When making Pokmon X & Pokmon Y, the creators wanted to use “beauty” as a theme – hence the word Kalos literally meaning “beauty” in ancient Greek. Given the natural association, developer Game Freak decided, to use France as their inspiration.
Producer Junichi Masuda said: “A country that is very particular about fashion and the aesthetics of their cuisine, a country concerned with the beauty of words.”
The first and perhaps most obvious of the similarities is that the map itself is a mirror of Northern France, and when layering these over one another, it’s clear to see the resemblances between the location of towns and landmarks.
Some of the inspiration within Pokmon X & Pokmon Y are:
1. The stones in Geosenge towns are based around Carnac Stones in Brittany.
2. Parfum Palace is based on the Palace of Versailles. Both have garden mazes, halls of mirrors and stand at a very similar size.
3. Lumoise city is designed with Paris as its basis. The Prism Tower that dominates the skyline is based on the Eifel tower. It also has roads connecting to all parts of Kalos, just like Paris’ railroads.
4. Shalour City’s Tower of Mastery is based off the Mont Saint Miker. This is clear from the thin path that leads from the land to the tower, as Mont Saint Miker is only accessible on foot at low tides.
5. The port city of Coumarine based on the largest port in Northern France, Le Havre. Both have large docking areas and a lighthouse.
6. Although they’re not specifically French, the islands just north east from Coumarine City are based on the channel islands.
7. Terminus Cave based arguably based on the Courrieres mine, as both are disused mines (although for different reasons).
8. The mountain in the north west of the map is based upon Mont Blanc, albeit moved from South to North France.
9. Laverre City is likely to be based around Boulogne-sur-Mer, a heavily forested city just like Laverre.
10. Couriway Town based around the Alps of southeast France with it waterfalls, as well as one of the small nearby towns.
11. Snowbelle City is based on Grenoble. A mountain city that hosted the Winter Olympics in 1968, due to is large number of ski resorts.
Have you noticed any of these landmarks within the Kalos region?
