Thread: Original Trainer fic(s)?

I've been lurking a bit here, and I'm wondering about the general feeling towards "Original Trainer fics." I know what they are; in fact, I've begun planning and tenatively writing one.

I would love some feedback on the idea, and suggestions on ways to change it are welcome.

I'm wondering what the 'Do's and Don'ts' are fr this kind of fic. Are there any tips or tricks to it? What if it focuses more on the OT's Pokémon than on the OT?

Thanks a bunch, guys!

EDIT: I've been notified that I should post the content and eliminate the links. So, I'm going to copy-paste and synthesize the contents. Please be patient, as it may take several edits.

Okay, so here's the premise:

"Set in Kanto, during the Generation I time frame, with the attendant limitations. There will be one, possibly two, main characters. I am certain that one of them is a somewhat tomboyish girl, named Sheila. Sheila Burke. She likes to be called "Shell," and rarely "Shelly." She comes from Mossgreen Village, located bewteen Cinnabar Island and the Safari Zone. She is 11 or 12 at the start. She does not know what she wants to do when she grows up, and bored and frustrated, decides to become a Pokemon trainer, hoping that perhaps it will ignite the passion that she lacks in school. The other factor in her making the choice is that she, "wants to see what it's all about," living in a world where Pokemon trainers have respect and status akin to celebrity. Living alongside, of course, those with the jobs in our world: lawyers, doctors, law enforcement, and so on.

Given that her hometown is situated near Cinnabar Island (a locale populated by Poison and Fire-type creatures), she chooses a Charmander as her starter Pokemon. Unsure of what what lies ahead of her, she sets out. Her first catch is a Meowth that tried to steal from her.

Her main team will consist of the following Pokemon:

* "Char": Charizard, male

* "?": Meowth, male

* "Quincy": Vaporeon, female

* "J": Arbok, undetermined

* "Chu": Raichu, male

* "Joker": Ghastly, undetermined

She was raised (I'm using this cliche on purpose, just FYI) by a single parent: her somewhat aloof, pushy, and gruff father. Her mother left them for a man with whom she was having an affair, two years prior to the start. Sheila hears from her sporadically, mostly through letters or calls on the PC-Video-Phone-esque thing.

I'm mixing the worlds of both the first-season anime and the manga "The Electric Tale of Pikachu". I do not claim this depiction as being my original work, only a combination of preexisting material.

The world is dangerous, and Pokemon are basically, "defense against all the other creatures." I want to look at a number of things: What if a trainer ''isn't'' successful? How can an 11 or 12 year old be sent out, by themselves, with monsters that they're expected to train as protection and competition? How would a kid that age actually handle that situation? What if a criminal organization were in fact the most reasonable option for survival?

Shell may or may not have a travelling companion. If she does, it will be a boy 2 or 3 years older than her, possibly a delinquent. This is still under zThe themes I think I would like to explore are detailed in the following:

"As for this fic, I think I want to explore a) The Pokemon world (which can be basically analogous to the Japanese Archipalego) in relation to the real world, and how the two mesh outside of the "Japanese Landmass Analogue"; b) How Pokemon relate to the humans in their environment, and how they both can change dramatically as a result of that relationship; c) The whole idea of parents letting their kids get legal liscences to capture, own, and train what are essentially monsters - and then they just set them loose... I highly doubt that all those kids know basic wilderness survival skills, or how to take care of themselves. I wouldn't be at all surprised that there are a lot of casualties stemming from that, sadly... That, of course, get pretty much glossed over. There's just always been something about that that disturbed me, even when I was a kid playing Red and Blue, it seemed kinda strange. I want to explore what it might actually be like for an eleven year old suddenly being in that kind of situation.

I don't want the work to be too dark - Pokemon DarkFic is kind of depressing to me, but I do want to explore those things."

I would suggest that you post the ideas here so that you can get more feedback; I know linking to stories is not allowed, but I'm not sure about discussion threads. Besides, if you post the ideas here you are more likely to get a feedback.

But regarding my general attitude towards Original Trainers, I think you'll find that most stories have here feature Original Trainers, and I quite enjoy Original Trainers a lot more than Canon Trainers. As I see it, creating any Original Character opens endless possibilities for the routes you can take your creation through, and from experience, I can say that using Canon Characters, and trying to keep the story grounded in whatever Canon it is set it, can be limiting, as you don't want to contradict the games, anime or the manga.

