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A theory about Lin


Hycrox

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Great analysis. I want to add to the extrapolation of Lin embodying loss, as it is certainly something to consider. One thing you forgot to mention, that Anna is unable to see her when she rides the Hydreigon and fights the Steelix. We know that Anna can see things other people can't. She sees a glow around the player character, strings representing Shelly's friends, burn scars on Charlotte, cracks on Serra's skin, yet for her Lin is not just without any special details, but invisible. This is different than how she sees Radomus, who appears just as a normal human to her. Some have speculated Anna can see people's souls, which makes sense, as the player, aka who Bennett calls the golden child, has a shining or glowing soul to Anna. Shelly has a friendly soul, Charlotte a burned (by fire and guilt) soul, Serra a vain soul cracked by her obsession with beauty/appearance. To Anna, I suspect she sees Radomus as normal perhaps because he has a pure or normal soul. And as for Lin Anna sees nothing, Lin is invisible because her ability to see souls means she cannot see one where there is none. Therefore, it is highly likely Lin has no soul and has possibly lost her soul permanently as a result some incident. This is the true meaning of her loss. A loss of what makes her human, perhaps even trading her soul away for the power of immortality and invincibility as you mentioned.

 

This next part is speculation on my end. I think that she is cursed with immortality and is trying to free herself from the curse of being immortal. With how powerful she is, acting like the world is her playground and the player is a toy, the one thing she cannot control is her own death. Steel will not make her bleed. She says this in a show of power, but ironically that is the one thing she is powerless to. This may seem absurd, but consider how boring it would be to live endlessly, never feeling any human emotion, except a hunger for power, power that you seek because the one thing that matters, ending this cruel inhuman existence, you are completely powerless to. I suspect this is why she yearns to make others feel powerless such as in the Devon Corp because that is exactly how she feels. Yet that is not her true motive. If this is at least partially true, her true motive is to break her curse of immortality and that somehow involves getting the keys to reborn and getting to whatever it is they unlock, perhaps to whatever it was that blessed/cursed with her immortality (in exchange for her soul?) in the first place. One thing that points to this is that she never actually harms the player, the golden child, and I believe that is because the player is the golden key to reborn, thus being crucial to her ending her own immortality, which is not a blessing but a curse of a soulless, emotionless, endless life. 

 

Finally, I want to look at the scene where she is sliced apart in Shade's gym. We know two souls have already been taken, which Shade promised, thus many claim Lin will not die or the scene is somehow a fake death. Yet if Lin has already LOST her soul, it cannot be taken again. Thus I believe it is entirely possible that Lin will die, and moreover, she will be GLAD to die. If Shade's gym really shows her true death, that will be her peaceful ending, the end of her curse. That is the true twist of the game, that Lin's death was her ultimate goal the whole time. Everything leading up to that is just a means to that end and a facade for her lack of control. For all her "pure, unbridled power", she is ironically the most powerless character in the game. Let me know your thoughts.

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11 hours ago, Hycrox said:

It's been a good while since I posted here. I scarcely posted anything related to the fangame known as Pokémon Reborn, even with it being the very epicenter of this community. But without further ado, let's get into this theory. Keep in mind there are possible spoilers, so if you haven't played the game, better do so right now.

 

So 18 episodes in, and Lin is still a character shrouded in mystery. We don't know who, or what, she truly is, or even what her objective is. Is it to dominate, or just to create chaos? Does she even have an objective? Well, I think we can figure this out by paying attention to certain details. This theory won't address any entities that are possibly related to Lin, such as Terra and a "baby Arceus" mentioned in Terra's world, and will instead focus on what we know about Lin herself.

 

So the first time we ever see Lin is at the Abandoned Power Plant. Of course, not in person. Let me elaborate: inside the Power Plant, there are four panels you can access the first time you're allowed inside. On the top right one, it's shown an individual, seemingly a woman with what vaguely resembles, say, 2009 Brendon Urie's hairstyle. That individual is Lin. The weird thing is that, she seems to be blowing up, literally. Out of context this seems very surreal so just in case, I'll tell you what's the deal with the screens: they show tragic incidents surrounding some of the game's characters, and in all of them they seemingly die. Lin is, of course, one of those cases.

