How to Write a Pokemon Battle

[Draco Malfoy]

Everyone and their grandmothers have written at least one Pokemon Battle. The proliferation of Journey fics and their ilk persuade the average writer to depict more grit and action.

Unfortunately, I have witnessed a lot of poorly written battles. In fact, (formalised) battles are probably one of the more different parts of Pokemon fanfiction to write well. I'm not talking two Legendaries, or Wild Pogies dishing it out against each other. I'm talking Trainer vs Trainer, 6-on-6 Pokeball match-ups.

How do you depict battles? Do you deviant from the more typical and formulaic description, as seen below?


"Infernape, use Flamethrower!" screamed A.

"No!" B leapt forward. "Miltank! Divert it with Shadow Ball."

DESCRIPTIONHELLZYEAHSHADOWBALLEXPLODESFLAMETHROWERDESCRIPTION

"You won't get away with this!" A said, glaring at B. "Infernape, Focus Punch it."

B smirked and nodded at Miltank. "Swerve around in a Roll-Out."

DESCRIPTIONHELLZYEAHDEBRISFLYINGEVERYWHEREASFOCUSPUNCHMISSESDESCRIPTION

A cried, "Grass Knot!"

"Stomp," was B's reply.

DESCRIPTIONOFGRASSKNOWBIATCHESSTOMPINGCOWSDESCRIPTION

...And so and so forth.

Is there a way of integrating a meaningful conversation into the slew of battling? Must the Trainers do nothing but scream out commands? For example, I noticed in the Special Manga, the characters are often fighting a mental battle as well as a physical one.

e.g. when Lorelei was fighting Sabrina, Sabrina was yelling about how Lorelei had no right to conquer & plunder other cities... whilst dodging a rampaging Cloyster.

Lorelei gets her Cloyster to fire an Aurora Beam, while scoffing that Sabrina, who herself is a few sandwiches short of a picnic, is a hypocrite for preaching altruism.

How can you make a Pokemon battle be more than just Trainers rattling off commands? Can you make it a full-fledged argument about life, love, and everything in between as well?

How would you go about doing it, while making it seamless? Because there's nothing worse than DESCRIPTION-DUMP-OF-POKEMON-FIRING-ATTACKS and then a whole block of dialogue/text describing the verbal insults. :/


EDIT: lol, this is almost a shamelessly obvious attempt at getting help with my Uno fic. The main character is about to challenge Cynthia to a battle, and I want him to confront her on her hypocrisy... while trying to get his Unfezant to fend off a rabid Garchomp.

 

[FlamingRuby]

If this were me, I would approach it with a slight tweak on the traditional form:

Hero: Unfezant, Wing Attack!

Cynthia: Rant a bit as Garchomp bites back

Hero: Rant right back as Unfezant counters Garchomp

etc. etc.

 

[Diddy]

First of all, that example battle kicked some serious ass. Haven't chuckled that much for a long time.


Pokémon battles are hard to write and it's a skill you need to work at requiring a knowledge of the pokémon battling, their every ability, technique and stratagem and a grasp of writing a flowing action scene.

It's tough, I in fact went out of my way not to write battles for a long time, my first proper attempt at a full battle was in Sheer Cold, with the Lorelei versus Karen battle, people said it was pretty good.

One example I can think of where the author can deliver an exciting battle is in Pokémon Revolution: Advent Phoenix, especially the league battles at the end.

In short, yes it is better to make the battle more than just firing attacks and describing said fired attacks, the trainers are important aspects of the battle so you have to focus on what they're thinking and what they're feeling as the battle progresses. If you have it so the battle is personal then I'd say you'd have to make it so the battle is truly being fought in the minds of the trainers, the pokémon would then be acting as personifications (pokéfications?) of how that mental battle is playing out.

 

[Mrs. Lovett]

I used to hate writing battles... I used to struggle with description and, like you said, making everything seamless. In Roots, the natural storyline requires me to write a lot of battle scenes, so now that I've had some experience, I think I can provide more insight into this topic.

