The world of Pokémon is filled with fascinating creatures and fantastic adventures for young and old alike. Whether you have been playing the series since its founding in 1996 or are just beginning your journey, there is something for nearly everyone to enjoy in the series.
Yet for all the fun to be had by exploring the world with your pocket monsters, there are plenty of things that have never been fully explained about the world of Pokémon. While these problems abound in nearly every facet of the lore, one of the worst transgressors is the Pokémon Centers. Despite being in nearly every town in the world, there is so much that we do not know about them.
10 Who Pays For Pokémon Centers?
Nothing in life is free. Every store is operated by someone who is paying the price. Are taxpayers footing the bill for Pokémon Centers throughout Kanto, Johto, and beyond? Surely, with the number of passing Pokémon trainers who bring their beloved friends to be healed, the cost to operate the stores must be astronomical.
If they are not subsidized by the government, private companies would likely be operating the centers. While some of them do feature stores that certainly would help cover operating costs, many centers do not offer these services. Do they sell data about the trainers to other corporations? Are they offering their services for free to create a monopoly that they can exploit in the future? Whatever the reason, it is probably not good.
9 How Do the PCs Store Pokémon?
Along with Nurse Joy and her special equipment to heal Pokémon, another mainstay of practically every Pokémon Center is a PC to help trainers control their roster. What is not explained is how the Pokémon are transferred across great distances through a computer without suffering from injury or death.
The Pokémon franchise seems to be placed in a near future context (albeit in a different world). Thus, teleportation would probably still be in a developmental prototype stage. Considering the bonds that many people have with their Pokémon, it seems strange to trust experimental technology.
8 Can We Trust These Scientists?
Speaking of the teleportation of Pokémon, the scientist Bill is the creator of the Pokémon Storage System. While every scientist has some mishaps and mistakes on their record, Bill somehow made the mistake of fusing himself with a Pokemon! Something tells us that Einstein never made such monumental mistakes.
Even though we have to acknowledge that the nature of the scientific methods does not prohibit mistakes, it seems like a questionable decision to trust the safety of living beings you care about to the experimental technology of a mad scientist.
7 Why Can’t They Give Medical Information?
When the player first discovers that one of their beloved Pokemon is infected with the contagious Pokérus virus, the Pokémon Center is unable to provide any useful information. While it is revealed that there are small parasites on the Pokemon and that they are otherwise healthy, they are not up to date on their medical research. If they are unable to keep up with new developments, there could be life threatening mistakes made out of ignorance.
Admittedly, this problem is only found within Pokémon Gold, Silver, and Crystal, and it actually served to boost your Pokémon. However, it still is concerning that the staff were unfamiliar with the contagion.
6 What Happens Within the Pokéballs?
Between the healing of Pokémon and the transportation of them across the world through the PC system, Pokéballs are critical to the operations of Pokémon Centers. Despite their prolific use on the innocent fauna of the universe, there is no data about what the inside of a Pokéball is like. While a very small handful of creatures could possibly fit naturally in one of the devices, others, such as Snorlax, have no chance.
No matter the size of the captive, there is no information about how it feels to be within a Pokéball. We don’t know if the Pokémon are conscious or comfortable; we only know they are trapped.
5 Are All Pokémon Healed the Same Way?
Despite the wide variety of Pokémon available to befriend, there is no evidence for or against all Pokémon being healed the same way. Are the diametrically opposed fire Pokémon healed the same as water Pokémon? Why are there no specialty doctors for Pokémon like there are for humans?
While we can guess that the Pokémon universe is slightly more advanced technologically than our own world because of the existence of teleportation, it seems strange that there is little obvious difference between how the various species are healed.
4 How Are Pokémon Healed Anyways?
We understand that the medical technology in Pokémon must be more advanced than our own. We rarely, if ever, see bandages and other signs of conventional medicine on the pocket monsters in either the games or anime. But what is unclear is how inserting Pokéballs into a machine affects the health of the creatures.
Considering the hundreds or even thousands of types of injuries that could be affecting a trainer’s Pokémon team, the technology has to be very complex to heal so many different species of Pokémon so quickly.
3 Why Is Every Nurse Identical?
While the nurses may all be members from the same family, it seems suspicious that all of them are so similar in appearance. Identical twins are rare; identical triplets and quadruplets are almost unheard of. With such impossible odds of even three or four family members being indistinguishable from each other, it is completely unreasonable that so many are identical, even if they are close relatives.
Is it possible that the nurses are all clones or androids produced by the corporation behind the Pokémon Centers to provide cheap and orderly labor? The odds are just too extreme for a natural alternative.
2 Do the Nurses Hate Pokémon?
Whenever a trainer’s Pokémon has been healed, the nurse will end the interaction by saying “We hope to see you again!” Pokémon Centers have the monopoly on healing trainers’ furry (and scaly, and feathery…) friends; there are very few, if any, alternatives for competitive Pokémon trainers to turn to.
Because there is not a business incentive for seemingly polite conversation, many people wonder if the nurses at Pokémon centers enjoy seeing the animals suffering. If the primary reason for returning is because the Pokémon are injured, the nurse should be saddened by your arrival, not glad.
1 Why Do Pokémon Centers Condone Animal Violence?
Most veterinarians would find animal fighting to be abhorrent and immoral. As almost any medical professional could tell you, it can be emotionally difficult to see patients with near mortal wounds. For veterinarians who find themselves treating animals that were coerced into battle, they are healing victims who did not have a choice but to fight for their lives.
By marketing themselves to trainers who participate in Pokémon combat, the Centers are only encouraging animal abuse. Is there really no variation of PETA to suggest that there may be something wrong with how Pokémon are treated?
NEXT: Pokémon: 5 Reasons Game Freak Should Give Up The Franchise (And 5 Why They Should Keep It)
