Pokemon Conservation Project
The Pokemon Conservation Project is the in-game backstory for Pokemon Pokopia: a giant digital PC system used by humanity to preserve Pokemon before evacuating Earth. Data logs in Silph Co. Headquarters describe the failsafe that automatically released Pokemon over time.
Overview
The Pokemon Conservation Project is the in-game framework that explains why Pokemon Pokopia's post-apocalyptic Kanto is full of free-roaming Pokemon despite humans having abandoned Earth. According to data logs found in the ruins of Silph Co. Headquarters, the project was a massive digital archive (essentially a giant Pokemon Storage System) created to preserve every Pokemon while humanity evacuated. A failsafe system was built into the project to release Pokemon back into the wild if humans never returned.
The Naming Coincidence
The project's initials are Pokemon Conservation Project, abbreviated PC. This is an intentional play on the standard Pokemon Storage PC system used in mainline games to deposit and withdraw Pokemon. The Pokopia version is essentially the same concept scaled to planetary scale: every Pokemon on Earth was deposited into a massive PC before humanity left. Players who interact with Pokemon Center PCs in Pokopia are using a smaller, derivative version of the same technology.
Why Humans Left
The Pokemon Conservation Project was the byproduct of a planetary climate crisis. Records in Silph Co. describe a series of cataclysmic events that made Kanto and (presumably) the wider world uninhabitable for humans. Specific environmental damages described include droughts, hurricanes, volcanic eruptions, and seismic upheaval. The exact triggers are never stated outright, but lore fragments suggest the involvement of Legendary Pokemon such as Kyogre and Mewtwo.
The Evacuation
Humanity built rockets to escape into space. The rockets were built by Team Rocket. This is the dark twist behind the organization's name. Records imply Team Rocket had advance knowledge of the climate crisis and used the chaos for their own purposes, although exactly what those purposes were is not fully detailed. Lore pages found in the Withered Wasteland lighthouse, near where Team R operated, suggest a Grunt's perspective on the evacuation.
Hidden lore pages strongly suggest that the evacuation was a one-way trip. References to "insufficient fuel for a return voyage" and "no word from the colony" cast doubt on whether humanity ever made it to its destination. Pokopia's bright, hopeful tone is built atop this bittersweet undercurrent.
How the Project Worked
The Pokemon Conservation Project deposited the Pokemon population into a centralized digital storage system. The exact technology is not explained in detail, but Silph Co. documents describe storage capacity sufficient for all known Pokemon species in Kanto, with redundant backups across multiple regions.
The failsafe worked in three phases:
Phase 1 (Departure): All Pokemon deposited into the digital archive. Humans evacuate. Earth is left under automated systems.
Phase 2 (Wait): System monitors environmental conditions and waits for human return. Pokemon remain in storage.
Phase 3 (Auto-Release): After a sufficiently long delay with no human return, the failsafe activates. Pokemon are progressively released back into habitable areas. The release is gradual and triggered by detection of stable, survivable habitats.
Connection to Gameplay
The Pokemon Conservation Project explains why Pokopia's gameplay loop works the way it does. The player character (Ditto) restores habitats by building, planting, and decorating. Once a habitat reaches a stable state, the failsafe releases a matching Pokemon from storage to inhabit it. This is the in-universe justification for the habitat system that is the central gameplay mechanic of Pokopia.
Each new Pokemon befriended is, lore-wise, a Pokemon released from the archive because the player has restored conditions suitable for it to live. Professor Tangrowth, the only sentient guide left after the evacuation, watches over the failsafe and helps the player understand the system. Tangrowth's hope that humans will return is one of the recurring emotional motifs in the game.
Where to Find the Lore
The bulk of Pokemon Conservation Project lore is found in:
Silph Co. Headquarters in Sparkling Skylands. The abandoned skyscraper contains the densest collection of project documents and is also the focal point for one of the longest, most resource-intensive late-game quests.
Scattered Human Records and Emotes across all five regions. These provide personal-perspective entries from people involved in the evacuation.
Lore and Backstory overview article on this wiki collects the cross-region lore in one place.
Tips
Read every Human Record you find. Many of them flesh out the Pokemon Conservation Project from different angles, including personal goodbye letters, official memos, and Team R operative journals.
Visit Silph Co. Headquarters in Sparkling Skylands as soon as the area unlocks. The building's main quest line directly engages with the project's documentation.
The Pokemon Conservation Project is the lore answer to the question "why are there habitats and free-roaming Pokemon if humans left?" Understanding this framework helps make sense of every gameplay system in Pokopia.
Pair this lore with the ending sequence to fully appreciate Pokopia's tone. The final scene involving the rocket Ditto sends into space is more meaningful when read against the failsafe's two-phase logic.