Pokémon Y Playthrough Pt. 5 - Theme Analysis So Far

The power went out before I finished writing this, so now I have to rewrite this entry. I hate my life. Long read ahead, so buckle up and enjoy.

I blazed through 2 more gyms. The last gym I beat was the Fairy gym. Though I was underleveled (I have been for the majority of the game), I was able to get through it. My team is pretty solid and gets me through most stuff. Poppy's ridiculous Special Defense stat protects it from most of the damage the Fairy type gym dished out. The teleportation puzzle was really annoying though. I've always hated those.

Slushie evolved into an Aurorus, Poppy evolved into a Florges, and Frogger evolved into a Greninja. The team is all here! Now the goal is to just beat the story and get them leveled up into the 60s before the Elite Four, hopefully. I always like to go into the Elite Four with high leveled Pokémon.

Now, more interestingly, we had more run-ins with Team Flare. I'm still not entirely sure what they're up to, but I do have a vague idea.

Firstly, they attempted to take over the Poké Ball manufacturing plant. This wasn't just for the heck of it either. Their plan was to take all the Poké Balls for themselves so no one else could catch Pokémon but them. This plan seems a little shortsighted though. What about all the Poké Balls still in circulation? Unless they went out and took every Poké Balls from store shelves, it's likely that enough Poké Balls would be available in the various towns to last everyone long enough for a new solution to be found. Couldn't Kalos just import more Poké Balls too? Surely they don't have the only manufacturing plant in the entire world. Also, even if they did take over the plant successfully, wouldn't the authorities show up and like, take it back long before their plan would even begin to pay off? Overall, this plan was very stupid and whoever came up with it ought to be sacked. Team Flare needs to get it together.

The most concerning part was that they apparently decided to explode the manufacturing plant when they didn't get what they wanted to. They've upgraded to being "fashionable" terrorists. How have the authorities not caught wind of this? Since there were factory workers trapped in the factory still, it's likely Team Flare would've exploded them along with the entire plant. So far this is probably the worst thing they've done. This isn't thievery anymore. This is straight up terrorism, or something equally egregious.

My next encounter with Team Flare had me saving an Abomasnow from their abuse. Apparently, the Abomasnow contained a lot of energy, and they were trying to capture it so they could harness it. Me and Trevor fought them off, saving the Abomasnow from their clutches. The Abomasnow then gave me a gift. It gave me an Abomasite. To me, this is a clear signal that Mega Evolution is tied into whatever it is Team Flare needs. I won't be surprised if it somehow ties into their final plan.

It's also becoming clear that, whatever their plan is, they don't plan for anyone but themselves to survive. They say as much. Whoever isn't a part of them, whoever doesn't fit into their idea of what beauty is (which I've come to think really just means their idea of perfection), whoever wants to live their own life, is going to die by their hands. This is honestly a very scary concept for a Pokémon game when you sit down and think about it. If Team Flare didn't have the goofy outfits and their goofy members, they would come off much more frightening and Game Freak probably never would have gotten away with this kind of story.

If we look past the stupidity, we can see Team Flare for what they really are: a fascist organization planning on complete control of the region, killing anyone that gets in their way. This fits in nicely with the themes of war seeded throughout the story so far. Yveltal is said to drain the lifeforce of all around it in order to regenerate itself. During previous conversations with NPCs, it's outright said that, in the war that Kalos engaged in, Pokémon and Humans died in the fight. This is heavy stuff.

There are many people in life that think their way is better. That's all well and good, but it gets dangerous when they decide they get to control how others live their life.

This contrasts with the ideas pushed by friendly characters in the game. Professor Sycamore has talked about how you should accept other peoples' way of life, even when you don't understand it. Everyone should be able to live the life they think is best. No one has the right to control someone else. Tolerance is key to coexisting with other people that are very different from you. Life is constantly in flux, changing as time passes in new and unpredictable ways. One cannot pause life in a perfect moment to preserve it.

Once again, this is antithetical to Team Flare's idea of a beautiful world. They're so opposed to differences in society, that they will kill others over it.

It makes sense, considering these themes, that this game introduced so many different side characters that take on the same journey as the player character. Almost all of them have different ideas with what they want to accomplish as trainers. Shauna is carefree. Her motivation (so far) is to just go out and live her life alongside her Pokémon. She's not nearly as serious about it, and that's okay. Trevor focuses on filling up his Pokédex and exploring Kalos in pursuit of knowledge. He isn't interested in battling, and that's okay. Tierno just wants to dance. This is also okay. All of our friends in-game have wildly different goals and motivations, and it makes sense they would be in a game where tolerance of others is emphasized and encouraged.

The difference here though is the player's rival. In my game, that's Calem (in my X playthrough, it'll be Serena). So far, Calem has been standing in the player's shadow, being unable to surpass them in battle no matter how hard he tries. Unlike the rest of the characters, he's very serious. It's obvious he's becoming more and more disappointed in himself as time goes on. I think he's obsessed with comparing himself to me instead of focusing on enjoying his own journey. Even after you work together with him to retake the Poké Ball factory, instead of reveling in the victory and what the power of teamwork can accomplish, he complains about how he needs to stop relying on the player character. It's to be seen how he develops past this point. Hopefully he's able to find joy in his journey instead of constantly trying to tail the player.

In some ways, it's like a flipped version of rivals in the past. Now we're the one always a step ahead. It's an interesting paradigm shift that's fun to watch play out.

Now, enough of all that. Here's my current status in-game:

• Montu - Simisear - Level 41 - Hardy Nature - Gluttony Ability - Met in Santalune Forest on November 13th, 2022 - Moveset: Yawn, Bite, Incinerate, Lick - Somewhat of a clown
  
• Frogger - Greninja - Level 41 - Modest Nature - Torrent Ability - Met in Aquacorde Town on November 13th, 2022 - Moveset: Water Pledge, Strength, Round, Surf - Hates to lose
  
• Poppy - Florges - Level 41 - Calm Nature - Flower Veil Ability - Met on Route 4 on November 15th, 2022 - Moveset: Wish, Magical Leaf, Dazzling Gleam, Petal Blizzard - Likes to thrash about
  
• Bulbapedia - Venusaur - Level 41 - Modest Nature - Overgrow Ability - Met in Lumiose City on November 15th, 2022 - Moveset: Petal Dance, Toxic, Leech Seed, Venoshock - Likes to relax
  
• Slushie - Aurorus - Level 41 - Adamant Nature - Refrigerate Ability - Met in Ambrette Town on November 16th, 2022 - Moveset: Icy Wind, Hail, Ancient Power, Aurora Beam - Good endurance
  
• Lucha - Hawlucha - Level 42 - Careful Nature - Unburden Ability - Met on Route 10 on November 17th, 2022 - Moveset: Low Sweep, Flying Press, Fly, Aerial Ace - Takes plenty of siestas