Fakemon Central

[.:Blu:.]

Rinne, even if it's a game, it should still have some basis from actual human history. We're basing this region off of Greece for heaven's sake which research shows is a highly patriarchal society; especially so in the ancient times. If we want to settle this debate, let's put up a thread poll.

I'm against the entirety of Ear Evolutions to be honest. And the way you describe it, Master Red, it would just be better to leave it as a special evolution condition instead of giving it an official name as if it were an entirely new mechanic. And if you do want a new mechanic, the Ancient Forms would serve as a better fit. Not in the way that pokemons just look aesthetically different but actually have pokemons change forms like the whole Tauros to Minotauros thing.

[Master Red]

omfg I completely forgot trade-evolution etc was just lumped together as 'Evolution Condition'. That's basically what I was after with the whole 'era evolution' concept anyways so now maybe people will know what I meant when I was on about it haha ^^*

[Darj]

I vote for the Team Zero Leader being female, if only for the change. I did read Blu's explanation as for why it fits better as a male, but so far all Team Leaders have been male as well and I feel seeing a female as leader would be kind of refreshing. It could also be an in interesting plot twist if, let's say, after defeating the supposed male leader, a woman appears and reveals that she was pulling Zero's strings the whole time.

 

I support Ancient Forms, but not that they change during the battle as Mega Evos do, but instead alternate, irreversible evolutions. Taking the Minotaur as example, you could take a Tauros to the past an evolve it, and when you return to the Present it would remain as a Minotaur Pokemon.

 

As for the protagonist age, I vote for 18~20. I feel that any younger and it would be too unrealistic: A 15~16 year boy had to save the world? What were the adults doing? Granted, Pokemon as a franchise is unrealistic, but I would like this plot to have some sense at least in the age department.

 

By the way, I just remembered how some Pokemon evolve when they know the move "Ancient Power" (Tangela, Piloswine and Yanma), and I realized that it is kind of related to the idea of Ancient forms/Era evolutions: I guess it could be said that those Pokemon use the power of the older days to evolve into what seem to be their prehistoric and stronger forms. I suppose we could include in the Past mechanics that any of those Pokemon taken to the Past would be able to evolve into those forms without the need of knowing Ancient Power.

[вєgσттєη ιηѕαηιту]

I don't support ancient "forms", however I do support different branches of evolutions based on what era you catch the pokemon and where they are leveled up. An idea I had that stretched this out further, to get ancient evoltions and such in future games without time travel, you could include a held item called "Alpha" or "Omega" stones. Work like the everstone in function, but treat the pokemon as being in said "era" therefore they can evolve as such. Ex. Breeding a Tentacool / Tentacrule with an Alpha Stone would result in a WATER only Tentacool. Or leveling up Taurus with an Alpha Stone would result in evolving in a Minaurus.

 

I am for the leader of Zero being female.

 

Yes Colosseum and athletic events for pokemon. 

[.:Blu:.]

Okay, so it seems that out of the actively-participating members, the majority are in agreement for a female Team Zero leader. I'll add that to the confirmed information. Although I don't think the team will need some kind of puppet figurehead like what Venoshock suggested. The leader should be upfront and resolute with her ideals.

As for the whole Ancient Forms debate, I say to keep it as a special evolution condition that allows for certain pokemons taken to the past timeline to evolve. And HerzGeist's idea about the Alpha and Omega stones sounds pretty interesting in the context that they would allow pokemons to evolve to their "Ancient Forms" without having to be taken to the past. But I have to disagree with the idea that breeding a pokemon with the stone will result in a lost type or something. I don't think we should be messing with the original pokemons in that manner.

[Master Red]

As for the protagonist age, I vote for 18~20. I feel that any younger and it would be too unrealistic: A 15~16 year boy had to save the world? What were the adults doing? Granted, Pokemon as a franchise is unrealistic, but I would like this plot to have some sense at least in the age department.

 

I'm 100% behind this as it definitely goes with the reasoning I had behind why the character would be older (focus on finalised education and gaining better prospects of employment). Additionaly, it would also support my idea of the rival being a Police Officer of sorts, obviously they could still be the child of a Head of Security or whatever as this would just further explain why they are so keen on taking credit (move up in the ranks and proving themselves to mummy/daddy).

