Midwest Pokedex

Doodles and drabbles from Manaka, a Midwest-themed Pokemon region.

[midwest-dex]

Gliddyup, the Pegasus Pokemon

Gliddyup's Hidden Ability is Personal Touch, which amplifies the stat changes provided by its Nature.

Gliddyup's previous design only had the one hair shape and color. In the redesign, she now has 5 mane shapes, which are dependent on the stat that is boosted, as well as 5 mane colors, dependent on the stat that is lowered. The "default" Gliddyup above is a Gentle nature.

Attack up has a side cut, and Attack down is a blue color.

SpAtk up has big bangs, and SpAtk down is a red color.

Defense up has a ponytail, and Defense down is a pink color.

SpDef up has the curly hair, and SpDef down is a green color.

Speed up has spiky hair, and Speed down is a yellow color.

For example, here are Adamant, Modest, Lax, and Serious Gliddyups:

[midwest-dex]

Chareek, the Skunk Pokemon

A redesign for the first mon made for Midwest Dex, made smaller and rounder for more starter energy. A new design detail is adding a stripe where the belt of vials will appear on its evolution, which will probably become more naturalistic fur rather than a literal belt for the evos.

[midwest-dex]

With a Brimium-Z, Brimburst can power up its signature move Baleful Brew into the Z-Move Curious Concoction. Like all Z-Moves, this powers it up into a powerful (Poison) move, but it also brings with it the secondary effect of removing any status condition the target has and replacing it with a burn, letting Brimburst apply the Special Attack cut from its signature ability and interfere with Poison Heal and similar effects.

The dance would involve the trainer miming mixing together chemicals in their cupped hand as Brimburst actually does so in one of its big flasks. Brimburst will plug the opening and shake it before finally lobbing it at the foe, resulting in a huge explosion.

[midwest-dex]

Mega Derelich Its crew of Flotssum have been evolved into Jetssum torpedoes. Without limbs and its tail hardened into a hook, it must fire its canons to move around.

Types: Water/Ghost Ability: Torpedo Tots —The first time Mega Derelich uses each of its moves, it fires one of its Jetssum torpedoes. The Jetssum repeats the move at half power. Mega Derelich and the Jetssum torpedo do different accuracy checks.

Megas were a more enticing mechanic for Manaka, especially with Legends Z-A on the horizon bringing the mechanic back. However, there was a bit of an unwritten rule with Megas in that none of the new Pokemon got it. A lot of people hated this decision, but it makes a lot of sense to me; if you were going to make a Mega Pyroar... why not just make that Pyroar's third evolution? It can work with Pokemon that are already three-stage perhaps, but it does feel strange to have these altered versions of Pokemon that we haven't seen before, and to have these new design elements that we aren't just adding into the new Pokemon we're designing.

I debated a bit on how G-Max and Mega should be given to Gundam Junking and Battleship Derelich, but having Junking be the proper giant mecha won out, so Derelich tries its hand at being a special Mega Kangashkan.

[midwest-dex]

Gigantamax Junking Infused with Dynamax energy, Junking arranges its hoard into armor, a blade, and a shield. Fighting Junking in this state is dangerous, as large pieces of metal and trash can fall onto people and Pokemon below.

Types: Grass/Steel Signature Move: G-Max Compaction | Steel | For the next four turns, a crushing effect damages all foes that aren't Steel type.

I debated generational battle mechanics a lot for Manaka. Designing new ones is surprisingly hard, and none of the existing ones were great fits so it didn't show up in the end. Probably the most thematic appropriate, though the least mechanically interesting, is Dynamax, giant Pokemon for the great plains.

Making a G-Max form for Junking is tricky as G-Max Garbordor already fills a lot of the space it might go. Rather than go for "just an even bigger pile of trash", Junking turns its hoard into a giant mecha with a trash can shield, becoming the fighter of kaiju that we didn't really get in SwSh. I wanted to try to keep the effect of the Galar G-Maxes where the starters actually stayed mostly the same size, but just had giant accessories, but getting the tiny little Junking pilot proved difficult.

