rosieknight (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
rosieknight) wrote2011-01-30 10:05 pm
rosieknight) wrote2011-01-30 10:05 pm
Entry tags:
Over-thinking things: Pokemon
Although I enjoy the games, I have to admit that there are things about the series that bug me. One of them is the cannon age of the player character: ten years old. This doesn't make sense, that a fifth grader is going on a massive journey all over the region(s) and no one bats an eye. Does. Not. Compute.
So, under the cut is my attempt to reconcile the protagonists' official ages with both the world shown and general human behavior.
In the games, we're shown a world where humans and pokemon live, work, and play together from very young ages. Despite this, the youth of the player character is commented on several times in the games by different people met along the way. This astonishment and dismissal of the character based upon their age doesn't make sense if pokemon journeys routinely begin at ten. Therefore, starting a pokemon journey at ten is the exception to the common experience in that world.
If becoming a traveling trainer isn't the norm in pokemon world, then what is?
I believe that most trainers begin their pokemon journey somewhere between the ages of fourteen and eighteen years old. A person may start later than that, if circumstances prevent them from traveling during this period.
My reasoning for choosing these ages is based up on two things. First, education and schooling. A ten year old is a fifth grader. They've gotten most of the basics in their education, - reading, writing, mathematics, science - but haven't necessarily reached the "capable of functioning in the real world" level yet. In addition, classes in the pokemon world probably include things like "pokemon care", "first aid", and "outdoor survival" that would likely be covered in more detail as the student matures mentally and physically. To add to this problem of education, a ten year old trainer would be in fifth grade or so. Assuming a school system similar to the one that exists in the real world, a fifth grader would have 3 more grades to finish elementary/primary school and 7 grades to complete to finish the pokemon world's equivalent of high/secondary school. While online or over the radio classes are both possible and useful, the difficulty of teaching and grading scattered, unsupervised, elementary/primary school students should be fairly obvious. How is the educational system supposed to tell if the trainer-students are learning if there is no way to really know where they are and what they're doing between gym battles?
The second reason for choosing fourteen and older as the standard starting age for pokemon journeys is the greater physical and mental development of teenagers verses ten year olds. In general, teenagers are able to carry more weight, travel greater distances, and reach farther than a child of ten. This gives a teenage trainer a better chance to survive the hazards of the journey than a ten year old on the same trip. As for mental development, a teenager has a better grasp of consequences and a more mature understanding of the world than a ten year old. This means that the teen is more like to be savvy with their money, be aware of and avoid scams, and be cognizant of things like ecology and protecting the environment.
If fourteen and up are the standard ages for pokemon journeys, why are games' protagonists able to go on their journey at ten? Simple! There is nothing stopping a ten year old from attempting the journey, save the hardships encountered on the journey itself. I speculate that before Blue became League Champion, no one had ever contemplated anyone younger than fourteen reaching the Indigo Plateau as a trainer, let alone beating both the Elite Four and the League Champion. And yet it happened twice within a relatively short time as Red took Blue's place as Champion.
In the wake of this double shock wave, the League becomes largely polarized over if they should prevent anyone younger than fourteen from participating in the League all together, from battling for Gym Badges, from entering the Indigo Plateau, or treat Blue and Red as the exceptions they are. When news of similar exceptional ten year old trainers - inspired by news of Red and Blue - reaches Kanto and Johto from Hoenn and Sinnoh, the Indigo League realizes it must make a choice it has put off for three years, even as the player character from Heart Gold and Soul Silver reach the Plateau...
So, under the cut is my attempt to reconcile the protagonists' official ages with both the world shown and general human behavior.
In the games, we're shown a world where humans and pokemon live, work, and play together from very young ages. Despite this, the youth of the player character is commented on several times in the games by different people met along the way. This astonishment and dismissal of the character based upon their age doesn't make sense if pokemon journeys routinely begin at ten. Therefore, starting a pokemon journey at ten is the exception to the common experience in that world.
If becoming a traveling trainer isn't the norm in pokemon world, then what is?
I believe that most trainers begin their pokemon journey somewhere between the ages of fourteen and eighteen years old. A person may start later than that, if circumstances prevent them from traveling during this period.
My reasoning for choosing these ages is based up on two things. First, education and schooling. A ten year old is a fifth grader. They've gotten most of the basics in their education, - reading, writing, mathematics, science - but haven't necessarily reached the "capable of functioning in the real world" level yet. In addition, classes in the pokemon world probably include things like "pokemon care", "first aid", and "outdoor survival" that would likely be covered in more detail as the student matures mentally and physically. To add to this problem of education, a ten year old trainer would be in fifth grade or so. Assuming a school system similar to the one that exists in the real world, a fifth grader would have 3 more grades to finish elementary/primary school and 7 grades to complete to finish the pokemon world's equivalent of high/secondary school. While online or over the radio classes are both possible and useful, the difficulty of teaching and grading scattered, unsupervised, elementary/primary school students should be fairly obvious. How is the educational system supposed to tell if the trainer-students are learning if there is no way to really know where they are and what they're doing between gym battles?
The second reason for choosing fourteen and older as the standard starting age for pokemon journeys is the greater physical and mental development of teenagers verses ten year olds. In general, teenagers are able to carry more weight, travel greater distances, and reach farther than a child of ten. This gives a teenage trainer a better chance to survive the hazards of the journey than a ten year old on the same trip. As for mental development, a teenager has a better grasp of consequences and a more mature understanding of the world than a ten year old. This means that the teen is more like to be savvy with their money, be aware of and avoid scams, and be cognizant of things like ecology and protecting the environment.
If fourteen and up are the standard ages for pokemon journeys, why are games' protagonists able to go on their journey at ten? Simple! There is nothing stopping a ten year old from attempting the journey, save the hardships encountered on the journey itself. I speculate that before Blue became League Champion, no one had ever contemplated anyone younger than fourteen reaching the Indigo Plateau as a trainer, let alone beating both the Elite Four and the League Champion. And yet it happened twice within a relatively short time as Red took Blue's place as Champion.
In the wake of this double shock wave, the League becomes largely polarized over if they should prevent anyone younger than fourteen from participating in the League all together, from battling for Gym Badges, from entering the Indigo Plateau, or treat Blue and Red as the exceptions they are. When news of similar exceptional ten year old trainers - inspired by news of Red and Blue - reaches Kanto and Johto from Hoenn and Sinnoh, the Indigo League realizes it must make a choice it has put off for three years, even as the player character from Heart Gold and Soul Silver reach the Plateau...
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