GubGar

Pokemon: Starlight Dreams

Alex borderline freaking out while a random super nerd talks her ear off is really good. Post is more than alright I'd say.

Pokemon: Starlight Dreams

I'm glad y'all like him! I'm looking forward to seeing everybody else's characters in action too!

edit: as for the egg, I'm considering Crabrawler

Pokemon: Starlight Dreams

Vinny's first post is up! Cassandra sticking around gave me a great excuse for how to delay going for the free Pokemon egg while I try to figure out what Pokemon I want said egg to be.

Pokemon: Starlight Dreams

Vinny Verdana

Location: Beryl Town, Mid-Festival.
Interacting With: Cassandra Stern

---

Even within the crowd of people watching the commencement of the festival, Vinny Verdana stood out. Folks just couldn't help but have their eyes drawn to him. Vinny himself would attribute this to natural charisma, but the truth was that his hair was at least a foot tall. It was easy for someone to stand out when they had a big blond tower on top of their head basically shouting 'look over here!' Needless to say, whomever was behind Vinny in the crowd was not a fan of the Unovan reporter. There was a near-moment where the rest of the crowd may have turned against him as well, as when he saw THE Starry Prince show up, briefly or no.. Well, he was tempted to rush the stage. But even jet-lagged as he was, Vinny knew that he'd probably end up getting thrashed and then barred, instead of getting his interview.

So he watched, heartbroken, as the champ departed. But it wasn't all sour grapes. For one thing, seeing the champ in person gave him some insight on the Prince's character- slight as it may have been. And for another, it seemed that the region as a whole was really eager for tourism. A free Pokemon Egg, a Roto-Phone, and a delectable package of goodies from the Morpheus Foundation.. It was just what he needed, especially since he burnt a lot of Pokedollars already. First on advanced payments on his apartment's rent, then after that on a plane ticket here. Though maybe he wasn't as excited at the idea of getting a Pokemon Egg. Don't get him wrong, he was very appreciative that the region was so welcoming to foreigners. And the fact that they were willing to include him in their festival's traditions was great. But..

Look, Garamond was a fantastic aid. Primarily because he was loyal, but also because he was very very low maintenance. It was hard to screw up caring for a sentient trash bag. Provided Vinny wasn't cruel, he was basically in the clear. But an egg? A baby Pokemon? He.. was not so sure he was a responsible enough person to properly care for one. So he was on the fence about that. What he was not on the fence about was the idea of getting a free Roto-Phone.

So the moment the crowd dispersed, Vinny was ready to get his goodie bag. Though he slowed down halfway through his departure, sparing enough time to consider that, with the Prof himself traveling this year.. Maybe it'd be good to cozy up to him, pal around a little. See if there was a scoop there. Plus the CEO Of Morpheus was right there.. Who knew when he'd get a chance like that again? It came down to which felt like a more pressing issue. Get his hands on the Morpheus care package before supplies ran out, a guaranteed thing he knew he would receive.. Or risk it for an interview he might not get.

Ugh, screw it. He wasn't gonna win any awards by sitting and waiting for a story to come to him. An exclusive interview with Cassandra Stern was a chance he had to take. Even if he got shot down, at least he'd try. Working up the courage, he approaches the makeshift stage. Hurried, but ensuring he didn't look frantic (last time he tried to rush towards a celebrity, their bodyguard's Throh tossed him like a ragdoll). "Ms. Stern! Ms. Stern! Vinny Verdana with the Castelia Crown. Is there time in your busy schedule for an interview?" The crown was not a name anyone would recognize, as it was a two person freelance journalist 'company. One of the two was in fact listed as a Service Pokemon on the documents.

Vinny, while he did his research best as he was able, was unaware that the CEO had.. a negative view of journalists and paparazzi from prior experiences. So he was clueless to the fact that he might not be getting all that positive a reply.

Pokemon: Starlight Dreams

Apologies for the double post, but a few announcements:

1.) I am TENTATIVELY putting the start date as Wednesday, 7/24. I'm still waiting to hear back from Enzayne on the matter but the start date should be roughly soon, but it could be sooner or later. But just an FYI.

