In A World We Must Defend (Pokemon) (2025)

I had something similar going on so in the minutes before my driving lesson starts Im just oging to tag some of my thoughts I was having onto this.

mythfan12 said:

Elise being a Psychic/Ghost gym leader, and the reason for this post, is an interesting combination. Psychic pokemon are usually thought to be very in control of themselves mentally as well as having moves that alter the flow and conditions of battle, such as Trick Room or their various stat altering moves. This plus the known philosophy of Ghost being Violence as Imposition leads clearly to what is stated about her, someone who has methodically enforced her will and place in the world in such a way that none may challenge her.

I have a personal theory that Psychic represents Elise being a Visionary - having a strong idea of what she wants Emerald city to be. Psychics can see the future after all.

Which, combined with Ghost, makes her come across as someone who has a strong opinion on what needs to be done, and is ruthless enough to force it to happen. Probabaly she sees it as an ongoing project, and it's why she's so adamant to keep her position - there's still so much she NEEDS to do.

mythfan12 said:

Callum at first glance would seem a contradiction, as the Fighting and Dark types would seem at odds, one being pure strength and the other underhanded and unsportsmanlike styles, but when taken in a philosophical sense one finds the commonality with his personality. Fighting as a type can be best said as a type that focuses on Improvement, with many of the trainers being those that seek to push themselves, such as the various martial artists or even modest hikers. Taken with the QM saying that Dark and Ghost are very similar philosophically, means Callum is a man both Improvement and Violence, leading him to being the competitive juggernaut we see in the trainer card.

Eh close, but I think it's important to remember that Ghosts are more tied to violence, whilst Dark is more about going against what society views as acceptable. There's overlap, but I'd wager you get a lot more Cops who are Ghost type than Dark type (this is something that was brought up at some point).

That doesn't mean I think Callum cheats in fights, but I think that he's someone who simultaneously doesn't really care about other peoples status... but also doesn't really care about other people outside of an opponent to overcome. Kinda like a Dojo Crusher, going around and proving themselves and claiming victory even if it means that Dojo's reputation is tarnished. Less about the violence, more about the rebelliousness.

mythfan12 said:

Being an Electric and Rock type specialist one might think Ivan exemplifies the extremes of both Past and Future, as almost all fossil pokemon have the rock type, likely due to some quirk of the revival machine, and the pokemon most able to interact with current and future inventions being the Electric type. But that belies the deeper way in which he is of those types. Electric types are almost universally known for their speed and as such can be said to exemplify the ideal of Motion, whether physically or otherwise, and the Rock type being more than simple stones and instead can be precious jewels shining for all the world to see. This combo, plus his town being known as the cultural hub of Laurum, leads one to the idea of the face of Laurum's future guiding its direction.

Couple of things my immediate thought was:

One - rock is carved. We saw this with Roland, but one interpretation might be with making a Statue, tying into his focus on art.

The other - electricity is on/Off. Lightning flashes and is cone. It's bright when it's there, but it can go in an instance.

Given his focus on smiles, I'm thinking he might be something of a 'No Bummers!' kind of guy. Fun in a party and generally easygoing, but wanting to enjoy the good times as much as he can and not enjoying people who bring the mood down - "Come on, don't be such a downer man, just let us have some fun!". This kinda ties into one of Rocks flaws - it's stubborn. It's depicted as being used more offensively than Steel is, and as we can see from Roland, once you get a Boulder moving, it's hard to stop.

mythfan12 said:

Daphne, bless her overworked heart, is an interesting combination of types. Grass and Flying, much like Callum above, seem incongruous with eachother, one being quite literally rooted while the other soars through the air. How Daphne fits these types comes down to her journey and her ongoing efforts. Grass and plants themselves as a philosophy are ones of patience, a tree is not grown in a day after all, and that shows in Daphne steadily making progress until her eventual win. Whereas Flying exemplifies more the ideas of connection and travel, as those that use Flying are often those that drive vehicles such as cabbies or pilots. Daphne as these types is one that will hopefully over time bridge gaps and lead to mutual growth, if she can help her area's ecological disaster first.

