Is the main character spoiled?

[cappayne]

This is half a hypothetical question, and half a theory. Don't mind me, just had to get my thoughts out somewhere.

So I was playing some Pokemon the other day, and I thought to myself, the main character in these games is extremely lucky.

What I mean is that in Red/Blue/Yellow you live in one of the 3 or 4 houses in Pallet town, where the famous Pokemon Laboratory of Kanto is located. You are granted a starter Pokemon, which are generally non-existent in the wild in that - or any other game. Needless to say, these Pokemon are extremely rare. You are also given a Pokedex, a top of the line product to identify each species of Pokemon. And the same goes for the other generations other than 4, where the Lab is actually in the second city, but the character is lucky enough to gain a likeness from Professor Rowan.

So I started thinking, what if I had dreams of being a Pokemon master but I lived in Fuschia or Goldenrod city? I recently started played Pokemon Emerald for the first time, where I got to see Wally capture his first Pokemon, a Ralts, by borrowing a Pokemon and Pokeball from the gym leader. He seemed so happy, but I felt so bad for him. There I was watching a kid so happy with catching one of the 3,000 Ralts in that Route, and I'm equipped with a one-of-a-kind Mudkip. I can catch a Ralts if I want to, also, but kids like Wally will never have the pleasure of owning a true starter Pokemon barring trades, etc.

As we know from playing the games, it is extremely dangerous to wander into routes without a Pokemon, so Wally probably never had the opportunity to travel to whatever the town you start in Gen. 3 is called.

And Wally is even one of the lucky ones. Imagine a kid from Mahagony wanted to become a Pokemon master. The wild Pokemon in that area are very strong. So even if such a kid borrowed a Pokemon and used it to catch a wild Pokemon, the lack of experience he/she has would make it very hard to effectively order the Pokemon to make moves, and actually capture the wild Pokemon. And even if he/she succeeds in capturing their first Pokemon, I doubt such a strong, primitive, wild Pokemon would obey a kid with no experience.

I think that's why you'll see some trainers in routes near cities like Mahogany or Fuschia with only 2-4 Pokemon with random movesets and a weak battle strategy. Those trainers can't make good progress because they're spending months or years trying to get to an experience level as a trainer that matches the Pokemon they own. Their Pokemon still obey them, but they aren't getting much stronger or efficient. That's why, I would guess, if a Trainer's Pokemon defeats one or 2 of your Pokemon, it doesn't gain experience. Because the trainer is not at a level that would allow for more growth. The same could be said for Gym Leaders and the Elite 4, it could be that their Pokemon are locked at certain levels based on their trainers' inadequacies.

There's a reason the main character in each game and the rivals are so successful. They start as rookie trainers with low level Pokemon who have seen little or no battle experience, and originate in a town with weak wild Pokemon in the surrounding areas. They slowly gain experience alongside their Pokemon, and when they meet new Wild Pokemon they are at an appropriate level to defeat or capture them. There are very few internal setbacks along the way.

tl;dr The main character is lucky/spoiled to be born into the nobility that is living in or near the town with the Pokemon Lab and weakest wild Pokemon and obtaining an extremely rare starter Pokemon. This situation that the main character is born into allows him/her to achieve the maximum potential and progress further than other trainers who aren't afforded such an opportunity.

 

[Oryx]

Gonna move this over to Pokemon Gaming Central, since it's very specific to the games and not the rest of the franchise. :)

 

[M4]

I wouldn't say spoiled. You're always playing as the 'lucky' hero in the Pokemon games, there's no way you could play as Youngster Joey in BW2 wouldn't you?

But if you think the main character is spoiled, catch the first wild Pokemon you see and release your starter, sounds like a good challenge eh?

 

[Elite Overlord LeSabre™]

No, your character doesn't live in a 20-bedroom mansion and get to do their journey in a chauffeured limousine and they don't get a specially genetically created Lv85 Mewtwo with which to dominate all the gyms with. No, they live in a small house in some nowhere town, have to do their journey by foot and get something at a mere Lv5 as a starter.

