Guide budding young Pokemon Trainer Joan and his Mareep through Johto as he finally gets the opportunity to take up that most noble and desirable profession - alongside all the other weirdos who thought fleeing the comfort of civilised life to raise battle pets in the wilds was a great career move.
A/N: Welcome to yet another Trainer Quest ! I swear this one's a little different. This quest is going to be very light on mechanics, and instead rely a lot on write-ins and your ability to convince me that your character can do the things you want them to. This isn't necessarily going to be a very complicated thing to accomplish, I'm not here to cackle maniacally as you fail and fail again because there were hidden win conditions you couldn't foresee. Not to say you'll never fail, but this won't exactly be the kind of quest with bad ends - if you fail, then you'll usually have only lost time.
For more on the mechanics (and lack thereof) I'll be putting up a post under this with a basic rundown, and some lore tidbits. Why lore ? Because this world of pokemon you're about to enter is a little different, too. I'm not exactly going to call it a reconstruction, it's nowhere near ambitious enough for that, but there are enough differences that you might want to give some of the changes a quick gander. Expect attempts at finding halfway viable explanations for game and anime mechanics, a generally speaking older cast and a world that's less rosy than the games, but not particularly dark either. I'm hoping to introduce all that stuff organically, but I figured it'd be useful to have a repository of some of the particulars.
This isn't the first quest I run, but it might be the first one in... closer to a decade than I care to admit I think ? Something like that, anyway. I'm writing it because I realised working on Twine stuff that I'm a little rusty when it comes to writing with player interactivity in mind, so by all means if the way something goes down or is written bothers you, mention it !
Anyhow, that was a bit too long already - let's get to the meat of it !
You feel that there's some kind of metaphor, or at least a joke, about sitting on a fencepost at a crossroads, but your wit is failing you.
That's alright, there's no one to talk to anyway. It's sort of the problem. Sure, you were a little early, but you're pretty certain the one you're waiting for should have arrived about half an hour ago. Or maybe five minutes, it's hard to keep track of time when you're this excited, but you can't help it.
It's time ! Finally, after all this waiting, it's time at last to become a proper Trainer ! After all, you…
Age won't really change anything mechanically speaking, it's more to flavour who you're playing as — it does change some of your background, notably how awkward visiting your hometown might get, but not much else.
[] Might be a little on the young side, but there's no time to waste ! Literally. You're finally legally emancipated, which means you need someone to lend you a tent and possibly a fiver for a sandwich. But you've got the spirit ! (16 years old) [] Waited long enough your parents didn't have an excuse to keep you back and no time left to dissuade you, and you've been chomping at the bit for months now to finally go ! (18 years old) [] Have been feeling your blood boil these last three years after letting yourself get talked into a bachelor's degree 'just in case this whole training thing doesn't work out'. Enough dallying, you're ready to go ! (21 years old)
You suppose you must make for an odd sight, sitting on your fencepost and watching curious pedestrians go by, a young…
[] Man [] Woman
with obviously nervous jitters camping out at the beginning of Route…
Starting town influences the kind of pokemon you're likely to find in your 'tutorial area', and some of the training opportunities the environment will afford you. Don't think of the pokemon living there in the games, bar a strong obvious lore association, but rather environment : coast, forest, mountain, etc… Johto only, it doesn't get enough love and you'll get to go abroad if there's something specific you want to do later. I'll make sure there's a fairly wide array of choice for mons wherever you end up.
[] 41 (Cianwood City, expect to spend your tutorial mostly in Whirl Islands) [] 43 (Mahogany Town, expect to spend your tutorial around the Lake of Rage and the Ice Path) [] 32 (Violet City, expect to spend your tutorial on the coast and at Union Cave. Ruins of Alph need appropriate Requirements) [] 33 (Azalea Town, expect to camp out at Ilex Forest) [] 45 (Blackthorn City, the Dragon Clan guards their namesakes' nesting grounds zealously, but there's still plenty to find and discover in the surrounding mountains) [] 39 (Olivine City, expect to frolic in the rolling fields and on the coast) [] 37 (Ecruteak City, expect some lighter forests and Mt Mortar)
Yeah, you can sort of see why people have been giving you odd looks ever since you started waiting.
You look around, but nothing has changed since you last checked five seconds ago, so instead you look through your travel bag for the fourth time, making sure all your supplies are there. Which doesn't amount to much, really ; you'll be gone for at least two months before you make it back to civilisation, and lugging this bag around the entire way, so you've packed pretty lightly. Your mentor was pretty clear that you should get used to that — the only thing they were adamant on was not to skimp on any supplies for your pokemon.
Speaking of — you gaze at the brand new, shiny pokeball on your belt. The reason you'd delayed your departure by an extra couple of weeks.
You were waiting for the egg to hatch. Your egg. Well, not yours-yours, thankfully, but you know what you mean.
It's not a prize goliath from superior breeder stock, and it's not a rare elusive sight. It's actually common enough, as these things go. Not like you could scrounge up the money for better. But it has two things going for it that makes it the most precious creature in the world to you.
Its parents were both wildborn, with its mother in fact raised by a Named Trainer, meaning that it was guaranteed to have potential.
And it was yours.
It's not like you've never handled pokemon before. That'd be silly, you couldn't just decide to base your entire life around something you'd never touched, and all those years spent at trainer school would have been wasted (you decided pretty young what you were going to be). But it's always been rentals or loans, and it's not like anyone in their right mind would trust a kid with wildborn or even wild-raised pokemon.
There was always that distance, that refusal to get attached to a pokemon you'd be giving away soon, that impossibility to mould them as you imagined it… And that dullness in their eyes which radiated contentment.
You won't let your starter be like that. Your very own…
This is an important choice. Your starter can be anything, so long as it's a pokemon that evolves at least once and which wouldn't be considered particularly rare or at least very out of place in Johto (no regional forms, or pokemon strongly associated with another region/biomes that aren't found in Johto). I'll trust your judgment on that. I put in some examples to give you all an idea, but don't feel like you have to stick to them, and while most of the ones I put up are from Gen 1-2, don't feel bound by that. I'll step in if a choice seems like it wouldn't work, and supply my reasoning alongside it. Note again that the potential strength of a pokemon is not the issue here, only how rare it might be. And I'd urge you not to worry too much about strength — that's what your training is for, and I can guarantee you with good training you can make use of every single pokemon, even Luvdisc. Don't overreach in greed, and you'll be fine. Also, while I think about it, Johto starters are fine. All others count as rare.
Why is this important beyond 'I want that one in my team' ?
I said it in the lore post, but I'll clarify here. Trainers with a capital T pretty much universally have a theme to their team, something that gives it coherence. I'm not going to put you against the wall with a gun to your head if you absolutely don't want to do that, but you will miss out on a significant amount of cool stuff if you do, and your peers will judge you.
Your mentor will explain more about why you'd want to do that in the tutorials they'll walk you through, but considering the info and perspective you're getting on all that stuff will depend on which one you pick, we'll burn that bridge when we get there.
The point is, while your starter doesn't necessarily lock you in a theme, it does restrict your options, so you might want to begin to think carefully about what that leaves you with. The only other choices are to get rid of your starter (which you're allowed to do, but I will judge the hell out of you and so should anyone with a functional heart), have a theme that stems from the way you train your pokemon as opposed to what they are or a more intangible quality (a lot of the Champions have one of those, hence why their teams might look like they don't follow one from the outside. I'll give examples when the time comes to think about yours), or just have your starter as an awkward +1 to your otherwise on-brand team.
The most common themes are of course Types, but that's actually quite broad. As broad as allowed, really, and usually (but not always) stems from Trainers with a narrower focus broadening up their scope when they decide to seek employment as Leaders or try out for the Elite Four. By no means a bad choice if you want to, though.
The narrower the theme, the less choice you have for team members, obviously, but also the more pronounced those bonuses I mentioned are, though don't feel the need to cripple yourselves on their account.
This may not be the Pokemon anime, but at its heart it is an anime/JRPG world, weird hair colours and all, which means that every Trainer's thememust legally be able to be summed up in a cool tagline. It's what separates named Trainers from the rest. For an example, think of the way MHA handles hero names ("The [something something] Hero, [cool name]!"). If the Pokemon Stadium announcer can make it sound exciting, you're gold. You don't have to think of yours right now — this is only your first pokemon, after all — but if you already have a feel for what you want, try to think of a snappy way to sum it up. Your potential mentors have theirs in the little introductions I gave them, if you want examples.
Your starter, and the possible themes it offers will influence your character's personality and your choice of appearances — I am working off shounen logic here. We'll get a better handle on the kind of person you are when you expand your roster or make a solid decision on your overall theme, but that's the reason I haven't given you cues for name/looks/personality yet.
So I guess what I'm trying to say is : don't try and choose your starter based on what would be nice to have so much as whether the character you want to play as would have them as one of their iconic pokemon.
[] Gastly [] Slowpoke [] Bellsprout [] Onix [] Meowth [] Magby [] Geodude [] Magikarp [] Chinchou [] Horsea [] Ponyta [] Write-in (I think you get the idea)
You lose yourself for an instant staring at the ball, debating whether or not to let them out already, but you don't think you'd be able to stop cooing over them for the rest of the day if you let them out right now. You don't even know their gender ! They just hatched yesterday !
That thought sobers you up a little. Yep, they just hatched yesterday, so while in theory you know everything you need to in order to coach them properly for the first few days (pokemon mature at a frightful speed compared to… most anything, really), you'd rather an expert was there to supervise you.
Now if only said expert would show up.
Mentors aren't really a thing, officially speaking. There's no program, or community outreach or whatever, no obligation to work with one in order to be recognised as a Trainer. It's just a list of names the League keeps on record where they put those Trainers considered trustworthy enough to watch over a newbie, and someone wanting to start out can try and seek one of them out for advice and eventually proper help.
You weren't actually actively looking for one at first, and instead you'd actually planned out everything for setting out on your own. But then, an instinct called out to you upon seeing someone unfamiliar at the pokemon Centre where you'd gone to get your yearly refresher certification course for Pokemon Health Product Handling. You'd seen them and you'd known they were important somehow, that something about them called out to you… So when they'd gone out, you'd followed them.
Looking back on it, that was kind of creepy, but you were almost in a trance, and in the end you couldn't bring yourself to regret your actions, slightly stalkerish as they have been.
Because you'd gotten to witness…
It's time to choose your mentor ! There's a lot of stuff I want to ease you guys into, so your first forays into training will be supervised, and you'll be getting some help with discovering and exploring some of this quest's aspects. You now get to choose who this help manifests as, and who your primary introduction to the madness of Trainers will be ! A few things to hopefully help inform your choice :
First, while you only get to meet one of them for the tutorial, these three characters will continue to exist regardless of your choice. If you think you might need help from one of them later on, you will be free to look for them. They're all at least moderately famous, and their contact info can be found if you want to. You'd need a good excuse for me if it's for anything other than the specialties they're known for in-quest, however. It's perfectly natural to reach out to Simon for help streamlining your plans for your brand new Raticate's training, another entirely to call him up to draft a fitness plan for your Tyranitar just because he gave you a bonus to training regimens at chargen. Choosing one now doesn't mean you'll never interact with the others, and there is no trap option categorically worse than others.
Speaking of bonuses, you'll notice in the vote that they each have a mentorship expertise. Just to be clear, that doesn't mean they're not good at the stuff the others give a bonus to — simply that you'll get a headstart in that particular category, although some of these extras might be easier to stumble on later in-quest than others.
And finally, you'll notice that none of them mention battling. That would be because there are very few Trainers whose definite main focus is actually being a Battler, since the rigorous schedules of competitive battling tend to clash with the Training lifestyle. The reason you are not being offered a fourth mentor expert specialising in that is because you'll be getting them anyway. No matter which one you choose, they'll call up an acquaintance/friend to show you the ropes of how to integrate your Training work into being a Battler. This will be the same person regardless of which mentor you choose now — Johto only has a handful of proper Trainer Battlers, and Chuck is a maniac stuck in Cianwood and the Dragon Clan are dicks, so their options are limited.
[] What has to be one of the strongest trained Milotic in the world this side of Cynthia's deliver a hypnotic, mesmerising show under its trainer's effortless direction, in a sight which you're not too proud to admit is burned into your retinas for a long, long while. (Melati, the Snake Charmer. Expert mentor when it comes to theme management, attuning to your pokemon, and the more esoteric sides of Training.)
Name: Melati Meriwether Moniker: The Snake Charmer Theme: Snakes and Serpents. Some Trainers have grand reasons for what they choose. Melati thinks snakes are pretty.
What you know: In hindsight, you probably should have recognised her before. Melati is definitely on the more famous side of Johto's Named Trainers, and that's already not a low bar of its own. Being the owner of a wildborn, wild-trained Milotic will do that to someone, and Melati has never been shy to show her off. Part of her popularity definitely comes from the mystique around her : between her habit of dressing like a racier carnival fortune teller, her preference for speaking as little as possible and how almost impossibly in tune she seems with her pokemon, people tend to almost treat her as they would some manner of exotic priestess, nevermind the fact that the most foreign she gets is having a mother born in Pacifidlog.
Having actually talked to her in a proper conversation… Yeah, you don't see it. She's blunt, straightforward and pragmatic — though not unkindly, just in a… socially uncaring way ? That's still not very flattering, but you'd say it's more to do with the fact she doesn't perceive why she would need a brain-mouth filter than any actual rudeness. She was actually refreshingly direct, and while it's not like you exactly ran a full psych profile on her (she has a hell of a pokerface) you got the impression she was very earnest.
