Hello everyone and welcome to the first chapter of Broken Lands! I apologize for not getting this out on the usual time I would release chapters; life has been on the low side for me as of late with things not quiet going how it should. But, I will not keep you here just because of my life's current problems, things will get better I'm sure. This story will not be as long as A Soldier and His Gardevoir, but i hope you enjoy it nonetheless! Please note that at times there will be dates, particularly in this chapter. Since I cannot find any conclusive evidence of the time in the Pokemon world, I will instead use our own. Anyways, let's not waste time!
Prologue: The Great Downfall
Year, 2018
The last several weeks had been a time of tense and horrid fears. The world, on a political scale, was falling apart. New laws and taxes had been implemented across the nation, and now several regions threatened to secede. Tensions were ever rising, and with it followed with each of the regions either reactivating their regional military force or heavily strengthening what they already had. More and more military vehicles, aircraft and soldiers were being seen. In the regions threatening to secede, images of local patriotism on the extreme levels could be seen on every billboard and TV. It could be heard on every radio; even the large screens decorating the sides of the tall skyscrapers in the big cities displayed images of the extreme and violent patriotism. The entire ordeal made for a most volatile and deadly time bomb, ready to blow at any second.
It was on this day that the proverbial bomb would finally detonate in its deadly power. News stations across the entire nation blared to life as the info reached them. The Sevii Islands, though technically under the power and control of Kanto, had strong secessionist feelings within its political body. It was through backdoor dealings with Hoenn that the small region's larger neighbor sent its military force across the waters and began to take positions on the islands. This forced Kanto soldiers that were stationed there to flee or face the consequences. TV's across the nation showed aerial footage of Hoenn's troop transports pulling up to several coasts of the Sevii Islands. The Kanto Region, greatly angered by what it felt was an invasion, sent its army across the waters between it and Hoenn and invaded its now enemy. Johto, allied with Kanto, sunk several warships belonging to Sinnoh, who was attempting to help reinforce its Hoenn ally. The regions all then declared war on each other, sparking a terrible war. This conflict was known to Johto and Kanto as the 'Unification War', while Sinnoh and Hoenn called it the 'Great Independence War'.
Though, as time will come to tell, the survivors would come to refer to this war as 'The Great Downfall'.
Year, 2025
Seven years...seven long years. Much of the mainland of the nation was left in ruins. As the war progressed, the Sevii Islands nearly had become uninhabitable with the stench of death and poisonous gases that filled the sky. Hoenn refused to allow its enemy to regain the islands, so they burned everything on the lands and filled the air with the thick yellow gases that killed nearly every living thing. It now hung low to the ground, revealing the destruction left behind by the militaries that fought for control over the small patches of dirt. The waters around the Sevii Islands had become permanently stained a dull red; a result of the thousands of dead and decaying human soldiers and their pokemon companions.
Hoenn itself suffered a terrible invasion by its enemies. Much of its infrastructure was left in rubble as it was forced to surrender to Kanto and Johto. With one of their opponents gone, the alliance set its sights on Sinnoh. The island region had been preparing its coastal defenses since Hoenn was first invaded. They knew their ally was doomed as soon as Kanto boots hit the sands. Sinnoh soldiers landed as well, trying to give aid, but they soon retreated to instead plan the invasion of the mainland. While hoards of alliance warships and water pokemon slammed against the shields of Sinnoh's coastal guns, a massive invasion force was secretly being dispatched. The Spring Offensive of 2023 left hundreds of thousands of humans and many more pokemon dead in the destructive wake of Sinnoh's surprise blitzkrieg. The alliance, not realizing until it was too late, found the Kanto half of their coalition falling. The reserve defense forces and many thousands of civilians rose up to defend their homes, but were smashed by the divisions of veteran Sinnoh soldiers. It only took weeks for the battle-hardened invaders to reach Saffron City, which had been declared as the defacto capital of the region.
With the capital of Kanto in their control, Sinnoh forced the region into submission. It withdrew its troops from Sinnoh's shores as they had just managed to break through the coastal defenses in desperation. Kanto had hoped to break Sinnoh's back before they had to surrender. Johto resumed the landings, with many thousands of Kanto defectors that refused to surrender within their ranks. The invasion force began at southwestern tip of Sinnoh, and soon took Jubilife City.
Sinnoh refused to back down, instead rushing its armies to the border between Johto and Kanto. The Sinnoh military had received 'reinforcements' in the form of pokemon captured from the local wildlife and off the bodies of fallen soldiers. Also with them were civilians who sympathized with Sinnoh and joined their ranks. The region then began its total invasion of Johto, burning and destroying everything in its path.
