As mentioned in my last post, I have a lot of thoughts about Kanto - specifically as it is presented in the OG Red & Blue versions - and how that can help inspire our world building in tabletop settings.
And no, this isn't going to be some fanwank about how "pokemon is a post apocalyptic world where all the grown men died in a horrible war." Quite the opposite. But let me make a note before we proceed: I am going to take literally everything we are presented about Kanto in Generation 1. Cartridge limitations? Bad translations? That's world building baby.
Kanto is highly advanced
Pokeballs allow humans to capture and store monsters in their pockets. A computer system exists that can store these monsters digitally. Scientists are able to resurrect Pokemon from their fossilized remains and have no problem providing this service free of charge to an 11 year old boy.
Now we all know the genetic material of the rare ancient Pokemon known as Mew was manipulated by scientists to create the incredibly powerful Mewtwo. That's a pretty well trod piece of Pokemon lore. But I think we tend to gloss over the real technological marvel hiding out in the Pokedex: Pokemon #137 - Porygon, the Virtual Pokemon.
"A Pokémon that consists entirely of programming code. Capable of moving freely in cyberspace."
Not only have the scientists of Kanto figured out how to digitize Pokemon, they've figure out how to create one out of code and bring it into the physical world! Naturally they give this scientific break-thru away as a prize to degenerate gamblers (who may or not be 11 year old boys.)
Oh and let's not forget that the massive technological conglomerate that produces Pokeballs also has teleporters in its office building.
Pokemon are the economy
Pretty much all science, commerce, leisure travel, entertainment and education we encounter is centered around Pokemon and Pokemon trainers.
And by that logic, it stands to reason that the major antagonists we encounter, Team Rocket, would be a gang that uses Pokemon to commit crime.
Kanto is tamed
Despite Pokemon being seemingly abundant out in the grass and waterways of Kanto, they seem to largely not cause problems inside of cities.
I would posit that this is done through large scale population management of wild Pokemon (i.e. all the 11 year olds set loose trying to level their Pikachus) and technological means (repel barriers deployed around cities).
When I started looking at wild Pokemon distribution in Red & Blue I was struck by something I hadn't really thought about in years: Many evolved Pokemon you'd think could be foud in the wild, absolutely aren't. Despite how numerous Caterpie and Weedle are, there are no wild Butterfree and Beedrill in Kanto.
Several dangerous and evolved Pokemon can be found in Victory Road and the Unknown Dungeon (located on the borders of Viridian & Cerulean Cities) but they appear to be well contained within these habitats.
Human activity impacts Pokemon
It does appear that there have been some downsides to Kanto's industrial and technologixsl growth.
Grimer's Red & Blue Pokedex entries tell us it feeds on industrial runoff. And it's entry from Pokemon Stadium (which is essentially the unused entry from Japanese Red & Green) states:
"Sludge that was transformed when exposed to X-rays from the moon. Loves sludge, industrial waste and other refuse."
That raised an eyebrow when I remembered that Grimer is only found in one location in Pokemon Red & Blue: The Pokemon Mansion, aka the laboratory where Mewtwo was created. I don't think Grimer is simply the product of randomly mutated sludge - that sludge probably contained genetic material left over from the experiments used to create Mewtwo.
Then there's the fact that several Pokemon evolutions are only possible through human intervention. Some Pokemon inexplicably need to be traded to evolve while others have to be exposed to rare evolutionary stones. Raichu appears to be the only Pokemon who needs to be exposed to a stone to evolve who can be encountered in the wild (at Kanto's Power Plant and in the Unknown Dungeon.)
Both the Power Plant and Pokemon Tower (a cemetery) seem to have the effect of attracting Electric and Ghost types to their locations.
Pokemon such as Cubone are implied to be targets of poaching. Players cannot progress unless they utilize the SliphScope to identify the ghost of Cubone's mother, Marrowak, and lay her to rest (by defeating her in battle, duh.) But even though we're only told about this one specific Marrowak being killed by Team Rocket, Pokemon Tower is full of grieving Cubone. I think there's more going on here than just a random Team Rocket slaughter spree. As Cubone are not found anywhere else in Kanto, I suspect that Mr. Fuji was running a breeding project to introduce these Pokemon to the Kanto region and was then targeted by Team Rocket.
