Original pokemon moves and altered movesets

[Lord Kyuubi]

Um, hello. So I've been reading through odd sections of my story here and there, and this little topic has come to my attention. Sure, I don't tend to keep to actual moves especially well, and the moves pokemon use tend to be more 'approximately inspired by' in-game moves rather than literally the moves themselves, if that makes sense. But another thing I tend to do is very obviously and deliberately give out some powers and suchlike that a pokemon just flat out can't learn in the games.

So, if anyone's really genuinely interested, generally how I tend to explain this is through study of magic. By extensively studying, a pokemon can learn certain techniques to allow them to control supernatural powers normally beyond their reach. At the point their study is sufficient, they receive a set of fancy kanji tattoos based on the powers they wish to master or learn, as a symbol of their powers. For example, the antagonist who's a ninetales, has a lightning tattoo among others, so she can use lightning powers. Makes sense.

Another thing I've been toying with is the idea of original moves, which don't correspond to anything from the games at all. The aforementioned ninetales uses her own technique she calls the 'spectral dash'. It's exactly what it sounds like - she turns all ghostly and then dashes in a direction, making it only barely short of short-ranged teleportation for moving around. And if she hits you mid-dash, it hurts, to say the least. It is quite a difficult and tiring technique, though.

So anyway, I've done these things. They're not strictly or even remotely within the rules of the game. What's everyone else's take on this sort of thing?

 

[Beth Pavell]

Well, I suppose my opinions on the game canon are fairly well known by now. I treat the official movesets as a guide, and since I'm not writing even vaguely within the gameverse I don't see any particular reason to be strict about it. Fanfiction lets you sort out odd problems in the canon - in this case, moves that pokémon shouldn't have but do, and vice-versa. For me as a reader as much as an author the litmus test has to be common sense. An Ivysaur could use Slam, or Circle Throw with use of its vines, well and good. Thunderbolt stretches it a lot and Flame Charge too far.

When it comes to new moves as an author I would be reluctant to use any at all. There's huge potential for the current moves if you're prepare to think outside the box, so I would always go to the canon moves first

 

[CrystaI]

I take the in-game move set of a Pokemon (both natural level-up and TM moves) as a basic standard and yet also an extension guideline. As a standard, it tells me the very basic mechanism of a move, how does it execute and what effects it has on the Pokemon and/or opponent. But that to me is simply the basic of the basics, so it act as a guideline for further extension, how much more are you going to build upon it is simply the choice and liberty of the author.

Say for example, in my current fic, the Pikachu possessed by my protagonist knows the move Magnet Rise. I depict the mechanism of this move as allowing the Pokemon to float in air due to generate a magnetic field which counteracts gravitational acceleration (aka magnetic levitation). But, rather than just floating in air, I adapt the technology theories of Maglev train, where by using Magnet Rise during normal moving, the magnetic propulsion will help the Pokemon reach higher acceleration, therefore obtaining an instantaneous superspeed velocity where such speed is far higher than running normally on feet, at the same time doesn't use at much stamina as running normally on feet.

And as another example, the Lucario possessed by another character in my fic. Obviously as a Lucario, everyone should knew it is a fighting-type Pokemon. But the question is: HOW does it fight? Since it has a rather slender body and high speed, it should capable to move nimbly and maneuverably, not just its body but also its four limbs as well. So it is rather inappropriate IMO to imagine Lucario fight like a brawny wrestler and/or boxer, where they fight muscularly. I rather imagined Lucario fight like a Chinese martial artist, especially like the Shaolin monks in the Ming dynasty era, where they fight in a skillful style. Therefore, that Lucario in my fic utilizes different style of Chinese martial art when it does Close Combat. BTW, Shaolin is merely one of the style in Chinese martial art, there exist many other different styles, where each differs significantly. One may do further research if interested.

So to put it shortly, the in-game move set of a Pokemon to me is not a maximum limit which confine my imagination, rather oppositely it is a minimum standard where anything above is possible. But, that "anything above" must align with the information that in-game move set depicts, and of course the characteristic and traits of the Pokemon itself.


