POPULAR: Cliches in Pokémon Fanfiction

[KrspaceT]

I've toyed with the idea of Eevee being a starter on the sole basis that it is intended to be your starter in Yellow, but your rival takes it before Oak can give it to you. If there was no rival, the the protagonist would have started with Eevee, as intended.

As for rewriting the story of the games and anime, I would actually argue that the games are devoid enough of any in-depth plot or characters to make them almost ideal for writing fanfics with self-imposed OCs. The protagonist of the game is made as a blank slate so that players can self-impose themselves into the adventure.

It might be cliche but it works well. The anime I'll give you though, since that actually has established characters and plotlines.

The best way to start is 'this is the plot, how do you use it as a structure to build upon'.

For example if you are writing Ash and co in the Viridian Forest, you note what he did there and ask 'how can I expand it'.

How can I enhance it?

What can I reasonable do there?

 

[SinnohEevee]

I haven't played Yellow, so why doesn't Prof Oak have the regular starters to give out?

 

[BackSet]

It might be cliche but it works well.

But God is it boring.

 

[BackSet]

I haven't played Yellow, so why doesn't Prof Oak have the regular starters to give out?

No reason at all other then "this is the anime version" or whatever.

 

[Iggy]

But God is it boring.

Because it is predictable and rather lazy work on the author's part. I don't mean to sound rude (I probably am) but using the game's plot as a template doesn't sound like the road to something more memorable than the cliché good versus evil tales that nearly bore me to tears.

 

[Beth Pavell]

As for rewriting the story of the games and anime, I would actually argue that the games are devoid enough of any in-depth plot or characters to make them almost ideal for writing fanfics with self-imposed OCs. The protagonist of the game is made as a blank slate so that players can self-impose themselves into the adventure.

Fundamentally I agree - however, the issue I have with rewrites is that they usually don't take advantage of the creative opportunities presented. You do usually get the feeling that you're going to be reading through the stations of the plot, pretty much as you've already seen in the games. Read one Pallet Town and you could almost have read them all. Which is a shame because I think you're right, there's a lot you can do with that story without changing any of the canon whatsoever.

 

[SinnohEevee]

If you want your MC to start with your favourite Pokémon, You can do like Adventures. Red, Blue, and Green already had Pokémon before getting the Kanto starters. You can make them get these Pokémon as a gift.
You can also do like the anime did with Ash where he overslept and there was 3 starters for 4 new Trainers.

 

[Sir Turtlelot]

Fundamentally I agree - however, the issue I have with rewrites is that they usually don't take advantage of the creative opportunities presented. You do usually get the feeling that you're going to be reading through the stations of the plot, pretty much as you've already seen in the games. Read one Pallet Town and you could almost have read them all. Which is a shame because I think you're right, there's a lot you can do with that story without changing any of the canon whatsoever.

Making a generic, bland story based on the games does seem like an easy hole to fall into. On one hand, using an already established setting and story can easily come off as uninspired, but it also gives an author two distinct opportunities.

First and foremost, it gives them more time to dedicate to developing characters, since the overall plot is already more or less pre-determined. This is critical, as writing for good characters and interactions ultimately determines whether the story will be a worthwhile read or not.

The other opportunity provided is it gives the writer easy access to applying their own unique and unexpected twist(s) to the story. An example of this would be the Adventures manga, and their use of making Surge, Koga, and Sabrina into Rocket operatives. It fleshed their characters beyond what they were in the games, and added the unexpected twist of actually being villains, since gym leaders are almost always aligned with the heroes, if they do anything at all.

 

[SinnohEevee]

I feel you. This is why I dislike Harry x Hermione from the Harry Potter series; for that reason and because they mesh together too well. They're similar in plenty of aspects, but I wouldn't say that's the most important part.
I prefer the couples who don't seem like they could pull it off at first, because I believe it makes a relationship feel more realistic, believable, and eventually stronger when the two overcome their problems with one another.

