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Ask to Join Alola World Festival [Discussion]

How should we battle?

  • Pokemon Showdown

    Votes: 22 47.8%
  • Roleplay it out

    Votes: 24 52.2%

  • Total voters
    46
  • Poll closed .

SageNeb

Previously 5DigitNeb
My character is extremely competitive and thinks he should win because he has won many tournaments around the regions and won many gym battles. Even with his two types of Pokemon, he actually does have a lot of coverage from all the moves his Pokemon knows, and because he only trained two kinds of Pokemon, his Pokemon are generally stronger because he spent more time training them. Plus, he lives on a ranch, so his Pokemon trains with the rest of his siblings' Pokemon, making them even stronger and they teach each other how to fight others of their species. Even though his flaws are his lack of a balanced team, and that his strategy is plowing through defenses and being slightly reckless, he is quite smart and will plow through defenses, so the Pokemon won't have defenses to use to protect themselves and he can overwhelm them with speed and power. Although, another problem is that most of his team are sweepers, while he has one tank. That will be his downfall, since most of them are glass cannons.

Oh, don't get mad at me. Vaultie said something about explaining why your character should win, so I made reasons why, while also coming up with flaws. His Pokemon fight brutally, so be careful when up against him. I won't shy away from making it detailed.

Also, if we want to use Showdown to determine who would win, you can always use a Vikavolt with Zap Cannon (50% accuracy) and use it as some kind of coin flip for both of you to see. Bet on if it will hit or miss and if you are right, then your character will win. Only use this idea if you and your opponent don't care or if you both care and both want to win. That way, we don't get a drawn out battle.
true. its actually to the point that there's actually some pokemon that it's either I one shot or he does, and that's pretty rare. also I think it should be like showdown to decide who wins and we rp it out
 
I already explained that Showdown would provide completely different results than role playing it out. Here's my quote from that:

We already talked about that showdown battles and RP battles are completely different. There is no creativity in showdown and the moves can not be used in different ways, so a battle there and a battle here would yield completely different results. So we can't use it to see who will win, or it will be grossly inaccurate. A simple Zap Cannon on a fast Pokemon would yield something similar to a heads or tails/flip a coin thing, which would work. Plus, Pokemon can last longer in these battles than Showdown. So there's another factor. Plus, I am not good at battling anyone, and I know others are not that great either. Most of us won't know the strategy on fighting competitively, so we would most likely lose. As an alternative to Showdown, we could also have judges not from this RP judge our fighting posts and see who should win.
 
Also, here's this, showing that Vaultie does agree with me:

@Sonicsshaymin you're missing a LOT. you didn't even use the formatting i put up in the very first post. i hate to turn people down, but i'm going to have to say this RP might not be for you.

anyways, Pichu has made a lot of good points and im glad that this discussion thread is actually being used. regarding showdown, while its a better way to realistically determine a winner based on team composition, there are a lot of issues revolving around RNG. i dont blame others if they prefer RP battles over showdown.

i think once we get things really started, i'll change the vote to be who should be the overall winner, or decide who should win in bracket battles if the two battling can't decide.
 
RNG has always been the bane or boon of video game players alike. There is no RNG in role play, so we won't have that problem. We can control everything on our side of the RP, while in Showdown, everything is up to chance. There is an equal amount of skill and luck that not everyone has, no matter how well the composition of the Pokemon team is. Any team can be beaten by a misclick, a mistake by the part of not strategizing ahead, which the strategy in this Showdown will be completely different than role playing it out, and RNG can screw a person over, with critical hits being the bane of everyone when receiving one. Plus, Pokemon in Showdown is all about stats, numbers, and equations, stuff that cannot be remade in an RP, where the battles are more realistic and not about dumb luck of the numbers. I have seen how the equations work in receiving or dishing out damage. They have a small range of decimal numbers that is randomly chosen and are the sole reason why one move can be randomly stronger than when it was before, without buffs or debuffs. Plus, the Pokemon's HP is measured in numbers. Stamina in real life (which is what HP is based off of) can be completely different from one battle to another, if the Pokemon is sick, and other outside sources that can affect the energy levels of the Pokemon in a real battle. Also, the personality and behaviors of a Pokemon in role play battles can play a role in winning or losing, a circumstance that cannot be replicated in Showdown. For example, if my Chandelure tries to fight against a Ghost-Type, he'll be so afraid, he'll hardly fight, but will run around the battlefield until he calms down enough to even dish out an attack. I can't replicate that in Showdown. At all.
 
