Pokemon: A Statistical Oversight

SYNOPSIS

Many centuries ago, the world was beset by calamities bound to destroy it. The deserts and farmland burned as the sun scorched the skies and the oceans knew no rest as the floodgates opened and rainwater poured from the heavens. These two colliding forces were the result of the powerful, mythical creatures - bound by magic and kept locked away from the world for the betterment of humanity. All knew the stories, but none knew to what extent the calamities these creatures created.

Two criminal syndicates concocted a scheme to release these beasts upon the world once more. The very nature of their ideals clashed, forming a rift between the two syndicates that tore the nation in twine. The war that followed was brutal, but it was not until their schemes unfolded when they realized the true error of their ways. The mythical beasts, powerful enough to control the weather itself, could not be counted on to expand the seas or the land any more than they could be expected to destroy the world.

Discovery of their error and becoming repentant, the leaders of these two criminal organizations sought to amend their ways and entrusted the future of the world upon the soldiers of a lone man. Through many tests and trials, this beacon of hope grew stronger as he was found worthy to ascend the immortal throne in the skies. The third powerful mythical beast then appeared before this beacon, and with its power was able to restore the world to what it once was, ending the drought and the floods for good.

The three powerful creatures then left the world for good, hiding deep within the oceans or buried deep in the mountains or soaring the skies above the heavens. The two once-criminal leaders reformed their ways and became paragons of the world instead. They joined forces whilst retaining their previous monikers: Team Magma and Team Aqua. Team Magma dedicated their organization for the sole purpose of rebuilding the cities and villages they destroyed, lending a hand wherever they could and creating new habitats for the wildlife. Team Aqua spread their forces across the world’s oceans, lakes, and rivers and set about cleaning the waters. The two teams gave back to the world what they had stolen, and it was not until they gave back threefold that a new ideal was set into motion.

Magnic Tower, a testament to the once-great beacon of hope. The Sky Tower was a monument built in a long-forgotten era and could not withstand the tests of time for much longer. The project to rebuild the tower into something new and modern came into place on the fifth year after the calamities nearly swallowed the world. The broken stone was shoveled away and replaced with the much more durable steel. The project to rebuild took many hard and troublesome years, but through the efforts of the two leaders, Archie and Maxie, Magnic Tower was born. As a testament to the powerful creature that right their wrongs, the shrine dedicated to it was rebuilt at the pinnacle of the skyscraper.

Now, travelers around the world gather to visit Hoenn, each one with a different background, a different story to tell the world. They gather here in this region to play and adventure and face the many challenges offered by the best of the best. Of course, Pokémon play an integral part of this challenge, and the varied and powerful Gym Leaders will accept a challenge from anyone, no matter their history.

Magnic Tower stands in sight of all new-arrivals, welcoming them to this great continent. It was built as a monument to sins, but also became a spark of new hope for the world, that even the most evil could have pure motivations. Magnic Tower, however, is not just a monument. It is a place where the best trainers from all over the world gather to test their skill. Those who defeat the Gym Leaders are given special permissions to enter the tower. They must climb through the ranks of their rival trainers to achieve the pinnacle of glory: Rayquaza’s Shrine.

Privet. Bonjour. Buenos Dias. Guten tag. G'day mate. GREETINGS.


After careful consideration and several hours of plannings, I have crafted what is perhaps the last attempt to get a Pokemon role play starting. This will certainly be my last attempt, so here's hoping it goes well.

As the beginning may have clued you in on, this role play features all the different continent origins currently available, sans the upcoming Alola region. When it comes to character creation, you are free to chose gender, age, history, personality, and anything else that would give your character something unique among the hoards of trainers infesting Hoenn. However I do have a short rule, one which should make sense and help curb the unnecessary decision-making problems some of you are prone to having. That is, the starter pokemon you choose must come from the region your character originates from. I'll have a short list below so there is no confusion concerning the matter.

Quick aside: The reason I'm disallowing Alola starters is because we don't know anything about the pokemon or their evolutions yet. When the game comes out, I'll lift the ban.

Spoiler:

~

Now that the basic shit is outta the way, I'll answer the biggest question y'all are probably asking: The fuck is this shit anyway?

Well, put simply, this is an adventure role play - as are most Pokemon role plays. Perhaps the biggest difference is you will be free to travel as you please. You can group up with other players, which will likely be the most popular option, or you can go solo and travel alone or with another character of your creating. I am allowing up to three characters per player. You can have one, you can have two, you can use all three slots. Going into the role play with less than three does not mean you lose the third slot, however. You can add as many characters as you have slots left at any point during the role play. I recommend starting with one or two, since we have a new region coming out in November.

