I believe it's canon that "Hilbert"/Hilda catches Reshiram/Zekrom, but I don't think it's canon that he/she actually has to use said legendary Pokemon. As for
my own usage, it may as well be 'canon', as I typically use Kyogre (
Sapphire) or Rayquaza (
Emerald) to tackle the Elite 4, Champion, and other pesky Trainers once I've caught said legendary Pokemon.
BW is the first game in which you're required to catch it to progress with the story, and in the post-game I imagine Hilbert/Hilda would use it to search for N and his own legendary. Likewise, in HGSS Ho-Oh and Lugia are waiting for a pure-hearted trainer to appear before them, and this trainer is obviously you.
The beauty of Pokémon is that you make your own canon, but I think that maybe there's an "official" way to go through the game...
Maybe I'm confused about events, but don't you
summon Ho-Oh/Lugia (i.e., they come to
you) rather than you going to Ho-Oh/Lugia's roost? "Appear before them" seems to me that they're waiting for someone to come
to them; if you summon them, it kind of seems that they stumbled upon the player by chance...
And I agree, the beauty of Pokemon is that you make your own canon, although, unfortunately for some, some of the 'canon' established in sequels may gel with your 'own' canon...
Nah, an "official" way to go through the game spits on the entirety of Pokemon. Pokemon's always been about stepping into a large world full of hundreds of monsters and doing whatever you want from solo runs to catching everything. You can play however you want, and the only limits are the ones that you set yourself.
The mascot legendaries are more symbolic than anything. They pretty much exist to test you once you reach that part of the game. Do you have what it takes to capture or defeat them? More than likely, but that's not the point. There is only one, and it's in front of you right now. This is your only shot*. What will you do?
*if you don't save and reset but who wouldn't? Nothing's better than replaying that only shot until you get it right
This, so very, very much (as in, in the scope of a single game, without considering prequels or sequels).
Yes. The stories certainly encourage it, and in BW2 the prequels' protagonist is travelling with the other legend. The notion even appears to hold true for the first generation, as Red uses every box-art starter in the games since.
I think the posters here thus far don't understand the implications of canon: what outcome is considered canonical by the creator(s) doesn't have any effect on the game itself, only potentially on sequels and peripheral franchises (ex. the Pokemon anime, mangas, et al.). You know how fighting games have particular canonical endings but there are still endings scripted for every character? Like that.
Even if the stories
encourage it, I don't think it would be canon unless such usage is shown in a battle that drives the plot (i.e., "Hilbert"/Hilda is
required to use Reshiram/Zekrom during a certain battle, or the game shows some sort of cutscene with Reshiram/Zekrom under the command of "Hilbert"/Hilda.).
HGSS shows that catching the legendary birds and Mewtwo in FRLG isn't canon, since they're still there for Ethan to catch.
The Pokémon canon very rarely states that a legendary has been caught. This is for practical reasons, since it allows the legendary to be caught in subsequent games. I actually thought it was pretty cool that they hinted in BW that the "proper" way to advance the story was to catch the legendary and use it against N and Ghetsis. Unfortunately, like I said, if you have a team of overleveled Pokémon at your disposal, using the legendary might be counterproductive.
However, the fact Hilbert owns Zekrom/Reshiram IS canon.
As for the legendary birds, "catching them in FRLG" should be just as much canon as "catching them in HGSS", as there is the potential for there to be more than one of each legendary Pokemon (if you subscribe to the theory that legendary Pokemon are
members of a species rather than being unique/one-of-a-kind). Moltres seems to be a more suitable example - it's possible that Red caught the Moltres living at Mt. Ember of the Sevii Islands while Ethan caught the one that resides at Mt. Silver in Johto.
I'm personally of the belief that legendary Pokemon are unique but have somehow been cloned and subsequently are running rampant throughout the various regions...if cloning technology was made once and yielded Mew, there's no reason that scientists wouldn't be able to clone Pokemon again or develop the technology again using data from the Cinnabar Island ordeal. I mean, either there are multiples of Legendaries, Legendary clone Pokemon are running around with wild abandon, or it's "canon" that some legendary Pokemon have migrated/remained uncaught since the events of preceding games. As for me, it helps to explain how I'm able to encounter all of these Legendaries during Link Battles. :cer_laugh: I envision that I own the 'original' copies of all the Legendary Pokemon, and everyone else has somehow managed to nab a clone and use it against me. :P But anyways...
Though however, Hilda/Hibert having Reshiram/Zekrom is pretty much canon and Red having the version mascots of the Gen I games on his team is canon as well. I imagine that Hilda/Hilbert are flying around the Pokemon world on it looking for N.
Is canon defined by when the credits roll, or what...? I thought Red's battle at Mt. Silver was optional (note, I haven't actually played GSC or HGSS yet... >.<)...I remember reading the "true credits" rolling once you beat Red, but don't the credits 'roll' prior to that when you beat Champion Lance as well? If Red's Mt. Silver battle is optional, then I don't necessarily think it's canon that he owns all 3 (or rather, all 4) Kanto starters.