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Creating an Interesting Pokemon Battle
I'm writing a fan-fic. About Pokemon. So, naturally, there's gonna be a battle or two in there somewhere.
I can compose a battle and I know what moves make sense for the Pokemon that are battling, I just can't make it that interesting. Does anyone have any tips on how to write an interesting Pokemon battle? |
Remember to make the Pokemon react the way they would if they were getting hit. Unless the Pokemon getting hit doesn't feel or doesn't respond to pain it would probably have anywhere from a flinching look on its face to a look of sheer shock depending on the magnitude of the attack. Also don't make the battles just "Pikachu used iron tail. It hit venasaur hard." do it more like this. "Pikachu's tail became hard as steel. Pikachu jumped into the air and spun around creating momentum in his tail movement. As Pikachu pulled out one last spin it impacted it's tail with venasaur's head. Venausaur's pupils dialated completely and it fell flat on it's belly, completely unconcious." Now I just came up with that on the spot so there are probably sentence structure errors and details missing but you get the idea.
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Additionally, I'd suggest avoiding scientific terms such as "creating momentum in its tail movement." You want to aim at simple description because elaborate ones -- ones where you sound like a textbook, at least -- tend to soften the description by making it a bit more humorous than it should be. That and the reader can easily picture something like a swift turn. Something like "creating momentum" is actually somewhat vague on its own (because there's different ways you can do that), and if you don't have it on its own, then you end up being redundant because you're probably tacking it onto another movement description (so it's like two in a row). So, the first tip is description. Keep it in simple terms but make absolutely sure your reader can picture or feel what's going on in their heads. Reaction's good too, as Ebon pointed out. You just need to build up to the reaction so the reader can flinch when he reads what happens too. Second tip is do not have a battle end in one or two moves unless you've got a good reason for doing it. For example, if your character's stupid enough to try to take on Ho-oh, feel free to have the bird roast the trainer's team with one Sacred Fire. If your character's a league champion and ends up being challenged by some newbie who just got their Pokémon today, yes, they'll be trounced within five minutes. Most of everything else, make it three or more. The reason why is twofold. First, it makes you lay down more description and draw out suspense so the reader can't tell who would win. Second, if you end the battle too quickly, the reader thinks you're making it too easy for one side or the other. Make them struggle through a couple of rounds, and it's a bit more interesting. Third, always keep in mind science and logic. Yes, for whatever reason, Pokémon attacks don't kill. They don't even end fairly logically. (For example, you never see blood drawn from a Scyther's Slash.) Still, you'll want to keep in mind what would naturally happen and what wouldn't. Part of this draws in the concept Ebon mentioned about reactions. As in, if a Rock Slide crushes an opponent's leg, don't have the victim just get up and walk it off. Have them in pain, and have that injury affect the performance of the Pokémon in the rest of the battle. (For example, no, a Pikachu with a broken leg cannot perform Agility.) But it also extends to simple scientific logic concerning what would have to happen if you used X move in certain situations. For example, if you use Flamethrower to chase down a Sentret in a field of tall, dry grass, something's going to be set on fire, and that's going to affect the battle. If you use Earthquake on the roof of Sky Pillar, that floor's going to break, and the characters are going to have an intimate relationship with gravity. And if you use Surf when there's no large body of water anywhere near the Pokémon, you'd better come up with an explanation as to how your Pokémon pulled that one off. Point is, part of what makes a battle interesting isn't just the moves or the reactions. It's the consequences. Always keep them in mind. If I think of anything else, I can add, but those are the three major points that I can come up with right now. Hope that helps. |
Yeah, that helps a whole lot! :) Thanks so much, guys!
Edit: I've thought about what you said, Xanthine, about Pokemon attacks not injuring the other Pokemon, and I agree that it doesn't make a lot of sense. Even so, I ignored that rule and decided to go against it. My fic has no humans, it's Pokemon vs. Pokemon battling only. Thus, I'll make it more realistic since usually Pokemon trainers can't kill other trainer's Pokemon with their own. 0.o; |
Xanthine,, you've been doing this for a long time havn't you? Man, I though t my explanation was ha;f way decent but yours... it helped me plan how to do battles in my fic! Are you wanting to become an author or something?
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And I would like to thank Xanthine for yet another great piece that will help writers such as my self for some time to come. |
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I just want to make one little point on this. The surroundings, I think you can make use of the surroundings to make a battle more interesting. Kinda like what Xanthine said about the consequences such as flamethrower in the grassy field. You might want to think of what could be done with the surroundings such as using a mains plug to charge an electric Pokemon's power but then also as Xanthine said, think of the possible consequences of that.
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Mmm, what Xanthine said.
I just need to try and make sense of the not being killed thing and make this up. Often, Pokemon restrain their attacks to not kill, but injure their opponents until the other gives up. Of course, Pokemon can be trained to not do this, and some just don't. :\ Uh...there's my weak explanation for you. xD |
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And yes, I'm aware of what the 'dex says, but then again, it's possible for the 'dex to exaggerate. (For example, Clefable? Never being seen by humans? What?) |
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If you follow canon, then you have a harder explanation. You could go the "pokemon pull their punches" route, but I don't think that works really (they constantly go "all out" in the anime). Otherwise you have durability, but what about ridiculously frail pokemon like Electrode? They supposedly explode with the slightest provocation. Perhaps you could have some kind of device in every caught pokemon's pokeball that keeps it from dieing, a la "magical laser shield". But that doesn't explain why free pokemon don't die either.
