3 and 14 of those worldbuilding questions please.
Whew. this came out to be a big one. I wish there was a dropdown box option on tumblr rather than the old read-mores that nobody ever looks at. Ah well.
I’ll have to answer 2 and 3 to fully answer this.
2 and 3. Who are the gods/goddesses/deities that founded it and/or protect it? What do each of those deities represent?
The standard suite of legendary Pokemon appear in mythology throughout the world. A few stand out in particular:
Arceus is, of course, the creator god. Arcean religion is the primary practice in the world. However, it is not so much of a belief in the power of Arceus himself as it is giving value to the world. Arcean religion could be classified as Animism: the belief in a supernatural power that organizes and animates the material universe. Arceans believe the goal of their mortal lives to be focusing on preserving the life of the world. This includes keeping order and harmony in Pokemon society, which is the basis for the Freedom Guard.
Yveltal is god of death and chaos. You’d be surprised to know that many Pokemon actually worship him, though not for the reasons you would expect. Under his guidence in ancient times, many Pokemon traveled into the void, dimension of chaos, to attempt to tame and control its power. In other words, they attempt to understand the nature of chaos and death, and the need for its presence in the world. This mainly occurs through control of one’s emotions, which when combined with Yveltalian artifacts allows Pokemon to control the energy of the void. This practice died out when some unknown disaster occured, but the religion survived in a philosophical form to the modern day, though many believe that more ancient Yveltalian practices are still performed.
These are the two primary religions of the world. Many other legendary Pokemon are also worshiped, usually as part of pagan groups and in focus of their parts in creating the world. The largest of these pagan religions is one focusing on both Yveltal and Xerenes, who both supposedly were responsible for the creation of mortal life.
The minor legendaries, “fairies” like Celebi and Victini, have a much more physical presence in the world than the mythological gods. They are considered World Guardians and have rarely been seen in modern times.
14. Is there a ‘villain’ or general ‘bad guy’ in your worlds history that no one wishes to see again?
As I said previously, there is no primary “bad guy” from the past that the world doesn’t want to see. Any major disasters in the past that come over Pokemon society are a result of their own actions and are either solved indefinitely or were so world-shaking that the entire planet practically saw a new society emerge.
That is not to say there are no major villains that crop up during my characters’ life.