Pokémon: Gotta Exploit 'em All! - Part II
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Introduction
If you've played any of the Generation V games, you would know that Team Plasma supposedly stood for the "rights of Pokémon". Whether that's actually the case or not doesn't matter, though.
I've assembled a team of panelists to analyze whether the following topics are considered exploitation or things that just have to happen. Let's welcome DHR-107, Codraroll, Steven Stone, and Tikitik!
Pokémon Day Cares
I like to think of the Pokémon Day Care as the Pokémon version of a real-life childcare center. You leave your children in there for a day when you're busy and then come pick them up later on. In the Pokémon world, that isn't the case. Trainers forget about Pokémon for months, even years. People forget about their Pokémon until it's too late. You've effectively traded a vast amount of experience for the love of your Pokémon. Are Pokémon Day Cares really fair for Pokémon? Does the system really work? Do Pokémon Day Cares do more harm than good?
DHR-107
I think the main issue is that people don't use the Day Care for its intended purpose. I feel like they have become glorified egg producing brothels where the trainer is only there to pick up the offspring. Using the system in this way produces hundreds of "unviable" offspring that are usually instantly released into the wild or traded to some person on the other side of the planet. While the parents may be cared for by the Trainer in their "off" time, the products are not... Unless they have the right stats!
I remember "back in the day" when there were all sorts of rumors saying Magikarp would evolve into Mew if you left it at the Day Care long enough! I assume the Day Care treats the Pokémon very well, as they always seem to be playing or pretty happy with being there. If they were real, I could understand why Trainers would want to use them as a place for their other Pokémon to keep pace with their main team while they are off exploring. The problem is that the EXP gain is usually too slow, so the Pokémon in question ends up being miles off from what is required, and the Trainer either leaves it there or dumps it back into the PC. I think this could be mitigated somewhat by letting us manage it from the PC itself. I know I haven't picked Pokémon back up before because I had a full party at the time.
Codraroll
You probably see where I'm going with this already. By all signs of things, the Pokémon Day Care seems to be a place where Pokémon are taken care of by competent, caring professionals and can interact and play with other Pokémon (and, uhh... do other things). It's a place where they can have a great time. That, again, is the creators' description of the place, which, again, means that it's okay by definition. The Pokémon probably don't mind their overstay, or at least nothing points to that in any sort of media. If they stay for too long so they miss the chance to evolve, that's a bummer, but it usually seems to be a worse deal for the Trainer than for the Pokémon. The Pokémon are happy either way.
If you really want a dark spin on this, though, imagine the disappointment of a Bagon growing to level 100 in the Day Care without evolving. After picking him up, you probably owe that guy a couple of trips around the region using Fly.
Steven Stone
Ask Ash, leaving Pokémon like it was nobody's business (RIP Primeape). Well, Day Cares are pretty useful given that they train your Pokémon, and it's pretty clear they are professionals at it (well, not exactly, as the movesets they give to your Pokémon are just awful) and will treat our Pokémon with love and care until we pick them up. I don't know how they are able to leave such a place, though... maybe their bonds with their Trainer are left untouched during that.
Tikitik
I'm just going to present you with a little scenario from the Pokémon's perspective that basically reflects my opinion as well. So, you leave your Pokémon in the Day Care. It's having fun, playing with other Pokémon, and being taken care of by skilled professionals—everything's looking just fine. A week has passed, and the Pokémon is still enjoying itself, although it occasionally wonders about its Trainer. It's been a month. The Pokémon is still playing around, but the mere thought about the possibility that its beloved Trainer may never come back has become quite overwhelming. A couple of months have passed already, the Day Care activities have gotten repetitive at this point, and not only the feeling of sadness about the Trainer's questionable return but also a slight spark of anger arise as well. It's been a year! Worry not, the Trainer is back, but instead of a cheerful look in the Pokémon's eyes when seeing their lovely Trainer, the guy gets a hateful stare from a forgotten Pokémon.
Alright, I may have gotten a bit dark with this one, but you really can't expect the Pokémon to feel and react the same way if it's been left at the Day Care for a week or a year. After all, I cut off the story short a little bit there, so who knows? I could've ended up with a crime novel.
