Arc Development:Orre

(This page is a Orre Arc primer WIP)

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Arc Brief

Trouble is stirring in Orre, and Cipher is at the heart of it. This in itself is nothing new - Cipher have always been a menace to the desert region, and despite their many defeats they have always managed to return, each time stronger and more determined. But for most of the J-Team, it's personal this time around. Cipher may well be the largest and most dangerous enemy they've ever faced, but it's up to the J-Team to put an end to them - and this time, it'll hopefully be for good.

Major Synopsis

Having dealt with the Shady Scientists in Holon and learnt about their Cipher backings, the J-Team decides that heading to Orre to deal with Cipher for good is the next logical course of action. Interpol may or may not sanction their actions. Once there, however, things start to go wrong as several members of the J-Team (including Crewe, Duke, Diane, Regina and Maekrite) are captured and some (including Every and Crow) even end up defecting of their own accord - though how much choice they had in the matter is unclear.

Whilst fighting Cipher and combating their usual plans of perfecting the Shadowing process, the J-Team also learns about another of Cipher's goals - the creation of suits of powered armour that will elevate the already-formidable Shadow Pokemon to nigh-unbeatable levels of power. In order to stop this plan from coming to frution, the J-Team goes on a search-and-destroy mission to eliminate every Cipher base in Orre. But in addition to this, each of the Cipher Admins has their own agenda...

Known Operational Details

Details from here are much more technical and are subjected to change. None of this should be taken as an official decision unless it is stated as such in the Discussion Thread!

Add eg.: major links here.

Subject #1: Cipher

As one would expect from an Orre arc, the villainous team will be Cipher, with its Admins, Commanders and other assorted hangers-on as the main villains. Cipher's plans are illustrated in the arc synopsis, but all that really needs to be said here is that they're a particularly nasty bunch - probably the most ruthless and threatening group in WAAPT's OU, with no qualms about subjecting Pokemon to extreme emotional torment in order to transform them into ferocious Shadow Pokemon, and fully willing to physically assault or even murder humans if they deem it necessary and/or tenable to get away with.

That being said, it should be established that they're not ridiculously dark and evil, and that bloodshed during conflicts with Cipher should ideally be kept to a reasonable level. After all, Pokemon as a whole generally has a fairly light tone. Cipher doesn't just randomly murder people for the evulz, and in return the J-Team shouldn't be using Cipher operatives as morally-justified target practice.

In terms of organisation, Cipher is headed by Ardos, though he remains in the background for the most part and allows his Admins to handle Cipher's day-to-day operations. Each Admin is in charge of their own department, and there are four departments:

• The Operations Department is one of Cipher's larger branches. They are Cipher's footsoldiers, for want of a better word, and if Cipher are causing trouble somewhere these guys are likely going to be at the forefront. The Admin in charge of the Operations Department is Tokarev, a ruthless mercenary commander who has a history with Tagg.
• The Research and Development Department (R&D for short) is another comparatively large division, containing the bulk of Cipher's scientists, engineers and research staff. They manufacture the majority of Cipher's equipment (such as Snag Machines) and carry out most of their experiments, though they only play a limited role in the development of Shadow Pokemon. Odin is the thoroughly amoral Admin in charge of R&D.
• The Pokemon Shadowing and Distribution Department's role should be fairly obvious, given their name. They specialise in capturing of Pokemon and turning them into Shadow Pokemon, then distributing these Pokemon to the Peons in other departments or spreading them across Orre as a whole by offering them as contest prizes and so forth. The Admin in charge of this department is the mysterious and rarely-seen Siren.
• The Resources Department is the smallest of Cipher's subdivisions, though it compensates for this by being the butt of the most jokes due to their comparative harmlessness when compared to the other departments and their Admin's frankly ridiculous dress sense. Their role is to acquire (read:steal) any, well, resources that Cipher's other departments may require. The eccentric and enigmatic Alexiel is in charge of Resources.

Cipher members, regardless of department, are split into three main ranks: Admins, Commanders and Peons.

• Admins are the guys in charge - they don't answer to anyone except Ardos himself, though since they work as a group they still need to heed the opinions of the other Admins. They don't do field work unless they particularly want to. Each Admin also has their own department, as explained above.
• Commanders are senior to Peons but below Admins, and usually work for one Admin in particular. They command a number of staff themselves but do not have a department of their own. These are the guys that do a lot of the grunt work, since they're essentially junior officers.
• Peons are the grunts. The bottom of the metaphorical food chain. If there's a dirty job that Cipher needs doing, they're going to be the ones doing it. They might have a Shadow Pokemon of their own, but they're not nearly as much of a threat as their superiors. Cipher scientists are on the same level as Peons in terms of rank, though don't expect them to get their hands dirty unless absolutely necessary.

