Into the West

Well, Kore the Floette has been replaced by Daphne the shiny Floette (named for a nymph who turned into a tree as an excuse to get out of a date with the god Apollo) – clearly a superior choice in every way imaginable by virtue of her shininess.  Nothing else of great interest happened during my training program, though.  Once I am satisfied that my off-duty Pokémon have learned enough, I move on to check out the Battle Château, a magnificent old castle straddling what I’m still pretty sure is the Loire River. 

The Battle Château
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i am not suer if you answered this befor but is the pc box thing a real thing or just game mechanic

I’m… pretty sure I’ve talked about this because it was important to one of the points I was making in the ‘If I Were In Charge’ series but I can’t really remember how much detail I went into or how explicit I was about it, so…

Basically, I have difficulty with PC boxes because I normally prefer trying to reconcile the games and anime, but the differences in how Pokémon are stored seem to be just too stark.  It seems to me that the two different systems – the PC boxes we use in the games, and Ash’s set-up with Professor Oak in the anime – are best seen as responses to the demands of the different media.  The games need something simple that doesn’t require too much complicated and tedious interaction on the part of the player (whether you like it or not, it has to be admitted that my alternative would be a lot of work for both designers and players).  The anime isn’t comfortable portraying trainers as storing their Pokémon in this comparatively unsettling way, and so produces the narrative of Professor Oak’s huge Pokémon habitats.  I’m inclined to favour the anime as a portrayal of what the creators ‘really think’ and take the games’ version as an abstraction that keeps us from having to think about it too much, but the alternative – that the games represent ‘reality’ (whatever that even means here) and the anime is just a story concocted to make it seem more pleasant – really has equal support here.

You could suggest that both systems are actually in use and that PC boxes are used when the Professors run out of space, or by trainers who just don’t have the special relationship with a Professor that Ash does, but then the question just becomes ‘why wouldn’t the Professors just keep the extras in Pokéballs most of the time’?  Perhaps Pokémon in Pokéballs need to be let out more often for food and exercise than Pokémon in PC storage (which is more of a deeper hibernation)?

This will be my last one from me mate, first of all even if those were jokes, who knows how serious were they. After all many jokes start out as being serious. The writer, Andrew Bridgman, may be was being serious or not. You can’t tell comedic pieces of writing. I’ll tell you this, yeah it was wrong for me to assume you were American. American centric perspective sucks in this global world. I also realize there are far worse controversial games. Perhaps you can make an article on that.

“PS. To that guy who said people largely moved on, I say yes and no. Any animal abuse jokes come up his name [i.e. Michael Vick; see previous question and comments] is always revealed. Even pokemon ones his name pops out here and there. Which makes you wonder selective memory. People tend to forget a lot of terrible actions and deeds, yet they are good at remembering few of those too. Selective bias memory I tell ya. Then again the forums and youtube aint the whole world and bark much louder than its bite”

I do hope they are joking or satirical.  If they’re serious… well, they don’t stand up very well.  You don’t even need to take them point by point; just one comment to each will do it:

On the miserable Pokémon list: This list invariably takes the perspective “what would it be like for us to live this Pokémon’s life?”  It doesn’t explicitly say it, but it does.  Most animals are, in fact, quite capable of dealing with the basic facts of their own biology and having perfectly happy lives despite not being able to live like humans.  I think the most egregious is probably Slugma – why would anyone ever assume that a creature which doesn’t sleep would be tortured by inability to sleep?

On the absurdly powerful Pokémon list: The Pokédex cannot be trusted when it speaks in numbers, superlatives, or absolutes.  Alakazam proves this, because an IQ of 5000 isn’t merely impossible, it actually doesn’t make sense.  High IQs are difficult to quantify because our sample size is so small and it’s so difficult to come up with ways to differentiate between two similarly intelligent geniuses, so any IQ score above maybe 180 is little better than a guess.  ”IQ of 5000” is just a nonsense statement, and demonstrates that the in-universe authors of the Pokédex a) have limited technical knowledge and b) are prone to outlandish exaggeration.

La Ville Lumière

My path is clear: travel to nearby Camphrier Town to learn more about this Mega Evolution whatever stuff.  As I go to leave Professor Sycamore’s building, however, I meet someone new.  He is well-dressed, in an immaculate black suit with red piping, and has ridiculous hair, bright vermillion, sweeping back from his head in a sort of V-shape, so he will surely be important to the story. 

Definitely an important character.

This man is apparently interested in meeting Professor Sycamore’s recruits, and introduces himself as Lysandre – a French derivative of the ancient Greek name Lysander, which means something like “liberator of men;” the most famous historical figure by this name was a Spartan general at the end of the 5th century BC responsible for creating the great Spartan fleet that broke the naval supremacy of Athens and ended the thirty-year Peloponnesian War (I’m a classicist; so sue me).  He doesn’t really say why he wants to meet us, but does explain that he’s working to create “a more beautiful world,” and seems to think we could somehow be part of that.  He leaves fairly promptly, allowing Serena to monopolise my time instead.  Apparently she wants to talk to me about something but wants to do it somewhere more private, so she asks me to join her at the nearby Café Soleil.  Um.  Did I just get asked out on a date?  Sorry, Serena, but I think I’m already in a committed relationship with the Lumiose Transport Authority guy who randomly fell in love with me earlier this afternoon.  Still, I suppose it’s polite to go and let her down in person…

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So…Is there a certain criteria for asking questions? Do the questions have to be about Pokemon, or do you have a separate blog for those?

