Thread: How do you differ from canon?

Mm, it occurs to me I could mention my headcanon for the world in general. When I write, I usually portray the pokéworld as literally being an alternate universe of our world. Kanto is Kanto, Johto is Kansai, (southern Chubu divided between the two), Hoenn is Kyushu, Sinnoh is Hokkaido. The Sengoku Jidai took place, with pokémon as soldiers, though not necessarily the invasion of Korea or the Meiji Restoration. I'm considering making an enormous map for the entirety of Pokémon!Japan, including its smaller islands, and possibly Korea because I just love going over the top. Britain, too, because I damn well feel like it. I don't have an enormous fanon history, but it'll come in good time, I promise you. This headcanon leads to some interesting 'fridge brilliance' moments. The Sinnoh Battle Frontier is Sakhalin, and the foreigners there are Russian. (No, I didn't look Sakhalin up, I am merely that much of a geography nerd.)

Meh, I don't actually make too many changes to canon when I write. Then again, I don't have one overarching headcanon for all of my stories. I usually age up the protagonists a little bit, but that's simply because I prefer to write older characters, and I try to never age them up too much. Other than that and having all the regions be in their own world (unconnected to ours), I actually like to play around with canon and see what I can do within its limitations.

In the bit of fan fiction for pokemon that I've gotten to so far, I change quite a bit, I think.

1. Different starters
2. Different age (usually) that the trainer/coordinator begins
3. I tend to write more about contests, so usually battling has taken a backseat to contests, as it is believed to be too violent.
4. Even if I'm in a known region (Hoenn's my fave), the time period is different, far into the future.
5. The setting, rather than being mainly a journey, tends to be in one set location, i.e. a school, specific town, specific house/property.

This is very broad, of course. And I haven't yet posted any of my fan fiction to Bulbagarden. But giving specific examples would take too long.

Canon exists in my world solely as a framework and a guideline. If you see it as a restriction, that's what it will become. If certain elements seem difficult to work into a fic, I'll either discard them (Champion Game) or lampshade and lambast them (Something's Got To Give).

Originally Posted by Misheard Whisper

Canon exists in my world solely as a framework and a guideline. If you see it as a restriction, that's what it will become. If certain elements seem difficult to work into a fic, I'll either discard them (Champion Game) or lampshade and lambast them (Something's Got To Give).

They say restrictions bring out an artist's true creativity.

I say, in the case of following canon in a fanfic, that's a load of bullcrap.

Especially when people scream that canon is some sort of bible that all fanfics must follow, sometimes citing the first line I said in the process. (Ironically, the parts of the Bible that were included are called the "canon".)

I change Bianca and Cheren's character roles in my BW adaptation fic somewhat. Bianca is an aspiring Pokemon Researcher under Professor Juniper's guidance who tries her best to overcome her shortcomings to build up her role in BW2. Cheren is an ace detective who assists Looker in investigating Team Plasma. They're personalities are the same as from the games but their new roles do make them differ somewhat in my fic.

Storyline wise, I draw a lot of inspiration from the game canon. In other words, I copy it :P The difference comes from me plugging in my own unique characters for the player characters, putting them in the same situations as the game, and seeing what happens. This results in a lot of different things, actually, as my characters' actions often have far-reaching consequences. Another way I differ is the timeline (spoilers here for anyone reading my fic):

The events of DPPt actually happened first (BW has no impact). Galactic is the first evil team, and Lucas and Dawn are now unimportant and irrelevant. Team Galactic failed, obviously, but Team Rocket was born from their remains (Giovanni was a low ranking executive). Team Aqua and Team Magma were already around, but their ranks swelled with criminals from Team Galactic looking for acceptance. Their fight turned to extremism, and the equivalent events of RSE (Emerald especially) took place. One of my OCs, in the place of a player character, played a vital part in stopping them. "Unpredictable" is the equivalent events of RBY, taking place after what I call "The Rayquaza Incident," with Keith taking the place of Red. GSC never really happens due to the actions of my characters, and everything after "Unpredictable" is completely separate from canon (with the exception of cameos by a few characters).

