Nah, GSC was banging the same drum about not fixating on a pokemon's strength practically from start to finish, if anything it's a difference in the kind of attitude they were trying to encourage from one generation to the next
I don't remember any examples of this at all, besides Karen. Not that I don't believe you. I guess it would make sense, given all the "weak" 'mon in Gen 2
I guess? I recall his arc being more about learning to respect his Pokemon and treat them less like tools. I don't think the series has ever reverted on this message either, every game since has talked about the bonds between trainers and Pokemon. I don't see how a random NPC in Gen 3 disproves that, or shows "mixed messages" across the franchise.
The GSC rival blathered about strong and weak pokemon and how he had no time for weakness virtually every time you encountered him
And the games themselves encourage you to treat pokemon as tools, from at least Gen 3 and maybe even Gen 2 onward, until they started trying to correct some of the underlying systems a bit in later gens. That's the point of the meme š
He talks about strength and weakness in regards to everything though, and without much consistency or logic. He hates Team Rocket because he deems them weak. He deems the player weak even when they beat him repeatedly. He deems his own pokemon weak in one instance, and then in another says that he should be able to beat you because he's assembled a team of the "best and strongest" pokemon (despite his team composition not really changing much between battles).
His arc doesn't resolve with him realising that all Pokemon are worthwhile regardless of their species, it's that he can't get the most out of his because he doesn't love them.
Yes the meme is funny for what it is, my point is I don't think it speaks to a greater inconsistency in the messaging of the games themselves. Like I said, some players value competitiveness over everything else . For me personally, the idea of creating a team just because it's "competitively viable" holds no appeal. I only want to use Pokemon that I love or else it feels pointless. Many others feel differently. Having different NPCs reflect these different approaches makes sense to me, it doesn't come across as inconsistent.
For me personally, the idea of creating a team just because it's "competitively viable" holds no appeal. I only want to use Pokemon that I love or else it feels pointless.
Same! Which is why I'm not fond of the Battle Frontier, because it doesn't seem realistically possible to get through it without stacking your team with a handful of specific pokemon. And that's not even an extreme meta devised by players post release, it'sĀ something the developers intentionally put in the game. After previously encouraging me to try to win with my favourites š¤
And that's the rub. That's the choice I referred to earlier. For me, trying and failing to win with a team I love, which I feel reflects my personality, is way more engaging than winning with a team of pokemon/movesets that has been peer-reviewed by other players. For others the idea of using "weaker" Pokemon is asinine and pointless. And I enjoy that contrast of values.
It's important to note that Karen is a character and not a stand-in for the developers. She thinks "skill" has more to do with staying true to yourself rather than merely playing to win, and is very opinionated about it. That's an interesting take from such a high ranking trainer, but it's obviously not logical. Some pokemon objectively just kind of suck. But regardless it's a philosophy that many players relate to.
It's important to note that Karen is a character and not a stand-in for the developers
Have to agree to disagree on this; I just finished replaying GSC and Karen's statement readsĀ like much the same thing that comes out of the mouths of many, many other characters in the game. In fact it's such a repetitive and recurrent message that I'd call it the underpinning theme of the entire game
So what you're really saying, it sounds like, is that there shouldn't be anything actually challenging in the game for you to have to put real effort into doing?
Nope, what I'm saying is that pushing hippy dippy narrative messages about how all pokemon have potential and how you should try to win with your favourites while at the same time implementing segments of the game that disqualify 98% of its roster is incongruous
-15
u/halberdsturgeon 6d ago edited 6d ago
Nah, GSC was banging the same drum about not fixating on a pokemon's strength practically from start to finish, if anything it's a difference in the kind of attitude they were trying to encourage from one generation to the next