That's pretty much what I think, too. If you only see Pokémon as numbers and stats, chances are, you are a robot.
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Pokemon-- imaginary monsters or bits of data?
- Thread starter Chou Toshio
- Start date
I don't think your example here makes any sense. For one, the concept of "UU" is entirely online-based, IMO--there is no basis for UU "in-anime" as you put it. Barring the super-ancient legendaries which govern time, space, land, sea, etc, any Pokemon is as good as any other. If I may resort to Ash Ketchum as an example, he uses Glalie, Torkoal, and Swellow in what we see as in-anime high-level competition just as he uses Snorlax, Heracross, and Donphan. Secondly, the "in-anime" precedent is decidedly in favor of NFEs, despite your logic to the contrary. Thus, I agree with you that "allowing Monferno in UU" does NOT make any sense in-anime -- because "UU" does NOT make any sense in-anime.
Secondly, Ash uses a ridiculous amount of NFEs, again, in high-level competition. Squirtle and Bulbasaur have not evolved since the days of the RBY episodes, despite the fact that by your logic, "you would never use Squirtle when you could use Blastoise." And yet, to my knowledge, Ash has used Squirtle in gym battles and league matches (or, to put it another way, he does not discriminate by evolution status). The anime also goes to great lengths to imply that a fully-evolved Pokemon is not necessarily superior than its basic form, showing us evenly-matched battles between Piplup and Empoleon, Croagunk vs. Toxicroak, Pikachu vs. Raichu (before the advent of Light Ball), etc. Finally, the new D/P rival Paul is exactly an example of the mentality which you espouse, and he is unfavorably presented. Paul catches multiple Starlies, releasing the weakest; he also treats his Pokemon based on their performance and power. As a trainer, however, he is unsympathetic and reviled.
So what this boils down to is the fact that "in-anime" precedent absolutely does not support banning NFEs from UU, nor should in-anime precedent really hold any sway over any competitive rules, IMO.
edit - In writing this, I just remembered that they don't even SWITCH in-anime. Surely you can't really compare that to ShoddyBattle?
I'm not really a smogonite, for the sole reason that I play for a bit of fun, and winning is the cherry on the cake. I'd rather lose an incredibly well-thought battle with brilliant predictions and a surprise item/attack; instead of winning 20 minutes later because my hippowdon has alternated between curse and slack off then beaten the entire team with EQ and Ice Fang.
This being said, I still have an opinion. On the matter overall, I see what you're saying as serebii material. They're known for their "love your pokemon" attitude, as opposed to smogons "Win FTW" attitude. They'd love an Anime-In-Real-Life discussion. However, going to your Monferno point:
I myself have: Mareep, Magby, Magmar, Poliwhirl and Yanma All EVd and Lv100. This is not because I am Blinded towards acheiving maximum power. Magby and Magmar are faster than Magmortar, thus they are more usable to me than the obese form. Same said for Poliwhirl. The power of SubDrumSalc cannot be executed as well with poliwrath. Using Poliwhirl or Magmar does not make me a crippled trainer, it makes me unique and thoughtful. I created and raised my poliwag to be a poliwhirl forever so I could max out his potential in one area [speed] and made subs to allow his other areas to be caught up on [Attack]. Poliwrath is not a better more-trained version of poliwhirl at all. I think your opinion is rather specific.
Also basing on the ethics, do you not think making creatures fight is inethical like ignoring weak ones?
To shoddy: And I personally tend to look at the opponant as "great another TTar" or "Awesome a delibird!" [Yeah, I wish...]. My team kinda reflects this attitude being 3UU 2BL 1OU. Obviously empathising with people who want to win at all costs, then they're obviously going to want to have the numbers in their head of how fast stuff is, how much damage they'll take/do and the like. The anime is not about that because everything dies in 2 hits unless the trainer believes in the heart of the cards or whatever.
This being said, I still have an opinion. On the matter overall, I see what you're saying as serebii material. They're known for their "love your pokemon" attitude, as opposed to smogons "Win FTW" attitude. They'd love an Anime-In-Real-Life discussion. However, going to your Monferno point:
I myself have: Mareep, Magby, Magmar, Poliwhirl and Yanma All EVd and Lv100. This is not because I am Blinded towards acheiving maximum power. Magby and Magmar are faster than Magmortar, thus they are more usable to me than the obese form. Same said for Poliwhirl. The power of SubDrumSalc cannot be executed as well with poliwrath. Using Poliwhirl or Magmar does not make me a crippled trainer, it makes me unique and thoughtful. I created and raised my poliwag to be a poliwhirl forever so I could max out his potential in one area [speed] and made subs to allow his other areas to be caught up on [Attack]. Poliwrath is not a better more-trained version of poliwhirl at all. I think your opinion is rather specific.
