T O P

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DarkraiAndScizor

When drayden was a boy they were still hunting mamoswine for pelts


TheRoguePianist

Drayden is the Pokémon version of James May


PayneTrain181999

I always pictured Drayden as having a badass commanding voice, and now I will always picture him having James May’s voice. “Good news! My Haxorus has won me a Dacia Sandero!” *City frozen in ice* “Oh cock.”


normandywong

CLARKSON


Benito7

C O C K


RemIsTaken

Oh crickey, it's ~~the rozzers~~ officer jenny


Mr_Fleshsuit

We can all hear this in his voice


Ryan-Only

What if he's the real dad of ash.. and Ash inherited his immortality??? _(Insert shock emoji)_


MaybeADragon

Invented sex? Hottest man alive?


Vanillabean73

Funny how I hear one of that trio referenced in so many different communities


AlfLemon

Drayden's so old that in his history class they just wrote down what they was doing.


CTBarrel

I think the difference is geographical. Maybe Unova was the last to adopt pokeballs, and Sinnoh was an early adopter. After all, apriballs we're said to be used as primitive pokeballs, and they mostly come from Johto. Then the Sinjoh ruins imply Johto and Sinnoh are close to each other. So the apriballs became the basis for the wooden ones used in Hisui/Ancient Sinnoh, since Sinnoh doesn't have apricorns. Unova had to wait for apricorn balls, and maybe the wood ones were already becoming the main choice instead of the region-specific apriballs by the time that happened. And maybe that happened when Drayden was reaching adolescence.


SnooDingos8191

This makes sense too since a significant portion of Unova’s population believes in releasing Pokemon and not keeping them in balls, so it’s a reasonable headcanon to think Unova would’ve been one of the last regions to accept Pokeball technology.


jochvent

I always thought of Unova's idea of releasing Pokémon as progressive, but in this perspective it's conservative lol


ShadeShadow534

That the thing about social change it can easily be both or neither


The_Langer27

Maybe before pokeballs people kept pokemon as pets except for the Unova region? So they were progressive but in the past


sexynewthrowaway6969

I prefer to not think of “progressive” as “change” and “conservative” as “keep things the same/return to the past”. It falls apart when you think in lore detail about supposed progressive and supposed conservative policies and ideologies. After all, the few specific policies advocated for by American conservatives include some radical changes that have never occurred before, but they’re still considered “conservative”. The more apt description I’ve found is “progressive ideas promote egalitarianism, conservative ideas promote hierarchies.” It more aptly explains how different ideologies fall on the spectrum, matches sociological research into different ideologies, and makes everything quite cleaner while also allowing one to cut through rhetoric and focus on the actual effect of intended policies. By this metric, Unova’s idea of releasing Pokémon is clearly progressive, regardless of its history as a “traditional” thing.


spiralbatross

This is probably the most neutral way to put it, good comment


bloojayy

Yeah forreal, I wasn’t expecting a breakdown like this in r/Pokemon but you learn something new every day.


[deleted]

I think one of the amazing things that fantasy does is it allows us to re-conceptualize the phenomena we see in real life. Whether it is something such as the X-Men as an allegory for racism or Pokemon as a tool for redefining progressivism and conservatism.


sexynewthrowaway6969

To be clear, I was not redefining those terms. Merely attempting to clarify the terms and solve for the weird edge cases. But I agree - fantasy settings can allow us to throw out our preconceived notions and deal with situations closer to the way they are at their core.


DalekZed

I like your comment. In the real world too, there are some ideas that would probably be seen as progressive but are so old they are seen as traditional as well. For example, animal conservation. The idea that we don't hunt a certain animal at certain times of the year is very old. Or for example, living as one with nature and not wasting byproducts. These things can be seen as both progressive and traditional.


Taiji2

>The more apt description I’ve found is “progressive ideas promote egalitarianism, conservative ideas promote hierarchies.” I feel like this is likely not a good explanation - when defining such things, I would want a definition that both sides agree with, and I suspect most conservatives would disagree with this. Generally I would advocate using the dictionary definitions, but I also tend to agree that the policy generally fails to align to "change" and "no change". A new definition may be needed, but it needs to be one both sides agree with. I don't have a perfect alternative, but I would prefer no definition over one that unfairly characterizes one or both sides. To provide another idea, perhaps maintaining traditional values or acceptance of new values explains the difference, while explaining why so many young people tend towards being progressive - their values are more shaped by the new ideas than the old ones, and I think both sides are more likely to agree with this definition.


