[Pokémon] Pokemon: Obsidian City Chronicles

[PhanpyFan]

(This story is rated PG-13 for violence and mild adult themes)

Hey everyone! This is my very first fan fic. I made it to accompany a Pokemon tabletop RPG as a backstory to one of my NPC main characters. If you would like to read the history of Kanto and how Obsidian came to be, I posted it as a spoiler in the Introduction (but it doesn't actually spoil anything).
If you'd like to follow a different story in the same setting, you can check out the adventure log on my RPG's home page at https://www.obsidianportal.com/campaigns/pokemon-obsidian-version

Hope you enjoy it!

Introduction

Spoiler:

It's funny to think that at one point Pokémon and humans coexisted
peacefully. The memory of such a time has all but faded through the course of
history.

Pokemon have had a long history of collaboration with human interests.
Throughout most of history, the possession of Pokemon was an indication of high
status and these domesticated monsters were used for military purposes.
Approximately 500 years ago, a social transformation began. At the turn of the
Industrial Age, new technologies were developed that allowed for the easy
storage, transportation, and upkeep of Pokemon. As these technologies became
available to the public, Pokemon began to be employed as bodyguards and
mercenary units for private interests.

However, it was Silph Co, military manufacturer of Pokemon
technologies, which forever changed the relationship between Pokemon and people.
It began with a simple idea: to make Pokemon training more accessible to the
public. So they introduced a groundbreaking solution: Pokemon made Pokemon
products. Pokemon were remarkably good at being trained for general labor. Their
natural hard work ethic and low cost of living meant that they could hold longer
hours and be compensated with only food and shelter. So for a time, the hobby of
Pokemon training exploded into the mainstream. Now even those on a modest salary
could afford Pokemon made Pokemon products and even some children were
financially able to maintain a journey dedicated to their Pokemon. Soon, Silph
Co. took its idea to its natural progression; they began training Pokemon for
other enterprises, resulting in Pokemon staffed hospitials and Pokemon made
automobiles, even Pokemon artisans. For a period of about 300 years, Pokemon
became integral with every aspect of human society. Pokemon were raised as pets,
business partners, and even friends. However, the most common use for Pokemon
was Pokemon battling, a cultural retention of the aggressive, military image of
Pokemon. However, unlike in previous times, Pokemon were no longer involved in
feudal disputes and civil wars. The introduction of Pokemon into human society
led Kanto to 150 years of peace and prosperity in a world where Pokemon provided
sources for renewable energy, advanced medical skills, and cheap
labor.

It was the human-owned businesses that went first. Pokemon could
work longer hours than humans with greater efficiency. Nobody wanted to buy
human-made cloth anymore when they could buy a Silph product at half the price
and twice the thread count. Even small shops that owned one or two Pokemon to
assist them were soon overwhelmed by the high demand for the cheaper Silph made
products. Silph Co. quickly had a monopoly on all Pokemon-related manufacturing
and was quickly gaining dominance in other markets. Its business model
constantly evolved; taking on all competitors. The Machoke that once took the
industry far beyond its competitors became obsolete. Experimentation with
Pokemon technology gave Silph researchers the ability to force Pokemon to
evolve, meaning Machamp became the standard for competitive labor. p. Pokemon
became more and more specialized to their tasks: Tyrogue had small fingers,
useful for making complex mechanical machines with small parts. Ivysaur were
ideal for their ability to manipulate and accelerate the growth of plants. Soon,
Silph Co. controlled virtually all markets, as it alone had the resources to
breed and train Pokemon for specific industrial purposes

The world economy began to crumble under the weight of this new
market. Pokemon worked for only food and shelter, so they had no capacity for
paying taxes, despite being the primary workers of the Kanto and Johto regions.
In Kanto and Johto, people flocked to Saffron and Goldenrod cities looking for
work suitable for humans, leaving the outer cities to dwindle into small towns
and in leaving some in ruins. Saffron and Goldenrod cities expanded from the
center of their continents, reaching out and enveloping small towns as their
suburbs and ghettos grew in population. As they enveloped neighboring towns,
Saffron became known as Obsidian City and Goldenrod became known as Gainesboro
City.

It was at this point that the Johto government pulled the plug on
Silph Co's expansion. They saw the damage that the industry had on their economy
and ordered them to hire human workers for certain types of labor and leave
these human work markets alone. Through this policy, Johto was able to maintain
the last of its large cities and some of its cultural heritage of Pokemon
training, but as a result isolated itself from the world market, which it could
no longer compete in as a result of this decision. Meanwhile, Obsidian City grew
bigger and bigger until the only reputable jobs in all of Kanto could be found
there. The wealth disparity skyrocketed. Society broke down into three basic
classes: The upper class, the trade class, and the
trade-less.

