Heroes, Veterans, and Special Ones

Some parts of the world celebrate Heroes' Day for people who have been awarded the title of national heroes and their stride in making a nation what it is today. Some other parts of the world celebrate Veterans Day for people who have served in the military and their contributions to the nation. Pokémon has neither, because there are really neither (or not many of either) kind of people to speak of, and thus the two special days above might seem irrelevant. Yet, perhaps some of the spirit of those special days might still be applicable to a few special people in that world.

Let's start with heroes. If the English title of the fifth movie (Pokémon Heroes) is any indication, as well as the term for Ash and co. in many episodes of the English dub ("our heroes"), then it stands to reason that heroes may be commonplace in the Pokémon world, and in the form of Trainers, or whoever works with Pokémon - instead of any distinct ones important to the world, except maybe for major champions. It's a bit like the argument that in the real world heroes are also commonplace, as those who work with and help people. It seems, then, that commonplace heroes can be celebrated any time in the Pokémon world, as is true in the real world, without having to wait for a specific day.

Veterans is a little harder. There are Nurse Joys and Officer Jennys all over the world, and there also might be the possibility that some of them are no longer in active service. By definition of the word, they then qualify as "veterans". In that sense, they could then be celebrated as such, though such a celebration could be considered superfluous, as they could also be celebrated any time as per the "heroes". Other than these people, not many people in the Pokémon world seem fitting for this kind of celebration, which makes a celebration harder to justify.

There may or may not be any justification for these kinds of special days in the Pokémon world. Yet there are indications that some people could qualify to be celebrated in this manner, making them special no matter how far and few between they are... and whatever time of year it is. On that note, for those people in the Pokémon world, it may just be that for them every day is Heroes' Day or Veterans Day, and that's special and spirited enough.