Ever stared at the world map and wondered where exactly Kanto sits in relation to Paldea? It's a mess. Honestly, trying to piece together the all pokemon regions map is like trying to solve a puzzle where the pieces were made by different companies over thirty years. Some regions are clearly based on Japan. Others take us to France, Hawaii, or the UK. But the games rarely give us a "world map" button that shows how a trainer gets from Johto to Sinnoh without a loading screen.
It’s not just about geography. It’s about the scale.
If you look at the early games, the world felt small and connected. Now? It’s massive. We’ve gone from biking across a pixelated forest to flying on the back of a legendary dragon across open-world craters. Understanding the layout of these lands is the only way to make sense of the lore, especially when characters like Cynthia or Looker start popping up in regions they don't belong in.
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The Japanese Foundation: Where it All Started
Kanto. The name isn't just a creative choice; it’s a real place in Japan. When Satoshi Tajiri and the team at Game Freak designed the original all pokemon regions map, they looked at their own backyard. Kanto is based on the actual Kantō region of Japan, including Tokyo (Saffron City). It’s cramped. It’s industrial. It feels like a hub because, geographically, it is.
Then you have Johto.
Johto sits right next door to the west, mirroring the Kansai region. This is why you can literally walk from one to the other in Gold and Silver. It’s the only time we’ve seen two major regions sharing a landmass so explicitly. If you look at a map of Japan, the geography matches almost perfectly. Mt. Silver is basically Mt. Fuji’s stand-in. This connection established the idea that the Pokemon world isn't just a series of floating islands; it’s a sprawling continent with shared history and shared legends.
Hoenn changed things. It’s based on Kyushu, but rotated 90 degrees. This was the first time the map felt "disconnected" from the previous ones. You had to take a ship or a plane. Suddenly, the world felt bigger. Hoenn introduced the idea of climate-specific geography, with a massive volcano and a water-heavy eastern half that drove fans crazy with the "too much water" memes. But from a mapping perspective, it showed that the Pokemon world has distinct biomes that don't always bleed into each other naturally.
Sinnoh (Hokkaido) pushed this further north. It’s cold. It’s mountainous. Mt. Coronet bisects the entire region, creating a verticality we hadn't seen before. This is where the lore gets heavy. Sinnoh is supposedly where the universe began, which makes its central location on the northern Japanese-inspired landmass feel spiritually significant.
Moving West: The Global Expansion
Everything changed with Unova. For the first time, the all pokemon regions map left Japan.
Junichi Masuda has been vocal about how New York City inspired Unova. You can see it in the bridges and the urban sprawl of Castelia City. Because it’s based on a location thousands of miles from Japan, the game designers had to introduce a new "feeling" to the geography. It’s why the Pokemon found there were entirely new—it’s an ecological island separated by a vast ocean from the first four regions.
Then we got Kalos.
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Kalos is France, plain and simple. It’s shaped like a star, which is a bit of a departure from the more organic shapes of the Japanese regions, but it fits the "artistic" vibe of Gen 6. It’s interesting because Kalos is the first region where the map feels designed for 3D. The landmarks are huge. The Tower of Mastery and Lumiose City dominate the skyline. Geographically, it’s positioned somewhere "far away" from Unova, but the existence of the Mega Evolution war suggests Kalos had ancient ties to other regions, possibly even Hoenn.
- Alola: This is Hawaii. It’s a series of four natural islands and one man-made one. This is the most "separated" the all pokemon regions map has ever felt. You can't walk anywhere. You’re constantly taking ferries or Charizard taxis. It’s a tropical microcosm.
- Galar: Based on the United Kingdom, specifically England and parts of Scotland. But here's the kicker: it’s upside down. The north of the UK is the south of Galar. This kind of creative liberty makes mapping the "real" world onto the Pokemon world difficult. Galar is long and narrow, emphasizing a linear journey from the rural south to the industrial north.
