• A new LGBTQ+ forum is now being trialed and there have been changes made to the Support and Advice forum. To read more about these updates, click here.
  • Hey Trainers! Be sure to check out Corsola Beach, our newest section on the forums, in partnership with our friends at Corsola Cove! At the Beach, you can discuss the competitive side of the games, post your favorite Pokemon memes, and connect with other Pokemon creators!
  • Due to the recent changes with Twitter's API, it is no longer possible for Bulbagarden forum users to login via their Twitter account. If you signed up to Bulbagarden via Twitter and do not have another way to login, please contact us here with your Twitter username so that we can get you sorted.

Writing a story based around the Pokemon Trading Card Game

Joined
Feb 16, 2018
Messages
5,012
Reaction score
4,020
Pronouns
  1. He/Him
I still want do a Pokemon story and I have decided to do the TCG since that would eliminate part of my problem: Too many characters. This way, I can specifically focus on the people and see how the anime would go if the Pokemon are not real creatures, but rather cards that emit holograms of that Pokemon (like in Yugioh with the Duel Monsters). I might do an original Region instead.

Thus, my question is this: How do I write this and not have it end up being a Yugioh clone?
 
Last edited:
Don't let the game's scope get out of hand. While it is fun to explore what a humble card game would be like if matches had world saving or world destroying capabilities, keep it simple. Try not to bog down the action with the characters spelling out their strategies to the tiniest detail, with confusing terminology to boot. The TCG (at least to me) goes faster than other TCGs like Magic and Yu-Gi-Oh because a turn is relatively straightforward--you don't have a million steps to go through because of a million complex mechanics.

Studying the Game Boy game might help you out.
 
I don't think you need holograms at all; this is a fanfic rather than an anime where that kind of thing could be appealing. Just make it about a bunch of kids/people participating in tournaments, and add a subplot about stolen cards in the vein of Team Great Rocket. Imagine what happens if the best player is actually a thief.
 
Don't let the game's scope get out of hand. While it is fun to explore what a humble card game would be like if matches had world saving or world destroying capabilities, keep it simple. Try not to bog down the action with the characters spelling out their strategies to the tiniest detail, with confusing terminology to boot. The TCG (at least to me) goes faster than other TCGs like Magic and Yu-Gi-Oh because a turn is relatively straightforward--you don't have a million steps to go through because of a million complex mechanics.

Studying the Game Boy game might help you out.
Yeah. It was weird in Yugioh when the cards (which started out as just cards if I recall) started having powers that can affect the world.

I don't think you need holograms at all; this is a fanfic rather than an anime where that kind of thing could be appealing. Just make it about a bunch of kids/people participating in tournaments, and add a subplot about stolen cards in the vein of Team Great Rocket. Imagine what happens if the best player is actually a thief.
You know what? you are probably right. I was going to do something like the duel disks from Yugioh, but I think it would be more complicated than if I just did the placemat.
 
I would be interested in seeing a TCG fanfic since GF don't seem interested in making another video game about it anytime soon.

Yeah. It was weird in Yugioh when the cards (which started out as just cards if I recall) started having powers that can affect the world.
Eh this is by the by, but that was always the case in the original manga since the cards were recreations of real monsters. Even in the very first (manga) duel, Kaiba's stolen Blue Eyes refused to launch an attack called by Kaiba because it recognised that he wasn't its true master.
 
Eh this is by the by, but that was always the case in the original manga since the cards were recreations of real monsters. Even in the very first (manga) duel, Kaiba's stolen Blue Eyes refused to launch an attack called by Kaiba because it recognised that he wasn't its true master.
I'm just going to stick with 'The cards are just cards; not having any special powers of any kind'. Makes things way less complicated.
 
Just a quick note on my part: Writing for pokemon, or any tcg with an energy/mana/resource system is incredibly difficult to do without making duels/matches/games very repetitive and boring. I'm not at all saying don't write this, but I suggest watching/reading some other scripted card game content, be it fanfiction or manga or anime, to get familiar with how you want to be writing and what types of games you'd like to write into your story. It's very easy to write yourself into a hole multiple times for the same game/scene.
 
You can just have it be a plain old fun fic about the glory of playing the card game. Or maybe for something more mature and realistic, because thinking of that's all the rage these days, how about the suffering of affording all the cards?

Or go completely batshit crazy like I once planned in a huge SRW-style series concept that had Card GB2 in it, whereupon Great Rocket was as threatening if not moreso than most of the other enemy factions and various threats, without needing to make them overly fanatical or turning the cards into a strict Yugioh parallel, tying the plot into numerous other things in the process.

Whatever works best for you.
 
Just a quick note on my part: Writing for pokemon, or any tcg with an energy/mana/resource system is incredibly difficult to do without making duels/matches/games very repetitive and boring. I'm not at all saying don't write this, but I suggest watching/reading some other scripted card game content, be it fanfiction or manga or anime, to get familiar with how you want to be writing and what types of games you'd like to write into your story. It's very easy to write yourself into a hole multiple times for the same game/scene.
I do agree. I think this is why I keep quitting on Pokémon stories (especially ones relating to an anime rewrite/reimagining). I am just going to have the story revolve around two people having a card game, instead of doing a league thing. The battles will end up getting repetitive.
 
Having a plan involving the main draw of your story being repetitive isn't a great plan. Unless this is a one or two chapter affair, I really suggest you throw in some more characters/decks to keep things fresh
 
Having a plan involving the main draw of your story being repetitive isn't a great plan. Unless this is a one or two chapter affair, I really suggest you throw in some more characters/decks to keep things fresh

Yeah, Unlike with having Pokemon be real creatures, there really isn't much you can do strategywise with cards.
 
If you don't think there's much you can do strategy wise, then why do you want to write this story? Figuring out why you want to write a story is just as important as actually writing it. Plus, there's plenty you can do strategy wise! A lot of the strategy in the pokemon tcg comes not just from the pokemon but from trainer cards! It's where the meat of the game lies. If you're really wanting to write this story, I think it would do good to learn more about the competitive side of the TCG. You'll learn more about how cards work together that way and will be able to craft more interesting plays.
 
If you don't think there's much you can do strategy wise, then why do you want to write this story? Figuring out why you want to write a story is just as important as actually writing it. Plus, there's plenty you can do strategy wise! A lot of the strategy in the pokemon tcg comes not just from the pokemon but from trainer cards! It's where the meat of the game lies. If you're really wanting to write this story, I think it would do good to learn more about the competitive side of the TCG. You'll learn more about how cards work together that way and will be able to craft more interesting plays.
Is there a site where I can learn more about the TCG? I do agree that I should learn what I can about TCG before I fully commit to the story.
 
Please note: The thread is from 4 years ago.
Please take the age of this thread into consideration in writing your reply. Depending on what exactly you wanted to say, you may want to consider if it would be better to post a new thread instead.
Back
Top Bottom