How do you guys feel about Pokemon Rangers now?

[Dogasu]

I remember how, back in the Battle Frontier days, the then-new idea of "Pokemon Rangers" - people who borrow wild pokemon to help them out with a variety of tasks - was generally looked down on. They were seen as being heartless brainwashers who were no better than the (non Musashi-tachi) Rocket-Dan.

At the time, people spoke out against Pokemon Rangers in the review threads for any episode that centered around them. The following quotes were picked out of the review threads for that Celebi episode and that Deoxys two-parter:

Was it explained how the Capture Styler worked? I mean from what I read here about it being able to tell what attacks a Pokemon knew, it was more a way to know what Pokemon to ask for help than to directly control them. Perhaps it improves communication between human and Pokemon and thus the Pokemon is willing to help out? I just don't see the characters all reacting well if it was direct temporary mind control. They've always shown that as morally wrong in the anime.

I suddenly see similarites with the Imperious Curse in the Harry Potter series. And casting that once gets you life imprisonment in Azkaban. This is not looking good...

But Rangers on the otherhand shoot their freakin' beyblade at Pokemon,the Pokemon then starts freaking out like,"OMG WTF is this?!",the Ranger does some baton twirling and captures the Pokemon even though it didn't have a choice in the matter.Then they're temporarily brainwashed until it performs an attack and then the Pokemon comes back to it's to senses.That Miltank got the hell out of there when it inexplicably found itself in front of this 'Demon Pokemon Virus' thing.

So Cipher can't do it because they're bad guys,but it's okay for the Rangers to do it because they're good guys.I don't buy it.

Personally, my problem with the Ranger concept is the issue of free will. Pokemon that are being controlled by Rangers are essentially brain-washed/hypnotised into doing the tasks they're set. Whereas Pokemon that are caught in Poke-balls, even if they're caught unwillingly, are still at least capable of thinking for themselves.

Just because it's temporary doesn't make it less wrong, really. Let's say I brainwash YOU into doing something purely for me, then I unbrainwash you. Are you going to think "oh well, that's okay because he let me go"?

So the argument being used is that the end justifies the means. However, this does nothing to help the fact that there will be trouble when it falls into the wrong hands. The snag machine in Pokémon XD was created for good but Team Snagem had other intentions when they obtained it. And even with the capture styler, one thing from each capture may be all that is needed. There's no befriending necessary.

Now that we've had a (little) more time with them, how do you guys feel? Are Hinata and Hajime simply villains who are somehow above the law? Or have you warmed up to the concept?

 

[Cybersai]

lol...I...don't care about them one way or another.

I never did understand why people thought they were hypnotizing Pokemon, its not as if its much different than a Pokeball suddenly making a Pokemon like a trainer that they were just previously fighting.

Anyway, Rangers appear too little in the anime to really care. We've had what...two Solana appearances (Celebi and Deoxys episodes), the Riolu eps (which was more about Pokehunter J to be honest), and Jackie in Movie 9?

Maybe if they appeared more often, or if Brock got replaced by a Ranger (lol), then their goal would irk me more.

 

[V Faction]

Dear Lord, I thought the title said 'Power Rangers'. Sleep is good, yes.

Eh, I'm not into the whole Ranger thing. They're glorified wranglers with hi-tech ropes, is all. The Rangers wrangle a Pokemon with their little batons and get the Pokemon to do menial tasks. Or, in some cases, really BIG tasks. Instead of a piece of rope and hog-tieing those suckers to the ground, everything is done by SCIENCE™. The plus being that Pokemon don't have to be weakened?

Quite honestly, I don't give two ****s about the Rangers.

 

[Falconwing]

Well... I don't care much for them. They aren't trainers, they're more like movie stars who just pick up followers along the way, or something, and then the pokemon get tired of them and they become ex-stars... and then they rinse and repeat. I like Trainers better. The whole point of a trainer is to get close to pokemon, not to use them as tools.

 

[Sleet]

Well I think their inclusion to the anime was really lame. As for their concept themselves, I have mixed feelings. I think their "capture" method is pretty bad, but the idea of Pokémon rangers (with a lowercase R) is kind of cool.