 

  Reveal hidden contents

0Ek60ajm.png

-The first appearance of Lin in the game

 

e8405f6837db84e7f800df4333eb9a4e.png

-Brendon Urie, circa 2009

 

Next time we see her it's at the climax of the first orphans arc. At the top of Tanzan Mountain, after the PULSE within has been destroyed and all the hostages have been freed, Team Meteor is scrambling to retreat for the most part, aside from one individual. Their supreme leader, Lin. She appears in front of Saphira, who is riding a giant Steelix at that point, and makes one of her famous philosophical speeches, one dedicated to the savants of this world. She presents her stance, that of power being all that's significant in this reality. Pure, unbridled power. Her character stands as the symbol of that: an unbreakable, immortal, and relentless force. Emphasis on the immortal, it will be important later on.

 

  Reveal hidden contents

OkDTDbpm.png

-Lin, elucidating yet another philistine with her virtuous ideology

 

At this point the player is yet to see Lin face to face, and they only do so in Episode 16. So between the aforementioned occurrence and the one I'll elaborate on shortly, the player would have gotten 7 badges. More than half of their badge total at the time. So what happens here?

So in an effort to completely restore Reborn City to its former glory, and to rid it from Team Meteor, a hit squad, the player included, is assembled to take the Meteors' hideout in the city down. Said hideout is the old Devon corporation building. But unfortunately, this attempt to break down Team Meteor takes a dire turn: the player, along with the rest of his cohorts, including Ame herself, Reborn's own champion and executive director of Reborn City, is trapped. And so the player is faced with a couple of sets of puzzles, seemingly crafted by the same people who killed John Wick's dog. After each set, you are forced into a battle with one of your cohorts, with Lin's voice and face mediating. Naturally, she reveals her immense wisdom yet again, through her rich and enticing dialogue. The battles imposed on you have a drawback: the loser gets punished in some way. This is where Lin directly exerts her power over the player, showing them death, whether it be a sacrifice, a martyr, or something else, is a constant.

After the puzzles, Lin is etched into the player's memories permanently with one of the most shocking scenes in the game: she murders Ame in cold blood, right in front of the player. Naturally, all you can do is watch this unfold, powerless. This grotesque eventuality is punctuated by Lin's enlightened speech once more, where she once again addresses the matters of death and power. This is where you get to see what Lin truly stands for: cold, cruel, and crushing death.

 

  Reveal hidden contents

52979a9b1db795c153feafd0f1d977f6.png

-As her will, Ame left 30 Alolan Vulpixes to the staff working at the Grand Hall

 

Your fourth encounter with her isn't too distant this time: After clearing most of the path to Titania's battle arena, you find her just after slaying a proxy of either Reshiram or Zekrom, depending on your progress throughout the game so far. As she pressures you into giving her the bracelets you possess, Titania ambushes her. The outcome of this encounter differs, like the battle that came before, according to your ingame progress, but in all cases Titania seemingly ends Lin's life, shattering her to pieces with Aegislash. But shortly after this, you see Lin, good as new, unscathed. From this you gather Lin could be immortal, never faltering with the passage of time. This is perhaps one of the most important things about her, and will soon be the key to figuring her out. This time she's more direct, and doesn't engage in too much philosophical dialogue, possibly because you're nearing the endgame.

 

There is one more encounter with Lin, one where she just questions your purpose in this world. She recognizes you as an entity of great power, not as great as hers, but significant. Hence, she questions your motives, once again with the knowledge she mastered. This one, however, is merely a corroboration of what Lin represents.

 

So, what does all of this mean?

 

From what we've gathered, Lin is an extremely powerful entity with vast knowledge, and seemingly unstoppable and immortal. She's unfazed by the passage of time, and she's deeply connected to the idea of mortality. To put everything together, we need to look into the one thing we haven't touched upon: her name.

 

Unlike many others in this universe, Lin has a short and direct name. Yet it's still widely reembered. Compared to names like Saphira, or Radomus, or Craudburry, all of which have their own air of intrigue, Lin is a much more restricted name, seemingly. As it's hiding something from us. Lin starts with a capital L. This may seen trivial, but if we associate it with what Lin represents, it acquires a whole new meaning.

