Pokemon: Race for Reinbeau's Gold

"...is in mourning today, as one of our most beloved heroes is laid to rest. Hugh Reinbeau, better known as Grandfather Pokemon, leaves us with his teachings and wisdom. And a message:"

"Hello all! I know I haven't been about as much as I used to, but well, you'll have to forgive me. See I've been preparing a little going away present from myself to you. Now I considered hosting yet another tournament but that'd be boring. So! There'll be a race! A race for all my winnings, a few little treasures, and secret to my success!

"Now then, the rules..."

Discussion thread and RP thread

Welcome to the Race, the gist of which is described above. This is not a simple, "start in Cerulean and first to Cianwood wins" race. No, it'll be in stages, each giving you a clue to the next destination. That said, following someone who looks like they know where they're going is a perfectly valid strategy. The idea borrows from Rat Race / Its A Mad Mad Mad Mad World, The Amazing Race and One Piece. So we're aiming for a light-hearted, comedic tone. This will be a freeform roleplay, with Rule of Cool, Rule of Funny and Rule of Fun as our main three rules.

I'm not placing any real limits on characters, just try not to be a Boring Invincible Hero. Be a trainer, coordinator, professor, gym leader, reformed (or not) villain, young, old, psychic, whatever. If you want to play a guy who fights pokemon directly, or a ditto pretending to be a trainer, go ahead. Also, try to give the pokemon some personality as well.

Please note, the race is hardly official (i.e. sanctioned by the pokemon league or whatever) so your character could just get caught up in it. Meaning that this will always be open to new players (provided we haven't reached critical mass of Loads And Loads Of Characters).

As mentioned above, this'll be freeform, so battles are a matter of common sense. Or as much common sense as pokemon ever shows. Strategies involving combining attacks, using the environment, etc. are all welcome. Remember, Rule of Cool trumps common sense. No particular canon is sacred, and elements of each anime, game and manga are welcome.

The race begins in Cerulean City, and may reach as far as Hoenn or Sinnoh. I'm not including Unova since it is meant to be really far away and I find it's map to a bit lacking. That said, your character can be from there. Pitstops and detours are welcome and in fact are likely to be part of the race. In fact, one of the few rules that Hugh has decreed is that you can't use Fly to get to your next destination - to try and level the playing field a little. Though that's only a problem if you get caught.

Characters

NPCs

• Name: Hugh Reinbeau, Grandfather Pokemon
• Age/Gender: old/dead (92), male
• Occupation/Class: Retired pokemon master
• Appearance: A short, cheerful old man, Hugh still had most of a full head of white hair. Tended to wear black and navy blue hakama, white shirt and a maybe a blue jacket.
• Personality: Hugh was a Cool Old Guy, balancing a respect for the past and interest in innovation. Always cheerful, few people ever got him angry - they all regret it. As a young man he was obsessed with winning battles, but matured to admiring pokemon and their training in and of themselves. He was always giving advice and loved to teach people by dares and challenges.
• Backstory: Having been a living legend his history is a little Shrouded in Myth. It is known he came from Palette Town, and travelled for all his life. He did marry and his family made home base in Cerulean City, though they still travelled a lot.
• Skills: When it came to pokemon he could do anything. Or at least people thought he could.
• Team:

• Other: Well, Hugh's dead. This character sheet's more to introduce his pokemon, who are more-or-less running the race.

Accepted Player Characters

• Mary Ann West - neobullseye
• Nick Viano - nintendonick
• Felicia Tyler - A Crack In Time
• Rory Sands - Purple Dalek
• Ashley Gatlocke - Crewe

Character Sheet

• Name:
• Age/Gender:
• Occupation/Class: Optional, covers type of trainer, job, etc.
• Appearance:
• Personality:
• Backstory:
• Skills:
• Team:

• Other:

Note Re: Pokemon movesets

• I'm going to say list up to six. Very basic moves (like tackle) don't count towards this total, since it never made sense that they'd forget them. However a more limited amount of harder moves represents having to keep in practise. As a general rule, the first four moves a pokemon learns I'll call basic. TM moves, egg moves, move tutor moves are all allowed. Also, HMs*
  and utility moves like teleport
  only need to be listed if there for battle use, otherwise we'll assume your pokemon can help you with stuff (so no need to waste a slot on Cut).
• Your initial team doesn't need to be unevolved, you can catch more as the race progresses (even if you start with six, but you'll have to duck into a pokecentre to switch them). Also specifying levels is not required since people pointed out that just leads to problems. Suffice to say that Reinbeau's are just unfairly powerful.
• One ability per pokemon, your choice and dream world abilities are valid.
• The personality tag is just to get you thinking about the pokemon. I'd like to avoid them being plot devices that only come out for battles. You don't have to make them as detailed as Hugh's team*
  not that they're amazingly nuanced
  , since they will be the ones running the race and have recurring involvement.

