Update: TME is discontinued. These days I'm investing all the free time I have into writing original work - I've come to the unfortunate realization that writing fanfiction won't get me to where I want to be. If you're curious where the story was headed, message me - I like to leave it up to other readers' imaginations if they don't want to know.

Note that I may be slow to respond since this site has a bug where it doesn't send me PM alerts, but I will eventually get back to you. If you don't want a potential wait, I do still get notified about new reviews.

I'll also still be around here to leave my own reviews on select stories. Cheers.

Greetings. I have been a participant on this site for several years now, though most of that was on an older profile I no longer use. I only write and review Pokémon stories, so if you found this profile without it being linked to a Pokémon story, I'm impressed. This is a little blurb about me, but feel free to mosey on down to the fanfiction advice I have posted, or the team information list for my story, if that's more to your interest.

The Pokémon series has so much potential that goes untapped by the games and (especially) the animé. When I write, I try to realize this potential. My favorite stories all fall under the adventure genre - it's what Pokémon is meant to be about, really.

Generation III remains my favorite to this day, though there are points I like and dislike about each generation. Mudkip was my first pokémon ever, and I have a Mudkip plush sitting on the bookshelf in my room.

The Mortal Earth is my only story. It's a reboot of Ash's journey where he starts in Hoenn instead of Kanto. He's smarter, but mostly because in my universe the starting age for trainers is fifteen instead of ten. Overall, the story attempts to explore the pokémon world and the adventures inherent to being a trainer in that world. I hope to give it a level of realism that Game Freak hasn't provided yet. If that kind of premise sounds intriguing, please take a look and then review to let me know what you think. Feedback is important to me.

I talk quite frequently with a fellow writer here known as Standing Man. He's the author of Ambition, which I suggest you check out; you can find it on my favorites list. It's definitely in my top two of up-and-coming Pokémon fanfictions. Standing Man has put a lot of thought and effort into Ambition, and it shows. The author Cordylion over in the My Hero Academia fandom is also someone you should check out; we come out of the same stylistic school of writing.

From my username, you may have guessed I am Polish. This is true to an extent but I'm in the United States for the time being. For those of you wondering, yes, I am a guy.

If you have any questions, feel free to ask me in a PM. I enjoy conversations with any Pokémon fan.

~O~

Ash's Team in The Mortal Earth

I thought it'd be a nice resource for readers if I added a list of the names and movesets of each member of Ash's team. To avoid spoilers for people finding my story through this profile, the pokémon species of each team member is simply listed as the National Dex number. Be warned that this list is not completely spoiler-free, since it's very possible to guess what pokémon Ash has caught based on their nicknames and abilities.

Oblivion (#772)

Ability: Battle Armor

Moves: Tackle, Pursuit, Thunder Wave, Iron Defense.

Cirrus (#333)

Ability: Natural Cure

Moves: Peck, Sing, Mist, Agility, Disarming Voice, Steel Wing.

Ralts (#280)

Ability: Synchronize

Moves: Shadow Sneak, Confuse Ray, Teleport (learning)

More to be added as the plot progresses ...

~O~

Advice on Writing A Pokémon Fanfic

I'm posting this because I've been asked for advice by more than a few people looking to write their own Pokémon fanfics, not because I seek to become the ultimate authority on the subject. This isn't to discourage people from striking up a discussion with me either. I simply think that if there's a few people interested, there's a good chance others will be as well. And who knows? Maybe this can help spark one of you to write the next fanfic I really enjoy.

Note that my advice is focused towards what I prefer to read, which are alternate takes on Ash's journey. Often, however, this advice is general enough to apply to stories about any trainer setting out on their journey.

This list is a continually being updated upon my own whim. Expect it to get longer in the future.

- Know what's already out there in terms of fanfic. If you're taking the time to write out this idea of yours, you probably want to innovate upon what has already been done while adding your own splash of originality. Read Traveler by The Straight Elf - the first few chapters are admittedly a bit of a struggle, but not only does it improve, it defines many of the conventions you see most other similarly successful pokémon fanfics following to this day (Challenger and Essence are two examples). Understand what makes it a good read, but also consider where your story can diverge from it outside of just Ash's pokémon team.

