This is an old page - it still exists for archival purposes, but it hasn't been on the menu since 2005, possibly earlier. That means I wrote it as a young teenager and found it embarrassing or redundant enough to disown it even when I was fifteen. Thus, it is probably outdated, poorly or childishly written and presented, and otherwise of questionable quality, and I do not necessarily endorse any views and opinions expressed here today. If you've stumbled upon it, treat it accordingly.

Like, seriously, especially this page. I am deeply ashamed of my thirteen-year-old self for making this and thinking it was awesome. It is so obnoxious and the arguments are so bad. Please regard this only as a time capsule into the mind of a misguided kid with severely overinflated ideas about her debating prowess.

Anti-anti-Pokémon!

...no, dear Pokéhater, I'm NOT going to flame you here. If you want to know why, read the anti-anti-Pokémon for Pokéfans section. Sit back in your chair and read, then feel free to E-mail me about this section once you're done reading.

Well, because of my weird little love for splitting people into groups, I have made groups for Pokémon haters, like with Pokémon fans.

  • The religious/"evil" type: Those who think Pokémon is satanic or "evil", usually because it contains violence. There aren't very many of them around.
  • The logical type: The ones who know why they hate Pokémon and can (usually) back up their arguments. Also usually stay away from Pokémon sites, forums and guestbooks unless they're specially invited. A good chunk of them is still active in Anti-Pokémon as can be seen by visiting Anti-Pokémon forums, but sadly many Pokémon fans don't even know this type exists.
  • The 'gotta kill 'em all' type: Basically, those who might have a motto that's something in that direction. Includes the ones who draw gory pictures of dead Pokémon and the ones who hack Pokémon sites because they somehow think that will kill Pokémon down. Haven't seen one of them who's still active for a looooong time...
  • The cussing type: Those who swear at Pokémon fans, but hardly say anything that makes sense. Too many of those to my opinion, on both sides actually.

Now, just read. Of course, the only parts meant for you in particular is the one that goes with your own group, but nothing says you can't read the whole of it and the Anti-anti-Pokémon for Pokémon fans if you like. Actually, you can read every word on this website if you like, I don't mind at all. Not that you'd ever have thought I'd forbid you to...

Index of Anti-anti-Pokémon for Pokémon haters

Tips for religious/anti-violence Pokéhaters

Tips for logical Pokéhaters

Tips for 'gotta kill 'em all' Pokéhaters

Tips for cussing Pokéhaters

Tips for religious/"evil" Pokéhaters

For short

  • Pokémon fans don't take you seriously, whether they're actually religious or not.
  • Religious people have done very disturbing things in front of kids that I don't see differing from any bad effects Pokémon could possibly have.
  • If you don't let your kids play an innocent game, even if you can find satanic morals in it, you don't deserve to be a parent. Kids don't thrive on the Bible verses they know by heart, whether you like it or not.
  • There are many, many religious Pokémon fans I know. Very religious ones, too.
  • Pokémon evolution has nothing to do with Darwin's theory of evolution. Pokémon evolution is more like growing up that happens in an instant, not over many years. To make a clear line between it and growing up, it was called "evolution", but it isn't actual evolution.

Houndoom is satanic! It's an evil dog from hell!

"Oh no! Houndoom is going to jump out of the gameboy or TV or trading card and take me to hell! I'm soooo scared!" Really, Houndoom is just a good idea. A great idea, in fact. It looks cool. But how is it going to affect kids? They can like Houndoom, but they don't need to be devil worshippers for that. If they are devil worshippers, it's not because of Houndoom. Besides, and listen carefully, the idea of Houndoom comes from Cerberus, the guard dog of the underworld in Greek mythology (actually Cerberus had three heads, but that's not important). And guess who went to the underworld when they died according to the Greeks? Everyone! Hades (which is both the name of the underworld god and the underworld itself) was both heaven and hell. Only a certain place of it was occupied with the eternal torturing for those who deserved it. So Cerberus was no more satanic than angelic. Christians stole that idea (like so many other ideas, actually), but since their heaven isn't in the underworld, the Christian version of Cerberus was satanic. So ACTUALLY, the evil dogs from hell you're suggesting Houndoom is one of, are just rip-offs from Cerberus, and Cerberus wasn't evil. So Christians have been making the poor old dog look bad through the ages. Houndoom is based on that poor little dog that has been made to look bad just because it guards the underworld which happens only to be for "bad" people now.

It teaches the theory of evolution!

"The theory of evolution: When a cocoon is a week old, it will become a butterfly!" I have to say that this sounds more like metamorphosis to me... Pokémon evolution just isn't the same as the theory of evolution. Pokémon that evolve are just growing up, so to speak.

Pokémon is exactly like (insert a foreign religion here) because it has the elements fire, water, earth and air!

"Everything that has to do with foreign religions must be destroyed!" I don't recall to Jesus saying anything like that. Didn't he tell us to be nice to each other? I also believe that it's against the law to be against someone for their religion. Actually I don't see Pokémon teaching any foreign religions by having Fire, Water, Ground and Flying among the 17 random types. I don't know anything about the religions mentioned in that article even after being a Pokémon fan for years. And by the way, the dubbers made sure to leave not one bit of religion in the games or show when they translated it. They went through it thoroughly enough to make sure "Evil" was turned to "Dark". There isn't a bit of religion left in the games if there ever was any, so don't worry about your American kids...

"Pokémon" stands for pocket demons!