Currently I'm looking for interest, and a little help game-building. So I'd like some opinions in general and on:

• I'm considering making some connecting routes and throwaway towns to bridge the gaps between Hoenn, Johto, Kanto and Sinnoh. Or are you happy with just saying "you catch a ferry"?
• The prize is a bit vague because I can't think of what to include. Suggestions welcome!

edited 12th Feb '12 3:42:11 PM by Luthen

Wondering: Can you also play a character who just got wound up in the race for whatever reason? (Think of the scenario where a standard car driver somehow ends up on the race track)

Yeah, that's fine. The race isn't very official so I don't see any problem with people getting caught up in it.

• pops head in here, interest queued*

Also, how many Pokemon can you put on your initial team? And, for that matter, are we ever going to catch extra Pokemon?

You can start with a full team of six if you like. And catching as the game goes on is welcome.

Think we'll have time to make switch outs or pitstops? If we're all in a race, I'd probably cost someone their first place. Well, unless they have fly, XD.

Anyway, I'm in. I'll be making my profile soon enough

Don't see why not. Doesn't take that much time to drop into a pokecentre and use the machines. And the race is more The Amazing Race style anyway, so no one knows where it's going to end to begin with.

• Name: Mary Ann West
• Age/Gender: Female, 16 years.
• Occupation/Class: Jr. Trainer (F), no job. Mary Ann still goes to school, but luckily it's vacation now. How convenient, right?
• Appearance: Mary Ann has brown hair tied in two ponytails, hazel eyes and a slightly tinted skin. She likes to wear jewelry, makeup and whatever clothes happen to be in season.
• Personality: Mary Ann West is a very social girl, but a bit of a ditz. She tends to jump to conclusions, leading to her getting pulled into things she really shouldn't have to be in.
• Backstory: Mary Ann was just traveling to the next city, when all of a sudden she saw a large group of trainers running off in the same general direction. "Realizing" that the only possible reason for this could be a major sale somewhere, she started running after them, not letting them get all the cheap things. She has no idea that she just got herself in a race.
• Skills:
• Team:
  • Meowth - Gizmo (M). Moveset: Slash, Pay Day, Bite, Fake out, Screech, Captivate. - Personality: Curious. Adamant nature.
  • Clefairy - Luna (F). Moveset: Cosmic Power, Light Screen, Lucky Chant, Wake-up Slap, Moonlight, Sing. - Personality: Cute. Careful nature.
  • Aron - Met (M). Moveset: Autotomize, Double-edge, Metal Sound, Roar, Iron Defense, Headbutt. - Personality: Stubborn. Relaxed nature
  • Farfetch'd - Quacky (F). Moveset: Slash, Swords Dance, Aerial Ace, Acrobatics, Poison Jab, Brave Bird. - Personality: Loves to brag. Adamant Nature.
  • Pikachu - Spark (M). Moveset: Thunderbolt, Thunder Wave, Agility, Thunder Ball, Nasty Plot, Sweet Kiss. - Personality: Runs off easily. Timid nature.
  • Ralts - Waltz (F) Moveset: Stored Power, Calm Mind, Hypnosis, Psychic, Magical Leaf, Dream Eater. - Personality: Modest nature.

(I... really don't know what you meant with that personality tag thing >_<. Also, while making this signup I assumed we were only allowed to use Level moves at the start, and that we were supposed to start with unevolved Pokemon. If that's not true, I'm going to edit it.)

edited 4th Feb '12 9:17:02 AM by neobullseye

You can have evolved pokemon if you want. And TM and egg moves too.

What you've done with the personality for the pokemon is fine. I just wanted to ensure that they were more than flat plot devices for battling.

Looks good, I'd accept it as is, but you'll want to change it.

Edit: Added Hugh's team to the OP so you can see an example of what I was thinking. Also added answers to questions asked so far.

edited 4th Feb '12 1:49:29 PM by Luthen

Coolio. I think I'll be making a "dream team" of my main pokemon teams across the pokemon games I've played. Some nerfing, of course but that's my plan

Expect the signup tonight

Interested! :)

You know what? On second though, I'm not going to edit my team, making it like my character is pretty inexperienced in battle. On a related note, do we really need to add levels? I can only see that end badly, with people being forced to either go for maximum levels or get curbstomped by those who did. And if everyone goes for maximum levels, then levels are worthless per default.

