Chapter II
TEN YEARS LATER
The Führer and German Reich were gone but I still remained intact with revitalized youth, it is this key fact that made me aware of my responsibility to further the cause of National Socialism once again. Just like a phoenix I will arise out of the ashes of the past and keep trudging forward holding my party's banner up high at all costs. Had I awakened with no physical differences from before then perhaps I would have thought about retirement, unlikely as it may be but without a German people's to unite then what would be the point?
With another potential century to live and experience hardships yet again I absolutely could not accept being less then a beacon of leadership and strength among lesser men, even if my desired position of executive authority won't be truly accessible for another three or four decades. Hopefully in my new life I would be able to forge a new Reich befitting of what me and Speer envisioned. I know that will be possible, especially with a youths ability to learn and fight!
One clear fact that I've been made aware of repeatedly is that this word may bear some similarities to my own but it's fundamentally different with most the obvious being its animal-creature life and geopolitical differences.
Pokemon, the main term for supernatural creatures and animals the live in the wild or as pets, possessing abilities that do not ascribe to basic laws of physics. Their presence in this world I am completely unable to comprehend or explain in any rational manner, as personal research has shown they've always existed throughout this worlds history and are heavily integrated into society.
To my utter astonishment there existed a single world government using the confederation style of governance with a distinct lack of a central organized institutions controlling areas of population. Instead having a preference of cities and towns being mostly autonomous in their running, all being apart of a coalition in a single large administrative zone with each one possessing unique cultural characteristics and de facto independence, every one of these zones was called a Region, a term for what in my interpretation most resembled something akin to a nation-state almost but without higher level administrative districts. Law enforcement and legislation being the responsibility of Region based agencies called Pokemon Associations for which each one had their own named one.
The feasibility of these autonomous regions operating calmly in the manner they do without rebellions or revolution struck me as rather odd. But as some animals may evolve differently or split off in the evolutionary line it was not entirely foreign for me to comprehend this being the standard for the world, especially when the people here held as much positive sentiment towards globalization as they do. That and the illogically positive values everyone possessed with a major focus on cooperation. Pokemon also were a significant contributing factor to the stability and sentiment.
What took me the most time to normalize myself to was the extraordinary amount of technological marvels that were so common in daily life. There were much too many inventions for me to count but ones that stood out were the different branches of electronic devices like personal computers and Pokemon orientated products, growth supplements and the like. With such advancements in technology and medicine that I've witnessed in a single decade here so far and the lack of many specialized agencies able to enforce regulations on businesses, one would presume there should be much larger population centers with an increasing number of human and Pokemon slave factories running rampant from such corporate freedom.
To my surprise this was not the case to a relative degree, all corporations seemed to engage in varying forms of environmental conservation that limited certain types of encroachment in habitats. Pokemon themselves seemed possess enough power and numbers to disway humans from expansion into most of their environments, with good reason, I certainly wouldn't want to cause the accidental migration of a swarm of man-sized wasps! At least in the public view I'm aware of, no doubt that some of them had shady actions going on behind closed doors or news agencies were hiding it altogether.
It was truly fascinating just how orderly all the regional governments and Pokemon coexisted, upon closer inspection and historical research I've found a few interesting explanations for these peculiarities. Human versus human natural conflicts exists as it always does, such is the absolute prerequisite before a semblance of stability can be achieved in society, as is the current state of the world.
And so it seems two regions had just finished up its greatest war roughly a decade before my birth, the Great Kanto War. A chain of increasingly vague hostile interactions between the independent Kanto region and my "home" Johto region eventually culminated into a long and devastating war causing an immense loss of life, that of an entire generation of adults.
What followed was the mass demobilization of almost all weapons manufacturing by the World Government and the establishment of a partial joint League system in the Johto-Kanto regions, as well as other international organizations in order to prevent crime from occurring and conditions for another similar war catastrophe. Kanto and Johto also created a single area in Indigo Plateau where both Pokemon leagues would occur for the purpose of mainly promoting 'peaceful relations' as they put it, and they named the Indigo League.
