Neo-Xantios
25th April 2004, 03:33 AM
Hello again, fellow members of TPM. Here I present the 2004 edition of Pokémon: A Philosophy. Unlike the first edition, this story will be set in a world like ours, but vastly different. Although a part of this may be a trainer fic, that part will not be the dominance as this shall also be a cross-over fic between Pokémon and Philip Pullman's epic trilogy His Dark Materials.
Enjoy! ;)
THIS STORY IS RATED PG13 FOR VIOLENCE IN REALITY!
Pokémon: A Philosophy 2004
By
R.K.Y. Chan (Neo-Xantios)
Started on April 24, 2004
This Pokémon world is like the infinite worlds similar to ours, yet vastly different.
***********************
Chapter 1
From Recovery to Departure
***********************
Cape Town, South Africa
11:36 PM
November 28, 2525 A.D.
The little, half-conscious penguin Pokémon was drifting in the sea after failing time and again to find her flock bound for Antarctica. The sun was set and the ocean began its nightly roar and cast the first of its unforgiving waves. The stars showed their first gleam, only to be veiled by a storm cloud forming seconds later. Lighting streaked and thunder rolled in the distant south, and rain fell and spread like a wildfire to the north.
The Pokémon slowly gained consciousness. She slowly opened her eyes halfway to sight faint spots of orange. Then her consciousness was creeping back more swiftly as she started moving her flippers and shifting her feet to a swimming position. Just after a few beats of her flippers, she felt her head under heavy rain. Reflexively, she turned to look back, only seeing the sea rising less than ten metres away, then engulfing her and her blurred vision of orange lights.
*
Vinzer Kruger was having his morning jog on the beach off Cape Town at the usual time of seven thirty. He was a sportive person, well-built, and never wore a heavy jacket even in the coldest of temperatures. Very tall he was with his thick, gelled, dark brown hair adding to his height. As always, he was particularly gladdened on a morning after a storm as the damp sand grew a little solid, keeping his feet at perfect comfort and the air was filled with frantic ocean scents with a mix of damp sand. He glanced to his left at the Cape of Good Hope, still and calm, and to his right at the buildings of diverse designs of various shapes, some with a narrow base and wide roof, others seemingly touching the sky, and vehicles hovering below them. His glance shifted again to his left, just past something that would gain the attention of any creature. Then he abruptly slowed his pace and widened his eyes as they caught the most unlikely sight conceivable. On the sand there lay a Penapin, the penguin Pokémon, beaten by the storm. As Vinzer neared it, he could see its back rising and falling slowly and weakly, and he picked it up in his arms and stroked it several times before running towards the buildings, caught a bus and arrived at one of Cape Town’s many Pokémon hospitals.
“Where did you find this Penapin, sir?” asked the doctor as he was examining the unconscious Pokémon.
“On the beach off Cape Town, doctor. Is this Pokémon going to live?” Vinzer said, desperate.
“You’re lucky to have found her. She must have drifted away from her flock bound for Antarctica. It’s hard to believe that such a young Penapin could survive last night’s storm.
“Do not worry, sir. She’ll be all right in a couple days.”
“Thank you, doctor. Then I guess I am quite lucky. Even though I know she’ll be all right now, I just can’t feel at ease without being in her presence. I’ll just stay here till I see her condition improve.”
“All right, sir.” With that, the doctor fitted an oxygen nozzle to the Pokémon’s beak and left the room.
The Penapin was a true beauty. Her back coat was of navy blue shining in the light of the room, and her fore coat was of an unperturbed white reaching to the tip of her webbed feet. She had tiny flippers, which Vinzer would imaging they would flap energetically in bliss. But her beauty was not complete without her eyes, which were closed by unmoving lids. He imagined them to glow like sapphire, or topaz, or emerald; a gaze so evocative no eyes could shun. He sat before her, filled with gratitude and pity, impatient for her recovery.
