In an age buried and forgotten, long before the formation of the Pokemon league, man had come far. He had mastered science long before he had come to the wisdom necessary to prevent its abuse.
Earth was a sullen paradise. Hegemonic government prevented large scale on-going war and the threat of nuclear annihilation had subsided with technological advancement and the unification of the planet. In the year 2501, things changed.
A group of radical animal rights activists acquired classified documents detailing the development of a program called "Pocket Monster" - a new approach to war-fighting using genetically engineered creatures possessing enormous power. The documents outlined a process for dematerializing the animals and rematerializing them as necessary. The activists presumed this to be excruciating for the creatures, and were compelled to act.
A four-person strike team, who would later be known as Team Rocket, used a series of RPGs to penetrate the outer wall of the facility. The highly-classified, yet low security facility was filled with scientists in white suits. Two security personnel responded immediately, shooting one of the assailants in the arm. Team Rocket took cover behind the hole they had made and threw knockout gas canisters into the building. Within seconds, the lab personnel and guards were on the floor. Team Rocket, working quickly, searched the building. They came upon a room filled with small orbs. The orbs were gray, and had a single lens on the front of the ball. They matched the description of the dematerialization devices outlines in the documents. The team quickly grabbed the orbs, threw them into a sack, and moved on through the complex.
They came out into a much larger area filled with cages of varying sizes. The creatures inside were unlike any animals they had ever seen. There were small, orange lizards with fire burning at the tips of their tails. In another cage, there was a blue turtle standing on two legs with childlike hands. Some of the other creatures were less pleasing to the eye. There were small, purple globs with eyes and mouths. Another seemed to spew diesel exhaust from pores all over its body, while somehow levitating. Shaking off their awe, they began to break open the cages, freeing the monsters to reign havoc on the facility while they made their escape.
They didn't realize the hell they had unleashed. As the researchers awoke to realize the mob of their creations barreling down the halls toward them, their eyes widened in fear. Several of the monsters began to use their mysterious powers. Some shot fire from their mouths as others fired electrical arcs at the researchers right through the open air. Team Rocket fled through the hole in the wall, waving the monsters to follow behind. "Come on, we've gotta go!", they screamed. The creatures stopped momentarily, then seemed to recognize them as friends. They rushed out of the hole in the wall wreaking havoc on the burning remainder of the lab as they escaped into the open countryside.
Aircraft patrolled the area for days, finding nothing. The terrorists had escaped and the monsters had been set loose into the wild.
"Hey, this data cache has some pretty interesting stuff in it!" Jim said to his partner, Roland. "Yeah, well is it making us any money?", Roland snapped back, continuing to dig through the rubble. The two employees of Silph had been excavating under the building for three weeks, having found nothing of value but strange items they had never seen before.
"Doesn't this all make you wonder even a bit?" Jim asked. "Not really. Just here for the paycheck." Roland replied, continuing to shovel dirt away into a wheelbarrow. Jim rolled his eyes. The gears spun in Jim's head. "You know, this could be how the Pokemon came to be, Roland. This is pretty heavy stuff." Roland stopped digging. "What are you talkin' about, huh? Pokemon get created in some lab where Team Rocket of all people plays the goodguys and busts 'em out? Get real. Somebody upstairs left that down here as a prank." Jim considered it for a moment. "I don't think so. This pad doesn't seem to need any kind of charging - and the language is kinda weird - like it was written before anyone knew what Pokemon were. They're talking about a Charmander like they've never seen one before." "All the more reason to think it's a prank!" Roland shouted. "If you don't pick up that shovel and find us something worth being down here, the next thing you're going to be reading is the tattoos on my knuckles!". Jim put the datapad into his satchel and picked up his pickaxe reluctantly.
