Unova

Unova	イッシュ地方
	Isshu region

Artwork of the Unova region

Introduction	Pokémon Black and White
Professor	Professor Juniper
First partner Pokémon	Snivy, Tepig, Oshawott
Regional Villains	Team Plasma

		Pokédex
Pokédex List			Unova Pokédex

	Anime
Series		Best Wishes
Season(s)		Pokémon: Black & White (14)

	Games
Generation		V
Games		Black and White

In-game map of the Unova region from Generation V

The Unova region (Japanese: イッシュ地方 Isshu-chihō) is a large area of the Pokémon world and the setting of the fifth generation Pokémon games Pokémon Black and White. It is far away from the four other large regions, and the Pokémon which inhabit Unova are diverse and different from those of Kanto, Johto, Hoenn, and Sinnoh. In his director's column, Junichi Masuda suggested that the geographical and social background for Unova draws inspiration from the New York City metropolitan area^[1] ^[2], although the region features rural locations as well as industrial.

Etymology and design concept

Etymology

Unova's Japanese name (イッシュ Isshu) is derived from 一種類 (isshurui), meaning "one variety." As explained by game director Masuda, this is to express that even though the region has great diversity in species and race, when seen from a distance they are all the same as living creatures.^[3]

Unova likely comes from the Latin unum (one) and nova (new). May also be from united, considering its basis on the largest city in the United States. It also sounds like parts of the phrase United States of America.

Design concept

Although some of Unova is geographically based on New York, the creators of the region took some liberties in regards to the surrounding areas. Clearly, the largest city in Unova, Castelia City, is based on Lower Manhattan, but to the immediate north of Castelia is (as opposed to a continuing metropolis as in real life) a vast desert. Nimbasa City, which is to the north of Castelia City, could be a reference to Broadway, which is located in Manhattan. The division of Unova may also be a reference to the Boroughs of New York City. The Skyarrow Bridge is a reference to the Brooklyn Bridge, which connects Brooklyn and Manhattan.

History

Location of Unova on Pokémon world

Mythological events

In mythology, Unova was created by twin heroes using a single dragon at an unknown point in the past. However, the brothers started arguing over something each sought in life; the older brother sought truth and the younger brother sought ideals. Their arguments split the single dragon into Reshiram, who sided with the older brother, and Zekrom, who sided with the younger brother. Since they were both born from the same dragon neither could defeat the other and the brothers declared that there was no right side. However, eventually their sons continued the fight and both the dragons started to battle again, ravaging the Unova region with their fire and lightning powers before disappearing.

Also at an unknown point in the distant past, a civil war broke out in Unova that cased an intense forest fire. The many Pokémon that lived in the forest and became trapped, though luckily the Musketeer trio came in to save them—Terrakion moved away boulders blocking their escape route, Virizion used its nimble movements to protect Pokémon from looming flames, and Cobalion led the scared Pokémon out of the forest. These Pokémon would later become responsible for ending the war before disappearing into myths.

According to Lacunosa Town legend, a long time ago, a large meteor came from the sky containing a terrifying monster. It was said that at night the monster would appear in the town along with the cold winds and take away humans and Pokémon to eat them. The residents of the town surrounded Lacunosa Town in a wall to keep the monster out, and a rule was then set on the town that forbade anyone from leaving at night and encouraged people to stay in their homes. Even though residents no longer believe this old story, they still stay inside of their houses at night to this day.

There is a legend which tells of how Thundurus and Tornadus once raced across Unova, tearing up the lands with their respective weather powers, caring not for any settlements or creatures in their path. Landorus, realizing the massive destruction the pair had brought to the region and its inhabitants, is said to have punished them so that they ceased their actions and have never since repeated them for fear of Landorus's wrath.

Meloetta once entertained the people of Unova with song and dance; however, when sorrow filled the hearts of people, Meloetta lost this melody as well as its red shoes.

Dated history

3,000 years ago, the Relic items were created.
2,500 years ago, the Relic Castle was constructed.
200 years ago, Village Bridge was constructed after the local river burst its banks, flooding the settlement that stood there previously.
~100 years ago, the warehouses of Nacrene City were constructed.
100 years ago, Klink started appearing in Chargestone Cave.

