Fakemon Creation Guide
tab tab tab tab tab tab tab For Aspiring Fakemon Applicants


Whether you're a beginner or a fakemon pro, this guide is here to help ask thought provoking questions, give ideas, and provide a general guideline for what you should be thinking about when forming your fakemon. Read it through, and hopefully it will help your fakemon creation process if you don't really have an idea yet. Or, if you have an idea, it will help you flesh it out into a great submission.

As an added note, you don't need to follow this guide in order! The guide is in the order of the criteria listed in the rules, but there's no strict order that you have to make your pokemon in. You can start with a type, or the way you want your pokemon to look, or even it's custom move. Just make sure to connect the dots in the end so that your pokemon flows well together as one entry.

    Availability

      Other members need to know how to obtain your Fakemon for themselves, and that's how Availability comes into play. There are three main categories for Availability; Common, Limited, and Special Requirement.

        ● Common Fakemon can be found commonly in the wild once they are released to the guild, and can also be claimed from horoscopes, should they meet the requirements. The Creator may ask to be quoted and notified of anyone claiming one of their pokemon, but otherwise Common availability still remains to be fairly freely available to the general public.

        ● Limited Availability Fakemon are only available twice a year during the Fakemon Giveaways. Fakemon are usually made limited due to being naturally sparse in number, and therefore it wouldn't make sense to allow free reign of their numbers.

        ● Special Requirement availability means that you must fulfill specific requirements in order to obtain a Fakemon, but once you have done those requirements, you can obtain the fakemon even outside of giveaways. This could mean needing to obtain a specific item, go to a specific area, having a certain pokemon in your party, or any combination of things. This is essentially another form of common availability, but more restricted due to the requirements that come with the ability to obtain the fakemon.


    Species Name

      Next, let's discuss names! Your fakemon needs a name for it's species, so that people know what to call it. There are different ways to go about this. Pokemon typically have their names composed of what they're based on. For instance, Bulbasaur is a combination of Bulb, and Dinosaur, because it is a dinosaur-like creature with a plant bulb on it's back. While this is the common choice for species naming, you don't have to use this method. You can completely make up a name that has no references to anything in the world and just sounds cool, and that would be fine, just keep in mind that some people may prefer to see some purpose and connection in species names.


    Type(s)

      Your pokemon needs a type or two. When making a fakemon, you cannot create a brand new type, that's the Pokemon Company's job, so you'll need to draw from what types are currently available. Luckily for you there's 18 different types already, so there's a lot to work with and draw inspiration from. For instance, there are several dual type combinations that are not canon. If you're looking to make a fakemon and you don't have any immediate ideas, trying to come up with a pokemon for an unused type combination is a good place to start.

      Here is a list of what the type matchups look like for every dual type, canon and non canon. Below in spoilers is a list of all the unused canon dual typings:

      *Type combinations marked with an asterisk ( * ) are type combinations that, while not canon to the games, are a type combination that have been taken by a fakemon in the guild


      Normal Ghost
      Normal Bug
      Normal Rock
      Normal Poison
      Normal Steel*
      Normal Ice

      Fairy Dark*
      Fairy Fire
      Fairy Fighting
      Fairy Poison
      Fairy Ground

      Fire Grass*

      Electric Poison
      Electric Dark*
      Electric Fighting

      Ice Fire*
      Ice Poison
      Ice Bug

      Fighting Ground*

      Poison Psychic
      Poison Steel*

      Bug Psychic
      Bug Dragon
      Bug Dark

      Ghost Rock


      Don't feel like using one of those type combinations? No problem! There are also several type combinations that only exist with one pokemon, one evolutionary line, or a particular form, such as a mega evolution or one of Rotom's forms. Here is a list of pokemon with unique type combinations that only apply to their form, stage, or evolutionary line. It's okay to pick a type combination that's already been used canonly or in the guild, but it's best to avoid making fakemon with types that are overused. Check this list for type combinations sorted by abundance.

      It is recommended that you use an unused or rare type combination for your fakemon, as this helps with originality. Remember, with pokemon that have multiple evolutionary stages, it's perfectly okay to use a type or combination that has been used multiple times and then change it to something more unique because this shows a growth process in the pokemon. However if you're determined to make a really awesome and original pure normal type that doesn't change or add types because it just makes sense for your idea, then go for it! It's still possible to create amazing pokemon even if the type combination has been done a lot. We only suggest making attempts at rarer types to help facilitate unique entries that balance the type scales and provide variety for everyone.


