Pokemon: Hoenn - Make a Wish

[Phoenix]

Pokémon: Hoenn – Make a Wish

Setting

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The Hoenn in this RP is an Alternate Universe to that of the game, anime, and manga.
Natural sources of energy (wind, hydro, compression, heat, etc.) are gathered to power all of Hoenn. Under Fairfax Corporations' guidance and oversight, Mauville City oversees all collections and distributions of energy. This allows all of Hoenn to be largely pollution-free.
The culture of this Hoenn is liberal (socially, sexually, morally, etc.). Most believe technology and nature can work together in harmony and that if technology negatively impacts nature, it does not belong.
There are 18 Gyms, one of each type. All 18 badges are required to challenge the Elite Four, which are stationed on Victory Road. The Pokemon League is where the Championship takes place, which is held in the summer each year. Participants are only required to have "successfully" defeated their region's Elite Four to compete in Hoenn’s Championship.
Mega Evolution, Z-Moves, and Dynamaxing/Gigantimaxing do not and will not exist in this universe.
There is no maximum to the number of Pokemon to which an individual has immediate access. All are stored in one’s Gauntlet or carried on their person (per the individual's preference). There is no PC system and trading is performed by hand.
There are themes, topics, and realities that exist in this universe, such as Pokemon eating other Pokemon and humans eating Pokemon as there are no real-life animals that exist in this universe. For example, Miltank/Tauros/Stantler/Sawsbuck can be farmed/hunted for their meat and Miltank/Gogoat can be processed for their milk. Pokemon and human death are very real possibilities. The wilds can be and are lethal to those untrained/unprepared.
There is no evil team in this universe.

Rules & Standards

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- There is no minimum or maximum post length.
- Posts will be requested to progress your character's plot.
- Please be conscious of grammar. Ironically, my reading comprehension is lower than average and good grammar will help things along tremendously.
- Criticism, from all parties, should be constructive and respectful. Over PM is always best.
- Character Sheets are to be PM'd to all GM's and approved by them before posting in the Character Tab. CS's are not to be posted in the OOC. WIP's are not to be posted anywhere in the OOC or Character Tab. Only completed and approved characters are allowed in the Character Tab.
- The most readily available Pokemon will be those introduced from Generations I-IV. Pokemon from all Generations are allowed, but the later the Generation, the more "difficult" (far away) they will be to obtain.
- Legendary and Mythical Pokemon are not allowed. Pseudo-legendary Pokemon are restricted.
- Characters must be 18+. This is not the RP for a child's Pokemon journey.
- Characters should have some kind of profession or specialty (which can be "Professional Battler/Coordinator" or continuing one's Pokemon Adventure).
- Characters must have a short and long-term goal, which must be added into your character's backstory.
- Players must be 18+
- R-Rated topics and language are allowed and will be used if not alluded to. X-Rated content will be fade-to-black.
- Posting will be once after a GM posts. Exceptions to this rule will occur.
- This will be treated as a Hybrid between Sandbox and Railroad. Major events will occur that affect all characters in some way, but all characters are not required to be in the same place at the same time.
- Time consistency will be required. When a GM's post moves the time forward, it is expected for the following posts to catch up.
- Collaborating on posts is allowed and encouraged when it would be efficient.
- PvP is allowed but only if all parties involved agree.
- GM's can and will instigate combat/battles as the story progresses.
- Combat/battles will be expected to be played out responsibly. Each side is expected to take hits and losses unless there is a clear power differential. Dodging or enduring everything is not allowed. It is expected for everyone to be reasonable and to tell an interesting story, not win every battle. GM's will provide a kind of power level of the enemy so that you can play along smoothly.
- There will be very few, if any, encounters that are not winnable. Retreat is always an option.
- Creating/controlling NPC's is encouraged. Please check with GMs beforehand in the case there is a key NPC that has already been made for that place or role.
- Actions and inactions have consequences.
- Political intrigue and "war" will major themes in this game.
- This list may change.

