Prologue – The Big Question
In the world of Pokémon, trainers are born with two purposes. One is catching super-powered species to complete the Pokédex, an electronic encyclopedia that be held like a book, and another is to train the Pokémon to fight against other Pokémon owned by another trainer. This is all to become some of the strongest trainers of all time, but recently, a controversy began regarding battling, not because of the creatures ending up wounded, but because of a rumor of a research of destructive emotional effects from various duels. This however, was not the main reason; the primary was that people have been so reliant on Pokemon that they have not realized how relevant or gifted they could be, just as much as the creatures themselves. The question was that how would everyone live without the need of their elemental pets?
One day, an apprehensive lawyer named Doug, was doing his paperwork in his office, as usual, until a psychologist came by, hoping to have a situation fixed.
"What appears to be the trouble?" Doug asked. "You look kind of distressed."
"Frankly, the world itself," replied the psychologist. "I've been taking research regarding the ownership of Pokémon. I know that those creatures have made lives easier, but everyone has been depending on them too much, meaning that they can't be free nor can the people be independent.
"Like my sister, I have not focused too much on the relationship between trainers and Pokémon, Dr. Baron," the layer replied. "Just to let know, I came from a region where there is no battling and only our independence, so I haven't owned a "pocket monster" for my whole life."
"Well, it's a good thing you do not!" interrupted Dr. Baron. "Because do you call trapping animals in spherical cages called Pokéballs "bonding"? Do you call commanding them "bonding"? And do you call teaching them violence and power hunger for a battle "bonding"? Just think about it and do something about it! Those Pokémon need to have more freedom and rights while the trainers need to realize that they are capable of living independently if they want to prove why we humans alone exist!"
"Perhaps you can show me the evidence why a part of our lives of owning the species must be stopped."
Dr. B showed the lawyer some photos of Pokémon battling or wounded and documents regarding the emotional "side effects" of fighting. When the lawyer took a look of the pictures and read the paperwork, he began to wonder if everyone has been making nothing but these mistakes since centuries ago. The question was, why have humans existed in this world in the first place?
An Overview of a Trainer's Life (Plus Others')
Much earlier, Dr. Baron was tasked by the president of an organization called PET PIKA, named Inga, to make observational studies towards the trainers, in which he had done this for many years. For example, through taking notes and pictures with his camera pen, he collected some data from various battles, between two kids or one and a gym leader.
Typically, a trainer starts catching Pokémon at the age of ten. Whenever they train them, they are said to make friends with each other, considering how both are so devoted to battling and performance contests, in some cases. In addition, the kids are said to gain loyalty by training the animals in Pokemon Gyms to earn badges from Gym Leaders, like the girl-loving Rock-type specialist Brock, and Cerulean City's "Tomboyish Mermaid" Misty. This is also to become strong enough to face the Elite Four without losing once, as one way to become a "defined" Pokemon Master. Aside from this, when they succeed in a battle, the pets are frequently rewarded with fame they're always the ones to stand out; they receive lavish costumes, treats like the Pokéblock candies, Poffins (Poké-muffins), and cupcake-like PokéPuffs, and especially fan bases (For example, trainers sometimes wear costumes and buy merchandise inspired by the creatures), which they enjoy having the most.
However, not all trainers appear to be that nice. In one case, two adult brothers, known for their unhealthy rivalry and frequent money wagering after some traumatic event, have shown to abuse their Pokémon (Particularly, a Greninja and a Lucario). They have overworked them through excessive training and dosed them with untested performance-enhancing formulas, in order to have them to defeat the other to see which person has more power and wins the cash. By the time their father found out about this, they were sent to therapy, their ninja frog and jackal on two legs were sent to the Pokémon Center for treatment, and their battling privileges were taken away until they could possibly redeem themselves.
