update time! havent done it in a while, oops...
The following has been updated in Chapter 3's post:
Enomoto Pokémon Conservatory
The large, glass-domed conservatory lies in the south of Petalburg and is run by June's uncle, Tetsuo Enomoto. He's inherited the conservatory due to pressure from his family, being the only young adult with a license and no children or other responsibilities to take care of in the Enomoto family. Tetsuo has always been more interested in battling than conservatory work and he struggles to keep the place afloat. To that end, he has started charging an admission fee for visitors to the conservatory. Petalburg locals and the rest of the family were revolted by the decision, but the point stands that the conservatory has grown in popularity as a tourist destination, even to the point of hosting a small gift shop with rather basic merchandise. There is a large field behind the conservatory for those species that need to run, and a small, traditional home is attached to the building itself but is not open to visitors- Tetsuo lives here.
During weekdays, visitors may pay the small admission fee to walk a designated route through the conservatory, denoted by paved paths and fencing in certain areas. All kinds of Pokémon can be seen here, many not native to Hoenn. Catching Pokémon inside the conservatory is strictly forbidden, as many of the Pokémon belong to members of the Enomoto family personally.
OOC: Tetsuo is controlled by Kiki. Please talk to her if you have questions or would like to visit the conservatory! He also posts jobs on the board at the Pokémon Center.
PLAYERS
mdebourg has been automatically removed from the RP due to a non-communicative absence of one month. I hope he's well.
pinkiswin has chosen to retire, as his interest in roleplaying with us led his wife to become interested in Pokémon, and really what he was seeking was to share that with someone. Which is very nice and I wish him the best. :)
PLAYER DOC UPDATES
Hiatus Status
If you haven't posted in a while or have been absent from the group Discord, I will likely DM you and ask if you would like to put your character on hiatus. You will still be in the Discord server and in the RP, just deemed inactive for all purposes until you decide you are ready to come back. You will not be tagged by @Cast nor expected to follow what is going on in the server or the RP. The only time you will be pinged is when I publish a new chapter, and you have no obligation to respond to that ping.
To come back from hiatus, all you need to do is publish a new post IC. That's it. You don't have to inform me beforehand or anything. You can choose to pick up your character's story in any location IC, whether that be right where you left off or in the most recent location. Please be considerate of the timeline when moving your character to a different location. Of course, there is no real penalty for being on hiatus or skipping areas. The consequences are simply that you miss out on the levels, rewards, and story opportunities that you choose to skip over.
Please re-familiarize yourself with this document before returning. If you need help or want to talk about the ideal way your character could re-integrate into the story, I am of course available~
Types and Interactions
Ghost types all have the ability to phase through things. The ability to become invisible is a result of that- they simply allow all light to phase through their forms, thus becoming invisible. However, both types of phasing take concentration and energy to perform and maintain.
For the less corporeal crowd, phasing is second nature. A Gastly or the like could easily pass through walls. More solid ghosts, those that are a spirit in a container, find it more difficult. At first, a Golett might be concerned about an incoming Tackle, only to phase through the hit on instinct.
AREAS
Each area post will have prospective travel times and usual weather included. However, as previously mentioned, you all have a great deal of autonomy regarding what you choose to do.
Locations
There will be various locations within an area. Things like Gyms, Contest Halls, caves, Ranger Stations… places to explore, with things to do and people to talk to. Some will be presented by me, but you can absolutely make your own places, especially in cities. And your own characters and things to do. The things I present to you are not be-all, end-all. It's a huge world!
Prompts
In chapter posts, anything marked "prompt" is something that I have created that you character may choose to do in that location. It will be unusual for an activity to be required. I don't have plans for anything of the sort, but we'll see what comes up.
My intent is to present you with a variety of prompts in each area. Some will have rewards associated with them, others will be just a jumping-off point for you to take wherever. I will give you all the details at the outset for some, and hand out details in secret for others. Some will be accessible to anyone at any point, and others will have limitations on timing and players. For those that are limited to a certain amount of players, I will ask everyone to express interest or disinterest in the quest. If more people than admissible express interest, I will roll some dice to randomly choose the player(s) that will be able to participate. This should be a bit more fair than first come, first serve since we're all in different timezones with different schedules. :)
NPCs
As with quests, I will often present NPCs to interact with. Usually, I will give them a short profile and turn them over to you. Occasionally, I will retain control over them- interacting with these characters will involve a JP with me. I'll make it very clear which characters are which type! Gym leaders will always be the first type, I can assure you that.
Sometimes, players may choose to make their own NPCs available to interact with. They may have their own blurb in a chapter post, or simply be around the area. Talk to the creators of those NPCs to interact with them!