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That's why I thought that maybe we can use Showdown, and have a Pokemon use Zap Cannon as a form of heads or tails coin flip. Something that both people can see and bet on without having issues as to whether the person lied or not. Or, we can have Vaultie or someone else outside of the RP choose a random character to win the battle (which isn't exactly fair), or we can have a few judges judge our writing quality in the RP. If the posts are super detailed and have a bunch of categories that they fall into as being successful, then the person with the winning battle posts will have the permission to win the round. These judges will have to be outside of the RP, so as to not have complications or lie in favor of someone to win. I would suggest Vaultie find some people who are like this, if she chooses to do this.
 

SageNeb

Previously 5DigitNeb
I suggest like making it be based of... logic. Like, if RPing skill is the only thing that decides battles, then something like an earthquake that shook the ground or something simple might as well be useless if the other person makes a paragraph of detailed way of saying the opposing Pokémon dodged. If there is no logical way to actually dodge an earthquake, then it shouldn’t not do anything simply because of RPing skill. I agree that showdown can’t do stuff like the Draco meteor jump thing, and magnemite that floats can be destroyed by bulldoze easily, but then again, earthquake should be a simple way to defeat it, logical or not. With that being said, a grass type can make a bunch of vines to block itself without using any moves like protect, but the flamethrower should not be blocked because of something like that.
 
Only if the way they dodge the attack makes sense. You are completely right. If a Squirtle dodged an Earthquake by Withdrawing into its shell, then it would make sense, but the Pokemon would be shoved around by the earth moving, and maybe the Earthquake can get the Squirtle stuck in between the earthy cracks. The RPer needs to have a sense of logic. A Vine Whip, as you pointed out, can stop a lot of small projectiles, but something like a Flamethrower won't be stopped by vines. Plus, a Bulbasaur will have to be trained in order to use its vines expertly so it can deftly deflect physical projectiles like Bullet Seed or Razor Leaf. Even then, the Pokemon would feel the pain of the objects hitting their vines. Only the RPer knows about the training their Pokemon had gone through, and only they can accurately judge what their Pokemon can do. Of course, they also have to give the opponent a chance for their attacks to hit. That's why I wasn't very specific about those categories I said earlier, because it could be like how realistic the battle was, and how logic the person is about what the moves can do to each other and such, and not pull any bs moves, besides judging for mechanical error in grammar and spelling.
 
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In another tournament I was apart of earlier, there were two people that drawn out the battle wayyy too long. They both had an equal level of grammar and spelling, but they differed by the content they had. One guy was being honest and letting hits hit his Pokemon, while also saying that the Pokemon was at least fatigued or they had high amount of stamina, and the stamina for this Pokemon is usually pretty high. The other guy was making his Ghost-Type phase in and out very quickly to dodge all attacks and attack without any penalty from the phasing (if you know about this, don't say or @ the names please). The problem was that the guy with the Ghost-Type wasn't being fair, so in retaliation, his opponent decided to not be fair. It took several people in the discussion thread to convince him that Ghost-Types, no matter how strong, need to have a penalty or a cool down when phasing in and out of reality because it takes a lot of energy to do that, and it should've tired out his Pokemon during the battle.
 
whew sorry about the inactivity, school has been keeping me

@Freshpangoro88 theres no way i cant not accept a bug trainer, so welcome! feel free to start rping whenever.

and as for battles, i figured that we could discuss here beforehand who we think should win so for example, theoretically, if its Pyros vs. Atty, i'll give my reason as to why Atty should win, Pichu can give a reason for Pyros, and we can either agree between the two of us who should win, OR if the match seems far too close, everyone else can take a vote on who they think should win, whether it be based on character experience, team composition, or anything that could contribute to that sort of thing.
 