I don't think there is one specific formula a writer should adhere to when writing a battle, because every battle is different. The stakes are different, the people are different, and (if you want to get detailed) each pokemon has its own personality and quirks. I stray from the standard battle form in games as much as possible.

You mentioned if there was a way to integrate meaningful conversation into a battle scene, and I say that it is 100% possible. In Cheater, for example, Wallace and his challenger have an all-out verbal contest while trying to gain the upper hand. Stuff like that makes a battle more entertaining, I think, because it gives the conflict a personal dynamic. A battle isn't just about conflicting pokemon, after all. You could have the characters shout taunts at each other (if that's your aim) or have one character desperately try to analyze his opponent's moves. You could even tell a battle from a viewer's perspective. The beauty of it is that there are so many directions you can go. An argument gains more impact if it's done while the arguers are shooting attacks at each other's pokemon, in my opinion.

The problem I had (and still have, to some extent) is 'stretching out' the description. I notice that I tend to skimp on the attacks, either because I'm too lazy to take time on them or because I really can't think of what to write. I'm trying to decide which. Battles are like a writer's action film. You have to get all the angles right, all the choreography, the emotion, and the pacing of the scene to achieve the desired mood. When I'm really struggling, I write out a simple, condensed version of what happens. (The choreography somewhat resembles the battle scene you posted.) When I've mapped out the course of action, assembled the 'skeleton', in other words, then I'm ready to fill it up with the meat of description and dialogue.

When I write a battle scene, I keep these things in mind:

- The trainers, and their relationship to each other: Are they enemies? Friends? Are they in the middle of a huge argument?
- The pokemon, their types, and personalities: This I use in varying amounts. For some battles, I focus on pokemon mechanics less, for some more.
- The stakes: A casual battle will differ from, say, the finals in the Pokemon League. What each person has to gain or lose, like a spot in the League, or even a reputation.
- The environment of the battle: Not just where and when the battle takes place, but the constant changing environment. Is it raining? Snowing? Will there be some sort of natural disaster that will interrupt the battle right in the middle?
- The reason for the battle: Very important. Somewhat similar to the stakes, but I see this as a more cause/effect thing. What causes the trainers to battle? How does each person expect it to turn out for them?
- The observers, if any: You can have a stadium filled with people, a few of the battler's friends cheering, critics analyzing a trainer's technique, etc.

It's up to you, the writer, to decide in which order to present them.

 

[Dragonfree]

The scenes you describe from Pokémon Special sound like general action scenes more than Pokémon battles; the trainers themselves are directly involved, which makes it pretty fundamentally different from a regular Pokémon battle. And it's pretty unrealistic to have people talking much while trying to dodge attacks; you can get away with that in comic form because it's easy to do when you just have a sequence of still images portraying the action and all the speech bubbles you want, but in reality they're very probably going to be too preoccupied with running for their lives to have intelligent dialogues at the same time, and in writing it isn't so easy to take that artistic license since to keep the action alive in the reader's mind you can't have the narration stray away from it for very long, whether for lengthy dialogue or anything else.

Meanwhile, in actual proper Pokémon battles, where it's the Pokémon that are fighting and not the trainers, it shouldn't be too hard to integrate a conversation; just treat the battle more or less as a background event, showing snippets of the Pokémon fighting in between the more important dialogue. (If the characters are paying little enough attention to the battle to be going on tirades, your reader probably doesn't need to pay much attention to the battle, either; then if the battle gets more intense and they have to really focus, the trainers will probably shut up or at least limit themselves to short, easily manageable lines.)

In your case, though your character is using his Pokémon, it sounds to me like the Garchomp is going for him, and in that case, then yeah, he's probably going to be a little bit too preoccupied with not dying to make much in the way of intelligent conversation at the same time. You should focus the description around the action and try to fit the conversation in when things have calmed down. If you absolutely must you can have him shout out a few short sentences in between, but if you don't want the action to feel like a boring background event, you'll want to give full priority to what he's doing to fend off the Garchomp.

