Pokemón was a

youth subculture Youth subculture is a youth-based subculture with distinct styles, behaviors, and interests. Youth subcultures offer participants an identity outside of that ascribed by social institutions such as family, work, home and school. Youth subcultures ...

that emerged among

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

's young population in the mid-2000s and experienced a decline by late 2009, ultimately becoming extinct by 2012. Recognizable by their angular and pressed hairstyles reminiscent of characters from the Japanese franchise

Pokémon (an abbreviation for in Japan) is a Japanese media franchise managed by The Pokémon Company, founded by Nintendo, Game Freak, and Creatures (company), Creatures, the owners of the trademark and copyright of the franchise. In terms of ...

, Pokemones were one of the largest and most well-known urban tribes in the country. Although Pokemones shared certain similarities in dress with other urban tribes like otaku and

emo Emo is a rock music genre characterized by emotional, often confessional lyrics. It emerged as a style of and hardcore punk from the Washington D.C. hardcore punk scene, where it was known as emotional hardcore or emocore and pioneered b ...

, they differed in their interests and musical preferences. Pokemón was a fusion of otaku and

flaite ''Flaite'' () is a Chilean Spanish slang used to define urban youth of aggressive attitude who are linked to vulgar habits and crime. The stereotype of the ''flaite'' is from a low socioeconomic background, can be a delinquent, travel in groups, an ...

subcultures but did not actively follow

anime is Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japane ...

like otaku or share the musical tastes of flaite. Alongside borrowing elements from emo, such as sideswept

bangs Bang or bangs may refer to: Products * M1922 Bang rifle, a US semi-automatic rifle designed by Søren Hansen Bang * Bang, a List of model car brands, model car brand * Bang (beverage), an energy drink Geography * Bang, Lorestan, a village in I ...

, Pokemones also incorporated aspects of punk and the local " hardcore" subculture. Compared to the stereotypes of emo and otaku, Pokemones were more lively and extroverted. Most Pokemones were teenagers who enjoyed dancing to reggaeton music at parties and engaging in kissing and physical contact, referred to as ''poncear'', with multiple individuals regardless of gender. They heavily utilized the

Internet The Internet (or internet) is the global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a '' network of networks'' that consists of private, pub ...

, particularly the image-sharing site Fotolog, for trading photos of themselves and communicated through MSN Messenger. Typically hailing from Chile's middle and lower-class backgrounds, Pokemones were often juxtaposed with another group known as ''peloláis'', which consisted of affluent girls with long, straight, and fair hair attending private Catholic schools. In January 2008, messages advocating violence against Pokemones began circulating online, primarily due to their adoption of various elements from other subcultures, including emo hairstyles, hip-hop clothing, and the c-walk dance style. These incidents led to an increase in physical attacks against Pokemones outside of clubs and bars. In response, the Chilean government and student leaders from

Santiago Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile, is the capital and largest city of Chile as well as one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is the center of Chile's most densely populated region, the Santiago Metropolitan Region, whose ...

organized a joint anti-violence campaign called the "Foundation for a Better Future."

See also

References

Further reading