2.) I decided to change my stance on the rules regarding moves. This is how it's going to work:

Instead of Tier _ = Rank _ Moves Only (ex: Tier 1 = Rank 1 Moves Only) rule which I had before, I'm going to have it be based on the Pokemon's levels. So, instead we get...

New System

Levels 1-10 - Start of Tier 1 (5 HP)
Levels 11-20 - Unlocks Rank 2 Moves

Levels 21-30 - Start of Tier 2 (10 HP)
Levels 31-40 - Unlocks Rank 3 Moves

Levels 41-50 - Start of Tier 3 (15 HP)
Levels 51-60 -

This way allows it not to be too rigid and allows some variety at certain thresholds. Some Pokemon will have better moves to learn then others at certain points (some earlier than others), but they can be compensated with TMs. And speaking of TMs, some point soon I am going to list the TMs we'll be using on the front page. Mostly, they'll be based off of Scarlet & Violet's TMs, but I will allow TMs from previous games to be available, I just need to know which ones people want.

3.) Bug, Fairy, Fighting, and Dark Gym leader profiles are currently not up-to-date/accurate in regards to the Pokemon moves, but I'm keeping it up for now since it gives people an idea of what to expect, at least. Steel Gym Leader's Pokemon teams should be up semi-soon.

And I believe that's it for now. Really looking forward to the start of the RP! :)

@Brose

Right on! Looking forward to us starting, but if it ends up being behind the loose schedule don't sweat it. On another note, I went ahead and edited Garamond's sheet to resemble how the gym leaders had their pokemon (with move descriptions included, instead of just the move names).

Pokemon: Starlight Dreams

<Snipped quote by GubGar>

He's beautiful! And I love Garamond. Add him to the front page whenever you're ready!

~~

So, I'll have to check but we might have ONE more person joining us, possibly. But since we have most of the profiles in, when would you guys like to start?

Edit: Added "The Tragic Case of Charlotte Atlas-Stern" to the Lore section of the front page. Not too much new information, but sums up the event decently.

Edit(x2): Added the berry list to the "Discoverable Items" list on the front page. Some of them I added/changed their effects but it's nothing too spicy.

@Brose

Thanks! Glad he's good to go. As for starting time, I'm really game whenever. I wouldn't be against waiting for the potential fourth, and I wouldn't be against starting before either.

Pokemon: Starlight Dreams

What a scoop!

(Unable to find image source, unfortunately)

Name: Vincent Verdana (typically goes by Vinny)
Age: 25
Gender: Male, He/Him/His
Appearance: A tall and lanky individual with very sharp and angular features, as well as a distinct sense of style. Vinny is a bit underweight for his height of 6'1 (more if you count the hair), but he manages to hide that fact with his eye for fashion. Everything he wears is in style, from his red jacket to his black pants to his brown designer shoes, even the tote bag he keeps his journalism 'gear' in happens to be trendy. As for his ridiculously tall blond hair? He heard that sort of thing was a big fad in Galar and Orre. He keeps his Pokeballs in his bag as well, because he doesn't like how they look on his belt. The sunglasses are the only odd thing out, he wears them all the time because he's self-conscious about how cutesy his eyes look.

Optional Appearance

Swimsuit: A solid red pair of swim trunks that say 'professional beach hunk' on the back. Usually accompanied by a large smear of sunscreen across the bridge of his nose.
Hot Outfit: Standard outfit, minus his red jacket. Typically his black undershirt is gonna be partially unbuttoned as well. If it's really hot, he'll wear a makeshift headscarf that rests ineffectively at the top of his overly tall hairdo.
Cold Outfit: Swapping out his standard outfit for a solid red sweater, a pair of black gloves, and a comically long scarf with a mixed berry pattern. Usually the lower half of his face will be buried beneath the scarf.

Hometown: Castelia City, Unova.
Role: Adventurer.
Personality: Vinny comes off as vapid and arrogant. With his loud appearance and loud attitude, plus his eagerness to chase after anything that would bring him success in his career, he seems like the type of guy who cares more about his image than anything else. But in truth he is just someone who is entirely unashamed to be himself. His loudness shows off many quirks that most people would be ashamed of, such as his unique taste in Pokemon, and his abnormal knowledge of PokeStar Studio factoids. Even his extravagant look is from a personal appreciation of fashion instead of a desire to stay trendy. He is a bit overly goal oriented, often acting reckless and sometimes rude when swept up in the allure of a good story, and usually getting in over his head. Most of these flaws originate from his fear of being left behind. He's already had little success, and he fears the longer it takes to 'make it', the less fair it is to himself and those around him to continue down this career path.

