#Shinto is our Spirit Pokémon

[funtimespringscare101]

@chaosverse-mainblog I've been thinking about my Hypno's Lullaby Phase (especially the Grey and Shinto content, like this) so I decided to draw the Silly Sibling Duo with new designs!

I missed drawing them

[flightyquinn]

I would like to present to you THE GRAND, UNIFIED POKÉMON CONSPIRACY THEORY™

The theory is quite simple. All of the inconsistencies in the Pokémon world can be explained if we approach with the idea that it isn't real.

Not in the sense that it's a game, but that in universe the "pokémon world" is made up. Their whole world is what conspiracy theorists call a "reset civilization" - a culture with a fictitious history to cover up the fact that it is built upon the remnants of a previous culture. In fact, the "Pokémon World" is really just a post-apocalyptic version of our own world. That's why Lt. Surge can be "The Lightning American", why older pokédex entries reference real-world animals, and why some pokémon's species can be things like "dog" or "mouse" at all when those creatures shouldn't exist to compare to.

Throughout the games, it's shown that pokémon can be artificially created, but what if they all were? The truth is that the "Great Pokémon War" was WWIII. Humanity was brought to the brink of extinction, and afterward, the survivors worked together to create a new, global culture that would never follow the same path. They took the bioweapon technology that had been used in the war, and they repurposed it to rebuild society. They engineered new pokémon with built-in safeguards and an inherent fondness for humans, so that despite all their power, even children would be safe with them.

Why is the mythology so inconsistent and conflicting? Simple. Different regions made whatever let them adapt their old beliefs. Arceus to appeal to Abrahamic faiths, local spirits like the Legendary Birds and Beasts for Shinto, the Tapus for Hawaii Alola, and so on...

We even see the remnants of post-apocalyptic raider gangs in the prevalence of "teams" throughout dissimilar regions.

Got any evidence to disprove this? Of course you do. It's a dumb theory on the internet. But it's fun to imagine, even if it definitely isn't canon in the slightest.

[shadowdarkee]

Speculative Pokémon Anime Worldbuilding: Regional Religions

(copying this from a post on SB in case anyone here is interested)

I'll note that before canon starts (whichever canon you choose) religiosity appears to be declining overall (note for instance that the Goldenrod Radio Tower is canonically built in the place of an old rickety Bell Tower that Ho-oh is said to have once roosted in -rather than renovating or rebuilding it). The events of canon (whichever one) probably shake things up but such phenomena generally take years or decades to settle into a new equilibrium, so I'll focus on what's probably true just beforehand. Let's start with Johto. It is highly traditional and what JediMasterDraco has said  appears to apply here significantly. The Legends/gods/deities/whatever of reverence in Johto are all observably personal/local deities. Ho-oh is revered for its actions in aiding the people of Johto, whether as a guardian or protector or healer. While Celebi is said to be protector/spirit of (all of?) the forests, its shrine in Ilex forest (and its other anime counterparts in other forests) is likely not dedicated to Celebi as Protector/spirit of (all of the?) forests but rather as protector/spirit of that forest in particular. This phenomenon is highly evident in Alto Mare. Lugia probably fit in here somehow maybe. 'Entei/Suicune/Raikou is to be revered by us because it comes from here and watches over our volcanoes/ lakes/storms'. Overall, think animism and heavy Shinto influence. Incidentally, this opens up the option of pokémon not generally regarded as 'Legendary' (Arcanine, anyone?) being revered in specific settlements because they happen to protect the area from threats. Contrast with Sinnoh, where the legendaries most revered are (mostly?) impersonal deities. The (somewhat) revered (and somewhat entirely forgotten, especially in DPPt game canons) foremost Creator is no longer around, having vanished millennia ago at latest. The most revered Legendaries, Dialga and Palkia, are revered for creating time and space regardless of the fact that they've fucked off and probably don't give a shit about you or your opinions about them. How the lake trio being regarded as mysterious entities by Dawn (and a rumor by Zoey) who lives nearby while the Red Chain and their locations are known to Cyrus fits in I don't know. I will continue to promote the headcanon that Cynthia is (or was) privately quite devout with regards to any of the above (and that necklace thing she wears has some religious significance of some kind) - only to experience a shift in her relationship with the latter after the events on Spear Pillar (most likely in the case of the lake trio, where they would become regarded (mutually) as well respected friends). With all the above Gen4 legendaries (and Mythical) proven to exist throughout the events of canon, there will probably be a shift here offscreen (Valor lakefront rollercoaster park with efforts by the locals to get Maylene to move her gym closer?) <edit: How the other Sinnoh legendaries fit in, I don't know. Will note here my old idea that Tobias is the son of a 'nightmare' priest from a village protected by a pod(?) of darkrai, and that he has some skill at interpreting bad dreams.> I'll note that, unless I'm forgetting something, Kyogre and Groudon are regarded as powerful forces of nature more than anything else and aren't actually worshiped or revered in Hoenn at all. Rayquaza is worshiped by some (most notably the Draconid people) but even that isn't certain to be a regionwide thing. I am tempted to suggest some level of Ancestor worship here. Kanto is highly technologically advanced and doesn't have much of anything -save for Pokémon Tower -suggesting anything beyond scientific reductionism. Given Pokémon Tower is the only sign of anything else, I'm tempted to say little of anything with bits of ancestor worship and elements shared from Johto. The Orange Archipelago apparently held Shamouti as their cultural/religious center. Overall here these are an island people who would worship the being keeping the surrounding ocean safe/calm. At the beginning of M2, the younger generation didn't take their traditions seriously. Afterwards, consider a slowly accelerating 180º shift to fully devout Lugia worship. (outside of the Genie trio and Meloetta) Unova would probably resemble American style Civic Religion more than anything. White party of Realists that continue to mourn the loss of Reshiram on the one hand, and Black party of idealists that continue to mourn the loss of Zekrom on the other. And then there are the filthy neutrals of the Grey Party who mourn the breaking of the original dragon. All of the above venerate the Two Brothers and the Original Dragon for uniting Unova from its former wartorn state as the region's founding fathers. There's a good reason why N having one of the dragons would allow him to rule the region, and its not just having the biggest stick. No idea about Kalos or Galar, and Alola is shown in canon. 

