Gale of Darkness IronMon ruleset

FOR THOSE THAT DON'T KNOW WHAT IRONMON IS: https://gist.github.com/valiant-code/adb18d248fa0fae7da6b639e2ee8f9c1

TL;DR: iateyourpie came up with a set of self-imposed rules to make pokemon randomizers more fun on a "survival" setting of sorts. It's a pretty fun challenge, with lots of content(tm) potential thanks to what is randomized.

Since I really enjoy Colosseum/XD I figured I'd adapt the ruleset to these games, which run on a doubles format. I came up with what is described below for XD, and had a lot of fun and challenge on my trial runs. Feedback and suggestions are greatly appreciated!

>> Randomizer Settings

- Pokemon base stats are randomized, keeping original BST
- Pokemon evolutions are randomized, removing impossible evolutions
  - Evolutions preserve 1 type and follow the similar BST algorithm
- Pokemon abilities are randomized, except for Wonder Guard
- Pokemon movesets are randomized
  - Pokemon must have at least 1 attacking move no matter the level
  - Pokemon must have 4 moves learned at level 1
- Pokemon EXP curve is standardized at fluctuating, and legendaries at slow
- Starter, shadow and trainer pokemon species are randomized
- Shadow pokemon purify 4 times faster, and have a 245 catch rate
- Each shadow pokemon is assigned a random held item
- Shadow movesets are not randomized to avoid massive power creep early on
- Trainer levels are boosted by 50%, always rounding up (7.5 -> 8 ; 8.5 -> 9)
  - Shadow pokemon will show up as original level, but the game treats them as 1.5 that
  - For example, the shadows in Gateon Port show up as 10+, the game considers them 15
- Trainer pokemon above level 30 will be fully evolved
- The starter pokemon gets the 5 eeveelutions methods available in Gateon Port (free starter reroll)
  - These 5 evolution methods are FULLY RANDOMIZED (a Magmar can become a Magikarp)
  - The exception to the above rule is if the pokemon originally used one of the 5 methods to evolve
  - For example, a starter Marill can't evolve at Lv18 into a Water type, only into a random pokemon through the 5 eeveelution methods
  - A Vulpix can still evolve into a Fire type with the Fire Stone, or into a random pokemon through the other 4 eeveelution methods

>> Standard Ruleset

1. Randomize the game (see the randomizer settings above for details)
2. Can only catch 1/2 pokemon per major area (see area details below)
3. No shopping allowed, except for pokeballs and scents
4. Only 6 pokemon are allowed at a time, catching a new one replaces someone
5. Once a pokemon faints, it's gone for good (*)
6. If you're out of useable pokemon, game over
7. Legendaries are forbidden, must be replaced immediately if starter
8. Lucky Egg and Sacred Ash are banned
9. No stealing items from shadow pokemon you didn't catch (Thief, Covet, etc)
10. You CAN refight trainers, but only when they have a new team - and only once per team
11. The exception to the above rule is Miror B - you cannot refight him through the radar
12. Catching wild pokemon is NOT allowed
13. Both the move tutor and move relearner can be used freely

(*) If a pokemon dies in a fight and the next fight starts immediately with an auto heal, you must attack yourself / stall until the pokemon that had died dies again. If multiple pokemon died, you must do so until every one of those is dead.

>> Ultimate Ruleset

1. You must not leave a major area until you have beaten it (see area details below)
2. Each healing machine/bed in major areas can only be used once (see area details below)
3. Only 6 pokemon are allowed for the entire run - no swapping
4. Leftovers and Soul Dew are banned
5. Not allowed to cancel evolutions

>> Kaizo Ruleset

1. Only 2 pokemon are allowed at any time - catching a pokemon means swapping one of the active 2
1.1. If you are down to a single pokemon, you are allowed to catch a new one no matter what
1.2. You MUST STATE BEFOREHAND which of your 2 pokemon you are replacing before capturing it
2. No random TMs - only those gifted from optionals or from static locations are allowed
3. No pokemon with 600 BST or higher, replace immediately if forced into one
4. Can only catch a pokemon if it is equal to or lower than your LOWEST party level
5. No healing moves or spore are allowed, except for Metronome (exception for Chobin fight)
6. Huge Power and Pure Power are banned for pokemon with BST >= 400
7. No healing items outside of battles
8. No held items except for berries
9. Flutes are banned (do they even work in these games?)
10. Using the "Call" command is NOT ALLOWED

>> Survival Ruleset

1. Healing machines and centers outside of major areas are now also limited to 1 use
2. Entering a colosseum or odd mt.battle area (1, 3, 5) will force you to give up a healing machine
3. Allowed to purchase 20 potions in Gateon Port, before any fights
4. All boss trainer pokemon now have a sensible held item, not just shadows
5. PP Ups are limited to 1 use per move
6. PP Maxs can be sold for 1 Hyper Potion or 3 Full Heals
7. Battle/Shell Armor are also banned for pokemon with BST >= 400
8. If outside a major area gauntlet, you can heal outside of battle
9. Damaging healing moves are allowed (pain split, softboiled, recover, etc are still banned)
10. For the final gauntlet, X items and other boosts are banned
11. For the final gauntlet, can only use 1 non-combat stat bosting move once per fight

