Multilingual Pokémon Go

Pokémon and different languages is a hot topic (for me at least) and much can be discussed about it. Along with the names of the Pokémon themselves, the games themselves are multilingual, not the least of which is the main series games... but I'll save the discussion pertaining to those some other time. Right now I want to discuss the multilingual topic as it pertains to its popular mobile installment, Pokémon Go. Behind its most common appearance as its English version, it is multilingual in ways that one may (or may not) expect.

Those who have witnessed players in Japan or at least have seen screenshots from Japanese players will note that the game is completely in Japanese. Less commonly, players of certain major languages in the world to which Pokémon has been localized have the game in the language of concern. The secret to this multilingual trick is simple: the primary language of the phone is set to that particular language. Thus, by changing the primary language of the phone, Pokémon Go can appear in that language. I don't have a chance to try out this trick as switching my phone's language may have far-reaching consequences besides switching that of the game, but I can stand to do it if I had an experimental phone.

For those of the respective major languages, Pokémon Go can be playable with the interface being in that language. For those not of the languages, Pokémon Go will likely default to English. This too has a simple reason, one that goes beyond the simple language aspect of the game. English is the international language of communication and trade, even in parts where it is not spoken much, and therefore it may be expected that some players will know English - perhaps to a reasonable degree and with basic reading ability - enough to play the game and be somewhat successful. One of my Pokémon Go fellows has Indonesian as the primary phone language, and other apps are localized, though not Pokémon Go - a simple evidence of this happening.

Lately, though, there may be evidence that Pokémon Go may be about to expand (or perhaps has expanded) localization efforts. A screenshot was posted of the Pokédex page for Bulbasaur, but it was in a language one would not expect: Thai, the language of the people of Thailand. Of course, since the Pokémon TCG is localized there, it may not come as a surprise that it would eventually appear in Pokémon Go. Given this, there may be similar hopes that an Indonesian localization may eventually be realized because of the local presence of the TCG in the country - at least, that's the hopes of another of my Pokémon fellows. What will come of this may remain to be seen.

Being that Pokémon has its fans in high and low places, possibly those with languages of their own, Pokémon has to try to cater to those fans if at all feasible and/or possible. Pokémon Go provides the facility for this through the same way that other smartphone apps are localized, and it may show great potential to be expansible for minor localizations of Pokémon. The English version will still be the norm for places and people who don't need to deal with Pokémon in their language, but it's nice to know that the facility is there for languages that enable this to happen.

One year ago: Gym Tours

Two years ago: (A Further) Local Ex-Raid, 9/10/2018

Three years ago: Cosplay: BJF - Shizen ni Modoru