Tales of Azela [PokeRPG]

Welcome to the Azela region! Not that any of you need a welcome, of course; you've all lived here if not all your life then at least for the last few years. You'd all recognize the map, of course, since you pay just as much attention in Geography as Battle Theory, right?

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You'd also know that in Azela, pokemon ownership and use is much more tightly regulated than in many other regions. Which is to say, regulated at all. Yes, children can't receive their pokémon license until a minimum of age 16, and most that don't plan to pursue a career in gyms or contests wait until 18 or so to bother. It's not even unheard-of for people in their early 20s to get their license, or simply not to bother at all.

Growing up in Azela has also taught you a bit about the place and its pokémon: as a tropical island that was inaccessible to all but the natives for millennia, it once had a tremendous diversity of rare and unique pokémon species. Of course, when it started being aggressively colonized, that diversity rapidly disappeared. By now, you can find pokémon from all over the world living on the little island, but only very few that are native to it. Stringent conservation laws now exist to protect what remains of the native wildlife, but it's mostly too little, too late.

More salient to you, probably, is the fact that the island's culture has undergone a process very similar to the one its pokémon went through: Azela has been actively occupied by a foreign military for longer than any of you, and most of your parents, have been alive, and been a territory of the same occupying nation for even longer. By now, very little remains of what could be called authentic Azelian culture, and that's been the case for so long that most people don't remember or care what that is; foreign soldiers speak in your language and drink in your bars and date your siblings, and that's as normal as it's ever been. There are always groups that oppose that sort of cultural assimilation, though, and they periodically make themselves heard, but they tend to be forgotten as quickly as they appear.

You, and all your soon-to-be friends, have recently received your trainer's license. You're members of an organization called the Young Trainers' Association, which helps young people get their license and supports them on the journeys many of them take upon graduation. At the very least, it certainly lowers premiums on your parents' homeowner's insurance if you graduated from the YTA before you got your license. Best of all, they give a startup kit to all new graduates, which includes... Your very own pokemon! The YTA specifically breeds pokémon known to be docile and good for learning the practical ropes of training with, many of them otherwise-rare Azela natives. Honestly, that's probably the reason you signed up and went to weekly classes at all.

So, how about you tell me a bit about yourselves?

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SpoilerWelcome to another installment of Pokémon Tabletop: Eagle Edition! How many of these can we start before GMs start getting burned at the stake? Who knows!

You should probably know about what to expect from a tabletop RPG, but if you have any questions, just ask. Use the wiki for all your character-building needs; it's pretty easy to understand, but not always worded too well, so if you need help hit me up on IRC! Fill out this form, and let's get started. I'd ideally like this game to be about four people or so (and given the number already involved in other games, it shouldn't be hard to keep things small), but I have a hard time turning people away so v0v. We'll see where this goes.

Character Sheet:

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SpoilerCharacter Name:

Desired Class: You all start off as a level 0 Pokémon Trainer, and will gain classes as you level up, but I'd like to know where you plan to go with your dude. This is not a binding decision.

Stats:

• Str:
  
• Dex:
  
• Con:
  
• Int:
  
• Wis:
  
• Cha:

Max HP: (Con*4)+(Level*4)

Money: Anywhere from flat broke to, say, 10000 pokédollas. Must be reasonable based on your backstory.

Inventory: Anything you want to start the game with. Again, pretty flexible, but it's gotta make sense.

Description: A description of your character's appearance and personality. Doesn't have to be florid and long, doesn't have to not be. At least give us a reasonable idea of what to expect.

History: A bit about where and how they lived and what they want to do. Your characters are free to know or not know each other as they see fit. Again, you can go as short or as long with this as you like, as long as we can all get the picture. The game starts in Port Anther, so it's probably a good idea to live there.

Starter Pokémon: This is where this campaign differs significantly from others; your characters will not have a pokémon to start with, and are instead receiving them at the beginning of the game. The YTA will provide any of the canon starter pokémon, or you can simply choose a type (other than water, fire, or grass) and receive a native Azalean starter of that type. They will start off as monotyped, but may or may not change typing as they evolve.

Me I will play

Well maybeeeeeee would it be ethical for me to be involved with all of the pokemans games going on.

More importantly, do I care? Profile incoming.

