Pokémon world
- 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).
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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.
However, there exist many individuals that wish to harness Pokémon for their own nefarious deeds. Some of these people are simply do so for material gain while others hold misguided ideals to help the world. In addition, war is not unknown to the Pokémon world, Lt. Surge having fought in at least one. Firearms and other weapons exist, but are not used as often as Pokémon are.
Pokémon
Pokémon are living creatures that inhabit the Pokémon world that live alongside humans. Pokémon have been seen within this world as being both supplements and replacements for animals and plants that exist within the real world. Most people respect Pokémon and treat them kindly, yet there exist people who take advantage of them and exploit their abilities. Pokémon have feelings and can also understand the human language to some extent. Recreations of natural ecosystems are done with Pokémon. 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. Other Pokémon are based off of legends that exist in our world such as Ho-Oh being based off of a phoenix.
Evolution
In a Sinnoh myth, it is said that Pokémon and people were originally one species and the same and over time, some of these creatures split apart from from the rest and became humans. This explores the myth of evolution in the Pokémon world and makes a reference to evolution of animals and humans in the real world.
Reproduction
- Main article: Pokémon breeding
Nearly every Pokémon undergoes some form of reproduction. Fully developed, or Pokémon that passed their baby form can breed with Pokémon of the same egg group. Pokémon that have no genders can only breed with Ditto, baby Pokémon and legendary Pokémon cannot breed at all, with the exception of Manaphy. Like real animals, Pokémon have genders which can sometimes be determined by markings and gender-differences. Usually, a trainer's Pokémon will breed in a Pokémon Daycare. It is unknown how a Pokémon reproduces, as no one has seen a Pokémon reproduce. Based on this, it is safe to assume that they only reproduce when left alone.
All Pokémon able to breed lay eggs. Though, nobody has actually seen a Pokémon lay an egg, they apparently appear by the Pokémon. Pokémon usually lay one egg at a time, sometimes, in unusual occasions, lay various eggs at a time. Pokémon eggs are similar to birds' eggs, as they have a hard outer shell that protects the growing, undeveloped Pokémon inside. An egg's shell usually has a pattern reflecting the appearance of the Pokémon inside making each Pokémon egg unique from one another. Pokémon, like animals, are rather protective of their eggs, they sometimes nest them, but usually keep them close to themselves. The growing Pokémon incubates inside its egg until the time come for the Pokémon to hatch. The time it takes for a Pokémon to hatch varies from each Pokémon species and the type of egg.
Some Pokémon species have a baby form when they hatch from their eggs. Once in their adult stages, these Pokémon are able to reproduce and continue the cycle of reproduction. Most baby Pokémon can only hatch as a baby Pokémon. However, there are some exceptions. Some Pokémon hatch into a more advanced form most of the time, but can also hatch into a baby form when conditions are right.
Pokémon as food
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. For example, by Mom's Cinnabar Volcano Burgers were mentioned and also mentioned in many Sinnoh myths saying Pokémon will be born again if people "Pick clean the bones of Pokémon caught in the sea or stream".
Geography and nature
The Pokémon world looks and acts like the real world in terms of Geography. Each have landforms, oceans of water and temperatures to support life meaning that the Pokémon World is about the same size and same distances from the sun as the real world. However, if the Pokémon world is not Earth, it must be similar, having a similar moon, similar climates, and so on, which explains the similar tides. Many different theories exist as to exactly how the Pokémon world relates to our own.
Humans and nature in the Pokémon world are linked to each other, as many towns are built around the natural environment. A point of interest, unlike the real world is that peoples links with the nature are strong and they never try to effect the natural environment, with the exception of some villainous teams. Some Pokémon such as Groundon and Kyogre can affect and shape nature causing unexplainable droughts, storms and effect the continent plates causing earthquakes.
Structure
The Pokémon World is split into four regions, Kanto, Johto, Hoenn and Sinnoh. These regions are large landforms much like continents in the real world, that support a large political region. Off these regions are islands that are not part of any region. These islands are grouped together to create one small region like the Orange Islands and the Sevii Islands. Though there are many similarities between them, there are some major differences between the regions, such as what Pokémon are located there and what legends there are waiting to be uncovered. Visitors from another region quickly realize that the region they are visiting is far from their home, both in the way of the climate, and in the culture of the people there. 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. There are only four offical regions, yet others such as Orre and Fiore have been introduced in other games. Several small kingdoms have been introduced in the anime as well, most of which keep secluded in remote or difficult to reach areas.
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). The Kantō region of Japan is not only identical in name to Kanto in the Pokémon world, it is also very similar geographically; however, the western part of the game Kanto corresponds to eastern Chūbu. In Japan, the Kanto region is often contrasted with Kansai, which is like Johto, to the west. However, Johto is geographically more similar to the combined region of Kansai and western Chubu. Hoenn is based on the southernmost parts of Japan - Kyūshū and Okinawa - with the latter highly condensed. Sinnoh has been said to be an island like Hoenn, rather than a peninsula. It is based on the northernmost major island of Japan, Hokkaido. Part of Sakhalin and Kunashir Island. 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.
Climate
Most regions have different climates. Regions and islands like the Hoenn and the Orange Islands lower down in the Pokémon world have a warmer climate than northerly regions, possibly due to an equator, much like on earth in the real world. It gets so hot in Hoenn that there is a desert with a raging sandstorm. Meanwhile, the Sinnoh region is cooler than other regions, and becoming colder due to climate change in the region. It is snowing constantly in the northern area of the Sinnoh. Some Pokémon such as Groudon, Kyogre and Rayquaza can affect climate and weather.
Weather conditions still apply in the Pokémon world, and as cloud and rain still exist, the water cycle must exist. Many weather conditions that are appear on the earth are also in the Pokémon world, such as rain, hailstorms, snow, fog and sandstorm. Given that plants and trees seem to grow in a normal manner, it can be reasonably assumed that the other major cycles, such as the Carbon cycle and the Nitrogen cycle, exist as well.
Environment
The natural environment in the Pokémon world is much similar to the real earth's environment. Areas with a high density of trees make up forests, landscapes that receive very little precipitation create deserts, while loose broken-up particles of rock make large coastal beaches attracting people and Pokémon alike. The Hoenn and the Sinnoh regions boast many dramatic environments from rainforests to deserts.
The Pokémon world is mainly green and lush, based on factors such as plant structures including trees, shrubs, and grasses. Grass is usually uncontrolled and grows tall making tall grass patches that form prime habitats for wild Pokémon. There are also large mountainous areas that tower above low lying land areas. The largest mountain range is Mt. Coronet, which stretches from the top to the bottom of Sinnoh, splitting the whole region in two. Man-made and natural occurrences form caves in the mountainsides that are able to be explored or passed through to get to other cities. Many natural phenomenons appear in the Pokémon world such as snowing ash that covers the area is caused by the nearby volcano that smokes and rains down on the area.
Humans and nature in the Pokémon world are linked to each other, as many towns are built around its environment and they never try to effect the natural environment. Pacifidlog Town, for example, is built on wooden rafts and logs that float on top of a Corsola colony, while Sootopolis City is built in the crater of a hollowed, erupted volcano. An ecosystem is formed when all plants, Pokémon and people in an area functioning together with all of the non-living physical factors of the environment. It is said that Pokémon are more in tune with nature than humans.
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. Antigravity machines exist alongside basic means of travel such as bicycles and trucks.
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.
