Commander

Heheh...Funny you mention that one...totally wasn't going to put him on Ametrine Peak Breeding and Egg moves don't make too much of a difference so it's up to you what to do. Another suggestion is to limit your item usage to only a few hyper/ultra potions and no revives. Custom battles should have two Full Restores though to make it a bit fair. As for team choices, different people have different tastes. A lot of the battles I test, my Pokemon have little to no EVs (60-80 at the most) and 15-20 IVs.

For a level cap of 20 those are some really, really high levels for a first gym leader. Hardcore Julia's levels aren't even that high (outside of a Lv 20 Electrode) and that's supposed to be a very difficult fight. But yeah, I'll try this one out after some more progress has been made.

Heyo everyone! Been a while since I made a post. Anyways, I got an interesting announcement to make. I'll start by showing you this video: And no, that fight isn't in the unofficial release. But anyways, I decided to post videos of me fighting the leaders so that anyone who struggles can get a few ideas. It also gives you a taste of hardcore to see whether or no it's for you. When fighting these leaders, I new what they were going to do ahead of time so I'd like to give you all the same advantage. Even if you're not interested, you could always watch to see how a pro does it. I posted a few of the leaders already.

Welcome to the forums...even though you've been here the whole time . If you don't know me already, I'm going to be the guy you'll be venting your frustration at while playing the game (especially that pulse abra). Good luck on your quest and pray for hax.

That's easier said then done to make. The AI has a strong hatred for Whimsicott for some reason (likely due to its Sp Atk stat). There'd have to be some modifications in the AI for it to work. I would know. I had to axe Whimy (with something even more annoying) due to its poor performance and Klefki only works half the time. But yeah, I imagine creating teams for people is a lot of fun. I actually designed one for me based on the glitch field since many of the Pokemon I use competitively are better suited for that (most of them I put in are ones from my UU teams). Just remember those EV spreads.

Her Colosseum/XD mixes are fantastic. It's too bad barely anybody touches those soundtracks way ahead of their time Pokemon wise. But there is something I'd like to add from the plot aspect as well. Don't try to over complicate the plot. I mean having a more complex and convoluted plot can be more intriguing, but it can also lead to disaster leaving players lost on what's going on. When in doubt, always simplify it. I know you said nobody likes a simple cookie cutter plot, but even that can be enjoyable if it is well done and very well written. I know I'm going to get a lot of hate of flames for this, but Pokemon isn't the best genre for spectacular plots so going overboard will likely only hurt more than help. I'm not saying it's impossible though. But yeah, I think I'll emphasize on the important stuff a bit more when it comes to the overall story section of making a game (since that is my strongsuit): Setting: One very bad assumption here is that new region = better setting. While a new region may give the creator a thought that this is completely fresh and new, it's not. When creating a new region, it takes a lot of thought from the climate to the how the land form the people around them. Let's say you have this region called Ymora where breeding is so big that even wild Pokemon have Egg moves. This attracted a lot of strong trainers who are very competetive meaning battles take place there more compared to other regions (and People are snobbier as well). The vast climates also allow it to be a miniature bio-dome much like Hoenn. After you get a big picture, that's when you start breaking stuff down into different sections (as well as work on plot). Characters: Often this and Plot go hand and hand with one pushing the other forward. Strong characters is a definite must for just about anything. Another bad assumption is that only the characters with unique sprites and are important to the plot matter. This is very, very untrue. Remember all those random guys standing around who all share one sprite? Yep, they matter too. I mean you don't have to do anything too special to them, but don't be afraid to spice it up and make them a little bit more than info givers and methods of experience. Reborn does a pretty good job which is better than trying to give examples. Plot: I said it before and I'll say it again. Keep it simple. I mean it's almost a staple to have a crime syndicate, but there's so much you can do outside of "ermagawd evil team wants to use [insert legendary here] to create new/better world." Team Rocket and Team Cipher are some of the better main game villain groups and neither of them used legendaries when they first appeared. I'm not saying you can't use legendaries in the plot, but don't make it the main plot. It's a cliche for every Pokemon game ever created outside of a small few. I guess there's one other thing I'd like to cover and it's just the battles/bosses. The difficulty is going to vary depending on what you're doing. Games like Reborn and Rejuvenation are going to be difficult because it fits them, but games like se7en are going to be a bit easier due to a focus of a fresh experience. There is such a thing as too easy (glares at gen VI) and being too hard. The mod I helped with called Reborn Hardcore is an example of when a game dances on the too hard line (it's challenging but right before the point of being unfair). Sticking generally close to the middle ground is where you're going to attract the most people, but if you're going to make it challenging, reward people for skill and strategy but don't force them to use insanely strong mons or cheap strategies.

