Pokemon Courage & Wisdom: A Pokemon-Zelda Crossover

[Lord_Brand]

A while back, I had this idea for a Zelda-Pokemon crossover, set in an AU Hyrule that is essentially a Pokemon region, with its own League, Gym Leaders, Professor, etc. You choose to play as either Link or Linkle and embark on a journey with one of three starter Pokemon of your choice.

The Pokemon of C&W are inspired by various creatures and concepts within the Zelda series. You have Pokemon versions of Octoroks, Bokoblins, Moblins, Lizalfos, Dodongos, Darknuts, Gorons, Zoras, etc. The legendary trio consists of three Golden Beasts based on the Triforce.

Among the various towns you visit are Rauru, Saria, Darunia, Ruto, Nabooru, and Kakariko. Eight of the towns have a Gym Leader themed after a particular type. Castle Town is home to the Elite Four and Champion.

The evil Team Power is lead by Ganondorf, who seeks the Golden Beasts of legend so he can conquer the world. Among his minions are Koume, Kotake,

Zelda befriends you, teaches you the basics, and helps you battle Team Power at different points of the story.

Spoiler

She's also the Champion, which the game would try to keep a surprise until the big showdown, which takes place after Ganondorf has been defeated. Her Champion battle theme is Ballad of the Goddess. She also wears a more elaborate outfit as the Champion, compared to a more casual outfit when traveling. Think Skyward Sword versus Hyrule Warriors, and you get the idea.

On the more Zelda side of things, you also have eight Temples hidden throughout the land, each of which contains an item important to the game's plot as well as a TM that teaches a move useful against Pokemon found within that Temple. Each temple is guarded by a pseudo-legend based on a classic Zelda boss.

Pokemon and item utility is based on various Zelda items. You have the usual cutting, flying, swimming, and pushing, but C&W also features bombable walls and obstacles, digging, riding Pokemon to travel more quickly, jumping up cliffs, grappling across gaps, grabbing items from a distance, revealing hidden objects, etc. Basically, it's a hybrid of Pokemon and Zelda-style adventuring.

In addition to Zelda, you meet other trainers on your journey who will accompany you. Many of these trainers can be befriended after their initial encounter, allowing you to bring them with you as a partner or battle them for experience.

Instead of invisible random battles, Pokemon appear on the field. Battle is initiated when you make contact with a Pokemon.

These are the Pokemon slots I have so far, including types and egg groups:

Spoiler

Each Pokemon is listed with types and egg groups.

• Grass Starter 1
• Grass Starter 2
• Grass Starter 3
• Fire Starter 1
• Fire Starter 2
• Fire Starter 3
• Water Starter 1
• Water Starter 2
• Water Starter 3

The three families of Starters. Species not yet determined. I'm looking at rabbit or wolf for the Grass type starter.

• Bug 1 (Bug)
• Bug 2 (Bug)
• Bug 3 (Bug)

The standard three-stage early evolution Bug family. I'm thinking something based on bees or butterflies. Maybe two families? A family based on beetles or grasshoppers would be novel.

• Bird (Flying) (Flying)
• Bird 2 (Flying) (Flying)
• Bird 3? (Flying) (Flying)

The standard two or three-stage Bird found early in the game.

• Chuchu (Water) (Amorphous)

Where you encounter Chuchus determines their type and movepool; in addition to the common Water-type, you can find Fire, Ice, and Electric varieties.

• Ratling (Dark) (Field)
• Bombchu (Dark/Fire) (Field)

Ratlings like to steal stuff, while Bombchu have a habit of causing explosions. They have high Speed and decent Attack but low Defense and S. Defense.

• Bokoblin (Dark) (Field/Human-Like)
• Moblin (Dark) (Field/Human-Like)

One of those early two-stage Pokemon. They appear most commonly in fields and forests.

• Wolfos (Normal/Dark) (Field)
• Wolfos (white form) (Ice/Dark) (Field)

Found in forests throughout Hyrule. Has a white Ice-type form found in cold, snowy regions. Can learn various fang-based moves such as Crunch and Fire/Thunder/Ice Fang.

• Fairy (Fairy/Flying) (Fairy/Human-Like)
• Great Fairy (Fairy/Flying) (Fairy/Human-Like)

A Zelda Pokemon crossover just wouldn't be complete without at least one Fairy-type. Certain caves have fountains in them where Pokemon of these species gather.