An hour before noon, his Comsat received a transmission from his home. Above the Comsat was a transparent figure of a teenager, with a complexion and height similar to Vinzer’s.
“Hey, Craine, I’m at the Pokémon Hospital. Got an injured Penapin to take care of. I’m not coming home till tonight, okay?” Vinzer said to the figure.
“Pokémon ye say? Well, bro, looks like the fish got your hook. Bring it home tonight okay? Oh by the way, you’ve got mail from the Oxford. Looks like you’re enrolled! Surprised aren’t cha?” the figure replied with a clear voice.
“Not surprised at all. Thanks for patching me, bro. The Pokémon’s injured so don’t expect a prize home. I’ll call ye later,” Vinzer said and closed the transmission.
So there he was, Vinzer’s doubt had faded and his gratitude grew. After having a simple lunch at the hospital cafeteria and waiting four more hours, he saw Penapin beginning slowly to move her flippers no more than a few centimetres, yet her eyelids and beak remained motionless. As night was falling, Vinzer grew weary, then kissed the Penapin on her forehead and shed two streams of tears before leaving.
*
Vinzer returned home no more than ten minutes later to be greeted by his brother, mother and father at the door of his house. There he was embraced by them all and was led to the dining room filled with a bright golden light. On the walls there were several balloons, and the table was laden with candles and assorted food. There were a whole roasted chicken, a veal that could make any human’s or Pokémon’s mouth water, exotic fruit and vegetable salads, fish in rich barbeque sauce, red wine, and much more. The dinner began with the wine and a great toast.
“A toast to Vinzer and his success!” his father said, raising his glass.
“Toast!” they all replied.
So passed the dinner of the great celebration, yet in Vinzer’s heart there was still a wide space for worry. After the hour of feast, he washed quickly and immediately slept, hoping the time would pass without his reckoning.
*
He woke earlier the next day with his worry deeper and nervousness growing. Just after the sky was turning from black to blue and the sun was creeping from the horizon, Vinzer dashed out the door and caught the earliest bus to the hospital. His heart pounded faster by the second as he approached the emergency room where Penapin lay. Before standing directly in front of the door, it opened and the doctor came out with a smile on his face. It was only after a few seconds before he noticed Vinzer’s presence, and gave a bigger smile and a nod at that time. Vinzer could tell what the doctor was trying to say. Penapin was recovering.
“More than just recovering, sir. She is recovered, to our surprise,” the doctor stated emphatically.
He could feel his heart skip a beat as the doctor conveyed his message. With the riddance of his fear and nervousness, he made an impulsive jump of joy and fired several thank-yous at the doctor. At the lower corner of his sight, he saw the Penapin walk out the room slowly and shed several tears as he saw the beauty in her eyes. Indeed, they were of the great topaz he conceived. They shone in the hospital light like a jewel in glitter, depicting vigilance and passion. He drew towards her and knelt down, then pressed her to a hug with his tears falling freely.
After that moment which seemed like forever to Vinzer, he stood and said, “I can never thank you enough, doctor. This day could never have been the same without you.”
“Well, sir, it is our duty to ensure the days of Pokémon keepers are blessed with the good health of Pokémon. I’m glad you helped in my duty,” the doctor replied.
“Still, my gratitude has never been this great. I can’t say how much Pokémon mean to me, though I do not consider myself a keeper of Pokémon. Perhaps today will be the start of the life I always wanted to experience. Perhaps the only way I will live a happy life is by keeping, training, and loving Pokémon from various continents,” Vinzer said with his eyes still wet.
In his arms, the Penapin flapped her flippers blissfully and made several chirps of joy.
“This is a start no Pokémon keeper could wish for, sir. The Penapin seems closer to you already than to any of her kin in a lifetime. I think you should give her a name,” the doctor said.
And Vinzer passionately replied, “Yes, I should give her a name. Sestarine will be it; the Jewel of the Sea.”
