There are three phases to a contest:
1. Introduction Round – Aka “Dressup Round.” Part of the contest where a character dresses up their Pokemon in a costume and are evaluated based on their sheen & general appearance. Max of 10 points in this category (15 if you have a colored scarf equipped/on).

2. Dancing Round – Part of the contest where the Pokemon (in costume) all dance to one song and are evaluated on their performance. Each character gets 3 rolls of either success or fail (50% chance) and their rolls determines how well their Pokemon performs. Max of 15 points (5 per successful roll). This round can be axed, I just thought it was a cute idea.

3. Talent Round – Part of the contest where Pokemon show off their moves to gain points or sabotage other contestants. There are four subrounds total.

Sheen is the Pokemon’s condition. Basically how cute/tough/beautiful/clever/cool they look. Each sheen category has a cap of 10 points (barring the extension of the colored scarves your Pokemon can hold which will increase it by 5). Each Pokemon can have a max of 30 sheen points total (so 3 maxed out categories at most). You increase your Pokemon’s sheen with either Pokeblocks or Poffins.

You need 4 berries to make either a pokeblock or a poffin. There are two strengths of pokeblocks: regular pokeblocks and pokeblocks+. For poffins, there are regular poffins and strong poffins. Regular pokeblocks and regular poffins give you 1 point of sheen in a category. Pokeblocks+ and strong poffins give you 2+ points. We won’t be doing rainbow pokeblocks.

You can harvest berries, buy berries, or be gifted berries as part of a reward but you must have the correct amount of berries when making pokeblocks/poffins.

After the Introduction and Dancing Rounds, the Pokemon with the highest (collective) points leads the Talent Round. After that, the lead is based on whoever is doing the best in the Talent Round (barring any move that deigns participation order).

1.) A Pokemon must have 4 moves in order to participate in contests.

2.) Performing the same move twice will lead to loss in points and loss in the Crowd Excitement Meter.

3.) If a move is newer (like gen 8-9) and doesn’t have a contest description associated with it, I’m gonna ask that you find another move from the Pokemon’s Movebank to substitute it for the contests.

4.) Each move gives a certain amount of red hearts that serve as points. Some moves are designed to sabotage other contestants, and “jam” their performance (startles them). Those moves have a certain amount of black hearts attached to them and those are the amount of points that is decreased on the Pokemon they successfully sabotage. Sometimes, this can lead to negative points for a Pokemon for that round.

5.) We will be using the Crowd Excitement mechanic. It can be raised/lowered based on what kind of move your Pokemon makes. For example, in beauty contests, a beauty move will increase it. Cool/cute moves will do nothing in beauty contests. While clever/tough moves will lower it in beauty contests. I’ll list the compatibility chart for convenience later.

6.) With the successful raising of the Excitement Meter, your Pokemon gets an additional point per round. This does not include moves like Whirlpool which stops the crowd from getting more excited. When the Excitement Meter is maxed out, your Pokemon gets an additional +5 points (plus the +1 extra point they get for raising the meter).

7.) Points are collectively counted each subround and determine the order for the next subround (barring moves that put them in the front/last of the line). The total amount of points are documented for the Talent Round and combined with the Introduction and Dance Rounds. The Pokemon with the most points is the winner. The winner of the contest will receive a ribbon + prize(s).

8.) There needs to be four participants per contests (and at least one person acting as a judge and co-GM and collecting points/doing rolls). Sometimes, we can’t always get the right amount of actual characters to participate, so to encourage people to help out…if you play as a NPC participant you’ll get rewarded (your respective character will be “anonymously gifted” goodies to use in the rp) helping out.

9.) You only need to win one ribbon in a lower rank to go to the next rank. It doesn’t need to be from the same category either. So, if I win one cute contest in normal rank, I can go to the next rank (super) in a cool contest if I want to.

Gone through writing bullet points as I read them, hope that's useful to you. I really hope it's not too negative because the setting intro sounds great.