And regarding to original moves, I kind of implanted it into the linked move which I always used in my fic. I always have the Pokemon in my fic execute more than one move at the same time, or execute several moves consecutively yet orderly, or combine mechanism of several moves into one new moves. For these linked moves, it will be super awkward to instruct the Pokemon during battle as "Move1 + Move2 + Move3 + ......". So for every linked move, I'll give them original title named by the trainer. BTW, this just shows the naming sense and style of each character in my fic.

Say for example, a Gallade in my fic possessed by the rival of protagonist, he have his Gallade linked the moves of Swords Dance, Teleport, Double Team and Fury Cutter. Where the result is a super fast chaotic sword action slashing the opponent continuously from different direction while the opponent is confused by the multiple moving shadow of Gallade (Inside my head, I imagined it will be so cool like the battle animation of SRW OG series). The rival named this linked move as Espes Rhapsody, quite a cool name.

 

[VeniaSilente]

I take ingame movelists as most things that are tied to the Pokédex in canon: good as a starting point, but in dire need of fixes that are what fanfiction is for (since it'll be at least a good time before GF hires me for creative design). At the same time though, I don't limit myself to the videogame part of the franchise - manga, anime and especially the Trading Card Game are fair game for when I need to pull in a move or try to look for interesting ways a Pokémon can use their powers. Not only does the TCG help justify things such as Starly being able to Peck (I mean, really) but also provide a wide range of discrete strategies Pokémon can use with their powers, Espeon being a very good example (go check the Espeon cards, you'll be impressed of what they should potentially be able to do).

Another thing I do is separate the moves a Pokémon can learn by power tiers and approachability in terms of how fast can they be learnt or how readily can they be used in battle (because when you are not in a sanctioned battle, waiting 1-on-1 for a Solarbeam to charge is not really a good idea). But that doesn't really affect the movelists per se and is more a per-character thing.

Of course, common sense and courtesy to the reader are things to be factored in too. Don't introduce too many new or conflicting things at once, and always build on stuff you have presented before to avoid perceived asspull moments.

As such, I don't really have a need to make new moves of my own. If I did, they'd rather be stuff inspired from other franchises, such as a Pokémon using their strongest / most capable moves as a Limit Break (something I already do in a Pokémon RP I am in, post consulting and or approval), or multi battles making use of Chrono Trigger-style combo attacks. And or Triple Finish

 

[Glitchipedia]

I consider the moves and learnsets as defined in-game to be what is officially permitted by the League rules. It may, in theory, be possible to diverge from those learnsets or create new moves entirely, but to do so would be a violation of League policy and disqualify the offending Pokémon from participation in official, League-sanctioned events.

 

[Natu? Natu!]

There are examples of Pokémon in the anime using moves that they cannot learn according to the official game rules, so the scriptwriters don't seem to take the rules too seriously either. Personally, I have no problems with Pokémon knowing moves that they can't learn in the games. After all, a fanfic story is not a game, and I too see the rules as some sort of guidelines. If I can imagine what it would be like if a Pokémon could use a certain move, I would use it in a fanfic. But then again, I can't imagine all Pokémon being able to use all moves, so there are limits.
For example, I have a recurring Pokémon that has been in several fanfics. It is a Natu that knows Hypnosis. Natu cannot learn Hypnosis in the games. It is a psychic move, Natu is a psychic Pokémon, and I have no problems imagining what it would be like or look like if a Natu hypnotized someone. According to the game rules, Natu can learn Steel Wing and Aerial Ace, and given its poor flying ability and the fact that several Pokédexes state outright that it can't fly (it is, in fact, seen flying in A Staravia is born, but it flies very poorly), I find it much harder to imagine a Natu using Aerial Ace in an efficient way than Hypnosis. So I simply decided that my Natu knows Hypnosis (but it does not know, and it won't learn, Aerial Ace or Steel Wing, because that would be more difficult for me personally to imagine it using), and as of today, I haven't got any complaints about it.