-----

As this may apply to characters in fan fiction, regional variants of religious statements of the form ’Baruch HaShem’/‘Thank God!’/etc we may see patterns as follows: 

In Johto, we're keeping the 'Thank/Praise Ho-oh' (or Celebi or the Legendary Gerbils or whoever is believed to protect the local settlement). These are beings believed to have an active role in the universe/protecting the people of Johto, and thus praised for contributing when things go well. There's probably reverence for the honored dead here as well (see: 'thank the ancestors' or something of that nature)....which still ties in with Ho-oh. Probably nothing related to the Unown unless the story is set in the Gold beta and you think that theory was right about them being the spirits of those in Hiroshima who were killed by the bomb. Kanto may hold some of the above due to cultural osmosis with its neighbor, but for the most part is probably not going to be making statements praising/thanking any Legendary (except maybe as vestigial cultural holdovers). If any statements about Mew are to be made, it would only be in the sense of being a hypothetical poké Mitochondrial Eve/Y-chromosomal Adam. In a related note, there may be some level of reverence for the dead. ('thank the spirits'?) The People of the Sea may make statements of "Praise Kyogre" or more likely "May this quicken the Prince's rebirth" or stuff of that nature. Orange Archipelago resesmbles Johto somewhat but with Ho-oh switched out for Lugia (and the titans?). Until M2, this would have become a vestigial cultural holdover for many young adults, but would then be adopted with extreme fervor over the course of the years to come. Hoenn is practically the same as Kanto in the 'not really saying things anything' front. Except for the Draconid People, who'll praise Rayquaza. In Sinnoh, you may have people saying "Praise Arceus/The Original One"/"Praise Dialga/Palkia" with regards to creating the universe, but probably not as any 'this went well, I have to thank the deities that helped' sense (or at least the Dragons who can be assumed not to give a shit, whether Arceus has helped since it vanished millennia ago is up for debate among the religious). With regards to personal successes (that is, triumph of human spirit, rather than 'Acts of God'), "Thank the Three"/"Thank the Spirits"(or whatever the lake trio are called in-universe)/"Thank the Being of X" (in the case where it applies to one of the three specifically) may be more common, though not homogeneously distributed among the region (and possibly somewhat vestigial in some places). This too starts becoming more common following their canon appearances in Gen IV. (though in game canon this may be tempered somewhat for Arceus by being first seen popping out of some kid's Pokéball or following a kid around near the Ruins of Alph). That said, the priests we saw in M18 may exist here, so 'Praise Arceus' may be more prominent than I thought (unless that was an offscreen religious revival resulting from Gen IV as well). Unova may make statements or "Thank Landorus" when there is good weather. More commonly, you may see people (more commonly among intellectuals/thinkers/activists/etc) making statements praising others with "Zekrom/Reshiram would approve [if still around today]" or something of that nature.

