[@Rune_Alchemist] 

[hider=Before you read, yes, I agree with you XD]Personally that's what I do, too: build a team and stick with it :P I'm well aware of the motto "catch 'em all" and that there's always a nearby Pokemon which can help with the coming gym, but if it shows no promise in my future team, I generally won't be catching it :P Take my first time in Black and White, for example: Samurott, Zoroark, Scolipede, Serperior, Emboar and Gothitelle (before I had a Lampent and something else). I kept this team not because they had any sort of impact on fighting the gyms (I got annihilated most of the time), but because they were the Pokemon I wanted, and I loved them. 

Like how a Haxorus saved me from losing a match on Showdown by surviving at 1% HP and now it's my favourite Pokemon, I'm less about catching them all and rather growing alongside those I like. 

But I'll try to stop swaying off-topic here :P

In the end, this is a roleplay. That means logic doesn't always need to be applicable in every instance :D as much as I'm a fan of the badge-scaling in Origins, we don't necessarily need to follow the rules of the game/anime, since this'll be more about story and less about system/realism. 

I was saving this for later as a surprise, but I was actually planning on having Ren fight dirty in unofficial matches (use flash, blind trainers, push them away, thunder shock on trainer, maybe even fight alongside Shinx against the opponent). Of course official rules are a different matter, but when you're in an unofficial battle, well... ;)

In that sense, the official battles are like the games and anime, which can have scaling and whatnot because it's needed. I feel like in a roleplay like this, like in an unofficial battle, we can bend or even break the rules because we're not being watched by the system ^-^ Hell, if you're a smart enough RPer, I bet you could build a team of powerful Magikarps who use their ability to JUMP FUCKING MOUNTAINS to annihilate any enemy team XD 

In the end, it's a roleplay, and we'll conform gratefully as players of the game that the GM has generously let us explore and join. In life, we can't defy the laws of living, like what you said about letting it slide with the GM ^-^ if you can't beat the system, bend it to your will! :D

Also, I have no idea where I was going with this little rant, but yeah, I just wanted ya to know I know where you're coming from :3[/hider]