The researcher also suspected that there was also times when trainers have abandoned their Pokémon just because they didn't seem to be "worthy" to be kept. For example, a Fire-type-loving kid named Shamus had abandoned a Tepig, who lost by a Deerling despite his advantage over a Grass-type. The Fire Pig Pokémon had used to love him dearly, but the trainer did not do the same, in which he claimed that forcing a "talentless" Pokémon to battle would be worse than releasing it. Another example involved a monkey-like Chimchar who fought a horde of Zangoose with Flame Wheel, which was why one trainer, named Paul, decided to own him for its fighting potential. When Paul attempted to train the fiery chimp until it could meet its peak strength, he ended up belittling it, thus causing it to develop a deep fear of Zangoose.
Beyond the trainers, there were also criminal organizations who have often attempted to kidnap the animals in order to use them as tools. For instance, some of the most well-known…and foolhardy members of Team Rocket, named Jessie and James, have tried to catch a Pikachu (as well as other Pokémon) many times only to end up blasted off to the sky over and over. The villains have also done cruel experiments, like controlling a Mewtwo who was created through genetic engineering, which granted it a deep hatred towards humans, and resurrecting Genesect, who were desperate to go home.
Among the biggest and worst examples, there was a monopolistic circus run by a savage, power-hungry, trash-talking, black-hearted and greedy ringmaster, who was known for raising profits all for himself and mistreating and torturing millions of his Pokémon for more than twenty years. During the shows, the pets were forced to carry out extremely dangerous stunts; examples included a Shaymin, a Grass-type, jumping through fiery floating hoops high in the air, and a Panpour, a monkey-like Water-type, juggling ten heavy, overcharged tasers in an imitation pond. Those who did well would only have all of their credit taken by the ringmaster, and those who failed on their routines would end up whipped for their first penalty, electrocuted deliberately for the second, so on and so forth, and skinned alive or used for traumatic lab experiments before their gruesome execution, for their last punishment. Not only that, they had to live in small, rusty cages, while put in chains to hinder movement even further. And more, they were force-fed with some kind of greenish-brown slime infused with chemicals that were to temporarily enhance their performances, in order to do stunts more extreme. In some cases, some of them have gone through an illegal process of genetic mutation to change them into unstable "freaks with torturous health problems" (like the Lugia-Latios fusion), just for entertainment purposes. If some are wondering, the Pokémon were not performing for exercise and fame, but rather out of immense peer pressure. Their muscles only got chronic cramps, some of their bones often shattered, anxiety disorders were guaranteed, and overall, what they did caused all harm and no good. And the worst part was that a majority of the mass number of the circus pets were kidnapped from many trainers rather than those caught in the wild.
As a result, Dr. Baron called for a lawsuit against the inhumane super circus. Later, in court, he revealed the ringmasters' weapons. "Here, we have a whip, which was a vine pulled off from a Venusaur and modified with spikes, a 10,000-volt electroshock rod, and a nuclear-powered mind-controlling ray gun. He's been putting fear to the extreme in order for his animals to obey him in all. In addition, based on our statistics, the circus had abducted more Pokémon than any other villainous group in history, with over 5,000,000 caged."
"I declare the emcee to be guilty!" bellowed the judge, during the end of the trial. "As punishment for his immense cruelty towards the Pokemon performers, he shall be heavily fined and sentenced to jail for an extremely long period of time!"
After that, the green-haired N, who wore a green tuxedo, and Team Plasma members, disguised as business owners, acknowledged the lawsuit and visited the PET PIKA headquarters to fund the group with a 1,000,000-Pokédollar paycheck for winning.
"Well done, Inga and Dr. Baron," informed N, "for enforcing your case with the evidence of the abusive tools used by the ringmaster."
"With consciousness towards the Pokemon, and perseverance," replied Dr. B, " there is nothing we can't do to stop pet abuse, no matter our hardships."
Just to let you know, we too, want to "support" Pokémon rights like this. Perhaps one day, you could find a way to stop battling as well."
"Yes, we could..." replied the president.