One of the iconic things from the main series of Pokémon games is the ability of the player Trainer to leap off of ledges that are present in some of the routes. Those who play the earliest games will no doubt recognize that some of these ledges are found in the very first route, and if one talks to one of the other characters, one is told exactly how to do this. It's a small thing, but it's one that continued to be present in many games after, and therefore it's iconic. It's also, in my view, representative of a few philosophical things based on what it entails.
By leaping off ledges, one is provided with a quick way back from where one was before. That quick way back allows one to avoid potential hindrances such as unwanted Pokémon encounters and then get going to other things quickly. Philosophically, it just means that sometimes one has to move on somehow to proceed with best time. One can of course go back to those Pokémon encounters, for example, and deal with them as needed, but just leaving them be for a certain amount of time before dealing with them may be the key to a good progression in good time. That may in fact happen in the games and could also very well happen in real life.
Of course, it may be that leaping off ledges may leave one unable to get back to certain places, at least not easily. Some routes in the later games are particularly evident of this reality. In that sense, it may be that one is just not meant to be in that certain place for much more than needed (if the decision has been made to leap) or that one has to consider carefully (before leaping). What seems to be just as important for anyone is to take care of things and to ensure that has happened before one makes the leap, or if one has leaped, to continue on the chosen path. It's a hard thing either way, but it's surely the thing to do in both the game and in real life.
No matter what happens, however, it seems to be appropriate for one to "enjoy the ride". This seems to be rather indicative in the Yellow Version, where Pikachu sometimes does a dance while still on the ledge after the player Trainer has leaped off a ledge. And in the other games regardless, things may continue to happen above and below a ledge after leaping off. Leaping off ledges, in this way, becomes something that just has to happen, and however things happen, one seems to be demanded to take things in stride. What goes on after making the leap is something for one to take in and deal with as best as one possibly can.
Leaping off ledges (literally) in the main series games has its purposes and happenings, especially when one has figured out how to do so with a little nudge. But leaping off ledges (figuratively) is also a thing in life, as something that happens when the circumstances demand it. There's a good deal of philosophical connection there, at least according to my view. For as long as the mentioned main series games get played and replayed, the player Trainer will likely have to leap off a few ledges to proceed... and such seems to also be the case in the life with and beyond Pokémon.
One year ago: Scat-Poké-Land
Two years ago: Let's Go Research
Three years ago: Caravansary
Tuesday, April 7, 2020
Monday, April 6, 2020
PvP Charged Attack Technique
Some time ago, there was a major change in how Charged Attacks in Pokémon Go are executed in PvP battles, after charging them in order to use them. Previously, Charged Attacks required tapping a single button to generate power; now, their power is generated by swiping icons that appear on the screen. It's a neat change with some profound implications, one of which is that executing them may be considered to necessitate some "technique".
The icons appear either from the edge or the middle of the screen. Sometimes they come in "streams", while other times they come as "lines" or as "clusters". What is clear, however, is that each type of Charged Attack always appears in the same way: for example, Water-type attacks have a stream of icons from the right side of the screen, while Poison-type attacks appear in small bunches on the lower end of the screen, and Steel-type attacks require swiping lines that overall look like slashing in the shape of the letter "X" in the middle of the screen. Whatever the case, the technique therefore involves how one swipes these icons. As well, this description is rather simple, but the technique may not be.
Compared to tapping a button, now the Charged Attacks appear more intuitive, and they can be "gauged" in a way, as the power of the attacks are rated with the Nice-Great-Excellent qualifiers, like throwing a Poké Ball. In fact, the technique that this necessitates seems to be almost on par with that; I seem to always have trouble with the stream of icons for Flying-type attacks and the lines of Rock-type attacks, while I can mostly handle the bunching of Fire-type attacks and the streams for attacks of the Grass and Bug types. Even after having gotten used to them with all the PvP battles I've fought in, it seems that I can stand to always improve my technique with them, which may require some effort. It seems that this takes some time for mastery.
Meanwhile, the "technique" aspect seems to also be apparent in certain usage cases. In PvP with the Team GO Rocket leaders and boss, they will always deploy Protect Shields the first two times Charged Attacks are executed, so it becomes futile to follow through to generate power; this is something that one of my fellow Trainers demonstrated while fighting a team leader. Another one also posited that it may be possible to "read" or "detect" what type of Charged Attack an opponent may be performing in live battles and thus it may be important to try to do this in those circumstances as well as to make a "bluff" to prevent the opponent from being able to do the same. These are subtle aspects to the new Charged Attack technique, and it seems important to not count them out.