Besides, it's just game mechanics. It wouldn't make sense for all areas of the game to have Lv2 Pokemon just for the convenience for those starting out in other towns, because then level grinding would be an exercise in tedium for everyone (like the low leveled wild Pokemon in Kanto in the G/S series. Only worse). Nor would it make sense for Lv39 Pokemon to be lurking outside where you start (unless you were given similarly leveled Pokemon) because then you as the player would get nowhere in the game.

 

[cappayne]

No, your character doesn't live in a 20-bedroom mansion and get to do their journey in a chauffeured limousine and they don't get a specially genetically created Lv85 Mewtwo with which to dominate all the gyms with. No, they live in a small house in some nowhere town, have to do their journey by foot and get something at a mere Lv5 as a starter.

Besides, it's just game mechanics. It wouldn't make sense for all areas of the game to have Lv2 Pokemon just for the convenience for those starting out in other towns, because then level grinding would be an exercise in tedium for everyone (like the low leveled wild Pokemon in Kanto in the G/S series. Only worse). Nor would it make sense for Lv39 Pokemon to be lurking outside where you start (unless you were given similarly leveled Pokemon) because then you as the player would get nowhere in the game.

I understand all that, but looking at it as more than just a game where the human player is the focus, it's easy to see how lucky the hero is. There are several NPC trainers who claim to be on the journey to the Pokemon League and all they have are common Pokes. Wally started his journey with a Ralts, not too special.

Obviously it doesn't make sense to start as a new trainer in a town surrounded by level 30 Pokes, but that's why the hero is so lucky to live in a town surrounded by weak ones. And a level 5 Pokemon is irrelevant when the Poke is rare. And besides, an inexperienced trainer getting a level 30 Pokemon to start would be anything but spoiled, the Poke most likely wouldn't obey.

And again, I don't mean spoiled like some kids these days, I mean spoiled in the sense of being born into the Poke-nobility. Pallet is not a nothing town, and it doesn't matter that the house apparently has one bedroom. It's the opportunity the hero gets that no one else (save the rival) gets, being that they have the advantage of a true starter Pokemon and the proper place to start in.

 

[Overlord Drakow]

I'm pretty sure that trainers who do not originate from Pallet Town travel there to get their first Pokemon and begin their journey from there anyway. There is probably public transport / methods of travel which can be used to avoid Pokemon encounters. Realistically speaking, that should be the case. So trainers from different towns should feasibly be able to get to Pallet Town and get their own starter Pokemon. I guess in the games, most do not but I have fought a few trainers who have used some of the starter Pokemon before.

 

[Outkin]

And you also got to remember, there are sometimes wild starters as you see in the anime, the only reason we can't get them is to make it more fair, and to make it so you can't just go off and catch 26 mudkips, because how special would your starter be when it's as a common as a rattata? There are likely some wild starters out there, but your character will never find them.

 

[Oryx]

Okay replying to this now.

I think take the game and levels and such and applying it to the idea of Pokemon being real wouldn't be realistic in the least. The game has edited and cut out things that would make sense in the real world but would make the game really tedious. How would you feel if you had to make sure all your Pokemon were fed every day or else they'd be weaker and die? Or you had to be fed, or use the bathroom? These are things game makers could add in for realism, but don't because it would be really obnoxious. Same with low level Pokemon everywhere; in reality they would probably exist, but in the game that would make it really annoying to play so why would they bother?

The starters also aren't "extremely rare". The professor gets them from a farm full of starter Pokemon breeding to make more starter Pokemon. I always thought the professor travelled around, or even sent starters out (think in B/W where you got the starters in your house, not the lab) to different towns. In addition, spoiled isn't 'having a nice opportunity'. Spoiled would be if the player character got their parents' level 40 Pokemon to begin the game, which would obey the protagonist since they lived together for years before setting off.

 

[Jellicent♀]

^ Yeah, pretty much all of that.

