"Why (and how) I want a South American-themed region based on the country of Chile [warning: long read]"

I thought the Alola region was one of the coolest and most unique regions yet. The four islands, each with their own themes, ecosystems, and guardians is just a very cool concept. And it got me thinking about other parts of the world that don't yet have regions based off them and how they could be creatively implemented into the Pokemon universe.Africa, Australia, and South America, of course, stand out as the untouched real-world places. The eclectic nature of Africa makes it a bit hard to choose a single country or region that could embody a particular theme or sustain an immersive vibe for a whole game. Australia stands out for its interesting history (including its indigenous people), fun and unique (and westernized) culture, and wide range of habitats - everything from deserts to oceans to the grasslands and forests of Tasmania. And don't forget the diverse (and often dangerous) wildlife including Kangaroos, Wombats, Tasmanian devils, all kinds of venomous snakes, and the extinct Tasmanian Tiger. There are certainly a plethora of convincing reasons for making a region based on Australia.But, here, I'd like to make the case for South America, which stands above even Australia in terms of its bio-geographic diversity and which also boasts a wide diversity of peoples and cultures. Specifically, I'd like to explain why I think Chile is an ideal country to model a Pokemon region after and how essential and recurring elements of Pokemon games – as well as new twists – could be implemented.It all comes down to gradients and parallels.The first thing you notice when you look at a map of Chile is that it is a long, skinny, kind of Cheeto-shaped country. First, this is cool and unique in and of itself. We've had regions with tons of water, we've had regions with little water, we've had island regions, we've had large landmasses... but we've never had anything remotely like the long and narrow Chile. But, more importantly, the physical shape and layout of the region lends itself well to many thematic elements that could be included in a game.The elongate shape of Chile creates some very interesting climatic gradients. In the northern-most reaches of Chile, you have a small, hot, coastal desert, which quickly shifts to cool desert and semi-arid climates. This, in turn, fades to warm Mediterranean, temperate Mediterranean, and temperate oceanic regions. At the far south of Chile the climate transitions into cool oceanic and finally tundra in the area known as Tierra del Fuego. And you've also got a few remote tropical islands scattered some distance off the coast.There is also a second, far more stark, gradient running in the opposite direction: the elevation gradient. Despite all the different habitats encountered when traveling north or south, there are two things that tend to remain constant in Chile: the ocean to the west, and the mountains to the east. These two parallel features create the opportunity for the player to make some interesting and difficult choices in the game, not just with respect to the physical path they choose, but also with respect to what strategies they use, what ideals they value, what items they obtain, and what pokemon or potential split-evolutions they choose. I think a theme revolving around choices would be very powerful and allow the inclusion of many little life-lessons and philosophical musing (as Game Freak likes to include in the Pokemon series).Imagine this:You begin your journey, per usual, in a small, quaint village in the north of the region. You are met with your first choice, one which will immediately impact the course of your journey: obtaining your starter. The professor stresses all the implications of this choice even more than in past games, but also stresses that there is no "correct" choice and that each can lead to success in its own way. After weighing all the options, you make your decision and battle your friend/rival.You set out on your adventure, moving through the desert and arid regions of the north, encountering many of your standard early-route architype Pokemon. Maybe a nice diversity of Ground types, since it is an arid/desert region. You defeat your first gym (or equivalent achievement) and then you face your rival for the second time. Only this time, after the battle, you have another choice to make regarding your relationship with your rival: will it be a more cooperative relationship or will it be more competitive (albeit, still friendly). If you choose the cooperative option, your rival will often call you up, telling you when a swarm of rare Pokemon is in a certain area, or letting you know that another trainer is looking for a rematch with you. With the help of your friend, you will be able to catch rare pokemon or pokemon that normally wouldn't be available until later in the game. If you choose the competitive option, your rival will become strong much more quickly and your battles with him will become much more challenging. The rewards for these battles will also be greater, giving you access to certain items that normally would not be available until later in the game. But you wouldn't have access to the same diversity of pokemon