Fanfiction Lounge

[Dragonfree]

Who hasn't put their favorite Pokemon in a fanfic?
Haha, not me. My very first semi-fic and my first real fic have both featured trainers with Charmander (my official favorite Pokémon is Charizard), and most of my other favorite Pokémon (Butterfree, Scyther, Ninetales, Grovyle, Rapidash, Flygon, Dragonair, Quilava) are also owned (at some point, at least) by one of the three main human characters of The Quest for the Legends because when I was starting that fic I specifically decided their teams to feature some of my favorite Pokémon (bad me). Scyther, which has become my iconic Pokémon thanks to my general obsession with it, has even been the focus of three spin-off fics (two chaptered and one one-shot).

Do you utilize the concept of the Master Ball in your fics, i.e., as a plot device to have your character get their hands on Legendaries? Do you think that using such a device is "cheap" in fanfiction?
I used it in an old one-shot about a trainer who, clueless about the legendary Pokémon, captured Suicune and was subsequently chased down first by Entei (whom the trainer was forced to kill) and finally Raikou (who kills the trainer and releases Suicune). The entire one-shot was designed around a very gamelike universe, seeing as it was based on my own "Whoa, what the hell is that?" reaction the first time I saw a legendary beast appear on my cousin's Gold version before ever being tainted by the Internet or seeing their release from the Burnt Tower; the trainer had simply obtained a Master Ball in a similar fashion to how you generally obtain it in the games, and his first reaction upon seeing a big, strange, powerful Pokémon was to throw the Master Ball at it.

Then The Quest for the Legends has quite a lot of Master Balls. Rick, the Cleanwater City Gym leader, uses some modified, brainwashing Pokéballs that can also hold any Pokémon. In addition to that, at the time of the fic Master Balls can be bought at special events, although the League restricts them to one per trainer (the ball is registered to the buyer in the League databases upon purchase, cannot be registered to a trainer who already has a registered Master Ball, cannot be used at all without first being registered to a trainer, and will always register the Pokémon as caught by the registered trainer, meaning another trainer who stole a Master Ball would not be able to retrieve the Pokémon inside it from the PC or heal it at a Pokémon Center) and they cost quite a sum of money. However, at this point in the fic, despite that it has involved legendary captures, these Master Balls have not actually been used. It would also be difficult to capture legendaries even with Master Balls, because in order to be able to capture any Pokémon, the Master Ball first has to touch it, which would require coming in pretty close proximity to the legendary and getting it to stay relatively still in order for it not to dodge the ball.

Admittedly, I'm thinking of ditching the Master Ball gimmick in the next version, because I don't like them having the Master Balls, really. The legendary captures are more exciting when eighteen Pokémon have to gang up on it to wear it down enough for it to be captured.

 

[txteclipse]

I used it in an old one-shot about a trainer who, clueless about the legendary Pokémon, captured Suicune and was subsequently chased down first by Entei (whom the trainer was forced to kill) and finally Raikou (who kills the trainer and releases Suicune).

Wah. I'm writing a slightly similar one-shot right now, although it has a completely different tone (and has spiraled down into monotony...I seriously need to rework it). The more I write, the more I find that everything has been done at least partially before.

Oh dear lord, I believe you're making me go crazy. xDD

Extrelcium sounds like a word all right! As a metal...that's not bad...xDD

I reckon it made perfect sense. Your head made up the word "extrelcium" but you dunno where it came from! You want to use it but cos it's not real, you can't. You instead make up a meaning in your fanfiction and turn it into a metal!

Was that a good explanation?

That about sums it up, yeah. I actually think it's going to be the metal that pokeballs are made of, and will make that distinctive *ping* sound that pokeballs make when struck. It could also have the ability to absorb and store energy from smacking into things, and that could explain how pokeballs seem to have a limitless amount of power, and why you pretty much have to bludgeon a pokemon with one to get it to work...

And there my mind goes, trying to justify all of the wild technology in the games and anime XD.

 

[Sydian]

Do you utilize the concept of the Master Ball in your fics, i.e., as a plot device to have your character get their hands on Legendaries? Do you think that using such a device is "cheap" in fanfiction?

