Why should Pokemon push themselves to near death just to win glory and power for their Trainer? This isn't love. It's slavery. Ever think the idea of battling Pokemon is a bit barbaric? Well, the world wasn't always this way. A conspiracy theory of Men and Pokemon.
This story starts with a fruit.
Just a plain old fruit. Not juicy and succulent like a berry, not harbouring any medicinal qualities. Just a fruit. An Apricorn to be exact. An Apricorn and a Man.
Since the dawn of time there have been two types of beings living in our world: Humans and Pokemon. For entire millennia these two beings lived in perfect harmony. It wasn't like what we call harmony nowadays. That world was a perfect place. Nobody ever wanted for anything. They were content. There was no need for organisation because the people had respect for one another. There was no property, no need for money, no rules or laws. The people were peaceful and helped one another and worked together for the good of everyone. It was a commune.
Within this harmony existed the powerful but docile creatures, Pokemon. They were not like the sort of Pokemon we know now. They and the Humans shared the world between them and lived together in peace and cooperation. The people needed the Pokemon for the powers they possessed, they used those powers for good and to build their communities. In turn, the Pokemon needed the Humans to help to put their powers to productive use. It was a symbiotic relationship, and everyone benefited.
One day a Man was sitting in a field underneath an Apricorn tree. He wondered why this tree was there. It was not in harmony with the rest of the world. Neither Humans nor Pokemon benefited from this tree. He took an Apricorn from the tree and went home, thinking deeply.
The young Man grew old and it was not until then that he finally cracked it. He had known of the strange qualities of the Apricorn for some many years but it was only then that he was able to harness its energy. After his whole life's work, he had managed to forge an entirely new creation, something that the world had never seen before. Something that put the Apricorn to use.
At first he was wary of it and he tried to get rid of the idea, to forget about it, and throw it away. It was unnatural. But he did not fully understand the consequences of his discovery. He had been tempted. His curiosity got the better of him. He had created a contraption that would be able to steal the powers of a Pokemon, making it tame in the process.
It was the biggest discovery in the history of the world, and the one to have the most catastrophic consequences.
As soon as the Man had caught his first Pokemon with his Monster Ball, he changed. He became crazed with power and was not about to stop. It wasn't long before he got bored of having the power of Pokemon and having to keep it a secret. He chose a few select friends, and so, more had been tempted. Now these power-hungry men felt that with the brains of Humans and the power of Pokemon, they were unstoppable. They grew arrogant and no longer thought of the Pokemon as equals. They only wanted to abuse them and use them for their power.
And so they were no longer Men, but men.
After much planning, the men eventually decided that the only way to seize control of all Pokemon was to capture the legendary Pokemon of the region in their Monster Balls. Then they would be strong enough to rule the entire world.
On one fateful day the men marched through the city of Ecruteak, attracting crowds with their astounding display of strong, powerful Pokemon that abided by their every word. Many people were unsure about the idea of capturing and controlling Pokemon, these creatures were their friends and neighbours. But many more were tempted. And so the group of men marching through the city grew and grew. Monster Balls were handed out in their hundreds to the newcomers and they tried catching Pokemon for themselves. The Pokemon looked on in horror as their friends the Humans forced their control over their fellow Pokemon. After being sucked into a Monster Ball the Pokemon would come out again with a glazed look, and would be forever chained down to carry out the orders of man.
In a desperate attempt to save themselves from the slavery of the Pokeballs, the Pokemon began to fight back. But they did not stand a chance. The captured Pokemon were rapidly reused against their own kind and, gradually, more and more of the local Pokemon succumbed to the power of the men.
The city was in a state of total anarchy. Along with the power came much more: greed, jealousy, and ambition. Those who were not at the forefront of the coup took to rounding up every last Pokemon they could get their hands on and the battle that raged through the city was devastating.
As the battle raged around them, the original rebels marched to the two towers in the East and West of the city, to the roosts of the legendary Pokemon.
At the top of the Tin Tower, the men approached Ho-Oh as the elders would do so often to commune with it. The foolish men attempted to weaken it with their Pokemon and threw one of their Monster Balls to catch it.
