Is it a trainer fic if...

Is it a trainer fic if...
Before we get into this I would like to share what I have gathered about trainer fics:

• The trainer begins with a generic starter
• The trainer travels to get 8 badges
• The trainer gets in a conflict with an evil organization
• The trainer manages to defeat the evil organization
• The trainer replaces or travels with the game canon characters
• The trainer challenges the league
• The trainer becomes the champion

Now onto my question would it be a trainer fic if...

• The character doesn't start with a generic starter
• The trainer travels to get 8 badges
• The trainer gets in a conflict with an evil organization
• The trainer doesn't travel with or replace canon characters
• The trainer does not defeat an evil organization
• The trainer does not challenge the league
• The trainer does not become champion
• The trainer is a minor character in the game plot

So if most of the typical trainer elements are ignored would it still be classified as one?

I'm not completely up to speed with conventions in pokemon fanfiction, but from your description I would summarize 'trainer fics' as "Let's go through the plot of a Pokemon game, only starring my Original Character and her custom pokemon team". I'm assuming that most readers don't care for trainer fics.

I think the success of your story in netting readers will depend on the unique personality, motivations and circumstances that your trainer brings to the story. A good question to start with is What are you going to do differently from the standard 'X Region League Challenge' story?

Me, I love trainer fics. Only I call them Nuzlocke comics. They all have the same premise: "My OC challenges the League!", but the best stories are the ones that use the games as a basic plot template, and then spin off into something crazy, different and unique.

So Infiltrat0r, what will make your story unique and 'not just another trainer fic'?

From what I understand, "Trainer fic" is the term given to any Pokemon fic that follows the basic life of a Pokemon trainer. They actively train Pokemon. That's what they do. Given what you mentioned of your plot, I would call it a trainer fic. But just as long as you put a unique spin on it and don't simply follow a "beat Gyms, save world" with the trainer only having little to no personality (or my favorite personality: the friendly but loner cool kid) and the Pokemon only being treated like tools of war.

So it's not like we'll say "It's a trainer fic! Don't write it!" Instead, we'll say that you should still write your fic so we can see your own personal take on the genre.

My definition of a 'Trainer Fiction' is- "A fiction that follows the basic fundemental principle of the Pokemon handheld version games and the Anime Pokemon show."

With that being said, If the character main goal is to become a pokemon champion or become the strongest pokemon trainer in the world then it is indeed a trainer fic.

It's all about the goal. Just because the main character has a generic starter pokemon doesn't mean it should be classifed as a trainer fic. I find it peculiar that people tend to use stater pokemon as a premise to trainer. Not all pokemon trainers have to have a starter pokemon. If that was the case then everybody would be fighting with blah blah.

I find it a bit irritating when an author uses a Pokemon professor just for the sole purpose of giving out a starter pokemon to hordes of people.

The children lined the halls of Professor X's Lab to pick up and choose their very own first pokemon.

Click to expand...

Sorry, I went a little off topic.

Thanks for the feedback everyone.

With that being said, If the character main goal is to become a pokemon champion or become the strongest pokemon trainer in the world then it is indeed a trainer fic.

Click to expand...

Would that still apply it the character starts off with that belief but, his hopes are crushed by the reality of him not being some pokemon prodigy? (If by trainer fic you were referring to a bad trainer fic.)

As for the rest, as long as my trainer and pokemon have decent characters and uniqueness the story will be enjoyable?

Infiltrat0rN7 said:

Would that still apply it the character starts off with that belief but, his hopes are crushed by the reality of him not being some pokemon prodigy? (If by trainer fic you were referring to a bad trainer fic.)

Click to expand...

The problem here is that it would start off in a way that people who start to read it will think "Oh dear, it's another of these generic ones" even though you have a twist. And the only way to convince them otherwise is to spoil the plot which then sort of defeats the point in them reading any further unless they have a curiosity of how exactly it goes wrong. The only way, that I know of, really around this is to start with the end to make people curious. It's a difficult situation that I've been in myself and I never managed to get out of it.

I've been told and as people have then told you, the key to doing a trainer fic right as it were is to make it different. I think one thing that hasn't been mentioned is that it should be obvious that it's different pretty early on so we don't get the "here we go again" thoughts I mentioned earlier. You said that your trainer is a minor character of the game plot, well, maybe you could use that to your advantage to deceive your readers into thinking that it's not a trainer fic, or at least that your trainer isn't the main character that we're familiar with. This might not be possible though because I obviously don't know which minor character you're using.

Hope that helps.

Infiltrat0rN7 said:

Would that still apply it the character starts off with that belief but, his hopes are crushed by the reality of him not being some pokemon prodigy? (If by trainer fic you were referring to a bad trainer fic.)

Click to expand...

That's actually an interesting take, although in my head canon, training Pokemon is all about how well you actually train rather than skill or talent. Practice makes perfect, but it is your world you're building (and the games constantly mention prodigy) so you can do whatever you like. Anyway, back onto what you're asking, that's a nice spin on it and sounds highly dramatic, which is good. That's a nice focus to have, because overall, the story won't be 'I'm gonna beat the gyms' with a typical mindset, but rather, "Why should I bother?" Of course, that's an example of what a trainer could be thinking realizing that they won't be successful. The general idea is good, though.

Infiltrat0rN7 said:

As for the rest, as long as my trainer and pokemon have decent characters and uniqueness the story will be enjoyable?

Click to expand...

For future references, this goes for virtually every single story out there, so it also applies to trainer fics. Characters have to be engaging in some way, whether they relate to the reader or are likable, or on the more negative route, by being hated. Generally, you want to go with the former, but if you go by the latter, it's good to make sure that the character is unlikeable because of their qualities and personality rather than them being dense or something.

And actually, I don't think uniqueness should be a big deal in writing a story, because a story should revolve around your thoughts and imagination, and those are already special anyway. My point is that when you plan a story, don't focus on it being unique, because that's you trying to please other people. Besides who's to say what is unique anyway? It's safe to say that no matter how unique your story is, if it's not written well, it won't be as entertaining or good of a story. To me, the priority should be how well you can construct your prose.

Sorry for the late reply. I want to thank you all for your kind words and feedback, it really helped my story progress.