Not So Idyllic

Pokémon Pokopia's grim world isn't so far from our own

Spoilers all the way.

Number of Credits Rolled in 2026: 2

What happened to all the humans?

That’s a question that’s asked a lot throughout Pokémon Pokopia. As I played through the story, I found myself wondering the same. It’s pretty apparent from the start that some sort of disaster occurred in the world of Pokémon that caused all of the titular critters to go into hiding, or be lost, or simply fall into a deep coma. That same disaster caused the disappearance of all the humans.

As the story progressed, and I discovered that the items I had been collecting for the Team R missions, for which you receive familiar Gen. 1 Gym Badges as a reward, are for the last remaining humans sheltered in place on this version of Earth, it made me wonder: How did this all happen? And how much time has actually passed since this/these disaster(s)?

I’ve watched some doomsday content recently, Project Hail Mary and Paradise, which posit that humans basically are going to cause their own extinction and that when faced with ecological disaster we will fight each other for resources and land before the final blow the world gives us to try and survive, which I’ve kind of believed most of my life anyway. Perhaps it is this similar thought that has caused humans to abandon ship in the world of Pokémon?

All Powerful, No Compassion?

In a world where there are creatures that can produce electricity, manipulate gravity, blast solar beams from their mouths, distort time, and so much more; how is it that their world too is afflicted by climate change, or some other disaster, to such a degree that all of the humans had to flee to outer space? In a world where there are Pokémon whose lore includes being the literal creator of the Universe, how did humans fuck it up so profoundly? And why didn’t those same powerful creatures that have helped in human affairs before, not help this time?

I don’t have an answer. Perhaps it’s as Mewtwo alludes to and humans tried to use science in unwise ways, much like is happening in the real world? I haven’t collected all of the lore-related documents, and of those that I have collected I haven’t read each of them. Nor have I watched any lore dives or anything like that, so perhaps the answer is out there, and I haven’t seen it. Or the developers left it vague so as to not place any singular cause. Simply that it was caused by humans being humans. Greedy, corrupt, and with an affinity to power; in whatever form that takes.

Team R, a version of the evil corporation Team Rocket from the show and early games, in this game are hiding away and are on a sort of redemption arc of sorts. Perhaps it was their leader’s greed and hunger for power that caused the humans to have to flee the planet and leave their companions behind? Though it’s also mentioned in one of the lore bits I did read, that Team R helped with the planet evacuation efforts. So, perhaps there was some remorse to the actions that lead to the disasters.

When you reach the end of the Team R set of missions, which took me roughly 40 hours to complete, you reach the credits. In this moment, the building you had been depositing various items into, including a Game Boy, turns into a rocket ship and takes off. As the credits roll by, so does this ship’s progress through its space journey, ultimately stopping in front of a space station where a person space-walks over and greets the ship gaining these new supplies, the one it displays though, is a picture that you take to show that Pokémon are back and rebuilding the planet. Presumably, this picture is being shown to your trainer, though it would’ve been nice to get a peak into the helmet of the person in the space suit to see a reflection of the look you made your Ditto, instead you just see the picture you take and a Ditto plushie in the window of the space station.

When you build up the final Pokémon center of the story, you discover a letter that you realize is from your trainer, since you’re playing a Ditto that was left behind. This letter tells you that they had to leave the Pokémon behind and hoped that the world would be put back together after some time and that they’d be able to eventually return.

Beyond the Lore

I haven’t spent too much time post-credits, but I did start to work on my blank slate area, which I have renamed Sawyerton in honor of my corgi. Hopefully, after getting the environment level to maximum, there will be another lore drop, or perhaps future DLC or iterations of this game, will be able to answer these questions or see some humans begin to return. Or, like I said, maybe that information is already out there and I simply haven’t taken the time to look for it.

If none of that happens, though, I will still be happy to have completed the story. I will likely spend some more time over the coming months, when I have some spare game time, building up my new hometown and moving in more and more Pokémon. It’s a very enjoyable, cozy Animal Crossing-like, that is set in a world that I have been in love with since I was a child, wishing I could be Ash Ketchum. I don’t mind this diversion to play as a human-shaped Ditto, vying to recreate the world so that some day humans can return.

It’s too bad out own world doesn’t have this technology, or such friendly and intelligent creatures that we could trust with making our world new again. We certainly could use the help. What did you think of the story if you completed it, and/or do you have all the answers I haven’t spent the time looking into?

This was an unusual cadence mainly because life got in the way last Friday, but I should have another post about Starfield coming up this week. So you get a twofer this week!