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How can Pokémon be used as an educational tool for economics?

By Amelie O'Connor, TY

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Table of Contents

Introduction (slides 6-10)

Introduction (7)
My Objectives (8)
Background information (9)
Pokémon as an educational tool (10)

What is Pokémon (11-14)

The aim of the game (12)
What is a Pokémon? (13)
Key Terminology (14)

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Table of contents (2)

Economics and Society in the Pokemon world (15-32)

Introduction (16)
Inflation (17)
The Pokémon Dollar (18)
Power Creep and Inflation (19)
Supply and Demand (20-22)
Infrastructure (23-27)
System of Governance and Economy in the Pokémon world (28)
Economic systems (29-30)
Personal finance and Pokémon (31)
Budgeting (32)

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Table of contents (3)

Pokémon and the economy in the real world (33-45)
Pokémania (34)
The launch in the USA (35)
Paired release (36)
Marketing to Nostalgia (37)
Pokémon X and Y versions (38-39)
Game Remakes (40)
Pokémon GO (41-42)
Play! Pokémon Events (43)
Uri Geller lawsuit (44)
Pokémon in the Middle East (45)

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Table of contents (4)

UN Sustainable Development Goals (46-47)
Reflection (48-51)
Sources/References (52-56)

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Introduction

This section introduces my project

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Introduction

I would consider myself an avid player of Pokémon for many years.
When I was younger, it was just fun and games but as I grew older and developed an interest in economics it made me consider how this relates to my favorite video games.

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My Objectives

To explore what Pokémon teaches us about real-life economics.
To investigate what impact mechanics in the Pokémon games would have on the economy and society in the fictional universe in which it exists.
To see how Pokémon can be used to teach children about economics and related topics.

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Background Information

In this project I will assume the reader is already familiar with the basics of economics as taught in the Junior Cycle Business Studies curriculum.
Pokémon is a Japanese role-playing video game series and multimedia franchise. It comprises a main series of games, spin-off games, anime series, trading card game and more.
In this project, I will mainly focus on the main series of video games, but I will sometimes branch out further.
The video games are developed by Game Freak and published by Nintendo

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Pokémon as an educational tool

In this project, I will look at how Pokémon relates to economics and what it can teach people about economics.
As Pokémon is enjoyed mainly by young people who may not know very much about economics and related topics.
Pokémon could be used as an educational resource and way to reach young people to teach them about economics in a simple and child – friendly way.
I think the main age group Pokémon would be effective for is the 8 to 14 age range (mid primary school to early secondary school).

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What is Pokémon?

Before we start, I will give an introduction to the fictional Pokémon universe which the main series games all exist within.

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The aim of the game

In each video game, the player plays the pre-teen protagonist, whose aim is to catch Pokémon, earn gym badges, complete the Pokédex (the digital encyclopedia of Pokémon) and eventually become a Pokémon master.
There will usually also be a subplot in each game about defeating villains, usually in the form of an evil organisation.
With the series running since 1996, this gives me a lot of material to work with on this project.

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What is a Pokémon?

A Pokémon is an animal-like creature in the game that the player catches or battles against with other players.
They level up by gaining experience points from defeating other Pokémon in battle. When they level up sufficiently, they can "evolve" into a more advanced and powerful Pokémon.
A popular example of a Pokémon is Pikachu.

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Key Terminology

Because not everyone is a fan of Pokémon, I will give a quick explainer of some key terminology related to it.
Pokémon - One of the many creatures that the player can catch and battle with in most games.
Starter Pokémon - The Pokémon the player is given at the beginning of the game. They pick one from a trio and this trio varies with every game.

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Economics and Society in the Pokémon world

This is a look at how the economy works in the fictional universe itself.

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Introduction

Pokémon is a multimedia franchise mostly enjoyed by children and young people. Because of this, it can be a good way to teach economic concepts to children in a developmentally appropriate way and also as a gateway to get adolescents and young adults interested in economics.

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Inflation

Inflation is a general increase in prices. One of several causes of inflation is printing more money.
Inflation is one of the top economic issues in the year 2023 with the Central Statistics Office Consumer Price Index showing an annual percentage change of 8.9 percent between November 2021 and November 2022.
I will examine what kind of inflation might exist in the Pokémon world on the following slide.

