Pokemon Umbral Discussion 13: I Think We Have Half of the Thread Page Filled Up

[Astral Harmony]

I'm feeling random today, so this is what you get from me...



Anyways, let's talk strategy, shall we?

I plan to kick off the real fighting sometime tomorrow morning (it's really fucking early right now where I am) so I'll update hopefully a few more times before we're rudely interrupted after the commercial break.

Here's what I've got as far as sides go...

Faynoc's Pokebrids Side

Rayleen (Battle Master [Slayer / Trainer])
Moon (Trainer)
Lola (Pokebrid)
Mika (Battle Master [Slayer / Trainer])

Ruin Pokemon Side

Harliette (Battle Master [Slayer / Trainer])
Evangaleen (Trainer)
Rachel (Legion Mage [Pokebrid / Trainer])
Kiyomi (Battle Master [Slayer / Trainer])

In House Protection

Shizuka (Battle Master [Slayer / Trainer])
Shannon (Trainer)
Dormond (Pokebrid)

Conditional Setup

Whitney (Pokebrid) ~ Will fight on the side that Matthias does not fight on.

This allows for a near-balanced team which should allow you, the PCs, to pick whichever you want to fight.

Combatants have one placement slot each. That means either yourself of one of your Pokemon. Remember that legendary and pseudo-legendary Pokemon will force deploy (in that order) and cannot be recalled until defeated when the Ruin General shows up. This applies to both sides, despite the fact that the Pokebrid side will only be fighting a fourth new type of Ruin Pokemon (in addition to the usual foes and two bosses) and not the Ruin General itself.

EDIT: Oh god, I just couldn't resist...

[Dracorion]

... Dibs Ruin Pokemon side if they're fighting the Ruin General, then.

Well, I'm not demanding it, if we decided that I really absolutely must go somewhere else, I will, but I'd prefer the Ruin General.

I'll try and balance the teams when later.

Am I correct in assuming that the house protection group would be the one doing the least fighting?

EDIT:

Faynoc's Pokebrids Side

Rayleen (Battle Master [Slayer / Trainer])
Moon (Trainer)
Lola (Pokebrid)
Mika (Battle Master [Slayer / Trainer])
Charlotte (Trainer)
Matthias (Pokebrid)
Impact (Slayer)

Combatants: 29

Ruin Pokemon Side

Harliette (Battle Master [Slayer / Trainer])
Evangaleen (Trainer)
Rachel (Legion Mage [Pokebrid / Trainer])
Kiyomi (Battle Master [Slayer / Trainer])
Pierce (Trainer)
Whitney (Pokebrid)

Combatants: 34


In House Protection

Shizuka (Battle Master [Slayer / Trainer])
Shannon (Trainer)
Dormond (Pokebrid)
Renny (Trainer)

Combatants: 20

Put Renny in the house because his team is more defensively-oriented. Still, he's the team leader, so maybe he should go somewhere else.

Whitney's a better psychic than Matthias, so I put her in the Ruin pokemon group. I'm not worried too much about statuses because that group has Evangeleen and Rachel, Whitney can use Hypnosis for Sleep.

Put Impact to deal with Faynoc's Pokebrids because he's been leading a lot. Maybe Rayleen can take 'im down a notch. Still, I realize that's not a very good reason so you may wanna put him in the Ruin pokemon group. Alternately, put Renny in the Ruin pokemon group and put Impact on house protection.

Group 2 practically has 35 combatants because, armed with a knife, Dragon Slave and Ghost-staff (Phantomere's scythe), Pierce is basically a Battle Master. Y'know, unless AB says I can't do that.

Is Dormond going to be group 3's support Pokebrid?

EDIT 2.0: You're not going to see it, but in his head Pierce is secretly going "AWWWWWWWWHH FUCK YEAAAAHHH! WOOHOO FIRST BLOOD! I AM THE MAN! THE MAN!"

[DanteFalcon]

Now I haven't caught up but I'll point it out that Matthias is unlikely to engage in PvP without a really fine reason. And "Because I ordered/threatened him" isn't gonna do crap.

Edit: AB was nice enough to have a spare to fill in for me.

[Dracorion]

Don't think anyone's talked about dueling Matthias, but nice to know anyway.

[Menarker]

Back!

Anyhow, I'm torn a bit between In-house (In-character) and Faynoc (Lola). But I'll stick with In-house. I personally would not be a good choice for fighting the ruin types since I don't have any dragon pokemons, only one pokemon with a dragon move and only one pokemon with a steel move.

... I don't suppose we could switch Lola with Dormond? Dormond and Rayleen are pretty close companions and all. I'd hardly imagine Dormond would in-character leave Rayleen alone to fight the foes if he could help it.

Pierce seems like a good choice overall for the Ruin type since he got two dragon types.

But yeah, the team setup sounds good for the most part, but would be perfect if Lola switched with Dormond. (Her Chimecho form's special ability would give even more defence, and there is a certain combo I got which would be enough for anything my group would fight if I got the time to set it up. Lola would be immensely useful for that.)
Renny would give leadership to Impact and Pierce for their respective groups for combat

Btw, I must have missed something because I don't know why Whitney won't fight on the side of Matthias. Did they have a fight or argument of sort?


Also, I'm assuming that the house group would also have the Tresserhorn family pokemon helping out? (Electrode, Butterfree, Snorlax and maybe Latias and Umbreon.)

[Dracorion]

Don't see why the house pokemon shouldn't help out.

