indigo_league | JKBA FAQ

Pokemon trainers can prove their battle prowess by obtaining badges and even taking on the Elite Four if they so wish. Those with exceptional skills can even open a gym of their own. But what about breeders? How do Pokemon breeders in Johto and Kanto prove the extent of their skills? How do you tell someone who has just let their Rattata run around in the backyard until an egg appears from someone who has put countless hours into improving the wellbeing of their pokemon and carefully selecting potential partners for them in order to produce only the finest offspring?

Enter the Johtonian-Kantonian Breeders Association (JKBA).

The JKBA has a long and storied history of associating with only the finest breeders, ensuring that anyone who purchases a pokemon or egg through the Association (where did you think all those shiny rewards eggs came from?) gets nothing but the very best.

And after more than a decade, they are finally willing to concede that maybe, just maybe, these Otherworlders have what it takes to become part of the association too.

The purpose of the JKBA is essentially to create an organisation of the best breeders in the region, so people looking to purchase a certain pokemon or egg can do so knowing that they come from the best circumstances. In addition to gathering skilled breeders under a single banner, the Association also helps match people looking for a certain pokemon with breeders who can supply said pokemon. And as people are willing to pay more, those breeding requests may become more and more complicated and detailed.

As such, they don’t just welcome any breeder into their ranks. They are looking for the very best, and they have their own internal ranking system to classify breeders. The higher ranked a particular breeder is, the more privileges and rewards open up to them. Any breeder can obtain a high rank if they so wish; they just have to put in the work and pass the Tests.

The Tests are similar to the badges trainers can obtain – by showing they have a certain skill, a breeder can rise in the ranks, which means more complicated and rewarding breeding requests may be rewarded to them. A new member of the Organisation might be trusted to breed a regular Pikachu, but it takes a far more skilled and trusted member to breed an Eevee, who not only has its hidden ability, but also has a very specific set of egg moves.

Once a month, a new breeder or current organisation member can apply to take either the Entrance Test or the next rank-up Test. Each Test will ask breeders to show they possess a certain set of skills by, you guessed it, breeding a pokemon egg relevant to those skills.

Once someone is a part of the Organisation, they are not obligated to keep rising in the ranks. If someone is fine remaining at a lower rank and taking only less complicated breeding requests, that’s certainly possible. But those who truly want to show that they have what it takes to become part of the most Elite Pokemon Breeders in Johto and Kanto.

Is every breeder expected to join the Association?

Absolutely not! Our intention for the Breeders Association is to essentially give Breeders a challenge system similar to badges for trainers, but we certainly don’t expect participation. This is truly just an optional thing. And similarly, how you can have your trainer character only obtain a few badges, or even take years to complete their badge journey, a breeder’s involvement in the Association is entirely up to you as well.

Can trainers or rockets join the Breeders Association?

Unfortunately, your character has to be a registered breeder to join the Association. Many of the tests are only capable of being carried out by breeders.

This also means that if your character is part of the Association and chooses to switch to being a trainer, they will have to leave the Association. Of course, they can return in the future, but they’ll have to retake any of the Tests they previously passed.

How do you join the Association?

Just pass the lowest level test and you are in! This can be done right here.

Do we get the eggs that were bred for the Tests back after passing them?

No, unfortunately not. The Pokemon that were bred for the tests are taken in by the Association and become part of their breeding stock. Don’t worry, they will be well taken care of!

How do the Rank rewards work?

Each Rank has an associated monetary reward. What this means is that a breeder of a particular rank will make that amount of money monthly from fulfilling egg requests from the Association.

For the first few ranks, this isn’t a huge sum, as at this level, you’d only be looking at a few requests coming your way, and these requests wouldn’t be very complex. However, as a Breeder rises through the ranks, the monetary rewards become much higher as they fulfil more and more complex requests for the Association.

A breeder can still also make money breeding eggs and pokemon for non-BJKBA requests. This is entirely up to you. The rough idea is that at the highest ranks, you’d be able to live comfortably only doing Association work, but obviously, it takes a bit to get there.

For any ranks that have an additional item reward, this item reward is a one-time thing that you only get the first time you get to that rank.

Can we/our characters make breeding requests through the Association?

Not currently, no.

This might be something we will look into adding in the future (but this is a very big maybe!) but right now, all the Breeding Requests will be made by NPCs, who can range from ordinary house husbands who are looking for a sturdy Growlithe to protect the house to organisers of contests and events who want to give out a special egg as a reward.

(Basically, the Association is where people like Riegfried and Soy have been getting their eggs from for years, and now, finally, your characters can be part of the group of breeders fulfilling those requests)

The main reason why we are not currently adding this possibility is because the Association would take over the process of matching a prospective client with a breeder and would handle the payments and everything. Which is a really efficient way of doing things, but it would also limit breeding-based CR/plot opportunities for people playing a breeder, and we certainly don’t want to do that.

How will being a member of the Association be handled? Do we get specific requests once a month or–?

Much like training pokemon for trainers, most of the work associated with the JKBA will be handwaved. If you join, we will definitely not be hitting up your inbox every month with a list of eggs or anything. The NPC requests they will be receiving and delivering the eggs to the Association will all be handled off-screen.