This is the funniest thing ever. Really, I just need a bit of grammar to counter this. The plural of Pokémon is Pokémon. One Pokémon, many Pokémon. Not many Pokémons, which would be if it were a combination of pocket and demon. So it isn't. If that doesn't convince you, it really is taking the first two symbols of Poketto (the closest thing to pocket that can be done with Japanese letters) and monsutaa (same, but for monster). Po, ke, mo and n. Pokémon. Really, if you tell a Pokémon fan this, they're going to die laughing. Don't even try.

Pokémon teaches kids to solve all their problems with violence!

They can't solve all their problems with Pokémon battles. In fact, it's strictly emphasized that Pokémon battles are ONLY to be used as a sport.

Really, it does!

*sigh* You won't cut it out, will you? Okay, watch what I'm going to do now... *takes all anti-Pokémon arguments that have to do with Pokémon being violent, grabs a sword and cuts them with it, lets a nine-year-old kid tear the limbs and head off them and then throws them in the trash, all in front of dozens of kids while making them chant "burn them! Kill them all!"* Now, was that violent? Let me hear you all. "That was violent". Good. Everyone agrees on that? Great. Now, what if I tell you that this is exactly what a PRIEST did to a stuffed Pikachu toy in order to show the kids how bad Pokémon is? -_-

Kids are attacking each other because someone has a rare Pokémon card they want!

I have only one thing to say to this: Does that have anything at all to do with the fact that they're Pokémon cards? No. They could as well be any other trading cards. So you're against trading cards. Fine. Not Pokémon.

Pokémon 4Ever is anti-Christian and is politically too left-wing because it extols environmentalism and portrays those who alter the environment as depraved villains, when, in fact, God calls upon us to have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air . . . and over all the earth. (Genesis 1:26, King James Version)

If one wishes to subscribe to the belief that those who [leave] nature too little altered are backward and impious and thus give up their right to the earth, as the Spanish conquistadores of the Columbian age did, because they believed in totally subduing nature, then one could say that Pokémon 4Ever is an evil film inspired by the Devil. (See American Colonies: The Settling of North America by Alan Taylor, page 21.) However, this is an absurd over-interpretation of both the film and of the Bible itself. To have dominion over nature logically means that we, as rational human beings, have the duty to ensure that the animals and plants of the world are employed wisely and protected for future generations to enjoy and to use for whatever purposes they may see fit. It does NOT mean that we are given the liberty to treat nature like a cheap plastic toy that will break with excessive use, and then must be thrown out because we over-used it. The flora and fauna of this earth are finite and can never be replenished if we choose to exhaust them. Indeed, we would be delivering God a slap in the face if we were to use up His incredible gifts and then pray for more. Nor should it be forgotten that when God saw every thing that He had made, [He saw] it was very good. (Genesis 1:31, KJV) He did not smack His hands together and rub them briskly, anticipating the day when His children would desecrate the wonders He had wrought, pursuing excessive wealth instead of dutifully guarding and responsibly using the earth and the oceans. To say that the Lord is angered with our efforts to preserve the pristine forests and beaches as they slip through our fingers can only be folly of the greatest kind. Thus, it is just and proper to portray Ash, Pikachu, Sammy, and Suicune, who sought to maintain the virginity of the Ilex Forest, as the heroes of the film, Celibi as the unfortunate enslaved martyr of the film, and the Iron-Mask Marauder, whose perverted lust for power ended up harming the Ilex, as the despicable antagonist.

Some might declare that Pokémon 4Ever is offensive to right-wing audiences because it implies that the destruction of woodlands is an inherently bad thing that must be halted at any and all costs. This, too, is another absurdity that is blown out of proportion. Of course, some woodlands need to be cleared for the sake of agriculture and industry. At the same time, efforts need to be made to set aside wildlife sanctuaries that will never be developed, that will be perpetual homes for displaced creatures. This is just what the Johtonians did in the film: they set aside the woods of Ilex as a home for all Pokémon that would never be destroyed (even though they, as we do, have cities and towns that displaced woodlands). The Iron-Mask Marauder, then, is justifiably guilty on two counts: he raped the hallowed Ilex and disturbed scores of innocent Pokémon to show off his unnaturally powerful Celibi (which should never have been his, because it is so unique); and he had no intention of industrializing and giving something back to the world (he simply gave it a grotesque show of his twisted imperial ambitions at the expense of communal property and the Pokémon residing there).

This was sent in by Latios.

Pokémon is furthering the work of the Devil by corrupting the minds of innocent Christian children through James of Team Rocket, a depraved homosexual cartoon character. The Bible specifically prohibits sodomy, and there is a capital sentence for committing it: If a man also lie with mankind, as he lieth with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination: they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them.(Leviticus 20:13, King James Version)

