Region speculation/what will the region be based on?

[AlphaTangoFoxtrot]

Just because THAT story ended, doesn't mean another can't start there.

If you want to break down the games, really, there is nothing truly different about any region. They have 8 gyms, an elite four, some legendaries, and a villainous team. The difference is the skin they put on it. Hoenn's tropical, Johto's extra Japanese, Sinnoh's snowy, Unova is New York, Kalos is French. So your argument that its a "rehash" rings false when every region at its core is a rehash. As they say, there are only seven stories. What changes is the variations on each of those seven stories.

Why revisit Kanto? Because you can use Kanto elements to change that story as need be. Kanto elements are pretty iconic for the series, including outside of the fandom. Take Professor Oak, he's getting up there in years. His death, from old age or because a reborn Team Rocket takes him out, could be the catalyst that starts the story, or it can be used as a twist, that age got to him before he saw his dream of a completed national dex made true.

Let's look at Black and White, imagine if that story had been in Kanto instead of Unova. You could replace Alder with Red. Its Red's starter that has died (maybe that's why he was on Mt. Silver?), his retort to Cheren of "then what?" to "I want to be the very best!" carries more weight because you were once him. You put Blue in Aurea Juniper's place with Oak the elder in her father's. The Gym Leaders' line up has changed because of an increase in immigration and a population boom. Saffron takes the place of Castelia, as the first majorly 3D city in the series, letting you appreciate it from another perspective. And Team Plasma's story could work just as well, just with them being a new team whose usurped the power vacuum that Team Rocket left.

And the thing is, you can do this with any of the games' stories and they fit (mostly) perfectly with the others. Oh sure, some like the Hoenn games have thematic elements that might not work contextually in another region, but the baseline story elements can work anywhere, with tweaks.

Lastly, there is another reason to go back: to see the effect our heroes had in the past. We saw this briefly in the Johto games, but 3 years isn't alot of time. Heck, three years feels like a blink of the eye anymore. But two decades? Something minor can, in a few decades, change everything. Maybe Red's capture of the Kanto legendary birds resulted in the Kanto government banning the capture and use of legends, leaving the villainous team to take over? Did Red make public the origins of Mewtwo after capturing it? What happened to all the towns we left behind? How did Ethan/Lyra/Kris affect the region as that Johtoan who took the region by storm? What is Giovanni doing now? What about Mr. Fuji? Who's Red's Dad? Who's Silver's Mom?

You can work alot with what we have not had answered, but more importantly, you can make it a tale about continuity vs a whole new tale about people we probably don't care about.

My entire point is still eluding you, though. Of course the core gameplay elements and layouts are the same. That's not rehashing an idea. That's called a serialized franchise. The format of the gameplay is bound to stay the same because it's at the core of the series. The "skin" they throw over a series is what makes the games their own, which is exactly why Kanto should be left for what it was. Your argument seems to be that a lot can change over twenty years, so Kanto should be revisited, yet you also say creating a new community and story would be something we don't care about. Those two ideals contradict themselves. The only things that would remain the same in a present-day Kanto would be the town names. It would basically be an entirely new community. That is what I'm saying. Why waste time with this revisiting of an old region just so we can have a story that would only be minimally related to a past story? Not to mention the issues that causes with the Pokedex and growth of the game's core elements. How would they explain an entire regional dex-worth of new Pokemon suddenly existing in Kanto that have never before been seen in any of the other regions? It's story-breaking.

What happens in the first generation, and subsequently in the second generation, also doesn't lend much to the idea of continuation of the story with a lasting impact some two decades later. You mention that a story of continuation would be exciting and brilliant, but what story is there to continue? The concept of bringing the story back to Kanto after twenty years as if Red's conquest of the league had some kind of lasting impact on the region is absolutely ludicrous. It would make for awful cliches and a story completely devoid of creative thinking.

Why on earth would Red's conquest of the league have a lasting impact on the region? What makes what he did different than what Lance did, or Blue did, or anybody before them? What government would be enacting laws and sanctions on the people? There has been absolutely zero sign of government in any of the Pokemon universes save for small town leadership. The closest thing to a government is the Pokemon League, which, as far as we know, doesn't enact laws. That idea is completely devoid of supporting facts. There would have to be some sort of immense turmoil throughout the entire Pokemon world that would lead to the installation of regional governments, and that would cross way too many lines of complexity, politics, and maturity Pokemon would not be willing to approach.

