Pokemon Government

An interesting question, surely! But for this to be answered, we have to ask: what is the canon Pokémon world?

In my opinion, the canon Pokémon world consists of: All the main-series games (RGBY through SuMo) and the Pokémon Ranger series... and maybe Pokémon Snap if you wanna go that far, but let's not tlak about Pokémon snap. To an extent, we may also want to include Pokémon Stadium, Colosseum, and Gales of Darkness. Only after defining the world can we discuss what makes up the government.

 

Well that's something I've never thought about. In the latest main series games Sun/Moon, I believe the Island Kahunas would be the leaders of their respective islands. In the other main series games, I would think the gym leaders held some position in their respective towns. But then again, there are also towns which don't have gym leaders.

I think Gamefreak didn't really intend to come up with a proper political system for Pokémon. But it can exist considering the number of Officer Jennys and Nurse Joys in the Pokémon world. Surely there's a government thats funding all of them.

 

@Rafael Precisely! There must be some sort of organized government. If we consider the anime to be canon to the rest of the games (which I sorta low key don't) then organized police forces are government agencies. Additionally, there are the International Police, game canon since gen 4, and Pokémon centers, which are basically free, socialized health care.

Speaking of socialized: Are they socialistic governments? Maybe some are, but I don't really think so, considering the differentiation between the character traits encouraged by socialized government and the kinds of character traits we see in the games: e.g. most Pokémon games are very much about individuality and becoming the best, whereas socialist governments encourage uniformity.

Do some governments differ from others? They must. Alola seems very much governed by leading cultural constructs such Kahunas, and it is a self-prospering state of principalities. On the other hand, Unova must be either a capitalist monarchy or republic.

Is there a union of nations? YES. There must be for the International Police to have any sort of jurisdiction in other regions.

 

I've come to the conclusion that there is a president/prime minister who governs the region along side the Elite Four. The Champion is in charge of defence but has little political power. At least, that's what I think.

And in Alola, I suppose each island is run separately by its respective Kahuna. Or they govern the four islands together, with each Kahuna enforcing the law on their own islands. Who knows?

 

Maybe... but who pays for all this? How are taxes collected? What is the main form of economy in these regions?

 

I like to pitch something from Black and White. There the 8th Gym leader, Drayden, is said to double as the Town's Mayor. It seems like that is a singular occasion as opposed to the norm. This is supported by the fact that most of the other gymleaders have a separate job aside from being a gym leader. I do not think the League functions as the government, but instead as the army/guardians of the region. The last line of defense so to speak.

 

I agree with @MarineAurora. It's an interesting concept, and for example, during the ending part of Black and White, when you go off to the Elite Four and face against N to fight for your dream and save Unova, the gym leaders come after you to help you, leading to the conclusion that the gym leaders in every region are the last line of defense. They come help you out facing the Sages so you can go through to go against N and help him realize that what he is doing is wrong.

 

This is how it seems the Government works in accordance to what's being depicted by Sun and Moon. Trial Captains/Kahuna's/Gym Leaders would act as enforcers since the police do nothing. So they keep the peace and help out young trainers. Then the Elite 4 is basically your superior government that makes all the rules.

 

Actually, I think that the government is run only by the champions. I tend to see Pokémon Conquest as a prequel to the Pokémon main series games. Taking this into account, Pokémon Conquest is all about being the ruler of a nation and conquering other nations. The Warlord of a nation is its ruler and they (from how I understand it) rise through the ranks as powerful trainers and tacticians. They're the only leader of the entire nation they came from and all that they conquer. Seeing this as a prequel, it would make senses to assume that the champions are the rulers of the regions.

This idea also points out how the governments make money. They don't. At least not through taxes. In Conquest, you don't tax people, instead you get money by mining for gold, selling times and picking up money filled boxes dropped by your enemies. The Warlord hast to make money himself. But how would this hold up in the modern era of Pokémon where expenses, like police, are astronomical in value? I think it is through mining. In several game, gym leaders are miners. Gym leaders are part of the league or army or champions Warriors, and they might be ordered to mine for precious metals like you often do in Conquest. The only other way I could see a Champion making enough money to govern a nation would be to use the trainers under his command to work or donations. Either way seems a bit farfetched to me. I think it's the mining that make them money.

 

For the longest time, I've thought that Pokémon Leagues were defined as regions with specifically-drawn boundaries, and that they were governed by an elected "Board of Directors", similarly to how public school districts are defined and governed (each district having a defined territory and boundaries, and governed by an elected "Board of Education").
I also once thought that Gym Leaders and the Elite Four were "appointed" by a league's board using certain established criteria.