Torterra still gets rekt by Infernape and Empoleon (Fire moves and Ice Beam) but he can fight back with Earthquake doing super effective damage against both of them
My boy Torterra puts in the work
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In-game head canon
- Thread starter Wukong
- Start date
My boy Torterra puts in the work
But let's also remember said toddler also has one or more of the magic animals in their command (in this case, ones which likely are suited for the water). A well trained Pokemon can probably substitute as a babysitter (and Pokemon can come out of their Poke Balls if they feel it's necessary, so if the kid starts struggling their Water-type will automatically come out and help them).
As for the Wild Pokemon in the water, maybe this can count as a new head-canon, but I don't think Wild Pokemon are as common as we experience them. We're trainers so not only are we looking to get into battles but also Pokemon are more likely to seek us out. For an everyday civilian? While there is always the danger of a irritable Pokemon taking its frustration out on a passing human, humans and Pokemon likely ignore each other most of the time.
So, I was curious. Blue, of course, started the tradition of having a FWG core, with two of Arcanine/Gyarados/Exeggutor plus the starter, presumably to keep you from sweeping him with one catch. (how well that worked is another discussion). But not all rivals do that. So I went through the Bulbapedia rival page, threw out all rivals which don't pick a starter in response to you(so Shauna and Calem are in, Wally is out), and checked the finalish non-rematch battle of their default generation.
Rivals which use a FWG core:
Blue: Starter that beats you plus 2 of Arcanine/Gyarados/Exeggutor
Brendan/May: Tropius plus starter plus 2 of Ludicolo/Slugma/Pelipper, which is a very bad team.
Barry: Starter that beats you plus 2 of Roserade/Floatzel/Rapidash
Rivals which do not change their team except for the starter:
Silver: Starter that beats you
Shauna: Starter that loses to you
Kukui: Not a rival really, but he does take a starter that beats you, so I'm mentioning him.
Hop: Starter that loses to you
Rivals which are odd in some way:
Cheren: Starter that beats you+Monkey of your type
Bianca: Starter that loses to you+Monkey that beats you
Hugh: Starter that beats you+Monkey that loses to you
Calem/Serena: Starter that beats you+Eevee of your type(except Jolteon over Leafeon bc genwun)
Hau: Starter that loses to you+Eevee that beats you
Leon: Not a rival, does take the starter that beats you and uses one extra mon your starter beats.
Gladion, just mentioned for completeness, does not take a starter, does use a Silvally that beats you. He, Ilma, and the Trainer's School teacher may be the only people in the series that adjust to beat your team without being someone who gets one of the first 3 starters.
Blue: Starter that beats you plus 2 of Arcanine/Gyarados/Exeggutor
Brendan/May: Tropius plus starter plus 2 of Ludicolo/Slugma/Pelipper, which is a very bad team.
Barry: Starter that beats you plus 2 of Roserade/Floatzel/Rapidash
Rivals which do not change their team except for the starter:
Silver: Starter that beats you
Shauna: Starter that loses to you
Kukui: Not a rival really, but he does take a starter that beats you, so I'm mentioning him.
Hop: Starter that loses to you
Rivals which are odd in some way:
Cheren: Starter that beats you+Monkey of your type
Bianca: Starter that loses to you+Monkey that beats you
Hugh: Starter that beats you+Monkey that loses to you
Calem/Serena: Starter that beats you+Eevee of your type(except Jolteon over Leafeon bc genwun)
Hau: Starter that loses to you+Eevee that beats you
Leon: Not a rival, does take the starter that beats you and uses one extra mon your starter beats.
Gladion, just mentioned for completeness, does not take a starter, does use a Silvally that beats you. He, Ilma, and the Trainer's School teacher may be the only people in the series that adjust to beat your team without being someone who gets one of the first 3 starters.
*BREAKING NEWS
Excuse me but that's a face canon, not a head canon.
During the Kanto games, Porygon was probably not supposed to be available to the public. In addition to being a research project that would have involved a few early stages, it's occasionally mentioned as only having been given basic programming. Team Rocket happened to notice the project files when raiding Silph Co. for the data on the Master Ball, and decided that selling an exotic mon they had exclusive access to would get them a lot of money.
but your head faceplants into the wall, and it is my head canon it is head canon.
