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The reasoning for the names "X" and "Y" explained

Zeb

Zeb

what is your spaghetti policy here?
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From this: Men are from Mars, Pokémon X and Y are from France - IGN

My time with X and Y, though brief, was enlightening. Yet one question still stuck in my mind. Pokémon generations have always featured naming schemes where the sets of games are “opposite yet complementary” – they are all sets of things, but they could be viewed as opposites to each other: Red, Blue, and Yellow; Diamond, Pearl, and Platinum. I had seen X and Y as following this scheme, with X and Y being the female and male chromosomes, respectively. The feminine grace of Xerneas and the fierce, masculine image of Yveltal cemented this association in my mind. But it turned out my assumptions were completely wrong.

“The names of X and Y represent the philosophy we had behind the two games,” explained Yoshida. “We’ve taken the idea of X and Y from the geometric X- and Y-axes. They represent two different ways of thought. At the same time, we want to convey a message encouraging people to find a common ground, where X and Y converge.”

When I explained my theory to Masuda, he seemed bemused. “Xerneas is meant to evoke imagery of eternity, while Yveltal is destruction. Perhaps you could see some ties between feminine and masculine qualities there!”
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As many people thought, it's from the axes. They pretty much confirmed the names didn't come about from chromosomes.
 
I'm rather glad they didn't shoehorn Xerneas as a female just because it's nurturing and Yveltal as the male just because it has rage problems.
 
Nice! This could also explain why Xerneas's exclusive move is geo control ( controlling the x axis-Earth) and Yveltal's move is death wings ( controlling the y-axis-Sky). Besides, geo control's animations makes the beam aiming towards the sky and vice versa for death wing...so maybe when the two moves meet the axises will converge ( in both literal and metaphorical sense).
 
a z-version is quite possible, though the 'third' legendary would 'depth/width'(the z-axis since we have height and length) represented, so.. idk how they'd manage that. unless they do a double entendre with 'depth' and use a water type. or really cheese out the 3d on the pokemon's signature effects
 
Bayushiyojiro said:
a z-version is quite possible, though the 'third' legendary would 'depth/width'(the z-axis since we have height and length) represented, so.. idk how they'd manage that. unless they do a double entendre with 'depth' and use a water type. or really cheese out the 3d on the pokemon's signature effects
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I could see a Z-named Fairy/Dragon legendary. XD
 
if xerneas is fairy (but yveltal is not) i doubt the third will also be fairy. though i wouldnt be surprised if it was.
 
X being landbound and Y being flying makes sense.

A Z legendary... well, XY are a common ground where two different things are, and together form the plane where Kalos is. I could see something about the depth within this plane and looking further in the things within where the two different thoughts converge, that by solely focusing on the thoughts themselves would be missed.

I could see something like that. It would've to be an ethereal kind of creature though if we contrast them, so maybe Ghost, or (yet another) Dragon. (Or Dark/Fairy I guess)


On the other hand, finding an entirely different thought to an eternity<->destruction paralell that ISN'T a middle ground is pretty hard. Maybe the concept of Carpe Diem, or maybe of renovation?
 
People are gonna hype about Pokémon Z after hearing this, you can't have a 3D games without the Z-axis.
 
Completely, the third set of game/s after X and Y would have the entire thing on 3-D.

Artistically done, Gamefreak. (no, that's not sarcasm)
 
One of the first things I read on this board after X and Y were announced was the concept of X and Y axes in 3D modeling. Great guess! (although would a Ground type third mascot work to represent the third axis?)

Xerneas still looks more masculine than feminine to me. (the stag with giant antlers... Very manly in deer terms)
 
Maybe the third game will be Pokemon 0, where X and Y meet? Then again, we don't know what the third Legendary this gen will be so we might be able to get a better guess after the game is released.
 
BurgerInYellow said:
Maybe the third game will be Pokemon 0, where X and Y meet? Then again, we don't know what the third Legendary this gen will be so we might be able to get a better guess after the game is released.
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I like the sound of pokemon zero. The legendary could be steel/ ice. steel to represent the firmness of the interception and ice to represent absolute zero and/or nothingness as the axises will be gone.

Or maybe the 3rd version could be pokemon infinity to represent the endless dimensions of the cosmos ( the spiritual, philosophical..etc). with dragon/ fairy as a legendary, because part of human history is told as the body of myths of the ancient people. And dragon/ fairy best represent that.
 
Bayushiyojiro said:
steel/ice? do you want another 4x weakness in your ice types? lol
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Lol, Ice types are pretty much screwed when it comes to double typing anyway, so why not have an awesome ice/steel legendary with so much symbolism lol
In other words, I want more ice legends *shot*
 
Technically the x-axis and the y-axis meet at the origin. Whether or not that's indicative of a third installment's title, I don't know.

But this explanation is nice. Still curious, though, as to why the Japanese logos contain a double helix if the theme isn't directly based on genetics, like many thought. Perhaps while the names were inspired by altering ideas, or axes in this case, the theme also does incorporate genetics in some manner? It would make sense considering the Megalution feature.
 
Beck said:
Technically the x-axis and the y-axis meet at the origin. Whether or not that's indicative of a third installment's title, I don't know.
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I think it's more likely that it references the Origin special, or rather the games' origin in general. I honestly don't understand the speculation about a third version.
 
Silktree said:
Beck said:
Technically the x-axis and the y-axis meet at the origin. Whether or not that's indicative of a third installment's title, I don't know.
Click to expand...
I think it's more likely that it references the Origin special, or rather the games' origin in general. I honestly don't understand the speculation about a third version.
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Agreed. I would hope that we receive all of the features this generation will offer in these two installments, and this "common ground" that Masuda nods to is found as well by the conclusion.
 
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