Summary: Five years after the death of Ash Ketchum, pokemon are now outlawed by the government. Resistance has not fully died down, but for the most part citizens despise the idea pokemon – when only five years ago it was every ten year-olds' dream to become a legendary pokemon master.

Disclaimer: I do not own any pokemon, Gary Oak, Ash Ketchum, the gym leaders, or the Elite Four. Any place and character not created by Satoshi Tajiri is my creation.

Brotherhood of Oppressed Trainers

Introduction

The History Channel recently tried to air a special about the history of pokemon and the Great War. Upon seeing this, the government of Kanto and Johto both quickly banned the station from airing the broadcast. Unluckily for them, pokemon trainers are still very plentiful, and citizens who did not want the broadcast censored found ways to get it out to the general public. Much of it you will already know, and is unimportant. However, this is what concerns the public—the background of the Battle of Viridian, from a historical, not political, viewpoint.

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Five years ago the land saw the biggest war of history.

It had been called the Great War. The governments of Kanto and Johto had been waging war on one another for almost two year. Many wars had been fought before, but this was the first war that pokemon were used as a weapon.

Both sides had been requesting trainers to join the army and fight for their side. The effects were brutal. The governments did not have armor to combat the extremes that pokemon could create, as they had never needed to invent such devices.

Kanto was originally losing the war. Kanto trainers were distracted battling a military front down near Cinnabar Island, leaving the Viridian area open for Johto trainers to stampede through normal military units. As quick as their pokemon could take them, Kanto trainers returned to Viridian, just in time for Johto trainers to enter the Viridian Plains. This was the first time that large scale trainers had fought against each other in a warring atmosphere.

The results were devastating.

The ground was nearly uprooted from the combination of power of all of the pokemon. Battalions of pokemon fought other pokemon, causing huge explosions that rocked nearby villages. When the dust settled, many trainers were left dead, Johto suffering the most casualties. The land to the west of Viridian City became a desert; the ground was unsalvageable.

Although Kanto was the clear victor in the battle, they were not without losses. Their greatest trainer, Ash Ketchum, was killed in that battle. Gary Oak, second in command below Ketchum, disappeared, but his body was never found. The trainers left alive on both sides were horrified—they refused to conduct any more militaristic procedures.

That was the final battle of the war. The governments of Kanto and Johto evaluated the results of the battle and came to a horrifying conclusion. They banned together to remove pokemon from normal society. Pokemon were confiscated and taken by the government to assigned areas. Pokemon as a whole were deemed too dangerous for society.

Little resistance met this movement, and the resistance that did surface was quickly crushed. New laws were passed, and pokemon were quickly outlawed.

Let us not forget the heroes that inspired our children to become something great. Ash Ketchum, largely viewed as the greatest trainer of all time, should not be forgotten as a powerful role model for everyone. Gary Oak was the youngest Gym Leader ever assigned, and has been given much credit for Ketchum's success. And most importantly, let us not forget the dream that each one of us held inside of us—the dream to be a legendary pokemon master—and all of the things that contributed to that dream.

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The government has never said why they did not let this broadcast air, but, as pokemon trainers say among themselves, pokemon have always been a part of this world, sharing it with humans, and no government can stop that from happening.

Your Informer,

The Blue OAK