Pokémon’s Strangest Region Doesn’t Even Exist In The Video Games

screenrant.com:

The franchise has built up a wide variety of official regions over the years, but arguably the strangest of all actually appears in no such titles. It is relatively common knowledge that most of the core games’ regions are based on real-life areas of the world, but not every aspect of ’sworld follows this rule. Moreover, the franchise’s lesser-known settings can still have some remarkable quirks of their own even without such inspiration.

All of the core games’ regions have some sort of basis in reality, which informs a large part of their geography culture and inhabitants. This includes the alternative regional forms of some Pokémon that have appeared in more recent Generations. Of course, novelty and complexity are both crucial factors in the best of ’s regions. However, taking inspiration from a real country’s national identity is not the only way that has created unique regions in the past.

The video games are not the only sources of interesting new settings for , as the has long since proven. The Holon region has only ever been depicted within the TCG, a fact which limits its avenues for worldbuilding. However, Holon still enjoys a unique identity as the home of Delta Pokémon, a TCG-exclusive variant introduced alongside it in the 2005 expansion. Moreover, subsequent sets have established that Holon is named for its central city, which is laid out like a Poké Ball and located in the middle of the expansive MIrage Forest.

also introduced Holon’s Pokémon cards, an unusual variety of Pokémon that can be attached as Energy instead of being played as Pokémon.

The centerpiece of the Holon region is the Holon Research Tower, which is itself depicted in an card. Built to investigate an unusual energy that permeates the region, the tower emits electromagnetic radiation that has a dramatic effect on the local Pokémon. This radiation causes them to become Delta Species Pokémon with different types to normal members of their species. As a result, Holon is defined by having