For 30 years, the Pokémon universe has captivated fans of all ages, thanks in large part to the diversity of its creatures. With over 1,000 species—not to mention subspecies, Mega Evolutions, Dynamax, and who knows what else—the series has had the opportunity to explore many branches of science, particularly zoology. And now, The Pokémon Company is posting job openings within its division. The job titles listed on the Japanese recruitment site hrmos are enough to make anyone’s dreams come true: The Pokémon Company is seeking PhD holders in science, engineering, or agriculture, particularly specialists in animal or plant biology. No expertise in video games is required at all; you just need to be able to speak Japanese and English to apply. But what could this mean?
There are plenty of video games that draw on animal and plant biology to build their worlds. The best example to date in the Land of the Rising Sun is, of course, Monster Hunter, which is often hailed —and rightly so— as a standard-bearer for the best in the genre. It’s not the only one, but every installment in Capcom’s series has continually pushed the boundaries of animal interactions and ecosystem coherence further and further. That said, there’s no indication —and nothing has ever been said— that Capcom works or has worked with zoology experts. The driving force behind this universe comes solely from its creators’ passion, without necessarily having the expertise. And this pattern repeats itself in many creations. Input from specialists is actually quite rare in video games. One of the most notable counterexamples that comes to mind is Beyond Blue, an experience similar to Abzu, for which Mandy Joe and other marine biology specialists consulted with the teams at E-Line Media.
The fact remains that Pokémon isn’t based on reality, just like Monster Hunter. Its universe explores shadows, weather, and the sky in great detail, and all the creatures it features are fictional. I’m not telling you anything new when I say that your chances of encountering a Fairy-type Pokémon are zero (unless, of course, you play the lottery!). And all of this presents an additional challenge for those who take on the role. Of course, just like in Monster Hunter, each Pokémon represents a collection of knowledge pieced together logically to produce a tangible result. The object that best encapsulates this concept is the Pokédex, a small tool that provides valuable information about the Pokémon found in the environment —such as their height and weight— and also offers a brief description of their behavior.
Here again, reality rubs shoulders with fiction. The descriptions for Pikipek, for example, correspond in every detail (almost) to what one might find in real woodpeckers (Yes, yes, even the bit about acorns hidden in the tree). On the other hand, its weight —like that of all the birds in the series— is completely off the mark; the weight of a Great Spotted Woodpecker, to use one of Pokémon’s standard references, is significantly lower than in real life (1.2 kg in the game, 85 g (grams) in reality). Scientists could thus refine, correct, or even introduce animal groups that are somewhat underrepresented in Pokémon —plants and fungi, for example, take a back seat.
This last point is important because knowledge is crucial, yet scientists often communicate in isolation, far from making their information accessible to the general public. This is undoubtedly also why The Pokémon Company recruits internationally —to access knowledge that is not readily available to them. And this knowledge is constantly evolving. Just in ornithology, to give an example, many new fields have emerged in recent years, and much of the existing knowledge has been challenged. And without even realizing it, we’re beginning to grasp what The Pokémon Company is likely seeking. Possessing this knowledge would allow for more coherent relationships between Pokémons and their environments —or more complex concepts to convey— that we might, for instance, see in the next generation set to release next year.
But what if, in reality, the concept had already been hinted at somewhere with Pokopia, which, in its own way, teases the potential of such a project? Even though it’s really just a spin-off of Dragon Quest Builders—which itself is a spin-off of Minecraft—Pokopia managed to win everyone over with its decaying environment to rebuild. Once restored, this environment allows players to meet new Pokémons, each of which has specific requirements to thrive… However, while games are the cornerstone of the Pokémon ecosystem, certain ecological concepts still seem difficult to implement for various reasons.
While it’s hard to imagine cost issues for a company like The Pokémon Company, which is swimming in Pokédollars, technical limitations could be one of the obstacles preventing the creation of more ambitious ecological worlds. This would indeed require modeling interactions between members of the same species, between different species, and between a species and its environment. These are resources that the creative teams may not have, and all of this is just the tip of the iceberg! I think we’re still a long way off from the reintroduction of a Pokémon that fundamentally alters the very course of the rivers in the world where it lives. Ultimately, everything will depend on what the developers need and where they decide to allocate their resources.
In addition to less ambitious but equally intriguing games on paper—such as a new Pokémon Snap, which involves taking photos of Pokémon in their natural habitats—one alternative could be to shift toward a more serialized or cinematic format. While the feature film in the Pokémon universe seems to be floundering, the series are coming out one after another, and there’s no doubt that the new generation will also bring its own multi-season adventure.
The idea is interesting on paper and simpler to execute. By mastering the narrative, writers and scientists could more easily synthesize complex ideas that are difficult to execute in a constantly evolving universe like a game. It could, for example, focus on the importance of a Pokémon within its environment, or the consequences of its disappearance. Although this hypothesis may seem strange at first, there is no stipulation that applicants must necessarily work on the games in the series. Nor is there any stipulation that they will work on existing content.
But let’s shift our perspective for the conclusion of this brief analysis. And let’s imagine how research could benefit from this partnership. Admittedly, this isn’t the first time Pokémon has helped popularize science. We’ve been doing this for quite some time now. But we still find it absolutely fascinating to see how the franchise manages to draw everyone into its universe with such remarkable success. The Pokémon Go phenomenon, for example, has been analyzed by numerous researchers, but none have managed to replicate it with real-life animals. There is an emotional attachment to these virtual creatures that we have yet to be able to replicate in the real world.
But beyond that, much like Nintendo in its day, The Pokémon Company is versatile. It produces games, video content, and video games, of course, but also operates a theme park. So why not scientific research? In a world where scientific research is receiving less and less funding for increasingly expensive projects, having a company like The Pokémon Company step in makes sense. By taking on international research projects, the company could strengthen its reputation among the general public, while incorporating the results of its teams into future productions. In a previous article published last year, I hypothesized that private actors might step in to offset the massive budget required to create a video game aimed at the general public within a framework of research and outreach. And if Pokémon, the world’s most lucrative franchise, begins to get involved in this kind of project, perhaps it could create a snowball effect to our great delight, at a time when this need is becoming increasingly urgent.
Thanks to Balthy for proofreading the section on the Pokémon universe.
