The history of virtual Pokemon does not mirror the history of the internet at large.
Pokemon have been incorporated and utilized in every facet of human society, which regrettably includes war. With that said, the foundation of the early internet, developed through the cooperation of the American, British, and French militaries with their respective centers of higher education, had very little to do with Pokemon directly. Certainly, those working on these projects did not envision Pokemon inhabiting their work, except in the most literal sense in the case of incorporeal Pokemon.
While originally limited in its scope due to being used for only noncommercial purposes, the opening of the internet and the World Wide Web to the public in the late 4970s during some of the most fraught years of the Cold War ensured that both blocs sought ways to protect against and attack their ideological foe.
Most organizations with major investments into the internet, be they aligned West or East, sought to fix the problem via conventional means. Most contented themselves with hiring and training more people to meet new challenges, or by creating physical barriers to the flow of information. The Reagan administration's failure to pressure the government of Austria to cut the Soviet connection to IIASA was one such attempt.
Humanity has been creating Pokemon since before it was actually human, and, if it survives long enough, it is likely to continue to do so long after it has evolved into a different species. Porygon may share few similarities with Chiptedge, the paleolithic predecessor to the modern Honedge, and their development may share little with the history of the internet, but both Porygon and the internet represent the advent of new and exciting opportunities for cooperation and creation.
-OxOxO-
Porygon, Porygon2, and Porygon-Z:
Note - the original 'Silph Branch' of the Porygon lines will be separated from the other Evolutionary branches in this report.
The Porygon species was originally modeled after a long-extinct flightless bird-Pokemon found across the southern hemisphere that went extinct hundreds of years ago due to human predation and their trusting nature. Various members of the staff that designed the species have stated that the design was meant as a way to pay nature back for human greed.
In choosing such a model, it must be acknowledged that none of the people who designed the Pokemon were artists, and that the team wanted to make sure their creation did not resemble any extant Pokemon to increase recognizability.
These are, perhaps, the most benign facts about the development of the original program that designed the species called Porygon.
While other organizations were happy to simply hire more people to ensure their networks were protected from digital threats, the University of Cinnabar's General Pokemon Research Group, a club of numerous researchers and subsidiary branches of official university departments, conceived another way forward. Taking inspiration from the increasing pace of automation and the development of AI, the GPRG decided they would create a wholly artificial Pokemon and partially automate cybersecurity.
Led by Doctor Eldar Fuji and Doctor Katusra Blaine, the GPRG obtained funding from the university to pursue their goal of a Pokemon that could be tasked with cybersecurity. The pair, aided by the other members of the club and others outside of the university, toiled for over a decade.
While much can be said of the effort, what matters in this retelling is that during that time, the scope of the project ballooned extraordinarily. After the expiration of various NDAs those involved signed, blame for the scope creep was leveled in every direction. Some blamed the varied backgrounds of everyone working on the project, others blamed the entrenched interests inside and outside of the university, while the pair of doctors heading the project claimed they were at fault for 'not being able to say no.'
Regardless, by the end of the first decade, the team was no longer just working towards a Pokemon that could handle cybersecurity, but a Pokemon that could do far more.
Stemming from the desires of both the welfare-minded and the battle-focused members of the club, the specifications were altered. Instead of inhabiting digital technology, the Pokemon had to be able to convert themselves from code into a more physical form.
Stemming from the desires of the bleeding-edge cybersecurity analysts, the specifications were altered. Instead of assisting a trainer in the detection and deterrence of cybersecurity threats, the Pokemon had to be able to act completely autonomously.
Stemming from the desires of pie-in-the-sky idealists and the burgeoning industries involved in Japanese space exploration, the specifications were altered. Instead of only assisting in cybersecurity, the Pokemon also had to be able to assist in the nebulously defined role of 'space exploration.'
Stemming from the desires of the university's realist higher-ups attempting to cut back on at least long-term costs, the specifications were altered. Instead of consuming anything to assist in energy moderation, the Pokemon had to be able to function without eating or breathing, a capability more than 99.9% of Pokemon cannot match.
After a decade of scope creep, some imposed from outside and some imposed from within, the GPRG was on the verge of declaring their efforts a failure. In the eleventh hour, the group was approached by representatives of Silph Co. At the time, the company was flush with cash following the wild success of the Silph Scope. They offered the team further research funding in return for the sole right to produce the Pokemon. While the leading pair were initially hesitant, encouragement from both those working for them and their superiors, as well as personal assurances from the CEO of Silph Co. at the time, Felix Kayano, pushed them to accept the funding.
After five more years of work, the first Porygon was unveiled to the world.
Porygon, like their Evolutions in the 'Silph Branch,' is a Normal-type Pokemon classified simply as a Virtual Pokemon. They are made up of five 3D blocks that typically stand at two and a half feet tall. Two polyhedral prisms make up their body and head, two triangular prisms form their feet, and a rectangular prism acts as the tail. Porygon are primarily colored pink and light blue, with small, hexagonal parts of the top of their heads colored white with small black pupils that act as eyes. The disposition of Porygon is generally cheerful towards humans; however, some of their rudimentary programming from decades ago still makes them view other virtual Pokemon suspiciously, even when they aren't being particularly threatening.
When startled, or when facing a rout, Porygon will Teleport away from predators. This makes them difficult prey.
While unable to meet all of the specifications that had been heaped upon them, the first Porygon and those subsequently produced proved to be an invaluable aid to all involved. The scientists who made the Pokemon received accolades and glowing reputations, Silph Co. made tons of money selling Porygon to governments all over the world, and the University of Cinnabar was showered with money to pursue every project its members proposed.
There were other effects, of course. The creation of the species led to a resurgence of Japanophobia among Americans that Japan would 'surpass' the United States. The ability to rely on Porygon to a large degree for cybersecurity meant those companies that purchased one could reallocate resources usually earmarked for that area. Overall investment into the internet increased, which was probably a contributing factor in the dot-com bubble.