 

-Looking back to where you find Lin for the first time, it's in that room, on one of the four panels. There being four is a key factor to describing Lin.

-Lin stands for the idea of mortality, and of the impossibility of escaping it.

-Lin herself, however, is seemingly invincible, thus proving death is the one thing that can never be stopped.

-Lin is a short and abrupt name, though instantly recognizable. Just like death.

 

From all this I'm sure there's only one possible conclusion. Beware, for this may be what determines the ultimate outcome of Pokémon Reborn as a whole:

 

  Reveal hidden contents

Lin is the embodiment of loss

  Reveal hidden contents

trchar089.png.0d2f697f0da05edf66007e0ff11318bf.png

 

 

my brain feels like this is a very sophisticated Loss meme

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12 hours ago, Hycrox said:

It's been a good while since I posted here. I scarcely posted anything related to the fangame known as Pokémon Reborn, even with it being the very epicenter of this community. But without further ado, let's get into this theory. Keep in mind there are possible spoilers, so if you haven't played the game, better do so right now.

 

So 18 episodes in, and Lin is still a character shrouded in mystery. We don't know who, or what, she truly is, or even what her objective is. Is it to dominate, or just to create chaos? Does she even have an objective? Well, I think we can figure this out by paying attention to certain details. This theory won't address any entities that are possibly related to Lin, such as Terra and a "baby Arceus" mentioned in Terra's world, and will instead focus on what we know about Lin herself.

 

So the first time we ever see Lin is at the Abandoned Power Plant. Of course, not in person. Let me elaborate: inside the Power Plant, there are four panels you can access the first time you're allowed inside. On the top right one, it's shown an individual, seemingly a woman with what vaguely resembles, say, 2009 Brendon Urie's hairstyle. That individual is Lin. The weird thing is that, she seems to be blowing up, literally. Out of context this seems very surreal so just in case, I'll tell you what's the deal with the screens: they show tragic incidents surrounding some of the game's characters, and in all of them they seemingly die. Lin is, of course, one of those cases.

 

  Hide contents

0Ek60ajm.png

-The first appearance of Lin in the game

 

e8405f6837db84e7f800df4333eb9a4e.png

-Brendon Urie, circa 2009

 

Next time we see her it's at the climax of the first orphans arc. At the top of Tanzan Mountain, after the PULSE within has been destroyed and all the hostages have been freed, Team Meteor is scrambling to retreat for the most part, aside from one individual. Their supreme leader, Lin. She appears in front of Saphira, who is riding a giant Steelix at that point, and makes one of her famous philosophical speeches, one dedicated to the savants of this world. She presents her stance, that of power being all that's significant in this reality. Pure, unbridled power. Her character stands as the symbol of that: an unbreakable, immortal, and relentless force. Emphasis on the immortal, it will be important later on.

 

  Hide contents

OkDTDbpm.png

-Lin, elucidating yet another philistine with her virtuous ideology

 

At this point the player is yet to see Lin face to face, and they only do so in Episode 16. So between the aforementioned occurrence and the one I'll elaborate on shortly, the player would have gotten 7 badges. More than half of their badge total at the time. So what happens here?

So in an effort to completely restore Reborn City to its former glory, and to rid it from Team Meteor, a hit squad, the player included, is assembled to take the Meteors' hideout in the city down. Said hideout is the old Devon corporation building. But unfortunately, this attempt to break down Team Meteor takes a dire turn: the player, along with the rest of his cohorts, including Ame herself, Reborn's own champion and executive director of Reborn City, is trapped. And so the player is faced with a couple of sets of puzzles, seemingly crafted by the same people who killed John Wick's dog. After each set, you are forced into a battle with one of your cohorts, with Lin's voice and face mediating. Naturally, she reveals her immense wisdom yet again, through her rich and enticing dialogue. The battles imposed on you have a drawback: the loser gets punished in some way. This is where Lin directly exerts her power over the player, showing them death, whether it be a sacrifice, a martyr, or something else, is a constant.

