Something we have been discussing in class this week was the ever-shifting border between science fiction and fantasy. A characteristic of science fiction that perhaps helps us best distinguish, is the genre’s curiosity about how things work. Like discussed in class, Iron Man feels much more SF than the rest of the Marvel superheroes because of the science that backs up Tony Stark’s gadget suit. Fans of the franchise can even remember the prototypes and earlier models of the suit, leading up to the super-advanced nanotechnology we see in the later Avengers films. Has the fact that we have seen a gradual evolution of the Iron Man suit from more straightforward tech contributed to our perception of Iron Man as SF? Perhaps.<\/p>\n
I have recently been playing a lot of Pok\u00e9mon Legends: Arceus, and I noticed something very similar happening, although backwards. For context, the game is set in a time much earlier than the rest of the Pok\u00e9mon games, when humanity is still figuring out how to coexist with the mysterious creatures. For the first time ever, we are given an explanation for how Pok\u00e9balls work: they activate the mons’ innate ability to shrink, and can be made from very simple materials found in the wild (wood and stone, and some iron for the more improved versions). In fact, Pok\u00e9balls are so simple that they can be crafted from these materials by the protagonist. Their appearance in-game features a wood-pattern and a simple-looking sealing mechanism. All this struck me as intriguing and relevant because it seems like a step by the Pok\u00e9mon franchise toward science fiction. I wonder what you all think!<\/p>\n