During what war did Lt. Surge fight?

Question

During the game, we learn that he fought during a war. What war was it ?

Comments

There are two theories that I know of. The first is that Lt. Surge fought against Johto, which explains why people can't travel between Kanto and Johto in the Kanto based games, but can in the games that supposedly take place three years later. The second is that Lt. Surge fought against Team Valor, which is explained here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5N9EEH_iDXU

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Of course it was those Team Valor nutjobs. Mystic for life! Hail the arctic one!

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I don't think it was ever implied. It could either be a war that existed entirely within the Pokemon World or a war based on real life events, since Lt. Surge was an solider in the US Army. It has been suggested Lt. Surge is from Unova, due to Unova being based on New York City. If the war he was apart of is based on real life events I would say the Gulf War, due to the estimate age of Lt. Surge and it being five years before Pokemon Red and Blue was released.

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Didn't Kalos fight a big war as well?

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That was 3000 years before the main story. I don't Lt. Surge is more than 3000 years old.

Answer 1

The answer is currently unknown today and Gamefreak will likely never tell us as this is just a minor quote from a gym leader but knowing it won't really affect anything in all 8 games where Lt. Surge said this.