So it's been a while since I did anything here, but I wanted to cast the line out and see if anyone wanted to bite on this one, since I quite like the idea overall and I'd also like to get back into the RP space here.
In a world of Pokemon, there was peace.
They strode the lands, swam the seas and soared the skies. To the inhabitants of this world, humans are a distant myth known only by relics and ruins left behind in an age few living can recall. The concept that Pokemon were once captured in spheres and sent to battle at the whims of their trainers is an alien one to these Pokemon, who lived generation after generation according to whims of their own. The civilizations they founded were humble ones, tribes and clans, towns and villages, knit together by the ties of type and species with only a few who wander the world out of their own insatiable curiosity. Humble lives were lived and enjoyed to the full, with what few crises arose taken care of by guilds of brave adventurers.
There was peace, until now.
If there was warning, it was missed. A village first was lost, something only discovered when a trader happened to come across the ashen ruins and the bodies within. Then another. Then a third. Word slowly spread on the tides of rumor until an adventurer guild set out to investigate, believing some fearsome wild Pokemon was to blame. Their best team went, prepared to return with a new tale for the campfires.
Only one returned. Delirious with pain and the horror they had witnessed, they told their disbelieving guildmates of Pokemon like nothing known to the world. Strange, unearthly Pokemon who might have seemed passingly familiar but were truly alien, their flesh like metal, their size belying their power. But a few of them had slaughtered the guild's best with seemingly no effort at all, a single Pokemon escaping only because their teammates had thrown everything into holding the attackers off.
And worse, this was no small band of miscreants, the sort the guilds had to deal with at times. This was an invasion. With their dying breaths, the sole survivor spoke of what they had glimpsed before being attacked. A wound in the world. Many of the strange Pokemon pouring through it on foot, on hooves, on wings. Regimented and assembled, marching out to strike under a sky that poured lightning onto a ground burned to ash. Even as this warning was delivered, more were already being dispatched from communities under attack. More and more followed as an army of the invaders poured over the lands, destroying everything in their path. Those not slain were dragged away, perhaps to an even worse fate.
Guilds tried to muster a resistance to the onslaught but not one could stand for long. Even the bastions which could endure the first attack or even the second were focused on, picked apart and destroyed by the strange powers the invaders wielded. Even the mightiest of Dragon Pokemon were cut from the sky and slain by shining blades. The waters were frozen to give the invaders passage. Some attempted to reach the wound from which the attackers had poured in the desperate hope that closing it would stem the tide, only to discover to their horror a gleaming citadel that shone with the flash of a thousand lightning strikes built around it. Those few who escaped the citadel's guardians returned with only this news and the utter despair it inspired.
Two years have passed since those first attacks. The invaders have spread far across the lands, razing settlement after settlement, destroying resistance after resistance. They have suffered a few defeats here and there as their properties have become more understood, but they are still an overwhelming force bent upon utter destruction and conquest. What remains of the guilds pooled their forces into a combined resistance, letting old names and symbols join hands in the face of annihilation, combining their knowledge to try and find a path to victory.
The invaders still march. From where, no one knows. For what purpose, no one knows. Only that they do not stop and they do not relent.
But faced with the destruction of all they know, the world's Pokemon will fight tooth and nail to save it. You among them.
This RP is set in a world like that of the Pokemon Mystery Dungeon games, one where humans once existed long ago but have long since disappeared from the land. A few of their structures yet stand, dilapidated and decaying from centuries if not millennia of abandonment and Pokemon activity within. Settlements are for the most part small clusters of civilization not far from the human idea of a village or hamlet, little pockets in the wilderness where like-minded Pokemon gather with each often guarded and led by an adventuring or rescue guild who serve the community. Most of these have now fallen under the onslaught of the invaders, mysterious Pokemon from another place in space and time.
From their Cybernetic Citadel, the point at which they stepped onto this world, these invaders have swept over the Iron Continent, as it is known for its higher concentration of human ruins. They occupy much territory and have razed many settlements, forcing survivors to flee and eventually gather in groups wherever sanctuary might be found. The resistance is many-faceted and scattered, many different villages mixing together and finding common cause in survival, with the old separate guilds long since dissolving into one another to assemble a new structure. They fight guerrilla warfare against the overpowering invaders in a conflict where few victories have been found, only the hope of another day after the present one, one day at a time.
The resistance group within which you serve makes it home in the dusky heart of Gloomgrove Forest, a place once seen as sinister and foreboding, a haven for bandits and outlaws. Now its dark groves serve as shelter, those who once opposed the guilds joining hands with them in the name of mutual survival. In the dark core of the forest, a natural rock formation creates a shelter where walls of stone curve together, a stream emerging from the rock to pool in the grotto's heart before running out to join a river further through the trees. Within the walls are little caves both natural and carved by Pokemon hands, forming chambers for weary souls to rest and in which precious supplies can be stored. The gaps in those walls overhead are in turn shielded by thick foliage with only little shafts of sunlight peaking through, casting the place in a perpetual gloom. Darkhaven Grotto, as it is known, is led by three seasoned veterans who each served many years in their guilds before the war transformed them into generals.
