Pride and Pokemon
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Art by Kiwi.
Introduction: Pride and Pokémon
One of Smogon's greatest strengths as a community is the diversity of its users. People from all around the world and from all walks of life find ourselves attracted to this site due to our shared love of Pokémon, and this has naturally made Smogon a very LGBTQ+-friendly community, with many of our staff and even more of users identifying under the flag. Our identities are heavily shaped by the things we enjoy, especially the ones we grow up with, and one of the most universal queer experiences among Pokémon fans is seeing ourselves so heavily in a character, story, or Pokémon that we relate to that they help form our identity and presentation growing up.
We've got four panelists here today to share some of their stories and how this series we all hold dearly has affected our identities, and we hope this inspires you to think about and perhaps share your own similar stories!
Gimmicky |
a fairy |
Sulo |
Maia |
Click the images to see their thoughts!
What story/character in the series helped shape your identity the most, and why? What part of your identity are you here to talk about?
Gimmicky
Despite associating myself so heavily on this website with Leafeon, the main character in the series I see myself in is Penny, from Scarlet and Violet. Scarlet and Violet came at a very important time in my life, I knew I was queer and that I was likely trans, but I didn't quite know what that meant for me personally. The specifics of my identity were muddy and often confusing, and I didn't really see myself anywhere I looked, even though I'd known I was LGBTQ+ for about as long as I've known I love Pokémon. I picked up a copy of Scarlet on release date, and about an hour into exploring Paldea, we meet Penny, a character with a lot of the same mannerisms, personality traits, and even a similar story to myself. Everything I thought about myself being somehow unlike other trans people and not being able to find myself anywhere vanished as I realized I related to her on a really deep level.
How did this story/character being a part of your life impact you as a LGBTQ+ person?
Gimmicky
Seeing a character that was a lot like me and, importantly, that a lot of other trans girls also saw themselves in, opened a lot of doors for me. I'd spent a lot of my teen years knowing that I definitely wasn't cis, but for a long time I'd convinced myself I couldn't be trans because of surface-level differences from the community at large. Relating to Penny, a character that a lot of other trans people related to, helped me work myself out of that pit and realize that those little differences in my presentation or the way I experience the world didn't disqualify me from being able to call myself trans. Rather than roadblocks holding me back, they were just little nuances about me that made me unlike anyone else, only this time that feeling was good. Ironically, realizing I related to the same character as other trans women also made me realize I didn't have to conform to some of the more arbitrary standards of the community to call myself part of it.
If you see parts of yourself in this story/character, what are they and why?
Gimmicky
Penny is a character with a lot of the same development, mannerisms, and little personality quirks as myself. She's a character who essentially lives two lives: Penny, the shy, introverted student who nobody assumed anything but failure of, and Cassiopeia, the mask she built up because that's what she thought she had to be. Penny, the student, is an outcast without too many friends outside of her group of fellow outcasts in Team Star, and even they drifted apart for a time. She's nervous and keeps to herself, often making her the target of unwanted attention, but even with her shyness, she's incredibly passionate in her interests. She even uses a Leafeon! Put a bit bluntly, she's just like me. I spent so long thinking that a character this similar to myself couldn't exist, especially in a series like Pokémon, but everything from her interests to her personality to her arc of coming out of her shell and befriending the player, Arven, and Nemona felt incredibly relatable as I was playing through the game and helped me open the door to seeing myself everywhere else.
What did you ultimately take away from this story/character, and why did you want to share it?
Gimmicky
There's no definitive, correct way to exist, especially as an LGBTQ+ person. There's no rules you have to follow to call yourself queer, there's no standards you have to force yourself to live up to. Anyone who tries to tell you that you have to meet some kind of quota to call yourself some kind of label does not have your best interests in mind. Relating to Penny helped me open my eyes to that fact, that I don't have to dress, act, or talk like anyone else in order to call myself trans. I don't have to travel in the same circles, I don't have to go to the same parties, I don't have to have the same interests as anyone else in order to be part of a community. Just as Penny is unashamed in her love of STEM and Eeveelutions alike, I can be loud and passionate in my love of my own hobbies without feeling ashamed. There's no rules I have to follow to be myself the way I want to.
I'm hoping that by sharing this, I'm helping to inspire someone in our community who might be reading this to forget whatever rules you've been told you have to follow, and to try and get out of those damaging thought loops that keep us trapped in the same spot. You will get past those thought loops, and you will become the person you want to be. Even if it isn't easy, and even if one of the steps to get there isn't being licked by a 10-foot-tall Dragon-type Pokémon. You will get there. As this article goes up, I'm officially scheduled to discuss HRT in-person with a doctor, a goal I thought I'd never reach. This series helped teach me that you can do anything we set our minds to, and I hope it helps teach whoever is reading this the same.