*Looks at Calem/Serena and Hop.*
Like hell they are.
As for why I'm putting one of the XY cardboard cutouts next to one of Pokémon's most infamous L-takers?
XY, up to that very point at the Tower of Mastery, with the one available Mega Ring at stake, spends every second Serena's name is mentioned building up this battle with her being the de facto rival that is very competent and will push you to greater heights.
And then, right before that climactic showdown...
Why. Why would you do this? Why would you bait me from the very beginning of the game to throw this Archen at half-health at me?
I damn near turned the game off on the spot.
The Mind Electric
Calming if you look at it right.
I headcanon that Serena becomes Kalos Champion at some point after X/Y. She has the singular dedication to getting stronger and basic knowledge of team composition that you need to become Champion in this world. Sure, she looks weak in comparison to the player, but so does Diantha, so. I could see her sweeping the Kalos League if the player disappears like every other Pokémon game protagonist seems to if we find out what happened to them in a later game.*Looks at Calem/Serena and Hop.*
Like hell they are.
As for why I'm putting one of the XY cardboard cutouts next to one of Pokémon's most infamous L-takers?
XY, up to that very point at the Tower of Mastery, with the one available Mega Ring at stake, spends every second Serena's name is mentioned building up this battle with her being the de facto rival that is very competent and will push you to greater heights.
And then, right before that climactic showdown...
View attachment 372209
Why. Why would you do this? Why would you bait me from the very beginning of the game to throw this Archen at half-health at me?
I damn near turned the game off on the spot.
So everyone but Serena secretly likes losing, got it
The Mind Electric
Calming if you look at it right.
You know what I meant.
Sounds as good as any other theory. Though newer games have given some more interesting trivia about it:
- Sun: Roughly 20 years ago, it was artificially created, utilizing the latest technology of the time.
- Moon: It can convert its body into digital data, which enables it to enter cyberspace.
- Ultra Sun: This Pokémon was created using the cutting-edge science of 20 years ago, so many parts of it have since become obsolete.
- Ultra Moon: It was built 20 years ago by scientists who dreamed of exploring space. Their dreams have yet to come true.
- Let's Go: The only Pokémon that people anticipate can fly into space. None has managed the feat yet, however.
- Sword: State-of-the-art technology was used to create Porygon. It was the first artificial Pokémon to be created via computer programming.
- Shield: In recent years, this species has been very helpful in cyberspace. These Pokémon will go around checking to make sure no suspicious data exists.
20 years ago the scientists in Cinnabar Lab created Porygon in hopes of exploring space (a dream yet to be realized; Porygon2's Ultra Moon Dex Entry reveals though they can survive in the vacuum of space they have no way of moving about in zero gravity).
So, yeah, it's essentially an old prototype of a creature specifically meant to explore space, even if it had been the final product probably wouldn't be give public release (if not because of its purpose or someone may steal its design but for security reasons as someone could command it to hack into a system). Though something that caught my attention, they say "parts" of it are obsolete now. What do they mean by "parts"? As far as we know Porygon is completely digital; it's a mystery what physics its even using to exist outside of cyberspace. Was there some kind of physical technology used to make it, or by parts do they mean segments of code? Because it seems to be implied that Porygon2 is what you get when you improve the code of Porygon.
Speaking of Porygon2, I just realizes its dex entries mention that its with this form it was implemented with artificial intelligence, which implies the original Porygon did not have any AI. Even goes on to mention how its using the intelligence to not only observe new behaviors but its exceeding its programming by remembering things it doesn't need to know and have developed its own language only other Porygon2 can understand. So, going back to Porygon, 20 years ago with less advanced tech they not only succeeded in creating an artificial Pokemon but also programmed an entire personality for it with pre-programmed responses, cause that would what they have to do if Porygon doesn't have any AI to help it adapt to new input. And let's not get into Porygon-Z. Honestly reading through them it doesn't feel GF quite has a solid backstory planned for Porygon and its evolution, rather its meant to be a vague allegory of the progress of technology.
