by DoraMouse
Disclaimer: Own this story but not the official series. (Surprise, surprise.)
A theater with stadium seating. A room full of creaking chairs, rustling papers and hushed voices. The lights dim and a screen more than two stories tall begins to flicker. At first the image is out of focus - something done deliberately, for effect - but soon the text is clear. Plain white text on a dark background. Bold print. The title of the film. It reads: An Introduction to Pokemon History.
The text fades. The scene changes.
"Greetings." A healthy middle aged woman appears on the screen. Her long hair is pitch black however two braided strands, one on either side of her face, have been dyed neon pink. She wears a starched white lab coat over casual clothes.
For a few seconds all that the audience can see are the head and shoulders of this woman. But as the woman continues speaking, the cameras pull back. Allowing the audience to see that the woman is standing in a museum. She is the only person in the museum and she is surrounded by a wide assortment of displays on natural history.
"I am Professor Anzu, League Historian." She narrows her hazel gray eyes and looks directly into the camera, as if challenging it. "I will be your instructor on the subject of PokeMon History. We've got a lot of ground to cover. So let's begin."
The screen fades to darkness but only for a split second. A dot of color is centered in the darkness. With some rapid zooming in, the speck becomes planet Earth as seen from outer space. Soft instrumental music - of the type that encourages students to pay attention - begins to play in the background.
"The precise origins of pokemon on our planet remains a source of heated controversy."
Professor Anzus voice is clear and steady but she does not appear on the screen.
"The term 'pokemon' is at the center of this debate. As all of you are no doubt aware, 'pokemon' is the popular abbreviation for 'Pocket Monster'. The original definition of the phrase was: any wild creature that can be captured with a pokeball."
The rotating image of Earth on the screen becomes a single giant rotating pokeball. Then the camera zooms out, causing the pokeball to shrink to regular size. Other brands of pokeballs - the great ball, the ultra ball, the repeat ball, the dive ball, the park ball, the master ball and many more - pop onto the screen one at a time, until the screen is full of neat colorful rows of every kind of pokeball known to science.
During all this, the Professor keeps speaking.
"Herein lies the paradox. The term 'pokemon' has been applied to many prehistoric creatures that first existed long before the invention of the pokeball. Can such ancient creatures truly be called pokemon? Legendary creatures - powerful animals that were rarely ever seen, much less captured - are another area of debate. Could the wild legends really be considered pokemon when, by definition, pokemon were generally domesticated creatures? At this time, the issue remains undecided."
An expectant pause. The theater is filled with the quiet clicks of students taking notes on their computers. The image on the theater screen changes, displaying page after page of charts illustrating various pokemon and their evolution stages.
"Likewise, despite numerous attempts to calculate the total number of pokemon species that have ever existed on Earth, the records have remained inconclusive. At its peak, the League recognized over a thousand unique pokemon species that could be found in the wild."
The screen abruptly goes blank again and the volume of the Professors voice increases for a moment.
"We're down to nineteen."
A black-and-white photograph of Indigo Plateau, the original home of the PokeMon League Headquarters, fills the theater screen.
"In order to understand the decline of pokemon, we must pause to examine the history of the League."
Now another old photo fills the screen, this one shows three young men standing side by side. All three of the men are smiling for the camera - although their smiles seem a bit forced. They are holding up a small round object and also a little trophy. The camera view zooms in on the man in the center.
"More than two hundred years ago, a young man named Kurt was faced with a dilemma. Kurt wanted to complete his college education yet he couldn't afford another semester. There were plenty of job opportunities but Kurt already worked part-time and getting a second job would mean less chances for attending class."
The screen is flipping through random old pictures, some of them in color. Various scenes of people at work and people in school are shown. The image changes every minute, slowly so that the visuals aren't much of a distraction from the lecture.
"Eventually Kurt stumbled across a solution in the form of a science contest that his college was sponsoring."
A poster advertising that historic science fair fills the screen. Despite the fact that the paper is old and the text has faded a bit, the writing is legible. So the audience can read the prize listing, can see that the grand prize is a fully paid scholarship.
"Determined to win the contest, Kurt recruited the help of two trusted childhood friends. Samuel Oak and William 'Bill' Safari, both of whom were already considered geniuses in their chosen fields of study. By combining their considerable knowledge - Kurt's love of mechanics, Samuel Oaks ideas about biology and Bills passion for physics - the group came up with a new invention. The first pokeball."
The screen returns to the old picture of the three young men standing side by side. Professor Oak, Kurt and Professor Bill. Holding up a pokeball that looks more like a large chestnut with some strange metallic attachments.
"The first pokeballs were made from apricorns that had been hollowed out and fitted with the parts necessary for shrinking and capturing wild animals. This was an incredible leap in technology. Unfortunately, since the invention was both unstable and untested, Kurts pokeball did not win the competition."
Close-up on the trophy in the photo and the engraved words third place.
"Since Kurt had not won the scholarship, he soon found himself with a lot of free time. Kurt returned to his home town. He set up a workshop and conducted numerous experiments aimed at making the pokeball more reliable. Within a year, Kurt had invented the first modern pokeball."