What story/character in the series helped shape your identity the most, and why? What part of your identity are you here to talk about?
a fairy
Ash Ketchum is probably the most iconic Pokémon character across the franchise that isn't itself a Pokémon. My generation grew up to some extent watching him wander across the first handful of regions, catching Pokémon and defeating Gym Leaders in a quest to become the very best, like no one ever was.
While a kids show in the late 1990s and early 2000s wouldn't touch on the concepts of asexuality or aromanticism, Ash’s lack of care for anything but Pokémon training was the straws of representation that people like I could grasp at during those times. While I won’t claim that Ash is either, existing in a time before readily available LGBT+ content meant that information on asexuality and aromanticism was limited.
How did this story/character being a part of your life impact you as a LGBTQ+ person?
a fairy
I don’t think that Ash ever directly caused me to realize what I was, but in reflection I do genuinely believe that Ash’s outright disregard for romance was a major subconscious part of my growth. I never experienced the embarrassment or shame of my identity (even if I didn’t know what it was yet) as my peers began to develop romantic interests and relationships, even as peer and family pressure began to build. Why did I have to care or worry about not having these experiences when one of my favorite television characters didn’t have to worry about not having these experiences either?
If you see parts of yourself in this story/character, what are they and why?
a fairy
Ash as a character has paradoxically changed a lot from the time when I was of a more targeted age to watch the series, while also not changing very much at all. In modern times, it’s hard to see parts of myself in a character that’s something like a third of my age (Is Ash still ten? Has that changed?), and perhaps if I had understood myself better when I actively watched the series I’d have something more directly anecdotal.
What did you ultimately take away from this story/character, and why did you want to share it?
a fairy
There are going to be a lot of things you can do in the world. From personal development to exploring new things to focusing on what you enjoy, the choice is yours. Others may decide that your priorities should be different, that you should prioritize romance or whatever else. In the end, your own joy will come from within, and time spent on unmotivating things that are foisted on you is unlikely to bring you joy. Do not feel shame for things outside of your control and focus on the things that you care about. If Ash can disregard romance in favor of training Pokémon, you can prioritize the things you find important rather than what peer pressure expects of you.
What story/character in the series helped shape your identity the most, and why? What part of your identity are you here to talk about?
Sulo
As a younger Pokémon player, I never got to experience a whole lot of the captivating stories in older generations. Sword and Shield were the first games I aimed to complete, where I eventually found part of myself in the main character's rival, Hop. His story connecting with me on a personal level can be attributed to a lot of his own self-assessment and rediscovering of his own identity and what goals he wanted to pursue. Near the end of Sword and Shield, Hop finds himself conflicted with whether or not he wants to persist in becoming a Pokémon Champion, eventually abandoning that mentality and attempting to become a Pokémon Professor instead. However, Hop does all this while still staying true to his original ideals and relationship with the player, viewing them as a rival as he did from the start. This is where my internal struggles comes in and why I think it relates so much to Hop as someone of questioning sexuality; I've never felt consistent about where I stand in that regard, which is mainly attributed to my home environment and social expectations.
How did this story/character being a part of your life impact you as a LGBTQ+ person?
Sulo
Hop's impact on my mentality was mainly retroactive, since I never really stopped to think much about why he felt the way he did and whether or not I could relate to it. It's mostly important to me now because I eventually realized that change, while staggering and sometimes daunting, is okay. Hop didn't find any shame in altering the way he and others perceived himself; his change in what he pursued likely wasn't flawless, as there were many mental hurdles he had to surpass, but the fact that he did is just enough to show me that there's absolutely a way for me to do so as well.
If you see parts of yourself in this story/character, what are they and why?
Sulo
There are plenty of things I see in Hop and I see in myself, and the most glaring aspect would probably be coming to terms with yourself and eventually realizing that your self-image isn't always static. As someone that's constantly fluctuated in regards to my sexual orientation, my biggest issue was trying to convince myself that I still have time to figure things out. There is no deadline and there's no one in your ear telling you to hurry up or something; you'll be able to figure out where you stand mentally through a multitude of means, and I think that allowing yourself to change just like Hop did is as important of a social skill as ever.
What did you ultimately take away from this story/character, and why did you want to share it?
Sulo
We reside in a world where diverging from the norm is ridiculed and people live in fear of changing themselves in order to fit in with said norm. It's essential to prioritize your own beliefs and needs as opposed to catering to a reality that others believe is "right." If you surround yourself with people you trust, you'll find that they really couldn't care any less about what you believe in or what kinds of people you're interested in. Saying this in my current situation is ironic, especially considering the household I live in and the backlash I could receive for coming out as anything but straight. I heavily implore others to allow themselves to change in spite of what sort of ideal world that society pushes upon us, though. If you insist on blending in with others in an attempt to please them, you'll end up losing a part of what makes you, you. Hop allowed himself to be dynamic with his goals and he was able to settle on something he was truly happy doing, all while keeping the core parts of his rivalry with the player intact. The parallel that can be drawn from this in my current situation is something that I don't think about often, but it's one that I think should be made known. Be the best version of you, and nothing else.
