[Collab?] Pokemon Gemini - New Game, Need Sprites

[IceMetalPunk]

Hey, guys! I'm working on programming a new Pokemon fan game from scratch (not a ROM hack or RPG Maker game, or I'd have posted this in one of the other forums). It's called Pokemon Gemini, and I'm developing it using GameMaker Studio and documenting the development process in a YouTube series. Hopefully this will build up some hype about its progress; you can watch the development as it happens from this playlist:

(Also, wow, the embedded videos here are large O_o. )

While I'm good enough with coding, I am terrible at artistic work, especially organic forms like Pokemon! So I need some people who love Pokemon and also have any semblance of artistic skill to help out and create the custom Fakemon that this game will feature I have no money to pay you for it, but you will get full credit in the game (along with any in-game promotion for yourself that you want, within realistic bounds)... which I know isn't as good as cash, but hopefully you're excited by the project enough to help out?

If you want to be a fully official Spriter, that's great! But if you just want to submit one or a few evolutionary lines, that's great, too! Either way, you'll get full credit for your work

The Concept

The idea behind Pokemon Gemini is to try and create a slightly more realistic Pokemon story, while still retaining the fun Pokemon feel. And to use all custom Pokemon, characters, etc. so that if the Pokemon Company sends a cease and desist, I can just re-theme it and re-release Its main theme is duality: rich vs poor, life vs death, corruption vs purity, urban vs rural, etc.

So this is the story as it stands currently:

 

Spoiler

The Gemini region consists of two large islands, Castor and Pollux (also, those are the names of the paired games). One of these islands is lavish and technological, a high-tech and luxurious place where no one wants for anything. The other is rural, run-down, and filled with poverty, where people struggle just to survive. In Pokemon Castor, the poor island is Castor and the rich is Pollux; in Pokemon Pollux, it's reversed. For the rest of this description, I'll be simply calling them "Rich Island" and "Poor Island", but in the game, they'll always be Castor Island or Pollux Island.

The government of the Gemini region prevents people from living in Rich Island unless they have proven themselves worthy trainers, which is apparently an opportunity afforded to anyone through the Proof of Aptitude. (This is the Gemini version of the Pokemon League.) Trainers young and old may attempt their Proof by taking on several Proof Points ("gyms") throughout Poor Island; after defeating each Proof Proctor ("gym leader"), you'll receive a certificate ("badge") that confirms your skill. Beat all the Proctors on the island, and you can make your way to the bridge between the islands, where the only thing between you and Rich Island is a tower filled with the Gemini Greats ("elite four"). Everyone who's ever successfully completed their Proof becomes a Gemini Great, and at any given time, four of those Greats resides in the Tower, ready to test newcomers. Defeat the Greats, and you have only one last challenge: you must defeat the Twins. They are not actually siblings; rather, the Twins is a title given to the two greatest trainers in Gemini (the "champions"), and your champion battle with them is actually a double battle. Beat them, and you and your family may move to Rich Island and enjoy the luxury for the rest of your lives. Fail, and you're stuck in Poor Island in a life of poverty.

The game's story begins on Poor Island, where you, a child (let's go with age 11 as usual for now), are visiting your mother at the hospital. She's very ill, but you can't afford the medication she needs to save her life; this is a sadly common situation on Poor Island. So you decide you're going to complete your Proof and get you and your mother to Rich Island in time to get her the treatment she needs; you set out immediately. A researcher from Rich Island is giving a lecture at the local school, so you catch her after the speech to ask about the details of the Proof--this is where the player learns everything I just told you above. Having studied the economic impact of Pokemon training on the region's history, she pities you and your poverty, so she gives you one of her unused Pokemon to start out with (your choice out of 3, of course).

And then the game happens. In this game, the "evil team" is the government itself, but there's a twist! The first half of the game, you get little hints about corruption in the government, but as you're only a child, you don't get involved. And no one asks you to! Instead, you focus on your Proof and completing it. One thing that makes this game different from other Pokemon games is that you can't be overleveled for a Proof Point / gym: every opposing team inside a Proof Point, including the Proctor's, will automatically have its levels adjusted to match your team's average level if yours is higher than theirs. It won't be dropped lower, so there's always a challenge, but it's impossible to overlevel. For this reason, you can take on the Proof Points in any order you want, as long as you can succeed in battle.

