Current Nominations

• Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Guiding Light [COMPLETE] by Ambyssin

  Nominated by Namohysip and Kindoflame

  What better way to commemorate the finishing of one of the longest works than by nominating it, eh? I didn't go through this entire thing for nothing.

• The Curious and the Shiny: New Game Plus [The Manifold Curiosity] by NebulaDreams

  Nominated by Namohysip and RednBlue

  This is a very subdued story with a lot of powerful emotions hidden beneath. There's a lot to admire from how Nebula can bring high fantasy down to earth.

  Definitely one of my all time favorites.

• Broken Things by Rediamond

  Nominated by NebulaDreams

  The uniquely flawed but likeable characters, the lax yet tense pacing, the dramatic and emotional weight each chapter has, the ever-growing sense of scale, the detailed worldbuilding, and the themes explored here make for one of the best trainer fics I've read.

• Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Hands of Creation by Namohysip

  Nominated by NebulaDreams

  Hands of Creation continues to be excellent through the constantly unravelling nature of its storyline, with a lot of exciting action, a lot of tears shed, and a lot of moments that will make you go 'holy crap!'

• Fledglings by Spiteful Murkrow

  Nominated by Kindoflame

• Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Pathways of Aspiration by pbugle

  Nominated by Kindoflame

• Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Hands of Creation by Namohysip

  Nominated by Kindoflame and canisaries

  This 500k+ epic just keeps on giving. In 2019, we've explored new characters and old, each one with their own motivations and ideologies. We've asked ourselves which side really is the good one, and the answers seem to vary significantly by reader - a sign of a truly multifaceted story. These fleshed out characters are what make the conflicts so tense and emotions so visceral, and it keeps you reading strong even past the half-million words mark.

• [One-Shot] Mute by Negrek

  Nominated by Namohysip and RednBlue

  I dunno man. It was a really simple story with a nice world to go with it. I liked it. And I'm surprised it was published in 2019–just right at the very beginning.

• Mail for Welltown (Oneshot) by canisaries

  Nominated by Namohysip

  Another relatively simple story with a bright-eyed protagonist who just wants to help out. A bit rushed, but the intent is there.

• SWAP! [One-shot, Everyone, PMD] by Cresselia92

  Nominated by NebulaDreams

  This is a close call since there were lots of good contenders for best one-shot with the contest entries, but SWAP! hit that sweet spot between good conflict and an upbeat tone that landed it for me near the top here.

• Outside the Frame (One-Shot) [FOLLOW-UP INCOMING] by NebulaDreams

  Nominated by canisaries

• Dispatch Deferred [One-shot, Everyone, PMD] by unrepentantAuthor

  Nominated by NebulaDreams

No nominations have been made for this award.

• Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Pathways of Aspiration by pbugle

  Nominated by Namohysip

  Don't overlook this one. There are a lot of little things going on in this plot being built up and I can't wait to see what Bugle is gonna do with it.

• The Legendarian Chronicles [Revision 11] by Chibi Pika

  Nominated by Kindoflame and RednBlue

  Had me on the edge of my seat, swear to jeebus

• Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Guiding Light [COMPLETE] by Ambyssin

  Nominated by Kindoflame

• The Curious and the Shiny: New Game Plus [The Manifold Curiosity] by NebulaDreams

  Nominated by Namohysip

  The unorthodox chronology makes for an interesting unraveling of a story and the ever-widening flashlight to the true backdrop Nebula is trying to depict…

• Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Guiding Light [COMPLETE] by Ambyssin

  Nominated by Namohysip

  It's literally a Kirby crossover and nobody acknowledges it.

• The Legendarian Chronicles [Revision 11] by Chibi Pika

  Nominated by Kindoflame

• [One-Shot] Mute by Negrek

  Nominated by Namohysip

• Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Pathways of Aspiration by pbugle

  Nominated by Kindoflame

• Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Pathways of Aspiration by pbugle

  Nominated by Kindoflame

• Fledglings by Spiteful Murkrow

  Nominated by Namohysip, Kindoflame and Venia Silente

  If there's one thing you can say Fledglings dedicates way too many words to, it's the setting. No seriously, I… I think it's almost a full third of the fic.

  It's hard to find competition for this one when it comes to worldbuilding. The world and the story for it are well developed and there's always some wiggle room and hooks available for showing more.

• Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Guiding Light [COMPLETE] by Ambyssin

  Nominated by Kindoflame

• The Curious and the Shiny: New Game Plus [The Manifold Curiosity] by NebulaDreams

  Nominated by canisaries

• Heroes After All by Umbramatic

  Nominated by Venia Silente

  It takes on the best anime movie so far (fite me), picks up from the angles that everyone agrees the movie handled well (the concept of the Aura Guardian and having an interesting human character with lots of potential) and… well, it expands from there.
  
