You're allowed to return home anytime you want. Just walk your character into their bedroom, tuck them into bed, save, exit to the main menu, and delete the save. Congratulations, you have just completed the alternate ending to Pokémon.
I know I'm replying to my own comment but this reminded me of a joke I once read about the first Bioshock game (Bioshock spoiler incoming)
Title
When Andrew Ryan told me to kill him at the end of Bioshock, I shut off the game and deleted the save. A man chooses, a slave obeys.
The VR game Walking Dead: Saints and Sinners has a series of decisions at the end. On my first playthrough I managed to fuck up everything and everybody.
spoiler
First you can choose to flood either a storage full of supplies that could help a ton of people or a guy trapped in a bunker next to them who was pleading with me through radio. I just didn't have the heart to kill him while he's talking to me, even though sacrificing him would probably be justified in the post-apocalyptic reality of the game.
Then one of the few unambiguously good characters, stricken with grief, threatens to ring a bell which would attract a horde of zombies and lead to a massacre. A soldier is ready to shoot her to prevent that. There's gotta be a way to talk it through, right? Well, no, he was pulling the trigger so I shot him first. That soldier? The guy I refused to flood earlier.
And guess what? I couldn't talk it through. She was adamant she will pull the rope and... I ended up shoting her too. Great fucking job, hero.
It really hit hard too - these were not just dialogue choices or anything. I had to actually turn the right valve in the first case and then pull the trigger in the other two.
Well, this being a VR game, I just put a pistol to my temple and pulled the trigger. Figured that was a valid choice after fucking everything up. I got a standard game over screen, but as far as I'm concerned that's how the story ended that particular playthrough.
The NEET ending.
Yeah, but you know, danger in the pokémon world is relative.
The worst thing that can happen when you face mafia/terrorists/wannabe dictators is they will make your rat fight theirs. I guess they'll take your lunch money every time you lose, so that's a thing.
Haha oh nooo. The official lore can be surprisingly fucking dark. Even in the games, the reason Jubilife exists is because wild Pokémon smoked an entire village. Burnt the fucking thing to the ground and gave the Galaxy Clan's commander PTSD.
Also in the beginning of Arceus, your rival has only just recovered from hospitalisation after they took a thunderbolt from a Shinx.
Then there are literal wars that break out. And some of the Pokédex entries. And the mangas go fucking dark too at times.
The losing your lunch money is just a game mechanic.
The whole lore is an absolute mess, to be fair.
There's Pokémon who should be ridiculously dangerous to even get close to, but no safety measures are required whatsoever and people use them all the time with no consequences. Villains are ready to destroy the world or whatever it takes to reach their goals, but they still won't attack you, or anyone opposing them, directly with their Pokémon. And that's just two of the huge holes in the worldbuilding.
I love the series (well, at least up to XY), but the lore constantly swings between "happy-go-lucky kids-friendly game" and "deep character-driven narrative/creepypasta material", with no coherence between the two. And I love both sides, but trying to make sense of it all is pointless unless you go full theorycrafting and make up your own headcanon.
You can't even use secondary sources because everything has their own canons and you can't make sense of the game through manga information, for example (even though I really wish the game plot was as good as Pokéspe's).
Meanwhile professor oak:
( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
Professor Oak: I don't want to marry a single mother!
Ash's mom:
Is that why there's already heavy breathing behind the slammed door?
Momma had a hot date
you know ash's mom was getting that milf pussy pounded by professor oak
Meanwhile the kid collects more rats, each one more powerful than the last, instead of collecting other animals
He also like short because it's comfy and easy to wear
Until he finds the top 1% of rattatas.
And the 10 year old wants to be the very best, like no one ever was.
To catch them is his test. To train them is his cause.
but a fucking cool electric rat
I feel like this comic would've been better if they didn't feel the need to dedicate an entire panel to explaining the joke.
For those that would get it without the last panel, definitely. Unfortunately mainstream appeal necessitates the explanation.
That's also how Spartans became adults, somehow!
last panel ruined it
Yet somehow it's in the top 20 posts of all time in this community.
And in the latest games you go to school and then they want you to explore the whole region. They absolutely shook up the plot by making the headmaster want you to explore rather than your mom! It's revolutionary!
/S
I love that your Mom is like, "enjoy your school days, honey!" Whenever you visit from uncovering insane time travel bullshit or exorcizing demons or whatever.
Tbf pokemon has cracked the code, nobody wants the plot shook up. They want new 'mons and new mechanics shit like berries and the RTC.
That and let's be real, these games are meant for kids. If you played RYBG, you're kiiinda supposed to have aged out by now. Any kid picking up the new new it is expected that they did not play many of the previous gens. If you've picked up every one since the GBC, you should know what you're getting yourself into.
There’s a substantial competitive scene, mostly among adults. Lots of aspects of the game are built to cater to that competitive aspect. Kids aren’t the ones that are breeding hundreds of Larvesta in the hopes of getting one with the right nature.
It’s intended for a dual audience - the kids want to go on picnics with the cute green kitty and the adults want to argue about whether to ban the string cheese.
