[Pokémon World] The Regions' Legends World

AKA, Canon Plus

I've been a part of a writing group for two or three years now; we've spent countless hours trying to reconcile the games, the anime, and the manga to create what's ended up as a reimagining of the canon Pokémon world. There are familiar faces, familiar places, and of course the countless species of Pokémon we all know and love…

But if we did this right, then it's all going to make sense.

That is, everything from the sociopolitical landscape of the regions to the ethics of human-Pokémon relations has been deliberated, explained, and, if necessary, rewritten, in order to create a deep, cohesive, realistic Pokémon world. Humans act as humans normally would in our world, saints, sinners and everyone in between. Pokémon are intelligent, aware, but at the same time distinctly inhuman in their own unique ways. The ecosystem flourishes with all kinds of life, not merely human, Pokémon, and plant. There's also a few distinctly new aspects to our world, but we hope that it fits in smoothly enough with our "canon plus" style.

My friends and I have been duly writing stories for this world as well-- these will come soon.

Edit: Forgot to mention, I have a whole ton of stuff to get through. This is gonna take a while to compile, edit, and upload!

Politics of the Pokémon Nation (by ParallelDimension75)

The regions have their own government and are loosely united in a confederacy similar to the European Union. Aside from the standard deliberations and policies set by these sorts of government, the regions like Johto and Kanto tend to favor controlling psychic humans, limiting their freedoms in the pursuit of order and public safety. Kalos and Unova, however, tend to favor psychics being as free as any other human despite the dangers they inherently present. There's even a movement among the some of the more liberal parties to elevate Pokémon to political equals with humans, but more on that later.

Aura
An inherent force possessed by all living creatures, aura is what allows Pokémon and people to perform what in our world would be nothing short of magic. Plants, lesser creatures, and most humans tend to have too little aura to work miracles, but Pokémon and typed humans have it in abundance. Aura charges a Pokémon's moves, letting them produce fire or water from thin air. It also interacts with other sources of aura in strange but predictable ways, giving rise to type effectiveness.

It is worth noting that the "Normal" type named that way due to its aura having the same qualities as the aura found in lesser creatures and humans.

Breeding
Pokémon breeding is distinct from Pokémon mating in nearly every way except for the ingredients being a male and a female and the product being a baby Pokémon in both acts. Mating is done just like any other species would: when a boy and a girl love each other very much…

Ahem. This prohibits species crossbreeding entirely— an Arcanine can only successfully mate with other Arcanine, etc. Additionally, the species would give birth as their biology would imply: birds lay eggs, mammals give live birth, and so forth.

Breeding, however, is something very different. Indeed, it's more of a ritual, where Pokémon breeders build almost occult breeding "zones" with objects and designs meant to amplify the aura of the types being bred. The requirements for each species vary wildly in necessary complexity and precision.

Assuming the breeder did his or her job well, he would introduce the Pokémon being bred if necessary, and attempt to get them to establish some sort of emotional bond— again, different species require different bond depths, but a proper zone will catalyze the breeding process. Once the breeding Pokémon are at peak auric state within the breeding zone, their auras will resonate, combine, and manifest as a Pokémon Egg.

Inexplicably, the Pokémon inside the Egg is always the species of the female. Another unexplained phenomena is that Pokémon of entirely different types, body shapes, and taxonomy can successfully breed. Beyond some vague generalizations, the "Egg Groups" Pokémon fall into seem entirely arbitrary.

And lastly, the Pokémon within the Egg is a juvenile, having skipped the fetal and infantile stages of life entirely. This has been repeatedly shown not to impact the Pokémon's physical or mental health— indeed, it's far more likely for a bred Pokémon to be healthier than a naturally born sibling.

Typed Humans
Humans are an odd species, seeming to blur the line between Pokémon and animal. On one hand, they are unable to intuitively understand any Pokémon without years of training and they're unable to breed or utilize aura in any meaningful way… but on the other hand, we have the exceptions to that last trait.

