Again responding via this medium, as rules do state that discussion in the thread is to focus on the fic, and don't want to get too close to the line, with some general fic-discussion here. :)
Stranglehold might be more a British term rather than American, then (Australian English is almsot British English). Leatsways it's a word I'm familar with, so that is probably it.
Also inmy updates I have added more description in, but do still stick to a fair amount of dialogue - I work well with it I find.
As for this:
What is your view on having to describe a Pokemon everyone knows? Do you think it is annoying, and you can just avoid it?
Well, having learnt a fair amount about fanfiction since starting, I think it's better to go and describe the Pokemon anyway, but there's no need to do it to excess. That's something my updates would show. I don't find, when reading fics, that desciption of a Pokemon is annoying - and it can help add to the atmosphere or tension as well, if done right. Rather than saying, for instance in an exaggerated on-the-spot example, 'He sent out a Koffing. It looked dangerous.' - the last sentence is rather bland. Instead, you could describe the Koffing, and through the description give off the sense that it is dangerous -
sludge and gases seeped through the craters dotting the purple Koffing's body, with an ominous crossbones sign etched below its faces
- well, that would conjure up the feeling of the such. This makes for better writing - part of a 'show don't tell' law that I've learnt of recently. It's better to get the reader to use their imaginationa nd visulize things, rather than tell them straight off the bat that something looked like this, that or this, or was simply this.
It is also a general concensus of fanfiction to give at least a short description of a Pokemon as well - I know many have this thinking. And it does add to the quality of the fic as well. It's not necessary to do every single time, especially if you are just mentioning a name or two of a Pokemon and not using those Pokemon for anything, but all the good fics out there use description of Pokemon. Besides, there are 493 to keep track of. My two cents anyway. :)
