Something that really surprised me about Pokemon Sun and Moon were the random spurts of bleakness. The latest generation of Pokemon games aren’t afraid to go there, even if it leaves the player uncomfortable about the implications.
I’m not just talking about the dark Pokedex entries, which make everyone reconsider their favourite monster, as well as make you feel for bad if you ever used mega evolutions. Those are messed up, but it’s also just flavour text. The games themselves can get way too real, too. Here are some of my “favourite” moments.
The bastard who didn’t deserve Stufful
A terrible story in three screenshots. You gotta think: if Pokemon is anything like the real world, then people are dicks. They get pets, without realising the big responsibility that comes with it — only to panic and abandon them. And yet look at this loyal little Stufful here, still dutifully waiting for its master to return. It’s the Pokemon version of Seymour waiting for Fry in Futurama:
The Tragic Accident
You can see the rest of this scene, here, courtesy of asperatology.
We all know that Pokemon can die, the games have already touched on that. Here’s a look at how a trainer’s death affects a Pokemon: it’s traumatic. In this case, Machamp will never go back into his Pokeball again.
I’m curious, though: does this mean the trainer died while Pokeriding? There never seems to be any immediate danger to the player, though it would make sense for society to use Pokemon rides alongside normal modes of transportation. Accidents such as this one might not be uncommon: can you imagine how many Charizards have probably collided with aeroplanes?
Really, the graveyard as a whole is a stark scene:
This kid in a graveyard thinks dead people are “sleeping” and special Pokemon berries will bring them back. I’m not crying you are pic.twitter.com/KX2JjCAVnJ
— Tristan Cooper (@TristanACooper) November 19, 2016
The question of consciousness
By posing this question, this random NPC opens up a world of terrifying possibilities. Are Pokemon just data we’re transferring around? Does that data get destroyed and recreated whenever we put it in a PC? Can data really be “conscious?” This is some Matrix level shit that I’d rather not think about.
The potential domestic abuse
As fans understand it, this scene implies that someone was beaten with golf clubs. Thing is, this is Guzma’s old house — you know, the leader of Team Skull? I never felt animosity toward Team Skull; they’re pretty cool in my books. But a scene like this helps me understand where they’re coming from, too.
Actually, a lot of Team Skull members have quietly sad dialogue:
same pic.twitter.com/UBfa7N4XkO
— Patricia Hernandez (@xpatriciah) November 23, 2016
Bonus: the entire concept of Mimikyu, which is sad as hell.
Comments
3 responses to “Four Times Pokemon Sun And Moon Get Way Too Real”
in comment to the what happens to Pokemon that are turned into data and transferred, well, if MissingNo is ever introduced as an actual Pokemon I believe it would be the ghost of Pokemon who had their data corrupted during their transfer process. making it a ghost type and I guess Flying for the sake of that being it’s original type in Red and Blue.
Actually MissingNo’s was Normal/Bird not Normal/Flying :p
yeah but its not bird anymore and a ghost normal type would be rather boring? even if it hasn’t been done yet.
New gengers pokedex entry is pretty hardcore same with pollisand but serious hard to beat Yvetal for fked pokedex entry (when it’s life comes to a end, it absorbs the life force of every living thing and returns to its cacoon)