    Abilities

      You will need to give your fakemon at least one ability, but at most, you can have three: two regular abilities, and one hidden. One of these abilities could even be your own custom made ability, but we'll get to that later! The thing to keep in mind here is that you want your chosen abilities to make sense for your fakemon. For instance, if you have a pokemon without arms or hands, giving it the ability Iron Fist would probably raise a few questions.


    Image & Physical Description

      You also need to provide some kind of image and/or physical description of your fakemon. An image is not required, however if you do end up providing an image, please provide names or links to it's source, or give yourself credit for your work! Whether you have an image or not, we do need to have some idea of what your fakemon looks like, so if you aren't an artist, or don't want to use an image off of the internet, you can write out a physical description of your fakemon. Even if you do have an image reference, a physical description is still needed, because there you can describe physical features that perhaps aren't obvious just by looking at the image. When giving a physical description, here are a few things you should be describing:

        ● Appearance: Describe this fakemon's colors, Normal and Shiny. Does it have claws? Fangs? A tail? Give a Body Type to help clarify.
        ● Stature: Is your pokemon a quadruped? Bipedal? Serpentine?
        ● Size: Give specific measurements here. If your pokemon is a quadruped or serpentine, you will need to give a width, length, and height, but a bipedal fakemon only needs a height and width. You will also need to provide a weight measurement. Weight is especially important to calculate damage for weight based moves, like low kick or heavy slam. Because of this, you need to give one specific weight for all of your pokemon. Don't say things like "between 10 and 50 pounds" because that causes issues in the calculations. Also try to keep the weight sensible for the pokemon, don't just pull out a random number.
        ● Movement: How does this fakemon get around? Does it levitate off the ground? Does it slither? Limp? Is it fast? Slow?
        ● Other Features: Don't forget that there might be features that you can't see at first glance. Perhaps your pokemon has hidden poisonous barbs in the fur on it's tail, or a film over it's eyes to help it see in the dark.


    Pokedex Entry

      What is a pokemon without it's pokedex entry? Your Fakemon needs an entry too! So what does a Pokedex Entry include? Well this is where you would give your fakemon a category, flavor text, history, dietary information, evolution information, behavior information, and basically all the little details about what your pokemon is like.

        ● Category & Flavor Text
          What is a Category? Well when you see a pokedex entry, it gives the pokemon species name, and then the category. For instance, "Ekans, the Snake Pokemon" is "(Species Name), the (Category) Pokemon". You just need to fill in the blanks. Flavor text is the little description you would see appearing in the pokedex about the pokemon upon it's capture. Some pokemon have a variety of flavor texts, particularly ones from earlier generations. You are free to provide as many different flavor texts as you want, don't feel limited to just the one.


        ● History
          A pokemon's history doesn't need to be some big fancy origin story, though if you want to go that route you can. However, a pokemon's history can just be the culture of the species. Are there any traditions that the species has? For instance like how clefairy will get together and dance in the light of a full moon. Does your fakemon have courting rituals? Does it have a history with humans, like how nosepass are used as natural compasses?


        ● Diet, Habitat, & Behavior
          It's also very important to note and describe what this species likes to eat, as well as the habitats and climates it prefers. Does it hunt specific pokemon, like how pidgeotto like to snatch up exeggcute? Does it forage for a particular plant, fungus, rock, or berry? Where would you typically find this pokemon in the wild? Does it like hot areas or cold areas? Humid or dry? Does it like to be up in the mountains or in the sea? On top of diet and habitat, you should also note the typical behaviors of your fakemon. While it's true that even two of the same species of pokemon can have vastly different personalities, you should provide an idea for what is common behavior for your fakemon, because a species usually share in at least a few common behaviors, habits, or quirks. For instance, all cats usually play with lights and string. This doesn't mean all cats will, but it is a common behavior seen in cats. Pokemon are the same way, and so you need to describe what is common behavior.


        ● Evolution
          Another important piece of information is the evolutionary line. Does your pokemon evolve? If it does, how? Does it need to be at a certain level? Does it require friendship? Does it need a hold item? If it does, is the hold item consumed upon evolving, or not? Does it need to learn a specific move? If you're making a brand new method of evolution for your pokemon, you must make sure that all the details are very clear. Much like type combinations, you should try to stay away from typical evolution methods like leveling and be unique in your pokemon's evolution process. This doesn't mean you can't use pure leveling for an evolution, but you should probably throw in something interesting. If you want to make a fakemon that doesn't evolve, that's your choice, but you should try and make the fakemon as interesting and detailed as possible to help make up for the lack of growth and development through the stages that evolution helps to provide.

          Remember, you can make split evolution lines, even regional variants and form changes (as long as they aren't mega evolutions) for your Fakemon. Just make sure not to let it get out of control such that you aren't properly explaining why and how your fakemon is able to evolve into, or take on these different forms.


