Month: Feb 2013

out all of the legendary pokemon which one is your least favorite ( if this has been asked before i apologize )

Oh… that’s a tough one.

There are a couple that I sort of have these weird, kind of irrational grudges against, and the biggest one of those is probably Rayquaza, which I dwelt on at some length last year.

I don’t have much of a problem with Rayquaza’s design, or powers, or really with any of the things normal people think about when deciding which Pokémon they like.  When I think about legendary Pokémon, I normally think about how well they fit into the story and how they develop the atmosphere of the world, since that is, in my opinion, what they’re really ‘for’ – they are ‘legendary,’ after all.  Rayquaza irritates me because his involvement in the climax of Emerald version is sheer deus ex machina and utterly robs the player of agency in the resolution of the Hoenn crisis.  You don’t even get much satisfaction out of completing the Sky Pillar (which is much easier than on Ruby and Sapphire) or finding Rayquaza in the first place (since the scene with Wallace in which you figure it out is totally nonsensical).  ‘Rayquaza fixes everything’ is simply not my idea of a well-done climax sequence.

I guess I should actually do this now

No one seems to have any major objections to the list of battle roles I proposed in the last post, so let’s vote on those choices.  The next step in hammering out this Pokémon, I think, will be to have people submit stat spreads and movepools for it, and the result of this poll will provide the direction for this – basically, what we’re saying here is “this Pokémon has to be able to fill this role.  If it can do one or two other things as well, that’s fine, but it has to be good at this.”  None of these imply physical, special or mixed – I’m on the fence about doing another poll for that, or just leaving it up to the people who submit the stat spreads.  Hrm.

I guess to some extent this is about what fits our current design best – both the art and the concept brief – but do think also about the battle properties of Fire/Water, both offensive and defensive, and the attacks that we are likely to be able to justify using.

EDIT: Just remembered that there was actually a suggestion to add “wall” as an option, which is sufficiently different from “tank” that I think it’s worth having, so I’ll put that in.

So what are your thoughts on Pokemon religion? Its gradually become more prominent in the games, climaxing at Sinnoh with its main plot. How do you analyze this? It clearly goes deep into the Pokemon world as the trippy as hell vision in the Sinjoh ruins shows. (I’m started at least five threads in as many Pokemon sites to crack that sigil, only getting about halfway through.)

Well… what are you asking, exactly?

I think the tacit assumption is that people in the Pokémon world follow a religion similar to Shinto, the traditional Japanese faith.  This makes things difficult for me because I don’t really know a whole lot about Shinto, although from what I can gather it’s much less dogmatic than the Abrahamic religions followed in the West, is built mainly around a generalised reverence for tradition, order and the natural world, and sort of merged with Mahayana Buddhism a few centuries back to create something that’s as much a way of life as it is an organised religion.  Basically, it’s kinda vague and it’s difficult to tell where religion ends and culture begins.  The Pokémon universe is the same kind of thing.  They revere Pokémon, but they don’t ‘worship’ them exactly, which makes it difficult to tell precisely how the nature of their relationship with legendary Pokémon in particular has changed over the centuries.  Clearly no-one worships them as gods anymore, but many of them are still thought of as ‘sacred’ in some sense, perhaps as much because of their connection to the past as anything else (think of the way N plans to gain spiritual authority by reenacting the events of the old Unova legends).  This is further complicated by the fact that many of the original myths, although largely forgotten by the common people, may actually be true – it’s entirely possible, for instance, that Dialga and Palkia really do ‘rule’ time and space in a very meaningful sense.  The people of the Pokémon universe seem to have ‘forgotten’ a lot of their religion, one way or another – they know sites like the Cave of Origin or the Celestic Town ruins were once very important, and still respect them very deeply for that reason, but most of them don’t exactly know why anymore.  Sometimes this can come back to bite them.