Also random side-note: I thought it could be fun if when talking to people that are in the 'present' timeline, they could say things such as "I wish I had time to play around with Pokemon instead of working" while elderly people might be really pleased to see a trainer as it reminds them of the 'good old days' etc. This would cause the protagonist to be out of place (sort of speak) in both time lines, as in the present one (s)he is envied/looked down upon because (s)he's a trainer and in the ancient times people think (s)he's weird for the way (s)he dresses, talks etc.
 

I support Ancient Forms, but not that they change during the battle as Mega Evos do, but instead alternate, irreversible evolutions. Taking the Minotaur as example, you could take a Tauros to the past an evolve it, and when you return to the Present it would remain as a Minotaur Pokemon.

[...]

By the way, I just remembered how some Pokemon evolve when they know the move "Ancient Power" (Tangela, Piloswine and Yanma), and I realized that it is kind of related to the idea of Ancient forms/Era evolutions: I guess it could be said that those Pokemon use the power of the older days to evolve into what seem to be their prehistoric and stronger forms. I suppose we could include in the Past mechanics that any of those Pokemon taken to the Past would be able to evolve into those forms without the need of knowing Ancient Power.

 

That's a really clever observation, 4 for you Voltex, you go Voltex!

Maybe pokemon that evolve knowing that move could even have the alternative to evolve earlier (without knowing ancient power that is) should they be levelled up in the ancient timeline? This could be a fun way to not only make a pokemon more powerful a lot faster but could even be used to allow certain moves to be learned that couldn't be learned should the alternative evolution method be used (knowing ancient power). Additionally, those Pokemon could even be relevant to the plot or simply be the Pokemon that Team Zero members prefer to use (would be nice to see a step away from type-specific teams).

Personally I'm all for having alternate forms in whatever way but if we're doing either that or the new (permanent) evolution method I'd say I'd go for the new evolution method as I think it could be more versatile and easier to implement. I think both can be implemented to a certain extent without a problem as I think it would be really neat to make a Castform-esque Pokemon that changes forms depending on which timeline it's in (and maybe even has an attack that can 'alter time' to change it in battle?). But it definitely makes lots of sense to have Pokemon that can only evolve in a certain timeline (Tauros would be a great candidate for this) OR Pokemon that get branched evolutions depending on the timeline they are levelled up in (this could be used for pretty much any Pokemon to be fair but Eevee would be a great candidate for obvious reasons).

[.:Blu:.]

I just drew a concept for the Alpha Mascot Legendary. Tell me what you guys think:

[spoiler=Alpha Mascot Legendary Concept]

Pokedex Description: [Alpha Entry] Using its countless arms, ??? alters the fabric of time to its liking and gallops upon it like a road. It is said to be able to control both the lifespans of humans and Pokemon by stretching or compressing time. [Omega Entry] The souls of humans and Pokemons that die of old age are absorbed into ???'s body to fuel its immense power. If a thread of its mane falls from its head, it signals the passing of a living being.

So it's design is based on a horse, the Trojan Horse, a Hekatonkheire, the River Styx, and loosely on the Moirai. Its head is based on a Greek officer's helmet indicated by the mane. The numerous arms are based on that of a Hekatonkheire which is said to have a hundred arms. The idea that it controls a living being's lifespan and can signal when a being has passed away of old age is loosely based on the Moirai, otherwise known as the Fates. Finally, the idea that its body contains the souls of those who died of old age is based on the River Styx which is a river of souls. Furthermore, the Trojan Horse was used to contain soldiers so the fact that this pokemon contains souls is an allusion to that.[/spoiler]

[вєgσттєη ιηѕαηιту]

At first glance the pokemon looks really confusing with all of the arms. Until I realized that there were two different sets of arms. I love the idea of it being a horse, but the arms kind of freak me out. Color scheme and types you are thinking of?

[Admiral_Stalfos19]

Personally Blu, I think that Pokemon you drew up looks a bit much like Arceus would if it had arms... and a helmet :/

 

...

 

Anyway, I like the idea of Piloswine, Tangela and Yanma evolving in the past era; especially Piloswine as it guarantees that you don't have to waste a Heart Scale on it. Although this got me thinking: where will the electricity sources be for Magneton and Nosepass to evolve with?

[вєgσттєη ιηѕαηιту]

Anyway, I like the idea of Piloswine, Tangela and Yanma evolving in the past era; especially Piloswine as it guarantees that you don't have to waste a Heart Scale on it. Although this got me thinking: where will the electricity sources be for Magneton and Nosepass to evolve with?

