Writers' Workshop General Chat Thread

[Beth Pavell]

Specific years are never mentioned, no, so you may as well do what you like with them

 

[Dorothy]

As far as I know, there's never been any concrete mentions of years and dates within the Pokemon franchise, with a couple of exceptions:

• In the games, I believe it's been stated that Gold/Silver take place... three years after Red/Blue? I could have the number wrong, it's been so long since I've played the games.
• Naturally I believe BW2 takes place after BW. Having not played them, I don't know any specifics.
• In the anime, I don't believe Ash has ever turned 11 years old yet, despite there being a special episode that focused on his and Pikachu's one year anniversary. Go figure that one out

This is one of those things where you'll have to come up with details yourself, since the official media is so murky. I think that's a good thing, it's an opportunity to flex your creativity!

BW2 take place two years after BW.

 

[zoroarctic]

Specific years are never mentioned, no, so you may as well do what you like with them

Plus, the timeline doesn’t have much meaning with the whole alternate universes thing.

 

[canisaries]

you'll probably want to define the zero-point according to some important in-universe event (unless you want to make jesus canon in the pokemon world, which can lead to a lot of complications). you can come up with something on your own or try to use what's been given, like the brass tower burning down, although that one's a bit johto-focused.

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

@JustinBailey88 - welcome to the forum!

I'm afraid the real answer to your question is "whatever you prefer," as canon for the pokemon world is about as soft and malleable as toffee. You could do what some writers (such as myself) do and just use real dates corresponding to the release of pokemon media: i.e. Mewtwo was created in the mid nineties, and it's now 2019. Alternatively, you could come up with your own system!

@Misfit Angel - it gets worse: there have been well over a thousand episodes of the anime, taking place over approximately that many days (implicitly many more that that!) and yet Ash is confidently still ten. I really don't see why he can't be, say, fourteen at this point. That's still young enough for the target audience, I would have thought.

@canisaries - that's a fair point. The Common Era does imply that Jesus turned up at some point. I deal with this by aggressively ignoring it, but that's just me!

 

[Beth Pavell]

This really goes to show that timelines and endless - I hate this term, but it's the one video games use - lore only really matter to the teenage+ fanbase. It's a hackneyed old point, but this fandom often forgets that Pokémon is primarily a kid's franchise. Granted, the world has moved on somewhat since the early noughties, and now childhood nostalgia is more fashionable than ever

 

[Ryoma Maser]

This really goes to show that timelines and endless - I hate this term, but it's the one video games use - lore only really matter to the teenage+ fanbase. It's a hackneyed old point, but this fandom often forgets that Pokémon is primarily a kid's franchise. Granted, the world has moved on somewhat since the early noughties, and now childhood nostalgia is more fashionable than ever

I'm seriously getting sick of childhood nostalgia. Like with Pokemon, I didn't even grow up with the original games and the anime of Pokemon as they aired(I watch the gen 1-3 anime through Boomerang later on), I majorly grew up with Gen 4 and Gen 5 happening during my elementary school years. I've come to play some of the games from years past(I own a physical copy of Gold given to me by a friend of my older sister, I own Red on the virtual console, and I played some of Emerald on an emulator), albeit haven't play them as much as the newer ones.

But I really don't get the strategy of GameFreak, especially since their fanbase keeps growing each year you think they wouldn't pandering so much to Gen 1 and Kanto since a lot of their fanbase didn't grow up with the games, but sadly they do. Like most I'm sick of it, sick of Kanto, and a lot of things that the company keeps doing especially after Gen's 6 and 7(and in 7's case Kanto was brought up basically every other sentence and was plague with Kanto stuff) and the sad thing is; I don't think they're going to learn unless they let younger staff do something with the series like the Zelda and Mario teams did for Breath of the Wild and Odyssey. With Let's Go being a prime example, while I've heard it is a good game but I didn't play it cause of the Go mechanics, I hate how they made it just Kanto with only so few things coming from other generations. And even still it became a carbon copy of Yellow, which when your major goal is to integrate Go players into the main series where Go has had more then Gen 1 for a couple years now, why would they do is beyond me. This was the one of the biggest problems and one of the major turn offs for me from buying Let's Go.

