Demon Hunting and Tenth Dimensional Physics: November 2016

Wednesday, November 2, 2016

On Pokemon: 20 Years, Seven Generations

So, I may have kept this a secret, but probably not a very good one: I like Pokemon. I’m a fan. I’m a competitive player (Not a great competitive player, but I can hold my own, thank you very much.). I’ve been a part of the fandom since I was little-little. That was my very first video game: Pokemon Yellow. I was atrocious at it. I was so much better at Pokemon Blue, because you didn’t have to start with that ridiculous Pikachu (Honestly, it colored my entire opinion of Pikachu – still don’t particularly like it.).

I mean, come on, you’re giving 8 year olds an immediate type disadvantage, here. Not cool, bro. Not cool.

I digress: we’re here to talk about Pokemon Sun and Pokemon Moon. Now, I know this isn’t my normal topic. As an author of books, I don’t see other authors as my competition: I see video games and Netflix and The Walking Dead as competition, since we’re all vying for your time. Drawing more attention to them is a bit terrifying. But I’m coming to you all as a fan rather than as an author, and as a fan, I’m going to make a statement about our new seventh generation games.

They’re going to be the best of the bunch.

I know that’s a bold statement, and especially with all the generation one and two love out there… well, let’s just say that some people might have a difference of opinion. But I’m standing by this until something comes along to prove me wrong, and by God I hope that never comes. I want these games to live up to all the hype, and surpass it by a whole hell of a lot.

But it’s not just blind, fanboyish hope that’s making me say this. The game developers are dumping everything they can think of into this game. You all liked generation one? Cool, we’ll give you gen one Pokemon, but cooler. Cooler how? Well, we’ll light Marowak’s bone on fire. And we’ll make Exeggutor a million feet tall. And a dragon! And Raichu’s a psychic type! Also, let’s make it so you can fight against Red and Blue.

You wanted HMs gone? Nifty, here you go.

You think the formula’s getting stale? Well, all right, screw using gyms. We’ll send you into… trials! And there’ll be giant Pokemon you have to fight! Yeah!

Our evil teams are too extreme? Okay, here’s one that just wants to steal Pokemon.

It’s proof that Game Freak are massively in tune with their fan base, and also proof that, no matter what anyone might say about them, they aren’t “running out of ideas.” There’s lots of new ideas in Sun and Moon, and that’s not even counting everything they haven’t revealed yet, which I’ll guarantee are in the game somewhere. They definitely haven’t played all their cards quite yet, which is impressive since they’ve released approximately a butt-ton of trailers so far.

I guess this post isn’t the most interesting thing to everyone. It’s just… it’s very exciting for me, and we’re less than three weeks from the launch date. I needed to put all this anticipation somewhere, so you’re receiving the brunt of it. If you’re not a fan, then I apologize. Your regularly scheduled programming will return shortly.

If you are a fan, which version are you playing (I’m Team Moon for sure.)? Which starter (It was always Rowlett, but especially now that they’ve released the final evolutions.)? Which new Pokemon are you most excited to see (Mimikyu!!!)? Let me know and let’s geek out together while we wait.


Voss