History FandomSpecificPlot / Pokemon

* Ash becoming a Frontier Brain is a common plot that often comes with Ash/Anabel shipping.

* Several quick fanon ideas for an Ash in Paldea story, predating any [[VideoGame/PokemonScarletAndViolet Scarlet and Violet anime annoucements]]

** Oak's Lab in the latter fics is often demonized where, in canon, there is nothing that suggests that the Pokemon are miserable there. These stories also frequently ignore that Ash's team can and have asked, or tagged along with, Ash to come along with him and Ash has no objections (as in the case of Phanpy and Aipom) in order to make Ash feel guilty and ashamed of himself at the expense of implying his team has no agency despite the aforementioned canon examples of said agency.

** Oak's Lab in the latter fics is often demonized where, in canon, there is nothing that suggests that the Pokemon are miserable there. These stories also frequently ignore that Ash's team can and have asked, or tagged along with, Ash to come along with him and Ash has no objections (as in the case of Phanpy and Aipom) in order to make Ash feel guilty and ashamed of himself.

** Oak's Lab in the latter fics is often demonized where, in canon, there is nothing that suggests that the Pokemon are miserable there. These stories also frequently ignore that Ash's team can ask Ash to come along with him and Ash has no objections (as in the case of Phanpy and Aipom).

* Pre-canon fics about Ingo's time in Hisui before the playable Rei/Akari shows up abound.
* For some fans who think Kamado got off lightly for [[spoiler:his unjustified banishment of the PlayerCharacter out of Jubilife Village]], some fanworks involve [[spoiler:RevengeFic plots where Kamado sends the PlayerCharacter off to harsher environment areas like Alabaster Iceland instead of the Obsidian Plains, have the PlayerCharacter die and when Kamado, Adaman and Irida later comes to the area to find the missing PlayerCharacter once Kamado realized that the PlayerCharacter dying does nothing and that he had been wrong, they instead found the PlayerCharacter having [[CameBackWrong come back wrong]] as a vengeful spirit on the verge of becoming a Hisuian Zoroark to give Kamado some form of Karma for his ImproperlyParanoid act of banishing them and ass-kicking for the banishment.]]

* Stories tend to note the abilities of mons more than the anime does, which tend to infrequently bring them up. Especially if the ability is not mentioned in the anime, fanfics will tend to lean towards the in-game best abilities for the mon in question, though it is not uncommon to see a canon ability replaced with the 'better' ability.

* Anime-Game fics that feature Ash, sometimes alone and sometimes with other characters like various companions, being sent to [[VideoGame/PokemonLegendsArceus Hisui]] are common, which frequently drop the implications of amnesia and frequently depict him as a OutsideContextProblem for the Galaxy Expedition Team and the Clans.

** Ash and Nemona getting along swimmingly quickly came into the fandom zeitgeist, Nemona's similarities to Ash were quickly noticed by the fanbase. Among the variants of said general idea include incorporation Nemona into the World Coronation Series, allowing Nemona battles among skilled peers as well as an easy incorporation of Nemona into a variety of plots.
* For fans of Chloe, many fanfics have her start off with Yamper as her starter, instead of waiting near 50 episodes before she gets her hands on Eevee.

* A side-quest in the game that lets you obtain the apples needed to evolve an Applin to an Flapple or Appletun involves an urban legend that giving an Applin to someone they like would ensure a happy relationship between them. This has become a subject in various shipping fanworks where one gives the Applin to the other party.

* Pre-canon fics about Ingo's time in Hisui before the playable Rei/Akari shows up are abound.

