But what makes Pokémon Crystal especially, when There are many more stories about transgender people finding solace in the arts?
Even as we looked beyond my personal experience of this being the first game I played where I could choose to be a girl, I still think it’s remarkable for one simple reason: Pokémon to be big. It was a cultural phenomenon that swept the globe, and many of us are still enthusiasts today. After all, it one of the biggest media franchises in the world.
Many people will tell Looking for independent media to represent, where diverse people from all different backgrounds write their own stories in their own voices, and I agree. After all, I am also an independent creator trying to create stories with my own thoughts and feelings.
But let’s go back in time, back when I found out Pokémon Crystal.
I was an outcast in Thailand who knew almost nothing about the world. If you talked to me about indie games and media, I would ask, What is that? Can you eat it? Is it tasty? I don’t know much about the game, and I barely have internet access. I do not even know where to access the internet when I have access to it.
Since I didn’t even know I was transgender at the time, I didn’t know from the start that I had to search for a media to fill my heart. I know there’s something there, something bleeding, something tearing me apart, but I don’t have the words to name it.
For some context, this happened in Thailand around the turn of the millennium. People have mentioned it to me before since Thailand became international notorious Since there are a lot of transgender women, they think it’s an open and accepting place, but that’s completely wrong in my opinion. At the time, I vaguely “knew” about transgender women through a Thai term that I found offensive and didn’t want to mention here.
My perception at the time was from family members mentioning them from time to time, that they saw some people on the street or something. They are not considered women, but some other person Thing. In fact, most of the time, it seems like they don’t even Mankindjust something vaguely repulsive on the ground.
So mentally, I have no connection between them and myself, with no idea that being transgender is a concept that can be applied to a person. Mankind, since stuff unrelated to humanity. And so my little heart closed and didn’t know it.
I’m also reluctant to get up close and try unfamiliar things, while Pokémon is already a comforting presence. That name recognition also makes it easy to get permission to buy the game.
It was only because the Pokémon was so big, and I was interested in it, that I was able to form the feeling inside. Only after becoming Kris did I know I wanted to be a girl.
Of course Nintendo and Game Freak, the makers of the games, probably never bothered with transgender kids when they let the player play as a girl. Without a doubt, it was made to appeal to transgender girls.