EDIT: Myles Pumice

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Character Name: Mylon "Myles" Pumice

Desired Class: Type Ace Ground yo. With a minor in Enduring Soul. Later on, probably crossclass into Earth Shaker

Stats:
Str: 13 (+1)
Dex: 10 (0)
Con: 13 (+1)
Int: 9 (-1)
Wis: 10 (0)
Cha: 9 (-1)

Max HP: Con*4+Lvl*4=52

Money: 4125P. Myles has been saving for a while.

Inventory: The latest issue of Sediment Magazine, A large rock from back home, a flashlight.

Description: Kinda tall and rather skinny, standing at 6'3" and weighing in at 137 lbs. Rather disheveled hair, unkempt wrinkled button up shirt that probably needs a wash, jeans in similar condition, and rather sturdy, tough boots.

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Rather quiet and a bit introverted, definitely a follower rather than a leader. Fine with working with others, but definitely likely to let them take charge in most situations. Unwilling to tell anybody else what would be a good idea, he does have a tendency to handle things he thinks would be good himself, regardless of if somebody else could probably do it better.

History: Myles grew up in Poppy City, or more specifically, spent all his time exploring the caves north of it. It wasn't a particularly safe hobby, but he had a particular fondness for caves. There was hardly a day that he wouldn't spend simply hanging out in the solitary darkness of the caves.

So when his family moved to Port Anther a couple of years ago, he wasn't particularly happy. There weren't any caves around the Port, and he was pretty much completely out of his element. So he joined the YTA, figuring if he got his Pokemon License, he'd be able to get back to what he enjoys best as soon as possible.

Starter Pokémon: Ground type. ARE YOU SURPRISED?

Oooh ohhh I wanna play!

...Sure.

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SpoilerCharacter Name: Birger Gunne

Desired Class: Ace Trainer, Enduring Soul, Ranger

Lv.00 | 13 STR | 12 DEX | 13 CON | 06 INT | 08 WIS | 12 CHA

Max HP: 52

Money: 144, mostly in change

Inventory: A small notepad for writing things to not forget; cheap, slightly damp, slightly crumpled, otherwise in relative good condition. One pencil; dull, short, minimal eraser. Pocketknife; old, minor rust. Handkerchief; slightly damp, faded, worn. Comb; several teeth missing. Matchbook, half-empty. Four cigarettes; slightly damp, slightly crumpled, one currently in use.

Description:


Tall, burly, slightly hunched. Outfit is worn but well-kept. Usually appears solemn or concerned. Tends not to talk much.

Reserved around strangers, livelier around friends. Strong sense of morals. Often stubborn. Somewhat reckless, particularly in defense of others.

History: The Gunne family has been living around Port Anther long as anyone can remember. Rakel (Gramma) is everyone's go-to source for advice, Otto (Pa) is a respected wilderness survival expert, and Maiken (Ma) is one of the best damn chefs in the slums - and a decent medic, when she can rustle up the supplies.

Did I mention they live in the slums (or equivalent that I'm going to assume are there for backstory's sake)? That's because, as you might guess, they're real goddamn poor. They've been living in the slums so long it's assumed as matter of fact that the Gunne's ancestors lay the foundations of their present enclave.

Birger is the culmination of several generations' life savings funneled towards a chance for at least one of them to not be forever impoverished. He's not the brightest student, but he works hard, and still manages to find time outside of classes to work odd jobs at the port to support his family. And leech cigarettes off the sailors. But mostly the first one.

Starter Pokémon: Fighting-type

mmmeeme

Character Name: David Jones

Desired Class: Ranger

Stats:
Str:9
Dex:13
Con:10
Int:10
Wis:8
Cha:14

Max HP: 44

Money: 988 pokemonies

Inventory: White t-shirt, camo pants, a pair of boots and a swiss-army knife he isn't quite sure how to use.

Description An enthusiastic young man, around 19-20, brown hair, crooked nose, who often goes into situations with unreasonably expectations. He holds himself to very high standards of himself, and usually cracks under the pressure he puts on himself and the situations he gets himself into. Fairly indecisive, mostly relies on others deciding for him, moderately likable. Has all sorts of insecurities impressed upon him by his father, but he hides it well. Gets easily stressed out.

