The Power that's Inside
is an Alternate Universe Fic by aloejazz based on one of the original endings intended by Takeshi Shudō had considered for Pokémon: The Series. It takes place about 15 years after the anime.
The true origin of Infinity Energy (a tie-in from Pokémon X and Y) propels Pikachu into leading a Pokémon rebellion. The Pokémon world isn't as peaceful and stable as it seems. There's some shipping, but it takes a backseat to the main plot.
Tropes contained in The Power that's Inside
- Aura Vision: Ash has a "Pokemon sense" that allows him to detect the presence of bioenergy, and read emotions as well.
- Because You Were Nice to Me: The reason why Meowth stayed with Jessie and James - Giovanni only kept Meowth around as a novelty and originally intended to turn him into a Living Battery once he got a Persian. Jessie and James on the other hand treated Meowth with decent kindness.
- Big "WHAT?!": Wartortle utters this when Ash reveals he gave up being a trainer and releases his Pokemon into the world. Later Jessie utters it after learning Giovanni has become the next Prime Minister.
- Breaking the Fourth Wall: Team Rocket, of course.Jessie: What could we even use this thing as, a cannon?James: None of this is canon, Jessie.
- But Now I Must Go: Gary Oak leaves for the Orange Islands after rescuing Meowth from being completely harvested for electricity, believing that his hands are too dirty for him to help out the heroes any longer.
- Canon Immigrant: Ash's father is revealed to be the fisherman with six Magikarp that you battle on Route 21 in Pokémon Red and Blue.
- The Chosen One:
- Pikachu has been sought out to lead the rebellion, as she's both a well-known battler and a prodigy when it comes to electricity. It's confirmed that Pikachu is the only one who can be successful by Mewtwo.
- Ash also lampshades the trope by commenting that every time he meets a powerful Pokemon who proclaims he's The Chosen One, he almost dies.
- Clone Army: This is what Officer Jenny, Nurse Joy, and their Pokemon are, being several Dittos transformed into human lookalikes, which explained why there was one in every town that the Pokemon protagonists visited. They've been programmed to keep the peace. Ash later uses Ditto as a Clone Army to gain an advantage in a minor battle.
- Cool Shades: Ash's Wartortle starts wearing sunglasses again after going back to his old Squirtle gang.
- Disappeared Dad: It's revealed in the very first chapter that Ash's father abandoned him and his mother Delia to become a Champion when Ash was just a baby. Delia kept it a secret up until now. It turns out that he was a Magikarp trainer that Ash battled around Cinabar which ended in the latter's favor. The revelation depresses Ash to the point where he quit being a Pokemon trainer.
- Eldritch Abomination: Meowth's initial form after having his energy harvested seems to break reality itself.
- Evil All Along: Professor Oak, who's secretly in cahoots with Team Rocket.
- Family Business: Enforced. Gyms are sponsored by the government, so when someone agrees to become a Gym leader, it's for life, and their relatives have to join in and help. If a Gym leader decides not to do it anymore, they're hit with an extremely enormous fine that results in all assets and possessions being seized, leaving the Gym leader and their family in extreme poverty. In addition, it's added to their personal record so it'll be impossible for them to find work elsewhere.
- Fun with Acronyms: "D.I.T.T.O" stands for DNA-Induced Transformation Type Organism.
- Government Conspiracy: The government runs Gyms, Pokemon Centers, PokeMarts...and marriages. Giovanni becomes Prime Minister.
- Heel–Face Turn: Team Rocket quits after seeing what all that Pokemon kidnapping was really about, and they do it while doing their trademark speech, too!. Also Gary Oak, but only to help Ash out.
- I Did What I Had to Do: Professor Oak justifies the unethical murder of Pokemon and using their souls as electricity as helping human society. The main characters don't buy it. Later Giovanni tries using the same excuse, but Pikachu and co. point out that he was only motivated by greed and power.
- Karma Houdini: Sort of. Giovanni is defeated and let go by Pikachu, who warns him that his actions in using the souls of Pokemon as electricity have forever made him an enemy to Pokemon kind.
- La Résistance: Pikachu leads it.
- Living Battery: The infinity energy that powers human civilization comes from the bioenergy (i.e. souls) of Pokemon. Mostly low-level Normal- and Bug-types are harvested for this purpose. Meowth of Team Rocket was originally going to be one, but he somehow ended up doing "field work" with Jessie and James.
- Mythology Gag: It's revealed in the first chapter, that Ash's father is the fisherman with a full team of Magikarp (named Wade in FireRed and LeafGreen) that you battle on Kanto Route 21 in Pokémon Red and Blue and Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen.
- The Needs of the Many: Professor Oak uses this trope to justify using Pokemon's bioenergy to provide electricity for human civilization.
- Nightmare Fuel: An in-universe example for Jessie; she once saw a film where the food turned out to be made of people and had nightmares for a long time afterwards.
- Powered by a Forsaken Child: The entire human civilization is powered by electricity - specifically, electricity made from the bioenergy (i.e. souls) of Pokemon. It's as horrible as it sounds.
- Secret Underground Passage: Every building that is connected to the government is connected to a huge underground system. Even Team Rocket Headquarters is installed with one of these.
- What Measure Is a Non-Human?: According to Professor Oak, Pokemon are used as living sources of electricity because they're not on the same level as humans, so ethics don't apply to them.