• That's a lot of hp, if you're doing only 1 damage per turn (and therefore per attacking post) it's going to take a long time to whittle each other down. Even the best case scenario is 5 turns (and that's without missing)
• A longer fight wouldn't be bad if it was interesting, but with how simple it is, there's not going to be much variety in tactics. Just not sure how interesting anyone can make doing the same thing 5-10 times in a row sound.
• I'd suggest making the fights shorter by handing out less hp/more damage, fights in the games are usually pretty fast after all.
• You could try for a more complicated system, but I know a few attempts that have been made to turn pokemon into a ttrpg and it's a lot of work and it really doesn't seem necessary for what you've planned, so I'm not about to suggest it.
• So with the current system I think toxic would be a bit OP, with how long these fights would take that increasing poison damage would stack up fast, by the third turn it's outdone a super effective same type attack by 50%.
• Similarly, paralysis being a 4/5th chance to not attack seems a bit high and would really drag things out. It's strong already in the games with only a 1/4 chance to stop you acting.
• Sleep might be OK, it'll take far fewer turns away than paralysis, which feels a tad backward, but is more on how crazy an 80% paralysis chance is. It is rather effective, but that's true of the games, I'd suggest doing what they do any making sleep inflicting attacks less accurate, probably just a 50% chance since stats aren't a thing.
• Confusion is similar to paralysis, shuts things down way too hard.
• Stat influence seems a little unlikely to do anything, but otherwise fine.
• I think you might want to make levelling a little faster, only every 20th level actually does anything in your system and with 3 battles per level that's 60 of them. In general one thing I've seen from other pokemon games, and ttrgps in general is that you probably don't want to actually simulate grinding against random encounters.
• Not sure what to say about the contests, sounds pretty close to the games I guess, I've never really paid much attention to those so haven't got much to say, sorry.

In general if I had one big suggestion, make a setup that'll make resolving encounters with Gym Leaders and Villains fun, and don't worry too much about the random encounters on routes, closer to what you'd read in a fanfic or see in anime (not that I've actually watched that since gen 4). There's a big difference between running back and forth in some grass pressing the A button and writing out a full description of every turn after waiting for another person to roll some dice. Of course this is subjective.

In regards to the HP, initially Tier 1 Pokemon were going to have 5 HP but I was worried that when you consider bonuses into play (type advantages, stat boosts etc), it would go by too quickly. But I think you're right that it should be faster, more-to-the point kind of fights and 10 HP is probably too bloated if the average attack is going to be 1-2 HP points. So, I'll bring it back down to 5HP for Tier 1.

With Toxic, I think halving the HP should help the issue but worse comes to worse I'll just change it so it's a regular kind of poison effect.

For Paralysis and Confusion, I'll change it so it only has 1/4 chance of stopping attacks. I think I just wanted a reason for people to use status items, but I think it'll probably just unnecessarily bloat battles versus make them interesting.

For Sleep, since it is semi-relevant to plot & themes (You'll never guess what strategy the baddies at Team Sleep use! /s) I didn't want Sleep status to be a push-over (but still fair), but I'll strongly consider making the inflicting moves less accurate.

I may look at stats again in the future but for now as long as it's not game-breaking or too complex, I think I'll leave them be. My goal is definitely to keep things as simple as possible.

For leveling, I think what I'll do is have it so you only need one successful battles to level up and quick battles can count for those. My main concern was that, in regards to general pacing, I just didn't want people blasting through levels. But you make a good point that there isn't much difference until you hit every 20th level. Bringing it to one battle = one level + EXP share effect should be good, especially with the option of quick battles if people are in need of a quick boost.

As for the Contests, I think relying on the ORAS system should be simple enough. It's pretty to-the-point. The only downside is that some certain move effects are not explained properly (too vague) or straight up too situational that it might be a problem. But worse comes to worse I'll just ban certain moves or change their effects.

#1: Beryl Town – Located in the smack center of Starre region. Although large in size, most of the actual residential part of the town makes up only about half of the area. The rest are mostly large fields that belong to the Institute. The Institute of Beryl Town is the largest of its kind in the region and home to many Pokemon owned by various trainers. The fortifications of the Institute’s property are well kept and there have been no complaints from the Beryl Town residents in regard to the Pokemon there. Other than the Institute, there is the Starre Academy, a prestigious school for trainers. It is tradition in the Starre region every year to hold a ceremony of the beginning of the Championship League season and to give trainers a Pokemon egg; a symbol of a new beginning and potential.