Because romance fics use Master Balls.

But, in my opinion, they should only be used if the world is coming to an end. Or, even better, if you really, really just absolutely have to catch that wild Torkoal.

Anyway, If they're used to capture a legendary for the better of the trainer so he/she can become the bestest ultra mega super alpha waffles Pokemon master EVER, then that's horribly cheap.

 

[IceDragon2439]

Do you utilize the concept of the Master Ball in your fics, i.e., as a plot device to have your character get their hands on Legendaries? Do you think that using such a device is "cheap" in fanfiction?

I haven't but it could have some use if I can continue my fanfic since it does include legendaries. I don't think it's cheap but it shouldn't be: trainer goes to legendary, throws master ball, catches legendary, leaves type thing.


Who hasn't put their favorite Pokemon in a fanfic?

Well, I haven't had Crobat, which is my favorite pokemon, in a fic yet. I also haven't used Dragonite. But Treecko and Chikorita have been used so I have.

 

[Sunnybeam]

Do you utilize the concept of the Master Ball in your fics, i.e., as a plot device to have your character get their hands on Legendaries? Do you think that using such a device is "cheap" in fanfiction?
Hm. Well, I plan on the Master Ball showing up in The Sixth Warrior, but not as a plot device. It's going to play a more "insert one of Aqua's complex Pokeworld theories here" role, sparking a PokeSpecial-style explanation rant on how Pokeballs work in my T6W fanon.

But then, Master Balls aren't foolproof in T6W. They only fully guard against certain, common methods of breaking a Pokeball's inner workings, so they can't catch Legendaries. Nothing can catch Legendaries in my fics. They're deities. They can't be beaten by anything except another Legendary.

WAIT I take this back. There are two planned Legendary captures in The Sixth Warrior, but there are very good reasons for each. One isn't a 'capture' persay, in that no Pokeball was involved, and the other...the Legendary is already allied with the person, and he catches said Legendary to send it somewhere safe via the PC system. And he gets the Master Ball modified to be able to contain the Legendary. And I can't say any more without giving away a vital part of the plot.

 

[BladedScizor]

Who hasn't put their favorite Pokemon in a fanfic?

I haven't, but only because I haven't gotten that far yet. I do intend to put most of my favorite Pokemon in my fic at some point, though not necessarily as part of my protagonists team(or even being on his side).

Do you utilize the concept of the Master Ball in your fics, i.e., as a plot device to have your character get their hands on Legendaries? Do you think that using such a device is "cheap" in fanfiction?

I don't use the Master Ball concept in my fic myself, and I don't really plan on including Legendaries at all, except as pictures or references.

When I first saw this question, my knee-jerk reaction was yes, the usage of a Master Ball is cheap. However, Negrek brings up a really good point: just having the character in question end up with a Master Ball in his/her possession takes some effort to make it believable. Then, of course, Pokemon caught in pokeballs aren't always obedient, so I can't imagine why a Legendary would be.

 

[Elite Overlord LeSabre™]

Actually, the one fic I'm following (not on here) that features the Master Ball (at least IMO) utilizes it well. The antagonist gets their hands on it (either through illicit means or shelling out a whole lotta money) but it's later stolen from them by a Pokemon seeking revenge and dropped in the hands of the protagonists. They have no intention of using the Master Ball itself, just to keep said antagonist from reclaiming and using it.

Only one legendary actually appears in mine, and it's a bit role at best. Others get mentioned, however.

In other news, I will be gone for over two weeks as I prepare to move back to college (and end my slavery to AOL dial-up). Expect only sporadic posts from me until then. Which means no Rick Rolling or Applebee's references for a while, sadly:/

Bye, y'all!

 

[Negrek]

They have no intention of using the Master Ball itself, just to keep said antagonist from reclaiming and using it.

Just an odd thought that struck me when reading this and directed at no one in particular, since the author of the 'fic obviously isn't here, but: it seems to me that the best way to keep the antagonist from getting his hands on the master ball would be to use it. Not on a legendary or anything like that, of course--just something random and close to hand.