If/when you beat the Twins, the game is not over! Instead, the second half begins ten years later. You're now an adult and have been a Gemini Great for a decade, and your mother is healthy and well. But something keeps nagging at you; you remember the things you heard about the government's corruption when you were a child, and it unsettles you. Doing some investigation around Rich Island, you learn that the government has been fixing the Proofs, allowing political allies into Rich Island even if they couldn't win on their own, and forcing political opposition out, even if they should have won. This artificial boundary keeping people in Poor Island has led to the deaths of many from disease, malnutrition, etc., and you (the kind-hearted person you are) won't stand for it! You join an underground Resistance movement and use your position as a Great to help fight against the government; but they're watching you, too, and now you must either lead a successful coup, or be "disappeared".

During your resistance, you discover the government has been literally making their enemies disappear using the power of a legendary Pokemon called Prestid. This Psychic/Dark 'mon, modeled after a magician, can make anything and anyone disappear from reality (represented in-game by an ability called Vanishing, which makes it semi-invulnerable for one turn whenever it's hit by a move); the government is using that ability on its opponents. The only way to stop them, and to expose the corruption, is to stop Prestid, and that can only be done by finding the second legendary, Ijitay, a Psychic/Fairy hiding out on Poor Island. (Get it? Prestid-Ijitay, as in Prestidigitation?) Its ability, Retrieval, can return vanished objects/people back to our reality (in-game, Retrieval prevents other Pokemon from using moves that grant semi-invulnerable turns, and may also prevent switching out, depending on balance). In Castor, you must catch Ijitay and use it to battle Prestid into submission; then you can expose the government without repercussions, lead the coup, and bring Gemini into a better era. In Pollux, you can't catch Ijitay, but you can convince it to battle Prestid, weakening it enough for you to battle and then catch yourself, leading to the same result.

So that's the story, and some of the mechanics. The game is in early development days right now, but making steady progress; the more Fakemon art we have, the more expansive this game can be I just need the front and back battling sprites for them; they don't have to be animated, and I don't need overworld sprites (unless you want to make them )

I already have some ideas for two Fakemon lines, if anyone wants to give the spriting a go:

The Magic Trio
Prestid: Psychic/Dark legendary. 100% male. Based on a stereotypical magician (you know the type: top hat, coattails, wand, flashiness, etc.), but not human. If possible, try and incorporate the magician outfits into the Pokemon's biology rather than having it look like clothing, like how Mr. Mime's gloves are actually its hands. And since he's dark, don't make him look too happy

Ijitay: Psychic/Fairy legendary. 100% female. Based on a stereotypical magician's assistant (i.e. sparkles and dresses and stilettos galore), also not human. To represent having been "sawed in half" (that old trick), her body is literally separated into two disconnected parts at the abdomen, kept floating together by psychic powers alone.

Ilusi: Psychic. The baby Pokemon version of the two legends. Early in the game, if you explore side content, you can find a Mysterious Orb, which looks like a crystal ball. If you level up Prestid or Ijitay while they're holding a Mysterious Orb, the orb will disappear and you'll be given Ilusi in its place. Specifically, you'll get an Ilusi whose gender is the opposite of the parent holding the orb; male Ilusi evolve into Prestid, and female Ilusi evolve into Ijitay. In this way, if you explore throughout the game, you'll be able to get *both* legends in the same game without trading.

Reapers
Chareap: Ghost-type "static" Pokemon. Its name comes from Charon and "reap". While these are not legendary, you can only encounter them as overworld Pokemon in graveyards throughout the region. Based on the Grim Reaper, their signature ability is Reaper: if a Pokemon with Reaper is in your party, and not fainted, when another Pokemon in your party faints, Reaper will activate and you can choose to fully heal/revive that Pokemon at the cost of instantly fainting the Reaper Pokemon. In other words, "oh, your other 'mon died? I'll save him, but I'll die in the process." Except, you know, not death, but fainting.

Grimmwar: Ghost/Dark type. Evolved from Chareap; some graveyards later in the game may have static Grimmwars instead of Chareaps. Note that if you fail to catch a Chareap or Grimmwar, they will reappear at a random time later, but only if you leave the graveyard and return.

And of course, you are encouraged to come up with your own designs! The more Fakemon, the merrier!

So, anyone excited about helping develop Pokemon Gemini with me?

Edited March 29, 2017 by IceMetalPunk
Fixed a typo

[DarkonKirimoto]

Hmmmmm... Seems interesting

[DarkonKirimoto]

This gonna be for gba?