It's not hard to see that the new way of Charged Attack execution has become something quite technical. The process itself indicates that this is quite the case, as something that one needs to know how to do. The actual execution of the technique depends on that as well as the circumstances. As much as it is technical, it remains a neat change nevertheless due to the intuitive aspect of the method, and that same intuition seems to play back neatly into the technique.
One year ago: Friend Cascade
Two years ago: Icons, Images, and Such
Three years ago: These Foolish Things Remind Me of Pokémon
The icons appear either from the edge or the middle of the screen. Sometimes they come in "streams", while other times they come as "lines" or as "clusters". What is clear, however, is that each type of Charged Attack always appears in the same way: for example, Water-type attacks have a stream of icons from the right side of the screen, while Poison-type attacks appear in small bunches on the lower end of the screen, and Steel-type attacks require swiping lines that overall look like slashing in the shape of the letter "X" in the middle of the screen. Whatever the case, the technique therefore involves how one swipes these icons. As well, this description is rather simple, but the technique may not be.
Compared to tapping a button, now the Charged Attacks appear more intuitive, and they can be "gauged" in a way, as the power of the attacks are rated with the Nice-Great-Excellent qualifiers, like throwing a Poké Ball. In fact, the technique that this necessitates seems to be almost on par with that; I seem to always have trouble with the stream of icons for Flying-type attacks and the lines of Rock-type attacks, while I can mostly handle the bunching of Fire-type attacks and the streams for attacks of the Grass and Bug types. Even after having gotten used to them with all the PvP battles I've fought in, it seems that I can stand to always improve my technique with them, which may require some effort. It seems that this takes some time for mastery.
Meanwhile, the "technique" aspect seems to also be apparent in certain usage cases. In PvP with the Team GO Rocket leaders and boss, they will always deploy Protect Shields the first two times Charged Attacks are executed, so it becomes futile to follow through to generate power; this is something that one of my fellow Trainers demonstrated while fighting a team leader. Another one also posited that it may be possible to "read" or "detect" what type of Charged Attack an opponent may be performing in live battles and thus it may be important to try to do this in those circumstances as well as to make a "bluff" to prevent the opponent from being able to do the same. These are subtle aspects to the new Charged Attack technique, and it seems important to not count them out.
It's not hard to see that the new way of Charged Attack execution has become something quite technical. The process itself indicates that this is quite the case, as something that one needs to know how to do. The actual execution of the technique depends on that as well as the circumstances. As much as it is technical, it remains a neat change nevertheless due to the intuitive aspect of the method, and that same intuition seems to play back neatly into the technique.
One year ago: Friend Cascade
Two years ago: Icons, Images, and Such
Three years ago: These Foolish Things Remind Me of Pokémon
Sunday, April 5, 2020
Writer Shortcuts
As a Pokémon blogger, I'm always looking for ways to be able to write my posts quicker. This is especially true when I already have my post ideas (which may already be in the form of drafts) but not a lot of time to write about them, particularly after I use that time to look for and into ideas for my posts in the first place. That's an important thing, and it can affect my writing time; when that happens, I need to get writing quickly, sometimes very quickly in some cases. Fortunately, there are some ways or "shortcuts" that I can take to write my posts more quickly.
One of those shortcuts involve using my phone to write my posts. For every piece of text I need to input on my phone, I use my phone's virtual keyboard, which is also equipped with the gesture typing feature. Since I discovered the feature ages ago, it has always been the primary way I input text. I tend to be a slow typer, whether it's on my phone or on a PC, so sometimes the speed afforded by the gesture typing feature can be helpful. I don't really like to type in an abbreviated manner anyway for most things, so it helps in that regard. Of course, when I'm out and about, such as at an event where Pokémon is involved, my phone becomes the only option, but it's a good option to have. It has many uses, for blogging and beyond.
Along with gesture typing, my phone's virtual keyboard has a "word book" feature that remembers my most-often inputted text, so sometimes I can input text simply using cues from the word book, perhaps quickly and saving a bit of time. The word book feature can also remember the most esoteric things I input, including names of certain Pokémon, specifically the most common ones I input such as Pikachu, as well as the word "Pokémon" itself. It is almost certain that I may have to type Pokémon names that I don't commonly use (one current example is Scorbunny), but after enough times I input them, the word book will eventually learn to keep it, particularly for use with gesture typing. That too helps to speed up writing my posts.
