Outbreak

[these_balls]

Hello, Route! Pretty sure you all remember the legendary beasts that visited last time something went down? Well, Team Rocket’s been pretty busy with what they took from those beasts before letting them go. And the result of whatever they did? Well … They figured out a way to get powers. Yep, we’re doing a power plot!

(Don’t get too excited though, because you’re not getting your own. At least, not yet. We wanted to make this somewhat more organic than 4th wall.)

This event will start on July 9 and last for roughly three weeks until the end of the month.



WEEK ONE

Prior and during the first part of the plot, the Rockets have been preparing and planning; they’ve already been informed of what’s going on over at their own comm and have a better idea of what’s going down (since they’re the ones behind it). What’s relevant to the rest of you is this:

- On July 9 people will start showing up in various places in Johto and Kanto. They’ll be normal (are, in fact, locals), except they all suffer from several mysterious symptoms: nausea and headaches are commonplace, but more troubling are the more individual effects. There are things such as discolored skin, small horn-like growths, intense fevers, rapid heartbeats, fear of water …
- Naturally this gets a lot of news coverage and will be on TV and in newspapers, and all in all pretty hard to ignore, especially as no one actually knows what is happening. Whatever this new epidemic is, the Joys can’t identify it and don’t know how it spreads, and the public is advised to take caution with what they eat, drink and who they interact with.
- Meanwhile, the Rockets are powered up and ordered to test their new powers out, because of course they’ll have them. Things such as theft and gym attacks are encouraged, but creativity here will be rewarded. Essentially, things will be pretty paranoid and chaotic.
- That is, until July 13 when the Pokémon Centers in Goldenrod, Saffron and Ecruteak are … demolished. Utterly. The authorities aren’t sure who did it, much less how or why, but repairs are estimated to take until at least September, so you’ll have to go elsewhere to heal your Pokémon for the moment. (Similarly, if you get KO'd in battle, you'll also be teleported to another center!)
- But anyone who was in the area will begin to notice similar symptoms to what’s been all over the news … and after a day or two, so might other people as well, as whatever it is that’s causing all this spreads from what appear to be the blast zones, carried on the wind. This effect will last for three days and if you’re not infected by then, congratulations! You won’t be.

WEEK TWO

- Anyone who was affected will start manifesting powers three days after their first exposure; anytime between July 16 and July 19. It seems like there’s a pattern to things – the areas close to Ecruteak result in fire powers, Saffron has ice or water powers and Goldenrod results in electric powers. Symptoms and strengths of those as well as the level of power vary from person to person – more on how that will be determined further on.
- Chaos ensues as people are suddenly having type-based powers left and right. Wild pokémon will attack anyone with powers, as they will recognize them as unknown intruders rather than humans. Comprehension between powered persons and pokémon of their type will be heightened, but not effortless.
Enjoy your chaos and epic showdowns while they last! All good things must come to an end, after all.

WEEK THREE

- A week after the powers manifested themselves in people, they will fade away – pushed away from bodies who were in no way ready for them. So between July 23 and July 26 the powers will disappear, leaving people feeling possibly even worse than that first time around as honestly, human beings managing pokémon attacks is quite a feat. Some might even collapse and/or fall ill for a while.
- Now, since three major Centers are down, service will take longer and the Centers will be more crowded, meaning it will take a while to get proper help as everyone are overwhelmed and aren’t quite sure how to handle what just happened. Symptoms are for the most part, however, not too hard to treat – the mutations that arose, though, are a different matter entirely.
- Anyone who found themselves with a power will have something to show for it, and that something won’t go away for three to four months. A fire type person might now have a higher body temperature than normal or be averse to water, or perhaps have some kind of red “birthmarks” to show for it, or might get mysteriously glared at by foreign pokémon while hiking. Have fun and be creative! For better or worse, though, something is here to stay, and especially those who had greater power and thus greater mutations might find it harder to deal with these consequences.
- By July 29 things will be more or less cleaned up and back to normal otherwise – Team Rocket will have carefully retreated to rethink their strategy and cover things up, and people who had a hard time with their powers leaving them should be okay (save for the mutations). You’ll all have a bunch of stuff to remember this by, though! Remember, the three pokémon centers will be out until September!


Now, if despite all this you want a power, sign up below! (Yes, Rockets too.) Just comment with your character(s) and what kind of power they’d like – Fire, Ice, Water, or Electric. (Rockets can pick between Dark, Psychic and Normal as well, because they’re the ones with direct access to the technology.) Location doesn't matter with regards to getting a power!

What we’ll do in return is RNG a number from one to five and get back to you with it – that’s the level of power your character winds up with. With the fire type, for instance, five would be the power equivalent of Fire Blast, with the mutations to match: violent red splotches on the skin, hair growth, voice change, powerful hydrophobia. Level 1 would be a measly Ember, able to light a candle flame and not much more, but the secondary effects would be much less: little orange spots, perhaps some body temp discrepancies.

Feel free to be creative with the powers in question as well as the side effects and mutations that might arise! Be reasonable though – no additional limbs and no full-on pokémorphs here, but don’t be afraid to look at Suicune, Entei and Raikou for inspiration; the powers come from them, as all of these elements are from moves they learn naturally.

Use common sense. If your character is a frequent traveler, it might not be best to saddle them with crippling fevers for twelve to sixteen weeks. That said, because some of the sick people are locals, people showing skin mutations will still be allowed to hold down jobs.

Rockets can sign up for new missions for this plot, and if you have any questions, feel free to ask below!

Comments

QUESTIONS

[these_balls]

[ex_cashcow493]

Is this limited (one character per player) or can we sign up more than one character?

TWO THINGS

[laplaceattorney]

1. Because of the 'radiation' blah blah, I'm assuming that Rockets who didn't necessarily volunteer can be affected by this. Which sign-up should those go under, and would they get the same symptoms as civilians?

