This chapter used to be called "Speaking Sentience" before I looked up the definition of sentience vs. sapience. Apparently, most animals on earth (including cows, pigs, chicken, turkey, and so on) are "sentient" because they can feel things and perceive the world around them. But they aren't "sapient", which means wise and thinking, like us Homo sapiens. My mistake.
Chapter 4 – Speaking Sapience
"What are we going to eat?" Amber asked Ex after Charmander had her turn at Hidden Power. The green-haired girl was still rather surprised at the result, but her rumbling stomach had shifted her priorities.
"I don't know," Ex said, still grinning, though it faded as he thought about her question. "I only brought Pokémon food. I guess we could try some Berries, since I've got so many."
"And what about dinner, when we get to it?"
He shrugged. "More Berries?"
Her voice was a bit disbelieving as she asked, "You want us to eat nothing but Berries until we get to Viridian?"
"No, I don't want us to do that, but you don't see any other food around, do you?"
"Yes, I do," she refuted. "There are plenty of Wild pokémon around. Rotisserie Rattata is decent, plus plucked Pidgey."
The boy's eyes widened dramatically. "You want us to eat pokémon?"
She tilted her head at his reaction. "Um... yes?"
"But, but, but," he stammered. "But pokémon can talk! Or at least, they have their own language. They're sapient! Wouldn't that be murder? Followed by cannibalism?"
"Not if we only eat Wild pokémon," she shook her head. "Wild pokémon are just dumb animals. They eat each other all the time. Trained pokémon eat Wild pokémon all the time, except their own species."
Ex paused at that. "They do?"
She nodded her head. "Yes. It's, like, Pokémon 101. Trained Pokémon are smart, Wild Pokémon aren't. Haven't you ever had food with meat in it before? Or seen other people eat meat, if you're a vegetarian?"
The boy hesitated. He looked a little queasy. "I... uh... think I'll just stick to Berries."
"Your funeral," she shrugged.
Just then, his Pokédex made a chime noise.
It was an extremely strange thing, Ex thought, for the same girl that had questioned him about his potentially heartless treatment of his Meowth not fifteen minutes ago to make a complete 180 and suggest they go around heartlessly murdering innocent Rattata. She claimed Wild pokémon aren't intelligent, which would neatly solve most of the moral problems about killing/eating them, but she also claimed that Captured pokémon are intelligent, which neatly introduced the whole 'slavery' problem. His brain helpfully recited the words 'ball time, slave buddy!'* in his mind.
He had completely forgotten the issue of slavery up until this point, having been so conditioned after years of playing pokémon. But his mind couldn't ignore murder and cannibalism, and thinking about those issues reminded him that slavery was also wrong. Go figure.
His Pokédex chiming was as good a reason as any for him to put the conversation with Amber on hold until he had composed his thoughts.
(He hadn't been expecting this brief aside to compose his thoughts for him.)
Initially thankful for the distraction from death and sin, Ex pulled out his Pokédex to see why it had made the noise. On the screen, there was a notification: 'Email received from ProfessorSamuelOak(atsymbol)pokéweb(period)net. Title: 'The Basics of Pokétech'. Open?
That was quick, he thought, taking a moment to appreciate the Professor's promptness before pressing 'Yes'.
Hello Ex,
As promised, I am sending this email to hopefully fill in the gaps of your current knowledge on technology. Below are links to a few introductory articles. I have also included a link to information on Pokéballs and how they turn Wild Pokémon into Captured Pokémon, which I think you will find the most immediately useful. It delves into the topic of Pokémon language, which you asked about before you left. Please let me know if you have any further questions, or any other insights you wish to share. I shall also let you know when the other Professors have tested your communication technique.
Sincerely,
Prof. Samuel Oak
Ex, remembering that he had in fact asked why the Professor thought his language technique wouldn't work on Wild pokémon, immediately clicked the link. As he read, one thought repeated through his head at multiple points in the article: I wish I had known that LITERALLY SIXTY SECONDS AGO.
Wild Pokémon, according to scientific consensus, are in no way smart, self-aware, sapient, or intelligent, which is why Oak was skeptical about his technique working. Wild Pokémon are exactly like super-powered wild animals, NOT foreign-language-speaking creatures. They have no culture, no societies, they don't use tools, and their "language" is incomprehensible to trained pokémon.
There have been a few recorded instances of Pokémon Translators** existing in the past, but these Translators could only understand trained pokémon. Out of Wild pokémon, they managed to get "hungry", "eat", "want", "scared", and other single-word desires, but nothing that suggested complex thought.