There are a couple of other shortcuts that I don't use but may be useful to be implemented and/or used. My phone's virtual keyboard also includes a voice typing feature, but I rarely use it since I often write my posts under "noisy" circumstances, and I consider that they may possibly interfere with the accuracy of the feature. Still, it's reasonably accurate, at least for non-Pokémon expressions, so I can use it every so often if at all possible. Another thing that I can use is the automatic text feature of my word processor on my PC, which could possibly be configured to hold many Pokémon names for easy access. As it stands, though, I rarely use the program for Pokémon writing, so there's not much point, but it could become an option once I have to deal with Pokémon writing frequently off of my blog, which I hope could be the case.
I always have some time for Pokémon things, including writing the posts on this blog, but that doesn't mean I always have lots of time. Therefore, I will often have to seek shortcuts to assist in writing the posts on this blog to make effective use of the (only) time I have, besides getting the ideas for them through the other things I do. All of the shortcuts above can and do help me accomplish the writing process when time is short. Even with the shortcuts and shortness of time, my fondness and appreciation for Pokémon are things that aren't short, and they're exactly what I try to express, even with the use of the shortcuts.
One year ago: Pokémon Go Fest 2017 T-Shirt Replica
Two years ago: 1000 Pokémon Species?
Three years ago: That Way You've Got
One of those shortcuts involve using my phone to write my posts. For every piece of text I need to input on my phone, I use my phone's virtual keyboard, which is also equipped with the gesture typing feature. Since I discovered the feature ages ago, it has always been the primary way I input text. I tend to be a slow typer, whether it's on my phone or on a PC, so sometimes the speed afforded by the gesture typing feature can be helpful. I don't really like to type in an abbreviated manner anyway for most things, so it helps in that regard. Of course, when I'm out and about, such as at an event where Pokémon is involved, my phone becomes the only option, but it's a good option to have. It has many uses, for blogging and beyond.
Along with gesture typing, my phone's virtual keyboard has a "word book" feature that remembers my most-often inputted text, so sometimes I can input text simply using cues from the word book, perhaps quickly and saving a bit of time. The word book feature can also remember the most esoteric things I input, including names of certain Pokémon, specifically the most common ones I input such as Pikachu, as well as the word "Pokémon" itself. It is almost certain that I may have to type Pokémon names that I don't commonly use (one current example is Scorbunny), but after enough times I input them, the word book will eventually learn to keep it, particularly for use with gesture typing. That too helps to speed up writing my posts.
There are a couple of other shortcuts that I don't use but may be useful to be implemented and/or used. My phone's virtual keyboard also includes a voice typing feature, but I rarely use it since I often write my posts under "noisy" circumstances, and I consider that they may possibly interfere with the accuracy of the feature. Still, it's reasonably accurate, at least for non-Pokémon expressions, so I can use it every so often if at all possible. Another thing that I can use is the automatic text feature of my word processor on my PC, which could possibly be configured to hold many Pokémon names for easy access. As it stands, though, I rarely use the program for Pokémon writing, so there's not much point, but it could become an option once I have to deal with Pokémon writing frequently off of my blog, which I hope could be the case.
I always have some time for Pokémon things, including writing the posts on this blog, but that doesn't mean I always have lots of time. Therefore, I will often have to seek shortcuts to assist in writing the posts on this blog to make effective use of the (only) time I have, besides getting the ideas for them through the other things I do. All of the shortcuts above can and do help me accomplish the writing process when time is short. Even with the shortcuts and shortness of time, my fondness and appreciation for Pokémon are things that aren't short, and they're exactly what I try to express, even with the use of the shortcuts.
One year ago: Pokémon Go Fest 2017 T-Shirt Replica
Two years ago: 1000 Pokémon Species?
Three years ago: That Way You've Got
Saturday, April 4, 2020
The Primary Warning of Pokémon Go
Quite a few Pokémon games have notices of some kind, including the main series games, for which I wrote about one nearly two years ago. Another one would be Pokémon Go, with another particularly well-known one. The only thing is that this notice is not so much a notice (at least, one that is purely informational), but a warning, something to be truly heeded. Anyone who plays the game will surely recognize this warning, and it goes like this, as the English version:
For one thing, all the things that Pokémon Go says not to do while playing can be derived from this warning. The "no trespassing" rule can be regarded as more or less being based on the second clause, while "no play while driving" is based on the first, and "no entry into dangerous areas" is based on both. Recently, Pokémon Go also added the positive rule of "be courteous of local communities", which can be regarded as another inference of the second clause. Based on these alone, the warning remains important.
