World-building Preferences

[gorgonfish]

I've been doing a bit of world-building for a fic recently and it set me thinking about topics that could change the path of the story. Most of these were trying to decide where on the spectrum of realism vs canon (with headcanon somewhere between the two) that I wanted to land. Things like the age people began training Pokemon, how Pokemon communicate between themselves and humans, and how Pokemon Centers can stay open if you never have to pay for the healthcare or computer usage.

Anyways, I figured it would interesting to see what other people like to see in the stories they read/write:

1. Where is the ideal point between taking on the Pokemon world in a more realistic way and being a stickler for the canon for you personally?

2. What are some areas of the Pokemon universe that you like to explore and what areas do you wish more people would include in their own work?

3. When does world-building and working out your story's rules become convoluted and too hard for others to follow or care about?

***

1. Where is the ideal point between taking on the Pokemon world in a more realistic way and being a stickler for the canon for you personally?

I land somewhere in the middle, probably. Bits of canon like Drifloon, Shedinja, and Banette Pokedex entries are just too weird not to use, but other things feel too odd for me to write properly. I haven't been a ten year old for a very long time and I doubt I could ever even come close to writing a semi-decent ten year old kid. So going the route of a prepubescent trainer traveling the world on their own isn't something I'm interested in writing (I do enjoy reading OT fics usually despite this as the characters mostly act and speak older than ten, don't know if that's what the author was going for or not. xD). Then there's the fact that the Pokemon world has the technology to transform living creatures into photons, data, or whatever the red light from pokeballs happens to be, and either the government or whoever has the resources to know when you catch more than six pokemon so they can transfer them to a computer. Then headcanon comes into play. Maybe the limit of six active Pokemon is because someone went into a forest, caught dozens of the local bug population, evolved them rather quickly, and tried to overthrow the nearest city with sleep powder and stun spore. I can understand the people who love canon and follow it by heart, but there's so much fun to be had playing with this stuff.

2. What are some areas of the Pokemon universe that you like to explore and what areas do you wish more people would include in their own work?

Kind of an obvious answer, but it's all about the Pokemon for me. Just thinking through how a society would develop around hundreds of creatures that can manipulate the elements is guaranteed to drive you crazy. Did Pokemon like Voltorb and Rotom come as a result of electrical technology or where they the catalyst for it? Could Ditto be programmed with false memories and used as spies or sleeper agents? How is it possible for two Pokemon of different species to breed and have a fertile offspring that's always the same species as the mother (or Ditto, that just exponentially complicates things)? I also like seeing how intelligent Pokemon are in a given story. Are they pretty much the correlations of real life animals with the exceptions being psychic types and legendaries? The most interesting part, though, is how the Pokemon communicate between themselves and their human trainers. Having the trainer understand the Pokemon makes things easy, but using things like body language to let the reader guess what the Pokemon wants to say is something I really wish happened more.

3. When does world-building and working out your story's rules become convoluted and too hard for others to follow or care about?

I think a story becomes hard to follow or care about when information you use to color your world seeps through the background into the story itself. If you follow the leveling system from the games for example, it's possible to keep track of what moves a Pokemon knows and how close they are to evolving without turning the fic into a rehash of the games to the point readers can almost hear the experience points meter after every battle. Supplemental material like maps, graphics displaying a trainer's team, or even character blogs can add extra depth to a story, but the moment those become required in order to enjoy a fic a line has been crossed.

 

[Dragonfree]

how Pokemon Centers can stay open if you never have to pay for the healthcare or computer usage

Many countries in the world have free health care, including (or so I've heard) Japan, and would find the idea that you have to pay for it weird. It makes even more sense in the Pokémon world if anything that they'd be government-funded.

1. Where is the ideal point between taking on the Pokemon world in a more realistic way and being a stickler for the canon for you personally?

The Quest for the Legends happens in the anime canon universe, whereas Morphic takes place in an alternate universe that's basically the real world except with Pokémon instead of animals. I don't think one is generally better than the other; it depends on what works for the particular fic in question. There isn't some general sweet spot every fic should stick to. Alternate universes, 'realistic' or otherwise, should generally always be done in a very deliberate, thought-out way, though; if you're just writing some one-shot or whatever that doesn't heavily rely on alternate-universe elements, putting it in an alternate universe anyway just because would be unnecessary and you should probably go with the canon universe (or something acceptably canon-cocktailish) instead.

