20 Years and we are still trying to catch'em all! - Fakemon

While Digimon and Robopon were in its mist of saddle-riding the Pokémon Ponyta, the franchise was entering its second generation. Plans for a second generation have been around as soon as Generation I proved to be a success. I mean, it would have been a waste of time designing 100-odd new creatures if the kids didn't take the original 151 critters into their hearts...

But actually, due to the rush to complete the first games back in 1996, a second generation was kind of inedible. If you have an original Pokémon Red, Green, or Blue cartridge and examined its code, you'll discover that the "Pokémon index" inside these games had 190 entries. These 39 extra "blank" entries (each containing a Missingno.) have statistics entered in them. the only things missing were their actual names and their sprites. What is interesting is that the stats are a perfect match of a number of second gen species (except for the fact that they were all labelled bird and normal types). This suggests that the designs of much of these "new" Pokémon were in fact near completion when the first games were in the finishing stages. This can also explain how it was possible for Togepi (a second gen Pokémon) to appear this early in the anime and the fact Ho-oh (another second gen Pokémon) was seen by Ash in the very first episode! Since then the appearance of next gen Pokémon have been delayed to much later episodes in a generation story arc (or a movie).

Meanwhile, the news of existence of new species of Pokémon was reaching fans outside Japan through the internet. In 2016 we are use to the most recent news from Japan reaching the West as fast as you can say "Gary MotherF&*%in' Oak" ... and you can be guaranteed that someone had translated it accurately and verified the facts (unlike some news sources). But back in the late-1990s the internet was very different place (and I'm not talking about just the slow connection speeds). The was no YouTube. No Wikipedia (let). In fact it wasn't as invasive as it is in the 2010s. In December 1999 (just a month after Gold and Silver's release in Japan) only 248 million people in the world had internet access (a far cry of the 3 billion we have at the time of publication). And they weren't that many official websites as they are now. Most information on Gen 2 available to fans at this time was (until Nintendo announced it on their official channels) from fan-made websites - and they aren't exactly the most accurate of sources (80-90% probably, if you want a figure). And its form this situation that something kind of unique happened in the fandom. With little to go on, fans outside Japan speculated about the names and appearances of the new species, ending up inventing new names and facts in the process. TheJWittz made a video about this unique time of internet myth creation, which you can see here....

The Legend of Pikablu - TheJWittz (2015)

Fakemon (as these creations have become known) are still been made to this day.

20 Years and we are still trying to catch'em all! - The Donphans in the Room

While talking about the success of Pokémon (and possible flame wars in comments), I think it's time to address the Donphan in the room...

click here

Created by Akiyoshi Hongo, Digimon began life in June 1997 as a breed of virtual pets that can battle each other. They proved so successful that a second generation was released in December. Their first forms were cute baby things, because you had to raise them into adults. However, because of the small 16x16 pixel screens the designers had to make them quickly recognizable, so the first generation of Digimon were mostly in the form of dinosaurs. Later on designer (not the swimmer or the actor) Kenji Watanabe (who was influenced by American comics) introduced more edgy designs, adding an element of coolness, creating the main factor that separates Digimon from the cute-and-cuddly franchise that is Pokémon. In 1999 it became an anime. By the time Digimon entered America later that year Pokémon was in its height of popularity, so (not surprisingly) people were comparing the two franchises. In fact, when it was introduced to America (and Europe) the ads tapped into that. I remember the ad introducing it to CITV back in 2000 (when it was a few hours in the afternoon on ITV). It started "First came Pokémon...." You get the idea. 

Since then Pokémon and Digimon have been eyeing each other online and in convention halls ever since. The web is littered with many blogs and videos explaining the virtues of either and vilifying the opposite. I looked at a few of these and came to this conclusion.... 

This is a debate I don't want to be a part in.

The debate whether Pokémon or Digimon is "better" than the other is an exercise in futility, and the time and effort that has been used could have been used for something more constructive.  Both franchises have enjoyed great lasting success (Digimon is still on TV, in case your wondering). And they did it on their own terms (as listed in the reasons why one is "better" than the other). We should stop comparing them, like yin and yang, and just enjoy them as different branches in the same tree of imaginary life. It's like comparing Ewoks with Care Bears. 

Also, to be honest with you, I think the kind of people who do start up such debates are the sort of people whose use of the term "plagiarism" is as loose as Scraggy's "trousers." And been a creative person I would not like to be friends with such people.

On that note, I'm going to end any mention of Digimon in this special here.

(I can imagine an alternative me in a parallel universe doing a Digimon 20th anniversary special, but you won't be seeing it now (if your reading this in 2016), due to the year difference between their introduction.)

The Other Lesser-Known Donphan in the Room

While, on the subject of Pokémon "knock-offs," there was another one that is worth mentioning. I didn't know it existed until TheJWittz made a video about it last year. Looking at it, you'll realise that this video game really is a genuine Pokémon rip-off. In fact, I feel that everyone who had wasted their breath complaining against Digimon should have used their time and effort complaining about this instead....

Ladies and gentlemen I give you TheJWittz's video about Robopon.

Robopon - TheJWittz (2015)

Enough said.

Now. Where were we?

Sneak Preview 6 - The Pokémon 20th anniversary special BIG act of Cultural Vandalism

Here's a sneak preview regarding a particular thing that has bugged me....

 Many fans complain about what size they are depicted, especially in the anime. 

Pokémon sizes are NONSENSE - Pokémon Fact of The Day

by TheJWittz (2013)

This has led to accusations that the animators haven't done their research properly or taking artistic liberties. However, I don't. That is because (unlike most people) I don't see the statistics given in the Pokédex as absolute fact and that every member of one species only comes in just one size and weight. In the real world species don't do that (unless their cloned). They come in varying degrees in size and weight. For example, the average height of an American adult white male is 177cm or about 5ft 10in (which is my actual height). But we all know that not every white adult American male is 5ft 10 in tall. Some are taller, some are shorter. With this in mind you shouldn't be surprised that when Ash's Charizard entered Charicific Valley in this episode he was a small runt compared to the others. This could have been an easy visual cue used to show his youth compared to the older (larger) charizards in the valley. But the fact remains. It's impossible for all normal Charizards to be 1.7m high and weighing 90.5kg. Some are smaller due to lack of nutrients during their youth. Some are big because of excess of nutrients throughout life, which (I imagine) Charicific Valley isn't lacking of. So stop complaining and stop accusing the animators for sloppy work. Do you know how hard it is to work on an animated TV show? I studied animation (and made a few myself) and that enough gives me an idea of how much time and effort goes into making animated shows and films. So shut up!