  Umbramatic works on establishing an entire concept of the Aura Guardians not only as an institution but also as a (sub)culture, and shows it to us from an "insider perspective" by presenting us the story of a hero in the making. We all know how it ends - that only makes it so much interesting to see how a Hero of Rota is built.

• Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Pathways of Aspiration by pbugle

  Nominated by Namohysip

  The plot is heavily tied to how the main characters grow and react (differently!) to what happens, and what they do to make things happen next. How people change, and how they don't change at all…

• The Legendarian Chronicles [Revision 11] by Chibi Pika

  Nominated by Kindoflame

• Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Guiding Light [COMPLETE] by Ambyssin

  Nominated by Kindoflame

• Outside the Frame (One-Shot) [FOLLOW-UP INCOMING] by NebulaDreams

  Nominated by Namohysip

  Tales of grief and recovery mingle together in this very modern Pokemon story.

• Dragony by canisaries

  Nominated by Namohysip and NebulaDreams

  He wants to be a dragon, but there's so much you can do with that.

  Keith sure is a show-stealer, being the fic's biggest source of comedy while also being a well-developed character with a satisfying arc, but the rest of the characters are equally as enjoyable, adding to a lovable cast all throughout.

• SWAP! [One-shot, Everyone, PMD] by Cresselia92

  Nominated by canisaries

  The character arc of Icetales took me by surprise in what I expected to be only a light fic, and it's also what makes this fic a great fit for the Heartwarming category.

• Chimera, Argon, and Eoin, Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Pathways of Aspiration by pbugle

  Nominated by Namohysip

  I didn't see it coming, and yet I'm probably more invested in it than anything else in the story.

• Cuicatl, Kekoa and Genesis, Broken Things by Rediamond

  Nominated by NebulaDreams

  These three, along with their Pokemon, make for a great cast of flawed characters, and the way they interact with each other in the story is nailbiting, but also made sweet when they do eventually patch things up and figure things out.

• Ames and Debra, 750p an Hour by pbugle

  Nominated by NebulaDreams

  This one shot discussed some really interesting themes of choosing between doing what you love and suffering for your art, or being successful and hating it, and these two characters really brought out the best in that with their individual plights and how they interact together.

• Eoin, the Beast, and Argon, Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Pathways of Aspiration by pbugle

  Nominated by Kindoflame

• Shine and Curio, The Curious and the Shiny: New Game Plus [The Manifold Curiosity] by NebulaDreams

  Nominated by Kindoflame and canisaries

  I haven't read terribly far yet, but it's clear that these two bring the best out in each other: Curio encourages Shine to have fun and live his life, and Shine makes Curio realize when she steps too far out of line. No wonder the Luxray so badly wanted to find the Lucario again.

• The Legendarian Chronicles [Revision 11] by Chibi Pika

  Nominated by Namohysip and NebulaDreams

  Chibi seems to have a strong affinity for reversals in the middle of battle. And there are a LOT of those here.

  The pacing of this fic is as relentless as they come, with gradually intensifying stakes and villains that do not cut corners or mess around.

• Hunter, Haunted by canisaries

  Nominated by NebulaDreams

  He's Red Akai! Red Akai! You never really know what he's gonna do next!

• Prayers Unheard by Namohysip

  Nominated by Venia Silente

  When you read about the afterlife, in a world with creatures capable of things Pokémon are capable to do, a part of you hopes – and hopes against hope – that some things we consider tenets can be broken if it can make for a short, bitter-or-sweet story.
  
  This OS made a damn fine job of building up to that hope that it would work yet at the same time the hope that it *wouldn't* work, that it would be worse if it did, and I feel like this is one of the rare times where, suspenseful as the fic is, one doesn't really want to see that continuation, because at a meta level some hope remains in the unknown, in the "nothing established on print yet".

• 750p an Hour by pbugle

  Nominated by Namohysip and Venia Silente

  All things considered, it's a very relatable story for a lot of people – The bonds you lose as time passes and you go separate ways, only to wonder what could have been, but can no longer be…

  Capitalism, fam, and what it does to people no matter the species. What this story shows is but a time slice of a degradation that can easily go on for months, for years and that it seems no matter the powers we adscribe to ourselves or to our characters, it's just not possible to escape.
  
  Hopefully somehow, someday, we'll find out a better alternative. One that pays at least ₽1200 an hour.

• Prayers Unheard by Namohysip

  Nominated by NebulaDreams and canisaries

  Prayers Unheard is a heart-wrenching side-story from Hands of Creation that asks a lot of tough questions about its main character and remains unrelentingly bleak throughout. Even the ending is debateably bittersweet at best.