Camera shot of what appears to be a tennis ball cut in half, hollowed out and fitted with several small mysterious gadgets.
"The modern pokeball did not work perfectly every time but it worked often enough to convince the skeptics that this was an invention worth investing in. At first, pokeballs were only given to scientists. Professor Bill and his peers focused on learning about the pocket dimension, which lead to the concept of the PC Storage System."
Abstract camera shots of computers are shown against a background of blurry programming code that fills the theater screen.
"Meanwhile Professor Oak and his colleagues used the pokeballs to capture and study wildlife. Which eventually lead to the creation of the first primitive PokeDex. The study of pokemon also lead to the discovery that the animals could be tamed and that, if treated well, the animals could become loyal to the person who had captured it. The idea that pokemon could be of use to all humankind was soon realized."
A short video of a Machop, in a laboratory, taking a heavy box away from a person and carrying the box to a table when asked. Other clips are shown. A Charmander guides a human safely through a dark tunnel. A Caterpie locates a dropped item, picks it up and takes the object to the human. A Seel saves a human that had been pretending to drown.
"Only a few years after the invention of the modern pokeball, the PokeMon League was created. The first PokeDex was not yet finished and the PC Storage System was still just a theory. But the pokeball was now being mass produced and sold to the general public. It would be the job of the PokeMon League to govern all the trainers."
Numerous photos of the historic League founding are shown. In these old pictures Kurt, Professor Oak, Professor Bill and several thousand other people - scientists, teachers, college students, politicians, businessmen and reporters - seem to be participating in a massive convention. Most of the humans present have at least one pokemon beside them. In many of the photos, the humans are just standing around waving at the cameras. But in other photos we see Kurt accepting a large check from a businessman. Professor Oak being interviewed by reporters. A map of the Kanto region, with Indigo Plateau circled. Professor Bill and a group of architects inspecting the blueprints of the proposed League Headquarters.
"The extensive details of what the PokeMon League did while it existed is covered in a separate class."
A collage of color photographs and newspaper headlines are shown. Grand opening day at a new PokeMon Center. A group of trainers striking poses outside a PokeMon Gym. A view of the shelves full of merchandise at a PokeMart. The winner of a bug catching contest standing with his most recent catch. An overhead shot of the PokeMon Academy campus. A busy PokeMon Daycare. A Contest House. A Battle Tower. The PokeMon Fan Club Headquarters. A happy child surrounded by plush pokemon dolls.
Scenic views of various caves, mountains, forests, parks, lakes, waterfalls, islands and ruins made famous by pokemon are shown. Interior and exterior views of at least thirty different museums, five former technology companies, numerous small laboratories, a bike shop and a pokemon-themed casino. Clips from various pokemon-related tv and radio shows. Quick shots of numerous inventions: TMs, HMs, the upgraded PokeDex, the short-lived PokeGear, evolution stones, a berry blender and a computer whose screen displays the main menu of the upgraded PC Storage System designed by Lanette.
When all this is done, the screen fades to white for a moment and then returns to a view of Professor Anzu. She is sitting on the edge of a display. Enclosed in glass on the wall behind her is a huge tapestry. Woven into the fabric is a wall-sized map of Earth that has all the old regions, islands, cities, towns, landmarks and routes on it. A dark rectangle of thread frames the map and colorful rows featuring enlarged images of all the former offical gym badges, grouped by region, finishes the border.
"Membership in the PokeMon League grew very quickly." Professor Anzu explains, "People of all ages and professions became pokemon trainers. The trend redefined human culture and also redefined the natural world."
Short soundless video of a pokemon race is shown while Professor Anzu continues speaking.
"Creatures that had once been wild were now being captured and tamed at an alarming rate. This - in addition to the environmental impacts of ever-expanding human cities and a growing network of roads - drastically reduced the number of creatures left wild. Back then, trainers were encouraged to catch as many pokemon as they could. This often led to mistreatment and neglect because the average trainer owned far more pokemon than they could reasonably take care of. Sometimes the pokemon were able to rebel and escape back into the wild. In most instances, however, the pokemon simply died."
A large outdoor pokemon graveyard is show. Very few of the graves have flowers or other momentos laid beside them.
"In the early years of the League, new pokemon species and evolutions were constantly being discovered. So the fact that several species had gone from being commonplace to being very rare escaped notice at first."
The screen is filled by a muted video of a pokemon battle held in a stadium.
"Even when certain species went extinct in the wild - Pikachu, for example - few people noticed. Because Pikachu was not completely extinct. Although the species could no longer be found anywhere in the wild, there were still trainers who owned at least one Pikachu."
Cue a snapshot of a semi-elderly Ash Ketchum with his favorite PokeMon, Pikachu, perched on his shoulders. Writing near the bottom of the picture indicates that the photo is more than a hundred years old now. The theater remains quiet since most of the students have no idea who Ash Ketchum was.
"As the League grew, many species slipped into total extinction."
