Suggestions for Areas

[Gaia]

Hey guys, I could REALLY use some help building regions and areas. I've been using Bulbapedia to keep myself on track with the timelines, as I do try to balance events to match those of the games, anime, and possibly the mangas if I can. Using these main pages on bulbapedia for each region, you can click links to all the routes, dungeons, and cities. It'll break down for you what's changed over time, how its different in GSC as opposed to FRLG and RBY, so on and so forth. Take a look at the unbuilt areas. If you feel comfortable building an area, please do so (you can check the bulbapedia info to refresh your memory of places you've been before in the old games). It would be a fantastic help!

Kanto Region Information (Leading Developers: Gaia, Chaos_Shadow)
Johto Region Information
Hoenn Region Information
Sinnoh Region Information
Orre Region Information
Fiore Region Information (Leading Developers: B.G.
Sevii Islands Information (Leading Developers: Mouse in an Opera House)
Orange Archipelago Information

[Gaia]

What's involved with building areas, you ask? Well, simple! You describe the areas. For instance, describe the pokemon center in a town. Let people know what it looks like, where important rooms are, and what can be done there. Describe a Gym. Describe a route: let people know what the area looks like, what the environment is, etc.

Building areas is easy. Use the bulbapedia links above to look at individual locations and routes in a region. Try to describe that as best as you can in a way that makes sense for roleplayers rather than a video game. It should still look as much like the video game areas as you can make it, though.

Don't worry about building "Area Information" threads. Those I use to manage the pokemon in an area and the general level of pokemon a person encounters in that area Also, t gives an overvie wof how each area relates to the others, like a birds eye view of the city/route.

[Chaos_Shadow]

Cerulean to Lavender

Route 10 (First Leg)
The first leg of Route 10 leads east of Cerulean City, past a small swath of fairly dense foliage until it takes you out to a low-grade, mountainous trail. The trail itself is fairly well defined, thanks to years of travel up and down its length, and, though a bit rocky and uneven, not at all steep. There are a few roads that wind off from the main trail, but they mostly peter out and lead to much more uneven, and much more loosely packed, surfaces; these are dangerous to cross and are prone to resulting in rock slides.

The primary trail is typically littered with trainers either out for an easy hike or actively attempting to reach Rock Tunnel. Some people, of course, hang on the edges here searching for battles, knowing that the through traffic to Rock Tunnel it's too bad, but for the most part, the trainers here have a particular goal in mind; the caverns that will lead them to Lavender Town.


Pokemon Center
There is a small Pokemon Center located in an isolated cave to the right of the entrance to Rock Tunnel. It's a small affair, but more than workable, and has an interesting atmosphere given that it's inside a cave. Of course, it gets electricity (thanks almost entirely to the nearby Power Plant due south of its location), so it can run a standard regeneration machine; however, it's simply too small to have warranted rarer equipment, and cannot perform any surgeries or operations with the limited supplies that it has.


Rock Tunnel
Rock Tunnel is a long, winding cavern, filled with dips and twists and many strew about rocks that, more likely than not, are actually sleeping Geodude. Rock Tunnel is also, due to its length and entirely uneven nature, still in a natural state; it has no lights running through its interior, unlike most other caverns.

Navigation through Rock Tunnel itself is not particularly difficult, assuming you have a torch, a powerful flashlight, or a Pokemon who can illuminate dark areas. It's a reasonably straight shot end to end, with some minor branches that lead into small pools of fresh water, making it in your best interest to actually take these pit stops so you can rest and recover.

There are trainers wandering through here, primarily those who consider themselves hikers and have a particular affinity for rocky Pokemon overall, but given the nature of the area, they don't tend to be particularly offensive when it comes to combat; they're there to enjoy nature. Never mind that's its quite difficult to see as it is and getting into a battle would require even more concentration.

Rock Tunnel is, while keeping up a decent clip, about a six-hour walk from end to end, although most people complete it in closer to eight to twelve hours, thanks to the unfamiliar and unpredictable internal landscape. Safety first, spelunkers!


Route 10 (Second Leg)
Exiting Rock Tunnel leads one into a final mountainous descent toward Lavender Town. There is a rather large rock formation almost smack outside of the Tunnel itself, so skirting around the formation can be done on one of two paths, both of which are entirely comparable to the other, and both of which hold trainers, usually those are taking a brief rest from their journey, or, if you find a few jerks, waiting for exhausted trainers to wander out of the tunnels so they can ambush them and get in an easy win.