(If he hadn't had amnesia, he would have realized the experiments they tried were similar to the sign-language bonobos of Earth, except Wild Pokémon couldn't even recognize themselves in the mirror, let alone form coherent streams of thought. But then again, 'coherent streams of thought' is a bit generous to the bonobos, especially when the longest recorded sentence was Nim Chimpsky's 'Give orange me give eat orange me eat orange give me eat orange give me you'.)
There were links to other papers with titles like "Wild Pokémon Proven Unable to Talk to Trained Pokémon", "Tests of Wild Pokémon Reasoning Skills Inconclusive; Wild Pokémon Failed to Comprehend Assigned Tasks", and "New Study Shows Wild Pokémon are almost as Smart as Human Infants!"
Ex briefly searched through the other links, but found no evidence to contradict the "fact" that Wild pokémon are about as smart as animals, so he closed them.
Many, many scientists, according to the original article, have tried and failed to disprove this, though some still hold hope that there might be a single exception to the general rule. The main article states, 'There are only two kinds of Pokémon that have ever shown signs of intelligence: Captured Pokémon and Legendary Pokémon. The second half of this prevailing theory among the Pokéscientific community is, unfortunately, difficult to verify, as information on Legendaries is extremely scarce. Most hypotheses on their intelligence revolve around the fact that they seem to consciously avoid humans, unlike Wild Pokémon, and are nigh impossible to capture.'
Ex closed the tab and the email and put his Pokédex away, deciding he would read the rest later. He had what he needed (for now), and he was still hungry.
"You know what?" he said out loud. "I've changed my mind. We'll have some Wild pokémon for lunch. But only Wild pokémon. And only after I run some tests."
"What tests?"
"Intelligence tests," Ex said. "If they turn out negative, I think it might be okay to eat them after all."
"That was fast," Amber said suspiciously. "What changed your mind?"
"Professor Oak, and scientific research," he answered. "His email just came in, and it confirmed what you said. Wild pokémon aren't intelligent."
"Even so," she spoke, still just as suspicious, "most people take more than two minutes to change their mind."
"Well, I haven't completely changed my mind yet," Ex cautioned. "I'm still going to check for myself when we start the search for Rattata."
"But you're considering it?"
"I strive to be the type of person whose mind can be changed instantly by the truth," Ex proudly declared. "Too many people spend too much time in ignorance, or denial. If I see definitive evidence that contradicts my prior beliefs, then it's my responsibility to update my beliefs to match the real truth as soon as possible."
Amber didn't respond, but she still looked skeptical.
"Would it help if I said that I can only actually change my mind like that when it comes to Pokémon facts?" he sighed.
A chuckle escaped her lips, seemingly against her will.
"I mean," he continued, "it's nice to have a goal of perfect rationality, but I've never made much headway outside the realm of Pokémon. In this case, Professor Oak linked an article about pokémon intelligence, and it just sort of lines up with the things I've seen so far."
In particular, it lined up with the behavior he had witnessed in the Wild Meowth of Viridian, who acted like ordinary stray cats before he Captured them.
"The things you get wrong at first can be so strange," she commented. "So Wild pokémon being smart was 'misinformation' you read somewhere?"
More like SEEN in the TV show and Pokémon Mystery Dungeon, but...
"Yeah. Plus, I'm hungry." And the sooner he got his tests out of the way, the better. Luckily... "Oh look, a Wild Rattata!"
The boy dashed into the nearby tall grass without another word. All his pokémon except Charmander had been recalled to their balls for Nicknaming, so only Charmander chased after her Trainer into the Tall Grass.
Amber rolled her eyes and followed, her own Bulbasaur still sitting on her head.
Talking to the Wild Rattata hadn't worked. Neither pokéspeak nor Amber's uncanny 'woman's touch' (Ex still rolled his eyes whenever she called it that) had yielded any reaction at all from the Rattata they had bribed with the last of Ex's Pokéchow.
Ex had been expecting Amber to make snide remarks about his way of talking to pokémon, but she didn't even bat an eye at it, for which Ex was grateful.
Nothing else worked either, including but not limited to: counting numbers (which Charmander could do, but the Rattata couldn't), simple problem-solving (again, which his Charmander could do), and ordering Rattata to use Moves. Ex had consistently demonstrated to the Wild Rattata that succeeding at any of these tasks would earn food as a reward, but even with that motivation, the best Rattata could do was use the Move Growl when Charmander and Bulbasaur showed it how. But that was only after multiple demonstrations, and was more equivalent to dog training than what Captured Pokémon could do.