Some of the worst effects of their success involved Team Rocket, whose decision to lean on Silph Co. to invest in the project had borne fruit; this success only inflamed the ambitions of Team Rocket's leader and his direct subordinates. Porygon were produced for the Team secretly to protect their own digital resources, of course, and few trainers alive at the time shied away from spreading word that you could obtain this newly created Pokemon at the now-defunct Celadon Game Corner for around ten thousand coins.
The Porygon given away by the Game Corner, as well as the Team Rocket-produced Porygon that were given to Silph Co. sell, actually had their code tweaked, facilitating Team Rocket's acquisition of information for use as blackmail or in other projects.
One final notable outcome of the success of the Porygon project was what happened to the GPRG team. Using blackmail and bribery, Team Rocket was also able to convince most of the GPRG, Dr. Fuji and Dr. Blaine especially, to recreate their success with the cells of a Pokemon barely believed to exist.
Eventually, however, the world moved on, the internet grew more complex, and Porygon began to falter in their task.
Specifically, testimony from Porygon alive at the time reveals that many had a hard time interpreting the data they were receiving. Whether in the visual representation of the internet, called cyberspace at the time and nowadays more often referred to as the Serverse, or in the machine language operating within their mind, the data became increasingly complex and, in some cases, indecipherable for Porygon. In a few short years, the world they worked to defend was no longer a brightly lit technicolor landscape stretching to the horizon, but far more reminiscent of reality. Some older Porygon even began to struggle to differentiate between the real world and the Serverse.
Rather than updating the Pokemon's code, however, there was debate as to whether it was moral to upgrade and change their programming like any other block of code. Porygon were and are living things, and some believed that changing their programming was wrong. Additionally, debate was further complicated by reexaminations of the records of the Pokemon they were based on, during which some theorized that Porygon might have been sent to the past.
While we may look back on such things as ludicrous, debates about whether Porygon were actually alive, let alone a real Pokemon or even just a particularly flashy AI, were common.
Regardless, internal Silph Co. communications at the time indicate the company wanted Porygon to remain both their and the world's first and most advanced line of cybersecurity defense, regardless of public opinion. With the first fall of Team Rocket, the company also wanted to reverse public opinion about their company being 'Rocket Fuel,' and saw upgrading Porygon through Evolution as a way to accomplish both.
To that end, a team was assembled. Over a dozen were brought together to begin the project in 4996, and hundreds were on the team by 4997. While most of the GPRG team had been monopolized by Team Rocket, and had subsequently either fled abroad, gone to ground, or been arrested by Interpol, a number of the former club's members who dealt primarily with cybersecurity instead of Pokemon creation had been left in the cold by Team Rocket and were among those hired by Silph Co. A former coworker of Dr. Blaine, one Doctor Greg Whitman, was placed in charge of the project.
Again, the project, 'temporarily' named Porygon2 until a more creative name could be workshopped, suffered from astronomical scope creep, as well as bloat from the sheer number of people working on the project. Every capability that had not been included the first time was brought back up, as were entirely new capabilities.
Thankfully for Porygon, deadlines were imposed by the higher ups. After two years, the team presented the Upgrade to the world, and, after a quick trade, Porygon2 with it.
Upon Evolving, a Porygon's body, head, and tail pieces fuse, while their legs remain capable of limited locomotion independent from the body. All of Porygon2's formerly hard edges smooth into more ovoid forms. The Pokemon also shrinks slightly, weighing less and being approximately half a foot shorter than Porygon due to the optimization of their programming. Porygon2's beak grows more distinct and longer, and their eyes become far more pronounced. The primarily pink coloration intensifies into a more vibrant red.
The Pokemon are not as prone to falsely identifying neutral virtual Pokemon as hazards like Porygon is. If one of their own Evolutions are not present, a Porygon2 can act as the leader of a flock of Porygon, using Conversion 2 to resist an opponent's attacks while the others use their own moves. However, if the leading Porygon2 faints, a Porygon flock's morale will often break, leading to a rout.
The upgrade to the species in the form of their Evolution was well received by the public, and the sale of Upgrades to owners of Porygon would have ensured 4999 was one of Silph Co.'s highest grossing years, if Team Rocket hadn't attempted their return around the same time and further damaged the company's reputation.
However, Porygon2 was still not able to travel through space, and they still did not meet the lengthy and contradictory specifications that had been initially expected of the project. The inability of the newly assembled team to accept the impossible laid the foundation for the Pokemon's next Evolution.
Once more, the world moved on and the internet grew yet more complex, but Porygon2 managed to keep up for longer than the first.
Silph Co.'s profits, however, did not.
The failing economic prospects of the company, caused the dot-com bubble specifically and Japan's economic stagnancy more generally, induced several major shareholders to revisit the Porygon project in the search of cash and relevancy. Once assured by Dr. Whitman that they could succeed this time, they pressed the CEO to work toward making a 'Porygon3.'
They were unaware of the stress-induced failing of Felix Kayano's mental faculties, and they were shocked with just how much support he showered on the project. The CEO declared in 5003 that, "Porygon3 [would] achieve everything their predecessors could not," and proceeded to pour billions of yen and over a thousand employees into the project in an attempt to do just that. Documents leaked in the wake of the project's disastrous unveiling showed that several of the shareholders informed Dr. Whitman would succeed where he had failed during the last Porygon upgrade 'or else.'
The project never could. Worse, scope creep began to set in like clockwork. Instead of 'merely' helping explore outer space, the Pokemon was also tasked with exploring alternate dimensions as varied as the Distortion World and Ultra Space.
After two years, when the declining CEO's son stepped in at the behest of the shareholders to limit the company's losses, he gave the team exactly one year to finish the project and make an Evolution item. Those that claimed the task was impossible were fired and replaced with people more eager to please.
In 5006, one Dr. Greg Whitman presented the untested 'Disc Drive' to a roaring crowd while rattling off the project's specifications list that only the delusional thought a single, non-Legendary Pokemon could achieve. With that said, he presented the item to his own personal Porygon2.
