Name:
Age:
Profession: (this will almost certainly be 'Pokemon Trainer', but feel free to be more specific)
Goal: (what's your character's goal through training Pokemon? Challenge Gyms, learn to be a breeder, etc)
Affiliation: (Team Indigo, Critic, Neutral - on request, I may accept NeonCorp affiliates, but I'd rather keep control over that side of things myself)
Hometown: (feel free to be from other regions)

Appearance: Realistic photo or description, please. Avoid celebrities in pictures. If I spot a celebrity, I won't accept it.

Personality:

History:

Team: (if your character has justification for it, they may have more than one team for different circumstances. You don't have to have fully-evolved Pokemon, nor a full team of six!)

• Whatevermon


• Whatevermon


• Whatevermon

Welcome to the world of Pokemon. Obviously, everybody has a different understanding of the world of Pokemon, based on whichever their preferred Poke-Media is (say, the animes, the manga, the games, whatever). In this, I'll be looking to make them as realistic as possible, so bear the following in mind.

• Pokemon are animals. They don't instinctively trust you on the whole but you can forge a relationship with them. They don't say their own name. If you don't know what you're doing, you will get gored.


• Pokemon are a sport/martial art. Most people do not do this. Trainers, the only people that really have Pokemon outside a professional capacity, could be considered professional gamblers (through battling for money in competitons) or professional sportspeople, who get money through sponsorship.


• Pokecentres are literally Pokemon hospitals. They don't just magically heal in a machine. It's up to a trainer to forfeit a battle before their Pokemon gets hurt to the point where they require more than rest to recover. Nor will a spray fix your beheaded Raichu.


• Ten year-olds do not have dragon friends. No. A good age for a beginning trainer is seventeen. A good age for a decent trainer is twenty-five.


• Common sense rules. You can't fly on the back of a Pidgey (or indeed, any bird Pokemon, to be honest) - your weight will cripple its lift. Each Pokemon can learn an infinite number of moves, but try to keep those moves tied to the biology. Sure, every Pokemon in the games can learn Protect via TM - it doesn't mean that Pokemon in this have the power to generate a forcefield out of nowhere. Perhaps look at a list of moves the Pokemon in question learns naturally to see what it can realistically do. Stats aren't a thing, nor are moves that mysteriously increase them. Speaking of TMs, not a thing. Bin the typing system beyond where common sense dictates.


• Legends are legendary for a reason. They're mythical. Equally, I'm going to suggest that Pseudolegendaries are very much endangered and/or too much for most people to handle, so, if you want one on your team, you'll probably have to sell me the idea.


• While levels aren't really a thing in this, they're a good way to gage age and at what level of training Pokemon are at what strength. For example, a Hydreigon evolves at a much greater age / level of training than a Butterfree.

[*] The nerfing of types is necessary in this in order to stop Pokemon with elemental powers being overpowered. I won't be too prescriptive, but just give a request to tone down powers. I know in the anime, Pikachu can fry a hot air balloon utterly at a hundred metres, but that would just be unmanageable in this. A small rodent should not be toting that kind of power. Psychics in particular have crazy powers in this, but to balance it, my request is that Psychics specialise in the thing they're, uh, Psychic at. For example, Hypno is weak at telekinesis, but strong at Hypnotism. Alakazam has telekinetic powers, but can't see the future like Xatu. That sort of thing. Thanks. :)

The Scarlet Isles is a semi-tropical region a little way to the South of Hoenn. It is warm around the year, and a popular tourist destination.

The Isles are tiny, with barely a fifth of the population of most other regions, all converged in urban areas. Most of the country is rural and overrun with wild Pokemon. Most movement is done by foot, bicycle or by public transport - particularly trains. Cars are simply not a thing, as the demand was never there to update the roads.

NeonCorp is the single biggest company in the Scarlet Isle, and has a complete stranglehold on the media and technological industries. It heavily lobbies government, and nobody is quite sure what all their operations are. The head of NeonCorp is Leon Kiros, the patriarch of the small but famous Kiros family.

In particualr, NeonCorp dominates the Pokemon 'market', through being the only licensed distributor of legally-required Pokedexes (inevitably called the NeonDex), basically owning the Pokemon League and the media channels that show battles from the Scarlet Conference and Gym Challenges.

This being a slightly dystopian setting, NeonCorp is obviously a hugely shady company that completely undermines the principles of democracy and is consistently choking every other company out of the water. It has its critics, but they have no real means of expressing themselves, and more than one has been silenced. It doesn't help that the NeonDexes, which is a telephone, GPS, Pokedex and trainer ID, can be very easily hacked to stalk and steal data from trainers. The walls have ears.