  A tale so visceral that I was too overwhelmed by emotion to even review it. Grippingly relatable portrayal of feelings of helplessness and depression with a BALLSY yet so perfect open ending.

• The Curious and the Shiny: New Game Plus [The Manifold Curiosity] by NebulaDreams

  Nominated by Kindoflame

• Outside the Frame (One-Shot) [FOLLOW-UP INCOMING] by NebulaDreams

  Nominated by canisaries

• SWAP! [One-shot, Everyone, PMD] by Cresselia92

  Nominated by NebulaDreams and canisaries

  When you break it down, this is a really cute story about a couple of Ninetales changing their lives for the better as well as the lives of others in some way,

  I won't spoil this one either, but the conclusion of Icetales' arc is very satisfying.

• The Curious and the Shiny: New Game Plus [The Manifold Curiosity] by NebulaDreams

  Nominated by Kindoflame

• Dispatch Deferred [One-shot, Everyone, PMD] by unrepentantAuthor

  Nominated by canisaries

  A lovely short story about a determined little mail-Golett and a reluctantly helpful Luxio. Its adorably polite protagonist and feel-good ending are what make it so heartwarming to me.

• Dragony by canisaries

  Nominated by Namohysip

  If only because it's easy to relate to… I mean, who doesn't want to be a dragon?!

• The Great Dunsparce Apocalypse by Namohysip

  Nominated by Venia Silente

  How come the one, True way of giving justice to Dunsparce in this fandom not make it in yet?
  
  This story gives off the vibes of classical, '90s Buffy the Vampire Slayers season finales and makes you lick your lips on it. There's simply no opportunity Namo leaves unturned to make something fun happen with the varied characters (who, reminder, are all Dunsparce here) even until the very end.

• Broken Things by Rediamond

  Nominated by NebulaDreams

  All of the trainers are perfect in their own royally screwed up way.

• The Legendarian Chronicles [Revision 11] by Chibi Pika

  Nominated by Kindoflame

• Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Guiding Light [COMPLETE] by Ambyssin

  Nominated by Namohysip and Kindoflame

• Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Hands of Creation by Namohysip

  Nominated by NebulaDreams and canisaries

• Fledglings by Spiteful Murkrow

  Nominated by Kindoflame and Venia Silente

  Fledglings hands down has become a staple of the genre. Regular updates, ever increasing content and a Pokémon world that *works* for the creatures that live there. And of course, the titular Mystery Dungeons every once in a while, but there's also a fair amount of mystery and of dungeons of their own.

• The Curious and the Shiny: New Game Plus [The Manifold Curiosity] by NebulaDreams

  Nominated by Namohysip, Kindoflame and canisaries

• Fledglings by Spiteful Murkrow

  Nominated by Kindoflame

• Hunter, Haunted by canisaries

  Nominated by NebulaDreams

  Despite being based off of the TPP verse, it introduces a lot of new characters and transforms old ones, putting it all in a different context. Boy, it is uncompromising in how low it can sink in terms of what the main character does, but it does it in such an interesting, complex way, and isn't afraid to have a laugh either, so it hits the right balance between terrifying and darkly comic.

• Fame [Origins contest entry] by Dramatic Melody

  Nominated by Venia Silente

  You'd think a story completely built around dialogue where one of the two characters won't speak can't work, yes?
  
  Well, see that then take THIS! "Fame" is a story where we have two canon characters, one of which canonically does not speak and the meta has gone to wonders about it. Then it manages to somehow construct an entire determinable, senseful, predictable (in a good way) conversation scene about a IRL relatable social situation entirely driven through dialogue. I mean, who doesn't ever have coffee with a friend? Who doesn't ever discuss the Fame Checker (really, it should come back).
  
  I still can't understand sometimes how Melody managed this. I can still hear Red's entire dialogue-that-should-be-but-isnt in my head!

• Cuicatl Ichtaca, Broken Things by Rediamond

  Nominated by NebulaDreams

  The trainer of Pixie and a bundle of nerves in general. Her struggles are very relateable, coupled with the ever growing tensions of the trainers she has to travel with, but her development throughout is which landed her in this spot for me.

• Curio, The Curious and the Shiny: New Game Plus [The Manifold Curiosity] by NebulaDreams

  Nominated by Namohysip

  The brave coward is a trope you see a lot, but not often one done quite like this, I don't think… And it's subtle, too.

• Eoin, Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Pathways of Aspiration by pbugle

  Nominated by Namohysip

  This guy has a lot of internal conflict going on, and is probably the one Pokemon who seems to understand life in both sides of the world's main division–Pallids and civils.

• Pixie, Broken Things by Rediamond

  Nominated by NebulaDreams

  Pixie is an icy bundle of joy while also having a lot of depth to her beyond being a bratty fox. Not even the Pokemon in Broken Things are safe from being afflicted with mental hangups.

