Hey. This is a story that sprung from discussing with a friend some of the similarities between the Pokémon series and Final Fantasy VII
This discussion led me to think whether an FFVII style story would work in Pokémon. So I took the backbone of the story and incorporated it into Pokémon. That doesn't mean it will be a carbon copy. Only some of the really major events will happen (and that doesn't include my Aeris replacement dying). Other than that the only thing that's carried over is the Lifestream.
I don't think it's enough o go into the crossover section really.
And if anyone is wondering where Burst Hearts come from they're from the ReBurst manga, but I've kinda changed them up for the sake of this story.
As we knew it (Prologue)
There have been several incidents in the past two and a half centuries.
It all started when about two-hundred-and-fifty years ago, the Flare Corporation took over the world. They didn't use Pokémon, or guns and weapons (or at least not many). They bought the world, or at least most of it. Money is very powerful. With their money, they managed to buy out Devon, a company in Hoenn. Flare bought over lots of scientists, technology and more importantly, energy. Energy is what makes people rich. Flare owned the Kalos power plant and Devon was developing the Infinity Energy (Infi for short).
Then they took over Silph Co from Kanto. They now controlled weaponry. And the Burst Hearts. Burst Hearts were weapons that allowed humans to merge with Pokémon. Older, archaic versions had existed for millennia. Silph Co had been working on modernising the jewels, making them more viable for modern wars. They had nearly finished when Flare bought them and had their own scientists finish the development. Therefore, they got all the credit.
Burst Hearts work almost like Pokéballs. You can use them to catch Pokémon and then send them out to battle if you need to. But their primary function is to let human people merge with Pokémon, taking on their powers and some of their appearance. Some people call these forms gijinkas. Gijinka forms can be dangerous, because the Pokémon may take over your mind. So some soldiers still stick to guns and ordering their Pokémon around.
Silph Co bought out, it was time to focus on the major corporations of other regions. That meant Altru from Almia, the Juniper Group from Unova, and Horizon Tech from Sinnoh. Other regions who didn't have their own major science companies had to rely on those of other regions, meaning Flare controlled them too.
Flare controlled the energy and the weapons. They were the richest people in the world. But they wanted more. With what was a literal army of scientists, they answered a question that had puzzled people for millennia. How did Pokémon get their power? Answering that question would mean they could have to bypass using Pokémon for Infinity Energy. They could do it without any risks. So they studied and studied how Pokémon sourced energy for their moves.
They found it. The Lifestream they called it after studying it and learning about it some more from people who had always known about it. Originally it didn't really have a name. They discovered that it did more than supply energy for Pokémon moves, it supplied life to the planet. During Flare's experiments a scientist died in a freak accident. At the exact same time, they were looking at readings. The second he died, the machine showed new energy entering the Lifestream. Using their machines, Flare tracked the energy as best they could. When it left the Lifestream, they observed that in the area where it had left, and at the exact same time and in the exact same place, a baby had been born. More experiments, more readings, and Flare concluded that it supplied life to the planet.
Determined to find out more about the Lifestream, Flare began to research whether it had appeared in historical events. They were able to link it to the Weapon, a machine that used Pokémon life force and turned it into a weapon. This was also the basis for Infi, but Pokémon were now only exposed to the machines used to make it for a very short amount of time. It became clear that previous societies had known about the Lifestream.
The People of the Vale had known it as the Dragonforce. They too had harnessed it into a machine, moving their castle, the Vale Sword, from one place to another. A historian did some research and discovered that using older Burst Hearts, the people had been using the Dragonforce (Lifestream) for small matters and had been abusing it. The area where they once lived became devoid of life. Plants died and Pokémon became sick. So they had to move. Flare wanted to learn more, but the People of the Vale had long since burned any teachings on how to use Burst Hearts to directly tap into the Lifestream. And if it had been passed down by speaking, the people had spread out so much and married outside into other societies that it was impossible to track down true descendants and very likely that nothing had been passed down.
Another society knew of the Lifestream as well. In fact, it was their name for it that scientists used to label it. These people were known as the Draconids and unlike the People of the Vale, they had managed to remain as an almost separate society, despite being spread out so much. Draconids were traceable in every region, especially Hoenn and Kalos where their numbers were largest. Flare began to communicate with them, trying to learn more about the Lifestream.
What amazed their scientists is that like the People of the Vale, the Draconids were able to directly use and seemingly communicate with the Lifestream, as well as talk to Pokémon. Unlike the People of the Vale, the Draconids did not need to use Burst Hearts or Pokémon mediums; they could do it directly themselves. Nor did they abuse the powers this gave them. Scientists were intrigued by the Draconids ability to do this so they researched their DNA to see if it gave them any clues as to how. They discovered that there was an extra gene inside the Draconids, similar to the Mew gene found in every Pokémon. They were human, yet with a gene that distanced themselves from everyday people.