True, I think maybe they wanted to have the the main rival be "aware" that they previously lose to you... Wait, before this did you ever battle the "main" rival? *Checks* No! Up till now you never battled against the "main" rival: They had the catching Tutorial, they partnered up with you for a tag battle against Tierno & Trevor, and then another tag battle against Flare grunts. The Tower of Mastery is the first time you actually battle them, so what the heck is up with them saying "I know you're much stronger than me"? Based on what, are you looking at the Levels? Are you making a judgement call via the tag battles we were partners in? How do you know who is stronger if you never battled with them before? What they should have said was "We've battled side-by-side where you showed me how strong you were, now let me show you how strong I truly am as my opponent. You're not going to leave me behind, I'll be leaving you!".
More like the 3 side ones don't care about losing. Shauna just wanted to create memories, Tierno just wants to dance, and Trevor is in it for the knowledge. Only the player you didn't pick cared about the competition, hence them being made main rival. However, just as the other three are mostly one note (Shauna has some more depth than she leads on), they did the same with the main rival by having them almost obsessed with being the best and feeling disappointed when they keep losing.
Gonna drop another one for today:
Humans do have the same infinite energy/magic/whatever you call it that pokémon possess, it's just all used for defenses (not the stat ones)
Humans are seen to be fairly resistant to many pokémon attacks, either shown as a comedy effect (e.g ash's Pikachu shocking him whenever he's mad), or in more normal situations. They're also able to train with pokémon together and resist foe pokémon's attacks.
Just like how irl, we gave up traits to allowed us to become more intelligent tool users, pokémon humans' ancestors gave up the ability to harness type energy and attack with it, and turned into resistance machines, using tools and the environment as their offense. I imagine that with this energy resistance and tool availability, humans would be able to harass even tough and big pokémon, as we did with our megafauna.
Of course, this resistance isn't infinite, a human who gets attacked multiple times will slowly deplete their barrier. Kids wouldn't have these systems well developed, elderly people may become weaker as they age, and it's much more effective at dissipating elemental energy, but not so much for brute force
e.g: if a human got hit with a Machamp's karate chop, the fighting elemental energy would have been mostly nullified by the human's self-defense system, but the force of a chop would only partially be dissolved, so you'd still get hurt, just not as hurt as a normal human should. It'd prevent breaking bones and organ rips for most blows, but the more you get hit, the riskier it gets. Meanwhile, things like flamethrowers and thunderbolts, despite looking scarier, would be brushed off effortlessly, since they rely on elemental energy
This wouldn't protect a human from non-elemental environment dangers, such as real fires, thunders, blizzards, etc. It's a pokémon interaction exclusive.
A side headcanon for this is that humans with "powers" are those who, either naturally or by training, can create excess energy, which can be spent in pokémon-like abilities. It's a hard thing to learn, since it's not possible to "channel" part of your defenses as offenses, so you need to train to make your defense system produce more to use. The fact psychic is the most common type to learn may be either because human ancestors were psychic type, or simply because despite it being a "powerful" and "mysterious" type, it's the easiest to learn as the human mind is well equipped to deal with the hurdles it comes with.
Humans do have the same infinite energy/magic/whatever you call it that pokémon possess, it's just all used for defenses (not the stat ones)
Humans are seen to be fairly resistant to many pokémon attacks, either shown as a comedy effect (e.g ash's Pikachu shocking him whenever he's mad), or in more normal situations. They're also able to train with pokémon together and resist foe pokémon's attacks.
Just like how irl, we gave up traits to allowed us to become more intelligent tool users, pokémon humans' ancestors gave up the ability to harness type energy and attack with it, and turned into resistance machines, using tools and the environment as their offense. I imagine that with this energy resistance and tool availability, humans would be able to harass even tough and big pokémon, as we did with our megafauna.
