LINE Pokémon Themes

The primary method of personalization in LINE is through obtaining stickers and using them in chats. However, there is another method of personalization, and that is through themes for the app. In addition to the standard blue theme, there are also many themes obtainable, both indie and official like the stickers. Pokémon too is included as the latter, and it has two official themes. I grabbed them during the same sale as for the other four stickers I previously obtained, and I was fortunate to do so, because they look awesome. These are the two themes:

Pokémon - This theme has a predominant color of yellow, owing to the series' de facto mascot Pikachu, which does appear on some parts of the theme. A few other Pokémon appear on the tab headings of the main screen (when active) as well as on certain profile pictures, but the most dominant are the Poké Balls that appear in the tab headings as well as the default chat background, though. It's very yellow and very bright, but it also pairs well with most of the sticker packs; it's a good, all-purpose Pokémon theme.

Pokémon Pixel Artwork - This theme has a predominant beige color and monochrome appearance based on the overworld of the RGBY games; the tab headings are the creature images from those games and even the tab and default chat backgrounds have the cityscape from the overworld. Obviously this is meant to go together with the corresponding Pixel Artwork sticker pack, but it can be enjoyed regardless of whether the pack is present or not. The most important is the retro feeling that is present, if desired to be experienced by obtaining this theme.

These two Pokémon themes really exemplify how they make the LINE experience personal by presenting a different cosmetic touch to the interface. They're not absolutely necessary, and they are somewhat pricey to get normally, but if a LINE experience with Pokémon is desired, then by all means. In any case I do highly recommend them if you can't get enough of Pokémon like me.

A Little Dream

Remember how I said that in the attempt to not miss a thing, I sometimes end up dreaming about Pokémon? Well, that happened to me just last night. When I was asleep, I dreamed about something that could have come from the Pokémon anime. I was truly carried away by it that when I woke up, I had to note the dream down so that I could share it in this post for all to read.

My dream last night was something from the Kalos saga (XY), though it was quirky considering how the actual XY storyline went. In the dream, it was apparent that somehow to resolve the Kalos conflict, Yveltal was to be needed, as well as the three first-generation legendary birds, which would aid in that effort and somehow attract the help of Yveltal. Two of the birds (Articuno and Zapdos) had been sought, while the third, Moltres, was to be sought, though it was in captivity. Ash was to free Moltres, and in the dream my vision followed him as he succeeded in doing so, though in the process an alarm was also triggered. In the end, Ash and a few comrades took to the sky for the next phase of the effort, and at that point... the dream ended, and I woke up. It was as if there was a "To Be Continued" message present then and there.

What makes this dream odd are how the elements are interrelated. The three first-generation legendary birds are not really involved in the Kalos conflict at all, so it's odd to find them in this manner, let alone all three of them, since in the game only one is present at any given time according to the chosen starter. And then there's the issue of Yveltal; Yveltal is clearly positioned as an antagonistic Pokémon, unless it is somehow to be related to Zygarde. This could make for a possible "Z storyline" that could have been realized during the sixth generation, but wasn't.

It has been said that a dream is the vision of an intermingled and jumbled up set of memories. If so, then this dream fits the bill, as the elements of the Kalos conflict were muddied up with the presence of other elements. Regardless, the dream ran so well that I believed everything while I was in the dream, and realized I couldn't continue and missed the vision when I woke up. Now I'm even more inclined to find a time when I can watch an episode or two again of the anime to alleviate my longing.

More LINE Pokémon Stickers

As I've discussed in my first post on LINE Pokémon stickers, they are lively and enhance the Pokémon mood of any chat on the app. Back when I reviewed the three that I had, there were five packs, but now it's up to seven. As it so happens, there is now a sale on all Pokémon stickers - they're all half off - so I took advantage of this sale to get all the packs released up to now.

Here then, are the rest of the sticker packs:

Pokémon Pixel Artwork and Sounds! - I've dropped hints of this pack when I discussed the bicycle theme and the Poké Flute theme, and this is the pack that contains the stickers that play sounds containing these themes. As the fourth pack released, this was also the one that I was previously torn over which one to get. As the title suggests, all the stickers here are pixelated; they're all art from the RGBY games with their appropriate theme music (or cries, since there are a few Pokémon images too, and they all have their classic cry, including Pikachu). They all deliver a retro vibe that is fun to invoke every so often.

