This has been kind of bugging me.

Just what are the settings for the Pokémon GameBoy games? There is no question that the events take place on earth (mentions of America and South America from Lt. Surge and Pokémon Mansion diaries), but under what circumstances? It's unclear whether the game's universe is a complete reinvention of our own, or simply our world as we know it slightly tweaked for the allowance of pokémon and its afflitiated technology. I'm going to go out on a limb and suggest the latter--quite a bit of the pokémon world coincides nicely with our own.

Where to begin? Let's start with geography. Maps of the game's regions indicate that they align with regions of Japan. Kanto was modeled off the actual Kantō region, which is east of the Kansai and Tokai regions of Japan (combined, the two are the geographical inspiration for Johto). That's simple enough, but begs the question, has Japan been replaced by Kanto/Johto/Hoenn in the pokémon universe? Are the three regions collectively known as Japan, or regarded as completely separate entities? My best estimate is that the landmass is virtually identical to our world's Japan, but regarded as three separate regions (i.e. Canada, North America, and Mexico are on the same continent, but distinct countries). But did the elimination of the Japanese nation and its history have a significant impact on the timeline of the Pokémon universe? One would think so, but we don't get enough information to make a definitive statement on the matter, to the best of my knowledge.

In fact, the timeline of the pokémon games is far more intriguing. It's hard to pinpoint a date for the setting. Perhaps information from the third- and fourth-generation games would help to make things clearer, but I'm operating on knowledge solely from R/B/Y/G/S/C. And various tidbits of online information where I can find it. The first piece of evidence that I could find about when the game takes place came from a quote from Lt. Surge in R/B/Y: that he had been in a war, and that his pokémon had paralyzed his enemies. He's referred to by in-game characters as 'the lightning American.' So Surge was involved in an American war. I'm guessing it wasn't WWII, which ended in 1945. It's definitely long past 1945 in the era of R/B/Y. Evidence: Misty's bikini (sported in R/B but not Yellow) would have been taboo until roughly 1960, and commercial cruise ships like the S.S. Anne didn't become popular until the 1980s onward. Even going with the former date would have been a 15-year difference. I don't know too much about the U.S. military, but I doubt that surge could have become a lieutenant before the age of 25…so going with the games being set in 1960, that would make him approximately forty in R/B/Y. His appearance in the game doesn't contradict forty, but sixty (with the use of 1980) seems a bit old considering how in-shape his character sprite is in its one appearance during the Vermillion gym battle. Let's rule out WWII.

What's left, then? My guess is Vietnam, which ended in 1975. This would allow for the first-generation games to be set in the 1980s without a contradiction, and Lt. Surge would be relatively young. This coincides with the spreading of home computers in the 1980s (Red has a PC in his room, the spoiled brat). Pokémon Crystal takes place three years after R/B/Y and includes a cell phone feature—cell phones first became commercially available in the 1980s. Yay! This is starting to fit!

…Until you notice that Red has a SNES in his room at the start of R/B/Y. The SNES didn't come out until 1990 in Japan. Alright, this was probably just an easter egg, but some new interesting theories can come of it. Maybe Surge was actually involved in the Gulf War? The date might explain some of the cloning technologies available on Cinnabar Island, too. But if that's true, why are there no mentions of the internet in any of the first- or second- generation games? However, it would make the burning of the Brass Tower in Ecruteak City (150 years before the start of Pokémon Crystal) roughly coincide with two devastating fires in Istanbul in 1750. Perhaps that's significant.

But there's more! By the time Crystal rolls around, Red has an N64 for his abandoned room (perhaps his lonely mother plays it on occasion, but more likely it's just collecting dust while that ungrateful boy hangs around Mt. Silver), and that wasn't released until 1996, even in Japan. Which means that if the consoles are significant to the timeline, then Pokémon Red, Blue, and Yellow took place in 1993, and Pokémon Gold, Silver and Crystal took place in 1996. Give or take about a year for each. And rendering most of my research absolutely worthless.

THIS IS WHAT I WAS DOING WHILE THE REST OF YOU WERE AT PROM. I HATE MY LIFE.

Edit 6/5/08: I found mentions of e-mail in both Yellow and Crystal, so I think the dates are pretty much set.