ALSO i guess i should say now: in order for there to be an even bracket, ill be accepting only TWO more characters.

i can already expect some people that signed up in the beginning have forgotten about this, since some havent made an introduction post in the RP thread still. in the event that someone ends up being away for too long, whoever is the active one can move ahead, but not before giving the unactive a chance.

but yeah, only two more spots left and then im cutting off the limit for tournament-goers. anyone who comes in late can still make a character to be a spectator and for fun, but they won't have a chance at winning any kind of title. ive said it before, but i guess i should mention it again, battles will be 3v3, best 2 out of 3. you're allowed to bring in any 3 you want in any order for any of your battles, but keep in mind you won't be able to switch out pokemon while battling.
 
Soo... If we use the first batch of three Pokemon for the first round, can we use the second batch of three Pokemon for the second round? Or will it be the same first batch of Pokemon? Like if Pyros uses Ninetales, Chandelure, and Haxorus in one round, can he use his Turtonator, Salamence, and Salazzle the next round?
 
tfw you miss the entire conversation since you forgot to check your messages

Anyways I don't have anything to bring to this conversation. I understand why the RP skill < In Character Skill, and while I think that Writing skill should still be taken into account ultimately it wouldn't make sense if some newcomer trounced someone like Pyros just because they could write better.

The thing I actually came here to say, James is pretty overconfidient. I don't think his Hydreigon would thrash any of Pyros Pokemon in a straight up fight. Pyros obviously seems more experienced, and while I think James could win it's not gonna be a curb stomp. Is it just a facet of James' character or are you actually being serious?
 

SageNeb

Previously 5DigitNeb
I’m not gonna lie, my team is just the best I think will be able to defeat you trainers, without not being my first oc’s Team. For example, hydreigon is like two shot against to hits with an ice beam, or more. I understand this is boring though, that’s why we’re judging based off what would make most sense to cause someone to win
 
tfw you miss the entire conversation since you forgot to check your messages

Anyways I don't have anything to bring to this conversation. I understand why the RP skill < In Character Skill, and while I think that Writing skill should still be taken into account ultimately it wouldn't make sense if some newcomer trounced someone like Pyros just because they could write better.

The thing I actually came here to say, James is pretty overconfidient. I don't think his Hydreigon would thrash any of Pyros Pokemon in a straight up fight. Pyros obviously seems more experienced, and while I think James could win it's not gonna be a curb stomp. Is it just a facet of James' character or are you actually being serious?
It's just the facet of James character it wouldn't be a thrashing but it would be a good battle both ways
 
I’m not gonna lie, my team is just the best I think will be able to defeat you trainers, without not being my first oc’s Team. For example, hydreigon is like two shot against to hits with an ice beam, or more. I understand this is boring though, that’s why we’re judging based off what would make most sense to cause someone to win
Depends this team is based off of my actual competitive team and Hydregion is has a high Special Defense so probably 4 ice beams
 
I think it would be unfair of me for Atty to win overall, but if anything, I'd like the battles shes in to at least be close and for her to at least get past her first match depending on who she's battling

She's no where near professional level, but the bonds she has with her Pokemon are exceptionally strong, specifically with her Weavile and Scizor. She's had 14 years experience actually owning a Pokemon, and 10 years experience being a trainer. While she hasn't challenged a league yet due to personal anxiety, she's got all 8 badges from Unova, 7 from Sinnoh and Johto, and 5 from Kanto. She's also in Alola for the Trials, and so far has collected crystals for Normal, Water, Fire, Grass, Electric, and Steel.

Her main motivation for striving to do well in the competition is hoping a certain someone is watching, and to impress him. She's bound to get nervous because of that, but it won't stop her Pokemon from performing well. She has great synchronization with each of her teammates, and adores each and every one of them, believing that her team can win even without being made up of the strongest and most popular Pokemon there are. It's a strong balance between Pokemon she likes and Pokemon with different typings to create at least a somewhat balanced team. She's very careful in making her decisions while out on the battlefield, and knows that each of her Pokemon battles differently, playing into their strengths and weaknesses in order to bring the best out in them. Like I said before, it's okay if she doesn't end up getting first place, but it'll be hard to completely sweep her and her team.
 
