Onomastic and Semiotic Analysis of “Frenchness” in Pokémon X and Y

The Kalos region in Pokémon X and Y (2013) marks a shift in the franchise’s world-building through its explicit geographic and cultural foundation in France. This research deconstructs this virtual environment by examining its onomastic system. The study identifies the linguistic strategies used to construct a playable French identity. The methodology adopts a qualitative, text-based approach to analyze the English-language localization through a two-stage process. First, a descriptive morphological analysis is applied to three distinct corpora: the seventy-two new Pokémon species, thirty-nine regional locations, and twenty-seven key characters. Second, the data are interpreted using the semiotic framework of Barthes’ Mythologies. The results indicate that the Kalos lexicon is a non-arbitrary, systematic construct. The localization utilizes morphological processes, specifically blending, to produce neologisms. These names evoke four thematic fields: fashion, cuisine, history, and nature. This study concludes that the onomastic system of Kalos functions as a tool for transcreation, producing a hyperreal myth of France for global consumption.