As for her career… she burst onto the scene quite young. When she was ten, she fished up a Feebas while on a holiday in her mother's hometown of Pacifidlog and against all common sense didn't sell it like a sane person. She trained it and a Magikarp she'd caught the next day as soon as she'd returned home in the seas off of the cliffs of Olivine, after her parents assumed that (as with literally anyone else who tried this) nothing would come of it. Ended up in the nightmare scenario of a thirteen-year old with a wildborn and wild-raised Milotic and Gyarados pair, that she thankfully and against all odds had a handle on. Would have been a teen TV star if producers had ever managed to tempt her into even the smallest deal. Left to become a proper Trainer at sixteen, and earned her moniker (which she has publicly stated she hates and has instead expressed a desire to be called the Serpent Mistress, to no avail) for the exhibition matches she put on whenever she needed money. Doesn't go on the competitive scene much, but by no means a slouch in battle — famously earned a technical draw against Winona of Fortree City when the match had to be interrupted after her Gyarados destroyed the Gym and the entire patch of trees it rested on in a manner a blank-faced Melati swore was accidental, despite how methodical it was.
Fun fact: Perusing a Melati Facts page on a fansite, you think your favourite might be the fact that the Johto police has been called no less than sixteen times by panicked journalists/fans/random hikers who phoned in a dead body after finding her entangled in the coils of one of her pokemon. Was very much alive every time. Systematically gave the reason for the dangerous position she was found in as "sleepy cuddles", and not a single word more. The phrase is now a running joke in the Olivine precinct for people making mountains out of molehills. Entrance theme for competitive matches: Would like it to be Guajira Cubana - Sexteto La Playa. Usually gets God of the Dead - Hades OST instead. Pokemon you've seen: Milotic, Gyarados, Serperior. She also apparently has an Arbok, though whatever is in the other two pokeballs she carries is unknown.
[] A Spinda dancing circles around a Rhydon to a beat only it could feel until its opponent knocked itself out in exhaustion, somehow remaining untouched through the entire match whilst moving with a grace that shouldn't belong with the notoriously clumsy critter. (Simon,Trainer to the Trite and Banal. Expert mentor when it comes to training regimens.)
Name: Simon Beauchat Moniker: Trainer to the Trite and Banal Theme: Unloved, common or easily dismissed Normal Types. His passion as a Trainer lies in finding potential in the least well-considered pokemon of the 'most boring Type', and turning them into any discerning Battler's envy.
What you know: Affable and well-mannered, there's a part of you that wanted to dismiss him as boring and unimportant the entire time you were talking to him. He just looked and sounded so… average. But his combat prowess was anything but, and underneath the slightly nondescript look there was a keen, cold edge to his gaze that felt as though it were sizing you up for weaknesses the entire time the two of you spoke — and genuine fire, burning no less blazingly for being quiet.
After looking him up on the internet, you realised that while he's actually one of the less famous Named Trainers in Johto at large, in the actual Training and Battling communities he's held in fairly high esteem. Son of Kalosian immigrants to Ecruteak, he became a protege at twelve to the former Goldenrod Gym Leader after the man saw him at a trainer school invitational, and was touted as a possible interim Leader (though on outsider odds) after the man's heart attack, until an eleven-year old Whitney defeated all the League officials come to visit in back-to-back battles and told them all to fuck off out of her Gym. His path after that gets a little fuzzy — he seems to be a fairly private man — but is littered with fine tournament showings, though no particularly grand title. These days, he seems to make most of his money thanks to very rich clients looking for 'harmless' pets for their children capable of doubling as trained bodyguards should the need arise.
Surprisingly — and very rare for a Trainer — he has a PhD, a doctorate in Training History from the University of Goldenrod. Wrote his thesis on the divergence between the monks of the Brass Tower and the Tin Tower's training methods prior to the former burning down, and the subsequent erasure from external records of said divergence by the monks of the Tin Tower in the aftermath. Is banned from the Tin Tower's premises for life, and was sued for a significant sum by the monastic order. The suit was withdrawn when the monks realised he was a pet/bodyguard supplier to most of the region's top barristers and judges.
Fun fact: Received so many requests to train Glameow for posh children that after the ninth in a row he publicly declared he would burn any letter asking him to train those damned cats. Burned down one of the Mahogany Town pokemon Centre's PC terminals to prove his point when someone sent him an email instead. Entrance theme for competitive matches:Same to you - Melody Gardot when he's serious. Gogo's Goggles - Alain Goraguer when he's showing off for rich people, Cats on Mars - Yoko Kanno and Seatbelts when his opponent tried trash talking his preferences in pokemon. Pokemon you've seen: Furret, Spinda. Seems to rotate through a roster of less-popular Normal Types for competitive showings, but most of those seem to be for advertising. His actual core team is unknown to the internet, besides his ever-present Furret.
[] A massive Muk that had been terrorising the neighbourhood for the whole day since it'd escaped the sewers throw itself at a beautiful flower… Until its Trainer had the Vileplume spring its trap and her Ariados immediately neutralise what should have been a notoriously tricky catch. (Elena, the Poacher. Expert mentor when it comes to tracking and capturing wild pokemon.)
(don't mind the floppy ears)
Name: Elena Mononobe Moniker: The Poacher Theme: Trappers and ambush predators. Is known to have trained more 'conventional' hunters, but the thrill she shares with her pokemon lies in the exact moment her prey springs a carefully prepared trap.
What you know: Not much, all told. The Poacher is a bit of a mythical figure, both for how little is actually known about her and of how much of what is known is contradictory. Born in Johto to an Unovan socialite mother and a father from an old traditional Kantonese clan, privately schooled through her early childhood… And somewhere along the way became what you see : a fiercely brash and independent wild-at-heart woman, openly more at ease knee-deep in mire than walking down a city street, with several misdemeanour charges for public disorder to her name and a reputation for being a thrill-seeker who lives for her next big hunt.
Having now met her, you'd say the rumours are a little exaggerated. Oh, she is basically all these things, but the woman you met was also serious, thoughtful, very focused and dealt with you plainly and openly. She was never condescending or dismissive, but was however oddly adamant about making sure the paperwork was correctly filed. That said, the excitement in her eyes at mentioning she had to be off for a Steelix hunt… it didn't lie.
Makes most of her money hunting big game, though contrary to what her title and reputation suggest actually does the bulk of her hunting work in tandem with the Rangers or local authorities when a particularly big menace shows up in an area. She also has a standing contract training trappers, trackers and capture experts for the Rangers. Urban legend has it that deal nearly fell through right after its inception because she'd failed to take into account the Rangers might not want a hyper-lethal killing machine of a Carnivine but something a little more… capture-oriented — a small debacle which contributed in no small part to her infamy.
Fun fact: Is related distantly to Koga through her father's family — he is her second cousin once removed and Janine her third cousin. Hates the fact that this is known, because people keep assuming that he trained her Ariados and/or Vileplume, and worse, that she is also a ninja. Once famously chucked a man through a bar window after he unwisely decided to make a ninja joke in his pickup line. Entrance theme for competitive matches: Thinks it's a stupid idea and repeatedly asks not to get any. Has instead been saddled with A Rose for the Crows - Turbowolf, and hates it with a passion. Pokemon you've seen: Ariados, Vileplume. You also remember a viral clip from a few years back when a self-styled 'action reporter' interrupted her while she worked and was dragged off screaming by her Eelektross, which appears from nowhere in the mother of all jumpscares.
That was a sight you wouldn't soon forget. And also such a strong reminder of what you wanted to be that… you couldn't explain what, exactly, had taken you over and led you to just walk up to them. It wasn't really something you'd ever thought you'd do, accosting a complete stranger out of nowhere and… asking if they'd help you.
You didn't even offer anything in payment.
That's probably why you were so surprised when they just said yes, and told you to hit them up and meet them here when your egg hatched.
Which has led you to this very moment. The very beginning of your journey, at long last, and you break out into a smile as a familiar figure in the distance spots you and makes its way towards you.
It's finally time to be off.
A/N: So, I usually have a preference for plan voting, and it'll probably be the standard going onwards from here, but the fact the starter vote is here means I'm minded to keep it all separate for this vote. No moratorium for now, and I'll give an advance warning when I'll be closing the vote.
Reminder of things to vote on:
[] Age
[] Gender
[] Starting Route
[] Starter
[] Mentor
This is a narrative quest first and foremost. I'm not saying there'll never be any dice rolls ever, but when they happen it'll be mostly to resolve random events. Success, failure, their degree and all the states in-between will for the most part be determined by your capacity to convince me and come up with good write-ins. I don't plan on being cruel or crazy harsh, but I won't spare you from your mistakes either. This isn't the kind of quest where failing is overly problematic, anyway — there are no real bad ends here. The worst that can happen to you is wasting your time, in most cases. You'll lose battles, you'll have training ideas that won't work out, you'll train some of your pokemon better than others… And that's fine. This isn't a quest about becoming the very best like no ever was, and not the kind of take on the Pokemon verse where that's objectively really possible, even if Cynthia is giving it her best shot. That's why I'm willing to try a very mechanics-lite format.
That said, it's not like there will be no mechanics whatsoever. Most of them are pretty minor things I'll point out as the need arises, but the only real core one will be the Requirements system. Rather than skill checks, which for the most part are covered by your write-ins, some situations or actions will only be unlocked by meeting a series of conditions. To use a simple example, if you'd wanted to spend a few months as Gym Trainer in Saffron to learn from Sabrina, you would have to meet the following Requirements :
- Have a majority of Psychic types in your team, with a minimum of two.
- Have at least weak psychic powers of your own
Straightforward enough, in this case. Some of these can get much more complicated. Sometimes I'll warn you in advance of the existence of a Requirements check, sometimes you'll find out on your own that there is one, and sometimes you'll know it's there but not the exact conditions you need to meet to beat it. It's also worth keeping in mind that those checks aren't always absolute : depending on the task/action, you can get partial successes if you meet some of the requirements, but not all of them.
You'll notice I didn't bring up Battling in the mechanics. There is a simple reason for that : there are no mechanics, and it's all narrative ! The overwhelming feeling I tend to get when seeing battles in pokemon quests is very much "this works well enough, but it'll always be better in Showdown." Not to say that there haven't been some very good jobs done here and there, but I'm not the person who'll improve on that and I'm not crazy about keeping track of numbers, so instead we're going full narrative.
How is that going to work ? Well it's simple : this is a quest about training, so there will be three core elements to a battle, which in order of importance are : training, plan and acumen.
Acumen is straightforward, being how good you actually are in battle itself, how quickly you react, how well you adapt to the situation, how fluidly you transmit your orders and how well you keep your head when nerves and high stakes affect you. No matter what, you'll never be awful at this, so really this is more about getting that little extra edge, or not getting styled on by a trainer with a stupid gimmick that takes you by surprise. Definitely not your primary concern, and pretty much all determined by the work you put in beforehand to improve and how often you've battled both.
Plan should also be self-evident : prior to a battle, I will give you a recap of everything you know about your opponent, the state of your own pokemon and any other things you might want to take into consideration. From that, you will devise a battle plan. The plan will be, bar exceptions for big climactic fights, for the wholebattle. You only get one shot. And most importantly, you will not be able to micro-manage it. This is where you get to witness the results of the training you've been putting your pokemon and your character through. The more strict and detailed your plan, the less margin to improvise you're giving your trainer and the more risk you run of them being caught flat-footed if something happens to completely stop it. (Fun fact : "choose a first pokemon at random and trust the rest to the heart of the cards" is a legit plan vote). Basically, it's all a trade-off between adaptability vs. reliability. Your trainer with the leash off will make mistakes you probably wouldn't have, but they'll also be able to spot things you couldn't have known beforehand, especially in situations where you don't know much about your opponent.
And finally, the biggest part, Training. If you've picked up on the vibe I'm going for, this should be pretty self-evident : how well you've trained your pokemon, and what exactly you trained them for will arguably play the biggest part in how they perform on the field. All your pokemon, depending on how you trained them, will have types (and Types !) of opponents they'll have an easier or harder time dealing with, and it'll be up to you in your training to come up with way to accommodate for these eventual weaknesses.
Your pokemon have Traits, which serve three primary functions:
For me, they help me give the pokemon a bit of flavour and character in their personalities and physical appearances beyond "this is a Mareep, which looks and acts like a Mareep"
For you, they are Theme potentials, characteristics proper to your pokemon as individuals rather than member of your species, which you can potentially exploit.
And, in general, they're obviously helpful to give you hints as to what kind of training or role your pokemon will shine in the most.
Every Trait is helpful, sometimes in obvious ways, but also in less clear-cut ones. Just because a Trait seems it would be less immediately or obviously useful doesn't mean it's better. For example, Strong and Beautiful are both Traits your pokemon can have. Strong might seem like the only one that would make a difference in battle, but for the Mareep line alone I have three separate ways I can think of that Beautiful could be used to boost their battle potential. Less straightforward ones, yes, and more situational, but legitimate all the same.
In general… More Traits is always better. You don't have to focus overly on what Traits pokemon start with, though, because their number isn't fixed — they can be won or lost (though mostly won) depending on training or special events. Negative Traits exist, but you will always have a way and/or possibility to turn them into a positive one, trading in short-term loss and time loss for future benefit. Note that some Traits are genetic and can never be gained if the pokemon doesn't have them at birth, though you won't be running into a lot of those.
In the future, you won't get to choose a pokemon you catch's Traits, but unless you got them as an Egg you'll get an overview of any Trait you would conceivably notice prior to choosing to catch/fight that pokemon. To note, Hidden Traits exist, and come in two categories : those you can see, and those you can't. Simply put, sometimes you'll be able to tell there's something special about a pokemon, but not be able to tell what it is. Those will show up as [???] alongside a short description of what about them gives you the feeling something's off. Others will just be invisible until such a time as they are revealed.
Lore :
There are trainers and Trainers. One's a legal status authorising you to own pokemon, the second is a lifestyle and most often full-time job, if you're any good or don't need a side-gig to keep seeing the happy numbers in your bank account. Plenty of people own pokemon, and most of them have at least had a few battles with them and taught them a move or two here and there. But a proper Trainer devises proper workout plans, figures out fighting styles for his pokemon, knows how to properly catch and raise them and most important of all — it's their main priority (and most often, their main hobby too). And with how destructive pokemon can get, the numerous advantages to being in the wild which you'll discover as you go and also the fact that most people think Trainers are kind of weirdos, they tend to be pretty marginalised. Not actively, but rather by choice — it's just easier for most of them to spend most of their time out in the wild than deal with people. As such, most Trainers are pretty solitary creatures, often fine with only their pokemon for company, even if there's usually a lot of solidarity between fellow Trainers.
