Well, The life of the pokemon trainer is definitely an adventurous one, even if a bit of a difficult one. They trek across every mile of the planet to find that special pokemon, raise it with tender loving care, and ether use it's power to show Beauty, Coolness, Intelligence, Toughness, and Cuteness in a Pokemon contest, or battle to reach the top of the pokemon world against the rest. And they need and use every tool that the smart ones have made to make it a little bit easier.

There's things like GPS's and PokeTechs which tell you where to go next, a Pokedex to show which pokemon's capable of what, radio and TV pass around the news from trainer to trainer, and even their cards have technology in them to show the accomplishments of the trainers who hold them. Not to mention the Pokeball and the PC system itself. Without those two things, without a doubt the whole Co-ordinating and Pokemon League wouldn't exist. You can't exactly fit a snorlax in an elevator, or a charizard on a bus, can ya?

Then you can start to think, "That's the usual, duh." Well, here's something to think about. Imagine you've got about a million trainers on a continent, and each have six pokeballs a piece. Each pokeball is made of about two part Apricorn and one part various ores. Apricorn's a plant, so it's really easy to get a hold of and work with, which is great! However, the ores are a different story. If you estimate the amount of metal in a pokeball, maybe about 15 grams each, times six and then a million, you have quite a bit of metal there. You can't find that kind of metal by just looking around the surface. You'd have to dig it out of the ground. This isn't exactly what the pokemon world is famous about, but it's definitely food for thought.

So how do they get it? Well, one of two ways. On one hand, comes the giant mining companies that dot the many regions of the Pokemon world. They usually do strip mining near found deposits of wanted ores, then proceed to dig, then cover back up and move on. Sometimes they start digging into mountains too, when they think they can find good materials that way. They would ether use big machines for tough stone, or people and strong pokemon to break up the rock. This isn't exactly the most friendly approach, as it often disturbs the native wild pokemon, causing them to attack the work crews. It also takes years for the land to recover after they have left. But all must admit, they are the main reason trainers can buy a pokeball for as cheap a price as can be.

But we also have the independent miners who work around too. They usually come in small groups, about 3-4, and work the many formations of caves and crevices in the region. Often they have to mine the land depending on how it's formed, but a smaller group has it's own benefits. They make much less an impact on the environment, and can make much more on their own than in a bigger group. Since they obviously cannot supply as much as the bigger companies, they have to rely on certain finds that the bigger companies don't usually concentrate on. Pokemon fossils, old relics, evolutionary stones, regular gems and certain spheres.

Which is better? I can't really tell you that. Your experiences and memories are different than mine. But I've got to admit I'm biased. My life and times have made me into the smaller of the two. An independent, loner Pokemon miner. I'm completely on my own, and making my living out of the old bones and stones of this world. I could certainly tell you why, but that's not important in my mind. Right now, keeping up with the present is the first problem...