Neatly labeled images of pokemon species known to be extinct are shown. Drowzee. Shellder. Kangaskhan. Pinser. Scyther. Heracross. Vulpix. Tangela. Lickitung. Mr. Mime. Togepi. Cubone. Meowth. Farfetch'd. Exeggcute. Delibird. Aipom. Shuckle. Chansey. Poliwag. Bellsprout. Sunkern. Yanma. Swablu. Ralts. Slokth. Torkoal. Numerous others.
Soft startled gasps and much tapping fills the theater. For most of the students present, this is the first time that they have ever heard of - much less seen pictures of - these pokemon species.
Professor Anzu bows her head and allows a reverent moment of silence, as if to honor the deceased pokemon. Then she faces the camera and continues.
"When attempts were finally made to have trainers breed pokemon and release the offspring into the wild, the plan backfired. Most trainers had raised their pokemon for the sake of battle. Wild pokemon didn't usually reach their evolved stages and didn't have as much need to learn dangerous attacks. So when trainers released their carefully bred pokemon, the wild pokemon were quickly overpowered. They just couldn't compete."
Video showing a flock of wild Spearow being victimized by a single Butterfree that is wearing a plastic bracelet around its neck.
"Initially, humans tried to compensate for this. Methods were developed for cloning rare wild pokemon and reincarnating fossilized pokemon. Unfortunately these efforts did not improve the situation. Wild pokemon had to be caught in order to be cloned and once caught, they weren't exactly wild anymore. Worse - cloned pokemon tended to suffer from a wide variety of incurable health issues."
Old laboratory footage showing rows of caged pokemon, most of which are visibly sick. Some of the animals are just laying in their cages and whimpering. Others are foaming at the mouth and, with claws and teeth bared, lunge violently towards the camera as it drifts past them. Scientists wearing facemasks and padded gloves are in the room, going from cage to cage. Taking notes and administering medicine to the pokemon.
The film footage goes into time-lapse mode. Speeding up, blurring the faces of the people and pokemon. Capturing the events of a year in less than five minutes. The clones in the labratory are not getting better. The humans do what they can but one by one, the clones die. By the end of the short video, all the cages in the labratory are empty. The theater screen goes dark once more.
Professor Anzus sad voice returns, bringing the lecture with it. "And pokemon reincarnated from fossils were almost always prehistoric. These were creatures that had lived millions of years ago, in a completely different natural environment. Humans could reincarnate the prehistoric pokemon but nothing that the humans did could prepare these creatures for the modern world. The air quality, the water quality, the food - a lot had changed. Even mighty Aerodactyl, the most successful adaptor of the prehistoric group, didn't last long."
Old staticky video footage is shown. An Aerodactyl circling overhead then gliding downward, its shadow hangs over a crowded stadium below. A column of neon blue light shoots from the Aerodactyls mouth and its eyes glow the same color as the attack. The species of the Aerodactyls opponent down in the arena is obscured by the bright attack.
The scene once again returns to Professor Anzu. She is now standing in front of large skull. The camera pulls away and tilts upward to show the entire Aerodactyl skeleton that is hanging on the ceiling of a massive room in the museum.
"When wild pokemon began going extinct en masse, most of the worlds pokemon-related industries were shut down. In an attempt to stabilize the turbulent world economy, scientists went so far as to create new pokemon species. Lab-made pokemon included Porygon, Porygon2 and Ditto. Most of the lab-made pokemon were skilled enough to survive in the wild, however genetic impurities prevented them from being able to breed. Thus even the lab-made species were unable to escape extinction."
A collection of random Porygon, Porygon2 and Ditto photographs are shown. The images fade to darkness.
"There are a few hints of other, more dangerous, genetic creations but the majority of the records concerning them have been destroyed or lost over the years. So we can never know for sure if creatures like MewTwo were ever actually created."
A question mark fills the theater screen. Then the camera does another head-and-shoulders close up of Professor Anzu. Only now she appears to be in a library, with tall bookshelves and rows of computers behind her.
"In conclusion, it is the errors of the past that have lead to the dire situation we now have in nature. Though nearly a hundred separate pokemon species are currently registered with the League, only nineteen species of pokemon can be found in the wild today. The rest are being kept alive by a diligent group of trainers and breeders."
The camera does a zoom-in-to-show-just-the-eyes type close up.
"Yet hope is not lost. Recent scientific findings indicate that there might be a way to save the pokemon and restore them to the wild. These theories will be covered in the next lecture. So don't be late for class."
Professor Anzu closes her eyes. The film ends.
Even as the credits are running, the lights in the theater come on. Students are saving their notes on their computers. Some stand up to do a couple stretches. Most are willing to share their opinions on the lecture as well as their opinions on the situation overall.
But the conversation changes quickly. As the students gather their belongings and move out of the theater, they mutter - sometimes to themselves, sometimes to others - about whatever classes they had next and the amount of homework they had already acquired and the plans they'd made for the weekend.
Everyone had plans for the upcoming weekend because it was a holiday. Several businesses and all the schools would remain closed an extra day. Flags would be at half mast. A moment of silence would be observed by tv and radio stations. Formal memorial services would be held at locations all across the globe.
League Remembrance Day. PokeMon League Remembrance Day.