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What would Pokemon characters think of our society?

techadon

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From the games, the anime, the manga and so forth. This can also be applied to any fictional universe based around it. Likewise, how would customs in the Pokemon world be perceived by us?
 
The games and anime are pretty vague about how society in the Pokemon world actually functions, maybe because we see the world from a kid's point of view. The out-of-universe reason is that the developers didn't consider that question a whole lot and threw things in without checking it makes sense.

As for some common opinions in the fandom. I've seen a lot of people describe the world of Pokemon as a utopia because of how friendly, and helpful everyone is, the advanced technology available, and the fact that people and Pokemon get along so well. Others like to say it's dystopic because of the ethics of battling and capturing intelligent 'mons, even if the humans are happy. It's up to you to decide, because there's no canon about this.

How would those in the Pokemon world react to our society? The most concrete answer I can come up with is that they'd probably wonder why our technology is so far behind (no teleportation). Any other answer would depend on my own headcanons too much.
 
I'd say our technology has advanced in different ways than theirs. Also, what would they think of the technology of Marvel Earth?

And how would they react to real life history and culture?
 
Good question. I think they would be most confused about how a good chunk of the world is obsessed with the animals of their world. They would also be confused why there isn't a bunch of random evil people stealing animals from us. They would also be confused of why we settle disputes with wars and death, instead of having animals fighting to the death for us. They would think how far behind we are with technology.
 
Though I'm sure criminal organizations like Team Rocket would be enticed by the destructive power of nuclear weapons.

Imagine how the citizens of the Pokemon world would react to events like the Holocaust, 9/11, and pretty much everything ISIS does. Not to mention how Gym Leaders and the Elite Four would converse with politicians.
 
Though I'm sure criminal organizations like Team Rocket would be enticed by the destructive power of nuclear weapons.

Imagine how the citizens of the Pokemon world would react to events like the Holocaust, 9/11, and pretty much everything ISIS does. Not to mention how Gym Leaders and the Elite Four would converse with politicians.

Interestingly, I wrote a Pokémon fanwork which mentioned the atomic bombing of Hoenn region, that is the Pokémon World equivalent of atomic bombing of Nagasaki.

Since Nagasaki is in Kyushu region which Hoenn is based on, I tried to write the similar analogues as possible.
 
Interestingly, I wrote a Pokémon fanwork which mentioned the atomic bombing of Hoenn region, that is the Pokémon World equivalent of atomic bombing of Nagasaki.

Since Nagasaki is in Kyushu region which Hoenn is based on, I tried to write the similar analogues as possible.
Really? Interesting. Do you have a link?
 
Most people here talk about different technology levels, but I think what Pokemon characters would immediately find surprising would be infrastructure, most importantly transport.
While it's never touched upon, it's constantly shown in anime that transport and traveling in Pokemon world are terrible. Outside of large cities there aren't many roads, so land vehicles are mostly SUVs, ATVs or motorbikes - and even those are rather rare. Air travel is similarly limited, with airports being rare and transport being done mostly by airships rather than aeroplanes. Only traveling by water resembles our world. In fact there is a pretty good explanation on such bad state on things - Tyranitar can level a mountain in its rage, Aggron can build a mountain while creating a nest, and even less destructive and more common Pokemon like Rhyhorn or Magmar could prove extremely destructive to any roads (and there's also the fact that Pokemon world is almost completely anarchocapitalistic, but that's just my personal fan theory slash headcanon). The fact that most people DON'T travel on foot would be... pretty surprising to them.
 
The “postponed” BW! two-parter basically had the meteonite presented as some incredible energy source that could easily be weaponized, so, yeaaaah, Team Rocket might be interested in nuclear warfare or at least, making money off the trade of such weapons. See also: Lysander, AZ, the Ultimate Weapon.

I always found the beautiful relationships humans and Pokemon have in the anime ideal, I love the battles just for sport (they’re like athletes, that’s why trainers are called such), it’s not the edgy cockfighting people compare it to...

Yeah, they’d be surprised by the way our technology hasn’t caught up and would be shocked animal welfare isn’t on the same level yet, but I think they’d love our creatures too.

The combination of preservation of nature alongside scientific progress is very Japanese. We can look to real world Japan for some of their shared ideals... treating everything as having an innate soul to it or as if gaining some sort of life from the feelings of those around it (hence the bakemono-like Pokemon that were said to have been objects or closely resemble them...).