His last gambit was to try a search on the web about Wild Rattata, but that just showed all sorts of different ways to either Capture them or prepare them for eating. He knew the bandwagon argument was a fallacy; everyone else doing it didn't make it right. But his own tests had failed, and even if they weren't very in-depth, they were the best he could do.
Ex had then been ready to test if the article was right about Captured pokémon being intelligent. He brought out a Pokéball and Captured the compliant/bribed Rattata, but when he registered the ball in his Scanner, the ball disappeared, along with the Rattata, and the Pokédex read, 'Your party is full. Sending Rattata to your PC.'
Ex was only slightly disappointed that he wouldn't be able to run those other tests he had planned, but the first important question had been answered for now: Wild Pokémon are not intelligent. Or at least, Wild Rattata are not intelligent. Which meant it was okay to hunt and eat them. His rumbling stomach might have had its finger on the scales in favor of 'not intelligent', but at least he was aware of that bias.
He had two choices: starve himself and his party on Berries (which were small and not very filling), or go out hunting.
The choice was obvious, if a bit uncomfortable.
Choosing to go out hunting led Ex to another discovery: Wild Rattata, it turned out, were not so easy to catch, especially if you weren't using Pokéballs, and especially if they kept using their Run Away Ability to run away.
Thankfully, Rattata only have Run Away half the time; the other half had Guts, which doubles Attack power when Poisoned, Paralyzed, Burned, etc., and in this case had the added benefit of making them stupidly brave in the face of certain doom. The Rattata he ran his tests on had Guts, which is part of the reason he was okay with Capturing it, since a Run Away Rattata wouldn't be as good in battles.
Ex ended up releasing all his Meowth and converting his team from a Pickup Party into a Poaching Party. Well, not 'poaching', exactly, since they weren't doing anything illegal, but immoral things had been on his mind lately, so he thought it was appropriate. Besides, 'Poaching Party' sounded better than any of his other ideas.
He had his Meowth hunt in pairs so they'd have a better chance cornering the Run Away Rattata, although he instructed Prime to hunt alone, for more Experience. He also instructed Prime to target Rattata with the Guts Ability, so he wouldn't have to chase down any runners.
Amber helped too, using her Bulbasaur's Leech Seed to impair the Run Away Rattata while his Charmander finished them off with Scratch. He told Amber not to bother with Leech Seed on the ones with Guts, since Leech Seed didn't have much PP.
It took quite a bit of time to gather what they needed – well over an hour. Rattata were rather small and it would take multiple to make a decent meal, Amber had said.
She had also said she hadn't filled up on water before they left Pallet, not that a single water bottle would be enough to cook a meal anyway, so they would need to find a water source. According to the Map on his Pokédex, there would be a river up ahead, so they packed up from their first camping spot and continued moving down the Route as they hunted. Amber also occasionally stooped to pick up wild plants "for flavoring."
By the time they reached the river, his paired Meowth had all leveled up from 3 to 4 and caught him a total of ten Rattata, while Prime had leveled up from 4 to 5 and brought him six. In the games, these battles would not have earned enough Experience to level up – except Prime, who had battled Bulbasaur in Pallet – but Ex's brain had not forgotten what the Professor said about Flawless Victories.
Amber's Bulbasaur also gained a level, again despite the low Experience yield of Rattata, because it stayed at full Health the entire time thanks to Leech Seed. In the end, he and Amber, with the help of their relatively high-level Starters, collected 14 total Rattata. Most of the ones they had fought happened to be level 3 instead of 2, which also contributed to Bulbasaur's level-up to 8.
They had thirty Fainted Rattata (being carried in Ex's backpack) by the time they began setting up the cooking equipment from the 'Basic Travel Kit'. This included: a frying pan, a cooking pot, a water purifier, utensils, some bowls and plates, and a small, raised metal circle that could hold either the frying pan or the pot above a fire. They had to gather their own firewood, but soon – using a relative definition of 'soon' – they had a roaring fire beneath a boiling pot of water.
It was also at 'lunch' (more like 'mid-afternoon meal') that Ex learned a great deal more about Amber. If you had asked Ex to describe Amber prior to that point, he would have said she most closely resembles an Aroma Lady, Lass, or just plain Lady. This would have been going by looks alone, and he naturally would have used Pokémon terminology to answer the question. Going by personality, she firmly landed in the 'Rival' category of Trainers, though he sometimes thought Team Rocket Grunt when she was being especially annoying.
