I'm On to Your Vitals

Every breath you take

And every move you make

Every bond you break, every step you take

I'll be watchin' you

Every single day

And every word you say

Every game you play, every night you stay

I'll be watchin' you...

-- "Every Breath You Take", The Police

Pokémon training is reputedly not (in fact, never) as simple as just being with a Pokémon. A Trainer would have to be watchful and mindful of the things that the Pokémon would do, and guide that Pokémon to become the best that it can be. Thinking about this leads me to think about this not-too-upbeat but not-too-mellow song for someone's significant other, which leads me to the application of it to Pokémon affairs.

This song specifically deals with that significant other as distance grows between that person and that someone. The essence is that as the former becomes farther from the latter, the latter still has the heart for the former. It should be noted that the song was in a way "remade" years later on, but it doesn't have the same connotations as the original version, and moreover I'm personally not fond of it, so it's the original for me and Pokémon affairs, including this one.

Spiritually then, the song carries a certain relevance for Pokémon that are already distant from their Trainers, although it's also perfectly applicable to the ones that are still close as well. The hope may be that the latter takes the nurture of the Trainer and they become great themselves while the Trainer still supervises, and the former takes what has been nurtured and they become great with their current environments under a figurative supervision.

Come to think of it, the song could be applicable to Trainers themselves, especially those who are being seen in the light of others, like Ash - or maybe even me in a sense. The others, as the "watchers", have hope for the ones being watched, even as the latter makes slip-ups (which are bound to happen, as no one is perfect). And if a critical response is generated, the only hope is that improvement would occur and chaos is downplayed.

Watching over other people (and Pokémon as the analogue of creatures) might be considered an expected thing for people, especially if they develop relationships with both of the entities mentioned above. All vital aspects might just be a concern for those who are watching, for which the above song then gains a certain relevance. It's a matter with some significance, maybe on par with every breath taken.

One year ago: My Pokémon Boost Emblem Progress in Pokémon Unite

Two years ago: Tournament: Arcaviary Tournament - Arcana Cup

Three years ago: BJ Podcast: The Varied Nature of Japanese Fans

Four years ago: Reminiscing Pokémon Karaokemon... and More

Five years ago: More "Countermeasures" for Pokémon Go

Six years ago: Performance Critique: Bunkasai 2019 J-Song

Seven years ago: Shiny Obsessions... Again?

Eight years ago: Oddest Things with Pokémon

The Deprecation of Community Day Goodies

Since Community Day in Pokémon Go began to get more organized, one of its draws had been the distribution of goodies for those who attended the meetups for the event as they're organized by communities (through Club Campfire where applicable). However, in February of this year, said goodies were not present, and this was also the case for successive editions of the event and its community meetups. The situation more or less confirms that the goodies have essentially been "deprecated", which becomes a bit of a regretful state that also demands to be discussed with regard to the factors related to the situation.

It can be argued that the deprecation is a part of "cost-cutting measures" at Niantic, who had always claimed many times that profits from the game had (recently) been declining - to what extent, players may not know. Eerily, the deprecation also came shortly before it was reported that Niantic would sell off the game and others related to it to Scopely, which was followed through one month later. As such, the sale also becomes a possibly related factor to the deprecation. Regardless, the action is done and gone - no more goodies to be had.

Personally, I consider the goodies as the most novel aspect of the recently established norm of meetups hosted by communities, even if it was the initiative of Niantic and not really one of the communities. If anything, they did encourage members of the community to come and be present for the event, even if it was somewhat of a "bribe" and not everyone took the "bribe". They then might see that Community Day is more than the "bribe" or just the in-game tasks, and then be able to frequent their communities more, as I and others had done.

On the other hand, the deprecation may be a subtle hint that communities can and do need to conceive ways to bring together their members for this event and other Pokémon Go events, as through giveaways, contests, and even other side agendas - all of which incidentally have been done by my local community, despite the ever-greater distance between me and other members. Other communities would need to be able to do the same, and that's something to be observed by me along with the game's representatives, if they're still around now.

Now that the goodies for Community Day are essentially a memory, there is a sense that focus is shifted back to the in-game tasks, as well as (and more importantly) the local communities themselves, the ones for whom the event is named. In that sense, there may no longer be a need to feel regret over the disappearance of the goodies, and the important feeling would be happiness (mostly) for the power of communities in Pokémon Go.

One year ago: Pokémon Go Community Day, 5/19/2024

Two years ago: Need Some Help, Niantic?