I mean, your character is given the boot the moment he/she receives a small blue turtle that can blow bubbles from its butt. A small, blue turtle that hundreds of trainers own, which would show it is not extremely rare. Yeah, they are in the games because you only get one, but have you ever noticed in the games exactly how many Pokemon actually have starter Pokemon? There is one chick in the Johto games with a Bulbasaur, Ivysaur, and a Venusaur. Call her spoiled, not the main character.

Not only that but the trainers have to battle for their own money, and work for their own collection of items. Plus, if I were a really strong wild Pokemon and some kid and his puppy were able to beat and capture me, they'd gain a little bit of my respect to where I'd actually like to obey him. He/she is obviously doing something right.

Not only that, but those trainers with common Pokemon are doing pretty DANG well if they only have a Stoutland and have made it all the way to Victory Road. It isn't everyone's dream to beat the Elite Four, but for someone to have a "common Poke" such as that and to have defeated all the Gym Leaders and traveled all the way through what is considered the most difficult area in the game, I don't think they regret not having that Charmander right about now. For gosh sake I barely use my starter anyways, my Stoutland always ends up much stronger than most of my other Pokemon. If you think about it, most of the Elite Four use nothing but common Pokemon, if you want to go by appearance percentage.
Dewgong, Gengar, Machamp, Slowbro, Xatu, Ariados, Muk, Crobat, Vileplume, Gyarados, Mightyena, Shiftry, Banette...I could go on but that would be too many Pokemon. Each of the basic forms of those Pokemon are QUITE common in the routes in which they are found. Heck, Gastly has a %100 chance of finding one in most of the places it lives.

So, personally, I think the main character is just like everyone else, except you were pretty much forced out of your house and home.

 

[Sydian]

Toujours and Jellicent said everything I wanted to point out, really. But with that last thing Jellicent said in mind, since you're just kicked out of the house and have NO say-so in anything whatsoever, you're probably the least spoiled in the game. They're making you start this journey. What if I wanted to sit at home with my Torchic all day and play video games with her? Can't do that, cause we have to go save the world and become the champion. That's a lot to put on a 10 year old's shoulders. Luckily, he/she has a 19 year old brain (aka: me) so they're not completely stupid.

But yeah, that's all I wanted to add to that, lol.

 

[cappayne]

Good points everyone. Thanks for the counter-points. I guess spoiled was not the right word. As for the NPCs who also have starters, maybe they did also start from the Lab town, or used some sort of transit system to get there. All they need is a Ditto after that, and maybe they share the eggs with all of their friends. I was totally unaware of this farm/daycare with tons of starters though.

 

[Elite Overlord LeSabre™]

There are several NPC trainers who claim to be on the journey to the Pokemon League and all they have are common Pokes.

There are also several NPC trainers on the journey who have Pokemon like Dragonite and Metagross. Which are significantly rarer than your traditional starter Pokemon considering Professor "insert tree here" must have a bunch of them lying around the lab waiting for other starting trainers.

Obviously it doesn't make sense to start as a new trainer in a town surrounded by level 30 Pokes, but that's why the hero is so lucky to live in a town surrounded by weak ones. And a level 5 Pokemon is irrelevant when the Poke is rare. And besides, an inexperienced trainer getting a level 30 Pokemon to start would be anything but spoiled, the Poke most likely wouldn't obey.

Assuming that all trainers aren't transported to "tiny nowhere town that inexplicably has a research facility" to get their start (which does make sense in the context of Pokemon), one would think that whoever is in charge would be intelligent enough to hand out starter Pokemon whose levels are compatible with the surrounding wildlife. And, ignoring the whole "Pokemon who have your own Trainer ID will always obey regardless of level" mechanic, IIRC someone in the anime said that starter Pokemon are specially bred, raised, and trained to be loyal to their first trainer regardless of level.

And Wally's parents were either too lazy or too cheap to get him a ticket on the Pokemon equivalent of Greyhound Bus Lines so he could be properly issued a starter.

