Are the skill trees (if you inplement them) going to be sepparate for each pokemon or aply for every pokemon.
The skill tree would be for every pokemon. I like your ideas for the skill tree too. They are exactly the kind that have a noticeable effect while playing. Their is the issue of how to organize a skill tree... but that is a problem for another day. Still thanks for the ideas, if a skill tree gets implemented it will definitely have at least a couple of those. Great stuff.
I really hope the lack of level don't turn people off from the game. Everyone I have shown the game to likes it but doesn't get how the game would work without leveling even after I explain it to them. I hope when people play the demo they will be able to get it better.
Playing a turn based rpg without levels is fairly common. I have played plenty that don't use levels. Levels are nice because they give a sense of progression and also keep barriers in place to keep the player from advancing too quickly, later giving a real feeling that you powered up. The sense of progression is replicated by catching new pokemon, evolving pokemon, getting held items, and gaining more powerful moves. I would like to restrict the moves available to the player at the beginning of the game when using a heartscale to learn a move. Still the sense of progression is a really big loss and will need some fine tuning. The quest system will help to cover some of that progression loss and if I can get a skill tree to work that will cover the rest (I hope).
Level barriers are still somewhat in place because the enemies pokemon may be 10-20 levels above you and with better moves. The quest system will also help to create some barriers.
To be blunt, levels are artificial and not needed in my game. While levels are a great tool for most pokemon games, in an open world game levels are difficult to deal with for the player and wild pokemon. I found it easier to keep the player static and then alter the difficulty of the enemies they face. I also like that I have eliminated a background stat increase and replaced it with something else.
EDIT: Pika1025 added as a tester, thanks! If anyone else wants to be a tester just message me and I'll be glad to add you.