What can you tell me about the use of Pokemon in war?

What were early and "proto" Pokeballs like? What methods were used for raising Pokemon before the modern conventions established by the series?

What sort of political system is set in place in the Pokemon setting? In what way does the sociopolitical climate differ from our own?

What religion do the people of the Pokemon setting follow? What cultures are present in the current setting, and which ones had to fall?

Were pokemon originally designed to be vague representations of their species before they became very specific creatures that we see in the show and games?