Pokemon: A Game of Many Generations

Jessica Boyd ENC 1101 December 6, 2011

Pokemon: The Game of Many Generations Thesis: Pokemon is a game franchise that has evolved over a series of generations, it requires strategy, and has made its way through the years. I. Pokemon in general A. Pokemon definition B. Pokemon origins C. Inner workings of pokemon II. The pokemon games have changed over the years A. The number of pokemon B. The shift from natural to industrial C. Change in graphics and easier to manage controls D. The ability to customize III. Strategy of the game A. Introduction to EV and IV B. Putting together a party C. Natures IV. Pokemon Controversy A. Satanism B. Racism

C. Animal Cruelty V. Conclusions

Pokemon: A Game of Many Generations Gotta catch them all! is a phrase that many of us as children have heard over the years through the wonderful and mysterious game of pokemon. Some continue to play the games today while others consider it to be nothing more than silly movements on a screen. In reality though, pokemon is a game that has changed drastically over the years as our world has evolved, it allows the player to formulate numerous strategies to defeat the game, and has overcome many obstacles. It is a game that is actually quite complex and difficult to master. Pokemon is the abbreviation for Pocket Monster as stated by the publisher of pokemon from Nintendo. It is a role playing game(RPG) in which the player has to form a team of creatures known as pokemon that are found throughout the game and train them in order to defeat other trainers, such as the gym leaders and elite four as well as a few bad people like team rocket, that stand in your way. The pokemon games originated in Japan and were later brought to the US after their mass success. It is a game that will continue to be made and played for many different generations. As the years have gone by the pokemon games have changed with our world. Starting with what is known as the First Generation. The first games were created in Japan and were Red and Green on February 27, 1996. Green was never brought to the US and in its place was instead Blue which released in the US along with Red on September 30, 1998, but was created in Japan on October 10, 1996. A special edition of these games known as Pokemon Yellow followed more of the animations plot having pickachu being your starter and having all of the main characters of the animation in the game. In pokemon yellow your pickahu could walk behind and had better animations in the game than the previous ones. These games were all in black and white. There was also no way to determine genders of pokemon nor could you change the gender of your player whom was male. In these games there were

only 151 pokemon accessible within the game without any hacking and only 15 different types of pokemon, the types including Fire, Psychic, Water, Grass, Bug, Electric, Dragon, Flying, Normal, Poison, Ground, Fighting, Rock, Ghost, and Ice. There was very little focus on the green way of life in these games and mainly featured forms of industry such factories and steel mills. During the Second Generation the Games Gold and Silver were released on November 21, 1999 and on October 15, 2000 in the US and had an addition of 100 pokemon making the total amount of pokemon 251. It also had the new inclusion of special attack and special defense which were included as one stat just called special during the first generation. The types dark and steel were also added to the games. Pokemon Crystal was distributed on December 14, 2000 in Japan and on July 30, 2001 in the US and featured animated sprites. It was the first game to allow the player to choose to be either male or female and also gave genders to the pokemon allowing breeding. Crystal also featured time of day which was previously not featured in other games. Also, since this was during the time of the Game Boy Color all the games in the Second Generation and up were in color. The games in this generation focused mainly on nature and how disturbing it can have consequences. The Third Generation started with the release of Ruby and Sapphire which were released in Japan on November 21, 2002 and March 17, 2003 in the US and added 135 pokemon to the Pokemon World making the pokemon total now 386. It was also the first generation to feature abilities. Nintendo then released Firered and Leafgreen which were the first ever remakes of any of the pokemon games and were released on January 29, 2004 and on September 9, 2004 in the US. These games introduced the concept of wireless interaction between players and gave players access to pokemon from previous generations that were inaccessible in Ruby and Sapphire. Pokemon Emerald was released on September 16, 2004 in Japan and on May 1, 2005 in the US and brought back the animated sprite concept from Crystal. These games featured some greener ways of life such as wind turbines, and were also focused on keeping the balance between nature and

technology. With the release of the Nintendo DS Generation 4 started with the release of Pokemon Diamond and Pearl which were released on September 28, 2006 in Japan and April 22, 2007 in the US. The new games introduced 107 new pokemon and the Global Trade Station (GTS) was created to help establish a battling and trading range that relied on wifi, this allowed players to interact throughout the world. The day and night time feature in Crystal was brought back from Crystal and since the Fourth Generation games are compatible with all past generations players could transfer other pokemon to use in their new games. This series was openly praised for its better story line than that of past games. Pokemon Platinum was released in Japan on September 13, 2008 and in the US on March 22, 2009 in order to fix the flaws in Diamond and Pearl. There were also two more remakes in this generation which were HeartGold and SoulSilver both being released in Japan on September 12, 2009 and on March 14, 2010 in the US. These games brought back the feature of allowing your first pokemon to walk behind you during game play like the Pikachu in Pokemon Yellow during the First Generation. This game also featured two regions for the player to explore, having the player collect sixteen badges by defeating the gymleaders rather than the standard eight. HeartGold and SoulSilver also came with a device known as a pokewalker which allowed players to take their favorite pokemon with them as they went about their daily lives. This generation had a much greener outlook featuring wind turbines as well as solar and hydro powered cities, but also showed some mining for coal. The Fifth Generation Black and White was released on September 18, 2010 in Japan and on March 6, 2011 in the US and introduced the players to 156 new pokemon making the total amount of pokemon in the pokemon world 649! This generation features completely 3D cities and bridges and is also the first generation to feature season changes as well as daytime mechanics. This generation is also the first to have the pokemon moving continuously while in battle. The main focus behind this game was the concept of Yin and Yang. There were some evidence of solar powered energy in the game and it showed the differences between industry and

