"Seriously? Trainer battles were the only way they fought?
"Yeah. The Legendaries had some kind of influence, kept it all in line."
"Legendaries? Those are myths."
"But they WERE real."
"Seriously? I've heard the stories about them. What could kill Poke's like that?"
"No one knows. But they all left. That's when the fighting started."
"Us versus them."
"Us versus them. A lot of trainers killed their own, didn't realize that as long as your will was strong you still had control. Horrible times, man."
"That's when they changed, right?"
"Yeah, each one filling it's little niche. Some stayed cute and got the elite to coddle em. Some went feral and didn't rely on trainers, like Pikachu heading to the sewers. Some just got tough enough to stick around in our presence. Even though we can shoot them all we want, the best force is still a classic trainer. Six pokemon, and you can change the world.
"If you can control them."
"Hah! Yeah, the containment devices work a lot less, without the legendaries doing their part. That's why the trainer fields are still used. After all that work taming, you don't want them to die. Fight in the wild, they can die. Fight in a trainer field, and they'll live another day. That's why those fake fights are so important. It's a show of force. One trainers team against another, and then it doesn't have to come to force, because everyone knows who would win."
"But something doesn't make sense."
"Eh?"
"Aren't the trainers part of the battle?"
"Well, not usually. You can step outside the protection field, but take one hit, it's game over. It's a last resort."
"What's stopping a trainer from just getting a machine gun and going to town?
"Training. Any trained poke worth it's salt has plans for that sort of thing. You have to understand why they submit to training. They're the best. Best trainers and best pokemon find eachother.
"Like the Elite Four."
"Elite Four - they give me nightmares."
"Didn't you have a team to fight them once?"
"Yeah. But when you actually come up against them - well. You get to be a ruler of the world if you win...but you're not going to win."
"Makes you wish for the old leadership?"
"No, no, never. Sure, if an Elite Four member gets corrupt, you can't vote him out of office. But it's a meritocracy. The people running what's left of the nation are people who can take a team diverse enough to win and train them to work together. A lot better than what we got before."
Some basics.
- Bad things have happened: - The world was torn apart in the ensuing warfare. It's slowly being built back. but most of it is still pretty trashed. No planes, cars are limited to emergencies, trains only on very short, local routes, etc. Basically, think present day technology level, but only on a small, individual level.
- Bad things are continuing to happen: - Most towns have fortified walls that use a trainer field as an impromptu gate - can't be too paranoid, with wild Pokemon roaming almost everywhere. (No more of this tall grass crap!) The trained ones can talk and are much smarter than wilds. However, those who are trained and then escape usually marshal forces of ferals or, worse, form a force themselves.(It should be noted that even ferals are hindered by trainer gates – so they are “safe points†to ensure you don't get mobbed.)
- Who's awesome? You're awesome!: As a trainer who can control six (it takes more willpower to have more, even captive) we're roleplaying top of the line characters. The threats are instead large organized forces (pack of Pinsers, Electrode Cannons, etc.) and, of course, the Elite Four. But in a one on one, our only real threats are eachother.
- Lets skip the boring stuff: I don't want to watch you catch every pokemon. You start with them all. Go nuts. HOWEVER, there are no PC's – six is the limit. And at some point, it would probably be best to let one of yours go and catch a new one, for varieties sake.
- Random roleplaying note: The areas won't be split into different threads. I think that's a big reason why our RP's die. We need to focus all of our activity and have a feedback reaction, or something.
- Injuries: This is a big'un. There are no Pokemon Centers. The trainer fields prevent death, but if you're “KO'd†I doubt that thing is going to be in shape to leave it's ball for weeks. So don't overwork one Pokemon, and don't get in too many battles. You have to distribute labor equally, and if you over-use one I will throw out a “He's tired†note. So instead of PP, think of it in terms of Health and Energy. Either one can take you out of comission.