Pokemon Mechanics

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• Pokemon can know and use any number of moves. They are not restricted by the game mechanics, canon from the anime or manga, or any other forum. However, there will be other restrictions.
• Moves must align with the Pokemon’s type and species. Starmie cannot know/learn Thunderbolt or Gyro Ball, but can know/learn Water Spout and Extrasensory. Bisharp can learn moves like X-Scissor and Guillotine...
• TM’s and HM’s don’t exist. Teaching/Tutoring/etc. is enough to teach a Pokemon a new move, but it takes time.
• HM's are only field moves and behave as such. Surf does not create a tidal wave but may increase swim speed. Fly does not crash into the opponent but may increase fly speed. Strength does not throw the opponent around but may act like a Swords Dance or Bulk Up. Either other maneuvers should be utilized or new moves can be created for the same in-game effect.
• New moves and abilities may be created, but they must be approved by all GMs before being used ICly. Any and all new moves and abilities are subject to change at any time.
• Status conditions will mostly be treated as they work in Legends: Arceus - Sleep/Paralysis makes the Pokemon not be able to move/act sometimes; Burn/Poison/Freeze lowers a "stat" and damages the Pokemon over time until healed. Status conditions heal over time. However, it will be added that a Pokemon can suffer from more than one status condition at a time.
• Moves may be combined, but their power/effectiveness does not stack or add onto each other. They meld together to an average between the two (or three or four...).
• Pokemon will perform the same move differently. Double Team can be 3 free-moving images or 20 mirror images that move exactly the same as the original, for example.
• Abilities are not limited to the games' determination. The Ability should match the species/type of the Pokemon. Abilities of Legendary Pokemon are off-limits.
• Pokemon have their own strategies and techniques upon which they rely. Consider if the Pokemon is more defensive/passive or aggressive/offensive, a combination of the two, relies on the use of a single move, etc.
• Battle is real-time. It will not be treated as turn-based. It will not be allowed to perform 3+ moves near-simultaneously before the opponent acts.
• Stats are largely irrelevant. They should be considered when developing that Pokemon into your roster. The game's stats may be referenced as the "normal" or "average." No one is held to stick close to game statistics, but one should be reasonable given their typing and physiology. Stats will not be referenced ICly or OOCly in this role-play.
• Type advantages/disadvantages can be overcome. Any type can learn to withstand any weakness, but this must come at a reasonable cost.
• Where a Pokemon exceeds others of its species, there must be areas where they do not meet the standard. Feel free to "min-max" as much as you want.
• Winning a battle is not always determined by knocking out the opponent. There are skills and behaviors between Pokemon and trainer which may be judged when considering a victor or deciding whether a badge has been earned. These will be explained prior to the battle.
• Pokemon may have an additional type added to their species. They may also have types omitted. This goes for Pokemon moves, as well. This is largely for the sake of flavor and will not be considered to make Pokemon or moves better or worse.

Lore

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• The family that runs the Fairfax Corporation has been created.
• The Gym Leaders have all been created.
• The Pokemon Laboratory has been created.
• A Pokemon Academy has been created.
• There are many key locations adopted/translated into this setting.
• There are other key locations that have been created.
• Pokemon Rangers exist and the organization has been fleshed out to fit this setting.
• Any and all of the above are welcome to be collaborated with, added to, or changed in any capacity by interested parties and with the GMs' input and approval.

About You

I'm looking for role-players who have an open mind about the changes to the mechanics so as to lean into the idea of telling an epic story. Players are expected to interact with the setting and what it has to offer. Players are expected to either want to experience the story being told or want to tell their own story and seek to make progress with each of their posts. Players are expected to not power-game, meta-game, or "play-to-win" as that will not be the purpose of this game. Also note that this will be run in the Advanced subforum. I am posting this here only to add visibility to those who spend more time in the Casual Subforum but are more than capable "Advanced" RPers.
I'm looking for at least one Co-GM. If you are interested in Co-GMing, please offer some examples of GM-ing (links and/or descriptions via PM only). You will be expected to understand the battle mechanics relatively well and be able to mediate battles. You will be expected to be able to quickly reference and/or understand any and all lore that has been created. You will be expected to be in charge of at least one of the major groups, of which there are several (i.e. Pokemon League (Gym Leaders + Elite Four), Rangers, etc.), from which you may choose any. Additionally, you will know all the major plot points and major NPC's, so it will be required that you are okay with spoilers and keeping those spoilers to yourself.

