pilomotor
52791
1602
19
source: https://lemondorp.tumblr.com/post/642067571129106432/me-explaining-to-the-other-trainers-that-apricorns
Bojovnik84
There's a metaphor in here for the real world, I can feel it.
UrsulatheArtist
1) bill has a last name? 2) why is there not an Economy class taught in Pokémon terms. I learned more about markets here than in my 4 economy courses in College.
vaecae
For a few minutes there this was basically just reading a 2nd amendment debate, but Pokémon require far more investment. Basically if the boomstick can flip its owner off the situation changes entirely.
abrubtopinion
I need a Last Week Tonight episode about this.
MajorasTerribleFate
If anyone prefers a single long-ass screenshot/image, I present this fresh from the source:
DavidTemper44
Maybe artisanal pokeballs were cheaper but they cointained asbestos
GrenithTheSkald
Reminder: The prices of items in the Pokemon games is based on Yen, and so a ₽200 pokeball is basically $2 in real world cost. That means the most expensive commonly available Pokeball (the Luxury Ball) is only ₽3000, or rather, $30
This was because the creators of Pokemon wanted it to be a world where any kid regardless of their economic/social background could conceivably become a Pokemon trainer. A $10 bill could buy you 5 Pokeballs to start your journey.
MechKelly
People really will argue about anything.
Hayashima
redrekkles
Honestly I'd actually love Pokémon to explore some of these concepts. Don't get me wrong I love the classic formula but so many Pokémon fans have grown up and are still attached to our 'mon but the game doesn't feel like it's significantly evolved.
Would love to see some real iteration on the concept. But I'm sure I'm in the minority.
TheLesserOfTwoWeevils
You know I find this pretty interesting. The first couple of post I couldn't tell how serious they were being but from then along it was very fun "play-along" meme-y.
Slidth
I feel like both sides swing too wildly that "this is automatically elitist" "This is automaticallly anti-elitist" but that makes it feel -
Slidth
all the more tumblr authentic.
ruint
#4 potions are just lemonade sold at a markup
huuuhhhfffhhhhfffffhuhhhhhhhhhhhfff
Odincdaj522004
Waaaaay too much time and effort went into this. +1
sacul64
No they didn't leave Johto because a bunch of the balls in gen 2 were glitched and didn't actually work. So it's less an artisan work and more the work of a hack fraud
Crowlands
Moon balls: No effect, as regular pokeballs.
Love balls: only function on the Same gender and species, despite the description saying opposite gender.
Fast ball: Only works on 3 specific Pokémon.
Oh but Heavy balls work super well on Sunflora for some reason?
ShiningDawn
It's interesting to look at what beliefs and values each poster has to come up with to imagine a new stance on the matter. The original post comes from a place of worrying about niche cultural traditions being lost, and in order to respond to that the next person adopts a consumerist mindset. Then someone views the topic as a matter of public safety and concern for pokemon's wellbeing, and the response to that appeals to egalitarianism and also capitalistic productivity.
ruint
#7 the release of the $2 pokeball meant the power shifted to the millitary, the series is set after a devastating war
Dagordae
The power was always the military’s. Hence the weird Warring States era pokemon game.
Jarjarthejedi
The series is set after a devastating war /in the Kanto and Johto regions/. The rest of the world wasn't involved and that was way WAY smaller than historical wars from before the Pokeball even existed. The Kalos civil war literally changed the nature of the world and required 0 pokeballs.
Jarjarthejedi
Welp. I accept literally all of this as canon. :P
NBRI
Same here. And several of the comments!
SoulN8
I’ve been playing Pokémon since RBY came out when I was 5 years old. It never, EVER occurred to me that Bill had a fucking *last name*.
SirBillington
Most of us do
Youhavinagiraffe
His surname is "Zpisi". It's Italian
Badprenup
I figured he had one name, like Cher
soulthreat
Or Niles
Meltemi
Mind, what they gave isn't it. The poster in the above apparently slapped together his first name in English and his first name in Japanese to create it - his surname in Japanese is "Sonezaki," which only came from supplementary material (guidebook, a novelization, and one of the myriad manga spin-offs - albeit being Adventures, one of the only two most English readers know about). I don't know if a canonical surname was provided for Bill in English.
