Pokemon GO-tta Have Heart: Here’s Y

Posted on August 29, 2016 Updated on August 30, 2016

“Because the friendship that you gave has taught me to brave, no matter where I go I’ll never find a better prize”

-Human League, Electric Dreams

Pokémon GO, the worldwide phenomenon that restored the former hype of the still-popular franchise it’s based on, is built on an amazing and interesting concept – augmented reality; bringing Pokémon in the real life, a bit of an oxymoron that works. Still, despite the innovation Pokémon GO has brought to the franchise and in gaming as an industry, hardcore fans of the Pokemon main games shit on the game, especially those who’ve tried it. Some because they blindly don’t like the game itself, some because of anti-mainstream (yet ironically) elitism-driven hatred, and some because the people who are now joining the bandwagon were mocking them a few months before the app’s release.  But aside from those three, there is another reason why this unique Pokémon game got its fair share of detractors, and a lot of them are probably even among the 15 million former users of the app. And what would that be? The seeming soullessness of the game.

Gimmick-wise, Pokémon GO lets you do what no other Pokémon game has ever done before: “see” and catch Pokémon in the real world; encourage you to do a bit (or a lot) of going outside your house to catch more and rarer Pokémon; join a team, capture gyms for your team’s glory, and give people from other teams who dare take your gym from you a righteous beatdown – until you lose and get your gym taken over by another trainer. The problem, however, is that these features that make Pokémon GO unique have rendered the eponymous creatures that serve as the franchise’s core as mere inanimate tools that players just collect and pit against each other.

Well, technically, Pokémon were never alive in the first place. But in Pokémon lovers’ hearts and minds, they live. And like all living things, they grow – they level up and evolve. This is still just as true in Pokémon GO, as players can make their Pokémon stronger by feeding them candies. But just because they can doesn’t mean they will, as they hardly have any incentive to make their Pokémon more powerful, thanks to the system being designed, on purpose or otherwise, to make trainers opt to catch stronger Pokémon rather than raise the combat points of the Pokémon they have already caught – especially the starters, as trainers in the core games rely on them the most.

Because of this, the game fails to bring into the game one of the most important themes in the franchise: unlocking the full potential of Pokémon through hard work and training. In addition, it makes it seem as if Pokémon are replaceable things, and that the deciding factor to leave – or at least ignore – some Pokémon over others is because of power. Then again, the same thing can happen in the core games, but at least they don’t lock you with switching with a more powerful Pokémon as the only option, unlike in GO. A Pokémon game that doesn’t encourage sticking with them and helping them grow isn’t much of a Pokémon game, or at least one that is devoid of love. I mean, think about it; Pokémon are supposed to be hyper-powered pets, and to ditch one over another all because of greater power is cold, to say the least.

I’ve been a fan of the Pokémon anime since I was ten, and have been playing the core games – all gens according to franchise history, gens 3 to 6 according to game release – since I was seventeen. The seven-year gap was due to us being broke as a kid, as I only had access to a PC and therefore an emulator later on, and only had a secondhand 3DS as an adult. And each and every one of those games have been a journey and experience.  Both me and my Pokémon struggled, trained, fought, evolved, explored the world and its mysteries, and had our strengths and friendships grow. The games have NPCs that tell you how your Pokémon feel about you, so I know this much is true, and moreso in Pokémon X/Y. And mine, specifically, is Pokemon Y.

If Pokémon GO is the ticket of the dead versions of the namesake creatures into the real world, Pokémon X/Y, on the other hand, is a ticket to the Pokémon world, which, for the first time, is finally in vibrant 3D, has vibrant 3D Pokémon and Pokémon battles, and much-improved Pokémon movement and attack animations and effects. And most importantly, in relation to this current discussion about Pokémon-trainer bonding in the games, X/Y is a massive improvement over the previous gens, as the game has a Poke-Amie feature where you can play and feed your Pokémon like they’re Tamagotchi, and Pokémon are no longer too shy to make their affections towards their trainers felt. You can see them react joyfully after they play a game or get fed with a Poke-puff, and you can see how much they like you through the five-tier heart gauge in Poke-Amie.

And the best part? It manifests in battle. If your Pokémon’s heart gauge is a full five hearts, it can dodge attacks, land critical hits (or at least wish that it did), and even sometimes survive supposedly fatal blows, all because it loves you. Never has the power of love and friendship been translated into any core Pokémon game before, and it has been done so near-perfectly and awesomely to the point that it’s game-changing. Rightfully so; this is, after all, love, an extraordinary phenomenon that unlocks impossibilities. Simply put, it lets people and Pokémon pull of amazing feats, even miracles – that is the highest expression of the bond between Pokémon and trainer. DatBoiKage (Greninja), Sylveon, and Charot (Charizard), as well as the many other Pokemon I’ve trained over the course of 85 hours can do all those things because they love me, and they do so because I loved them first, love them now, and will love them forever, even if I lose my 3DS and game cartridge. I have to admit though, these three are my favorites; yes that’s favoritism, but hey, it’s still worse than GO players’ way of treating Pokemon. Anyway, the point is that anyone can throw a Pokeball and make the captured Pokémon fight for them, but not everyone –and not every game, even if it’s Pokémon – has the heart to help a Pokémon come into his or her fullness, both in its capabilities to fight and to love. Yes, I’m looking at you, Pokémon GO.

Nevertheless, I have to give credit to where it’s due: Pokémon GO is an amazing and important advancement of augmented reality, smartphone gaming or even gaming in general, and the Pokemon franchise. But without the heart that has been pumping in the core games, or with how the game is set up, then it’s never going to be Pokemon enough. So even though I don’t play the game, and despite my straight-up comparing of X/Y with it and portraying the former as superior, I don’t hate it or its players want it to be that; I want it to be able to truly carry the name. After all, it’s the most played Pokemon game…ever. And because of its achievement and reach, I want it to succeed and have a heart, so that everyone can not only find Pokemon in the real world, but also and more importantly, learn love from them.

For it is love, not candies, that is the true source of strength of both people and Pokemon.