Ex saw himself as something of a mix between a Youngster, Swimmer, and pkmn Trainer by looks. By personality, Scientist, Collector, and Ace Trainer sounded about right, though his brain once again helpfully added *cough cough* Super Nerd and PokéManiac *cough cough*.
However, going by demonstrated skills, where Ex was closest to a Pokémon Professor, Amber was something of a mix between a Pokémon Breeder, as Brock from the TV show would use the term, and a Pokémon Ranger. You wouldn't expect a dainty girl in a white dress and sandals to know about cooking, survival, and the wilderness – well, maybe cooking wasn't too unusual a skill, but not with completely raw ingredients. When Ex said as much out loud, using slightly more charitable language, Amber had explained how her father would sometimes take her along on some of his safer pokémon research expeditions, while her mother taught her about nutrition.
That definitely suggests that Dr. Fuji exists in this world, his brain had remarked. The first pokémon movie opens with a scientific expedition into the jungles in search of Mew. That probably wasn't a 'safe' expedition, but if Fuji went on one expedition, he might have gone on more, and taken his daughter with him once or twice.
Ex had ignored his brain, as his stomach was rather more demanding of his attention at the moment. It was extremely demanding, actually. He hadn't eaten since last night, and even that was only one meal after a long day of walking. Add all his recent running and battling and hunting on top of that, and he was practically starving.
Amber had requested a few Cheri Berries to add to the stew for flavor, which Ex handed over after remembering how worthless they were (money-wise). He could always use Paralyze Heals anyway, though on Route 1 it didn't really matter.
Amber also recommended they give some raw and uncooked Rattata to their own Pokémon, to preserve all the nutrients. Four of his Meowth got one Rattata each, Bulbasaur got two, and Prime and Charmander, who had exerted the most physical effort, each were given three.
This left them with eighteen for themselves, from which Amber deftly used a knife to remove the tails, teeth, certain organs, and some of the furrier bits. After she had killed them, of course. She threw the organs in the direction of their own pokémon and the meat into the pot. Half of Ex was shouting Cool! while the other half shouted Gross!, but both sides were too enthusiastic to take their eyes away from her gruesome work.
She claimed the stew should be ready in thirty minutes – something she had said twenty-five minutes ago.
Now that they had some spare time, Ex had a new question he wanted to ask.
"So," Ex spoke as she washed her hands in purified river-water. "Did you wear that dress when you went on those trips with your father? I don't mean to be rude, but..."
"You want to know why I'm not wearing a Trainer Outfit," she offered as he trailed off.
"Yeah."
"It's really not as impractical as it looks," she explained. "It's a special outfit, not like normal clothes. My Daddy got it for me for my tenth birthday before..." she trailed off herself, her eyes going distant.
"Before what?" Ex prompted.
"Before I came here," she said eventually. "The dress is special technology, made by Silph Co. It's self-cleaning, it'll adjust in size as I grow, and the dress shortens to a skirt whenever I move fast enough, so it won't get in the way too much if I have to run. It can also protect me from the weather if it's not too bad. The sandals are special too – it's like I'm wearing normal running shoes."
This is new, his brain observed. Not in any of the games or wikis.
True, Ex agreed. But we came across high-heel-wearing Beauties and suit-wearing Rich Boys in the games, sometimes far away from any towns or cities.
That we did, his brain nodded. Something to keep in mind when we go shopping again.
Out loud, Ex asked, "Do you know how expensive it is? I mean, if I wanted to buy something like that for myself..."
"I don't know," she shrugged. "We can check it out in Viridian. By the way, food's ready."
The stew was easily the best thing he could ever remember eating. Then again, it was the only thing he could ever remember eating, aside from last night's train meal. And his hungry stomach might have influenced how tasty he thought it was. But still, it was pretty good.
'Lunch' passed without further incident, but as they were packing up their equipment and getting ready to head out, the sky, which had become overcast sometime after they entered Route 1, began to drizzle.
"Did you bring an umbrella?" Amber asked as she slung his old backpack over her shoulder.
"No," Ex said. "But my backpack's waterproof."
"My clothes can handle the rain, too," Amber nodded. "But I don't know if there's anything we can do about your clothes. Sorry."