Because of the mystique surrounding them, it's not rare for the better Trainers to become what's colloquially known as Named Trainers, meaning that they've stuck enough in the public consciousness that they've been given a title, a moniker of some kind (think Misty "the Tomboyish Mermaid", or Leon "the Strongest Champion", even if the latter shouldn't be said out loud where someone from Sinnoh can hear). Named Trainers are right up there in the "most famous people" categories, and some of the better ones, alongside the Champions and Gym Leaders, are basically the most followed people in the world.
For future reference, while most Trainers would scoff at the idea that there's such a thing as a "strongest trainer in the world", there's kind of an unspoken agreement anywhere that isn't Galar that in terms of raw might Cynthia is the current top. Right in the mix are probably Lance, Blue (the only Gym Leader so highly regarded, who isn't the current Kanto Champion only because he adamantly refused to pick up Red's seconds), Steven (even after retirement) and Leon, with the other Champions close behind, followed by some of the more notable Elite Four, Leaders and unaffiliated Trainers. Red could be, but ever since he lost it and dropped everything to become a hermit on Mt Silver twenty years ago, sightings have been very sporadic and he's not made any public battling apparitions, so he's in the awkward position where people assume that he's probably up there with Cynthia as the apex of Trainers, but no one actually knows for sure. Agatha, who is somehow still alive, is also one that no one really knows how to quantify, but no one really likes thinking about her in the first place.
A funny thing to note : you might notice that all these people identify primarily as Trainers, instead of competitive Battlers. That's because there's a difference between the two, and Trainers are usually considered as 'better' than most Battlers overall by the public.
Trainers and Battlers are two different things. There isn't a single Trainer who isn't also a Battler at some level, but most Battlers aren't Trainers. They're simply 'regulars' who take part in competitive battling, either on the tournament circuit or as League challengers, though there's less and less of those every year (we'll get to that). Although pretty much all Trainers get competitive experience of some kind at some point in their lives, some of them prefer to focus on the challenge of catching and raising pokemon for other Battlers, and some only care about the lifestyle and don't want to actually do anything with it. You know the most famous example : former Kanto champion Red, who couldn't deal with the fame and attention lavished on him all the time and quit competitive battling entirely after snapping, becoming a hermit on Mount Silver who eschews as much contact with civilisation as possible.
Most Trainers… don't exactly look down on 'regulars', because actual pokemon battling and pokemon raising are two separate skills entirely, but there very much tends to be a "how cute~" vibe to their interactions, like someone boasting about the money they made taking part in cockfighting to a veteran of the Emu Wars.
Why would regulars pay good money for a Trainer-caught-and-raised pokemon, though ? For that matter, why let the Trainer catch them in the first place, when it would be cheaper to buy one at an auction or even an egg ? Because pokemon are, by and large, pets. Very clever pets, but if you don't challenge them, push them to grow, they'll never be more than that. That's the first part of why you'd pay for a Trainer to catch them : they have an eye for the good ones, and most importantly they're wild. Most owned pokemon are raised either in captivity or in domesticated conditions, and that makes them… lesser. Not in a hierarchical sense, but a Ponyta born and raised in a farm, no matter how well-cared for, is simply less of a Ponyta than a proper wild one. It's slower, its mane burns colder and dimmer… They're by no means weak but they are weaker. That can be compensated in part by eugenics-based breeding programs, but even then they tend to lack that spark, even if they're taller and bulkier and prettier and whatnot.
Pokemon that grow up in the wild, though… Pokemon grow through struggling, and when not raised in docile and domesticated environment, the little bastards aren't content to stagnate. Even those with a relatively comfortable situation will often constantly seek out challenges (which doesn't necessarily mean they're looking for a trainer, though the ambitious type often realise a good Trainer can help them reach heights they likely couldn't alone).
Now top breeder stock that for some reason or another grows up in the wild, however… Well, it's not rare for richer Trainers to get an egg or two for their teams, and everyone remembers the shipment of prized Hippowdon eggs that were lost on Hoenn's Route 111 a few years ago — and the fact that the desert border has kept advancing several miles per year since. Only one of three Ranger teams sent to quell them even came back at all, and that was because they were the only ones clever enough to book it in time.
I mentioned that there were less and less proper League challengers every year. There are two main culprits behind that : the internet, and Professor Oak. With the advent of hard scientific data on most pokemon's capacities, Oak's attempts at capturing the rough general capacities of an average member of the species in numerical values was only ever supposed to be a rough guide to their strengths and weakness. To a lot of lazier regulars, it was gospel. People started planning their competitive teams around these values, and for a while, training seemed easy. Popular team structures would spread over the internet like wildfire via popular battling news sites like Weezon, budding trainers could plan out their entire career… Until the Gym Leaders snapped.
In the modern age, Gym Leaders have had to surrender a lot of their traditional duties as community leaders to the actual authorities, and were mostly content with their role as whetstones for trainers looking to sharpen themselves, adapting their team to the challenger's strength according to how many badges they had on record. And when people started taking advantage of that, coming up with "ideal" paths saving the kinder Leaders for last, sharing their team compositions and strategies and all showing up with the same three copy-pasted teams they'd bought with their parents' money, they had enough. It started with the Leaders fo the Indigo and Silver Conferences holding an incognito closed-door meeting, and when they emerged… they'd all agreed to take the kiddie gloves off, and reminded people of the difference between Trainers and trainers. They brought their A-game every day, until the lesson stuck. Blue of Viridian was actually threatened with being removed from his position by the League after he went fifteen whole months without issuing a single Badge. Nowadays, they've mellowed out a bit, and you can still earn their Badge in defeat if you managed to impress them in battle.
As an aside, they have now become massively popular, as people finally understood again just how good you had to be to earn the spot.
Coming up with specialised training for every pokemon is hard work. As a result, most Trainers specialise in what is known as their theme. The most common kind of specialisation, of course, is by type, but even that is considered pretty broad, and often is the result of a trainer with a narrower scope broadening it a little bit for professional purposes — usually applying for a Leader position. Some specialise in amorphous pokemon, others in training basically mini-artillery, in bladed pokemon…
The theme doesn't necessarily have to do with the pokemon's species, either. It can come from the way you choose to train them, or from a quality of the individual rather than the species. A lot of Champions have one of these less obvious themes, hence why their teams might look a little mishmash. Keep in mind that those tend to be harder to manifest or keep in focus, or might rely on a talent unique to the Trainer. To spill the beans on Red and Blue, for example, theirs is respectively Fighting Spirit and Apex, and relied on the fact that Red could gauge the willpower and desire to struggle and win of a pokemon like absolutely no one else could, and that Blue has inherited from those Oak genes and that Oak education both the capacity to judge at a glance a pokemon's physical potential, picking only those that were absolute paragons of their species. Basically no one else could have raised the teams they had.
There are other tangible benefits to doing this, which you'll get to learn about soon enough, but suffice to say that while a narrower remit reduces your options, it isn't entirely without perks for the Trainer.
I've mentioned Named Pokemon — what do I mean by that ? Take Named Trainers, apply the same concept. Wild Pokemon are on the whole usually stronger than domesticated ones in the first place, and those who rise to the top of the heap in the more hostile environments are something else entirely. Combined with the fact that some species can live for a very long time, and they are bound to become the object of many a story, if not legend. Named Pokemon are basically geopolitical entities of their own, as smart and sapient as any human, watching over a territory that is usually scrupulously respected and quite often dealing in some manner of diplomacy with the neighbouring humans. When they get rowdy, you call the local leader, and for some of them you skip straight to the Elite Four.
And as part of the unwritten rules of Trainers everywhere… you don't capture them. Because they usually tend to have a lot of kids with great genes and a desire to prove themselves they'll never get an opportunity for stuck in their parent's shadow, because if you fail and piss them off there's a non-zero chance they'll wipe out the surrounding villages, because they usually keep their territory relatively stable and predictable in terms of what to expect when camping out, but most of all because they're much more useful as friends, contacts and acquaintances. The less territorial ones are always happy to give their children and wards strong opponents to train against (or to test themselves if the Trainer is good enough), passing Trainers are a good way for them to keep up to date with the wider world (it's usually common courtesy to tell them about interesting things you've seen on your travels if they let you stay around for the night) and provided they like you and you've impressed them, it's not rare for them to offer Trainers to take one of their brood or a pokemon in their territory with potential along, so that they can fulfill it.
On top of that, there are very often some less obvious benefits to training in a Named Pokemon's territory, but I'll leave explaining the whys to your mentor.
Rare pokemon are rare. This should go without saying, but yeah. They don't feel that rare to most people, because breeding exists, but out in the wild it's not exactly the same thing. And for those rarer pokemon (probably most iconically the big Dragon lines), the difference between even the best eugenically selected, domestically raised and trained ones with the wild ones is incomparable. The finest of domestic Milotics do just the best aquarium shows. An average wild one can sink an entire harbour effortlessly if you piss it off (which considering their famously even temper means the harbour probably deserved it). Not to mention that while the former is one of the most beautiful living creatures around, the latter completely eclipses it.
(Every year, the Sinnoh League makes a promotional calendar for the new League season with a Leader/Elite Four member for each month, and a cover with the Champion. Eight years ago, the theme was 'the beach' and the front cover was Cynthia with her wild-raised Milotic. They're still printing it to this day, and it's still selling out regularly, despite the fact they never even updated the year.)
You get the gist of it. The more convincingly you could claim it's a pseudo-Legendary (a distinction that's not really made anymore now that everything but the Legendaries gets bred), the bigger the gap between its domestic and wild version. When in doubt, use common sense — there are some exceptions (for example, wild Ninetales are near-mythical and you don't mess with them) but considering it's something you would know in-character, I don't mind answering questions if they crop up.
Legendaries are just that : legendary. They're gods, greater or lesser forces incarnate. They exist, that's a fact of life, and there are genuine recorded sightings of a fair amount of them, enough to know what they look like and the kind of stuff they do, but they're not exactly approachable and most of those who really tried to do just that… Well, the lucky ones found nothing. Not to mention that there's definitely hierarchical rungs, between, say, the Kanto bird trio and Dialga and Palkia. Arceus isn't God per se, but he is God's avatar for when he wants a physical presence, like a shard of his attention. Mew technically isn't a legendary, as it doesn't have any domain of its own but is instead the first "regular" pokemon. However, considering it had to be a blueprint for everything else it's a natural savant that can run rings around anything and anyone.
Don't concern yourself too much about them. It's certainly not impossible that you'll meet them, even likely that you'll run into one at some point — Trainers go in the places humans usually avoid, after all, but most importantly they like to keep an eye on proper Trainers who encroach on their territory/domain or who just catch their eye in passing. Most established Trainers have met one, even if it's usually the legendary showing up, going "hmm I guess you're okay" and moving on. As to why they'd show up for a decent Trainer over a top regular Battler… That's for you to find out.
Most Legendaries can actually breed and have children, though they're very very careful about descendants, and those are almost inevitably lesser compared to the 'prime'. If anything happens to the prime, its mantle is usually transferred to one of its descendants. Legendaries can however have 'regular' children of other species, who usually grow up to be significantly notable members of their species, though you in-quest don't know that, even if the rumours are there. Quite a few of the more famous Named Pokemon have some Legendary ancestry.
Fun fact that will not actually be relevant ever so I might as well stick it here : when Arceus urgently needs to make a specific pokemon for a given issue, he often grabs the nearest Mew and just spruces it up a little to fit. Dialga fucked up the timelines ? Here, let me make this gardener Mew and put it in charge of sprucing them up. Wishing upon a star has somehow become a widespread belief ? Here, this Mew is now a star cleric Mew. The humans have understood the potential of nuclear power ? Here, let me just make a Mew capable of harnessing that in case they go a little overboard with it.
Evolution comes in two flavours : dependant on internal factors, and dependant on external factors.
The first kind is usually not too much trouble. The most common and obvious example of it is by level-up, which here is just a matter of challenging yourself enough and growing enough that the pokemon moves on to the next stage of its growth. Note that I refer to 'challenge' and 'growth' here, as opposed to strength. Evolution certainly gives a large helping hand, but it's not necessarily in and itself a mark of having become better than any pre-evolution. It's why some fully evolved, mature housemons can get absolutely creamed by a well-trained baby pokemon (though with a disparity that big, good genes definitely help). Other evolutions dependant on internal factors include those that come from learning certain moves (Ancient Power, Double Hit...) or friendship. There's some complications compared to the in-game mechanics, but all of those are well-understood enough that you'll know about them and their specificities.
Trade evolutions not involving objects (i.e Alakazam, Machamp) actually fall under this category, but the requirement is a bit specific and you'll have to work out how to fulfill it by yourself. Thankfully, if you ask the right people they'll have the answer, though you'll need to find them.
The second kind is where shit gets complex.
The most obvious ones are Stone evolutions. Stones are basically crystallised Type Energy, except for when they aren't and that theory falls flat on its face (Moon and Sun Stones, for example), which science tries not to acknowledge. What you're doing when you evolve a pokemon with a Stone is you're cramming it so full of a given Type energy/whatever else that you forcefully kickstart the evolution process. This unanimously makes for significantly lesser evolved forms than the proper ones found in the wild, but people still use them because for a lot of those, no one has figured out how it's supposed to work. A select group of very, very good Trainers actually know why, and have done their very best to keep the scientific community the fuck away from the answer, because of the severe problems proper investigation of the phenomenon might cause. They're not just blindly gatekeeping, though : they'll guide and give tips to any Trainer they consider sufficiently promising to deserve a hand, and somehow even outright tell the answer if they've proven their character. Of course, there's some who abuse that power dynamic, but the Champions (who pretty much all know about this stuff) are surprisingly good at discrete internal policing.
