Black and White

…We were beaten. Your truth and ideals… Your feelings… They were stronger than mine, it seems… Reshiram and Zekrom… Each of them choosing a different hero… Is that even possible? Two heroes living at the same time— one that pursues truth and one that pursues ideals. Could… Could they both be right? I don't know. It's not by rejecting different ideas, but by accepting different ideas that the world creates a chemical reaction. This is truly the formula for changing the world." 

The Pokémon world has now become a large fictional universe, which includes 7 deliveries of the main saga today, adding to it, the different spin-offs we have seen over the years, and the various dimensions and universes that this franchise comprises. Since its arrival more than 20 years ago, Nintendo has presented us with a universe that is somewhat different from ours, where values such as friendship and friendship remain, but unlike our reality, this world is full of magnificent creatures that we will see throughout our adventure.

A world inhabited by wonderful creatures called Pokémon. We will live with the Pokémon; some have companions, while others use them to fight, although of course, there are also those who study Pokémon as a profession. Our adventure begins, introducing us to this vast world where we will have many adventures and meet people along our journey, while also get a lot of experience accompanied by our Pokémon.

The mechanics of Pokémon games are very similar to the other RPGs, but at the same time, it is very different. The first deliveries of Pokémon, which are Red and Green, received a strong inspiration from an RPG of the same Nintendo, known as MOTHER, or Earthbound Zero for friends. Sometimes, we have to take a few steps backwards to know where we will go, so we will do the same, analyze the mechanics to see how far we have come in the present.

MOTHER is a videogame of the RPG genre that was released for the NES in the Nippon territory, but that would see the light in America and Europe many years later. This game is known for completely revolutionizing the concept of what we know as a role-playing video game, opening a window of possibilities for future deliveries. The game begins introducing us this world, but by means of a narration where it speaks to us of a pair that disappeared mysteriously, in an epoch where the subject of the flying objects not identified in science fiction was touched a lot; here, this couple returned from being abducted, although I would be wrong if I talked about the couple, since only one of them returned, but never talked about what happened.

Our character is a boy named Ninten who lives with his mother and embarks on an adventure after witnessing a Poltergeist. This child has psychic powers that we will see throughout the game, and will make many friends throughout his journey to collect fragments of a melody and save Magicant, a magical kingdom that is associated with his late grandfather. And so far I'm going to arrive, so as not to give them more spoilers about the game.

And you will be thinking "What the hell? This has no relation to Pokémon". It's very simple. Before the advent of this saga, it was quite common that role-playing video games were set in the medieval era, but this game would change everything, showing a protagonist who is a child to whom we can put our name, a character with which many would feel identified. This boy lives with his mother, but we did not see a father figure in the game, although he calls us sometimes, but it is not relevant to the plot. The boy will embark on this adventure on his own, exploring different cities and making many friends, gaining experience in his journey, fighting monsters and people, and seeing this vast world which is quite complex from the perspective of a child. In naming this, I think the similarities have been clear enough. And do not worry, this does not mean that Pokémon is a plagiarism, but nevertheless, it is clear that this saga also belonging to Nintendo served as inspiration for the concept of the boy who will travel on his own and will have adventures in which he will gain experience and knowledge, but that values such as friendship will remain, which will be a fundamental part of the videogame.

Bit by bit, the concept of what Pokémon means is formed. Although, despite having this base, there are various mechanics that make the pocket monster franchise worth it on their own. It's funny, but a Pokémon game without the Pokémon is to have an incomplete idea; we can imagine a world with the characteristics that we talked about earlier, but it would not make sense, there would not even be a goal to achieve if these creatures did not exist.

The Pokémon, amazing creatures that we can find in this vast world. Pokémon is the abbreviation of Pocket Monsters, whose literal translation would be Pocket Monsters. This name was given to him for being creatures that we can capture and take them with us in an artifact called Pokéball, either to collect them or to take them and fight with them.