 

I'd imagine that the pokemon based off modern things (magenemite, trubbish, klefki, electorb, rotom, etc.) Would not be around for the ancient era. Like you could only catch them in the modern era. I wouldn't imagine them being around before the inventions they are based off of actually existed for them to mimmic.

[Master Red]

I'd imagine that the pokemon based off modern things (magenemite, trubbish, klefki, electorb, rotom, etc.) Would not be around for the ancient era. Like you could only catch them in the modern era. I wouldn't imagine them being around before the inventions they are based off of actually existed for them to mimmic.

^that^

Are we already designing Pokemon though? I thought we'd run it kind of like Omnis and have everyone vote on what things should be based on etc so the involvement of the group is maximised (especially as some might not want to design pokemon themselves because they are unable to put their ideas on paper)?

[вєgσттєη ιηѕαηιту]

Are we already designing Pokemon though? I thought we'd run it kind of like Omnis and have everyone vote on what things should be based on etc so the involvement of the group is maximised (especially as some might not want to design pokemon themselves because they are unable to put their ideas on paper)?

 

 

I think it was more proposing the idea. I agree we should vote on everything.

[Maeriberii Haan]

Hmm, maybe I kind of missed the discussion by quite a lot, but how big would the regional pokedex and new pokemon slot be?

[.:Blu:.]

At first glance the pokemon looks really confusing with all of the arms. Until I realized that there were two different sets of arms. I love the idea of it being a horse, but the arms kind of freak me out. Color scheme and types you are thinking of?

It's based of Hekatonkheire so I needed to include arms somehow lol. Btw, the hands at the very back is actually its tail which transforms into hands when it's battling or using its powers. I felt that it needed to be based on a Hekatonkheire because they were beings of immense strength - stronger than even all of the titans. I haven't thought of a typing yet and as for the color, probably a majority of it will be gold with its mane being the classic red color you see on Spartan helms and whatnot.
 

Personally Blu, I think that Pokemon you drew up looks a bit much like Arceus would if it had arms... and a helmet :/

Actually, I think you only got that off of the helmet design which I agree looks very similar to Arceus' head. That and because it hasn't been colored yet so you probably automatically assume white and made more of an Arceus connection. From a side view, it would look very different. Hell, it's probably more Xerneas than it is Arceus.
 

Are we already designing Pokemon though? I thought we'd run it kind of like Omnis and have everyone vote on what things should be based on etc so the involvement of the group is maximised (especially as some might not want to design pokemon themselves because they are unable to put their ideas on paper)?

It's just a concept I'm proposing since I had the idea and I didn't want to forget later on. It can always be modified or scrap altogether depending on the opinions of the members. I don't think the majority of members would create a visual representation of a design so I felt I should attempt it and get some opinions is all.
 

Hmm, maybe I kind of missed the discussion by quite a lot, but how big would the regional pokedex and new pokemon slot be?

We haven't discussed that yet. But for the sake of getting the discussion started, maybe the regional dex (which I'm assuming is all-inclusive to new pokemons) should be around 100 through 120 (at the minimum) which will then be cut into two for the Present timeline and the Ancient timeline.

[Cray-Crow]

i think the pokemon should stay in their "ancient forms", evolving into those forms by leveling up in the past era. i refer to the proposed unconfirmed example of Taurus evolving into Minotaurus so everyone knows what i'm talking about.

 

I don't think there needs to be pokemon (fakemon) that can evolve to two different forms depending upon whether it's leveled in the past or present era. there, it seems to me that we'd be adding too much. maybe one pokemon evolving this way would be fine

 

i also don't believe we'd need many pokemon evolving this way. Maybe have around 5 or so. I'd rather see more original fakemon created by the members of the group than expanding on the already created pokemon for this region. Which brings me to ask, how many fakemon will be created and used for this region?

 

Blu, I like the depiction of the legendary, as well as the reasons behind why it looks that way, but I agree that the arms are a bit unnerving. A suggestion to fix that, maybe having only slightly fewer arms, and having only three 'fingers' per arm, but have the fingers look something similar to the red nails of Giratina's wings. I'm not sure how that'd look, but just an idea vice the little hands. I think the number of and size of the fingers in your drawing on each arm contributes to their weirdness.

 

i agree with the notion that the main character be older in age (16 to 19 range).

 

don't agree with the idea that the rival be a part of or related to some type of law enforcement.

[Master Red]

Pokedex - I think 100 sounds like a good number to stick to tbh, it would give us a good number of new Pokemon while ensuring we don't blow up the Pokedex. Not sure if there needs to be a 50-50 split between the timelines for the new Pokemon but that's something we can probably work around as we start creating Pokémon.

