Gorogoro

My first theory was that Augustine Sycamore had two names because he has two jobs as a character : his job as a professor: Sycamore , to follow all the professors that have trees as names, and Augustine: for whatever reasons

Which is true, but that's where the other question comes in, WHY Augustine? Why just him?! Pokemon usually don't do that THAT much (the only other example I have is N harmonia, to show he is the son of Ghetsis because it's important to the story and the same for Green oak) names are tools, but sycamore isn't related to anyone, dosent he?

Augustine of Hippo (Saint Augustus) and his relationship with Pokémon X Y

From here, I will refer Sycamore as Augustine, and Augustine of Hippo as Augustus, because the Augustine part of Augustine is way more important than the Sycamore part, and Augustus is his original name

Augustus is one of the biggest pillar in Christian theology, especially in Antiquity, he is still considered a "Doctor of the church" and still NOW his work are studied and influence Christian theology and philosophy, the guy is born in 354 btw

So? Why him and not, I don't know, Augustine Albert? Or Augustine Baie? I can't explain it now (I KNOW the answer but it's easier for the chronology that I will do it later, now just imagine Augustine IS a parallèle of Augustus)

So let's play a little game

Let's play "looking at XY's history through a Augustinian philosophy" would it make it sense?

(every reference to Augustus's philosophy will be in italic so it's easier)

1.AZ

We will start a long, long time ago, pokemon and humains worked together, a leader was named, AZ, this leader brought goods and with a technology no one really understands to unite Kalos, he have a brother that was greedy and wanted Kalos from him, yadi yadi yada, big war, flowette die, AZ use his knowledge to make a machine and make her revive, but still pissed they killed his flowette, he think exterminating both teams will make the war end, do it, and flowette don't want to have any of it and fly away

The pre-war can be a clear allegory of the city of god and Augustinian Unity, even the first words we have about it is a reference "the mountains will never know one another, but people can encounter other people, and people and Pokémon mix together" in "The City of God" by Augustus, he evoke a profound spiritual unity where righteous souls transcend physical barriers to unite to god, that's the Augustin Unity, the montain do not touch, but pokemon and humain mix together like Augustus said "two souls become one in the eyes of god" the harmony that pokemon and human shared is beyoun physical, it's spiritual, and with this harmony, they created many things

This is a perfect exemple of a city of god, there is two type of city, the city of god and the city of man, the city of god is a concept where harmony and the love for "god" prone, the city of man is a concept where love of self prone, even to the contempt of "god", and a desire for domination and earthly peace

After that, AZ came, "a leader came along the humans", and he brought a new kind of technology, which seem good, but "created a gap between have and have nots" which can be seen as an illusory peace, and the start of falling into the city of man, here the love of "god" (which we can speculate to be harmony and peace, since pokemon aren't Christian) is broken, and here I will bring another of Augustus's concept: the frui and uti

The uti is the use of something for an objective, and the frui is that said objective, like the ultimate objective

For example : I run every day to keep my body healthy, here, running everyday is the uti, and keeping my body healthy is the frui

For Augustus, the frui of everything MUST be god, always, for example, you sleep early so you can study early so you can have a good job so you'll have time for god, whatever you will do, and the END it must be to get closer to god, that's how you access eternal peace

When you get something else as god to be your frui, it become a "fake god", and it cause a deep moral disorder and chaos? But what chaos exactly?

In this situation is war, because they pushed AZ as a new king which slowly made the "goods" the new frui and not "god" (peace and harmony) and his younger brother, jealous, who is a perfect representation of the city of man, greedy, wanted Kalos and the goods for himself

And that's how the war started, and we are going to introduce another concept: the bellum iustum, it's the idea of a "good" war, a war that is acceptable in the eyes of god, it have 3 criteria : it has to be done by a legitimate authority, to right and injustice and for right reasons, meaning that creating the ultimate weapon to revive floette is a bellum iustum, AZ is a king, authority, they forced Floette to go to war, and he did this to revive her, but then, still spiteful, he destroyed everyone in the war

That also mean one other thing: the ultimate weapon was always, well, a weapon, maybe it's stupid, but something that should had gave life would not be able to mass kill only if it was designed to kill in the first place, by "he turned the machine into the ultimate weapon" I don't see it as reconstruct a weapon that give life to a death machine, I see a man full of rage just blasting it all

Deep down, he knew it will end like that, since the begining of the creation of that damn machine

Anyway, he destroy everything and floette, mad and in pain that his friend did all of that, run away