That said, it is pretty simple to weave short lines into the action, e.g.

"You're a hypocrite!" Lucas shouted as he desperately flung himself out of the way of the Garchomp's lunge; Cynthia chuckled as he crashed into the ground and scrambled to his feet. "Unfezant, Featherdance! Quick!"

 

[Breezy]

I play around with perspectives if your story allows that sort of thing. Sometimes I have the pokemon that's battling playing the "narrator" role; sometimes it's one of the trainer's friends in the audience making snarky commentary (possibly my favorite perspective if not for the friend cussing out the trainer for choosing a stupid move). When the trainer is placed into the "narrator" role, I find that I rely on indirect thought narrative where his/her mind is racing to figure out a decent move combo or how to retaliate.

You should also be aware of things like setting. Not all battles are taking place on an official field where it's just dirt and surrounded by an audience in a stadium. Play around with your setting: have them climb trees, swing on vines, hide in bushes, etc. The anime is a classic example of this sort of thing, especially with Ash. You should also remember that attacks don't have to be used directly at the pokemon; there is strategy is using it outside its normal use.

Certain types of battling styles also reflect on the character, so you want to think about different types of styles. Some characters may be more direct with their style (i.e attacks only on the pokemon) while others are more indirect and use the field to their advantage. Others may only use offensive moves; others may use a wide arrange of defensive moves. Illustrating different battle techniques may, at the least, keep the battle refreshing.

 

[Sgeckledorf Spoongeblorb]

I write two kinds of battles, due to headcanon:

1) League Battles (challenger vs. Gym Leader, E4, or Champion):

Often televised, these battles are 'clean', with Pokemon often aiming for quick knockouts, and status changing moves are often used to charge up atracks or guard themselves. While surprise attacks (Night Slash) are legal, it is frowned upon to allow your Pokemon to be distracted, so those watching in the audience are advised to be quiet. Because it is a given that the two fighters will boast to their opponents and bedazzle their attacks to wow the audience. Attacks, however, are commonly commanded through cryptic hand signals, as not to give away what may be used next. Pokemon may move freely across the battlefield during the battle. A Pokemon is defeated once it is either clearly unconscious or has collapsed for more than ten seconds. Death of a Pokemon or human is instant and permanent disqualification from the Pokemon League.

Those challenging Champions are given major handicaps (ie; no medicine, no switching out) in order to prove the strength. Other battles with special rules are E4 vs. E4/Champion battles, where medicine is prohibited.

2) Street Battles:

This is the style of amateurs and criminals, but is effective nonetheless. The Pokemon fighting stay in a fixed position in a set arena, but can move for physical attacks. However, there are only one or two rules beyond this, depending on whether the fighters remember them, and Pokemon and humans alike are often killed in more intense versions of these battles. Attacks must be vocalized, so the opponent can prepare accordingly.

------

Oh crap, wound up ranting about my headcanon instead of how I actually write battles.

If you couldn't tell, I write battles with a more freeform style, with the humans getting less of a focus than the actual Pokemon fighting the battle. The battles aren't as turn-based as the games either.

Oh, even more off-track! I forgot to help you with that battle!

Cynthia: Your bird is so cute! Oh well, I might as well hit it with my best shot!

Black: What do you me-

Garchomp: FGNRSAAAAAHHHIU!!!!?¡!?¿

Unfezant: WHAT THE **** OH JESUS WHY *torn apart by Garchomp because it sucks :|*

Black: Mr. Squiggles! NOOOO! I will avenge you!

Cynthia: Nice slaughtering, Garchomp, may I taste? *starts making out with Garchomp*

Cheren (who was hiding in Black's backpack): I am so turned on.

Noob out. (note: The_Noob, or just Noob, is my universal penname)

 

[Dragonite Ernston]

I tend to write my battles ad libitum, putting trainers' commands in whenever I feel like it, sometimes just letting the Pokémon do the moves for themselves.

Don't have any advice for anybody, because even I don't know how I do it. I just do. If you forced me at gunpoint to squeeze out the smallest detail, I might say to write it as if you're writing the rest of the story.

