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What is your opinion on the term, Pokemon Master?

SolgaleoGX

SolgaleoGX

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Frankly I did this with the Anime in mind. But since there are different coninuities, I thought, why not tackle what this term is for all of them in general?

Some think it's catching them all, others, just beating a bunch of regional tournaments, another batch (myself included), think it's arriving at to a level in your growth for the sport that people highly recognize you and admire you.

So, which is it for you? How do you view the road towards this goal?

Another funny thing, when you go to the Bulbapedia page on the term, TPCi is asked what the term is. They sayed something along the lines of "we don't want to elaborate because we want our fans to use their imagination".

If so, the whole reasoning behind the Pokemon anime, Ash wanting to be a Pokemon Master, is pointless, thus making the show pointless.
 
I requires a lot of thought. I like it.

Sometimes the term "Pokemon Master" is thrown around a bit. Does it mean someone who has challenged every league and won? Or caught every Pokemon? Or challenged the best trainers and have become unbeatable?

I see it as, more or less, an enlightened state of a Pokemon Trainer. Yes, you may be the best at battling, but it also requires immense knowledge about Pokemon, and anything that deals with it.

If we are speaking strictly about the people in the fictional Pokemon world, it would be this. Someone who is "one with Pokemon" or whatever. You understand them, you are close to them, you know who they tick, and how to use them. But, is this limited to only battling? What about people in the real world playing the game? That may sound silly to ask, but could players be Pokemon Masters? Another question could be "How does one determine if one is a Pokemon Master?"

Well? How do you do that?

I think a Pokemon Master is someone who has come to understand all there is to understand about Pokemon. They have proven themselves to be the strongest.

I know many people also view Red (you know, the one you battle on Mt. Silver) as a Pokemon Master. I, personally, do not. Any trainer can get all three starters, an overrated rat, and two other Pokemon to level 80, and sit on a mountain. What exactly has Red done, aside from beat one regional league. After all, Ethan/Lyra/Kris have beaten two regional leagues, AND Red. So, why is he a Pokemon Master? That's not a rhetorical question. For those of you who think he is a master, think about it.

Well, that's my input.
 
HexagonStephen said:
I requires a lot of thought. I like it.

Sometimes the term "Pokemon Master" is thrown around a bit. Does it mean someone who has challenged every league and won? Or caught every Pokemon? Or challenged the best trainers and have become unbeatable?

I see it as, more or less, an enlightened state of a Pokemon Trainer. Yes, you may be the best at battling, but it also requires immense knowledge about Pokemon, and anything that deals with it.

If we are speaking strictly about the people in the fictional Pokemon world, it would be this. Someone who is "one with Pokemon" or whatever. You understand them, you are close to them, you know who they tick, and how to use them. But, is this limited to only battling? What about people in the real world playing the game? That may sound silly to ask, but could players be Pokemon Masters? Another question could be "How does one determine if one is a Pokemon Master?"

Well? How do you do that?

I think a Pokemon Master is someone who has come to understand all there is to understand about Pokemon. They have proven themselves to be the strongest.
Click to expand...

This is pretty much how I view it, but you've nailed it in explaining the relation with Pokemon for one to be considered a "master". This is what one would be recognized for. Because, how can one be a master of something if others didn't set the standards for this something?

This knowledge would stem from practicing, analyzing and studying. Which is something I mentioned on the "competence of trainers" thread in the anime section. Now I know why this view was in my head. Because of the thought I've put into what a Master is.

How does one determine it, I think it's in what I said about the standards set by others. Or maybe the League in the fictional case. The Elite Four and their Champions have proven to be the closest to (or maybe the actual) Pokemon Masters. We've seen how well they do in their specialties. I dare call them Masters, but of their type ofcourse. If we go by this route, a Pokemon Master is someone who can work almost on their level, or more with more than one type.

As to Red, Game!Red atleast, I never saw him as a Pokemon Master, because if he is, then Brendan, Ethan, Lucas and Hilbert all are. I can't say much for his other counterparts, their achievements have basically been the same. But Special!Red is kind to Pokemon and tries to get as close to them as possible, but nothing that'd make me call him a Master.
 
When I first started watching the show I thought it was just beating the league. Now I have no idea...
 
Possibly someone who has done all that can be done? So beaten every League, Got a 5 Star Trainer Card, full Nat. Dex, etc. Would that be a Pokemon Master? Or someone with a team almost completeley unbeatable they devised themselves?