I think the vision Arceus shows you in the Sinjoh Ruins is as much an illustration of the scope of Arceus’ power as anything else.  It’s doing something dramatic for you, it’s got your attention, and it wants to show off, so it says to you “this is my kingdom, puny human – the land and the stars, the sea and the sky, your entire civilisation, and all life, from your cells up to the planet itself.  Make a baby Dialga for you?  Piece of cake.”  Your final comment confuses me – by ‘sigil,’ you mean the triangular design that appears where Arceus is standing?  What makes you think there’s something there to ‘crack,’ exactly?

Dear Pokemanical, what is your view on pokemon’s intelligence? I do know that all three mediums do sort of treat them differently. Although increasingly in the game it seemed to follow the anime route. I do know the game pokemon lacked technically much of a personality due to being a game other than minor simple personality descriptions such as sassy, vain, etc etc.

I don’t think there actually is much of a disparity between the games and the anime – obviously the anime depicts them, mostly, as being of human or near-human (or, in a few cases, super-human) intelligence while the games generally do not, but I don’t think the games so much contradict the anime as fail to support it.  You are right, of course, that Pokémon don’t have much of a personality in the games – but wouldn’t we be playing a completely different game if they did?  It’d be a great deal of work to give actual personalities to individual Pokémon, and at the end it would be all but impossible to keep the collecting/training/breeding game structure that’s worked for the franchise since the beginning, so why bother?  And, of course, we still do have Pokémon that are explicitly described in the games as being highly intelligent, such as Alakazam with his ‘IQ of 5000’ (which, incidentally, is an utterly meaningless statement because the IQ scale just plain stops making sense once you get to maybe 190 or 200), or even Pokémon capable of human speech (the ghost of the mother Marowak in Lavender Town).

In short, what I’m suggesting is that Pokémon don’t appear to lack personalities in the games because the games take a dimmer view of their intelligence than the anime does; they appear to lack personalities because the games just don’t care.  When people do talk, in the games, about the intelligence or personalities of Pokémon, they tend to say things along the lines of “just like people!”, and the relationship between humans and Pokémon has always been portrayed as an equal partnership, implying that they are at least of comparable intelligence – quite a bit brighter than a standard cat or dog.

The other thing to bear in mind is that ‘intelligence’ is a frightfully nebulous concept anyway, and that most psychologists would be hard-pressed to pin down what it actually is.  I am actually tempted to suggest that Pokémon are, broadly speaking, quite close to humans (or, in some cases, well above them) in their capacity for logic or ability to guess future events, but fall behind mainly in areas like leadership and creativity, which is what trainers are expected to provide.  But now I’m speculating.

So it looks like this

Aroma ladies and gentlemen, youngsters and lasses, we have our squid, courtesy of Adam.

For anyone late to the party, I’m trying to co-ordinate a community effort to design a Pokémon.  For some reason.  It’s very rare that I have a coherent plan behind anything on this blog.  Anyway.

We decided to create a Water/Fire Pokémon, and chose this as the concept brief for the thing, submitted by reader Chewiana Jones:

“What if we had an enormous squid/oil lamp hybrid that lived deep in arctic oceans, getting most of its nutrients from volcanic vents and small deep-sea Pokemon prey and burning oil (for warmth) in small amounts inside its body, which could look somewhat steampunk furnace-ish structure with more organic parts like the eyes and mouth mixed in and a body made of translucent, durable membrane with golden light shining through, supported by a skeletal framework. However, when it starts to run low on oil, it flares up its flames and rises like a hot air balloon to closer to the surface. There, it hunts pokemon like Walrein and Dewgong by expelling oil like squid ink and then lighting it on fire, then eats them and uses the oil for more power.”

I think the thing to do now is decide what we want this thing to do in battle, starting in very general terms, e.g. ‘sweeper.’  The problem that faces me with this step is that I’m not sure what an exhaustive list of generalised combat roles would look like. I will tentatively suggest the following list, but I’d like to wait a day or two before I make a poll on it so people can suggest other roles that can be important, or point out to me that some of these are too similar to separate.

