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what pokemon should characters get?

jasonwolf

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I'm still working on my pokemon fantasy crossover fic. right now Im trying to decide on what pokemon would make sense for characters to have/get.

Im going to post the first four chapters soon and then i want to know what you think certain people should have.

heres the fic thread (next three chapters added periodically)
http://bmgf.bulbagarden.net/showthread.php?t=108270
 
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When I'm not sure about which Pokemon to get, I use a Pokemon randomizer :XD2: (for example, this one)

Using a randomizer, you cannot be accused of favoring someone with a Mary Sue Pokemon, such as an Eevee (for girls), a Pikachu (for boys), a Ralts-line Pokemon (either gender), or a legendary (either gender too).
 
I use my old game parties for my character's Pokémon. For example, I had a Venusaur, a Pikachu, a Gyarados, a Flareon, a Snorlax and an Aerodactyl from Pokémon Red when I was younger, therefore I used that. I redid the party in Pokémon FireRed for the extra details, like Gender and such. Try doing that.
 
well the pokemon in my story help explain the human character.

the main character ,Jericho, is familier with death since his mother died and now his father might be dead, so he has a cubone. see the connection. cubones wear the skull of their parents they know death very well. also not many people in the story have alot of pokemon so each one needs to be very important.
 
I'm primarily a Gen1 Pokemon fan, so most of my characters' pokemon in PM are Kanto pokemon, although there are of course going to be some exceptions.

I basically try to pick out cool pokemon for my characters, but stay away from the cliche Pikachu/Eevee/legendary selections. I also try to figure out how the pokemon's abilities will contriubte to my story. Basically, I just try to fit what I think are appropriate pokemon to their personalities.
 
I just pick what ever Pokemon I think suits the character well.
 
I choose whatever Pokemon fit the character's personality, job and background.

For example, some of the characters I have are former Team Rocket members, so they at least have some of the typical "Grunt" Pokemon-Zubat, Koffing, Grimer, Ekans, and the evolutions thereof. One of them, after leaving TR, also has a Misdreavus/Mismagius-the in-story explanation was that they were originally from Lavender Town, so Ghost-types had a sort of nostalgic appeal to them.
 
Your characters should have Pokemon that reflect their personalities. Someone with a temper should use fire-types, while a calm, subtle person should use water-types and psychic-types.
 
Your characters should have Pokemon that reflect their personalities. Someone with a temper should use fire-types, while a calm, subtle person should use water-types and psychic-types.

Or perhaps the characters could be made to have the opposite of what's expected given their gender, personality and history :p Readers tend to appreciate surprises and originality, and this is one element of it.
 
For the most part, I just use my old in-game parties. Sometimes I even come up with new characters just so that they can use my favorite parties.

Another thing to consider is what kind of stuff the trainer will be doing with his/her Pokemon (besides battling). For example, if they're a journeying trainer then they will probably want the basic spread of elementals, fire, grass, electric, definitely water, flying, and maybe a psychic, ghost, or dark type. These Pokemon would be able to adapt to a variety of situations and often help the trainer get from place to place. A more specific example from my own story would be my character Criss, who fights against Team Rocket. I gave her a Flareon mostly for the hell of it, but she also uses a lot of ground-types to counter the Rockets' poison. She also has some poison-types herself, in case she ever needs to blend in.

I also tend to stick to Pokemon that are well known for the region that their trainers are from. For example, I have a trainer from Hoenn, so he uses a team representative of the region (Sceptile, Flygon, Banette, Gardevoir, Armaldo, and Crawdaunt).

I try not to let fan-bases effect my decisions, either positively or negatively. As you can see, I'm using the popular Flareon, Flygon, and Gardevior, but those came more from coincidence than popularity.
 
Very simple answer: What I feel like

But of course, that doesn't mean I just pick whatever I personally LIKE and exclude whatever I PERSONALLY DISLIKE.

When I have to pick Pokemon for a character, what I'll do is to go through the whole list of Pokemon. Scan through all the 649 Pokemon, and pick what I feel like that character should have.

I normally exclude all the legendaries, pick only from the ordinary Pokemon. Also, the pseudo-legendaries and the ubers must also be selected with consideration, because I personally feel that those are only for the "powerful" trainers.
 
