Pokémon world (PMTA)
The Pokémon world is the setting of Pocket Monsters: The Animation, Takeshi Shudō's anime novelizations consisting of two books.
The novels take place in a fictional nation whose capital is Tokyo City (Japanese: トウキョシティ Tokyo City) and also includes some cities and towns based on Kanto as seen in the Pokémon anime.
Although the novelizations are based on the first few episodes of the anime, this country and some other real-life places such as Tokyo City are not known to exist in the anime itself.
Overview
The unnamed country that serves as the setting of Pocket Monsters: The Animation is located on the planet Earth (said to be a blue planet orbiting the sun, as in real life). This country is said to resemble 20th century Japan, except with some differences.
The known locations in this country include Pallet Town, Viridian City, Viridian Forest, Pewter City, Cerulean City, and Celadon City. The country's capital is Tokyo City. Other countries mentioned include America, China, England, France, Germany, and Greece.
There are billions of registered (both alive and deceased) Pokémon Trainers in the world. The country's population is unknown, but the Pokémon Comic magazine is said to have 5 million readers, and the Pokémon Pals magazine publishes a monthly list of the 10,000 best Pokémon Trainers in this country.
The character dialogue is in Japanese, while the English language exists as well. This is discussed as the English word "get" is used in the Japanese dialogue. At some point, Gary Oak says "Are you alright?" in English.
In this country, several forms of work are dominated by women. This includes Officer Jenny and Nurse Joy. Most men tend to try to become Pokémon Trainers.
The known forms of transportation include trains, cars, motorcycles, balloons, and bicycles.
There is a children's magazine named Pokémon Comic, as well as the magazines Monthly Pokémon Trainer and Pokémon Pals for adults.
Pokémon Centers, in addition to being facilities for healing Pokémon, also serve as hotels and medical facilities for people. Pokémon are healed for free, and Pokémon Trainers identified by the Pokémon Field Guide can stay free of charge as well. It is unknown if the medical facilities for people are free as well.
Pallet Town
- Main article: Pallet Town → Pocket Monsters: The Animation
In Japanese, Pallet Town used to be named Masshiro Town. The name was changed to Pallet Town (Japanese: マサラタウン Masara Town), after Pallet Oak (Japanese: オーキド・マサラ Masara Ohkido) achieved the 931st place in the national Pokémon Trainer ranking.
Professor Oak is the great-great-grandson of Pallet Oak. Pallet Town has had successive generations of mayors from the Oak family. The current mayor is the oldest brother of Professor Oak.
There are several Pokémon Trainers from Pallet Town who share the dream of beating Pallet Oak's ranking of 931st place and have the town renamed after them. Ash Ketchum aims to rename Pallet Town into Ash Town (Japanese: サトシタウン Satoshi Town), while Gary Oak aims to rename it into Gary Town (Japanese: シゲルタウン Shigeru Town).
Pewter City
The buildings in Pewter City are usually made of stone. However, the Pewter Gym is a 100-year-old wooden building in need of repairs.
The Pewter Science Museum was built after a fossil fragment was discovered. The creature was originally named Pewtersaurus, but it was later identified as an Omanyte.
Celadon City
The Celadon Department Store has some merchandise that is not available in a small town such as Pallet Town. It sells some Pokémon-themed products, such as a Voltorb alarm clock.
Adulthood
In this country, people are legally considered adults once they are 10 years old. Only children up to 10 years old receive compulsory education, after which they can go into higher education or work.
It is also mentioned that 10-year-olds can marry, and drive vehicles, and that they must abide by traffic laws. Criminals past 10 years old are judged as adults. In particular, both Ash Ketchum and Misty refer to themselves as adults because they are 10 years old; Ash's mother Delia Ketchum also mentions that he is an adult. However, at some point, Jessie and James remark that Ash and Misty are children.
Pokémon Trainers
As of April following their 10th birthday, people are allowed to catch Pokémon and carry Poké Balls. Their first partner Pokémon is given by the National Pokémon Association. Professor Oak recommends starting the journey with either Bulbasaur, Charmander, or Squirtle, although there are also some unknown first partner Pokémon.
Pokémon Trainers use a notebook known as the Pokémon Field Guide, which contains information about Pokémon and also serve as the identification of the Trainers.
Pokémon Trainers commonly engage in battles. They can travel to different cities and challenge their Gyms. Once a Trainer wins a match against Gym Leader, a Badge is awarded. Gym Leaders are required to accept all battle challenges. A beginner is allowed to use two Pokémon in a Gym battle.
Gym battles are covered by health insurance, in case the Pokémon or the Trainer is injured.
Gym battles are officially endorsed by several government agencies listed below, although it is said as a joke that some of them do not appear to be actually related to Pokémon battles:
- Ministry of Education, Sports, Science and Technology, Agency of Cultural Affairs
- Environmental Protection Agency
- Ministry of International Trade and Industry
- Ministry of Health and Welfare
- Ministry of Finance
- Pre-merger Ministry of Post and Telecommunications
- Ministry of Home Affairs
- National Pokémon Scientific Community
- International Pokémon Trainer's Association
It is said that trading Pokémon is commonplace. If someone steals Pokémon from someone else, the thief would have their Pokémon Trainer's license permanently revoked.