Thankfully, this last leg of the journey is quite short; after rounding the rock formation, Lavender Town is a ten minute leisurely walk down a defined dirt trail.

[Gaia]

*Glomps Chaos*

Ohhhh, thank thank you thank you thank you thank you.

[Chaos_Shadow]

T'aint no trouble whatsoever. Just noticed nobody else had taken up your offer, and I know how hard it is to build up descriptions for an entire world all on your lonesome, but I figured I could lend a bit of a hand.

[Gaia]

And it was perfect, too. I never would have thought of putting the Pokemon Center in a cave!

[Morwen]

Well, Chaos just made me look bad... <.<

Nice description though. I'm glad someone else decided to help too. ^^

[B.G.]

I wouldn't mind doing the Fiore Region descriptions. Since Fiore is a region where people don't permanently capture pokemon, I was wondering how you would like me to approach it.

I was thinking about not having pokeballs available at any stores, but if you bring some with you, you can catch as many pokemon as your stock will allow.

Here is a possible description of how the Fiore Region fits chronologically:

The Fiore Region is a wild area filled with pokemon, and until recently hasn't had trainers in the region due to it's lack of a league. Recently trainers have discovered that Fiore has an abundant supply of wild pokemon and have started making the journey to this area. In an attempt to maintain the balance of their region, the Pokemon Rangers banned the importation of pokeballs. Trainers are limited to using only the pokeballs that they have brought with them.

If you start in the Fiore region, you don't get pokeballs, instead you get a Styler with which you temporarily tame a pokemon and release it before leaving it's home area. All trainers(rangers) starting in Fiore have one (and only one) pokemon friend that is a constant companion on your adventures. Your starting pokemon would be your one permanent pokemon companion. Your beginning post should include how you met and befriended this pokemon, or you can start without a permanent companion and find one later in your journey.

This region is more of a mission based area, because rangers must be assigned to a particular station in one of the towns. The player does battling (capturing) in this region while her pokemon acts as a support for the trainer. The strategy here is to level up the character and be awarded more privleges as you become a more experienced trainer.

I might think of more, but that's it for now. Let me know what you think.

[Gaia]

*mumbles and curses math homework*

Three more weeks, dangit. Three more weeks.

hokai, so no importing pokeballs: Good.

Using only the pokeballs brought with you: Good.

Styler given to new trainers...mer. Good. But not default. I would like people to be able to start in Fiore as trainers, if they wish. Perhaps pokemon are imported for the local professor, to be given in a the default Pack for new trainers, and no more?

Mayhaps the Ranger system has been setup in more regions. We could have Stylers available for those willing to take an oath of service in the Ranger Corps and study and protect pokemon in their native regions, as opposed to catching them. They could, instead, have Tags, like GPS signallers they can connect to pokemon allies so they can go find them and ask their help if they wanna enter tourneys or something? Much like pokemon characters have 'Allies' instead of pokemon storage?

Meh, getting ahead of myself.

That's fine, so long as you incorporate the option to become a trainer.

[B.G.]

I was thinking about allowing trainers or rangers start from either Fall City or Ring Town. How about letting them choose a pokemon from one of the surrounding routes. This could go for trainers or rangers. Rangers would get a Styler and trainers would get nothing . . . jk Trainers would get the normal supply (Including 5 pokeballs).

The down side of being a trainer in the region is that you only get 5 pokeballs until you go to another region (or until they realize they can order pokeballs online from Kurt.com ). I view Fiore as a giant Safari Game for trainers. Making it a fun place to start as a trainer will still need a bit more polishing I think.

As for rangers, I have a few more ideas on how their mechanics could work. In the game rangers gain more pokemon slots (pokemon that can travel w/ them at any given time.) as they increase their ranger level. The same could apply here. Every 5 levels your ranger gains a ranger level. (I'll get a level chart drawn up for you eventually) A level 10 (highest rank) ranger is actually allowed a total of 8 pokemon companions at one time. They are also trusted enough to take pokemon out of their natural habitat. The catch is that only one is a permenent friend. (That might be better as something more like four. What do you think?) The others are released once they help out in some way (ex. help capture/befriend another pokemon, fight in a tourney, or cut down some annoying bushes).

The Styler allows a ranger to form an emphatic link with other pokemon. This could be easily applied to other regions of the pokemon world. Rather than having tags, rangers could form a strong enough bond with a pokemon that it is willing to help whenever needed, becoming an "ally". Pokemon allies can be kept at each Ranger station and can be switched, much like the PC storage available to trainers. This way, a ranger can have access to multiple pokemon in a tourney or other event.