This theory hinges on one taking pokéballs to be useless for capturing anything else once they've already been used to capture something, which seems to be the suggestion made by the game canon (not sure about the anime/elsewhere). In any case, how much would it suck to finally get your master ball back, only to find out some jerk had gone and filled it up with something stupid instead of whatever uber-creature you'd wanted to nab with it. "Ahahaha, at last I've recovered the master ball from those meddlesome trainers! Now I can finally rule the world through the power of Arce--WTF, pidgey?!"

Not to mention that you'd be the envy of all the other trainers, showing off the pikachu or whatever you captured in an honest-to-goodness master ball. Not to mention that people probably wouldn't believe you'd honestly be so dumb (selfless?) to use something so powerful on something so useless and then flash the thing around everywhere--perhaps they would suspect that it was only a decoy or a fake. Seems pretty win-win-win for the clever little trainer.

BUT YOU KNOW I should be writing some of my own fanfiction now, not getting distracted by these sorts of plot bunnies coming from information about other people's fanfiction taken rather out of context. >_<

 

[IceDragon2439]

Which means no Rick Rolling or Applebee's references for a while, sadly:/

Darn it sort of made me feel good when you mentioned Applebees's, since I work at one =)

 

[Buoysel]

applebees is one of my favorite restraunts that and rib crib

so that this post is more on topic:

we need a new topic

 

[lvl99rayquaza]

oh I started a fanfiction. I call it Sinnoh Guardians: Rise of Blaze. The fan fiction currently has a prologue and also has its first chapter.

 

[The Bringer!]

I just have a small question. In my fanfic, it will be a while until another character is introduced. So, I was just wondering: Would it be a good idea to change my fanfic a bit to allow for the introduction of a new character sooner? In other words, do you think it is okay to have Shane (and porygon, but it has little personality due to being a virtual pokemon) as the only character of importance for a long time in the fic?

 

[bobandbill]

Australia doesn't have any Applebees... leastways not where I live.

Do you utilize the concept of the Master Ball in your fics, i.e., as a plot device to have your character get their hands on Legendaries? Do you think that using such a device is "cheap" in fanfiction?
Not yet - but I will eventually. As mine follows the game Pokemon Colosseum (only twisting various things and all for comedy and explanation/plothole-covering purposes), near the end the protagonist gets a Master Ball. The worst he'll have to face though after he gets it include a Shadow Metagross and Tyranitar.
Anyway, I'll have to consider what I do with that... not to mention that there is a well-known 'Master Ball glitch' in Colosseum which let you use it multiple times. Although I think I'll stray from that...

A fic here (The Hoenn Empire) has a different take on the use of Master Balls - a quick and easy and cheap way to manufacture it has been developed, but doing so ends up leading Hoenn into demise, with a new, dictatorship-like group then gaining power, ruling by fear and able to capture Pokemon with ease now with the Masterballs. Rather well thought out and explained as well, I might say. And a different take on the Master Ball to boot. :)

I just have a small question. In my fanfic, it will be a while until another character is introduced. So, I was just wondering: Would it be a good idea to change my fanfic a bit to allow for the introduction of a new character sooner? In other words, do you think it is okay to have Shane (and porygon, but it has little personality due to being a virtual pokemon) as the only character of importance for a long time in the fic?

Well, it depends on your fic, really. It's certainly ok to have one character and their Pokemon - some authors stick to that throughout the whole fic. Consider what it means for your plot, and character interaction, and all - it does ultimately depend on your plans. :)

 

[Buoysel]

Well, it depends on your fic, really. It's certainly ok to have one character and their Pokemon - some authors stick to that throughout the whole fic. Consider what it means for your plot, and character interaction, and all - it does ultimately depend on your plans. :)

agreed

there are several characters in my story but i only consider three to be main characters. and i plan on having sever chapters devoted to bonding time between the main character and his pokemon, meaning they will be the only ones in the chapter, but i will not let this chapter go down hill, i plan on having important things happen during this chapter, such as memory recalls.