• Keese (Dark/Flying) (Flying)
• Vire (Dark/Flying) (Flying/Human-Like)

The standard cave bat, though Keese have a new series of moves known as Cloaks that replace their Dark type with another type, including Fire Cloak, Thunder Cloak, and Ice Cloak, which also adds that type to moves they use (so a Fire Cloak Keese's Bite would become Dark/Fire). Cloaks last for the duration of a battle, even if the cloaked Keese switches out or faints. Vire would be one of the few Pokemon to ever add an Egg Group between evolutions, and adds more moves such as the elemental Punches to take advantage of the Cloak moves it learned as a Keese. Keese learn Cloak moves starting at around Level 15 or so, and often use them when they appear in fiery, icy, or electrical areas.

• Skulldeeler (Bug/Poison) (Bug)
• Skulltula (Bug/Poison) (Bug)

A creepy spider found all over Hyrule. They like to use web and poison-based moves to trap and weaken opponents.

• Rope (Poison) (Field/Dragon)

A snakelike Pokemon found in many places. Faster than Skulltula but not quite as durable, they use wrap and poisoning moves to wear opponents down.

• Deku Scrub (Grass) (Grass)
• Scrubloom (Grass) (Grass)

Often found hiding underground. Their signature move is Bullet Seed, and they learn other seed-based moves such as Seed Bomb and Leech Seed.

• Deku Baba (Grass) (Grass)
• Deku Baba 2 (Grass) (Grass)

Rooted species found in forests. They attack with vines and biting.

• Octorok (Water/Rock) (Water 3)
• Bigocto (Water/Rock) (Water 3)

One of the common water-types. Like the Scrubs, Octoroks learn ranged multi-strike moves, including Barrage and Rock Blast.

• Cucco (Normal/Flying) (Flying)

Another Zelda must-have. I was thinking it could have the Flying equivalent of the Swarm ability, called Flock. Rarely seen in the wild, the easiest way to acquire one is to purchase one from Lon Lon Ranch.

• Hippona (Normal) (Field)
• Pegallop (Normal/Flying) (Field)
• Unicant (Normal/Psychic) (Field)

Gotta have a horsey to show off the riding mechanic. They can be found in the wild, but Lon Lon Ranch also sells them, albeit at lower level. If you level a Hippona up while it's holding a Pegasus Wing or Magic Horn, it will evolve into Pegallop or Unicant respectively, at the cost of the held item.

• Loftwing (Normal/Flying) (Flying)

A medium-sized flier. Standard Loftwings are blue, shinies are crimson. ;) Most likely you get a shiny Loftwing during the course of the story, a la the Red Gyarados.

• Kargaroc (Normal/Flying) (Flying)
• Helmaroc (Steel/Flying) (Flying)

A two-stage bird family.

• Goron (Rock/Fighting) (Mineral/Human-Like)
• Medigoron (Rock/Fighting) (Mineral/Human-Like)
• Biggoron (Rock/Fighting) (Mineral/Human-Like)

I'm thinking Gorons could get a three-stage family, similar to Geodude and Boldore. Their signature moves would be Rollout, Rock Smash, and Hammer Arm. They appear chiefly in mountains and caves.

• Goriya (Dark/Ground) (Field/Human-Like)

A cave-dwelling species that likes to use boomerang-style projectiles. Their signature move is Bonemerang.

• Zora (Water) (Water 1/Human-Like)
• Zoregal (Water/Psychic) (Water 1/Human-Like)
• Zorough (Water/Fighting) (Water 1/Human-Like)

Zora would be another common Water-type. They could have a split evolution path based on the two most common variants of Zora in the series. Both sport good Speed, Zoregal emphasize Special Attack, and Zorough emphasize Attack.

• Daira (Water/Dark) (Water 1/Monster)

Water-dwelling brutes that like to use bite attacks. Notable moves include Crunch and Ice Fang.

• Gyorg (Water) (Water 2)

A vicious fish-like Pokemon with high Attack and Speed.

• Armos (Rock) (Mineral)
• Beamos (Rock) (Mineral)

These two would form a duo of statue Pokemon, one specializing in Attack and the other Special Attack. Both would have good Defense but poor Speed. They appear mostly in Temples, imitating statues until you bump into them. They could get evolutions that add Steel (for Armos Knight) and Electric (for some kind of upgraded Beamos).

• Helmasaur (Ground/Steel) (Monster/Dragon)

Armored Dinosaur? Definitely Steel-type. Appears in caves.

• Kodongo (Rock/Fire) (Monster/Dragon)
• Dodongo (Rock/Fire) (Monster/Dragon)

Found in Eldin caves. High Attack, Special Attack, and Defense, but low S. Defense and Speed. Notable moves include Flamethrower and Fire Fang.

• Leever (Grass/Ground) (Grass)

Found mostly in the desert.