 

[Adamant]

Well...
The problem is that the concept as a whole is a good idea that made sense in the video games, but it's so utterly incompatible with the morality-preaching anime series it probably should have been avoided entirely, or been the subject of it's own special episodes the way the Dungeon games were. As it stands now, we essentially got animal rights activists preaching that we need to live in perfect harmony with nature then turning around and talking about how cool it is to enslave animals with mind control devices.

Yeah. You should've thought this one through a bit better, writers.

 

[Piplup]

Rangers are cool, I want more Kellyn!
People are once again just trying to randomly complain...

Let's say I brainwash YOU into doing something purely for me, then I unbrainwash you.

As if the Rangers do that to please their own dreams or something... they do that to HELP EVERYONE, all the people/Pokémon and the environment
They take temporary control of a living creature for the sake of saving said creature / save its environment / its friends / its world / whatever
The Blastoise in the Riolu eps were too stupid to use Rain Dance from their own will despite the forest that was their home and all their friends are all going on fire... so Kellyn would be "better" person if he didn't take temporary control of the Blastoise (which didn't cause any harm to them and they clearly didn't mind being used, they didn't go attack him when the effect disappeared) and let the whole forest burn together with all humans and Pokémon in it? WTF! people are seriously ridiculous sometimes

 

[ii kanji]

Lol @ all the criticism they got But tbh, I've never cared for them anyway. We've only had 3 appearances of rangers and I just never warmed up to the concept, I just find it a little boring.

 

[Idon'tcare]

Piplup basically said half of what I wanted to say.

I get greatly annoyed whenever I see a post on how Rangers have no "thoughts or feelings" of the Pokemon they captured. If they don't care about Pokemon, then why do they spend time saving them from a forest fire? Why do they (in Shadows of Almia) break Pokemon free from being under control of Team Dim Sun's Gigaremos or Miniremos bringing the Pokemon back to their senses? Why do they basically risk their own lives - avoiding spewing fires and hurling hot boulders, walking on thin ice, climbing up cliffs, etc - to save Pokemon in danger if they have don't care about the well being of Pokemon themselves?

And there's the whole bonding with Pokemon that's more noticeable in Shadows of Almia, mainly with the friendship meter and the increase in partner Pokemon. Also in the same game there's a mission were

Spoiler

the main Ranger has to free a Wailord who's trapped by Team Dim Sun's machines. After he or she frees it the Wailord becomes the Ranger's friend/bonds with him/her which causes Wailord's data to be transferred into the Ranger's Styler without having to capture it.

Plus there's

Spoiler

Darkrai who gets the full effect of the Incredible Machine that even the Vatonage Styler is unable to free it from its mind control until the Tears of Princes fuse with the styler for a while in order for the Ranger to capture Darkrai. Once the Ranger captures Darkrai and frees it from being under control of the Incredible Machine, Darkrai actually becomes more closer to the Ranger than the previous Pokemon he or she bonded with.

(Spoilers are of missions in Shadows of Almia that happen much later in the game. Especially the second one which is of the final mission)

They do care about the Pokemon they've captured. Or freed from being in the villian's control. And no, Rangers don't dump the Pokemon after use. They release them into their natural habitat, their own homes, and it's possibly where their families, are.

 

[QuietDragon]

After playing a bit of the game and seeing much more of Hinata, Jackie, and... that other boy in DP... I actually understand their role and find them respectable. I'm so sorry for being one of those RANGERS ARE BRAINWASHERS at first. xD;

Rangers have to pass tests before they can be handed a Styler. It's a big responsibility, and there isn't much room for straying.

But yes, should one of them go rogue, that'd be terrifying.

 

[PDL]

Frankly, I think they would be a bit more responsible then Pokémon Trainers, since they may borrow a Pokémon's abilities for a while, they do release them back into the wild to be free once they are done. A trainer basically poaches Pokémon from the envrioment and if too many trainers capture too many then the whole ecosystem might collapse.

I'm kinda confused as to why that hasn't been addressed. But Pokémon aren't exactly an unlimited resource, especially rare ones.

