Sorry 10-year old me – Pokemon being real would suck

While Pokemon being real may be a childhood dream for many, the actual reality would be a pretty scary state of affairs.

For many of us, Pokemon was a childhood fixation. The vibrant franchise is packed full of incredible creatures and vast worlds to explore, so is it any wonder many fans have spent their daydreams wondering what it could be like to be a Trainer?

Having your favorite Starter by your side would be whimsical. The promise of going on a grand adventure as a child would be magical, too – who didn’t get jealous seeing Ash and his friends explore the world in the Pokemon anime? It’s a lovely premise, but it’d likely be chaotic and scary in real life.

Aside from the moral issues of making your beloved pets battle each other and beating up strangers’ pets for money, real-life Pokemon running amok would make life a lot scarier. Pokemon could contaminate water supplies and food sources, level buildings, and disrupt the weather entirely.

Pokemon fans recently got into this debate online, with one person asking others to “Imagine if standard city pests could shoot fire and lightning.” They make a fair point – can you imagine being late for work because a wild Shinx decided to use Thunder Shock in the car park?

Others pointed out the issues with this argument, noting that Pokemon don’t act in the same way that normal animals do. One person argued, “They seem to be able to recognize what is a threat and what isn’t much more effectively than real world animals”, but another mentioned how ‘mons like Muk could do some serious damage to infrastructure.

There would likely be some sort of regulation put in place to monitor how people obtained giant fire-breathing lizards or extraterrestrial clowns, but this would have knock-on effects throughout society that would undoubtedly cause harm. Just imagine a government with a Mega Charizard fleet.

Shiny hunters and completionists would likely be a nightmare in real life. As one fan in the Subreddit mentioned, there would be “Massive overpopulation and invasive species due to people constantly breeding for shiny Pokémon or competitively viable ones”.

Gym battles would be a wild thing to experience in person, too. What sort of careers would there be surrounding Pokemon battles if they were real? Does being a Gym Leader pay well? There’d likely be a huge Twitch scene for Trainers live-streaming their battles.

From the possible issues surrounding farming to the downright annoyance of wild Klefkis deciding to steal people’s keys for a snack, real-world Pokemon would be a challenge. Pokemon Legends Arceus did a great job of showing how scary Pokemon could be in person – especially that one Snorlax.

That’s not to say that there wouldn’t be magic to the idea, though. Seeing a Pokemon evolve in person would be unbelievable, and even simpler Pokemon concepts like Rapidash and Ponyta would be incredible to witness.

It’ll be interesting to see whether we get to see any slice-of-life experiences in Pokemon Legends Z-A when that comes out. The Pokemon games don’t always show us what real life with Pokemon would be like, but the fact that the game is set entirely in Lumiose City presents the perfect opportunity for this.