Pokémon X and Y Are a Bit of a Contradiction

Pokémon X and Y were in some ways ambitious and in others very safe. Everyone knows they weren't given a fair chance to express their ideas, but what exactly were those ideas anyway? Is there a real, genuine story hidden in there, or is it better left in the past?

Pokémon X and Y Are a Bit of a Contradiction
Reconstructed # 12

Sources:

All music from the OST of Pokémon X and Y (feel free to ask if you'd like to know a particular song)
Stock footage from Envato Elements

Other cool video essays on Pokémon X and Y:

00:00 - Intro
02:14 - Part 1: Rebonjour
17:52 - Part 2: Fascism
27:08 - Part 3: Life, Death, and Mega Evolution?
43:49 - Part 4: Cooldown
49:41 - Outro

Pokemon X Video Essay
Pokemon X Analysis
Pokemon X Retrospective
Pokemon Y Video Essay
Pokemon Y Analysis
Pokemon Y Retrospective

#pokemonxy #videoessay #analysis

[Skyehoppers]

Hello! If my voice sounded weird in this one it’s cause I’ve had bronchitis. It’s been a struggle. Anyway, what do you think of my analysis? Any differing interpretations? Anything you think I missed? Art interpretation should be treated as a conversation, so, in addition to the questions I posed directly in the video, I've listed some discussion questions below to kick-start analysis beyond what I did in the video! If you have the means, any and all support on Patreon (link in description) means the world to me and really helps me keep this going. Currents perks are just name in credits, early access, Discord server, and update posts. I’m going to rework the Patreon in a few months so I’ll save the stronger pitch til then!

1. It’s pretty obvious that Pokemon Z was originally intended to exist, but what sort of things narratively do you think would have existed in it?

2. I cut a line in the script about “Holo Caster” sounding a lot like “holocaust” because I decided I really hoped that wasn’t intentional. I think drawing that direct a parallel between Lysandre and Hitler would make the both-sidesy centrism lines borderline sinister. What do you think?

3. Rideable Pokemon! What was their deal?

4. Were Dexio and Sina characters worth mentioning in the video? The game seems a bit confused about their purpose and I didn’t really understand the secret superhero thing but I could imagine there being an interesting angle.

[chloefantasista]

i think the obvious answer to "why can lysandre's gyrados mega-evolve?" is that the gyrados is also a fascist

[lasercraft]

Its ironic that Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire used Mega Evolution more than XY did... Strong trainers like Wally, Maxie, Archie, the Elite Four, and Champion Steven actually use Mega Pokemon during the main story. :(

[j-the-aquatic.]

Gyrados didn’t know voting for the Pyroars eating faces party would get his face eaten by Pyroars.

[jackprobert]

Your analysis of Team Flare drives home the point for me that Zygarde's absence from XY does the games a great narrative disservice. For me, Zygarde fills in a lot of the gaps in what main plot of the games is trying to do, since it raises a counterpoint to Team Flare's ideology. In terms of gameplay, both Team Flare and the player when using Mega Evolution derive power from scarcity and exclusion: while the games don't make much of it, Team Flare spend most of their appearances trying to create monopolies (on pokeballs, on energy, on pokemon themselves) from which they can derive the power to change Kalos. The games do have an introspective moment in which Lysandre likens this to the player alone wielding Mega Evolution - and denying Serena/Calem the chance to do so, highlighting how your own choices ultimately follow a similar ideology to Team Flare. Where I think Zygarde could have been such an interesting addition to the ideology of scarcity espoused by Team Flare and, to some extent, embodied by the player, is that its power comes from plurality and inclusion.

