Pokémon world in relation to the real world

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 File:Pokemon-to-real-world.png
The designs of eight of the major Pokémon regions—Kanto, Johto, Hoenn, Sinnoh, Unova, Kalos, Alola, and Galar—are strikingly similar in geography and demographics to regions in the real world, and they are sometimes even officially stated to be based on certain locations. The first four regions are based on smaller regions in Japan, Unova and Alola are based on parts of the United States, Kalos is based on France, and Galar is based on the United Kingdom. It is said the inspiration for Orre is Phoenix, Arizona.

## Core regions

### Kanto

The Kantō region of Japan is not only identical in name to Kanto in the Pokémon world, but is also very similar geographically; however, the western part of the game map corresponds to eastern Chūbu.

#### Sevii Islands

The Sevii Islands are based on two archipelagos off the coast of Tokyo: the Izu Islands (Template:Jwp) and the Bonin Islands (Template:Jwp).

### Johto

In Japan, the Kantō region is often contrasted with the Kansai region, which like Johto is to the west. However, Johto is geographically more similar to the Kansai region and the western Chūbu region combined, as well as a small part of eastern Shikoku.

### Hoenn

Hoenn is based on the southernmost parts of Japan—Kyūshū and surrounding islands, with its main island flipped counterclockwise ninety degrees with the smaller islands circulating around its southern side.

### Sinnoh

Sinnoh has been said to be an island like Hoenn, rather than a peninsula. It is based on the northernmost major island of Japan, Hokkaido, as well as the southern part of the Russian island of Sakhalin. Part of Kunashir Island (Japanese: 国後島 *Kunashiri Island*, Russian: Кунашир *Kunashir*), which is in dispute between Russia and Japan, is also included.

#### Battle Zone

The Battle Zone is based on Sakhalin (Japanese: 樺太 *Karafuto*, Russian: Сахалин *Sakhalin*), a Russian island that used to be claimed by Japan (some parts of Sakhalin are still in dispute, but none of them are the basis for the Battle Zone).

### Unova

 File:Pokémon to real world Unova New York.png
Unova has been said to be significantly distant from Kanto, Johto, Hoenn, and Sinnoh. Instead of being based on an area of Japan, Unova is based on New York City, which is located between two states of New York and New Jersey. Both states are part of the United States.

### Kalos

 File:FranceKalosComparison.png
Kalos is based on the northern half of Metropolitan France and Alderney, one of the Channel Islands which are self-governing crown dependencies of the United Kingdom.

### Alola

 File:Pokémon to real world Alola Hawaii.png
Alola is based on Hawaii, one of the states that is a part of the United States.

### Galar

 File:Pokémon to real world Galar United Kingdom.png
Galar is based on the United Kingdom, with the region focusing heavily on the island of Great Britain, flipped upside-down as if being viewed from the north. The main region itself is based mostly on England and Wales, while the Crown Tundra is based on Scotland. The Isle of Armor is based on the Isle of Man, which is a self-governing crown dependency of the United Kingdom.

## Generation AN regions

Main article: Pokémon world in relation to the real world/Generation AN-I to AN-V

## Side regions

### Orre

 File:Pokemon to real world Orre Arizona.png
Orre is based on Phoenix, Arizona, United States, and part of Baja California, Mexico.

## Spin-off regions

### Fiore

 File:Pokémon to real world Fiore Okayama Hyōgo Shodo Island.png
Fiore appears to be based on Okayama and Hyōgo Prefectures, as well as Shōdo Island in Kagawa Prefecture, in Japan.

### Almia

 File:Pokémon to real world Almia Oshima.png
Almia appears to be based on Oshima and Hiyama Subprefectures within the Oshima Peninsula in Hokkaido and the very northern part of Honshu in Japan.

### Oblivia

 File:Pokémon to real world Oblivia Oki Islands.png
Oblivia may be based on the Oki Islands in Shimane Prefecture.

### Lental

Lental may be based on the Galápagos Islands in Ecuador.

