Pokémon Journeys (Parts 1 & 2) | Revisiting the Pokémon Anime After Nearly a Decade

My feelings towards Pokémon are so complicated that I don't even know how to begin this blog. I guess I could start by talking about how no series has squandered potential much like the Pokémon series. Here is a world brimming with personality and imagination that could be a goldmine for story and interesting structures, and yet every mainline game is the same eight badges, an elite four, and a champion. And with the anime adaptation, you can expect that same kind of stagnation. 

I fell out of the games around Gen 4, got back in with the release of Black and White 2, and fell out again with the contentious release of Sword and Shield. As for the anime, I was in and out of the series until I officially quit all together with the release of the god awful Black and White season. 

Many years later, I was compelled to start the anime from the beginning after the momentous episode where Ash won the Pokémon League after more than twenty years since the release of the debut episode. I was psyched, and I couldn't wait to rewatch some Pokémon. However, I got about 100 episodes in before getting exhausted, and I knew at that point I wasn't going to survive the over thousand episode series. 

So fuck it, I am skipping ahead. And thus, I am watching the current season of Pokémon for the first time since Black and White. And boy, there is a lot about the anime that I forgot about that I need to readjust to especially after watching this immediately after finishing YU-GI-OH: Battle City. As a side note, speaking of Battle City, I am only covering the first two parts of Pokémon Journeys since I just finished covering over 100 episodes of another children's anime. Consider this my chance to unwind. 

First off, Pokémon Journeys is far more kid-like compared to its kid anime contemporaries. Unlike Dragon Ball Z or the aforementioned YU-GI-OH, Pokémon Journeys is happy, colorful, and brutally laid back. It even lost its underlying adolescent edge that the older Pokémon arcs had. Ash isn't an arrogant twat anymore. Brock isn't simping on every girl he sees. Now, the shift isn't entirely a bad thing. In fact, I was surprised by how much I enjoyed the laid back tone, but it definitely stuck out when I first watched the show. 

I gotta say. I almost don't have much to say on this current season of Pokémon. I went in expecting to write a full breakdown, and I didn't get that. I never thought reviewing Pokémon Journeys would be like reviewing Winnie the Pooh. From a narrative standpoint, aside from the little things, there isn't much to critique or discuss that isn't blatantly obvious. It's hard to review something when the whole vibe and purpose of the show is to be pleasant and fun. 

For example, its obvious that the art style has greatly improved from the days of Black and White. Pokémon battles are flashy and choreographed while retaining the cleverness the Pokémon anime gave to battles. A stand out example is Ash's battle with Lieutenant Surge's protégé. The battle includes a lot of call backs to that iconic battle but it feels very Pokémon Journeys and manages to beat the famous Surge battle at its own game. It's got more clever moments. And additionally, it doesn't wallow in nostalgia like a lot franchises that have these opportunities. I appreciated that it gave some nostalgia in the homage but didn't overdo it for it to be exploitative. 

Obviously, I am also glad Ash's journey isn't getting eight badges again at least in the first two parts. It's very slice of life and laid back compared to other seasons, and I appreciate the lack of rigidness. It doesn't feel the creative team is restricted to focus on the current region of Pokémon but rather is allowed to approach the world however they want. This is shown in Ash's goal in this show. Older Pokémon gave Ash the vague goal of becoming a Pokémon Master. This is still the case, but it is now given a sense of direction with the character Champion Leon. Now, Ash's goal is tangible in a way that hasn't really been done in Pokémon at least in the Pokémon I've seen. Leon is a great for being that symbol placed on top of the mountain that Ash must climb. 

That's essentially it. Like I said, I don't have much to say, and the rest of my thoughts are mere little things. 

Chloe is a fantastic character, and I wish she was in it more. She complements Ash and Goh very well. Goh is a little hit and miss for me. I am glad he took Ash's place as the slightly arrogant amateur, but he comes off a little more annoying than Kanto Ash. That said, I like his relationship with Scorbunny. And unlike Pikachu, I like how their relationship dips similar to Ash/Charizard as the show continues making their relationship more dynamic. 

Gengar is my all time favorite Pokémon, so the fact Ash gets one made me happy and was actually the final force that compel me to skip ahead to Pokémon Journeys.  

Pokémon Journeys is great. I still wish Pokémon anime still went in a more mature direction. That doesn't mean I want Ash to have issues with depression or whatever, but it wouldn't hurt to have a bit of an edge. Pokémon Origins showed that a less childlike presentation isn't impossible. And while we are talking about things we want more from Pokémon, maybe in Pokémon Journeys we can have more Pokémon battles that don't involve Pikachu and an opening theme song that doesn't suck. 