 

[M-Dub]

Noob, wut. Seriously. *facepalm* I know you triple-ship Barry, Cynthia and Garchomp, but some things need to stay behind closed doors. With padlocks on them. Big padlocks.

Back to the main topic, however - I tend to avoid battle scenes if I can. I hate writing them, simply because every time I do, they seem so horrible and wooden to me, much like the kind the OP was lamenting so vociferously. In any case, that's one of the main reasons why I chose to start Champion Game after the E4 and Champion battles, rather than at the beginning of Ren's journey. I did put one in recently, however, and on the whole it seemed somewhat well received. (That is, I've had one person say they like it, and nobody say they dislike it. It qualifies!) So this of course brings us back to the original question: how do I write them?

Pokemon battles in fanfiction, and my corresponding methods of writing them, vary as much as the characters participating in them do. Some battles might focus more on the 'connection' between Trainer and Pokemon, because that's what the Trainers themselves focus on. Others are extremely straightforward and aggressive, with Trainers simply bawling attack after attack and Pokemon butting heads repeatedly in the arena. (That type's a little more difficult to pull off well, but it's certainly doable.) And of course, the style of my writing will follow. When reading a high-pressure, high-stakes battle, a reader doesn't want to be distracted by too much of the atmosphere. I'll throw in the odd mention of the spectators' (if any are present) general 'mood' and that'll be about it. The rest of the scene will be devoted to the movements of the Pokemon. As well as that, there won't be any big words or words with obscure meanings. Not that I want to patronise my audience - it's just that when the pressure is high, it needs to stay that way, and it's one of the best ways to make sure it does so.

Likewise, when I'm writing about a battle between two newbie Trainers, the focus will likely be on their interactions and how they learn and grow from the battle. There'll be a lot of nervous laughter, perhaps some hyper-masculine showboating and general grandstanding for the benefit of their audience, and some silly mistakes accompanied by taunts from the opposition. The Trainers will banter and laugh, or - depending on their relationship - glare at and bait each other.

In Champion Game, the main character is a funny sort of battler. He instantly calculates possibilities, chances and risks in his head and reacts accordingly. So for his first battle, I set him up with an opponent - Roxanne - who would play well off that. She's generally a smart girl, and one who I imagine would be just as interested as I am in what a Trainer thinks while battling. As a result, when Ren pulled out his 'predict and react accordingly' strategy, there was a good bit of discussion on the topic. It was a little clumsy in that nothing much was going on in the battle while Ren explained his deal, but it does kinda seem like the kinda thing they'd both do - drop everything when something interesting came up, that is.

In future, we'll probably see Ren's mind working, catching glimpses of his thought process as he comes to each decision. I won't have him explain it again each time, of course, but it'll be interesting. The best way, I think, to have Pokemon battles remain 'fresh', is to have a Trainer who does something differently to everyone else. That way it's not quite so predictable. For example, if Trainer A would normally feint with Wing Attack before switching to Aerial Ace to catch Trainer B off guard, we'd have Ren come up against Trainer A. The reader would expect A's gambit to work, because it's been seen to work before, but if Ren predicts it and counters accordingly, it gives the battle a whole new twist.

I like to apply this in different ways. One of my biggest nitpicks I have with people who write battles and OT fics in general is that they tend to have characters who battle very, very similarly. There's no such thing as a strategy, no personality. Characters will be different enough, for sure - Alfred will be calm and cool, while Bob is hot-headed and rash and Charlie is an arrogant womaniser - but when it comes to a battle, it's all just BLAH BLAH BLAH same-old, same-old. So how do we mix it up? We look at each character, and decide what influences their battling style.

Perhaps we have a blind girl. (We do. Or, at least, we will.) She's been unable to see since the age of six, yet she overcame this disability to fulfil her lifelong dream of becoming a Trainer. What does this tell us about how she battles? Nothing, right? Wrong! (oh lord, I'm preaching. Sorry, but bear with me.) It tells us several things about her.

