[theomeganerd]

Pokemon Pokecenter Imagined in Modern 3D by Evan Liaw

[duckapus]

Pokemon Anime Headcanons

-Ash learned how to play the harmonica between returning to Kanto and going to Alola.

-If Ash’s role as the Chosen One were compared to that of a Pokemon Champion, Pikachu, Jessie, James and Meowth would be his equivalent of the Elite Four.

-Ash visits Pidgeot whenever he’s in Pallet Town, and checks up on Squirtle and Primape with similar frequency.

-Ash’s denseness with romance is a direct result of his frequent exposure to Brock and Jessie’s Problematic Love Lives.

-Pikachu is able to get dunk on cocktail sauce (that stuff you have with shrimp that basically seems like spicy ketchup). He learned this the hard way at Oranguru’s bar, and Mallow and Meowth ended up having to drag him back to Kukui’s house.

-The Team Rocket Trio have found themselves having to threaten calling Delia whenever Ash tries to do something particularly stupid (such as trying to break out of a hospital with a broken leg). They have actually done so on four separate occasions.

-Pikachu is the same Pikachu as the one in Super Smash Bros. Ash has been able to go to a couple of the tournaments as a spectator.

-When not on the team, Jessie and James’s Pokemon stay at Nana and Pop-pop’s house instead of headquarters. Wobbuffet was at headquarters at the end of the Decalore Islands arc because he heard they were coming back and wanted to join in on the fun now that they weren’t on the super important top-level mission anymore.

-Ash is pretty bitter about his father not being involved in his life, but buries it (along with all the trauma from the many many time’s he’s had to save the world and nearly die in the process) under his enthusiasm for the world around him.

-A lot of Ash’s spaciness and diminished strength in the first season of Sun and Moon was that he and Greninja were still working out the kinks in maintaining the Battle Bond link while compensating for the long distance and different sleep schedules.

-He’s still not as strong as he used to be because his aura constantly drains, even if only a little, and it’ll take a while for his growth to outpace the Battle Bond drain.

-Ash is able to understand Pikachu completely at this point. His classmates still aren’t used to seeing the two of them holding complete conversations with each-other. Especially when they bicker like siblings.

[movedto-ookiido]

[shelgon]

Pokemon The Animation Prequel

[shelgon]

A book written by  Takashi Shuto (Composer and Writer of the Pokemon Anime).This book focus on the past of our main character Satoshi (Ash Ketchum). A normal boy who love pokemon since elementary school. He was a pitcher for his Baseball team reason why he is so handy with catching pokemon’s. He never saw his father face not even in photos, for this reason Satoshi (Ash Ketchum) was bullied in school.  

Another character we will meet is  Hanako (Delia Ketchum) She live with her son in pallet town. Her room is in the second floor and looks a lot like a dinning room. She and Satoshi shared a “Brother and Sister” relation rather than a “Son and Mother” one. At age 17 she was in the cover of “Friends of Pokemon”, after her sucess she decided to travel with her own pokemon and open a store. In the next year during her travel she meet an aspiring pokemon Trainer to which she fell in love. Soon they got marriage and in the next year a baby was born. Since that day the trainer left leaving Hanako and Satoshi alone. Hanako is a pretty 29 old women and a lot of men have fell in love with her but her heart belongs to that trainer.

Satoshi’s father his name and age his unknown.The only thing we know about him is that he is a traveling pokemon trainer from a far away land.  

Grandfather of Satoshi and Hanako’s father - He live in the house with Hanako and satoshi, he was a pokemon trainer also he teach the basics to satoshi starting at age 5. Satoshi develop the same love his grandfather have for pokemon including battle even thought Grandfather Sathoshi wasn’t a good trainer. Another reason Satoshi  was bullied in school. He never saw Satoshi start his journey as a trainer he pass away a year before Satoshi dream of becoming a pokemon master started. 

[soveryanon]

Wow, no. This translation doesn’t match the content of that blog post. (Who translated it…?) For example: Hanako’s father left when she was little, never came back (“kaettekonakatta”), never appeared in the national charts. That’s… not the same thing :/

[brotherofmay]

Here’s another Max fanfic I recommend.

It’s completely full-scale, with over 100 chapters, focusing on Max’s Pokémon journey, and what’s really impressive about this is that all of this was made this year.

Check this one out. It’s great.

https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13690296/1/Max-s-Journey-Adventure

Max's Journey Adventure Chapter 1: Journey Start Now!, a pokémon fanfic | FanFiction

[norisus]

Some good fossil lads

[finnichang]

One of my favorite spreads I drew for the Morphological Diversity in Pokemon Species Vol 2. zine a while back, featuring my favorite Eeveelutions, Espeon and Umbreon.

The book is out of print now, so I’m formatting my pages for posting so that everyone can enjoy. If you’d like to purchase a digital copy and see all the other great Pokemon variants that other artists came up with, you can do so here. 

More to come soon! 

EDIT: Limited prints of this image are available as 12x18″ posters!! Online Shop

[alolanrain]

It’s a bit of both of those things and the trauma over everything that’s happened to Ash in the au.

Ash’s aura is naturally connected to the earth core of aura, where all the other legendary’s connect but the majority of them are very feint and can only reach out so far -the exclusion is Arceus, mew, the creation trio, Lugia, ho-Oh, Necrozma and Celebi-which doesn’t bring a lot of drama. His own aura is very strong though not fully stopped into until Hoenn. It leaks out a lot when around other mythical, legendary’s and very strong Pokemon though quickly developed in Sinnoh when he meets Riley and his Lucario. The connection to the earth’s overwhelming spring of pure concentrated aura fucks Ash up, this is around Unova hence why he’s starting to mentally decline and become a lot more bitter quickly despite struggling to still love his friends around him, and continues to do so the moment he meets a very strong Pokemon. As those Pokémon have curated their own aura to be stronger as well during training.

