JFrombaugh
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With all the talk about the Pokemon game for the Switch and Generation 8 and what region it is going to be based on, with most of the rumors seeming to point to Spain or Italy, this has got me thinking…what real-life part of the world do you think would make a good Pokemon region inspiration?
Personally, I would love the idea of a Pacific Northwest/Seattle-based region. I spent my elementary school years living there though, so I may be a bit biased. But I’ve always felt that things like the Pikes Place market and the Space Needle would fit in well in a major Pokemon city. Puget Sound and the system of ferries that takes cars across would open up some good ideas as well. Mt. St. Helens would be good as a volcano-type area, and the Hoh Rainforest would open up a lot of possibilities for a unique forest area as well.
Pokemon has always had a strong office base in the New York area, so using it for Unova kind of made sense, but Nintendo of America’s headquarters is actually in Seattle, so there’d be no problem with including a GameFreak office in the games & collaborating to make the region. Also, given that the PNW has a surprising number of microclimates (and constant drizzle in many places) it'd be a decent enough candidiate for including more Regional Variants of Pokémon.
Although Generation V is probably my least favorite overall (especially if you include the anime), one thing I’ve never really cared for about both Kalos and Alola is that they both feel very “monoculture” compared to past regions. In Sun & Moon this is alluded to with the whole story of Guzma and how Team Skull banded together out of a shared hatred towards Alolan culture. Compared to Kanto & Unova which feel much more like cultural “melting pots”, Kalos and Alola heavily favor those who fit the various French/Hawaiian stereotypes and molds. You can practically describe the typical character, and hit the nail on the head most of the time as you play through the games.
One of my fears about the upcoming Switch game is that if its region is in fact Poke-Spain or Poke-Italy, it could be similar in this regard...
Personally, I would love the idea of a Pacific Northwest/Seattle-based region. I spent my elementary school years living there though, so I may be a bit biased. But I’ve always felt that things like the Pikes Place market and the Space Needle would fit in well in a major Pokemon city. Puget Sound and the system of ferries that takes cars across would open up some good ideas as well. Mt. St. Helens would be good as a volcano-type area, and the Hoh Rainforest would open up a lot of possibilities for a unique forest area as well.
Pokemon has always had a strong office base in the New York area, so using it for Unova kind of made sense, but Nintendo of America’s headquarters is actually in Seattle, so there’d be no problem with including a GameFreak office in the games & collaborating to make the region. Also, given that the PNW has a surprising number of microclimates (and constant drizzle in many places) it'd be a decent enough candidiate for including more Regional Variants of Pokémon.
Although Generation V is probably my least favorite overall (especially if you include the anime), one thing I’ve never really cared for about both Kalos and Alola is that they both feel very “monoculture” compared to past regions. In Sun & Moon this is alluded to with the whole story of Guzma and how Team Skull banded together out of a shared hatred towards Alolan culture. Compared to Kanto & Unova which feel much more like cultural “melting pots”, Kalos and Alola heavily favor those who fit the various French/Hawaiian stereotypes and molds. You can practically describe the typical character, and hit the nail on the head most of the time as you play through the games.
One of my fears about the upcoming Switch game is that if its region is in fact Poke-Spain or Poke-Italy, it could be similar in this regard...
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