A Look at Karos - The New Region

[Turner]

Okay so we finally have some art/info on the new region and I came across a big scan and decided to look into some bits, glean some stuff other people have noticed and post it here. We've got some decent info now so I think we can avoid using the same threads to discuss new stuff, especially in detail.

First off, here's the region scan in it's untouched glory if you want to have a look and point stuff out: http://i43.tinypic.com/nwnedh.jpg

Here's the modified version which you can see I've circled the stuff I want to talk about:



A few things spring to mind immediately, at a glance:

1) The region is definitely based on France. I don't think there were many doubts about this from the first trailer; the Eiffel tower lookalike, rollerskating, Palace of Versailles, Froakie (lol) etc. The shape of the region is very similar to France:



Keep this picture in mind because there are some interesting references I noticed.

2) The region itself is very green but actually very diverse too, I'm guessing the rivers aren't there for show only and we'll be using many of them to surf to areas otherwise inaccessible, should be a very interesting region with lots of small tucked away areas.

3) The name 'Karos' (Karosu) will probably change in the English version. So take that as you will.

Anyway. Some of the areas I want to mention:

Red Circle



Pretty obvious one this, the red circle looks like the marketplace city we've seen on some of the scans, particularly where the player is riding on Gogoat. In these screens the huge tower (also shown in the trailer) can be seen which means that this is going to be the main 'hub' of activity. I think this is good because it looks like we'll see a very non-linear map this time around. I'm expecting it to be pretty cosmopolitan but maybe not quite the urban sprawl of Castellia City. It pretty much seems to match the exact location of Paris on the map, which would mean that the Palace we saw in the trailer (Pictured Below) would be just offset to the west of this:



Black Circle



This seems like one huge icy area, possibly the biggest area dedicated to snow and ice we've seen in a Pokemon game so far. If you look at the France map above, I'm going to assume this is the representation of the border between France and Switzerland to the east of the region. I'm expecting snow, ice and mountains (Yeti Pokemon?) and I can also see a river flowing through, so I guess there will be some interesting ice fishing possibilities (Lapras, Seel etc?).

Directly above the black circle is a place in the mountains covered in cloud, I'm going to guess this is the Pokemon League/Victory Road, these areas are normally covered in clouds when we see the region art. I can't imagine the icy area being full of low-level Pokemon (Looking at ice type evolution levels) so I'm going to guess the icy area is just before victory road. The icy area seems to extend all the way southwards to a big snowy city in the centre of the forest, probably based on the french city of Grenoble situated near the alps. No doubt linked to the mainland from the caves just westwards.



Yellow/Orange Circle



This is a cool one, this perfectly matches up with the Mont Saint-Michel in Normandy on a map and looks very much like it from the region art too:



The Mont Saint-Michel is really interesting because not only does it look frigging awesome, it famously houses the statue of Saint-Michel slaying the dragon so I guess this is going to be the place to find dragon types similar to Dragonspiral tower in Unova. Maybe there will be a Dragon-type gym there too. It's a really huge place surrounded in sandy wetlands, I'm guessing this is where Sandile will be found.

Green Circle



This is no doubt Bordeaux, probably focusing more on the beaches than the city itself (Though I imagine there will be a city too). I'm guessing this area will be the main 'Tropical ocean' surfing area akin to Undella Bay, possibly a water-type gym leader here? I'm guessing there will be more of a sunny hot weather theme here, being closer to Spain and such. I've always liked these areas.

I'm guessing it's going to lean towards a combination of Bordeaux and the Basque Coast, very close to the Spanish border



Purple Circle



As far as the map goes, this will probably be based on Amiens, home to the Amiens Cathedrale which (In my opinion) we saw in the X/Y trailer with the pillars of fire. I initially thought this was the Mont Saint-Michel but look at this comparison and tell me what you think:




Interestingly, if you look at the blurry map, you can see three white pillars, I wonder if this is where this screenshot is situated:



It seems pretty rocky and craggy much like the region map seems to suggest but honestly I can't find any observatory or something similar in the area (Though I haven't looked much, I'll update if I find what it could be).

Brown Circle



This looks to be the right area for the city of Montpellier, right in the South of France near the Mediterranean (So it should be a warmish area). I think on the map we're seeing an image of a structure similar to the Porte du Peyrou.



There's also an area obscured by clouds which would be the perfect location for Nice on the map, there may be nothing there, but it seems strange that Nice wouldn't be included.

Pink Circle



Nothing spectacular here apart from a visible city of some sort, this would be the equivilent of Clermont-Ferrand on a map of France which is home to the Puy De Dome Volcano, (which is possibly situated on the mountain to the right) at least provides a possible location for some fire-type Pokemon. Here are some pictures of Clermont-Ferrand and the Puy De Dome Volcano anyway, to get your imagination going. It's not quite a stereotypical volcano:





Anyway, hope you enjoyed and I hope it's given you some things to think about. There is plenty I haven't covered so feel free to chip in with your opinions. I think this region is actually shaping up to be really cool so far, lots of deep foresty areas for Fairy Pokemon too 

[Angelic Lapras King]

It almost......looks shaped like a star, the the bottom right kind of messes it up.

Ahhh, now I know what the place it is based on!XD

[Ledyba]

what a wonderful and insightful post John.

Really wish we had a Karma system again.


Excellent stuff.

Region looks awesome.

[Angelic Lapras King]

Looks likes the Karos region will be known as Kalos outside of Japan.

[Sappy]

Great post Turner.

I've seen the massive image of the region.

It's crazy. Would love to hear your views on it.

EDIT:

Based on the images, looks like you go through a forest at the start of the game, this could give an indication where the first town is. Which looks like we start up north and head directly into Paris/Lumiose City.

I worked out the forest part cause the lass says; "when trainers eyes lock we must battle" which is one of the very first phrases.

[Turner]

Yes indeedly. We have a HUGE 1920x1200 wallpaper in detail of the Karos region with loads of stuff on it. Just looking at it I've gotten a whole bunch of new insights on the region. Looks like there are some things I was wrong about but I'll talk about them later, I'm going to be screenshotting some of the images from the trailer right now.

In the meantime here's the huge region image: http://www.pokemonxy.com/_ui/img/_en/downloads/Kalos-Region-Pokemon-X-and-Y_1920x1200.jpg

[Alpha Fenrir]

Brilliant observations Turner, I wonder where you get the patience from...
I've made a couple myself, but they're not going to be anywhere near as well developed (and I'm sorry, I do not know how to insert pictures in my posts... I've never learnt how to).

First off, the desert area to the left of (the supposed) Lumiose city. There are a couple of wind turbines there, the three dome towers originally seen in the first trailer (with one in a lava pool? Geothermal station maybe?), a couple of towers with what appears to be extraction pipes going down into the earth (oil perhaps?), a dome shape building which looks as though it is covered in solar panels (research institute?) and some sort of tent-shaped structure which I haven't the faintest idea as to what it is. All of these, to me, point towards some sort of energy gathering facility. Perhaps this is the greenest region? XD

And what do you think'll be the relevance of that stone circle to the west of the map? Some sort of legendary no doubt...