Also, about my Pokemon's personality: Don't worry, I'll develop those as the story goes on.

edited 5th Feb '12 1:07:58 PM by neobullseye

I have to agree on the power levels things.

Though Reinbeau's crew should be level 100 (and everyone else's just unnamed and we never deal with it.).

edited 5th Feb '12 2:01:35 PM by Nicktendonick

Yeah, you both raise good points. And it's not like I was planning on keeping track of the levels for the various NP Cs and enemies anyway. Ugh, too much work. Plus if we're drawing on the anime, there's no way would we could trust the levels anyway (Pikachu has got to be lv 100 by now yet still gets occasionally sidelined).

Is it okay if I have a party of less than six? I have a really bad memory so I would most likely keep forgetting stuff if I had more than 3 or 4 Pokemon to keep track of.

edited 6th Feb '12 11:31:17 AM by PurpleDalek

Of course!

Color me interested, Luthen. I'll try to have a profile up... whenever I can properly create a character and Pokémon team.

edited 7th Feb '12 9:21:18 AM by InfiniteParagon

It's the Self Insert character people usually make from the games (and a old idea for a fanfic story,). I feel a tad cliche for using it, but here goes nothing...

• Name: Nick Viano (incase you're wondering, this isn't my real last name)
• Age and Gender: 21 Male
• Occupation/Class: Former Pokemon Trainer / Cooltrainer, currently a college student.
• Appearance: *similar to avatar* A overshirt to wear under a normal shirt. Usually a matching combo. Currently, A dark green buttoned shirt over a normal green shirt, with tan kakai shorts. (and belt). Has gained a Nice hat, and wears a sleek pair of glasses. Has dark brown eyes and dark brown hair.
• Skills: Very savvy with technology and Genre Savvy, and can easily learn how to do things. That's...kinda it.
• Personality: Outgoing and mostly a nice person, can become shy when feeling insecure. Has a tendency to act before thinking and definitely can suffer from Attention Deficit... Ooh, Shiny!. Can be too lazy for his own good. All this hides a determinator when actually motivated to action.

Backstory: Unlike the other kids in Twinleaf, Nick didn't set out on his pokemon journey. He waited, and went to school instead. As an older teen he started a his pokemon journey with his Bulbasaur, and set out on his journey to become a master like everyone else.

After quite a while, and quite a journey (He may have saved the world, but it's not like anyone would remember, even him.) he realized, he this Pokemon master stuff wasn't what he wanted.

He returned home, and made his decision of what he wanted to become. A person at the forefront of technology, a scientist. And so he is now in college student shooting for that dream.

Conveniently, it's a vacation right now. And upon one of his Psychic Pokemon hearing about this contest, he (and his ivysaur) went straight to the door for this mass amount of gold...only to get stuck in the door, as his Sneasel got a head start, taunting them both.

An older, former trainer gathering his pokemon and going out for a new adventure, along with some new faces as well.

Team:

Note- Nick's pokemon really don't have nicknames. Though some do shorten them, such as Ivysaur to Ivy/Iva and Gardvoir to Garde when communicating. You'll know the difference.

And! this. Here comes a new challenger!

• Name: Sneasel the sneasel
• Age/Gender: Male, a few years. Adult.
• Occupation/Class: Pokemon.
• Appearance: A normal grown Sneasel, now wearing a Indiana Jones Adventurer Archeologist style coat and matching leather hat. He’d use a whip, but he can’t find a good one and Ivysaur refuses to let him use another one of his vines. He very much likes this outfit (as well as if he’s got heat on him, he can dump the outfit on another sneasel and sneak away while they hunt them.)
• Personality: Loveable Rouge and Trickster Archtype helps explain him a lot. Likes swiping things, doing things for the heck of it. Doesn’t exactly like doing the right thing, since he’ll feel like crud when he later steals from them. He will do the right thing in the end though, as much as he doesn’t like to.
• Backstory: Caught by Nick during his journey. Captured to help Nick find shelter when he was badly injured in the snowy mountains, and later to go out and get help. They have a bit of a allyship, and usually does listen to Nick as long as their goals are the same. He’s a semi-loyal pokemon.
  Headed out on his own the moment he found out, Sneasel kinda wants this gold all for himself. Not exactly sure what he’d spend it on, but he’s pretty sure it’d all look pretty. He swiped his pokeball and a few others who he roped into this to help him (and as distractions while he slips away)
  For his habit of swiping shiny things and people’s stuff in general? He says it’s a disorder. He can’t help it- HEY! MY WALLET!

