Welcome to Gaia! ::

It's finally time, everyone! The Alola Region is here!

However, there is a lot of information. With the Alola region, new regulations are being implemented, systems are being set up, adjustments are being made.... a lot of changes are being put in. This includes systems made completely from scratch, which means some are in Beta testing. As many of you know, the guild is a constant work in progress, and we always work to try and improve it, but we want to emphasize that the Alola region in particular is new, and may have some kinks to work out, especially with the Trial System.

We have outlined the changes, rules, updates, and new systems below. Please be sure to read everything thoroughly. We will have a lot of work tweaking, monitoring, and checking everything, as well as our usual work, not to mention, we hope to enjoy the fruits of our labor as well. Please be patient, and please keep this all in mind when testing things out, and going about exploring the guild. This has always been true, but even more so now with the addition of a new region.

This and page may be updated and adjusted as things come up and are addressed anything that is added will be highlighted in red

Travel

We know what you're all thinking, how can I get my character to Alola? Where do I have to make them go?? Well there's good news for you. Any of the five islands in the Alola region are accessible from any port from any other region. Just in case you aren't aware, Ports are located in Vermillion City, Olivine City, Slateport City, Lilycove City, Canalave City, Castelia City, and Coumarine City. There will also be 'trains' from all the starter towns (Pallet, New Bark, Littleroot, Twinleaf, Nuevma, and Vaniville) that connect to Melemele Island: Route 1, and of course, if your character can Fly, you can travel to anywhere in the Alola region! There are lots of ways to get characters exploring the new region!

"What's this mods? Route 1 you say?" Yes! Alola will be the first region of the guild that actually incorporates the use of Routes as actual locations! Without them, Alola simply would have been too small, not to mention confusing direction and pokemon wise. The routes in Alola are what make up most of the region's depth and character, but with them, Alola will also be one of the guild's largest regions.

That's right, the entire Alola region takes up a whopping two pages of it's subforum, so make sure that you keep an eye out. If an area doesn't seem to be there, it probably is, just check the second page.

Alola Forms

As most of you know, Alola forms were released recently and can be claimed from giveaways. To reiterate a few points:

- You must claim the form that fits the perimeters of a giveaway. For instance, you cannot claim a Alola Vulpix from a Fire Pokemon giveaway, and you cannot claim a Kanto Grimer from a Dark Pokemon giveaway.

- If the giveaway is less specific, and you can claim either form, you must specify the form you are claiming.

- Kanto Pokemon that can evolve into an Alola form can only evolve into that form while in Alola, unless a Form Change Tablet is used. For instance a cubone will evolve into a Kanto marrowak if evolved in Kanto, or an Alolan marrowak if evolved in Alola.

- Pokemon that can evolve into either an Alola form or Kanto form variant, cannot be de-evolved to evolve into the other form. Once a pokemon has evolved into one form, that is the only form it can evolve into, even if an everstone is used.

Regarding Alola-form pokemon and achievements.
x As far as Pokedex achievements go, Alola and Kanto forms are somewhat synonymous. For instance, if you are attempting to complete the Kanto Pokedex, you can use either Alola, or Kanto, Vulpix to fill that slot (though it helps to clarify which you are using).

However, when it comes to Type Achievements, such as obtaining a certain number of pokemon with a certain typing, they count separately. For instance, if your character has both an Alola grimer, and a Kanto grimer, both will count towards the Poison Ivy achievement, and the Alola grimer will also count towards the Batman achievement.

Achievements

On that matter, Achievements have been updated. Several have been made more vague so that you can use the newly-added Alola pokemon towards existing achievements without larger requirements (for instance, you can now collect all three starters from any six regions to get the A Ton of Trios achievement). Other achievements have been added that are more specific to the Alola region and what it has to offer (see the spoiler). If you have any questions, feel free to ask!

New Achievements


Gyms in Alola

While gyms are essentially the same in Alola as they are in other regions, they do differ from the games. Because Alola is vastly different, but we didn't want to cause any unfairness or major unbalances in the guild, we adjusted many of the Trial Captains, and one Kahuna, to be the gym leaders. We tried to make the adjustments to keep things as balanced and reasonable as we could, while still keeping to the games where we could.

Trials

Trials! This aspect was initially foregone for the above mentioned gyms, however, after some consideration and discussion, we were able to think of a way to implement them. Now, this ties in some with the next topic, Ultra Beasts, but here are a few notes on Trials themselves:

- They are in extreme Beta, meaning that after even one person does them, they may be adjusted, and so and so forth, after each test, until they reach a balance. This is not guaranteed, they may take longer to change, they may not change at all. We just want everyone to be aware, the challenge your character faces may not be the same as the challenge others face, and that you're aware and okay with that should you try and take them on.

- All trials are based on the core concept from the games, that you face a totem pokemon, and that it can call allies. However, the way this works, and the level of difficulty, has been adjusted some to try and give them a new twist, and make them a little more challenging.

Trials are a way to get experience and provide rp content for your characters, however, they also yield, and introduce, another new feature: Dimension Shards.