Some humans have typed aura like Pokémon do. This can be Psychic, Ghost, Dark, Fighting, Fairy, or Dragon. Additionally, humans can very rarely have a secondary type of Ice, Electric, or Fire. A genetic link seems all but certain, but the genes responsible have yet to be discovered. Humans are the only recorded species to be able to possess such an enormous yet subtle diversity of types— even Alola's unique Pokémon forms and types fail to compare to a human's genetic adaptibility.

Dragon and Fairy
These are simply the weakest types a human can have, objectively speaking. The typed aura gives a person enhanced health and lifespan and a natural understanding/mindset like their fellow Dragon or Fairy Pokémon. In addition, Dragon-type gives a human enhanced physical strength and toughness, and a Fairy-type gives one enhanced beauty and charisma.

Dragon-types are often called "Drakes", and Fairy-types "Fae".

Fighting
Fighting-type humans, or "Aura Fighters", are renowned for their incredible combat prowess, but aside from type effectiveness that's about all their aura does for them. They can direct the flow of aura within them to enhance their strikes, aim, or senses, allowing them to fight with strength nearly rivalling Pokemon.

There used to be another category of Fighting-type humans called "Aura Guardians". These were, by far, the strongest humans to ever live. They could sense aura with the clarity and detail of human sight, even down to perceiving the intentions and emotions of those around them. They could project aura into shields, projectiles, and weapons, but when they fought… only the legendary Pokémon rivalled them in power.

Two hundred years ago, public fear of these superhumans mounted to the point of a total extermination of the Aura Guardians by Psychics in a long, dark, and bloody campaign.

Dark
The next on the power pole is Dark-type humans, colloquially referred to as "Darkies". In addition to increased lifespan and physical ability, humans blessed with this aura can properly utilize it to employ moves like a Pokémon can, though with characteristic human diversity. They can resist and subjugate Mediums and Psychics with natural ease, but they're quite susceptible to a Fae's charms or an Aura Fighter's vicious natural power. Curiously, they're also unusually prone to sunburns.

A Dark-type can lie, cheat, and steal with natural ease. Their aura tends to make them less noticeable and more persuasive, and they can channel it similar to Fighting-types in order to become more dextrous, flexible, balanced, and reactive. In addition, they can project their aura to chill or darken a room, inspire fear and paranoia, and most notably, nullify all of a Psychic's powers.

Ghost
Ghost-type humans, usually called Mediums, are blessed with unmatched spiritual prowess. They are able to communicate and barter with spirits and Ghost-type Pokémon for their own ends, allowing them to indirectly create flames, move objects, or remotely gather information. Powerful mediums can even turn invisible or drain another creature's aura, though the effect is rarely injurious unless prolonged. The very best can become as intangible as the spirits they command, but only for very short bursts.

Psychic
The most powerful, the most rare, and the most controversial of the human types. Psychics are unique in having reams of legislation and decades of debate regarding them and their responsibilities as superhumans. This has led to a standardized test to assign grades to all Psychic citizens, classifying the weakest as Grade Epsilon, then Delta, Gamma, Beta, and Alpha. A Psychic's potential is vast, but almost all abilities fall under these categories: telekinesis, telepathy, teleportation, empathy, and foresight.

Telekinesis ranges from spoon bending to truck-stopping. Telepathy can be as harmless as a vague intuition of others' ideas to actively hijacking another person's senses to cause hallucinations, visions, or even false memories. The best teleporters have a maximum range of over two kilometers. Empathy goes from understanding others to controlling them horrifically fast, with the best able to reshape others' entire personalities or manipulate hundreds of people at once. Foresight appears to be a relatively minor ability in humans, but many are wary that Psychics exceptionally gifted in this trait may one day appear.

Psychics have a rather thin grasp on their power. Unless one has a lower rank, like Epsilon or Delta, constant suppression of emotion is necessary to keep their inherent power from damaging the property or people and Pokémon around them. This method can nevertheless make a Psychic snap from the pressures of never reacting, too often resulting in catastrophe.