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powdermelonkeg · 1 month

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Pokémon World History Notes

This is based upon a dream I had in which I made a theory post about Pokémon World humans being descended from refugees from Earth, as well as a bunch of assorted Pokémon worldbuilding thoughts I had a month ago that I've since polished. Meant more to be internally consistent for a specific interpretation, as opposed to a blanket statement to count as canon for the whole of Pokémon as it was intended; this is MY spin on Pokémon, my own AU built off of the pieces I was given:

Pre-History: Humans first came to Pokémon World from our world, as space refugees from the now defunct Earth. This was millennia ago, and spacefaring technology is long-lost to time. Current human civilization is built on the forgotten foundations of Earth culture.

Notes: I put the pre-history at 5.5k years ago, as Gogoat was domesticated by early humans 5k years ago, according to its 'dex entry. There ARE records of humans before this, such as a mural of Cyclizar being ridden 10k years ago and the first Claydol supposedly coming from a human doll 20k years ago; however, the Pokémon World is temporally and spatially unstable, so I've decided that those two instances were from temporal anomalies. Also worth noting, I do not think that Pre-History is common knowledge to Pokémon World humans. It might even be lost entirely.

Ancient History: Ages ago, before Pokéballs, the strong ruled the weak, and you proved you were the strongest by having the strongest monster under your command. This was hard to attain because, before Pokéballs, controlling a monster required constant training and attention for decades. Back then, people lived in genuine fear of Pokémon, which was exploited by people who knew how to tame them.

Pokéball Era: In Johto, people eventually figured out how to make Pokéballs from Apricorns, though they had a poor catch rate. This swayed the balance in favor of the weaker people and destabilized the might = right mentality. Fighting for leadership became more commonplace, pitting monster against monster as a challenge of strength. As this era progressed, rules were established for these fights to lead, leading to the hard limit of 6 Pokémon to a team and the rule that fighting concludes when the opposing Pokémon is unconscious.

Rise of Gyms: People in charge became known as Gym Leaders, as fights for rulership were held in gyms to avoid collateral damage. Gym Leaders wanted to keep their power as Pokémon training became more accessible. At the same time, the villages they ruled wanted someone in charge that wasn't just brute-force powerful with a dragon by their side. In order to keep your title as Gym Leader, you had to follow a set of rules of conduct, share power with the elders of the town, and show your appreciation and willingness to preserve the town's culture by participating in cultural events.

This is what led to monotype Gyms being the norm—you want your team to reflect the town you rule, to prove to the population that you put care and thought for the town into picking your monsters. Meanwhile, in order to take the title of Gym Leader FROM a reigning leader, you had to prove your mettle in battle against other trainers, beat them to get a token proving your merit, present that token to the elders, then be voted in.

Gym Leaders eventually began to go head to head with each other for control of a region, both as a grab for power before the elders came into play, and as a point of pride—"My town is clearly the better one, I beat you and I lead it." The champion of these tournaments got to rule the region, but the Elite Four was established to keep them in check as a council similar to the elders' rule.

Everyday people wanted to fight for the Champion seat too, leading to the formation of Leagues. In order to earn the right to fight the Champion, you had to beat every Gym Leader in the region that had fought for their ranking (or their champions), present the tokens as proof of your victory to the E4, then be evaluated by the E4 before you fought the Champ. As time went on, the evaluation became a battle unto itself, to see how the prospective trainer adapted to pressure.

As time went on and the Leagues got more repute, rules were finalized. You didn't need every town's token, just the highest ranking 8. You had to fight the E4 and the Champion in succession with a single team. The loser of any fight had to pay the winner a wager decided before the battle. Referees were established. Gym Leaders began making tests for their gyms pre-battle, to weed out those they personally didn't want ascending to a leadership position.

Congratulations. You now have a sport.

Era of Electricity: With the rise of electricity, the old system slowly fell out of favor. Elders and Gym Leaders no longer ruled, instead the governance coming from councils, law enforcement, and companies, all vying for power, tying everything up in bureaucratic tape, paying for their ideas to be implemented, controlling supply lines and vetoing decisions in interest of the whole, etc, all without Pokémon battles. However, people would riot if their favorite spectator sport was thrown away, so Gyms were relegated to sport only, and allowed to continue running so long as they stayed out of leadership's way.

Note: This isn't saying that the Gym system was better, just that the new systems were such a stark departure from tradition that it caused unrest. It was too much, too new, too fast, and was destined to fail.

