The Indigo League (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
indigo_league) wrote2024-11-30 07:37 pm
indigo_league) wrote2024-11-30 07:37 pm
Entry tags:
Character Retirement
At the end of a character's arc in Victory Road, some players may feel that their characters are best off remaining a part of the setting itself, effectively putting a cap on their story. Instead of being dropped traditionally, these characters will become background NPCs in the game, becoming a permanent part of the game.
Characters can be eligible for retirement after they have spent at least one year in the game. We encourage players to consider their character's arc, their impact on the game as a whole, and why it would be meaningful for the character to remain in the Pokémon world as opposed to being dropped traditionally.
Did your character start a business that changed the tourism industry in a town? Did they start their own gym? Did they become an important freelance reporter for EV news? Let us know! Your character doesn't need to have solved world hunger--we just want to know what sort of impact they've had, even if it's as small as settling down in a home in New Bark Town and telling new trainers to buzz off.
Note that retiring a character does NOT bar future players from also applying that character. If a player decides that Clark Kent is going to become an NPC EV News reporter, another player can then later apply as Clark Kent. Multiverse shenanigans are afoot, after all.
After your retirement submission has been accepted, your character will be removed from the taken page (if applicable) and a small blurb will be added to the location your character is associated with, with a link to information about that character's retirement.
Additionally, any characters dropped between August 2023 and November 2024 that meets the above requirements can be retroactively submitted for retirement.
Because there are countless ways that a player may decide that a character is ready to be retired, the mod team will be reviewing these submissions on a case-by-case basis. More information can be found on the form itself!
Submissions are checked every Wednesday.
Characters can be eligible for retirement after they have spent at least one year in the game. We encourage players to consider their character's arc, their impact on the game as a whole, and why it would be meaningful for the character to remain in the Pokémon world as opposed to being dropped traditionally.
Did your character start a business that changed the tourism industry in a town? Did they start their own gym? Did they become an important freelance reporter for EV news? Let us know! Your character doesn't need to have solved world hunger--we just want to know what sort of impact they've had, even if it's as small as settling down in a home in New Bark Town and telling new trainers to buzz off.
Note that retiring a character does NOT bar future players from also applying that character. If a player decides that Clark Kent is going to become an NPC EV News reporter, another player can then later apply as Clark Kent. Multiverse shenanigans are afoot, after all.
After your retirement submission has been accepted, your character will be removed from the taken page (if applicable) and a small blurb will be added to the location your character is associated with, with a link to information about that character's retirement.
Additionally, any characters dropped between August 2023 and November 2024 that meets the above requirements can be retroactively submitted for retirement.
Because there are countless ways that a player may decide that a character is ready to be retired, the mod team will be reviewing these submissions on a case-by-case basis. More information can be found on the form itself!
Player: Your name.
Character: The character you plan on retiring.
Time Spent In-Game: Characters can be eligible for retirement after they have spent at least one year in the game.
Retroactive Retirement?: If your character is being retroactively retired, please link us your drop comment OR an AC comment from when you were in the game.
How did your character change in Victory Road?: How did they grow or develop as a result of being in the Pokémon world? This doesn't have to be exhaustive--we just want to know about the highlights!
What did your character do to impact the setting?: What sort of accomplishments did they have? Do they have a legacy/reputation among trainers? These things don't need to be wildly ambitious or remarkable, but should at least matter to the character.
Why do YOU feel your character should be retired?: What it says on the tin! Just tell us why you feel retirement is right for this character.
NPC Info: What will your character be like as an NPC? How can future players expect to handwave interactions with them? Is there any business/organization info you need to provide for future players to understand what your character will be doing?
SUBMISSIONS
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Character: Jane Crocker
Time Spent In-Game: July 2016 to April 2024, so just under 8yrs!
Retroactive Retirement?: boop
How did your character change in Victory Road?: Jane came to terms with her fate in the canon of Homestuck, and found solace in establishing her own home and leading a seminormal life where she otherwise wouldn't have. She was able to learn to be more tolerant of others who were different and expand her mind to possibilities that otherwise would have seen ridiculous.
What did your character do to impact the setting?: Jane defeated the Elite Four and joined the Aurora League to establish the Fletcher Gym in Goldenrod City to be both an attraction (escape room) and a base of operations for investigations into Team Rocket shenanigans - not to try and stamp the group out, which would likely be impossible! But to reduce the harm they do in Johto and Kanto.
Why do YOU feel your character should be retired?: I played her here for so long and loved this game so much - even modded here for a bit - and if I could have the chance to leave a character I adore in a place better than her canon left her, I would like to take it.
