How did humans end up controlling the Pokemon world?

MantisboyN

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    • Seen Aug 18, 2016
    I was reading some Pokedex entries earlier and Heliolisk's entry, saying that it can power a skyscraper got me thinking... why would a Pokemon like Heliolisk allow humans to use it in that manner if it's so overwhelmingly powerful? There are a bunch of Pokemon who apparently can perform great feats, yet condemn themselves to be controlled by humans (even the Pokemon who are said to be inherently more intelligent or resourceful than humans).

    Why would they submit themselves to the hegemony that they are subordinate to humans?
     
    Gotta think on a bigger level for any semblance of a rational explanation, I'd wager.

    Go back several hundred thousand years, and I'd imagine 'mons and man were fairly equal. However- reflecting our own world- mankind developed greater minds and were able to master and tame these formidable beasts. For the sake of argument- we'll say that man was further along its evolutionary line than psychic-types- or simply there was some sort of divergence; wherein psychic types developed different regions of their minds which enabled for psychic development, but hampered rational and strategic thought, allowing man to outsmart them.

    As for why they still obey us- chalk that up to a sorta concurrent evolution. It simply ended up being mutually beneficial for 'mons and man alike to be working together.
     
    The games sorta give an explanation for it that corroborates PumpJack's idea of concurrent evolution. One of the books in the Canalave City library says this:

    "Long ago, when Sinnoh had just been made, Pokemon and humans led seperate lives. That is not to say they did not help each other. No, indeed they did. They supplied each other with goods, ans supported each other. A Pokemon proposed to the others to always be ready to help humans. It asked that Pokemon be ready to appear before humans always."

    So yeah...
     
    It's all about partnership and what each member gets out of associating with each other.
    Once captured, the reasons why a Heliolisk might pal around with a human is for food and shelter. Having someone else go to all of the trouble of getting you food and a safe place to sleep in exchange for confinement in a ball as well as non-lethal fights every so often sure beats having to do all of those things for yourself. Especially when you'd have to worry about being beaten up/eaten by other Pokemon bigger than you. So you get supplied food/safety, and you give some of your natural electric power and everyone is happy!
     
    Humans also give Pokemon medical care in addition to food and shelter. So no worrying about trying to survive in the wild with illnesses and/or injuries, because the human with the food, shelter, and affection will take care of you if you're incapable of taking care of yourself.
     
    I don't know... some people actually do "control" their Pokémon, but some don't; they treat them as their companions, their buddies. If you do have a tendency to control them (which I believe they don't like), they'd turn their backs on you and not follow any of your directions. Just like us, they've minds of their own and could make decisions. If they don't like you enough, they might even run away. :p

    Pokemon Trainer Jackey said:
    Humans also give Pokemon medical care in addition to food and shelter. So no worrying about trying to survive in the wild with illnesses and/or injuries, because the human with the food, shelter, and affection will take care of you if you're incapable of taking care of yourself.
    Click to expand...

    Not all humans are like that, though. If you've seen the anime, some people actually abuse their Pokémon such as criminal organizations like Team Rocket--what about those?
     
    It must be similar to how humans control animals in the real world. Elephants can destroy villages yet they can be domesticated. There are a lot of domestic animals who are strong enough to kill humans in one hit. They have been domesticated over a period of thousands of years, and it's probably the same in the Pokemon world.
     
    Nymphadora said:
    I don't know... some people actually do "control" their Pokémon, but some don't; they treat them as their companions, their buddies. If you do have a tendency to control them (which I believe they don't like), they'd turn their backs on you and not follow any of your directions. Just like us, they've minds of their own and could make decisions. If they don't like you enough, they might even run away. :p



    Not all humans are like that, though. If you've seen the anime, some people actually abuse their Pokémon such as criminal organizations like Team Rocket--what about those?
    Click to expand...
    They're horrible people for that, and the show portrays those people as horrible or at least in need of changing their ways.

    In the real world, many areas have laws against animal abuse and harming some animals can be considered felony crimes. It's even a felony in the U.S. to simply own feathers from certain types of birds (such as bald eagles) due to the chance that there's no way to prove if a person simply found the feather or harmed a bird in order to obtain said feather (there are exceptions that apply in special cases). However, there are biases regarding which animals get protection and which don't, and there are cases where population control is needed because humans killed off the predators, and cases where certain animals are protected extremely strictly due to being so rare. And even animals that can be hunted are still protected by specific guidelines as to how many of what age/sex can be hunted when. The laws also vary depending on the culture, as some cultures are more protective of some animals than others. Animal laws can be an extremely complex subject. I imagine that, if Pokemon were real, many would receive legal protections in some or many areas. The show tends to be vague about the laws, but it's also a kids' show that's produced for a world-wide audience by members of a specific culture. Also, the show's more geared at teaching the message of "mistreating other living beings is wrong" as opposed to "mistreating other beings is illegal" (there's a difference there - what's legal isn't always right and what's right isn't always legal).
     
    In the broadest terms, the relationship between pokemon and humans seems to be mutually beneficial, as others here have observed.

    I think pokemon generally like to fight for their trainers. I'm reminded of Goku from DBZ: he was always searching for a way to push his boundaries through battle.

    Pokemon Trainer Jackey said:
    Also, the show's more geared at teaching the message of "mistreating other living beings is wrong" as opposed to "mistreating other beings is illegal" (there's a difference there - what's legal isn't always right and what's right isn't always legal).
    Click to expand...

    That's a very important distinction. Respecting the law because you know that you will be punished for breaking it is a way of thinking that nearly all people have at some point in their lives. The next creative leap forward is to respect the law because those rules keep other people from being hurt. That leap can only occur when one is truly able to walk in someone else's shoes.

    And it's not a coincidence that this is a major theme in a kid's show. Most people go through this change sometime between grade school and high school.

    Of course, some people never stop acting as though 'it's only wrong if you get caught', and even those who don't generally think this way will revert back to it during times of great stress, or peer pressure. It's part of being human, and it's possible I respect a person at this level while still encouraging them to grow.
     
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    Nymphadora said:
    Not all humans are like that, though. If you've seen the anime, some people actually abuse their Pokémon such as criminal organizations like Team Rocket--what about those?
    Click to expand...

    The reason why the Pokemon with abusive trainers would stick around is because they have no choice - they can be confined to a poke ball at any time the trainer wishes. I think I recall instances where Pokemon can fight against being recalled to a poke ball, but I imagine that a poke ball will win out a majority of the time if the trainer is really determined.

    It's the same reason why abused animals in real life that are much stronger than the abusive humans are stuck in horrible situations and must be rescued; those animals are contained in such a way that they cannot help themselves.

    Back to Pokemon though. Even if these are creatures with amazing superpowers, if they are confined in such a way that they are dependent on their trainer to fulfill their basic needs, eventually they will give in so hopefully their basic needs will be attended to (access to food, lack of beatings, etc) or they just become too weak to fight back at all.
    I imagine that would be the most extreme case though.

    I like to think most people in the Pokemon world are good trainers that have a loving partnership with their Pokemon.
     
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