Pokémon world: Difference between revisions

If you were looking for the opening theme to the Orange Islands arc of the anime, see Pokémon World (song) or Pokémon World (single), the article for its CD release.

If you were looking for the world in which the Pokémon Mystery Dungeon series takes place, see Pokémon World (Mystery Dungeon)

This article is incomplete. Please feel free to edit this article to add missing information and complete it.

The Pokémon world is the main planet for the Pokémon franchise, set in the Pokémon universe. It bears some striking similarities with the real world, certainly deriving inspiration from it, but many factors set it apart as a different place from our own world.

Culture

Culturally, the many depictions of the world all reflect a popular fascination with Pokémon and their interactions with humans, including catching them, training them, battling them, raising them, keeping them as pets, studying them, and utilizing their varied skills. Several myths discuss the relationship between humans and Pokémon as a very close one, and one folk tale even says that there was a time when humans and Pokémon were considered one and the same.

The history of the Pokémon world is notably different from our own, and seems to be dictated primarily between the interactions between humans and Pokémon. There does not seem to be a major world religion, but some believe in the ancient myths based around Legendary Pokémon, so it plausible that the population believes in Pokémon as their religion. Backing this up, most people are generally kind and respect Pokémon. Shinto shrines and crosses have both been seen, however. Also, Brock made reference to the story of Noah featured in the Old Testament of the Bible in Pokémon Shipwreck.

Pokémon

Pokémon have been seen within this world as being both supplements and replacements for animals and plants that exist within the real world. Regular animals and plants have been seen in some of the older media although animals have been seen much less then plants. Most people respect Pokémon and treat them kindly, yet there exist people who take advantage of them and exploit their abilities. Recreations of natural ecosystems are done with Pokémon. It is presumed that some Pokémon eat others, and humans have made references to occasionally eating Pokémon as well. This is encountered mostly with fish Pokémon and cattle based Pokémon such as Miltank. While some Pokémon have abilities that are normal or only slightly distorted from reality, many more Pokémon have abilities that are completely original and have no counterparts within the real world. There is a possibility that both animals and Pokémon exist with in this world in a complicated ecosystem. This may be the case since humans clearly exist so it is thought that other animals might as well exist too. Though other animals may have been killed off by the Pokémon but, if this is so then it would be likely that they would have killed off humans too.

Geography and timeframe

A map of the known world in the anime, as of the tenth movie

Geographically, the world is split into a few large political regions, such as Kanto and Hoenn. The regions are generally thought to be part of a larger country because of the term National Dex, but they are all perhaps part of a world nation. The geography of the regions are strikingly similar to Japan, but in a much larger scale, as seen in the fifth movie (the only time when the entire planet is clearly shown). There are only four offical regions, yet others such as Orre and Fiore have been introduced in other games.

Regardless, the games have referenced real places on Earth, such as South America, Australia, China, Antarctic, the United States, and the Pacific Ocean and the anime and related products have referenced places such as Hollywood, California, Minnesota, England, and Paris, France.

However, if the Pokémon world is not Earth, it must be similar, having a similar moon, similar climates, and so on. Many different theories exist as to exactly how the Pokémon world relates to our own.

Physics and technology

Science and technology in the Pokémon world is more advanced than the real world. Technological advances have evolved the Pokémon world, scientists have created way to storage Pokémon on computers, send Pokémon around the world, send Pokémon back in time and clone fossils to create prehistoric Pokémon, yet peoples lives in the games are simply and very natural. Scientific achievements such as cloning and energy conversion mingle with magical elements such as spontaneous evolution and flowers that can replay a short time sequence, giving one the sense that the Pokémon world is very different from our own. The state of technology conceivably places the timeframe we see in either the present day, or perhaps in the future, but this is merely speculative. Scientists at the Devon Corporation and other companies are still working on more advanced and slightly inpossible inventions like a Pokémon Dream Projector that makes a visual projection of Pokémon dreams, Pokémon Speaker that allows communication with Pokémon and Pokémon Transformator that turns people into Pokémon.

One of the most advanced and commonly used technology used in the Pokémon World is the Poké Ball which transfers a Pokémon into energy so it can be contained in the small ball. In a battle, once the opposing wild Pokémon has been weakened, the Trainer will throw a Poké Ball at it. Assuming the Poké Ball hits it and is not dodged or hit back to the Trainer, the Poké Ball will open, convert the wild Pokémon to an energy form, pull the energy into its hollow center, and then close. The wild Pokémon will then be given the chance to struggle to try and escape the Poké Ball. Poké Balls originated from apricorns, which is a non-synthetic Poké Ball. Old apricorn Poké Balls were able to be unscrewed at the disproportionate top and manually be released, to let the Pokémon out. There are now several different kinds of Poké Balls, each for different occasions, including the infamous Master Ball which is able to capture a wild Pokémon without failure.

Despite the amount of advanced technology available, comparatively few modes of transportation are seen. This may be because the world is often shown through the eyes of a Pokémon Trainer, who usually travel on foot for a variety of practical reasons such as cost and finding wild Pokémon. Or maybe some transportation such as cars and trucks are harmful to the natural environment and Pokémon by the poisonous pollution from the vehicles. The most common transportation used to get to other regions or islands is by sailing by boat or ship, as it is quick and easy to get to other lands, while most regions have their own ferry.

There are moments where the physics of the Pokémon world are stretched to unrealistic degrees, but this is usually for dramatic or comedic purposes. Some common examples are unusual feats of strength and agility, surviving lethal attacks, and hammerspace. A special subset is Team Rocket. They always manage to get launched hundreds of feet into the air. However, people standing five feet away will not even be moved, and Team Rocket never gets seriously hurt from the flight, which would surely kill a normal person.

Trivia

• The existence of foreign Pokédex entries might lead to the fact that there are other languages in the Pokémon world.

External links

On Bulbagarden forums

• Pokémon world discussion forum