[ Themepoints ]
The setting:
This is pokemon prehistory, set on the pokemon homeworld before their exodus
to Earth. The timeperiod where roleplay takes place is an anywhere from 100
to 1000 years before the Exodus of Pokemon to Earth.

The world:
World Map: http://tails.animaltracks.net/poqmori.png
World Data: +help theme/world-data
Continents: 6, Contiki, Peth, Grouda, Latie, Kyogara, Terne
+help theme/continents for more info.

The present:
In the current setting, life goes on much like it would in a 21st century
Earth setting. The Ditto and the Pokemon and Pokemorphs are in a
passive war of terrorism from the Dittos and retaliation from the other
pokemon species to hold them at bay. There hasn't been a full fledged Ditto
attack for a while, but people still disappear altoghether or come back
very different. High technology reigns, Space is starting to get explored,
landing on other planets in the solar system is common.

Distrust of the Dittos is still high, but meh, people move on. Ginseng seems
to be the hotbed of world activity when you look around. Being the most
populous city of the world, many people from all around gather there, and it
is the center of government. It is the center of commerce and civilization.

Technology:
Technology hovers around a 2030 level. Your average pokedex is about as
sophisticated as a decked out PC of Earth 2005, and you can watch movies,
play 3D games and text based RPGs on them. Most desktop computers are
quantum devices, running at speeds comparable to a 500ghz P4.

Pokenet:
Every device has the capability to connect to the Pokenet. The pokedex is
a fine example, getting realtime updates whenever new information is found.
Additionally, every pokedex has ICQ, which lets you communicate with any
other trainer. The pokenav (+nav) allows you to set and look up information
like maps and trainer info.

Team Rocket:
They exist, but are not an evil organization. They are, instead, like NASA
on the pokemon homeworld, and have recently started travelling into space.
They have secret programs going on also.

Criminal elements:
Not including anything Ditto related, the most organized crime comes out of
Team Phoenix. See +help factions/Team Phoenix for more information.

Languages:
Pokemon and Pokemorphs speak in different languages naturally. This barrier
can be overcome with a TM 'PW02', or Morphspeak. This works for pokemon or
pokemorphs and lets onee understand the other.

Transport:
The favored form of transport is the Monorail. There is some aviation but
it is not prevalent to have flying machines because a significant industry
in flight transport exists from people with the Fly TM. Someone with Fly
can carry you from point to point quickly and the average going rate is 100
yen a ride.

Religion:
Many pokemorphs do not practice any religion at all, of those who do, about
30%, all of them practice the only known religion to exist, the Way of the
Trinity, which celebrates Mew, Celebi, and Jirachi as triune gods. There are
many temples about the world, with different methods of worship, depending on
the developers of the temple. There are many methods of worship and many
different rules per temple, but all share a common reverance for Mew, Celebi,
Jirachi, and legendary pokemon.

There is one other religion practiced by Dittos only. They worship their
collective (thus themselves) as the true god and the first form of Life, thus
their collective will is the will of god...

Pokemon and Pokemorphs:
Pokemorphs evolved from Pokemon, and thus are always sentient. Some pokemon
are also sentient, some are self-aware, and some are not sentient at all.
Society assumes that a pokemon is sentient if any sort of intelligence is
shown, because some can't or wont speak pokemorph. Sentient pokemorphs and
pokemon are considered equal, but wild pokemon are considered capturable
and trainable. Of course, some wild pokemon seek out their own trainer
anyway.

Because some pokemon might be sentient and still be wild or feral, they are
refered to as wild pokemon, if they have not expressed a desire for
self-determination and self-awareness, and do not have the same rights as
a tame pokemon.

Pokemon who can speak pokemorph, or have otherwise shown a desire for
self-determination and self-awareness, are referred to as tame pokemon, and
have all the same rights of a pokemorph.

Pokemorphs are interested in taking pokemon as a way to increase their own
battle effectiveness, since on average, pokemon are 10% more attack effective
than pokemorphs. Wild pokemon are often captured for this purpose, because
they are 25% more attack effective on average.

Tame pokemon often seek out a trainer, or wait for someone to try to
capture them to see if they are a good trainer, then let on that they are
smart, and can even speak!