To be honest I can't truly answer that question.
-Me!
 
In my opinion, a Pokemon Master is somebody who's become unbeatable and has raised all their Pokemon to the fullest extent.
 
In my own fanon-story, the term "Pokemon Master" describes a person who has the ultimate bond with Pokemon. D: They can befriend any and all Pokemon. They have the blessing of victory in battle, Legendary Pokemon appear before them, they can survive anything and everything, and they are a person truly pure of heart.

And one day when the world is in peril, the Pokemon Master will combine his power with the power of Pokemon to save the day.

The "blessing of victory" in my fanon only became sweeter with the appearance of Victini. D8 But anyways...yeah. I basically took the term and ran wild with it. In my fanon-story, Gold/Ethan is such a trainer. Sounds a bit Sue-ish, I know. 8D;
 
I think the term is analogous to a Nobel Prize winner, the best trainer there is.
 
To be honest, this is a hard question to answer. But I will give it a shot.

Being a Pokémon Master means having a love for Pokémon, whether your own, or in general. Understanding their strengths, desires, weaknesses, etc. There has to be a bond between you, and your Pokémon. Do you have to compete/win every League? I don't think you do. What about Badges? I don't think so. Being a Master means you are one with your Pokémon.
 
I laugh every time I hear it.

One day, me and my best friends were playing the board game, Pokemon Master Trainer, or as we call it, Pokemon Masturbator. Now, we found the game fun and we played it, until my friend Alec loses, takes the board, yells "I AM A POKEMON MASTER", runs upstairs, only to fall down them once at the top.

tl;dr inside joke
 
They are Pokemon Masters if they have:
-Caught 'em all
-Have 5 Stars on their trainer card
-Have an unbeatable team and have an over-100 win streak on the Battle Subway
-Have completed every Pokemon game under the Nuzlocke Challenge rules
-Know where every trainer is located in the game and know all their Pokemon's moves and levels.
 
If the producer of Pokemon (Game Freak) doesn't give the exact meaning of what is a Pokemon Master, then there will not be a big point to discuss. Because then 100 people can give 100 different non-identical answers to this question.


And my opinion:
In that case (or I should say in any case), Ash will NEVER become a Pokemon Master, and the anime will then go on forever....

....well, there will not be a real "forever". The anime will stop in some future day. But there will not be an ending. What I mean is, the anime just stop suddenly, without anymore continuation, but yet no ending.
 
Early on it seemed like a Pokémon Master was someone who captured one of every species of Pokémon (back VERY early on in the anime when this was depicted as something practical and morally acceptable to attempt) and became Champion of the Indigo League, which was at the time presumed to be the only Pokémon Leauge in existence.

In my fanfiction, though I haven't really touched on it in anything I've put online, Pokémon Master isn't a formal title given by any organization, but sort of a state of being bestowed by Pokémon upon their trainers.

I sort of imagined that in the "Pokémon language", the way Pokémon would refer to their trainers/owners would translate to something almost like "my chooser" (being as the trainer chose them to own and raise over other Pokémon, going back to the "I choose you!" language commonly used when calling Pokémon into battles) whereas they would only the Pokémon of extraordinarily talented, compassionate, loving, and empathetic trainers would be respected so fiercely by their Pokémon that they would call them by the name "master", thus making them Pokémon Masters.
 
Someone who is very very knowledgeable about pokemons, not just about battles.
It's like a PhD LOL (o^-^o)
 
Someone who is as knowledgeable about pokemon as Prof. Oak. After all, he is the worlds foremost leading authority on Pokemon, now that is a true Pokemon Master.
 
Flip through the New Age dictionary and you'll find out that Pokemon Masters are those who take control of spirits in the Dark Realm.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EAdVItTk5UA&t=0m45s

Sorry, too tempting.

I think it means reaching the peak of self-growth through cooperation with Pokemon. It's something that all Trainers chase, but whether it's a neverending journey or something that can actually be attained I don't know.
 
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In my manga cartoon, Pokémon Master means the winner of the Pokémon League and earning the trophy and the title of Master.
 
I don't think there can be one "true" Pokemon Master at this rate. It was used when the game was new and fresh, but now that there are many things to do, there can be multiple Masters as well. For example, a Master in a Champion or Professor, in the Battle Frontier, Contest Master, Pokeathlon Master, and many more, but the thing they all share is the value of Pokemon as friends, regardless of their specialty.
 
Please note: The thread is from 15 years ago.
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