Speculation Just what is Mr. Bonding? (ORAS spoilers)

[Osprey]

Just about anyone who's played X or Y can remember the weird guy called Mr. Bonding, the weirdo whose catchphrase "It's bonding time!" (and the fade-to-black right after saying that and giving you an O-Power) has left way too much to the imagination.

During Omega Ruby or Alpha Sapphire, a player can receive O-Powers from several strange men in Mauville City (Giddy, Hipster, Trader, Storyteller, and Bard). Yes, strange guys... even the NPC's nearby comment on how weird they are. Anyways, apparently, after you have received all O-Powers from each man, this happens.

What's obvious is that Mr. Bonding isn't just creepy; he was never a normal being to begin with. So, just what is he? Do O-Powers themselves have something to do with this? And with that in mind, what do you think really happens whenever Mr. Bonding gives an O-Power to some random kid in Kalos? Discuss.

 

[Kallyle]

Mr. Bonding started out as a powerless man, and the five strange men were capable of giving others O-Powers. When they wanted to retire, they gave the man power, which seems to be them merging into one to become Mr. Bonding.

However, I'm starting to think that's not the case. The men said they wanted to retire, but merging with a man so he can give out O-Powers isn't exactly retiring if they're now one being. If anything, that would be suicide. So, what if instead of merging, the men were actually O-Power spirits that wanted to move on to the afterlife? This would make perfect sense, and explains why they aren't there anymore despite Mr. Bonding appearing. The five spirits simply gave the man power, and departed for the afterlife, passing on their mantle to Mr. Bonding as he is now.

As for what he does when he gives Kalos kids O-Powers, I still haven't got a clue.

 

[BlackButterfree]

Well, there's the obvious, inappropriate assumption about Mr. Bonding and Calem/Serena... But I agree with Kallyle. They're probably ghosts...

 

[Robo-Floatzel]

Back in X/Y I just saw Mr. Bonding as just a normal human being who gave out O-powers, but now I depict him as some sort of otherworldly entity in a similar vein to Q from Star Trek: The Next Generation, albeit to a less chaotic extent.

 

[Cute Charm]

I don't have any theories on what exactly Mr. Bonding is...but for some reason I can't stop thinking about Giddy's brother.

Does he even know that his brother has either died or combined with other men to become an otherworldly pervert O-Power peddler?

 

[Kallyle]

I don't have any theories on what exactly Mr. Bonding is...but for some reason I can't stop thinking about Giddy's brother.

Does he even know that his brother has either died or combined with other men to become an otherworldly pervert O-Power peddler?

You know what? I never even thought about that. For that matter, what about the other men's loved ones? Were they aware of this as well? This has some interesting implications.

Do you Mr. Bonding had the decency to explain it to other men's loved ones? I sure hope so...

 

[Steel_Justice]

He's obviously the Pokemon equivalent of Captain Planet

"By your O Powers combined. I am Mr. Bonding!"

In all seriousness those guys were definitely not human if they could perform a DBZ fusion dance with an ordinary guy. They were probably spirits of some kind, after all we've seen those before in these games and I'm not talking about ghost types. So Mr Bonding is probably a spiritual/magical being now since he's the fusion of powers from multiple strange beings.

 

[The Outrage]

Bonding is definitely an amalgamation of the powerless man and the consciousness of the Mauville men. Before Giddy "retired" he told the guy that he wanted to see a lot of sunsets from all over the world so I think they're still in there somewhere.

 

[firepanda]

A pervert. I thought we established this in XY?

 

[Team Gaara]

Having just seen what goes down in my own game, I just have to say that I'm terrified. Terrified. You cannot convince me otherwise that those five guys essentially died.

GAME. FREAK. STAHP.

 

[Kelleo]

Why do people call Mr. Bonding a pervert/inappropriate/etc.? Is it because you sometimes meet him in a hotel room? You people have sick minds. This is a KID'S game. What's more, you don't even find him in a hotel room EVERY time you encounter him. Sometimes you see him in the Pokemon Center too, and when you get the final O-Power, you meet him in a cafe in Lumiose City.

Now if you ALWAYS had to meet him in a hotel room, it would be weird. But because you don't, it's not that awkward.

But to actually answer the topic question, I always thought he was simply a person with mystic powers. We've seen such people in Pokemon before, like the psychics and Sabrina at the Saffron gym.

 

[Ziggy Stardust]

Having just seen what goes down in my own game, I just have to say that I'm terrified. Terrified. You cannot convince me otherwise that those five guys essentially died.

GAME. FREAK. STAHP.

To be honest, I'm not sure they were exactly alive.

 

[AlphaGreninja]

An abomination. A perverted abomination. If those five guys FUSED with someone else to create him, who knows what he can do? For all we know, his delivery of the O-Powers in XY could be something... weird.

