What is RoA?

RoA stands for two things. The first being Ruins of Alph, i.e., the website you’re currently reading, and the second being Roads of Adventure, which is my Pokémon fan-verse that this website is dedicated to documenting.

What do you mean by a fan-verse?

It’s exactly what it sounds like - a fanon universe. More specifically, this is my own personal headcanon for the mainline Pokémon games, focused on Gens I-V. This all started, when, as a kid, I would imagine what I do where I somehow given the chance to create a more game-faithful adaptation of Pokémon in the form of an anime or manga - this was back in the days before things like Pokémon Origins had dropped. It started relatively simply - deciding which playable character I’d choose as the ‘canon’ one for each generation, deciding on which starter pokémon each character would get, etc. but it soon spiralled into something much more elbaroate.

Each playable character (even those who do not take on the ‘protagonist’ role), has been given a personality, backstory, full teams of six, etc. The third versions (Yellow, Crystal, Emerald, and Platinum) are taken as the ‘canon’ version, with some details from the other versions and remakes added in (such as the co-existance of Lyra and Kris, the presence of the Sevii Isles, etc.), and with the obvious exception of Black/White and Black/White 2, where there is no third version. In that case I’ve chosen to use a mixture of elements from both Black and White, the specifics of which will be detailed more on the pages pertaining to Unova. From there I’ve expanded the story, using common fanon concepts, elements from other adaptations like the anime and the Pokémon Special manga, as well as my own personal theories and headcanons. I’ve even come up with ideas for future stories for each cast of characters, taking place after their respective games. However, in spite of how long I’ve been working on this universe, I’ve always been too intimidated to turn it into a full-blown fanfiction, which means I’ve never really shared it with anyone else - until now.

For most of it's existance this universe was nameless - whenever I'd tell peoople about it I'd usually just refer to it as something along the lines of 'my headcanons for the gameverse', but I've decided to dub it 'Roads of Adventure' in order to make it easily identificable - the name was chosen for the 'RoA' initials (as I'd already chosen Ruins of Alph as the url for the website, and because it fits within the themes of Pokémon as a series. This site is designed to serve as a guide to, and archive of, the RoA-verse. Think of it as a wiki for a fanfiction that doesn't exist, featuring a full timeline of events up to the end of Gen V, full bios for each main character (as well as each of their Pokémon), and other miscellaneous headcanons and tidbits of information. I’m even hoping to write some short stories set in this universe which I will share both here and on ao3 - turning it into a wiki for a fanficiton that does exist. I would also like to eventually expand the site to include more general Pokémon content, hence why I gave the site a more general Pokémon-themed name.

As for why I decided to create this site - well, it’s basically something I want to do for fun. I’ve been thinking about these ideas for many years, scattered over many school notebooks and google docs, but I’ve never collected it all into once place before. Furthermore, I’ve wanted to make a Neocities site and learn html for a very long time, and this project provides me with the perfect opportunity to do so. These games mean a lot to me and I’ve spent countless hours of my life thinking about their stories, themes, and characters, so I hope you end up enjoying what I’ve made of them.

Why does the RoA-verse only focus on Generations I-V?

Because that’s what I’m familiar with. That’s what I’ve played most extensively. And, most importantly, that’s what I care about. I’ve played through the first five generations countless times. I’ve only played both X/Y and Su/Mo, start-to-finish once, I’ve never finished Sword/Shield, and I’ve never even played Scarlet/Violet. I’ve been highly critical of the direction the franchise has taken since the switch to 3D, and although I hold no ill-will towards anyone who loves the newer games, they’re just not something I have much interest in covering.

For the record, I do have some general ideas for the post-Gen V games, like which player character would be the protagonist for each generation and which starters they’d pick, and I may add a brief section dedicated to summarising my thoughts in the future, but for now, I’m focused on the generations where I actually have more than a paragraph’s worth of things to say, so don’t hold your breath. In fact, I’m far more likely to add sections for some of the spin-off games like the Gamecube games and the Ranger series to this site before I ever get around to covering the the 3D games, because I have a lot of nostalgia for those games, and enjoy them quite a lot, (especially the Ranger series). I have worked some ideas from OR/AS and Legends Acreus into RoA however, the details of which will be added to the site eventually.

I hope you all enjoy looking through the site, and I'd love to hear feedback either through the guestbook, or through my e-mail or one of my socials - all of which you can find on the about me page.

~Webmaster Aimée