This week, I decided to give my view on a single song. In fact, I decided to re-visit the “Pokémon” franchise, and talk about what I consider an extremely underrated track. This will be my last Poké-post for a while, for I have much more planned for the upcoming weeks, including a movie soundtrack! But for now, allow me to explain why I personally feel that the “Pokémon X and Y” Gym Leader theme is my personal favorite Gym Battle theme in all of “Pokémon“.
Allow me to first say that I have played an installment from every single generation of the franchise.From “Pokémon Yellow“, to “Pokémon Y“, I’ve seen it all. From this, one of my favorite things from every generation were the Gym Leader themes. After you battle countless ordinary trainers, who are all designed to be substantially weaker than you, it’s quite refreshing to actually face a real challenge, and thus, the music with every battle is always amped up for the situation. I couldn’t tell you how excited I felt when I battled Brock for the first time. I thought it was so invigorating. In fact, I used to consider the first generation battle theme my personal favorite, just from sheer nostalgia. Now that we’ve dawned on the 6th generation, my views have changed.
I personally believe that the Gym Leader theme from the 6th generation is the most well put-together, most influential Leader theme of any generation, and it is now my favorite. While all of the past themes have approached the battle with a more frantic fashion, “X and Y“‘s iteration changes the pace completely. When I battled Viola for the first time, I wasn’t sure how I’d fare in battle, and it was a bit nerve-wracking to not be sure what I was getting into after clearing her gym. I expected to be presented with a fast paced theme, as usual, but what I experienced was ten times better. I don’t think any track in “Pokémon” has ever given me such a rush before, and I found it incredible that I got this rush all within the first hour of my experience. To explain, the theme itself is different in its approach to the situation. While all other themes were created to be a bit intimidating, this theme instills confidence. It’s slower than the other themes, but it’s also much more euphoric. The general atmosphere helps to build one’s confidence. While the song may seem a bit more laid back than the previous themes, it doesn’t detract from the uplifting affect. This track doesn’t scream a cry of urgency like it’s predecessors, but it instead pushes you to fight through the challenge. It invokes confidence in the player, and reminds that player of where they came from, and why they are where they are at now. In fact, it made me feel more of a drive to defeat the Gym Leader I’m facing than any of the past themes that I’ve played have. It’s also given me a huge sense of pride in my victory, something I adore in a game. It’s truly a wonderful effect, one that I found to be riveting.
If you want to hear it, click here.
For a more technical tidbit, this theme is accompanied by a variety of mid-ranged synth effects, and an extremely tasteful guitar melody that kicks in past the introduction. The beat is very consistent, as it repeats a 4/4 measure at 147 BPM. The synth effects perfectly follow this beat pattern as well, as expected in a consistent theme. These instruments blending together creates a sound that is unique to any handheld “Pokémon” game, most likely because the newer generation’s platform allowed the opportunity for better music quality) and really excites me for the future “Pokémon” soundtracks we have yet to hear. I still wait for the day we can hear some more in depth, Rock influenced “Pokémon” tracks.
If you liked the clip above, check out the official “Pokémon X and Y” soundtrack here. You can also buy “Pokemon X” and “Pokémon Y“ on Amazon.
Thank you for reading, and stay tuned for another post from yours truly.
Enjoy!