Then there are what in-game would be object-related evolutions. The reason these happen is that these are the workarounds modern science has found for meeting requirements no one really understands. For example, in the case of Seadra, it involves a procedure where Dragon scales are forcibly grafted onto the pokemon and made to be recognised as native to the Seadra so that it begins to generate Dragon-type energy of its own, kickstarting the process of evolving into Kingdra. The actual way to accomplish this, as covered in the Pokedex entry, is held secret by the Dragon Clan, but this is actually the more extreme end of the scale. Accidental 'natural' evolutions into Steelix, Scizor, Electivire, etc... are for the most part occasionally witnessed, meaning that to a lucky and/or discerning trainer (or one with the right guidance) they aren't out of reach.
Then there is the weird shit. No one but the select, select few knows why tossing an Inkay into a tornado or a whirlpool or some other topsy-turvy life-threatening disaster can sometimes make them evolve into Malamar, but entirely too many died or were severely injured before experiments were halted. Don't ask about Shedinja. Seriously, don't mention its name. There have been cases, so rare as to be legendary, of trained Ninetales achieving a natural evolution. They're much stronger than Stone-evolved ninetales, and yet no one can explain why they are still utterly harmless compared to the disaster that are the centenarian wild Ninetales. What the hell marks a Feebas as different enough from the others it can become a Milotic ? Why will Mantykes never evolve in captivity ? Okay, for that last one, maritime trainers everywhere laugh at those scientists still looking for an answer, same as the people of Azalea do when people come to study the Slowpokes.
You get the point - some of this shit gets weird. It's possible for you to discover the evolution requirements of any and all pokemon, though I can't promise you'll always want to fulfil them in full, and some of them will make you work for them, potentially a lot.
You saved yourself a fair bit of headaches in that regard by choosing Melati as a mentor, if I'm honest.
Mega Evolution are absolutely a known and observed phenomenon in this world, but that's because the very best Trainers are almost all hyper-televised.
Mega stones and Keystones are not only hella rare, but they're prohibitively expensive when they end up on the market in the first place. Most Gym Leaders don't have Megas, even some Elite Four members don't. It's by no means impossible to get one - but you'll either need to strike it very, very rich and still outbid all the people richer than you for one of the very few that go one sale or (more likely) make a very positive impression on someone looking to pass along whatever stone they have to a worthy Trainer.
Mega Stones and Keystones are the symbol and crystallisation of a deep and very powerful bond of trust and friendship between trainer and pokemon. Most of the people who have one and actually made use of it will want to make sure it goes to someone who will appreciate that.
You in-quest can count on one hand the number of Trainers in Kanto and Johto you know have access to multiple Mega Evolutions, and it begins and ends with Red, Lance and Jasmine (and even she only had her second one on temporary loan because she was the only one who had an Ampharos strong enough to manage the process. It's gone to Unova and Elesa now, who's been training her Ampharos up to use it since then).
Speaking of, there are more requirements for Mega Evolution than "being a compatible species". Two, at a minimum : being so much stronger than average members of your species that it wouldn't actually be surprising if you evolved again, and having a bond of deep trust, comradeship and familiarity with your Trainer, because they're taking the extra energy from the Trainer in question and if the two aren't absolutely in tune the whole thing just won't gel. Think back about that Mega Ampharos tidbit in the dex : in the entire regions, only one Ampharos met these two criteria well enough to manage the process. And sure, part of that is definitely because Ampharos isn't a particularly popular pokemon for professional Trainers, but that's still a pretty big indicator.
All this to say... You can get a Mega Evolution in this quest, absolutely, if some way down the line. Two, maybe, if you're very, very supremely lucky. But if you're expecting a full team of megas... You're probably going to get disappointed.
Abilities are, for most intent and purposes, in-game representations of things unique to a given pokemon species that can't be reflected in its moveset. To use two examples from the dex pages I have up and running, things like Mareep charging its fur with static and Seadra's fins having poisonous spikes becoming the Static and Poison Point Abilities respectively.
That means that a pokemon doesn't "have" a given Ability, the way it would in-game. To stick with Seadra, it can be turned into a hyper-precise sharpshooter (Sniper) and have its poisonous fins (Poison Point), because they're both aspects of the species that aren't mutually exclusive.
Of course, some abilities are more arcane than others, or more innate. Obviously things like Poison Point wouldn't require any training, but some of them might before they become actually useful. Some might be useful right off the bat, but might be made even stronger by training, or be turned from a fringe benefit into the core of a fighting style.
There are a bit too many Abilities to go into a full breakdown of which one's which, but honestly a lot of them work off of common sense. For those that don't, I'm always happy to answer questions, though expect the more esoteric ones belonging to rare pokemon/legendaries to remain mostly mysterious.
Joan
Trainer Archetype : Soft Boi
Soft Boi Joan wants to battle!
Profession : Trainer Age : 21 Moniker : N/A Hometown : Violet City Education : BA (Hons) Mythological Studies, Violet City University (VCU)
Titles : Regional Youth Champion for Johto (U13, U15), Johto Youth League Summer Invitational Champion (U14)
Competitive record : N/A
Youth competitive record :
Champion : Regional Youth Circuit, Johto (2007, U13 category ; 2009, U15 category), Johto Youth League Summer Invitational (2008, U14 category)
Runner-up : Regional Youth Circuit, Johto (2008, U14 category ; 2010, U16 category), Johto Youth League Summer Invitational (2007, U13 category ; 2010, U16 category)
Third Place: Regional Youth Circuit, Johto (2011, U17 category) Johto Youth League Summer Invitational (2009, U15 category)
Other notable placements : Regional Youth Circuit Johto (4th place in 2012, U19 category), Johto Youth League Summer Invitational (4th place in 2011, U17 category ; 6th place in 2012, U19 category) Battle for Tohjo Falls! Youth League Showdown! (4th place in 2009, U15 category ; 6th place in 2011, U17 category ; top 16 in 2012, U19 category)
Moniker: The Snake Charmer Theme: The Majesty of Serpents. Following her encounter with the Prime Rayquaza, Melati's team was built around the singular desire to reach that level of glory and share it with the world, alongside snakes and serpents who share her ambition.
- All pokemon are snakes or serpents
- All pokemon have at least one of Beautiful, Graceful or a notable physical Trait (i.e. Large)
- All pokemon have the Proud Trait Entrance theme for competitive matches: Would like it to be Guajira Cubana - Sexteto La Playa. Usually gets God of the Dead - Hades OST instead.
Appearance: Very tall and lithe, with long dark blue hair, though anything further tends to be hidden by the strange robe-like clothing she tends to favour. Often bedecked in jewellery, for reasons she never elaborates on, which contributes in no small part to her reputation as a strange and exotic mystic - despite being from Olivine. Inherited a little of her mother's more tan complexion (she's originally from Pacifidlog in Hoenn), but her skin tone is hardly the first thing one notices about her face. Instead, it's her sharp, almost angular features - including some serious cheekbone - and the ocean blue eyes which match her hair that catch one's attention. Walks with poise, no little amount of grace and an excellent straight-backed posture, which only serves to further emphasise her height and how intimidating she can actually be up close.
Having seen her in training mode outside of her public look, you can also add that she is absolutely jacked. With a build and musculature very similar to that of long or triple jumpers, you've known actual athletes that don't have her muscle definition. That said, she's more dense than buff - she's actually whipcord-thin, and built all in length. Also, while her hair usually disappears inside her robe, you can confirm that it's actually over waist-length.
You've also learned that her bond with her pokemon has altered her physique somewhat. She is unnaturally flexible and has a preternaturally strong core, and beyond her more reserved tendencies part of the reason she smiles and laughs so rarely is to hide the distinct fang-like appearance of her canines and the small split of her tongue. Whilst you wouldn't call her cold-blooded, she also does seem very sensitive to temperature and prone to seek out sunlight.
Bio: Burst into public consciousness at a very young age, after the Feebas and Magikarp she caught when she was ten on holiday and insisted on keeping and training evolved into wildborn Milotic and Gyarados barely three years later. Is considered a training savant for having controlled both notoriously prideful and potentially destructive pokemon as a child, without any recorded incident. Became a professional Trainer as soon as it was legal to, but is widely understood to have been living that life for years before. Very famous in Johto, mostly for her Milotic and the shows she put on, which earned her the moniker she so dislikes.
Despite her fame, and a general acknowledgment that she can't be a slouch at her level of training, she gets a lot less respect for her training talents than most other Named Trainers from the public at large. Having seen her pokemon, however, you understand what they don't : she just doesn't really care about the recognition. The Training community knows her for what she is : maybe not the most versatile or reliable Trainer, but one of the very best in the entirety of Johto.
You have since learned that her fascination with serpents arose when she witnessed the Prime Rayquaza in the flesh at the age of ten, presumably on the same holiday she ended catching her two first pokemon and deciding to train them. Contrary to what her being allowed to keep and train pokemon so young might imply, her parents were not in fact particularly enthused by her choices.
She is fairly private, but you're pretty sure she is friends with Jasmine and Crystal, and has a bone to pick Falkner and Bugsy. Might also be a friend of Karen, but you're less certain of that one.
Pokemon:
- F Milotic (Jura) (Ace)
- M Gyarados (Pep) (Ace)
- F Serperior (Manasa)
- M Arbok (Nekeh)
- M Seviper (Yero)
- F Sandaconda (Yasigi)
Name: Joy Profession: Nurse Joy (Silverwing Village Pokemon Centre)
Moniker: 'Best Joy' (self-proclaimed in your contact list)
Appearance: I mean, if you've ever seen a Nurse Joy, you know what she's look like. According to her, she's of course clearly different from her sisters, but obviously she refused to elaborate as to how. She did say you could easily tell by the mole on her right shoulder, which would be more useful information if not for the fact that the Nurse Joy uniform doesn't show any shoulder.
She's about of an age with you - you obviously didn't ask it straight, but you're putting it at about two years older than you, give or take a few months either way. You've also found her to be much more expressive with her emotions, with exuberant faces and body language you wouldn't normally associate with her sisters, and to your secret pleasure looks to actually be smaller than you, even if it's by an inch or so.
Bio: The youngest of any Joy active in Johto in a managerial position, she didn't get that honour by dint of being exceptional at her job. In fact, in her age group she was apparently considered the worst at customer service, and so when the Silverwing nurse retired they just figured it was the perfect occasion to saddle her somewhere more laid-back and out-of-the-way while the occasion presented itself, where her lapses in professionalism weren't likely to cause trouble.
For all her grumbling about working in one the least active Centres in the world period, she's actually come to enjoy her posting, especially when she can work normal shifts and actually has spare time to take advantage of the beach and the local nature. The presence of one of her childhood nannies in Arabella the Blissey and the fact this particular Centre runs far more like a hostel than a a medical facility have helped make it feel like home to her.
She did her apprenticeship in Alola, at the Hau'oli Pokemon Centre, and admits that while she can't blame all her more laid-back habits on that time it definitely comforted her in some of them. It's also where she got her taste for the beach and good booze, and where she caught her two pokemon, a Comfey and a Cutiefly.
Known Pokemon:
- M Comfey (Kama)
- F Cutiefly (Nyssa)
Relationship: Rival you guess ? You haven't seen him in years, but you definitely didn't get along great the last time you did.
Moniker: N/A Theme: Favours a more defensive tactical approach overall, but very much subscribed to the competitive theory of team building. Entrance theme for competitive matches: Centuries - Fall Out Boy. What a tool.
Appearance: With his stupid dyed blonde hair, you guess he'd be considered a sort of teen-movie-jock-lead attractive, or maybe in that trendy influencer kind of way. The quick mugshot you saw of him makes it clear that unlike you, he kept on growing, and he's definitely filled out more muscle since his more lanky days. But the barely contained nervous belligerence, the stubborn cast of his features, those haven't changed since your teenage years.
Unlike when you were both younger, though, he seems to carry himself with a bit more self-confidence. His boisterousness when you were kids reeked of quite a few insecurities, but the man in the picture definitely has more poise to him. It's probably just the picture though.
Bio: What's there to say ? Not like you really know his life. You must have been… twelve the first time you met ? Thereabouts, anyhow. He was a student at the Mahogany Town Trainer School, and someone you'd regularly meet on the regional school scene. He developed an at first one-sided hostile rivalry with you, as the luck of draw saw the two of you face a number of times in those early years, and actually saw you win all six of your first confrontations. Not because he lacked talent (you'll grudgingly admit he's got good battle instincts) but simply because he was too hot-headed and too rash to overcome your calmer approach.
You never thought much of him aside from being a familiar face until you both hit fifteen or thereabouts, and growing up and experience brought him a certain level-headedness that saw him actually even up your confrontations and (loathe as you are to admit it) eventually edge them out by the time you were finishing up school. Being in that weird spot where he carried a fair bit of negative baggage about you but still respected you as one of his few peers in your age category, his interactions with you started to hit that strange sour spot between hanging out with you as someone he considered to be 'in the crowd' yet permanently needling you. At least, that's what you assume happened because you don't know why he kept hanging around otherwise. You very quickly grew to dislike him in turn, and things sort of kept snowballing until suddenly school was over and you never saw each other again.
It seems that after a gap year to put together tournament-minimum team of three, he started competing in minor league tournaments, a circuit he's still in to this day, albeit as one of the higher ranks. The Joys seem to believe he'll either get drafted by an outfit or work his own way up to the major circuit some time soonish, though probably not before next year.
Relationship: Friendly sort-of-rival, though it's been years since you last saw him, and the two of you were never all that hung up about which one of you was better.
Moniker: N/A Theme: Has never been shy in saying his passion was flying pokemon, but since you never saw him fight with a non-rental theme you don't know more. Entrance theme for competitive matches: Lullaby of Birdland — Ella Fitzgerald
Appearance: You're self-aware enough to know you're jealous of him, because he's always managed to pull off that sort of softer, dreamy look that still somehow gets people to take him seriously. Mid-length light brown hair, fair features and willowy build would definitely give off a more androgynous vibe if they weren't betrayed by the sharpness of some of the lines in his face and the corded muscle you remember him having — the traditional Johtonese formal haori hakama uniform Falkner imposes to his Gym doesn't let you see whether he's kept it, but you can't imagine why not.
It's kind of funny to see him wearing that, considering he very much used to dress like he was the guitarist of every teenage indie band ever put together, complete with the numerous colourful bracelets, loose v-necks, skinny jeans and dyed strands in his hair.