After the puzzles, Lin is etched into the player's memories permanently with one of the most shocking scenes in the game: she murders Ame in cold blood, right in front of the player. Naturally, all you can do is watch this unfold, powerless. This grotesque eventuality is punctuated by Lin's enlightened speech once more, where she once again addresses the matters of death and power. This is where you get to see what Lin truly stands for: cold, cruel, and crushing death.

 

  Hide contents

52979a9b1db795c153feafd0f1d977f6.png

-As her will, Ame left 30 Alolan Vulpixes to the staff working at the Grand Hall

 

Your fourth encounter with her isn't too distant this time: After clearing most of the path to Titania's battle arena, you find her just after slaying a proxy of either Reshiram or Zekrom, depending on your progress throughout the game so far. As she pressures you into giving her the bracelets you possess, Titania ambushes her. The outcome of this encounter differs, like the battle that came before, according to your ingame progress, but in all cases Titania seemingly ends Lin's life, shattering her to pieces with Aegislash. But shortly after this, you see Lin, good as new, unscathed. From this you gather Lin could be immortal, never faltering with the passage of time. This is perhaps one of the most important things about her, and will soon be the key to figuring her out. This time she's more direct, and doesn't engage in too much philosophical dialogue, possibly because you're nearing the endgame.

 

There is one more encounter with Lin, one where she just questions your purpose in this world. She recognizes you as an entity of great power, not as great as hers, but significant. Hence, she questions your motives, once again with the knowledge she mastered. This one, however, is merely a corroboration of what Lin represents.

 

So, what does all of this mean?

 

From what we've gathered, Lin is an extremely powerful entity with vast knowledge, and seemingly unstoppable and immortal. She's unfazed by the passage of time, and she's deeply connected to the idea of mortality. To put everything together, we need to look into the one thing we haven't touched upon: her name.

 

Unlike many others in this universe, Lin has a short and direct name. Yet it's still widely reembered. Compared to names like Saphira, or Radomus, or Craudburry, all of which have their own air of intrigue, Lin is a much more restricted name, seemingly. As it's hiding something from us. Lin starts with a capital L. This may seen trivial, but if we associate it with what Lin represents, it acquires a whole new meaning.

 

-Looking back to where you find Lin for the first time, it's in that room, on one of the four panels. There being four is a key factor to describing Lin.

-Lin stands for the idea of mortality, and of the impossibility of escaping it.

-Lin herself, however, is seemingly invincible, thus proving death is the one thing that can never be stopped.

-Lin is a short and abrupt name, though instantly recognizable. Just like death.

 

From all this I'm sure there's only one possible conclusion. Beware, for this may be what determines the ultimate outcome of Pokémon Reborn as a whole:

 

  Hide contents

Lin is the embodiment of loss

  Hide contents

trchar089.png.0d2f697f0da05edf66007e0ff11318bf.png

 

 

damn we just got linrolled

 

5 hours ago, unownbigbone said:

Great analysis. I want to add to the extrapolation of Lin embodying loss, as it is certainly something to consider. One thing you forgot to mention, that Anna is unable to see her when she rides the Hydreigon and fights the Steelix. We know that Anna can see things other people can't. She sees a glow around the player character, strings representing Shelly's friends, burn scars on Charlotte, cracks on Serra's skin, yet for her Lin is not just without any special details, but invisible. This is different than how she sees Radomus, who appears just as a normal human to her. Some have speculated Anna can see people's souls, which makes sense, as the player, aka who Bennett calls the golden child, has a shining or glowing soul to Anna. Shelly has a friendly soul, Charlotte a burned (by fire and guilt) soul, Serra a vain soul cracked by her obsession with beauty/appearance. To Anna, I suspect she sees Radomus as normal perhaps because he has a pure or normal soul. And as for Lin Anna sees nothing, Lin is invisible because her ability to see souls means she cannot see one where there is none. Therefore, it is highly likely Lin has no soul and has possibly lost her soul permanently as a result some incident. This is the true meaning of her loss. A loss of what makes her human, perhaps even trading her soul away for the power of immortality and invincibility as you mentioned.

