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  • Was Hydreigon your fav for awhile? I think it was mine. I'm named after him, too, btw. :3 Trioxhydre is Hydreigon's french name, though i didn't know that at the time when I changed my name to this. Just that my Hydreigon my brother got me off wifi had this name XD And I thought it was a nickname XD

    And you're welcome :) Your av is really cute too^^
    Point is, figuring out the beginning of Tyler's journey could help you figure out which Pokémon to choose by narrowing down your list in different ways.

    Of course, you'll also want to think about Tyler's personality as well (because a kid who tries to be tough all the time might not want a Clefairy, but a kid who tries to be tough but is secretly into a lot of pink and frilly things would want one). That and either way, this Pokémon will also be one you'll want to work with for the entire time that you're working on the fic (so for example, if you really hate Zubat, don't give him a Zubat).

    I know that's not a straight answer, but hopefully, it'll help you choose because you'll probably have an easier time coming up with something that fits Tyler than I would, what with the fact that you know him and where he's going in your story better than I do. That and it'll help get you started thinking about what you want him to do in your fic, so either way, it's worth it to sit down and toss around ideas for awhile.
    This is a pretty tough question because there's a lot that could go into it. Like, how do you want Tyler to receive his first Pokémon, for example? From a professor? Is there a particular reason why the professor isn't handing Tyler a starter? (Some fics actually do have pretty detailed reasons why starters aren't an option if a character's going to get one from a professor. For example, the professor may want to observe how a trainer handles certain Pokémon, or maybe it's a Pokémon related to a different experiment that needs to be rehomed. Lots of possibilities there. Just be warned that the Ash-esque "the starters were already taken" route can be difficult to pull off because it's been done frequently.)

    Alternatively, if Tyler's not receiving his starter from a professor, how is he going to get one instead? Is it a gift from a relative or friend from far away? Is his sister going to catch him one on a certain route? Does he get one from a local pet shop? All of these questions could also influence your options in certain ways. (Someone sending a Pokémon from far away could mean Tyler's getting a Pokémon from Kanto or Unova or other far-away region. If his sister's catching him one, he may end up with a basic, Rattata-like partner or whatever other Pokémon she can find on the route. Getting it from the pet shop or Pokémon Center may mean that Tyler's getting a Pokémon that's typically used as a pet, like a Growlithe, a Meowth, or even a Clefairy.)
    Hmm. A character's personality and their actions have a lot to do with each other. If you set out to do something, it's because you want or need to do it, and you want or need to do it because it appeals to a part of who you are. Because starting from the personality and working your way towards the character's goal or purpose in the fic can sometimes be difficult, it's frequently easier to start with a goal or purpose and work your way backwards to the personality. So a big key to the puzzle is figuring out what Tyler is (as in, trainer, coordinator, etc) and what he wants out of the journey, but you can also ask yourself smaller questions as well. If you want to make him be like Bonnie (like a cheerleader for his older sibling), for example, you can start off by asking yourself why they idolize their siblings so much. Why does Tyler look up to Zoe specifically? What does he hope to do by following her? Does he want to be just like her? If so, what steps is he taking in order to get there? That kind of thing.
    Sure. That said, whatever you'd like to do with any of your characters' teams is up to you, but each team should fit their personalities and interests. So if Lopunny works for one character, go for it.

    But other than that, feel free to ask any questions about what I've said about Anna and Tyler.
    Next time, when I ask someone to clarify, I expect them to clarify. Otherwise, I'm going to treat it as spam because while I'm normally a nice, patient person, I don't have patience for people who think they're trying to be cute by going at my wall with inside jokes I'm not a part of or talking about things to me when I have no information on that particular subject. I have a limited amount of time to talk to people. I can't go around asking people to clarify and then asking their friends to tell me what they mean.
    As for Tyler, also be warned that you've already got three or four stories already being told (the main plot, Anna's story about how she wants to establish herself in the world, Zoe's story about how she's trying to become a world-famous trainer, and possibly Luke's own thing), so doing a story that would actually require a lot of character development (more so than giving him a definite goal, as Tyler would need to do a lot of self-exploring) might be tough to juggle. The Pokémon anime can get away with it because the story is episodic with no specific plot beyond "this is the story of a kid traveling around with his friend," Bonnie doesn't have a specific goal (which is fine in her case because the plot is pretty thin while the world is happy-go-lucky and not that dangerous), Clemont's journey is more of a passive one (where he can gain progress the more he hangs out with the others), and Serena's more of a prominent character than Bonnie or Clemont anyway. So Serena does have time and room to develop and explore her options, whereas Tyler doesn't quite have that luxury because the story seems more focused on Anna and Zoe, not to mention it has a more focused plot that will take the characters through more dangerous situations. There are ways in which it could work, of course, but either way, you'll still have to figure out what Tyler wants to do (and you'll probably have to get that hammered out in-story rather quickly).
    But in any case, okay. She's got a subject in mind, so that's good. And it seems like it's a subject that will require her to travel, which is also good. So basically, the main thing is if she's studying the way Pokémon adapt to their environment, she'll still be a scientist, but if she's a straight journalist, you'll need to figure out how to take the "studying the way Pokémon adapt to their environment" out of the equation in order to avoid confusion. You'd also have to basically rewrite her character to take out everything you've told me about her so far (that she's looking to get the approval of Professor Oak, that she's trying to be a scientist, and so forth) and redevelop her as someone who's more interested in telling a story (which is a journalist) than in discovering more about Pokémon.