"I have spares in my backpack," Ex, said. Then, just as he finished packing away the cooking utensils, his brain noticed a certain piece of equipment that was – in a roundabout way – related to both Pokémon and the rain. "Don't worry about me though."
He removed the cooking item, slung his bag over his shoulder, and the two of them set off together.
"What are you going to do?" she asked, eyeing the metal in his hands with skepticism.
"I'll use my trusty frying pan," with a closed-eye smile, he brought it above his head, "as a drying pan!"***
More like a SIGHING pan, he thought dejectedly as he trudged forward through the rain, his clothes wet and his body miserable.
That was so pathetic that I almost feel like it's a CRYING pan, his brain agreed.
At least it's not a DYING pan, he replied. A little rain won't kill me.
No, but that TV scene was so inaccurate that I want to call this a LYING pan. It only keeps our hair dry, nothing else. It would be more useful as a FLYING pan. Away from us. At top speed. That way we can turn it into a GOODBYE-ING pan. Why did you think this was a good idea?
It was YOUR idea, he thought at his brain. If you want to turn this into a WHY-ING pan, you should ask YOURSELF that question.
Hey! I was only TRYING (pan) to APPLY(ing pan) my knowledge and SUPPLY(ing pan) a bit of fun!
Okay, enough, he decided. Those last ones were a real stretch, and it's getting old. From now on, this is a FRYING pan and nothing else.
Just then, the rain, which had gone from drizzle to downpour and back to drizzle over the past hour, came to a full stop.
See? he thought. Even the UNIVERSE agrees. No more bad pan puns.
Fine, fine, his brain huffed. Do you want to get Charmander out now that the rain has stopped? And get the Pickup Party going again?
I think I'll wait till tomorrow, he thought back. Anything they bring me now would just be soaked.
That's fine if they stick to Berries. Or Rattata. We'll be needing dinner eventually.
Hmm, he thought. Good point.
Some uncounted hours later, he and Amber had parked themselves beneath another canopy of trees. The ground had dried enough, and everything in the Travel Kit was waterproof enough, that they had no trouble starting a fire and setting up camp.
They had caught more Rattata – enough that Stinky and Blinky had both leveled up to 5, Prime to 6, and Charmander to 8 – and had dinner not long ago.
Ex had also worked out a modified version of his Pickup/Poaching Party over the course of the evening, to speed things along: when his Meowth (not including Prime) left him in pairs, one of them would be holding an Oran Berry. They would find and Faint a Rattata, eating the Oran Berry if one of them took damage, then search for an Item that the Meowth NOT carrying the Fainted Rattata would Pickup. If that Item was another Oran Berry, they would find and Faint another Rattata and bring both Fainted Pokémon back. If it wasn't another Oran Berry, they would just head straight back to Ex without fighting another Rattata.
(That they could follow this complex algorithm got Ex thinking about intelligence again, though it had taken his Meowth a few tries each to get it right.)
Ex had stockpiled enough Oran Berries from Pallet and from the first half of the day that he was able to keep this system going until they had enough food for the night, though he had gotten dangerously low on Oran as the Rattata in his backpack piled up to forty in number.
At that point, he had his Meowth go back to searching for Items while he and Amber searched for another river. They found one following the Pokédex Map, had dinner, and decided to keep walking until sunset to find good camping ground, eventually reaching their current location.
Now Ex was setting out his clothes to dry and switching to his old swim trunk/sneakers/t-shirt outfit, which in hindsight would have been the better outfit to wear in the rain. Still, at least he had something dry to sleep in.
Amber was setting up the tent and sleeping bag and spraying a Repel over everything to keep Wild pokémon away. She also put out the tarp, even though the Pokédex predicted there wouldn't be any more rain on this Route for at least a week.
"So," Ex said when he was ready to hit the hay. "Who gets the tent and who gets the sleeping bag? I don't care which I get, so you can decide."
"No," Amber shook her head. "The reason I get to decide isn't because you don't care, it's because I payed for the kit. Well, mostly. That was our deal."
"Right," Ex remembered. "So are you going to choose or not?"
"Yes," Amber opined. "I'd prefer the tent."
"Then I guess I get the sleeping bag. I'm going to check a few things on my Pokédex before going to sleep."
"Don't stay up too late," Amber warned before disappearing behind the flaps.
Ex set his backpack down as a pillow, using it to prop up his head as he flipped open his tech. The Pokédex, it seemed, was extremely versatile: it could connect to and surf the web, even way out here; it could send and receive emails; it could serve as a GPS; and then there's all the other Pokémon-related things it could do.
