I enjoyed this story. There is nothing wrong with putting a spin on things, if you enjoyed writing it then that's what it's all about.

I have to say, I have been consistently enjoying all of the chapters you have written thus far. This is definitely one of my favourite on-going stories that I've been reading here up until now. The whole brainwashing and cult-like premise is one that I tend to not see being executed properly often, especially not in Pokemon stories. However, you have managed to effectively make this story thoroughly pleasant and enjoyable to read. I truly hope you will continue to finish the story with as much diligence and care in your writing as you've shown so far. Keep up the good work!

 One, don't like, don't read is a fallacy. Because if you don't read something, how are you supposed to know if you will like it or not? Not to mention the fact there are many stories or TV shows I've read that started out bad, but got better. 

 Two, the main character of your story cannot make the argument of "look at me, I'm happy", because she was forced into thinking that way through brainwashing. Which you seem blind too. That you portray Whitney is being in the wrong for rebelling against this kind of mindset bothers me.

For someone who claims they know a lot about Pokemon...I don't think you do. 

The entire Pokemon world REVOLVES around people practically worshipping the ground they walk on. There's, like I said, immense laws and regulations to ensure Pokemon that are endangered are kept safe, the world is super-eco-friendly, anyone who even tries to steal a Pokemon is viewed as the bad guy and trainers that view Pokemon as just things to be exploited are immediately portrayed in the animes, manga and games as being scum of the Earth, whilst the protagonists are those who treat their Pokemon as equals. Trying to switch things about isn't new or daring, it's just petty and pedestrian, as well as hypocritical. It's like saying "Oh it's so awful that they ignore our opinions and enslave us, I'M GONNA DO THE EXACT SAME THING". You can't say it's okay when YOU do it, but now then THEY do it. 

And don't tell me "humans can't handle it". As we've seen in the mangas and anime, humans can handle hyper beam attacks, like when Team Rocket took on a Tyranitar that kept blasting them over and over again, all for the sake of trying to protect Arbok and Koffing so they could get away with their knew families. Plenty of humans are psychic, or know Aura. And there's the whole "superior technology thing". Now there's SOME Pokemon who are on the level of obvious sentience, but those are incredibly rare, like the legendaries that the other reviewer mentioned. For the most part, their sapience level is closer to wild animals. And again, humans have laws to protect Pokemon, and their entire society is built around trust and love, it's said so in the very first game. The Pokemon in THIS story are just hypocrites. 

I haven't fully read it but i read the beginning, and Given the other reviewer i want to point out, that any real pokemon fan, has seen that Pokemon are infact a Sapient Species, while some are animalistic many of them have intelegence rivalling or exceeding Humans. See pokemon like Mewtwo. Genesect, Lucario.

Saying they are not comparable to us is to be a fool. You're premise is alot better then he gives credit fot and while it's not my cup of tea in itself It is not slapdash. It is clear you put work into this and who ever says 'Pokemon are not sapient' are not really understanding of the lore of pokemon.

Pokemon aren't sentient like humans are. They're nonsapient. And while HUMANS have LAWS to try and protect Pokemon from being exploited by teams like Team Rocket or the like, Pokemon sure don't got any moral codes or the like. It's not comparable.