Though with regard to the issues you mentioned with regards to this dichotomy, I don't feel that going for 'realism' automatically means changing the Pokémon training age, as it seems you're implying. Eighteen-year-olds spending their time traveling the world with monsters actually feels less realistic to me than ten-year-olds, because most eighteen-year-olds should have better things to do than travel the world playing a sport that logically only a small portion of them can possibly be good enough at to make a living doing it. As a coming-of-age-ritual-slash-hobby for kids funded by their parents as a life experience basically every kid goes through in that world, it makes sense - all you really need to explain the "but what parent would send their ten-year-old on a journey like that?!" is the influence of culture on how people think about things like that. Sure, you could also have a culture that thinks of this as a normal thing to do for eighteen-year-olds instead of getting a job, but while the former (aside from being in accordance with canon) increases the expected competence of the characters, the latter decreases it by declaring in this world they aren't supposed to be taking responsibility the way they would in the real world. It makes the characters look kind of bad, you know?

Not saying you couldn't make it work awesomely in some kind of alternate universe or whatever, but I like Pokémon training just fine as something most kids do as a hobby but only those who really find themselves in it then continue into adulthood; that's how it works in Morphic, not that it touches on Pokémon training much. Less drastic changes in the training age don't have this problem so much so if you're making an alternate universe story I don't really care if you raise it - though it makes me sort of suspicious because of how often people make that change for arbitrary and ill-thought-out reasons.

2. What are some areas of the Pokemon universe that you like to explore and what areas do you wish more people would include in their own work?

I'm pretty interested in how Pokémon think and how the trainer-Pokémon dynamic works in that regard, so I've played with, for instance, including Pokémon that don't want to be trained or stay with their trainer, the different motivations Pokémon have for wanting trainers if they do, wild Pokémon societies, and in Morphic the Pokémon instinct for violence. It's not really my main thing and I don't necessarily want everyone else to be doing the same thing, but it would be cool if the subject of Pokémon just not wanting to be trained came up more in trainer fics, for instance.

3. When does world-building and working out your story's rules become convoluted and too hard for others to follow or care about?

When you start including more detail than is actually relevant, I'd say. You can have it more fleshed out in your head, but stuffing every last thing you've established in your head into the story can get confusing and uninteresting.

 

[Sid87]

I have gotten some props for the world-building in my Brothers' Bond, so I thought I might touch on this.


1. Where is the ideal point between taking on the Pokemon world in a more realistic way and being a stickler for the canon for you personally?

-I actually think it tends to be easiest and most efficient to go "all-in" one way or the other. If you go right in the middle, I think the aspects that are canon might detract from the realism, and the areas that are realistic might detract from the canon appreciation. The further you get from the middle in either direction, I think the easier it would be.

2. What are some areas of the Pokemon universe that you like to explore and what areas do you wish more people would include in their own work?

-Some of the areas of the universe I've touched on (either in passing or in-depth) have been: racism and fear/hatred between the regions; historical war between the regions and the use of pokemon as a military force; quarantining of pokemon for travel between regions to halt the spread of foreign diseases; the formation of a World Pokemon League (a professional, coordinated, and governed league like an NFL or NBA rather than the idea of haphazard gyms and elite fours and what not); technological differences between the regions (outlets not being uniform, for example). I've done a lot of minor stuff, too (routes being highways, glimpsing magazine titles in the pokemon world, descriptions of the coal mining in Oreburgh and shipping industries of Olivine and Canalave). One aspect I've been thinking about, but have just not found a way to include yet (though I might yet try!) is Meowth/Persian's affect on inflation and society with Pay Day. I'm still looking for a way to bring this info into my story, so I maintain dibs on it.

3. When does world-building and working out your story's rules become convoluted and too hard for others to follow or care about?

-I think when you unnecessarily focus on the world-building at the expense of creating the story. World-building is fun, but the story is still the focus, so you shouldn't ignore the story to just focus on an idea you thought of.


The aspect of pokemon I tend to have the hardest time with is the pokeball. It defies so many rules of science that it's hard to write a realistic and still feel comfortable using the pokeball technology. but I guess I'm fine with that being as much of a suspension of disbelief as the pokemon themselves. If a large metal penguin can manipulate water underground or in the ocean then sure. There can be some kind of technology that turns living beings into pure energy and back.