Ex decided he would explore later. Tonight he just wanted to finish reading the article Professor Oak had sent him, which took a surprisingly long time. First he actually had to figure out how to access his email account without a notification taking him directly to the section, which took a while.
When he found the email again, then the article, he continued where he left off, intending to find out what made Captured Pokémon so different from Wild ones, and if there were any existing solutions to the slavery problem.****
He quickly found an answer to his first question: Pokéballs. A Pokéball will immediately grant a Pokémon the ability to understand and carry out human battle commands, but that's not all. The thing that really caught his attention was this:
Pokéballs are designed to somehow improve a Pokémon's intelligence over time.
Furthermore, if a Pokémon spends enough time "Captured" by a human, even if it doesn't spend much time in its Pokéball, it can eventually develop self-awareness. In fact, spending more time outside its Pokéball seems to increase the rate of brain development, as counterintuitive as that might sound. The article says that the "interaction between Pokémon and Trainer" matters most. The Pokéball is just a catalyst; it opens the gateway to self-awareness, but it doesn't lead pokémon across the threshold, so keeping them inside their balls all the time doesn't help them get any smarter. Well, actually, it will, just not nearly as quickly as keeping them outside.
When he read that part, he had released his Pokémon from their balls and briefly explained that they could sleep outside with him if they wanted. That was how he came to be cuddled by his entire party as he read on.
Now the article seemed to be addressing the slavery problem as well.
'There are no built-in compulsion mechanisms to the Pokéballs,' the article claimed. Ex wondered if this was true, or just fake news, but he had no current ways to find out, so he just kept reading. 'Captured Pokémon follow orders after being Captured, not because the ball forces them to, but because pokémon can instinctively feel themselves getting stronger and smarter under training. After a certain threshold of intelligence is met, any pokémon will be capable of Releasing itself from its own Capture, though they rarely ever do this unless they have been abused or neglected, which is why unpleasant and harsh training isn't common or encouraged.
'It is also why Pokéballs don't work as well on humans, and possibly why Legendaries are so difficult to Capture, though few recorded attempts have ever been made. Intelligent creatures can escape Pokéballs easily, and Pokéballs feel 'cramped' to those not already used to them, according to testimony. Refer to this article for more on Human-Pokéball testing.'
Ex clicked the hyperlink, curious. If humans could become smarter via Pokéball, he might decide to Capture himself, even if it would be 'cramped'.
Most of the link was a more long-winded explanation of the single-sentence summary in the other article, so he ended up skimming most of it. The only interesting parts involved the experimental set-ups the researchers had used.
It was difficult for volunteer human subjects to stay in their Pokéballs for the requisite time it takes to get 'Captured', but nothing came of it once they did. Intelligence and problem-solving tests were implemented, as well as strength tests, but the humans gained no new abilities, nor did they get any smarter or stronger over time. The 'captured' humans also easily ignored any orders that they didn't want to follow. Well, not 'easily', since it's hard to say 'no' to authority figures telling you what to do, but that's just normal human psychology. The important thing was that there were no significant differences between the behaviors or bodies of the 'Captured' humans and the control 'uncaptured' humans. After the tests were over, the humans Released themselves from Capture, and that was that.
This study was repeated multiple times, in multiple regions, using various methods, performed by Scientists who were skeptical of Silph Co.'s claims about their Pokéballs. Some especially upstanding moralists went so far as to Capture themselves, just to make sure they didn't feel any different or suffer any unusual compulsions. Nothing came of THOSE tests, either, except the occasional 'I really DID feel different in a Pokéball!' nay-sayers. But these would always be proven as placebo or just outright lies after the fact, and Pokémon Professors no longer take such claims seriously.
A small group of skeptics still believe in the possibility that these 'secret compulsions' exist within Pokéballs, only and maliciously affecting pokémon while leaving humans immune, but the scientific community at large has moved on from the 'slavery' issue.
Nowadays, the conventional wisdom about the morality of Capturing and battling, according to the original article on Pokéballs and pokémon, can be summarized in three sentences:
1. Pokémon almost always benefit from being Captured, and if they don't it's the result of bad actors, not the Pokéballs. (Consequentialism)
2. The worst thing a Pokéball can do is restrict a pokémon's movements for a time, but even inside a Pokéball they will eventually become smart enough to Release themselves, both temporarily and permanently, and have done so in the past with abusive/neglectful Trainers. (Free Will)
3. Even if a Trainer Releases their Captured pokémon into the Wild, the increased intelligence doesn't go away and the trained pokémon will be at a significant advantage against Wild pokémon. (Utilitarianism)
In plain English, Pokéballs do more good than harm, they can eventually be bypassed anyway, and Pokémon benefit from being trained.