We have a lot to discuss, floette can be a lot of things, she is a fake god, AZ revived her (a sin in multiple religion and the power only god must have, here Xerneas) and commit Superbia

Superbia is a super important concept, it's the désire to rise above one's condition, by taking oneself for god or by defying the devine order

It's the biggest sin in Augustus's eyes, the original and core of every other sin

There is a ton of type and nuances of Superbia, but let's stay at that for now

AZ commited the sin of Superbia, by putting Floette above harmony and order, even if it's an injustice, he shouldn't have perturbate the order, and in the process lost his frui,

That's his punishment, an Augustinian Earthly Purgatory, his memory as judgment and the grace (here represented as Floette) abandoning him

He wanted eternity for Floette, now he have the eternity without him

I think AZ and his brother are an allegory of Caine and Abel,

AZ is Caine, and his brother abel

Yes, his younger brother was a greedy man,but he repented himself by burying the ultimate weapon, from the city of man to the city of god

AZ is the opposite, he got soiled, his attention where pure at first, but with hatred he commited Superbia, and when he gave his present to god (here the life for Floette) they abandoned him, and punished him to wander on earth for eternity, and the memory of Thier sin as a punishment (exactly like AZ)

Earth is his purgatory, just like his hanted memory, his eternity is a divine curse

2.Lysandre

let me introduce y'all to another one of Augustus's idea: beauty

There is two type of beauty : the sensible and spiritual beauty

The sensible beauty is the beauty you can touch, you can hear, see, taste and smell

Flowers, music, everything that your senses can see

The spiritual beauty is the beauty of the soul, the beauty that get you closer to god

The sensible beauty change, it's one of its core characteristics, Augustus say that the changing characteristic of sensible beauty make us get closer to the true beauty: the spiritual one, and we shouldn't get attached

Lysandre don't know the difference between spiritual and sensible beauty, for him what is important is sensible beauty, an eternal sensible beauty, that's why he worship Floette, Floette is the embodiment of the unnatural, eternal beauty

Floette is a pristine white colour, just like grec gods, or pagan statues

She had a black flower, unnatural colour, for us and for other floettes

Flowers are also a perfect exemple of sensible beauty, Augustus take them as an exemple of sensible beauty himself

Floettes are also known for dancing, which is also a pagan symbol

Floette is a symbol of an ungodly, unatual sensible beauty, and exactly what Lysandre seek for

If I had to chose, I would say that AZ's Floette is a reference of the aphrodite of Milo, but that is just speculation, what I am sure is that pagan cultures is heavily despited by Augustus, for him, creating his own god and worshiping only the sensible beauty of the fake gods is a pure exemple of Superbia

But Lysandre dosent have an eternal Floette, so he try to recreate one ....

2-5 Dianthéa

"you've may be the most beautiful, but it's not all there is to life, everything always change, I wanna live in the change too"

"isn't your duty to be ever beautiful? Everything beautiful should stay that way forever"

Dianthéa(Dianthus) is the flower of god, literally, it's the mix of Dio (god) and anthos (Flower)

Dianthus, in Christian religion, is a symbol of eternal beauty, the spiritual beauty, the Dianthus is the beauty of god that is shown through it, it also symbolise the flesh of the christ and gob becoming man

Dianthéa is, in a way, Jesus christ, specifically the godly part of jesus Christ

Dianthéa represent both beauty, the sensible and spiritual one, she is a beautiful woman, an actrice, but she accept change, she love the other, she respect and appreciate life, she is the divine beauty, she represents grace too, she is wearing an all white costume, she represents, by her clothes, the light of god shining through us (Confession of Augustus)

Dianthéa is Lysandre's Floette, his fake god, but Lysandre only see her for her sensible beauty, as AZ saw Floette for his spiritual one, Lysandre don't give attention to the spiritual beauty, he just want to capture an unatural eternal beauty, even if he have to make one, AZ's frui is Floette, Lysandre's frui is Dianthéa's sensible beauty

That's why he "like" pokemon so much, they evolve, not age, we never saw an old floette, he like them because they do not show sign of aging sensible beauty, Lysandre never liked Pokémon for Thier soul, he never talk about them without talking about Thier beauty, he never truly loved them, that's why he was willing to let them die

Lysandre is the perfect representation of Pagan Atheism and the Amor Sui Elitism

He put the sensible beauty as a fake god, a fruit, and love himself more than god

That's why he is the exact definition of the ultimate Superbia, that's why he is inspired by Louis XIV, both of them are the réflexion of the ultimate Superbia by Augustus, the luciferina, Regia, the intellectual Superbia and a HIPOCRITE

we are talking about the man who hated humains for Thier proud nature and called them ugly for it! This man is the embodiment of SUPERBIA!

spiritual hypocrite...