NPC Info: As an NPC, Jane will be focused on running her gym and working on compiling cases to work on re: Team Rocket shenanigans, but she will be more likely to advertise to challengers the opportunity to take on some of these smaller cases themselves, to help get more eyes and ears out working to keep the regions safe. She'll also always have a baked goods stall at the Christmas Market. Also, she'll have space available at her house for anyone passing through Goldenrod who'd like to stay someplace a little more homey than a hotel or the Pokemon Center.
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Character: Angel the Siren
Time Spent In-Game: Off and on from 2016 to 2024. Her most recent stint was from August 2023 to June 2024
Retroactive Retirement?: Retroactive!
How did your character change in Victory Road?: Over the course of Victory Road, Angel regained her own strength and independence. She learned how to stand on her own, cultivated the strength to travel, and made friends with those around her. After spending her life in isolation, it was a dream come true for her. She even found the ability to tolerate her father's presence in her life!
What did your character do to impact the setting?: Angel wants to think that she helped make trainer lives better. By offering advice, kind words, or even just a friendly smile, she would hope that she made the day to day just that little bit more bearable. She also had off-and-on again plans to begin Pokemon rehabilitation, and also assisted in Armin's work with the Lapras pod! A
Why do YOU feel your character should be retired?: Honestly speaking, Angel deserves a quiet, happy life. The alternative is returning to a world where she's dead, and really lived a sorrowful existence. Here she's been able to develop into herself.
NPC Info: Angel's work in the setting will be two-fold. She will continue rehabilitating Pokemon that are injured, whether it be by natural occurrences, or if it's due to events in the region! She doesn't balk at the idea of creatures that are too wild or out of control — if she could rehabilitate an Alpha Braviary, she can do anything!
The second thing she'll be doing is continuing to provide supplies and advice in the wintry months, just outside of New Bark Town. Additional packs including extra warm clothes, thermoses of soup, and of course — plenty of baked sweets.
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Character: Sion Astal
Time Spent In-Game: 12+ years (yes, really)
Retroactive Retirement?: N/A
How did your character change in Victory Road?: Oh boy. It might honestly be easier to describe what HASN'T changed but let's see. He's become far, far more emotionally open to people, less inclined to be overly harsh on himself and generally has at least some sense of self-worth, has discovered that he really just likes taking care of people (and pokemon, naturally), actually sleeps on a regular basis, and is significantly less inclined to manipulate things (and people) for the sake of his sense of the "greater good". Basically he's had a ton of individual growth as a person and really learning how to be himself, as well as mellowing out on a lot of stuff because, unlike his world, pokemon land is actually pretty nice.
What did your character do to impact the setting?: He was the first to challenge and defeat the Elite 4, and the first to establish a gym. With his bff Ryner's help, of course, but the gym was definitely Sion's idea and initiative to push for. He also spent a good deal of time helping out newbies, even at one point writing up a guide for them, before his gym leader duties started taking up more of his time.
Why do YOU feel your character should be retired?: Look his canon is very much a crapsack world and he's worked hard the last decade+ to make a place for himself in Johto. He deserves a happy ending with no strings attached.
NPC Info: He'll continue to be one of the co-leaders and largely the face of the Collegiate Gym, handling all of those pesky public appearance and people things because he THRIVES on that. He'll continue in his mission of making the gym and its facilities a place of learning, and otherworlders will always be especially welcome, both to use the gym as a resource for a place to stay and to contribute to the section on other worlds in its expansive library.
Regarding gym battles specifically, because the Collegiate Gym uses a rather, ah, unique system, I'd be happy to explain either how the original system works if the mods actually want to run it OR give a more simplified writeup of what to expect to handwave challenges, just let me know!
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The Collegiate's gym challenge is rather unique, in that the challenger does not use their own Pokémon. Instead, they and the leader both are given a randomly-assigned team. The challenger will be made aware of the leader's team (but not vice versa) and given a chance to choose their final lineup based on that. This is because the goal of the challenge is to test the challenger's knowledge of battling, and ability to apply that knowledge regardless of circumstances.
To determine whether or not your character's challenge is successful, consider the following questions:
1. Is your character familiar with the different types of Pokémon and their strengths and weaknesses against each other?
2. Is your character familiar with at least the general kinds of moves and abilities Pokémon can have, and what sorts of advantages/disadvantages they could provide if used?
3. Can your character take the above knowledge and put it to use in the form of selecting and directing a team to take advantage of type, ability, and move combinations that have an advantage over the leader's team?
If your answer to all three of the above is Yes, then congratulations, your character's passed the test and won the badge! If one or more is No, then they probably need to spend a little more time studying and/or practicing before giving it another shot.
