Title: The Game of Champions
Author: Lamora
Rating: M
Genre: Adventure
Status: WIP
Fandom: Pokemon
Pairings: Genfic
Summary: There are many trainers in the world; they exist in degrees, from dabbler to legend. But only one can be the very best - one man, one Champion. I am that one. I am that man. My name? Red.
Link: WbA and Ffn

There is simply no way this hasn't been rec'd before, but somehow, it hasn't.

Easily one of the best Pokemon fics to ever grace the fandom, I think. There's just a level of sheer awesome that I rarely ever see nowadays.

It's the story of Red - the character you play in the original Pokemon games rather than Ash, the idiot you see on TV. It's written in the form of him speaking to you, narrating his life story and everything he's done in his life, starting from a well developed backstory for his journey from Pallet Town and a simply fantastic view of his rivalry with Blue.

It's currently around maybe 30-40 thousand words, and he updates constantly if not rapidly.

 

Huh, it hasn't been, eh? Well, I have found it to be immensely enjoyable when it does actually update, and I don't even read Pokemon stories in general.

 

Agreed, it's a fantastic story with an intriguing protagonist and an awesome plot being hinted at. 5/5

 

The plot is slow paced, to me that is. The story moves along slowly, but each chapter and scene are brilliantly written.

 

The characterization and story so far are amazingly brilliant.
What separates this story from most others is the world-building the author continually develops along side/on the side of the main plot. The storyline seems to be progressing a little slowly but that is so Red/Pikachu have time to be properly characterized and to develop an actual relationship before tackling any battles.
5/5

 

A superb Pokemon fic - easily in the top 3 of the fic's fandom. Read this right now.

 

I won't bothering reiterating what else has been said so far. It's a great fic, if you like pokemon go read this. 5/5

 

Just read the new update now. Don't want to sound like a fanboy or anything, but this is so fucking awesome. Amazing. 5/5.

 

Brilliant. The author has taken the time to create and explore a complex world with even more interesting characters. It is a little slow paced but the luxuriant language prevents it from being tedious. Easily 5/5.

 

Yeah the violence reminds me of the manga but I love how different it is as well 5/5

 

New chapter is up on FFN. Feel free to give it a look.

 

This story got me back into Pokemon when I first read it a few years back. As in, I actually paid for a brand new handheld to play Pokemon games because this was just that good. 'Bout time I give it a review after my latest read.

Red is, perhaps, one of my favourite protagonists. A young man with a grand dream matched by the strength of his ambition and a willingness to get his hands dirty (to a degree) to accomplish it. Considering most interpretations of Red are the stereotypical "brash and naive hero" of the anime and manga, it makes this version stand out all the more. The writing style really appeals to me as it supports his role as a silent protagonist even though we know he communicates with people like anyone else, much like in the games.

Then there's Blue who somehow manages to combine the immaturity of his game/anime counterpart with the brilliant mind and will you'd expect from a future Champion, creating a rather amusing character.

Pikachu being such a mean little fucker is just cherry on the cake.

The world itself finds the right kind of balance in terms of how dangerous living with pokemon can be, as opposed to being weirdly safe or excessively violent, and those uniquely powerful pokemon that I enjoyed seeing in Traveler such as Brock's Sky-Eater and Misty's Aion. Especially since it appears that some pokemon are just too damn dangerous to capture such as the aptly named Titanomachy.

The way that pokemon grow in this one is quite unusual which is, ironically, because it's a just a realistic interpretation of how that should work. Like Bulbasaur literally growing razor leaves by giving it a specific diet or evolution being a gradual change instead of a rapid transformation, making it a lot trickier for trainers to help their pokemon reach the height of their power.

I do question where Red got some of his skills/knowledge such as how to break an unruly pokemon into a tamed monster or how to play the trading game to earn a profit. Is that taught in their schools, a product of working on Oak's ranch or from Red's personal preparation for his journey? As far as we know, he's never left his hometown yet acts like he has practical experience. Any of those answers would be acceptable, it's just that I don't know for certain.

