Pokémon Academy Life: Forever is an ongoing, fan-made visual novel set in an original take of the world of Pokémon. The player enters the shoes of Red, the protagonist from the original games, who has been accepted into Kobukan Academy, one of the most prestigious academies in the world dedicated to teaching students about Pokémon and giving them the skills to excel as a trainer.
Heavily inspired by the Persona series, the game has a heavy focus on developing friendships, raising social stats, team building, and time management throughout the school year.
The project first began in 2015, originally going by the name Pokémon Academy Life. Development faced various challenges over the years, leading to its cancellation in 2020. However, in March 2023, development was rekindled, and ownership of the game was transferred to Freudian Creations with the blessings of the original team. The fan game was rebranded as Pokémon Academy Life: Forever, signaling its renewed commitment to moving forward.
The current build of the game can be downloaded on its official Twitter page
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Tropes used in Pokémon Academy Life Forever:
- Absurdly Powerful Student Council: Completely subverted in this setting.
- Adapted Out: From the original PAL, Tierno, Trevor, and Shauna weren't carried over into PALF.
- Additionally, there was an OC named "Noir" who was also removed.
- Alternate Universe: The setting differs from the canonical timeline of the mainline games to allow for most of the cast to be of or the exact same age.
- Americasia: Despite being in a region right next to Unova and being based on Boston, there are trace amount of Japanese like the Japanese letters on Roxanne's red armband and above the stage in the auditorium.
- Animal Goes to School: Tia is a Latias who disguises herself as Bianca Vongole and attends the academy in her place.
- Tia mentions that there is a second Pokémon at the academy. She does not elaborate.
- Anti-Frustration Features: The Skip button allows the player to go past any text they have seen before for when replaying the game but won't skip past unread text.
- Artificial Stupidity: When it comes to programmed Pokémon with an intelligence of zero, and trainers who don't have Pokémon that listen to them.
- A Taste of Power: Currently the full type changing power of Pikachu's Liberization form is only usable in the battle with Dawn.
- Brooding Boy, Gentle Girl: Grusha and Jasmine respectively.
- But Thou Must!: Red is forced into running for the Student Council election regardless of the player's choices of not running.
- Came from the Sky: This is what Tia's first appearance is like.
- Caught on Tape: Red and Oak's conversation concerning Red's Frienergy, [[this info ends up being the hands of the Ace Trainers and used against him during the election.]]
- Childhood Friends: Various students grew up together before arriving to the academy. These include:
- Calem and Serena
- Hilbert and Hilda
- May and Brendan
- Red and Blue before their falling out
- Childhood Friend Romance: May and Brendan to a T.
- Contrived Coincidence: Ethan will always just so happen to be making very similar choices and experience similar events to Red. Pick an elective class? He had decided to come as well. Capture a Pokemon? He will eventually also gain one of the same species, although one significantly weaker than the player's own. It even extends to their feelings as Ethan happens to wish he was home, just as Red is on his way back to Pallet Town, or the trainers they face, where Red will face a Feebas and a Kakuna, while Ethan fights a Magikarp and a Metapod. It is not yet known why this keeps happening, and it is implied to be unintentional on both ends.
- Dress Code: The student body are required to wear the school uniform during school hours, although, are allowed to wear personalized accessories like hats in addition to the uniform.
- The female outfits has thighs alongside skirts as part of the getup.
- Enemy Mine: Cheren decides to team up with the Ace Trainers, who are seemingly the only people in the school to actively dislike Red, in order to find out and reveal whatever power he is using to gain his popularity and perceived special treatment. He eventually comes to regret his choice in allies.
- Ensemble Cast: Ethan, Leaf, Yellow, and Blue all play this role.
- Face Your Fears: With great reluctance, Leaf momentarily overcomes her aquaphobia to ride Tia over the oceans to Kanto to retrieve Red in week 5. Notably, she still retains her phobia afterwards.
- Flaming Meteor: How the meteor in Week 2 looks like.
- The Ghost: The other homeroom teachers not named Professor Oak (like Professor Birch and Juniper for example), while mentioned, aren't really shown in person.
- Hate Sink: The Ace Trainers are snobbish, rude, arrogant, are willing to beat a Pokemon half to death to capture it, force Sabrina to reveal Red's secret while calling her a "witch", and partake in Villainous Incest for good measure. In-universe and out, no one finds anything redeeming about these two.