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The Pokémon Dollar

The Pokémon Dollar is the currency of all the regions in the Pokémon world.
The player mostly obtains Pokémon Dollars by winning battles but there is another way.
'Pay Day' is an attack that can be learned by the Pokémon Meowth and Persian. The Pokémon creates extra money when using this attack, seemingly out of nowhere.
The developers of the games do not account for this but if we look at this situation through the lens of real-life economics, then this situation would cause mass inflation due to the increased amount of money circulating around the economy but same amount of goods.

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Power Creep and Inflation

Power creep is a problem in games where the new content (or Pokémon in this case) tend to be more powerful than the older ones, outclassing them. A lot of a Pokémon's power comes from their base statistics. The average base statistics have risen with each game.
This process is akin to inflation, as the increased level of powerful Pokémon devalues their power overall. Power creep can also occur when a powerful Pokémon always existed, but is now easier to obtain.

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Supply and Demand

Before I explain how this relates to Pokémon, here is a brief explanation of supply and demand.
Supply is the quantity of goods or services that producers or suppliers are willing to make available for sale at a particular price.
Demand is the number of units (quantity) of a particular product or service that consumers are willing to purchase at a particular price.

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Supply and Demand (continued)

There are a few mechanics in Pokémon that demonstrate supply and demand.
Firstly, shiny Pokémon. These are alternatively coloured Pokémon and are extremely rare, at only 1 in every few thousand. They are not any more functionally useful in the games, so they are valued for aesthetic reasons and due to their rarity.

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Supply and demand (continued 2)

Because shiny Pokémon are mostly only valued for their rarity, their value is dependent on their rarity. This means that a shiny Pokémon which is harder to obtain is perceived as being less valuable. The rarity of shiny Pokémon was originally 1/8192 but with various special techniques that can be increased to as high as XXXX and starting in 2013 the base rate is now 1/4096.
To keep things brief and understandable for a general audience, I will not go into detail about how the special techniques to increase shiny odds work, but to put it simply, these techniques tend to work for specific types of Pokémon therefore those specific types are often regarded as less valuable.
The way this relates to supply and demand is that because the supply is increased but demand is the same (because shiny Pokémon have never had any additional function other than aesthetic), the value decreases.

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Infrastructure (1)

The roads in Pokémon are of a sub-par quality. In many cases, major cities only have a dirt road connecting them, which would not be wide enough for cars.
As you can see in this image, the road is not even continuous, with there being many large expanses of grass where wild Pokémon live.

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Infrastructure (Roads 2)

Even worse, many routes between cities are just wilderness, with no path at all.
In even more extreme cases, people must pass through an unlit cave to get from one city to another or cross a body of water.

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Infrastructure (3)

Even worse, many routes between cities are just wilderness, with no path at all.
The roads also have many obstacles, such as boulders and trees blocking the road and that can only be cleared by teaching a Pokémon a special attack such as Cut or Strength.

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Infrastructure (4)

One would expect all of this to lead to major issues in Pokémon society.
These harsh geographical conditions mean that it is difficult for businesses to operate due to the difficulty in shipping goods around the region.
This is possibly why the Pokémon battling industry has such a monopoly on business in the Pokémon world, with there often being only one shop in a city, the Pokémart (where Pokémon related supplies are sold).
Since people in the battle industry have access to Pokémon to help with transportation and the shipping of goods, this results in their dominance in the economy.

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Infrastructure (5)

There do not appear to be any schools in Pokémon other than the ones that prepare children to become Pokémon trainers.
Hospitals are not really seen, but in every town and city, there is a Pokémon centre, which is a place where Pokémon are healed. As this service is free, this shows that it may be government funded.

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System of Governance and Economy in the Pokémon World

Pokémon appears to be a society with a free-market economy, as people can own their own businesses but there is a monopoly by the Pokémon battling industry. This is when there is a single company or seller has a dominant position in an industry or sector. Most of the businesses and other sources of income are centered around Pokémon battling.
There is no government mentioned in any Pokémon game.
This does not mean that there isn't a government but suggests that they could be taking a laissez-faire (minimal government interference) approach to the economy. This would also explain why the roads have such little investment in them.
When there is a threat to national security (ie. the villain of the game), the authorities do not step in. Instead, it is left to the protagonist and other Pokémon trainers to save the country, and maybe even the whole world.

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Economic Systems

Centrally-planned economy – In a centrally planned economy, the government of a country makes all the decisions about the production of goods and services.
Free-market economy - In a free market economy, the citizens of a country are free to set up businesses in any area they like (provided they stay within the law) with very little interference from the government.
Mixed economy - A mixed economy is a combination of the above two economies. In a mixed economy, the production of goods and services is shared between government and business.

