Specific things in Pokémon that speak personally to you

[bdt2002]

Oh, thank goodness this saved, I thought I lost the post draft at first. I didn't feel like re-typing everything.

Back in November of 2021, I posted a little thread over in "Congregation of the Masses" about things in movies, books, TV shows, etc. that speak to us personally. (No, I'm not going to try and be one of those guys who self-promotes his own threads.) Since then, I've had some time to think things over in my own life, and realized that this franchise we hold so close to our hearts is capable of portraying these same kinds of emotion. Pokémon Legends: Arceus in particular came out at a very unique time as I was just trying to get myself back into the swing of enjoying a new Pokémon game again for the first time since Sun & Moon's release in 2016.

All of this really got me thinking for a few months, and now I'm ready to ask. What are some of the things in the Pokémon franchise that just kind of... speak to you? Sometimes it may be hard to put into words, but there might be that little part of the franchise, maybe a specific game or a part of the anime or the manga or... just, whatever it might be that you look at and tell yourself "Oh, yeah, this was essentially made for me."

I've already talked enough about my own picks for what I'd call my own, but as I mentioned, it was really some more recent revelations that led me to want to make this thread. Remember how I said Legends came out when I wanted to enjoy Pokémon again? The thing is, Pokémon is far from the only multimedia franchise I'm having these issues with right now. I'll spare you the details on what these issues actually are (some of them can get a little bit... controversial to say the least), but then out of seemingly nowhere, this happened.

I'm sure we all know who these two are by now. Here's some context of my situation: I was (and still am at this point) a 19-year-old college student who lives with five other guys, the majority of which talk about nothing but their on-campus jobs or their relationships in their free time, or a combination of the two. These are two things that, I'll be honest with you, I have neither of, and I'll even go as far as to say I've never been in a relationship. (I can already see the comments coming from a mile away. Don't even think about it.) At first I didn't think much of either of these two characters, picturing them as the closest thing we had to "opposite leaders" in a similar matter to Maxie and Archie from the Hoenn games minus the part where they're actually the bad guys. I continued playing through Hisui in my spare time, enjoying it more than the average Pokémon game thanks to qualities that felt more like something I'd see in an old spinoff game (dare I say, this game's lowkey giving me Ranger vibes the more I play it). And that's when the Cobalt Coastlands section happened, arguably my favorite part of the storyline of this game.

For the increasingly low population of people who's still avoiding spoilers for this game, I'll spare you any story details of what happens in this part of the game. Simply put, I gained some pretty massive respect for Irida at this point, and from what all I've gathered she's quickly shot up in the ranks of my favorite characters in the series as a whole. The reason i'm bringing any of this up isn't because of anything... well, you can figure that one out for yourselves. I'm saying this because it was the beginning of 2022 and I've only felt more and more anxious and just kind of... I guess "different" than everyone else around me, and just when I was starting to lose hope in Pokémon as a franchise for good, this one character alone felt like an answer to my prayers. I've been waiting for so long, and now finally, after eleven years of being a Pokémon fan, there was a character in one of these core series games I could actually relate to- and that meant a lot to me. Just like myself, she was rather distant, opening up more and more throughout the game, while constantly trying to put the others around her ahead of herself. The part where she plays a flute melody as you enter the Coastlands for the first time was, miraculously, one of the few parts of this game I didn't know about going in, and that's when I knew that this character was something special. It was hard to put into words what I felt in that moment.

I'm sorry this post has been so, so long. I just didn't want to not tell this story is all. Make whatever jokes or statements you want about "Best Girl" over here, but that's not why I made this thread. I made this thread so the rest of you could talk about these special pieces of the Pokémon franchise that might not make a lot of sense to other people, but mean a lot to yourself. After all, the greatest part about a franchise like this is how, in some ways, our prayers and wishes can not only be answered, but in some cases even influence us in real life. :)

 

[Wukong]

I'll bite. This might sound of kind of dumb but whatever. In the original DP in the Pokémon League building right before you face off against the Elite Four, there's a female Ace Trainer to the left near the healing center. I'm paraphrasing but when you talk to her she says something along the lines of, "I like how loose and confident your Pokémon look, despite the daunting challenge they have ahead of them."