#2: Peridot Town – A rural town in the south full of farmers. It has lately gained a rise in popularity due to the efforts of its local gym leader and one of Starre’s most iconic influencers. The gym leader’s gym is full of bug type Pokemon and a common early stop for trainers planning to take on the League.

#3: Zircon City – A bustling city in the south, Zircon’s major business lies in steel. At the head of the steel industry, is the tycoon Kouki Ito. Decades ago, he came to Starre from the east and set up business here, forever changing the face and progress of Zircon City. Kouki Ito is also the leader of the Zircon City gym, which specializes in steel Pokemon.

#4: Obsidian City – A large, grimy city full of smog and pollution from the local factories. The city is full of rampant crime, corruption, and gang activity. Years ago, it was much worse. It was only due to the influence and efforts of one Granny Mae that Obsidian City started to clean up its act. The city is split up into three districts; the center district being the safest (and nicest looking) of the three and the one that tourists are recommended to go to. The other two are full of gang territories, with battles breaking out there being a regular thing.

Due to Granny Mae’s influence, most Obsidian City gang members keep their illicit activities in the West or East Districts; Central District is a “neutral” zone and Granny Mae’s turf. And nobody crosses Granny Mae. But if that is not enough, visitors can rent Pokemon to protect them from criminals – for a price. At the heart of the Central District is Granny Mae Headquarters, home of Granny Mae’s famous cookies, which also serves as Obsidian City’s local Pokemon gym. Granny Mae is the gym leader and she’s proficient in dark types.

#5: Amethyst Town – A small town to the west. Amethyst Town biggest name to itself is its Contest Hall, which is home to its Normal Rank Pokemon Contests. Otherwise, it’s simply your average-run-of the mill town.

#6: Jasper Town – A moderate sized town in the central north, Jasper Town has been making some rapid growth and development over the years, all in due part of the mines located next to it. The town itself doesn’t have too many tourist attractions other than the local Pokemon gym, which features ground type Pokemon.

#7: Diaspore City – A cold, isolated city in the north, the people of Diaspore are a hardy bunch. When the weather isn’t extreme, you can find quite a variety of entertainment in Diaspore. Being the closest city to Mt. Aquila, numerous tours and tour guides of the mountain can be found here. Diaspore City also has its Contest Hall, home to Starre’s Super Rank Pokemon Contests.

#8: Diamond City – Diamond City is the city of all cities. Stars are made and born here; many of them live here. Massive in size, the city lies between Mt. Cygnus and Mt. Corvus. It is said to be one of the oldest cities in the Starre region, built on top of the ancient ruins of its predecessor. A large metropolitan, Diamond City has multiple stadiums spread throughout, with the biggest being the Central Stadium. All five stadiums are used during the yearly Pokemon Championship League. Next to the Central Stadium is the Diamond City Contest Hall, where Starre’s Master Rank Pokemon Contests are held.

#9: Alexandrite City – A large city in the north. Powered by the wind turbines in the Windy Valley, Alexandrite City is a bustling, vibrant city. As it lies as a connector between Victory Road and Diamond City, the Ophiuchus Canyon, and Emerald City; it’s a popular town for travelers and trainers alike. Alexandrite’s gym is home to dragon type Pokemon, and it’s building is instead a large dome where dragons and their trainers train.

#10: Topaz City – A beautiful, vibrant city; Topaz City is the number one stop for travelers on the western side of Starre. It’s popular for its beautiful sandy beaches and deep blue waters. Unfortunately, its tourism has gone downhill over the years due to the increased pollution coming down from Obsidian City. Besides its beaches, Topaz City is famous for its fighting arena; the Combat Dome, where both Pokemon and people alike spar. Warriors of all different kinds come to Topaz City to train and show off their skill. Topaz’s gym is home to fighting type Pokemon, located in the center of the city not too far away from the Combat Dome.

