>>52196919The starters have never been strongly related to the region's irl location.
Gen 8 gave us a drummer, a football player, and a spy which is the closest its ever been referencing British celebrities/pop culture characters. Gen 7 gave us an archer, a wrestler, and a singer - none of which are iconically Hawaiian. Gen 6 gave us jrpg classes which have nothing to do with France. Gen 5 gave us animals with French, Chinese, and Japanese motifs representing other cultures which, while present in the US, are nobody's first thought compared to the cultural impact of the British they separated from, the natives they displaced, or the Mexicans and other people from South America that immigrate there in droves. Gen 4 gave us the world turtle, Sun Wu Kong, and Poseidon which while sharing the game's theme of mythology don't exactly represent Hokkaido specifically. Pretty sure gen 3 and gen 2 didn't have collective themes between their starters at all let alone a specific cultural connection to the location. And gen 1 was just loosely themed around small animals kids might catch outside for the 1st stage that then grew into fantastical monsters as they evolved - a simple frog, salamander/lizard, and turtle which almost any kid anywhere would be familiar with in some form.