With the current situation of the world, this warning can be considered to be even more important. One has to remain alert and aware, especially with a global health crisis present. Even if there is no particular emphasis, it should be heeded regardless, even with play shifting to the home. Still, at least one post on the official Pokémon Go blog has cited the warning in brief, in part highlighting it as an emphasis. As with the positive rule above, this indicates the sense that the warning continues to be important.
Notices like the previous smaller one or this one as a more significant warning make up only a small part of the game. However, behind their small stature, they can and do have major implications; this warning in particular extends to specifics and appears rather pertinent to what is going on today. In this case, they become something more to note or keep in mind - they become something that compels players to take action, preferably to improve gameplay in a manner that is worthy of respecting them.
One year ago: Local EX Raid (and Nothing), 4/4/2019
Two years ago: Gambling Not Permitted
Three years ago: One Thing
"Remember to be alert at all times. Stay aware of your surroundings."This warning notice is the piece of text that is seen when the game loads, after the splash logos and login if necessary. It is more or less the one thing that hasn't changed on the loading screen, aside from the image in the background. It appears just above the progress bar in the lower portion of the screen, often as two lines of text. Though the warning itself hasn't changed, the size of the text seems to have, from quite large to somewhat smaller. But the warning itself remains important.
For one thing, all the things that Pokémon Go says not to do while playing can be derived from this warning. The "no trespassing" rule can be regarded as more or less being based on the second clause, while "no play while driving" is based on the first, and "no entry into dangerous areas" is based on both. Recently, Pokémon Go also added the positive rule of "be courteous of local communities", which can be regarded as another inference of the second clause. Based on these alone, the warning remains important.
With the current situation of the world, this warning can be considered to be even more important. One has to remain alert and aware, especially with a global health crisis present. Even if there is no particular emphasis, it should be heeded regardless, even with play shifting to the home. Still, at least one post on the official Pokémon Go blog has cited the warning in brief, in part highlighting it as an emphasis. As with the positive rule above, this indicates the sense that the warning continues to be important.
Notices like the previous smaller one or this one as a more significant warning make up only a small part of the game. However, behind their small stature, they can and do have major implications; this warning in particular extends to specifics and appears rather pertinent to what is going on today. In this case, they become something more to note or keep in mind - they become something that compels players to take action, preferably to improve gameplay in a manner that is worthy of respecting them.
One year ago: Local EX Raid (and Nothing), 4/4/2019
Two years ago: Gambling Not Permitted
Three years ago: One Thing
Friday, April 3, 2020
Subcultures and Specialties
The quiz from Sunday that I covered in the post from the other day got me thinking about something else. Pokémon is a part of pop culture, but in some ways it can also be described as a "culture" of its own, what with people who do things in particular ways and beget, gain, or achieve certain things from it. It can be considered as a big thing of culture. As big as it is, it may leave room for some smaller things to exist, and it does. Those smaller things deserve discussion to a certain extent.
One of those things is subcultures. A subculture would be considered a smaller portion of a bigger culture. If Pokémon is considered a culture, then its subcultures would consist of fans who do specific things. For example, there would be the "competitive" subculture, which the association of main series players that I know and am a part of would fall into, and with the advent of PvP in Pokémon Go, certain regional groups for the game. Another subculture would be the "collection" subculture, which my figure group would be a part of. Yet another one would be the "casual" subculture, who may deal with any or all of these, but not to a great extent. There may be other subcultures with Pokémon, but these can be considered significant ones.
Another one of those smaller things is specialties. This may be considered as an adjunct to subcultures for people who have particular interests in specific Pokémon things. Some of my figure fellows could be said to have a particular specialty for that, aside from other Pokémon things that they may deal with. The person who partook in the quiz the other day and mostly dealt with the TCG can be considered to have that as the specialty, as would some of the TCG players in my area when they deal with Pokémon. Meanwhile, I have the tendency to think that many of those that deal with PvP in Pokémon Go, especially in my area and neighboring ones, specialize in this and perhaps few other aspects of Pokémon. The possibilities could be rather diverse.