I got a couple things to say. First off, this looks pretty interesting. Secondly, I got a few things to say about the poll. For Eevee, I'm not sure what you're planning for it. If it's going to be a tanky Pokemon, I'd suggest going with a more lizard like design due to the way Eeveelutions normally look. As for the Castform, I'd say a Twister for Sandstorm Castform and a Strong Gust of Wind for Windy Castform.

It's possible up to a certain point. The reason it stops at a certain point because of the Lv 100 cap. Enemies are going to get strong enough to a point no two single Pokemon can withstand them (unless it's the combined force of a perfect coverage Blaziken and Gyarados). Let's take your Rhyperior and Gengar set for example. You'll cream Julia, struggle to get by Florinia, Slaughter Corey and Shelly, but Shade might be impossible for you. Gengar is too frail to take a hit, but it might be able to one shot all of Shade's team if it has the stats in all the right places. But yeah, you might be able to get far, but the planning and all the work required doesn't make it worth the hassle.

Stupid internet for not working. Yes. Yes it technically goes up to Ciel, but I've been working on some edits for Julia and Ciel (which would've been up by now). There's going to be an update link which'll include everything in the above plus a modified Julia and Ciel. The Julia fight scrapped Flaffy with an "old" Pokemon of hers along with using the field effect more. The Ciel fight in the current release is a joke which is why I reworked it to give a better challenge. Luna and Ciel are on my to rework list (Shelly is kind of a lost cause as her team is fantastic, but AI screws her over hard) but I'm taking a little break from that. But once I get it uploaded, I'll post a link in this post (along with a status update). Alright here's the official 1.5 that includes revamps for Luna, Ciel, and Julia: link

Features are good and all, but it's better to look at the bulk of what kind of game your designing. EV and IV counts are very helpful, but it's kind of pointless if the game is on the easy side or not to be a challenge. On the other hand, it should almost be a stable for the more challenging games such as Reborn, Rejuvenation, and Insurgence. As for Tilesets, it depends on what you're comfortable with. RSE is much easier to work with than BW (from what I can tell) so I suggest sticking to that if you're using RPG maker. And for Fakemon, I really don't suggest it. Yes, Reborn does use Fakemon, but it is designed mostly to make single foes very difficult as it is a 6v1 situation (most of the time). It's a very difficult process and takes a lot of time and effort to do well. It's also like fake moves. You need to have very good knowledge of the battle system (both meta and in-game) to do those well.

While I don't think Adrienn will be the hardest fight, I doubt it'll be a super easy one. While it's likely xe'll get the misty terrain, it isn't a guarantee. But yeah, if a Clefable does use Cosmic Power, you can expect it to be a rough battle because that thing can take hits. They also can use coverage moves to make up for their weaknesses. But honestly, I think the only leader who got screwed over badly was Ciel. It's already hard enough to create a defensive flying type team and the AI doesn't help. The field screws her over half the time with earthquake and Altaria rarely ever uses sing.

I remember on my Challenge Run this Fern gave me a ton of trouble. I think Spoink was my lifesaver with confuse hax and Psybeam. If having too much trouble, bring something that can Paralyze it and you should be able to slaughter it then. But yeah, it takes a bit of time getting used to reborn. As for TMs, there are no good tms until Shade, but he lost his precious Shadow Ball tm which was a godsend.

Remember how I said it'd take weeks to get finished. I lied. Here you go: link. IMPORTANT NOTICE: after you beat Serra, the game will freeze(ish). I came across this problem while testing and will try to figure it out some other time. In the mean time, just open up the official Ep 15 Reborn, beat that Serra and then continue on with Hardcore. Once Jamak releases his version, this problem should disappear. I kind of glazed over trainer levels so if anything looks funky please report it.

It looks pretty good now. The only other thing I'd suggest is a recommended level. IIRC Julia should be the 13-16 range.

I'm really surprised you didn't suggest Zigzagoon. Mudsport not only cripples Julia, but it completely cancels out the field effect which really, really hurts her. I pretty much know the ends and outs of the field effects and their teams from making those hardcore versions of these leaders. If you need anything, just ask. It might also be a good idea to wright down some threats or strategies the leaders do. I remember Singles Radomus would switch to Gallade for that boosted Justified. For Julia, she obviously likes to go boom and sonicboom really hurts this early in the game. I'd also suggest making a very short list of two or three pokemon instead everything because any Pokemon can be very effective if you know how to use it.

And if you haven't seen the status update, I'm finally all the way up to Ciel. And while that is still a big mileage marker, there's a few things I want to do such as tweak leaders like Florinia and Terra and test them. TBH, I managed to get through it faster than I thought so something should be up in a few days.