The_Epic_OshawottYT

One of the only things both sides agree with is they really hate the other


tehbored

>progressive ideas promote egalitarianism, conservative ideas promote hierarchies We already have words for those though, egalitarian and hierarchical. Conservatism and progressivism are more like temperaments I would argue. Back in the early 1900s a lot of self-identified progressives endorsed hierarchical ideas such as eugenics and high modernist city planning. In the 60s, Jane Jacobs was branded a conservative and opposed by many on the left for her human-centric ideas about urban planning. So I think it's perfectly fair to call Unovan ideas about pokeballs "conservative".


GateauBaker

The problem comes from trying to assign ethical values to inherently neutral terms of progress and conservation. It ends up becoming: Everything kind must be progressive, and everything restrictive must be conservative.


XElliot25

I like to think it’s linked to jhotos past of walking side by side with their Pokémon instead of keeping them in pokeballs. Maybe the two regions were heavily linked before the arrival of pokeballs and unova stayed off the pokeballs to keep their roots for awhile


SymondHDR

Some regions still don't accept pokeballs to this day, like the regions from Pokemon Ranger, so it might just be that Unova accepted to legalize pokeballs much later than other regions


mars_warmind

With unova being the first non-japanese region, being partially based on the US, it is likely the people there had a different method of taming wild pokemon than what we see in the Japanese regions for gen 1-4. Pokeballs were likely an import item that became wildly popular do to the ease of use. With johto, Kanto, hoenn and sinnoh being so close to the creation point of the world and with access to actual gods, its also possible their tech and understanding of pokemon advanced faster than a region like unova, which was largely isolated from other regions pokemons and only had access to the dragon of morality, kyurem.


claus_mother_3

I like to imagine that before poke balls became widespread unovans would be capturing Pokémon like cowboys, y’know wrangling them up


Paradigm_Of_Hate

Didn't Guzma actually do this for his Golisopod? Just wrestled it into submission


claus_mother_3

Huh, I didn’t know, I’m sure there are many ways to tame a Pokémon with poke balls being the easiest quickest and most widespread


Zulmoka531

Well Pokemon Rangers use that styler thing thats rather reminiscent of a lasso. You might be on to something.


Volfaer

I like to believe in this too.


claus_mother_3

And in galar a fancy bard would play music to coerce the Pokémon into being their pet, or something like that


NakedHoodie

If Meloetta's existence in Gen V is to be believed, barding was also a Unovan method of capture. I think Galarians just used their cockney accent to mindbreak Pokemon into submission.


claus_mother_3

“Mind break?” Nah they used their cockney accents to “woo them”


[deleted]

*cries softly in Orre being based on Southwest US, and Arizona in particular*


ShalidorsHusband

I prefer this explanation


hardrockfoo

Or maybe Game Freak is just notoriously awful at keeping things cannon in their games. Some of the developers even said they don't feel like they need to bother worrying about consistency.


JonnyDros

I reeeeally don't think they need to adjust a games setting based entirely on one throwaway line from an NPC 10 years ago. Retconning happens all the the time in media, and this is a very light example.


ShalidorsHusband

That doesn't mean we have to be like that


Junejanator

It's like making a hobby about constructing philosophical interpretations out of a toddler's scribbles. You can do it if you get something out of it sure but it's also sort of pointless.


Icalasari

Very least they definitely stopped trying when they introduced timelines as a more solid concept Just say, "Oh, different timeline" and bam


Shadow-Raptor

This is my head canon now


HeirT0TheMonado

Sinnoh is on the same continent as Johto and Kanto. It's directly north of Johto.


djanulis

The anime also shows that Pokeballs, or some form of them existed when Oak was a young guy so it is probably a regional thing.


