Pokepasta cliches

Here, I will list down some pokepasta clichés I happen to come across. Don't mean to offend anyone. I just wrote this for fun. Reading this doesn't mean you are not allow to use the clichés. Like I said, it's for fun.

Lavender Town/Ghosts
Yes, I have seen this in many pokepastas. Some have at least mentioned the town, and some have even a whole story based on it, like Lavender Town Syndrome. Or maybe even ghosts killing the player's sprite. Buried Alive or White Hand is included, to an extent. Yes, this is a ghost town. The Lavender Town music is also quite overused in stories, especially the Red/Blue version, or maybe even the original Japanese Green Version.

Try using some location that isn't really well-known and hasn't already been explored to death and beyond, or maybe even a location that isn't expected to be scary, and you're all set.

Blood/Gore
A lot of blood and gore doesn't make the story any scarier, it makes the story really unrealistic. So, try to minimize the use of blood. People try to capitalize off the shock value this used to carry, but it's become so common that it only warrants an eye roll nowadays. If you really need to include gore or blood, try not to put it in excess right from the start, like have it get worse the more the main character plays the cursed game.

Bonus points if the gore is hyperrealistic and the violent graphics somehow surpasses the console's graphical capabilities, like a Nintendo DS is somehow able to generate PS4-levels of graphical gore, or the Gameboy is somehow able to have PS2-levels of graphical gore. If you have to have gore or blood on console's with limited graphical capabilities, try to have the gore and blood stay consistent with the graphics capabilities of the console, and not make it have out of place realistic gore.

Found the game from trash can/an unknown person/or Flea Market/the ground/Ebay
Many stories always consists the main character finding games in places like this. A lot of the games found are in poor condition. Bonus points if the shopkeeper doesn't know he/she had the game and lets the main character have it for a low price or for free. Try having your character get your haunted cartridge in a slightly more mundane way- then they'll have no idea what they're walking into.

Pokémon Dying instead of Fainting
It's when a player's Pokémon dies instead of fainting like usual. The text "(Pokémon) has died!" will pop up instead of the usual "(Pokémon) has fainted!" This is really overused, especially their own teammates killing others. Enough said. If you want to kill off a Pokémon, try something else with that implication- for example, have it faint normally and simply remove it from the party afterwards, or have the nurse be unable to heal it next time you stop at a Pokémon center.

Unknown Versions of the game no-one knows about
Like Pokémon Purple, Pokémon Green English version, Pokémon Obsidian Black, and etc. Bonus points if the player disregards that it's just a version he/she doesn't know about. If you have a really good reason for including this, don't have your character think it's a main series game. Or you can say the main character is a huge fan of fan-made/modded Pokémon games.

Pokémon/Player Sprite looking sad/angry or changed in any other way
Pokémon that the player encounter or the trainer sprite has a different appearance. Like the face, they can look sad or angry. Or the color on them becomes slightly depressing, or mangled and covered in hYpERrEAlIsTiC BlOoD. Bonus points if no sprites remotely similar to the modified version exist in game. While this is overused, it's not necessarily a bad thing if used correctly. It's important to use this sparingly if you feel you must. It can be done well if used effectively, like Gold from Lost Silver.

Character In-game knows the player's real name or talks to the player directly
The Pokémon or player avatar knows the player's real name, despite having no way of knowing about it. Also, if this happens, the Pokémon may also talk to the player. Sometimes also communicated thorough Yes/No Boxes. Bonus points if the character says something about joining them or playing with them or whatever. Said Pokémon also sometimes know about the real life events which affected the main character, like the Gengar somehow knew about the main character's grandmother passing away, despite having no way of knowing.

Pokémon starts talking like a human
It's when a cursed Pokémon who isn't capable of human speech starts talking like a human, even when it's impossible for them to do so. If you have to include this trope, try not to let them speak during the early parts of the story, and only allow them to start speaking as you progress through the story more.

Pokémon that faced Jealousy or Abandonment
The player doesn't play the game for a long time or even abandoning the Pokémon for another. This can also be coupled with Pokémon talking to the player. Like "Why did you leave me? Don't you love me anymore?" Pastas featuring this cliché often involve the Pokémon in question killing their teammates or even trainers. This just makes it worse.

Fake Items or Moves
Sometimes, in Pokepastas, the story will include some items and Pokémon moves that are non-existent in Pokémon games, like the knife from Blue's Tears. Also, fake Pokémon moves like "Kill", "Strangle", or any other of the like. Or also even Pokémon that knows a certain move that can't be originally learned, Like Snorlax learning Guillotine. If you really need to include the fake move trope, try to have it be learned from a mysterious NPC or a strange HM or TM rather than have the Pokémon have the move from the start. For the Fake item, maybe have it be sold by a strange NPC or maybe even a PokeMart.

