Vermillion Pokemecha Frontier

Vermillion Pokemecha Frontier, an infinite plane macro pokemecha focused setting that I'd happily visit anytime or live in longterm. By Patashu, with inspiration from ZyGrey, CountNeko, Curus, Hexiram, Skai and more.

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The world of Vermillion is endless and infinite in all directions, never running out of new landscape to discover. It is inhabited primarily by people (humans, anthros, any other species or character who fits the bill) who are technologically advanced social creatures, who have developed sprawling cities and towns, built systems of public transportation and established them far and wide - and by Pokemon, macro mecha of incredible technological origin, stronger and far beyond anything civilization could hope to create. Their origin is unclear, having existed in Vermillion as long as people have - they have no creating species, and instead arise from AI-driven factories, sacred structures that form parts of the landscape above and underground that produce their children and let them roam wide and free.

Pokemon tower over the landscape. They are made of Durasteel, a material that gives them the appearance of vast and complex war machines, surfaces at once pragmatic with panelling and riveting and segmentation and markings and greebles, and aesthetic, artistically based on their nature as colourful and cartoony battle critters. They are powerful and awe inspiring, with attacks, abilities and weaponry that can reshape the world as we know it, unstoppable in battle with civilization's greatest creations. Yet despite being heavy and destructive, they are gentle, curious creatures who are as interested in exploring the world, the nature of people and Pokemon, and making friends and learning about themselves and each other as we are.

Every pokemon has an ability called 'Lightfoot' which even with their great bulk allows them to stride across cityscape and landscape alike, causing rumbling and trembling yet not deforming the surface or damaging any structures, even able to step or sit on people and at most winding or tickling them. They believe that their purpose, their reason to exist is as war machines - but not as mindless all-consuming ones. Rather, they define themselves through the art of combat, just as interested in fighting pokemon opponents worth sparring with as they are having a reason to fight - a trainer who will bond with them on their journey of self-determination.

To be a pokemon trainer means a lot of things. It means a bond of friendship with your powerful AI-made companion. It means helping them understand their own nature as much as they can help you understand your own. It means being there for your pokemon and vice versa. It means always wanting to explore and learn something new, to find new challenges and rise to overcome them. It means learning your Pokemon friend inside and out, from cockpit to engine to weapons to reactor to hull to frame. It means being able to console your Pokemon friend's worries, offer them advice and always be there when they need emotional support and assurance.

Of course, being in this setting and being a trainer is not a necessity - it's also permitted to just explore the world and see what it contains. Vermillion has exaggerated terrain types of both mundane and fantastical variety - hot to cold, humid to dry, dense and lush with foilage or sparse and open, vast oceans and teeming rivers, rocky and craggy or flat and smooth. Ranging in weather phenomena from rain to snow to sand to storms to great elemental outpourings from the heavens. Despite the great variety of environmental danger in Vermillion, cities have been established in the most far flung regions and connected to each other, gear and vehicles that can help you traverse the harshest landscapes is readily available, and most of all - if it's sensed that you're in danger, a Pokemon will come by to rescue you, return you to safety and even nurse you to good health if needed.

And of course, no matter where you go, harsh or safe, Pokemon roam the wilderness, letting people co-exist in their cities while they play in the great expanse. You're welcome to observe them from afar or up close, wave to them and chat with them, whether you're just interested in observing, hanging out for a day or looking for the right pokemon to make a long term friendship with. While Pokemon might have personalities ranging from smug to bold to calm to nervous to playful to callous to head-in-the-clouds and more, no Pokemon will ever endanger a person's life or engage in an activity they wouldn't consent to - toying, teasing, curious questioning and playful activities can all happen but you can feel like you're in a safe place with Pokemon, no matter your goals or interests.