At this point it's obvious, Lysandre is a representation of Pagan culture, "Roman pagan love the beauty of Thier status more than loving the god creator of all beauty" as Augustus said, he love it so much he started hating on "God", harmony and peace, that's why it's Zygarde that kicked his ass, it's because only the divine natural order that can resolve his Pagan ideology, just like christianisme that eraced Pagan religions on the 4th century

That's why a lot of people didn't understood Lysandre's motives, he is a mix of Pagan ideology an Royal Superbia, two ideas that have one thing in common "I am god"

He got his ass kicked by Christianity

3- The end

I like to think that the scene when AZ and floette Reunite is a metaphor, AZ didn't accept fully the concept of death, but he accepted his flaws, the city of man change to the city of god, Floette come back, her grace back, she forgive him, like god always do

I like to think the petals that are falling from the sky are sensible beauty, and represent divine tears of joy, since the order is restaured, since AZ get rid of his Superbia and we stopped the city of man in Kalos, he can have grace

But, spoiler AZ: since Floette forget him, his earthly purgatory is over...he, an all all of us had to accept the natural order of things

Thats why Augustine has two names, all of this would not had been possible if Game freak would not had hint at us with his name, Augustus was a former sinner, like Augustine that helped Lysandre before stoping when he knew what Lysandre was all about, the meta reading was important enough for them to literally add the name of the guy in a character

Thank you all for reading this, it's just a silly theory about a subject I found, I'm sorry if there is some grammar errors, English isnt my first language

I'm pretty sure those image where published somewhere but I can't find them anywhere, I really don't understand what exactly they are talking about and I need your help

If someone is willing to explain or answer my questions I would be really grateful

Is the physical and spiritual world a spectrum where all our worlds (the Pokémon world and the world we, as player, are in?) is situated between them depending of how "realistic" the world is? What? Why?

Also there is the original text :

I will start all of this with some quick history of Japan, all of this start with the Nara period, where Japan and China were in really good terms, in which Japan sent a lot of people on missions using Kyushu as port to learn as much about Chinese Tang dynasty's culture and bring it to Japan, poetry, tech, Buddhism...a lot of other things, and shaped its own culture from China, then in Heian Japan, It developed its own culture but with Chinese cultural roots.

Then Yang dynasty came, and the mongol invasion of japan.

For those who don't know, in 1274 and 1281, at Yuan dynasty, Mongols used a thousands of self built ships and naval based tactics to invade japan, when a thousand (even tho they where outnumbered by china) of samurai where waiting on the board of Kyushu's ground to fight them, Japan won, mongols was seen as "barbarian" by Japan, seeing as they destroyed Chinese culture (the same culture they had copied during the Nara period.)

Then jumping to the Edo period, and Japanese isolation (Sakoku) when Japan was paranoid, scared of a revolution and wanted to keep their power, They isolated their country and forbade anyone to enter or leave. Only a small part of the country could be reached, just for trade though.

And then WWII arrived and Japan had to open their frontier, they kicked china's ass and thought they where hot shit and that they "will save Asia from the Europeans."

SO, to resume:

A long time ago, Japan and China where in complete peace, supporting each other like one big country, both of them chasing Confucian ideas (a philosophy that promotes being in perfect harmony with the sky, humanity, and nature...)

"I heard our leader Maxie and Team Aqua's leader Archie used to be on the same team..."

During the Tang's dynasty, China was the strongest and most open Asian country in the world, and most to all of it's trades and fights were naval. Plus they were in a very good relationship with other Asian countries.

Which fit Archie's personality, how open he is with the player, and how matt, and with extension the other grunts, are in complete admiration of Archie and his power, whether it's physical, or his outstanding charisma.

THEN, Mongols arrived, and their relationship completely switched to absolute hate.

This and the obsession with Japanese bosses trying to keep their power and avoiding revolution that ends with isolation, and despising other countries(?). Maxie being absolutely paranoid with Tabitha stealing his place and betraying him, and the fact that team magma cant even say they enjoy the beach too loud or Maxie will dock their pay, also knowing that Maxie is also more distant and professional with his own grunts and admins...

During WWII when Japan saw itself as superior to other Asian countries, and that they'd help Asia to defend itself against Europe? Which could explain the "Grand" Maxie thing, and the fact that Maxie has one hell of an ego.