It’s also why Ash starts to hate crowded places like shopping centers and gets annoyed easily on school grounds because Human aura is so finicky and unpredictable to the majority of the human race that it feels like he’s constantly being poked at. Like some damn science experiment like the Mewtwo’s and Genesect, so he gets their pain to a point to have a standing leg for timid friendship. It’s also why he prefers the wilderness, solo missions, and Pokemon over his own kind. It’s an important note to say that when a human’s emotions turns complicated and hurtful (bed confusion, anger, sadness, depression-you get the gist) it causes their aura to naturally reach out and hurt the one that’s causing them to feel this emotion. It’s why Ash is so hesitant to be around the kids almost 24/7 because their so young and inexperienced unlike Ash was at their age. They don’t know that their Ta can turn into a cold blooded mass murderer if pushed to far.

Ash is also effected by the claims the gods have settled into his soul. Like Lugia is the strongest as even though he’s the second to lay claim-he is after all Arceus creation-Ash naturally seeks him out more then any other legendary. Specifically taking trips to the Orange Isles in the guise of champion duties when in reality he’s specifically in Lugia’s tiny above cave Lugia, ho-Oh and Rayquaza were raised in. Ho-Oh was the fourth and even though he was the first to truly activate his claim when Ash wished on him on his first day as a trainer, it’s the only reason why it’s that strong. Lugia’s claim wasn’t activated until Ash and him fell into the sea. He had wanted to keep Ash away from the prophecy as long as he could as Lugia knew it would fuck his very human kid up in ways that Ash would never recover from but it was evident that the prophecy must come true. Thus saving Ash-and by extension Pikachu as Pokemon cannot be laid claim to by other Gods besides Arceus himself-and the day.

While Ho-Oh activation felt like prosperity and wanderlust and Lugia was a breath of life and very eerie tranquility, Arceus was of pain and anger. That was before he truly realized where he was was and referring to Ash as “his Ash” or something along the lines it’s been a while since I saw the movie when he calms down. Arceus regrets his first meeting with his logically certified grandchild being so traumatic and rough and this leads to him not smiting Ash when he murders actually humans due to everything I’ve stated so far and more. Tapu Koko is terrified of activating his claim, he’s the third since he’s Ash’s other godly parent, and puts Ash through the Tapu’s versions of trials and grand trials.

Ash doesn’t get the zing as in the anime but he does get the ability to reflect it regardless onto his Pokémon to creat stronger moves. His aura would briefly connect with the ones he’s really close to-so like his older Pokémon, up to about everyone before Unova and half the Unova team since Ash focused on their care and training during his first break to escape from registering what he did-and it’s like his version of a Zmove. He can also briefly reflect the same typing in his aura, which is flowing more into his more animalistic spider of his dna and soul. Ash’s aura is already so dense and most importantly malleable. If he concentrates hard enough Ash can mold his aura to creat objects. So like the majority of his knives, nails and barb wire on his metal bat and to be able to sense when certain types of Pokémon are nearby. The typing can also fall into this as well to creat small shard of ice sticking to torn skin or putting poison on his blades.

He has to use it constantly or Ash will go insane. It’s like a pressure building up behind his eyes like a killer migraine and he’s actually had blood leak out of his ears and eyes when trying to appease Delia since she doesn’t want to see, hear, or talk about aura in her household. It’s also the main show of trust between him and Rowan when Ash is first dropped off at his house straight after the bloody team rocket massacre in Unova. The professor wasn’t going to let Ash waste such a talented gift-in the best of way possible-and constantly asks for help at the lab. Bringing Ash slowly out of his shell while also keeping a professional attitude not to fuck up the kid any further. Because Ash is a kid still, barely near 18 and so fucking traumatized. It’s the best Rowan could offer in that moment which is somehow the most Ash had ever positively received from an adult besides his mom and Ash doesn’t want to talk about her during his whole stay at the veterans house.

We can’t forget the general trauma he’s left with. He mostly focuses on the bad guys more then the gods when he can help it. It’s easier to process and to let himself feel all the emotions they caused him and that left with the horrible impression. This leads to Ash to be very bright hot angry towards people he finds ‘emotionless’ such like Gladion as a true example. He can clearly see-after being forced to spend time together due to situations-that Gladion still has the ability to care. Care about his mom, his Pokemon, his dad to some extent and most importantly Lillie even though he left her in some kind of stupid hero-sequel move. Gladion doesn’t have the right to care about Lillie, Lusamine can go fuck off and Ash hasn’t met Mohn yet, in Ash’s very open opinion. It doesn’t help that Lillie agree’s-silent, scared with her voice shaking like she’s still on the verge of tears and her craftily hidden anger hand in hand-and show’s through her actions more then word that she’ll follow after Ash over Gladion.

Cold anger is different. It’s calm and calculated and it shows first with Cyrus who truly doesn’t show emotion. Ash reacts like that because he can see himself in Cyrus and it scars the little boy that still clings to the ever prosperous kindness hidden behind bars in the deepest bit of his heart. He isn’t good at it, the Admins of his team were good at tugging at the burning hotness that started to take root or has most likely been there from the start all the way back before he could speak clearly, but he meets lesser opponents on the field of league politics. Rowan and Gary help him as it’s a language they’ve been fluent in for years at this point. Lysandre is greeted with refined calmness and control and even though the battle is long Ash know’s for certain he is alive band trapped in a bubble in the earth core. Saved by Zygards anger as the ‘Mon wants to watch him die over and over again for hurting it’s territory and its people.

Lusamine is his newest target if Ash could even get a hold of her first. Every call of his or the schools calls in general go straight to voicemail and it pisses him off to no end. He’s had to be talked down by Kukui not to fly to wherever the fuck the Aether stood in Alola and kick all the doors down until he had the woman’s full attention. Later it was burnet how’s worked with this woman and have a work friendship with, which is already a bit tense due to Lusamine obvious unhealthy obsessions with UB’s like Gladion, and instead she mostly focuses Ash’s attention of Faba and Colress. Which… wow that was not a person Ash ever thought he’d end up seeing again. Let alone the fact that Colress has some strong amnesia.

