Pokémon-style Lunar New Year celebration has a universally heartwarming vibe.
Most of the time, the Pokémon franchise is all about setting off an a grand journey of epic adventure, braving the wilds to catch ‘em all or heading off to the big city to compete for the title of Pokémon Master. But a heartwarming new Pokémon short animation flips that script around and focuses on going home in a world filled with Pocket Monsters.
Titled Tadaima (Japanese for “I’m back” or “I’m home”), the video opens with scenes of humans and their Pokémon pals wrapping up the early part of their day, such as a guy finishing up a sparring session with a Lucario and an office worker clocking out and leaving the office with a Dedenne on his shoulder. It’s time for everyone to go home, and really home, not just back to their house or apartment, but all the way back to their hometowns.
Given the wide range of Pokémon species and powers, for some people this means hopping on their Charizard and flying though the skies, or riding their Arcanine across snowy fields. For others traveling with smaller species, human and Pokémon alike hop into various modes of vehicular transportation.
▼ Hopefully this dude has some very relaxing new-age tunes playing to keep his Psyduck calm during the drive.
There aren’t any fierce fights or championship clashes going on, save for maybe one impromptu challenge between a pair of childhood friends who seem to have bumped into each other at their old neighborhood park. The tensest scene actually involves a determined-looking woman and her nervous boyfriend, who she’s apparently brought home to introduce to her parents and is in the process of being given the once-over by her stern father and his equally intimidating Incineroar and Machoke.
▼ And yes, there are tea cups set out for all of them.
Instead, the focus is on making new connections and reaffirming old ones. We see a father and son doing tai chi in the park, groups and friends and family camping and karaoke-singing, an elderly relative being visited in the hospital, and a community coming together for a nighttime dragon dance street festival as fireworks go off above them.
As you might have guessed from the tai chi and dragon dance, plus the extended shot of Rayquaza as the video comes to a close, the video was made to celebrate Chinese New Year, with the Year of the Dragon starting on February 10 under the lunar calendar. Within Chinese culture, this is the traditional time of year to head home and visit family, which is why the second half of the video, which was a joint project between the Pokémon Company and Chinese animation studio HMCH, is a series of happy reunions…though not without a few exceptions.
That Psyduck mentioned earlier ends up getting stuck in a traffic jam with his human travelling companion, and there’s couple cooking in their kitchen with their Meowth who apparently couldn’t make it home this year, seeing as how they’re having an extended video call with one of the spouse’s parents, who are getting dinner ready in their own home.
But even in those cases, the message still shines through that this is a time of year to take a moment to appreciate friends and family and remember how lucky you are to have one another, because even when you’re stuck in traffic, as long as you’re with someone who you care about and who cares about you too, it’s time well spent.
Source: Pokémon official website
Top image: Pokémon official website
Insert images: YouTube/ポケモン公式YouTubeチャンネル
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