No idea about Kalos, or Galar. Alola is as in canon or like Johto (replace with ‘The Tapu’ or Tapu X as necessary).

[wendell-or-something]

I wanna talk about themes in the early parts of the pokémon anime.

because like... for a really simple kids show that was clearly meant to familiarize us with a bunch of collectible characters, the early show has a surprising amount of poignant through lines in its narratives. like, yeah, they're mostly bite sized little one-off stories, but they're all cohesively linked in terms of their ideas.

the way I see it, early pokémon has a lot of themes of deviance, rehabilitation/reconciliation, and environmentalism... and they're all kind of tied to each other. and it all starts with Ash. a lot of people will observe, in retrospect, that Ash was never technically a very adept trainer. his team was often weak, not well balanced, didn't get a lot of practice battling, etc... but that's because Ash is a bit of an oddball himself, and while winning whatever tournament features in that season is Ash's stated goal, that's more about giving the show some semblance of plot structure... it's not actually what's most important to him.

Ash's first appearance in the show compares him to Gary, who is kind of the archetypal successful trainer in the making. where Ash arrives late to professor Oak's lab, Gary is on time. Gary's grandpa is a pokémon professor, which gives him a potential edge in terms of basic knowledge. Gary gets charmander, the "cool" choice... Ash gets literally not even a recommended starter. a leftover pokémon. it's either that or nothing, and it hates him and is hard to work with. but like... the reason Ash was late was because he was so genuinely excited to do this that he couldn't sleep the night before, and that genuine emotion never lets up.

at the start of his journey, Ash initially befriends pikachu by saving it. Ash saving a pokémon and gaining its trust as a result is a repeated element in a lot of episodes, and this is used to drive home the point that one of Ash's core qualities is a willingness to make sacrifices for the good of others. he can be selfish in small mundane ways, as many children are, but when the chips are down, this is always what he chooses to do.

this actually makes some pretty clear sense of the fact that Ash isn't a very good pokémon trainer in terms of battling ability. Ash's ability to battle well is secondary to his care for the pokémon he takes in. and if one of those goals is ever antithetical to the other, he always goes personal over strategic. its one of the things he sacrifices. and this is part of why Ash lets so many of his pokémon go eventually. in a meta sense, it's because the show needs a reason to keep rotating out Ash's team and letting the viewer get personally attached to new and different pokémon, but in the show, Ash often acts as a bridge between one era of a pokémon's life and another. he takes them in, sometimes when no one else would, helps them grow, and then sends them on their way when it's best for them... when he has nothing more to give them, or they'd be happier somewhere else. when its a choice between their well being and his own, Ash chooses them.

and of course, this idea extends, in some ways, to Misty and Brock as well... they each have a particular pokémon type that they're sentimentally attached to, and they stand by their choice of pokémon, regardless of type effectiveness, simply because they like them. in a meta sense, this mirrors how young children probably interacted with their pokémon games... before kids know enough to pick a favorite based on strategy, they usually choose a favorite based on which one makes them happiest to see on screen the most often. Misty's starry-eyed love of water pokémon because they're cute feels really true to the spirit of pokémon.

and themes of deviation and reconciliation all feed into the idea of environmentalism that the show promotes. because when nature and humanity clash, they each consider each other deviant by their own standards, and have to learn to harmonize somehow. whenever episodes aren't focused on battling (and they often aren't) the plot of the episode usually revolves around how humans interact with the pokémon they live with day to day. mostly it's either Ash and his friends learning about how a town successfully lives alongside their local pokémon population, or Ash and his friends resolving a conflict by finding a way for a town to coexist peacefully with their local pokémon population. in most cases, the show comes down heavily on the side of nature being right to exist the way that it does, and humans needing to learn to adapt their lifestyle to nature's needs. the more peaceful episodes simply showcase the kinds of successful adaptations that people have made to accommodate nature... and in spite of this, or in many cases because of it, the technology in pokémon is actually portrayed as really advanced. the fact that wildlife is so hugely important to the culture of the pokémon world, and nature is thriving everywhere you look, points to the idea that technology's advancement simply can't or shouldn't be done if it harms the natural world. because of the way that the study of pokémon is prioritized (you are welcomed to each new journey by a pokémon professor) a lot of technology advances due to the results of studying pokémon, or in order to facilitate the study of pokémon. at the very least, the show posits that it is possible for technological growth to occur while the natural world remains unharmed.