And talking of combats, it is well known that Pokémon are creatures that like to fight, or that is what they have told us since the first deliveries. There are many things we do not know about Pokémon, but that is something that makes them more interesting.

These monsters can be found on earth, in the sky and even in the sea; they are everywhere, even in the most unimaginable places. At the beginning of our adventure, we are given the choice of a Pokémon, which will be our first companion throughout our adventure in that region. They offer us a Pokémon of the Plant, Water or Fire type, and of course, this forms an elementary triangle where we can appreciate the resistances and weaknesses between one type and another; There are different types of Pokémon, movements, natures and abilities, which makes it much more complex, and gives a real touch to the game, showing that not all creatures are the same, and that between species, many differences can be appreciated, and that's not to mention statistics and Pokémon variocolor.

Since they give us the Pokédex, we will know the concept of catching them all, a challenge that can be quite complicated, taking into account the large number of Pokémon that exist. Our goal in the game will be to collect all the gym medals of that region, which we will get by fighting our Pokémon against those of the gym leaders, and when we accumulate all the medals, we can enter the league and challenge the high command to Show them that we are the best coaches and become the champions of the Pokémon League. A very big world, in which we will be the protagonists, a world in which everything revolves around the Pokémon combats and in making use of these creatures. It is an essential part of it, it is something that we have become accustomed to over the generations. Catch them all and go out to fight accompanied by our Pokémon. But are the bases on which the Pokémon games are held really good?

With the arrival of the fifth generation, a dilemma was opened, an approach that questioned everything we knew about Pokémon. And it is that these two deliveries, known as Pokémon White and Black Pokémon, was a big step, a very risky step to question all the principles of the franchise, showing a completely different perspective. For the first time in the games, they present us with an "antagonist" team that is characterized by the rest because they do not have selfish interests and are covered by a false moral, but they fight for a greater objective: the release of the Pokémon. The Plasma team, commanded by N, makes us ask ourselves during our tour of the region of Unova if our actions are really good, asking us three fundamental questions.

Is it worthy to face two creatures in a duel?

This is a concept that we know from the first generation. It is well known that the vast majority of Pokémon evolve by acquiring experience in combat, making them more powerful beings, suffering a change in appearance and statistics, but this is where the issue of violence comes into play. Is it really worth doing to face two creatures in a fight? It is difficult to give a concrete answer, but what do you think? It is true that we use these pocket monsters to achieve our goals and we chose to use them to defeat the other coaches, but it seems completely normal, since we are used to it, but if we think about what would happen if situations like these would happen in real life, we might notice the lack of logic in this. It would be violence, animal abuse.

Imagine that we have a dog and we put him to face a friend's dog. It would be something completely crazy, apart from that it is completely illegal, since we are making both creatures suffer for personal reasons. Although in the games of Pokémon they present to us these as creatures that opt for the combats - when this concept is not absolutely certain -, it does not mean that for that reason they have to be used to fulfill that end whenever their trainer wishes it.

It is not fair to put a Pokémon to fight against another to resolve our disputes, nor is it the fact that it is used as the system that moves the world. Humans and Pokémon have to live together, but at the same time, they are very different from each other. While these beings enjoy amazing abilities that can be used for multiple purposes, we use them to compete, forcing them to fight whether they want to or not, since at no time is it indicated that this Pokémon has no spirit for a battle, or that is exhausted as to follow, and is something that we deduce ourselves as players, in the absence of being clearly expressed what is really what our partners want.

Do Pokémon suffer during battles?

We do not need to dwell too much on a rhetorical question, since the answer is yes, definitely. By making the Pokémon fight, we not only force them to give their best in a fight where we will order them what to do, but at the same time, both our teammates and those of the opposing team will fight until the opponent's team be weakened. It is good to think that it is a fight where coaches and Pokémon come together to give everything as a team, since it is also valid to think in this way, but there are times when we have to think about what happens when we are defeated. Yes, in fact, the condition to win the battle is to defeat all the team of our opponent, but when it is our team is losing, we can see how our Pokémon are falling one by one until the last one stands weak. We will be intact, we only give the orders, but our team, which is there to fight with us, ends up suffering the consequences of the dispute.

