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Do you think Pokémon should be able to talk?

Sheep

Sheep

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...Or do you prefer them saying their name? Was thinking about Digimon and Yokai Watch in comparison to the Pokémon franchise, and (spoilers for those who have not seen the 20th movie) the mixed reactions from Pikachu talking to Ash in the latest movie. What do you all think? Would having all Pokémon talk like Meowth be interesting to you, or is keeping them to only saying their names better? Or perhaps the more natural approach of just making animal sounds? Would Pokémon talking affect your interest in any way?
 
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pkmin3033

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Honestly, I think Pikachu talking in the 20th movie was just a figment of Ash's delusional imagination. After all, if it could talk then, why not before or after? Think a lot of people overreacted to that.

But anyways. Since Pokemon are basically a substitute for the animal kingdom (with a little branching out, of course) I think it makes more sense for them to speak their names, rather than human lanuguage. It feels more natural, and it sets apart those Pokemon that actually CAN talk as something special...or at least, it did when only Mewtwo and Meowth could do it. Far too many Pokemon can talk now, but it's still relatively rare in the grand scheme of things.

...also, they should get rid of those bloody horrible Pokemon cries in the games.
 

SmokeyShenanigans

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I like pokemon just saying their name, all the talking monsters belong in Digimon. (Just my opinion)
 
Zeostar

Zeostar

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If they could fit it well into the story.

I wouldn't mind just the legendary Pokemon being able to talk.
 
Mawa

Mawa

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I prefer them saying their name only. Except for Meowth.

I don't mind in the movies or games, because for me it's not canon.
 
Xtr3me

Xtr3me

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I think it depends. If it's in the movies, yes, I find it a bit strange that Pikachu could talk. I like the fact only a few pokemon can speak human language. Just making animal sounds seems more natural.
But if it's a pokemon game, why not? It could be interesting to play a game where pokemon can talk!
 
Brendino

Brendino

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I'm okay with certain key Pokemon being able to communicate in a human language (like Meowth, Mewtwo, Slowking, Lugia, etc. from the anime), but having all of them be able to talk is a little too much for me. I'm not even really a fan of them saying their names like they do in the anime- I'd much prefer them to sound like they do in the Origins or Generations series.

As for Pikachu, I never got around to watching Pokemon 20... mostly because I heard that it was able to talk, and it turned me right off from watching it. I understand that it's an alternate timeline that the movie presents, but I think most trainers (including Ash) are able to communicate with their Pokemon just fine without proper speech, so it just seems so unnecessary.
 
Blue_Pigeon

Blue_Pigeon

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This depends on which perspective we are approaching this from. If we approach it from a human perspective such as in the main games or anime, then I prefer the animal noises from the games. If we are approaching it from a pokemon perspective, such as in the Pokemon Mystery Dungeon games, then I like pokemon talking similarly to people.
 

strangerhypno

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I only tolerate it when it comes from pokemon who have the capability to communicate in human language like Brendino said. Pikachu talking in movie 20 was an awful scene, hallucination or not. Pokemon saying its name in the anime also sounds idiotic most of the time.

Pokemon should be making animal like cries (though some of them sound horrible now and should be revamped in the games), you don't see a dog barking Canis lupus familiaris.
 
Damien.aspiring.fandev

Damien.aspiring.fandev

Chapter 16 A New Dawn { ||:^❩ )
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Whoa, this is one remarkable wall of text... I swear it looked shorter...
Spoiler:
 
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Blue_Pigeon

Blue_Pigeon

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Damien.aspiring.fandev said:
Hm... not sure about you but I'm prone to think that's a misconception, and our transfomation
into a pokémon might have brought us comprehension of their cries...
Click to expand...

That's what I was saying (sorry if I didn't make it clear) - I generally prefer Pokemon to only talk when you are playing from the perspective of a Pokemon; therefore able to comprehend what other Pokemon are saying.

I suppose on second thoughts I am not completely opposed to Pokemon talking in a sense to a human, however, this would be special only to certain ghost type Pokemon/the odd physic type, due to their respective lores and ingame events (although whether they are speaking or rather just beaming what they are thinking into your mind is debatable).
 
Cariad

Cariad

world.search(you);
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personally i think it's cuter for non-mythical pokemon to just make normal animal noises or their names, but i do like the idea of more humanoid pokemon being able to talk (e.g alakazam talking through telepathy) as it makes quite a lot of sense for a more human pokemon to be able to communicate through a human language than a more animal one.
 
w1f1pa55w0rd

w1f1pa55w0rd

Ho-oh-oh
350
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Personally, I think they just say their names so that little kids can remember them easily. Maybe that's why writers decided on that. In my opinion, I think they shouldn't even say their names. Especially in the games, the damn Pikachu saying its names pisses me off so much. I prefer their cries and grunts rather than them actually being able to pronounce words.
 
Venia Silente

Venia Silente

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I'm all for mechanical vocalizations aka "animal noises". Basically, sounds that their physiology allows them to make. And not just via the mouth but any organ that is capable of producing sounds - bugs for example sing by rubbing or flapping their wings at hyperspeeds, a fact that at least Vibrava's/Flygon's 'dex entries seem to take note of.

As for "talking", as in producing human language sounds from mouth, I'd rather much they don't. Pok?mon not being able to trivially communicate with humans is one of the factors that I feel sets apart Pok?mon as individuals from the creatures from other franchises like Digimon and Monster Rancher when treated as individuals.

And finally, telepathic speech, I would presume many if not all Pok?mon are sapient and thus can formulate thoughts; whether enough of them can actually project those thoughts is a matter I usually leave to the level of "importance" of the Pok?mon, from which I thus also assume that it's not merely a projection as "human speech" but more like "universal language" or "transparency of thought".

But for the games? Mechanical vocalizations. It's long past the age of MP3, I don't see why don't we have that already besides "pikause" franchise mascot (like, really).
 
w1f1pa55w0rd

w1f1pa55w0rd

Ho-oh-oh
350
Posts
7
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Venia Silente said:
I'm all for mechanical vocalizations aka "animal noises". Basically, sounds that their physiology allows them to make. And not just via the mouth but any organ that is capable of producing sounds - bugs for example sing by rubbing or flapping their wings at hyperspeeds, a fact that at least Vibrava's/Flygon's 'dex entries seem to take note of.

As for "talking", as in producing human language sounds from mouth, I'd rather much they don't. Pok?mon not being able to trivially communicate with humans is one of the factors that I feel sets apart Pok?mon as individuals from the creatures from other franchises like Digimon and Monster Rancher when treated as individuals.

And finally, telepathic speech, I would presume many if not all Pok?mon are sapient and thus can formulate thoughts; whether enough of them can actually project those thoughts is a matter I usually leave to the level of "importance" of the Pok?mon, from which I thus also assume that it's not merely a projection as "human speech" but more like "universal language" or "transparency of thought".

But for the games? Mechanical vocalizations. It's long past the age of MP3, I don't see why don't we have that already besides "pikause" franchise mascot (like, really).
Click to expand...

You are absolutely right! How the heck do Pokemon even say their names in our language? For example, take Ditto. How the freaking heck does it say its own name? And any bug type. THEY ARE LITERALLY THE EQUIVALENTS OF INSECTS! How can they pronounce their names? I doubt half the pokemon even have mandibles! They should really think about that.
 
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Adam Levine

Adam Levine

[color=#ffffff][font="Century Gothic"]I have tried
5,200
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12
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Having animal-like cries is the only way to go for me. It seems completely unnatural for Pok?mon to be limited to speaking their own species's name, and while the game cries do fit more for me, they seem a little...bizarre.
 
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