d_s_t_e's Wattpad Reviews

To Wrap My Life in Leaves by The_Magical_Yoshi [Pokémon]

To Wrap My Life in Leaves is a Pokémon fanfic in short story form. It follows a Snivy named Serphisa who is unexpectedly chosen by the legendary Pokémon Cobalion for a very unusual and difficult task. Virizion has died, and Serphisa is asked to sacrifice herself so that Virizion can be resurrected and balance restored to the entire world. How will she spend her final days when there are only six of them?

I really enjoyed the characters in this book, especially the main three: Serphisa, Sketchy, and Aqua. These three friends make up a rescue team together, and it is obvious that they are close. We see this both through the ways they interact with each other and through references to their history.

All of these characters have at least a bit of back story that is told quickly and yet is compelling. For example, the story surrounding Sketchy's house is described in a single brief sentence, and yet I felt that it added complexity to her character.

I also enjoyed seeing a variety of methods of characterization being used effectively, from dialogue to actions to the way that other characters reacted to the character in question and more. I saw Sketchy's energy and playfulness from the first when she reacts to the suggestion of taking a break by groaning and lying down to cuddle her tail while she waits impatiently. Another scene that showed Serphisa's toughness and determination was capped off excellently by the simple actions of a Slowbro in response. I love seeing this kind of characterization that lets us really get to know characters and see exactly what they're like without having to be explicitly told.

I also enjoyed that even minor characters had their own personalities and sometimes even small back stories. It helped make all of them seem more realistic and rounded out the world that this story takes place in.

There were some times when I didn't quite understand why the characters reacted the way they did to a certain situation. The first and most important is Serphisa's reaction to the news that she has been chosen to be sacrificed. I was expecting to see some kind of anger or disbelief, an attempt to argue or at least question. Since I didn't really understand how the sacrifice was going to happen, I would have also liked it if she had asked some of the questions I was asking, like: Why Serphisa? What does it mean that the "balance of the world" will be thrown off if Virizion isn't resurrected? Will Serphisa retain her personality and simply transform into a Virizion or will the old Virizion come and take over the newly transformed body? Or something else?

I wondered if Serphisa had some special kind of respect for Cobalion since he's a legendary Pokémon. Did she not want to question him? Later, I began to wonder if perhaps all of these Pokémon have some kind of belief in stoicism, meaning that they think it's important to put up a strong front and not seem sad even when they are. I definitely got that feeling when it came to Cobalion, and I actually enjoyed that about his character because it was so clear. I could really tell that he had deep feelings for Virizion, even though he never admits to it.

I would have liked to see more of how Serphisa feels about this, though. If she's upset or afraid but still is willing to sacrifice herself in order to preserve the balance of the world and presumably save everyone in it, that is really admirable! It would add so much to the plot and definitely make her a hero that readers could love even more.

I also wondered why her friends didn't ask what was going on just a little sooner because they saw Cobalion pull her aside. That could be easily fixed if they weren't there or if it wasn't possible for them to find her until later for some reason. I think it would really show how great of friends they are if they noticed she was upset all on their own or if they were looking until they realized that they knew just where they could find her. Either way, this is a smaller thing.

Something I haven't mentioned yet is that I really liked how this story used the Rescue Team games as a base without drawing at all on preexisting plots and without overplaying aspects of game mechanics that I often see in these kinds of fanfics. I think the author did a good job of that. I also loved the parts that poke a little bit of light fun at things like escort missions that everyone who's played those games finds so annoying. (Well, I do, anyway!) And those who hadn't played the games could still follow easily, which is something I always like to see personally.

I noticed a few typos and errors throughout. One in particular was the word "excepting" used instead of "accepting" in chapter 2, which could almost seem to change the meaning of the sentence. It was actually a lot better than a lot of stories that I've seen on Wattpad in terms of this, though. The author could probably make it close to perfect with just one more careful read through, and most readers probably wouldn't even notice.

Overall, while there were some things that I might have written a little differently, there were definitely a lot of things that I really enjoyed. There were some really good and enjoyable scenes, parts that made me smile and laugh... And I won't give away the ending, but I know that lots of readers thought that it definitely stood out. I hear that there's a sequel, so that's what I plan on reading next. Maybe some of my questions will be answered in it.

** Published in December 2014 **