Ash – Pinkie's Paradise

Review: Pokémon 2000 The Power of One

LIttle subjects, today we are reviewing the second pokémon feature movie. Pokémon 2000: The Power of One. Coming out in 1999 the name is a bit cringybut hey it was a trend back then. Like Mewtwo Strikes Back this one came with a short movie in the form of Pikachu’s rescue adventure. But like all the other shorts I will review those separately Pokémon 2000 is one of the fan favorite movies . Which proves again you REALLY need me to form the right opinion. So here goes. Like last week we will discuss the plot, and while I try to keep it vague where possible many points I will make in this review directly involve the plot.

How Does It Look and Sound?

Luckily last week my servants decided this format for me to go with and speaking about the looks and sounds I can start with something positive at least. That is right this going to be a somewhat negative review later on but let’s not worry about why I am right that this movie isn’t good right now shall we? Let’s start by going over why I am right that it looks fine.
While the artstyle hasn’t really improved and character details from far away are about as good as the first few episodes of Dragon Ball Super.. if you ever saw those weird thing people call memes, there is a lot to love about the visual presentation of this movie. It was the time we added in computer effects to everything and for Pokémon it works out fairly well.
This movie’s legendary is Lugia , which lives in the darkest depths of the sea. Which looks quite amazing. Our villain is a man only known as ‘the collector’ we never get a name, he has a flying air base that also looks 90’s impressive. Aesthetically his base does not really seem to fit in the pokémon world though , especially when we compare it to mechanical constructs we saw before, from Jessie and James and others. This for some reason felt more like something like “Final Fantasy” to me but still a neat effect.

What I absolutely love about this movie is the soundtrack. Where “Brother my “Brother” felt well thought out but very out of place in the first movie, music was an integral part of the story and such we do not got the “Disney” do-over but a much more anime like “mystery melody holding unknown power” effect. This means there are no vocals except for the opening and end credits, which is how it should be in a pokémon movie. All the music felt like it was fitting for the world and the mysterious tune came back on multiple occasions making it feel meaningful. The song was always a part of the scene not something added onto it. Which potentially has something to do with the fact they could use all the music from the japanese version. However the end credits was “lugia’s theme” with english Lyrics so even that was in line with the movie this time around.

The movie features a lot more action and that means I have something else to evaluate and that is the sound effects in this movies as well as the effects. Action is much more on the foreground this time and I think for the most part it is done very well. Lighting felt a bit thin compared to the series and it made Pikachu and Zapdos look relatively weak. Normally Pikachu’s lighting bolts can fill your screen, this time it’s a thin yellow line which despite being a more accurate depiction does feel a tad lame. I rather see something go over the top than look to weak. Mostly the ice felt powerful and the weather effects were quite nice. I was excited about the many storms in this movie. There are a few odd sound effect choices, though nothing quite as odd as the rips from Star Wars and Star Trek of last time. There are two effects though I could swear were from Looney Tunes or something. Those made me smile though so all in all quite a good job.

How does it Feel

Oh dear, this isn’t going to be pretty. Let’s begin with the positives again before I turn my sweet little subjects into a rowdy mob! The action scenes of this movie are fun and in beginning super creative. Unfortunately they repeat their most creative scene with a nearly identical scene and diminish from that a bit but at one point movie-exclusive character Melody has to navigate her boat towards Ash on fire island. The trouble is there is a storm out there.. and Ash is on the middle of the island. What we get is a scene where the girl uses the sails of the boat as well as it’s natural traction in some pieces to let it fly across the island.. with a wrong move potentially sending them off the side of a mountain. Great! The pokémon battles.. great… I think…I mean they are great to the eye but Pikachu holding his own against a lighting bolt from Zapdos feels wrong.

Unfortunately that bridges me to what I actually feel about the movie. It would have been an excellent film.. if everything did not feel so wrong. The story is about this collector who wishes to capture Lugia and according to an ancient prophecy he has to bring together, Zapdos Articuno and Moltres first and then Lugia will show. Now so far that kind of sounds cool, the legendary birds deserve their moment in the spotlight and Lugia being tied to storms and water it kind of makes sense. Yet the movie makes a cardinal sin in my opinion, it claims that the three birds live on their island and that capturing them destroys balance in nature letting it spiral towards destruction if they do not go back. Now while this adds a tension arc that this movie needs to motivate the characters it clashes hard with official lore of the three birds. If Red captured them and it would destroy the earth that would suck, also Ash has seen some of these before and will see them more after. Do not make a pokémon uncapturable.. that feels wrong to the very concept of the series!

This isn’t where the problems end though, the collector doesn’t use pokéball technology to capture the birds.. he uses geometric shapes with some electricity between them. It looks more exciting and static fields could work.. but why capture one in a circle, one in a square and another in a triangle? What are you trying to do here? GIve a bad rep to the playstation controller as it harms pokémon? It just made no sense. The Collectors Airship feels like it doesn’t belong in the world and neither does his technology, he does explain he is not a trainer so it makes sense he doesnt use pokébalss to an extend but come on.. just uses the statis circle than. The collector has a prophecy which basically states, when the titans of fire lightning and ice clash, lugia will appear, the world will soon turn to ash as it faces destruction. (It’s a bit longer than that bit its the gist of it) So we have a Collector that wants to complete his collection.. but he does know it will destroy the world… which means he is collecting it for nothing.. or he doesn’t believe the final part of the prophecy but sacredly believes in the first part. He just doesn’t make sense. In nothing. Everything he adds to the pokémon world feels odd and off.

Than there are the weird choices being made that aren’t exactly plot mistakes but just feel totally out there. Pikachu can only talk to zapdos by shooting lightning at him.. and Zapdos responds in kind.Yet Meowth can still interpret it like it is pokémon speech?! So why is this a thing? Somehow Pikachu and all Pokémon in the entire world know of the legendary bird mythos. Pikachu knows he is on fire island and Moltres should rule there not Zapdos. They claim in the movie this is because pokémon are in tune with nature and will always try to save it. Yet Zapdos Moltres and Articuno… 3 LEGENDARY POKÉMON , will battle each other and destroy nature to rule over all the islands.. aren’t they pokémon too? So should they not be in tune with nature as well? It all feels so nonsensical.

How is the Plot.

I sit here while I pinch the bridge of my nose while I think about the plot. The nonsensical world building is quite possibly not even the worst part of this. Let’s take a look back at the collectors goal. His goal is to collect every rare pokémon and he has his eyes set on Lugia. Now catching a legendary is quite a goal..but he isn’t a trainer he just wants to collect everything, which is fine and something new… but what is his motivation? He got a Mew Promo trading card game card.. and his desire to collect has gotten out of hand?! Yet the man has NO pokémon… zero. We never shown any captured pokémon besides the birds, nor trophies to show he has pokémon, nothing.. we don’t even see his card collection. So somehow.. he went from.. I have a Mew Promo Card to I must risk world destruction by capturing Lugia. His motivation get even worse when Ash … whom the collector allowed to roam free aboard his airship after he got dragged up their on accident, frees the birds and he doesnt care at all. He just wants to collect Lugia. So quite literally the man makes a jump from Mew CARD to LUGIA! That’s a big leap there dude! For some reason no one notices the airbase ever either, the thing is a sky fortress without cloaking.. that shoots cannons to freeze or set ablaze their divine islands. Though I am willing to accept that last part.. because it’s a kids movie it doesn’t really look like they tried hard with the collector. At least the last one had a more or less rounded out plot.

Ash is on the boat of a woman named Maren, who loses control of the helm after a storm starts after the capture of the first legendary pokemon. This makes them go off course and end up the central islands of the archipelago. Which just happens to host a MAJOR Pokémon related holiday specific to the Orange Region. Why get them there by force? There is no way Ash would have wanted to miss an occasion such as that one. They would go there anyway. So why add a pointless storm scene , there will be plenty of those later anyway. It would have saved time for other scenes but okay. The people of this island playfully name Ash chosen one to play a ceremonial role in their holiday, alongside a girl named Melody, who angers Misty when she flirts with Ash. For one reason or another Pikachu begins action odd just after the storm as well.. but Ash doesn’t notice which is very unlike Ash. When Ash later that evening finds out his role is to travel to fire , ice and electrical island to claim three orbs for a fun little ceremony the next day he takes it extremely serious for no reason at all and departs right away in the middle of a new storm. After short boat in the storm scene he crashes on fire island. Misty Melody and Tracey, later go in pursuit because they worry about him after all. Tracey by the way has no role in this movie. He is there but I think he has less than five lines of dialogue aside from screaming. After another , moving a ship through the storm sequence.. with a great twist they find Ash and get captured by the Collector on accident.

They start of in a cage, even if they were captured by triangles but the collector lets them go and tells them his plan is to capture Lugia, after which our heroes disagree. He then is like.. well gonna do it anyway , zooming to a higher deck of his fortress while leaving everyone there with their pokemon. So for some reason the squares that captured them, separated them from Melodies boat, they unlike the bird got put in a cage, in an air base that has no staff whatsoever and after he knows they are opposed to him the collector just ignores them? Which allows them to free the birds. Is it arrogance? Is it that it didn’t matter that much?. The guy is being put out there as a chess player and a brilliant strategist.. this seemed pretty dumb though. He truly only cares about capturing Lugia.. even after his airbase is shot and fully crashed. He still only wants to capture Lugia. Even though the villain now has NO way to even off the islands it lives near ANYWAY..That’s not collecting! Also how does your airbase still have power to use those smart traps after your computer went down? That is how those trap shapes worked right?

Next we get the dumbest scene.. Lugia shows up and talks to Ash , that he has to find the third elemental orb (he collected the second one because they crashed on lighting island when the air fortress went down) He has to hurry and Lugia wil come with him Ash now has to traverse a frozen see.. he does so by kitesurfing with charizard.. so we get another “ship in the storm’ action scene.. instead now the waves are replaced with attacks of the legendary birds. Pikachu and Charizard both manage to tie in attack with the legendary birds zapdos and moltres after which articuno creates an ice wall to block them off from that which can save nature.. something pokémon ALL try to help to achieve.Luckily Team rocket stole the back of a helicopter from where Delia Ketchum and Professor Oak crashed.. cause they had to go there too!?! They take Ash along with the hovercraft.. to be heroes for once as they all (via a boat in the rough caves scene) succeed in finding the last stone. Once outside Lugia who tagged along all the way NOW tells Ash.. get on my back it’s faster! So we needed Delia and Samuel shoehorned into this location. We see the same scene TWICE but different vehicles and people and then we see a pikachu rivalling zapdos in power.. for no reason at all except that they want those scenes to be there. Ash could have flown on Charizard.. he could have flown on Lugia.. but nah.. he kitesurfs on a piece of broken boat. Pointless, stupid and repetitive. While the action is fun for action sake from a narrative perspective this scene makes no sense at all.

The collector manages to use triangles to catch Lugia.. sort of.. but sort of not as it Aeroblasts his base into even smaller pieces and now the technology falls apart. However there triangles apparently damaged it more than 3 attacks of legendary birds simultaneously or because he shot two Aeroblasts he is so tired he faints. Ash falls along with him and presumably drowns but not really. He still is not breathing though so he is dead because Misty is forced to save him giving a heart massage.. but no mouth to mouth as he opens his eyes and stumbles forward to the temple to finish the fight. The three orbs get unitted like they do each year but because people mistook the word Ash for ash in the prophecy nothing ever happened until now. The orbs turn into green water which alongside the melody melody plays heals the world. Ash being a chosen one is kind of nice I guess. Super lazy but nice and the plot twist that ash is Ash is kind of obvious from the get go. It makes the prophecy more stupid though.

Of course to add insult to injury they forget all about the collector. He seeing nature in all his beauty is seemingly getting a change of heart this change of heart is once more reinforced when he finds his Mew card, with this in his hand he claims he can start collecting all over again…. which was kind of the problem in the first place… but he is left too his own devices.
The movie ends with a second fourth wall breaking moment from Jessie and James which is actually quite cute but it can not save this disaster of a movie.

What is the verdict.

While the movie is somewhat entertaining to watch, this one feels very dubious to me. The humor is cute, with some clever or just well timed jokes. There are a few puns that cause a chuckle and a few references that made me giggle. They even make a Mcdonalds reference in there. The action is good and the pacing of this movie is quite okay. However the plot is ridiculous, clashes hard with some of the classic lore, character motivations make zero sense at all. Melody begins as a rebel but has a 180 degrees turn within the first four minutes of meeting her , never having any growth while acting like she did in the end. The collector is the most ill conceived, narrative piece of trubbish I saw in a long long while. Mew card. → Lugia.. that is his entire motivation and entire mind set, no emotion and in the end not even a resolve. Ash shows he has difficulty having the faith of the world rest upon his shoulders but this doesn’t lead anywhere either. He just does it without much complaints. Team Rocket and Misty are the only characters that follow a natural arc. Misty is forced to deal with her feelings with Ash and while it doesn’t go more than skin deep she grows in realising what Ash means to her.. and Team Rocket honestly are the most sensible people around in this movie. When your comic relief characters are the best written thing you have in your movie .. there is something wrong. While fairly spectacular to see ..its sheer stupidity means it doesn’t have anything to tell at all. This one is just blowing smoke.

Question to my readers:

What movie did entertain you but annoy you as well?