    If you're thinking about having the story told through Anna's articles or journal entries or general writings, that would be an interesting way to tell it, definitely. Just keep in mind that it'll be like working with an extreme form of first person POV. You're not only going to tell it from Anna's point of view (which means you can only cover what she would be present for and notice), but you'd also limit yourself to only what Anna would feel is important enough to write down.
    Um ... couple o' things:

    1. What I said about the scientists and doctors earlier was a lengthy example. What I meant to say is that Pokémon researchers are just like scientists or doctors or any occupation that's actually a pretty broad term. (You could also use the words "teacher" or "entertainer" there and get the same example.) That lack of clarity was my fault, so sorry about that.

    2. But still, you just told me that Anna is trying to become a scientist (in your first VM), so if she's trying to become a scientist, a lot of what I had to say about the importance of what she's trying to study still stands.

    3. Either way, most Pokémon researchers (with the exception of the various inventors/engineers, and even then, it's debatable because they frequently double as computer scientists as well) are actually scientists. They're the equivalent of our zoologists or computer scientists and make their living studying Pokémon, their habitats, their behaviors, the way their powers work, technology related to them, and so forth. Research facilities are otherwise known as laboratories and are therefore dedicated to the pursuit of science. So if Anna and her father are researchers in that context, then they're also scientists. More specifically, if Anna is interested in studying how Pokémon adapt, then she's basically an evolutionary biologist.
    Finally, Tyler. Tyler's tough because the thing about characters is, they're most effective if they have a reason for being in the story. (This is unfortunately a lesson the Pokémon anime tends not to learn that well.) So the first thing you'll want to ask yourself is what is Tyler interested in doing? We can start by asking how old he is. If he's old enough to be a trainer, is he one? If not, why is he on a journey? If he is a trainer, what is he hoping to get out of this journey? Would those goals conflict with those of the trainer you already have in this lineup? (In other words, if he's a trainer going after the same league as Zoe, will this mean that there will be two characters going after the same gym battle? Be warned, if you're thinking about that. That means you need to write two different battles and make them different enough that they manage to maintain a reader's interest all the way through.) Alternatively, going back to the "if he's not a trainer" category, then what is he instead? Ask yourself a lot of questions about Tyler and keep trying to answer all of them as you go. At this point, I'd definitely take a closer look at him instead of the other characters because he's probably the one who's going to be the hardest to pull off until you can figure out why he's in your fic (besides to cheer Zoe on).

    Feel free to keep talking or asking questions via VM, by the by. I'll do my best to answer. :D
    When it comes to Zoe, seems straightforward for a trainer. I'm a bit worried that going through league after league from beginning (like, literally, starting with gyms new trainers should be able to beat) to end may be a bit too easy for a trainer who's trying to be the very best, like no one ever was (haha), but hey, if it's working for Ash, why not? Curious as to why Zoe would need to teach Anna how to battle, given that Anna is a researcher instead of a trainer, but that might be answered by what Anna's interested in studying. I know. I'm yet again giving Zoe the short end of the stick in terms of commentary, but given that this is a trainer fic with a pretty standard-sounding trainer, there's not that much to comment on. Again, definitely not saying she won't work as a character. It definitely depends on how she acts and what you do with her within your story. That and she sounds like she's just about right in terms of what one might be expecting in a trainer fic, so! Same with Luke, by the by, although I'm interested to know how important the detail about Clair's relationship to him is going to be.
    So that goes back to Anna and the question of what she wants to study. It's not really enough to have her want to be a researcher. She also has to be interested in a certain field or a certain subject, and whatever that subject is will help you pin down why she needs to go out on a journey instead of, say, stay in a lab and run tests from where she is. (That and while the whole "she wants to stand on her own two feet as a researcher" is one way of bringing drama into the fic, having her actually be passionate about studying something would probably make her a lot deeper as a character because she's on a quest for knowledge, as opposed to a personal quest. I mean, she went through college already. She has to be passionate about something in her field, rather than just her father's research or her drive to prove that she's just as capable as he is, you know? You don't spent four years studying in a major you can pick just to prove to someone that you can do it. Just getting through college in the first place is really evidence enough that you have what it takes to pursue your own ambitions. 'Cause, like, college is pretty difficult, and majoring in a science is even rougher. Imagine the hardest test you've ever taken in school, but multiply it by 100 and then have that happen every other week, and you have what it's like to major in a science.)
    No worries! That's what the thread's for. Don't be afraid to comment on any other feedback you receive over there, though. If you've got a lot to say, it might be easier because I know VMs have a really annoying character limit.

    That said!

    Anna's goal sounds interesting (although there's a hiccup with it that we'll get to in a sec), but it still doesn't quite answer the question of what exactly she studies. Putting it another way, think of it like this. Replace the term "Pokémon researcher" with "scientist" or "doctor." If you have a character who's a scientist or a doctor, that's cool, but it doesn't quite tell someone what their job is. A scientist could be an astrophysicist or a zoologist or a botanist, and a doctor could be a dentist or a neurosurgeon or a pediatrician. All of those occupations have very particular skills and interests. That said, if you have a doctor who's actually a dentist, they can't do the same things as a neurosurgeon, and a scientist who's actually a physicist won't want to be out studying chimpanzees in the wild like a zoologist would. Pokémon researchers all go by the same title (unlike doctors and scientists, for the most part), but they still study very different subjects that would require them to do very different things. Like I said in the thread, Professor Oak's interested in the relationships between humans and Pokémon, so he would study the interactions between trainers and their teams, but Professor Juniper travels all over Unova because she's interested in the origins of Pokémon, which she can learn about by studying Pokémon habitats and learning more about the connection between those habitats and the Pokémon themselves.
    I'm so sorry for the wait and inconvenience, but if you're still looking for Ditto, I'll be on for the next while!
    Sorry. I've been busy and can't always get online when people tell me to. Message me when you're on and I can get on.
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