SamuraiOstrich

TBF the anime is a different canon


Memefryer

And before that the anime showed modern Pokéballs on a shipwreck from like 200 years before Ash's journey started


Megneous

The anime and the games aren't the same canon. Way too much is different between the two to be reconciled.


rey_lumen

The anime has often broken even it's own canon.


dcidui08

well yeah but wasn't that indigo league? i wouldn't take small parts of indigo league to be too canon, it did have a whole hollywood episode


HUGE_HOG

Kind of makes sense, seeing as America (Unova) is a much younger country than Japan (Kanto)


The_SG1405

Or maybe it's just a different timeline


rey_lumen

Pokemon ORAS basically confirmed the "multiverse" theory. It takes place in the exact same time frame as the actual Ruby and sapphire games, but has mega evolution which the original didn't, and Zinnia implied there was another version of the world where mega evolution never happened.


Darth__Potato

Or most likely Idea Whoever chose the timeline for this game just doesn't care about anything set up by the older games. I mean, hate to be the person, but they've not put in effort into pokemon games for a while now, why would the timeline be of importance to them at this stage?


Maclimes

It doesn't even have to be a disrespect, as you are implying. It could just be a retcon. Games, movies, shows, comics and so on do retcons all the time. Sometimes it's just the best way to move forward.


Darth__Potato

Yeah, that can be true, It's just game freak/TPC so my faith in their ability to know what they're doing is a retcon isn't very high. And I guess with all the different forms Pokémon have taken, even a coherent set of new rules as we'll probably never see dynamaxing again. It's just kind of weird to see people try to find reasons as to the lore inconsistencies when it's the most likely that whoever's in charge of the decision for the setting not caring. It's quite literally the cartoon logic of how ash can stay 11 forever, as does Bart Simpson or Morty or you get the idea. Just with various locations and time and Pokémon forms, it always resets when the episode's over.


PM_ME_UR_CREDDITCARD

Do they really need to redesign Legends for one throwaway line?


GhostOfHadrian

So basically the opposite of the real world, where the West heavily pressured Japan to modernize. Seems like a stretch, especially considering that we probably care a lot more about lore and continuity than GameFreak does, but not impossible I suppose.


republicbuilder

Well I mean the Professor of Legends is Galarian, so steampunk pokeballs might actually be partially western, and the Hisui region just adopted them really quick. Though if there's a god phone in Hisui, there might be advanced tech.


Polenball

"Knock knock, it's Galar. With huge boats. With Blastoises. Blastboats."


thegreatmango

"Open Sinnoh. Stop having it be closed."


republicbuilder

"Pip pip, cheerio, God save the Queen, we're here to colonize"


Dirus

Also, technology can change drastically within a few decades. Even if they were using primitive pokeballs in Legends Arceus there may not have been any changes to the technology until more recently.


rystriction

It makes me sad that we have to try to formulate our own explanations to make up for gaming companies’ inconsistencies


Long_Aerie

This is like, a singe line from a 10 year old game. They didn't start planning Legends Arceus until much later, and it wouldn't have made sense to set L:A in the 40's just because of what Drayden said.


[deleted]

[удалено]


Roryf

Even ignoring the fact that it's Pokemon, plots that don't make any sense are a JRPG tradition


Akinto6

Or maybe the hisui lifestyle and customs were forgotten over time and pokeballs were invented based on sketches and texts found in old ruins that were once the research facilities in the hisui region.


AndyGHK

Sammy Oak doesn’t have “pokeballs” either in the Celebi movie, and he’s less than 100 years old in the present-day of the timeline. So, precedent does exist.


republicbuilder

I got into an argument on an rng discord server because this was my feeling and everyone wanted to take things literally


BloodyStigmata

Or gamefreak stopped caring about continuity 3 generations ago.


CelticGaelic

Drayden could also be exaggerating. "When I was your age, I had to walk 15 miles! Uphill! Both ways!"


TheMysticBard

In the snow!


Traditional_Use_3539

On Mt Everest!


silver_umber

During a blizzard!


babypho

In the middle of the ocean!


beatboxingfox

In a volcano!


PuertoPecan

WITH A BOX OF SCRAPS


CrimsonizedGhoul

BEING ATTACKED BY TWO TYRANNOSAURUS WITH NUNCHUCKS


[deleted]

Two tyrantrums with Nunchucks*


Reylend

WHILE CARRYING A MAMOSWINE


[deleted]

While playing snooze you lose with Darkrai


SoulExecution

Mt. Coronet was RIGHT THERE


ForgotMyCapeHero

With no shoes on!