Sweet little subjects, do not be disheartened by my lack of love for this movie. It entertained me but it annoyed me as well hence my question above. The popcorn side of me saw this as an improvement to the somewhat dull Mewtwo movie, but where I can fit that one inside the world of Pokémon.. this one creates a world of its own that is to far of the path and logic from Pokémon as I know it. Even if it is a children’s movie the plot can still have some semblance of sense and they dropped the pokéball in that department.
The Pinkest Pokéblogger is blasting off again.
XO
Pinkie

Review: The First Pokémon Movie: Mewtwo Strikes Back

Dear subjects, we are trying to experiment a bit with the content we are putting out, where our in depth talks about the Pokémon Mimikyu bombed last week te are trying to examine it it’s the subject or the day in question. A safe bet to always draw in people would be a review, but unfortunately for Chibi Pinkie, this is not something she can play, nor does it fall under series or toys. That means someone with the right opinion will review for once! Me! Princess Pinkie. Over the course of the next few weeks I will discuss every pokémon movie that has been released and of course we start with the first. This review will contain spoilers…for a 21 year old movie. So.. be warned… ?! Do note we rate the movie as on the japanese dvd with english dub option as it contains the first 10 minutes of the movie that got cut in the VHS version for Europe and America (the version I grew up with)

How does it Look and Sound?

Let’s talk about the the looks and sound first. Once looks is very important , you will not buy a book with an ugly cover nor will you have a poster of Susan Boyle no matter how much you like her singing. The First Pokémon Movie : Mewtwo Strikes Back, as this movie is called nowadays has that distinct 90’s look to it’s animation. Which is a good thing, it’s animated quite a bit better looking than the regular anime with a lot more detail and effects going on. There is an occasionally blurry Pokémon here and there but nothing to noticeable or distracting. It could have used a bit more visual spectacle near the end but overall this was quite pleasing to the eye, at least for it’s time and compared to the series. There are a bunch of neat lighting effects and it just really works. There are a few effects though that look horrible. Like the fire in the earlier scenes of the movie. There are very little frames to the fire and it has no impact on the environment.. it’s just there sometimes placed on spots that don’t even make any sense. The fire cycles through just a handful of frames, ik kind of looks like they added fire.gif to the scene, and not a good gif either.

Soundwise this movie is interesting to say the least. Voicewise the cast does a stellar job to convey emotions, please note I watch the dub because opposed to the sub which I would have preferred had all the names been the same. With big name changes I vastly prefer the dub because i know the characters as Ash and Misty and seeing them be called Satoshi and Kasumi just feels off to me. Overall the music is quite solid with one exception. Brother my Brother by Blessid Union of Souls. People love this song but I felt it was very out of place. While it does make the scene of Pokémon battling their super clones more emotional as they battle to the death it feels .. unpokémon. It feels like something that belongs in the Disney Tarzan movie rather than my pokéworld. The emotional build up to not fight like this is not there and only established somewhere in the middle of this song. While it calls for the right emotion and cues us in how to feel in this scene like it should it feels slapped on there. Should it have started 30 seconds earlier I might have been fine with it but this really made me wonder, what are they doing here. It’s a good song but it’s time wrong and it doesn’t seem to flow along nicely with the scene. Had the Mewtwo and Mew battle not been in the scene and it just focussed on the battle against clones it might have worked.. but for me it really didn’t now. However by far the weirdest thing about the sound is the choice of a few sound effects. Like when Mewtwo switches on the lights in his arena you hear the actual sound of a lightsaber being ignited but only the first half (it’s not even a sound alike that’s the actual effect) when Mew flies out of the amazon he dispells his sleep-bubble with the sound of a star trek teleportation, again no sound alike it’s the actual one from the shows. It’s odd but hilarious.

How does it feel?

Atmosphere is very important to a show, how good is the world building, any weird mistakes , does it keep your attention? This is what we discuss in this part of the review. Let’s start to say that the english dub is loaded with mistakes. One of the elite trainers calls his pidgeot and pidgeotto, a guy claims he only use water pokémon has a nidoqueen, (but it’s blue herpaderp) and Jessie and James can’t tell an Alakazam from a Scyther, the last one while a mistake is at least credible. A trainer not knowing the name of their own pokémon though is not. So the dub can be a bit sloppy. A subplot in mewtwo’s plans for example is missing , changing him from a misguided pokémon to a classic movie villain. The dubbers believed the western audience was unable to comprehend a morally grey antagonist with more subtle motives so they made Mewtwo a lot more black and white. As a result the ending doesn’t really connect. From out of nowhere people see this villian have a change of heart and accept it without any context. It makes the movie feel more odd than it should be. Bringing up the improperly edited song, the weird sound effects the mistakes and the simplified plot makes the movie feel quite sloppy. Ash first death was quite impactful on everyone who saw it nonetheless, but did you know the whole reviving mechanic isn’t nearly as cheesy as it’s in the original version?

The uncut version actually explains what happens and does confirm that Ash is not just petrified he is actual dead. Seeing the build up added in this version pardoned a lot of the sloppy stuff for me as at the end we do get a feeling of a well rounded story. Now all we need is a proper ending and we got a very solid movie. … ‘Wait what? It’s one of those?…… well fizzlesticks’ Unfortunately..yet understandably the movie ends with a big middle finger towards the audience. Ash and his friends get send back in time for a bit and don’t remember anything, so nothing ever really happened Such a buzzkill. With Pokémon however it does make sense, the franchise was so big that it’s young audience would wonder why no one talked about it in the anime. Since the movies aren’t cannon at least it’s placeable inside the universe we knew.. but this ending hasn’t aged well at all. Other than that it doesn’t feel all that dated actually, even knowing what we know nowadays about the franchise there is little to nothing conflicting about it there. Well .. except for one weird plot hole…

How is the plot?

The movie we know begins with Mewtwo escaping from Giovanni, but that is not how the movie actually starts. It starts with Mr Fuji on an expedition to find Mew.. who is secretly following him but is never seen. However inside a temple Fuji finds a Mew fossil…….. Mew is a one of a kind pokémon that is the only one of his species by all existing media.. yet somehow they find a fossil of Mew. How?

Question to my readers:

How do you think Mr Fuji obtained Mew’s fossil.. while Mew is still alive?

Weirdness aside the uncut version actual dus a great job of setting up Mewtwo as a character. Growing inside a tank it mentally connects to the mental presence of Ambertwo a clone of Mr Fuji’s deceased daughter. The man tried to recreate her because he can not move on without her, causing his wife to leave him. While they explore a dreamlike state together, Ambertwo explains Mewtwo what is is to exist and answer some of his existential questions but then she destabilizes and disintegrates dying all over again. While Mewtwo is crying for losing her she tells him what crying is and explains he should save his tears because pokémon tears contain valuable life essence. This bit is majorly important for the rest of the story but the original western version left this out. It’s probably the best written part of the entire movie! Mewtwo murders Mr Fuji and joins with Giovanni to rule the world together.

While I can see why they cut this part out of a kids movie, because it’s pretty messed up, so much in the movie never made sense to me as a kid but this version manages to tie everything together quite neatly, with the exception of the dub making Mewtwo more of a genocidal villain rather than a deluded pokémon amidst a existential crisis much like how he is portrayed in the sub. Ash has a decent arc to go trough in this story and his famous demise is still quite impactful to me. While Brock and Misty as well as the other trainers really are throw-away characters in this movies it actually puts the spotlight on the pokémon. Again Mewtwo’s plan makes less sense in the dub, but the first 10 minutes leave enough room for us to understand both versions of the genetically superior pokémon, as he could have re-remembered Amber which wile unspoken could have driven him off the edge. He said he remembered ‘something’ so it’s plausible enough. Knowing what is to come in the franchise however I would have preferred the more nuanced version. It’s a compelling story what a nice lesson at the end about taking control of your own identity rather than taking one on at birth and about friendship versus servitude alongside the way how pokémon SHOULD and should not battle. While that last one is quite powerful I do feel that one could have been executed a bit better, the battles between pokémon and clones felt weird.. which is how they are supposed to feel.. but for a life or death battle I expected something a bit more visceral rather than slap battles.

What is the Verdict

The first Pokémon Movie is a great nostalgic view that is well written enough to hold some merit for those who are not watching with rose coloured specs. It’s a sparkling mix of 90’s cheese, pokémon and even a hint of disney. Fun enough for any pokémon fan to have a blast with even if it is all done quite sloppily. Yet this movie to me is more than just the sum of its parts. It is something that rises way above its mistakes. My rating system is based n the emotion I felt rather than a numerical score and I can not help but to be crazy about this movie. No matter how much I watched it as a kid.. this version, which was new to me made me appreciate it even more. This movie is an icon from my youth.. something I loved deeply as a kid and something i still treasure now. Any flaw I found was endearing to me and made me love it even more because now I know those flaws and I still love it to bits. With that being said I give this movie my highest possible rating! I love it, and always will.

With one movie down I only have 22 more movies to go. I didn’t see a lot of them, in fact I only saw the next one in a glimpse and a few other ones in the same fashion. I can not help but wonder which of them will be the very best.

The Pinkest Poké Blogger is blasting off again
XO
Pinkie

The Alola League Champion: Ash Ketchum

Jason Paige has gone silent, disbelief, joy and an occasional tear. It has been over twenty years but now it has finally happened….Ash Ketchum has won a Pokémon League. The never aging boy is the first champion of Alola. He is the very best.. like in Alola no one ever was.

The Big Trophy

Before episode 139 of Pokémon sun and Moon was aired we already saw images of Ash holding a trophy being leaked. People saw the colour and how it resembled a winners trophy of other leagues and began to speculate. Could they really spoil this, is this a hoax? Could Gladion be knocked down with Ash catching the trophy for him? We were prepared for all sorts of scenario after the famous episode title change back in 2016. However since the Pokémon Sword and Shield anime series would just be called Pokémon and the way the narrator thanked Ash in episode 138 like this would be his last Hurrah people began to suspect that this very well may be it. Ash might hold the trophy he actually earned.

Now for those with a good memory , this is not the actual first time Ash has won a Pokémon League persé. There are those who claim he has won the Orange conference and while this may be true, that league is not officially recognised in anything else than the anime. In anime terms the Orange Island Arc was by all intents and purposes filler. Throughout the series it’s barely referenced nor did it really impact Ash as a person. He never felt like the very best.. because he really wasn’t . While still an impressive feat I like to compare it to any other tournament form.. while the Pokémon League can be considered nationals.. or even the world championships of pokémon the Orange League never was much more than winning at regionals. The small trophy he got reflected this, it never gave him much fulfillment anyway. So yes ladies and gentlemen this is the first thing Ash has won a majorly important one. Finally.

A Journey completed

After the completely unjustifiable loss at the Kalos League my hope for the anime dwindled and rightfully so. Sun and Moon as an anime could not keep up with the amazingness of X&Y. While the artstyle is something you can grow into it did feel like the ultimate insult to see Ash be reduce from someone imposing to someone that looks like he’s animated on a tight time and money budget someone that is truly young. Ash returning to trainer school made me drop the anime for quite a while. When they reached the rename part .. and I found out they turned Lusamine in the good and loving mother she was depicted as in the show I cringed a bit more. The show had really lost it’s magic for me. Ash had journeyed for too long. Yet in retrospect we saw a lot of closure from classic storylines in this series, in retrospect giving it a final quality. We saw Brock finally get a girlfriend, we saw Misty grow into a much more potent young trainer and more recently we saw lilly conquer her fears and see Gladion use his father’s Pokémon. Even season one’s Jigglypuff returned.. it finally sang it’s song from start to finish with Komala staying ‘awake’ through it all in the end seeing jigglypuff being knocked out and it’s face doodled at.. with it’s own little journey completed.

Team Rocket getting the short and of the stick once more (for now). With Ash now finally winning a tournament one could wonder is this season where the narrator will finally say.. the end? My hope goes out to a positive answer to this question. Though Sun and Moon finally made me drop the series for most of its runtime , I on occasion still followed the adventures of my main man but it began to feel thin. Like Bilbo Baggins once described ‘Like butter that has been spread out over too much bread. We needed to see this yet at same time.. we are kinda done with Ash. One way or the other a journey has ended.

The Road ahead is empty

Now that we are getting close to seeing the Sword and Shield anime we can wonder what lies ahead. If they continue with current Ash not much. I wanted to see him become the champion and now that I did I can wholeheartedly say I am done with the character. Yet also for Ash himself there would not be that much more to achieve. One could make the argument that since the Alola league is the first of its kind it isn’t as official or prestigious as the indigo league or since Galar is a bit sports focussed that will be a more professional league so that there is still ways for Ash to grow. While I am willing to accept those ideas as somewhat valid it would remove any tension arc from the stories. For a new journey to be meaningful it would mean Ash HAS to win the more prestigious league as well or he will in fact move backwards. Which means that narratively speaking Ash is a dead end.

Letting him win in Galar is the only justified arc he could still go through but because it’s the only option it’s not really an aspect that needs to be explored. Ash as if might not have reached his zenith yet..which on it’s own is debatable but we now all know he will get there. THIS Ash is used up. There is no interesting story to tell with their side characters either, the only one who might have an arc still would be Serena and her arc really needs Ash to age to be completed. So it indeed would seem that the anime has nowhere to go. Like I said before though.. the new series will not carry a subtitle.. at least not in japan where it will just be called Pocket Monsters. In movie terms reusing the original titles usually means one thing and one thing alone. Reboot.

Who’s that Protagonist?

Now a reboot could be done in many ways. We could see Ash age to a grown up competing in the more professional Galar league after a few years of rest. Being mature now Ash could be involved in some themes he did not really have to deal with before. Romance could become a real thing of his journey but also his battle style would have to change to a more serious more clear cut and direct battler.While not the most compelling narrative option , i’d say this is their only option to keep current Ash and give him some room to develop. His championship could become secondary to his coming to age story. Yet going this route will be one of many pitfalls that would mean excluding some game features or even characters he can encounter. The game would have to be represented significantly less. With the job system though it could still work to some extent.

