Beyond the Boundary... of Languages

I'm in the middle of sorting out many things, Pokémon and otherwise. One of them, which indeed concerns the former, is for something that may or may not happen, though it is somewhat of a personal wish that it does happen, for the greater good of my and others' Pokémon experiences. And some parts of it do concern languages, something that I have some stake in. That leads me to think that no matter what language makes up the experience, there is always a way to enjoy Pokémon.

Now, as I've stated in an earlier post that involved Pokémon names, I'm a linguist by trade. I should mention that although my technical line of work involves more of the science or principles behind languages, it is helpful to know actual languages and their actual use as well so that the science or principles have somewhere to go. Thus it would benefit me to know a lot about actual languages just as much to know a lot about the things that make them work. This does have an effect on the things that I enjoy, including Pokémon.

That said, I grew up on or with the English side of things for Pokémon. For much of the early part of my Pokémon experiences (while I was in the U.S.), I was for all practical purposes completely exposed to everything Pokémon but in English, and Japanese exposure was rare. It was only when I left that I started to become exposed to more Japanese aspects of Pokémon, but for the most part my working language remained English, or in the case of the anime being televised, it was Indonesian (at least for the content - openings and endings remained in Japanese). With my involvement in Japanese-themed events or conventions, I automatically have to try to involve the Japanese side of Pokémon, though I'm not exactly well-versed in many of the things pertaining to this side.

Still, appreciation is what matters most, no matter what languages are concerned. I imagine if I had not been to the U.S., I would have ended up liking Pokémon through its Indonesian and Japanese aspects combined and less through its English aspects - if I did at all. I had the chance of studying Japanese while I was in the U.S., but I didn't take that chance for a different opportunity of language study; there is a part of me that regrets this now that I like many things Japanese including Pokémon, but the other part of me remains satisfied. I'm happy that Pokémon can take different forms in different languages and I'm even happier to be able to understand and then enjoy them. There are some things that I will still enjoy in one language or another for practicality (for example, I'll still play the games in English and watch the anime with an English dub), but I'm also open to see how Pokémon is realized with different languages.

In that sense, my enjoyment of Pokémon can and does go beyond the boundary of languages. It's totally fine and deserving to be able to enjoy Pokémon in one language or another, especially one that can be readily understood. Yet it's also great to perceive the same enjoyment through understanding from another language, especially Japanese, for which the originality of Pokémon pertains to. Pokémon is a rich world, and through many languages, this world becomes richer.

Now I'm even more interested to see if I can make that Pokémon-and-language thing work out somehow.