SneakyGaryTheSerialHorseDrowner
There's a fic I'm a fan of which does this more or less as standard, uses the English for their first name and Japanese for last name. Elegant system.
SoulN8
I have a feeling it was a riff on Bill Gates if anything
M4UsedRollout
And then Legends: Arceus came out and showed that Kurt just worked extremely slowly and a child could be taught to make a hundred pokeballs in an hour with nothing but apricorns and tumblestones.
NBRI
Not related, but I want to share anyway:
Regarding the Hisuian Pokeball; it's actually weaker than the modern one! 0.75x catch rate vs the modern one's 1.00x catch rate. In an exact reversal of this, the Hisuian Ultra Ball is better than the modern one! 2.25x catch rate vs 2.00x rate!
khold90
Plus apricorns, very similar to tumblestone, have been overharvested in Sinoh so what was once an abundant plant now only properly exists in Johto with a handful of bushes in Kanto. They only exist on the isle of armor thanks to Mustard introducing the plant. Manufactured pokeballs are a necessity because without them people would exclusively walk side by side with their pokemon, only Johto would have pokeballs as of L:A canon. Unova has only had pokeballs for less than 80 years in B2W2 canon.
khold90
If you really want to get into the weeds of canon, manufactured pokeballs were created from the research in Celadon university in 1925. Also, the design is open source and very easy to replicate. Much like buying a shirt from a store or going through all the work of making your own, economy of scale and "It's super cheap so I don't want to make my own" are the biggest factors. Plus having a pokemon that spends most of its time outside a pokeball as a house pet is still normal.
LegendofSleek
The trouble is that Kurt didn't have tumblestones. They were quarried to exhaustion during the pre-millenia pokemon wars; hence creating the need for the $2 pokeball in the first place. Poor old Kurt is trying his best to practice traditional methods in a world where traditional resources don't exist anymore.
M4UsedRollout
But they grow back…
Dagordae
Only if they aren’t overharvested. Once the underlying vein is tapped out the stone is incapable of regrowing. Because people thought they were infinite they didn’t restrict harvesting, resulting in total depletion of all known sources.
Dagordae
Joking aside, that’s actually been a serious problem in the real world. Both historically and currently. The ocean is currently utterly fucked because people treat it as an infinite supply of fish. Or look at the Passenger Pigeon. The prevailing view for a vast majority of history was that humans simply couldn’t wipe these things out, they would simply regrow/repopulate. It’s always resulted in massive overharvest and the resource being wiped out.
smoldix42069
Don't get me started with big poke centers hogging all the nurse joys to heal pokemon.
Youhavinagiraffe
They have universal free healthcare. There is no "Big Poke Centre" because Nurse Joy has clearly been nationalised a long time ago
certifiedllama
I always thought of em like maid cafes. They only hire a specific demographic
JobbyJabber24
Right? I want one..
smoldix42069
Business or personal?
JobbyJabber24
I just want a cool friend..
smoldix42069
Friend or "friend"?
JobbyJabber24
Eh she's outta my league anyways 😊
Rathan5
Once upon a time, becoming a Nurse Joy required dedication and commitment, and a lot of hard work. Nowadays PokeCenters just have a printing pod in the basement and they can get a new Nurse Joy with the press of a button. Real shame
smoldix42069
Excuse me, what??
Rathan5
PokeCenters are all actually owned and run by Gendo Ikari, little known fact
HedonistBeard
You know. The button? Charm the manager and they might let you press it even, I did when I was a kid.
elbowdeepinawhateverthatis
PocketCleric
oo, I want my own personal Nurse Joy...
Kemi337
I found Brock
HedonistBeard
I believe that costs extra.
