DISCUSSION: Interpreting Stats in a Pokemon fanic

[Greninjaman]

You know, one problem I have come across is this: Incorporating stats into your story. How do you interpret them? HP is easy, as is attack, defense and speed. It's Special Attack and Special Defense that are problematic.

Here's what I have:
HP = Stamina
Attack = Physical Strength
Defense = Endurance
Speed = how fast it can move (weight and size matters)

What do you guys think?

 

[diamondpearl876]

Interesting, using fitness components to describe the stats...

This is how I'd do it, personally.

HP = Endurance/Stamina
Attack = Physical Strength
Defense = Physical-based
Special Attack = Power
Special Defense = Fortitude
Speed = Agility/Coordination/Reaction Time/Flexibility, and other related terms

Endurance is about maximizing the amount of time your body can focus on an action (ie., you want a Pokémon to be able to maximize the amount of time it can stand its ground in a battle). Stamina is related to that in that it focuses on maximizing how often/how much your body can perform a certain task (ie., you want a Pokémon to be able to have the capacity to use 10 Flamethrowers in a battle versus, say, 5 - just as an example). So, I lumped them together.

Power involves applying the maximum amount of force in a minimum amount of time, so I'd use that as Special Attack. I had a thought to simply link a Pokémon's elemental/supernatural attacks (fire-, ghost-, water-type attacks...) to it, with Special Defense being the ability to withstand such attacks, which is a more like the games, but eh.

Don't really know what to properly call what I put for Defense, but how I'd do it: Defense is, well, physically being able to withstand attacks, with Special Defense having the mental ability to not give up and problem solve in the face of a tough battle.

 

[Iggy]

Somehow this feels familiar.

 

[diamondpearl876]

Somehow this feels familiar.

Indeed, though this is a specific topic rather than a general thread, so I'll leave it be.

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

Stats in games are a serious abstraction of a pokémon's characteristics, informed by the need for game balance and simplicity. I suggest interpreting them liberally, with more of a focus on the story than any adaptation of game mechanics.

 

[DarkMeow]

I personally think in a story context, stats could be interpreted pretty generally. I don't think there are solid numbers in existence in the general Pokémon world that judge a Pokémon's stats and then give them a number. Perhaps there are battle tests Pokémon can perform, and then they're put into a general "class" of sorts. For example, a Pokémon that endures hits really well could be put in a higher class in that category than a glass jaw Pokémon that can't take a hit.

Well darn I do believe I just described something similar to the site Smogon.

-HP and Defence can be interpreted as a Pokémon's ability to endure multiple hits. Whether or not there's solid numbers on a Pokémon's HP is up to you I suppose.
-Attack seems pretty self-explanatory; a Pokémon's strength and possibly skill with physical attacks and the like. Personally I do think skill would play into this; a Pokémon that knows how to be precise with attacks and can think quickly on where to hit an opponent for greatest effect would logically be stronger and have a higher Attack stat. This could play into the mechanics of EV training in a general context, as fighting certain Pokémon causes more growth in the Attack skill. Also, the fact the Pokémon that are trained are naturally stronger than wild Pokémon shows a correlation with training and skill with the Attack stat.
-Special Defence and Special Attack could be combined into one Special stat, as in older games for story purposes. This could determine a Pokémon's ability to take Psychic attacks, as well as attacks utilizing energy. It would also determine a Pokémon's ability to use its own internal energy to form a strong attack. While the generalization of combining both Special Attack and Special Defence may not have worked for the game series (considering how people love their precise numbers, and maybe it just didn't work because a Pokémon with just a high Special would be more advantaged since it technically is guaranteed two high stats for the price of one), it would probably work fine in a story context.
-Speed would simply determine a Pokémon's, well, quickness. I'm not sure if the Speed stat affects the in-game in-battle Evasive stat, but you could make a speedier Pokémon simply more evasive.

These are just what I'd personally use the stats as in a more general story context. As in real life, you can't really pin solid numbers on people judging their performance. Sure, someone may be able to lift a certain amount of weight, but they might not be able to throw a good punch, or take a good punch either. And mental acuity can't really be measured either; IQ measurements are far too general to be accurate IMO. Generalizing would most likely be MORE accurate. Anyways, bit of a tangent there, but hopefully it made sense.