Finally, the article mentioned that some people viewed the moment of Capture as morally equivalent to a human child being conceived, while others viewed the moments of first sapience as morally equivalent to a human being born, and still others didn't view sapient pokémon as morally equal to humans at all. I bet they have all SORTS of wonderful arguments about that, Ex rolled his eyes.
It was at this point that the article ended, which Ex thought was appropriate enough.
Ex skimmed the other articles Professor Oak had sent him, but didn't really find anything new or interesting there. When Professor Oak said 'the basics' about Items, he meant it, so Ex closed all the articles, typed up a reply to the Professor, then shut down his Pokédex and went to sleep.
Hi Prof. Oak,
Thanks for the articles. You were right, the stuff on Pokéballs and Pokémon intelligence was the most helpful.
Regarding insights, two things come to mind:
First, I forgot to mention another reason Bulbasaur makes for the best Starter: it can heal itself, meaning fewer Potions, fewer trips to the Pokémon Center, and better battling odds against pokémon that don't have self-heals, not to mention a higher chance for Flawless Victories and more Experience.
Second, I had a conversation with Amber earlier today about the Move Hidden Power. I've transcribed the important parts below-
(note that his brain could only perfectly recall the parts where it had been in charge of the conversation)
-to the best of my memory and included a few other theories that I didn't bring up with her. Honestly, I'm not sure how accurate these theories are-
(since IVs might not even exist here)
-but I thought you'd find them interesting anyway. I've taught the Move to my entire team so far.
Third, this isn't an insight, but a question: The article says that Legendary pokémon avoid humans, and that few Capture attempts have ever been made. Does this mean that none have ever been caught? Could you link me to any in-depth articles about them?
Sincerely,
Pokémon Trainer Ex
That night, in an unknown, enclosed space...
A pokémon whose color would be called "periwinkle" by those familiar with shades of purple blinked its eyes open. Amethyst orbs examined their surroundings, noting how they have changed once again.
I must be subconsciously Teleporting in my sleep, it thought. Perhaps I should Disable my own Teleport, so that stops happening.
As per its waking routine, it had to Teleport itself to get its bearings. Teleport works by envisioning a known location in one's mind and simply going there, so the Teleport brought it to the only familiar place it knew: a destroyed research lab – its apparent birthplace.
"Ah, you're back!"
The pokémon turned its head toward the human known as 'Fuji'.
"I was afraid you wouldn't return," said the researcher, who sat alone near a tent that served as his temporary residence.
"It's not like I have anywhere else to go," said the pokémon, speaking with its mind and not its mouth. It had tried speaking with its mouth, but its words were incomprehensible to humans.
"Before we begin, I have something I want to try. It's nothing invasive, I promise. Do you mind?"
The pokémon shrugged.
"Okay, please listen to the following sentences, and repeat the one that is true: I am a human. I am a pokémon." The man's voice had changed slightly as he said his sentences, as if he were taking on a cadence, but the words themselves were clear enough.
"I am a pokémon."
"Fascinating," said the doctor, writing something down on his clipboard.
"What was the point of that?"
"I was testing a theory from a fellow Professor. Don't worry, it's not relevant to our research." The man set the clipboard on a nearby crate.
"Then why do it at all?"
"The universal pursuit of science, of course!"
The pokémon rolled its eyes. "If you say so."
"I do. In any case, now that we've got that out of the way, are you ready to try learning the Move 'Transform'?" Dr. Fuji asked hopefully. "It is the signature move of Mew, so you should know it too."
"I have nothing else to do," shrugged the pokémon.
The two entered the man's tent. They worked long into the night, discussing both theory and practice of the move 'Transform'. The Professor even provided a few 'failed experiments' for demonstrational purposes – pokémon named 'Ditto' that knew the Move Transform, though they knew nothing else. These efforts, many and varied though they were, seemed to be ultimately fruitless, but the man would not give up easily.
"Maybe you need to be Captured first," he said eventually. "Would you mind if we try that as well?"
This gave the pokémon some pause. "Don't captured pokémon have to follow the orders of the human who Captured them?"