Of course, this resistance isn't infinite, a human who gets attacked multiple times will slowly deplete their barrier. Kids wouldn't have these systems well developed, elderly people may become weaker as they age, and it's much more effective at dissipating elemental energy, but not so much for brute force
e.g: if a human got hit with a Machamp's karate chop, the fighting elemental energy would have been mostly nullified by the human's self-defense system, but the force of a chop would only partially be dissolved, so you'd still get hurt, just not as hurt as a normal human should. It'd prevent breaking bones and organ rips for most blows, but the more you get hit, the riskier it gets. Meanwhile, things like flamethrowers and thunderbolts, despite looking scarier, would be brushed off effortlessly, since they rely on elemental energy
This wouldn't protect a human from non-elemental environment dangers, such as real fires, thunders, blizzards, etc. It's a pokémon interaction exclusive.
A side headcanon for this is that humans with "powers" are those who, either naturally or by training, can create excess energy, which can be spent in pokémon-like abilities. It's a hard thing to learn, since it's not possible to "channel" part of your defenses as offenses, so you need to train to make your defense system produce more to use. The fact psychic is the most common type to learn may be either because human ancestors were psychic type, or simply because despite it being a "powerful" and "mysterious" type, it's the easiest to learn as the human mind is well equipped to deal with the hurdles it comes with.
This is honestly a pretty good headcanon and would make a lot of sense, especially in the anime where we see this happen constantly with characters. Even in-game in one instance in HGSS where Lance had his Dragonite fire a Hyper Beam on a Team Rocket person.
That said I do wonder how this will play into Legends: Arceus. This is the first time a player will actually be able to get attacked or take attacks from a Pokemon and the recent presents implied that if the player character takes too much damage from a Pokemon they will black out. It seems Legends: Arceus will make use of this concept with the humans being able to take repeated hits from a Pokemon's attack, especially the player character risking taking hits while on excursions to catch and survey Pokemon. I think that game will be the first time the games really play with such a concept.
Shauna, Tierno, and Trevor are not really rivals and are more friends who follow you on your journey and you guys meet up. You and they are a friend group who cross paths on the same journey and they have no intention of being your rival anyway, at least not in battling. Trevor might be a rival in catching Pokemon but that's it. Shauna in particular is more like Bianca in BW1 in that she's more of just a friend who you sometimes battle and she has the starter weak to your own but she's not really that into being strong as a battler, whereas Calem/Serena is more like Cheren in BW1 in being a more dedicated rival who is strong and competent from the get go and is set on becoming strong as a Trainer.
I know they're different in some aspects but XY's friend group is closer to the dynamic between BW1's Hilbert/Hilda, Cheren, and Bianca with only one person being the real rival and the others just being friends who you cross paths with on your journey regularly and occasionally battle.
CTNC
Doesn't know how to attack
Humans have to be really really special to have become the dominate species in the Pokemon world. There's Pokemon stronger than us, smarter than us, and even ones with advance tools like Conkeldurr who taught humans how to make concrete. It doesn't make sense to me, especially when Pokemon are shown to be able to make towns in the Mystery Dungeon games, but there's actually something cannon that hints at an explanation for the main games. In the Crown Tundra, Calyrex says he's impressed by the innovation of humans... when you show him a seed packet... I was like, "Really? Those are basic. It's a bag. With seeds." but if the basic stuff is impressive that says a lot about something. Humans are creative. Humans needed to be creative to make up for having a movepool more useless than Unown's. As for Mystery Dungeon, Humans are confirmed to exist in the that world in Time/Darkness/Sky and in Super you're laughed at when you say you're human because they're just something in fairy tales, so maybe humans inspired Pokemon to think about things in the way humans would in that world's distant past. Honestly, that idea is disappointing to me because I really like the idea of a world without humans being developed without human intervention.
I've thought too hard about this...
Thinking too hard about the logic of video games that don't care about logic can also lead to funnier thoughts. In real life, fainting goats are breed for the novelty of goats that faint. It wouldn't be surprising if the Pokemon world had a goat like Pokemon that was breed for the same reason and the genetic abnormality that makes their legs lock up would be much more likely to develope and get passed down in a Pokemon that doesn't use their legs much, like if they rolled more than they walked. Imagine Fainting Wooloo. Scaring Wooloo down a hill or even just making one awkwardly roll onto its side baaing for help.
I've thought too hard about this...