Pokémon Chat Pals - This was the first pack of stickers that featured the seventh-generation Pokémon, and it's great in that regard, since quite a few are featured in this sticker pack, the fifth one to be released. Even Exeggutor-Alola is featured as its three segments, facilitating a hilarity that occurred way back during its reveal. I also like how the text captions are also upfront and highly appropriate, owing to the sticker pack title of "Chat Pals". This pack is truly useful to aid that purpose.

Team Rascal Pikachu - I and several of my other Poké-friends learned of this sixth pack of stickers when one of us had acquired it as soon as it came out. Now, one of my friends think this sticker is extremely cute; I think so as well, but I also think it is extremely quirky. Though the title might suggest this is a pack of Pikachu stickers, this actually has about as many Pokémon as the Chat Pals pack. The art is from a guest illustrator, and the style is quite exaggerated and humorous. Even the text captions are filled with lots of emotion, and they really say something. I'd love to spring these whenever the mood gets heavy to lighten things up.

Pikachu's Lively Voiced Stickers ♪ - This seventh pack was just recently released and it has captured our hearts, since it is the first pack to both be animated and have sounds. As expected from the title, this sticker is all about Pikachu, with the characteristic voice as provided by Ikue Ootani. It is really fun to invoke just to see the animation and hear the voice. I'm really taken with this sticker pack, as are some of my friends who had seen the pack and bought it instantly. I'll be using the stickers quite often to elicit different impressions.

All the Pokémon stickers are impressive, so it's well worth to have them any way they can be obtained. There's something for any Pokémon fan to like, not just Pikachu, though a great deal does involve Pikachu. If these four packs are any indication, future packs will also be great to have and use in chats. I'll be looking forward to all the future packs and obtaining them as I can.

Four Notions

In the world of Japanese fandoms, there are things that fans do or have in pursuing their passions. Some of these can be encapsulated in what I call notions, or concepts. Among these, there are four popularly recognized ones that people talk about - or rather, what I and my local fellow friend fans talk about, as these notions could be said to have been popularized by a local web comic series that pertain to Japanese fandoms. They too apply to the ways of my life with Pokémon. Here, then, are the four notions:

"Waifu". I've already discussed waifu somewhat with the Pikachu marriage that I found out about. Many of my friends subscribe to this notion, but I have a hard time doing so. Consequently, I can't say that I do have one, not even ones from Pokémon. There is hardly anything out there that I can refer to as my waifu; there are things and characters I like, but I wouldn't call them as such. Besides anything that I've discussed about this concept, it is pretty much safe to say that my relation to the notion is non-existent.

"Gacha". This notion refers to the act of randomly drawing for something, whether game elements, collections, or the like, taken for its resemblance to certain toy vending machines in Japan. Most of my friends realize this notion in the games that they play, and I do too. The Pokémon Safari found in Pokémon Shuffle is essentially this, as there is no telling what Pokémon may be encountered, as is the selection of the balloon area in Rumble World. I have yet to play another Pokémon game with this concept realized, but I will likely encounter one soon. One other thing: I feel that my friends take this notion too seriously, so I only wish to maintain a level head in regard to this one.

"Salty". This notion is the feeling of being annoyed, even envious, of what has been accomplished. My friends often say they have this feeling and I have to say I do too, even with Pokémon things that others have exhibited. (Likewise, if I've committed this to others, then I'm sorry as well.) I'm trying my hardest to not let this feeling come over me, but sometimes things just happen. It's just something that I don't want to feel all the time.

"Splurge". This notion is popularly known among my friends as "khilaf", a term that is borrowed from Arabic which means "to err". For that, I respond in Latin with "errare humanum est" - "to err is human". So yes, that means sometimes I fall into the same pit. Still, I set limits on myself, and this has worked well in preventing this notion to be realized, though I do sometimes violate it, not the least of which is for this blog that I have now so that I can bring Pokémon stuff to light.

These four notions seem to shape me and my fellow fans' passions, and that means for me Pokémon is included and relevant. They're not all bad, but they can be controlling at times; thus the trick is being aware of the controlling situation and escaping that control. In doing so, we're all constantly developing regard and becoming better fans.

P.S. I realize this post is made on a blessed day for some people; I guess it's kind of cathartic in a way? What a blessed day it is.

Married... to Pikachu?

A friend has alerted me to one of the more quirky ways Pokémon is realized in life. In Japan, you can now apply to have a marriage certificate with Pikachu by filling out a special form. As with any application process, you then would expectedly receive the certificate after the form has been processed. It's quirky because it presents an unusual situation, but it might actually be something that a number of Pokémon fans welcome.