Regarding Pokémon, I don't see why they should get more attention, or less. Some people refer to these stories as Trainer, while other refer to them as Journey, and I find Journey more fitting, as a journey does include the Pokémon, and I think they should get equal attention in the story. Not necessarily all of them, but those that are central; having all of them be just be background characters could reflect badly on the Trainer.

Really interesting premise. I like the idea that leaving home to become a Pokemon trainer is something one might do if they're really unsure of what they want to do with their lives and it sounds like you're portraying it as something like telling your parents you're moving to NY to become a model in terms of how people would react to it.

I also like the idea of a trainer that isn't successful and the "evil" organisation being her best option. If they provide her with support and help etc. I suppose they're not that evil in a way? You're starting to get into an exploration of the mentality of why people join cults there and that is another thing that I think is very interesting. I look forward to you posting this. Please let me know when you do.

So far, it seems like you've got most of the story planned out, but my only concern is that you seem to want to make the Pokémon world as realistic as possible, yet you have a Main Character whose personality can very well make her a cartoon character; It could be because you haven't explained her character as well as you might have wanted to.

But everything else seems fine; I hope you get started with the story soon.

Sounds intriguing! Can't wait to read it!

Originally Posted by Gastly's Mama

Really interesting premise. I like the idea that leaving home to become a Pokemon trainer is something one might do if they're really unsure of what they want to do with their lives and it sounds like you're portraying it as something like telling your parents you're moving to NY to become a model in terms of how people would react to it.

I also like the idea of a trainer that isn't successful and the "evil" organisation being her best option. If they provide her with support and help etc. I suppose they're not that evil in a way? You're starting to get into an exploration of the mentality of why people join cults there and that is another thing that I think is very interesting. I look forward to you posting this. Please let me know when you do.

Thank you! It just struck me as being like everything else: if you're not sure what you want, what do you do? Exactly - training might be a unique feature of the setting, but it gets treated like everything else does.

So do I, that thought of what happens next if you don't reach your goal? Yeah, though I'm not sure I it'l be Shell with Team Rocket, perhaps her companion. In Japan, TR was meant to evoke the Yakuza, and despite being a widespread criminal organization, does contribute positively to the community in some ways. I imagine the Rockets being similar. We did a highly- focused unit on cults in Sociology relatively recently, which will be used some, and I guess it would show even without a direct reference. Thank you. I would be happy to.

Originally Posted by Kyuujux

So far, it seems like you've got most of the story planned out, but my only concern is that you seem to want to make the Pokémon world as realistic as possible, yet you have a Main Character whose personality can very well make her a cartoon character; It could be because you haven't explained her character as well as you might have wanted to.

But everything else seems fine; I hope you get started with the story soon.

Actually, I don't have much of it planned, but I have a plan.
Yes, you're right. Her character is coming along,however, as I write. I think that the personality problem will be resolved successfully. Thank you for bringing it to my attention.

Thank you. I have gotten started, and I think you will find it interesting.

This sounds like stories that I have tried writing for a few years now (I acctually have one posted but I'm not happy with it at all) so rigth now I planed to start another one off my ideas involving what you wrote here but very diffrent. If you want to we could read eachothers work and give feedback as our stories continue.

Some of the answers to the question you wrote here:
One of the best pokémon fanfics I've read stars around pokémon with humans appearing only in small parts until the most recent chapters. The storys name is "The Path of Destiny" and is up on both deviantART and fanfiction.net.

As for if Shell should have a traveling companion it would mostly depend on who that guy is. You said he was older does that mean that he is a "failed" trainer that A) tries to help Shell reach a goal he couldn't B) trying to stop her from doing a mistake he did C) don't care what she does and just tags along since they're going the same way anyway I can think of a lot more reasons he could tag along but that would start getting confusing.

Originally Posted by Lost-Tresure

This sounds like stories that I have tried writing for a few years now (I acctually have one posted but I'm not happy with it at all) so rigth now I planed to start another one off my ideas involving what you wrote here but very diffrent. If you want to we could read eachothers work and give feedback as our stories continue.

