Tear Jerker / Pokémon Reborn

• Everything that happens in the Beryl Ward, if you saved all the policemen. After chasing off Team Meteor, you hunt down one of the admins and, with the help of Heather and the officers, corner him. When you unmask him, it turns out he's Heather's father and local Gym Leader Corey. Heather, shocked, will run off crying, and Corey manages to escape. You chase him down and battle him, where he laments how everything he did was for his daughter and now it's all for naught, before trying to kill you with poisonous mist. When you win, he tells you to meet him at the bridge, and when you get there you see him releasing his Pokémon. He tells you to look after Heather, and then jumps off, leaving the player shell-shocked.
  • You can see his Crobat hesitate and try to stay. He tells it "You're not special. Get out of here!" and it just lets out a sad cry before flying off. Keep in mind that Crobat only evolves from Golbat when it has a strong friendship with its trainer and the scene becomes MUCH more heartbreaking.
  • And then Fern comes along and mocks the guy.
  • When you got to the Lapis Ward, you see a huge crowd gathered at the bottom, staring at his body. Including a twelve-year-old girl, Shelly, who's Heather's best friend and recognizes Corey.
  • The Revised script introduced in episode 19 makes this even worse, by removing Corey’s attempt to kill the player if he’s exposed with his fight instead being him testing you to see if you can protect Heather, making his death hit much harder as he’s given much more sympathetic and likeable traits.
• Talking to random people around the city can cause many of these.
  • Right at the start, when the train crashes, you can speak to a young woman who asks you if you were on the train. She then says "So was my fiancé........you were the lucky one......."
  • In the Obsidia Ward, one girl is crying in the Pokécenter, afraid to go outside because her boyfriend was walking next to her when the plants started to attack. The ground opened up right beneath his feet and he fell to his death. Said boyfriend did not actually die, he merely fell down into the railnet, and it's possible to turn the Tear Jerker into a Heartwarming Moment by rescuing him.
  • One old woman in the Peridot Ward talks about how when she was younger, the city was beautiful and full of lush trees and grasses. Now she can't look at it without mourning what was lost.
  • When a police officer in the Lapis Ward gives you the Bike Voucher as an apology for how Ms. Craudburry treated you. It turns out that he got it from his brother, and that it was originally for his daughter, who died in Team Meteor’s attack on the Beryl Ward.
  • Many times, you'll run into people worried about their friends, their Pokémon, or their family, lamenting how they've lost what little they had in Team Meteor's attacks, or just having a plain breakdown.
• Shelly's backstory. Her brother is a Gym Leader over in Johto and, despite practically being worshipped by Shelly, never pays her any attention. Desperate to get his approval, she fought tooth and nail to become a Gym Leader, too...and is still ignored. Her exact words are "he acts as though I don't exist".
• When you're heading up Pyrous Volcano to stop Team Meteor, Victoria starts talking to you about what she thinks of Cal, who is at the top of the mountain. She says that when you're done cleaning this up, she'll tell Cal how she feels about him. When you get to the top of the mountain, it turns out that Cal has made a deal with Team Meteor and he kills Kiki's Medicham, even apologizing to Victoria before he does.
  • Oh, and then Solaris kills Kiki, which horrifies Cal so much he helps you destroy the PULSE machine...but it's too late, as a crying Victoria yells that she never wants to see him again. He just bows his head and walks off.
  • And then Victoria has to give up her dream of journeying because she needs to take over Apophyll Academy for Kiki. She just sadly tells you and Cain to kick ass for her.
• When you really look deep into some dialogue as the game goes on, and all the character deaths, it becomes apparent that in the Reborn Region, many Pokémon are treated as nothing more than tools, which goes against everything in most other Pokémon stories. And you can get in on it too during a sidequest for acquiring a Type:Null, which also involves sacrificing a few of your Pokémon in order to achieve that.
  • Speaking of Type:Null, once the time has come to acquire it, it's understandably pissed and kills the scientist who made it before heading towards you. And of course, you either catch it or put it out of its misery.