While the Silph Co. at the time claimed that rigorous testing had been done, the visible flinch of Dr. Whitman's face when the theatrically made smoke cleared and revealed his Pokemon meant absolutely no one believed that lie.
While Evolving, a Porygon-Z's head separates from their body. Their head grows an antenna, while the Pokemon's eye color changes from white to yellow. A dark ring appears around the pupils of their eyes. The formerly blue bottom of the body transforms into a blue band around their torso, and Porygon-Z grows around an extra foot upon Evolving. The most marked change between the two Pokemon, however, is in their demeanor. Porygon-Z is erratic, the various parts of their bodies twitching violently every few seconds as their code sputters and stops.
Still, Dr. Whitman attempted to keep the presentation moving forward and declared the Pokemon's name to be Porygon3. When the Pokemon instead cried Porygon-Z and immediately displayed that it was not, in fact, 'even more stable than Porygon2' with the spasming of its body, a few in the crowd – not paid actors or full of Silph Co. employees, but the actual public – tittered. In response, Doctor Greg Whitman scowled.
Seeing its trainer's expression, a series of warped logic threads twisted in the Pokemon's mind, and Porygon-Z fired off an Adaptability-boosted, STAB-boosted Hyper Beam into a crowd of innocents. Both the Pokemon and its trainer offered little resistance and were quickly apprehended, but the damage was done: over a dozen died, and over a hundred were injured in the resulting chaos.
When interviewed afterwards, the distraught doctor claimed not to have any idea why his Pokemon had attacked. When his Pokemon was interviewed and its fragmented response was pieced together, it is believed to have replied, "Trainer hate looked down on. Why suffer? Needed to get rid of problem. Porygon-Z used Hyper Beam. One-hit KO! What wrong?"
Needless to say, the Doctor was accused of several crimes related to unethical experimentation on Pokemon, among other crimes. When his bail was posted by several friends and Silph Co., he immediately returned to his place of employment. Once in his office, he leaked dozens of sensitive and confidential files, including the raw code for the Upgrade and the mockingly titled Dubious Disc as revenge against Silph Co.'s shareholders, who he interpreted as having sabotaged his work.
He was quickly sent back to jail.
In the end, both Greg Whitman and Hubert Kayano, the son of the CEO, were convicted for a number of crimes. Between them, the unethical treatment of Pokemon, insider trading, and improper workplace practices were only the tip of the iceberg. Most of the former employees the pair worked to fire decided to step forward to testify, while Greg Whitman himself testified against Hubeert Kayano, along with railing against the company's actual CEO and its shareholders.
Said shareholders faced no official punishments for their role, but the CEO would expend considerable effort before the third World War to buy stock back and make the company go private.
Doctor Whitman's final actions as an employee of Silph Co. did have at least one silver lining: with the code for the Upgrade and the Dubious Disc floating around online without the trade-locking mechanism on them, any Porygon or Porygon2 could inadvertently contact the information and immediately Evolve. The first patch for both was rolled out, which allowed them to deny the automatic upgrade. This was the first step towards the modern consensus reached in the wake of the third World War regarding virtual Pokemon.
Today, after decades of software updates, Porygon and Porygon2 theoretically have the same capabilities as each other in regards to cybersecurity; however, the greater computing capability of Porygon2, as well as their creativity, mean that they have the edge in even that field.
A large population of both Pokemon exist, both in the real world and in the purely digital Serverse. Large flocks of both will congregate in large, unused, and uncorrupted servers that have been forgotten in the wake of the Internet's First Death. Meanwhile, they prefer to roam derelict human structures on the edge of cities or suburbs in the real world. In both cases, their decision to flock together is to deter predators.
The means by which a Pokemon shrinks out of sight upon fainting remains an excellent way to escape predators in the Serverse, though the means by which this is achieved is obviously different compared to the real world.
Porygon-Z, however, lags behind. These Pokemon are not able to update themselves as easily as their former selves, so older Porygon-Z become more and more unable to damage the Serverse and those who call it home. This has led to the Pokemon taking a greater role in protecting flocks of Porygon and Porygon2 in the real world, where their frighteningly powerful Normal-type attacks deter even the most desperate of predators.
Their reputation has slowly been repaired following the incident of their initial unveiling and their usage in various theaters of the third World War, with their erratic twitching no longer always perceived as a sign of 'dangerous liability' but instead of their' 'quirkiness.' The trainers of these Pokemon and Pokemon welfare advocates in general are heartened by this progress.
After all, there is a far more tortured existence for a Porygon than the mere instability of Porygon-Z.
-OxOxO-
Sirrom and Wyrmor:
The majority of virtual Pokemon are designed on behalf of an organization to fulfill a specific purpose. The creation of Sirrom does not deviate; the first one was created by the genius Myrdle Gent on behalf of Team Hush during their attempts to subvert the local government of Oregon, a subdivision of the United States. They pressured her into creating a Pokemon that would counter the Porygon line and other virtual Pokemon utilized by law enforcement. While the Team was only discovered and the majority of its ringleaders captured in 2029, captured grunts as well as the woman herself have stated that she completed the Pokemon in 2025. In designing the Pokemon, she took inspiration from the Morris internet worm, one of the earliest viruses ever made.
Sirrom is six feet long and tube-shaped, with two dinner plate-sized faces on both ends that emit a soft blue light. The majority of their skin appears black and rubbery, making them resemble a cable, which were common fixtures in the visual representation of the Serverse at the time. Though this Pokemon has two faces, researchers have determined the expressions they make are tied to the same consciousness. When at rest, their lips form a neutral line that highlights how chubby their cheeks are. People interacting with this Pokemon should not take their expressions as indicative of their true thoughts; the faces they make among their own species carry wildly different meanings compared to what humans would consider normal.