So yeah! This ins’t the whole scope of my world building, that would take for hours to talk about, but you’re questions were really good ones 🤍 this isn’t all the examples of trauma, pallet town is it’s whole other issue I’ll hopefully reach to soon-ish, but it;’s a good start to show just how fucked up Ash is in this Au.

[tsc-reader]

SPOILERS FOR CH. 1 OF TLKOF

"Drusilla Blackthorn," [Ash] said. "Once again you appear in my life. Always you, out of all the Shadowhunters."

don't mind me, just kicking my feet and giggling over these two 🤭

dru & ash from chapter 1 of tlkof !! 🖤

@cassandraclare

[littlecarnet-deactivated2025060]

Not sure if I'll ever write her into my fic or she'll appear in a ficlet, but heres my personal rewrite of Sheena, because she was such a wasted character:

--------------

- She is considered a priestess, not just a guardian. This began when she was young and developed her ability. She expressed continuing her parent's line of work within the village, and began training into her teens. She puts on a serious facade but it hides an insecure and not yet mature version of herself. She had doubts of her abilities before and was uncertain about taking her father's role once he stepped down. Thus she began to travel often to refresh her mind and follow the aftermath of the creation trio, namely the fight between Dialga and Palkia in Alamos. After the events of the 12th movie, she felt a lot more confident and experienced in life.

- The ability to connect with the hearts of pokemon, while rare, has been seen outside her main family. A few cousins have this too, a distant one is Anabel and going further back in a Unovian branch, is N's family line, though they split in the Middle Ages due to differing beliefs and a worshipping of just the Tao Trio.

- While the Arceusian faith is small compared to how it once was long ago, it's still practiced among the population of Michina. Her family, like their ancestors, live a humble life on a tract of farm land and frequently participate in city matters.

- She's friends with or at least has connections with Cynthia as both a fellow Celestian descendant and someone who actively restores and maintains the ruins. Like Spear Pillar, the Michina temple is being renovated according to what Sheena witnessed when she was sent back in time. Many artifacts were uncovered during renovations. Anything of high interest is shared with Cynthia, Steven, Lenora, Roark, and Clay.

- She keeps in frequent touch with Dialga and Palkia to the point it's not uncommon to see them visit her at the temple. Giratina is a rare visitor, but she welcomes them just the same. Though she is a bit careful mentioning Arceus around them, as she's aware through Cynthia, that they have a strained relationship.

- She hasn't had any visits from Arceus since the 12th movie. She understands why, but it saddens her, as she adored reading the manuscripts penned by Damos and his close relationship with Arceus, though the last writings, around the time Damos married and had kids, concerned her, as it seemed the deity simply moved on out of the blue, suggesting a sort of fall out between them. She's been tempted to ask Dialga to send her back in time to see what happened, and visit her ancestor again. So far she hasn't had the nerve to ask such a favor.

- Since the restorations are nearly complete, Sheena has suggested the town have a festival around the date Arceus saved their town from a meteor. There are reenactments of the event, food, activities, and people coming in costume. It's small now, but she hopes it gets bigger and brings some tourism in, as that will help the small businesses and upkeep the ruins.

- Kevin acts as a tour guide of the ruins when Sheena is busy with the renovations or during ritual days. He's great with money, and has successfully built an elevator to ride up to the temple for guests who are unable to make the steep climb. It's completely powered by water mills. He was inspired by the water lifts in Cascarrafa City in Paldea and wind mills of Fula City.

- Kevin is good friends with Baraz in Arche Valley, and with Hoopa's help, both can visit each other easily and spend some time catching up with a mutual friend, Lucianne in Dahara City.

- Sheena and Kevin had a child, she named her son Damos, in her ancestor's memory. She's happy to find her son carries her family's gift as well.

[ribarukirikaindenial]

So, JN114 aired! 

I liked those months of speculations ever since the news dropped w. Going from “so I guess Shinji will be back in the context of the tournament? That seems like a fair assumption” to “Okay, it feels less likely now but in what context is he going to show up? In Sinnoh? The trailer showed a lake” to “Wait, are they actually going to train together?” to “Wow, so they are going to train together? And in Kanto?” was fun. I liked how his role was kept unclear for a while and how we had time to think about it and speculate the more crumbs we got w (the only thing I got right was that the Gaburiasu was his)

Lots of thoughts about the ep below, this doesn’t really have a structure, these are just the long ramblings of a snst baka. Perhaps I’ll edit this to include all screencaps as ref eventually. 

Keep reading

[sceptlle]

(i typed out a long post but tumblr fucking deleted the upload so here we go i’ll try to write it again) @petalsdancing @ash–greninja

plot-wise, team flare is a consistent issue, rather than something only introduced in xyz. they’re introduced much earlier, and are seen as much more of a threat than they are in the anime. they take inspiration from other game villains (including cipher and team dim sun). also, game characters, like az and his floette, appear and are an active part of the plot. floette, in particular, has strong ties to clemont’s family. his mother was murdered defending it, and it leads clemont to want to push ash away from legendary encounters, and he struggles to balance whether letting the world suffer is better than letting his friends suffer. also, zinnia and aster are major characters (both aster the human and aster the whismur. my human aster goes off of the one interview that described her as the former lorekeeper with special powers. in this, she was an aura adept with a deep relationship with zinnia). zinnia and ash both face similar struggles. they both struggle with being the “chosen” of their people, trying to defend them- and the world- the best they can. but while zinnia has to mourn the loss of aster, ash has to work through his personal demons he didn’t give himself the time to recover from before kalos. some characterization is also taken from the games.