I dunno. Maybe Arceus protects pokemon from dieing in battle, or Mew. Or maybe the pact between humans and pokemon mentioned in Diamond/Pearl keeps them safe somehow. I personally don't worry about such things. I've already had plenty of pokemon die in my fics, from actions taken by other pokemon and humans both. |
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So, yeah, we'd have to find an alternate source for how humans manage to get away without so much as a scratch. (Yes, they feel it, but only on the same level as Pokémon themselves.) We could go with txt's explanation in that somehow, Arceus is involved here, but I'm not entirely sure how plausible the pact actually is. It seems a bit too widespread, and the games also mention Pokémon killing people. (The Gastly line, for example, each have at least one entry about this.) Of course, Pokémon itself hasn't been too keen on keeping continuity of any sort, even inside one universe. |
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Canon doesn't add up. If we go anime canon, it makes no sense at all. If we go game canon, we get extremely quick, unrealistic battles. If we go manga canon, it, um...whowazzit that survived thousands of volts from Zapdos charged Electrode guns again? |
Well, first, you'll want to realize that a lot of the other canons in this fandom (anime, manga) are actually various writers' interpretation of the game canon. Yeah, game canon itself isn't particularly realistic, but then again, there's no room on the cartridge to fit in all possibilities that would crop up. (Hence why you can do things like Dig in a battle on an ocean.) The games tend to be vague as to how battles actually happen partly because you're meant to move along, rather than spend hours on one battle and partly because there's really no space to go as in-depth with attacks as one thinks they probably should, if that makes sense.
After that, we'll want to ask ourselves exactly what canon we're going with -- or even what subset. Now, okay, I retract my earlier statement that no Pokémon attack seems to kill. In actuality, this isn't true. Special features attacks that can potentially seriously injure even other Pokémon. (For example, Red's Pikachu literally disassembled Brock's Onix with an Electric attack. For another, Koga's Arbok had been mutilated numerous times.) Other universes, however, seem to take more of a "kiddie" approach, and aiming for that kind of audience unfortunately means that you can't have cutesy creatures kill or maim. (You could with something geared towards slightly older audiences, but Pokémon's just not that kind of franchise.) So, now, what canon are we talking about here? Pokémon in general? A specific canon? Keep in mind that each canon tends to produce a different interpretation on the games, which themselves are vague for a variety of reasons, ranging from there's no real room (or time, for that matter) to make each battle as realistic as they possibly can be to some of the elements of the game are meant to be left up to our imaginations. Point is, yeah, game canon's vague. But it also provides a small hint as to what we're looking at here. When we're fighting Pokémon, the trainer leaves when the opponent Pokémon faints. Trainers recall their fainted Pokémon before anything happens. On the other hand, if the trainer is forced to recall all of their Pokémon because each one fainted before a wild Pokémon's done with them, the next thing that happens is the trainer blacks/whites out. If we look at this fainting as basically being rendered temporarily unconscious (which would be a state that might be plausible for a wild creature trying to defend itself to leave an attacker to run), then the only reason why there's no death in Pokémon becomes a combination of the trainer's rules. (And, okay, a bit of the necessity of the wild Pokémon -- as in, why go further when the trainer's practically dead already?) As in, what we're looking at in that sense might not be so much the Pokémon holding back as it is the trainer forcing his team to do so. Either that, or the interpretation that Pokémon are wild animals isn't entirely accurate either and they're actually another life form on the same level of intelligence as human beings. Which, then, would call into question whether or not training itself would be considered slavery and what the agreement made in DP might've said. Might be rambling a bit, at which point, I apologize. It's three in the morning here, and I'm up for no apparent reason. Edit: The point -- which I was trying to make earlier -- is that, yeah, it's a bit difficult to go with canon and be realistic at the same time. Mostly, it depends on what canon you're going with and how close to it you want to go for the purposes of your story. If you're going for the kiddie feel that most of canon (but, mind you, not all) goes for, then yeah, that Aura Sphere isn't going to do much. If you want to actually be logical and somewhat scientific about it, you're going to have to sit down and really think about what would happen if you fired a ball of pure energy at something. |
I know everyone else already got to this, but I find that it's best to treat the creatures as if they were actually animals. Most real life animals have on thing on their minds, survival either for self or for family. Even tame ones react in self-defense. While Pokemon battling is mainly a sport where the creatures fight to gain experience and grow, don't forget that they are, in essence, just fantasy animals.
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In my opinion, there are three aspects to creating a Pokemon battle in a fan fiction that contribute to the description and results of the attacks:
1.) Genre- if your doing a comedy, then maybe someone getting zapped by an electric attack would stiffen up and fall over comedically, if your doing something more serious then that person might go into shock and have to be taken to the hospital. 2.) Type of Pokemon- if a new born charmander uses ember on you, you might have a slight burn or second degree at most which isn't very serious. If a Ho-oh hits someone with sacred fire... that person should probably be dead. 3.) Physics- pretty much explains himself. |
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As for the Ho-oh thing, I think that person would cease to exist. |
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