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Pokemon Fan Fiction Pet Peeves |
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It seems that I always get into deep discussion with friends about things that people don't really put much thought into. It first started about the new Pokemon games, then our Pokemon fan fiction pet peeves and it ended with how to make Pokemon fan fiction realistic/unique.
We ended up making up a list because the best way to help improve fan fiction for the fandom, is to make sure everyone is aware of what is unrealistic and cliche about it. When a person knows what those things are, they can write a better story that would be more original and believable.
1. Not every trainer that the character sees on their journey has to battle them. It may happen sometimes but not all the time. Some people are too busy with other things to worry about battling. Also not every battle has to be written down in detail. It can easily be skipped ahead or implied at how tough the battles were, whether they lost or won most of them.
2. Money is still important. In every fandom money is always needed and used to buy supplies, food, clothing and whatnot. It would make sense for money to exist in the Pokemon world as well. They would need it in order to buy the equipment, potions, pokeballs, food, etc. during their journey. Just plan out how the character is getting their money and make sure that they're spending it wisely. If they get their money from winning battles then what if they lose a lot? Did they save money before they went off for their journey? Are they getting an allowance from their parents? Are there places in the Pokemon world that gives them discounts? Or let them stay for free (like the Pokemon Center)?
3. There's no unspoken rule that you must use a starter Pokemon. It does makes sense that there would be a lot of stories that contain main characters starting out with starter Pokemon (Bulbasur, Charmander, Squirtle or Chikorita, Cyndaquil, Totodile, or Treecko, Torchic, Mudkip...etc.), because that's the most common and popular way trainers begin.
However, you don't have to follow that if you don't want to. Maybe the main character was accidentally playing around with a pokeball and ended up catching a non-starter Pokemon like Pidgey or something else? Maybe they were given a Pokemon as a gift from someone in their family? Maybe they befriended a Pokemon when they were younger and it got attach to them? Maybe one of their family member had a Pokemon who gave birth and one of the babies was given to them? There's a lot of ways for the writer to explore and many ways for a character to not get a starter Pokemon.
4. What's in the backpack? Being on a long journey tends to require equipment, tools, food, potions and whatnot in order to survive. I can only assume that some characters plan ahead. That way, they will only bring the things that are needed until they reach their destination. They can always restock supplies when they get to a town or city. But don't forget, not to have too much in the bag or else it gets too heavy to carry and seem unrealistic.
5. Don't be afraid to give Pokemon original nicknames. It's fine if a few characters aren't original in naming their electric Pokemon "Zap", "Sparky", or something like that. But if the character is known to be creative then it wouldn't be surprising if they come up with some nice names for their Pokemon. Giving Pokemon original names or at least names that Pokemon don't usually have, helps to avoid confusions. Such as nicknames that are very common in Pokemon stories and if a person has read a story with a Pikachu name "Sparks" and then reads another story with a Pikachu named the same thing. They might mix the stories up and/or mistake the Pikachu's personalities up or whatnot.
6. Not every city has to be written the same as they are in the games. Depending on the Pokemon fan fiction, some of them follows the anime, others the manga or the video games. But the fan fiction that follow the games, you don't have to write that a town only has five houses and a research lab just because it's portray that way in the game. You can add things to it, maybe there's a daycare center there even if it's not showed in the game and so on. It's not far-fetch to believe that's more to a city and town then a few building or houses. There's has to be shops, business buildings, supermarkets, police departments, etcetera around.
7. Winning and losing is a part of life. It is great to be a winner but it's more important to learn from the lessons of losing as well. No one is perfect and no one is capable of winning everything in life, in this case winning every Pokemon battle or contest. So make sure that your character(s) doesn't win everything. When they lose have them try to figure out why and when they do, they should have learned something from it.
