Thread: Ghettos in the Pokemon World

I've always wondered about this. So much of the world in Pokemon seems like such a clean & respectful place to live, I wouldn't even know where to start looking for a place that would fit as a ghetto. It makes sense looking at Pokemon's main audience, but still, it's like getting rid of real-world truths & problems. I was, for one reason or another, very happy when the Orre games for the Gamecube came out because they rectified this & made the Pokemon World a bit more realistic. Not saying that prior to this the world of Pokemon was all rainbows & sunshine (though that did happen alot). Just saying that it was nice to see something like a "bad neighborhood" setting in this franchise because it seems like something they'd be scared to put in for whatever reason. But anyway, what do you think Ghettos in the Pokemon World would be like? Where would they be? Why would they be there? Why do you think we don't see them as much?

Veilstone City seems pretty damn ghetto to me.

Its funny, you mention Ghettos in the Pokémon world and the first thing I thought of was Pyrite Town

Originally Posted by SuperTrainStationH

Its funny, you mention Ghettos in the Pokémon world and the first thing I thought of was Pyrite Town

Damn right. I mean, that place is a dump. And plus, it's full of thugs, crappy buildings, and...nothing. Except for that Colosseum, but there's always a limelight in a ghetto.

Interesting topic.

I think this is an issue that the Pokemon franchise just chose not to delve into since their target audience is children though.

I'd imagine that a Poke-Ghetto would be kinda big, filled with Dark-Type 'mons like Scrafty, Liepard, and Krookodile. Plus, there'd be plenty of Team _____ grunts wandering around along with your usual "Bad Trainer" classes, like Bikers or Burglars. People would avoid the area because it's generally regarded as a bad place to live, so of course the place is run-down.

Why they'd be there, I don't know, but it's likely that they didn't get as much attention as other parts of the city (ie. Celadon had its Game Corner and Department Store, so areas away from there weren't visited often). That, or they got dominated by an evil team, and now it's a haven for crooks and their equally crooked Pokemon. Cops can't do a thing to clear 'em out because the local residents are under the influence of the team's power, and the leader knows that they'll keep the team out of prison.

I dunno, I'm not much of a "ghetto" person (even though I've lived there).

I kinda felt like all of Orre was a ghetto.

Having some sort of ghetto theme in a city just destroys the purpose of the franchise being pure escapism.

For an estatic ten-year old starting a brand new thrilling journey, isn't having a corrupt team bad enough?

Orre was kinda an spotlight to the "not clean" cities of the pokémon world, so yeah.

I think Goldenrod's underground, at least in GSC, also gave an small insight. There were trainers picking fights with anyone who dared pass, making some people probably legitimately scared of going there. Also it's implied to have trash all over the place.

Also there is vandalism, so probably there are more "ghetto areas" in larger cities too.


But in any case, pretty much a place full of those bikers and bald guys with intimidating pokémon. A decent trainer could tear through them like paper, but they probably make the lives of those who live there pretty bad: Imagine being robbed with a Gyarados.
It could happen because of an incompetent enough police and not enough strong trainers, in perhaps a poorer region, though it'd remain stable by inside fights.

I think that the Dreamyard could kinda be seen as Striaton City ghetto.

It's because the games and most of the anime don't have the time/ resources to portray unsavory areas like that if the characters aren't going there.

Although I've read fanfics that give the major cities ghetto districts. (abandoned neighborhoods, seedy hotels, etc.)

Narrow Street in Castelia City.

Wherever them Jynx live.

Pyrite town and all of orre were pretty bad but I think that the mansion in undella town was clearly the poorest area in the Pokemon franchise