He She or It

[TrainerRyan]

how should I refer Pokemon in writing? He/She or do I just go with how the games do it and call them It?

 

[Beth Pavell]

I write from perspective - if my character knows the pokémon's gender (Either because they own it or know the relevant gender differences), I use the appropriate pronoun. Or always "it" for genderless pokémon

 

[PiccoloX]

It depends on the significance of the Pokemon. Everyone knows Pikachu is a "he". Does anybody know what Cilans Pansage was? It was an insignificant "it". I don't think it was bothered to be referenced once throughout BW. Ashes Starly was female, but such information was only brought up once, so it's still an "it". Ashes Snivy was a "she". A total b*^€h sometimes, but still a "she".

Ironically, both Snivy and Starly were revealed to be "she" during the same episode, but only Snivy kept reminding us and Starlys gender was never brought up again.

 

[Legacy]

I agree with @Pavell. If the POV character knows the Pokemon in question is a male, I would refer to the Pokemon as "he."

If the Pokemon is an unknown gender to the POV character, "it."

 

[GastlyGibus]

For me, it depends on the type of story you're writing.

If it's a PMD inspired universe, where the characters are the Pokemon themselves, obviously they have genders that will influence their character and their decisions. For those types of stories, unless it's some kind of genderless being like Magnemite, use the appropriate pronoun.

If it's the traditional anime/game style, then like others have said, it depends on the POV being used. I still use he or she, just because it adds a more personal touch to the Pokemon in question. I just hate using "it." That sounds so impersonal and almost insulting, at least in my opinion. Though now that I think about it, I think you could have a funny moment with that. Like, have some character who thinks Pokemon are gross/creepy (Misty and Caterpie come to mind) and constantly refers to them as "it" out of spite.

 

[AetherX]

For me it depends on the POV character. Do they think of their Pokemon as he/she or it?

That's how I write it anyway.

 

[Lord Kyuubi]

I personally always use he/she, unless there's a good reason to use 'it', like if the pokemon is actually genderless. As others have said, I find 'it' to be a very impersonal and offensive term, which shouldn't be used if you want your pokemon to have any sense of personality, or even life. Calling them 'it' sounds too generic, like you're referring to objects or tools. Depending on the POV, this may actually be a good thing, of course, especially if your normal POV uses he/she. But anyway, for normal purposes, I find he/she the more appropriate option.

 

[Drakon]

If a pokémon's is gender is known, then the proper pronoun is used.

If gender is not known then it is used.

 

[The Dude]

He or she unless it's genderless or would be really difficult to realistically tell the gender at a glance. I feel "it" depersonalizes Pokemon, and should be avoided whenever possible.

 

[voidcritter]

You could also take a third option and go for the singular "they".

I prefer to use "he/she" over "it", unless the Pokemon in question is unfamiliar to the POV character in any way.

Sexless Pokemon that are familiar to the POV character and legendaries, I always refer to using the singular "they". It's a pretty low-key pronoun and doesn't feel as impersonal as "it", so it works.

 

[Lugion]

Generally, my answer has already been given. If a Pokémon's sex is known, he or she will be referred to with the appropriate pronouns. Genderless Pokémon will be referred to as "he" or "she" depending on how that Pokémon is perceived by the POV character. For example, Steven Stone always refers to his Beldum with masculine pronouns. Another character, however, might refer to Steven's Beldum with feminine pronouns instead.

Legendary Pokémon can change depending on things. I generally look at Lugia as being male and Ho-oh as being female since Ho-oh is based on the Chinese Phoenix (which in modern times is female) to Lugia's dragon (since Eastern dragons are often associated with water, like Lugia is). Mew could be many different things depending on the POV character. Mewtwo is typically male. Groudon is male and Kyogre is female. Zekrom is male while Reshiram is female. Etc. Now guys like Arceus, Dialga, Palkia, and Giratina? It. They're pretty much literal gods. I dunno. I'm weird.

 

[Silverwynde]

If the Pokemon has a known gender, I use the proper term for that gender. For genderless ones, it gets trickier.

I've been working on a PMD fic that features a lot of genderless Pokemon. Since a lot of the action takes place in the Pokemon world, I've had those Pokemon "choose" their genders. Some feel closer to male so they refer to themselves as such. Other are more feminine and will pick female names. It all depends on how that Pokemon views itself.

 

[Boshi234]

Well if the Pokémon is genderless like Mewtwo or a Porygon I should say that it depends how the Pokémon identifies itself (well Porygon isn't a Psychic type so I don't if it can ask itself these kinds of questions. If your story takes place in a world of talking Pokémon like in the Mystery Dungeon sub-series the ones that have gender can be easily identified as ''he'' or ''she'' but remember to know when to use these pronouns so it might be more easy to say the name of the Pokémon like for example,
''Rodrigo, Michael's Umbreon is poisoned by Kevin's Nidorino''. That example wasn't the best I could make up because I don't usually write stories.

 

[diamondpearl876]

I always identify a pokemon by its gender. I'm in the boat that says pokemon are as complex as humans when it comes to personality and all that, so I believe they should be treated as such. Even one of my characters, born male, prefers female pronouns. It just kind of happened that way.

The only exception I've made so far is for Kyurem since its legendary and its gender isn't really relevant. It's a recurring character, but if it appeared more often, I'd give it a gender.