- Hello, [Insert Name Here]: While the protagonist has the canonical name of "Red Sugimori," the player can change both his first and last name to whatever the player desires.
- The same can be done to Blue Oak for his nickname and his canonical one is "Blueberry."
- High School AU: An AU where a large cast of protagonists from the mainline games as well as several gym leaders are aged up so all of them could be in an university setting.
- Hoist by His Own Petard: The Ace Trainers decide to use Sabrina to forcefully reveal Red's secret. they did not expect her to reveal their own secret on the same occasion.
- Hopeless Boss Fight: The Player vs Dawn in the Quarter Qlashes starts out as this, with Dawn's Altaria being more than capable of anihilating most team compositions possible at this point of the story, and having convenient immunities or counters to some strategies that could be used to take her down. That is, at least, until Pikachu is the last one standing...
- Keystone Superpower: Pikachu was transformed by a meteorite he consumes, and becomes capable of producing crystal-like stones called the "Foreverals". Those gems, when equipped by their corresponding Pokemon, give variable boons and boosts, and Pikachu can use each one of them.
- Mirror Match: One happens at the Battle Team tryout between Red and Ethan where all but one Pokémon (Pikachu and Pichu respectively) are exactly the same.
- Power Misidentification: Red's Frienergy is mistakenly presumed to involve mind control, no small part due to Red falling back into his former muteness out of shock and being unable to defend himself as a result when Cheren and the Ace Trainers out his powers at the end of week 4. He clarifies its true use in Week 5, though some continue to remain wary.
- Parental Neglect: Professor Oak, though well-intentioned, focuses on his work to the point he rarely spends time with his orphaned grandchildren, essentially leaving them to fend for themselves for a large portion of their lives. This, combined with Oak's open favoritism to the unrelated Red, has resulted in Blue having a very negative relationship with him.
- Hilbert and Hilda's respective parents were Team Plasma members, too busy with the organization to spend much time with their children as a result.
- Promotion to Parent: Although only slightly older, Hilda essentially raised her neighbor Hilbert by her lonesome due to their parents being absent. This continues on to the present day, with her continuing to look after Hilbert with the insistence that he will struggle without her. Hilbert disagrees with this.
- Rage Breaking Point: Blue, upon witnessing Yellow being struck by Deoxys in week 6, proceeds to lose his mind. The stress he's been under reaches its pinnacle, causing him to lash out and deliver a punch to Deoxys. While the blow doesn't inflict physical harm, it does succeed in stunning Deoxys, providing Nate with a crucial opening to capitalize on its surprise and ultimately bring it down using Genesect.
- Relationship Values: A primary component of the game where over time, can unlock scenes to better understand the characters the player is their going for as well as gain items from it.
- Required Party Member: Pikachu sneaks into Kokuban Academy shortly after Red's first day, afterwards he is a permanent member of the party and cannot be deposited in a box. In week 5, Pikachu unlocks his Liberization form, having been revealed to be descended from an extinct Unovan regional variant of Pikachu. This form allows the player to change its typing and learn new moves to perfectly suit their requirements, transforming him from The Load to an adaptable powerhouse in his own right.
- Schmuck Bait: During the events of Week 5, [[spoiler:the player has the option to pick Lance's Dragonite to battle Dawn with but it will always end in a loss so they'll have to go back to an earlier save and even if one did win, they'll be treated with an very tiny ending where the player achieved his dreams with ease.
- School Forced Us Together: Happens with Red and Blue for homeroom and happens again during Week 5 where they're now in the same dorm room.
- School of Hard Knocks: The academy is focused on Pokémon battling.
- Super Serum: Pikachu eats some meteorites which unlock his Liberization form.
- The Computer Is a Cheating Bastard: Dawn's battle AI, where she literally knows if you're going to send Pikachu on the field, so she'll avoid hitting it until it is the last Pokémon left and he is not on the field, she'll use her strongest attacks to knock out both of the player's Pokémon.
- Tragic Dropout: Happens to Red at the end of Week 4. It is only temporary; he gets himself right back up and back at the academy a few days afterwards.
- World of Technicolor Hair: Just to name a few, Will and Winona have purple hair, Wallace's hair is cyan, and Lenora and Brawly have blue hair.
