Interpretation Notes (WIP)

▷ Interpretation / Headcanon "My lord N's dream... You were the one who put a stop to that. Please don't ever forget that." -Gorm The gameplay of Pokémon features quite a few aspects that can't be translated 1:1 in literary-style writing. Instead of ignoring them, I've tried to work them into my personality headcanons for Touya. Here's a handy list of where I got which idea. ▶ GAME VERSION / LEGENDARY POKÉMON (RESHIRAM): I play Touya from the Black game version. The legendary Pokémon he receives is Reshiram, a Pokémon that pursues the truth. This heavily impacts the version of Touya I play because the other option (him receiving Zekrom, the Pokémon of ideals) would imply he has strong opinions I do not play him as having.  My Touya mostly drifts along. He does not like to be strongly biased about something and rather watches events unfold to slowly make his judgement. To him, the truth is not something that can be determined quickly. As such, Touya likes to listen to people and hear out all sides of an issue. ▶ SAVING -> DIARY WRITING: This one is simple, really. Touya writes a diary. The process of game saving is always portrayed as the player character writing in a book. So I use this to say Touya keeps a very detailed diary with him on his travels. He likes to organize his memories, so he won't forget about anything. His memory is sometimes a little bad, so it's important for him to 'save' the events that occur to him by writing them down. ▶YES/NO-OPTION -> INDESCISIVENESS: The most important aspect in my interpretation of Touya. Pokémon BW gives a lot of player decision options - they are so common, it stuck out to me incredibly. All of them are simple Yes/No choices. It fits with the topic of the game that is obviously Black and White, set morals and set decisions: extremes. Yet, obviously none of the player choices can really affect the way the game continues. If the player character answers 'No' to something the other character will simply ask the question again and again until the right answer is given.  (Exceptions are questions that do not directly relate to the plot.) To me, that makes Touya a person who can't turn down a request and who has a hard time sticking to his opinions. Because his values and views are so grey in grey, he has a fair amount of trouble saying 'black' or 'white' clearly enough that other people can understand him. The first person to always listen to his weakly spoken opinions and preferences is N, which is a major reason why he is so important to Touya. (N's questions are all directly connected to the plot, but he does not ask them twice and instead nods off the reply given by the player.) Touya does not hold any ill feelings against those who talk him into things though. He is glad to drift along and when he can help, he is happy. If he has been talked into agreeing to something, he will dutifully see it through to the very end. ▶ FERRIS WHEEL -> RELATIONSHIP TO N: Now, as you may be aware, one of the most famous events to happen between Touya and the game's rival, N, is their shared ride on the Ferris Wheel. On this occasion N reveals his true identity to Touya, so it is safe to assume it to be a very memorable event ICly as well. Later in the game, you are given the option to ride the Ferris Wheel again (and again and again and again) with various NPCs. I feel that with each of those rides, Touya found himself thinking about N and his ideals again, ultimately leading to his decision to go out and search for him.  ▶ ONE-SIDED DIALOGUES -> BEHAVIOUR IN STRESS SITUATIONS: While it is hinted that Touya does speak, despite being a silent protagonist, he obviously does not say much during all the game relevant dialogues. His part in the conversations really seems to be limited to the aforementioned 'yes/no'. So why is that? Most of the heavy dialogues are plot-relevant and therefore fast-paced scenes that probably put some stress on the player character. I here headcanon that Touya falls rather silent under pressure and prefers to wait those situations out. He can speak well and lengthily but he needs a certain time window to put his thoughts together and voice them. When things are calm, he is able to make really good conversation. At his own pace. In the relevant game scenes, these conditions aren't given, so Touya is silent. Despite him being a hero, it's easy to intimidate him into being quiet for a moment. He doesn't exactly get scared, but his brain doesn't really keep up with the situation so it's more 'uh... uhm' with nod or head-shake than any elaborate statements.  "There is a saying... If somewhere in this world there is someone who understands you, it feels like that person is right beside you, even if you're as far apart as the end of the land and the top of the sky." -Giallo