You need to decide whether you want your Pokémon's knowledge of a certain move to be something strange to the characters in the story, that is, if you want them to react to it or comment it, or if you want them to simply accept that the Pokémon knows the move in question. Be careful about how you reveal that your Pokémon knows the move. Don't use it as some sort of deus ex machina to get out of a tight spot, you don't want your readers to think that the only reason you gave your Pokémon the ability to use the move in question was because you had painted yourself into a corner story-wise. Another thing is to not make your moves too powerful. If tyhe mopve is very powerful, there must be some sort of 'cost' associated with using it, to explain why your Pokémon doesn't solve all problems using only that move. A super powerful move without any negative sides to it would make a story rather boring, as all battles would be trivial.

 

[Lord Kyuubi]

For example, I have a recurring Pokémon that has been in several fanfics. It is a Natu that knows Hypnosis. Natu cannot learn Hypnosis in the games. It is a psychic move, Natu is a psychic Pokémon, and I have no problems imagining what it would be like or look like if a Natu hypnotized someone. According to the game rules, Natu can learn Steel Wing and Aerial Ace, and given its poor flying ability and the fact that several Pokédexes state outright that it can't fly (it is, in fact, seen flying in A Staravia is born, but it flies very poorly), I find it much harder to imagine a Natu using Aerial Ace in an efficient way than Hypnosis. So I simply decided that my Natu knows Hypnosis (but it does not know, and it won't learn, Aerial Ace or Steel Wing, because that would be more difficult for me personally to imagine it using), and as of today, I haven't got any complaints about it.

Hypnosis is an interesting example, since it's something anyone can theoretically learn, psychic powers or not. Normal people can learn to hypnotise someone. Also, fun fact, it's much easier to hypnotise someone who believes in hypnosis than someone who does not.

But returning to pokemon, I definitely see your point about natu. There are a lot of pokemon who don't learn moves it would make perfect sense to - actually I think there's a whole thread on that. And I can't personally can't see it using Aerial Ace or Steel Wing as you mentioned. It's like how jolteon can learn Iron Tail, despite not actually having a tail. And loads of things that can't fly can learn Aerial ace, apparently. Leafeon, for example. I think I find too many problems with the eevee's movesets, maybe.

You need to decide whether you want your Pokémon's knowledge of a certain move to be something strange to the characters in the story, that is, if you want them to react to it or comment it, or if you want them to simply accept that the Pokémon knows the move in question. Be careful about how you reveal that your Pokémon knows the move. Don't use it as some sort of deus ex machina to get out of a tight spot, you don't want your readers to think that the only reason you gave your Pokémon the ability to use the move in question was because you had painted yourself into a corner story-wise. Another thing is to not make your moves too powerful. If tyhe mopve is very powerful, there must be some sort of 'cost' associated with using it, to explain why your Pokémon doesn't solve all problems using only that move. A super powerful move without any negative sides to it would make a story rather boring, as all battles would be trivial.

Yeah, I try to be very careful about things like that. One of the major characters, a vaporeon named Maelstrom, is practiced in magic like I described, but pretty much all of his powers are used in training or at least mentioned in conversation before he does any actual fighting.

Probably the more concerning one would be the ninetales I mentioned earlier. Yes, I'll grant you her Spectral Dash technique is very powerful. I basically justify it by her being the antagonist, and if you ask me, an antagonist can only be too powerful when you literally need a deus ex machina to stop them (*cough* LOTR *cough* eagles *cough*). Ahem.

But about Spectral Dash specifically, it is a very difficult technique to learn, and even then, you have to be very good at it to not completely tire yourself out with it. At one point, Maelstrom attempts it, and faints from exhaustion. And I think that's okay. There's a lot of potential, as you say, for simply creating an unbeatable move which would ruin the story. I agree. Moves need to have drawbacks.

 

[Natu? Natu!]

With a slight reservation merely due to the fact that I haven't read your story, I think your idea with studying magic works. I also agree that having an antagonist with a very powerful technique is less problematic from a deus ex machina point of view than having your agonist being able to use a really powerful move. Thanks for your reply!

 

[Drakon]

I use the official movesets as a rough guide but I've been known to greatly diverge from them.

In the form of what would be otherwise illegal movesets, combination attacks and original moves.