Lore and Backstory

Overview

Pokemon Pokopia is set in a post-apocalyptic version of the Kanto region where no humans remain. The game's lore is told through Human Records and Emotes, data logs in abandoned buildings, and conversations with Pokemon NPCs. Piecing together these fragments reveals a tragic story of environmental catastrophe, desperate evacuation, and the Pokemon left behind.

The Cataclysm

A series of cataclysmic events dramatically altered the Kanto region's environment and atmosphere. The exact cause is never stated outright, but the effects are visible across every region of the game:

The disasters appear to involve droughts, hurricanes, volcanic eruptions, and seismic upheaval. Some lore fragments suggest the involvement of Legendary Pokemon like Kyogre and Mewtwo, though the exact triggers remain ambiguous.

Humanity's Evacuation

Facing an uninhabitable world, humanity built rockets to escape into space. In a darkly ironic twist, it was Team Rocket, true to their name, who built the rockets that carried humanity off Earth. The evacuation was selective: apart from a select few, no Pokemon were taken on the trip.

Hidden lore pages scattered throughout Pokopia strongly suggest that humanity's escape was a one-way trip. There was not enough fuel for a return journey. Professor Tangrowth repeatedly expresses his hope that humans will return someday, but they never do.

The Pokemon Conservation Project

Before leaving, humanity stored their Pokemon in a massive digital system, a giant PC Box as part of the Pokemon Conservation Project. Data logs found in the ruins of Silph Co. headquarters in Sparkling Skylands describe this system in detail. The project included a failsafe: if humans did not return after an extended period, the Pokemon would be automatically released into habitable areas. This is the current state of the game world when the player begins.

Ditto's Identity

The player character is a Ditto that has been sleeping for an unknown period. Unlike ordinary Ditto, it possesses the unique ability to maintain a stable human form. The game implies that Ditto is imitating the appearance of its original trainer, the human who left it behind during the evacuation. This connection is reinforced during the ending credits, when the trainer appears to receive the rocket Ditto sends into space.

The Timeline

The game never specifies how long ago humanity left for space. The level of decay across the four regions suggests it has been a very long time. Buildings have crumbled, vegetation has either died or overgrown, and the Pokemon have built their own society in the absence of humans.

Dark Lore Details

Several Pokemon in the game have unexpectedly sad backstories hidden in their Pokedex entries and dialogue:

Easter Eggs and References

The game contains numerous references to the original Kanto games. In the ruins of Vermilion City at Bleak Beach, a note reveals that a man named Kenzo completed construction of a building with the help of a Machamp. This solves a three-decade-old mystery from Pokemon Red and Blue, where an NPC in Vermilion City was perpetually building a house with a Machop. The note confirms he finished the building after his Machop evolved.

There is also a hidden reference to the next generation of Pokemon games, tentatively called Pokemon Winds and Pokemon Waves, which can be found early in the game.

Kanto Location Connections

Each of Pokopia's five biomes maps to a recognizable location from the original Kanto region. Environmental details, building ruins, and NPC references confirm the connections:

Many smaller details reinforce these connections. In Bleak Beach, a note reveals that "Kenzo" completed his building with the help of a Machamp, finally resolving a running joke from the original Pokemon Red and Blue: an NPC in Vermilion City was perpetually constructing a house with a Machop. The Celadon Department Store in Sparkling Skylands can be rebuilt through Tinkmaster's multi-phase questline, and Mewtwo's rooftop encounter mirrors the original games' developer room placement.

Human Records

Scattered throughout the game world are collectible Human Records left behind by the departed humans. These text entries paint a picture of the final days before the evacuation: personal diaries, official memos from the Pokemon Conservation Project, and journal entries from a "Team R" operative stationed in the lighthouse at Withered Wasteland. The lighthouse journals suggest that Team Rocket had advance knowledge of the evacuation and attempted to exploit the chaos for their own purposes.

Other hidden lore pages imply that the evacuation to space was a one-way trip. References to "insufficient fuel for a return voyage" and "no word from the colony" lend the game's bright, hopeful tone a bittersweet undercurrent. Whether the rocket launched during the ending sequence actually reaches the colony or delivers a signal is left ambiguous.