Breeder fics?

[PDL]

We all know what trainer fics are. They're basically Pokémon fics that follow a character and their Pokémon. Unfortunately, more emphisis is put on the human trainer while the Pokémon get far far less characterization, which kinda renders the fact that it's a Pokémon fic kinda moot. You have a bad Pokémon fic if you take out all the references to Pokémon and replace them with something else (like normal household pets or in the more severe cases, firearms.)

They also tend to at first be about a trainer trying to collect gym badges but funny enough, I can't think of a single instance where the fic solely focused on that. It seems like training is just an excuse to go galavanting across the land without the cares of home or school. They also seem to suffer from the The Cerebus Syndrome. (Sorta. it seems that they put alot of emphsis on twarting the bad guy and averting the world crisis later on in trainer fics.)

Anyway, are there any fics which solely focus on the Pokémon's growth and maturation (not just evolutions, but characterizations as well) and the relationship that Pokémon has with it's trainer? If they are, should they really count as "trainer fics"? Perhaps they could be called "breeder fics" instead.

The breeder fic is actually a subset of trainer fics, since it still involves trainers and the Pokémon they own. However, they don't get involved in world saving epic plots (since the focus is the relationship the humans and Pokémon share) and a romace subplot is entirely optional (Between people only, because HumanXPokémon is disgusting.)

What do you guys think? would this sort of fic be interesting to anyone?

 

[Pkmn Breeder Jack]

Sure, it sounds interesting enough. It wouldn't need an epic plot, but a plot of some sort would help. It couldn't just be a dude and his pokemon sitting around on a ranch, ya know?

 

[Rippingthunder]

I can definitely see where you're coming from with this so I'll throw in my two cents:

Actually, when you mention trainers going out to collect badges, you are referring to journey fics, another sub-category of trainer fics. Before we move on to "breeder fics" let's take a quick look at journey fics.

"Journey fics" can be anything from 'going on a journey to collect eight badges' to 'going on a journey to collect the eight badges, stop *insert antagonizing team here* and *insert convulted plot involving legendary Pokémon here*'. The fun part about journey fics is that they can house just about any plot involving Pokémon that you can think of just as long as the character/s is/are on a journey of some sort. The reason that most of these can fall into the Cerberus Syndrome is because, inevitably, writers will want bigger and grander stuff to happen as they advance closer and closer towards the finale.

That said, let's take a look at the so called "breeder fics". These fics supposedly focus on the growing relationship between humans and Pokémon. They have much simpler plots than journey fics and will rarely, if ever, involve saving the world. The one problem I see with these is that, if the plot isn't well thought out, then the story can very quickly become bland and uninteresting.

Most people will opt for the former one because there is a higher chance of action, adventure, drama, etc. and, in general, is much easier to write. Breeder fics can actually work wonderfully as one-shots because of the fact that they don't need large, over-arching plots. Journey fics, in contrast, don't work nearly as well outside of chaptered fics (for the most part). In short, what you're writing definitely matters.

Breeder fics can be really interesting depending on how they're written. I personally like to read "breeder fics" from time to time but I can safely say that, because there's fewer of these, the good ones are quite a rare breed.

 

[Diddy]

Just a dude... and his pokemon... alone... on a distant ranch... with no one to disturb them... alone.

I suppose it can work as a fic, no examples come to mind, but it would be hard to fit into a chaptered fic format and would focus a hell of a lot on character development and the relationships therein. It would take someone skilled at that to write it and someone who likes it to read it, I'm sure there are people who would rather read something that has an explosion or a car crash or a pokemon battle every other paragraph.

It would carve a quaint little niche but could more easily be made into a one-shot.

 

[Negrek]

I've never seen a 'fic exactly like what you've described, although 'fics exploring the relationship between pokémon and trainer in one-shot form are common enough. Usually depressing, but common.