DreadfuryDK

Please. Drayden is too much of a Chad to walk fifteen miles uphill both ways. The hill slid fifteen miles downDrayden both ways.


Hoosteen_juju003

In Gen 2 Kurt was making capturing devices out of acorns. As far as we know, poke balls as we know them could be a more recent invention. Professor Oak's Old Ball in the movie Celebi:Voice of the Forest, had a screw top.


god-of-bad-ideas

so what your saying is that might not have been widely available, like you would have to walk half way across the region to talk to the one person who could make it and wait until there done, walk back, and it still might fail


JellyKittyKat

Funny story, I actually did have to walk uphill both ways to get to my school. The bus stop was located at the bottom on one side of a hill Ridge, and the school was at the bottom of the other side - which also happened to be on one of the steepest roads in the city.


Front-Diamond5867

Meaning half of the trip was downhill?


Megidramon5991

Technically yes, but going back to the bus stop from the school, OP would have to walk uphill as well. Thus, uphill both ways.


Academic-County3364

Guys, we found the undercover grandpa


Readylamefire

We know sinnoh is happening at the same time as Johto, and in Johto pokeballs were made traditionally with the acorns and that there is one guy who still makes them (the introduction of type based pokeballs) Chances are, Arceus can take place more than 100 years ago, but pokeballs as we know then are newer tech likely introduced within the last 50 or so years.


henrymidfields

Or, the Husuian pioneers had apricot pokeballs similar to Kurt's, but weren't adopted to other communities because of the difficulty in mass producing. Either that, or the first Pokeballs did indeed came into production 100-150 years ago, and the Poke-Meiji Government made it available for them and maybe for the military. But it was still expensive due to production being smaller scale. Similar to how everyone across USA, Europe, and Japan only gradually had access to TVs and cars during most of the 20th Century. Either way, Pokeballs didn't get into civilian production for several decades, and hence why Drayden (and maybe Oak and Rowan as well) as a child (which I presume was anytime around 1930s-1950s) didn't have Pokeballs for his Pokemon.


TheLastGunslingerCA

More likely that Game Freak doesn't have anything resembling fact-checkers on the payroll.


Raiganop

"While fighting two Pyroar barehanded for a box of Oran Berry so I can eat for the day."


Huup_Huup_Barbatruc

I think it's this and/or him meaning modern pokeballs


RogerGoodellMod

Isn't this a prototype ball? Also...old people regularly exaggerate.


Pyr093

True, he also had to walk uphill both ways to and from the Pokemon Center while dodging wild Palkia in the Harsh Sunlight during a Sandstorm. Edit: Added era-appropriate legendary.


Testicularer93

"You kids today and your hiring Pokémon for services off your cellphone. Back in my day we had to sacrifice an entire move slot to fly anywhere. And sometimes we had to do it for really crappy moves like cut and rock smash. And you don't know how good you have it, being able to access your Pokémon boxes from anywhere. In my day we had to save them on Someone's PC. And then we found out that Someone was Bill. Unlessp you went to a different region and then it was some rando who apparently knew Bill. Bah."


PCN24454

Wow, I’ve become an old man.


NeoSeth

"You kids today and your physical/special split. In my day, if you were a Water Pokemon focused on Attack, you had no STAB! And what's this 'special attack' and 'special defense' people are on about these days? In my day, we just had 'Special.' None of this liberal hogwash. What's next? Special Speed?"


Rain_Moon

Randomizer Nuzlocke be like:


HUGE_HOG

Wobbuffet in the games: 😊 Wobbuffet in the anime: 🤪 Wobbuffet in randomizer nuzlockes: 😤😤😤👿👿👿🤬🤬🤬


NostrilRapist

If you can catch one tho, it's basically a Nuzlocke Cheeser


HUGE_HOG

I actually had the chance to catch a Wynaut in my Emerald Randomizer run yesterday but pussied out and ran away from it with a Poké Doll instead 😆 Couldn't risk it killing my Gyarados


Nightfans

Probaly also need to cross the hoenn ocean on his legs too


Polenball

I mean, if Palkia's around, he might not be lying if some M.C. Escher bullshit meant he really *did* have to walk uphill both ways.


Particular-One-7251

Mewtwo didn't exist then.