That sounds pretty interesting! Sure, I would love that.

Some of the answers to the question you wrote here:
One of the best pokémon fanfics I've read stars around pokémon with humans appearing only in small parts until the most recent chapters. The storys name is "The Path of Destiny" and is up on both deviantART and fanfiction.net.

As for if Shell should have a traveling companion it would mostly depend on who that guy is. You said he was older does that mean that he is a "failed" trainer that A) tries to help Shell reach a goal he couldn't B) trying to stop her from doing a mistake he did C) don't care what she does and just tags along since they're going the same way anyway I can think of a lot more reasons he could tag along but that would start getting confusing.

I have a deviantART and a fanfiction.net account -- I'll definitely go check it out. Thank you!

Hmmm... Actually, I don't think he's a failed Trainer, or a Trainer at all. He is a deliquent, though -- the "too cool for school, Yusuke Urameshi" type. I'm not quite sure why he'd tag along with a younger kid, really. I can see him falling in with TR, though... If you've got any ideas he could tag along, I'd love to hear 'em, confusing or not.

Originally Posted by Punkreader

Originally Posted by Lost-Tresure

This sounds like stories that I have tried writing for a few years now (I acctually have one posted but I'm not happy with it at all) so rigth now I planed to start another one off my ideas involving what you wrote here but very diffrent. If you want to we could read eachothers work and give feedback as our stories continue.

That sounds pretty interesting! Sure, I would love that.

Some of the answers to the question you wrote here:
One of the best pokémon fanfics I've read stars around pokémon with humans appearing only in small parts until the most recent chapters. The storys name is "The Path of Destiny" and is up on both deviantART and fanfiction.net.

As for if Shell should have a traveling companion it would mostly depend on who that guy is. You said he was older does that mean that he is a "failed" trainer that A) tries to help Shell reach a goal he couldn't B) trying to stop her from doing a mistake he did C) don't care what she does and just tags along since they're going the same way anyway I can think of a lot more reasons he could tag along but that would start getting confusing.

I have a deviantART and a fanfiction.net account -- I'll definitely go check it out. Thank you!

Hmmm... Actually, I don't think he's a failed Trainer, or a Trainer at all. He is a deliquent, though -- the "too cool for school, Yusuke Urameshi" type. I'm not quite sure why he'd tag along with a younger kid, really. I can see him falling in with TR, though... If you've got any ideas he could tag along, I'd love to hear 'em, confusing or not.

Yay ^w^

I could think of millions of reasons why he would tag along and it would help to know alittle more about him. The idea below is somting I see as pretty neutral to any personality.

He could tag along because he couldn't or isn't allowed to have pokémon or possibly he could have a connection with TR that he dosen't want, this could involve him knowing something and being chased by TR or appearing in the wrong place at the wrong time and getting chased by the police thinking he is part of TR.

In general, I'd rather read an original trainer fic than a rehashed character fic.

Originally Posted by Lost-Tresure

Originally Posted by Punkreader

Originally Posted by Lost-Tresure

This sounds like stories that I have tried writing for a few years now (I acctually have one posted but I'm not happy with it at all) so rigth now I planed to start another one off my ideas involving what you wrote here but very diffrent. If you want to we could read eachothers work and give feedback as our stories continue.

That sounds pretty interesting! Sure, I would love that.

Some of the answers to the question you wrote here:
One of the best pokémon fanfics I've read stars around pokémon with humans appearing only in small parts until the most recent chapters. The storys name is "The Path of Destiny" and is up on both deviantART and fanfiction.net.

As for if Shell should have a traveling companion it would mostly depend on who that guy is. You said he was older does that mean that he is a "failed" trainer that A) tries to help Shell reach a goal he couldn't B) trying to stop her from doing a mistake he did C) don't care what she does and just tags along since they're going the same way anyway I can think of a lot more reasons he could tag along but that would start getting confusing.

I have a deviantART and a fanfiction.net account -- I'll definitely go check it out. Thank you!

Hmmm... Actually, I don't think he's a failed Trainer, or a Trainer at all. He is a deliquent, though -- the "too cool for school, Yusuke Urameshi" type. I'm not quite sure why he'd tag along with a younger kid, really. I can see him falling in with TR, though... If you've got any ideas he could tag along, I'd love to hear 'em, confusing or not.