"It's probably a glitch or something."
When the player sees something in the game that looks slightly off or weird, they dismiss it as an error or a glitch, giving the player more of a reason to continue playing. Pokémon with bleeding eyes isn't a glitch. Glitches in most cases are just stuff like Decamarks for the Gen 3 games. Unless you have a really good reason to include this trope, try to use it sparingly. Try to come up with unique reasons why the players choose to ignore the game's weirdness.

Distorted Cries and Music/Silence
When the player plays the game. the Pokémon have distorted cries, or even distorted music or music playing backwards to give the eerie atmosphere. Also maybe no music during encounters or other sections of the game. In a fangame, creepy music can really add to the experience. In writing, it's often over with in one sentence.

"I was curious so I continued playing."
A protagonist might see a creepy message, have the game talk to them, or see blood. Maybe something truly frightening is happening to them. But instead of stopping like anyone would, the player continues on, with the story claiming that they're "curious". While this is better than "It's just a glitch," please try to think of more original reasons for your character not to do something about the cartridge's weirdness.

Pokémon/Game still haunts the player even if destroyed/left alone
Sometimes, there will be a scene where the player thinks it's too much to bear, they will grab a weapon to destroy the cartridge, or even the whole console itself. (See below) For example, the haunting Pokémon will somehow transfer to another cartridge belonging to the player. Or the Pokemon somehow manifests itself into the real world to terrorize the main character.

Pokemon abandoned by shiny hunters
A lot of pastas on this site have featured Pokemon that were abandoned or permaboxed while a trainer was shiny hunting. If this is an in-game world where Pokemon have feelings, it's likely that such immoral behavior would be highly frowned upon, perhaps even outlawed. If you can't think of a creative twist to put on the basic idea, please don't write a story like this- we've all heard it a million times before and it has very little emotional impact at this point.

Pokemon fighting their trainers
I've noticed a lot of Pokepastas lately feature Pokémon fighting their trainers, like in Bloodmoon, where the shiny Absol Bloodmoon fights the player. Also, most fights always involve the trainer not being able to fight back/take their turn, like their somehow powerless in that situation. I can see this happening in game, where the Pokémon fighting you in question is sick of your crap, but its not very likely. Please stop doing this unless it's used in a creative way. Like the cliche above said, we've heard it a million times before. If you have to include this trope, try to at least let the player character have a fighting chance. Rather than shoving them into an inescapable battle, and forcing them to watch their character die. Let the player character able to escape/fight back instead. Like when the Gengar named Nightmare gets hit by sand in order for the character to escape.

Pokémon being forced to evolve
Many, many Pokepastas center around Pokémon, usually an Eevee, being forced to evolve against their will or into a form they don't like. Typically, this cliché appears in pastas in which the main character is playing a hacked or haunted game. Bonus points if the there's a dialogue box which says "[Pokémon] refused to evolve!" or "[Pokémon] doesn't want to evolve, he/she loves you!"

Killing Sprees in the Name of Love/Yandere Pokémon
It always involve the Pokémon wanting to gain attention/want them to love him or her. It then starts killing others, human or Pokémon, in order to please them. This may be indirect; for example, some pastas feature a Pokémon taking the body parts of other Pokémon to modify their own appearances.

Main character destroying their game/console
There will always be a scene in which the main character couldn't stand it anymore, they will always grab a weapon like a hammer/baseball bat/any bludgeoning tool to destroy the cartridge or disc, sometimes even the whole console itself. Try to have your character destroy it in a more uncommon way, like lighting it on fire, or throwing into a lake, or anything which it doesn't involve the same song and dance involving a hammer.

Console coincidentally malfunctions when playing the cursed game
There will be a scene which the main characters gets freaked out by the scary things he is seeing, and will attempt to remove the cartridge or disk from their console, but the cartridge/disk gets stuck without explanation. Even turning off the console/removing the batteries doesn't work either, it's like the console/TV is somehow cursed. Bonus points if it plays distorted music, and it somehow increases the volume without any input from the player. Having all of the above happen in order feels like a coincidence especially if the console was fine prior to playing the cursed game. If you have to include these things, try not to have everything happen at the same time. For example, have the character attempt to remove it, but can't, so he has no choice but to continue playing. Then after a while the character can't take it, have them attempt to shut it off instead.

Black and Red Eyes/Bleeding from the Eyes/Twisted Grin
Self explanatory. Almost all the pokepastas I read always somehow involves a character/Pokémon having black and red eyes and bleeding from the eyes in a cheap attempt to make themselves look scary. Or even a wide, twisted grin to "capitalize" on that trope. This trope is not just overused in Pokepastas, in fact it's quite overused in many creepypasta stories. It can be done well if used correctly, but most just warrants an eyeroll to the readers. If you want to make your character look scary, try to flex your creative muscles. Like, have their eyes go white, maybe add some drool to make it look like their soul is being sucked out for example.

