Bulbapedia talk:Manual of style

Evolution Chain Standardisation

The references to how a Pokémon evolves and into what creature is unstandardised across every species article. I propose that we create a section for each species page with the evolutionary chains of that particular species. Such standardisation would make navigation simple, as well as a give a way to describe exactly how the Pokémon evolves in each case.

The style used at the Beldum article series is the standard. - 振霖_T 21:02, 25 December 2005 (CST)

And for forked evolutions (such as Poliwhirl) see the Clamperl family.User142 00:11, 26 December 2005 (CST)

That's only for the two-way forks with two or three-stage chains. For Eevee, use vertical layout - Eevee on one row, the rest on the next row.

Real people Japanese names

What is the policy regarding names of Japanese real people?

There doesn't appear to be one, so I will show a proposal.

As we all know, in Japan the last name goes before the given name, BUT in the U.S. the names are usually switched.

So to reflect both naming orders, I would like to use this convention:

"Junichiro Koizumi (Japanese: 小泉純一郎, Koizumi Jun'ichirō, born January 8, 1942)"

Now, with historical figures, there is usually no need to repeat the Japanese order unless macrons are involved: "Tokugawa Ieyasu (previously spelled Iyeyasu); 徳川 家康"

Also I would like to have a page on here that explains Japanese naming conventions.

WhisperToMe 12:35, 7 January 2006 (CST)

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Perhaps Misty's Togepi and Jessie's Wobbuffet should be at the top of each episode's Pokémon list along with Ash's Pikachu and Meowth (Team Rocket), as they (have) appeared in every episode their trainers made an appearance in since their capture (with the exception of Togepi, which evolved and left). --Argy 00:27, 18 September 2005 (CDT)

It's hard to say yes or no to these cases. Pokeani gives those two their own articles. The same argument could potentially apply to James's Chimecho. - 振霖_T 03:13, 18 September 2005 (CDT)

I'd argue that they do deserve to be named simply on the basis that they are featured, and they all do play a significant role in the anime in general. evkl 08:03, 18 September 2005 (CDT)

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For things both in the games and in the anime, do we want something like what I've done for Bill's page to be the standard? If so, should we incorporate that setup into the Manual of style?

~Evan

Individual Pokémon vs. Pokémon species?

That seems to be the best, if not most thorough, format.

I have another issue to bring up, though. Do you think it's important to define the difference between individual Pokémon and Pokémon species in the Manual of Style? For instance, EVs, IVs, and so on are characteristics of individual Pokémon, while base stats, types, and so on are characteristics of Pokémon species. If so, perhaps an article called "Pokémon specie" might be created, and links in articles referring to Pokémon species, not individual Pokémon, might lead to it. It could look like this:

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A Pokémon specie is a "kind" of Pokémon, such as Bulbasaur or Zubat. Pokémon of certain species can change into some other species by evolving, such as a Bulbasaur evolving into an Ivysaur.

Oftentimes, a specie's name can refer to an individual Pokémon of that species instead. For instance, "Bulbasaur is a Grass-type" refers to the Bulbasaur specie, but "Bulbasaur uses Vine Whip" refers to a single Bulbasaur. In the National ID system, they are numbered from 1 to 151.

Initially when the Red, Green (in Japan only), Blue, and Yellow versions were released, there were 151 Pokémon species.

When the Gold, Silver, and Crystal versions were released, 100 more species were added, making a total of 251.

When the Advanced Generation games were released, 135 more species were added, making a total of 386.

Currently, two species from the fourth generation have been officially revealed to the public, Munchlax and Lucario (Japanese name).

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It might also be useful to disambiguate this in the Pokémon article, talking about how the term "Pokémon" might refer to Pokémon species (Charmander is a Fire-type Pokémon), individual Pokémon (Pokémon which receive 4 Attack EVs have their Attack stat increase by 1), or the franchise (Pokémon was first conceptualized by Satoshi Tajiri).

