Friday, September 15, 2023

The Nonviolent Approach to Pokémon

Not everything can be solved with violence.
A certain fictional character (not of Pokémon fame) takes up a certain viewpoint that is also taken up by certain civil rights activists around the world. That viewpoint can be distilled into the above statement, which may have been spoken by the character in action. Pokémon, meanwhile, has battles that involve the eponymous species, and they could be considered violent to a certain degree - that of "fantasy", by the merits of some. Yet even for others, that may still be a bit too violent. At that point, they may prefer to have Pokémon in "less violent" forms, and fortunately, Pokémon has quite a bit of that.

In the Pokémon Ranger games, Pokémon aren't battled against one another, but can be made to assist characters of the namesake profession, and there's relatively less violence in that. In fact, if anything, the IC characters and the OOC games embody the "live and let live" principle, which does imply nonviolence in some regard. It is thus a bit of a shame that only three games were made and they're on a historical console at this point, with a lack of exploration since. Still, it just may get addressed in the future, and that may make its nonviolence evident.

The current, most accessible form of Pokémon nonviolence is dealing with one or more Pokémon making linked matches on a screen in order to cook and serve the very best. This is otherwise known as Café Remix, and it definitely doesn't deal with interactions among Pokémon that may possibly become violent. This is in contrast to its predecessor, Pokémon Shuffle, which still contains the "battle" element and is thus slightly suggestive of (at least some) violence. The "cooking" element is just wholesome and on friendly terms.

With the current push into "lifestyle gaming", Pokémon can be enjoyed in even more nonviolent ways. The current way that is exemplified is with Pokémon Sleep, which demands playing by sleeping as the tracking of sleep status. It's rather simplistic, but the key parts depend on relations between one and their sleep, as well as the sleeping Snorlax at the center of it all attracting other Pokémon that sleep, snooze, and nap in their own ways. Then there is Pokémon Smile, which deals in similar ways for the health of one's facial orifice. All this works out to being on nice terms for oneself and others.

Given the above considerations, it's not hard to tell that the character - unrelated to Pokémon as the character may be - may have a viewpoint that is completely justified. While this world is full of violence, and the same is true of the Pokémon world in vastly and simply different terms, it's not necessary to deal with those relations in order to get the best out of it or to solve problems. It can be done so in a more genteel manner, one that the above games can only serve to elucidate plainly.

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