Three years ago: Bits and Pieces of Pokémon Merchandise

Four years ago: The Hum of (Pokémon) Life

Five years ago: Better for the World

Six years ago: Pokémon Go Community Day, 5/19/2019

Seven years ago: Pokémon Go Community Day, 5/19/2018

Eight years ago: On the Mystery of Dungeons

Cosplay: Soundgaku - Echoes of Instruments

Me: OK, this one's a little different but it seems all the more the same.

Goh: Oh, we're going to have "sounds" today.

Me: Sure. The title is a blend of the word "sound" and "ongaku" - Japanese for "music" - so you bet that today will be about those.

Ash: It sounds like it's gonna be a full-on concert!

Pikachu: Pika pika! ["Rock on!"]

Me: I think you might be right. I'm going to be up front and say that there doesn't seem to be any competitions, so that supports that theory. Meanwhile, you'll recognize the venue. 

Ash: Hey, the creative center again! 

Goh: The place must be really becoming popular for the creative people.

Me: Right. When it first opened, it was really sleepy. Now it seems all sorts of people are using it for all kinds of events.

Goh: Including this one. 

Ash: Yeah. It's even in the same theater as the "character space" gathering from back then.

Goh: OK, so for sure this isn't really a festival or convention, but it's more than a gathering. 

Ash: It was just like our friend said - a concert! 

Goh: Anything else beyond that?

Ash: Oh, the mecha model community gathered up and showed off their things.

Goh: So that's one community.

Me: I'm afraid it's not the only one. I also need you here for a side agenda of a meeting with our character community, and...

Ash: Oh. I'm going to miss a bit of the concert, am I.

Pikachu: Chu... ["Aww..."]

Me: Plus, I don't know how I'd get you in without saving at least a bit of cash, since things have been tight for me (us) recently. If it weren't for the meeting, I'd just have you go in regardless.

Goh: I'm sorry about that. But the community meeting should have gone well. 

Ash: Yeah, it wasn't too much of a bother. I think our friend might need to deal with the things that came up.

Me: I'll see what I can do.

Goh: So you went back to the theater, and- by the way, we haven't talked about your outfit recently, didn't we?

Ash: Oh right! I was in my special journey outfit. I also used it for the last festival and Community Day.

Goh: Well, I think I see now how our friend wants to save money.

Me: Uh-huh. Anyway, Ash was there, but you couldn't get in, so...

Ash: I hung around with the mecha people. But then one of your friends gave me an extra ticket, and...

Goh: You got in. Hey, that's pretty neat! Good thing our friend has many friends.

Me: That's a neat perk, if I do say so myself.

Pikachu: Pika! ["Nice!"]

Ash: So, they had a band setup and everything for the concert. But I missed three of the bands and got in as the fourth was playing. Then I got to see the rest.

Me: According to the poster, they had eight bands. So five bands is still pretty good.

Ash: One of them was a guitar group.

Goh: That's pretty good for variety. I assume the rest were all rock bands.

Ash: Pretty much. I think our friend would know some of the songs.

Goh: I'll bet there were no Pokémon songs.

Ash: One got really close.

Me: If it were me, I'd have you singing a Pokémon song, definitely. 

Ash: I'd love it if I could do that!

Goh: After all that, you still had some fun, at least - in and out of the concert.

Ash: Sure. The bands were all great, and I got to meet our friend's friends as usual.

Pikachu: Pika chu. ["Like that."]

Goh: Anything else we should know about? 

Ash: They picked people with unique outfits - but not me. The prize was just a goodie bag.

Goh: I assume related to the concert scene, so that would make sense.

Ash: Yeah, I guess.

Me: So, it was still a pretty good day for a concert - and meeting people.

Goh: They might just try this kind of event again.

Ash: I'd be up for that.

Me: In these strange times, music and friends are still great things, and necessary ones at that.

One year ago: And Now, We Go

Two years ago: Every Day Is a Grind

Three years ago: New Factions Battlefields and More

Four years ago: One-Day Pokémon Adventure

Five years ago: Trivia Questions and Answers

Six years ago: Trainer Image Cards

Seven years ago: Marathons...?

Eight years ago: Pins and Pins

All the Pokémon Q's and A's

The world has many questions, and just as many answers to go along with them - although in some cases, the answers have not been conclusively determined. For the Pokémon world, the situation is more or less similar, since that world resembles or mirrors the real world in many respects. Even so, it seems a lot - and in a broader way of speaking, most - of those questions and answers could be gathered up in various Pokémon settings as in the games and the other forms of media that it could come in. That insight seems to deserve some bits of discussion regarding its manifestation and projection.