Rise of Teams: The fall of Gyms made a power vacuum and left many people unsatisfied with how convoluted and non-traditional current leadership was. Teams rose up under their own "strongest one rules" mentality, claiming that part of their culture that the then-modern world was so ready to discard. Teams could be based on anything from a willingness to do good, to grievances, to charisma, to criminal activity, anything went. The biggest common thread among them was a promise of anonymity, as uniforms protected the identities of everyone but the admins.

Teams, as a whole, didn't view themselves as criminals, but as revolutionaries. They kept their own internal order under the 6-Pokémon rule, and respectfully bowed out to those that managed to beat them.

Note: This is my explanation for the general attitude towards Teams. Rocket, Aqua/Magma, Skull, and Yell are all very different beasts, but they all have uniforms that allow for anonymity and are all counter to established culture in their own way. Team doesn't mean criminal, but it CAN.

Silph Co.: The Silph Co. invented the fast, cheap, reliable, mass-produced Pokéball. Anyone could catch anything, no matter the age, no matter how strong the monster. Teams flocked to this, leading to a strong conflict as the leadership attempted to cut down on it. Instances of poaching, environmental imbalance, and invasive Pokémon skyrocketed, as Pokémon were removed from their native habitats in too many numbers to be sustainable. At the Sinjoh border, Sinnoh and Johto both tried to claim the territory with hopes of researching the legendaries it was tied to in order to control the world. This exploded into multi-regional war, riots, and civil strife.

Note: This is about the Pokémon War that Surge mentioned in R/B/G/Y, where the big theory for awhile was that that's where all the dads went. I like to think of it as a big, catastrophic, near-post-apocalyptic event that affected everyone.

Note: This isn't when the Pokéball itself was invented (that was based on Westwood's research in Celadon City, Kanto 70 years before R/B/G/Y). Rather, this is when it was both mass-produced and insanely popular. I like to think the prototype was invented 70 years pre-PKMN, then took 20 years to get proper manufacturing in line, then across another 20 got massively popular. It culminated in war towards the end of this boom in popularity.

The End of the War: Everyone's retreated to their home regions, with casualties too high to count. With the drastic dip in population, support, and power, most of the old leaderships dissolved, with only the strongest companies (primarily Silph Co.) surviving the crash. IDs were issued to anyone who had Pokémon in order to hold them accountable for damage their Pokémon did. You were only legally allowed to start catching Pokémon at 10 years old, and you went to school for Pokémon training until age 14. League Leadership was dusted off, polished, and revived. Badges were used to limit who could buy the more powerful Silph Co. Pokéballs, to prove those who had them had the knowledge to tame the Pokémon they caught. Pokémon Centers were erected in all major towns, and Pokémon Professors were hired to teach young people about Pokémon, research the monsters to better understand how they work, and study the magic that fuels them.

Note: The 10y/o & 14y/o rule is to account for the old rule of getting your license at 10 years old vs the newer games pegging it at 14, as well as the nebulous presence of Pokémon schools. You can own one at 10, but you've gotta go to school until 14. Additionally, though it doesn't really fit into the history lessons, I think pre-schoolers can get junior licenses which let them take care of a Pokémon with supervision, even though it's not officially registered to them.

The above rules remain in place. Gambling on Pokémon fights is still common, and it's the most reliable way to earn money outside of a location-based job. Young trainers who want to buy things patrol well-traveled routes, scouting for other trainers to make money off of and leading to a joke that making eye contact is enough to merit a challenge from one of the pesky little guys.

Bonus: Etymology In-World

Originally Monster: Creature that can use magic, usually terrifying Monster Ball: Capsule made from an apricorn to contain a monster Pocket Monster: Creature that's been captured in a Monster Ball

Monster Ball → Pocket Ball: Use the Pocket Ball to catch yourself a Pocket Monster. Makes sense. Pocket Monster → Pocket-mon → Pokémon: Simplification. A monster becomes a Pokémon on capture

Pocket Ball → Pokéball: Pokéball to catch Pokémon Pokémon: Creature that can use magic and can be caught in a Pokéball. Does not need to already have been captured

Pokémon and Monster got conflated as the word evolved, now "monster" is like calling a dog a "canine;" technically correct, but not used in common vernacular to refer to the thing.

#pokemon #long post #hey since i was playing around with it today why not #pkmn #worldbuilding #need a tag for this stuff...#pokebee hcs #<- there we go!

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