Hey! Because of positive reviews, I'm back with part Deux! Well, there are a few things I need to clear up. One; Yeah, ten year olds do wear bras. Hell, I did. And I was a C. But I was chubby.
So, I really meant just ten year olds with boobs, curves, and all the characteristics of a teen, which screams self-insert. And a bad one.
And what a lot of people pointed out; a few Trainers in the game DO have psychic powers. You're right. I totally forgot, but what I mean was psy-sue powers, like; 'OMGZ I can fly and float objects soez I can win Teh BATTLES11!!" Not like Sabrina, who uses psi pokemon as well.
Most psy-sues don't have psychic pokemon, unless you count Mew. Okay, here you are!
Disclaimer: I don't own pokemon. Or the house I live in. But I have a bitch, and his name is Aiden. And he's gonna kill me for writing that. Ah, well... review with questions; I'll keep doing chapters!
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A group of teenagers, all with pencils in their hands, crowded in the room. This seminar was being run by a girl named Lolita, and rumor had it she was the craziest writer in the entire group.
Which said a lot, right there.
Sure enough, the girl rode in on a Rapidash. It must've been her; who else had pink-and-black hair with henna tattoos in all of pokemon fandom? "Hey! SIDDOWN, YA LITTLE JERKS!" She yelled. They sat down immediately.
"Righto, then. I'm Loli. Nice to meet ya, blah, blah, blah. Okay, we're all here to learn how NOT to write Mary-Sues, right?"
They all nodded. "Good. Well, let's start with questions." One girl raised her hand. "Yeah, what about names? What's overused?" The girl nodded. "Right, I hear ya. It's tough to think of creative names without being cliché. So, the names I suggest you avoid are as follows:
Anything with two nouns, like; Moonbeam, Leafdance, Angelmyst, and so on.
For single noun names, Summer, either as a first or last, Star, Moon, Raven, which MAY be acceptable for a goth OT, not for an OT with blonde hair and pink outfits, Ivy, Myst, and Autumn.
Actually, this one may be possible for a last name, with a first name like Vivi; something creative. And avoid names with a middle. Like Emily Rose Moonbeam. All of these are NEVER, EVER, EVER, to be used in anything but a parody. For people and pokemon both."
Another girl raised her hand. "What about good names? For girls or boys?" Loli shrugged.
"Um, for starters, don't do anything like Jake, Matt, or Jane. Most of the canon characters have interesting names; like Deliah, Agatha, Lorelei, and Lance.
Follow that example; easy to say, but memorable. Some suggestions from me are; Maylene, Germaine, Lucy, Lucius, Sharlie, Jepha, (male or female), Quinn, Asariel, Elaine, and Isia."
She saw the authors scribble these down in their notebooks. She sat on the desk. "Well?" A boy raised his hand.
"What about mysterious pasts? Are they overused?" The girl thought. "Ooh, I like that one! Well, it all depends. If you're like, "OmGZ i haz a mysterious past wat now!!11!", then, HELL NO.
But if you have a past concerning something like a curse on your family, or if you witness your parents' murder, then yeah, a mysterious past is fine. Just make sure to explain it to the readers, okay?"
The boy nodded. "Okay, one more question; how about family? Can they be canon characters?" The girl spun in the chair. "Huh. Well, I have Lorelei as Luna's mom in my story, so... You can use canon characters. All except for two; Ash Ketchum and Lance. Ash, because I fcking hate Ash, and he is SO OVERUSED, it's not even FUNNY. And Lance too, except I don't hate him.
And if you use a canon as family, give an explanation for them; what are your grandparents/aunts/uncles like? Are your parents orphans, too? Do you raise the same types they do?" She finished. Another one raised her hand.
"What about having an orphan character?" Lolita thought. "Hmm... I actually like this idea. What I don't like is the 'boo-hoo, I am a orphan, no one loves me', bull. I would love to see a story about a human raised by a pack of pokemon when their parents are killed." She stopped. 'Actually, note to self; WRITE THAT DOWN. (My idea!)'
She began to talk again. "Anyway... another good idea is to only kill off one parent. How is the family getting along? Is everyone still grieving? Stuff like that. Really, with almost every one of these ideas, you just have to be CAREFUL. And a good writer." One other kid raised his hand.
