Pokemon Pokopia's world has unexpectedly transformed me into an archaeological detective who's utterly obsessed with unearthing lore. I mean that figuratively of course, since Ditto can quite literally transform to channel the powers of other Pokemon… and I've yet to find a way to turn into Indiana Jones. But thanks to my handy-dandy Rock Smash ability, which lets me break down terrain blocks, I've been spending much of the 20 hours I've poured into life sim so far digging through the past.
That's because a major mystery suffuses the world of Pokemon Pokopia. As soon as you become Ditto and meet Professor Tangrowth, you learn that humans once inhabited the world alongside Pokemon. Now, though, you're presented with a very different picture: for reasons as yet unknown, there are no trainers or residents in sight, and only traces remain of what once was in the barren landscapes. It's those traces that completely monopolize me. My desire to understand what happened drives me to root out answers buried beneath the surface. And from what I've discovered so far, there's an undercurrent of loss and a sad edge that only makes my work to restore the world all the more meaningful.
