With the franchise's 25th anniversary this year, Pokemon fans are very excited about Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl, as well as Pokemon Legends: Arceus coming up. However, many are also curious about the next generation. While there is no official confirmation about Generation 9 coming anytime soon, Pokemon games also have a history of mainline titles releasing within a span of three to four years on average from one another. Next year marks three years since Pokemon Sword and Shield.
Furthermore, a Twitter user and Pokemon fan by the name of Eclipse Darkrai Umbra! shared a screenshot of Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl highlighting an in-game painting that resembles Van Gogh's "Starry Night on the Rhone," or even the city of Venice, Italy. As such, many fans took it as a hint that the region for Gen 9 will be based on Italy. Pokemon games are no strangers to teasing future content in bizarre ways. Pokemon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon teased with an in-game poster of Pokemon Sword and Shield and Gigantamaxing. Even if this turns out not to be the case, it's still interesting to explore how an Italy-based Gen 9 game would look like.
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New Pokemon Type and Starting Town for An Italian Gen 9
Italy is a place where the arts are a dominant aspect of the culture, ranging from theatrical arts to literature, visual arts to music. As such, it would be the appropriate region to add a new Pokemon type that could be called Sound. A new Pokemon type is long-overdue, and making one that fits the current criteria while also picking up on background information about the region it comes with is essential.
As for locations, Italy has plenty of landmarks and places that could work either as big cities or side areas. The starting town could be somewhere in the Tuscany countryside. The area would be perfect to start the game, with beautiful hills and vineyards for players to explore. Wild Pokemon could comprise of Normal, Grass, Bug, and Poison-types, with some being based on the local flora and fauna, including maybe a starter Grass Pokemon with evolutions leaning into wine-related themes.
The first big town could be inspired by Florence, where players meet a Pokemon Professor that resembles Leonardo da Vinci, the famous polymath that lived during the Renaissance. The city is full of art and museums in real life, so players could learn something about the backstory of the game there and come back later to discover mysteries tied to it.
Italian culture is also largely based on that of the Latins, which was in turn inspired by the Greeks and their philosophers. As such, it would only make sense if the Legendary Pokemon for an Italy-based Gen 9 were all different forms of the four original elements, with them being Earth, Fire, Water, and Wind. In the actual game, the former would be Ground-type Pokemon, and the latter Flying or Sound Pokemon.
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Gen 9 Pokemon Games Should Explore Central Italy
From Florence, players could go to the second town, maybe one based on Pisa. To do that, they could traverse the famous marble quarries of Carrara, and here the wild Pokemon could be Ground, Rock, and Steel-types. The Pisa-based town could have a leaning tower, or maybe another structure that makes sense for the place, like a castle. This could have story relevance due to the first Legendary Pokemon residing there as well.
To learn more about the discovery, players could head south toward the city of Rome. Rome is the capital of Italy, and it features plenty of valued historic places, which could find their way into the game by telling the tale of a long-lost empire, famous for their Pokemon battles and conquering other regions in the past. Here, players could learn about the game's PvP mode, which would obviously take place in the Coliseum.
The lore of the game could also be expanded by visiting an area similar to the Vatican, where an organization from long ago based itself. Players could also encounter new Fighting-type Pokemon, and maybe regional forms too, with gladiator Falinks and Roman centurion Escavalier. By exploring the ruins of the empire, players could learn more about the four Legendary Pokemon and have their first encounter with the villainous team of Gen 9, whomever they end up being.
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Italy-Based Gen 9 Pokemon Games Could Feature Pompeii
The encounter would prompt players to go south once more, this time arriving in the city of Naples. Here, players could potentially find new Sound-type critters for the first time, in places like the city's many theatres, including one based on the most ancient in Europe: The opera house by the name of Teatro di San Carlo (Theatre of Saint Charles). That's where players could fight multiple trainers using the new Sound-type regional form of Cinccino, a Pokemon that already looks a lot like an opera singer, and possibly catch it in the wild.
Naples also features several castles, and here players could find a new Fairy-type Pokemon based on a creature from local folklore, called "Monaciello" — a small figure wearing the robes of a monk and a brimmed hat. Another possible encounter could be a regional form for Crustle; instead of the large rock on its back, has something resembling lasagna. Pizza-themed Pokemon also seems like an inevitability. In Naples, players could discover that the villain team is interested in a volcano inspired by Mount Vesuvius, a place that suddenly erupts once more after years of dormancy because of the Legendary Fire Pokemon found within it.
Thus, the adventure would take them to Pompeii next. The city based on Pompeii could feature both modern buildings and the ruins of the old city, which was reduced to ashes by a violent eruption. Here, players could catch Ghost Pokemon who died during the volcanic explosion, and also learn more about the motives of the evil team and what their plan truly is.
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Gen 9 Games and How They Could Handle Genoa and Venice
Players could then head to the northern part of the country, travelling to a place inspired by the city of Genoa, and along the way, they could run into an abandoned power plant where the villain team buried radioactive waste. Here, wild Pokemon could belong to several types, including Poison, Sound, Psychic, and of course, Electric.
The Genoa-inspired city could feature a huge aquarium and a Water-type gym leader. Players could then go to a place based on Turin, an Italian city with a plethora of mysteries revolving around the arcane where they discover that the villain team wants to awake a Legendary Water Pokemon. The villains don't know how to do that, so they visit an Egyptian museum to learn how to awake the creature.
The next leg of the journey takes them to Milan, which in real life is defined as Italy's capital of fashion. This would be the place for players to acquire plenty of customization items, as that's a feature that carries over to Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl, meaning it could be a staple of the series going forward. In Milan, players would hear the news that the villain team is wreaking havoc near a lake based on Lake Como, where the third Legendary Pokemon is encountered — a Water-type critter similar to Lariosauro, a monster from folklore.
From there, the team would flee to a city resembling Venice, which would be where the story reaches its climax. Players would also travel to the Pokemon equivalent of Venice, a city with lots of waterways and secret passages, seemingly standing on the waters of the lagoon. Here, the final showdown with the villain team could happen, with them hiding by dressing up for an event similar to the Carnival of Venice. Players would have to move through the canals with gondola taxis and by using Surf, eventually hindering the villain team's plans for good.
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Post-Game and Folklore in Italy-Based Gen 9 Pokemon Games
After defeating the game's equivalent of the Elite Four, players could then go to a snowy area inspired by Italy's Alps, where the fourth and final Legendary Pokemon is located. The area could host Ice Pokemon and other types as well, eventually adding new regional forms for other critters. As for the Legendary Pokemon, it would be the one based on Wind, and it could be a hybrid Sound/Ice-type creature. This would open up the post-game section, and allow for more encounters, while also leading players to new areas.
There are a lot of possibilities Gen 9 Pokemon games could explore just by drawing from Italian folklore and the arts. In Venice, players could catch a regional form of Skarmory, with armor made of the famous Murano glass. Another creature could be a Dragon-type Pokemon based on Thyrus, the folklore river dragon that's said to have besieged the city of Terni. There could be Pokemon based on the Caladrius, birds that according to ancient Romans could heal the sick by absorbing their illness; this could be a Fairy and Flying-type species.
Overall, there are a lot of options for Nintendo and The Pokemon Company to delve into an Italy-based Gen 9 region, and these are merely ideas based on the country's geography and cultural background. As such, this is not guaranteed to happen, especially because the rumors about Italy being the next region for Pokemon games have not been confirmed. However, assuming the tease is true, there's a lot of potential in an Italian-based Pokemon generation.
Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl will release on November 19 for the Nintendo Switch.