Aside from that, my only disappointment is that it feels like we've only just scratched the surface of what has promised to be an epic story. We still at the starting point of what's to come and it's maddening the situation that Red has been caught in with Team Rocket and his captors.

Doesn't make it any less enjoyable to read though. Anyone with even the slightest interest in Pokemon should read this. No exceptions, no excuses.

5/5

 

I just started rereading The Game of Champions on Tuesday, and yesterday I was surprised to find out that it was removed from fanfiction.net.
(It used to be in https://www.fanfiction.net/s/7354757/1/The-Game-of-Champions. Lamora's page is still there, but without any stories written by Lamora.)

Is it going to be uploaded to somewhere else?

Anyway, The Game of Champions is one of my all time favorites (including non-fiction, fiction and fanfic).
5/5

 

I have a copy of it, of course, but IMO a story that an author deletes shouldn't be uploaded without their consent. @Lamora

 

I started GoC when I was around 14 years old. I'm going on 26 now, and the quality of the writing was a little embarrassing to have around. I left it up as long as I did out of respect for the people who did enjoy it (a group that no longer includes me). But after 3 years of leaving it up, I deleted it because I no longer wanted it posted on FFN.

You can feel absolutely free to distribute any copies you have via PM, but I do not want it re-uploaded.

 

Of course I won't re-upload it in that case. (My post's goal was to understand what your thoughts were about re-uploading.) @Lamora

 

That's a shame, but understandable. I hope you'll draw some satisfaction from the level of enjoyment others have gained from it over the years, and it remains a positive experience for you to look back on.

@Palindrome this thread should be marked as [Abandoned]

Edit: I did a quick adaption of Chapter 10 (unfinished) for my personal offline use. Style is still off, but I'm no coder. PM me if you want it

 

I randomly found this story few weeks ago when browsing DLP.

Perhaps its qualities as a "serious story" can be questioned. It's rather juvenile (really like something a teenager would write). But at the same time that's its biggest strength. Just as pure indulgent entertainment, it's top class. Red's character and the world he's put in work together super well and it's fun to see him raze his way through the obstacles in his way.

This is probably a common praise, but the worldbuilding's simply inspired, especially the evolution mechanics. Out of the characters Red meets, I enjoyed Misty the most. For some reason it's easy to imagine her being like that.

And one more thing I really want to praise is the information density of the chapters. It feels like everything that happens matters and showcases more of the world.

To criticize something, I dislike the chapters where Blue's the POV character. He works well as a foil to Red in the chapter's from Red's POV, but without Red he's kinda annoying. But this is just a personal preference. I'm sure there are people who loved Blue's chapters.

Of course it's Lamora's decision whether or not to delete the story from FFN, but I believe something this entertaining deserves to be preserved.

 

What a fuckin' bummer of a thread update, jesus fucking christ.

 

@Lamora I just want to say that ‘The Game of Champions’ has been my favorite Pokémon fanfic from the first day I read it and it will continue to be my favorite even after it’s been taken down. It has permanently colored my opinions and preferences for Pokémon fanfic and any Pokémon fic I write myself always ends up being inspired by yours because I can’t bear to write anything less.

It’s astounding to me that you began writing this at fourteen. It’s a level of talent and creativity that my fourteen year old self would never have been able to emulate. It makes me sad that you can’t say you enjoy your own work anymore and I won’t say I understand it because I don’t. I suppose it’s only something that people who have honed their writing and actually authored things can understand.

That being said I love ‘The Game of Champions’ I love the battles, I love the world, I love the rivalry between Red and Blue, I love the darkness and the reality of it. The most devastating moment of my fanfiction reading life happened today when I decided to pull up GoC to recommend it and I saw that it had been taken down. It’s the only fanfic I’ve ever gone back to and reread start to finish multiple times.

I’m sad that it’s gone and I’m sad that you can’t feel proud of it. That being said I consider you a wonderful writer and if you ever start another fic I’ll definitely be there to read it.

So thank you. Thank you for taking time out of your life to write and thank you for the energy spent in coming up with ‘The Game of Champions’ and actually putting it to paper.

Thank you for writing my favorite fanfic.