Perfect IVs
There's no such thing as a perfect Pokémon unless it has 6 perfect IVs, apparently. A few generations ago, the perfect Pokémon wasn't really defined. It was more of a Pokémon that was by your side for your entire journey, although usually a starter (looking at you, Charizard). Times have changed and people relentlessly breed, reset, and Wonder Trade away breedjects. Some people even hack in the so-called "Perfect Pokémon". What does this mean for the average Pokémon? Is breeding for perfect IVs taking the heart out of Pokémon?
DHR-107
This is an interesting topic that could probably get away with being on its own! The fact Game Freak themselves have never really stated that IVs exist (although they drop hints everywhere) shows you how important they are to most players. Average Pokémon now only exist for filling the Pokédex or for starting off a breeding chain. I'm not sure if this means that average Pokémon are being forgotten about, as a lot of people still play the game as is, at least to start with and catch whatever they can get. It's only after the credits have rolled and they have far more options that people start diving into breeding for IVs for competition or just to say "I have". I don't think it's taking the heart away from Pokémon, as I know that some people will breed for the fun of it, rather than to get anything from it. A lot of people won't even use those 5 or 6 IV Pokémon that they breed; they will just sit there, waiting for someone else to want to use them someday. At the end of the day, Pokémon is all about collecting and picking up new Pokémon. So really, breeding is kind of a core mechanic to the games. It allows people to put stuff up for trade if they want to expand their collections. If this means that "breedjects" get traded away to expand their original owner's Pokédex, then that is only positive to the original goal of the game to catch them all.
Codraroll
Ahh, the eternal dilemma of the morally conscious Pokémon breeder: does the existence of perfect Pokémon make all other Pokémon worthless? Normally, I'd be willing to poop the party, write it off as "gameplay and story segregation", and call it a day, but for the sake of writing something substantial, I'm going to flesh out this paragraph a little. After all, what would be the point of answering such an elaborate question in only four words? It'd be rude to write off the question so quickly, rather than offering my well-thought-out thoughts (that are well thought out) on the subject. I mean, my very morals are being challenged here! I'm being presented with a difficult dilemma; I can't just walk away without writing anything. I should really write out a sentence or two about how Pokémon is meant to be enjoyed, not morally scrutinized, and if you enjoy morally scrutinizing it, that's also fine and probably just the right way for you to enjoy it, but that would seem too deep and paradoxical, and that sentence wouldn't be very long or substantial either.
Steven Stone
I don't think so. Basically, it's part of a player's will to choose which kind of Pokémon they'll use. You basically choose between being Paul (the rival from the DPPt series) or Ash. As you know, a Pokémon with no love will never succeed at anything (I'm looking at you, Lopunny, Kangaskhan, and Hydreigon). Basically, IVs means nothing in the love of Pokémon. Yeah, sure, 31 IVs do help you with competitive battling, but that kind of battling never existed in the real games and will never exist. You'll just play some other player through Wi-Fi in a completely non-canon battle.
Tikitik
Well, when you're presented with a world where your beloved Pokémon you began your journey with are constantly outmatched by the mass production of buffed up, "perfect" Pokémon, it's only natural to assume that your average Pokémon is going to have a bad time. Trainers ditch their starters, getting rid of such an amazing relationship for power. Nothing more, nothing less, but power.
This is, of course, from the perspective of a Pokémon, which is weird because we're mixing up the story and game mechanics, and I'd rather not get in there any further. And now for my, unfortunately, not-so-insightful and fairly simple opinion on the matter: as that guy that always just wanted to get all the pretty Pokémon and not bother with competitive battling, I've never cared about perfect IVs. After all, unlike the title of the article states, I was there to catch 'em all, not exploit them. From my point of view, that probably is the best possible way to enjoy these games seeing as engaging in the race for the perfect IVs would only result in sucking out all the joy and, as mentioned in the question, the heart out of Pokémon.
Conclusion
And that's all for the exploitation-related issues! If you liked them and have other suggestions, send skylight a PM!
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