Ethics of Pokémon.

[Realitycrash]

I am fairly certain that this topic has been covered before, but I actually didn't really reflect upon it until today.
Even if we ignore the fact that capturing animals and having them battle each-other is ethically dubious to say the least, isn't several Pokémon also self-aware and show considerable signs of being Sapient, i.e having human-level intelligence? (I've never played the games, but from watching the cartoons this certainly seem to be implied).

Doesn't that make this akin to, oh-I-don't-know, slavery?
I actually find it more and more disturbing the more I think of it. In the world of Pokémon, everyone (everyone) seems to be focused on getting Pokémons, and everything is about Pokémons. Kids are sent out at the age of ten to find and capture Pokémons.
So what we have here is a mono-minded slave-culture. Heck, it makes the Aztecs look peaceful, and they had mock-wars staged in order to gather slaves for execution. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flower_wars] At least the Aztecs had a thriving culture apart from slavery and death-sport.

No, I'm not saying we shouldn't play Pokémon-games, or that we should ban them, but they certainly appear quite creepy when you look beneath the surface.

 

[actelon]

Reminds of this write up about some poké-ethics [http://www.destructoid.com/blogs/GlowBear/pok-mon-evolution-ethics-in-a-fictional-world-260964.phtml/]

 

[Heronblade]

Yeah, Pokemon is one of the few things that PETA and I agree on, as much as I hate agreeing with them on anything at all.

I am fairly certain that the kids rating, and associated limitations on the consequences of violence, are the only things keeping the show and game from being among the most graphic and frankly disgusting media ever. Precisely what do people think happens when a lightning bolt hits a turtle anyways?

 

[actelon]

Agreeing with PETA must hurt a lot. Especially given how hypocritical they are.

Has anyone ever heard of some of the brutal Poké-manga scenes, such as Arbok being sliced in half and you seeing its' innards?

 

[Heronblade]

I've learned to deal with it. If you think about it, even the most innocent seeming points of view can be associated with one or another group that gives it a bad name, and I'm not one to shy away from an idea just because someone before me did it badly and/or for the wrong reasons.

As for the manga, no, I'm afraid I havn't

 

[Terminate421]

Ive learned that humans and pokemon MUTUALLY BATTLE. And pokemon will not listen to their trainers.

Im not saying cruelty isnt absent from the universe. Im saying that it seems somewhat uncommon

 

[ERaptor]

As crushingly lame as this sounds: If i think about it the Universe really seems very very cruel. However...i just dont care. I just bought the "Pokemon like to do it!" or "Pokemon are fine with battling for their Trainers!"-explanation and was fine with the whole thing.

I've learned to deal with it. If you think about it, even the most innocent seeming points of view can be associated with one or another group that gives it a bad name, and I'm not one to shy away from an idea just because someone before me did it badly and/or for the wrong reasons.

Also, this. You can call ethics on pretty much everything, _especially_ games. And considering i mow down billions of people in strategy games, or outright shoot / stab them meself in other genres, it would be hypocritical to draw the line at something like Pokemon, right?

And, to be completely honest, i allways enjoyed the Pokemon-Games for what they are. Thinking too deeply about some of the implications would rob me of that fun. And im not a good enough person to get trough with that.

 

[Adeptus Aspartem]

Also you shouldn't intermingle the grim mangas with the official gameboy games & tv series, because they're like fanfic to each other.

In the popular version everything is sunshine and lollipops. The cutsies only K.O each other and nobody get's really really hurt. Also everybody likes fighting even dem pokemans. And every pokemans has some bond with basically everything around him.. again sunshine and lollipops.

All in all it makes absolutely no sense Do you reall think an Alakhazam wouldn't kick your butt if you try to throw a baseball at a 5000 IQ psychic master with levitation, teleportation and asskicktation skills?

The manga on the other hand takes that stuff a little bit more into consideration and that's why people/pokemans die left&right. Because as Heronblade said, what do you think happens if i shoot a lightning into someones face?

 

[Scarim Coral]

Well the thing is, you suppose to make FRIEND with the Pokemon you have capture (I guessing friendship is the distration). In saying so however you don't put your friend in a small ball (except for Ash with his Pikachu). Even then not every trainer treat their Pokemon with kindness and equeals. Also I can easily imagine that you lose track of your friends when you have over 150 of them!