Also basing on the ethics, do you not think making creatures fight is inethical like ignoring weak ones?
To shoddy: And I personally tend to look at the opponant as "great another TTar" or "Awesome a delibird!" [Yeah, I wish...]. My team kinda reflects this attitude being 3UU 2BL 1OU. Obviously empathising with people who want to win at all costs, then they're obviously going to want to have the numbers in their head of how fast stuff is, how much damage they'll take/do and the like. The anime is not about that because everything dies in 2 hits unless the trainer believes in the heart of the cards or whatever.
Bits of data. I find some bits of data more compelling aesthetically (based on pure looks of the sprite), some statistically (all other factors). There is overlap, which is where I get my used favorites from, like Weezing, Machamp, and Swampert. There are some pokemon I love aesthetically but would never use on anything other than an ingame team simply because they are inferior statistically, such as Farfetch'd, Ampharos, Venusaur, and Typhlosion.
Honestly there aren't many pokemon that I dislike aesthetically, everything has a certain appeal. I'm not a trainer, I battle with mechanically engineered bits of data rather than organically bred/trained bits of data. In the end, I am still using bits of data, nothing imaginary about it.
Also the game came before the anime, don't fucking base any opinions off of it. The anime does not reflect the mechanics of the game in the slightest, it focuses on making a story that is compelling to young audiences, not showing people how to play pokemon.
Honestly there aren't many pokemon that I dislike aesthetically, everything has a certain appeal. I'm not a trainer, I battle with mechanically engineered bits of data rather than organically bred/trained bits of data. In the end, I am still using bits of data, nothing imaginary about it.
Also the game came before the anime, don't fucking base any opinions off of it. The anime does not reflect the mechanics of the game in the slightest, it focuses on making a story that is compelling to young audiences, not showing people how to play pokemon.
I really don't post that much, since for the most part I am more than content to read the postings of the elite smogonites...however this is an interesting idea, even though it all converges back on the basic smogon ideal of playing a strategy game to win and the best of your abilities.
In a round about way, I ask, how much do you allow your immagination to take hold even in the game. Game. Important word their. Even with the view of playing to win, it is still a game about combat. Much like how D&D, a game that can be veiwed as pure numbers and tatics, people still add life to their characters, add reason for spells, abilities, feats....
As a competitive battler, I still add a sort of personality to my monsters. Venusaur is still my constant companion who happily stays at my side, sleepily waiting for the moment he needs to strike.
To a serious researcher like X-act, of course he will only see the numbers, and I feel sad that any sort of wonder and suspension of reality is lost (Though I am endlessly gratefull that his work is so intense, through, and complete).
However, its not just the seeing of numbers, features, and atrabutes, instead it is if we give the points of data, that make a beautiful line, characterization. Does your Jolly Heracross have a personalty? Is It generally in a great mood when he comes out of his pokeball? The numbers provide a fantastic esthetic, but do you give the numbers a life of their own, anthromophiseing them a little, adding human/animal emotion to them.
I do.
On the note of legendaies. We have seen evidence of many existing. Celibies poured out of a time vortex (were they the same celebi from different times, or different celebi...or both, in that case infinite celebi could exist simultaneously..I love temporal mechanics) What about the nest of lugia? I don't get to story line-plot esc, but there are likely several jirachi, not just that one..on the note of that argument.
Finely, I realy like the description of ubers...
on that note, my lucario wants to hang out and drink some tea, so peace.
In a round about way, I ask, how much do you allow your immagination to take hold even in the game. Game. Important word their. Even with the view of playing to win, it is still a game about combat. Much like how D&D, a game that can be veiwed as pure numbers and tatics, people still add life to their characters, add reason for spells, abilities, feats....
As a competitive battler, I still add a sort of personality to my monsters. Venusaur is still my constant companion who happily stays at my side, sleepily waiting for the moment he needs to strike.
To a serious researcher like X-act, of course he will only see the numbers, and I feel sad that any sort of wonder and suspension of reality is lost (Though I am endlessly gratefull that his work is so intense, through, and complete).
