The Pokédex - Extended Fanon Edition

I'm pretty sure Orre is just a very arid area (being based on Arizona and all), with very low wild pokemon populations. Due to the lack of pokemon based transport, conventional transport is more advanced there.

A former nuclear bomb epicenter is cooler.

^ But if it was the former Ground Zero of a nuclear detonation, plant life would have returned to Orre long before it was habitable again for human beings (just look at Bikini Atoll)...

Nuclear fallout does not equal desert.

I said epicenter of a nuclear bomb. Nuclear epicenter does equal desert. If the war happened, Orre was probably cluster-nuked over a long period of time, resulting in badlands/wastelands.

^ But the cluster-nuking wouldn't change long-term precipitation patterns in Orre...

edited 18th Jun '10 3:02:18 PM by CaptainNapalm

It could already have been in a dry area, and the bomb just killed most of the indegenous wildlife, as well as worsening the conditions...

But the plant life would still recover a lot sooner than any other forms of life could without dying from radiation poisoning, see every nuclear test site ever + Chernobyl.

edited 18th Jun '10 3:21:28 PM by CaptainNapalm

Yes, but, being a desert, there wasn't much plant life there in the first place...

I don't know. It was just an idea that I tossed out and was chewed to death over.

edited 18th Jun '10 3:34:38 PM by CrowT.Robot

Perhaps the Orre region is simply going through a rapid state of climate change?

Anyway, here's what I've got thus far on Team Rocket. If anyone can think of anything to add, let me know and I'll get right on it.

Team Rocket

The one constant throughout human history is the desire for power, and the presence of those willing to go any length in order to attain it. Pokémon, regardless of any other qualities they may possess, have vast amounts of power; therefore, one must go to any length necessary in order to control Pokémon, as both a source of power and as tools to attain more power.

While the exact phrasing and wording has changed over the years, the above maxim has remained the central tenement of the terrorist organization known only as Team Rocket since the group’s inception half a century ago. A vile organization surrounded by terrible rumours and worse truths, Team Rocket's primary goal is the acquisition of political and military power, possibly even to the extent of world domination, which it strives to achieve by enslaving and experimenting upon powerful Pokemon.

Activities

Though headquartered primarily in the neighbouring regions of Kanto and Johto, the organization also exerted its control over the Sevii Islands and was believed to maintain at least a marginal presence in all other regions of the world. Team Rocket’s known crimes were diverse and far-flung; they ranged from the silly, such as harassment of children and disturbing the peace, to more serious offenses such as racketeering and extortion, the harvesting and distribution of Pokémon organs as narcotics, the corruption and recruitment of minors, and kidnapping, to the extreme crimes of torture and enslavement of Pokémon, employing Pokémon as weapons of war and intimidation, invading the main office of Silph Co. and holding the entire company hostage, hijacking the Johto Radio Tower and curtailing the right of free speech, and performing illegal genetic experiments on captive Pokémon and humans alike.

Organization

One factor which permitted this vile organization to escape justice was their decentralized command structure. Field agents operated in small cells consisting of a few grunts and two or more higher-ranked executors who received instruction from their faceless superiors via dead-drops; thus, grunts from one cell would not be able to recognize grunts from another cell when not in uniform, and executors would only be able to give away the names and locations of one or two other executors if they were caught and interrogated by the authorities.

Agents only gathered en-masse at the behest of Rocket Administrators and Executives, who handled the legislative and bureaucratic duties necessary to keep such a large organization up and running, or at the command of The Boss, the organization’s unquestioned leader. The Boss would send instructions to his executives and Administrators via untraceable e-mail or carrier Pidgey, and rarely appeared in person unless an operation warranted it; as such, few among team Rocket’s upper echelons ever knew the identity of The Boss, and those who did remained alive only as long as they remained loyal and useful to the organization. The last and only known Boss prior to the group’s dissolution was Giovanni Terremoto, a wealthy industrialist and the former Viridian City Gym Leader.

History

Although much of Team Rocket's early activities remain unknown, recent investigations have uncovered startling information. Team Rocket, before it became known as such, was originally a black-ops division of the Kanto-Johto intelligence agency. Formed during at time of mounting tensions between Kanto and Hoenn, the organization was created, without official government sanction, to capture and study Pokemon for use as soldiers, saboteurs and siege weapons in the event of a World War, and to train the populace as guerilla fighters.

Although the war team Rocket's founders predicted thankfully never came to pass, by the time peace had been solidified Team Rocket had taken on a life of its own, and its members went to ground, continuing to study and experiment on Pokemon with the backing of a number of wealthy individuals who stood to profit from the outbreak of hostilities. Eventually the goal of preparing for a war was completely forgotten, and Team Rocket became the terrorist organization most people are familiar with today.

edited 18th Jun '10 4:51:01 PM by SullenFrog

^ Pretty good I guess, though there are a few parts under the activities section that seemed off to me. About TR using mons as WMDs: While it would totally be within their character to utilize our favorite cuddly but lethal monsters as weapons against human beings, as laughably inept and under-equipped law enforcement in the Poke-verse is, I find it a bit of a stretch that TR would be able to successfully commit mass murder on the scale implied by a phrase such as weapons of "mass" destruction without being completely annihilated by military or paramilitary factions. In any case, death and destruction tends to produce two types of reactions among people and societal institutions as a whole: "please don't kill me" and "screw this, you die now." Guess which one will (usually) win out in the face of a mass existentialist threat (especially if the threat in question doesn't have an effective monopoly on force)... Also, I'm not sure if hijacking media outlets really counts as curtailing free speech, but then again I would be at a bit of a loss as to how to classify such a stunt, public intimidation perhaps? Also, any mention of TR's apparent recruitment of minors (hence the whole Nugget Bridge episode in R/B/Y)? Other than that, I think that I like what I see...

edited 18th Jun '10 4:24:02 PM by CaptainNapalm

^I fixed that up a bit, and also added the History section. Like I said, I'm open to suggestions if anyone has anything they want to see in the article.

