C – Criminals

A high level of nostalgia means that this year my chosen theme for the 2016 A to Z challenge is Pokemon. Whether you yourself have a similar level of sentimentality or you’ve never really gotten into it, I hope that you enjoy this month of posts as I indulge my nostalgia.

Criminals? In Pokemon? Never I might hear you cry. Except, there are, you just probably know them better as Teams. Like, for example, Team Rocket.

In every generation, in every game, there is a Team who is undertaking work to try and do something that might not be in the best interests of the world at large, but if probably a good thing for them.

• Red/Blue/Yellow also Fire Red/Leaf Green (Generation 1, Kanto Region) – Team Rocket
• Gold/Silver also Heart Gold/Soul Silver (Generation 2, Johto) – Team Rocket again
• Ruby/Sapphire also Omega Ruby/Alpha Sapphire (Generation 3, Hoenn) – Team Magma/Team Aqua (changes depending on the game)
• Diamond/Pearl – (Generation 4, Sinnoh) – Team Galactic
• Black/White also Black 2/White 2 (Generation 5, Unova) – Team Plasma
• X/Y (Generation 6, Kalos) – Team Flare

There are some more in the spin off games, but mostly these are the ones that you see, and in the anime it’s pretty much Team Rocket so you can always count on seeing the usual trio of Jessie, James and Meowth.

Team Rocket is also a bit special as their goals are more vague than the other teams. They want to make lots of money, capture rare Pokemon, and are generally just a bit mafia (or Yakuza) like. The other teams have a very set purpose, often involving the legendary Pokemon of the region, and can often invoke the feeling of a cult, for instance Team Galactic want to use the Lake Guardians to capture the legendary Pokemon (and get really close), whereas Team Plasma wish to separate out human and Pokemon from each other, as they believe that humans enslave Pokemon and that they would be much better off being completely wild.

Either way, they are definitely the antagonists, and as well as providing lots of battle opportunities for you, it feels good when you get through the story and get to defeat them and their boss and whatever plan that had. Because you know that whatever they hoped to do, it’s bad, and it’s certainly not in the world’s best interests.

 

Pokemon of the Day

C is for Charizard.

If you choose that starter Charmander, then Charizard is the final evolution that you will end up with. A huge flying, flaming, dragon like creature, it has a flame on the end of it’s tail like it’s two previous evolutions, and the more fighting and experience a Charizard gains, the hotter this burns.

The second most dragon like thing in the original 151, I mentioned that on my recently started play through of Red I had chosen Charmander. It’s not evolved this far yet, he’s still a Charmeleon at the moment, but when I do get him high enough level, it’s going to be awesome.

He’s got a mega evolution now, as do all three of the original final evolutions, and a second type, so he’s now Fire/Flying, and although this makes sense, I do wonder why he isn’t dragon type. Not that he doesn’t learn a couple of dragon moves, but still. He’s awesome either that. That, and in the anime Ash has a Charizard, but it evolves too quickly for him, and won’t ever listen to him and Ash has to work really hard to get him to trust and work with him, and I kind of like him for that portrayal of no, Pokemon don’t automatically like you as your trainer, you have to work at it.