"Three lost souls find each other in a slightly different world, and from that moment, become something different. No longer thieves, they find the lost, abandoned, and broken, and do what they can to make them better. By force, if necessary."
Pity of the World
is a Pokémon fanfic by appending_fic on Archive of Our Own. In an alternate universe, Jessie and James meet as children and decide to run away together, finding Meowth shortly after. Years later, the trio are pokemon "thieves" who free pokemon from their abusive trainers, and happen to run into Ash as he enters Veridian City with his injured Pikachu. After they defend the Pokemon Center from Team Rocket agents Butch and Cassidy, the Trio decide to travel with Ash to teach him how to be a good trainer.
Meanwhile, Team Rocket is distributing R across the Kanto region, while Dr Ann Laurent utilizes their resources to continue is researching pokemon genetics and generating R from Mewtwo's DNA.
Tropes that appear in this work include:
- Adaptational Backstory Change: In this AU, Jessie is a cousin to Jessebelle, and moved in with her after her mother's disappearance, meaning she and James became friends when they were children instead of as adults.
- Adaptational Diversity: James is genderfluid as opposed to being cis male, Goh is nonbinary, and there is a lot more LGBT+ representation in pokemon and secondary characters.
- Adaptational Early Appearance: Ash's later-season companions and rivals are shown to be the same age they're introduced as, meaning such characters as Goh and Serena make an appearance during Ash's Kanto journey.
- Adaptational Heroism: Jessie, James and Meowth only target abusive trainers, and funnel the Pokemon to James' grandparents' Pokemon sanctuary.
- Adaptational Villainy: Erika, who is revealed to be collaborating with Team Rocket in developing and distributing R.
- Adaptation Expansion: Kanto has more than eight official Gyms, which comes in handy when Ash fails to win a Rainbow Badge.
- Big Brother Mentor: James takes on this role to Ash, meaning people often mistake them for siblings.
- Deadly Upgrade: Ash discovers that he can Mega-Evolve Pokemon without Mega Stones, but several sources confirm every time he does so, he risks killing himself with the strain.
- Morally Ambiguous Doctorate: Ann Laurent is up to much the same unethical experiments as she is in Detective Pikachu, and a discussion between Lance and Blaine indicate she did something in school so repugnant no Pokemon League would give her a Professorship.
- Named by the Adaptation: Jessie and James (and later Ash) give their pokemon names, most notably Pikachu is now Susanoo, Thunder God.
- Superpowered Evil Side: R increases a Pokemon's strength, reduces their vulnerability to super-effective moves, and even grants them unique, often overpowered abilities, but also makes them violent and difficult to control. The aftermath of at least one such rampage is discussed, and another is shown in-text.