Thinking too hard about the logic of video games that don't care about logic can also lead to funnier thoughts. In real life, fainting goats are breed for the novelty of goats that faint. It wouldn't be surprising if the Pokemon world had a goat like Pokemon that was breed for the same reason and the genetic abnormality that makes their legs lock up would be much more likely to develope and get passed down in a Pokemon that doesn't use their legs much, like if they rolled more than they walked. Imagine Fainting Wooloo. Scaring Wooloo down a hill or even just making one awkwardly roll onto its side baaing for help.
I don't think Legend Arceus would change my headcanon too much. If the character dies easily, it plays right into it, as you're still around 10 years old. While at that point your defense system would have developed somewhat, it's still not as developed as an adult's, so you would get down to fewer attacks.
If you can build hp as the game progresses, it could be the influence that being a trainer has on someone's physique, as I do believe trainers, in general, have stronger defense systems than your everyday folk.
It's basically a copy of an immunity system, just for pokémon attacks, so it's something that can be stretched and squashed somewhat to fit every person's genetics and such. Of course, if you can just become super op, it might blow a hole on it LOL
Here are some other smaller head canons I'd like to at least put out there, but I can't say a whole lot of these are as interesting as some of the ones we've been looking at more recently, although #1 could be neat to talk about.
1. Ash Ketchum canonically exists in an alternate universe on the other side of an Ultra Wormhole where it was him who visited Alola instead of Red and Blue as a result of Red not existing. That's why you can get Ash-Greninja in the Sun & Moon demo, and explains why he's never shown up anywhere in the main series games.
2. Starter Pokémon are required to have a 7 males to 1 female gender ratio because most of the female ones would have to be kept and raised in captivity in order for there to be plenty of breeding for new Starters happening at any given moment for any new Trainers in every region. If 87.5% of all Starter Pokémon given out to new trainers are male, the Starter Pokémon economy so to speak can remain intact forever.
3. Team Galactic were the ones behind the development of Rotom's alternate forms we first saw in Pokémon Platinum. The Eterna Galactic building is suspiciously close to the Old Chateau where Rotom lives, and multiple people within the organization are known for their interest in "tinkering with machines", as an NPC in Sunyshore puts it with Cyrus.
4. Zygarde isn't actually a Pokémon, let alone a Legendary Pokémon. Well, kind of... It's actually a living, conscious... plant monster? Yep. Between various pieces of evidence within the games and the anime, specifically the XYZ season, I'm entirely convinced that the hypothetical Pokémon Z mascot was created entirely by natural evolutionary means of plant cells and the nutritious materials of the earth. The Aura Break ability could likely also be a hint towards this, with Zygarde cells and cores needing to evolve over thousands of years from their Power Construct variants as a result of Xerneas and Yveltal's manipulation of the earth's sustainability factors, explaining why the one in Terminus Cave has Aura Break.
1. Ash Ketchum canonically exists in an alternate universe on the other side of an Ultra Wormhole where it was him who visited Alola instead of Red and Blue as a result of Red not existing. That's why you can get Ash-Greninja in the Sun & Moon demo, and explains why he's never shown up anywhere in the main series games.
2. Starter Pokémon are required to have a 7 males to 1 female gender ratio because most of the female ones would have to be kept and raised in captivity in order for there to be plenty of breeding for new Starters happening at any given moment for any new Trainers in every region. If 87.5% of all Starter Pokémon given out to new trainers are male, the Starter Pokémon economy so to speak can remain intact forever.
3. Team Galactic were the ones behind the development of Rotom's alternate forms we first saw in Pokémon Platinum. The Eterna Galactic building is suspiciously close to the Old Chateau where Rotom lives, and multiple people within the organization are known for their interest in "tinkering with machines", as an NPC in Sunyshore puts it with Cyrus.
4. Zygarde isn't actually a Pokémon, let alone a Legendary Pokémon. Well, kind of... It's actually a living, conscious... plant monster? Yep. Between various pieces of evidence within the games and the anime, specifically the XYZ season, I'm entirely convinced that the hypothetical Pokémon Z mascot was created entirely by natural evolutionary means of plant cells and the nutritious materials of the earth. The Aura Break ability could likely also be a hint towards this, with Zygarde cells and cores needing to evolve over thousands of years from their Power Construct variants as a result of Xerneas and Yveltal's manipulation of the earth's sustainability factors, explaining why the one in Terminus Cave has Aura Break.