Can they have a full life inside a Pokéball?

This is something that Pokémon players have been asking ourselves for many years, and that is that no game has been specifically explained how is a Pokéball inside. As a result of this, various theories about the storage of Pokémon have arisen, in which there are those that talk about how uncomfortable they feel to be trapped, while others claim that they are quite comfortable. These theories ceased to be so when in an interview, it was confirmed that while the Pokémon are in such capture devices, they will be comfortable as if it were a luxurious hotel. These words have ceased the arguments that it is not fair to keep the Pokémon locked up, but what if this does not really affect that ideology?

The fact that they have a good life in there does not mean they are free. It is not the same to think that being inside the Pokéball will have a good life; you do not have to associate that with what it really means to be free. Is it fair to keep them locked up as they win and use them for their benefit until they fall after a heavy defeat?

It is a dilemma. Two very different perspectives on the same subject. It is difficult to say that one of these two ideals leads us to the absolute truth, taking into account that both ways of thinking are correct.

Pokémon White and Pokémon Black leave this theme open. We will have our last battle against N, a battle between both ideals that served as a fruitful experience for both us and for N himself. The latter came to a very important conclusion, to then say one of the most significant dialogues of the whole saga.

Pokémon White and Pokémon Black, both deliveries of the fifth generation where they show us a story in which there is no absolute truth, where they make us aware that there is not always a good and a bad, where they emphasize that there are different ideals, and that not necessarily one must be right, but both points of view may be right. In these games, it is emphasized that we do not all think the same, and that's fine, but at the same time, this decision making and world perspectives can put two people in conflict, but the only way to move forward is to take both ideals and unite them, as if it were a chemical reaction to be able to create something better, since that is possibly the formula to change the world. Whether we think that the Pokémon battles are something worthy, where we can appreciate how a Pokémon and its trainer create a strong bond to overcome any adversity, or if we think that it is not right to force the Pokémon to fight, considering it an act of violence, or the fact of keeping them locked up to our will, the best we can do, is to take the message that the fifth generation gave us.

There are those who wonder why there is no Pokémon Gray, although in fact, it is to appreciate that they were opted for sequels. In Pokémon Black and White 2 will return to Unova/Teselia after two years, and little is heard about the events occurred two years ago. It seems that everyone's mentality remains the same as before, and it continues with the same perspective about the Pokémon battles, without taking into account that two years ago, a team known as the Team Plasma (now divided in two) fought for the Pokémon welfareand to end the violence against them by forcing them to fight. We can notice that some things have changed since two years ago, but it remains the same region that we came to explore. We notice that characters like N have matured, and he has learned that the best way to make a change is by accepting different points of view.

Pokémon Black and White is not a story of heroes or villains, it is not a story where there is an absolute truth, it is not just another game of the Pokémon franchise. It is a game that tells a fairly deep story with a more adult tone, very different from what we were used to. These deliveries, in which we will travel through the Unova region accompanied by our colleagues, will learn various lessons that will help us grow as a person. We must appreciate that Game Freak has dared to make a game like this, that although, although it is not the favorite of many and there are those who consider that this generation put an end to this franchise, we cannot deny the message that it taught us, a lesson that was always in the titles of the games, and that we would not understand until we had finished our trip: not everything is white or black.

Hello! Nice to meet you all! I'm new in Steemit, and I wanted my first post to be an old post I had in my drafts, but it was in Spanish, so I decided to translate it in English because I see that there are more users who speak that language here.   

I'm sorry if this has many errors, I'm just learning English and I used a dictionary and the Google translator. Anyway, I hope you liked my post. Until next time!