## Landscape

While the above locations are meant to correspond to the different regions around the real-life world, great liberties were taken with the design of their landscapes. Some of the designers have admitted to drawing inspiration from real-world locations outside their stated real-world counterparts, especially with locations depicted in Pokémon movies.

## Real-world locations mentioned

 File:Mewtwo in the City.png
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* Prior to Pokémon: Let's Go, Pikachu! and Let's Go, Eevee!, Lt. Surge was known as "The Lightning American!". In

## Pokémon world in relation to the real world

, Pokémon Journal entries state that he "is rumored to have been a pilot while home in America."
* Game Freak's offices are present in the Celadon Condominiums, the equivalent location of their former real-world office in Carrot Tower. Likewise, they have a building in Castelia City, and are found on 22F, the same floor that their former offices were on in Carrot Tower.
* In the Generation I games and

## Pokémon world in relation to the real world

, Scientist Taylor in the Silph Co. building mentions an international branch of Silph Co. In English, he states that the Tiksi branch of the company is "in Russian no-man's-land". In the Japanese version, he states that the Ponaya Tunguska (Japanese: ポナヤツングスカ) branch is located "deep in Russia". Ponaya Tunguska appears to be a shortened form of the transliterated name of Podkamennaya Tunguska in Japanese (ポドカメンナヤツングースカ).
* Mew was originally discovered in the jungles of the South American country Guyana. This is mentioned in logs inside of Cinnabar Island's Template:Ka.
* In Gold, Silver, Crystal, HeartGold, and SoulSilver, Template:Jo, the guard in the gate north of Goldenrod City, will give the player a Spearow holding mail to deliver. The Spearow is nicknamed Kenya, the name of a country in Africa.
* In the original Japanese version of FireRed and LeafGreen, Blaine refers to Kyoto.
* Upon defeating Fisherman Bronson in the Sinnoh Template:Si, he will say, "Why the emperor of fishing? It's an ancient Chinese legend...".
* A Guitarist that can be battled in Generation IV's Battle Frontier mentions that his guitar is actually a Japanese instrument.
* Among the exhibits of the Nacrene museum, there is an African mask, referring to a place in the real world, in addition to being different from other exhibitions, which are related to the history of the Pokémon.
* Articuno, Beartic, Arctozolt, and Arctovish's names are derived from a real-world location, the Arctic.
* Arcanine's

## Pokémon world in relation to the real world

, Template:Eng, Gold, FireRed, and HeartGold Pokédex entries state that it is mentioned in Chinese legends.
* Parasect's Stadium and FireRed Pokédex entries mention that its spores are used in medicine in China.
* Ponyta's Stadium Pokédex entry mentions that it can clear the Eiffel Tower (Tokyo Tower in the original Japanese version) in one leap, and its FireRed entry says that it can clear Ayers Rock in one leap.
* Poliwrath's Gold, Ruby, Sapphire, Emerald, Diamond, Pearl, Platinum, HeartGold, Black, White, Black 2, White 2 and X Pokédex entries mention its ability to swim the Pacific Ocean. Also, the direction of a Poliwrath's spirals depends on its geographical location. In Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire, it instead refers to "the ocean".
* Xatu's Silver, FireRed, and SoulSilver Pokédex entries mention that South Americans say that it can see both the future and past.
* Delibird's Ruby, Sapphire, and Emerald Pokédex entries explain that a Delibird helped a famous explorer reach the top of Mt. Everest. In Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire, it instead refers to "world's highest mountain," which is what Mt. Everest is to Earth.
* Regice's Emerald Pokédex entry mentions Antarctic ice.
* Galarian Meowth are implied to have been raised by Vikings in ancient times, and share many similarities with them.
* In *School of Hard Knocks*, Misty fantasizes about Paris and the Eiffel Tower.
* In *The Ninja Poké-Showdown*, James says that the Fuchsia Gym looks like a Japanese restaurant.
* In the English dub of *The March of the Exeggutor Squad*, Melvin says he wanted to make it to Las Vegas. In the Japanese version, he said that he wanted to make it to Broadway.
* In *The Evolution Solution*, Meowth says, "Keep digging till you hit China!" to Jessie and James, who were digging for clam shells.
* In the William Shakespeare-inspired episode *Wherefore Art Thou, Pokémon?*, Misty described the town as like being in "merry old England".
* In *Mewtwo Strikes Back*, Team Rocket are disguised as Vikings. In the English dub, Brock says that he didn't know that Vikings still existed and Template:Ash replies that they "mostly live in Minnesota". This is a reference to the Minnesota Vikings, a football team in the area.

