A New Pokemon World

[Arcran]

So, I'm working on a new Pokemon World, one that I'd like to run games in. One where Pokemon are more vicious, less tame. One with a strange technology level, one I'll detail more later. Right now I have the basic history of the world detailed. I'd like thoughts, opinions, criticism; I'm open for anything. With out further adieu, here it is!

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What is Known
The introduction of Pokemon caused an ancient and powerful empire to fall,

The Truth
A long time ago, this was our world. Earth. Thousands of years of culture, learning, technology, all removed in one fell swoop.

December 21, 2012. The day he came. The they returned, the day the world fell apart.

He appeared at noon out of thin air, floating above the Washington Monument. Not huge, not threatening, but radiating power like some small sun. Equine in form with spiked circles around his body, he did nothing. Said nothing. Simply waited, watched, observed.

Within fifteen minutes the media was there. Thirty the police. For hours it did nothing. The video was streamed all over the world. Was this what the Mayans had foretold? Was this the end?

Near 10 o'clock, it spoke. Not aloud, but across the world, into the very mind- nay, soul, of everyone in the world.

You have fallen, it said. You have forgotten me, throwing false deities up to serve your own purpose. You have forgotten your Creator, your Master. You live for greed, pleasure, opulence. You are my children no longer. You have fallen, and deserve my Judgement.

Its inflection did not change. It made no visible signs of change. It disappeared, leaving a golden, glowing portal in its place that soon vanished, the Washington Monument collapsing below it. Three great shapes were rumored to have fled from the portal and President Kellen Deomori had a strange blue glow about him for a few minutes after the disappearance of the creature.

Naturally, the world was perplexed. A powerful being appeared, did nothing, spoke for all of thirty seconds, then disappeared. It was dubbed Arceus after some ancient manuscripts found about thirty years ago with a picture similar in likeness. Conspiracy theories abounded, people trying to discern what could have happened. When would the judgement come? When would all of this occur?

The next day, America declared war on China. Nobody knew why. President Kellen Deomori pushed strongly and for the first time since World War II, Congress agreed at once. The attacks soon came, decimating the two countries. More and and more nations joined the War, creating World War III. Powerful new technologies were created. Smart bombs, robotic warfare, things never seen before. Machines capable of manipulating magnetic fields, bombs that were almost sentient. The damage on a global scale was immense, almost plunging the world into the Dark Ages. Somehow the groups managed to refrain from using nuclear weapons, but only just.

Massive bunkers began construction around the world created by ArkTec in case of a nuclear fallout. These "Arks", as they were called after the Biblical story, were created in case a nuclear holocaust was to occur. Made to last for hundreds of years these bunkers were stocked with food, water, there own life support. A single bunker cost billions to build but they were strong. Each could hold one thousand occupants as well as space for various livestock. These bunkers could survive just about anything short of a direct hit from a nuclear warhead. In addition, the robotic weapon tech created for World War III was implemented in case of need for protection when emerging from the bunkers. They were fool proof, perfect, indestructible. Over a thousand were made around the world, enough to hypothetically protect over a million people.

The war continued to rage. For eight years the nations sent soldiers, bombs, and missiles over each others borders. At the end there was no clear winner. President Kellen Deomori continued to push for more and more offensive action until he was impeached in 2021. The new president brought peace. The world was in shambles; China had lost almost a quarter of its population, the western seaboard of the United States was completely annihilated. Europe had destroyed itself with infighting as well as South American invasions and Asia had mostly been absorbed between Russia and China. Even Australia was damaged, almost being destroyed. The only area in some semblance of order were areas of South America and the majority of Africa. Almost a billion dead. Then another calamity struck.

In the war hundreds of thousands of mercenary bands had emerged, becoming professional, skilled killers over the course of the war. Around the world the various mercenary bands united under a common banner; that of a certain Terrak, a brute of a man that seemed to have appeared out of nowhere. As a single body on the anniversary of the arrival of Arceus, nine years later, they began senseless slaughter as if seeking simply to kill as many as possible. Thousands died. Cities were bombed. While the war was bad, this was far worse. Every country was struck, every city, every household. The few that did not know one of the dead were few and far between. At the end of the day, millions were dead, countless more injured. Once again, the world was in shock, but once again, they began to rebuild.

And they might have, if not for the massive crop failure. All over the world crops withered and died. Urban legend claimed a tall figure could be seen walking among the crops. It was equine in appearance and green. The crops would feed the creature then wither and die. This was considered myth for a time, but eventually a news crew managed to stream a shot of the creature, only to continue streaming them being torn apart by living vines.