“A very original name indeed, sir. I’m sure you two will be the best of friends. May your future as a keeper be a success.”
“Thank you, doctor, once more. Of all days, this will be the least forgettable. The day as a keeper’s beginning.” Vinzer shook the doctor’s hand and gave a low bow. Then turned with Sestarine still tight in his arms and left to spark another celebration.
*
So the night passed with another feast in the golden dining hall, this time in toast to Sestarine and the threshold to keepership. Hours after the second great feast, Sestarine and Vinzer lay on the grass of their tranquil garden, gazing at the stars. He told her great stories of his youth and the world and many other things he would tell to a human being. To him, all Pokémon deserve the respect of humans, thus he would treat them in the same way, talk to them in the same way and ultimately never calling any Pokémon an “it”. After all those years of pretending to have a Pokémon friend, the night seemed quite surreal. But all his wonders of how Pokémon would react when you treat them in a humanely way since his childhood all came down to one conclusion that their conscience differs no greatly than that of humans.
The night passed onward to its peak when his father came out into the garden. In his large hand was a ball, gold on the top half and white on the bottom. He held it before Vinzer and Sestarine and said, “This is the Orb of the Cape, passed down from our long generation. According to our family history, the generation of 2004 purchased this priceless orb at an auction not far from here. So here it is now, after over five hundred years, still in the condition when it was purchased. And now I pass this down to you, Vinzer and Sestarine, the first users of this orb. May you be blessed in your days as a keeper.”
“Father,” Vinzer said as tears refilled his eyes. “I will make you and our generation proud! After Oxford, I will cross every continent and take on the League! With Sestarine, we will win through and uphold our honour as keeper and Pokémon!”
He took the Orb from his father’s hands and held it close to his chest. Sestarine, glad and energetic, touched the Orb with her beak, and was transformed into a transparent red light, and was absorbed into the Orb.
*
December came quickly after days of laughter and joy. Vinzer was busy for two days, packing his luggage and preparing for university with Sestarine always trailing behind. At last, the sixteenth day came, and he was laden with a backpack half his size and two cases of clothes, books and electronic devices. From his father’s car, he beheld the last of the innovative structures, palm trees and beaches of Cape Town. All that his childhood took for granted now returned to him with nostalgia, till at last the vast Cape Town International was in sight.
*
The International Airport of Cape Town was like an upgraded space station barely imaginable in the last three centuries. Planes were landing and taking off almost every second but the noise that dominated the vicinity were the voices of humans, and the great control tower was a bridge to the heavens when viewed from below.
The family alighted and gasped at the sight of the airport. They slowly entered to find themselves looking at a fathomless hall, where the ceiling and walls seemed to be blocks away and the people and themselves were like ants in a cathedral.
Vinzer checked in and put his two heavy cases onto a conveyer belt which led to a teleportation pad. After seeing his cases evaporate in white light, he went with his family to the pads that led to the waiting hall.
The waiting hall was as vast as the check-in point with a window overlooking the field of airplanes. Many were levitating just a few metres off the ground before plunging into the sky. Others took shape in the sky before a few seconds later they were at their jetties.
Vinzer and Craine stood at the window, perceiving the sight they longed to see, yet so hard to see.
“Hope you have fun in Europe, bro. Bring home some pictures of London and Paris and Rome,” Craine said in a soft tone.
“Don’t worry, bro. I will,” his brother replied.
For the first time since he could remember, Vinzer saw tears in Craine’s eyes.
“I’m gonna miss you, bro! It’ll be hard living without you!” Craine passionately hugged his brother.
“Me too, Craine. Me too.”
*
At length, Flight DX-2589 was ready and Vinzer was called to depart. He reluctantly stepped toward the boarding gate and turned to look back at his family still crying. He resisted the urge to run back and hug his parents one last time, but it failed, and he dashed back to embrace them. When the last of the passengers boarded, he stepped into the jetty, looked back one last time and raised his hand in farewell.
