Race Relations of Sinnoh

Ever notice how there are no black people in Sinnoh?

There were black people there once, but they were slaves just like they were in America for a time. It was they who dug the mountain tunnels and mines, toiling for many many years. Most ended up dying in the course of their labours, and the remainder were driven out by rampant racism, with some being allowed to take ship to Unova, which has a healthy multicultural population. The people of Sinnoh very strongly believe in the purity of the white race, "white like the fur of Arceus" as the inner-sayings go. The Sinnoh people document their history in tradition and legend, but not one mentions the harsh treatment of the blacks..directly. They were considered less than human, indeed, considered no different than low-tier Pokémon to be used. Careful wording is used to make it obvious only to long time residents what it's really talking about, for the people of Sinnoh will deny outright to outsiders there ever being a people other than the pasty white ones existing today.

This folk tale is not about actual Pokémon. It's about other people. "Very close to humans" is a reference to the black people were by all accounts identical in body type to the whites, but not considered the same order of human by them. "Ate together at the same table" is also a reference to this, however steeped in metaphor, stating how alike in some ways they were and most certainly not literally eating at the same table given how the black folk of Sinnoh were thought of. "It was a time when there existed no differences to distinguish the two" is a more direct reference to this idea, as well as making note how there are no longer any in Sinnoh at all; all of the Pokémon in Sinnoh are nothing like humans, the "Pokémon" who were like humans are no longer there. That time has passed.

The people of Sinnoh by our standards are quite racist, and it's really quite sad. Praise be to Unova for accepting all people as humans, as it should be.