Tag: QandA

How do you feel about the whole Nurse Joy and Officer Jenny thing? You know… the fact that EVERY town and city in the world has one of each (or at least Nurse Joy if you’re only looking at the game)

I…

I don’t know.

*breaks down sobbing*

I DON’T KNOW!

*ahem*

I have, in fact, tried before to think of an explanation for this.  I inevitably come up with something that makes sense, but is completely out of place in the setting.  It’s not just that they have a close family resemblance, because a lot of them aren’t actually related by blood (the Cerulean Jenny, I remember, is the sister-in-law of the Viridian Jenny – they could also be related by blood in addition to being related by marriage, but it would have to be a fairly distant connection like second-cousin, otherwise they’d mention that relationship first).  I am unwilling to entertain the possibility that they are a legion of clones, because this is completely out-of-step with the way the world is generally portrayed.  I am forced to conclude that they refer to each other as ‘sister’ because they are members of two secretive monastic orders dedicated to medicine and law enforcement, respectively.  They ritualistically give up their own identities when they join and surrender their whole lives to the order, and must wear special makeup and clothing to suppress any distinguishing facial features.  They have held the contracts for staffing the nation’s Pokémon Centres and police stations since the Pokémon League began, maybe even longer, and their traditional methods produce the most elite nurses and policewomen in the world, whose entire lives are utterly dedicated to their work.

…yeah, this is one aspect of the Pokémon world I’m pretty sure we’re not supposed to take seriously.

Hi there! I’ve been reading your stuff here for a while now, and it’s been quite interesting. If you don’t mind, the obsessive Pokemon fan in me has a question for you: What are your views on the Spiky-eared Pichu, from an in-universe standpoint? Are there any particularly interesting implications to having this random Pichu who traveled through time at least once, and yet recognizes a shiny Pichu from the present? Why can it learn Pain Split while other Pichu cannot, and why can’t it evolve?

Ah, but you see, the thing about the Spiky-eared Pichu is that she is a character who is from the movie Arceus and the Jewel of Life.  And the thing about me and Arceus and the Jewel of Life, as you may find out if you’re reading through some of my older entries, is that we do not get along.  Specifically, I think it is a putrescent heap of hippo excrement that should ideally be placed in a hermetically sealed vault and shot into a black hole.  Unfortunately, if I were to give any thought at all to the in-universe implications of the Spiky-eared Pichu’s unusual status and powers, it would be tantamount to admitting 1) that Arceus and the Jewel of Life really happened, and 2) that some aspect of it might actually make sense.  

Thus, I must regretfully inform you that to answer your question would cause the very spark of my fundamental essence to extinguish itself and end my tormented existence on this harsh earth.

I mean… you say Espeon is your favorite. What does that mean?

I said Espeon was my favourite of Eevee’s evolutions.  My favourite Pokémon is Vileplume.

What I mean, though, is that I just like Espeon the best.  I have no coherent or defensible reason for liking Espeon the best, and it really comes down to my personal taste.  I try to keep that out of my analyses as much as I can – I’ll often think that a Pokemon is objectively well-designed even though I don’t really like it, because I can understand why it would appeal to other people with different tastes (Swampert, for instance); other times I’ll decide that a Pokémon is just badly thought-out and boring even though I myself have a certain affection for it (a lot of Grass Pokémon, like Lilligant, provoke this response, as well as Glaceon, whom I’ll be covering tomorrow).

Does that clear things up?

If we tell you our pokemon party, would you give a brief three sentence explanation of what to change, ‘cos I think I need some major changes in HG :/

Eh… frankly, there are better places you can go for that kind of advice.  I’m honestly not all that good at battling – I just read a lot of analyses and know all the tricks and jargon.  Try the forums at a site like Serebii.net or Smogon University; they’ll set you straight.

That, and I’m already having trouble dealing with everyone asking me about their favourite Pokémon; if people started asking for advice on team composition I’d probably be buried.

Hello from a fan! I love your blog so much I’ve introduced it to many a fellow Pokemon fan. But I realized that your “post categories” page, as far as I can tell, hasn’t been updated for your most recent series, including the Eevee-lutions and these awesome mini-Pokevaluations (hehe). Would you consider updating it, if you think it’s worthwhile and not too arduous a task? And… I guess while I’m at it, I really love Shroomish and am interested in what you think of it and Breloom! – AC

Yeah, I’m sort of used to the idea that I don’t need to change that page very often, because anything I’m currently working on is normally on the front page anyway.  It’s only in the last couple of weeks that people have started sending me two or three questions a day and swamping everything I write.  If this keeps up, I may need to rethink how the whole damn blog is organised.