Ahem! *steps up on soapbox* (hopefully, won't get knocked down by a rouge Magikarp this time)

I've yet to make a case for Shiori. Although Shiori has not competed in many tournaments for a few years, that doesn't mean he's gotten out of practice. In the movies he's been in, some of the other actors have been pretty good trainers, and he's been testing his strength by competing against them. As for a badge count, Shiori has received 5 from Kanto, 2 from Johto, and 7 from Unova. Raza's also been helping out with the filming by using her Illusions as special effects, allowing the Zoroark to practice her skills with the Illusion ability.
Shiori has also managed to subdue and capture a Pokemon that would have the in-game level equivalent to 100. Granted, that Pokemon was a Magikarp. When Shiori discovered the tournament, he went and trained rigorously in the Nature Preserve in Unova, the same place he caught the powerful Magikarp.
Shiori has also made pretty good money from the movies he's been in, so he's been able to well supplement his Pokemon with plenty of Vitamins. He's also sure to take good care of his Pokemon, and has very deep bonds with them.
Not only that, but Shiori is very determined to try to win. He's never even made it to the semi-finals of a tournament, and it's his dream to win a tournament.

Umm... That's all I can really think of for now... *goes to step off of soapbox, only to be struck once again by a rouge Magikarp to the face*
 
*ignores Shinobi getting smacked with the Magikarp*
I personally don't want James to win I'm fine with him placing top 4. I just don't believe that a trainer of his calibre should be knocked out in the first round.

All I have to say I know it's short bht this is my view on this.
 
Hey guys. Sorry for not doing anything in this conversation or even RPing yet. I've been busy.

I don't know how much this'll contribute but i'd still like to throw in my two cents. RPing battles sounds good on paper, but based on personal experience it usually doesn't end well. Or at all sometimes. Before i came here looking to RP, i RPed in Azurrilland. It was fun for a while but RPs usually didn't last...Anyways, i've seen plenty of times where the people RPing the battles are caught in battle limbo because neither of them wanted to lose. They both gave their reasons why they should have won but didn't bother acknowledging any reasons they should have lost.

--------------------------------------------
Here's an example of what happened in an RP i was in a long time ago:

There were 4 players; Trainers
A, B, C, and D. A and C wanted to RP the battles while Trainers B and D wanted to go to showdown to settle things. A and C insisted that they should RP for the same reasons Pichu and Valtie gave; RNG is nobody's friend. But B and D wanted to go to showdown to battle so that winning would depend on battling skill rather than writing. Eventually A and C won the arguement (mostly because A was the one making the RP) and we RPed the battles. We RPed the battles for a while but we would always run into the same problem, A and C wanted to win all the time and this is the conversation that usually follows:

Trainer A: My character should have won because he has 10 years of battle experience.

Trainer C: Well my character should have won because she ranked top 5 in a world championship.

That's all good, but trainer A's Pokemon didn't dodge at all and just "tanked" hits over and over again without any signs of fatigue while C kept forgetting what his Pokemon were doing and had to make something up on the spot. Both of them had reasons they should have lost but neither of them wanted to admit them and arguments about it would drag on-and-on in the discussion thread of the RP or they would do it out of character in the RP itself. And the way it was usually solved was either get a third party into the mix or flip a coin. This got so bad that whenever Trainers B and D battled A or C they would lose on purpose to keep the RP going and A and C's egos intact. The RP died eventually, but it left Trainers B and D a bitter taste in their mouths. I was Trainer B and i haven't seen D ever since.

I know this is the worst case scenerio, but a worst case scenerio that actually happend. People who don't consider losing in an RP battle will usually be the death of the RP itself. Going to showdown is a whole 'nother can of worms, but i'm leaning towards it because of my previous expreince with RP battles.
 
Well, if we do Showdown, will leveling be inputted? Or will all Pokemon be the same level, like level 100 or something?

Having set levels would mean everyone is battling on an even playing field. Of course, levels could be changed around for RP purposes but that would mean whoever has the higher level has the advantage. Levels don't mean anything in an RP but can make a huge difference in battles because of game mechanics. So i'd say set levels, 50 or 100.
 
