Pokemon Reclamation

[indigo_league]

Whether they've been around for weeks, months, or years, sometimes it's inevitable: these otherworldly visitors will go home, leaving their new life behind, and with it, their Pokemon.

Frequently, it's left to the friends and family of the departed trainer-- or sometimes just charitable acquaintances-- to take in at least a few of the remaining 'mons... but sometimes they wind up leaving, too. Just what happens to the displaced Pokemon who lost their original trainer and no longer have anywhere to go? Whether they spent some time being bounced from new trainer to new trainer first or just returned to the wild alone right away, for years it was unknown just where they went.

... Until now.

The sometimes-transient nature of these extradimensional visitors hasn't gone unnoticed by the natives of this world, particularly a local family on Route 8 in Kanto, just west of Lavender Town: a young couple who couldn't fathom the heartache of either a stray Pokemon pining alone for its long lost trainer, OR a person vanishing and suddenly returning only to find their dear partners missing, possibly never to be seen again.

It took some years and what seemed like an endless amount of work for their dreams to become a reality, but with passion, dedication, and no small amount of help from both the Lavender Town Pokemon Center and their close relative, the famous Mr. Fuji, they've finally done it.

Welcome to Forever-and-a-Day Ranch, the Forever Home for Displaced Pokemon!



INFORMATION


WHOA WHAT IS THIS PLACE? WHERE IS IT? WHAT'S IT FOR?

Out on Route 8, close enough to town to be easily accessible but far enough away for there to be plenty of space, is a large plot of land and a sizable ranch-style house belonging to the young Fuji couple. It's now licensed and fully set up to accommodate any left-behind Pokemon seeking a permanent place to call home, all types and species welcome!

The ranch is spacious, with a grassy meadow, a shallow cave system where the land bumps into the neighboring mountain face, artificial ponds, and plenty of places to play. There’s even some donated playground equipment around! Lap Pokemon are welcome in and out of the house, and if it gets crowded, a rotating PC box schedule will allows every Pokemon to be given plenty of playtime, not to mention love and attention. They may be missing their original trainers, but each one is considered family at Forever-and-a-Day and can stay as long as they like-- which could be forever, or just until their long-lost trainer returns!

That's right-- anyone who was once whisked away to the world of Pokemon but then returned to their own world may come back and reunite with their original team-mates!

Dropping characters are not required to fill anything out to leave Pokemon at the ranch--they only need to fill out the form in the comment below when they are returning to the game to let us know which of their Pokemon will be re-joining them. For more information on how this process works, see below!

HOW CAN MY RETURNING CHARACTER GET THEIR POKEMON BACK?

To reclaim their Pokemon, characters must physically travel to the location and ICly speak with the owners of Forever and a Day. This is to retain the element of challenge in starting out, prevent abuse of the mechanic, and to allow returning characters time to bond with any newly caught Pokemon.

Whether they make the long trek there entirely on their own or get help from a friend with Fly to speed up the process doesn't matter, as long as they go there themselves!

Once there, they'll have to sign some standard adoption papers, but are otherwise free to pick up their Pokemon free of charge (although as the place is run through donations, a few P would be appreciated!) and be on their way!

HOW MANY POKEMON CAN MY CHARACTER CLAIM?

Returning characters will be able to reclaim up to ten Pokémon per month! This means that if you have more than ten Pokémon you want to reclaim, you can simply keep returning to the Ranch on a monthly basis until all your friends are back in your possession. There is no upper limit to this! If there are 100 Pokémon you'd like to reclaim, you can keep coming back ten months in a row until you have them all. It does still mean you need to prioritize which Pokémon you’ll regain first, but rest assured that the Pokémon at the Ranch are well taken care of, and it’ll only take some patience to get back all your Pokémon.

While you're still in the process of regaining the rest of your Pokémon, you are free to assume that the rest of your character's old team is still present and being well taken care of at the ranch! Your character can visit them any time and continue to get video and text updates on how they're doing.

Maybe they're even a bit of a celebrity-- Forever and a Day is booming on social media with cute pictures and stories about all its residents!

HOW WILL THEY ICLY KNOW THAT THE POKEMON ARE THERE?

When they first return, they will get a message in their inbox informing them of their Pokemon’s whereabouts and how to find them! If it takes a while to get to the ranch, they will also receive regular photos and video of their Pokemon playing and being taken care of, and will get the chance to interact with the Pokemon over the 'Gear at least once a day if they choose. It will be made clear to them that there is no time limit on getting to the ranch to pick their Pokemon up.

That said, for ooc purposes, please submit your form for reclaiming the Pokemon within two weeks of acceptance to the game!

IS THIS A REQUIREMENT FOR RETURNING CHARACTERS? WHAT IF WE WANT TO START FRESH?

Pokemon reclamation is entirely optional! Some people strongly prefer that their Pokemon be wild after their characters depart, or even have their own personal lore about what happened to the Pokemon afterwards!

It's entirely up to each player to decide what happens with their individual Pokemon after they drop, whether it's to have them inherited by other characters, venture out on their own, or go straight to the ranch to be adored by the kindly NPCs. There's no requirements either way.

WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY 'INHERITED'? HOW DOES THAT DETERMINE WHAT I CAN CLAIM FROM THE RANCH?

It's something of a long-standing tradition that dropping characters specify certain Pokemon be left with their significant CR before they go. This meant that sometimes returning characters could find their Pokemon still in the possession of their old friends upon rejoining the game, and could reclaim them that way. Until now, this was the only way for a returning character to re-obtain their Pokemon.

Any Pokemon not claimed by CR, or who had their new trainers also disappear without leaving them to anyone else, would go missing, often presumed to have returned to the wild. At this point, those Pokemon were officially gone by in-game mechanical standards.