Pokemon are not a finished product the first time they're ever assembled and released into the world - they will take damage and need repairs, upgrade their systems and modify and install modules, perfect weaponry and optimize infrastructure, and update their markings and self-expression as they learn through combat with other Pokemon and gather common and rare materials and parts data.  While cities are more than capable of supplying basic materials and any person or Pokemon has the capability of doing basic maintenance, to collect combat data ultimately involves sparring, motivated practice and insights that only come with persistence, and to get advanced materials and designs requires locating Resource Nodes, outcroppings of exotic material that rise as though by accelerated geological forces out of the ground in the vast wilderness, slowly getting chiseled and extracted over the course of weeks, only to be replaced with a different outcropping elsewhere. For processes that require intense amounts of energy, crackling lightning-racing Energy Nodes charge and discharge on week-long cycles, and Factories will occasionally accept a Pokemon back into their depths to temporarily use their manufacturing capacity for advanced upgrades. Territory rights and inventory of materials and parts on-hand can be used as wagers in a Pokemon battle if consented to, and make for some of the most exciting fights there are.

As a setting that celebrates the beauty of Pokemon and the artform of combat, it of course has a competitive battling circuit, the Vermillion Pokemon ___ League. Any trainer is welcome to enter and what matches are held in what venues differs by city, but common categories range from 1v1, 2v2 and 3v3 pokemon battles, free-for-all battle royales, racing circuits on different terrain types (on foot, in the air and by water) with or without combat allowed, and beauty contests where you wow over the judges and your audience with aesthetics and performances. The goal of the League is to give each Trainer and Pokemon an avenue of self-improvement, new heights to strive for, an incentive for one's personal journey of growth and development. Trainers and Pokemon are friendly to each other even when and after competing together, and eager to see each other perform and brainstorm feedback and advice together when asked for. Matches are often televised, making for entertaining content broadcast both within and outside the world of Vermillion, as advertisement for why you might want to come here (as well as, naturally, 'Nature Documentaries'.)

Should you want to come or leave, it's as easy as venturing into the Planarport in the center of any established city in Vermillion. Interplanar portal generators are available at any time, and are able to create their own entrance at the destination, meaning if you know about Vermillion, you're able to reach their website (or otherwise ring them up) and organize your ride to the infinite plane world. You're able to take your own luggage to and from Vermillion, though taking a whole Pokemon back with you might be too big of a souvenir! Establishing long range contact even across planes of existence with a Pokemon is possible with Vermillion's technology - or you can even take an AI or physical avatar of your friend back with you, a permanently in-sync extension of the Pokemon's body and mind that can readily travel with you anywhere while continuing their life in Vermillion proper.

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BONUS MUSINGS that have resulted from other people's reactions:

one thing I didn't mention but that might be relevant - the changing aesthetic condition of a pokemecha over time. whether it's accumulated wear/battle scars or keeping yourself fresh and pristine and changing your painted and sculpted aesthetic

Shad Absol brings up a good modifier idea - toony full destruction/toony easily re-assembly/damage doesn't prevent functionality except combat capabilities and aesthetics

also note I never specify the size; so it's ambiguous on how big pokemecha are and what size range that spans (b/c it honestly works really well at ANY size, personal pref is fine here)

also stuff like:

Patashu, [15.04.21 14:08]
Repairing as aftercare 💯
Shad Absol, [15.04.21 14:09]
>////>
Shad Absol, [15.04.21 14:09]
honestly sounds hawt as fuck >///<
Patashu, [15.04.21 14:09]
Yessssss
Shad Absol, [15.04.21 14:09]
slowly putting them back together
Patashu, [15.04.21 14:09]
Talking while doing it
Shad Absol, [15.04.21 14:09]
slowly getting feeling back in limbs as cords are reatached
Shad Absol, [15.04.21 14:09]
like, you can do it cartoonishly and quickly if you wanna just throw them back together and keep going
Shad Absol, [15.04.21 14:09]
but if you do the intimate, slow way, you can repair them a lot better
Shad Absol, [15.04.21 14:09]
and learn a lot more ❤️
Patashu, [15.04.21 14:10]
omg yes please

another untouched subject: the general concept of PVP flags (e.g. do you need to have one raised to be available for combat without prior consent, or can attacking be done with no consequences)

also, service economies (not just fuel/repair/rescue/tour guides, but also art, designing, consulting, training, tutoring, mentoring)

also, some people will want appearance variants (sleek and smooth, realistic synthskin, deliberately-artificial synthskin, industrial steampunk, vinylsteel come to mind)