I don't see why you couldn't construct a story that would focus on the development of the characters over time rather than on a quest-like plot; there's a lot that can happen to people/pokémon even if they never go farther than five miles from their home. At the same time, a story doesn't have to be of the "lots of stuff happens" variety for it to be good. It would take a very skilled writer to pull off such a story in chaptered form, though, I think.

 

[Bay]

Like Negrek said, a story doesn't need a lot of action to be good. Heck, I have a lot of books that dealt with character development. I'll give a couple of examples:

1)The Things They Carried- Basically a story about the soliders during the Vietnam War. There's no secret mission they have to pull through. Instead, it's more focusing on the charcters' thoughts and feelings about the war, both during and after.

2)The Gangster We Were Looking For (think I got the title right ^^; )- A story of a Vietnam family living in America and how they're coping with. Quite a few things happen, but not in a huge plot like scheme, more like typical family problems.

So yeah, you can have a lot of happening in a breeder fic. Perphaps some battles that would spark arguments between Pokemon and the breeder? Maybe the Pokemon had a love interest? The breeder got scared of the Pokemon's new evolution form? Just a few ideas of what could happen. ^^;

 

[PDL]

That said, let's take a look at the so called "breeder fics". These fics supposedly focus on the growing relationship between humans and Pokémon. They have much simpler plots than journey fics and will rarely, if ever, involve saving the world. The one problem I see with these is that, if the plot isn't well thought out, then the story can very quickly become bland and uninteresting.

As you said, that all really depends on the writing skill. Besides, there are tons of successful stories that definitely do not have some over-arching plots, but are merely "slice of life" stories. Azumanga Daioh for instance, There isn't much of a plot to it, it's a just a bunch of high school girls in an ordinary high school. The real draw are their differing personalities. That's pretty much what a "Breeder fic" is basically. Slice of life stories with Pokémon.

Breeder fics can be really interesting depending on how they're written. I personally like to read "breeder fics" from time to time but I can safely say that, because there's fewer of these, the good ones are quite a rare breed.

I see what you did there.

Just a dude... and his pokemon... alone... on a distant ranch... with no one to disturb them... alone.

While it could be about that, there's absolutely no reason why it can't be more. There can be interactions with other human characters, and their Pokémon as well. It's much like a trainer fic except that there's less "action" and more "interaction".

So yeah, you can have a lot of happening in a breeder fic. Perphaps some battles that would spark arguments between Pokemon and the breeder? Maybe the Pokemon had a love interest? The breeder got scared of the Pokemon's new evolution form? Just a few ideas of what could happen. ^^;

Precisely. It can also fit into any genre as well. It can be a light-hearted comedy, a drama, or anything you want. It all depends on the skills of the writer and what he/she's most comfortable with.

Agreed - it deprives the story of a point if half the characters do not fit in the universe. One thing that irritates me is the consistently poor level of characterization that Pokemon receive. I could not care less if the writer picks a Magby over a Charmander if both are robotic companions to barbecue opponents for their human partners, who will always be more developed. It does not help that most people feel the need to stuff each character's party with the maximum of six Pokemon, leaving ample room for either stock personalities ("He's a firey, arrogant Charizard! He's a happy Wooper! She's an emo Cubone!"-- ad nauseum) or none at all in the Pokemon. Emotionless characters in general are a total cop-out.

I think that the Pokemon and trainer's character development should go hand-in-hand; in the context of a Pokemon fic, when Johnny Q. Main-Character overcomes an emotional obstacle or conquers his inner demons, his Pokemon could evolve. The physical body is intimately connected with the mind, after all.

I've noticed this as well. But there is the possiblity of having a Pokémon with a personality that conflicts with the species. A rabid Cleffa? A timid Onix? A Houndoom who has a love of all things cute? Any Pokémon can be fitted with any personality. You could even draw inspiration from just catching a random Pokémon of the speices of your choice in your game and work with the nature it has.

 

[oRaNgE~1337]

(Between people only, because HumanXPokémon is disgusting.)

PokémonxPokémon doesn't get ****, I guess.