What villainous team? Rocket is gone and if the Legendary Pokemon are gone as well, what incentive exists for a new team to rise up? There isn't one.

What about Mewtwo's origin would impact the story? It's in written records. It was most likely already known, and if it isn't, what new story does that bring to the table?

What about the towns Red left behind? Outside of Team Rocket occurrences, Red left absolutely zero impact on any town in the entire region. He was just another trainer. Whatever happens to them is of no consequence of Red's tale. The exact same thing is to be said about Gold/Ethan or Crystal/Lyra. They're just Pokemon trainers, if really good ones. They aren't these remarkable characters. Heck, they really aren't even characters at all in the game universe. They're just vessels for the player to be able to play the game through.

As for Giovanni, he'd be like 75 or 80 years old. If he isn't dead, he's probably just existing honestly. He lost his will to pursue his evil goals at the end of the Johto story and just fell off the grid. End of story.

Mr. Fuji is probably dead, honestly. The dude was old twenty years ago.

Why does it matter who Red's dad is? I always assumed he was dead. Same goes for Silver's mom.

If the games followed the manga more closely, there'd be generations worth of story to tell, but that just isn't the case. They just don't have heavy amounts of story.

I don't mean to sound confrontational, but people seem to cloud their judgment over Kanto because it was the first installment of the series and it is natural to want more. The fact of the matter is that a story doesn't exist to be told, and creating one specifically formed around Kanto's past would handicap the creative possibilities for said story. Everything there was to do in Kanto has been done. It's nothing against the region or the games, it's just that creating new plot elements and story for a return to Kanto is a waste of energy. It would only fulfill nostalgia and would be a stagnant investment of creativity as opposed to crafting a whole new world for us to explore. The mysteries and the unknown in every new region is what keeps Pokemon fresh and exciting. Kanto's story has been told. It's done its part. The story was tied up with a pretty bow in Gen II. It's at peace. Going back to it would only disrupt that.

 

[Sopheria]

This is probably outdated by now, but it brings up quite a few interesting facts. Both irl and in-game locations.

It's 4.1mb
http://i.imgur.com/H7gYApb.jpg

Blanked out areas are words I removed to make it a bit more word friendly.

This has seriously caught my attention.

 

[Hikamaru]

This has seriously caught my attention.

Wow maybe this could hint at the new region having some connection to Kalos after all.

 

[MarioManH]

Wow maybe this could hint at the new region having some connection to Kalos after all.

I can go a bit further on the whole regions being connected deal:

Look at what's powering the Zygrade Cell. It's a bit of a stretch at first glance, but if you then think about that there's some nearby region that's currently unknown to us, Zygrade's other forms aren't in the games (as of now), and the power source for the Cell is the Sun. "Wow MMH, big whoop, the Sun powers a lot of things, so what?" Well the fact that Zygrade's newer forms are yet to even be referenced in the games (and Nintendo usually includes such things in it's Pokemon games, but yes I do understand of a few instances where they haven't) and it's power source is the Sun (Which happens to be one of the two titles!) I do believe there's some connection here. It's too coincidental that they essentially reveal newer Pokemon in the anime (Which they did with Mime Jr, Bonsly etc.), tie it in somehow with the newer titles of the game, and not have it effect the game in some manner.

 

[OmegaRuby and AlphaSapphire]

I wonder if Zygarde can absorb some of the Moon's power too.. In real life so flowers blossom only at night under the moon's light.

 

[pkmin3033]

Maybe there are additional Zygarde forms - or even a parallel to Zygarde relating specificially to the Moon - that has yet to be announced? It might have a form change on top of what it already has, similar to Kyurem's Black and White forms...perhaps what we've seen thus far is its Sun form. If these games are related to Kalos - and I'm starting to think more and more than the southern Kalos theory is far more credible than the Hawaii one - I'd expect Zygarde to be one of, if not both of the mascots, and this would be a way to do that.

