Pokemon Rebel (concept)

Hey all!

I've been lurking the Game Development section for a while and I decided I might try my hand at creating my own personal Pokemon game. I have a bit of experience with RPG Maker XP, so I figured, why not.

Anyway, I need a bit of help with my concept. Specifically, if any of this will work.

Pokemon Rebel

Rough Draft.

It has been three years since the forces of Daranar invaded Anova. During that period, much has changed. Ruling the land with a iron fist they have banned pokemon competition, the production of pokeballs and turned the countryside inside out to create vast factories. The serene life of Pokemon has been disturbed by war.

On the yet undiscovered island of Bastion, the remaining members of the Elite Four have set up a sanctuary for trainers. Here they plan to overthrow their oppressors by way of guerrilla tactics. As the child of one of the missing Elite Four champion you are tasked with disturbing the Daranar operation from the inside.

You won't be gaining badges by fighting gyms. Instead, you get sent out on missions such as disturbing supply routes and destroying strategic locations. I envision the end game to have somewhat of a D-Day feel to it, storming the beaches of the Daranar stronghold.

What I need your help with:

As mentioned in the primer, pokeballs are illegal now. I wanted to limit the players ability to catch new pokemon. As such, any pokeballs given throughout the game are basically Master Balls, they are 100% effective. Besides those, the player will receive a number of pokemon as gifts.
I have made a pokedex containing 270 pokemon (130 fully evolved). How many pokemon/pokeballs should I aim for in the game?
People usually don't catch more than they need to in regular games,. I want the players to make tough choices on what to capture without limiting them too much. I was thinking of 35 pokemon in total, what do you guys think?

Second question:
I decided that the players starter 'mon will be Smeargle, as I like the little guy and it doesn't get enough love. It will give an interesting dynamic to the game as Smeargle will be able to fill any gap in the party. It will also add a bit of a mini-game as the player will have to search for good moves.
I will buff it up a bit, but I'd like your input on making it balanced.
Its standard array is:
HP: 55
Attack: 20
Defense: 35
Sp.Atk: 20
Sp.Def: 45
Speed: 75
Total: 250
I was thinking of buffing it up to:
HP: 75
Attack: 90
Defense: 85
Sp.Atk: 90
Sp.Def: 85
Speed: 90
Total: 515

Furthermore, Smeargle gets 10 uses of Sketch in total. I was thinking of bumping this up to 20.

What do you think, too much of a chance? I want the pokemon to be useful, especially as its the starter, but I don't want it to overshadow other 'mons.

Cheers in advance for any help!

I like the setup; it's a good choice I think and a great break from the happy-go-lucky normality. Have you considered Apricorn Balls as a more primitive non-industrial version of Pokéballs? It's easy to make them more rare, while you can justify that the resistance could still have them.

I'm personally not a fan of Smeargle, and would worry that he looks too goofy for such a serious setting; but, if you want to use it as a Starter I think you're on the right track. Maybe you should give it an Ability that boosts non-STAB moves so it's not hamstrung power-wise. Oh, and you should change Sketch to have Priority +1, otherwise it's very hard to get the moves you want.

If you'd consider posting it I'd be willing to have a gander at your Pokédex, I think around 250ish is a good total as well.