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Idk if it's called Step Forme or Piroutte Forme but anyways...

When you talk to Meloetta in Mystery Dungeon: Gates to Infinity and it transforms from Aria Forme to Step Forme, the Step Forme refers to Aria Meloetta as "my princess" or something, and Aria Meloetta calls Step Meloetta "my prince". What does this mean? Are they two separate Pokemon in one body or something?

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3 Answers

1 vote

I don't like the other answers, so here I go.

Outside of PMD:GTI there has not been potentially gendering terms used for Meloetta. Meloetta is genderless in the games, but that does not inherently determine it's gender in canon (like with Lugia). Here's everything relevant that I have found:

Meloetta is a Pokémon that has a femininely anthropomorphic figure with musical bar-style streaks in its hair, quarter notes (crotchets) (♩) for its arms and hands and pupil-less eyes resembling whole notes (semibreves). It has a jewel on its forehead and a black headpiece that seems to be shaped like a treble clef, which doubles as an attached microphone such as one often used by singers. Its ovular head seems to be a third of its body's height and about half its height in width. In its Aria Forme, Meloetta has light blue eyes and flowing, wavy hair with light-blue ovals that resemble whole notes. In its Pirouette Forme, it has auburn hair that seems to be stylized in a high bun and red eyes. In both forms, its midriff and eyes match its hair. It is a gender-unknown species.

Meloetta may be based on a muse, a goddess in Greek mythology with the ability to inspire artistic creation. Meloetta may also be seen as a personification of music since its design has multiple references to musical notation: its headpiece resembles a stylized treble clef, its fingerless hands and slim arms are shaped after musical notes, and its hair resembles staff lines with bar lines.

Meloetta's Pirouette Forme resembles a ballerina wearing a tutu, with its "hair" curled up in a bun, or possibly the headdress worn by Nefertiti in her namesake sculpture. This form may also take inspiration from Spanish Flamenco dancers.

Its transformation between forms, particularly in Pokémon the Series, is reminiscent of a magical girl transformation sequence.

Meloetta may be a combination of melody, pirouette (a type of movement in ballet), operetta, and the Italian feminine diminutive suffix -etta.

And here's what I found for PMD:GTI in specific:

Meloetta: After defeating the Bittercold and clearing the Worldcore dungeon, it will appear in the player's Paradise. It will then ask the player to gather parts to build a Musical Paradise shop. After building the shop and changing the Paradise's theme, it will ask to join the player's team. Meloetta has two alter egos depending on its forme

I looked through the PMD:GTI dialogue, script and while Meloetta is talking between forms to itself(?) and referring to one another as "My Prince" and "My Princess", I believe that is to help the player differentiate between the two talking to itself, as each Meloetta, while being the same, has two distinct personalities. It's possible they picked the more masculine royal term for pirouette form simply because fighting/fighting type is typically seen as more masculine.

It is important to realize that masculinity doesn't necessarily mean a man and femininity don't necessarily mean a woman. While these terms are heavily gendered, that doesn't necessarily mean that Meloetta identifies with the gendered associated with the terms.

Unfortunately, I could not find anything in Japanese. I was hoping to find some dialog notes in Japanese, but I could not find it. I have skimmed through literal hundreds of PMDGTI playthroughs in Japanese, but I could not find one that obtains Meloetta, so unfortunately I cannot speak for the Japanese versions. Something to keep in mind is that sometimes the translations are weird with gendered things, as Japanese doesn't use a lot of pronouns. I am very curious as to what terms they used in the original; if anyone can find that, I can update this with an explanation of what's said and an interpretation.

Keep in mind, PMD:GTI isn't necessarily canon to Pokémon lore. Even if Pirouette forme is a male in that game, that does not mean it is a male in the rest of the Pokeverse.

Conclusion:

Meloetta, while genderless, has multiple references and is designed to be feminine in both forms. While being gendered with masculine terms in PMI:GTI, that does not mean that it is a boy, and despite it being designed incredibly feminine, that does not mean it is a girl, either. There has been no she/he pronouns used for Meloetta, and there has been no confirmed gender for Meloetta. TL;DR, Meloetta is just Meloetta.

Please help me find this in Japanese to expand upon this answer.

Sources:
Transcripts
Meloetta Bulbapedia Page
PMDGTI Bulbapedia

ago by
0 votes

To be honest, the PMD series (Gates to Infinity especially) don't conform with the normally listed genders of legendary Pokemon. Virizion is referred to as "Lady Virizion", while Keldeo is highly suggested to be male and Victini is referred to as he. Also, Meloetta is supposedly genderless, but in the anime she's depicted as female in both her forms.

If you really want to give this some form of Freudian analysis, Meloetta could have multiple personality disorder, or is simply two genders simultaneously. Human concepts of gender are rather limited and narrow, and Meloetta can be what s/he wants to be.

It's a life choice.

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I already know the mystery dungeon games don't treat legendaries' genders as genderless. I just want to know why they refer Meloetta's Step Forme as a male and a female in one.
Why not? Pokemon can do what they like. It just so happens that the writers chose to portray Pirouette Meloetta as male. It serves no plot purpose in PMD: GTI, so it's just a preference on part of the writers.
Yeah, they claim most legends are He's...
–2 votes

Well, I personally preferred to refer to Meloetta as Female, but from what she says in PMD: GtI, there is a chance that she basically has two personalities or is even transgender in both forms, but are essentially the same Pokémon and same gender. The only reason I could come up with was that in the BW anime, Meloetta in her Aria form is pretty shy, but gets used to someone she meets for the first time pretty quickly (like with Dawn and even developed a possible crush on Ash), while her Pirouette form is basically her "Battling form". This is evident with the fact that her Pirouette form is only usable in battle after using Relic Song, even though hacking the form in (via PKSM on a save file of Pokémon X or Y and Sun/Ultra Sun or Moon/Ultra Moon or PKHeX on Black, White, Black 2, White 2 and Scarlet & Violet) works just fine and even reverts back to Pirouette form after changing to Aria form in battle. Still, it is confusing that she calls her Pirouette form as "My prince!" and vice versa as "My princess!", even though she is the same gender, Female, despite not even having a specified gender to begin with even in a spin-off like Mystery Dungeon.

ago by
am i stupid or is this answer just not really saying anything
what are you talking about
is this a comment