Redshadow09
Tooo much to F#@$ING read but Ill say this. Till this day Im still trying to figure out how a man who makes Pokeballs from the tree Apricorn, as is says in the wiki, a fruit, into something ENTIRELY MECHANICAL AND ELECTRIC! The wiki says, "hollowed out and fitted with special devices to function as Poké Balls", That means next to nothing when you see pictures of pokeballs breaking and you don't see wood coming out of it!
nintyuk
Analogue Pokeballs don't have Electronics and instead used methods to trigger Pokemon's Pocket Monster form where they instinctively shrink. All Pokemon can shrink to small sizes hence why they are called Pocket Monsters ore Pokemon for short. Also why a Giant Onix can hide in a tiny patch of Tall grass.
uden10
Not sure if that is still canon but I always liked that explanation. Not too different from how older computers were analog before we made the switch to electronics
nintyuk
It is as it's in Pokemon Legends Arceus as all the balls in that game are not electronic.
Redshadow09
...where are you finding your Onyx's Im finding mine in caves.
nintyuk
On the Mt. Silver mountainside. Tiny Strips of grass on the outer assent to the top can hide Onix.
hellothisispeggy
I'm only like 13 seasons in but do they ever show the use of the pocket form in the show *without* the use of a pokeball? because I didn't even know that was a thing.
nintyuk
The move Minimize is basically a Pokémon using their pocket form but maintaining their full size strength. But no the show doesn't show it as they only have the digital modern Pokéballs. It's old lore that only got brought back to the surface by PL:A
NBRI
Interesting take... But I feel like that messes with the interaction between Minimize and Stomp (Stomp deals 2x damage)...
If the minimized pokemon still has their full strength, why would Stomp be more powerful?
nintyuk
Because it's still hitting all of their body instead of just part of it. A mattress sliding down the stairs sideways hitting your shoulder is going to have less of an impact than a mattress falling on you from above with the same mass and momentum.
cenfou2tout
Those guys can't figurethe real problem : original pokeballs never missed and disappeared ! You could just keep using them until you would catch something !
But then the marketing department cames by with this great idea to make people buy way more pokeballs than needed.
Of course they covered it by saying that they are now biodegradable and safer for the environment, but don't fall for it : it's only greed, who would trash a $400 perfectly functional pokeball in the wild !
GrenithTheSkald
Pokeballs cost $2 each. The currency in the games is based off of the Yen. So a ₽200 ball is like $2.00
So specialty balls are only around $10, and the "Luxury Ball" is $30. The entire pricing in the games/world was based around the idea that any kid with a handful of pocket change from their parents could afford to go out and adventure/explore.
Someshithead241
The pokemon break them when they escape the ball
cenfou2tout
That's what you were told, but the older versions got opening systems embedded for the Pokémon to get out if they needed.
As it was stated before pokeballs artisans were really involved in the well-being of the pokemons : they would never have designed something harmful to them.
Someshithead241
I'd assume that comes into play after they are captured. You're not going to use a cage if the door is left open, now are you? But once it's tamed, then the door can be opened whenever they like.
nintyuk
The thing is the way Analogue Pokeballs worked was harnessing all Pokemon's ability to become Pocket Sized. The Ball would trigger the Pokemon's instinct to shrink and then hold them until they decided to submit and decide to help their new trainer. Simmilar to how Litten's will go limp if you grab them by the scruff of their neck. The Shrinking Ability is also why tall grass can hide huge Pokemon.
cenfou2tout
Studies have determined that the amount of wild pokemons a square meter of grass can hold is a quantic phenomenon : there may or may not be a pokemon down there and results are refreshed each time you check a new square. On some versions of the universe you can find multiple occurrences of pokemons in the same square at the same time, and even, but that's really to be proven, sometimes you can find a shining one (nothing to do with the axe guy at the remote hostel).
Wolvenlight
Speaking as a layman, is there a connection between the Pokémon ability to become pocket-sized and the Dynamax discoveries enabling Pokémon to become gargantuan? Like a reverse version of the shrinking function? I feel like they'd be related. If they are, does that mean there's some kinda dark matter version of Dynamax particles that enable shrinking we haven't discovered?
Or maybe we have, and that's why Sylph can easily mass produce Pokeballs?
I dunno, I'm just a 10 year old with a Gyarados.