#11: Emerald City – To the east of Starre and along the coast of the Eastern Starry Sea, is none other than the glistening Emerald City. Famous for its picturesque beaches and gorgeous scenery, it is one of the top ten of Starre’s tourist destinations next to Diamond City and Amber City. For things to do, look no further than Emerald’s City Contest Hall where Hyper Rank Pokemon Contests can be found. At Emerald City’s docks, one can usually find the S.S. Nereid; Starre’s number one cruise ship.

#12: Amber City – The most popular city in the Three Islands. Located on Mother Island, it’s a famous tourist trap. Stunning tropical beaches and clear blue ocean waters, many of which can be seen from Amber City’s local amusement park. It is also home to a Pokemon Gym that focuses on rock-type Pokemon (many of which can be found at Mother Island Park).

#13: Tourmaline Town – A small sleepy town to the south of Starre. Not much happens in this town, the most exciting attraction is usually cited to be its Pokemon Gym. Its gym leader, Caelia Arkwright has recently taken up the helm as gym leader and specializes in fairy type Pokemon.

#14: Pearl Town – A small, quiet town on Maiden Island. It is a common stop for tourists who want a more “relaxing” vacation experience. Many of the residents living there work at the Maiden Island Reserve Park.

#15: Coral Town – A small, but busy town on Crone Island. Tourists come through there on their way to Mt. Hekatea. Tour guides of Mt. Hekatea can be found at Coral Town.

#42: Ye Olde Starry Faire – A medieval fair full of historic reenactors for the amusement of its guests, it is only open for a season or two. Many of its workers come from Tourmaline Town for seasonal work.

#16: Floral Meadows – A meadow full of bright, beautiful flowers that are home to many kinds of Pokemon.

#17: Bamboo Grove – A large bamboo grove with many streams and rivers nearby. Home to many Pokemon of a certain (eastern) ancestry.

#18: Ancient Ruins – Local ruins that have stood the test of time, but are slowly withering away. Murals of letters written in the Unown can be seen on the walls that remain standing. There isn’t much to be seen in the area, except for a large array of (mostly) psychic type Pokemon that are attracted to the energy of the lands. There are rumors of a hidden door that leads underground, and the ruins are said to go much further there and at the end supposedly lies a great treasure. Those are just rumors though; the place has been picked clean of any treasures or remarkable artifacts for years now and no one has found a hidden door. Yet, at least. There are also rumors of a ghost knight rider that can be seen at night…

#19: Grimm Forest – A dark, thick forest full of bright, colorful, neon mushrooms. The forest is full of mischievous, if not dangerous, Pokemon and travelers should take caution not to get lost.

#20: Southern Marsh – A large marsh located in the south of Starre. It frequently rains here.

#21: Lyra Cave – A cave system with a noticeable electric charge in the air. Many electric Pokemon can be found here.

#22: Hercules Woods – A dense, thick woods full of bug type Pokemon.

#23: Arkwright Mansion – An old mansion of the Arkwright family. The building has endured much of the centuries and is constantly being repaired. Many lives have been lost in that building over the years, so it is said to be haunted. Although owned by the descendants of the Arkwright family, it is said to mostly be now a habitat for ghost Pokemon and open to the public.

#24: Jasper Town Mines – A large, sprawling mine system. Many Pokemon can be found here.

#25: Starry Pass – A long mountain pass that can be found next to the Aquila mountain range.

#26: Mt. Aquila – At the end of a series of mountains is the tallest mountain in Starre region; Mt. Aquila. Covered in ice and snow most of the year, it is home to many ice type Pokemon and the Aquila slopes. Although popular with tourists, some of the locations are dangerous and not to be trifled with.

#27: Dragon Lake – The largest lake in Starre region. It gets its name from some of the dragon Pokemon that are known to reside there, but it is also home to a variety of Pokemon.

#28: Crystal Falls – A large set of waterfalls. It is one of Starre’s most iconic tourist destinations.

#29: Ophiuchus Canyon – A large canyon that holds a series of caves and caverns within it. Home to a variety of Pokemon.