First, and foremost, we must determine if James is, in fact, depraved. If he is depraved, he is only depraved in the sense that he breaks the Eighth and Tenth Commandments in practically every episode. (Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not covet . . . Exodus 20:15, 17, KJV) We cannot say that he is sexually depraved, because the issues of sex and sexuality are not as explicitly addressed in the Pokémon television show as they are in the adult world. Sex is simply not a big issue (nor should it be) in a show designed for the young and the young-at-heart. It is ironic that Brock behaves sexually in a manner that is much more open than James: he always tries to woo beautiful women he meets into dating him, and he always gets those silly heart-eyes on his face if someone especially strikes his fancy. Are we going to persecute Brock for his risque behavior, right of front of all the little children who are so young they cant even read yet? The accusations could go on and on; we could just as easily condemn Ash of setting a bad example for students by becoming a Pokémon trainer without even finishing high school, Misty of being a tomboy and therefore acting as an inappropriate role model for girls and young women, and Professor Oak for not researching something of great academic standing (and thereby dishonoring the serious and valuable contributions that real-life researchers give us). It would be silly and pointless to try and portray a perfect world with perfect people in it; any dramatic fantasy work like Pokémon has to have some element of realism in order to be entertaining. In short, we all have our faults, be they significant or barely perceptible. To gripe about the character flaws of a single figure as corrupting when taken along with a large host of other characters is ridiculous. The faults, be they sexual or otherwise, of the various characters should (and in this case, do) balance each other out to create a fairly wholesome viewing experience.

Regarding the theological ramifications of sodomy, it does not seem reasonable for us to declare that it is our place to judge the actions of people in such an intimate and private portion of human existence, especially when the old Jewish law is compared with the new teachings of Jesus: And as ye would that men should do to you, do ye also to them likewise. Judge not, and ye shall not be judged: condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned: forgive, and ye shall be forgiven. (St. Luke, 6:31, 37, KJV) Of course, these teachings do not just apply to dealing with people of a different sexual orientation than ourselves: we can use them in dealing with people who differ from us in any number of ways. (And to anyone who might be reading this, be you a Christian or a non-Christian, a Pokémon fan or a Pokémon hater, please take these words from St. Luke and apply them in dealing with others. It is absolutely horrible that so many of usthough certainly not all of usfans and haters alike, cannot discuss our opinions and debate with each other in a compassionate and civilized fashion. Any time you feel like uttering a stream of four-letter words at a person from the opposing viewpoint, any time you feel like hacking into one of the oppositions websites, just ask yourself, How I would I like it if someone did that to me? You only harm the reputation of your ideological base, be you a fan or a hater, when you act like a hooligan and treat others like dirt.)

Sent in by Latios, as should be pretty easily recognized by his different writing style.

Tips for logical Pokéhaters

For short

  • By all means e-mail me, I'd love to debate any time.
  • Many of you don't know very much about Pokémon at all, only having played/seen screenshots of Red and Blue and judging the entire series from that experience.
  • The average age of Pokémon fans according to the "how old are you" thread at the old Serebii.net forums was somewhere around 16,2. Out of seventy or eighty people who replied, ten were over twenty years of age, and two were over 30.
  • The dubbers can be blamed for a great majority of the things you may find bad in Pokémon.
  • I have already proven that Pokémon does not promote animal cruelty.

The game is terrible, it has no storyline and terrible graphics and those "cries" drive me crazy!

As for the no storyline thing, the storyline is just so customizeable it seems to some people like there is no storyline. Okay, the plot isn't very thick, I know that, but it isn't supposed to be. The thing is that you can play them forever and you've never just completed them. I have five gameboy games. Four of them are Pokémon games, one is an action game, I can't even remember what it's called. I haven't played the action game for years. Why? Because I completed it long ago, and it's just boring. Pokémon, however, is always fresh, you can train your Pokémon forever. That's why I still play my Pokémon games, but not the action game. And what is supposed to be the main thing in Pokémon games is strategy. Not the storyline. Strategy is what you need to play Pokémon. Like in chess. You wouldn't say chess has no storyline? No, because it's not supposed to have one. Like Pokémon isn't supposed to have some certain storyline you have to follow. As for the graphics, I have the feeling that you're talking about Red and Blue. But they're the very first games. The graphics improved a lot in Yellow, got bright colors in Gold, Silver and Crystal and good shading in Ruby and Sapphire. Bright colors weren't possible for Red, Blue and Yellow, real shading wasn't possible for Gold, Silver and Crystal. As for the shape in Red and Blue... well, anyone can improve... As for the Pokémon cries being annoying, then think about it. Making the Pokémon make some sound when they enter the battle is a lot more realistic. If you don't care how realistic it is, why don't you just put the sound down? If you want them to have actual voices... well, in Yellow, Pikachu has an actual, recoded voice. That turned over a leaf in the history of gameboy games. If you want more Pokémon to have recorded voices, give me a gameboy game with 386 recorded voices, and THEN I'll admit that it could've been better.

Pokémon are so stupid! They can only say their name!

Do you know why? Because it's the other way around. The Pokémon are named after the noise they make. For example, if there was a cat in the Pokémon world, it would've been named Meow. Some Pokémon, like Onix, make noises that can't be turned into a name, so their name is not the noise they make. So I can revamp that reason to "The people in the Pokémon world are so inoriginal! They can't think of decent names for the Pokémon!" Starting to sound a bit stupid, isn't it?

Pokémon isn't real animé!

Umm... why? And who cares, for that matter?

Pokémon is just for little kids! Get a life!

Oh, now I understand! Pokémon is only for little kids, like... most Pokémon fans, who are around sixteen. -_-;; And yes, I can prove that. On the serebii.net forums, I long ago went through a "How old are you" thread and calculated the average age. It was just over sixteen. Of the 80 or 70 people who posted in the thread, ten were twenty or older. What's for little kids now, eh?

The plot of the [first] movie is so mindless and stupid!

Mindless? Uh... did you actually watch the movie? No, what am I saying, of course not, you hate Pokémon! Or was the dub that bad? Well, anyway, I'll tell you what the movie actually was originally about, in the original Japanese version, and along with the radio drama about Mewtwo's birth that was in some special DVD's or something... we got it with the movie here, so I'm not sure. Anyway...

