POPULAR: Cliches in Pokémon Fanfiction

[Baby Seals]

Actually Morty from Ecruteak Gym is a Ghost Trainer and he was not only courteous, but was pretty chill actually, and as for the dirty fighting, I think he actually fought pretty fairly.

I agree.

Fantina and Shauntal were also pretty nice. Karen is a bit sardonic, but she's not the bitch that the manga portrays her as.

Some of the "normal" Gym Leaders were kind of nasty too. Clair, a Dragon-type user, was not that nice. Not to mention Whitney, a Normal-type user, who cries when you beat her.

As for other cliches:

42. All the bishounen characters are portrayed as gay.
43. The main character has abusive guardians - often ripped off of something like Cinderella or Harry Potter.

 

[voidcritter]

Actually Morty from Ecruteak Gym is a Ghost Trainer and he was not only courteous, but was pretty chill actually, and as for the dirty fighting, I think he actually fought pretty fairly.

I agree.

Fantina and Shauntal were also pretty nice. Karen is a bit sardonic, but she's not the bitch that the manga portrays her as.

Some of the "normal" Gym Leaders were kind of nasty too. Clair, a Dragon-type user, was not that nice. Not to mention Whitney, a Normal-type user, who cries when you beat her.

As for other cliches:

42. All the bishounen characters are portrayed as gay.
43. The main character has abusive guardians - often ripped off of something like Cinderella or Harry Potter.

Yeah, I mostly meant Grimsley and Agatha were the only two that showed any signs of actually being difficult to get along with/fight while everyone else was no worse than most other trainers. Probably should have been a bit clearer there.

But moving forward: Don't forget that lots of trainers run away because their caretakers forbid them from FOLLOWING THEIR DREAMS~

 

[LightningTopaz]

But moving forward: Don't forget that lots of trainers run away because their caretakers forbid them from FOLLOWING THEIR DREAMS~

Guilty as charged with Hibiki

 

[Flaze]

Though by all this standards what methods of starting out a journey aren't considered cliche? xD

 

[voidcritter]

Though by all this standards what methods of starting out a journey aren't considered cliche? xD

Let's have a look at the games:

-Gold/Silver: You're asked to run an errand for the Professor, and he gives you a Pokemon so that you're safe.
-HeartGold/SoulSilver: Same as above, only you're also asked to help out with an experiment by seeing how Pokemon respond to staying out of their balls for long periods of time.
-Ruby/Sapphire/Emerald: Professor Birch gets into trouble and asks you to take one of the Pokemon from his bag to help him out. As a reward, he gives you the Pokemon you picked. Then he sees your potential and asks you to go see his son/daughter to learn more about being a Trainer.
-The original RBG and DPPt: The professors give you a Pokemon because you were about to step in the tall grass without any protection.

Somehow I didn't see very many of these in fanfic...

When the main character has aura powers or is a psychic. It could open up some interesting possibilities, but I have never seen it done well.

I agree that it's the execution of this one rather than the idea itself that's played out. Also, I never saw any psychic characters in fic being actual Psychic type specialists, despite that being the most logical path (and the one with canon precedence)

 

[Drakon]

Another cliche is when people show pokèmon training as slavery.

 

[Flaze]

How so? I actually haven't seen that much xD

 

[kintsugi]

*guilty as charged*

I think the training=slavery cliche comes about with slightly older authors (and by slightly older, I mean, like, older than twelve?) who want to make something darker and edgier but don't quite know how? The coinciding with the teaching of darker history (I'm thinking primarily US here, but iunno) and slavery-related topics could play a minor role, methinks.

 

[matt0044]

But moving forward: Don't forget that lots of trainers run away because their caretakers forbid them from FOLLOWING THEIR DREAMS~

I'm actually thinking of using that trope where the protagonist gets a chance to become a trainer without formal teachings should she prove her worth and get a badge in 3 days at most but her father doesn't want that. Rather than keep him to just that I intend to have him play a bigger role in the future, including a big reveal and some character development.

I think the training=slavery cliche comes about with slightly older authors (and by slightly older, I mean, like, older than twelve?) who want to make something darker and edgier but don't quite know how? The coinciding with the teaching of darker history (I'm thinking primarily US here, but iunno) and slavery-related topics could play a minor role, methinks.

I honestly HATE this sort of cliche where it's a desperate attempt at being dark for the sake of it. Sure I like Attack on Titan but stuff like Higurashi know how to balance the dark with the light as well handle it with more tact than any horror movie nowadays.

 

[kintsugi]

I honestly HATE this sort of cliche where it's a desperate attempt at being dark for the sake of it. Sure I like Attack on Titan but stuff like Higurashi know how to balance the dark with the light as well handle it with more tact than any horror movie nowadays.

I've heard the "dark just to be dark is awful" idea thrown around a lot, but what is the difference between being dark just to be dark and just being dark (lol that makes almost no sense and I'm sorry for that). Like, is it ever okay in your opinion to be dark, or is that something to run away from really fast?

On another vein of thought/back on topic, I'm starting to dislike for the evlulz evil groups. Not people who even want money or landmass or world domination, but just because. In my mind, Heath Ledger is the only guy who can do that. And maybe Cathy Ames.

