POPULAR: Cliches in Pokémon Fanfiction

[KrspaceT]

I've actually seen him called that more than you'd expect. Most recent I recall was someone angry about him losing the Kalos League.


The funniest part of this is that at the time Goku fought Freeza literally 97% of his power came from the "almost dying makes Saiyans stronger" genetic trait rather than hard work or earning anything (official power levels; 90,000 before almost dying, 3,000,000 after).
Dragon Ball stopped caring about people earning their power shortly after Raditz showed up and it became a question of "how much special DNA do you have?"

They called him a mary sue for losing? Not say, a M.S for winning Alola?

 

[kitstellation]

hoo boy, i used to read a lot of pokemon fic back in the day, so i won't be surprised if these tropes still exist like...almost 20 years after the fact, haha.

i'd say the biggest cliches are:

- making the pokemon world more """realistic""" and """true to life""". every time someone tries to claim that pokemon fights is just like dogfighting/animal abuse, tries to add some ~*underground fighting ring*~ or tries to make the rockets/etc more """brutal""" and """realistic""", it always comes off as those pokemon peta games. if you wouldn't do this stuff with other monster collector games (digimon, yokai watch, monster rancher, etc) then why bring in all this unnecessary baggage with pokemon? you catch critters and go on a journey. it's fine, it doesn't have to be deep.
- giving your lead a shiny. i did this once ages ago, and i can confirm it's definitely a "i want my character to be special" thing.
- giving them a legendary. people can make it work, i rarely ever see it though. i think this is writers trying to evoke the feeling of the games - i remember being enamored by the suicune plot back in crystal - but it never goes well because they go full tilt rather than scaling back.
- giving them the ability to talk to pokemon. it always seems to lead to Talking Pokemon and really seems to boil down to a writer not knowing how to characterize without dialogue, which ultimately is just a sign of a bad writer. i know it's challenging to evoke character in something that can't be understood, but try! it'll be way more earnest and heartfelt!

 

[Daren]

They called him a mary sue for losing? Not say, a M.S for winning Alola?

If I recall correctly, he was a Mary Sue for not being upset about losing. It was right after that now infamous episode during the initial few days when things were getting intense in the fandom and everything related to the show was under fire and rumors that it would turn out Alain cheated started spreading.

I have not personally seen Mary Sue accusations over Alola, just complaints that it was an "easy mode" league that doesn't mean much, and comparisons to Tobias because of Malmetal.

 

[KrspaceT]

If I recall correctly, he was a Mary Sue for not being upset about losing. It was right after that now infamous episode during the initial few days when things were getting intense in the fandom and everything related to the show was under fire and rumors that it would turn out Alain cheated started spreading.

I have not personally seen Mary Sue accusations over Alola, just complaints that it was an "easy mode" league that doesn't mean much, and comparisons to Tobias because of Malmetal.

I never understood why people got on Ash's case for NOT being a sore loser....

 

[TwinklingCupcake]

- making the pokemon world more """realistic""" and """true to life""". every time someone tries to claim that pokemon fights is just like dogfighting/animal abuse, tries to add some ~*underground fighting ring*~ or tries to make the rockets/etc more """brutal""" and """realistic""", it always comes off as those pokemon peta games. if you wouldn't do this stuff with other monster collector games (digimon, yokai watch, monster rancher, etc) then why bring in all this unnecessary baggage with pokemon? you catch critters and go on a journey. it's fine, it doesn't have to be deep.

Oh good gravy, I hate that. Yes, canon has shown that battles can be tough, but like. There's a difference between a rough battle, wild Pokemon fighting each other to survive, and "let's equate this to dog-fighting and have an underground fighting ring and the Pokemon are all mistreated."

This was one of the many things that I felt the Detective Pikachu film had done right. The fact there's an underground battle ring makes sense, because Ryme City doesn't allow battling, so any trainers who want to battle have to do it in secret. The Pokemon we see there are enjoying it as much as the trainers are (the competitors look happy to battle, and we see a Togepi in the audience cheering as he's held in his trainer's arms), and there are clear rules in place to keep everyone from getting hurt. The only reason Charizard had a scar was because Harry's Pikachu had hit him way too hard. When Tim pushes into the fighting ring, the humans shout for him to leave the Charizard alone and to get out of there because he could get hurt.
It's not a deep dark secret brutality thing, it's just a safe place for people to battle.

 

[Nitro Indigo]

There was a Togepi in Detective Pikachu?

I'd like to see a fanfic where the protagonist gains the ability to talk to Pokémon and it plays out like the Doctor Who episode "The Doctor's Wife" - the protagonist gains a new perspective on their normally-unintelligible companion.

 

[System Error]

Oh, it goes beyond turning battles into edgy dogfights. Injecting realism into fics is a very common thing. There's probably more that do so than don't do so. One of the most popular I've seen is turning travel into a big deal, one that you have to be very prepared for, physically, financially, mentally, etc. and not glossing over any of that at all. In extreme cases it goes as far as to jettison the fact that kids do it in all official media because it's not fitting to real life, kids can't do that! You know, worrying about realism in a setting where basic laws of physics are violated on a routine basis with what Pokemon are capable of. Like there's giving a bit of realism, and then there's completely rewriting the world. Which is fine if it's done well, but then there's insisting that's the one true way to write and all must adhere to all the realisms of travel.

As for the gang example turning them more brutal...I'm mixed on that. It's something that every single fanfic except comedy ones seems to do. It makes some sense, making them out to be more of a threat or to make them more hateable. Though that said, yeah in the games, the Team grunts are often comedic relief. I've seen some people give Team Skull some flak for being silly, but really they're just being not hiding the silliness.

