Obedient pets

Okay, I'm back for round two. Blow the whistle: here I go.

Unfortunately for me, I can't be my normal silly self. Mr. Mullins told me my last entry was too "silly".

But I LIKE writing silly...that's how I've always wrote. Ask any English teacher I've ever had in Dunbar. Trust me there are a lot. Ms. Faris, Ms. Jones, Mr. Adams, Ms. Wells, Ms. Corbin, Ms. Wilkinson, Mr. Egan...okay, I didn't actually have Mr. Egan...but I submitted funny fiction to his lit mag. That counts.

This year I also have Mr. Ivester, although I guess he really doesn't know me that well yet.

Maybe, it's good for me if I try to stop writing so silly. I guess one may say that it's the whole expanding on one's writing style thing. Yeah, that's it. By writing differently I may become a better writer.

But understand with my history, personality, and the fact that the focus of this blog is Pokemon of all things, please understand I wont be able to tone it all out. It's just who I am

Anyway, onto the actual topic of discussion here...

A couple of days ago our class read a bunch of essays that attempted to analyze a short story "The Birthday Party". To be honest, once I finished the assignment I didn't really give it much thought.

But that changed about a couple days ago, when our class was advised to look at example blogs written by other students who received positive reception from the teacher. So that's what I did.

 I have to say Mr. Mullins isn't wrong when he said that these were good blogs. They made connections I wouldn't even think of making and explained very well and clearly. One of the blogs in particular (I won't name which one because I don't have permission) gave me the idea of what to write for mine. Inspiration, if you will.

The blog made a very neat connection between two characters from their focus and connected it to the characters in "The Birthday Party". And it got me thinking: was their a similar thing I could do; was there any characters in Pokemon anything like the characters in  "The Birthday Party"?

The answer was a resounding DUH.

The Pokemon themselves are exactly like the wife in the birthday party. The wife gives her heart out to her mate, aiming to please in every opportunity, and does not ask for anything in return. On his birthday, she does what she thinks will please him the most. She takes him out to a diner and throws a surprise party. She goes to great lengths and hires a orchestra and a special made cake. All to make her lover realize how much she cares for him. Having her husband show even the slightest sign of joy is reward enough for her.

The Pokemon do the same. They go out their for their trainers, because they want to please. They risk themselves to very dangerous injuries only because their trainer tells them to, and much like the wife, they don't ask for anything in return. Doing what their trainer wants is what will make them the happiest, because it will make the trainers happy. Never mind, the exhausting chores, knowing that they'll get hurt, possibly paralyzed, poisoned, burned, etc. Just the fact that they are doing what their master wants is what spurs them on.

What about the husband though, the master/spouse who shows disappointment and anger in return, berating the one who loved him for giving her heart to him, and crushing her spirit in a torrent of cutting words.

"You were saying something about 'best intentions'? "

Embarrassed about the party, the husband does nothing to the wife other than yell at her, thinking only of himself. This is a situation he does NOT want to be in, and the slight discomfort is something to get worked up about. Never mind all the trouble that she went through, forget the whole "best intentions." thing...this was about how HE felt.

How are Pokemon trainers like that?

To that, we have to specialize the trainer. Most trainers in the show do care about their Pokemon, and even though the Pokemon themselves don't ask for anything in return nor even have the ability to, the trainers give them the utmost care and attention that they deserve.

But there are a few exceptions. Ash's fire type Pokemon (except Cyndaquil) have all come from previous trainers that they have once tried to please. All were kicked to the curb by the ones they loved. Each had there way of dealing with it. Charmander was left to almost die in the rain (fire is weak to water) and lived in denial that his trainer has abandoned him, believing that his master will return. Tepig was tied to a post in a obscure location, and also lived in denial believing that his trainer was still the nicest person in the world and eagerly tried to please him once they were reunited.

If you want my opinion on who the biggest offender is though, you need not look further than Chimchar's trainer-Paul.

Paul is the main rival of Ash in the Diamond and Pearl series, and many watchers of the show call him the most 'cough' evil 'cough' of the rivals, to put it lightly.

What classifies him as bad? What he did to the one who loves him, the one who wishes nothing but to please him, how he absolutely crushed the spirit of his former Pokemon-Chimchar.

To summarize the relationship between them, Chimchar was once a wild Pokemon as all Pokemon usually are. One day, he made the mistake of wandering into the hostile and territorial Zangoose tribe, and the angry Zangoose ganged up on him. Chimchar was in deep trouble, but as a last ditch resort, he lit himself on fire and charged at the herd of Zangoose (Flane Wheel) doing a heavy toll on all of them. Meanwhile, Paul was taking a stroll or training near by and he witnessed the desperate flame wheel and was impressed with Chimchar's strength. So he went up to Chimchar and with a few sweet words he easily recruited him.

However Paul quickly realized that Chimchar's power was only average and learned that after that incident Chimchar had a morbid fear of Zangoose. He quickly became displeased with Chimchar's performances in battles, calling it weak. Chimchar, despite being called trash, continued to aspire to get better to please Paul despite his attitude. Shown in the episode Glory Blaze, Paul orders all his Pokemon to gang up on chimchar to try and stimulate the power that Chimchar had when being ganged up on by the Zangoose. Chimchar offers no resistance and the practice is stopped when the hospital interferes.

Later that episode, a tournament organized battle pits Chimchar (with Ash's Turtwig) against a Metagroos and a Zangoose. Paul is excited, believing that the Zangoose will be the ingredient to unleash Chimchar's power. Unfortunately, Chimchar has not overcome his previous experience with the Zangoose and quakes in fear. To Paul, that is the last straw-he turns his back on Chimchar and refuses to give another order. This causes Ash to take control over both Pokemon and although they end up winning, Paul releases Chimchar in the end, telling him that he's let him down too many times. Chimchar tries to convince Paul to no give up on him, but Paul tells him to get lost and tells him he's going to get a better fire-type. He then turns his back on him and walks away. 

Much like the wife, Chimchar gave it his all to try and make someone happy. Much like the wife, he ended up failing. Both characters were left in tears at the end, because the one they were trying to please could only act negatively. You feel sorry for both of them, as in your eyes, they did nothing to deserve such a fate.

For Chimchar, leaving Paul was a good thing for him. Ash claimed him and trained him to e one of the most powerful members on his team. Chimchar's learned first to channel and then control his strength that he used against Zangoose under Ash's guidance and eventually took revenge on Paul, being the Pokemon that knocked him out in the most important tournament, forcing Paul to admit he was wrong.

Chimchar (Now as Infenrape) vs Paul in the Lily of the Valley Conference tournament

You have to wonder if it's not too late for the wife to do the same. Perhaps she'd be better off finding a different husband to love and be happy with. One who will love her back even when he feels uncomfortable with a trivial birthday party. Maybe she'll find the Ash she deserves and leave her Paul to forever wallow in his solitary misery.

But that's up to the reader to think about.