As an extra note for the curious, the reason why the gym recommended getting a region's full set of badges before doing the challenge was because that usually would be enough to acquire enough knowledge/experience to handle the challenge! Similarly, the actual criteria we used for judging badge approvals was simply looking to see whether the writeup demonstrated the challenger using some form of tactics that took advantage of what they team they got could do. And now you know!
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Character: Ryner Lute
Time Spent In-Game: 14 years and 1 month. (Here is a link to his original application on LJ for reference.)
Retroactive Retirement?: n/a
How did your character change in Victory Road?: Over the course of many years, Ryner has come to accept that rather than simply being a walking disaster and nothing else, he's capable of actually affecting the world positively, and that yes, he is actively wanted. This has led to him having a significantly more positive view of himself as a person, as well as actually trying to take on some level of responsibility, not just turn his eyes away from anything remotely bothersome. (Not that he's particularly good at this, but he is actually trying.)
What did your character do to impact the setting?: He was more or less dragged into it, but Ryner was the second person to challenge and defeat the Elite Four, and co-founded the Collegiate Gym alongside Sion. He's also technically a breeder, and his team has had several broods of eggs over the years. Many an NPC has received a Magikarp egg that didn't get sold to a PC from him, or a Clefairy with Present.
Why do YOU feel your character should be retired?: Ryner deserves a happy ending where he gets to stay in a peaceful world without constant war and terribleness. Also, Rose (and the rest of his Pokemon, but especially Rose) would be absolutely heartbroken if he ever went home and she was separated from him.
NPC Info: Ryner will continue to be one of the co-leaders of the Collegiate Gym, though he'll let Sion be the main public face, instead continuing to mostly do background paperwork, maintain the gym's library, and also teach some classes, both on Pokemon mechanics and on other topics he finds interesting. He'll also be spending a lot of time at his and Sion's shared home outside Ecruteak caring for their combined menageries - on afternoons when he's not at the gym and the weather is nice, you can often find him at the edge of the Magikarp pond in their yard, tossing them Cherubios.
now in the right placeno subject
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Character: Riku
Time Spent In-Game: Since the veeeery beginning of Route 29, so 2010 - 2024.
How did your character change in Victory Road?: Riku spent nearly half his life in the setting, going from a plucky and cocky fifteen year old to a more mellow adult, whose years of experience mellowed him out. He established his Training Center in Celadon City, and he tried carrying on the legacy of the Breeding Center (which I admittedly was unable to keep up with.)
He misses many people from back home, as well as those who have come and gone. If given the opportunity, he would return home to tie up loose ends, but he's also made a life for himself here, with a team of Pokemon that means the world to him. He went from seeing Pokemon as a means to assert his strength to genuine companions and friends.
He definitely became more open and considerate, and he even had a stable relationship with Sora for many years, before his drop.
What did your character do to impact the setting?: In addition to his Training Center, Riku was an active part of the Pokemon Guardian Corps, a group founded by Lightning to act as a line of defense against Team Rocket. After Lightning's departure, he took up the mantle for some time, though the burden of leadership proved quite a struggle.
There was a time when he maintained an in-game training guide for new arrivals, and he also partook in many battles with Team Rocket and other events, including giving Arceus a sandwich at one point. He also was one of the Trainers who faced off with Team Magma and Plasma many, many years ago, and a member of the Indigo League.
Why do YOU feel your character should be retired?: I played him here from the very beginning, and while I cringe a bit at how I handled him back in the game's earlier days and have been flaky for a long time now, Riku's longevity makes me feel as though a simple drop wouldn't cut it.
NPC Info: Riku will continue his work at the Training Center, providing a space for new and experienced trainers to hone their skills or just let their Pokemon have fun and let loose. He also in the past has provided some rental services for transportation, but this was back at an earlier time in the game, so I'm not sure how applicable it is now.
Many of his Pokemon are out and about at a given time, so info on his roster can be found here. His Weavile, Slash, often mans the front desk and is very talkative and eager to show off how he mastered the art of speech! ...Just don't be surprised if he goes on some tangent about how Pokemon can rise above their status quo if they apply themselves. He's like that.
I figure his business can double as his gym. I never entirely settled on a mechanic for it, but I would say his gym battles focus a lot on competitive strategies that encourage trainers to think outside the box (e.g. special Aegislash toxic+sub shenanigans, or Protean tomfoolery with his Greninja). His ace is his Charizard, Flare, who uses the CharizarditeX hold item.
