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Speculation Gen 9 Predictions (Development predictions, New Regions, Version names)

According to a RuffledRowlit video that I watched yesterday, rumor has it that the next Gen IX region may be based on some part of the Mediterranean, that the Gen IX mainline games may utilize a "games as a service" model, and that there may not be DP remakes...
 
Honestly, given all the weird shit flying around in the wake of BBND, I'd take it with a grain of salt. A lot of people are thinking someplace based on South Asia is coming, what with the totally-not-Indian characters and references to not-India in Copperajah, but it's not the first time GF's thrown a curveball.
 
Honestly, given all the weird shit flying around in the wake of BBND, I'd take it with a grain of salt. A lot of people are thinking someplace based on South Asia is coming, what with the totally-not-Indian characters and references to not-India in Copperajah, but it's not the first time GF's thrown a curveball.
India was also part of a pretty infamous leak, so I would be wary of it.
 
Honestly, given all the weird shit flying around in the wake of BBND, I'd take it with a grain of salt. A lot of people are thinking someplace based on South Asia is coming, what with the totally-not-Indian characters and references to not-India in Copperajah, but it's not the first time GF's thrown a curveball.
India was also part of a pretty infamous leak, so I would be wary of it.
Maybe the gave India a lot of references since there is a lot of culture influence between the two countries due to colonialism.
And if you’re talking about that Piuk leak it claimed a Sri Lanka region but it happened to mention some Indian references.
 
IMO, with the amount of backlash Ghost of Tsushima got (which IMO is unwarranted though I'm in no position to speak since I'm neither Japanese nor Japanese American), there's just gonna be a whole lot of discourse on cultural appropriation if the next region is set in South Asia. Once again, though I'm neither Indian nor Pakistani, I think the amount of representation they got in Swoosh is great and also appropriate speaking as someone from the UK so I really would rather they just leave it as that. A whole region set in South Asia is going to get shredded up very quickly.
 
IMO, with the amount of backlash Ghost of Tsushima got (which IMO is unwarranted though I'm in no position to speak since I'm neither Japanese nor Japanese American), there's just gonna be a whole lot of discourse on cultural appropriation if the next region is set in South Asia. Once again, though I'm neither Indian nor Pakistani, I think the amount of representation they got in Swoosh is great and also appropriate speaking as someone from the UK so I really would rather they just leave it as that. A whole region set in South Asia is going to get shredded up very quickly.
What’s Ghost of Tsushima?
 
IMO, with the amount of backlash Ghost of Tsushima got (which IMO is unwarranted though I'm in no position to speak since I'm neither Japanese nor Japanese American), there's just gonna be a whole lot of discourse on cultural appropriation if the next region is set in South Asia. Once again, though I'm neither Indian nor Pakistani, I think the amount of representation they got in Swoosh is great and also appropriate speaking as someone from the UK so I really would rather they just leave it as that. A whole region set in South Asia is going to get shredded up very quickly.

I'll be honest, the Tsushima backlash seemed VERY minimal, with the usual loud-ass teenagers and bad-discourse-havers being idiots. As an Asian who's NOT Japanese, I don't think it was appropriation at all. There's leaning on tired samurai cliches, but that comes part-and-parcel with a samurai story like that.

What’s Ghost of Tsushima?

PS4 Exclusive game about a Samurai becoming a Ninja during a Mongol invasion. There was some rumblings about a Western dev making a samurai story, but as usual, it was blown out of porportion. I see more people ranting about 'the SJWs' than complaining about the 'cultural appropriation.
 
IMO, with the amount of backlash Ghost of Tsushima got (which IMO is unwarranted though I'm in no position to speak since I'm neither Japanese nor Japanese American), there's just gonna be a whole lot of discourse on cultural appropriation if the next region is set in South Asia. Once again, though I'm neither Indian nor Pakistani, I think the amount of representation they got in Swoosh is great and also appropriate speaking as someone from the UK so I really would rather they just leave it as that. A whole region set in South Asia is going to get shredded up very quickly.
What makes you think South Asia is the only place whose culture gets misrepresented? You’re making it sound like the issue is exclusive there.

I don’t know about Ghost of Tsushima, but it isn’t a good representation here since it’s by an American Developer. So it’s weird that an American developed game is being used to justify that. And a mild google search tells me that there isn’t even a highly overblown issue. Reading the article tells me that this kind of appropriation is literally impossible in the Pokémon franchise since it was about an American being hired to play a traditional Japanese intrument and Japanese attire. Pokemon features 3D models and not casting.

I don’t know why you believe that this kind of thing is exclusive to South Asia. It can easily happen in other parts of the world.
 
PS4 Exclusive game about a Samurai becoming a Ninja during a Mongol invasion. There was some rumblings about a Western dev making a samurai story, but as usual, it was blown out of porportion. I see more people ranting about 'the SJWs' than complaining about the 'cultural appropriation.
So using this in the context of Pokémon makes even lesser sense since Japan is in Asia and Pokémon already has a history on using other cultures to make games. If nothing came out of US and UK regions I doubt some south Asian region would be an issue.
 