 

[Esper]

This has seriously caught my attention.

My impression here is that Horsea just makes for a good water feature. The pokedex data for Horsea talks about it shooting ink and so on and I feel like in a Pokemon world it's just the default design people would use to make fountains.

 

[Hikamaru]

My impression here is that Horsea just makes for a good water feature. The pokedex data for Horsea talks about it shooting ink and so on and I feel like in a Pokemon world it's just the default design people would use to make fountains.

It definitely explains why Horsea must be a feature of fountains. But then again, in Santalune City we had a fountain that wasn't Horsea, but Roselia instead. I never remember the Pokedex entry in question, but now looking at it Horsea kinda makes sense.

 

[Seajaycj]

I'm guessing it's Hawaii or somewhere else tropical because of the palm trees and the building in the photo looks like a resort.

 

[Ho-Oh]

RE: The whole Horsea thing.

My initial thought was that it looked a lot like Cerulean gym, and given that Misty uses Horsea (I believe??) it wouldn't be too far of a stretch to think that it MIGHT be Kanto. I don't mean to add to the Kanto theory, but... it could be Kanto re-envisioned. It wouldn't be Kanto as we know it. The characters would be different, design different, but it would be based around the idea of Kanto gym-wise etc. Kind of like an alternate world or something.

But we're probably not getting Kanto. Hopefully. I don't really mind where the region is based on because I'm pretty sure GF will do an awesome job with whatever region it is. I don't think we'll have to wait long until we know though.

My impression here is that Horsea just makes for a good water feature. The pokedex data for Horsea talks about it shooting ink and so on and I feel like in a Pokemon world it's just the default design people would use to make fountains.

I agree. Horsea the best.

 

[Shadow Chill]

It is hard to tell based on the concept art, but the Strange Souvenir's design hints that the region is likely based on India, South America, South-East Asia, or Oceanic.

 

[Psychotichaos7]

I wonder if Zygarde can absorb some of the Moon's power too.. In real life so flowers blossom only at night under the moon's light.

The fact that you mention some flowers only blossoming at night is interesting as J.C. Smith, director of consumer marketing at The Pokémon Company International, said "flowers" when asked where the series was headed.

Perhaps flowers have an influence over the new region? And also, Hawaii even has a flower called "the moon flower" Just a random thought, but maybe it is relevant.



Anyway, I've just recently watched this video and the guy makes some interesting points about the proposed Hawaii based region that i hadn't come across before, its called "Pokemon Sun And Moon: Anistar Sundial Explained - Pokemon Theory" by a YouTuber called Bird Keeper Toby.

 

[SnowpointQuincy]

Anyway, I've just recently watched this video and the guy makes some interesting points about the proposed Hawaii based region that i hadn't come across before, its called "Pokemon Sun And Moon: Anistar Sundial Explained - Pokemon Theory" by a YouTuber called Bird Keeper Toby.

I saw that video too. I agree that a "Moon Dial" of some kind will be important. I'm not sold on the Hawaii Theory, but it would be a great place to go!

 

[Hikamaru]

Ah yes I heard about the "moondial" from that one NPC in Anistar City. Not sure what it would mean, but if it does seem to appear in the next region then maybe Game Freak wanted to foreshadow something after all.

 

[Indigo]

It'll probably be what Johto is to Kanto. Another region in the same landmass.

 

[Pokébook1]

As the 6th Generation was Announced I saw a video of Junichi Masuda and the GameFreak Team talking with an Interviewer, the Interviewer made a question: What will be the region for the 7th Generation?... One of the GameFreak Team came up and told the Interviewer: It will be China! *started to laugh*.

 

[Adam Levine]

Remember how Kalos is basically a newer version of Kanto? I'm thinking Sun/Moon should set place next to Kalos, just like how Johto is next to Kanto. Maybe it should be based off Italy, or another part of France.

 

[Cubes]

Anyway, I've just recently watched this video and the guy makes some interesting points about the proposed Hawaii based region that i hadn't come across before, its called "Pokemon Sun And Moon: Anistar Sundial Explained - Pokemon Theory" by a YouTuber called Bird Keeper Toby.