I still think the problem is that some of our Pokemon are BL or OU and other are PU. Actual ranking for Smogon, look it up.

While you raise valid points, I feel like some of us here are humble enough to take a loss- besides, considering we are judging one another ooc based on writing skill and "who deserves to win". If we must use showdown I'll be changing my team up. Not different Pokemon, just different set ups.
 
I still think the problem is that some of our Pokemon are BL or OU and other are PU. Actual ranking for Smogon, look it up.

While you raise valid points, I feel like some of us here are humble enough to take a loss- besides, considering we are judging one another ooc based on writing skill and "who deserves to win". If we must use showdown I'll be changing my team up. Not different Pokemon, just different set ups.

Better safe than sorry in my opinion.

I know about Smogon ranking and everything. Most of my team is RU at most, but i didn't let that influence me when i made this team now or back in Black and White 2 when i actually made it. And that shouldn't have too much of an influence here either since most, if not all of our teams are mixed tiers. Also, We're not exaclty using competitive sets so that's another reason rankings shouldn't matter much either.

Point is, Meta Game battling and RP battling aren't the same thing. But if you're still not convinced then look no further than the battle tree in any Pokemon game. Not all the Pokemon used there are "top tier", but they can still kick your a$$ if you're not careful. Same applies here, your team isn't exactly "top tier", but if i battle you and get cocky against you it could still cost me the battle. Meta or not.
 
I used to go on Azurilland when it was still called Marilland for walkthroughs on Black and White when it first came out and watch his playthroughs and I'm so sorry you had to deal with that. Even though I hardly went through the forums, I had really wanted to join, but was 14 at the time and would've been seen as cringy and edgy, so I didn't want to do it, especially when I was aware that my characters at the time were too OP or Mary Sue. We are all (well, most of us) humble here, so if we see that our character will be defeated, then we will allow them to be defeated. Pyros is pretty good, but his recklessness will be his downfall, as well as his severe weakness to Water-, Ice, and Dragon-Type attacks. Plus, all of his Pokemon (besides Turtonator of course) are glass, swift cannons. I know Pyros isn't that great defensively, but he does pack a punch, and will probably only make it to the top 16 or maybe even the top 8. I'm fine with losing, but Pyros has a lot of skill other people need to consider. What bugs me is when people don't bother looking at other characters and see their strengths or weaknesses, and then they meta the RP and use their meta knowledge to take down their opponent, who didn't even show their weaknesses, but their character somehow knew about it in the first place.

Besides, most people that are like that view their characters as an extension of themselves, or they see them as their children or family or friends. When this happens, they don't want them to lose, especially when they were made intrinsically with their egos. Plus, trainer A's Pokemon should've had fatigue. Nebulix and I talked about how we should use logic in our RP posts and about how we should use that and make the battles more realistic. Perfect grammar isn't going to be on everyone's resume (I know it isn't on mine, for sure), but it's mostly the content about the RP posts that make the difference. Mechanical syntax, grammar, and spelling should be important, but that is only, let's say 10-15% towards the grading system I'm thinking of. The large majority needs to be the content. And if Trainers A and C were acting like that, why didn't they get reported? Or were they reported? Or was there a system set up similar to ours when it came to this?

But it was why I had suggested earlier to use Zap Cannon (50% accuracy) on Showdown and bet if it would miss to determine who should win or lose. We can butter up our characters all we want, but the actual show will be taken when they start battling and what we want them to experience and what kinds of ways that would cause them to snap under the pressure and break them. My hidden secret for Pyros is his insecurity on being strong or helpful in some way. Because of this, he has quite the big ego when comparing his Pokemon's strength to another, and he loves big and strong Pokemon, which is why most of his Pokemon are swift, glass cannons. Plus, he can't bond with other types of Pokemon that aren't Fire- or Dragon-Type unless they go through a special event with each other, causing him to be limited in the types of Pokemon he uses or prefers to use, mainly because the Pokemon he would like to use wouldn't listen to him when in battle.