Yeah this is pretty similar to my read. The problem is that Daphne seems to be screwed over by the fact that she deals well with long term situations where she can get everyone to co-operate, but this is rapid change that is actively causing conflict between groups and where not everyone will be able to get everything they want. It's something that isn't just not in her skillset, it's actively antagonistic to it.

mythfan12 said:

Not much is said about Frderick in his trainer card, and that may be by design. Much like how bugs can be often overlooked, our Bug type specialist seems to just blend into the background as a normal looking man. However, his water typing hints at something more. Unlike what we see with Florence in her card, Frederick's water typing could concievably hint at something lurking under the surface that is overlooked by him going unnoticed, as we know from out of universe knowledge he was potentially one we would replace due to corruption.

Also pretty much spot on with water hiding things. I actually didn't think of that until you pointed it out.

mythfan12 said:

Lysen's gym leader is the most overtly to play into her types, showing the beauty of Water as well as the otherworldlyness of Fairy, however both types show more to her than one might imagine. Water and Fairy as a combination suggests that Florence is skilled in the art of misdirection, leading one to view what she wishes while her true motivations are quite different. Fairy type in general can be seen as such due to the prevelance of moves that in some way lower your guard so to speak, such as the ever popular Baby-Doll eyes.

Honestly, this is something I thought of.

Remember in the meeting? How she immediately tried to say there were definitely no problems, don't worry?

I think Florences thing, as part of how she dealt with her and Cora's shitty home life, was Keeping Up Appearances. She was the beloved child, the one with all the expectations and attention and she couldn't be flawed, couldn't let herself be anything less than perfect. So even if she's not okay and everything is tumbling down, she has to keep the appearance of everything being great.

This also ties into her entries focus on Beauty. Water hides much beneath the surface, and Fairy's are well known users of Glamour. Lysen is a beautiful place, but we probably don't know if Florence is struggling just beneath the surface, as unlike Daphne, she'd never let anyone figure it out.

mythfan12 said:

Last and absolutely not least is the Dragon and Ground type Antonio. His trainer card certainly goes into some of the philosophy of Dragon, much to my happiness as I'm running out of steam at this point, the interesting type is that of Ground. Ground as a type is known for hard hitting moves, some would say as much as even Dragon, but while that absolutely comes across as he's one of the strongest trainers in the region, another interesting idea that could lead to it is the ideal of Stability. Antonio, having no support for much of his young life, can be seen to have gathered Pokemon that would be wit him and inspired his town to stand by his side, bringing him that which he lacked before.

Antonio is also from a clanless background. In that way, as the text notes, he's very much like a dragon type, starting out weak and then becoming a powerhouse. It's probably also why he has such a focus on strength - no one was there to look out for him, except his pokemon. Ground though, tends to show stability and down-to-earth-ness. He's noted as not being arrogant or prideful, and he's got less accolades than Callum - he knows who he is and where he came from, he doesn't need to boast of his strength, he knows exactly how strong he is, no more and no less. He won't boast, but he won't lie. Which fits his gym being so hard - he's not gonna sugarcoat it

ELECTRIC WIND GOD FIST.
In A World We Must Defend (Pokemon) (2025)

References

Top Articles
Latest Posts
Recommended Articles
Article information

Author: Trent Wehner

Last Updated:

Views: 6468

Rating: 4.6 / 5 (76 voted)

Reviews: 83% of readers found this page helpful

Author information

Name: Trent Wehner

Birthday: 1993-03-14

Address: 872 Kevin Squares, New Codyville, AK 01785-0416

Phone: +18698800304764

Job: Senior Farming Developer

Hobby: Paintball, Calligraphy, Hunting, Flying disc, Lapidary, Rafting, Inline skating

Introduction: My name is Trent Wehner, I am a talented, brainy, zealous, light, funny, gleaming, attractive person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.