Canon Analysis: Pokémon

==Introduction==
	Two things motivated me to create this blog. The constant discussions about the Pokémon canon, that led to the creation of this blog. Connected with this is the overall use of “canon” by nearly everyone, with concepts that I don’t think should be as universal as they are. So, I decided to create my own blog giving my opinion on the use of “canon”. In order to complement said blog, I decided to create new blogs analyzing the canon of multiple franchises and Pokémon is the first one.
==”Main Canon”==
	What I’m going to use as the basis “Main Canon” is, of course, the original games and the other “mainline” games. In the official Pokémon Japanese Website the games are separated in two main categories. The “Pocket Monsters” series (「ポケットモンスター」シリーズ) and the other series. By selecting the “Display Only ‘Pocket Monsters’ series” we get this list of mainline games:
*Pocket Monsters Red/Green;
*Pocket Monsters Blue;
*Pocket Monsters Yellow;
*Pocket Monsters Gold/Silver;
*Pocket Monsters Crystal;
*Pocket Monsters Ruby/Sapphire;
*Pocket Monsters Fire Red/Leaf Green;
*Pocket Monsters Emerald;
*Pocket Monsters Diamond/Pearl;
*Pocket Monsters Platinum;
*Pocket Monsters Heart Gold/Soul Silver;
*Pocket Monsters Black/White;
*Pocket Monsters Black 2/White 2;
*Pocket Monsters X/Y;
*Pocket Monsters Omega Ruby/Alpha Sapphire;
*Pocket Monsters Sun/Moon;
*Pocket Monsters Red/Green/Blue/Yellow (Virtual Console);
*Pocket Monsters Ultra Sun/Ultra Moon;
*Pocket Monsters Gold/Silver (Virtual Console);
*Pocket Monsters Let’s Go Pikachu/Let’s Go Eevee;
*Pocket Monsters Crystal (Virtual Console);
*Pocket Monsters Sword/Shield;
*Pocket Monsters Sword/Shield Expansion Pass;
	Of course, simply listing these games means nothing, so I’ll try to prove the connectivity of the series and the intention with that connectivity. So, let’s start with the Pocket Monsters Red/Green games and move forward. The Red/Green website stabilises the games as the beginning of the Pokémon franchise and explains the interaction between the two, with Pokémon appearing in one version and not the other, making trading necessary for someone to have all the Pokémon in their encyclopedias, and also mentions the connection with Blue and Yellow for that. Their website mentions that they are “Another version” of Red/Green with updated graphics, new information in the Pokédex and with some changes in the story (Considering Pokémon Pikachu/Yellow). Finally the website mentions Gold/Silver/Crystal as the sequel (続編, Zokuhen) of those first games.
c2xRNUu.png|Summary: A boy goes on an adventure! (概要：少年は冒険の旅に出る！) "Pokemon Red and Green" are Pokemon's first software. The main character, who lives in Masara (Pallet) Town in the Kanto region, gets a Pokemon from Professor Ohkido (Oak) and embarks on an adventurous journey!
T1Fp6q0.png|Differences: Which one to choose? Pokemon Red" and "Pokemon Green" packaging (違い：どっちを選ぶ？『ポケットモンスター 赤』と『ポケットモンスター 緑』のパッケージ) There are 150 types of Pokemon that appear in "Pokemon Red and Green". "Pokemon Red" and "Pokemon Green" have different appearance rates of Pokemon, and some Pokemon appear only in one of them. In order to collect a lot of Pokemon, it is necessary to exchange Pokemon with the other version. Have fun with your friends and family!
1dwBwXd.png|Communication: You can exchange Pokemon with "Pokemon Blue" and "Pokemon Pikachu"! (通信：『ポケットモンスター 青』『ポケットモンスター ピカチュウ』とポケモンの交換ができる！) "Pokemon Red and Green" can trade with "Pokemon Blue" and "Pokemon Pikachu/Yellow". Enjoy exchanging Pokemon with your friends who have "Pokemon Blue" or "Pokemon Pikachu/Yellow"!
oMCifqd.png|Summary: Different Pokémon graphics and descriptions in the Pokémon Encyclopedia! (概要：ポケモンのグラフィックスとポケモン図鑑の説明が異なる！) “Pokémon Blue" is a different version of "Pokémon Red and Green”. The story is the same as "Pokemon Red and Green", but the graphics of Pokemon and the explanation of Pokémon Encyclopedia have been renewed, and you can enjoy the new charm of Pokemon!
uFpKSdg.png|Summary: You can walk with Pikachu! (概要：ピカチュウを連れて歩ける！) "Pokemon Pikachu/Yellow" is another version of "Pokemon Red and Green". The story is almost the same as "Pokemon Red and Green", but new events have been added, and you can now walk with Pikachu. When you talk to Pikachu, you can understand the "mood" at that time and hear its voice!
GifHYBD.png|Pokemon: Catch rare Pokemon! (ポケモン：めずらしいポケモンをつかまえよう！) In "Pokemon Red and Green", many Pokemon that cannot be obtained in the sequel (続編) "Pokemon Gold, Silver, Crystal Version" will appear. Kabuto, an Omanyte, who can be revived from fossils. The Legendary Thunder (Zapdos), Fire (Moltres), Freezer (Articuno). And Mewtwo is especially valuable. Let's definitely catch them!
	With Gold/Silver we have the website directly calling the games sequels as well. The games themselves also mention this, making references to the events of the first games as something that happened “three years ago” and trades with the previous games were possible thanks to the “Time Capsule” that allowed Pokémon to be sent across time into the past. The “Crystal” version was, just like the Blue and Pikachu/Yellow versions, was referred as “Another Version” (別バージョン) of Gold and Silver, with many “enhancements”.