It also doesn't help that a lot of this camp love to paint Ron as a villain. This brings me to a certain fanfic cliché I really don't like: Ron The Death Eater - TV Tropes

Yeah, I hate it when fanfic writers go out of their way, for whatever reason, to vilify a canon protagonist. I think you've got to let go of whatever bitter dislikes you have against these characters if you want to write better. In my case, I don't like the Quagsire species for personal reasons but that won't drive me to find a likeable Quagsire protagonist somewhere and make them an utter douche. That's just petty. One of my firmest beliefs as a growing writer is that some impartiality is important.

Fun fact: if it was up to me, I would have given Hermione to Harry, but I would have also given Ron my favourite character (Luna Lovegood).

I hate character derailment. In The Ace of Altomare, Misty, Max, and Dawn are turned into one-dimensional jerks. The reason given for why they betrayed Ash is "because they couldn't get into his pants and his money". This fic is even listed as an example in TVTropes for Character Derailment.
Oh, and it has AltoShipping (Ash x Latias).

And talking about Ron is a Death Eater and it's opposite, Healing the Betrayed Guardian turns Brock evil (where he even tried to rape Cynthia) and Paul defended Ash against his betraying friends.

gates to infinity but i digress

I hate when, for example, Ash’s pikachu is a Pichu since it never happened, or as a Raichu since it’s very unlikely Ash will ever evolve Pikachu. What I’m saying is, if something is confirmed not to have happened, then please don’t write a story where it’s happened.

You're not supposed to have an evolved Pokémon as a starter.
As for Raichu, don't like the Raichu-bashing.
I also know Ash won't evolve his Pikachu in canon, but Ash is also not winning a League Conference in canon and there are stuff I would like to chance.
Also, the anime's canon stopped making sense after DP and I would like to change that.

Reading the recent new thread in the Written Word section, I just realized a world-building cliche often appears in Pokemon fanfic.

Pokemon League is the government or the most authoritative governing body in the Pokemon World where they are the ones who set up the laws and civil rules of the communities, and they are the only one involved in civil legislation.

I'm sorry, but I couldn't recall any official materials from whichever canon that had ever stated or even implied or at the very least mildly hinted that the association which holds the Pokemon League or any battle conference consist of any political power or being involved in any political affairs of a region or a country.
The only borderline case I could think of is during the RS chapter in the Pokemon Special manga, the Pokemon Association activated the giant airship and helped in evacuating the civilians during the climate crisis of Hoenn region, and directed the gym leaders to battle TM/TA. But, to be bluntly honest, what does those activities have anything to do with politics? In Real-Life, many large NPOs/NGOs like Red Cross Society and WHO will also help the suffering local civilians when natural disasters happened.

It is kind of a pet peeve of mine seeing so many people politicize the Pokemon League and the battle culture of the Pokemon World.

The Lost Master has that and gives the Worldf Champion a lot of power. It makes Ash rule like a dictator (he even drags Pryce out of his Gym).

 

[KrspaceT]

Character derailment can be worse than that. I once read a fanfic that seemed to think, that in the case of Dawn capturing Paul's Ursaring that, at the slightest hint that it would Charizard her, that he'd take it into the woods late at night with Pikachu and electrocute obedience into it for two hours.

I kid you not, that was in a fanfic.

 

[Nitro Indigo]

@SinnohEevee What page are those posts you quoted from?

I've mentioned this before, but I once read a fanfic where Professor Hastings (and the entire Ranger organisation) was reduced to an anti-Poképhillia strawman.

 

[BackSet]

I rather dislike any fanfics that have human/pokemon relationships (love wise. Friend wise is fine. Thats the point of the games. But not love wise.). Its just... I feel like pokemon reproductive systems are very different from our own. (Also its beastiality which i find really hard to justify.)

On a different note: I can't bash people who have eevee as a starter pokemon since I'm doing it myself. But technically said eevee has been with my main character for years and has already evlolved into an umbreon and never went on a pokemon journey with the main character (who spent his time going to college instead) so I don't think it really counts.

 

[SinnohEevee]

@SinnohEevee What page are those posts you quoted from?