 

Time-Travel Evolution Method - I agree with Demiveemon that we shouldn't have too many NEW Pokemon evolving like this but I still think we should have at least 1 branched evolution line that has to do with time-travel in some way. Like I said before, Pokemon that already evolve when knowing Ancient Power could perhaps have time-travel as an alternate form of evolving (it would definitely make sense) and this would not really force any extra work on us, it's literally just "here, have an additional way to get a Mamoswine". Also it would make sense if such Pokemon could be important for the plot or just favoured by Team Zero as they are all about the good ol' times.

 

Legendary - I just feel like we should hold off on designing anything until we get suggestions from people as to what they think it should be based on (animals, legends etc.) and then have everyone that wants to design from what receives the highest amount of votes.

 

 

Things I think we should discuss before starting on actual Pokémon stuff:

 

- Past/Present-Pokedex, how will Pokémon be divided?
Obviously some Pokemon will likely exist in both timelines (such as regional bugs, birds and rodents), but should there be theme as to what Pokemon can only be found in the past? It will be easier to determine Pokemon that only exist in the future as there are Pokemon that are based on things that didn't exist in the ancient timeline or are man-made Pokémon (Grimer/Muk, Magnemite, Porygon, Ditto etc). A possible theme for Pokémon only found in the past could be that they are mainly based on Legends, Fables and (obviously) extinct animals. The issue with doing that though is that we might get an abundance of Pokémon of certain types (such as Dragon and Fairy), which we can't really afford considering the very limited number of new Pokémon we'll create. It's a bit of an iffy subject but I think it's an important one none the less.

 

- The starting town
We all know what this is, we just need to determine where the town should be located in this generation.

My suggestions are to have the protagonist start in one of the following places:
- In the Capitol (Athens)

- On an island (Crete, Cyprus or Rhodes)

- On a farm (Maybe even a vineyard?)

 

- How is the Starter Obtained?

Obviously the most common approach is that it's given to you by the Professor in the region. However, given that we've established that education and employability is favoured in this region due to the financial crisis, getting a Pokémon for free from a Professor doesn't seem like the most logical option in my opinion. We've had several examples in past generations of Protagonists receiving their starter through other means, such as from friends or as a reward for saving someone, which seems like a more viable option in my opinion.

 

My suggestion for this is that the Protagonist is given their starter from their parent, either purchased for them as a gift or one that has been bred for them (which might be more viable considering the crisis). The last option would make even more sense if the starting town is at a farm or something of that nature.

 

 

I think after these things have been settled we can probably start talking about what the starters should be based on / what the legendary should be based on, but maybe someone else has thought of additional things that should be settled before this as well?

[EPTinYugi]

How much Pokemon would each member have to make? I already 6 made and about 2 more I have to make.

[Master Red]

How much Pokemon would each member have to make? I already 6 made and about 2 more I have to make.

Even if you have Pokemon made it's no guarantee they'd be in the generation tbh as we'll decide together what Pokemon should be based upon and then vote on various designs. This is why I say hold off on designing stuff with this club in mind because until it's been discussed you won't even know if what you're designing will be relevant

[.:Blu:.]

Blu, I like the depiction of the legendary, as well as the reasons behind why it looks that way, but I agree that the arms are a bit unnerving. A suggestion to fix that, maybe having only slightly fewer arms, and having only three 'fingers' per arm, but have the fingers look something similar to the red nails of Giratina's wings. I'm not sure how that'd look, but just an idea vice the little hands. I think the number of and size of the fingers in your drawing on each arm contributes to their weirdness.

Thanks demiveemon, I'll take that into account and change it when I can.
 

Pokedex - I think 100 sounds like a good number to stick to tbh, it would give us a good number of new Pokemon while ensuring we don't blow up the Pokedex. Not sure if there needs to be a 50-50 split between the timelines for the new Pokemon but that's something we can probably work around as we start creating Pokémon.
 
Legendary - I just feel like we should hold off on designing anything until we get suggestions from people as to what they think it should be based on (animals, legends etc.) and then have everyone that wants to design from what receives the highest amount of votes.

Personally, I think 100 is a bit low but we could use that number as a base in case we end up designing more or less than that number. In other words, 100 is a guideline of sorts.

Fair enough about the legendary. Although since they are essential to the plot, getting started on their design sooner is obviously better than later. But we can put it on the back burner for now.
 

