Been rewatching Pokemon Advanced...

[matt0044]

So… did Norman just kick May out of the house without even the basic knowledge on how to be a Trainer? Rustburo City had a Pokemon Trainer School. Why not ring up Roxanne and see if she could attend? He was lucky she wasn’t mauled by a Mightyena? Same thing with Johanna letting Dawn go out.

And Ash too.

 

[Beth Pavell]

Yeah, this is the same old comment that people have been making about the franchise for years. Seriously. If you're thinking about that then you're missing the point. It's supposed to be a fantasy, being able to just start travelling and figure things out as you go along. That is, in short, the whole point of May's story - her journey is about finding her passion.

 

[matt0044]

Yeah, this is the same old comment that people have been making about the franchise for years. Seriously. If you're thinking about that then you're missing the point. It's supposed to be a fantasy, being able to just start travelling and figure things out as you go along. That is, in short, the whole point of May's story - her journey is about finding her passion.

But if Norman sent her own to be a Pokemon Trainer, wouldn't it have made sense to give her an education on the stuff? Letting ten year olds go out alone to find their own path in life as they train Pokemon? Fine. Letting them go out without even an basic education on how to train Pokemon? Not fine. Suspension of disbelief shattered like glass.

 

[Beth Pavell]

Yeah, and Ash apparently obsesses about pokémon but knew nothing about any of his home region's pokémon but the three starters when he started his journey. No, it doesn't make any sense, but you have to ignore it if you're even going to start watching the anime. If you can't or won't, fair enough. I'm just baffled as to why you'd pick on this specifically

 

[matt0044]

Yeah, and Ash apparently obsesses about pokémon but knew nothing about any of his home region's pokémon but the three starters when he started his journey. No, it doesn't make any sense, but you have to ignore it if you're even going to start watching the anime. If you can't or won't, fair enough. I'm just baffled as to why you'd pick on this specifically

It's not like I hate the Anime. I like it even if I lost interest after DP. But even though there's lots to like, there's a lot to tilt your head at. I think they say that the more you like something, the more right you have to criticize it. So no, I will not just ignore things that make me scratch my head and go, "what?"

In any case, I feel as though your missing my main point. If ten years olds are allowed to go out in to the world and make a life for themselves, they should be able to get education on this. In fact, they can. Like I said, there are schools for Pokemon Trainers to go to. May could've gone to Roxanne's classes with Norman's connections as a gym leader. Yet she was allowed to go out when she didn't even know that Torchic could evolve or even how evolution works. Heck, she didn't even like Pokemon all that much.

 

[Lluksonak]

Well, Norman didn't let May nor Max watch his gym battles because they might distract the challenger.

 

[matt0044]

Well, Norman didn't let May nor Max watch his gym battles because they might distract the challenger.

So clearly sending his daughter out into the world was the best course of action.

 

[Hidden Mew]

She probably didn't go to a Trainer school because she wasn't interested in going to one before she was ten. She wasn't interested in Pokemon when she started her journey and used it as an excuse to travel, so she probably wasn't interested in learning the basics, although I don't know if either of her parents knew about that. As for why Norman didn't insist on her doing that before she left, he probably thought that she would learn what she needed to know on her journey. Logically, it doesn't make sense for a parent to send their ten year old child on a journey like this without knowing the basics, but they've also never shown much concern over their child leaving either. Despite how dangerous a journey can be, the parents have always been shown to be in favor of their child leaving and the show doesn't make it look as dangerous as it could be.

Dawn at least seemed to know a bit more of the basics compared to Ash, May and Serena and I believe that she watched her mother battle when she was younger, so it made sense that she'd go off on her journey without going to a trainer school.

 

[PyroPokeman]

Well, I guess its a parenting thing of trusting their kids to know what to do, probably the same way they themselves became trainers. To them, the best experience is to live it. I'm probably guessing it is an Asian parent thing, or at least an attitude conveyed in the anime, considering my parents are sort of like that when it comes to doing things, it's all up to me. And everything Hidden Mew said and Hilbert.

 

[Alola]

It seems in the Pokemon world, it's a norm that young children are allowed to step out into a region(s) and explore it. As long as they're accompanied by one Pokemon in their party, all worries or fears are moot since that Pokemon is going to be expected to protect its trainer (especially after bonding with it). Besides, most Pokemon parents seem to share this mentality (barring Timothy's mother in Verdanturf town and that other Coordinator's wife in Silver Town), thus indicating that this type of thinking has been carried down from generation to generation.

As for May, Norman was probably all the more willing to let her go when he learned that she would be traveling with the much more experienced Ash (who everyone just witnessed at the Silver Conference). So it wasn't him absently throwing May, and in effect Max, out into the world with no supervision/experience/knowledge/etc. And as for that experience, well Max is the book worm and then there's Ash. So between the two of them, May was bound to learn something (or so he thought, I assume).

