A look inside the creation of Pokemon's Castelia City

The Pokemon franchise has been running long and strong for quite some time now, and that's because of the three main branches of the franchise. The games are more popular than ever, the anime has been running practically non-stop since the game's inception and the trading card game is constantly receiving updates. As you know, each spoke on the Pokemon wheel influences the other, and it's very rare that we get to see just how those design decisions were made.

For whatever reasons, Pokémon game director Junichi Masuda has given everyone a closer look into the design of Castelia City, which plays a major role in both the Pokemon Black/White games and the current anime storyline. His design document details show us just how much planning when into the city's creation, and you might be surprised at just how much meaning some of the city has behind it! Check out Masuda's full reveal in the details below, all of which have been bolded.

●C3(*1)‘s port is shaped like hand.
Open hand is the image of C3.


・Since it is pier, it is floating on the sea.
・Surface is thin concrete.
・Low fence is placed other than platform.
・There are chairs, too.
・There is a mooring mast.

To park the ship, ship’s rope will be hooked to mooring mast.
*In the game, ship’s rope is not necessary(won’t be shown).



●Each fingers
(1)Thumb
・Most thick finger of all.
・In western culture, folding other four fingers and up represent
affirmation (good) and down represent death (denial).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thumb

○OPV（Offshore Patrol Vessel） parks on odd number days.
Sail on even number days(not present).



(2)Index finger
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Index_finger

○Cabin cruiser(dinner cruise ship). Sail from evening only(to see sunset).
→Large cruiser.
→To show, departing on the evening and sunset can be seen
on the half way, and returning on night to see night view.



(3)Middle Finger
・It is insulting act to stand this finger and rest of fingers fold.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Middle_finger

○Team Plasma’s secret ship sails.
Only sails on the day of prime numbers.
(2,3,5,7,11,13,17,19,23,29,31)
→Ship will be parked on non prime number days.
No hints. Objective of this ship is unknown.



(4)Ring finger
・In Japan, it is called “medicine finger,” since this
finger is used for applying medicine.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ring_finger

○Shuttle cruiser to UT island.



(5)Little finger
・Smallest finger.
・In Japan, this finger is considered as royalty.
There is action called “Yubikiri(cutting finger)”
as a meaning of promise(honesty).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_finger



○Distribution island ship.

●Ship A (large ship<2000 to 3000t class>). 1 kind.
・Cabin cruiser(theme color white)

Luxurious cruiser.
Point! When this ship parked at the pier of C3, the giant scale of
its size can be seen.



●Ship B(small ship<1000t class>). 4 kinds.
(Same model but different colors)
・Guard ship(theme color white and red)
・Team Plasma’s secret ship(black)
・UT ship(blue)
・Distribution ship(yellow)

Point! Leading edge cool ship. Small but fast. Few windows.
You can tell it’s a ship from its silhouette.

Link