The man in the picture Joy shows you looks definitely more focused and serene than the flighty and somewhat laissez-faire boy you remember, though, but that could just be Falkner putting them through customer service training.
Bio: Rocco was a bit of an exception on the youth trainer school circuit, for his more relaxed attitude than most of you, but also for his origin. Alto Mare is a Johto territory in name only, after all, being technically a protectorate, if one with virtually unlimited autonomy. The trainer school there tends to do its own thing, and from what you heard he actually had to jump through a couple of administrative hoops to compete with you all. It probably helped that he was arguably the best in Johto for your generation, anyway.
He came onto the circuit a bit later than you did — you must have just turned fourteen, thereabouts — and quickly became a mainstay. Although at first you'd have put him slightly below you and Dahlia, it quickly became clear that was due to the rental format of the whole thing. Give him a Flying-type, and he was a veritable wizard. By the time you all graduated, you'd have felt comfortable calling him the best battler your age you'd ever met.
Although you'd never have called him a close friend, he was someone you got along with and usually one of the people you'd hang out with the most on tournament trips. He was nice, witty and one of the few who didn't tease you for looking younger than everyone else, but he also, well, there's no real other way to put it than the fact he was kind of… A fuckboy ? No, that was too harsh, but definitely a very flirty and popular slick-talker who wasn't big on responsibility or self-reflection. Getting caught in all the drama around him was often exhausting and sometimes very awkward. That said, he wasn't mean-spirited or even particularly selfish, he just kept failing to realise that his stance on openness and being a free spirit wasn't shared by all the people he interacted with.
As long as you've known him, he's always been open about his dream to become a Flying-type Gym Leader, so despite not having seen him in years you're not surprised to see he took up a position under Falkner, even if you can't see him staying in one place for too long — he'd always said he'd take the years until he was good enough as an opportunity to travel. Shame you didn't keep up with him — you'd have probably tried meeting up if you knew he'd made it to Violet.
Known Pokemon: You can only find footage of him using a Masquerain and Emolga, but you know for a fact he got a Rufflet Egg as an eighteenth birthday present, and he carries a fourth pokeball in his official profile on the Gym website.
Relationship: Friendly sort-of-rival, last you saw her ? Though you guess the fact you didn't keep in touch with her after graduation makes it clear you weren't the closest of friends. You did part on slightly awkward notes.
Moniker: N/A Theme: Although you've never seen her really using anything other than rentals, her style has always consisted of being as in-your-face, pure offence as possible as a smokescreen to hide her tricks. As her CV apparently lists a stint under Roxie in Virbank City, you feel pretty safe in assuming she has some affinity for Poison-types too. Entrance theme for competitive matches: Deep Purple - House of Pain
Appearance: You don't have a clue how to describe Dahlia. At first glance, she looks kind of plain, with flat features, the kind of straight brown hair you can find on an endless amount of people and a slightly too-long mouth which gives her freckled face kind of a menacing look when she's smiling wide.
That's overlooking a few key things, though. First, the fact that this mostly applies to when she's dressing down, something you've personally only witnessed a couple of times. Most of the time, Dahlia looks expensive. Her fashion sense has always been ridiculously on point, even back when you were both twelve, and she's never been scared to spend in its name. What's more, she infuriatingly always manages to toe the line perfectly between looking stylish as fuck and looking like a tryhard, meaning you've never managed to call her out on it.
The other thing that's impossible to miss — especially for you, considering she's been lording it over you ever since you hit fourteen — is that she's tall. Like, really really tall. She had a whole twenty-five centimetres on you the last time you met, and you haven't exactly grown much since. The fact that she's been on the more willowy side ever since you've known her somehow contributes to making it look like she's permanently towering above you, too — although the woman in the picture has at least filled out a bit in the past few years in the muscle and the body department both, even if she's still very much all length.
Bio: Dahlia Eaglesfield has the kind of background you'd expect the mean girl in a high school drama to have, and the complete opposite personality. Her father comes from a line of shipping magnates — more specifically, the first member of Johto's early 19th century Unova diaspora to realise that there was no established shipping route from Castelia to Johto — and his family has had more money than they know what to do with for generations. With her being a third child, with the much older two having already shown an interest in taking over the family trade, she was free to put her considerable resources towards whatever she wanted.
In her case, becoming a competitive battler. Dahlia was arguably the biggest competitive battling nerd you'd ever met, the kind who rushed to finish her homework as a kid so she could catch old Conference reruns on those pay-per-view battle channels, and by the time you met her she'd long decided that with the power of money she'd hack it there herself. Not that you resent her for it — if you'd had those kind of funds at your disposal, you would have absolutely used them too.
Besides, it's not like she didn't have the talent or the work ethic — your very first meeting was in the semi-final of both of you's very first inter-school tournament, in the U13 bracket. She'd taken your victory quite personally, and regular meetings after that which could always go one way or the other soon turned her into your OG rival, especially since you were both pretty much the top dogs in your age group. Rocco's arrival broke up that dynamic a bit, and with less on the line between the two of you, that rivalry morphed into a sort of banter-heavy friendship, especially once Duncan also rose to you guys' level.
It turned out that despite her driven personality and rich background, Dahlia was surprisingly chill to hang out with, and happy to share in her passion. There were plenty of things you didn't see eye-to-eye on, and you don't think you've ever gotten along with a single one of her other friends, but eventually she alongside Rocco became one of the people you hung out with the most when you were fifteen/sixteen. A couple of arguments handled with all the grace of teenagers soured things a bit between you, and though you'd mostly patched things up by the time graduation rolled around, some of the lingering awkwardness was definitely part of why you didn't really keep up afterwards.
Apparently, she went off the grid for a bit after graduation — which knowing her means she probably hired a Trainer for private tutoring for a year or something — and popped back on the map as a junior Gym trainer in Virbank under Roxie. Surprisingly early, but with no need to earn money and enough budget to buy the Eggs she'd want (and perhaps even actual Trainer-raised 'mons, she did always prefer the battling to the training) you suppose she had the talent to hack it once she got the tools. A few months ago, she left Virbank to return to Johto, where she was drafted into her hometown's actual major league battler team, although as an understudy. So far, she's not had the opportunity to show her mettle.
Known Pokemon: Her profile on the BC Olivine website shows the Meditite she's had since childhood is now a Medicham, but you don't know what's inside any of her other four pokeballs — though you can safely assume there are at least two Poison-types in there.
Name: Rosalie Carafa Profession: Professional Trainer, Competitive Battler (currently serving out suspension)
Relationship: Melati asked her to give you some pointers for battling. Thinks you're pretty funny and that you at least have the mettle to not be boring. Also vastly amused at the idea that Melati ended up picking what's looking to be like a mini-Jasmine by accident.
Moniker: The Armsmistress, The Scarlet Knight (formerly) Theme: En Garde! — Pokemon who wield or have natural weapons similar to those wielded by humans in medieval times, and trained specifically first and foremost in the use of said weapons. The pokemon must have been trained by herself in the use of said weapons. Entrance theme for competitive matches: Ante Up - M.O.P., Seven Seas of Rhye - Queen (formerly)
Appearance: Larger than life in more than the storybook way. Easily clearing six feet, broad-shouldered and well-muscled, with expansive and communicative body language, the loud-booming laugh symptomatic of a voice that always carries far even when it's trying to be quiet, you sort of wonder where the character begins and the person ends — and whether, there was ever much of a difference, or if it all just blended over time. Either way, she looks exactly the part of what she portrays : a mighty warrior straight out of another time, full of life and boisterous cheer.
In person, she eschews her traditional 'stage getup', so to say, of the many variants on her plate armour (gotta keep switching things around to justify making new merch), in favour of simple workout clothes, although it seems the famous giant braid she styles her red hair in is in fact a permanent fixture — which really brings out her green eyes, as you're sure many a lonely teenage boy staring at her merch has realised.
Bio: Even if you'd not been a fan — and you don't really know anyone who attended Trainer School in the same sort of age bracket as you and wasn't — you'd probably at least know the basics.
Born to a working-class family in Alto Mare, to a father with a rap sheet longer than the queue for Erika's Gym doing petty minion work for various bigger fishes, she showcased an aptitude for roughhousing very young her father encouraged by signing her up for boxing — which she was a natural at, but didn't particularly enjoy, before a quirk of fate put her on her way.
Due to a peculiarity of the way Alto Mare's school districts are cut (which is commonly understood as 'due to bribery by some shady type on her father's behalf for years of loyal services'), she ended up falling in the district for one of the best and nicest public establishments in Alto Mare. Just enough to give her a little up in life, except that this school, being very old and somewhat traditional, had a traditional fencing club — the pastime of choice of the Alto Mare elite. Rosalie obviously didn't enter it — not when there was a functional boxing club — but a couple of years later, when they entered 'nationals', said club, already possessing very few members, was struck by injuries and found itself with only three members able to compete.
Needing a fourth in order to enter the team brackets, they cast their net about schools with the other sport clubs for top athletes wishing to fill in the spot, and Rosalie did it so she could ditch classes for a couple of days (her own words). Seeing as she was coming along anyway, they gave her a crash course on the rules and entered her for the singles rounds, and very quickly came to an embarrassing realisation : even with her lacking experience, she was obviously supremely talented. Against all expectations (and to the dam of most of the crowd and participants, who clearly saw her as one not 'of the proper sort'), she ended up blitzing to victory in the singles competition despite being both inexperienced and the youngest competitor, earning her choice of top prize, between a sizeable bundle of cash and a sword containing a nascent baby Honedge. To the surprise of many, she picked the Honedge, and this is where things get a bit spotty.
It's known her choice of prize caused a scene with her father, who'd wanted her to pick the cash, then she disappears off the grid for a little while, reappears for a stint in juvie after exerting her right to self-defence a little too enthusiastically, leaves, returns to juvie again for a very odd and unclear story about a four-way streetfight, until she finally returns to 'normal' life at Alto Mare's Training School, sponsored by a Trainer with a well-known past as an enforcer for a local mafioso and fees mysteriously payed in full despite being arguably too steep for her family.
Graduates with honours, if a disciplinary record, then goes off the grid for a few years, only to return at the All-Alto Mare Invitational as the beneficiary of a wildcard to make her debut as the Scarlet Knight. Storms to victory there and leaves at the assault of Johto proper the following year. Terrorises the circuit in her first year, until people start catching up with her techniques, but still qualifies for the Silver Conference, where she finishes in the top 16 for her first participation — she'll never score lower in eleven participations. The next year, she'll finish second of the regular circuit and the Conference both, and after that will never actually compete for ranking in the regular circuit again.
From that point onwards, she will exclusively seek qualification for her Conference of choice by Gym Badges, which she'll only ever fail to obtain once (a year she goaded Blue into going all-out against her and not issuing her a badge unless she beat him — her best result in four challenges was a 3-0 defeat), and only competed in events she felt like attending, switching to a much more identifiable Trainer lifestyle, one where competitive Battling took much less of a spot.
Rumours abound that the reason of this switch away from regular competition was a breakdown in relations with her dodgier backers in Alto Mare, but you wouldn't know whether that's true — the general consensus either way is that she looks much happier as a wandering Trainer.
Some years after her debut, she was sort of forced to change her stage persona from the Scarlet Knight to the less virtuous Armsmistress, on account of her sulfurous past exploits somewhat ruining the valiant champion image she'd first played on. Alongside that change towards a more rough-and-tumble warrior image, she also switched to a more abrasive and fight-happy on-stage persona, which most people agree is much more in keeping with her actual character.
A few months back, she was banned from the professional circuit for a year after being found to organise and take part in cage matches over in Goldenrod, where it's since come out she was an underground champion too.
Known Pokemon: Alongside her already rare Aegislash starter, is the only trainer with a professional license on League record to own a Kleavour, and one of the only ones to own a wildborn Kabutops. It pays to have connections, you guess, but considering some of the richest people on the entire planet have tried and failed to pry the secrets of either of those's locations… That can't explain it all. Also known to have a Marowak, Escavalier and Decidueye. You've discovered she is also in the process of raising a Pawniard, Ronnie, as an eventual seventh member of her team.
Name : Cassiopeia Species : Nidoqueen Domain : The cliffs overlooking Cherrygrove Bay at the North end of Route 32 Known points of contact : Melati Meriwether, Falkner, ???
Relationship : Thinks you're alright and that you look a lot like your Mareep
Bio : Once half of a mated Nidoking/Nidoqueen pair that ruled over the local Nidoran, she one day saw her other half decide that he alone should be in charge. After he challenged her to either ante up or fall in line, she defeated him in a fight and tore off his head, which even to this day is displayed above her throne. Although she is young and on the weaker side by Named standards, she's still the undisputed ruler of the local area.
A queen she may be, but very much of the warrior variety : littered with scars that she wears with pride, her throne is surrounded by various trophies taken off pokemon who challenged her authority, and there's something about her vaguely reminiscent of some kind of bandit lord, for better and worse.
Others
(don't mind the floppy ears)
Name: Elena Mononobe Profession: Named Trainer
Relationship: N/A
Moniker: The Poacher Theme: Trappers and ambush predators. Is known to have trained more 'conventional' hunters, but the thrill she shares with her pokemon lies in the exact moment her prey springs a carefully prepared trap. Entrance theme for competitive matches: Thinks it's a stupid idea and repeatedly asks not to get any. Has instead been saddled with A Rose for the Crows - Turbowolf, and hates it with a passion.
Known Pokemon: Vileplume, Ariados, Eelektross
Name: Simon Beauchat Profession: Named Trainer
Relationship: N/A
Moniker: Trainer to the Trite and Banal Theme: Unloved, common or easily dismissed Normal Types. His passion as a Trainer lies in finding potential in the least well-considered pokemon of the 'most boring Type', and turning them into any discerning Battler's envy. Entrance theme for competitive matches:Same to you - Melody Gardot when he's serious. Gogo's Goggles - Alain Goraguer when he's showing off for rich people, Cats on Mars - Yoko Kanno and Seatbelts when his opponent tried trash talking his preferences in pokemon.