As for their inculsion in the anime... It would be neat if they appeared more rather then only being referenced when a new Ranger game is made.

 

[Duckgon Z]

I could have sworn this said Power Rangers. I'm like "WTF? Am I on the wrong forum?"

Anyway, I like the Rangers. I don't think they take anyone of their own free will to live the rest of their lives with them, they just use them for situations which helps that Pokemon's environment and life as a whole. And they do get released back into the wild, but I'm sure they like helping put out fires or rescue injured/baby Pokemon.

 

[Snake Bandage]

I quite like the Rangers.

You know. In the games. The games which are fun and where they're not boring.

 

[Ampharos King]

I really did not like the Ranger series of games, the closest I ever liked it was the boss battles in the second games. The pokemon (i.e. Gliscor, Froslass) have excellent pre-battle animations.

 

[Idon'tcare]

I forgot to add I too think Rangers aren't portrayed well enough in the show. They never get show their true goals, all we see is them capturing Pokemon to help them and others out. I know that some people who think Rangers are using mind control and don't care about the Pokemon's thoughts and feelings have never played the games themselves. They've only seen Rangers in the anime.

I agree a spin-off featuring only Rangers may very well portray them much better, how they're supposed to be viewed. So those who don't play the games may view them in a different way (or not).

 

[Hector]

Just based on what I've seen on the show (mostly Jackie from the movie), I view rangers the same way that I view trainers in general. That is that there can be good rangers, like the ones that we have seen thus far, who use their abilities for the good of other people and Pokemon. There could also be corrupt and rogue rangers, who use their power for their own gain, which could turn out bad for everyone else.

The thing about the capture method is that it's very similar to a ball in that you are taking a wild animal and instantly domesticating it with technology. The only difference is that while a trainer with a ball is looking to do this permanently, a ranger is only looking to do so temporarily.

 

[Perxio]

I still don't like them. I'm one of the horrible people who think they pretty much brainwash the pokemon. Yeah, yeah, shame on me.

 

[MasterTrainer]

I still treat the Rangers the way I treat any other Poke-profession: interesting but not as good as good old fashioned battling.
I accept the rangers for the work they because the Pokeworld would be kinda dull if EVERYONE was a pokemon trainer. However, the anime really does make them look bad while they are quite good in the games. The evil ranger thing has alot of potential though...

LOL at the Power Ranger comments.

 

[Mijzelffan]

This thread fits more into the gaming section if you ask me. But Rangers are awesome, as well as in the games as in the Anime, and I never thought of it any different. Plus the Ranger games get way better plots then the main games (and the moving without being limited to squares is cool too) And I think drawing circles around pokémon is a more fun way to catch them then to weaken them and throw balls at them

 

[Hitomi]

After playing a bit of the game and seeing much more of Hinata, Jackie, and... that other boy in DP...

Hajime. xD

But yes, should one of them go rogue, that'd be terrifying.

Fanfic idea...! D|

Just based on what I've seen on the show (mostly Jackie from the movie), I view rangers the same way that I view trainers in general. That is that there can be good rangers, like the ones that we have seen thus far, who use their abilities for the good of other people and Pokemon. There could also be corrupt and rogue rangers, who use their power for their own gain, which could turn out bad for everyone else.

The thing about the capture method is that it's very similar to a ball in that you are taking a wild animal and instantly domesticating it with technology. The only difference is that while a trainer with a ball is looking to do this permanently, a ranger is only looking to do so temporarily.

Basically, this is pretty much exactly what I was going to say. By using the argument that Rangers are hypocritical in some way because they allegedly "brainwash" Pokemon into putting out fires or saving people/Pokemon from natural disasters (in the Batonnage game, the main thing the Rangers are responsible for throughout the game is releasing Pokemon who have actually been brainwashed from Team Yamiyami's control), one would also have to look at the other side, with Trainers, who essentially beat up Pokemon, trap them inside little capsules, and use them to go beat up other Pokemon.

Personally, I'd like to see the Rangers again in the anime (maybe with Dazuru, Kazuki, and Hitomi? =b). It is difficult to have a discussion about the anime!Rangers when they have had a grand total of three appearances and one movie debut. Just my two cents.