SPOILERS! Mysteries and Conspiracies of Pokemon

Something curious I just thought of: Is it possible that the line about him serving in a war was something the english localization made up? Did any of his original japanese dialogue have references to it?

Either way I am convinced that this so-called war Lt. Surge participated in will probably never be referenced ever again. Even in the original games it feels so off-handed and nonchalant despite how much of a bombshell it is in theory. Nothing in Surge's gym ties back into the soldier theme and no other NPC mentions a war of any kind or demonstrates it having any impact. Like obviously this is still a kid's game and they can't get too overly graphic about it, but I dunno maybe they could've had a Veteran's Association somewhere in Kanto, perhaps in Vermilion City? As R_N suggested more than anything this is probably a relic of a time where the devs were still toying with trying to set the series in something roughly adjacent to IRL Earth much in the vein of the whole "Indian Elephants" thing before they decided to move to their so called alternate Earth. One thing I don't see anyone bringing up is his BW2 dialogue where without the need to preserve the additional lines in some form for remake purposes they just totally remove all references to war entirely, even just as a saying
 
BP said:
I wonder how Insurance companies even function in the pokemon universe
Click to expand...
I would love for Pokemon to produce a long animation that's just of some guy working a mundane office job at Silph Co. None of the dramatic stuff from Oleana's episode of Twilight Wings. It's literally just 15 minutes of Joe Mediocre filling out paperwork, answering calls from clients, and having small talk with coworkers in the break room. For example, there could be a short sequence where a disgruntled Pokemart representative calls to ask why the shipment of Pokeballs they were expecting hasn't arrived yet, and then Joe would transfer them to the shipping department. It would incredibly dull, but the juxtaposition of "zany world of Pokemon" with "9 to 5 job in a cubicle" would be hilarious, at least for me.

EDIT: It could also show Joe's commute, which could include a full two minute scene of Joe stuck in traffic because of some Pokemon-related event. A little bit of that scene would show us what's causing the hold up, and then the rest of those two minutes would be one continuous shot of Joe sitting in his car, occasionally driving forward a bit.
 
Last edited:
Yung Dramps said:
Something curious I just thought of: Is it possible that the line about him serving in a war was something the english localization made up?
Click to expand...
It'd be odd if it was made up because Blaine's beta concept had him as an ex soldier as well
tumblr_pbmxnd5xwn1vw1ceco1_1280.png
 
Cobalt Empoleon said:
I mean the answer’s probably that private insurance doesn’t really exist and they just have really robust public institutions supported by Pokémon slave labour teamwork between humans and Pokémon.

People in the Pokémon games and anime generally aren’t that fazed by major property damage, so construction and repairs must be pretty straightforward and low-cost/heavily subsidised. Health insurance seems even less necessary based on what we know about medical care in the Pokémon universe, although the ‘rules’ for this are applied pretty inconsistently.
Click to expand...

Let's also not forget the Pokemon world has advance matter-to-energy (and vice versa) technology. It's most often seen with Poke Balls, the player's bag (nowadays whenever you take out the bike there's this flash of light; sure you can say gameplay segregation but I think having it stored in your backpack as a Pokemon is in a Poke Ball isn't out of the question), and teleporter tiles. And I think in either Pokemon Generations or Origins we saw that battlefields can be affixed with self-repairing technology. Though since we do see major construction work happen it's probably nothing on the scale of say, Star Trek, where they have the blueprints of buildings & structure on file that they can just replicate. And who knows, maybe Pokemon themselves are just somehow warping reality and matter around them but once the Pokemon is done battling the locations they were battling reverts to the way it was both seemingly repairing itself while also getting rid of any added elements the Pokemon pulled from the aether (stones, water, plantlife, etc.).

I also always imagined that, even though being a professional Pokemon trainer is a job, oddly you aren't paid for it aside the pocket change other trainers give you. Heck, some games have gone on to show Gym Leaders and similar trainers do need to have a second job/well paying hobby in addition to being a trainer. But with Pokemon Centers being free and items relating to Pokemon such as Poke Balls and medicine being relatively cheap hints that somewhere in the background there's probably some business, likely connected or is the Pokemon League, which is profiting immensely from Pokemon battles (most likely from selling merchandise) and it's likely also them who also provide funds for repair work relating to Pokemon.

DrPumpkinz said:
I would love for Pokemon to produce a long animation that's just of some guy working a mundane office job at Silph Co. None of the dramatic stuff from Oleana's episode of Twilight Wings. It's literally just 15 minutes of Joe Mediocre filling out paperwork, answering calls from clients, and having small talk with coworkers in the break room. For example, there could be a short sequence where a disgruntled Pokemart representative calls to ask why the shipment of Pokeballs they were expecting hasn't arrived yet, and then Joe would transfer them to the shipping department. It would incredibly dull, but the juxtaposition of "zany world of Pokemon" with "9 to 5 job in a cubicle" would be hilarious, at least for me.