* In the Swedish dub of the movie, Ash says that they come from Norway, a reference to the Norse Vikings who lived from the 8th to the 11th century.
* In the Danish dub of the movie, Ash tells Brock that the Vikings are mostly on trips in Sweden, again referring to the Norse Vikings, but may also refer to Vikingarna, a Swedish dansband.
* In the Finnish dub of the movie, Ash quips that Vikings still live in the Sipoo archipelago, referring to the fact that Sipoo was at the time mostly inhabited by Swedish-speaking Finns (another reference to Norse Vikings).

* At the end of *Mewtwo Returns*, Mewtwo is shown overlooking a "faraway city" that greatly resembles New York City. Buildings similar to the Chrysler Building and the MetLife Building are visible in the distance.
* In *Pokémon Heroes: Latios & Latias*, Misty makes a direct reference to the Earth, saying, "The Earth is so pretty." However, she may be referring to the landscape rather than the literal planet.
* In *Can't Beat the Heat*, Template:Ash's Template:AP uses Seismic Toss. Normally, a cloudy globe can be seen, but this time the Pacific Ocean and Australia are prominent. This also happens in *Volcanic Panic* and the introduction to *Mewtwo Strikes Back*.
* In the English dub of *The Scheme Team*, Jessie talks about Antarctica, the place where their next assignment is located.
* In *Pasta La Vista!*, an ad in May's food guidebook mentions "Chinese noodles".
* A map of the Pokémon world seen in *The Bloom Is On Axew!* centered on Unova features several landmasses resembling Europe and Scandinavia, with some of them either being rotated or flipped.
* In the Hindi dub of *Oshawott's Lost Scalchop!*, while Ash's Oshawott was perfecting Aqua Jet, Cilan states "जाना था जापान पर पहुंच गए चाइना" (lit. *Jānā thā Japan, par pahunch gaye China*), which refers to the real-world countries of Japan and China. The phrase itself can be interpreted roughly as "The aim and the result were different".
* In *Movie Time! Zorua in "The Legend of the Pokémon Knight"!*, the Eiffel Tower and the Arc de Triomphe were seen on a movie poster.
* In the Hindi dub of *Mega Revelations!* , Template:MTR says "हम सब जानते हैं कश्मीर से कन्याकुमारी तक" (lit. *Ham sab jānte hain, Kashmīr se Kanyākumāri tak*). This is a common Indian saying, roughly translating to "Our knowledge is supreme", which refers to the Indian subcontinent's northernmost region, Kashmir, and its southernmost city, Kanyakumari.
* Starting with the sixteenth movie, each Pokémon movie features a recurring globe texture in the intro used to represent the Pokémon world (as opposed to simply featuring randomly-shaped, nondescript landmasses below the clouds): the globe texture features altered landmasses such as one resembling Africa but featuring only the Sahara Desert and the southern half being missing, a large island to the northwest of the Sahara-like landmass, the Arabian Peninsula missing several large chunks, a landmass resembling Australia but rotated 90 degrees clockwise in the middle of a body of water resembling the Indian Ocean, and the northeastern portion of Russia being missing. However, other parts of the globe remain virtually unchanged, like those resembling most of Europe, the Indian subcontinent, Central and Southeast Asia, and Papua New Guinea.
* In *Mega Evolution Special IV*, a holographic globe can be seen inside Lysandre Labs. The globe features continents similar to the real Earth, implying that the planet's continents may probably look very similar to that of the real Earth, and that all of the known regions in the Pokémon world may actually in fact be smaller parts of a much larger landmass.
* In the TCG Lucky Stadium (Neo Destiny 100) card, there is a promotional New York City print with a Pichu and a Pikachu flying on a Charizard in New York City, with the Empire State Building visible in the background.
* In the planetarium special *Celestial Debris*, a map of the Pokémon world can be seen on a computer monitor. The map texture looks very similar to the one used to represent the planet in later Pokémon films, with three landmasses resembling North America, Europe, and eastern Russia all appearing upside down.