As far as trainers and their age and journeying goes...I kind of touched on that by answering question 2. It'd be like if instead of having an NFL, we just sent a team of ten year old football players out on their own to go city-to-city and challenge other people to games of football. Now, I get that there are traveling recreational youth teams, but those are still an organized activity with a lot of parental involvement and sponsorship. Plus they are minor and unimportant in the grand scheme of things. I imagine if pokemon was real, it would QUICKLY be organized into a money-making, sanctioned league with divisions and playoffs and the like.

I tend to enjoy ALL takes on pokemon. My personal version of the in BB is that they are basically pets, but a bit more clever and with, you know, pokemon powers. They don't say their names, they don't appear to be any more able to communicate than a cat or dog (where a discerning owner may be able to figure out what they want, but that's about it), and they aren't capable of higher level thought processes.

 

[Azurne]

1. Where is the ideal point between taking on the Pokemon world in a more realistic way and being a stickler for the canon for you personally?

I tend to lean more toward canon, myself. But I also love throwing the occasional sharp twinge of reality. Like for instance, I'll have a ten year old start out as a trainer, and let them learn the hard way that they can most definitely get severely burned if mishandling a fire pokémon. Canon actually isn't all that limiting, which I think is a mistake that a lot of new writers tend to make when they first look at the fandom.

2. What are some areas of the Pokemon universe that you like to explore and what areas do you wish more people would include in their own work?

This is probably cliché and done by every other teenager who thought they were being edgy - but I like exploring the darker aspects of the pokémon universe. There are so many things that could go wrong with a young trainer and their pokémon; not to mention the ambiguous pokédex entries. Some of which contain lots of subtle horror. (Looking at you, Jellicent, Chandelure.)

I also like exploring the relationship between people and pokémon. Pokémon are very intelligent creatures with the capacity for emotions just like people, yet they aren't the same because they still rely on natural instinct more than their intellectual ability. I like to think there's always this fine line, yet great divide between humans and pokémon because they are very similar in emotions and thoughts, but still totally different because one is born out of instinct and lacks the other's judgmental ability.

There isn't anything particular that I'd like to see in fanfiction besides a willingness to really be creative with your story.

3. When does world-building and working out your story's rules become convoluted and too hard for others to follow or care about?

Not sure what you mean here. I don't think I've ever had any "rules" for a story. If you're talking about general background data where it's necessary to have a three-page author's note before the beginning of the story, I'd say you've overloaded your readers once it's become required for them to read through it.

 

[gorgonfish]

Many countries in the world have free health care, including (or so I've heard) Japan, and would find the idea that you have to pay for it weird. It makes even more sense in the Pokémon world if anything that they'd be government-funded.

That's a good point. Now I feel kind of stupid for overlooking that. xD

Though with regard to the issues you mentioned with regards to this dichotomy, I don't feel that going for 'realism' automatically means changing the Pokémon training age, as it seems you're implying. Eighteen-year-olds spending their time traveling the world with monsters actually feels less realistic to me than ten-year-olds, because most eighteen-year-olds should have better things to do than travel the world playing a sport that logically only a small portion of them can possibly be good enough at to make a living doing it. As a coming-of-age-ritual-slash-hobby for kids funded by their parents as a life experience basically every kid goes through in that world, it makes sense - all you really need to explain the "but what parent would send their ten-year-old on a journey like that?!" is the influence of culture on how people think about things like that. Sure, you could also have a culture that thinks of this as a normal thing to do for eighteen-year-olds instead of getting a job, but while the former (aside from being in accordance with canon) increases the expected competence of the characters, the latter decreases it by declaring in this world they aren't supposed to be taking responsibility the way they would in the real world. It makes the characters look kind of bad, you know?

Sorry if it read like I was implying a change to the trainer age would make for something more realistic. Bad wording on my part. What I meant was that piece of canon is too odd an idea in my mind to personally portray it accurately. The writing on my part would be unrealistic, not that traveling the world with monsters at the age of ten was unrealistic. The fanfiction that does get that aspect right can be just as enjoyable and amazing as an older trainer fic. I guess it can become unrealistic when the author doesn't seem to realize they're writing a ten year old (even if they state the age in the fic) and shapes the world around the trainer to coddle them, though that might be more of the Mary Sue influence than a problem with the ten year old trope.