Soon, tensions reached its climax. The governments of both Johto and Sinnoh realized that they each were on the verge of losing. While Sinnoh was making fast grounds on its enemy territory, their opponent was also making the same progress within their own home. They finally turned to each of their own ultimate weapons: the orbital kinetic strikes. Nuclear weapons had long been banned, and the knowledge of their manufacture was long lost. Instead, the split nation had developed kinetic weapons. Satellites in orbit, armed with tungsten rods with rocket engines. The rods would be dropped from orbit and launched to the target at extremely high speeds; merely using the kinetic impact alone to decimate city-sized targets with the force of a nuke without the radiation.
Sinnoh was the first region to use the weapon. A seventy-two hour warning was given. It then fired at several cities in Johto, annihilating much of the populations that were unable to find shelter in time. Johto responded in kind, firing its orbital strikes. Jubilife City, which had just been retaken by Sinnoh, was reduced to rubble by the weapon. Oreburgh City was decimated as well, killing anyone not in a suitable shelter.
The strikes failed to prove enough, with either region refusing to back down. They instead insisted on keeping the fighting going, and even pushed more pokemon to the front line as replacements for the fallen human soldiers. With most of the human factor of each military gone or pulled into reserve, pokemon were forced to fight in their masters' places. The brutal death and destruction carried on for another two years, leading into 2025. The pokemon had finally grown tired and angry with what they now saw as slavery and abuse from their captors. It began with numerous wild pokemon attacking, being lead by the legendary ones. Soon, many of the captures pokemon had been freed, and they all turned to their violence to humanity. The militaries of Sinnoh and Johto quickly proved to fail against the sudden onslaught that turned against them.
While bloody fighting broke out in the streets of the ruins of Jubilife City, a lone soldier watched on. He was froze in a state of horror at the sights around him. His eyes ran across the chaos that was being waged in the streets. One soldier was gored by the horns of a Ramparados; another was burned alive by an Infernape. The soldier looked to his right, seeing an innocent man ripped to shreds by an Aggron when he tried to shield his family from the Iron Armor Pokemon. The small family screamed and cried for mercy, but they too were quickly killed.
The soldier stumbled a few steps forward, tightly gripping his rifle. His throat became as dry as a desert. His eyes filled to the brims with tears. The man still found himself unable to move. Never would he have thought that this war would lead to this. He never agreed with the fighting between regions to begin with, but as a soldier he was forced to comply. Now though, a whole new war was being fought; and it was one that humanity was bound to lose. He looked to his left as his eyes subconsciously guided him. A Medicham found itself knocked to the ground. Several soldiers quickly rushed the Meditate Pokemon and started beating it to death with the butts of their rifles. Only after several moments of the abuse did they finally shoot it. The man also saw a Igglybuff, merely a baby, being viciously stomped into the ground by another soldier. Once the demented soldier was satisfied with the dead baby pokemon under his boot did he resume his firing at other pokemon.
The young soldier shook his head. Tears broke free and ran down his cheeks. He then looked down at his rifle. The soldier wanted nothing to do with this violence. He wanted nothing of it. He didn't want the death. He didn't want the abuse. He only wished for this nightmare to be over; that he'd wake up to find himself in his bed, with his wife at his side. After a moment of simply standing in the open, the soldier dropped his rifle and spun on his heels. The young man ran as fast as he could away from the battle, sobbing the entire time as he ran away.
Within only three months' time, much of humanity had been killed. What had started as a population in the billions, had suddenly become more in the mere six-digit numbers. Only small patches of survivors and militia forces, remnants of their region's military, remained. These small patches of resistance against what was now seen as monsters instead of pokemon had become united under a single banner. It was a confederation of the settlements, all lead by one man who had not been seen by anyone under his command. This regime had proven to be a tyrannical one, silencing those who would dare speak against them. The general population of survivors tended to try to ignore the tyranny over their heads, knowing that the military under its command had managed to keep the monsters at bay.
Year, 2045
It was within this regime, and in a small town known as Anvil, that this story will begin; twenty years after the fall of humanity. Sitting on the walls separating the homes and buildings of Anvil from the outside world was a young girl. She had recently turned eighteen, and took to a habit of sitting on the wall. Looking out at the fields around the town, her hazel eyes stared with wonder. She brushed a lock of brown hair from her face, then turned to jump back to the ground. The girl, whose name was May, was growing more curious about the outside world, and she felt nearly ready to leave the regime and explore.
That will be it for the prologue! I understand it was short, but it is needed to help establish the kind of story that will be following it. I hope you guys all enjoyed and I hope to update this story as much as possible. I will try for the weekly updates like I did with my first story, but we'll see since my life has been somewhat hectic. Anyways, see you next time. Good to be back! Peace!