Sinnoh
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The Sinnoh region (pronounced /ˈsɪnno/) (Japanese: シンオウ地方 Shin'ō-chihō) is a region in the Pokémon world, the setting of the Generation IV games Pokémon Diamond, Pearl, and Platinum. It is based on the geography of the Japanese island of Hokkaido and southern part of the Russian island of Kunashir, which is claimed by the Japanese government, and according to the anime, the Sinnoh region is located north of the Kanto region.
Geography
Environment
Sinnoh features a broad range of new and classic environments for the player to explore including, for the first time in a Pokémon RPG, snowy routes. The region also features full-land geography, with only five sea routes. Despite this lack of sea routes, a direct opposite of the Hoenn region, the Sinnoh region is known to be rich in water, and has three lakes at the northernmost (Acuity), easternmost (Valor), and westernmost (Verity) ends of the main continent that are home to the members of one of the legendary trios of Sinnoh. Near Lake Valor, as well, there is a hidden fourth lake, Sendoff Spring, which houses Turnback Cave.
Due to its large size, the main region of Sinnoh can be broken into two sub-regions divided by Mt. Coronet, roughly comparable to how the continent that Kanto and Johto make up is essentially a contiguous region. Due to this, Shellos and Gastrodon have developed an instance of regional speciation, with members of the species found on the eastern side being blue-colored and members on the western side being pink-colored.
The western half of Sinnoh features a variety of landscapes. Its coasts are notably more rocky than the eastern half, however, the land is far more fertile, and the towns, for the most part, are rural. A windswept canyon, carved out by a river that flows from Mt. Coronet, is home to the Valley Windworks, which provides clean, wind-driven electricity to the nearby towns. This is not to say, however, that there is no importance to west Sinnoh, as Oreburgh City, Eterna City, and Canalave City are the locations of Pokémon Gyms, and Jubilife City, at the heart of the area, is the most technologically advanced city in the region.
Sinnoh's eastern half is home, however, to a vast many more things, including Pokémon Super Contests in Hearthome City, a Department Store in Veilstone City, the Great Marsh of Pastoria City, and the awe-inspiring Vista Lighthouse of Sunyshore City. In each of these cities, as well, there is a Pokémon Gym, which is very important for League-bound Trainers.
Unlike the halves of Sinnoh divided longitudinally by Mt. Coronet, the northern area is sparsely populated, with Snowpoint City as the only major area, likely due to the harsh snows that blow down from the mountain's peak, making the area not only very cold, but as well making a trip northward very perilous. Despite this relative isolation, however, Snowpoint as well has a Pokémon Gym, making it another important stop for Trainers who wish to compete in the Pokémon League.
A third sub-region is the Battle Zone, which is on a large island to the northeast of the mainland. Much like how people from the Sevii Islands seem to consider their home to be a separate region from Kanto and Johto, people from the Battle Zone often refer to Sinnoh as a separate region. Several islands, including Newmoon Island, Fullmoon Island, and Iron Island, lie off the northwestern coast of Sinnoh as well, though these are far eclipsed in both size and importance by the mainland.
Separated from both the Battle Zone and the mainland of Sinnoh by several straits is the island on which Pokémon League of Sinnoh is located, the only access to which is by way of Route 223. It is here where Sinnoh's Victory Road is located, which, unlike previous incarnations has not two, but three entrances: One of these, of course, is the southern entrance that Trainers from the mainland must navigate from, a second is the one that leads to the area in which the Elite Four can be challenged, and the third leads from a foggy area of Victory Road to Route 224, which is said to be a miniature version of Sinnoh. North from Route 224, through a special event, of course, leads the Seabreak Path to Shaymin's domain, the Flower Paradise.
Climate
The Sinnoh region holds a vast arrange of climates. Unlike Hoenn, which is located in the south where the climate is warmer, Sinnoh is located on the northern boundaries of the world where the temperature is cooler. It is so cold in the northern part of the region, it snows constantly. At one point in Sinnoh, it is actually possible to travel on a route covered in snow. Cities such as Snowpoint City have been completely covered in snow, while Pokémon who live around the area have adapted to their new climate change. However recently, the region has become cooler on the southern side as climate change take part on the region. Areas such as Twinleaf Town and Route 201 have now been a subject to snow.
Another new weather condition introduced was the fog condition, which can be found on Route 210 however can be cleared easily. The fog is like a thick blanket that makes obstacles and Trainers difficult to see.
Locations
Cities and Towns
- Western Sinnoh
- Eastern Sinnoh
- Northeastern Island (Battle Zone)
Areas of interest
- Entrance in Sinnoh
Anime Locations
- Chocovine Town
- Emeragrove Town
- Gerbera Town
- Shelter Town
- Majolica Town
- Melendale Island
- Sage Town
- Sandalstraw Town
- Squallville
- Suiren Town
Routes
Much like Hoenn before it, Sinnoh's routes are numbered so that they don't follow sequence directly from previously-known regions' routes. Routes in Sinnoh are numbered from 201 to 230. Compared to previous generations, there aren't many sea routes; there are many land routes and mountains. The idea of routes with differing weather conditions was also brought ahead from Generation III. For the first time ever in a Pokémon game, some of Sinnoh's routes have snow covering them.
Another quirk about the routes in Sinnoh is that some of them do not go directly east/west or north/south, but actually turn before reaching their destination, most notably Route 212 and Route 210, which both have two limbs of equal length. While Hoenn's Route 114 did this on the Game Boy Advance, it was not to this scale, so one may presume that the GBA was limited in this sense.