As for myself, given my tendencies toward different Pokémon things and to not go too deeply into any one in particular, I would say that I fit into the "casual" subculture. Further evidence for this my lack of mastery in many competitions. In regard to specialties, I would say that the most profound ones would be blogging because of this blog (which has become an "enterprise" of sorts), as well as cosplay because of my foray into it (which is helped by my popularity with it). These are the little things I particularly identify with, and I'm sure for someone else this will be quite different.
It seems hard to think of Pokémon as a thing of culture, but in a way it does; it makes people do things in certain ways and achieve certain things, not to mention its overarching quality. That seems to lend itself well for specific subcultures by way of people doing things and specialties by their achievements. They become the small things that make up the big thing, and it is apparent that they make out the big thing as a "cultural" thing, which could be considered neat even for something pop-culture as Pokémon.
One year ago: Pokémon and eSports
Two years ago: Fondness for Latias and Latios
Three years ago: A Story of Love, A Story of Passion
One of those things is subcultures. A subculture would be considered a smaller portion of a bigger culture. If Pokémon is considered a culture, then its subcultures would consist of fans who do specific things. For example, there would be the "competitive" subculture, which the association of main series players that I know and am a part of would fall into, and with the advent of PvP in Pokémon Go, certain regional groups for the game. Another subculture would be the "collection" subculture, which my figure group would be a part of. Yet another one would be the "casual" subculture, who may deal with any or all of these, but not to a great extent. There may be other subcultures with Pokémon, but these can be considered significant ones.
Another one of those smaller things is specialties. This may be considered as an adjunct to subcultures for people who have particular interests in specific Pokémon things. Some of my figure fellows could be said to have a particular specialty for that, aside from other Pokémon things that they may deal with. The person who partook in the quiz the other day and mostly dealt with the TCG can be considered to have that as the specialty, as would some of the TCG players in my area when they deal with Pokémon. Meanwhile, I have the tendency to think that many of those that deal with PvP in Pokémon Go, especially in my area and neighboring ones, specialize in this and perhaps few other aspects of Pokémon. The possibilities could be rather diverse.
As for myself, given my tendencies toward different Pokémon things and to not go too deeply into any one in particular, I would say that I fit into the "casual" subculture. Further evidence for this my lack of mastery in many competitions. In regard to specialties, I would say that the most profound ones would be blogging because of this blog (which has become an "enterprise" of sorts), as well as cosplay because of my foray into it (which is helped by my popularity with it). These are the little things I particularly identify with, and I'm sure for someone else this will be quite different.
It seems hard to think of Pokémon as a thing of culture, but in a way it does; it makes people do things in certain ways and achieve certain things, not to mention its overarching quality. That seems to lend itself well for specific subcultures by way of people doing things and specialties by their achievements. They become the small things that make up the big thing, and it is apparent that they make out the big thing as a "cultural" thing, which could be considered neat even for something pop-culture as Pokémon.
One year ago: Pokémon and eSports
Two years ago: Fondness for Latias and Latios
Three years ago: A Story of Love, A Story of Passion
Thursday, April 2, 2020
Quizzes and Knowledge
While I was covering Pokémon Go's latest paid event for a post on Sunday - more specifically, while I was writing up said post - something interesting related to Pokémon happened. The national association of main series and VGC Pokémon players, a group that I'm glad to be a part of, held a quiz over the Internet in order to give away a slot in one of the major tournaments that is part of their series of tournaments. Initially, I had no intention of participating in the quiz, but since I was writing up the post on my PC and I had the required communication channels on the ready, and that responses of intent to participate seemed to be low, I decided to give it a shot.
The quiz was administered much like (in fact, exactly as) a quiz that my regional figure group held during one of their gatherings that was held nearly two years ago. In both cases, a number of multiple-choice questions are given for the participants to answer sequentially, and points are given out based on correct answers and streaks involving them. Unlike the figure group quiz, which involved Pokémon species descriptions as in the Pokédex, the recent quiz involved trivia from facets of competition play as well as the anime, which naturally is tailored to the current Sword and Shield games as well as the eighth generation in general.
Unfortunately, that also becomes the crux of this quiz, as being that I haven't gotten to know the eighth generation well due to other pressing matters - let alone the fact that I'm Switch-less and Sword-less - I didn't have much to go on for many of the answers to the questions. Therefore, I got many incorrect answers, and the few correct answers that I had were either lucky guesses or things I fortunately had known independently, however few they are; most of these correct answers were also separated by spans of many incorrect answers, so streak points didn't help much to boost my position. I thus ended up in last place, as the score table below indicates.