They would find our wars tragic and horrifying, to them, they feel like war atrocities from some long gone time. The kids, anyway!! The original games had a post-war vibe to them, hence Lt. Surge being an American soldier stationed in Kanto... it is, after all, based on how Satoshi Tajiri and other kids of that era often crawled in the tall grass, catching bugs...

We saw in the Lucario movie, human soldiers (knights) fought and died for their countries, too, not just Pokemon. Aaron spared his Lucario so he won’t follow.

The cutest fancomic I’ve seen about how people from the Pokemon would love our “””ordinary””” animals too (it’s very tonge-in-cheek, but makes my heart feel warm as an animal lover, regardless):


View: https://mobile.twitter.com/mattczap/status/1044021833593499650?lang=en


(... also, it was really funny rping a Pokemon character in a game with some ordinary animals, he thought of a puppy as the pre-evolutionary form of a Dog).
 

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(... also, it was really funny rping a Pokemon character in a game with some ordinary animals, he thought of a puppy as the pre-evolutionary form of a Dog).

Could I see that?

Also, that makes sense, non-Pokémon animals seen in the anime, are actually fictional characters like Pokémon (or hello kitti, gudetama, etc) are in our world.
For example there is a bg character that in BW wears a bear head backpack. And a similiar bear is a mascotte for one of the foodstands in SM, could be the same bear and a mascotte of a food company.
 
Could I see that?

Also, that makes sense, non-Pokémon animals seen in the anime, are actually fictional characters like Pokémon (or hello kitti, gudetama, etc) are in our world.
For example there is a bg character that in BW wears a bear head backpack. And a similiar bear is a mascotte for one of the foodstands in SM, could be the same bear and a mascotte of a food company.

It’s a little odd without context and I don’t know how well it’d go over sharing the overall thread (it... is a horror game where the characters are slowly turning into monsters that prey on humans to survive...... and this bit took place during an event with a lot of strife with trying to dispatch dangerous traitors among the monsters, my considerably sheltered trainer (Shootie/Trip, became an Unfezant-looking harpy, hence the bird comment) playing at war (as he does, pragmatic “ends justifies the means” type he is) before getting talked down from it by someone who actually dealt seen war in his world], buuuut also, there was a cute puppy. Yip!), here’s the relevant bit attached!

All my icons are gone since I deleted that journal, alas, so no faces to look at, make do with descriptions.

I guess, in a funny sort of way, that the overall thread is about how even a particularly cynical (child) Pokemon trainer would still be ill-prepared for the true horror and costs of war because they lived wholly removed from it and their world’s a good decade or so removed from it and is now, particularly in the anime, practically a utopia compared to other worlds, is oddly appropriate to the discussion, huh...

Not prepared one bit.

I’d imagine regions where war is an even more distant memory would have it worse, war would sound like a fairy tale to them.
It reminds me of this quote from one of Osamu Tezuka’s experimental animations, Memories, he lived through WWII, but mused that even the memories of war would change (I won’t include caps of the first half, because they’re images of dead soldiers, before they’re replaced with wooden kokeshi dolls):

“Memories of war, even this will change. After ten years, you would think of it as a toy war.”
123300

Ten years is too small for some, but certainly a few decades, especially when the last survivors die, it won’t frighten people as much...


123294
 
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It’s a little odd without context and I don’t know how well it’d go over sharing the overall thread (it... is a horror game where the characters are slowly turning into monsters that prey on humans to survive...... and this bit took place during an event with a lot of strife with trying to dispatch dangerous traitors among the monsters, my considerably sheltered trainer (Shootie/Trip, became an Unfezant-looking harpy, hence the bird comment) playing at war (as he does, pragmatic “ends justifies the means” type he is) before getting talked down from it by someone who actually dealt seen war in his world], buuuut also, there was a cute puppy. Yip!), here’s the relevant bit attached!

All my icons are gone since I deleted that journal, alas, so no faces to look at, make do with descriptions.

I guess, in a funny sort of way, that the overall thread is about how even a particularly cynical (child) Pokemon trainer would still be ill-prepared for the true horror and costs of war because they lived wholly removed from it and their world’s a good decade or so removed from it and is now, particularly in the anime, practically a utopia compared to other worlds, is oddly appropriate to the discussion, huh...

