Thread by @antodemico

A Spaniard (me) explains all the cultural references of the new Pokemon game set in Spain.
Or at least the ones I can find.
Let's go!
Thread 🧵 #scarletviolet #Pokemon

First off, are we suuuure it's set in Spain? Yes, absolutely. Not even counting the many, many references to Spanish things, there's literally a map of Spain on the wall in the live action section. It'll probably a section of Spain, just like Kalos was a section of France.

Two out of the three starters have Spanish words used in their pun names. The water starter Sprigatito has "gatito" which means kitten, and Fuecoco is a portmanteau of "fuego" (fire) and Cocodrilo (guess).
The duck is Donald Duck, a Spanish mythological beast.

This clock is probably a reference to traditional Spanish ceramics (we're very big on ceramics and every region does them very differently). Those aesthetic decal linoleum fake tiles that home renovation tiktok people love to use? Also based on Spanish ceramics.

I'm skipping around a few shots bc i'll talk about them in detail later. These huge windmills are a clear reference to the famous Spanish tale of Don Quixote, a hikikomori chuunibyou protagonist (god forgive me for that) that fought windmills thinking they were giants.

Don't know if this was intentional, but Spain is big on renewable energy, so it might also be a reference to that. My house runs squarely on renewable energy and there are plans to turn part of our desert into a huge solar plant. (more on the desert later i'm not done with that)

Speaking of deserts: Spain is the most biodiverse country in Europe (suck it): from snowy mountains, to tropical climates, to the only true desert in the continent. This, based on the map section above and the sea in the background is based on the Desert of Tabernas

If the cut-off map of Spain I talked about at the beginning of this thread is the actual region, Tabernas would be included.
It falls around here in Almería and it's beautiful. Americans shot classic cowboy movies here and then called them Spaghetti westerns bc Americans.

These colorful apartments with white details are extremely typical in many places in Spain. The roofs here resemble the Plaza mayor of Madrid. (apologies if the orange walls are specifically from Barcelona, i don't recognize them. I'll talk about Barcelona later tho)

Güell, güell, güell.... if it isn't the Güell Park (sorry). These mosaics of ceramics and rock seem to be inspired by the Güell park, a famous park in Barcelona. They better spruce it up a bit bc the park is a thousand times more beautiful than this, go google it.

Once again, (forgive me if a thing that looks like this is in Barcelona and it's slipping my mind). These entire structure with this architecture and the big passages under the buildings is extremely reminiscent of the Plaza Mayor in Madrid, down to it... leading to a plaza.

And we finally get to it. Ladies and gentlement..... her.
This thing is very clearly based on the Sagrada Familiar, an extremely beautiful cathedral (if you look at the old side and not the new side at least) in Barcelona. It's still under construction!

This cute little house is a mishmash of many traditionally Spanish architectural styles, but particularly that of Cortijos Andaluces. They often have an inside court.
If you've seen Encanto you're familiar with the style.

Here's a little miniature that really sells the vibe and does look very similar to the house in-game.

The citric trees in the yard could pooooossibly place this in Valencia? (famous for its oranges and lemons) but I'd bet my money the is supposed to be southern Spain, so Andalucía. The colorful outside is also very reminiscent of traditional Canarian architecture.

The interior of the house is giving very "traditional Andalusian cortijo but make it modern" with warm adobe walls and the sloping bannisters and ceramics. No idea what possessed them to put hardwood floors. Maybe a guiri did some renovations before a Spanish family bought it.

Sidenote, this is my chance to talk about the oppression we live under in Spain, where every Spanish household must display a framed picture of a Sevillana dancer, lest anyone could ever doubt we were, in fact, Spanish.
If you weren't convinced this is Spain, now you are.

I actually do not know what this is, but after looking at the trailer so much, there's clearly something here about the shape of the region. This doesn't look like anywhere in Spain. Maybe it's the northwest, but I was sure they'll do the eastern half of Spain. Any clues?

And those are all the ones I could find! I'll conclude this thread with my thoughts and some Spanish pokemon memes that I believe have a good chance at appearing in this title.

First off, I'm ecstatic.
Spain is such a vibrant, culturally diverse country. We don't often see media based on us, or placing us in fantasy or sci-fi. All of Spanish twitter is buzzing.
I haven't felt this way since reading ASOIAF and realizing that Dorne was fantasy Spain.

I hope they are careful about a particularly prevalent problem that we call "Latinland". Often in works of media done by non-hispanic people, all hispanic cultures are conflated. Mexican mariachis dance flamenco while having paella-flavored arepas. It's bad.

I think that specially knowing that Spain was at one time a colonizing nation, it's important to understand what is and isn't Spanish, and to not conflate every Hispanic culture in a bland uniform mishmash of nothing. These references feel particularly Spanish, so I'm optimistic!

Okay! With the heavy part out of the way, I'll like to have a Nostradamus moment.
I predict that Pachirisu will be found in the north of the region, specifically here.
There will be a trainer (most likely an old man) with a beret with a pachirisu in this region. Mark my words.

This is of course based on a huge pokemon meme in Spain, where the name Pachirisu sounds a lot like the very typical vasque name "Patxi". The Spanish translation of Arceus actually references this meme in a quest that involves a Pachirisu and his trainer, Patxi.

I'll keep adding if I think of new ones. I can't place the building behind it (and it feels a bit too distinct not to be a reference so if you know let me know) but this Dratini fountain might be a reference to the dragon fountain in the Güell Park.

New stuff! The pattern on the main plaza might be based on the star shape in the middle of Plaza Catalunya!

The colors of the buildings and the white columns of the buildings that surround the plaza might be based on the Plaza Reial in Barcelona, although the roofs and general structure are 100% the plaza mayor in Madrid.

This is a bit of a stretch but I'm including it since it's from the canary islands and I'm biased. Thanks to @juanki652 for DMing me about it!
These mysterious red and black triangles from the live-action section might be connected to rupestrian art from the canary archipelago.