I don't think Whitney is sitting out because she doesn't like Matthias, lord knows they haven't interacted, but rather for balancing. So that each team can have one non-support Pokebrid.

EDIT: No, absolutely not. Renny cannot go to the ruins. I mean, what the hell? He already gets every single female listening to his every whim, and now he gets to shack up with the Kimonos? I call bullshit. Or else, Pierce's sex rampage will be canon.

[Geminex]

Group 2 practically has 35 combatants because, armed with a knife, Dragon Slave and Ghost-staff (Phantomere's scythe), Pierce is basically a Battle Master. Y'know, unless AB says I can't do that.

Yeah, because you've obviously had several years of military training on how to best use those weapons. And don't talk to be about "the streets", at best I'd credit you with a 65-power attack, with half the stats of a slayer.

And considering that Impact's the best we have for killing Ruin types (he has 150 attack and a 130-damage dragon attack, which is more, I think, than anyone else has) I'm rather tempted to demand a role fighting the Ruin force. Give me a minute to reconsider your lineup.

And in regards to the other thread:

Also, there's a huge flaw in Impact's plan for world domination. Mainly, even if he takes away pokemon from people he can't exterminate pokemon everywhere. The world would still be dangerous, and without pokemon people would have to learn how to fight for themselves. He'd be asking people to risk their lives, instead of the safer choice of having pokemon fight for them (and even the pokemon wouldn't be at risk because they just return to their balls when fainted!).

That's the entire point!
He doesn't want to exterminate pokemon. He just wants make humanity rely on its own ingenuity to solve problems! If the official media are anything to go by, there is no job, no task in the world that is not done by pokemon. Humans can pretty much solve every problem they have, by catching brightly colored monsters and putting them in balls. Do you know what that kind of behavior does to technological advancement? It eradicates it! If there's no need for science, do you really think it's gonna be developed, studied? Hell, kids can leave school at 10, get their starter pokemon, and still be successful in life, apparently! But the thing about using pokemon is, it's stagnant. You won't progress, since there's suddenly no need for progress. Science, on the other hand... develops. Do something using technology, and you'll still have a motive to find a better way of doing it, since, even with technology, it'll still be you doing it, instead of your pokemon.

Let me put it another way:
In Ruby and Sapphire, you begin the game in a moving van. You get into your house and see Machoke running around, placing down your furniture.
But now, imagine if that "mover", if he didn't have Machoke. To begin with, he'd be utterly screwed, since he'd have to move any loads himself, and, I imagine, he's not too fit. So, first thing, he'd hire some other guys, to help him with the job. He'd coordinate with them, he'd pay them, but he'd still have to do some work himself. After a while, he'd be sick of this, and be more than willing to pay hard cash for a better way of doing things. And do you know what that willingness to pay would do? It'd make it profitable for some engineer to design a device to help people lift heavy loads! So what next? Maybe some sort of exosuit. Maybe just a forklift! And think of all the advancement that that would bring! First, it'd require research into hydraulics. Then, you'd need to do some work on finding an engine, maybe combustion engine, maybe something more environmentally friendly. I don't intend to have Impact's empire just be a polluting stain. Manufacturing techniques would be developed, maybe heavy machinery to more easily build forklifts. In any case, the mover's demand for finding a better way of doing things would accelerate progress, since it'd make progress profitable!

That's why Impact wants to separate the societies. He hates pokemon, sure, but he's channeling that hate into improving society. He dislikes trainers, because they're a symbol of society's integration with pokemon.
...

As for your (inevitable) protests that advanced technology obviously exists in Homnyr despite people's use of pokemon, I believe pokeballs are a fairly recent technology. As such, certain things (such as cars) would have existed before pokeballs were perfected. Also, there are some areas where pokemon cannot replace technological advancement, such as Slayers' weapons or medical treatment. So yes, there's some progress, but people's use of pokemon hinders it.

...

And yes, I do overthink these things, thanks for asking.

[Menarker]

Technology has actually developed strongly even with pokemon around, due to time travel devices in the game, forklifts were being used to lift stuff like in Emerald for submarine construction (if my memory didn't fail me), and there is an entire subplot on scientists trying to explore space and using rockets to do so. (Although you had to help defend them when Team Mamga tried to steal the rocket fuel.)

Also, my computer ate my response to Pierce.

In regards to "shacking up with the Kimonos", Renny would just be helping with the mural translations. ^,^

Plus, I'm sure those with legendary pokemons like Charlotte and Pierce would be invited too since various aspects of the ruins are readable by different legendary pokemons. ^,^

[Geminex]

Technology has actually developed strongly even with pokemon around, due to time travel devices in the game, forklifts are still used to deal with stuff like the submarine construction, and there is an entire subplot on scientists trying to explore space and using rockets to do so. (Although you had to help defend them when Team Mamga tried to steal the rocket fuel.)

Yes, but the fact that that kind of technology exists is socio-economic bullshit. Scarcity is what drives demand is what drives supply is what drives technology. Taking scarcity out of the equation by giving everyone super-powered monsters is fine, as long as you're willing to accept that your society will remain stagnant and decadent. You can't have your cake and eat it too.

Plus, I'm sure those with legendary pokemons like Charlotte and Pierce would be invited too since various aspects of the ruins are readable by different legendary pokemons.

Sounds like a sidequest. I don't like the sidequest. Let's not do that sidequest.

[Dracorion]

Actually, if I remember correctly, according to AB pokeballs existed in some form sixteen hundred years ago.

Granted, they were probably only apricorns. Still, the idea was there and only got refined until they became what they are today.