net and at the Bulbagarden Forums; from there, navigation towards newer chapters is easy.

The summary of the story, copy-pasted everywhere you look, is: "Son, it's about time I tell you how I met your mother." "What...? It's 2 AM!" A SilverspawnShipping dish with a moderate amount of LOL sauce.

A more detailed summary may actually care enough to tell you that this is a fanfic set in the Pokémon Adventures verse, featuring Silver and Giovanni as the latter tells the former about the time he met his one-true-love, the HGSS Rocket Executive Ariana. Hilarity Ensues via the unexpected jokes that slip past your defenses every now and then. The short dialogue in the summary naturally never happens (it is 2 AM when it starts, though)

...needless to say, this is purely Fanon, and it may be disproved in its entirety at any moment by the manga's own HeartGold and SoulSilver chapter.

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Garnets and Cherries contains examples of the following tropes:

• Beta Couple: Orm's presence is confirmed for a future chapter in the Author's Notes of "Chapter 4 of ?", not to mention that it was already established that someone was courting Sird and he's the most likely candidate.

• Child Prodigy: Giovanni was a gym leader at the age of nine, and before him there was no gym at Viridian City.
  Narrator (Silver's side): "Talk about an ego booster."

• Dangerous Forbidden Technique: Sird forbids Giovanni to use his Viridian Forest powers because they hurt him, but he always thinks he can fool her and uses them anyways.
  • "Chapter 4 of ?" discusses this:
    Silver: "And you still decided it was for the best to use it back then?"
    Giovanni: "I was young and believed myself to be immortal, son; it's obvious that I did."
• Defensive Feint Trap: Ariana basically starts her battle with Sird by spamming Synthesis to heal her Oddish as it keeps being hurt, even doing Sunny Day to make it more effective. She also attempted to order a Tackle against Starmie. Then she evolves her Oddish mid-battle and retaliates with SolarBeam, which is powered up by Sunny Day, of all things! In the end, her Pokémon lost solely because of bad timing.

• Dishing Out Dirt: The specialty of Viridian City's Gym are Ground Pokémon. Don't trust that bit of information, or you're dead.

• Even Bad Men Love Their Mamas: Proton, who allows his mother to stick around while he trains. The rest of the team loves her too.
• Family Business: Giovanni started Team Rocket, Ariana joined, and Silver is currently leading them now that his father has been forced into retirement.

• Flashback and Framing Device: Silver's side of the narration encases Giovanni's flashbacks, which are the main story.

• Lampshaded Double Entendre: Yes, Proton, we know what you mean.

• Missing Mom: Ariana, who's closer to Silver than what he thinks she is; her own mother isn't mentioned either. And Giovanni's mother is dead during the flashbacks, and has been since he was nine.
• Morality Pet: Admit it, Sird's relationship with her Starmie (and possibly her Meowth too) is special.
• My Sensors Indicate You Want to Tap That:
  • "Chapter 4 of ?":
  Weavile: "I think you're after my mistress, sir."
• Nay-Theist: Considering there's a cult (or religion) worshiping Arceus, it's safe to say anyone that isn't with them fits this trope. Giovanni definitely is, though.

• Obfuscating Stupidity: Ariana, as part of her battle strategy. Shame Sird prefers more direct approaches, and beats her up for it.
• Oblivious to Love: Giovanni is a special case, since he's very much in love with Ariana, but he doesn't realize she likes him back.
• Once an Episode: The narration on Silver's side will remind you that he's tired (word always in italics), and his thoughts will eventually get to Blue and Gold.
  • Ariana is also the one uttering the last line of every chapter.
• Outdated by Canon: In "Chapter 1 of ?", hideouts are vaguely implied to be as small as they seem to be in the Ruby and Sapphire games. Not only is this inconsistent with Pokémon Adventures canon, but Silver's hideout in HGSS is a small cottage, so even if he moved out of it, he'd have chosen something around the same size and not just a hole in a wall or tree.
  • Thanks to Pokémon Black and White, the second paragraph of "Chapter 1 of ?", where the Pokedex holders' latest adventure is detailed, can't be talking about Isshu.

• Psychic Powers: The manifestation of the powers of a Viridian Forest child usually have a couple of this, mainly Telepathy, but Giovanni's include a form of mind control instead of being able to heal Pokémon like Yellow and Lance do.
• Purple Prose: The fic's title came out from Giovanni's description of Ariana, after being interrupted by Silver's complaint. The paragraph itself was a parody.

• Redhead In Green: "Chapter 4 of ?" reveals that Ariana has been wearing green all along.
• Running Gag: Silver is tired not tired.
  • Giovanni's side of the narration remarks that Ariana isn't beautiful twice before Silver finally breaks it in "Chapter 3 of ?":
  Silver: "I'm beginning to think you are saying that on purpose."
  • On Giovanni's side, the word "politeness" (and related terms, such as "polite") is always between quotes when he refers to bystanders not caring enough.
• Shipper on Deck: Parodied in "Chapter 4 of ?" by Petrel commenting on Archer and Proton's relationship on passing.
• Shout-Out
  • Scene changes will undoubtedly remind you of The Princess Bride.
  Giovanni: "As you wish."
  • Apparently, Blue has read either The Twilight Saga or Gone with the Wind, if one goes along Silver's complaint over Giovanni specifying Ariana is not beautiful. She might have also made him read whichever novel it was, but he denied everything when asked.
• The Smurfette Principle: The Viridian Gym trainers, unlike Team Rocket, don't respect the 1-girl-per-4-guys rule. They're actually closer to 1-girl-per-40-guys.

• Tender Tears: Someone wasn't expecting to lose when challenging the Viridian Gym. Continues crying after.
• Terms of Endangerment: Sird has a lot of these in store for Ariana. She has a preference for "hon(ey)" and "Skitty".

• Unreliable Narrator: Giovanni abstains from using Ariana's name when telling Silver his story, and who knows how much more information he's withholding from his son, unintentionally or not.
• Vague Age: Silver is "nearly twen—!" years old.
  • During the flashbacks, Giovanni is around Silver's age (he's a "twenty-something year old")
  • Averted with Ariana: she's nineteen. However, her father was able to initially convince Giovanni she was fifteen...
• Word Salad Title: Not justified, but you'll notice the fragmented Title Drop when it happens.

• Start of Darkness: Ariana joining the gym at the end of "Chapter 4 of ?" eventually led to her joining Team Rocket. Giovanni even mentions in "Chapter 2 of ?" that she, unlike many others in Team Rocket, wasn't a criminal in the beginning.

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Since this work is on-going, please don't be afraid to add the tropes you find; there's no better constructive criticism, really...

Atte. Kayi Rowling