Strange Pokemon from a different world entirely, the invaders are what you the player would recognize as the Future Paradox Pokemon. Pouring into this world from their own, they conquer and capture for an unknown end, merciless and remorseless in all that they do. Though they may seem passingly familiar to certain species of Pokemon and though they are unimposing in stature, each is a fearsome opponent in possession of unearthly abilities. They often generate a field that thrums with electric power wherever they go to battle and in such fields their power only grows, with their strongholds perpetually shrouded in them. Their language is unknown, but Psychic Pokemon and others with the power of telepathy can glean their thoughts and communicate to some extent.
From the testimony of such, the 'names' of each type of invader has been gleaned, though they seem more akin to designations than anything else and each individual specimen appears to be assigned a number rather than any true name. In addition, each unique species appears designed for some particular duty, with Iron Bundles carrying orders and information, Iron Treads patrolling over long distances, Iron Moths observing from on high, and the fearsome Iron Valiants often acting as battlefield commanders.
While these and others are the commonly seen forms of invader, accounts from particularly fierce battles have reported seeing even more powerful, seemingly unique beings among the attacking forces, ones that bear passing resemblance to the Swords of Justice of fable.
Standard Pokemon evolution works much as it always has in this RP, but Mega Evolutions are also available for those Pokemon who possess them. One who uncovers a stone of the correct type can draw upon its power to temporarily achieve a stronger form in battle.
- This RP is rated PG-15, primarily for violence and potentially death. This is a darker, grittier Pokemon story and so some leeway is there, but nothing excessive.
No god-modding or bunnying
Obey all regular and RP forum rules
Be kind and courteous to one another, and have fun!
Name: Your character's name. Many Pokemon go by some form of individual name or nickname, often a single word, but exact conventions may vary
Age: Your character's age
Gender: Your character's gender
Species: What Pokemon species is your character? You may not play as any Legendary or Mythical Pokemon, any Ultra Beast or any Paradox Pokemon
Appearance: What differentiates your character from any other member of their species?
Personality: What is your character like as a person? Are they friendly, aloof, gruff, courteous, secretive, extroverted, or more? What do they like and dislike? What do they live for day by day and why do they fight?
History: What happened in your character's past to make them who they are today? What triumphs and tragedies have they suffered, and what have they done in the face of the invasion? How did they come to the resistance?
Ability: Which Ability does your character possess from those available to their species?
Preferred Moves: I am not imposing a strict limit on how many moves your character may know, but of those available to them, which do they favor most? Which will they most often employ in battle? All moves a Pokemon can learn from any source are allowed, including egg moves and those from TMs and HMs.
Aube (Gallade) storymasterb
Mara (Meowscarada) storymasterb
Bazal (Cinderace) Liltwick
? (Hydrangea)
? (Hydrangea)
Arcanine (EnigmaWolf)
Name: Aube
Age: 17
Gender: Male
Species: Gallade
Appearance: Aube has several old burn scars over his arms, legs and face, and the spike on the left side of his face has been cut short at some point
Personality: Like many of his kind, Aube is a kind and courteous Pokemon at heart, meant to form strong bonds and protect those he bonds with. He would defend the weak and help the humble, lay low the tyrant and slay the monster like the knight he resembles. He speaks in a polite tone and a formal voice, noble and dignified in casual conversation. But tragedy has scraped him raw with pain and torn innocence from him before he could naturally grow out of it, leaving him often reaching out on instinct to others only to catch himself out of fear that he will suffer more. He does deeply care for those around him but he tries to focus his attention elsewhere, all too often into his vendetta against the Iron Valiant who destroyed his home and slew his family.
That vendetta consumes him, leaving him with a fierce desire to fight the invaders at every turn. In their eyes he sees the death of his sister and his parents. He sees a village laid waste and consumed by fire, and he longs to do what he could not then and step up to fight. More than once his boldness has nearly jeopardized missions, leading to reprimands and shame from a Pokemon who knows he ought to do better. But he is haunted by that same silhouette in waking and dream alike and perhaps only defeating it will soothe Aube at last.
History: Born in the small settlement of Clearspring Village to loving, doting parents, Aube knew happiness and peace. His Gardevoir parents were some of the village's foremost protectors as masters of the local guild, his older sister Lumiere enrolling herself not long after his birth. As soon as he could walk Aube would follow her around like a shadow, admiring her courage and kindness even from afar when she forbade him to accompany her on missions. In time he too evolved into a Kirlia and would have joined the guild, seeking nothing more than to follow in their footsteps just as they wanted him to. All seemed set and certain for that special day.
Then the invaders came. A whole squadron fell upon Clearspring Village, Iron Thorns crushing buildings to splinters, Iron Jugulis raining down fiery death. Aube could only watch as his family sallied out to help, the three Gardevoir wielding their psychic powers to protect the townspeople while they fled. Through the smoke he saw them defeat an Iron Jugulis together and toss the Hydreigon lookalike straight out of the town. It was then that the squadron's commander stepped forward with its crackling blade in hand, another Iron Jugulis falling on Aube's father as an Iron Thorns tackled his mother aside. Left alone, Lumiere stepped up to challenge the Iron Valiant, hitting it with attack after attack only for the cruel warrior to walk through them almost unscathed. Her final strike at last tore a deep wound into its face and with an electronic snarl it retaliated, cutting Lumiere down in a merciless stroke.
