Pokémon championships, transmedia franchises and the architecture of Gaudí

The world of Pokémon returns to the present day, which is not uncommon.

Is it, within the world of video games, the most important intellectual property?

If it is not, let's agree that it is within the shortlist of four or five candidates who opt for the title.

The fact is that the specialized press and the television sections of the general press coincided last week in highlighting curious and fictitious news (in the sense that it belongs to the world of fiction): Ash Ketchum, the main character of the

saga , had finally managed to crown himself as the best pokemon trainer in the world.

animation series

, broadcast in Japan.

Although in the games of the saga the protagonist is customized by the player, Ash (who first appeared in the first series of

, in 1997) crystallized the narrative of the saga, translating into fiction what the game proposed to us in an interactive format: becoming the best Pokémon trainer in the world.

animated series

continues to have 25 years later exemplifies something more serious: that the social dimension of

far transcends its playful dimension.

And it's not just because it's the media franchise that has generated the most money in all of history (as well), but because it's not too bold to say that it's the best-built transmedia product of the century.

The term transmedia, it is already known, refers to the intellectual property that is distributed among different supports: books, movies, series, comics, video games, board games,

… The concept is undoubtedly what popular culture is evolving towards, and although more complete transmedia phenomena emerge every year (

,

…), none has been as balanced as Pokémon, although it is true that it is a product intended for a less adult public and that makes it easier for the different pieces of the transmedia puzzle to fit together.

The 'Pokémon Scarlet/Purple' building inspired by the Sagrada Familia.

We said that, with Ash's victory in the audiovisual part of the transmedia mosaic, a milestone has just been reached.

But the important thing is that the franchise does not neglect the digital interactive part, which, after all, was the origin of everything: video games.

Last Friday the latest installment of the saga (as always, divided into two) was released:

and

.

With an aesthetic particularity that we celebrate in these parts: if in 1996 the Nintendo franchise landed in Spain, now Spain lands in

, since the new area in which the adventure is based is based in our country.

Starting with the general map of the island itself, which replicates the shape of the bull's skin with the typical art of the franchise, everything exudes a touch

.

From the game's own live image trailer, shot in Girona, to the central city, which takes architectural references from Madrid and Barcelona, ​​especially from the Gaudí school (a character from a

2007 was already based on it), the local flavor is a constant.

There are the eastern towns, inspired by Murcia and Castilla la Mancha, with their lights from the Levant and their mills, respectively;

passing through the south of the digital scene, which draws its ideas from Cádiz and Málaga.

There are references to the Almeria desert, to the rainy north.

And there is no shortage of gastronomic details of some dishes inspired by native cuisine.

In addition to its multimillion-dollar card games, its animated series, its ubiquitous

,

also knows how to get revenue from the locations of its games.

It is, within the digital world, the perfect ambassador.

Pokémon

is vying to be the world champion of the games in the same way that Ash was vying for the title of Pokémon champion.

We will see how the fight ends in a few years.

There is no doubt that in the competition to see which franchise does its homework better, the more it is implanted in the collective imagination and in the market and the more corners of popular culture it reaches, no one can take away its title.

There you have secured the enrollment

.

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