Author's Note: This story is based upon the world Pokemon: Chaotic World by Revenantzero with their permission. So there are going to be similar parts throughout. It's a great story, and you should read it, but this stands on its own with new characters.
Chapter 1: Origins
Becoming a trainer was the last thing Ava Stanton, or anyone her age, wanted to do.
As she rode the bus away from the only life she ever knew, in her panic, there was only one repeating thought in her head.
"I am going to die".
A long time ago, becoming a pokemon trainer and taking on the Gym Challenge was what every kid dreamed about, and most at least attempted it. Even those who weren't trainers often had one pokemon as a pet or used one for work. Pokemon were so ingrained in the fabric of society that when that Cataclysm came, everything broke down.
The driving force behind the Cataclysm was due to the actions of Team Rocket, one of the most notorious pokemon gangs around. They had been working on capturing legendary pokemon to aid them in their crimes and use their destructive power to take control of the government and beat the League.
Team Rocket had created plans and preparations to be ready to fight against some of the strongest trainers in the world. Then, when they successfully captured the three legendary birds, Articuno, Moltres, and Zapdos, they were ready to put their plan into action. What they weren't ready for was the response of the legendary pokemon when they combined forces.
The legendary pokemon led the charge against all of humanity, across all regions of the word. Millions of pokemon, once friendly, became enraged by the legendaries and started attacking people across the globe. These animals, which once lived in peace and community with humanity, became feral and destroyed cities and towns.
The trainers were able to put up some sort of fight with the pokemon they trained previously, not seeming to be affected by the changes caused by the legendary pokemon. However, for the majority of towns and small cities, there simply were not enough people or resources to fight against the onslaught of superpowered attacks. Within a week, all that was left of humanity were the most populous cities with high League and trainer support and the few individuals who managed to hide away.
The reason these towns survived was due to the League taking strong action by rallying the remaining trainers and refugees in the bigger cities. To protect themselves, they started building walls around the cities to keep out the pokemon. Trainers guarded the walls and were constantly at war to keep pokemon out.
This all seemed to be for naught as the waves of pokemon kept coming, and even bigger cities were starting to be destroyed. Then a final wave of pokemon came and broke through the walls of every city and started rampaging. It seemed to be the end of everything until, all at once, the wild pokemon froze, stopping the fighting and returning to nature.
No one knows why the coordinated attacks stopped. There were theories that it was due to the mercy of the legendaries or that they stopped, while others believed they had accomplished their goal of finding the captured legendaries and saving them. In the end, the reason was never discovered, but whatever it was allowed humanity the chance to survive.
Rebuilding was a massive undertaking, and not every place survived. With 90% of the population decimated, a lot of society collapsed. There were food shortages, an increase in crime, and a lack of essential infrastructure. The remaining Leagues and cities gathered together to figure out how to survive and keep what's left of humanity safe.
Since there were no centralized governments left, each city was declared as a city-state and given the right to rule themselves without outside interference, with the exception of the regional League having offices in all areas to deal with matters related to pokemon. With transport being extremely dangerous, it was essential that these cities could be self-sufficient and not have to rely on others for supplies.
Pokemon training also underwent massive changes. Since pokemon were still essential for protecting against outside threats and growing the city, it was necessary to keep training and catching pokemon. Things were different now, and the first generation that tried to restart training almost ended up wiped out. The changes in pokemon were permanent, and while they were not being led in battle by legendaries, they still remained extremely aggressive compared to before and would attack ruthlessly.
No longer were people flocking to train pokemon, instead they became a source of terror for most people and something they actively avoided. This shortage of trainers was dangerous and put many cities at risk of collapsing. A mandate for trainer conscription was put in place for all cities. Once a year, all people aged 15-20 would be required to take part in a ceremony to randomly choose people to become pokemon trainers for the rest of their lives.
Two hundred years have passed since then, and this ceremony, which came to be known as the Selection Day, is still in place.
This was also the day that Ava's old life was over, and she began her new life reluctantly as a pokemon trainer.