There is a difference between "differ from canon" and "expand on canon". My work almost never differ or divert from the concepts of the canon world, I just simply expand it based on the already given ideas and notions.
In my current work (unfortunately it is not a Trainer fic. I categorize it as Adventure), I use the combination of the Main series game and Special manga canon, add some little things that is reasonable and expand on the blank spaces of the already-existing concept of the world. Almost no change is made to the already given canon concepts (I'm quite stubborn about the given canon concepts, because I like what it was originally given, I don't want to change it too much). However, that doesn't mean I follow rules of canon like bible (BTW, is there even a solid rule written in black and white that one must do this and that but not this and that? I don't think so).


BTW, Speaking of "differ from canon", (I don't know should I consider this as a canon work, but it is one of the official work, so I'll say it is canon) the most recent (infamous?) Pokemon Reburst manga, and also the Pokemon Conquest (Pokemon + Nobunaga's Ambition) uses a total complete different concept that is nothing comparable to the already existing canon worlds we knew of. That, is what I should called as differ from canon.

Every different official Pokemon works have different ideas, and each have a world different from each other even that is just by a bit. Therefore, in the Pokemon series, we have so many "canons" that there is not a single unique one. We have an Anime canon, Game canon (where that can even subdivided to Main series game canon, Dungeon canon, Ranger canon, Pokepark canon, etc), Manga canon (again I think we can subdivided into smaller categories as well), TCG canon, now I think we can make up two new ones known as Reburst canon and Nobunaga canon. The "divert from (already-existing) canon" even exist in canon itself, so the question "Why differ from canon?" seems a little silly. The answer is just so simple: Because your story needs it.

Aside from the fact that guns do exist and are used by trainers and non-trainers alike, I try to keep true to the canon.

I write that to become a Pokemon Trainer, you really do have to go to Pokemon Trainer School. If you're 14 and the teacher/Professor observes your school records so far, they'll select you to take a test to become a Trainer. Although the choice is primarily yours since you may or may not feel you have a long way to go. After taking a written test to see the student's knowledge on and empathy for Pokemon and a physical exam to see how healthy they are to travel long distances, they're allowed to select a Pokemon to have delivered to their house (this is optional) and then take one last test to see their battling skills. They're given their Trainer ID card and Pokedex.

A second method that involves not having gone to a Pokemon Trainer School has you given a starter Pokemon and a test to see if you can learn quick enough. You're paired with another Trainer who's been to a Pokemon Trainer School who acts as your companion to assist you (it helps if the companion is a friend of yours) and you're given a temporary Trainer ID card and Pokedex. After winning the first Gym battle on which you're evaluated, you're upgraded to a permanent Trainership.

I also write in that handguns and other firearms were outlawed worldwide with existing ones all destroyed and ceasing further production. None of the criminals minded since, hey, they had Pokemon and their foes could be toasted with a Flamethrower.

Every different official Pokemon works have different ideas, and each have a world different from each other even that is just by a bit. Therefore, in the Pokemon series, we have so many "canons" that there is not a single unique one. We have an Anime canon, Game canon (where that can even subdivided to Main series game canon, Dungeon canon, Ranger canon, Pokepark canon, etc), Manga canon (again I think we can subdivided into smaller categories as well), TCG canon, now I think we can make up two new ones known as Reburst canon and Nobunaga canon. The "divert from (already-existing) canon" even exist in canon itself, so the question "Why differ from canon?" seems a little silly. The answer is just so simple: Because your story needs it.

I think the line of thought there is that as fans, and not original creators of the work, we are "unworthy" or "undeserving" of not following "canon", as if it's somehow "disrespectful" or "perversive" to the original author's wishes.

If that's the case, why have creative fandom at all? Let's just all be consumer fandom maniacs who do nothing but discuss the actual works all day.