Not saying you couldn't make it work awesomely in some kind of alternate universe or whatever, but I like Pokémon training just fine as something most kids do as a hobby but only those who really find themselves in it then continue into adulthood; that's how it works in Morphic, not that it touches on Pokémon training much. Less drastic changes in the training age don't have this problem so much so if you're making an alternate universe story I don't really care if you raise it - though it makes me sort of suspicious because of how often people make that change for arbitrary and ill-thought-out reasons.

I have a similar approach in my fic. The trainer license is basically like a driver's license in our world, anyone who passes the test and shows competence earns one when they are the correct age (17). This allows them enter tournaments and contests, receive the free usage of Pokemon Centers (which also function as hostels for trainers), and such. Children can have Pokemon as pets at any age, the age restriction is on traveling and competitive arenas. Going on a 'journey' is like traveling abroad for the period between high school and university. The ones who make a name for themselves find job opportunities, the ones that don't go to university or get a job with or without Pokemon being involved.

-Some of the areas of the universe I've touched on (either in passing or in-depth) have been: racism and fear/hatred between the regions; historical war between the regions and the use of pokemon as a military force; quarantining of pokemon for travel between regions to halt the spread of foreign diseases; the formation of a World Pokemon League (a professional, coordinated, and governed league like an NFL or NBA rather than the idea of haphazard gyms and elite fours and what not); technological differences between the regions (outlets not being uniform, for example). I've done a lot of minor stuff, too (routes being highways, glimpsing magazine titles in the pokemon world, descriptions of the coal mining in Oreburgh and shipping industries of Olivine and Canalave). One aspect I've been thinking about, but have just not found a way to include yet (though I might yet try!) is Meowth/Persian's affect on inflation and society with Pay Day. I'm still looking for a way to bring this info into my story, so I maintain dibs on it.

Definitely checking Brother's Bond out. Also, curse you and your dibs. xP

The aspect of pokemon I tend to have the hardest time with is the pokeball. It defies so many rules of science that it's hard to write a realistic and still feel comfortable using the pokeball technology. but I guess I'm fine with that being as much of a suspension of disbelief as the pokemon themselves. If a large metal penguin can manipulate water underground or in the ocean then sure. There can be some kind of technology that turns living beings into pure energy and back.

It gets even weirder when you think about how people used to use Apricorns that could do the same thing as modern pokeballs. xD

Canon actually isn't all that limiting, which I think is a mistake that a lot of new writers tend to make when they first look at the fandom.

True. I guess it depends on what you're trying to do. It's easy to fall into the tropes of canon without figuring out how they might affect the flow or tension of the story, like progressively harder gyms that just so happen to follow the path of the main character as they also progressively get stronger. Sure it's canon and it's not that unbelievable, but it can become predictable. The gyms alone aren't limiting, and it would be cool to see some of the more elaborate puzzles from the games appear in fics. Suppose it's not the tools that count, but what you build with them?

This is probably cliché and done by every other teenager who thought they were being edgy - but I like exploring the darker aspects of the pokémon universe. There are so many things that could go wrong with a young trainer and their pokémon; not to mention the ambiguous pokédex entries. Some of which contain lots of subtle horror. (Looking at you, Jellicent, Chandelure.)

I know, right? Drifloon carrying off children, Shedinja stealing your soul if you look at the hole in its back, Banette searching for the child who abandoned it as a doll, Yamask being the Pokemon incarnation of a person. The stuff of creepypasta.

Not sure what you mean here. I don't think I've ever had any "rules" for a story. If you're talking about general background data where it's necessary to have a three-page author's note before the beginning of the story, I'd say you've overloaded your readers once it's become required for them to read through it.

By rules, I meant the canon or non-canon parts you use in a story. Deciding to follow the level system and adding new attacks and evolutions at the right times, adding the Psychic trainers into a story would involve figuring out exactly what their powers are capable of, same thing with Aura though it's more defined in canon. Taking things too far would be writing a long author's note detailing exactly what level each Pokemon was at and what moves they knew, or the scientific explanation of the psychic powers instead of letting it slowly be revealed in the story if at all.