There is not, although I occasionally get too busy with my work out here in the real world and forget about them, or leave them to fester for a couple of weeks.  I suppose there’s no reason you couldn’t ask me about something unrelated to Pokémon, but the answer may be disappointingly dull (for instance, from time to time people ask me to compare Pokémon with other video games I’ve never heard of, and I have no option but to plead ignorance).

I read your ancient slavery and I admit I didn’t think of it that way. I suppose and I did think pokemon was slavery at its core and could not be argued and that fans were being sort of delusional. I recall another blogger saying, N says goodbye to the main character, she said he puts you in charge to end pokemon slavery in BW or BW2. I guess its more about relative interpretation with different opinions from people much more than I thought. For a cynic myself, it’s hard to grasp their lifestyle

This same person later added: “So those two articles [the articles in question are these ones], I hoped they gave you a laugh. I guess its easy to see trainers as abusive always fighting for profit constantly non stop, cramming the PC with the animals caught forcibly; pokemon who are sadistic creatures with additional Stockholm syndrome. But franchise says otherwise. I treated as unrealistic propaganda. But after reading your past blog, I guess to sum it up, I am looking at it wrong? It feels unrealistic. Don’t hate me man. I remember making Michael Vick jokes too.”

I’d seen the first article before, but not the second.  From an analytical perspective there are a lot of problems with them but they’re clearly meant as jokes, and they certainly succeed at that, so I’m not really bothered.

Anyway, I’m glad I’ve given you something to think about.  I suppose ultimately for me the question is one of authorial intent, and I think it’s obvious that no-one at Game Freak actually intends Pokémon to be apologistic of animal abuse.  Clearly they feel that something is implicit in the way the setting functions which makes it fundamentally different from slavery and animal abuse, which is why I tend to favour reading more into it, and extrapolating the kind of outlook a Pokémon would need to have in order to make the system work.  Of course you could go all “death of the author” and say that what Game Freak intends is irrelevant anyway because all that matters is that people can read it as slavery, but I’m really not a fan of death of the author (maybe because, in history, reading a text without considering authorial intent is sheer insanity, and that tends to influence my outlook even when I’m thinking about literature).  On the other hand, if you can make a good story out of portraying Pokémon that way, go for it!  For instance, I was recently reminded of this comic (slowly progressing and in no state resembling completion, but nonetheless worth every second you spend reading it), which portrays Pokémon training in a much bleaker light than I’m used to arguing for, and as a result is absolutely fascinating.  I would almost think that Game Freak avoid tackling the issues head-on on purpose, to allow people more freedom for this kind of darker interpretation, except that they don’t support or even acknowledge fan fiction, so I don’t know.

Who is Michael Vick?

Do you prefer the manga, the show or the games? Do you also think each represent more of a different view? For example manga is darker, show is kiddier.

Well, I don’t really know the manga, although I am aware that it’s a great deal darker than the anime or games.  Also I think (?) it’s not actually produced by Nintendo or Game Freak, but sort of authorised by them in some vague and nebulous sense?  I admit I don’t really know what the situation is there.

(I wish to point out, because I know someone will bring it up, that when Satoshi Tajiri said of Pokémon Adventures that it “most resembles the world [he] was trying to convey” he was comparing it to other Pokémon manga series, not to the games or anime- that quote has an annoying tendency to get taken out of context)

As for the games and anime… well, to be honest, I don’t know that I see the point in choosing.  They just don’t do the same things.  I mean, they notionally portray the same world, and I tend to think they’re fairly consistent with each other in their outlook and broad conceptions of what makes the setting work (i.e. ”the power of friendship”), but the purpose of the anime is to tell a story, while the purpose of the games is ultimately to provide challenges in strategy and problem-solving, with the story very much being a secondary concern (sure, the storytelling has been improving a lot recently, but you don’t have to look far to find video games that make it seem downright primitive).  You can’t play the anime, and the games can’t tell as good a story or contribute as much to our image of the background world (although again that’s changing).  For me they’re two parts of a larger whole.

Professing Comprehension

Before leaving for Lumiose City, I check out the route east of Santalune (Détourner Way – another interesting change, all of the routes now have French names as well as numbers; I think I like this).  This route apparently leads to the headquarters of the French Pokémon League, so I don’t get very far, although I do pick up a Psyduck, a Riolu, and a new Pokémon called a Litleo as I explore.  Litleo is, as the name implies, a little lion who has been lit (on fire) – the game’s first Fire/Normal dual-type.  This might be interesting enough to be worth a spot on my team, at least for the time being.  I attempt to name her Ishtar, after a Babylonian war goddess whose sacred animal is a lioness, but the game rather impudently tells me “you can’t enter that word,” not deigning to give a reason why, so I opt instead for Astarte, the Phoenician name of the same goddess, and spend some time training her up a bit.  Litleo appears to be a balanced all-rounder with a bias towards speed and special attack but decent defences as well.  I wonder whether the males and females look different when they evolve (no manes for the females)?  While mucking around here, I get my Spewpa to level 12 – and she evolves into a deep green Vivillon.  Hmm.  I admit I was focussing more closely on the Infestation attack, but I’m pretty sure Viola’s Vivillon was pink.  The Pokédex helpfully explains that Vivillon come in different colours and patterns depending on their environment – Viola’s was a meadow Vivillon, while mine is a garden Vivillon.  Initially I thought this was basically the same kind of thing as Shellos has and was all set to be totally underwhelmed by it, but, in between writing this bit and actually posting the entry, readers have explained to me that Vivillon have different patterns depending on where in the world their owners are from – so my garden Vivillon must be what New Zealanders get (the internet suggests that we have this in common with Tasmania, Britain and parts of Eastern Europe). 

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