Are you guys ready for the Johto region?!
From Shimoda (Pallet Town) to Shimada (New Bark Town), Shizuoka prefecture has been the player’s hometown for 2 generations.
Let’s travel to this beautiful sleepy location that’s nestled between mountains and forests, west of the Suruga Bay, which connects to the Kanto region.
The internet says New Bark Town is Hamamatsu, but there is no cultural evidence to support this. Another theory is that it is Shizuoka City, which is the next best candidate due to the Spaceworld Demo showing the starting town as being called “Silent Hill” which translates to “Shizu-Oka” in Japanese, Shizuoka City. However, I rested on Shimada City, since it is less populated and urbanized. It made complete sense to have a sleepy little town like Shimada representing New Bark Town than an urban metropolitan city like Shizuoka City. Nevertheless, New Bark Town is based on suburban Shizuoka, and we can all agree on that.