• Peahat (Grass/Flying) (Grass)

A flying plant-like Pokemon that alternates between Attack and Defense.

• Stalfos (Ghost/Ground) (Amorphous)
• Stalmaster (Ghost/Steel) (Amorphous)

Stalfos appear chiefly in caves and the Graveyard. Their Stalmaster evolutions appear in the Desert Temple, Shadow Temple, and Temple of Time. This family has good Attack, Defense, and Speed, but poor S. Attack and S. Defense.

• Gibdo (Dark) (Human-Like)

Sports high Defense and Special Defense, but low Speed. Uses lots of trapping and status moves such as Wrap, Mean Look, and Curse.

• Poe (Ghost) (Amorphous)

The must-have Ghost-type, appearing in the graveyard and Shadow Temple.

• Freezard (Ice) (Mineral)

A living chunk of ice.

• Like Like (Ground) (Bug)

A strange, fleshy creature that eats metal.

• Darknut (Steel/Dark) (Human-Like)
• Ironuckle (Steel/Fighting) (Human-Like)

Much like Armos and Beamos, these two are parallels to each other. Both favor Attack and Defense, though Darknuts favor Defense and Ironuckles favor Attack.

• Wizzrobe (Psychic) (Human-Like)

A mage-like Pokemon found in Temples. They wield a variety of powerful moves including Shadow Ball, Flamethrower, Ice Beam, and Thunderbolt, and they have the Special Attack to back it up.

• Lynel (Fighting/Fire) (Field/Human-Like)

Lynels are the quintessential sweeper, featuring a plethora of hard-hitting moves such as Fire Punch, Flamethrower, and Close Combat, and favoring Attack, Special Attack, and Speed.

• Farosh (Dragon/Electric) (Undiscovered)
• Dinraal (Dragon/Fire) (Undiscovered)
• Naydra (Dragon/Ice) (Undiscovered)

A trio of legendary dragons, continuing the Pokemon tradition started by Articuno, Zapdos, and Moltres. They can be found wandering Hyrule's landscape, and can be engaged by using Fly while under their passing shadow.

• Valoreous (Steel/Fighting) (Undiscovered)
• Sagalia (Steel/Fairy) (Undiscovered)
• Magnagon (Steel/Psychic) (Undiscovered)

And last but certainly not least, the Golden Beasts, the three big legendaries. All three are centaurean in build with flowing manes of hair, distinguished by secondary traits and signature weapons; Valoreous has armored plating and bladed appendages, Sagalia has wings and crystals, the latter of which can fire arrows of light, and Magnagon has tusks and trident-shaped horns and spikes. It is said their forms reflect the hearts of their partners. If their partner has a virtuous heart, their form will be golden and heroic. But if their partner's heart is wicked, their form and typing will change to match.

 

Bear in mind names may not be final, and are mostly being used for description here.

Edited March 21, 2018 by Lord_Brand

[Dragoncat]

I think crossover ideas like this have been done before, but none of them have ever gotten completed. Will this be a romhack or something?

[Lord_Brand]

Eh, if I designed a game like this I'd rather it be built from the ground up. Ideally it would be 3D on the level of Sun & Moon, but a fangame would more likely aim for something around Gen III-IV.

[Dragoncat]

20 hours ago, Lord_Brand said:

Eh, if I designed a game like this I'd rather it be built from the ground up. Ideally it would be 3D on the level of Sun & Moon, but a fangame would more likely aim for something around Gen III-IV.

Pokemon Essentials seems like a good engine to use. But it requires RPG Maker.

[Lord_Brand]

Definitely a Gen 3 style. But it seems intruiguing. I'm open to collaboration, bearing in mind that if anything concrete emerges there's always a chance of it being C&D'd, which would be a pity as I feel Zelda is one of those series with which Pokemon is actually highly compatible. But hey, could be a fun game building exercise!

One concept I'd like to try out is the idea of certain Trainers giving you TMs as a reward for defeating them, like Dampe giving you Dig, Talon giving Rest, or Ingo giving Frustration. I prefer reusable TMs to single-use, and would prefer that HM moves not be so difficult to remove as it really isn't necessary.

I would love to reference Zelda memes whenever possible. Early on, when the player tries leaving town without a Pokemon, Professor Gaepora stops the player and says "Wait, NAME! It's dangerous to go alone! Take one of these Pokemon with you." Or you can find NPCs hiding inside hidden caves who pay you off with the classic "It's a secret to everybody" line. And of course we gotta have Bagu and Error in there somewhere.

Edited March 23, 2018 by Lord_Brand