Before warfare and anarchy turned them into chaotic terrain covered by obstacles and patrolled by pokemon-training highwaymen, Hoenn had a vibrant, industrialized society connected by a rail network far greater than the Magnet Train or the Battle Subway. The key to this rail network was the invention of the combustion engine; the power behind that engine, then as now, is the Torkoal. Torkoal have long been known for their ability to convert the coal on which they feed into white-hot smoke, but it was the discovery that this smoke was full of energy and could be used to power all sorts of machines which sparked the industrial revolution. The term "steam engine" used so often to describe Torkoal-powered engines is a misnomer; although true steam is used in other regions in their place, Torkoal smoke only looks like water vapor.
Yet Torkoal, despite being useful in combat primarily for their defensive power, were still a mainstay of Team Magma's army, and Team Magma could not accept a pokemon they often conscripted being taken across Hoenn for industry. Team Aqua likewise feared that the cities popping up along the coast would engage in large-scale land reclamation, and saw in the march of Torkoal the march of the land. And industrialization itself left many others jobless, from textile workers on Wurmple silk to long-distance haulers and their large fighting pokemon who could not compete with freight trains.
The Torkoal fought back, but Torkoal are poor fighters, and fighting machines a century away. Many people joined them, but those who benefited most from the Torkoal engine were those who could do little with their own pokemon, and were as poor at war as they were at travel.
In Hoenn, the Torkoal lost. In Hoenn, the Luddites won.
