Post by Cicada on Nov 17, 2013 20:29:32 GMT
ABOUT RPEPB
Each department of RPEPB focuses on a separate topic of research, and most of them consist of both humans and Pokémon. All employees, volunteers, and test subjects fall under at least one department, usually no more than just the one unless they're test subjects with multiple alterations. There are currently eight departments, one of which is not in-character and thus does not have employees. The eight departments are battle, robotics, biotechnology, medical, aesthetic, research, activism, and Pokédex v2.
-BATTLE DEPARTMENT
The real brain behind the arena, although Pokémon from other departments may occasionally participate in arena fights. As the name suggests, the battle department focuses on making equipment and altering Pokémon to make them more hardy, as well as studies Pokémon in battle and tries to make the fights more enjoyable for the fighters. This results in all sorts of crazy alterations, often borrowed from other departments. If a Pokémon is in more than one department, there's a good chance that this will be one of them, as it's the largest department and tends to play off of the research of others more than it does its own research.
-ROBOTICS DEPARTMENT
Exactly what it says on the tin. It's a bit surprising how common robots are in this place, as the robotics department will build them to get a better idea of the inner workings of Pokémon. (Yes, this means you can have robot characters! Just keep in mind that they'll have more flaws and issues than a living creature.) They also work with creating "replacement parts" for injured Pokémon, and recently have been known to, err, replace parts that don't need replacing. Often these parts won't work quite as well as a real one, but they can have some pretty neat additions to make up for that.
-BIOTECHNOLOGY DEPARTMENT
The biotechnology department deals with, well, biotechnology. To elaborate, they imitate and implement Pokémon biology for human and Pokémon use alike. They also deal with cloning, bioengineering, splicing, and just generally messing with nature to test its limits. By far the most hands-on department, it claims to have a strict volunteer-only policy, (with the exception of lab-born subjects) but one look in the locked room at the end of a long, dead-end hallway will quickly disprove that.
-MEDICAL DEPARTMENT
Obviously, the place where medicine is studied and distributed. There really isn't much place for Pokémon here besides injured and self-healing ones, as it tends to get most of its information from other departments. Nonetheless, it's an important department, and without it the cause would be lost in the lives of countless innocent Pokémon. Granted, they can't always save them...
-AESTHETIC DEPARTMENT
Perhaps not immensely important, but the original idea was that if Pokémon were more valuable, trainers would be less likely to battle them, or would at least take care of them more. We think that it was just an excuse to make Pokémon look cool, not that we're complaining. This is probably the least scientific department, and while science does still play a huge role, Pokémon breeders and groomers can find themselves a sizeable niche here.
-RESEARCH DEPARTMENT
The least hands-on department, here you'll find all of our unaltered specimens, along with a small amount of ones that have been tampered with so that they can be studied as well. The research department specializes in observing and recording Pokémon behaviours in simulated natural habitats via one-way glass. Some of the smaller specimens can be seen in what's known as the "zoo", a hallway which allows passerby and tour groups to observe the specimens themselves. On the odd occasion the test subjects will be interacted with, but not exactly altered; the most notable example of this is the Chatot project, which aims to teach a groups of Chatots to not only imitate, but comprehend human speech.
-ACTIVISM DEPARTMENT
Formerly in charge of organizing protests, speeches, and community events, the activism has recently descended into the advertising business and handles the exchange of money with clients. Granted, they still organize events, but they also balance that with their economic duties. The smallest department, Pokémon have little to no use here, with the exception of a few volunteers to help speed things up a bit.
-POKÈDEX V2
While not an in-character department, it still exists and may be mentioned in passing in-character. For more information, see the Pokédex v2 thread.
The arena is a monthly site-wide event that involves a group of Pokémon getting together and battling in a virtual arena. The winner of the battle is the Pokémon who has knocked out the most opponents and still remains standing at the end of the match; rather than waiting for the battle to end, the fight is ended at the end of the month. While the arena matches last for a month, they only last for about a day in-game, and it's suggested that the events that take place during it not come into effect until the match ends. (for example, if your character dies in a match, they would still be playable until the end of the month)
The arena itself is just a glorified video game, for lack of a better description. The Pokémon put on armour fitted to their body shape and become immersed into a virtual world where they battle, akin to The Matrix for those who have seen it. However, the laws of gravity and physics still apply here just as much as they do in the ordinary Pokémon world. (that is to say, not very much) The armour also has a strange and morbid quality that allows it to injure Pokémon if they get hurt in combat, causing them to sustain injury and creating a sadistic but more accurate collection of data. This is probably the most controversial aspect of RPEPB besides the alteration of Pokémon without consent.
