Do you think in pokemon ancient times when capturing and training pokemon was a rare and expert process, that young princes and princesses and the like would be presented with the finest, youngest pokemon that their vassals could catch as they came of age, to select one to be their personal companion? As like a reflection of their power & authority & ability to tame the nation, even things so unruly and frightening as pokemon? And if you were the vassal who presented the chosen pokemon it was a feather in your cap?
Do you think that's where the idea of the starter pokemon came from? Over time, as taming pokemon became more commonplace and accessible, more of the lower ranking nobility and merchant class wanted to show off their station by invoking similar rituals, until eventually it became a coming-of-age ritual that was standard for most families?
And whereas once the pokemon for royalty would be vetted by the scholars and wisemen and court wizards of the era, these were eventually replaced by actual pokemon experts, until every community had at least one such local expert whose job included preparing and/or approving starter pokemon for the kids?
Cause like. Now I can't stop thinking about it. Emperors trying to acquire exotic pokemon from foreign lands for their heirs. A queen scouring the land for pokemon experts after her ten-year-old chooses a particularly hard-to-tame companion. Murmurings about this or that ambitious lord who skirted the edges of propriety by awarding a rejected starer to his own son, instead of passing it along to the military as would be custom. Princesses showing favor to their chosen knights by sending their pokemon over with a token for the jousts. Rumblings over the succession because the new King never did manage to train his starter pokemon, but his younger, more charismatic brother rides his into battle. Assassins targeting pokemon companions to discredit and punish the political rivals of their employers, because kinslaying might be taboo but there are no divine laws against shooting your cousin's kangaskhan.
snowghoul
kianamaiart
s-u-f-j-a-n-s-t-e-v-e-n-s
gracieabrams