Subject #2: Shadow Pokemon

Shadow Pokemon are the main tool in Cipher's arsenal. The process of Shadowfication suppresses their personality, transforming them into little more than living, breathing weapons for Cipher to use and abuse. However, they are not beyond redemption - though Cipher continues to try and make the process more difficult to reverse, showing enough care and affection to a Shadow Pokemon can undo the damage done to their psyche.

There are several traits that set Shadow Pokemon apart from regular mons. For a start, they are unable to evolve or learn new moves. However, they gain a noticeable increase in strength - in a straight-up fight, a Shadow Nidorino will almost always beat a regular Nidorino. They also gain access to powerful Shadow moves, which damage both the target and the user, and are super-effective against all non-Shadow Pokémon. Also, they do show a tendency to aim attacks at trainers as opposed to their mons. Shadow Pokemon are banned from participating in official tournaments and League-sanctioned battles, though in Orre such matters are rarely a concern.

Most trainers in possession of Shadow Pokemon - save for Cipher operatives, of course - will be eager to cure their Pokemon of this condition once it's brought to their attention. Doing so is fairly simple, as the Pokemon just needs to be treated fairly and kindly by its trainer. After extended periods of affectionate treatment (probably about a month in RP terms, give or take a couple of weeks) the Pokemon should be ready for purification, and can be taken to either the Relic Stone in Agate Village or the Purification Chamber in the Pokemon HQ lab to be un-Shadowed for good.

It is worth noting that in terms of personality, Shadow Pokemon are not mindless, insane beasts, nor are they completely emotionless robots. Shadowing does not lock away the Pokemon's original personality completely - rather, it twists and distorts it into something Cipher can manipulate and use as a deadly weapon. In general, Shadow Pokemon tend to be aggressive, ruthless, and demonstrate a lack of restraint and concern for their own wellbeing, but this may vary on a case-by-case basis.

Appearance-wise, Shadow Pokemon look no different from ordinary Pokemon, though those used to taking care of Pokemon may note their unusually aggressive behaviour. Only individuals with an Aura Reader - or those that are Aura-sensitive themselves - can visually identify a Shadow Pokemon. As an added bonus, they can also estimate how close the Pokemon is to purification.

Subject #3: Snag Machines and Aura Readers

In order to deal with Shadow Pokemon properly, the J-Team will need to add two new pieces of equipment to their repertoire: the Snag Machine and the Aura Reader. Both are usually fairly rare, but thankfully PEFE is capable of reverse-engineering and mass-producing both with their extensive resources, and as such can supply any member of the J-Team who needs them with the necessary equipment.

Snag Machines are mechanical devices worn over the arm, often used by Cipher. Their purpose is quite simple - they are designed to steal Pokemon from their trainers. Whilst using a Snag Machine, a trainer may attempt to catch or "snag" an opposing trainer's Pokemon with any type of Pokeball in the same manner as they would a wild mon. Normally a group such as the J-Team would have nothing to do with such devices, but they are necessary for liberating Shadow Pokemon from Cipher operatives. For this reason, the Snag Machines used by the J-Team are incapable of working on any non-Shadow Pokémon.

Aura Readers are another type of device, thankfully not designed to be used for anything illegal. They do exactly what it says on the tin and read a Pokemon's Aura. Whilst they can't glean nearly as much information as a trained Auric could, they are useful for identifying whether or not a Pokemon has been Shadowed, and if so, how close it is to purification.

Subject #4: Battling

The primary form of battling in Orre is double battling, save for when one party has only one Pokémon. This tends to be the case from casual battling up to battles in the various Colosseums for prize money, as well as Mt. Battle's 100 trainer challenge.

Known / Planned Battles

Note: Since there's going to be a lot of battles occurring during the Orre arc for obvious reasons and it's kind of a given that Cipher Peons are going to be stomped into the ground during any given fight, try to restrict the battles listed here to encounters with Commanders/Admins which external parties shouldn't be getting involved in.

• Multiple(?) battles with Odin in order to faciliate the snagging of Shadow Pokemon
• Maggie versus Paula
• Umbra vs. Paula
• Silent versus Every, resulting in Maekrite being snagged for Cipher.

Individual Plans

Add any non-spoilery plans here.

Umbramatic

• Odin being an EEEEEEEEVIL Cipher admin who has some mons snagged from him.

• Umbra, Lina, and Ammy meeting their Nega-Counterparts (With Siglud and Abel meeting two of their mons once again.)

• Umbra and Lina learn they are Minds Of Crystal, leading to both gaining of AU memories (that make them suspicious of Seish and Fuu if they're the right memories) and may cause them to react to the sudden existence of Fairy type and certain type changes if we go with a Cosmic Retcon.

• Seishirou and Fuuma are revealed to be Jerk Dragons, leading them to be "punished."

• Ra hatches, and Umbra and Ammy learn how to be parents.

• Nico cosplays as Wes and fights Cipher with Maggie.