- Past/Present-Pokedex, how will Pokémon be divided?
Obviously some Pokemon will likely exist in both timelines (such as regional bugs, birds and rodents), but should there be theme as to what Pokemon can only be found in the past? It will be easier to determine Pokemon that only exist in the future as there are Pokemon that are based on things that didn't exist in the ancient timeline or are man-made Pokémon (Grimer/Muk, Magnemite, Porygon, Ditto etc). A possible theme for Pokémon only found in the past could be that they are mainly based on Legends, Fables and (obviously) extinct animals. The issue with doing that though is that we might get an abundance of Pokémon of certain types (such as Dragon and Fairy), which we can't really afford considering the very limited number of new Pokémon we'll create. It's a bit of an iffy subject but I think it's an important one none the less.
 
- The starting town
We all know what this is, we just need to determine where the town should be located in this generation.

My suggestions are to have the protagonist start in one of the following places:
- In the Capitol (Athens)
- On an island (Crete, Cyprus or Rhodes)
- On a farm (Maybe even a vineyard?)
 
- How is the Starter Obtained?
Obviously the most common approach is that it's given to you by the Professor in the region. However, given that we've established that education and employability is favoured in this region due to the financial crisis, getting a Pokémon for free from a Professor doesn't seem like the most logical option in my opinion. We've had several examples in past generations of Protagonists receiving their starter through other means, such as from friends or as a reward for saving someone, which seems like a more viable option in my opinion.
 
My suggestion for this is that the Protagonist is given their starter from their parent, either purchased for them as a gift or one that has been bred for them (which might be more viable considering the crisis). The last option would make even more sense if the starting town is at a farm or something of that nature.
 
 
I think after these things have been settled we can probably start talking about what the starters should be based on / what the legendary should be based on, but maybe someone else has thought of additional things that should be settled before this as well?

1) I really don't think a theme for all pokemons in the past should be necessary. Sure, it may have more pokemons based on legends and such but it shouldn't be entirely dictated by that. Pokemons based on normal animals should still exist as normal; after all, the time difference is only around a thousand years or so. As to how they should be divided, the Present pokedex should have more (new) pokemons than the Ancient pokedex considering more of the player's time will be spent in the present timeline.

2) I'd say have the starting town be part of the mainland. And no, it should not be on a rural area such as a farm or whatnot. Nor should it be a capital considering it's literally the starting town. Furthermore, before we can consider town names and such, we have to consider a theme as to how the towns/cities should be named. All previous pokemon regions have their town/cities set up this way so it should be followed. Furthermore, should we be searching for a map?

3) Just to remind you, the region is in a recovery state; it's not in a crisis anymore. Yes, the effects of the crisis are still present but things have gotten better since. With that said, getting a pokemon free should be viable. The same goes for the parents purchasing a pokemon. Despite that, both of those options make it sound like the usual manner of obtaining a pokemon for this region is by money which shouldn't be the case at all. Pokemon should never be obtained through monetary means, at least not normally. So I say we go with a method like what you suggested but a bit different (not involving the character living on a farm of whatever). Perhaps the town is holding a battle contest that allows the player to choose a pokemon and if they beat the other starters, they'll receive their chosen starter as a gift.

Even if you have Pokemon made it's no guarantee they'd be in the generation tbh as we'll decide together what Pokemon should be based upon and then vote on various designs. This is why I say hold off on designing stuff with this club in mind because until it's been discussed you won't even know if what you're designing will be relevant

Exactly. All pokemons will have to be voted on to allow entry into the pokedex. This is for quality assurance sake.

[Cray-Crow]

 I think 100 is good baseline for the amount of pokemon we'd need to create. i think around 150 - 170 pokemon total should fit in the region dex. then of course, the pokedex would be upgraded and what not later on in the game/story.

 

i agree with Blu that the pokemon we create should be moderated between greek legends and 'normal' pokemon, and that more pokemon should be created for the present timeline.

 

hm. for the theme of town names... i'm thinking maybe metals? i have no idea, really.

 

i'm digging the town having a small local contest or something like that, and the winner obtaining a starter pokemon. the only thing that bugs me about that is that the starters are pretty much psuedo legendaries, because you can't obtain them anywhere else in the game, so i feel that the contest host or sponser should have some sort of motive or reason as to why he has the starters.