pokémon actually does something really special here, by making the pokémon themselves totally flexible in how human or animalistic they act. sometimes they're a force of nature, like the episode where the presence of a bunch of diglett prevents a tunnel from being dug through their habitat, or sometimes they're domesticated, like the episode where Ash and his friends meet a girl who herds mareep. and sometimes their stories would work just as well as an arc for a human character. as Ash goes along on his journey, he collects a bulbasaur, a squirtle, and a charmander, which each have stories of their own, and all of them are pretty universally relatable.

these stories even get so detailed that you can get an implied sense of each pokémon's age from what they're going through. when Ash meets his bulbasaur, it seems like its basically an adult. its already been a leader of its community for a while, and Ash gains its loyalty by displaying that he has similar values when it comes to caring for others. you can kind of assume that bulbasaur is older because of its position of responsibility, and the way others treat it with deference. seeing bulbasaur as older is actually really interesting, because it went through a whole episode where its instincts were telling it to evolve, but it didn't want to, and actively chose not to. I'd take this to be indicative of the importance of personal choice when it comes to identity, and as an added bonus, it communicates that being sure of who you are is a better indicator of maturity than physical appearance alone.

contrast this with Ash's charmander, who Ash obtained after its trainer abandoned it, and it nearly died. to me, charmander always came off as very young, no matter what stage of evolution it was in. and while the love Ash gave it was always valuable, it was never more needed than when charizard was going through that really petulant phase. honestly, charizard's story is really where the themes of deviance and rehabilitation come out stronger than ever, because this arc is sustained the longest and requires the most patience of Ash. charizard reads as someone who went through trauma at a young age, and hasn't felt truly secure since. the need to come off as powerful and intimidating as fast as possible comes from that insecurity, and a lot of its fickle behavior feels like its proving that it can always choose to do whatever it wants, no matter the circumstances. it really is a pride thing, and I think that comes from the fact that its pride was damaged by its initial abandonment and need for aid. Ash has a rehabilitative effect on charizard because he continuously validates the idea that charizard is powerful and capable. even if charizard chooses to squander opportunities to be helpful, Ash doesn't stop giving it those opportunities... even if it is out of necessity. and Ash never abandons charizard. charizard only leaves Ash when it is actually beneficial to charizard for it to go, and charizard makes this decision on its own.

in this way, pokémon creates a wide range of plausible behavior for its non-human characters, and leaves the creatures in its world in a weird area of ambiguity when it comes to their interactions with people. some pokémon are totally wild, and act like wild animals, while others are fully integrated into human society... you never question that the wild ones could be a danger to random travelers, and you never question that the ones that live in society can understand you on a level equivalent to human understanding. the real genius of this is that it displays, in no uncertain terms, that human beings are not that far off from nature. we are animals, we came from the natural world, and the dichotomy between humanity and nature is a false one. pokémon, as creatures that the human characters live with and care about, bridge the gap between humans and nature... not just in terms of narrative placement, but in terms of their environmental niche. they can slot into human society or the wild outdoor scenery, and feel at home in either place. it actually reminds me a little of shinto beliefs about our surroundings... how plants, animals, and objects all have a significant presence, and humanity is not at the top of a hierarchy in terms of this. all things are owed equal consideration, and humans are needy creatures... we ask a lot of our environment, and should give our respect to the things that facilitate our lives.

and now I want to talk about team rocket, and specifically Meowth. he's probably the most human aligned pokémon in the whole show... not only does he actually have the ability to talk, but he interacts very strangely with other pokémon because of it. Meowth's origin episode shows how he becomes ostracized from both human and pokémon society. he is originally living in poverty in a big city, which means that human society is already failing him... but beyond that, he seeks love and acceptance from another meowth that is aligned so heavily with human society that it inspires him to mimic it in order to become palatable to her. but instead of gaining greater acceptance for his efforts, Meowth becomes more of an oddity, and faces further rejection. and after obtaining human qualities to this extent, most other pokémon don't see him as acceptable by their standards either. he is cast out on all sides, and only finds a place for himself by turning to a criminal organization that is explicitly geared towards the exploitation of pokémon... which would be a lot darker if he weren't with Jessie and James.