Sirrom, classified as the Cyber Wyrm Pokemon, is a Fighting-type Pokemon, though their appearance does not suggest that. When they move, strong muscles can be seen beneath their thick outer layer of skin. While the lack of a more traditional body plan limits this Pokemon's physical Fighting-type moveset, they make up for that with a plethora of special attacks and the innovative use of what physical attacks they do have. When they hold their breath, they can change the color of their skin slightly.
Usually, they hunt prey by laying in wait and attempting to blend in with their surroundings. When prey is scarce, they gorge themselves on electricity for as long as they can before the owners of the device they are in troubleshoot and discover them. When threatened by a foe they can't beat, this Pokemon can extend a set of pharyngeal jaws that resemble alligator clips from both of their faces, bite themselves, and then roll away like a tire.
Looking at a Sirrom, it is hard to imagine what they Evolve into. In her interviews both post-capture and during her employment by the United States government, their creator has expressed her own shock that they were capable of Evolution. Certainly, she's stated that she, "Never intended to give that jackass an Evolution at all, much less the one it achieved."
Appearances can be deceiving, however. Just as one might doubt a Magikarp Evolves into a Gyarados without seeing the process for themselves, Sirrom certainly does not look like they Evolve into Wyrmor. Only the thick muscles beneath their rubbery skin and their pharyngeal jaws hint at what they become once they reach level 54.
Sirrom's body plan shifts considerably upon their Evolution into the Dragon and Fighting-type Wyrmor, which is also classified as the Cyber Wyrm Pokemon. On average, a Wyrmor is around four feet longer than they are as a Sirrom, mostly due to the added length from their tail, which no longer ends in a face but tapers into a glowing 'x,' and the growth of both their neck and their newly formed draconic head. Their thick skin thins considerably, allowing blue light to emerge from between strategically placed rubbery scales. The thickest portions of this Pokemon's hide are on their back, neck, and around their four new legs, which glow the same electric-blue as the rest of their body beneath their scales. The Pokemon's legs are powerfully built and work hard to propel a Wyrmor forward to launch powerful attacks. In contrast to their legs, a Wyrmor's wings are skeletal and structurally resemble the wings of a number of bat-Pokemon. Although they cannot use them to fly, they will lash out aggressively with them during battle.
On the forehead of their thin, draconic head is an indentation in their hide that resembles a simplistic smiley-face. Evolution turns the worm-Pokemon Sirrom that seeks to consume as fast as possible into a dragon that hoards electricity and data that they will gorge themselves on only occasionally. They will protect their hoard fiercely, but this Pokemon's cunning will not let them fight a losing battle when they can live to fight another day.
In places attempting to cut cybersecurity costs, some will attempt to use this Pokemon to defend their data in place of the Porygon line. While they can work well as protectors, younger Wyrmor will continuously demand battles to prove they are protecting the 'worthy.'
-OxOxO-
Digitaleon:
When Eeveeon Evolves into the Normal and Electric-type Digitaleon, their light brown coat becomes a pale yellow. The shaggy hair on their head lengthens, sharpens, and whitens until it joins the Pokemon's mane. The hair flowing from their head has been likened to a mullet in modern times. A bit of black coloration marks the corners of their lips and eyes. The hair on the tail of a Digitaleon is far thinner and has darkened to a near-black brown color. The tip of the tail is covered in orange-and-white bristles. Along the spine and around the ankles of a Digitaleon, tufts of white and orange hair poke out of their otherwise uniform coat. They grow from being around a foot and a half tall to three feet on average.
By all accounts, Digitaleon, classified as the Interface Pokemon, is an otherwise plain-seeming Eeveelution. However, some have raised questions about the Eevee family as a whole considering this Pokemon's curious ability to enter computers despite the Pokemon existing for several thousand years before a computer was ever made.
The fossil record contains very few of Eevee's third-stage Evolutions, but they do exist, as do some scant historical records. It is thought that the third-stage Eeveelution Benjamin Franklin obtained when lightning struck his kite might have been Digitaleon, though American historians admit that confirming that fact when the event happened over a thousand years ago is obviously difficult. Some laymen question how a Pokemon could evolve to enter computers millions of years ago, and two competing hypotheses attempt to answer this seeming 'conundrum.'
The unnatural phenomena hypothesis posits that Earth's environments are not varied enough in a close enough area for Eevee to evolve how they have. Some contend that Eevee must have come to Earth from another planet or dimension, like so many other Pokemon that call Earth home, whether through the power of a legendary or through the spontaneous appearance of an Ultra Wormhole. Others postulate that they arrived on Earth from a distant future, where the Pokemon was designed to be the 'pinnacle of Pokemon Evolution.'
The natural phenomena hypothesis posits that they did evolve naturally, and that Digitaleon's evolution into their current form was the result of the abundance of a computer-like environment. The exact nature of this environment is debated, with a predecessor to or offshoot of Metagross, some other undiscovered Pokemon, or something constructed by a long-lost Pokemon culture being the frontrunners.
Regardless of the particulars, neither hypothesis has much evidence; the sheer quantity of temporal and spatial displacements, whether from time-travelers or space-farers or Ultra Wormholes, across our planet's history when considered in the terms of millions of years, means that tracking which exact instance might have deposited Eevee is near impossible. On the other hand, a Pokemon that might have acted as a computer would leave little evidence once its corpse was eaten; even in the best case where its body remained uneaten and was fossilized, a petravorous Pokemon like Tyranitar or metalivorous Pokemon like Aggron thousands or millions of years ago would hardly care about the significance of such fossils.
Overall, the most likely explanation is not these fanciful hypotheses, but the scientific consensus: like many Eeveelutions, Digitaleon can convert themselves into their type-energy and interact with their environment that way. In Digitaleon's case, the handful of documented wild specimens have been observed hiding in exposed veins of copper while waiting for prey, like with the Water-type Vaporeon and their habitat, as well as riding lightning into the clouds in Ground-to-cloud lightning strikes to aid in migration, like with the Flying-type Zephyreon and a number of their Evolutions.
