So, you want to become a trainer? Hmph. Seems like every housewife needs a trainer for a husband these days. Don't worry. I won't make myself sound more geriatric than I already am by being wistfully nostalgic about the past. Anyway, there are plenty of reasons for choosing a career like that when you're a hormone-addled, adolescent, mid-puberty teenager. Want me to list all of them out?
Very well, then. If you think that I'm being patronizing, don't. I'm just an old man making an inquiry about your future career choices. Obviously, you're not taking the examination to become a coordinator, ranger, militia man or a researcher, am I right?
I thought so. So, let's begin.
Is it the fame? Everyone wants the fame in life, from the rich to the poor. Recognition in the media. Signing autographs. Movies. Controversy. Gossip. There's a baggage for everything. Everyone's a sucker for becoming famous. Reknown throughout the world as the trainer who 'caught 'em all'. The problem is that you're competing with a thousand others to reach the spotlight.
So, that's a no from you. Alright.
Is it for economic purposes? Debt. Loans. Getting rid of taxes. Family in poverty. The League is a avenue for anyone with no valuable economical skills to earn some cash. There's another reason why Lance is known as the 'Dragon King'. Not because of his extreme prowess in the art of battling but because he sits on a large horde of steaming, hot money. Of course, you're looking to settle for less. You don't want to expend yourself too much. Of course, the problem is that you have to cough up money if you lose.
So, another no. Alright, let's up the ante a bit.
Peer pressure? No. Parental control?Adrenaline-junkie? No. Altering the geopolitics of the entire Kanto Region? No. Becoming Champion? No.
Then, what is it that you want?
..............
Purpose?
..............
Well, thank you for humoring me. I have enough time dealing with children today, especially as the Pokemon Professor. Go back to your home and rest. The examination is tomorrow. I'm sure you've studied well for it, given that you wanted to meet with me during my tea time.
Very well, then. If you think that I'm being patronizing, don't. I'm just an old man making an inquiry about your future career choices. Obviously, you're not taking the examination to become a coordinator, ranger, militia man or a researcher, am I right?
I thought so. So, let's begin.
Is it the fame? Everyone wants the fame in life, from the rich to the poor. Recognition in the media. Signing autographs. Movies. Controversy. Gossip. There's a baggage for everything. Everyone's a sucker for becoming famous. Reknown throughout the world as the trainer who 'caught 'em all'. The problem is that you're competing with a thousand others to reach the spotlight.
So, that's a no from you. Alright.
Is it for economic purposes? Debt. Loans. Getting rid of taxes. Family in poverty. The League is a avenue for anyone with no valuable economical skills to earn some cash. There's another reason why Lance is known as the 'Dragon King'. Not because of his extreme prowess in the art of battling but because he sits on a large horde of steaming, hot money. Of course, you're looking to settle for less. You don't want to expend yourself too much. Of course, the problem is that you have to cough up money if you lose.
So, another no. Alright, let's up the ante a bit.
Peer pressure? No. Parental control?Adrenaline-junkie? No. Altering the geopolitics of the entire Kanto Region? No. Becoming Champion? No.
Then, what is it that you want?
..............
Purpose?
..............
Well, thank you for humoring me. I have enough time dealing with children today, especially as the Pokemon Professor. Go back to your home and rest. The examination is tomorrow. I'm sure you've studied well for it, given that you wanted to meet with me during my tea time.
(=0=)
I wanna be
the very Best
like no one ever was
the very Best
like no one ever was
(=0=)
Shattered Reflections
(=0=)
I will travel across the land
Searching far and wide
These pokemon to understand, the power that's inside
Searching far and wide
These pokemon to understand, the power that's inside
(=0=)
Foreword
Now, I know what you're thinking right now. Why make Pokemon grim-dark, gritty and realistic? Am I trying to create some sort of depraved, twisted parody of a beloved children franchise? Is this my teenage edgy genes influencing me to create this thread? Am I some sort of sick bastard who gets off having hyperbolic descriptions of children getting eaten alive by ravenous hungry creatures? Am I just doing this to satisfy my kinks and jerk off on murder porn?
The answer to all of the above is...perhaps. I wouldn't be honest with myself if I said this wasn't a desire of mine and I wouldn't be honest either if I said if all of the above was wrong and I was doing it to create a genuine roleplay setting. The words, realism and pokemon, shouldn't look like they exist together but yet, there's so many indicators in the games, the manga and anime I can list off that are viable for this sort of thing. The manga, especially. The Pokemon Tower. The use of guns in the original anime. Ash getting nearly chomped apart by pokemon in the beginning episode. A ten year old facing off against what is essentially a glorified mafia organisation.
