Pokenomics - Ecruteak City

Name: Ecruteak City
Notable Urban Locations: Kimono Dance Theater, Ecruteak City Gym, Burned Tower, Tin (Bell) Tower
Notable Rural Locations: Mt. Mortar

Case 1: A Historical Hub: Applying the Past

The two towers of Ecruteak City are said to have been built centuries ago with the purpose of promoting unity among all creatures. However, one was destroyed by a great lightning fire. Rather than rebuild the tower, the citizens left it as it was.

It stands purely as a symbol of the ideals of the past, something which we can hold on to and try to emulate better in the future. Even colossal historical failures can be worth remembering if solely for our ability to not make the same mistake twice.

Take Manzanar for example. Roughly six thousand acres of land in the Owens Valley were cordoned off to create housing blocks and agricultural fields. The 504 barracks first constructed in 1942 would go on to house over ten thousand Japanese-Americans. Quality of life was rather substandard, with harsh climate and poor sanitation from overcrowding of the facility.

Despite all this, those interned at Manzanar did all they could to create a tolerable quality of life. Recreational facilities, churches, and temples were constructed within the camp. The US government paid interned workers a small wage, but by pooling those wages those interned were able to construct a general store, a beauty parlor, a barber shop, a bank, and a printing agency all within the camp itself. Through cunning and perseverance, the Japanese-Americans had created their own autonomous society.

The benefits did not stop there, though; following advances on the Pacific Front, the Americans began to lift some of the restrictions placed on Japanese-Americans. When this occurred, the churches and service organizations banded together to create a job-training-and-sponsorship agency with which to send interned citizens across the country for work opportunities. Administrators of Manzanar camp even got involved, lending their support as the war came to a close.

Manzanar proved that even a terrible idea could be turned into a good one with time, creativity, and lots of optimism. But if we completely wiped away that history, then the world would never know. In the same vein, Burned Tower preserves the foundation of unity which it was built upon, and that has to count for something.

Perhaps the toughest question is what to keep and what to discard. In prior articles we have looked at making many changes to the region, disregarding the significance those former locations would have had if preserved for hundreds of years. We must continue to be careful and consider the long-term significance of every change we make, as we make them.