 

[RK9]

- giving your lead a shiny. i did this once ages ago, and i can confirm it's definitely a "i want my character to be special" thing.

I'm kinda mixed on this. I agree on giving the lead one gives off that vibe but when more people get shinies or otherwise 'rare' Pokémon I'm a bit more okay with this.

Also depends on why you do it and what your view is for Shiny Pokémon. (I, for example, don't think they're as rare as the game portrays them as but that's not a thing for here.)

 

[KrspaceT]

Oh, it goes beyond turning battles into edgy dogfights. Injecting realism into fics is a very common thing. There's probably more that do so than don't do so. One of the most popular I've seen is turning travel into a big deal, one that you have to be very prepared for, physically, financially, mentally, etc. and not glossing over any of that at all. In extreme cases it goes as far as to jettison the fact that kids do it in all official media because it's not fitting to real life, kids can't do that! You know, worrying about realism in a setting where basic laws of physics are violated on a routine basis with what Pokemon are capable of. Like there's giving a bit of realism, and then there's completely rewriting the world. Which is fine if it's done well, but then there's insisting that's the one true way to write and all must adhere to all the realisms of travel.

As for the gang example turning them more brutal...I'm mixed on that. It's something that every single fanfic except comedy ones seems to do. It makes some sense, making them out to be more of a threat or to make them more hateable. Though that said, yeah in the games, the Team grunts are often comedic relief. I've seen some people give Team Skull some flak for being silly, but really they're just being not hiding the silliness.

Realism can cover such a wide range that 'over the top realism' is probably worth distinguishing from realism in the form of 'Brock has to shave'.

However I have grown a bit tired of how 'realistic' you see people try to make Team Rocket. A bit too many threats on Delia's life and being told not to fight the Yakuza....

 

[Nitro Indigo]

There's a fanfic where the main character is a ranger, and her partner is a shiny Arcanine who she rescued from poachers as a Growlithe. I didn't like the fanfic that much, but I thought that was a good use of shinies.

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

- making the pokemon world more """realistic""" and """true to life""". every time someone tries to claim that pokemon fights is just like dogfighting/animal abuse, tries to add some ~*underground fighting ring*~ or tries to make the rockets/etc more """brutal""" and """realistic""", it always comes off as those pokemon peta games.

Pokémon does not portray bloodsports or slavery as a normal part of the setting, and to claim it does is disingenous. People may write AUs by all means, but I'm not interested in edgy takes on the canon. I feel like these folks don't even watch the show.

 

[KrspaceT]

Pokémon does not portray bloodsports or slavery as a normal part of the setting, and to claim it does is disingenous. People may write AUs by all means, but I'm not interested in edgy takes on the canon. I feel like these folks don't even watch the show.

I don't get why that has to be the form of realism taken. Why not just go 'realism means the characters are older', or 'realism means you have to cover how your character handles finances'.

...I mean you can mix and match all of them as you wish. I do it, and while it probably took to find the right balance of 'dark and light' for content that has the interesting stuff of realism and can find stuff before you hit the Yakuza hit squads and pit fights (which could be anything from 'I get to explore economics like I'm Spice and Wolf' to 'they are 15 so I can write Pokeshipping like it should be WA HA HA HA HA HA)

 

[Lightning Flame Blast]

On the topic of gritty adaptations, I see a lot of stories that translate Executive Proton’s reputation of being ruthless into him being an outright murderous psychopath that abuses children and pokemon for kicks.

Not sure if that counts as a cliche, but it’s oddly common.

 

[RK9]

Not necessarily a cliche, but something I do find really limited: people that do a 'continued' fic that spans over multiple regions with a specific MC (Like Adventures). Which isn't bad in itself but those tend to bring the team tehy started out with along. In terms of powerlevels, it's hard to make potential losses and draws realistic, especially when said team is being trained for like 5+ regions.

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

I've never understood the appeal of longfic in which the protagonist curbstomps "every" region with a veteran team. What's the appeal of a story like that? The power fantasy? It's a very silly power fantasy if you ask me.

 

[BackSet]

Not even a power fantasy. Most people who play Pokemon can do that themselves.

 

[KrspaceT]

I've never understood the appeal of longfic in which the protagonist curbstomps "every" region with a veteran team. What's the appeal of a story like that? The power fantasy? It's a very silly power fantasy if you ask me.

Some people just really don't like Ash not being able to destroy everything he sees with impunity.

 

[BackSet]

"Hi, my name is Ash, I'm a ten year old boy. I have the perfect strategy to beat everyone and I destroy all in my path." -OP Fanfic Ash.

God, if Ash went through puberty it would be worse. Then he'd be an idiot and driven by hormones.

 

[Greninjaman]

Not necessarily a cliche, but something I do find really limited: people that do a 'continued' fic that spans over multiple regions with a specific MC (Like Adventures). Which isn't bad in itself but those tend to bring the team tehy started out with along. In terms of powerlevels, it's hard to make potential losses and draws realistic, especially when said team is being trained for like 5+ regions.

Yeah. It's not really exciting when the main character is winning every fight.

 

[RK9]

"Hi, my name is Ash, I'm a ten year old boy. I have the perfect strategy to beat everyone and I destroy all in my path." -OP Fanfic Ash.

God, if Ash went through puberty it would be worse. Then he'd be an idiot and driven by hormones.

Nah, puberty Ash is always portrayed as actually smart and competent. And he gets into everyones pants as well! It's like a whole different character.

Yeah. It's not really exciting when the main character is winning every fight.

Yeah, unless you have them build a new team from scratch constantly, you either need to intentionally nerf them (Which is easily being seen through) or intentionally keep them out of the action as well. It's one of the most "But why" things I tend to see.