Reading the article tells me that this kind of appropriation is literally impossible in the Pokémon franchise since it was about an American being hired to play a traditional Japanese intrument and Japanese attire. Pokemon features 3D models and not casting.

This is from two years ago and a minutia of the bigger discourse on whether it is problematic for a non-Japanese developer to make a game about Japan.

Japan is in Asia

Yes but South Asia and Japan being both from Asia doesn't mean that it wouldn't be problematic. K-pop and J-pop are both Asian as well and there's accusations of cultural appropriation made everyday.

If nothing came out of US and UK regions I doubt some south Asian region would be an issue.

The difference is that American and English cultures cannot be appropriated because their cultures have never been historically marginalised.

What makes you think South Asia is the only place whose culture gets misrepresented? You’re making it sound like the issue is exclusive there.

No way am I saying that the issue is exclusive to South Asian culture. That said, cultural appropriation is a very sensitive issue to many South Asians I know.
 
This is from two years ago and a minutia of the bigger discourse on whether it is problematic for a non-Japanese developer to make a game about Japan.



Yes but South Asia and Japan being both from Asia doesn't mean that it wouldn't be problematic. K-pop and J-pop are both Asian as well and there's accusations of cultural appropriation made everyday.



The difference is that American and English cultures cannot be appropriated because their cultures have never been historically marginalised.



No way am I saying that the issue is exclusive to South Asian culture. That said, cultural appropriation is a very sensitive issue to many South Asians I know.
GameFreak has already gained history as a developer who takes references from other regions though, so it isn’t jarring, also, Pokemon is set in a fictional world. It isn’t a 1:1 representation of the actual world (otherwise I don’t think France would've been fond of what GameFreak did to its borders).

Pokemon has no voice acting, no real human castings in the games so half the issue goes away. They're capable of modelling in characters with an appropriate ethnicity so as a South Asian it isn’t even an issue, compared to the game's example you gave before. Pokemon lacks a lot of factors that lead to cultural appropriation outrage.
 
Uninformed Little-Englunder here, but I've never felt that the games have ever approached cultural parody. There's easily-recognisable tropes, sure (looking at you, Clay), but they've never been mean-spirited or ridiculous.

In fact, I'd go so far as to say that Galar in particular might be the best rendition of a UK facsimile I've ever seen. A lesser team might have copied and pasted variations on Hammerlocke and Postwick ad infinitum, but GF managed to capture the UK's musical culture, sporting obsession, industrial heritage, post-industrial coastal towns, and more besides. Obviously, this speaks to the influence of James Turner, but I'd have a lot of confidence that GF can do full justice to any real-world location they draw inspiration from.
 
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IMO, with the amount of backlash Ghost of Tsushima got (which IMO is unwarranted though I'm in no position to speak since I'm neither Japanese nor Japanese American), there's just gonna be a whole lot of discourse on cultural appropriation if the next region is set in South Asia. Once again, though I'm neither Indian nor Pakistani, I think the amount of representation they got in Swoosh is great and also appropriate speaking as someone from the UK so I really would rather they just leave it as that. A whole region set in South Asia is going to get shredded up very quickly.

Backlash? As far as I know the games looks good and I didn't heard anything about backlash but then again I no longer pay attention to games "press" and the only videos that I see are Jim Sterling's due to his approach to more important themes in the industry.

In a globalised world it's easy to have some kind of cultural appropriation but in all honesty what to say of languages that have certain words due to interactions from other countries? Isn't this some sort of cultural appropriation? I think people are simply looking for a fight or are trying to defend a cultural model that rubs on nationalism and we know where that leads.

I don't see any problem in having GF's games being based on other contries nor the other way around. It's fun to see how others looks at our culture. I can say that what I liked for many years in Castlevania was how Japanese (namely the art ilustrator Ayami Kojima) portrayed European Gothic culture.


According to a RuffledRowlit video that I watched yesterday, rumor has it that the next Gen IX region may be based on some part of the Mediterranean, that the Gen IX mainline games may utilize a "games as a service" model, and that there may not be DP remakes...

Heck, this is something that I'm still trying to figure it out which is the buzz that youtubers create at the moment with "leaks" and "rumours". It's like a guy that covers Star Wars and all of his multiple daily videos are always "something leak is amazing/awesome/unbelievable".

People, go get some diapers to contain the leaks.

I'll take advantage of that Mediterranean reference in order to promote my country - Portugal - as a nice option for a future game:
- we have the mainland with nice spots, forest and cities as well as two archipelagos, meaning that the game map/region could be something like Kanto + Sevii,
- We have plenty of good weather just like Alola.
- since we were part of the globalisation process way back in the 15th century, it'd allow the introduction of a diverse cast from Brasil, Portuguese-speaking African countries as well as a Chinese reference (Macau) and some from India, all in order to foster friendship.
- the diverse ecosystems would allow for creation of new Pkmn as well as new variants;
- since the Napoleonic invasions of Portugal were hindered with the help of Great Britain, some nods could be made to Kalos as well as Galar.
- since we introduced firearms in Japan - Tanegashima - and some words remain in Japanese, some nods could also be made to Hoenn and Johto.
 