I also saw the video. Toby practically answered the questions I had two years ago. I was always puzzled why Route 17 is nowhere to be seen behind the Anistar Sun Dial, but an ocean sets there instead, which isnt supposed to be since there's not even a lake seen in the Kalos map where Anistar City stands. Let's put his points here in this post and let me add a bit of my insights. Here's a theory about where the region is actually located regardless of where its based on the real world. Let me warn you guys that a lot of this relies on cryptic hints and messages.

They hinted us a moondial from an npc. Moon Dials harness energy from moonlight, and Sun Dials from sunlight. If what Toby said about the Sun Dial being a huge portal, then we must be looking at an endpoint of a bridge, with the moon dial being the other end. So how do they open ? Simple. Both collect energy from their respective sources, lets say there's no specific time, as long as its day time, portal's always open for the Sun Dial. But what about the moon dial ? Sure it collects from the moon light, but you cant have both regions to be really close to each other for that work. Which only means one thing... the next region is definitely nowhere near Kalos, or not accessible by the means of land transportation. It has to be far away, like other side of the world far away where the half of the planet is coated in sunlight, and the other half is shrouded in darkness, where Kalos is in daytime and this other region is in nighttime. The npc who gave us that strange souvenir wasn't kidding about this region being far away. Also, Kalos itself is a giant cryptic message that it could be the modern Kanto; catchable Legendary Birds and Mewtwo, and Santalune Forest being literally the 3Dfied Viridian Forest, and other cryptic hints. Kanto is also the only region to be revisited in another generation. If that's the case, what if Kalos can also be revisited ? Think about it, the story there is still shrouded in mystery, with X & Y being total cliffhangers. If we go through the portal, our first step in Kalos would be in Anistar. And you know what else is near Anistar ? Terminus Cave :D This is me debunking that old train in Couriway theory. But thats just me, and speculating is really fun so I wouldn't mind sounding stupid just now. In the end, they are just theories. Please do credit me if you're gonna use this theory.

The reason why I dragged the cryptic subjects in to this is because, over the years, I've noticed that Game Freak LOVES putting hints for future projects in games. For instance, Colress kept blabbing about the true potential of Pokemon, of which resulted to Mega Evolution when X & Y happened, or Game Freak hinting ORAS by releasing Mega Blaziken ahead of Mega Sceptile and Mega Swampert. That my friends, was the biggest hint of a Hoenn remake. But anyway, take all the up and coming theories as grain of salt fellas, and remember to have fun while speculating. :)

 

[Esper]

I think GameFreak just likes putting in lots of flavor into the games. The mention of the moondials and so on, to me, doesn't mean it was put there as a hint if it later on has some relevance because when making, for instance, these new games they can just look back at what they've already made in previous games and go "Hm, hey, what about the moondials thing? Maybe we could do something with that."

But of course that isn't a fun way to speculate. The portal idea seems as good as any other I've seen and I prefer it to making the new region based on southern France, Spain, or other nearby parts of Europe. But then there was that one tweet or whatever that said that the sun and moon can both be in the sky at the same time. So, that could mean that a sun portal and a moon portal could be nearby. It could even tie-in to the idea of an eclipse being important since that's when they're both in the same place in the sky.

 

[Cubes]

I think GameFreak just likes putting in lots of flavor into the games. The mention of the moondials and so on, to me, doesn't mean it was put there as a hint if it later on has some relevance because when making, for instance, these new games they can just look back at what they've already made in previous games and go "Hm, hey, what about the moondials thing? Maybe we could do something with that."

But of course that isn't a fun way to speculate. The portal idea seems as good as any other I've seen and I prefer it to making the new region based on southern France, Spain, or other nearby parts of Europe. But then there was that one tweet or whatever that said that the sun and moon can both be in the sky at the same time. So, that could mean that a sun portal and a moon portal could be nearby. It could even tie-in to the idea of an eclipse being important since that's when they're both in the same place in the sky.

Now that you mention it, do you think the eclipse could have something to do with the main story prior to the Pokemon League? If the eclipse could trigger the gates, maybe going to Kalos means its not a post game content ?