Post by wildkuma on Dec 30, 2010 5:29:48 GMT -5
Battle
A major element of the Pokemon Universe, battling has served as a foundation for all other areas of expertise in Pokemon. It will develop your Pokemon's strength, foster tameness, improve technique, earn you funding to further your ambitions, and many other benefits. In the site system, battling is broken into informal and formal sessions, indicated by the presence of "(Formal)" in a thread title.
This thread will break down how such matches are to be conducted and judged, and will provide some examples as to common faults.
*Note that this segment is only addressing formal battles; free battles can be handled however you and your opponent choose.*
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How Battles Are Judged
Battle here is really quite simple; most of it is free form, using statistics as a guide, and then being judged by how well you write. You will be scored based on four categories...
There is some flexibility in how much the game mechanics and loose anime based strategies can be applied. For example, even though flamethrower is a projectile energy based attack, there's no reason why Charizard can't pick up a nearby durable boulder and use the attack to fire the rock at an opposing Pokemon. Similarly, a Pokemon can ride a partner Pokemon in double battles to avoid earthquake, such as when Pikachu rode Butterfree in the anime. However, there will be no Thunder roasting Swellow long enough to form a suit of armor. That makes no logical sense whatsoever. And your Pokemon can get hit by their partner's attacks. Remember though, PP is still consumed even if the technique is used for an alternate purpose. So Charizard can only fire rocks as many times as he can use the breath technique normally, and a rock fired by Fire Blast will generally have a lot more force behind it than one fired by Flamethrower. If Charizard aims at a rock face and manages to dislodge a loose shelf of earth which collapses upon the opponent however, one could imagine the resulting damage to be exponentially greater than a single rock fired. Just remember to take your environment into account.
Use your knowledge of physics and better judgment to write an interesting strategy, and things should be fine.
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Role of Items
Having items available to use during battles can be very beneficial, though often, it is much harder to have them on a readily available basis. It is not practical to pause the match, apply spray potion to your Pokemon while your opponent waits, and then resume once you've determined the medicine has taken effect. Immediate effect items like berries and white herbs can be used in this manner, without taking up an action. The Pokemon is expected to scarf down or absorb the item while still dodging attacks though, so referring to this in posts may net you some points. If you use a single use item such as a berry in battle that isn't being held, remember that it will limit the amount of actions you can take in a single post. And the trainer will have to get it to the Pokemon somehow before it can be used, tossing or having the Pokemon raise a Barrier and passing it while safe for instance. You can refer to the effects of non-consumable held items such as Charcoal freely throughout your battle without it taking up a turn.
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A major element of the Pokemon Universe, battling has served as a foundation for all other areas of expertise in Pokemon. It will develop your Pokemon's strength, foster tameness, improve technique, earn you funding to further your ambitions, and many other benefits. In the site system, battling is broken into informal and formal sessions, indicated by the presence of "(Formal)" in a thread title.
This thread will break down how such matches are to be conducted and judged, and will provide some examples as to common faults.
*Note that this segment is only addressing formal battles; free battles can be handled however you and your opponent choose.*
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
How Battles Are Judged
Battle here is really quite simple; most of it is free form, using statistics as a guide, and then being judged by how well you write. You will be scored based on four categories...
- Accuracy (Using the skills and moves your Pokemon have earned, writing true to your stats, etc.)
- Knowledge of Battle and Strategy (Type match-ups, move strength, statistics, abilities etc.)
- Quality (Vocabulary choice, accuracy of grammar, uniqueness.)
- Length (Not as important as other categories, but it could potentially serve as a tie breaker. Try to keep posts to a paragraph size at least. If you only write a sentence, it's hard for others to work off of, and it doesn't assure mods that you were working hard for the win.)
There is some flexibility in how much the game mechanics and loose anime based strategies can be applied. For example, even though flamethrower is a projectile energy based attack, there's no reason why Charizard can't pick up a nearby durable boulder and use the attack to fire the rock at an opposing Pokemon. Similarly, a Pokemon can ride a partner Pokemon in double battles to avoid earthquake, such as when Pikachu rode Butterfree in the anime. However, there will be no Thunder roasting Swellow long enough to form a suit of armor. That makes no logical sense whatsoever. And your Pokemon can get hit by their partner's attacks. Remember though, PP is still consumed even if the technique is used for an alternate purpose. So Charizard can only fire rocks as many times as he can use the breath technique normally, and a rock fired by Fire Blast will generally have a lot more force behind it than one fired by Flamethrower. If Charizard aims at a rock face and manages to dislodge a loose shelf of earth which collapses upon the opponent however, one could imagine the resulting damage to be exponentially greater than a single rock fired. Just remember to take your environment into account.
Use your knowledge of physics and better judgment to write an interesting strategy, and things should be fine.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Role of Items
Having items available to use during battles can be very beneficial, though often, it is much harder to have them on a readily available basis. It is not practical to pause the match, apply spray potion to your Pokemon while your opponent waits, and then resume once you've determined the medicine has taken effect. Immediate effect items like berries and white herbs can be used in this manner, without taking up an action. The Pokemon is expected to scarf down or absorb the item while still dodging attacks though, so referring to this in posts may net you some points. If you use a single use item such as a berry in battle that isn't being held, remember that it will limit the amount of actions you can take in a single post. And the trainer will have to get it to the Pokemon somehow before it can be used, tossing or having the Pokemon raise a Barrier and passing it while safe for instance. You can refer to the effects of non-consumable held items such as Charcoal freely throughout your battle without it taking up a turn.
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