The Open World Shift: Paldea and Beyond
Paldea is the newest major addition to the all pokemon regions map, and it’s a beast. Based on the Iberian Peninsula (Spain and Portugal), it’s a giant circle with a massive hole in the middle. The Great Crater of Paldea is a geographical anomaly that dictates everything about the region’s layout.
What’s fascinating about Paldea is how it treats borders. To the northeast, there’s a wall of impassable mountains. Fans have speculated for years that this is the land border connecting Paldea to Kalos. If you look at a real map of Europe, Spain and France are neighbors. It makes sense. This is the first time since Gen 2 that we’ve had a hint of two regions being physically connected by land, even if we can't cross that border in the game.
The Kitakami province, introduced in the DLC, adds another layer. It’s a small, rural area that feels very much like traditional Japan (Sinnoh or Johto), yet it’s accessible from Paldea. This suggests that the world map is more "connected" than we think, with small rural enclaves tucked between the massive, themed nations.
What Most People Get Wrong About the Map
A lot of people think there’s an official, master map hidden in a vault at Nintendo. There isn't. Or at least, they haven't shown it. We have fan-made "World Maps" that try to stitch these pieces together, but they all run into the same problem: scale.
For example, if Kanto and Johto are based on specific parts of Japan, they are actually quite small. But in the games, it takes hours to walk across them. Conversely, Unova (New York) and Kalos (France) should be thousands of miles apart, yet characters seem to travel between them with ease. The Pokemon world likely has much faster transportation tech than we do—Magnet Trains and teleportation pads are canon, after all.
Another misconception is that the regions are all on the same planet. While that seems obvious, the existence of Ultra Space and different dimensions (like the Distortion World) means that the "map" might actually be multi-dimensional. The Hoenn we see in Omega Ruby isn't necessarily the same Hoenn from the original GBA games. They occupy the same space on a map but exist in different timelines.
Why the Map Layout Matters for Trainers
Understanding the all pokemon regions map isn't just for geeks; it explains why certain Pokemon appear where they do. Regional variants exist because of geography. Why is Alolan Exeggutor so tall? Because the sun in Alola is stronger due to its equatorial position on the map. Why does Galarian Weezing look like a chimney? Because Galar underwent a massive Industrial Revolution similar to 19th-century Britain.
The map dictates the biology.
If you’re trying to catch 'em all, you’re basically an international traveler navigating a complex series of biomes. The geography influences the "Gym Challenge" or the "Island Challenge." It defines the culture of the people living there. People in Sinnoh are obsessed with history and myths because their map is dominated by ancient ruins and the mountain where time and space supposedly began. People in Paldea are more focused on exploration because their map is wide open.
Actionable Steps for Exploring the Lore
If you want to dive deeper into how these regions connect, don't just look at the in-game town map. The town map is a stylized abstraction. Instead, look at the concept art.
- Compare real-world geography: Pull up a map of Japan and overlay Kanto, Johto, Hoenn, and Sinnoh. You’ll see exactly how they fit. Hoenn is basically tilted Kyushu. Sinnoh is Hokkaido.
- Follow the Sinjoh Ruins: Check out the lore from the HeartGold/SoulSilver event. It’s the only place that explicitly links the cultures of Johto and Sinnoh, suggesting an ancient migration path between the two regions.
- Watch the horizons: In games like Scarlet and Violet, look at the borders. The "invisible walls" are often placed at logical geographical points, like the mountains between Paldea and whatever lies beyond (likely Kalos).
- Analyze the "Orre" and "Almia" problem: Don't forget the spin-off regions. Orre (from Colosseum) is clearly Arizona. Almia and Fiore also exist. They might not have "new" Pokemon, but they occupy space on the global map and show that the Pokemon world is much more than just the main series locations.
The Pokemon world is a living, breathing globe that’s still being mapped out. Every new generation fills in a blank spot on that parchment. Whether we eventually get a "World" game that lets us travel between them all remains the holy grail for fans, but for now, we have to settle for piecing the puzzle together one region at a time.