History: Having grown up under the stern thumb of a militant father, David grew up feeling impotent and incompetent. The amount of pressure from his father to "Make the family proud for once" led David to join the army. For the first time achieving his fathers full approval, David went into his new occupation with his chin held high. He wanted to prove himself, and though he wasn't sure what that entirely what that meant, was assured that the army would somehow allow him to do that. But being stationed in a foreign island thousands of miles away from home made him reconsider that. Coupled with his increasing homesickness were the military drills, the constant yelling, and the irrational fear that he may actually kill someone during his career, poor David soon found he was not fit for military life. He eventually had a nervous breakdown which resulted in breaking most of the plumbing in the military latrine. Ashamed and shocked at what he had done, and deeply afraid of how his father would react if he found out about this episode, David soon made the single (and only) most impulsive, reckless decision of his life. Gathering the money his Mother had sent him, David deserted the army in the middle of a sunny afternoon.
David, surprisingly, didn't feel extraordinarily remorseful for his impromptu life-changing decision. David didn't feel worried, or scared. David just felt lost. Not looking forward to facing his parents any time soon, David came to a nearby port town, looking for some direction in his life. After an encounter with a particular aggressive person on the street giving out flyers, David became aware of Trainer School, which was pretty cheap, and as good a decision as any. And so, David set out to be a pokemon master!

Starter Pokémon: Gimme a steel type

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SpoilerIs it weird to play a female? Fuck it, I don't care. Gender diversity ho!

Character Name: Carla Shin

Desired Class: Researcher, then probably Professor.
Stats:
Str: 10
Dex: 11
Con:9
Int: 13
Wis: 13
Cha: 8

Max HP: 36

Money: 2000 pokebucks. Did some part-timing at a retail store.

Inventory: Conservative skirt. Jeans that still have tags. Two shirts. Practical sneakers. Nicer, fancier shoes. A bandanna/hankerchief. Notebook and something to write with. Typical travel things, like for hygiene and stuff.

Description: Sometimes stares off into space or at the floor. Pretty forward, but awkward. Stammers when excited or agitated. Flips coins to help make decisions. Ambivalent sense of ethics. Glasses. Short. Does not have a height complex. Willing to take charge of situations that she might not be strictly qualified to handle.

History: Immigrant parents that settled where they arrived. Grew up in moderate affluence. Did well in school; ended up as typical introverted bookworm. Self-conscious of social awkwardness; trying to be more social and less awkward. Joined the YTA as a matter of course. Procrastinated a year before getting license at age 17. Looking for something interesting to do.

Starter Pokémon: Ice ice baby.

Oh god I am so tempted but I have no idea how to play these things

Pokemon is a pretty easy RPG to learn to play. There's no complicated skill system, experience is easy to track, and all the resources are condensed into one easy-to-navigate wiki. As an online game, I'd be doing all the rolling and mechanical stuff anyway, so you as a player just say what you're going to do and I make it happen.

If you want to give it a shot but still feel lost, I can walk you through character creation in #eagletime !

Make way for Florian Schneider, the token rich kid.

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SpoilerCharacter Name: Florian Schneider

Desired Class: Capspec+Collector, then Watcher or Breeder maybe.

Stats:
Str: 6
Dex: 14
Con: 6
Int: 14
Wis: 13
Cha: 11

Max HP: 24

Money: 5000 PKDs.

Inventory: Drawing pad, copious notebooks, a rather dense book on Azela's geography aimed at academics, squarish leather backpack to keep losing all these things and more in. Money, important documents, and field notes about a particular Pokemon that's caught his fancy lately are kept closer to his person in a body wallet.

Description: Florian always keeps himself looking coiffured and impeccable, which also means one day of going bush unexpectedly and he's an almost-indistinguishable mess. Sandy hair in a really stupid quiff, nice skin, hands that betray he's done a bit of hard work in his life (not too much, though, he's fit but physically underwhelming.)
Smartly dressed - saved up for proper adventurer's gear like good boots, comfy straps to his backpack (which has been balanced properly to carry a few extra things strapped upon it), rad sunglasses, good hat, essentials like that.
Personality-wise, he's financially savvy, has the tongue of a diplomat businessman well beyond his twenty years, and is driven. Scarily so. He'll tolerate others' joking around and having fun, until there's shit that needs doing. Labourers and other working-class folk make him uncomfortable, because he knows he's not much good at talking to them.

History: Florian's from the old and relatedly well-moneyed Schneider family of Bracburg. Unlike some other heads of noble households, Florian's grandfather was very co-operative with the incoming military - to the derision of some other houses in the region, but to the Schneiders' ultimate benefit.
Florian decided from a young age that he wanted to Catch All The Pokemon, and with the unshakeable self-confidence and businesslike manic drive of the upperclassman got on with making his dream a reality. Being an absolute shrimp physically, he grew up learning the traders' business from the offices and back rooms rather than helping out at the docks and markets.
Once he was old enough to have his father stop fretting over him, Florian set off for the breeding centre in Port Anther, where he managed to line up a contact and get a job while he powered through the YTA's studies. Still mostly desk work, but he ran a tight ship financially for the company and was judicious enough with his own finances to pay his own way through the YTA.

