Wardens Eternal

Chapter Four: Human

Scarlett laid awake under the night sky, restless and unable to fall asleep. This was a predicament she had become used to over the past several weeks. The vulpix had always felt vulnerable having to sleep without shelter, like any number of things could go wrong as soon as she closed her eyes. This time it was different, and for that, she was thankful, but that did little to correct her insomnia. This time, it was one thought bouncing about in her mind that refused to go unaddressed.

Human

The fact that such a simple word meant so much was almost overwhelming. Humans were revered as much if not more so in some cases, then Legendary Pokemon. A common saying was that the Legendaries might have created the world and filled it with life, but it was the humans that built the world and filled it with purpose.

Before humanity was involved, the pokemon that inhabited the world were little more than wild animals. Pokemon did have access to their powers and abilities, but rarely ever found a use for them outside of their instincts for survival. Generations of pokemon with all of their potentially amazing powers with only three goals in existence: Survival, Mating, and Reproduction. Pokemon today would arguably be no different if it wasn't for humanities influence. (Something Scarlett was very grateful for)

No one knows for sure where humans came from, only that they did not share the same common ancestor as all pokemon: Mew. Did they always exist alongside pokemon? Or did they appear sometime after the world was created and pokemon walked the earth? No one knew the answer other than the Legendaries, and they seldom spoke about it if at all.

What was for sure was that humans were the first to rise above their basic animalistic instincts and achieve full sapience. Humans were the first to develop concepts like a common language, currency, government, agriculture, and everything else that lead to the birth of communities, cultures, and society. Humans were quick to recognize the untapped potential the pokemon inhabiting the world for uses in building, farming, and many other advancements. If only they could get the pokemon to do what they wanted.

The relationships between humans and pokemon were straightforward at first; humans would condition and raise pokemon to consider their handlers as their masters and to follow any command given to them. Obviously, a well-fed and cared for pokemon did better than a neglected one. Many humans went out of their way to care for any pokemon under their command, often developing personal connections in the process. What the humans didn't realize, was that over the course of generations, the pokemon they had domesticated were beginning to adapt. Pokemon increasingly began to show the ability to reason and act independently without direct human guidance.

Pokemon were becoming fully sapient, causing a shift in power and forever changing the relationship between humanity and pokemon. Some humans didn't want to surrender their control of pokemon that they viewed as little more than property. Other humans believed it was wrong to keep the pokemon they lived alongside with for generations as slaves. This split among humans eventually culminated in a short series of civil wars between the two sides.

For the most part, the latter won the wars marking the beginning of a new age. Pokemon were now recognized as equals and were free to live however they saw fit. Despite this, many pokemon willingly stayed with humans and continued to serve in the same roles they had before with only minor changes. Many pokemon worked the fields to help provide very bountiful harvests, some supported the humans sail the seas safely, and others helped with more manual labor. Humans took to maintain things in the long term, building the structures necessary to house their neighbors and ensure everything was efficient.

Not everyone wanted to get along admittedly; there were no shortages of legends depicting wars and armed conflicts during this time. Such violence did bring out the worst in both humans and pokemon, but it also brought forth some of the best they had to offer too. Many great leaders, heroes, and innovations rose to prominence during such conflicts. No matter how dire or hopeless a situation would seem, you could always count on a single human to rise and inspire those around him pokemon and other humans alike.

Perhaps that is what made humans so powerful compared to pokemon. Without aid, a single human was utterly outmatched by even a relatively weak pokemon's powers. With allies and given the opportunity to prepare however, they were capable of incredible feats that could change thousands of lives and permanently change the course of history with a single action.

But that all changed when humanity vanished over a few short decades.

No one could be sure of how or why they disappeared, with surviving accounts often contradicting each other. Some witnesses claimed they watched as a town's human population quickly died off due to some mysterious disease. Another said they saw another settlement's human half vanish in a bright light without a trace. The only ones suspected of knowing the truth about humanity's demise were the legendaries, and again, they seldom spoke about the subject.

The one thing that wasn't questioned was how close civilization came to falling apart in the wake of humankind's extinction. Pokemon quickly realized that many of the trades necessary to maintain their communities had been performed almost exclusively by humans. Without skilled craftsman, the flow of tools and goods needed to maintain the economy quickly fell apart.

Many pokemon were dismayed, confused, and unsure of what to do. How could they hope ever to provide the amounts of food and other necessities needed to raise another generation without the help of humans? What about the generation after that one? What was the point in even trying to raise a new generation if they were only going to live in mere ruins of what civilization had been?

Ironically, history seemed to repeat itself somewhat. All of that confusion and worry lead to an environment defined only by chaos and despair where pokemon turned on each other out of fear and greed. Just like their predecessors, those dark moments were what allowed a new wave of leaders to come forward and rise to power, uniting more and more pokemon to their cause with one question:

"What can you do to make the situation better?"

Where others would only see what they had lost, these new leaders inspired pokemon to instead see what they did have as well as what they could achieve. They knew that the process to rebuild civilization back to what it once was would be a long one. It wouldn't be easy, and there were no promises that said progress would always be consistent, but it did provide a source of hope and purpose.

It was working even today, well over a thousand years later. Some progress had been made, pokemon had learned enough to revive trades like the blacksmith, tailor, and the glassblower. But there was still a long way to go before any pokemon's work could compete with the humans' far superior craftsmanship.

Scarlett couldn't help but feel confident, Exploration teams made most of their income recovering human artifacts, and who better to look for human artifacts then a human? Things were most likely going to work out better then she hoped!

The vulpix finally fell asleep with that thought, with a hopeful expression stretched across her muzzle. . .