Fanfiction Lounge

Status
Not open for further replies.
The first post does say that everyone can go offtopic... and GASP! You mentioned the green forum around these parts! *lightning strikes Ratiosu three times*
 
Serebiiforums serebiiforums serebiiforums serebiiforums.

I can do this all day. =X

SO, about fanfics...
 
Wow Strawberry, that was a good piece of work you shared with us. The kid's good....wow....
 
Ratiosu said:
Wow Strawberry, that was a good piece of work you shared with us. The kid's good....wow....
Click to expand...

I'm sorry, but I just cracked up at the 'kid' part. XD
 
Ratiosu said:
Wow Strawberry, that was a good piece of work you shared with us. The kid's good....wow....
Click to expand...
Err... Farla is 18. I read it in her LiveJournal.

Anyway, it got me thinking: does the phrase "You earned a nice, long rest" even have a meaning? At first, I didn't care much about it, but after reading that, I noticed how hypocritical it turned out to be. After your Pokemon does its hardest, all it gets out of it is a rest. I don't know about you, but if I was a Pokemon and battled my head off, I'd like a lot more than a rest.

One of the fanfic mods at Pokemon Fan Universe summed that up quite nicely as well.

Mai said:
In various episodes, trainers have been known to do certain things that may be considered... a bit too much for Pokemon. In "Path to the Pokemon League," A.J. (the trainer of the day and an unofficial Gym trainer who had 100 wins and zero losses under his belt) used what was called by Ash "torture devices." (A.J. also had his Sandshrew sit under a waterfall for training.) Also, we can't forget the fact that Ash had hooked Pikachu up to a generator in "Showdown in Pewter City" to power it up for a match against Brock. And I'm sure that there's other examples where trainers have used questionable methods in their Pokemon's exercises.

And of course, battling itself seems a bit on the cruel side. For example, if one battles too much, then their Pokemon may wind up stressed out. (Incidentally, this happened to Ash's Pikachu in the manga Pikachu Shocks Back.) Not to mention that in the game, if you train for a long time without using Potions or going to a Center, you're basically walking around with an injured Pokemon (whether that injury happens to be a bruise or worse).

Now, I know that there are Pokemon who enjoy training (proven by the fact that a Pokemon's happiness increases when they win a lot of battles as well as several instances in the anime where wild Pokemon train themselves), and yes, I say this because I, too, have read what a certain someone has written in response to anti-Pokemon messages. But that's not the point. The point is, if Pokemon existed in the real world, would or wouldn't training be right? Put it this way: would we really want to send our pet cat out into a fight?

...Okay. Maybe some of us do.

And I'd hate to plug a fanfiction (author), but there really is some good material out there on the possibility that training isn't exactly a good thing. I'm mainly looking at a certain fanfiction by Farla (possibly my favorite Pokemon fanfiction author, simply because she thinks completely outside the box). It's basically about the fact that we, the trainers, send Pokemon out into battles. Our battles. And they are somewhat selfish, too. We're forcing living creatures to fight so we can get money, badges, and other goodies. They're doing it just because they're loyal (for whatever reason). And, of course, at the end, we just put our Pokemon back in their respective PokeBalls and go on our merry way.

Am I saying that we should stop training? Well, no. I'm already pretty much a hypocrite for saying this because I'm guilty of the same thing anyone who plays Pokemon does. I'm just saying that there's a possibility that maybe training might be cruel.
Click to expand...

What do you think of this?
 
CURSE MY NOT WANTING TO LOOK AT THE AUTHOR'S NAME!

I know Farla, she was one of my first reviewers at FF.net. RyokoVulpix was my very first one. Didn't know she was 18 ^^;

*runs away blushing*

And guess what? I got a new KIRARA STUFFED ANIMAL! AND IT'S SO CUTE! Yes she is. I wuv Kirara.

AND I'm watching Spirited Away right now.