The BRUTAL Sino-Japanese War where Japan and China were fighting like beasts until both their hate for the Soviet made them stop (and the fact they were too weak to fight?) which kinda mirrors the fight between the two entities in Kyushu that ended because some weird shit from the sky made them too weak to continue and had them retreat. (Groudon and Kyogre).

Japan and China also have a LONG history, even now, the two countries hate each other, and fight over TERRITORY.

YES, they literally fight to EXPAND THEIR TERRITORY.

Maxie and Archie are inspired by the relationship between china and japan, especially the golden age of each country respectively (Edo for Maxie, Tang for Archie) with Archie, the strong naval power, and Maxie with expanding the territory and protecting his ground.

And knowing that almost all those trades, fights, and territorial fights happen in Kyushu, the region where Hoenn is literally based, and that RSE and ORAS main message is peace and reconciliation, is a really big coincidence.

(congrats everyone! almost half way there)

Now, the other theorie, link to the first one :

This, for those who don't know, is a Masubusa (マツブサ) the plant where Maxie's Japanese name came from. (scientific name: Schisandra repanda)

This, is a Sanekazura(サネカズラ) ,they are in the same family as Matsubusas, it HEAVILY shadows them, Most of the time, when you look for Matsubusa you will be shown Sanekazura.

historically, they are heavily related, for reasons i will mention later, so for now all of you jut imagine its the same.

First : physical comparison

Sanekazuras were used in the Nara period as hair gel, that's why Maxie in both versions has his hair slicked back.

Both fruits where also used to produce alcohol, that explains why he is an alcoholic. (/hj)

Why do both Maxies wear warm clothes that cover all their bodies? Matsubusas are used to warm the body in mountain environments, used in baths for old people and children....

And the colour thing too? if it wasn't obvious (bonus with the flower of both plants being white like ORAS Maxie's eyes)

In the Edo period, beard or any type of facial hair (but eyebrows) are completely banned, Edo period high status men's fashion was to avoid being "barbaric" in any way, so they tend to be more elegant, soft with a calculating, powerful and respectful side...

That's an Aogiri (梧桐), common name: Chinese parasol tree

Physical comparison:

In the Tang period, beards, in opposition of Japan, where sign of masculinity, knowledge and power, china didn't have this "barbaric" ideology, they where proud of their manly appearance, strong and proud as the Aogiri tree (where the phoenix lays in).

Futou(幞头) was a cap that Chinese people in tang dynasty wore, it evolved directly from silk scarves that we wear to protect our hair, like a pirate...or Archie in this context.

Also, we know that, Groudon is black and red, like Maxie, meanwhile Kyogre is blue and white. why is Archie wearing black and not white then, (thing is, he IS wearing white in ORAS), so why isn't the original Archie wearing white?

The answer is in the Tang dynasty, again! Remember the Confucian ideas that the Tang dynasty and Nara period followed?

In Confucian philosophy black represent water, not blue or white!

Tang emperors wore black robes to embody water's stabilising power, contrasting with red, that represent fire.

Water and fire are opposites, representing winter vs summer and South and North.

Now, another question that came to my head, why Matsubusa? Why Aogiri? Why those plants specifically?? Why? Is it because Aogiri comes from the word blue? If so why is Matsubusa not named Sanekazura? Matsubusas aren't red, they are black. why? Is it because of the mountain thing? That's why they chose Matsubusa?

So why Aogiri, Aogiri doesn't need a lot of water, they handle dry environments pretty well, there are a ton of plants that are related to the colour blue or water at Kyushu, same thing for matsubusa.

Is there a way, we can link Matsubusa with Aogiri, to explain the why they chose those name?

Yes, there is only ONE link between Matsubusa and Aogiri

And this link appears in the Tang and Nara period

AGAIN !

Tang poetry and Waka(specifically manyoshu), the history of Matsubusa and Aogiri

You guys remember when I was talking about Japan taking a lot of inspiration, almost copying Tang dynasty, they took a lot, and part of it is poetry.

Manyoshu are small poems that Nara copied from Tang poetry, knowing that Kyushu was where Manyoshu was introduced, as well as Tang poetry for Japan, we can easily make the link between Maxie, Archie and Hoenn.

How? Easy

Waka use plants, flower and nature in general to express feelings and ideas, Japanese poets use the shape, season and physical appearance of a plant to determine their symbolism.