I don't why but this left an imprint on me. As someone who is quite anxious and tense by nature those words had a profound effect on me. To the point that before any stressful situation, I always make a point to close my eyes and tell myself, "Be loose, be confident."

If you think about it, an interview loop (one of the most stressful situations IRL in my opinion) is a rough, real-life parallel of an Elite Four challenge (I told you, this sounds kind of silly). But I like to look at it that way. Five bosses stand in your way before you can attain your ultimate goal. And this NPC quote always helped me put into perspective how to project myself as someone who is in control and calm under pressure.

Sadly, I think the quote was removed from Platinum, which is shocking considering how much of a step up Platinum was to the original DP in almost every other respect. But the essence of that particular quote, by a fairly non-descript NPC, always spoke to me personally. "Be loose, be confident."

 

[Gokuzbu]

I saw myself in Wally, a sickly child that lacked confidence. Wally's transformation showed me in a way how I can get better too. Gardevoir became my favourite because of him.

Hide

His ancestor Beni being a ninja was such a cool addition

 

[bdt2002]

I'll bite. This might sound of kind of dumb but whatever. In the original DP in the Pokémon League building right before you face off against the Elite Four, there's a female Ace Trainer to the left near the healing center. I'm paraphrasing but when you talk to her she says something along the lines of, "I like how loose and confident your Pokémon look, despite the daunting challenge they have ahead of them."

I don't why but this left an imprint on me. As someone who is quite anxious and tense by nature those words had a profound effect on me. To the point that before any stressful situation, I always make a point to close my eyes and tell myself, "Be loose, be confident."

If you think about it, an interview loop (one of the most stressful situations IRL in my opinion) is a rough, real-life parallel of an Elite Four challenge (I told you, this sounds kind of silly). But I like to look at it that way. Five bosses stand in your way before you can attain your ultimate goal. And this NPC quote always helped me put into perspective how to project myself as someone who is in control and calm under pressure.

Sadly, I think the quote was removed from Platinum, which is shocking considering how much of a step up Platinum was to the original DP in almost every other respect. But the essence of that particular quote, by a fairly non-descript NPC, always spoke to me personally. "Be loose, be confident."

That's what this thread is for. I don't expect this thread to get too much traction just because people might be shy at times, which is perfectly fine. I don't want to force anyone to post about personal matters, after all. I just like to give other people the chances to talk about things that they might not have had otherwise. Video games, especially "childhood games" like Pokémon I've noticed, have this strange yet beautiful way of letting us learn things at a young age that we'll come back to later and life and be like "Wow, they put this in a kids' game?" Such writing is something I wish we'd see more of in Pokémon these days, not just for older fans but for newer fans as well. Even something as nonchalant as a single NPC quote can teach a person a new lesson.

I'll tell you what- later this week when I get the chance, I'll dig out my Platinum save and go look for that NPC and report back what their "changed dialogue" says. You honestly have me curious about it, too.

I saw myself in Wally, a sickly child that lacked confidence. Wally's transformation showed me in a way how I can get better too. Gardevoir became my favourite because of him.

Hide

His ancestor Beni being a ninja was such a cool addition

Being able to relate to someone in a game is a great thing in my opinion, because it can help the player feel like he or she is more immersed within the game world and that the player's real life issues are not only being addressed, but actually compensated for. Wally's growth throughout the Hoenn games is a prime example of how a person can picture their personal issues as an after-thought and not let these issues get in the way of his or her dreams. In a similar way, I'd expect you to be in the same boat, where whatever issues you might be struggling with make things harder for a person who truly does have great things in store for yourself. I would even go as far as to say this- in the possibility you could meet this kid in real life, you two would almost certainly get along just fine.