The whole concept of Pokemon is fucked up as it gets as well if you just put a little bit of thought into it.
So, why combine realism with Pokemon? To make it compelling. To make it seem as if the concept of glorified cock-fighting could exist in real-life. To try and create scientific explanations for how fire-breathing dragons exist or how mouses contain enough electricity to fry a person. Most of all, to have fun. That's the point of role-playing, isn't it? The purity of escapism at its finest?
Once again, I've tried putting this idea to the grindstone of forum role-playing as long as I have remembered. There were some successes.
Some failures. A little bit of both in between. Yet, it never satisfied me enough. I suppose that's a symptom of role-playing. Not settling for lesser and wanting more. Little bit of improvements to the setting and how it functioned. Better role-playing. Believable character interaction. Detailed prose. Realistic Pokemon is a concept that I owe my debt to as a role-player as it was my first forum roleplay and the catalyst for my growth as a whole through the year.
So, information about the roleplay. I doubt I have to repeat the basics of the setting and the history of the series of a whole since Pokemon has essentially been a worldwide cultural phenomenon that even a man living under a rock would have heard whispers about. First of all, you don't need to have any knowledge of pre-existing canon, games, manga or anime to help you here. Shattered Reflections is meant to be an AU of Pokemon that everyone can get behind, no matter their background knowledge of the series. It can even be as basic as 'Is that yellow mouse named Charizard?'.
The concept of the RP is basically a focus on a small group of beginner trainers embarking on their first trainer journey in the region of Kanto. Each trainer will start off with one starter pokemon. Starter pokemon qualify as pokemon that are in their first evolution stage and are reasonable for a beginning trainer to have. If you want to have a OP starter pokemon, you must have a good enough backstory to justify it. Why Kanto and not Aiola or some original fan-made region? Kanto reeks of nostalgia for me and there's a familiar feel to it unlike the other regions. You will be allowed to play female and male roles and no, I don't care which of the 40,000 LGBT tumblr terms for your sexuality you use.
The mechanics of the RP will mainly be linear-based with a side of sand-boxing in general. I am the GM of the RP and therefore, I am Arceus. That means, I control all wild pokemon encounters, almost every other NPC in the world, all enviromental, political and social factors along with the general functionality of the world as a whole. How will I decide encounters and how the world works? Well, with my brains and wit, I'm sure I can make a roleplay that doesn't seem to be rail-roaded and close-ended. Right?
Battling will work by the level of description in your roleplay post and the strategem you use against another trainer's pokemon along with a hefty dose of realism. For example, there is no way that a Ratata can beat an Onix without some serious anime logic and some suspension of disbelief. There will be no dice involved and so forth.
Each town or location such as the Pokemon Tower, Cinnabar Island and Pewter City will act as miniature sandboxes. Routes will act as more rail-road sandboxes. In each sandbox, players are able to capture pokemon, train pokemon, look around for wares in the Poke-Marts, explore the surrounding area or do anything they want to do.
Oh, and you know moves? TMs? HMs? Move tutors? Poof. Nope. Not in this RP. No HMs, TMs or moves in this RP. There will be no silly shit like Pikachu's using Earthquakes and so forth. This is usually the part where most people close this window and say ' What the fuck, The Bork Lazer? How am I supposed to viably battle now? This takes away all the excitement of battling'. Well, you see, my good role-payer, I'm technically allowing you more freedom in your ability to describe battles by stripping away the excess. Each Pokemon will be limited to their own natural abilities in this universe like most animals are. Water-types will still be able to fire bursts of water at their targets. Fire-types can still breathe fire. And so forth.
Likewise, feel free to consult me on a Pokemon's abilities and what they can do if you're curious.
In terms of the setting, I will be limiting details of the setting unlike my other role-plays and they will be slowly revealed through GM posts and role-play. Essential information about the setting of the RP will be down below.
The answer to all of the above is...perhaps. I wouldn't be honest with myself if I said this wasn't a desire of mine and I wouldn't be honest either if I said if all of the above was wrong and I was doing it to create a genuine roleplay setting. The words, realism and pokemon, shouldn't look like they exist together but yet, there's so many indicators in the games, the manga and anime I can list off that are viable for this sort of thing. The manga, especially. The Pokemon Tower. The use of guns in the original anime. Ash getting nearly chomped apart by pokemon in the beginning episode. A ten year old facing off against what is essentially a glorified mafia organisation.
The whole concept of Pokemon is fucked up as it gets as well if you just put a little bit of thought into it.
So, why combine realism with Pokemon? To make it compelling. To make it seem as if the concept of glorified cock-fighting could exist in real-life. To try and create scientific explanations for how fire-breathing dragons exist or how mouses contain enough electricity to fry a person. Most of all, to have fun. That's the point of role-playing, isn't it? The purity of escapism at its finest?