Meowth's background explains his behavior, but all things considered, he comes off as incredibly self serving. his biggest recurring fantasy is the idea of belonging to Giovanni, which is purely a status thing, given that Jessie, James, and Meowth all find it intimidating to actually talk to the guy. and while Meowth goes along with every plan to try and steal pokémon, and is actually kind of the brains of their operation, its not as though Meowth doesn't have sympathy for individual pokémon during specific points in the show. he often has to be convinced first though, and the fact that he is a pokémon doesn't really change his loyalties. his species doesn't affect him anymore... he's only loyal to people who treat him as a peer.

the mission statement of team rocket as an organization, is to profit from the exploitation of pokémon... but it has also collected people like Jessie and James, who felt like rejects from society, and ended up in the only place they thought they could go. James couldn't be happy living the way his rich oppressive family wanted him to be, and Jessie tried a bunch of different ways to escape her own childhood poverty and failed at many of those endeavors. Jessie is particularly interesting because you get a lot of little details here and there about how hard her life was, how much her family struggled, how many times she failed in the pursuit of normal career options that she was genuinely interested in... and it manifests in her personality as an interest in material finery, pretty things, good food, and luxury, as well as an abundance of seemingly vapid self affirmations. in spite of everything, she's the ambition of the group, sometimes dramatically more than the other two, like, repeated failure somehow can't touch that.

really though, she and Meowth have a lot in common... and weirdly, this never seems to result in them ganging up on James too harshly. the fact of the matter is, James did have every material thing that Jessie and Meowth probably picture wanting for themselves... but James walked away from it anyway. for Jessie and Meowth that'd be unthinkable, but since he left home, James has been living in relative poverty, same as them. the fact that he doesn't treat his old life as a viable safety net to fall back on in case things don't work out, really legitimizes the idea that he felt pushed out of that environment, same as the other two. the version of him that would've stayed and put up with that life doesn't exist, which is why he's here. and he actually appreciates some of the elements of living the way he does that the others don't. the first thing that comes to mind is that he collects bottle caps... a seemingly worthless item, which is kind of a "one person's trash is another's treasure" sort of thing. and this idea is sort of repeated in the way that he always ends up with pokémon that love him in ways that are difficult or painful to bear, while Jessie reverses that motif by being harsh towards her pokémon, while they love her anyway. and while James is not above his fair share of whining and commiserating, he's often the optimist out of the three of them. he clearly doesn't feel like he's lost anything that was truly valuable to him since leaving home.

each of these three have kind of a disdain for the society that they rejected/the society that rejected them, but they aren't opposed to exploiting the natural world to meet their needs either, and they aren't good at being part of the team rocket organization... this is always made especially clear whenever Butch and Cassidy show up. they're really on their own side. they're the show's ultimate deviants, and this is why it's kind of a comedy of errors that they keep ending up opposing Ash and his friends, because they should get along really well (and they sometimes do whenever they have an episode that puts them on the same side or forces them to work together). though you could say that Jessie, James, and Meowth are rehabilitating by ineffectually chasing these kids around all the time. it gives them a basic sense of purpose that never ends up resulting in anything too terribly destructive.

and within all of this, I keep thinking back to the original pokémon theme song. all the lyrics kind of point back to these themes, though I'm not sure it's really that intentional.

"I wanna be the very best, like no one ever was."

aka being the best by a non traditional standard. one of compassion, regardless of fighting proficiency.

"I will travel across the land, searching far and wide. for these pokémon, to understand, the power that's inside."

putting value in being in nature and seeking to understand it, while also emphasizing the idea of inner strength.

"you're my best friend, in a world we must defend."

our bonds are what make us strong, and our strength is used in service of our world.

"you teach me and I'll teach you."

this relationship isn't one-sided... we should both be humble enough to learn, and considered capable enough to teach.

basic messages for a kids show, I know, but the show does use all of these ideas to support each other throughout.