At first, it is implied that individual Pokémon are expected to have nicknames instead of being called by their own species, as Professor Oak says that humans are not called "Human". However, there are no known nicknamed Pokémon in the novels. Ash's Pikachu rejects all the nicknames suggested by Ash and prefers to be referred to as simply "Pikachu", and all other known Trainers such as Jessie, James, Bug Catcher, Misty, and Brock also refer to their Pokémon by their species names.
Pokémon and animals
Real-life animals are sometimes mentioned, either by the narrator or the characters, as well as in text appendices outside the main story. However, those animals are not otherwise seen in-universe.
For instance, the tale of The Ant and the Grasshopper, as well as the dog Hachiko, are mentioned at some points. In a book written by Professor Oak, the Pokémon are described in comparison with animals such as frogs and turtles. At some point, Ash Ketchum also mentions that Bulbasaur looks like a frog, Squirtle looks like a turtle, and Charmander looks like a dinosaur.
Some people treat it as a fact that only 151 Pokémon exist, while others think that more Pokémon may be discovered in the future.
The distinction between Legendary and Mythical Pokémon is said to be unclear. It is argued that Dragonair and Dragonite can be possibly considered Mythical Pokémon because dragons are mythical creatures. It is also argued that Legendary Pokémon such as Articuno and Moltres may be considered to be a different category because their Japanese names are based on English words.
While animals are made of organic matter, including proteins with genetic information, some Pokémon are made out of rock, metal, gas, or sludge. There is a theory that Pokémon resembling objects such as dolls, swords, war tanks, or fighter jets may exist at some point, as well as living computers or robots, due to the fact that life made out of inorganic objects already exists.
It is said that Pokémon should not exist according to Darwin's theory of evolution. Mendel Wallace suggested using the word "metamorphosis" for Pokémon evolution, citing examples such as the metamorphosis of a tadpole into a frog. However, the general public does not care which word to use for Pokémon evolution.
The lake monsters Nessie, Kussie, Biwahoussie, and Namonassie are rumored to be Pokémon that exist in Loch Ness, Lake Kutcharo, Lake Biwa, and Namonassie Lake, respectively.
Some unknown people seek to destroy all Pokémon so that only animals would exist.
Pokémon species
- Wild Pikachu are nocturnal creatures. However, Pikachu kept with humans match their sleep cycle, being active during the day and sleeping at night. Pikachu are typically easygoing to be kept as pets, although Ash's Pikachu is exceptionally hostile towards him at first.
- Dodrio crows with three voices to announce the daybreak. This is seen at least in Pallet Town and Pewter City.
History of Pokémon and animals
There is a legend that God created the universe in seven days, including the creation of animals and humans, and after that God created Pokémon as well.
There is no definite answer as to how long humans and Pokémon have existed, and which of them originated first. It is considered impossible to determine the chemical makeup of a Pokémon's body, and their molecules are also arranged differently than animal's molecules. Although scientific methods are available to evaluate the age of human fossils, it is not possible to determine the age of Pokémon fossils.
Some real-life discoveries such as the fossils of the Peking Man and Australopithecus are mentioned in a discussion about the age of humanity in the world. One estimation is that humans and Pokémon first appeared roughly at the same time in the world, 2 million years ago. It is certain that Pokémon have existed for some time before they were discovered by humans.
It is said that Pokémon and animals may be related to each other. As an example, it is said that cats and lions are related by evolution, and that Meowth may be related to cats as well.
In the year 4 BC the Ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle catalogued approximately 500 varieties of animals. He divided creatures into humans, animals with red blood, animals with no red blood, and animals resembling plants. However, he knew nothing of Pokémon and did not include them in his research. Historically, there has not been much research into animals or Pokémon, because they were considered not to be as worthy of examination as humans.
It is said that the study of biology is a relatively recent development of human history, and that the study of Pokémon has started within the past few centuries. In the 18th century, the French scholar Lamark studied animals and plants, and the French researcher Count Tajirin was the first author to publish Pokémon research. At the time, there were only 30 known species of Pokémon, including Charizard and Vaporeon.
In 1925, the technology to store Pokémon in small objects such as Poké Balls or capsules was invented by Professor Nishinomori. The name "Pokémon" was introduced after this invention, as it was not possible to store them in pockets before. However, it is not know what Pokémon were called before this word was coined.
Thirty years prior to the start of Ash Ketchum's journey, Professor Oak's research revealed that Pokémon and animals are fundamentally different from each other, which got wide attention from the scientific community.
Trivia
- In this universe:
- There is some kind of digital pet video game, where the player can press reset and start again if the pet dies.
- The beer brands Budweiser and Kirin exist.
- There are legends about some creatures such as dragons and mermaids.
- Saffron City occupies the space where Tokyo should be if the fictional country's landscape matches that of modern day Japan.
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This article is part of Project Locations, a Bulbapedia project that aims to write comprehensive articles on every location in the Pokémon world. |
