Backstory - The Surrogate Project
Kanto is dead.
Hell, the Pokemon world as a whole is dead. It's been dead for the past twenty years. ...Is it twenty? Maybe more, maybe less. I can't quite remember.
I don't remember much. What I do remember is bits and pieces of a life I once held. That life has been taken from me, along with my memories. I am forced to play the same role again and again - a role I have long since grown tired of, a role I no longer desire to play. There is nothing I can do to stop it. That is where you come in, trainer.
You have to stop them. Who? I... can't remember. Unova - that's where they are. Those that would destroy us all for - for what? - they are there. If I could leave my position I would gladly go in your stead. My life - lives? - are meaningless now. It is the same thing every time. I no longer have the drive or desire to attempt to alter my fate. I gave up long ago.
But you - you can stop them. You can bring a halt to this.
...What is "this?" The situation, you mean? What is it that has caused the end of the world we once knew? It's a long story, trainer. One I'm not sure you're ready to hear. Listen well, I'll only say this once.
Kanto was a prosperous region when I was young. The trainers kept the Gym Leaders and the League busy. There was never a shortage of money, Pokemon, or challenges. I don't remember any of it. What I do know of it comes from the others - those who do remember, those who have not been forced to play the same part over and over again, those who still can find hope in this world's future. The depression hit our region hard. There weren't as many trainers journeying out to challenge the Gym Leaders and the Elite Four. There were fewer sources of income for the Leauge, and twenty years ago - was it twenty? perhaps more? less? - they started a project. The "Surrogate Project."
I don't understand all the details. I'm not sure I ever did. What I do know is what it does to you. They take you - a normal trainer - and create copies. Doubles. Surrogates. Call them what you will. They then take the same journey as you, do the same things you did, all without ever knowing that there's anything wrong. You wake up with scars and injuries you don't remember having. You continue your journey. Then one day, you'll outlive your usefulness. You'll be done with the Leauge, done providing them with the money they need. They'll return you to a new body - a new journey, the same damn thing all over again.
I am not a part of this project. I never was. I have never been cut apart and sewn back together for their monetary purposes. No. I served a different role - still serve, I suppose - I am a Gym Leader and the leader of Team Rocket. I am your opponent at the end. I am the one you must face and defeat to save Kanto. You will fight me, I will lose, and my part is over. They do not toss me aside after I have lost. No. They send the Psychic Pokemon after me.
I don't remember much about those times - no matter how many times it's been done. I wake up with the same goal in mind as before - to expand Team Rocket's influence throughout the Kanto region - and again I pursue my goal. You will stop me again, that is how this cycle goes. It is vicious, endless, and taxing. We have both lost so much to this.
That is why I am proposing a temporary truce. I will cease my activities in Kanto - the activities I am forced to repeat time and time again - and you will journey to Unova to stop them. Were I capable of coming with you, I would. My team does not face the same situation either of us do. They do not have the same insight. They fight relentlessly for a goal that is unobtainable - they fight because I tell them to. I do not wish to carry on like this, trainer. I'm sure you don't either.
So defeat them. Stop them as you have stopped me time and time again. Destroy their hopes and dreams as you have mine. I don't doubt that you will be capable of defeating them.
Make them pay, trainer.
Hell, the Pokemon world as a whole is dead. It's been dead for the past twenty years. ...Is it twenty? Maybe more, maybe less. I can't quite remember.
I don't remember much. What I do remember is bits and pieces of a life I once held. That life has been taken from me, along with my memories. I am forced to play the same role again and again - a role I have long since grown tired of, a role I no longer desire to play. There is nothing I can do to stop it. That is where you come in, trainer.
You have to stop them. Who? I... can't remember. Unova - that's where they are. Those that would destroy us all for - for what? - they are there. If I could leave my position I would gladly go in your stead. My life - lives? - are meaningless now. It is the same thing every time. I no longer have the drive or desire to attempt to alter my fate. I gave up long ago.
But you - you can stop them. You can bring a halt to this.
...What is "this?" The situation, you mean? What is it that has caused the end of the world we once knew? It's a long story, trainer. One I'm not sure you're ready to hear. Listen well, I'll only say this once.
Kanto was a prosperous region when I was young. The trainers kept the Gym Leaders and the League busy. There was never a shortage of money, Pokemon, or challenges. I don't remember any of it. What I do know of it comes from the others - those who do remember, those who have not been forced to play the same part over and over again, those who still can find hope in this world's future. The depression hit our region hard. There weren't as many trainers journeying out to challenge the Gym Leaders and the Elite Four. There were fewer sources of income for the Leauge, and twenty years ago - was it twenty? perhaps more? less? - they started a project. The "Surrogate Project."
I don't understand all the details. I'm not sure I ever did. What I do know is what it does to you. They take you - a normal trainer - and create copies. Doubles. Surrogates. Call them what you will. They then take the same journey as you, do the same things you did, all without ever knowing that there's anything wrong. You wake up with scars and injuries you don't remember having. You continue your journey. Then one day, you'll outlive your usefulness. You'll be done with the Leauge, done providing them with the money they need. They'll return you to a new body - a new journey, the same damn thing all over again.
I am not a part of this project. I never was. I have never been cut apart and sewn back together for their monetary purposes. No. I served a different role - still serve, I suppose - I am a Gym Leader and the leader of Team Rocket. I am your opponent at the end. I am the one you must face and defeat to save Kanto. You will fight me, I will lose, and my part is over. They do not toss me aside after I have lost. No. They send the Psychic Pokemon after me.
I don't remember much about those times - no matter how many times it's been done. I wake up with the same goal in mind as before - to expand Team Rocket's influence throughout the Kanto region - and again I pursue my goal. You will stop me again, that is how this cycle goes. It is vicious, endless, and taxing. We have both lost so much to this.
That is why I am proposing a temporary truce. I will cease my activities in Kanto - the activities I am forced to repeat time and time again - and you will journey to Unova to stop them. Were I capable of coming with you, I would. My team does not face the same situation either of us do. They do not have the same insight. They fight relentlessly for a goal that is unobtainable - they fight because I tell them to. I do not wish to carry on like this, trainer. I'm sure you don't either.
So defeat them. Stop them as you have stopped me time and time again. Destroy their hopes and dreams as you have mine. I don't doubt that you will be capable of defeating them.
Make them pay, trainer.