Summary
Every house needs three core components — a bedroom, kitchen, and bathroom. Living rooms are a nice bonus, but for the basic functions of human life, you really only need a place to eat, sleep, and Trubbish. Apparently, the world ofPokemonis different.
I booted up Pokemon Crystal the other day and something struck me that I’ve never noticed before — your starting house makesnosense.
There’s a living room and a staircase that goes up to your bedroom. That’s it. Where does your mom sleep? Where’s the bathroom? The town has no outhouse, and the sitting room consists of a dining table and four stools, so there’s not even a sofa to kip on.
I thought that maybe we just don’t get to see all of the rooms, so I looked at the exterior. From a glance, it looks big enough to fit another two rooms, but the windows paint a different picture. In Pokemon Red and Blue, you can see the windows inside of the house, and they match the ones on the outside. So when Crystal’s house only has two windows, we know that there are only two rooms: upstairs and downstairs. Your mom sleeps on the stool.
I know, I know. It’s video game limitations in action. Game Freak wasn’t going for realism with its 8-bit, 373 KB retro classic, not that it ever could. But I’m choosing totake the infrastructure of the Pokemon world deadly serious, and you can’t stop me. With that being said, let’s look at when Game Freak finally got it (kind of) right.
The Only Pokemon Games That Give Your Mother A Bed
If I could give any advice to the moms of Pokemon, it’d be‘move to Kalos’. Finally, in Pokemon X & Y, your mother got her own bed. However, her bedroom is attached to the sitting room/kitchen, and there’s no door (and so no privacy). Regardless, it’s a stark improvement from the stool.
Unfortunately, there’s still no bathroom, even though you — a kid — get a giant upstairs suite to yourself.
Sun & Moon were an even bigger improvement, giving your mother a bedroom once again, and this time it even has a door. The houses in this generation are much bigger, so maybe it’s just an example of the class divide between regions in Pokemon. Two bedroom houses cost a pretty penny in Kanto.
Whatever in-universe logic you want to headcanon, the DS generation ended by finally, at long last, giving moms a place to lay their heads for the night… and then the Switch came crashing through the front door likean overzealous Mr. Mime. It was nice while it lasted.
Let’s Go Pikachu & Eevee Have Room For A Balcony, But Not A Second Bedroom
As the generations progressed, TVs finally got stands instead of being left on the floor and detailed furniture was carefully placed to make your home feel more homely. Every new game looked better than the last — the Switch generation has some drop-dead beautiful interiors — but for some reason, mom’s bedroom disappeared.
Take Let’s Go Pikachu & Eevee, the reimagining of Gen 1. Once again, downstairs is a kitchen/living room hybrid, and upstairs is your bedroom, complete with a PC, TV, and even a Nintendo Switch. The exterior also shows that there’s a balcony connected to your room. Who needs a bathroom when you can take in that view? And mom, well, at least she gets a chair with a back this time.
In Black & White, you even get adouble bed.Your poor mother. Actually, maybe you share. Your poor you.
In the two latest generations, Sword & Shield and Scarlet & Violet, the living room and kitchen are finally separated by an entryway, but still mom has no bedroom. The sofa is an upgrade from the stool, sure, but they had beds! For two generations, they had beds.
There are still no bathrooms, either, which leads me to two conclusions: plumbers don’t exist in Pokemon (Mr. Garrison is a fraud), and everyone does their business in the tall grass. What a bleak world. At least the kids get nice beds.
Pokemon
Pokemon has entertained both children and adults alike for several generations. Whether hit video games, anime series and movies, trading cards, or more, there’s something for every budding trainer hoping to catch ‘em all.
