This page explores Pokemon regions in the real world.
Today we are discussing the Ryme Region from the 2019 Pokemon movie and where I think this region was loosely based off of in the real world.
Several things in the movie lead us to believe it was a mishmash of many places, and while this may be true and the writers probably had this in mind when they wrote the movie, some things about Ryme lean more towards one particular place than another. And that place seems like California, USA.
At first when watching, the amount of different languages seemed to make me think it was Japan, but then as I kept watching a few things tipped me off as to why it could be an idealized fictional California.
The mix of culture in Cali is very similar to the scene after the Aipom chase our protagonists. There are little food vendors from lots of different cultures which is common in large cities in the USA, but especially in places like San Francisco, CA. Though, I didn't see the large hills of SF, it could easily be based on another flat larger city where there is a lot of ethnicity that fills the street vendors.
Although many big cities have lots of cultures amalgamated together, there is a larger portion of Latin ethnicity, which was represented in the underground fighting in the film. Also, illegal and punishable by law but still going on in real life is cock fighting, which I believe this movie was commenting on. Originating in Southeast Asia, pit has been practiced in Greece, Persia, Mexico, Central America, and even the American frontier. Specifically how it looked in the movie, though, with its pit-like arena, slasher-style fight to mimic both a Pokemon fight and cock fighting, this seemed to be more reminiscent of the western cock fighting style and Latino cock fighting style. So it could be a place like Oklahoma, or just a little further west, like California.
I thought at a certain point it could be NYC with the street vendors, because there are little Italy and little Asia vendors in NYC, and there would be a forest or woodland close by NYC also. There are lots of wooded places in NY and within driving distance. However, to get OUT of the city it would take a long time because traffic there is pretty much always horrible, the people tend to be grouchy, bad drivers as opposed to the more laid-back atmosphere of the western seaboard. So either it was an oversight on the directing or who knows what, but especially if there was soon to be a parade, there is no way travel would be that easy anywhere in NY. Though, this is an idealized world where perhaps there's no traffic...?
Furthermore, and this is what really did it for me, the forests being near water and causing earthquakes is reminiscent to me of California's frequent earthquakes, landslides, and mudslides. Even though in the movie, this wasn't supposed to be a genuine earthquake, it certainly looked like it initially
Anyway, these are just my guesses and opinions, which may be absolutely wrong. All these similarities could be just coincidence... or perhaps there's another place this is more similar to, for whatever rhyme or reason.
Where do you think the Ryme region was in the real world? Tell us on Twitter @StareonSays #Waves and let us know. And join us next time as we explore more Pokemon regions in the real world.