However, its not just the seeing of numbers, features, and atrabutes, instead it is if we give the points of data, that make a beautiful line, characterization. Does your Jolly Heracross have a personalty? Is It generally in a great mood when he comes out of his pokeball? The numbers provide a fantastic esthetic, but do you give the numbers a life of their own, anthromophiseing them a little, adding human/animal emotion to them.
I do.
On the note of legendaies. We have seen evidence of many existing. Celibies poured out of a time vortex (were they the same celebi from different times, or different celebi...or both, in that case infinite celebi could exist simultaneously..I love temporal mechanics) What about the nest of lugia? I don't get to story line-plot esc, but there are likely several jirachi, not just that one..on the note of that argument.
Finely, I realy like the description of ubers...
on that note, my lucario wants to hang out and drink some tea, so peace.
I think I'm caught in between the two. On the one hand, I use a mono-Ice team in competitve battles--even ladder battles--just because I like the Ice-type. On the other hand, my two favorite Pokemon, Articuno and Politoed, I'm never really going to use in battle because they're just so incredibly bad, which saddens me since Arti actually kicked a fair amount of ass in RSE, and Roost would have made it a very viable pokemon if not for Stealth Rock.
I suppose the question comes down to whether Pokemon battling is solely about winning to you. Not that it's bad if it does, but that distinction probably determines whether you look at pokemon as just bits of data.
I suppose the question comes down to whether Pokemon battling is solely about winning to you. Not that it's bad if it does, but that distinction probably determines whether you look at pokemon as just bits of data.
Well while that is true when it comes down to it, Pokemon will mean more to Pokemon players then a chess piece ever would to a Chess player. A lot of us grew up with Pokemon and watched the show as a kid. So with our memories of every Pokemon having a personality and meaning so much to it's trainer, Pokemon have a lot more potential to be meaningful to us then a chess piece could ever have to a chess player.
@Obi-- yes, I am.
@Everyone else:
This is not a thread about whether you give a shit about pokemon looking cool or not!
Or at least that was not my intention. I don't give a damn if you use pokemon you think are cool or not. I personally use only pokemon that can win, so yeah I'm perfectly happy taking a team of Gyarados, Garchomp, Tyranitar, Metagross, Gengar and Blissey into battle.
However I don't see that battle as mere button pushing and number generating. I see it as a battle between two pokemon trainers. That's what I'm getting at.
If Obi wants to say that my mindset is taking non-purely-functional concepts into account, that's true. However to me personally sometimes the way smogon treats pokemon seems to me like it's not pokemon at all anymore.
@Everyone else:
This is not a thread about whether you give a shit about pokemon looking cool or not!
Or at least that was not my intention. I don't give a damn if you use pokemon you think are cool or not. I personally use only pokemon that can win, so yeah I'm perfectly happy taking a team of Gyarados, Garchomp, Tyranitar, Metagross, Gengar and Blissey into battle.
However I don't see that battle as mere button pushing and number generating. I see it as a battle between two pokemon trainers. That's what I'm getting at.
If Obi wants to say that my mindset is taking non-purely-functional concepts into account, that's true. However to me personally sometimes the way smogon treats pokemon seems to me like it's not pokemon at all anymore.
Didn't say anything at all about ascetics, I only posted about the suspension of reality, and giving personality of ones own invention to the little points of data.
You're talking about whether the definitive level of immersion that causes most people to want to play pokemon, is relevant to a competitive community (quite frankly, it's not). The aesthetics of a pokemon completely fall into that realm; hence, it is totally relevant. As long as everyone remembers to provide reasons why they think a competitive community should support said quality.
I, personally, am caught in a violent spiral between the two concepts. I want to play to win, but the closer I get to doing so, the more automatic and unimmersive the game becomes. I simply haven't reached a level where I can completely shed the superfluities of the game and appreciate the value of simply outthinking my opponent; I will always hold a strong bias towards certain "imaginary creatures" simply because they look or behave in an interesting way.
In a way, any game is just an outlet for a competitive player to achieve enlightenment. They use it as a means to ease their way into the mindset of someone who can get thrilled about the relationship between their and their opponent's thoughts alone.
I, personally, am caught in a violent spiral between the two concepts. I want to play to win, but the closer I get to doing so, the more automatic and unimmersive the game becomes. I simply haven't reached a level where I can completely shed the superfluities of the game and appreciate the value of simply outthinking my opponent; I will always hold a strong bias towards certain "imaginary creatures" simply because they look or behave in an interesting way.