To their surprise, the Ball could not capture the legendary Pokemon. Ho-Oh was furious, but had been weakened by the men. It flew away and the men then marched to the Brass Tower. However, when they arrived there the legendary Lugia was nowhere to be found. It had watched in horror at the suffering of Pokemon at the hands of man and had flown away in distress and despair.
Bitter and outraged that they could not steal the awesome power of these two legends, the men set fire to the Brass Tower even as the battle still raged inside of it.
All escaped the fire, except for three Pokemon who were stuck in the basement and could not get out in time. They perished in the carnage and fury of the Great Battle. But before it flew away for good, Ho-Oh returned to the devastated city. It saw the havoc wreaked by the Humans that were no longer deserving of that title. It saw the three Pokemon that had perished because of them, and with all the mystical power it possessed, it created new lives for those Pokemon. They were to become legends themselves, and would have incredible speed and power so that they would never again play victim to the deeds of men. Those Pokemon were to become messengers for Ho-Oh. It would fly away in search of a Human that still had a pure heart, and Suicune, Raikou and Entei would watch over all humans and Pokemon until that day came.
The humans were bitter at the loss of the legendary Pokemon, but they won the battle and the last of the untamed Pokemon were driven into the countryside to hide in the grass and forever be deemed 'wild'.
Soon the news of the happenings in Ecruteak City spread across the world to the still pure and innocent ears of Humans. But the men of Ecruteak were sly. They formulated rumours that it had been the Pokemon who had started the battle. Soon they had persuaded people to be cautious and wary of the powers of Pokemon. While these lies were spreading, an underground government was organised, something the world had never seen before. It was made up of many of the original power-crazed men who decided that order needed to be put on the world. With power came paranoia, and they could no longer allow the world to continue on without systems. The government remained out of sight for years and most people didn't even know it existed. But there were slight traces of order coming onto things. Monster Balls were distributed and spread far and wide to encourage people to trap and control the Pokemon, as they could no longer be trusted. Currency was introduced for the first time, and with that, profits. Greed and selfishness became widespread, and more and more people began to follow the trends and try out these Monster Balls. Once the world had been temped by Monster Balls there was no going back, and all harmony and innocence and purity in the world had been destroyed.
Great cities were built, things were bought and sold and property was claimed. The change happened so gradually that most people didn't even notice, and didn't question the newly found establishment. Although, there were of course many people who denounced this treatment of Pokemon. Those people were picked off one by one; disappearing or taken away by men from the service. A secret government and a secret police. People learned that questioning brought no answers, so they kept quiet and grew comfortable in their lives. At newly founded schools children were indoctrinated into believing that their purpose in life was to catch Pokemon, and eventually all people who knew the way the world used to be died. Over generations that world was forgotten, or cast aside as an old story. A myth.
Leagues had been set up for Pokemon Trainers to battle out with eachother, mostly just to keep everyone oblivious to the sick conspiracy of battling that had emerged and been encouraged by the secret government. They were held to keep tabs on the strongest and most determined of people. Those who went far in these competitions were taken in as recruits to the government or assembled into an army of mindless followers who had trained themselves on their own through traveling with Pokemon. Many of the victors were never heard of again. Those who seemed suspicious of the regime were monitored and done away with, whether it was murder or distractions, pulling the curtains over their eyes and appointing them the honour of being a Gym Leader. This was another new rank of power made up for the benefit of keeping people busy about their daily lives and in the dark about the corrupt state of the world.
Nowadays, people don't know any different. Children grow up awaiting the day they can set out on a Pokemon adventure and be friends with their Pokemon and love them. They have no idea that long ago Pokemon had not been cooped up in Pokeballs and forced to do battle with their own kind. The children of today think that the Pokemon battle out of love for their Trainer, not that they are forced to do so by the energy of the Apricorn. Pokemon are helpless at the hands of humans.
Ho-Oh awaits the day when a pure hearted Human will return to the world but the perfect world that once existed has long been forgotten. Humans will never be able to give back the power they stole from Pokemon, because they are still abusing it. And now they don't know any different.