I write the Unovan Pokemon League as a bi-annual event and 90 days before the tournament starts accepting entries, the Gyms open up to challengers who want the badges to get in the league. The leaders have second occupations to tie them over until the next league so they still earn money.

Despite them still being far from complete, this is how the canon differs in my future fics:

Setting:

-The past events are mostly game-verse, but there are some events, places, abilities/powers and characters taken from the anime-verse and manga-verse in there.
-There is some jiggling with the timeline in regards to the anime and manga events and characters.
-The events of Rise of Darkrai happened, but sans Ash and they happened nearly twenty years prior with an immense loss of life.
-The events of the prologue Lucario and the Mystery of Mew happened. Lucario is still trapped in Sir Aaron's staff.
-Aura is present, but only very few still have it, even fewer are aware of it or having it and fewer still are trained in it.
-The world is still in recovery from a massive war with Orre which only ended fourteen years before the beginning.
-The Orange Archipelago exists, as does Shamouti Island. The events of Power of One never happened.

-There is a lot of ancient bad blood between Orre and Sinnoh, this goes back generations.
-A lot of people in Hoenn loathe Orre people. People from Orre are largely indifferent to Hoenn people.
-People from Orre face a lot of discrimination, especially from Hoenn and Sinnoh people.

Government:

-The Pokemon leagues are actually the government. The Elite Four choose to set up gyms in certain towns and appoint the Gym Leaders. The Gym Leaders are then responsible for running not only the gym and are responsible for the safety and smooth running of the town.

-The Gym Leaders are chosen for their battling ability, management skills, planning skills, intuition and other important skills. They are then subject to rigorous physical and psychiatric evaluation to ensure that they are physically and mentally prepared for the job.
-The Gym Leaders and gym trainers are the de facto police force of their town. Gym trainers assist the Gym Leaders with running the gym and town, and are also trained by the Gym Leaders as perspective successors. The Gym Leaders are also responsible for forming, arming and training town militias, mostly for the event of invasion or other such emergencies.

-The Pokemon League circuit usually brings a lot of money into the town/city where there's a Gym Leader.

-Any town that does not have a Gym Leader are managed by representatives of the Elite Four and Champion. Since they do not have their own Pokemon Gym, they don't receive as much revenue. But they do have a slightly higher level of autonomy than the other towns.
-The representative is usually a trainer, but they do not have the same powers of a Gym Leader. Any and all major decisions must be approved by the E4 and/or Champion.
-In the event that an elected Gym Leader is rather young, then a representative steps in to control most of the day-to-day running of the town and in some occasions gym, until the Gym Leader is old enough to take over. The representative has more powers than the ones in charge of non-gym towns, but they still don't have as much powers as proper Gym Leader and most major decisions must be approved by the E4/Champion.
-Representatives are trainers that are short-listed to be successors to Gyms.

-When a member of the E4 retires or dies, then the Champion is the one who elects a new member to replace them. It is not uncommon for a Gym Leader to be elected.

-The Champion and E4 elect a new Gym Leader when one retires or dies.
-There is usually a clear line of succession for Champions, with the Champion nominating two or three trainers/E4 members/Gym Leaders, in the event that s/he dies. The names are kept as a very closely guarded secret to prevent assassination.
-If the Champion retires from the position, then they name a trainer as their successor.
-If the rare event that the Champion dies and there are no trainers named as successors, then the E4 and Gym Leader come together to elect a new Champion.
-All Champions and members of the Elite Four must have the same skill sets as a Gym Leader, but they must be even more advanced then what is required for the Gym Leaders, and the physical and psychological requirements are even higher.
-The Champion must be of age and they must have been training for a prerequisite number of years.

-All Champions, E4 members and Gym Leaders must meet certain requirements in education. Gym Leaders must have at least finished high school or a high school equivalent, and Champions and E4 Members must have some form of tertiary education.