#30: Scorpius Desert – A large, sprawling desert that is known to have a lot of sandstorms.

#31: Windy Valley – A large, verdant valley with notable high winds. Numerous wind turbines can be seen throughout the area, as these power the nearby Alexandrite City.

#32: Lighthouse – A large lighthouse on the eastern coast.

#33: Andromeda Shores – A series of beaches along the eastern coastline of Starre.

#34: Lake Clearwater – A small lake in the southeast. Home to many water Pokemon.

#35: Mother Island Park – A park that features a variety of attractions. The first attraction being its archeological dig site, which is opened to the public, as well as the part of the park that is home to many revitalized fossil Pokemon in attempts to recreate a vision of what prehistoric Starre would’ve looked like. Its owner is the grandson of the founder of the park and is also the gym leader at Amber City’s gym.

36. Desert Ruins: In the far east of the of the Scorpius Desert, lies the Desert Ruins. A series of tall ancient structures with murals of ancient text written in the figures of the Unown can be found. Archeologists can be found studying the ruins. Lurking in the structures are also a variety of Pokemon.

37. Abandoned Ship: Formerly called the S.S. Calypso, eighteen years ago, the cruise ship crashed into a large rock formation and damaged its hull and began to fill with water. All occupants on the ship were swiftly evacuated and no one was majorly injured, however, it occurred shortly after a previous catastrophe; the daughter of a famous actress went missing and was presumed to fall overboard. Many people began to spread the rumor that the cruise ship’s demise was due to the little girl’s ghost cursing the vessel, and so nobody wanted to go near the ship.

But just as the owner of the S.S. Calypso finally found a crew willing to dismantle and salvage the ship for the parts; environmental groups swiftly stepped in and said they could not interfere with the ship as it had become home to many rare and protected Pokemon in that time frame. No one could legally touch the ship without facing serious penalty; so, it was promptly abandoned. Although it technically stands semi-afloat now (stuck between large rocks), it’s predicted to breakdown and sink at some point in the coming years.

#38: Mt. Hekatea: A large, active volcano on Crone Island and the only volcano in the Starre region. Many tours are given here, and trainers can find many fire type Pokemon roaming around the volcano.

#39: Maiden Island Reserve – A large reserve of Pokemon. There are two halves; one open for the public (and for trainers to catch Pokemon in) and the other that is off-limits and mostly for the protection of certain Pokemon. The reserve often has a problem with poachers trying to get into the off-limits area.

#40: Mt. Corvus – One of the twin mountains to the north-east of Starre. An ancient temple is said to lie at the top of the mountain.

#41: Mt. Cygnus – One of the twin mountains to the north-east of Starre. An ancient temple is said to lie at the top of the mountain.

Note: Descriptions of the routes are based on the direction going. If you’re going the opposite way, just flip the order.

Route 1: Beryl Town to Floral Meadows. A quaint little trail with lots of greenery. As one gets closer to Floral Meadows, they’ll find flowers appearing more frequently.

Route 2: Floral Meadows to Peridot Town. A flower filled trail that turns into a path surrounded by farmlands.

Route 3: Peridot Town to Ancient Ruins. Fields of farmland soon turn into just regular fields that are full of random bits of ruins.

Route 4: Ancient Ruins to Tourmaline Town. Fields of ruins quickly turn into just regular fields as you get closer to Tourmaline Town.

Route 5: Tourmaline Town to Southern Marsh. Regular grass fields soon begin to get more damp and mud-like as one gets closer to the marsh. It frequently rains here.

Route 6: Southern Marsh to Topaz City. It’s all swampy marshland up until you reach Topaz City.

Route 7: Tourmaline Town to Grimm Forest. Starting from Tourmaline Town, it’s mostly clear grassland but trees start appearing more as you go along the trail. Halfway through there is a turn to go to Ye Olde Starry Faire. Otherwise, you head straight into the Grimm Forest.

Route 8: Grimm Forest to Obsidian City. The road is foggy, with trees covering up the sky along the path. The nearby grass is high and is knee length. The route is shady and dangerous, but is the only one to Obsidian City.