Giovanni, simply thinking about money, gets scientists to clone Mew, an ancient Pokémon thought to be extinct, but very powerful. Giovanni wants to use it to make money. The scientists find a fossilized eyebrow of Mew, clone it, but alter the DNA to make it even more powerful than Mew. Now, it happens that the main scientist's daughter had died, and he had used her DNA to make a clone, although the clones can only live for four years. Because Mew has a strong lifeforce, he hopes he can find out Mew's secret and truly get his daughter back.

Mewtwo is born. Ai, the scientist's daughter, likes Mewtwo. Mewtwo is merely a confused child, doesn't know who he is, what place this is, nothing. But Mewtwo and Ai manage to communicate even as they're in seperate glass tubes. Ai tells Mewtwo what the sun is and stuff. Mewtwo asks why people are born, and she says it's because there's a father and a mother. He asks if they also have a father and a mother, and Ai tells him in their case it was most likely God. Then Ai dies, because she has lived for four years already. Mewtwo cries about it, and Mewtwo falls asleep, and sleeps until he's an adtult. Mewtwo is angry. He wants to know who he truly is. He breaks out of the glass tube and attacks the lab, doesn't know what these powers are, can't control them, nothing. Mewtwo is angry about being just a shadow of Mew, and when the scientist tells him that he was created by humans, he is very angry and destroys the lab. Giovanni appears and convinces Mewtwo to join him in taking over the world. Giovanni teaches Mewtwo to control his powers. Mewtwo starts getting overconfident, thinking "Why am I even listening to humans, I'm much stronger than them." But still, he lets Giovanni take him to a forest, and Giovanni tells him to attack all the Pokémon in the forest. Mewtwo asks why, and Giovanni tells him that this is what he was created for. He attacks all the Pokémon, and Giovanni catches them. Mewtwo asks himself why he's fighting, and asks Giovanni to release him. Giovanni says it's dangerous for humans, Mewtwo asks if he's just fighting for humans, Giovanni tells him he is, so Mewtwo says "What is my purpose? The least I know is that it's not being the slave of humans!" Mewtwo breaks free, attacks the Team Rocket headquarters, and goes back to the island where he was created. There, he decides that he will prove that he's stronger than Mew and that his life is actually worth something.

He wants to get the most powerful trainers, sets up a storm around the island and delivers a message to many strong trainers to come there. Some trainers die in the storm. Some don't even try to go through it. But a few get through the storm. Mewtwo battles them with his clones, as he rebuilt the lab and cloned some Pokémon before. He wins, and then steals the Pokémon and clones them, telling them that they're idiots letting humans control them. The clones fight the originals because they want to prove that they aren't worthless.

No, I'm not mentioning the corny scene where Ash stops their fight, because that has nothing to do with the point of the movie. The point of the movie was the clones fighting for the meaning of their lives and Mewtwo being created, abused and then his anger because he feels worthless having been created by humans for the sole purpose of helping Giovanni in making money and taking over the world. That's what you call DEEP. In fact, I'm quite sure that most movies you watch don't have as deep of a plot as Mewtwo Strikes Back. Maybe the dub was just that bad, but then read some of the detailed synopsis of the Japanese version that you can find in a lot of places on the net before making accusations. I mean, after all, everyone knows that everything that goes through a 4Kids dubbing comes out of it completely cleared of its depth, original music and dialogue...

Pokémon teaches children to be violent and to resolve their conflicts through fighting.

There is much more to Pokémon than simply the battle aspect of the game. Those with tender hearts can become the worlds greatest Pokémon breeders, while those who love show business can enter Pokémon contests, and be the apple of every audiences eye. There is something for everyone in the world of Pokémon. After all, we must not forget the more offbeat Pokémon video games outside of the Red-Blue-Yellow-Gold-Silver-Crystal-Ruby-Sapphire lineup that most of us think of when we discuss Pokémon: Pokémon Snap for the Nintendo 64 (here, the player merely photographs Pokémon in their natural habitat), Pokémon Pinball for the Game Boy Color (surely there can be nothing violent about pinball games), and Hey You, Pikachu! for the Nintendo 64 (whats wrong with befriending a hyper-cute electric mouse and accompanying him on lighthearted adventures like finding treasure or making a stew with his fellow Pokémon?).

Neither should we forget that Pokémon battling is a sport, and must be treated as such. Theres a reason why there are so many rules regarding battles: if there were no such rules, then Pokémon battles would, in essence, be street fights and barroom brawls. Because a trainer is limited to using six Pokémon in any battle (and sometimes as few as three in a Pokémon Stadium setting), this prevents the employment of a pure strength in numbers theory that must be used when nations go to war with each other. Brute force is frequently not enough for a Pokémon trainer to win a battle. To win, a trainer must be creative, and train his Pokémon in moves that are diverse and super-effective against his opponents. The moves need not be devastating, just advantageous in light of the opponents weakness (i.e., using low-end Water moves to fell a strong Fire-type Pokémon). There is also the fact that trainers may not steal each others Pokémon. In a war, the concept of winner-take-all is in place: the victor would have carte blanche in taking whatever he chose from his victim. History has revealed this to us time and time again, from the Roman occupation of much of Europe to the colonization of Africa in the 19th century.