-With crime the Gym Leaders have jurisdiction over their city, and may negotiate the extradition of criminals or call in back up from other cities. The E4 and Champion may step in if a criminal situation is deemed far too dangerous or wide-spread for the Gym Leaders to handle.

-The Sevii Islands are under the care of the Indigo Plateau, and have several representatives running them. A former member of the Indigo Elite Four also resides there, and donates most of her time in assisting the representatives.
-The Orange Archipelago is the territory of Kanto, but they have their own league. While it differs greatly from the normal leagues, they have permission to be the care-takers of the area, and have the same powers as normal Gym Leaders. The requirements to be a leader there are noticeably more lax than normal.

-It is not uncommon for some towns or cities to have "mayors" people who handle most of the admistration part of running the place. They are usually selected by the Gym Leader of the town.

-There are some regions that don't use this method of government, such as Fiore, Almia and Oblivia, as well as Orre. Fiore, Almia and Oblivia have their government, but Orre has no centralised government, and each city, town and settlement have their own government. Most major settlements have their own treaties with each other and may even look out for the smaller towns and settlements near their own area.

Pokemon League:

-Was originally started off in Isshu as a way to settle disputes in the older times. It eventually evolved into an elite competition, where the winners were highly sort after by armies or the wealthy as warriors or protectors.

-The league in the Orange Archipelago was started off to find and recruit powerful trainers. Later leagues appeared in other regions for similar purposes.
-The system as it's in place now is only a recent creation, it only came into being about 100 years previous.

-The circuit was created to as a way of finding and training any potential Gym Leaders and E4 members and as such they use weaker variants of their teams, scaled to the trainer's strength and expertise when they are battling.

-The league owns the Pokemon centres, the services provided there are free for trainers, and are funded by the league.

-All prospective trainers must finish middle school and have had extensive wilderness survival lessons before they can go and train. They must also have some degree of medical expertise and have good knowledge about the various pokemon species.

-The league gives all trainers a small allowance when they begin, an equal amount is given to all trainers, although trainers from richer families are often given more money by their families.
-There is a taxation system in place, but trainers and those working in industries that support trainers are taxed less. Trainers aren't taxed until they come of age, and are taxed a certain percentage of their winnings.
-The tradition of handing money over to the winner of a pokemon battle was originally a symbol of submission. The loser would give money, or even possessions over to the winner as a tribute.

-While it is not under the jurisdiction of the Pokemon League, the Battle Frontier was an independent facility that was originally created to further test and train the skills and abilities of trainers who have the potential of becoming a part of the league. Only a select few are allowed to travel to it and train there.

Military:

-As mentioned in Government, the Gym Leaders and Elite Four/Champion in most regions see to it that militias are set up, supplied and trained in the event of an emergency.
-The exception is Isshu, which has its own centralised military, and is the direct responsibility of the E4 and Champion.

-There are militias in this region, but most of them are not sanctioned or endorsed by the league.

-Orre once had a large and effective military, but it was dismantled and banned at the end of the war.

Religion:

-Animism, the belief that there are spirits and souls in all things, living and inanimate and the worship thereof. A dying belief.

-Mewism, the belief that Mew was the mother of all living beings and the worship of. Predominately popular in Kanto and Eastern Johto, with elements of worship found in the Orre pantheon.

-Areceism, the belief that Arceus was the creator of everything, and that he created the creation trio to lord over time, space with Giratina as the balancer, as well as creating the lake trio to give spirit to humanity. Sinnoh's major religion, with popularity growing in Kanto and Johto.

-Despite being reviled and feared as an evil entity in Arceism, Giratina is looked upon in a positive light in the Orre pantheon. It is believed to have saved the Orre people from certain extinction several thousand years ago.