AixSlHD.png|Summary: The adventure stage extends to the Johto region! (概要：冒険の舞台はジョウト地方へ広がる！) "Pokemon Gold and Silver" is a sequel to "Pokemon Red, Green, Blue and Pikachu/Yellow". The main character, who lives in Wakaba Town (New Bark Town) in the Johto region, embarks on an adventurous journey with a Pokemon given by Professor Utsugi (Elm) as a partner!
N3KiTeJ.png
ADw9vr8.png
fkbGyyw.png
NkL2dTI.png
650kAfY.png
oMC3lkp.png
J2q4G3S.png
psEvlkf.png
JMc30vU.png
u49DMY3.png
VIXQ3Lf.png
QydqYVg.png
vQVvRdu.png|Summary: Another version of "Pokemon Gold and Silver" full of new elements!(概要：新要素を満載した『ポケットモンスター 金・銀』の別バージョン！) "Pokemon Crystal Version" is another version of "Pokemon Gold and Silver". The story is almost the same as in "Pokémon Gold and Silver," but you can choose a girl as the main character, a mysterious young man named Minaki/Eusine appears, the Pokémon's movements are animated, and many other things have been enhanced!
	So far it’s clear that the mainline Pokémon Games have a consistent sequence of events across its games with each version being a representation of the region (Or regions) of that game where the events might follow a bit different. Although the differences so far were more in the types of Pokémon that you could get, as the games went on the differences would impact more on the story. Such as with the Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire, both taking place in Hoenn, buth with different focus on the Villain team, while Emerald had both teams being important. The games have the same setting, but are like reflections of each other with a few differences.
JQNnESk.png| Pokémon Ruby and Pokémon Sapphire have different stories! (『ポケットモンスター ルビー』と『ポケットモンスター サファイア』ではストーリーが違う!?)  “Pokémon Ruby and "Pokémon Sapphire" are both set in the same Hoenn region, but they have slightly different stories, so check them out! In "Pokémon Ruby, Team Magma wants to expand the land, and they are after the legendary Pokémon Groudon. In "Pokémon Sapphire," Team Aqua, which wants to expand the ocean, is after the legendary Pokémon Kyogre. Two games in the same setting, they are swapped as if they were reflected in a mirror! Of course, the available Pokemon will be different!
Aa3kgKC.png| Story: Stop the ambitions of both the Teams Magma and Aqua! (ストーリー：マグマ団とアクア団、両方の野望をくいとめろ！) The scenario of the adventure in "Pokemon Emerald" is in the same Hoenn region as "Pokemon Ruby and Sapphire". The main character who has moved to Mishiro/Littleroot Town goes on an adventure trip with a Pokemon and a "Pokemon Encyclopedia" from Professor Odamaki/Birch. The Teams Magma and Aqua, whie only one of them appeared in "Pokemon Ruby and Sapphire", both appeared in "Pokemon Emerald", blocking the path of the main character! Can the protagonist stop the ambitions of both organizations !?
As new games were released, with remakes that changed more the stories of the original versions, they would be confirmed to be “other worlds”. In the Entralink from the Black/White series it was stated that the player would be able to connect with “someone else’s world” referring to other copies of the game (Including different versions). In fact, even to this day Pokémon exchanged between different generations are said to “have traveled across time and space” in order to reach its new trainer.
WtxjHxf.png| Hilink/Entralink - Allows to go back and forth from other players' worlds! (ハイリンク - ほかのプレイヤーの世界と行き来できる！) When you select Hilink/Entralink, you can instantly warp to a mysterious place called Hilink/Entralink. If you connect with another player there, you can go back and forth between their world and yours!
oVweYUa.png
WdAKTBE.png
F9eaSIe.png
6O16VUE.png
TWVBoYb.png
hN8Fi2k.png
gWulrgU.png
PRUqeib.png
BIdYPS9.png
ii8Ckpe.png
covBOxB.png
	But the most concrete evidence about the nature of the game was revealed in the Omega Ruby/Alpha Sapphire games during the Delta Episode and later Post-Game content. There the character known as Zinna explains about the existence of another world, one that is nearly the same as the one where she lives, but one where the war from 3,000 years ago never happened and the Mega Evolution never became a thing. Of course a reference to the original games that didn’t have Mega Evolution. This reference is even more clear with the item used to open the Wormhole being called “Link Cable”, a reference to how the previous games were able to connect with each other. And later in the Battle Resort the Villain Team that acts in the “Mirror Game” comments with the player the possibility of a world that is “only a fraction of an inch removed” from their world, where that team would have tried to change the world using the other legendary Pokémon, making reference to the “mirror” game.
gZnHX3k.png
VM0xI6i.png
yo8EKS8.png
tXrUtLc.png
jyaMyLN.png
SsB4hhj.png
VyXIIkc.png
fVcxLVI.png
x6VW4jA.png
sOPdFh2.png
ybc1AY1.png
OD8PDUK.png
1jPOiKu.png
TUTAsPi.png
OAr8UYL.png
xdkQ9Gw.png
9HumFBw.png
S1laRCk.png
kNiYOeA.png
	As you can see, it’s clear that the intention of the main Pokémon series in relation to their continuity with games taking place in the same global setting across multiple regions. The general rules and characters across the games are supposed to be mostly the same, with some few differences to make each game world more unique, but still compatible with each other.
	Of course all of the Mainline “Pocket Monsters” series is considered canon (Alongside all of the content of each game) with each game being a parallel universe where the events occured with just an “inch of difference”.
	In regards to how such information can be used in our profile, it varies. The major differences are with individual trainers, since they can have different teams depending on the choices of the player or the version of the game. For such cases, they could have different keys to take in consideration those different outcomes or even different profiles if the versions of the character turned out to be very differently (Such as between Remakes).