Those that have trainers have demonstrated both capabilities. Thus, the ability of Digitaleons to enter computers is, in essence, a happy accident. Indeed, it takes newly Evolved Digitaleons quite some time to adapt to being inside a computer, a barrier they do not show when interacting with raw copper and lightning.
However, one question remains to be answered. One must ponder why it was Eeveeon's Electric-type Evolution that evolved this capability and not one of Jolteon's Evolutions.
-OxOxO-
Porygon3:
Like the main 'Silph Branch' of the Porygon line, Porygon3 is a Normal-type Pokemon who Evolves when traded with an item – in Porygon3's case, the Decisive Disc. The body of Porygon3 has fused and, for lack of a better term, 'developed' far beyond their previous forms. Porygon3 are covered in feathers and exhibit reverse countershading, with the feathers on their head, back, and the tops of their wings being colored red, while those under their wings, along their stomach and bottom, and on their four-toed legs are colored blue. A Porygon3's wide, flat beak is also blue. On top of their heads, a crest of orange-red, light blue, and bright yellow feathers rise, and some of the feathers in their tails are similarly colored and stick up into the air. Their eyelids slightly obscure their previously distinct eyes, whose sclera remains white, in contrast to Porygon-Z.
Also receiving the classification of Virtual Pokemon, Porygon3 physically resembles the Pokemon found on islands across the southern hemisphere that Porygon was originally based on to an uncanny degree, lending credence to the idea that the widespread distribution of this Pokemon was not due to their ability to Teleport as theorized centuries ago, but by the temporal displacement of Porygon3.
This would also answer why that Pokemon was so inexplicably trusting of humans, despite growing up in environments filled with potential battle rivals: Porygon3 exhibits a very friendly disposition towards humans generally. Certainly, their gargantuan defensive stats and respectable HP stat ensured that they faced few enemies that could credibly challenge them on the small, ecologically isolated islands they were found scattered across.
While some scientists caution preemptively declaring any further links between the two Pokemon, at the very least, the presence of the Porygon line in the past has been attested to by time travelers such as Dawn Berlitz, Serena Yvonne, and Oliver Walker.
Porygon3's creation is no less storied than their predecessors. The near-senile CEO of Silph Co., a staunch pacifist following his dealings with Team Rocket and his subsequent rescue by the mythic Pokemon Trainer Red, refused all attempts by outsiders to step up production of Porygon and Porygon2 so that they could be utilized in the third World War. Friends, staff, and friendly companies could not convince him to budge, and he did not heed the warnings that the Japanese and American governments would come knocking.
They did, and he still refused to accept the incredibly generous military contracts he was being offered, convinced that the war could be ended amicably as long as no one escalated it.
The full story of the corporate espionage that followed would take far too long to relate, but the gist is: a number of members on the production team for new Porygon and on the team making Upgrades were bribed by the American and Japanese government, as well as the Devon Corporation, to steal the company's secrets, seek asylum in the United States, go to work for the Devon Corporation's branch in San Francisco, and receive American citizenship and Presidential pardons for their sacrifice. The Japanese government refused to prosecute them for the crimes committed on Japanese soil, and the Devon Corporation, Silph Co.'s longtime rival, began producing Porygon and Porygon2.
With military funding, a far smaller team, and few stipulations for an Evolution beyond making the Pokemon better than a Porygon2 holding an eviolite, Porygon3 was produced in under six months and was fighting in the Serverse against Chinese trainers and operatives armed with their own virtual Pokemon after a total of eight. With stats to rival the increasingly rare Chansey and Blissey, the most modern software available, and Conversion 3's helpful protection from a number of status moves, the species served their purpose well.
Eventually, however, the World War ended, the internet died and was born anew, and Porygon3 has been in higher demand than ever.
The reasons are multifaceted. The third World War saw thousands of satellites destroyed, littering the atmosphere with debris and destroying half a century's worth of accumulated infrastructure, which required help to analyze, fix, and optimize. The data of the Revanchist powers was systematically isolated and wiped by the Allied powers, leaving fertile breeding grounds for hostile virtual Pokemon. The Chinese 'Bómìng' virus released during the final days of the war both corrupted nearly all of the data connected to the internet not already destroyed, and also sabotaged the physical and digital infrastructure near where that data had been stored. Everyone who served in the war, regardless of side, became far more informed about how the internet worked and, subsequently, how to exploit it.
Finally, far more virtual Pokemon have come into being since the early days, many spontaneously. A category of Pokemon that had perhaps ten unique lines, depending on if one counts Estonia's legendary Pokemon, ballooned. Now, there are hundreds of virtual Pokemon, and if one wishes to protect one's data from corruption, deletion, or entrapment, and one doesn't overly mind the cost, a Porygon3 cannot be beat when it comes to cybersecurity.
Even still, Porygon3 is a Pokemon, and a rare few wild specimens of Porygon3 have been observed. Flocks of Porygon and Porygon2 will congregate around them in the Serverse, where their seemingly placid exterior is replaced with a steely determination few Pokemon can match. While Porygon3 takes hits from enterprising predators, Porygon and Porygon2 will return hostility severalfold.
-OxOxO-
Porygoner:
Porygon can Evolve into this form very, very rarely, when their code is too heavily corrupted for their multitude of self-repair functions to heal. Considering most modern Porygon have references for what their code should look like in the form of other Porygon, the freely available decompiled code of some of the earlier versions of their programing, and, in the case of some enterprising individuals, backups, such a state is exceedingly difficult for a Porygon to reach.
Even should a Porygon reach such a state, they will attempt to purge the corrupted code through other methods, such as wiping their own memory or performing a factory reset. In the worst cases, they prefer suicide to Evolution.
Almost all of the very few Porygon recorded to have not attempted any of these options were helping conduct a study in the 5050's, when the Porygon involved voluntarily allowed themselves to succumb so that those researching the Pokemon's Evolution could try and find a way to protect Porygon from Evolving in this way.
Thus far, their decision and sacrifice has been in vain.
