'brief'

Story

Terra Nullius is set in a post-apocalyptic version of real-world Australia, in a region known as Australis (may change if I think of a better name). Years of pollution left unchecked by the government has left the region in a terrible state. Australis, once teeming with life, is now a smog-filled desert.

Many years ago, Team Polaris was formed as an attempt to combat the pollution that ravaged the region. They began conservation work, rescuing and breeding rare Ice-types, in the hope that their powers could ratchet down the high temperatures that made much of Australis uninhabitable. In recent times, however, there has been a dramatic shift in the methods and goals of Team Polaris. What was once good-natured has become tainted, and now society itself teeters on the edge of collapse.

It wouldn't be much of a story without a protagonist. The player character in Terra Nullius is a young man named Oscar, on a tour of Australis after winning a scholarship from his New Zealand school. A seemingly unimportant boy, thrust into a position of great importance after being targeted by Team Polaris.

Every hero needs a villain. Whether it's Polaris founder Icarus, or one of his Admins (Aurora, Wes, Yolanda), danger is never far off. And could there be something even more deadly, more sinister, hidden deep below the surface of the region?

Australis League

Like Reborn and Rejuvenation before it, Terra Nullius will feature 18 Gyms, one of each type. In the Australis League, all Gym Leaders are allowed one 'Wildcard' Pokemon not of their specialist type. Some use a Pokemon that fits their team thematically (Charizard on the all-Dragon team), others use one that synergises well with their team (Florges on the all-Grass team), while others may choose not to use a Wildcard at all.

Like Johto and Kanto, Australis and New Zealand share their Elite 4, and the player will be required to travel to the region to battle them.

Gameplay

Currently the game uses a slightly modified version of the FRLG tilesprites. All major NPCs will have their own custom sprites. All 802 Pokemon will be available for capture in a single savefile, and all non-legendaries and non-mythicals will be available in repeatable encounters before the Elite 4.

Starter Pokemon will be Dwebble, Scraggy and Woobat. A move tutor will be available early on to teach the players starter a plethora of important moves, and even change its ability (Curse, Spikes for Dwebble, Dragon Dance, Fake Out, Drain Punch, Elemental Punches, Amnesia for Scraggy, Roost, Stored Power, Knock Off for Woobat).

Themes

Pokemon replace the real-world native species of Australia and the world. There has been a mass exodus of people moving away from Australis, resulting in a low population overall. Much of the region is an arid desert, with few slivers of fertile land on the borders of the country (which pretty much sums up Australia right now, but whatever). Transport around the region is difficult, and HM Fly will be unavailable until very late in the game. The player may be required to help remove Polaris grunts from areas in order to restore transport to and from that area. There will be a plethora of sidequests centered around restoring the ecosystem. One I'm particularly excited to show off is my planned Great-Barrier Reef sidequest, in which the GBR is under attack by a horde of Mareanie/Toxapex, and the player will need to assist in relocating them.