Pokémon Fabula

Looking to Recruit: Volunteer Pokémon Creature Co-Designer / Battle Balance Specialist

Team: Pokémon Fabula — Currently led by myself, with additional collaborators being sought.

Development Kit: Not yet selected. The project is currently in pre-production, with plans for a 2D pixel-art Pokémon RPG using modern Pokémon battle mechanics.

Hello everyone!

I've been working on a passion project called Pokémon Fabula, a Pokémon fangame inspired by the Final Fantasy XIII trilogy, including XIII, XIII-2, and Lightning Returns.

The idea is to take the creatures, locations, characters, and mythology from those games and reinterpret them as part of a proper Pokémon adventure.

Rather than simply putting Final Fantasy monsters into Pokémon battles, I want to create actual Pokémon species with their own evolution lines, typings, Abilities, movepools, Pokédex entries, and roles within the region.

The game takes place in Fabria, a region inspired by Cocoon, Gran Pulse, and the various environments introduced throughout the trilogy.

I've already spent considerable time working on the regional Pokédex, monster conversions, battle mechanics, worldbuilding, and story. However, I've realized that having another person with strong Pokémon design knowledge would make a huge difference.

Story
The player begins their journey in Bodhum, preparing to take on Fabria's Pokémon League.

Things quickly change when mysterious disturbances begin affecting nearby Pokémon and ancient Pulse technology starts reactivating.

During an encounter with a Pulse fal'Cie, the protagonist becomes a l'Cie and receives a mysterious Focus:

"Reach the heart. Free the child."

Now considered a potential threat by the Sanctum, the protagonist must continue their Pokémon journey while uncovering the meaning of their Focus and the truth behind Orphan, a powerful Legendary Pokémon connected to Cocoon's survival.

Throughout the adventure, players encounter familiar characters from the trilogy, including Lightning, Snow, Sazh, Vanille, Fang, Hope, Serah, Noel, and Caius.

The story combines a traditional Pokémon League journey with the trilogy's themes of fate, freedom, and challenging the purpose imposed on someone.

Unique Features

• FFXIII-Inspired Pokémon: Monsters from all three games are converted into Pokémon, with appropriate evolutionary relationships, stats, Abilities, and ecological identities. Not every monster becomes its own separate species.
• Three Unique Starter Families: Ochu (Grass), Sahagin (Water), and Bomb (Fire), each being developed into a three-stage evolutionary family.
• Militarized Pokémon: Special engineered counterparts inspired by Sanctum and PSICOM technology. These function as separate convergent-style species rather than temporary battle transformations.
• Cie'th Missions: Special encounters and quests inspired by the original mission system, including powerful optional opponents.
• Paradox Environments: Locations affected by temporal distortions, allowing different environmental conditions, encounters, and story events.
• Trilogy-Inspired Pokémon League: Familiar FFXIII characters serve as Gym Leaders, Elite Four members, and the Champion.
• Legendary Encounters: Eidolons, fal'Cie, and other significant creatures receive dedicated roles, with acquisition tied to story events and optional challenges.

The goal is to make something recognizable to fans of both franchises while keeping the gameplay fundamentally Pokémon.

Who I'm Looking For
I'm currently looking for some volunteer Pokémon co-designers who enjoys creating Fakémon and understands how Pokémon work mechanically.

Ideally, you'd be comfortable helping with:

• Deciding which monsters should be individual Pokémon, evolutions, alternate forms, or part of existing families.
• Choosing typings that make sense for the creatures.
• Creating and balancing base stats, Abilities, and movepools.
• Developing interesting evolution methods and Pokémon identities.
• Identifying designs that are redundant, overpowered, underpowered, or unnecessarily complicated.
• Discussing how different Pokémon fit into the regional Pokédex and the game's progression.

You do not need extensive Final Fantasy XIII knowledge. That's the part I can contribute, including information about monster anatomy, combat behavior, lore, and differences between appearances throughout the trilogy.

I'm primarily looking for someone who knows Pokémon well and enjoys the actual design process.

I also don't want someone who feels obligated to agree with every idea I suggest. I'd genuinely appreciate someone willing to challenge decisions, offer alternatives, and help make the overall project better.

Artistic ability and programming experience aren't required for this particular position.

Current Progress
Pokémon Fabula is still in the planning and design phase, so there isn't a playable demo available yet.

However, I've already developed substantial documentation covering:

• The regional Pokédex and numerous creature conversions.
• Evolution families, typings, stats, Abilities, and other mechanical information.
• Rules for converting monsters while remaining faithful to the original games.
• Regional geography, habitats, and encounter planning.
• Gym Leaders, Elite Four members, and story progression.
• Unique mechanics, including Militarized counterparts and source-inspired battle abilities.

Some designs are further along than others, and existing decisions are open to reassessment when there's a good reason.

I have also begun exploring art commissions for the project, though the main focus right now is building a strong design foundation.

Additional Information
This is a volunteer collaboration, and I understand that everyone has responsibilities outside a hobby project.

I'm not expecting someone to work on it every day or commit to an unreasonable schedule. I'd rather work with someone who's genuinely interested in the concept and enjoys discussing Pokémon design.

My plan is to start by working together on a small monster family so we can see how well our design approaches fit.

Contributors will receive appropriate credit for their work, and we'll agree on expectations before beginning.

I intend to remain the project's director, but I'm looking for a genuine creative collaborator whose ideas and criticism can influence the game's development.

Method of Contact
If you're interested in helping with Pokémon Fabula, you can reach me through either of the following:

Discord: dtcuniversal77

PokéCommunity: Send me a private message here on the forums.

When contacting me, feel free to tell me a little about your Pokémon or Fakémon design experience, previous projects you've worked on, or how you approach creating and balancing Pokémon.

You don't need to have an extensive portfolio. I'm more interested in finding someone who understands Pokémon design, enjoys collaborating, and is genuinely interested in helping make this project a reality.

Thanks for taking the time to read about Pokémon Fabula! I look forward to hearing from anyone interested in joining the project.