Your character may be at any skill level, but all characters not originating in Hoenn will still need to work hard to acquire all the badges. Speaking of badges, there are still only eight of them and the gym leaders are still the same as you remember from the game. Steven is still the Champion, Wallace is still the Water-Gym Leader, Tate and Lisa are a little older now but still rocking the double-battle. Watson is still the best. Just be glad I didn't pick Johto. Y'all would never get past Miltank.

I'll touch a little on the story line: As noted in my introductory post, this role play takes place several years after Kyogre and Groudon went all stompy stompy on the planet. The Sky Temple has turned into a different kind of Battle Tower, only those who acquire all the badges in Hoenn are allowed access, so you don't have to challenge the Elite Four or the Champion if you do not want to - although you are free to do so. When you reach Magnic Tower with a character, there will be a more intense storymode in place. While you are traveling in Hoenn, however, the day's events will be up to you to decide or if you are in a party then the day's events will be determined by y'all fuckers working together or delegating tasks one by one. If needs be I'll step in and give y'all something to do - otherwise I won't interfere.

Sliv and I will be in charge of the Gym Leaders. I won't tell you which ones are under who, but that's more because we haven't decided yet. I'll find a quarter later. Gym matches will vary depending on how many badges you have upon issuing a challenge. I will balance the Gym leaders according to the video game lineups, and decide ahead of time how powerful and durable their Pokemon are. Way ahead of time, but I won't tell you. You'll have to use whatever clues we leave you during the role play to figure out power levels.

Contests are also a thing in this story. I would say you should only participate if you are competent or exceptional at writing descriptive events, but it really is up to you to decide if you want to participate in them. 3 Ribbons earns you a chance at a Master's league, which could also earn you an entry into Magnic Tower. I'm basing the Contest rules around the Sinnoh region's anime. Free performance followed by a Pokemon battle performance.

Every character not originating in Hoenn will be starting in Slateport City. You get a nice view of Magnic Tower no matter which direction you sail in from. Your character may begin his/her/potato journey with two pokemon from the character's origin region as long as one of them includes the starter pokemon. You may swap out the region's starter if you obtain new pokemon, but our role play will not be using the game's system to determine power levels. So just because Spinda's stat in-game are horrible, doesn't mean that Spinda isn't gonna fuck your shit up here.

If your character starts in Hoenn: fuck you. But seriously, you can start wherever and have up to three newbie badges (first four gyms in game) OR one ribbon. Or you can start with a clean slate in whatever backwater town your goddamned gender-fluid, androgynous referred-to-as-a-motherfucking-they shithead comes from. BECAUSE I ALREADY KNOW ONE OF YOU WILL HAVE ONE OF THOSE.

You know who you are.

Asshat.

Now that I'm sufficiently salted, time to play Overwatch.

Ask questions in the skype group chat or on discord. I don't want PM's.

Things to keep in mind.

I'm going for a slightly realistic role play here, as realistic as a pokemon game can get, anyway. The distance between towns and cities are different from the anime and the video game. You could play for 24 hours and beat everything Hoenn has to offer, while in the anime the season went on for quite a long time. So to add more to the realistic factor, there will be preset distances you must travel between cities, calculated by how many days it takes to get there.

I'll have that up here:

Spoiler:

Pokemon centers around the region will supply you with food and other necessary supplies, as it is with the anime. Being a professional pokemon trainer has that benefit of not needing to worry about finding or buying food while you are in civilization. On the road, however, finding and keeping foodstuffs will be up to you. You can choose to display hunger and thirst or have that done behind the scenes if you wish.

Fossils will be found in mountain caves and - albeit rarely - surface in the desert. You can exchange those for a chance to capture rare un-fossilized pokemon at a sanctuary north of Rustboro.

Our signature evil organization will use primarily ground-type pokemon, some found in Hoenn and others foreign. I won't torture you with the Zubat/Woobat lines.

Battle endings will be predetermined through user agreement. Any players who want to battle each other will have to settle the victor before beginning, as well as making an effort to make the result believable. As the Gym leaders are being controlled by Sliv and me, you'll be working with one or both of us to clinch the win.

Every trainer has a bicycle from the start, if you want it. There will be a way to get one if you choose not to have one at the beginning.