"Um, I have a question. What about age?" Lolita nodded. "Okay, this I kinda understand. You're fifteen, you don't wanna write about ten year olds. And I get that.
But at least have an explanation. Like that too many trainers got killed from pokemon attacking them, since they bothered it, having no common sense. Most of the ten-year-olds I know would be way too immature to start a pokemon journey.
It entails a lot; survival skill, knowledge, and maturity which most ten-year-olds lack. Even then, there are some exceptions to the rule; there are always exceptions. But like I said, give a good explanation for thirteen year old trainers. And make everyone start at thirteen. Not just your OT." She nodded.
"Okay, so what about how many trainers to have?" She thought. "Well, you only have to WRITE about one, but make him/her interact with other trainers. Your pokemon need to train, too. And it'd be pointless to have expensive gyms and pokemon centers up and running with only five or so trainers."
She saw no raised hands, and said, "Okay, now for a few of my own. For starters, well... starters. Or starter pokemon. I covered this briefly, but I want to go into more detail. I can attest as an example; Luna had Azrael, and he was a Houndour.
I like the idea of not using a canon starter.
It just has to be something that evolves. Like... Ralts! If you do a Hoenn fanfic, you can use Ralts! I like them, obviously, and they evolve twice, making them a legit starter.
Another good one for Kanto might be Nidoran, male or female. They evolve once without a stone, and the stone they evolve with is found early on. But, I repeat;
DO NOT EVER, EVER USE PIKACHU.
I like Raichu, a lot. But don't catch a Pikachu as your starter. Ever. It's already been done, people. Anyway, for Johto, you could use Sentret, or maybe Togepi. It does evolve into Togetic, and then Togekiss. And on that note, no, for things like that, it's okay if you use evs that weren't around when the game was created.
They're there now, right? Which brings me to my next point; Video Game Levels.
Okay, we all know pokemon gain experience by leveling up. It's a basic tenet of the game. But in the anime, pokemon aren't show really gaining experience, just defeating enemies.
So my suggestion is, when playing the game, notice when your pokemon level up. Have them level up around the same time in your fic. If your Ralts evolved into a Kirlia when you fought Brawly, do the same in your fic."
She thought for a minute. "Okay, now... ooh! What about OTs who get sucked into their DS or TV? Well... I think, if handled carefully, this can be done well. But not just random falling-into-tv thing.
I wrote a fic awhile ago that had my character commit suicide. When she died, she ended up in the pokemon world.
With all the pokemon she'd trained. I recommend that idea. (PS. Spoiler alert; that story is working on publishing status! –shameless plug-)
And think about it. You would amaze the canon characters. So bring an ipod, computer, and things like that, somehow. Because I'd pay good money to see the look on Ash and Gary's faces when they saw the ShiShi fics."
She giggled. "Oh, and your pokemon that you've trained; wouldn't you love to be able to interact with them? You might have to explain a bit to them, though." Everyone was scribbling away intently. "Okay, any more questions?"
One girl raised her hand. "What about siblings? You didn't really say much..."
"Hmm." Lolita thought. "Welp, I think that twins on an adventure might be cool. But other than that, I don't know. Maybe a trainer living in the shadow of their superb older sister/brother." She coughed.
"Oh, one more thing; a good way to spice up your fic? Kill someone."
She laughed. Everyone inched away. "My sister was right. She really is crazy." One boy whispered.
"I mean it. It lets you explore the human side of your character more, or if you wish, the sociopathic side of your character. I had Luna slaughter an entire village of Poke-Christians. She didn't feel any remorse, as she felt justified.
So, if that's the case, I think it might be an interesting example of human nature, good or bad."
One boy raised his hand. "What about OT romance?"
Lolita shrugged. "Up to you. But don't make it the main focus of the story. If you're writing a journey, make it a side thing. Like, 'We stick together because we love each other', or something. That's kinda up to you."
The bell suddenly rang. "Well, that's it for now! Attend the next seminar. I know where you sleep." Lolita threw a smoke pellet, and ran away on the Rapidash. As they ran out, and the smoke alarm sounded, they heard, "HA! I ESCAPED THIS TIME!"