AND my birthday was four days ago. I'm 13 now ^___^
 
Delcatty- I suppose that's about true, if you look at it from that point of view. Maybe the writers were too lazy to think of a better prize aside from having a nice long 'rest.'

Happy belated birthday, Ratiosu! I just finished watching Spirited Away as well...simply stunning. ^^
 
I understand what Farla and Mai are saying but... they're not real no matter how you look at it. They will never be real not unless there's some freak accident in a science lab when testing on lab rats or something. The Pok?mon has the ablility whether or not it wants to battle or not. The Pok?mon has the ablility to run away. No one can truly make it battle except itself. Yes, I do think that the Pok?mon should get something more other than "Have a nice rest!" but as I figure, if it stays with its trainer, obviously the trainer is doing something nice to make it stay. At least that's how I see and write it.

Well, as for sending real animals into battle...

My pet fish like ate my other pet fish. Not that it makes sense or anything. I just thought you'd like to know. =3 It's a beta. Don't put them in the same bowl. =X

sppfsppfsppfsppfsppfsppfsppfsppfsppf. =D
 
Meh, I personally don't think that's one of Farla's better works.

I don't necessarily agree with Mai and Farla on all points, but I'm not really down with Breezy's arguments against them. The fact that pokemon battles are more or less consentual is true, but at the same time, it's not the whole picture. Humans in the games and anime exert a massive amount of power over pokemon. With the press of a button, they can zap a pokemon out of the game and put it back into confinement. They can always whisk a rowdy pokemon away before it can get revenge or what have you.

If you really wanted to take the argument that far, you could liken pokemon training to slavery. Could slaves run away from their masters? Yes, and some did. But if they tried, there were consequences, and the power their masters exerted over them kept many from even trying, much less succeeding. No one can truly make a pokemon battle--and nor could anyone truly ever make a slave do the work, either. They could punish them until they gave in and consented, but ultimately, they did have to choose to work, even if it was only because they feared the consequences of not doing so.
 
I'm personally strictly against the "slavery" view on Pok?mon battling.

The difference between Pok?mon and human slaves is that Pok?mon are **** powerful. What the hell does a trainer think he can do to an Aggron that doesn't like him? It could probably step on him with ease if it wanted to. Sure, Pok?balls are there, but we have many examples from the anim? of Pok?mon being able to break out of their Pok?balls at will. Sure, perhaps not all Pok?mon are able to, but given the ratio of Pok?mon we've seen doing so in the anim?, it's clearly not that uncommon. And if an even slightly ticked Charizard is sent out to battle, it won't be very hard for it just to turn around and roast the trainer alive if it feels like it. I highly doubt the trainer could be fast enough to recall it. Face it, an average Pok?mon trainer is an unarmed little kid who would hardly have any power over a decently powerful Pok?mon. We even saw it ourselves in the anim? - there was nothing Ash could ever do to make his Charizard battle if he didn't feel like it at the moment. It just doesn't work out that way.
 
Strawberry Delcatty said:
Err... Farla is 18. I read it in her LiveJournal.

Anyway, it got me thinking: does the phrase "You earned a nice, long rest" even have a meaning? At first, I didn't care much about it, but after reading that, I noticed how hypocritical it turned out to be. After your Pokemon does its hardest, all it gets out of it is a rest. I don't know about you, but if I was a Pokemon and battled my head off, I'd like a lot more than a rest.

One of the fanfic mods at Pokemon Fan Universe summed that up quite nicely as well.



What do you think of this?
Click to expand...

Do consider that, in the Japanese version, they say something like "Yukkuri yasunde..." uh... "kurete", "kure", or just as is? Perhaps it varies? I forget. Bah, the ending doesn't matter. What matters is that it literally translates to something like "Please take a break". Notice that they don't say "you've earned..." like it's their only award, as Farla implied. As for the idea of Pokemon going into their balls in the place, you just gotta consider the plot convenience. They're Pocket Monsters for a reason, so humans can have several allies of all shapes and sizes with them at a time, and said allies are portable so they don't have to be in every scene. Saying that the balls are there for "taking rests", or "built for comfort" as the Smash Bros. Melee trophy implied, are pretty much the nicest way you could have this plot convenience around but still seem humane to the Pokemon characters.