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Economic Systems (continued)

We cannot definitively call the Pokémon economy any specific type of economy due to lack of evidence, but there is some evidence of it not being a typical mixed economy.
There is a monopoly on most business which would suggest that the Pokémon economy is either centrally planned and these are state bodies, or that it is an economy that is supposed to be a free market, but there are no processes to ensure competition.
In Ireland, we have such thing as the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission to ensure we do not end up in such a situation.

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Personal Finance and Pokémon

Pokémon can teach a younger audience a lot about personal finance and how to manage their money.
In each Pokémon game, the player earns money through winning battles. They then need to spend that money on Pokéballs, healing items, discretionary expenditure (items that do not have an important function in the game but are nice to have).

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Budgeting

Pokémon can teach the youth how to budget their money. In some games, whenever the player receives money, a portion of it is sent to the mother character.
By the end of the game, the mother can have a considerable amount of money saved up, which can come in handy for the player.
However, this saving feature is optional so someone who opts out of it and needs some more money might be in for a rude awakening!

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Pokémon and the economy in the real world

This is a look at the economic impact of Pokémon in real life

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Pokémania

It was 1998 and after its success in Japan, Pokémon launched in the United States of America.
The franchise was subject to a massive amount of hype, often referred to as Pokémania.
The main games during that period, Pokémon Red Version and Pokémon Blue Version sold a combined 31.38 million copies!

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The Launch in the USA

In Japan, the video game first and then later there was an anime adaptation. However, in the USA, the anime was launched first with the games coming later.
As the anime was more visually appealing and more widely available then the game (Pokémon was originally released for the Gameboy, which was an outdated console by 1998), this helped to generate more hype for the games so that when they released in the USA, there were already many fans waiting to buy them.

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Paired Release

Main-series Pokémon games always release in pairs. These two games tend to be almost identical but with some differences, for example, certain Pokémon are only available in one game unless you trade with other players.
This is effective marketing because it means that people will often buy both versions of the game or seek out someone who has the opposite version. This leads either to increased sales for Nintendo and Game Freak or increased hype for the release.
Until 2011, there would be an upgraded third version released a year or two after the original pair as well, further adding to the sales and hype.

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Marketing to Nostalgia

Nostalgia is a sentimentality for the past.
In the year 2023, Pokémon is now 27 years old. This means that a 12 year-old fan in 1996 is now 39 years old.
Many childhood fans never grew out of their interest in Pokémon and are now looking for a product that recaptures their childhood past-time.
Game Freak has noticed that and as a result have made content that would appeal to both old and new fans in recent years.
On the next slide, I will give some examples of this change in approach from Game Freak.

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Pokémon X and Y versions

This pair of games was released in 2013 when Pokémon was 17 years old. At this point, someone who was a child in the 90s was now in their twenties.
These games appealed to older Pokémon players in a way that previous entries in the series had not.
They had all the old fan favorite Pokémon, the player could get one of the starter Pokémon from the original games quite early on in addition to their normal starter and many locations were reminiscent of those in the original games, with the forest in Pokémon X and Y sharing the exact same floor plan as the one in the first generation of Pokémon.
Finally, they were the first main series Pokémon games to be in 3D, so they could hold up as modern games while also recapturing people's childhoods.

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Pokémon X and Y versions (continued)

This type of marketing was effective as the games sold a combined 16.6 million units.
However, not everyone was happy. Although many were delighted to play with their childhood favorites, many other players wanted a fresher and more original experience.

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Game Remakes

Every few years, an old pair of Pokémon games with receive a remake on a more recent console. This has several uses:
It helps Game Freak and Nintendo's sales when the next main pair of games are still in development, because the Pokémon, story, etc already exist, all that needs to be updated is graphics and a few more recent game mechanics, this makes them easier to make than a completely new game.
These games are also marketed heavily to the nostalgia of the people who played the version being remade as children.
The images on this slide are a comparison of a game to its remake.

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Pokémon GO

Pokémon GO is a mobile game released in 2016. Pokémon GO was truly a craze, with 3pc of Americans on a Friday in July 2016 opening the app. At the time, it was also installed on more smartphones in the USA than Tinder was.
In Pokémon GO, the player has the move around in the real world in order to catch Pokémon and advance in the game.