They would welcome this because it plays into the notion of a waifu, a fictional partner that in a way one is romantically attached to. The partner could be human or non-human, which in this case would be the latter. This also reminds me of a Pokémon friend who I have, who has a Pokémon waifu and is proud of it. The only difference is that my friend's waifu is Sylveon rather than Pikachu, which I'm certain doesn't have a marriage application of its own, unlike Pikachu.

To me, this is a playfully official take on the notion, as it lets you be recognized and approved to have a waifu of your own, namely the de facto series mascot. Of course, like actual and real marriages, there's a sense of commitment to be upheld with the official recognition. To have Pikachu as a waifu could be nice, but unless one wants to test commitment, perhaps that should be the limit. I have to say, though, that I'm not well-versed in the realm of the waifu, so you might differ with me on this.

All waifu concerns aside, this is a creative way to celebrate and realize Pikachu and especially Pokémon in real life. If I was in Japan, I might pursue this just for the novelty of showing that I like Pikachu - which I do and don't mind showing. But that's where I'll keep it, just to keep things from "going off the deep end", to put it lightly.

Pokémon Go Gym Rework

Even though I haven't played Pokémon Go in some time due to reasons that I've explained in my Go post earlier, I still have the desire to play. Its dipped popularity doesn't keep it from new features being added and overhauls of existing features. One of the more important ones of the latter just came recently, and that is the reworking of Gyms. From the start, Gyms have been lauded as an important competitive feature, but they've been somewhat mediocre. With the recent updates, now it seems Gyms can become more lively.

One important change is Gym composition. Now Gyms are limited to six Pokémon, and they all must be different. This, I'm told, eliminates "squatter tanking" gyms that are full of a single Pokémon like Blissey. I think this does one more thing, which is to make the Gyms parallel the main series Trainers and the VGC "species clause"; this in turn may increase interest back into the main series. In any case, this is a welcome change that helps increase the diversity of Gyms and deters those taking advantage of the game's mechanics.

Two other changes are raid battles and "Gym stops". Raid battles are cooperative battles against a powerful (Legendary) Pokémon, allowing Trainers to encounter them, but the Trainers must be of a high enough level. The latter meanwhile lets Trainers obtain Gym Badges and items like Pokéstops, though this also entails working the Gyms. Both of these are great additions, though the first one is admittedly exciting to partake in and experience.

Not all games are perfect from the get-go, and Pokémon Go is included as one of those games. This gym rework and subsequent improvement confirms that the previous deficiencies were recognized and now have been alleviated. This may or may not help Go regain some of its former popularity, but it surely helps those who are still engaged and may draw back former players like me. Should I play again, I might just now go into a gym and claim my team - something I haven't done since the beginning - and enjoy Gyms, which is the whole point of this improvement.

Technology, Good and Evil

A few days ago, I paid attention to a talk on technology, and the talk discussed the merits of technology and the people that use them. The conclusion of the talk was that technology is not what makes people become one way or the other; people are what make themselves one way or the other, and technology is neutral. As is true of so many real-life things, the same applies to the world of Pokémon. Technology is something that shapes this world, but the people are what make themselves good or evil through it.

I've mentioned in my sympathy for villains post some of the technologies that the villains used in order to carry out their objectives, and it really is true. Team Rocket's genetic engineering, far removed from their efforts in giving rise to Mewtwo, could be utilized to improve the lives of the Pokémon and people populace in general. And for Team Flare, instead of resurrecting an apocalyptic weapon from the past, the energies could be devoted to less hazardous objectives in the present. The technology can do what it does, but the intent by the teams are malicious.

Closer to the general populace are Pokémon technologies such as the Poké Ball, restore machines at Pokémon Centers, and transport devices. In doing what they do, these are all neutral; they're only good or bad if they support intents that are such. For typical Trainers, these are all indispensable in fulfilling objectives to become the best, making them feasible and accessible. For the villainous teams, they only serve to provide facilities to progress their not-so-good motives. The technologies don't have anything to do with the end result of the intents, but they do help them along.

Technology is in many places in the Pokémon world, but what it comes down to is how it is used by the people. Good motives beget good use, and likewise on the other end. Technology in our world is not quite as sophisticated, but the result is the same: good makes good and vice versa. The takeaway isn't that we are only as good as our technology, but that we are only as good as our motives, and technology is purely assistive. As a Pokémon fan, I feel like I've gained insights on both the real and the imagined by way of this consideration.