Collegiate Gym

[dreamsofahero]

Welcome!

to the

Collegiate Gym


Located southwest of historical Ecruteak City, it's the first gym built in the newly-established Aurora League. Currently run by co-leaders Sion Astal and Ryner Lute, you can find detailed information about the gym and its operations below!

[Gym Basics] [Challenger Information] [Plotting and Miscellaneous]


Gym Basics


Location

The gym is located on Route 37, just southwest of Ecruteak City. It can be reached by taking a path leading west from the main route, and is located in a natural clearing in the woods bordering the route. Traveling one foot, it's probably about a thirty minute walk from Ecruteak because of the need to travel around the thicker parts of the woods.


Hours

The gym is open to the public daily from about 8am to 7pm. Walk-in challenges are accepted on a first come, first served basis from 3-6pm every day but Sundays, and it's possible to schedule a match in advance for other times during the gym's normal hours. Resident trainers obviously have access to the facilities outside of those hours, as well. Both gym leaders take turns being "on duty" for challenges.

Should there be any changes to the gym's hours, notices will be posted both at the gym itself and at the Ecruteak Pokémon Center.


Apperance

images coming!

From the outside, the gym is a large, squared-off structure with a stone and brick exterior and many tall, narrow windows and an entrance set right in the middle of the front. Most of the front is unremarkable, except the area around the entrance, which features a massive, floor to ceiling window looking in on the atrium just inside the entrance. Overall, it has a look vaguely reminiscent of a school or college building, albeit on a somewhat different scale.

The sides and back of the gym are similar, stone and brick with plenty of windows looking in on the various rooms. The back wall has fewer windows, but also features two back doors that lead out from a storage area.


Interior

A rough illustration of the gym floor plan can be seen here, with more detailed information and description in the sections below!


First Floor

The main entrance opens to a large atrium, which reaches all the way to the glassed-in ceiling nearly a hundred feet above. There are flowers and decorative plants as well as benches distributed throughout the atrium, but most of it is empty floor space, open for people to use to meet up with friends, trade Pokémon, hang out, or even set up a table to sell goodies or crafts, should one be so inclined! Essentially designed and intended to be used as a community center of sorts.

In the middle back of the atrium is an area where schedules of events and room reservations for the gym are posted, as well as a place to sign up to reserve a room for one's own use. All public rooms of the gym are open to reservations to anyone at no cost, although it's a largely first come first served basis, and some times and dates are unavailable due to pre-scheduled gym events and business.

Beyond the atrium are several training halls of various sizes. These are specially equipped with features to simulate weather conditions for battles, and the larger ones can simulate terrain effects, as well. Anyone can sign up to reserve the training halls for training or battles, or simply drop by to use them for a quick match if there's no current reservation.

Further along the halls to each side are stairs and elevators to the second floor, as well as classrooms and a few multi-purpose rooms. The classrooms include two auditorium-style rooms, and two smaller rooms that feature a standard classroom on the main level, and a storage and/or additional seating area above, taking advantage of the high ceilings of the first floor. The multi-purpose rooms are simply large rooms that can be used as additional classrooms, small training halls, meeting rooms, or so on. They have no specific special features to them, but instead furnishings can be added or removed to accommodate various activities. All of these rooms can be reserved as explained above.

In the middle and reaching nearly to the back of the first floor is the main gym area. This features a full-sized battlefield for Pokémon matches, as well as bleacher-style seating. The ceiling for this area reaches all the way to the top of the gym, giving plenty of clearance to accommodate flying-type Pokémon, as well. This area can also be reserved for times that aren't already designated for gym matches, and aside from battles, can potentially be used for tournaments, performances, or other events.

At the very back of the gym is a storage and utility area. This is not open to the public, but there's really not much to see back there besides piles of chairs and tables and various pipes and things. There is also an access hatch to reach the boiler room area under the gym, which is off-limits for what's probably obvious safety reasons.


Second Floor

Dominating the front part of the second floor is the library. The library is a fairly large, sprawling space, with lots of room both for books and for places to read or study. It features lots of windows along the outer walls, glass panels in the ceiling to let in natural light, as well as glass windows overlooking the atrium space below. A good portion of books featured address topics like Pokémon battle strategies and tactics, in keeping with the gym's theme, but there's also sections dedicated to legends and myths, history and general information of Johto and other regions, information on Pokémon breeding and general care, and even a space dedicated to writings about other worlds. As of right now, the library's collection is fairly small, though it will slowly grow, and Sion and Ryner will actively encourage other off-worlders to contribute to the collection of books about other worlds if so inclined.

