[@needlingAsklepios]have you ever done anything with the pokemon mystery dungeon series? Occasionally I will be supplying missions which will be more open area for you all to try and complete a task and at the same time are free to wander around catching and battling.

On the other hand there are times where the plot will be far more tense and important that you'll be needed for certain events. An example that won't happen, but is the same kind of idea is a massive wildfire breaks out around the town, and you all have to find a way to protect the town AND the forest. There are some groups that aren't exactly great people, but the one closest to a true antagonist isn't really that big. They are sizable, but no massive army ready to charge in.

But there are in a sense Gyms. Every trainer base (one per city) will communicate with others, and it's known to happen that a trainer or two will practice against other trainers from other towns to share experiences/skills. If we go to another town and up to three players (in which case it's a 3v3 battle) could take on the local trainers for a friendly match. This would not be the focus, but rather something for people to do, and a possible side plot for ONE character. I don't want to see a bunch doing EVERY trainer battle, but if one person wants to have that as a side goal they can.

As for me since this group is looking good and big I'll be the Trainer Head aka your commanding officer, MAGGOT! joking aside I have a good old character to pull out for this. His starter is a Treeko, but it's a Sceptile now. Jaklo specializes in the local pokemon (as you might expect), and has a collection all from the area:

Sceptile, Yanso
Kabutops, Pierce
Braviary, Walt
Absol, Eli
Tediursa, Dalton
Buizel, Baron
Scolipede, Visp


BUT he also has pokemon from the urban areas. These regions are dangerous of course since they are the crumbling ruins of old society, but certain pokemon have moved in there:

Nidorino, Pax
Magneton, Vop
Haunter, Plasim
Houndoom, Riff