Pokemon: X/Y “My Body is Ready!” [JPN vs ENG]

Not my screenshot. Source.

This post is part of a series on reader requested (and personal curiosity) comparisons between various games’ Japanese and English versions. Last time I looked into one of Soleil’s lines from Fire Emblem: Fates.

Today’s post is a small one, and covers a reader request:

“In Pokemon X/Y, there’s a guy who quotes that “my body is ready” meme. Just curious what it was in Japanese.”

I remember that guy too! So let’s take a look:

“My body is ready!”

The following conversation takes place with Veteran Timeo, found on Victory Road:

Japanese	Literal Translation	Official Localization
チャンピオンロードでの　修行で鍛え抜かれた　この　カラダ！おまえさんに　オレが　倒せるかい？	This is the body I’ve forged through all my training here on Victory Road! Think you can defeat me?!	After all the training I’ve received here on Victory Road, my body is ready! Think you can defeat me?!

Pretty straightforward! It’s actually a very accurate translation. The localization saw an opportunity to fit the meme in rather seamlessly and decided to do so. It probably led to some chuckles from fans who understood it, and probably didn’t turn any heads from those who didn’t, as it still fit rather well.

In my personal opinion, it’s actually a good use of a meme. It’s not too jarring for those who would not know it, nor did the localization have to change the meaning in anyway. It was as if it was built for it.

Generally, the more hit or miss situations with memes are those that may break the willing suspension of disbelief, or the timelessness of a game. The ones that are most jarring are the ones where localization inserts a meme at the expense of valuable dialogue/meaning that exists in the original version.

None of that happens here though! So there we go!

Summary infographic:

I will continue to look at fun differences between the versions of sorts of games when I get time! This reader actually had a few other things to look into (an entire list, actually), so expect to see some more from the 3DS Pokemon games in the future.

Any dialogue you’re interested in? Feel free to send in comments or via email!