Mixing and Matching Pokémon Game Music

The other day, I was playing Pokémon Shuffle when I decided to put on the main theme music of Pokémon Unite for some reason. It was a fortunate decision, since I liked the sound experience; it was also helped by the fact that I had muted Shuffle because of having listened to it so many times that I had become somewhat bored of it. The moment of changing the music above prompted me to consider how music from various Pokémon games may be mixed and matched to create different experiences like the one I've had above.

It's important to know that such an experience had been facilitated partially and in a limited manner in past Pokémon games. The second-generation remakes of Heart Gold and Soul Silver featured a key item called "GB Sounds" that when activated replaces the remastered music (and sounds) with those from the classic games. The replacement is partial as the music remains true to what they are and what they were before, and limited because the scope is still within the main series games and nothing outside of it. Similarly, the place where Mewtwo is found in the sixth-generation games harkens back to where it was before in the first-generation games. The mixing and matching process is still there, just not radically outreaching.

Discussing the mixing and matching process for music in Pokémon games also necessitates how that occurs and has occurred in Pokémon Go. It's a process that doesn't occur all the time, but when it does, it occurs spectacularly and specially, as with special paid events that recur from time to time, which currently means Pokémon Go Tour and Pokémon Go Fest. The former has especially been able to incorporate musical facets from the main series games in a neat manner that rekindles the experience from prior games for those familiar with them and partially exhibits them for those who are less familiar. Here, the process is a little more radical in its outreach, but one that works out very well as far as many are concerned.

For a really radical experience such as that I've had at the beginning of this post, that is something that is likely hard to come by due to how varied Pokémon games are, including their production and origins and particularly for music. With this in mind, the only way to really accomplish this is to do it manually as above. What would also be helpful in that regard would be a way to access every single piece of music that has ever been made for any Pokémon game and choose particular tracks that could be good for a different musical experience in another game. The means for this might make for a good discussion in a separate post, but the prospect can already be discerned to be just as variative.

Every Pokémon game has their particular musical compositions that are specially created for that game, and that is fine and good. What would be more radical is being able to hear ones for other games while playing a specific game, in line with the experience I've had above. In that respect, it has happened but not radically, though a little manual operation - and perhaps methods of access - can help. Even if it can't happen officially, if it can happen like the above, it could be a musical dream come true.

One year ago: Subscribing to Pokémon Home

Two years ago: The Call of the Forest

Three years ago: Localizing the TCG

Four years ago: Pokémon Go Event Rollup, 5/3/2018

Five years ago: Gender Mismatch Detected