Editorial: Fanfic Inspirations - The Pokémon Masters
This editorial was originally written on September 26th, 2005 and finally
finished on January 19th, 2006. "Pokémon" is the property of Nintendo and
4Kids Entertainment.
This is the second in a series of four bimonthly editorials that look back
on the writers that inspired me to become and continue to work as a
fanfiction story writer, as well as the writers that may have been inspired
by me.
The topics:
Already Out - Part 1: In the Beginning
Today - Part 2: The Pokémon Masters
Nov. - Part 3: Reality and Fanfiction.Net
Jan. - Part 4: Passing on the Torch
When "Pokémon" came to the United States, I passed it off as a kid thing...
evident by the fact that my brother had 'Pokémon Red' and was a big fan of
the just-debuted TV series in 1998. It took me a few months to get into
it. Seven years later, he's moved on, but I still watch the show on a
regular basis.
But it wasn't until the Fall of 1999, when I started college, that I
seriously thought about writing my own Pokémon fanfiction. I mean, I didn't
have anything better to do with my time, studying aside, and all of the
fanfics I had been reading were so inspiring to me.
That inspired me to write "The Pokémon League Challenge" on October 31, 1999,
the first in a series of fics that would eventually become "The Adventures
Series." The story took an alternate turn from the anime, and in the
beginning, focused more on Misty, since she was my favorite character.
Naturally, the continued push to want to write those stories was fueled by
works of other great Pokémon fanfiction writers... many of which I met on
the 'Pokémon Fan Fiction Mailing List.' It's a Yahoo! group that's been up
since the spring of 1999, though this year it seems the list has finally
died (i.e., no meaningful posts in the past few months, though the group
is still active for now). Many names ring true in my mind for inspiration,
though it's safe to say all of these great authors have long since moved to
other fandoms or have stopped writing fanfiction, period.
For romance, there were two big fics to turn to. The first is 'Destiny,'
written by Nova. An alternate-universe fanfic which featured Ash as the
most famous trainer in the world and Misty as a gym leader whom many assumed
to be beauty without smarts or skill. Both were on top of the world,
despite hating most of the fame and annoyance of being in the spotlight.
But their lives change when they meet... not only to battle Pokémon style...
but to find the one thing that was missing in their lives. It's a great
story that's also action-packed, but the story was never finished. It's
because of this that it's usually overlooked, especially compared to my
other favorites.
The other was 'E-Camp,' written by Chromus. Just as much reading as
'Destiny,' while being a whole lot lighter. This was a five-part story with
each part focusing on a different series pairing. Sure, there were the
givens - Ash and Misty, Jessie and James - but he focused on a few odd
couples too. They're all written beautifully well, and are sure to bring out
your romantic side.
For more poignant, point-of-view pieces, and a side of twisted comedy once in
awhile, no one Pokémon fanfic author pulled it off better than Leto. One of
her best stories was 'Sincerity,' a story that brought out some well-written
character expositions, bringing out a sense of reality to the Pokémon cast.
It even surprisingly hits upon some hard-hitting real life issues (nope, not
gonna tell you what... you'll just have to go and read it). A few other
great works of hers include 'Inspiration Muyo,' the two-part 'Value,' cliché
parodying in 'Deja Vu,' and 'The Meaning of Life,' just to name a few. Most
of her stories are character pieces, which means each one centers around a
different character or Pokémon. They are done so well, as if she's slipped
into the minds of the cast and used her writings as ways to express their
emotions!
But most Pokémon fanfiction writers will berate if you've never heard of,
much less read the great 'Pokémon Master,' penned over the course of several
years by Ace Sanchez. This monster of a fic, which just got bigger and
bigger (literally) with each new chapter features our favorite trainer Ash
Ketchum, whose heart seems to have darkened with the world, blasted into the
Dark Ages by Team Rocket. This very dark fic introduces older incarnations
of your favorite characters and puts them in situations far from what you'd
see in the TV series. Ace did a wonderful job in portraying this dark world
and pulling his readers into a complex yet entertaining storyline that had
so many twists and turns that he always left them gasping for more. If you
can get past the monstrous size of this fic, and its dark mature themes,
this is one fanfic you cannot afford to skip over!
There were many possibilities to be explored by Pokémon fanfiction writers
back then, and to some extent, that holds true today. But I couldn't limit
myself to just writing "Pokémon"... I was curious to try my hand at writing
for other shows.
And then I discovered Fanfiction.net... and a new untapped fanfiction genre.
- Freedom Fighter
Want to read any of the fics I mentioned in this editorial? Well...
you can find "Destiny" and "E-Camp" at Crossroads Downunder Rebirth,
located at http://cdrebirth.tripod.com. Both are listed under the
'Romance' section... click on the appropriate link! Leto's stories can be
found at her website, Loose Change, located at http://leto_chan.tripod.com/
pokemon/index.html... just check the 'Fanfiction' section! And going to
http://users.bigpond.net.au/acey/pokemon.htm will direct you to the homepage
for Ace's epic 'Pokémon Master!' Please note that 'Pokémon Master' is rated
R and contains intense violence and other mature themes! Not for little
kids, okay?
Many of these stories (and tons of other Pokémon fanfics) can also be found
in the 'Pokémon' section of Fanfiction.net!
Look for Part 3 of this editorial series, "Reality and Fanfiction.net,"
sometime this November (or actually, since this was finished in January,
later this month... I think)!
Back to the Review and Editorial Section Menu
Back to the Home Page