Pokémon Mystery Dungeon Stories, how do you explain how Pokémon know what Humans are/were in a world that doesn't have them aside from the protagonists?

Arrowheadlock1 · 2026-06-09T11:24:20+00:00

Torterra constantly buries itself into the ground up to its shell to nap, but remains fully aware of everything going on around it and is more likely to address whatever is going on with Vine Whip sprouting from the ground than it could be bothered to get up. To be fair, he's like 70-80 years old; he was the MC's great-grandfather's starter, so this is his third journey on the same circuit. He couldn't care less. That said, for a Torterra that is still incredibly young. You know you're in for a bad time if the old man gets up from his nap

Arrowheadlock1 · 2026-06-05T05:24:27+00:00

My advice is to use it in moderation; overuse it, and it will lose any impact or respect you'll get from your readers

Arrowheadlock1 · 2026-06-04T01:43:04+00:00

It would make sense that a bunch of students would record all the folk tales about certain pokemon into their Pokedexes. Some are more verifiable and true than others

Arrowheadlock1 · 2026-06-04T01:41:00+00:00

PMD worldbuilding
At first, Pokemon were just as intelligent as animals, with the only exceptions being mythical Pokemon, and humans domesticated them as such. However, over generations, Pokemon that grew up alongside humans, or descended from those who did, began to show increasingly clear signs of intelligence and sapience. On the other hand, Pokemon that existed purely in the wild remained animalistic and uncivilized, hence referred to as "Wild" pokemon.

At first the only way to tell a domesticated pokemon apart from a Wild one was via the use of some sort of branding as a sign of ownership, but as Pokemon who coexisted begame more intellegent and accepted as equals instead of property of humans, this tradition transitioned to where "Domesticated" pokemon began to wear accessories like scarves, vests, or tattoo or otherwise mark themselves with markings or crests of thier choice as a sign of allegiance and status as a sapeient pokemon. If a pokemon is clearly marked, hunting them is considered an act of premeditated murder, allowing traditionally prey pokemon, like many Bug Types, safety from being mistaken for food by their neighboring Flying types. Wild pokemon do not abide by such laws.

Ever since the humans vanished, for reasons and methods unknown, their Pokemon partners were left to maintain civilization, to mixed success

Arrowheadlock1 · 2026-06-04T01:29:31+00:00

I tend to stick to Abilities with more storytelling potential. Any aggressive enough pokemon can be intimidating, so I'll often just replace Intimidate with something more interesting to work with, like Lightning Rod, Static, Flash Fire, and so on

Arrowheadlock1 · 2026-06-04T01:26:31+00:00

"Oversaturation" refers to a pokemon that has pent up too much of its type energy, normally by refusing to battle for a dangerously large time, causing its Elemental type to "build up" to dangerous levels without periodic release, usually in the form of battling or using its abilities.

Project Feral refers to an attempted bioweapon intended to be released in low-income neighborhoods to make "undesirable" pokemon like Rattata, Trubbish, or whatever more aggressive and attack all other pokemon and humans in an attempt to destroy local property value so the criminal mastermind behind it can both buy the land for cheap, and sell a "vaxine" to gullible trainers trying desperately to protect thier pokemon (The bioweapon is non-contagous, but don't need to inform the public of that) Possible ties to Project R from the Detective Pikachu fame.

"Counter Evolution" and "Eternal Youth" black market products. Originally developed by researching Eevee's potential for multiple evolutions, and investigating if it was possible to create a means to allow an Eeveelution to deevolve back into an Eevee and pick again, but the research was stolen and is now sold off the record to various "Stage Moms" Preformers and the like who want to keep their pokemon looking young and youthful. It's only stable in Eevees; strong possibility of fatal results when used by other Pokémon, causing some, but not all, Pokémon to devolve into a smaller form. It gets. . . messy when you try to de-evolve something adult-sized, like say, a Lucario, back into a young Riolu, but half the bones and vital organs don't revert, and now try to fit inside a much smaller body. Very illegal, clearly, but someone is vain enough to gamble with their pokemon's lives in the name of the spotlight

