User:Salmancer/Earth (Fictionalized Real World)
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Earth is a planet, located in the solar system in the Milky Way galaxy. Earth is oddly similar to the Pokémon world, being covered in water and having several landmasses. There are also humans that live on Earth, just like the Pokémon world. Some people call Earth the "real world", but Earth does not have a Sinnoh or a Kalos so this claim is likely false. (Earth does have a "Kanto" though, just like the Kanto region. Eerie.)
Sometimes, there are Pokémon on Earth! But sometimes the only Pokémon on Earth are fictional creatures. Pokémon fans can take solace in the fact that either way, the Pokémon franchise is created on Earth by Game Freak, Creatures Inc., and Nintendo.
Conceptual History
As the jokey nature of the intro of the article implies, Earth in Pokémon media is weird. The original Pokémon Red and Blue were written to take place on Earth, with multiple characters being from places in the real world and backstory events also happening in the real world. For example, media from before 2018 called Lt. Surge, "The Lightning American", and generally said he was from America. Mew was referenced as being found in Guyana for years. Early episodes of Pokémon the Series had the characters visit Hollywood and the North Pole.
But most of those references and nods to Kanto being a place on Earth have passed. Lt. Surge is the "The Lightning Lieutenant" now, As of 2004/2005, Mew is usually found on Faraway Island, with no overt references to the name Guyana used anymore. And Hollywood does not make any further appearances outside of a flashback to the relevant episode. One could perhaps say it was supplanted by the wholly fictional Pokéstar Studios. There is even an interview where it is directly stated that the Pokémon world and Earth are thought of as separate.
However, starting in 2016, there has been a mass resurgence of using Earth as a setting of Pokémon stories. This may be in part because of the sucess of Pokémon GO, a game where Earth is the setting. It may also be because Pokémon as a brand is old enough that it can leverage its own history in stories. And part of it may just be overzealous wiki editors treating an advertisement far too seriously. Regardless of why, there are more than a couple of stories that use Earth as a setting, which other articles are unable to accomodate. Which is why this article exists.
Structure
Earth is extremely similar to the Pokémon world. The planet is divided into seven continents, which resemble regions. However, each continent has multiple countries, which divide up the continents by the government that has jurisdiction over each area. Countries can have subdivisions of their own, such as how the country of the United States has states and the country of Japan is divided into prefectures and regions.
The continents, and some of the countries that lie within, are as follows:
- North America: United States
- South America: Guyana
- Africa:
- Europe: United Kingdom
- Asia: Japan
- Oceania
- Antarctica
Multiple locations in the Pokemon world are similar to locations in the real world, being that authors and artists draw inspiration from the world they live in. The Pokémon world in relation to the real world article lists a number of these similarities.
Groups of fictionalized real worlds
Not all media uses Earth in the same way. They can be loosely divided into two groups: "Earth but Pokémon exist" and "Pokémon is a work of fiction".
Earth but Pokémon exist
This group is where media that have real Pokémon but use Earth as their setting are. One example of this is Pokémon GO, a game where players go on a Pokémon journey but where the game's map is Earth. This is very literal, in that the the player's location is tracked via their device's GPS, so moving in the real world is how players find new Pokémon and access locations like PokéStops and Gyms. The song Celestial is another example. The music video for it shows Ed Sheeran in the United Kingdom, but various Pokémon appear in the story to help him.
Pokémon is a work of fiction
This group is where media that calls attention to the fictional nature of Pokémon goes. One example of this is Pokémon: Path to the Peak, where the characters collect cards from the Pokémon Trading Card Game and use them to compete in fictionalized versions of real world competitions like the Pokémon World Championships. The characters of Pokémon Trading Card Game Online either work at or attend events at a Game Store, much like people in the real world play the Pokémon Trading Card Game at an local game store. Another example is Pack Your Pocket With Adventure, a story where _________.
Note that despite what may be implied, not all media where characters have Pokémon Trading Card Game cards are necessarily cases where the story takes place on Earth and Pokémon are fictional. (For one, TCG cards have made cameo appearances in Pokémon the Series.) Pokémon Play It! and Pokémon Play It! Version 2 have a Beedrill appear off-screen and cry, so real Pokémon are in that story. Meanwhile, Pokémon Trading Card Game Live does not have details that define it as taking place anywhere, so for ease that game is assumed to be set within the Pokémon world.
Going from Earth to the Pokémon world
A recurring conceit that appears in certain works is sequences where characters in a "Pokémon is a work of fiction" story somehow enter the fictional world of Pokémon. For instance, in Pokémon - The Journey of One Dream, Vin is pulled inside a number of Pokémon games, while in Challenge the World! the animation hops between competitors at the Pokémon 2023 World Championships and the events transpiring in the games.
For fun, Bulbapedia pretends such sequences are 100% depictions of the Pokémon world and not just what the inside of a game cartridge looks like in a story. So while in the story Vin is inside a copy of Pokémon Crystal, going through its depiction of the Whirl Islands, the writing on the Whirl Islands page skips over the idea of the Whirl Islands being programmed into a video game and and says that Vin went to the Whirl Islands.
In the games
Core series games
Vivillon
Pokémon GO
Ultra Beast Invasion & On the GO News
Pokémon Trading Card Game Online
- Main article: United States (Fictionalized Real World)
- Main article: Game Store
In animation
Pokémon: Path to the Peak
- Main article: United States (Fictionalized Real World)
- Main article: Ava's House
- Main article: Ava's School
Pokémon - The Journey of One Dream
Celestial
Challenge the World!
- Main article: Japan (Fictionalized Real World)
- Main article: 2023 World Championships
In live action
Celestial
Pack Your Pocket With Adventure
- Main article: Japan (Fictionalized Real World)