Shroomish and Breloom?  Well, Shroomish I don’t find particularly interesting, although he does work with the decomposition aspect of mushrooms that Paras doesn’t look at, so he’s filling a niche that needed to be filled.  Breloom is crazy and awesome.  I don’t know how Game Freak managed to get from a little mushroom creature to a kickboxing dinosaur (or whatever he is… I suspect he may actually be intended to resemble a kangaroo, which would make sense) but I think it’s a wonderfully creative design.  They haven’t just taken an animal and converted it into a Pokémon, they’ve come up with something totally new and weird.  It doesn’t hurt, either, that Poison Heal is one of the best abilities gifted to any Pokémon ever, or that Spore (which, unlike Parasect, Breloom can use effectively because, again unlike Parasect, he can actually fight) makes for a brilliant combo with Focus Punch.

Ooookkk, I really don’t want to be a bother but I really do love your writing, so: Starmie OR Blissey. Just pick whichever you prefer ♥

I’ve always been a big fan of Starmie.  Enough people have written about Starmie’s incredible power and skill that there’s no need for me to, but I love its design as well.  Connecting a starfish Pokémon with actual stars is an intuitive but also interesting move, and the strong departure from naturalism created by the addition of the central gem gives it a nice air of mystery and power.  People know Starmie’s up to something, as it sends its cryptic signals out into the night sky, but it’s anyone’s guess what that is… and wouldn’t it be fun to find out?

If you could have a team of 6 Pokemon in the real world, what would it be? You need not take into consideration explanations, such as why an alive sarcophagus is with you, but practicality should be taken into account. (Groudon would be too large to actually do anything with in most situations, and many water Pokemon would require some type of body of water to come out of the balls.) Also, if one of these were to be a Pokemon always out with you, your “Pikachu” in a sense, which would it be?

Hmm… this sounds like fun.  Who would be useful…?

I often have trouble with computers and the like; Porygon’s ability to transform into software and talk to electronics would make all that a breeze.

Baltoy or Claydol would be a great Pokémon to have on an archaeological site – Earth Power to move stubborn, compacted dirt, telekinetic skills to move delicate artefacts without handling them directly… it’d even be able to help with identifying some items!

For getting about, nothing beats teleportation!  I want an Abra!  He’d probably be the ‘always out’ Pokémon, just because he’s small and easy to carry.

For long-haul stuff that Abra can’t handle, some kind of Flying Pokémon would be good too.  I’m going to go with Tropius for style, and for free delicious fruit!

If I ever get into a fight, there’s no Pokémon I’d rather have at my side than Starmie.  Figuring out how to do Thunderbolt and Ice Beam without the benefit of TMs might take some doing, but it’d be worth it.

Finally, I’m allowed one for sentimentality’s sake, aren’t I?  Vileplume.  She’s my favourite Pokémon and I couldn’t possibly not pick her!

Ooh, you’re doing mini-analyses now? What’s your opinion on Hoothoot and Noctowl?

I knew I shouldn’t have said that.

Hoothoot and Noctowl?  Well, I love that they were trying.  An owl is a bird with enough nice symbolic associations and cultural backstory that they don’t just come across as “oh, look, another Pidgeotto” which is what they could so easily have been.  The strong connection with time and timekeeping is a nice addition to the traditional ‘wisdom’ thing that owls have going, although other than that they’re basically just owls who happen to have a few minor Psychic abilities.  As design goes, I’ve seen much worse.

It’s just a shame they’re so terrible.  I suppose if you focus heavily on Noctowl’s special defence, and then give him Reflect to cover him from Physical attacks, he’s pretty tough, and then you can muck around with all those nice support moves he gets, like Hypnosis and Tailwind.  It’s cool that he can get Nightshade as an egg move, so he doesn’t have to rely on his… depressing offensive stats.  Noctowl could really use a few more points in physical defence, and some more thematically appropriate support moves… think we could get away with Will’o’Wisp?

I can understand why Heracross is a part Fighting-type: Hercules Beetles are commonly used in insect fighting, a common Asian spectator sport. What doesn’t make sense is that Pinsir is a Stag Beetle that is very similar, yet is only a Bug-type.

*shrug* Probably because the designers hadn’t thought of that connection yet.  Pinsir was made a number of years before Heracross; I’d say they just thought stag beetles were cool, and didn’t decide to focus on insect fighting as a source of inspiration until later, when they did Heracross.

Pinsir’s kind of a sad little Pokémon… Heracross is everything he should have been, and now no-one cares about him.  So sad…