 

also, what's the reason for the main character wanting to go on a pokemon adventure? just to have one? because it's his/her dream? the main character is older and i'd like to think wiser, so why would they want to partake in an adventure, rather than get a job in a recovering region and help his/her family?

[Master Red]

 I think 100 is good baseline for the amount of pokemon we'd need to create. i think around 150 - 170 pokemon total should fit in the region dex. then of course, the pokedex would be upgraded and what not later on in the game/story.

 

i agree with Blu that the pokemon we create should be moderated between greek legends and 'normal' pokemon, and that more pokemon should be created for the present timeline.

Agreed
 

hm. for the theme of town names... i'm thinking maybe metals? i have no idea, really.

 

Since it's based on Greece/Hellenic Region I was thinking Planets or Horoscopes Astronomy/Astrology could be the theme, since Roman Gods were named after planets (and basically were the equivalent of the Greek gods)
 

i'm digging the town having a small local contest or something like that, and the winner obtaining a starter pokemon. the only thing that bugs me about that is that the starters are pretty much psuedo legendaries, because you can't obtain them anywhere else in the game, so i feel that the contest host or sponser should have some sort of motive or reason as to why he has the starters.

 

also, what's the reason for the main character wanting to go on a pokemon adventure? just to have one? because it's his/her dream? the main character is older and i'd like to think wiser, so why would they want to partake in an adventure, rather than get a job in a recovering region and help his/her family?

How about (s)he enters the contest without the parents knowing as they don't approve of his/her dream to be a Pokémon trainer and instead want for him/her to help out with a family business (or something). They could literally 'run away from home' to follow their dreams or through winning the contest come to an agreement with their parents that (s)he can pursue their dreams of being a Pokémon trainer. 

[Admiral_Stalfos19]

Actually, I think you only got that off of the helmet design which I agree looks very similar to Arceus' head. That and because it hasn't been colored yet so you probably automatically assume white and made more of an Arceus connection.

 

Actually it was more the shape of the Pokemon's legs that lead me to it looking like Arceus than it being uncolored, though the latter doesn't help because the color of the page you drew it on is indeed white, which can lead to anyone assuming that's its body color. But then again, the legs look unfinished because not enough room on the page, so that at least leaves room for further development ideas...

[вєgσттєη ιηѕαηιту]

How about (s)he enters the contest without the parents knowing as they don't approve of his/her dream to be a Pokémon trainer and instead want for him/her to help out with a family business (or something). They could literally 'run away from home' to follow their dreams or through winning the contest come to an agreement with their parents that (s)he can pursue their dreams of being a Pokémon trainer. 

 

 

That kind of sounds similar to Bianca running away from home in B/W. I agree that they should run away, however I don't really like the idea of a contest. I'm feeling that receiving it from a mysterious source for some strange reason would be kind of cool. 

[Master Red]

That kind of sounds similar to Bianca running away from home in B/W. I agree that they should run away, however I don't really like the idea of a contest. I'm feeling that receiving it from a mysterious source for some strange reason would be kind of cool. 

 

The example of the contest was merely used as an example to showcase my idea but obviously we're all open to suggestions (or at least we should be :P). I think that receiving it from a 'mysterious source' doesn't quite work in this case as we're working with an older protagonist and, lets be real, most 18 year olds would get really bloody suspicious if they suddenly got a Pokémon in the post or something.

Something that could make sense (should we not run with the idea of a contest) is to have a grandparent give it to the protagonist as they could be part of a generation that remembers the time before the economical crisis when trainers were more common. Maybe they were a trainer themselves and they want their grandchild to be able to follow their dreams and experience the same adventures that they were able to have in their youth? Either way, I'm ok with the contest but I'll throw this out there as an alternative.

[вєgσттєη ιηѕαηιту]

The example of the contest was merely used as an example to showcase my idea but obviously we're all open to suggestions (or at least we should be :P). I think that receiving it from a 'mysterious source' doesn't quite work in this case as we're working with an older protagonist and, lets be real, most 18 year olds would get really bloody suspicious if they suddenly got a Pokémon in the post or something.

Something that could make sense (should we not run with the idea of a contest) is to have a grandparent give it to the protagonist as they could be part of a generation that remembers the time before the economical crisis when trainers were more common. Maybe they were a trainer themselves and they want their grandchild to be able to follow their dreams and experience the same adventures that they were able to have in their youth? Either way, I'm ok with the contest but I'll throw this out there as an alternative.

 

I vote for grandparents and running away from home. We could even have scenes where the parents come find you and you get away again.