> Shadow Pokemon allowed per area
- Pokemon Lab [1] (1 Teddiursa)
- Gateon Port [2] (2 hidden trainers)
- Shadow Lab Outside [2] (6 brothers)
- Shadow Lab Inside [1] (5 shadows)
- Cave Poke Spot [1] (1 Miror B)
- ONBS Building [1] (5 shadows)
- Phenac City [1] (6 shadows)
- Phenac Stadium [1] (4 shadows)
- Outskirt Stand [1] (Gift)
- Cipher Key Lair [1] (13 shadows)
- Citadark Lovrina [1] (6 shadows)
- Citadark Karbon/Petro [1] (8 shadows)
- Citadark Snattle [1] (5 shadows)
- Citadark Admins [1] (10 shadows)
- Greevil [0] (7 shadows)

> Major Areas that cannot be left in Ultimate Ruleset
- Relic Cave + Relic Stone (5 required) (no healing)
- Mt.Battle tutorial (3 required) (no healing)
- Shadow Lab (11 required, 6 optionals) (2 heals)
- ONBS Building (6 required, 5 optionals) (1 heal)
- Phenac City (6 required, 12 optionals) (2 heals)
- Phenac Stadium (4 required) (no healing)
- Kaminko House (2 required) (no healing)
- Pre-Gym Gauntlet (5 optionals) (no healing)
- Snagem Hideout (5 required, 5 optionals) (1 heal)
- Cipher Key Lair (12 required, 5 optionals) (1 heal)
- Citadark Lovrina (5 required, 1 optional) (1 heal)
- Citadark Karbon/Petro (8 required, 5 optionals) (1 heal)
- Citadark Snattle (4 required, 1 optional) (no healing)
- Citadark Admins + Greevil (5 required) (1 heal)

> List of allowed TMs in Kaizo Rukeset
- TM45 (Gateon Port optional gift)
- TM09 (Agate Village optional gift)
- TM03 (Mt.Battle Zone 2 gift)
- TM31 (1st Pyrite Colosseum optional gift)
- TM32 (Justy optional gift)
- TM34 (Mt.Battle Zone 3 gift)
- TM42 (Mt.Battle Zone 4 gift)
- TM49 (1st Realgam Colosseum optional gift)
- TM39 (Mt.Battle Zone 5 gift)
- TM50 (Mt.Battle Zone 6 gift)

> Extra healing machines in Survival Ruleset (9 total)
- Pokemon Lab machine
- Gateon Port pokemon center
- Agate Village pokemon center
- Mt.Battle pokemon center
- Pyrite hotel
- Pyrite colosseum
- Realgam Tower pokemon center
- Phenac City pokemon center
- SS Libra bed (?)

> Rationale behind some rule changes / new rules:

- You cannot scout for wild pokemon in this game, and you only have 1 chance to capture a shadow pokemon, making the early game way more unforgiving, as you're locked on the 4 first pokemon the game gives you. You also cannot see some of your permanent moves until after purifying. Not only that, there are no routes in this game, so you'd be catching way too few pokemon to make the challenge fun. With this in mind, allowing for multiple catches in one area EARLY ON encourages players to fight through the brutal early game with average pokemon, and also encourages pivoting. Later in the game where catching is a legit strategy to skip parts of fights, we limit it back to one catch per area.

- This game's level curve is INSANE, specially with a +50% modifier. Double battles are also way more brutal than singles. There are very few trainers compared to your average route between major story points, so encouraging refights is required to make the game's difficulty a bit more bearable. Obviously you can't infinitely grind still, as your refights are locked behind story progression. In order to make up for this, fluctuating exp and lv30 fully evolved are applied even on standard, as opposed to kaizo only. Also keep in mind EXP is split between the 2 active pokemon, so the levelling rate of your mains is half what you'd see in other IronMon!

- Regarding the boons on purification compared to vanilla, we increase the purify rate to discourage players from walking around in circles to purify a pokemon asap. Shadow moves are always super effective on regular pokemon and not very effective on other shadows, so this also encourages players to keep their shadow pokemon in shadow form for a while, and also pivoting between shadow pokemon. Because shadow moves are stupidly strong, we do not randomize them to keep the challenge early on at a consistent level. Maybe we could randomize keeping similar power?

- The move tutor is the balancing tool to try and make a shadow pokemon that purified with really really bad moves into a decent one, and you get more moves with story progression, so it's a really nice balance check to the uncertainty of shadow pokemon. You can only teach each move once, too. And the move relearner is very expensive, and uses limited currency in an ironmon run.

- Since these games do not have HMs, using and teaching HM moves through levelup or TMs is allowed, as there is no easy way to teach a pokemon Strength or Surf

- For ultimate, the "must not leave area" rule fails to have meaning in this game because healing machines are readily available inside most of those areas. And those areas have way too many trainers to power through in a doubles setting. In order to keep them balanced, we allow the use of each healing machine only once, with some areas having 1 or 2 machines available, often after some progression in the area has been achieved

- For kaizo, we need to allow 2 pokemon since the game is played with double battles. Since 2v1 battles are incredibly difficult, we allow the replacement of the 2nd pokemon, since even catching a new one requires going in a new battle 2v1, and you cannot even use it until you finish the fight. The insane level curve will keep the 2nd pokemon in a constant threat, too, as it will be very underlevelled.

- The "Call" command is extremely useful to help purify pokemon, remove the passive damage from reverse mode, wake up sleeping pokemon AND provide an accuracy boost for woke pokemon. So we ban it in Kaizo