An early release of The Pokemon Company's Super Bowl commercial landed last week. On the surface, it appears to be a message of encouragement to players of the games, insisting that they "train on."
Outside of a subtle hint at the upcoming "Pokemon GO" app, this appears to be more of a public service announcement than a commercial. However, there are some subtle shots that celebrate the history of Pokemon and make this commercial special for fans.
The first is when the first boy in the commercial is running to see the poke-battle on the street. As he approaches, there is a man wearing a shirt with the number eight on it, being the number of gym leaders in the original games.
When the boy reaches the battle on the street, a burst of fire is spewed from the dust in the middle. For a brief moment it is possible to see the edge of a small, orange figure on the right. Considering the height of the fire, this implies that Charmander is one of the Pokemon in the fight. This is special because Charmander is one of three starter Pokemon that players can choose at start of the original games.
Moments later the boy sprints past a run-down truck that appears to have a picture of Mew painted on the side. The boy is featured on the news; in the bottom-right, the weather info for Kanto is given. There is also a blip about a "rare fossil" being discovered at Mount Moon, a key location in the game. Under the television is a sign that says "learn to surf," something that is essential to get around on water in the games.
The boy inspires a girl to start training as well. While playing multiple games of chess at once (something that could be stretched as a metaphor for playing multiple "Pokemon" games at once, but I'll leave it alone), a quick shot reveals that one chess piece has been replaced by a game piece bearing Nidoking's resemblance.
A football player comes across a video of the girl dominating at chess and is also inspired to train harder. His number: 20, the anniversary "pokemon" is celebrating. And his team's helmets sport an outline of the volcano badge (also seen on the player's arm as a tattoo later).
After a team huddle, two players run out of the locker room side-by-side so that together their jersey numbers read "1996," the year "Pokemon" was first released. Painted above the door they run through are the words "like no one ever was," lyrics to the television series' theme song.
The football player's profile is then seen in a city square by another man. Near the giant screen, a sign for a game arcade, rare candy and moo moo milk can be seen.
Again, this is just a list of the subtle inclusions in the commercial. Pokemon like Gyarados, Charizard, Magneton, Pikachu and Mega Lucario are all seen very clearly.
It seems strange that the commercial has been released well before the Super Bowl airs. Hopefully that means that this isn't the final cut and there will be an announcement about the "Pokemon GO" app that is schedule to be released in the first half of the year.
