• Hey Trainers! Be sure to check out Corsola Beach, our newest section on the forums, in partnership with our friends at Corsola Cove! At the Beach, you can discuss the competitive side of the games, post your favorite Pokemon memes, and connect with other Pokemon creators!
  • Due to the recent changes with Twitter's API, it is no longer possible for Bulbagarden forum users to login via their Twitter account. If you signed up to Bulbagarden via Twitter and do not have another way to login, please contact us here with your Twitter username so that we can get you sorted.

Capitalization Rules for Pokemon? (Discussion Topic)

Which convention?

  • Total voters
    53
Re: [discussion] What capitalization convention do you use?

Giratina! said:
That's what bugs me about her - she can have any darn belief she wants, but nobody should go around trumpeting their fanon as canon.
Click to expand...

That is not what mainly bugs me about her but is that is one of them.

My main pet peeve with Farla is her staggering arrogance and overt elitism and rudeness. She basically took it upon herself (and a small core of her followers) to launch what can only be called a crusade to "clean up" the Pokémon fan fiction section.

-------------------------------------------------

For names, how about "Virtual Pet Method" for the "Bulbapedia
Method"?
 
Re: [discussion] What capitalization convention do you use?

Drakon said:
For names, how about "Virtual Pet Method" for the "Bulbapedia Method"?
Click to expand...

I'm not sure... mainly because the phenomenon isn't meant to be a defining trait of the Virtual Pet genre.

A lot of fictional species in non-VPet genres also do this. For example, the Andalites in Animorphs, as well as the Howlers, the Chee, the Hork-Bajir, the Yeerks themselves...

I think a lot of the capitalization is context-dependency in the first place. Because these common nouns do not exist in a dictionary, there is a need to capitalize them to distinguish them from real words.

I bet that if Farla (and her band of reviewers) got a hold of other fandoms, they'd be saying the same thing. "Don't capitalize 'yeerks', what are you doing?"

There's another, separate band of reviewers on FF.net that focus on removing abusive stories. But the way they do it is just so snarky that they're never taken seriously.
 
Last edited:
Re: [discussion] What capitalization convention do you use?

Gah.

How about "Species Method" or "Xeno Method"?
 
Re: [discussion] What capitalization convention do you use?

Drakon said:
Gah.

How about "Species Method" or "Xeno Method"?
Click to expand...

Probably not... it should probably be something that references the capitalization itself, or what does the capitalizing, rather than the thing that's being capitalized. For example, the "Common Noun" method is the method where all common nouns are just common nouns without capitalization.

At this rate, the German method might not be such a bad contender for the main name after all.

Although "Xeno" might make sense. We'll see how it goes.
 
Re: [discussion] What capitalization convention do you use?

My method is like this:

"The pokémon trainer gave his Squirtle a potion and hopped on his bicycle to the Viridian City Pokémon Center."

"The pokémon trainer ordered his Squirtle to use Tackle."

I'm trying to go towards the Common Noun method, though.
 
Re: [discussion] What capitalization convention do you use?

It's not so much that I fear calling her out by name (outside of a possible superstitious Beetlejuice-inspired outcome) that I'd just rather avoid any possible conflict, because those debates on FFN really are a nightmare. And this is coming from someone who's never interacted with her before. I was considering blocking her already as a precautionary measure before, and after hearing this I think I kinda want to seriously consider doing it now. Just to spare myself the grief, because the last thing I want to do is try to communicate with someone who will only bother responding with multiple emoticons or otherwise just not take anyone seriously, because evidently in a debate it's all about her and absolutely every point of view is invalid except for hers.

People like that are just completely a waste of time trying to get through to. Doesn't matter if she's "right" and a competent writer herself. Like I said, the capitalization thing should be a "to each his/her own" thing since there are perfectly logical reasons to use either or. As long as your general grammar/spelling is in check, to me this is more an issue of style than it is accuracy. While it screws with me visually to see Pokemon terminology not capitalized, it's not something that completely impedes my ability to read a story. I like to think it's the same the other way around, too. There's really no need for a right/wrong in this subject at all... just preference.

That said, I don't really have any ideas at this time about settling on a name for the term. Some kind of word that collectively covers how all official Pokemon media use this convention for fictional species, items, and other Pokemon-related lingo... trickier than it looks.
 
Re: [discussion] What capitalization convention do you use?