• Skills: He’s fast. Sneasel learned how to strike quick and keep away. His stealing skills are quite good, as well as his ability to sneak around and break into things silently. Battlewise he keeps the target away, only getting close to attack. He can hit fast and hard, but he’s not able to take as many hits. He may have a trick up his sleeve to help him out…

Attacks: Thief (oh very much), Quick attack, Ice shard, Ice punch (well, he slashes) Night slash, agility, Blizzard

Notes: He does like “the ladies” and personally, has a thing “for those psychic girls”. Sneasel took his pokeball along with him, to ensure Nick can't ruin his fun. With it, he took a few more of Nick's pokemon to help him out.

With him is a…

How in the world did you make a table? I didn't think we could in Tvtropes.
EDIT: Question answered, thanks.

EDIT 2: Tables are weird. Not finished yet...

EDIT 3: New challenger! I may add a pokemon or two to this list later, but this is it for now.

edited 17th Feb '12 8:16:41 AM by Nicktendonick

• Name: Felicia Tyler
• Age/Gender: 17/Female
• Occupation/Class: Part-time assisstant at Canalave Library, Ex Junior Pokemon Trainer
• Appearance: Short, pale, brown eyes, long, messy dark blond hair. Has freckles. Often mistaken for her 13 year old sister.
• Personality: Quiet and studeous, often prefers to read and study than go out on Pokemon adventures.
• Backstory: Felicia was born in Canalave City, Sinnoh, and spend her childhood watching boats go in and out of the dock. Not wishing to leave school at the age of 10 to become a Pokemon master, Felicia stayed on at school to carry on with her education. When she left school at 16, her parents gave her a Shinx in the hope that it would get her to go out and about. She travelled to the nearest city, Jubilife City, to look for a job. After a brief period working for the Poketech Company, she went back to Canalave to work in the Library. During this time, she levelled up her Shinx by slaughtering wild Magikarp in the ocean (she may have nicked a boat once or twice). Shortly after her 17th, she boarded a ferry to take her to Vermilion City, Kanto. During a visit to Cerulean City, north of Vermilion, she noticed a group of people about to run a race. Curious, she joined in.
• Skills: Very organised due to working in the Poketech Company and the Library.

Team:

• Species: Luxray
• Nickname: Heathcliff
• Level: 45
• Moveset: Shock Wave, Flash, Headbutt, Thunder Fang, Protect, Strength
• Personality: Much like Felicia, he is hard working and loyal. However, he's also likely to go charging (no pun intended) into battle, and after killing numerous Magikarp, he has a strong dislike for fish.

Is this okay?

edited 7th Feb '12 1:04:07 PM by ACrackInTime

Looks good, so accepted! And god that would've been a lot of magikarp.

For tables you have to use two pipes for each column border, that's ||. It's a little fiddly so you should read all about them on the Text-Formatting Rules page!

Edit: Or I could add them to the template or something.

edited 7th Feb '12 1:27:07 PM by Luthen

Thank you!

There's an advantage to slaughtering Magikarp. You don't lose any HP or anything like that.

And the E Vs. Don't forget them. You get speed E Vs from beating up magikarp too.

edited 7th Feb '12 5:07:21 PM by Nicktendonick

...

   Hardcore!   

Name: Rory Sands

• Age/Gender: 25/Male

• Occupation/Class: A traveling magician

• Appearance: Tall, ginger, green eyes, always wears his blue magician's hat.

• Personality: Cloud Cuckoo Lander. Often very scatterbrained and adsent minded. Very bad memory. Does Not Understand Sarcasm. A Large Ham while performing but much more subdued off stage. He is also a Friend to All Children.

• Backstory: Travels the Kanto region putting on magic shows for crowds. Sometimes uses his Pokemon in his performaces. He was born in the Unova but moved to Kanto because he found the citylife of Unova to be too boring and non-adventerous. He loves a good adventure and will always get caught up in one if he has the chance.

• Skills: Knows quite a few illusion and conjering tricks due to his background as a musician.

• Team:

•Species: Servine

•Nickname: Alonso

•Level: 30

•Moveset: Vine Whip, Razor Leaf, Solar Beam, Screach, Toxic, Headbutt

•Personality: Just as loopy as his trainer. Gets easily distracted. He met Rory when he was given to the human as a fifth birthday present. His favourite food is bananas.

•Species: Meowth

•Nickname: Flimflam

•Level: 30

•Moveset: Fury Swipes, Slash, Pay Day, Mimic, Shock Wave, Protect

•Personality: Very much a Silent Snarker. Cats Are Snarkers after all. Often gets annoyed at the antics of Rory and Alonso but is still very commited to them and is fiercely loyal.

edited 9th Feb '12 12:47:53 PM by PurpleDalek