  • But the worst part that hammers down this "Pokémon as tools" nail is during the Glass Workshop Marathon. Despite PULSE Hypno taking control of Cain, Shelly, and eventually you, all Pokémon used in the battles all follow their trainers without question, presumably due to the PULSE Hypno’s abilities.
• Amaria’s life story. She’s one of the kindest and most empathetic characters in the game… and she’s had what appears to be chronic depression for years, with nothing she’s ever done seeming to make her truly happy except her relationship with Titania who was faking her own love in the hopes that Amaria might eventually recover from her depression.
• A certain scene with Titania and Amaria in their house, in which you read Titania's actual diary. It reveals that she has been faking her feelings for Amaria since the beginning. She tells you to not tell Amaria a single word about it but she overhears her. And if you decide to not tell her, she'll read the diary and ask Titania if all of her feelings were a lie, to which Titania basically says 'yes.' Amaria then runs off, with Titania chasing after her. You'll find the two standing at the edge of a waterfall. Titania tries to convince Amaria to not jump, but Amaria jumps off the waterfall saying "Goodbye, my love." Titania jumps off after her and threatens you to get her from the waterfall or she'll come back from her grave to haunt you.
  • Episode 15 reveals that they survive, but Amaria gains amnesia from the fall, causing her to forget everything from her going down to Obsidia Ward to help with the plants to her suicide attempt. Titania leaves without telling her what happened because she doesn't want to go through Amaria trying to kill herself again.
• Ame’s death. Author Avatar that the author herself disliked (due to a hate of self-inserts) or not… getting defeated by the leader of your enemies and getting your head ripped off, then having your Pokémon kidnapped, when your final act was to try to stop said enemy's leader, is not a way to die that the Big Good of the game deserved.
  • Later in Ep 16, it’s possible to find a LV 75 Absol in the area just east of Calcennon City at the waterfall. The OT says that Ame was its original trainer…
• Solaris’s and El’s backstory, of all things, adds a lot of depth to the two villains. Particularly the scene where a unknown man murders Solaris's parents to get the four Gemstone Keys, leading to Solaris beating him to death in a rage and screaming "Why?!" for the entire night over his corpse.
• In E16, A girl in the Jasper Ward, while grateful the Ward has been rebuilt, wishes things could return to the way they were before. Why? Judging by her words, at least a few of her family members died in the attack on the Ward by Team Meteor… also providing an Ironic Echo to Eclipse when she deserted Team Meteor about how a better world doesn’t mean anything if the people you care about aren’t in it.
  • The latter scene of which was also a Tear Jerker, due to Sirius having his Chandelure burn away Eclipse's soul when she tried to leave.
• Also in episode 16, you wind up removing the Magnezone from the PULSE machine that took Zero, Evelynn and Lumina and turned them into ZEL. Zero at least makes it out, since it was originally his body, but it's heavily implied that Eve and Lumi are dead for good. At the very least, they're nowhere to be found in Zero's/their mind after the machine and the Magnezone are destroyed. It doesn't help that the last thing ZEL says is Eve telling Lumi that she'll always love her.
• Pretty much everything in Episode 17 after defeating the Reshiram statue in the story branch where you refuse to fight Taka at the Water Treatment Plant, causing him to flee to the Tourmaline Desert and join you in an effort to escape Team Meteor. Just... everything:
  • First, you're confronted by Lin (who has donned a suit of armor) in the Dragon's Den after defeating the Reshiram statue, and Titania stabs her from behind with her Aegislash, only for "Lin's" face-covering helmet to come off, revealing that it was Taka in the suit of armor. While Titania is still able to kill Lin (albeit temporarily, as Lin somehow comes back to life), Taka gets Killed Off for Real as a result of his injuries, with his last words being a resigned "this is fine". Even worse, he had gotten much more screen time and Character Development in this route, and your previous encounter with him ended with a Hope Spot of him finding a town where he could lie low. Even Titania seems shaken by this; her dialogue before her boss fight is more downcast and her trainer class, which was "Guardian Princess" in the Zekrom route, is instead the "Guardian Exile".
