Pokemon Se7en - Currently on hiatus

[NickCrash]

I need Cepheus to guess on this one: what type of pokemon would a gym leader, part time professor, use ?

[Cepheus]

I need Cepheus to guess on this one: what type of pokemon would a gym leader, part time professor, use ?

well... Professors are studying multiple types... but somehow I doubt that we will be seeing a Gen.2 Veridian City Gym here (with Blue as a leader having no special type)...

actually I would say the type most fitting for a Pokemon Professor is -> Normal!

just BECAUSE they don't favor a specific type... they are just normal... and with the amount of Normal-Dual Types that are emerging... I would suggest that THIS games professor, who happens to be a Gym-Leader, uses Normal-Dual-Types

[Tomas Elliot]

well... Professors are studying multiple types... but somehow I doubt that we will be seeing a Gen.2 Veridian City Gym here (with Blue as a leader having no special type)...

actually I would say the type most fitting for a Pokemon Professor is -> Normal!

just BECAUSE they don't favor a specific type... they are just normal... and with the amount of Normal-Dual Types that are emerging... I would suggest that THIS games professor, who happens to be a Gym-Leader, uses Normal-Dual-Types

As usual, Cepheus Logic does not disappoint. Of course I cannot and will not tell you if you got it right, but I applaud your reasoning. Although, it is going to be a long way before any of you can find out...

[NickCrash]

These were my thoughts as well, and seeing her character makes me drop the other possibilities I had in mind, which were Dragon and Steel.

Dragon because it resists all types of pokemon she so easily gives us, but that would require a fervent personality she lacks

Steel because of her deep connection to machinery and the mere fact that the dual-typed steel pokemon probably have the best potential to counter any threat. Being a pokemon professor means she has conducted research on the matter and probably reached the most logical result. May need personal characteristics similar to Flobot's to accomplish something similar, but is a guess worth mentioning.

[Tomas Elliot]

Remember Huk is the one writing the dialogues. Don't you think that a plucky scientist is something he would do?

[zimvader42]

So, it's been a while since the last time we announced a pokémon, and given we're all in the middle of exam season amirite? we thought this was the best time to put up another mon as the rest of the week is pretty busy. So this time I bring you something that Gamefreak has denied me for the longest time, a dolphin pokémon:

This is Calfin. It's a dolphin. A psychic dolphin, to be precise. This WATER/PSYCHIC mammal is my response to Nintendo's never explained lack of a canon dolphin pokémon (and no, don't bring gorebyss up pls). Although we had to wait 6 generations for an actual lion pokémon, so yeah, who knows...

Anyways, Calfin has the abilities swift swim and inner focus. The first allows it to work as a rain sweeper, and the second, well, allows it not to flinch. One way or another, this is a very reliable candidate for the water and/or psychic slot of a team, as both are very good STABs to have. Also, dolphins are known to be like, super intelligent and stuff, so you might want to keep one around. And nickname it Flipper.

[Fumble]

Anyways, Calfin has the abilities swift swim and inner focus. The first allows it to work as a rain sweeper, and the second, well, allows it not to flinch. One way or another, this is a very reliable candidate for the water and/or psychic slot of a team, as both are very good STABs to have. Also, dolphins are known to be like, super intelligent and stuff, so you might want to keep one around. And nickname it Flipper.

>Flipper

pls

[Tomas Elliot]

I should point out that, in Graterras' metagame, Inner Focus is actually going to be more useful than Swift Swim, because we are crazy like that.

[Ice Cream Sand Witch]

Yay, a dolphin

@lions: I thought Luxray was one.

[zimvader42]

@lions: I thought Luxray was one.

I knew this was going to be brought up XD.

Luxray is actually closer to a lynx in design and origin than to a lion in the strict sense.

[Ice Cream Sand Witch]

I knew this was going to be brought up XD.

Luxray is actually closer to a lynx in design and origin than to a lion in the strict sense.

Oh, ok. I actually completely forgot lynxes existed x . x

[Cepheus]

Also, dolphins are known to be like, super intelligent and stuff, so you might want to keep one around. And nickname it Flipper.