Known Pokemon: Furret, Spinda
Name: Jasmine Profession: Olivine City Gym Leader
Relationship: N/A - Melati's best friend
Moniker: The Steel-Clad Defense Girl (known to dislike it, doesn't care enough to change it) Theme: Zone Defense. Jasmine's main Type wasn't even Steel, but Electric, and she had forays with Rock too before she ever touched Steel. Her passion ever since she started training her Mareep starter has been in magnetic fields and how they interact with each other and the world around them — and more precisely their myriad uses as a battlefield control and defensive tool, which she uses to make insurmountable bulwarks out of her pokemon. Steel just happens to mesh well with her preferences for defensive combat, and she didn't want to compete with Surge on the joint Kanto/Johto circuit.
- All pokemon have some affinity for sensing, manipulating or interacting with magnetic fields
- All pokemon have the Battle Affinity (Defense) Trait or an evolved/compiled derivative Trait
- All pokemon either have the Heightened Senses (Magnetic), Heightened Control (Magnetic) or Disruptor (Magnetic) Trait, or an evolved/compiled derivative Trait
- All pokemon have the Nurturing or Protector Trait Entrance theme for competitive matches:Shine On - House of Love
Known Pokemon: Steelix, Ampharos, Magneton, Probopass, Electivire, Raichu
Name: Falkner Profession: Violet City Gym Leader
Relationship: N/A
Moniker: The Elegant master of Flying Pokemon Theme: My Father's Pride. Falkner idolises his father and the bird pokemon he raised, and wants the world to witness the beauty he sees in them.
- All pokemon are birds
- All pokemon have the Graceful Trait
- All pokemon were previously owned and raised by his father, or are direct descendants of those Entrance theme for competitive matches:Tsugaru Jongara Bushi - Takeshi 'Terry' Takeuchi & Blue Jeans
Known Pokemon: Pidgeot, Noctowl, Skarmory, Honchkrow, Xatu, Fearow
Name: Misty Profession: Cerulean City Gym Leader
Relationship: N/A
Moniker: The Tomboyish Mermaid (formerly), the Siren of Cerulean Theme: A Tsunami Cometh. Misty comes from a sleepy little seaside town full of indolent people where she was expected not to make waves. She hated it, and instead grew up playing and competing with the local Water-types of the Cape. She was determined to make it to the top and be herself, and that translated to a hyper-aggressive, ultra-offensive battle style all about obliterating any obstacle in her path, as free to be as brash and forward as she wants alongside the only ones who accepted her as she was as a kid.
- All pokemon are Water-types known to be at least occasionally found at Cerulean Cape
- All pokemon have the Battle Affinity (Offense) and Vigorous Traits, or an evolved/compiled derivative Trait
- All pokemon have the Gladiator Trait
- ??? Entrance theme for competitive matches:Connection - Elastica, formerly Piss Factory - Patti Smith (very shortly, before the Kanto Broadcasting Standards Authority forced her to change it after her first broadcast match received a lot of complaints)
Known Pokemon: Starmie, Golduck, Gyarados, Lapras, Seaking, Lanturn
Name: Karen Profession: Unified Silver/Indigo Conference Elite Four member
Relationship: N/A
Moniker: Mistress of the Night Theme: Respect the Nightwalkers. Daughter to a high-class escort, Karen has never been shy about her background and her open admiration for the coterie of strong women who made up Goldenrod's night scene that she grew up with. That's why all her pokemon are females of primarily nocturnal species, particularly Dark-types which she associates with being strong and tough, and are all named after people she knows and respect from that scene.
- All pokemon are primarily nocturnal in Johto, with a preference for Dark-types
- All pokemon are female (bar her Umbreon, her starter and a gift from her mother)
- All pokemon have the Proud Trait
- ??? Entrance theme for competitive matches:Spellbound - Siouxsie and the Banshees
Known Pokemon: Umbreon, Houndoom, Honchkrow, Absol, Vileplume, Gengar
Moniker: The Shining Gem, one of the New Bark Three Theme: Cuteness is Strength. Marina was very much raised to become a competitive Battler despite her own love for Contests, at a time where those were still marginal at best and considered markedly inferior — either you had cute show pokemon, or strong battlers. Her team was explicitly built around showing all the people who believed that wrong, and that you could raise pokemon for Contests and still make terrific battlers out of them. Because that's also what she wanted for herself : respect for her strength, without having to abandon her cute side.
- All pokemon have the Singer, Dancer, Graceful and Cute Traits
- All pokemon have either the Beautiful or Good-looking Trait
- All pokemon have either the Gladiator or Keyfabe Trait
- All pokemon come from species which Marina considers cute Entrance theme for competitive matches:Atomic - Blondie
Known Pokemon: Feraligatr, Misdreavus, Jigglypuff, Togetic, Jynx
Name: Otsuya Taira Profession: Businesswoman
Relationship: N/A
Moniker: The Strongest Hobbyist, Queen Bitch (by her peers) Theme: If there was a Royal-type, she'd be its Gym Leader. Her team is famously only composed of female pokemon from species with strong association to monarchy and/or leadership. Entrance theme for competitive matches: She is above such frivolities.
Known Pokemon: Her full team is public knowledge.
- F Vespiquen (Asantewa) (Ace)
- F Kangaskhan (Mandukhai) (Ace)
- F Nidoqueen (Shajar) (Ace)
- F Tsareena (Lakshmi)
- F Empoleon (Zetian)
- F Slowking (Kahina)
Name : Kigali, the Mountain Mother, Mother Serpent, the Underqueen Species : Steelix Domain : Nominally Dark Cave, but her tunnels run from the feet of Blackthorn to Tohjo Falls Known points of contact : Melati Meriwether, Falkner, Jasmine, Dragon Clan, Sprout Tower
Relationship : N/A
Bio : Whenever someone tries to establish some kind of ranking of the region's Named pokemon, no one is ever quite sure of where to put Kigali, the gigantic eldest of the Steelix, for the simple reason that the last recorded sighting of her fighting was at least five whole generations ago — and even that was just a report of the earth shaking and of devastated tunnels.
The local tribes of the areas that would later become New Bark, Violet and even parts of Blackthorn, far before even the notion of a united Johto existed, already worshipped her, exchanging gifts and tributes for safe passage through the caves. She's been Named for at least five or six centuries, and the tunnels she carved out hundreds of years ago for her own comfort are still an integral part of Johto's road infrastructure.
Kigali is a bit of an odd duck in that unlike almost every Named, she has never been known to particularly seek self-improvement or challenges, having apparently grown content with what she'd carved for herself centuries ago and is nowadays usually quite happy to stay in her lair and watch over her young — the recurrent references to her maternal role are no fanciful fabrication, as she's known to be unusually doting on the young Onix who hatch from her eggs.
It's also been speculated that the reason she is never really seen fighting is that at her power level, any serious combat would completely collapse everything she's carved and built for herself were she to do it in the vicinity of her home.
One of the most well-known and famous of Johto's Named pokemon, even if not many may actually know much about her, and possibly the one whose actions have had the greatest positive impact on the humans of Johto as a whole.
Prefers to be left alone, but known to house and entertain passing Trainers for a night or two — though rarely ever more than that, and always some distance away from her young.
Name : Ophion Species : Milotic Domain : Hoenn's seas. No, really, that's as precise as it gets, though it's most commonly sighted in the stretch between Pacifidlog and Sootopolis. Known points of contact : Melati Meriwether, Juan, Wallace, 'Pike Queen' Lucy
Relationship : N/A
Bio : Not all that much is known about Ophion, and not being from Hoenn you've never even bothered to learn all of it. Still one of the more famous Named anywhere, because it's a damn Milotic and the one widely acknowledged to be the most beautiful of them all. If ever there was a top five of the most beautiful Milotic (a species that would already be one of the top contenders for first place in a top five of most beautiful of all pokemon), it's only serious competition for the top spot would be Cynthia's Milotic, and that would be on outsider odds.
Having first properly appeared about fourty to fifty years ago, it's the whole package : huge, ridiculously graceful, powerful, eager to show off and it's even shiny — if Milotic perfection had a beauty standard, he would be it. Although he shares most of his species' famous peaceful and friendly temperament, he is known to be exceptionally vain and to take anyone upstaging him personally. Loves attention, and often shows off for passing boats and ferries
Wallace's Milotic is famously one of his children.
Name : Akashi, the Red Gyarados, Tyrant of the Lake, That Fucking Gyarados Species : Gyarados Domain : Lake of Rage Known points of contact : Melati Meriwether, Pryce, Ethan 'Gold' Kowalski, technically Lance but you only want these two within with three miles of each other if everybody's been cleared out of the surrounding area
Relationship : N/A
Bio : In many ways, Akashi has no business being this high up the list. It's very young, for one, or at least it is for a Named — it's still older than you — and the area it rules over is, by all means, shared with the local fishermen, even if they tend to leave the centre of the Lake alone. But Akashi is also several things that saw him earned his Named status earlier than just about any pokemon you could care to name.
While the Lake of Rage has long been a famous Magikarp breeding ground, it'd been centuries since the last Gyarados was sighted. It's just too peaceful an environment to provide the kind of tough challenge the famously mediocre fish pokemon needs to transcend itself. However, one thing the local fishermen knew was that there was one unnaturally bellicose Magikarp in the lot you simply didn't mess with : the golden one. It outsmarted any attempt at catching it, and most importantly it ruled that lake as much as a Magikarp can. It was known to pick fights — and win them — and also to put down any attempt what few non-Magikarp species which showed interest made of settling in the lake.
When Team Rocket attempted the disastrous live tests of its forced evolution technology, it finally received the impetus needed to become a Gyarados… Alongside an entire lake previously full of Magikarp which had also just evolved. Newly evolved Gyarados, rendered ultra-aggressive by the pain the evolution broadcast caused. Dozens upon dozens of new Gyarados eager to challenge the former top dog.
Funnily enough, at first the Rockets' experiment was thought to be a failure. Lance and Gold managed to put it down, and then headed to the Lake to quell one of the few specimen the broadcast had seemed to work on, a rampaging red Gyarados whose battle with the current Champion and the challenger who came closest to his crown was by all account awe-inspiring. That alone had been worth a successful high-budget action movie and two TV specials, but it was upon dragging the depths for the ships which sank during the rampage that they uncovered the most unbelievable part.
Dozens of fresh Gyarados corpses, some of which had turned upon each other, but most of which had been torn to shreds by the very force of nature they'd tried to topple asunder. The reason there hadn't been a major disaster caused by a horde of rampaging Gyarados was because none of the newly-evolved rage monsters had wanted to submit to Akashi, and he had fought all these would-be challengers to the death. Quite possibly at the same time.
Akashi is a freak of nature, and besides Old Bertha in Ilex Forest arguably the one considered to be the single most dangerous Named in Johto. It usually sleeps at the centre of its Lake, but without a regular outlet for his rage provided by strong Trainers which come to test themselves by challenging him, will fly into an uncontrollable fury which usually requires calling up the heavy hitters — usually Lance — to quell.
Pokedex
0-151 :
These small Poison-type rodents are a very curious pair, and a scientific mystery in that despite everything which would indicate otherwise, gene sequencing confirmed that they aren't an example of more extreme sexual dimorphism but in fact two wholly separate mono-gendered species down to the genetic level.
Despite this little factoid, differences between the two remain relatively small. They share a Type, body shape and only really vary in the details. The male Nidoran's poisonous spines are bigger, as is the horn on its head, and it tends to prefer relying on them when on the offence, whilst relying on the excellent hearing granted by its large ears to stay alert. Female Nidoran, on the other hand, prefer to use their teeth and claws to force a grapple with their opponent, relying on the close contact to force them to rub on their own poisonous barbs, and trust their excellent smell to stay aware of their surroundings. Typically, the female's poison is considered more potent than the male's, and extremely dangerous to humans.
Though there is no factual evidence to prove this, researchers suggest the original reason those two species started sticking together might have to do with this capacity to cover each other's shortcomings.
Despite this potentially deadly nature, female Nidoran in particular are actually quite popular as companions for young children, thanks to their excellent control over their barbs' capacity to deliver their poison and their friendly, docile nature. Male Nidoran tend to be more skittish and ornery, but while they will often strike first if threatened and are fiercely defensive of their social group, they do not mind company (human or otherwise) they feel no threat from.
Nidoran also make for popular beginner pokemon or housemons because they are quite social creatures, often found living in large herds in the wild and capable of cohabitating with numerous other species without any issues even in the wild. Researchers speculate that the ease with which they can attach themselves to numerous social groups regardless of their makeup explains their presence on almost every continent, as they followed the various other species they made common cause with's various migration patterns.
In popular culture, Nidoran couples are frequently used as a shorthand for young love, and Nidoran-themed merch is often a success with young couples. Being one of the few species of pokemon who can regularly be seen being openly doting and affectionate with their partners in a way humans can actually understand and relate to, this is unsurprising, but its recuperation by anti-LGBT group as a symbol of the 'natural order' has somewhat dimmed that popularity of late.
Strangely enough, opposite-gendered Nidoran are often much more openly affectionate between them than their evolved forms, which scientists posit might have to do with Nidorina and Nidoqueen's incapacity to lay Eggs.
The Nidoran/Nidorino/Nidorina/Nidoking/Nidoqueen line (#29 to #34)
When the Cinnabar institute, in its heyday and before the repeated disasters which hit it, set up a small division dedicated to these two evolutionary lines (still thought to be a single one at the time), the sign on the door after a few months' work read 'Abandon hope all ye who enter here', on account of the fact that every discovery only ever raised more questions.
Despite all signs to the contrary, they are two genetically different species showing the most incomprehensible signs of convergent evolution yet still somehow not merging into a single one. Gene sequencing for Pokemon is still a bit of a hit-or-miss discipline, thanks to pokemon's capacity for cross-breeding, but a search for their ascendancy revealed they somehow share ancestry with the likes of Pikachu, Tyranitar and Tyrantrum, Clefairy, Rhydon, Abomasnow, Armaldo and even Toxapex. How they came to be is anyone's guess, but no one has come up with a good one yet, bar it perhaps being a byproduct of the younger Nidoran's tendencies to form herds with various other species without distinction.