Contemporary history

In contemporary history, a present containing three starter Pokémon—one each for Cheren, Bianca and Hilda/Hilbert—was sent to Hilda/Hilbert's house in Nuvema Town by Professor Juniper on their mothers' request, so that they could each start their Pokémon journeys through the Unova region, challenging each of Unova's eight gyms in order to collect badges and eventually reach the Pokémon League. During their travels, Hilda/Hilbert met and battled with the members of Team Plasma many times, including their king, N, and encountered the mysterious Shadow Triad, with events coming to a head at Dragonspiral Tower, where N managed to capture one of the members of the Tao trio and invited Hilda/Hilbert to face him after they had beaten the Pokémon League and resurrected the complementary dragon from the Light Stone^{Wrong template. See Template:Sup/doc.}/Dark Stone^{Wrong template. See Template:Sup/doc.}. On retrieving the appropriate stone from Nacrene Museum and defeating the Elite Four, Hilda/Hilbert reached the Champion's room, where N was waiting for them, having just defeated the Champion. N then summoned his castle, which rose out of the earth surrounding the Pokémon League; Team Plasma had been working tirelessly for years prior to build the fortress around the Pokémon League right under their nose, overworking the Pokémon gifted to them by Trainers they had emotionally manipulated into doing so for this purpose. N then invites Hilda/Hilbert into the castle to battle him in order to test the strength of their convictions.

On entering the castle, Hilda/Hilbert are ambushed by all of the Seven Sages (minus Ghetsis), who planned to defeat them so that their king's reign would be unopposed. Fortunately, Bianca arrived, bringing all the Gym Leaders of the region that she was able find with her (which includes all of them except for Chili, Cress and Cilan, whom Bianca claimed she could not contact in time). The Gym Leaders then opted to engage the Seven Sages in battle on Hilda/Hilbert's behalf, so that they were able to ascend through the castle and defeat N. Eventually, Hilda/Hilbert reached Team Plasma's King in the throne room, where N summoned his member of the Tao trio, who subsequently came crashing through the farthest wall of the room. The presence of Reshiram^{Wrong template. See Template:Sup/doc.}/Zekrom^{Wrong template. See Template:Sup/doc.} then activated the player's dormant stone, which emerged from the bag and transformed into its counterpart, Zekrom^{Wrong template. See Template:Sup/doc.}/Reshiram^{Wrong template. See Template:Sup/doc.}. The latter then allowed Hilda/Hilbert to attempt to capture them and after doing so, Hilda/Hilbert proceeded to defeat N in the ensuing battle.

N's loss to his opponent caused Ghetsis to storm into the room in rage, insisting that N was a complete failure and a freak and revealing his true motivation for Team Plasma. By seperating all other Pokémon from their Trainers, whilst Team Plasma retained their own, he, as leader of the group (acting through N), would have been left in a position of power from which he could have dominated the world. However, his delusions of grandeur were cut short by his defeat in a final Pokémon battle at the hands of Hilda/Hilbert followed by his arrest.

N, however, was not arrested and subsequently flew from the land on Reshiram^{Wrong template. See Template:Sup/doc.}/Zekrom^{Wrong template. See Template:Sup/doc.} in order to do some soul searching in light of Ghetsis's revelations. Whilst he was not seen again in Unova, there is a rumor that someone with a strong resemblance to N was spotted somewhere in a far-off region. Hilda/Hilbert then continued the rest of their journey, managing to also cover eastern Unova, (becoming the first person to successfully operate the Poké Transfer), locate and aid in the arrest of the remaining Seven Sages and eventually defeat the Pokémon League Champion themselves.

Cities, routes, and other locations

Demographics

The Unova region has a total population of 794 including all the towns, cities and areas.

Cities and towns

Map	City/Town	Population	Description
File:Nuvema Town.png	Nuvema Town	10	A rural town whose sea breezes give the sense of something coming.
File:Accumula Town.png	Accumula Town	30	This town offers great views due to its many hills.
File:Striaton City.png	Striaton City	46	Entry stairs built in memory of a former home in a snowier climate.
File:Nacrene City.png	Nacrene City	50	A city established in restored storehouses built 100 years ago.
	Castelia City	130	A big city with skyscrapers piercing the clouds.
File:Nimbasa City.png	Nimbasa City	239	A bustling city of entertainment, with many theme parks.
File:Driftveil City Gym Outside.png	Driftveil City	55	A port town distributing many goods, and a gateway to the Unova region.
File:Mistralton City.png	Mistralton City	37	Vegetables are grown by the runway and transported by cargo plane.
File:Icirrus City.png	Icirrus City	34	In winter, the city is covered with snow as far as the eye can see.
File:Black Opelucid City.png	Opelucid City	52	A convenient city of rapid change, showing no traces of the past.^{Wrong template. See Template:Sup/doc.} A city that respects history and values old things.^{Wrong template. See Template:Sup/doc.}
File:Unova Pokémon League.png	Pokémon League	??	Only the Trainers who have conquered all Pokémon Gyms can challenge here.
File:Lacunosa Town.png	Lacunosa Town	16	A town where all honor old customs, living as methodically as clockwork.
File:Undella Town.png	Undella Town	12	A summer retreat with a beach full of people who enjoy summer vacations.
	Black City	45	A modern city of ongoing development that draws people to it.
	White Forest	25	A place of nature's bounty, it attracts people who long for nature.
File:Anville Town.png	Anville Town	13	A city with a rail yard where trains park for an overhaul.

