Red and White Philosophy

I've already discussed about the colors of the Pokémon logo and the philosophy behind them, and now I want to discuss another pair of colors: the red and the white of the Poké Ball... which just so happens to be the colors in the Indonesian flag, the country of my birth and where I've come to reside again. And they're in the right order too when the Poké Ball is right side up. It must be some sort of divine order that this is the case, and in some sense this is appreciable.

The colors of red and white themselves in popular (Indonesian) symbology are associated with a few connotations. It has been said that red is the color of bravery and white is the color of purity; it could be construed as making up the soul of fallen heroes in their struggle. Further, red is the color of blood and white is the color of bone, thus lending greater credence to this symbolism. Any way you cut it, these two colors and their associated ideas are very much connected to heroism.

Applying this symbology to Poké Balls and by extension Pokémon results in a few considerations. In a way, it could be thought of that every Pokémon Trainer, in particular those who use Poké Balls for their Pokémon, are heroes; they exhibit the bravery to face one another and the purity to remain determined to their life (bone+blood) objectives. This would extend to each and every one of the Pokémon they use, since they have to share the same visions and missions of their Trainers to realize them. There is a universality that is present among both Trainers and Pokémon as heroes - none are more special than another, because everyone is.

I personally find the spiritual elegance that is shared by both the colors of the Poké Ball and the Indonesian flag to be a wonderful thing. There are positive values to be taken from each, and this is not a bad thing, because only with positive values can everyone move forward, whether it's real as in this country or imagined as in the world of Pokémon. It's a divine order that any fan of Pokémon in the country can and should appreciate for all its inherent qualities.

Happy Independence Day, Indonesia.