Dragonfree said:
I'm personally strictly against the "slavery" view on Pok?mon battling.

The difference between Pok?mon and human slaves is that Pok?mon are **** powerful. What the hell does a trainer think he can do to an Aggron that doesn't like him? It could probably step on him with ease if it wanted to. Sure, Pok?balls are there, but we have many examples from the anim? of Pok?mon being able to break out of their Pok?balls at will. Sure, perhaps not all Pok?mon are able to, but given the ratio of Pok?mon we've seen doing so in the anim?, it's clearly not that uncommon. And if an even slightly ticked Charizard is sent out to battle, it won't be very hard for it just to turn around and roast the trainer alive if it feels like it. I highly doubt the trainer could be fast enough to recall it. Face it, an average Pok?mon trainer is an unarmed little kid who would hardly have any power over a decently powerful Pok?mon. We even saw it ourselves in the anim? - there was nothing Ash could ever do to make his Charizard battle if he didn't feel like it at the moment. It just doesn't work out that way.
Click to expand...

OK, why the hell does this forum block out damn, one of the more seemingly lighter cursings?

Anyway, you do gotta consider that Pokemon releasing themselves from balls is mostly tied down to anime canon, and quite a few people don't follow that. Anime canon's also been glaringly inconsistent on several occasions. Not only that, but as threatening as some Pokemon are, how often do they put the characters in actual danger? The anime's too light-hearted most the time, so all they really do is chase them around, imprison them, etc. On top of that, humans in the anime are capable of surviving fire and 100,000-volt shocks (usually for the sake of comedy, given), so at most, these Pokemon would just knock them around a bit, give them some minor injury at most. Hell, we had a snake beating up on a chick and a gecko, not for prey, but just to act tough, as it later revealed that it lives on a diet of apples, that's good enough indication of just how fatal Pokemon in the anime can get.

So that Charizard can turn around and burn its trainer all it wants, but do you really think the trainer will die in an inferno if you're following anime canon, where several laws of physics are screwed with? I don't see any real danger. Follow other canon, though, then you would have more of a danger, but at the same time, the trainer would have more control because the Pokemon aren't capable of escaping their ball, so far as I know.
 
The Charizard could still attack before ever being recalled when simply sent out for battle. If people used Pok?balls to protect themselves from Pok?mon, I assure you that they wouldn't have started randomly battling with them in the first place - they'd have figured they'd best keep them locked up as well as possible.

Besides, Yellow does have your Pikachu breaking out of a Pok?ball, so that is admitted by game canon too. :/
 
It's supposedly a rule of the PokeLaw (which I made up, but other people have their own versions). It says that a Pokemon can't attack a defenseless trainer if they are not doing anything wrong. Yeah, Chari roasted Ash, but it was teasing, and Ash knew it. He actually kinda liked it =P

Thanks Lily!
 
Obviously, Pok?mon would not care about this Pok?Law (I actually have a very similar thing in my fic called The Agreement) if it was making them slaves...
 
That's exactly the attitude Shirosu the Charmeleon had in one of the RPGs I'm in =P That's the drawback. It kind of makes humans and legendary Pokemon more important than regular Pokemon. But the Pokemon will just have to accept that (man, now I sound heartless =P)
 
It says that a Pokemon can't attack a defenseless trainer if they are not doing anything wrong.
Click to expand...

Pssh, as if. In reality, there is no way humans will never get harmed by pokemon. Quote my fic:

soccer mothers were jubilant to know that their children would no longer receive bites from Rattata, bruises from Nidoran, and bloody decapitations from Scyther.
Click to expand...

Its kinda hard keeping reality and canoness while writing pokemon fanficton. You see Ash getting burned by Charizard all the time in the Anime, but in my fanfiction that would normally cause death XD How do you guys treat subjects like that?
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top