WORLDBUILDING: Essence of Life: The Guide

[Necrozma]

Essence of Life:
the guide


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1. Character BIOS
2. Setting & History of Kanto
3. Chapter Summaries
4. Mysteries
5. ???

"It is not length of life, but depth of life."
- Ralph Waldo Emerson​

 

[Necrozma]

1.1. Gabriel S.
[the protagonist]​

Warning: The following character BIOS contains spoilers from the story "Essence of Life", so unless you already checked out all the chapters, I suggest you don't read this bio due to the big amount of spoilers present in it.

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Name: Gabriel Harper Sullivan
Age: 16
Hometown: Saffron
Siblings: Damian C. Sullivan
Parents: Jenna E. Sullivan & Samuel Sullivan (deceased)

Description: Gabe is a typical teenage boy, for the most part. He’s of slightly above average height which along with his lack of weight makes him seem skinnier/taller than he actually is. His eyes are deep green, as inherited from his father, which fit uniquely his messy black hair that he rarely brushes or takes care of. Gabriel is not as tan as other teens of his age but he’s not really pale either. His eye-rings do show up however whenever he’s overly sleepy or just simply tired. His outfit mostly consists out of stuff he finds comfortable such as regular jeans and sweatshirts.

Character:

Spoiler

Gabriel’s current self greatly contrasts the one from the five years ago which is when a tragedy, or as he thinks of it, a curse, fell upon his family. Previously being an aspiring Pokémon trainer with hopes and dreams, he finds those same hopes and dreams crushed upon the revelation of his fathers’ death. The tragic event results in his brother, Damian, being unwillingly forced to leave the academy due to the lack of finances and give up on his studies in order to help out their mother in the time of crisis. Being treated cruelly by children of his age upon moving from Saffron, he develops a somewhat indifferent and often sarcastic attitude isolating himself from people. He becomes more of a realist than optimist, but he’s forced to reconsider his beliefs on his 16^th birthday when he’s diagnosed with a deadly disease (cancer). (“Angels’ Lament”)

He learns that he only has a few months left to live.

Not all of his life is miserable, though, as evident by the love-hate relationship he develops with the new professor of Viridian City, Katie Amaryllis. He finds comfort in the fascination of Pokémon genetics and thus, he’s truly grateful to her for hiring him but often ends up arguing with her for the silliest of things. Despite that, they remain friends albeit of unusual relationship. Upon the events of “Unbound” and “Broken Wings”, as his fathers' last words and Damian reach out to him, he realizes that he doesn't want to die without accomplishing anything in his life. He finally decides to leave Viridian for good leaving behind an unclear relationship with his mother.

Upon barely managing to get through the forest fire caused by unknown group of men, he ends up "catching" an injured Pidgeotto in order to save it from the death. Furthermore, he is given a Scyther by Riley in the same chapter of "Inferno". Sadly however, the Pidgeotto doesn't make it.

Pokémon:
- Pidgeotto (deceased)
- Scyther

- - - - -
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1.2. Riley A.
[the protagonist]​

Warning: The following character BIOS contains spoilers from the story "Essence of Life", so unless you already checked out all the chapters, I suggest you don't read this bio due to the big amount of spoilers present in it.

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Name: Riley Alstrom
Age: 16
Hometown: ?
Siblings: None
Parents: Julian Alstrom (father)

Description: Unlike Gabriel, Riley has a more muscular structure. He's of mediocre weight and height and is much tanner than Gabriel. His outfit mostly consist out of simple shirts, mostly white ones, and dark khaki pants. His hair is somewhat long and blond and his eyes harbor the similar shade of green much like the eyes of Gabriel. He wears many little accessories such as a watches or a pendants which neatly fit the whole classy theme he's aiming for.

