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Pokemon Government?

I think the Pokemon world has a Prime minister, just like all other countries have. They are probably dremocratic.
 
I would think Gym Leaders would be something like governers. The Elite 4 members would be something like the Supreme Court. And the Elite 4 Champion(s) would be like the President.
 
No, the Pok?mon League wouldn't be any court or anything of the sort — they wouldn't even be the government.

A Pok?mon government would be nothing more than a department in a national government. In the United States I can see a Department of Road Training which would set battling guidelines, possibly empowerment of the FDA to control supplements such as Protein, Iron, and Rare Candy, and clinical board as well.
 
Crystal Walrein said:
No, the Pok?mon League wouldn't be any court or anything of the sort ? they wouldn't even be the government.

A Pok?mon government would be nothing more than a department in a national government. In the United States I can see a Department of Road Training which would set battling guidelines, possibly empowerment of the FDA to control supplements such as Protein, Iron, and Rare Candy, and clinical board as well.
It seems to me your theory makes the most sense, and most realism as well :)

I still wonder why the Pokemon Center can operate for free...
Wait, maybe taxes?
 
I'd say probably some kind of democracy. The game and anime both put a great deal of freedom and individualism into characters, which is something you see less of even in benevolent dictatorships. I just can't see people going off and wandering the entire country on a whim when they're barely out of gradeschool.

The league definitely isn't a government. It's an influential organization, and is probably overseen by a government agency and has a voice in government affairs, but it wouldn't work as an overall form of government. For starters, its structure is based on raw power, making it an ideal avenue for the rise of any number of tyrants, and it would change the context of Team Rocket substantially, as well, making them effectively a military force opposing the government and not some band of criminals trying to steal from kids out in the woods.

The league does have a potential use in government, though: They could be effectively used as a passive militia, to be called on during a crisis, natural disaster, or even civil defense.

There's one other form of government I haven't seen mentioned, and I think it could fit even better than democracy: A corporate state. There aren't very many corporations mentioned in the pokemon world, and it's said that both Sylph and Devon make a very wide variety of products. In the Kanto and Johto games, Sylph is credited with making virtually all pokemon-related products, and the same is said of Devon in Hoenn. With a slight stretch of the imagination, imagine these corporations making not just all of the pokemart products, but everything else too, basically controlling the entire economy of a region. That would easily explain how the pokecenters could be kept free, too. A corporate government hardly needs to tax the people - they already control their income and provide the goods they purchase.

This could also help to explain the huge tech gap the world shows. On one hand, you seem to have the bulk of the population living in conditions slightly less advanced than a typical American household today, but on the other hand, technology is clearly immensely advanced. The pokeball alone is beyond comprehension, and then there's things like digital storage of physical objects, teleportation, and occasional bits in the anime of highly advanced weapons and vehicles.
 
Silph and Devon are companies. Commercial companies that provide trainer-merchandise.

Well, talking about a post in the last page - STEVEN GOING AROUND WANDERING IS A GOOD THING. In a way its good, because well, that way they can do some of the peacekeeping, and if they spot any trouble they can immediately discuss with the other League members.
Anyone remember how Lance showed up in Mahogany Town to get rid of Team Rocket?
 
Corleone said:
I'd say probably some kind of democracy. The game and anime both put a great deal of freedom and individualism into characters, which is something you see less of even in benevolent dictatorships. I just can't see people going off and wandering the entire country on a whim when they're barely out of gradeschool.

The league definitely isn't a government. It's an influential organization, and is probably overseen by a government agency and has a voice in government affairs, but it wouldn't work as an overall form of government. For starters, its structure is based on raw power, making it an ideal avenue for the rise of any number of tyrants, and it would change the context of Team Rocket substantially, as well, making them effectively a military force opposing the government and not some band of criminals trying to steal from kids out in the woods.

The league does have a potential use in government, though: They could be effectively used as a passive militia, to be called on during a crisis, natural disaster, or even civil defense.

There's one other form of government I haven't seen mentioned, and I think it could fit even better than democracy: A corporate state. There aren't very many corporations mentioned in the pokemon world, and it's said that both Sylph and Devon make a very wide variety of products. In the Kanto and Johto games, Sylph is credited with making virtually all pokemon-related products, and the same is said of Devon in Hoenn. With a slight stretch of the imagination, imagine these corporations making not just all of the pokemart products, but everything else too, basically controlling the entire economy of a region. That would easily explain how the pokecenters could be kept free, too. A corporate government hardly needs to tax the people - they already control their income and provide the goods they purchase.

This could also help to explain the huge tech gap the world shows. On one hand, you seem to have the bulk of the population living in conditions slightly less advanced than a typical American household today, but on the other hand, technology is clearly immensely advanced. The pokeball alone is beyond comprehension, and then there's things like digital storage of physical objects, teleportation, and occasional bits in the anime of highly advanced weapons and vehicles.