• Keith, Dragony by canisaries

  Nominated by NebulaDreams

  Keith has the distinction of being the only wyrmaboo character in a piece of fiction, fanmade or otherwise. As said before, his arc is fantastic.

No nominations have been made for this award.

• Swift, The Legendarian Chronicles [Revision 11] by Chibi Pika

  Nominated by Namohysip

  I kinda wish I saw more of this guy. He's probably one of the most level-headed characters in the early story and that seems to continue, and it's a nice contrast to all the action going on.

• Enet, Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Hands of Creation by Namohysip

  Nominated by NebulaDreams

  Enet is pure and adds an interesting dynamic to HoC's evergrowing cast, being a feral in a team of civilized Mon.

• Guardia, Fledglings by Spiteful Murkrow

  Nominated by Venia Silente

  Really one could nominate over half the cast of "Fledglings" here (i argued this against myself for like an hour) and, this time, I really wanted to make mention of Guardia.
  
  The little Cubone critter has grown from her times back in her figurative hut in the woods and over the years has come forth as an important asset to Team Traveller and a much needed friend to Pleo.
  
  From her remote island Guardia wanders about the Cradle in divine task, to pass judgment on the Empire and the Company and even on Tromba all, and on their ass-backward justice systems that somehow involve *not* throwing a bone club at your enemy as sign of ruling from the dead. Thusly she brings justice both in battle and out.
  
  I mean, this is her in a good day:
  
  "If we were back in my colony, I'd be dragging you off to be judged by the dead myself!"
  
  And you would be thankful for the opportunity.

No nominations have been made for this award.

• Necrozma, Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Guiding Light [COMPLETE] by Ambyssin

  Nominated by Namohysip

  I can't get into the reasoning without getting really in-depth about it, but despite starting off as your typical cartoonish villain, the depth that comes forward and the path that led up to how he became what he was leads to a very complete character.

• The Source of the Crisis, Mail for Welltown (Oneshot) by canisaries

  Nominated by Namohysip

  I kept it vague, but anybody who read it would know who I'm talking about; for such little screen time, the implications and the hints toward the source's story makes for an oddly wholesome, if not unsettling, message.

No nominations have been made for this award.

• Keith, Dragony by canisaries

  Nominated by Namohysip and Venia Silente

  He wanna be a dragon.

  It is very *very* difficult not to relate with this little Eevee nor to not find funny both his perception of life and his various misadventures.

• Anam, Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Hands of Creation by Namohysip

  Nominated by Kindoflame

• Elty, Fledglings by Spiteful Murkrow

  Nominated by Kindoflame

No nominations have been made for this award.

No nominations have been made for this award.

• Chapter 22 ~ Scream at the sky, The Curious and the Shiny: New Game Plus [The Manifold Curiosity] by NebulaDreams

  Nominated by Namohysip

  This is the scene that made me favorite it on FFN. Very powerful stuff.

• Owen and Gahi Have A Moment [Chapter 39], Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Hands of Creation by Namohysip

  Nominated by NebulaDreams

  There are a lot of spoilers here so I won't give away the context of this scene, but let me just say, I seldom cry at any piece of media, and this moment absolutely broke me.

• Special Episode 5 – I Promise​, Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Hands of Creation by Namohysip

  Nominated by Kindoflame

• 'Pops' - Chapter 40, Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Hands of Creation by Namohysip

  Nominated by NebulaDreams

  One word. That is all.

• Chapter 22. Pieces of Home​, The Curious and the Shiny: New Game Plus [The Manifold Curiosity] by NebulaDreams

  Nominated by Kindoflame

• Chapter 49 - Burn Away, Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Hands of Creation by Namohysip

  Nominated by Kindoflame

  Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.

No nominations have been made for this award.

• canisaries

  Nominated by Namohysip and NebulaDreams

  Comes out with gripping story after story, on top of constantly revising her old ones as well.

• Ambyssin

  Nominated by Namohysip and Kindoflame

• pbugle

  Nominated by Kindoflame

• UncleKAKAA

  Nominated by RednBlue

  I've been following his work since he started late in November, I believe. He's pretty good!

• Ambyssin

  Nominated by Namohysip

  I mean, by the numbers…

• UncleKAKAA

  Nominated by RednBlue

  Has been posting his fic almost every single day since he began. Pretty dedicated, eh?

• pbugle

  Nominated by Namohysip

  I'm a bit biased because I'm his beta, but the guy soaks up new information like a sponge. I think if anybody read through his (old) first chapters and compared them to the new versions, you'd see what I mean. Another way to tell? Just look at chapter, I think it's 4 compared to 5, and you might see where he stopped touching up the old chapters to refocus on new content.

No nominations have been made for this award.

No nominations have been made for this award.