Pokémon Copper

WTF is this?
In a nutshell, this is a role-playing game based primarily upon Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver, though it borrows many elements from other games in the series, as well as a few from related media. In it, a handful of players take on the role of a Pokémon Trainer. Each player controls his character, his pokémon, and occasionally some minor NPC actions or the scenery. The role-play is run by a GM (Game Master), Guy by default, who controls most other characters, appearances of wild pokémon, wild pokémon themselves, enemy trainers, items, rewards, exp, and so forth. To prevent bias, Guy doesn't have his own character.

Although many locations are in Johto itself, almost everything will be on a much larger and more realistic scale than in the canonical games. There will be dirt roads large enough for cars; Pallet Town will have far more than four buildings; a Machop will be able to punch something without knowing the move "Punch"; etc. Needless to say, you aren't chiefly limited to only doing things you can do in-game. For instance, a Lapras will probably be able to carry you across water without knowing Surf; you can sell and buy Pokémon; you can freeze a Magikarp and use it as a Melee weapon so it gains EXP; etc.

There are intended to be several over-arching plots, but ultimately it is based on the adventures of several young adults. Since adventures aren't always interesting, time skips will be used to cover boring parts of the roleplay--such as resting at a Center, eating breakfast, and bathing.

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What's the Setting?
The adventure begins in Johto, set roughly 20 years after the events of Gold/Silver. From there, it will expand outward to other areas, to include areas created originally for this adventure.

After the downfall of Team Rocket, a mix of hysteria and questionable political decisions has caused the Silph Company to become the major governing force of the Johto and Kanto Regions. Several laws have changed as a result of this decision, most of which are notoriously pioneered by the board of executives who currently run Silph under its acting president. The most prominent of these regards Trainer Licenses, which are issued in tandem with the Pokémon League. Without such a license, a citizen cannot so much as own a single pokémon.

Those who have earned a License of Fundamental Training & Handling (FTH) are allowed 2 battle-ready pokémon, and 1 "noncombatant" Pokemon. It is assumed all player-characters have such a licence. There are more specialized licenses which are generally more difficult to acquire, and usually only for specific purposes--a Center employee can own more noncombatant pokémon than normal, and Storage Managers can own numerous pokémon but cannot even release these pokémon from their balls. It is unlikely, but possible, that a character can earn one of these special licenses.

Note: The title of "Noncombat Pokemon" includes: (a) an egg or newborn, (b) a freshly-caught and untrained, or (c) any other pokémon that has been personally certified by a Silph representative as being unable to effectively battle.

Silph and its new laws are not without their controversy. As such, several rebellious organizations are gaining notoriety. The most renowned of these are Team Hammer and Team Sickle, both of whom seek to completely overthrow Silph as a governing force--both teams are known to be competing with each other for influence.

The primary method of earning cash is through competitive Pokémon League battling. Unless specifically stated otherwise by one of the participants, all trainer battles are competitive. If you lose a battle, you must cede at least ¥1000, unless a greater amount is clarified before the battle's start.

Misc. Setting Information
- Seeing how this is based in Johto, the majority of pokémon you encounter will be native to the region--but pokémon from all generations will appear sooner or later.
- It's assumed berries are much more common than they are in canon, and grow on naturally-occurring plants, rather than tiny trees that grow to maturity in less than a week.
- It's legal to buy and sell pokémon, but typically frowned upon as a cold and heartless practice.
- It's assumed every player has enough money and food to provide adequate meals for himself and his pokémon.
- Pokebucks are in the same currency divisions as Yen (¥). We'll be using yen. As a general measure, each unit of yen is worth a little less than a single cent of US currency, and it follows in saying, ¥2000 is a little less than $20.00. (Mind, this is a very rough estimate.)
- Despite Silph's questionable practices, they ensure Pokémon Centers and Pokémon Storage remain free and safe services for everyone to use.
- Poké Balls function by somehow shrinking a Pokémon and storing it in the ball. Like in the Pokémon Adventures manga, the top half of the ball is somewhat transparent. The ball's interior has an artificial gravity and air supply system which renders the Pokémon almost completely safe from external conditions. If an inhabited ball is dented, cracked, or opened in any way, the contained Pokémon will emerge as normal--this is typically how wild pokemon free themselves from a ball if they are unsuccessfully captured. If a ball breaks, the cost to repair it vastly exceeds the cost to purchase another one. The technology behind Poké Balls is so complex that it is rumored no one person understands the entirety of how it functions.

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What about the Pokémon?
While there will be no OC pokémon, there will be aberrant Pokemon with unusual characteristics. For example, there could be a Caterpie that knows confusion, or a Pidgey which mutated to inherit Steel-typing from its Skarmory father.

Pokémon have levels, but this is primarily for determining approximately when they'll learn moves and when they'll evolve. The level difference shouldn't make as large of a difference in battle strength as it does in the games.

Coincidentally, it always takes 10exp for a pkmn to level up. A pkmn normally gets 7exp from an even match. Less will be earned if the pkmn only does part of the work (i.e., if you switch out), or if the enemy is weaker than the pkmn. More will be earned if the enemy is stronger or is particularly well-trained. Experience will be earned even if the enemy pokémon is caught (unlike in the games), although slightly less will be earned than if the enemy was KO'd. At times, pkmn will earn a bit of experience for doing non-comative work, such as a Charmander using its tail to light a cave, or an Abra teleporting everyone to safety.