Crystal Walrein said:
No, the Pok?mon League wouldn't be any court or anything of the sort ? they wouldn't even be the government.

A Pok?mon government would be nothing more than a department in a national government. In the United States I can see a Department of Road Training which would set battling guidelines, possibly empowerment of the FDA to control supplements such as Protein, Iron, and Rare Candy, and clinical board as well.

I agree that it's probably one of these, especially the first one.
Deffinently somthing like the GLs and EFs being part of some type of military branch or National Militia.
Considering there is multiple schools shown, there is clearly some type of education system. My assumption would be that they would some how make it so not as many years of school would be neccisary, like combining some curriculums for different grades together. and have the last two years of highscool be optional. If you decide to stick arround and finish High School, you can take certain part-time courses to get you credits for different colleges. Then you get into college around the age of 16. Doing this would allow you to get Doctorate a by 24.
 
I think Corleone's theory makes the most sense so far. *applause*

Anyway, I think it's safe to say that the government is a more "free" one as opposed to something like a dictatorship.

I've been wondering about how in the games you have to have certain badges before you can use moves like cut, fly, etc. It's a possibility that that could be some sort of safety law to insure that trainers know how to handle their pokemon before they try to fly long distances on them. If that's the case, then the gym leaders would be at least somewhat influential in the government. However, that doesn't seem to exist in the anime, so my guess is that it's just something thrown in the game to make it more challenging.
 
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As far as possession of Pok?mon in the first place, I would say there are different levels of trainer licensing. When you become of age (I would guess 12 or 13 years, and CERTAINLY not 10 years like in the games/anime), you can take a test to get a level 1 license. The wilder and/or more destructive a Pok?mon is, the more authorization is required to legally own it. There probably would be six levels of licensing: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and M. It's sorta like there are different types of driver's licenses. You wouldn't want someone with a general license driving a semi. Same thing: you don't want a newbie trainer trying to command a Salamence.

Level 1 would contain weaker Pok?mon and starter Pok?mon, and Ditto. However, Ditto cannot maintain a transformed state of a higher-level Pok?mon outside of battle unless the trainer has the necessary authorization.

Level 2 would contain weaker evolved forms and some Pok?mon that are naturally stronger. The Eeveelutions fall into this category.

Level 3 would contain stronger evolutions and weaker second evolutions. Most fully-evolved starters go here, with the exception of Charizard. The initial forms of many Dragon-type Pok?mon (Dratini, Bagon, etc.) are also here.

Level 4 would contain the more powerful fully-evolved Pok?mon and second-level dragons (Dragonair, Shelgon, etc.) Flygon would also be in this level. All Pok?mon captures and evolutions of this level and up must be filed with the government before using them. This is the level most "semi-serious" trainers get to.

Level 5 would contain only the most powerful Pok?mon, such as fully-evolved dragons (Dragonite, Salamence, etc.) Metagross and Tyranitar also require this level of authorization to legally train. Very few Pok?mon are in this category. This is the highest level most people can achieve, and boasts a difficult test to pass.

Level M is a special license granted to hunters of Legendary Pok?mon. In the event that the hunted Pok?mon is captured, it must be specially registered with the government, and behavior patterns of the legend and the trainer are closely monitored for 12 months. During this time period, there are many restrictions on what can be done.

This means that if, say, your Charmeleon evolved into Charizard, you could not use it at all until you held a level 4 trainer's license. Therefore, it would be wise to avoid evolving your Pok?mon until you have the necessary authorization to use the evolved form.

People convicted of Pok?mon-related felonies lose many of their Pok?mon privileges for a time proportional to their license level. To regain their former status, they must take all the trainer tests again. For trainers level 4 or higher, they are never allowed to take a test of their former level or higher.

Level 1: 1 year
Level 2: 4 years
Level 3: 10 years
Level 4: 20 years
Level 5: 20 years to life (And possibly a prison sentence)
Level M: Life (And possible punishment by death or lengthy prison sentence)

People convicted of Pok?mon-related misdemeanors also may suffer sentences, but no license revocation is mandatory until at least level 3. License revocation is still possible at lower levels and is at the discretion of the local agencies involved. Level 5 license holders committed of misdemeanors lose all privileges for one year and can only exercise level 4 privileges for five years thereafter. Level M license holders convicted lose all privileges for 18 months and can only exercise level 5 privileges for life.

So basically if you want to train a legendary, you better be pure. You are allowed no forgiveness at all. One mistake and your privileges are gone.
 
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I figure there's some kind of national regulatory body, much like those in sports, to make sure the rules of League are followed. Apart from that, it seems that local governments are the way to go.
 
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