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Pokémon GO (continued)

Pokemon GO lead to renewed interest from childhood fans of Pokémon and helped to generate hype for the new console games releasing later that year.
It also helped local businesses. People would go to new places they would not otherwise visit, and often frequent local cafés or shops. Some businesses also took advantage of the increased foot traffic.
Here is a quote from a business owner: "I own a pizzeria that's a Pokéstop and I literally did this all day. I had a ton of kids and adults (mostly adults) come in for a slice of pizza and a drink until the lure ran out."

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Play! Pokémon events

These are in-person competitions for competitive players of Pokémon. They are hosted at a regional, country and international level. These events are good for a local economy as competitors travel from miles around to attend. This means that they stay in local hotels and B&Bs and also go to local businesses while they are there.

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Uri Geller Lawsuit

In the year 2000, the famous psychic entertainer Uri Geller sued Nintendo for £60m because one of the Pokémon characters bore resemblance to him and could also bend spoons. The lawsuit was later dismissed.
This incident can a relatable example to teach copyright law to children.

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Pokémon in the Middle East

Pokémon is heavily restricted in much of the middle east. For example, Pokémon GO is banned in Saudi Arabia.
Islamic scholars have issued fatwas (an Islamic legal ruling) against Pokémon, claiming that it promotes zionism and gambling. For these reasons and possibly many more, the middle east has not been a great market for Pokémon. The games do not have an Arabic translation and the anime series has only been partially dubbed into Arabic.
This can be an example of globalisation (the development of an increasingly integrated global economy marked especially by free trade, free flow of capital, and the tapping of cheaper foreign labor markets) and how it does not always go smoothly.

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UN Sustainable Development Goals

In this section I discuss how my project relates to the various SDGs

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Goal 4 – Quality Education

As this project investigates how Pokémon can be used as an educational tool, Goal No. 4 is the most relevant.
Although a computer game cannot solve all of the world's most pressing issues, such as world hunger, war and poverty or enable children currently not in school to access education, it still serves an important purpose for children already in education.
A computer game with colourful characters can capture a child’s attention in a way that textbooks simply cannot.

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Reflection

In this section, I reflect upon what an enriching experience YEOTY has been and what it has taught me, not just about economics.

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What went well

As this was a topic that I have a big interest in, it was very easy to research and to motivate myself.
I was able to find all the information I needed and the appropriate sources to back it up.
I learned more about economics through my research.
I felt a sense of accomplishment seeing the project finally completed.

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What could have been better and what I learned

At times, I struggled with time management, due to having to juggle YEOTY with other school projects, work experience, school trips and illness.
At times I was under extreme time pressure. However, that taught me a valuable lesson. Don't put off until tomorrow what you can do today. Don't take for granted that you will have the time to do something later. Just do it now.
That is a very applicable lesson for many aspects of life, such as a future career, even in a non-economics related field.
I intend to enter YEOTY in 2024 as well, and I will be carrying that lesson forward for my approach next year.

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What I learned (continued)

In addition to the lesson about hard work and time management, this project also led to me learning a lot more about economics and other related topics.
This is useful everyday information but will also stand to me when I enter 5th year and do Leaving Certificate Business Studies.

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Sources/References

Pikachu | Pokédex (pokemon.com)
https://pokeclicker.miraheze.org/wiki/Pok%C3%A9mon_Dollars
https://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Pok%C3%A9mon
https://www.cso.ie/en/statistics/prices/consumerpriceindex/
Charizard - Azurilland Wiki (fandom.com)
Series Retrospective: 20 years of Pokemon games (theedgesusu.co.uk)
What Is a Monopoly? Types, Regulations, and Impact on Markets (investopedia.com)
https://www.reddit.com/r/TheSilphRoad/comments/cn8msa/turtwig_normal_vs_shiny/
Taylor, p. 358-359, 370 and 376 J.T. 2019. Smart Business: Junior Cycle Business Studies. Hibernian Industrial Estate, Greenhills Road, Tallaght, Dublin 24: Folens Publishers
Supply and Demand Plot (bestandworstever.blogspot.com)
How the American Flag Became a Threat | Time
https://onqfinancial.com/best-personal-finance-blogs/
https://www.savvymoney.com/blog/savvymoney-daily/better-budgeting/

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Sources/References (2)

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Sources/References (3)

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Sources/References (4)

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Sources/References (5)