I'm also fairly certain that if the trainer had access to vast wealth, they could accomplish things your average Joe trainer couldn't, like access to powerful items (and maybe even rare Pokemon) and ways to make traveling easier (example: Rich Boys who use Full Restores very early on in the game... I think you encounter one in R/S/E who uses one before you even hit the first gym). And who knows, maybe even bribe Gym Leaders to give out a badge without battling at all. Who's to say that all Gym Leaders would stick to their morals when a bunch of green is spread out before them?

Oh yes, if it was me in the Pokemon world, I certainly wouldn't want to be thrown out of my house at age 10 and be told, "Get a Pokemon and get out of here" by my parents. I'd much rather stay at home, complete my education, and get a cushy executive job instead of venturing out in the wild.

 

[waters_echo]

Off of the top of my head I can think of...
The cooltrainer on the Lapras level of Union Cave who has all three Kanto starters
The girl on the Blackthorn-New Bark route who has two wartortles
The already mentioned girl on the way to the league who has all three of the bulbasaur line
Ace trainer, post-Rocket Lake of Rage, all three second stage starters of Kanto
Pretty sure that there's at least one more person who uses charmeleon.

And, of course, it isn't really likely to find starters from a different region in the other games, because none of the others are directly next to another region.

So no, they're not quite so rare as it would seem.

-~-~-
Also, the girl on route 34, bulbasaur.
Pointed out further down, Lance has a charizard.
-~-~-
RB has at least two trainers with bulbasaur, there's a trainer with a charmander in Blaine's gym, and a swimmer between Cinnabar and Pallet has a wartortle

 

[Hann]

I also wouldn't say the protagonist is spoiled.
Remember, in Kanto he only gets a Pokémon because he needs to complete the PokéDex for Professor Oak. You get no choice in the matter and practically get forced to do the job.
In Johto you get a Pokémon just because Professor Elm is too lazy to get the mystery egg from Mr. Pokémon. Again you have no choice, if I remember correctly your mom even tells you Professor Elm is looking for you.
In Hoenn you basically can't refuse because Professor Birch is in trouble (you'd think the man has a little more sense and would be able to flee from a level 2 Poochyena). He notices you have formed a 'bond' with your Pokémon barely two minutes after you get it and why not complete the PokéDex for him too now you're at it.
The best example of how the protagonist is surely not being spoiled is Sinnoh. Professor Rowan only 'gives' you the Pokémon because he thinks it's useless anyway. The starters were not what he was looking for and he doesn't need them. Professor Rowan gives you your Pokémon because it'd only be a bother to him if he kept it. (FYI Lucas/Dawn does have a Pokémon when you don't have one yet, guess what it's a starter!) To top it, first he 'dumps' his useless Pokémon on you and then he demands to fill up the PokéDex and you literally can't say no.
Unova might be the best or the worst of all regions in regard to starters. Professor Juniper gives one to you and your two friends as a gift. There are two ways to look at this. One, she's just generous and honestly wants to give you your own Pokémon so you can get out of Nuvema town (if you can even call it a town). Two, she lets you think she's generous but actually just wants three little slaves kids to do anything she wants (and you bet they do, the nice professor did give them their first Pokémon, didn't she).

Conclusion: The protagonist gets little to no choice in what he/she wants at. I do know that these are games and that those situations are needed to make progress and make the game somewhat interesting. But honestly, they could make a few things optional. Not everyone feels like defeating Team Rocket/Magma/Aqua/Galactic/Plasma and the protagonist could at least use some help (and seriously, Looker was no help with Team Galactic nor was Lance with Team Rocket, if he said he was going to help some trainers should be battled already)

Now for NPC's. Like Jellicent said, not everyone wants to beat the Elite Four and become Champion (I for one would be just fine doing some contests and just train Pokémon).
It's extremely difficult to say something about the trainers in Mahogany or any other cities farther in the game. Just because of the Game Mechanics. Those high levels are needed to, like I said before, make progress. If Pokémon continuously stayed at level 5 maximum the game would simply be boring. To add to that, of course there will be trainers that have far more experience and you technically would horribly lose against them, still we defeat every single trainer the first time we meet him/her. Again the games wouldn't be fun to play if we had to battle every trainer three (or more) times to beat him/her.

