6 Pokémon Town and City Themes to Close Out 2019

A look back at some of the standout background music from generations past.

Written by Kameel Karim

1. X and Y - Anistar City

Known as the “starry city marking the hours,” Anistar City’s attention-grabbing theme music punctuates the idea of forever chasing the seconds. Tight trills of metallic instrumentation are interspersed with the breathy gasp of a cuckoo clock and the pronounced ticking of analog watch hands to craft a tense, moody rhythm.

These temporal motifs continue with the incorporation of the city’s Sundial into the post-game. After completing the main storyline, the player can go there to acquire previously undiscovered information from Prof. Sycamore, or simply stand by until 8 p.m. in-game time to watch the rings of the Sundial spinning and sparkling when the sun descends at precisely the right angle. The attention that goes into creating these graphics suggests that even in the midst of your hectic day, you can stop and smell the roses for a little while, or at least enjoy the sunset.

2. Black and White - Driftveil City

Breaking out of the brassy jazz mold that defined preceding cities, Unova’s ex-cargo shipping area introduces a synthy new groove. The background music of Driftveil City emphasizes a whomping, warped bassline and spiraling melody that together mirror the hustle and bustle of port life. Hardly anywhere can you catch a break between the cascade of notes, and most likely, neither can the surrounding workers flitting from one job to the next.

There’s no sound quite like it anywhere else in the region, and that’s probably intentional. The city’s market for rare items, proximity to the mysterious Cold Storage warehouses, and massive drawbridge all distinguish it as a unique resource to the player, as well as the stage for a handful of critical plot points.

3. Diamond and Pearl - Eterna City/Celestic Town

Listed together because they share the same background music, Eterna City and Celestic Town are among the quieter locations in Gen IV, but neither should be overlooked. Woodblock percussion anchors lilting flutters of saxophone that build seamlessly into complex orchestration after a minute or so, then drop back out into the same, sleepy beat. As local NPCs won’t hesitate to boast, both locations are steeped in heritage as old as the soil — continuing vestiges of tradition that give the area a worn-in feel.

Diamond and Pearl was also the only generation to use the concept of two musical themes for day and night. Though nearly identical, the passage of time influences shifts in the BGM: brighter, major chords during the day and more solemn minor chords at night, for example. Delicate details like these are what make the Pokémon universe so compelling and allow us to find joy in playing the games again and again.

4. Ruby and Sapphire - Littleroot Town

Starter towns don’t get enough love. Sure, there’s hardly anything around except whatever Level 3 birds (or rodents, or insects) are waiting to confront you in the tall grass, but the retrospective sheen to the place where the ultimate trainer journey begins deserves a mention. After all, tucked in between the gentle beeping and plucking of Littleroot’s theme music is your player’s home, mother, and the site of your first significant Pokémon encounter.

For those who grew up with the Pokémon franchise, this game was the final hurrah of the Game Boy era, and it carries a nostalgia for a stage of life to which there’s no going back. We can only rest assured that somewhere between the squat, identical houses and glossy trees, those memories are still preserved.

5. Gold and Silver - Goldenrod City

The plinking electronic cadence of chiptune characterizes Gold and Silver’s soundtrack. Goldenrod City is more than your average busy metropolis — it’s one of the largest cities in the Pokémon canon to date, and the quick arpeggios of its theme reflect the go-getter attitude that built it from the ground up.

Its demographic presence and etymology are worth noting given the historical context: Japan entered the 21st century buoyed on the wings of western capitalism, giving rise to countless nascent megacities and burgeoning corporations. The creation of Goldenrod, or Kogane City in Japanese (from kogane-iro, meaning “golden color”), forewarned a universal truth: not even the idyllic village landscapes of the Pokémon world were to remain safe from corporate lust.

6. Red and Blue - Lavender Town

Any listicle of Pokémon theme music would be incomplete without the Lavender Town theme. Said to be haunted, the town is notable for its sizeable Japanese-style graveyard teeming with the tombs of deceased Pokemon. The sinister 8-bit composition creates both an air of ghostly quiet that hangs in the sparse village and a chill down the spine of the player.

The town also gained a reputation for unsettling, real-world consequences: a 2010 creepypasta claims that its eerie BGM resulted in the suicides of about 200 Japanese schoolchildren during its initial release year of 1996. The legend alleged that a high-pitched frequency of beats perceived only by children’s ears caused the deaths, as well as symptoms ranging from nosebleeds to headaches. The creators released a second version at an altered frequency as a result.

7. BONUS - Village Bridge

Though Black and White’s Village Bridge isn’t exactly a town or city, the melody that hums and swirls around it is too poignant to leave out. The uncommon addition of accompanying vocals lends the track an extra layer of melancholy, but it won’t appear on its own. Your player must strike up a conversation with the man standing beneath the bridge — then, he’ll begin to sing and will continue as long as you let him, even if the player faces a different direction or moves around.

While the vocal distortion makes it a little tricky to discern the lyrics, the song does actually have a meaning: in a near-endless loop, the man croons about standing in the dusk and watching the mesmerizing gulls above the harbor. Combined with the onset of nightfall in-game, there’s something oddly heartrending about the simple message. As the player, you don’t know a thing about this man’s backstory, and he doesn’t know yours, but once the music envelops the screen, none of that matters. Through song, even two complete strangers can find solace in sharing the end of another long day.