Yay ^w^

I could think of millions of reasons why he would tag along and it would help to know alittle more about him. The idea below is somting I see as pretty neutral to any personality.

He could tag along because he couldn't or isn't allowed to have pokémon or possibly he could have a connection with TR that he dosen't want, this could involve him knowing something and being chased by TR or appearing in the wrong place at the wrong time and getting chased by the police thinking he is part of TR.

:D

Oh! I like that - that he couldn't or isn't allowed to have Pokemon (even due to a TR connection) gives me more a sense of his possible character, to be sure. Knowing myself, I'll turn into an "exposition fairy" if I get excited, and I don't want to spoil anything. I'll send a PM.

Originally Posted by Punkreader

Originally Posted by Lost-Tresure

Originally Posted by Punkreader

Originally Posted by Lost-Tresure

This sounds like stories that I have tried writing for a few years now (I acctually have one posted but I'm not happy with it at all) so rigth now I planed to start another one off my ideas involving what you wrote here but very diffrent. If you want to we could read eachothers work and give feedback as our stories continue.

That sounds pretty interesting! Sure, I would love that.

Some of the answers to the question you wrote here:
One of the best pokémon fanfics I've read stars around pokémon with humans appearing only in small parts until the most recent chapters. The storys name is "The Path of Destiny" and is up on both deviantART and fanfiction.net.

As for if Shell should have a traveling companion it would mostly depend on who that guy is. You said he was older does that mean that he is a "failed" trainer that A) tries to help Shell reach a goal he couldn't B) trying to stop her from doing a mistake he did C) don't care what she does and just tags along since they're going the same way anyway I can think of a lot more reasons he could tag along but that would start getting confusing.

I have a deviantART and a fanfiction.net account -- I'll definitely go check it out. Thank you!

Hmmm... Actually, I don't think he's a failed Trainer, or a Trainer at all. He is a deliquent, though -- the "too cool for school, Yusuke Urameshi" type. I'm not quite sure why he'd tag along with a younger kid, really. I can see him falling in with TR, though... If you've got any ideas he could tag along, I'd love to hear 'em, confusing or not.

Yay ^w^

I could think of millions of reasons why he would tag along and it would help to know alittle more about him. The idea below is somting I see as pretty neutral to any personality.

He could tag along because he couldn't or isn't allowed to have pokémon or possibly he could have a connection with TR that he dosen't want, this could involve him knowing something and being chased by TR or appearing in the wrong place at the wrong time and getting chased by the police thinking he is part of TR.

:D

Oh! I like that - that he couldn't or isn't allowed to have Pokemon (even due to a TR connection) gives me more a sense of his possible character, to be sure. Knowing myself, I'll turn into an "exposition fairy" if I get excited, and I don't want to spoil anything. I'll send a PM.

I'm fine with that ^w^

I don't even enjoy reading fics about pre-existing characters, unless they're drastically different from the source. OT fics are among the better fanfic genres, maybe second only to horror (which has produced all my favorite Pokemon work).
I love that you're thinking about realism without going too dark. Some suggestions (things I'll eventually incorporate when my big-ass twelve part epic finally gets into gear):
1. government. In the games and TV show, there's arguably almost no government, except the Pokemon League (and a few towns have mayors). But this is unrealistic. Consider at least throwing in a few paragraphs about government, though it's okay if it's not super plot important, considering your main character will likely not be of voting age.
2. money. Consider making your main character poor. Think how all those Pokeballs, potions, food, traveling supplies cost money. Wouldn't Pokemon training then really be the sport of the middle and upper classes? Something poor kids just can't afford unless they're lucky. Make economic class conflict a part of how your character relates with other characters.
3. Pokemon intelligence. Where do you come down on the idea of Pokemon sentience? How intelligent are Pokemon in your story?
4. In a lot of fics I've read, every single character cares about Pokemon training. But this, too, isn't realistic. Even in a world with powerful, friendly creatures who can battle for you, I think there's a lot of people who'd be content just to be accountants or lawyers or politicians or whatever without really giving a shit about Pokemon. Just something to think about.

Anyway, good luck with your story, and I'd be willing to help you out if you send me a PM. :D