In addition, the arena changes each month into something else. No two arena matches will have identical settings.
Quite simply, these haven't been implemented yet. After all, with scientists even in Kalos still struggling to understand it, RPEPB hasn't begun full fledged research on it. It will play a large role in the plot later, though.
*Some kinds of Pokémon can teleport, go through walls, melt into shadows, etc.; however, RPEPB has implemented a security system that renders them unable to escape the building via these methods. However, most of them are given free reign of the building unless they're marked as likely to misbehave; this automatically encompasses clones, robots, and cyborgs. Misbehaving Pokémon that can travel in one of these ways simply need to be given certain devices that impede their mobility; anything not part of the Pokémon will prevent them from going through walls or shadows, and devices that absorb Psychic energy can disable teleportation. Robots and cyborgs are not yet able to go through walls or into shadows, but some may be able to teleport.
ABOUT THE WORLD
If you still have a question, don't be afraid to ask! Keep in mind that making things up is perfectly fine as long as you don't go too crazy.
-DEPARTMENTS-
Each department of RPEPB focuses on a separate topic of research, and most of them consist of both humans and Pokémon. All employees, volunteers, and test subjects fall under at least one department, usually no more than just the one unless they're test subjects with multiple alterations. There are currently eight departments, one of which is not in-character and thus does not have employees. The eight departments are battle, robotics, biotechnology, medical, aesthetic, research, activism, and Pokédex v2.
-BATTLE DEPARTMENT
The real brain behind the arena, although Pokémon from other departments may occasionally participate in arena fights. As the name suggests, the battle department focuses on making equipment and altering Pokémon to make them more hardy, as well as studies Pokémon in battle and tries to make the fights more enjoyable for the fighters. This results in all sorts of crazy alterations, often borrowed from other departments. If a Pokémon is in more than one department, there's a good chance that this will be one of them, as it's the largest department and tends to play off of the research of others more than it does its own research.
-ROBOTICS DEPARTMENT
Exactly what it says on the tin. It's a bit surprising how common robots are in this place, as the robotics department will build them to get a better idea of the inner workings of Pokémon. (Yes, this means you can have robot characters! Just keep in mind that they'll have more flaws and issues than a living creature.) They also work with creating "replacement parts" for injured Pokémon, and recently have been known to, err, replace parts that don't need replacing. Often these parts won't work quite as well as a real one, but they can have some pretty neat additions to make up for that.
-BIOTECHNOLOGY DEPARTMENT
The biotechnology department deals with, well, biotechnology. To elaborate, they imitate and implement Pokémon biology for human and Pokémon use alike. They also deal with cloning, bioengineering, splicing, and just generally messing with nature to test its limits. By far the most hands-on department, it claims to have a strict volunteer-only policy, (with the exception of lab-born subjects) but one look in the locked room at the end of a long, dead-end hallway will quickly disprove that.
-MEDICAL DEPARTMENT
Obviously, the place where medicine is studied and distributed. There really isn't much place for Pokémon here besides injured and self-healing ones, as it tends to get most of its information from other departments. Nonetheless, it's an important department, and without it the cause would be lost in the lives of countless innocent Pokémon. Granted, they can't always save them...
-AESTHETIC DEPARTMENT
Perhaps not immensely important, but the original idea was that if Pokémon were more valuable, trainers would be less likely to battle them, or would at least take care of them more. We think that it was just an excuse to make Pokémon look cool, not that we're complaining. This is probably the least scientific department, and while science does still play a huge role, Pokémon breeders and groomers can find themselves a sizeable niche here.
-RESEARCH DEPARTMENT
The least hands-on department, here you'll find all of our unaltered specimens, along with a small amount of ones that have been tampered with so that they can be studied as well. The research department specializes in observing and recording Pokémon behaviours in simulated natural habitats via one-way glass. Some of the smaller specimens can be seen in what's known as the "zoo", a hallway which allows passerby and tour groups to observe the specimens themselves. On the odd occasion the test subjects will be interacted with, but not exactly altered; the most notable example of this is the Chatot project, which aims to teach a groups of Chatots to not only imitate, but comprehend human speech.
