Morganatri

Forgive me for my absence. Hopefully I am not too late (I had been absent from PC until now), but yes! Of course! I am still interested in the roleplay (:

Yeah, I'm available, just not that often since school stuff.

Yay! The quests look lovely~

I'd be on board with a Discord for us btw! I think it's much easier to build a little community and keep everyone in the loop when messages are more instant/can push notifications.

Aw yay that's really good! Seven or more would be ideal imo but wow I'm glad people have responded so quickly!

Yeah I am, and I have time I'm currently working on a new post, but I need to see what other people write in case I need to make changes overall I'm still down for this roleplay

I'll give it a chance.

I am definitely interested in reviving it. I actually had my first post typed up but then life happened and I never got it posted. Then I saw that unfortunately nobody else had posted so I didn't bother. However I'll definitely get posts up this time around if you revive it.

Sure, I'll still be in it. It still looks fun, and I'm curious to see this soft reboot.

I'd be down to give it another shot, sure. :3

I think a graduation speech would be a great way to present things, yeah!

If we just do like a mini-profile for a few teachers that would be enough to go on probably! There's probably wilderness survival classes and ecology and general Pokémon care kinda things too. Or we can wing it if the cast comes up with smthn else!

I might be! May make a different character for it tho~

I think playing some NPCs will be enough to satisfy me! :D

As for objectives, I think even these introductory ones- maybe especially these introductory ones- should be flavored by the overarching themes. Here are a few ideas:

• Talk to Wisteria! She will give each cast member a short quest to get them started. Each quest is something along the lines of "scan five of these specific Pokémon" or "find x amt of Pokémon in (location)." There's potential for bonding with starters and training them up a bit, and a little introduction to how the characters solve problems. Also, maybe a reward from the Professor when you see her again in Nashimity?
• Battle a rival! It can be an NPC classmate, someone in town that the character has history with, or another player. Does this battle have any consequences for the characters involved, or any bystanders? (Is Bellatrix interested in this?)
• Say farewell to the teachers. What are they going to do now? The cast is the last group to graduate. There's no need for them here anymore. Are they moving to another region? Changing jobs? Potential for seeing how characters relate to NPCs here. Maybe a parting gift from a teacher.

And the obvious:
• Get onto Rt 301
• Catch a Pokémon

Perhaps objectives isn't even the right word here, haha. More like... possibilities for exploration. Depending on what the cast does, further opportunities arise. Like, if you battle a rival, maybe that's how they get an interaction with Bellatrix? Over time I think paths can divert a bit more depending on where/what they choose. Take them on an adventure~

Ok so-- I really think we've got a solid vision at this point! Our major points and themes, anyway. I'll probably make a doc for plot things soon just so we have it all laid out nicely. At this point, we can probably start hittin' everyone up for an interest check. We'll have time to plot out specific events as we go, but we should get the cast started too! Let them know they have a week to respond and if they don't reply with an affirmation then they're automatically dropped. (If you want me to come in and be the hardass I can do that lol I don't mind enforcing!)

Once we get confirmation of interest, we can update them on any minor changes we need to address, like a post schedule and little worldbuilding things (give them some kind of "trainers are the cause of environmental collapse" blurb bc that's what they know as members of this society). Ask them why their characters are invested in training and to really think about how they're going to promote battling etc. If they need to make some SU edits that's fine! But we should be able to really get going in a week or two.

I do have to note I'm going out of the country Nov 9-21 but we should be fine to work through that; I can prep some things if need be and anyway there's two of us now! :D

I feel like in canon the 'dex is given to trainers as an equal exchange, almost- the Professor is like "I give you a Pokémon and help you start out; you return the favor with data collection." It makes sense that Wisteria would be essentially doing the same, though with a focus on sighting rather than capturing. Perhaps the cast's "job" during their journey is to use the Pokédex to scan a certain amount of Pokémon per area? It doesn't need to be something that the cast writes out at all, just something that their characters are doing every day along the way. As basic as walking, eating, or using the bathroom, and as necessary to mention as any of those. Although perhaps if a player makes the choice to actively ignore that job, Wisteria might Do Something. Actions have consequences!