No longer would conflicts between the two regions solved by fighting themselves but instead purely through Pokemon battles, with the more experienced trainers testing themselves against the local Pokemon gyms in order to become eligible for league participation natural. Pokemon Leagues representing organized tournaments where said experiences trainers would battle for the chance at becoming Champion, something of an Region figurehead and prestigious title. Armed and weapons combat also became taboo with Pokemon seemingly fulfilling the role of a personal firearm, albeit more accessible with varying degrees of danger.
Standing armies of the regions were also seemingly dismantled in favor of licensed Pokemon Trainers and local police upholding regional security mainly. More democratic nonsense if you ask me, the League of Nations was no better at stopping my burning up of the Versailles Treaty than the international police with eliminating Team Rocket's crime syndicate. A group of pests I'll certainly look into getting rid of when the time comes, as is a minor goal of mine.
The effectiveness and presence of local police in putting out criminal activity in large however was successful enough in appeasing any worries the population had over such things. Not that it mattered when just about anyone could wield Pokemon to protect themselves and others, including many children.
Seeing the youth yet again armed with immense firepower taking on large spanning criminal organizations brought back fond memories of my awarding iron crosses to Volkssturm children, a similar task I myself will join in on again soon.
The specifics for how or why exactly the Kanto-Johto conflict arose was glossed over in my history classes. Nothing about it warranted a deep investigation as upon looking into it myself, I found the real facts of the matter were skewed with too many sources to count telling their own perspective on the events.
The absolute freedom of information in the internet, while useful in quenching my thirst of knowledge also forced me into an endless task of deciphering between the truthful sources and ceaseless garbage. There existing a unifying entity capable of adjusting the truth to their liking also didn't help matters.
The sharp decision making mind of the Führer can easily make such judgement on what information is truthful by the nature of the writers public image. I have no personal desire to use up precious time in understanding the lies of the ruling powers, so I decided when enough loyal subordinates were acquired then perhaps one of them will be delegated such a task.
Right now I was no longer in the Johto region as my family had just moved out of there and into the region of Hoenn. Thus making more research into the regions history pointless even with my "birth" connection to it.
My father Norman was an especially experienced Pokemon trainer and had recently acquired the position of Petalburg's City Gym Leader, we would be moving to the Hoenn region. Our own house was to be located a short distance away in a place called Littleroot.
My current location specifically was inside a moving van, a coincidentally recent invention of my own world from America but far more developed. Sitting on a box in the inside I held in my hand a multi-purpose device called the Pokénav Plus, a remarkable machine capable of so many different utilities I couldn't help but feel some of it as a bit distracting. I could forgive the density of information packed in however since it was mainly a tool for devoted Trainers that travelled, a lighter set of equipment setup goes a long way for a soldier's travel speed.
There wasn't much else to do here but listen to the Pokémon professor drone on about mostly rudimentary information on my device while I set up basic personal information on it. A slow and sudden stop of the vehicle alerted me that we were finally at the destination.
I exited the vehicle and observed the thin trees, surrounding forest, and leafs blowing in the wind. So far Littleroot gave a good impression with it's lush and not too excessive nature. The little aspect of the name was made more clear to me as the number of houses could be counted with two hands.
"Brendan! You're here at last! Wasn't it tough riding in the back of the bumpy moving truck all that way?" Ah it seemed my mother was here already.
"It wasn't too difficult." Certainly much easier than being holed up in a bunker assaulted by a constant barrages of artillery fire raining down every day.
"Well, this is Littleroot Town. What do you think? This is going to be our new home! It has a quaint feel, but it looks like it should be a nice place to live, don't you think?" I nodded in simple agreement.
"And you get your own room this time, Brendan! Come on. You have to see the inside!"