The most popular protagonist theory however is an Ash Reset. we simply get a new Ash Ketchum, mostly likely one living in Galar starting his journey with a Pikachu much like old Ash did. Other reboot theories consist using the Ash from the “I choose you Pikachu movie” timeline. In this timeline he never traveled with Brock and Misty and Kanto already knew the Legendary Dogs and even Alolan Pokemon, so it’s almost like.. what if Ash was born 20 years later. While this could work I think it would result in a lot of people resisting, with all the hate Pokémon is getting for Sword and Shield already it seems like a very dumb choice to make. Though one that is quite marketable if they manage to pull it off. The anime has always been about Ash and Pikachu and if Detective Conan can stay fresh for decenia Ash should be able to do so too. The community needs to keep an open mind for that though and I am not sure if this is the proper day and age for that. It’s so easy to hate.

So the best option would be to have a new protagonist. While rude mouth brittish avatar girl seems like a good pick I personally would really like if the story is focussed about on Marnie. Marnie is one of the rivals in the game and the one who is idolised by the evil team Yell. It could be very interesting to tell a narrative from a more edgy main character who combats her inner darkness and her desire to win rather than ignorance. The way she would deal with her fans trying to give her unfair advantages would also be a very fresh narrative. Marnie could deal with the pressure of being seen as the best opposed to being a nobody everyone suddenly starts looking up too. Marnie has a less linear narrative, where Ash journey is just to overcome an obstacle Marnie’s journey would be one of black or white choices. Her fans count on her so will she push her Morpeko to claim victory despite the cost to her pokémon or will she spare her pokémon but anger her fans and team Yell? It could push Pokémon as a series more into animé territory and less into serial cartoons. I would not mind potty mouth british avatar meme girl as a protagonist either if they make her a bit smarter than Ash.

Please Don’t

Now what do I really hope we won’t see? Two things.. a continuation of Ash as is will make me not even pick up the series at all his journey is complete, I am so done with him. The second one is a bit more sensitive. The second character I would not like to see as a main character is Hop. Hop is the little brother of the pokémon league champion and your only rival of a different skin colour. Now I have no problem in creating more diversity in ethnicity in main characters , I love Miles Morales and the new Miss Marvel. Hop however would be to much like Ash. Their personalities would not differ enough. Had Hau been the protagonist of Sun and Moon after Ash won Kalos, i’d be be perfectly fine with it.. because Hau is more carefree than Ash he is extreme, his carefree nature could be something he needs to work on in order to become a great. Hop however seems to have the Ash mentality.. he likes to win but he also seems a bit of an airhead with a good heart.

Miles Morales is very different from Peter Parker so regardless of heritage he adds something new. While I respect that for some people it is important to find more representation I am simply judging this from a narrative standpoint. Hop is an Ash Clone.. just like Trace from let’s go Eevee kinda is. Pokémon needs something new.. something fresh from a narrative stance. Hop would not offer that. I also would not want Serena to become the main character, her goals would have to be changed to much. Even though she is a fan favorite with a story still to complete they would need a very strange narrative to shoehorn her in. Letting her compete to grow seems like something she would not do. The only fitting narrative I could find fitting if Ash goes missing and rumors say he went to Galar .. and she starts to compete to face him at the pokéleague.. but this would weigh the story down a lot.

With the Alola trophy in Ash hands the future of the pokémon anime is insecure. This can be the fresh breath of air the series so desperately needs or the nail to the coffin for many viewers. Unlike Ash I still have some hopes and dreams and my biggest right now is a female protagonist.. or at least no Ash or Ash clone.

Question to my readers:

What would you like to see in the future of the Pokémon Anime?

So that concludes my feelings about Ash winning a pokémon league.. I am so happy it is finally over , but it can get worse for here as well. Once again in my choices I do not mean to upset anyone these are simply my views based on available assets and looking to what I find lacking in the series and what would make it thrive and what would stagnate it.
Ash has died 9 times before becoming the pokémon league champion, I just hope that when he dies next time it’s not because using him again killed the franchise.

The Pinkest Poké Blogger is Blasting off again
XO
Pinkie

Loving Ambition. OWLS September 2019 Blog Tour

Hey there little monsters, today it’s time for another sunday special. This time it’s the Owl Blog Tour! For those who don’t know who the OWLS are. It’s an acronym for the Otaku Warriors for Liberty and Self-respect. A band of people promoting acceptance no matter your skin colour, gender, capabilities sexuality or beliefs. Having quite a couple of links with them myself I recently joined up and this is my first blog tour I write for them. The subject of septembers tour is going to be lovers… something I am very much not. I am so panda that I barely even know anymore what the word means. Hence I am not looking at any proper couple.. but the hints of romance between a couple of ten year olds.

Unbroken Bonds

While there never was really an official relation between Ash and his companions I think they have been shipped aplenty. In two cases there even was some clear cut romantic subplots. In the Pokémon anime, both Misty and Serena definitely could have been lovers of Ash. No matter who watches the Pokémon anime , they see that Ash and Misty were supposed to end up together and even more so with Serena. What changed them from potential lovers into star crossed lovers in one foul swoop? It wasn’t really their age, after all in the anime Ash, Misty and Serena act much closer akin to 16 year olds rather than a 10 year old. By every romantic movie or book ever written they SHOULD have their happy ever after together. They formed bonds together due to the wide variety of experiences they have seen of each other. They have seen each others good and bad sides and they support each other regardless of it. It’s not the friend zone either because throughout the series clearly there are hints of both sides liking each other. In fact Misty was my first experience with a Tsundere if I ever saw one.

Serena’s crush on Ash is established from the get go the first episode clearly going into a romantic subplot. So how can couples who are this compatible and do take an interest in one another not end up together? This is something I have oftenly asked myself, I have been in Serena’s and Misty’s shoes more than once.. I have met my Ash(ley) and saw my romance fall through even after we admitted we liked each other.. and being able to talk like we have known each other for ages. Yet there is a force that tore me and my Ashley apart.. and it’s the same force that tears away Ash from Misty and Serena and that force is ambition.

Unified Minds

In society there are so many mantras what we have to do in life. Some incredibly dated some newly tacked on. People are brainwashed hard into believing that they want to be a doctor living in their house with a white picket fence, a loving wife and their 2.5 children. Everyone HAS to get a job right away, everyone HAS to aspire to be larger than life and we live life to be ‘normal’ or recognised by others.. rather than accepting who we are. Ash falls in that same pitfall as many and as a result is missing out on beautiful things life could offer. Ash is determined to win a pokémon league.. to be recognised by his peers to be special without being ‘special’ .. he follows the standard boys dream. He is quite passionate about it, which in turn makes him more appealing to the girls… who also follow the standard doctrine. ‘Well that is an ambitious guy.. that one is a catch.. it will lead to that white picket fence.’ Little do they know they fall in love not with each other.. but the ability to follow that standard dream that everyone in the world seems to follow. Yet because Ash is ambitious he becomes unable to settle until he can live up that dream and that standard set by society. Success, partner, home and children is basically what it comes down too. Nearly everyone strives for that package in some shape way or form.. it’s the blueprint of a life at least. While in our world success is somewhat flexible term, just get above average income and you are deemed successful, the standard in the Pokéworld is a lot higher. You HAVE to be the very best .. like no one ever was.

This gives Ash an unfulfillable ambition, an everlasting itch which blinds him to the next step in his journey. Because in his own eyes he is not successful yet he can not move onto the step to find a lover. Meanwhile because Misty and Serena also strive for the same thing Ash ambitions makes him a lot more attractive to them.. creating quite a toxic situation. We all crave for some stability which ambition creates and thus we end up thinking a doctor is more attractive than a plumber. A Pokemon champion is more attractive than the guy who does not travel anymore. In truth.. and I do believe this is also the reason why we have so many divorces , a great many of us aren’t looking for the perfect partner for us, we are looking for that person who can give us that standarly perfect life and quite often those two do not have to align. We oftenly delude ourselves in needing something we do not need. In a way a great many of us are Ash. We do not need to be a Pokémon Champion.. nor do we need to date one. Generations of brainwashing tells our subconscious we do though. So all our minds are set on solving that perfect little puzzle.. yet you might not even fit in it.

Hidden Fates

So because of protagonist syndrome Ash will de doomed to fail in settling down with the girl of his dreams. In my eyes a part that would have fitted Serena perfectly because she had a crush on Ash from the get go. Misty arguably fell for Ash because of his determination and ambition so he should he settle for her there is a risk of losing that attraction. Serena liked how he helped her and the ‘motionless’ or core part of his personality. What I mean by that is that we can fall in love with a person based on they react or how they intrinsically are. Ash IS ambitious because he has unfilled desires and dreams but they way he makes sacrifices to protect others (by saying goodbye to some of pokémon friends) just happen because. No matter if he is the champion and a billionaire or as he is now.. Ash will always help those in need.

Yet his ambition has a limit, dreams can be fulfilled. His ambition will grow or weaken as he develops while the helpfulness is a constant. Per example I am a very careful person right now, I used to be happy go lucky but the situation requires me to take more things into account as I had more things on my plate. Would Ashley have fallen in love with me because she liked happy go lucky me.. we might be at odds now. Part of our personality is in flux, it changes as we grow and if those are the traits we happen to fall in love with, we risk falling out of love as well. Misty fell in love with Ash because of the passion he displayed, his inner fire. Serena fell in love with his kindness and his sense of justice.

Both valid reasons but in case of the latter a much more stable base. Yet that fire is a much more potent aphrodisiac. A drive, zeal and passion are quite a bit sexier in the eye of the public and once more a reason why ambition is a dangerous thing to fall for. If you swoon over ambition it may be your fate to stand by the sidelines because their success comes first.. like what happend with Misty and Serena . If you do manage to snag someone with ambition it might be your fate to see the love fade away when that drive fades. After all at one point the ambitions will have their success, partner house and children.. how ambitious they remain after that remains to be seen. Those who truly fall in love with each others true core.. are way more often fated to remain together. Serena fitted this role very well but Ash was just to ambitious. He moved away to Alola to be the very best and he inspired Serena to go to Hoenn so she can measure up to him. Ambition is great birth control.

Team Up

While we promise to be their for our lovers in sickness and in health we only select them in health while in truth is we are oftenly only selected in health. Serena and Misty won’t ask Ash to stay with them because it would break the status quo.. they would take away his success. Misty could not ask that of him because she would ask him to give up what made him a potential lover for her. Serena could not ask that of him because she fell in love with that core and she knew that Ash would sacrifice his goals for her if she asked. On his turn Ash would never go for either of the girls because his step one has not been completed and he will not be happy without fulfilling that ambition, become the everlasting traveler making him unreachable to both shippable girls.

This brings me back to Ashley.. my one that got away (who is not actually named Ashley by the way) who moved away because there was a better career waiting for her seeming totally convinced when she told me that a proper career comes first. Not long after my best friend moved away because he had to put a career ahead of his friendships. I mean we still are friends but I am the type that would rather settle for a bit of a lesser job and live closer to my friends.. rather than a high paid job but barely any time to see or go to my friends. Misty was looking for a lover to start a future with because of ambition that future could never really start not even during their second journey together.. not even now that they hang out during their semi third. Serena for the biggest part was just glad she could spend time with Ash.. yet ambition made them go their separate ways. I am like Serena and I feel the world is wrong. We seek someone to be happy with in the future to build up to be that standard family you see in stock photos.

*(Stock Footage Family.. I do not know these people…. this scares me)*

Ambition is required for that in a way. I want someone to be happy with right now so that I can be me..not this boring bourgeois version of me that does well in the eyes of society. I don’t want a white picket fence! I’d risk being a means to an end. I do not need.. and you do not need someone that wants you for their picture perfect. We should stop wanting a lover for the future and start wanting a lover for the now. That might sound wrong but if I am happy with my lover now and live in the moment, that happiness is always pure. It’s not because I want to have children someday (I don’t ) it’s not because I want a bigger house (I do want that) it’s because of that moment! Each moment that follows is just as pure as I do it as me.. not ‘a good citizen. Ash and companions highlight this for me. There is so much potential happiness going to waste because they imagine more of the future.. and because of that pesky ambition. He keeps his eye on the future and is blinded for the now, like many of us when it comes to lovers. People get cast aside for reasons like ‘My parents would not like them’ ‘I do not need the extra baggage’ or those who stop talking to you when they find out your sick.. no matter how perfect you are in terms of compatibility doesn’t matter if you delay their dream.. the dream is often more important than the one to fulfill the dream with. Ash dream was to become a pokémon master and those he travels with too complete it are secondary. Ash journey has been long and so much potential happiness got wasted, while in actuality all he needed to say to Misty or Serena are the words I someday hope to hear from a girl.
“I Choose You’

This concludes my first OWLS post. It might seem like I am bitter, but I am not really. I just question the concept people have of lovers. I am perfectly happy without one as well. Because I do not strive for that perfect little future don’t have the ambition. For all I know I might drop dead before I ever get there so I try to strive for something much more controllable. Happiness in the now and happiness as my truest self. Only by doing that one day I might be a good lover myself.

For more ,probably less cynical talk, about lovers why don’t you try Shay’s thought it’s up since the 14th! All you have to do for some of their content is clicking right here! From the 16th on Auri will have something special for you on this link. If you are like me, super impatient, here you can visit them at their home page right here for a quick follow or reading what they are all about.

Now if you haven’t clicked of here yet do leave a comment. Applications for lovers may or may not be taken seriously depending on how much wine I had by the time I am reading your comment.

Question to my Readers

Which Ash & Companion do you ship?