## Real-world people and cultures mentioned

* Hitmonlee and Hitmonchan are explicitly named after martial artists Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan, respectively. In other languages where their names are different, those names are likewise derived from real people.
* Snorlax's Japanese name *Kabigon* is the nickname of Game Freak programmer Kōji Nishino. This is referenced in Black 2 and White 2, in which Nishino appears as a battleable NPC and his highest-leveled Pokémon is Snorlax.
* The core series games have featured staff members of Game Freak that typically reward the player for completing the National Pokédex, or occasionally through alternative methods. Shigeki Morimoto can be battled in the Generation V, VII, and VIII games; in Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon, he is fought in a Double Battle that also features director Kazumasa Iwao.
* In *Pokémon Shipwreck*, Brock directly refers to the tale of Noah who sent a dove to find dry land after a great flood, according to most Abrahamic religions.
* The Japanese version of the song Team Rocket Forever includes the lines 「ムサシ!/コジロウ!/関門海峡/門司/下関」"*Musashi!/Kojirō!/Kanmon Straits.../Moji.../Shimonoseki...*", referencing the famous duel that Miyamoto Musashi and Sasaki Kojirō (the name basis for Jessie and James's Japanese names, Musashi and Kojirō) fought on an island in the Kanmon Straits, which is located between Moji and Shimonoseki.
* The Japanese holiday *Hinamatsuri* (means Doll Festival, but sometimes referred to as Girls' Day) is featured in *Princess vs. Princess* (dubbed as the Princess Festival).
* The Japanese holiday Children's Day (*Kodomo no Hi*) is featured in *The Purr-fect Hero* (dubbed as Kids Day).
* Christmas is mentioned several times in the anime and manga. Santa Claus is a recurring character in the Pokémon anime who first appeared in *Holiday Hi-Jynx*. In the dub, Santa's home is called the North Pole.
* In *The Art of Pokémon*, James mentions the presence of Picasso and Rembrandt's paintings at his home.
* In *Celebi: The Voice of the Forest*, Meowth asks if they saw the Iron-Masked Marauder in a Mexican wrestling movie.
* In *A Bite to Remember*, Jessie says that Albert Einstein created the light bulb. Max corrects her, saying that Thomas Edison was the creator.
* NPCs in the core series games are regularly named after real-world people.
	+ In the Generation IV Battle Frontier, one of the potential NPC opponents is Guitarist Iggy, a reference to Iggy Pop.
	+ Johto Route 35, Connecting Cave, Hau'oli Cemetery, and Viridian Forest (in Pokémon: Let's Go, Pikachu! and Let's Go, Eevee!) each contain a Trainer whose Japanese name is *Ikue* (in the latter two cases, this name was preserved in other languages as well) and who uses a Pikachu. Ikue Ohtani is the voice actress for Ash's Pikachu.
	+ Alola Route 5 contains a Double Battle against trainers named Isa and Nico, named in honor of the daughters of Eric Medalle, a Pokémon creative director who was killed in an accident during the time Pokémon Sun and Moon were in development.
	+ In

	Pokémon world in relation to the real world

	, an Artist NPC named Kapoor can trade with the player, a reference to British artist Anish Kapoor.
	+ In

	Pokémon world in relation to the real world

	, several Trainers in the Battle Tower are references to people involved in the creation of the game.
		- Guitarist Masuda is a reference to Junichi Masuda, Crystal's music director.
		- Bug Catcher Tajiri is a reference to Pokémon's creator, Satoshi Tajiri, and his childhood fixation with bug catching.
		- Scientist Mori is a reference to Akito Mori, who is listed under "special thanks" in Crystal.
		- Teacher Kawakami is a reference to Naoko Kawakami, who is listed under "special thanks" in Crystal.
* In