The fact that winners only get money, Gym Badges, Technical Machines, and trophies reinforce the concept of good sportsmanship, and firmly establishes the idea that Pokémon are to be the comrades, and not the property, of a trainer. They are to be treated with respect and dignity, a viewpoint that Ash from the television show and the movies makes clear as he develops an increasingly intimate friendship with his Pikachu. Even Nurse Joy (see the television episode where Ash first meets Charmander) made clear the idea that battles were not designed to resolve personal conflicts, but to be used as a form of sport.

This is where Team Rocket trips on a stumbling block: its goal is not to have fun and compete fairly, but to steal for the benefit of its own members. Nor do its members treat their own Pokémon as friends; instead, they regard them as slaves to help them achieve their own diabolical ends. They are just in it for the money and the power that comes with it, and it is this attitude toward life that makes them so miserable and wretched. Team Rocket is not a typical example of a Pokémon organization; indeed, it is the exact antithesis of everything a good trainer will stand for.

The above was sent in by Latios. Some very good points there.

Jynx is a racist stereotype! Hah! You CAN'T counter this!

Jynx is a parody of a Japanese fashion phenomenon called Ganguro, apparently popular in the mid-1990s. It consisted in basics of bleached blond hair, a dark tan and glossy lipstick. So yeah... no racism.

Why are you even wasting batteries for your Gameboy Advance on something like Pokémon? Play Golden sun or something!

First, I'd like to remind you that being a Pokémon fan doesn't neccessarily mean that you don't play Golden sun... though I don't deny that I personally don't...

But what I was going to say: Do you realize that it is thanks to Pokémon that there even is a Gameboy Advance? Pokémon saved the Gameboy, and I highly doubt they'd ever have made a new and better version of a game system that doesn't sell. So yeah. Be a bit more thankful next time.

Why are you attacking us, we haven't done anything to you!

You've done a whole lot of things to us. Yes, you, the logical Pokémon hater who doesn't hack Pokémon sites or anything. All of you Pokémon haters together have done something to the lives of almost all Pokémon fans. Want proof? Then read this.

Pokémon started out as a fad, gathering millions of fans around the world. Maybe you were even one of them. Anyway, when the craze died down, like they always do, almost everyone started hating Pokémon. The Pokémon fans that remained, the true fans, have had to live in secret ever since. Many, many Pokémon fans keep their love for Pokémon secret from everyone, even their best friends. Would you like to live like that? Constantly being afraid that the "cool kids", who obviously hate Pokémon, will beat them up if they don't make sure no one sees what game is in their Gameboy advance and snort if they see a kid wearing a Pokémon T-shirt? Would you like that? Maybe you've never tried, but I can tell you that you MOST CERTAINLY wouldn't like it, especially if you're one of the people who feel a need for company. I'm not, so I can live with it, I usually sit in my room alone anyway. But I can't imagine what it's like to have a natural need to be around your friends when you're keeping your biggest secret away from them. Many people stopped liking Pokémon for reasons like that, but came back when Ruby and Sapphire came out, simply because they couldn't resist the new games, still with the Pokémon fan burning inside them. Of course many people were lucky enough to have friends who were also Pokémon fans, and they kept liking Pokémon together, but there are incredibly many people keeping their love for Pokémon secret. Where's the proof for that, you ask. Well, I have the proof. Look at this sales chart from AUGUST 19TH 2003 (Ruby and Sapphire were released March 17th).Still number six and seven, five months after they were released. Do you know what this means? This means that there's an awful lot of Pokémon fans out there. And as few seem to reveal it, this means that there are very, very, very many Pokémon fans that are, like I just said, keeping their love for Pokémon secret. Look what you and your fellow Pokémon haters have done to their lives.

You hack our sites and swear in our guestbooks!

You're stereotyping. There are a few Pokémon fans who go to anti-Pokémon sites and swear in their guestbooks, etc., and of course they are the ones Pokémon haters notice the most. There are also Pokémon haters who hack Pokémon sites and swear in their guestbooks, and they are the ones Pokémon fans notice the most. If all Pokémon fans would read my Anti-anti-Pokémon for Pokéfans section, then there wouldn't be any of those cussing Pokémon fans, and if all Pokémon haters would read Net Nomad's "What never to do in AP", there wouldn't be any cussing Pokémon haters either. *sigh* The world would be a better place...

Pokémon has animal cruelty!

...Just read the full explanation here.

Ahh! So Pokémon ARE violent!

Not unless they have to.

Look at this! [followed by a quote from an AP guestbook where someone called "Butterfree" says not-so-nice things]

That wasn't a Pokémon fan. (And heaven knows it wasn't me.) It was a Pokémon hater who actually posted almost all posts in this guestbook (and was pretty easily recognizeable as all of his posts consisted of 75% swear words) pretending to be me. And why was he pretending to be me? Because I told the Pokémon fans to stop flaming the Pokémon haters as it wouldn't do us any good. I didn't even say a single word to the Pokémon haters. -_-

Pokémon's cuteness is a cover-up for their killing!

For the I-don't-know-what-th time, Pokémon DON'T KILL EACH OTHER IN BATTLE. If you're referring to Pokémon predators, take a cat. It's cute, no? Still, it hunts little birds and kills them, making them die in absolute panic in an attempt to get away. Is a cat's cuteness a 'cover-up'? No, it's just a common opinion that cats are cute. And Pokémon are based on real animals, meaning that if they're based on a 'cute' animal, the Pokémon is likely to be 'cute' too. Name a cute Pokémon that would go around killing any more than a normal cat.

