Question on Pokemon speech

[はるひ]

I'm planning out a story, (my first pokemon story that is. With a appearance from Silver the Hedgehog... might be decided.)

Anyways, if I am going to write a story, I'd need to know how the Pokemon speak. I mean, the Pokemon from long ago, I know they say their species names. I want to know how the Pokemon in my sig would speak. I only know how Tepig speaks.

And do they say other words? Id not, then I guess I can give them different languages.

 

[D. Scott]

Different 'verses have different speech patterns. The anime has them saying their names. Games have their cries, like real animals. PMD has them speaking human speech.

It all depends on what -you- want them to do. It's your story, your rules.

 

[Psychic]

I'd need to know how the Pokemon speak. I mean, the Pokemon from long ago, I know they say their species names. I want to know how the Pokemon in my sig would speak.

And do they say other words? Id not, then I guess I can give them different languages.

When you say "Pokemon from long ago," do you mean that your story takes place in the distant past? That can make a big difference.

But yes, traditionally they do just say their names or give similar feral cries. That doesn't change much between each species.

The anime has them saying their names. Games have their cries, like real animals. PMD has them speaking human speech.

While the first two instances are true, I think the Mystery Dungeon games see them using English because it's translated Poke-speak. (I mean it would be pretty difficult to understand and enjoy the games if you can't understand what's being said between the characters.)

For that reason, I think it's fair that if there are no humans in your story, you can translate all the Poke-talk into English so that readers will know what's going on. However, if say one character speaks in a strange, different way that most of the other characters don't understand, you can have this reflected in the speech by showing their speech as being harder to understand. They can speak Spanish (which some people/Pokemon might understand) or gibberish or just communicate in a series of dances and clicks to show the barrier in language between them.

However, if there are humans...well, when humans hear Pokemon speaking, all they hear is their name being said over and over. For that reason, I think it works best for your human readers to read the same thing. Since people can understand Pokemon to some degree, however, you can often give the reader an idea of what the Pokemon is saying based on how they say it and how the humans react.

Alternatively, you can just translate all the Pokemon talk, but canon says that humans don't understand Pokemon perfectly, and it can be weird when that suddenly changes in a fic. Personally I find it kind of cheap to do, but some readers find it a lot more helpful to understand every word a Pokemon is saying.


Either way, keep one thing in mind: Pokemon are not people. They don't act like humans and they don't talk like humans. If they do, then they're not so much Pokemon as they are people in Pokemon bodies. Seeing a Pokemon acting and speaking the way a wild animal does can add a lot of spice to your story.

Sorry for the long rant, but I hope it helps!

~Psychic

 

[AmusedMilk]

Maybe Pokemon can understand each other, but humans can't.

They are speaking english, it just sounds like 'BULBASAUR!' to us.

 

[はるひ]

When you say "Pokemon from long ago," do you mean that your story takes place in the distant past? That can make a big difference.

But yes, traditionally they do just say their names or give similar feral cries. That doesn't change much between each species.

No I mean the earlier Pokemon (Squirtle, Charmander, Pikachu etc), I know they say their names and Tepig as well since I saw a piece of the anime.

But what about the ones who don't really have a cry of some sorts? Like... a pokemon that I am going to write about, Amy (Gothitelle). When she dies or appears all she has is music lol. I don't know how'd she'd speak. I'm close to giving her simplistic LOLcat language.

(Ex) Gochiruzeru: Thiz iz LOLcat speek. Yew kno :3

It looks weird but I don't know. But you get the idea right?

 

[BWfan]

Well you need to use your imagination here. For one thing, MOST legendaries have monser like cries, so that's about it. Other pokemon who don't say their names... Charizard comes to mind.

But its all about your imagination. Can you imagine a Gothitelle just sqeak or screech? I'd imagine a Gothitelle to have a mystic, yet shrill voice. The anime has shown Gothitelle actually, check out episode...21 for any idea.

Could you imagine a Samurott having a voice which does not say its name? No right? Same thing here, you're going to picture it.

Also, pokemon speech can vary in different styles as well, when its between pokemon anyways. For example, Litwick and their family could have a butler style of english while some pokemon like musharna could have an arabian kind of accent. Sceptile could have a cool accent to its speech. Its all about creativity, really.

 

[Deadly.Braviary]

Maybe Pokemon speak in Pokemon language (call it X for convenience) and, like AmusedMilk said, all we hear is a certain amount of gibberish. Maybe waaaay back (before the taming of Pokemon) humans heard a weird rat say "RATTA RATTATA". Maybe they named it Rattata just because it said that.

.....maybe.

 

[JX Valentine]

But what about the ones who don't really have a cry of some sorts?