 

[Glover]

There's a small article on this in the opening of my fanfiction. I don't have the capabilits right now to copy it, so I'll summarize.

Gene Roddenberry introduced a concept of a world where everything is provided for, and no one needed to compete for greed because if you needed it, you could have it. electricity, water, food. Now granted, he was doing it with Replicators, but. The Pokemon world has been shown sufficiently advanced in technology enough for that to be viable. Gym leaders have access to teleporters, no?. Really, in a Pokemon world, its either hanging from a grass type's neck, or generated by your firendly neoghborhood Pikachu. how does a public service like water or Elecctricity Compete like that? Their main rival becomes a Food company, and competetion like that can very easily self destruct what we think of as a stable economy.

If your wondering who Gene Roddenbury is, please smack yourself and then go read about Star Trek.

The Centers, coupled with the lack ofcurrency In the anime, was enough to convince me to adopt his approach. Let me tell you, its not easy. Even just colloquial terms and what we consider polite actions like tipping go out the window when you blow a hole in The economics. No money, no tip. Useful item maybe.

Smething to think about too, in the games, your character is making money off beating up kidsfor their lunch money. How do you write around that? I've seen some very good stories do it, one took trainers as a proffesional sport, another handled it asa courtesy prize, and the character tried to turn it down. But its still a sticking point to look at.

EDIT: completely spaced Pay Day. yeah, that ne crossed my mind as well. Chose not to touch it, but I would love to see People delve into this.

Roddenbury did one other thi g as well. The ST series made jokes about teaching Trig in sixth grade. If that wer true, than technically, the children would have learned all the basics of life, mathmatics, etc. by the time they were ten. if you believe that, then all the issues of uneducated ten year olds on the road, and a society driven by development and not greed is not so difficult. And a lot of cultures have or had a Rite of Passage of the child leaving to go out in the world to learn it for themselves.

And the problem with giving Dorkboy a Pikachu for protection is what then, if not addressed?


2.
Your second question, i like more of the society side of it, thou backstories and mythos are a close second. My favorite part of writing is weaving all the different stories and mythos together, like blending theDream World With the Dungeon sereies and coining it as Pokemon Afterlife, but one more closely related with Karma and rebirth than Heaven. I think moreso than the Pokemon themselves, is how humans] evolved on this planet. One really awesome fic that died in its opening act had us as visitors from space. From a more common standpoint of us being on the same world, one would think that the same natural pressures that gave rise to creatures who can create their elements would've done something to developing Humans. Resilience, endurance, a matured growth perhaps?

3.
For the most part, i haven't been there yet. If you are. Tripping over your rules, then either your imagination is eunning to far into left field, and or you have shot yourself in the foot as a writer and have limited your creativity too much. The only problem I have run it o is as I mentioned above, and that's trying to right a Utopian world from the actual perspective of a real human being. To me, something has to regulate supply and demand. But if the person of the story has grown up having what they need, then they will for the most part only take what they need, because if and when they need more all they have to do is ask. The only things needing regulated are things like Master Balls. But when the writer is brought up in a world based around currency, shelving reality can be difficult.

If I find a few examples I'llco e back and edit this or post new. I know i've written a few lines and then realized that the character couldn't say it like that, because thy were words associated with "purchase".

Now, yuo also raised a few other points, like writing perspective.

I started writing my fic (the family photo in my signature, by the way. Not nearly as good as the others replying, but I'm having fun writing it and that is what counts) from the perspective of the father. That's not easy, given i'm still the counting the months that I can walk into a bar and order a glass of milk legally. The father had a dauhter. Wrong gender for me. But even those withstanding, i was able to apply a more matured raising that I was brought up in and applied it to Janie. She may only be ten, but she's one of those 10 going on 20 kids. (don't tell. Her I said that though, i need her ego to fit with the confines of my Ipad)

There's nothing wrong with people watching. A lot of Janie's mannerisms come from my time as a Student Teacher my senior year of High School, and a few cousins of mine about her age. Go sit on a park bench and start sketching out ideas. Notice family structures, don't be creepy about it, but the world is there for us to learn from. So do so if you need to.

----
On the subject of apriballs, my main reason for going into religion:the Dream World specifically was to play with a concept of a Pokemon's soul. The Apricorn works alomost as well as a modern Pokeball, so what was the constant? It wasn't technology, not really, i doubt genetic manipulation would have come before plastic casting. So what hasn't changed?

