Tuesday, January 18, 2022

My Pokémon Identity

The movie that I saw yesterday - not related to Pokémon, otherwise I would have a full blog post on it - in part dealt with the issue of "identity". Specifically, it concerned how they (identities) may apply or be realized for a single person. Pokémon has many things that can be enjoyed in as many different ways, and that conceivably can lead to the creation of different identities. In fact, that may very well be what has happened to me, so I figure that I ought to discuss the topic along with how that is reflected together with Pokémon.

Because of the Pokémon game that I currently frequently play, which would be Pokémon Go, some people may have the tendency to apply the identity of me being a Pokémon Go Trainer. And that may be true, to an extent. Yet a reminder should serve well that Pokémon consists of many games beyond Pokémon Go, and in many of those games, I as the player am referred as a Trainer. Therefore, it would be better to say that I'm a Pokémon Trainer in general, in the sense that the different games allow me to become one the way that their systems facilitate me taking up the identity; it would be a true sense of me as a Pokémon fan.

Since I cosplay a Pokémon character, which in most cases would be Ash, some people have taken to refer to me as an "in-real-life" version of that character. In many ways, because I identify myself with Ash, I don't object to have this identity being applied on me and I'd accept it as if it were my own. Still, there is the remote possibility that I might cosplay other Pokémon characters besides Ash, and if that were to happen, the identity wouldn't be fully accurate for that time only; it is regardless still accurate beyond such a circumstance.

Probably the identity that I've yet to establish in regard to me and Pokémon is being myself, as a person who identifies with and is truly identified by Pokémon. For example, I've had this blog for a number of years but have not fully been able to establish this identity through it. And yet, this is still something that I strive to do, with the hope that one day, this will truly be realized in a way that benefits myself and each and every Pokémon fan.

What was exhibited by the movie I saw the other day was profound or deep in regard to how identities can define a person in different spaces. It's not hard to tell that Pokémon can go deep as well to the point that any person who is a fan - like me - may have identities applied to them or be realized. The three identities above are in effect what could apply to me or have been realized in relation to being a Pokémon fan. In the spaces of real and imagined life as they pertain to Pokémon, at least I've gained something in terms of my identification.

One year ago: Pokémon Body Pillows
Three years ago: Rivalries
Four years ago: (Almost) A Pokémon Party

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