serena, in particular, was most heavily influenced by her game counterpart, both playable and rival versions. while i did enjoy her as a performer, her character felt like a walking stereotype- in a bad way. while serena is still a performer in this, she is also a good battler, and has a full team (the only new member of which i’ll reveal is a vivillon). serena also questions herself a lot throughout the story, especially when she thinks about her decisions in life (becoming a trainer to follow her childhood friend and becoming a performer to follow her crush), and she wonders if any of her decisions she actually wanted to make. she also questions how strong her bonds with her pokemon are, since ash goes about nearly everything pokemon differently than her, and she pushed herself into being a trainer. her attraction to ash, she realizes pretty early on, wasn’t actually attraction at all. her intense desire to reunite with her childhood friend, along with the strange feeling of not seeing him for years, her intense admiration of his battling and training skills, and the fact that she’d never experienced a crush before led her to think her feelings were more than platonic. i also explore her “failed” rhyhorn racing talents, and mega evolution.

ash, oh boy. i love writing his character. a lot of information about him is really spoilery. but, i’ll say a bit. ash’s past, including his father and life growing up, is explored a lot, and will continue to be discussed. ash’s experiences in unova (particularly the events with victini) have not healed, not even a little. in a similar fashion, ash has a really unique bond with yveltal in this, rather than xerneas. ash’s role as the chosen one is a struggle for him, especially after everything. kalos is really overwhelming for him at first, though it’s comforting to know zinnia understands his struggle. ash is largely helped through a series of writings by a past kalosian chosen one, who ash begins to realize is closer to him than he thought.

clemont’s issues, besides his pretty low self-esteem, are caused largely by flare. he sees a dark side of himself in them. some of those scientists truly believed the evil technology they were creating was the best thing for pokemon and the world. could he ever stoop so low and think it was right? flare scientists are also very interested in clemont as a possible recruit. if not, they have methods to gain his skill and creativity on their side. while also working on trying to become a better trainer (yes, he fills out his team a bit more as well), clemont struggles with his feelings towards ash.

bonnie, what a sweet kid. bonnie and iris immediately hit it off, and zinnia finds a source of positivity and optimism in her. her easy bonds with pokemon are no coincidence, and her song for squishy isn’t just her own creation. she was inspired by ash’s lullaby to his baby noibat. bonnie and ash, in particular, have a strong bond in this. bonnie knows better than anyone what ash is feeling, due to her extreme empathy. she forms a sisterhood with serena, and considers her a sister. but if you were to ask her about her family, she’d immediately think of her two big brothers.

and yes, iris is a major character in this. she’s challenging the kalos league and completing the gyms. she wants to form strategies around fairy types, and hopefully get guidance under drasna of the elite four. her and zinnia travel together. iris, in this, understands a lot of what ash is going through, even if she didn’t experience it first-hand. when ash is on his way to snowbelle and arrives there, iris calls him or messages him every night due to his feelings at the time. iris is absolutely fascinated by mega evolution, and admires zinnia’s ability to mega evolve her salamence. so, as such, zinnia is involved with korrina’s mega evolution arc.

long story short everyone is gay and it’s a little more like the games with a ton of my lore in there. it’s great.

[pokemonpowergirl]

Daily chores with Liko and Sprigatito.

[fuckyeahpokemonmovies]

[skarmoree]

I’m thinking bout custom pokeballs. Like. Painted and stickered and marked and just. Aagh cute....

Gym leader offical battle Pokémon would have the gym badge on the ball, and e4/champions would have the League Insignia

Blind trainers having Braille markings! Service Pokémon having premier balls with blue detailing instead of red, an easy way to denote them when they have to go inside their pokeballs

Capsules and seals would still be very common but I’m big 👀 at the idea of just straight up painting the ball itself. Commissioning artists to paint them for you would be common, but you’d have to send them the empty ball which means keeping your Pokémon with you outside for that period of time lol

old stickers that are peeling and fading and you can barely tell what they were, stuck on when the trainer was very young. Pokeballs engraved with the Pokémon’s nickname. Paint being removed and refreshed with a new design after the pokemon evolves.

Just. Custom pokeballs! You can’t tell me trainers wouldn’t get creative!

[ramblings-of-a-mad-cat]

Pokemon And Their Trainers

An in-depth analysis of the Pokemon world and its culture (hereafter referred to as the “Pokeverse.”) Where I’ll attempt to understand just what these beings actually are, and how they relate to the humans of their universe. 

For this post, I will reference the video game lore, but I will, to a large extent, be pulling examples from the anime. While I can understand why this might invalidate my points to some of you, I truly think the anime should be considered fair game. It depicts what the Pokeverse is truly supposed to be like, as the writers intend it to be, unhampered by the restrictions of a video game. 

So here’s the million dollar question. Are Pokemon slaves?

At this point, I know that the Pokemon fandom and the general public have a well-established and largely iron-cast interpretation of what it means to be a Pokemon Trainer, but today I’m going to attempt to challenge that interpretation. Because on the whole, it’s not especially flattering, and I think it’s false. You’ve seen the jokes, and the video essays, and the parody comics. You’ve seen it all. People have criticized Pokemon for the premise of the game effectively being a system of romanticized slavery. That the heartless humans kidnap these innocent animals and force them into sadistic dog-fights to further their own power, to the point where it is a global, televised sport. Ask anyone and they’ll tell you, Pokemon…are slaves. It's animal abuse. Those who argue it are in denial.

The funny thing is, most people don’t argue it. Which is because, to a large extent, most people don’t care. It’s just a video game, right? It’s not as though the Pokemon are outwardly suffering. Pokemon fans seem to just accept this premise and live with it, because the Pokemon world is bright and enjoyable and the formula of the games is simply addicting. To most people, the problematic premise of this universe isn’t a big deal. Nobody takes a passionate stance against it, apart from Gamefreak itself of course. They have little choice but to dismiss these claims, to argue against them…but nobody really listens. The franchise may do the best it can to play up the whole “friendship” angle, but the majority of fans, casual and otherwise, would say they’re not fooling anyone.

