take a cannon to canon

How much of the actually game/comics/anime-givens do you use in your stories? Do you use everything down to the player characters, or just the regions, or just the Pokemon and create your own region?

When it comes to Pokemon, it's kind of mixed bag. Some instances I use a made up city and original characters, other times the canon region and characters in which I try to keep true as possible. Sometimes I allow myself some flexibility, though, like Pokemon learning more than four moves. I might mix and match, like for instance use the anime's setting when describing cities as the anime often gives a more realistic picture of a city's population and such.

The continuity to my work is too warpped to go into, so I won't. But when it comes to Pokémon themselves, I try my best to keep them as faithful to the games as possible. The only concept I borrowed from somewhere else (the anime) is the Poke Ball mechanic of shrinking and expanding.

The canon material I always use without any alteration is merely the world geography and the background histories.
Cultures and technology level depicted in any of the canon goes two-way, depends on the universe of my fic. Though most of the time I put in quite many original interpretation.
I never adapt any characters from any canon. Even there are gyms in the fic, you'll find the gym leaders changed to someone else completely different. Well, even the function of gym itself changed drastically within my fic. You won't think it is the same kind of gym depicted in any canon media.

For me it's highly variable, yeah. I can go build an entirely new region full of Fakémon or I can write character pieces set like, inside of an episode of the anime. Depends what I feel like telling atm~

In the one I'm currently writing, I'm using a handful of characters, the Pokemon, and the two regions from G/S/C.

My setting is a mixed bag of stuff from various canons. I obviously use the Pokémon, there would be not much of a point otherwise ;-P Some of the player characters and NPCs, though I keep them quite away from the focus. The regions too, but mostly as a "part of the larger whole" thing which I have developed as my own setting, with its own regions.

I take concepts from PMD and the TCG when I find them interesting as well. Probably will from Pokken too, once I'm more familiarized with the game than "wooo, playing with Gengar!".

From the anime, mostly the positive vibe of the world in general but also some plot and broad strokes history stuff just with Ash completely removed except as a marketing tool.

The movies are for me an interesting case. For my setting they are "canon" in the sense that the events happened, just not in the exact manner or chronology that is shown in the movies. Ditto with stuff like Generations.

Its mainly mechanics and a bit of setting for me. I like things from other games, stories, anime, etc. and might use a little of those things. Though characters can be influenced a little, or language barriers, stylish pieces, and structure or plot area similarities. Originality is hard nowadays, but I try not to be a Ripper.
I sometimes alter existing mechanics or expand upon them for flexibility, diversity, or story enhancing.

Example: Orbs (PMD spinoff series)
Their effects have been altered to be more realistic.
Luminating orb: Shoots a short but concentrated explosion of light.
Rollcall orb: an Alarm that a team holds to be notified if a member is under attack and how far away.
Hurl orb: Think impact Grenade.
Petrify orb: Used mainly as another grenade, but deals paralysis to subjects within a certain distance.
Stairs orb: In my works its called a "Mapping orb" that is used to keep map data and receive new ones too.
Communications orb: Com link in a way.
Blast seed: Explosive capabilities when pressure is put upon its large end of the seed.
Foggy orb: Temporary misty terrain set up
Rain orb: causes slight rain if area is fitting
Sunny orb: you throw it and it acts like a shooting flare. It lasts far longer than Luminating orb.
And other ones, but I think this is enough.

I like to use the Pokemon, though not necessarily their entire Pokedex entries or lore. I also prefer to use the regions rather than create my own since that's just another step in complexity that I don't feel is necessary for a fanfic since the energy for that could be better spent on something original that you can actually do something with.

In my imagined Pokeworld, the canon characters are more like classic Disney characters--a ensemble of characters for any purpose. That said, they still retain parts of their canon personality, and have traits and talents their real selves don't have