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Evolution in fan-fics
How should Pokémon evolution in fan fictions be dealt with? I ask mainly because I’d like to get the places, where the Pokémon in my fic evolve, correct. And just so everyone’s aware, I have read the thread titled “Evolution – The fan fiction way”, but a few things didn’t make sense.
Like where Jax Malcolm, now known as Xanthine, stated quote “Likewise, there are some stories that follow the games’ line exactly, so they (the starter) may evolve after the second Gym”. My concern here is as follows: Do physical conditions/emotions matter if they are preventing the Pokémon from evolving straight away? The Pokémon I’m referring to currently evolves before Vermillion City; whereas, by rights, he should have evolved in Pewter City… being a creature that evolves at level 16, after all. Is it right for stress, of all things, to prevent his evolution? Since my fic is based on a post D/P/Pt Kanto, would it be unorthodox for an Eevee to evolve into a Leafeon after his trainer was given a piece of the Moss Rock and said piece was pointed at his body? Because, theoretically, something could very well have happened to the Moss Rock in Sinnoh and a fragment could have landed in Kanto? And now, I’ll quote a few of things from the original thread: Quote:
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Your story is yours, make it that way.
Do what ever you want, be try and keep it realistic; no exploding charizards. Quote:
From what I understand, the Eevee must be in contact with the stone. (but you can decide since it's your story.) As for how said trainer gets it, again its your story, but try and explain how trainer gets a hold of it, or how said chunk broke off. (maybe someone discovers another moss rock?) Quote:
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Anyway, basically, it depends on the fic you're going for, which was probably what I was trying to say. Fics that follow such a line are basically retellings of the author's own gameplay. Hence, starters end up evolving around the second gym (either right after the first, during the second gym battle, or right after the second gym itself) because the starters in the game tend to do that unless you've boxed them, aren't using them as much as other Pokémon you've caught, or are mashing the B button like crazy. This is, of course, only one possibility. There are plenty of others. For example, certain stories go with more of a "natural" approach by not using milestones like gyms to gauge when a starter or other Pokémon evolves. Sometimes, evolution happens at a heightened moment of suspense (because, like character death, it's a heavily dramatic moment in a fanfiction). Others see evolution as a metaphor for growth, so the Pokémon may evolve as it gains more experience (and age). Point is, you don't want your starter to evolve quickly. Within the first several chapters, yes, you should avoid that kind of thing unless you're deliberately having the character rush through evolutionary stages because getting the character's Charmander to evolve into a Charmeleon in chapter one just seems like you're rushing the fic itself -- like you're not giving the reader enough time to digest things, you're not adding enough detail, you're blowing past possible conflicts that could arise from a basic-level starter for the sake of getting to Point B... whatever. With forced evolutions (like with stones), it's a different story. First off, you've got more of a Chekhov's gun scenario because you're most likely showing the audience the evolution item before it's actually used. Hence, you're probably going to give the reader an idea of how far down the road they can expect an evolution, whereas level-based evolutions tend to be more random (and therefore a slippery thing to work out). That leads to the second point, which is the fact that, technically, you can get away with at least implying evolution early on, unlike level-based evolutions, where you just have to wait. The reason why is because if a Pokémon evolves via an item, the trainer can control when that Pokémon evolves. So, you could possibly pull an anime!Surge and have a Pokémon evolve as soon as the character gets it. It all depends on how realistic the character's means of getting the evolution item is. However, there's also the downside that is the fact that Pokémon you evolve quickly through this method are often implied to be weaker than Pokémon that the character would evolve later on. Take Lt. Surge's Raichu, for example. In the anime canon, it evolved from a Pikachu as soon as Surge caught it. For that reason, it never learned the speed attacks it can only learn as a Pikachu, so it ended up being slower than Ash's Pikachu. That gave it a huge disadvantage once Ash (and Brock) figured that out. So, basically, if you're going to evolve, either way, you have to be very conscious of timing. Level-based evolutions shouldn't really evolve too quickly because they logically wouldn't have the experience needed to do so, and forced evolutions should have disadvantages attached to evolving early. As for when to do it, that depends on your story. As I've said before, evolutions tend to be dramatic. Forced ones tend to happen either by accident, after the trainer's given it careful thought, or if the Pokémon needs to reach its higher evolutionary form for some reason (particularly ones that it can't execute as it is). Level evolutions in canon tend to happen during moments of suspense, but they can also happen to indicate growth or experience. Quote:
Stress, meanwhile, could possibly be a good reason for the inability to evolve as well. I mean, to tell you the truth, stress tends to eff up a system like whoa. It's perfectly possible that too much stress on a creature could prevent the Pokémon from evolving in the same way stress prevents people from sleeping. *shrug* Quote:
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Basically speaking, it seems that this quote was meant to say that not every trainer in the world exists to battle yours and that there are trainers who might not want to battle your main character. Therefore, don't have every character that appears in the games pop up in your fic and have them battle your trainer, and don't have every other trainer you insert into your fic exist for the sole purpose of having a battle and never being heard from again. Trainers are characters too. Don't bring them in for only a one-dimensional purpose, if that makes sense. Quote:
On the other hand, no, because fake starters are Pokémon we're unfamiliar with. We've seen plenty of Bulbasaur/Charmander/Squirtle/et cetera in the games, so in a sense, it'll be refreshing and new to us anyway. (So long as you can make the presence of the fake starters believable, of course. New regions are usually expected to have fake starters. Canon regions need a stated explanation for why they're there, and even then, it had better be good.) Quote:
However, on the other hand, don't go overboard and do something that contradicts what the town is about. Verdanturf shouldn't be overpopulated, for example. For another, Canalave shouldn't have a casino. Canon buildings should still be there either way so long as they actually pertain to your plot somehow. |
quick logical explanation, it was holding(or it was stuck in its fur) an ever stone. then it droped it.
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In my mind, make an evolution like its normal. Don't go overdramatizing it like the games and anime do. It's just bad technique as far as I'm concerned, especially since their growth patterns are the only realistic thing Pokemon have as far as their unrealistic designs and such go. Not to be harsh, but its true...
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Evolution is one of those things you have to think through before you decide on doing it. Yes, you don't want to rush evolution and also have to know how the Pokemon will evolve (level, trade, stones, etc.). However, there are a couple other things to consider.
First thing is actually the Pokemon itself. Perhaps that Pokemon want to evolve very fast so that he/she can get stronger and is determined to do that. Also like Xathine said, maybe the Pokemon doesn't want to evolve at all. I had one fic idea where a Wartotle doesn't want to evolve a Blastoise for own personal reasons. Another thing is how long it would take for the Pokemon to evolve. It would take a Ponyta longer to evolve a Rapidash than a Combusken to a Blaziken, for instance. If you have a Ponyta and a Torchic as starters, both battled and won the battles equally (and battled against Pokemon up to their strength), and have the Ponyta evolve first, then something's wrong. Last thing is the why. Maybe it's the Pokemon or the main character? Part of the plot? You don't want to just have the evolution come cause you want to feature Charizard right away (if you do that, you could have just have the main character as an experienced trainer at the beginning of the story). I hope everyone here answered your questions and also hope you'll use the advice well. |
Good points, Bay, but if I might elaborate a little on the last case. With an experienced trainer right from the get-go, there also comes the dilemma as to whether or not an evolution is at all necessary. For instance, in Dark Nostalgia, Jay Christie (the former Ronac League champion) wants his Lupudle ( http://i241.photobucket.com/albums/ff58/HuntsmanSkunk/Lupudle2.jpg ) to evolve into Metalupus ( http://i241.photobucket.com/albums/ff58/HuntsmanSkunk/Metalupus.jpg ). Now, from the beginning, the intermediate evo is actually a lot better to have than the ultimate one because its faster and capable of cruel attacks that the evo itself is very vulnerable to (since Lupudle can kickbox like a kangaroo, making it part fighting-type, while Metalupus can take attacks but takes devasting hits from its pre-evos moves if stuck being normal-and-steel-type). So, it leaves one to wonder if its at all worth having it happen just to happen or if the pros outweight the cons in the fic. I mean, giving the purpose for an evolution more logic makes it all the more convincing and worthwhile, right?