I disagree. 

I’m not saying these points don’t have merit. To a degree, they do. But this conclusion about the Pokeverse is not the only one that can be drawn from analyzing this world. It's also based on several assumptions, headcanons, and interpretations of this world’s symbolism. I interpret these things differently myself, and I’ll try to explain how. But the bottom line is that humans and pokemon exist together in this world and have a unique relationship. Our world has humans, but not pokemon, so one can assume that the Pokemon are a deliberate symbol of…something. What that something is will probably vary based on who you ask, but just about everyone seems to interpret them as the “animals” of their universe. As in, living creatures who are not human. (Because Humans…are also Animals, and that’s kind of the whole point right there, but I’m getting ahead of myself.) 

We seem to draw an inherent comparison between Pokemon and #RealWorld Animals, which is where all of this stems from. I believe this is a mistake. Or if nothing else, it’s not the definitive interpretation of what they are. If anything, the closest comparison I can think of is…maybe Angels? But even that doesn’t truly describe their role. The more the Pokeverse gets fleshed out, the clearer it becomes to me that catching and training Pokemon are completely misunderstood concepts. They’re not really comparable to anything in real life, certainly not the training of animals or the keeping of pets. I genuinely don’t think that the relationship between Trainer and Pokemon has an equivalent in our world. 

I do understand where the impulse to make this comparison comes from. Of course people look at Pokemon and see animals. After all, they're living, breathing creatures, magical creatures that coexist with humanity. A not insignificant number of them do resemble real-life animals or are otherwise based on them. The most crucial bit of evidence for this idea is that the Pokeverse, by all appearances, lacks “real world” animals of its own. There are no recognizable creatures from our world to speak of, apart from humanity. So I can see how people reached this conclusion and I get why they draw the parallel.

However, it’s just not a fair comparison to make. Not at all. 

Some animals do have the means to defend themselves, of course. But Pokemon have abilities on another level entirely. They’re basically magic. They have superpowers unique to themselves. Can a human spit fire? Tunnel a hole in seconds? Can they summon storms in the blink of an eye? Can a human block all damage with Wonder Guard? The answer is no. They cannot do this. Humans are one race, and a relatively mundane race at that. While they are distinctly separate from Pokemon…that doesn’t make them superior. It doesn’t make them more powerful. The sheer variety in Pokemon species, not to mention the variety of their powers, means that if war was to break out between the two communities…the humans would not win. It wouldn’t even be close. 

Pokemon are baked deep into this culture. If you had to guess which of these two societies was here first, would you really guess humanity? I wouldn’t. Just look at the spiritual side of this world. It has deities who are confirmed to exist, who created this world as we know it..and they’re all Pokemon. Who knows where the humans even came from, but the Legendary Pokemon are the ones who fashioned the universe.

It is vanity to assume that Humanity is the dominant species of the Pokeverse.

They are not in charge of this world - they could never be. Pokemon explicitly range from human to above-human level intelligence. The humans attempt to understand them, but the Anime clarifies that they’ve chosen to name the Pokemon based on their speech patterns. Pokemon don’t “say their name” and nothing else. It’s the reverse. They speak unique languages that the humans elected to name them for. By contrast, Pokemon can clearly understand human language. There’s no way around it, they are smarter than us. So it’s no surprise that they have their own communities and systems, totally independent from humanity. However, there are also countless Pokemon who choose (read: CHOOSE) to work with humans, on individual and group-wide scales.

In fact, Pokemon and Humans may not be so different at all.

They may descend from a common ancestor. There is consistent flavor text that verifies this, stating that on a fundamental level, Pokemon and Humans are all but the same. Perhaps humankind and Pokemon weren’t always separate beings? Perhaps they were once one and the same? It’s pure conjecture, but according to the Library in Canalave City, there was a time in the ancient past when Pokemon ate at the same table as Humans and would even marry them sometimes. That last bit of trivia is cut from the English version, undoubtedly because of the popular interpretation I discussed earlier. Fans see Pokemon as animals, and the dubbing team probably wanted to avert any weird implications. 

What’s odd is that in Legends: Arceus, which takes place in the ancient past…humans and pokemon have clearly already been separated, and have no relationship beyond hostility and fear towards each other. There are exceptions, of course, but by and large, the idea of a “Pokemon Trainer” is a new concept to the humans in Hisui. I’m getting very off topic now, but it does make a fan wonder. Just what happened to separate pokemon and humankind? They were as close as kin at one point, before some kind of split occurred, and it’s taken countless generations for them to redevelop a closeness...there’s a greater mystery here that isn’t relevant to the topic at hand, but these questions are worth asking. Either way, the point is that the two communities are almost fated to come together.

The Pokemon are drawn to humanity, and whether they invest in an official “trainer” or not, they seek out humans just as often as the humans go looking for them.

The pokemon will form these partnerships out of their own desire. A desire for what, you may be asking? I think it varies, but when it comes to the Trainer/Pokemon relationship, we can assume the typical goal is shared strength. The human and the pokemon form a symbiotic relationship in the Training system. This is stated numerous times, especially in the Anime - A wild pokemon will never reach their full potential. Not without a Trainer. You see? It isn’t only the humans who benefit from this relationship, and the Pokemon understand this. The vast majority of them want to be caught, they seek a trainer who can help them harness their powers. 