Obviously, when reclaiming Pokemon, they should be ones which were not already left to other people-- no cloning! The exception to this is if a Pokemon was left to someone who then also dropped, and the Pokemon is no longer present in anyone’s roster.

Say Steve Rogers left his Braviary to Thor, but Thor then dropped and did not leave the Braviary with anyone else, effectively removing it from the current game continuity. Either Steve OR Thor could now retrieve the Pokemon from the ranch if they re-apped-- but if Thor was in fact still around, the Braviary would not be at the ranch, and Steve would have to go get it back from Thor specifically!

WHAT IF I ACTUALLY HAVE NO IDEA IF THE POKEMON STILL EXISTS IN THE GAME SOMEWHERE OR NOT?

We understand that this can easily be an issue with older characters who might have left Pokemon to others, that were then left to others, that were then left to others, and have been dispersed into the ether of the game’s many rosters. If a good faith effort has been made into trying to see if these Pokemon are still around, we won’t punish a returning character for reclaiming their Pokemon without knowing for sure.

CAN WE STILL LEAVE POKEMON TO OUR CR WHEN WE DROP?

Absolutely! This new mechanic just means that if you decide to return, you'll still have the option to get your Pokemon back even if the character who inherited them dropped in the meantime. Likewise, if the CR who inherited your Pokemon is still around, the ranch need not be involved at all in reclaiming the Pokemon! You'll just have to hash that out yourself with the other player.

WHAT IF I HAVE INHERITED POKEMON THAT I DON'T WANT?

While you won't be able to reclaim them afterwards, the Ranch is a guilt-free IC way to trim your roster of Pokemon that your CR left to you but that you don't really think fit your team. The Fuji couple won't judge-- they know not everybody is equipped to care for each Pokemon that comes their way. They'll be happy to take them in to wait for their original trainer to return.

CAN MY CHARACTER GO TO THE RANCH AND ADOPT THEIR DEPARTED FRIEND'S POKEMON?

No, as this is not a Pokemon adoption service-- Forever-and-a-Day is meant to be, well, a forever home! Only a returning character who personally owned a Pokemon will be able to retrieve it. If someone wishes to inherit a Pokemon from their friend, they will have to do so at the time the original trainer dropped, as usual-- retroactively claiming a Pokemon from a dropped character is not allowed.

WHAT IF MY CHARACTER DOESN'T REMEMBER THEIR ORIGINAL RUN, BUT I STILL WANT THEIR POKEMON BACK?

This will be allowed! Maybe your character is just the type to take responsibility for up to ten unknown and possibly distressed magical animals.

WHAT ABOUT CHARACTERS WHO DROPPED BEFORE THIS MECHANIC WAS AN OPTION?

This chance is open to older dropped characters as well, with the IC explanation that their Pokemon might have gotten word of/been drawn to the ranch and decided to stay there instead of in the wild! The mechanic is not restricted to people who drop after the ranch opens.

WHAT IF I'M APPING A CHARACTER WHO WAS PREVIOUSLY PLAYED BY SOMEONE ELSE? CAN I GET THEIR POKEMON?

We’re going to say no on this-- the mechanic is intended to let returning players retain the original Pokemon that they put a lot of development and sentimental value into, not provide freebies. Only those who have dropped and re-apped the same character can get Pokemon this way. On the other hand, if the original version of the character left some of their Pokemon to their CR, that's an IC matter! It's fine for characters to return inherited Pokemon to their 'original' trainer even if they're played by a different person, if it would be in-character for them to do so.

WHAT IF A POKEMON WAS OWNED BY MORE THAN ONE RETURNING PERSON, AND THERE'S A DISPUTE OVER OWNERSHIP?

Pokemon reclamation will be first-come, first-serve. If someone else who owned it comes back first and wants the Pokemon, it will go to them, and anyone looking to reclaim the Pokemon after the fact should get in touch with them and work it out! If somehow two people re-app simultaneously and are both desperately attached to a Pokemon... the mods will mediate if necessary.

WHAT IF SOMEONE IS ABUSING THIS MECHANIC?

As mods, we reserve the right to deny the use of this mechanic to anyone we feel is taking advantage of it unfairly (dropping and re-apping excessively, purposefully attempting to clone Pokemon that still exist in the game, etc).

I'M READY TO RECLAIM MY POKEMON!

Comment below and go reunite with your old friends!

「 NAVIGATION 」

Comments

[keep_surviving]

Character name: Diana Ladris keep_surviving
Reclaimed Pokemon: Alakazam, Buzz, 65
Original Roster: In Diana's previously owned roster.
In Credence's roster before he dropped.

[indigo_league]

Hey there!

Unfortunately, because Buzz officially belonged to Credence at the time of the drop, this means that no current game character may obtain him from the Ranch, even if he was in their possession at one point.

To quote the rule concerning this from above:

"CAN MY CHARACTER GO TO THE RANCH AND ADOPT THEIR DEPARTED FRIEND'S POKEMON?

No, as this is not a Pokemon adoption service-- Forever-and-a-Day is meant to be, well, a forever home! Only a returning character who personally owned a Pokemon will be able to retrieve it. If someone wishes to inherit a Pokemon from their friend, they will have to do so at the time the original trainer dropped, as usual-- retroactively claiming a Pokemon from a dropped character is not allowed."

On the other hand, if Credence left Buzz to Diana when he disappeared, that's fine and requires no mod approval! We recommend getting in touch with Credence's player and arranging for Diana to have ICly obtained Buzz at the time of Credence's original drop.

[keep_surviving]

Okay, no problem. Thanks guys!