The Pinkest Poké Blogger is blasting off again.
XO
Pinkie

What if Ash was a girl (Part 2)

Hey little monsters, today we return to one of my personal favorites stories to tell. What if Ash was a girl. Regular Ash was a stereotypical boy so for this story we use a persona Ash has used several times throughout the anime ‘Ashley Ketchum’ but rather than being Ash in a dress, like any 90’s anime did at the time, she is a typical girly girl. In the last part we saw that being a girl made her much closer to her mother than Ash was and listened to Delia’s advice going to bed early. As a result Ashley unlike Ash did not oversleep and get her first pick! A Bulbasaur she nicknamed Flora. Quite infatuated by the young Gary Oak, Ashley determined to be a strong trainer who could beat Gary in a battle so he would fall in love with her. Yet Gary upon seeing Ashley’s pick decided to go Charmander.. putting her at a disadvantage. After failing to catch a Pidgey because her throwing skills suck the young girl gave it some thought and decided to catch a water pokémon first. This let to her staring at a young tomboyish girl that was fishing. If you want to catch up on part 1 you can do so here.

Chapter 5: The Tomboy and the Girly Girl.

Misty stared at her line in bliss, not noticing the girl standing behind her. As she felt the wind on her skin and rustling through the grass she was grateful for this serene moment. That moment would be fleeting though as suddenly her line went tense as she had a bite. With a brisk pull she fished out a Goldeen out of the water. This pokémon looked somewhat similar to a horned goldfish. Most of its body was in a silverish white though.. but goldfish like patterns coloured it up top and it’s fanning tail. She grabbed a pokéball and before the fish pokémon could flop more she hit it dead on with the pokeball causing the pokémon to be turned into energy and being sucked up in the catching device. As the Pokéball fell into the grass Ashley back in the bushes could not contain her excitement anymore. ‘That was amazing can you teach me how to do that?’ As our heroine tried to make her way through the bushes her dress snagged on a branch causing her to trip into a bike that was standing on top of the hill causing it to fall down. ‘Hey that’s my bike!’ Misty shouted when her pokéball opened at the second wobble. Being to distracted by the incident Misty was unable to prevent the little goldeen from bouncing in the water. ‘Well thanks for nothing.. you made me lose my second goldeen of the day’ Misty shouted towards angrily towards Ashley. Ashley not used of negativity sobbed a bit at how her plan failed and how awkward she must have looked. ‘I … I am … so.. sorry… I … did not know… it went into the pokéball right? So why did it not stay in there?. Misty scoffed ‘Well if you don’t even know that you best better go home and study instead of destroying my bike’ Misty walked up to inspect her expensive means of transportation. Fortunately nothing to bad had happened to it.. the headlamp was a bit off position. Ashley had trouble fending of the mean comments and some tears brimmed in her eyes she had to spend all her focus on to ward off, Misty noticed. ‘Hey.. I didn’t mean to make you cry.. did you hurt yourself? Why were you there in the bushes?’ The ginger fisherman’s newfound compasion soothed the new trainer a bit as she began to explain her story. “I am Ashley Ketchum, from Pallet Town.. I started my trainer journey today… and I picked Flora my bulbasaur, but than the boy I like picked a fire type..and I really want him to notice me so I was looking for a water pokémon when I saw you..but I really suck at throwing pokéballs..so I thought maybe I should keep watching to see if I learn anything. Misty chuckled the girl that was so awkward and lost looking, she could not help to feel some compassion for the kid. ‘Sit with me kid.. .. Ashley right? I’ll try to teach you a thing of two then you can try for yourself.’ Ashley nodded and followed Misty down the slope. Misty looked at her and began. ‘Lesson one! All boys are dumb. They always think we like them anyway.. but dont show it that much.. when you see the boy again tell him he is stupid.. and it’s not like you like him or anything’

Chapter 6: Ashley catches a Pokémon.

The girls spend a long while talking about boys and water pokémon. Misty told Ashley that she and her sister ran the cerulean city gym but that she preferred to be a bit more free. She came here in the hope of catching a Magikarp as she really wanted a Gyarados to show her sisters that she in fact was the best trainer in the family. Ashley nodded and told Misty that if she would catch a Magikarp she would let Misty capture it. In the distance a bit of a thunderstorm rumbled. ‘Seems like there is bad weather around Viridian City’ Misty said, I know we are close but perhaps it is better if we camp here tonight?’ Ashley blushed a bit, she never really had friends before, her mom told her stories from before the war but in Pallet Town there only were boys of her age and they all thought she had cooties. ‘W-W-We?’ Ashley asked stammering. Misty frowned. ‘You do have a tent right? It will be like a sleep over.’ She looked and saw as the pink dressed girl’s face twisted looking completely puzzled. ‘What’s a sleep over’ Ashley asked. The Cerulean city Gym leader let out a tiny gasp and asked ‘Ashley don’t you have any friends?’. The girl from pallet town panicked, this would make her look bad , her brain wasnt working when she blurted out ‘Well mom is my best friend’ clearly this was the wrong answer as Misty began to laugh hysterically. Ashley puffed up her cheeks and stomped the floor at the girls rudeness when suddenly the water surface cracked and a tadpole with feet and a spiral pattern hopped out of the water. Looking startled at the loud sounds all of the sudden. ‘Ashley wait look it’s a pokémon’ Misty shouted loudly once more scaring the little poliwag into hiding behind Ashley. “What do I do, What do I do?’ the pink dressed trainer asked panicking. ‘You capture it’ shouted her new friend. Grabbing for her pokéballs frantically our heroine felt how a ball slipped from her hand and plummeted straight down.. bonking the poliwag on the head. With a red light the poliwag was morphed into energy that would soon be contained into the ball. The ball wobbled three times while a red LED light changed green with a melodical ping. ‘What happened?’ Ashley asked. ‘Where did it go?’ Misty walked closer while ruffling the frantic girl’s hair a bit she picked up the pokéball and handed it to her. You just caught your first pokémon Ash.

Chapter 7: You’ve got a friend in me.

‘I can’t believe I captured my first pokémon by accident’ Ashley moped a bit as she stared at her pokéball embarrassed. ‘Yeah you are pretty green kid’ Misty laughed. Say how about we travel together for a bit? You can use the help and I can use the company’ She gave the sad looking girl a pad on the shoulder. ‘You’ll become a great trainer I am sure, after all you are my student and I am a gym leader .. and we are friends now.’ Ashley felt a bit better after those words and nodded. ‘Poliwag I choose you’ Ashley sad as she threw her pokeball randomly. The adorable tadpole Pokémon appeared again ushering it’s name’ poliwag poli’ Ashley picked it up and examined it closely. ‘Polly huh.. is that your name girl?’ ‘Poli’ said the water type in reply. ‘Okay I will nickname you Polly then… Polly meet Misty my first human friend and also meet Flora.. your sister and teammate’ She called her Bulbasaur out as well and the two pokémon seemed to happily converse. ‘See how happy they both look’ said Misty’ that must mean you are a great trainer greeny! You just don’t know it yet yourself’ She looked at the girl who stared at her new pokémon gleefully and asked’ You don’t know how to set up a tent I presume? So how about I set up the camp and you cook some food?’ ‘Oh that’s a great idea Misty’ Ashley said ‘Mamma thought me how to cook from when I was like six.. she told me she made Pappa fall in love with her through her cooking.’ She smiled as she got a small cooking kit from her backpack as well as some supplies. The orange headed girl unstrapped Ashley’s tent from her bag first and began to set it up with ease. ‘Tomorrow I shall teach you how to set this up okay, are you close with your father by the way?’ The awkward silence that followed cued Misty in on what the answer was gonna be in advance. ‘Dad left to fight in the war one day, he never returned it’s been me and Mamma since almost as long as I can remember. I remember he showed me a rapidash.. but that is my only memory of him’ Ashley said. She wanted to tell more but suddenly two strong arms grabbed her and hugged her tightly as Misty had her locked in a strong embrace. ‘My parents also left me and my sisters, after the war though, not even that long ago.. but I could never go out because we had the gym to take care off.. we hoped they would come back but…..’ Her words were cut off by grief and sadness. As dusk began to set in the two shared a meal and some deep conversation about their parents their duties and such. Ashley told how she tried to befriend the boys in town by baking them cupcakes, but when she gave them they threw them at her saying they did not want cooties. Misty shared stories on how her sisters felt superior to her just because they were older and how she had not been happy for a long time. After Ashley told a few more stories of her lonely childhood Misty began to realise something. She had friends once, but when she became gym leader those had all faded because of her duties. She might have been Ashley’s only friend but the reverse was quite true as well, this rookie trainer now was her only friend as well. She would need a friend for the horrible part of her journey that was to come anyway but she decided not to tell her new best friend about this yet, she was the cool one of the two for now. After a long night of sharing the two retreated to their own tent falling asleep with a content smile.

Chapter 8: Viridian City

The next day the pair would travel towards Viridian City. Misty told Ashley they would need to go shopping because Ashley’s pink dress was not ideal adventuring gear. They would need something they could climb in and something that would not snag at every tree while they are crossing a forest For some reason Misty did seem quite adamant on the option to avoid the forest. Even if traveling would take quite a few extra days. The trainer from Pallet Town however disagreed with that, she had hoped to rush towards Pewter city as fast as she could to beat Gary in a battle using Polly so he could fall in love with her. Polly and Flora were taken out of their Pokéball and walking alongside the pair as they passed a police station that was surrounded by people. ‘What’s happening here?’ Misty asked one of the random bystanders. He was a chubby man, wearing a purple t-shirt and some jean shorts that were to short for him, big curly hair and a heavy morning shadow made the water trainer think this man did not go out a lot. ‘You see! Last night officer Jenny apprehended two criminals who were attacking the pokémon center but they had like a talking Meowth or so is said.. so people want to see and they want some answer on the recent thefts as well. ‘Oh a police officer stopped criminals last night? That sounds exciting’ Ashley said slightly holding her sleeves in front of her nose to drown out the man’s potent body odor’ Yes you see, she arrived at the scene a bit late .. the team had already snatched quite a few pokéballs along but this made them slow, giving officer Jenny enough time to take down their Balloon with her Growlithe. They attacked with ignitable gas so there was risk of explosions throughout the battle that could have compromised the structural integrity of the pokémon center but Jenny was to smart. Eventually her Growlithe went down and Team Rocket tried to steal her motorcycle but she had the keys so they could not flee. Stuck in the sidecar the man and the meowth where apprehended. The woman tried to fight again but she could not get passed the amazing Chansey of Nurse Joy! So I came here today to ask both on a date. The main straightened his thick glasses. ‘But they are way out of your league’ Ashley blurted out. ‘Girls want boys who take a bit better care of themselves you know’ The man ogled her with disdain. Do you not know who I am? My name is X! That’s right X Posure! The greatest pokémon complot theorist blogger there is. If I can date either of these two girls I will get insight in the government and can find out if they have just planted Team Rocket to seem capable themselves. These two criminals seem grossly incompetent in my analysis after all, so why would team rocket send these two?. ‘That’s not the right reason to date a girl’ Ashley picked up. ‘You date a girl because you want to be with her and because she makes you feel special and in love.’ The man scoffed ‘Such naive.. could you possibly be a government spy trying to take me down?’ As Ashley wanted to begin to explain again Misty grabbed her by the ear and dragged her away. ‘Alright that’s enough of this insanity.. no need to keep up this stupid debate he is just there for Exposure…. the blog.

Let’s spend our time in a more worthwhile way! Shopping! The pair visited the mall and looked at some cute boys and even cuter outfits. Ashley got two new outfits. A sky blue tank top with matching socks and a red turbine skirt. She combined this with some white clog-like walking shoes with cute red straps matching her skirt. To accessorise she bought a white felt boater hat and a cute little yellow purse to carry everything at the ready.. so she did not have to rummage her backpack all the time. Her other outfit was a black tank top and some jean hotpants of Misty’s favorite brand. The tanktop would have a sky blue collar leading into a fist size blue dot on her sternum. Sneakers in matching colours would be great for walking through the city. She would accessories by wearing some cute white flannel wristbands with a ring on the top. Each city she would visit she would buy a charm and add it to one of these rings. She found a cute one that was shaped like a silver feather that was split at the top. It was called the silver wing. After they were done shopping Ashley immediately redressed in her city outfit. ‘How do I look she asked’ Misty nodded at her approvingly and gave her a thumbs up. ‘You look super cute in that outfit Ash… still a bit Green though.

Ashley’s story might began quite a bit slower paced than the original or my other stories but soon the pair will have to travel Viridian Forest and from there on out Ashley’s journey will truly begin. With no Ash to to blow team Rocket up and away.. Jenny was able to make the arrest as due to her function she would be much more focussed on apprehending the thieves than Ash ever would. Ashley unlike Ash.. never encountered Ho-Oh, but due her conversations with Misty being more open has gathered a lot of experience and information Ash would not acquire till much later. With very different motives and a very different persona Ashley will continue to go down a completely different journey with quite different encounters you never know what happens next. To find out you’ll just have to wait and read our next episode! Until then leave a comment and remember!

I am not weird. Just Very Pink!
Until we Read again!

XO
Pinkie

What if Ash Started With Eevee (Part 2)

Hiya my little monsters! Happy wednesday! Five weeks ago we started this blog, just like four weeks ago Ash started his journey through Kanto again. This time however he did not get a Pikachu, he got a very timid Eevee. We saw Ash struggle with his cowardly Pokémon as both fell in battle against some spearow. Revived by Ho-Oh’s sacred ash they caught the attention of three onlookers from the sky as Ash held a rainbow feather he found on his person. Accompanied by Misty they decided to head for a Pokémon Center to check out if Eevee is and Ash are alright, even though they don’t seem to have any injuries at all. You can brush up on part 1 by clicking here.