Please do not post any Character Sheets in this thread. I will be adding a template for Character Sheets and additional instructions on how to submit them when a Co-GM has been found and the RP thread has been created. This thread will be used for discussion and questions only.

[c3p-0h]

hello here i am again

[morethan]

Think I could be interested, though I gotta take another look at those mechanics later. What exactly is going on in the RP though? I get the setting, just not what exactly we'll be doing in it.

[Phoenix]

@morethan It's open-world sandbox.

- This will be treated as a Hybrid between Sandbox and Railroad. Major events will occur that affect all characters in some way, but all characters are not required to be in the same place at the same time.

[morethan]

Ah, all right then.

[sly13]

This seems like it could be interesting depending on how some of the mechanics work.

[Phoenix]

@sly13What questions do you have regarding the mechanics?
I will preface that the mechanics are purely to allow for much greater creativity. Battles are not and will not be competitive - they are to drive the story forward and provide character development. There are some items under Rules & Standards that allude to this and mention my intentions/expectations. :)

[sly13]

sorry for the late reply. Most of my questions will probably be answered as we move forward in terms of battles and what not. One question I did have is about the moves matching the Pokémon's typing. and would that mean Pokémon don't learn moves they normally would in the games if they don't fit the type. An example would be like Gengar who normally knows stuff like hypnosis but its a psychic move.

Just wondering but i do like the idea of battles being more thematic and less about min maxing and do like the idea of trainings Pokémon to overcome weaknesses or what not.

Also as a side how would we be doing starters and such?

[Phoenix]

Just to be more specific:

Moves must align with the Pokemon’s type and species. Starmie cannot know/learn Thunderbolt or Gyro Ball, but can know/learn Water Spout and Extrasensory. Bisharp can learn moves like X-Scissor and Guillotine...

"Species" is where this goes into a gray area. Basically, if you can come up with a "good argument" for the Pokemon to know the move, then I'd be okay with it.

For this specific example: I would allow it since it's thematic that Gengar can be seen as a Pokemon that "Eats Dreams" (even though that's also a Psychic move), and so it would make sense that it can lull targets to sleep. I also have a soft spot for those kinds of "signature moves" some Pokemon have.
I do typically take "inspiration" of Pokemon from their Dex entries - none of which describe Gengar as eating dreams. So that could be an "against" argument - one that I wouldn't take up, myself. If you wanted to adhere to that idea, more power to you.

In the end, there's some "normal" "bleeding" that happens with Dark, Fighting, Psychic, and Ghost type moves and Pokemon. There's quite a bit of thematic/racial overlap with some of them.

A more "extreme" example would be: I would actively encourage someone to add Extrasensory to Ninetales, due to it's lore and general descriptions (going so far as to make it a Fire/Psychic type...or Fire/Psychic/Ghost type)

An example of a "no" would be Granbull knowing Thunder Fang. How does a fairy dog Pokemon generate electricity?
You can then request to make up a move and call it "Fairy Fang" that has a lesser chance to paralyze (or some other kind of effect) - and I'd say "okay."

As for "starters," they aren't a thing/concept in this world. Your "starter" would be a Pokemon native close to where you lived or a Pokemon you were given as a gift or something.
For example, my character's starter was Surskit because he grew up in Oldale Town.

Also:

- Characters must be 18+. This is not the RP for a child's Pokemon journey.

Hope that helps. :)

[sly13]

alright that covers most of the questions i had as of now. Really hope this takes off though as I really like the idea of this os far.

[Phoenix]

@sly13 Feel free to ask all the questions you have! That's what this is for :)
We certainly have a lot of time given that I'm going to wait to get a Co-GM before I actually start this - to which none have come forward with interest for it.