Mewtwo decries Pokemon Training as Slavery during Mewtwo Strikes Back. Pikachu contradicts him, and Ash literally puts his life on the line in the effort to prove him wrong. Much later, in Lucario and the Mystery of Mew, the same question comes up. Lucario asks if Ash is Pikachu’s “master” and Ash rejects that terminology. Because Pikachu is his best friend, nothing less. There is a reason why the word is “Trainer” and not “Master” or “Owner.” Because Pokemon Trainers do not own their Pokemon. Full stop. The Poke Ball isn't a prison. It, and the PC Boxes from the games, are implied to be a kind of virtual reality. The Poke Ball is a symbol, a convenience more than anything else, but not a requirement. Ash is living proof. The Poke-Ball may be the norm, but if you're claustrophobic like Pikachu, or you're just not feeling it, you can abstain. Ash has never treated Pikachu as a captive. (Except for that one time…)

Okay, I’ll address this real quick. Yes, Ash did drag Pikachu along with a rope in the first episode, and used rubber gloves so that Pikachu could not retaliate. I’m just gonna have to call that #EarlyInstallmentWeirdness. This was Generation 1, this was back when Ghost Types were literally dead Pokemon. Besides, Pikachu had already shocked Ash unprovoked, so the rubber gloves were arguably self-defense. I guess you could make the case that Ash didn’t “truly” become Pikachu’s Trainer until the end of the episode. But in general, the writers have shaped this world beyond what was established in the very beginning, and perhaps they’re deliberately trying to counter the claims of slavery and animal abuse, but even if that’s true…it doesn’t mean make the contributions less canon.

How it started.

How it's going.

Never mind. What about catching pokemon? That’s still messed up, right? 

There is an obvious counterargument to be made to my stance, a Donphan in the room, and I won’t ignore it. The counterpoint here is that capturing Pokemon is almost always done against their will. Or at least, that’s how it’s traditionally done, and the norm in the games remains consistent. Still. Ash winds up befriending the majority of his Pokemon instead, and he’s far from the only trainer we see doing so. James is another human who recruits his teammates primarily through his own likable qualities. You might argue that while obtaining a Pokemon can happen without fighting, that style is unusual. But again, based on the anime, it doesn’t seem to be that uncommon. I think what’s considered rare is that Ash seems to specialize in doing this despite his intended goal of training Pokemon for battle. 

But, whatever. Capturing Pokemon through battle still happens, right? It happens quite a lot. The examples that differ from this norm don’t erase that, nor do they erase how repugnant it is. After all, the Trainer is cornering a creature who more often than not, was just minding their own business. (A wild pokemon is very often the one to initiate battle, but never mind.) The trainer then forcibly kidnaps them after violently assaulting them. Even the term “capturing” pokemon has problematic connotations. No way around it - on paper, this sounds bad. It sounds horrific. But if I may, I’d like to offer a different perspective based on what I’ve been able to observe of the Pokeverse’s culture. First of all, I’d like to offer a scalding hot take about the violence of Pokemon battles. This may be where I lose a lot of people, but hear me out. 

I challenge the idea that a Pokemon battle is “violent.” 

Or at least, I don’t believe the characters consider it to be violent, not in the same way we understand it. A pokemon battle isn’t assault, because they’re not human. But it’s also not animal abuse, because the Pokeverse doesn’t have animals. Again, it’s worth remembering that Pokemon are supernatural creatures with magical powers, and I’d say their powers, the “moves” they learn, play by different rules than conventional fighting. There’s actually quite a bit of evidence to suggest that this is true. 

In Mewtwo Strikes Back, the Pokemon very specifically fight their clones without access to any of their actual moves, after Mewtwo psychically blocks their powers. Everything about this scene is meant to convey tragedy. All of a sudden, a series that’s been all about battle is preaching against violence. Sure, we can call it bad writing, executive meddling, or anything we want. But ignore the Fourth Wall and ask yourself, why would the characters react this way in-universe? Why is it that Pokemon battling has always been okay, but in this one instance, it’s not? The movie goes to great lengths to show us that the Pokemon are hurting each other. Which we don’t normally see.

The only difference? The Pokemon aren’t using their normal moves.

From this, we can conclude that the typical, conventional Pokemon battle, where the two pokemon fight using their special abilities...it doesn’t hurt them. It may tire them out, but a Pokemon Center can heal basically any injuries in record time. Nurse Joy is some kind of miracle worker…or maybe she isn’t. Maybe The Pokemon are being tired out from their battles, but not actually harmed in the long term. This would explain why Pokemon attacks don’t cause lasting damage to humans, either. Get hit with a Flamethrower? Don’t worry, you’ll just be temporarily stunned and have soot all over your face. The doylist explanation is, once again, that it’s a children’s cartoon, but that doesn’t explain what’s happening in-universe. Team Rocket has been electrocuted by Pikachu a near-infinite number of times. So how are they even alive? 

Simple. Pikachu isn’t actually trying to kill them. Because of course he isn’t. It’s quite possible that Pokemon moves simply are not capable of inflicting serious damage, or perhaps Pokemon have an inherent resistance to them. But I suspect it’s not a lack of ability that stops Pokemon moves from being violent…but an almost universal choice. That when Pokemon go on the offensive with their powers, or at least, when they direct said powers at humans…they are always pulling their punches. That’s why the fight on New Island was so grotesque - the Pokemon were not remotely familiar with battling that way, engaging in true violence, and there’s little doubt that they were figuratively and literally scarred by that night. 

It’s no wonder they never use their powers to cause actual bodily harm to anyone - I wouldn’t be surprised if there’s some kind of sacred, unspoken taboo among Pokemon against doing so. A taboo that wouldn't be known to the newborn clone Pokemon on New Island. A taboo that may not have existed centuries ago, in say, the ancient times of the Hisui region. But present day, communities of Pokemon are more civilized, and they a working relationship with human society that ranges from neutral to friendly. We’re in head-canon territory now, but this kind of law among pokemon kind makes a lot of sense. There may be Pokemon out there who break this taboo, but they would be few and far between - probably outcasts among their own kind. It would add a new dimension to Pikachu's refusal to fight back against his clone counterpart.