Ash is a drop-out from school and thus is a bad image for small kids!

Now, look here. I don't know who made up the drop-out thing, but it was probably one of the many Pokémon fans who hate Ash and love Gary for some reason. At least, unless the Icelandic translation was really strange, the very first episode of the series starts with Ash saying something along the lines of "Yes! Because I'm now ten years old, I can go and become a Pokémon trainer!" which is, as you should have figured, a literal translation of what he said in Icelandic (don't ask me how I still remember the exact words he said). "Because I'm now ten years old" doesn't sound like he just dropped out from school. In fact, it sounds to me like he has been waiting for the day he'd become ten for years. Which, again, sounds like ANY kid can go off and become a Pokémon trainer at the age of ten. In fact, we see a TON of ten-year-old kids who Ash meets in the animé. Did they all drop out of school? Not likely. How they learn everything they need to before that is still a mystery. Maybe all the hours we would waste on learning geography are used for something else since the Pokémon world consists of three very small continents and a few islands? Or maybe the school just consists of an Alakazam that loads everything kids need to learn into their long-term memory using psychic powers? Who knows.

According to Nightling, though, the Manga says kids in the Pokémon world get something called "Trainer's leave", a certain number of days you get to train Pokémon, and after it is over, you have to return to school. That explains a lot. Although I'm no liar, so I must note that the manga is not official (i.e. has nothing to do with Nintendo or GameFreak or Satoshi Tajiri) so that's just what the author of the manga imagines.

Pokémon is over!

No, it is not. A few facts:

  • Again, this sales chart from five months after R/S were released shows clearly that the games are very popular.
  • Pokémon has, as far as I can see, one of the ten largest fandoms on FanFiction.Net.
  • To go on about FanFiction.Net, 135 pages out of 413 contain fiction written after Ruby and Sapphire came out, which is just about 1/3. The very first stuff that was written is from March 99. March 99 to March 2003 is four years, 48 months. March 2003 to August 2004, when this is written, is one year and five months, or 17 months. So, in 48 out of 65 months, two thirds of the fanfiction were written, and in 17 out of 65, one third was written. In an average month before R/S, 1.3% of the total fiction were written. In an average month after R/S, 1.9% of the total fiction were written. Sounds more like an increase to me.
  • Serebii.Net got 31,601 unique visits in one day on September 11th, 2004. Beat that.

Need more proof?

Every episode is the same, it's boring.

See? This is an opinion; I'm not going to say "no, it isn't boring" because you may very well think it is. But it's not true that "every" episode is like that. Some are gym battles and stuff. The episodes that are all the same are the filler episodes, and yes, they are boring to most people's opinions. Even Pokémon fans'. But should I tell you something? I don't know of a SINGLE Pokémon fan who likes Pokémon because they think the show is so good. Some like it because they like the monsters and the idea. Some like it because they like the strategy in the games (Pokémon is almost PURE strategy. A bit of RPG, but the whole rest is strategy). Some like it for both those reasons. But there are pretty much no Pokémon fans who like it because they think the show is so good. We don't like it because of that, so this reason won't have anything to say to us. Anyway, I'd like to mention that the animé makers are HUMAN and they show one episode a week. They need more than one week to write a big plot, and they've written hundreds of episodes, they're running short on ideas. If you watched the first season, you'll notice that there are hardly any filler episodes at the start at all, they all have something important happening (a Pokémon that's caught or evolved, a gym battle or just something else that makes it important). Then they just run short on ideas, and can't just go on to the next gym battle and the next, so they have to put fillers in.

AAPs all say the same thing over and over again!

Well maybe we are but where doing it in different ways therefore explaining different things so that doesn't matter very much besides where a club we say the same thing because we all stand for that same message if you APs don't say the same thing then that means your club is unstable and we caneasily counter you.

Pokemon is just a tv show with "cute little furry creatures"

Really? Pokemon fighting each other hard out with extremely powerful attacks? Huge fangs and claws are cute? Just take a look at these pokemon: Exploud Feebas Snorlax Scyther Feraligatr

Butterfree: What cuteness... coolness to some people, but I doubt many would find them cute.

Yes very cute. Any way you clearly didn't do your research I mean you obviously didn't know that they have special contests based upon a pokemon beauty and cuteness? Well these contests are common so don't be surprised that many cute pokemon roaming around the place but never in the wild only with trainers 90% of the time.

The above two were sent in by Condell Simmonds Lowe.

There is so much marketing in Pokémon, it's sick! "Gotta catch 'em all"? Ash "Ketchum"? What's up with that?

I heartily agree with you. It is sick. I never said it wasn't. But that's NOA, and the show. The games don't have "Ketchum" or "Gotta catch 'em all" anywhere apart from the big "Pokémon - Gotta Catch 'em All" on the box and cartridge. The Japanese versions of the games and TV show don't contain any form of this sick marketing, and the games don't either. It's only in the animé dub (and on the game boxes and cartridges and cards because that's the "official" Pokémon motto they must put on the front or back of every product). So basically, blame the dubbers. We can all blame the dubbers for a lot of stuff... money freaks...

Pokémon enslaves kids, lowers their IQ and turns them into loners without friends!