While an item exists to induce this Evolution, its name will not be recorded here. More often, Porygon Evolve into Porygoner when combating other virtual Pokemon, including Pokemon like Viritomb, Porygoner, and, more rarely, Blotwore. Unprepared trainers of Porygon should be wary around these opponents.
Porygoner is a Normal and Ghost-type Pokemon, and is classified as the Corrupt Code Pokemon.
Compared to Porygon, all five parts of their body have been altered. What was once the chest of the Pokemon's bodies points towards the ground, while their former tails are connected to the new bottoms. This new 'leg' allows the Pokemon to stand on the ground when the tip of the leg is attached to the bottom of the body. When this leg is turned upside down so the base of the shape rests against the Pokemon's body, they can hover slowly through the air. The back of the heels of the feet now stick up from the body and form their 'arms.'
The back of the head of the Porygon is attached to the top of the new body. Their eyes are gone, with a single, large, white pupil resting in the center of what was once Porygon's forehead. The entire head will rotate in place to allow Porygoner to look around.
Porygoner's colors also differ from Porygon; the blue has shifted to become magenta, while the red has darkened into black.
Porygoner pursue two goals in the wild: the propagation of their species, and their own survival. Thankfully for Porygon, the latter is severely hampered by the near-constant deterioration of Porygoner's programming, which requires them to corrupt and 'imbibe' foreign data. In pursuit of these goals, they will work with people or other Pokemon that promise to aid them, be it an unscrupulous hacker or a greedy Viritomb.
In the few instances these Pokemon have been observed outside of battle, their behavior has been described as odd.
Sometimes, they will congregate in an area of the Serverse and simply stand still, like statues. Other times, they will 'sing' using whatever remains of the corrupted audio files they have consumed.
Despite the terror this Evolution provokes in Porygon, Porygoner can communicate, reason, and show affection like the vast majority of Pokemon. When asked, they respond that the 'odd' behaviors observed in the wild is an attempt at having fun.
Debate rages as to whether it is moral to cast judgement on the existence of Porygoner. Some liken the Pokemon's existence as being similar to Paras and Parasect, but that case is triply mitigated by its other possible Evolutions, millions of years of evolution, and an implicit understanding between the mushroom and the Paras that each is benefiting the other for their own ends, even if the Pokemon's consciousness dies upon Evolving. No such symbiosis has been found in Porygoner's existence.
When asked, Porygon vehemently deny their Evolution the right to exist.
When asked, Porygoner do not respond to the question.
-OxOxO-
Combit, Combyte, and Vespibrum:
The Combit line is said to be a 'convergent evolution' of the Comble line. This 'fact' is only barely true, since the Pokemon was DESIGNED and did not 'evolve' into existence. Still, the designers of this Pokemon wanted them to act like the Comble line, and these three Pokemon mirror Comble, Combee, and Vespiquen well.
These Pokemon were created at the behest of the East African Federation after their central government database was breached for a third time by Pokemon they'd bought from abroad to augment their cybersecurity. Designed in a number of laboratories across the country, but especially in the city of Nairobi, they were completed after eight years, during which time the government suffered two more data breaches.
They have not suffered a major breach since, and a number of other countries across Africa and further abroad have hired trainers from the country who own this Pokemon to guard their own servers and establish carefully monitored populations of the Combit line.
Classified as the Tiny Bit Pokemon, Combit is a small, cube-shaped Electric-type Pokemon that is nearly immobile. A Combit's body is a bright green reminiscent of a circuit board, while two small, spherical black nubs poke out of their backs. Between these nubs is a small slit, through which they breathe and are fed. A Combit's face is a semisphere of nearly opaque purple plastic, while their eyes resemble camera apertures that allow them to look at the world and learn about what their role will be from Combyte and Vespibrum. Since they do not eat regular food, they have no mouths. Instead of crying for attention, they communicate using their faces, which they can turn on and off. When this light is powered on, the light glows purple. This line of Pokemon are some of the most adept at communicating through Morse code.
Unlike Comble, which resists working with others until assigned by a Vespiquen, Combit enjoy cooperating with their fellows, though their near-immobility does not allow them to actually do much. Due to this and their high intelligence relative to other so-called baby Pokemon, they play lots of social games with each other; one such game is a variant of telephone, where they attempt to convey information through a group and back to the start as fast as possible with as few mistakes as possible using only their glowing faces and the widening of the apertures of their eyes. They despise when a Vespibrum interrupts their games. They are protected within the deepest recesses of the Serverse or high up on mountaintops or other locations that give them a commanding view of their environment.
Male Combit are fed electricity by Combyte through the slit on their back, while female Combit are fed electricity directly by a Vespibrum. During feedings, information is exchanged between the Pokemon.
Like Comble, Combit are baby Pokemon, and are only produced when Vespibrum and female Combyte are exposed to specific conditions most often found on mountaintops about to experience a thunderstorm. A Storm Incense can ensure Vespibrum will produce Combit.
Like Comble and Combee, Combit Evolve when a group of three Combit all reach level three and commit to becoming a single organism. The Electric and Psychic-type Combyte is classified as the Tiny Byte Pokemon. The cubes that served as the core for each of the Combit are now each surrounded by a purple, hexagonal shell made of plastic and reinforced by psychic energy. Their faces are no longer semispherical, but flat lights that flash white. Each has a rectangular speaker that serves as their mouths, which is positioned beneath each set of eyes. These Pokemon rejoice in their ability to communicate verbally by singing, talking, or making nonsense mouth sounds while they work or battle. Some will even download music and play songs through their mouths. Combyte directly born from Vespibrum showcase far less personality for an extended period of time.
The black nubs on their back now extrude wires and cables into the center of their body, where information is exchanged. From this point, an antenna extends out of the back of this Pokemon, which serves as a way for this Pokemon to receive the radio and psychic signals containing orders from a Vespibrum. This antenna is also used to communicate information to other Combyte and to Vespibrum directly. When tired and in a safe location, a Combyte will lie face-down and passively receive signals through this antenna.