Gameplay-wise, Zygarde is a collection of multiple cells and cores working together: thus in a reversal of Team Flare, Zygarde's power comes from union rather than separation. It is a potential metaphor for community, or environment - again, another kind of beauty that Lysandre fails to understand. Its beauty and its power is its ability to draw together, rather than to separate apart. Moreover, thinking in terms of lore, Zygarde becomes especially interesting when compared with Xerneas and Yveltal, who are natural forces, life and death, made individual as powerful pokemon to be dominated through capture. Where Zygarde differs is that, in Sun and Moon, it can only be assembled through the player collecting its cells: its natural force (whatever that may be: the games are not entirely clear but do classify it as the Order Pokemon which is interesting in and of itself as a trio with Life and Death) comes from union rather than binary separation. Where Xerneas and Yveltal's power have only brought pain to those like AZ and Lysandre, who have both viewed the world through a lens of scarcity and domination, Zygarde's power might represent the potential of the union of which it is a product. Zygarde is what Pokemon's central ideology (at least the one it outwardly espouses) has always been: it is coming together and nature in one - it must be assembled after exploration.

Crucially, then, a Pokemon X and Y that integrated Zygarde into their narrative could have at the very least created a lot more space for disruptions of Team Flare's ideology of scarcity, highlighting the alternatives that the original games ignore. Suddenly, I think they become a lot more interesting if the opposition to Team Flare's fascism is Zygarde's plurality and inclusion. If Legends Z-A does use Zygarde, which I am assuming it will, I think it might be able to provide a much more cohesive counterpoint to what XY presents.

Either way, thank you for the video - it was very interesting to think about a game I loved as a kid in a new light. Just like Zygarde, maybe your power comes from community - even though you worry your ideas haven't been original, I think that by choosing to share them you have enriched us all! Take care :D

[StarBittys]

I always assumed that the reason Lysandre used Mega Evolution, was because he was brute-forcing it. I figured that was what the weird machinery he wears exclusively for that final fight was meant to do, to force the phenomenon to occur with a less stable bond. The anime also has moments where it shows that Mega Evolution isn't _impossible_ without the power of friendship, but rather, has consequences if used without that bond.

Unfortunately, that was not explained in the game's writing, and that _is_ a problem.

[stigmaoftherose]

My favorite part of gen 6's story is that it is the only one where in one of the two games the evil team leader is shocked to find the wrong box legendary at the apex of his plans.

[lasercraft]

Something I liked about Pokemon Amie is that you NEEDED to use it in order to get the battle benefits... In later games, they just tied those features directly to the already existing "friendship" system. And because of this, by the end of a playthrough all of your Pokemon would be able to land critical hits and avoid attacks with minimal player input, simply because the friendship stat raises as you use them.

It was nice to be rewarded for actually caring for your Pokemon rather than being given it for free.

[AurumAlex]

25:56 Yep, this is really the core problem with almost every Pokémon game's story: because the franchise is unwilling to reflect on its settings beyond it being perfect utopia, it's villains don't really make sense. The whole meme image of AZ saying "it's been 3, 000 years" is the entire problem with X/Y's story: instead of grounding Lysandre's thoughts about beauty and humanity in events and people concurrent to the story, the game has to scramble 3, 000 years in the past to find the most relevant example. This is why Lysandre as a character feels so flaccid; what is he even talking about? How is what he's saying reflected in the world we inhabit over the course of the game? Gen 8 will make the same mistake, just temporally reversed. Chairman Rose's concerns about an energy crisis in Galar are unfounded, and that's because the game places this so-called "crisis" 1, 000 years into the future. This decision conveniently avoids confronting whether the way the Pokémon world is run is unsustainable, and makes Rose look like a irrational radical who can't wait a single day to enact his crazy schemes. Of course, no other character in the game seems all that concerned about an energy crisis.