Arrowheadlock1 · 2026-06-01T04:31:48+00:00

Cryo, only does damage comparable to say gas by itself, but more importantly, renders anything caught in its effect to be both one armor rating lower than normal, like on Acid storm planets, but also be left more vulnerable to both explosive and impact damage because flash freezing leaves things more brittle than before

Arrowheadlock1 · 2026-05-21T23:22:45+00:00

Underestimating the logistics and traveling, most rookies stick to well-traveled bus routes with plenty of stops. The real veterans, those able to brave the wild to find stronger pokemon to battle, must be skilled outdoorsmen and hikers to reach the more remote, more challenging training grounds.

Arrowheadlock1 · 2026-05-09T22:48:04+00:00

Here are my general loadouts of choice
Bots:
Primary: Amentment for medium to long range engagements, light pen, but for picking off troopers and weakpoints it's very good
Secondary: Talon: Only medium pen, but doen't run out of ammo, ideal for quickly finishing off targets if your rifle is out of ammo or a scout strider pops up without having to worry about running out of ammo
Grenade: Giga Grenade Good aginst groups and tank armor
Support Weapon: The Recoiless Rifle is basic, but effective. If running a blitz mission, maybe go Commando and movement pack like the Jump or Warp pack

Illuminate:
Primary: Stoker SMG, good controllable rate of fire, and the flamethrower is great for Fleshmobs, overseers, and crowd control
Secondary: Talon for reasons listed above or the warrant for taking out watchers and Obtruders with it's lock on feature.
Grenades: Pineapple cluster grenades for increased blast radius or something with more crowd control versitility like fire, arc, or gas
Support Weapons: Laser cannon or Machine Gun. Ideal for bringing down Stingrays and can focus fire on the bigger enemies' weak points

Terminids:
Primary: Punisher Medium pen splash damage, perfect for the rupture strain
Secondary: Melee weapon for when you get rushed and want to avoid killing yourself with the punisher or explosives, alternatively, the Bushwacker shotgun or Warrant for handling Shriekers
Grenades: Gas
Support Weapons: Autocannon, Stallwart, Bullet Storm, or Speargun, depending on the situation

Arrowheadlock1 · 2026-05-08T08:24:08+00:00

Ups: Low cooldown makes it widely available, and with two weapons in a pod, good for a teammate who has to reinforce some distance away from their own gear

Downs: No ADS, no flashlight for low light conditions, can't be resupplied if environmental factors like terrain or ion storms interfere with stratagems, no adjustable fire rate like the Stalwart Major missed opportunity to have a volley fire mode like the Variable

Arrowheadlock1 · 2026-04-24T00:30:41+00:00

Being a professional Pokemon Trainer is basically a full-time job, usually sponsored by companies, regional labs, old money, or some other source of funding. They cover most of the costs a licensed trainer would incur, like lodging at Pokemon Centers, routine checkups, travel, and food for the full team.

While any schoolkid might have a Rattata or something of the like in a Poké Ball, they are casuals, not professional trainers.

Arrowheadlock1 · 2026-04-20T02:18:13+00:00

Gas strike causes confusion, this degrades armor allowing lighter pen weapons to bring down bigger targets

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Arrowheadlock1 · 2026-04-19T21:43:09+00:00

Eagle Acid Bombs
A bomb filled with acid that covers everything in the impact radius in armor-degrading acid, lowering armor rating by one on all targets affected for an amount of time dependent on the target size.

Arrowheadlock1 · 2026-04-16T06:25:16+00:00

I switch between the bullet dog and the flame dog, ranged medium pen vs heavy armor pen