If Dolphins are so intelligent, why do they always get caught up in Tuna-fishing-nets??

anyway - I will not name it flipper... I will most likeley name it Mr. Cuddlefin or something like that

I'm interested in it's stat-distribution and move pool...

but since you said it could act as a Rain-SWEEPER - I would say it is relativeley high-speed, high Sp.Atk.

[Fumble]

inb4 it's actually physically oriented

[zimvader42]

If Dolphins are so intelligent, why do they always get caught up in Tuna-fishing-nets??

Because tuna-fishing-nets are even more intelligent than dolphins. Iirc, they're the 2nd smarter beings on the planet, just after smartphones.

That aside, I'm not naming it flipper either lol. Mine's name is gonna be called douglas adams rubberfish.

[AuthorReborn]

I was going to make a Hitchhiker's Guide joke, but zim beat me to it. Foiled again.

[Red_Chaos]

I NEED A HAT ZIMMMY

also i want to name my swimmy

inbeforeitknowsswift

[zimvader42]

I NEED A HAT ZIMMMY

It's christmas in dolphin town:

[Red_Chaos]

It's christmas in dolphin town:

yay

[Raindrop Valkyrie]

These were my thoughts as well, and seeing her character makes me drop the other possibilities I had in mind, which were Dragon and Steel.

Dragon because it resists all types of pokemon she so easily gives us, but that would require a fervent personality she lacks

Steel because of her deep connection to machinery and the mere fact that the dual-typed steel pokemon probably have the best potential to counter any threat. Being a pokemon professor means she has conducted research on the matter and probably reached the most logical result. May need personal characteristics similar to Flobot's to accomplish something similar, but is a guess worth mentioning.

I personally don't believe in the Type makes the Trainer. I don't think certain personalities are anymore drawn to too one type then another. I still feel it's just preference, so for the Gym Leaders maybe they will line up with commonalities in the other games, maybe they won't. it's entirely up to how I decide to right them. While I think the team etc can inform on a character's personality I also believe it doesn't have too and is not required. For this in particular, I'm not going to say anything other than it's probably not a type people will guess right off the bat. And, even if you did... I'm not spillin' the beans on it until it happens. Just keep in mind folks, I'm not holding myself to make their personalities match the type, it's not that some could be drawn parallels etc... but all of those are rather unintentional. And keep in mind it's possible to be flighty and a bit airheaded but still analytical. After all they could be a very Intuition based intellectual that makes strides and bounds by making spectacular leaps in logic without necessarily checking all their work first, and then rewinding to check. There's definitely researchers and people out there who do that. ((I would know it's how I operate. I'm a gut thinker and usually go with what my gut tells me rather than straight up logical fact all the time.)) if you think hard enough you can tie literally any personality to a type, because it's really that easy. It's just one's skill at writing tha would prevent it otherwise.

Example, I think Mary breaks the Mold for most Ghost type leaders and E4 member. To me she's pretty different. Her tone is a lot less serious and she's brimming with life and energy. She packs a wallop and is up in your face 24/7. She's a spunky piratey lass. Where as most Ghost Trainers... except maybe Agatha and Phoebe sorta fit that more subdued mold. ((yes even the one that's supposed to be an opera singer I believe.)),Phoebe's probably the closest, though I think everyone has always felt she was... weirdly out of place.

[NickCrash]

edit: sorry for the little fence of text, I got Hukuna'd ...

That's valid. However, certain types are connected to specific traits. If I were to present an example, I would not have a savage trainer/leader raise plants or meditate with psychic types. It is understood that the author decides how to connect the type to the leader's personality, but even so, that link needs to have some logic behind it. With high skill, almost any connection is do-able. That does not mean though, that one should over-extend themselves, pull rabbits out of magic hats, and try to make the weirdest combinations possible.

That said, the amount of things you learn about a character, and the deeper the knowledge you have about them, the more you can understand why they are affiliated with certain types. Yet again, I'll need to present Hardy's and Cain's examples from Reborn. Their personalities may or may not match the general traits of a type, but they are expressed in the way they see the world, and how they act on it. Therefore, if one tries to present us with a leader whose persona does not allow you to guess the type straight away, he must show us the reasons behind this. The canon games are hated because the leaders have no active role in the story, i.e we do not learn anything about them; at least that's the case for most of them.