Otherwise, the show is good. At times, it is better than good. In ways, I was surprise by how much I enjoyed just the basic things. The filler episodes were better than I expected. The battles were phenomenal.  Dare I say, it is one of the best arcs in the anime. Of course, I can't say with certainty. After all, I got a bunch more to watch AS THE JOURNEY CONTINUES-ugh, ok I couldn't think of a better way to end this one. 

Rambling about Billy Hatcher and the Giant Egg

A scrapped blog idea was a discussion on games I would like to see have a sequel. However, one problem was how every game I talked about churned out the same points. They were either a game whose flaws could fixed by a sequel (i.e. Kameo, Pokémon XD, Donkey Kong 64), a game that has a story or gameplay concept that is unexplored (i.e. Ghost of a Tale & Bully), or a game that I simply want more to sink my teeth into (i.e. Banjo Kazooie, Legacy of Kain, Wario World, Kirby's Air Ride). 

The interesting thing was how one game managed to be exude elements of all three and was shocked by that game being Billy Hatcher. 

So as Psychonauts 2 and Beyond Good and Evil 2 slowly leaves my video game sequel wish list, Billy Hatcher 2 moves up as a sequel I most desperately want. 

Billy Hatcher is a 3D platformer where you are a kid in a chicken costume that uses giant eggs to fight enemies and traverse the world. It's a premise where if I tell my friends about it they would give me the same look as if I was pitching them a pyramid scheme. "But I swear guys, it is worth it."

The game's enjoyment comes in two fronts. One is its presentation which is so unique that it is hard categorize it. I guess you can say it is kid-like, but that is very broad. It's more like you done shrooms and teleported to a utopia of a five year old who happens to have an obsession with chickens and Digimon. This is exuded in the music which jumps between pure charm to chanting of a some unbeknownst kid cult. 

The other front is the gameplay which is full of creative ideas. You can hatch eggs to spawn animal friends that you can use to get past obstructions and wipe out stronger enemies. You can hatch other eggs to get powerups. You have a diverse set of movement options that is a few moves away from being comparable to Mario 64. There is a surprising amount of exploration with one concept, and yet there is is still plenty of additions I would have like to seen in a sequel. 

Enemies, for example, would benefit with some additions. The enemy roster is alright as is as they all fulfill some type of role. For example, T-Rex enemies act as chasers whereas Bee enemies sporadic movements act as egg killers. However, I would like to see more enemy archetypes or at the very least different designs that fulfill similar roles. It's a bit tiring after 56 levels across seven worlds to see the same enemies. 

Speaking of tiring, if you ever consider playing Billy Hatcher, which I hope you do, then I have suggestion. Whatever you do, DO NOT 100% BILLY HATCHER. 

I love Billy Hatcher, but even I would admit it's got some problems. This is especially true when going for 100%. 

Billy Hatcher's 100% requirements is actually pretty simple for a 3D platformer. It's at least more simple than most collectathons such as Donkey Kong 64 and its six types of collectables (9 if you count the ones that overlap into other collectables such as Blue Prints and Banana Medals). Billy Hatcher only has four. There are Emblems which act as Power Stars. There are coins which unlock special eggs. There are the eggs themselves which fill out a gallery when you hatch them. And finally, there are S-Ranks which can be achieved by playing a mission particularly well. 

All of them bring about their own problems that are exacerbated when going for 100%. But before I talk about those problems, I will briefly go over the good for each of them. The coins are well hidden and encourage you to master more obscure maneuvers and explore the world. The Egg Gallery encourages you to hatch eggs allowing you to experiment with the powerups since a good chunk of them are pretty ignorable unless you are playing multiplayer.

As for the S-Ranks, it encourages you to try out the combo system which I didn't know the game had until I set out to achieve all S-Rankings. You can shoot your egg at enemies. And if they collide with other enemies, it ups a combo meter. This also happens if your animal friends hit multiple enemies. It's really fun upping the scores. It's also fun playing the game fast to get a good time. When the game flows, it's hard to put the controller down. If only other collectables didn't get in the way of it. 

That's the main problem with the collectables. There is paper rock scissors relationship with these collectables where one collectable affects the enjoyment of the other. Yeah, it's fun to run around the level finding the coins, but I can't spend too much time on it because that would affect my S-Rank meaning I have to play the level again. I like playing the game fast to get an S-Rank. But what's this, there is an egg I need to hatch to fill out the gallery thus interrupting the flow. 

And get this, if you want to get all the emblems, you have to get all the collectables I mention above. In other words, I hope you are not a completionist nut like me or else you are going to be spending an unnecessary amount of time on each level. 