With Stainless Steel, the teams were pretty much already laid out for me, though I will be taking a few liberties with Winona's team.

However, in The Gray Dawn, I chose the main characters' Pokémon based on a combination of the games and the individual characters' story arcs, and tried to match Pokémon to fit them.
 
In general I have a few basic rules:

-No legendaries for anyone
-Limit one or two shinies per person
-Keep it to Pokemon that can be found within their region (one exception is if the character is from Johto or Kanto but has been to both, since there's a lot of communication between the two regions)
-Have plausible reasons they would be able to catch/receive each (for example, a kid catching lots of Bug-type Pokemon, or a Team Rocket member having mostly poison-types)
 
well i was hoping people would read my fan-fic and give an opinion baed on the characters in it. i know how to select them. I just want specific opinions of what pokemon fit.
 
I'm pretty sure that that's advertisement and therefore disallowed. Could you post brief bios of the characters you need help with? I'd be happy to help you choose if you did that.
 
im not trying to advertise, but reading the fic is the easiest way to understand it.
 
well i was hoping people would read my fan-fic and give an opinion baed on the characters in it. i know how to select them. I just want specific opinions of what pokemon fit.

I know your intention is not to advertise, but if you're asking people to first read your fic before giving you an opinion, you're basically forcing your story on them.

The Block is for you to get advice, and if someone asks more information about your story, you should give it (PM or spoilered if you don't want your readers to know), because these people want to help you find your way into a better story.

Having a nice cooperative attitude with the people in the Block might get you far more readers than telling them dismissively that they should read your story first then dare comment on your next course of action.

Please, have it in mind :)
 
My method isn't the most effective. I use whatever team I'm using currently in the games when I begin the fanfic. For example, when I joined this forum and began my first fic, my team was Metagross, Infernape, Lucario, Weezing, Ludicolo and Snorlax. Now my team is Metagross, Garchomp, Chandelure, Volcarona, Lopunny and Wobbuffet. I'm probably going to use them for my next fic, even though they do seem terribly strong from my perspective (I might be bragging a little). I also use the same strategies as I use in real battles, but I'm not revealing anything to you. My strategies are confidential...but, word of advice to anyone else, if you plan on using your own team, make sure they're not too strong. For example, in my fic, I had the Infernape die and be replaced by a Blaziken, which is slightly worse. At the very least, open up gaps in their power. In general, however, the Pokémon depends on the level of skill the Trainer possesses.
 
Well, think about your characters and the plot. What kind of Pokémon would your character want to train - does (s)he gravitate toward a certain set of types, is (s)he more concerned with defensive, offensive or technical startegy, does (s)he take out-of-battle utility into account, etc.? That's how I decide my fan-character rosters. A thing that I do personally is sketch out a picture of the character-Pokémon pair in question and think about whether that pairing seems right for them. Stories are a lot less logical than the games are - it's based on personal preference and availability a lot more than it is statistical strength. Remember that as much as the species is important, think about what personality that individual Pokémon would have. Humans would pick their Pokémon companions in similar ways to their human ones, I'd expect.

Another thing to consider is what is going to work with your overall narrative - for example, what the trainer is in need of at the time of capture, what Pokémon could be found in the type of environment that they're in, and what kind of Pokémon might help out down the line in developing your character and overcoming future obstacles. For example, a trainer with some need to explore the Whirl Islands would, at some point, want to capture some water-based or flying Pokémon big enough to carry him or her for transport purposes. Alternatively, a very emotional Pokémon such as Gardevoir or Audino may serve to bring a more positive outlook to a morally challenged character. A character that lives in the city would be much more likely to adopt a more domesticated Pokémon like Glameow than something wild like a Tauros. It's a case-by-case basis.

There's a lot to consider, and ultimately, it's best when left to the writer's choice. It's your story, and you would know what would work best in it. As far as character descriptions, it's always, always easier to know a character by actually reading/watching the material in question that it is to just pick up the most basic aspects in a short descriptive profile. However, for those that want to help you out without committing to reading the entire fiction, short descriptions of character personalities are somewhat necessary. Occasionally, these help because they give the author's impression of the character, rather than the possibly different conclusions that readers might come to.
 
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