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I'm big fan of the Pokemon franchise since I was 8 years old. In my humble opinion, the Pokemon games and animes are one of the best examples of how japanese culture has influenced all of the world. Recently, a question has come to my mind: How would the Pokemon franchise have developed in a socialist Japan?

The Japanese Communist Party is one of the most powerfull non-governing communist parties in the world. It gets between 7% and 12% in parliamentary elections and is very important in the japanese labour movement.

So lets say, with a POD after 1996 (the year the first Pokemon games, pokemon red and blue/green, were released) Japan becomes a socialist republic (something between the early 20s USSR and modern-day Cuba). How could this have happened? Say, Japan is hit by a series of economic and pollitical crises way worse than in OTL, the working class developes class consciousnes and Japan becomes socialist (either via revolution or the anti-monopolist strategy).

How would this affect the pokemon franchise? Depending on the POD, how different would it be, and would it still be popular all over the world?
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