In a way, any game is just an outlet for a competitive player to achieve enlightenment. They use it as a means to ease their way into the mindset of someone who can get thrilled about the relationship between their and their opponent's thoughts alone.
That's the thing, Smogon is Smogon because it has certain philosophy regarding how competitive pokemon battling should be taken in a serious manner. If you want to belong to a site where the non-functional aspects of the game are more valued then you may want to try serebii to learn "how to be friends with your pokemon and be a pokemon master" because if you want to change one of the key aspects that make this site what it is then eventually the site will lose its identity and that's not a good thing.
Those non-functional aspects of the game and the level of immersion you get when trying to imagine yourself as a pokemon trainer are a good motivation for playing the game because to be frank, if you didn't like pokemon you wouldn't be here but they are not useful when discusing serious matters like the tiers and rules.
I guess it all depends n how the person chooses to see the battle and build their teams. Personally I get the most enjoyment from building a team I like as opposed to a team that'll purely win matches, but that being said in competitive battles you don't get very far just building a team with your favorites.
Still for me a battle is more than just numbers (Though a large part is still numbers :P). It's about trainers pitting their pokemon against other trainers to be the winner. I guess in a sense we're all battling to be the Pokemon Master, I had to say it I thought it sounded too funny to word it any other way, but really we're just battling to try and be the best.
Still for me a battle is more than just numbers (Though a large part is still numbers :P). It's about trainers pitting their pokemon against other trainers to be the winner. I guess in a sense we're all battling to be the Pokemon Master, I had to say it I thought it sounded too funny to word it any other way, but really we're just battling to try and be the best.
I think Omega had it right there. Wow, awestruck there.
I'm mainly in numbers mode, but I do like to think of the Pokemon being wild imaginary creatures when they're not battling it out.
I don't mind legendary Pokemon being in the OU category or the fact that we can capture Pokemon that can control the weather or tear apart the universe, since that's how it is in the games. I think of the anime and the games as two different things, since... well, just imagine a Pikachu using Thunderbolt on an Onix and it ends up fainting because of it, or ghost-type moves suddenly becoming the best thing to use on psychic types in the first generation. It's different! And repetetive. And cliche'd. And somewhat annoying because people judge the entire series on that anime.
To make a long story short, I find being in numbers mode more enjoyable since my basic math skills won't get rusty, I can see what moveset is good to use and what's not, and I finally know what each nature and characteristic does (before I knew, I thought they were just there for the heck of it). It also makes Pokemon more of a strategy game than anything.
I don't mind legendary Pokemon being in the OU category or the fact that we can capture Pokemon that can control the weather or tear apart the universe, since that's how it is in the games. I think of the anime and the games as two different things, since... well, just imagine a Pikachu using Thunderbolt on an Onix and it ends up fainting because of it, or ghost-type moves suddenly becoming the best thing to use on psychic types in the first generation. It's different! And repetetive. And cliche'd. And somewhat annoying because people judge the entire series on that anime.
To make a long story short, I find being in numbers mode more enjoyable since my basic math skills won't get rusty, I can see what moveset is good to use and what's not, and I finally know what each nature and characteristic does (before I knew, I thought they were just there for the heck of it). It also makes Pokemon more of a strategy game than anything.
Well, for me its all about the situation.
When I'm on shoddy (Or people who know what they're doing in general), its pure numbers. Nothing more. On shoddy I've never considered using something for anything other than how it will help me win. People on shoddy don't screw around and I'll loose if I don't take it seriously.
When I'm doing in-game tasks like repeating the first 20 fights in the battle tower for TMs or grinding the elite four I'm more likely to bring out Scyther and crap.
When I'm against semi-retarded people (Like my younger cousins) who's most menacing threat is a level 76 dialga with roar of time as it's main offense... I'm in scyther mood.
Thats one of the main things I like about pokemon. You get the extremely casual players (Serebii ect.), and you get the hardcore number crunchers (Smogon ftw).
When I'm on shoddy (Or people who know what they're doing in general), its pure numbers. Nothing more. On shoddy I've never considered using something for anything other than how it will help me win. People on shoddy don't screw around and I'll loose if I don't take it seriously.
When I'm doing in-game tasks like repeating the first 20 fights in the battle tower for TMs or grinding the elite four I'm more likely to bring out Scyther and crap.
When I'm against semi-retarded people (Like my younger cousins) who's most menacing threat is a level 76 dialga with roar of time as it's main offense... I'm in scyther mood.