8. The Pokedex doesn't have to tell the readers information about the Pokemon all the time. It starts to become a waste of space and annoying when Pokedex entries appear constantly in the middle of the chapters. Your readers are quite familiar with the Pokemon world and your character should already be as well. The characters should also know and be familiar with the Pokemon in their area or region. If not all of the Pokemon then some of them at least.
The Pokedex just lets trainers know the basic things about them and what they're call. To truly know their Pokemon, it is to bond with them, to find out their personality, their likes and dislikes and whatnot. After all, the Pokedex isn't capable of telling people those things. For example: The Pokedex entry for Granbull claims that it is timid. Don't be surprise if the Granbull your character captures is the complete opposite.
9. There are more than one way to catch Pokemon. Don't be afraid to make your story different by straying from the typical path. Not every Pokemon has to be caught in the wild. Some people get Pokemon by winning contests, gifts, finding an egg, etc.
10. Don't be afraid to do trades. It seems that many writers are hesitant or don't think of using that option. So it's not surprising to see that it's a rare thing to happen in stories. Trading doesn't necessarily mean it has to be a permanent thing. Some trainers trade their Pokemon to friends or family for numerous of reasons. It could be so that they can give their Pokemon specialize training from each other. Or to give their Pokemon a chance to learn something new from someone else. Maybe it's because that person needed a Pokemon for something. For example: There could be a young lady or an old couple that needs a Machamp to help them move around furniture into their new house. They don't want to keep the Pokemon, they just want to borrow it for a few days. In exchange they let you keep a Pokemon of their's until they are done. If they don't want to trade Pokemon then want about if they are willing to pay the trainer the use of their Pokemon.
11. Holidays, birthdays, anniversaries, and special events do exist. Don't be afraid to have them appear in the story. It would be realistic if you have them somewhere. It's nice to see things like that because there's a lot a writer can do with them. They can be used to show a different perspective of your character(s). Or even give the readers a break from the plot (example: readers could be getting tired of reading about the character's traveling/catching Pokemon/battling so a change of scenery would be good). Also, don't forget about the seasons or the weather. The planet doesn't stand still, nor does time so it would make sense for it not to always be warm, or sunny, and whatnot.
12. When Pokemon evolve they shouldn't happen so quickly. It takes a lot of experience, training and time for them to level up. For example, Pidgey evolves into Pidgeotto at level 18 and it shouldn't be evolving only a few days after the trainer had it. Even a week or two isn't enough for a Pokemon to be evolving. The best way to time the evolution of the Pokemon, is to plan it out. Doing that helps you to make sure that it doesn't happen too soon, especially if there wasn't enough training and/or battling to happen.
13. The characters' parents and family shouldn't disappear while they're on their journey. It's unrealistic that parents don't get themselves involve in their children lives or keep tabs on them. So it would be believable if the characters writes letters to them, or emails or even do video calls every once in a while. It makes sense that they'll check in with their parents whenever they reach a town or city. Plus, it doesn't hurt if the characters' visit their family whenever they're nearby. Not only does it seem believable but it also adds to the characterization, it allows the readers to see what they're like with their family.
14. Shiny Pokemon. There's a growing number of stories that contain trainers finding and getting shiny Pokemon. So it's starting to become less surprising and more of a trend. Shinnies are suppose to be very, very rare and could only be found in the wild. It's hard to enjoy a story when nearly every character has manage to find one for themselves. Or that nearly every story contains at least one shiny somewhere in it. Ask yourself if it's truly necessary for your character to have one? If it's important to the plot or to the character?
15. Don't be afraid to do something different with your character, such as not making them a typical trainer. Readers do enjoy stories that are unique, that bring in something new to the fandom's fanfiction. There are many paths that your character could take and some of those paths are unexplored. They can be a Pokemon breeder, a Pokemon ranger, a Pokemon watcher, coordinator, gym leader, researcher, police officer, doctor, nurse, rancher, teacher, scientist, team rocket grunt, etc.
 DamnBlackHeart · Mon May 28, 2012 @ 12:29am · 0 Comments |
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