Oh yeah? I can counter this with pure personal experience. I'm not "enslaved". I'm no slave of my Pokémon or my Pokémon games (and they aren't showing the show here so I'm obviously not its slave, either). Isn't it the kid who's holding the gameboy and can turn it off, throw it to the floor, restart the game or whatever when they want? Well, I wouldn't because I've formed such strong ties with my Pokémon (and who says Pokémon isn't about friendship?), but anyone can do this whenever they want. The cards? If someone lives for Pokémon cards, I can safely say there's something wrong. But it's not the Pokémon on the cards that make them live for Pokémon cards, or even the cards themselves. This can happen to anyone. I have this strange thing about picking all healing scratches I might get so they start bleeding again, and then I do it again and again and can't stop even when I think "No, I shouldn't be doing this" while I'm doing it. I don't lose money by doing this, but it's the same thing, and instead of losing money, I get permanent scars. I know it, but I still can't stop. You may have something like this too, something you do that's not good for you and you know it, but you still do it. Those who do become slaves of Pokémon cards are just those unlucky people who happen to get this type of a twitch that wastes their money. It's also the same as gambling addiction, really.

Lowers IQ? You've got to be joking. Pokémon is so strategic it isn't funny, you need to memorize all sorts of mathematical formulas to be any good and it got me thinking more than ever before. Also, kids can make Pokémon relate to a subject at school, it can help memorizing something for tests or something. Also Pokémon fans are usually the geeks. My IQ is 168 according to an online IQ test, and that's not taking into account that English is not my first language. So don't call me stupid; I'm not. Most Pokémon fans aren't stupid either.

Loners without friends. I don't deny that I am a loner with only a measly two real-life friends. But it's thanks to Pokémon I at least have a load of internet friends. Like I said, Pokémon fans are usually the geeks. Geeks ARE loners without friends. I was an extremely sad little depressed kid without friends before I got into Pokémon. Then I started liking Pokémon, went to Pokémon sites... and look at me now, I own a popular website, I'm happy and I've at least got internet friends when my real-life friends are busy (which they usually are outside of school).

Watching Pokémon repeatedly makes children think it's OK to fight, the message just sinks in after watching it again and again. The show is directed at kids from 6 to 10, and they can be affected by stuff on television, believe it or not.

So, let's assume it's true that Pokémon is aimed at 6-10 year-old kids, and that they do pick up stuff from television. Tell me, why are you bugging Pokémon about it? Take Tom and Jerry. That show is made up of the good guy, Jerry, constantly inventing nastier and nastier ways to torture poor Tom, who has actually never in the show's history done anything to Jerry (he has tried, but who says that isn't just when he's fed up with Jerry blowing him up all the time). Now, I loved Tom and Jerry when I was four or so. Never missed it. Did I start to think it was "OK" to beat up somebody just because you don't like them? No. Actually, I preferred Tom and felt sorry for him sometimes. Now, say I had watched Pokémon at the age of six (I didn't, but let's imagine I did). That's two years later, which should mean I was more mature. If I had been more mature and watched a show where you can see Ash developing strong ties with his Pokémon, always surrendering the battle if his Pokémon were getting hurt, letting them choose if they want to evolve. A kids' show that finally gives children a new view on "bad guys": they have feelings too, they're people, they can be emotionally hurt, they can do good things, which actually increases the kid's awareness that the people they don't like are people too. Now, would THAT have made me go around thinking it's OK to fight? I highly doubt it.

Pokémon don't have any genitals!

...

Congratulations, you've invented the most illogical reason against Pokémon that still has to count as logical I've ever seen.

Or you just used it, having seen it somewhere else. Either way, it's just as illogical. Sorry to say it, but this reason is some of the stupidest stuff I've ever seen.

Come on. Just think. Graphically-wise (as in ignoring the fact that there are no existing animals with Pokémon's traits), Pokémon are CARTOON animalS. Can you name me a single cartoon animal in a show directed at kids that has genitals? No, thought not. If I need to explain why animators don't draw genitals on cartoon animals, you need help. Yes, they do have genitals, which can be proven by the simple fact that Pokémon, and all the other cartoon animals, can reproduce. That's no secret. But (obviously) they aren't drawn on. Give me a break... -_-;;;

You're a pokemon "trainer". You're walking down the street and you see a Pokemon. You release one of your other Pokemon and it kicks the other pokemon's butt. You cram the bruised up pokemon into a ball, and say: "I got one!" Now the Pokemon you caught is supposed to be loyal to you? I doubt it.

Honestly, I don't even know if you thought before you even wrote that. Pokemon are loyal to you after you catch them because of your skill of capturing Pokemon.

How about dogs? They're loyal to you most of the time because they know you're in control.

(The above sent in by Avtar)

Tips for 'gotta kill 'em all' Pokéhaters

For short

  • What you do, basically, is hating people passionately for disagreeing with you on one thing. Do you normally hate everybody who disagrees with you on something?
  • You can't kill Pokémon off. Pokémon fans don't take you seriously, for one thing, and then they will always keep making more and more Pokémon games and movies.
  • I want you to ask yourself this question: What has Pokémon ever done to you?

Ok... if you're a 'gotta kill 'em all' Pokéhater, it means you do at least one of these things:

  • Draw (or "make") gory pictures of Pokémon being killed simply because you enjoy killing them, even though neither they nor your revenge on them actually exists
  • Hack Pokémon (or Anti-anti-Pokémon) sites, hoping that it will somehow kill Pokémon down
  • Make a website with (insert number here) ways to kill Pokémon, same reason as the first one
  • Make fun of Pokémon lovers in a (to my opinion) sick way; includes making a 'moron of the month' section on your website, asking Pokémon fans to flame you and then posting it on your website with nasty comments to every sentence (and then I mean really, REALLY nasty comments, not just arguments against what they're saying)

I personally don't like your type very much. I think some of you sound too much like Pokémon is "THE ENEMY" that must be destroyed... it's just our hobby, no need to make so much out of it. That's my opinion, though. I don't argue against you with opinions.