 

[Vivillon]

Mr. Bonding is the vessel containing the men's essence of power. The power of bonding/love caused him to change into a more loving shade of pink rather than the dull business gray. He is nothing evil, just carrying and sharing the powers of the five men. Sharing the love, he can bestow upon people the power of friendship. It's bonding time!

 

[Toa of Gallifrey]

Why do people call Mr. Bonding a pervert/inappropriate/etc.? Is it because you sometimes meet him in a hotel room? You people have sick minds. This is a KID'S game. What's more, you don't even find him in a hotel room EVERY time you encounter him. Sometimes you see him in the Pokemon Center too, and when you get the final O-Power, you meet him in a cafe in Lumiose City.

Now if you ALWAYS had to meet him in a hotel room, it would be weird. But because you don't, it's not that awkward.

But to actually answer the topic question, I always thought he was simply a person with mystic powers. We've seen such people in Pokemon before, like the psychics and Sabrina at the Saffron gym.

I think it's the screen dimming in XY that leaves too much to the imagination. They did away with that in ORAS, though, now I just think he's a Human Kaita (look up Toa Kaita).

 

[Almonds]

Mr. Bonding is the vessel containing the men's essence of power. The power of bonding/love caused him to change into a more loving shade of pink rather than the dull business gray. He is nothing evil, just carrying and sharing the powers of the five men. Sharing the love, he can bestow upon people the power of friendship. It's bonding time!

I support this. At least we know where Mr. Bonding got his powers, and what purpose they're supposed to serve.

 

[Ampharos King]

Mr. Bonding's situation is little more than a metaphor of the O-Power system.

Remember in the game that Mr. Bonding was a powerless man. He had no comrades or friends, and he felt like he could not amount to anything. Only when he received help from others was Mr. Bonding able to conquer his adversity.

Mr. Bonding's original form symbolically represents a player who desperately needs O-Powers (i.e. an unskilled or beginner player). Just like Mr. Bonding, a beginner may be isolated from other players and could struggle to get past certain parts of the game.

Giddy and his comrades represent the online players who give Mr. Bonding the powers he needs to succeed. Just like the Internet players, the quintet only appear temporarily and disappear from the radar once they give away their O-Powers to the disadvantaged person. As such, the five men are more or less phantoms; they are present and not present at the same time.

I don't think Mr. Bonding and the five other men literally fused into one. I believe that Mr. Bonding is simply the original man who managed to change and grow after he received power from others. The changes to his physical appearance are visual cues that he is no longer that powerless man.

 

[Esserise]

Setting aside the curiosities of Mr. Bonding's true nature, what of Giddy's brother Gaddy in the Kalos region (there's a man who lives in Laverre and quotes the "scintillating story" line, and his daughter says that his brother lives in the Hoenn region)? Are there more of whatever these Mauville men out there?

 

[Kallyle]

Okay, I have a new theory on Mr. Bonding's nature that could not only make his origin less disturbing, but also doesn't rob Giddy's brother of a family member. First off all, what if the powerless man was Giddy all along? Well, he's a part of Giddy anyways. I know it's confusing but bare with me here.

What if, sometime after Giddy set out on his own to Hoenn, some sort of strange event allowed a power buried deep within him to be unlocked, but ended up having a side-effect. Basically, poor Giddy's physical form couldn't handle such power, he ended up splitting his body and soul into six different pieces: the powerless man (AKA Giddy's original body), the hipster, the bard, the trader, the storyteller, and Giddy's consciousness/mind (the man who actually refers to himself as Giddy). Basically, the powerless man was a souless shell, and the other men were different aspect's of Giddy's soul (his personality and mind). After realizing what has happened, Giddy and his other selves made an effort to try and draw back their shell through their newly acquired O-Powers. However, they couldn't do it alone: this is where Brendan/May come in, presumably as well as several others. Through giving people O-Powers, Giddy and his other selves were able to become stable enough to make it so that they could give other people permanent access to O-Powers, which allowed the player to briefly restore sanity to Giddy's body and draw it to Giddy's mind and the rest of his soul. Since Giidy was stable enough, he could now become whole: in addition to keeping the ability to grant O-powers to others!

In the end, you didn't kill Giddy and the other men: you just made Giddy whole!

 

[SuperFamicorn]

Bonding is definitely an amalgamation of the powerless man and the consciousness of the Mauville men. Before Giddy "retired" he told the guy that he wanted to see a lot of sunsets from all over the world so I think they're still in there somewhere.

I think that, through the power of Mr. Bonding, the rainbow men live on through the O-Powers as they glide around the world. When you share an O-Power, you give their happiness, receive it, and carry the men through their afterlife. They're kinda doing as they did in life in death!