POPULAR: Simple Questions, Simple Answers

[AceTrainer14]

I've also been wondering, since it's been a long time since I actually wrote a Pokemon fic centred around, well, Pokemon -- is it normal to have battles stretch for nearly two full chapters? The one I'm working on at the moment is a full battle, six on six, with great plot significance (including the aforementioned Mega Evolution), but it's currently clocking in at 6722 words and counting. I'm trying my best to keep it brief, but the sheer number of Pokemon that have to be cycled through (since it's anything but a quick shutout battle) makes that difficult.

I did it with Chapter 67 and Chapter 68 of 8ES, and will be doing so again with Alaska's next gym battle. Both of those were only 4 on 4.

 

[Beth Pavell]

Well, I tend to try and cap out my chapters at about 6,000 words, but then I've never done a full battle. I'm generally of the opinion that battles should go on for as long as they need to. If you're looking at more than 8,000 you might want to find a way to add in a lull here and there so it doesn't become exhausting to read

 

[Misheard Whisper]

Reckon I should publish them together as a sort of double feature? It was all kind of meant to be a single chapter at first, but I split it entirely out of necessity. Not sure how I feel about publishing them a week or more apart, seeing as it was designed to pretty much flow as one.

 

[diamondpearl876]

I tend to get bored reading battles after just a couple pages. Very rarely do I see writers focus on tension rather than bogged down attack/strategy descriptions. I don't know your plan or why it's plot significant, but I would suggest asking yourself if you need to describe as much as you are. Does that attack REALLY matter in the long run? Does this match-up HAVE to happen, and if it does, does it NEED to last as long as it is?

 

[Misheard Whisper]

It doesn't even feel like it goes on for a long time, it just does. I dunno, but each time I finish writing a round I look back and go wow, that's really short. There's ten rounds to the battle (six on six, eleven Pokemon get knocked out including one tie) and the whole thing is sitting just under 9k words. ~900 words for each round isn't really that much, considering there's friendly banter between the Trainers, comments from the spectators, and even a bit of exposition going on. Every attack counts, and I can't see how I could make it any shorter without reducing the battle rounds to a series of one hit K.O.s (which a couple of them already are), which obviously removes all pretence at tension and conflict. I dunno, it's probably just feeling like this because I haven't ever written a full battle before. It's definitely significant though, being a Gym battle and all, and there won't be another 6v6 for quite some time (till, like, endgame) so I suppose I'm not too bothered.

 

[0bs1d1an_kn1ght]

But also remember that battles don't need to stretch out for as long as possible to be intense, dramatic, or epic. If I may use a non-Pokemon example: Neon Genesis Evangelion. It's been stated that in the show, the Evas are connected to a battery cable, and if it becomes disconnected, the Eva only has 5 minutes of internal backup power. Almost every other episode, their umbilical chords (that's what they kinda call it) get compromised.

Their fights are brief, yes, but in a sense, they can be very dramatic; killing an Angel in less than 5 minutes isn't the easiest thing to do ( unless you're Shinji Ikari)

 

[CrystaI]

There is always another method in making a seemingly long battle short, which is by changing the very fundamental of the winning condition.

I had one in the very early stage of my crossover fic, where two trainers battle each other 6vs6. However, the winning rule is Sudden Death, meaning out of the 6 pokemons a trainer can use, as long as one goes down, the battle will be ended immediately.
Despite that reader acknowledge that at the maximum 6 pokemons will be out on each side, but it really didn't took me all 6 to had at least one pokemon go down. Another thing is, due to such rule, the trainer recalled their pokemons immediately upon taking a hard hit because one can't always guarantee the pokemon will "fainted" in the next minute. It was rather fast-paced because all the trainer needed is knocking out one pokemon.

However, that battle within my fic was not short, it took me 6 pages of words just for the first half. Several reason is the involved trainers are no novice. Secondly is there was quite a lot of descriptions and focus on things that is not of the action itself, the emotional response and influences of the attack to the surrounding, and the spectator comments were all took into the writing, battle actions itself IMO was rather brief and quick. Then for the second half where one side sending out his "trump card", everything changes, where that includes the overall atmosphere and the outcome as well. It took me another 5 pages just to deal with that specific pokemon.
And as a sidenote. The final result of that battle is...... No one wins. Guess no one will expected this.

 

[Stratelier]

It's like comparing the final battle of a fighting game (a 60/90-second duel against a major opponent) to the final battle of an RPG (a 60/90-minute battle against a major opponent).

I remember sketching out one battle where the rule was kind of like sudden death: whomever lands the first hit (any kind of hit) wins. Granted, it was a practice battle, but still.

 

[diamondpearl876]

Does anyone have a resource that outlines the location of each region in relation to each other? It's my current understanding that Kanto/Johto/Hoenn/Snnoh are all relatively near each other, and Unova is just kind of "out there". Not sure of any other specifics.

 

[VeniaSilente]

I don't know of any canon resource that places the regions relative to each other, and the ones that do eventually end up contradicting themselves. Most that we know is, I think, that Kanto and Johto are neighbours as are Sinnoh and Fiore(?).

There's this anime map of the first 4 regions but it is contradicted at points later, in particular re: Sinnoh having that arm of land at the SW and the location of eg.: the Gen 4 Safari Zones and Embedded Tower. There's also a map with a cursor in the same anime depicting the location of Unova, but the world it's set in loks like a collage of the real world and nothing like what the world has been shown to be either before (view of the world from outer space at the end of the Latios movie) or after (the Real World globe in the Mega Evolution specials), all in the same continuity.