Background: Vinny was a gifted kid growing up in the Unova Region. Every one of his teachers agreed he had great potential, and like almost any kid, that sort of thing stuck with him. That faith and pressure went hand in hand, combined with parents who hoped Vinny would go on to do great things, well.. He had a lot of expectations to reach, and he wasn't entirely sure what he wanted to do. Up until partway into his teenage years, where a major story broke about a Pokemon smuggling ring. The ring was taken down, and it was a big scandal. But Vinny's focus was on the fact that all of that came to light from the research of one person. From there, journalism became his goal. Making an impact by doing your research and getting out there to investigate? It sounded amazing.

So he put his nose to the grindstone, and used that gifted kid energy to work towards a goal. So by the time he graduated and went out to achieve this goal.. He burnt out. He was a quick learner, sure. But he wasn't some gifted genius, just a kid who was more attentive in class than most others. He wasn't unskilled, but he had expected himself to be far better than he was. And the realization that he wasn't as special as he thought he'd been caused the struggles to feel all the harder. That frustration made him harder to work with, to the point where after a few years of low level journalism, he had to go freelance. Vinny knew he couldn't go it alone when he was still inexperienced in his field, and he also knew nobody really wanted to work with a hot head who seemed to act as though he was 'better' than these stories. So he went to get himself an assistant.

Said assistant happened to be a Trubbish that lived in an alley outside his apartment. Vinny fed him candy wrappers and had developed a friendship with the Pokemon, so he decided to officially catch the garbage bag Pokemon. He needed the extra hands, opposable thumbs or no. Soon enough, the two had become a dynamic duo. Vincent Verdana and his partner in not-crime, Garamond. Together they broke such stories as, the case of the Pokemon Daycare's registry going missing (the owner forgot it at home), the Castelia nightcrawler (someone's Hitmonchan was taking midnight jogs), and many other stories that were downright fluff pieces. It still wasn't working.

Enter an article in Vinny's news feed about the new Dreamlink by Morpheus, noting the similarities towards Unovan technology. Vinny did some digging, and found that Morpheus' home region seemed like a hotspot for all kinds of interesting and mysterious things. #1 among them being their champion. A total enigma of a person who barely ever took interviews, and even when they did, barely actually answered questions. Money was tight, his parents were worried, and he knew it would be irresponsible to them and his Pokemon if he kept stumbling further and further into failure. But it was his dream, so he decided to give himself one last Hail Mary, and booked a boat ride. Deciding he'd try to get involved in their League Season in hopes of snagging that once in a lifetime interview. And if the Starre Region couldn't get him a big scoop, he'd become a- eugh.. An accountant.

Talents/Weaknesses: Vinny's biggest talent is his eye for talent. He's got fantastic perception, and is very proud of his ability to appraise people and Pokemon. This talent helps make up for his lack of battle experience. He's also, despite his eccentricities, a pretty good investigative journalist. However, he is also super reckless, especially when motivated by finding a 'scoop.' He'll run headfirst into danger without realizing he's completely out of his league. He's also not great when it comes to living off the land, if left to his own devices he'd probably eat a poisonous berry by accident.
Aspirations: Vinnny wants more than anything to find a 'big scoop.' Some piece of news or investigation he can break that will put him on the map. His current scheme? To make it through the Pokemon League in order to get an exclusive interview with the mysterious 'Starry Prince.'
Other:
While he has no interest in competing, Vinny is very active when it comes to spectating contests. He loves watching the performances, and is pretty ride or die for his favorites.

Vinny is extremely easily moved by sob stories, not necessarily a good trait to have as a journalist.

His favorite thing to eat is a candy bar (much to Garamond's delight, since his favorite is candy wrappers).