As we approach the conditions of the present day, the trade class in
Kanto is all but obsolete. There are so few specialty markets left. The small,
family owned business struggle to do anything they can to pay their high cost of
living and hold back the steady creep of the slums into the foreclosing suburbs.
Nobody knows much about Pokemon anymore, except for those with specialized
educations. Only the upper class has the means to study them and afford the
purebred specimens.

Years of propaganda has led the public to believe that wild Pokemon
are violent and dangerous and that only Specially Bred Pokemon could be
compatible with human society. Wild Pokemon were pushed further and further out
of their home territories and engaged in frustrated, sometimes violent
reclaiming of their old territories. This and public opinion shifting away from
protecting wild Pokemon, led to the building of the Great Retaining Wall to
protect Obsidian City from wild Pokemon attacks.

The hierarchy of society grows more and more rigid. The upper class
and what was left of the Kanto government protected the lower classes from wild
Pokemon and the lower classes kept in their place out of fear of both the
corrupt trainers that protected them and of the wild Pokemon that they were
protected against.

Chapter 1: Awakening


"Little one, let me tell you a story of a world that
once was; a world of mystery and adventure. You see, the world wasn't always as
it is now. There was a time when Pokémon were treated as companions and partners
by people. When Pokémon battled, they did it out of love and respect for their
trainers. In those days, almost anyone could own a Pokeball and catch their very
own Pokémon. Our great city used to be only the size of the Estate District and
around it stretched miles upon miles of grass and trees where Pokémon roamed.
And not the dangerous, wild kind like we have today. Intelligent creatures,
capable of working together to do all kinds of amazing things."

"When I grow up I want to go beyond the wall and get my very own Pokémon!"

Emmy knew better. The thought of her growing up to be one of those
brutish adolescent trainers horrified her mother, but she knew that she would
only use her Pokémon for good like the old trainers.

"Don't talk like that, Emmy! Pokémon aren't like they once were.
They are violent and dangerous creatures and nothing but violence can come of
them. Stay clear of Pokémon and Pokémon trainers, you hear?"

Aya's stern expression softened as she watched her
daughter squirm with the anticipation of her next question. Emmy took this as
her cue to ignore her mother's warnings.

"What did people used to do with their Pokémon, mama?"

"Before there was one great city, there were many cities
scattered throughout Kanto. People used to go from city to city competing with
their Pokémon to try to be the best trainer they could be."

"So they were like the trade-less?"

"Oh no. Back then your worth was not determined by the quality of
your job, but by the strength of your heart. The very best trainers would become
Pokémon Masters, who were great symbols of honor and freed-"

"Tell me about how they kept the bad Pokémon trainers
away!"

She'd heard it a million times, but it was the only
reason she reallywanted to hear this
story. She never wanted to listen to any others.

"The Pokémon Masters
would swoop down with their dragon Pokémon and challenge the bad trainers to a
battle. When they won, they would banish them until they could learn to use
their Pokémon for good."

This part of the story always seemed half hearted from
onerous repetitiveness, but it was always Emmy's favorite part. Emmy imagined
great trainers wearing capes and wielding swords on the backs of gigantic dragon
Pokémon, their mighty presence causing the bad trainers to tremble before them
and swearing to be good.

While her daughter drifted off into her imagination, Aya
gazed out the tiny, dirty window with a glazed look in her eyes. She sat there
for a moment, contemplating the steady beating of rain against the glass. The
fluorescent street lights on her pale skin made her look like one of the
beautiful stone statues sold by the old man at the end of the street, always
with such sad expressions on their faces.

"Are there any dragon Pokémon left, mama?"

"Nobody knows, but some say…" She trailed off. Her expression
suddenly ashen. "Get under the bed."

"Wha-"

"NOW"

At this, there was a booming knock on the door. Aya
snatched the gas lamp off the bedside table and dashed out of the room. It
happened so quickly that Aya was left scrambling in the darkness to get
untangled from the covers. She finally worked her way under the little bed as
the door slammed open downstairs. A flash of lightning ripped across the sky,
shaking the house in a mighty clap of thunder.

*****

Emmy is prodded awake by the uncomfortable, but all too
familiar feeling of cold rain drops prickling her weary skin. Thunder rolls in
the distance, reminding her that an alley was a poor place to settle for the
night. She lies there for a moment, watching her breath curl into wisps in the
bitter cold air. Phanpy isn't going to like this. He hates the water. As she
rolls over to wake him, she suddenly sits bolt upright. Phanpy is gone! How
could she sleep so carelessly? What if he's been captured? Would they send him
back to his owner or would one of the Sweepers get him first?