        ● Breeding Information
          You need to list your pokemon's gender ratio. Is your species genderless, all male, all female, or is there more of one gender than the other? If so, why? What egg group does your pokemon fall under? You can also mention what sort of courtship rituals, if any, your pokemon goes through to accept a mate. If you want your fakemon to be breedable but you feel uncomfortable with the idea of allowing anyone to go and breed you pokemon free reign, make a mention in this section that they should ask you first before breeding, or whatever requirements you want to set.


        Do not feel limited to providing just this information, or answering the questions asked here. You are welcome, and encouraged to add more as you see fit. This section is where most of your detail and creativity points come from, so have fun!


    Moveset

      Next, we need to take a look at your fakemon's moveset. A moveset is composed of four parts, the learnset, the TM/HM list, the Egg Move list, and the Move Tutor list.

        ● Learnset
          A learnset is the moves that a pokemon learns naturally through leveling. Legendary signature moves should not be included in a learnset, nor should other fakemon's custom moves, but otherwise you are free to use whatever moves make sense for your fakemon. When making your fakemon's learnset, take a look at pokemon similar to it as a reference for what moves it should learn at different levels. For instance, on average, first stage pokemon that can evolve have a learnset that consists of ~15 moves total, give or take a few. Some first stage pokemon like Caterpie, Beldum, and Tynamo have a very limited moveset of 1-4 moves until evolution. The moves in the learnset should also make sense for your fakemon to have. This means that you should think critically about what level your pokemon should learn certain moves and judge the power of the moves in comparison to the level and stage of evolution of your pokemon. For instance, a pokemon without arms probably shouldn't be able to learn punching moves. You could also think about what types of moves your pokemon might focus on. Is it a physical attacker? A special attacker? Does it use mostly draining moves and defense buffing status moves to act as a team tank? Moves like ember and scratch would be good early level attacks for a fire type pokemon that has claws, like charmander, and you don't see any canon pokemon that learn fire blast, hydro pump, and leaf storm all at level 5. Additionally, your pokemon shouldn't be learning more than 2 moves that do 110+ damage in it's learnset.


        ● TM/HM List
          On average, a non legendary first stage pokemon has the ability to learn 30 different TMs, a second stage pokemon can learn 32 different TMs, and a third stage pokemon can learn 38 different TMs. This is the average, meaning it is not too far out of the realm of possibility for a pokemon to have ± 15 TMs from the average. Some pokemon have the capability to learn 58 different TMs, others don't have the ability to learn any TMs at all, particularly first stage bug pokemon like caterpie or weedle. There are also Universal TMs that basically every pokemon know, with the exception of a few pokemon like Ditto or Beldum who can't learn any TMs. Refer to the latest Generation list to see which TMs your fakemon should have.


        ● Egg Moves
          In the games, egg moves are moves that a pokemon would be able to inherit from their parents, and unbreedable pokemon such as those from the undiscovered egg group or genderless pokemon do not typically have egg move lists. In the games, this was a fun way for pokemon to learn unique moves earlier through crossbreeding pokemon.

          In the guild, choosing egg moves isn't quite as complicated as the pokemon games. All we ask is that you keep the number of egg moves your fakemon has close to the egg move average, which is 11 egg moves, ±5, make sure that the moves make sense for the pokemon, and also make sure that the move is an existing egg move in the games. So long as it meets this criteria, then it's fine for the guild.


        ● Move Tutor List
          When creating a list of Move Tutor moves, keep in mind that there is a set list of moves that move tutors can actually teach, and those moves are filtered down to moves that would make sense for the pokemon to have. The full list is available on bulbapedia here if you would like to take a look. There is no suggested average here, as a pokemon can learn as many tutor moves as would make sense from this list.


    Custom Move/Ability

      When making a Fakemon, you have the option of giving it a custom move or ability. This is NOT a requirement however, so if you don't feel comfortable with making one, or feel like it isn't necessary, then feel free to ignore this option entirely.

        ● Custom Move
          When making a custom move, you should really try and make it something unique and different, something that the canon pokemon world doesn't have yet, be it a mechanic that hasn't been utilized, or perhaps something that really represents your fakemon in essence, something that can be thought of as their signature move.