[Gaia]

I looove your ranger chart.

I like that idea better, but I think maybe we should avoid the empathic link as that's often something gained from a Power quest. Rather, they could summon previous allies between Ranger stations by asking their Ranger buddies. Yay Ranger buddies!

Exactly, pokemon trainers could only get a maximum of 5 pokeballs. I enjoy the idea of keeping it challenging, I just wanted the option available. And as there's only four cities in that island, there should only be one Starting Point.

ROFL @ Kurt.com

[B.G.]

I used the term "emphatic link" because in the games the Styler is used to convey the ranger's feelings to the pokemon. It might be more realistic to say that the styler has a calming affect on pokemon that can even turn an aggressive pokemon friendly towards the ranger for a short time. There should be a distinction between "allies" and temporary "helpers." The allies form a bond of some sort with the ranger while a helper understands that the ranger means no harm, and the pokemon is willing to help the ranger a little. How would you describe the bond?

What do you mean by Ranger buddies? The NPC rangers in the station or the pokemon that are allies with the rangers?

If there's only one starting point, I think I'll deviate from the game and make it Fall City, since that is the place you arrive at by boat. It's also the central city in the game.

[Gaia]

seems logical.

I know what you mean. But by terming it a link you add to it the fact that it would work the other way for the ranger. Which it doesn't...Jonny Ranger doesn't get to feel what his pokemon are feeling just cause he's a ranger and gets to play with a shiny stick thing.

Perhaps we should consider the Tags option again. I envision them like simple metal earing style items. Big for earrings, but with a similar function. Once the object is placed, the Rangerz as well as any scientiests studying any pokemon in the region can locate any ranger-tagged pokemon should they wish to find and observe them. However, much like a pokeball is transported to a center when a trainers party is full, a Ranger can use the styler to summon any pokemon he's tagged to his location, returning it when he no longer has a need for it to the location it was summoned from.

This, however, invariably defeats the purpose of being a ranger and ultimately destroys the idea of protecting pokemon and keeping them within their natural habitats.

I like the idea of rangers. but maybe its a bit much to add for the new region. I have an idea instead...trainers can start from Fall City, and have placed on them the limit of five pokeballs unless they move from Fiore and return with a pokeball purchase from another region.

instead, let me hash out this idea that just came into my head right now as I was puzzling over the subject of Rangers.

Rangers would be removed from the equation of Fiore. Instead, we could offer them, and possible other special trainer types, as extra character slot awards in events and for good roleplaying. A fourth character slot can be added for Ranked character awards. Rangers would be one of these. Ranger characters would be restricted to one lifetime helper pokemon, but would have the ability to encounter any pokemon in a particular region or city at a level equal to or lesser than their current helper pokemon's level.

Hmm. I like this idea much better. Very 'Dark and Shattered Lands' style with their special race awards of angels, demons, dragons, and balanx to good roleplayers.


These people, when playing their extra slot award characters, would be in the position of...plot helpers. They would have access to the story development forum (which I damn well need to separate from the admin forum, dangit) once they've been awarded the character, and therefor could use their awarded characters with some plot authority in RPEs. Helping to guide a particular story along, maybe acting out necessary roles such as heroes or villains. Much as Team Leaders are given access to the forum for the same reason, once their quest is complete.

hmmhmm.

[B.G.]

Maybe it would be better just create Fiore for trainers. Rangers should still exist, but as NPC's. Rangers are the law-enforcement of the region, and their bases act as Pokemon Centers. Your idea for pokeballs was how I envisioned it working as well.

I like the idea of having Ranger be a bonus character. That would work well. I still kind of cringe when I think about rangers tagging pokemon. I still kind of like the challenge of having all of your captures (except one) be temporary, one time use, captures. It adds a little more strategy to who you use for a battle. However, the method of capture for a ranger is pretty different from a trainer's. That's one thing I'm still trying to figure out how to describe, since it's not super exciting to roleplay drawing circles around pokemon with a remote control disk. (Actually, that could be interesting, especially when the pokemon is trying to attack you at the same time. )

Well, for now I'll just set things up for trainers. Rangers can be in a future release. (Yea, I don't have to type up all the different rules for Rangers yet.)

[Gaia]

I like the Styler concept. Intriguing. The wand they hold actually controls a device much like a spinning top, which emits a ring of light when a successful revolution is completed, which assists in calming the pokemon down and establishing the "I'm not here to hurt you" attitude. XD