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celestialholz · 2 years

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Normal/Flying/Enigma - or 'Larry is a goddamn Christmas present, and here's what I found when I unwrapped him'

... Fucking Larry, huh? Mad guy. Absolutely unhinged set of pixels. He's got as many interpretations as days in the year - autism, depression, the working man stereotype, 'just a dude', to name a few - but... and I know this is a bold claim, but I think I've got him figured out. I've already meta'd him before on a smaller scale, and concluded that Mister Quiet, Calm and Collected here is actually a secret showman who loves crowd approval, so let's carry on.

Let's work our way under his skin, yeah? You just sit there and eat onigiri king, take a well-deserved break.

Let's start with the obvious: Larry has no clue who he is. He gives you the Facade TM, tells you he hopes you have no need to put on the same front as him, and then during his rematch says this on why he loves Normal types:

... Which is all well and good, right? Fair, valid, pretty regular guy - except oh no wait, hang on, he is literally the least ordinary trainer in this franchise.

This right here is a perfect example of the duality of Larry already, and we've just started. He's a showman, an exhibitionist in the Pokemon arena, and he duel-serves as Elite Four and gym leader.

Just to put that into context for those fans who are newer than my veteran ass, no one does that. Even those who got promoted later - Lance, Koga and Wallace, unless I'm forgetting anyone else - have never wielded two titles simultaneously. And even in their promotions, Lance, Koga and Wallace keep their damn types. They don't master a whole new one, at the highest of battling levels, on a goddamn whim because their boss said to. Whether he likes it or not, by the established standards of this series, Larry is a fucking genius. Even those with mixed teams don't hold type mastery to this degree. Whether or not you personally found him easy or difficult to defeat either time is not the point - literally, no one's doing it like he is. He trains four entire new team members, between his three jobs (because oh yeah, he's got another one), to the late fifties/early sixties in levels and acts like it ain't shit. That's endgame levels to anyone else, the culmination of their eighteen-badge journey or their literal years of training - for Larry, it's fucking LEISURE TIME. Man's doing this in front of Netflix.

... And we're supposed to believe he's NORMAL? And the thing is, I don't even think he's gaslighting us, at least not consciously - he genuinely believes this. This is his normal.

No wonder Geeta sticks him in the gym right next to Area Zero. 90% sure he could solo the place if you gave him a few hours to go and catch the right team. Don't even know what we're doing here, to be quite honest. Might as well go home and hug the Skwovet in my own lounge, the adorable little bastard. What the honest fuck.

My man, take a look in that mirror as you munch those delicious rice balls. There ain't a single thing regular about you. Larry seems to have no clue that his life is anything but standard - he walks around wearing a facade. His penultimate mon, which I've covered the significance of before with Flapple and Hassel (and with Larry himself here), is Staraptor, a lone wolf, who leaves the flock upon evolving to live alone, and yet his ace Flamigo only functions well in a group. Just a quick compare-and-contrast between the dex entries of them both here:

... Excuse me whilst I error 404. He's got so little clue who he is, even his team has personality conflicts.

Thing is, right... if he walks around wearing a facade, why does he? In fact, whilst we're on the subject of his team, why doesn't he take his clearly vacation-themed team ON A VACATION?

Look at these guys.

Palm trees, tropical birds, blue skies with clouds, and... well, Staraptor's clearly his favourite. Man's got a holiday-themed squad, which leads us to another core point:

Larry doesn't drown himself in work because he likes it, he does it because he doesn't have anything else.

Logically, Larry must make bank. We don't know what the gym leaders get paid - though for the first time, we know that they definitely do, thanks to this:

(Thank you for that little screenshot, @prince-kallisto. <3)

And not only does he get paid from this, but he's in the Elite Four - every sensible conclusion says that this man has to be one of the highest-paid trainers in Paldea. And he's got a third job that we don't even know about. Bearing in mind that every other adult NPC in this game seems to get along just fine with one or two jobs, I don't think we need to remotely worry about Larry's finances.

And he doesn't particularly like any of his jobs, so he doesn't do them for love... and if he doesn't take any time off, he must be drowning in potential time to take off...

So, why doesn't he go on holiday? Why does he drown himself in work he dislikes when he has no financial need to; why does he live a lie; why doesn't he find out who he is?

Well, there's only one thing that really connects all that together, isn't there?

Larry's life is a void because he's alone.

When people are lost, they throw themselves into work to find purpose. What's the point of going on holiday when you've got no one to go with? This man does embody a stereotype perfectly, but it's probably not the one you think. It's much simpler - 'money can't buy you happiness.'

He tells you about this loneliness himself, in a way.

Larry has normal and regular interests, in a world where he is anything but, and people only want to be surprised. No one gets him, whether because they're not on his battling level, or because he's too ordinary. And when no one gets you... how are you supposed to get yourself? However introverted we are, we experience ourselves partly through others. He has the Elite Four, who are 100% a found family, but... the problem with that is that they accept him at face value because they love him. Which is amazing and all, we adore that, but it means no one gets under his skin.

And the further problem of that is that he's no happier deep-down. And that's not on his colleagues, not at all. Rika is relaxed and easygoing, Poppy is a child, and Hassel... well, Hassel is drama, Hassel is married. Hassel has his own perfect love story already. Hassel has already seen someone a little bit like Larry before - directionless, depressed, unsure of his own self - and he went and promised him forever anyway. (Hello Brassius, I see you king. Be careful on that windmill.)

... And that... yeah, that's kind of the crux of it all. Larry needs him someone very much like Hassel; someone who sees through every layer of facade, someone who accepts. (... I realise this is me right now, and yes, I do volunteer as tribute. Come here, you beautiful fucking not-normal man. <3)

Essentially, what I'm saying is...

Larry needs a partner... and I don't mean another Pokemon one.

But, as sad a conclusion as that is... he's learning, by the end of your time with him.

(Can we talk about the chef lady in the background, by the way, who is ignoring her TikTok to listen to his conclusion? What a sweetheart.)

We've taught him to open himself up a bit, to start embracing the new and the different. We've started to help this man, and if that isn't the most worthy thing my Nuzlocke son Juan here has done in his adventure through Paldea that wasn't helping a sick dog, I don't know what is.

As much as they annoy us sometimes, happiness is other people. Other people who see your soul, and smile. Perhaps he doesn't even need a romantic partner... perhaps he just needs the world's best friend.

But whatever it is that he needs... let him go on holiday, Game Freak. Let him be him, and very happy because of it. Give him a Hassel who isn't Hassel, and a month off at a certain DLC festival to spend with them. Larry exists in a club of one - he's too talented in the same breath as he's too average.

(Personally, I think he should take Katy, but... hey, that's me and my vanillacupcakes agenda. And the fact her ace is a Normal type who likes dessert.)