	But the interesting case is, of course, with the more “general” characters, such as the Pokémon themselves. Since the nature of the franchise has some general rules, then the setting that includes mostly the Pokémon, without a lot of changes, is constant. As such it’s possible to use information from all of those games to make the “Composite Species” profiles that we use now. This is of course, even more valid when we take in consideration the Mythical and Legendary Pokémon that are even more constant due to being very connected with the main story.
	This, of course, already is how we deal with Pokémon here. As such, until now I was just trying to give more direct reasoning for why we use those standards. And this will become even more clear now, I’m going to talk about “Secondary Canon”. Spin-offs, manga and anime adaptation and so on.
==”Secondary Canon”==
	The most expected information way to start this is, of course, with games that have connectivity with the main series. If the main series itself is in fact a shared multiverse, then we can say the same with the other games that connect in the same way. Of course, most of said games are simple spin-offs without a lot of information, still you can find an entire list of those spin-off games, such as Pokémon Stadium series, here.
	However I would also like to mention the games that not only have the connectivity with the main series, but also mentions it with references to the regions of the games of the time, or even follow some of their events in some ways. The first example is with Pokémon Colosseum, and its sequel Pokémon XD: Gale of Darkness, that makes reference to the events taking place in the Orre Region, somewhere different from the Kanto and Hoenn regions. But, the most connected games are the Pokémon Ranger series. Not only the game has the connectivity with the series, it also makes references to the larger Pokémon world with its stories being said to take place in “far away region” from the ones of the main series, it also has its connection with the main series being a part of that games’ storyline. With each of the “Special Mission” ending with the Union Tamer recovering a Pokémon or Egg that needs to be sent to a trainer in the Sinnoh Region. 
bo2snqt.png|Mode: Take a new adventure journey in scenario mode! If you select "Scenario Mode", you can become the main character of the game and travel to the "Orre Region", a new adventure stage that is different from the Kanto region and Hoenn region. The main character is chasing a mysterious organization that turns Pokemon into a tool of evil, "Dark Pokemon." The Pokemon he carries are Espeon and Umbreon. There will also be a partner girl who can "see through the Dark Pokemon"!
dK4jrbB.png|Stage: The stage of the adventure is the Fiore region! (舞台：冒険の舞台はフィオレ地方だ！) The adventure stage of "Pokemon Ranger" is in the Fiore region, far from the Kanto and Hoenn regions! Let 's introduce some of the cities!
EcfcrEF.png
82TDllz.png
923TT2c.png
mbzuPys.png
vunSGFs.png
glb2z6R.png
QcF10Lk.png
nPRogm4.png
wEwGgyh.png
wFQKzr3.png
FrAWjvX.png
gU3sSmG.png
	And finally, it’s time to talk about the games that help to understand even more how the “canon” works for the Pokémon franchise. While talking about the development of “Pokémon Masters”, we have this information about its production.
::Pokemon.com: How do you flesh out characters who have had minimal screen time in the Pokémon RPGs? Did you work with people at The Pokémon Company to ::make sure your new details were in canon?
::Mr. Sasaki: We have worked with The Pokémon Company closely on details in the ::game, and they have of course checked our new details to make sure they fit in the world of Pokémon. One of the major new features of this game—and the content that we want to highlight—is the interaction between various Trainers. Players will be able to enjoy new and exciting interactions between Trainers who may not have ::interacted before. To create these interactions, we considered the personalities and backgrounds of these Trainers and made sure that our content did not deviate from that. If a character would never say or do a certain thing, we made sure that they do ::not in our game.
::::We Interview DeNA’s Yu Sasaki about Pokémon Masters
	The reason for why I took some time to explain more about the very concept of canon in my previous blog, is exactly for franchises such as Pokémon that follows certain rules about how its world needs to be understood. In the example of Pokémon Masters, Pokémon Company helped with the production of the game so nothing of the game would contradict how the world works, characters need to be “in-character” and rules need to be followed. This necessity of “following the rules” is something that is mentioned lots of times in lots of interview, even among the Core Series, such as in Pokémon Black 2/White 2
::Unno: Right. If the gameworld were a movie, anything would be possible, so I thought I could broaden the gameworld.
::Iwata: What do you mean by "anything would be possible"?
::Unno: Like a space fantasy that wouldn't usually be possible in the Unova region.
::Iwata: Huh? A space fantasy in Pokémon? (laughs)
::Unno: Or romance.
::Iwata: Huh?! Romance in Pokémon?! (laughs)
::Unno: Yeah! (laughs) But I wasn't sure how far I could go. There is, of course, the worldview that The Pokémon Company has preserved, and GAME FREAK treasures certain things, so when I submitted the proposal, I was pretty nervous.
:::: Iwata Asks: Pokémon Space Fantasy
	In fact, this is also mentioned about the production of “Pokémon: Magikarp Jump” (Yes, the mobile Magikarp game). Both the interview and the director mentions that the worldview of Pokémon is something that is noticed by the players, as such when someone plays a Pokémon game, it’s expected to follow the worldview of the franchise. As such even if the spin-offs such as “Pokémon: Magikarp Jump!” has its own unique flavors that only a spin-off made by a new team can have, it still follows the worldview of Pokémon, as it’s something that they need to keep in mind.
::――People who have played Pokemon games have the image that Pokemon has ::some kind of worldview (世界観). When I played "Splash! Magikar" I thought you ::were conscious of expressing the unique world of Pokémon. Were you aware of ::that?
