MOD ANNOUNCEMENT 6: we don't have any puns for 6

[indigo_league]

Hey, trainers! It's December! And with that comes a few miscellaneous announcements:



THE GOLDENROD HOLIDAY MARKET

It's been mentioned in various places in times past, but never in any particularly major official capacity. Time to rectify that!

From now until December 25th, the Goldenrod Holiday Market, stationed in the off-season football stadium in Goldenrod City, is officially open for business! Throughout most of the year, item acquisitions are limited to just a few sources-- but for those who really want that extra special shiny Gen VI TM to give to their honey, December is your chance!

During this time period only, characters visiting the market may have access to TMs and items that are not normally available via the Item Availability Page. This includes TMs from later generations and hold items that weren't available in HGSS!

This was already something of an assumed tradition in the game hearkening from the early days of Route 29, but was never really made official anywhere. So as of now, it is!

Obviously common sense rules apply here-- your character can find a pretty chunk of NeverMeltIce or a pouch of Metal Powder while browsing the stalls, but not an Adamant Orb or Hidden Ability Candy. If you're not sure whether a specific item is available or not, just ask us!

Additionally, to maintain the spirit of the season and keep these items a little more special than the ones that are always available, we oocly request that Holiday Market be primarily used for gift-giving rather than characters stocking up on rare items for themselves. That's not a hard and fast rule and we won't be policing it-- but think of the joyful look on your character's bff's face when they unwrap that rare TM they've been wanting! That's totally better than buying it for yourself, right?

And just to clarify, at any other time of year items not listed on the Item Availability Page may only be acquired if they are 1. the reward for an event (ex: an event offering "a TM of your choice"), 2. available somewhere on the map (see the HGSS item listings for where an item, within reason, might be found on the road. Ex: The Cleanse Tag is located on Route 5, so characters who are traversing Route 5 may stumble across one), or 3. a reward from an Aurora League gym leader (Ex. Trainer Dave Strider has joined the Aurora League and chosen Blackglasses as the reward for defeating his Gym).

Our goal is to make sure the items maintain their rarity, but that nobody is going to have to wait indefinitely for an event that gives out an item or for someone to beat the Elite Four and happen to choose the item they're after to give out. So this special market is a December thing-- it only comes but once a year!

ONGOING REVAMP: TRAINER PERKS

Both Breeders and Rockets have their own unique information pages and sets of perks now, so it's time to turn to the last remaining trainer class: Trainers themselves, and the battle-related information that goes with them! We feel that the Trainer class has been long overdue for an update to bring them up to speed with the other two, particularly in the perks department.

Currently, the existing perks for Trainers are:

A 15% discount at Marts, department stores, restaurants, and other places of business. This percentage increases by 1% for each badge earned, and by an extra 5% for completing the entire gym challenge in one region. For a trainer who's earned all 16 badges, their total discount comes to 41%.

An extra 30% prize money when defeating Gym Leaders.

Needless to say, these kind of pale in comparison to the perks that Breeders and Rockets enjoy. Before we really sink our teeth into converting the old "Battles 101" page into an official Trainer page, we wanted to hear the thoughts that YOU, the players, might have on this topic! If you have any ideas for Trainer perks, please let us know in the comments below and we'll take them into account when it comes time to officially make the update!

RELATEDLY: ROCKET PERKS

This was brought up to us on our last announcement, and is actually something we've been thinking about for awhile. Currently, Rockets and Breeders share the same breeding rules. Meaning that Rockets can technically breed Shiny and HA Pokemon just like Breeders can.

Originally, we think this shared mechanic was put in place as an extra incentive for players to app Rocket characters. However, many years later, Rockets now have quite the array of class-appropriate perks to tempt prospective grunts with, and there isn't really a compelling in-universe reason for them to be capable of the same fantastic egg feats that Breeders are.

We don't want to yank the mechanic out from underneath anybody who may have been using it for their character, so as with the above bulletpoint, we'd also like to know your thoughts on whether or not Rockets should retain the breeding perks! Please let us know how you feel in the comments below.

ALSO: MEGA STONES

We'd like to thank Chin (11121_assumption) for coming to us with a great idea on how to handle Mega Stones going forward! Rather than wait for big events specifically involving the E4 (which are few and far between), Mega Stones will now be available to any trainer who has completed the Pokemon League challenge in one region (ie, obtained all eight badges from either Johto or Kanto).

Upon winning their eighth badge from a single region, the trainer will be eligible to receive a single Mega Stone of their choice (as well as a Keystone to make it work) for use in the Elite Gym battles to come. Every 4 months, they may apply with the League to swap out their Mega Stone for a different one if they so choose.

For the time being, this information will be located on the Badges page-- but it, along with the Mega Stone mechanics, will also be found on the Training 101 page when it's finished!

LAST BUT NOT LEAST: ACTIVITY CHECK

For anyone who didn't see it on the last AC post, activity requirements for December have been waived! HAPPY HOLIDAYS!