  • Next, you and Titania return to Amaria's house and Gym in order to get her badge. Unfortunately, due to a combination of her emotional instability and her memory loss, she accuses you of stealing Titania from her and leaves you to drown underwater in a sealed room. Titania is able to save you, but the aftermath of this results in Titania finally breaking up with Amaria for good. Amaria beating herself up for lashing out at you and repelling Titania is, despite what she did, genuinely sad (especially if you suffer with intrusive thoughts).
  • Oh, and just for good measure, defeating Amaria in this route ends with her slipping into a Despair Event Horizon, with the implication that she's going to attempt to kill herself again.
• In Episode 18, at one point the player finds a room with three pods designed to keep people's bodies alive. One of them was occupied by Eclipse/Caitlyn. Even after Sirius killed her, Aster still couldn't let her go. Thankfully, she returns later.
• If having to fight your brainwashed friends wasn't enough, you afterwards get treated to a very... odd place. While exploring it, you catch glimpses of different characters' backstories or a slightly closer look into their minds, like Kiki yelling that it's not fair that she's supposed to be calm when her body is killing itself, Aya first begging her dad to stay, then later on blaming herself for Cain leaving, too, one scene looks like Cain's father was beating him (although it's hard to tell with sprites; the father's sprite is simply using the walk animation towards Cain, but without moving, as there is no space between their sprites). Oh, and occasionally, you meet Cain; the first two times he says you should stick together now, then walks off into the Void where you can't follow. The third time, he tells you that although he ran away from home, he feels like he's only been running in circles, and away from any sort of commitment because he always feels like he doesn't quite belong. Unlike the other times, he doesn't suggest you stick together, as it doesn't work out anyway, and that he has to think for a bit. That's the last time you see him in Episode 18.
• In the post-game, the Celebi quest has you and either Elias or Taka going back in time to help Celebi. Along the way, you meet Taube, Taka's grandfather, Elena, Heather's mother and Ame. It's incredibly bittersweet; on the one hand, it's really nice to finally meet Taube and Elena after hearing so much about them, and seeing Ame again, but on the other hand, all three are incredibly optimistic about the future and how good they think it must be. The contrast between what they think will happen and what actually happened is very painful. What makes it worse is Elias wondering if he could have stopped everything from going downhill if he'd tried to push back against Sirius and actually made friends with Corey and Elena.
• In the Darkrai quest, you come across Umbral Corey. Since the Anomalies make people act the opposite of how they normally act, he's kind, friendly and doesn't blame you for anything... and once you beat him and dispel the aura, he's back to his angry, bitter, depressed self. He immediately declares that he does blame you for everything, and says that he's going to make it so that no matter how much you achieve, you can't say that you saved everyone, and jumps off the Beryl Bridge again. Admittedly, given that this is the Darkrai quest, it's a bit ambiguous as to whether it was just part of the nightmare or not, but even if it was, it still hurts.
• The storming of the New World Asylum. Lin (and likely the player, honestly) are both excited, ready for one big Ultimate Showdown of Ultimate Destiny with the Big Bad - and you're the only one who shows up. And all this means is that you get an up close and personal look at Lin's inner thoughts and past. Lin herself just - loses motivation, really. And on the Anna route, it's really no better - you get to see all of Anna's regrets, including how Shade lost his body.
  • At the very end of the New World Asylum battle, if you choose to spare her and let her tag along with you, you have the option to buy Lin a lemonade. Her past was awful enough that even that rather mild level of kindness is unfamiliar enough to her to bring her to tears.
• The end of the Palkia and Dialga quest has Luna and Taka triumphantly burning the sanctum down, symbolically and literally turning the past to ash so they can break free and make their own future. It's a great ending... unless you then go talk to Elias in the Nightclub. If you do, you confirm that the sanctum was burned and the door is blocked, and the poor guy realises that a whole lifetime of memories and possessions just got burned and there's no chance of recovering anything. He's devastated.