DISCUSSION: But What If I Don't Wanna Train or Coordinate?

[Nitro Indigo]

Now that you mention it, it sounds like something I could do as part of A New Place, A New Attitude. I just want to focus on the Christmas special at the moment.

 

[Glitchipedia]

I'm currently in the process of planning an RP campaign exploring the evolution of human-Pokémon coexistence. It takes place at the end of the thirteenth century and is framed as a distant prequel to Pokémon Conquest.

Spoiler: Campaign Premise

For ages, humans simply considered Pokémon—or majū (roughly, "magical beasts"), as they were then called—to be wildlife. While Pokémon had freely pledged to be ready to aid humans at a moment's notice, and some humans did endeavor to make their coexistence mutually beneficial, it was nowhere near as ubiquitous as it is today. The consumption of Pokémon flesh was also much more common, which Pokémon as a whole learned to accept as a way of helping to sustain human life.

Soon, however, hunting for food turned to hunting for sport. It was here that Pokémon started to draw the line, viewing such bloodshed as needless and wasteful. Around the time of the Farfetch'd population's sharp decline, they finally decided they'd had enough, and fought back.

Frightened into submission, humans stopped hunting Pokémon altogether. Having asserted themselves, Pokémon entered human society and lived as their equals for eight hundred years, enjoying all the same rights and privileges. It is said that, at this time, humans and Pokémon even intermarried.

Then, in the year 1296, everything suddenly changed. Fearful of the Pokémon's power, humanity sought a means of defending themselves. Their efforts bore fruit—literally—in the form of the first Apricorn Poké Balls.

With this, the balance of power took a drastic shift in humanity's favor. At long last, they could subjugate Pokémon and live in fear no longer. Naturally, there were just as many opposed to this as there were in favor—human and Pokémon alike. Human opponents objected to what they viewed as the cruel enslavement of an intelligent race. Pokémon supporters, meanwhile, regarded their own existence as nothing more or less than a means to aid humanity in its long-term growth, hearkening back to the initial pledge wild Pokémon had once made.

This was not a conflict that would be resolved with calm debate. A war unlike any since the one that devastated Kalos was about to unfold.

Spoiler: A branched ending?

In canon, the Poké Ball technology did indeed take off. What began as mere subjugation, however, gradually evolved into an integral part of the trust between trainer and Pokémon—the ability to best a Pokémon in battle and catch it in a Poké Ball became proof of a trainer's worthiness in the Pokémon's eyes. This formed the basis of modern-day Pokémon training and gave birth to the Pokémon League.

But what if the parties opposed to the Poké Ball technology had gotten their way? What if human-Pokémon society as it had existed for eight hundred years persisted into the present day? What if history as we know it took a wildly different turn, all based on the outcome of this one event?

 

[Felly]

I like exploring different sides of Pokemon. There's so much to this world that's unexplored and characters that don't see too much love in the series.

I haven't done anything recently, but some ideas I've had in the past include a girl going to college and a Sneasel taking the form of a demon that haunts her during her early college years and a Pokemon delivery service for Valentine's Day treats.

 

[hanecco]

Trainer classes, especially those based on everyday jobs or hobbies, are a pretty good source of inspiration. Looking at the situations and quotes they're given is a good source of what the life of somebody not heavily involved in raising Pokemon is like.

List of Trainer Classes - Bulbapedia

 

[BackSet]

I made a character who was dragged on a journey he didn't want to be on by a friend of his once.