pokémon xyz

Above: Surprised Pikachu (https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/surprised-pikachu)

Above: so i herd u like mudkips (https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/i-herd-u-liek-mudkips)

Above: Too much water (https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/too-much-water)

Hello readers! Today, I thought I would share some memes that are relevant to Pokémon. Some of you may already be familiar with these memes, especially Surprised Pikachu. These memes relate to the Pokémon community as they bridge the gap between the video games we play and internet humor. Whether or not you’ve seen these memes before, make sure to keep on reading!

The first meme in the stack, Surprised Pikachu, is derived from a screenshot of the Pokémon anime. According to Know Your Meme, the screenshot is taken from Season 1, Episode 10, titled “Bulbasaur and the Hidden Village.” The first time the image was used was on Tumblr in late 2018, where user popokko used it as a reaction. The meme then spread to other platforms in 2018, including on Reddit and Facebook. Eventually, the meme hit Twitter, where it is still occasionally used in reaction memes.¹

The second meme in the stack is “so i herd u like mudkips,” which orginated on 4chan in the mid-2000s. The deviantArt group known as MudKipClub would post the phrase “so i herd u like mudkips” on comment walls all over the platform, possibly as an inviation to join the club. The meme then evolved into a copypasta story thoughout 2005 and 2006, culminating in the story being added to the copypasta archive in 2010. The meme then returned to relevance for a short period of time when YouTube user TehN1ppe posted this video²:

The third meme in the stack is known as “Too much water.” The meme originates from an IGN review of Pokemon Alpha Sapphire version. In the review, IGN cites the high amount of water routes as a drawback of the game. Because the original Sapphire version is viewed as a classic in the Pokemon community, IGN recieved backlash for calling out what seemed to be insignificant part of the game. The “Too much water” statement then evolved to be used in memes posted Reddit, 4chan, YouTube, and Tumblr³:

“Manifestations” of a meme refer to how a meme is used on online platforms⁴. In the case of Surprised Pikachu, the meme is used as reaction to a surprising scenario, but in an ironic sense. In the case of “so i herd u like mudkips,” the meme was used as a copypasta and evolved to YouTube memes. In the case of “Too much water,” the meme was used as an inside joke in the Pokémon community to poke fun at IGN. Here are some manifestations of these memes:

According to Patrick Davison, “The ideal of a meme is the aggregate of all manifestations of that meme.”⁵ The ideal of the Surprised Pikachu meme is to provide a lighthearted, funny picture appended to a reaction to surprising scenario, either real or made up. The ideal of “so i herd u like mudkips” is using the phrase to appreciate the cuteness of the starter Pokémon Mudkip, sometimes in inappropriate ways. The ideal of “Too much water” is poking fun at IGN, a company that fans think is unqualified to give objective reviews on video games.

I think the manifestations, behaviors, and ideals of these memes help the Pokémon community interact with each other, as players of the main series games can bond over internet humor. These memes also bridge the gap between hardcore Pokémon fans and internet users that are just looking to have a laugh.

Thanks for reading! For now, I’ll leave you with a meme some of you may recognize–its an oldie but a goodie!

Advice Oak (https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/professor-oak-advice-oak)

¹This paragraph derives from: Adam, & Zach. (2018). Surprised Pikachu. Know Your Meme. Retrieved December 10, 2022, from https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/surprised-pikachu
²This paragraph derives from: Dubs, J., & ohmyjosh. (2022, October 5). I herd U liek mudkips. Know Your Meme. Retrieved December 10, 2022, from https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/i-herd-u-liek-mudkips
³This paragraph derives from: MediExcalibur2012, & Y F. (2022, November 21). Too much water. Know Your Meme. Retrieved December 10, 2022, from https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/too-much-water
⁴The definition of manifestation in this context derives from: Davison, P. (2012). The language of internet memes. The social media reader, 120-134.
⁵Ibid.

Hello readers! With the holiday season coming up, I thought I would take some time to reflect on a course I have been taking called Strategic Presentation. Many of the blog posts on this site have come to be because of what I have learned in Strategic Presentation. I have enjoyed the course a lot, but it is coming to a close! 

There are three main things I have learned from the course that I will cherish forever:

1. Podcast production: Before strategic presentation, I had played around with LogicPro before, but I had never produced anything seriously. The course taught me a lot about what it takes to produce a podcast that is solid enough to present to a large audience. To produce the podcast I used Adobe Audition, which I learned a lot about on my own as well as because of the course. I also learned about differences in audio quality, and that I should seek to keep my audio as hi-fi as possible for my audience. 

2. Video Editing: Earlier in this blog’s history, I created a tutorial video about Pokémon Showdown. Similar to the above point, I had never done anything like it before. To produce the video, I recorded my screen using OBS, and used Adobe Premier Pro to put final touches on the video tutorial. Strategic Presentation taught me about what an audience looks for in a video tutorial, and I applied what I learned to execute on a great tutorial.