  • Sweeper
  • Tank
  • Supporter/Disruptor
  • Revenge killer
  • Wallbreaker

None of these options, I feel I should note, necessarily ties us to a particular stat spread or movepool – if, for instance, you think that a Pokémon with a base speed of 70 and an awful offensive type combination can’t be a sweeper, Agility Metagross would like a word with you – and, of course, the lines between them are often blurry, some Pokemon can be more than one, often simultaneously (have you seen Gallade’s support movepool?) but I think it’d be nice to pick at least a vague semblance of a direction before jumping into a complete stat sheet.

How would you imagine the Pokemon universe’s version of the Discovery Channel would be like?

Well, David Attenborough would be this ridiculously powerful Pokémon master who has a film crew follow him on his adventures and has to protect them from all the wild Pokémon he meets, the Myth Busters would quickly go out of business as they found that all of the ‘myths’ people told about Pokémon are actually 100% true, Shark Week would end in tears when a Sharpedo tore through the camera crew’s boat and their souls were eaten by a fluther of Jellicent (fluther is the collective noun for a group of jellyfish!  See, this blog is educational!), and Alder would be Bear Grylls.

Would you ever consider of making a top 5 favorite Pokemon generations in the future as Gen V is at an end?

What, like… order them from best to worst?  I don’t know; I sort of think they all had good points and bad points.  Actually I’ve always thought that, for each generation, you can pick out one or two things that it did better than any of the others.

Five had the best storytelling (well, so far, anyway), with a plot that finally tackled an issue that has made people uneasy about the Pokémon franchise from day one.

Four made the most beneficial mechanical changes, which (in my view) essentially completed the battle system, most notably the reclassification of physical and special attacks, but also the addition of a glut of new items, moves and abilities.  Most (but, I hasten to add, not all) of what Five has added to that has been largely superfluous or gimmicky.

Three, I think, had the best music (personal taste, of course, but still) and the best-written Pokédex (seriously, it did; look up the entries some time and compare them – this is the only generation where the writers have put serious thought into giving us new information about old Pokémon).

Two, in my opinion, did very well with that vague thing called ‘atmosphere,’ which consists of many small things and is, of course, impossible to define, but a couple of contributing factors which I think worked very well are the way Two did legendary Pokémon (my full thoughts on the matter can be found here), the related fact that the games have a more detailed plot than Red and Blue without developing the ‘apocalypse complex’ of the next two generations, and the numerous callbacks to the first generation, particularly through the use of the Kanto areas (something Black 2 and White 2 have picked up on and continued).

And One… well, One was, let’s be honest with ourselves here, kind of a mess but it had that sort of glitchy charm to it, didn’t it?  Besides, that was what started it all, and none of the rest would be here without it, and surely that has to count for something.

The thought occurs that I haven’t actually answered your question, but hopefully this will have given you some amusement.

White 2 Playthrough Journal, episode 9: Mo’ money, mo’ problems

(Thank you to Wekhter for telling me how to edit the html code to do things with my pictures that Tumblr will no longer do for me)

Jim and I with our teams, as of this episode, just in case you're having trouble keeping track.

Jim and I take some time to explore the desert in the north.  We find it much as we remember it from Black and White, though the sand continues to claim more of the ruins in the area.  It’s not the worst that could happen to them.  Sand preserves things wonderfully.  The desert will keep them nice and dry, and they’ll still be there in two hundred years.  We do find some interesting new wildlife, though; in addition to all the desert Pokémon we remember, there are now Sandshrew and Trapinch in the area.  After a moment’s thought, I add Daenerys the Trapinch to my team before we move on.  I also find something else, though – a Sigilyph that seems to sparkle somehow.  I look again.  It’s not a shiny Sigilyph; I know what those look like.  Wondering if I imagined it, I decide to catch the Sigilyph for further study.  It turns out, on inspection, to have been partnered with a human before, someone with the trainer ID number 00002.  Hmm.  There turn out to be several more Pokémon like this in the area – I find a Sandile, a Scraggy… and an extremely powerful Darmanitan which manages to level half of my team before I can force it into Zen Mode and capture it.  I hate Darmanitan so much.  These seem to be the Pokémon N used on Black and White, and subsequently released back into the wild, in keeping with his philosophy of Pokémon liberation.  Unsure what to do with them, I shelve them for the moment and settle in to train up Daenerys a little bit while Jim pokes around in the Relic Castle for anything that hasn’t been looted already.