The only part that requires some activity on your part is passing the Tests. Much like the badges, if your character wants to advance to the next rank, you’ll post up your challenge, which involves letting us know what pokemon you used to breed a particular egg, so we can check if everything checks out.

Can we borrow pokemon to complete the Breeding Tests?

You can borrow one pokemon in each pairing.

For example, say you are trying to pass the second Test, which involves producing an egg with at least ten moves on hatching. It’s totally fine for your character to use one of their own pokemon, and then borrow a compatible pokemon from a friend. There are so many pokemon in the world, the Association doesn’t expect each breeder to have every individual pokemon. You just need to have a good enough personal stock, and a network to back you up, which we feel translates to needing to use at least one of your own pokemon for each Test.

But, we will also say that this is a completely new and untested system for us too! We’ve wanted to have some sort of Breeding Association for ages, but we can’t really test it out until it is live, so there is a small possibility that we will adjust some of these requirements in the future. If we do end up doing so, any previously passed tests will, of course, be grandfathered in. Just have some patience with us as we try out this new thing!

What if a character who is part of the Association gets dropped and later reapped? Will they have to redo the Tests?

Yes, they will. While we might be able to tell it is the same person playing the same character, the Association wouldn’t really be able to tell if someone who returns still has the same skills or not. So they’d have to retake the Tests.

Why is there a once-a-month limit on Tests?

The Association is very prestigious and wants only the best of the best. It’s not in their interest for someone to rush through the tests. By allowing people to only take one Test a month, they’ll be able to oversee the work you do much better, and they’ll have a much better understanding of you as a person and as a breeder, before they let you take the really difficult and high-reward breeding tests. After all, the kind of people who are willing to put down big bucks for very special pokemon get really picky, and they definitely do not want to let down a client like that by assigning them an untested, unfamiliar breeder.

What if the pokemon I bred fulfils the requirements for multiple Tests? Can I get them all at once?

Again, that is not possible. The Association will only look at tests individually. If you deliver a Shiny, Hidden Ability pokemon with a huge move pool as your Entry Tests, you are still only going to get to the first Rank. And you’ll still have to produce new eggs for all those other tests.

Is there a time limit or deadline for the Tests?

Not at all. Characters can complete them as quickly or as slowly as they want (taking into account the once per month Test limit). Even the final test, which will involve us giving you a one-of-a-kind breeding challenge, can take as long as you want. The Association is looking for quality work, not necessarily fast work.

What exactly is this Egg Scanner?

The Egg Scanner is a piece of proprietary technology developed by and for the Association.

Essentially what it is is a small device that gets linked to a character's gear. By placing the device on an egg, a character can then read certain characteristics of the pokemon inside of the egg on their gear. This includes things like species, sex, move-pool, ability, and whether this pokemon is shiny or not. Basically, it's a way to see what is inside an egg without cracking it open. (don't do that)

Because the technology was developed by and for the Association, only members of the Association can get access to an Egg Scanner. You'll need to achieve a certain rank to get a scanner, but once you are there, you can keep it for as long as you are in the Association.

Basically, up to this point, it was impossible to say with certainty what sort of pokemon would hatch from an egg until it did. The Egg Scanner takes the guess work out of it.

Can we borrow/lend out the Egg Scanner?

The Egg Scanner gets linked to a character's gear, and will only work in combination with that gear. So you cannot borrow or lend out the scanner without also giving away your gear.

That said, the Association isn't checking to see if every egg you scan belongs to you. If you want to do your friend a favour and check what kind of eggs they've got, you can certainly do that.

What is this about borrowing pokemon from the JKBA?

The Association is aware that it really impossible for a breeder to own every pokemon ever, but sometimes a request might come in where you need a specific pokemon you don't own. Or you might be trying to add a certain lineage of pokemon or egg move to your current roster but you don't own the right pokemon for it.

Enter the JKBA Pokemon Exchange.

Here, trusted breeders within the JKBA can apply to borrow certain pokemon from the organisation. The higher placed within the organisation you are, the rarer the pokemon you can borrow are.

Where is the JKBA getting these pokemon from?

The pokemon you borrow come both from the JKBA's own stock (that's what happens to all those eggs you deliver for tests!) and, should the JKBA not own a specific pokemon, they will reach out to trusts breeders in their organisation and see if they are willing to lend out their pokemon.

Does that mean we have to lend out our pokemon too?

You don't have to worry about that. The JKBA has a lot of pokemon themselves and an already established network of breeders who are willing to lend out their pokemon for requests like this. Perhaps this is something we'll add much further in the future (for a possible reward) but honestly, you first need to become much more established within the Association!

How long can we borrow these Pokemon for?

You can borrow them long enough to produce one clutch of eggs. This does mean there is a possibility that you might not get the result you were hoping for within this one attempt. The JKBA can't ensure certain results; it can only help create opportunities. Of course, if you were unable to successfully breed for a certain trait the first time, you are allowed to borrow that Pokemon again in the future.

How often can we borrow Pokemon?

Currently we are setting the limit at One Pokemon every three months. However, we want to make it clear that this limit is not rock solid. Like we said, this is a very new game mechanic we are introducing, so we need to playtest it a little. In a few months, we'll review how everything is going and see if anything needs to be adjusted!

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