Also, on the whole battling on Showdown... I am not a good battler and can't strategize that well, but it changes when RPing because I become my character mentally (I guess... Not to sound creepy, but to better understand what he would do). Since I can't get the creative juices flowing in Showdown like I can here, then it'll be difficult for me to actually figure out my character should do, plus there are moves that I chose that I want to implement on the battlefield or on one of the other Pokemon's moves, but can't because of the limiting factor of Showdown. Which was why I suggested the Zap Cannon hit or miss.

On another tournament, one of my competitors did it, and he would win. I was a little saddened that I thought that Zap Cannon wouldn't hit, but hey, I wasn't too upset about it. But we planned out how our battle would go, which Pokemon was going to get knocked out by which Pokemon first, if they were was going to be a draw between the two Pokemon and ending in them getting knocked out, and so on. We planned out everything, and it went extremely smoothly. We literally had a vague script we had to follow, and hopefully this would work.
 
hoo boy i sure missed quite a bit

i just want to make it clear that even though im running things and have the final say in this, i don't want it to seem like no one else here can be apart of the decision. whatever we decide to end up doing here, i want to make sure everyones on board with it.

like stated before, i personally wouldnt mind Showdown battles because they are, in fact, reflective of skill. But theres a lot of problems that arise in the form of RNG as well as others that might not understand how more of a competitive scene works. on the other hand, its entirely possible for RP battles to drag on and become unfair if neither side wants to admit defeat. personally, i actually DONT want atty to win, as i think losing would better build her character. what i want out of this though is a chance for her to use her Golisopod, and get at least past a round or two in the bracket.

i'll stay neutral for this and let everyone else decide what we want to end up doing, but just be aware that if we do end up using showdown, youre going to have to rp out the battle anyways, being reflective of what happened in the SD battle.

EDIT: I should also mention that showdown doesnt exactly have the format i was hoping to use anyways. i planned on the tournament being 3v3, best of 2. Example: if the leading pokemon are a greninja and charizard, and charizard loses, thats it. Team 1 wins that point. both pokemon are returned, and the next pair are sent out. this is to make things more fair so that Team 2 wouldnt automatically get a point for knocking out the greninja whos at low health anyways from the last round.

a format like that works much better with RP. if we did it on showdown, we would have to do 2-3 1v1 games, which is simple in theory, but might end up being a hassle.
 
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So I’m interested in joining this RP, my only problem being I usually play canon characters (Gladion being my main). I have one OC, but she might not be allowed? She’s a Porygon2 android created by Colress (another canon I play), and is obviously outside of the norm in regards to characters.

Would any of the aforementioned characters be permitted? If so I have extensive bios for them I’ll post when I get off work.
 
they ARE 3v3 single battles, just in a slightly different format. switching is off, so whatever pokemon is sent out will be battling that round.

once a pokemon faints, thats a point for the team that got a ko. both pokemon are recalled and the next two are sent out.
 
@Ninian i dont mind the involvement of canon characters at all, (as long as theyre reasonably in-character) and i was planning on bringing in Kukui and Guzma at different points during the RP as well, but i still want to make sure that the plot is driven by OCs.

if your android OC is contempt enough to own her own Pokemon and take part in the tournament, as well as having a location in mind that you want her to represent, go for it. but like i said, your OC should have most of the focus instead of canon characters.
 
Hmmm all right. And she wouldn’t own any Pokémon, so she can watch/provide assistance? She’s basically a glorified Rotom dex/she fights for Colress since she’s his Porygon2.

My canons are very accurate, so I’d be more than happy to have Gladion etc show up. But I don’t want them to steal attention etc, which I assumed is what you’re worried about.
 
of course. like i said, canon characters are fine as long as you know what you're doing.

i don't want to sound picky, but i guess i should clarify then: if you plan on colress participating in the tournament with your OC, i'm going to have to turn you down. i'd rather have pokemon fighting pokemon, without the involvement of an OC. this is especially the case if we actually end up doing showdown in the end.

HOWEVER if you want gladion to participate in the tourney, i'll fully allow that, assuming he doesn't automatically get an advantage just because he's a canon character. either way, i'm looking forward to how you portray him.
 
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