The Pokédex - Extended Fanon Edition

I would suspect people working office jobs would have company-owned Porygons and Porygon2s or they bring their own.

And if we're going with the idea that pokemon are turned into data when put into pokeballs and PCs, can we assume that you can bring them with you to work and upload them onto your computer like a lttle tamogachi or companion for the aforementioned sanity thing? And who knows, maybe that turniing into data thing can have other applications. Imagine sedning your Growlithe to go and flame viruses. Or Virtual pokemon battles when you're supposed to be working! Orm aybe you have to be an advanced cumputer proggrammer to pull some of that off.

^I don't think the data storage system is that advanced. Besides it's starting to sound like Digimon now.

While the surviving Networks in the Pokemon universe are quite extensive, they aren't quite advanced enough to contain entire Digital Worlds yet.

I wonder, as a 16-badge Johto Trainer who has beaten Red on Mt Silver, what kind of career prospects do I have? Celebrity? Explorer? Sort-of-mercenary?

I'm guessing you'd be offered a lucrative military position, or at least given a high rank in the League.

Hmmm, I might take the League job as a quick-response enforcer in that case.

I imagine some trainers have part-time "normal" jobs. Imagine this: Hiker Wade spends most of his time training his crack team including a Sandslash and a Medicham, yet he finds time to earn extra coin by doing tours of Mount Moon's more accessible areas for people with a terrible sense of direction.

I wonder, could humanoid pokemon be employed in and of themselves? Ash's mom had a Mr.Mime butler in the anime. What is to stop Silph Co. from hiring one to work as a janitor?

Murr, well actually a pokemon with Pickup might make a better janitor.

Well they have Machoke and Vigoroth employed for manual labor, so a Mr Mime as a janitor isn't much of a stretch.

Of course that could lead to problems like it deciding to set up a barrier around the bosses office until it gets a raise.

...

ponders

....

Never mind the hell that negotiation would be.

Boss: What do you want Mr.Mime?!
Mr.Mime: Mime!
Boss: Please just let me out, I want to see my husband and kids tonight!
Mr.Mime: -holds up paper with a $ on it- Mime!
Boss: FML.

edited 29th Apr '10 12:06:14 PM by Alkthash

Er... right, I'm way behind here.

Pokémon League Gyms

Purpose

Any organization involved in society needs a public face, and the Pokémon League is no exception.

Gyms are found in most major cities of consequence. As implied by their name, they serve as centers of training expertise, as well as meeting facilities.

Each Gym has a Leader, responsible for managing the Gym's schedule of events and heading various programs. Leaders are expected to be accomplished Trainers, and are typically drawn in a competitive process from a pool of tournament finalists.

Functions / Duties

For competitive Trainers, Gyms are primarily seen as obstacles to overcome, as the traditional tournament requires possession of eight Gym Badges for entry.

A Gym awards its Badge to Trainers who can defeat its Leader in a controlled Pokémon Battle. The Leader typically does not field their personal team, however; rather, based on the challenger's Badge count, the Leader will assemble a challenging, but fairly matched, team from the Gym Pokémon.

While Badge matches are a high-profile Gym function, the bulk of a Leader's time is spent each day on simply overseeing the training of the Gym's Pokémon. Gyms are encouraged to explore and develop novel battle tactics and fitness regimens; to aid focus, modern Gyms continue the traditional practice of limiting one's training to one type.

During times of crisis, the local Gym and its Pokémon are expected to be the first responders.

Programs

• Children's scouting: details?
• Apprentice battling: details?
• Medical certification: various courses are offered in the safe administration of medication and injury treatment, which must be passed in order to be permitted to buy things such as Revive stimulants and high-dose Potions.
• ???: education in safely riding Pokémon that are Surfing/Flying/Rock Climbing/etc.
• probably more, input?

Notes

• Badge matches can be frustrating to schedule; a Gym Leader's duties are quite stressful, so they are granted frequent vacations.
• What about towns that in-game have no Gym? What happened with the Dojo?

An article on Pokémon Centers is probably warranted as well, and I know I'm forgetting some other topics. Not to mention species entries.

edited 5th May '10 3:02:02 PM by Tangent128

If the Dojo is the one in Saffron City, perhaps each city can only have one gym and the leaders have to battle to see whose gym stays? That's what it sounds like happened in Saffron City, as some of the trainers in the Saffron Gym say that Sabrina (or the gym members in general) easily beat the Dojo's Fighting type Pokemon.

However, with that in mind, I wonder if other people ever come in and challenge the gym so that they want to make a new one and uproot the old gym? That's just speculation, but imagine what would happen if someone tried to establish a Dark type gym in Saffron City? (a type which beats Psychics but is weak to Fighting)

I suppose there's some bureaucracy there: An "Application for a Gym License" form.