The hallways of the second floor border the main gym area, and feature numerous windows along the hall looking down into it. It's possible to watch gym matches and events from up here, although if the halls become too congested people may be asked to leave or clear the way.

Most of the remainder of the second floor is primarily reserved for use by the gym's staff and resident trainers. This includes dorm rooms which can host up to a dozen trainers, showers, a kitchen and dining area, and a lounge featuring comfy seating and a TV or two. The guest rooms can be used for visitors with the gym leaders' permission, and the leaders may also use the kitchen and dining hall for events, with advance notice given to any on-site staff or trainers.

In the far back is again a storage and utility area, this one featuring things like spare bed linens, extra kitchen supplies, and other such mundane things.


Physical Fitness Center

A new addition to the gym is the Physical Fitness Center. A separate building located a bit to the side of the original, its total size is similar to that of the main gym that official matches take place in. But it's not just empty space, instead being filled to the brim with places and equipment to, well, train and exercise with.

First, there's the rooms designated for Pokémon use. Stocked with a variety of training equipment specifically designed for Pokémon, there are multiple rooms according to approximate size. A room with small-scale equipment for equally small Pokémon, a larger room with similarly largely equipment for those notably bigger, and so on. These various spaces can accommodate a wide variety of species, with only the very largest being too big. But not even those are left out, as a storeroom accessible from the side of the building features a few pieces of extra large equipment that can be set up outside for those outliers.

Second, there's the rooms for human use. One has a variety of human-compatible exercise equipment available for use, while another seems to be equipped for basic gymnastics-type practice. There are a few more beyond that intended for group activities, such as lessons. Many of these have padded floors, though some are smooth, polished wood, to provide various surfaces depending on the planned activity. Both these and the Pokémon-focused rooms also feature plenty of storage rooms, where extra or alternative equipment can be found.

Finally, there's the locker rooms and showers. Given that this is an entire building dedicated to giving people and Pokémon alike a place to work out, there are plenty of these. Basic soap and towels are provided, but the towels are limited in quantity and may run out, so bringing your own is encouraged.



Challenger Information


Gym Leaders

One of the quirks of the gym is that it actually has two gym leaders, but battles are always single battles against only one at a time. Sion and Ryner have worked together to come up with a gym-specific battle style in order to ensure fairness and that matches against either one will be of the same difficulty. So while they do bring slightly different attitudes to the battle, many of the tactics will be the same or similar. Additionally, while they alternate who's on duty for challenges, this information is generally not publicized, so ICly there's often no way to tell in advance which one you'll be up against. On the other hand, because they work together in the same gym, the League allowed them to combine the prizes they're entitled to award successful challengers with, as can be seen in the prize information below.

Of course, if someone really wanted to fight one leader in particular rather than leaving it up to chance, they could certainly try simply walking up to the leader in question and issuing a direct challenge...


Battle Format

The Collegiate Gym doesn't adhere to quite the same format as the Indigo League gyms. There is no fixed type theme, and challengers are provided with a team of randomly selected Pokémon from a fixed roster rather than using their own. Overall, for those familiar with the games, it's fairly similar to Battle Factory in Sinnoh, though within the context of Victory Road, Sion and Ryner are generally unaware of this. The rules and setup for challenges are specifically designed to make them difficult: challengers can't rely on knowing the roster in advance and playing to type advantages, so creative thinking and strategizing are necessary to win. However, restrictions are still placed on the gym leader in order to even the playing field, so the difficulty is overall probably comparable to taking on some of the tougher elite teams in the Indigo gyms.

More detailed information about how challenge battles work can be found on the Badge Requests page.


Trainers, Traps, and Tricks

Generally speaking, the gym doesn't feature any puzzles or other barriers that need to be overcome by challengers before facing the gym leaders. All one has to do is simply either show up during the open challenge hours, or schedule a match for a specific time in advance. However, with that said, as time goes on the gym will acquire resident trainers, or even trainers who regularly visit to study or train. Since most of the training halls are located to the front of the gym, with the main gym area in the back, it's entirely possible that challengers may be waylaid on their way in by trainers eager to test out a new strategy they've been practicing!


Badge and Prizes

Those who succeed in defeating the gym leader will earn a Tactician Badge. Unlike the Indigo League badges this has no special properties it confers other than bragging rights. However, successful challengers will also receive both a Light Clay and Terrain Extender as prizes, as well as prize money in the amount of P10,000. Because Sion and Ryner are co-leaders of a single gym, the League allowed them to substitute a second item (as each leader was entitled to choose one) in lieu of a higher prize money amount, so enjoy! The bonus to gym prize money earnings that trainers get does apply to the winnings, as well.



