Opinions on Pokespeak

[The REAL Joey]

If there's one thing that seems different from person to person is the stance on Pokespeak. Do you accept that in Pokemon that the Pokemon themselves actually speak by saying their name over and over? Or are you more in line with the idea that is found in the games and that they just have distinct cries/growls as their speech.

In all honesty I have always been of the persuasion that is found in the games. That their cries are the way in which they speak. I do find the whole "Pokemon speech is their name" a bit flawed for a number of reasons. Then again, I disregard most of the things in the anime series (This is the same universe where a Pikachu can have no problems electrifying a Rhydon to death don't forget). Having said that, some Pokemon I can see saying their name over and over again because they're just so... Damned... Weird. Mr.Mime is a good example of this. In the anime series he usually goes "MIME MIIIIIME!" It seems to fit so i'm alright with cases like that.

Thoughts?

[artmage]

There are times I think Pokemon actually communicate using the pitches and frequencies of their calls instead of what their calls sound like at face value. It's the only way to explain how they communicate with each other despite obvious language differences and crap.
I don't mind Poke-name calls for some of them actually. In the case of the Starters, it seems to suit them pretty well depending on how you arrange and rearrange parts of the name.
In larger Pokemon however, especially the more vicious ones, it sounds a bit odd and yeah, by then they should keep it to distinctive and/or animal-based cries.

Also, it begs to differ the important question of whether they understand English from the moment they're hatched, because it's a little weird. Make me wonder if it's the same for other 'cultures' in Pokemonworld--do they instinctively understand human speech as a survival mechanism/ something passed down through genetics and breeding? Are they trained like dogs by the breeders who teach them to recognize what their attack names sound like? I seem to recall an episode where Rocket!Meowth had to translate English words to a few Pokemon, which makes it even odder.

And with Meowth again, the question of whether they can pick up human speech at all because he wouldn't be the category of Pokemon I consider to have the capability to learn it; I'd expect a few Pokemon to be able to learn how to talk after a lot of training, namely Psychic types, Ghost types, a few bird types (Murkrow and Chatot mainly) Riolus and Lucarios as well as several shape-shifters who need it to perfect their mimicry. So basically, if we take Meowth into consideration that would mean all Pokes have the ability to learn human speech at the cost of their movesets?

[Alex]

One thing really weird about that is that it's unlikely they named themselves. Unless humans named them BECAUSE they heard what they said, which is still weird.

[Nada]

I guess I like to look at this from the Mystery Dungeon perspective. To them, they don't hear their names being said over and over again. Rather, they have their own set of mini-languages within their Pokespeak, going about their usual business of whatever Pokemon do. And for Pokemon speaking English, I would think for most species, it would be difficult, if not almost impossible for them to do. Even when they try to talk, they would have to strain their voice boxes greatly to even do so. Other Pokemon, such as Lucario, would probably find it easier to simply use their abilities to communicate with people (aura).

Also, I figured Joey started this topic because we kept using the term "Pokespeak" when we'd talk about Riolu's RP n' stuff. <<

[The REAL Joey]

May 31, 2011 3:35:58 GMT 11 artmage said:

Also, it begs to differ the important question of whether they understand English from the moment they're hatched, because it's a little weird. Make me wonder if it's the same for other 'cultures' in Pokemonworld--do they instinctively understand human speech as a survival mechanism/ something passed down through genetics and breeding? Are they trained like dogs by the breeders who teach them to recognize what their attack names sound like? I seem to recall an episode where Rocket!Meowth had to translate English words to a few Pokemon, which makes it even odder.

It does seem weird, I agree. Pointing that aspect out, I suppose it becomes part of the fundamentals trainers would face in upbringing their Pokemon. Just as it would be with any pet to teach them commands such as a dog to sit or roll over. They don't immediately associate the command with anything but after persistent training they come to recognise said word with the action required.

May 31, 2011 3:35:58 GMT 11 artmage said:

I'd expect a few Pokemon to be able to learn how to talk after a lot of training, namely Psychic types, Ghost types, a few bird types (Murkrow and Chatot mainly) Riolus and Lucarios as well as several shape-shifters who need it to perfect their mimicry. So basically, if we take Meowth into consideration that would mean all Pokes have the ability to learn human speech at the cost of their movesets?

I agree with your list of Pokemon. Psychic SHOULD be able to mimic the language at least through their powers to be able to communicate words. It'd seem silly otherwise. Hell, in the RP i've made my psychic Pokemon Exeggcute able to speak Anglais. Ghost types definitely should as a lot of them are considered ghosts of previous Pokemon or actual people themselves such as Yamask (Which is a bit odd as I find the idea of people turning into Pokemon really REALLY weird), Riolu/Lucario I can understand with the power of aura and agreed on the last few you mention.

As for Meowth, I always saw it as he spent more time learning how to read/speak in a human language than he did focusing on his battle abilities and therefore somehow lost his fighting prowess at the cost of being able to speak. Love can do some pretty amazing things to people when they're wanting to impress someone. ;D Wasn't the move he couldn't learn Pay Day or something? I seem to remember that episode where he is revered as a God but ultimately finds himself in a tricky situation because he can't create money.

May 31, 2011 12:10:41 GMT 11 Nada said:

Also, I figured Joey started this topic because we kept using the term "Pokespeak" when we'd talk about Riolu's RP n' stuff. <<

Haha that did have something to do with it. ;D I found us discussing our different perspectives made me realise how different this is from person to person and posed quite a few questions to me.

But then again, at the end of the day you know what? This IS all just a video game franchise so none of this particularly has to make sense. It just does.

[Nada]

If Pokemon did make sense, then we wouldn't be able to fit 50 foot whales that somehow weigh less than some really, really fat people inside something the size of a baseball.

[Sarai Smythe]

I tend to take the stance that it's like the way whippoorwils are named- most of them say something that sounds a -lot- like their 'name', and some of the others (like Metapod or Kakuna) are named for what they are.

F'rinstance, Fern, being a bulbasaur makes two kinds of sounds- 'bal' is her croaking sound, and 'zor' is her growl. That way you can almost make the name (balbalzor), and it's actual sounds you could imagine an animal really making. Similarly, Zoren could only say 'Huiii', but now that he's a Kakuna, he just makes these kind of hard-start hissing noises.

There are some pokemon you can't do that with, but a lot of those are either really remarkable appearance/fluff-wise (and many of them don't say their name anymore, see Charizard and Gyarados), or are psychic or ghost types that can probably communicate telepathically anyways.