*
Craine leaned on the window of the waiting room, tears cascading. As the jetty closed, Flight DX-2589 levitated, plunged upwards and sped into the sky.
Enjoy! ;)
THIS STORY IS RATED PG13 FOR VIOLENCE IN REALITY!
Pokémon: A Philosophy 2004
By
R.K.Y. Chan (Neo-Xantios)
Started on April 24, 2004
This Pokémon world is like the infinite worlds similar to ours, yet vastly different.
***********************
Chapter 1
From Recovery to Departure
***********************
Cape Town, South Africa
11:36 PM
November 28, 2525 A.D.
The little, half-conscious penguin Pokémon was drifting in the sea after failing time and again to find her flock bound for Antarctica. The sun was set and the ocean began its nightly roar and cast the first of its unforgiving waves. The stars showed their first gleam, only to be veiled by a storm cloud forming seconds later. Lighting streaked and thunder rolled in the distant south, and rain fell and spread like a wildfire to the north.
The Pokémon slowly gained consciousness. She slowly opened her eyes halfway to sight faint spots of orange. Then her consciousness was creeping back more swiftly as she started moving her flippers and shifting her feet to a swimming position. Just after a few beats of her flippers, she felt her head under heavy rain. Reflexively, she turned to look back, only seeing the sea rising less than ten metres away, then engulfing her and her blurred vision of orange lights.
*
Vinzer Kruger was having his morning jog on the beach off Cape Town at the usual time of seven thirty. He was a sportive person, well-built, and never wore a heavy jacket even in the coldest of temperatures. Very tall he was with his thick, gelled, dark brown hair adding to his height. As always, he was particularly gladdened on a morning after a storm as the damp sand grew a little solid, keeping his feet at perfect comfort and the air was filled with frantic ocean scents with a mix of damp sand. He glanced to his left at the Cape of Good Hope, still and calm, and to his right at the buildings of diverse designs of various shapes, some with a narrow base and wide roof, others seemingly touching the sky, and vehicles hovering below them. His glance shifted again to his left, just past something that would gain the attention of any creature. Then he abruptly slowed his pace and widened his eyes as they caught the most unlikely sight conceivable. On the sand there lay a Penapin, the penguin Pokémon, beaten by the storm. As Vinzer neared it, he could see its back rising and falling slowly and weakly, and he picked it up in his arms and stroked it several times before running towards the buildings, caught a bus and arrived at one of Cape Town’s many Pokémon hospitals.
“Where did you find this Penapin, sir?” asked the doctor as he was examining the unconscious Pokémon.
“On the beach off Cape Town, doctor. Is this Pokémon going to live?” Vinzer said, desperate.
“You’re lucky to have found her. She must have drifted away from her flock bound for Antarctica. It’s hard to believe that such a young Penapin could survive last night’s storm.
“Do not worry, sir. She’ll be all right in a couple days.”
“Thank you, doctor. Then I guess I am quite lucky. Even though I know she’ll be all right now, I just can’t feel at ease without being in her presence. I’ll just stay here till I see her condition improve.”
“All right, sir.” With that, the doctor fitted an oxygen nozzle to the Pokémon’s beak and left the room.
The Penapin was a true beauty. Her back coat was of navy blue shining in the light of the room, and her fore coat was of an unperturbed white reaching to the tip of her webbed feet. She had tiny flippers, which Vinzer would imaging they would flap energetically in bliss. But her beauty was not complete without her eyes, which were closed by unmoving lids. He imagined them to glow like sapphire, or topaz, or emerald; a gaze so evocative no eyes could shun. He sat before her, filled with gratitude and pity, impatient for her recovery.
An hour before noon, his Comsat received a transmission from his home. Above the Comsat was a transparent figure of a teenager, with a complexion and height similar to Vinzer’s.