I'd say there is no confirmed canon relative size or positioning to the regions shown so far in the Pokémon world, barring some general elements such as, as I mentioned above, Kanto and Johto being neighbours.

 

[Dorothy]

Does anyone have a resource that outlines the location of each region in relation to each other? It's my current understanding that Kanto/Johto/Hoenn/Snnoh are all relatively near each other, and Unova is just kind of "out there". Not sure of any other specifics.

Nope. There hasn't been an "official" map of the Pokemon world since Gen IV. Most of it is up to your artistic license.

 

[Misheard Whisper]

From clues in the Pokemon games - particularly the real-life locations the different regions are based on - we can cautiously surmise that Kanto, Johto, Hoenn and Sinnoh are all reasonably close (being inspired by different regions of Japan) while Unova (New York) is ages away, and Kalos (France) is on the other side of the world too. Of course, this is all pretty much just speculation; they could all be neighbours, or very distant (with the exception of Kanto/Johto, which are of course right next to each other). :s

 

[Caitlin]

So... how should I do something like military ranks? I'm writing something that will involve heavy use of military ranks when referring to characters, but some of the ranks are absolute mouthfuls. Three of my major characters have the rank of "Lieutenant Commander", and I'm often referring to my characters with full rank - surname (such as "Lieutenant Commander Wintersbite"). I can't shorten it to just commander, since that's the next rank up, and lieutenant by itself is the next rank down.

How can I combat this while maintaining an air of formality? I don't want to refer to them by their surnames alone, or *shudder* their first names. Should I just start abbreviating the ranks?

 

[Beth Pavell]

I've read a fair few military novels, so I can actually answer this one. Outside of speech, then the surname will be enough once the rank's been introduced. The way other people, especially subordinates, act around them will be enough to maintain their status

 

[Dorothy]

I've read a fair few military novels, so I can actually answer this one. Outside of speech, then the surname will be enough once the rank's been introduced. The way other people, especially subordinates, act around them will be enough to maintain their status

As someone with a military family, I can confirm this is accurate - people with the same rank will frequently refer to each other by last name.

 

[0bs1d1an_kn1ght]

So at some point I want to add in a Machamp as one of my story's seven Guildmasters, but I can't decide whether to make his fighting style either WWE-esque wrestling, or more like boxing/kickboxing/Savate

 

[Drakon]

So at some point I want to add in a Machamp as one of my story's seven Guildmasters, but I can't decide whether to make his fighting style either WWE-esque wrestling, or more like boxing/kickboxing/Savate

Since the Machoke line is based off of wrestlers, I think a flashy WWE-type fighting style fits him. Of course, you could always mix them and have him use some basic punches and kicks.

 

[Stratelier]

So for my PMDEOS/SMD idea, after the time crash, in the future Grovyle leads the two main characters to what is their ragtag band of surviving resistance fighters. It includes Celebi, one Absol, possibly a Pumpkaboo or Smeargle (because "trick or treat" will make one awesome door password), and a primal Dialga. Yes ... the time crash didn't turn Dialga evil, but it did leave him sort of mortally wounded. (You can blame Yveltal for that.)

But more importantly, the plan they come up with involves sending some of them to the ancient past, while returning the main pair to the present day. Things don't exactly go as planned because Dusknoir and Yveltal show up right as they're about to activate the Gate of Time, and basically everyone winds up in the ancient past, main characters included.

Celebi holds herself responsible for that -- "sometimes your only options are bad ones. But you still have to choose."

Now the biggest question I'm trying to figure out is -- what's the best point for Grovyle to learn the truth about his human partner? I could stick with the original EOS and have it revealed during the conflict with Dusknoir, or I could save it for some other conflict they get caught up in during their stay in the past. I'm honestly not sure which one will work better....

 

[lucarioknight56]

In my opinion, it does depend on how true you'd like to stay to the story of EOS. I think it would make the story more unique if you make the event happen in some other conflict, but id you want to maintain a somewhat-close representation of the two games, then the event happening with Dusknoir would work better. But either way could work.

I have several questions about a story I have. The character I intended to be my main is sort of being overshadowed by who I intended to be a side character. What more, that character is also stealing away chances for me to develop my intended main. Should I get rid of the character (and rewrite about six chapters), or should I just roll with it? This refers to my story Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: The Mysteries of Reflexon, and the characters Laryon and Dente, the former being the one I intended to be my main.

Also, about the same story, I want to change the name of the tale itself. 'The Mysteries of Reflexon' doesn't really fit the details and plot of it. So, what would be a better name for it?

One last thing, I've been meaning to change the name of the region the story's set in, Reflexon. It really doesn't sound that great. So, how should I come up with a better name?

 

[Stratelier]

Also, one idea that refuses to leave my mind is that the method the main characters 'use' to return to the future is ...

Spoiler

...they get turned to stone for a few millenia.

I'm having a lot of trouble with the logistics, though. One notable event in history is that Absol got himself hooked up with the legendary Suicune, but she kind of went off the deep end after his death (by a non-primal Yveltal. Which he actually had good reason to request, but ... details, details) turning into a sort of corrupted shadow Pokemon and with the power to turn others to stone (though she's not actually aware of it). And one scene idea I have is that the main characters cross her path at some point and end up turned to stone for a time. HOWEVER, this isn't compatible with the above idea.

On the other hand, another possibility is they located an ancient Time Gear and removing it didn' stop time in the area but instead released a huge blast of dark-matter energy and everyone's turned to stone. This has potential because it's likely to be in a secluded location that won't be disturbed for some time ... but I don't want to miss the chance to ship Absol off with Suicune.