The two worked diligently in silence for an hour, clearing away almost ten feet of rock and soil. Roland stopped to wipe the sweat off of his forehead. "You know, what if you're right?" Roland said. Jim looked back, confused. "No, I mean, well...what if something came before all this?" Roland murmured in a solemn tone. "Well, I'd say we should be looking for more than fossils then." Jim replied. Jim swung his pickaxe and drove it into the wall. CLINK. "What'd you get?!" Roland said, dropping to his knees and digging with his hands.
Jim dropped and began to claw his way toward the metallic object. There, imbedded in the wall of the cavern, was a grey Pokeball. Roland and Jim looked at each other with puzzled expressions. Roland picked the ball up and pressed the button. The ball snapped open with a bright flash of yellow light, and Roland's entire frame flashed for a split second before the light was drawn into the ball. It snapped shut and fell to the floor of the cave. The ball didn't even wiggle. Jim was terrified. He picked up the ball and ran out of the cavern toward the mine elevator.
He completely bypassed the locker room, still covered in dirt, tracking it all the way through the connecting hallway to the guard station. He blew past the guard screaming bloody murder and made his way toward the elevator to the office building. He got in and pressed the button for the top floor. Panting and scared, Jim examined the ball all over. It was slivery in the light of the elevator, and the yellow light had faded into a glowing ring around the button lens. Jim was afraid of being caught as well. He didn't even try to let Roland out. The elevator chimed as it reached the top floor.
"BOSS! BOSS!" he screamed, running toward the executive office. The secretary opened her mouth to speak, but Jim paused, stared at her, and simply said, "No.". Jim bolted away from her desk and into the office of the executive of Silph, out of breath and sweating. "You'll have to excuse me, Mr...?". "It's Giovanni." "Yes, Mr. Giovanni. Another time, perhaps?". "Oh I'll be seeing you very soon." the man said as he left the office, eyeing the ball in Jim's hand as he left. Jim shut the door behind the CEO's guest and ran over to the desk, planting the ball and two large clumps of dirt on the man's spotless desk. "What is the meaning of this?!", he demanded. "Roland...", he gasped, pounding the ball on the desk three more times. "...he's in it.", Jim finished. The CEO's eyes widened. "This thing caught... a man?!". Jim nodded furiously. "Tell no one about this." the man said in a grave tone. He picked up the ball and threw it at the other side of the office. Jim screamed in terror.
"NOOOOOOOOOO!"
"Roland, go!" the CEO yelled.
The man exploded out of the ball, which stopped traveling in mid air at the point of release, materializing Roland moving toward the wall with the speed that the ball was thrown. Roland flew into the wall on the opposite side of the office and crashed upside-down, dropping him headfirst into a trashcan.
Jim's heart raced to calm down as his brain attempted to console his inflamed sense of stupidity. "You okay, buddy?" he asked. "Yeah, but...how'd I get up here? Weren't we down in the dig?" Roland asked, picking himself up out of the trash. "Neither of you can speak a word of this to anyone. The last time we found one of these, we invented the Pokeball." The men's eyes widened. "So it's true...man did create the Pokemon." Jim said. "That kind of talk will get you buried by accident down there in the dig. Tell no one what you've learned and I'll personally guarantee you'll die old and wealthy." the CEO said with an honest grin. Roland smiled back, "So how much are we talking here...?". The CEO wrote out a check and handed it to Roland. "Well, I resign!", Roland said, turning and walking out of the office. Jim yelled, "Where are you going!". "To buy the S.S. Anne!", Roland replied, his voice trailing off. Jim turned to find the CEO with a check in hand. Jim pocketed the check without looking at it.
"So you want to work, I take it?", the CEO asked. "Yes, sir. I'm curious about the what-came-before.". "You can never tell anyone! Not your wife, not your kids, nobody! There are only a handful of people on Earth who know there even was a 'before', and that's for good reason. Are you sure?", the CEO asked with a deadly tone. "I don't have any family. Just me and good ol' curiosity!", he said with a smile. The CEO gave a sad grin. "Alright then, take this down to the sixth floor and have them get to work right away. And Jim - not a soul."