QuentinQuonce
formerly green_typhlosion
I never thought I'd be bringing up the Chronicles of Narnia in a Pokemon forum, but bear with me. I was reading an analysis of that series the other day and something jumped out at me which this reminded me of.
If you haven't read the series, there's a running theme in the books that Narnia - despite being filled with intelligent talking animals and species such as centaurs, fauns, dryads, dwarves, and so on - only functions properly when there's a human ruling over it. Which seems a bit odd when you think about it. Why does Aslan want a human to be King or Queen of Narnia so badly?
Prince Caspian, the fourth book in the series, features a council of war scene in which none of the animals can agree on anything to an almost comical degree. The bears want to eat first and talk later, the mice want to go to war straight away, the fauns want to start proceedings with a formal dance, and so on. It's not until Caspian - their king - overrules them all that they all get organised and fall in line. The writer of this analysis's take was that it takes a human to unite them all and bring order to the chaos, and that's why only a human has the capability to rule Narnia.
(The implications of that aren't the best, but that's another discussion altogether)
Broadly speaking, I think the same thing goes for Pokemon as to why humans are the dominant species overall. You have nearly a thousand (known) species, all of which have different wants and needs and capabilities. Sure some species have mutual relationships and dependencies, and of course there are some species which probably could overpower the humans if they tried, but just don't care to - I can't see all the Gyarados getting together and deciding that they're going to destroy all of our cities and take over the world, and Pokemon like Guzzlord don't seem to have the intelligence. And the most powerful Pokemon like Dialga and Celebi seem completely disinterested in the mundane mortal world anyway.
So there's no way such a disparate and diverse array of species could unite in any plausible manner. How on earth could any one species be the dominant one? Whereas humans are - in the context of PokeEarth, at least - united, and their influence is a positive thing to Pokemon. It takes humanity to bring the potential out of Pokemon, and a trained Pokemon is always stronger than a wild one. Pokemon function fine by themselves (as do humans) but the union between two produces the strongest results.
On top of my head, here are two of my headcanons:
I do not believe that Mewtwo was created by Team Rocket in the games. While this is the case in the anime and Pokémon Adventures, it is never outright stated in the games that Team Rocket had anything to do with the creation of Mewtwo, so I don't consider it to be canon for the games. If anything, my headcanon is that Team Rocket had nothing to do with the creation of Mewtwo in the games. Instead, I think it was a group of scientists completely unrelated to Team Rocket that created Mewtwo. Note that I haven't played LGP/E so I don't know if anything about this subject is touched upon there, and if it is, chances are that my headcanon for this is completely ruined.
For the Gen 5 games, I think both Black/2 and White/2 can be seen as canon... but only with the correct protagonists! I think Hilbert and Nate should be the protagonists for Black and Black 2, while Hilda and Rosa should be the protagonists for White and White 2. I guess the reason for this is because that was how I played my Gen 5 games, so I will always see it like this. If anyone plays Black/2 as the girl or White/2 as the boy, it goes completely against my headcanon in every possible way and I can't help but consider it wrong.
I do not believe that Mewtwo was created by Team Rocket in the games. While this is the case in the anime and Pokémon Adventures, it is never outright stated in the games that Team Rocket had anything to do with the creation of Mewtwo, so I don't consider it to be canon for the games. If anything, my headcanon is that Team Rocket had nothing to do with the creation of Mewtwo in the games. Instead, I think it was a group of scientists completely unrelated to Team Rocket that created Mewtwo. Note that I haven't played LGP/E so I don't know if anything about this subject is touched upon there, and if it is, chances are that my headcanon for this is completely ruined.
For the Gen 5 games, I think both Black/2 and White/2 can be seen as canon... but only with the correct protagonists! I think Hilbert and Nate should be the protagonists for Black and Black 2, while Hilda and Rosa should be the protagonists for White and White 2. I guess the reason for this is because that was how I played my Gen 5 games, so I will always see it like this. If anyone plays Black/2 as the girl or White/2 as the boy, it goes completely against my headcanon in every possible way and I can't help but consider it wrong.