Character:

Spoiler

Riley makes his debut in the second chapter of "Unbound". Initially, he's portrayed as an arrogant and somewhat spoiled boy but there's more to him than meets the eye. He wishes to escape his fathers' control and thus eagerly desires to become a great Pokémon Trainer. He instantly develops a sort of conflicting relationship with Gabriel as he gets really irritated sometimes by Gabriel's smartass attitude; likewise, Gabriel responds in same manner to Riley's arrogance. In "What Lies Within" it is revealed that he has chosen Charmander (while initially requesting all three starter Pokémon) as his first Pokémon and engages in his first official battle against Carnivine in which Charmander loses badly despite the type advantage. Along with Gabriel, he is attacked by the mysterious group of men who are paid to burn the entire forest of Viridian in which they eventually succeed.

In the chapter of "Inferno", Riley manages to defend himself from the group of wild Scyther completely defeating them - much to Gabriel's confusion. He instantly throws two Poké Balls at the defeated bodies, one at each Scyther, and gifts Gabriel with one Scyther claiming how he needs a Pokémon. Gabriel initially rejects Scyther, claiming how he doesn't need a Pokémon who's ready to kill a human. Riley responds by defending Scyther and saying: “You don’t know anything, do you? Scyther was merely defending its home. If you truly want to be a trainer, you will accept a Pokémon with all its strengths and weaknesses and work with it until both of you reach the top.”

Pokémon:
- Charmander
- Scyther
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[Necrozma]

2. Setting and History of Kanto​

Being the heartland of feudal power during the Nobunaga period (1115 - 1445) and again in the Kanbei period (periods which marked the governance of the two respective warlord families), Kanto became the center of modern development. In the past, upon Kanto's initial establishment, conflicting opinions lead to numerous wars over different ideas of ideal lives and changes that Kanto should go through. This lead to the separation of the region in two separate land pieces in order to avoid further chaos, each establishing its own history and culture with one of them eventually becoming Johto. With time, however, the regions (and the people) made peace with each other (not completely, however) establishing business partnership regarding the incomes and outcomes of trainer-related products such as PokéGear's or PokéDEX's.

Among other things, within the greater ares of Celadon and Saffron, Kanto houses not only the national government but as well as the nation's greatest amount of Pokémon Academies and cultural institutions as well as well as a large industrial zones (e.g. Power Plant).

Located on the east of Johto region and the south of Sinnoh, Kanto was always a land of great development and power. While the neighborly region, Johto, kept its touch with nature, the land of Kanto kept progressing achieving greatest modern and technological developments which initially lead to the creation of currently existing companies and industries. Being the centerpoint of innovation, Kanto was the first region to conceive and create the concept of the ultimate Poké Ball - Master Ball - an item able to capture any Pokémon regardless of its power or ability. Though as the technology kept developing, the natural side of Kanto regressed leaving the peculiar areas such as mountain Moon or Viridian Forest the oldest known remnants of the everlasting history among other areas.

The Kanto nowadays starkly contrasts the land it was many centuries ago. Back in the days, not everyone were allowed to keep a Pokémon by their side due to the alleged sacredness of the creatures which naturally lead to many revolutions. Though as more people began catching Pokémon and as the official battles (originating from Colosseum battles) gained their official spot in the world, the revolutions ceased and with time, people of Kanto let the mythology surrounding those miraculous creatures fall into obscurity which is why there aren't many strange myths or legends left to be told in Kanto.

At the same time, criminal became widespread across the area with the underground serving as a hotspot for anonymous gatherings and illegal meetings. The first and biggest crime syndicate to make its name public across the region was the Rocket Gang (or Team Rocket), an ambitious and unscrupulous organization who attempted to monopolize gambling, performed mob-takeovers of cities and generally terrorized the citizens of Kanto and Johto regions. The very climax of their actions led to a takeover of Silph Co. headquarters where a scandalous revelation took place upon a journalist finding out that one of the league's gym leaders and politicians, Giovanni, a well-known and respected man was behind their actions. Following those events, the criminal organization disbanded with Giovanni mysteriously vanishing.