I assumed that there was more than 8 Gyms per region but the game doesn't make them notable, like how there was the fighting Dojo in Saffron.

I'm guessing that part of a Gym Leaders job is to take on apprentices or something like that probably training future competitive trainers or simply teaching students more about Pokemon in a sort of rigorous accelerated program. Or Perhaps, building up future replacements.

We don't quite have an explanation for why badges affect Pokemon, do we? Radiation? Perhaps they're made from some Applied Phlebotnim? It has to do with the turning Pokemon into data concept?

Also, what designates Gym Specializations? Does it have to do with town culture, trainer preference, or does the League decide in order to create a well rounded palette for trainers to deal with? Or perhaps it's some combination of the three?

I'm only spouting ideas and refusing to develop them until I get a consensus.

In the anime, Brock's mother tries taking over the Pewter Gym and changing it's specialty to Water type, so that implies that it's entirely the leader's choice that type their Gym specializes in.

Badges affecting Pokémon might be easiest to just leave out; the anime ignores it, and it's not too significant in the games (and the in-game effects could be explained in other ways; # of badges = respect because badges signify a tough Trainer; HM moves = the gym was hosting a course on effectively using the move out of battle). The manga supposedly ascribed mystical powers to badges, but we're probably not going for a "mythic artifacts" tone.

Easily more than 8 Gyms per region, possibly multiple of each type (aside maybe from "difficult" ones like Dragon).

Not sure how the type is determined. Probably the Leader has nominal say, but tradition is likely a strong influence. Attempting to change the type would usually cause a community backlash, and the work and budget to refit the Gym would be significant.

So I guess Leader-applicants generally limit their applications to Gyms that they would be interested in. (Which may be out of region; hence Norman's family moving?)

I'm guessing that Gym Leaders file applications for changes of type.

I like the idea of gym leaders using copious amounts of asskicking to do things.

Want to make a new gym? Completely demolish the old one!

Want to change your gym's type? Destroy all who would oppose you!

It doesn't make sense, but it's awesome.

^ Yeah, but we're looking for a stable society.

I'm guessing that Green/Blue, finding the Viridian Gym derelict, decided to rehabilitate it, filing an application for an experimental gym, one that dealt in various types. They let him get away with using his personal team since 1. They needed a Viridian gym leader and 2. He's a former champion.

I wonder if this would fit in any way...

One thing that bugged me was why someone would particularly want to be a Gym Leader. Sure, the higher status might be nice, but it's kind of weird for that to be the only benefit of being a Gym Leader...

...but, if you think about it, being a sufficiently good Gym Leader is also actually a good source of income.

After all, you (the Trainer) do lose money if you lose a Gym Leader battle, and if the Gym Leader is good enough, he/she can make a fair amount of money from winning battles so that the relative handfuls of times that they lose isn't such a big deal.

This is, of course, in addition to all their other responsibilities. Still, the prospect of having a steady stream of Trainers to challenge (and possibly win money from) might be reason enough to take up the job.

It does sound kind of... not-very-idealistic, though, so...

^^Well, realize you have 15 badges by the time you fight him. No Gym Leader has any reason to hold back at that point.

But yeah, he's apparently been granted experimental status. May have to do with being in proximity to Pallet Town and the premier Professor.

^ Is wagering accepted in our fanon? They'd hopefully get a salary, though.

edited 5th May '10 7:44:04 PM by Tangent128

Maybe when faced with 15+ badges, gym leaders can go all out and use their personal team?

So against a newer trainer, Blue would use ground types, but against YOU...

Double Post Super Happy Fun Time!

edited 5th May '10 7:45:22 PM by Deathonabun

HG/SS adds misc-type Trainers to Blue's Gym, I'm told, so it seems to be the whole Gym.

: Your badge count doesn't have anything to do with Blue's team; you just happened to have a lot of badges when you got there.

Blue used to be Kanto champion, so he was given special privileges in gym construction.

Alternate theory: Originally, Gyms had to be of one type when the League was founded, because support for multiple types was difficult in smaller towns. Although modern technology allows for multiple types, most Gyms are hereditary (see: Maylene, Falkner) and that certain type is a family tradition (of course, some Leaders are just super-obsessed, like Gardenia). Blue took over the gym after Giovanni, and didn't want to be under the stigma of following tradition of a crime lord, so he uses a watered-down version of his Champion team as a Gym Leader and saves his true team for the rematches.

edited 5th May '10 8:44:21 PM by Magus