The resident criminal gang, naturally basically in NeonCorp's employ, is Team Indigo. They are not a well-organised ... organisation that operates almost on a cell-basis. Armed and funded by NeonCorp, their relationship is symbiotic. Team Indigo gangs will run missions and take hits for NeonCorp, while NeonCorp will subtly fund and protect them. Rivalry between different gangs, all under the banner of Team Indigo, is frequent, as is gangland conflict.

The Pokemon League is the organisation that runs the Gyms and the Scarlet Conference, a tournament held each Summer of the strongest trainers. In order to compete, a trainer requires the eight badges from either the Gyms of Hoenn or, ideally, the Gyms of the Scarlet Isles. There is no Elite Four to speak of, and the Champion is simply the most recent winner of the overall tournament.

The Gyms of the Scarlet Isles are prestigious. While in other regions, Leaders typically go easier on trainers with fewer badges, so their last Gym challenge is their hardest. There is no such trend in the Scarlet Isles, whose Gyms are exclusively out of the way and challenge the trainers physically just in reaching them. With such a reputation, the Gym Leaders are basically celebrities, and many of them have exposure deals with the Neon Broadcasting Network. As a result, those with more lucrative deals tend to play up their 'character' more, to make the most of their celebrity status. The Gym Challenges are filmed and frequently broadcast. Trainers are often paid a little for making the challenge (which are pre-arranged - the Leader does not simply wait around).



Guerilla Gym:

The Guerilla Gym lurks in the Ostermarshes, and is entirely outdoors, exploiting the natural boggy terrain of the area. The leader, Marius, makes use of the terrain to ambush and attack while defended, with Pokemon well-equipped to deal with the marshes. He is gruff and rugged, and once got second place in the Scarlet Conference.

Lost Gym:

Probably the single most difficult Gym to find, beyond the Gym of Heroes, hidden in a clearing in the middle of Veil Forest, with an interior and exterior that are literally built into the jungle. Lissa battles with forest-friendly Pokemon and is the eldest Gym Leader. Despite being one of the hardest to get to, she is probably the friendliest and most sympathetic leader and the one most likely to go easy on trainers (possibly following the hard slog getting to face her). As an older woman, she has little demographic value and has no real contract with the Neon Broadcasting Network.

Fury Gym:

The Fury Gym is either the hardest or the easiest Gym for most trainers. It takes place on a pontoon just off the Scarlet Conference stadium and in the surrounding water. An artificial bowl filled with water (a net held in place by a firm frame) is underneath the pontoon enabling aquatic Pokemon to battle freely. All of Tomtom's Pokemon fight exclusively in the water, making him an impossible challenge for trainers whose Pokemon cannot swim well or snipe them out. However, he is the least skilled or motivated trainer among the Gym Leaders and cannot give constant commands to his underwater team, so those trainers equipped to deal with him should find him a pushover.

Blue Sky Gym:

The Blue Sky Gym is located on the Western peak of Mount Triumph, in a stadium that is taller than it has floor-space. Well-suited, then, for Bryson's flying Pokemon. It is a Gym of similar, but less extreme, difficulty variance to the Fury Gym. Bryson was in the army for a short period before becoming a full-tile Pokemon trainer, but this is his unique character trait among the leaders and an element of his history that he embellishes hugely as, basically, a PR strategy. However, he is also a boisterous man that can't take anything seriously, so the resultant character comes across as rebellious. He is possibly, as a result, the most popular Gym Leader.

Despair Gym:

The Despair Gym is located in the centre of the Ruins of Castille and is only open at night. Maria is another hugely popular Gym Leader whose defining trait, in much the same way as Bryson, is her perceived 'Gothicness'. Of course, she is never any less than media-friendly and is, in her spare time, a glamour model and pinup. Obviously. Hers is possibly the easiest Gym to get to, simply being at the centre of a tourist hotspot.

Silent Gym:

The Silent Gym is to be taken literally. The dojo, hidden within the Deep Caverns, is barely lit and is designed, almost like a recording studio, to muffle sound, making communication between trainer and Pokemon difficult. Lin tests for inate understanding between battlers and will happily give her badge to those who lose but battle well - and deny the badge to those who do not, even if they win. She is the only critic of NeonCorp among the Gym Leaders and refuses all sponsorship from them, not for lack of trying. Prior to becoming a Gym Leader, Lin was a serial Champion of the Scarlet Conference and Pokemon Leagues around the world.

Wilderness Gym:

There is no Wilderness Gym. There is simply a Gym Leader. Ray literally tours the wilds in the north of the Northern Isle, travelling in whatever direction he feels like in no set pattern. Trainers must simply find him and defeat him to win the badge. Some people find him instantly, whereas others have searched for days with no avail. He is, after Tomtom, probably the most easily-defeated Leader. This is the only Gym challenge that a trainer does not have to (and, indeed, can't) book in advance.