Pokémon like Charizard (which also fits your description, given that it roars instead of says its own name) can just be said to roar.

Actually, if you mean you're not translating Poké-speech and that you just want to know what to write when you can't just write a Pokémon saying its name, this entire philosophy of replacing what a Pokémon says with things like "it roared" or "it trilled," even if it does say its name over and over again, is generally a good practice to try out in writing. The reason why is because the more you have a Pokémon say its name (e.g., Pikachu said, "Pikachu pika pika pi pikachu chu!"), the harder it is to take a fic seriously for some readers. This is because if you have lines and lines of that, it tends to interrupt the flow of the story. After all, we're not getting any information out of that block except that the Pokémon is speaking. So, eventually, we just skip over those lines because we're shrugging them off as unnecessary to even read. More unnecessary information = stuff to bog down the writing = readers could find going over all that to be on the annoying side.

Just saying something like, "Pikachu squeaked in approval" or something along those lines, meanwhile, can give us information and is something we'll actually read through because of that. So, it's generally a better method because it prevents us from just skipping over lines or sighing whenever we feel like we have to skip over a line, if that makes sense.

But if you mean you're trying to figure out how to translate Poké-speech, I do believe everyone else has already covered that, so... yeah.

 

[はるひ]

Ahh I see. I'll try to see what I can do. You see, I'm doing an adventure/romance story where Amy (me the trainer) goes with Silver the Hedgehog and her 5 other pokemon to battle the evil genius (Dr Nega).

Meanwhile, Amy Rose (Gothietelle) is having mutant Vanilitelle babies XD. But she worries about Swirly. Okay you got an idea on why I needed the speech thing.[

Another thing, can I write in script?

 

[Psychic]

Jax has a great point about not having to write out a Pokemon saying its name over and over throughout your story. That's definitely something I'll be taking into consideration for any future longer pieces.

But what about the ones who don't really have a cry of some sorts? Like... a pokemon that I am going to write about, Amy (Gothitelle). When she dies or appears all she has is music lol. I don't know how'd she'd speak. I'm close to giving her simplistic LOLcat language.

(Ex) Gochiruzeru: Thiz iz LOLcat speek. Yew kno :3

It looks weird but I don't know. But you get the idea right?

Unless you really don't want this character to be taken seriously, I would only say you should do that if your story is a comedy. It is incredibly weird to imagine that humanoid, goth-like being talking that way. This Pokemon can see the movement of the stars and can tell when their trainer is going to die. That is some pretty creepy, heavy stuff, and I can't see such a Pokemon bouncing around talking like a lolcat. That might make sense for a Skitty, but otherwise it just seems strange, and a way to weird out your readers.

Of course, if you want that, go for it.

Ahh I see. I'll try to see what I can do. You see, I'm doing an adventure/romance story where Amy (me the trainer) goes with Silver the Hedgehog and her 5 other pokemon to battle the evil genius (Dr Nega).

Word of advice from someone who's been on this forum for six years: unless you can give a really good, logical reason for it, this kind of fic probably won't go over too well. While it's fun to indulge your fantasies and write about fun things happen to a Pokemon trainer version of yourself, it won't be too well-received by other people. Especially when you start crossing-over characters from one world into another. That's not a way to become a popular writer on the internet.

Be prepared for criticism. That's all I can say.

Another thing, can I write in script?

Rule 8) Types of Writing.

Scripts: The way plays and screenplays are written. No scripted fics are allowed unless they are properly written scripts (meaning they include setting and stage direction). “Properly written” means I could give it to two idiots and they would know how to perform it without a problem.

Scripts are generally discouraged here, but if you want to go for it, it would be wise to have it checked with a Mod before posting; these are one of the hardest types of stories to pull off well (scripts are better seen as actual performances), and a lot of people just use them to be lazy. Fics can not be written half in script form and half normal, either.

You can only write in script-form if you do it well. There is an example of what I mean in the Fan Fiction Rules. If you're just writing in script-form to be lazy, don't, because it will be closed.

~Psychic

 

[はるひ]

First part of the story is in shipping thread XD

And I'm good with script since my first stories were plays. lol

 

[Manaphyman]

Maybe I can help?

When I started writing, I had Pokemon speaking in: "Poke-mon, mon-Poke," but that really doesn't provide for much of a story. It is also very hard to develop their character. (At least for me.) So now I have Pokemon speaking real speech to their trainers. The way I "get away with it" is that I am just translating Poke-speech. The trainers can understand poke-speech if they have connected emotionally with a Pokemon. That would explain why my villain can't understand his/her Pokemon...

 

[はるひ]

In my story i used them saying their names. But it didnt go well :9