For those of you who want an Eevee, the Moss Rock is in Petalburg Woods and the Ice Rock is in the Shoal Cave. Sylveon is acquirable with a soothe bell, just as Umbreon and Espeon are.

Is there any reason for traveling to Littleroot Town? Depends if you want to meet the professor and get your Pokedex. If you don't want to, you're free in that decision. Just know you won't be able to register for the Pokemon league or any Contests without it - it's like your personal trainer ID. You don't have to follow along with the story in Magnic Tower if you don't want to. My character will be, so you'll be able to see it in action if you choose not to be a part of it.

There are no age limits here. It will probably be easier to pick a character around your own age, but you're free to do as you please with it.

Character Sheet

This is done in my own style, feel free to change it up however you like.

Code:

[i](Name)
(Gender, Age)[/i]
[b]Appearance:[/b] [spoiler](Image or Description)[/spoiler]

[b]Origin:[/b] (Region)

[b]Talent/Hobby:[/b]

[b]Personality:[/b] (1 paragraph) (Give an idea of what your character is like - general attitude and quirks)

[b]Background/History:[/b] (2-3 paragraphs) (Not to be confused with the Personality section)

[b]Starter Pokemon:[/b] (Give typing too)

[b]Secondary Pokemon:[/b]

Example Profile:

Selena Moon
Female, 23 (June 19)
Appearance:

Spoiler:

Origin: Johto

Talent/Hobby: Drawing/Painting

Personality: She developed a hard shell over many years of ridicule and has more difficulty opening up to strangers than most do. She is kind when the situation demands but otherwise is distant and prefers solitude, which ends up making her difficult to get along with easily. She is weak against tasty foods - primarily sweets - and often caves into the desire despite her ongoing attempts to stay on a healthy diet.

Background/History: After a few years growing up and traveling through Johto, Selena discovered herself wanting more than what the region could offer her. With no intentions of returning to an abusive father, Selena packed her bags and headed off for other regions. She visited Kanto and Sinnoh, even Unova for a short time before deciding the other regions did not have much to offer her. She had little interest in the Pokemon League in her home and Contests were a foreign thing to her. She felt an emptiness inside her that only the badlands could match.

After three years of traveling, Selena decided to go home and found her father had died the year prior, leaving his old home in her possession, as well as the rest of his belongings as was dictated in the old man's will. The bitterness in her heart did not fade over the years, so this gesture was not seen with the best intentions. She burned the old home to the ground - a testament of her determination to never return to her old life. A fresh start awaited her, a last chance to find whatever will fill that hole in her soul.

Starter Pokemon: Chikorita (Grass)(Overgrow)
Razor Leaf (!)
Double Team
Energy Ball (!)
Light Screen

Secondary Pokemon: Mawile (Steel/Fairy)(Hyper Cutter)
Foul Play
Iron Head (!)
Flamethrower
Iron Defense

I'd like to add something else on here.

ITEMS.

You will be able to purchase medicinal items from shops in towns and cities - potions, super potions, antidote, all that stuff. When I put up the character thread I will prompt all of you to create a second post beneath your character for inventory management. Instead of the potions healing a certain amount, they have a limited number of uses instead, depending on how serious the injuries are.

You will also be able to store berries you find in the wild.

Items like the Macho Brace and Hard Stone are readily available for purchase in cities, while the more heavy duty items are only found in Lilycove's department store - including evolutionary stones (which can be found in mountains/caves). The stock of items will not be vast since I'm not going to be looking them up unless one comes to mind.

I'm not selling you Choice items or the Life Orb.

MEGA-EVOLUTION

Currently there are quite a few pokemon around that can ascend into powerful evolutionary forms, but in order to do this you need two items: a Key Stone and the specific Mega Stone for your particular pokemon. At the moment I do not have a set plan in mind to get you these items, but I'm leaning towards granting the Key Stone upon reaching Magnic Tower. Nothing is set in stone yet, so we will see. I'll probably discuss this with Sliv and get what he thinks.


AMENDMENT: You will be using your original character thread post to manage inventory for that character! I changed my mind, no need to make two posts for a single character.

Character-Unique Key Items

Hello again. I'm making another post because I have something to say.

If you look and see the two characters I put up in the profile thread, you'll notice that they have a special item in their pack. One has an artist's kit, another has a medical kit. The medical kit is useful and, while it can only be used once at any given point, shows its usefulness already. After considering my options I've decided to allow each of your characters to have a special item in their pack that either pertains to their history or their talent/hobby.

Let me know what you come up with.