Government in the Pokémon World

[Patrick Haines]

The thought came to be last night and I have been trying to come up with something, but I am lost. I am mostly into the video games, so I don't know if there are references to some sort of government in the other media, but who exactly governs the regions?

I assume that each region is run independently and the certain regions (Alola, Kalos, Unova) used to have kings. Do they still have kings? Did they become constitutional monarchies?

I supposed the Pokémon League could run each region, but that just doesn't seem right. There is a lot more than battling going on, so they wouldn't have everyone's interests at heart. The funds for the League could pay for nurses/Pokémon Centers, but what about the police forces? And the International Police? They are not run by the Leagues.

I suppose each city could govern itself, but that seems a bit farfetch'd

Thoughts? Or answers? Thanks.

 

[prog rocker]

Well, Opelucid City has a mayor, so I guess that applies to the other cities as well, it's just that Drayden is the only important one to the games (in other words, plot relevant).

However, with full regions, it becomes even weirder. So far, we don't know if regions are like countries or like states/provinces, which makes determining what kind of government they have hard. Doesn't help that the League seems to have some influence in the government as seen in BW.

 

[colours]

Whether or not it's true, I've pretty much come to the acceptance that the Pokemon League is more or less the government equivalent. At least, as far as the games go, anyway.

Not sure if the anime has things any differently.

 

[Dorothy]

Alola and Kalos are both said to formerly have had kings, so we can be sure that those two at least definitely are not monarchies. Unova had some sort of monarchy in its distant past, but now only ruins remain. It would seem to me that the most likely scenario is that most Pokemon regions have little to no centralized government, but are loosely federated into municipal authorities, with local leaders such as Gym Leaders and Kahunas having outsized authority within their cities and towns.

 

[Lightning Flame Blast]

I always thought the Champion was the equivalent to a president of sorts, but a few months back I realised that this is way too much power to have just due to battling skills.

That’s like electing a president because he was the best wrestler in the country.

 

[prog rocker]

I always thought the Champion was the equivalent to a president of sorts, but a few months back I realised that this is way too much power to have just due to battling skills.

That’s like electing a president because he was the best wrestler in the country.

Not only that, that would also mean that in at least seven regions (possibly more in the future) the presidents are underage. Hell, Helios and Selene are eleven.

 

[Patrick Haines]

I always thought the Champion was the equivalent to a president of sorts, but a few months back I realised that this is way too much power to have just due to battling skills.

That’s like electing a president because he was the best wrestler in the country.

Not only that, that would also mean that in at least seven regions (possibly more in the future) the presidents are underage. Hell, Helios and Selene are eleven.

First, I would like to point out that I agree with you, yet history doesn't. Several American Presidents (and probably other countries leaders too) were elected because of their battlefield skills. Assumedly more from a strategic/leadership standpoint, but George Washington/Dwight D. Eisenhower/ect. were a Generals before Presidents and are considered some of the best leaders in American history.

The age thing is a little more foggy, but in the time of kings and emperors, children were quite often the de facto rulers of their countries. They may have had boards or councilors to help them until they were older enough, but they were still rulers. King Tut took the throne of the most powerful country in the world at the time when he was 9-10, as were Louis XIII and XIV of France. At least the Gym Leaders/Champion earn their title, as opposed to be handed it by birth.

 

[Nicolas721]

I'm gonna say anarchy, just because when the villains attack very few people seem to care, outside of gym leaders and the PC (who do so because they have Pokemon strong enough to face them) and Looker (which operates alone and doesn't even appear in many villain fights). Police exists, but they appear to care more about private property than about general well-being. So I think there are no rules, but organizations can be created independently to make the world better or worse.

The anime shows mayors and police force in a more consistent way and has a bigger world so it's easier to assume it has a government there.

 

[Beth Pavell]

It's important to note that even in centuries past child rulers were regarded as a major risk (As an example, the political classes in England were very anxious when Henry VI succeeded to the throne at nine months old), and were never invested with their full authority till they came of age. Even then, a prince would have his entire childhood education designed to teach him how to be a king. Fighting was a major part of that, true, but so was learning to manage a household and the business of government. Compare that to the idea of a kid from a backwater town who only knows how to win battles in an area becoming head of state.

 

[RK9]

I kind of believe that the League and their members are 'in charge' of the Pokémon handling and battling portfolio in the region.

As far as all other portfolios go, it's an imagination thing, since the focus in all the media are on battling instead of the other stuff in the world. Like, the world got scorched/flooded by giant titans. The ones to take action were the champion and an 11-years old kid.

What kind of incompetence from any kind of region-wide ruler is that!?

Because of that, I'd rather not like to think of it, because he either needs to be extremely godlike in power to keep everything under control or be extremely competent and weak because of all the stuff that goes on.