Chapter 6: A Run-In with the law

Ash and Misty are walking towards Viridian City when they hear an announcement through a city wide PA speaker. ‘Attention! A group of mysterious strangers have been spotted. They are allegedly pokémon thieves, everyone be on the look-out for strangers.’ The message ends when suddenly a dapper looking woman runs towards the group. ‘Hey you Halt’ The woman has shoulder length hair which fans out all across her shoulders, The hair is a rather unique turquoise like colour. Wearing a short skirt police outfit that is mostly indigo coloured with a large cyan triangle shape following her chest line. Donned with Red and golden details the outfit is quite official looking as she looks at Ash and Misty sternly.
“You two what is your business here in the city’ the woman says. Misty takes the lead being a bit more familiar in the environment. ‘My name is Misty Waterflower from Cerulean City and this is Ash Ketchum from Pallet Town, Eevee and Ash got attacked by a group of Spearow and we want to have them checked out at the Center.’ the policewoman frowns. ‘Eevee doesn’t look injured at all nor does that boy..though his clothes are tattered.. please follow me inside the police station for interrogation.. my name is officer Jenny’ Jenny waves the couple to follow her inside a small round building.

While Ash and Misty take a seat Eevee hops onto Ash’s head. “Why isn’t Eevee inside it’s pokéball? You aren’t those pokémon thieves everyone is talking about would you?’ Ash looks startled and insulted. ‘No I would never steal a pokémon, and Eevee doesn’t want to be in his pokéball’he takes out the pokéball to demonstrate. Eevee flees at the sight of the pokéball, crawling under officer Jenny’s desk looking at her a bit defiantly for causing this traumatic situation. Jenny chuckles a bit at this warming up to the strangers a bit. ‘Well why are you covered in ash Ash? How are your clothes so damaged but you don’t have a single bruise?’
Ash looks to the floor ‘I don’t know… I felt so much pain… than everything went black.. I thought I was going to die but then I just woke up with this’ Ash shows the officer his rainbow feather who looks intrigued. ‘Well I need to see some ID and then you can be on your way for now!’. Jenny smiles , her years as an officer has shown her to judge characters properly and these two are definitely no criminals, but very weird. ‘I don’t have any ID” Ash says embarrassed. Jenny frowns once more ‘Well.. that’s gonna give some trouble’ From above… they can suddenly hear some laughter as two Pokéballs fall through the little skylight in the police building. A dandy male voice speaks ‘and make it double’ just as the pokéballs burst open.

Chapter 7: Koffing up!

From one of the pokeball a small purple rattlesnake , with yellow rattles on its tail and equally yellow eyes. Justb below it’s head it’s purple scales transition into a collar shaped yellow scale, before returning to purple through the rest of the body emerges. Dashing forward it destroys Jenny’s computer and sends her back onto a wall. A female icy voice from above seems to command it. “Ekans Attack’

From the second pokéball a spherical pokémon appears. Covered with geyser like protrusions that release a mustard coloured gas it’s body is about as purple as the snakes. A big dopey grin rests on it’s large eyes are fixated on Ash. A skull and crossbone on it’s lower body reveal that the mustard coloured gas is most likely poisonous A dandy voice from above confirms this when he shouts “Koffing use Poison Gas’. The orb begins to fill the room with a noxious gas.

‘Everyone outside’ Jenny shouts while finding the way to the exit herself. As they make their way outside coughing and dazed from the gas they are cut off by two figures sliding down a rope from their balloon. Alongide a cat Pokémon. They begin to do some sort of rhyme.

To protect the world from devastation

To unite the people within our nation

To Denounce the evils of truth and love.

To extend our reach to the stars above

Jessie!

James

Team Rocket blasts off at the speed of light!

Surrender now or begin to fight

Meowth! That’s right!

‘So you are the Pokémon Thieves’ Jenny says. “Meowth That’s Right’ is her answer. The man who introduced himself as James looks at Ash and Eevee. ‘We have come for that boys Eevee and that mysterious item that made them rise from the dead’ ‘We died?” Ash asks. ‘Meowth! That’s Right’ would once more be the answer. ‘Well I am not handing you my Eevee’ Ash says while stepping in front of his pokémon. The crimson haired woman laughs and says ‘We do not expect you to give it to use twerp so we will just take it instead’ Her white short top features the letter R quite prominently as she waves her black gloved hand towards the boy and commands her Ekans to attack him. Jenny wanting to intervene is cut off by another cloud of poison gas. The man commanding the koffing wears a white overall with the same letter R. His hair is shoulder length and the most glossy and soft you have ever seen. It’s tinted in a purplish blue. As Ash flinches in front of Eevee the little pokémon runs between it’s owners legs and tackles the Ekans keeping it away from Ash. James immediately sends Koffing in with another cloud of poisonous smoke enveloping the pair. Ash and Eevee begins coughing as their sight is blurring. They would have to finish this fight fast!

Chapter 8: Phone Home

With Ash and Eevee struggling for breath they were saved by the young tomboyish companion that had escorted them into town ‘Staryu..blow that smoke away using your rapid spin’’ Misty skilfully commanded her brownish sea star pokémon donned with a red gem in the middle. set in a golden ornate circle. The Starfish began to rapidly spin around creating a big gust of wind that send back the noxious clouds to the two criminals and their pokémon. Jenny who was quick on her feet used this moment call for her growlithe. An adorable yet intimidating fire tiger dog. ‘Growlithe ignite that gas with your ember’ The orange pup obeyed and fired a little bolt of fire towards Koffing smoke which ignited and caused a large explosion blasting the criminals away from them.. as well as making them hit the wall of the police station. When the smoke cleared, the criminals were gone.. shouting from their balloon in the sky. ‘We will get that revived Eevee and that item the next time.. just you wait’ Then their ballon ruptured making Team Rocket fly away.

‘Is everyone okay’ Jenny asked while checking around. ‘Yes we are unharmed’ Ash said with Eevee sitting on his head again. ‘Staryu and I are fine as well’ Misty added. Jenny looking at the boy and his eevee scratched her head. ‘What did they mean when they said you had risen from the dead’ Jenny asks Ash. ‘I do not know Officer Jenny I just woke up covered in ash and with this feather in my hair’ the ten year old boy showed the rainbow feather again. A silence descended across the group with this mystery. Had Ash and Eevee indeed died Ash knew those criminals were speaking the truth somehow, he remembered his life slipping away when those spearows attacked but he was too scared to admit it. Maybe he was a zombie?
Maybe he was a vampire?

A bonk on the head brought him back to the real world. Ash I asked , could you not call the professor that send you on your journey for advise’ Misty said while twisting her knuckles on his cranium. “Ooouucch, y–y-eah I can ask.. please stop that’ Ash said while making the call using a payphone Jenny guided him too. The phones here having pictures displayed the greyed pokémon professor. “Ah Ash I was just about to call you… or try to see if you have arrived in the Pokémon center with all the other trainers having arrived hours ago I began to worry’ Ash, kinda upset he was last, frowned. ‘You were really worried about me?’ he asked. Samuel Oak nodded. ‘I bet my grandson 1 million poké that you would arrive before the end of the day with at least one pokémon’. Gary said you’d probably arrive dead and without any pokémon caught. Ash stomach twisted. ‘Well professor I got something to tell you’. Oak took the following conversation really well for someone who just lost a million especially when Ash showed him the feather.

Chapter 9: Sacred Secrets
‘Magnificent, A pokémon with the power to revive the dead? First hand experience? You must allow me to examine you two. I shall not ask you to come back.. don’t be afraid… why don’t we meet at the Pewter city museum, they have a lot of scientific tools I could use and we might shed some light on what pokémon this could be with their historians as well .. . oh and Ash.. do not tell Delia you died, she would try to make you come home, but you my boy have discovered something truly amazing, I mean you are the first trainer ever to die on route one… but to return from the dead is something truly spectacular’ Professor Oak sounded giddy and excited, not even noticing he hurt Ash’s feelings by mentioning how he died on route 1. However Ash sat through this , he wanted to know what happened himself. Even with all the events of the day he felt energetic and eager to set out. ‘Oh Ash I will send you some money for a new outfit.. don’t clean this one of any further I want samples from that strange dust, replace your clothes.. the girl can help you please let Officer Jenny seal your old clothes in an evidence bag.’ After a bit of smalltalk the phone call concluded with Misty seeming very eager to go shop. ‘Come on Ash it will be fun! It’s kinda like a date when you think about it?!’ Ash blushed a bit for ‘I- I don’t date girls I am going to be a Pokémon Master’ he retorted much to Misty’s bemusement.

‘I was only kidding but come one it will be fun and your old clothes are ruined anyway so we might as well!’ Ash looked at his clothes who were more rags than anything else right now and nodded. He could not face his mother’s phone call like this so he would have to shop anyway. Misty, Ash and Eevee thanked Jenny and left while Jenny sealed the old outfit away. Ash still had some spare pants and shirts but his cap and jacket were gone. As the three explored the mall in Viridian City Misty spotted a new outfit for ash. A crimson/red jacket with a matching cap with a white arch on the top of the headwear. Using the money that was left they also bought him a slightly larger backpack.. yellow instead of the green one. ‘This is a much more slimming look’ Misty smiled at Ash and took a selfie with her new project in the background.

‘Say how about I help you and your Pokémon get through the forest and to pewter city? ‘ she asked with a slight blush when the evening was nearing its end. ‘I have to go that way myself anyway and with those horrible criminals after you and your poor pokémon skills you could use someone who is actually capable. ‘ Misty said this half jokingly half seriously concerned about Ssh his Pokémon and boy himself as well. He had a good heart but was wildly incompetent. Ash objected against being called weak. ‘I know you are not weak Ash but you know very little of Pokémon and with two criminals after you.. including three Pokémon, you’d always be outnumbered. You may be a very important person now and I can not allow you to fall into the hands of those criminals’ Misty said. “Now how about we get some ice cream and head to the pokémon center to rest for the night?’ Misty proposed. ‘We can sleep in Pokémon Centers?’ Ash asked. See this is why you need me… treat me to an icecream and I will be your mentor on this journey’ the orange headed girl spoke with a lot of pride in her voice. Ash considered his options for a moment before agreeing. Ordering three cups of ice, handing Misty one, as well as one for Eevee and himself. Quite hungry they all dug in to the sweet delight. Misty made a whiney sound as she grabbed her head. ‘Uuurgh Brainfreeze. As he looked to his new companion grab her head in pain, seeing Eevee devour it’s ice cream and seeing his own half eaten cup he realised something was off. Even though he was eating faster than Misty he did not feel any effect at all. Neither did Eevee.

And with their day coming to a close we will leave this story once. Next week our heroes will travel through Viridian Forest where Ash will begin his real training as a Pokémon trainer. What did the revival do to Ash though.. what is happening to him? Eevee clearly being weaker than Pikachu is already coming into play, with Misty taking a much more capable role revealing her talents early, how will Ash grow? Find out in the next installments!. if you have a suggestion for a what if let me know in the comments. What do you think will happen in Viridian Forest? Leave a like or a comment and remember!
I am not weird! Just very pink!
Until we read again.

X
Pinkie.

What if: Jessie and James turned good (Part 1)

It is time for another What if story, the final storyline we open before we begin to further the other stories. As we are writing complete fiction, the other Pinkie persona’s have allowed me to be myself today as I tell you this story. For this one I was inspired by the Rewatching Pokémon Blog. Check it out after reading my story. Recently this site reviewed an episode named A Poached Ego, I knew this episode would be a good springboard for my next story: What if Jessie and James turned good.

Things you need to to know first

Before we roll this story out, here is a little need to know to follow this story. It is set in the Hoenn region, the third region Ash and our soon to be heroes visit. Team Rocket, followed Ash still planning to steal his Pikachu see the regular heroes check into a Pokémon Center on their way to Rustboro city. While planning an attack on Ash, their talking Meowth falls down a ledge where they encounter a smuggler capturing a bunch of Koffing and Ekans.
Their signature Pokémon that since have evolved. Feeling pity for these they decide to free them. This ends with them ending up in a no win situation forcing them to release Arbok and Weezing to take care of the wild versions while they distract the enemy. Though their plan succeeds, they are too injured to deal with the poacher, allowing Ash to randomly encounter the poacher with officer Jenny. This negated the heroism of Jessie and James a bit, ending up with them losing their long trusted friends and meeting a cute cacnea. However this time around we will allow them to play into their strengths more. Having some realisations and taking a more level headed approach, sending them over the edge into a full redemption arc.

Chapter 1: Facing your Fearows!

Meowth realised he had taken a wrong step as he began sliding down that hill, little did he know that this plunge would lead him and his friends to rising higher than ever before. Being a cat pokémon he had no trouble keeping his footing and gently slid down the slope. Having arrived at the bottom he noticed something strange was going on. The forest in front of him looked odd.. and shallow. He quickly noticed it was a camouflage screen, with hissing sounds coming from the inside. He looked around , but there was no one to be seen. Quickly he yanked the cloth down revealing a cage filled with seriously injured Ekans. ‘What are youz guys doin in theah?’ he asked staring at those pre-evolutions of his friends. Ever since he learned to speak Meowth had a thick accent, spoken in this large metropole city in a land far away. He grew up learning speech from Gangster movies that were being shot in that town he lived in. The Ekans however seemed to understand him perfectly as they told him they were captured by a bad guy. ‘Let me get youz outta that cage’ the cat set trying to pick the lock with his nails, only to get a major jolt of electricity. ‘Jessie, James I need some help here’ Meowth shouted upwards prompting the two Rocket members to slide down in unison. The man with his shiny blue hair that was perfectly parted down the middle looked at it somewhat shocked ‘Oh my , it’s ekans, a lot of them’ he said while flipping away the single lock of hair that escaped the perfectly parting of his hair. As he flipped it his shoulder length hair danced along, giving him quite the elegant look. ‘We have to save them’ Jessie said in reply. Her eyes were a deep blue sometimes mistaken for a darker colour while her hair flowing in the most impossible wave was a saturated magenta. Their outfits were the traditional team rocket clothes, but white rather than black.