[midwest-dex]

The player character in Manaka starts off with a Glo-Co brand Economy TM Case, a Walkman-like device that holds the player's TMs and teaches them to their Pokemon. When a TM is found or given to the player, they get one charge on their TM Case, allowing them to teach the move to a single Pokemon.

If the TM move is forgotten, the Glo-Co brand Economy TM Case will recharge the move, allowing it to be taught again. My hope is this thread the needle of making TMs in the campaign less overwhelming powerful, bringing the resource management elements of one-use TMs but making it less punishing.

At the end of the campaign, the player will get a Rotom TM Case, providing infinite charge to the TMs the player has acquired, and pointing them in the direction of where to find the various TMs they've missed, providing simple infinite TMs at the end of the game.

This system is throwing my hat in the ring of reworking the TM system that we've seen happen in each of SWSH, PLA, BDSP, and SV. SWSH and SV both added ways for the less-punishing early game scarcity, but both result in really awkward post-game TMs. PLA's is nicer post-game, but has much worse progression, and is easy to miss entirely, and BDSP manages to be the worst of all worlds.

This mechanic would likely be the player's introduction to two things; Manaka's tech levels feeling many years behind regions like Unova and Kanto for most people, but getting glimpses into that higher tech via Glo-Co. Other such innovations include the Glo-Co brand Box Management app, originally unable to be used on the player's flip phone, and the Glo-Co brand Recycler, which restores consumed held items at the end of battles.

[midwest-dex]

Manaka has a minigame similar to HGSS’s Pokeathalon in Pokemon Baseball, where you arrange some number of Pokemon into a team and play against teams from computers or other players. The number I’m less sure on; either doing a smaller game with a team of 6 (two base fielders, two outfielders, the pitcher, and the catcher) or the normal 9 (potentially more via relief pitcher or pinch hitter). Either way, the minigame will probably be 3 innings rather than 9.

Pokemon Baseball uses the same 5 stats of the Pokeathalon: Speed, Power, Stamina, Skill, and Jump, with each position using three or more for their various tasks. Unlike Pokeathalon, a lot of this would be automated, with the player perhaps giving some strategic leanings rather than controlling the Pokemon directly.

For a crash course on those stats, every Pokemon species has Baseline and Maximum Potential values for each stat, from 1 to 5. On individual Pokemon, each stat can be reduced or increased up to the Species Maximum by three things 1) the Pokemon’s nature, 2) the last Aprijuice they drank, 3) a variable amount that changes every day. I’ll simplify the Aprijuice system, but it will maintain the maximum net boost of +5 spread across the stats, so while Sunkern does have perfect potential and can max out any stat, it has a bad baseline, so can’t max out every stat at once. Now, for how they get used:

Batter Power is used to determine how hard a Pokemon hits pitches, with high power batters swinging for the fences and low power often opting for bunts. Skill affects the accuracy of the Pokemon’s swings, impacting foul balls and if the Pokemon should swing at pitches outside the strike zone. Stamina affects how the Pokemon handles wild pitches; high Stamina Pokemon are more likely to let themselves be Hit-By-Pitch for the free walk.

Runner Speed modifies the Pokemon’s speed around the bases Jump is used for sliding, if a runner and fielder are very near a base, the runner will slide and the two Pokemon will have a Jump contest to see who tags the base first Skill is used to judge when the runner will attempt to steal bases. A very low skill runner will never attempt this. Every level of skill gives the Pokemon a more accurate view of if it will succeed a stolen base attempt.

Fielder Jump is used by the infielders to contest slides, and by the outfielders to catch potential home-run balls. Speed as always modifies move speed, for outfielders to get to ground balls and infielders to get to bunts. Power modifies how far a Pokemon can throw. This is usually not relevant for infielders, but does matter for outfielders as it reduces the amount of distance the Pokemon needs to run. Skill affects the Pokemon’s skill at being in the right place for a catch. Average skill Pokemon will be able to pick up Pop Flys, and higher skill will give you better chances to pull off double plays and deny home runs.

Pitcher Stamina is the most important stat for the pitcher, with the Pokemon becoming more tired over the course of the game, decreasing their stats. This may tie into a mechanic with relief pitchers, either one of the player’s Pokemon, or a Smeargle to keep team count down Power affects how hard the pitcher throws, but it is a double edged sword. A higher power pitch is harder to hit, but will go further if it is hit. Skill plays the more active role for the pitcher. Low skill Pokemon are more likely to throw Wild Pitches, while high skill Pokemon can mix up their pitches to make it harder for the batter.

