Evoked Emotions

As a Pokémon fan, I've had the experience of enjoying many things related to it. These include the many games and forms of entertainment. And with that experience also comes something fascinating: a wide range of emotions can be evoked by how these things are enjoyed and/or taken to mean. That's a significant thing for all the things related to this media franchise and the people that enjoy them, so some of that bears at least some amount of explanation.

The most obvious emotion is happiness. Many Pokémon things mean nothing if they can't be enjoyed to result in happiness. For many fans, this really does mean different things. This might be as simple as qualifying for a tournament and getting good results, or happening upon a Shiny Legendary Pokémon, or reading or watching a good Pokémon story unfold until the very end. These are just some of the endless possibilities for happiness with anything Pokémon, and as the world of this franchise expands, so too do the possibilities. As fans explore, there will always be new things that evoke happiness.

Granted, not everything that happens with Pokémon is happy. There are sad moments as well. The emotion is evoked if, say, a battle is lost even though there was a slight chance for victory at the end. Stories or plots which unfold like the fifth feature film is a cause for evoked sadness as well. Seeing a good Pokémon player suddenly becoming unable to play certainly makes for sadness for that player and any other player who commiserates. Needless to say, things like these are things that should ideally be avoided.

There are also in-between emotions. At the tournament from Saturday, one of the competitors happened to be a visually impaired person. That person had insisted to come and play in the tournament despite the visual impairment, relying mostly on sounds, as the person described it. The struggle of the person made many people happy and sad at the same time (even leaving some in wonder), and so the person was rewarded with a Mimikyu plush. It's certainly one of the more interesting stories that occur with Pokémon and its fans.

I suppose whoever enjoys Pokémon will feel some kind of emotion being evoked from experiences. Most of the emotions will no doubt be happy, as that is how Pokémon should be rightfully enjoyed. Sometimes there will be sadness, even if one tries hard to avoid it. And between them is a plethora of emotions that may have elements of both happiness and sadness. Given all our experiences with Pokémon, in due time, we may just continue to feel greater varieties of evoked emotions.

One year ago: Promoting Local Establishments with Go
Two years ago: Four Notions