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Also, when a Pokémon is in a tight situation and can evolve, I'd say that they may evolve right then and there. As you've seen in the anime (which isn't the exact game canon), some Pokémon evolve into their next form simply due to being in a pinch. Quote:
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Now, this, is an odd statement. What would happen to the Moss Rock? Did a Pokémon get to it? Even if it is Pokémon, it would have to make a little bit of sense. Even if a Kanto trainer were to obtain Moss Rock, I highly doubt 'something happened' to the Moss Rock that would make it useless. But I digress. And now, I’ll quote a few of things from the original thread: Quote:
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Hope this helped a little. If you're still unsure about certain aspects of evolution, I'm always here (literally. . O.o). However, it'd be best if you e-mailed me, PMed me, or posted a Visitor Message, as I normally don't go back to a thread once I've replied on it. Have fun writing your fanfic! ^_~ |
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There is nothing ridiculous about making pokémon evolution out as bizarre and spectacular. |
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What do you think? |
Skunter, I see your point. Pretty much the thing is though there are probably times the Pokemon is actually has enough experience to evolve, but hasn't yet for whatever reason. Also the trainer would have more Pokemon with them that is fine or wants to evolve. But yeah, I too agree there's also consideration between the pros and cons (like how in the games if you want to delay your Pokemon's evolution so that they can learn some attacks sooner).
And censored, the thing is in the Pokemon world the creatures go through a dramatic change in a matter of seconds, or at least from what I can tell from anime and game canon. As for the evolution being dramatic or not, to me it would depend on the tone of the scene, the characters (the trainer and Pokemon), and what you're trying to achieve. If you're going for a suspense scene and the Pokemon is on the blink of defeat but then evolves, then of course you're going to make it dramatic. Yes, I know that's a bad and cliche example. XD; If, say, you have one island where evolution is some sort of ritual, it would depend on the character(s)--they might either be excited about it or didn't care and know it's part of life. |
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And it could be an alternative to having a sudden 2 second growth spurt, where does the extra mass come from anyway? |
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Additionally, there's the problem that by going this route you actually highlight what's so ludicrous about the process in the first place. For example, the extra mass thing that you mentioned--if you want your pokémon to evolve by slow stages, it would need to go into human growth spurt mode, but on overdrive. It would need to be eating constantly (especially for something like munchlax -> snorlax), and would be almost constantly tired and achy. Evolution would be a huge ordeal in that system, especially as, considering the anatomy of a lot of the transition states you'd get from things like dratini -> dragonite, you'd end up with this creature that can't even really move until its limbs have properly developed. This approach is okay-ish for pokémon that stay with the same general body plan and do pretty much nothing but grow larger, but for some others, it would lead to very bizarre, probably disturbing progressions. If you were going to do it, I think that the way that people in your story responded to the idea of evolution would need to be a lot different from the way that they do in established canon. |
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Besides, Bay's right about the Pokemon going through a change in both the game and anime canon. The anime draws from the game for the basics, and so the Pokemon go through a quick change in both game and anime. So, when you decide to ignore the anime for having quick evolutions, you're ignoring the game for having quick evolutions, and all the other forms of canon are based on the game. So you're ignoring canon fact that evolution is a quick process for Pokemon. That's why I don't agree with the "evolution = maturation, and both happen over a long period of time". In the real world, yes, evolution takes a long time. In the Pokemon world, a Magikarp can go from a flopping orange fish to a raging twenty-foot serpent with an attitude in a matter of seconds. That's just how it happens in the Pokemon world. The actual mental maturation might take longer. So, no, you can't say that "the evolution happens over time, say like if an evolution is different colored fur, then the Pokemon could shed its fur, and a new coat grows in, say as it goes through a growth spurt, growing taller, limbs growing longer, etc" because it just doesn't happen that way in the Pokemon world. An Eevee gets smacked with a Thunderstone, and in a flash of light, it grows spiky yellow and white fur from brown fur, gets bigger, and gains the power of electricity in a matter of seconds. That's how evolution works in the Pokemon world. In a matter of seconds. Evolution is just one of those things that can't be looked at in a realistic manner in the Pokemon world. |
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And Censored, many people actually write fanfiction that is anime-centric or inspired by some elements of the anime. My fic "Nothing, Everything" is inspired by many events and places from the anime. To get back to point, even though both medium are not the same, they still have the basics of Pokemon canon like the Pokemon, the places, the attacks, and evolution. I can understand you saying that if the anime portrays evolution differently, but both anime and game canon showed that in that world evolution is very, very fast. |
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...kay, when is this becoming a "bash the anime!" thread. XD; |
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