 

[Ironmage]

Here's a set:
Solrock @ Focus Sash
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Trick Room
- Magic Coat
- Explosion

I encountered this as part of trying to build a Team Magma-themed trick room team. But what does this have to do with me personally?

Growing up autistic, I always struggled with group work at school. Not only was the overhead of interacting with people significant, it didn't appear to have any inherent advantages over working individually. After all, for grading-related reasons, everybody still had to have something done in every aspect of a project. Despite having more people, there was no opportunity for specialization.

This set was the antithesis of that mentality. It contains no offensive or defensive value, is extremely likely to not be on the field for more than two turns, and is completely incapable of winning on its own. It exists for one thing and one thing only: to set Trick Room. And yet it was a highly valued part of a relatively small group because of that specialization. It finally gave me a position where I could see the value in teamwork that, bluntly, schooling had completely failed to do.

 

[Ishiftyounot]

This one will be a little bit ironic because one of the games I'm talking about I haven't actually beaten or experienced this myself yet? But it's this...

Interacting with your starter right before the Pokemon League.

To my knowledge, only two games properly do this - Pokemon Let's Go Pikachu & Eevee, and Pokemon Ultra Sun & Ultra Moon. If you don't recall or haven't played the game yet, your starter appears out of their Poke Ball either right as you leave Victory Road or right before you enter the Pokemon League itself, and there's some dialogue about remembering how far you've both come as the trainer and your starter nod at each other raring to go. It's pretty cool! I believe in USUM it won't happen if your starter is not fully evolved or if it's not in your party? I don't really know, I've not gotten past Ula Ula in any of the Alola games.

Why does this speak personally to me? I'm a huge planner - I cannot enjoy a Pokemon game unless I have planned out my team, and how I plan can vary quite a bit. What never changes is the fact that I will always use my starter, no matter how broken it may be (as is the case with the Let's Go duo) because I see them as my partner, my ace squad member, the leader of the team and my number one buddy for that journey. Boxing them feels wrong, because you chose them as your first Pokemon. There's a bond there! Even in games where I'm really not that interested in the starter choices (such as Gen 5) I'll use one and my team often centres around that choice. In earlier games there wasn't much interaction with your team, but Gen 6 onwards gave us options - Pokemon Amie, Pokemon Refresh, rideable team members, Pokemon following you around properly in their own unique way and options to throw your whole team out to interact with one another - and those options let you play with your Pokemon or feed them or pet them. It was nice, albeit a bit generic after a while. But story-based moments like the above, where your starter comes out and interacts with you within the story itself right before your final big challenge together, it makes me feel things! It's really cool!

 

[Ema Skye]

Route 119 is one of my favorite places in a video game. I could get lost here for hours.

Hoenn's strength in map design is that it does a great job showcasing its diverse world, and this route shows it off perfectly. There is so much to explore, from the huge jungle, both sides of the river, all the cliff levels, the waterfall portion, and the whole Acro Bike portion. There's almost a magical sense to the route, and it captures the same kind of wonder Fortree City and Pacifidlog Town have.

And yet, this route is delicate. Its fragile ecosystem would be irreparably damaged by Team Aqua or Team Magma, either flooding the route or drying it up. This is interesting because the Weather Institute is here, and they must be aware of the fragility of the environment to study the weather of it. Hoenn also has an overt 'climate crisis' lens on it, and this route is almost symbolic of it. We have to protect the world, otherwise we lose magical places like this.

It cuts so close to home.

 

[jordanthejq12]

Flying. Yes, seriously, the fast travel system.

I've always wanted to travel, but a lack of finances and the anxiety of being separated from my loved ones for potentially long stretches of time have made that extremely difficult to attain. Pokemon itself allows me to live out this dream by going on a journey in which you always have friends with you, you don't have to worry about pesky little details like food or shelter, and you steadily gain money and success through working together with your friends. But then, midway through the game, you get Fly. After striking out into the unknown God knows how many times, you gain the ability to retreat to safety in an instant. Anyone you weren't sure you would ever see again? Surprise! Need a few supplies or some cash for the road ahead? You'll be at a store in two minutes, tops. And the best part is, you don't need any money or supplies. Just a friend with a sturdy back and an open moveslot.

