Internet Lumberjack got me yesterday, so this is the Unown post because I really love talking about the Unown and I'm still kinda mad they're not considered Legendary/Mythical Pokémon nor even pseudo-Legendary when they totally deserve the recognition at this point. I mean,
thanks to the third movie, I honestly believed they
were Legendary Pokémon that were, I dunno, trapped in the Ruins of Alph for reasons unknown (pun unintended but lol). They've always fascinated me, but also were some of the more frustrating Pokémon I've ever had. Because
my God they deserve better. I remember thinking something amazing was coming out about the Unown when the "!" and "?" Unown were revealed for FR/LG because of the connection between the Sevii Islands and Johto (especially the Tanoby Chambers which never get talked about), but nah, just gave us more questions. They'd still be around for Gen IV thanks to the Solaceon Ruins and (later) the Sinjoh Ruins, but then they just... disappeared after that.
Not in the sense they were forgotten, but like you couldn't really catch them in-game anywhere else after Gen IV. Still can't. I honestly can't really include the Mirage Caves in with the lore of the Unown because of how late in the series that came out, and they've made it clear OR/AS is like its own separate universe thanks to X/Y splitting the timeline because GameFreak can't do worldbuilding. Hell, lemme put on my tinfoil hat and say that the weapon AZ fired in X/Y that caused that timeline split killed or chased away the Unown in the
Mega Evolution universe, which is why the Ultra Beasts exist. The Unown literally hold the Pokémon universe together, and if they disappear, everything collapses in on itself. So the Ultra Beasts stepped in, but are
honest-to-Arceus alien to the Pokémon universe, and there's been that struggle to maintain that balance ever since. AZ's fit of rage really and truly nearly destroyed the Pokémon universe and brought about some eldritch horrors that should've never been.
But that's just a theory. That I literally made up just now because I happened to do a quick check-up on Pokémon locations and wondering why it is the Unown just stopped showing up in the wild after Gen IV. They
totally could've appeared in Gen V if it hadn't been for the "NEW POK
ÉMON ONLY" rule for the main game, I'm sure of it. And yet they don't show up anywhere in Unova. (Nor Orre, but it's not really connected to the main series of games, and it's got connections to Celebi through the Relic Forest and it has Shadow Lugia so I'mma let it pass.)
Anyhoo:
Unown is one of my favorite Pokemon when it comes to lore. The fact that the Unown radio signal sound similar to the item used to summon Arceus makes for a neat
moment.
Oh shit, you're right.
But maybe it's just a fun Easter egg since that was Gen IV and the Unown radio signal was Gen II. Although Unown were still involved in the Arceus egg event...
Just wish they could make Unown more viable in battle or have it so that when you catch them all it results in one of them evolving into a sphere of Unowns when put into some sort of ruined pedestal or something.
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Some kid in elementary made up a claim that the Unown are subservient to a giant eyeball Pokémon which (in hindsight) kinda looks like the Eye of the Beholder. But alas, they're nothing more than just the only threads holding the universe together, that's all.
God, I love the Unown. I had to come to love the lore around them over the years, but they're so freaking fascinating, an insight into what ancient Pokémon civilization was like. Johto might
actually have the oldest remnants of an ancient people in canon since I don't think an exact dating of the Ruins of Alph has been given (my headcanon, fuck you, Galar), maybe holding the title with Sinnoh
because of the Sinjoh Ruins. Like holy shit, I have to give it to GameFreak to manage to link the two generations together like that and make it feel natural.
The Unown are by far some of the creepiest Pokemon in the entire series, and they could've been way creepier. To cut a long story short,
it's speculated that they were originally meant to be the victims of some kind of disaster that might've been a reference to the Hiroshima nuclear bombing.
I gotta say I'm highly skeptical it goes that far, but I have to admit, the fact that besides the Unown, Doduo, Ditto,
and especially Sunflora are the only Pokemon that spawn in the beta version of the Ruins of Alph does make me think this theory has some merit to it.
Well fuck me, I hadn't heard of this. This is fucking creepypasta shit what the fuck. That's like up there with the theory the ruins in which you find Yamask in are meant to represent the Twin Towers. Except there may be actual merit
here.
It's a very weird coincidence, but that's not the case at all;
the Unown were originally intended to be aliens. The Hiroshima theory is interesting though, but I don't think GF would ever think of putting a reference to that in their game.
That's even weirder, but the "Pokémon came from space" angle has been around since the beginning so it's just a "Yeah, whatever man" moment for me. But if they were always meant to be serious about that, they should've been serious about that from the start and laid it out there for us, or reserved that notion for the
really strange Pokémon instead of something... normal-looking like Clefairy and such (even though they have connections to the moon) to tease us with "Lol do Pogeymans come from space or not?". Honestly, it was probably a
good thing the Unown got reworked into being basically the forces that manage to keep the universe in check since they live in a separate dimension and may have actually been Arceus' 1,000 hands.
Althoooooough to go back to the beta, maybe the destruction mural is meant to represent what happened with the relationship between humans and Pokémon. It's possible that the burning of the Brass Tower in Ecruteak wasn't unfounded and that some calamity happened throughout Johto that got humans and Pokémon angry with each other. Hence why the people built the Ruins of Alph as a way to ask for forgiveness for the Pokémon that live (or lived) there and then they abandoned the place. After all, as it says in Crystal:
Our words shall remain here for the ages.
Thus we shall erect a Pokémon statue outside.
They possess great insight and refuse the outside world.
We humans must learn to walk in harmony with them. We depart for their sakes.
(Actually the last two lines appear to be switched around, but as a kid, I solved the Ho-Oh puzzle last, so...)
Really makes you think.
I feel like Unown are some of the biggest wasted potential and show the problems with GameFreak's overall lack of imagination (as far as 'Mons go).
They have lore, and side materials show just how creepy they can be (the 3rd Pokemon movie being the best indicator of this), hell, even Super Smash Bros. Melee lets them be somewhat useful. But in the main games? Genuine joke characters. They only learn one move, said move being random as to when you catch it, they go down in one hit, you only get a worthless piece of paper for catching every form, and they don't evolve or change forms, even if you have a large group of them.
That's why I was so mad the Unown Dex side-thing turned out to be "Your reward? Printing stickers!" instead of something cool like the Unown coming together to be one entity or what.
The third movie I think is the Unown's only saving grace because they kept the mystery and awe-inspiring aspect when it came to Molly's wishes as well as hinting at the immense power they're believed to hold. That's why they're still memorable outside of the "What the hell
was the Ruins of Alph???" people like to still talk about. It's one of the Pokémon lore mysteries that I think will never be answered, which I'm totally okay with.
Again, linking them to Arceus I think has done
wonders in making them more mysterious as well as more sad that they've gone underutilized.