Again, this scene makes a point of telling us over and over, that what we’re seeing is wrong. “Pokemon aren’t meant to fight. Not like this.” That line right there is precisely the point. Battling isn’t meant to be like that, and in practice, it almost never is. There’s a reason why Pokemon almost never actually die in battle, and only get “very weak,” a condition that is cured flawlessly with the medical science of a Pokemon Center. It’s almost like a Pokemon’s powers create a kind of invisible simulation system, allowing them to spar with their opponent safely. Because that’s what a Pokemon battle is, at heart. It’s a test of skill. It’s meant to just be friendly sparring. A kind of sport that the Pokemon and Trainers engage in together, and it’s stated many times that they need to be in sync to have any hope of a successful career in professional matches. Again, I refer you to Mewtwo Strikes Back. The Pokemon were able to use their powers collectively to restore Ash to life. There’s clearly a lot more to a Pokemon’s power than just combat. That part is nothing more than recreation for them. 

I realize that I deviated tremendously from the original question about capturing Pokemon, but I feel that it’s important to address this point. 

Pokemon Battling is not violence. It’s effectively a sport that all sides consent to playing, a sport that has safety measures practically built in, as well as further precautions offered like the Pokemon Center. In that sense, it's more or less just another interpretation of Pokemon Contests, and Showcases, and everything else. A human helping a Pokemon study their powers and use them to fullest potential. This is the reason why I don’t actually consider a Trainer fighting a wild Pokemon to be so obscene. However, that only addresses the question of violence. Trainers are still kidnapping Pokemon against their will, right? That’s why one has to “weaken” a Pokemon to catch them. Well, believe it or not, I’m going to debunk that too. 

Barring exceptions, the wild Pokemon must be exhausted to the point that they can no longer resist a poke-ball, before you can obtain them. Their opinion about being caught is always a non-issue. By all accounts, it doesn't seem as though this is acceptable. But even this, I think, is part of the cultural dissonance. Among other things, we don’t know what the little “click” of the Poke-ball actually means. It signals that the capture was a success, but is that the Pokemon choosing to yield, or the Poke Ball’s technology locking them in? It’s a little ambiguous, I’ll freely admit as much…but I would argue that the former idea isn’t impossible. Again, wild Pokemon, generally speaking, actually want to find a Trainer. The first episode of the anime even hints that certain wild Pokemon are jealous of those with trainers. With that in mind, why is catching them even a fight to begin with? 

I’ll tell you why. When a wild pokemon battles a trainer, they are essentially giving that trainer a test.

They’re gauging the trainer’s abilities to bring out the potential of their pokemon. If you’re a trainer, and your pokemon defeats another pokemon in the wild…you’ve just proven beyond a shadow of a doubt that your pokemon is stronger than the wild one. You have now proven that you have something to offer, you’ve passed the test. The wild Pokemon now realizes that it stands to learn something, to grow more powerful, by accepting your tutelage. That’s why it’s considered acceptable to the pokemon to follow a trainer after they are overpowered and captured. It’s like…right of conquest, but with fully informed consent. 

Consent is key here, and I believe this cultural understanding to be the reason that most pokemon are immediately comfortable with following the trainer who caught them. While one might argue that they don't really have a choice anymore...that simply isn't true. The anime clarifies that Pokemon can release themselves from a Poke-Ball whenever they want. Misty’s Psyduck is the most iconic example of this, but there are countless others.  In theory, a Pokemon could just leave a trainer who they find unsatisfactory. Actually, that’s not just a theory. That’s canon. Something that most people don’t seem to realize (or at least, they forget) is that it’s not just Trainers who ditch Pokemon they no longer want. It happens in reverse as well.

Pokemon can and do abandon their trainers, if they deem said trainers to be unworthy of their talents. 

Remember when I said that I would be chiefly referencing the anime, because it’s the most reliable depiction of what the Pokeverse is supposed to be like? This is exactly what I was talking about. Because obviously, this never happens in the games. Your Pokemon don’t just disappear from your party or PC boxes, because that would be an incredibly stupid and unfair mechanic. But in the anime, where the relationships between pokemon and trainer are more fleshed out? In the first season, Bad To The Bone is about a Marowak who chose to ditch his trainer after said trainer had his badges stolen. While the Marowak eventually changed his mind, at no point did any character voice the idea of trying to return him by force. It was Marowak’s choice and no one else’s, which is why the trainer was heartbroken.

But that’s not a one-off, it’s not the only example. There are quite a few. Due to a misunderstanding, Gym Leader Pryce once believed his Piloswine had abandoned him. Then there’s Ash. Always the mother hen, he’s adopted many pokemon who were abandoned by previous trainers, but the opposite has also happened. His Snivy, and his Greninja, are both Pokemon who were explicitly stated to have had previous trainers whom they chose to leave, because they didn’t feel understood. Typically, it seems that Pokemon choose to leave because they feel as though the unspoken contract that is “pokemon training” has been violated somehow, or they’re otherwise not getting what they signed up for. This is why the traditional method of “catching” pokemon is so vital. Because it’s an honor system.

Any time a human does attempt to force a pokemon into submission or otherwise harm them through any method that is not the traditional system of capture, the story treats them as unquestionably villainous for doing so. The other humans react in horror, and attempt to stop them. This is because forgoing the “defeat them in battle” route and instead using some kind of technology or whatnot to claim the Pokemon is seen as dishonorable at the best of times, and evil at the worst of times. The Trainer is ignoring the agency of the Pokemon. Attempting capture in the conventional way is a mutually accepted system, the wild Pokemon know and understand that a trainer may attempt to take them, and if they really don’t want to be said Trainer’s pokemon, they can always choose to leave after they are captured. But the use of other means takes that choice away from them. These villains, usually the evil Teams, are using methods of capture that fail to demonstrate to the Pokemon why they are a worthy Trainer, and likewise rob them of the ability to judge them as unworthy. 

So yes, there are exceptions, but for the reasons I have described, I fail to see how the idea of “slavery” is applicable to properly trained Pokemon.