 

[Necrozma]

3. Chapter Summaries
[Essence of Life]
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Warning: The following content contains spoilers.

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Prologue - Angels' Lament​

The protagonist of the story, Gabriel Sullivan, learns on the day of his sixteenth birthday that he's suffering from cancer and that he has no longer than six months left to live. The history on Gabriel's family is also revealed as well as the reasoning on what made him become the person he's today.

Chapter 1 - Never Ask Why
As Gabriel reflects upon past events and faces the cruelness of reality, he is unpleasantly shocked upon realization of his mother his his fathers' letter from him in order to keep him from going away from home. Now knowing that her son has cancer, Jenna decides to burn the letter entirely but is caught by her two sons in time. At the end of the chapter, Gabe finally gets to read his fathers' last words which undoubtedly have an immense effect on him.

Chapter 2 - Unbound
The second chapter marks the introduction of Riley, a somewhat spoiled and arrogant teenager who, upon encountering prof. Amaryliss, requests all three of the starter Pokémon. Riley's father, Julian, is also introduced and is revealed to be an old friend of Gabe's deceased father Samuel as Julian refers to him as "Sammy". Gabriel confronts Riley developing an unusual rivalry with him and offers himself to Julian to serve as Riley's guide through the Viridian Forest only in order to teach him a lesson. Much to Riley's shock - Julian accepts.

Chapter 3 - Broken Wings
The third chapter gives us more insight on the relationship between Riley and his older brother Damian as well as revealing more background on Damian and his former dreams and motives. Damian's words inevitably reach out to Gabriel as he decides to leave permanently in order to accomplish something before his death - something he strove for back when was younger and ambitious.

Chapter 4 - Miscreation
Many different things are revealed in the chapter most of which relating to the central plot of the story. Introduction of a mysterious girl named Marissa takes place as well the man named August who wishes for humans to surpass the monsters for the sake of a better world.

Chapter 5 - Farewell
Gabriel is forced to face his mother, Jenna, as professor Amaryliss unwillingly locks him inside the lab (which is initially all planned by Damian who wants Gabe to forgive their mother). He resolves that he's not able to forgive his mother just yet and leaves with Riley upon having said goodbye to his brother beforehand.

Chapter 6 - What Lies Within
A somewhat unusual form of friendship between the two boys keeps shaping as Riley engages in his first Pokémon battle against a man named Ziggy and his Carnivine. Riley's starter Pokémon, Charmander, experiences its first battle and loses despite the type advantage. After losing the battle, the boys are attacked by Ziggy and his comrades in order not to get in the way of their paid job - which is to burn away the entire Viridian Forest. The chapter ends with flames engulfing separate parts of the forest as Riley and Gabriel remain helpless with their hands tied.

Chapter 7 - Inferno
Gabe and Riley are quite literally in the middle of an inferno. Upon managing to reach after Riley's Poké Ball, Charmander successfully frees the boys from their ties with Metal Claw. Riley begins expressing strange behavior as Gabriel stumbles upon an injured Pidgeotto which he decides to catch in order to save it. The thugs who previously started the wild fire are attacked by the hostile Scyther who are going after each human and attacking them as they endangered the forest and the wild Pokémon. Gabe suddenly faints with his last sight Riley being stabbed by one of the Scyther but as wakes up, he finds Riley completely uninjured and the Scyther defeated. With the sudden rainfall diminishing the flames, Riley catches two Scyther and convinces Gabe to accept the Pokémon. At the end of the chapter, once they finally get to the Pokémon Center in Pewter, Gabriel is informed by the nurse that the wild Pidgeotto he previously caught didn't make it.

 

[Necrozma]

4. Mysteries

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Things you should ask yourself:


- Who or what are The Originals?
- What did Gabriel's father Samuel do to seem so regretful? What is he sorry for?
- How did his father die?
- What are the pills Riley took in fourth chapter of the story?
- Who is Marissa? What's the place she escaped from?
- Who is August? Is he a bad guy? What are his motives?
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