Catcher Skill is the most active stat for the catcher, with their skill modifying that of the pitches, the fielder’s ability to make double plays, making it harder for runners to steal bases, and punishing the batter’s mistakes. Stamina is an important resource to the catcher, but less so than the pitcher. A catcher will start with a 25% boost to their stats, which degrades down to 10% reduction over the game, the rate defined by the Stamina. Catchers will bottom out at 90% effectiveness though, while Pitchers with poor Stamina can just keep getting worse and worse. Power modifies the catcher’s throw distance, which is mostly relevant for defending stolen bases. Jump and Speed are very rarely relevant to the catcher, but its possible it could come up if the batter bunts and a fast runner on third base is forced home.

Each of the five stats has their best position, but every Pokemon will be a Batter and Runner, while only two will be Pitcher and Catcher, making Power and Speed more relevant and Stamina less relevant. I’m not sure if there’s a way to adjust for that other than adding the tiredness mechanic to the other positions, which I don’t want to do.

[midwest-dex]

Immusarie, the Dreaming Pokemon Immusarie believes it is a lucid dreamer, and refuses to wake up lest the entire world disappear around it. Immusarie appears before children caught in daydreams, and may offer inspiration to them. It's impossible to know how many playground songs and rumors are the result of Immusarie. It flies around on its paintbrush that it uses to leave its sigil. If chased after, its fluff bursts into several temporary copies of itself.

Types: Psychic/Ground Ability: Lucidity — Immusarie's mastery of the dreamscape lets it do the impossible, bypassing immunities and effects that prevent it from using moves such as Disable, Choice locks, and being asleep. Immusarie can still be flinched, redirected, or protected against. Signature Item: Brush of Destiny — Holding the Brush turns Immusarie into its Skyrider form, giving it immunity to Ground moves, increasing its Speed, and decreasing its two Defenses. This item can't be Knocked Off.

Immusarie is the little fairy mythical of Manaka, the successor to Pokemon like Mew and Shaymin, and taking their usual 100 stat spread across the board in its standard form. Having the Brush of Destiny as its held item reallocates 15 points from each Defense into Speed, as well as giving it Levitate and protection from Knock Off like other form-changing items. Immusarie that only want to go fast may instead want to pick up a Choice Scarf, as Lucidity allows Immusarie to ignore the choice locking effect. Immusarie may prefer the item that neuters Knock Off though, as it also gets a free Miracle Eye versus Dark types and can threaten them with fast neutral Psychics or Earth Powers before they get a chance to do anything.

Immusarie's sleep mask sigil can be found all across the Manaka region, and interacting with them gives a small and growing chance to encounter Immusarie. Eventually there would be a guaranteed spawn somewhere so the scavenger hunt isn't required, but those that do it will be rewarded with much earlier access to the bruiser, and an easier time catching it, with each sigil found improving the catch rate.

Immusarie would definitely be a movie Pokemon, though there are two paths it could go and I'm not sure which it would go. Immusarie would be a foil for Piriette, the Ground/Flying legend trying and failing to achieve balance between the boxart duo, and would instead seek to disrupt the status quo. The main trouble there is you're looking at 4 legends involved, which is a lot for one of those movies. Alternatively it could focus only on Immusarie, using it as a catalyst for a villain attempting to use its lucid-dream powers for itself, or perhaps try to wake it up to remake the world—Pokemon loves those villains.

Immusarie was designed with Alexander, and has been saved to mark Manaka Dex's 151st design as its Mew slot. I am floored that this streak has managed to continue this long, but it is here I am making the decision to cut it. The stress of meeting the deadline each night has been starting to get to me, so I'm forcing myself to call it here. That doesn't mean the end of the project, there is already a post prepared for tomorrow, more doodles planned for next month, and I will be making the Battle Factory game happen, especially now that the roster is largely locked in. Hopefully letting those cook for as long as they need instead of needing to be completed in a single day will let me do more cool stuff~

[midwest-dex]

Minimite, the Runt Pokemon Minimite used to be widespread in Manaka years ago, but now only a small colony lives in the northern outskirts of the region. It is believed its typing has changed during this migration. Do not be fooled by its timid nature and small stature. 10% of car accidents in northern Manaka are caused by charging Minimite.