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Pokémon anime characters articles standarization

We've got two styles for articles in Category:Anime characters (Pokémon) to refer back to the main article of the Pokémon in general. One's found on Ash's Pikachu, Meowth (Team Rocket), and Jigglypuff (anime), where it has on the top an "Unnamedpokemon" template pointing the main Pokémon's article to people right off the bat. The other's on pages like Brock's Bonsly, Ash's Butterfree, and Mewtwo (anime), where it mentions the main Pokémon's article down at the bottom in the "Related articles" section.

They both have their advantages - I mean, the first one makes it very easy for someone to find the article on the Pokémon's species since it's right there at the top rather than way down at the bottom, while on the other hand the second is better adapted to Pokémon which have evolved, as on the article for Ash's Butterfree.

It's bothering me that both styles exist - can we standardize them? Which style is better? Should we make alternate Unnamedpokemon templates for Pokémon with multiple stages, and switch all the Pokémon anime characters articles to it? Or should we ditch the Unnamedpokemon template completely, and change all the articles which use it to having the "Related articles" reference? Or should we go for some third style that trumps the other two completely?

Personally, I'm more in favor of the Unnamedpokemon template - it looks better to me, and the only problem with it could be fixed pretty easily, I think. --Pie 22:22, 1 July 2006 (UTC)

The style used in {{Unnamedpokemon}} is more suitable when a user may have arrived at that article by mistake (via redirect, for example, or by lack of a disambiguation page). Such a thing should be present, for example, on Battle Frontier and not Battle Frontier (song). But that doesn't seem likely here, not since we abandoned the idea of redirecting Pikachu to Ash's Pikachu. The related articles style seems better. - 振霖_T 02:18, 2 July 2006 (UTC)

Ah, all right, then. ^^o --Pie 05:12, 2 July 2006 (UTC)

British vs. American spelling?

I don't know where to ask this, so I'll just ask it here. Which English spelling does Bulbapedia prefer? I have found some pages that use British spelling (ex: colour, defence), while others use American spelling (ex: color, defense). I'm American, so I'm more accustomed to the the latter. Does it matter at all, or should they just be left as is? -Ringtails 04:20, 8 March 2007 (UTC)

I'd say leave the British/American spelling as-is, as in, don't edit an article just to change the spelling to the other one. Remember, though, both are correct, so we should have a redirect from Alternate colour if we don't already... --TTEchidna 04:49, 8 March 2007 (UTC)

Standardise article titles on American spelling, and have consistency within an article. As he says though, don't edit an article just to change the spelling from one to another. (It can lead to revert wars.) - 振霖_T 07:15, 8 March 2007 (UTC)

In the cases where something is spelt the same in American and British versions (which I think is all cases where something is written down) then we should use that spelling. --FabuVinny ^T-C-S 18:37, 24 May 2007 (UTC)

Pokedex style

Was goin through pokedex info and revising today when I realized, The European version probably differs from the American version. Not only that, but the Height, Weight and Species information have had some inconsistencies with the game I am going by. (Pokemon Pearl, Us Version). Who's to say which is the correct version? I suggest two pokedex catagories, US and UK. What is your view on this? --Dekubobo 14:43, 24 May 2007 (UTC)

I don't understand. Why would there be a difference? And D/P won't be released in Europe for another two months so how can it affect things now?

On a more helpful note, I am planning to get a European copy so I'll be able to help compare the versions at the time. --FabuVinny ^T-C-S 18:32, 24 May 2007 (UTC)

Believe me, we've missed a lot when it comes to updating each Pokémon's page-- and with 493, who wouldn't? I still find Pokémon with their Sinnoh Dex number listed as "?", so I'd not doubt that some of the DP dex entries are translated from the Japanese versions, and the same for the species.