All resistance was crushed, any bravery fading into fear at the sight of Lumiere's end. Aube was buried beneath the rubble and dug his way free, emerging to the smoldering ruin of his home and everyone he knew laying dead around him. Broken, the Kirlia walked without aim out into the wilderness, the image of Lumiere's death burned into his mind. He was found by survivors of another village who helped to nurse his wounds, eventually leading him to the fledgling resistance in Darkhaven Grotto where he finally declared his wish to fight. Though he was not the strongest, he threw himself into training and even uncovered a Dawn Stone in the course of a mission, evolving into Gallade and furthering his ambition of vengeance. Now a fully fledged warrior, Aube continues to fight,ever searching for the Iron Valiant with a scarred face.
Ability: Sharpness
Preferred Moves: Psycho Cut, Leaf Blade, Sacred Sword, Swords Dance
Name: Mara
Age: 20
Gender: Female
Species: Meowscarada
Appearance: Mara is a regular Meowscarada
Personality: Playful and irreverent, Mara once gave not a care what anyone thought of her, happily throwing barbed darts of conversation if it meant she could draw attention where she wanted it. She took the spotlight as a means to distract while she set up her schemes, sure to leave such an impression that people only realized what she had actually done long after she departed. The Meowscarada took pride in her craft and barely noticed her victims as soon as they had ceased to have anything she was interested in, only caring for the next mark and the thrill of the game. She delighted in the attention they gave her all while she robbed them. What did solitude matter when she had her sport and her winnings? But with the world thrown into stark relief by the horrors of the invasion, Mara now finds herself upon the precipice of change.
Joining the resistance and helping them to navigate Gloomgrove Forest was already a step for the formerly selfish woman, but to her surprise she has found herself growing fond of her comrades, of their company, even. Though she hides it well behind showy behavior and sarcasm, she still at times catches herself caring for this Pokemon or that, worrying that they might not return from the next mission or what would happen to them if the invaders found Darkhaven Grotto. Moreover, crimes she once thought nothing of now now begin to haunt her, the odd tale between her comrades reminding her of things stolen and confidences betrayed. Part of her yearns to return to the carefree world she once knew when the invaders are defeated, but another part entirely whispers that even then she can never go back with all that she has seen and done.
History: Born in Gloomgrove Forest, Mara grew up in a happy if friendless childhood. Though her family were natives of the forest who had long stayed beneath its shady boughs rather than go to live in a town or village, they kept themselves to themselves, teaching Mara to survive in solitude. She grew strong there, evolving all the way into Meowscarada before finally indulging her wanderlust to head out into the world beyond the trees. She'd learned sleight of hand in the forest from her parents and she soon put it to use, learning to distract people with her showy antics only to pilfer their food, their valuables and whatever else took her fancy. Though of course two and two was put together after she was gone, she entertained herself this way for a good while as she traveled, even fellow travelers not spared.
Perhaps if this had continued long enough then one guild or another would have set out to bring her to justice, but that would never be tested, for as Mara plied her craft in the large settlement of Steelbrand Town the invaders too came there, heralded by a sudden thunderstorm. Walls and houses were smashed by the battering impacts of Iron Treads. Iron Moths and Iron Jugulis rained down attacks from on high. Iron Hands and Iron Thorns roamed the streets with ruin in their eyes. Iron Valiants weaved through the defenders with blades in hand, cutting down all who opposed them. Mara was not a stranger to battling, she had had to fend off attackers in the forest and on the road, but this was something new and fearsome entirely. This was not the desperate greed of a robber nor the hunger of a Pokemon driven wild, this was nothing less than cold, cruel extermination executed according to some plan she could not fathom.
Mara was no warrior and all she could do was use her talents to enable her escape, Flower Trick bombs distracting the assailants, Double Team clones throwing them off the scent. As thunder roared and lightning crashed into the town, she glimpsed something terrible amid the clouds for just a moment, even that glimpse enough to terrify her to the core. In a panic she scrambled out of the inferno Steelbrand was becoming, her last look back allowing her the sight of a green nightmare slicing the final defenders to ribbons with shimmering pink blades. But she was free, escaping into the wilderness.
What the Meowscarada had seen shook her to the core, her perspective irrevocably altered. She remembered the screams but also the steely purpose with which the invaders had acted and despite herself Mara knew that it was something that had to be fought against. She could run, but not forever. She could not escape their march, she knew. She could only turn and, against all she had ever known, fight tooth and claw for survival. She found her way back to the forest and in the process gathered other survivors, people she would once have regarded as spectators or marks now transformed into those needing her help. She led them to a place she knew deep in the forest where rock and trees alike would shelter them. Others had already begun making camp in what would become known as Darkhaven Grotto and so she joined their cause, despite the scorn with which some of her new comrades accepted her. But there was no refusing her, not in the face of annihilation.
Ability: Overgrow
Preferred Moves: Flower Trick, Knock Off, Play Rough, Double Team
