Thread: Pokémon Special: Diamond and Pearl

For those of you who thought Hikari was well-to-do, well, it seems the authors here have taken the idea and ran with it. The "Hikari" (name not revealed) of Pokémon Special is a 5th generation descendant of a famous 200-year-old Sinnoh family, Berlitz. They are not only rich, but have a long tradition of scholarship. She even wears a pearl ring on her right hand, and a diamond ring on her left.

As for Pearl and Diamond (for some reason the name goes in reverse order), well, it seems there has been a bit of a mixup.

You see, the Berlitz family has a tradition of going to the peak of Mt. Tengan to obtain the material to make an ornament bearing the family crest... on their own. However, the butler, Sebastian, convinced Hikari's father to hire two bodyguards to accompany her. One of them will be wearing a red scarf, and the other, a green scarf. Also, Nanamakado takes the opportunity to do some research, and has three Pokédexes, three Pokétches and the starter Pokémon delivered to "Hikari" - one set for her, and one set each of her bodyguards.

Now, as luck would have it, Diamond and Pearl are wearing a red scarf and green scarf respectively. On top of that, when they collided with Nanamakado, they picked up the envelope containing rendezvous details for the bodyguards instead of the envelope containing their prize, a one-week free pass on the bicycle course at Masago Park.

As a result, Pearl and Diamond meet "Hikari". The duo believe that they are on some kind of reality TV show. "Hikari" believes that the duo are her bodyguards, and that the fact that they are more or less the same age as her is a "camouflage plan". She has her doubts though - not unreasonable considering the fact that the duo took 30 minutes to take care of the Mukkuru swarm. Meanwhile the real bodyguards wait patiently in Masago Park...

A defining moment for "Hikari": Pearl grabs her shoulder and tries to get her name. "Hikari" smacks his hand away and says: 「下じもの者に気安く名のってはならないとじいからいわれています。」 "Sebastian [who she refers to as じい] says that I must not tell my name to the people of the lower classes."

I have to say, Pochama suits her perfectly. Also, the characterisation of Pearl is more or less the same as Jun - impatient, in a rush. Naturally, Pearl is the tsukkomi, and Diamond is the boke.

"Sebastian [who she refers to as じい] says that I must not tell my name to the people of the lower classes."

Oh boy. I see where this is going:
* The authors don't want to have to create another fourth "orignal" character like Emerald or Yellow, which they would be pressured to do if these characters were named Diamond, Pearl, and Jun.
* But they don't yet have/aren't yet allowed to name the third DS game.
* So buckle in for months and months of awkwardly refering to "Opal" or whatever as "That girl" or "Rich Girl". -_-;;

My thoughts exactly.

Also some backstory on Pearl & Diamond: back in nursery school, they were inspired by the performance of another comedy duo, and made a vow to become like that.

I wonder how long before they come to the truth... should be a very... comedic revelation.

Another interesting detail: there is actually no age requirement on the tradition. In fact Nanakamado wonders if it's too early for her to go. Her father says that she suddenly decided to go one day. She herself is somewhat happy to be out of the house... hmm.

Aw man, I really want to get into the DP manga, it looks interesting, makes me wish we got it here in the states.

So, Hikari won't have a name for two-or so years? Hil-larious.

OHNOES, NAMELESS RICH GIRL. Nice maneuver, PokeSpecial folks. I guess the handiest (and most confusing) name by which anyone can refer to her as of right now would be Hikari. >>

"Tsukkomi" and "boke"? I've definitely seen/heard those terms before, but...what do they mean?

"Tsukkomi" and "boke"? I've definitely seen/heard those terms before, but...what do they mean?

Basically they're a comedy team consiting of someone who chides their best friend for being a moron, and the moron, respectively. Think Abbot and Costello, Laurel and Hardy, Pinky and the Brain, etc. etc.

For a more literal, Japanese version of "Tsukkomi" and "boke" in American culture, there's Ando and Hiro from "Heroes". Except in that case, the boke has superpowers.

Originally Posted by Zeta

Basically they're a comedy team consiting of someone who chides their best friend for being a moron, and the moron, respectively. Think Abbot and Costello, Laurel and Hardy, Pinky and the Brain, etc. etc.

For a more literal, Japanese version of "Tsukkomi" and "boke" in American culture, there's Ando and Hiro from "Heroes". Except in that case, the boke has superpowers.

Er...which one's which, tho? (And I am unfamiliar with most of the duos you referred to. XD)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manzai

That should help. :p

Boke = Funny man
Tsukkomi = Straight man

Ohhh. That was helpful, thanks. ^_^

And, randomly attempting to stay on topic...I started thinking of theme songs for the PokeSpecial characters and the first one that came to my mind was this song for the as-yet-nameless "Hikari" girl.

I wonder if they will refer to Rich Girl as Miss Berlitz?

Very doubtful. The very name Berlitz is what they're trying to keep secret here.

The D/P saga of Pokemon Special does seem very interesting! I love how they avoided the typical 'trainers go to the Professor to get their starter' scenario! Plus, I like the traveling comedians angle for the two boys and having the female character be the snooty, rich girl (since it's a characterization that hasn't been used for a main character in Special). Very cool, indeed.

Though, I'm a little puzzled at how some fans are making a big deal over Pearl's name. He's supposed to be the main rival of the protagonist (like in the games), so he's named after the secondary game (like Green, Silver, etc). The girls tend to be named after the third (or fourth in Yellow's case) game.

...Plus, it's not like 'Pearl' is supposed to be a girly name, he's just named after the color of the game. ^^;; Just pointing that out to y'all.

Lest we forget that the last male hero was called Ruby... Gamefreak aren't exactly giving us many gender-amorphous names here. I'm sure it wont become so bad after a few issues and people are used to it.

Though Pearl is a more common name than Ruby. If you're like a hundred and thirty.

Originally Posted by ekanubaH

Aw man, I really want to get into the DP manga, it looks interesting, makes me wish we got it here in the states.

!

*spies an opportunity to spread propaganda*

Buy the crappily put-together Best of Pokémon Adventures books!

Writer letters begging for Pokémon manga!

Do iiiit.

I want this. I really do. Pearl and Diamond (ack, that sounds awkward) sound really funny. Wonder if this mix-up will be resolved at the end of the saga ala Ruby and Sapphire's rivalry or cleared up relatively early on.