Losing and Finding Links

Today, I almost lost a friend. That friend of mine had been showing signs that indicated depression of some kind, which would not be the first time, as I recall from conversations I had with that friend a long time ago. After a few attempts to get in touch, I was relieved to hear that my friend was fine and well, though in a slight quagmire. Now, while my friend also likes Pokémon to some extent, it's more of an appreciation rather than an immersive enjoyment like mine, which is why I cared in part. This also led me to consider other situations of losing and finding links, in particular in relation to Pokémon.

Some time ago, I was presented with a hypothetical situation: what if a person could go to the fantasy world of their dreams, but lose all connections - friends, relatives, and so on - from the real world? For myself personally, this situation would entail the world of Pokémon. Yet it's also a weighty situation, were it to be realized. It would almost be like what could have happened to my friend in the case that I wouldn't have known about it. Actually, it's not hard to think about this situation, as this is almost the situation that becomes the pretext to the Mystery Dungeon games: someone gets lost and reappears as a Pokémon, though the origin is unspecified, whether from the same world or another. In any case the loss still occurs, which must be (and in fact is) a bit painful to bear.

As the games progress, though, it becomes evident that links are easy to find with other Pokémon. This perhaps offsets the prior loss to a certain extent. Thus if the hypothetical situation were to occur to me, things might turn out in the same way, as I'd find new links in place of my old ones. But there is still the indication that things are weighty on either side, especially if the situation appears to be about to happen again. It seems the hypothetical situation is not something one should wish to forcefully happen or anyone wish to happen on someone else. But when things just have to happen and they are not preventable, then it's time to let them take place.

Today's situation could be considered a more severe predicament than one that occurred two months ago or one that occurred almost a year ago. Even so, they're all sentimental - they concern people and the relationships and feelings between them. Pokémon adds further spice to these situations and makes them more perceptible.

Things would be different if my friend and I didn't connect even in a small way through Pokémon. But we do - or at least I do perceive it - and that's what led me to address it. It may very well be a good thing that we found each other. A loss, even a forced one, would be likely tough to bear for either of us.

One year ago: Strategy Guides and My Pokémon Experience