Types: Ice/Fighting Ability: Klutz Hidden Ability: Might Makes Right — Minimite is immune to secondary effects of Pokemon with lesser Attack.

In most Pokemon games, the box legendary is some one of a kind divinity, a god or ancient hero that deems you, random ten year old, worthy of its immortal attention for a few decades. But this is the Midwest, no god of time would be caught dead here. While Virimite is unique, it did not used to be. Rather, it is the last surviving specimen of what Minimite used to be; the biggest, toughest, meanest beast narrowly keeping its species from the edge of extinction.

Minimite is the chicken to Virimite's t-rex, a tiny creature somewhere between a moose and a baby buffalo that lives in the snowy north. Despite its goofy appearance, it still packs quite the punch, even more so for a trainer that can bring out its legendary potential over its klutzy nature. With its shiny coloring on top, Minimite could pass as a prevo of that nearly lost species.

[midwest-dex]

Gritluk, the Red Clay Pokemon Gritluk has accumulated a large amount of clay and other detritus in its body. It moves the clay and junk around its body quickly to hit harder or absorb hits better. Gritluk's head eventually gets too heavy to lift on its own, and it uses branches or rocks to prop its mouth open.

Types: Ground Ability: Sculpting Clay — Gritluk resculpts its stats based on the last move used against it. [Boosting Defense if the last move was Physical, Special Defense if the last move was Special, and Attack if the last move was Status.] Hidden Ability: Sticky Hold

As Mudder roams about the world, it picks up more clay, rocks, clumps of grass, small animals... Once the mudball grows large enough, it evolves into Gritluk, showing off the gunk it has picked up.

When Sculpted into an Attack boost, one of its arms will become enormous while the other is quite small, shown in the main doodle. Sculpted into a Special Defense boost will have more grass patches burst from it, while a Defense boost will make it larger and get mud cracks.

[midwest-dex]

Mudder, the Red Clay Pokemon While resembling Grimer from far-off regions, Mudder's body is made entirely of soft clay. It can mold its body into a variety of forms, but the limbs inevitably crumble back into a blobby shape.

Types: Ground Ability: Sculpting Clay — Mudder gets a stat boost based on the last move that targeted it, a Defense boost when a Physical move, a Special Defense boost when a Special move, and an Attack boost when a Status move. Hidden Ability: Sticky Hold

Mudder is a convergent form of Grimer, taking its sludgy form from muddy clay, but not being a direct adaptation of the poison sludge Pokemon. As clay, Mudder can resculpt its body more deliberately for a short time, shown in its ability by making it more defensive against whatever's being used against it, or smacking back harder against tricksy opponents.

Mudder will primarily be used by Bikers, giving a clue as to how to find them yourself; riding around your bike in muddy areas, causing your tires to get completely gunked up with Mudder that get stuck in the treads.

[midwest-dex]

Scrapdoodle, the Roosting Pokemon Scrapdoodle have high confidence in their armored nests that have weathered many battles. Whenever it finds trinkets it likes, it adds it into the mass of scrap metal.

Types: Flying/Steel Ability: Sturdy Hidden Ability: Weak Armor Signature Move: Crack of Dawn | Flying | This move has 120 power on the battle's first turn, 80 power on the second turn, 40 power on the third turn, then starts over. All Pokemon who hear this move wake up.

Scrapdoodle is not as tanky as its relatives Skarmory and Corviknight, relying largely on its typing and Roost while it specs more offensively, cycling around the day with Crack of Dawn, Iron Head, and some setup moves during its Dawn downtime like Tailwind, Screech, Iron Defense, and Swagger.

[midwest-dex]

Patchic, the Patching Pokemon When Patchic hatches, it hides in its egg as long as possible. As the hard shell cracks from taking damage, it tries to patch it back together with mud and scrap metal.

