Munday Lore Post: Team Plasma's Secretly Funded Organizations
After Unovan’s Sapient Citizen Laws went into effect, Team Plasma immediately took advantage of a small, but sudden influx of unemployed citizens caused by the change in status quo.
As a reminder:
Companies that relied heavily on cheap pokemon labor were suddenly hit with regulations to properly pay their employees.
Other companies realized that pokemon were more affordable than human labor, even with the regulations in place.
These people were suddenly left vulnerable, but they were provided with three options for brand new companies that were hiring everybody and anybody. Pokemon, Human, it didn’t matter. Â
However, these same people would be painfully unaware that they would contribute to the highest civilian casualty event since the Unovan Draconic Civil Wars.
(Part 2 of 2)
BLACK WATCH PRIVATE SECURITY
Black Watch was a private security company with branches in every major Unovan city. It boasted a high pay for those who held a shred of fighting skill and would often provide employees with personal protective equipment they could take home.
In order to meet their quotas, they would often hire people with dubious backgrounds or motives which led to a lot of stand-offs between public law enforcement.
Many Black Watch employees would even infiltrate local law enforcement agencies in places like rehabilitation centers and prisons with the main goal to gather more members.
GRAYMONT DESIGN-BUILD
Due to the massive amount of pokemon residents flowing into major urban cities, the need for affordable housing was more important than ever. Graymont claimed to have tackled this problem with the creation of skyscrapers so that city borders wouldn't encroach on the wild areas (aka routes) surrounding them.
Graymont would be the main company that would be embezzling funds for Team Plasma's actions, even taking advantage of government construction contracts. Consequently, their construction was rushed and underfunded.
Poorly engineered spaces and infrastructure created "Red Zones" that created environments of unsafe living conditions, crime, and lack of government oversight.
WHITE ARROW MEDICAL
When the Sapient Laws went into effect, pokeball signal jammers were immediately installed in major urban areas, such as Castelia City. Unfortunately, this meant that medical stasis via pokeball was not possible in these areas.Â
Due to the abuse of medical and pokeball technology during the Kanto-Johto War, lawmakers viewed emergency medical stasis as a violation of rights, especially since unconscious or fainted pokemon couldn’t consent to it.
This led to a sudden vulnerability of people who couldn't reach a pokemon center due to improper infrastructure (see above). With official emergency medical services becoming overwhelmed, a private medical corporation was approved by the government to alleviate the workload in the aforementioned “Red Zones.”
White Arrow Medical provided a higher income than their public counterparts, leading to many disgruntled ex-EMS to join. However, the introduction of privatized healthcare created a massive class imbalance due to its high price. If you couldn’t pay, you couldn’t get treated.
The Creation of Neo Team Plasma
The collective and compounding failures of these corporations were intentional with the intent to create disruptions between government officials and the public. After Ghetsis' castle erupted into the Pokemon League during the events of Pokemon Black/White, the facade fell away. The companies declared bankruptcy. Those who were unfortunate were let go with no severance or pension, just as they were before.
In the schism, one major faction fell under N's leadership while Black Watch, Graymont, and White Arrow employees were quietly taken away from their positions before bankruptcy. They were re-positioned and re-organized into a paramilitary force with the leftover Team Plasma members who would wave the banner of Ghetsis and the sages. Thus, Neo Team Plasma was born.
After the attack on Opelucid City of Pokemon BW2, Interpol and Unovan government agencies gathered the necessary resources to crack down on all of the illicit activities of Team Plasma.
Over time, they would remedy the damages that incurred on a vulnerable country during a transitional period. When peace returns to Unova, this time in history would be a reminder as to why the wheels of democracy turn slowly.
Castelia City Ramen takes place right before two young trainers named Hilda and Hilbert choose their first pokemon, unknown of the dangers and conspiracy they are about to plunge themselves in.
Author’s Note Below:
When history comes across a great change, there will inevitably be people left behind no matter how progressive or beneficial the change is to the world. In America, when the first bridge across the Mississippi River was created, a steamboat captain rammed his ship into the bridge because he saw it as a threat to his livelihood. In Europe, when textile machines were invented, a group of artisan textile workers took it upon themselves to destroy any machines they came across for the same reason.
During periods of change, failures can be placed on cultures, governments, economies, etc. Regardless, people’s lives were upturned and their way of life was threatened. They were suddenly left with two options that no modern person should have to choose between: adapt or die. Most did the former, but unfortunately, some of them ended up in the latter.
Instead of being provided alternative ways of living, vulnerable people were gawked at or used as tools for political arguments and promises. Whether it was for political gain or for the spread of ideology they have no say in, these people were treated as pawns in a larger game.
Team Plasma was always about “liberation of pokemon,” but in a world where pokemon choose to be humanity’s partners, I think their argument in-game holds no purpose. So, I decided to make them worse. Only a crime syndicate masquerading as a political party would have the money and influence to do what that they do in BW2.
Will Team Plasma have any weight or influence on this story? Honestly, it’s too early to say! Which is why I decide to write lore like this in one-off posts instead of working it into my narrative. Plus, it's a tad bit bleak;;
With most prosperous civilizations, there’s usually skeletons hidden in the closet. But speaking of my narrative: life in Unova, for the most part, is equitable and filled with joy. The societies in Pokemon are built through trust and cooperation and will continue to be so.
Stay tuned for when I get to draw the city in action! Like, let's say, a disheveled man waiting in line while a colony of durant make individual bank deposits or a tyranitar asking a lady if a seat is taken at a cafe so he can write his screenplay. Or most importantly, a greninja and a rockruff running a ramen stand.
Thanks for reading <3