"Not if you don't want to," the man shook his head. "And if you don't like it, you can Release yourself soon after. I have a private Pokédex that doesn't automatically update Capture information, so I can also keep your existence a secret, even as we use it to speed this process along."
The pokémon narrowed its eyes intensely, exerting a sort of Pressure on the air. "Do you promise?"
"Absolutely," said the man steadily, despite the Pressure. "You have my word as a Doctor, as a Professor, and as a Pokémon League representative, that you will not be harmed in any way, nor forced to go against your own will if I Capture you. You also have my word that you may Release yourself at any time."
The pokémon used its Psychic powers to verify the sincerity in the man's words. "Very well. But I will release myself if it doesn't work."
"I was going to release you afterwards, anyway," shrugged the man as he took out a Pokéball. "I can only keep an eye on the automatic information uploads for so long." Before throwing the Pokéball, he said, "This may feel a bit cramped, but please don't leave the ball until you hear the 'ding'."
Cramped is an understatement, thought the pokémon after feeling itself being absorbed into the device. Even with its preference for sleeping and staying in enclosed spaces, even though it should feel relaxed right now, there was something mildly uncomfortable about the experience, like sleeping in a cold metal box instead of a warm, cylindrical glass chamber. When it heard the 'ding', it easily freed itself from the ball.
"Now I shall privately register your information," said the man as he placed the ball in the Pokéball Scanner. He typed quietly for a minute, then handed the pokéball to the pokémon. "You'll need to be in contact with the ball if you wish to permanently release yourself, but please do not do so until you learn Transform."
Or, thought the pokémon after hours more of failure, until I FAIL to learn Transform.
"I don't understand," the man said. "You have the DNA of Mew within you. You already know the Move Teleport. You should be able to use this Move as well. I've gone above and beyond what is normally required of a Move Tutor or a Move Maniac in order to teach a Move to a Pokémon capable of learning it."
A pile of Heart Scales sat, uselessly and unused, in the corner of the room.
"Why does this matter to you?" the pokémon asked. It did not have a purpose of its own, so it was fascinated by what drove others. "Why do you refuse to accept that I may be unable to 'Transform'?"
"Because you are my final hope," said the man. "I have no more discrete funds. My lab is destroyed. All the fruits of my labor have come to nothing. Except you. You are my one true success, my single, undeniable triumph. I cannot fail with you when have failed so many others."
"But what if it is impossible?" the pokémon pressed. "What if I am unable to learn the Move?"
"Then we shall find another way to move forward," spoke the man with conviction. "By the way, it is almost dawn. Will you return again tomorrow?"
"Yes," said the pokémon. "As I said, I have nowhere else to go."
"Then I wish you good dreams, my nocturnal, feline friend," said the man.
The periwinkle pokémon glanced at the Pokéball in its three-fingered hand, discerning instantly how to Release itself permanently with a simple application of will. It then disappeared in a Teleport, returning to the place it had woken. It Disabled Teleport*****, closed its eyes, and fell asleep.
"Only Abra, Snorlax, and Slacking are more Truant than you, my clone creation," the man said once the pokémon had departed. "Hopefully you will grow out of these lengthy sleeping habits. We have much to do, Mewtwo."
Blaine Fuji continued to stare at the space the pokémon had just occupied for a few seconds, then turned to his laptop. "Now, to write up that peer review Oak requested..."
Hope you enjoyed.
* Good ol' Rusty, at it again. The full line is "-by being my friend and doing everything I say. I love how we finish each other's sentences. Ball time, slave buddy!" from S4 E3, Legendaries.
** Any pokémon that develops the ability to talk could also work as one of the "pokémon translators" mentioned in the article. Think Mewtwo, Meowth from Team Rocket, or the Lucario from that movie about him.
*** The "frying pan as a drying pan" line comes from the YouTube video entitled "Brock's Best Line Ever", which is a thirty second excerpt from the Pokémon anime. You can thank the comments section of that video for all the puns.
**** I realized after the fact that Ex avoided making/being swayed by the 'worst argument in the world' in this chapter, especially when it came to the slavery topic. If you want to read more about 'the worst argument in the world', I'm posting a blurb about it on my profile page. I'll probably take it down eventually, so if you go looking for it, can't find it, and still want to read it, PM me and I'll send you a copy.
***** Mewtwo is seen to use Teleport in the TV show, and it can learn Teleport by TM in Gen 1. It learns Disable at level 1 in all generations. It never learns Transform in the games or show (to my knowledge).