“Hey, Craine, I’m at the Pokémon Hospital. Got an injured Penapin to take care of. I’m not coming home till tonight, okay?” Vinzer said to the figure.
“Pokémon ye say? Well, bro, looks like the fish got your hook. Bring it home tonight okay? Oh by the way, you’ve got mail from the Oxford. Looks like you’re enrolled! Surprised aren’t cha?” the figure replied with a clear voice.
“Not surprised at all. Thanks for patching me, bro. The Pokémon’s injured so don’t expect a prize home. I’ll call ye later,” Vinzer said and closed the transmission.
So there he was, Vinzer’s doubt had faded and his gratitude grew. After having a simple lunch at the hospital cafeteria and waiting four more hours, he saw Penapin beginning slowly to move her flippers no more than a few centimetres, yet her eyelids and beak remained motionless. As night was falling, Vinzer grew weary, then kissed the Penapin on her forehead and shed two streams of tears before leaving.
*
Vinzer returned home no more than ten minutes later to be greeted by his brother, mother and father at the door of his house. There he was embraced by them all and was led to the dining room filled with a bright golden light. On the walls there were several balloons, and the table was laden with candles and assorted food. There were a whole roasted chicken, a veal that could make any human’s or Pokémon’s mouth water, exotic fruit and vegetable salads, fish in rich barbeque sauce, red wine, and much more. The dinner began with the wine and a great toast.
“A toast to Vinzer and his success!” his father said, raising his glass.
“Toast!” they all replied.
So passed the dinner of the great celebration, yet in Vinzer’s heart there was still a wide space for worry. After the hour of feast, he washed quickly and immediately slept, hoping the time would pass without his reckoning.
*
He woke earlier the next day with his worry deeper and nervousness growing. Just after the sky was turning from black to blue and the sun was creeping from the horizon, Vinzer dashed out the door and caught the earliest bus to the hospital. His heart pounded faster by the second as he approached the emergency room where Penapin lay. Before standing directly in front of the door, it opened and the doctor came out with a smile on his face. It was only after a few seconds before he noticed Vinzer’s presence, and gave a bigger smile and a nod at that time. Vinzer could tell what the doctor was trying to say. Penapin was recovering.
“More than just recovering, sir. She is recovered, to our surprise,” the doctor stated emphatically.
He could feel his heart skip a beat as the doctor conveyed his message. With the riddance of his fear and nervousness, he made an impulsive jump of joy and fired several thank-yous at the doctor. At the lower corner of his sight, he saw the Penapin walk out the room slowly and shed several tears as he saw the beauty in her eyes. Indeed, they were of the great topaz he conceived. They shone in the hospital light like a jewel in glitter, depicting vigilance and passion. He drew towards her and knelt down, then pressed her to a hug with his tears falling freely.
After that moment which seemed like forever to Vinzer, he stood and said, “I can never thank you enough, doctor. This day could never have been the same without you.”
“Well, sir, it is our duty to ensure the days of Pokémon keepers are blessed with the good health of Pokémon. I’m glad you helped in my duty,” the doctor replied.
“Still, my gratitude has never been this great. I can’t say how much Pokémon mean to me, though I do not consider myself a keeper of Pokémon. Perhaps today will be the start of the life I always wanted to experience. Perhaps the only way I will live a happy life is by keeping, training, and loving Pokémon from various continents,” Vinzer said with his eyes still wet.
In his arms, the Penapin flapped her flippers blissfully and made several chirps of joy.
“This is a start no Pokémon keeper could wish for, sir. The Penapin seems closer to you already than to any of her kin in a lifetime. I think you should give her a name,” the doctor said.
And Vinzer passionately replied, “Yes, I should give her a name. Sestarine will be it; the Jewel of the Sea.”
“A very original name indeed, sir. I’m sure you two will be the best of friends. May your future as a keeper be a success.”