Types: Flying/Steel Ability: Sturdy Hidden Ability: Weak Armor

Type changes in evolution are an odd duck. Changing the secondary typing is pretty uncommon, often changing around Flying, Ghost, and Dragon, but changing the primary typing almost never happens; and when it does it's almost always Normal type changing, such as Eevee, Azurill, Swablu, and Fletchling. Most of the exceptions are regional evolutions, with Steel taking primary on Hisuian Sliggo, Poison on the Galarian Slowtwins, Ice on Galarian Mr Mime, and Alolan Marowak shedding Ground type entirely. The only one left over is Steelix converting Onix's primary Rock.

I've been looking into all of this cause originally Patchic was Normal/Rock, having a more natural shell and not having a Flying type since its all tucked into its egg, but solo Rock still felt incorrect. The game mechanics and expectations around such a dramatic type change isn't great though, so I ended up shifting it to Flying/Steel like its evolution will be.

[midwest-dex]

Byleeguard, the Low King Pokemon Byleeguard are the kings of a Yelaguard hive, able to carry the entire thing around on their back when needed. Byleeguard's antennae-moustache can detach from its head at both ends. They fight other Byeeguard with these appendages to determine who will be the king of the hive.

Types: Bug/Ground Ability: Twice Shy — This Pokemon takes 80% reduced damage from opponents it has hit this turn, stacking up to 5 times, taking 33% damage. Hidden Ability: Sharpness

Byleeguard is a classic bulky Ground type for Manaka Dex, making up for its less ideal typing with Twice Shy letting it get crazy damage reduction when connecting with Pin Missile, Triple Axel, or Spike Cannon and getting stab on U-turn when it does need to bounce.

Byleeguard's name is a mashup of yellow, guard, bee-leader, and beleaguer, hopefully in a way that's not too much of a mess.

[midwest-dex]

Yelaguard, the Blackguard Pokemon Yelaguard swarm around the entrances of their underground hives, showing no mercy to anyone who gets too close. Yelaguard's stinger grows endlessly. It occasionally sheds the stinger barb and will use it as a bludgeon.

Types: Bug/Ground Ability: Once Bitten — This Pokemon takes 25% reduced damage from foes it has already damaged. Hidden Ability: Sharpness

Yelaguard is based on hornets or yellowjackets, evil little guys with a tendency to build hives just below ground surface and going berserk when something finds it by mistake. Unlike the real insects, Yelaguard has lost its wings to be a pure burrowing Pokemon, giving a proper line to the Bug/Ground typing that currently only gets Nincada.

[midwest-dex]

Gliddyup, the Pegasus Pokemon Priddyup grow with the love of their Trainer. As affection soars, so too does Gliddyup. Gliddyup's legs are surprisingly sturdy for how nimble they are. They can brace Gliddyup and its rider for smooth landings from even 60 miles per hour.

Types: Normal / Flying Ability: Simple Hidden Ability: Personal Touch — The effect of this Pokemon’s nature is amplified.

At high friendship, your little Priddyup can evolve into a graceful Gliddyup, Manaka's Normal/Flying type. Gliddyup keeps the personalization ability, with the magical pegasus providing the perfect creature for specializing into speed, physical power, magical power, physical resistance, or magical resistance.

Even assuming some more Furfrou-level customization around the natures, this could probably use some more detailing going on, but not fully sure where to go, and having a simple base design is fine tbh.

[midwest-dex]

Priddyup, the Pony Pokemon Priddyup is a popular Pokemon among children, but its limited battle viability causes it to become less loved over time.

Types: Normal Ability: Simple Hidden Ability: Personal Touch — The effect of this Pokemon's nature is amplified. [Resulting in 50% increase and 20% decrease to the relevant stats instead, or a 30% increase on neutral natures that previously canceled out.]

While maybe not super needed given the audience, Priddyup would act as a tutorial for Natures and Hidden Abilities in Manaka. They can be found in the early farm biomes, and a Rancher NPC will talk about the natures of the ones you catch, and offer to show you how to bring out the most in them, acting as an infinite Ability Patch changing Priddyup into Person Touch.

Given time, I'd consider modifying the sprite around each of the natures, maybe just five coat colors and five haircuts to represent the stats raised and lowered.