By this point, the world was falling apart. Man killed man for food. Cities were damaged at the least, in ruins normally. Hospitals were packed beyond capacity.

Then the final blow struck. Where in the past supernatural influence had been considered, now it was made apparently clear. Massive, hulking creatures that seemed to be made from the very metal itself rose from the earth, led by yet another equine creature, blue, with long horns atop its head. These creatures killed indiscriminately; rich, poor, young, old. The military, all veterans by this point, tried to fight back to little effect. They were unstoppable, implacable, without end. Nothing stood in their way until all of the sudden the attacks stopped. Nobody knew why. The metal creatures faded, disappearing from the world.

Man remained sealed in his Arks for the next three centuries. In this time powerful beasts poured forth from portals all around the world, created once again by Arceus. Continents shifted, oceans rose. Mountains were moved. Great birds roamed the sky, bringing forth storms of ice, fire, and lighting. Two colossal creatures, one red, one blue, waged war with the very land and sea themselves. Great golems, stories high, shaped the world. Rifts in space and time appeared across the globe. Elements clashed, beasts warred, and Arceus simply watched. Most of the world's Arks were destroyed; they were made to survive a nuclear blast, not have the very earth below them torn away. Slowly, over time, Arceus stopped paying attention to earth.

As the Legendary Pokemon slowly ended their conflicts, each taking areas of the earth, man began to emerge. The world was destroyed, ruined, but man started to rebuild. Perhaps fifty of the initial thousand Arcs remained, scattered over the world. Rudimentary cities began to emerge; a few Arcs could not survive, but many rebuilt. The Legendary Pokemon had stopped their wars, becoming silent observers as man rebuilt. They neither aided nor hindered the humans, simply watched. Some took a liking to particular Arks, watching over them, keeping storms and plague away. Some even took human forms, walking among mankind. One in particular, Girantina, the Elder Brother, the Great Dragon, constantly walked among mankind. In his true form he was a great and noble dragon, brother to Palkia and Dialga, Lords of Space and Time. He lived as a human, among them, unknown as a stranger. He loved the race; their fight, their drive to survive, their indomitable spirit.

In time, Arceus returned to see his handiwork. Man had rudimentary villages, small farms. While they were by no means thriving, they were surviving. Arceus was enraged; he had doomed the race to death, to destruction. They were meant to die. Gathering energy between his golden rings he prepared to completely destroy the Earth, something he should have done from the start. Just as he unleashed the blast, Girantina, the Elder Brother, the Great Dragon, appeared, taking the blast. The Elder Dragon was annihilated, destroyed. The Spirit of the Dragon remained, although weak and unable to take a form.

What ensued was a great war. The Legendaries, enraged at Arceus's attempt to destroy mankind and his murder of mankind, rose up against their Creator. Palkia, Dialga, Rezerum, Rayquaza, Kyogre, and Groudon against their Creator. Only the Four Horsemen remained by his side; Keldeo, Terrakion, Cobalion, and Virizion; his heralds of the end of the Old World. A great war ensued, crossing the world. In the end the Legendaries managed to seal away Arceus and his minions, Palkia and Dialga combining their power to create a new realm; the Distortion World. Girantina utilized his own roaming Spirit to seal the realm, locking away Arceus forever. In this new realm he regained his form, although it was not his previous one. Twisted, distorted, hideous, the Great Dragon was now the Distorted One. While his body changed, his love for mankind remained the same. He continued to watch over man from afar, creating a realm in the Distortion World to ferry their souls.

Even in his prison, Arceus wreaked havoc on the world. At first his prison was weak and he forced his prison through, sending swarms of giant beasts of stone, most resembling the dinosaurs of the old world. The other Legendaries collaborated to create a creature to remove them; a great swarm of purple insects crossed the world, killing all in their path, Arceus's Beasts and man alike. The other Legendaries managed to close the portal unleashing the insects, but it was too late and much of the damage was already done. Arks were gone, never to be recovered. The Legendaries had erred, and man had been punished.

The Legendaries banded together to defend their Arks but were too late; many had already fallen, leaving only seven. The remaining Legendaries flocked to their Arks, seeking to defend their Chosen. Three powerful beasts, stronger than the rest, roamed the earth; one of fire, one of water, and one of the storm. They hunted man for sport. One Ark fell to the beasts. The other Legendaries of this time locked them away in ancient vaults to protect their races.