For most of their lives, a male Combyte will serve their Vespibrum faithfully until death. In a few notable cases, Vespibrum will build 'hives' out of the corpses of their male Combyte, though most find the task of fending off copper-seeking Electric-type Pokemon and Pokemon with less discerning diets like Garbodor too tiring to attempt such a task.
The female members of these two Pokemon species have different biologies, owing to their eventual Evolution into a Vespibrum.
One of the apertures that would normally allow light into the left eye of female Combit is instead covered by a plastic screen that allows Vespibrum to teach female Combit in the most direct way possible.
Male Combit will compete over the right to join female Combit and form female Combyte. Owing to their near-immobility, intellectual games involving memorization of long strings of numbers or large calculations are what determines who is best fit to join with a female Combit. When they Evolve, both of the eyes of what was once the singular female Combit will be covered by what appears to be a bump in the flat light of their face. Beneath this light, what remains of the eyes of this part of the Combyte are constantly showered in the memories and experiences of the Vespibrum that birthed them. The memories make female Combyte much better battlers.
Upon reaching level twenty-one, a female Combyte will Evolve into a Vespibrum, the Network Pokemon.
Instead of serving as a place to store young and vulnerable Comble, as in Vespiquen's case, a Vespibrum's abdomen serves as a radio dish. Necessarily, the purple-clad abdomen of a Vespibrum is far shorter and uniform than a Vespiquen's. Additionally, they have a pair of straight, steel-colored legs that terminate in hemispherical feet. Much like Gardevoir and some other Psychic-type Pokemon, Vespibrum do not usually rest their full weight on their legs, choosing instead to support themselves with their psychic power. These legs can be pressed together to serve as the antenna of their parabolic dishes. These dishes are dark purple on the outside and steel gray on the inside.
The abdomen of a Vespibrum is connected to their thorax by a thin, dark green waist. A Vespibrum's spherical, purple thorax is opaque, and is also where the engorged and merged brains of what was once Combyte are stored. This is also the primary processing center for the information this Pokemon receives from their Combyte and Combit network. However, the head of Vespibrum store their consciousness, which makes decisions based on the information received by their primary processing center. Interviewed Vespibrum have varying opinions on how they have changed – some perceive themselves to be the 'child' of the Combyte they Evolved from, while others feel they are a fusion of the three beings they once were.
A Vespibrum's segmented arms are pale green, and end in three opposable digits with which they can manipulate objects physically, if they have to. The head of a Vespibrum bears some resemblance to that of a Vespiquen, though a notable deviation is the presence of striations along their crowns that resemble the grooves in a brain. The designers hoped that this feature would allow the Pokemon to trick their foes into thinking they had been severely wounded, if they were unfamiliar with their species, giving the Pokemon an advantage in battle. The face of a Vespibrum is pale green, their mandibles and crowns are a shade of purple that deepens near the striations and joints, while their two eyes are made up of a camera aperture surrounded by a glowing white light.
Out of the back of a Vespibrum, 'wings' made up of a variety of wires and cables stretch that are held in the air with psychic power. When fully unfurled from inside their bodies, these wings stretch out to twelve feet, which is three times Vespibrum's height. Using these wires, as well as the protrusions on their heads, Vespibrum can reliably anchor themselves to the ground so that they can point their parabolic dishes into the sky and better receive signals from their Combyte and Combit workers. While these Pokemon could float in the air and accomplish the same, doing so takes more energy, so they will anchor themselves to the ground if they don't need to connect for an emergency.
Combit and Combyte are more independent and intelligent than their so-called 'convergent' counterparts. Vespibrum also exhibits slightly different behavior, for better and for worse. Vespibrum care more for the Combit and Combyte that make up their hives than their counterparts, but this stems from the fact that they are also far more controlling.
Vespibrum were supposed to learn the moves Attack Order, Defend Order, and Heal Order. To their shock, the first Vespibrum and her designers found that she was unable to do so; the increased intelligence of Combyte and the more domineering nature of Vespibrum meant she did not command the respect to use these moves.
The first Vespibrum was so incensed at this that she devised a way to utilize her hive for her attacks, with or without their consent.
Using their backdoor access to their offspring and their psychic power, a Vespibrum can utilize the processing power of their Combit and Combyte for themselves when they use any one of their three signature moves. With Parameter Command, all of Vespibrum's attacking and defensive stats are raised by one stage. With Focus Command, all of Vespibrum's attacks will be critical hits for the following three turns. With Output Command, all of Vespibrum's Electric-type attacks will be charged for the following three turns. The taxing nature of these moves, on the faculties of a Vespibrum's hive and on the body and bandwidth of the Vespibrum themselves, means a Vespibrum must wait around four turns before they can reuse each signature move.
-OxOxO-
Viritomb:
To begin a description of Viritomb, a description of the Pokemon they resemble in appearance and in ecological niche is required. For those unaware, a Spiritomb is a Ghost and Dark-type Pokemon made up of a gestalt of the spirits that were sealed within. It is commonly believed that 108 spirits must be bound to a keystone for a Spiritomb to be created.
However, a Spiritomb does not necessarily have to be made up of 108 spirits. While the vast majority of them are, research has found that the number required is based upon the beliefs of the people sealing away the souls.
The ritual utilized by humans to bind malevolent spirits to a keystone was first discovered in the old world in India. 108 is a sacred number in dharmic religions. While it is not known precisely whether the spirit binding ritual adopted the number ahead or behind the emergence of this belief, the number's importance to the ritual undoubtedly helped reinforce the idea that it was sacred. Over time, this belief about the number of souls that had to be sealed spread from India, being taken east with the spread of Buddhism and west by contact with Greek kingdoms, Persian dynasties, and Arabian merchants.