And so in every game, the moment I secure the Badge or the HM, the very first thing I do is Fly home.

 

[SadisticMystic]

To my knowledge, only two games properly do this - Pokemon Let's Go Pikachu & Eevee, and Pokemon Ultra Sun & Ultra Moon. If you don't recall or haven't played the game yet, your starter appears out of their Poke Ball either right as you leave Victory Road or right before you enter the Pokemon League itself, and there's some dialogue about remembering how far you've both come as the trainer and your starter nod at each other raring to go. It's pretty cool! I believe in USUM it won't happen if your starter is not fully evolved or if it's not in your party? I don't really know, I've not gotten past Ula Ula in any of the Alola games.

It does:

That last cutscene is implemented in a pretty neat way. Obviously, they expect most players who still have their starter this far in the game to have it fully evolved, in which case Incineroar shows up in the scene, but it works just fine with Litten as well (the line of text they speak is also different depending on evolutionary stage, in this case "Mrowr!" vs. "Mrawrrr!" vs. "Rawrrr!") How they actually keep track of this is...of course the game has a flag to check which starter I originally picked, which is used multiple times, for example to disambiguate which team should be pulled out for trainers like Hau or Gladion to use. But there's another field the game also saves at the time I choose a starter, which makes note of the random 32-bit encryption constant that gets assigned to that starter. This value is only used for the purpose of this cutscene right now, and when the player gets to this point, the game scans their party to see if any of the Pokemon have an EC that matches the previously noted value and is in the correct starter's evolutionary line. In the event that a player somehow ends up hitting a 1-in-4-billion collision to catch another Pokemon with the same EC, or (more likely) simply edits that EC onto a different Pokemon like Wishiwashi, the cutscene won't play for that. It also won't play if I have a Litten with a matching EC but it's in an unhatched egg--they thought about that much, and really didn't want to have to render anything other than their nine approved Pokemon models into this scene. If I had a starter from another source, like the Pokemon Bank HA event or its offspring, the game would (almost always) know via the EC-check method that it isn't my "real" starter, the one I've come so far with, so wouldn't grant me a cutscene for that either.

 

[Siggu]

I will answer with a video. Because I finally figured out how, not just transfer a savegame from the 3DS to Citra, but to change the game's language.

This is not the first time here that I've mentioned it, but the hidden interactive book in Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon is by far my favourite Easter Egg in the franchise. And as a programmer that one day would like to come up with a fun idea of a game, it strikes personally.

 

[The Mind Electric]

The National Park in Johto, particularly HG/SS. It makes me think of time I spent just walking around parks when I was younger, taking in the sunlight and scenery. These days, global and life events have conspired to keep me indoors most of the time, and I live in a place with six-month winters anyway. I'd love to be in the kind of place on the planet and in my life where I can go to a place like the National Park regularly. As a result, going through the area is something of a reminder of my life goals. I think once I've got that, I'm alright.

 

[stuart littled.]

The National Park in Johto, particularly HG/SS. It makes me think of time I spent just walking around parks when I was younger, taking in the sunlight and scenery. These days, global and life events have conspired to keep me indoors most of the time, and I live in a place with six-month winters anyway. I'd love to be in the kind of place on the planet and in my life where I can go to a place like the National Park regularly. As a result, going through the area is something of a reminder of my life goals. I think once I've got that, I'm alright.

tjos is a verry interresteng story thankyou for share with me.

 

[Nitro Indigo]

When I played Gates to Infinity for the first time, I was starting to develop the mental health issues that would come to define my teenage years and was becoming aware of how heated adults could get, so its message that we can stop hatred from ending the world if we all change our minds really resonated with me.