They have the power to attack their trainers whenever they choose. Sometimes they do. They have magical abilities that enslaved humans in real life do not have. Legends: Arceus does a great job of highlighting just how dangerous Pokemon could be toward their human counterparts if they really wanted to be. They also have the power to leave. A Pokeball is not a chain. The only time a Pokemon struggles to escape a Ball is when it is first used on them, and the connection is initially forged. But, as I’ve talked about, I believe this to be a ceremonial process and little else. Trainers will immediately send out freshly caught Pokemon to heal or train, and the Pokemon don’t run. But once again, they could. What is stopping them? Ash’s Charizard never saw fit to abandon him, but if he had, what could Ash have actually done about it? Basically nothing. He’d get a flamethrower to the face and then Charizard would fly off. The same thing is true for any of Ash’s Pokemon, or the trained Pokemon of any Trainer ever. 

There’s another Donphan in the room that I’d like to touch on real quick. I’ve talked a lot about how the anime clarifies the nature of Pokemon and their relationship to their Trainers…but I also mentioned that the developers have openly tried to beat back the claims of animal abuse, of slavery. The anime speaks for itself, but what about the time Black and White openly addressed these criticisms? You were probably waiting for me to bring it up, but the truth is, I don’t have much to say. The idea of Pokemon and Trainers having a symbiotic relationship, and needing each other…the idea that they shouldn’t be separated…all of that is touched on in the games, but the subject is mostly used as a scapegoat by a wannabe dictator.

I have yet to see any character in Pokemon honestly make the same comparison that critics make in real life, and I doubt we ever will see that happen. It’s just not an idea that can be properly explored in the Pokeverse, because our world is unknown to them. Our way of doing things isn’t something that any in-universe Trainer could hope to understand. It’s an entirely different culture. The way we personally view Pokemon as creatures is colored by our context, by the fact that we’re on the outside, peering into this world with the perspective of a society that doesn’t have Pokemon. To the humans, this is the way their world works. Team Plasma came the closest to approaching that idea, but even then, they were the villains. It was made abundantly clear that they were wrong. 

In theory, Pokemon are servants at the whims of their Trainers. In practice, they’re actually the ones with real power and the relationship is balanced, nuanced, and heavily based on mutual trust.

In theory, Pokemon are the wild animals of their universe. In practice, they have no equivalent to our world. They are, as we're told many times, "wondrous creatures." They have no explanation.

In theory, Pokemon are forced to engage in senseless violence day in and day out. In practice, Pokemon battling is an art form that the Pokemon themselves choose to pursue, and it is not remotely dangerous. 

Thanks for coming to my Ted Talk. If you need me, I'll be hunting for a shiny Wattrel.

[shadowdarkee]

Giratina&Distortion/Reverse World Headcanon

As background, lets start with what’s already known to us: The Distortion/Reverse world is a parallel world reflecting the normal world where space and time behave abnormally, gravity changes massively with location, and all that good stuff. When spacetime gets damaged in the normal world, this place gets polluted. When stuff in the Reverse World gets damaged, explosions happen in the normal world. It’s home to the Legendary Pokémon Giratina, the third part of the trio of Dialga (representing Time), and Palkia (representing space). Logically, what Giratina represents should be orthogonal to the two. Word of God says that Giratina and its world represent antimatter. What the fuck? What do antiparticles have to do with time and space? As a brief aside, 106 years ago the mathematician Emmy Noether proved (in laymens terms) that every symmetry in how a physical system works implies a conservation law. For instance, if the physics of a system doesn’t change with time (time invariance), then energy is conserved. symmetry under translation (physics works the same in a system no matter where one sets the origin. Ex:physics works the same if 3 meters to your left as it does where you are currently standing) implies conservation of [linear] momentum. Rotational symmetry (physics works the same in all directions) implies conservation of angular momentum. And so on. Now, as far as we can tell physics in the pokémon world obeys all these symmetries. However, it doesn’t take much thought to notice that the conservation laws are broken routinely. Pokémon evolution draws energy/mass from nowhere. So do all sorts of attacks. Beam attacks like water gun or hyper beam that don’t send the user backwards blatantly violate conservation of momentum. The mass from food that Pokémon eat vanishes entirely. What’s going on here? Why does Pokémon seem to contradict Noether’s theorem? You may be asking what this has to do with anything, or be about to reply ‘Shadaki, you’re looking way too much into this’, but bare with me. Back to the main topic: Giratina, its world, and antimatter. Now, while we’re used to the idea of antimatter as simply being particles of opposite charge, that wasn’t the original conception. When Paul Dirac was working on relativistic quantum mechanics, his Dirac Equation for spin ½ particles (i.e. electrons) allowed for negative energy solutions - which is a problem, as particles are assumed to have positive energy. His explanation for the negative solutions (and why positive energy particles don’t decay into them) was that below the ground state is a ‘sea’ (yes, that Dirac Sea) of filled negative energy states (by Pauli’s Exclusion Principle, only one spin ½ particle can exist in a specific state at a time). If the correct amount of energy is given, a particle from a negative state can be kicked up to a positive state, leaving a 'hole’ in the sea. By all intents and purposes the 'hole’ behaves like a particle with opposite charge. That is: Antimatter.

Headcanon: Giratina is more broadly the Dragon of Antimatter and Symmetries, and the ’-’ in 'space-time’. The Distortion/Reverse World is in turn a generalized version of the Dirac Sea as well as possibly serving as a way of mapping points in space to points in time. Anytime a Pokémon is doing something that seems to be violating a conservation law, its actually moving the 'violating’ quantity to or from the Distortion/Reverse World. If one were to measure the space-time curvature of the otherworld in a specific location, one would find that it also changes depending on whether a Pokemon (or human?) is located in the corresponding sidereal location - except opposite from normal. Destroying something in the Reverse World causes its sidereal counterparts to try to fall to fill in energy state in the hole. The 'Pollution’ comes from the world having trouble mapping points or genuine conservation law violations and figuratively raising its arms and saying 'fuck if I know, its supposed to be loosely like this or something’