That's why when I make Pokemon fics, I primarily use Pokemon from outside Gen 1. Only using Pokemon I know are very underused, or I just like in general which is often never brought up(Nidoking is one of my personal faves from Gen 1 and it's rarely seen nowadays outside of the Kanto pandering). One of my main characters from my fic Orre: The Desert, Tomoko, is from Johto, which is still connected to Kanto so it would be natural for Tomoko to have some Pokemon from Kanto. So though I'm still planning some of her Pokemon, I will not probably not use Pokemon like Eevee(doubly so since Wes and Micheal both have Eevee/Eeveelvolutions in the Orre games, and both I plan to appear in some capacity), the starters and the other ones pushed down from GameFreak.

Sorry for the long rant on that one, just wanted to get some of that of my chest. You can obviously see that I thought a lot more then I should have.

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

I honestly feel that Kanto's creature roster and setting are probably the weakest showing out of all the generations. I first got into pokémon when Johto was out, my first game was a Hoenn cart, I first got really into fanfic and battling both when Sinnoh turned up with all its gorgeousness and revised battle mechanics. I skipped Unova out of poor mental health and misdirected anger, but I actually think it was fresh and creative now that I've given it a chance. Kalos was a beautiful experience for me with its wonderful new graphical style and the pure abundance of pokemon on every route. I sadly haven't managed to experience much of Alola at all because of personal reasons. (Someone promised me a copy of Sun, delayed it for months, then shattered the friendship so hard almost immediately afterwards that I get bad memories when I think of the game...) I mostly associate Kanto with pokémon itself considering that the main innovation it brought to the table was its own existence. But even though it has many classic pokémon, it just doesn't stand up to more successor generations, in my sincere opinion. And yet, it gets what feels like half the corporate attention.

Give me Sinnoh remakes, please? Give me more content like PMD, like Colosseum, even like Ranger perhaps!

I'll be honest, I mostly want good pokémon content of any kind that hits more of my current "buttons" - cute stuff that has nothing to do with competitive youths, stuff with a story, stuff where the whole idea of having an intelligent majuu companion is the big deal.

Do you guys remember Origins? And those trailers for BW2? That was some very slick looking animation, and none of the pokémon babbled their own names inexplicably. I enjoyed that.

I'm tired, really tired, right now. But I'm trying to articulate that there's a lot the franchise can do besides what it's doing, and they absolutely don't have to get edgy and gritty to do it.

Speaking of this - I know the visual style of the Detective Pikachu movie looks odd, but I'm absolutely hype for a different kind of pokémon story where the pokémon world matters and standard shounen tropes don't.

 

[Snuggle Tier List]

I'm seriously getting sick of childhood nostalgia. Like with Pokemon, I didn't even grow up with the original games and the anime of Pokemon as they aired(I watch the gen 1-3 anime through Boomerang later on), I majorly grew up with Gen 4 and Gen 5 happening during my elementary school years. I've come to play some of the games from years past(I own a physical copy of Gold given to me by a friend of my older sister, I own Red on the virtual console, and I played some of Emerald on an emulator), albeit haven't play them as much as the newer ones.

But I really don't get the strategy of GameFreak, especially since their fanbase keeps growing each year you think they wouldn't pandering so much to Gen 1 and Kanto since a lot of their fanbase didn't grow up with the games, but sadly they do. Like most I'm sick of it, sick of Kanto, and a lot of things that the company keeps doing especially after Gen's 6 and 7(and in 7's case Kanto was brought up basically every other sentence and was plague with Kanto stuff) and the sad thing is; I don't think they're going to learn unless they let younger staff do something with the series like the Zelda and Mario teams did for Breath of the Wild and Odyssey. With Let's Go being a prime example, while I've heard it is a good game but I didn't play it cause of the Go mechanics, I hate how they made it just Kanto with only so few things coming from other generations. And even still it became a carbon copy of Yellow, which when your major goal is to integrate Go players into the main series where Go has had more then Gen 1 for a couple years now, why would they do is beyond me. This was the one of the biggest problems and one of the major turn offs for me from buying Let's Go.