When it comes to Mary's case, I was fervent about her being the Water type leader, even if the only thing we had was her pirate theme. I was glad I was proven wrong about this one, and I'm expecting to know more about Mary as the story goes on, simply because her being ghost type, still does not "add" well. Some backstory or comments here and there about her motivation into choosing such a peculiar type is much needed in my honest opinion. Perhaps even a sidequest with her. The mood is set with the great abandoned ship but that's it. A ship could still be water, it hints towards it at least.

In conclusion, while one's type of preference is not necessarily bound to their character, it must be depicted somehow on the leader's behavioral patterns, speech patterns or quirks, in order to have a form of justification. This is supposed to be a world in which pokemon are real and people's lives revolve around them. One does not choose a type "just because". I do not disapprove on Mary's having an unusual type compared to her personality, I am merely expressing my hope for more backstory on how she got to choose said type, and how that becomes a part of her life.

[Tomas Elliot]

What Hukuna meant to say is that yes, each character has an aspect of his/her personality that ties in with his/her choice of type to specialize in. Only, said aspect is not taken from the usual portfolio of recurring stereotypes you will find in most Pokemon games.

The Ghost E4 in B/W is a writer who loves the occult: that is her motivation for using the Ghost type. And as far as I am concerned, that is the only non-stereotypical Ghost user you will find in any Pokemon game: death, supernatural and/or generic gloominess are usually associated with the type, from Morty in GSC to the Hex Lover class in X/Y, and even including Shade from Reborn. That, in my opinion, is lazy writing: research of tradition, passion for myths and legends, and in general anything dealing with the past can also tie in with the Ghost type, albeit in subtler, less obvious ways.

Mary's reason for using the Ghost type is simply the fact that she is a pirate wannabe. There is literally nothing more to it. This might make no sense to someone who only knows pirates from fiction but well, for a true pirate wannabe, piracy would be more easily associated with the Ghost type than with the Water type. And I should know, being a pirate wannabe myself.

I used to love researching the history of piracy as a kid, I used to read all the history books on the matter I could get my hands on, and I poured all the results of those researches in the creation of Mary, whose namesake really did exist during the so-called "Golden Age of Piracy".

And never did I doubt, since early days of creation, that she would use the Ghost type: do you know why there are so many myths concerning pirates? Davy Jones, the Kraken, sightings of haunted ships, treasures being cursed, and all the other stuff that you can find in modern fiction (like the series of movies starring Johnny Depp): do you know why all those legends exist in the first place? I'll tell you: it's because pirates were EXTREMELY superstitious people. Most of those legends were invented by pirates themselves, partly because they wanted to make sure people would really be scared of them, and partly because they themselves did believe in such superstitions. When you spend most of your life on a ship, you learn of just how many ways there are to die prematurely: if you survive the illnesses and the tempests, you will soon be involved in shootings against the marine. And of course, when a premature death becomes a very real possibility, you start making up myths and legends to try and exorcise the fear.

Pirates used to tell ghost stories of all kinds, and to invent some themselves on top of that, simply because, by talking about unrealistic, supernatural fears, they could forget for a moment the very realistic and natural fears they had to face every day. In short: it's better to talk about Davy Jones, than about how tomorrow your ship could be captured by the marine, resulting in you getting hanged.

So yeah, as a person who values the traditions of her town (it WAS founded by pirates, after all) and loves to research the history of piracy, Mary has become superstitious herself, hence why she uses the Ghost type. Heck since we are talking about myths concerning piracy: there was also a myth concerning a city founded by pirates somewhere in the caribbeans. Supposedly, this city was a true paradise for pirates, a place where they could kick back and enjoy the fruits of their adventures at sea: the name of this city was "La Tortuga", which means "The Turtle" in Spanish. Now, guess what "Kelon" means in Greek...

[Ice Cream Sand Witch]

The Ghost E4 in B/W is a writer who loves the occult: that is her motivation for using the Ghost type. And as far as I am concerned, that is the only non-stereotypical Ghost user you will find in any Pokemon game

Phoebe doesn't act stereotypically ghostish.