3. How to use WordPress: Yes, I learned how to use this site because of Strategic Presentation! I had never used WordPress before, and Strategic Presentation taught me a lot about the interface of WP.  The course also taught me about formatting my blog on WordPress and tools that I could use to make my blog better.

Hopefully this blog post inspires you to learn more about something you are interested in!

Trusted Reviews. (2022). Koraidon and Miraidon. Trusted Reviews. Retrieved December 4, 2022, from https://www.trustedreviews.com/news/pokemon-scarlet-and-violet-release-date-trailer-starters-region-4212783. 

Hey readers, hope everyone had a nice Thanksgiving! I recently uploaded a podcast to SoundCloud–the podcast provides a general discussion of Pokémon SV and includes my girlfriend, Ruby, as a special guest!

You can check it out here: https://soundcloud.com/pokemonxyz/talking-about-pokemon-sv-w-my-gf

Or, listen right on my blog:

support AbleGamers!: ablegamers.org
a list of the new pokemon in SV: www.serebii.net/scarletviolet/pokemon.shtml
background music: www.youtube.com/watch?v=ss0sJ2QxduA

For now, I’ll leave you with a Lechonk:

Trusted Reviews. (2022). Lechonk. Trusted Reviews. Retrieved December 4, 2022, from https://www.trustedreviews.com/news/pokemon-scarlet-and-violet-release-date-trailer-starters-region-4212783. 

Welcome back Pokémon lovers! This week I’ve created a tutorial video on how to build a competitive singles team on Pokémon Showdown (https://play.pokemonshowdown.com). The video is intended for players who are already familiar with the mechanics of the main-series games, and who are looking to make the leap to the world of competitive Pokémon. I go through how to use the built-in teambuilder on Showdown, and provide some insights on the current state of the metagame as well. I hope that this tutorial can help some of you on your journey to becoming competitive battlers.

If you are not yet familiar with the mechanics of Pokémon I suggest you read this great guide by Smogon: https://www.smogon.com/dp/articles/intro_comp_pokemon

Hello everyone! Whether you are new here or a returning visitor welcome (back) to Pokémon XYZ! I just wanted to provide an update to the design of the site by sharing a new header! This header is a combination of images from the two most recent games in Pokémon’s main series pipeline–Pokémon Legends Arceus, and Pokémon Scarlet/Violet. It conveys that Pokemon XYZ seeks to be collectively exhaustive when it comes to Pokémon–not just including news from the most recent main series game, but analyzing the series as a whole to provide competitive insights. This relates to meeting the needs of you guys as competitive players, as having up-to-date insights will allow you to make better plays in your competitive Pokémon battles.

I was able to find the source images for the header on Google images. I am able to use these images because they fall under Creative Commons licensable images. I knew I wanted my header to utilize a multi-layer image, so I started by selecting the subjects I wanted to use from my source images. From there, I copied the subjects onto a new layer without the background. Finally, I opened the image I wanted to use as my background onto a new layer, gave it ~50 pixels of blur, and merged down the layers to include a few subjects in the foreground. I feel that a multi-layer image provides a professional look and feel as “any professional design created in Photoshop is likely to use multiple layers,” (Manovich 10). Using a multi-layer image also allows for a “smoother” sort of effect, as compared to a single-layer bitmap image. Multi-layer images also allow for for the layers to be easily separated by myself and other creators.

Reference:
Manovich, L. (2011, December 6). Inside Photoshop. Retrieved October 9, 2022. 

Welcome to Pokémon XYZ! This is the go-to place for insights on the competitive landscape of Pokémon. This site offers advice and updates about Pokémon via articles and posts. The goal of the site is to help fans (and maybe even non-fans) of the game gain a competitive edge in Pokémon formats like VGC and Overused (OU). Fans can visit for updates to the main-series games, or for insights on competitive—ranging from team building strategy to battle strategy.

The author has been playing competitive Pokémon since he was 7 years old, and has won multiple VGC tournaments at the regional and state levels. These days, he closely follows the landscape of competitive Pokémon and has become one of the top-ranked players in the Overused tier, providing insights on Pokémon viability and becoming an active contributor to the community.

The site is split into two distinct buckets—one concerning updates and news about the main-series games, and one centered around competitive Pokémon. On the main-series side,  posts will include topics including insights about data mines of the games, new mechanics, and new Pokémon that are introduced. Rather then just regurgitate news about Pokémon, articles will provide analysis on how changes to the main-series will affect the competitive metagame. On the competitive side, topics will include viability rankings, team building strategy, and battle strategy.

The above images are creative-commons licensed. According to PVCC, “creative commons is a nonprofit organization that develops, supports, and stewards legal and technical infrastructure that maximizes digital creativity, sharing, and innovation,” (https://paradisevalley.libguides.com/plagiarism/copyright). These particular images were selected because they are the only two creative-commons licensed images related to the keyword “Pokémon” on Google.

Reference:
PVCC. Plagiarism & Copyright Resources: Copyright. Paradise Valley LibGuides. Retrieved October 2, 2022, from (https://paradisevalley.libguides.com/plagiarism/copyright)