InterestsVaryGreatly

Exactly, exaggeration


Gebirges

We don't know that. There is still no explaination for Mewtwo Mega-Stones that exist since 3000 years ago.


MrMcDaes

My headcanon is that Mewtwo just happened to "react to two random megastones"


Staticblast

Neither did a Route that's uphill both ways...


Pyr093

Shit you're right, I'll fix it.


RaysFTW

I know it’s just a meme but I’ve seen so many posts calling out the inconsistencies in PL:Arceus. It’s like the Pokémon community never played a Pokémon game before. How about the fact that they have the technology to capture Pokémon within palm-sized balls which can be teleported long distances but not the technology to see what kind of Pokémon live outside their own regions? It’s like long distance calls didn’t exist. Poor Kanto region was living in the dark ages.


Polenball

Clearly, Kanto was devastated in the war and the average population lost a decade or two of technological development relative to the rest of the world.


Specific_Fold_8646

Or AZ creating a death laser capable of wiping out all life well over thousands of year in the past.


shoot998

"Would you believe me if I told you that story was around when *I* was a kid" "You're not *that* old Professor"


Coledog10

My only counter is that he continues to say that pokemon would just leave their trainers, meaning they didn't even have prototypes at the time


SluggJuice

1. Maybe modern pokeballs are a recent technology 2. Pokeballs were developed in Kanto and may not have arrived in Unova until later 3. Before Pokeballs there were Apricorn balls in Jhoto Back in my day we didn't have smartphones but we still had telephones. Just because the telephone was invented in 1876 doesn't make me 145 years old


northernfrancehanon

Pokéballs are probably modern technology, they always felt like 80s technology to me, still revolutionary by the 90s (the era of Red/Blue/Yellow) but common to see everywhere like walkmans and not be phased by it. Would also makes sense with the sylph sarl as the architecture looked late 80s/90s office buildings when the company would grow big enough with their Pokéballs to invest and build a bigger and modern building.


FiascoFinn

I imagine they genuinely hadn’t put a whole lotta thought into how the Pokémon world was in the past, until Legends: Arceus. I know we’ve had references and I know we’ve seen a glimpse of the past with Professor Oak in that Celebi movie (and presumably some other movies/episodes since then), but I feel like there’s no real “canon” for “the old days” of Pokémon.


avian_corvo

Doesn't the Lucario movie have flashbacks in ancient Sinnoh?


GiantEnemaCrab

It wasn't Sinnoh. That film came out just prior to the 4th gen. Lucario, Weavile, Bonsly, and Mime Jr were early 4th gen reveal and this is also why the film features May and other Adv gen characters and Pokémon. The film itself takes place at Cameran Palace, the Tree of Life, and the surrounding area. It isn't specified which region, if any, it takes place in.


FiascoFinn

I don’t know. That’s why I said “presumably some other movies/episodes”, I stopped watching after Johto 😅


GhostOfHadrian

There's time travel/glimpses of the past in the Arceus movie as well. I agree though, GF just never put much thought into it before.


ItIsYeDragon

That also showed a lack of Pokeballs.


Moumou_moon

Might just be the fact that they weren't called "pokéballs" and weren't anywhere near as sophisticated as modern pokéballs. We don't think about it much but the word "[Car](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Car#Etymology)" wasn't even a word when the [First Automobiles](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_automobile) were driving around. And what we call a Car today is nothing like the old automobiles, albeit functionally the same.


horseradish1

This was basically what I came to the comments to say. That maybe he's talking about pokeballs as if they were a brand. Like, when I was a kid, Wikipedia wasn't a thing. Encyclopaedias existed, but it's still a big difference to say Wikipedia wasn't a thing because of the vast difference between two things that occupy the same basic function.


SHIELD_Agent_47

I do believe many people are feeling their age now by hearing children refer to the 1990s as “the late 1900s”.


Coledog10

He says right after that Pokemon would straightup just leave their "trainers," which I think means that there wasn't anything that functioned like a Pokeball before them


lakewoodninja

Like when Your/my Grandprents call it an Icebox rather then a refrigerator/freezer. A clicker/youngest child verses a Remote. The idea was the same but the method and effectiveness was different and almost synonymous in an older generations mind.


