The Sinister Implication Behind Winning A Pokemon Battle

Not everything was fun, friendship and family

Photo by Halfcut Pokemon on Unsplash

There is an interesting gameplay loop that takes place during a typical Pokemon game. Young whippersnapper obtains Pokemon. Whippersnapper is given a mission to map and document the Pokemon world. Whippersnapper is tasked with fighting various gym leaders for badges with the hope of one day becoming the champion. Whippersnapper runs into an evil organization with their own goals that are outside of the law and outside of the normal competitive scene.

You see, most Pokemon battles fall in the realm of purely academic and competitive. Trainers fight to, well, train. The gym leaders serve as bosses but in reality they are the regional champions. Think of them as Ohio State or Alabama. You go into Ohio, you need to beat Ohio State for dominance. It is all within the realm of safe and healthy competition.

But the “bad guys” do not battle Pokemon for competition. They are out to change the world, often for ill. These organizations such as Team Rocket, Team Magma and Team Galactic may disguise themselves under the guise of a competitive team but they are criminals looking to alter or take over the world.

And that is where one of the dark quirks of Pokemon starts to shine through if you pay attention.