 

[Thorne_Darkrose]

I think that people try to avoid Psychic characters being psychic pokemon trainers because it is the most obvious path. They probably think that its bee done to death and want to avoid it, when in reality its almost never done. I would love to read a fic following the adventures of a psychic trainer and his pokemon, after all they can communicate far better with their pokemon than any other trainer ever could. Also....

44. Main Character can magically understand all pokemon and comprehends their "language"
45. Evil Team never wins a match
46. good guys never have anything dealt to them that they can't come back from such as a defeat where their pokemon is so badly injured that it dies.
47. Pokemon seem to be immortal and never freaking die.

 

[matt0044]

44. Main Character can magically understand all pokemon and comprehends their "language"

I'd argue that this work when there's a reason behind it (like a twist later on in the story) and not because the author just felt like it.

45. Evil Team never wins a match

Well, not a regular match with rules and whatnot. Each sides gonna pull tricks to get out of their fix, honorable or not. Like bust a hole in the floor or have a tree knocked down with their Pokemon..

46. good guys never have anything dealt to them that they can't come back from such as a defeat where their pokemon is so badly injured that it dies.

Well, if that's not the kind of story you're writing...

47. Pokemon seem to be immortal and never freaking die.

Well, plenty of Pokemon in canon have long life spans but I'd say it depends...

 

[Flaze]

I think if a Pokemon dies is up to the writer of said story, there's no rule that says that a Pokemon or a character has to die for a story to be serious.

 

[Thorne_Darkrose]

I know, but it just irks me sometimes when reading a very serious fan fic that they claim is as "real as it gets" and then they magically get healed from things like being impaled through the chest. Stuff like that just gets on my nerves so badly, like it will ruin their story for the tragedy of death to befall the main character, but it can happen to the bad guys or random background people and their pokemon are left dead in the streets. I just think if a writer is going to go that dark, don't go half way, hit your character with that hammer of reality too.

 

[Lugion]

In my short-lived A Pokémon Story, humans could understand their Pokémon because that's part of the bond they share. Of course, it's not an immediate thing; you wouldn't see a five-year-old newly-bonded with a Chikorita understanding every mood, gesture, and other non-verbal cue. That's another thing: Pokémon in that world don't have a literal speech, per se; rather, the bonded human is able to "read" that Pokémon's emotions and thoughts, in a way. It's basically the way wolf-brothers work in The Wheel of Time... which I actually hadn't read until after I had abandoned the story.

But yeah, the more closely bonded a human and Pokémon are, the better they're able to empathize with each other until such a point as they are essentially two aspects of the same being. You see this very clearly with Morri and his Grovyle, but other pairs were to be at this level as well: Shui and his Croconaw, Master Solon and his Alakazam, Helena and her Charizard, and eventually the main character, Thalia, and her Togetic. At this level, the chi of the human partner and the Pokémon partner become as one, which allows the Pokémon to execute extremely powerful techniques, such as Solar Beam, Fire Blast, Aura Sphere, Hyper Beam, and so on. However, this takes a physical toll on the human partner as well, and so it's generally only used as a finisher, as most humans need to rest for a few days after using this ability. Because of this, humans who use their Pokémon in battle train themselves as much as their Pokémon, so their chi is greater and has a better flow, and so that the toll on their energy and bodies is less crippling.

Which leads me back to the topic:
48. People with no prior physical or academic training going on year-long on-foot journeys around their respective regions.

 

[Baby Seals]

49. Characters are orphans. If a canon character has no canon relatives mentioned, then they're made into an orphan. (I'm probably one of the only people who is not afraid to give the Gym Leaders parents and other relatives.)
50. Not only is the character missing a father, but they never have stepparents. If they do, it's always ones of the evil kind. (Like I said...ripped off of Cinderella.)

 

[Stratelier]

47. Pokemon seem to be immortal and never freaking die.

Death can be a touchy subject in fiction regardless of target audience. Some Pokemon certainly have longer lifespans than others, but clearly a lot of fanfiction doesn't span a significant chunk of the average Pokemon's (or Trainer's) expected lifespan....

 

[matt0044]

On another vein of thought/back on topic, I'm starting to dislike for the evlulz evil groups. Not people who even want money or landmass or world domination, but just because. In my mind, Heath Ledger is the only guy who can do that. And maybe Cathy Ames.

I actually do the opposite with BW1's Team Plasma. They're obviously the antagonists but most, if not all, of the Knights (the grunts) are shown as down-to-earth people that would make great friends with the protagonist had they first met in different circumstances. It's their strong beliefs that drive them apart.

 

[Thorne_Darkrose]

To Stratelier: I'm talking more they get so badly wounded that the pokemon dies before making it to a pokemon center, or is killed by an enemy on purpose to demoralize the enemy. Its something that an evil team wouldn't be opposed to doing if it furthers their goals, and it just strikes me as odd that people don't do it often.

To Feanor: I have done the same thing with making sure characters have actual families, though I see what you're saying, its not very often covered on what happens to a character's family.

To MegaLugion: I was talking more of a literal understanding of the pokemon, as in they can actually translate the pokemon's literal vocalizations verbatim. Emotions and body language I can believe much more, and with the introduction of aura in the pokemon canon I can see it happening, but not literally understanding a pokemon's speech. Unless they pull a meowth and can speak the human languages.

 

[Stratelier]

Ah, you mean "death" as in getting killed and not just ... natural causes.