This jumble of varied ancestry does mean that despite their Type affinities to Poison and Ground, they are the kind of Type energy savants that only Kanto can seemingly produce — and which fuels the theory of there being a missing link between Mew and modern pokemon which would have lived there, and would explain why much like their cousins of the Rhyhorn line they can learn Moves of every Type but Grass. Unlike said Rhyhorn line, however, what they lack in raw bulk and power they make for in capacity to actually use said talents efficiently — a well-trained Nidoking or Nidoqueen is a frightening opponent because its fighting style and type coverage could be anything and everything, and it would be equally good at all of them.
The desperate cries for help of researchers aside, the line as a whole and in particular Nidoran are very present in popular culture as a shorthand for love, especially between young couples. While this more modern image has increasingly taken over public perception of the line, Nidoking and Nidoqueen in particular were for a very long time a symbol of strong leadership and warrior rulers, between their well-recognised might and more tribalistic tendencies. History is littered with Named Nidoking and Nidoqueen being treated by diplomatic endeavours as geopolitical polities of their own, the greatest of which even had recorded dynasties. Those days are mostly past, what with the human encroachment over their preferred plains, but this persistent memory explains the respect and seriousness with which the average person tends to treat the line, especially those who evolved naturally.
Their final evolution's visual and genetic links to the great saurians and dinosaurs that used to rule the food chain and what this has caused to their standing in the collective subconscious also leads them to hold a perhaps larger place in fictional historical dramas than might actually be warranted by actual fact.
This small Water-type lives mostly alongside coastlines, often within coral reefs when possible, where they mostly subsist by eating moss and insects. They are actually natural ambush predators. They lurk beneath the water's surface and wait for bugs to approach, which they then spit a shot of either ink or water at to bring them down. Instinctual snipers, in the wild they will usually retreat rather than let a foe come up close.
Contrary to popular belief, Horsea are among the fastest swimmers of their sizecategory, and most importantly are among the most agile of all swimmers bar none — their deft dorsal fins make the Horsea line some of the very few creatures capable of omnidirectional swimming no matter which direction they're facing. They notably make use of their ability to swim backwards as an efficient means of retreat, since it allows them to easily aim jets of blinding ink at their pursuers even as they flee. To compound this, their tail may look short but is actually very tightly coiled, and not only gives them great balance and a surprising amount of slapping power both but also the capacity to anchor themselves when caught in very strong oceanic currents.
Thanks to that balance and agility, they are also excellent dancers, with displays of grace, control and aesthetic understanding being at the heart of their courting rituals and threat displays both. A Horsea with sufficient talent for dancing is actually capable of creating on its own the kind of whirlpools its evolution is famous for, if on a smaller scale. Socially speaking, they are also standouts from most other pokemon in that the males are the ones which watch over the Eggs and the young.
Horsea occupy an odd place in folklore. Although often shy towards humans, they are by and large never aggressive, and were some of the very first Water-types domesticated in the Kanto/Johto area. They were often considered a portent of good luck to fishing vessels setting out to the sea — speculation regarding why proposes that this might have been because unlike Seadra, their whirlpools are too weak to trouble a decent boat, but still strong enough to trap or tire quite a few of the weaker fishes, leading to an easy catch for a fishing boat's nets. However, their association with the much more temperamental Seadra did colour any interaction with them.
The Horsea/Seadra/Kingdra line (#116/#117/#230)
An evolutionary line which occupies a very strange place in the Kanto/Johto public consciousness, between deep respect and afterthought. In the past, Horsea were considered portents of good luck to fishermen, but Seadra were considered some of the biggest dangers at sea — and Kingdra, living in the depths as they do, were more mythical than anything, and for a very long time it was not even known for certain whether they were truly related. This escalation from benign to threat to legend already meant that there was always an uncertain element to people's understanding of them, and the discovery that Kingdra was not only part of the line but a Dragon-type changed a lot of things.
The Dragon Clan immediately claimed stewardship over the line, as they did with all dragons, but were soon met by the issue that the Clan's traditional grounds — the mountains surrounding modern Blackthorn — were, in fact, nowhere near the sea, while Horsea lived all along the coasts of both Kanto and Johto, making their authority mostly unenforceable. Their solution ? The assassination of anyone with the knowledge of how to evolve Seadra or attempting to investigate the method. It wasn't until the League's ultimatum and the dissolution of their monopoly that they stopped enforcing this — but that doesn't mean they shared said secrets.
Modern science has found workarounds, but the near-entirety of those are noted to make for lesser Kingdra than those observed in the wild or in the Dragon Clan's possession. With most wild Kingdra living in the very deep depths and almost never being sighted, and the sea-based Kingdra being a less popular choice of pokemon for the already reclusive mountain-based Dragon Clan, this means that most people will go their whole lives without ever really seeing one, and it will often be a lesser specimen even when they do. Clair becoming Blackthorn's Gym Leader and the Dragon Clan's de facto representative has raised its profile, but as a result of its patchy history Kingdra retains its strange position as a pokemon people are aware is worthy of respect, yet they never think much of, and its pre-evolutions are often written off as an afterthought alongside it.
Horsea are found in coastal regions all over the world, and are by no means endemic to the Kanto/Johto area, but nowhere else do they live as numerously and as prominently, and as such never took a notable place in the mythos of other regions.
This Electric-type, native to Johto, is quite beloved in the region as one of the very first pokemon species to have ever been befriended in any large number by humans. Fairly docile and prone to living in herds, Mareep have no problem living harmoniously alongside other non-predator species, and this adaptability has seen it slowly spread throughout many other regions, notably as a perfect farm animal : its small bulk makes it a fairly light eater, its control over electricity makes it excellent at driving away birds and Flying-types who want a go at the harvest, and their wool is plentiful, of excellent quality and was very easy to gather even prior to the invention of rubber gloves, since it sheds on its own every summer.
Rubber gloves are necessary because unlike many Electric-types, Mareep's stores of electricity are not internal but external : they build up a static charge by rubbing their fur against things or even each other, and how much of a charge they're holding can be judged by their wool's volume. Said wool can also trap air within it, making it an excellent insulator that grants Mareep some measure of resistance to cold and heat both, and makes for excellent winter clothing.
Its strange conical ears actually give it a limited ability to feel the fluctuations of nearby electromagnetic fields, which it mostly uses to keep watch on its surroundings for lurking predators. It needs to, because it makes for a great snack to a fair amount of them and the fact the lightbulb-like protrusion at the end of its tail will constantly glow so long as Mareep is holding an electrical charge means that they pretty much have a giant target sign painted on them at all times. Mareep particularly fear nocturnal predators, who can easily spot their tails from sometimes miles away, and the fastest of which can catch a sleeping one before its electromagnetic sense can properly wake it up — Crobats and Sneasels in particular are their natural enemies.
Mareep are pretty slow, almost abnormally so considering they are pure Electric-types. However, despite being ungulates, they are extremely light on their feet and tend to walk around on the tip of their hooves, giving them great jumping power. An ambushed Mareep will very often manage to bound out of the way, and their jumpy and nervous nature means it can be very hard to get the first strike on them — but if the ambusher is one they cannot fight off, they often have no hope of outrunning them. Training them out of their more peaceful and conflict-avoidant habits can be complex, but those Mareep that do make for surprisingly natural scrappers.
The Mareep/Flaaffy/Ampharos line (#179/#180/#181)
There are very few people who don't like the various members of this evolutionary line, especially in Johto where Mareep in particular are considered a bit of a regional mascot. As a lineage of pokemon that were among the very first to be domesticated and trained by man in the area, a lot of the images one would strongly associate with them are those which arise from this cooperation : Mareep's status as a common, friendly farm animal, Flaaffy's luxurious wool whose value and quality remains unmatched or the numerous records of Ampharos as long-distance communication tools, of which Olivine's lighthouse remains the only real leftover.
Looking at them in this light, however, makes it all too common to forget that they are unique representatives of their type, with many often overlooked strengths. Their rubbery skin lets them absorb impacts better than most, especially as Flaaffy onwards, and almost completely insulates them electrically speaking, meaning a properly trained member of the line can be a devastating counter to a fellow Electric-type. Despite being rather slow, especially considering their pure typing, they are actually quite agile, with a lot of jumping power, and their ability to see all around them thanks to their conical ears' ability to sense fluctuations in electromagnetic fields can make them frighteningly good dodge tanks. Combined with their mastery over light, culminating in Ampharos' ability to shine so bright you can see it from space, they can make for supremely frustrating opponents, on top of having quite a few support options in their moveset.
But what people forget most of all, however, is that despite their friendly, fluffy appearance, they carry the blood of dragons. Oh, very little, and buried deeply enough that this fact was virtually unknown until gene sequencing revealed it, but the scientific community is in rough agreement it shares a common ancestor with the ancient Zolt line, though how exactly they found themselves splitting so drastically far apart is anyone's guess. Attempts to teach them to harness Dragon-type energy proved fruitful, making them one of the vanishingly few non-dragons capable of manipulating it sufficiently strongly to use the likes of a Dragon Pulse, although the feat is reserved to only the strongest of specimens. In the aftermath of that discovery, the Dragon Clan made a tentative attempt at pushing for legislation restricting the possession of Ampharos, but the fact most of the Clan saw the sheep pokemon as beneath them and the likely public outcry that would have come from the decision saw them back off.
Furthermore, the discovery that Ampharos possesses a Mega Evolution, one actually capable of awakening its latent Dragon-type, was the cause of quite a buzz in the Trainer community, though a short lived one : only Olivine Gym Leader Jasmine's Amphy has had both the necessary strength and bond with its trainer to manage the process — no other top Trainer uses an Ampharos, and anything short of a paragon of the species lacks the necessary strength and willpower to maintain control over the unstable nature of its draconic form. Unconfirmed reports regarding Mega Ampharos hint that its wool is so fluffy as to put an Altaria's wings to shame.
Not quite enough of a nuisance to be called the vermin of the sea, but omnipresent and annoying enough not to get any particularly friendly monikers either, Wingull are arguably one of the single most common living creatures most people will encounter in their daily lives, so long as they live close to a coast. Not belligerent enough to provoke too many conflicts, willing to nest in areas no other species will really compete with them for — what with their preference for nesting at the edge and on the facades of sheer seaside cliffs — the Seagull pokemon has very little in the way of active predators.
This isn't helped by the fact that their long wings are actually fairly poorly suited to active flight, and they instead prefer to ride updrafts into the air and just soar and glide to their destination. As this tends to keep them further away from the ground and the water surface, they even tend to be less than worth it as targets of opportunity for ground-bound and sea-bound predators. This method of flight has led to Wingull imagery being used in several areas of the world as a common literary motif to represent something or someone that looks graceful or calm on the outside yet is flailing interiorly — much like a Wingull might appear majestic enough until it has to actually flap its wings.
The reason most people consider them pests, though, is because they tend to steal and store away in and around their nests food and valuables both, wherein valuables refer to anything kind of shiny and/or soft, meaning they often nab unwary beach-goers' jewellery or clothing items that were removed for a quick dip — and their beak is capable of storing a deceptive amount of things within it. Weak and clumsy, lacking in Pelipper's capacity to fight in harsh climes, they're also considered poor starters and beginner pokemon, despite their evolution's fairly respected status as competent battlers.
In Johto, their main predators are Krabby. Although unable to climb the cliffs they live on or reach them in flight, they instead hang around and protect other pokemon from the Tentacool or especially Staryu line, whose various lightshows at night tend to attract confused Wingull looking for something shiny to add to their hoard, only to be jumped on by Krabby and caught between their pincers.
Despite being thought to originate from Hoenn, they've nowadays spread to most coastal areas and have been installed there for long enough that they've often been part of the local ecosystems for most if not all of the local recorded history.
The Wingull/Pelipper line (#278/#279)
While Wingull cover so many of the coasts that they're all but considered an afterthought, and their lack of elegance and agility in-flight means they're a bit of a laughing stock, Pelipper is instead one of these pokemon which benefits from a fairly decent sympathy capital for the various roles it plays in human society.
As a result, the Wingull/Pelipper line is a bit of an oddity, in that they're mainly treated as two entirely separate species by most people — an attitude greatly helped by the behavioural differences between both species.
Whereas Wingull are quite individually minded, isolating to an extent from even neighbouring nests and jealously protective of their small hoards, Pelipper are far more community-minded, whether it be among their own species, with other Pokemon or even with humans. Speaking of hoards, Pelipper share none of the kleptomaniac and gluttonous tendencies of their pre-evolution, and will in fact often share resources with other pokemon or humans if they perceive those as being in need — though only if they do not believe those others capable of providing for themselves.
Whereas Wingull have very little mutually beneficial interaction with humans, and mostly isolate themselves from human communities, Pelipper are far more willing to dwell in cities and even wild ones are willing to work out mutually beneficial deals with human communities — the modern mail system, for example, was born from humans negotiating access to the inter-Pelipper network they have between their communities, taking advantage of their beak's great carrying capacity. To this day, priority air deliveries will often call on Pelipper if the package isn't too big.
That said, for all the favouritism towards Pelipper, there is one portion of the population which much prefers their pre-evolution : fishermen. Although they often have to chase the birds away from their trawlers, Wingull tend to congregate and circle high around waters teeming with fish, and it's very common for fishermen without much of an idea of where the waters are good for the day to just follow the Wingull, often successfully.
Although overlooked for a long time in favour of more innately impressive pokemon, Pelipper over the last few decades have forged themselves a reputation as quite fierce fighters, used to great effect by quite a few pros — notably for their capacity to deal with violent wind and heavy rain, surprisingly decent bulk and an arsenal of AoE moves making them great at battlefield control and dealing with the quick and nimble types.