“Thank you, doctor, once more. Of all days, this will be the least forgettable. The day as a keeper’s beginning.” Vinzer shook the doctor’s hand and gave a low bow. Then turned with Sestarine still tight in his arms and left to spark another celebration.
*
So the night passed with another feast in the golden dining hall, this time in toast to Sestarine and the threshold to keepership. Hours after the second great feast, Sestarine and Vinzer lay on the grass of their tranquil garden, gazing at the stars. He told her great stories of his youth and the world and many other things he would tell to a human being. To him, all Pokémon deserve the respect of humans, thus he would treat them in the same way, talk to them in the same way and ultimately never calling any Pokémon an “it”. After all those years of pretending to have a Pokémon friend, the night seemed quite surreal. But all his wonders of how Pokémon would react when you treat them in a humanely way since his childhood all came down to one conclusion that their conscience differs no greatly than that of humans.
The night passed onward to its peak when his father came out into the garden. In his large hand was a ball, gold on the top half and white on the bottom. He held it before Vinzer and Sestarine and said, “This is the Orb of the Cape, passed down from our long generation. According to our family history, the generation of 2004 purchased this priceless orb at an auction not far from here. So here it is now, after over five hundred years, still in the condition when it was purchased. And now I pass this down to you, Vinzer and Sestarine, the first users of this orb. May you be blessed in your days as a keeper.”
“Father,” Vinzer said as tears refilled his eyes. “I will make you and our generation proud! After Oxford, I will cross every continent and take on the League! With Sestarine, we will win through and uphold our honour as keeper and Pokémon!”
He took the Orb from his father’s hands and held it close to his chest. Sestarine, glad and energetic, touched the Orb with her beak, and was transformed into a transparent red light, and was absorbed into the Orb.
*
December came quickly after days of laughter and joy. Vinzer was busy for two days, packing his luggage and preparing for university with Sestarine always trailing behind. At last, the sixteenth day came, and he was laden with a backpack half his size and two cases of clothes, books and electronic devices. From his father’s car, he beheld the last of the innovative structures, palm trees and beaches of Cape Town. All that his childhood took for granted now returned to him with nostalgia, till at last the vast Cape Town International was in sight.
*
The International Airport of Cape Town was like an upgraded space station barely imaginable in the last three centuries. Planes were landing and taking off almost every second but the noise that dominated the vicinity were the voices of humans, and the great control tower was a bridge to the heavens when viewed from below.
The family alighted and gasped at the sight of the airport. They slowly entered to find themselves looking at a fathomless hall, where the ceiling and walls seemed to be blocks away and the people and themselves were like ants in a cathedral.
Vinzer checked in and put his two heavy cases onto a conveyer belt which led to a teleportation pad. After seeing his cases evaporate in white light, he went with his family to the pads that led to the waiting hall.
The waiting hall was as vast as the check-in point with a window overlooking the field of airplanes. Many were levitating just a few metres off the ground before plunging into the sky. Others took shape in the sky before a few seconds later they were at their jetties.
Vinzer and Craine stood at the window, perceiving the sight they longed to see, yet so hard to see.
“Hope you have fun in Europe, bro. Bring home some pictures of London and Paris and Rome,” Craine said in a soft tone.
“Don’t worry, bro. I will,” his brother replied.
For the first time since he could remember, Vinzer saw tears in Craine’s eyes.
“I’m gonna miss you, bro! It’ll be hard living without you!” Craine passionately hugged his brother.
“Me too, Craine. Me too.”
*
At length, Flight DX-2589 was ready and Vinzer was called to depart. He reluctantly stepped toward the boarding gate and turned to look back at his family still crying. He resisted the urge to run back and hug his parents one last time, but it failed, and he dashed back to embrace them. When the last of the passengers boarded, he stepped into the jetty, looked back one last time and raised his hand in farewell.
*
Craine leaned on the window of the waiting room, tears cascading. As the jetty closed, Flight DX-2589 levitated, plunged upwards and sped into the sky.