As someone who has tussled with evil teams before, he'd also be open to sharing his information and resources from his PGC days and generally keeping an eye out for any shady activity. He won't be leading the charge this time, because it became too much, but if any anti-Rocket efforts arise, he'd be happy to help provide a safe space to plot, or to even offer eggs. The community is vastly outdated, and I'm not sure how applicable it'd be to have eggs made available by an NPC, but here is the old and crusty egg selection.
At the very least, I'm open to some of his rarer species being donated or sold, in case certain species are too hard to come by for players.
This is a Riku who's nearly thirty, though if NPCs can have canon updates, I wouldn't be opposed to him gradually having the same kinda canon update dreams that player characters have, just to let him experience more of the life he left behind.
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If you'd like him to have him canon update at the time of retirement, that would be fine! Otherwise, you can also have him stay at his current canon point. Let us know what you want to do!
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Also, since I saw it mentioned in another retirement comment, Riku would also be happy to offer support in times of crisis, especially with so many strong Pokemon on his side.
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Character: Minfilia Warde
Time Spent In-Game: Since 24/4/2022.
Retroactive Retirement?: n/a
How did your character change in Victory Road?: Minfilia Warde arrived in the world at a fragile time. But she learned to understand that she deserved to live. That she deserved to be somebody who could continue on, and defy fate. But that she didn't need to live up to her role as the leader of the Scions of the Seventh Dawn. And that she could be loved as Minfilia.
She also discovered she was a full-on lesbian-- I MEAN.
What did your character do to impact the setting?: Minfilia Warde became a Champion, for one. But she also took quite a bit of control during the time everybody was in Hisui, and her act of kindness to the Alpha Blissey was the final step to calm it and get them home. She found herself involved in activism afterwards, and Pokemon rights. She also helped stop the ARC-eus, with her battle strength, alongside aiding when the past Paradox Pokemon awoke and were disrupted.
Minfilia was also the first to fight the new Elite Four member, Bede, and show that even if he was from another country, he shouldn't underestimate those of other worlds.
But most of her impact was to other people. She now spends her time working with people from Celadon who have likely come to her for her knowledge, and has been continuing her research into why they are here, and why they vanish.
Why do YOU feel your character should be retired?: Minfilias' canon point is just before a major change for her - where she ascends to godhood, in a way. Most of her time once she learned that in this world was trying to find a way to avert this fate. This is simply a happier end for her, where she can live on her own, and still work on her desire to reach those of home somehow. (Which is a fun mirror of in canon, where one of her allies wishes to find a way to cross the rift between universes.)
NPC Info: Minfilia Warde took care of a Pokemon Sanctuary, which also was a home she saw as a place of research. She carried research into events such as the Fourth Wall weekends, alongside people who'd vanish and appear. She also helped train Pokemon - not for battle, but for working with people. She works for Pokemon Rights. Not in the Team Plasma way, but in the 'hey, my Audino can speak the common tongue and my male Meowstic is a homeowner.' Educating people, and growing as herself.
A note about her Pokemon Sanctuary/home is that she designed it after her home base in the world of Final Fantasy XIV, the Waking Sands. She copied the plans as best she could on that one time that people could go to home locations during Fourth Wall.
As an NPC, I see her as somebody brought in to give some knowledge. Not a proper Pokemon professor, but somebody who can educate people on some of the weird things of this world. And if somebody has a troublesome Pokemon, she'll help with therapy between them. She had considered opening a Gym, but instead will use her position to make a true sanctuary for Pokemon on the edge of Celadon, a bit north of Cycling Road. Using Orthworm holes made Back During That Event to make an underground habitat as well.
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reposting with mod account because the actual comment keeps disappearing???
Character: Armin Arlert
Time Spent In-Game: 8 years
Retroactive Retirement?: AC comment & drop comment
How did your character change in Victory Road?: Hoo boy.
Armin arrived at 16-ish, from quite early in his cannon setting. When I dropped him, he was 24, married, a gym leader, and running a breeding project.
Essentially, Armin did all his growing and maturing in Victory Road. From a teenager, who felt strongly that he had to return home if/when given the opportunity (he had a duty as a soldier, and he had knowledge to share) to an adult who would choose to remain in this world if he could and who had learned that perhaps the duties and responsibilities that he was given at barely sixteen were more than one should reasonably give a child (child soldier bad???)
While slightly apprehensive about Pokemon at first (Armin loves animals, but he admitted to not having that much experience with them), he quickly learned... well, everything that he could learn. And not just about pokemon either. While in VR, Armin learned everything about the natural world and about scientific concepts that he would only ever be able to dream of in his world (aided in this by people like Ford, who spent many hours explaining and answering Armin's question; and Shiro who told him so much about space). One of the most impactful influences was Newt Scamander, who really introduced Armin to not only the concept of magical animals (he still has the handwritten first editions of Newt's magical animal encyclopedia!) but also concepts like conservation and repopulation. Which would later become a big part of Armin's life when he inherited Newt's Laura's breeding project and decided to continue where he had left off.