Landmarks

File:Battle Subway Map.png

Battle Subway map showing various destinations in the Greater Unova region

Dreamyard
Wellspring Cave
Pinwheel Forest
Desert Resort
Relic Castle
Lostlorn Forest
Cold Storage
Mistralton Cave
Chargestone Cave
Twist Mountain
Celestial Tower
Dragonspiral Tower
Moor of Icirrus
Challenger's Cave
Giant Chasm
Undella Bay
Abyssal Ruins
Abundant Shrine
Poké Transfer Lab
White Forest^{Wrong template. See Template:Sup/doc.}
Victory Road
P2 Laboratory
Liberty Garden
Entralink

The five bridges of Unova

Given that Unova is spread across three strips of land divided by two rivers, a number of bridges exists to allow free movement across the region. Each of them has their own characteristic features and are even popular tourist attractions, they are:

Anime-exclusive locations

Map of Unova in the anime

Routes

Unlike previous regions, Unova's routes do not follow the same numbering system, with a jump to 301, but are numbered 1-18, paralleling the Kanto region's numbering system and emphasizing Unova's dissociation from the previous four regions.

Geography

Unova is divided by two rivers that lead into an ocean to the south of it. These rivers cannot be surfed on, with the exception of the area around the Village Bridge. It divides Unova into central and eastern peninsulas and a western landmass. These three landmasses are connected by five bridges, the Skyarrow Bridge, the Driftveil Drawbridge, the Tubeline Bridge, the Marvelous Bridge, and the Village Bridge. The eastern part of Unova is further divided by mountains that makes a southeast part and northeast part. The southeastern part is important to Trainers who want to compete in the Pokémon league since two gyms are located there, but the northeastern part is not since there are no gyms there and it mostly has tourism, as evidenced by the amount of people speaking foreign languages. Further away from this bundle of towns is where the Pokémon League is located. Interestingly, the northeastern part is the only place in the region to find Pokémon species foreign to Unova outside of Swarms. The central peninsula of Unova consists of the two largest cities in the Pokémon world, Castelia City and Nimbasa City, as well as Opelucid City further north, all of which contain gyms. Every bridge in Unova connects to the central part of the region from either the east or west. The western side contains medium sized towns and more varied landscapes but it also has three gyms there, making it another destination to visit for any Pokémon Trainer.

Unova is a mixture of urban and rural land. The region features fifteen settlements which reflect the diversity of the region. Many cities have buildings that resemble real-world buildings, such as Striaton City and Castelia City. However, some cities remain the way buildings in the past do. Castelia City, a sprawling metropolis, is the largest city in any known Pokémon region. Nuvema Town, which is inhabited by the Pokémon expert Professor Juniper, is smaller and quieter. Black City is a version-exclusive city found only in Pokémon Black. Unova's landscape also features several forests (one of which, White Forest, is also version-exclusive), a desert, a magnetic cave and areas where the move Dive can be used outside of battle. Although Unova appears in some ways more technologically advanced than the previous regions, this development is not spread across the whole of the region. There will be several aesthetic differences in the region depending on the version, with Pokémon White these changes make the geography more rural looking, while in Pokémon Black these changes are more technological in appearance.

Climate

Main article: Seasons

The climate of Unova, unlike other regions, solely depends on the time of the year.

Unlike previous regions, where climatic change was experienced locally (that is to say, some routes would always feature snow, and some routes would always feature rain), Unova is susceptible to national seasonal change. Spring, summer, autumn and winter each last approximately thirty days, and recur three times each within a year. Each season brings with it different weather patterns, unlocks different events, and presents altered Pokémon availabilities.

Unova League

Main article: Unova League

The Unova League is the regional Pokémon League of the Unova region. After obtaining the eight badges of the region a trainer may battle the Elite Four at the Pokémon League building.