EDIT: It could also show Joe's commute, which could include a full two minute scene of Joe stuck in traffic because of some Pokemon-related event. A little bit of that scene would show us what's causing the hold up, and then the rest of those two minutes would be one continuous shot of Joe sitting in his car, occasionally driving forward a bit.
Click to expand...

So you want a Pokemon version of either The Office or Dilbert?
 
Sonikku A said:
It'd be odd if it was made up because Blaine's beta concept had him as an ex soldier as well
tumblr_pbmxnd5xwn1vw1ceco1_1280.png
Click to expand...
Also he's clearly wearing army fatigues and there's another NPC in his gym who mentions serving in the war under Surge. The TCG even has a couple cards about it from the gen 1 days
150px-Secret-Mission.jpg

150px-Lt.-Surges-Treaty.jpg


And while not realted to surge specifically, Spaceworld 97 had a Soldier trainer class

I think the only thing the English side embellished was him specifically being a Lieutenant
 
I know the theory of Hoenn's abandoned ship being the S.S. Anne already existed, but I just stumbled across a very compelling piece of evidence for the theory (that had also already been found, but it's new to me).

In the museum in Slateport, there's a dude standing next to a model ship who says "I saw a model of a ship here. It reminded me of the ABANDONED SHIP near DEWFORD TOWN..."

The inscription under the model ship reads "S.S. ANNE: A replica of the luxury liner that circles the globe."
 
DrPumpkinz said:
I know the theory of Hoenn's abandoned ship being the S.S. Anne already existed, but I just stumbled across a very compelling piece of evidence for the theory (that had also already been found, but it's new to me).

In the museum in Slateport, there's a dude standing next to a model ship who says "I saw a model of a ship here. It reminded me of the ABANDONED SHIP near DEWFORD TOWN..."

The inscription under the model ship reads "S.S. ANNE: A replica of the luxury liner that circles the globe."
Click to expand...

But the ship is stated in-game to have be called the S.S. Cactus (Or just Cactus in the Japanese version since Japanese ship names don't start with S.S.)
 
Here's something strange. This is a paragraph from Midday Lycanroc's page on the old Sun and Moon website:
Lycanroc lives solo in mountains and deserts, not creating a pack. Each has its own territory, and they live without interfering with one another, which helps to avoid unnecessary fights.
Click to expand...

There is no mention of Midday Lycanroc being solitary in the Pokedex. However, there is a mention for Midnight Lycanroc, despite the old website not saying anything.
They live alone without forming packs. They will only listen to orders from Trainers who can draw out their true power.
Click to expand...

I wonder how much of the old website is still canon. Also, if someone can find the page for Dusk Lycanroc (if it ever existed) that would be appreciated. I'm curious what it says regarding this.
 
Worth mentioning that the dex never mentions Midday is a pack hunter. Any talk about hunting its prey is focused on itself.

The anime's "entry" on rockruff & lycanroc also mentions it grows more independent regardless of what it evolves into, for whatever its worth.


Is kind of funny how they made a wolf pokemon, probably one of the more iconic pack hunters, with 3 forms that all explicitly never form packs.
 
Random speculation: In-universe, Porygon was leaked in beta by Team Rocket.

We know they had access to Silph co's files (from their attempt to get a master ball), that the game corner was a front for Rocket, and that Porygon was ridiculously expensive. A lot of Porygon's dex entries say that it was still rigidly programmed and only had basic functions (interestingly, the Alola games make note of its age and USun refers to it as obsolete while SwSh does not, this may have some timeline implications). Porgyon is also unique in that it evolves twice via trade with an item, which could be taken as it 'expecting' the Up-grade more than other mons.
 
On today's episode of "speculation about Pokemon Z that may or may not have ever been in consideration"

1595865043684.png

Ash-Greninja is a relic of scrapped Mega Kalos starters

Like my bit about Magearna originally being a gen 6 mon this is kinda just fueled off of circumstantial evidence so I'll just give the bulletpoints on how I believe things went down

-Pokemon Z was in development with Mega Kalos starters being part of it
-Anime staff were planning to do an arc like we got with Ash-Gren where Ash learned how to control Mega Evolution by bonding with Greninja and fighting in sync with it and yadda yadda yadda, basically the same story beats as the final product but with that mechanic
-Pokemon Z fell through and with that Mega Kalos starters died with it
-Anime staff couldn't/didn't want to scrap the planned Mega Greninja arc so they tweaked the design to be Ash specific and made it a form unique to him separate from Mega Evolution

