I propose a "Storage Ball" that works like the Poke Ball but stores items instead of Pokemon. If readers can swallow the idea that living creatures can be compressed to data, stored for indefinite lengths of time in tiny spheres, and recalled in an instant without any inconvenience to said living creatures, then the idea of storing items in the same way should be accepted easily. You can even throw in some pseudo-science regarding what can and can't be stored, and possible limitations on the hammerspace within each Storage Ball.
As a side note, I know it's not canon anymore, but...
Trainer's PC.
Yes, we can accept the fact that any matter can be transformed into data by now because until our current generation, that's
actually what happened. Even to this day, it happens on a level in the form of hold items. Moreover, according to anime canon, it's possible to convert matter into data. "Primeape Goes Bananas" had a scene in which Ash's attempt to catch Mankey resulted in an onigiri being captured with a Poké Ball instead. Likewise,
Special had the concept of hold items appear for awhile. (For example, in volume 6, Koga sent medicine to Green by having an Ekans in a throwing star/Poké Ball carry it to him.)
Point is, the fact that items can be converted into data actually falls under one of those givens with the Pokémon fandom, much in the same way that fans accept the fact that Pokémon themselves can be converted into data. It's not really a part of the problem we need to worry about. It's figuring out how to pull it off without using fan theory as a solution.
I mean, I'm all for coming up with theories. In fact, I'm totally for people doing it and sharing what they think. I'm just against the idea of saying, "Oh, this is what I think, and I think people should use this from now on." The reason why is because unless it appears in canon, a fan theory can easily be debunked later on down the line by the same canon they're trying to "fix." That and fan theories are more or less like fanfiction. There's a number of ways to look at the same problem.
Fire: Workable, but would require extremely precise and continuous management of high body temperature. Reasons: would require a sac which can contain flammable gas (oxygen/ohihydrogen) in a highly pressurized form, and attain strong resistance, or else the Pokémon is a walking bomb. A heavy or very resistant body would be needed to avoid both loss of heat and damage from internal changes in pressure.
You've basically just stated why it's not actually necessary to have a high body temperature. High body temperatures and the ability to store flammable materials that combust upon contact with the air are two different properties. Think of it like this: are lighters hot to the touch? You should really hope not because if it is, it's probably going to take out your hand in about five seconds. All that's needed in order to produce fire are:
1. Flammable material.
2. Flame-retardant container (particularly where the flame is going to be). Basically, what you said regarding a body of "a strong resistance."
3. If needed, a spark.
While a number of Fire-types
are stated as having high body temperatures, that trait really isn't necessary.
Psychic and Poison:Workable. Reasons: the core nature of the types, much more tha the attacks.
It's scientifically possible for a forty-pound creature to lift several tons using only its mind
without using the explanation "by magic"?
There is no economically‑rational reason why someone would not place a Poké Mart just outside of one of the Whirl Islands,
No, but there's a practicality-rational one. Hello, whirlpools and rocks surrounding the islands that make normal water travel to any one of them completely impossible. (Granted, this assumes we're
not talking about the anime canon here, which seems to have forgotten why the islands are called the Whirl Islands in the first place.)
Seriously, though, yeah. Successful businesses are set up in places where there's likely to be, well, business. If you put a store on an island surrounded by whirlpools and rocks, you probably won't be particularly successful unless there's at
least a small town there as well.
I'm sure more experienced people can tell you more and actually correct me in some of the examples.
No, you've summed it up quite well, actually. Although I must say that in the department of human/technical resources, there's a third possibility: access to a massive amount of manpower (not necessarily stoppable) and money. Money is a serious factor here because in many cases, money = power. People will flock to what looks like a successful corporation or a successful businessman (i.e., one who can at least dress the part) simply because they'll assume that because he's wealthy, he must be the more successful party. Not to mention money can possibly be a shortcut. Need materials to create your doom device? You could spend years building up the funding for it or creating a plan to seize it yourself, or, if you're already insanely wealthy (possibly due to inheritance -- Lex Luthor in modern-day depictions/
Smallville), you could simply waltz in with a briefcase of cash, either to buy it outright or hire someone to get it for you.
Granted, this also potentially falls under the part about needing generations to build up an empire considering where the money may come from, but that depends on how you handle the concept of money. It's possible also to gather forces that you didn't inherit and are merely people so long as you've got the money or charisma to do it.
Which leads to the next point concerning origin. Yeah, on the foundation, you need a driving force and a goal. But more than that, to get people to agree with you, you need sheer
charisma. As gruesome as it may be, take a look at cults, like Charles Manson or Heaven's Gate. Both grew rapidly, not so much because the founders were determined but instead because they were really damn good speakers. At the head of an organization, you need a manipulative snake. That snake needs to know who to address and what their weak points are just by looking at them in order to get them to do what they want. That way, people end up following the leader like sheep, not because they're zombies or because they know there's an immense power driving the organization but instead because they listened to the leader and
agreed with him. In a sense, Team Galactic is like this. Everyone in it most likely knows Cyrus wants to destroy the universe and remake it in his own image. That part's cliche, but the fact that he got people to support him
anyway because they follow him as if he's Jesus? Not so much.
The charisma is really the tricky part of the entire shebang. It could just as well nearly convince the protagonist that they're right as it would the antagonist's followers. Shall we bring up the example of Satan in
Paradise Lost? I think we should. The reader
knows Satan is evil. I mean, come on. Yet, he manipulates not only the reader but also the protagonists (Adam and Eve) into sympathizing with him and doing what he wants, respectively. Leaves you with a dirty feeling, yet you're not quite sure what happened when he does it.
So, yeah, in addition to what you said, you've got to keep in mind money (or a means to get what you want in general) and charisma.
If you had to have one character become the living magnet for All Bad Luck, Black Kittens and Stuff, who would it be and why?
Most of my characters. Because I'm a sadist.
(Out of all of them, however, Bill's really the only one explicitly mentioned as being such.)
10,000 volts will only jump about an inch.
As a side note, how do you feel about the fact that Thunderbolt's Japanese name is "100 Thousand Volts"? Granted, not 10k, but not over a million, either. Strangely enough. (Maybe Pokémon attacks really
are weaker than they appear.)