League
- Main article: Sinnoh League
The Sinnoh League is the regional Pokémon League of the Sinnoh region. The Elite Four and the Champion are located at the Pokémon League.
Gym Leaders
| Sinnoh League | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Generation IV | Region: Sinnoh | ||
| Gym Leader Japanese |
Location Japanese |
Type | Badge |
 Roark ヒョウタ Hyouta |
Oreburgh City クロガネシティ Kurogane City |
Rock |  Coal Badge |
 Gardenia ナタネ Natane |
Eterna City ハクタイシティ Hakutai City |
Grass |  Forest Badge |
 Maylene スモモ Sumomo |
Veilstone City トバリシティ Tobari City |
Fighting |  Cobble Badge |
 Crasher Wake マキシマム仮面 Maximum Mask |
Pastoria City ノモセシティ Nomose City |
Water |  Fen Badge |
 Fantina メリッサ Melissa |
Hearthome City ヨスガシティ Yosuga City |
Ghost |  Relic Badge |
 Byron トウガン Tougan |
Canalave City ミオシティ Mio City |
Steel |  Mine Badge |
 Candice スズナ Suzuna |
Snowpoint City キッサキシティ Kissaki City |
Ice |  Icicle Badge |
 Volkner デンジ Denzi |
Sunyshore City ナギサシティ Nagisa City |
Electric |  Beacon Badge |
Elite Four
| Sinnoh League | |
|---|---|
| Generation IV | |
| Member Japanese |
Type |
 Aaron リョウ Ryou |
Bug |
 Bertha キクノ Kikuno |
Ground |
 Flint オーパ Ōba |
Fire |
 Lucian ゴヨウ Goyō |
Psychic |
 Champion Cynthia シロナ Shirona |
Various |
Battle Frontier
- Main article: Battle Frontier (Generation IV)
Frontier Brains
| Frontier Brain (Japanese) |
Facility (Japanese) |
|
|---|---|---|
 Tower Tycoon Palmer (クロツグ Kurotsugu) |
Battle Tower (バトルタワー Battle Tower) |
File:TowerGoldprint.png Tower Print |
 Factory Head Thorton (ネジキ Nejiki) |
Battle Factory (バトルファクトリー Battle Factory) |
File:FactoryGoldprint.png Factory Print |
 Arcade Star Dahlia (ダリア Dahlia) |
Battle Arcade (バトルルーレット Battle Roulette) |
File:ArcadeGoldprint.png Arcade Print |
| File:VSDarach and Caitlin.png Castle Valet Darach and Lady Caitlin (コクラン&カトレア Kokuran & Cattleya) |
Battle Castle (バトルキャッスル Battle Castle) |
File:CastleGoldprint.png Castle Print |
 Hall Matron Argenta (ケイト Kate) |
Battle Hall (バトルステージ Battle Stage) |
File:HallGoldprint.png Hall Print |
Trivia
- Sinnoh's Gym Leaders each use a type that has previously been seen in another region's Gym. Four of them were first seen in Kanto; in fact, they are the same types as the first four Gyms of Kanto: Rock, Water, Electric, and Grass. Similarly, the other four were first seen in Johto, and are the same as the fourth through seventh Gyms of that region: Ghost, Fighting, Steel, and Ice.
- If one were to draw lines to connect the three lakes of Sinnoh, they form a big triangle with Mt. Coronet at the center. This is the same formation that Uxie, Mesprit, and Azelf make on the top of Spear Pillar with Dialga or Palkia in the middle. This formation is also repeated in many places having to do with Sinnoh myths.
- Sinnoh is the only region of the main series games that has more than five letters in its name.
- Unlike Hoenn, which is considered to be tropical, or the relatively temperate Kanto-Johto landmass, Sinnoh is shown to be farther north and much colder. This is shown by the cold weather around Snowpoint City and the routes leading to it, and the fact that Lucas, Dawn, and Pearl all wear scarves, and in Platinum, much heavier jackets and clothes and scarves than have been seen by other player characters.
- In game, Sinnoh is the largest region yet, disregarding the visitable area in Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen of Kanto and the Sevii Islands.
- Sinnoh is also the only area traveled through where all the Gym Leaders that have been featured have appeared in an episode before Ash battled them.
- If a Pokémon hatches in an area exclusive to Platinum, then subsequently traded to Diamond and Pearl, its met location will display as "Faraway place" , despite the fact that these areas (with the exception of the Distortion World and the Battle Frontier) are all within the Sinnoh region.
- Sinnoh has introduced the largest amount of legendary Pokémon, introducing 14.
- Interestingly, Sinnoh has an index number location programmed into Generation IV for it, despite the fact that all Sinnoh locations are programmed into the games already. This index location is at #2006, while coincidentally, Sinnoh's first games, Pokémon Diamond and Pearl, were released in Japan in that year. This does not happen for the other three regions programmed in (i.e. Kanto is 2003, not 1996, Johto is 2004, not 1999, and Hoenn is 2005, not 2002). This data is unused during normal gameplay (i.e. without hacking); Pokémon from Sinnoh traded to a game taking place in Johto display their normal "met at" area, much like Pokémon from Kanto do when traded to Emerald.
- Sinnoh is the only region so far which does not have any Pokémon Gyms on outlying islands, with all of them being on the main continent.
- Sinnoh is the only region so far to have all Pokémon Gyms in a city.
- Sinnoh, unlike the other three main regions, does not have a boat on which the player can battle other Trainers.
See also
| Regions in the Pokémon world | ||
|---|---|---|