(One of the other participants also delivered a take on the quiz in a more visual manner through a YouTube video.)
It is worth noting that even with only 10 participants in the quiz, quite a few had different backgrounds. Some were VGC players that paid little attention to the anime, a few were avid anime watchers that weren't as versed in VGC (one was in fact a TCG player), and others had a mishmash of backgrounds, like me. That could explain why no one had less than 21 incorrect answers and 10 correct answers. The variation of Pokémon things that we know lended well for certain things and not others. Even so, there was a goof in one of the quiz questions where the actual correct answer was incorrectly marked, causing a bit of a furor; the difference may or may not have mattered.
Despite this quiz resulting in a less-than-favorable outcome for me personally and mixed outcomes overall, it did in a way reveal the extent of our knowledge of Pokémon. No one seems to have full knowledge of everything, and the recall of that knowledge may be difficult and/or slower than the allotted time for each question (for this quiz, the limit was 10 seconds to answer each question). All the knowledge appears to be segmented and known to varying degrees. It seems to be the same case as the species identification quiz. And then there was also the aforementioned goof, though I'm told this may have been more the result of an accident rather than a lack of knowledge.
A quiz like this by my national association and like the previous one by my figure group is quite well-intended for the purpose of finding out whose knowledge befits a special prize. It can also highlight gaps where the knowledge falls short, such as myself with the eighth generation. I'm sure it would have helped me to familiarize myself with that before the quiz, though other spots of knowledge, particularly those related to the deeper aspects vital to VGC, could still pose problems. The quiz had become something unique for a group that primarily deals with real gameplay to determine just who is the best among the rest. A little demonstration of knowledge couldn't hurt either.
One year ago: Going For New Competitions
Two years ago: Artistic License
Three years ago: I Found You, Black and White
The quiz was administered much like (in fact, exactly as) a quiz that my regional figure group held during one of their gatherings that was held nearly two years ago. In both cases, a number of multiple-choice questions are given for the participants to answer sequentially, and points are given out based on correct answers and streaks involving them. Unlike the figure group quiz, which involved Pokémon species descriptions as in the Pokédex, the recent quiz involved trivia from facets of competition play as well as the anime, which naturally is tailored to the current Sword and Shield games as well as the eighth generation in general.
Unfortunately, that also becomes the crux of this quiz, as being that I haven't gotten to know the eighth generation well due to other pressing matters - let alone the fact that I'm Switch-less and Sword-less - I didn't have much to go on for many of the answers to the questions. Therefore, I got many incorrect answers, and the few correct answers that I had were either lucky guesses or things I fortunately had known independently, however few they are; most of these correct answers were also separated by spans of many incorrect answers, so streak points didn't help much to boost my position. I thus ended up in last place, as the score table below indicates.
(One of the other participants also delivered a take on the quiz in a more visual manner through a YouTube video.)
It is worth noting that even with only 10 participants in the quiz, quite a few had different backgrounds. Some were VGC players that paid little attention to the anime, a few were avid anime watchers that weren't as versed in VGC (one was in fact a TCG player), and others had a mishmash of backgrounds, like me. That could explain why no one had less than 21 incorrect answers and 10 correct answers. The variation of Pokémon things that we know lended well for certain things and not others. Even so, there was a goof in one of the quiz questions where the actual correct answer was incorrectly marked, causing a bit of a furor; the difference may or may not have mattered.
Despite this quiz resulting in a less-than-favorable outcome for me personally and mixed outcomes overall, it did in a way reveal the extent of our knowledge of Pokémon. No one seems to have full knowledge of everything, and the recall of that knowledge may be difficult and/or slower than the allotted time for each question (for this quiz, the limit was 10 seconds to answer each question). All the knowledge appears to be segmented and known to varying degrees. It seems to be the same case as the species identification quiz. And then there was also the aforementioned goof, though I'm told this may have been more the result of an accident rather than a lack of knowledge.
A quiz like this by my national association and like the previous one by my figure group is quite well-intended for the purpose of finding out whose knowledge befits a special prize. It can also highlight gaps where the knowledge falls short, such as myself with the eighth generation. I'm sure it would have helped me to familiarize myself with that before the quiz, though other spots of knowledge, particularly those related to the deeper aspects vital to VGC, could still pose problems. The quiz had become something unique for a group that primarily deals with real gameplay to determine just who is the best among the rest. A little demonstration of knowledge couldn't hurt either.