Route 9: Grimm Forest to Lyra Cave. The pathway starts out heavily wooded, having come from the forest. But as you continue through it starts to clear up and its mostly just grassland and some hills.

Route 10: Lyra Cave to Amethyst Town. Coming from Lyra Cave, it starts off being surrounded by hills but eventually evens out to regular flat grassland.

Route 11: Amethyst Town to Hercules Woods. Coming from Amethyst Town, it starts out as grasslands and progressively trees start to appear more and more as you get to the woods.

Route 12: Hercules Woods to Beryl Town. The left side of the route is more wooded while the right side of the route is mostly grassland.

Route 13: Beryl Town to Arkwright Mansion. Mostly just grassland with some hills. At the top of the biggest hill is the Arkwright Mansion.

Route 14: Arkwright Mansion to Tourmaline Town. Mostly just grassland with some hills. Along the route is a large graveyard.

Route 15: Peridot Town to Bamboo Grove. Mostly grassland with some small rivers.

Route 16: Bamboo Grove to Zircon City. Remnants of the bamboo from the bamboo grove and grassland.

Route 17: Zircon City to Lake Clearwater. A small, hilly path that leads to the lake.

Route 18: Lake Clearwater to Andromeda Shores. Features a large bridge that travelers can walk alongside.

Route 19: Andromeda Shores to Lighthouse. Mostly coastline next to the ocean.

Route 20: Lighthouse to Beryl Town. Mostly grassland. As you leave the Lighthouse, the salty scent of the ocean begins to fade.

Route 21: Beryl Town to Jasper Mines. Starts out as mostly grassland, but starts to get rockier with some hills as you go further north.

Route 22: Jasper Mines to Jasper Town. Hilly terrain all along the path.

Route 23: Jasper Town to Starry Pass. A path full of hills where you can see mountains in the distance.

Route 24: Starry Pass to Diaspore City. A path that is often covered with snow for most of the year. Mountains can be seen in the distance.

Route 25: Diaspore City to Mount Aquila. A snow-covered path that can be a little dangerous.

Route 26: Beryl Town to Windy Valley. Wide open grass fields that stretch for quite the distance. You can feel the wind start to pick up.

Route 27: Windy Valley to Alexandrite City. As you feel the wind die down, you can feel it start to get more warmer.

Route 28: Alexandrite City to Ophiuchus Canyon. A path mostly of grassland, but as you get closer to the canyon the air begins to get drier and the grass becomes less frequent.

Route 29: Ophiuchus Canyon to Emerald City. Some grassland, but mostly coastline.

Route 30: Emerald City to Scorpius Desert. Sand from the beaches quickly turns into sand from the desert. Either way, it’s hot.

Route 31: Scorpius Desert to Ophiuchus Canyon. Lots of sand. A little patches of grass here and there, but mostly sand.

Route 32: Alexandrite City to Diamond City. Also known as “Victory Road.” The path is full of hills and mountainous terrain, with the occasional spots of grassland in between.

Route 33: Diamond City to Crystal Falls. A small path in between some mountainous terrain.

Route 34: Crystal Falls to Dragon Lake. A long path that starts in some hilly terrain but then ends in regular grassland.

Route 35: Dragon Lake to Jasper Town. The path starts out flat and then becomes hilly as it approaches Jasper Town.

Route 36: Emerald City to Amber City. A long stretch of ocean, where in the middle you can see the remains of S.S. Calypso. Can be surfed or take the ferry.

Route 37: Amber City to Pearl Town. A short stretch of beaches and ocean, frequently filled with tourists and vacationers. Can be surfed or take the ferry.

Route 38: Amber City to Coral Town. A short stretch of beaches and ocean, only really frequented by the most determined of ocean-goers. Can be surfed or take the ferry.

Route 39: Pearl Town to Zircon City. A route that starts out in the ocean and ends up back on land. Can be surfed or take the ferry.

Route 40: Scorpius Desert to Desert Ruins. Nothing but mounds of desert sand can be seen.