“The Vow” is an element of the Suocéverse Lore Index: it is the ancient covenant laying the groundwork for humans and Pokémon to work together, and is basically a really ancient peace accord the terms of which passed down onto myth to become part of the Canalave Library myth.

At its core, “The Vow” describes the terms upon which humans and Pokémon as species can cohabitate the Pokémon World, and lays down example terms that both groups can work by together.

The terms of the Vow essentially mandate that humans and Pokémon are each free to thrive and rule in areas designated ro each, such as regions or Sovereignties, and that if they are to work together it must be under certain conditions. Both Pokémon and humans are forbidden from colonizing / urbanizing specific lands that are marked for “wilderness”, and both are also forbidden from entering the other's territory to prey on them.

By events previous to the accord, humans and Pokémon were forbidden to solve their conflicts by exerting destructive power over nature, for different reasons. The Vow establishes base terms under which, working together, both groups can overcome those boundaries should there be need for it, following the example of the very first humans who had associated themselves with Pokémon in order to defeat the Warring Triad.

When a human leaves their welfare behind seeking to improve the world and they face a problem, they were instructed to walk “into the tall grass”, that is, the lands roamed by wild Pokémon; those Pokémon seeking to pursue a calling higher than that of a simple natural life, were then instructed to step forward and offer their help to the human, presenting themselves for examination. The human would then proceed to examine the Pokémon's fittingness for the task via trial by combat against another Pokémon already attached to them. If the challenging Pokémon is found capable and is willing to leave their world behind, they will attach themselves to the human until their problem is solved or either party wishes to “return to their land”.

Under the resulting union, each party contributes one half to the solution of the problem: the human shall provide ideals and goals, whereas the Pokémon shall provide the power and skill to carry out the solutions envisioned.

The terms would pass down in a very reduced form across history until they became myth, which eventually gave birth to the tradition of Pokémon Training.

The Vow is not mandatory; there are across the world Pokémon and humans who do not abide by its terms, or who flatly do not know about them, such as revivified Fossil Pokémon, who usually belong to species extincted previous to the accord. Rejecting the Vow, however, usually marks the defector as “fair game” for both human and Pokémon civilizations.

TOBEDONE

• Ancient History.
• Pokémon Training.
• "The Vow" as it originated in WAAPT.