Simply put, the protagonist is not spoiled, but privileged. It does feel like he/she is forced to do things, but just put not being able to say no aside and look at it differently. You get the opportunity to defeat Team Rocket, etc. and while that is very 'dangerous' you are able to see and do things nobody has ever done before. Thanks to Team Magma and Aqua you get to see Groudon and Kyogre (even Rayquaza in Emerald). Thanks to Team Galactic and Cyrus you get to meet Dialga, Palkia and Giratina. Team Plasma enables you to meet Reshiram or Zekrom (sure N gets the same privilege, but he's actually part of Team Plasma). I'm not exactly sure what we get from Team Rocket, but let's leave it at that. I hope I didn't bore anyone with this somewhat lengthy reply.

 

[NamikazeBurst]

Its not that they aren't in the wild, its just you cant find them in the games. They're are lots in the Anime. But they make it so you can only get one of them just because they are considered "starting Pokemon". All the professors have them and they get more when they gave away their supply.

 

[infersaime]

On the starter factor I think they are common pokemon but the main hero just don't get to see it after all Flint use an infernape and I think he is from Sunyshore city.

And there was a whole geoup of wild treecko in the anime.

 

[Seki]

The main character comes from these "unlikely homes" to become a hero. Thats why you don't see someone who comes from the city at says he's gonna be Pokemon Master, its always someone, who lives near a professional (professor) and at a small town.

 

[Wings Don't Cry]

I would just like to point out a theory of mine that when you get to later areas in the game with your level 40 Pokemon, maybe the wild Pokemon there actually are really low levels but their elders are merely hiding them and protecting them from a big bully trainer who just wants to grind for some exp before fighting the Elite Four. So if said beginner trainer showed up there perhaps the higher level Pokemon will feel like it's okay for the low level Pokemon to get some experience from a less experienced trainer.

 

[cappayne]

I would just like to point out a theory of mine that when you get to later areas in the game with your level 40 Pokemon, maybe the wild Pokemon there actually are really low levels but their elders are merely hiding them and protecting them from a big bully trainer who just wants to grind for some exp before fighting the Elite Four. So if said beginner trainer showed up there perhaps the higher level Pokemon will feel like it's okay for the low level Pokemon to get some experience from a less experienced trainer.

I like it. Sounds just as reasonable as a certain fishing rod only being able to catch one type of Pokemon.

 

[Ho-Oh]

Unova might be the best or the worst of all regions in regard to starters. Professor Juniper gives one to you and your two friends as a gift. There are two ways to look at this. One, she's just generous and honestly wants to give you your own Pokémon so you can get out of Nuvema town (if you can even call it a town). Two, she lets you think she's generous but actually just wants three little slaves kids to do anything she wants (and you bet they do, the nice professor did give them their first Pokémon, didn't she).

Juniper mentions that the parents of the protagonist/everyone else asked her to send them out to the real world and explore, iirc in-game.

I agree entirely with being spoiled, but to another extent. The bike? You always get the "special bike", helpful items from NPC's that need to give it to someone? You, etc. There's so many one-off opportunities throughout the game that others just miss out on, so yeah you are kind of spoiled tbh. You're the one who gets to go on the journey to see the world and face legendaries, etc. Much like Ash you're basically what the whole world revolves around, and yes the starters appear in other trainer's teams but you get the early advantages... I can assume that not everyone has the pokedex, and even people like copycat etc wanted to be like you. You're definitely spoiled and definitely lucky that you get to explore the world, even if y'all see it as negative. I'd honestly love to be given something rare to help me explore the world for someone and then eventually meet legendaries, catch legendaries. Oh yeah, except in battle frontier (maybe?) and except for N, you're the only one that befriends the legendaries. The rare legendaries, you fulfill the destiny, etc. It could at least be a little more two-sided (as in you not catching EVERY legendary - so not fair to the others) but nope, you get the entire journey handed to you pretty much, lol. I figure it'd be 100x harder for the other trainers, whether they have the rare starters or not. I hope I didn't go too far off where everyone else was at, lol.