Is Pokemon animal cruelty?

https://www.google.com/amp/s/qz.com/736945/you-realize-pokemon-is-basically-animal-cruelty-right/amp/

It’s amazing more people don’t shriek in horror when they learn about Pokémon for the first time.

In the original Pokémon narrative, a 10-year-old boy decides he wants to become a master of these creatures called Pokémon. Vowing to catch ’em all, he’s given a Pikachu, a temperamental electric rat, by a scientist at the start of his journey. This boy repeatedly orders Pikachu to fight wild Pokémon, weakening them until they can be captured. Once caught, they’re then trained to fight other Pokémon, and the boy will repeat this cycle until he becomes the ultimate Pokémon master.

Not quite how you remember it?

Since the release of the mobile game Pokémon Go this month, the world’s had a serious case of Poké-fever. The game has stormed the app charts. Nintendo’s stock has doubled. And analysts are expecting it to keep climbing on the heels of the game’s launch in Japan (whenever that will be).

I have always been digusted by Nintendo. I am surprised more people do not boycott this.

That's when we need to separate fiction with reality.

@adsparky: Kids don’t know the difference. It glorifies objectifying animals for violent fantasies. No different then taking a kid hunting when they’re 5.

This is why Sony is better than Nintendo.

Yup. That's Fridge Horror for ya.

It's times like this you need to mitigate the horror with the intent of the original creators. Doesn't make it less f***ed up, but more understandable.

Yet another thread by the TC that I don’t see staying open for long. 😅

Can we get a live action movie where old man feeds a 10 yo kid some LSD and convinces him to catch the animals around his neighborhood?

@pyro1245: Nintendo would love that. Pokemon are basically demons.

Animal Crossing is also animal cruelty according to those folks because it allows fishing.

Meanwhile the same people that complain about cartoon violence being animal cruelty, play games like these:

@jaydan: Different games with different expectations.

@jaydan: that’s not geared towards kids is the difference.

Worse. Animal Crossing is existential horror about being perpetually in debt to a raccoon loan shark, forcing you to do banal tasks like breaking rocks and fishing just to pay him off or he'll break your kneecaps - and it never ends. A raccoon loan shark who owns every aspect of the local economy, and has so much power and influence he makes the mayor his b****.

Fridge Horror. The more you think about it, the worse it gets.

Yes they are different games with different expectations: one is a cartoon multimedia franchise that contains cartoon violence involving fictitious creatures that promotes friendship, and the other is based on real life that gives you full authorisation to go on an animal slaughter spree if you ever so desire.

Animal rights people need to get their priorities in check.

@sheevpalpamemes: Also animal rights should not care if one is more kid friendly than another: animal cruelty is animal cruelty. Does not matter where it's coming from.

I think anyone that really thinks Pokémon is animal cruelty is pathetic. Granted, outside the realm of this version of stupidity, I think a good chunk of humanity is pathetic for various other reasons.

Pokemon is entirely focused on "animal cruelty" (only in quotes because I have not explored the specifics of the claim), while a game like RDR2, you chose to be cruel and its not the objective or the focus of the game.

^ This.

This is why animal rights people seldom get taken seriously.

They'll get up in arms over a clearly fictionalized world yet turn a blind eye over real issues.

lol such an educational game to tell kids how modern society works.

@Pedro: Animal cruelty, at the end of the day, is animal cruelty. Never have I ever seen in a Pokemon game, a game that promotes cruelty outside the antagonist's ambition, and the antagonists always lose. Pokemon battles are the equivalent of sports in this universe, and Pokemon are the athletes. At the end of the day Pokemon promotes friendship.

I'm just pointing out how flawed activists can be. While animal cruelty is not the incentive goal in a game like RDR2, it is fully programmed in the game that you can if you wanted, which makes the game an enabler.

Not that I care either way - I'm not about to boycott RDR2, but I bring this up as it's a real flaw to these petty "Pokemon promotes animal cruelty" articles, when they turn a blind eye to real issues.

I think it's parent cruelty. That should be a thing.