There's actually a video series I really like about the idea that many Kanto Pokemon are not native to the region. The existence of the Safari Zone kind of backs this up. As a real Gen 2 head I'm fully onboard with the idea that Scyther and Pinsir were imported from Johto's National Park.
Before we wind down I would like to take my wildest shot of all: MISSINGNO. is canon.
Yes we all abused the hell out this glitch duplicate rare candies, TMs and Masterballs..but everything we know about the setting of Kanto also tells me that Missingno canonically exists within the world of Generation 1.
It's found on the coast of Cinnabar Island home to both the Pokemon Mansion where Mewtwo was cloned and Grimer mutated out of sludge, but also the Pokemon Lab where fossil Pokemon are revived by careless scientists.
While I cannot recall ever encountering form 4, Missing no can appear as fossilized Pokemon and an unidentified ghost in addition to its iconic glitch body. Perhaps before the fossil revitalization process was perfected Cinnabar scientists attempted to recreate extinct Pokemon digitally and bring them into the physical world.
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So what world building lessons can we actually learn from all this?
1. If your setting is defined by abundance, find opportunities to show that.
Advanced technology is freely given away all the time in Kanto. It honestly reminds me of accessing magical items and spells in 5e's Forgotten Realms. You walk into a city and you can bring your dead companion back to life no problem (assuming you've got gold and diamonds.) You want a spell or TM? You can can buy it.
Kanto obviously skews a bit more luxury utopian than most tabletop settings and it's a far cry from say, Vance's Dying Earth where magic is violent tlt hoarded.
2. "It's the economy, stupid."
There is something about your setting that defines how trade and commerce works. Maybe it is the massive dungeon underneath the seat of power and governance. Perhaps it is the space god corpse that crashed two generation ago that people are still harvesting.
It could just be Dragons. Stealing their ancient hoards, draining their blood, turning their scales and hides into goods. You'll figure it out.
3. Towns, Cities, Routes & Dungeons
Make it clear and unambiguous how these spaces operate and what types of encounters players can have in them. Let them know what is safe but make it clear where danger lurks.
4. Teams, Gangs & Guilds
There are ideologically unified groups of people either working within the established economic system of your world, or they work outside of/against it. Make it clear who they are. Give them a uniform. Hell, give them a gimmick.
5. Make Power Careless
Put someone in your setting with access to an amazing power. Raising the dead, seeing through time, granting sentience to animals, turning lead into gold, etc. Now make them completely irresponsible. They don't have to evil or ill-intentioned (unless that's more fun to you) just laissez-faire with their ability. Something interesting will happen when they run up against your players.
6. Show us what happens when nobody hunts monsters
What becomes of an island that's isolated because sea serpents block the only safe route to their shores?
What happens when the villagers just let the Hag have the forest?
No one ever found the Lich's phylactery. He is well and truly immortal. He's reigned for 1000 years. Is anyone even afraid at that point?
7. This isn't even my final form.
If a monster kills one of your players or a named NPC, slap an evolution on that bad boy. Make it more powerful and really crank up the level of grudge between it and your table.
Perhaps consider Goblin -> Hobgoblin -> Bugbear as an evolutionary line for your table. It has always bugged me that these are just three different monsters instead one creature at different stages of power.
8. Old Man Glitch
At some point a player will exploit your game. They will break the math, they will find an interaction you didn't expect. Don't argue, don't stop them, don't worry. Simply make the world weirder in response, and crank it up every time they go back to the exploit well.
100 ball bearings on that character sheet? Add two zeroes to that. That NPC shopkeeper who is always sweeping? Still sweeping, just upside down. A formerly intelligible language now just appears as gibberish.
Don't use this as punishment and don't be coy about what's happening. Use this to send the story off in a fun new direction. Anything that's broken can be fixed, until it's too late.
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No random table from me this post. I've written too much and I think enough of it is gameable.
Go roll some dice!
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