In French, however, I use the Common Noun method. A lot of things that are capitalized in English aren't in French.

Also, in French, when referring to the species as a whole, it's proper to put an article before it. (This might be moot already, but just in case.)

For example:

"Buoysel is my favourite species of Pokemon."
"Le mustébouée est mon espèce favorite de pokémon."

I imagine that in German, the point is moot that you should use the "German method"/Bulbapedia method.
 
Re: What capitalization convention do you use?

Context-Dependant 'till I die! i couldn't imagine capitalising 'bicycle' etc. It just looks terrible!
 
Capitalisation of Pokemon names

Do you capitalise the names of Pokemon species' in your fics? Personally, I think it makes more sense not too, seeing as Pokemon are basically the Pokemon world's equivalent of animals, and we don't capitalize the names of them.
 
Re: Capitalisation of Pokemon names

Personally, I always capitalize them. They're capitalized in all official works so I think that's big enough of a clue that that's how it's meant to be. Pokémon and all various species aren't really a natural part of any language so it isn't mandatory that they should conform to the grammar norms.
 
Re: Capitalisation of Pokemon names

I've seen arguments from both camps, and they both make some kind of sense. I just go with always capitalising them, simply because it feels right to me. By the same token, though, I won't jump on someone for failing to capitalise the names. As long as they're consistent with what they do, I don't mind. It feels a bit weird reading a fic without the Pokemon names capitalised, but I won't mention it in my review because that's just how they've decided to do it. And I won't get into an argument over why one should use one form or the other, because neither side is necessarily right or wrong.
 
Re: Capitalisation of Pokemon names

I do capitalise them, and only because they are capitalised in the canon of Pokémon; besides it is their names, not the species names, indicated by the game asking you to give them a nickname as opposed to an entire new name.
 
Re: Capitalisation of Pokemon names

Yeah, I capitalise the names too, I simply got used to writing that way.
 
Re: Capitalisation of Pokemon names

I always capitalize the names of Pokémon because they are always capitalized in the PokéDex entries and other things Nintendo related.

I also like to put the accented "e" in Pokémon, too. =P
 
Re: Capitalisation of Pokemon names

When used as names: Yes, I capitalize them (f.ex. when Ash's Pikachu, I always refer to Pikachu with a large P. Same with all owned pokemon, generally)
When used as the species: No, I don't capitalize them.

I typically don't capitalize the word pokemon either, except when I'm referring to the Pokemon franchise itself. I don't capitalize pokeball either (but I generally refer to Great Balls, Master Balls etc. as brands, thus I capitalize them). And so on, that train of thought.
 
Re: Capitalisation of Pokemon names

I always capitalize Pokémon names. That's how it's done in the games, so that's how I do it.

I also tend to capitalize the word "Champion", but I flip-flop on the words "trainer", "gym", "gym leader", "coordinator" and "master". In those cases, "a trainer", "a gym", "a gym leader", "a coordinator" and "a master" can be generic descriptions, whereas "the Champion" is an official title and can be considered a proper noun. I do capitalize "gym" when it's used as part of the full name, as in "Pewter Gym".

And, of course, I prefer to capitalize the names of in-game items. Man-made items like Poké Balls and Super Repels probably have their names trademarked with capital letters by their manufacturers, and things like the Adamant Orb, Lustrous Orb and Griseous Orb are probably capitalized in whatever legends refer to them. Probably the only thing I'm sketchy on is the names of berry types and herbs. (Real-world items like water, soda, lemonade, bicycles, etc. don't count as in-game items, unless they're specific kinds like the Mach Bike or Acro Bike.)
 
Re: Capitalisation of Pokemon names

Nintendo capitalizes them, and so then do I.

If you're going for a hard realistic fic, though, it'd be proper not to, because animal species names are not proper names, and thus are not capitalized.
 
Re: Capitalisation of Pokemon names

They're proper nouns in the context of the series, and should therefore be capitalized. Real-world species aren't capitalized, though there are some exceptions. I can sort of understand the logic of not wanting to capitalize their names, but I would always go with what's been established in canon.
 
Re: Capitalisation of Pokemon names

Always. That's how it's done in canon.
 
Please note: The thread is from 7 years ago.
Please take the age of this thread into consideration in writing your reply. Depending on what exactly you wanted to say, you may want to consider if it would be better to post a new thread instead.
Back
Top Bottom