That's why when I make Pokemon fics, I primarily use Pokemon from outside Gen 1. Only using Pokemon I know are very underused, or I just like in general which is often never brought up(Nidoking is one of my personal faves from Gen 1 and it's rarely seen nowadays outside of the Kanto pandering). One of my main characters from my fic Orre: The Desert, Tomoko, is from Johto, which is still connected to Kanto so it would be natural for Tomoko to have some Pokemon from Kanto. So though I'm still planning some of her Pokemon, I will not probably not use Pokemon like Eevee(doubly so since Wes and Micheal both have Eevee/Eeveelvolutions in the Orre games, and both I plan to appear in some capacity), the starters and the other ones pushed down from GameFreak.

Sorry for the long rant on that one, just wanted to get some of that of my chest. You can obviously see that I thought a lot more then I should have.

@Ryoma Maser As someone who got into Pokemon around Gen II, then played the Gen I games thinking they were sequels because I was a dumb child with no friends, I think I can contextualize this nostalgia. Or, rather, Junichi Masada can:

"It’s the type of place, the Pokémon world, where problems we face on Earth just wouldn’t happen. There wouldn’t be global warming, water shortages, or anything like that. It’s a world where the people in it really want to work together with each other. Their value system is such where they would prefer to work together and eliminate these problems rather than feud."
-Junichi Masuda (core series producer), Pokémon's Burning Questions​

When I was playing those old 90s Pokemon games, I didn't see this pixelated sprites and outdated graphics, limited gameplay and a barebones story. I saw this:

And this:

Because those games, their appeal (to me, at least) wasn't the gameplay. It wasn't the graphics or the sound, the rock-paper-scissors battles or even the Team Rocket plots. Those classic games were about the world and what they represented, and what they represent is...not clearly defined, looking back, but I was a kid and I needed entertainment. So I played Pokemon, gave the world the benefit of the doubt, and I was immersed.

Now, I'm an adult. A lot of Pokemon fans are adults. Like, the Pokemon franchise is literally older than me. Yes, the game's target audience has always been children, but it's hard to describe just how maniacal the late-90s/early-2000s Pokemania was. Pokemania faded, but those kids have grown up. And when The PokeNintenFreak Company promises a return to the childhood of the most rabid generation of fans, well, I'm not sure you personally can experience what they're promising, but there's a whole generation below you that can. And they are, like it or not, the new core. The loyal fans. The evangelicals. They are the ones with the Pokemon brand etched into their hearts, and I can see why upper management wants to cater to this demographic.

...but.

I think Nintendo might be overplaying their hand. What makes Pokemon, well, Pokemon is going to vary from person to person, but I haven't felt the brand cater to my particular tastes in a, long, long, time. Even with the Kanto obsession. Even with their pimping out of Pikachu. Because to me, and this is entirely anecdotal, but to me, those games aren't about what they are. They're about what they represent. And what they represent is the Pokemon world, and what the Pokemon world is never advanced beyond those first few games. And I mean this in a broad philisophical ideals kind of way, not canon or lore or what-you-want-to-call-it. But that's a statement I'm sure someone would kill me over, so I'm leaving it here.

Hope I added some context. Can't give you your dream game, unfortinately, but I'm working on some fics that explore the topic further. No idea if it'll be your thing, but hey. I'm sure there's another writer out there making your dream fic, if you can only find them.

EDIT: Grammah edut

 

[UselessBytes]

As far as I know, there's never been any concrete mentions of years and dates within the Pokemon franchise, with a couple of exceptions:

• In the games, I believe it's been stated that Gold/Silver take place... three years after Red/Blue? I could have the number wrong, it's been so long since I've played the games.
• Naturally I believe BW2 takes place after BW. Having not played them, I don't know any specifics.
• In the anime, I don't believe Ash has ever turned 11 years old yet, despite there being a special episode that focused on his and Pikachu's one year anniversary. Go figure that one out

This is one of those things where you'll have to come up with details yourself, since the official media is so murky. I think that's a good thing, it's an opportunity to flex your creativity!