 ...hello? Anyone in here? At all?

We meet up again once Daenerys has caught up with the rest of my team in level, and strike out again for Nimbasa City.  As we reach the outer limits of the city, though, we encounter something… unexpected.  What was once a mere gatehouse has been converted into a long, neon-clad street, completely covered over with an arched roof.   This huge building appears to be deserted.  There’s no one here.  Although the place is majestic enough, with its sparkling ceiling and beautiful stone columns, it really doesn’t look like much more than a glorified entrance gate to Nimbasa City.  I mean, it’s exactly the kind of thing Elesa would build, but even by her standards it seems to put form over substance.  I look at Jim, who just strolls onward to Nimbasa.  I shrug and follow.  Before we can get far, however, we are accosted by a purposeful-looking businessman and his crew of assistants.  He declares, loudly and enthusiastically, that we are perfect, and runs up to shake our hands.  This man is the owner of ‘Join Avenue’ – the name of the building we are in – and needs someone to run the place for him.  Following a new trend in upper-level management, he has decided to entrust this vital responsibility to the first random trainers to wander by, putting his massive and important new project in our hands!  His minions’ faces fall slightly, as though questioning the wisdom of putting a pair of unknown teenagers in charge of a huge financial investment.  He assigns two of his minions, the blue-haired Jacci and Future, to our staff – at which their forced smiles suddenly turn to looks of surprise and confusion – before wishing us luck and disappearing.  We watch the owner leave, and then turn to go – Nimbasa awaits!  Jacci and Future, however, fall on their knees and beg us to stay.  Without our help, they’ll never bring this avenue to amount to anything!  We shrug and move on.  They call out, promising fame, a cushy base of operations, useful services and items, and riches!  We ignore them and walk-

Wait, what was that about riches?

Jim rolls his eyes and tells me he’ll meet me outside the great stadium in Nimbasa once I’ve turned Join Avenue into a smoking ruin.

I tell him I don’t know what he’s talking about, then turn to Jacci and Future.  They prostrate themselves and ask me how I would like them to address me.  I think for a moment and tell them to call me “Empress.”  They look at each other and I see a shadow cross over their faces, as though they are just realising how much trouble they are in, but they force grins and greet me by my new title.  They explain that my new empire is supposed to be a shopping mall, of sorts.  As people enter and leave Nimbasa City, I will be able to persuade some of them to set up shops in the empty niches of the avenue in between the decorative columns, gardens and fountains.  Once we have a couple of shops, I can try to drum up business for them by recommending their wares to passing customers.  Basically their business model is to let random people camp out in their fancy hallway and provide them with free advertising.  Hmm.

 This is the office. Some of these people are probably our assistants. I think most of them just decided to crash here one night and haven't left yet. I've given up trying to figure out which is which.

As they explain their plan to me, a young boy, perhaps twelve years old, enters the avenue heading for Nimbasa City.  Future points at him excitedly and tells me to talk to him; he can be our first proprietor!  I raise an eyebrow, but go up to the boy anyway, introduce myself as Empress of Join Avenue, and ask him whether he would be interested in owning a stall on our fine premises.  It turns out that this boy, Janus (named, I can only assume, for the Roman god of doorways), has always dreamed of owning a stall selling useful items for trainers!  He has fresh water, Moomoo Milk, and… well, okay, at the moment he just has fresh water and Moomoo Milk but he promises he’ll talk to his suppliers about getting other products once he’s established.  If I give him a spot, he’ll be so happy he’ll say ‘pit pat’!  I assume ‘pit pat’ is what kids these days say when they are happy.  I squint at him, framing his face with my hands.  I look over at Future, who is nodding enthusiastically, and Jacci, who waves her hand and sighs.  I look back to Janus.  “Welcome aboard, kid.”  He cheers and hurries over to a spot near our office to set up his shop.  I soon recruit a second shopkeeper, a ranger woman named Annetta.  Annetta, it transpires, is a clever charlatan who sells people rocks by disguising them as valuable artefacts.  Now, as an archaeologist I have a deep-seated hatred for people who deal in actual black market antiquities, but selling cheap fakes to unsuspecting members of the public is a-okay as long as I get a cut of the profits!  Annetta sounds like my kind of felon, and I permit her to join my empire.