-Worship of Lugia, seen as deity of death, water, the cold and shadows in some parts of Johto, mostly Cianwood City, Violet City and some parts of Ecruteak City. But in on Shamouti Island, it is seen as a being of wisdom and life, and the bird trio are his emissaries.
-Worship of Ho-oh, once worshiped as a deity of life, rebirth, fire, warmth and light, worship is now mostly found in Ecruteak city.

-Worship of the Creation trio and the Regis, Kyogre lords over and can control the seas, Groudon creates earth, but takes away large swathes of Kyogre's domain to do so, creating a bitter rivalry between the two, where they will clash. The main worship of the belief is actually the worship of Rayquaza, urging it to calm Groudon and Kyogre. The Regis were created to just move the earth that Groudon had created. Most records of Regigigas are long lost. Was the predominant belief in Hoenn for Millenia, major elements are found in the old Orre religion. There is some evidence that it was once as far spread as the Southwest of Johto.

-Spirit worship, major legendary pokemon were seen as spirits representing things, such as Zekrom representing ideals, Reshiram representing truth, Victini representing victory and Meloetta being the arts. People would pray to the spirits for inspiration or strength. Almost exclusive to Isshu, and is still a very popular belief.

-The Kami Trio gods of wind, thunder, and fertility, evidence of worship found in Southeastern Isshu.

-The long abandoned worship of the Musketeer trio as spirits of strength, defense and protection during war, found in most parts of the Isshu region.

-Heatran and Manaphy as spirits of fire/volcanoes and water/the sea, with Phione being Manphy's children and emissaries, evidence found in locations at the Sinnoh Battle Frontier.

-Jirachi, a spirit of a shooting star, people prayed to it for wishes to come true, mostly found in Hoenn, belief is mostly restricted to young children in modern times.

-Celebi as a protector and guardian of forests, mostly found in traditional and ancient communities in heavy forests in the Johto region, Azalea town in Southern Johto is a notable example, although it is believed that the worship may have been popular in Fortree town in Hoenn for some time. Elements of worship is also seen in the Orre pantheon, especially in the fertile and verdant western area of the region.

-Slowpoke are worshiped as bringers of rain in Azalea town, southern Johto, and in Violet town, eastern Johto there is a sect that worships Bellsprout.

-Kyurem is feared in Lacunosa town as a an evil creature that will snatch and devour any human or pokemon that it sees.

-An ancient civilisation once worshiped Unown, evidence of it can be seen at the Ruins of Alph, central Johto, one part of the Sevii Islands, Kanto, the mountainous area between Sinnoh and Johto, as well as Solaceon town, central Sinnoh.

-An ancient civilisation that once lived in the desert part of central/southern Isshu worshiped Volcarona as a sun god.

Events:

-A long war with Orre, Orre invaded Hoenn as well as parts of Kanto, Johto and Sinnoh, but it was eventually pushed back.
-After the war, Orre's government and military was dismantled and the region itself was put under heavy sanctions.

-Team Rocket was originally a splinter group from Team Plasma, they wanted to fight in the Orre war, but were forbidden to by Ghetsis. So they left Team Plasma to fight. They were originally more noble, but turned to crime after the war.

-Cipher originally started out as a company founded by Mr. Verich/Greevile to compete with Devon and Silph.

-About 100 years previous, there was another war, but with Isshu, at the end of the war, the monarchy was dismantled and the pokemon league system was put in place.

-The events of Rise of Darkrai, but Alamos town was completely devastated by the fight between Dialga and Palkia.

-The events of R/G/B/Y happened, but Red had assistance from Green/Leaf, a friend of his that he met on his journey.

-Lt. Surge, Sabrina and Koga were all members of Team Rocket, as was Blaine, but he left the organisation some time ago. Giovanni was still head of the organisation.

-The events of G/S/C happened, but Suicune was never caught/or was caught but released by the player character.
-The events of R/S/E happened, but Steven managed to gain control of the Regi trio, but the strain of it nearly killed him and left him comtose for several weeks. During this time, when it was believed that he would not pull though Wallace was announced as his successor.