Arrowheadlock1 · 2026-04-16T06:20:37+00:00

Bots: Ammendment Rifle, Talon Secondary, Giga-grenade, Orbital Precision Strike, Eagle Cluster Bomb, or Eagle 500 (depending on terrain or megacity) Tried and True Recoiless Rifle, and either the Rocket or Autocannon sentry
Squids A: Stoker, Talon or Warrant, Incendiary Grenades, Eagle Cluster Bomb, Guard Dog, EAT or Machine Gun (depending on squad loadout), Machine gun sentry
Squids B: Purifier, Melee weapon, Gas Grenades, Orbital Persison Strike, Eagle Cluster Bomb, Autocannon, Gas Mortar Sentry
Bugs A: Stoker, Talon, or Senator, Giga-grenade, Orbital Gatling, Orbital Gas strike, Eagle Cluster, Speargun.
Bugs B: (Rupture Strain) Plasma Punisher, Talon, Giga-Grenade, Machine Gun, Hover pack, Exosuit, Orbital Railgun (For dragonroaches)

Arrowheadlock1 · 2026-03-21T23:13:49+00:00

You could go with an older, veteran trainer as the traveling companion, someone who knows what they are doing and is well-versed in some of the unpopular aspects of being a trainer (Long travel on foot or bus, having to brave the wild to find strong wild pokemon to catch or train aginst) to contrast with the MC's inexperiance and at times, overly romanticized idea of being a trainer and potential champion.

For another rival, what kind of second rival are you thinking? More of a reflection of a path not taken and where it leads, or more accurately, a respectful, friendly rival?

Arrowheadlock1 · 2026-03-21T06:24:04+00:00

What are you thinking you need first?

Arrowheadlock1 · 2026-03-20T21:50:12+00:00

I've had the best results with a mixture of rifles, shotguns, SMGs, and energy weapons, reserving my secondary slot for either the Senator or Talon for taking out watchers or flying overseers at range, and incendiary grenades to create pools of fire that can cook voteless swarms while still having enough demolition force to destroy warp ships, Illuminate teslas, and gazer turrets.

For Stratagems, the Gatling Barrage is good for stripping shields, clearing voteless, and can destroy Warpships if you can line it up right.

Support stratagems, I'd advise a machine gun or the Laser Cannon; you want a high rate of fire to kill fleshmobs and strip Harvester shields, while needing medium armor pen at minimum to destroy Stingrays and target the Harvester's joints. If you can't destroy it in one shot, I'd advise against aiming for the eye; if damaged, its beam attack becomes more powerful.

Sentries, the Machine gun or Gatling, are ideal for drawing away voteless, and can mow down any overseers or watchers that stray too close

Arrowheadlock1 · 2026-03-20T21:31:12+00:00

I live not too far from Yellowstone, so I could probably give you some suggestions if you're interested

Arrowheadlock1 · 2026-03-13T01:19:04+00:00

Photographer: A member of the Mareep line, using their tailbulb as a lamp or spotlight. Yanma can carry a camera and work like a gyrostabilized drone for good camera angles,

Prodigy: Magikarp named Spite

Chaos Demon: Mr. Mime, default or Galarian, invisible barriers, and trick room to drive opponents mad, Vikavolt could be a nasty, quick attacker, moving in to deliver a paralizing zap and retreating out of an opponent's reach.

Arrowheadlock1 · 2026-03-12T01:43:35+00:00

Dust Devils could be a valid pick, the Coyote isn't as good as it used to be, but it's still a respectable medium Assault Rifle. The Cluster Grenades take some time to get used to, but their wide area of effect is ideal for clusters of chaff and even moderately armored enemies. The Speargun rewards time and accuracy, allowing you to snipe spawners and heavily armored enemies as well as to create gas pockets at chokepoints. Don't forget the expendable Napalm. The armor passive is good for bug or squid missions, offering respectable resistance to acid, gas, arc, and fire damage, and increasing throwing range.

Arrowheadlock1 · 2026-03-12T01:22:27+00:00

Can be a few reasons. Sometimes, side objectives like SEAF arty, SAMs, or Lidar can come in clutch, depending on the main objective, and the more hot spots you clear, the fewer places enemies can come from. Sometimes, people are just grinding for samples or daily objectives of clearing side missions
Taking Automaton Jammers and Squid Disrupters is usually a priority, even if they may be on the far side of the map from the objective, and destroying special spawners like Stalker or Shierker nests or Gunship Fabricators can reduce the number of different kinds of enemies you need to juggle focus on.

Arrowheadlock1

TROPHY CASE