Wednesday, December 28, 2022

Pokémon Problem, My Problem

It's almost the end of the year, and before that comes by, I want to touch on a few matters that revolve around my Pokémon blogging. Something that I always say when I promote myself and my blog is that any problem that Pokémon might have or is related to Pokémon is also my problem as well, which essentially can be summarized as the title of this post. I like to think that I have a stake in dealing with any of those problems to the best of my abilities and with the Pokémon tools I have on hand. And with a Pokémon blog in my possession, the issue is more pertinent than ever.

Pokémon is not, never has been, and never will be free of problems. It's like many other things in life; it progresses, and with each new progress, there is always some new problem to be encountered. The glitches in the very first games, including the one that allows access to Mew, are already a testament to this. I also need not say more about those in the recent games for the new generation, because they only affirm the above further. With the expansion of Pokémon to other forms of media, they naturally beget their own kinds of problems in different ways for both the creators and the fans. Not all of these problems can be resolved easily, but there is a sense that both fans and creators need to attempt to solve them - and then of course, that's where I come in, by taking interest in them as well.

As I've said time and time again, I don't have a background in game development nor do I have the skills in this area of life. I'm also not a prominent "influencer" in Pokémon matters, or at least not yet. So the situation above does prompt a question: what can I do? Well, I can still voice the concerns of different fans, as many of them as possible as well as what pertains to us commonly and across different Pokémon media. By discovering the problems that they have, I'm able to detect the overall problems that Pokémon has and the reactions that we have to those problems. Then, the people who are truly experts in them can solve them or at least mediate the concerns. At that point, things may or may not get (re)solved - quickly for that matter - but at least it may be on such a pathway.

Voicing concerns, though, does lead to the issue of being "critical", which is often regarded as negative. Meanwhile, many of those who do discuss Pokémon do it in a positive way, essentially giving "praise", especially if they're strongly linked. I foresee that I would have to do a lot of the latter once I become a strong "influencer", but in the state that I am, some criticism may still be demanded. I don't have (or need) to go the Brandon Tan route that he took one time to voice some criticisms - as I would, if I were him - but a few criticisms every now and then interspersed among the praises that I have may be welcome and necessary. Going back to the "problems", whatever I do, the important thing is that it leads to a resolution rather than their furthering or persistence, which is definitely not the point.

The point is that besides my interest in enjoying Pokémon, I also have an interest in making it better - and first and foremost, that would involve tackling on any problem that it might have. Pokémon has existed for over a quarter century and I've been a fan for almost all of that, so it would be reasonable for me to get involved, one way of which is through this blog. While my efforts might be considered meager compared to the size of the entire fandom, it has been said that it may take the littlest of things to become big things, and I hope my little efforts with this blog can become a precursor to such.

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