I'm going to hack your site!

Go ahead and do it, I've got backups. But that would be disgustingly low of you. What have I done to you? Aren't there millions of other people who disagree with you on something? Why don't you hack their sites? I don't flame you, I don't stereotype you, I don't disallow you to speak, I even make a SPECIAL SECTION IN THE FORUMS JUST SO YOU CAN SPEAK WITHOUT GETTING FLAMED. What is the world coming to? Then World War III will start (since a disagreement on one thing causes this level of hate, what can major disagreement cause if someone like you gets to power?), all life on Earth will be destroyed by nuclear bombs, all thanks to the fact that some people don't understand the simple rule: "Treat other people like you want to be treated". Really, debating is a natural part of human communication, but hate like this is not. I don't hate you, APers. Some Pokémon fans may, but I don't like them either. You're people, we're people. There are really two main kinds of Pokémon haters and fans, those who hate the other side and those who don't. The ones who hate the other side are the ones who make me feel bad, Pokémon haters or Pokémon lovers. The ones who don't hate the other side are the ones I like speaking to, whether fans or haters of Pokémon. It is wrong to hate other people because of their different opinions about one thing. We need to learn to set aside the differences and be friends, I'm sure just about every one of the people who go around swearing in the other side's guestbooks are pretty nice when they're not talking to someone they know are of the other side. Both sides, THE OTHER SIDE ISN'T BAD. Thanks for reading my little rant, but it really upset me the other day when I went to a site called pokemonsux.com (warning if you go there: It has REALLY loud sound on the front page) and saw the guestbook, where someone had just said "I can't understand that people can like Pokémon".

We can draw what we want! It's none of your business!

So true. I never said you couldn't draw gory pictures. But... there are a few things I'm concerned about. One, most pictures I've seen would barely count as art. They're just official pictures of Pikachu with a bullet from a photo copied and pasted drilling into the Pikachu's head, with some blood under it. Usually the bullet still has a bit of its background with it, and the blood is just solid red painted over the Pikachu's forehead (I'm just using that idea of a picture as an example). For short, they're just not very well done. Are you positive other Pokémon haters like them, simply because they're a Pokémon being killed, and don't care about the quality? I'm not sure. Anyway, if you're actually DRAWING your pictures, feel free to. You can, just like you said, draw whatever you want, there are no laws that say people can't draw what they feel like drawing. Your art may be very good, but I've never seen it. Just a tip, though - put a warning to kids somewhere that they shouldn't view those pictures.

Why can't we write 100 ways to kill Pokémon, then?

You misunderstood me. Write them if you want to. But they bother me in a certain way that doesn't really have anything to do with what you're killing. You usually assume that the Pokémon are some sorts of plush toys you can do whatever you want to. Or you assume that they're too stupid to realize that you're going to kill them. This is simply wrong; Pokémon are sentinent beings. How would you like it if I wrote 100 ways to kill Pokémon haters, where you're thrown around as plush toys who won't react to obvious murder attempts?

What about a moron of the month and hatemail? We also get hatemails, you know!

Yes, you do. I fully understand that you're angry. But why don't you remember that Pokémon fans are people? People! No one likes being put on a website to be laughed at personally, whether they swear at other people or send hatemail or whatnot. I don't feel like that's justice. It's a lot better already if you remove the name and the e-mail address and everything about who this person could possibly be, but I still don't think anyone deserves to be put up like that. We have feelings, and those flamers also have feelings. The feelings of people are things that should be respected. That's just what I wanted to say.

Tips for cussing Pokéhaters

For short

  • I can guarantee you, 100%, that nobody takes you seriously. Least of all Pokémon fans.
  • Do you normally swear at everybody in real life?

Now, I absolutely love this type </sarcasm>. Please, tell me, why do you hate Pokémon? Other than "it's gay". Think about it carefully, why do you hate Pokémon? Take your time. If you don't know why you hate Pokémon, then you don't really hate Pokémon. If you know why, then you have advanced to one of the other levels of a Pokéhater. Find your type above, then read this section again. Find out that you should leave me alone, then do. Still...

Ash is gay/sucks/is an idiot/etc.

Firstly, everyone has flaws. He'd be a very boring, uncreative character is he was perfect. Secondly, Ash =/= Pokémon (Ash does not equal Pokémon). Ash can be anything, but that doesn't mean Pokémon is. There is a lot of Pokémon fans who don't like Ash, but still love Pokémon. Even if you don't like the main character of the show, it doesn't mean you won't like the games. Have you ever actually tried them?

Pokémon is gay!

I'll allow myself to put this up like Mewkitty did in her hilarious post at the pokemonicons forums:

You: Pokemon is gay!
A Pokémon fan: Why?
You: Uhhh... I dunno, but it is!
A Pokémon fan: Why?
You: Uhhh... because it is!

...do I need to say anything more?

That's about it. Please note that I did not flame you anywhere here, so you shouldn't flame me either. That's just a basic rule of human communication.

Page last modified August 13 2016 at 02:34 UTC