This ignoring the individual problems each collectable has. Coins, for starters, have placements that are very precise to reach. This is worse when they are placed on a slide giving you only one chance to get them without restarting the level or checkpoint. There are eggs that will sometimes give you different power ups or animal friends which means you either have to hatch every egg you see in hopes you get something different or use a walkthrough. And finally, S-Ranks encourages you to play without dying which is hard since Billy Hatcher is notorious for cheap deaths.

I hope you have a lot of patience or a save state at hand, because you will be dying a lot. Or at the very least, you will lose an egg via a one-shot from an enemy or from a ledge since certain ledges might catch the egg but not you. 

This game has everything. Platforms too small so either you or your egg will fall into a bottomless pit. Ramps that require you to load your egg so you can catch it on the other side. This leads to situations where it either won't catch the egg or it will launch your egg so fast that it won't give you enough time to get to the other side of the ramp. Slides that don't give you the best control on your jumping arcs leading you to fall to your death. A camera that you have to wrestle to see anything. 

I started this review part way into my playthrough, and I was having a good time. By the end of my playthrough, I am writing what you see here, traumatized by all the pointless deaths that almost broke my spirit. 100%ing this game took a toll on me. And yet, I am still hoping there will be a sequel to this game. 

If any game needs to have its problems fixed, it's this one. Fix the physics, fix the extra content, fix the camera and this game can go from good to great. 

If I Was Harry Potter | A Fanfiction/Creative Non-fiction Essay

Introduction 

A thing I am admittedly guilty of when I experience certain stories is that I like to roleplay as the vessel character of that given story as it goes along. The simplistic stories of action and adventure provide a wish fulfillment that we are all guilty of partaking in from time to time. We all wanted to be the charismatic James Bond. We all wanted to be the awkward but powerful Spiderman. However, I will admit. I get really into it. I daydream constantly. 

And when I am in the movie theater or alone reading a book, my imagination runs bloody rampant. 

My favorite story to do this with is the iconic Harry Potter septilogy. Or is it spelt septology? Forget it, the Harry Potter seven-part series has all the ingredients for a vessel character. Harry Potter is almost a complete blank slate making sure everyone, from the white Caucasian boy to the Indian foreign exchange student from Denmark, can relate. That character receives everything from riches, lusty advances, and fame. He saves the world. And, he is flawed but not too flawed. You can praise JK Rowling for Harry Potter's social commentary or the creative setting of Hogwarts. But for me, Harry Potter's strength is allowing the shameless opportunity for some indulgent roleplaying, and the numerous amounts of fanfiction on the Internet speak for itself. 

However, I am a realist role-player. I hate snapping my fingers and suddenly Voldemort's head is suddenly on my mantle while I cuddle with my Aragog plushie. As I gotten older, I understand the necessity of struggle. So when I recently thought about the world of Harry Potter, I asked myself, "What would I genuinely do if I became Harry Potter?" 

This question had more implications the more I thought about the framing of that question. I had to lay down some ground rules. 

1. My Age Must Match the Age of Harry's in Each Book

For example, Harry Potter was eleven in the Sorcerer's Stone. Therefore, my mind will be de-aged back to eleven years old. It will provide me a layer of retrospect and objectivity as I speculate what my younger self would do. After all, I would make much better decisions as a twenty-something than an eleven-year-old. Plus, this rule will rid me of any guilt of fawning over underaged girls. 

2. All My Prior Knowledge of the Harry Potter World is Completely Erased

I think this is only fair. If I teleported into Harry's brain knowing all the events and spells of the Wizarding World, I could speedrun this story by how much sequence breaking I could do. I would have Voldemort's head and my Aragog plushie by the time I turned twelve. 

3. Major Harry Potter Story Events Will Happen Regardless

We will assume that Harry Potter operates on a self-correcting timeline for certain events that are integral to the series, and these events will happen one way or another. For example, I have to go to Hogwarts even if the large bearded man who hexed my cousin scares the crap out of me. Of course, there is a layer of subjectivity to this rule as what's integral isn't objective, but I will try my best. 

4. I Inherit Harry's Story Important Talents and Abilities 

When I say I become Harry Potter, I mean my consciousness is placed into Harry Potter's cis white male body. Therefore, I think it is only fair I get to speak Parseltongue, have his broom flying skills, and his natural charm that allows people to instantly like him for unbeknownst reasons along with other things. 

5. For the Sake of Entertainment Purposes, Let's Assume I Don't Face Immense Psychological Trauma or Confusion from my Young Consciousness Transferring to Another Body. After all, the Story Would End in a Psyche Ward if Harry Potter was Told Realistically

Yeah, I probably shouldn't put the explanation in the section header. But hey, you get the point. 

Otherwise, everything else is fair game. With all the agenda out of the way, let's start what may be the dumbest experiment I came up with so far. Here is the {abridged} story of: 

M. Rambles and the Sorcerer’s Stone