 

[Dorothy]

I kind of believe that the League and their members are 'in charge' of the Pokémon handling and battling portfolio in the region.

As far as all other portfolios go, it's an imagination thing, since the focus in all the media are on battling instead of the other stuff in the world. Like, the world got scorched/flooded by giant titans. The ones to take action were the champion and an 11-years old kid.

What kind of incompetence from any kind of region-wide ruler is that!?

Because of that, I'd rather not like to think of it, because he either needs to be extremely godlike in power to keep everything under control or be extremely competent and weak because of all the stuff that goes on.

So the Pokemon world is ruled by the Mayor of Townsville?

 

[Acrobatic Crobat]

So we once came up with a friend and fellow pokemaniac of mine with certain half-joking, yet surprisingly working theory about government in the Pokemon world (mostly, but not exclusively, anime canon). Or rather, lack thereof.
Yep, lack. Anarchy. Or more specificaly, anarchocapitalism.
Come on, it works. Most roads are untraversible in any way other than on foot, police is underfunded, incompetent and ran almost exclusively by one family who is allowed to arrest ten year olds, there is no compulsory education we know of (and seemingly no public schools either), and at least in anime there seem to be no laws regarding things like archaeology (if you find an ancient treasure, it's all yours), building (once you buy a piece of land, you can build anything on it, safety, ecology and heritage preservation be damned) or even medical care (as long as you know anything about medicine, or even if you know nothing, you're fully allowed to just waltz into an operating theater and help surgeons, provided they let you in). About the only thing against this theory is presence of free health care, but hey - we're talking about Pokemon world, where building an electric generator is as simple as straping several yellow mouse-squirrel thingies to an electric rod and shouting "Thunderbolt". Running a Pokemon Center wouldn't be free (especially in anime and IIRC Adventures manga, where aside from hospitals they also double as free B&B for trainers), but it would still be far cheaper than in real life. It wouldn't be impossible to pay for its upkeep with... I don't even know what, something.

 

[prog rocker]

So we once came up with a friend and fellow pokemaniac of mine with certain half-joking, yet surprisingly working theory about government in the Pokemon world (mostly, but not exclusively, anime canon). Or rather, lack thereof.
Yep, lack. Anarchy. Or more specificaly, anarchocapitalism.
Come on, it works. Most roads are untraversible in any way other than on foot, police is underfunded, incompetent and ran almost exclusively by one family who is allowed to arrest ten year olds, there is no compulsory education we know of (and seemingly no public schools either), and at least in anime there seem to be no laws regarding things like archaeology (if you find an ancient treasure, it's all yours), building (once you buy a piece of land, you can build anything on it, safety, ecology and heritage preservation be damned) or even medical care (as long as you know anything about medicine, or even if you know nothing, you're fully allowed to just waltz into an operating theater and help surgeons, provided they let you in). About the only thing against this theory is presence of free health care, but hey - we're talking about Pokemon world, where building an electric generator is as simple as straping several yellow mouse-squirrel thingies to an electric rod and shouting "Thunderbolt". Running a Pokemon Center wouldn't be free (especially in anime and IIRC Adventures manga, where aside from hospitals they also double as free B&B for trainers), but it would still be far cheaper than in real life. It wouldn't be impossible to pay for its upkeep with... I don't even know what, something.

Uh, there are public schools. There is one in Viridian, one in Violet, one in Rustboro, one in Jubilife, one in Striaton, one in Aspertia, one in Santalune and one at Alola Route 1.

 

[Acrobatic Crobat]

Uh, there are public schools. There is one in Viridian, one in Violet, one in Rustboro, one in Jubilife, one in Striaton, one in Aspertia, one in Santalune and one at Alola Route 1.

It is unknown if they're private or public (except for the Violet City one, which at least in anime was private). The fact that we can walk inside, and sometimes are even invited seems to point towards public, but it could also be read as sort of advertising ("Look at all the cool stuff we can teach you here! All you have to do is cough up some money and you're student!")

 

[Contrainer]

I personally think that if there is government, the first six regions (and probably Galar) are consituent countries (e. g. England), hence the National Dex, which Alola does not have.
At first I was thinking that they were states, but I realized that they have too much autonomy. I also doubt a Pokemon League-run government, although it is likely that they are a high-ranking aspect of the government.
Alola is different. It may be run by the kahunas, but I could also see the Aether Foundation doing it. The fact that they legally own a giant floating island means it's them or anarchocapitalism.
If anarchocapitalism is how it goes and there are no taxes, perhaps the Pokemon League has a steep entry fee. Pokemon Centers, etc. are probably getting money from shop and cafe sales.