@jaydan: But they are simply not the same. Being able to be cruel to animals in one game (because its an open world sandbox game and you can be cruel to anything) and capturing animals for battle in another game cannot be equated as the same. I think your decision to use RDR2 as counter or proof of hypocrisy was a bad choice. That is all.

@Pedro: You are 100% correct that they are not the same, which is why any and all "Pokemon promotes animal cruelty" articles will never be taken seriously.

There's really no discussion behind these kind of accusations, yet these kind of articles seem to always pop up. It's all just the same regurgitated crap these activists have been pushing since the dawn of Pokemon.

And oh my Lord people are taking this seriously.

@jaydan: I don't know, let people express their views. We don't need to agree with them. If we don't see validity with their claims we should also not give it the traction it does not deserve. Especially when the stakes are so low. 😊

People have the right to express their views, but when those very views come with persistence from organizations (like PETA) with the sole purpose to disrupt the integrity and success of a beloved IP - based off flawed viewpoints - there comes a point you kinda gotta put your foot down and tell those people: give it a rest.

This is no different than "Harry Potter promotes Satanism and witchcraft" that I hear about just as much as these ones.

Organizations must be bored or they're looking for big targets (like Pokemon, like Harry Potter) to bitch about. It's attention-seeking.

You may be right, pokemon might be low key supporting animal cruely, its very subtle. But we also need to teach kids difference from reality and a game.

Otherwise, what exactly is games like call of duty teaching kids? Its ok to kill people like they're nothing. Or glorifying war?

Bingo!

Lmao

@Chutebox:

People aren’t animals, they’re people. Knowing how to do war is a good life lesson. Animals are defenseless.

You bad comparissoned it.

@sheevpalpamemes: Well that is factually false. People are categorically animals. We the people view animals (non humans) as lesser than ourselves, so we use the word animal in a derogatory fashion.

@Pedro: If were animals how come we don’t walk on all 4’s looking for garbage and where our are tails?

@sheevpalpamemes: I am so sorry. I thought you were being serious. Continue doing whatever you are attempting to do.

@Pedro: People aren’t wild animals is what I’m getting at

PETA did this like years ago TC -_-

@davillain-: does it make it less important?

I saw my neighbors kid trying to shove a guinea pig into a small ball so he could fight the neighbors dog. I’m concerned.

This is exactly what I'm saying.

This is the same, regurgitated crap that shitty organizations have been pushing for decades. They just don't know when to give up, even though time over time again their very viewpoints get shot down by rational thinkers. It is the same, flawed viewpoints they've always been pushing and will only try again when the dust settles down. That's the strategy of these organizations, "try again in a year when we're off the radar, and push the same broken narrative that's already been dismissed. Maybe someone will bite next time and we'll get the attention we need."

This is a literal case of picking a popular IP and attacking it for attention.

These organizations are mass hypocrites and pick worthless fights over real problems involving animal cruelty.

@jaydan: doesn’t make it wrong

It is dog fighting for children, been saying it for years.

@sheevpalpamemes: What lvl was the guinea pig?

Well, point is that Pokemon is subliminally training kids to accept cockfighting as a fun sport. Pikachu is supposed to be a mouse, Rattata is a rat, Ekans is a snake, and so forth. It was at that point Nintendo was smart enough to be clever about it ;)

PETA used to be smart enough to distinguish real animals from video games. How far they have fallen lol. I remember thinking their attack on Super Mario 3D Land with the Tanooki flash game was hilarious, but that one went to a whole new level. Well done, PETA, well done.

Yes it's furry cruelty.

@fedor: 13.

C'mon lets be serious here, the only animal cruelty Nintendo inflicts is on sheep with its pricings LOL.

@sheevpalpamemes: You win dumbest thread of the year award, congratulations.

Y'know SW is shit, when we're using a PETA argument. That organization are straight-up smooth brains.

This just in: Pokemon aren't animals.

Are you seriously trying to equate hunting to what is essentially dog or cock fighting?

@sheevpalpamemes: you trying to beat ghost as the worst poster of 2020 or what??

Next time you put a joke post up, make it clearer that you’re actually joking....there’s actually people who think you’re serious.