It's a shame you stopped at Sun/Moon, because I'll echo what others have already said in here: Gen 7 probably has the best story in the mainline series. Admittedly, I'm kind of grading on a curve, but I also the think the story is legitimately great in its own right. S/M worries about what happens when the traditions and institutions underpinning our lives alienate and ostracize us, rather than bring us together. Sun/Moon rather boldly tackles the core tenants of the series. Guzma, the leader of Team Skull, builds up his own gang because he feels disillusioned with the Island Challenge, the "Gym" equivalent in Alola that dominates the cultural interest in the region:

"Here we are, Kukui... Fellow rejects who never could become captains. We've got all these moldy old traditions in Alola -- the kahunas, the captains, it's about time we cut out all that silly garbage and make something new for ourselves ... Don't get me wrong, though, Kukui. We've got no need for a Pokémon League .... Why even bother with the island challenge? What's the point of it?" Guzma failed the island challenge, and felt useless as a result. That in a world that places such a high value on traditions like the island challenge, to be bad at it represents a fundamental flaw in one's personal character. It is telling that whenever Guzma loses, he yells at himself: "Guzma! What is wrong with you?!"

Sun/Moon's also critiques the structures of the Pokémon world in Lillie's storyline about escaping her abusive mother. When we enter Lillie's home in the back half of the game, it's a genuinely disturbing beat. The house is blanketed in a sterile white, and giant iron bars barricade the entrances and stairs. This is not a home, it is a prison. Lillie tries to confront her mother, but she ridicules her instead: "Calling me mother? I don't have any children! Certainly not any wretched children who would run off and reject my love!" A scene later, we see how Lusamine treats her Pokémon; she keeps a storage of cryogenically frozen Pokémon in her basement, what she likes to call her "private collection." And it is here where the game's criticism becomes reflexive. In the climax of the story, Lillie confronts her mother again:

Lillie: "I am alive! Cosmog is alive! We are not things for you to collect!"
Lusamine: "How am I different from any Pokémon Trainer, like your little "friend" there? What do you do with a Pokémon you can't use? You remove it from your party, as you please."

The game never refutes Lusamine's point. Lusamine *does* treat her children like we are asked to treat our Pokémon over the course of the game, objects to be registered in a Pokedex and then tossed away in a PC Storage Box indefinitely whenever we'd rather play with something new. It is disturbing (and rather bold) to see a Pokémon game so plainly compare the main conceit of the franchise to domestic abuse.

Of course, Gen 7 is not immune from the problems you've outlined. While the game casts doubt on the efficacy of Training/Battling as a cultural touchstone, it rather uncritically accepts the establishment of the first Pokémon league as a momentous step forward for the region. Kukui points to the tallest mountain in Alola, where the League is being built, and says: "It's time to get our own Elite Four and make our own Pokémon League! To think that, someday, the kiddos in Alola will be able to go from being the island challenge champion to the world Champion! And then, when we have our own Champion, they can show the rest of the world what's so special about Alolan Pokémon and their Trainers, yeah!"

The games seek to entrench Alola deeper into the monopoly of Pokémon Leagues and Gym Battles, never taking stock to see that it's discontent with precisely these institutions that created Team Skull -- and in a more abstract sense -- Lusamine's cruel abuse in the first place. Still, Sun/Moon explores the world and characters more richly than I feel the series ever has or will do again. Ever since base Sun/Moon came out, it feels somewhat like the franchise has regretted doing it. Anytime Gen 7 is represented in the wider franchise, it is the Ultra Sun/Moon versions of the characters, which quite frankly butchers the original story by essentially replacing the family drama storyline with a generic, world ending threat, and which makes Lusamine out to be a misunderstood hero who abused her children for the greater good. Meanwhile, the Anime (from the little I've seen) went for a completely different (way less hostile) family dynamic. It is doubtful we will ever see the original Sun/Moon versions of the characters again.

Oh, also, this video reminded me that they really did call Lysandre's greatest tech achievement the 'Holo Caster, ' which is so genuinely ridiculous lol.

[volzuloof]

Serena saying "If both sides have something to say, maybe it's best to meet halfway..." on Victory Road is genuinely the funniest moral I've ever heard. She literally tells the player that one meme about how we should compromise and let the fascists do a little fascism.

