Going back to answer...
When it comes to Pokemon learning new moves, do you go strictly by game canon or do your own thing?
Mostly with TurtleKing here. I canon cocktail the rules about moves between the anime and the games so that Pokemon could learn pretty much any available move in its movepool, and it's not limited to just knowing four at once. So, for example, I could have a Haunter learning Psychic without the aid of a TM. Of course, I wouldn't have a baby Gastly using Shadow Ball or even Night Shade (which, yes, are natural to it), but after awhile, I just have that baby Gastly eventually growing strong enough to figure out how to use the move. This is mostly because it's a bit too difficult to explain the rules that the game sets (like how TMs work or why Pokemon constantly forget moves they used countless times before in order to use a more powerful one they've just learned), so I just avoid the subject altogether.
But mostly, I try not to bring up a situation that would hint that I'm ignoring game canon in certain aspects. As in, the Pokemon use only a handful of moves, so I sort of hide the fact that they're learning these moves somehow and that I may be going over the four-move limit.
When you complete a fic, how does it feel?
For one shots, I feel happy, but that's about the time that the "this thing is crappy" feeling hits me.
For serials, I tend not to, but when I do, it's a feeling of, "FINALLY." Because by then, I've beaten the plot to death and would like to move on to another one, plzkthnx.
How do you go by having your fic known before and after the thread is posted? Do you tell it to others, links, banners, preview threads, etc.?
The Five Steps to Fanfiction Recognition:
1. Post the installment.
2. Mention the installment in my signature.
3. Post in the Fanfiction Announcement Thread.
4. Bring it up every so often as an example (although I try to justify myself as much as possible in these cases).
5. Blackmail my reviewers into posting.
Haven't any of you ever reviewed or started up a conversation partially just to let people know you are there and to generate a little bit of interest in your work?
A little, yes. Because I started with FFNet, and that's basically how things are done over there.
But in general, not anymore. Because I've realized that doesn't work anywhere else.
Fake Pokemon, Fake Regions, Fake Gym Leaders, Fake etc. A no-no in fan fiction or something that could be interesting?
It's only a no-no if you're an amateur who doesn't understand how to describe things and generally pull that kind of thing off. As in, you really have to remember that your audience has no idea what your fake Pokemon, region, et cetera look like, act like, and generally are like. Countless times, I've seen new authors attempt to write about their fancreated regions and such and fail to pull it off because they neglect to actually go into detail about any of them.
Not only that, but you should also be wary of OT cliches and making your region seem mundane. If you make your region and the Pokemon in it exactly like the canon regions or every other fancreated region and everything in them, we're not going to be interested. Rather than just create another new OT for these regions, you've got to sit down and try to figure out what makes your region special and what kind of stories happen in them.
Really, fancreated regions can work (and have -- see Pokemon Rebirth and The Quest for the Legends... though I admit to not having read either all the way through and would like to say that what I have read was good), but you just have to be creative about them. We're just not going to care about something we've seen a million times in canon (or fandom, for that matter) unless you work on it and make it an experience.