::Nakahata: We wanted to express the world view well, partly because we love Pokémon. I think that our "Splash! Magikarp" has elements that Pokemon hadn't so far, such as being able to laugh at it, seeing a slightly ridiculous side, and making mistakes. But this is the part that we put our own colors in it. On the other hand, when a Pokemon game comes out, Pokemon fans want to get in touch with the world of Pokemon. This game is a game that you can play as many times as you want in a day, and I think it's great for fans to be able to enjoy the world of Pokemon many times a day. That's why we wanted to give Pokemon fans a solid sense of the world of Pokemon. We wanted to bring out both our own colors and the worldview of Pokémon, so we were conscious of the original Pokémon setting.
::::Featured App "Magikarp Jump!" is now available! We asked a lot of questions to developers!
	Another game that helps to understand the reasoning for that is “Detective Pikachu”. According to Hiroyuki Jinnai, producer of the game and adviser for the Pokémon anime, the Pokémon Company as a whole is very restrictive to what can happen in the games and other spin-offs as a whole. Everything needs to fit into what the “Pokémon World is and if something breaks the rules, it needs to have a very good in-universe explanation to explain how some outliers happen. 
::For Japanese game and toy maker Creatures, which is best-known for the Pokémon trading card game and multiple series spinoffs, the outlandishness of Detective Pikachu took a lot of convincing. “We really started with the concept of making Pikachu talk,” says Hiroyuki Jinnai, the producer of Detective Pikachu, who’s worked on the Pokémon franchise with creator Game Freak for more than two decades. The goal was to surprise people and alter the perception of the franchise’s most well-known face, Jinnai adds, in celebration of Pokémon’s 20th anniversary. “We really worked hard to come up with a justification and setting to make that work.” Jinnai, who’s also helped on and off as a producer and adviser on the Pokémon anime, says Game Freak has historically been quite protective of the world it's built. Executives at the game company, which operates as an independent entity with a stake in the Pokémon license alongside Nintendo and Creatures, often stopped writers on the TV program from taking liberties with pokémon, like imbuing the pocket monsters with too many human-like qualities. “It took a lot of convincing to let us break the rules,” Jinai says. The result is an utterly bizarre and yet lovably quaint video game that will no doubt find its place in the ever-expanding Pokémon canon.
::::Detective Pikachu’s creators say the game’s real mystery is why Pikachu can talk
	Said restrictions were also mentioned by Katsuhiro Harada, producer of the Pokkén games. According to him, Pokémon Company is very strict with its rules and needs approvals so something can be in a game. And although the company sometimes approves things that many wouldn’t think they would accept, they are still very clear when something breaks what they think it should happen. And still, the company works very close to the developers to see if everything is being used in the game in the right way.
::I know that the collaboration between Pokémon and Tekken is also under development. In the case of Pokémon, there are many parts hard to develop due to its own rules that are quite strict ?
::Harada: That’s right. In the case of Pokémon, as you said, the rules are strict. There are a lot of child users, so there are a lot of things to consider. But surprisingly, they were generous about'violence'. When I submitted 20 ideas, they accepted all but one. It was 10 times easier to work than I thought. However, as soon as I suggested fighting with trainers, not Pokémon, I was rejected within 2 seconds.
::::Harada “Tekken 7 puts an end to the history of the Mishima Family
	Such things aren’t exclusive to the spin-off games, but also to other media. The “Pokémon Adventures” (Pokémon Special in Japan) is well known for being more “faithful” to the game series than the anime, even more with the statement that  Satoshi Tajiri gave about the series being “the closest to the world that he wanted to show”. According to the author, Hidenori Kusaka, the manga is made what can’t be shown in the games.
And in regards to its production, it’s stated that they still need to follow the general rules of the Pokémon universe. As such even though they have a certain degree of freedom with the character and certain events, they still need to follow guidelines, and so they need to maintain a balance between what can be changed and what needs to stay the same. However, they do find some tricks to have more freedom as they say that nowadays, the franchise has become even more strict to its rules.
::Kusaka: Working on Pokémon is difficult. Maybe the most difficult part is that we have to follow the story of another product, which is a video game. We can't afford to create a manga that people playing the video games don't like. On the other hand, if everything was exactly the same between the games and the adaptation, the manga would be boring. When you're playing a Pokémon game, you put yourself into the character, whereas an established character has to drive the story in a manga. We have to create good characters and surprise people as they're reading. That balance between what we have to change and what remains the same is probably the most difficult part.
::Yamamoto: Every time there's a new video game, there's also a design team responsible for the new Pokémon creatures and human characters. I receive their work and I have to follow and respect some guidelines, so I try to attach my own creativity to all that. But there's also some parts where I have more freedom, so that's up to my imagination. For example, there's an original idea in the manga devised by me, which is that every character has their own way of catching Pokémon.
::Pokémon Sun and Pokémon Moon were recently released. How do you deal with a new video game? Is there any coordination for the manga adaptation?
::Kusaka: Not at all. The only advantage we have is that we get the game like two months before release so we can start getting acquainted with the story and prepare new scripts. That's all. Later, while playing the game, I can ask if I have any doubts, but most of the time I don't ask, because I can get a response that make me lose part of my creative freedom. So sometimes I just pass on feedback. (laughs)
::::Interview: The Creators of Pokemon Adventures
::Do you strictly follow the game, or do you get to make up your own stories and add your own details?
::Kusaka: I think these days we have been following pretty close to the game. We have been doing this for 20 years, now. Within that span of time, it has changed a little in each period. In the beginning, for a couple of years, we really did whatever we wanted, but since then -- the Pokémon business itself has become worldwide, and now that it is worldwide, we have to really think about different components and different issues. So the amount of freedom we get now is different from the amount of freedom we got in the very beginning. But at the same time, to have these limitations in place but think about how can we make this the most exciting thing within those [constraints] is also a very interesting thing to think about.
