Scholarly approach makes it look like he’s been hitting the books, but really he’s just trying to catch ‘em all.

Japanese schools are known for their high academic standards, but that doesn’t mean that kids are getting graded on worksheets and reports every day. If anything, Japanese curriculums tend to put more weight on test scores, making putting in extra hours hitting the books before exams, and taking things a little easier otherwise, a common aspect of kids’ study habits.

So Japanese high school student and Twitter user @Ariagemu’s mom was impressed when she took a peek at her son’s notebook and saw it filled with detailed, neatly arranged, freshly written notes, even though there wasn’t any need to be cramming for a test right then.

▼ My mom: “Studying so hard even though you don’t have a test coming up soon. How industrious!”
Me: “……”🤔

All those numbers and equations suggest some sort of technical subject, and the scholarly atmosphere is further added to by the presence of numerous words written in katakana, the type of Japanese script used for writing foreign loanwords, which show up frequently in chemistry and other scientific fields. The words on the pages of the notebook aren’t common vocabulary words among Japanese speakers, either, no doubt making Mom even more impressed at the advanced terminology her son was working with.

So let’s try to learn from @Ariagemu’s example and familiarize ourselves with some of the words he’s written, like rizadon. Is that some sort of specialized unit of measurement, or a newly discovered element that’s just been added to the periodic table?

Nope, it’s a Pokémon.

▼ Rizadon (リザードン in katakana)

Specifically, it’s Charizard, the second-stage evolution of starter Pokémon Charmander. As we’ve mentioned before, most Pokémon species have different names in the Japanese-language versions of the games and anime. However, in addition to being used for loanwords, katakana is also used when writing fictitious names, and what @Ariagemu’s mom saw wasn’t his school notebook, but his memos for how best to catch and evolve Pocket Monsters in Pokémon Sword and Shield. Some of the other equations are for Hippodon (Kaburadon in Japan), Rillaboom (Goriranda), and Urshifu (Uraosu).

Other Twitter users were quick to chuckle along as @Ariagemu inadvertently parlayed Poké-passion into parental praise, leaving comments like:

“I had a notebook just like this when I was in junior high.”
“I consider Pokémon to be part of my compulsory education.”
“I test myself on it every day!”
“Are there Pokémon questions on the national college entrance exam?”
“Figuring out those calculations will definitely improve your math skills.”
“You have to be a genius to remember what each species name, type, and special skill are.”
“I’ve heard that this sort of thing really improves kids’ memories if they do it from a young age.”

As pointed out by the last few commenters, even if it’s something he’s doing as an offshoot of entertainment, compiling, examining, and organizing all that data is also probably helping @Ariagemu sharpen his analytical and communication skills. So really, his mom’s respect for his industriousness isn’t entirely misplaced, and we can think of at least two other moms who’d be very proud of his commitment to hand-written video game records.

Source: Twitter/@Ariagemu via Jin
Top image: Twitter/@Ariagemu
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