Welcome to Gaia! ::

Greetings fellow Aquas! Permit me to introduce myself: I am Thard, self-proclaimed mission expert. In my time, I've seen some truly remarkable missions, as well as a few very forgetable ones.

For those of you who write the forgetable ones, I offer you some pointers. After the first post, I'd also like to throw the thread open for questions. If a particularly good question comes up I'll add it to the list of pointers!

Topics in this list:
1. Adding story to a simple mission
2. Punching up your story
3. Combat techniques
4. Managing your team

Enjoy!

1. Adding story to a simple mission

Several of our missions, especially the level one missions, have very simple objectives. Go catch a pokemon. But if all you do is fly to the nearest town, wander in the grass, and make the catch, you end up with a short and boring mission!

There are innumerable ways to add more depth to the story. I read one mission where the object was to catch a water-type pokemon. The author turned that into a huge day at the beach. She set up her blanket, let her pokemon play in the sand, even flirted with another beachgoer.

Here's two more examples:
1. You're just relaxing in a cafe when you overhear two other trainers talking about a large breakout of a particular pokemon. Since you want to have one in your collection, you decide to head over and check it out.
2. You're out on a walk with no major plans, when a pokemon steals something important from you (like maybe your hat, or your TADS). Now you've got to get it back, which may include catching the pokemon.

Even though the mission objectives don't require much story, take the time and practice on the simple missions. That way, when you reach a story-heavy mission, you'll be that much better at it!

2. Punching up your story

Now that you're telling longer stories, maybe it's time to spice them up with vivid vocabulary. Ooh, that's a nice word already, isn't it? "Vivid!"

Which sentence sounds better to you:
"Jim walked through the grass."
"Jane skipped merrily across the gently swaying grass."

By adding a few key words you can really add extra zing to your story. More importantly, the words you choose greatly affect the mood for your audience. "I went down the hall." Boring, right? How did you go down the hall, and why? Perhaps one of these would fit:
"I slammed the door behind me and stormed away down the hall."
"I crept cautiously down the hall, not knowing what dangers lurked ahead."
"I raced down the hall to confront the man who kidnapped my fiance."

It's up to you to make your words jump off the page and touch the reader! Enthrall us with your silver e-tongue!

3. Combat techniques

What's this? Your words have failed and now the ignorant Grunt wants to fight? The story may be the soul of a mission, but battles are usually the heart. As always there's more than one way to get the job done.

First of all, familiarize yourself with the game, not the TV show. Some things Ash and Friends manage to do in battle shouldn't be possible.

Second, use some common sense. Chikorita could easily defeat Squirtle, and may prove an even match against Wartortle. Unfortunately, Blastoise is just too powerful. You can still, however, wear down Blastoise with Raichu and then send in Chikorita for the finishing blow.

Now then, you probably know several different ways to conduct a battle. I'll go through two common ones here.

1. Game style
Poochyena used Bite
Starly - 80%

Starly used Endeavor
Poochyena - 80%

This style, though acceptable, gets boring quickly. And if you start to abbreviate everything, it gets boring even faster. It also demands the strictest adherence to the game rules. Slip up and you'll probably fail.

2. Narrative style
Poochyena used Bite and sunk its teeth into Starly's wing. Unfazed, Starly struck back with Endeavor and hurt its foe.

This style gives you much more room to play. It also fits in nicely with my previous topic, "Punching up your story." The line would work even without naming Poochyena's attack. "Poochyena sunk its teeth...."

You can sometimes even bend the rules with this style. Just don't do it too much, and DEFINITELY don't do it to escape a hopeless situation. Observe:

Glalie attacked with a wicked Powder Snow, but Pidgeot whipped up a Gust and blew most of Glalie's attack away.

If you're using Glalie, you just made the battle harder. Be sure Pidgeot takes at least some damage. We're bending rules, not breaking them. However, if you're using Pidgeot, that tactic verges on godmodding and may result in a failing grade.

4. Managing your team

Remember, Pokemon Trainers can only keep six pokemon with them at a time. If you try to do a mission using seven or more, you will fail.

What I try and do is to write out my team (or type it into the mission before the battle and delete it before submitting the report). This way, you have a record of which pokemon you're using, and don't accidentally include extras!

It's also important to keep your team healthy. If you are in a tournament-style battle, you'll probably have a battle attendant on hand to restore your pokemon between matches. (Hooray!) Otherwise, you'll have to improvise.

If there's a break in the action, you can seek out a Pokemon Center for a quick heal. Don't be afraid to use Potions either. The fewer pokemon you let faint, the more options you'll have in battle.

Finally, if you simply MUST use more than six pokemon, make a point to visit a PC. (either at a Pokemon Center, Contest Hall, or similar public facility) Then you can deposit pokemon you don't need any more and withdraw a new squad. Remember though, tournament matches won't allow you to change teams.

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I hope you found that information useful! Now I ask you, please do not quote my entire post. If you must quote something, trim it down to just the part you want to comment on.

hi smile
i went through the mission list and i noticed there's not one that says you can catch and non legendary flying pokemon...and its not just flying there are other types as well...i just thought i should bring that up cause sometimes TRP's aren't a possible option

Well my question is why aren't there any missions for those types?

It's ok (:
Buy yes that's true...I know I faced that problem for a while hehe. I just thought I'd bring this to everyone's attention.

You'll find the answers to the first two questions in the rules.
RP Rules
Pokemon Rules

I'm not entirely sure what you're asking in the third question. Do you mean, if a Pokemon breaks out when you're trying to catch it? In that case, yes, the ball is lost. Most people will RP themselves a successful catch on the first try.

Sorry, I forgot to add in that catching a pokemon will gain an evolution point?

I'm planning to do another solo mission, but I need something to be done. First of all, Can the aqua bike DX get damaged. If so, would any Cycle store work?

What region would "La Glace" be in? (for the Chef mission)

Alright I'll ask Ginji about the class system.

How about Rydel? Surely, he can fix it considering he ships the Aquabikes to Team Aqua.