First of, by no means am I saying that there will be cultural appropriation. Rather, what I'm trying to say is that cultural appropriation talks is bound to occur.

GameFreak has already gained history as a developer who takes references from other regions though, so it isn’t jarring, also, Pokemon is set in a fictional world.

This doesn't give them a free pass to do whatever they want.

I don’t think France would've been fond of what GameFreak did to its borders

France is also a dominant culture so it can't be appropriated since they have never been historically stopped from practicing their culture. Cultural appropriation isn't just borrowing references from another culture. It is about taking references from another culture when that culture had been ridiculed and othered.

Pokemon has no voice acting, no real human castings in the games so half the issue goes away. They're capable of modelling in characters with an appropriate ethnicity so as a South Asian it isn’t even an issue, compared to the game's example you gave before. Pokemon lacks a lot of factors that lead to cultural appropriation outrage.

Voice acting and human casting aren't metrics by which appropriation is measured so whether they are there or not doesn't really change anything. Ultimately, it just depends on how that culture is represented in the work. Also, because cultural appropriation depends on the marginalisation of the culture being borrowed from, a person born into a locality that practices that culture dominantly would also have different opinions about it from how diasporic communities feel about it.

That said, did they do a good job with PokeBritain? I would think so, but then again, Britain is not a place with much cultural baggage so less issues would be taken. Ironic how I want to avoid talks on cultural appropriation but end up writing about it extensively here. :wynaut:
 
Ultimately, it just depends on how that culture is represented in the work
Yeah; I’m going off that since GameFreak till now has a good history with culture; and the handful of Indian references thrown in are tasteful.
Also, because cultural appropriation depends on the marginalisation of the culture being borrowed from, a person born into a locality that practices that culture dominantly would also have different opinions about it from how diasporic communities feel about it.
According to my observations as an Indian; most people don’t care about Pokemon in the first place. Most people I know will view it as a nice titbit.
I don’t think there’s much potential since most of the racist imagery against Indians won’t make it to the PG13 tag in the first place. There isn’t much to misrepresent about my country in a game like Pokemon or suppress it.
Ironic how I want to avoid talks on cultural appropriation but end up writing about it extensively here. :wynaut:
You’re literally the only person here who brought up the topic...

Is there any specific thing in your mind that can make it a case of cultural appropriation in the Indian context? Perhaps I could address it better since I’m not sure what exactly they can do to offend Indians- playing into the stereotypes they could make the entire region a rural area, which can spark some outrage but it’s an unlikely possibility. They handled Alola well enough in that respect.

Other sensitive topics about India like the caste system, the “s**t on the streets” racist memes and jumping to “India=r*p*” cannot happen due to the nature of the franchise.

If it were a franchise like GTA I’d have my doubts, but Pokemon has highly less potential for offending imagery as an Indian. The only thing they need to stay clear of is offending religion and that isn’t a part of the games.
——-//

In India’s specific case if they make it a region it’ll be pretty baffling since Nintendo has no official presence in India, Switch has to be imported at a ridiculous fee and majority gamers are the PC/XBox/PS users. The only prominent presence Pokemon has here is the anime and that too the older seasons. 90% of the population don’t even know that the games exist. Maybe they’ll finally try to bring official presence if they make it into a region. A person can wish
 
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I’d personally end the discussion here since it’s deviating from the OG discussion of an India region. The culture appropriation stuff is going way too off topic imo, specially since it lacks a Pokemon context.
 
Perhaps this warrants a separate discussion in and of itself, @SerenaToAlola? Outside the Box might be the best place for a conversation about IRL examples? :)

Well I was explaining why a South Asian region could become problematic so I don't see how that was off-topic or a deviation since these concerns are indeed part and parcel of whether a particular geographical space should be used as the settings for the next game.

You’re literally the only person here who brought up the topic...

As above, I brought it up cause it's important for considering whether it should be used as the next region or not since it involves the recreation of a physical space that people actually live in through the Pokemon medium. This is obviously important since the games don't exist in a vacuum, and outside of society. Heck, they even recoloured Jynx. In any case, I don't have anything else to say about it other than what I have already said so I'm happy to leave the conversation on this note. :enzap:
 
I know the convo has ended on this, but I’d still like to toss in my two cents.

If there is any sort of cultural appropriation debacle, I’m fairly certain most of the accusations will stem from a handful of Tumblr and/or Twitter accounts no one cares about, while there’ll be tons of people complaining about the people complaining about cultural appropriation. And the games will sell well regardless because it’s Pokémon. These sorts of things tend to be overblown.

At any rate, my prediction for the location of the gen 9 games is...

...

somewhere on Earth.
 
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