::Pokemon Adventures - Kusaka & Yamamoto Gotta Draw Them All!
	The notion of “showing more than the games can show” is also the idea that Junichi Masuda gave to explain the anime. According to him, the games and animes are basically the same place (“The Pokémo World”), as such you could see them as parallel worlds, or in some select spots, as more accurate, but basically if you see the anime, you might see hints to the “Pokémon World”.
::So, there isn’t war in the world of Pokémon where armies of Pokémon are fighting for the ideals of their leaders?
::Masuda: Long ago, there may have been wars. Actually, if you look at one of the movies featuring the character Lucario, there are maybe some hints about the past of the Pokémon world.
::Speaking of the movies and consequently the TV show, do the cartoons and the movies and the video games overlap? Is that all one Pokémon world, or are they two separate universes?
::Masuda: basically it’s the same place. Looking at it as a parallel world, or in some select spots being a parallel world might be more accurate.
::::Pokémon's Burning Questions
	In fact, Masuda said that some things that we see being revealed in the anime, are in fact things that are in archives at Game Freak that they couldn’t show in the games, as such it’s shown in the anime. He also explains about the challenges of giving a different perspective of the world of Pokémon, but still keeping said world-view intact.
	In relation to the production of the anime, Masuda also says that while they do have a guideline that the anime needs to follow, they already decided to give the anime team (OLM) a lot of freedom.
::GNN: [...] In recent years, has the relationship between animation and games become closer and closer? Does the animation production team usually communicate with the game team?
::Masuda: We have regular meetings with the animation team to discuss, and there is also a "production committee" for the movie version, where we send two or three people to give advice and decide on new Pokémon designs together. But in reality, what we do for the animation, most of the time, is give some basic settings and let the animation production company (OLM) play freely.
::::Director Junichi Masuda Interview
	Yet, Masuda is sometimes clear that there are some differences between the games and anime, that shows the points where the two universes diverge. In particular, Masuda and the team at Game Freak are very clear that the Pokémon speaking their names in the anime is something that might not be the case in the games, due to the Pokémon in the anime having a bit of a different story.
::Gameinformer: Pokémon can only say their own name. Pikachu, for example, can only speak his name. Do they say their own name and then that's what humans decide to call them? Or do humans start calling them their names and then the Pokémon recognize that and start saying it?
::Junichi Masuda: I don't really know actually. Honestly, though, that is a separation of the main series RPGs from the animated series. It's the animated series in which the Pokémon are always saying their names like that. I think we decided to do that in the animated series to make it easier for audiences to understand which Pokémon it is. Maybe in that universe the Pokémon started saying their names first and then humans went, "Oh, okay. That must be your name."
::::Burning Questions For Pokémon Sun & Moon
	Masuda also mentions other spin-off materials while giving answers about Pokémon. In fact, both him and Ohmori gave answers using Pokémon Go, Masters and even Detective Pikachu about what’s in the Pokémon World.
::Game Informer: Are there any small pockets of Team Rocket still active?
::Masuda: They’re up to no good wherever you find them, but we saw them in Let’s Go, Pikachu recently… they’re in Pokémon Go now
::GameInformer: So are the members in Team Rocket the same members in Team Go Rocket?
::Masuda: Perhaps! You can find bad people just about anywhere.
::GameInformer: What’s Lance up to these days?
::Ohmori: I saw him in Pokémon Masters the other day…
::GameInformer: Really? I thought it would have been the other way around!
::Masuda: No no, that wouldn’t work, because I don’t know if you’ve seen the Detective Pikachu movie, but that one Psyduck had that much destructive power. Imagine if it were bigger!
::::More Burning Questions For The Pokémon Series
	I could go on with more examples of Pokémon Company control over the rules of the franchise and other mentions of the intent of how some works are meant to fit with the larger franchise. For example, the author of Dengeki Pikachu (The Electric Tale of Pikachu) explained that he needed to have its content checked a lot of times and make changes when he was thought that “something didn’t make sense”.
::ANIMERICA:  Are there many restrictions on your work for the Pokémon comic?  For example, have you ever had to make changes because what you did wasn’t the same as the game or the TV series?
::ONO:  They check the content of the manga an awful lot and often tell me to make changes.  [LAUGHS]  Sometimes what they say doesn’t make sense, but there’s nothing I can do about it.  But even if I draw the manga exactly the same as the script, I often notice when watching the anime that the story changed somewhere along the line.  Also, manga and TV animation are different mediums, so the amount of information conveyed is also different.  It’s natural for certain expressions not to match.
::::Interview with Toshihiro Ono
	There’s also the Pokémon TCG that has its card being designed to work like a page of the Pokémon Encyclopedia, as such it needs to follow the Pokémon’s image, but something they are allowed to show something different, that is like a side that is mostly unknown of a Pokémon.
	And more recently is the Detective Pikachu movie, that had a lot of information about its “place” in the Pokémon canon. The director is very clear about wanting to have the game and movie be integrated into the overall universe of Pokémon, with the game being “its own world”, but still tied to the other regions that we know. One of the writers, Dan Hernandez, is also very clear about the movie being made to show a “different part of the Pokémon World, but that is still the Pokémon World”.
 
	Of course the concept of showing “another side” of the world was already something that was the basis for other works. More closely related to the games themselves are some animation that are far more faithful to the events of the game. The first of them, “Pokémon Origins”, is directly said to be a “retell” of the stories of the first games being a representation of the world of the games, but with animation
	The other animation series is “Pokémon Generations”. It’s exactly the same thing as with Pokémon Origins, they are representation of what happened in the world of each game, buth with a new perspective of said events
	The most different one is "Pokémon: Twilight Wings". As it starts mostly as a prequel to the events of Sword & Shield (And later of the Expansion Pack). Still, the series is said to take place in the world of “Pokemon: Sword & Shield” and so represent a side of that region that isn’t shown in the games themselves.
