Kris' PokeVerse

Nuzlocke Rules

Pokémon can die in battles. Why? Because Pokémon battle is like a dangerous sport. People are not supposed to die during rock climbing or in a boxing match, but sometimes accidents happen. When creatures breath fire and ice at each other, accidents are going to happen even more often, don't you think?

Trainers can only catch the first Pokémon they encounter in each area specified on the Map. Professor Jen says: 'This law was enforced to preserve the natural wildlife. We don't want to void our environment of wild Pokémon. It has to be the first encounter so people can't go hunting exclusively for the rare ones, which would destroy the ecological balance.'

• Of course there are problems with this law in practice. Trainers are usually not supervised when they catch Pokémon, so they might get away with catching multiple / not the first Pokémon.
• However, Pokéballs record a GPS signal and time stamp upon capture. If suspicion is raised against a Trainer, the data of the Pokéballs is checked by the police, and any supernumerous Pokémon are questioned whether they want to stay with the Trainer or not. If they say No, they are released. If the trainer is accused by a witness to have caught something that wasn't the first encounter, the Pokémon is questioned as well.
  
• People who are stupid enough to let themselves get caught with this offense multiple times will face legal consequences.
• If you release a Pokémon, you are allowed to catch another one at the place it was from two years later.
  

General Setting

The planet is our Earth in an alternate universe. The continents are  different, and the history of humankind is different as well. (Make of that what you will. I like to imagine that this world is a slightly better place than ours.)

Kanto, Johto and Rijon are all countries on the same continent, with Rijon being south of Johto. Hoenn and Sinnoh are big islands close-by. Unova and Kalos are on different continents.

Go here to see the map of Rijon: Click.

Technology is slightly more advanced than in our world. Y'know, Pokéballs and stuff.

The last World War was about 100 years ago.

The most common religion in the world is based upon Arceus, the Creation Trio and the Lake Trio. These Pokémon are considered to be legends. For all other so-called legendary Pokémon, modern time sightings have been reported.

Politics. Rijon, Kanto, Johto, Sinnoh, Hoenn, Unova and Kalos have a democracy. (Orre has one too, but it's not in a good condition with what's going on there.) The League officially doesn't have any political powers as seen in many other stories, but of course there's lobbyism, seeing how important it is.

• I'm not sure how the rest of the world looks like, since that's completely irrelevant to the story. But since it's a slightly utopian world anyway, let's say that there aren't any dictators who kill their own people anymore.

The justice system is pretty much like the ones in western Europe - terribly slow but it works well enough. So there's plenty of things you can go to prison for, but there's no capital punishment. (Mentioning this specific thing because someone asked.)

People are educated about Pokémon in school. It's like Biology in our world, just with more fire breathing lizards. A basic course in Pokémon battling and others things trainers should know is also given.

Pokémon

Generally, Pokémon have a humanesque mind. They are capable of performing the same mental tasks like humans. The intelligence distribution over the whole population is pretty much the same. They also speak the same language.

Pokémon and humans have the same evolutionary roots, which becomes obvious in comparing humans and humanotype Pokémon (like Hitmonchan, Gothitelle and Bisharp). One could say that humans are a very special kind of Pokémon. They are the only species to have built a civilization and they have gotten the furthest in conquering their primal insticts.

While most Pokémon would be capable of living like humans instead of being wild, there aren't too many who would prefer such a life. Pokémon who are raised by humans tend to act like pets. You will also find the odd Dragonite who is a teacher and an Arcanine who is rather a real police officer than a tracking dog, but they're not going to start a revolution anytime soon. If anything, they're endlessly amused by people's desires to create workout schedules and tax returns. (I realize that this is a highly controversial paragraph. It's a naive point of view, but I'd like to keep the part of the original PokéVerse where Pokémon and humans generally get along, without the Pokémon feeling inferior, thanks. No room for profound moral discussions in this story...)

Most Pokémon enjoy battle. It's unclear if this is a consequence of their possession of special powers, or if the special powers developed as a consequence of their battle instinct. Anyways, Pokémon will battle on their own in the wild. Some species will fight for determining a dominance hierarchy, some species kill for food, some species and individuals battle for improving their skills. Individuals with a great desire to become strong will try to find a human Trainer.

Taking orders from a Trainer doesn't necessarily mean that a Pokémon will try to abandon all its natural behaviours.  Being mostly instinct driven can make a Pokémon seem to lack intelligence in the eyes of an ignorant human, even though that isn't the case.

There are no animals in this world.

Breeding. Not all Pokémon breed by laying eggs. Those who are modeled after an animal of our world breed like that animal. Pure plant Pokémon breed like plants. Amorphous Pokémon (like Grimer) breed by splitting off a part from their body and fusing it with the part from their partner's body. Not quite sure about creatures like Magnemite. That's a big research topic right now.

• Due to the nature of Pokémon's minds, you can't make them breed like animals. There aren't many breeding centers because there are very few Pokémon who like to have masses of children and give them away towards an uncertain future. But they do exist and they aren't heartless beasts. (Will be adressed in the comic some time.)
  

There is no such thing as male-only/female-only species. So you can find female Tauros and Tyrogue and male Kangaskhan and such. (C'mon, the male-only species would be extinct if they had to rely on Dittos for breeding. Also, what does Ditto transform into if it breeds with a male Tauros? A Tauros with a womb. So wouldn't it be easier if it JUST EXISTED in the first place?)

Levels don't exist. A Pokémon's strength can't be measured like that.

Base stats exist. They have been determined for most Pokémon by statistical analysis.

Pokémon can only have 4 moves because they have to constantly practice them. If a Pokémon tries to keep more than 4 moves at the same time, it can't perform any of them at its full potential. There are very few Pokémon who can master 5 moves, and who knows, they might come out on top after another million of years of evolution.