that you would have if you chose to cooperate.You make your choice and continue your journey. You defeat your second gym (or equivalent) and are faced with yet another choice: will you take the western route along the ocean or the eastern route through the mountains? The ocean route is characterized by Water, Grass, Fairy, and Psychic types, while the mountains are characterized by Rock, Fighting, Dark, and Ghost types (with some amount of overlap, certainly). Fire and Electric types become increasingly common on both routes as you move south towards warmer climates and larger cities. This choice will affect your gameplay for quite some time to come. Once you choose your path, a natural disaster wipes out the road leading back to the town with Gym 2, preventing you from going back and taking the other way. The cities along the Route you didn't choose will not be accessible until much later in the game.For the next two gyms you are stuck on the Route that you chose. Along the way, you have run-ins with that region’s criminal organization or some equivalent problem. Finally, both the ocean and mountain routes converge in the capitol city located right in the middle of the region (based on Chile's capital city of Santiago, which is positioned very near the middle). You obtain your 5th badge here and are presented with a final choice. The ocean and mountain routes diverge once again, and you must decide if you will continue on the same route you were on previously or if you will try the new and unknown route. If you continue on the same route, you will encounter similar types of pokemon, but both the trainers and wild pokemon will be incredibly strong and offer you challenging and exciting battles and great rewards. If you choose the new route, the pokemon and trainers there will be much less challenging and rewarding, but you will get to encounter many new pokemon that you haven't had the opportunity to catch before. Essentially, you must choose between becoming a master or specialist on your current terrain or diversifying yourself and learning a new terrain. Once your decision is made, you will be unable to turn back due to some activity of the criminal group which requires your immediate attention. You will be stuck on this path for gyms 6 and 7.For gym 8, both paths converge once again in the far south of the region, in an area based on Tierra del Fuego. Literally, this name translates to "land of fire" but it is, in fact, an icy tundra. This contrast provides the perfect opportunity to introduce for the first time an Ice/Fire dual-typed pokemon. It could even be a legendary akin to Rayquayza, which controls or mediates between the other two major legendaries ("cover-legendaries") which could be pure-Ice and pure-Fire type. The fire and ice theme also ties in nicely with the theme of choices, and the legendary Ice/Fire pokemon could impart some philosophical wisdom about all rivers reaching the sea, all roads converging, and that different choices can lead to the same result, etc., etc. Similar themes of being confident in one's choices and not regretting mistakes or worrying about "what could have been" could also be expressed.After defeating the 8th gym, the player will finally have access to the towns along the routes they didn't take (4 in total). The badges from these 4 towns would not be required to take on the Pokemon League, but completing challenges or trials at these gyms would yield special rewards.Other notable features:One great thing about a game like this would be replay value. With all the different decisions, you can replay it multiple times and have very different experiences. For instance, you could do Mountain-Ocean, Ocean-Mountain, Mountain-Mountain, or Ocean-Ocean. And for each of these scenarios you can have a cooperative or competitive rival. That's 8 different ways to play the game!Easter Island is a part of Chile, and an in-game counterpart could provide some very interesting side-quest/post-game content. It is also part of Polynesia and could thus have ties to Alola or have many Alolan pokemon in it.Interesting features from nearby countries could also be included as side-quest/post-game content. The Nazca Lines (Peru) could function like a mysterious Ruins of Alph kind of place. Machu Picchu (Peru) could be the resting place of some mystical legendary pokemon. The Galapagos Islands (Ecuador) could be some kind of post-game Safari Zone (or Friend Safari).Summary:Chile spans a very large area in the North-South direction, giving it a wide range of ecosystem types, from deserts in the north to tundra in the south.Despite being narrow, it is bounded more or less continuously by ocean to the west and mountains to the east, and this stark juxtaposition can easily be incorporated into the themes of the game.Chile is a very linear country. Lines have inherent symbolism. They represent movement along a path. The contrast between the parallel-running coast and mountains naturally gives the player a choice about which path (both literally and metaphorically) they will take.Recurring themes of choices and dichotomy are easily woven into a story, and can provide the moral or philosophical backbone that is generally found in the pokemon games. via /r/pokemon http://ift.tt/2fcUVVf