Once again, I've tried putting this idea to the grindstone of forum role-playing as long as I have remembered. There were some successes.
Some failures. A little bit of both in between. Yet, it never satisfied me enough. I suppose that's a symptom of role-playing. Not settling for lesser and wanting more. Little bit of improvements to the setting and how it functioned. Better role-playing. Believable character interaction. Detailed prose. Realistic Pokemon is a concept that I owe my debt to as a role-player as it was my first forum roleplay and the catalyst for my growth as a whole through the year.
So, information about the roleplay. I doubt I have to repeat the basics of the setting and the history of the series of a whole since Pokemon has essentially been a worldwide cultural phenomenon that even a man living under a rock would have heard whispers about. First of all, you don't need to have any knowledge of pre-existing canon, games, manga or anime to help you here. Shattered Reflections is meant to be an AU of Pokemon that everyone can get behind, no matter their background knowledge of the series. It can even be as basic as 'Is that yellow mouse named Charizard?'.
The concept of the RP is basically a focus on a small group of beginner trainers embarking on their first trainer journey in the region of Kanto. Each trainer will start off with one starter pokemon. Starter pokemon qualify as pokemon that are in their first evolution stage and are reasonable for a beginning trainer to have. If you want to have a OP starter pokemon, you must have a good enough backstory to justify it. Why Kanto and not Aiola or some original fan-made region? Kanto reeks of nostalgia for me and there's a familiar feel to it unlike the other regions. You will be allowed to play female and male roles and no, I don't care which of the 40,000 LGBT tumblr terms for your sexuality you use.
The mechanics of the RP will mainly be linear-based with a side of sand-boxing in general. I am the GM of the RP and therefore, I am Arceus. That means, I control all wild pokemon encounters, almost every other NPC in the world, all enviromental, political and social factors along with the general functionality of the world as a whole. How will I decide encounters and how the world works? Well, with my brains and wit, I'm sure I can make a roleplay that doesn't seem to be rail-roaded and close-ended. Right?
Battling will work by the level of description in your roleplay post and the strategem you use against another trainer's pokemon along with a hefty dose of realism. For example, there is no way that a Ratata can beat an Onix without some serious anime logic and some suspension of disbelief. There will be no dice involved and so forth.
Each town or location such as the Pokemon Tower, Cinnabar Island and Pewter City will act as miniature sandboxes. Routes will act as more rail-road sandboxes. In each sandbox, players are able to capture pokemon, train pokemon, look around for wares in the Poke-Marts, explore the surrounding area or do anything they want to do.
Oh, and you know moves? TMs? HMs? Move tutors? Poof. Nope. Not in this RP. No HMs, TMs or moves in this RP. There will be no silly shit like Pikachu's using Earthquakes and so forth. This is usually the part where most people close this window and say ' What the fuck, The Bork Lazer? How am I supposed to viably battle now? This takes away all the excitement of battling'. Well, you see, my good role-payer, I'm technically allowing you more freedom in your ability to describe battles by stripping away the excess. Each Pokemon will be limited to their own natural abilities in this universe like most animals are. Water-types will still be able to fire bursts of water at their targets. Fire-types can still breathe fire. And so forth.
Likewise, feel free to consult me on a Pokemon's abilities and what they can do if you're curious.
In terms of the setting, I will be limiting details of the setting unlike my other role-plays and they will be slowly revealed through GM posts and role-play. Essential information about the setting of the RP will be down below.
Setting Information(Updated Periodically)
Rules
1. Don't do the God-Mod
Self-explanatory enough but in case I have to go further, god-modding is where you make your character god and have no self-imposed limitations on their abilities. Please don't do god-modding. Being god sucks.
2. Detail and Length
It is detailed above in the tagging system that I want this RP to be advanced/casual. That being said, I am looking for people who lie in the advanced category. Casuals are welcome but if you can type more, it is welcoming. That said, one of my main adages in life is quality over quantity. But, when quality and quantity are the same, then, it's all the more better.
3. Need all the help I can
I am not the best roleplayer and I recognize that. If you have any criticism of the world-building I do above or if you want to help world-build my envision of a realistic Pokemon world, please do so. I will gladly accept any assistance whatsoever.
4. Posting Rate
I am expecting a posting rate of at least one post per week or so. If you can do at a higher rate, I will gladly accept. However, if you don't reply for at least one week, I will be expecting a explanation or else, you will be booted out of the RP. If you want to get out of the RP, please PM me about why you are deciding to leave it in the first place.
5. The Most Important Rule
Have Fun!
(=0=)
Gotta catch em all.
(=0=)
