Misunderstood: A Pokémon Story

Self-Published

Community Rating

Description

Chloe never asked to be dragged into another world, especially not one where the wildlife wants to eat you. This is Kanto, but not the safe, sanitized one from Saturday mornings. Cities are walled and patrolled. Pokémon can and will kill you if you’re careless. And politics lurk behind every Gym door. Chloe isn’t a prodigy. She has no foreknowledge of events. She’s just a stubborn outsider with tattoos and a knack for pissing off exactly the wrong people. A sharp, sardonic twist on the classic Pokémon tale, this is the story of one woman’s struggle to make sense of a world she was never meant to be part of. Cover AI-generatedAll other works are my own Upload Schedule: One to two chapters per week, depending on workload.

Information

Status: Ongoing
Year: 2025
Author: Kasern

Royal Road Stats

Rating: 4.3/ 5.0
Followers: 1,255
Views: 249,340

What readers say about Misunderstood: A Pokémon Story

“Been a big pokemon fan for 25 or so years. I love all kinds of the stories from childish and hopefull to grim and dark, and countless other variations. This one stands out in its carefully balanced realism without tipping too far into that mentioned gritty…”
AlejoTheBearRoyal Road5.0 / 5
“This story is if the world of pokemon was real, the threat that giant monsters could pose to humans would be insane and as such the world is a bit of a darker place, but that doesn’t mean it has to be always dark, so far I think this author has done a fanta…”
BrewstoneRoyal Road5.0 / 5

Reviews

No reviews yet. Be the first to share your thoughts!

Community Reviews(10)

AlejoTheBearRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
Been a big pokemon fan for 25 or so years. I love all kinds of the stories from childish and hopefull to grim and dark, and countless other variations. This one stands out in its carefully balanced realism without tipping too far into that mentioned gritty style. This makes it unique, but what sets it apart even further is the clear and skilled woriting backing up the interesting vision of the story.
BrewstoneRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
This story is if the world of pokemon was real, the threat that giant monsters could pose to humans would be insane and as such the world is a bit of a darker place, but that doesn’t mean it has to be always dark, so far I think this author has done a fantastic job of portraying the homelessness one could feel with a drive to survive and the joy that can bring.
I look forward to reading more
grryfindoreRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
The writing, characterization story are all quite well done, the Pokemon world and the mons in it are depicted quite realisticly.
Have read quite a bit of pokemon fanfiction that has gone this root before on ff.net, but this one manages to pull it off quite well.
If asked for a gripe, I would suppose the authors worldviews can perhaps said to be kreaping in a bit more than they ought, I.E the whole LGBTQ bits and such. Still, isn't that much of a dealbreaker, and the author seems to have limited it as they go on.
Over all an excellent read, have enjoyed what I have read so far, will continue to read.
YulifeyRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
It's still early days for this story, but it's already off to a fantastic start.
The writing is confident and grounded, with solid grammar, vivid descriptions, and sharp dialogue. There are occasional spelling mistakes, but nothing that breaks immersion.
The main character, Chloe, is a bit rough around the edges: rude, selfish, and not always making the best decisions, but clearly layered and capable of growth. It’s a strong setup for real character development. The side characters are surprisingly strong; they actually feel like people with their own agency, which is more than I expected from the few glimpses we've had of them so far.
The tone leans darker and more realistic than some others, but it avoids falling into edgelord territory. The world feels a little more dangerous, a little more lived-in, but still recognisably Pokémon. The story is still building, but there are already enough hooks to keep you turning the pages.
Stylistically, it’s not trying to reinvent the wheel, and it doesn’t need to. What it does, it does well: clean, engaging, and well-paced.
If it keeps up this level of quality and avoids the dreaded early abandonment curse, it could easily grow into one of the standout Pokémon fanfics out there.
Definitely one to watch.
SeanpnaRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
I wasn’t sure what to expect going into this story, however I’m glad I did because this is an amazing read. The author is a fantastic writer and makes the pokemon world come alive in a way that I haven’t seen before. It’s the small details about the world that the author does a fantastic job at using to paint a picture in the reader’s mind. The grammar and the prose has no issues. The story itself is interesting, realistic, and motivational, even when the MC encounters hardship. The main character is frankly a mess and is imperfect, but this makes her all the more interesting and relatable. You can see the character growth already even so early into the story. I’m excited to see where this story goes next. You should give this story a read. You won’t regret it.
PotassiumRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
This fiction mixes lote from the tv series, games and other sources, giving its own twist to it. It is very competently written, giving has a flawed but believable MC we can root for. I recommend it for anyone that likes Pokémon fics.
reviews must be at least 50 words long
Nyx_SageRoyal Road
★★★★★ 4.5
This is a fairly well written Poke fanfic. The MC can come off as brash and headstrong at times, but her heart is in the right place. She is very loyal to her Pokemon and those she trusts, which is a big win in my book. If you like stories about underdogs with fighting and some adventure thrown in the mix (and Pokemon of course) then this is the fanfic for you :) Keep up the great work author.
DaraichRoyal Road
★★★★ 4.0
Tldr: I reallylike the grimdark word-altering, but can't stand the primary side-character Joey.Asan avid reader of pkmn fanfics I'm fascinated with this take. No know-it-all MC and while there are some heavy subjects the story is a good read without feeling like an existential crisis. There are some light, slice of life elements and cute pkmn.Only part iI'm dreading is that the sidechar stays any longer with the MC. While I hope he get's ditched (MC is on a escort-quest) I fear that he will stay on. I regularly find that I skip entire paragraphes because Joey...
MorphinneRoyal Road
★★★★ 4.0
This story is a real dichotomy for me. Some parts are genuinely great, while others are really bad. I don’t usually write reviews listing pros and cons, but Misunderstood: A Pokémon Story swings so sharply between extremes that it feels necessary this time.
Pros:
The story takes place in the Pokémon world, but it’s not your usual lighthearted adventure. It challenges the traditionalist status quo through a progressive lens. The MC is a tattooed lesbian woman facing harsh homophobia and discrimination. The mature themes give the narrative a more serious tone than most fanfics in this genre. The protagonist isn’t flawless—she struggles, she fails, and she tries to improve—and that human side makes her compelling at times.
Cons:
Unfortunately, the same protagonist who should ground the story often ends up breaking its immersion. She behaves with a level of immaturity that feels out of place—more like a 13-year-old boy than an adult woman. There’s a difference between challenging authority and being simply stubborn or self-sabotaging, and she too often falls into the latter.
Plot twists tend to come not from clever setups, but from sheer convenience or emotional manipulation. What should be smart narrative turns instead feel like soap opera drama—sudden, exaggerated, and rarely justified by the story’s logic.
Conclusion:
I genuinely wanted to enjoy this story. I believe we, as readers on Royal Road, should support more female authors and progressive themes—especially stories that treat LGBT characters seriously instead of as punchlines, as too many tropes still do.
But despite the good intentions, the execution just isn’t for me. The emotional intensity might appeal to readers who enjoy heavy drama, but the constant outbursts and the way the MC turns her own immaturity into a persecution complex wore me down. Don’t get me wrong—many of her reactions are perfectly justified—but when the only character she can talk to for more than two lines without exploding is a twelve-
Floh2802Royal Road
★★★★ 3.5
This story is very well written and has a lot of ideas that I can get behind. The more dark aspects of the story really grip one, death always seems to be around the corner for Chloe. Whether human or Pokemon, everyone seems to want a piece of her.I personally enjoyed the progression that has taken place since I started reading. The plot of the story and main story pieces are falling into place very nicely, even if the story jumps between them somewhat lackadaisically.Fights are riveting. I enjoy the way this author writes them a whole lot, as a lot of times the scene-setting plays very nicely into the actual fight and gives the reader some extra context to engage with.With this being a darker story, the brutality of some of the content that has gone down has also had me squirm a bit at points, the first Gym Battle and Viridian Forest leaving an extra strong impression.Some of the character interactions are written a bit too edgily for my tastes? I've had a few moments where I grinned because a certain interaction seemed far too edgy for what it was worth. It's had the exact opposite of the intended effect, this is still a Pokemon fan fiction after all.Chloe herself doesn't make herself very likable in the chapter I've read so far. It's true that she sticks by her principles, has a good heart, and is generally friendly, it just feels like her punk attitude just doesn't sit correctly.She's also far too headstrong for me as an MC, stuck in her opinions and principles. The author also emphasizes a lot of times that she isn't perfect, but I don't think it has the effect he expects in a lot of places, since she doesn't particularly improve, and a lot of her more glaring problems come from her headstrong attitude.Letting her Pokemon get hurt, somehow making the most dangerous choice in a list of safe wins, and just generally antagonizing people if they aren't friendly to her from the start. Everyone she meets seems at least amicable, if not intent on assisting her, but he