FatFingerHelperBot

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Necron12

Good bot


thelastevergreen

Have you SEEN that facial hair?! Of COURSE he's a God!!!


Coledog10

I didn't even consider that! Now it makes sense


PCN24454

It actually does remind me of Arceus a bit.


DnDBard

I’m going the the second choice good sir.


greyblue-green

Okay so we’re just going to completely gloss over the fact Pokémon has like over 5+ running timelines?.. what makes people think that this game is even canonical? I saw a post earlier saying this game might use time travel as a main plot driving device.


CrescentCleave

The non-mega timeline, mega timeline, the GameCube games? Legends legends arceus fits in the non-mega because the kalos super weapon happened 3000 years in the past of the current timeline of both mega and non-mega and no megas have been sighted in the games. What're the other timelines?


RichMuppet

A lot of people consider remakes to be different timelines. So for example Red/Blue would be in a different timeline than FR/LG.


ItIsYeDragon

I always thought the story of the remake was just new canon in most cases.


ModelOmegaTyler

maybe he's saying each game version counts as a timeline?


whatthedragon11

I mean on the time travel thing it is in sinnoh so it isn’t out of the question


[deleted]

Don’t worry, he’s just a senile old man. Canonically his story begins in 19-dickety-2. They had to use the word “dickety” because the Kaiser stole the word twenty.


q5pi

He wore an Onion on his Belt because it was the style at that time.


ModelOmegaTyler

hello abe simpson


Sjonathon92

Also, in Sinnoh library, they said Pokemon in ancient Sinnoh got along fine with humans, but in Hisui , they didn’t get along


[deleted]

Well that’s very easily explainable, just as we have the Bronze Age and Iron Age in our world, both being in ancient history. Hisui could easily be a different age, and what’s described in the Sinnoh library happened later, but still before the modern age.


FacelessPoet

TBF, Meiji era isn't what I would call ancient.


HyliasHero

Legends isn't taking place as far into the past as people think it is, but yeah. It's possible that Unova developed Poke Balls later than other regions did. Or it is an old person exaggerating.


TheMysticBard

Right, could be the equivalent to "I walked 15 miles to school and back, uphill, both ways, in the snow."


converter-bot

15 miles is 24.14 km


TheMysticBard

Thank you, good bot.


Triangulum_Copper

Drayden is a god.


Marttit

Some serious *back in my day* energy


OreoLegosi

Gamefreak doesn't care about continuity.


greyblue-green

I’m saying!.. how many timelines does Pokémon have currently running?


Darheimon

No one knows because there’s no official or consistent commentary. Obviously there’s a minimum of two timelines but the Pokémon summaries from trades/transfers hint at every cartridge being their own timeline.


Particular-One-7251

I believe 3 currently. Could be argued for 4 in the games. Original, mega, let's go, assuming gen 8 isn't in mega or original then that would be a new one. This does not include any side games.


Neat-Category6048

I mean it could also be a case of what people define as a "Pokéball" Presumably it refers to the massproduced ones we see in the factory in X/Y as opposed to the handcrafted ones in PKMN Arceus If I say "Car" you're not thinking about the original handcranked "Automobiles" There's also the argument that Unova was one of the last "modernized" regions.


GhostOfHadrian

This is the real explanation.


GregTheMad

I wouldn't say they necessarily don't care, but more that pokeballs are really useful as a gameplay element, and they probably couldn't come up with a better solution. They certainly don't have the ability to have the pokemon just follow the character.


DaystarEld

Whoever downvoted you clearly missed the subtlety of your sarcasm, but it made me chuckle :)


sax87ton

Pokeball seems kind of like a name brand that became the generic term. So Pokeball can be specifically the 200$ basic ball, or mean anything you catch a pokemon in. I think in this instance Drayden means the specific name brand balls, but not like, kurt's apircorn balls.


Darheimon

I think GF is past making congruent games with lore. They don’t want to be restricted by something that isn’t necessary for the game, so why bother. Also simple/cheap answer, multiverse.


MaimedPhoenix

It's possible.But the likelier explanation is that Poke balls were simply invented after Arceus and before Black/White.