1. She's determined to succeed.
2. She's used to adversity of one kind or another.
3. She may have suffered some kind of discrimination due to her blindness.
4. And she's blind. Duh.

Each of these things tells us something different about how she will (or may - remember she's your character, here. You dictate everything) battle. Let's take a look~

1. She's determined to succeed. - This means she wants to win more than others. Perhaps she'll even resort to using dirty tricks in order to achieve victory. Maybe she'll rage at you when it looks like she's going to lose. By the same token, she'll likely play strongly but safely from the get-go, not taking risks, but trying to ensure her victory.
2. She's used to adversity of one kind or another. - She's not just going to give up. No matter what you hit her with, she'll keep going. She won't surrender to you just because it looks hopeless.
3. She may have suffered some kind of discrimination due to her blindness. - If you mention her disability, she might snap. Perhaps she's sick of being teased, and will get extremely aggressive in response. As a result, she'll throw away her 'play-it-safe' strategy and go all-out with attacks.
4. And she's blind. Duh. - This, of course, is perhaps the most important factor. Because her sight is impaired (one of the more important senses in a Pokemon battle, for sure) she'll have to rely on her others. By this logic, let's say she has extraordinarily sensitive hearing. This means that if she comes up against an opponent who uses a silent Pokemon, she'll have trouble. On the other side of the same coin, she'll be able to pick up on things a normal Trainer couldn't, such as the sound of a Pokemon shifting its footing to launch an attack.

All these factors will comprise her battling style, and I think it's these that are most important when writing a battle. Note that I built out that somewhat interesting battling style from just a couple of sentences about this girl. I don't know where she comes from, what her family's like, or even her name, and yet all of these will have an impact as well. Characters are alive - they're not just pixels on your screen anymore. Every Trainer in every Pokemon game ever behaves somewhat similarly, battles the same sort of way, uses the same sorts of strategies. It's perhaps a good idea, at the creation of a character, to write down his or her battling style. Make sure it fits with their personality and history, and make them interesting. I don't want to read a fic about cardboard cutouts battling each other, do I? I want to read about people.

Now, let's look at the other side of the spectrum - Pokemon. While not so varied and unique as humans, each Pokemon will battle differently. Zangoose is aggressive. Clefable is defensive. Audino refuses to hurt its opponent. Each of those will have their own personalities, again depending on their history. This influences their battling style as well.

Something I like to see is when a Trainer's method clashes with his Pokemon's. For example, someone who enjoys pummelling his opponents into the dust attempting to make his Plusle do the same. Often, there'll be friction. Better yet is where the Trainer doesn't exactly clash with his Pokemon, but misinterprets their personality/abilities, causing them to do worse than they normally would because the Pokemon isn't fully in tune with its true potential.

I tend not to look at the Pokemon side of the battle so much, personally. Because while they're friends and partners, for sure, at the end of the day, they're just tools to help a Trainer win a battle, much like spells in Final Fantasy or fireballs in Mario. Different writers will put more or less emphasis on the Pokemon aspect, but I tend not to attach much significance to them. While I do respect their essential role in any battle scene, they are, to me, secondary players to the Trainers - the ones who are actually battling. They're the ones who have something to lose, something to gain. I won't by any means downplay the importance of Pokemon in a fic, but to me, it's just not a central concern.

Wow, I went on for a while and I still have more I want to say. But I'm gonna have to call it a night for now. Ta-ta. I might come back with more preaching comments.

 

[Super_Nerd]

Yeah. The best advice I've seen, and can give, is to remove the "turn-based" element entirely. Sometimes, you really can't, and I'm guilty of doing it a lot in Legends, if I recall--Gym Leaders and the like. But I believe I tried to make things more interesting by switching POV several times--and focusing on the undertones and purpose of the fight, not just the fight itself. As has been said, it's a great chance for character development. How does (s)he take a loss? Or a win?

