Copyright Issues.

If you keep up with any sort of Pokemon news site, you are probably well-aware that Nintendo has officially requested that several sites (most notably Serebii.net and Pokebeach) stop posting official images from their games. They claim that this is copyright infringement.

While this is technically true, it took them, what...over a decade to start bitching about it? The hell?

This is not the first time that copyright holders and fans have butted heads. Every three seconds, an AMV is taken down from YT because companies cannot stand having their works promoted, FOR FREE, by people who might have actually PAID for said stuff. (That stat is an approximation, but you get the idea.)

More recently, OneManga and several other manga scanlation sites were sued by license holders. OK. I can understand that. That's still not cool.


(Plus, Viz lost one of my favorite properties. The English version of the above manga goes for, I kid you not, over 1,000 USD. Not having scanlations is like salt on a wound.)

What really surprised me, in this case, was that it was Nintendo doing it. Nintendo has always struck me as a very stable company that, at the very least, acted like they did not need our business. That's usually a good move; "if you want idiots (i.e. the lowest common denominator) to listen, wave money around."

Pokemon has a huge fanbase, an anime and a bunch of gullible little kids who will buy anything that Nintendo throws at them. Although the adult fanbase of Pokemon is substantial, my guess is that it is LARGELY sustained by little kids (although not as heavily as YGO is). Those are ALWAYS a fine source of money. ALWAYS. Pokemon is pretty safe as a franchise and is probably the LAST one they should worry about.


Look into Pikachu's eyes and tell me that Nintendo is in debt.

This sudden 'BAWWW' strikes me as a desperate and likely unnecessary move - are you really that deep into the financial pits, Nintendo? You have not complained until now. You have a sound franchise whose fanbase can only get bigger if the information about it is spread online. Essentially, you will lose money if you keep this up. Stop now.

At least they haven't nailed Bulbapedia, yet. Then I would have to get a weapon that actually worked.

Nintendo's Slippery Slope.

The most recent episode of Pokemon in Japan featured the mandatory kicking of Ash's ass in the Sinnoh Pokemon League. The trainer that beat him used a Latios and Darkrai that completely demolished the previous team.

Does anyone else see anything wrong with that?

If you said 'no,' you are too content with anything that Nintendo pulls out of its ass, a Legendary-obsessed ten-year-old, or both. Legendary humping is just as bad as dragon humping, and the two unfortunately tend to walk hand-in-hand (with even more Poke-furries closely in tow).

Legendary Pokemon usually embody things that would be too abstract to catch in any world except Pokemon. That includes every natural element, time and space, yin and yang, anti-matter, phases of the moon, human emotions, passages of time (although what PART of Lati@s is 'eon'-related confuses me), the land, sea, and sky, the beginning of life, Frankenstein's monster if it had been made from Pokemon and GOD ITSELF.


There are, I kid you not, debates concerning Mew and Arceus's divinity. They tend to parallel evolution VS creationism arguments.

Although Legendary Pokemon are catchable in-game, prior to this episode, they have been free. The only times that Legendaries have willingly battled for people are a Zapdos from way back when and Noland's Articuno from Gen III. In the anime, they can be manipulated and reasoned with, but never stuffed into a little ball. Teams Magma, Aqua and Galactic all failed to harness their powers and they were 'professionals,' or at least adults.


Then the newbie trainer has to handle them. Nice going, megalomaniacs!

Nintendo made sure that the Legendaries lived up to their hype. They were extremely powerful, very hard to catch and, essentially, 'boss monsters.' Starting from Gen III, however, Legendaries began getting churned out like processed cheese food. Bar the cover Legendaries and the obligatory trio, there were what? Two 'secret' Legendaries and two 'dragons?' Madness.


I don't care what you say, Nintendo. Even Latias's cuteness cannot convince me that she and her brother are dragons.

Mind, they are still good, strong Pokemon. Thing is, what happens when everybody has a super-powered Legendary? Nintendo has been making Legends and Legends ad nauseam. They are powerful, but not exactly special anymore. Some of them are not even that strong.


Like Regigigas. Even its ability says that it's a slow starter.

Using a Legendary in a huge tournament like the Pokemon League is roughly equivalent to a football team trading a player for the Terminator just in time for the Super Bowl. One Legendary Pokemon is, according to the anime, so completely capable of curbstomping opponents that such a comparison is accurate.


Quick, cut to a commercial!

One-sided fights are not fun. You can add robots and dragons until you're blue in the face, but dragons do not a fun fight make. As the anime demonstrated, Legendaries are extremely powerful; if you are going to use them, use them sparingly. I am not even getting into game tiers; COMMON ENTERTAINMENT SENSE should tell you that curbstomps suck. Legendaries should not be used in the anime for that reason alone.

Granted, Legendaries can be cool. I love the Beasts and Birds. Reshiram, the cover for the new Black version, is also sweet (in part because Kuro is VERY, VERY WEAK to anything with pteral claws). Hell, I even find Latias and Shaymin adorable. That does not mean that they should be forced to squish lower Pokemon into pancakes in one-sided fights. This is a terrible precedent to follow.

Note to the anime monkeys: Do not put Legendaries under a trainer's belt ever again. Also, please kill Ash.