Not prepared one bit.

I’d imagine regions where war is an even more distant memory would have it worse, war would sound like a fairy tale to them.
It reminds me of this quote from one of Osamu Tezuka’s experimental animations, Memories, he lived through WWII, but mused that even the memories of war would change (I won’t include caps of the first half, because they’re images of dead soldiers, before they’re replaced with wooden kokeshi dolls):

“Memories of war, even this will change. After ten years, you would think of it as a toy war.”
View attachment 123300

Ten years is too small for some, but certainly a few decades, especially when the last survivors die, it won’t frighten people as much...


View attachment 123294

That seems cute even if a bit too edgy. Noa is from Yu Gi Oh, right? I never saw her episodes, then again I only saw pieces of the first two gens.
But yes, the few wars that we hear about are seen as "toy wars" by the current main Pokémon characters.

About the thing from before, the only images I could find are images where it seems like a cartoon animal is used to replace a not-yet-revealed Pokémon, like a placeholder. (Of course the first two gens imply that Pokémon are artificial cyborg-like beings made specifically for the pokemon training sport, and that this is Earth in the future. At one point there was a cat in Pallet Town in the anime that resembled Luna and Artemis.)

I found the bear (winnie pooh?) backpack

im pretty sure the same bear character is also in a stand in SM making it a mascot character for food or something
 
This particular event was definitely edgy but it's how I roll~I just think it's fun to explore canon traits or other things outside of the ordinary boundaries of canon, although, in less chaotic times, we had plenty of cute threads too. I won't say anything about Noa since I wouldn't know what parts of it constitute major spoilers or not, but definitely strongly tied to a weapon of mass destruction kind of plotline.

Part of the fun was putting Pokemon trainers in that game like Touya [who is living with Noa, hence why Shootie knows 'em!] in such a game because Touya was Hero of Ideals and he tried his hardest to stick to his nature despite being stuck in dystopia. He still tried to be a good moral chain and good influence as much possible. ^o^;;;

Meanwhile, Shootie's shtick in canon was trying to prove how grown-up he was, devalued bonding with others as interfering with pursuit of strength (well, before season 2), and commanded a little makeshift army of random trainers [BW 22: Hiun CIty! Fushide Panic!!/A Venipede Stampede] to try take down the swarming Venipede (called Ash's peaceful methodsnaive, stalked and stole intel so he could sabotage Ash and friends' peace effort, basically did everything wrong with good intentions and one partly selfish motive because he was just too cynical to believe peaceful methods could work instead of just. BURN THE VENIPEDE).

About the thing from before, the only images I could find are images where it seems like a cartoon animal is used to replace a not-yet-revealed Pokémon, like a placeholder.

Regarding non-Pokemon mascot characters, [XY 59: Satoshi and Serena's First Date!? The Tree of Promises and the Presents!!/Under the Pledging Tree!] the Ash and Serena date episode where Ash was laughing at the funny face of something in a stand that didn't look like any Pokemon, right? But too detailed and yet not fulfilling a special function that can't be fulfilled by a Pokemon to just be a placeholder!

123358


I like the idea of other creatures being mythical or fictional ones, too, that could work! It helps the world feel more real. ;3; Since even with all of our animals, we still come with our own fantasy creatures, usually by mixing traits! (So, this critter is like Meowth, Jigglypuff, and Cherrim!)
 
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This particular event was definitely edgy but it's how I roll~I just think it's fun to explore canon traits or other things outside of the ordinary boundaries of canon in a less restricted setting, although, in less chaotic times, we had plenty of cute threads too. I won't say anything about Noa since I wouldn't know what parts of it constitute major spoilers or not, yeah, we have a bunch of Yugiou characters! These kinds of games have characters from many different media, so you can get some really fun interactions you wouldn't see anywhere else.
Part of the fun was putting Pokemon trainers in that game like Touya [who is living with Noa, hence why Shootie knows 'em!] in such a game because Touya was Hero of Ideals and he tried his hardest to stick to his nature despite being stuck in dystopia. He still tried to be a good moral chain and good influence as much possible. ^o^;;;

XY had the Ash and Serena date episode where Ash was laughing at the funny face of something in a stand that didn't look like any Pokemon, right? But too detailed to just be a placeholder! (It's kind of Meowth and acorn-like...).