Another pleasant surprise as on entry I saw a pair Machoke finishing up their work of tirelessly unpacking and neatly organizing our furniture, I automatically agreed with mother when she thanked them for their service when they left. We settled into the house well while I made sure my room was up to standards, though sadly it would be left to its own devices for a long time as one goal I had in mind for this life was becoming a Pokemon Trainer myself, forcing me to journey all across the Hoenn Region engaging in this worlds most popular form of entertainment.
Scandalous! How could a Führer dirty his hands in seemingly cruel sports activity of Pokemon fighting each other? Wouldn't it make more sense to remain a hands off while fighting for these creatures rights?
Contrary to what one without the context might see, Pokemon themselves were sufficiently durable enough to accumulate many potentially lethal blows into an unconscious state without the risk of immediate death as their biology was unique in how it allowed fast healing with rest. With the advanced medicine of Pokecenters, Potions, and Pokeballs, serious fatalities and permanent injuries in battle following standard procedure were infinitesimally small. That and Pokemon seemed to instinctively enjoy battle eliminating the cruelty of having to force fights between them.
One of the most talked about, powerful, respected, and admired people in Regions were their Champions. With such a position of immense influence only obtainable through being a strong Pokemon Trainer then it only makes sense that the Führer must acquire personal strength before seeking the become part of the top echelon. Loyal personal protection, their wide variety of combat abilities, and other enemy combatants using Pokemon were also taken into consideration when making this choice. This was the most assured and fastest route to power in my eyes with no other alternative.
"How do you like your new room, Brendan?"
"I find it comfortable."
"Good! Everything's put away neatly! They even finished moving everything in downstairs, too. It really is so nice having Pokemon around to help us!" At least my mother could recognize the utility of Pokemon, a sentiment I shared.
"Oh that reminds me, one of Dad's friends live in town... Professor Birth was his name, I think you should go introduce yourself. I know how much you've been studying Pokemon for your journey, I think you could learn a lot from him and he could help get you set up!"
"Thank you for reminding me mother, I'll be off now."
"Good luck honey, remember if you ever get tired you can always come home to rest!" I nodded simply.
The Professors house was almost right next to ours, I knocked three times on the door and waited patiently, the door opened a few seconds later revealing a woman who I presumed to be his wife. "Hello, and who might you be?" She asked.
"I'm Brendan mam, I just moved in next door. It is nice to meet you." I extended my hand in greeting to which she accepted
"Oh hello Brendan! Nice to meet you too. Such a nice young man."
"We actually have a daughter about the same age as you! She has been so excited lately about making a new friend. Do be a dear and introduce yourself to her, she should be upstairs."
I had some personal reservations about walking into a twelve year old girls room as mentally I was mentally Sixty Six and her by most accounts her superior. But with her mother's permission and my apparant physical youth I suppose it wouldn't be problematic. Being the professors daughter she could make a helpful ally in the future, and up the stairs I went. Thankful I had merely walked in on her adjusting her hair accessory and nothing more, an introduction was now in order.
"Excuse me miss."
"Oh hey. Uh who... are you?"
"My apologies for the intrusion, my name is Brendan, I am your new next door neighbor."
"So your move was today huh? Well I'm May! Glad to meet you!" May said before continuing.
"I actually have this dream of becoming friends with Pokémon all over the word. And then Dad-oh, I mean Professor Birch— told me about you moving here, Brendan... Well, I was hoping you would be nice and we could be friends.
... B-but that's just silly, isn't it? I've just met you. Right, Brendan? So what am I talking about... Hee hee..."
I noticed a few varying tones of emotions, as is expected of a girl still in her youth. Before I could make a remark she suddenly remembered having to assist her father in catching Pokemon, baring me a casual farewell before running out.
Not a bad first meeting, knowing children's attention spans and general conversational topics. I had doubts as to whether I'd be able to enage her in meaningful discussions in anything other than Pokémon.
I suppose I should go meet up with the Professor as well, I still need to acquire my own starter after all. This world's father of mine was insistent that I wait until around this age before starting my journey. Now where could the professor be?