‘You aren’t saving anyway’ a man stepped from the shadows, prompting Jessie and James to call forth their Arbok and Weezing. ‘Weezing immediatly noticed another cage behind the man filled with trapped Koffing, which then seemed to anger James and Jessie as well. Ah even better, I’ve been paid to capture as much poison pokémon as I can… and I get paid extra for evolutions, so if you hand over those Pokémon, nothing bad will happen’ The man had moss green hair, parted like James but in length only enough to reach his eyebrows. Wearing a red polo shirt with a high colour, as well as some standard khaki pants and some gloves, he seemed intimidating by his well build posture…as well as his weapon. ‘No way in hell we are going up our Pokémon, Arbok attack him with poison sting’ jessie said rushing into combat. ‘Her purple cobra following orders. Weezing use smokescreen’ James ordered while joining the battle. A deep sea mine shaped pokemon with a lilac tint with a smaller orb fused to it, began to spew smoke The poacher only smiled tossing a Pokéball as strong gusts of wind would blow away the smoke and the needles. ‘Fearow take care of these fools, Rico does not deal with weaklings’ As the bird pokémon engaged combat, Rico lifted an eyebrow at the level of resistance these people put up. They took a beating from Fearow, but they managed to hold their ground with them even getting some hits in. ‘Pupitar finish this fight’ Rico tossed in his new pokémon knowing it was all over.
Try as they might Jessie, James and their pokémon were being beaten mercilessly, they knew their defeat was imminent when suddenly a spray of green needles hit the Pupitar, as it fell to the ground it created a heavy plume of dust. Jessie and James used this momentum to retreat and regroup fleeing into the woods. Allowing Rico to move on for now.

Chapter 2: To protect the world from devastation.

Out of breath the group arrived at a clearing. James punched the ground in frustration. ‘Darn it he is going to get away’. Meowth patted him on the back, as James now was on both hands and feet saying ‘Hey don’t ya worriez we still got tha chance to take ‘im out ya know, we can use Arbok to listen for vibrations underground..and ya know we have some gear as well.’ Where in another timeline these three would have rested up to rush back in, these words inspired them to think things through. It was true they weren’t the best of battlers and that guy had a very strong team, much like the twerps. They had to approach this with some cunning. However before they could form a plan, a little green cactus monster appeared from the bushes. It walked up to them and smiled “cacnea’! it said. James fascinated by the creature seemed to put the connection between it and those green spikes together. ‘You are the one that saved us aren’t you?’The cacnea nodded and gave James a smile. ‘Thank you, I know it’s not much but here is your reward’ the man took a bag of cookies from satchel and handed it over to Cacnea who looked at it confused lingering around the group. ‘We need a plan to take down tha Rico goi! Meowth tried to urge the group but something was wrong. Both Jessie and James were staring a bit vacantly. ‘James, I felt horrible when that man was going to steal Arbok and I can’t stop thinking about those poor Ekans..could it be we were…’ Jessie said while drawing some circles in the sand. ‘Wrong?….I know Jess .. I feel the same’ James took a deep breath and then continued. ‘I joined Team Rocket because I needed the money after running away…besides you guys.. i never got along with any of them, i thought stealing that Pikachu would make me great at something.. but that fear just now to lose Weezing.’James went silent while Canea held the cookie bag up to him. ‘No those are for you.. you eat them’ the blue haired man sadly smiled to the cactus opening the bag for it and handing him a cookie. As Cacnea ate the cookie it seemed to thoroughly enjoy it inspiring it to hug James. It’s needles digging deep in James flesh he ushered a cry of pain. Jessie chuckled at this a bit ‘ If my father hadn’t been a high ranking member of the team… they would have never me given the chance they gave me now,but I only joined them after I flunked Pokémon medical school, I guess deep down I never really wanted to hurt Pokémon, look at that guy James.. it clearly loves you .. is it really okay to take something away that another loves,’ Their spirits broken after their defeat allowed them to ponder their situation. ‘Whateva you guys decide.. I’m with ya..’ Meowth said. As James freed himself he said ‘I want to protect our world from devastation’ Jessie looked at her dear friend who still was holding the Canea endearingly even if it hurt him so much just a minute ago. Jessie stood up… her Rocket shirt flying off in a swoosh, landing in the dirt, somehow wearing a shirt underneath. ‘That’s it… from this day on, we will return to our original goals to protect pokémon.. form now on we will be heroes!’ James looked at the motivated Jessie and followed suit in discarding his shirt, though he would end up bare chested. ‘Jessie how can we be heroes though…we are still wanted criminals.’ Jessie grinned. ‘We are masters of disguises James, we will just take on some superhero identities and make costumes! Then we go stop and take down that Rico guy!. We aren’t Team Rocket anymore… we are Celestial Force! Canea stared blankly.

Chapter 3: Who are they?

Meanwhile officer Jenny was taking Ash, May, Brock and Max through the forest. to a place they found traces of poacher gear earlier. Their patrolling had slowed down Rico, he was trapped there. Little did they know he had a surprise for them, he had been waiting the return of those two weaklings who just hurt his Fearow and Pupitar and set some traps. In true Pokémon tradition the heroes of old fell in this trap only officer Jenny dodging out of the way. As she summoned Growlithe, Rico called out Pupitar who evolved into a Tyranitar a large godzilla-like creature with the power to hurl boulders and fire energy beams.. The latter easily overpowering the little fire dog of the police woman. Quickly after that she was shot in the shoulder by Rico, who now approached menacingly with his gun. ‘Consider yourself lucky.. you can decide how you die… tyranitars hyper beam or a bullet between the eyes but decide quick I got some pokemon to deliver’. Rico grinned, his victory was complete and he would make a huge amount of money from this and now even the cop looking for him would meet her end. Right as he wanted to finish her off, something cast a huge shadow over them. As Rico looked up he saw a large balloon painted silver and gold…sloppily, it featured a moon and a sun that seemed to be drawn on a sort of cat shaped balloon. As it approached some smoke bombs were tossed down, creating a silver and golden smoke, as he coughed.. he saw two shadowy figures appear in the smoke! They began to speak in a dramatic presenting way as if stating a motto.

Prepare for Heroes

That’ll reduce villains to zeroes

To protect our world from all it’s wrongs!

To make sure every pokemon stays where it belongs!

To denouce the evils of lies and deceit

To leave all bad-guys in utter defeat.

Luna!

Sol!

Celestial Force fights Evil day and night!

Surrender now or face our might!

We’re the heavenly light!

As the smoke cleared their flamboyant costumes were revealed. A boy man with some flair with purple blue hair dressed in a golden costume, with a mask resembling the sun. A woman with long impossible waving hair…in a rich magenta.. a silver blue outfit with the the mask resembling a moon, and a mysterious pokémon donned in cape and a mask tinted like sunset or sunrise. Though Ash had to admit that Motto sounded a bit familiar to him, he could not, nor could any of his fellow trapped companions, figure out who they were. The help was welcome regardless. Ash had rarely met superheroes before, they were kinda cool.

Chapter 4: Goodbye , dear friend!

Rico just smirked! ‘You have no chance against my tyranitar..Tyranitar use Hyper Beam’‘Wobbuffet use Mirror Coat’ Jessie said with determination. However Wobbuffet would not be able to get up his counter in time, due to the sheer difference in strength of the two combatants. ‘Hahaha you are weak’ Rico laughed but cut it out as soon as he noticed the woman in the moon costume laughing. ‘And your Pokémon is recharging which means it’s time for our new weapon’ *As she said this she pressed a button and their balloon launched a net covering the Tyranitar. The sun-masked man then ordered Cacnea to mega-drain the trapped creature, keeping it up while it struggled until it went down. ‘Good Job Cacneaaaaaaaaaaaargh the pain’ James his new cactus pokemon hugged him at the compliment. Rico angered by the defeat of his strongest pokémon reached for his pokéball to call out fearow but was struck by poison needles of Jessie’s Arbok causing his hand to swell up unable to let go of the Pokéball. Meowth ran up to the man to fury swipe him in his face. Pushing the man backwards until he fell onto one of his electrified cages and knocking him Rico out. James would alter his voice a bit when moving to the poacher trap the kids fell in, talking to them as Sol ‘How did you twer..I mean kids get involved in this, that is a mighty nice looking Pikachu you got there…better keep it safe’ He would remove the net from them and help Jenny up as well. ‘We shall take care of the Koffing and Ekans… officer if you could apprehend the criminal and take him to jail. Jenny would look at them. “Well I would but there is questions I need to ask you first’ James shook his head and said. ‘No can do officer, for justice calls! There is work to be done!.. Weezing use smokescreen!’ Using the smokescreen “Sol and Luna” retreated to the forest followed by the Koffing and Ekans. Ash asked Jenny ‘should we go after them’ She shook her head and smiled, these strangers saved their lives, they at least deserved their privacy for now, moving over to Rico to cuff him.

Back in the forest, Jesse and James took Weezing and Arbok from their Pokéballs, their eyes brimming with tears. ‘Arbok’ ‘Weezing’ ‘We need you to take care of these Pokémon from now on, they need someone strong to look after them’ Arbok and Weezing began to cry shaking their heads that they did not want to go. James gently held Weezing leaning his head onto his trusted pal. ‘I know that this is not easy and I do not want you to go, but we are heroes now.. you are as well, and sometimes we have to make sacrifices for the greater good, these Pokémon need you.. this poacher was hired that means he might hire another, until we find that man we must say goodbye. I need you to be brave’ Meanwhile Jessie embraced her Arbok one final time tears running down her eyes. ‘ We will do everything we can to find whose responsible and if we find that man, we’ll promise to be back okay? We can’t promise you that we will find him but we will try’ Meowth pretends not to cry by keeping his mask up. ‘You have been the best pal’s pokemon like me could wish for, but these guys need pals as well you knowz?’ Arbok and Weezing looked at each other, all crying as well before they would simply nod. Gently both trainers now on their path of redemption released their partners. Weezing and Arbok calling out for the wild Pokémon to follow them. James went up to Jessie who was shaking as Arbok vanished out of sight and gave her a hug. ‘It will be alright Jess.. we’re on the right path now…. if the twerp has taught us anything… we will see them again’ Jessie buried her face in James chest and just cried.
He held her there closely, not moving an inch. Not even when Cacnea hugged him because he saw his new master crying.

That is how Jessie and James begin their journey towards heroism giving up their old lives, to pursue even older convictions. Will they ever see their partners again? Will they be able to adapt to a life without Team Rocket.. and how will the crime team respond to this desertion? Tell me what you think will happen next in the comments and remember: I am not weird, just really pink!
Until we Read again.

What if : Ash was a girl (Part 1)

Howdy little monsters! Today is another wednesday so it’s time to explore another what if. This week we’ll be starting yet another story, as well as next week. Then their follow ups will all appear once a month. This gives me more time to think all the angles trough properly and get a feel of what of these stories you like best. Today we will do a strange one! What if Ash was a girl, or what if Ash was Ashley.
Now I know in essence, not a whole lot may change from just a genderswitch.
However keep in mind that Ash was basically given the personality of a standard 10 year old boy. So it would make sense that Ashley would be a typical girl.. more like Ushio from Sailor Moon than like original Ash.

Gender Swapping the protagonist thusly would not lead to this:

This type of Ash would not influence the story THAT much.

But to this:

This Ashe is a screengrab from the anime which since has been adated to look more like Delia.

Chapter 1: Mother Daughter time
Ashley was a typical young girl, the daughter of Delia Ketchum could have almost been a straight copy of her mother were it not for one thing. Inside Ashley the adventuring spirit of her father burned deeply. This call of the wild had let her to sign up to become a trainer. Tommorow Ashley would get her first Pokémon. She had long since dreamed about it and already knew which pokémon she was gonna pick. Yet tonight she would spent her last night with her mother together. There was a large plate of cookies on the table, along with two glasses of milk. The milk had a bit of honey in it so Ashley could get in some early rest before the next day. They talked about what they were gonna miss about each others.
‘I will miss how well behaved daughter very much, and my best friend in this world’ Delia would say getting a bit misty eyed. ‘I’ve heard rumors that professor Oak’s grandchild, is quite the troublesome one to handle’ Delia would add, she always added gossip when she felt uncomfortable. Ashley seemed to tune out and stare in front of her for a bit ‘I’m sorry Gary did what?’ she would ask her mother. ‘Nevermind sweety, you.. you will call every day right?’ Delia began to worry as the hour began to further. Ashley took a cookie and looked at her mother seriously ‘Mamma I can’t promise you that , some days I might need to camp somewhere like you told me dad used to do, but I pinky promise whenever there is a phone near I will call you each evening before I go to bed.’ Ashley at her cookie after she sat that and took her mother’s hand. ‘You are the best mamma in the whole world, I don’t want you to be alone in here, so maybe you should date again’ Our heroine wanted her mother to be happy, she had noticed how Delia looked at couples and just knew she was lonely. She also knew Delia would never look with her around, so perhaps it helped her if Ashley went away on this journey, she wants her mother to be happy. Delia blushed ‘Oh dear, I am not sure if I am ready’. ‘Mom!’ Ashley puffed up her cheeks and stomped the floor once before continuing. ‘It’s been years, it’s okay to move on at least get like a pet Pokémon to keep you company’ The single mother saw the determination in the eyes of her daughters, one of the few traits she got from her father, she smiled at her daughter and hugged her. “Okay dear, I shall try for you, but it’s getting late off to bed with you’. Delia’s heart broke a bit when she knew this was the last time in a while she could send her dear daughter to bed. ‘Okay mom, I love you’ Ashley said as she went upstairs, tomorrow her journey would begin.