Evolution only changes the Pokémon's body, not its mind. It doesn't become more mature by evolving. The most common form of evolution (y'know, level-up evolutions) is triggered by training. While very young fully evolved Pokémon are rare in the wild, a Trainer can get them to evolve quickly with intensive training. So have fun with your baby Salamence!

Trainers, Battle Rules & The League

People can become registered Pokémon Trainers at the age of 10.

• However, everyone has to finish school. Those who wish to go on a journey before graduating can take one year off with permission from their parents and the school. It's also possible to only travel during the holidays instead.
• Those under the age of 14 have to take a test for being allowed to travel alone. Young childern often fail this test.

It is advised that rookie Trainers start their journey in Gravel Town, but it's not required. Professor Jen gives specially bred and trained Starter Pokémon (usually Bulbasaur, Charmander or Squirtle) to those who agree to assist with her research.

It is also advised to battle the Gyms in a specific order.

• The first few Gym Leaders are instructed to hold back in order not to kill an inexperienced trainer's Pokémon.
• The last few Gym Leaders are instructed to do anything to test a challenger's abilities.

You can carry as many Pokémon as you wish. (NO, newly caught Pokémon are not automatically teleported to the PC system. The government does not install teleportation satellites in the orbit for something pointless like that. Nor are they interested in installing systems to monitor some random kid's team size. WTF?)

• Before a Trainer Battle, you have to determine the 6 Pokémon that can be used. If all of them are knocked out, you lose despite having more usable Pokémon.
• Very few Trainers train more than 6 Pokémon at the same time, since 6 has proven to be the optimal team size.

Pokémon Centers provide free medical services for both Pokémon and Trainers. Rooms and meals aren't free but pretty cheap, which is, um, reflected in the quality.

Trainer Battles. The goal in a battle is to make your opponent's Pokémon faint. You don't kill Pokémon on purpose. You just don't.

• Anyone who is not a Gym Leader or Elite Four Member can decline a battle.
• Anyone can forfeit a battle, which counts as a defeat.
• The loser usually gives some prize money to the winner, it's a matter of honour and tradition.

The League is partially funded by the government (Pokémon battle is a pretty big deal in this world) and partially by profits from selling tickets and broadcasting rights for Gym and Elite Four matches.

All League members (Elite Four, Gym Leaders and their assistants) have to keep their official battle teams at a constant skill level. This means they constantly have to train new Pokémon and replace old ones that get too strong.

Gym Leaders are selected by the Elite Four Members and League administration from well-known trainers that specialize in the respective Type. If they don't know any suitable candidates, applications are opened. New Elite Four Members are determined in a similar way.

Becoming a Champion by beating the previous Champion makes you roughly as famous as the currently best football player of your country. Your name will be remembered, but you will have to do something else with your life since nobody stays at the top for long. Statistically, there's a new Champion every year.

Technology

What's it like to be in a Pokéball? It's a lot like sleeping, with all the impressions from the outside world feeling like a dream. You can sense when there's great agitation around you, so you can come out on your own and protect your Trainer.

• A Pokémon's body is transformed to pure energy when it's stored in a Ball. It doesn't feel pain in this state. The technology isn't good enough yet to make the Pokéball an isolated system, though. It loses energy, so the Pokémon can't be permanently stored and has to eat every day to replenish energy.
• Pokéballs aren't cages. Any Pokémon can be captured by a Pokéball eventually, but they all figure out how to get out after a few hours. Captured Pokémon aren't tagged in any way, so they can't be tracked down and they can even be caught by another Trainer if they run away.

The Box System is a more reliable storage. Pokémon can be stored for several weeks without taking damage. After the safe time has passed, the Trainer is informed, and if they don't respond the Pokémon are released.

There is also a virtual Item Storage (if Pokémon can be stored this way, it should be much easier to store inanimate objects), but since it's unnecessary, the fees are high. If you can't carry all your stuff, get a safe deposit box for your valuables or store them at home.

The TM Case includes a device that makes it possible to teach TM and HM moves. It connects to the Pokéball and alters the Pokémon's energy with the data from the disc.

• TMs disintegrate upon use because they are produced to be cheap. They can't take the high amount of energy that is discharged in the process. Scientists in Unova are currently working on creating better TMs that can be produced almost as cheaply.
  
• HMs are much more expensive and durable. HM moves are engineered in a way that makes them very hard to be forgotten - usually a hypnosis treatment is needed. No matter how much it annoys you, it would be dangerous if your Pokémon forgot Surf in the middle of the ocean. (Not going into detail here how the particular field moves work, all of this will be shown in the comic.)
  

Misc

The characters Red (Sara's father) and Green (Sam's father) are loosely based on Red and Green from Kanto, according to the game. This just happens to be a mirror universe in which they were born in Rijon. A universe where Red went back to education and got a decent job instead of standing on top of a mountain for years, and a universe where ... Green isn't an orphan and therefore less of a jerk, probably.

• Green's father is called Timothy and he used to be a Pokémon professor when he was younger. He looks like Samuel Oak, so that's probably his father.
• Green has more siblings in addition to Daisy, Professor Jen being the youngest.
  

What you know from the games as a Cut Tree is a so-called Odditree. A potentially sentient huge-ass plant creature that grows in the most incovenient places. It can't be killed by cutting it down, it will either grow back quickly or move to a different inconvenient place.

People can eat meat in this world because ... it's cloned and grown in factories. No Pokémon have been killed for food by humans for many decades. Don't think about that for too long, though...

If the sea level rises, Rijon is pretty much screwed. Almost all of its major cities are close to the sea. Whoops. (This fact is totally not a last-minute addition in an helpless attempt to take your mind off the cloned meat.)