Now we just need some customers.

Before long, a woman with a parasol wanders through and Jacci suggests, somewhat despondently, that I try to engage her interest and win her custom.  I accost the woman and awe her into submission with my almighty personal charisma, before telling her our mission and asking about her shopping preferences.

“I want to wander around the avenue,” she says.  “If there is a shop with a male clerk, I want to go there.”

I consider her request and size her up.  Mid-twenties, I’d guess.  I glance briefly at Janus, who is pottering around his new stall trying to connect his fridge to our power generators.  He continues to look about twelve, fourteen at the most.

“Well, there is one, but I’m not sure if he’s exactly what you’re looking f-”

Parasol chick barges past me and goes to check out Janus Mart (Janus’ imaginatively named store).  “Uh… Miss!  Please!  Wait a minute!”  What did I just do!?  Oh, good lord, are they flirting?  I- what?  I glare at Future, point urgently at Janus Mart, and draw a finger across my neck.  Future shrugs, then grins and gives me a thumbs up sign as parasol chick hands Janus some notes and a few coins, accepts a large case of Moomoo Milk, gives him a saucy wink, and leaves.  As she walks past me, she assures me that Janus Mart is a wonderful place, and she’ll tell all her friends.  I respond with a stunned nod, decide I’d prefer to let Jacci and Future run their creepy dating service alone, and sneak out while they’re not looking.

Join Avenue is a weird place.  Jim feels it’s gimmicky, and I have to agree, although the products and services you can buy there become extremely useful once you fill up all the shop spaces and start to level them (the more customers you attract, the better the stuff they’ll sell).  The avenue will grow more quickly if you regularly interact with other players, but even if you don’t customers will appear every day so you can direct them to the shops they need and boost the place’s popularity.  It gives the old concept of specialty shops a new twist by enlisting the player’s help in building them up, which is a nice touch, although I would gladly trade the dozens of blank, relatively emotionless shopkeepers you can choose for a small handful of actual characters to run your stalls.  The premise used to get the player involved is also, let’s face it, fundamentally absurd, and I can’t help but feel there are less ham-fisted ways of putting the player in a position of control over the place.  Like a lot of things in these games, then, Join Avenue is far from perfect and I probably would have done it rather differently, but it’s certainly not a bad addition – it gives you a lot of interesting things you can spend your money on (important, given the vastly expanded size of your purse in the fifth generation games) and, more importantly, it gives players a sense of achievement by directly involving them in building up the businesses – so I guess it’s kinda fun.

Do you think the Pokemon world will continue forever until we have too many pokemon to name or do you think it will end at a certain number of pokemon, and if you think it will end how do you think it will end?

Hmm.

Tricky.

Y’know, I remember when Ruby and Sapphire were first announced, I read an article in a magazine that speculated “this could be the final year for Pokémon,” and now I sort of wish I could find the writer of that article, walk up to him/her and shout “WRONG!”

So, anyway, will they just keep going forever?  Well, I think the franchise will keep going as long as it keeps making Nintendo money because that’s just good business.  If it ends, it will be because people stopped giving them money, and there will be no fanfare or great finish; it’ll just ‘stop.’  At this point, though, it sort of looks like Pokémon will continue as long as the video game industry does… ten years?  Fifty years?  Who knows?  Will they ever stop creating new Pokémon?  Well, that’s actually a different question, because they could, hypothetically, stop making new Pokémon and keep making new games.  If they do stop, I imagine the moment to do it would be #1000, just because it’s a pretty number.  I don’t think they will, though, simply because releasing 100-odd new Pokémon every few years is their model for keeping the franchise going.  I don’t really believe they’d want to try doing it any other way.