I don't see why, either, there'd be a difference in the dex entries between Europe and the US, unless it's the German translation or something. The UK version, I'm betting, will be exactly the same as the US version, though maybe instead it'll use meters and kilograms instead of feet/inches and pounds. Don't see much else to change, though... Not with any reason, at least. English is English. --TTEchidna 19:30, 24 May 2007 (UTC)

Gyms and Badges

I just wondered how we should go about these, once and for all:

• Gym or gym? Pokémon Gym or Pokémon gym? (consider Official Pokémon League-sanctioned Gym)
• Badge or badge? Gym Badge or Gym badge? Boulderbadge, Boulder Badge or Boulder badge? It seems to vary by generation, but it's strange to see Boulderbadge and then Coal Badge on the same page.

Badges are technically items (see Escape Rope) but what about individually? --Greengiant 18:46, 10 July 2007 (UTC)

Well, in RBYGSCRSEFRLG, they were typed as BOULDERBADGE, CASCADEBADGE, and so on. After all, you know how previously we had the move AncientPower as Ancientpower, because it was written in all caps so we didn't know the intended spelling... I'd say we oughta go with what DP says, including the instruction book.

And it says... unless it's a specific badge, it's not capitalized. There are eight Pokémon League Badges: the Coal Badge, the Forest Badge, and so on. If you have a badge it proves you've defeated a Gym Leader. Pokémon Gym seems to be a different case. It's Leader or Gym Leader, Gym or Pokémon Gym.

We might have to wait for a GS remake to be for sure about the old badges taking on the same style as the Sinnoh ones... but eh, it's a wiki, everything can be undone if that's the case. I'd personally say keep the separate, both capitalized rule for badge names, and do them ALL that way, since it's not only consistent, but very likely that that's what was meant originally.

So. Recap: Gym over gym, Pokémon Gym over Pokémon gym, badge over Badge, unless it's a specific badge like the Boulder Badge, Zephyr Badge, Stone Badge, or Coal Badge, or named as an official Pokémon League Badge. That's my take on things, at least, I say it all depends if Pie and Argy agree, they're the Style Editors. TTEchidna 20:13, 10 July 2007 (UTC)

Also: to add something, this proves that the badges are at the very least named as XXXXX Badge in Hoenn. TTEchidna 01:17, 21 July 2007 (UTC)

New Move Template

User:Royalshow ten posted a new template for showing moves at the Pound article, as well as other move articles. Though they were reverted by a moderator, I personally think that these tables look better and are easier to navigate than the current large boxes that are there. Thoughts? Morgan695 05:01, 1 September 2007 (UTC)

Color

I could never figure out how the colors come out. like acd or FFFFFF. How do we know what the color is?File:Ani386MS.gifPokeFile:Ani386AMS.gifmaniacFile:Ani386DMS.gif102File:Ani386SMS.gif 22:38, 19 December 2007 (UTC)

The number is divided into three groups of two digits: the first represents red, the second green, the third blue. It functions on the principle of additive color. Furthermore, the numbers are in hexadecimal; the maximum value of each of the three primary colours, FF, equals to 255 in decimal (our number system).

Three digits is shorthand when the digits repeat themselves: if you have #FFCC99, you can write #FC9 instead. Laogeodritt 23:09, 19 December 2007 (UTC)

Well, I know you can find color-codes on Wikipedia pages like Brown File:Ani234MS.gifMERRY File:Ani385MS.gif CHRISTMASFile:Ani225MS.gif 23:14, 19 December 2007 (UTC)

Or you could just nab a color on Photoshop or some program that lets you see the color hex code, and copy it down. :p User:TinaTheKirlia/Sig 23:15, 19 December 2007 (UTC)

OR YOU COULD GUESS. User:Optimus35/sig 10:13, 4 January 2008 (UTC)

Parenthesis mis-match

Since the page seems to be protected, I'd like to note a parenthesis mis-match in section Article titles, second paragraph.

In cases where only a first name (Bill) exists, or where a character is known by a title, such as Professor Oak) more than their proper name, those should be used as the sole title of the page.

should be

In cases where only a first name (Bill) exists, or where a character is known by a title (such as Professor Oak) more than their proper name, those should be used as the sole title of the page.