I've mentioned this before, but I once read a fanfic where Professor Hastings (and the entire Ranger organisation) was reduced to an anti-Poképhillia strawman.

Page 8:

https://www.fanfiction.net/s/8284907/8/The-Altomare-Ace

That's cancer.

 

[KrspaceT]

@SinnohEevee What page are those posts you quoted from?

I've mentioned this before, but I once read a fanfic where Professor Hastings (and the entire Ranger organisation) was reduced to an anti-Poképhillia strawman.

Oh yes that one...at least I'm assuming you are talking about the one that also crossed with MLP FiM?

Or are there two fics of that description, one sans pastel horses

 

[Nitro Indigo]

@SinnohEevee What does that have to do with anything?

@KrspaceT The former.

 

[SinnohEevee]

@SinnohEevee What does that have to do with anything?

@KrspaceT The former.

You were asking me about some of the quotes.

 

[CrystaI]

I rather dislike any fanfics that have human/pokemon relationships (love wise. Friend wise is fine. Thats the point of the games. But not love wise.). Its just... I feel like pokemon reproductive systems are very different from our own. (Also its beastiality which i find really hard to justify.)

When did the word "love" equates "sex"? I wouldn't mind a fic telling a story about love between human and pokemon, but I will reject all fics telling story about sex between human and pokemon. (To be fair, I rejects all sex fic, regardless of whatever the characters are)

And it is a little pet peeve of me seeing relationship between human and pokemon is always being described as merely "friendship". IMO that is the most inappropriate word to use, at least not broadly world-widely diversely speaking. Can pokemon only be one's "friend"? Can't they be one's family member, or partner, or comrade, companion, pet, subordinate, ministrant, pal, buddy, ally, fellow worker, tool, slave, or whatever other relationship nouns that depicts the many different kinds of connection between the two.

 

[canisaries]

first of all, there are many types of love: love for friends, love for your family, love for your significant others, love for your idols, love for your gods, love for your pets...

and secondly, the whole bestiality argument depends a lot on how pokemon are written. if they're just animals, then that's bestiality, no question. however, if they're more like monster-shaped humans with human intelligence and understanding, then relationships with them should be as valid as relationships with humanoid aliens or werewolves.

Spoiler

as for the reproductive organs... hasn't stopped a certain company with the initials BD.

also, wasn't it canon that humans used to marry pokemon at some point?

 

[Nitro Indigo]

first of all, there are many types of love: love for friends, love for your family, love for your significant others, love for your idols, love for your gods, love for your pets...

Reminds me of the Greek words for love, though how many there are depends on where you look.

also, wasn't it canon that humans used to marry pokemon at some point?

One of the Sinnoh Folk Stories, in the Japanese version.

 

[SuperTrainStationH]

Reminds me of the Greek words for love, though how many there are depends on where you look.


One of the Sinnoh Folk Stories, in the Japanese version. I wonder if any translations left it uncensored? I know for a fact that Pokémon games were translated like this until Black & White:
Japanese -> Korean
Japanese -> English -> Spanish/German/French/Italian

Those stories basically mirror mythologies from just about every inhabited continent in which humans were said to have in ancient times mated or married with animals or part-animal beings, often, but not always in a period before humans were differentiated from other creatures.

To take that and literally pervert it and reduce it down to "Hey GameFreak says my adults-only furry art folder full drawings of humans shagging Pokemon is totally canon compliant." is really lame.

Anyway, I don't even see an Eevee as being an unrealistic or unreasonable Pokemon for a Trainer to start with, the notion that Eevees are rare and unique was abandoned by the games and the show a LONG time ago, and the idea that all trainers are legally required to start one of the regions' professor-provided Fire/Water/Grass starter trio was never really established in the games or the anime, where Trainers who are clearly of equal or even lesser experience to the protags and would surely have only recently started Training RARELY have an officially designated regional starter on their team unless they're a supporting or recurring character.

Heck are Eevee's and their evolutions might be more common in the games and show than actual starters in regards to the Pokemon we see Trainers use.