A pkmn learns its level-up moves as normal, using the most modern canonical moveset, though in some cases moves may earned a bit earlier, a bit later, or not at all. Most TMs can be used infinitely. Some powerful TMs (such as Hyper Beam) will have limited uses. TMs are not limited to moves which are canonically available as TMs.

If there's a move that a pokémon could reasonably learn (whether or not they can learn it in one or all of the games), it can be taught this move by its trainer without needing to level up or use a TM. However, the trainer must make clear and deliberate efforts over a long period of time for the Pokémon to learn this move, especially if it's an unusual move for the Pokémon to learn (such as Raticate learning Water Gun, or Machop learning Rollout).

Pokémon will often have abilities and moves they cannot have in the games, and occasionally even have abilities and moves which don't exist in canon at all. A pokémon can even have multiple abilities.

A pokémon can know an infinite number of moves--but, a trained pokémon is only prepared to use four moves in-battle at any given time. A trainer can only change which of his pokémon's moves are "battle ready" by using a PC at a Pokémon Center. Any moves which are not "battle ready" can be freely used outside of battle, for HM-like purposes.

Pokémon involved in battle will have their health (HP) listed as a rough percentage in the GM's post. The pokémon's base stats, the strength of the attack they received, the effectiveness of the attack received, and various other factors will help determine how much of the percentage is subtracted after a pokémon takes a hit. After a battle ends, the second post will be updated with each player-character's pokémon's current health.

Battles are role-played as if they were in real-time. (They aren't turn-based; you don't have to wait for your opponent to retaliate.) Player-characters will order their pokémon into battle, and control the pkmn insofar as what strategy it uses to strike, evade, or whatever the case may be. Be creative with what you do--there's at least a dozen different ways for an Electabuzz to use ThunderPunch. Whether or not a move hits, how hard it hits, whether or not a pkmn faints, or if a pkmn is successfully caught is determined by the GM. Enemy trainers and enemy pokémon will be, as noted earlier, controlled by the GM.

Finally, freshly-caught pokémon don't immediately obey you. Although they're more able to adapt to friendship and training than real-world animals, you did just beat the shit out of them and stuff them in a ball, so... expect a little push-back at first. Until you tame a caught pokémon, the GM will control most or all of its actions.

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So how do I make a character?
Use the following template, and post a reply to this thread. If your character is accepted, I'll copy the information you provide into one of the GM's posts, and that information will be updated as your character advances.

Name (First and last)
Gender
Age (16-26, preferably)
Hometown (Make it canon)
Occupation (You can be an adult full-time Pokémon Trainer, but such a profession is difficult to maintain and is thus relatively uncommon. Unless you pay for all your expenses by selling pokémon or competitive battles, you are likely either a moocher or have some kind of job.)
Appearance (Height, body type, hair, attire, etc.)
Personality (Please include motivations for your character, as this will largely help me GM the game. It'll get tedious having five people fighting the same gym leader, so try not to make gym badges your main motivation. Avoid coordinatoor, as coordination battles tend to be incredibly boring in role-plays; also, I just don't like Pokemon Contests.)
Backstory/Family (You must have a significant connection with at least one other player-character; such as being a childhood friend, a relative, or being in debt to that character.)
Wishlist (List pokémon and items you'd like to obtain; Please list as many things as you desire, and feel free to update the list later (and inform me if you do); I'll try to create opportunities for you to obtain at least some of these things, but don't expect to get legendaries, especially not more than one.)
Points (See below...)

In creating your character, you get 11 temporary "points" to spend on various attributes and items, which basically determine what their strengths are from the start. Any points you don't spend are forever lost.

• 7 pts: Lv5 Starter Pokémon of your choice. You can't start with anything too powerful, obviously, but the first stage of any three-part evolutionary line (except pseudo-legendaries) will likely be fine.
• 5 pts: Lv5 Starter Pokémon, random.
• 5 pts: A Pokémon Egg of your choice. Again, it has to be within the realm of reason.
• 3 pts: A Pokémon Egg, random.
• 2 pts: A TM of your choice.
• 1 pts: A random TM.
• 1 pts: ¥3000
• 1 pts: Just about any canonical item obtainable in the games, excluding a Master Ball, a TM/HM, an item that affects EXP, or an evolution-inducing item such as a Water Stone.

Aside from these point selections, everyone starts with ¥2000, three Poké Balls, a Potion, an appropriate License, and basic necessities like clothing, a bag, and food.

Every player may choose to gain a free Pokédex, a free Pokétch, or a free PokéGear. A 'dex will automatically identify any Pokémon you encounter, much like it does in the anime. A Pokétch or PokéGear will be able to function as a digital watch, a phone, a sound recorder, and a map--other functions will need to be earned or bought.

All starter pokémon (including those in Eggs) will be given a TM, HM, or Egg Move it are capable of learning, which is usually chosen at random by the GM.

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One last thing...
Keep in mind that the games are designed to be one-size-fits-all. This is a role-play, so I can cater things specifically to how you (and the other players) want to do things. It's your adventure as much as it is my own.

Registration is officially open~! Before things get started, I'm hoping to get at least one group of at least three players. That said, I reserve the right to kick out someone if they're obviously causing trouble.

I'll reiterate that it's ideal for player-characters to know each other in their back-stories. You normally don't go off on adventures with someone you've never met, as much as D&D would like you to believe.

Sorry, I got caught up with college stuff and I thought I'd at least drop in to say I'm still interested, though I'm having a little trouble finding another character to connect to.