Pokemon is over 20 years old and is still a videogame juggernaut; the largest Nintendo franchise other than Mario himself. Throughout this time; the Pokemon world has shown surprising amount of detail in examining the impact that Pokemon would have on society: even exploring old history.
At the same time; there are moments that are too lighthearted or inconsistent within the Pokemon lore to make much sense. Such examples include; crime, gun-ownership, use of mind control, the concept of ghosts and supernatural myths, and the obvious gray area between friendly pokemon battles and lethal cockfighting: yes I will be discussing PETA (which will be renamed to PETAP: People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals & Pokemon).
This is all a thought experiment, but I do want to know If Kanto was Real.
Disclaimer:
-I will only examine the original G1 pokemon (1-149; Bulbasaur to Dragonite). Legendary Pokemon are OP, so I will ignore them. Glitch pokemon are obviously not to be included. Alternate forms, shiny pokemon and megas can be included; but anime or spinoff only Variant Pokémon (like Crystal Onix & Snorlax Snowmen) will be excluded.
-The main videogames will be viewed as the official canon. The Anime and other spinoffs will only be mentioned if they do not contradict the videogames. I will avoid discussing major characters unless they are relevant to my discussion. I will certainly mention characters like Giovanni and Officer Jenny for topics like crime and police; but most characters irrelevant to my argument (like Tracey Sketchit, who has always been irrelevant) will be ignored. To mention these protagonists' lives would simply be me repeating the lore, which is redundant.
-Traits within the pokemon world that are obvious game mechanics (the inability to get around bushes or fences) will be ignored.
-I will use some but not all official pokedex entries from the videogames. I will not examine every pokedex entry; especially since some entries are inconsistent outliers or have been contradicted. Pokedex entries outside of the videgames will be ignored.
-I will not discuss Pokemon-Human relationships; Gardevoir is not a G1 Pokemon. Also I don't want to get into any creepy topics: especially with Ditto.
-I will focus primarily on Kanto; but we must assume that the Pokemon World is similar to the real world otherwise. I will consider real world animals existing in the Pokemon World, although they will be mostly overshadowed by the Pokemon. Technology and gadgets that exist in the Pokemon World only (Nurse Joy's healing machine, Bill's PC, Repel) will still exist within this analysis.
-I am well aware that my analysis is going to not mention some topics. If there's any topic you want me to examine, let me know and I might consider it. Don't expect me to mention every idea or every pokemon; this franchise is massive and I cannot do everything. If you disagree with me; don't badger me and call me an idiot. Give your own thoughts and arguments; I want to hear them. Just be civil regardless.