Personally I prefer the Pokémon just have all the moves in their level movesets, BUT it's totally chill to do a four-move restriction if that's where we wanna go. It's more traditional.

Personally I prefer the Pokémon just have all the moves in their level movesets, BUT it's totally chill to do a four-move restriction if that's where we wanna go. It's more traditional.

I do agree with Bart that I prefer more of a free-form style but also am not bothered by the four-move restriction. Especially if we can say that our characters are all carrying around a bag full TMs.

The problem with free-move is that I just don't want people to go "aha, my pokemon does x super effective move" all the time because they have access to other moves. It defeats the purpose of type matchups if everyone just writes the equivalent of an "I win" button.

That being said, as Ryik mentioned it might be a good idea to have moves included on the CS (probably abilities too).

Also, the opening post will be soon. But it might be at an odd time since I'm going to be working overnight shifts for a few days.

Let us know if you do end up wanting people to choose specific moves and add them to the CS. I don't mind either way in regards to moves, but a good in between could be choosing 4 moves from their level up list, 1 egg move and 1 TM, so they end up with 6 (a little more wiggle room). Or just assuming the entire level up list is in play like Bart mentioned. I don't foresee a ton of PvP though, but if it will be an issue against whatever antagonistic force is in play then I don't mind going with just the usual 4.

At least for me when it comes to PvE I think struggle and sometimes even losing in one way or another is what can make for an interesting story so whatever we think is best to prevent things like powergaming or whatever I'm okay with.

I like @Yankee's suggestion too, a bit of an in between the 4 move system and the free for all of the show

4 moves from their level up list, 1 egg move and 1 TM

Honestly more limiting than just sticking to the 4-moveslot limit imo. For trainers more or less at the end of their journey, where those moves come from shouldn't matter that much.

The problem with free-move is that I just don't want people to go "aha, my pokemon does x super effective move" all the time because they have access to other moves. It defeats the purpose of type matchups if everyone just writes the equivalent of an "I win" button.

I've actually read some fanfics that write battles without the 4 moveslot limit, and while super-effective coverage moves are a common enough occurrence at higher levels of battle, they usually aren't the main focus of a battle's matchup. There's much more of the alternate ways of writing that you mentioned earlier available when pokémon have wider toolkits. Using moves to dodge or cover distance (2-turn moves, priority moves, vaguely mobility-based moves such as Acrobatics or Zing Zap) is an obvious one, though there's also a lot of emphasis on the state of the field (e.g. with liberal use of Stone Edge tearing it up or Surf turning it muddy) or even combination attacks which, with no moveslot limit, no longer comprise at minimum, half of everything your pokémon can do. One of the fics I've read resolved the issue of back and forth switching becoming an issue (besides league limitations or metaphorical sucker-punching being commonplace despite the additional issue that it may not make much sense given field sizes and trainer aim) by making it common for trainers to use setup moves during a switch, which might otherwise be hard to pull off safely in the middle of battle due to the time it takes to execute, and whereas readying an attack can just end in the opponent dodging. Even beyond the obvious stat-boosting setup moves, it also sometimes allows more niche moves like Magnet Rise to shine.

One way I've seen the move limit addressed is that it is thought of as a limitation mainly for novice trainers, with more experienced pokémon (or more experienced trainers) able to (and expected to) train their ability to remember more moves, with talented pokémon able to (effectively) use up to 10 or so at the champion level. There's variance, with different pokémon being better at different things.

In general I prefer larger movepool limits because I think it allows for a lot more creative freedom, (it also stops pokémon from being relatively one-note and usually gives them multiple "modes" of battle) and think that forum RPs are the best place to try out the wacky things we can't get from the pokémon company or even fangames, but I'm also down with the 4-moveslot limit in this instance mainly because I think Kaison's team is significantly stronger when people have less options to work with. That's probably true for most gimmick strategies, though the downside is that the pokémon lack the flexibility to do anything but that gimmick.

In any case, to reiterate what Yankee said:

Let us know if you do end up wanting people to choose specific moves and add them to the CS.

I definitely share what seems to be the general sentiment of preferring more moves, but being ok with the limit, but I've had too ideas:
1) What would people think of a limited movepool that's a little bigger than four (6, 8 or 10 perhaps), that leaves a little more room but still wouldn't let anyone have an answer to everything.
2) If hitting supereffectively too easily is your real issue, limiting the number of damaging types we can have.

I think a general agreement to just not power-game will help here regardless of what @Carlyle's ultimate decision is. End of the day we're writing a story, not competing in real Pokemon tournaments aye?

I think the reason people want more moves is so battles don’t become repetitive.

André commanded his Togekiss to use Air Slash

André commanded his Togekiss to use Air Slash again!

Air Slash is André’s Togekiss only damaging move, what do you think I’m going to do? That’s right, Air Slash!

I think a general agreement to just not power-game will help here regardless of what @Carlyle's ultimate decision is. End of the day we're writing a story, not competing in real Pokemon tournaments aye?

To be clear, when I say I like the idea of Kaison being stronger in a 4-moveslot format, I mostly mean that I jive with the idea of some of his gimmicks being viable strategies in and of themselves (i.e. without alternative options) rather than a neat trick his pokémon can do that is expected to be played around for most of his opponents. I was struggling with a good way to word why I like Kaison's team in particular in a 4-moveslot format, though there's a good chance none of that matters as the RP may end up being chiefly pve.

(Of course yeah, on the topic of not power-gaming)

One of the reasons I love Togekiss. When I’m the one doing it.