Keldeo stood up on his hind legs in his Resolute Form, his Secret Sword shining brightly.
The show must go on!
Go on. . . go on. . . go on. . . go on. . .go on. . .go on. . .
Keldeo the Critic- Season Six
Episode 11: Editorial 6 - The Potential of Natures, Characteristics, and Contest Conditions
"It's me! Keldeo the Critic! I review it so you don't have to!" Keldeo said with a smile, "You know, the Anime does a good job in showing how every single individual Pokemon is different. Sure, Pokemon of the same species will usually have the same basic demeanor and temperament, like all Ursarings being grumpy and fierce, and yet no two Pokemon are exactly alike. Like Ash's Dragonite and Iris' Dragonite. Or Ash's Charizard and Alain's Charizard. This kinda goes without saying, and we could make a list longer than a Wailord of Pokemon who are the same species but of different personalities. But the reason I say this is because many Pokemon fans would see this as something you could only experience either in the Anime or in a Pokemon Mystery Dungeon game. In the main series games, Pokemon don't seem to really be unique characters. They don't really have any unique traits to set each other apart other than gender, different moves, Regional Form, being a Shiny, or having a Held Item. In the games, one Charizard isn't any different from any other Charizard."
Keldeo then smiled cleverly and said, "But. . . what if I told that, technically, none of that is true. What if I told you that every single Pokemon in every single game owned by all of the Pokemon fans out there are, in fact, very unique and special characters filled with untapped potential that game designers haven't fully realized. Don't believe me? Well, let's take a look."
Keldeo nodded and said, "Now, when you go to check the stats of a Pokemon, you'll notice that each Pokemon has something called a Nature. A Nature is simply a word that describes a Pokemon. There are 25 of them, and they range from Hardy to Quiet to Impish to Naughty to Naive to Jolly to Serious to Quirky and to EVERYTHING in between. Now, these words also serve a purpose to tell which stats are boosted and cut, and which flavors the Pokemon loves and hates."
Keldeo looked excited as he said, "See! Already we have a great way of giving each Pokemon a unique character! With just one word we can gauge a Pokemon's general personality, their strengths and weaknesses, and even the favorite and least favorite foods! For instance, let's say we had a Zebstrika with a Naughty Nature. That Zebstrika would probably enjoy fart jokes and other types of toilet humor, favor physical attacks, have trouble fending off special attacks, love spicy Mexican food, and hate vegetables because of how bitter they can be. All of that just from one word!"
Keldeo's excitement grew and he said, "Alright! Now let's take it further with Characteristics! Characteristics are short descriptive sentences that express which stat is the highest. There's 30 of these, they include descriptions such as 'proud of it's power' to 'loves to eat' to 'takes plenty of siestas'."
Keldeo chuckled and said, "Heh. This really reminds me of stuff we've seen in the Anime. Ash's Charizard was infamous for falling asleep, and May's Wurmple clearly loved to eat far more than Jessie's Wurmple. Anyway, going back to our Naughty Zebstrika, let's say she was 'highly curious'. That would mean she'd have stronger special attacks, which would support her Naughty physical attacks well. Plus, her curiosity would allow her naughtiness to get her into trouble more often than not."
Keldeo nodded and said, "Okay, I'm pretty sure most of you already know all about Natures and Characteristics. None of this is really all that new to you, so why should you care? Why am I telling you all this? Well, there's two reasons. First, I want you to see the potential these aspects of the Pokemon games have for character building and story crafting. Second, there's another element here that you might have overlooked, which when combined with Natures and Characteristics, can turn any Pokemon into an intriguing character just begging for further development. And that element, is Contest Conditions."
"I'm sure anyone who enjoyed Pokemon Contests knows what Conditions are, but for those of you who don't, it's quite simple. There are five categories of Pokemon Contests: Cool, Beautiful, Cool, Tough, and Clever. Pokemon earn Heart Points in Contests by performing moves, and if the move creates a condition that matches the Contest's category, they earn extra points. So, naturally, a Trainer would try to teach their Pokemon Clever moves if they want to enter them in a Clever Contest."
Keldeo nodded and said, "Now, not everyone is into Pokemon Contests, and they haven't been seen since Diamond and Pearl. . .and it kinda bugs me that they weren't in X and Y. Kalos has Pokemon Showcases, which are pretty much the same thing! I mean, why include something in the Anime but not put it in the games! Lazy!"
Keldeo shook off his disappointment and continued, "Anyway, although Contests are now a rare event only to be seen in remakes, like and Alpha Ruby and Omega Sapphire and Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl, nearly every Pokemon move, except for a few newer moves from Sun and Moon and Sword and Shield, still have their Conditions. Sure, they don't do anything or make any difference, but they're still there. Which means they can be used to further develop a Pokemon's unique character. In fact, if a Trainer isn't lazer focused on winning a specific Contest, then the Pokemon's move set will probably come more naturally with a greater focus on fitting a fight style or matching the Pokemon's personality. So, when you look up the moves' Conditions, they become a truer representation of who the Pokemon really is, rather than something forced on them to win a Contest."
Keldeo smiled and said, "Okay, let's go back to our naughty Zebstrika that's highly curious, likes fart jokes, craves spicy Mexican food, and hates vegetables one more time. Let's say her moves are Flame Charge (Cool), Wild Charge (Tough), Thunderbolt (Cool), and Stomp (Tough). This means that she likes to look tough while also making sure to act cool in front of others. We can even go further by having her Naughty nature influence what she believes to be cool. Like, maybe she thinks playing pranks on others is cool, and that salads are lame and uncool. Perhaps her toughness combined with her curiosity makes her extra persistent when she's trying to find out about something new. It doesn't matter what others say or do, if she feels curious about something, nothing is gonna stop her from getting to the bottom of it."
Keldeo shrugged and said, "This was just a little thought experiment I wanted to bring up, and Matthais wanted me to talk about it alot, seeing as he likes creative writing. Creating unique characters can be tricky, and even a little frustrating. But Natures, Characteristics, and Contest Conditions provide the perfect blueprint for turning a Pokemon into a 3-dimensional character that you can build off of very easily. So go ahead! Check out the Pokemon on your team and see what unique personalities they have! Write little bios for all your Pokemon. Matthais did. In fact, go ahead and visit this link: tinyurl- yv4tzee8, and you'll be taken to a Google Slideshow featuring bios for all of Matthais' Pokemon. It isn't finished yet, Matthais is still adding more of of his Pokemon onto it, but I'm sure it's bound to get you inspired to do something similar. Keep checking back for new characters, and feel free to leave comments on it too if you'd like."
"I'm Keldeo the Critic, I review it so you don't have to," Keldeo said cheerfully as he went on his way.
The End
Special Thanks
Bulbagarden
TinyURL
Google Slides