Thats one of the main things I like about pokemon. You get the extremely casual players (Serebii ect.), and you get the hardcore number crunchers (Smogon ftw).
It's simply a matter of perspective, and how much you are willing to immerse yourself in the world of Pokemon. I play the game not for the world, or the mythos. To me, all Pokemon is, and ever will be, is a game. No matter how much some may grow attached to it, it cannot be more. I enjoy it for what it is, a game of strategy and calculations, not a world of creatures and adventures. Maybe it's because I'm an adult, maybe I don't find the world in the games appealing, but I see it as purely a game world, and the objective of the game being to look at the numbers available and what will allow me to win.
I play for the strategy, much for the same reasons I would play chess. I get my enjoyment from concocting a strategy and moving my pieces correctly. The pieces are just that, pieces. I don't see myself as a Pokemon trainer any more than I envision myself as a courageous battlefield general moving my knights into position. When I look at a pawn or rook I see a piece I can manipulate into a position, and how I can so to achieve my ends. They are plastic or wood, nothing more. It is the same with Pokemon. They are sprites on a screen, and numbers to be considered. I am not attached. If that makes me a "robot", as earlier implied, so be it. I enjoy it all the same.
I play for the strategy, much for the same reasons I would play chess. I get my enjoyment from concocting a strategy and moving my pieces correctly. The pieces are just that, pieces. I don't see myself as a Pokemon trainer any more than I envision myself as a courageous battlefield general moving my knights into position. When I look at a pawn or rook I see a piece I can manipulate into a position, and how I can so to achieve my ends. They are plastic or wood, nothing more. It is the same with Pokemon. They are sprites on a screen, and numbers to be considered. I am not attached. If that makes me a "robot", as earlier implied, so be it. I enjoy it all the same.
When I'm bttling on Wifi, I always use the best team I cn muster up but when I'm imagining mself as a trainer and role-playing in my mind, I will use my favorites.
Players of the actual Pokemon games are supposed to see themselves as a trainer trying to gain power by catching and battling pokemon, or in other words, becoming immersed in the game. After all, the goal of many games is to immerse the player in an otherworldly experience. People have fun just by experiencing this world, regardless of whether or not they are winning.
Some big factors in immersing the player in the game are story, sound, and graphics. The Pokemon games have these to an extent...but Shoddy Battle lacks them. That is why, in Shoddy Battle, people don't see themselves as pokemon trainers.
During a battle on Shoddy, all I see is the graphic of the two pokemon. I don't see them breathing fire at each other, powering up with Swords Dance, or even showing any movement at all. In fact, I am told this by reading the text that appears at the side of the screen.
There really isn't any way to see yourself as a pokemon trainer in Shoddy except by previous experience in the Nintendo pokemon games and imagination. There's no sound, story, and little graphics. All it is is bits of programming and data, not much different from playing chess on a chessboard. Not that that's a bad thing...just different.
BTW, the anime is lol. It's pretty different from the actual Nintendo games, although it would be nice if the games had as much story as the anime.
Some big factors in immersing the player in the game are story, sound, and graphics. The Pokemon games have these to an extent...but Shoddy Battle lacks them. That is why, in Shoddy Battle, people don't see themselves as pokemon trainers.
During a battle on Shoddy, all I see is the graphic of the two pokemon. I don't see them breathing fire at each other, powering up with Swords Dance, or even showing any movement at all. In fact, I am told this by reading the text that appears at the side of the screen.
There really isn't any way to see yourself as a pokemon trainer in Shoddy except by previous experience in the Nintendo pokemon games and imagination. There's no sound, story, and little graphics. All it is is bits of programming and data, not much different from playing chess on a chessboard. Not that that's a bad thing...just different.
BTW, the anime is lol. It's pretty different from the actual Nintendo games, although it would be nice if the games had as much story as the anime.
It depends. Most of the time i'm drawn into the game world and all that, even in battles against other people (in fact i start to believe it more when battling other people, mostly because everyone plays differently and not in a generic CPU way). It's only whilst IV breeding and EV training that the numbers come into it for me. Once i'm done training the numbers mean nothing to me again. ^_^
For the Pokemon I use in-game, that I use for battling or for breeding for instance, I see them as "imaginary monsters." I think it would be very hard for someone to spend hours breeding and training that perfect Heracross and not feel any sense of attachment towards it. Through Pokemon Ranch, I've come to see my in-game Pokemon even more as "imaginary creatures."
