Pokémon You Want to See More of in Fanfic

[Negrek]

Periodically we have discussion about pokémon that appear all the time in fanfic, but what about the ones you don't see much? What pokémon do you think are overlooked or wish featured in more stories?

For me, I'd love to see more fic featuring pokémon that are kind of alien or inorganic: pokémon like bronzor/bronzong, the magnemite line, castform, dhelmise, etc. I get why they're not popular--in addition to not being big in the fandom in general, they can be difficult to work with because their weird anatomy can make it hard to give them comprehensible body language, have them interact with people or objects, and there isn't a convenient animal species to inform their basic personality and mannerisms. But that's also what makes them cool! I think it could be a lot of fun to have a fic exploring how these pokémon relate to their trainer/teammates despite having some radical physical and perhaps mental differences.

In particular I'd love to see some fanfics featuring the Regi trio, since I think they have some really interesting lore. They were central to some ancient civilization(s)! But then people became afraid of them and somehow sealed them up for thousands of years! And then there's whatever's going on with Regigigas... Nevertheless, Hoenn-centric fanfics inevitably seem to feature the weather trio, the Latis, and Jirachi/Deoxys and have the Regis appear only briefly, if at all.

I could also do with more stunfisk, because I think stunfisk are inherently hilarious.

 

[Marika_CZ]

This is something I have been thinking about too. One of these days I will post the fic with a Simisear as a protagonist (just because it was at one point voted as least liked Pokemon ever in some sort of poll I can barely remember). I already have the basic premise written down, but you know how it is: too many ideas for stories, too little time to work on them all.

All the gen5 apes have some ponetial if you ask me, and they would be rather to easy to write too (humanoid, like to eat a lot, can use both elemental and physical attacks...), they are just not that popular because of their design (and poor stats, if you are a competitive player). Then again, as of gen7 Simisage can use a rock-type Z move to easily one-shot things like Charizard. I see some potential for action there

I am surprised I have never read a fic featuring Klefki - it would be an ideal partner for a thief / spy character.

Whomever manages to write a fic that turns a Dunsparce, Vanniluxe or a Klinklang into a relatable character (outside of comedy) will have my respect.

I agree with Negrek, the Regi trio would be interesting to see in a promiment role too!

 

[canisaries]

Objectmon would be a breath of fresh air and require the author to come up with creative solutions as to how to make them relatable, cool and/or emotive. Also, having played Hollow Knight through recently, I've developed a taste for bug characters. I can't actually remember coming across that many invertebrate characters. Most bugs and such seem to naturally deter people, which I can understand as a former entomophobe and a current arachnophobe. Even if they're cool or cute, they fall in the shadow of the vertebrates as those creatures tend to be biologically and behaviorally more familiar to most people. Bugs are kind of stuck in that same uncanny zone object mon are in, though at least they have limbs and more dynamic bodies than, say, Klink.

I have another concept I'd like to see, and it's probably been to an extent already but I just haven't bumped into it: legendaries being characterized as normal, relatable mon with personalities. I don't mean that they'd be commonplace or powerless in-universe, but that they weren't always so high-horse and "I am a powerful being, therefore I cannot talk to you like a normal person because I am special wowwww". I'm basically planning a fic where Arceus literally becomes a mortal and just a normal character with quirks and all, so I'd also be seeing how others have handled that in preparation.

Then on just a completely subjective note, I want to see more Inkay and Omanyte. They are cuties. pls thanks :3c

 

[The Teller]

Had I kept writing Happenings Between Goals, you would’ve seen the main characters’ starter Pokémon, most of which fall into this category: Beldum, Geodude, Castform. There were plans for the protagonist to catch a Sigilyph, and really, only one character was to have mostly popular Pokémon, and that was done intentionally to make a statement about that particular character. I guess technically Delibird’s Tales is about a Delibird and Wynaut, so I feel like I contributed!

 

[Venia Silente]

Why, Dunsparce absolutely. Lots of challenge and potential for hilarious solutions.

Also I feel like some bird mons that are not $REGIONAL_BIRD could use more screentime. Such as the Spearow, Murkrow and Swablu lines. Or even Doduo, that one's interesting if you take the multiple personalities route because it's two (later three) MCs for the prize of one!

 

[AmericanPi]

As a person who adores under-appreciated Pokémon, I can really go on and on about this topic, but I absolutely agree with what's been said so far! There are so many Pokémon besides the popular ones, and even the most obscure Pokémon can be interesting. I'm definitely surprised at the lack of otherworldly/inanimate-object Pokémon in fanfic because of how much potential they have, but I can understand that they wouldn't be the easiest to write about. But hey, it can be a fun challenge!

Even if said obscure Pokémon is boring, it's not that hard to make them interesting! Around 2016 I wrote a fic called Hidden Power, which featured Lumineon, a Pokémon I adore even though there's not much to it. I found that it wasn't that hard to make a plot out of the Pokémon, though, to the point that my one-shot turned into a novella!