With so much research done, Flare decided to start using the Lifestream for Infinity energy, bypassing the stage with Pokémon. When news of their plans spread to the Draconids, they warned them that nothing good would come of it. They began to protest. Flare's higher ups didn't like that. By that point knowledge of the Lifestream had spread to the public thanks to the Draconids. To get back at them, Flare did something despicable. They began kidnapping Draconids, especially children, and using their abilities to refine the process of drawing energy from the Lifestream. Draconids around the world began to protest harder, demanding that Flare stopped stealing away their people.
Angered, Flare launched a genocide. Most of their already small population was destroyed and that only an extremely small handful in Kalos were left alive, with even less in Hoenn. None were left in other regions. Many died off quickly from illness and starvation, unable to venture out into the world without fear of being killed.
This was one of the final steps to taking over the world. Many people were afraid of Flare, especially the governments. So it was easy for Flare to slip their own people into office, taking charge. Nobody dared rise up against them. They took charge quickly. Their rules were harsh. Nobody could say anything bad about them or they'd be taken away. Very quickly people began to settle into a life of fear. In some places, a huge divide between rich and poor sprung up. In Lumiose City in Kalos, they built a giant plate circling around Prism Tower. Under the plate were slums and where the poor lived. Above the plate, the rich lived in luxury. Something similar was done in the largest cities of each region. Jubilife in Sinnoh, Saffron in Kanto, Castelia in Unova, Goldenrod in Johto, Mauville in Hoenn, Fall City in Fiore and Pueltown in Almia. Many other cities had divides, but not in the form of plates. The Pokémon League was also scrapped, Gym Leaders and the Elite Four from each region dismissed.
In charge of the world, Flare needed an army. Many soldiers had left when the new government took charge. So they created one. WARRIOR. A unique force of soldiers, all of them using Burst Hearts. With the research done on the Draconids, they improved the Burst Hearts, making them safer, modernised and more powerful, finalising the projects Silph Co had started. All WARRIORs used Burst Hearts. Their main job was to protect Flare but also the people. The WARRIORs all had liquidised Infi injected into them, making them stronger. There were also rumours of another substance being injected into the WARRIORs.
Flare began to erase the history of the world. They destroyed old texts, changed the curriculum in schools, limited the knowledge the public had access to. That way, future generations would never know about what had happened in the past, what it was like before Flare took charge and what they had done. People who did know were too afraid to tell their children; there was always the chance they would end up telling the wrong person what their parents had told them and then they'd all be in trouble. Only a few historians were able to save records of the past. They then charged their descendants with keeping that knowledge safe.
Pokéballs and similar items were still being manufactured but they cost much more. Poor people had to buy stolen ones from the black market. It was a very tough time. Still, enough were in circulation to allow most of the population to have Pokémon, even if some were caught with stolen balls. Flare didn't mind as much. They had enough WARRIORs and ordinary soldiers to stop any rebellions.
It was true. They did. In the 250 years between Flare's takeover and incident, several rebellions happened. All of them were squashed. Oblivia, the last free region, held out for an impressive hundred years. They didn't have a formal military but it was one of the summoning points of the three Legendary dogs: Raikou, Suicune and Entei. The three left their home in Johto when the people of Oblivia called for their help. With those three at their side, Oblivia was able to raise an army large enough to hold off Flare. But they injured the three Legendaries, forcing them back to their true home trapped in the Burnt Tower of Johto. Oblivia kept on rebelling every ten years or so, but never won back its freedom. All other rebellions went the same way.
The Flare Corporation ruled the world. That meant their owner, their head, ruled everything. The position had been passed down through the family, the same way ancient kings handed down their title to their children. Flare had been owned by a family named Rouge, who ruled with an iron fist. Multiple times people had tried to assassinate members of the Rouge family. Each time they failed.
Two and a half centuries passed and the world didn't change. Flare searched for more power, trying to harness the power of Legendaries. Some say that they wanted to kill Arceus himself, to prove they were gods. Others say they attempted to search for the descendants of the Two Princes of Unova, so that they could force them to marry into the Rouge family and have the power of Reshiram and Zekrom in their hands. But nobody can deny that Flare spent the better part of two centuries researching events in history which could lead them to having the power of Legendary Pokémon. Rumours spread that they even managed to revive Team Rocket's Project Mewtwo. The objective of the Project was to create a powerful clone of Mew, the ancestor of all Pokémon. It failed in Team Rocket's hands.
Twenty or so years before the present day, Flare started another project and it had something to do with the WARRIORs. Anybody, rich or poor, could apply for WARRIOR. It was rumoured that they started to experiment on the WARRIORs. But what they did started off a chain of events that became one of the causes for the incident. It wasn't the only cause. A lot of people wanted Flare out and the world free.
The world as everybody knew it was never the same again.
Yeah so this is the main thing I'll be working on.
Like I said before, some major events will happen, others won't. Of course, that's for me to know and you to find out.