Two things worth noting in addition to all this is that 1. It's weird how Kalos starters never got to join in on the fun of their gen's special battle mechanic when the Alola starters got exclusive Z-Moves and the Galar starters got Gigantamax forms which themselves were not in the base game proving GF is willing to wait a bit to give the starters special things from their gen and 2. It's likewise odd how Ash never used Mega Evolution in XYZ when he got to use Z-Moves and Gigantamax in their respective anime seasons

The biggest hole in this theory is probably Lycanroc-Dusk, another Ash-exclusive Pokemon form totally separate from Z-Moves and the lore surrounding them. Then again with Ash-Gren being a pretty big hit maybe they figured it wouldn't hurt to try that approach again
 
iirc from interviews it turns out that the anime wanted to do a thing with Greninja and asked gamefreak to design a special form for it.

Which doesnt preclude the possibility of it being a reworked mega form on gamefreak's side of things, I suppose.



Interestingly they didn't say similar things about the Zygardes, afaik. But Zygarde was a 600 BST trio leader and obviously had more going on; it'd be strange if zygarde complete was an anime ask
 
DrPumpkinz said:
Here's something strange. This is a paragraph from Midday Lycanroc's page on the old Sun and Moon website:


There is no mention of Midday Lycanroc being solitary in the Pokedex. However, there is a mention for Midnight Lycanroc, despite the old website not saying anything.


I wonder how much of the old website is still canon. Also, if someone can find the page for Dusk Lycanroc (if it ever existed) that would be appreciated. I'm curious what it says regarding this.
Click to expand...
:lycanroc: Midday Form:
When Rockruff is bathed in profuse amounts of solar energy, it evolves into its Midday Form.​
Lycanroc lives solo in mountains and deserts, not creating a pack. Each has its own territory, and they live without interfering with one another, which helps to avoid unnecessary fights.​
Lycanroc obeys its Trainer’s orders dutifully. In particular, if a Trainer accepted it during its more rebellious pre-Evolution period, Lycanroc will never ever betray that Trainer and will be the most loyal of partners.​
The Midday Form Lycanroc is known for speedy movements that leave its opponents bewildered. It dodges opponents’ strikes while attacking with the sharp rocks of its mane as it slips right past them.​

:lycanroc-midnight: Midnight Form:
When Rockruff is bathed in an abundance of lunar energy, it evolves into its Midnight Form.​
Midnight Form Lycanroc provokes its opponents by pressing in hard and inviting their attack. When an opponent falls for this tactic and attacks, Lycanroc counters with its forte: a single devastating blow that finishes off its foe! The stronger its opponent is, the more excited for battle Lycanroc becomes. It doesn’t mind getting hurt if it means victory in battle. Battles thrill it so much that its eyes glow.​
Contempt rises in this Pokémon for Trainers who give orders it doesn’t agree with or who try to force it to battle. On the other hand, it will feel a deep trust in a Trainer who can truly draw forth its power in battle.​

:lycanroc-dusk: Dusk Form:
The colors of Dusk Form Lycanroc’s body and eyes differ from those of previously discovered Lycanroc, known as Midday Form and Midnight Form.​

... yep, that's all it had. D:
I saved backups of all of the official site flavor text some time ago, but it seems like Dusk had basically nothing.

EDIT: OH!!
This wasn't on the USUM site, but it's come to my attention that the Nintendo site had some flavor text for it when it was announced. Amendment:

:lycanroc-dusk: Dusk Form:
Dusk Form Lycanroc shares some of the aspects of Midday Form, such as a four-legged stance and obedience toward its trusted Trainer. But it’s also like Midnight Form—at the moment it attacks, its eyes turn red! Around its neck are four rocks like those of Midday Form, while the mane on its head matches that of Midnight Form.​
Little things don’t shake the tranquil demeanor of Dusk Form Lycanroc, but it has a well of intense fighting spirit hidden within, and as a result, it relishes combat at close quarters. It also tries to use Counter when battles get intense.​
 
Last edited:
Sonikku A said:
I'll give them credit. It's the first they actually had variants for the same trainer class, besides Male Female
Click to expand...
  1. Honey isn't technically a Beauty, but a Dojo Matron (super pedantic, but whatever)
  2. Sun and Moon had Young Athletes, which were Youngsters and Lasses holding baseball bats and tennis rackets, respectively
  3. Sun and Moon also had two entirely separate female Swimmer models
  4. Let's Go had red variants of several trainer classes that served as Master Trainers
  5. Especially in the sprite days, plenty of unique characters that are kinda-important-but-not-really (for example, most of the Pokemon Storage System developers) shared their looks with generic NPCs.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top