Today I completely finished Pokemon Black, meaning I finished the main story of the game. To begin, it is still one of my favorite Pokemon games of all time. There’s something interesting about the games in Generation 5 that is not seen in any of the other generations, and that relates directly to its plot and characters. Unlike so many other stories the story of the Generation 5 games has a lot more depth to it, and it delves deeply into some less than safe topics for a Pokemon game, such as child abuse, manipulation, and the actual morals within the Pokemon world. The conflict in the game is in fact between the player character, or in my case me as Hilbert and N/Ghetsis/Team Plasma, but there is a deeper internal conflict in the Unova region, between N and himself. Note that beyond this there may be plot spoilers, which for the most part I hope to omit from my research paper. 

Throughout the story of Pokemon Black we see the story of our protagonist which we forge with our Pokemon team of our own creation, but we also see N stuck on a path preordained for him. Throughout the story he seems to consider truths and ideals, and his own place in the world, while ultimately questioning you, the player character, and your own motives. While playing I thought back to when I was a younger teenager playing this game, and how the question of whether Pokemon were happy with trainers had any merit. For any kid I think this question is a bit large to consider, but for the older audiences I think they can really appreciate how this explores some of the inner depth of the universe we don’t usually see. As a player you struggle with this question throughout the game while catching Pokemon, and battling them with other trainers. And N really makes it hard to dislike him, or question his own morals or principles, especially while he looks like that. Which leads me to my true topic of today, N. N is perhaps the most “feminine” male character within the Pokemon universe, with long hair, charismatic speech, and a less color coded look. Though we could all stop playing the game at the ferris wheel scene when we are finally close to N we must go on, for the deeper story is within him. 

I’m not sure if I will use this for my paper as of yet, but N’s internal struggles throughout the story of Black and White are what really help to set apart the story as a whole in comparison to other Pokemon games. He’s had a deep inner connection with Pokemon since he was a boy, and was raised alongside two girls who helped him through life. The girls, Anthea and Concordia, are also interesting characters in which they too were hinted at being abused like N. Ghetsis, the main villain of the games, has used all three children for his own means, fooling them into believing he has taken them in to help them in this world. Anthea and Concordia are the nurturing figures within N’s life, and N himself must struggle to see past Ghetsis’ lies to find the truth, while also seeking the ideals he so believes in. There’s plenty of other notes I have for Pokemon Black, but I think I’ll continue those in my next blog post.