- Make Ash's team one of quality instead of quantity. The pokémon should be characters in their own right, not glorified props. It's really fun to see Ash bond with his team members and help them grow - don't skip out on that. I'd call it the true heart of a pokémon story.

- This relates to the first point. I see a lot of fanfics out there hit the same plot points as Traveler in roughly the same order, which is a task I wouldn't envy. Not only is it repetitive and predictable for readers, but it invites comparison to one of the most popular stories in this fandom. Unless you think you can do it better or add an interesting twist to a particular plot point, don't do it. Make things easier on yourself.

- Back up a bit when considering what you want to do with your story. I struggled for a long time with mine because I wanted to put way more Hoenn pokémon in it than I could justify having in a Kanto setting. Things got a lot easier when I realized I could set my story in Hoenn instead of just using Kanto because it was what every other fanfic I liked had done. I've been longing to read a story that starts out in another region for a long time now. Think of the possibilities! A darker take on the poverty and ugliness in Kalos that Lysandre speaks of, where we can actually sort of see his point unlike in the games ... a struggle of truth and ideals between Ash and N amid the towering skyscrapers of Unova ... or Ash being mentored by Cynthia instead of Lance.

- Try to make each chapter have a minimum 10k word count. Somehow it's become a signature of Ash-centric pokémon fanfiction, so you're unlikely to get many readers if you don't. The plus side to this is that you can give each chapter an "episodic" feel that really makes every update a better read for the rest of us. It also encourages people to review because they have more content to talk about.

- Detail is great; don't feel the need to rush the plot. The Pokémon world has some intriguing potential for world-building that is just begging for an in-depth take. Plus, as a Pokémon author you have an audience that wants to explore the world they probably first experienced as young kids. Nothing is better at giving back that sense of wonder than some good detail.

- Think twice about long-term traveling companions. Not only are they hard to write - they're more people you have to account for in every scene which means they drag out events longer than they need to be - but they also take away from time that needs to be spent focusing on Ash's team. They also have their own pokémon, and it gets tricky to juggle around, say, eighteen pokémon on a training field instead of just Ash's six. I think maybe one traveling companion would be manageable, but the typical anime traveling trio is just plain hard to pull off successfully. If you choose to go for it, make sure you have a plan.

- People seem to worry a lot about clichés when considering what starter (and what other pokémon, for that matter) they should give Ash. Honestly, though, there are very few pokémon out there that have been written about so much that people can argue they're overdone. Charmander, Riolu, Dratini, Growlithe, and technically Pikachu are the only ones I'd hazard to say have significant word counts where they're featured as the starter. Basically anything that isn't named Riolu past the original 151 could use some more love. I'm also not saying to avoid the pokémon I just listed, but as with everything else, make sure you have a solid plan to make your story original if you go down the well-trodden path.

- I prefer to include dos rather than don'ts for advice, but please don't open your story with A) Ash's alarm clock going off, or B) a description of Pallet Town. As a reader that makes me want to click away, because as hooks they're neither new nor particularly interesting. I understand wanting to include the first day of his journey, and in fact you probably should, but that still leaves you a ton of possible points to start at besides the ones I mentioned above.

- Take care when it comes to power-scaling, because many writers mess this up by rushing how quickly Ash's pokémon learn new moves or evolve. One of the genius things that Traveler does is take its time when it comes to evolutions - Ash's Nidorino and Seadra only evolve for the final time just prior to the last gym battle, for example. There's a problem in a story if Ash has a a fully-evolved team before his fourth or fifth badge, since it makes pokémon training seem way too easy. If training pokémon isn't dangerous and hard, then there's no reason why everyone wouldn't be able to earn eight badges and raise a fully-evolved team of six.

- Make Ash earn his wins, and don't undermine that by making his pokémon magically strong compared to everyone else. Show us the process by which Ash becomes better than his peers instead of hand-waving it. Show us the blood and sweat and effort he must exert. Victory tastes all the sweeter then.

Hope something in that was useful to you!

- Mateusz