Read on Twitter
who wants an overly emotional study of pokemon sword/shields story at 3am? no one? shame. gonna give one anyway. [THREAD BELOW! SPOILERS TOO!]
pokemon swsh is very interested in legacy and the relationship between generations of people. it presents us with an undefeated champion, leon, who defines the greatness of his generation. it then presents up to his brother, hop, who hopes to live up to that greatness.
as hops rival you travel the country together and meet other young trainers who are following this great generation in their own way. everyone is following the path laid out by those before them.
you travel with sonia. a professor in training who has trouble finding the joy in the research her professor grandmother does. theres bede who was pulled from the gutter by chairman rose and hopes to do right by him. proving to the world it wasnt a mistake by becoming champion.
and finally marnie who hopes to do right by her humble hometown and the older brother who inspires her by becoming the next champion and putting spikemuth on the map again.
you see them struggle with these expectations too. mainly through hop as hes scared he will ruin leons good name if he cant manage to live up to his greatness. hes scared if he cant become the next leon hes failed those that came before him.
and the thing is he doesnt become the next leon. none of the characters succeed in their goals. all of them "fail" the adults in their lives theyre trying to do right by. there can only be one champion and its not them.
but thats not the end of their story. theyre not "failing" anyone. their desires to do right by the preceding generation where self enforced. and they learn this as they open up to the path that makes them happy instead of the path that they feel they have to follow.
hop realizes that his passion is in helping pokemon and decides to become a pokemon professor. sonia succeeds her grandmother not out of obligation but through finding a passion and study for galars history and its pokemon all on her own.
bede learns to take pride in his own value instead of the value of being "chosen" by rose. proving his own worth and becoming the fairy type gym leader. marnie realizes that to do right by her town and brother she needs to be near them and becomes the spikemuth gym leader.
the job of a generation isnt to live up to or do right by the generation they succeed. its to move forward. find their own path. and pass on that knowledge to the next generation so they can do the same.
and as undercooked as the apocalyptic threat is this generation it still does a good job at playing into this theme. roses intentions are good. he believes there will be a energy crisis in the far future and wants to solve it in his lifetime.
he doesnt want to leave that burden to the next generation and so he takes it on himself and unleashes a threat onto the world in his ignorance. he fails to see how much people grow from generation to generation and that where he may fail someone down the line may succeed.
he was blinded by his own light. the same blinding light that affected the friends you meet across the game. the light of a great generation. but you overcome that ignorance. you show him and your allies that the future is founded on those who look forward and not back.
this is part of the reason i LOVED heavy emphasis on the pokemon league as a sporting event. while this occurs in every profession you REALLY feel the changing of the guard in sports. legends age and eventually they pass their prime.
sports are defined by the youth and the sense of succession from one generation to another if often full of pride as the legends on one era pass on their legacy those who take their place. when you beat leon its the dawn of galars future. a brave new world.
now its not a perfect story by any means and its themes arent really explored in any deeper meaningful way but i appreciate it for what it is and think its theme that finding your own path in life is the greatest job of a generation really optimistic and empowering.
anyways thanks for listening! i like pokemon!