Black and White 2 take place two years after the original games. When you're getting your pokedex, Bianca mentions that "pokemon distribution has really changed compared to two years ago".

 

[Beth Pavell]

I tend to agree with Snuggle Tier, in that I remember what they're describing. I remember PokéMania, and I remember being genuinely interested in Pokémon. It's fashionable to nostalgic about the 90s now, even if you never watched The Fresh Prince of Bel Air and sniggered derisively at other kids trading Pokémon cards. So indeed, I agree that the stubborn core of the fanbase are often the 90s kids, and I also agree that the franchise spends too much time trying to appeal to those. For a couple of reasons, one being that there's now a lot of the stubborn core who don't remember PokéMania. I remember feeling rather old when Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire were being released, because for so many people Ruby and Sapphire were their Red, Blue, and Yellow.

I'm kind of tired of fashionable childhood nostalgia in general, though. It's nice to reminisce, but you know what? I like being an adult. I don't want to wail about how I 'don't want to adult'. I like having my own car, my own money that I worked for, making my own choices. I even like having adult stresses, because now it feels like I can do something about them

 

[Nitro Indigo]

Why was I not notified of these replies?

Whenever people talk about the early days of any franchise, I think two things: first, that the older instalments have something that the newer ones have, like they don't make 'em like this any more (regardless of quality, even if they're older than me), and second, that I feel sad that people will always remember the franchise for its cheesy early days because the franchise only wants to market itself as some 90s thing.

And this is why I'm glad I got back into Power Rangers shortly before it was bought by our Hasbro overlords.

I'm getting bored because my Fimfiction feed is dead, meaning I have no-one to bounce ideas off of for a story I want to write. Does anyone here have any sort of interest in My Little Pony?

 

[Misfit Angel]

I'm sick of Kanto myself, but I can see why GameFreak keeps revisiting it. It's where the roots lie. It's a safe business investment for attracting older fans. It also introduces new fans to where it all began. I do wish the other regions would get more love, and I'm definitely looking forward to the Sinnoh remakes when those eventually happen.

 

[Nitro Indigo]

Whenever people mention Sinnoh remakes, I picture a wintry forest that looks like a combination of Eterna Forest and the routes in the north.

 

[Snuggle Tier List]

I'm getting bored because my Fimfiction feed is dead, meaning I have no-one to bounce ideas off of for a story I want to write. Does anyone here have any sort of interest in My Little Pony?

Kinda? I'm someone who has always been interested in FIM as a concept, but not interested enough to specifically seek it out. If you could write it in a way that just uses the character/world/whatever without oresuming your reader's watched the show, I'm down. But that means more exposition, which could be handled deftly, but it'd still have some effect. I'd rather not be your target audience if that means making your fic clunkier.

Still, if you do write something, I'll probably check it out regardless. I need 'dem Review League points, dawhg! And, in this newbie's opinion, I haven't seen too many entirely new works pop up in the Writer's Workshop. And I like getting in on the ground level, even if it's not my usual cup of tea. So, uh...go fir it! If you want, I mean. If/however you write it, write it for yourself. Always comes out better that way.

 

[Nitro Indigo]

I found someone else to share ideas with on Fimfiction since I posted that. Can you even get points for reviewing fanfics on other websites?

 

[zoroarctic]

Hey, everyone. I’m back with a possible exotic animal encounter in Alabama. I think I might have seen a jaguarundi roaming around the parking lot of my apartment complex a few weeks ago. I thought it was a bobcat at first until I saw the tail was too long. Unfortunately it was too dark to tell for sure, and I didn’t think to take any pictures, so I’ll never know.

 

[Beth Pavell]

I found someone else to share ideas with on Fimfiction since I posted that. Can you even get points for reviewing fanfics on other websites?

If you mean in the Review Game, then no

 

[UselessBytes]

Man, I went home for the weekend and ended up leaving my favorite hat back at my parents'. :^(

 

[diamondpearl876]

Man, I went home for the weekend and ended up leaving my favorite hat back at my parents'. :^(

Me except with video games and then never finding them again during the next several visits to my parents' house. :V I hope you find your hat!!!