QuentinQuonce
formerly green_typhlosion
Adding onto this, thanks to the B2W2 animated trailer I can't help but see Tepig as Nate's canon starter, Snivy as Rosa's, and Oshawott as Hugh's. This fits with the in-game pattern (where the player character not taken shows up at Gear Station with the 2nd stage of the starter weak to yours) and works aesthetically IMO.View attachment 372388View attachment 372397
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For the Gen 5 games, I think both Black/2 and White/2 can be seen as canon... but only with the correct protagonists! I think Hilbert and Nate should be the protagonists for Black and Black 2, while Hilda and Rosa should be the protagonists for White and White 2. I guess the reason for this is because that was how I played my Gen 5 games, so I will always see it like this. If anyone plays Black/2 as the girl or White/2 as the boy, it goes completely against my headcanon in every possible way and I can't help but consider it wrong.
I'm in two minds because I always think this sort of thing should be left open to interpretation, but equally I feel like the trailer made the right call. The idea of there being canon starters is an endless debate but in Unova at least I feel like the starters match the characters aesthetically; I'm pretty convinced the Adventures manga deliberately broke the pattern of Cheren having the advantageous starter and Bianca having the weaker one just so they could give Cheren Snivy because it suits him SO well, but Black had to have a Tepig because of the rotating Grass-Fire-Water pattern the manga has, even though Oshawott suits him much more and Tepig suits Bianca IMO.
Just my opinion, though.
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Yeah this is pretty easy to wrap my head around since as you said nothing in the games outright links the presumed scientists who worked in Pokémon Mansion to anything Team Rocket related. It would've felt too contrived for a savage Pokémon like Mewtwo to have been created by Team Rocket. It makes its back story much more interesting for it to have been created by a neutral third party, like a Colress-minded group of individuals.
I've thought about this one too, but more so from the truth vs. ideals perspective. N strikes me as an idealist who wants to create his idea of a perfect world. Almost like he doesn't want to wake up from a dream. Whereas you as the protagonist need to "wake him up" with the harsh, objective truth no matter how unpleasant that might be. It kind of reminds me of Light vs. L respectively from Death Note.View attachment 372388View attachment 372397
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For the Gen 5 games, I think both Black/2 and White/2 can be seen as canon... but only with the correct protagonists! I think Hilbert and Nate should be the protagonists for Black and Black 2, while Hilda and Rosa should be the protagonists for White and White 2. I guess the reason for this is because that was how I played my Gen 5 games, so I will always see it like this. If anyone plays Black/2 as the girl or White/2 as the boy, it goes completely against my headcanon in every possible way and I can't help but consider it wrong.
Which is why I prefer to imagine N possessing Zekrom, and one of the reasons I prefer Black and Black 2. A lot of people like to imagine N with Reshiram as it might fit more aesthetically, but philosophically I believe the opposite to be true.
I think the mewtwo tool of war ultimate lifeform background is fine but a bit boring.
I've always seen it as a project made by independent scientists in raising their own mew to study, but instead creating mewtwo when the mew dna they extracted wasn't enough. Before they could really decide what to do with Mewtwo, the creation reached Giovannis ears, who raided the lab and tried to take mewtwo for himself.
In most universes, mewtwo flees the area, but you could see the usum rainbow rocket as a Giovanni which succeeded in stealing mewtwo.
Mewtwo's impression on humans is neutral, though it enjoys to battle so it'll vaguely announce its presence so trainers can challenge it.
I've always seen it as a project made by independent scientists in raising their own mew to study, but instead creating mewtwo when the mew dna they extracted wasn't enough. Before they could really decide what to do with Mewtwo, the creation reached Giovannis ears, who raided the lab and tried to take mewtwo for himself.
In most universes, mewtwo flees the area, but you could see the usum rainbow rocket as a Giovanni which succeeded in stealing mewtwo.
Mewtwo's impression on humans is neutral, though it enjoys to battle so it'll vaguely announce its presence so trainers can challenge it.
QuentinQuonce
formerly green_typhlosion
As a (probably not) final comment, I've also always thought that the BW protagonists, B2W2 protagonists, and N are all related.