 

[gigastar]

I think this subject has been done to death at this point.

For example, this was done last year when the last Pokemon games happened.

 

[EyeReaper]

eh. Mario seems to mow down hundreds of sentient turtles every game, I wouldn't call it genocide though
I'm not denying that the pokemon world is a cruel one underneath the surface, that would be a lie, but really, you have to bring a battle ready pokemon with you everywhere, lest you want to get pecked to death by monster birds, which the games bring up. Also, in the pokemon world, there are people who stand indefinitely along side the road and fight with whoever passes by them for money. That sounds an awful lot like a mugging to me.
Basically, I think it's kinda like a contract, you feed and level up the pokemon, and they protect you from the ever-present danger of over 700 monsters roaming the world. I mean, if a psychic pokemon didn't want to be caught, wouldn't they just telekinitically catch the pokeball mid air? or just kinda slap it away like pikachu does in the anime?

 

[DalekJaas]

As a kid it never occurred to me, but as an adult playing X and Y the Pokemon world really seems like a place where its all glossy and shiny and pleasant on the outside and cruel and sinister underneath.

Despite the multitude of examples, the one that got me thinking was catching all the pokemon as I went through an area and never using them. I have deprived a pokemon of its life and freedom to sit in a PC box for all eternity and never be used again simply for the sake of a pokedex entry. It would seem more logical for the pokedex to fill itself out simply for seeing the pokemon.

Also you'd have to think that somewhere there is someone training a miltank, and somewhere else there are miltank in a slaughterhouse so people can eat.

 

[attackshark]

this is the entire reason i play the game.

 

[Maze1125]

Sure it's all slavery, animal fights and cruelty, but you can say one thing for the Pokemon world, they at least give the pokemon free health-care!

 

[actelon]

Pokémon are also ate by humans in Pokéworld... =/

 

[Brian Tams]

I find if you examine most kids games close enough, there can be found a certain level of abstract cruelty. The important thing is to remember that it is not intentional in Pokemon, considering that a lot of the games preach treating your pets with kindess.
By the way, its really only the show that presents Pokemon as sentient, and thats done for the sake of developing characters.

 

[Something Amyss]

What kids program/game/book isn't secretly creepy?

Agreeing with PETA must hurt a lot. Especially given how hypocritical they are.

It's easier because they are hypocritical. They do so many contradictory things it's sort of hard to not.

 

[Luminous Chroma]

PETA's nonsense wouldn't hold up if they did anything more than surface-level research of the Pokemon world. It's established that Pokemon battle even when they don't have a trainer, but partnering up with a human allows them to grow far stronger than they could independently. It also gives them access to healing facilities, allowing them to recover from their battles much more efficiently than they would in the wild.

As mentioned in one of the above posts, Pokemon ARE very intelligent, and are certainly capable of making the decision of whether to obey a trainer, or whether to stay with them at all. XY discusses the fact that plenty of Pokemon have abandoned their trainers, unhappy with their treatment or lack of skill. Those Pokemon seem to be doing fine, other than having little interest in bothering with humans again.

As far as keeping them in Pokeballs, the manga has gone into detail on how the balls are designed specifically to keep the contained Pokemon comfortable and happy. I suppose there MIGHT be some sort of ethical point there, but my impression was that being inside a Pokeball is akin to curling up in a warm bed. The harshest criticism one can level is that the Pokemon might not WANT to come out for a battle. But again, Pokemon with human partners have chosen to battle, so I'd say the fiction pretty much addresses all the objections.

 

[Jon Solmundson]

I feel like pointing out that the most recent iteration of the series at least, poses some of these questions to the player, as various denizens of cafes point out that keeping pokemon in virtual cages might not be the best idea. It's my belief that this is intentionally immediately juxtaposed by more trainers talking about how great capturing pokemon is, and how capturing them is the only way to understand them and make them your friends. The insinuation being that trainers are perhaps deluded - in an almost colonial/native savage type relationship.

It's also worth noting that Ash gets the living crap beaten out of him in the anime (electrocution and incineration being frequent), and lives unimpeded despite the seemingly horrific injuries. Given this, I'm happy to accept that in pokeland everything is invulnerable and can only be killed/seriously wounded in exceptional circumstances - leading to a general disregard for pain.

Not to mention healthcare is instantaneous, comprehensive and free. That would lead any society to be more reckless.