Gym of Heroes:

Located in the epic Fortress of the Sea, trainers must sail from the Southern Island, entirely under their own steam, to the Fortress, battle through the booby traps and insanely violent, powerful wild Pokemon, and eventually reach the Throne room, where Samuel resides. This is unabashedly the most difficult Gym in every shape and form. Samuel is considered a legend in the Scarlet Isles and was once a huge critic of NeonCorp, but his public voice was one day made suddenly quiet. Despite being one of the more popular Gym Leaders, he makes the fewest public appearances in his capacity as celebrity, after Lin.

Scarlet Conference:

The Scarlet Conference takes place in a custom-built stadium equidistant between Kiros Mansion, Port Newhaven and Southport. The tournament is the single biggest yearly event in the Scarlet Isles, both in terms of tickets sold and televisions viewed.

Mount Triumph:

The greatest, and only real, mountain of the Scarlet Isles. It's not unreasonably tall, but covers an impressive amount of the small Northern Isle. It has two peaks, one on the Eastern side which is unaccessible to all but the most determined mountaineer, and a lower, far friendlier one with an easier route, which leads to the Blue Sky Gym. The Triumph Source is a huge spring close to the Western peak which travels down the mountain in thin streams and impressive waterfalls, leading to Lake Triumph.

The mountain has a huge labyrinth of caverns on its underside, accessible mainly by an entrance on the Northern side. The Deep Caverns are, even now, not entirely mapped, but a little way into the tunnel network, a small dojo, the Silent Gym, can be found.

Port North:

The main access point to the Scarlet Isles from the Hoenn mainland, Port North is a huge harbour. It has a veneer of credibility, mostly for the tourists' benefit - they, at least, are only passing through. Scratching the surface reveals quite the main parts of the city to be seedy, murky, and not somewhere to walk on your own at night.

Lake Triumph and the Ostermarshes:

This is a simply enormous lake in the East of the Northern Isle. It was once clean, but it took a big hit from pollution a few years ago. However, as a major tourist destination, a big operation to clear up the lake went underway. This was mostly sucessful, apart from on the South side, where the polution seeped into the lowlands, creating spongey ground littered with bogs, where the Guerilla Gym lurks.

Ivory City:

The capital city of the Scarlet Isles, and the only decent-sized city of the tiny region. It is fairly historic and has many aspects that make it a tourist destination, so it is cripplingly expensive to live there. Most of the life and soul has been sucked out of the area, with the independent businesses more or less crushed entirely, apart from in the red light district on the East side. Central government takes place in Ivory City, and it's where NeonCorp has its main base of operations.

Southport:

More or less only exists as an access to Port Newhaven on the Southern Isle. There's basically nothing else there apart from the military base, as this is the military centre in the Scarlet Isles.

Port Newhaven:

A relatively new city that was built onto a similarly small port to Southport a few hundred years ago, when Castille City was destroyed. It's highly populated, but has no real culture or history because of its manufacted nature.

Ruins of Castille:

Castille was the biggest city in the Scarlet Isles until two and a half centuries ago, when it was utterly destroyed by a meteor strike. It is renowned for its history, as it was the centre of huge developments in science and the arts and politics, but, now just ruins, obviously no more, though it gets a great footfall from tourists. The Despair Gym lurks within.

Veil Forest:

Veil Forest is more like a jungle with its climate. It is huge and expansive. Some trails are well-trodden and tourist-friendly, but the centre of the forest is hugely overgrown and travelled only by people seeking the hidden clearing of the Lost Gym.

Metroveil City:

The most cosmopolitan city in the Scarlet Isles, and, by population, technically the biggest. It's the business, cultural and industrial centre of the Scarlet Isles, and where almost all media of the region is produced. Naturally, NeonCorp has a base of operations here.

Fortress of the Ocean:

When the Scarlet Isles was a monarchy, this was where the royal family resided. It is an impossibly huge castle on a tiny island that dwarfs any architecture to be found in any nearby region. The Fortress has fallen into disrepair and is unsafe for all but the most dedicated trainers, however, as, when the queen left the castle four hundred years ago, powerful Pokemon, some of which were kept there as exotic zoological specimens for the residents' pleasure, simply took over and bred. Nobody has quite had the courage - or foolishness - to try to wrest the castle back. Many of the medieval booby traps are still intact, as well...

There are one or two safe areas in the centre of the castle, where the Gym of Heroes calls home.

Kiros Mansion:

A mansion on a private island for the benefit of the rather well-to-do Kiros family. Nothing shifty ever happens here. Move along please.

Pokemon League / Fury Gym:

These two are situated on a purpose-built, enormous pontoon in between the two islands.