The Arks defended by the Legendaries, everything was good for a short time. Eventually though, the winds of war arose again. Kyogre, Groudon, and Rayquaza; such primal creatures of the elements, soon began to fight among each other. Their battles cut swaths of destruction through the world, destroying all in their paths. Once again the Legendaries were forced to lock away their brethren, sealing Kyorgre, Groudon, and Rayquaza away with a small number of followers.

Centuries passed. Man rebuilt and Arceus plotted. Over eons he worked a crack in his cage, slowly finding a way out. Not enough for him, but enough for his creation. Mew, imbued with some of his same powers of creation, went forth to the earth to end his vengeance and destroy what was left.

Coming across some surviving animals, Mew changed them, made them new. A new element was introduced; Pakrian, an element with world-changing capabilities. Animals, capable of utilizing this element, were made with an inborn hatred of humans. Creatures capable of spewing fire, sending psionic blasts and other strange prowess assaulted the human settlements. Even worse, some Arks were taken as well; humans becoming twisted, mutated as they turned into horrible abominations. The native animals of earth were scattered, hurt; these new creatures, these Pokemon, hunting them. Even the humans not twisted into the monstrosities that roamed the earth were given basic control of pakrian, creating the first Psychics and amplifying the physical traits of man.

The Pokemon hurt man more than comprehensible; the damage done was monumental. The rebuilt cities were destroyed. Many groups of man retreated back into their Arks. Tribes of Machoke roamed the wild, spears ready to kill. Pidgey blotted out the sky, killing all in their path. The creatures were a blight, a swarm. Then Girantina gave his final gift to the world.

While extremely weak compared to his former form, Girantina still possessed considerable power. Gathering up what was left he sent it out to man, blessing some the ability to control Pokemon. In addition, he gave a few men the ability to distort Space and Time through a focus, creating the first Pokeballs. Armed with these new tools these Trainers set out to combat the threat. While most Pokemon had an inborn hatred of man, Trainers could overcome it. They were kin with these creatures, allies. Soon the Pokemon Trainer had emerged, the savior of the colony. These Arks, defended by their trainers, slowly pushed back against the Pokemon menace, becoming stronger. Cities emerged, Legendary Pokemon chose their lands, blessed their people, helped to forge their empires.

Girantina turned to the settlement dubbed Lavender for the purplish hue their Ark had acquired. Being his favorite, the settlement was blessed with a larger number of Trainers, and more powerful ones at that. In addition, he created the first Ghost; Gastly, to serve as a protector of his people. This settlement, in the centuries to come, would eventually become the Lavender Empire, the power of Kanto.

Regigigas, a creature made by the other Legendaries to maintain the prisons, took another. Blessing the Alpha Ark with his mind for construction and the strange living runes, the Unown, he forged his people. A race of grand constructions, of Unown Magicks, they expanded, fending off the Pokemon still roaming the earth easily. The Alphan Empire would arise, led by the Masters of Runes, the worshipers of Regigigas.

Yet another was taken by both Palkia and Dialga. They did not bless their people with a particular gift, simply a Pokemon forged of the steel of Time and given control over the stream of Space. These Pokemon brought good weather, bountiful harvests, and protection from disease. With these Pokemon, the Sinnoans were able to rebuild, forging an empire that would soon span the globe. With neither magic, skill with Pokemon, or technology to guide them, Sinnoh had to become a unified power, especially to survive the barbarians roaming the area.

The final settlement taken by one of the benevolent Legendaries was located near a glacier, barely eking out a living. Rezerum took these people, infusing them with the spirit of a dragon and sending them dragons as their protector. The New World colony split into many factions on the day Rezerum split, creating three conflicting kingdoms. They waged constant war, seeking for land. The settlers of the New World quickly became powerful warriors and skilled tacticians in their continuous state of war. In this land, remains of the ancient world were common, leading to unparallele technology in this region from the very beginning.

Only one unclaimed Ark remained, unnoticed by the other Legends. Arceus once again slipped into the world, extering his influence. This group would be the battering ram, the key to break him out of prison. He created different tribes, each intent on recovering one piece of his scattered body. He made them more Pokemon than human with the ability to Link with them, becoming partners for life. Powerful warriors, these tribes continue to hunt for the Ancient Plates to this day.

As the world's history went on, nations rose, nations fell, and new lands were found. Man rebuilt, creating a world, while not as grand as his previous, that allowed them to survive against the powerful creatures called Pokemon.

Some stuff is a little vague on purpose but if anything is too vague, please tell me. The apocalypse is (extremely loosely) based on the Book of Revelation. The specific histories of each Region will be further detailed in their specific history. This is just the world history.

But yeah, criticism, good jobs, anything is welcome! I hope you enjoyed it!