Laogeodritt ^{[ Talk BP ARC WP | Contribs ]} 23:19, 19 December 2007 (UTC)

It's already been fixed File:Ani234MS.gifMERRY File:Ani385MS.gif CHRISTMASFile:Ani225MS.gif 23:23, 19 December 2007 (UTC)

...right before you said that. :p User:TinaTheKirlia/Sig 23:34, 19 December 2007 (UTC)

Not exactly. check the Recent Changes page. this topic came first chronologically.File:Ani386MS.gifPokeFile:Ani386AMS.gifmaniacFile:Ani386DMS.gif102File:Ani386SMS.gif 23:36, 19 December 2007 (UTC)

No, no, I was talking about Theryguy. He said it was fixed, however he said that right after it was. :p Even though the topic came first, it was corrected. :p User:TinaTheKirlia/Sig 00:23, 20 December 2007 (UTC)

Well, I told TTEchidna on AIM and then said it was fixed. Why does it matter? File:Ani234MS.gifMERRY File:Ani385MS.gif CHRISTMASFile:Ani225MS.gif 00:41, 20 December 2007 (UTC)

• shrugs* Whatever. :p User:TinaTheKirlia/Sig 00:47, 20 December 2007 (UTC)

Ash's Gligar

Can someone please add Ash's Gligar to the list? We also need Paul's Gliscor to be added......User:Theryguy512/Sig 21:30, 24 January 2008 (UTC)

Done. User:TTEchidna/sig 05:20, 25 January 2008 (UTC)

Voice actors?

Okay, this is getting insane. Yes, I know Pokémon's been translated and dubbed into nearly every world language... but we can't just keep adding the people who voice Ash in every single dub. That's making an entire paragraph to itself! From his page as it stands:

"His Japanese voice actress is 松本梨香 Rica Matsumoto, his English voice actresses are Veronica Taylor (4Kids Entertainment dub) and Sarah Natochenny (Pokémon USA/TAJ Productions dub), his Brazilian voice actor is Fábio Lucindo, his Italian voice actor is Davide Garbolino, and his Spanish voice actors are Adolfo Moreno (Spain) and Gabriel Ramos (Latin America). In the first dub of The Mastermind of Mirage Pokémon he was voiced by Jamie Peacock."

Honestly? I think a reduction to just English and Japanese would be fine. It's great that we have the vocal talents of so many individuals in so many languages, but really, seriously, do we need to list them all? We have the list of voice actors, we could even link to that! Perhaps even expand the list to include other not-so-minor characters like Elite Four members and Gym Leaders. But on a character's page, spending an entire paragraph listing off every VA they've ever had in every language is just insane.

...speaking of which, the list of VAs needs to be reorganized. I say put those who voice in EP languages first, since they're far more likely to a: have an article over on their wiki so we don't have to just make a stub here, and b: I believe people would be more interested in seeing who does so in the languages of the wikis we affiliate with. The biggest problem I see is that it's huge table × huge table.

Anyway. THOUGHTS?! User:TTEchidna/sig 18:22, 22 February 2008 (UTC)

Well we only have the huge voice paragraphs on major characters, such as Brock, Misty, Ash, Dawn, Gary, etc. Like look at (random pick) Egan for example. He has one sentence:

His English voice actress is Amy Birnbaum and his Japanese voice actress is 柳沢三千代 Michiyo Yanagisawa.

Many minor characters have only one sentence, the big pharagraphs are only for the main characters. I think we can live with them. User:Theryguy512/Sig 19:51, 22 February 2008 (UTC)

Well, still, it confuses the hell out of me when I have to go through three sentences to find who voiced character X in English because people don't wanna delete one "and" and write another, so they just put the VAs in between the English and Japanese ones. User:TTEchidna/sig 20:48, 23 February 2008 (UTC)