	Sadly, I wasn’t able to find a lot of information about some games that I wanted to see if there was anything interesting about the production in regards to its intention with the larger Pokémon Universe. With Pokémon Conquest the director of the game, Hisashi Koinuma, said that it wasn’t a game like the typical Pokémon canon, and was a spin-off like Mystery Dungeon. And in order to create this games, they decided to create a fantasy world with the elements of the two franchises. Still, the Pokémon Black & White games had a tie-in event with Pokémon Conquest that had Nobunaga’s Rayquaza being available to the player.In special it was said to be the same Rayquaza used by Nobunaga and even in-game the OT (Original Trainer) name of the Pokémon is “Nobunaga]
::IGN: What about the game do you think will appeal to both Pokémon fans and to players who haven't played either franchise?
::HK: For the Pokémon fans, this will be a spin-off title, so it’s a bit different from the typical Pokémon canon. It's a spin-off like Mystery Dungeon. It broadens the appeal of Pokémon, it gives fans some different types of games that they can play. In terms of other, non-Pokémon fans that would find this appealing... we really made the game with Pokémon fans in mind, so we really hadn't thought about that aspect yet.
::IGN: Was it difficult meshing these two very different franchises into a cohesive whole? I was incredibly impressed by how well the two worlds work together. How did you achieve that balance?
::HK: Rather than combining Nobunaga's Ambition and Pokémon as they are - because those are just really two distinct kinds of worlds, and it probably wouldn't work too well - we used an element of fantasy. We've created this fantasy world. From that aspect, it was easier to put the two titles together. Especially because it's a collaboration. If both titles were really trying to bring themselves out, bring their own personas out, too strongly, then it probably wouldn't work well. At Tecmo Koei, we really respect the Pokémon Company, so we studied the game in terms of, well, how can we appeal to the Pokémon user? Especially since a lot of them are kids. How can we appeal to these kids, to the younger users?
::::The Untold Story Behind Pokemon’s Craziest Crossover
	And about the Mystery Dungeon series itself, not a lot of information. The series itself has the story about a Human being sent to a world with only Pokémon (The game’s website mentions that the human is a Trainer). There was an interview about “Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Gates to Infinity” that talked a bit about the series as a whole and how they tried to make the rules of both the Mystery Dungeon and Pokémon franchises be respected in these games and how the games allowed the player to read deeper into the “Pokémon legend”.
::Iwata: The path that led from the Mystery Dungeon series to Pokémon must have had its own challenges too. After all, both series have a huge numbers of rules… their own inalienable etiquette, shall we say. How did you go about compromising between the two things?
::Nagahata I must admit, when I first heard what we were planning, I did wonder whether it was going to work…
::Iwata: My initial thoughts when I heard about this project were something like "That sounds impossible… but it would be amazing if they could pull it off!". Such impossible combinations, when they're done well, can really shake things up. I remember feeling the same way when I first heard about Pokémon Conquest as well. [...]
::Ishihara: By combining that kind of unique aspect of dungeon-based RPG with Tomie-san's script, I think our games are well deployed as devices that allow players to read deeper into the Pokémon legend. With the first title in the series, I felt that we'd added new elements to the type of RPG we wanted to create and broadened the game's horizons as a result.
::::Iwata Asks: Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Gates to Infinity
==How Pokémon “canon” works==
	Pokémon is a series with a very different concept of “canon” even for its mainline series, as it not only contains a continuity with sequels, but also different versions of the same story, enhanced versions with elements of both previous versions, remakes, side stories that seems to be remakes and so on.
	And although the series seems to have a continuity and a timeline, Masuda says that although it’s interesting to see the things from a continuity point of view, the games aren’t created with that in mind, and you should approach the series as a world that is expanding with regions and having a more richer story as they are introduced, than a timeline.
::Gameinformer: What’s the deal with the Pokémon timeline?
::Masuda: It starts to get a little complicated if you pay too much attention to timelines. Like, there might be a professor that appears and it wouldn’t make sense at all if we applied that kind of timeline logic. So we try not to apply it too rigorously. Maybe one hint is that if a character is appearing with Professor Oak, they’re living in the same era. Rather than some series where it makes sense to have the timeline progress as you go and the story evolve, the approach that Pokémon takes is expanding the world, like what the regions are, and making it richer as we go. Rather than a timeline, it’s more of a physical space thing.
::::Game Freak Talks Sword And Shield's Champion, Wild Area Interactions, And More
	The games, even more directly Black and White, makes clear that each copy of the games are supposed to be “a different world”, while Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire explains that each world could just have a very small difference, but it makes each of the worlds unique explaining how all the versions of the games can exist at the same time.
	Yet the most interesting question is about how the games are supposed to work with each other. As I explained in the first topic, you need to think of the larger Pokémon World as a “setting”. With its rules and major characters that remains mostly constant. The regions, the Pokémon and how they work. However, although most of the works have the same, or at least very similar characters, there’s a difference in how they act. So in the Ruby timeline the player needs to Fight against Team Magma while in Emerald not only the player needs to fight against both Team Magma and Team Aqua, but the “champion” of the previous game gave up on his position making a new champion in this timeline.
	Of course each character can have its own backstory with a few differences, but none of them is more true than the other. And for the purposes of this wiki that is about Character Indexing, as I said we could make different profiles or even keys to the characters that act differently across the games, such as choosing a different Pokémon. However the Pokémon themselves and the world as a whole, it’s supposed to still be used as the same.