[X] Have been feeling your blood boil these last three years after letting yourself get talked into a bachelor's degree 'just in case this whole training thing doesn't work out'. Enough dallying, you're ready to go ! (21 years old)
[X] Man
[X] 32 (Violet City, expect to spend your tutorial on the coast and at Union Cave. Ruins of Alph need appropriate Requirements)
[X] Krabby
[X] What has to be one of the strongest trained Milotic in the world this side of Cynthia's deliver a hypnotic, mesmerising show under its trainer's effortless direction, in a sight which you're not too proud to admit is burned into your retinas for a long, long while. (Melati, the Snake Charmer. Expert mentor when it comes to theme management, attuning to your pokemon, and the more esoteric sides of Training.)
[X] Waited long enough your parents didn't have an excuse to keep you back and no time left to dissuade you, and you've been chomping at the bit for months now to finally go ! (18 years old) [X] Woman [X] 45 (Blackthorn City, the Dragon Clan guards their namesakes' nesting grounds zealously, but there's still plenty to find and discover in the surrounding mountains) [X] Onix [X] What has to be one of the strongest trained Milotic in the world this side of Cynthia's deliver a hypnotic, mesmerising show under its trainer's effortless direction, in a sight which you're not too proud to admit is burned into your retinas for a long, long while. (Melati, the Snake Charmer. Expert mentor when it comes to theme management, attuning to your pokemon, and the more esoteric sides of Training.)
[X] Might be a little on the young side, but there's no time to waste ! Literally. You're finally legally emancipated, which means you need someone to lend you a tent and possibly a fiver for a sandwich. But you've got the spirit ! (16 years old)
[X] Woman
[X] Mareep
[X] A Spinda dancing circles around a Rhydon to a beat only it could feel until its opponent knocked itself out in exhaustion, somehow remaining untouched through the entire match whilst moving with a grace that shouldn't belong with the notoriously clumsy critter. (Simon,Trainer to the Trite and Banal. Expert mentor when it comes to training regimens.)
[X] 39 (Olivine City, expect to frolic in the rolling fields and on the coast)
[X] Have been feeling your blood boil these last three years after letting yourself get talked into a bachelor's degree 'just in case this whole training thing doesn't work out'. Enough dallying, you're ready to go ! (21 years old) [X] Woman [X] Magikarp [X] A Spinda dancing circles around a Rhydon to a beat only it could feel until its opponent knocked itself out in exhaustion, somehow remaining untouched through the entire match whilst moving with a grace that shouldn't belong with the notoriously clumsy critter. (Simon,Trainer to the Trite and Banal. Expert mentor when it comes to training regimens.)
My theme is gonna be hard to raise pokemon who become late game powerhouses.
So just gotta find a cool enough core word for that.
[X] Waited long enough your parents didn't have an excuse to keep you back and no time left to dissuade you, and you've been chomping at the bit for months now to finally go ! (18 years old) [X] Man [X]39 (Olivine City, expect to frolic in the rolling fields and on the coast) [X]Swinub [X] A Spinda dancing circles around a Rhydon to a beat only it could feel until its opponent knocked itself out in exhaustion, somehow remaining untouched through the entire match whilst moving with a grace that shouldn't belong with the notoriously clumsy critter. (Simon,Trainer to the Trite and Banal. Expert mentor when it comes to training regimens.)
I am gonna go with abaca...something's theme of hard to raise Pokémon.
[X] Have been feeling your blood boil these last three years after letting yourself get talked into a bachelor's degree 'just in case this whole training thing doesn't work out'. Enough dallying, you're ready to go ! (21 years old) [X] Woman [X] Magikarp [X] A Spinda dancing circles around a Rhydon to a beat only it could feel until its opponent knocked itself out in exhaustion, somehow remaining untouched through the entire match whilst moving with a grace that shouldn't belong with the notoriously clumsy critter. (Simon,Trainer to the Trite and Banal. Expert mentor when it comes to training regimens.)
[X] Waited long enough your parents didn't have an excuse to keep you back and no time left to dissuade you, and you've been chomping at the bit for months now to finally go ! (18 years old) [X] Man [X]39 (Olivine City, expect to frolic in the rolling fields and on the coast) [X]Swinub [X] A Spinda dancing circles around a Rhydon to a beat only it could feel until its opponent knocked itself out in exhaustion, somehow remaining untouched through the entire match whilst moving with a grace that shouldn't belong with the notoriously clumsy critter. (Simon,Trainer to the Trite and Banal. Expert mentor when it comes to training regimens.)
[X] Have been feeling your blood boil these last three years after letting yourself get talked into a bachelor's degree 'just in case this whole training thing doesn't work out'. Enough dallying, you're ready to go ! (21 years old)
[X] Man
[X] 32 (Violet City, expect to spend your tutorial on the coast and at Union Cave. Ruins of Alph need appropriate Requirements)
[X] Swinub
[X] What has to be one of the strongest trained Milotic in the world this side of Cynthia's deliver a hypnotic, mesmerising show under its trainer's effortless direction, in a sight which you're not too proud to admit is burned into your retinas for a long, long while. (Melati, the Snake Charmer. Expert mentor when it comes to theme management, attuning to your pokemon, and the more esoteric sides of Training.)
I can picture ourselves specialized in ancient pokemon with Mamoswine. Bonus points for it being ice pokemon.
You really put a lot of effort in this man. I can see it's full of deep thought out lore so even if my plan doesn't get picked I'd still be stoked to see this update.
Btw how are you gonna count votes? Is it gonna be by category?
[X] Have been feeling your blood boil these last three years after letting yourself get talked into a bachelor's degree 'just in case this whole training thing doesn't work out'. Enough dallying, you're ready to go ! (21 years old)
[X] Man
[X] 32 (Violet City, expect to spend your tutorial on the coast and at Union Cave. Ruins of Alph need appropriate Requirements)
[X] Krabby
[X] What has to be one of the strongest trained Milotic in the world this side of Cynthia's deliver a hypnotic, mesmerising show under its trainer's effortless direction, in a sight which you're not too proud to admit is burned into your retinas for a long, long while. (Melati, the Snake Charmer. Expert mentor when it comes to theme management, attuning to your pokemon, and the more esoteric sides of Training.)
[X] Have been feeling your blood boil these last three years after letting yourself get talked into a bachelor's degree 'just in case this whole training thing doesn't work out'. Enough dallying, you're ready to go ! (21 years old) [X] Man [X] 45 (Blackthorn City, the Dragon Clan guards their namesakes' nesting grounds zealously, but there's still plenty to find and discover in the surrounding mountains) [X]Horsea [X] What has to be one of the strongest trained Milotic in the world this side of Cynthia's deliver a hypnotic, mesmerising show under its trainer's effortless direction, in a sight which you're not too proud to admit is burned into your retinas for a long, long while. (Melati, the Snake Charmer. Expert mentor when it comes to theme management, attuning to your pokemon, and the more esoteric sides of Training.)
[X] Have been feeling your blood boil these last three years after letting yourself get talked into a bachelor's degree 'just in case this whole training thing doesn't work out'. Enough dallying, you're ready to go ! (21 years old) [X] Man [X] 45 (Blackthorn City, the Dragon Clan guards their namesakes' nesting grounds zealously, but there's still plenty to find and discover in the surrounding mountains) [X]Horsea [X] What has to be one of the strongest trained Milotic in the world this side of Cynthia's deliver a hypnotic, mesmerising show under its trainer's effortless direction, in a sight which you're not too proud to admit is burned into your retinas for a long, long while. (Melati, the Snake Charmer. Expert mentor when it comes to theme management, attuning to your pokemon, and the more esoteric sides of Training.)
[X] Might be a little on the young side, but there's no time to waste ! Literally. You're finally legally emancipated, which means you need someone to lend you a tent and possibly a fiver for a sandwich. But you've got the spirit ! (16 years old)
[X] Woman
[X] Nidoran♀
[X] What has to be one of the strongest trained Milotic in the world this side of Cynthia's deliver a hypnotic, mesmerising show under its trainer's effortless direction, in a sight which you're not too proud to admit is burned into your retinas for a long, long while. (Melati, the Snake Charmer. Expert mentor when it comes to theme management, attuning to your pokemon, and the more esoteric sides of Training.)
[X] Might be a little on the young side, but there's no time to waste ! Literally. You're finally legally emancipated, which means you need someone to lend you a tent and possibly a fiver for a sandwich. But you've got the spirit ! (16 years old)
[X] Man [X] 32 (Violet City, expect to spend your tutorial on the coast and at Union Cave. Ruins of Alph need appropriate Requirements) [X] Slowpoke [X] A Spinda dancing circles around a Rhydon to a beat only it could feel until its opponent knocked itself out in exhaustion, somehow remaining untouched through the entire match whilst moving with a grace that shouldn't belong with the notoriously clumsy critter. (Simon,Trainer to the Trite and Banal. Expert mentor when it comes to training regimens.)
****
I chose Slowpoke as a starter because I fundamentally like the idea of us specializing in Battle control (That is to say, controlling the pace of the battle, manipulating the field to our advantage, status moves, traps and all that.) and Ghastly is too cliche.
Slowpoke is a psychic water type, with Slowking (and let's face it, it's going to be Slowking) being a psychic Tank with a relatively wide movepool it makes him into a solid endurance combatant, allowing him to take advantage of Battle control strategies more effectively.
Simon seems like a good fit since he is used to training underrated and overlooked Pokemon.
I chose Route 32 because the Ruins of Alph seem interesting enough to be worth Checking out, and I very much like the idea of getting a Smeargle to further establish our theme.
That's a bit too broad and vague, but don't worry about it for now - part of why you're getting a mentor for the tutorial is so they can walk you through this stuff once you're a bit more settled on what the quest is like and what kind of things work as a theme. It's also so you get the time to start training your starter, and see if you want to work your theme from that angle.
Yeah as I said, I'm usually more partial to plan voting, but since this is the starter vote I figured I'd keep it by category, since that was likely to be contentious. I might do a lightning round on the starter if it's too close to call properly later.
[X] Waited long enough your parents didn't have an excuse to keep you back and no time left to dissuade you, and you've been chomping at the bit for months now to finally go ! (18 years old) [X] Man [X] 45 (Blackthorn City, the Dragon Clan guards their namesakes' nesting grounds zealously, but there's still plenty to find and discover in the surrounding mountains)
[X] Hoothoot
[X] What has to be one of the strongest trained Milotic in the world this side of Cynthia's deliver a hypnotic, mesmerising show under its trainer's effortless direction, in a sight which you're not too proud to admit is burned into your retinas for a long, long while. (Melati, the Snake Charmer. Expert mentor when it comes to theme management, attuning to your pokemon, and the more esoteric sides of Training.)
It might be a bit late to throw a new starter into the ring, but I think Johto has a lot of neat birds, even without accounting for the legendaries and I've always been especially fond of Hoothoot/Noctowl. It helps that I can see it setting up a couple of strong themes. Most obviously of course flying/aerial control, which can go a lot of ways, especially if we extend it to pokemon with flight/levitate outside of strictly limiting ourself to the Flying type, and reaches all the way to some pseudo legendaries for powerful heavy weights. Alternatively, I can see it pivoting into a theme focused on more intelligent pokemon probably leaning into the psychic type as well given that it learns of couple of matching moves, or something centered around more nocturnal pokemon as a nod to Johto/Gen II being where the day/night cycle got introduced. The most obscure angle would probably going with how one of the dex entries refers to Noctowl as "the emperor of dark nights" which could set up a more regal theming, but at that point it could be reaching a bit.
I'm a bit more torn on the mentor. I think Simon could be a good match to starting with a hoothoot in paticular, but in general the expertise of Melati interests me more. You can never go wrong with being attuned to your pokemon.
It might be a bit late to throw a new starter into the ring, but I think Johto has a lot of neat birds, even without accounting for the legendaries and I've always been especially fond of Hoothoot/Noctowl.
Don't worry about it - I'm leaving the vote open at the very least until tomorrow evening, maybe more depending on how much engagement it sees, so plenty of time for a new choice to pick up votes.
That said, I'm singling you out just to point out that this is pretty much the perfect way to think about themes as of right now - any of the pokemon that have been voted for have plenty of unique things going on already, and plenty of directions they could go, there's no need to settle for one absolute aspect right now before you've explored them in a bit more depth.
Hoothoot, for example, on top of what you've already said, could also work for a silent predator or more stealth-oriented team, something Noctowl is considered notable for, it could play into just how strongly anyone who's played OG Gen 2 will associate it with Hypnosis, or on some kind of time-related theme considering how many dex entries note that it has perfect timekeeping and always keeps track of time, and that's just what I'm thinking off of the top of my head.
Point is, whatever starter you pick, there'll be plenty of possible paths for it because of its species alone, let alone whatever is unique to that individual or to the way you'll train them - don't feel too boxed in regarding future possibilities.
[X] Have been feeling your blood boil these last three years after letting yourself get talked into a bachelor's degree 'just in case this whole training thing doesn't work out'. Enough dallying, you're ready to go ! (21 years old)
[X] Man
[X] 32 (Violet City, expect to spend your tutorial on the coast and at Union Cave. Ruins of Alph need appropriate Requirements)
[X] Swinub
[X] What has to be one of the strongest trained Milotic in the world this side of Cynthia's deliver a hypnotic, mesmerising show under its trainer's effortless direction, in a sight which you're not too proud to admit is burned into your retinas for a long, long while. (Melati, the Snake Charmer. Expert mentor when it comes to theme management, attuning to your pokemon, and the more esoteric sides of Training.)
[X] Waited long enough your parents didn't have an excuse to keep you back and no time left to dissuade you, and you've been chomping at the bit for months now to finally go ! (18 years old) [X] Woman [X] 45 (Blackthorn City, the Dragon Clan guards their namesakes' nesting grounds zealously, but there's still plenty to find and discover in the surrounding mountains)
with obviously nervous jitters camping out at t [X] Write-in
-[X]Eevee
[X] What has to be one of the strongest trained Milotic in the world this side of Cynthia's deliver a hypnotic, mesmerising show under its trainer's effortless direction, in a sight which you're not too proud to admit is burned into your retinas for a long, long while. (Melati, the Snake Charmer. Expert mentor when it comes to theme management, attuning to your pokemon, and the more esoteric sides of Training.)