## Pokémon world in relation to the real world

, a Team Rocket Grunt mentions the hula dance to a Kimono Girl while in the Kimono Dance Theater.
* In

## Pokémon world in relation to the real world

, six of the Seven Sages quote proverbs from several Chinese philosophers.
	+ Zinzolin quotes a proverb from *Mencius* and a line from *Tao Te Ching* at N's Castle.
	+ Gorm quotes a proverb from Sun Tzu's *The Art of War* in Pinwheel Forest, and a line from both The Analects and *Huainanzi* at N's Castle.
	+ Bronius quotes another line from *Tao Te Ching* at N's Castle.
	+ Giallo quotes another line from *Mencius* at N's Castle.
	+ In the Japanese version, Ryoku quotes a line from *Zhuangzi* at N's Castle. In both versions, he also quotes a proverb by Song Dynasty philosopher Hu Yin at N's Castle.
	+ Rood quotes another proverb from the Analects and made a reference to a Chinese idiom at N's Castle.
* In Template:4v, the woman in Mistralton City who normally gives a Heart Scale in exchange for ten Sweet Hearts will trade a Heart Scale for only five Sweet Hearts on Valentine's Day and White Day.
* Archeops's name is possibly derived from *Cheops*, the Greek name for Egyptian pharaoh Khufu.

## Other references to the real world

* In all of the core series games and some side series games, there is a Nintendo gaming console in the player's bedroom. This is a reference to the real-world gaming company that owns the franchise.
* An old man at the Pewter Museum of Science says that the first manned flight to the moon was in 1969, same as in the real world.
* Raichu and Gastly's FireRed Pokédex entries mention both Pokémon being able to easily knock out an Indian Elephant, an actual animal. However, in Pokémon Legends: Arceus, Raichu's entry instead mentions Copperajah.
* The Arceus event that takes place in

## Pokémon world in relation to the real world

 includes real life pictures in the game.
* Porygon's Sun, Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon Pokédex entries mentions it was created "20 years ago", referencing the release of Pocket Monsters Red and Green.
* In *Beheeyem, Duosion, and the Dream Thief!*, a painting within the resort created by Beheeyem bears a striking resemblance to *Relativity* by M. C. Escher.
* One of the hotels Ash and his group tried to stay at and ultimately failed to do so in the episode *Riddle Me This!* featured a painting of a tiger near grass, mirroring a similar painting found at Azuchi Castle.
* The nameless movie May describes in *Lights, Camerupt, Action!* is a reference to the movie *Titanic*.
* In Dawn's flashback in *Yes In Dee Dee, It's Dawn*, a teacher tells her students a tale about Buneary and Turtwig, which is similar to "The Tortoise and the Hare".
* In *I Choose You!*, Ash dreams about being in an alternate reality where no Pokémon exist and children attend regular school.
* Multiple references to the geographical relations between the real world locations the in-game regions are based on have been made throughout the games; for example, a Swimmer on Galar Route 9 says people have successfully swum between Kalos and Galar.

## References

1. ↑ UN Atlas of the Oceans
2. ↑ Pokémon Sun and Moon Japanese official site
3. ↑ Interview with Junichi Masuda and Shigeru Ohmori on the official Pokémon website
4. ↑ Tweet regarding Isle of Armor and Crown Tundra's inspiration
5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 5.6 5.7 5.8 Galar Tour Brochure
6. ↑ Exclusive Pokémon Sword And Shield Concept Art Gallery
7. ↑ http://www.nintendo.co.jp/nom/0311/soft/interv01.html
8. ↑ Twitter
9. ↑ Falling tree kills Pokémon designer and Detroit native Eric Medalle - Detroit Free Press
10. ↑ iimarck.us - Battle Tower In‐Jokes

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