It wasn't all learning and pokemon breeding though! Armin initially joined VR as a trainer, and did what trainers are meant to do -- he obtained all the badges and even defeated the Elite Four! And though it took him a bit to settle down, eventually Armin went on to start his own gym, themed fully around underwater battling; after all, water pokemon should really be admired while in their element!
And on a very personal note, Armin also learned about love. From a cute puppy crush on Newt Scamander to eventually a full relationship (and marriage!) with Angel, Armin was able to find and create a new family here in VR.
What did your character do to impact the setting?:
- As a new Aurora League member, Armin helped defeat Necrozma down in Cerulean Cave.
- Also as an Aurora League member, Armin created the Pelagic Gym on an uninhabited small island in the Sevii Islands, which is themed around underwater battling (and how that changes regular moves)
- Armin inherited Newt Scamander's Lapras Breeding Project, which became part of the Pelagic Gym. With 11 permanent pod members, Armin has been able to release at least 66 young Lapras into the wild.
- Armin befriended Suicune after Suicune stole his tea kettle. This didn't really have an impact on the setting, but Armin sure does rate it highly in his life.
- He helped set up a pen pal project with folks in the Sinnoh Region. He hopes that one day this contact will help allow them access to Sinnoh as well.
- Generally speaking, Armin was involved in every big plot cause, uh, he was my only character for a very long time and I love plots. He wasn't always centrally involved, but he was always there to help.
- He and Angel single-handedly are keeping the ice cream store on the Sevii Islands afloat with their frequent ice cream dates.
Why do YOU feel your character should be retired?:
Essentially... Armin has done everything possible to do. He became a gym leader. He got married. He has a well running breeding project. He grew and matured and is now in a very comfortable spot in his life where he simply is trying to help others as best as he can while living the best life that he can. He deserves a good life. Have you seen his canon?
NPC Info:
As an Aurora League member living in the Sevii islands (which doesn't have any official gyms), Armin would probably be a point member to handle any big disasters. He would be essentially fulfilling the same kind of role as the gym leaders in Kanto/Johto do during events i.e. background organisation and putting out the small fires while PCs handle the big stuff.
And when the world is not in peril, Armin would be splitting his time between the Lapras Breeding Project and the Pelagic Gym. His gym is very focused on teaching people about water pokemon and their majesty (there is a big aquarium that is open for visitors, and he'd always be open to questions. Meanwhile, he'd also be working on breeding ever more Lapras via the Breeding pod + temporarily housing any injured Lapras. Generally, he'll produce one or two big batches of young Lapras a year to release into the wild. Also, related to all of this, general natural conservation would be a big thing for him, so I could also see him organising beach clean ups and the like.
He also has a beautiful wife. Have you met his beautiful wife. Honestly, if Angel and Armin ever had kids, please imagine him going full Maes Hughes on that shit. (but not dying)
Re: reposting with mod account because the actual comment keeps disappearing???
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Character: Takashi "Shiro" Shirogane
Time Spent In-Game: Since 2016
Retroactive Retirement?: N/A
How did your character change in Victory Road?: He... has been through the wringer. He's lost more friends, more loved ones, than he knows what to do with. He conquered the E4, pitched in against every weird and threatening thing that's happened since he arrived. At one point, he even got married. He's raised a team of powerful, caring pokemon with so much personality, helped some endangered ones, the list goes on. He's been through so much it's hard to really elaborate effectively. Very slowly, he started to improve in starts and stops, in terms of his trauma, his past, and opening up more to his friends, instead of just feeling like the whole world was on his shoulders.
What did your character do to impact the setting?: He established himself as a researcher at the observatory, especially for the younger visitors, taking school students on tours. He's an E4 Champion, who also owns a house on the same island as the observatory - which has a lot of rooms for the occasional wayward trainer to crash in. He's also helped out a great deal with the Lapras Project that Armin started, checking in on them as much as he could.
Why do YOU feel your character should be retired?: He's been here for so long, he's come to the end of the arc, really. And being in VR with his pokemon, researching space, is a better ending for him than canon gave.
NPC Info: Shiro will remain at the Observatory on Four Island in the Sevi Islands. He will continue his work as a researcher, and offering spare rooms of his house on the same island to trainers who need somewhere that isn't a pokemon center. He is always ready to train with new arrivals, and his Aggron is a constant figure watching over the beach in front of the house. Just in case.
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