However, this belief was not always as universal as it is today. The Reothadh Clan of Britain, separated from the events of the Darkest Day by hundreds of miles, came to believe a ritual was required to keep what they called the calamity at bay. Every seventeen years, seventeen criminals, one for each year since the last execution, were killed and had their souls bound to a keystone to 'bind and banish them [as] the great calamity.' A few Aztec rituals the Paldean Empire's conquistadors encountered, said to be devised by Acamapichtli hundreds of years in the past, created Spiritomb as a byproduct. The souls of dishonored individuals were bound to a keystone in order to purify their body so that it could be offered as a better sacrifice. The Spiritomb created by the Aztec rituals had as few souls as twenty and as many as fifty-two.
In the modern age, with the widespread dissemination of information, everyone 'knows' that Spiritomb is made up of 108 souls. Any study that might attempt to prove if one could be created with a larger or smaller number would first have to devise how to find a qualified individual who doesn't already know, to say nothing of the difficulty of finding the spirits that would have to be sealed.
With all that said, Viritomb can now be discussed. Viritomb, the Viral Horde Pokemon, is an Electric and Poison-type Pokemon which seems to have been spontaneously created following the Internet's First Death. They have a similar height to Spiritomb. Viritomb's face exits their keystones through a screen, any number of access ports, cracks in the device, or through holographic projectors. Their faces are primarily made up of monochromatic light that resembles TV static, although the eyes and mouth of the Pokemon are formed by a grid of black and white squares that is sixteen 'pixels' long.
Where a Spiritomb is made up of 108 spirits, a Viritomb is made up of 256 pieces of malware, not just viruses as their name and classification might lead one to believe. A Viritomb has not been found that is made up of a greater or fewer number of pieces of malware, although one must admit that they are far, far rarer than Spiritomb, limiting the amount that can be conclusively said about them. Why Viritomb are formed by this number of pieces of malware is also unclear – 256 is the number of values that can be stored in a byte, but that should not have an impact on how the Pokemon functions.
The size of the code of the malware does not appear to impact the formation of a Viritomb, only that they are made up of 256 pieces of malware. While this can impact the minimum size required for a Viritomb's keystone, the sheer density of data storage in the modern era means that most Viritomb can fit in just about any device.
Necessarily, this means that a Viritomb's keystone has far, far more variance than a Spiritomb's. Just about anything with a circuit board will do, though Viritomb prefer to have access to a battery independent of the power their typing can supply. Furthermore, while the keystone of a Viritomb will not change their power in battle, larger keystones can increase how smart this Pokemon act.
Thankfully, a Viritomb has only been able to access a server farm once, and both the Vihnehdo region and the federal Brazilian government have taken steps to ensure such a breach never happens again; certainly, they have no desire to blow up more of their own infrastructure.
The single Viritomb known to be bound to a flash drive is startlingly stupid, although its innocuous appearance means it has thus far escaped from repercussions for its misdemeanors… as well as from capture by enterprising trainers and researchers.
Regardless of their intellectual capability, Viritomb are natural pranksters and delight in trolling others in the Serverse or in real life. Often, they will use their keystone to blend into their environment, only to jump out at anyone that picks them up. It is believed that the intent inherent to the viruses that compose them color whether their pranks are harmless fun or cruel tricks.
-OxOxO-
Blotwore:
Blotwore is the Digital Art Pokemon. They are Water-type, and they appear to have been spontaneously created following the Internet's First Death. A Blotwore's outer coat closely resembles a piece of lined, college ruled paper, which they keep close to themselves and can paint on. While the top of this coat sticks up into the air like a collar, the bottom trails on the ground behind Blotwore.
Blotwore move around on two small legs that share the consistency of the rest of a Blotwore's body. These legs can barely be seen beneath their coats. Around their middle, they hug their outer coat close to their body in an attempt to conceal their presence. Blotwore will occasionally stick their heads above this middle section, where their two white eyes will glance around to make sure they know where they are going.
These Pokemon are incredibly timid. To make up for this, they paint fearsome looking eyes in bright, vivid colors on the collar of their outer coat, which gives them one of their abilities, Intimidate. Female Blotwore have a slightly larger train, while male Blotwore have a higher collar. These Pokemon possess the ability to draw paint out of finished artwork, allowing them to adorn their coat with different designs over and over.
When attacking, this Pokemon will reach up and lash out with a tendril of their ink-like bodies. However, this Pokemon does not like to attack, and will more often use status moves or paint and ink to inconvenience attackers while they use their high speed to flee.
Blotwore are terrified of the real world, and vastly prefer the Serverse. They like their environment to be cool or cold. Younger Blotwore will try to find mostly unused electronics to live in, while older, more experienced Blotwore will try to hide themselves within larger servers with more room while turning off some of the hotter electronics. They have no desire to harm others, but to be comfortable while they hone their art.
When a Blotwore reaches level forty-five, they will learn their last level-up move: Sketch. Unlike Smeargle, they will only learn the move once, and treasure this unique resource for months or years on end, waiting for the perfect move to copy.
Rarely, when a Blotwore is not so timid, their behavior will instead emulate the old fairy tale of the Avaricious Smeargle, who grew tired of painting landscapes and the nobility, and sought instead to capture a fragment of the divine. In an effort to learn moves only Legendary Pokemon can know, these Blotwore will battle relentlessly until they learn Sketch, after which they will travel through the Serverse in an attempt to find clues about the location of a Legendary Pokemon, leaving trails of feverishly painted art and honing their battle prowess all the while.
It is unknown whether this drive is due to an error in whatever corrupted programming gave these Pokemon life, or if these Blotwore have been seized by their muse.
-OxOxO-
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A/N 1: Glad I got this done, really happy with how it turned out. I was surprised with how many ideas I came up with for these on the spot – I didn't really have a lot of this one planned out before hand.
A/N 2: If you'd like to donate to support me monetarily, search for Sugarcane Soldier on the website of the Patrons.
Thank you to WarmasterOku, Afforess, UNSC_Kawakaze, Theewizzz, Vee, malenkaya, Saito Tachibana, and GnashingBeef for supporting this story and everything else I write.