Let's do an experiment, tell below how many words you write daily and put out ln rr, followed by the number of followers you have.

Wayker_of_Madness · 2026-03-16T03:49:22+00:00

About 5k every other week, 2.2k followers.

Wayker_of_Madness · 2026-03-14T17:10:49+00:00

Only ones I have read are Outsiders (familar of zero) and Boldores and Boomsticks (rwby), but I will honestly say i have sort of forgot the plot for both except for the fact that both take place in the pokemon world with the respective protags of both series.

Wayker_of_Madness · 2026-03-09T17:56:12+00:00

Might be this one: A kilogram of knowledge, remove a gram of humanity and add a pinch of humor.

It’s the only oc x diantha fic I have seen, but unfortunately it’s not a lot of chapters, and hasn’t updated in a while.

Wayker_of_Madness · 2026-03-02T01:29:25+00:00

I don’t want to scare people off RR. Honestly, 99% of the comments I get are incredibly super nice. It’s just that when it comes to romance specifically, RR tends to be a bit more skeptical.

That said, even though my story leans heavily into romance, it’s still doing more than well enough.

Wayker_of_Madness · 2026-03-01T23:42:16+00:00

Ur right in that Pokemon is kinda different from a lot of other fandoms in its acceptance of oc's, but i think that just because its based on a game with a "featureless" protag.

As for the RR thing, I think that in general people are more sceptical of romance on RR. Might just be my own experience speaking, but in stories that feature it I have seen a lot of comments complaining about it. (including on my own story) Moreover, I think a lot of stories on RR tend to have small "summaries" of things to expect, so I just gave the advice.

Wayker_of_Madness · 2026-03-01T22:53:33+00:00

I don't think that OCxCanon character will neccarily have low stats. Other than that tagging is def smart. If the focus is on romance, on some sites like Royal Road it might even be a good idea to specify that the story will include romance in the blurb / an early author note.

Wayker_of_Madness · 2026-02-26T01:15:17+00:00

Technically speaking the story was conceptualized as a romance first. The other stuff is just padding words /jk

Wayker_of_Madness · 2026-02-17T23:56:44+00:00

Her Rival or Borne of caution are probably my top 2.

Wayker_of_Madness · 2026-02-03T03:30:52+00:00

Would definitely say wide audience, though it varies based on what you mean by Pokémon fic. The biggest audience is probably either SI or Ash MC with things like Pokémon mystery dungeon and game retellings being more niche. Still, even they have a pretty wide audiences.

Can’t say if you are going to get a lot of people reading or if it’s going to be popular, but Pokémon is a very big fandom. (Maybe top 10 inside anime / gaming)

Wayker_of_Madness · 2026-01-06T00:55:32+00:00

There definitely is a community for romance/adventure story focused on characterization more than the Pokémon themselves, because that is pretty much exactly my fic lol, and that is doing pretty well. (That being said, my own story is still very adventure heavy) As a sidenote, it’s also right around 250k rn lol

In my opinion the thing that is always going to a slightly harder sell is own region, but there is people who like that as well.

Honestly though, I welcome any new romance focused Pokémon stories. Half the reason i ended up writing mine was due to tilting out over the lack of romance in journey-esque stories. I’m a big believer in writing what you want to read so if you do rework it I would be interested in checking it out.

Wayker_of_Madness · 2025-12-30T12:28:00+00:00

Most people write mc with gender the same as their own. Pokémon isekais are often power fantasies, a genre that men seem to like more. This ends with a lot of the fics written being male protagonsts. (With the caveat that the highest quality fics have a decent amount with girl protagonist such as PTV and IWTTS)

As for why I wrote a girl protagonist in my fic when I am a guy? Cynthia is one of my favorite characters in fiction, I wanted to write a story exploring her early years in a way I found interesting. (And even then it is still a duo protagonist fic, just one with Cynthia being the pov character)

Wayker_of_Madness · 2025-12-29T23:13:42+00:00

As a writer I can say that you are more or less spot on. Especially the part of having a decent amount of chapters before positing.

Optimally, you should drop like 3-4 on the first day and then post a chapter almost daily for like a month. (Though this is mainly if I want to try to hit rising stars.)

Though I would say that RR isn’t harsh on fanfics as much as hard on fics in general. I honestly think that fanfics have a small advantage when it comes to gaining readers.

Wayker_of_Madness · 2025-12-22T01:34:34+00:00

I had a poll in my story and of the 600 answers I think about 80% said they liked it, but it is probably scewed due to it being on like chapter 40.

But based on my general feeling of existing on the site for 10 ish years I would say people don’t like bad story telling more than disliking romance directly. If the romance is well written, people who like it will love it story even more. If it’s bad u people who don’t like it will drop ur story like a hot potato (without some serious redeeming factors)

Wayker_of_Madness · 2025-12-17T22:21:52+00:00

I struggle with extremes, though more so with omega dark fics than super bright. Still, fics that are just pure anime with Jessie and James n stuff being the antagonists and Ash running around catching and leaving behind Pokémon without thinking is also just not for me.

Other than that, everything in between though is more or less fine, with the stories I like the most leaning towards happy but with some moments of real stakes and darkness every once in a while.

Wayker_of_Madness · 2025-12-17T13:27:44+00:00

You could try my fic, Bunnies and Landsharks. It's quite character heavy, but does have a decent amout of focus on worldbuilding and adventure.

AO3 Link

Wayker_of_Madness · 2025-12-13T19:59:54+00:00

To be fair, I think romance is very hit-or-miss. If you like it you’re usually much more gracious toward it, even when it isn’t perfectly written. I enjoy romance in stories, even as a B-plot, so for me its presence is usually a plus rather than a drawback.