And a lot of the time there wouldn't be anything close to a turn-based fight... like during a war, in my new one

 

[Draco Malfoy]

Well, I suppose I should give an update. I've utilised the advice from this thread to depict two Pokemon Battles in my fic, Under the Same Sky. The first is more of a partial battle nearing its end, while the other is a more full-scale 2-on-2 Pokemon battle. Check them out, if you want, and tell me what you think.

And thank you for your advice. It was invaluable. Cheers to SPP.

 

[Xman96]

I try not to use the turn base, but some how it just works. However, a lot of my battles take place in the descriptions of how the pokemon attack. Attacks most certainly don't have perfect accuracy like they do in the games as the pokemon can dodge. The trainers do give orders just like they do in the anime, adn they are vocalized. I'm not against pokemon dying in certain battles, but only if it is against an evil team. In other words, I treat it that if you kill a pokemon in a tournament or something than you are charged with murder.

Hmm, I got a little off topic there. To sum it up, it's really hard to explain how I do battles.

 

[briguin]

I'm going to compare with Ash from multiple episodes from the Anime.

Use the opponent's moves to your advantage. In the episode where Ash challenges Whitney, when Miltank uses Rollout, Ash commands Totodile to jump on top of Miltank. It doesn't always have to be damage and dodging. Using twists to the Trainer's advantage can really change the result of the battle.

Have Trainers react to severe pain. In the episode where Ash battles a trainer with a Raichu, Raichu gets a point-plank range Hyper Beam off. Ash heavily reacts to Pikachu's pain. Trainer's get attached to their Pokemon, so it's no surprise that when they take a powerful attack like a Hyper Beam to the face, both Trainer and Pokemon feel large agony.

Those things can make a written battle much more like the oh so popular Anime. Think about it.

 

[matt0044]

When writing battles, they should serve some importance to the story like having the heroes learn new moves and getting stronger, have the Trainers make clever strategies based on their character and skills at the time and overall make sure the readers are entertained by the action. You also have to make sure you take everything into account like attacks, abilities, power and much more.

Besides, it's Pokemon and battles have a huge role in the series.

BTW, you should have battles vary. If you're facing a fellow Trainer like your rival, then you battle by the rules. If you're facing an Evil Team member or a whole faction, then you ignore the standard battle regulations and play dirty with your Pokemon to defeat the enemy, meaning you can send out your whole Pokemon team to try and stop them. The latter can apply to battling and catching wild Pokemon where Trainer battle rules don't come into play.

 

[EonMaster One]

Pokemon battles. Whew. Where do I begin? They're what I consider something of a strong suit.

Well, first, by doing homework.

What are the trainers' personalities?

You might have one battler that tends to favor speed, defense, and opportunistic attacking, and then maybe someone else that likes to go all out and hit as hard and as fast as possible to cause intimidation (the shock-and-awe approach). And then you might have a trainer that relies more on stat boosts, drops, and deception - attacks like Smokescreen.


How do the trainers relate to each other, and what is the purpose of the battle? What's at stake?

You might have a training battle between friends, in which case they're ordering attacks, yes, but they might not be going all out for fear of causing each other's Pokemon serious injury.

It may be a battle between strangers who have never met before. In which case, you'd probably see an early period of feeling out the opponent by the more strategic battlers. Conversely, a more impatient trainer might want to try to finish the battle quickly.

It could be rivals that really can't stand each other and just happen to run across each other during their travels. Not only will the battle have a lot more urgency for all involved, but the trainers will more than likely put all of their vitriol and disdain for each other into their respective attack commands.


What Pokemon are being used by each battler?

Not just type matchups, although those are obviously important. Are you going to write one Pokemon as being a bit more or much more experienced than the other? What about parameters? Battles that could be type advantages cnstill be lost because the Pokemon with the supposed advantage was much less experience or is much slower or simply doesn't hit with its attacks. This is where you go to do some research - find out what the average stats of each Pokemon are and factor that a little into the way you write the battle. Not just that, but the physiology. What does each Pokemon look like? How big are they? In most cases, the way I write, if you ran up a Rattata against a Donphan and had both of them use Tackle head-on, Rattata would come off worse 95 times out of 100 because of giving up so much weight to the Donphan.