Starter Pokémon: Piplup. It may or may not be one that he's had his eye on while working at the breeding centre.

i'm down with the poke-clown

Character Name: Kurt Umphrey

Desired Class: Coordinator, either like Cool Bro or Tough Guy (probably Cool Bro)

Stats:
Str: 8
Dex: 10
Con: 13
Int: 9
Wis: 10
Cha: 14

Max HP: 52

Money: 2500 pokebucks

Inventory: Nice jeans, tank top, flannel, a backpack, bland-name MP3 player, oh and sunglasses

Description: Fills the room despite not taking up much literal space. Brash. Prone to shouting, and also whispering. Has swag; additionally, has swagger. Acceptable haircut. You are already his friend, even if you don't know it. 16.

History: Kurt's gotten kinda sick of living in the Port Anther subububrbs, living with his MOM and DAD and how much they LOVE him and want him to DO WELL and PROVIDE FOR HIM SUBSTANTIALLY. As soon as he was old enough for a Pokémon license, he flew out to make a real difference, by dancing with magical animal things.

Starter Pokémon: let's sayyyyyyyyy Bug

Okay, I guess I'll give this a shot.

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SpoilerIvory Winters
Desired Class: something involving stealing things
Stats
Str: 10
Dex: 14
Con: 8
Int: 12
Wis: 9
Cha: 11
Max HP: 32

Money: About 600 pokemonies, none of it honestly earned.

Inventory: Tiny swiss army knife, several bent hairpins, couple spare pokeballs that she found in the forest somewhere.

Description: Skinny, fairly tanned, choppy short hair. Wears an assortment of ragged clothes. Has a couple hidden pockets inside her hoodie.

History: Her family doesn't support her too well, so she resorts to thievery to get by. Doesn't really have a set home, but usually hides around the forest/marsh border next to Calyx Town. Sometimes she goes to Port Anther to see if she can get her hands on some goods from the mainland, but this time she's looking to get a partner in crime.

Starter Pokémon: Dark type, of course!

oh i would love to play this
are all of us posting here going to be able to play?

edit: so does this have non-nintendo pokemon?

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skin color is light tan

Name: Illena Sotie
Desired Class: Breeder, uh, medic i guess
maybe crossclass psychic stuff idk

Str: 6
Dex: 13
Con: 7
Int: 11
Wis: 13
Cha: 14

Max HP: 28
Money: 3000$
Inv: three extra hair ribbons things, pink, green, red
two pairs of extra clothes stashed in specialized item pokeballs thank goodness for those eh? (pants, shorts)
three sandwiches
a small calculator


Description: has a ribbon in her shoulder length brown hair. she's just so cute and polite.
History: she comes from a small family that is moderately wealthy.
she was taught with the most polite manners and to be very kind to everyone, and her parents did all the hard work for her.
after deciding that she should start to learn what it's like to be independent now that she's 18, they told her to go out and depend on some pokemon and do a journey or something and to make sure to write back often.
Except, well, she's done a lot of babysitting, so that's some responsibility and independence there but oh well. (She doesn't consider that hard work though)

starter: giratina one of the gen IV or V starter pokemon because i've never played those games (and no one else is getting grass,fire,water starters)
EDIT: and since agen is taking fire i'll take a grass or water

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Spoiler/me is aiming for a fire starter if i get in

Here we are!

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SpoilerCharacter Name: Corbin Sparks
Desired Class: Researcher, building up to Professor at some point maybe?
Stats:
Str: 8 (-2)
Dex: 12 (+1)
Con: 8 (-2)
Int: 13 (+1)
Wis: 12 (+1)
Cha: 11 (+0)
Max HP: 40
Money: 3290P
Inventory: Couple books. ID, YTA card, that sort of thing. Three Great Balls, and an Ultra Ball he’s been saving for a special occasion. Flask of what may be rubbing alcohol and what may be just really cheap vodka, packed into a mobile first aid kit. Johto Army Knife. A couple of whittling pieces of wood. Packed lunch.
Description: Corbin is a neeeeeeerd. He has an annoying propensity to let people know about obvious things, compounded by the fact that he usually knows just more than the average person but not really enough to be useful. He is the trivia quiz bowl champion of advice givers. That said, however, he has a passion to learn as much about everything as he possibly can, especially about the rare Azela pokemon and their demographical demise.
He can also play the piano.
History: Mr. and Mrs. Sparks cared for their son very much, sending him to all the best schools and allowing him to pursue any and all of his interests. The result was Corbin as you see him today: intelligent but unfocused, and without any real ambition in the world except that of learning even more. Sadly, you don’t get paid to learn, so it was a good thing that he graduated from the YTA a little while later. His parents tearfully left him with a packed lunch and as much money as they thought would last him, and waved him tearfully goodbye as he walked down int the city: Port Anther.
Starter Pokémon: Fire fire we're on fire