nature; Pokemon Black being the embodiment of industry was full of factories and had less forests and pokemon, and Pokemon White being the embodiment of nature had more pokemon and forests in the game. There was also some hint of how animals and nature should be treated. The bad guys in this series are known as Team Plasma and are stealing pokemon from their trainers to prevent the pokemon being harmed and misused, wishing to create a world where pokemon and humans live together as equals. This generation is also focused on the thin line between dream and reality; this can be most seen through the use of what is known as the dream world. To access the dream world Players must have their pokemon fall asleep and then enter the pokemons dream to discover pokemon that were previously unobtainable within the game and can even know different moves and abilities than normal pokemon. The pokemon that you find in the dream world and befriend are then later transferred to their game for their use. This shows how sometimes dreams can become reality. Through the Third and Fifth Generation players gain the ability to customize their screens by choosing borders that go around the players speech bubble from a select few that were programmed into the games. The Fourth and Fifth Generations allow players to change the bottom part of the Nintendo DS as well through in and outside of game events. (http://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/History_of_Pok%C3%A9mon) The key to winning any game is to have a good strategy. With the introduction of Effort Values(EV), Individual Values(IV), natures and abilities, it became apparent that though the pokemon may look the same they are not. Effort values are points that are added to the pokemons stats every time it defeats another pokemon in battle. When different pokemon are defeated different stats are affected, such as when an Abra is defeated one point is added to the winners Special Attack stat, meaning that if the player wanted a pokemon with a high defense they would battle pokemon that give off effort points for defense. However, the pokemon must battle four Abras to gain that point and some

pokemon give more than one point. A pokemon can have a total of 510 EVs and a maximum of 252 EVs in one stat.(http://www.serebii.net/games/evs.shtml) A pokemon that is both powerful and fast is often called a sweeper and has 252 EVs in Attack or Special Attack (depending on its specialty), 252 EVs in Speed, and 4 EVs in Health Points (HP). A pokemon that has high Defense and/or Special Defense is called a tank; it is capable of taking more hits than a non-EV trained pokemon and is placed in a team to withstand sweepers. Tanks typically have 252 EVs in Defense, 252 EVs in Special Defense and 4 in HP or have 252 EVs, 252 Defense or Special Defense and 4 in a remaining stat. Another type of pokemon used in competitive battle is known as an annoyer. An annoyer has the same EV setup as a tank, but has a moveset that is full of attacks that have long term affects and ultimately aggravate their opponent, such as the move Toxic that poisons the other pokemon doing constant damage until the pokemon either faints or is switched out. For players it is good to have sweepers, tanks, and annoyers in their party, limited to six pokemon, to ensure that they ready for anything. (http://strategywiki.org/wiki/Pok%C3%A9mon/Competitive_battling/Making_a_Team) Having different types of pokemon in their team is also important, if all they have is dark types then they are at risk of being highly susceptible to fighting types, which are super effective on dark types, it is good to be balanced. Players should also memorize which types are effective on what; for example, water is super effective on fire. Another factor that makes some pokemon more powerful than others and is important when forming a team is the concept of Individual Values (IV). IVs are equivalent to a pokemons genes and are different for every individual pokemon. They are the points that are added to the base stats of a pokemon as soon as it is generated by the game, this explains why two of the same pokemon at the same level, such as two level five Charmanders, can have different stats. IVs determine the gender of pokemon when hatching and whether or not the pokemon will be shiny (which means to be a different color than normal pokemon such as, a normal Vaporeon is blue and a shiny one is pink). It also,

determines the power level of the move called Hidden power and what type it will be. The most an IV can be in one stat is 35 and the values are generated randomly within the game, meaning that players have no control over it. Natures also play a part in pokemon stats as they can decrease and increase certain stats. For example, a pokemon that has a quiet nature has increased Special Attack, but lowered Speed. All of these factors must be considered when forming a good team and though it may take time, it is worth the effort. (http://www.serebii.net/games/ivs.shtml) Overtime pokemon has run into many different controversies, ranging from claims of satanic influence to racism and even animal cruelty. One of the main attackers of the pokemon franchise is some Christian religious groups. They claim that pokemon has satanic influences and encourages kids to take part in witchcraft. They basically believe that the pokemon are creatures from dark realms and that as their master, players tap into the dark spiritual powers to make their pokemon stronger. They also, say that it causes kids to act out violently and out of character. The main issue with Christianity is that some of the pokemon evolve to stronger forms and seeing as the concept of evolution is not accepted by the Christian religion, it is no wonder that it is frowned upon and banned by many churches. (http://www.cephas-library.com/save_our_children_pokemon_booklet.html) Another major controversy is those that declare that pokemon is being racist. An example of this was when pokemon had to change the coloration of Jynx, a humanoid pokemon, from black to purple because people complained that the pokemon company was making fun of African American women. Another example is of the gym leader Lenora, who originally wore an apron in the Japanese version, but had the apron removed after people thought that it would be taken as a reference to slavery. Many Animal Cruelty Protestors have also joined the attack on the Pokemon game and have attempted to have it banned numerous times. Protestors claim that pokemon battles resemble cockfights.

(http://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Pok%C3%A9mon_controversy)What most of these people are forgetting is that pokemon is indeed just a game. There are no subliminal messages saying to worship Satan or anything of the sort; it just pure, wholesome fun and nothing more. The game does not make the person. In conclusion, pokemon is one of the most widespread games in the world and has changed as the world has. It requires players to not only strategize, but memorize every aspect of the game and although it has caused many controversies it will always remain in the world. Pokemon is simply enjoyable to play and makes a great past time for both young and old.