One year ago: Going For New Competitions
Two years ago: Artistic License
Three years ago: I Found You, Black and White
Wednesday, April 1, 2020
April Fool's Day 2020: Truth in a Post
Well, this happens to be a fairly unique circumstance, "unique" being a word that may hardly be used to describe the current circumstance but has been used as such, particularly in connection to a Pokémon-related situation. So let's get straight to it: today is April 1 and therefore April Fool's Day. However, it comes at a time when it seems hard to take things lightly. Therefore, I want to take a different approach to this year's April Fool's Day. To that, I take inspiration from a certain statement, which for the purpose of this blog and post I have modified accordingly.
The statement is from an ad campaign that promotes truism in the best way possible. The ad is for a product that is true to its name in comparison to some other similar products that have some incongruity between their names and how they actually appear. In a way, it becomes a "selling point" for the product, as it appears more "true" than others of its kind. It may not make the product sell more than it is already selling, but it puts the brand in a good position. So too is the value of truism and truth, which in general is a good value to uphold and may bring about benefits.
As for how this relates to Pokémon, me, and today, there's quite a bit to say about each. Pokémon is a true brand, so anything involving it has to involve the namesake creatures to some extent, which can be assured of in practically any situation. I'm using this blog to bring out many of my true daily experiences or true things about Pokémon, which has become a true interest for me. And this day still truly what it is, despite the true situation in the world right now; that "unique" description I mentioned earlier is one such true occurrence, which I may and have to explain separately.
There's someone else who wants to speak about truth, in particular about relationships.
Ash: Hi everyone! When it comes to true things, you can't ask for much more than me and my partner Pikachu. It's a special bond that we have since the beginning. Maybe if you see me and Pikachu in action, that'll be a great reminder of truth.
Pikachu: Pika pi ka! ["That is true!"]
Me: I'm sorry I can't send you out into my world today like I did in past years for true reasons. It's just truly nasty out there. But what's true is that I look forward to do that when things truly clear up.
Ash: I know. Pikachu and I will keep trying to do our best in the meantime. And that's the truth.
Me: Certainly. Now I think I'm inspired to take care of other true things. I actually did some of that today.
Whatever happens, today remains truthfully April Fool's Day. It might not seem true at the moment, but the truth should become apparent in the future. For now, happy April Fool's.
One year ago: April Fool's Day 2019: Objectivity and Subjectivity
Two years ago: April Fool's Day 2018: Stepping Back, Moving Forward
Three years ago: It's April Fool's Day!
The statement is from an ad campaign that promotes truism in the best way possible. The ad is for a product that is true to its name in comparison to some other similar products that have some incongruity between their names and how they actually appear. In a way, it becomes a "selling point" for the product, as it appears more "true" than others of its kind. It may not make the product sell more than it is already selling, but it puts the brand in a good position. So too is the value of truism and truth, which in general is a good value to uphold and may bring about benefits.
As for how this relates to Pokémon, me, and today, there's quite a bit to say about each. Pokémon is a true brand, so anything involving it has to involve the namesake creatures to some extent, which can be assured of in practically any situation. I'm using this blog to bring out many of my true daily experiences or true things about Pokémon, which has become a true interest for me. And this day still truly what it is, despite the true situation in the world right now; that "unique" description I mentioned earlier is one such true occurrence, which I may and have to explain separately.
There's someone else who wants to speak about truth, in particular about relationships.
Ash: Hi everyone! When it comes to true things, you can't ask for much more than me and my partner Pikachu. It's a special bond that we have since the beginning. Maybe if you see me and Pikachu in action, that'll be a great reminder of truth.
Pikachu: Pika pi ka! ["That is true!"]
Me: I'm sorry I can't send you out into my world today like I did in past years for true reasons. It's just truly nasty out there. But what's true is that I look forward to do that when things truly clear up.
Ash: I know. Pikachu and I will keep trying to do our best in the meantime. And that's the truth.
Me: Certainly. Now I think I'm inspired to take care of other true things. I actually did some of that today.
Whatever happens, today remains truthfully April Fool's Day. It might not seem true at the moment, but the truth should become apparent in the future. For now, happy April Fool's.
One year ago: April Fool's Day 2019: Objectivity and Subjectivity
Two years ago: April Fool's Day 2018: Stepping Back, Moving Forward
Three years ago: It's April Fool's Day!
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