 

This next part is speculation on my end. I think that she is cursed with immortality and is trying to free herself from the curse of being immortal. With how powerful she is, acting like the world is her playground and the player is a toy, the one thing she cannot control is her own death. Steel will not make her bleed. She says this in a show of power, but ironically that is the one thing she is powerless to. This may seem absurd, but consider how boring it would be to live endlessly, never feeling any human emotion, except a hunger for power, power that you seek because the one thing that matters, ending this cruel inhuman existence, you are completely powerless to. I suspect this is why she yearns to make others feel powerless such as in the Devon Corp because that is exactly how she feels. Yet that is not her true motive. If this is at least partially true, her true motive is to break her curse of immortality and that somehow involves getting the keys to reborn and getting to whatever it is they unlock, perhaps to whatever it was that blessed/cursed with her immortality (in exchange for her soul?) in the first place. One thing that points to this is that she never actually harms the player, the golden child, and I believe that is because the player is the golden key to reborn, thus being crucial to her ending her own immortality, which is not a blessing but a curse of a soulless, emotionless, endless life. 

 

Finally, I want to look at the scene where she is sliced apart in Shade's gym. We know two souls have already been taken, which Shade promised, thus many claim Lin will not die or the scene is somehow a fake death. Yet if Lin has already LOST her soul, it cannot be taken again. Thus I believe it is entirely possible that Lin will die, and moreover, she will be GLAD to die. If Shade's gym really shows her true death, that will be her peaceful ending, the end of her curse. That is the true twist of the game, that Lin's death was her ultimate goal the whole time. Everything leading up to that is just a means to that end and a facade for her lack of control. For all her "pure, unbridled power", she is ironically the most powerless character in the game. Let me know your thoughts.

r/woooosh

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13 hours ago, Hycrox said:

At this point the player is yet to see Lin face to face, and they only do so in Episode 16.

Is this a bad time to note that you have seen her face to face? She walked into the Abra room before going out to destroy the Steelix.

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You missed 2 encounters:

 

After fighting the Abra, Lin walks into the room, Sirius (I think) tries to cover up the Player's presence as "A new recruit", which Lin instantly punctures through, saying "lying is unbecoming of you" or something like that. She seems to instantly recognize the Player.

And then at the end of freeing Agate city, You follow her to an underwater cave. There she says the "power supply could only be created by an act of god" Before it magically appears from nothing, and the player just steps aside to let her pass.

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1 hour ago, Sirrobert said:

You missed 2 encounters:

 

After fighting the Abra, Lin walks into the room, Sirius (I think) tries to cover up the Player's presence as "A new recruit", which Lin instantly punctures through, saying "lying is unbecoming of you" or something like that. She seems to instantly recognize the Player.

And then at the end of freeing Agate city, You follow her to an underwater cave. There she says the "power supply could only be created by an act of god" Before it magically appears from nothing, and the player just steps aside to let her pass.

I thought she said Lying becomes Sirius whatever that means and "To create something from nothing would take an act of God"

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I have a small side-theory that Lin is a vessel/possessed by (baby) arceus or is outright a robot body for it. We know there was a Lin somewhere in the past on the orphanage, we know Adrien saw Lin climbing up the wall, and I'm still thinking the one who told PC to come back soon to play (and the one who Terra referred to in her simulation of Mewtwo's birth report) was (baby) Arceus. 

Abra's room is the first place we see Lin in (not counting Shade, who could even be Giratina) and that was just after we just destroyed team meteor's chance to get into the sealed chambers with the original meteor/arceus. 

And then we've got the self-proclaimed "act of god" which Lin immediately does... 

 

So I'm not actually sure on this one, but I think it would make sense Arceus is just having fun toying with the lifes of humans and Pokémon alike. That's also why Lin favors the PC, because she sees it at the most fun to play with. 

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Maybe it was a gambit that it/she knows isn't going to happen (as the PULSE Abra didn't actually work out) or maybe it's hoping it will give it something akin to a Power high... 

 

Or maybe the theory is wrong hahah it's a pretty wild one I think but also very fun 

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