Recall that following the insight of Junichi Masuda, the Pokémon main series games have their difficulty "layered", progressing from simple to complex. It stands to reason, then, that the questions a player would have as they play the games would have their answers progressively revealed and more questions and answers be built on top of that, to the extent of what can be provided within the game. After that, the questions and answers would lie and be revealed in the dynamics among players, by which they reveal the innards of the games. In the process, one might just have all the questions and answers they need.

For other Pokémon games or even other Pokémon experiences, the players (or those involved in the experiences) might just have all (or at the least most of) the answers right away, and then they'd formulate the questions... in a way, like a certain show seen by many who certainly know about it. The process won't involve discovering other answers too much, and the questions that would be formulated represent their accomplishments with the materials at hand. It could be either skillful or observational - or both.

Given the preceding matter, it would perhaps not be too hard for some people to collect all - or again, at the least a great deal of - the answers and attached questions and play out the game attached to the show as above. Responses would be scored, points would be collected, and all of this would be imbued with a "thinking" mode to get the best results possible... which might just be equivalent to a certain amount of Pokémon training and winning a series of battles with similar prizes at stake.

Life, whether it's the absolutely real beyond Pokémon or the relatively real that extensively involves Pokémon, will always involve making questions that may demand answers and finding the answers to those questions. It's a process that goes forwards and backwards, including with consideration of the above contexts, and Pokémon can surely be involved in all of them somehow as all questions and answers are sought.

One year ago: Royals of the Universe

Two years ago: The Sunshine Cup of GBL

Three years ago: The New Structure of Factions

Four years ago: Quickies: Bike for Pokémon

Five years ago: Everything Is Electric

Six years ago: A Wonderful PikaWorld

Seven years ago: Beyond Gyms and Trials

Eight years ago: A Pokémon Pencil Bag

Pokémon Without Borders (...for Me and You)

The term "without borders" often applies and refers to a number of international organizations that perform humanitarian work that spans across different countries - hence the term. Yet it too is sometimes used in the context of other programs that amount (or are similar) to the same work by those same organizations, and again carries the same sense of having an international concern. Being oriented to Pokémon as I am, that led me to thinking about how the term could be applied to or made to work with Pokémon.

Before going on, it is worth it to remind that Pokémon is always more commercial than it is humanitarian, but it surely is never completely the former, meaning that there can be at least some room for the latter. Regardless, because of the commercial nature, some transactions involving money will be involved in some form, even if that may not be what one expects them to be. In fact, it seems that one may not need to be concerned about where the money's going at all in the case of the considerations I'm about to present.

With that, some efforts by Pokémon can be considered quite humanitarian and in line with the "without borders" ideals. The donation given by TPC, which matches one-to-one to that given by Niantic for the LA fire victims, being adjacent to this year's Pokémon Go Tour live edition, is certainly helpful for them. Then, the "Master the Ball" campaign a while back to really get kids active and in sports is a noble cause. These are perhaps as close to humanitarian as it can really get for something as commercial as Pokémon, and certainly global too.

Meanwhile, as for the "me" part of things as alluded by the title of this post, I'd only be glad if I could participate in similar efforts as the above, especially if they're tied to Pokémon somehow. Further, it would be a miracle if I could deal with Pokémon for these and other efforts without having to include my nationality as a concern - and that would constitute my global outlook on things. That might possibly become a difficult matter, but if things are somewhat doable, as most Pokémon matters are, then it might just be welcome(d) for everyone.

Humanitarian concerns and/or affairs may be the farthest thing one could think of to possibly relate to Pokémon, but going by the above, at least there is a certain precedent that impacts many people around the world and fits into the above. The "without borders" approach then really comes into its own, and while Pokémon won't need to create a separate organization for that purpose, certain global initiatives might just reflect that - and I'd be in for it to advance my and others' Pokémon interests.

One year ago: Please, Let Me Grow Old with You

Two years ago: More Available Regular Formats for General PvP?

Three years ago: How Far Should Pokémon Be Translated?

Four years ago: Command and Conquer, PvP Style

Five years ago: A Multicultural Cast

Six years ago: Carry On Carryin' On

Seven years ago: The Living Dex

Eight years ago: Pastrana and Pikachu

Day Turnovers in Pokémon Games

Many people and fans like me play Pokémon games on a daily basis. Accordingly, many of the games also keep track of progress on a daily basis, which further means determining when one day ends and another begins - that is, when the day turns over. It would also be predictable and expected that different games would do so in different ways, and that becomes something fascinating to explore as well as take advantage of for certain gameplay purposes, at least within reasonable limits that they allow.