[Makoto]

Lysandre being able to Mega-Evolve his Gyarados actually makes perfect sense from a lore perspective, I think. You pointed out himself, he DOES care for his Pokémon. In nearly all conservative movements, more extreme the closer to Fascist you get, the core message is often "Care for your family and nobody else. Everyone else wants to hurt you, the world is a scary place, and people are inherently evil. You, Patriarch, are responsible for stamping out that evil in your own family and caring for them as we say your God intends." As I just alluded to, Fascism also often leads to abuse of the family, "for the greater good, " while also stamping into said family that said abuse is "for your own good." Like a Stockholm syndrome kind of situation. That's the vibe I get from Lysandre, his team, and what his ability to Mega Evolve his Gyarados implies: A twisted kinship, an abusive love, a brainwashing. He almost certainly loves his Gyarados and it loves him back, but in the twisted "he only beat me because I was bad" kind of dynamic. That's the implication I got from what you believed to be the paradox between him willingly killing his own pokémon and still being able to mega evolve, anyway.

[PaulPower]

I want to give some shout outs to Scarlet and Violet in particular for trying to address the problem of "the player is a dragon and everyone else is a carp" - it doesn't ultimately solve the problem because it's kind of fundamental to how Pokémon works, but it at least acknowleges that the problem exists - through the characters of Nemona and Kieran, the primary rivals of the main game and the DLC respectively. Both seem deliberately crafted to address your point about how Serena/Calem can only really express their frustration at never being able to beat you, and not reach a satisfying terminus to their character arcs.

Nemona's whole thing is that she's already a Champion (Paldea can have multiple Champions, and losing to someone does not revoke Champion status) but is now facing that problem familiar to the player - once you've climbed to the top of the mountain, where do you go next (one might even say that she's pretty much a player character who has already reached the end of her journey, akin to Red in GSC/HGSS)? Not only can she beat everyone else she faces, she barely has to try. Still, here's this promising new trainer who's just arrived in the region, maybe she can train you up to be a true rival to her. So she builds a new team so she can train alongside you, is happy when she loses to you because she's proud at how far you've come, and when she does eventually lose to you at full strength, it's a massive moment of catharsis for her - finally, Pokémon battling is *fun* again. The contrast with Serena/Calem's frustration couldn't be sharper. She's ultimately my favourite rival (although Gladion's theme *does* go hard).

But if Nemona is the anti-Serena/Calem, then Kieran takes all of that frustration and dials it up to 11. Starting out as a shy and wimpy but ultimately friendly kid, he become defined by his frustration at both losing to you and also you winning the heart of the local legendary Pokémon Ogrepon, a 'mon he arguably has a stronger connection to. And that frustration eventually builds into a psychotic break as he becomes obsessed with getting stronger, morphs into the ultimate tryhard, becomes Champion at his school while ushering an oppressive atmosphere - and now you have to take him down a peg or two (I haven't finished the DLC yet so outside of a few spoilers I don't really know the details of how its story ends). I absolutely prefer the Nemona approach myself, but I can see why a lot of people find him a compelling character.

I observed the other day that if Gary Oak is the rival we want (a jerk who's always one step ahead of us, but we take great pleasure in taking him down), then Nemona is the rival we need (a kind and supportive person who we still feel good about beating at Pokémon) and Kieran is the rival we deserve (someone so fed up at the player being "the dragon" that they go to extreme lengths to try and become a dragon themselves). As I say, at the end of the day you can still surpass all of them, so the problem is ultimately unsolvable - but I appreciated the attempt to address it.

[jamesmcdonald]

I always assumed that it was Lysandre's weird machine is what lets him mimic mega evolution. Like, he's abusing technology to force what should be something sacred.

