I remember some old polyglot satoshi headcanons, and with the new region i wonder if he would have to try to convert back to english, after probably like almost a year after not using it much, or maybe alola has its own language? I imagine the kanto arc would be troubling, if he had to switch between two completely different languages on a day to day basis. kasumi and takeshi would probably be surprised this kid has become fluent in so many languages since theyve last met too.
From what little I know about Hawaii, it does have English as an official language, but there is a native Polynesian language that is pretty close to being lost for good due to enforced territorial legislation back when America first got control of the islands. There’s very few people who know the language fully, but a good population of the people know a few words here and there because of a piecemeal language inheritance over the years. There’s also a creole/pidgin language called Hawaiian Creole English which kinda reads like old southern-style colloquial English you would have seen African Americans using back in the 1800′s. The best similar example I can give you is Their Eyes Were Watching God’s use of the language, HCE really reminds me of that.
I’ve spoken about this with a couple of other friends on Plurk, but due to that kind of language history, I’ve come to the conclusion that Satoshi would have largely used Unovan language while in Alola, but it would become more heavily accented and fragmented with native Alolan over time, especially with Kaki’s influence. It’s not hard for me to imagine that Kaki’s grandfather might have been one of the few people left to know native Alolan, and that Kaki himself takes great pride in his Akala heritage and admires his grandfather’s legacy, so he likely learned a great deal of Alolan vocabulary from his grandfather and Satoshi picks up a lot of that from him, as well as other places he visits. Considering Satoshi’s chosen one status habit of exploring everywhere he can get his feet planted on and running into all sorts of things, I wouldn’t be surprised if he picks up a great deal of Alolan vocabulary just by sheer exposure and the variety of people he runs into, so while he probably doesn’t actively use it due to the fact that pretty much everyone speaks fluent Unovan, he inadvertently ends up knowing more Alolan than most native residents. Not that he knows that, welp.
He’d also probably have great fun with the Alolan-Unovan creole language, too, come to think of it. But yes, Kasumi and Takeshi would probably be pretty surprised just to see how well-travelled this boy is, but at the same time, kinda expecting it? I mean…he always had that tendency to bring people and Pokemon around him, somehow, so it seems natural that he’d learn how to be friends with them.
anyways i’m very glad you rememebered polyglot satoshi i always welcome more discussion about him and also i’d love any input on this Alolan language headcanon since the langauge situation in Hawaii isn’t so straightforward. :U