          When figuring out a custom attack, you need to figure out what type of move is, whether it is a physical, special, or status move, if it makes contact with the target, if it has an increased or decreased priority, and if it hits multiple targets. Once you've established that, when it comes to actually figuring out the effects of the move, if any. Not all attacks need to have an additional effect like a chance to lower defense, but if you do add these secondary effects, make sure they make sense for the attack. Above all else, you need to make sure that the move is balanced. For instance, Draco Meteor, Overheat, and Leaf Storm do 130 damage, but lower the user's special attack two stages. Skull Bash does 130, but takes a turn to charge. Boomburst does 140 damage, but it's normal type and therefore cannot be super effective, so it won't get too overpowered. Last Resort also does 140 damage, but can only be used after every other move in the moveset is used first, and once again is only normal type and can't be super effective. 150 damage moves usually take a turn to recharge after. Other moves that can get up into the 130-200 range require build up over time, or require the user to have little to no HP left to do bigger damage. The biggest base attack is 250, which is Explosion, and using this move instantly KOs the user. The point is, super powerful attacks have mechanics, requirements, or drawbacks in place to keep them in check without becoming a super all powerful move. Make sure to check the power of your attack and look at canon moves for reference to see how they are kept in balance, and keep those mechanics in mind when shaping your move.


        ● Custom Ability
          If making a custom move seems too difficult, you can choose to make a custom ability instead! Abilities are a bit more flexible than attacks as far as what they can do. Some abilities only function in battle, some only function outside of battle, and some abilities have both in and out of battle effects. It's up to you to figure out what you want your ability to specialize in. With all this free reign though, you really want to make sure that your ability isn't overpowered. If you want your ability to be some kind of attack boost, look at the attacks that would apply to it and make sure that the damage doesn't get too overwhelmingly powerful. If it's focused on defense, make sure that your fakemon isn't going to be nigh invincible to every attack. If you want to give your ability in and out of battle effects, go for it, but don't stack on a whole bunch of side effects. If you want an ability to boost grass type moves power by 10% in battle, and reduce berry tree counters by 5, stick with that, don't have it also reduce wild pokemon and NPC counters by 10, and item posts by 5. Magma Armor prevents the pokemon from being frozen in battle, and also reduces egg counters by 10 outside of battle when in the active party. These are little effects, useful, but they don't do everything.




Here is a sample code for Fakemon Entries if you would like to start with a base, but feel free to add to it or change it to suit your entry!


[size=13][b]Availability[/b][/size]:

Common, Limited, or Special Requirement. If this Fakemon is a special requirement Fakemon, please explain what the requirements are here.

[size=13][b]Species Name[/b][/size]:

Name Here (Breakdown/Explanation Here)

[size=13][b]Normal Coloration[/b][/size]:

[img]Image[/img]

[size=13][b]Shiny[/b][/size]:

[img]Image[/img]

[size=13][b]Type[/b][/size]:

Primary Type / Secondary Type

[size=13][b]Abilities[/b][/size]:

[u]Ability 1[/u]: Here
[u]Ability 2[/u]: Here
[u]Hidden[/u]: Here

[size=13][b]Pokedex Information[/b][/size]:

[size=13][b]Dex Entry[/b][/size]:

Species Name; The Category Pokemon

Flavor Text 1

Flavor Text 2

[spoiler]

[size=13][b]Physiology[/b][/size]:

Body Type:
Stance:
Height:
Length:
Weight:

Full Description

[size=13][b]Habitat[/b][/size]:

Text

[size=13][b]Behavior[/b][/size]:

Text

[size=13][b]Diet[/b][/size]:

Text

[size=13][b]Breeding Information[/b][/size]:

[u]Egg group[/u]: Text
[u]Gender Ratio[/u]: #:# or Genderless

Information, Mating/Courtship Rituals Here

[size=13][b]Evolution[/b][/size]:

Text

[size=13][b]Type Matchups[/b][/size]:

Type 1 / Type 2:

x0:
x1/4:
x1/2:
x1:
x2:
x4:

[size=13][b]Learnset[/b][/size]:

[u]By Leveling Up[/u]:

Start:
Start:
Start:
Lv 5:
Lv 10:
Lv 15:

[u]Learnable TMs/TRs/HMs[/u]:

TMs:

-TM Name
-TM Name
-TM Name

TRs:

-TR Name
-TR Name
-TR Name

HMs:

-HM Name
-HM Name
-HM Name

[u]Egg Moves[/u]:

-Move 1
-Move 2

[u]Tutor Moves[/u]:

-Move 1
-Move 2

[/spoiler]

Credit and Link To Artists Here If Any


Congratulations! You made it to the end. Hopefully this guide has helped assist you to create a solid entry, but if you still feel unsure, don't worry! You can always ask for opinions from your fellow guild members. Additionally, the mods will always provide feedback when an entry is submitted if changes need to be made. Even if an entry is rejected, you can always work on your fakemon, make the necessary adjustments, and try again!

Good luck!
tab tab ~The PER Team