mind you, I wasn't saying those naming conventions were completely flawed, as I did acknowledge that they're workable in some situations (like my example of a particularly childish character). I was just pointing out, to those people who just wanna use Japanese names to sound cool, that they should consider some things over there are just as unoriginal as ending a name with "y" and thus proper research should be taken.
On the nicknames thing: Well, you've established possibility for complicated words, Yamato-san, but that doesn't equal necessity. If the character in question isn't a studious type/language geek (Like, for instance, Red sure as heck isn't) then cheesy nicknames make perfect sense. I'd also like to point out Yellow from pokéspecial here, who nicknamed all her pokémon by replacing the end of the species name with 'y' (Gravy, Omny, Dody, etc.). Still being a kid, it makes sense that she'd go for a simple naming practice.
those are the names she uses in the Viz/Chuang Yi version. In the Japanese version, her Pokemon's names are Chuchu (Pikachu), Racchan (Ratta), Omusuke (Omstar), Gorosuke (Goronya), Dodosuke (Dodrio), and Piisuke (Butterfree; originally a Caterpie), thus proving my point from earlier.
Alter Ego said:
Plus, the random Japanese naming in English narrativei s a pretty overused technique as well. For instance, random grass pokémon named 'Hana' aren't really much of an improvement from Umbreons named 'Shadow'; it's just switching the genericness to a different language so it doesn't stick out as badly. xP
well what do you expect? It is based off of a Japanese franchise, and one which seems somewhat significantly influenced by the culture at that (rather than, say, a JRPG with a clearly European-style setting). Plus, as I said before, it was heavily Americanized in the localization, thus there were a ton of traditional Japanese names originally, and some fans, such as myself, will choose to stick with those original names. Even if some fic-writers do prefer the dub names, there're still quite a few of those who will nonetheless try to emphasize the fact that their fic takes place in Japan (seeing as the Pokemon regions are actually based off of Japan). Simply put, it is used quite a bit, but it's perfectly understandable.
Also, the way you described the usage of "Hana".... if they used it for a grass-type that isn't flowering, or doesn't even seem very pretty or feminine (or maybe you have the Trainer, whom you're seemingly emphasizing as being Japanese, suddenly forget what the word means), again, that shows poor research. Also, even if you did want to portray a Japanese character, given what I said about their western influence, there's nothing saying they can't use western names in combination with eastern ones (or even all western names), so "Shadow" would be perfectly fine.
Lastly, even though I was pointing out that a 10-year might know more about naming that we initially think, my advice is mainly targeted at those who focus on Pokemon's heritage, or even those who think any random Japanese name is cool.