-ACTIVISM DEPARTMENT
Formerly in charge of organizing protests, speeches, and community events, the activism has recently descended into the advertising business and handles the exchange of money with clients. Granted, they still organize events, but they also balance that with their economic duties. The smallest department, Pokémon have little to no use here, with the exception of a few volunteers to help speed things up a bit.
-POKÈDEX V2
While not an in-character department, it still exists and may be mentioned in passing in-character. For more information, see the Pokédex v2 thread.
-THE ARENA-
The arena is a monthly site-wide event that involves a group of Pokémon getting together and battling in a virtual arena. The winner of the battle is the Pokémon who has knocked out the most opponents and still remains standing at the end of the match; rather than waiting for the battle to end, the fight is ended at the end of the month. While the arena matches last for a month, they only last for about a day in-game, and it's suggested that the events that take place during it not come into effect until the match ends. (for example, if your character dies in a match, they would still be playable until the end of the month)
The arena itself is just a glorified video game, for lack of a better description. The Pokémon put on armour fitted to their body shape and become immersed into a virtual world where they battle, akin to The Matrix for those who have seen it. However, the laws of gravity and physics still apply here just as much as they do in the ordinary Pokémon world. (that is to say, not very much) The armour also has a strange and morbid quality that allows it to injure Pokémon if they get hurt in combat, causing them to sustain injury and creating a sadistic but more accurate collection of data. This is probably the most controversial aspect of RPEPB besides the alteration of Pokémon without consent.
In addition, the arena changes each month into something else. No two arena matches will have identical settings.
-MEGA EVOLUTIONS-
Quite simply, these haven't been implemented yet. After all, with scientists even in Kalos still struggling to understand it, RPEPB hasn't begun full fledged research on it. It will play a large role in the plot later, though.
-ETCETERA-
*Some kinds of Pokémon can teleport, go through walls, melt into shadows, etc.; however, RPEPB has implemented a security system that renders them unable to escape the building via these methods. However, most of them are given free reign of the building unless they're marked as likely to misbehave; this automatically encompasses clones, robots, and cyborgs. Misbehaving Pokémon that can travel in one of these ways simply need to be given certain devices that impede their mobility; anything not part of the Pokémon will prevent them from going through walls or shadows, and devices that absorb Psychic energy can disable teleportation. Robots and cyborgs are not yet able to go through walls or into shadows, but some may be able to teleport.
ABOUT THE WORLD
There are many differences between this world and the canon Pokémon world, but I'll stick to the basics. First off, it is not rare for Pokémon to get gravely injured or even killed in combat, and they're often treated more like objects than friends or partners. However, on average they have the same cognitive abilities as a human, the only things imprisoning them being Poké Balls, which are not only capture devices, but also control the mind of the imprisoned Pokémon. RPEPB promotes the idea of befriending rather than capturing Pokémon, which is completely possible and plausible, but it hasn't caught on quite yet as trainers want to be able to dictate their Pokémons' actions in battle.
The only widely used, portable medicine is potions and status healers, the former of which are just painkillers and the latter of which are slightly more effective, but are still meant to relieve pain more. Unfortunately, they're marketed as miracle cure-alls rather than painkillers, and as a result trainers don't go to Pokémon centers as often as they should because they don't realize that their Pokémon are as injured as they are.
In addition to these, Pokémon and humans cannot understand each other except under very rare circumstances or if they've been together for a long time, in which case they might be able to understand some words.
Pokémon themselves are also a bit different; check the Pokédex v2 for information on the ones that have been written about so far. In terms of Pokémon, it's basically just a giant dump of headcanons, and while following the Pokédex v2 is encouraged, it's not necessary.
The only widely used, portable medicine is potions and status healers, the former of which are just painkillers and the latter of which are slightly more effective, but are still meant to relieve pain more. Unfortunately, they're marketed as miracle cure-alls rather than painkillers, and as a result trainers don't go to Pokémon centers as often as they should because they don't realize that their Pokémon are as injured as they are.
In addition to these, Pokémon and humans cannot understand each other except under very rare circumstances or if they've been together for a long time, in which case they might be able to understand some words.
Pokémon themselves are also a bit different; check the Pokédex v2 for information on the ones that have been written about so far. In terms of Pokémon, it's basically just a giant dump of headcanons, and while following the Pokédex v2 is encouraged, it's not necessary.
If you still have a question, don't be afraid to ask! Keep in mind that making things up is perfectly fine as long as you don't go too crazy.