Chapter 2: Ashley is early
The next morning Ashley woke up by a knock on the door. ‘Dear are you awake, it’s time to get up’. Ashley jumped up, feeling energetic, she looked at her alarm clock, which was fine because she did not spend her last night watching tv, she had dreams about meeting a guy on her journey and her mom and her new boyfriend visiting the wedding. Mom you’re fifteen minutes early, Ashley moaned a bit. ‘I’m sorry dear I was just so worried you might be late, now get dressed I made you some breakfast.’
After an early morning shower Ashley slipped into her comfy pink dress, and put a pink ribbon in her hair. She wanted to look cute for all the trainers she would encounter, especially Gary Oak. She ate her breakfast with her mom and then walked to the lab together after they went over her bag one more time to ensure she had everything she could need’ Having arrived at the lab the gates were still closed. ‘Go ahead dear i’ll be waiting right here with everyone waiting to see you off’’ Delia caressed her daughters cheek, who kissed her mother on the moth before proceeding to push the button of the intercom. “Ah who is there’ Professor Oak’s voice would sound excited. ‘You are early and you know what they say, the early bird gets the worm’ Ashley shivered when hearing that, she really hated bugs. ‘This is Ashley Ketchum’ she replied to the intercom before being buzzed in. As Ashley walked up to the lab, she waved to her mother.
Inside she was greeted by an excited professor. ‘My my I like your enthusiasm, that means you have first pick, which of the starters did you had in mind.’ The girl however was mesmerised by the lab, there was this weird scent that smelled like cleanliness she really liked and these machine thingies looked very complicated. Samuel tapped her on the shoulders and repeated his question. Ashley blushed embarrassed by her zoning out again. “Oh sorry professor, I have thought about it a lot and I’ve decided to go with Bulbasaur’ Professor Oak smiled at her and said ‘a perfect choice for a rookie trainer, Bulbasaur is easy to raise and it has great defences. With a partner like that you’ll learn the arts of becoming a trainer in no time.’The young girl smiled at the compliment, even though she knew these things about bulbasaur already. The pokemon professor tabbed some buttons on a machine they were walking trough and point at the appropriate pokeball. ‘That is your pokemon Ashley, I caught it when I was exploring viridian forest, it was being attacked by some Beedrill.’ ‘I hate bugs’ the teen would immediately bounce back. However seeing that pokeball of her pokémon compelled her enough to get over her fear. She opened the ball and her bulbasaur appeared. ‘Will you give it a nickname’ Oak asked to the girl. ‘Flora, I will name it flora’ Ashley replied. Oak smiled seeing such a prepared little trainer, his grandson could learn from her. ‘Very well then, Flora meet your new trainer Ashley’ The bulbasaur sniffed it’s new trainers hand and spoke it’s name enthusiastically. “It’s nice to meet you to Flora’ Ashley said as she petted it’s head. ‘Will you come on a journey with me?’ Flora nodded ferociously, excited for it’s adventures.
Oak handed the rookie five new Pokéballs and a Pokédex.’Only five pokéballs? ‘Ashley asked confused, she thought she had to collect them all. ‘Ah yes a young trainer can only carry up to six pokémon so I have given you enough to fill your team. If you ever need more give me a call and I will send you new pokéballs but be aware, the seventh one will be transferred to my storage system. I can always swap them out for you.’ Ashley nodded in understanding and after running to a few more questions, she and Flora went outside.

Ashley hugging Flora, the pair gets along well from the start.

Chapter 3: The handsome Gary Oak
Outside three other trainers were waiting, one of them she recognised as Gary, her heart skipped a beat, as she approached him. ‘H-Hi G-Gary, look I just got my first Pokémon’ Gary looked down at Flora and scoffed “Jeez Ash, thank you for letting me know what starter to pick, I was gonna go for squirtle but now that I know YOU picked a Bulbasaur, I’ll just pick Charmander. I can’t lose to a girl..or a Ketchum’ Ashley just grinned sheepishly, staring into his blue eyes. Ever since they were kids, she had fantasies about marrying Gary. ‘I.. doubt… I could ever defeat someone as good as you G-Gary’ she ushered. ‘You’ve got that right Ash..but I can’t waste more time on you.. I’ll get my starter now.. smell you later’ Gary pushed the other two trainers aside and went in to visit his grandpa. One trainer cleary annoyed turned to the girl and said ‘Thanks a lot stupid, I wanted Charmander! Now I have to pick squirtle! At least I can beat Gary Oak now…but if Squirtle is weak it can go rot in a ditch somewhere’. “That’s mean, you are a bad trainer if you think like that’ Ashley said, getting angry. ‘Heh… says you. a bad trainer is one who sticks with weak Pokémon’ was the reply she got. The sound of a slap broke the morning silence as Ashley hit the guy in the face. ‘There are no weak pokémon , only weak trainers and scum like you’. Her victim turning red with anger, trying to punch her only to be grappled and floored by Bulbasaur.
‘Just wait until I get my pokémon Ash! You’ll die!’ Ashley stared into his eyes and said ‘I will never lose to a trainer like you’. The guy crawled up just to be knocked down again by a blue sleeved arm. ‘Whoops sorry Damian, didn’t see you there pal, guess I must be loser blind’ Gary stood there spinning a Pokéball on his fingers, as Ashley swooned about how cool he looked. The handsome boy turned to the girl and told her ‘Hey that’s pretty cool what you did! I can’t stand losers like him, you are alright Ketchum, now excuse me I got some fans to please’ Gary would walk off towards the gates and his cheerleaders. Ash puffed up her cheeks and stomped the floor at the sight of them. Gary was HER handsome encounter!

Chapter 4: Ash throws like a girl
Having arrived at the gate Flora was introduced to Delia and Ashley’s neighbours who came to support her. ‘Shouldn’t Pokémon be in their pokeball Delia asked” prompting Ash to indeed withdraw her Bulbasaur. It happily went back into its pokéball. Ashley had prepared a little speech. ‘On this day I promise to have a great adventure, catch a lot of cute pokémon and together we shall have a great adventure! I will make lots of friends and become the most lovable pokemon trainer and I will get like super rich! So me and mamma can live easily!’ The group chuckled, this girl was so endearing, sweet and and the same time somewhat superficial, she would amuse people everywhere she goes spouting her convictions and dreams. After Ash and Delia said their tearful goodbyes they hugged together intensely one more time. ‘I love you Mamma’ Ashley said before she finally wandered in off towards the dirt road out of town, her journey was about to truly begin. She put on a brave face but in truth she was terrified, what if she would rip her dress or encounter perverts.
A good while into her journey Ashley was looking around and she saw a pidgey. She opened her pokédex and looked at it’s entry, finding out it could create gusts of wind and be classified as a flying type, she knew it would be a bad idea to send Flora out.
Taking her partner out of the pokéball anyway, she told Flora to watch her stuff, which croaked as it obeyed. Sneaking up to the Pidgey she managed to land a pokéball on it after which it broke free. Flora used a vine to tab her pokédex which stated she would need to damage a pokémon before trying to capture it. Flora offered to do it for her, stepping up bravely, however Ashley being afraid of the type disadvantage told Flora to keep guarding their stuff, it was to dangerous. Flora begrudgingly obeyed. Flora picked up some rocks to throw at the pidgeys after all they were weak to rock type moves. Her first pebble missed scaring three birds away. Yet a silhouette, in the distance revealed she had another chance.
She carefully aimed and threw the rock, which landed quite a bit short of the bird. The spearow looked at the rock that landed a few steps from it , pecked at it once and flew off. ‘Shoot! I really need to learn how to throw better’ Ashley said. Maybe it’s for the best though! I only have five pokéballs, I don’t want them to like be locked up in a box all day long.’ Flora made a few sounds in agreement. ‘You know what Flora? I want Gary to like me, he seemed impressed when I was strong, so if I can defeat him in battle, he might fall in love with me! Water beats fire, and you beat water, so for our first Pokémon let’s search for a water type! Flora jumped around excitedly seeing Ashley’s spirit flare up. Together they began following a small river, walking past a cute little waterfall. Trying to find a way to spot the water pokémon out there. Initially their ventures proved unfruitful, the fish being deep below the surface. As they passed a hill with a bright red bicycle their luck began to change however, when they saw an orange headed girl fishing.

This is where the story ends for today. I really liked writing this one, the stronger bond between mother and daughter having a major impact on the story and the protagonist following some more stereotypical girly motivations on her road to success.
We see a much more careful and calculative Ash, who took after her mother more than her father. Using some girly tropes for Ashley, like the orginal used boyish tones for Ash, we have embarked on a journey with a completely different tone already. I hope you are as curious as me to find out what this story will bring in the future. Do you think Misty well help Ashley? What kind of “What If” would you like to see? Let me know in the comments, leave a like, and STAY PiNK!

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Top 5: Best Pokemon Trainers

Happy 30 July little monsters! No nothing really special about this day, though on this date Vanuatu got their independence so yay for them, but I just want to celebrate each day! Today it’s Tuesday so that means I am writing a brand new top 5 for you. Today we will discuss the the top 5 best Pokémon trainers in the world of Pokémon. Please note I am not necessarily referring to the strongest Pokémon Trainers. Tobias having access to legendaries would easily make that list, however strong Pokémon do not make you a good trainer none of your partners do. With this list we consider a trainer’s capabilities and impact on their pokemon not their team.

5. Ash Ketchum
In fairness , Ash is not a bad trainer, not anymore at least…well not truely anyway.
Sort…off…maybe. It really depends on perspective. He would have been higher on this list if it wasn’t for the soft reset he has gotten after Kalos to be honest. Of course he would never be number one, because Ash never wins. What makes Ash a good trainer though, in my opinion much stronger than Gary, any other rivals he had or even Tobias is ts the fact that he doesn’t rely on power alone. Time and time again, Ash has shown to be able to think outside the box. Ash is one of the few trainers, aside from maybe his companions at times that has shown he is able to think outside the box. He, not only his Pokémon influence their battle. His love for his team is always great, yet how he treats his team is ls also a reason why I’d consider him for bad trainers as well. His willingness to set pokemon free, is not necessarily a good thing. Maybe it’s even worse for those he just puts in Oaks garden. Poor Bulbasaur must be bored by now and miss it’s master. Yet Ash also managed to invent/obtain an (mega)evolution method of his own trough an intense bond with his Pokémon. Which he then abandons , but this doesn’t diminish the feat that Ash impact on his Pokémon literally allowed them to synchronize.. and become one to a certain point. Ash has shown an unwavering resolve to go ahead. No matter how many times he loses, he will not give up until he succeeds. He is loved by his Pokémon, and even developed a unique power.
He is however a horrible person, who does not honour his bonds, refuses to give up and in the process constantly gives up on his friends.

Ash has died 8 times! He lost more liives than Pokémon Leagues

4. Lillie
A bit of an odd choice, because Lillie is not a very accomplished trainer. She isn’t particularly smart, clever or even brave. Yet Lilie has one thing going for her that puts her above many of the trainers on this list. Her reasons to become a trainer. Lillie’s journey is one of self improvement , to overcome herself rather than to overcome the world. She doesn’t want to beat the Pokémon League she wants to conquer herself. This in my eyes is an excellent motivation to become a trainer, she fights for herself and not in a selfish way. Her Pokémon will never be disposable tools for her, to feel the excitement of a new journey again. Her catches become friends who help her become a better person. Her goals are way more achievable, which is both rewarding for her and her partners. Lillie’s progress stays. Let’s compare it with Ash’s for a moment where his dream is to become a Pokémon master. If Ash gets a badge, it’s a nice moment because it’s one step closer to his goal, but as soon as he loses the league, the achievement of the badge is invalidated as in the end it did not get Ash his goal. This invalidation he even uses on his Pokémon. Greninja was great to attempt the league with… oh I lost.. well let’s try again. Goodbye my friend.
Lillie is nearly the exact opposite of that. When Lillie finally is able to touch Vulpix, that achievement will never be invalidated. Vulpix’s help and love, will forever have contributed to Lillie’s s goals. She gives her partners a significance and reward that no other trainer can. She will not impact the world, but she impacts everyone around her and it’s nice to see a trainer who knows that is good enough.

Lillie is very precious! But each time we hang she keeps telling me to get in the bag for some reason.

3. Alain
A man who recognised Ash as his superior in every way, ended up taking a higher spot then him? Why? Well it’s mostly because of the character Arc Alain was given in both the mega-evolution specials and the main series. Alain’s journey was all about the Mega Stones. Starting out as the assistant of Professor Sycamore, he gathered a lot of knowledge about pokemon themselves as well as mega-evolutions. His defeat at the hand of Lysandre for the raw mega-stone changed him though and showed him he needed to be stronger. Which at the time was true as well. Lysandre having made false promises to use the power of mega-evolution for the good of mankind, also gave Alain a much nobler reason to become strong then Ash. Alain wanted to improve the world, a goal that pushed him to his limits. He removed his close friend Mairin from his life in order to get the goal he needed. Again much like Ash, but Alain was more upfront and honest about it. He told her she would hold him back, not as nice as Ash does it but more sincere and fitting of his goals. Alain throughout his journey had much more to lose, like how Lysandre would take back his Mega-Stone if he did not win ten fights in a row. He is a trainer that has been pushed more and pushes his pokémon more. Yet that is not necessarily bad. Allain is the trainer he needs to be when he needs to be, he can adapt and make hard choices. Much more focussed than his rival as well. In the end Alain gets a redemption arc when he found out Lysandre’s trough goal, once more actively learning from it.. in comparison to how Ash is much more a passive learner. When Ash learns something, he just uses that knowledge. When Allain learns things he adapts himself as a trainer. Allowing him to be much more dynamic. Him giving up his mega-stone in the end and resetting like Ash does a lot, is not without reason like with Ash. He actually gives things up to become better as the trainer Alain is. In my eyes making him a perfect version of Ash. One that deserves to hold the championship position over the protagonist.

You might say that compared to Ash, Alain is a Mega Trainer.