[Raindrop Valkyrie]

Where as most Ghost Trainers... except maybe Agatha and Phoebe sorta fit that more subdued mold. ((yes even the one that's supposed to be an opera singer I believe.)),Phoebe's probably the closest, though I think everyone has always felt she was... weirdly out of place.

Which I said. But let's not get too side-tracked. The point is, we got reasons for the trainers using what they use, however at the end of the day... one could simply use a type because they like it. There really doesn't need to be a justification. A lot of the justifications for why many Gym Leaders use certain stuff is more or less made up by the players later and not actually stated by the games. That or it's in different media ((which... in the anime things are known to be different so it's not like they wholesale apply.)) Basically, at the end of the day... it is what it is. I could justify it however I like and you could come up with your own ideas, but... it is what it is.

Like let's face it, there's only so much time we can give to each character... no matter what we write or plan for them to be about we can't just shove it all in there like a big sloppy mess. Some characters just won't be as seen, you won't get the crystal clear picture we tend to desire. It's just not interesting if you know exactly what ever character is about. SOmetimes there just needs to be those unanswered questions or the holes that are never filled when it comes to characters. Because we simply don't have time to flesh out every aspect of them. No matter how much I want to, and believe me... I do. We just can't. That goes for any narrative. There's just those that won't get days and days under the sun. If every character got the same exposure time, the narrative would be messy and all over the place. It's also... just not interesting. Coming out and just telling... just isn't very interesting. Leaving some room for the player's imagination is good. There's a reason fan theories and that stuff is so popular. People love that shit. They like to explore and learn and theorize about things they love and find intriguing. And sometimes, they'll come up with shit I would never think of as the writer. I may not have all the answers, but that's okay. No one ever will. As much as we think we know... us writers really don't sometimes, hell sometimes we get lucky and figure out the meaning later etc... and that's what's great about the writing and characters in general. The mystery just has so many ways to unfold when you don't have 100% of the answers why exactly they do and are. I think that's okay, and... more interesting that laying out all the facts 100%.

Maybe folks don't agree, but that's my personal philosophy and one I'll stand by til the end of times most likely.

[NickCrash]

I do believe we got a little side-tracked here. One could not argue against the methods people in peril use to boost their morale, by using their imagination. Not at all. In fact I approve of this method being used to tell a story, instead of shoving the truth on your subordinates' faces, crystal clear, raw, and... ugly. As Tomas said, that's what pirates did to pass the time as easily as possible for them. The Mediterranean sea was once a paradise for pirates. Rape, pillage, plunder, that was... every second Tuesday for them. Even so, with all the supersticion, they were humans at sea. They are, of course by no means, your everyday sailor, as they are much darker figures with no ethical bounds, ready to grab any possible chance to get their hands on treasure or just an easy living. That's why I even proposed, among others, the "treasure chest" pokemon when you still asked for submissions.

At the same time, people connect them to the sea, because that's their "workplace". Even if someone calls themselves an expert on pirates, that does not really have an impact on the vast majority of people who only know them by various commercial means. I mean, they were once the terror of the seas; furious sea-bandits who could not care less about your life. They are born at sea, they live in the sea, and they most likely die in it, if lucky. Modern pirates (and no I'm not talking about Pirate Bay and Internet Pirates) in the coasts of Somalia operate in a similar fashion, without the supersticion. But since you are taking things the ghosty way, Mary could always hint at it while drunk: an example: you mention your friend Catherine and Mary says while drunk "cats. black cats. I hate 'em, matey". Anyway, I'm not the one writing this and I agree with Huk that one cannot fit everything together without creating a cluster of information, that the player usually passes by, uninterested.

About turtles, while I never needed to search for what Kelon meant before you tried to connect it to the Tortuga (I mean tor-toise, tor-tuga, who saw that coming?) mostly due to origin, in terms of pronounciation it would go best as Khelon, or Chelon or even Helon. Kelon works as well, even if it does not let a native realise it right away.

[Tomas Elliot]

Are people still casting votes on the survey above? It would be nice if they could also post their detailed impressions