IC Time
Remember to keep your timing logical. For your character to move between locations, to complete their missions, to have conversations- everything takes time. Think about how long things may take, and know
when your character is in the timeline, because it matters when you want to work with another player. Some quests and areas will be time-dependant as well.
You should always know what day your character is currently experiencing, and at least an approximate time of day for events- morning, noonish, evening, night. Y'know. I advise marking the header or footer of your posts with the date and time just so everyone knows when things are taking place. If an event is going to happen on a specific day/time in a specific location, I'll make it very clear. Otherwise, feel free to play it however you want and advance your time when you need to!
PokéDexes
The PokéDex issued to all journeying trainers is a full encyclopedia, a complete database of Pokémon, moves, abilities, and habitats. It also is synched to the PokéBalls a trainer has registered to them, offering detailed information on their Pokémon. All information is stored locally, so it works even in the deepest of caves and most remote of areas, whether or not a trainer has data connection. It scans Pokémon with extremely high accuracy and though its ability to identify moves is less accurate, it still functions well when given enough information.
Most trainers, however, use the very basic app on their devices rather than pull out the whole PokéDex every time they need something.
Items & TMs
Berries, evolution items and stones, fossils, held items, TMs… I control the distribution of these kinds of things. You'll often find them as rewards for quests, along with specialty PokéBalls and other things that are normally very rare or expensive.
TMs are not numbered and do not break. TRs for very powerful moves may be available down the line. Any move that has ever existed can be written to a TM or TR! But your Pokémon can still only learn things that its species can normally. Most of the time, when I give a TM as a quest reward, it won't be a named TM. Instead, I'll give a category like "a grass-type status move" or "a physical steel-type move with power 60 or less".
The mechanism for writing TMs or TRs to a Pokémon is based on the one in the Electric Tale of Pikachu manga. Embyr has made a lovely little diagram for reference! A TR would work similarly, but the machine would be erased after use. Another TR could be written to that machine in the future. [click for full size]
SCAN
Your character may choose to use the SCAN function of your device once per area to increase the chance of finding a chosen listed Pokémon. (IC: the Rangers limit SCAN function to once per area to limit hunting for rare and powerful Pokémon.) This has a side effect of significantly increasing the chance of the found Pokemon being shiny, having a Hidden Ability, and having a cool egg move. SCAN does count as one of your three encounter rolls, so keep that in mind, and none of its effects are guaranteed. You must tell me what you are scanning for when you request a SCAN roll.
Contest Pass
To apply for a Contest Pass, you must provide staff at the Contest Hall with a signed receipt for your class and a Hoenn-registered trainer license. The pass activates immediately. Your pass will allow you to participate in D-Rank contests, which is the beginner level. Two ribbons in D-Rank allows a coordinator to graduate to C-Rank and upgrade their Pass. Three ribbons in C-Rank and a coordinator graduates to B-Rank and may enter the Grand Festival. It is unlikely that anyone will make it to A-Rank. There is also S-Rank, which is given to top-level coordinators who have achieved multiple Grand Festival wins.
Language and International Travel
The international standard language of this world is the one spoken across the Japan-based regions- Kanto, Johto, Hoenn, Kinyo, and Sinnoh. In other regions, this language is taught alongside the native language from a young age. Those from Unova, Orre, and Galar share a native language. Kalos has its own native language. And Alola has three in common circulation- the two aforementioned languages and native Alolan, as well. Of course, those from different regions will have distinct accents even if they speak the same language. And perhaps there are even smaller distinctions inside regions themselves!
Weather Effects
Weather effects take energy to maintain from the Pokémon that summoned them. Usually, Pokémon-summoned weather is extremely localized. More powerful Pokémon or groups of Pokémon can learn to clear or change natural weather, though this is not recommended by the Rangers or any other ecological scientists.
Sunny Day and similar will summon a ball of light that mimics the light and heat of the sun. It can also clear any other weather effects that existed prior to its use (its Japanese name isn't "Clear Skies" for nothing!). However, if other weather is summoned after Sunny Day, the two may coexist in a strange fashion. The sun will eventually wane over time.
Hail, Rain Dance, and similar will draw low clouds to the field and create a localized hail or rainstorm. Sunny Day will clear either, but rain and and hail may coexist with each other and/or a sandstorm. They may also coexist with Sunny Day, if they were summoned after. Eventually, the rain or hail will subside and clouds will disperse naturally.
Sandstorm and similar will summon swirling winds that whip sand in all directions in a limited radius. Sunny Day will clear the storm, but rain and hail may coexist with a sandstorm. It may also coexist with Sunny Day, provided the sandstorm was summoned after Sunny Day. Eventually, the winds will die down and any sand will drop to the ground.
--- sorry that's so much; i'll keep on top of it more~