Inventory:
ACTUAL USEFUL ITEMS
- Potion (x1)
FLAVOR ITEMS
- Fountain Pen (x1)
- Personal Journals (x3)
Wallet: 500 Pokedollars

The Team

Garamond - Trubbish

Species: Trubbish
Name: Garamond
Level: 5
Type: Poison
Gender: Male
Personality: Modest. A very friendly, low maintenance Pokemon. Garamond is just happy to be here. He's more sensible than his trainer, and often tries to sway him away from his worst impulses. Easily discouraged by insults, but easily motivated by praise.
Other: Despite freely eating garbage, Garamond is a picky eater when it comes to actual food.
Ability: Sticky Hold - Prevents item theft.
Held Item: Oran Berry - Blue berry, dry flavor. Heals 1 HP when Pokemon’s HP falls below 50%.
Sheen: Zero
Ribbons: None

Movepool:

(1.) Pound - Does Rank 1 base damage.
(2.) Poison Gas - Has a 1/5 chance roll for inflicting poison.
(3.) Recycle - User recycles a held item that was used in battle and is able to use it again.
(4.) N/A

Movebank:

N/A

Pokemon: Starlight Dreams

Think he's ready to ship out!

What a scoop!

(Unable to find image source, unfortunately)

Name: Vincent Verdana (typically goes by Vinny)
Age: 25
Gender: Male, He/Him/His
Appearance: A tall and lanky individual with very sharp and angular features, as well as a distinct sense of style. Vinny is a bit underweight for his height of 6'1 (more if you count the hair), but he manages to hide that fact with his eye for fashion. Everything he wears is in style, from his red jacket to his black pants to his brown designer shoes, even the tote bag he keeps his journalism 'gear' in happens to be trendy. As for his ridiculously tall blond hair? He heard that sort of thing was a big fad in Galar and Orre. He keeps his Pokeballs in his bag as well, because he doesn't like how they look on his belt. The sunglasses are the only odd thing out, he wears them all the time because he's self-conscious about how cutesy his eyes look.

Optional Appearance

Swimsuit: A solid red pair of swim trunks that say 'professional beach hunk' on the back. Usually accompanied by a large smear of sunscreen across the bridge of his nose.
Hot Outfit: Standard outfit, minus his red jacket. Typically his black undershirt is gonna be partially unbuttoned as well. If it's really hot, he'll wear a makeshift headscarf that rests ineffectively at the top of his overly tall hairdo.
Cold Outfit: Swapping out his standard outfit for a solid red sweater, a pair of black gloves, and a comically long scarf with a mixed berry pattern. Usually the lower half of his face will be buried beneath the scarf.

Hometown: Castelia City, Unova.
Role: Adventurer.
Personality: Vinny comes off as vapid and arrogant. With his loud appearance and loud attitude, plus his eagerness to chase after anything that would bring him success in his career, he seems like the type of guy who cares more about his image than anything else. But in truth he is just someone who is entirely unashamed to be himself. His loudness shows off many quirks that most people would be ashamed of, such as his unique taste in Pokemon, and his abnormal knowledge of PokeStar Studio factoids. Even his extravagant look is from a personal appreciation of fashion instead of a desire to stay trendy. He is a bit overly goal oriented, often acting reckless and sometimes rude when swept up in the allure of a good story, and usually getting in over his head. Most of these flaws originate from his fear of being left behind. He's already had little success, and he fears the longer it takes to 'make it', the less fair it is to himself and those around him to continue down this career path.

Background: Vinny was a gifted kid growing up in the Unova Region. Every one of his teachers agreed he had great potential, and like almost any kid, that sort of thing stuck with him. That faith and pressure went hand in hand, combined with parents who hoped Vinny would go on to do great things, well.. He had a lot of expectations to reach, and he wasn't entirely sure what he wanted to do. Up until partway into his teenage years, where a major story broke about a Pokemon smuggling ring. The ring was taken down, and it was a big scandal. But Vinny's focus was on the fact that all of that came to light from the research of one person. From there, journalism became his goal. Making an impact by doing your research and getting out there to investigate? It sounded amazing.

So he put his nose to the grindstone, and used that gifted kid energy to work towards a goal. So by the time he graduated and went out to achieve this goal.. He burnt out. He was a quick learner, sure. But he wasn't some gifted genius, just a kid who was more attentive in class than most others. He wasn't unskilled, but he had expected himself to be far better than he was. And the realization that he wasn't as special as he thought he'd been caused the struggles to feel all the harder. That frustration made him harder to work with, to the point where after a few years of low level journalism, he had to go freelance. Vinny knew he couldn't go it alone when he was still inexperienced in his field, and he also knew nobody really wanted to work with a hot head who seemed to act as though he was 'better' than these stories. So he went to get himself an assistant.