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SpoilerCharacter Name: Piston Maverick

Desired Class: Martial Artist - Athlete
Starter Type: FOITIN'
Stats:

Str: 14
Dex: 14
Con: 13
Int: 6
Wis: 11
Cha: 6
max HP: 52

History: Aw yeah mofos its the one and only Piston Maverick. He's deceptively strong, defyingly dextrous, and surprisingly stout. He's also dumb as a mountain and as charismatic as a constantly coughing platypus. He's only been on the island for two years, having been recruited by the most prestigious school in Port Anther to play the B-Ball for them. Gotta love that there education system's priorities! But now that his school days have come to an end, and his B-ball skills were just not quite great enough to move on to the next level, he looks to his only other passion in life. THE POKEMON.

Pokemonies: 4000 POKEDOLLAS (He's had the opportunity to save money due to having his entire education paid for due to his SKILLZ)

Inventory: Favorite B-ball, Sweet-Ass Sneakers, Small backpack (Always full; he uses it to carry his b-ball)

A PICTURE OF THIS GUY



FAKEIMPOSTER DREW THIS, HE'S COOL BY MY BOOK

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SpoilerSo, apologies in advance to everyone who didn't get in... I just couldn't run a game with this many players! I decided the fairest way to pick would be just to only accept players who are not in or running either of the other extant Eagle Time games. With that in mind, the lineup is:

Mehgamehn
Fakeimpostor
Gnauga
KittenEater
Nopad
Crowstone

Let's have some fun!

It's not exactly graduation; you already graduated, technically, and there wasn't a ceremony for that anyway. You just passed a practical at the DPT and got a terrible picture taken and got your license. No fanfare or anything, which some of you might have been a bit disappointed by. No, today's just another day, no special name for it. Of course, ceremony or not, this is way better than graduation: today's the day you finally get your pokemon.

The YTA distributes its care packages to new trainers once a week, so you waited a few days after getting your license and showed up at the YTA building early, eagerly anticipating what's to come and sure you'd be first in line. Of course, five other youths had the same idea, all of you collecting in the lobby within minutes of each other, all a bit before the receptionist is even in.

Given that the YTA's classes are modular and independent, you've only seen each other before rarely, if at all. It looks like all you've got to occupy yourself with while you wait is small talk and getting to know each other, or else studiously avoiding doing so.

Kurt begins an introductory rap.

"Hey hey hey hey/hey hey hey hey/hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey/hey hey/hey/hey hey hey hey hey/I'm not very good at freestyling"

David shifts around uncertainly. "Hello! So like... Pokemon? Am i right?"

"Hey! Name's Kurt. Kurt Umphrey. Emphasis on the UMPH!

It, um. Took me a while to come up with that. Anyway you all can be the very best and all that; I'm just here to look good. People tell me I'm good at that."

Davd simply nodded in agreement. Okay, he thought, how do I talk to People? What are some topics of discussion? Oh Hey I've been sleeping in the back of this classroom for the last few weeeks because I had nowhere else to go, but it's okay because I am pretty sure the janitor was cool with it? What the hell do i start with... David took a deep breath. "Hey I'm David, and I've been sle- wait no um I mean I've been looking forward to like, this thing we are doing. Pokemon! Pokemon? Yeah. What uh type do you think you are going to get?"

Illena shifts in her seat, trying to ignore the boys. It's not polite to eavesdrop- except they are kind of loud

OOC: i'll take a fire, water or grass starter whatever

Ivory grumbles and slouches in her seat. She takes out one of her many bent hairpins and begins to clean her nails with it. Most of her experience being around a large group of loud people ends with her pickpocketing from them, so she kinda doesn't feel right being here, where everyone can clearly see her. She just hopes nobody tries to start conversation with her.

Piston hangs out in the back, twirling b-ball on his finger.