While we're on the subject of under-represented Pokémon in fanfics, are there any Pokémon you wish were sometimes written in different ways? I absolutely agree that legendary Pokémon with relatable personalities are great, and sometimes I wish that funny-looking Pokémon were written beyond their comedic value. I'd like to see more Dark-types in contexts besides doom, sadness, angst, etc. and traditional "partner" Pokémon like Pikachu and the starters being put in different situations besides "GOOD DOG BEST FRIEND". After all, Natures exist, so different Pokémon of the same species can definitely have different personalities.

 

[AScytherianWanker]

Gengar, because they were once humans and it would be interesting to explore this concept further. They aren't going to like being put in a ball and effectively enslaved for the sake of monster gladiator fighting.
Oh, and Scyther. Preferably not written as edgy murder machines for once. I've seen that in a lot of fics for some reason.

 

[The Teller]

While we're on the subject of under-represented Pokémon in fanfics, are there any Pokémon you wish were sometimes written in different ways? I absolutely agree that legendary Pokémon with relatable personalities are great, and sometimes I wish that funny-looking Pokémon were written beyond their comedic value. I'd like to see more Dark-types in contexts besides doom, sadness, angst, etc. and traditional "partner" Pokémon like Pikachu and the starters being put in different situations besides "GOOD DOG BEST FRIEND". After all, Natures exist, so different Pokémon of the same species can definitely have different personalities.

Some stuff I came up with off the top of my head:
- An Absol whose sole personality trait ISN'T "I must protect everyone because [404 file not found]!"
- Grass types (especially the ones who aren't also Poison types) who thrive in urban environments and aren't automatically "LA LA I AM ONE WITH NATURE GEDDIT?!"
- A Chansey who is portrayed as particularly slow and loves healing others SO MUCH, that it actively goes out of its way to fight everyone brutally, so that it can begin the healing process that much sooner and have it last longer, and genuinely not know why others might be upset by this.
- Pikachu that aren't Episode 1 Pikachu or Current Episode Pikachu (there's only 2 flavors, you know).
- This probably isn't really common in fanfics, but maybe taking commonly paired Pokemon such as Plusle and Minun or Volbeat and Illumise and portraying them as hating each other's guts.
- Technically, Metang has two brains, which means two personalities. A Metang with bipolar disorder?

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

I think that the pokémon overrepresented in fanfics are the really charismatic ones, especially large mammals/birds/lizards, and the ones that never turn up are the weird, alien or silly ones. That's a shame, since the oddballs are some of the most creative and interesting pokémon.

There are some 'charismatic' ones I'm fond of that I'd like to see more of, I suppose. Flygon in particular. However, I'd get very excited about characters as weird as sigilyph or claydol, or as difficult to portray as most of the fish, or as overlooked and ignored as linoone or watchog. I'd also love to see more bugs, more objectmon, and hell yes more pokémon that defy the species stereotype (without being super edgy.) I want to see a gardevoir that's withdrawn and uncommunicative, rather than the bog standard adoring and perfect guardian, or the edgy reverse stereotype of the crazed yandere. Seconding down-to-earth legendaries, as well. Plus, just, perfectly cool pokémon that don't seem to get much love. Such as medicham, drifblim, crawdaunt, bisharp, ledian, parasect, exploud, whatever!

Some less-prevalent pokémon/morph characters showing up so far in Different Eyes at the time of writing this are purrloin, throh, and gogoat. More will come. (Conventional species too, mind you!)

 

[Rediamond]

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/15cLYsuu9z91wDrTDTtM_COj-vuQjXWaS70TF8bTZ12s/edit?usp=sharing

Some empirical data. Number of respondents was ~140 iirc.

 

[Ambyssin]

- Technically, Metang has two brains, which means two personalities. A Metang with bipolar disorder?

Or you could go the logical extreme, take Metagross' Dex entry literally, and make it two Metangs that fused together. I think Knightfall actually did that in his old story?

 

[Starlight Aurate]

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/15cLYsuu9z91wDrTDTtM_COj-vuQjXWaS70TF8bTZ12s/edit?usp=sharing

Some empirical data. Number of respondents was ~140 iirc.

What exactly is that data of? Is it fanfic writers responding with what Pokemon they have in their fics? If so, I guess I'm not terribly surprised at the outcomes--Lucario being the top spot seems to fit right in with the general trend. Thanks for bringing that in!

I really don't know about this ^_^; I guess because I'm a sucker for swashbuckling stories, any water-types or deep-sea Pokemon that normally don't get an appearance, especially those that can't walk on dry land.

 

[Rediamond]

What exactly is that data of? Is it fanfic writers responding with what Pokemon they have in their fics? If so, I guess I'm not terribly surprised at the outcomes--Lucario being the top spot seems to fit right in with the general trend. Thanks for bringing that in!

I really don't know about this ^_^; I guess because I'm a sucker for swashbuckling stories, any water-types or deep-sea Pokemon that normally don't get an appearance, especially those that can't walk on dry land.

There's a dedicated thread with more details but, yes, this is of fan fic authors responding with their usage.