Pokemon's World Tournament is rich with nostalgia
This is a column by Kat Bailey dedicated to the analysis of the once beloved Japanese RPG sub-genre. Tune in every Wednesday for thoughts on white-haired villains, giant robots, Infinity+1 swords, and everything else the wonderful world of JRPGs has to offer.
My first experience with Pokemon was on Christmas Morning 1998. I was visiting my Grandmother in Minot, North Dakota, and there was nothing to do but play as much Game Boy as humanly possible (it's true - I've never been very social, even with family).
I was rolling right along with my Charmander until I ran into Brock - the franchise's very first gym leader. For those wielding a Squirtle or a Bulbasaur, he wasn't much more than a speed bump. For a novice trainer with an under-leveled fire-type, he and his Onix were nigh invincible. I beat my head against that stone for an entire morning, only stopping when I was finally dragged out to breakfast.
I eventually defeated Brock and collected all eight badges. Then I did it again and again. If I'm not mistaken, there are 48 badges in all now. Forty-eight gym leaders! All of them different; all of them serving as the backbones of their respective games.
Gym leaders serve all sorts of different purposes. In the fiction, they are sort of like the town sheriff, serving as both a pillar of the community and a bulwark against troublesome villains like Team Plasma. Frequently, they help to advance the story in some way by helping the player solve a problem. In gameplay terms, gym leaders are convenient bottlenecks that keep players advancing through the game at the pace Game Freak prescribes.
My first experience with Pokemon was on Christmas Morning 1998. I was visiting my Grandmother in Minot, North Dakota, and there was nothing to do but play as much Game Boy as humanly possible (it's true - I've never been very social, even with family).
I was rolling right along with my Charmander until I ran into Brock - the franchise's very first gym leader. For those wielding a Squirtle or a Bulbasaur, he wasn't much more than a speed bump. For a novice trainer with an under-leveled fire-type, he and his Onix were nigh invincible. I beat my head against that stone for an entire morning, only stopping when I was finally dragged out to breakfast.
I eventually defeated Brock and collected all eight badges. Then I did it again and again. If I'm not mistaken, there are 48 badges in all now. Forty-eight gym leaders! All of them different; all of them serving as the backbones of their respective games.
Gym leaders serve all sorts of different purposes. In the fiction, they are sort of like the town sheriff, serving as both a pillar of the community and a bulwark against troublesome villains like Team Plasma. Frequently, they help to advance the story in some way by helping the player solve a problem. In gameplay terms, gym leaders are convenient bottlenecks that keep players advancing through the game at the pace Game Freak prescribes.
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