View attachment 123358

I like the idea of other creatures being mythical or fictional ones, too, that could work! It helps the world feel more real. ;3;

If it was 2013 and did'nt know the Kalos dex I'd propably mistake it for the Gen 6 sillymon, so I won't be surprised if it was an accurate depiction of an actual Pokémon. Someone with fond memories of the episode could get it into the game.

It's not really in a stand, it's outside a shop. Propably a shop mascot.
 
This particular event was definitely edgy but it's how I roll~I just think it's fun to explore canon traits or other things outside of the ordinary boundaries of canon, although, in less chaotic times, we had plenty of cute threads too. I won't say anything about Noa since I wouldn't know what parts of it constitute major spoilers or not, but definitely strongly tied to a weapon of mass destruction kind of plotline.

Part of the fun was putting Pokemon trainers in that game like Touya [who is living with Noa, hence why Shootie knows 'em!] in such a game because Touya was Hero of Ideals and he tried his hardest to stick to his nature despite being stuck in dystopia. He still tried to be a good moral chain and good influence as much possible. ^o^;;;

Meanwhile, Shootie's shtick in canon was trying to prove how grown-up he was, devalued bonding with others as interfering with pursuit of strength (well, before season 2), and commanded a little makeshift army of random trainers [BW 22: Hiun CIty! Fushide Panic!!/A Venipede Stampede] to try take down the swarming Venipede (called Ash's peaceful methodsnaive, stalked and stole intel so he could sabotage Ash and friends' peace effort, basically did everything wrong with good intentions and one partly selfish motive because he was just too cynical to believe peaceful methods could work instead of just. BURN THE VENIPEDE).

About the thing from before, the only images I could find are images where it seems like a cartoon animal is used to replace a not-yet-revealed Pokémon, like a placeholder.

Regarding non-Pokemon mascot characters, [XY 59: Satoshi and Serena's First Date!? The Tree of Promises and the Presents!!/Under the Pledging Tree!] the Ash and Serena date episode where Ash was laughing at the funny face of something in a stand that didn't look like any Pokemon, right? But too detailed and yet not fulfilling a special function that can't be fulfilled by a Pokemon to just be a placeholder!

View attachment 123358

I like the idea of other creatures being mythical or fictional ones, too, that could work! It helps the world feel more real. ;3; Since even with all of our animals, we still come with our own fantasy creatures, usually by mixing traits! (So, this critter is like Meowth, Jigglypuff, and Cherrim!)
Jigglypuff with Meowth's face!
123360
 
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note to try to keep things as on-topic as possible in this thread. ^^

In some ways, the Pokemon Universe is more advanced than we are. In other ways, they're more primitive. It's hard to say for sure; if you just teleported some random person from the Pokemon Universe to our own world, I'd imagine that, for the most part, they'd be just fine. The only differences would be with the technology. In the Pokemon World, their technology is advanced enough in that Pokemon can be instantly healed from battle damage with items and even stays at the Pokemon Center. It could be just advances in medication in Pokemon that are leaps and bounds ahead of ours though, as for the most part, things aren't too different.

In Alola, for example, we see trainers that have smartphones similar to us. It's not like things are significantly different in the Pokemon World than in the real world. The biggest difference is that we use technology to accomplish things that the Pokemon Universe uses... well, Pokemon for. Things like construction, maintenance, and a lot of other blue-collar jobs use Pokemon to assist rather than technology. I think that would be the biggest adjustment to change, but other than that? Culture-wise, there's not a whole lot different.

I'd argue that we would be more culture shocked by teleporting into the Pokemon World than vice-versa.
 
Wonder what the people of the Pokemon world would think of our world's climate change problem?
 
Probably wondering why no one is actually doing something to help or at the very least do SOMETHING to deal with the people in charge not doing anything about it. Or just wondering in general why anyone would WANT to keep trying to kill most of the life on the planet.

Sadly we don't have psychic fire foxes, gods, or literal DRAGONS on our side to fight for good.

I'd imagine to someone in the pokemon universe, ours would look like one where all of the Villain Teams are in charge of everything and no one can do anything about it.
 
Please note: The thread is from 5 years ago.
Please take the age of this thread into consideration in writing your reply. Depending on what exactly you wanted to say, you may want to consider if it would be better to post a new thread instead.
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