Said assistant happened to be a Trubbish that lived in an alley outside his apartment. Vinny fed him candy wrappers and had developed a friendship with the Pokemon, so he decided to officially catch the garbage bag Pokemon. He needed the extra hands, opposable thumbs or no. Soon enough, the two had become a dynamic duo. Vincent Verdana and his partner in not-crime, Garamond. Together they broke such stories as, the case of the Pokemon Daycare's registry going missing (the owner forgot it at home), the Castelia nightcrawler (someone's Hitmonchan was taking midnight jogs), and many other stories that were downright fluff pieces. It still wasn't working.

Enter an article in Vinny's news feed about the new Dreamlink by Morpheus, noting the similarities towards Unovan technology. Vinny did some digging, and found that Morpheus' home region seemed like a hotspot for all kinds of interesting and mysterious things. #1 among them being their champion. A total enigma of a person who barely ever took interviews, and even when they did, barely actually answered questions. Money was tight, his parents were worried, and he knew it would be irresponsible to them and his Pokemon if he kept stumbling further and further into failure. But it was his dream, so he decided to give himself one last Hail Mary, and booked a boat ride. Deciding he'd try to get involved in their League Season in hopes of snagging that once in a lifetime interview. And if the Starre Region couldn't get him a big scoop, he'd become a- eugh.. An accountant.

Talents/Weaknesses: Vinny's biggest talent is his eye for talent. He's got fantastic perception, and is very proud of his ability to appraise people and Pokemon. This talent helps make up for his lack of battle experience. He's also, despite his eccentricities, a pretty good investigative journalist. However, he is also super reckless, especially when motivated by finding a 'scoop.' He'll run headfirst into danger without realizing he's completely out of his league. He's also not great when it comes to living off the land, if left to his own devices he'd probably eat a poisonous berry by accident.
Aspirations: Vinnny wants more than anything to find a 'big scoop.' Some piece of news or investigation he can break that will put him on the map. His current scheme? To make it through the Pokemon League in order to get an exclusive interview with the mysterious 'Starry Prince.'
Other:
While he has no interest in competing, Vinny is very active when it comes to spectating contests. He loves watching the performances, and is pretty ride or die for his favorites.

Vinny is extremely easily moved by sob stories, not necessarily a good trait to have as a journalist.

His favorite thing to eat is a candy bar (much to Garamond's delight, since his favorite is candy wrappers).

Inventory:
ACTUAL USEFUL ITEMS
- Potion (x1)
FLAVOR ITEMS
- Fountain Pen (x1)
- Personal Journals (x3)
Wallet: 500 Pokedollars

The Team

Garamond - Trubbish

Species: Trubbish
Name: Garamond
Level: 5
Type: Poison
Gender: Male
Personality: Modest. A very friendly, low maintenance Pokemon. Garamond is just happy to be here. He's more sensible than his trainer, and often tries to sway him away from his worst impulses. Easily discouraged by insults, but easily motivated by praise.
Other: Despite freely eating garbage, Garamond is a picky eater when it comes to actual food.
Ability: Sticky Hold - Prevents item theft.
Held Item: Oran Berry
Sheen: Zero
Ribbons: None

Movepool:

(1.) Pound
(2.) Poison Gas
(3.) Recycle
(4.) N/A

Movebank:

N/A

Pokemon: Starlight Dreams

If folks are game for two that sounds good to me, I agree with @c3p-0h's comment about being a bit flexible with it. But if that's too much effort I've got no issue with going with the first path, it seems like it would work just fine.

As far as Pokemon cries go, I have no preference one way or another.

On another note, I've got some solid progress on my character, hopefully I'll drop either today or tomorrow.

Pokemon: Starlight Dreams

Honestly I think I might just play it straight “wanna be the very best like no one ever was” because I can’t think of any creative concepts lmao.

@c3p-0h

If it ain't broke, don't fix it. There's a reason it works!