* The most popular set of plot points for fics related to the anime: the characters growing/being older, and Ash is/or will become a Pokémon Master (whatever the author decides that means, usually being a Pokemon Master and being one of the Pokémon Champions is treated as basically one-in-the-same). This isn't specific to any single fic plot, but most of the fanfics tied to the anime, regardless of the broader plot, rely on the conceit that the characters can/do age. Particularly any shipping fics, because the idea of 10-year-olds hooking up (frequently followed by [[CoitusEnsues sex]], shown or implied) is a bit much even for most hardcore shippers to accept. So it will quickly be established that time ''has'' [[FanonDiscontinuity been passing as Ash engages in his adventures]] and the plot will go from there. In more recent non-AU fics, which usually consider the most recent seasons, Ash and the other characters will usually be somewhere around 16-19, rather than canon-declared ten. Ash becoming a Pokemon Master is so common it's usually just a given with ''any'' fic with him as the main character. Frequently it will be a major part of the plot and his goal, other times he'll have already achieved the title.

* Anime-Game fics that feature Ash being sent to [[VideoGame/PokemonLegendsArceus Hisui]] are common, which frequently drop the implications of amnesia and frequently depict him as a OutsideContextProblem for the Galaxy Expedition Team and the Clans.

** Oak's Lab in the latter fics is often demonzied where, in canon, there is nothing that suggests that the Pokemon are miserable there. These stories also frequently ignore that Ash's team can ask Ash to come along with him and Ash has no objections (as in the case of Phanpy and Aipom).

* Due how extremely unpopular the decision of having Ash cath 30 Tauros in the Safari Zone is among most of the fanbase, many fanfic writers change it so he only ends up with one Tauros (and some fanfic writers even note that their reviewers actively demand or request such a change):

* Any character, be it an AuthorAvatar, an original character, or even an existing fictional character from any sort of media, waking up in either the standard ''Pokémon'' continuity to make the trainer's journey, or in the ''VideoGame/PokemonMysteryDungeon'' continuity transformed into a Pokémon themselves. Cases of the latter, and sometimes the former, often have some of the main character's family, friends, or even enemies transported into the world along with them. Sometimes the "trainer is late so they end up with a nonstandard starter ''Pokemon''" plot is very, very common thanks to many a writer using Ash's own acquisition of Pikachu as a basis for their character's beginnings. Otherwise, the classic "one of the three traditional region starters" is used. Fics that try to avoid both have their most common methods be the character receiving their first partner by finding them injured and bringing them to health or have the Mon given to them by a family member.

* A popular {{crossover}} idea is to take character(s) from Series ''X'' and figure out what Pokémon they would have if they were a trainer. Would they have only one or two, a full team or an entire storage system full of teams? Would their team reflect the powers and abilities the character has in their home series, or would it based on their personality, character theme, etc.? This is most often seen in the form of fanart, but fanfics that amount to "Series X but with Pokémon" or "Series X characters in the Pokéworld" are just as common.

* The protagonist being villainous or at minimum dark. The game version of Dawn is especially so associated with this plot due to her design making for an EeriePaleSkinnedBrunette, combined with her source game's relationship with Darkrai, Giratina, and Team Galactic.

* Fanfics of various properties will either drop certain limits from the game mechanics, such as the six party limit or four move limit, or explain them to be a legal or competition rule thing instead of a unexplained rule of the universe. In the latter case, 'experienced' trainers are able to apply to carry more than six at a time.

* Probably the most popular set of plot points for fics related to the anime: the characters growing/being older and Ash is/or will become a Pokemon Master (whatever the author decides that means, usually being a Pokemon Master and being one of the Pokemon Champions is treated as basically one-in-the-same). This isn't specific to any single fic plot, but most of the fanfics tied to the anime, regardless of the broader plot, rely on the conceit that the characters can/do age. Particularly any shipping fics, because the idea of 10-year-olds hooking up (frequently followed by [[CoitusEnsues sex]], shown or implied) is a bit much even for most hardcore shippers to accept. So it will quickly be established that time ''has'' [[FanonDiscontinuity been passing as Ash engages in his adventures]] and the plot will go from there. In more recent non-AU fics, which usually take into account the most recent seasons, Ash and the other characters will usually be somewhere around 16-19, rather than canon-declared 10. Ash becoming a Pokemon Master is so common it's usually just a given with ''any'' fic with him as the main character. Frequently it will be a major part of the plot and his goal, other times he'll have already have achieved the title.
** In regards to the Ash aging bit, pretty much every fanfic ignores the 'Ash is still 10' statements in some way or another. The only time that they don't it usually has some plot relevance, and 99% of these tend to be either trying to be angsty (such as having Ash have some sort of family condition that keeps him from aging) or is usually followed by some entity keeping him at said age (like Dialga or Ho-Oh) undoing it and thus altering the setting to remove the trope or instigating a Peggy Sue plot to do the same.