Contemporary games will use the time of the device - be it a phone or a Nintendo console - that it is set to, which ideally should be the local time of the player and shouldn't be changed unless there are very good reasons, one of which is when one is traveling (most phones of today will automatically do so anyway). That device time is taken as the time in the main series games on Nintendo consoles, which has been the case since the fourth generation thanks to timekeeping in Nintendo DS; previously, the games used a battery for keeping time. In any of these cases, the midnight of that time is when the day turns over. This is also the case for Pokémon Go on a phone, for which its location dependence also provides a check for the time and explains the necessity of keeping the time in line.

For other games, the "day" is different. Café Remix and its predecessor Shuffle turn over the day at 6 AM UTC, as in my case the day turns over at 1 PM local time. This will certainly mean different times of the real day for wherever one lives and whether or not that's also affected by certain seasonal time changes, but the gist is that the day turns over at the exact precise moment wherever one plays. The 6 AM UTC turnover also applies to TCG Pocket, where the game will demand that it restarts at that time. Meanwhile, Pokémon Unite has the day turning over at midnight UTC, thanks to my observations of it turning over daily mission tasks at 7 AM my local time.

Some leeway can be gotten when playing as the day turns over, certainly not so much for TCG Pocket as above that demands a restart when the moment occurs. A match can be started in Pokémon Unite just as the day is about to turn over, and the achievements from that match will count for the Daily Missions of the next day. Likewise, some stages in Café Remix can be played as the day is about to turn over and they'll transition the player to the next day. In any case, however, one should be careful that there are no events that end on a particular day and haven't been dealt with, for they'll surely disappear when the day turns over.

With the way people play Pokémon games daily, tracking the days and rewarding those daily plays become not only useful but also essential in some ways. And if done right, one can schedule plays as the moment(s) of the days transition from one to the next to take advantage of them to fulfill specific objectives usefully. The moment(s) are then useful to games as well as the people who play them.

One year ago: The Blood of Youth

Two years ago: Tournament: SWEEP JR vs. Foul Noctowls Elite (SA Factions)

Three years ago: Steering and Nearing with Tsunekazu Ishihara

Four years ago: Pokémon Go Community Day, 5/15/2021

Five years ago: Coming Full Circle

Six years ago: Everything Old Is New Again

Seven years ago: 15 Minutes of Fame

Eight years ago: Fallen Comrades

The State of Playable Legendaries in Unite

Since their introduction a somewhat long time ago, playable Legendary Pokémon have colored battles in Pokémon Unite in different ways. There have also been struggles to make them work within the ecosystem of the game, including to keep things fair. Because of these factors, it seems pertinent to make a review of the situation and see what that bodes for current players, and from there to gain insights for future additions of playable Legendary Pokémon.

Currently, the existing playable Legendary Pokémon cover Mewtwo with its Mega Y form and Miraidon with the Attacker role, Mewtwo with its Mega X form as well as Zacian and Suicune with the All-Rounder role, and Ho-Oh with the Defender role. None have the Speedster or Supporter roles, though Darkrai and Hoopa respectively for them (despite being Mythical rather than Legendary) seem to fill the roles nicely until a proper one appears.

Taking a somewhat generalist overview, it seems players have not become too dependent on them, as other Pokémon, both new and old, become used more often instead of any of these; the restrictions placed by them being EX Licenses may have also helped in this regard. Meanwhile, of the species above, the most rarely used seems to be Ho-Oh, given that its controls are a bit tricky from my first-hand experience - yet it might be different in some cases.

For the future additions, it's plainly obvious by the above: additions to fill the Speedster and Supporter roles, especially to complement the existing ones by virtue of their relations to other Pokémon. As well, a possibly more workable Defender than Ho-Oh (even with this being already capable in the hands of certain players) could be another consideration, at the least in order to provide alternatives that fit the current play styles of players.

While the addition of playable Legendary Pokémon to Pokémon Unite shook things up initially, they seem to have become normalized since, with further additions not being as problematic and in a way being suitable to the current dynamics of the game. Future additions are almost a certainty in this regard, and they along with regular species additions will keep defining the dynamics along with the players that will help to make it so.

One year ago: Alive, in Life

Two years ago: Consolidation: New Café Remix Updates

Three years ago: Starter Pokémon in the Wild

Four years ago: The Retro Cup of GBL

Five years ago: Going Elite with TMs

Six years ago: Detective Pikachu Burger King King Jr. Toys - Arcanine

Seven years ago: Round Pikachu Keychain

Eight years ago: Cosplay: Isshoni Tanoshimimashou 12