#137, #233, #474: Porygon, Porygon2 & Porygon-Z

Stills from "Electric Soldier Porygon" (which
is actually not the official English title, but
merely a free translation of the Japanese);
season 1, episode 38.

Poor, poor Porygon... What has Pikachu done to you?

Porygon made its only major anime appearance in the 38th episode of the first season, in which Ash and his friends meet a mad scientist called Dr. Akihabara, who has to figure out what is wrong with the Poké Ball transporter in the Pokémon Center in Matcha City. Akihabara actually invented the Pokémon Transport System, but contradicts Brock when he says that it could be a computer virus and should use an anti-virus vaccine program. Akihabara suddenly bolts out of the Center upon further investigation into the system, which cause Ash, Misty and Brock to follow him to his lab. There, they are lured into a giant machine called the Human Transporter. Their mission is to physically enter the computer system and stop Team Rocket (obviously!), who have gone into the system by use of one of Akihabara's prototype Porygon and are currently stealing all of the Poké Balls sent to other trainers by Nurse Joy. Ash and his friends refuse, but Akihabara traps them and sends them into the system along with his other Porygon. Of course, Ash gets the winning hand and Porygon sends Team Rocket 'blasting off again'. Meanwhile, Nurse Joy hired another technician to put the anti-virus vaccine software into the computer, which seeks to exterminate the humans infiltrating it by taking on the form of an actual vaccination syringe. Trying to escape from it on the back of an enlarged Porygon, even saving Team Rocket in the process, Pikachu blows up the missiles the vaccine fired. Naturally, Porygon narrowly escapes from the computer program, but Akihabara's giant laboratory mansion gets destroyed in the process, much to his dismay.

Fan art of Porygon converting into data. Or something. Hey, I
don't know, man. I am not an IT specialist, OK?

This infamous episode known as "Computer Warrior Porygon" or "Cyber Warrior Porygon", more commonly known as "Electric Soldier Porygon" in English-speaking countries, has become highly controversial following the airing in Japan. The flashing red-and-blue images that followed after Pikachu destroys the missiles caused epileptic seizures in over 700 Japanese citizens, more than 600 of them children. The majority of them were hospitalized, while twelve thousand more children reported mild symptoms of illness rather than grand mal seizures. The episode even gave the anime the infamous title of "Most Photosensitive Epileptic Seizures Caused by a Television Show" from The Guinness Book of World Records. The incident, which has been parodied in popular culture many times later on, was referred to as 'Pokémon Shock' by the Japanese press and had some major consequences. Firstly, the show went on a four-month hiatus, only to come back preceded by a disclaimer cautioning viewers not to sit too close to the screen and to watch only in a brightly-lit room. Japanese television broadcasters and medical officials came together to create guidelines on flashing images in future animated shows. To prevent similar events from reoccurring, Nintendo quickly ordered the episode pulled, and it has not aired anywhere since as a result, not even outside of Japan. And, last but not least, despite the fact that it was actually Pikachu who caused this strobe-light effect, Porygon got the blame and it and its evolutions were never seen in the anime ever again (barring some cameos), in an effort to put the event out of the public's minds and prevent trauma.

Porygon2 was designed for space exploration, even though it
can't actually fly

And that's a shame, because this man-made Pokémon actually has a very interesting flavor to it. Porygon is an artificial Pokémon created due to extensive research and consists entirely programming code, being able to perform solely what's in its program with basic movements. Built into its code is Silph Co. copy protection DRM, preventing people from duplicating it through electronic means. But whereas Porygon seems to be based on the concept of a digital bird made with primitive 3D graphics software, its evolution Porygon2 (whose name is actually more logical rather than unimaginative, as it is an updated version not unlike some computer software programs, which is represented by the Up-Grade, used to evolve Porygon with) represents the concept of subdivision in 3D computer graphics and seems to be a smoother version of Porygon, made with more advanced 3D graphics software. The head looks like a duck, but it also resembles a drinking bird, which is especially demonstrated in the 3D games (X, Y, Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire) due to it making the same movement as one. Porygon2 was designed and created for the exploration of other planets, but its inability to fly let it fail to measure up. It has been endowed with artificial intelligence that enables it to learn new behaviors and movements that are not in its programming.

Porygon-Z as a corrupted file.

Porygon2 was given additional software in order to increase its abilities (the Dubious Disc, used to evolve Porygon2 into Porygon-Z), initially for traveling through alien dimensions, but an error occurred and Porygon-Z started acting erratically. Its undesirable and unprogrammed behaviors suggest that it may be based on a computer virus having infected Porygon2 or that it is a reference to copyrighted software being patched by users to use all the features but often causing bugs in the program. And a name like Dubious Disc heavily implies that the computer software wasn't authorized by Silph Co. in the first place, which suggests that Porygon-Z is an illegitimate Pokémon. Basically, Porygon-Z is a corrupted digital file, am I right?

Figurines of Porygon (left), Porygon2 (right) and Porygon-Z
(middle).

But a strong one at that, because at a base 135 its special attack is ridiculously high. It has decent speed and medicore defenses, but with the Choice Specs or a Choice Scarf attached to it, as well as a Modest or Timid nature, it can actually beat Pokémon up at high speed. And with attacks like Tri Attack, Psyshock, Discharge, Dark Pulse, Signal Beam, Thunderbolt, Psychic, Shadow Ball and Ice Beam it is perfectly capable of doing that. Ditch the Scarf or Specs for a Life Orb and you can set up with Nasty Plot and Agility, which sharply boost its special attack and speed stats, respectively. And as Tri Attack matches its own type, normal, its ability Adaptability boosts the power of that move even further. Download is unreliable, as it raises Porygon-Z's special attack stat by one stage when the foe's special defense is lower than it defense, and it raises Porygon-Z's attack stat when it's the other way around. Analytic lets Porygon-Z boost its moves if the foe already attacked, but you want Porygon-Z to attack first due to its moderate frailty. You know who might benefit from Analytic? Porygon2.

Porygon (right), Porygon2 (middle) and Porygon-Z (left) in cyberspace.

Porygon2 is not as fast as its evolution by a long shot. Then again, it is used in a completely different way than Porygon-Z, because it is still able to evolve and that makes the Eviolite a very desirable item to use on Porygon2. This item buffs up its decent bulk even more! Add to that a defensive nature like Calm or Bold and the moves Recover and either Toxic or Thunder Wave (with Tri Attack and either Ice Beam or Thunderbolt to complete its moveset), and you'll have an annoying support Pokémon. Its special attack isn't as high as Porygon-Z's, although it is absolutely not bad, but it has a much better utility competitively, at least in my own humble opinion. Porygon2 doesn't have access to Adaptability, however, so you'll have to do with Analytic or maybe even Trace, which is an ability that copies the foe's ability and potentially allows Porygon2 to use that ability against it.

Porygon and its kins are curious Pokémon, especially if you consider that a Pokémon based on computer data was released in 1996 and designed even earlier. It was the era in which computer technology was still in its infancy, at least compared to what's available to us in the present day. I really like this Pokémon, but th^%gfjk*@%^wt%#$$kgggggg... kgggg... kgggg...

I'm sorry, my opinion got corrupted.

Rating: 4/5