2. For those Rockets who DID volunteer, are their sickness symptoms still pretty much nonexistent until week three?

[3_butterflies]

So only people who were/are in Saffron, Ecruteak, and Goldenrod can get the powers, since they were in the blast zone?

Re: QUESTIONS

[combat_butler]

Since the Centers are getting crazily demolished for a full month or two because of this, will there be anything like a price cut on potions or revives or the like to help out trainers who don't want to / can't travel 3~7 days to a town over just to heal their Pokemon? That or can trainers volunteer to help with Center reconstruction to make easy cash for said potions / revives?

Also, are they locational locked, or can you be in Kanto and somehow get fire powers?

And one more for the road; If we want to take part but our character might be a regular traveler, can we request a lower end power so we don't get a crazy side effect? Like 1~3 on the rng instead of the whole 1~5?

Re: QUESTIONS

[tearsofademon]

So this is probably a really weird question, and I'm not sure if it would even come up, but...

If a Ditto was to transform into a person given powers by this effect, would said Ditto also be affected while it was transformed?

[enjoymyatelier]

If we were to apply for a character that would theoretically be accepted the first week of July, would it be possible to sign them up after the acceptance or would it be too late to get them involved?

[usedscratch]

Would a character's own Pokémon attack them or another character? For example, Danny is not getting powers, but would be running all over to help out his friends who do. Because his Pokémon are constantly out and about, would they attack his friends?

[shakespearealien]

With the Pokémon Center down, where will the Rockets at Goldenrod HQ go to heal their Pokémon? Are there Pokémon-healing machines for Rockets only? Or strange beds for instant magical healing naps?

[bamfsecretary]

REGARDING WATER TYPE POWERS...

Would characters who have no ability to swim suddenly gain the ability to do so? Would gills/breathing water be a possibility? What about water-type attacks, like Water Gun - WHERE DOES THE WATER COME FROM?!

I'll slink away again now....

[risingwinds]

When you say increased comprehension for Pokémon of their type, what do you mean? :o

Also, if someone got hit by fire and thus gain a phobia of water, how would that affect drinking and such?

Re: QUESTIONS

[lightningbearer]

Question about the lingering effects! For the physical effects that linger after the powers are gone, is basically anything that the characters received during the event fair game? Like if someone who had water powers found themselves acquiring webbing between their fingers/toes, or if someone ended up sporting a few horns or such, the character COULD end up stuck with them for the next couple of months? Obviously it would be somewhat up to the player OOCly, I'm just wondering how much is fair game.

[usedfeatherdance]

Do trainers living in the cities get one free heal a day when they sleep (assuming they're sleeping in a bed)? It just occurred to me that this is A Thing in the games and I was wondering if it still held, since it would be particularly relevant during this event.

Re: QUESTIONS

[hetairoooyjenkins]

If our characters are new to the game and realistically wouldn't be near the cities, can they still get powers somehow?

[lightningbearer]

Another question! Will characters with powers be capable of eating berries meant for pokemon and benefiting from their effects? At least for the period while they actually have powers, I'd assume not after that part's over.

Re: QUESTIONS

[saxsongs]

Sorry if this was ask since I'm not sure even if I checked, but; can the people with Psychic powers read minds of others in any way? I'd think they can communicate better with their Pokémon (at at least the Psychic ones) but wanted to ask that to see if Ren can react "What a Woman Wants".

Re: QUESTIONS

[cobraaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa]

Couple questions on Gym attacks.

Do we have to sign up for them?
How heavily would type advantages affect an altered character? For example, Cobra here's a Dark-Type, but on the weaker side of things. Would he have an easier time attacking Sabrina's Gym than Chuck's due to Dark being weak against Fighting and strong against Psychic?

[stilldontgotit]

Just to double-check, what's the exact day that the mutations start affecting player characters? I'm guessing it's around the 13th, but I just wanted to make sure.

Re: QUESTIONS

[used_trick]

Would staging a (mostly failed) attack on a Pokemon Center prior to the big explosion be kosher, or are Rockets being discouraged from those particular targets by something other than common sense?

[combat_butler]

Hi hi one quick hopefully last question for the road regarding side effects!

Say I give Hayate here an aesthetic one like... say... a crazy mane of purple hair like suicunes, growing out from his usual like a big extension.

Would it constantly and rapidly grow back if he tried to cut it? Like, if he cut it every morning, would it have grown back in full by that time the next day? At least until his DNA stabilized or whatever?

I'd have asked if something extra embarrassing like a tail or pokeears would be feasible since horns are a possibility, but he's only level 2 haha

(frozen comment) POWER SIGN UPS

[these_balls]

<i>Characters name here</i> | <user name="yourjournalhere"> Power wanted: Fire, Water, Ice, Electric?

(frozen comment)

[ex_cashcow493]

Saber | cashcow
Power wanted: WIND??? Fire.

(frozen comment) ROCKET POWER SIGN UPS

[these_balls]

<i>Characters name here</i> | <user name="yourjournalhere"> Power wanted: Fire, Water, Ice, Electric, Dark, Psychic, normal?

(frozen comment)

[vengefulyears]

Clive Dove | vengefulyears
Power wanted: Dark

Xanxus | booze
Power wanted: Fire

[killer_sweets]

Killua Zoldyck | killer_sweets
Power wanted: Electric

Billy Hatcher | rooster_shouts
Power wanted: Fire

[these_balls]

Killua's power level: 4!

Billy's power level: 3!

[strawberryredgrave]

Dante | strawberryredgrave
Power wanted: Fire

[these_balls]

Power level: 4!

[howamanlives]

Daimon Masaru | howamanlives
Power wanted: Fire

[these_balls]

Power level: 1!