Pokemon ownership:
Both pokemon and pokemorphs are able to own other pokemon or pokemorphs.
But there are a few social contracts surrounding this. First of all, a
tame pokemon, or pokemorph, cannot own another tame pokemon or pokemorph
against its will. The assignment of a ball between two mutually sentient
pokemon or pokemorphs, is a social contract between the two that can be broken
at any time.

Wild pokemon are another story. They may be captured, and kept as pets, and
trained as a pokemon would be trained. Their owner can make them stay with
them, but the owner must not abuse them or the police come and take the poor
pokemon away and slap the owner with a serious fine of about 20000 yen.

Government:
Pokemorphs and sentient pokemon can both run for office. There are 17
positions on the council, to be filled by one of each pokemon type. A term
lasts for a year, with re-elections permitted indefinitely. The council
rules the entire world, however continents have their own governments, which
while subjugated to the council, have much autonomy. Those governments vary
in structure very often.

Marriage:
Marriage is typically certified by the government, after being held in a
temple of the Trinity. Most non-religious pokemon and morphs also choose
to be married in a church due to the atmosphere. Marriages have no
restrictions on the genders of those involved, but are typically limited to
6.

The Trinity considers souls to be joined together when the marriage occurs,
however, new mates can be added, if all of the people involved decide as a
unit that they want to marry the new person or people.

At the end of a marriage ceremony, all those involved take a marriage ball
(which is a modified friend ball) and give it to the others, and wear them
around their neck, with the name of the giver engraved. They are able to
stay in the ball if they want, just like a regular pokeball, but typically
they are just worn.

Family and Children:
Pokemon society, in general, put a very large emphasis on family ties.
Children all breed true to the mother, but get attacks from their father,
whether they are the same type or not. Families typically give their
children a bracelet with a friend ball attached to it, identifying which
family they are from. Parents keep friendship balls for the children in
their family, sometimes for discipline, but often just for carrying them while
they sleep.

Children typically feed from their parents until they do not want to anymore,
there is no traditional weaning time. Some families continue the practice
well into the teen years, to keep their bond strong. Children leave the
family when they move on to start a new family, sometimes never leaving at
all and creating extended families.

Dittos:
Dittos are the source of headaches, and terror in the world. Whether they
can be considered evil or simply convinced of their own right, they make life
difficult for all other pokemon. The Dittos make war from their home
continent of Terne, which is primarily an undeveloped wasteland, with the
exception of Ditto Lake, where all Ditto reside in a pool. This lake is
within a cave inside a mountain called Prime Cave. Their purpose, to add you
to the pool of dittos.

The Dittos suffered persecution for their shapeshifting capabilities for a
long while, and decided to resolve this problem through assimilation, after
all, if all are Ditto, then there is no persecution ... Such a war has gone
on passively for 2200 years, with people disappearing, or coming back as
dittokin, and the pokemon and pokemorphs retaliating ...

After 2200 years of cold war, the original point of the Ditto's plans have
been lost, and now act out of anger at what has been done to them, out of
hate for things long done in and out of war but still active in their Link,
and out of a general consensus that they are the First and the Superior. They
express this in 2 primary ways, 1) assimilation and coersion and 2) terrorism,
in either small ways like poisoning water and planting bombs, to large ways,
when they come together as a massive pokemon, and trample cities flat!

The Ditto War:
Ditto come from the continent of Terne. they live in Prime Cave, in a big pool
of goo, and there, they are all interlinked. There was a great deal of fear
of Dittos, as their ability to shapeshift into any other pokemon or pokemorph
made them very unusual to deal with. The ditto were feared because of their
shapeshifting capabilities, and persecuted for it. About 2200 years ago, they
fought back. The way they fought back was not to kill any other pokemon, but
instead, they created a serum that would change others into Dittos. And they did
so, en mass and by force. Hundreds of thousands of pokemon and pokemorphs were
changed into Dittos. The Dittos were fought back eventually, by concentrations
of elemental attacks by pokemon and pokemorph armies, but noone trusts dittos
and, dittokin (see theme/biology), are also somewhat untrusted, even though most
are victims of the ditto war. Dittokin are left confused. They fall into two
categories, those who have sided with the dittos, and those who have sided with
the not-dittos. Dittokin who join the dittos are permitted to become part of
the Home Pool, and accepted, but are generally expected to play subterfuge and
spy, and prepare for the next great Ditto war. Those who reject this way of
life usually end up rejected and alone, although some pokemon and pokemorphs
may actually befriend them on the basis of their decision to not join the Dittos.