And what are the personalities of those Pokemon?

Are they aggressive? Maybe even a bit feral by nature? Do they charge recklessly into the fray like an Electabuzz with ketchup splattered over its eyes? (If you remember that episode, you're probably old like me and have a very good memory.) Or are they timid and does the trainer have to spur or even pep talk them in the middle of battle to get them confident enough to attack?


What is each Pokemon's relationship with their respective trainer?

Do you have a Pikachu/Ash level of loyalty where the two are nigh inseparable and therefore almost always on the same page in battle? Or are you dealing with a Pokemon who doesn't listen to its trainer at all and only battles when it feels like it?


Then, you take the terrain into account:

Where and between whom is the battle taking place?

Maybe you're dealing with a stadium or gym battle between two Trainers. Highly regulated, yes, but it doesn't have to be boring. In fact, the fact that a battle's taking place in front of a roaring crowd of thousands might even add to the intrigue and suspense a bit.

Or maybe you're up against a wild Pokemon - or a bunch of them - out in the wilderness. In the game, they don't want to mess with the battle engine, and in the anime, it just doesn't happen very often. But more than likely, wild Pokemon in the wilderness aren't going to play by the human rules of engagement. You'd see crazy crap like, entire packs (herds? flocks? whatever word is appropriate here, I suppose) of Pokemon attacking your Trainer, who has to call on at least two or three of the Pokemon (s)he has available to him/her in order to fend them off.

Then you have terrain to think about. And that includes weather. Obviously, if it's raining, a full-scale assault with fire-type attacks would be tough. And one might want to think twice before using a Fire Blast in the middle of a forest. And some Pokemon would probably work and battle better in that type of environment, than say, an open plain. And vice versa. Rapidash, based off a horse, would like to stretch its legs out and run, and would probably battle slightly better in wide open spaces than in a narrow cave or heavily wooded area.


That's probably just the surface. Maybe one day I'll try to write out some guide to writing Pokemon battles. But the more details you have about a battle, the better you'll be at describing it, provided you have the vocabulary. Make it come to life.

My last tip? Pokemon aren't robots. Write them like living creatures and it will make your battles flow a lot better.

- ;196; EM1

 

[MHugs]

I take it you don't want to give the Pokémon the autonomy to dodge and attack back without Trainer commands? Moves like Slash, Tackle, Bite, and so on aren't unbelievable for a Pokémon to use without orders, especially in retaliation.

And suppose Loreli's Cloyster has Sabrina's whatever on the run, Loreli having ordered it fire Aurora Beam. It can continue to do so while she Loreli talks about whatever she wants.

 

[Firebrand]

Well, I predominantly write original fiction, where battles are between two humans (or human like things, or two independently thinking creatures that need no commands... whatever. You get the point.) Those battles are easy to write, because you only have to focus on the two (three, four, whatever) combatants. So yes, a pokemon battle is harder.
However, on top of writing out the commands, I usually have my fanfic protagonist, Cole, thinking or planning his next move. He can talk to two of his pokemon, so that makes things a bit easier.
If it's a friendly battle, he'll shout out encouragement, or comment and critique his opponent. If the stakes are higher (like in the finale of my Omega arc), he's rapidly planning, while also shouting battle cries as he tries to command his pokemon against the enemy army. He berates and accuses Ghetsis and Red as they fight against him, accusing them of being monsters and hypocrites.
So adding some interpersonal drama, like in Special, is always good.

 

[Sakuma]

Okay. im working on my own novel so i think i can help. Be as descriptive as possible. "the field was charged with tension as the trainers sized each other up."

But dont be to descriptive that you are annoying, " the ice beam launched with the supreme accuracy and focused aura etc."

Make the battle seem alive and even pretend to play it in slow mo for added suspense
"Time seemed to freeze as the trainer, on impulse, roared out his final command, 'explosion!?'"

Hope you like the tip please reply

 

[Antithesis]

Very good tip.