-When he finally gained consciousness, Steven did not contest the succession.

-The events of D/P/Pt occurred, although some elements, specifically the Giratina segments are from the DPA manga.
-The events of B/W happened.

-N and Team Plasma won.

Chracters:

-Ice from Shadows of Almia is Ryoku's grandson. He also came from Almia town, and was one of the very few survivors from there.
-Kate, the female PC from Shadows of Almia is the daughter of Alice and Tonio from Rise of Darkrai.
-Brighton Hall, mentioned in Shadows of Almia was originally a part of Cipher's board. He left when he felt uncomfortable with where the company was heading.

-Rui from Colosseum has Aura powers.

-Norman was originally a member of Team Rocket, but left in disgust when they turned to crime. He also fought in the war against Orre.

-He is also the father of the male protagonist in B/W, having a brief affair with the protag's mother when he was in Isshu during the war. He is extremely regretful about cheating on his wife, but he took responsibility and paid child support for the boy.

-Arianna used to live in Sinnoh and was once married to Byron. Roark and and Mars are her children, and when she divorced Byron both took one child and went their separate ways. Arianna eventually met Giovanni, and despite having Silver with him, the two never married and eventually split. Arianna gave Giovanni sole custody of Silver.

-Mars eventually started her own journey, but found and joined Team Galactic. This created a lot of tension between her and her mother, and the two had not spoken to each other in several years.

-Giovanni gave Silver a Sneasel, and when he was defeated by Red for the final time, he left to train to be stronger for Silver. Silver was put into the care of some of Giovanni's supporters.

-During this time, Silver's sneasel was stolen, and it eventually landed in the hands of a pokemon collector in Cianwood Island. Silver then stole sneasel back during the events of G/S/C.

-Yellow would be saved from a wild pokemon by Red in Viridian Forest. He then helped her catch her first pokemon.

-Hareta assisted Platinum and her friends in taking down Team Galactic. Mitsumi rejoined the organisation, but with help from Hareta and friends she left Galactic again and helped to stop them from bothering Giratina.

Law and order:

-The usual, no murdering, no stealing, no assault, no cruelty to pokemon.
-The capture and attempted capture of any legendary pokemon is strictly banned. For both the safety of the trainer and the pokemon.
-Firearms and most other weapons are banned in most regions, unless the owners are part of a recognised militia, in that case they must registered to the owner.
-In Orre while technically banned, almost everyone owns a weapon of some description and the weapons laws are not strictly enforced.
-Drug laws in Orre are usually incredibly lax or non-existent.

Orre:

-Because pokemon are next to non-existent in the region, most people import pokemon from other regions. This is extremely expensive, and as a result, pokemon are seen as a sign of status. Pokemon thefts are also extremely high compared to other regions.

-Most people are vegetarian, this is due to the lack of pokemon in the region, and people are very apprehensive about using pokemon for food. As a result it is very expensive to import pokemon meant into the region, so it is reserved for the very rich.

-It is also because in old Orre religion, the eating of meat was banned, as pokemon were seen as being the friends and family of the humans, and so the eating of them was considered a very grave crime. This way of thinking is still adhered to by a lot of Orre people.

-Deliberately killing a pokemon was punished as severely as killing another human.

-The use of pokemon as weapons in part of human warfare. If humans were fighting, then they used weapons, not pokemon.

-The use of weapons were seen as dishonorable by other regions. But the Orre people thought the others as being monsters for using pokemon as weapons.

-As a result, a lot of Orre people will still prefer to use weapons when fighting other humans in battle of warfare, even in modern times.

A lot of this stuff is actually just background information that I wanted to have before I started out. I am still changing it and abandoning ideas that I once had, for example I originally intended for Wes from Colosseum to have Aura powers, but I realised that it would make a lot more sense for Rui to have them.

I'm still also working out how some of the manga events fit in there as well.

I apologise for walls of text. I tried to seperate them and keep them to keep them less wall-y.