Team Phantom causing a severe imbalance in the environment via mass capture (for what reason? To keep for themselves? To sell? To cull Pokémon that are interfering with their businesses? All of the above?) can be a significant point here. That behavior would absolutely result in tighter capture regulations (implementing licenses, restricting PokéBall sales), because of course the blame would go to trainers- they're the only ones who capture a significant amount of Pokémon (ties in to "you can only capture one Pokémon per area). Maybe this is why Wisteria is at the forefront of this trainer program, too- she's here to educate on the importance of preserving and rehabilitating biodiversity in the region, and how to do that even as a professional trainer. Sounds a bit like she may have been a Ranger in the past if we go that route, haha. Not that that's a problem~

If we're taking a more realistic/political approach to an evil team, the usual goal for organizations is... money. Just straight up money. Perhaps, at the highest level, money to do Big Things (invest in wild technology, influence a country to a personal agenda), but the main motivator is still that sweet sweet cash. Capturing Pokémon to sell is much easier without interference from pesky trainers. And once Kinyo started to regulate PokéBall sales Phantom probably just started buying from other regions. It isn't worth it for shopkeepers to keep stocking all these goods if nobody is buying, after all. And if shops aren't ordering them, manufacturers aren't going to focus on selling to Kinyo. And if they aren't concerned with selling to Kinyo, Kinyo loses out on the kind of good deals that make buying the goods worth it. Anyway, Phantom might've stated manufacturing their own (extremely cheaply made) PokéBalls to corner the market in Kinyo exclusively. Adds profits while also making it so people still have trouble capturing- their PokéBalls probably have a worse catch rate than standard ones. Woohoo, economics! (I'm uh... business-minded, haha. It's interesting!)

I think Mahono Town/Rt 301/Nashimity Town should be enough to get people into the flow of the RP- about three posts per person tends to settle people into their characters. Plot can start dropping in Nashimity Town- at least hints of how Phantom is influencing the region and how the League is essentially falling apart. Bigger events will turn up as they go, but presenting plot-relevant ideas should start sooner rather than later. I think we've got something good with focusing on the decline of training and battling, plus Phantom being a major antagonist! We just need to like, decide and schedule specific plot points.

By the way, do you have any docs you could share with me? I usually use Google docs for RP planning. Might help to have all the information in one place!

I like the idea of really pushing the fact that the trainer journey is Not a Thing anymore. But in doing that, I think we also have to answer questions. GM questions like "why has battling declined so much? What can be done about it? Why should something be done about it?" and Cast questions like "why are you becoming a trainer when the profession is on the decline? How are you going to convince the people of Kinyo that the League (and battling in general) is worth something?" Making that the overarching plot of the RP is completely doable and probably more interesting than the usual edgy grimdark things that people tend to do. And it's completely fine to tell the cast "hey, I'm not going to force you into anything in particular, but your character must be aiming to revitalize battling and they must have some sort of angle via which they will do that." Because that's the point of this.

It's also feasible to incorporate Team Phantom into that main theme- maybe they're a big part of the reason that journeying and battling is declining. Have they made it unsafe for trainers to be on their own? Have they influenced politics in ways to quash trainers, so there are fewer people who have the strength to get in their way? Maybe both and more than that! The Yakuza have have their eggs in many baskets, after all. What big goals do they have? Why are they working in Kinyo? Are they looking to control all of Kinyo, or are they aiming to branch out into the larger world?

I'd like to have a basic rundown of what the League staff (gym trainers, gym leaders, champion, etc) are doing- at least on the back end, between us. I'm sure some are mourning the impending loss of the League, others are putting more time into other jobs... maybe there's one who's just a gym trainer that got promoted when the leader dipped, because they couldn't be bothered to find a proper replacement. And there's surely a few that are fighting to promote and save the League, same as the cast. We're going to have to remember that there aren't many trainers anymore, too. The main cast will have to actively convince most people to battle them. There should be ways (that the GMs know in advance) that they can convince our more important NPCs to battle. And if they turn the NPC's opinion on trainers/battling to a more favorable stance, the group gains an ally that may be helpful later.

I think when we get a more streamlined view of the overall plot, then the exploration is easy to let happen. You've got a good idea of the map and areas you want to show them! It's just about knowing what plot points you want to present to the players at approximately what time.