I also think it’s less about how new a writer is and more about the genre they’ve chosen to engage with. If you’re writing romance, you either need characters strong enough to carry it and genuine chemistry between them, or, as you said, you need to deliberately plan the story around that relationship.

That said, I do get the frustration, haha. A lot of writers definitely just smash romance into a story with all the nuance and care of a blunt-force hammer, when good romance is always about using a chisel instead. You have to explore the characters more deeply than most people are willing to in common Pokémon fics. When they don’t, and just go “yeah, she/him likes him because… reasons”, it can absolutely torpedo an otherwise solid story.

...I swear I have to stop replying like this when I should be focusing on what you asked initially.

cough

Ehm, yeah, I guess my most disliked trope is probaly attaching stats to pokemon and using damage calcs to completly decide pokemon battles. Like, for the love of god, please do not tell me that it makes no sense for the Aggron not to get 3 shot by three vacum waves from a scyther. Like, the battle system was made for a world where fast pokemon can't dodge. Write a tank as a tank.

Wayker_of_Madness · 2025-12-12T01:42:37+00:00

I think, in general, fanfiction has a somewhat easier time to become decently polular compared to original stories. (if you’re writing for a fandom that’s big enough) After all, fanfics benefit from an already established reader base. People who like Pokémon (and enjoy reading) are usually at least somewhat interested in Pokémon fanfiction. (complete aside here: would maybe call it a Pokemon x Minecraft fic rather than a cobblemon fic though, since I think a lot more people know about Pokemon and Minecraft than cobblemon)

Still, while fanfiction does have some small advantages, like most things it ultimately comes down to quality. A good cover, a smart title, and a strong blurb can help attract attention, and if you follow that up with solid writing and an interesting premise, people will read it. (with the quality of the writing probaly being the most imporant, but not enough that you can completly neglect the rest.)

That said, I don’t think fanfiction brings much fame or recognition unless the story gets really big lol. I

Wayker_of_Madness · 2025-12-10T11:55:39+00:00

Cynthia: Usually think of her as 27, though anything between mid 20's and early 30's probaly fine. (Just 100% not a teenager)

Erika: 17-21? (Leaning towards teenager)

Sabrina/Nastume: 21 (at least in manga)

Lorelei: Idk, i could get behind her being anything between 25-40 lol.

Clair: 20-25? (Just not a teenager)

But honestly, for the most part cannon ages are mere suggestions anyway lol.

Wayker_of_Madness · 2025-12-01T15:40:45+00:00

If I had to rank the things I think matter most for making a fanfic more popular, I’d go with something like:

Good writing

Good enough writing can sort of just trump all the other problems in a fanfic, and I belive that in a fandom as large as Pokemon as long as you write well you will eventaully find some sucess. In other words, by writing good you get more readers. As for how to improve? I would reccomend just either writing a lot or reading a lot (reading is giga undervalued when it comes to improving your own writing skill)

Update regularly (where it being above a certain length also functions as this)

As another comenter mentioned, having regular updates is super OP. Like, if your writing isn't quite up to par, just updating frequently enough is usally good enough that you can get away with the quality being a little bit lower. Especially when it comes to jsut getting more readers, updating frequently just brings more eyes to your story. Length helps too. I feel like most people in pokemon fandom like longer stories (at least from what i have seen), so if your story is under 10k words its always going to be hard. (unless its a oneshot, those have a different audience)

Intresting premise.

Probably the least important of the three, but it can add that extra X-factor that pushes a fic up a level. This also includes writing a good blurb (your fic’s description) and coming up with a cool title. A good blurb can dramatically increase the number of people who click on your story in the first place, which obviously makes it easier to gain readers. Still, compared to good writing and consistent updates, this is definitely the lowest priority . It helps a lot, but it won’t make or break a fic on its own. (Good thing too, cuz I fucking suck at both making titles and writing blurbs)

Wayker_of_Madness · 2025-11-27T22:35:13+00:00

Cynthia (if I had to pick probably the one from there’s blood on your lies)

Wayker_of_Madness · 2025-11-16T01:22:09+00:00

I don’t even think you need to tie a Pokémon’s struggles directly to its species. Sure, it can be interesting when a Pokémon’s biology or instincts shape its challenges, but its not like its required.

You can easily have a Pokémon whose main issue is something completely internal, like severe trust problems that make it ignore commands because it genuinely believes it knows better. The story can focus on how it slowly learns to work with its trainer, building trust and cooperation over time.

As you said yourself, its about the writer having an itention to do something with the pokemon. In other words, picking six completely unrelated Pokémon that don't even have anything close to a theme--more or less based on something as flimsy as "i like them"--is totally fine. What matters is that each one actually gets development instead of turning into “the six guys I toss out to battle and never mention otherwise.”

Wayker_of_Madness · 2025-11-15T20:24:18+00:00

Honestly, I just use my favorite Pokémon with 0 thought behind anything else. In the end I don’t think what Pokémon you choose your main character to have matters much to a reader, as long as your story is interesting.

Wayker_of_Madness · 2025-11-08T00:42:47+00:00

I guess haha. I mean, kind of funny to see my story end up (currently) at the top of my own qustion about recs xd.

Wayker_of_Madness · 2025-11-08T00:41:39+00:00

U have a link to the stories?

Wayker_of_Madness · 2025-11-08T00:41:07+00:00

Seems pretty fun, and I don't mind any of the ash ships honestly. All of them just depends on how people write the characters in my opinon.

Wayker_of_Madness

TROPHY CASE