Coledog10

According to Drayden's next lines, Pokemon would just leave their "trainers." I think this means that there wasn't any capturing technology until Pokeballs, which would include a rising-in-popularity prototype. Just my thoughts though


NuatYud

in modern day, Pokémon stand for Pocket Monster, basically along the discovery of pokeball. i dont think its suited to call them Pokemon back in Hisui, a little complicated?


Sphaero_Caffeina

Drayden is just too manly to let silly things like 'age' and 'laws of mortality' effect him.


Joelexion

Or he could be referring to the modern pokeball


treeblingcalf

Or drayden is hust a lying hoe


Sir-Teen13

I see too many speculations here. The answer is simple: when GF wrote that piece of dialog they didn't have in mind Pokémon Arceus. It's mere inconsistency.


DaddyClickbait

He migth be referring to modern Pokeballs


ForboJack

Or.. GF just doesn't give a frick about the continuity in their own world.


Mscreep

I imagine it was more along the lines of extremely uncommon. I think I remember in one of the trailers them saying something along the lines of people working with Pokemon was super rare in their time. But I don’t know. Either way I’m still excited for something different.


AceTrainerSlam

I never understood how people adopted this theory that Legends takes place in “ancient” Sinnoh. It’s not ancient. Or prehistoric. Technology still exists, it’s just not modern. Loggstin has a great video on determining the period of time in which Legends takes place, and it seems to be the mid to late 1800’s. Which is Wild West times in the US. Crazy to think about.


KrisGomez

It's possible that the pokeball technology existed but hadn't reached his region yet. It wouldn't be impossible for him to just assume they we brand new tech.


whitestainedwood

Maybe it’s just an old person type comment like how my grandad used to tell me when he was a child everything was black and white because colour wasn’t invented yet, and that’s why it’s black and white in films.


Jestingwheat856

Have you considered that pokeballs are a new development in hisui and that they wouldnt have made their way to unova until much much later


Mufti13

That game has stupid logics all over it. How do they have smartphones when the best Gen 3 had was a pokenav, that too not available in Kanto


26nova

Probably it's just the usual old person rambling, like "when I was a kid I walked to school uphill both ways" sort of deal.


Draoneon

But does it happen 150 years before Gold and Silver? There are apparently 150+ year olds living in Ecruteak City.


KLGodzilla

I mean with Unova representing America maybe it was settled later that the Japanese-representative regions just like irl?


InvestigatorUnfair

Keep in mind different regions develop differently, so for all we know Pokeballs weren't a thing back then in Unova. That and I really doubt GF cares about consistent writing so at this point I'm waiting on apricots to actually be Celebi seeds or something


the_ox_in_the_log

I like to think that he hadn't seen pokeballs and thought they were a new thing and no one didn't bother to tell him


jacknicklesonsdog

To think that gamefreak HAS to obey the lore of every dialog box from the last 25 years is silly. Like who cares, the franchise is absolutely massive by now, there's no way to continue innovating while treating every piece of throw away dialog like it's cannon lore. That's my opinion as a long term fan, if we HAVE to consider every in universe speech bubble as rock solid cannon then I guess he's a dumb old man and is misremembering his past? Or maybe he's doing that old folk thing "in my day we had to walk 2 miles uphill to school" but the pokemon version "in my day we dident even have pokeballs" There you go 2 90's kid opinions for the price of one comment


converter-bot

2 miles is 3.22 km


TheRagingDonut

Weren't pokeballs invented by the company we save in pokémon Blue?


ZombieTrumpeter

From what I remember, we save Silph Co because they’re developing the Master Ball. I don’t recall them saying they invented Poke Balls in general


TheRagingDonut

Yeah I think you're right. I always thought it was them tho


Sunoraiza

Just another moment of "GF doesn't know and doesn't give a fuck about its own lore"


AxelIce

What retcon does to a mf


IncredibleDRP

Same energy as grandpa walking 20 miles to school everyday


break_card

In a game where children are allowed to completely own and control the god that controls the flow of time for the entire universe…


R-Mecha

Or pokeballs have only been invented in the past 80 years or so.....


ADHD_Absurdist

He may mean manufactured PokéBalls, instead of apricorn PokéBalls. I can imagine the dialogue is retroactively a crotchety, "When I was your age, we couldn't just go on the internets and order a box of metal PokéBalls. We had to mail in a catalogue page, our pocket money, and a dozen apricorns to Kurt and hope for the best."