Bad Ending/Ending on a bad note
Most of the Pokepastas I read always seem to have a bad ending which the player's character dies or the cursed Pokemon killed them or whatever, there are rarely ever stories which has a good ending, or ended on a somewhat positive note. Not to say that good endings doesn't exist though, it's just quite rare. For example:


 * Nightmare's Revenge. The main character manages to take down the evil Gengar, Nightmare, and saves Ethan and Lyra from him. It ended on a somewhat positive note, with the main character slightly paranoid that Nightmare is gonna appear anywhere. Neither the main character or his player character dies in that story.
 * Jessica. The main character Cameron apologizes to his Raichu, Jessica, for accidentally killing her by unintentionally destroying his Pokémon Yellow cartridge. And Jessica forgave Cameron for his dumb mistake. While some deaths are seen on the story, the story still ended on a good note.
 * Pokémon Green. The main character is pestered by an evil Abra to join them. Also he manages to get away in a very action movie-esqued sequence where he jumped on an ambulance, somehow managing to catch himself on the ambulance bars, and jumping and catching onto a truck. He actually successfully got away from the evil cartridge. That, is also considered a good ending.

I am not saying having bad endings is bad, it's because it's such an overused trope and good endings are few are far between. If you HAVE to include a bad ending, try not to make it too bland, and go for a very unique ending that is unique to only your story.

Character in-game looking at YOU
This trope is heavily overused. Which involves the in-game character looking directly at you, as if they know you are there. This has been used in tandem with the bleeding eyes cliché. Bonus points if they somehow have a closeup of the bloody character, even when no such mechanic is present in the original game. If you have to include this trope, try and avoid using it in tandem with the bloody eyes trope. You can still make the character somewhat intimidating without the use of bloody eyes with closeups.

Unforgiving/One-Dimensional personalities
Quite a lot of stories always have evil Pokémon not forgive the main character and act as if they hurt them on purpose, and never stop to consider whether they did it intentionally. They always seem to have one-dimensional personalities, which are:


 * Blaming the main character.
 * Getting mad at them.
 * Displaying massive distrust to the main character.
 * Refuses to hear the main character's explanation.
 * Acting like an overly-attached girlfriend.
 * Acting like a Yandere.
 * Being very psychotic.
 * Tricking the main character into doing something horrible.
 * "DO YoU LOvE mE nOW? wHy wOn'T yOu LoVe Me???"

A good example is the story Jessica. Jessica the Raichu is mad at Cameron for killing them, she seems to be patient and actually listens to what Cameron has to say, and realizes that he didn't hurt Jessica on purpose and it was a big, dumb mistake. To which she forgives him for that. When writing stories, avoid these one dimensional personalities which makes the so called "evil Pokémon" an incredibly generic, bland character. Try to include good personalities like forgiving the main character or putting themselves in the main character's shoes to spice things up a little

Supernatural/Unexplainable Phenomenons
Not sure what to classify this as. It's when super freaky things happen. Like:


 * The main character somehow gets hurt when his game self gets injured by the cursed Pokémon.
 * The cursed Pokémon somehow jumping to another one of the main character's Pokémon games when transferring Pokémon is only possible through trading/linking, also akin to stalking.
 * A Pokémon in a newer game somehow gets transferred to an older version of the game.
 * The game disk/cartridge/console itself becomes sentient and attacks the player.
 * Cursed Pokémon appearing in the real world, despite not having any way to do so.

These phenomenons usually isn't explained too well, purely written in as a shock factor to surprise the character and reader. If you have to include these unexplainable phenomenons, try and include a very brief explanation as to how the said phenomenon is occurring, be creative.

Shopkeeper/Friend who sells/gives the game to the main character coincidentally dies a day after they play the game.
This part is usually written near the end of the story and I seen it quite a lot in stories like this. The person/shopkeeper who sold/gave the haunted game to the main character somehow coincidentally dies without much explanation. Usually explained away as the character watching the news of them commits suicide via hanging/gun to the head or maybe even just a coincidental accident like a car hitting them, or falling down stairs, etc. If you have to include this trope, don't write it as if they died the day after the events happened to the main character, it would be way too coincidental. Have it a week later after the event, and the character wants to find the person who gave them the game. Avoid frequently using death as the fate of those people if possible. Instead, try to say something like they moved away, or their shop shut down, or they acted differently after that, or just them going missing and never heard from again for example.

"I never touched the game again."
A story can be really good, but only to be ruined by the abrupt and vague ending which states that they never touched the cursed game ever again without much context behind it. I mean, no-one would really distrust any other non cursed games, right? Try to explain it in a more unique way, for example:


 * "I felt lucky I survived that whole ordeal the other day. Despite what happened a week ago, I still and am a fan of Pokémon and many video games, and I play a lot of them still, I am gonna steer clear of shady shopkeepers or poor-condition cartridges this time. But still, that accursed cartridge is just sitting on my dresser, is practically beckoning me to come back. I am not a fool though, so right now I am thinking of a way to get rid of it once and for all."

See? That sounded WAY better than just stating they don't play video games anymore, or a vague ending which states that they never touched the cursed game.

More will be added soon, or you all can contribute to this page, it's all good!