2. Brock
Although being quite the oddball, Brock is one of the best Pokémon Trainers I know.
I would loved to put Cynthia on this list instead but I saw too little of her to judge her as a trainer. With Brock we once more see a trainer with a much more realistic fleshed out goal, of becoming a great Pokémon Breeder. His feeling trapped in being the Pewter Gym leader and having his brothers to take care of , felt like a good pay off to start his journey. Yet what makes Brock truly stand out is his knowledge of the world, brock truly understands pokemon. He can tell their nature by interacting with her, he can tell their abilities and their moves on the most subtle of nuances. This knowledge must come from a great passion for the subject. Brock loves all the monsters, more than anyone in the series does. Not only is he knowledgeable about trivia and facts, he has shown amazing empathy skills towards pokémon. “I think paras is trying to say that it’s scared’, “I think Corsola wants to come with you’. Brock throughout his appearances in the show has been shown to know what a pokémon is thinking. He can make the most amazing food which all pokémon like, once more showing his deep understanding of the creatures. Brock also inspires other trainers, makes them better as well. Ash would not be where he is today without the aid of Brock. He isn’t exactly the strongest of trainers out there and until Sun and Moon his accomplishments on the battlefield weren’t exactly noteworthy. Brock however is respected by everyone. Whether it is for his knowledge about the pokémon, his skill in judging matches, or the amazing food he makes, or first aid he can provide for pokémon, he knows the game very well. Him picking up Olivia and having an actual relationship certainly was nice to see after the overdone flirtation bit. Yet even in that he shows his greatness as a trainer. Because Brock knows there is more in the world than just being a trainer, and he is a better trainer for it.

1. James
The biggest loser in the entire series is my number one pick. I must have lost my marbles again. Yet there was never any doubt in the world who I had to put on number one. James shares a lot of the qualities Brock has, being quite knowledgeable about the subject matter. In fact, one can argue that he fills the exact same role as Brock.. on the bad guys side. Everytime we see an episode from Team Rocket’s perspective, James is the one with the answers. James isn’t even that bad at battling , he doesn’t really win but most of his fights aren’t that official either. Whenever he does fight the ‘twerps’ one on one it’s oftenly a lot closer than you might think. Like Ash he has been capable of showing some battle awareness, though in his case usually dirty tricks, like Brock he is capable of understanding a lot of species of Pokémon and kind of like Lillie he mostly became a trainer to explore himself. He may not have chosen the right path, he chose that path because he felt trapped in his wealthy family. He renounced everything, so like Alain he was willing to make sacrifices that count, in order to change himself. It got him involved in a life of crime and dishonour but that is more a medium for change then something he inherently is. He shows care for Pokémon, which is also shown in his battling and even machine building style. Koffing never really attacked much, he rarely is trying to cause physical harm he is only trying to escape. The traps they make also rarely focus on taking a Pokémon out. They want to capture them healthily, without much pain. James shows qualities of all the ones earlier on this list, but just doesn’t do them as successfully. Yet whenever James catches or gets a Pokémon it loves him instantly. Pokemon see something in James and adore him. Give James an Eevee and it evolves into Sylveon the second he owns it. He can make pokemon evolve because how much they care for him and their desire to make him succeed. If James would give up on Team Rocket and thusly freeing himself from the narrative restrictions that had to be placed on him, his potential would be near infinite. A trainer whose Pokémon adore him, who can fight dirty/smart, who is blinded by ambition and who is knowledgeable about Pokémon in general. When given freedom this man would definitely be one of the worlds greatest.

Lose the life of crime James, and you’re reach can certainly be extended to the stars above!

Who is your favorite trainer? What makes a good trainer do you think? If you had to make tea from a grass Pokémon which one would it be and why?
Leave a like, please subscribe if you haven’t already and most off all stay pink!

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Theory: A post-apocalyptic world

Welcome to another post my little Monsters. Since 1996, 1998 or 1999, depending where in the world you are from, we have been referring to ‘the wonderful world’ of pokemon. Yet in today’s Thursday’s Theory we will be taking a look at a contemplation of mine, which is shared by some on the net. However I decided not to take a look at these. So all evidence I bring for this theory is the ones I found by simply playing the original games and the original anime.

Some reservations before getting started
Alola in both anime and game has been shown to be fairly utopian, Kalos was quite decadent and nice as well so over time the vision on how the world of Pokémon should be has changed quite a bit. So the theory we will be addressing today isn’t really based on it’s modern intentions. Much of the Pokémon world were decisions due to its large success. Spin-off games and the explosive growth of the franchise would always have led to create a much more moldable world, a continuation of the rules established in Kanto would have driven the franchise against a creative wall. So for the purposes of this post, we will only look at the original games and the first ‘season’ of the series. Rather than asking if the pokemon world IS post apocalyptic, we focus more on the question if it was ever meant to be.

Don’t expect anything like this, clearly this is untrue… Ethan doesnt wear his cap.

Evidence: No government
The ‘wonderful’ world of pokémon, doesn’t seem to possess any form of government. The rules of the region seem to be established by the pokémon organisation. If that even is a thing. Though in Galar we can see a stricter hierarchy, in the original games and in the anime we never really see those who have decided that 10 year olds can travel the land with their pokémon. We see some chairmen around the time Ash participates in the pokemon league but that is about it. Charles-Louis de Secondat, Baron de La Brède et de Montesquieu argued that a government should exist with three separate forms of power. The legislative, the executive and the judiciary power.

Here I thought I could never give him Pokémon flavor? Why is stage 1 a cat though?

The first and the second barely seem present, if anything there is only the laws leading up to the Pokémon League and its organisation. Even if that is what goes for those powers, they are controlled by the same organ, the league organization, which is a no no. However there seem to be no laws, except for some very basic criminal ones when it comes to non trainers. Everyone can open their own stores, there doesn’t appear to be any fines on polluting and trespassing etc, no gambling age or any sort of systems for civic control. The only law that does seem to exist is criminal law, and even that seems to mostly based on the common moral and values rather than hard written laws. All in all, the legislative force’s presence is neglectable in Kanto. Their judiciary force is up next, which quite honestly is a joke. In the anime, there basically only is Jenny who has to do it all. Yet like the lawmakers, there is little to no real influence. Though later in the series we are introduced to Looker and his organisation that try to prevent crime, which is a basic task of those who need to enforce justice, the Jennies seem to function reactively only. Their capabilities far beneath sub par, where in basically every instance we see them they do require some aid from our protagonist. To me it feels more like the officers are actually renegades trying to do the right thing, or something else I will talk about later. The executive force, why would it surprise anyone is also sorely missing. Schools, for non trainers aren’t a thing, like at all 10 year olds can travel the world using their Pokémon but later throughout the anime , and also in the game it’s revealed that there are even younger ones drifting on the road. There is educational tv and that’s about it.
In the games we at least have a trainer passport, showing some kind of governing agency to hand those out, but in the first game.. not so much, in the anime Ash just pins the badges to his vest and carries no form of ID what so ever. In no gyms do you actually have to identify yourself as a legit trainer and in the anime, Ash discovers the Pokémon League challenge by accident , seeing a poster, never it being his true goal. All in all it’s pretty solid proof that there is no government so at least there is something wrong with this world..

Rumor: The War
Fact, Kanto has recently seen a war at the beginning of Red and Blue, and though people theorise Red is Ash’s father, I do not believe that theory for in the japanese game Red and Ash are both named Satoshi. No that is not a last name, he is named after Satoshi Tajiri the creator of Pokémon, Tajiri being his family name/ last name. (In Japanese he is called Tajiri Satoshi) Since Red and Ash are thusly established as the same person it’s safe to say he would have seen the war as well. Lieutenant Surge is the one who talks about using his Pokémon in the war to zap his enemies into paralysis, yet it would be a war that did not do Kanto any favours. Perhaps Surge even belongs to those who ‘took over’ or deleted the Kantonian government. Making the Pokémon Organisation a potential antagonist. Evidence of this war is found throughout the entire game, evidence which would not fly nowadays cause it might not be totally PC. Kanto has a severe lack of adults, mostly of mature men above the age of 25 and below the age of 65. Given Lieutenant Surge’s age being mid 30’s at best, quite possibly younger this war could not have happened over 20 years ago. Since Ash father is nowhere to be seen, it would make very much sense if he was drafted, yet killed after he at least made Delia pregnant, meaning this war at least ended a little less than 11 years ago.

The Pokémon War Theory fits inside my theory…apparantly so does Bobba Fett

Whatever this war was about, it left deep wounds onto Kanto. Gyms are oftenly entrusted to kids, males are sparse and are often either extremely capable, like Koga and his ninja’s , beefy bulky sailors, or soldiers, warriors and the likes. Scientists are still there, but their role in a war would have probably put them out of harm’s way, But are these even kantonians? Could it be that the scientists are the ones that took over, because Mew was in Kanto? It is no secret that Professor Oak would have a boss battle at the end of the game. Maybe Team Rocket are actually old world kantionian rebels fighting to regain their independence from the Pokémon company. It would explain why they steal Pokémon from the government, because they do want to topple the system. It would also explain why the want Mewtwo.. to prevent the government from abusing it. This might just seem like wild speculation, but let’s look at Team Rocket’s motto for a bit shall we? To protect the world from devastation! To unite all peoples within our nation! To denounce the evils of truth and love!. These are the three lines that speak mostly about their intentions. Their original writing not a lot different except for the last line. In japanese they say’ To prevent the destruction of the world! To protect the peace of the world! To stand by the evils of love and truth!’
Rather than denouncing truth, they stand by it.So these people seem to fight for peace and against the furthering of the apocalypse. They also wish to let you know the truth!. Truth doesn’t sound evil.. but it IS evil if a lying organisation took over, which prevent the world from knowing the truth. So perhaps in this war, the League organisations took over, wiped out Kanto as it was before and Rockets are the (R)ebels to fight

Team Rocket being good is ASO a seperate theory… well apparantly I am onto something! Just look at theem being good!

The technology
Pokémon has always felt a little odd in the technical aspect, on the one hand, there is a company that is capable of dematerialising throwable pocket dimensions in your hand and store them in their grand database, as well as healing tables that seem to radiate healing energy inside those pocket dimensions. The common folk however have technology that seems miles and miles away from this. Your overruling company can send Pokémon through time, people rarely even have TV’s. Roads are barely being maintained, while the company is able to make life.
Cloning clearly is a thing, no matter what the Joys and Jennies say, they aren’t sisters. It has been ESTABLISHED in the world, that the Pokémon Company, which they work for have cloning technology as Mewtwo was a Mew clone and Ditto basically a failed mew clone.. manmade. To test it first on the legendary Pokémon that created all Pokemon live makes no sense, they must have test it on others first. ‘We are sisters’ has never really been proven in the series.
Technically even if cloned they would not even be lying coming from the same parent.. the Joy factory or whatever. Common sense would say that the likelihood of all Joy’s being 100% the same, would all end up in the same job but at different cities would be extremely flimsy at best. But no one notices.. because no one goes to school anymore to learn some common sense!If it was an anime only thing I could understand it being a running joke, but the same joke twice odd. Joy is funny because it could work due to sprites, but the same logic is not applied to anything else, hikers all look different in the anime. Jenny even is barely a thing in the game so why?!Because they are clones thats why! Just because a character says something, it doesn’t mean they have to speak truthfully. When Rose tells Jack she would never let him go, she was just saying something. When Ash in the first episode of the series told he would swear he would become a pokemon master, he was kinda full of garbodor. Clones working for the evil company.. sounds pretty messed up and post apocalyptic to me, after all , all the other nurses and health care has gone away.

If you even doubt these are clones you might need some X Intelligence!

Much like in fallout, there is plenty of drugs that are commonly available as well. Steroids for your pokemon? No problem have some X attack, pretty much what Psycho is in Fallout, how about a PP up? Well that’s just some jet! What utopian world would allow you to alter your Pokémon’s core by pumping it full of medicine? How about forcing it to learn moves it would not naturally learn by using training discs. Yet this is all technology that is readily available. However lights in a well traveled cave, roads to drive, no investment is made in that because it has nothing to do with Pokémon, so the company can’t do it therefore doesn’t care. Besides Gary’s car, we rarely see any technology that isn’t owned by the company.
No matter how you twist or turn things, something doesn’t add up in the difference in tech, the power balance shifted to an extreme, Gary proves that exist(ted) but he again is linked to the company, for the power balance to tip so far in one direction, some big event must have happened. Where did all that normal tech go? Why is the gap that big? It doesn’t match with the utopian theme. Something bad must have happened

Propganda I say! Tech is only available to those who follow the will of the company!

Closing thoughts
Nowadays it seems unlikely that the organisation behind Pokémon is evil, look at how chill professor Kukui is, elegant stuff went in Kalos. Lance became a great hero, though all he ever did was face Rocket, which may have just been a resistance. Lorelei helps you in let’s go, but only to stop team Rocket. But there is not a snowball’s chance in hell that gym leaders and elite four could be evil right? No one ever intended that?! …. Well if we follow the manga , they are all pretty darn evil. World ending and “I‘d have to murder your pokemon to stop you” evil.
However there is no way the company destroyed the world of Kanto and rebuild it in their image so they can just earn money and experiment with Pokémon right? There is no way professor Oak would ever be evil? Well he might have been, there was this boss battle… and he didn’t look too friendly with the sprite. So yes I do think it is entirely plausible that at some point in the development of at least Red and Blue , it was designed with a different vision than it has now. Ideas that seeped into the world, however the project had been adapted because the game took on more hype then expected and might have been better than expected. Now i’ll finish this up, if iI have to think of a peaceful post apocalyptic world that is kind of nice to have fun in as a young boy…I would depict that in one scene. Four boys, walking on a railroad.

So my little monsters, that ends yet another blog on the subject of Pokémon. I really like dedicating myself to a subject , it may be niche but I do hope you enjoy some of my content.
Please keep reading in the future, catch them all and most of all stay pink! Also let me know why you think Montesquieu evolves from a cat please!
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