I'll start with the BW protagonists and N first. We're told in the mythology that after two original brothers ceased their fight their sons renewed the quarrel a generation later, which led to both dragons disappearing. Now, generations later, my thinking is that Hilbert/Hilda and N are the (possibly direct) descendants of the two brothers, which would make them very distantly related.
This was something I read a lot during the early days of BW, so it's not even a theory I outright invented. My copy of Black is in Japanese and I don't have a copy of White so I can't replay to be sure, but I'm 99% certain nothing in the games ever directly states this. Regardless, it could still be true and doesn't ever even really need to be outright confirmed. It doesn't really add anything to the plot beyond thematic symbolism and a touch of fate, but I like the idea and it's more meaningful this way IMO. Of course, bloodline shouldn't be a prerequisite for who can raise a Pokemon, but it is frequently an important plot point in high fantasy, and what with the high fantasy vibes Unova has going on it feels quite natural. It does bring a sense of closure and relevance to the story to have the descendants of the brothers (hopefully) finally end the conflict between the Unova dragons.
The B2W2 protagonist's connection to this is looser, but I like the idea that they're possibly a distant cousin of the BW protagonist, explaining their link to Reshiram and Zekrom and why the BW protagonist's mother initially mistakes them for her own child (she even mentions knowing the B2W2 protagonist's mother). The fact that a relation isn't mentioned doesn't preclude it from being true, in my judgement - it's ambiguous enough that it could be, and works either way.
I'll start with the BW protagonists and N first. We're told in the mythology that after two original brothers ceased their fight their sons renewed the quarrel a generation later, which led to both dragons disappearing. Now, generations later, my thinking is that Hilbert/Hilda and N are the (possibly direct) descendants of the two brothers, which would make them very distantly related.
This was something I read a lot during the early days of BW, so it's not even a theory I outright invented. My copy of Black is in Japanese and I don't have a copy of White so I can't replay to be sure, but I'm 99% certain nothing in the games ever directly states this. Regardless, it could still be true and doesn't ever even really need to be outright confirmed. It doesn't really add anything to the plot beyond thematic symbolism and a touch of fate, but I like the idea and it's more meaningful this way IMO. Of course, bloodline shouldn't be a prerequisite for who can raise a Pokemon, but it is frequently an important plot point in high fantasy, and what with the high fantasy vibes Unova has going on it feels quite natural. It does bring a sense of closure and relevance to the story to have the descendants of the brothers (hopefully) finally end the conflict between the Unova dragons.
The B2W2 protagonist's connection to this is looser, but I like the idea that they're possibly a distant cousin of the BW protagonist, explaining their link to Reshiram and Zekrom and why the BW protagonist's mother initially mistakes them for her own child (she even mentions knowing the B2W2 protagonist's mother). The fact that a relation isn't mentioned doesn't preclude it from being true, in my judgement - it's ambiguous enough that it could be, and works either way.
Interestingly, I chose Tepig when I played through Black 2. The reason being that I had picked Snivy in Black and Oshawott in White, so Tepig was obviously next in line. I agree with you that it works very well for the three main characters this way. I rarely ever think about "canon starters" but this was a very interesting point.
Regarding how they did it in Adventures, I definitely agree that Snivy suits Cheren very well (if only he had treated it better...but that's for a different discussion). I can also sort of agree that Oshawott would fit Black well. Especially the Oshawott Bianca got since it has a "rage mode" which it enters when it gets angry, similar to how Black can get very angry at times. Still, I think Tepig suited Black very well too. I have always liked his relation to Tep/Nite/Bo a lot, it is one of my favorite connections between a human and a Pokémon in the manga.
This too. I agree that it makes a lot more sense for the player to get Reshiram in order to represent truth, while N gets Zekrom to represent ideals. N wants to create a world he considers to be ideal, where Pokémon are liberated from humans. At the same time, the player wants to show him the truth: humans and Pokémon can live together in harmony. Like you, I prefer Black/2 over White/2 because of that. But as said, if the girls are the protagonists instead of the boys, then I think White/2 are the better alternatives.