[Esprit15]

You also snuck a bit of Prometheus in there with Giratina. I like it. Would be very interesting to try to play a game in.

[MesiDoomstalker]

I'm going to go out on a limb and say the Plates have this story written on them, in an 'ancient' script. I do not want to be the Paleo that has to decipher it.

[Esprit15]

Please, it would be a Rune Master that tries to decipher it. Ooh! Or a Paleo/Rune Master!

[Zireael]

I like the story - this is a twist on Pokemon I haven't yet seen!

[Blue Ghost]

This is pure awesome. I hope you're still working on this, as I'd love to follow.

I especially liked your placement of the Musketeers (is there a better name for them? I kind of hate that term) as the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. Especially since you used the original four instead of the revised version. Kellen Deomori - clever. I didn't catch that the first time I read it.

Trying to identify the regions and the Pokemon mentioned. The Alpha Arc presumably became the Ruins of Alph, with the Unown. What are the disc-Pokemon in Sinnoh? Can't think of any Sinnoh-natives that fit that description. The Ransen became Ransei, I presume, hence their connection with Arceus? And what were the metal creatures led by the fourth horseman?

Looking forward to more.

[Arcran]

This is pure awesome. I hope you're still working on this, as I'd love to follow.

I especially liked your placement of the Musketeers (is there a better name for them? I kind of hate that term) as the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. Especially since you used the original four instead of the revised version. Kellen Deomori - clever. I didn't catch that the first time I read it.

Trying to identify the regions and the Pokemon mentioned. The Alpha Arc presumably became the Ruins of Alph, with the Unown. What are the disc-Pokemon in Sinnoh? Can't think of any Sinnoh-natives that fit that description. The Ransen became Ransei, I presume, hence their connection with Arceus? And what were the metal creatures led by the fourth horseman?

Looking forward to more.

Thanks so much!

The disk Pokemon are Bronzor, sorry if that wasn't clear.

In other news, I did some MAJOR revisions to the last version; I didn't like parts of it. The project is slowing considerably, mostly due to having to make a sheet for a game system (and being crazy and wanting it to auto-calc thing), but it will continue at some point.

Here's some stuff that will (eventually) be elaborated on:

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1. How Trainers vs. Non-trainers work (Proles, Trainers, Savants)
2. Each Region's background
3. What Pokemon are
4. What Old World animals still exist
5. Governments and such
6. Bios for each Pokemon species (OH MY GOD WHY!?!)
7. On that note, create cultures for the Humanshape Pokemon
8. Religion!

Anyways, basic plans for each region are as follows:
Kanto: Higher concentration of Trainers than any other region, low tech level except in regard to enhancing Pokemon
Johto: Still rely on Rune Master magic, average number of trainers, more Egypt-like theme, currently taken over by Kanto, massive Abra Empire allied with
Sinnoh: Basically Ancient Rome with Pokemon tossed in
Unova: Very Steampunk, three warring factions, tamer wilds, other people are main problem
Hoenn: Sinnoh colony, in open rebellion, Aqua/Magma are trying to awaken their respective Pokemon for that extra push in the battle
Orre: Desert raiders, nomads, very few established cities, large concentrations or Pokemon tribes
Ransei: Basically the Marat Tribes from Codex Alera. Bond with a specific Pokemon and become more like it.
Sevii/Orange Islands: Kanto colonies, lots of raw goods, powerful wilds

[LaZodiac]

I don't think the Orange Islands work as parralels to the Sevii Islands. However, whatever you do, remember that Deoxys is at the end of the Sevii Islands, and all that implies. Spooky alien crap in your grimdark setting is going to be REALLY cool.

Also, Orre better keep its hovercycles. I loved that thing.

[Arcran]

I don't think the Orange Islands work as parralels to the Sevii Islands. However, whatever you do, remember that Deoxys is at the end of the Sevii Islands, and all that implies. Spooky alien crap in your grimdark setting is going to be REALLY cool.

Also, Orre better keep its hovercycles. I loved that thing.

Never really watched the Orange Arc; I'll need to brush up on it before writing about it. Think of Sevii/Orange as the Indies in the early colonial years.

Deoxys will be fun, to say the least. I'm going to nerf it down and make it into an entire alien race. A campaign revovling around a Deoxys invasion? Has to be fun!

And Orre will be almost adjacent to Unova, so they'll be able to pirate a lot of their tech. Yay hoverbikes!

Also, this setting is built with the Pokemon Tabletop Adventures/Unlimited systems in mind, just in case anybody is interested in the boring crunch parts.