	And finally, the tie-in media and adaptations. In the same way, the adaptations are supposed to follow the same rules. Characters might act differently (Elite Four are initially enemies in the Pokémon Adventures mangá), but the rules are still the same. As such, looking at all of those different media helps to understand more and more about the “Pokémon World”. 
	And what is the most interesting, is that this affects even the most “unconnected” spin-offs games. As it’s made clear with the “Magikarp Jump!” and “Detective Pikachu” interviews, such things aren’t exclusive to the Pokémon Adventures Manga or the original Pokémon anime, but a rule that must be followed by every Pokémon product and story. As far as Pokémon Company is concerned, every work needs to fit into what the “Pokémon World” is, in regards to the Pokémon, the regions, the setting as a whole. And this is something that most of the teams of the spin-off products knowns about and is why they need to always be closely connected to the Pokémon Company to make sure that everything is in line to what “Pokémon” can be.
	You could even say that Pokémon is the franchise where everything can be considered canon because “the company that owns” is super protective over its IP and how the Pokémon world works as a whole.
	Still, if you need a guide on the “Pokémon Canon” in relation to the things that seem to matter the most, I can help with that. But first, you need to be sure that you understood that this has nothing to do with continuity, storylines or even characters and their personalities. This is only about considering the rules of the overall setting. So “The Elite Four were villains in the Pokémon Adventures” isn’t a reason to make the manga less valid.
	Also, it’s true that sometimes the multiple media will have even some setting and rules differences. As Masuda said, the Pokémon Anime universe seems to be a world where the Pokémon started crying “names” that the humans then thought “must be their name”, while in the Pokémon Game universe the Pokémon are more like animals in relation to the sounds that they make. And other differences also exist among the main series themselves and even what the producers say. According to Masuda this is also due to the Pokémon world having different regions with different legends and myths, and so what some regions think of the world may not be the same that others think, so some “beliefs” might be up to interpretation of the player until a more direct answer is revealed.
::Gameinformer: In our Pokemon's Burning Questions interview in 2012, you said "Humans are definitely separate from Pokémon. The way you think about it is different than how we think about animals in relation to humans on Earth." But then in Pokémon X&Y a character says, "They say that in the ancient days, man and Pokémon were the same." I'm curious if you and the team changed your mind on this topic.
::Masuda: This is simply showing a different way of thinking from a past era. In ancient times, like in the myths and legends we put in the Diamond and Pearl games, it was said that Pokémon were the same as humans. However, I like to think of Pokémon as mysterious creatures – they're closer to humans than dogs or cats that people might keep as pets.
::::Afterwords – Pokémon X & Y
	And of course, going by what was said by the team behind Pokémon Adventures, in the past they had much more freedom about the world than now. So, we can assume that the creation of the Pokémon Company to take care of the branding and the growth of Pokémon, the need to maintain a consistent setting was more of a later addition that seems to be more taken seriously nowadays, however right now this is seen as a very serious thing that the company is even feared about being very “strict” with its rules.
	So, what I think can be summarized about the “Pokémon canon” is:
* Main Series: The “Pocket Monsters” series is of course the first way of understanding the Pokémon world. It’s the background from where every other spin-off game and tie-in media is going to connect with.
* Connected with the Main Series: This is for the games that are made with a direct connection with the “Pocket Monster” series in mind. As such it included all of the games with direct connectivity with the main series. In special the “Pokémon Stadium” series, with the “Pokémon Colosseum” and “Pokémon XD: Gale of Darkness” being part of it, and the “Pokémon Ranger” series due to having their stories directly stated to be a part of the multi-region world of the main series and also having events of the games being completed only on the main series. You could also consider “Pokémon Conquest” as also belonging to here as Nobunaga’s Rayquaza is a character that can be used in the Black & White games. This is also the case with the other games that are also stated to have a direct connection with the main setting, such as the “Pokémon Masters” and “Pokémon GO” games. Detective Pikachu seems to have got a reference to it in the Sword & Shield games, as you can see here, as such with the information from one of the next topics seems enough to be considered in this place.
* Expanded Adaptations: The recent “anime adaptations” such as “Pokémon Origins”, “Pokémon Generations” and “Pokémon Twilight Wings”. They are supposed to be faithful representations of what happens in the game with characters and stories following most of the same topics with a few differences as it’s supposed to be “seen from another point of view”.
* Tie-in Expanded Adaptations: In a way, it works in the same way as the previous topic, but it has a much more “open” use of its characters and storylines, so there are some vastly changes in relation to the storylines and characters of the game, while still following most of the same rules. It’s the place of the main Pokémon anime and also the manga  “Pokémon Adventures”. Technically other manga could also fall in this category as they most likely also need to fit in the general rules as it’s implied to have happened with “The Electric Tale of Pikachu”. It’s also the place for the Pokémon TCG. The movie “Detective Pikachu” might fall into this category. 
* Needed to follow the rules: It’s, in a way, the same with the previous topic, but in relation to the spin-off games with no direct connection with the main series. It’s the generic as every product of the franchise needs to follow the rules and fit into the setting, as it’s clear with “Magikarp Jump!” and “Detective Pikachu” interview, and “Detective Pikachu” got a recent reference in the Sword & Shield games, as such it isn’t in a higher topic. We could say that every spin-off with a team that got to work with the Pokémon Company can be here, this can include, for example, Pokkén Tournament. “Pokémon Conquest” could also fit here, but since it has a connection with the main games, then that “fantasy world” can be considered more “closer” to the main series. The “Mystery Dungeon” series seems to be the least amount of information, at least for a series that has some important information, and although it seems that it also needed to follow the rules of the Pokémon universe, it’s also the one with the most unique additions.
