Hey, Bill, I know this is outside your range of expertise, but do you know exactly how much one Poke is, (compared to the USD or the Japanese Yen)? Or if there isn’t a conversion system, what are some household items and their relative costs?

Bill: Currency is a strange thing in our world, reader. Decades ago, we did away with a lot of forms of it to replace it with a universal currency (the poké) to make things easier for trainers. It’s very much the same case as languages, which we’ve also done away with in favor of a universal alternative due to the high volume of globetrotting trainers. For that reason, the exchange rate is largely irrelevant because neither the yen nor the dollar still exist.

However, if it helps at all, the current cost of a loaf of bread is about P160, and rice or a carton of eggs is usually P200. If you’d like a few non-edible examples, a ticket for one train ride on either the Goldenrod MTB or the Celadon Metro costs about P200 each, assuming you’re not taking an express line. A nice pair of slacks, however, can be upwards of P7000. A cheap internet plan may be P4030, but on the positive side, a cheap, prepaid cellphone is usually only P50.

For the sake of not depressing anyone, I’ll refrain from telling you how much rent in a student housing complex is if you’re not lucky enough to have a scholarship for it.