"Phan-py!"

A garbage can rustles from behind her. A small
elephant-like creatures jumps out, prancing towards her with a half-rotten
cabbage clutched in its prehensile nose. It lays the cabbage carefully on a
sheet of scrap metal nearby, adding it to the small picnic that it had compiled
while Emmy slept. Seeing her awake, it looks proudly up with its beady little
eyes, flapping its floppy ears and picking up a burnt crust of bread to show
off.

Emmy contemplates yelling at him for worrying her, but
he looks so pleased with himself that she would hate to spoil that happy little
expression. Feelings like that are so rare these days. Her concerned expression
softens.

"Good job, buddy. I guess the alley paid off after all,
huh?"

"Phanpy!"

It plops the burnt crust in her hand and begins to tear
into the half head of cabbage. The pair eats their little feast silently as they
listen to the thunder roll in the distance. A rather large rain drop hits Phanpy
on the head and it gives a little shudder. Emmy does her best to wrap him in her
jacket, barely large enough to fit her own scrawny arms in.

"Let's find a proper shelter for tonight, Phanpy. Maybe a nice
abandoned house."

"Phaaan…"

The little Pokémon's face was drips with concern. There
were many abandoned houses to choose from, for sure, but they were so often
plagued with poisonous Weedle and Spinarak or disease ridden Rattatas. The last
time they tried, Phanpy very nearly missed being hit by one of those toxic
stingers.

"It's ok, Phanpy. We'll
manage. I don't want you to sleep in the rain again."

Across the street, weeds envelop an abandoned store
front. The faded sign has been vandalized beyond legibility and the top step
groaned as Emmy put her weight on it. The door, hinges rusted all the way
through, gives easily after one good shove, the musty smell of dust and rotting
wood rushing out of the broken seal. It is an old family diner, similar to the
one that her mother used to run many years ago. The foreclosure line had crept
beyond this district several years ago, turning this entire area into a ghost
town virtually overnight. It is clear that this place was not properly kept up
years before it was actually abandoned.

Outside, the rain starts to come down in sheets. Emmy
attempts to put the half-broken door back in place as best she can and then the
pair begins to sweep the house, checking for signs of people being there
recently and any indication that poisonous things might be about. Emmy takes
extra precaution to tread lightly on the floorboards, as Weedle like to chew
them up in these old places. Aside from a few questionable droppings found in a
cupboard, the house seems to check out. As they reach the small apartment on the
second floor, the layout distinctly reminds Emmy of her old house. Two rooms,
single window. The bed was even positioned right under the window, just like it
was when her mother used to tell stories about the old trainers. How long ago
was it… four years? Maybe five? She couldn't remember. Time hardly seemed to
matter anymore.

In the closet, Emmy finds a set of dusty, but otherwise
serviceable sheets and begins to make the bed. Through the dirty window, she
sees an old man rummaging through the dumpster that they had just cleaned out.
She watches him for awhile. Soaked and miserable, he searches fruitlessly
through the dumpster, staving off the cold, hungry end that awaits him somewhere
down the road. There are those who would blame Pokémon for his fate, monstrous
brutes slavishly obeying the orders of their masters. Emmy could no longer
imagine this to be so. Pokémon
were simple creatures, hoping only to achieve a balance with their environment.
It is humans that make them behave in such ways; that put them in an
environment that they cannot survive in without doing harm to
others.

Emmy's thoughts are interrupted by a nudge from behind
her. She turns to see Phanpy reaching up with its long nose, eyes drooping with
fatigue. Scooping him up, she sits on the bed with her back to the corner and he
curls into a tight little ball like a large cat. Outside, the weary old man
gives up his search and wanders down the street aimlessly until he disappears
around the corner.

"There were never any Pokémon Masters were there,
Phanpy?"

Phanpy's nose gives an uncomprehending twitch, somewhere
between listening and drifting off

"No Pokémon Masters, no dragon Pokémon, no honor."

Rain continues to beat on the dirty little window pane
and she gazes out of it as her mother once did once every night to tell her
those encouraging little fibs about how wonderful Kanto used to be when she was
younger. The little Pokémon on her lap stirs and begins to snore in an
obnoxiously loud fashion sound for such a little thing.

"Mama was wrong about all of them, but she was also was wrong
about you. Maybe all the Pokémon out there beyond the wall are just as lost and
scared as we are. Maybe all they need is someone to care about them; someone to
teach them that they matter."

Emmy kept her silent vigil for as long as she could, but eventually she
turned away from the window and settled down next to Phanpy. If she had stayed
awake just a little longer, she might have seen a menacing group of young
trainers turn the corner of the alley.