The Pokemon themselves.

So what if the Pokeballs are manipulating a matter energy state? A pokemon's soul form? Then you open up the possibilites of evolution, whT if that glow during evolution is essentially the same manipulation of a pokemon's body by its own conscoiusness?

Comments of the canon being limiting: hence why I'm taking the story from the Orre region and including references to Holon...

 

[Mrs. Lovett]

I love world-building. Aside from a compelling plot, I think that an interesting and believable world is one of the most important things a story can have. It's what pulls readers in, and more importantly, what pulls you in as you write it.

1. Where is the ideal point between taking on the Pokemon world in a more realistic way and being a stickler for the canon for you personally?

It depends what kind of 'realism' you mean. I've read stories that are grounded on some canon concepts, but whose worlds don't resemble ours in the slightest. And, on the other hand, I've read stories that combine Pokemon canon and elements from 'our' society, like government, schools, work, etc. I tend to lean more towards the our-world side. I start by taking the Pokemon society as canon describes it, and provide reasonable explanations for some of the more strange concepts. (Like sending an eleven-year-old child on his own on a 'journey' across a region which must be the size of a continent and definitely must have more than 12-or-so cities!)

In cases like these, the apparent absurdity of the situation can inspire me to play around with it and see what I can make of it. Sometimes my own explanations for things surprise me. But at the same time, I don't want to constrain myself too much with the logic of our world. If it's Pokemon fanfiction I'm writing, then it's Pokemon canon I'll be following. I usually don't feel the need to justify every canon-based element in my writings, like why the League exists, how PokeDexes work, how the pokemon species differ biologically, etc. Unless, of course, it's necessary to the story I'm writing. My current fic requires logical explanation of all those things, so I explain away.


2. What are some areas of the Pokemon universe that you like to explore and what areas do you wish more people would include in their own work?
I don't really have a preference for what other people do; whether they stick to the canon completely, or disregard it and write things from scratch, as long as it's done well and works with the story they're writing, I'm fine with it. I prefer complex worlds in stories, and not necessarily ones that are based on ours. (By all means, the more unusual, the better!) That being said, I would prefer a story whose world isn't that unusual, but is sufficiently explained, over a story whose world is full of great things and concepts, but isn't developed to its full potential. Plot is great, but I like it when a writer takes a break from pushing the cast from one location to another, and stops to develop their world. Writing like that is more pleasant to read.

I elaborate on all sorts of things in my stories. One of my favorites is nature. I enjoy delving into the geography of the regions, and describing the cities and routes. In my current fic, I like to create a unique character for each of my towns, playing up things like climate or culture that I derive from their in-game qualities. Additionally, some things from the in-game world are really far-fetched, and for that reason, I often wonder what it would be like to write about them. The Spear Pillar is one (what's it like to stand on top of the highest point of all Sinnoh?), the Mirage Island of Hoenn (it might not be that interesting in-game, but I would very much like to know how an island appears and disappears on its own), and creepy forests like Viridian and Eterna. I especially like the concept of Legendary pokemon, and all the myths surrounding them. I usually take inspiration about them from their PokeDex entries, or from movies.

Another favorite of mine is the topic of legendary pokemon, and all the myths that surround them. Of course, this can pave an endless road for horror fics, but also for mind-blowing adventures, or even comedy. Legends and mysteries are what make fics interesting.

3. When does world-building and working out your story's rules become convoluted and too hard for others to follow or care about?

Pretty much what others have said before -- when the author gets so immersed in the word of their story that they start including the most intricate little details into their writing, and the story begins to resemble a field guide of sorts. But this doesn't have to be a problem if you know how to take advantage of it. If your imagination/thinking has led you to build a world so rich that you're brimming with more details than you can write in a single chapter (or perhaps even a single story), then type them out and stow them away for later. You might collect so much over time that you won't even have to worry about keeping track of your world's development anymore -- it will come naturally. Having a 'backup' store of information can help you give a jump-start when you've got writer's block, especially when a character is concerned. Even if you don't end up including everything that you've thought about in your actual chapters, simply knowing what you know can help you achieve a more natural narrative flow. Because this way, you're not making stuff up on the go -- you're writing about your world from the point of view of someone who's been in it. And that makes things a whole lot easier.