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The Battle Resort in ORAS is a place I spent a lot of time in when it was the current game. It's a pretty simple area, but its packed with stuff that would attract you to the place, competitive players have the Battle Maison as the game's resident battle facility, while shiny hunters would appreciate the game having a second daycare on the island, as well as a pretty easy infinite loop to use to hatch eggs. There's also the IV Judge to go with all that, though the effectiveness is still less than the modern games. I also appreciate that you get an NPC that lets you change the music there, and while it doesn't affect my enjoyment of it, the move tutors existing at all is cool.
Hoenns Route 119 and Fortree city have lived rent free as my favorite routes and city in the entire franchise.
It’s just such a unique kind of location. Here’s this massive route up north with tons of side areas via Surfing and the Acro Bike. The Mons in the route are some of the most unique in Tropius, a fan favourite, Linoone, a last chance to grab an HM Mule or decent party member, Kecleon, a cool designed yet gimmicky Mon, and Feebas, the most infamous Mon to find.
And the music and design of the route is also just amazing.
Meanwhile Fortree city, how many places in the series has a place build on top of treetops? Not a lot, and it’s such a unique place for it.
I’m honestly kinda inclined to say Pokopia Kanto because
a megastorm-ravaged, post-human wasteland being reclaimed by nature is like an ultimate vibe for me; it feels like the world has been purified by a kind of Ragnarök-like event and is able to begin anew.
I also feel like I have a very strong connection with Lumiose City in Z-A. I wouldn’t want every Pokémon game to do what it did, but as an experimental change of pace, I really liked the difference in perspective afforded by zooming in on a single city as the setting of the game. The scale of it feels so much more tangible to me as a result, and I ended up getting to know the city like it was my own; its streets and alleyways and points of interest, and how each of the major residents also relate to it.
Similarly, I’m very fond of the Isle of Armor. The Master Dojo became the main place where I would return to and travel from, and in addition to my wife Klara living there, even the no-name NPCs are given a nice little bit of personality throughout the initial trials. I felt very connected to the place, and the rest of the Isle itself also has nice scenery, especially in the rain. Having done the Diglett quest multiple times, I also just know the layout really well.
Another one that comes to mind is Jubilife Village. Sensing a pattern? I think I get pretty attached to places I can consider “home.” Z-A Lumiose is that concept writ large, but Jubilife Village in particular is especially nice in its own way because of how you actively help it grow and watch it change over the course of the game. There’s also an extra sense of importance to your contributions lent by knowing what Jubilife will eventually become.
Really, there’s no shortage of places I love in the Pokémon world. My love for the world of the games is pretty vast. Though I also want to include one more honorable mention — this specific back alley in B2W2 Castelia:
I stumbled upon it completely by accident while exploring the sewers, and at the time, even after having played the game multiple times, I had no idea it was there. It’s not a big or significant area by any means, but it has a unique vibe like no other part of Castelia — there’s even an apartment with a fire escape stairway that you don’t see anywhere else in the city as far as I know. It was just such a delightful little secret place to discover.