Plotting and Miscellaneous


IC Gym Use

Because the gym is intended to be open to the public, including the possibility of reserving rooms for use, players are absolutely free to use it as a setting for logs and network posts, no permission required! Just keep in mind which areas are public and which aren't, as well as the information above about standard gym schedules. You're even free to handwave reserving a room for training or a private battle or anything else within normal use of the gym, we just ask to have a heads up if your character is planning on doing something major or long-term that the gym leaders would possibly take note of.


Plotting Opportunities

Obviously, having a gym means it could potentially be the subject of various kinds of player plots! If you'd like to do anything of this sort with the gym, whether it's becoming a regular lecturer in the classrooms or attempting to break in during the middle of the night, feel free to hit us up either in the comments to this post or (if you want to keep things a surprise for the rest the playerbase) via PM to character journals or on Discord.

With that said, here is some more detailed information about various aspects of the gym that are likely to be relevant to plotting, but aren't addressed in the other sections.


Badges, Items, and Valuables

Badges, prize money, and the items given as rewards are, obviously, kept under lock and key in some of the non-public storage space. Security for these can presumed to be similar to what other gyms have, with possibly the addition of some precautions of Sion and Ryner's own design. Aside from the rewards for challengers and perhaps a few fancy old books in the library, however, the gym has very little in terms of valuables.


Gym Roster

The Pokémon used for the gym's roster for challenges are all part of Sion and Ryner's teams, and actually do not spend most of their time at the gym. During both the open challenge hours and any scheduled matches they will be in their balls at the gym, but whenever they aren't needed they're let out into Sion and Ryner's property nearby. This is mostly just due to the two of them hating to keep their teams cooped up in their balls more than necessary, really. The storage area for the balls is kept the gym itself when needed for a match, within easy sight of anyone in the room.

As for the Pokémon themselves, all have been trained to follow a challenger's commands so long as the conditions of the battle taking place in the gym, and the opponent being either Sion or Ryner are met. Should a challenger attempt to order a Pokémon to leave the gym with them, it will either refuse or simply be confused by the deviation from the standard commands it knows it's supposed to expect. Also, because all of the Pokémon do personally belong to Sion and Ryner, should an emergency arise they're both obviously able to give commands and have them obeyed even to the Pokémon assigned to the challenger. This absolutely will not be done during normal battles! It's simply a natural failsafe should something happen that requires the gym leader to take control of the situation.

Please note that this doesn't mean characters can't try to be a smartass and simply tell the gym Pokémon to come home with them, just that this is what to expect if they do. Keep in mind, however, that depending on what happens there could be IC consequences (such as being thrown out of or even banned from the gym) if someone does this, but otherwise feel free to let us know if you'd like to play around with any of these things!


Resident Trainers

Player characters are absolutely welcome to join the gym to stay as resident trainers! Such trainers will get a bed in the dorms, access to all the gym's facilities, and so on. Let us know if your character is interested in this and we'll work things out!


Facilities

The gym itself is built fairly sturdily to account for the fact that, thanks to the numerous training halls, there's a very high chance of stray Pokémon attacks hitting the walls and ceilings and such at times. Which means that pretty much everything is reinforced to some degree, including the windows. The gym also only has three actual doors to the outside, one being the large main entrance, the other two being small back doors from the storage area in back. It is possible to open many of the windows from inside, however.


NPCs

The gym can be presumed to have some NPC staff, particularly some maintenance staff and such from the start. As time goes on, it'll probably acquire some NPC resident trainers, as well as NPCs who are passing through. You're free to handwave most interactions with NPCs at the gym, but let us know if you want to do anything bigger than having a short conversation or battle so that we can work with you on it.


Nearby Private Property

The back of the gym is very close to the edge of Sion and Ryner's property that they bought a while back to have space for their teams to roam and play freely. It's marked off by a fence (of the sort that's more to keep people from accidentally wandering in that to prevent Pokémon coming and going) and is where the Pokémon that make up the gym roster come to report for duty and are let out to after they're done for the day. At any given time there's probably at least 30+ Pokémon wandering out there, many of them at max level. The property is fairly large so it theoretically is possible to wander around in there a bit without being spotted, but several from Sion's team have been trained to act as guards of sorts to protect the lower-level ones, and will likely attempt to chase out any intruders. If you'd like to do anything related to this, please, please contact us first!


OOC Questions and Contact

If you have any questions or would like to plot, feel free to comment to this post! Please do not use this for badge requests, however, as those have their own separate page. Additionally, as mentioned above, you can also contact us via PM for anything you want to be sneaky about! We can't promise we'll always be on board with every suggestion, but we do enjoy a good player plot, so don't hesitate to toss ideas our way.


[Badge Requests] [Roster]