• Some Shadow mons are snagged.

• Some individual scenes.

Dune

• RP!Dune follows the clues to Sabaku's final resting place (but end up finding other clues and answers with no context, thus inspiring him to keep looking for more of Sabaku's writings).

• RP!Dune deals with his family!

• Cun Annwn gets some screentime and character development, evolving at least once over the course of the arc.

• RP!Dune snags a Shadow Drilbur, along with other assorted mons that are eventually either returned to their rightful owners or returned to the wild.

• RP!Dune begins training in Sabaku's personal fighting style, Tsume no Hagane.

• Cid begins development of a device that magnifies a Pokemon's natural Psychic and Auric capabilities. Downside? It requires a neural connection. Also, Cid's secret weapon is revealed!

• Cid continues his work with Titan.

Zeal

• Zeal finds some more clues in his hunt for Fajro.

• Lanie gets more character development.

• All of Zeal and Lanie's mons get more character development.

• The baking contest happens.

• THE MON PLAZA expands to Orre.

• Rickard Gavin begins his quest for the perfect muffin.

• Lise returns, possibly in a Big Damn Heroes moment.

• Iulianus becomes both more jerkish and more sympathetic over the course of the arc.

• Zeal begins losing control of his mind.

Tagg

• Tagg meets up with his old friends at the Kid Grid/ONBS.

• Possibly Colosseum battles.

• Tagg begins his campaign of revenge against Cipher, aided by his Hoenn mons.

• Tokarev tries to break Tagg by screwing with his mind.

Keys

• Mammor plots to kidnap the wealthier members of the J-Team and extort money from them.

• Ren and Kitsune are kidnapped and held hostage. (Need help from others to pull off properly)

• Ren finds the place Kitsune is held and rescues her.

• Ren Snags a Shadow Hippopotas and other shadow mon.

• Ren discovers Sho left another legacy besides the Time Flowers.

Verax

• Jacob has Regina snagged

• Jacob begins going crazy from loss of Regina and loss of sleep

• Jacob possibly getting help on the latter issue above

• Jacob begins looking for Regina, using any means to get information

• Verax battling the entire Team at least once, and stalking some of them to attack them multiple times

• Verax possibly defecting if enough other PC's try to convince him during their encounters

• SUPREME OVERLORD ULTRA MAXIMUS GHETSIS XXIV begins an anti-Cipher team called Cypher composed of only himself

Crowlover

Team Arrangements

Crow: Gogie, Ghostus, Venomous, Raser, Mandrake, Akim'bleer, Chirin

Maggie: Kernel, Sweetie, Scouter, Chum, Damburst, Volcamel, Spiral

New Mons

• Old Cave the Diglett (Crow)

• Ricin the Grimer (Maggie)

• Durwood the Gligar (Crow)

• Hyp the Rampardos (Maggie)

• Houndour Egg (Crow, may count as Kalos instead)

Current Plans

• Crow ends up joining Cipher under Siren in an attempt to infiltrate them that likely won't go too well

• Akim'bleer stays with Dihrao and Eskay and trains a bit under Lazy Latios

• Maggie cosplays as Rui and tag-teams with Nico, among other stuff

• Chum decides to start recruiting peoplemons for a version of Hook's crew among at least the J-Team which may or may not extend past Maggie's large collection of Water-type mons

• Two Cipher Peons, Tomas and Myrtle, stalking whoever Odin wants for whatever it is he wants to do, how successful they are will probably be up to Umbra

DarkerShining

• We learn more about Lillith's background.

• DS and Lillith arrive in Gateon Port and meet with the others.

• We are introduced to Lillith's uncle and aunt who live in Gateon Port.

• Darien is introduced, a nice guy who is a friend of Lillith.

• We are also introduced to what is essentially a nega-counterpart of a character who is already a nega-counterpart, namely Lillith's rival the Phenac Snob.

• We are introduced to Lillith's mother.

• Lillith and DS hear about a secret two trainer double battle underground tournament where Shadow Pokémon are offered as prices to those who win, and they decide to enter the tournament in disguise.

• They win the tournament and receive a Shadow Pokémon each, DS receiving a Shadow Minccino and Lillith receiving a Shadow Seviper.

• The two girls work on purifying their Shadow Pokémon.

• Phenac Snob's Milotic is stolen by Cipher, and Lillith and DS set out to rescue it.

• They successfully retrieve the Milotic before it can be turned into a Shadow Pokémon, but discover that while the Milotic is grateful to be rescued, she isn't too thrilled about going back to her trainer.

• Lillith returns the Milotic and tries to give Phenac Snob some advice on how to treat her Milotic better, only for Phenac Snob to respond by punching her in the stomach.

• Darien breaks up with Phenac Snob after seeing her attack Lillith.

Arc Outline

• To be added.

Planned Consequences

• To be added.