For competitive battling on Shoddy everything is just bits of data. In my opinion, the fact that you don't actually spend time "interacting" with your Pokemon as you can in the game (through breeding, even wild Pkmn battles) is what turns the Pokemon you use on Shoddy from "imaginary monsters" to "bits of data."
I have an interesting story to share. I remember about a week before DP was released in Japan, the game code was hacked and there was a list of every Pokemon on serebii.net giving their base stats and typing (I don't believe abilities were there). So it was like:
55 / 68 / 64 / 45 / 55 / 31 [Grass]
...
120 / 120 / 120 / 120 / 120 / 120 [Normal]
It was kind of paradoxical I found, as normally your first exposure to a new generation of Pokemon should be discovering the new Pokemon and using the ones which interest you, exploring the new mechanics, ultimately appreciating the "imaginary monsters" in the game and not their stats. Instead my introduction to these new Pokemon is detached and cold, giving me an even less "imaginary monsters-type" perspective than the analyses on Smogon (where at least you see the Pokemons' pictures and perhaps a mention here and there of how ferocious/cute they look).
I just found that experience really interesting. One thing that struck me in particular I remember was how many early Pokemon in the Dex had such high base stats in certain areas, such as Staraptor, Luxray, and Rampardos in Attack. And I quickly caught onto the fact that the last 20 or so Pokemon before the Ubers were evolutions of previous Pokemon based on their types, stats, and ordering, so it was fun trying to work out which old Pokemon got evoluitions. Good times...
For competitive battling on Shoddy everything is just bits of data. In my opinion, the fact that you don't actually spend time "interacting" with your Pokemon as you can in the game (through breeding, even wild Pkmn battles) is what turns the Pokemon you use on Shoddy from "imaginary monsters" to "bits of data."
I have an interesting story to share. I remember about a week before DP was released in Japan, the game code was hacked and there was a list of every Pokemon on serebii.net giving their base stats and typing (I don't believe abilities were there). So it was like:
55 / 68 / 64 / 45 / 55 / 31 [Grass]
...
120 / 120 / 120 / 120 / 120 / 120 [Normal]
It was kind of paradoxical I found, as normally your first exposure to a new generation of Pokemon should be discovering the new Pokemon and using the ones which interest you, exploring the new mechanics, ultimately appreciating the "imaginary monsters" in the game and not their stats. Instead my introduction to these new Pokemon is detached and cold, giving me an even less "imaginary monsters-type" perspective than the analyses on Smogon (where at least you see the Pokemons' pictures and perhaps a mention here and there of how ferocious/cute they look).
I just found that experience really interesting. One thing that struck me in particular I remember was how many early Pokemon in the Dex had such high base stats in certain areas, such as Staraptor, Luxray, and Rampardos in Attack. And I quickly caught onto the fact that the last 20 or so Pokemon before the Ubers were evolutions of previous Pokemon based on their types, stats, and ordering, so it was fun trying to work out which old Pokemon got evoluitions. Good times...
I don't really imagine myself as a Pokemon trainer during PvP battles because I'm focusing on winning, on making sure my party works the way it's supposed to, rather than on how the battle would play out in the anime. I think this is a mindset you'll see a lot on this site - people tend to be more interested in strategy than in the aesthetics of Pokemon.
But honestly, there's nothing wrong with the cut-and-dried approach to Pokemon. There are an unusually large number of ways to play Pokemon - you can focus on competitive battling, or on just battling your friends. You can focus on trading, breeding, contests, or on just beating the game. And none of these methods of playing Pokemon is objectively better or worse than any other method. If someone wants to imagine themselves as a Pokemon trainer, go right ahead, nothing wrong with it at all. But I'm afraid it's got absolutely no bearing at all on competitive Pokemon, and so is probably not within the perview of Smogon, and should definitely not be used to justify any alteration to the tier system.
But honestly, there's nothing wrong with the cut-and-dried approach to Pokemon. There are an unusually large number of ways to play Pokemon - you can focus on competitive battling, or on just battling your friends. You can focus on trading, breeding, contests, or on just beating the game. And none of these methods of playing Pokemon is objectively better or worse than any other method. If someone wants to imagine themselves as a Pokemon trainer, go right ahead, nothing wrong with it at all. But I'm afraid it's got absolutely no bearing at all on competitive Pokemon, and so is probably not within the perview of Smogon, and should definitely not be used to justify any alteration to the tier system.