[lasercraft]

38:16 If I could share my two cents... In Pokemon XY, Mega Evolution is explicitly stated to be powered by the bond between trainer and Pokemon. HOWEVER in Sun & Moon they added Pokedex entries for every mega form in the Alolan Pokedex. Many of these dex entries share horrifying details about the pain and suffering the Pokemon go through when they Mega Evolve.

When I first learned about this, I was FURIOUS! They took something pure and good and made it out to be a horrible torturous thing. To this day I've considered it to be a retcon to spit in the face of Mega Evolution...

But thinking about it more, maybe the reason Mega Evolution brings so much pain is because its used improperly. Despite the in-game explanation being "the bond between trainer and Pokemon, " you don't NEED to have a bond with your Pokemon to use it. You can literally trade with someone, use a Pokemon you just got for the first time, and it will still allow you to Mega Evolve it.

Maybe the Pokemon only feel pain when Mega Evolution is FORCED. Even the anime supports this idea... Because the only time they show Mega Evolution causing pain is in the Volcanion movie, where the villains use some strange device to force more than one Pokemon to Mega Evolve at the same time. They also have an episode where Korrina's Lucario goes out of control when Mega Evolved, and doesn't regain control until Korrina is able to properly bond with it.

I don't think its a coincidence that Lysandre's Mega Pokemon happens to be a Gyrados either... Its Pokedex entry says "Mega Evolution also affects its brain, leaving no other function except its destructive instinct to burn everything to cinders." and "Mega Evolution places a burden on its body. The stress causes it to become all the more ferocious."

Maybe I'm just crazy, and Mega Evolution is just evil... But in my personal headcanon, Mega Evolution is only as harmful as the trainer's intentions. A Mega Stone and Keystone is all that is required to _use_ it, but a true bond is required to _master_ it.

[Runix]

30:22 Gotta love the implication that tipping is a way of solving inequality, instead of blaming the employers for not paying a living wage

[chase]

I would actually argue that Lysander using mega evolution is a case of there’s no bad dogs only bad owners. The fact that Lysander cries about killing all the Pokémon shows he’s disillusioned with humanity and Pokémon are a tragic victim of the remedy. The fact that he can mega evolve his gyarados shows he genuinely loves the thing and it loves him. Yes he’s advocating for genocide. But that gyarados is going to be there with him the whole way.

[erc]

I wonder if you've heard of the leaked, scrapped plot of XY that was on 4Chan, that was given credit because it partially predicted Alola. If you haven't, give it a read, the scrapped plot is *so* weird and *so* cool.

[Dakress]

It says a lot of how forgettable XY's stories are that it's heavily rumored the stories were rewritten many times.

Not to mention, it also has many loose ends which just reek of untapped potential. Will those ever be tackled in Legends: ZA? Only time will tell.

[psychosplatterstudios]

My personal theory is that Pokemon Z’s apparent cancellation is why most games in the past few generations like post game content. Regions like Sinnoh and Unova were saved by their enhanced versions, but until BDSP highlighted how much sinnoh depends on Platinum to feel finished, the fans had equal nostalgia for them. Looking at Gens 7-9, the base games were more hallow and the “advanced” Ultra games felt more like what Alola was supposed to be from the beginning, and then we moved to DLC (which I consider to be better) so now they don’t even need to complete the story’s narrative anymore.

Basically, Pokemon Z not coming out was a sign of Gamefreak running out of time in production faster as the games became more complex, and it caused ripples in their creative choices later down the line.

[playforforever]

Gen 3 is based on a regional political conflict from the that lasted from the 1980s all the way into 2008 called the Isahaya Bay reclamation project. The land vs sea story in Ruby/Sapphire is meant to be a direct representation of the two political sides of the issue with team aqua representing the environmentalists and local protestors and magma the bureaucrats and industrialists in favor of the project. Ruby/Sapphire takes on what is basically a centrist approach to the issue with both teams as bad guys but it is the most overtly political the series has ever been, much more so than gen 5 or 6.