 

[Golden Riolu]

Who hasn't put their favorite Pokemon in a fanfic?

I have. I used Kirlia in my first ever one-shot posted. Gardevoir was in the second. Lucario in the third. Everyone complains that I overuse the three of them.

Do you utilize the concept of the Master Ball in your fics, i.e., as a plot device to have your character get their hands on Legendaries? Do you think that using such a device is "cheap" in fanfiction?

Mmm... I'd have to answer... yeah, I do. You won't see a Master Ball in anything I write, although you might see it mentioned reverently on occasion. I've added into one of my chapters that Legendaries are like demi-gods under Arceus, and would naturally be too strong to be controlled by mere mortals. However flawed and cliche my writing is, none of my characters will ever capture a Legendary.

~Golden

 

[DGexe]

I have a question... and if it's already been asked, my apologies, but I wasn't about to go through 274 pages in here and then 11 or so more in the Writer's Lounge board itself. oo;

Concerning Pokémon that can talk, akin to the Gastly of Madien's Peak and Team Rocket's Meowth (and disregarding telepathy usage) are "Talking Pokémon" usually considered cliché, even if there's maybe one in the entire piece of work and they may have a good reason to even attempt human speech in the first place?

 

[lvl99rayquaza]

I have a question... and if it's already been asked, my apologies, but I wasn't about to go through 274 pages in here and then 11 or so more in the Writer's Lounge board itself. oo;

Concerning Pokémon that can talk, akin to the Gastly of Madien's Peak and Team Rocket's Meowth (and disregarding telepathy usage) are "Talking Pokémon" usually considered cliché, even if there's maybe one in the entire piece of work and they may have a good reason to even attempt human speech in the first place?

that depends because they could be talking via their own way. those roars growls and grunts from pokemon that cannot say their own name is considered talking or they could be talking via translation device.

 

[DGexe]

No, no, I mean Pokemon learning/utilizing human speech, and talking all on their own. Not devices that translate or them speaking amongst themselves.

 

[Negrek]

So, I was just wondering: Would it be a good idea to change my fanfic a bit to allow for the introduction of a new character sooner? In other words, do you think it is okay to have Shane (and porygon, but it has little personality due to being a virtual pokemon) as the only character of importance for a long time in the fic?

It's certainly "okay," and I would say that if you're worried about people getting bored just reading about those two characters, you might want to reexamine your use of them in the first place, rather than try to cover for issues in their personality by bringing in another character to draw readers' attention off them.

Concerning Pokémon that can talk, akin to the Gastly of Madien's Peak and Team Rocket's Meowth (and disregarding telepathy usage) are "Talking Pokémon" usually considered cliché, even if there's maybe one in the entire piece of work and they may have a good reason to even attempt human speech in the first place?

It's not so much a cliché as it is a way that lazy authors make characterization of pokémon easier on themselves. It's rare that the pokémon are actually able to speak; usually it's the trainer, instead, who is somehow granted the ability to understand pokémon's natural language. If you're going to have a pokémon learn how to "talk human" for whatever reason, you certainly can--provided they really do have good reason to learn and would, given their situation, actually have that opportunity. For example, a pokémon that lives way out in the wild, away from almost all human contact? Probably not going to have much luck picking up the lingo.

 

[DGexe]

It's not so much a cliché as it is a way that lazy authors make characterization of pokémon easier on themselves. It's rare that the pokémon are actually able to speak; usually it's the trainer, instead, who is somehow granted the ability to understand pokémon's natural language. If you're going to have a pokémon learn how to "talk human" for whatever reason, you certainly can--provided they really do have good reason to learn and would, given their situation, actually have that opportunity. For example, a pokémon that lives way out in the wild, away from almost all human contact? Probably not going to have much luck picking up the lingo.

Oh, good. *relaxes* At least it's not cliché; that makes me feel a bit better now.

And fortunately, I'm one of those writers who thinks that humans understanding Pokemon speech = just plain silly and rideculous. Whee! Moving on, however...

Thank you very much for that bit of info, Negrek; I'm now off to do a little character evaluation with it. :3