* Variations on plots where Ash is betrayed by his friends and loved ones and he goes off on his own with only his Pokémon (except in variants where even his Pokémon also betray him), becoming more powerful are unnervingly common. These fics tend to involve Ash vanishing for years before resurfacing at a tournament and defeating everyone with his new found strength. Also don't expect the betrayal part to make much sense or be in character. At all. With anyone. The "BetrayalFic" is diffused enough it has finally started gathering parodies such as ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/12432002/1/Reunions-Can-Be-Good-and-Bad Reunions Can Be Good and Bad]]'', and is generally considered horrible by a variety of writers up to the point of outright mockery.

* Fics involving [[DisappearedDad Ash's father]] and Ash's backstory. Some have his dad abandon his family when Ash was younger, others have him never even knowing his dad, and others have Ash's dad on a journey. There's also the sub-category of "Ash finds out [[LukeIAmYourFather that his dad is Giovanni]]", an idea that takes heavily from the stage musical ''Theatre/PokemonLive'', wherein Delia heavily implies this to be the case.

* A very frequent plot idea is Ash trading 29 of his Tauros for other Pokemon, generally done without explaining why Ash, who developed a dislike of trading following his first trade on the Anne, would be so quick to decide otherwise where Ash would more in character to catch new Pokemon instead of obtaining them from strangers. These stories often come with the same sort of melodrama that Oak Lab demonization fics employ, treating it as more moral despite no sign that the Tauros are unhappy. In fact, [[MoralMyopia you never see the other 29 Tauros's opinion on the matter raised in these stories]].
** In general, many fics tend to change the Safari Zone as to avoid catching 30 Tauros, usually not even considering the idea of Ash just going back to the Safari Zone later for additional captures. Some fanfic writers even note that their reviewers actively demand or request such a change.

* The most common change seen to Ash in fanfics of series from Hoenn onward is the wider use of his reserves at Oak's lab. How this is implemented varies, ranging from just deciding to do so to being treated as anything from Ash being smarter to even being more moral.

[[/folder]

[[folder:Manga]]
* ''Manga/PokemonAdventures'': Red/Yellow fics where Red finds out that Yellow was the girl he rescued when he was ten.

[[folder:Manga]]
* ''Manga/PokemonAdventures'': Red/Yellow fics where Red finds out that Yellow was the girl he rescued when he was ten.
[[/folder]]

* Though it's not a plot but it hella appears more often in fanfics. [[TerribleTrio The T.R.io (Jessie James and Meowth)]] often receive the short end of being used by authors/writers in Anime Fanfics since they tend to get DemotedToExtra. At best they appear lesser than usual while still relevant to the plots and at worst they end up as unimportant characters, cameos or AdaptedOut entirely. The later will frequently have the author express dislike of them and their motto in the story in very blatant AuthorTract moments.

* Fanfics frequently adapt elements from the games that were not featured in the anime, such as the Rocket Game Corner and Silph Co operations, the Team Plasma plot of the first games, Silver as a rival, and the Delta Episode.

* Fanfiction, particularly those centered around an original trainer, will [[PatchworkFic often use elements from both the games]], such as the character facing the Elite Four (not a tournament), and the anime, such as professors routinely handing out the starter Pokémon to new trainers, or the concept of Pokémon [[PokemonSpeak only being able to say their names]].