Ultra Beasts, Type: Null, Silvally, and Aether Paradise

Ultra Beasts are obtainable only by collecting Dimension Shards. These are not to be mixed up with our other two items-- Star Shards, or Crystal Shards. Dimension Shards can be collected through a variety of ways, including completing trials, or accomplishing other tasks. Four can be combined in specific areas, on specific days, to 'summon' Ultra Beasts-- which can then be battled, and caught. Most of these locations either directly reflect, or relate, to their locations in game, so they shouldn't be hard to find.

Type: Null can be claimed in giveaways; Silvally, it's evolution, however, cannot. Additionally, Type: Null cannot be found in the wild, however, they can be found on Aether Paradise on Fridays. The only way to get a Silvally is to level up a Type: Null with max FP.

On that note, Aether Foundation is just a conservation group. For our current timeline and situation in the guild, Aether Foundation's primary goal is the conservation of pokemon. The events relating to the main plot of the games have not, and are not, taking place. For more information, see the Canon Villain Team Thread.

SOS System/Adrenaline Orbs

Another system introduced in Alola is the SOS System, which we have worked to adapt to the guild as well. It may not be perfect, but as it is, currently, when you encounter certain pokemon in the wild, you can expend one extra encounter post to have it summon an ally. In some cases, you must roll for the pokemon called, and it's level; in others, the pokemon can only summon one kind of ally. You may only do this three times per battle, buy only two opponents may be on the field at a time.

Adrenaline Orbs increase this to five times per battle.

Zygarde

Finally, although this does not effect everyone, several adjustments have been made for Zygarde.

- A 'Zygarde Cube' has been introduced, and can be obtained by posting for it as a Post Anywhere item. It's post count is 20

- This Cube can then be used to collect 'Cores', which can be posted for in specific locations for 10 posts each. These cores can be used to teach Zygarde specific moves; additionally, upon obtaining all five cores, Zygarde's ability can be changed to Power Construct.

- Zygarde can change between it's 10% and 50% freely, except in battle. Otherwise, however, it is free to change for RP purposes.

Cosmog, Lunala, and Solgaleo

Similarly, though this is not a widespread effect, we wanted to mention that Cosmog is considered a legendary, but is available at a reduced price in the Shard Shop. You can purchase it for 65 Star Shards, since it must be trained to evolve. Alternatively, you can still purchase Lunala or Solgaleo, in their full form, for 100 Star Shards. If you wish, for plot purposes, you may also purchase a summoning item for Lunala or Solgaleo, but claim it as a cosmog to train and evolve-- however, it must evolve into the legendary belonging to the summoning item you choose.

Z Crystals and Z Moves

With the Alola region, a new element to battle has come into play, Z Moves! There are a lot of Z Crystals, one for each of the 18 types, and many that are made for specific pokemon and move combinations. Z Crystals will be obtainable through a variety of means, rewards from gym leaders and kahunas, postable as area specific items, or even achievements.

Z Crystals are a hold item for a pokemon, allowing it to power up specific moves once per battle. Z Moves can either change a specific attack into a special Z Move attack or when a status move is upgraded into a Z-Move, it may also gain a Z-Power effect in addition to its regular effect. All of the Z Crystals are listed below, along with how to obtain them, and their effects

Gym Leader Z-Crystals:


Starter Z-Crystals:


Kahuna Challenge Specific Z-Crystals:


Event Item Z-Crystals:


Location Specific Z-Crystals:


New Items

Alola has brought a variety of new items to the guild, listed in spoilers below, however the most notable change with these items is that Eevee will now evolve into Glaceon with the use of an ice stone instead of holding an Icy Rock.



TM and HMs

The guild will be keeping the TM and HM system as it is, however we will also be removing the TM and HM numbers. From now on, TMs and HMs will be classified strictly by the move they teach, rather than number. This will make transition periods like this easier in the future, allowing us to keep past TMs and add future ones without rearranging numbers that have no purpose in the guild.

Aether and Team Skull

This is outlined in the Canon Villain Team Information thread, but the most important thing to note is that the Aether Foundation will be a conservation group in the guild. Lusamine is not going to be looking to unleash UBs into the world. Aether will be helping assist Professor Burnet in the study of UBs, but only in the interest of keeping the pokemon world safe from these dangerous creatures.

Recent Changes

We know we've made a lot of little recent changes, and we realize some of them have been scattered, so we wanted to take this chance to post some reminders, and give a recap for those who might have missed one or two.

The following Attacks have been updated:



The following Abilities have been updated



Items that effect Friend Points have been changed

Friend Ball: Now only gives 2 FP when used to capture a pokemon

FP increasing consumable items such as pomeg berries and sweethearts can now only be used once a week, per pokemon, to increase FP.

Additionally, berries that restored 12% HP when used with a 1/5 chance of confusion, such as the figy berry, now restore 25% HP instead.

Several pokemon's abilities have been updated



Judgement and Electro Ball have been updated. Judgement will now gain a x1.3 boost from plates when used by Arceus, and Electro Ball now uses both level and stat boosted speed when calculating it's damage.

Gyms now have a level cap. See this small announcement, or the Rules and Guidelines page for details.