Gym Leaders

Unova League
Generation V				Region: Unova
Gym Leader Japanese				Location Japanese	Type			Badge
Cilan デント Dent	Chili ポッド Pod		Cress コーン Corn	Striaton City サンヨウシティ Sanyou City	Grass	Fire	Water	Trio Badge
Lenora アロエ Aloe				Nacrene City シッポウシティ Shippou City	Normal			Basic Badge
Burgh アーティ Arti				Castelia City ヒウンシティ Hiun City	Bug			Insect Badge
Elesa カミツレ Kamiture				Nimbasa City ライモンシティ Raimon City	Electric			Bolt Badge
Clay ヤーコン Yacon				Driftveil City ホドモエシティ Hodomoe City	Ground			Quake Badge
Skyla フウロ Fuuro				Mistralton City フキヨセシティ Fukiyose City	Flying			Jet Badge
Brycen ハチク Hachiku				Icirrus City セッカシティ Sekka City	Ice			Freeze Badge
Drayden シャガ Shaga^{Wrong template. See Template:Sup/doc.}		Iris アイリス Iris^{Wrong template. See Template:Sup/doc.}		Opelucid City ソウリュウシティ Souryuu City	Dragon			Legend Badge

Elite Four

Unova League
Generation V
Member Japanese	Type
Shauntal シキミ Shikimi	Ghost
Grimsley ギーマ Giima	Dark
Caitlin カトレア Cattleya	Psychic
Marshal レンブ Renbu	Fighting
Champion Alder アデク Adeku	Various

Trivia

Unova is the first main series region to be based on a real-world region outside of Japan.
Unova has the fewest routes of any region, only having 18.
- However, Unova has named routes stretching between settlements, including five bridges and a subway network.
Unova is the only region not to have any important locations located on major islands during normal gameplay before the Elite Four.
Unova is the only main series game region not to have the Bug Catcher, Beauty, Bird Keeper, or Sailor Trainer classes in it.
Unova is currently the only main series region to have more than two Gym Leaders in one Gym at the same time.
- However, only one of the Striaton Gym Leaders is battled in order to earn the badge.
Unova is the only region to have different exterior designs for every Gym.
- It is also the only region where the Gyms have logos.
Unova is the only region without:
- a Department Store in a city; Unova's is in the middle of Route 9
- a Game Corner
- a Safari Zone
Unova is the only main series region which does not use a romanization of the Japanese name as its English name, and the only region whose name is different among all languages.
- Unova is also the only main series region not to have an "O" sound in its Japanese name.
Unova is the only main region not to have a Battle Frontier.
- However, Kanto only has a Battle Frontier in the anime.
All English names for the towns and cities in Unova, except Black City, come from different types of cloud or cloud phenomena.
- Likewise, with the exception of Black City, all the Japanese names of the towns and cities come from traditional patterns.
In some UK pre-release material, Unova was referred to as Alleos.

In other languages

Language	Name	Origin
French	Unys	From un (one) and uni (united).
German	Einall	From eins (one) and alles (all). Can be translated as "all-in-one".
Italian	Unima	From uno (one) and possibly from anima (soul).
Spanish	Teselia	From tesela, Spanish for tessera, a ceramic mosaic piece. It can be related to the names of the regional locations, which are based on ceramic materials that can be used to make tesserae and form a mosaic.
Korean	하나 Hana	From 하나 (one).
Chinese (Mandarin)	合眾 Hézhòng	合眾 means "united", "involving everyone". Literally "to assemble the multitude". Possibly derived from 「合眾為一」 Hézhòng wéi Yī (E pluribus unum). May also be a reference to 合眾國 Hézhòngguó (United States).

References

↑ Hidden Power of Masuda: Director's Columns
↑ "This new region was inspired by New York's Manhattan. I visited New York when Diamond and Pearl launched and I had the chance to wander around the town. When I walked through the streets, I saw a lot of different people having festivals and community events - Italian people, French people - they're coming from different countries and coexisting in one community", Junichi Masuda, Official Nintendo Magazine Issue 65 pp. 30.
↑ http://www.nintendo.co.jp/ds/interview/irbj/vol1/index2.html

Regions in the Pokémon world

Core series	Kanto (Sevii Islands) • Johto • Hoenn Sinnoh (Hisui • Battle Zone) • Unova (Blueberry Academy) Kalos • Alola • Galar (Isle of Armor • Crown Tundra) Paldea • Kitakami
Side series	White City • Orre
Anime	Orange Islands • Decolore Islands
Spin-off games	Fiore • Almia • Oblivia • Pokémon Island • Mintale Town Ryme City • Pasio • Ransei • Ferrum • Lental Mystery Dungeon world • PokéPark • TCG Islands Carmonte Island • Tumblecube Island • Aeos Island
TCG	Southern Islands • Puzzle Continent • Holon • Parallel Worlds
Sovereign states in the Pokémon world	Ranger Union • Guyana Lucario Kingdom • Mirage Kingdom • Rota