What story/character in the series helped shape your identity the most, and why? What part of your identity are you here to talk about?
Maia
N is a combination antagonist + rival + eventual ally from the gen 5 games. He serves as the puppet leader of Team Plasma, being ultimately controlled by his father, Ghetsis. N's understanding of the world is shaped solely by his father's desires for him, and he has very little understanding of the world outside what he was raised in and taught to think and believe. Throughout the player's journey, he begins to question his beliefs as he interacts more with the player and their Pokémon, eventually fully giving up on his structured view of the world after his final battle against the player. N's own father disowns him at this point, revealing how he viewed N as little more than a tool. After Ghetsis's defeat, N leaves to pursue his own ideals and better understand the world around him and where he fits into it. While N is not explicitly aromantic or asexual, he is someone who ultimately wants to find out for himself what his place in life is, rather than being content to act within the life already laid out for him.
How did this story/character being a part of your life impact you as a LGBTQ+ person?
Maia
I was nine or ten when I first played Pokémon Black and White, so I didn't exactly play through it and go "oh I'm asexual this makes sense," nor did I really absorb the depth of N's story until I was a bit older and understood life and social pressure and norms a little bit better. I found the way he relentlessly pursued his ideals, regardless of things like Cheren thinking he's strange, to be admirable and the kind of person I wanted to be when I was older. I was obsessed with his character for a long time, to the point that a friend of mine in middle school even drew me a birthday card with him on it, because as I got older, the more I wanted that same freedom to be my own person and set out on my own journey and find out what the rest of the world was like.
If you see parts of yourself in this story/character, what are they and why?
Maia
I was raised in a strict religious household where the kindest interpretation you could find of LGBT+ people was "fine, do what you want behind closed doors but I don't want to have to hear about it, I don't want to see it in public, and gay marriage certainly should not be legal." I knew I wasn't quite the same as other people, but had originally misidentified my disinterest in the boys in my life as lesbianism, having grown up in a fairly small rural town where even the local GSA taught you that the A in LGBTQIA+ stood for "Ally."
Upon replaying around the age of 16, the way Ghetsis talks to and about N started to sound familiar ("After all of that, do you think you're still worthy of sharing the name Harmonia with me?" "There is such a thing as being too stupid! Add it up, and you are nothing more than a warped, defective boy who knows nothing but Pokémon..."). My parents had plans for all of their children: We were all to go into a high-earning, high-prestige field like being a lawyer or a doctor or an engineer. My sister and I were to find husbands as soon as possible and start producing grandchildren because my parents wanted a lot of them. When I played through that second time, I envied N and how he was able to break free from what his father wanted from him, from what was expected of him as a Pokémon trainer, from the perceptions of others and even his own thoughts, and forge his own path. I didn't feel like any of the boxes that people tended to be put in (straight, gay, maybe bisexual depending on who you asked), I just wasn't interested period. I had no interest in growing up as someone's wife, raising a nuclear family, and going to church every Sunday. There's nothing wrong with wanting those things, but they were what my parents wanted, not what I wanted. Like N, it took some questioning and a lot of different experiences and people for me to understand what was different about me and that it wasn't "wrong" to not fit into one of those boxes.
What did you ultimately take away from this story/character, and why did you want to share it?
Maia
There is a lot of pressure from all sides, whether it's gender roles, familial pressure, or simply societal norms that are still taught in a lot of schools from a young age. At the end of the day, however, it truly doesn't matter what expectations society, your family, your friends, or anyone else has for you. It's up to you to be your own person, to understand how you want to see yourself, regardless of how others see you. It can be hard when you don't even know the words for what you feel, but any journey of self-discovery will be. I've been on my own journey for years now and am always learning how to be the person I want to be, not the person I was told to be. It's important for me to share this because, like N, we all have to take our lives into our own hands if we want to live them to their fullest, happiest potential.
Conclusion
And that's everyone! Thank you to our panelists for joining us for this project, and thank you to you for reading this!
Smogon and PS! have always been about community. From our origins coming together as a community of Pokémon fans to create rulesets and metagames that we could all enjoy, to growing large enough for dozens of plentiful subcommunities such as ours to flourish and unite, the only think more essential than community to Smogon is Pokémon itself! As Smogon has grown ever larger and more community focused, and as more and more LGBTQ+ people continue to find a second home here, visibility and understanding have only become more and more important. Everyone deserves to feel seen and accepted in our community, and we dearly hope that this article has helped inspire you to tell your own stories and perhaps make your own place in the community.
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