That's how hanakotoba appeared, and how a lot of plants, that look too similar to ones that have a lot of poetic meanings, end up inheriting those symbols

That's what happens with Matsubusa and Sanekazura, does Matsubusa appear directly in Waka? there was a botanic confusion, and since Nara was heavily relying on poetry to identify plants, both of them were referred to as さなかづら(old Sanekazura), it's so confusing even in some wikis, that's why Maxie isn't named Sanekazura, because both plants have the same symbolism and they choose the one that started with an M.

So, What do Matsubusas symbolise?

It's now time for a poetry lesson:

There is approximately ~10 Wakas with the さなかづら

Most of them are anonymous, and I will ask you personally to not make your research yet

...

All of them are love poems

Every. Single. One. Describes pure. Raw. Romantic love.

Poem 94?

"On Mimuro Mountain where jeweled combs lie scattered,the sanakazura vines—without sleeping together, will they endure until dawn? Thus I vow to my wife."

Romantic frustration, about a guy who yearn for his lover, but she isn't here, and at night he hope to see her, and like the Sanekazura, even if they are apart, his love will always be there.

3071?

"Along the Tanba road, on mighty Ōe Mountain, the sanakazura never ceases—nor does the heart that thinks of me."

Never ending love, no mater what, like the Sanekazura that grow under the thunder or rain.

3280-81-88?

"Trusting in great ship's thoughts as mooring, the sanakazura vines—ever more distant, drawn long apart"

The great ship symbolises Love and a romantic relationship, that the rope of sanakazura tries to keep close forever, but the sea tries to rip it apart and take the boat. The sanakazura, filled with determination, keeps fighting everyday, trying to keep the boat steady, even thought its meaningless, and harms the sanakazura everyday.

2269?

"On the ash-covered hills, the mountain sanakazura—until its fruit ripens red, shall I not meet my beloved? Thus I languish in love."

A man helplessly waiting on a hill for his lover, staring at the sanakazura vine until its berries turn red in fall, but wondering if the pain will ever stop without a reunion. The vine clings forever, just like those feelings you can't shake off, no matter how long you wait

That's why sanakazura's hanakotoba mean 再会(reunion).

So to resume

Sanakazura, and Matsubusa per extension, in Waka symbolise a love that we yearn for, that can't go and that brings loneliness, a long, crushing agony that stays even after years, because we can't get rid of this love, and deep down we stubbornly wish to keep it even if it hurts everyday.

...doesn't that sound like someone?

Someone, even after years of fighting, of hating, still keeps the feeling of the other close, but doesn't act on their feelings because they know this rivalry is necessary and respect the other's vision and ambition? But still, alone, keeps the great ship steady, even if it hurts?

You know what would be crazy?

It would be crazy if Aogiri had the same meaning, right? That Aogiri in Tang poetry would mean the same type of love we can only yearn for, right?

That would be a hell of a coincidence, right?

Right?

Aogiri was in the famous Tang poems "Song of Everlasting Sorrow (Chang Hen Ge)"

(tw, Chinese is really hard to translate, and I tried to understand it as much as possible, so please tell me if there is any errors)

The emperor was so enamoured by a women, but the empire judged that this obsession for her was too strong and decide to kill her when the emperor wasn't there, when he came back he couldn't find her, and grieved over her for the rest of his life, the emperor cried when rain fell on the Aogiri's leaves, the sounds it made sounded exactly like tears and murmurs.

In this poem, the concubine couldn't express her love, because she belonged to the empire and the emperor's son, the only time she could express anything was after her death, with the tears and murmurs of the Aogiri.

The Aogiri symbolises autumnal sorrow, enduring fidelity, and separation's melancholy.

....the Aogiri in tang poetry symbolise a deep, love that cannot be told, the honokotoba is 秘めた恋, secret love, a romantic feelings that is hidden in one's heart so that others don't know about it, or secret love that is avoided by the public eye, feelings that cannot be made public due to circumstances such as unrequited love, adultery, or other external circumstances preventing this love from existing (for example, homosexual love.)

...Doesn't that make you think about SOMEONE... the fact that the Aogiri represents strength but also, deep down, a deep sorrow and sadness that we hide from others??

So the Waka, that is literally just japanese tang poetry, both have one plant that represents the same type of ROMANTIC feeling in two different country that where friends but broke up because of the shift of the Mongols and that are now enemies and fight to spread their beliefs, but in the end, both of their ideas are utter bullshit and they should stop fighting and learn how to live together in harmony, ALL this in Kyushu, THE Kyushu.

...my theory ends here, I just have one thing to say:

All those years, all those hardenshipping fanarts, fanfics, cosplays... everything..

All of this was just China x Japan countryhuman ship pokemon AU