^ That history actually seems somewhat believable (assuming that the regions aren't part of one larger nation), especially considering the origins of some of the more infamous organized crime syndicates active in the real world. These guys provide a perfect example...

edited 18th Jun '10 5:04:29 PM by CaptainNapalm

I'll be doing a writeup for Team Magma/Aqua. My idea for them is that they're less of a Mafia-style crime organization and more of a radicalist psychotic cult.

Also, @long-forgotten nuclear war- Sootopolis City was engineered to be a huge bunker and temporary refuge for humanity, a la The City Of Ember.

edited 18th Jun '10 5:52:46 PM by CrowT.Robot

I always pictured Magma/Aqua as being more like Animal Wrongs Groups

edited 18th Jun '10 6:42:30 PM by Blissey1

^ Or Greenpeace gone far worse.

^^^ Yeah, I think the whole "deranged cult" angle is probably better covered by Team Galactic anyways...

edited 18th Jun '10 6:45:26 PM by CaptainNapalm

Yeah, definitely agreeing with Galactic being the most cultlike of the four teams. Aqua and Magma are still slightly cultish, but Team Galactic is one frightening Cult of Personality with way too much power.

edited 18th Jun '10 6:50:29 PM by SullenFrog

Team Rocket's the Mafia group. Teams Magma and Aqua are nominally environmental groups, and Team Galactic is the cult normally associated with living in cold areas

With Team Galactic, would the Spear Pillar event be public knowledge? (I mean the nitty-gritty details of three Olympus Mons converging on Mt. Coronet, as I think it would be pretty hard to cover up.)

Team Aqua/Magma are crazed eco-terrorists. Team Galactic was the real cult.

EDIT: Ninja'd like 5-times over.

edited 19th Jun '10 7:06:47 AM by Neo_Crimson

Yo. As promised.

Team Magma

One of two eco-terrorist cults plaguing the Hoenn reigon, Team Magma is believed by authorities to be a dangerous, fundamentalist splinter group of Team Rocket. After their failed attempt to awaken the powerful Ground-type Pokémon Groudon, they were apprehended and eventually brought to justice.

Activities

Unlike the larger and more powerful Team Rocket, Team Magma seems to have completely devoted itself to one major goal- the extension of the world's landmasses and the destruction of the seas. Their ultimate plan was to awaken the Ground-type Legendary Groudon, but this attempt was thwarted. In addition to this, several reports of terrorist bombings, diversion of funds to support their efforts, youth recruitment drives, and illegal genetic experimentation were all associated with this group. In addition to this, Team Magma would regularily conduct genocides against indegenous Water-type Pokémon. The most shocking of these occured ten years ago, with the infamous "Sharpedo Massacres". Dozens of Sharpedo were killed and dragged ashore, for unknown purposes. The local police force was unsuccessul in apprehending the team for its actions.

Organization

Team Magma members were surprsingly well organzed. Each recruit was given a Poochyena or Zubat to use as a weapon or guard. Higher-ranking administraters were seen using Mightyena, in additon to Ground-type Pokémon such as Numel and Camerupt. Their organization is treated in the same way as a militia: a general plans and coordinates the movements of his underlings, who in turn will direct individual operatives to specific goals. Being much smaller and less powerful than Team Rocket, Magma required more direct methods of control to achieve their master plan.

History

Both Team Magma and its rival Team Aqua are believed to have stemmed from a reconnaisance cell of Team Rocket operatives dispatched to Hoenn during a time of extreme civil duress between Kanto and Hoenn. This team discovered the legend of the mighty Ground and Water type Legendaries Groudon and Kyogre. Realizing that such Pokémon could provide a major tactical advantage in case war was declared, the team attempted to find the two Pokémon and smuggle them back to Kanto. However, with time growing short and the Pokémon not showing themselves, a schism grew between the members as to which Pokémon should be awakened. The team collapsed into infighting and went their seperate ways, each trying to find the Legendaries before the other.

edited 19th Jun '10 12:13:00 PM by CrowT.Robot

Hmm... Are you trying to make Team Rocket more impressive by having Magma and Aqua originating from them?

I like the article on Team Magma, though if any villainous organization was a splinter of the Rockets, it would most likely be Cypher. Not saying that the origin you've come up with doesn't work, though...

edited 19th Jun '10 10:58:01 AM by SullenFrog

^^ No, I just thought that since Kanto and Hoenn were about to have a war, it would make sense for Rocket to infiltrate Hoenn as reconnaisance. Then, after finding the Legendaries, they lose their way and eventually forget why they're there.

edited 19th Jun '10 10:57:22 AM by CrowT.Robot