 

[Osprey]

Hm. I can accept the whole idea of "That's just the way the world works" for sending a ten-year-old out into a world of wild creatures and crime organizations. What I don't understand is that NONE of these kids ever think about doing a little research about what they're getting into! I was seven when I first thought about playing the games, and I got a guidebook to help me understand type matchups, movesets, and evolutions before I ever got the game. Even with that kind of help, it took me a while to memorize a lot of it, but it certainly helped. I'm pretty sure a ten-year-old living in the Pokemon world would at least ask his or her parents (especially if said parent is a gym leader...) about the basics, like battling or catching Pokemon. They even have freakin' SCHOOLS dedicated to these subjects. Come on... there is just no excuse.

 

[Legacy]

Because kids show.

 

[Life]

The biggest reason for this methodology is quite obvious: the Pokémon world ≠ our world. Therefore, the way they do things and the way they view things are bound to be different. Yeah, they're pretty similar, but the differences are easy to spot.

In our world, we have lots of things to worry about from fellow humans to mother nature. Sending a 10 year old child into a world filled with everything ours is filled with is virtually sending them to their death. While in the Pokémon world, the biggest thing people have to worry about is a flamboyantly-dressed team of super villains who want to take over the world. Sure, getting lost and starving is also a big possibility, but their world is set up so that navigating from town-to-town is oh so simple and centers and inns are rampant. A parent sending their child off into the Pokémon world has a lot less to worry about then a parent sending their child off in our world.

 

[matt0044]

The biggest reason for this methodology is quite obvious: the Pokémon world ≠ our world. Therefore, the way they do things and the way they view things are bound to be different. Yeah, they're pretty similar, but the differences are easy to spot.

That much is obvious. However, those differences at least have to seem sensible. Ten years old go out on their own? Okay. They go out without learning how to be a Trainer and leaving it mostly up to chance? That's the issue here.

What about Pokemon Trainer School or camps?

Because kids show.

Because that's always a legitimate excuse.

 

[GaryOak123]

norman probably set her out to learn, he hoped she would grow as a trainers and as a person

 

[matt0044]

norman probably set her out to learn, he hoped she would grow as a trainers and as a person

While also forgetting to tell her about the basics on how to be a Trainer like Type-matchups, how to catch Pokemon properly, etc.

Sorry but is anybody reading my first post? Anyone?

 

[Life]

That much is obvious. However, those differences at least have to seem sensible. Ten years old go out on their own? Okay. They go out without learning how to be a Trainer and leaving it mostly up to chance? That's the issue here.

What about Pokemon Trainer School or camps?

What about them? Like why don't all wannabe-trainers go there before they set off on their journey? That's an answer nobody has a definite answer to. If I had to guess, I might say that not all people live by any camps or schools that they can send their children to. There's also the question of whether those lessons cost money or not, and if they do, not everyone might be able to afford them. Thirdly, I'm sure not everyone wants to go to one. I am sure there are some parents who are fine with their just jumping into a journey and learning as they go.

I am sure that if they want to be a trainer, they at least have some basic knowledge that will allow them to actually be a trainer.

 

[Hidden Mew]

While also forgetting to tell her about the basics on how to be a Trainer like Type-matchups, how to catch Pokemon properly, etc.

Sorry but is anybody reading my first post? Anyone?

Yes, people are reading your post. The issue is that the parents in the Pokemon world are clearly okay with letting their children explore the world on their own to learn the basics. This isn't just an issue with May. Both Ash and Serena left their homes without seemingly knowing the basics of being a trainer. Dawn at least knew about some of the type match-ups and how to capture Pokemon, so she knew some of the basics. If they all needed to know the basics before going on their journey, then I imagine going to a trainer school would be more of a requirement than it actually is.

As for why Norman didn't send May to Rustboro City to go to that school, it's most likely because she didn't want to. Rustboro is a bit away from Petalburg City and since a Pokemon journey allows for a person to grow and learn, he probably figured that she'd learn what she needed to on her journey. That would probably be better than forcing her to go to a school that she didn't want to go to in the first place. Considering what we've seen of rookie trainers, both in the main cast and characters of the day, I don't think it's an uncommon approach for parents to just let them go out into the world to learn what they need to about being a trainer. While being on a journey can be dangerous, the parents are never that worried about it since they have their Pokemon to protect them and they can travel with friends they meet along the way.

 

[henrymidfields]

I'm just going to say that there are (to varying extents) less of the real-world problems/dangers in Pokémon, (with the possible exception being the Special manga?). Less crime, less leathality, and safer trainer routes than, say, the roads/freeways that I use to get to work. And in May's case, she has Ash (who just went through the Johto League) to help her out.