	It’s important to understand that what I said is more of a suggestion than really a rule. I think that other saying “the main games are the main product” and suggesting that the direct game adaptations/expansions and spin-offs directly connected with said game, no other spin-off, manga and anime is really above the other in terms of importance.
	The reason for why I placed the manga and anime higher than some spin-offs with less information is due to the constant statements that they are supposed to be seen as complements to the games. While some spin-offs seem to be more “controlled” than others. As with “Magikarp Jump” and “Detective Pikachu” that we have interviews that confirm said nature of the development while others such as Pokkén Tournament were less clear with anything other than “we worked closely with Pokémon Company to be sure that it would be fine” and with “Pokémon Conquest” and the Mystery Dungeon series we got even less information about following the rules.
	So, Pokémon is a complicated franchise that has never really a well defined canon. However it seems to have very defined rules that need to be followed in nearly every product even if it is placed in “another world”. Some differences exist mostly in the characters and storylines, while the rules are mostly the same and every work seems to be a “piece” to understand the larger Pokémon world.
==About translations==
	I don’t want to talk a lot about the translations themselves, after all the rules of the translations are very subjective and we tend to go with the original material anyway. Still, I think that it’s good to inform that the translation and localization of the Pokémon materials, at least in recent years, are very connected with the same standards that Pokémon Company has with the rules of the world as stated by both Junichi Masuda and in the Pokémon Company website.
	And since we are ending this blog, one more time information about the movie Detective Pikachu and how it, being the first english project of the franchise, had a lot of attention to be sure that everything in it fits in the larger Pokémon worldview.
==Examples==
As it's clear that due to the large amount of content that Pokémon has with all of its spin-offs, the way that the profiles uses things from the multiple media is going to be decided on a case by case basis. The "Pocket Monster" games are still considered the main source of information, and direct contradictions to the "Pocket Monster" series is enough for an information to not be used in a composite way, and should be exclusive to the material that originated the contradictory information (The information can still be considered an outlier within its own work and then is unusable in any way).
Bellow are sme examples of feats and iformation shouldn't be used between the different media:
*Things that clearly contradict the established world without any explanation for why that happens (Such as Cressleia being called an Ice-type Pokémon in Pokémon 4Koma);
*Moves, Abilities or power in general that only happened in specific circumstances such as a member of a species receiving special training to get a move that it normally wouldn’t have or simply was born with more power than usual (Such as the Riolu that can use Aura Sphere or Torterra’s Razor Leaf Diamond Special Mach One-and-Only);
*Things that have been clarified as being exclusive to certain worlds or characters (Such as Mewtwo’s Psywave from Pokémon Adventures having different effects due to Mewtwo’s high psychic power or the Pokémon from the anime and other media saying their own names being explained as not being the case for the world of the Games);
*The above also includes backstory for specific characters, specially the human characters (Red's backstory is completely different from Ash's backstory, the same with Adventures' Ruby with Game/Anime May).
However even considering the above examples, there are counterexamples of contradictory things being officially used even when that makes no sense or simply inconsistency as big as the ones showed before:
*Some Pokémon do have their types changes into other types, especially when it's a new type that was recently introduced. This ends up causing major contradictions with the world, since a Normal-type Pokémon as Clefairy that was weak to Fight-type moves is now a Fairy-type and is resistant against Fight-type moves. The same happened with Pokémon that got the Steel-type on the Second Generation, such as Magnemite, that previously weren't weak against fire and now are. Although it isn't excepted to see a type change due to other media, it's important to notice that even the games aren't really very consistent;
*The movelist of various Pokémon isn't constant and some Pokémon learn moves at different levels in some games, or even entirely different moves. In fact even in a single game is possible to have in-game Pokémon with moves the the player's Pokémon couldn't access;
*Sometimes the personality, or even backstory, of the characters are changed, or "expanded", and includes events from other media. Brock's character was changed in Pokémon Yellow/Let's Go/Masters in order to include its characteristics from the anime into the game series. And Mewtwo's personality, and Backstory from the Adventures manga was changed in order to be consistent with the personality and backstory from the "Mewtwo Strikes Back!" movie. The games' backstory was also changed in order to be consistent with the movie backstory.
As it can be noticed from the notes above, it isn't very clear what can be or not considered consistent in Pokémon multimedia. As the series moves on it's possible that even more changes are going to happen and include things that some might consider "incompatible". For the proposal of this blog, that is to determinate the "canon" of Pokémon, it was necessary to establish some rules in order to turn Pokémon into a work that can properly be analyzed across its multiple media while respecting the creative intent of having all of the works being part of the same general "Pokémon world".
However the rules themselves aren't absolute, as the franchise itself has almost no hard rules on what can be used or not between the various media. Of course we can't simply say "everything is valid", because even with the franchise being inconsistent, there are some rules and themes that at least are tried to be recognized as true while other aren't, it's just that the franchise is open to changes over time. So the examples above can be taken in consideration of what shouldn't be valid for scaling between works.
Also, the following examples might help to understand the kind of feats, statements and events as a whole that can be considered as valid for scaling across the media.
*Complementary information that has its origin in the core series. Things like what the Gameplay Mechanics really looks like in the world and their explanations, use of things only stated in the Pokédex, a visual and explanation of what a move really does and so on. This includes Generic events and rules of the world, such as "Lucario and The Mystery of Mew" showing more of the past of the Pokémon world, something that was confirmed in the X/Y games.
*Feats can be used if they aren't contradictory and aren't exclusive to a version that is clearly very different in relation to a common one. It's possible for some Pokémon to display feats beyond the common for it species, but still might be usable for scaling to other Pokémon such as its own evolutions or even stronger ones.
Category:Pokemon
Category:Explanation Pages